Ep. #421 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with Jamelle Bouie

Elliott Kalan

[0:00] On this episode we discuss Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

[0:04] With two times the animals.

[0:06] Actually, three times the animals.

[0:08] Are we sure we didn't watch Sonic the Hedgehog 3?

[0:30] Hey everyone, and welcome to the Flophouse.

Dan McCoy

[0:34] I'm Dan McCoy.

[0:35] And I'm Stuart Wellington.

Stuart Wellington

[0:37] I'm Elliot Kalin.

[0:38] Wait, wait, hey you, hey you, sorry.

[0:41] It's you, hey you.

[0:42] It's the MaxFunDrive.

[0:44] Yep, that's right.

[0:45] This is the final weekend of the MaxFunDrive,

[0:47] if you're listening to this episode when it drops.

[0:49] And you still have time.

[0:51] It may seem like the drive is over, but you still have time.

[0:54] Why don't you go support our show by going to MaximumFun.org slash join.

[0:58] Thank you.

[0:59] And Elliot, I believe we have an extra person here today.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03] We do.

[1:04] He was so ready to introduce himself, which was great.

[1:06] And we love it when people do that.

[1:08] Except we had to get in that plug.

[1:11] We're joined today, of course, it's Sonic the Hedgehog part two.

[1:13] Or part two?

[1:14] Yeah, because the original book was too long for one movie.

[1:17] That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:18] I mean, the second book was written because people just missed the message

[1:22] of the first Sonic book, which is that you shouldn't worship heroes.

Elliott Kalan

[1:25] Yeah, the first Sonic people took him too straightforwardly as a hero.

[1:29] They had to write Sonic Heretic.

[1:33] God Emperor of Green Hills?

[1:35] Yeah.

[1:36] Joining us, as you recognize, of course, we couldn't do a Sonic movie

[1:38] without the Flophouse Politics and Hedgehogs correspondent.

[1:42] That's right.

[1:43] New York Times writer, co-host of the Unclear and Present Danger podcast,

[1:46] Jamel Bowie.

[1:47] Jamel, thank you so much for joining us for another go-round the Sonic franchise.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:52] Thank you for having me.

[1:53] Always a pleasure to talk hedgehogs, Sonic, anything kind of like, you know.

Stuart Wellington

[2:00] You're talking about Sonic the restaurant, right?

[2:02] You like talking about the restaurant chain.

[2:04] Right, that's right.

Jamelle Bouie

[2:04] Also Sonic the restaurant, right?

[2:06] I love to get those beverages.

[2:08] I guess they sell hot dogs.

[2:09] I don't know.

[2:09] I've never been to a Sonic.

[2:10] I've never been to one either.

Elliott Kalan

[2:12] There was a point at one point where there was a flood of ads in the New York area

[2:15] for restaurants that you could not find in New York.

[2:18] Sonic, Red Rooster or whatever it was called.

[2:20] Uh-huh, yeah.

[2:21] And like Golden Corral.

[2:23] I was going to say Golden Alley, which is not it.

Dan McCoy

[2:25] And you're like sitting there imagining the exotic tastes that you'll never taste.

Stuart Wellington

[2:28] Yeah, exactly.

[2:29] Yeah, it's transmissions from another dimension.

Elliott Kalan

[2:32] But it must be so disappointing to you that in your work on the New York Times opinion page,

[2:37] you very rarely get to talk about hedgehogs.

Jamelle Bouie

[2:41] It doesn't come up very often.

[2:43] Hedgehogs, not really a part of the current political scene.

[2:47] Very disappointing.

Dan McCoy

[2:48] I'd like to applaud you for your commitment to the bit because I know for a fact that Elliot

[2:52] offered the possibility of a different movie and you're like, no, we got to keep it.

[2:57] We got to keep going.

[2:58] We got to keep this train rolling.

Jamelle Bouie

[2:59] I'm totally committed to this.

[3:01] If there's another hedgehog movie that emerges, I expect to be first on a call.

Stuart Wellington

[3:07] Yeah, I mean, we're going to do an episode that's the whole series of the Knuckles show.

[3:12] I know he's not technically a hedgehog.

[3:14] He's an echidna very clearly.

[3:15] Yeah, echidna.

Dan McCoy

[3:16] They saw it twice before watching this movie.

[3:20] They were like, we have no other ads, I guess, to put in front of Sonic 2.

[3:25] So you want to see the Knuckles trailer again?

Stuart Wellington

[3:27] They ran that long?

[3:28] It's a confirmation to be like, this is your final chance to just tap out.

Elliott Kalan

[3:32] Yeah.

[3:33] They ran that long Knuckles ad during the Super Bowl.

[3:36] And rarely have I been so disgusted at what is available to us as a mainstream culture nowadays

[3:42] than just like, yeah, I guess Adam Pally and Knuckles have a TV show together.

[3:48] The bloody team up we've been waiting for.

[3:51] Seems natural.

[3:52] Yeah, I thought him and Gabrus was good.

[3:55] Certainly, Knuckles is the better partner.

[3:59] So anyway, let's get into the movie though because Knuckles comes after.

[4:03] The Knuckles TV show comes after Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

[4:05] It's the, I guess, the third part of the trilogy.

Dan McCoy

[4:07] For God's sake, let's get this clear because there's one thing I care about.

[4:12] It's the lore of Sonic the Hedgehog.

[4:14] Man, boy howdy.

[4:16] Was I watching this saying, thank Christ that they included all of this lore about Sonic.

[4:22] Dan, we got off so-

Stuart Wellington

[4:23] Dan got shit on so hard on one episode where he was complaining there wasn't enough lore

[4:29] in Battle Angel Alita.

[4:30] Now he's trying to complain.

[4:31] Repton and rechange his character.

Elliott Kalan

[4:34] Now, here's the thing.

[4:36] Dan, you thought you were getting Hedgehog lore.

[4:38] If you happened to watch this on Amazon Prime and you paused it, the comments, the trivia

[4:42] that comes up, because they always show trivia when you pause it, it was paragraphs of text

[4:47] about the history of the different emeralds and how they're different in the games and

[4:51] how Sonic started snowboarding in the games.

[4:53] And I was like, this is not trivia.

[4:55] This is too much.

[4:56] This is too much information.

Jamelle Bouie

[4:57] Well, this is the thing, right?

[4:59] There really is a dense catalog of Sonic lore that for people of our general age, if you

[5:09] play the Genesis games or whatever, did not exist, right?

[5:12] Then it was just sort of like, hey, this guy's super fast.

[5:16] And he's like, cool.

[5:16] Unlike Mario, who's lame.

[5:19] That was the extent of it.

Elliott Kalan

[5:21] Unlike Mario, who's kind of like a blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth, everyday American type,

[5:27] Sonic is like an elite.

[5:28] He's so fast.

[5:30] He has all those rings.

[5:32] But yeah, it's one of those things where I don't know if this is lore from the games,

[5:35] if it's lore from the cartoon show starring Jaleel White as Sonic, lore from the comic

[5:39] book series, which got very lore-heavy.

[5:41] I feel like a lot of this-

[5:43] It became a living universe or something like that.

[5:45] I'm trying to remember.

[5:46] But anyway.

Stuart Wellington

[5:46] I feel like so much has been extrapolated from that one animation that Sonic would do if

[5:52] you didn't do anything for a while.

[5:54] He would tap his foot annoyed.

[5:56] And you're like, so many people are like, this is a cool dude.

[5:59] This guy's got attitude.

[6:01] Yeah.

[6:01] We need to make sure everybody understands that he has a background.

Dan McCoy

[6:05] I did do some, like, you know, I say the mildest of mild research.

[6:10] I glanced at it until I got bored, which was almost immediately to discover that, yeah,

[6:14] a lot of this stuff is drawn from the games.

[6:17] And like Jaleel, like, I had, you know, my relationship was like, oh, that guy's cool.

[6:21] He goes fast.

[6:21] You know, I didn't know that there was any story behind it.

Elliott Kalan

[6:23] You might as well have lore about the dog in Duck Hunt.

[6:26] Like, that's how I feel about it.

[6:27] Yeah.

[6:28] This is barely a character usually.

[6:29] But as we know, Dan is very interested in the post-game lore in which Sonic has a baby.

[6:36] Yeah, that's what I'm fascinated with.

[6:38] Yeah, when Sonic is pregnant.

[6:39] Who's is it?

[6:40] Yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[6:41] It's Shrek's child, right?

[6:43] That's my understanding.

Elliott Kalan

[6:44] Awesome, yeah.

[6:44] It's either Shrek or the green M&M.

[6:47] They can't figure out who the paternity is.

[6:49] So let's get into the movie, though.

[6:50] The movie doesn't cover Sonic being pregnant.

[6:52] I guess they're saving that for the third movie after the Knuckles show.

[6:55] And we watched the first one of these, right?

[6:57] We did.

[6:57] Yes, we did.

[6:57] With Jamelle.

[6:58] Jamelle was here for it.

[6:59] Yeah.

[6:59] Okay.

[7:00] I kind of remember that.

[7:02] So the Paramount logo, you know, it's a special movie because they changed it.

[7:06] It's got rings instead of stars around the mountain.

[7:08] And there's just one logo I want to point out.

[7:10] One of the production companies is called Original Film, which I thought was pretty rich for the sequel to a movie based on a video game.

[7:15] To have a company called Original Film making it.

[7:17] Anyway, we start on the mushroom planet.

[7:19] How do we know it's the mushroom planet, everybody?

[7:21] Wait a minute.

[7:21] This isn't Mario?

Dan McCoy

[7:22] Well, that's what I was – is this a knock at Mario?

[7:25] Is this a little swipe being like, oh, no worse punishment than be trapped in a kingdom of mushrooms?

[7:31] Very possible.

Jamelle Bouie

[7:32] I was thinking about that.

[7:33] I know the last movie does end with Dr. Robotnik.

[7:38] Is that Dr. Robotnik being sent to a mushroom planet?

[7:42] I'm not really sure.

[7:43] And I was expecting some sort of Mario dig, but I didn't see one.

Elliott Kalan

[7:48] Yeah.

[7:48] They seem to just take it for granted that you know mushroom planets are bad.

[7:51] And the text, the mushroom planet, appears on screen.

[7:54] Later on, we'll see Seattle will appear on screen.

[7:57] And then the movie will give up on telling us the locations of things.

[8:00] They just don't care after that, even though we then spend most of the movie in Montana and Hawaii rather than –

[8:05] it's Montana, right?

[8:07] The Green Hills?

[8:07] Eh, who cares?

[8:08] Anyway, it's all made up.

[8:09] So we open – there's an elaborate Rube Goldberg device that makes bad-tasting mushroom coffee for Dr. Robotnik, Jim Carrey.

[8:15] He's been exiled there.

[8:16] It's day 243, and he's built a machine.

[8:18] And he's just like doing his thing, right?

Stuart Wellington

[8:20] Like Jim Carrey's just like falling into that, like that safe zone of being really like wacky.

[8:26] Man, who a children's entertainer this guy was, right?

Elliott Kalan

[8:28] Like I said it about the first movie, as a kid of the 90s, there's something very comforting about seeing Jim Carrey do Jim Carrey stuff.

[8:35] And so throughout the movie, seeing him do like funny things with his body or go like, aha, like extend syllables out really long.

Stuart Wellington

[8:41] It's like you're back in 1994, and he cranked out three of the biggest hits.

[8:48] Yeah.

[8:48] Schindler's List, Forrest Gump.

[8:50] Well, Schindler's List was 1993.

[8:52] Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption.

[8:53] The Mask and what's the other one?

[8:56] Dumb and Dumber.

[8:57] All one year.

Elliott Kalan

[8:58] That's bonkers.

[8:59] That was his Ennis Mirilbulus for Jim Carrey.

[9:03] And so he's built a machine that I'm not exactly sure how it works, but it sends out a bolt of energy, which causes alien warriors from another world to open a portal.

[9:12] His traps take out those warriors before he can step through the portal and escape the mushroom planet.

[9:15] Knuckles walks through, voiced, of course, by famed animation voice actor Idris Elba.

Stuart Wellington

[9:22] Yeah.

[9:22] He was apparently a big fan, so he was excited to do the role.

Dan McCoy

[9:26] Yeah.

[9:27] I had no idea walking in that this was Idris Elba, and I was like, what is this sort of bizarrely sort of for a cartoon character, low energy voice?

[9:35] It sounds kind of like, is that Idris Elba?

[9:38] And lo and behold, there he is, Mr. The Wire himself.

[9:41] Thank you for walking us through that thought process.

[9:43] That process of discovery was as fascinating to hear about as it was to live, I'm sure.

[9:47] If the flop house is nothing, it's sort of just an invitation inside our brains.

[9:51] And, you know, sometimes you come and knock and there's not much there.

Jamelle Bouie

[9:54] No, I'm curious.

[9:55] Is Idris like a big Sonic fan?

[9:59] Is he like a lore guy?

[10:00] Does he know the whole deal?

Stuart Wellington

[10:02] That's what he said.

Jamelle Bouie

[10:03] I mean, they always say that.

Stuart Wellington

[10:04] I didn't see him get quizzed on it.

Elliott Kalan

[10:07] An actor in one of these, I mean, except for Scarlet Witch, I guess, there's very few actors, or Madam Web, there's very few actors where the actor is like, I don't know.

[10:17] I don't care.

[10:18] I don't know who these characters are.

[10:19] Like, I don't know.

[10:20] They're always like, yeah, well, I've always wanted to play Gambit.

[10:23] You know, I've always, ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of playing Flash Thompson.

Dan McCoy

[10:28] Just being like, hey, I'm an actor, man.

[10:30] This is my job.

Elliott Kalan

[10:33] There was that, on Twitter, I remember people got, they were up, Marvel fans were up in arms because Taika Waititi was like, yeah, when I took that Thor gig, that was for money.

[10:40] I had to make money to feed my family.

[10:41] And they were like, you don't, you didn't do it for the love of Thor?

[10:44] Hold on a second.

[10:45] Like, the idea that actors have to be huge fans of the material before they're even in it is bonkers.

[10:52] But maybe Idris Elba is.

[10:53] Maybe he's a huge fan of Sonic.

[10:55] Yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[10:55] I completely agree with everyone that no one should have to be a fan of these things, but it would be really funny if Idris was like, yeah, and I did this deep dive into Zanga to really do some research on Sonic.

[11:07] Uh-huh.

Dan McCoy

[11:08] Deviant art.

[11:09] Yeah, there's some Deviant art out there that posits some interesting fan theories.

[11:14] Interesting.

Elliott Kalan

[11:14] You're bringing notes to the set that there should be a love scene between Knuckles and Sonic.

Stuart Wellington

[11:20] It's just like, this doesn't make sense.

[11:21] The script doesn't make sense.

[11:22] There's no sex scene.

[11:24] I do have to say, first off, Knuckles is an echidna, which I saw many of when I was in Australia, and they do not look like him.

[11:32] No, they don't.

[11:32] The second thing is, I do love that he has a custom pair of Tims on.

[11:35] They are not available for sale.

[11:37] I looked around, but they are very cool.

Elliott Kalan

[11:39] Okay.

[11:40] But you're right.

[11:41] He does not really look like an echidna.

[11:42] But Sonic doesn't really look like a hedgehog either.

[11:45] So, you know, that's—

[11:46] Huh.

[11:47] Okay.

[11:47] We're dealing—we're in a world where it doesn't matter as much.

[11:49] Then we cut to Seattle.

[11:51] There's an armored car robbery in the offing.

[11:54] Sonic, of course, has to get involved and be a hero.

[11:57] There's only one song that makes sense for Sonic's attempt to be a hero.

[12:00] It's tricky.

[12:01] So, of course, that's what's playing on the soundtrack.

[12:03] As he caused a lot of damage, the driver of the armored car keeps being like, you're terrible at this because everyone in movies nowadays has to be constantly kibitzing on everything that happens.

[12:13] And he only avoids running over a child by speedily disassembling the entire truck as it's going forward.

[12:19] I kind of like that bit.

[12:20] It's kind of a funny bit.

[12:21] I kind of like that bit.

[12:22] It's a funny bit.

[12:22] Yeah.

[12:23] But he fails to be a good superhero.

[12:25] He runs all the way back to Green Hills, Montana, I think.

[12:28] It's either Montana or Missouri, where he briefly looks at a feather from his dead owl mom, Longclaw, who he misses.

[12:35] My brain is already shutting down.

[12:38] This is established in the first movie.

[12:39] He wants to go to bed, but he has plans to go fishing that day with Tom, James Marsden, who, when we're recording this episode, is not quite the favorite of the internet that he once was for various reasons we don't need to get into here.

Stuart Wellington

[12:49] Elliot, I just want to jump in here now.

[12:51] You've breezed past two jokes that are like classic Elliot Kalin hates these jokes.

[12:55] Oh.

[12:55] While on the mushroom planet, Jim Carrey says, like, holy shiitake or something.

[13:03] Yeah, I don't like that.

[13:04] And then Sonic later, before crashing into an ice cream truck, says, like, holy sherbert.

[13:11] Yeah, he says holy sherbert.

[13:12] Both of those five minutes apart, it's perfect.

[13:14] That is like classic Elliot Kalin jokes.

[13:16] Don't like it.

[13:17] Don't worry.

[13:17] There's more sherbert like that coming up.

Elliott Kalan

[13:20] It's true.

[13:21] I'd be lying if I said I thought this was a funny movie.

[13:24] Like, occasionally there was a joke where I was like, oh, that's kind of funny.

[13:26] But for the most part, I found it not very funny.

[13:29] I don't like it.

[13:30] So James Marsden takes Sonic fishing.

[13:33] Sonic is so tired, he falls out of the boat.

[13:35] Tom has to save him.

[13:36] And Tom tells Sonic, I know you went to Seattle.

[13:38] Stop playing superhero.

[13:39] You're just putting people in danger.

[13:40] And Sonic goes, you're supposed to be my friend, not my dad.

[13:43] And Tom goes, you're still a kid.

[13:45] You don't choose the moment to be a hero.

[13:46] The moment chooses you.

[13:47] And it's like, how old is Sonic supposed to be?

[13:49] I can't figure it out.

Dan McCoy

[13:51] He says you're supposed to be a friend, not my dad.

[13:53] But it seems pretty much like they have adopted Sonic as their child.

[13:58] Like, it is a family unit.

[14:00] And this is, they refer to him as being just a kid over and over again.

[14:04] I don't know what that means in outer space.

[14:07] But like, is he 16?

Elliott Kalan

[14:08] Or is he 10?

[14:09] Or is he 5?

[14:11] You know?

[14:11] Yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[14:12] This is something I was wondering about the entire time as well.

[14:14] Because I feel like this wasn't in the first movie.

[14:16] It wasn't sort of implied at all that Sonic was a child.

[14:19] But here, I mean, they refer to him as their kid.

[14:23] Yeah.

[14:24] It's like poor things.

Elliott Kalan

[14:26] It's exactly the same.

[14:28] Okay.

[14:28] So you say Sonic again was pregnant.

[14:30] Makes sense.

[14:30] Took the brain out of the baby Sonic.

[14:32] Put it in Sonic's body.

[14:34] Yep.

[14:34] Now we get it.

[14:35] I mean, that's what happens in that movie, Dan.

Dan McCoy

[14:37] No, I know.

[14:38] I'm just extrapolating it out.

Elliott Kalan

[14:39] I'm not Yorgos Lanthimos.

[14:41] I didn't make up poor things.

Dan McCoy

[14:42] It's based on a novel anyway.

[14:43] So you're saying that in the third act, Shrek is going to show up and take Sonic back and

[14:47] play some novels in him in a mansion.

Elliott Kalan

[14:50] Oh, this is me.

[14:51] This is my wife, Sonic.

[14:53] Come back to me now.

[14:55] Oh, it turns out he's shooting people all the time.

[14:56] Terrible.

[14:57] Yeah.

[14:57] Okay.

[14:57] So someone, some Flophouse fan, please make the poor things Sonic Shrek poster, I guess.

[15:03] Anyway.

Stuart Wellington

[15:04] Oh, you were just trying to do a Shrek?

[15:06] I was really confused by the accent earlier.

[15:09] No, I can't.

[15:09] Yeah, you felt sort of Swedish more than this.

Elliott Kalan

[15:12] I wasn't trying that hard, to be honest.

[15:15] So Tom and his wife, Maddie, they're going to Maddie's sister Rachel's wedding in Hawaii.

[15:23] Luckily, you don't have to fly when you've got ring portals that Sonic can make.

[15:27] And so much time is put into this wedding.

[15:31] And Sonic makes a ring portal for them, and he gives them another ring to make a return home portal.

[15:38] That seems like it's not important, but this is a perfectly written screenplay.

[15:41] So of course that ring is going to come back when we least expect it.

[15:45] And Sonic, he's home alone.

[15:47] He does a lot of kid home alone stuff.

[15:48] He's goofing off.

[15:49] He's eating junk food, making a mess.

Stuart Wellington

[15:50] A lot of kid home alone stuff.

[15:52] So he listens to exclusively like 90s hip hop.

Elliott Kalan

[15:55] That's true.

[15:56] Like every single movie made right now, every single human being's musical and movie frame of reference is that of someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s.

[16:07] That is entirely it.

[16:08] Later on, Adam Pally will make a very gratuitous reference to Ghostbusters that I also did not enjoy.

[16:14] I thought it was unnecessary.

[16:15] But anyway, Sonic has a foam party by himself.

[16:19] It seems like –

[16:21] Is this –

[16:22] Like this is –

[16:23] Do you guys enjoy any of this stuff?

Dan McCoy

[16:25] This movie is two hours long.

[16:26] And I would argue that at least an hour of it is cutable.

[16:35] Like this movie makes room for –

[16:37] Not the wedding though.

[16:38] I like the wedding stuff.

[16:38] What would you cut?

Elliott Kalan

[16:39] The dance battle?

[16:40] What would you cut?

[16:41] The dance battle?

[16:41] The inexplicably long dance battle?

[16:45] We haven't gotten to that yet.

[16:47] Unbeknownst to Sonic, a portal opens the outskirts of town.

[16:50] And who comes out?

[16:51] Not Knuckles.

[16:53] Jamel, you're Sonic fan number one.

[16:54] Were you excited when you saw Tails?

[16:56] That's right, Sonic's best friend show up?

Jamelle Bouie

[16:59] Yes, I was hugely excited.

[17:01] I can't wait to learn more about this double-tailed fox.

[17:07] I got nothing, guys.

Stuart Wellington

[17:08] His name is Miles Prower.

[17:12] Dan, do you get it?

Dan McCoy

[17:14] Miles Prower.

[17:16] Oh.

[17:17] Oh.

[17:19] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[17:20] Well, that's –

[17:21] That's Carmen Sandiego level name writing.

[17:23] Yeah.

[17:24] I'd be criminal or something.

Jamelle Bouie

[17:26] In fairness to the writers of this movie, he's been Miles Tails Prower since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1993.

Elliott Kalan

[17:34] Yep.

[17:35] I want to say that the –

[17:36] Thanks for the New York Times fact check on Sonic the Hedgehog games.

[17:39] Nope.

[17:39] That's why they pay me.

Dan McCoy

[17:42] They went one direction for the voice of Knuckles, of course.

[17:47] They got Idris Elba in –

[17:48] They got one direction to do the voice of Knuckles?

[17:49] Okay.

[17:50] Collectively.

[17:51] Like a singular entity.

[17:53] Yeah.

[17:55] Yeah.

[17:55] All of one direction together makes one Idris Elba.

[17:57] No, they –

[17:58] Yeah, it's a chorus.

[17:59] They went in one – I can't – they went one way with the voice of Knuckles.

[18:05] But Tails is, according to my research, the Tails from the games.

[18:11] This is the same voice actress who does Tails, which is why, on the one hand, Idris Elba is giving – you know, he's – like, I like him later on when, like, they use his sort of gruffness for comic effect.

[18:23] But it's not like a high-energy thing.

Elliott Kalan

[18:25] No, once he becomes a comedy character, he pays off.

[18:27] Yeah.

[18:27] Before then, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[18:29] But she is giving the most voice actor-y performance, and I'm like, this has to just be, like, some – you know, and it's weird because I'm, like, usually pro-voice actors.

[18:38] But in this case, I'm like, this just sounds like kind of every, like, Saturday morning cartoon I grew up with, and we don't ever learn anything about Tails other than that they love Sonic.

Elliott Kalan

[18:49] We learn that – we learn quite a bit about Tails later on.

[18:52] So, meanwhile, we go to – Tails flies out.

[18:54] We go to Hawaii.

[18:55] Tom meets Rachel's very handsome fiancé, Randall.

Stuart Wellington

[18:58] So, this actor seemed incredibly handsome when I first saw him, but the longer I looked at him, he looked weirder to me.

[19:06] His beard is so weird.

[19:08] He has the tightest little beard.

[19:10] I can't say I had that experience.

[19:10] I can't say I had it.

[19:11] It was, like, confusing my brain a little bit.

[19:13] It's like the fight scenes in the new Roadhouse, which, while I was watching it, I'm like, my brain isn't functioning.

[19:18] Bodies don't move like this.

[19:19] I don't know what's happening.

Jamelle Bouie

[19:21] Was it, like, an uncanny valley thing?

[19:23] Yes, I think that's it.

[19:24] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[19:25] I guess I could say – with this, I guess it's a little bit like when someone,

[19:28] first pointed out to me how long the distance is between Bruce Willis' nose and his upper lip.

[19:33] And now I can't see it.

[19:34] Just how ridiculous –

[19:35] He just ruined my day.

[19:36] I'm like, I don't have to look this up.

[19:38] It's just longer than you remember it being.

[19:41] And Rachel is like, Tom, she remembers that she got in trouble with Sonic in the first movie.

[19:46] She's like, Tom, if you wreck my wedding, I will end him.

[19:48] This is the beginning – end you.

[19:50] This is the beginning of a lot of wedding talk in this.

[19:52] At Sonic's house, uh-oh, Robotnik shows up with Knuckles.

[19:55] Knuckles punches Sonic a bunch, and he says his Echidna tribe were the enemies of the tribe that Longclaw belonged to.

[20:02] Tails drives up in a police car and slams into Knuckles, and is like, Sonic, I'll help you escape.

[20:07] And as Knuckles chases them on foot while they're in the car, Tails introduces himself and explains that Knuckles wants the legendary Master Emerald.

[20:16] Knuckles doesn't say this himself.

[20:17] Tails has to bring this information in.

[20:19] And Tails is a real Sonic fan, a real Sonic otaku, and keeps saying stuff like, only Sonic the Hedgehog would do this, about stuff that is not Sonic-specific.

[20:30] Like, Tails starts flying, and Sonic goes, did your butt turn into a helicopter?

[20:33] And Tails goes, only Sonic the Hedgehog could think of a butt copter.

[20:37] And there's a lot of that kind of – only Sonic the Hedgehog could save this thing when it's any – it's not that Sonic-specific, you know.

Dan McCoy

[20:43] Elliot, how did you feel about the introduction of an all-powerful emerald that everyone wanted to get?

Elliott Kalan

[20:51] I mean, it's – it comes from the games, so I guess I have to allow it.

[20:54] But certainly it seems like it was dropped into our laps in a non-organic way.

[20:59] But I did like – one thing I did like, the movie did not start with –

[21:03] five emeralds were put together by the Echidna clan.

[21:07] They wanted a powerful – like, there's no opening voiceover prophecy.

[21:10] Instead, there's a middle-of-the-movie voiceover explanation.

[21:14] But I was glad the movie didn't open like that.

[21:16] Yeah.

[21:16] But how did you feel about a giant emerald being the MacGuffin that they're looking for?

Dan McCoy

[21:20] My struggle with this film – and look.

[21:23] Okay.

[21:23] I would like to put it out there into the world.

[21:26] I understand not all art is for me and certainly not maybe a child's movie about a game that I played only the first version of.

[21:36] You were more of an Echo the Dolphin fan.

[21:38] Sure.

[21:39] But I could not latch into anything about this movie.

[21:45] We were like texting a little bit about it and joking about how there's all that stuff about the wedding.

[21:50] I'm like, at least that stuff I could have my hooks into some sort of human stakes that I understood.

[21:55] Like, here, just like them all chasing around an emerald that everyone wants for some reason.

[22:03] And I guess it's bad that Dr. Robotnik gets it because he's a bad guy and it's a powerful thing.

[22:08] But I'm like, I don't give a shit about any of this.

[22:10] And thus the movie does not engage.

Elliott Kalan

[22:12] So, Dan, what you're saying is it hurt your ability to really get invested in it.

[22:16] That we never really know what the emerald does or why it is or why Knuckles wants it or why anyone cares about it or why it's on Earth.

[22:23] Or why Longclaw cared about it or any of those or how Sonic was supposed to protect it.

[22:28] Any of those things that hurt your investment?

[22:29] I mean, at the time because the –

Dan McCoy

[22:30] Fundamental stakes, questions, yes.

Stuart Wellington

[22:32] And the powers that the emerald would grant was left up to the imagination until later when we see them actually work.

[22:39] So, you don't really know what you're facing.

[22:41] What they should have done is like most modern horror movies, they should have somebody with the emerald like murder somebody real gross right at the beginning.

[22:48] So, you're like, oh, wow, that's scary.

Elliott Kalan

[22:50] So, you're scared the rest of the movie.

[22:51] I mean, but that is a way of setting up the stakes of what's going on.

[22:55] It's like – I remember years ago I saw a talk that cartoonist Evan Dorkin gave to the NYU Science Fiction Club.

[23:01] And he was like, there's always the cop that runs up to the monster in the movie so you can find out what the monster's powers are.

[23:08] And it's like, yeah, that's true.

[23:09] You've got to show off what the monster's powers are and we don't know what it is.

[23:12] Jamal, but you may feel differently.

[23:13] You love movies about emeralds, right?

Jamelle Bouie

[23:16] If I look to my left, I see my movie shelf and it's just filled with movies about emeralds.

[23:21] Green emeralds, red emeralds, yellow emeralds.

[23:24] There's romancing the stone.

Elliott Kalan

[23:27] Other ones, I'm sure.

[23:28] I mean, there's – I'm sure there's been a movie that Emeril the Chef has been in at some point.

Dan McCoy

[23:32] It's got Emeril Fennell section, which is not –

[23:36] Emeril Fennell section, which is what, two movies?

Jamelle Bouie

[23:38] Yeah.

[23:39] Yeah, I have that section.

[23:41] Oh, great.

[23:43] That's a filmmaker I enjoy.

[23:47] Wow.

[23:50] It's funny.

[23:51] This movie kind of exactly replicates the problem with the first movie, which is that it's weird that this takes place on Earth and among humans.

[23:59] Yes.

[23:59] I don't understand.

[24:01] If this movie – if the Sonic movies are for kids and it's like all lore, it's like so much lore, then why not just like have it be in Sonic realm?

[24:13] Like why does there need to be like actual human beings around for this?

[24:18] Because it's – like you, Dan, I kind of – I actually kind of enjoyed the wedding section, but it's also like super weird.

[24:25] It's like why is there like this wedding – almost like wedding crashers B-plot happening in this children's movie?

Elliott Kalan

[24:34] It seems very strange that so much time is being spent on Tom's feelings of inadequacy around his sister-in-law's fiancé's friends who are all super buff.

[24:44] And there's a part where they're like showing each other biceps.

[24:47] And James Marsden obviously is also a guy who works out.

[24:49] The idea that he's like a weakling.

[24:51] Yeah, he's shredded.

[24:51] Yeah, he's Cyclops.

[24:53] But it was – exactly.

[24:54] He was Cyclops, the strongest of the X-Men.

Jamelle Bouie

[24:57] I wish in the movie his wife had been like, honey, don't worry, you were Cyclops.

[25:01] It's okay, you were Cyclops.

[25:03] You don't have to prove anything to anyone.

Stuart Wellington

[25:04] So guys, were you guys – so when I was watching the wedding stuff, in addition to being very excited about it,

[25:10] I was really wondering like Natasha Rothwell filmed this probably shortly after filming the first season of The White Lotus.

[25:17] Now both of those were shot in four seasons, one in Oahu and one in Maui.

[25:20] Like do you think she's got a lot of really good four seasons points?

[25:25] Does she think she gets a lot of bennies when she checks in?

[25:27] Burning question.

[25:28] We got a –

Elliott Kalan

[25:28] That's a very stupid way of looking at the situation, yeah.

[25:31] What are her bennies?

[25:33] And those are the questions that the filmmakers want you to be asking while you're watching.

[25:36] That shows they set it up right.

Dan McCoy

[25:37] I want to say though, Jamel, I had a very similar feeling towards the end when it's like we're watching three animated –

[25:45] CGI animated animals fight a big robot.

[25:48] And I'm like, why wasn't this all just like animated?

[25:50] Why wasn't this an animated film?

[25:52] Why did they feel like they needed to like do the quote-unquote live action Sonic?

[25:56] What is this?

Elliott Kalan

[25:56] It's the thing – it feels very classic to me in some ways though because this is the way they would have done this movie in the 80s or early 90s.

[26:02] Like this is the Masters of the Universe version of doing this.

[26:04] Oh, man.

[26:05] But he would have been a guy in a costume or like a puppet.

[26:08] Oh, he would have been a puppet.

[26:09] He would have looked like Munchie or something like that.

Jamelle Bouie

[26:11] I would have – if this were a guy in a costume, five stars instantly.

Elliott Kalan

[26:16] It would have been like an animatronic face and like – but it would have been a Howard the Duck essentially.

[26:22] I mean that's what Howard the Duck is.

[26:23] Yeah, the five stars.

[26:26] I instantly like it more.

[26:27] Yeah.

[26:28] Okay, anyway.

[26:30] So Robotnik –

Stuart Wellington

[26:30] And Jim Carrey is kind of giving a Jeffrey Jones and Howard the Duck style performance.

Elliott Kalan

[26:35] Yeah, I guess so.

[26:36] I mean it's also a Jim Carrey style performance.

[26:38] But it's big.

[26:41] It's a big performance.

[26:41] Yeah.

[26:42] Yeah, yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[26:42] What came first, the chicken or the egg man?

S5

[26:45] Oh!

[26:47] Oh!

Elliott Kalan

[26:48] Great.

[26:49] That was –

[26:49] It makes me –

[26:50] Who's with his head?

[26:51] You said something like that.

[26:51] It makes me glad I have repeatedly not done the Laura Axe joke that I was going to do up to this point because it wouldn't have been able to compete with that wordplay.

Stuart Wellington

[27:02] Hey, so you're probably asking, what is the MaxFunDrive?

[27:06] Now, the MaxFunDrive just wrapped up or is wrapping up this weekend, but there's still time to act.

[27:11] And I'm going to tell you for a moment what the MaxFunDrive is all about.

[27:14] Now, the MaxFunDrive is the one time of year where we, the creators of these shows, come to you, the listeners of these shows, and say,

[27:21] please, why don't you support us with your hard-earned money?

[27:24] And why do we ask that?

[27:25] It's because that's the primary way our shows make money.

[27:29] You know, we get to make the show that we want without having to be – without having any interference from some corporate overlords.

[27:37] I don't know if you are sick of things just constantly being regurgitated onto your streaming services.

[27:42] Well, we get to make whatever we want.

[27:44] And the big reason we're able to do that is because we are supported through money from you.

[27:50] And that's a big deal.

[27:51] I know my co-host, Dan Nelliot, struggle with that kind of stuff all the time in their day jobs.

Dan McCoy

[27:56] I mean, if I had a day job currently, that would be a thing I struggle with.

[28:01] But, yeah, no, it's a great advantage of the MaxFunDrive is you get to sort of put your money where your mouth is when it comes to supporting the stuff that you like directly, as directly as possible.

[28:15] Mm-hmm.

Stuart Wellington

[28:16] And then we get to take that money and use it to do things like, I don't know, hire friends of ours to be the editor of the show, hire friends of ours to design artwork for the show.

Elliott Kalan

[28:26] That sounds like nepotism.

Stuart Wellington

[28:28] I mean, I feel like being able to spend money on people that are important to you is good and support art.

Elliott Kalan

[28:34] And we don't hoard that money.

[28:36] We're not using it to buy back dividends of Flophouse stock or anything like that.

[28:40] I could be doing that.

[28:41] Well, or give huge bonuses to executives.

[28:44] We use it to make this show.

[28:46] We use it to support ourselves so that we can live, but also to make this show and to support other artists who either collaborate with us on the show or are just in the universe of great stuff.

Stuart Wellington

[28:54] That's a much nicer way of putting it than I did.

[28:57] Now, you're probably wondering at this point, you're like, how do I support a show like yours financially?

[29:02] Well, you want to go over to MaximumFun.org slash join.

[29:05] And what you can do is if you're not a supporter yet, you can join.

[29:09] If you join at the $5 a month level or more, that actually grants you access to our entire catalog of bonus content, hours and hours of additional material.

[29:20] If you're already a member, you can actually upgrade, and that'll give you access to some of the other bonus items, some additional cool toys, things that the network had put together this year.

[29:32] Swag is what we call it, just general swag.

[29:35] And you can also, if you can't reach the next tier, you're also able to boost your monthly support, which is great.

Dan McCoy

[29:40] Which can be nice if, say, you started listening to another MaxFun show.

[29:45] You don't have enough money to jump up in your donations to the next tier, but you're like, you know what?

[29:51] Because I'm listening to multiple things, let me just knock it up a little bit.

Stuart Wellington

[29:56] And the MaxFun is also there for you to give you the option to either support monthly or if you'd rather do it all in one lump sum, they also provide the option to do it annually.

[30:05] So you don't have to think about it throughout the year.

[30:09] So why don't you please go and support our show?

[30:12] If you've listened to this much nonsense already, I think it's time to support it.

[30:17] So why don't you head over to MaximumFun.org slash join and support us today.

Elliott Kalan

[30:23] So anyway, this is a sequel to a modern movie, so of course every single character from the earlier movies has to come back.

[30:29] So of course we see Robotnik's Smithers-style assistant Stone, who runs a coffee shop in Green Hills.

[30:35] Though, was it clear to you guys that that's where it was located early on?

[30:39] Not really.

[30:39] To me it was not.

[30:40] I didn't know where it was, and then suddenly Adam Pally showed up at this coffee shop and

[30:43] I'm like, oh, so it's been in the same town as Sonic all this time.

[30:46] I didn't realize that.

Stuart Wellington

[30:47] I mean, they didn't give you a location card like the first two locations of the movie,

[30:50] so I could see why you'd be confused.

[30:52] How can I know?

Jamelle Bouie

[30:53] Did anyone know?

[30:53] There's a shot, I think, later in the movie where you see the coffee shop's sanitation grade

[30:59] or whatever.

[31:00] It's F-.

[31:01] I thought that was funny.

[31:02] That was great.

[31:02] That was a great joke.

Dan McCoy

[31:03] Yeah, he switches from open to closed.

[31:07] He switches the grade from A to F-.

[31:09] I thought that was...

[31:10] Oh, man.

Elliott Kalan

[31:10] Because he doesn't want people to come in.

[31:12] Because he's turning it into a villain HQ when he finds out that Robotnik is back.

[31:16] He sends a spaceship to bring Robotnik an army of robots and a coat.

[31:20] He needs a new coat.

[31:21] And Robotnik makes a deal with Knuckles.

[31:22] They're going to work together to find the Emerald and destroy Sonic.

[31:25] So Sonic takes Tails to Wade's house.

[31:28] Wade is Adam Pally, Tom's loser coworker.

[31:31] And Sonic has a map from his mom.

[31:33] And the map decides at this moment to project a hologram of Longclaw

[31:37] that explains what the Master Emerald is and why it's on Earth

[31:40] and it has the powers to turn thoughts into reality.

[31:42] It's the kind of thing where you're like,

[31:43] so this was not something that the map felt the need to inform Sonic about

[31:47] before this moment.

[31:48] This was just...

[31:49] The map was waiting for someone to say Master Emerald around it

[31:52] or something like that.

[31:53] And this is when they'd cut to a close-up of Wade

[31:56] and he goes, like, the Marshmallow Man and Ghostbusters.

[31:58] And I was like, movie, enough.

[32:00] I don't need any more 80s movies telling me how to understand modern movies.

[32:03] Like, just stop.

[32:04] Like, it triggered the same reaction in me as in The Flash

[32:08] when they were like, oh, yeah, because Back to the Future, blah, blah, blah.

[32:11] It's like, can I have a different frame of reference for anything in life

[32:14] that is not movies from the 1980s?

[32:18] Guys, tell me why I'm wrong.

[32:19] Tell me why I'm a curmudgeon.

Dan McCoy

[32:20] Well, I think that you were wrong in The Flash

[32:23] because I do think that Back to the Future

[32:24] is still kind of a standard way of thinking about time travel,

[32:27] but here it comes out of nowhere.

[32:30] I agree.

Stuart Wellington

[32:31] It's part of the collective culture, Elliot,

[32:33] where we all absorb similar information.

Elliott Kalan

[32:37] There was a time when the collective culture,

[32:40] it covered everything from Howdy Doody to William Shakespeare,

[32:43] and now it just seems to be movies that came out between 1982 and 1992.

Dan McCoy

[32:47] Howdy Doody or William Shakespeare dealt with time travel.

[32:49] Maybe we should talk about it in The Flash.

Elliott Kalan

[32:51] William Shakespeare did deal with time travel in The Tempest.

[32:55] The Tempest.

[32:56] Shut up.

Dan McCoy

[32:57] My problem is, like, okay,

[32:59] you say that the Emerald can make thoughts real or whatever.

[33:02] Then why is Robotnik's plan later on

[33:05] just to, like, have a big robot that goes around smashing things?

[33:07] It seems like he's unstoppable.

[33:08] And then when he loses the Emerald, the robot stays fine.

Stuart Wellington

[33:11] Like, that wouldn't be your first wish,

[33:13] is to have a giant mecha so you can do a mecha battle?

Dan McCoy

[33:16] I'm just saying you're unstoppable.

[33:17] You don't have to, like, fight people with a robot.

[33:20] You can have the robot if you want it, you know?

Elliott Kalan

[33:22] Well, pointing to the only frame of reference that exists,

[33:27] media from the mid to 80s to early 90s.

[33:30] Okay.

[33:30] In the Infinity Gauntlet series,

[33:32] Thanos gets the Infinity Gauntlet,

[33:34] and it takes him time to get used to being a god.

[33:36] And so first he's thinking in the way a mortal would think,

[33:38] and he's doing mortal things.

[33:39] He's fighting hand-to-hand

[33:40] rather than just snapping his enemies out of existence.

[33:43] Maybe it's something like that.

Dan McCoy

[33:45] Yeah.

[33:45] It's a process.

[33:46] Yeah, there's a learning curve.

[33:48] Okay.

[33:48] Dan, when you get the Master Emerald

Elliott Kalan

[33:49] and you have godlike power,

Dan McCoy

[33:50] let me see how fast you get used to it

[33:52] and you understand how to harness it.

[33:53] I've been waiting for that Emerald.

Elliott Kalan

[33:56] What are you going to do with that Emerald, Dan?

[33:57] What is the first thing you're going to do?

Dan McCoy

[33:59] I don't know, man.

[34:00] World peace?

[34:01] And then, like, after that's done,

[34:03] you know, I'll attend to my own needs.

[34:05] You know, just hang out.

[34:06] What?

[34:06] Hang out.

[34:07] So one world peace, two butts.

Elliott Kalan

[34:09] That's basically the way it goes?

[34:10] Okay.

[34:11] I can't.

Jamelle Bouie

[34:11] I'm afraid of any kind of unlimited power, wealth,

[34:14] because I can see my,

[34:15] I'm on an immediate path on, like,

[34:17] the Howard Hughes train.

Elliott Kalan

[34:20] You know?

[34:21] Just you and your Emerald DVDs

[34:22] just sitting there all alone in the room.

Jamelle Bouie

[34:25] Jars full of Emerald-colored piss, you know.

[34:27] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[34:29] Drinking nothing but Shamrock shakes.

[34:32] Yeah.

[34:34] I feel like I do the, uh...

[34:35] We haven't made those in years.

[34:36] We have to make them.

[34:37] Jamel says,

[34:38] Mr. Bowie says,

[34:39] that's all he'll drink.

Stuart Wellington

[34:41] I feel like if I got one of these Emeralds,

[34:43] I'd be like,

[34:43] I'd go straight to, like,

[34:44] Bezos land or Bezos land

[34:46] and, like,

[34:47] try and turn myself into Pitbull, basically.

Elliott Kalan

[34:50] I mean, you're doing pretty good already.

[34:52] Thank you.

[34:52] That's what I was fishing for.

[34:54] Yeah.

[34:55] My goals are a little less ambitious.

[34:57] I say to my wife all the time,

[34:58] I'm like,

[34:58] I wish I was,

[34:59] if I was rich,

[35:00] I could get the things that I want to get.

[35:01] And she's like,

[35:02] well, what do you want to get?

[35:02] And I'm like,

[35:03] well,

[35:03] there's this person who's selling

[35:04] an ichthyosaurus skeleton on eBay

[35:06] and I've really wanted it for a long time

[35:08] and I want to make it into a coffee table.

[35:10] Yeah, you'd be drowning

Dan McCoy

[35:11] in ichthyosaurus skeletons.

Elliott Kalan

[35:13] I just need the one.

[35:14] But anyway,

[35:15] there's also a triceratops skull

[35:16] that someone's selling.

[35:17] It's very expensive.

[35:17] So,

[35:18] and Longclaw was like,

[35:19] it was my job to protect the master emerald.

[35:21] Now it's your job, Sonic.

[35:22] It's hidden on earth.

[35:23] And he goes,

[35:23] I'm not gonna let you down, mom.

[35:24] The map says they need a compass

[35:26] to find the emerald.

[35:27] Seems like an unnecessary extra step.

[35:29] They already have a map.

[35:30] The compass is in Siberia.

[35:31] Tails is afraid to go

[35:32] and Sonic is like,

[35:33] I'll protect you.

[35:34] Meanwhile,

[35:34] in Hawaii,

[35:35] Tom is so intimidated

[35:36] by Randall and his friends

[35:37] and Tom is like,

[35:38] I wish Sonic had close friends.

[35:40] And he entertains the ring bearer,

[35:42] a little girl,

[35:43] with a disappearing ring magic trick.

[35:45] Tom,

[35:45] that's gonna be a mistake down the line.

[35:47] Siberia.

[35:47] Sonic and Tails are lost in a storm.

[35:49] They take shelter inside

[35:50] a tough Russian saloon.

[35:52] And Tails is like,

[35:53] I'm an inventor.

[35:54] I've got all these gadgets.

[35:55] I've been monitoring you, Sonic,

[35:56] all the time,

[35:56] using my gadgets.

[35:58] And meanwhile,

[35:59] Robotnik and Knuckles

[36:00] are tracking them

[36:00] through Sonic's phone

[36:01] at this time.

[36:02] Tails has a translation machine,

[36:04] but it doesn't work right.

[36:05] It accidentally translates

[36:06] what they're saying

[36:06] into rude Russian sayings

[36:08] and offends everybody.

[36:09] So,

[36:10] they have to have a dance battle

[36:11] with some mean-looking Russians.

[36:12] Of course.

[36:12] Uh-huh, yep.

[36:13] And they win by

[36:14] completely cheating.

[36:15] They use Tails' gadgets

[36:16] to create like,

[36:17] a hologram field

[36:19] of other Tails'.

[36:20] They dance to Uptown Funk.

[36:22] This goes on

[36:23] for a very long time.

[36:24] Every once in a while,

Stuart Wellington

[36:25] you know,

[36:26] like that.

[36:26] It's cheating to dance

[36:27] to Uptown Funk?

[36:28] The what?

[36:29] It's cheating to dance

[36:31] to Uptown Funk?

[36:31] Uptown Funk's

Elliott Kalan

[36:35] is scientifically designed

[36:36] to get everybody to dance.

[36:37] It's a song that I don't like,

[36:39] but I have to dance to it.

[36:40] You have to,

[36:40] scientifically, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[36:42] I just wanted to say,

[36:43] every once in a while.

[36:44] You lose control

Elliott Kalan

[36:44] of body and soul,

[36:45] which is a different song,

[36:46] but it describes

[36:47] what happens

[36:47] when you listen to Uptown Funk.

Dan McCoy

[36:49] There's a sight gag

[36:50] that works for me,

[36:52] just like the F-minus one.

[36:54] Like,

[36:54] there's one here

[36:54] that I enjoyed

[36:55] where like,

[36:56] it's them looking around

[36:57] the room

[36:58] and you know,

[36:58] like one person

[36:59] has like a knife

[36:59] and they're like,

[37:00] ah!

[37:00] And like another person

[37:01] is scared

[37:01] ah!

[37:02] And they look over

[37:02] at like a woman knitting

[37:04] oh, phew!

[37:05] And then she holds up

[37:06] what she's knitting

[37:06] and it's a skull

[37:07] and crossbones.

[37:08] That's a good joke.

[37:09] That was a good joke.

[37:10] That was a good joke.

[37:10] Give you credit

Elliott Kalan

[37:10] to the Sonic team.

[37:12] Yeah.

[37:12] Enjoyed that one.

[37:13] They did.

[37:14] And then later

[37:14] she holds that knitted skull

[37:16] up like a mask

[37:17] when they're all

[37:18] intimidating them.

[37:18] So that was very funny.

[37:20] They win the dance contest.

[37:22] Tails is grateful

[37:22] to have a friend.

[37:24] His double tails,

[37:24] they made him an outcast

[37:25] at home.

[37:26] But seeing Sonic

[37:27] and seeing how weird Sonic is

[37:29] made him feel,

[37:30] hey,

[37:30] there's a friend

[37:31] for me out there

[37:31] and so that's why

[37:32] Tails decided to go

[37:33] find Sonic.

[37:34] The next day.

Dan McCoy

[37:35] Randy Newman comes in

[37:36] and sings a song about it

[37:37] and then,

[37:38] yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[37:38] Yeah,

[37:39] because you got

[37:39] two tails on you.

[37:41] That's how it is.

[37:42] Yep.

[37:42] Yeah,

[37:43] for Tails Story.

[37:44] That's the movie

[37:45] he wrote that for.

[37:47] Yeah,

[37:47] start featuring

[37:48] Buzz Lightyear

[37:49] and anyway.

[37:50] Oh man,

[37:50] can he keep going?

[37:51] I can't,

[37:52] that's all I got.

[37:53] Yeah.

[37:54] That was pretty good though.

[37:55] Produced by John Asseter.

[37:57] Anyway,

[37:57] so the next day

[37:58] they find the magical cave,

[38:02] there's carvings everywhere

[38:02] that tell the backstory

[38:03] of the Master Emerald

[38:04] and how the Akedans made it

[38:06] and the Long Claws hit it

[38:07] and as a viewer right now

[38:08] I was like,

[38:08] yeah,

[38:08] I got it.

[38:09] Like I don't,

[38:09] this is not,

[38:10] I don't need to know that.

[38:11] This is not helpful.

[38:12] But they animated it

[38:13] in a cool style.

[38:14] It was done in like

[38:14] a cool animated style.

[38:16] Anyway,

[38:16] they get the magic compass

[38:17] from an owl statue

[38:18] but then Robotnik

[38:19] and Knuckles ambush them.

[38:20] This turns into

[38:21] a snowboarding laser chase

[38:23] just like in the video games.

[38:24] Were you guys excited

[38:25] to see Sonic snowboarding

[38:26] just like in the video games?

[38:28] Right guys?

Dan McCoy

[38:29] Yeah,

[38:30] anything extreme,

[38:31] man.

[38:31] You know?

[38:32] I didn't know

[38:33] he snowboarded.

[38:35] Is that,

[38:35] yeah,

[38:36] I didn't either actually.

[38:37] He snowboards in,

Jamelle Bouie

[38:38] you know,

[38:39] I joke that I don't know

[38:40] anything about Sonic

[38:40] but here I am.

[38:41] He snowboards,

[38:42] I believe,

[38:42] in the Sonic Adventure games.

Elliott Kalan

[38:44] Oh,

[38:44] okay.

[38:45] Okay.

[38:46] It's not like Sonic Sports

[38:47] or something like that

[38:48] because Mario,

[38:48] he'll do anything.

[38:49] He'll do any kind of games.

[38:50] Sports,

[38:50] puzzles.

[38:51] He said he was a doctor

[38:52] for a little while.

[38:53] Yeah,

[38:53] that was not cool.

Jamelle Bouie

[38:56] Yeah,

[38:56] people really question that one.

[38:57] They're like,

[38:58] Mario,

[38:58] why are you prescribing

[39:00] these pills?

[39:01] Where are you giving

[39:01] this stuff from?

Stuart Wellington

[39:02] Where is it coming from?

[39:02] Man,

[39:03] still,

[39:04] today,

[39:05] the best soundtrack

[39:05] of a video game

[39:06] is the soundtrack

[39:07] for Dr. Mario.

Elliott Kalan

[39:08] I don't know

[39:08] if I'd say best

[39:09] but it's up there.

[39:10] It's right up there

[39:10] with Tetris

[39:11] and Mega Man 2

[39:12] for sure.

[39:13] Anyway,

[39:14] so,

[39:15] anyway,

[39:15] snowboard chase.

[39:17] During it,

[39:17] Knuckles reveals

[39:18] that his father died

[39:19] in the same battle

[39:20] that Longclaw died in

[39:21] and Sonic is like,

[39:22] oh,

[39:22] we both lost everything.

[39:24] Robotnik steals the compass

[39:25] and hurts Tails.

[39:26] I don't remember how.

[39:27] Maybe he hits him

[39:28] in the head with a hammer.

[39:28] Maybe he shoots him

[39:29] with a laser.

[39:29] I don't remember.

[39:30] Sonic goes to help Tails

[39:31] not to chase Robotnik

[39:33] and this impresses Knuckles

[39:34] for a moment

[39:35] and the bad guys escape

[39:36] and an avalanche

[39:37] is about to bury our heroes

[39:38] so he calls,

[39:39] they're snowboarding

[39:39] ahead of this avalanche.

[39:40] He calls Tom,

[39:41] which interrupts the wedding.

[39:42] He's like,

[39:43] use my portal ring

[39:44] to make a portal.

[39:45] Uh-oh.

[39:46] Tom doesn't have

[39:46] the portal ring

[39:47] in his pocket.

[39:48] He has the groom's ring.

[39:49] He switched the rings

[39:50] by accident

[39:51] when he did that magic trick.

[39:52] So,

[39:53] he has to go

[39:54] and get the ring

[39:54] in the middle

[39:55] of the wedding ceremony.

[39:56] He can't explain to them,

[39:58] I am the dad

[39:58] of an extra-dimensional

[40:00] blue hedgehog

[40:00] and I need to open a portal.

[40:02] But there is something

Dan McCoy

[40:03] that he can't explain

[40:04] and this made me so mad

[40:05] because he's just like,

[40:06] all he does is like,

[40:06] uh,

[40:07] can I see the ring?

[40:07] I really need to see the ring.

[40:09] Could you just give me the ring?

[40:10] Like,

[40:11] and I'm like,

[40:11] you have the other ring

[40:13] that you switched out.

[40:14] I accidentally mixed this up.

[40:16] This is the wrong one.

[40:16] You want yours right.

Stuart Wellington

[40:17] I'm taking to get it appraised.

Elliott Kalan

[40:19] Yeah.

[40:20] Yes,

[40:20] instead of saying,

[40:21] I'm sorry,

[40:21] I just realized

[40:22] I was performing a magic trick

[40:23] and I accidentally mixed up

[40:24] your ring with another,

[40:24] he just won't tell them

[40:25] and then punches Randall

[40:26] to get the ring,

[40:27] which again,

[40:28] a worse solution,

[40:29] I would argue.

[40:29] You guys,

Stuart Wellington

[40:30] I kind of wish

[40:31] that the wedding

[40:31] had happened slightly,

[40:33] uh,

[40:34] like they'd completed

[40:35] the wedding entirely

[40:36] before all these shenanigans

[40:37] happened and that like

[40:38] the portal had appeared

[40:39] on somebody's hand.

[40:40] I thought that would have

[40:40] been way better.

[40:42] Or the,

[40:42] or the,

[40:43] body whores.

[40:44] Or the,

Elliott Kalan

[40:45] or the,

[40:45] or the honeymoon night.

[40:46] Like there's a,

[40:47] they're,

[40:47] they're in bed for their,

Stuart Wellington

[40:49] Especially with the twist

[40:50] that is coming up.

[40:51] I wish that all of the,

[40:52] this had been revealed.

[40:53] Uh,

[40:54] the shenanigans happened

[40:54] after the wedding is what I'm saying.

Elliott Kalan

[40:56] Yeah,

[40:56] yeah.

[40:56] Uh,

[40:57] well,

[40:57] you just wanted to see

[40:57] that wedding go through

[40:58] without a hitch.

[40:59] Oh,

[40:59] the revelations we get.

[41:00] Yeah.

[41:00] Well,

[41:01] this,

[41:01] the revelations make you wonder

[41:02] how far this wedding

[41:03] was going to go.

[41:04] So they,

[41:05] we'll get to there,

[41:05] but,

[41:06] uh,

[41:06] they open up a portal

[41:07] and avalanche comes out

[41:08] and wrecks the wedding.

[41:08] It doesn't really hurt anybody.

[41:09] So I guess Sonic didn't need help

[41:11] that badly.

[41:12] Uh,

[41:12] but maybe it's just a portion

[41:13] of the snow came through.

[41:14] Randall,

[41:14] his groomsman,

[41:15] and the officiant,

[41:16] now that Sonic is there,

[41:17] they reveal that they are

[41:17] all federal agents

[41:18] set to capture Sonic

[41:20] as part of Operation Catfish.

[41:21] Because the easiest way

[41:22] to capture Sonic

[41:23] when you are a federal agent

[41:25] with law enforcement power

[41:26] is to get into a relationship

[41:28] with Sonic's aunt.

[41:30] Yes.

[41:30] And then get,

[41:32] date for months,

[41:33] plan a wedding.

[41:34] Presumably,

Dan McCoy

[41:34] sleeping together

[41:35] several times.

[41:36] Right,

[41:36] yeah,

[41:37] right,

[41:38] exactly.

Elliott Kalan

[41:38] They did not strike me

[41:39] as a chaste couple.

[41:40] They struck me as a couple

[41:41] that would give in

[41:42] to their physical hunger.

[41:43] You know,

[41:44] they seem fun.

[41:44] They seem to really

[41:45] love each other.

Jamelle Bouie

[41:46] Their physical hunger

[41:48] is a very funny way

[41:49] of putting it.

Elliott Kalan

[41:54] Look,

[41:54] I think about sex

[41:55] the way I think about Snickers.

[41:57] There's a hunger inside you.

[41:58] There's a hunger inside me.

Stuart Wellington

[41:59] I'm going to totally

[42:00] slip that into my therapy

[42:02] session later today.

[42:04] And,

Elliott Kalan

[42:04] and,

[42:05] so they,

[42:06] that they,

[42:07] just the fact that they

[42:07] had to send out

[42:08] invitations and all that.

[42:09] They had to put

[42:10] seating arrangements together,

[42:11] I assume,

[42:12] for this operation.

[42:13] And Rachel,

[42:14] understandably,

[42:15] is livid.

[42:16] She has been used.

[42:17] It's not fair.

[42:17] Yeah.

[42:18] And Sonic and Tom

[42:19] and Tails get captured.

[42:20] Luckily,

[42:21] Rachel and Maddie,

[42:23] Maddie,

[42:23] the Sonic's mom,

[42:25] adopted mom,

[42:25] they find Tails'

[42:26] backpack full of gadgets

[42:27] and they use it

[42:28] to save Sonic and Tom

[42:29] and Tails

[42:30] in various ways.

[42:31] We don't need to talk

[42:31] about all those gadgets.

[42:32] Randall feels guilty

[42:33] about tricking Rachel

[42:34] and the federal agent leader

[42:35] is like,

[42:36] don't be,

[42:36] we had to do this.

[42:37] Come on.

[42:38] She goes after them

[42:39] for revenge

[42:39] using like a laser

[42:40] and when the lead agent

[42:42] tries to tase her,

[42:43] Randall leaps in front of it

[42:44] and gets tased instead

[42:45] and he admits

[42:46] that he does love her

[42:47] and they kiss.

[42:49] And I was like,

[42:49] I was like,

[42:50] again,

[42:51] this is,

[42:51] yeah,

[42:51] in some ways,

[42:52] this is the most,

[42:53] this is the stuff

[42:54] that's most like

[42:55] kind of understandable

[42:55] on a human level,

[42:56] but why is it

[42:56] in a Sonic the Hedgehog movie?

[42:57] Like,

[42:58] I don't,

[42:58] I don't understand.

[42:59] But I just thought,

[43:00] how far were they going to go?

[43:00] Because the wedding

[43:01] was almost over.

[43:02] They were putting the rings

[43:03] on each other's fingers.

[43:03] I'm also genuinely curious

Jamelle Bouie

[43:05] about the bureaucracy

[43:06] behind this one.

[43:07] Like,

[43:07] who signed off on this,

[43:08] right?

[43:09] Like,

[43:09] this is,

[43:09] and presumably,

[43:11] right,

[43:11] like Sonic,

[43:12] extraterrestrial being,

[43:13] you know,

[43:14] immense power.

[43:15] Like,

[43:16] this isn't,

[43:16] you know,

[43:17] this is the FBI,

[43:18] I guess.

[43:19] So it's like,

[43:19] it's not just the FBI.

Elliott Kalan

[43:20] It's a new organization

[43:21] called GUN.

[43:22] Okay,

[43:23] GUN.

[43:24] That I think is international.

Jamelle Bouie

[43:26] International.

[43:26] Because if it's like federal,

[43:28] it's like,

[43:28] okay,

[43:28] let's just say the ATF agent.

[43:30] So I guess they report

[43:31] to the Secretary of Homeland Security.

[43:33] But like,

[43:34] if we're dealing with extraterrestrials,

[43:35] that's like going to the president.

[43:37] So it was like,

[43:38] this was filmed in,

[43:40] you know,

[43:41] so it was like Biden,

[43:42] sort of like.

[43:44] Yep.

Elliott Kalan

[43:45] And this is why we need

Stuart Wellington

[43:46] to do that.

[43:47] Dan,

[43:48] do that Joe Biden impression

[43:49] you've been trying to do.

[43:51] You just showed it to me.

[43:52] Should I get the ice cream?

[43:53] Malarkey.

Elliott Kalan

[43:55] This is why Jamel

[43:57] is our hedgehog correspondent.

[43:58] Because only you know

[43:59] the hierarchy

[43:59] that they have to talk to

[44:00] to get these kinds of operations

[44:01] off the ground.

[44:02] So let's say,

[44:03] let's take a moment.

[44:04] We don't have a lot of time,

[44:05] but let's take a moment

[44:05] to just say,

[44:06] okay,

[44:08] there's an alien hedgehog

[44:09] on Earth.

[44:11] How does the federal government

[44:12] react to this?

[44:13] Like,

[44:13] what legally can they do?

[44:14] How does it go up

[44:15] to the chain of command?

[44:16] What do you think would happen?

Jamelle Bouie

[44:17] Well,

[44:17] I think Dan had it about right.

[44:20] A piece of paper

[44:21] goes to the president

[44:22] and he either signs it,

[44:24] hell yeah,

[44:25] or malarkey,

[44:27] and then that just authorizes

[44:29] or denies

[44:30] whatever operation they have.

Elliott Kalan

[44:31] Yeah, stamps.

[44:32] And is this under,

[44:34] I mean,

[44:35] it can't be the Secretary of Defense,

[44:36] right?

[44:36] Because they can't operate,

[44:38] the Army's not supposed to operate

[44:39] domestically,

Jamelle Bouie

[44:41] right?

[44:41] So this would be,

[44:41] this would either be the FBI

[44:43] or some Homeland Security agency.

[44:47] Either way,

[44:48] the president,

[44:48] although if it's the FBI,

[44:49] the president isn't like

[44:50] directly involved.

[44:52] Either way.

[44:52] It's the Justice Department.

[44:53] Yeah,

[44:53] there's some technical separation there.

Elliott Kalan

[44:56] And now they just released

[44:57] that report,

[44:58] the government just released

[44:59] a report basically being like,

[45:01] all those UFO sightings,

[45:02] they weren't UFOs.

[45:02] Do you think this falls under that?

[45:04] Like,

[45:04] is this,

[45:05] is there some kind of like

[45:07] extraterrestrial intelligence

[45:08] gathering operation

[45:09] that would be like,

[45:09] we were wrong.

[45:10] The aliens do exist

[45:11] and they're blue hedgehogs

[45:12] that want to be superheroes

[45:13] and love 80s and 90s pop music.

[45:16] Is it,

[45:17] that would send tremors

[45:18] through the government,

[45:19] right?

Jamelle Bouie

[45:20] Maybe.

[45:21] Okay,

[45:21] so this just reminded me,

[45:22] the funny thing about that UFO report

[45:24] is you know who was like

[45:25] really adamant

[45:26] that the government released

[45:27] whatever it knew about UFOs?

[45:30] Late,

[45:31] now late,

[45:31] but former Senate Majority Leader

[45:33] Harry Reid was like,

[45:35] we gotta,

[45:35] we gotta get this stuff out,

[45:36] get this stuff out to the public.

[45:38] We gotta let the people know.

Elliott Kalan

[45:40] So that,

[45:40] my understanding of that

[45:41] was that he had like

[45:42] one big donor

[45:43] who,

[45:44] in Nevada,

[45:44] who was like,

[45:45] aliens.

[45:45] And he's like,

[45:46] yeah,

[45:46] keep the campaign money coming

[45:48] and I'll get some aliens.

[45:49] Because also like,

[45:50] Marco Rubio was pretty big on this too

[45:52] at a certain point,

[45:53] right?

[45:53] Yeah,

[45:54] that makes sense.

[45:55] But yeah,

[45:56] you're right,

[45:56] Harry Reid's big thing,

[45:57] it was like with his dying breath,

[45:59] he was like,

[45:59] tell them about the aliens.

Jamelle Bouie

[46:02] Tell them about the hedgehog.

Elliott Kalan

[46:04] It can't be a secret.

[46:06] And you have to assume,

[46:07] and so how would,

[46:08] break it down for me

[46:08] before we move on,

[46:09] how would liberals

[46:10] and conservatives,

[46:11] how would they differ

[46:11] in their feelings

[46:12] about the hedgehog?

[46:13] What would their takes be?

Jamelle Bouie

[46:15] That's a good question.

[46:17] I mean,

[46:18] does this go under

[46:19] open borders?

[46:19] Well,

[46:19] he's blue,

[46:20] so,

[46:21] you know,

[46:22] Republicans might be like,

[46:24] he's blue,

Jamelle Bouie

[46:24] he's blue,

[46:25] he's blue,

Jamelle Bouie

[46:25] he's blue,

[46:26] he's blue,

[46:27] he's blue,

[46:28] he's blue,

[46:29] he's blue,

[46:30] he's blue,

[46:31] he's blue,

[46:32] so,

[46:33] you know,

[46:33] Republicans might be like,

[46:36] he's blue,

[46:37] yeah,

[46:39] yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[46:39] yeah,

[46:40] yeah,

[46:41] so,

[46:41] he'd be the one they were after.

[46:42] Yeah,

[46:42] he's like,

[46:43] the MAGA hedgehog.

[46:45] I see,

[46:45] so there's a MAGA hedgehog,

[46:46] and Sonic would be like,

[46:46] the Brandon hedgehog,

[46:48] I guess,

[46:48] like,

[46:49] but like,

[46:51] Sonic always carries the baby to term,

Stuart Wellington

[46:53] right,

[46:53] so they should like him.

[46:54] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[46:54] that's right,

[46:56] yeah,

[46:56] Sonic is pro-life,

Stuart Wellington

[46:57] that's right,

Elliott Kalan

[46:58] if they can hate,

[46:59] based on these memes I have,

[47:01] saved in my hidden folder.

[47:02] If they can hate a blonde white lady,

[47:04] who is dating a professional football player,

[47:06] then they can hate anybody,

[47:07] Stuart,

[47:07] yeah,

[47:08] yeah,

[47:08] you're right.

[47:09] Yeah,

Dan McCoy

[47:10] I mean,

[47:10] I don't know who's in charge of all this,

[47:13] you know,

[47:15] hedgehog wrangling in the government,

[47:17] all I know,

[47:18] is that according to my bumper sticker,

[47:20] the government should have a bake sale to fund it,

[47:23] because I don't want my tax dollars going towards that.

Elliott Kalan

[47:26] Yeah,

[47:27] yeah,

[47:27] fair point,

[47:28] yeah.

[47:30] So,

[47:30] Knuckles and Robotnik,

[47:31] they follow the compass to where the Emerald is,

[47:33] an island that very helpfully is within sight of the Hawaiian wedding site,

[47:38] which,

[47:39] it's just very convenient for everybody.

[47:40] Sonic runs off to deal with it on his own,

[47:43] and he runs across the waves to the Emerald Island,

[47:45] not Ireland,

[47:46] the island with the Emerald on it,

[47:48] and he follows Robotnik and Knuckles as they go through a bunch of Raiders of the Lost Ark style traps,

[47:52] which are so derivative that the movie makes a point of joking about it.

[47:55] In a joke,

[47:55] I did think it was funny.

[47:56] Robotnik goes,

[47:57] I don't want to die this day away.

[47:58] It would be too derivative.

[48:02] all right,

[48:02] movie,

[48:02] you got me with that one.

[48:03] Sonic bursts in,

[48:04] fights Knuckles,

[48:05] Robotnik,

[48:05] of course,

[48:06] double-crosses Knuckles,

[48:07] steals the Emerald,

[48:08] becomes a glowing power being,

[48:09] causes the island to collapse.

[48:11] We all knew this was going to happen,

[48:12] right,

[48:12] Dan?

Dan McCoy

[48:14] I mean,

[48:14] you got to have the darkness before the dawn.

[48:17] And he betrays Knuckles,

Stuart Wellington

[48:19] and Knuckles is like,

[48:20] I thought you wouldn't betray me because we're friends.

Elliott Kalan

[48:23] Yeah.

[48:24] And Sonic and Knuckles,

[48:25] they each take turns saving each other from drowning,

[48:28] and on the beach,

[48:29] Sonic tells Knuckles his lessons about being a hero,

[48:31] and the importance of finding a friend's family.

[48:33] They decide to team up.

[48:34] Back in Green Hills,

[48:36] Wade earlier discovered an arrested stone.

[48:38] We don't need to go into that.

[48:40] Robotnik shows up.

[48:40] He has godlike electricity powers.

[48:42] The army surrounds the coffee shop.

[48:44] I'm not sure how they knew what was going on there.

[48:47] Maybe Wade called them.

[48:48] So the secret agent commander,

[48:50] and Tom,

[48:50] and Maddie,

[48:51] they helicopter in.

[48:52] Tom and Maddie are now,

[48:53] I guess,

[48:53] deputized.

[48:54] They're now leaders of this organization,

[48:57] this assault on Robotnik.

[48:59] Just in time to see Robotnik do what everybody does

[49:02] ever since Akira or Magneto.

[49:05] You rise up in the air with your arms outstretched,

[49:08] and then you move your arms to create telekinetic force

[49:12] that then disassembles machines,

[49:14] and then rebuilds them into something.

[49:16] So he disassembles all the vehicles,

[49:17] turns them into a giant Robotnik mech,

[49:19] as mentioned earlier,

[49:20] just like in the games.

[49:21] The heroes show up,

[49:22] and this is the part of the movie

[49:23] I love to do the summary for

[49:25] because I can basically just say,

[49:26] fight, fight, fight, missiles, etc.

[49:28] The movie is like,

[49:29] Elliot,

[49:30] you're really tired.

[49:31] Here's 20 minutes of a movie

[49:32] that you don't really need to summarize very much.

Dan McCoy

[49:34] That's what it felt like to watch it to me.

[49:36] I'm like,

[49:36] okay,

[49:36] fight, fight, fight, missiles.

[49:38] You're not even going to mention

Stuart Wellington

[49:39] that when Stone doesn't remember

[49:42] how to pilot the vehicle or something,

[49:44] he pulls out the user's manual,

[49:46] and it is a classic design,

[49:47] like a classic Sega video game manual.

Elliott Kalan

[49:50] I am not going to mention that at all.

[49:51] It will go unmentioned in this episode.

[49:53] I did like that.

Jamelle Bouie

[49:54] I enjoy it.

[49:54] That one got me.

[49:56] That bit of nostalgia.

[49:57] I was like,

[49:57] okay,

[49:58] I like that.

Elliott Kalan

[49:59] I guess that's true.

[50:00] If I was watching a Nintendo,

[50:01] because I was a Nintendo kid,

[50:02] if I was watching a Nintendo movie

[50:03] and they pulled out an issue of Nintendo power,

[50:05] you know,

[50:05] or something,

[50:06] I'd be like,

[50:06] oh,

[50:07] okay,

[50:07] yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[50:07] Because you're a Nintendo kid,

[50:08] just seeing it made you angry.

[50:10] You broke your controller in your hand.

[50:13] You're like,

[50:14] mama mia,

[50:15] because you're a Nintendo kid.

Elliott Kalan

[50:17] Yeah,

[50:17] I was like,

[50:18] it's a me,

[50:19] Nintendo kid.

[50:20] Link.

[50:21] Bubble,

[50:21] bubble,

[50:22] you know,

[50:22] that kind of stuff.

[50:23] Of course,

[50:23] of course.

[50:24] Mega Man.

[50:24] Ice Climbers.

[50:25] They call him.

[50:27] Excite Bike.

[50:30] Toe Jam and Earl.

[50:31] I think that was on both platforms.

[50:35] Anyway,

[50:36] I was going to talk about Nintendo stuff.

[50:37] We don't need to do that.

[50:38] Sonic,

[50:38] Knuckles,

[50:39] and Tails.

[50:39] Sonic's like,

[50:40] we need to work as a team.

[50:41] And it's like,

[50:41] well,

[50:42] what were you doing up to this point

[50:43] when you said you were going to be partners?

[50:45] Sonic's going to distract Robotnik

[50:46] because he knows Robotnik hates him the most

[50:48] while Knuckles and Tails sneak into the mech.

[50:51] Sonic gets real beat up.

[50:52] Knuckles punches Robotnik,

[50:54] which causes the emerald to fall out of the mech.

Stuart Wellington

[50:56] Guys,

[50:56] there's a moment where like,

[50:58] you know,

[50:58] where they're standing there

[50:59] seeing this newly created like giant monster thing.

[51:03] wow,

[51:03] this is kind of like the end of Suicide Squad

[51:05] where Idris Elba's facing down

[51:06] a sudden appearance of a giant monster thing.

[51:09] That's pretty cool,

[51:09] right?

[51:10] Is it cool for him,

[51:11] do you think,

[51:11] that he gets to do the same thing a couple times?

Elliott Kalan

[51:13] It in no way speaks to the creative bankruptcy of Hollywood

[51:16] that all movies operate the exact same way.

[51:19] Instead,

[51:20] that is the majesty of the story circle writing structure,

[51:22] which makes only perfect movies.

[51:25] But yeah,

[51:25] I bet Idris Elba was like,

[51:26] this is pretty funny that I did this in another movie.

Dan McCoy

[51:30] Yeah.

[51:31] I'm sure he marvels at the irony all the time.

Elliott Kalan

[51:33] Yeah.

[51:34] He's like,

[51:34] this reminds me of Stringer Bell's final scene in The Wire.

[51:37] I've done this so many times,

[51:38] faced off with an enemy

[51:39] who in their case was standing on stairs slightly above me.

[51:42] So they seemed bigger than me,

[51:44] even though Brother Mazzone and Omar were smaller than me in real life.

[51:47] I'm a very tall man.

[51:48] I'm Idris Elba,

[51:49] of course.

[51:50] And he often reminds people who he is while they're talking to him.

[51:55] And the guy he's talking to is like,

[51:57] I know,

[51:57] I'm your authorized biographer.

[51:58] You hired me to interview you and then write your memoir.

[52:00] Yeah,

[52:01] yeah,

[52:01] I just want to make sure you knew I was Idris Elba.

[52:02] No,

[52:02] I'm aware of it.

[52:03] Yeah,

[52:03] we've been working together for months now.

[52:05] I've lived with your family,

[52:06] really embedded with you.

[52:07] Yeah,

[52:07] yeah,

[52:07] I just want to make sure you know.

[52:08] Wow,

[52:08] this is a real life thing that he does.

Stuart Wellington

[52:10] Biographer character is getting a huge backstory.

[52:13] It's like a Sonic character.

[52:14] Well,

Elliott Kalan

[52:15] Idris Elba was like,

[52:15] I just want to make sure you know who I am because I know you went and lived on the island of Elba for a few months to really get into my head.

[52:20] But that's not me.

[52:21] That's an island where Napoleon was exiled.

[52:23] that was a mistake.

[52:24] Yeah,

[52:24] so anyway,

[52:26] Sonic,

[52:26] he's all beat up.

[52:27] He takes the emerald.

[52:28] Tom and Maddie,

[52:28] they help him briefly.

[52:29] And he's like,

[52:30] go,

[52:31] don't get,

[52:31] save yourself.

[52:32] And she goes,

[52:32] no,

[52:32] we're a family.

[52:33] And Robotnik steps on them with his giant mech.

[52:36] But the power of the emerald gives Sonic super golden glow ultra powers.

[52:40] And he saves them all.

[52:41] He defeats Robotnik's robot,

[52:42] seemingly killing Robotnik.

[52:44] And at the end,

[52:45] later on,

[52:46] the leader of the agent commander's like,

[52:47] well,

[52:47] I guess Robotnik disappeared.

[52:49] And it's like,

[52:49] uh,

[52:49] it seems like he died in the wreckage.

[52:51] Like,

[52:51] I don't,

[52:51] I guess we're not going to get into that.

[52:53] they,

[52:54] he uses,

[52:55] and that he,

[52:55] having saved the day,

[52:56] he uses his now godlike power to conjure a hot dog with everything on it.

[52:59] And then ejects the power from his body,

[53:02] sending it,

Dan McCoy

[53:03] who knows where.

[53:04] I don't know,

[53:04] back to the emerald.

[53:05] I'm not sure.

[53:06] Gene Gray to encounter it and take it on,

[53:08] I guess.

Elliott Kalan

[53:09] Take it on,

[53:09] yeah,

[53:09] so that she can eat the planet of the broccoli people.

[53:12] Uh,

[53:12] and he goes back to being a kid.

[53:14] Uh,

[53:14] Knuckles fixes the emerald shards by squeezing them really tight,

[53:17] the same way that Ferris Bueller says that Cameron could do with a lump of coal to turn it into a diamond.

[53:22] I can do 80s movie references too,

[53:25] guys.

[53:25] Wow,

[53:25] yeah,

[53:25] I'm impressed.

[53:26] If that's what we're doing now,

[53:26] if that's what everything is related to,

[53:28] I can do that too.

[53:29] Right?

[53:29] Jamel,

[53:30] right?

[53:30] I mean,

[53:30] Ferris Bueller,

[53:31] he says he's so tight.

[53:33] I mean,

Dan McCoy

[53:33] we do do it on the podcast quite a bit.

[53:35] We do do it.

[53:36] Dan,

[53:36] you have no idea what you just said.

[53:38] Oh my god.

[53:38] You have no idea what you just said.

Elliott Kalan

[53:40] You just said do it.

[53:41] No.

Elliott Kalan

[53:42] Dan,

[53:43] you were talking about human,

[53:44] excrement just now.

[53:45] And you laughed so hard at me.

[53:48] So embarrassed later on.

[53:48] Yeah.

[53:49] Anyway,

[53:49] I'd like to thank again New York Times opinion writer Jamel Bowie for being on the episode with us today.

[53:53] So,

[53:54] later,

[53:55] so now they decide they're going to join forces to forever protect the master emerald.

[53:59] Later,

[54:00] who knows how many days or years later,

[54:02] Sonic is teaching Tails and Knuckles how to play baseball.

[54:04] Knuckles has some funny lines here.

[54:05] It's funny,

[54:06] someone who is a,

[54:07] any time someone is like a space warrior who is learning a human sport,

[54:11] the jokes write themselves.

[54:14] Tom is happy that Sonic has friends now.

[54:16] He keeps calling them his,

[54:17] his squad,

[54:18] right?

[54:18] Or whatever,

[54:19] which I did not,

[54:19] don't like,

[54:20] or his wingman or whatever.

[54:21] I don't like it.

[54:21] I don't like that.

[54:22] And,

[54:22] uh,

[54:23] Sonic calls Tom dad,

[54:25] which is very,

[54:26] I have to assume that moment is touching,

[54:27] but it's weird when a,

[54:28] when a CGI blue hedgehog from another dimension calls you dad.

[54:32] Like that's,

[54:33] is that the,

[54:33] is this the family that Tom saw himself having?

[54:34] Weird the first time Elliot,

[54:35] but,

Stuart Wellington

[54:36] you know,

[54:37] over,

[54:37] over the years.

[54:38] It was less weird than when Jim Carrey yelled it while sliding under a closing door.

[54:43] And he said,

[54:43] make room for daddy.

[54:45] Yeah.

[54:45] That was weird.

[54:46] I didn't like that.

[54:46] That was pretty weird.

Elliott Kalan

[54:47] Yeah.

[54:48] And especially because if I don't like it because it's a reference to a thing from before the 1980s,

[54:52] which makes me uncomfortable.

[54:53] Was,

[54:54] was there culture then?

[54:55] And I don't want to know.

[54:56] Uh,

[54:57] they,

[54:57] and,

[54:57] uh,

[54:58] but I,

[54:58] I wish the movie then had cut to Tom imagining Sonic's future as his son,

[55:03] where he's like seeing him graduate from college.

[55:05] He's walking down the aisle at his Jewish wedding.

[55:07] Cause he's marrying a Jewish woman.

[55:09] And,

[55:09] uh,

[55:10] it's under raising Arizona is what you're talking about.

[55:12] Yeah.

[55:12] Basically he's an old man and Sonic's half hedgehog,

[55:15] half human hybrid children.

[55:17] Oh,

[55:17] gross.

[55:18] Oh,

Dan McCoy

[55:20] gross.

[55:22] Just like people with like big spiky blue hair.

[55:25] Yeah,

[55:26] exactly.

[55:27] Or,

[55:27] or,

Jamelle Bouie

[55:27] or very small humans.

[55:29] Oh God.

[55:31] Thank you.

[55:32] Small pink hedgehogs.

[55:34] Yeah.

[55:34] You know what?

[55:35] Every option is worse than the one before.

Elliott Kalan

[55:39] I love it.

[55:40] So they all go for ice cream.

[55:42] They almost,

[55:43] yeah,

[55:43] yeah.

[55:43] That's the one they don't talk about,

[55:45] but everyone knows the truth about it.

[55:46] Yeah.

[55:47] Uh,

[55:47] they all go out for,

[55:48] uh,

[55:48] ice cream and they almost leave the master emerald behind.

[55:51] Uh,

[55:51] the thing that they just promised they would protect with their lives to the very end.

[55:55] They almost lost within moments.

[55:57] Uh,

[55:57] and then I know Stuart,

[55:58] you don't stay for these,

[55:59] but there's a mid credit scene.

[56:02] What?

[56:02] This is the secret agent commander.

[56:04] He's told,

[56:05] as Jamel said,

[56:06] they've discovered a 50 year old hidden government facility,

[56:09] project shadow and a containment energy pot opens and shadow.

[56:13] The hedgehog opens his eyes.

[56:14] And I was confronted with the knowledge in myself.

[56:17] I don't know who shadow is.

[56:18] And I don't,

[56:19] I have no,

[56:20] I had no context for this reveal.

Stuart Wellington

[56:22] Oh man,

[56:22] Jamel's gearing up.

Elliott Kalan

[56:24] I can see the hands go to the keyboard.

[56:27] There's a reason he's the hedgehog correspondent.

[56:28] Jamel,

[56:29] tell me about shadow the hedgehog.

Jamelle Bouie

[56:30] So shadow the hedgehog first appears in Sonic adventure two from 2001.

[56:36] And he's like basically Sonic's and he's like Sonic's Wario,

[56:39] basically.

[56:39] Oh,

[56:40] cool.

[56:41] So I like him already.

[56:42] He's just misunderstood.

[56:43] Sort of a Wannick,

[56:44] if you will.

[56:47] He is.

[56:48] So,

[56:48] okay.

[56:48] Let me think.

[56:49] So Wario,

[56:50] as we all know,

[56:50] as we're all aware,

[56:52] is like greed and avarice incarnate.

[56:55] And really,

[56:56] it's not,

[56:56] it's neither like a villain.

Stuart Wellington

[56:57] We know where he was on January 6th.

[57:00] For sure.

Elliott Kalan

[57:02] There's a,

[57:02] there's a reason that he's been in the hiding.

[57:04] Selling shirts outside of the event.

Jamelle Bouie

[57:06] Wow.

Elliott Kalan

[57:08] This election,

[57:09] we did a win.

Jamelle Bouie

[57:12] But so shadow isn't like,

[57:15] like,

[57:15] so Wario is only an antagonist insofar that Mario gets in the way of Wario

[57:20] trying to get those coins.

[57:22] Shadow is more like an anti-hero type who like is an antagonist to the

[57:27] sense that like Sonic's attempt to do something heroic interferes with

[57:31] Shadow's attempt to do something heroic.

[57:34] Oh,

[57:34] he's not like,

[57:34] he's not like a,

Stuart Wellington

[57:36] he's not like evil.

[57:38] He's just sort of,

[57:39] you know,

[57:39] he's like the hot topic version of Sonic.

[57:42] Yeah.

[57:43] Yeah.

[57:44] Interesting.

[57:45] He's the Sonic that the Goths are related to.

[57:47] You know,

Dan McCoy

[57:48] I'm so much more interested in Sonic lore when it comes from Jamel rather than

[57:53] Sonic 2.

Elliott Kalan

[57:55] Yeah.

[57:55] I wish,

[57:56] I would have really loved it if,

[57:57] if they had to keep going to explainers that you were doing Jamel.

[58:00] You're like,

[58:00] Oh yeah.

[58:00] Like,

Jamelle Bouie

[58:00] like who's that director who I don't like?

[58:04] Adam McKay.

[58:05] There you go.

[58:06] Yeah.

[58:06] Okay.

[58:06] Adam McKay movie.

[58:08] They're like,

[58:08] Oh,

[58:09] New York times opinion columnist.

[58:11] Jamel movie.

[58:11] Talk shadow.

[58:12] Shadow the hedgehog.

[58:14] I'm in a hot tub.

[58:15] You're in a bow.

[58:16] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[58:17] Now imagine Sonic the hedgehog and shadow.

[58:20] The hedgehog are the deficit and the debt.

[58:22] Let me explain to you.

[58:26] Yeah,

[58:26] actually I would make those.

[58:27] I know.

[58:28] I want,

[58:28] now I want to see the big short Jamel cut where you,

[58:30] you're the person who's explaining each of the things.

[58:32] And by the end of the movie,

[58:33] you're like,

[58:33] I don't know,

[58:34] just dramatize these,

[58:35] this information.

[58:36] Like it's not helpful.

[58:37] It's not helpful to be told this way.

Jamelle Bouie

[58:39] Listen,

[58:40] listen,

[58:40] I'm an adult.

[58:41] I can understand exposition in a film.

[58:43] You can just have a character say it.

Elliott Kalan

[58:45] I don't need Margot Robbie.

[58:47] The one that got,

[58:47] well,

[58:48] I mean,

[58:48] what was also funny to me was that they were like Margot Robbie in a hot tub.

[58:51] well,

[58:51] this is the most covered up I think I've ever seen Margot Robbie in a movie.

[58:54] So the idea that this is like a sexier way to explain it.

[58:57] But anyway,

[58:57] it was later on when they're like,

[58:59] look,

[58:59] they're finding the prospectuses littering the lobby of that building.

[59:02] And they're like,

[59:03] oh,

[59:03] look at these numbers.

[59:04] And they turn the camera and go,

[59:05] this isn't really how we found this information.

[59:06] Really?

[59:07] We did this other thing.

[59:08] But anyway,

[59:08] we'll go back to it here.

[59:09] well,

[59:09] then if you're going to tell me,

[59:11] then just show me them doing it.

[59:12] You know,

[59:12] I don't,

[59:13] what do you gain from this?

Stuart Wellington

[59:14] This stuff is so much more charming in like a 24 hour party people or something.

[59:19] Yes.

[59:19] Which is at least based on like a bunch of accounts and,

[59:23] you know,

[59:23] drugged up weirdos telling these stories.

[59:25] And also,

[59:25] I mean,

Elliott Kalan

[59:25] it's when,

[59:26] when it's when you have Steve Coogan doing it,

[59:28] it's instantly more entertaining.

[59:29] Yes,

[59:29] if you're.

[59:30] But also when,

[59:30] when the,

[59:31] when the guy from the Buzzcocks is like,

[59:33] I don't remember that happening.

[59:34] Like that's when you have the real person doing it.

[59:36] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[59:37] If you're going to do this at all,

[59:38] which you don't have to,

[59:39] there's no,

[59:40] no one's going to make you put that in your movie,

[59:42] but if you're going to do it at all,

[59:43] I like that better than the explainers.

[59:46] I like the acknowledgement.

[59:47] Like,

[59:48] look,

[59:48] this isn't exactly how we did it,

[59:49] but for the purpose of the movie,

[59:50] like I kind of.

[59:51] Yeah.

[59:52] Cause I don't know.

[59:53] I get so mad at movies on the other end of things where they're just like,

[59:57] we're going to basically a whole cloth,

[1:00:00] make up this thing and then put inspired by a true story at the beginning.

[1:00:04] And then just be like,

[1:00:04] well,

[1:00:05] I guess I can't argue with the idea that it was inspired by that.

Stuart Wellington

[1:00:09] Do you prefer inspired by a true story over some like bullshit,

[1:00:13] quippy thing?

[1:00:14] Like,

[1:00:15] you know,

[1:00:15] based on truth and lies.

[1:00:18] I don't know.

[1:00:19] Cause I did,

[1:00:19] when the great started,

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:20] I did like where it says a,

[1:00:21] a,

[1:00:21] uh,

[1:00:22] what was it?

[1:00:23] It was like a,

[1:00:23] a sometimes true story.

[1:00:25] I liked that.

Stuart Wellington

[1:00:27] But the great also has some really fun performances.

[1:00:30] And Nicholas Holt is like the most charming fucking gremlin creep you've ever seen.

[1:00:34] Yeah.

[1:00:35] Yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:00:35] I feel like I should mention one other thing about shadow.

[1:00:38] He loves to use guns.

[1:00:40] Please.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:40] Yeah.

[1:00:41] This is the time.

[1:00:42] He loves to use what?

[1:00:43] Sorry.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:00:44] In his games,

[1:00:45] he uses guns.

[1:00:46] He shoots,

[1:00:47] he shoots people.

[1:00:48] Oh,

[1:00:48] so he's like the punisher to Sonic Spider-Man.

[1:00:50] I don't like that.

[1:00:51] No,

[1:00:52] I don't like that.

[1:00:52] God damn it.

Stuart Wellington

[1:00:53] He's so cool.

[1:00:54] Sonic is like,

[1:00:55] you're never like that.

[1:00:56] Oh,

[1:00:57] and his name's shadow.

Elliott Kalan

[1:00:58] There's no reason to have a gun in a Sonic game.

[1:01:01] That's bonkers.

[1:01:02] That's,

[1:01:03] come on.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:01:03] I'm looking at a fill here from 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog.

[1:01:07] And he's,

[1:01:08] he has like an Uzi.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:10] Fucking A,

[1:01:11] an Uzi.

[1:01:12] That shoots so many bullets.

[1:01:14] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[1:01:14] but it doesn't last that long.

[1:01:16] They run out really fast.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:17] Oh,

[1:01:17] he probably has another one,

Elliott Kalan

[1:01:19] guys.

[1:01:19] Now,

[1:01:19] what if an Uzi shot ooze?

[1:01:21] The world would be a better place,

[1:01:22] right?

[1:01:22] Yeah,

[1:01:22] that's actually right.

[1:01:23] We'd have all these mutants running around.

[1:01:25] Like Ivan Ooze,

Jamelle Bouie

[1:01:26] or like Secret of the Ooze Ooze.

[1:01:28] Like Secret of the Ooze.

[1:01:29] Yeah.

[1:01:29] All right.

[1:01:30] Yeah.

[1:01:30] Yeah,

[1:01:31] only 80s references.

[1:01:33] Yeah,

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:33] or like the Goo Guns from Ghostbusters 2,

[1:01:37] like that sort of shit.

[1:01:38] A Goo Gun that shoots Goo Gone.

[1:01:41] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:01:42] It seems like it's,

[1:01:43] it's,

[1:01:43] it's causing its own problem there.

[1:01:45] Yeah,

[1:01:45] that's the problem.

[1:01:46] That's a solution in search of something.

[1:01:48] When you said Goo Guns,

[1:01:49] I thought you said Doogongs,

[1:01:50] and I was like,

[1:01:50] like a manatee?

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:52] Like this?

[1:01:52] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:52] Do you remember them from Ghostbusters 2?

[1:01:54] It's crazy.

Elliott Kalan

[1:01:55] That's the Ghostbusters 2,

[1:01:56] where they go to the aquarium.

Stuart Wellington

[1:01:57] Vigo did not like them.

[1:01:59] No.

Dan McCoy

[1:01:59] Well,

[1:02:00] I think that that's enough gibberish

[1:02:02] to justify our value

[1:02:04] in this year's Max Fun Drive.

[1:02:05] We should move on to,

[1:02:06] um,

[1:02:07] Final Judgments.

[1:02:08] Final Judgments,

[1:02:09] whether this is a good,

[1:02:10] bad movie,

[1:02:10] a bad,

[1:02:11] bad movie,

[1:02:12] a movie we kind of like.

[1:02:13] I'm going to really quickly say that

[1:02:15] I did not care for this film.

[1:02:17] The longer we do this,

[1:02:18] the more I find that the films

[1:02:21] that really irritate me

[1:02:22] are the ones that just feel like,

[1:02:24] just kind of like the most

[1:02:25] pro forma versions of

[1:02:27] the movies that you would make out of,

[1:02:29] say,

[1:02:30] a property,

[1:02:31] which is what this is.

[1:02:31] It's like,

[1:02:32] okay,

[1:02:32] we got to do a Sonic sequel.

[1:02:34] The first one we did,

[1:02:35] like,

[1:02:37] the obvious thing

[1:02:38] that everyone always does,

[1:02:39] like,

[1:02:39] oh,

[1:02:39] this character's in our real world,

[1:02:40] and now we're going to,

[1:02:41] like.

[1:02:41] And he loves to party.

[1:02:43] Dive into a bunch of

[1:02:44] impenetrable,

[1:02:45] like,

[1:02:46] bullshit that I don't,

[1:02:47] like,

[1:02:48] I'm never given a reason

[1:02:48] to care about.

[1:02:49] I don't know.

[1:02:50] It just felt like

[1:02:51] the most bankrupt

[1:02:53] shit.

[1:02:55] I'm sorry

[1:02:55] for being

[1:02:57] more mean than usual,

[1:02:58] but I did not care for it.

[1:02:59] Do you think it's possible

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:00] that the screenwriter,

[1:03:01] one of the screenwriters

[1:03:02] who worked on it,

[1:03:02] had a spec script

[1:03:03] about a wedding,

[1:03:04] and was like,

[1:03:05] I'm never going to be able

[1:03:06] to sell this script

[1:03:06] about Hollywood.

[1:03:07] I'm just going to shoehorn it

[1:03:08] into this Sonic sequel.

[1:03:09] I hope to God

Jamelle Bouie

[1:03:10] that's what happened.

[1:03:11] I really want that

[1:03:12] to be the case,

[1:03:13] that they were just

[1:03:14] sort of like,

[1:03:14] you know what?

[1:03:15] We can add another

[1:03:16] 20 minutes to this movie.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:18] This is the script

[1:03:18] I wrote for the Sundance Lab

[1:03:20] that I was a member of.

[1:03:21] Could I just get it here?

[1:03:22] This is my new God

[1:03:23] screenplay.

[1:03:26] Stuart,

[1:03:27] what do you think?

[1:03:29] No,

[1:03:29] Stuart,

[1:03:29] what do you think?

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:30] Well,

[1:03:30] first off,

[1:03:31] Elliot mentioned the idea

[1:03:32] of like a character

[1:03:33] coming to our world

[1:03:34] and loving to party

[1:03:35] and it's like,

[1:03:36] you're not going to bring

[1:03:37] somebody here

[1:03:37] and have them not like

[1:03:38] partying.

[1:03:39] Like,

[1:03:40] yeah,

[1:03:40] what is this?

[1:03:41] The waste.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:42] I feel like Alf

[1:03:43] did it best.

[1:03:43] Why are we still

[1:03:44] chasing Alf

[1:03:45] when we consider

[1:03:45] new ideas?

[1:03:46] Yeah,

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:47] that's,

[1:03:47] Alf is like

[1:03:48] if Rodney Dangerfield

[1:03:50] came to our world.

[1:03:51] Of course he would love

[1:03:52] farting.

[1:03:52] As opposed to

[1:03:52] saying on planet

[1:03:53] Dangerfield.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:54] He's here.

[1:03:58] He's been here.

[1:03:59] He is?

[1:04:00] What's he up to?

[1:04:00] Well, not anymore,

[1:04:01] but he was.

[1:04:01] No, no.

[1:04:02] Yeah,

[1:04:02] he was reincarnated

[1:04:03] as a dog briefly.

[1:04:05] Yeah,

Stuart Wellington

[1:04:05] I would say

[1:04:07] I like

[1:04:09] that a number

[1:04:10] of people in this movie

[1:04:11] got paid to be in it.

[1:04:13] Sure.

[1:04:14] There were a couple

[1:04:15] of jokes

[1:04:15] that I thought

[1:04:16] were funny,

[1:04:17] mainly sight jokes

[1:04:18] and it made me wonder

[1:04:19] why don't they make

[1:04:20] like good

[1:04:20] like Looney Tunes

[1:04:21] movies with like

[1:04:23] live action elements

[1:04:24] too,

[1:04:25] like a Wile E. Coyote

[1:04:26] thing,

[1:04:26] but who knows?

[1:04:27] That'll never happen.

[1:04:28] Space Jam A New Legacy.

[1:04:29] And then,

[1:04:31] but yeah,

[1:04:31] it's just so long.

[1:04:33] It's so long

[1:04:34] and it has

[1:04:35] so many,

[1:04:35] it makes you,

[1:04:36] it takes so many

[1:04:36] extra steps

[1:04:37] that it doesn't need to.

[1:04:38] I don't understand

[1:04:39] the point of this.

[1:04:40] Who is this for?

[1:04:41] Okay,

[1:04:41] thanks.

Elliott Kalan

[1:04:43] I would say,

[1:04:44] yeah,

[1:04:44] similarly,

[1:04:44] it's like,

[1:04:45] this could be

[1:04:45] a much worse movie.

[1:04:46] It's not like,

[1:04:47] there's,

[1:04:48] but it's,

[1:04:49] it's just kind of,

[1:04:50] there's no reason for it.

[1:04:51] And the reason

[1:04:52] for a movie like this

[1:04:52] is fun,

[1:04:53] but it kind of

[1:04:53] never achieves

[1:04:54] that level of fun.

[1:04:55] That being said,

[1:04:56] like,

[1:04:57] if my kids were like,

[1:04:58] hey,

[1:04:59] you need to work

[1:04:59] for two hours,

[1:05:00] you're going to show

[1:05:01] us Sonic the Hedgehog 2

[1:05:02] to keep us busy.

[1:05:03] I wouldn't be against it

[1:05:05] the same way

[1:05:05] that I have recently

[1:05:06] started turning off

[1:05:07] TV shows

[1:05:08] in the middle of them

[1:05:08] when I've noticed

[1:05:09] my kids are watching

[1:05:10] stuff that I think is,

[1:05:11] I think is,

[1:05:12] you know,

[1:05:12] Yeah,

[1:05:13] stop letting them

Stuart Wellington

[1:05:13] watch fucking

[1:05:14] Blue Bloods,

[1:05:15] dude.

Elliott Kalan

[1:05:17] But they,

[1:05:17] each time,

[1:05:18] I think it's going

[1:05:18] to be the one

[1:05:19] where they,

[1:05:19] where they learn

[1:05:20] something important,

[1:05:21] you know?

[1:05:21] No,

[1:05:21] no,

Dan McCoy

[1:05:22] laissez-faire,

[1:05:23] like I,

[1:05:23] like I was brought up

[1:05:24] by television.

[1:05:25] Just let,

[1:05:25] let them absorb

[1:05:26] whatever the fuck.

Elliott Kalan

[1:05:28] That's the other thing

[1:05:28] is I,

[1:05:29] I'm always torn

[1:05:30] because I'm like,

[1:05:30] well,

[1:05:31] when I was a kid,

[1:05:31] I did watch it

[1:05:31] whatever I wanted

[1:05:32] and there was

[1:05:32] a lot of crap.

[1:05:33] Like,

[1:05:34] there's,

[1:05:34] it shouldn't,

[1:05:34] I shouldn't be able

[1:05:35] to identify

[1:05:35] what episode

[1:05:36] of Saved by the Bell

[1:05:37] this is within

[1:05:37] the first two minutes

[1:05:38] for every episode,

[1:05:40] but I can.

[1:05:41] But I think

[1:05:41] it's,

[1:05:42] it's not very good,

[1:05:44] but I wasn't

[1:05:44] offended by it.

[1:05:45] I didn't,

[1:05:46] not as offended

[1:05:46] as I was by the commercial

[1:05:47] for the Knuckles TV show

[1:05:48] where I was like,

[1:05:49] is there nothing else

[1:05:50] in the world

[1:05:51] than IP?

[1:05:52] Like,

[1:05:52] really?

[1:05:53] So,

[1:05:53] Jamel,

[1:05:54] tell me why we're wrong.

[1:05:55] Tell us why this is a great movie

[1:05:56] for all those Sonic heads,

[1:05:57] all the hedge heads out there.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:05:59] Yeah,

[1:05:59] all you hedge heads out there,

[1:06:01] this is exactly

[1:06:02] what you're looking for.

[1:06:05] No,

[1:06:05] Elliot,

[1:06:05] you know,

[1:06:06] as also a father,

[1:06:08] I very much have

[1:06:09] kind of a similar reaction,

[1:06:11] like,

[1:06:11] you know,

[1:06:11] compared to some other

[1:06:12] kids' entertainment,

[1:06:13] this is like perfectly fine.

[1:06:15] You know,

[1:06:15] it's like,

[1:06:15] it's not,

[1:06:15] it's not offensive.

[1:06:18] it's not too dumb,

[1:06:19] right?

[1:06:20] egregiously stupid.

[1:06:23] So,

[1:06:23] on that level,

[1:06:24] I was like,

[1:06:24] fine with it.

[1:06:26] I,

[1:06:26] you know,

[1:06:27] I remember,

[1:06:27] I remember kind of liking

[1:06:28] the first Sonic movie

[1:06:29] just because,

[1:06:30] precisely because it felt

[1:06:31] like this throwback

[1:06:32] to the 90s,

[1:06:33] to like how you would do

[1:06:34] this kind of thing

[1:06:35] when I was a kid.

[1:06:36] This one,

[1:06:37] I just,

[1:06:37] I guess maybe I was

[1:06:38] in a bad mood.

[1:06:39] I was like,

[1:06:39] I don't,

[1:06:40] I don't care for this.

[1:06:42] Like,

Elliott Kalan

[1:06:42] like a throwback is fun

[1:06:44] once.

[1:06:45] Right,

[1:06:45] right.

[1:06:46] This movie really feels

[1:06:47] like we have no new tricks,

[1:06:48] like we're not,

[1:06:49] except we're adding

[1:06:49] more characters in the game.

[1:06:50] And even the,

[1:06:51] like that first movie,

[1:06:52] I was like,

[1:06:53] I really loved seeing

[1:06:54] Jim Carrey doing

[1:06:55] Jim Carrey stuff.

[1:06:56] And this one,

[1:06:56] I still enjoyed that somewhat.

[1:06:57] But by the end of the movie,

[1:06:59] it was really grating on me.

[1:07:00] And this is one of those movies

[1:07:01] where you can really see

[1:07:03] some of the parts

[1:07:03] where they threw in

[1:07:04] jokes off camera

[1:07:07] for moments

[1:07:08] that they didn't have jokes

[1:07:09] for before

[1:07:09] that didn't work.

[1:07:10] like it's,

[1:07:10] there's a point at the end

[1:07:11] where Jim Carrey

[1:07:12] has no lines

[1:07:12] that are actual dialogue

[1:07:13] and they're all just quips.

[1:07:15] And I was like,

[1:07:16] all right,

[1:07:16] so this movie is like,

[1:07:17] it's held together

[1:07:18] with string at this point.

[1:07:19] Like it's barely,

[1:07:20] it's just,

[1:07:20] we didn't even talk about

Stuart Wellington

[1:07:21] the moment where he,

[1:07:23] Jim Carrey plays his leg

[1:07:24] like a guitar

[1:07:24] and then they play

[1:07:26] like the opening rift

[1:07:27] for,

[1:07:28] opening riff for Walk

[1:07:29] by Pantera.

[1:07:30] And I'm like,

[1:07:31] oh,

[1:07:31] what?

Elliott Kalan

[1:07:33] Okay.

[1:07:34] Cause his robot's

[1:07:35] about to walk.

[1:07:35] I did like when he played

[1:07:36] his leg like a guitar,

[1:07:37] but it doesn't really go anywhere.

[1:07:38] It's just a thing he does

[1:07:39] for a moment,

[1:07:40] you know?

[1:07:40] But yeah,

[1:07:41] this is a,

[1:07:41] so we,

[1:07:42] so we give it

[1:07:42] our highest recommendation.

[1:07:44] Show it to children,

[1:07:45] but don't watch it

[1:07:46] if you're an adult.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:07:48] Or if you're stuck,

[1:07:49] if you're stuck

[1:07:50] having to watch it

[1:07:51] with your kids,

[1:07:52] it's not going to be intolerable.

[1:07:54] Oh,

Stuart Wellington

[1:07:55] well,

[1:07:55] okay.

[1:07:56] Put it on the poster.

Elliott Kalan

[1:07:58] Not intolerable.

[1:07:59] Raves the New York Times.

Stuart Wellington

[1:08:04] Hey,

[1:08:07] and I'm back here

[1:08:08] talking about

[1:08:09] MaxFunDrive Boco.

[1:08:11] I know what you're

[1:08:12] desperate for.

[1:08:13] You're like,

[1:08:14] Stuart,

[1:08:14] you told us about

[1:08:14] how important it is

[1:08:15] to support art

[1:08:16] that we love.

[1:08:18] You're probably interested

[1:08:19] in finding out

[1:08:19] about some swag,

[1:08:20] okay?

[1:08:21] So that's one of the

[1:08:21] great things about

[1:08:22] the MaxFunDrive.

[1:08:23] If you support it

[1:08:23] or upgrade,

[1:08:24] or if you support

[1:08:25] or upgrade

[1:08:26] during this time period,

[1:08:27] it gives you access

[1:08:27] to a bunch of stuff.

[1:08:29] For one,

[1:08:30] our entire catalog

[1:08:31] of bonus content.

[1:08:32] Guys,

[1:08:33] we've been members

[1:08:33] of the MaxFun

[1:08:34] Network for years.

[1:08:36] We have made

[1:08:36] so much bonus material.

[1:08:38] We have done

[1:08:39] feature-length

[1:08:40] film commentaries

[1:08:41] of what?

[1:08:42] Brats?

[1:08:43] We did Brats.

Dan McCoy

[1:08:44] We did Cats.

[1:08:44] We did the Country Bears.

[1:08:46] All of those.

[1:08:46] All your hits.

[1:08:47] The first two rhymed.

Stuart Wellington

[1:08:48] We also did

[1:08:50] episodes where we...

[1:08:51] If only it was

[1:08:51] the Country Bats.

[1:08:52] That would have been the best.

[1:08:53] That would have been great.

[1:08:55] Why not?

[1:08:56] We've done episodes

[1:08:57] where we do

[1:08:58] the Flophouse,

[1:08:59] classic Flophouse treatment,

[1:09:00] but apply it

[1:09:01] to television shows.

[1:09:02] What in the world?

[1:09:04] We have done

[1:09:04] all kinds of stuff,

[1:09:05] including my personal favorite,

[1:09:07] the Flop Tales episodes

[1:09:08] where I make

[1:09:10] Dan and Elliot

[1:09:10] and our friend Jubin

[1:09:12] play a role-playing game

[1:09:13] with me.

[1:09:14] And they make it seem

[1:09:14] like it's a huge hassle,

[1:09:15] but deep down,

[1:09:16] I think they love it.

[1:09:18] And they go on

[1:09:18] all kinds of adventures.

[1:09:19] There's ones where

[1:09:20] they play Dungeons & Dragons,

[1:09:21] but I think all those

[1:09:22] are in the Adventure Zone feed.

[1:09:25] we have episodes

[1:09:26] where you guys go on

[1:09:27] weird, noir,

[1:09:29] weird-boiled adventures

[1:09:31] dealing with aliens

[1:09:32] and whatnot.

Elliott Kalan

[1:09:33] The last episode of that

[1:09:34] ended with me

[1:09:34] with a bunch of

[1:09:35] Martian worms in my head

[1:09:36] that control my thoughts.

[1:09:38] I want to do

[1:09:38] what's first that character.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:39] You do have worms

[1:09:41] in your head.

Dan McCoy

[1:09:41] Yeah.

[1:09:42] I have worms inside you.

[1:09:43] There are ones

[1:09:43] about where we're dogs.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:45] Yes, that's true.

[1:09:46] Hopefully,

[1:09:46] your characters

[1:09:47] don't have worms in them.

Elliott Kalan

[1:09:49] Yeah.

[1:09:49] Yeah, those are

[1:09:50] personal favorites of mine

[1:09:52] where you guys are dogs.

[1:09:54] The ones where we're dogs,

[1:09:55] our editor-producer Alex

[1:09:58] did a new theme song

[1:09:59] for those

[1:09:59] that my kids love

[1:10:01] to listen to all the time.

Stuart Wellington

[1:10:02] Oh, that's great.

[1:10:03] Yeah.

[1:10:04] Okay, so that's the stuff

[1:10:05] that's available.

[1:10:05] Everybody who supports

[1:10:07] $5 a month or more

[1:10:08] has access to that,

[1:10:09] plus access to all the content

[1:10:10] from all the shows.

[1:10:11] There's tons of great stuff

[1:10:12] out there.

[1:10:13] It's really awesome.

[1:10:16] If you support,

[1:10:17] then there's some

[1:10:18] additional gifts.

[1:10:18] If you support

[1:10:19] the $10 a month or more,

[1:10:20] you get access

[1:10:21] to a pin of your choice.

[1:10:23] Each show had a pin design.

[1:10:25] What's our pin design

[1:10:25] this year, guys?

[1:10:27] It's Werner Herzog.

Dan McCoy

[1:10:28] Uh-huh, classic Werner Herzog.

[1:10:29] Of course,

[1:10:30] what he always has been known

[1:10:31] to say many times,

[1:10:33] I'm a bad Whittle boy.

Elliott Kalan

[1:10:34] Mm-hmm, that's true.

[1:10:36] This is the scowling face

[1:10:37] of Werner Herzog

[1:10:37] with a big word balloon

[1:10:38] that says,

[1:10:39] I'm a bad Whittle boy.

Stuart Wellington

[1:10:40] It is the perfect accessory

[1:10:42] if you want people to say,

[1:10:44] wait, what?

[1:10:45] Come on.

[1:10:48] There's some additional

[1:10:49] other cool swag.

[1:10:50] There's a bandana

[1:10:51] that serves as a chess board,

[1:10:53] I believe.

[1:10:54] It's super cute.

[1:10:55] There's a bucket hat option

[1:10:57] if you want to look stylin'

[1:10:58] and not get too much sun

[1:11:00] on your face.

[1:11:01] There's also the maximum tote

[1:11:02] or the maximum bag,

[1:11:04] which is the biggest tote bag

[1:11:05] I have ever seen.

[1:11:06] It's enormous.

Elliott Kalan

[1:11:07] It's enormous, yeah.

[1:11:08] Large bag.

Stuart Wellington

[1:11:09] I feel like it doubles

[1:11:11] as a tent.

[1:11:12] I'd have to double check

Elliott Kalan

[1:11:13] the specifics on that.

[1:11:13] It's like carrying around

[1:11:14] the trunk of a car

[1:11:15] in a tote.

Stuart Wellington

[1:11:16] So there's all this cool stuff.

[1:11:19] That's if you're being

[1:11:20] strictly mercenary about it.

[1:11:22] So why don't you please support us?

[1:11:24] Get a hold of some of that swag.

[1:11:26] Head over to

[1:11:27] maximumfun.org

[1:11:29] slash join.

[1:11:30] Okay.

[1:11:31] Thank you so much.

[1:11:33] Bye.

Dan McCoy

[1:11:36] Let's move on quickly

[1:11:38] to letters from listeners

[1:11:40] like you, the listener.

[1:11:42] This one is from

[1:11:43] Liam Lastname Withheld.

[1:11:44] Liam Listener.

[1:11:46] While listening to

[1:11:47] the Flophouse Mini number 99,

[1:11:49] I was surprised to find out

[1:11:50] that Elliot worked

[1:11:51] at the Barnes & Nobles

[1:11:52] in Chelsea around 2002.

[1:11:55] I also worked at that

[1:11:56] exact location

[1:11:57] around the same time.

[1:11:58] I worked in the cafe

[1:11:59] above the bookstore,

[1:12:00] but would often linger

[1:12:01] in the store after my shift.

[1:12:03] To bring the email back

[1:12:04] to the Flophouse at large,

[1:12:06] what do you consider

[1:12:06] to be a novel trope

[1:12:07] in movies that is underused

[1:12:09] or underrepresented?

[1:12:10] Liam Lastname Withheld now.

[1:12:12] He could be saying

[1:12:13] novel as in new.

[1:12:16] But I took it to mean,

[1:12:18] since it was a bookstore

[1:12:20] related letter,

[1:12:22] a trope from novels,

[1:12:23] a trope from the written word

[1:12:25] that is not translated

[1:12:26] to movies that often,

[1:12:29] which is a difficult question.

[1:12:31] I am realizing

[1:12:33] as I'm putting it forth.

[1:12:34] Not that I didn't send it to you

[1:12:35] ahead of time,

[1:12:36] but I'm thinking about it.

[1:12:37] I'm having a hard time.

Stuart Wellington

[1:12:38] I mean,

[1:12:38] the first thing

[1:12:39] that comes to mind,

[1:12:40] and you guys can

[1:12:40] obviously correct me,

[1:12:42] but maybe,

[1:12:43] and this is inspired

[1:12:44] by reading too many

[1:12:45] romance novels lately,

[1:12:46] but you don't see

[1:12:47] as many movies

[1:12:48] that features two

[1:12:50] main characters,

[1:12:52] and it cuts between

[1:12:54] their perspectives

[1:12:55] in a way that actually

[1:12:56] shows you their perspective,

[1:12:58] if that makes sense.

[1:12:59] I feel like,

[1:13:00] yeah.

[1:13:00] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:13:01] I think,

[1:13:01] similarly,

[1:13:02] what I was thinking was,

[1:13:03] it's so much,

[1:13:05] I think Better Use

[1:13:06] is made of unreliable

[1:13:07] narrators in the same way

[1:13:09] in books than in movies,

[1:13:10] and one of the things

[1:13:10] that I liked about Tar so much

[1:13:12] is that it wasn't like,

[1:13:14] this is a crazy person,

[1:13:15] and we're seeing

[1:13:16] their insane view

[1:13:17] of humanity,

[1:13:18] but there were times

[1:13:18] where you're like,

[1:13:19] I can't,

[1:13:20] I'm not quite sure

[1:13:21] that the perception

[1:13:22] I'm seeing this through,

[1:13:22] which is very much

[1:13:23] her perception,

[1:13:24] is totally on the level,

[1:13:26] totally accurate.

[1:13:27] Right.

[1:13:27] And I really like that,

[1:13:29] when there's,

[1:13:29] when they,

[1:13:30] they do such a good job there

[1:13:31] of like,

[1:13:32] just giving you enough

[1:13:33] to doubt what you're seeing

[1:13:34] without it being

[1:13:35] bonkers or obvious,

[1:13:37] and I feel like

[1:13:37] that's something

[1:13:38] books do very well

[1:13:38] and movies are not

[1:13:39] always as good at.

Dan McCoy

[1:13:40] You know what,

[1:13:41] you saying that

[1:13:41] reminded me of like,

[1:13:43] walking out of

[1:13:43] Love Lies Bleeding,

[1:13:44] and I won't spoil the end

[1:13:46] to Love Lies Bleeding.

[1:13:47] What happens to love?

[1:13:48] It's okay, right?

[1:13:49] It stands up

[1:13:50] and it is not bleeding.

[1:13:51] I tell you, buddy.

[1:13:53] But there were some,

[1:13:54] people out,

[1:13:55] outside like,

[1:13:56] talking about it like,

Stuart Wellington

[1:13:57] whoa,

[1:13:58] what happened?

[1:13:58] Like, what?

[1:13:59] I would stuff them

[1:14:00] in lockers.

Dan McCoy

[1:14:02] after seeing that movie,

[1:14:03] I feel like a million feet tall.

[1:14:04] No, I love it,

[1:14:05] but I was just like,

[1:14:07] okay, okay,

[1:14:08] squares was kind of

[1:14:10] my thought,

[1:14:11] where it's just like,

[1:14:12] you don't have to take

[1:14:13] everything in a movie

[1:14:16] literally just because

[1:14:17] it's presented to you.

[1:14:18] Sometimes a movie

[1:14:18] sort of present,

[1:14:20] can present the

[1:14:21] emotional reality,

[1:14:22] like the way something

[1:14:23] feels like to you

[1:14:25] and it's not necessarily,

[1:14:27] it doesn't have to like,

[1:14:29] make clear delineations

[1:14:30] of like,

[1:14:31] is this really happening

[1:14:32] the way we're seeing it

[1:14:33] or not?

[1:14:35] You know?

Jamelle Bouie

[1:14:35] You're asking entirely

[1:14:36] too much of modern day

[1:14:37] moviegoers, Dan.

[1:14:40] Possibly.

[1:14:41] I mean,

[1:14:41] who,

[1:14:42] you know,

[1:14:42] there's a lot of,

[1:14:43] if the movie doesn't tell me

[1:14:44] exactly what the lesson

[1:14:46] of this movie is,

[1:14:47] then that's a plot hole.

Elliott Kalan

[1:14:48] Yeah.

[1:14:49] Yeah,

[1:14:49] the labeling of so many

[1:14:51] different things as plot holes

[1:14:52] is a real problem.

[1:14:54] I think in internet movie discourse,

[1:14:55] especially where they're like,

[1:14:56] why didn't the characters

[1:14:57] do the most obvious

[1:14:58] solution first?

[1:14:59] That's a plot hole.

[1:15:01] Well,

[1:15:01] not really a plot hole.

[1:15:02] People rarely do the most obvious.

[1:15:04] Why don't you do the most

Dan McCoy

[1:15:05] obvious solution first,

[1:15:06] sir?

[1:15:08] In your life.

Elliott Kalan

[1:15:11] I'm glad that you took it

[1:15:11] to them, Dan.

[1:15:12] That's good.

[1:15:13] Throw it right back at them.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:15:15] I'm trying to think.

[1:15:15] I don't read a ton of novels.

[1:15:17] This is,

[1:15:17] I'm a Philistine.

[1:15:19] I think what works more.

[1:15:21] You've read Dune, right?

[1:15:22] I mean,

[1:15:22] I've read Dune,

[1:15:23] of course,

[1:15:23] yeah.

[1:15:23] Okay,

[1:15:23] good.

[1:15:24] Phew,

[1:15:24] so you've read the novel.

[1:15:27] Other than,

[1:15:28] other than the films

[1:15:29] of Paul Schrader,

[1:15:30] no one really does

[1:15:31] this sort of like,

[1:15:32] you know,

[1:15:32] narrator belittling

[1:15:35] themselves well

[1:15:36] in film,

[1:15:37] you know?

[1:15:37] I'm thinking,

[1:15:38] I'm thinking of the beginning

[1:15:39] of Deslyevsky's

[1:15:40] Notes from Underground,

[1:15:41] which is,

[1:15:43] I am a sick man,

[1:15:44] I am a wicked man.

[1:15:45] Like,

[1:15:46] that's how the novel starts,

[1:15:47] and I want more movies

[1:15:48] to start like that,

[1:15:48] with the main character

[1:15:49] being like,

[1:15:50] I am the worst person alive.

Stuart Wellington

[1:15:53] You shouldn't finish

[1:15:54] watching this

[1:15:55] because I'm terrible.

[1:15:59] I feel like that comes

Jamelle Bouie

[1:16:00] across better in print

[1:16:01] than it would in a movie

[1:16:02] where you'd be like,

[1:16:03] what's going on here?

Stuart Wellington

[1:16:04] I feel like,

[1:16:05] I feel like Paul Giamatti

[1:16:06] could pull it off though.

[1:16:08] I think that's like,

[1:16:09] that's like a serious

[1:16:10] Giamatti line.

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:11] A movie that would open

[1:16:13] with Paul Giamatti

[1:16:13] looking at himself

[1:16:14] in the mirror going like,

[1:16:15] what are you even thinking,

[1:16:16] you piece of shit?

[1:16:17] You're an idiot.

[1:16:18] I'm like,

[1:16:18] I'm in with that movie.

[1:16:19] I gotta watch it.

[1:16:20] I gotta see who this guy is.

[1:16:21] Yeah.

[1:16:22] It's like,

[1:16:22] there's the,

[1:16:24] there's a,

[1:16:24] it's,

[1:16:25] I guess she's not

[1:16:25] the main character,

[1:16:26] but in Michael Clayton,

[1:16:28] Taylor Swinton does that,

[1:16:28] right?

[1:16:29] She's like angry at herself.

[1:16:30] That's right.

[1:16:30] Yeah.

[1:16:31] Yeah.

[1:16:31] Oh man.

[1:16:32] But you're right.

[1:16:33] Paul Schrader doesn't

[1:16:33] want a movie.

[1:16:34] Yeah.

[1:16:34] What a movie.

[1:16:35] Like,

[1:16:35] like it to watch Paul Schrader,

[1:16:36] I think because Paul Schrader knows

[1:16:38] that he's a jerk.

[1:16:40] Yeah.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:16:41] Because Paul Schrader is like America's

[1:16:42] like last living,

[1:16:44] like,

[1:16:44] I don't know,

[1:16:44] like Calvinist settler,

[1:16:46] you know?

Elliott Kalan

[1:16:48] There was this,

[1:16:49] there was this New Yorker article

[1:16:50] about him,

[1:16:51] uh,

[1:16:51] last year.

[1:16:52] and he's like,

[1:16:53] he's talking about his philosophy

[1:16:54] of only fucking up.

[1:16:55] You never deal with anybody

[1:16:56] who's below you.

[1:16:57] You only go up.

[1:16:58] So you always have to be

[1:16:59] constantly climbing socially

[1:17:00] and professionally.

[1:17:01] And he goes,

[1:17:01] of course,

[1:17:02] he goes,

[1:17:02] it works,

[1:17:03] but of course it leaves

[1:17:04] a bad impression.

[1:17:05] It does,

[1:17:06] dude.

[1:17:06] Because you're being an asshole.

[1:17:09] But,

[1:17:09] oh,

[1:17:10] but the movies he comes,

[1:17:10] I mean like,

[1:17:11] but then you have a movie

[1:17:12] like First Reformed

[1:17:12] where the main character

[1:17:13] is not an asshole,

[1:17:14] but he has that,

[1:17:15] he has that amazing doubt

[1:17:16] and like self,

[1:17:17] self,

[1:17:18] um,

[1:17:19] self-loathing

[1:17:19] even if he doesn't

[1:17:20] necessarily deserve it.

[1:17:21] And one of the top ten

Jamelle Bouie

[1:17:22] movies of the century

[1:17:23] in my opinion.

[1:17:24] Yeah.

[1:17:24] It's an amazing movie.

[1:17:25] Not a joke.

[1:17:26] Yeah.

[1:17:26] No,

[1:17:26] it's incredible.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:27] Yeah.

[1:17:28] What a great movie.

[1:17:29] That's,

[1:17:29] that's,

[1:17:29] that,

[1:17:30] that won a lot of Academy Awards,

[1:17:31] right?

[1:17:31] Oh,

Jamelle Bouie

[1:17:32] fun fact.

[1:17:32] I saw that,

[1:17:33] I saw that right before

[1:17:34] I went to one of your guys' shows

[1:17:36] in like 2018.

[1:17:37] My wife and I were like,

[1:17:38] we had like three hours

[1:17:40] between your,

[1:17:41] like what we were doing

[1:17:42] and your show

[1:17:43] let's go see a movie.

[1:17:45] oh,

[1:17:46] a new Paul Schrader.

[1:17:47] We'll just like pop in there

[1:17:47] and see that.

[1:17:48] This will be fun.

[1:17:49] And then we came out

[1:17:50] and we were like,

[1:17:50] we got to go see

[1:17:51] a comedy show.

Stuart Wellington

[1:17:53] I feel like you told us that.

[1:17:55] I'm like,

[1:17:55] I've heard it's good.

[1:17:56] But now,

[1:17:57] now having seen it,

[1:17:58] that's a,

[1:17:58] that's a tonal shift.

[1:18:00] Yeah.

[1:18:00] I feel,

[1:18:01] I feel better about you

Dan McCoy

[1:18:02] sitting stone faced

[1:18:03] through our show

[1:18:04] after this.

[1:18:08] This second letter

[1:18:09] is from John Lasting Withheld

[1:18:11] who writes,

[1:18:12] Hi all.

[1:18:13] I got $2 American

[1:18:15] from Nielsen

[1:18:16] to answer their poll

[1:18:17] about what and how

[1:18:18] I consume media.

[1:18:19] I put the Flophouse down

[1:18:20] as my main podcast.

[1:18:22] Yes.

[1:18:22] My family was a Nielsen family

[1:18:24] when I was a kid

[1:18:24] and it involved the installation

[1:18:25] of a set top box.

[1:18:27] This was all web.

[1:18:28] We've arrived.

[1:18:29] I'll hang up and listen.

[1:18:30] Well,

[1:18:31] thank you for,

[1:18:34] like,

[1:18:34] I wasn't aware

[1:18:35] that the Nielsens

[1:18:36] were now

[1:18:36] measuring podcasts.

[1:18:39] But now that I know,

[1:18:40] I think our mission

[1:18:41] is clear.

[1:18:42] Everyone out there

[1:18:43] with access

[1:18:44] to any sort of

[1:18:45] Nielsen influence,

[1:18:47] put the Flophouse down,

[1:18:49] get us up there

[1:18:49] on the,

[1:18:50] on the ratings.

[1:18:51] So,

[1:18:52] I don't know,

[1:18:52] at Upfronts,

[1:18:53] we can ask for,

[1:18:55] I don't know how it'll work.

Elliott Kalan

[1:18:56] I'm just glad

[1:18:57] that there's another,

[1:18:57] yet another metric

[1:18:58] that I can use

[1:18:59] to measure my disappointment

[1:19:00] in myself

[1:19:01] that I can use

[1:19:02] to compare myself

[1:19:03] to other people

[1:19:04] and see that I'm not

[1:19:05] measuring up to them.

[1:19:06] That's great.

[1:19:06] I'm glad.

[1:19:07] It's especially weird

[1:19:07] for me

[1:19:08] because I grew up

[1:19:08] in a Nelson family.

[1:19:09] Of course,

[1:19:09] my family was

[1:19:10] in the band Nelson.

[1:19:11] Wow.

Dan McCoy

[1:19:12] Yeah.

[1:19:13] Yeah,

[1:19:13] it's a good way

[1:19:14] to either measure that

[1:19:16] or sort of our slide,

[1:19:18] you know,

[1:19:18] from semi-relevance

[1:19:20] to irrelevance.

[1:19:21] I don't know

[1:19:22] about even semi-relevance.

Stuart Wellington

[1:19:23] You can always measure

[1:19:24] your height or something

[1:19:25] to feel better

[1:19:26] about yourself.

Elliott Kalan

[1:19:27] Yeah,

[1:19:27] you're right,

[1:19:28] Stu,

[1:19:28] you're right.

[1:19:28] That's a number

[1:19:29] that always measures up

[1:19:30] well against other people.

[1:19:32] Where do you think

[1:19:32] it started,

[1:19:33] Stu?

[1:19:33] Where do you think

[1:19:34] neuroses started with,

[1:19:35] Stu?

[1:19:36] Whoops.

[1:19:36] I've told this story

[1:19:38] many times

[1:19:38] about someone

[1:19:40] I went to elementary school

[1:19:41] with,

[1:19:42] has since become

[1:19:42] a political commentator

[1:19:44] and she tweeted out

[1:19:46] a picture of our

[1:19:46] first grade class

[1:19:47] and I was so much

[1:19:49] smaller than the other kids

[1:19:50] that you could,

[1:19:50] like,

[1:19:51] I was just kind of

[1:19:51] like a head

[1:19:52] hidden behind,

[1:19:53] like something very low

[1:19:56] E.T.

[1:19:56] in a closet

[1:19:57] of Steffies.

[1:19:58] Exactly.

[1:19:59] I was like,

[1:19:59] oh,

[1:20:00] that really,

[1:20:00] I really was a small kid.

[1:20:02] This is no wonder

[1:20:02] I've always felt inadequate.

[1:20:04] Oh,

[1:20:04] well,

[1:20:04] no wonder I've always

[1:20:05] had to prove myself

[1:20:06] to be the smartest one

[1:20:06] in the room,

[1:20:07] constantly interrupting

[1:20:08] my co-hosts,

[1:20:09] not letting them talk,

[1:20:10] saying jokes that aren't funny

[1:20:11] just to annoy people.

[1:20:13] Yeah.

[1:20:13] This has been the most-

[1:20:14] we really figured

[1:20:15] some stuff out.

[1:20:15] Wow,

[1:20:16] that really made some progress

[1:20:17] in this session.

[1:20:17] I appreciate it,

[1:20:18] guys.

[1:20:18] How much do I owe you?

Dan McCoy

[1:20:20] We'll handle it off,

[1:20:21] Mike.

[1:20:22] Let's move on to

[1:20:23] recommendations of movies

[1:20:26] we saw recently,

[1:20:27] stuff that might be

[1:20:29] more worth your time,

[1:20:30] perhaps,

[1:20:30] than Sonic 2,

[1:20:32] unless you're a big Sonic fan,

[1:20:33] in which case,

[1:20:34] you know,

[1:20:34] do what you like.

[1:20:35] We're not the last word.

[1:20:36] Eat some chili dogs.

[1:20:37] We're not the last word.

[1:20:37] If you like Sonic 2,

[1:20:39] God love you.

[1:20:40] Like,

[1:20:40] don't feel like we're

[1:20:42] trying to insult you personally.

[1:20:43] We're Just a Podcast.

[1:20:45] Dan's extra frightened

[1:20:46] of Sonic fans on the internet.

Elliott Kalan

[1:20:48] Yeah.

[1:20:48] I just know that-

[1:20:49] What happened after

[1:20:50] the last Sonic episode, Dan?

[1:20:52] Did they come after you?

Dan McCoy

[1:20:53] No,

[1:20:53] but there was a lot of people

[1:20:54] after Super Mario Brothers

[1:20:57] that were like,

[1:20:57] you know,

[1:20:58] like,

[1:20:58] what's the problem?

[1:20:59] It's just-

[1:20:59] I'm like,

Elliott Kalan

[1:21:00] yeah,

[1:21:00] I understand.

[1:21:01] Yeah,

[1:21:01] my children,

Dan McCoy

[1:21:02] they still say to me,

Elliott Kalan

[1:21:03] why did you not like

[1:21:04] that movie,

[1:21:04] dad?

Dan McCoy

[1:21:04] We're just talking about

[1:21:05] a personal taste

[1:21:06] or view on things.

[1:21:07] It doesn't have anything.

[1:21:08] Anyway-

[1:21:09] Listen,

[1:21:09] I think if you don't like Sonic,

[1:21:11] I don't know where

Jamelle Bouie

[1:21:14] I was going with that.

[1:21:14] I'm sorry.

[1:21:16] It's going to be brutal,

[1:21:17] though.

[1:21:17] It's going to be terrible.

[1:21:18] If you don't like

[1:21:19] the Sonic the Hedgehog movie,

[1:21:21] or if you do like it,

[1:21:23] I think it's a better way

[1:21:23] to put it.

[1:21:24] If you do like it,

[1:21:25] I don't want to talk to you.

[1:21:26] Get out of here.

[1:21:27] Wow.

[1:21:30] Dismiss.

Dan McCoy

[1:21:32] Stuart,

[1:21:32] why don't you go first

[1:21:33] for once?

[1:21:33] Let's do it.

[1:21:34] Yeah,

[1:21:34] yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:21:34] I'm going to-

[1:21:35] Hey,

[1:21:35] Dan,

[1:21:36] we saw a movie together.

[1:21:37] Can I recommend it?

[1:21:38] Yeah,

[1:21:38] I was wondering

[1:21:38] whether you might.

[1:21:39] That's part of what I do over here.

[1:21:40] Heck yeah.

[1:21:41] I'm going to recommend

[1:21:42] a little horror movie

[1:21:44] that's playing in theaters

[1:21:45] right now

[1:21:46] called

[1:21:46] Immaculate

[1:21:48] starring Sidney Sweeney.

[1:21:51] It's a trim,

[1:21:52] what,

[1:21:52] 89 minutes?

[1:21:53] Mm-hmm.

[1:21:53] Oh,

[1:21:53] perfect.

[1:21:54] What a length.

[1:21:55] In,

[1:21:55] out,

[1:21:56] done.

[1:21:57] It is a little bit

[1:21:58] non-sploitation.

[1:22:00] It is about

[1:22:01] a young American nun

[1:22:03] who goes to a

[1:22:04] kind of out-of-the-way,

[1:22:06] kind of mysterious

[1:22:07] convent

[1:22:09] and gets involved

[1:22:10] in some

[1:22:11] bad stuff

[1:22:13] and it,

[1:22:14] there's,

[1:22:15] there's definitely a moment.

[1:22:16] It's,

[1:22:17] it's kind of slow

[1:22:18] and it doesn't,

[1:22:19] it doesn't really show its,

[1:22:21] I mean,

[1:22:21] like it kind of telegraphs

[1:22:23] the mystery a little bit

[1:22:24] but it doesn't like

[1:22:24] kind of show its hand

[1:22:25] as to what the kind of movie

[1:22:27] it's going to be

[1:22:27] until right near the end

[1:22:29] then you're like,

[1:22:29] oh yeah,

[1:22:29] this is going to be fun.

[1:22:30] Thumbs up.

[1:22:31] So,

[1:22:32] yeah,

[1:22:32] I don't want to go

[1:22:33] into it too much

[1:22:33] but if you,

[1:22:34] if you like a big fun ending,

[1:22:36] watch it.

[1:22:37] It's cool.

Dan McCoy

[1:22:37] I mean,

[1:22:38] the ending's great

[1:22:38] but I don't want to

[1:22:39] undersell the rest

[1:22:39] because what,

[1:22:40] what,

[1:22:41] part of what worked

[1:22:42] effectively for me

[1:22:43] watching it was like,

[1:22:45] yeah,

[1:22:45] there's like sort of a

[1:22:46] cold open

[1:22:47] that lets you know

[1:22:48] of course

[1:22:49] something's going on.

[1:22:50] Yeah.

[1:22:51] But the movie,

[1:22:52] something's got to give.

[1:22:53] The movie,

[1:22:53] unlike a lot of

[1:22:55] sort of,

[1:22:56] I don't know,

[1:22:57] mid-budget horror

[1:22:58] that gets put out there,

[1:22:59] it doesn't like

[1:23:00] telegraph like

[1:23:01] completely like,

[1:23:02] oh,

[1:23:03] this convent is like

[1:23:03] a totally evil place

[1:23:05] with like evil shit

[1:23:06] going down all the time.

[1:23:07] Like you can kind of,

[1:23:08] you see the workings of it,

[1:23:10] you can understand

[1:23:11] how like

[1:23:12] people of faith

[1:23:13] might come in here

[1:23:14] with good intentions

[1:23:15] before you see like

[1:23:17] what those good intentions

[1:23:19] have led to

[1:23:20] and like what the nature

[1:23:21] of the horror is

[1:23:21] and it's a,

[1:23:23] yeah,

[1:23:23] I was surprised

[1:23:23] how much I enjoyed it.

[1:23:25] Yeah,

[1:23:25] that's fun.

[1:23:26] Immaculate.

[1:23:27] I'm,

[1:23:28] I will also recommend

[1:23:29] a horror movie

[1:23:31] I watched last night

[1:23:32] late at night

[1:23:33] on Shudder.

[1:23:34] I watched

[1:23:34] Butcher,

[1:23:36] Baker,

[1:23:36] Nightmare Maker.

[1:23:39] Kind of an oddball

[1:23:41] horror movie

[1:23:42] with a lot of elements.

[1:23:44] It's,

[1:23:44] it's sort of about

[1:23:47] a weird familial relationship

[1:23:51] of an aunt

[1:23:53] and her nephew.

[1:23:56] It's also about

[1:23:56] like the villain in it

[1:23:58] is a homophobic

[1:23:59] police officer

[1:24:01] which was

[1:24:01] a surprisingly progressive

[1:24:03] thing to see

[1:24:03] in a horror movie

[1:24:04] of that era.

[1:24:06] It's from the 80s.

[1:24:08] It's got this vibe

[1:24:09] that I like

[1:24:10] from sort of

[1:24:11] a lot of these

[1:24:12] lower budget

[1:24:12] horror movies

[1:24:14] of the time

[1:24:14] where it has

[1:24:15] a certain

[1:24:16] flatness

[1:24:18] to the

[1:24:19] direction

[1:24:20] because it's

[1:24:21] kind of this

[1:24:22] cheaper movie

[1:24:23] but that combined

[1:24:25] with how

[1:24:26] tawdry

[1:24:27] the elements

[1:24:28] of it are

[1:24:29] make it feel like

[1:24:31] a

[1:24:32] after school special

[1:24:33] has sort of

[1:24:34] gone off the rails

[1:24:34] and gotten

[1:24:35] really weird

[1:24:37] and gross.

[1:24:38] So,

[1:24:38] I enjoyed that.

Stuart Wellington

[1:24:40] Yeah,

[1:24:40] I feel like

[1:24:41] that's like a perfect

[1:24:41] like kind of out there

[1:24:43] oddball

[1:24:43] 80s slasher

[1:24:44] that's been

[1:24:45] kind of underseen.

[1:24:46] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[1:24:47] Speaking of horror

[1:24:48] movies that are

[1:24:49] short,

[1:24:49] I've got a movie

[1:24:50] that's even

[1:24:50] shorter than

[1:24:51] 89 minutes

[1:24:52] and it's about

[1:24:53] the horror

[1:24:53] of fashion

[1:24:54] gone wrong.

[1:24:55] That's right,

[1:24:56] everybody.

[1:24:56] It is the

[1:24:57] 1976 adaptation

[1:24:58] of the story

[1:24:59] Bernice Bob's

[1:25:00] Her Hair

[1:25:00] by F. Scott

[1:25:01] Fitzgerald.

[1:25:02] This was done

[1:25:03] for the PBS show

[1:25:04] The American Short Story

[1:25:05] and it was directed

[1:25:06] by Joan Micklin-Silver

[1:25:07] and Shelley Duvall

[1:25:08] is in it

[1:25:08] as the titular

[1:25:09] Bernice

[1:25:10] and Veronica Cartwright

[1:25:11] is the cousin

[1:25:12] that she is visiting

[1:25:13] and Veronica Cartwright

[1:25:14] is,

[1:25:15] this is the 1920s,

[1:25:17] the roaring 20s,

[1:25:18] Veronica Cartwright

[1:25:18] is the party girl.

[1:25:20] Bernice wants to

[1:25:21] live that life

[1:25:21] and be attracted

[1:25:22] to the boys

[1:25:22] and she makes

[1:25:23] the daring promise

[1:25:24] that she is going

[1:25:25] to bob her hair

[1:25:26] and it becomes

[1:25:27] the talk of the town.

[1:25:29] Everyone wants to know

[1:25:29] if it's going to happen.

[1:25:31] Budcourt is in it,

[1:25:31] he's also really funny in it

[1:25:32] and I found it just to be

[1:25:33] like a really funny

[1:25:34] little like,

[1:25:36] you know,

[1:25:37] not chamber play exactly

[1:25:38] but a funny piece

[1:25:41] of kind of

[1:25:42] nostalgia filmmaking

[1:25:43] but it's the 70s

[1:25:44] being nostalgic

[1:25:45] for the 20s

[1:25:46] and I really enjoyed it.

[1:25:48] So I saw it

[1:25:49] on Canopy

[1:25:49] which is the free service

[1:25:51] you can use

[1:25:51] through your library

[1:25:52] if your library subscribes

[1:25:53] and it was really fun.

[1:25:54] It's called Bernice,

[1:25:55] bobs her hair.

[1:25:56] It's like 45 minutes long.

[1:25:57] Why not go watch it?

[1:25:58] I enjoyed it.

[1:25:59] And Jamel?

Jamelle Bouie

[1:26:00] I re-watched

[1:26:02] over the weekend

[1:26:02] James O. Brooks'

[1:26:04] 87 movie

[1:26:05] Broadcast News

[1:26:06] which,

[1:26:07] which I'm saying

[1:26:08] this as a journalist,

[1:26:09] you know,

[1:26:09] whatever.

[1:26:10] It's a movie

[1:26:10] that I absolutely love

[1:26:12] and I really had

[1:26:13] a great time

[1:26:14] watching it again.

[1:26:15] If you've never seen it,

[1:26:16] it concerns

[1:26:17] three reporters,

[1:26:19] news people.

[1:26:21] Holly Hunter

[1:26:21] plays a news producer

[1:26:23] for a,

[1:26:24] sort of,

[1:26:24] national television

[1:26:25] news show.

[1:26:27] Albert Brooks

[1:26:27] plays her reporter

[1:26:29] colleague

[1:26:29] who's sort of prickly

[1:26:30] and a little unpleasant

[1:26:32] but very brilliant.

[1:26:33] And then

[1:26:34] William Hurt

[1:26:35] plays the kind of

[1:26:36] news anchor

[1:26:37] that he's being trained

[1:26:38] to kind of take over.

[1:26:40] Young,

[1:26:40] talented,

[1:26:41] maybe a little bit

[1:26:42] unethical.

[1:26:43] And it's both

[1:26:44] like a love triangle

[1:26:45] kind of film

[1:26:46] between the three

[1:26:47] but I think it's also

[1:26:47] just like a great film

[1:26:48] about

[1:26:49] the intensity

[1:26:51] and emotion

[1:26:52] of like being

[1:26:52] in a workplace

[1:26:53] and doing something

[1:26:54] collectively

[1:26:54] that you care about

[1:26:55] and how that sort of

[1:26:56] like interacts

[1:26:57] with your personal life

[1:26:58] and interacts

[1:27:00] with sort of like

[1:27:00] how you relate

[1:27:01] to other people.

[1:27:01] I don't know.

[1:27:02] I love the movie.

[1:27:03] I think Holly Hunter

[1:27:03] is absolutely wonderful

[1:27:05] in it

[1:27:05] and it's like

[1:27:08] one of my favorites

[1:27:09] of that decade

[1:27:11] but then like

[1:27:12] one of my favorites

[1:27:12] period.

Elliott Kalan

[1:27:13] That's a great movie.

[1:27:15] I'm going to set aside

[1:27:15] the fact that we are

[1:27:16] once again talking

[1:27:17] about 80s movies.

[1:27:19] That movie helped me

[1:27:20] personally because

[1:27:21] when I was a segment

[1:27:22] producer at The Daily Show

[1:27:23] I was trying to explain

[1:27:24] to my dad

[1:27:24] what my job was like

[1:27:25] and he was like

[1:27:26] is it like in broadcast news

[1:27:27] when she's running across

[1:27:28] running through the station

[1:27:30] with the tape

[1:27:30] and she's got to get it

[1:27:31] to them right on time

[1:27:32] and I was like

[1:27:32] yeah it is kind of like that.

[1:27:33] I do run through

[1:27:34] the halls with tapes

[1:27:34] so it really helped

[1:27:36] him to visualize

[1:27:36] what my life was like

[1:27:37] in a way that I didn't expect.

Jamelle Bouie

[1:27:39] And I watched

[1:27:40] the Criterion Blu-ray

[1:27:41] that's how I watched it

[1:27:42] so highly recommend

[1:27:43] that Blu-ray.

Dan McCoy

[1:27:44] Jamal thank you very much

[1:27:45] for being here.

[1:27:46] I know we got to get you

[1:27:47] out of here

[1:27:47] because you're busy.

[1:27:48] Before we go

[1:27:49] is there anything

[1:27:50] you want to plug?

Jamelle Bouie

[1:27:52] My column

[1:27:53] at The Times

[1:27:54] you know

[1:27:54] if you don't like The Times

[1:27:55] that's cool too.

[1:27:57] If you do read The Times

[1:27:58] my column is usually

[1:27:59] over Tuesday and Friday

[1:28:00] and I have a set

[1:28:01] out of a newsletter

[1:28:01] and then my podcast

[1:28:03] with my buddy John Gans

[1:28:04] Unclear and Present Danger

[1:28:05] where we watch

[1:28:06] the political and military

[1:28:07] thrillers of the post-Cold War era

[1:28:09] and kind of talk about them

[1:28:11] historicize them a bit.

[1:28:13] I think our movie

[1:28:13] our next movie

[1:28:15] we're doing

[1:28:16] is Hackers

[1:28:16] from 1995

[1:28:18] so that'll be a lot of fun.

[1:28:20] That's a special one.

[1:28:21] Hack the world people.

[1:28:22] 1995 was when

Elliott Kalan

[1:28:23] the two best

[1:28:23] hacker movies came out

[1:28:25] Hackers and the Net

[1:28:26] and the Net

[1:28:27] we've already done

Jamelle Bouie

[1:28:28] the Net

[1:28:28] which was a fun episode

[1:28:30] but Hackers

[1:28:30] is quite special.

[1:28:32] That's our next episode.

[1:28:33] Check us out.

Stuart Wellington

[1:28:38] Hey, this is Stuart

[1:28:40] just chiming in

[1:28:40] one last time.

[1:28:41] This marks the end

[1:28:42] of yet another

[1:28:43] MaxFun Drive.

[1:28:44] Thank you so much.

[1:28:45] It's been a blast.

[1:28:46] I've had a ton of fun

[1:28:48] with these guys

[1:28:48] recording some extra shows.

[1:28:50] I've had a ton of fun

[1:28:51] recording extra material

[1:28:52] on my Twitch channel

[1:28:53] where I painted a model

[1:28:55] for some reason

[1:28:56] and shattered it up.

[1:28:58] The MaxFun Drive

[1:28:59] means a lot to me

[1:29:00] and I can't express

[1:29:02] how big

[1:29:04] a part of my life

[1:29:05] MaxFun supporters are.

[1:29:08] I've gone through

[1:29:09] a number of hard times

[1:29:10] over the last couple years.

[1:29:12] I know my co-hosts

[1:29:13] have gone through hard times

[1:29:14] and it's

[1:29:15] it's really great to me

[1:29:17] to know that there are

[1:29:18] people out there

[1:29:19] who have supported

[1:29:20] my show financially

[1:29:21] and helped me get through

[1:29:22] some of those hard times.

[1:29:23] It's been

[1:29:25] one of the great joys

[1:29:26] of my life

[1:29:27] that a thing

[1:29:27] that I love to do

[1:29:29] that I think is worthwhile

[1:29:30] I have found an audience

[1:29:32] who believes the same.

[1:29:34] So thank you so much.

[1:29:35] If you

[1:29:36] haven't had a chance yet

[1:29:38] head over to

[1:29:39] MaximumFun.org

[1:29:40] slash join

[1:29:41] and support our show.

[1:29:42] If you are already

[1:29:43] a supporter

[1:29:44] I can't stress this enough

[1:29:46] you mean the world to me.

[1:29:47] Thank you.

Dan McCoy

[1:29:48] I'll just add

[1:29:49] thanks to all

[1:29:51] who have listened.

[1:29:52] Thanks to all

[1:29:53] who have given.

[1:29:54] Thanks to all

[1:29:55] that continue

[1:29:55] to support us.

[1:29:57] It's just

[1:29:58] wonderful to know

[1:29:59] that you're all out there.

[1:30:00] You're all with us.

[1:30:02] You're all helping us out

[1:30:03] and we hope

[1:30:04] that we help you out

[1:30:05] in our small way

[1:30:06] doing dumb stuff.

[1:30:08] But

[1:30:09] for this episode

[1:30:10] of The Flophouse

[1:30:11] I'd like to sign off

[1:30:13] say thank you

[1:30:13] to our producer

[1:30:14] Alex Smith

[1:30:15] and to identify ourselves

[1:30:16] one last time

[1:30:16] I have been

[1:30:17] Dan McCoy.

Stuart Wellington

[1:30:18] I'm Stuart Wellington

Elliott Kalan

[1:30:19] and I'm Elliot Kalin.

[1:30:22] Bye!

Elliott Kalan

[1:30:22] Bye!

[1:30:24] On this episode

Dan McCoy

[1:30:34] we discuss

[1:30:35] Sonic the Hedgehog 2!

Stuart Wellington

[1:30:39] Too fast,

[1:30:41] too furry.

[1:30:42] Us.

[1:30:44] I think that's actually

[1:30:45] probably one of the taglines.

[1:30:46] That was like a

Elliott Kalan

[1:30:47] Chuck Jones

[1:30:47] I would be shocked

[1:30:49] if that wasn't

[1:30:50] part of the pitch.

[1:30:52] I think that was

[1:30:53] the first Wile E. Coyote

[1:30:53] cartoon actually.

[1:30:54] Alright, let me do another one.

[1:30:55] How about do this?

[1:30:56] Okay.

[1:30:58] Maximum Fun.

S5

[1:30:59] A worker-owned network

[1:31:00] of artist-owned shows

[1:31:02] supported

[1:31:02] directly

[1:31:03] by you.

Ep. #421 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2, with Jamelle Bouie

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