Ep.#455 - Poolman, with Josh Gondelman

[0:00] On this episode, we discuss Pool Man.

[0:03] You know, not my favorite Spider-Man villain,

[0:05] but I'm interested to see what Sony does with the character.

[0:31] Hey, everyone. Welcome to The Flophouse. I'm Dan McCoy.

[0:34] I'm Stuart Wellington.

[0:35] I'm Elliot Kalin.

[0:37] Stuart, pick up your cues faster, please.

[0:40] He's so confused.

[0:42] He's just nervous because we've got a great guest today,

[0:44] and it's his job to introduce him.

[0:46] And I understand this is a guest who deserves a big introduction,

[0:48] maybe the biggest.

[0:50] And notoriously irksome if not introduced properly.

[0:54] Yes.

[0:56] Our guest today is friend of the podcast, comedian, writer,

[1:01] Josh Gondelman.

[1:03] Take it again.

[1:05] You've irked me.

[1:07] Ten-foot tall, eight-foot wiener.

[1:10] Did you say infinite wiener?

[1:14] Infinite wiener.

[1:16] I'm always reading infinite wiener on the subway just to get attention.

[1:20] Oh, man. What a pain that would be.

[1:23] Keep walking. Keep walking.

[1:25] You've got to hit the end of it sometime.

[1:27] I'm imagining it's like a measuring tape.

[1:29] You can just pull out as much as you need.

[1:31] Oh, I see.

[1:33] Okay.

[1:35] Thank you for having me.

[1:37] It's very nice to be here.

[1:39] Infinite wiener is the Marvel character Anthony Wiener pitched himself as

[1:43] for the MCU.

[1:45] Go away.

[1:47] Go away.

[1:49] It feels like there's been infinite wiener in the news.

[1:51] A decade of him going like, I'm back.

[1:53] And then immediately doing something so embarrassing.

[1:55] And off into a week.

[1:57] Yeah.

[1:59] He's not going away.

[2:01] Now, Josh, I'm sure we'll give you a full chance to promote it later.

[2:03] But you just had a new stand-up special drop.

[2:05] Tell us about it.

[2:07] Thank you.

[2:09] It is called Positive Reinforcement.

[2:11] It is an hour of jokes.

[2:13] It sounds like this.

[2:15] The punchlines and people laugh.

[2:17] Hold on.

[2:19] I promise.

[2:21] People laugh there.

[2:23] You might not have at home, but the people in the room laugh.

[2:25] It's very viable.

[2:27] Lots of cutaways.

[2:29] Lots of cutaways to the audience.

[2:31] I thought you were saying lots of cutaways like Dan's favorite show, Family Guy.

[2:35] I do a set-up and then it cuts to me fighting a chicken for three minutes.

[2:41] Oh, wow.

[2:43] I shot it at the Bell House last summer.

[2:45] My friend Chris Warner, who I worked with last week, and I directed it.

[2:49] It is on the YouTube channel of the record label that I work with, Blonde Medicine.

[2:53] They're really wonderful.

[2:55] It is available for anyone to watch anytime.

[2:57] And I really hope people do.

[2:59] It's not quite clean.

[3:01] Sometimes people think I'm clean and book me for synagogues and tell me, like, okay, you can't curse.

[3:07] And I'm like, well, I was just going to if you didn't tell me.

[3:09] But there's no cursing in the special, but it does get a little adult.

[3:13] You can watch it with, like, your cool teens or teens.

[3:15] You can watch it with your cool parents.

[3:17] But no duds.

[3:19] No losers.

[3:21] No losers.

[3:23] This is sort of special that kids are going to, like, run home and listen to, like, on super low volume so their parents don't hear them listening to.

[3:29] Like I did with, like, old Eddie Murphy stand-up.

[3:31] I did it with Adam Sandler's scat comedy album.

[3:33] Those Adam Sandler albums were the ones where me and my friends would listen to them on real low volume because we didn't want our parents hearing the goat.

[3:41] You didn't want your ears to hurt from the irritating voices.

[3:45] Stan's embarrassed, but he did that with the jerky boys.

[3:49] We couldn't even get our hands on those.

[3:51] Those are too hot.

[3:53] I mean, I thought there were two guys made of jerky, and I just really liked dried meats, and I was very disappointed.

[3:59] Josh, what's the name of the special again?

[4:01] It's called Positive Reinforcement.

[4:03] Positive Reinforcement.

[4:05] So, Josh, you're a famously positive person.

[4:07] You're a famously positive kind of, like, let's find the nice thing to say person.

[4:11] So I'm very excited to hear you talk about the movie Pool Man today.

[4:15] Hmm.

[4:17] Pool Man.

[4:19] You mean the hot Lebowski?

[4:21] That's good.

[4:23] You were saving that.

[4:25] You had that cued up.

[4:27] Dan, what's Pool Man all about here?

[4:29] Wait.

[4:31] I'm not the guy in charge of this.

[4:33] Thank God.

[4:35] It's directed and starring Chris Pine.

[4:37] I would argue the best of the Hollywood Chris's.

[4:39] And he is...

[4:41] I think I would say Chris White's friend of the podcast.

[4:43] Oh, okay.

[4:45] That's fine.

[4:47] You're right.

[4:49] You're actually right.

[4:51] He's usually mentioned in the same sort of grouping as the people we were...

[4:53] Yeah, I'll see a grid on Instagram.

[4:55] Yeah, it's Hemsworth White.

[4:57] Hemsworth.

[4:59] He works in Hollywood.

[5:01] His name is Chris.

[5:03] He is the best.

[5:05] Let's talk about...

[5:07] As you said, it's written, directed, and starring Chris Pine.

[5:09] And it really wears its influences on its sleeve.

[5:13] It wants to be the big Lebowski really badly.

[5:17] It wants to be kind of like a more sensitive Chinatown really badly.

[5:21] Which it signifies by having the characters watch Chinatown in the movie.

[5:25] That's always a tough one.

[5:27] It's tough when a movie has you watch a, arguably, a better movie.

[5:31] It's setting aside the landmine of the man who made the movie.

[5:35] Oh, what happened?

[5:37] You're going to love this, too.

[5:39] His nose got terribly mangled by a switchblade.

[5:43] I think you can arguably make a case that, yes, Chinatown is a better movie than Pool Man.

[5:47] It's like, what was it?

[5:49] The scene in Reign of Fire where, in the post-apocalyptic future,

[5:53] they entertain children by reenacting the story of Star Wars.

[5:57] And I'm like, movie, don't be doing that.

[5:59] Don't make me think about Star Wars while I'm watching Reign of Fire.

[6:03] I had the same experience watching Return of the Jedi,

[6:05] where C-3PO entertains the Ewoks by reenacting Star Wars.

[6:07] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[6:09] I'm like, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars is a better movie.

[6:11] What are you doing?

[6:13] There's a third L.A.-based movie that is explicitly referenced in this,

[6:17] where you're like, I would like to be watching that movie.

[6:19] Where he goes, you've never seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

[6:21] Yeah.

[6:23] And this movie, it's all that stuff.

[6:25] It's very the long goodbye.

[6:27] It wants to be the long goodbye.

[6:29] I'm going to toss a couple other ones in there

[6:31] that I find more appropriate, even,

[6:33] is Under the Silver Lake and Inherent Vice,

[6:35] where it's movies where the main character is so addled

[6:39] that you can't tell whether there actually is a giant conspiracy he's part of

[6:43] or whether it's just his paranoid fantasies.

[6:45] Yeah.

[6:47] Yeah, they're kind of like L.A. neo-noir

[6:49] with a dopey main character, basically.

[6:51] I would call it like,

[6:53] Los Angeles hangout burnout noir.

[6:55] Like, there's a lot of hanging out.

[6:57] The main characters are burnout.

[6:59] Big Levowski, I would say, is the greatest of those,

[7:01] you know, that's arguably.

[7:03] But let's talk about, we're not here to talk about that.

[7:05] We're here to talk about Pool Man.

[7:07] I think there's contention there, but that's okay.

[7:09] See the Chris Pine in the pool

[7:11] Wearing shorts and looking cool

[7:13] That I've been sitting on.

[7:15] I've been singing that around the apartment so much.

[7:17] That Pool Man!

[7:25] My wife, Maris, has not been enjoying it.

[7:27] Oh, interesting.

[7:29] How's the dog responded?

[7:31] She's down.

[7:33] As long as I sing it in her direction

[7:35] and kind of upbeat.

[7:37] So let's talk about what Pool Man

[7:39] We talked about what Pool Man is like.

[7:41] Let's talk about what Pool Man is.

[7:43] Pool Man stars Chris Pine as Darren, or D.B.

[7:45] He's also called.

[7:47] He lives in a trailer next to a motel pool.

[7:49] He's a cool guy. He takes his work very seriously.

[7:51] He only seems to take care of one pool.

[7:53] Just the one at the apartment motel complex.

[7:55] He doesn't seem to like

[7:57] Just enough to earn the title.

[7:59] He doesn't travel around to take care of other pools

[8:01] as most pool people do.

[8:03] It's not called Pools Man.

[8:05] That's a good point.

[8:07] Be a very confusing title.

[8:09] He takes it very seriously.

[8:11] He's like Josh said.

[8:13] He's the hot Lebowski.

[8:15] He has his shirt off a lot.

[8:17] He doesn't know what's going on.

[8:19] He writes very ultra positive letters to Aaron Brockovich.

[8:21] Every day he writes a letter to Aaron Brockovich.

[8:23] He has a girlfriend.

[8:25] As we all do.

[8:27] I think the tone of the movie

[8:29] might be best summed up by the scene

[8:31] the first scene between him and his girlfriend

[8:33] whose name is Susan

[8:35] where they

[8:37] Played by?

[8:39] Is it Jennifer Jason Leigh?

[8:41] It's almost like there's a ton of stars in this movie.

[8:43] It is a very star packed movie.

[8:45] And the material

[8:47] does not give them

[8:49] a huge amount to take.

[8:51] The movie is less

[8:53] a plot

[8:55] where one scene

[8:57] leads tightly to the next

[8:59] but a series of acting exercises

[9:01] performed by great actors.

[9:03] Just sort of

[9:05] circuitous conversations.

[9:07] It's like a star vehicle

[9:09] but the vehicle is one of those

[9:11] fake horses out in front of a grocery store

[9:13] in the beginning.

[9:17] It doesn't go very much.

[9:19] They lie in bed together.

[9:21] They have a conversation about how their local chicken restaurant

[9:23] has not been as good lately

[9:25] since the owner died.

[9:27] His girlfriend used to date the owner

[9:29] and he talks a lot about

[9:31] Descanso Gardens

[9:33] which is a real botanical garden

[9:35] in Los Angeles.

[9:37] Do they make a lot of L.A. location references in this?

[9:39] A lot of L.A. location references

[9:41] throughout the movie

[9:43] but Descanso Gardens

[9:45] I don't know.

[9:47] It's a great botanical garden

[9:49] but I'm not sure why they mention it so much.

[9:53] The characters are kind of having

[9:55] this rambling conversation

[9:57] at cross purposes with each other.

[9:59] There's a lot of that in this movie.

[10:00] There's a lot of rambling conversations where characters are not really speaking directly

[10:03] to each other.

[10:06] She leaves.

[10:07] He gets a package.

[10:08] It's a real estate calendar from Theodore Hollandaise, who is one of the, I guess, sinister

[10:15] power brokers pulling the strings in Los Angeles.

[10:17] A name like that?

[10:18] A name like Teddy Hollandaise.

[10:20] Then we're introduced to some of Pool Man's crew.

[10:22] There's Jack and Diane.

[10:24] Every time he said Jack and Diane, it made me so mad.

[10:28] It's not a joke.

[10:29] It's like a fake joke.

[10:31] Jack is Danny DeVito.

[10:32] Diane is Annette Bening.

[10:33] It's great to see them in movies.

[10:34] I love seeing them perform.

[10:36] They live at that kind of hotel apartment complex.

[10:40] Danny DeVito tells a long story about a Japanese restaurant, complaining about it, and that's

[10:45] kind of the scene.

[10:49] Diane is Pool Man's therapist, and Jack, Diane, and Pool Man, they're making a documentary

[10:55] with Pool Man's friend, Wayne, about Pool Man's attempts to get the city council to

[11:01] bring back the trolley cars that used to be in Los Angeles and are a big plot point in

[11:06] Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as you'll remember.

[11:10] I would just want to say in passing, my favorite characters, I think, in this, other than we'll

[11:15] see Steven Teleski later, he's terrific, but I think that Jack and Diane are my favorite

[11:20] characters because there's just something about, I mean, like, DeVito's doing his normal

[11:25] just sort of like, I don't know, like, fumfering around with high energy thing, but there's

[11:31] something about, I think, Annette Bening specifically, her positive, like, vibe, like, she's just

[11:38] like kind of coming along on all this bullshit very, like, indulgently, and she's just, like,

[11:43] happy to relax next to them while they're doing-

[11:46] Always, like, wearing a sun hat and giant glasses.

[11:48] Stuff, and I found them, like, more fun than, like, the problem with Chris Pine's character

[11:52] to me is he's, like, too dumb, like, in something like The Big Lebowski, like, Lebowski ends

[11:58] up being kind of a good detective, which is kind of the funny thing about that movie,

[12:01] even though he's stoned all the time, he puts things together, whereas Chris Pine is, like,

[12:06] really out to lunch.

[12:08] He's really, he's really dumb, and he's, and he's, like, but he's not, we don't ever see

[12:12] him, like, smoking pot or anything like that, you know, whereas The Big Lebowski, like-

[12:16] And he doesn't drink alcohol, right?

[12:18] And he doesn't drink, that's right.

[12:19] It seems like kind of a plot point, yeah.

[12:20] So, instead of, like, Lebowski is clear he is, he's a, he's a, he's a burnout because

[12:25] he is constantly, he's always high, he, like, he's always smoking pot, which is a character

[12:29] trait.

[12:30] And drinking white Russians.

[12:31] And drinking white Russians, that's true.

[12:32] Whereas, whereas, yeah, the pool man is, or Darren, I guess, no one ever calls, he calls

[12:37] himself a pool man, but no one's ever, like, pool man, you're here, but, yeah, he's a,

[12:42] he's just a dumb guy, he's just a dumb spacey guy, you know?

[12:45] And, and it's, I feel, I was trying to think to myself, what is it that makes Jeff Bridges'

[12:50] performance in The Big Lebowski so amazing?

[12:53] I think it's one of the best comic performances of the past, what, 40 years or something,

[12:58] in a movie.

[12:59] I think he's, maybe it's just that he knows that character so well that he's, like, inhabiting

[13:02] it so, so completely, whereas Chris Pine feels like he is playing a part, like, he feels

[13:07] like he's playing a character.

[13:08] Do you think, well, I also-

[13:09] Guys, do you think on the set of Hell or High Water, Chris Pine went up to Jeff Bridges

[13:11] and was like, hey, I'm thinking about doing another Big Lebowski.

[13:14] I also think-

[13:15] Give me some tips.

[13:16] I also think there's something frustrating about, like, usually you don't want, like,

[13:20] a passive character, but, like, the pool man, like, keeps sort of stumbling into problems

[13:26] of his own design and misinterpreting things, and that makes him more irritating, whereas

[13:31] Lebowski is, like, just constantly reluctant.

[13:34] He just wants to be left alone, but he's, like, dragged into things, which I found much

[13:38] more sympathetic.

[13:39] Yeah.

[13:40] I was thinking about that same tension because watching this movie, I kept thinking to myself,

[13:45] why is he doing all these things?

[13:47] Why is he doing-

[13:48] And then at the end of the movie, spoiler alert, we'll get there, he's totally superfluous

[13:51] to everything that's been happening, but not in a funny way, not in a funny, like, oh,

[13:56] I thought I was the hero of this movie, but it turns out I was just kind of bumbling around

[13:59] the edges of a larger story.

[14:01] Instead, everyone treats him like a hero when he's done nothing and accomplished nothing,

[14:05] and it's a very-

[14:06] Yeah.

[14:08] And it might just be that, you know, Chris Pine, he walked the strike line with us, you

[14:13] know, I appreciate that, but I'll go as far as to say he's probably not up to the Coen

[14:17] brothers level in his directorial debut here.

[14:20] This is not Blood Simple, you know, compared to the Coen brothers who did Big Lebowski.

[14:24] I would also, as much as I like him, I don't think he's cast well in this because Chris

[14:30] Pine has, like, a depth and a soulfulness in his eyes that do not fit a character that's

[14:37] this bumbling to me.

[14:38] I will say two things.

[14:39] One, I think he, yeah, he comes off as a smart guy playing a dumb guy, and also, he's in

[14:45] great shape, and it's hard for me to believe this character having the motivation to, like,

[14:50] exercise.

[14:51] I believe him meditating and, like, trying to be good to himself that way and eating

[14:56] right.

[14:57] I don't, but it's hard for me to imagine this guy-

[14:58] He is in great shape.

[14:59] What do you think his routine is, Dan?

[15:00] What do you think his workout routine is?

[15:01] Yeah, Dan, what do you think his-

[15:02] I'm guessing he does a lot of surfing.

[15:03] A lot of, yeah, a lot of surfing.

[15:04] Probably not a lot of bulking, right?

[15:05] Probably not a lot of power lifting.

[15:06] No, I don't think so.

[15:07] I wonder what he squats.

[15:08] Okay, we'll talk about that.

[15:09] Well, he's probably listening, so Chris Pine, right in.

[15:10] So anyway, they are making a documentary about Darren's attempts to get the trolley back.

[15:11] They go to a city council hearing chaired by city council chairman Stephen Toronkowski,

[15:12] who's played by Stephen Tobolowsky.

[15:13] So I could not remember that his name was Toronkowski for most of the movie, and in

[15:14] my notes, I just call him Tobolowsky.

[15:15] And this is Darren's story.

[15:16] Darren's story.

[15:17] Yeah.

[15:18] Yeah.

[15:19] Yeah.

[15:20] Yeah.

[15:21] Yeah.

[15:22] Yeah.

[15:23] Yeah.

[15:24] Yeah.

[15:25] Yeah.

[15:26] Yeah.

[15:27] Yeah.

[15:28] Yeah.

[15:30] for most of the movie, and in my notes, I just call him Tobolowsky.

[15:33] And this is Darren's.

[15:34] That's on them.

[15:36] That's on them, yeah.

[15:37] I mean.

[15:38] This is not an Elliott problem.

[15:39] No, that's true.

[15:40] They are doing it, it is very funny how none of the other characters have character names

[15:42] that are that close to their real name.

[15:43] But Stephen, it's not like they named the characters Stephen Toronkowsky, and then by

[15:46] coincidence cast Stephen Tobolowsky.

[15:47] Couldn't have possible's been done that way.

[15:49] Couldn't have possibly been done that way.

[15:51] No.

[15:52] And in fact, if it was a coincidence, they would have changed it.

[15:54] You would think so.

[15:56] This is his 577th consecutive appearance, and he's fixated on returning L.A. back to

[16:01] the way it was.

[16:02] He's one of these guys who's like, old L.A. was amazing.

[16:05] They're tearing down all these old buildings.

[16:06] He's very knowledgeable about old L.A. buildings and kind of what.

[16:09] As an L.A. guy, Elliott, is this a, is this a character that like, L.A. it too?

[16:15] Now I'm L.A. it, Caelan.

[16:16] Because that's my catchphrase on the radio here, I go, L.A. it, hey guys, you don't know

[16:20] what to do with it?

[16:21] L.A. it.

[16:22] Make it more L.A.

[16:23] That's what I do, yeah.

[16:24] What does that mean in effect?

[16:26] It's like a radio station.

[16:27] Yeah.

[16:28] What's the content here?

[16:29] Well, you L.A. something, basically, you put a side of avocado on it, and then you, and

[16:34] then you place it next to a thing that is a wildly different architectural style.

[16:38] But it still works, because there's so many, so many different types, you know.

[16:41] But you have to like, drive 20 minutes to get there.

[16:43] Oh, at least, on a good day.

[16:45] So you're going to ask me about L.A.?

[16:47] I was just going to say like, you know, three of us here are longtime New Yorkers, you being

[16:53] an L.A. guy.

[16:54] Native, L.A. native, yeah.

[16:55] Is this like a caricature that is common and for an L.A. audience would play really well?

[17:01] I think there's an L.A., I will give the movie this, I think it has an L.A. feel.

[17:05] I think it does feel like you're in Los Angeles, and the characters are kind of L.A. types.

[17:10] But I have to admit, I have not, I have not found myself in this situation too often where

[17:14] I'm encountering this kind of like.

[17:15] Outside of Jesse Thorne, our good friend, who is perfect L.A. guy.

[17:19] Yeah, yeah.

[17:20] He would love that.

[17:21] He doesn't identify heavily with the Bay Area or anything.

[17:28] But I don't hang around a lot of the like classic L.A. built around a pool housing complexes,

[17:34] you know, that like, I don't spend a lot of time around buildings in the Googie architecture

[17:39] style, not by choice, just it doesn't happen that often.

[17:41] So I feel like I'm not encountering this level the same way that in New York, I would often

[17:45] encounter people who are like, oh, the old New York.

[17:48] Can you imagine like this?

[17:49] This building's been around for, you know, 150 years.

[17:51] Oh, this is great.

[17:52] In L.A., also the things like old L.A. is like 80 years old.

[17:56] You know, it's not that old.

[17:57] So my my wife's cousin's husband, who's from from grew up in Istanbul, he's always like

[18:04] America.

[18:05] You look at a building and you're like, this is 200 years old.

[18:08] And you think that's old.

[18:09] We've got thousand year old buildings where I'm from.

[18:10] And I feel like L.A. is that accelerated where people are like, we can't tear down this building.

[18:14] It's 60 years old.

[18:16] It's an artifact of an earlier era.

[18:18] So but that's a long way of saying, I don't I don't know that I've ever met anyone who's

[18:23] like the old L.A., the old glamour of old Los Angeles.

[18:26] But I'm sure they're out there, you know, Steve.

[18:30] So this scene, maybe that's going to explain it to me.

[18:31] City council meeting.

[18:32] He's got this elaborate presentation he's doing.

[18:35] And Stephen Tobolowsky instantly gets so mad at him and is like, leave, get out.

[18:40] Your time is up.

[18:41] But he hasn't said anything particularly well.

[18:43] We just had it established that this is like he just broke the record for most consecutive

[18:48] appearances at one of these meetings.

[18:52] But if these are the appearances he's having, like, it should be fine.

[18:54] Like, I didn't know why the characters were getting mad at each other.

[18:56] I didn't understand.

[18:58] You would get mad if this guy came to your work like 500 days in a row.

[19:03] If my job is to talk to the members of the public when they when they want to come to

[19:07] meetings.

[19:08] You have I mean, perhaps it has ideals of the elected officials job to this period to

[19:19] constitute this way.

[19:20] Never.

[19:21] As a as a as a current candidate for the as a as a as a current candidate for the board

[19:28] of the Writers Guild West.

[19:29] I would never treat a constituent this way to talk to me about your issues.

[19:33] Union members come talk to me five hundred seventy seven days in a row.

[19:35] We'll have the same pleasant conversation.

[19:38] I will not just explode at you the way Steven Tovalaski does today.

[19:41] You've got issues.

[19:42] He's got tissues.

[19:43] Oh, yeah.

[19:44] I'm there for you.

[19:45] They need to know.

[19:47] I think a little something on their cheek.

[19:48] If that's maybe.

[19:49] And I'll lick the tissue and just rub it off.

[19:50] Yes.

[19:51] Stuart, can you be my campaign manager for me?

[19:52] I got time.

[20:00] Or my campaign manager for the Writer's Guild board.

[20:02] Again, I'm running.

[20:04] So he gets mad and he gets thrown out.

[20:07] D.B. has the first of several meditating at the bottom of a pool scenes.

[20:10] No, he did one early, right?

[20:11] Oh, he did earlier?

[20:12] Oh, I missed it.

[20:13] Because he did it right at the beginning, he does it after he adjusts the pool.

[20:16] And I took a note that it said it's the first character sitting at the bottom of a pool

[20:20] scene that isn't about a long dark night of the soul.

[20:23] He just kind of likes it down there.

[20:24] I think it's very funny because it's like, I don't know how deep you're going to get

[20:27] into meditation at the bottom of a pool.

[20:29] You can't do it for too long or you'll die.

[20:31] Especially because it's very breathing centered meditation in my experience.

[20:35] Meditation is very much about feeling yourself breathe.

[20:36] So it feels like unless he has some shortcut, it's very hard to.

[20:40] You can only bed for four minutes at most.

[20:43] I mean, there's an element of what's the word?

[20:46] Isolation.

[20:47] Thank you.

[20:48] Yeah.

[20:49] Sensory deprivation.

[20:50] Yeah.

[20:51] Sensory deprivation.

[20:52] That's what I was actually looking for.

[20:53] But a sensory deprivation tank, like you're in there for a while.

[20:54] Like you're not in there for like two minutes and suddenly you're out of your mind.

[20:57] A minute?

[20:58] Have you guys ever done it?

[20:59] Have you guys ever done a cold plunge?

[21:00] Like an ice icy cold plunge?

[21:02] No, I haven't.

[21:03] Dan, are you?

[21:04] Have you ever?

[21:05] Like a cold bath?

[21:06] Josh, I haven't done it, but I know it's a big thing that people do that.

[21:11] Like I was like, I can do like 45 seconds.

[21:14] But then after that, I'm like, my my extremities hurt.

[21:17] Yeah.

[21:18] OK, sorry.

[21:19] I was I figured you guys were all ice.

[21:21] Like I don't even you know, I can't even do that.

[21:24] Like I know that you like to.

[21:26] I prefer to take.

[21:27] You like to finish off a shower with a little cold water, right?

[21:29] Yeah.

[21:30] I feel like I wrote it down in your stew diary.

[21:32] I cannot take it.

[21:33] No, thank you.

[21:34] I like I like to.

[21:35] And I like to.

[21:36] I appreciate cold water taken internally.

[21:37] Really cold water.

[21:38] I like to take it in.

[21:39] Yeah.

[21:40] Yeah.

[21:41] Into into the inside of my body.

[21:42] That's the best.

[21:43] Yeah.

[21:44] And Josh, you're one of those guys who wakes up at four in the morning and sticks your

[21:45] face in a bowl of cold water.

[21:46] Yeah.

[21:47] I get on.

[21:48] Look at the results.

[21:49] That's where all the nutrients are.

[21:50] Yeah.

[21:51] Exactly.

[21:52] And you also you sleep with tape on your mattress.

[21:53] Yeah.

[21:55] So that you can breathe through your nose the healthy way.

[21:56] So my nose doesn't stop grinding when I'm asleep.

[21:57] No place off for the nose.

[21:58] So.

[21:59] He has a vision of himself himself in a suit and a tree.

[22:00] And he becomes fixated on this tree for for much of the movie.

[22:01] And I writes a letter to him about his troubles.

[22:02] We learn that.

[22:03] So this is a weird thing to learn off camera.

[22:04] Is that when he when he wakes up at four in the morning.

[22:05] Yeah.

[22:06] Yeah.

[22:07] Yeah.

[22:08] Yeah.

[22:09] Yeah.

[22:10] Yeah.

[22:11] Yeah.

[22:12] Yeah.

[22:13] Yeah.

[22:14] Yeah.

[22:15] Yeah.

[22:16] Yeah.

[22:17] Yeah.

[22:18] Yeah.

[22:19] Yeah.

[22:20] Yeah.

[22:21] Yeah.

[22:22] Yeah.

[22:23] Yeah.

[22:24] The next thing is that we know is that he when he was thrown out of the city council

[22:26] meeting that he punched on the security guards and went to jail and got bailed out.

[22:30] And this is information that we're just told as in his voice over to Aaron Brockovich.

[22:35] And it makes me wonder, did they not?

[22:37] Did they forget to shoot this?

[22:38] Did they shoot it and adjusted like a lot to the lost the location man?

[22:42] Who now was too short for you, Elliot, doesn't really.

[22:45] You, I'm wondering why Pullman would remove one of the few moments of action for all that

[22:50] it might be an element of that it like seeing him hit somebody as opposed to just hearing

[22:56] about it is different.

[22:58] Like seeing somebody commit an act of violence, like it changes your field.

[23:01] It's just a strange thing to find out happened between scenes.

[23:05] You see it in movies sometimes, but it's usually a result of it.

[23:09] They've edited out a scene because it wasn't working and they have to replace that dialogue

[23:12] to explain it.

[23:13] You know, he's wearing a suit and I do have to point out that Chris Pine wears some incredible

[23:18] outfits in this movie.

[23:19] You can tell Chris Pine dressed himself because he has a great sense of style.

[23:23] He wears great clothes.

[23:24] Yeah.

[23:25] And he's constantly eating at Langer's.

[23:26] Yes, they do get they get food from Langer's, which is a it's a good deli.

[23:30] It's right near the Max Fun offices, you know, or it was.

[23:33] I don't remember where they say your favorite L.A. deli.

[23:37] I think my favorite might be arts, which is the one with the what's the one by Hollywood

[23:43] is by Sunset.

[23:45] What's the one with that has the kibbutz room attached to it?

[23:48] The bar.

[23:50] Oh, I think you're thinking of Schmelberger's deli.

[23:53] Yeah, that's not true.

[23:56] I don't know which one.

[23:57] I haven't I haven't yet gotten to explore the delis of L.A. the way I've still never

[24:00] been to Cantor's, which is the one you're talking about.

[24:02] I think Stuart.

[24:03] Oh, OK.

[24:04] Thank you.

[24:05] We got we got so jealous of L.A. podcast talking about local shit all the time.

[24:09] Now we're in on the action.

[24:11] L.A. with Elliot.

[24:12] Los Angeles.

[24:13] Hey, guys.

[24:14] Hey, guys.

[24:15] La Cienega.

[24:16] Yep.

[24:17] That's a place.

[24:18] That's the thing.

[24:19] Yeah.

[24:20] Yeah.

[24:21] That's your other catchphrase, Delia.

[24:22] Well, that's what I'm telling.

[24:23] That's that's what I'm I'm running for the Jewish vote in L.A.

[24:24] I go.

[24:25] Yeah.

[24:26] Galen.

[24:27] Yeah.

[24:28] Have sour pickle on the side of it.

[24:29] And that's I mean, that's the first that's the first law I want to push through in the

[24:30] L.A. City Council.

[24:31] All sandwiches come with a pickle.

[24:32] Just three.

[24:33] You have to pay for that.

[24:34] OK.

[24:35] So, Ron.

[24:36] Social Distribution.

[24:37] These people.

[24:38] Oh, good.

[24:39] Thank you.

[24:40] Thank you.

[24:41] Thank you.

[24:42] Thank you.

[24:43] Thank you.

[24:44] Thank you.

[24:45] Thank you.

[24:46] Carol.

[24:47] These people are too good to hide this.

[24:48] We're back to New York references.

[24:51] Well, Josh, you wanted to say something I assume not about my campaign for mayor of L.A..

[24:55] No, it was about that.

[24:56] No, I.

[24:57] I do.

[24:58] Like you said, I like the outfits.

[25:01] I think like it the movie looks kind of fun.

[25:04] Like you were saying, there was an L.A.

[25:05] It's a good looking movie.

[25:07] I don't really like that cinematography on it.

[25:09] But so the cinematography is I'm looking at now is Matthew Jensen.

[25:13] OK.

[25:14] Who's done a lot of stuff.

[25:15] Yeah.

[25:16] And it looks great.

[25:17] Well, yeah, I wanted to say, like, I would argue that Chris Pine as a director, like

[25:22] the issues here are Chris Pine screenwriter more than Chris Pine director.

[25:27] I think he gets good performances out of everyone.

[25:29] I think it looks good.

[25:31] You know, like I know he's working with other technicians, but like he's you know, he directed

[25:35] like a good looking movie.

[25:36] And I know he was in the casting director, but I'm assuming a big part of the cast was.

[25:40] Oh, yeah.

[25:41] I'll work with Chris Pine.

[25:42] Yes.

[25:43] Totally.

[25:45] And this is the cinematographer, Matthew Jensen.

[25:46] This is his second appearance on The Flophouse because he also was cinematographer for Josh

[25:51] Trank's Fantastic Four, which we saw.

[25:53] Oh, wow.

[25:54] He made it through that crucible.

[25:56] But it looks like his earliest film was have you ever seen the movie Man of the Century

[26:00] where there's it's 1999, but there's a guy who looks and talks like it's the 20s.

[26:05] And it's a it's it's like a it's a kind of ridiculous idea for a movie.

[26:10] But I remember seeing a long time ago, so I'm like, oh, that's funny that that he also

[26:13] worked on another movie about a guy who like is nostalgic for an earlier time, but that

[26:18] was a New York one.

[26:20] So anyway, let's get back to this movie because there's so much more to talk about because

[26:23] we're about to get to the femme fatale character.

[26:26] That's right.

[26:27] Stephen Tobolowsky's new executive assistant, June, comes to see Darren.

[26:32] She's the one who bailed him out of jail and she wants his help.

[26:34] She says the councilman has been accepting bribes and she thinks he's going to accept

[26:38] one from Teddy Hollandaise, who I should just mention now is played by Clancy Brown.

[26:43] And oh, yeah, the and she wants him to, I guess, just find evidence of this bribe.

[26:48] And Darren is like, no, I'm not going to do it.

[26:50] I'm not a detective.

[26:51] Darren has a therapy session with Diane.

[26:53] He's in tears, I think, in this one because he saw that tree in his meditation.

[26:57] And she's like, you have to confront that tree.

[26:59] And Darren, against Diane's wishes, decides he's going to take this detective case.

[27:04] And Jack is like, you should do it.

[27:05] This will be great for our documentary.

[27:08] And Darren's like, this is what Aaron Brockovich would have done.

[27:09] I'm going to take this detective case.

[27:12] Don't know why he couldn't have made that decision in the earlier scene since he's already

[27:16] obsessed with Aaron Brockovich.

[27:17] Like he could just looked at her picture on his wall, which is on there and done it.

[27:20] But that's when typewriter, which he uses to writer the letters.

[27:24] Yeah, that's when he gets pastrami from one of those guys, real Tom Hanks.

[27:31] He gets pastrami from Langer's.

[27:32] And then the place that I got sandwiches from for my wife after our second son was born,

[27:37] she didn't want any more hospital food.

[27:39] So I ran on down to Langer's and got her sandwiches there.

[27:41] OK, I'll put that in my notebook right next to Stuart likes cold water in his showers.

[27:46] Look, Elliot and Elliot.

[27:47] The deli is an important part of my family life.

[27:51] And then they watch Chinatown.

[27:52] And luckily for us, they see the scene in Chinatown where the guy explains that L.A.

[27:56] is a desert town and it needs water because underneath our feet is a desert.

[28:01] It's amazing.

[28:02] Is this the equivalent?

[28:03] Is this the equivalent of like a sci fi movie where you walk into like a professor, a college

[28:07] professor giving a speech that explains exactly what the point of the movie is?

[28:11] Yeah.

[28:12] And that's why polymer strands, when stretched too far, lead to dimensional rifts.

[28:16] Anyway, that's the bell.

[28:19] The homework assignment is pages twenty five hundred to thirty three hundred.

[28:23] Like they always every every college professor I've learned from movies cannot act, cannot

[28:27] accurately time their own lectures.

[28:29] And they're always yelling the homework assignment as everyone is rushing to get out of the room.

[28:34] Yeah.

[28:35] Man, this is probably online.

[28:36] Just tell them the syllabus is online.

[28:38] They also always get to the most important part of the lecture right as the bell is hitting,

[28:42] because that's when the FBI agent or NYPD officer or NASA scientist or whatever is walking

[28:46] into the room because they also cannot get the schedule right for the class.

[28:50] I would imagine like a cop and not a cop are walking in.

[28:53] They're about to do some kind of investigation.

[28:54] Yeah.

[28:55] Not a cop could be anything like a magician, a chef, a magician.

[28:59] Yeah.

[29:00] Yeah.

[29:01] Anything.

[29:03] So he is a is a bad guy, professor.

[29:04] So when they walk in, he's always like, and that's how you remove all the skin from a

[29:07] living person.

[29:08] Oh, that's the end of class.

[29:10] OK, the homework assignment is to find out I'm a serial killer.

[29:12] And then the cop and not a cop come and talk to him.

[29:15] And he's like, oh, well, he's always like fiddling with the chalk, you know.

[29:18] Sure.

[29:19] Hope you catch that chicken cutlet killer.

[29:21] I hope you catch BF Skin Man.

[29:28] I love his solo stuff.

[29:33] Pretty sassy of the serial killer to give himself a pun name like that.

[29:36] It was the New York Post.

[29:38] Yeah.

[29:39] Yeah.

[29:40] Yeah.

[29:41] The Post did it.

[29:42] This is a New York based thing, but not the kind of thing I talk about now that I'm L.A.

[29:45] at the L.A. based Elliott.

[29:48] So they take the case.

[29:50] They watch Chinatown.

[29:52] He goes to June's apartment.

[29:54] I don't remember why.

[29:55] And they're both dressed like old movie stars and they kind of semi flirt.

[29:58] And she's very.

[30:00] putting it on very heavy this kind of like melodramatic femme fatale you know kind of every

[30:04] every line is weighted with with some kind of uh sometimes subtext they blow out a match together

[30:09] and then they go to dinner together and did i miss the part where she says come and have dinner with

[30:13] me before he just shows up at her apartment like really you know like obsessed with things not

[30:18] happening on screen that really could be assumed like this is the sort of stuff that usually i

[30:22] feel like you're like yeah just move it along movie but here you're like no i need everything

[30:27] well i think the issue of this something i said before the movie before we start recording was

[30:30] it's weird to see a movie that doesn't have a core and i kind of i think my issue is that i

[30:34] kind of kept waiting for the movie to like kick in act like it was a movie to kick in and act like

[30:39] there was a story and not just like a collection of scenes where things are happening and i'm like

[30:44] movie if there's a mystery of any kind or there's a conspiracy a guy's was to dig into you got to

[30:49] give me some of the linkages like you can't you can't just be unless that's what the movie is

[30:53] about but that it doesn't feel like that's what this movie is about you know it's anyway josh what

[30:58] do you say no i want to talk with it's it's really kind of free floating i wanted to say i made a

[31:02] note this was so funny to me i was watching i was watching this movie with my wife maris

[31:06] his book came out last week uh i want to burn this place down what a wife guy he's always

[31:10] mentioning his wife rob zombie over here she didn't make it to the end of the movie she lived

[31:16] but she walked out of the room oh yeah but she when they're showing she didn't she didn't say

[31:21] i can't take anymore of this movie and just slice her own throat open but when they when

[31:27] they were watching chinatown she goes yeah chris evans this is your chinatown

[31:34] chris pine and she's like whatever

[31:40] chris evans chinatown would be chinatown in boston which is a good chinatown there's a

[31:46] lot of great chinatowns look if you go to a city you go to chinatown whatever chinatown they have

[31:50] there it's gonna you're gonna find something good there you know it's this there's i'm a big fan of

[31:54] chinatowns in general the movies and the places uh so uh saying highly you know what la has a

[32:03] chinatown that's right and a japan town and a koreatown and a historic filipino town and as

[32:08] mayor i will represent all of those different constituencies not the way i think they should

[32:12] be represented but the way they need to be represented they want to be represented i'm

[32:16] listening to you la he's really crushing it yeah thank you i should run for mayor of la i mean i

[32:21] don't know where anything is in the city but i kind of feel like nobody in la knows where anything

[32:28] where am i now

[32:32] so uh they have a very seductive dinner it's very mysterious he's a doof uh and then when

[32:36] they leave she gets in a real tiny car and drives off and he follows her to a mansion and sees her

[32:42] talking to somebody in silhouette and he writes to erin and brockovich he's like this is great

[32:46] everything's going well um and uh and so he's meditating in the pool again and in his his in

[32:53] his meditation someone says hi to him we'll later find out this is a lizard uh the next day he talks

[32:58] to jack for a while jack tells him a long story that i cannot remember what it was about and then

[33:03] suddenly they're trailing council president tobolowsky or council committee chairman

[33:08] and they see him at a racetrack he gets a handoff from some goons this story was about doing hash in

[33:13] cape cod on cape cod while he was doing community theater that's right while he was like children's

[33:17] community theater that's what yeah um which may be a real story from danny devito's life it had

[33:22] that feeling of of chris pine being like danny just talk just say anything you know just monologue

[33:26] just like they mentioned massachusetts and here's the first time i really heard them

[33:32] so guys i'm going to talk about another thing that didn't make sense to me about this movie

[33:35] a movie that is a loosely uh agglomerated collection of scenes uh the goons who work

[33:40] for teddy hollandaise why are they dressed like the guys from miami vice a show that is famously

[33:44] not set in los angeles it's a good question dan uh i mean is that not a style you'll see in la too

[33:52] though like i feel like that's a guys they are warm weather i mean they looked but they are

[33:56] seemed so specifically patterned yeah the guys from in miami vice it's also a lot of the stuff

[34:01] in the movie not to like digress but i think it's of a piece with like the the things in this movie

[34:06] all look like they're not from the present even though the movie clearly takes place in the

[34:10] past like that is everything is stylized to be like a little off and a little like out of time

[34:16] it feels like he's going at for all that we've talked about like the big lebowski in chinatown

[34:20] it feels like he's also going for a wes anderson feel a lot of stuff in that way and it's i feel

[34:26] like i know stewart does not like wes anderson particularly but i feel like wes anderson when

[34:30] is successful at it partly because he creates this feeling of like this exists in its own special

[34:34] universe that has this way of being whereas this feels so much like it's still like la la la la la

[34:41] la the old la the new la that you're like well you gotta you gotta ground it in los angeles then i

[34:45] guess like it can't just be in in chris pine's head the way that wes anderson's movies very clearly to

[34:50] take place i'll disagree i think that that i mean like if it's a guy who's obsessed with old la

[34:55] it kind of makes sense that you know like he's you know we're taking like it is sort of like an

[35:01] existence head and we're seeing all these like uh older places like the the hotel he works at

[35:06] seems like like a mid-century hotel like it's like just like a kind of place it's not the places so

[35:12] much the cars if if he's supposed to be the guy who is the old la kind of the guy who wants it so

[35:18] badly and the people he's in opposition with should not also be old la style people right

[35:23] like they're you've got you've got to differentiate your characters a little bit you

[35:27] can't have if that's your point if yeah so i feel like that's a it's a thematic failing i mean it

[35:32] made it look it looks awesome it looks like the costumes look really cool all the cars look really

[35:36] cool as much as no i was just saying we we are being i think pretty negative about the movie

[35:42] because it's not a very good movie but there are there were lots of like little glimmers that i

[35:47] was like oh that's fun like i just i have that in my head too much of like that's fun like her going

[35:54] what he wants to drink i think it was june did this and he says water and they go make sense

[35:58] you're a pool man it's like those like tiny little jokes where some of those things change and he

[36:02] goes well they shouldn't that's like a very wes anderson line yeah and at the very end the west

[36:09] anderson part really hit me more at the very end two characters that say they're going to paris

[36:12] and when we see them in a scene a group scene they're wearing like literally

[36:16] striped shirts and berets and it's like oh okay my cartoon paris big adventure

[36:21] yeah the west anderson movie of its day you know um kind of but i mean i think on some level

[36:26] there's a there's a feel like he is he's only a few steps removed from a peewee type character

[36:32] yes like i feel like this this movie doesn't wouldn't hate that comparison no but i think

[36:37] that one of the i just having seen peewee's big venture a few times recently because my kids got

[36:41] into it like one of the things that movie does so well is the balance between peewee's world and how

[36:47] weird the real world is but also how not exactly like peewee elliot i got this this is a little

[36:52] tough guy test here there's an official tough guy test how how well do your boys do with the large

[36:57] marge bit oh they were fine i warned them about it ahead of time okay because me i shit my pants

[37:05] i could not watch it it was so scary and so i told them there's two scary parts in this movie

[37:09] uh and we can fast forward through them if you want and they and the large marge that afterwards

[37:14] they're like that was it it was like claymation like they had no it meant nothing to them you

[37:18] know well okay yeah you gotta get them to watch the ring next i guess and the other thing you

[37:22] know i mean the other thing about pews big adventures it helps that it has some of the

[37:26] funniest jokes in the world like if you're gonna make a picaresque like story where it doesn't

[37:31] really matter what the plot is it helps to just like have in each individual thing be hilarious

[37:35] well there's a there's a i think there's a saying i think that like i like a a like a good director

[37:41] can can make a bad script look good but like a um uh a a bad director can ruin a good script

[37:49] or something like that and i feel like the issue with this movie is is the story like we said is

[37:53] this is the script like and it looks really cool the actors are fun in it there's a fun atmosphere

[37:58] to it like the atmosphere feels really fun but while you're watching you're just kind of like

[38:02] what's like what's happening what am i seeing this is the kind of movie that i love too it is like

[38:09] i love like schlub meets a bunch of weirdos that could be the description of so many of my

[38:14] favorite movies name another movie that fits into the schlub meets a bunch of weirdos genre gosh i'm

[38:19] trying to think i saw one pretty recently but even like okay this is like um delicate physically

[38:27] slender woman meets a bunch of weirdos but like even poor things kind of have that and i like

[38:31] where it's like oh here's a new weirdo and here's a new weirdo and so i love like a person kind of

[38:36] getting blown through the world you think they're weird in that movie um i think i've talked i think

[38:42] i might have talked in the podcast before about how how badly i felt for the guys who were cast

[38:46] to play the johns at the brothel that she's working at poor things where i'm like can we

[38:51] just put a casting notice out for guys you would never want to have sex with like who's going to

[38:56] show up for this audition you know just look in their eyes and just think their dick is gross

[39:01] yeah yeah they were auditioning for that and zola at the same

[39:07] but i said it's a kind of movie that i really like but it just feels like every scene like i

[39:11] recently uh was talking with the big lebowski for a different friends podcast i won't uh you know

[39:16] they're gonna please don't start an east coast west coast rivalry even though they're both

[39:21] west coast can be friends look this this podcast right here you got two new york guys and one la

[39:26] guy la stalwart la kaylin and we can bring together the bone over there born and raised

[39:32] except for the first 35 years of my life um but it's every and in lebowski every scene is just

[39:42] so fun and full of interesting weird stuff and these scenes it feels like this movie it feels

[39:47] like they're trying to kind of rev up the charm and the quirk but it doesn't quite get there and

[39:53] so you see it looks great and you can see like these performances are really good but they just

[39:58] don't have that much like fun stuff to do

[40:00] Yeah, it feels like an attempt to do a, yeah, a Lebowski where they didn't give them business,

[40:09] you know, like he brought people in and were like, okay, and go and didn't necessarily

[40:13] give them like, here's what your character does.

[40:14] It's like he, he had the idea of the type of movie he wanted to make, but not it like

[40:19] forgot that there also should be a movie somewhere in there.

[40:22] Yes.

[40:23] Yeah.

[40:24] And so getting back to the movie in there somewhere, the next day, so they go to this

[40:28] handoff, they see what looks like, uh, the Tobolowsky taking a bribe and, uh, meet, they're

[40:34] all there as a group watching and they're being pretty loud.

[40:37] And Diane's just reading, like reading out loud from the book that she's got, uh, a lot

[40:42] of characters.

[40:43] Knaus guard.

[40:44] Is that what it was?

[40:45] I think so.

[40:46] Oh, okay.

[40:47] Is that my struggle?

[40:48] Yeah.

[40:49] I think that, I think that's what I clocked and I was like, this certainly isn't Hitler's

[40:50] my struggle.

[40:51] No.

[40:52] And you know what?

[40:53] I read, I read the wrong book.

[40:55] Trouble.

[40:56] And I just didn't even find out what troubling was, how to do it.

[41:01] I just, I picked up the wrong book and that's on me.

[41:04] That's not me.

[41:05] Uh, is there anyone wrong book because to read along with pool, man, you don't read

[41:13] the, when you watch a movie, I'm like, I got to read the book that they're reading in it.

[41:17] Yeah.

[41:18] Um, I do every month I read Oprah's book club pick.

[41:20] I read pool man's book club.

[41:21] It tells me there's a lot of Zen in the art of motorcycle means along that pool man collection

[41:28] of his letters to Aaron Brockovich.

[41:29] Oh yeah.

[41:30] The Brockovich letters.

[41:31] Yeah.

[41:32] Um, so it turns out a lot of the characters are carrying guns.

[41:35] This is something that never plays into anything, which is fine.

[41:37] It's just kind of a joke, but it's just kind of, it's, it's, it's a, it's one of the wackier

[41:41] moments in the movie for me where I'm like, oh, so they're just all carrying guns all

[41:44] the time because that's not an LA thing.

[41:46] Not in my LA.

[41:47] Elliot Kalin's LA is a weapon free zone.

[41:49] Wayne pulls the gun, right?

[41:50] He, the windows.

[41:51] But then also, but then also, um, uh, Susan has one and I think Diana has a, has a weapon

[41:57] of some kind.

[41:58] Like Susan has a, like a taser.

[42:01] Oh, that's right.

[42:02] Okay.

[42:03] And Wayne, I think they do kind of pay off, not to spoil it too much, but there's an explanation

[42:07] why he would have a gun, but also where he finds out that Wayne and Susan had been having

[42:11] an affair and they're in love effectively broken up with.

[42:15] Yeah.

[42:16] So he's going out with Wayne, uh, who until this point has seemed kind of like a, like

[42:19] a lackey for, for Darren, you know, um, and they take pictures and they run away.

[42:24] Uh, he just said, yeah, he discovers they're in love.

[42:27] He gets upset.

[42:28] He meditates again.

[42:29] He sees a talking lizard.

[42:30] June comes over.

[42:31] She's like, I know you were following me.

[42:33] That was my uncle's house.

[42:34] My uncle is taking care of my mom cause she's sick and they kiss and she leaves.

[42:38] And he goes, and Darren goes, wait a minute.

[42:41] The guy, the guys I saw with this, with took Torankowski, they work for Holland days.

[42:47] So he goes to Holland days, his office.

[42:49] And this is one of the, this is one of the scenes where I get, it's like clues just fall

[42:52] into his lap basically.

[42:53] And I guess maybe that's part of the issue I'm having with it is he meets William Van

[42:57] Patterson played by Ray Wise, who is investing in one of Holland days, his housing projects.

[43:02] And then Holland days just talks to, to Darren for a little bit.

[43:05] And he's like, Hey, tell them a story.

[43:07] This is how I got my job.

[43:08] There's a job here for you.

[43:10] And Darren goes, you bribed Tobolowsky.

[43:12] And uh, I gotta say, if you see Clancy Brown and Ray Wise walking out of the office, like

[43:16] laughing together, you know, they're up to something, you know, trouble brewing and that's,

[43:22] it's too bad that we never see them together again.

[43:25] Like I would like, like, it's like, Oh, that's the movie I want to see is Clancy Brown and

[43:28] Ray Wise like being bad guys together.

[43:31] Um, and then he says, he goes, Oh, there's so much more that you don't know about Tobolowsky

[43:35] is hiding something or over at the moody mule bar.

[43:38] And Darren goes there and walks into the best scene in the movie, which is a scene

[43:43] from the golden girls because, because Councilman Torankowski is, his secret is that he plays

[43:48] Blanche in a drag cabaret version of the golden, the golden girls.

[43:53] And it leads to Darren is taken by this very much.

[43:57] Like he's like, this guy's doing great work on stage.

[44:01] I love it.

[44:02] He loves it.

[44:03] And it's, and it's, and it, I think the best thing in the movie would crush in Brooklyn

[44:07] right now.

[44:08] Yeah.

[44:09] For sure.

[44:10] Yeah.

[44:11] And the, it's, and then the best thing in the movie I think is Darren goes to confront

[44:13] Tobolowsky in the green room and they kind of both cry together and, and apologize to

[44:18] each other.

[44:19] And Tobolowsky talks about how, like, it's just so brave that you can just be the person

[44:23] that you are.

[44:24] And I don't know how to be the person that I am.

[44:25] And I was like, there's a much better movie built around this scene that I wish I was

[44:28] watching.

[44:29] You know?

[44:30] It's really lovely.

[44:31] And it's like, it's, there's this funny like frisson of, he's like, Oh, you came here to

[44:36] like, tell me you're going to out me.

[44:38] And he's like, no, I just want like the trolleys to work corrupt.

[44:42] And that Darren is like, no, I love this.

[44:44] You should keep doing this.

[44:45] I think it's great.

[44:46] But I want the rest of the movie he's talking about, like, man, you should have seen him.

[44:52] He's stunning.

[44:53] As the, I do like that.

[44:55] He's like, no, I like you more because it's like, it's difficult for him.

[44:58] I used to see you as just a bad guy, but now I know that you have the side of you.

[45:01] And it's like, I would also normally cast Toblowsky as a Dorothy, but you think that's

[45:10] the thing about Toblowsky.

[45:11] I can see him as a Dorothy.

[45:12] I can see him as a Sophia.

[45:13] I can see him as a Rose.

[45:14] He could be any one of those characters.

[45:16] And I want, he's also a rabbi in this movie that gets mentioned a few times, but you see

[45:21] that he has a yarmulke on, but you never see that you'd like the idea that he's a rabbi

[45:25] is something that doesn't, doesn't play in otherwise.

[45:28] And it's like, is it just supposed to be funny?

[45:30] The idea of someone being a rabbi, like that antisemitic Netflix show, uh, or is it, is

[45:34] it that Netflix show, you know, the one I'm talking about with the rabbi.

[45:38] Yeah.

[45:39] I texted you guys about that.

[45:40] You did.

[45:41] I remember it's your text to me saying, is this show antisemitic?

[45:44] Charlene wants to know.

[45:45] And I was like, you of course are the one who rules on this.

[45:50] I also texted Josh this, I think.

[45:52] Yeah.

[45:53] And I, my, I came down the side of, I don't think it's antisemitic, but it certainly does

[45:55] not like Jewish women that show.

[45:58] It also, it's a wild world where people in, uh, LA are just mystified by Jewish practices.

[46:05] And like, do I feed them bagels?

[46:07] Terrible show about podcasting.

[46:08] Yes.

[46:09] Can I just say, like, I, yeah, I also agree this is the fine, like this is like a five-star

[46:19] scene in an otherwise not as good movie, but I also, I was like thinking about like, you

[46:26] know, why is this so great?

[46:27] Like part of it is I just always love a movie, a scene in a movie where like two people who

[46:33] had been at odds, like have a moment where they come together, where they see each other's

[46:38] like humanity.

[46:39] But also this is the one scene in the movie, I think that two characters are actually like

[46:44] connecting to one another, like literally every other scene, people are like talking

[46:47] past one another or have some like reason they're not being honest.

[46:52] And this is like the one on the scene between people.

[46:55] And you don't get to see Stephen Tobolowsky play a character with this much kind of life

[47:00] going on, this much emotion going on.

[47:02] He's usually just like doing character parts.

[47:05] And so it was great for him.

[47:07] But I agree, Dan, that's a really good point that like it's two characters talking to each

[47:10] other rather than talking around each other.

[47:13] And it's like a, it's an example of like, it makes me, you know, I think about it now

[47:18] after watching Full Man, the first time I was like, I don't know if I'm that interested

[47:21] in seeing whatever Chris Pine does himself next.

[47:24] But if it's more in the style of this scene rather than the rest of the movie, then then

[47:28] it'd be really good.

[47:29] You know, so it is a really good scene.

[47:33] And I don't love the ending, which is that someone shoots Tobolowsky from off screen

[47:36] and then literally just tosses the gun into Darren's hands and he goes, whoa.

[47:40] And he's like, if he's close enough to toss the gun in your hand, you should have seen

[47:44] him like this.

[47:45] It's a little bit like the end of Jurassic Park where they've done so they've made such

[47:48] a big deal out of how a Tyrannosaurus, if it's anywhere near you, you feel the ground

[47:53] shake. And yet this Tyrannosaurus manages to tiptoe up and surprise a raptor and bite

[47:57] it out of the air.

[47:58] Yeah, he's in stealth mode.

[47:59] Yeah.

[48:00] He's wearing sneakers in this one scene.

[48:01] Yeah.

[48:02] He pushed the right trigger and he crouched, you can hear him.

[48:05] But it's a really, it's a really good scene.

[48:07] But unfortunately, it ends with Tobolowsky dying.

[48:10] With his last breath, he tells Darren, follow the water, because Chinatown.

[48:15] Meditating in a pool again, the lizard sees that talking lizard again, Darren wakes up,

[48:20] he's with Jack and Diane, he is spiraling.

[48:23] Jack is turning down a lucrative sitcom directing job.

[48:25] Oh, that was pretty funny.

[48:27] They offer him $75,000 an episode to direct.

[48:30] Well, I love the way the scene is set up where he's explaining this offer and you can see

[48:35] Diane getting so excited for him and then he's like, I turned it down.

[48:40] This is a good moment.

[48:43] You don't get to know much about Jack and Diane's history, but they do a good job of

[48:47] like implying things.

[48:49] But also that moment where he's like, I got offered this amount of money, the sitcom,

[48:52] Oh, so you're a person with a real career.

[48:55] Like you're not a, this is not a character who is like a never was, has been, was trying

[48:59] to get this documentary off the ground.

[49:00] Instead, he's a guy who like, is well known enough that they're going to pay him $75,000

[49:04] an episode to direct a TV show.

[49:06] I don't want to play the logic police on Pool Man, but this felt very strange to me because

[49:14] all the rest of the time you see Danny DeVito, he's like, did I remember to have a battery

[49:18] for this camera that I'm like, his agent was also like not talking to like, he's like,

[49:24] he hasn't returned my calls in 16 years or something.

[49:26] Yeah.

[49:27] But I mean, you guys work in film and television, you know that, uh, people in all levels are

[49:32] always incredibly competent.

[49:33] The people at the highest level is the most competent and people have long memories.

[49:37] That's for sure.

[49:38] No, but that's what I, but it said, what that said to me is, Oh, this guy had a career and

[49:41] then he screwed it up somehow, which I really love, which I like a lot.

[49:46] To me it was like, okay, well that's good screenwriting because now I feel like this

[49:48] guy has a whole history and I, or that I, that I didn't know about, you know, um, Darren

[49:53] has a breakthrough.

[49:54] It must be that Ray Wise is stealing water from underneath this housing project.

[49:59] It's an unknown.

[50:00] source of water that nobody knows about but him and he runs off to June and

[50:03] accuses her of setting him up and she reveals that or she tells him that

[50:07] Ray Wise Van Patterson is actually her father and he says this is all about

[50:11] water the councilman was killed for having an attack of conscience and my

[50:15] mother is sick and Ray Wise has been taking care of my mother but then she

[50:18] leaves and he immediately finds a portrait on the wall of June and Ray

[50:22] Wise that says the future mr. and mrs. Van Patterson is hilarious it's like a

[50:31] commissioned portrait with a nameplate for a future it's like a Grant Wood

[50:36] style it's like if this was more of a peewee play a peewee's big adventure

[50:45] movie I think it'd be a fantastic joke but because this is a movie that's

[50:49] pretending to be a mystery it's like I'm like all right so this character

[50:53] really is an idiot and then I mean in the process of looking at it with what

[50:59] an origami Statue of Liberty with an actual flame it catches fire and his

[51:04] only option is to take off his shirt to put off the fire yes so that he can then

[51:09] put on what like a cape or something like that and jump on a moped he he

[51:14] finds that portrait and he also he finds that portrait and then he tastes the

[51:17] almonds that are that she's serving and he realizes it has the same spice blend

[51:20] coat coating as Ray Wise's characters almonds and it's like you don't need

[51:24] another piece of evidence like you know what's going on right that should have

[51:28] been before he saw the painting exactly he runs off the cops are chasing him

[51:33] he's on a moped he flees he shows up at Van Patterson's house interrupts Ray

[51:38] Wise in the middle of this is what like again this this is it's pretty funny and

[51:46] it's like the movie if the movie had a kind of manic feeling to it then I

[51:50] think all throughout that I would've been like this is great but instead it's

[51:52] so lackadaisical and at the end it's suddenly like BAM BAM BAM silly silly

[51:56] silly you know I had fun with it and I felt like it like the ending part I was

[52:00] like this is silly I'm having more fun than I was for the previous hour 10 or

[52:05] whatever but it also reminded me of a lesser kind of auxiliary Cohen work

[52:09] which is driveway dolls where the end just gets like loony tunes in a way that

[52:15] was not foreshadowed by the previous feel of the movie and this kind of had

[52:20] that where it's like now we're going into seventh gear and so they interrupt

[52:26] that it turns out he's like I know what's going on and Ray Wise is like no

[52:31] stupid I'm murdering my wife for her almond farm June is my lover and like he

[52:37] just explains what this what the what he's doing to him and and Darren still

[52:42] an idiot says to June I love you we should run away together and June is

[52:46] like I've been using you this whole time I'm Van Patterson's lover like how many

[52:50] times do you have to learn this from me I mean if you have an option like Ray

[52:54] Wise on the table you go for it now what a heel turn what a heel turn ladies

[53:10] and gentlemen no one expected this from Josh Gondelman the nicest man in the

[53:13] business suddenly total heel turn going for Ray Wise the score of this film also

[53:28] I really liked it was like fun and light and jazzy and it was done by Andrew Bird

[53:32] I think there's a lot of good elements this movie we should say we should make

[53:38] clear about that this movie I don't think works but there's a lot of good

[53:41] elements to it you know in a preview of my final judgments I think this movie

[53:45] works best if you don't care about the plot yeah but even so I'm gonna ask a

[53:50] question like what was she using him to do why it does seem like it does seem

[53:56] like one of those movies where it would have been easier for the bad guys if

[54:00] they didn't do most of the stuff that they do cut out the part where an

[54:05] unreliable idiot is the key to their whole plan my guess is that they're

[54:09] trying to use him to set up Tobolsky to take the fall for whatever for this

[54:13] water scheme I just know they're gonna manipulate him into taking out the one

[54:18] guy who oh is having second thoughts about what's right because he was like

[54:22] I'm about to be out I was dirty and now I want out of this plan right and that's

[54:26] why they solve that problem by shooting him in the head which I think they could

[54:31] have done earlier without bringing in Darren in any way for sure yeah

[54:35] especially if you shoot someone in the head with within it in an in an empty

[54:40] green room where there's nobody else there there's nobody to connect you to

[54:43] the murder as opposed to needing to go to the trouble of bringing in a fall guy

[54:46] setting him up to take the fall to be a patsy for a guy who is notoriously not

[54:51] well liked in what like civil court situations basically yeah so uh is

[54:58] visibly on to you she says I was just using you Van Patterson is about to

[55:04] shoot Darren when Wayne comes in and they shoot him in the hand or something

[55:09] like that and Wayne out of his hand or whatever Wayne reveals that he's an

[55:12] undercover FBI agent he has been investigating Van Patterson all this time

[55:16] he arrests the the Van Pattersons for stealing the city's water for their

[55:20] almond farm and and Dan DeVito rushes in he's filming the whole time he's giving

[55:26] that was my notes I thought that was pretty funny Wayne notes to like yeah

[55:30] he's recording the whole thing to get ending for the movie and things end

[55:35] really nicely between Wayne and Darren and Darren has a as a therapeutic

[55:39] breakthrough if I'm understanding correctly is that he remembers being

[55:42] abandoned by his mom under a tree or something like that or just being left

[55:46] under a tree as a baby like I don't I could I was that part lost me a little

[55:50] yeah you know and he writes there in Brockovich again he's like my friends

[55:53] and family are by my friends are my family I'm okay and everyone in a very

[55:58] in a very kind of Wes Anderson ending type thing everyone gets together to

[56:03] watch the movie that Jack has made and we see all the characters there and it's

[56:07] at a City Council meeting and the City Council offers him an official position

[56:11] in the office of change and beauty which he then turns down and gives us starts

[56:16] giving a final speech about Ellie's need for trolleys and how to perfect the bus

[56:20] schedule and at the end we see he has a framed letter from Aaron Brockovich on

[56:23] his wall and he tapes a picture of Jack and Diane to it end of movie what an

[56:28] adventure what a quest you know yeah yeah give us a couple more bars of

[56:36] pool man please I clean the pool they live out back usually not here

[57:06] typewriters a letter to Chris this is the part of the podcast where we do our

[57:15] final judgments whether this was a good bad movie a bad bad movie or a movie

[57:19] kind of like I think I'm gonna shock a few members of our council here and say

[57:25] that I kind of even key Eddie Mundy I kind of like this movie I agree that

[57:34] like the screenplay is kind of is kind of is a mess but honestly like many

[57:45] films noir if you don't put too much energy into following the the tangled

[57:54] plots and just sort of enjoy the vibe it I found it enjoyable and increasingly

[58:01] enjoyable as it went on like the beginning I thought was the part where

[58:04] I'm like this is gonna be more of a slog and then I got on its wavelength and

[58:09] wavelength yeah wave I mean this would be this is a hard one like I would

[58:17] connect in the fucking dots I wouldn't necessarily like recommend this movie to

[58:24] anyone because they would probably be furious they would be like what are you

[58:28] talking about but if you if you kind of have any curiosity about it like I don't

[58:33] know there's like a lot of vitriol about this movie when it came out like Rex

[58:37] Reed who is not a good critic but he was like this is the worst movie of this

[58:40] year and many other years or whatever I'm like I don't know man I feel like

[58:44] people just expected like Chris Pine he's in all these big movies he was

[58:48] gonna make something a little more you know wide appeal and he didn't he just

[58:53] made this shambling nonsense and I feel like there used to be more room in

[59:00] cinema for shambling nonsense and now people get mad if it doesn't fit into a

[59:04] box that said like again screenplay doesn't work but I I don't know there

[59:12] was stuff about it I enjoyed so that's where I fall yeah I'm kind of with you

[59:17] and uh this is a movie that I did not enjoy at first but it over time it grew

[59:22] on me I think starting with the Golden Girls sequence and then as it raced to

[59:28] the conclusion it helps that I like a lot of the actors in it I would say I'm

[59:33] gonna say this is a movie I kind of liked I wasn't expecting to say that

[59:36] when I started watching it all the comparisons to other like shaggy LA like

[59:41] neo-noirs whether it's you know under the Silver Lake I think is a really good

[59:45] one like a really good touchstone here or something like Lodge 49 was that show

[59:51] with Wyatt Russell I also I have a very soft spot for any movie where at the end

[59:56] all the characters get together and watch a movie of the movie you

[1:00:00] I think there's this Spanish movie that was released under the title

[1:00:03] Witching and Bitching, where all the characters, including the villains,

[1:00:07] are hanging out watching the movie at the end, which I found pretty sad.

[1:00:10] Yeah, there's another movie where that happens.

[1:00:11] I think it's about a guy who has a big adventure.

[1:00:14] I forgot his name.

[1:00:14] What movie is that?

[1:00:15] Yeah, I think his name rhymes with Gibi.

[1:00:18] Is it Little Guy?

[1:00:21] That's what it is.

[1:00:23] But yeah, so I'm going to say...

[1:00:24] That was the translated form.

[1:00:26] Yeah, that's the spirit Halloween costume.

[1:00:30] The spirit Halloween costume says,

[1:00:32] Grown Child.

[1:00:35] So yeah, I'm surprised to say I think this is a movie I kind of liked.

[1:00:40] I'm going to still call this a bad, bad movie.

[1:00:43] I feel like talking to you guys has made me like it more than when I watched it.

[1:00:46] And what that says to me is that I like the idea of it more than I like the actual thing of it.

[1:00:51] And I think, Dan, you make a good point that in a film noir movie,

[1:00:54] often the plot is too naughty and complicated and with twists and turns.

[1:00:58] Naughty?

[1:01:00] Naughty.

[1:01:00] You're not supposed to keep track of it.

[1:01:02] I think part of the issue here is that what's happening at the heart of it is not particularly

[1:01:06] complicated.

[1:01:07] It's very straightforward.

[1:01:08] But the main character is such an idiot that he's just having trouble figuring it out.

[1:01:12] And if that was the joke of the movie, as it seems to be at the very end,

[1:01:15] that what's happening is not that hard to untangle, but the main character is a moron,

[1:01:20] then that could be kind of a funny way to do it if he's just so in over his head.

[1:01:23] But instead, I think it just doesn't get that across.

[1:01:27] So I'm going to call it a bad, bad movie,

[1:01:28] but a bad, bad movie that has elements in it that I that I like.

[1:01:31] Josh, what do you think?

[1:01:32] I'm like right on the bubble.

[1:01:34] I think I got to go with Dan and Stuart in that.

[1:01:37] You're dead to me.

[1:01:39] That's OK.

[1:01:39] That's all right.

[1:01:40] Ray Wise is going to kick your ass in November.

[1:01:44] My cage hammer, my cage money bag ladder match this week with Ray Wise.

[1:01:49] It's going to be terrible.

[1:01:50] Loser leaves town.

[1:01:52] No, not L.A.

[1:01:53] Kalen.

[1:01:54] I can't be.

[1:01:55] I can't be Ellie Toledo Kalen.

[1:01:56] It can't happen.

[1:01:57] Um, but I did.

[1:02:00] I think there was just like enough to like that.

[1:02:02] I can't recommend it, but I you know, I'm like, oh, that was I had a fun time.

[1:02:07] It especially it picked up towards the end in a way that I was like,

[1:02:10] oh, you should go back and make the first two thirds of the movie match the last third,

[1:02:15] like the third act, because that was really fun and kind of zippy and zany in a way that I enjoy.

[1:02:21] But it is I truly can't say like, oh, you got to go see Pullman.

[1:02:26] It's like a hidden gem.

[1:02:27] But it was you saying, like, I don't I at first I thought I don't want to see what

[1:02:32] Chris Pine does next in the space.

[1:02:34] I kind of would like to see him direct with a script that someone else wrote,

[1:02:38] because I do think I like clearly I like his taste.

[1:02:41] I like what he is like.

[1:02:42] Oh, I want to make one of these kind of movies and just like hadn't

[1:02:46] the script just like didn't support the kind of style of it.

[1:02:50] So I'm like kind of cautiously hoping that he does a different,

[1:02:55] better version of a kind of a quirky, adventuring noir story.

[1:03:00] I think it's going to take a little bit of time before he can make another movie

[1:03:03] just based on the reception to this one.

[1:03:05] But but I it's like I feel like while watching it, I felt the movie

[1:03:09] figuring out what it was as a movie.

[1:03:11] And unfortunately, that's not a fun process for me to watch because it's like

[1:03:16] the first half of the movie is I was just like, come on, movie.

[1:03:20] Like, give me something.

[1:03:21] Like, give me like give me a thing.

[1:03:23] But and by the end, there's there's fun stuff in it.

[1:03:25] But yeah, it's I think this one thing that a lot of the movies you cover.

[1:03:30] Big fan of the podcast.

[1:03:31] Love to listen to it.

[1:03:33] One of the things that's why we bring people on to our podcast to endorse our podcast.

[1:03:37] Still can't support Elliott's run for mayor.

[1:03:39] Sure.

[1:03:41] I mean, vote for him for WGA board.

[1:03:43] But the things I've heard him say on this show, I just can't in good conscience.

[1:03:48] But I I think a lot of movies that I really don't like feel like they're like,

[1:03:54] fuck you.

[1:03:54] You're going to watch this movie like they're just like jamming the movie down my throat.

[1:03:58] And I like that this was bad in a way that like they're figuring something out and like

[1:04:03] working within a vision and it just didn't come together.

[1:04:06] And I like miss when movies were bad for that reason.

[1:04:09] And not just like we spent 300 million dollars on this turd.

[1:04:12] And it's going to gross more money than you've ever heard of.

[1:04:16] Well, there's yeah, there's a joy to like a passion project like this,

[1:04:19] which we don't get very often.

[1:04:21] And there's a feeling where the movie isn't treating us like we're idiots.

[1:04:26] Yes.

[1:04:27] Yeah.

[1:04:27] Which is nice.

[1:04:28] And it's not too self-serious.

[1:04:29] It's like, yeah.

[1:04:31] Yep.

[1:04:31] Anyway, kind of kind of liked it.

[1:04:33] Don't recommend it.

[1:04:36] Like Elliott.

[1:04:41] Accurate.

[1:04:41] A lot of people.

[1:04:46] Uh, hey, let's get on the K train, everybody.

[1:04:50] Not Ray Wise.

[1:04:51] Come on.

[1:04:53] Academy.

[1:05:00] Are you a five star baddie?

[1:05:01] If you answered yes, then Black People Love Paramore is the podcast for you.

[1:05:05] Contrary to the title, we are not a podcast about the band Paramore.

[1:05:09] Black People Love Paramore is a pop culture show about the common and uncommon interests

[1:05:12] of Black people in order to help us feel a little bit more seen.

[1:05:17] We are your co-hosts Sequoia Holmes,

[1:05:19] Jewel Vicker,

[1:05:20] and Ryan Graham.

[1:05:21] And in each episode, we dissect one pop culture topic that mainstream media doesn't associate

[1:05:26] with the Black people, but we know that we like.

[1:05:28] We get into topics like Ginger Ale,

[1:05:30] the Golden Girls, Black Romance, Uno, and so much more.

[1:05:34] Tune in every other Thursday to the podcast that's dedicated to helping Black people feel

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[1:05:38] Find Black People Love Paramore on maximumfund.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

[1:05:46] One thing we all have in common, we all have a mind.

[1:05:50] It makes me so scared because I'm like, when is the bad thing going to happen?

[1:05:54] And minds can be kind of unpredictable and eccentric.

[1:05:58] Everybody wants to hear that they're not alone.

[1:06:01] Everybody wants to hear that someone else has those same thoughts.

[1:06:04] Depression Mode with Jon Mo is about how interesting minds intersect with the lives

[1:06:09] and work of the people who have them.

[1:06:11] Comedians, authors, experts, all sorts of folks trying to make sense of their world.

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[1:06:20] Depression Mode with Jon Mo every Monday at maximumfund.org or wherever you get podcasts.

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[1:07:33] Also, we've got a couple of jumbotrons.

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[1:07:50] How about novels that open with a smash cut to in-media res?

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[1:07:59] Terms and Conditions Apply by CN Mortego,

[1:08:03] a fast-paced satirical space opera that's equal parts

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[1:08:24] Now that's out June 24th.

[1:08:26] Buy it now on Kindle.

[1:08:28] I mean, it was out June 24th.

[1:08:30] This is coming out later.

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[1:09:27] you can go to maximumfun.org slash Jumbotron and do so.

[1:09:32] But for right now, why don't we go back to the show?

[1:09:37] Um, hey, uh, we get letters at the show.

[1:09:40] And, uh, before we get into some letters,

[1:09:44] I forgot who, uh, sent us the letters I read last time.

[1:09:49] Uh, I have learned since that it was Stephen and Greg

[1:09:53] of the last name withhelds.

[1:09:55] Alex, just, uh, cut that out and add it to the last.

[1:10:00] So, yeah, just shove it up Garfield.

[1:10:03] Yeah, so that's the thing.

[1:10:05] I feel like I was possibly grading this movie on the Garfield curve,

[1:10:08] which is the curve of Garfield's round body,

[1:10:11] but I just hated Garfield the Garfield movie so much that I was like,

[1:10:15] oh, this is a breath of fresh air.

[1:10:16] I would I would definitely rather watch this than the Garfield movie,

[1:10:19] which is a which is a faint the dammit dammit with the faintest of praise.

[1:10:23] Yeah. So this first letter is from chat lasting withheld.

[1:10:29] Who writes just listen to the love hurts episode and the mention of David

[1:10:34] Cronenberg got me thinking in an area in an area in an era.

[1:10:39] Sorry of so many remakes many being gritty.

[1:10:43] What if we had more gutsy remakes gutsy in the Cronenberg sense?

[1:10:48] Imagine for example, Mrs. Dot fire,

[1:10:50] but the lead character takes the transformation into the titular British nanny to the extreme

[1:10:55] with backroom illicit cosmetic surgeries.

[1:10:59] Do you have any old favorites that might sound like a job for BF skin,

[1:11:02] man, get a grandma's skin and put it on Ron Williams.

[1:11:04] Yeah. Do you have any old favorites that might benefit from a Cronenberg

[1:11:09] ask gutsy remake PS regarding Goonies as a masturbation metaphor?

[1:11:14] The Pirates name was one-eyed Willie. It's all right.

[1:11:17] They're wheels within wheels. Wow. We're wheels within Willie's.

[1:11:21] Yeah. All the way down.

[1:11:26] That's what person Russell said, isn't it?

[1:11:28] That's just wieners all the way down. That's that bar in Bushwick.

[1:11:32] I think down movies your election night party.

[1:11:38] Oh, they do little wiener races on during the week.

[1:11:43] I don't want to know what that is.

[1:11:44] So the movies are the movies that need some kind of body horror remake.

[1:11:48] Is that we're yeah, that's the idea. That's the that's the thinking.

[1:11:52] Okay. So obviously I'm going to reference one of them.

[1:11:55] Dan of my favorite movies, Junior, where I'm sure it's nice.

[1:11:58] It's pregnant. You can make that way gross.

[1:12:00] Never a senior. You've never seen Junior.

[1:12:04] I've never seen Junior. I saw it in the theaters when it came out,

[1:12:07] but I haven't seen it since then. Check out the Cineast over here.

[1:12:10] Yeah, I saw Junior during its original release.

[1:12:14] Yeah, 30 millimeter. It was a 70 millimeter roadshow.

[1:12:19] Josh. Yeah. Yeah. Intermission assigned seating.

[1:12:22] That's what Arnold Schwarzenegger was dilated to 70 millimeters.

[1:12:26] Yeah. Hmm. I mean, I thought this was a pretty good premise.

[1:12:31] Great question. Did you know I don't I was I was vamping.

[1:12:37] So the yes Santa Claus when he gets there.

[1:12:41] I have a genre that I think could be body hard

[1:12:44] because I think like I I think a movie because you said old favorites

[1:12:48] and I think if I love something this is a such an intense element

[1:12:52] that it might kind of tip the scales to like,

[1:12:54] oh, this is this doesn't match.

[1:12:55] So I think you got to take a movie that didn't quite work the first time

[1:12:59] and body horror it up.

[1:13:00] And I think something like Kate and Leopold,

[1:13:04] which is a time travel rom-com with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan

[1:13:08] where he has to invent the elevator.

[1:13:10] He has to go back in time to invent the elevators.

[1:13:12] They can't be together.

[1:13:13] And I think like that time travel is right for like body horror.

[1:13:19] Almost like in a the fly sort of way.

[1:13:21] And I think we're kind of jazzing up this movie

[1:13:24] that felt like it could have used a little more a little more zing.

[1:13:27] Yeah, Kate and Leopold gross version.

[1:13:31] So he's just like you're just thinking of like,

[1:13:33] you know rom-coms is the genre

[1:13:35] or you're saying that stuff is this specific movie.

[1:13:38] Okay. I like a rom-com as a genre,

[1:13:40] but I'm saying you take a movie that like didn't quite have enough oomph to it

[1:13:44] and you add the body are rather than going like,

[1:13:47] oh gosh, I just I loved Chinatown,

[1:13:49] but I wish that there were more body horror.

[1:13:52] I feel like you're not arguing that Sleepless in Seattle should be about a man.

[1:13:56] Correct. Literally can't sleep. Yeah, and his eyes are bleeding.

[1:13:59] And yeah, he finds love.

[1:14:01] Like I mean, let's the pool man is something that could use it.

[1:14:03] If there if the thing that he would they were uncovering was more of a body horror scandal,

[1:14:07] you know, I was going to suggest Splash,

[1:14:10] but then I realized that the movie The Lure is already kind of a body horror version of Splash.

[1:14:14] It's like a horror version of The Little Mermaid,

[1:14:17] but I'm going to jump on. I'm also going to jump on the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy train.

[1:14:22] The Arnold Schwarzenegger Danny DeVito comedy train.

[1:14:24] I'm gonna say twins could have a body horror element.

[1:14:26] They are literally the products of a genetic experiment on an island of scientists.

[1:14:31] There's no reason that the twins halfway through like once they're in the same place together,

[1:14:35] maybe their bodies are like reacting to each other in strange ways

[1:14:38] because they're they're the opposing kind of that's interesting Omega.

[1:14:42] I was going to say that Danny DeVito as the twin that in the in the movie like the joke is like,

[1:14:49] oh, he got all the bad stuff is trying to crawl back inside Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[1:14:55] Yeah, or he's trying to I like he's going to try to surgically take the some of the good stuff

[1:14:59] and give it to him. Yeah, exactly.

[1:15:01] I'm so glad you bring this up LA because I was just rewatching twins the other day

[1:15:05] and it was great and I was really thinking that as a kid.

[1:15:08] I think the reason why I loved it so much is that Arnold Schwarzenegger's character

[1:15:11] in that movie is just like a giant super kid.

[1:15:14] Yeah, he's like kind of dumb. Everything's very new to him.

[1:15:17] He sees everything on a very service level,

[1:15:19] but he is like hyper smart and the strongest human in the universe.

[1:15:23] So like he can deal with problems very easily if he needs to but at the end of the day,

[1:15:27] he's still just like kind of a goofy like innocent child, right?

[1:15:31] Yes, which is why kids loved it. Yeah. Yeah. All right.

[1:15:33] We got one more letter here. This is from Anna last name withheld who writes Anna Kendrick.

[1:15:38] Okay, go with me on this one because I know it's an odd message.

[1:15:41] I was recently listening to your money plane episode

[1:15:44] and when I got to Elliot's phone call with Mark Summers,

[1:15:47] I suddenly had a thought I have no memory of this.

[1:15:51] Also, I met I'm going to listen to that episode.

[1:15:53] Oh, what was she a scrappy little nobody?

[1:15:56] Yeah, wait, wait. She was really good. You're asking her a simple favor.

[1:16:01] When you said she was going to be on Flophouse was she like, oh, I just sent them a letter.

[1:16:03] I hope they read it. But I hope they don't say my name

[1:16:07] because I would be so embarrassed. I don't know.

[1:16:10] Sorry, Anna. I said when you wait to go back.

[1:16:14] I got to Elliot's phone call with Mark Summers again.

[1:16:16] Yeah, I don't know what that's about either. But I said the episode again.

[1:16:19] Yeah, I suddenly had a thought I started laughing about the idea of Elliot's wife asking him to role play.

[1:16:26] I can't imagine they would actually ever get to sex,

[1:16:28] but it has to be fascinating. This is why Anna Kendrick was embarrassed.

[1:16:33] Yeah, as a preemptive answer to any follow ups.

[1:16:37] This was just an amusing thought of all the floppers.

[1:16:39] My fantasies do not actually involve Elliot on a completely unrelated note.

[1:16:42] Hi, Stewart. Well, that's very hard to role play to baby.

[1:16:48] I'm an orc. Okay, I just feel like I'm being betrayed a lot in this episode.

[1:16:54] It's either Stewart or Ray Wise, but Elliot is no one's first choice.

[1:16:58] Yeah, Ray Wise is holding the dagger, but Stewart's just dragging it.

[1:17:01] I mean, but as a theatrical experience, it sounds like your role playing is the preferred.

[1:17:07] Sure. Yeah, because I really get into it.

[1:17:10] Yeah, I get into the character. Yeah, I just thought that was funny.

[1:17:16] There's not really much to address there. We could talk about Anna Kendrick a little bit.

[1:17:21] She was very nice. I got to watch for five minutes.

[1:17:26] I like walked down to walk over to the theater for the wait, wait, don't tell me taping.

[1:17:31] And I walked into Paula Poundstone goes, Josh, you got to help me, man.

[1:17:35] I know who that I know her name is Anna Kendrick, but where do I know her from?

[1:17:41] It's like she already made me name. Many of the movies have been with none of them.

[1:17:46] She was like, pitch perfect. Paul's like, never seen it.

[1:17:48] Heard of it? Twilight.

[1:17:55] That impression is offensive. Yeah, it was Twilight.

[1:18:00] Can you show Josh's impression? So it's no less offensive.

[1:18:04] No, it's just the idea of Paula Poundstone, like the thing that she had seen was Twilight.

[1:18:09] It was so funny. Just an incredible blow to that story.

[1:18:13] And it was because she had a teenage daughter who was really into Twilight.

[1:18:16] Makes sense. Yeah. So just a really incredible moment.

[1:18:22] This is the part of the movie. The best part of me to this story was when it turned out that Anna Kendrick was there for the conversation between you and Paula Poundstone.

[1:18:30] Yeah. I was like, oh, she's standing right there. I walked into a conversation that they were having about who she is and why Paula Poundstone didn't know who she was.

[1:18:39] I know who that is. Like she's she's they were talking and I interrupted.

[1:18:44] And Anna Kendrick was going like, she's like, I just want you to know I wasn't naming movies just like out of my own.

[1:18:50] She asked me to. Yeah. She's so funny.

[1:18:54] It's perfect. She doesn't just go around telling people like, hey, you might know me from these movies.

[1:18:58] I'm Anna. It was so funny. She's not.

[1:19:01] She's not a tromachlor. Yeah. Yeah. I'm Anna Kendrick.

[1:19:05] You may know me from such movies as Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2 and Pitch Perfect 3.

[1:19:10] Speaking of actors to directors, I like that movie that she made.

[1:19:14] I haven't seen it yet. Which one? Which one? I can't remember.

[1:19:17] The Woman of the Year or something like that.

[1:19:21] Like, I mean, Woman of the Year is an old movie, but I think they might have used the title.

[1:19:27] I don't know. It was about it was about the Woman of the Hour.

[1:19:30] Woman of the Hour. Yeah. It was it was just real.

[1:19:34] It's a real comedown from Woman of the Year. Yeah. You're going to build your way up.

[1:19:38] Maybe there's a prequel. Ever wonder how she became the Woman of the Year where she didn't start there.

[1:19:43] One hour at a time. So this is the part.

[1:19:48] This is the part of the podcast where we do recommendations movies that might be,

[1:19:53] you know, more of a more of a lock on a good time than Pool Man.

[1:20:00] Um, I'd like to recommend a movie that I watched because, uh, I know that

[1:20:04] Griffin Newman was really promoting this one it's called, I like movies.

[1:20:09] It was from 20, uh, 22.

[1:20:11] It's like, uh, it's a very small little, uh, sort of coming of age

[1:20:15] comedy about a difficult, uh, high school kid, uh, who, uh, you, you

[1:20:23] might be able to sympathize with this, uh, people in this, uh, in this

[1:20:25] cohort, who's, who likes movies.

[1:20:28] Who's really obsessed with movies, uh, has a dream job, uh, at a video

[1:20:33] store really is obsessed with the idea of going to film school and, um, is

[1:20:38] difficult in the way that teenage boys, uh, who are really obsessed with sort

[1:20:45] of their own feelings and obsessions might be, and the movie doesn't shy

[1:20:50] away from how annoying this kid can be without also like showing like, okay,

[1:20:55] you know, he is capable of growth and slowly learning over the course of the

[1:21:01] movie to, you know, sort of look outside himself and, uh, it's, uh, it's small

[1:21:07] and sweet and funny, and it felt like a movie that, you know, like I'd been,

[1:21:13] I'd been watching for decades and like, it was like, you know, slipping

[1:21:17] into an old favorite to watch it.

[1:21:19] So, uh, I like movies is what it's called.

[1:21:22] I really enjoyed it.

[1:21:23] I'm going to recommend a new release.

[1:21:26] One that I saw in the theater with Dan McCoy.

[1:21:30] That's right.

[1:21:31] Uh, earlier this week, we went and saw 28 years later, you might've seen the,

[1:21:36] uh, social media video of the flop house, many, many episodes that we recorded.

[1:21:41] Maybe not.

[1:21:41] It's on the Instagram and my tech talk, but, um, uh, so I, uh, I I've always

[1:21:47] had, uh, I guess, respect for this franchise.

[1:21:51] I thought, you know, the first one is a huge deal.

[1:21:53] Um, it certainly popularized the concept of super fast zombie equivalents.

[1:21:59] Um, and it also like, uh, was super intense and it made stars of a number

[1:22:04] of people, including my man, Brendan Gleeson, um, but, uh, and then the

[1:22:09] second one I think is, you know, a little bit more intense and more

[1:22:13] specifically a horror movie.

[1:22:15] Like, I feel like the second one has an incredible opening and

[1:22:18] then, you know, kind of devolves.

[1:22:19] But it's still solid and it's a solid horror movie.

[1:22:22] And this third one is like a weird horror fantasy post-apocalyptic

[1:22:27] adventure that is a lot more introspective and somber in tone.

[1:22:32] It's very like, it's kind of a meditation on death and it has, and just like a,

[1:22:38] it has some incredible performances.

[1:22:40] Uh, Jodie Comer's great.

[1:22:41] And Rafe, uh, Rafe Fenz is incredible.

[1:22:44] And when he shows up, you're like, oh my God, I can't believe this movie

[1:22:47] was sitting on this guy for so long.

[1:22:49] Uh, and then it also, uh, has a incredibly wacky ending that, uh, is amazing.

[1:22:55] So, uh, 28 years later, easily my favorite of the franchise.

[1:22:59] And I feel like similar to like, uh, what is it?

[1:23:02] Sunshine, the other, the Danny Boyle movie.

[1:23:04] I think it'll, uh, I think it'll grow in estimation over time.

[1:23:08] I think it's really great.

[1:23:08] I also want to point out, um, uh, Dan, uh, you, a couple episodes ago, you

[1:23:14] recommended Summer of 69 and Charlene and I watched it and it was very cute

[1:23:19] and funny, and that was a good recommendation.

[1:23:20] Good one.

[1:23:21] Thank you for the validation.

[1:23:24] Uh, I have been so busy lately that I've not really had a chance to watch,

[1:23:28] uh, many movies, which has been disappointing to me.

[1:23:31] Um, but I, so I'm going to recommend off of the, uh, off of today's being

[1:23:35] pool, man, being such an LA movie.

[1:23:37] I'm going to recommend a trio of LA movies that I feel are better than pool, man.

[1:23:43] I don't think anyone would LA story.

[1:23:46] LA confidential LA, LA land.

[1:23:52] One person calls it LA.

[1:23:55] You guys seen that movie?

[1:23:56] LA, LA land.

[1:23:58] So you're in a jazz.

[1:24:04] It's like music, but it goes everywhere.

[1:24:06] It just does.

[1:24:08] My upstairs neighbor has a piano and the number one song that they have played

[1:24:13] for five years running is city of stars from my fingers.

[1:24:17] Cross is going to be that Lincoln parks.

[1:24:25] Oh man.

[1:24:25] I'm getting choked up, Josh.

[1:24:27] So I'm going to recommend, uh, three great movies set in LA.

[1:24:30] Uh, they all have kind of like, not what to have mystery elements.

[1:24:34] And one is more of a, and the other one is a weirdo dealing with things in LA

[1:24:38] movie, uh, much like Pullman is.

[1:24:40] So, uh, the weirdo dealing with things in LA movie is nightcrawler.

[1:24:43] We probably all seen it already with Jake Gyllenhaal.

[1:24:45] What a movie.

[1:24:46] Uh, it's, it's about, it's the, it's, it's the, I feel like it's the, uh, it's

[1:24:51] the taxi driver network of its day, you know, all about how people are gross

[1:24:55] and institutions are, are, uh, are corruptible.

[1:24:59] Uh, I'm going to mention, uh, devil in a blue dress, which I recommended

[1:25:03] before on the podcast, which is a great LA period mystery thriller.

[1:25:07] And I'm going to mention perhaps, uh, perhaps the greatest of all LA mysteries

[1:25:13] where you never quite know exactly what's going on, but it is a strength of it.

[1:25:18] And that is Mulholland drive by the late lamented master David Lynch.

[1:25:22] Um, which is, that's a movie where I feel like it captures so well.

[1:25:25] The fee, the undercurrent of what it feels like to be in Los Angeles, because

[1:25:28] Los Angeles often feel for its people, you know, will New Yorkers, especially

[1:25:32] at least in the past, there'd be like LA, there's no substance there.

[1:25:35] Like there's no, nothing there, which ignores the fact that LA is

[1:25:37] a real city with real people in it.

[1:25:38] It's not just entertainment industry types.

[1:25:41] Like it's, there's actual people who have actual jobs and

[1:25:43] that's not just reading Newman songs.

[1:25:45] Yes, exactly.

[1:25:49] Your job is an actual job.

[1:25:50] Let's thank you.

[1:25:50] I appreciate that.

[1:25:51] I appreciate that, Dan.

[1:25:52] It's certainly, it certainly takes enough of my time.

[1:25:54] It's the hardest job you'll ever love.

[1:25:56] The hardest, hardest job there is.

[1:25:57] Um, other than being a mom, which is a harder job.

[1:26:00] Uh, but then, but there is a feeling, I think because the sun is so bright in LA,

[1:26:04] there's this feeling of like, there is a feeling of unreality that

[1:26:07] underlies kind of everything.

[1:26:09] And Mulholland Drive captures that so well.

[1:26:11] And so those are, those are three LA movies that I'm going to recommend

[1:26:14] after watching this LA movie.

[1:26:16] And Josh, do you have a recommendation that you would take?

[1:26:18] Elliot Kaelin.

[1:26:19] Elliot Kaelin.

[1:26:20] Here's my LA movie watch list.

[1:26:23] I just remembered another great, um, guy meets a bunch of weirdos movies.

[1:26:27] Uh, Les Schlupp, but bringing out the dad, the Scorsese movie where Nick Cage

[1:26:32] plays the ambulance driver, um, is one of those, and like, After Hours is kind

[1:26:36] of in that, in that vein too.

[1:26:37] Yeah.

[1:26:37] Oh, um, but so I get to look at shots of them like, yeah.

[1:26:42] And I really recommended three New York movies.

[1:26:45] Pizza, the movie.

[1:26:47] Movies that'll have you say, Hey, I'm watching movies here.

[1:26:50] I'm watching over here.

[1:26:53] Um, and I want to recommend, uh, there it's, it's like on the horizon, but I got

[1:26:57] to see my good buddy, Aaron judge co-wrote a zombie movie also Stewart

[1:27:02] called, uh, Queens of the dead.

[1:27:04] She co-wrote it with Tina Romero.

[1:27:06] Who's George Romero's daughter.

[1:27:07] I was just, I was just reading about that the other day.

[1:27:09] Yeah.

[1:27:09] It's really, really fun.

[1:27:10] It's a drag queen zombie movie.

[1:27:12] And I got to see it at Tribeca where it's screened during pride in New York.

[1:27:17] And so it was just this like super hyped up, super queer audience.

[1:27:21] I was just like, yeah, drag queen zombies.

[1:27:24] And it ruled.

[1:27:25] Uh, it was so much fun to see in a theater and I think they're still figuring out

[1:27:29] like when it's going wider and how, but I like keep your eyes peeled for it.

[1:27:34] It's, it's a blast.

[1:27:35] Um, a bunch of LA movies recommended movies.

[1:27:40] Now I'm out of movies.

[1:27:45] Um, Josh, uh, thank you so much for being here.

[1:27:49] Now is the time where you plug your, your shit again.

[1:27:53] I say shit only to mean stuff.

[1:27:56] I'm sure it's wonderful, but the tone you set it in really, it really implies stuff.

[1:28:02] It was a positive tone.

[1:28:03] Yeah.

[1:28:04] Um, I have a new standup special that's out now.

[1:28:07] It's on YouTube on Blonde Medicine's YouTube channel.

[1:28:10] It's called, uh, positive reinforcement.

[1:28:13] It's really fun.

[1:28:14] It, uh, you know, we shot it about a year ago.

[1:28:17] It's the culmination of a bunch of touring that I did.

[1:28:19] It's, it's like very fun and friendly and, and I hope people watch it and laugh

[1:28:24] and go, ah, it made me feel nice.

[1:28:26] And, um, my, my wife's new book is out now.

[1:28:29] By the time this is out, it's called, I want to burn this place down.

[1:28:32] It's essays.

[1:28:33] That one, much more financial, our household's financial situation is much

[1:28:36] more contingent on you finding and enjoying that piece of art rather than

[1:28:39] my comedy special, which you can watch it for free at any time.

[1:28:42] And then subscribe to my newsletter to find out about my live dates.

[1:28:45] That's, that's marvelous.

[1:28:47] A big Lebowski reference in its own right.

[1:28:49] Uh, Josh Gondelman dot substack.com.

[1:28:51] Thank you.

[1:28:51] That's too much plug.

[1:28:52] And, and, and stuff that has no effect on Josh's financial situation.

[1:28:57] He was nice enough to do a couple of lines for the fly scraper bonus

[1:29:01] content still putting together.

[1:29:03] And it was very funny, especially because I asked him to improvise

[1:29:07] some, him talking to a dog for a while.

[1:29:10] That was funnier than anything I wrote.

[1:29:12] If you thought, if you thought pool man had a Chris Pine bringing in his famous

[1:29:16] friends, just, just wait for fly scraper.

[1:29:18] If you're a max one member, you'll be able to hear fly scraper.

[1:29:21] Uh, Dan McCoy's original, original spy.

[1:29:24] I know I have to still have to record my lines for it.

[1:29:26] Dan McCoy's original spec sitcom, uh, not sick.

[1:29:30] I guess parody.

[1:29:30] Well, I don't know what you'd call it.

[1:29:31] Uh, it's going to, it's going to have all of Dan's famous friends in it.

[1:29:34] Yeah.

[1:29:35] Uh, it's kind of, it's kind of your, it's kind of your metropolis

[1:29:41] and it's gestation period.

[1:29:43] Yeah.

[1:29:45] No, I'll have it.

[1:29:45] I'll have it done before the next drive.

[1:29:47] I promise it.

[1:29:48] Um, but again, thank you, uh, Josh for being here.

[1:29:52] All of Dan's famous friends are going to be in it.

[1:29:54] Harvey Weinstein, everyone who's endorsed Andrew Cuomo.

[1:30:00] I was going to make a joke about that with Dan, but I thought he'd get upset.

[1:30:09] Um, yeah, uh, check out Josh, the nicest man in comedy and still going after Dan McCoy.

[1:30:16] Check out Marissa's book.

[1:30:18] Um, and, uh, also, uh, I'll take this time to say thank you to our network, Maximum Fun.

[1:30:24] Go over to maximumfund.org to, uh, check out all the other great podcasts on that network,

[1:30:30] our network.

[1:30:31] Uh, and thank you to Alex Smith, our producer who goes by the name Howell Dottie all over

[1:30:38] the internet.

[1:30:39] Speaking of bonus content stuff, we just, uh, put up the second Slop Tales, uh, episode

[1:30:45] on the member bonus feed and Alex does so much work for those things, uh, doing original

[1:30:50] music and, and sound design for that.

[1:30:53] Uh, and he does a great job.

[1:30:55] So, uh, if you remember, check that out.

[1:30:58] Um, but for this episode of the Flop House, I've been Dan McCoy and I've been Stuart Wellington.

[1:31:03] I've been L.A.

[1:31:04] It.

[1:31:05] Kalen.

[1:31:06] And with us is Has-Been.

[1:31:07] I am a has-been.

[1:31:08] I was pointing at him just to cue him and it really did look like I was like, you know,

[1:31:20] I missed the old way.

[1:31:24] All right.

[1:31:25] Thank you.

[1:31:26] Bye.

[1:31:27] Bye.

[1:31:28] Okay.

[1:31:29] I heard tell you had another hot one.

[1:31:30] Oh, it's a smoker.

[1:31:31] That was the hot one.

[1:31:32] Let's hear this next hot one.

[1:31:33] On this episode, we discuss Pool Man.

[1:31:35] Him.

[1:31:36] The.

[1:31:37] Hot.

[1:31:38] One.

[1:31:40] Him.

[1:31:41] The.

[1:31:42] Hot.

[1:31:43] One.

[1:31:45] Him.

[1:31:46] The.

[1:31:47] Hot.

[1:31:48] One.

[1:31:50] Him.

[1:31:51] The.

[1:31:52] Pool.

[1:31:53] Man.

[1:31:54] Paler.

[1:31:55] Man.

[1:31:56] It's a hot one.

[1:31:57] It is a hot one.

[1:31:58] That was the hottest one.

[1:31:59] I doubted you, but.

[1:32:00] Those are both.

[1:32:01] Those are two sterling hot ones.

[1:32:02] Yeah.

[1:32:03] Okay.

[1:32:04] Well, let's go.

[1:32:05] Let's do the show.

[1:32:06] You didn't want to hear mine.

[1:32:07] Do you?

[1:32:08] Do you want to do it?

[1:32:09] Let me just get it out of my system.

[1:32:10] Let me get it out of my system.

[1:32:11] I won't use it.

[1:32:12] Okay.

[1:32:13] On this episode, we discuss Pool Man.

[1:32:16] The Supreme Court can go fuck itself.

[1:32:22] Maximum Fun.

[1:32:23] A worker-owned network.

[1:32:25] Of artist-owned shows.

[1:32:26] Supported.

[1:32:27] Directly.

[1:32:28] By you.

Ep.#455 - Poolman, with Josh Gondelman

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