Ep.#450 - Unfrosted, with Alex Smith

[0:00] On this episode, we discuss Unfrosted!

[0:04] Should've been Unmade!

[0:07] That was a hot one. Like a hot Pop-Tart.

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

[0:35] Hey, I'm Stuart Wellington.

[0:37] Hi there, I'm Elliot Kalin.

[0:39] And joined in studio today, we have our producer,

[0:43] who has decided to come kick the tires,

[0:46] check out how the show's being made,

[0:48] make sure that it's not falling apart.

[0:50] That's right, we are joined by Alex Smith,

[0:53] aka HowlDotty. Introduce yourself, bud.

[0:55] Hello, I'm Alex Smith. I'm here to kick the tires,

[0:58] make sure everything's going good, audit the show.

[1:01] You've been kind of an absentee producer up to this point.

[1:04] You really haven't been around much.

[1:06] We mail you the checks, you don't fix the plumbing,

[1:08] we still have a mice problem.

[1:10] Somewhat deliciously, Alex has not seen the movie,

[1:13] which will be an interesting wrinkle on the show.

[1:17] I think he's mainly just going to make sure that we sound good,

[1:20] and occasionally double-check our facts.

[1:22] Double-check our facts about the movie he hasn't seen?

[1:24] I've got a cool new Flophouse character that I've been working on,

[1:27] which is the guy who doesn't know what happened in the movie,

[1:30] and so he says stuff like,

[1:32] Wait, what? Come on.

[1:35] That's my new guy.

[1:37] I think we've had that character on the show a few times.

[1:39] Sometimes he's been named Dan, and sometimes Stuart.

[1:41] I don't think so, actually. I think this is a new character.

[1:44] Yeah. Hey, let's get into it, shall we?

[1:47] So what do we do on this podcast, Dan?

[1:49] Well, it's a podcast where we watch a bad movie and we talk about it.

[1:51] And Unfrosted was a film that, you know,

[1:54] typically we do something, either we throw back further,

[1:57] or we do something that's sort of newer to streaming or even in theaters.

[2:01] This was one that was much requested at the time.

[2:05] All that enthusiasm is done.

[2:08] We said, You've got to wait until Unfrosted is available for home viewing.

[2:11] And they said, It's not in theaters. It's a Netflix movie.

[2:13] And we said, Not interested. No, thank you.

[2:16] We're on a streaming service cycle right now,

[2:19] and Netflix is not in the cards.

[2:22] And we said, We have to wait until Elliot is working for Netflix

[2:25] to start covering only Netflix movies.

[2:28] Oh, actually, yeah. That's a theme month, right?

[2:30] Back-to-back Netflix theme.

[2:33] This month is called Nuts Flicks because these movies are nuts.

[2:36] This is sort of nuts to watch them.

[2:38] Super-sized miss that movie. Let's say that.

[2:41] Yeah, I feel like that's a really good description.

[2:43] Yeah, this movie does exist in that liminal zone, Dan,

[2:46] between so new we're covering it and so old we're covering it.

[2:49] I think, you know what? A movie like Unfrosted had such a huge cultural impact.

[2:52] I feel like people are still raring at the bit to get it.

[2:55] Raring at the bit?

[2:58] I wanted to avoid you telling me that it's champing at the bit.

[3:01] So I just decided to go way off in another direction.

[3:04] It's pretty simple. You just say champing at the bit.

[3:07] What does champing mean? You chomp at bits. It's in your mouth.

[3:10] It means chomping. That's the funny thing.

[3:13] Normally we get right into the movie. No silly buns.

[3:16] But I think it's important that we take a second

[3:19] and we really talk about our relationship with Unfrosted.

[3:22] Alex, what's your relationship with Unfrosted?

[3:25] I've heard that Jerry Seinfeld is in it.

[3:28] That's what I know.

[3:31] He's not only in it, he also directed it and co-wrote it

[3:34] with a few writers who had worked with him on Seinfeld

[3:37] and written a number of other things.

[3:40] It's an all-star cast in front of the camera and in the writer's room.

[3:43] Who has ever seen Seinfeld?

[3:46] I'm familiar with the television show Seinfeld.

[3:49] Wasn't Jerry Seinfeld obsessed with breakfast cereal?

[3:52] He was.

[3:55] I don't know about obsessed, but he was certainly very interested in them.

[3:58] I feel like he was obsessed with everything on that show.

[4:01] Like his potential girlfriend's faults.

[4:04] Strangely, there's nothing about girlfriend's faults in this movie.

[4:07] Although there is some stuff about unhappy marriages

[4:10] and a running gag involving Walter Cronkite.

[4:13] It does feel like while you're watching this movie,

[4:16] that you are just looking at the inside of Jerry Seinfeld's head

[4:19] at the things that he's interested in.

[4:22] There's no car talk really in it, but otherwise,

[4:25] there's a lot about breakfast cereals.

[4:28] Frick and Frack aren't in it?

[4:31] The Tapper Brothers are not in it.

[4:34] Click and Clack.

[4:38] Is it Click and Clack? Did I fuck that up?

[4:41] Oh my God, all my newsletter homies are going to go roast me.

[4:44] Frick and Frack are on UPR, the conservative alternative NPR

[4:47] that will soon become the real NPR.

[4:50] Is it really Click and Clack?

[4:53] Those are like noises that a car might make, and then you tap it.

[4:56] I feel like in German it's Frick and Frack.

[4:59] Stewart, this is a good time for you to finally get into car talk.

[5:02] German Autosprechen.

[5:06] Who's in charge of talking about this movie?

[5:09] I'm doing a summary today, so let's get into it.

[5:12] Unfrosted is a movie that is mostly in flashback to the 1960s,

[5:15] so it seems very strange that the era we're flashing back from

[5:18] also appears to be the 1960s.

[5:21] We see a kid bundling up a bundle of 1960s stuff

[5:24] in an old comic book, old toys,

[5:27] and he goes to a restaurant to drown his sorrows in Pop-Tarts.

[5:30] We'll never learn what he's upset about, I don't think.

[5:33] If they mentioned it, I forgot it.

[5:36] He reads the origin story on the back of the Pop-Tarts box,

[5:39] and he goes, huh, good story.

[5:42] But sitting next to him is Jerry Seinfeld, who tells him that story is baloney.

[5:45] I'll tell you the real story of Pop-Tarts.

[5:48] This is when that kid should have left the room.

[5:51] An old man is talking. Stranger danger.

[5:54] Hey, kid, get closer. I'll tell you the true story of Pop-Tarts.

[5:57] An old man with a complicated relationship with younger people, let's just say.

[6:01] Not that young.

[6:04] But still young enough that it's troubling.

[6:07] So we go back from the 1960s to, I guess, earlier in the 1960s.

[6:10] It's Battle Creek, Michigan,

[6:13] home of the Serial Titans Kellogg's and Post.

[6:16] Jerry plays the character of Bob Cabana, an employee at Kellogg's.

[6:22] We see a lot of serial jokes for a while.

[6:25] He's walking around, different things are happening.

[6:29] This is essentially a sketch movie.

[6:32] There's kind of a plot, but it's mostly a sketch movie.

[6:35] Hugh Grant appears in a part he'll play throughout the movie

[6:38] as Thoreau Ravenscroft, the real-life voice of the Tony the Tiger character.

[6:44] Wait, what?

[6:47] We're going through what I'm calling the Grantaissance,

[6:50] which is when Hugh Grant is just showing up in lots of things,

[6:53] and he's in lots of different kinds of movies,

[6:56] and there's a lot of variations on the same character.

[6:59] His character in this, his character in Paddington 2,

[7:02] and his character in Heretic are kind of the same character,

[7:05] just in different modes.

[7:08] I'll say two things about Hugh Grant in this movie.

[7:11] One, he is one of the things that kind of works for me in this movie.

[7:14] I do find him mostly funny in it.

[7:17] And two, in a movie filled with lies, for some reason,

[7:20] this is the place where I'm like,

[7:23] they're edging on slandering somebody in a way

[7:26] by making Thoreau Ravenscroft this guy.

[7:29] I think because they have scenes with Walter Cronkite later

[7:32] where they portray him as a drunk with a bad marriage,

[7:35] and I feel like Walter Cronkite is famous enough that if you know who he is,

[7:38] you're like, OK, they're just making up something with Walter Cronkite.

[7:41] But Thoreau Ravenscroft, if you're not familiar with voice actors of the 1960s,

[7:44] then you might be like, oh, they've really...

[7:47] Did he really take a shit inside a building?

[7:51] Grim grinning ghost. It's kind of the same thing, I guess.

[7:54] And Hugh Grant, a big chunk of this movie,

[7:57] he's basically topless, and he looks good.

[8:00] No, he's doing great. I mean, he's a professional actor.

[8:03] Probably puts a lot of work into his body. That's fine.

[8:06] I feel like a lot of the people in this movie, not all the material,

[8:09] obviously not all the material is good, but I feel like everybody commits.

[8:12] It was hard for me to find anyone in the movie where I was like,

[8:15] ugh, I wish they had had somebody else do that job.

[8:18] Everybody's trying to have fun. Everybody's doing their best.

[8:21] Some performances are stronger than others.

[8:24] But you're right, a lot of times they're given, let's just say,

[8:27] light material to work with.

[8:30] I bet this is a really fun movie to make, or at least to write.

[8:33] It doesn't feel like a rigorous production.

[8:36] Anyway, getting back into the plot,

[8:39] there's a lot of serial jokes, a lot of jokes about serial.

[8:42] Kellogg's is run by Jim Gaffigan as Edsel Kellogg III,

[8:45] who I believe might be a fictional character,

[8:48] and his rival is Amy Schumer as Marjorie Post,

[8:51] the real-life head of the Post company, the daughter of C.W. Post.

[8:54] They meet up eventually at the Serial Awards,

[8:57] which are they called the Golden Bowls?

[9:00] Yeah, I think so.

[9:03] Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer.

[9:06] Stewart, if you can remember to point out the celebrity appearances,

[9:09] because I might forget some of them.

[9:12] I remember the appearance of Mikey Day, Kyle Mooney, and Drew Tarver

[9:15] as Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

[9:18] Which is a fantastic waste of talent.

[9:21] I like watching Alex's face as each of these new details gets revealed.

[9:24] I will say, to put Kyle Mooney in your movie

[9:27] and give him almost nothing to do is strange to me.

[9:30] He certainly makes a meal out of what he gets.

[9:33] The little bit that he gets.

[9:36] But it is not quite at the level of Tim Heidecker being in Bridesmaids

[9:39] and having no lines of dialogue the entire movie.

[9:42] No lines of dialogue, nothing funny the whole time.

[9:45] Maybe during the credits he does something zany.

[9:48] Maybe he has a post-credits.

[9:51] Again, I saw this before on the podcast.

[9:54] I think maybe he showed up and they did not realize he was on set.

[9:57] Because the way he's even shot in the frame,

[10:00] it's like they don't really know that he's there.

[10:03] I think they cast him really well.

[10:00] because he does have guy your friend is marrying kind of.

[10:03] Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair.

[10:04] That's fair guy who you can almost in certain situations.

[10:07] You just can't describe him.

[10:08] Really?

[10:09] Yeah.

[10:09] Yeah smiles a lot.

[10:11] Yeah.

[10:12] Oh, he's nice.

[10:13] Yeah.

[10:13] He's a nice guy.

[10:14] Yeah.

[10:14] What are his interests something, you know sports?

[10:17] I guess probably home.

[10:19] Can't seem like maybe golfs.

[10:21] I don't know.

[10:21] Yeah, or maybe he likes to grill history Channel.

[10:24] Yeah history or maybe he reads like a long just whatever fantasy

[10:28] novels.

[10:28] They sell at the airport like he's not yeah, so Kellogg sweeps

[10:34] the Golden Bowl Awards, but Jerry suspects that post has something

[10:38] up their sleeve.

[10:39] Hmm.

[10:39] They seem oddly sanguine about losing all these awards and then

[10:42] the next day.

[10:43] I guess he sees two kids sneaking into the post dumpsters and

[10:46] he finds out that they're eating hot goo.

[10:48] They found in there and these kids.

[10:49] I love I think they're great.

[10:51] Yeah, especially the girl who plays the I don't I don't know

[10:54] her name, but she I think she her performance is so funny in

[10:56] this movie and they're they're my MVPs for this movie of those

[11:00] kids.

[11:01] They eat hot fruit goo.

[11:03] He takes it and Jerry instantly runs to his boss and he's got

[11:06] he's like post is working on a fruit flavored pastry and this

[11:09] could put post over the top.

[11:10] This could make them the top company in Battle Creek, Michigan.

[11:13] This is definitely one of the points in the movie where I'm

[11:15] like, huh?

[11:17] So it's really still a movie about Pop Tart.

[11:20] It is.

[11:20] It is a movie about Pop Tart.

[11:22] Although it is like this is where it introduces kind of like

[11:24] this is like the space race like the joke of the movie in that

[11:28] there if there is one is like let's treat this race for like

[11:32] toaster pastries as the space race race.

[11:35] You're talking about the Boonta Eve pod race featuring Anakin

[11:39] Skywalker and Svoboda.

[11:40] That's exactly what he's talking about.

[11:41] Yeah, he's talking about that space race.

[11:43] He's also talking about the Wacky Racers space race.

[11:46] The Hanna-Barbera characters.

[11:47] He is not talking about basketball.

[11:49] That would be a space jam, which is yeah, but again jam you

[11:53] might find it in a Pop Tart, you know good.

[11:56] Yeah, ideally.

[11:57] Yeah.

[11:57] I mean if you find jam in your Pop Tart, you don't have grounds

[12:00] to sue.

[12:02] If you had found human blood in your Pop Tart, sue that company

[12:04] don't eat the rest of it unless you're a vampire in which case

[12:07] go for it.

[12:08] Yeah, but taste it first to see which one it is.

[12:10] That's true.

[12:11] If you have to taste it, you got to take a bite out of it.

[12:13] Yeah, because jam and blood look relatively similar when they're

[12:15] delivered in a hot pastry.

[12:17] Yeah.

[12:17] Oh, okay.

[12:18] Yeah.

[12:18] That's why you see so many.

[12:20] They explain that in what, Sweeney Todd?

[12:24] That was a cut song though.

[12:26] The cut song which is called jams a lot like blood parentheses

[12:30] when delivered in a hot pastry.

[12:33] So anyway, it's soon.

[12:34] It's national news that people are trying to make a pastry

[12:37] filling thing.

[12:38] We have this Walter Cronkite thing with Kyle Dunnigan as Walter

[12:41] Cronkite.

[12:42] Who's that was the one that I one person.

[12:44] I had trouble placing.

[12:46] Yes.

[12:46] He's wearing a lot of makeup on another person that I got actual

[12:50] I wouldn't say laughs out of but the closest to me laughing

[12:53] was Cronkite and I think that it was of the comedy people like

[12:58] I think he commits the straightest to what he's doing like

[13:01] in general.

[13:02] I think the people who are most successful in this movie are

[13:04] the people who are going full bore like as straight as they

[13:08] can with the material.

[13:10] Yeah.

[13:11] I mean as often as the case of comedy, I actually yeah, I

[13:13] thought his performance was fine.

[13:14] I did not like those jokes that much because it feels like

[13:16] an easy go to you have a character who's an authoritative

[13:19] character be like, yeah, my wife says I'm drinking too much.

[13:23] It's that stuff.

[13:24] Yeah, I didn't like so much.

[13:25] I liked it when he was just like playing with the toys like

[13:28] goes away and then it comes right back to me.

[13:31] He always has a different 60s novelty type toy later on when

[13:34] he's using Silly Putty.

[13:35] That was that part is funny.

[13:36] Anyway, Kellogg's they hire their detective Sebastian Maniscalco

[13:41] to take a look at what's going on eyes perked up.

[13:44] She's like my favorite comedian.

[13:46] She said I have to leave the room and she came back flushed

[13:49] a few minutes later.

[13:50] Yeah, he has spy footage from Inside Post.

[13:53] They are using data from Kellogg's earlier fruit pastry

[13:57] research and they're obviously post spies at Kellogg to save

[14:00] the company.

[14:01] Jerry says there's only one option.

[14:02] He's got to work with his old colleague Stan Kowski who he

[14:05] calls Stan would have soon revealed to be Donna Stan Kowski

[14:08] Melissa McCarthy who now works at NASA on the moon landing,

[14:11] but there's some moon landing jokes, but then he convinces

[14:14] her to come back with him.

[14:16] There's a Amy Schumer.

[14:18] She shows the dumpster kids their experimental fruit pastry

[14:21] and they say it's good, but it doesn't toast.

[14:23] Well, there's this long scene of the toaster being on fire

[14:26] or whatever and her her like right-hand man is Max Green

[14:30] Greenfield girl mostly is how I know although he's now on

[14:35] like that CBS sitcom the neighbors or something like that

[14:40] neighborhood.

[14:40] Yeah, huge deal huge.

[14:45] So anyway, yeah, he's his hair right-hand man who mostly

[14:47] gets into trouble and she yells at him and stuff Stan is

[14:51] like, hey, we need a team of radical thinkers and so they

[14:55] introduce in a parody of the of the astronaut press conference

[14:59] that you'd see in like the right stuff, you know, they

[15:02] introduce their new invention team.

[15:04] Do you guys want me to go through it who it is?

[15:06] Or do you want to take turns?

[15:07] Please do because then I want to yell about it for a little

[15:09] bit.

[15:09] Yeah, I want to get Dan on worked up.

[15:12] Okay standards up ice cream East Coast ice cream magnate

[15:15] Tom Carvel of Carvel ice cream.

[15:17] Were you guys familiar with Carvel ice cream when you grew

[15:19] up not growing up as a Midwesterner story?

[15:22] Yeah.

[15:22] No, but when I came out here it was all everybody wants to

[15:25] talk about his fucking fudgy the whale cookie plus.

[15:28] Yeah.

[15:28] Yeah, I grew up with Carvel.

[15:29] So it wasn't until as much older that I realized this is not

[15:31] a national chain and other people are not watching commercials

[15:34] with cookie puss arriving from space when you're writing

[15:37] letters to a pen pal in Alaska.

[15:39] They're like, why are you fucking talking about cookie?

[15:42] I'm like, you must get the best going.

[15:43] Is that where cookie puss lives?

[15:45] Yeah, do you ever see fudgy the whale off the off in the

[15:48] waters off the coast?

[15:49] No, no, no sound or whatever.

[15:52] Yeah, they were they were didn't know what I was talking

[15:54] about. Then you've got James Marsden as Jack LaLanne Jack

[15:58] McBrayer is Steve Schwinn of Schwinn bikes.

[16:01] You've got Bobby Moynihan as Chef Boyardee.

[16:03] Okay, you've got Thomas Lennon as Harold von Braun hut who

[16:08] I was talking to Dan about this before the recording they

[16:10] present him as a Werner von Braun like kind of ex-nazi type.

[16:14] Yeah, I did a little research in reality.

[16:15] There was a Harold von Braun hut who here he's credit as

[16:18] the inventor of the sea monkeys, which he is.

[16:20] He did a lot of Miller stuff.

[16:21] He was actually born Jewish and then as an adult became

[16:24] hugely racist and was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and

[16:27] the Aryan Nations.

[16:28] So they are wrong that he was German, but they're right

[16:31] that he was a racist racist.

[16:32] Yeah, it's okay.

[16:33] And and also Univac the computer and these are called their

[16:37] taste pilots instead of test pilots.

[16:40] Now, here's what they did it guys.

[16:41] They didn't agree about this thing because like lander of

[16:44] Univac.

[16:45] No, you know, I have been accused not unfairly of sometimes

[16:52] being like the logic police on jokes.

[16:54] Yeah, but I don't think you can go not even accused you were

[16:57] you you're an undercover logic policeman.

[16:59] I don't mean to blow your cover.

[17:01] You know, that's yeah, I got a lot of busts under your name.

[17:03] You know, yeah, that's right.

[17:04] I think of a logic thing.

[17:05] I'm like I pull out an abacus.

[17:06] No, that's more just accounting.

[17:08] Yeah, I saw I saw the I saw that video the person recorded

[17:11] with their phone where you interrupt their joke and they're

[17:13] like, can I see your badge sir?

[17:14] And you're like, you don't need to see my badge.

[17:15] Anyway, it was it was that you look came off very bad into

[17:18] tan.

[17:19] Yeah, I but I here's the thing.

[17:22] Like I just don't think you can go like this fully to fucking

[17:25] crazy town like even in a movie with as little to do with

[17:29] reality is this I'm like why why is like Steve Schwinn bicycle

[17:35] inventor or seller or whatever the fuck the guy because it's

[17:40] all again.

[17:40] This is all just the stuff that's floating around in Jerry

[17:43] Seinfeld's head.

[17:44] You know, I think that's a big part of it.

[17:46] I think I think you're right.

[17:47] I think the thing that ties this together is not what would

[17:51] make any sort of sense if we're trying to take this spot

[17:53] seriously, but it's just literally what things are floating

[17:56] around in a baby boomers head from their childhood.

[17:58] Like I'm surprised Charles Atlas was not the guy that they

[18:01] had Jack Lane and I almost wonder if that they wanted Charles

[18:04] Atlas and then couldn't get him because I know that like the

[18:07] Charles Atlas company is litigious.

[18:08] I know they kept Flexman hello from being republished for

[18:11] a long time that complex series.

[18:12] So I like I wonder if that's the case because it feels like

[18:15] it's literally just what stuff did I have as a kid Schwinn

[18:17] bikes?

[18:18] I certainly had those.

[18:18] Yeah, sea monkeys.

[18:20] Yeah, for sure.

[18:20] Chef Boyardee.

[18:21] We ate a lot of that.

[18:22] I think that's I Tom Carvell.

[18:24] I grew up hearing his commercials all the time as a kid.

[18:27] I feel like I feel like Bobby Moynihan commits to the Chef

[18:30] Boyardee character and I think he's all of those people.

[18:32] I enjoyed him the most.

[18:34] He always commits to his roles.

[18:36] Yeah, he's a committer.

[18:37] I feel like the it's always nice to see Jack McBrayer in

[18:41] thing.

[18:41] Yeah, I've been a fan of his ever since I was a college

[18:43] student when I would see him at the UCB all the time, but

[18:46] here's what I'll say about this.

[18:47] I generally like Thomas Lennon unless he's in a weirdly

[18:51] racist Puppet Master movie.

[18:53] I mean, yeah, I mean, I just the one the specific just the

[18:56] just the one one.

[18:56] Yeah, it's only in the one but I love Thomas Lennon.

[18:58] So I mean again ever since he was a member of the state.

[19:00] I've been a fan of Thomas Lennon's he I think it's hilarious

[19:03] but here's the thing that got to me around this point in

[19:05] the movie and it really hit me when Peter Dinklage showed

[19:07] up.

[19:08] Yeah.

[19:09] Oh, yeah, there's a lot of people in this movie who I've

[19:11] not seen on screen a little bit and they have aged and that's

[19:14] just a natural part of life, but there are a number of times

[19:17] in the movie where I would see somebody and be like, oh,

[19:19] they've gotten older.

[19:20] Like I didn't realize that they've gotten older because

[19:21] I haven't seen them in a little bit.

[19:23] We were also introduced to a like a scary milkman character

[19:28] played by Christian Slater and he looks great.

[19:30] He looks he's very smooth-faced.

[19:32] He looks much younger than I would expect.

[19:34] Yeah, but Dinklage and Slater are both in this Milk Mafia

[19:37] kind of thing.

[19:38] Dinklage and Slater.

[19:39] That's that new show on USA, right?

[19:42] They're lawyers, I think.

[19:43] Yeah.

[19:44] Yeah.

[19:44] Oh, I would watch that actually.

[19:46] But the thing I mean like again, these are these two people

[19:49] I'm like, oh you're coming off pretty well because you're

[19:52] just you know doing you're playing this as if it's a drama.

[19:56] Yeah.

[19:56] And it's a lot more fun.

[19:57] Yeah.

[19:58] So yeah, these threatening milkman.

[20:00] up and Bob's like, what was that about? And his boss tells them, milk men have always

[20:03] been a violent syndicate. Milk has always been a mob type organization. And they're

[20:08] going to be mad that Kellogg's is now making a non milk based breakfast product. It's going

[20:13] to it's they're not going to like it. And this feels like a one off thing. To be honest,

[20:17] you see like black and white photos of the history of milk. And it felt like the scene

[20:22] in the jerk when they're watching the film strip of of cat juggling or whatever it is

[20:27] where it's clearly just like a one off silly thing. I was like, but no, this is a tightly

[20:31] written movie. So this plot comes back quite a few times, you know, this because this movie

[20:35] is somehow a sketch movie that that does continue to remember its threads, even when you're like,

[20:40] that's fine. I need to know more about that. And yet they don't pay off. It remembers its

[20:43] threads, but it doesn't pay off. There's a later on. There's a sentient ravioli that I'm like,

[20:48] oh, this is going to, you know, cause trouble at the end and like do something like save somebody

[20:53] or whatever. I'm watching Alex's confusion when he hears sentient ravioli, the milk stuff to get

[20:59] taken taken care of off off camera, basically like the president takes care of that off camera.

[21:04] We'll get to the president, John F. Kennedy, played by Bill Burr, but that'll come later.

[21:09] There's a so the lab gets to work. We get a brief appearance by Aparna Nancharla as a scientist who

[21:14] is great, just handling the computer. Great to see her. Don't I don't mind seeing her in a movie.

[21:19] She's great. There's lots of jokes about the brand taste pilots. It goes on for a long time.

[21:25] And Amy Schumer is getting suspicious. Hugh Grant shows up. He wants to use the lab as

[21:28] his rehearsal space for a production of King Lear and Stan and Thurl did not get along.

[21:35] Uh oh, Thurl is going to be a thorn in their side.

[21:37] His mouth is breaking down.

[21:40] That really seems like something you could leave out of.

[21:43] Yeah, you would think.

[21:44] No, you would think, you think. But again, this is like a Seinfeld episode.

[21:48] All the storylines are going to come together.

[21:49] I think it's important that each taste pilot gets a fully realized arc in this movie.

[21:55] I don't know if you're aware, Alex, Stewart dosed your drink with

[21:59] mushrooms before you came over. I mean, what you think is the plot of the movie is

[22:04] not actually a plot.

[22:05] Stewart's right that each of the taste pilots does get an arc for the most part.

[22:09] I don't remember Carvel, but I'm not even going to go into it like Jack Lane,

[22:12] the fact that people can see his dick through his pants. So he has to make other pants.

[22:16] I'm not going to get into that.

[22:17] The sentient ravioli that Thomas Lennon and Chef Boyardee make,

[22:20] I guess we'll touch on that because it shows up for a final gag.

[22:23] I think it's yeah, I think it's pretty important.

[22:25] Yeah, so so the five cereal families meet in the back of a grocery store at night.

[22:30] And we get Andy Daly as what the Quaker Oats guy.

[22:35] He's funny.

[22:37] I mean, again, Andy Daly's hilarious.

[22:39] Like there's that's a good gag.

[22:40] And also he's hilarious.

[22:41] You know, I'll watch anything with him in it.

[22:43] I've worked with him and he's super great to work with.

[22:45] So there's a lot of funny people in this.

[22:48] At a certain point, you get over the idea that the Quaker Oats guy is actually

[22:52] the guy who runs Quaker Oats.

[22:56] So she says, we've got this new toaster pastry.

[22:58] It's going to be on shelves next week.

[23:00] And Bob and Stan are like, we've got to stop this.

[23:02] There's only way to do it.

[23:03] Cut off the supply of sugar to post.

[23:06] So they go to Puerto Rico to meet with El Sucre.

[23:09] And he controls all the sugar.

[23:11] He's like a drug dealer.

[23:13] He briefly watches a ventriloquist played by Tony Hale, who makes fun of his grout and

[23:18] the bad grout job on the tiles.

[23:20] So, of course, he's taken out his dummiest shot.

[23:22] OK, I thought that was kind of funny.

[23:23] That was a good gag where you hear the shot off screen.

[23:25] You think he's been shot, but the dummy has been shot.

[23:28] And then he immediately shows up and starts making fun of the grout.

[23:33] The one thing that he shouldn't make fun of.

[23:35] Yeah, they say they'll buy all the sugar that El Sucre is is bringing on.

[23:39] And it's implied that now they're on the hook for all the money for this sugar.

[23:42] They're going to be in trouble.

[23:43] But that doesn't really matter.

[23:45] It doesn't know.

[23:46] Now Post can't make anything.

[23:47] But Christian Slater is the milkman.

[23:49] He's threatening Bob.

[23:50] The taste pilot inventions.

[23:52] They all misfire.

[23:53] They just haven't done what they're supposed to.

[23:54] The dumpster kids, they they invent Rice Krispie treats, which is something the movie ever really

[23:59] picks up on that.

[24:00] That's the movie mentions it.

[24:02] And the off-brand garbage pill kids, the dumpster bottom kids.

[24:08] Yeah, that's we have garbage pill kids at home, right?

[24:12] Oh, dumpster kids.

[24:14] That's you want garbage pill kids.

[24:16] And your grandpa is like, I got you what you wanted for your birthday.

[24:18] Dumpster bottom kids.

[24:21] They just teach about being thrifty and recycling.

[24:23] I don't like this.

[24:24] They're not gross at all.

[24:27] And the kids tell them you got to combine the things that you have.

[24:31] So Bob and Stan combine the taste pilots ideas that eventually helps them to invent the pop

[24:36] tart.

[24:37] Everyone celebrates with a party where they dance the twist.

[24:40] All right.

[24:41] We were inventing the pop tart.

[24:44] That's right.

[24:44] Lost track of.

[24:46] They still don't have a name for it, though.

[24:47] Or is this one?

[24:48] They call it a trap pop.

[24:49] I can't remember.

[24:50] No, it's later.

[24:51] OK, so Post needs sugar.

[24:53] So the only place to get is from Cuba.

[24:54] So they go to Soviet Russia to pitch to Khrushchev, played by Hank Schrader.

[24:59] Hell yeah.

[25:00] And his and his interpreter is the the actress from the Borat sequel.

[25:06] Yes, it is.

[25:09] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[25:10] It's Maria Bacalova, who's our interpreter.

[25:13] Again, she's funny.

[25:14] They're fine.

[25:15] I would say star cast.

[25:16] But I would say it's amazing how much talent has been thrown at this crap.

[25:20] This is another looks good.

[25:22] Like the movie looks good.

[25:23] I would say the movie looks a little made for TV ish, but that's fine.

[25:27] It's a sketch movie.

[25:28] It doesn't need to look great.

[25:29] You know, it looks fairly pretty, but also flat.

[25:32] It's yeah, it's colorful, but flat.

[25:33] It's all floodlit.

[25:35] The way that like a network television show is, you know, I don't know.

[25:38] I mean, check the check it.

[25:39] But I think didn't Conrad Hall do the cinematography?

[25:41] I do think it was actually a hit on the head with a coconut beforehand.

[25:46] It was a note of lightness beforehand.

[25:49] I mean, I'll look it up while you guys keep talking.

[25:51] OK, the cinematography, Dan, it's by Bill Pope.

[25:54] Oh, he's worked with a lot of people.

[25:56] We're at the Sam Raimi, worked with the Wilkowskis with Edgar Wright.

[26:00] Did a lot of music videos.

[26:01] This was the cinematographer on on Darkman.

[26:04] Fucking Matrix on Darkman.

[26:06] Did a lot of stuff.

[26:07] Let's see.

[26:07] Here's his filmography.

[26:08] I don't want to be to Army of Darkness.

[26:10] Oh, Spider-Man 2, one of the best movies ever made.

[26:12] Dan, your favorite movie, Blank Check, the remake of Bedazzled, another of Dan's favorites.

[26:17] Scott Pilgrim, The Spirit, former Flophouse movie.

[26:20] Oh, sure.

[26:21] Yeah, the Jungle Book remake that Jon Favreau did.

[26:24] Another Flophouse movie, Alita Battle Angel.

[26:26] I mean, the problem with The Spirit was not that it looked bad.

[26:29] It was everything else.

[26:30] Another Flophouse movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantumania.

[26:32] So now Bill Pope now has a number of movies on the Flophouse.

[26:35] Not because of his work on them, you know?

[26:37] Yeah.

[26:38] We got to get him in here.

[26:39] And we did the pilot for Freaks and Geeks.

[26:41] They did the pilot for Maximum Bob.

[26:43] I like Zero Effect.

[26:43] Zero Effect with Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller.

[26:46] Yeah, yeah.

[26:47] Clueless.

[26:49] So he's done a lot of stuff.

[26:50] He's done a lot of stuff.

[26:51] Great work.

[26:52] We can't take him down.

[26:53] No, let's not take him down.

[26:54] Wouldn't want to.

[26:54] Not even try.

[26:55] Let's, you know who we should take down?

[26:56] Whoever made the decision to present Khrushchev as if he was kind of like

[26:59] a grumbling kind of beast of a man.

[27:02] When, if anything, Khrushchev made, say what you will about, you know,

[27:04] the problems of Soviet Russia.

[27:06] No one I will.

[27:07] I would say at least he took a step forward in denouncing

[27:10] Solemnism in his speech, you know, to the Congress.

[27:13] Anyway, so Khrushchev says, I'll give you sugar in exchange for,

[27:21] they pitch him a couple ideas for Soviet cereals.

[27:23] And he says, I'll give it to you if you have sex with me.

[27:25] And so it's implied that Amy Schumer does.

[27:27] Bob's kidnapped by the milkman.

[27:29] Their leader, Peter Dinklage.

[27:30] Amy Schumer playing what noted feminist icon in some ways.

[27:34] Yes.

[27:34] Has to sell her body for sugar.

[27:37] OK, just to clarify.

[27:38] This is a movie that I would say does not have politics on its mind,

[27:41] which means it stumbles at certain points for that reason.

[27:44] Later on, as we'll get to, there is a big parody of January 6th,

[27:47] which is not trying to make a point about January 6th.

[27:50] It's just like here.

[27:51] This is like a thing that happens.

[27:53] And so it's like, oh, are you saying that the way that they use workers

[27:57] desiring what unionizing and fair wages being January Sixers is complicated?

[28:03] It also and it also.

[28:04] Yeah, it's also taking a it's the idea of brand mascots unionizing is a joke in it.

[28:09] And I don't think that it is an anti-union message so much as them

[28:12] not caring or or thinking about it.

[28:13] You know, it feels it feels tone deaf as opposed to like,

[28:16] let's take the unions down anyway.

[28:19] Bob's kidnapped by the milkman's led by Peter Dinklage.

[28:21] He, of course, forces Jerry Seinfeld to walk through a barn full of farting cows,

[28:25] which is too much for Bob.

[28:26] And he quits the project.

[28:27] Meanwhile, there is a living ravioli loose in the lab that was created as a combination of

[28:34] Chef Boyardee's work and and the sea monkeys, the White House sends a helicopter.

[28:40] This does kind of feel like the worst version of the Manhattan Projects.

[28:45] Manhattan Projects, the comic book.

[28:46] Yeah, I was like, I was like, I don't know.

[28:48] The like the nukes were probably the worst part of the Manhattan Projects,

[28:52] probably the one that killed all those Japanese people.

[28:54] But yeah, I'm talking about the comic comic projects.

[28:58] Yeah.

[28:59] So the White House sends a helicopter to pick up the Kellogg's people,

[29:02] takes them straight to President Kennedy, played by Bill Burr, says they need post.

[29:07] Do you think do you think there's a hairpiece?

[29:12] No, I think that was his real hair, Stuart.

[29:14] And he normally wears a bald cap.

[29:15] That's what I was going to say.

[29:17] Because he knows it makes him more relatable as a blue collar guy if he's bald,

[29:21] if he wears a bald cap.

[29:22] Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[29:24] I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[29:25] I thought I was going crazy.

[29:26] He originally so a lot of people don't know Bill Burr originally started as a comedian named Bill

[29:29] Furr.

[29:30] And the idea was that he had this thick head of hair and he got a bad haircut.

[29:34] It never worked.

[29:35] He bombed every night.

[29:35] He got a bad haircut one night and he was like, I'll just shave the rest off.

[29:38] And he did amazing.

[29:40] He killed.

[29:41] And so from that point on, he realized he was a reverse Samson, as it's known in the scientific

[29:45] literature.

[29:45] And this hair actually made him weaker as a comedian.

[29:48] Yeah, interesting.

[29:49] Cool, cool, cool, cool.

[29:50] A little background.

[29:51] That's a little bit.

[29:52] So that's that's my from my segment behind the Burr, where I tell you stories about Bill

[29:55] Burr's history.

[29:57] Anyway, behind the Burr.

[30:00] How did Gilbert's name get attached to the thistles that get stuck to your socks when

[30:05] you walk through a forest?

[30:06] Stay tuned for the next episode to find out.

[30:10] So the president is like, the Russians are working with Post, we got to stop them.

[30:13] I'll help you with the milkmen.

[30:15] But the milkmen, they make inroads by convincing Thurl Ravenscroft to unionize and cause trouble

[30:22] for Kellogg's.

[30:23] There's a NASA style test of the Pop-Tart.

[30:26] It's successful, but it ends in an explosion that kills Jack McBrayer's character.

[30:30] And he has a full serial funeral, which involves his coffin being floated in milk and cereal

[30:35] and mascots.

[30:36] Don't worry, this takes forever.

[30:38] I gotta say, it didn't make me laugh, but this is like the, you know, again, one of

[30:43] the moments that threatened to make me laugh when they're, you know, like slowly pouring

[30:49] cereal and milk into the hole.

[30:51] And I think it's like if this was a sketch on a TV show, I would, I think I'd be laughing

[30:55] at it.

[30:56] But by this point, I was like done with cereal jokes.

[30:58] I was like, we've had a lot of cereal jokes in this movie.

[31:02] And we, I guess we also forgot to mention that in the testing scene where Jack McBrayer's

[31:07] character explodes, we see a friend of the podcast, Ronnie Chang, yeah, and he's funny.

[31:14] Yeah, he's, he doesn't, he has like three lines, but he's really funny, you know.

[31:19] So Kellogg and Post, they meet up at night and they have a rendezvous that almost turns

[31:23] romantic, but it's interrupted by the, again, the living, the living ravioli that is peeking

[31:27] around.

[31:28] They need, oh, that's right, they need a product name, so now we go to, of course, Don Draper

[31:34] and Roger Sterling as played by the original actors, Jon Hamm and John Slattery.

[31:39] And we do a Mad Men parody where they're trying to sex up the product.

[31:44] It's really, it is really like just a, it's directly a reference to the Belle Jolie campaign

[31:49] in the Mad Men series, right?

[31:51] Yeah.

[31:52] It's great, it's great to see Mad Men written by people who aren't as good as Mad Men writers.

[31:58] It really, well, you know, it's, it's, I was surprised the movie just went directly into

[32:02] direct parody.

[32:03] Like, it's not even just a reference, they're doing a scene, it's just a direct parody of

[32:06] that show.

[32:07] Well, again, like things probably bouncing around Jerry Seinfeld's head.

[32:10] It did slip very naturally back into those characters, I'll say that.

[32:13] Oh yeah, I mean, it's great to see him.

[32:14] Yeah.

[32:15] I mean, that, to be honest, it was true that like Jon Hamm still got Don Draper, but even

[32:19] more so like John Slattery, he can do Roger Sterling.

[32:22] It seems like, without even thinking about it, like he does it so naturally.

[32:24] I mean, of all the days to be on set, that's the day I would have picked.

[32:27] Yeah.

[32:28] And like the moment where...

[32:29] The winter day on frosted, uh, on frosted sweet steaks.

[32:33] Well, and that, like the, the banter between Jon Hamm and Melissa McCarthy was funny where

[32:38] they're like kind of flirting and kind of, I don't know, I thought that was good.

[32:41] I'd want to be there for that serial funeral.

[32:43] That sounds really cool.

[32:44] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[32:45] Cause you'd have all the costumes and everything, a lot of celebrities there.

[32:47] I mean, that's when, like every now and then at the Daily Show, you'd have to dress up

[32:50] a correspondent in a funny costume and you'd see them walking through the hallway and you'd

[32:53] be like, this is what it feels like to work on a television show.

[32:56] Like, like, like in the movies, there's always a Roman centurion walking around the back

[33:00] lot, you know, they haven't made Roman movies in years, but there's, I mean, except for

[33:04] a gladiator too, I guess, but there's always a Roman centurion in the back lot of a movie

[33:07] studio.

[33:08] Uh, so they need a name.

[33:09] They call them the Dumpster Kids.

[33:10] They end up with the name T.R.E.T.

[33:11] P.O.P.

[33:12] Uh, and...

[33:13] It's an acronym for, or something, if you, well, it's not a palindrome cause it's not

[33:18] the same backwards and forwards, but if you reverse it, it'll be Pop-Tart, which is why

[33:23] it pays off later on.

[33:27] So it's called a T.R.E.T.

[33:28] P.O.P.

[33:29] Uh, they fire all the mascots, uh, and on the day that the FDA is supposed to certify

[33:33] that they can sell T.R.E.T.

[33:34] P.O.P.s, uh, the FDA guy is played, of course, by Fred Armisen, uh, they throw Ravenscroft

[33:40] in a QAnon Shaman style version of the Tony the Tiger costume.

[33:45] He leads the mascots in a, in a January 6th style protest to stop the certification, and

[33:52] it's one of those things where it's like, was it really obvious to you guys?

[33:55] Cause it only kind of slowly dawned on me how close they were parodying that thing.

[33:59] Cause I saw his costume and I go, okay, it looks like the QAnon Shaman, but as soon as

[34:02] they say we gotta stop the certification, I was like, oh, so they're really going all

[34:05] the way to doing a January 6th parody.

[34:07] That's all it is, and as you say, it's not political, it's just like, hey, remember this

[34:11] thing that happened?

[34:12] Yeah.

[34:13] And, uh, you know, I'm sure like at the time I wouldn't have found it funny, and now I

[34:17] certainly don't find it funny, like, uh, it's just gotten less and less funny over time.

[34:23] Well, I just think, I couldn't tell.

[34:24] Yeah, Dan doesn't like his heroes from January 6th being parodied.

[34:28] Yeah, that's, you got me.

[34:30] A lot of people don't know that if you play a lot of the episodes backwards, you can hear

[34:34] Dan saying subliminally, release the heroes, pardon the heroes, yeah.

[34:40] But I was surprised, I couldn't tell, I was like, is this tasteless to me, or is it not?

[34:45] Because I think January 6th is going to turn out to be a pivotal moment in American history

[34:49] in a bad way, you know, not in a good way.

[34:52] It's not like that was what shook America out of its super and got us to clean up early.

[34:56] No, but like, there was, that incident had a chance for America to be like, this isn't

[35:01] us, we've got to change things, and instead people were like, that was weird anyway, but

[35:05] uh, I think, but it was, it was one of the things where like, I don't love that they're

[35:08] making light of it, but also, I don't hear a lot of people talking about it, and I have

[35:11] certainly written things.

[35:12] If my third volume of Maniac of New York ever gets finished, you'll see that I have kind

[35:16] of my, like a play on that in there, so it's one of those things where it's like, well,

[35:21] at least I-

[35:22] With serial mascots, right?

[35:23] With serial mascots, yeah.

[35:24] So at least I'm seeing this event reverberating in the culture in some way, as opposed to

[35:28] it being forgotten about, you know, so I couldn't tell.

[35:30] I couldn't tell, this is the least relevant way for it to be represented in the culture.

[35:34] I mean, we'll find out if the new Naked Gun reboot for Truth of the Universe is good.

[35:41] That would be, that would be amazing, the only, they're like, the only way we can handle

[35:44] this material is in parody movies, it's the only way, you know.

[35:48] So they, they, but they managed to, Bob just takes the stamp and stamps their certification,

[35:53] they did it, Pop-Tarts get on the shelf, Walter Cronkite's announcing the product on the news,

[35:58] but his script, he uses some silly putty on it, and it messes up the script, so he reads

[36:02] it backwards off the silly putty, and it says Pop-Tarts, so that is now the new name.

[36:06] Yeah.

[36:07] That long, that long walk was really worth it, setting up.

[36:11] That sucks.

[36:12] That sucks really bad.

[36:13] It kinda does, yeah.

[36:14] Yeah, it's really.

[36:15] Fake name.

[36:16] It really, there are a number of things in the movie, this, I think this movie is most

[36:20] successful with the one-off jokes.

[36:22] It's good that they hadn't, they hadn't, like, trademarked Trap Pop, huh, and they could

[36:28] just switch over?

[36:29] Yeah, just naturally.

[36:30] Yeah, yeah.

[36:31] Even though it sounds too close to pop art, which leads us to yet another cameo.

[36:36] We'll get to that, we'll get to that.

[36:37] First, we'll say that the Pop-Tarts launch the same day as Post's Country Squares, which

[36:43] is their competing product, and of course, Pop-Tarts sell out, and this is a, they, earlier

[36:48] they're talking about it as a pastry dingus, and then this scene, it feels like such a

[36:53] play off of the Hudsucker proxy scene, where the hula hoop gets, becomes popular, and where

[36:58] they refer to it as an extruded plastic dingus, and it's like, it's just very, I wonder if

[37:02] that was, now that we know that the cinematographer worked so closely with Sam Raimi, maybe those

[37:06] were his ideas for how to do it, I don't know, maybe he's, maybe he's riffing off his own

[37:09] work in it, which is kind of fun.

[37:11] Bob fills us out on what happens next, jokes, jokes, jokes, everyone has joke, kind of like,

[37:16] what happened to them, but Bob goes on the Johnny Carson show, and is shot by, by Andy

[37:21] Warhol, because Pop-Tart sounds too close to pop art, and Andy Warhol isn't close.

[37:25] Played by Andrew Rannells, of course.

[37:27] Played by what?

[37:28] Of course.

[37:29] Who's that?

[37:30] Played by Andrew Rannells, of course.

[37:31] One of the original cast of Book of Mormon, Housing Girls.

[37:36] I think that's Dan Levy, Dan Levy as Andy Warhol.

[37:39] Oh, you're right, you're fucking right.

[37:41] They look so similar when they have big blonde wigs and glasses on.

[37:45] No, that's Dan Levy from Schitt's Creek, playing Andy Warhol, and of course, it's funny, because

[37:50] in real life, Andy Warhol was shot and paralyzed, but, so, you know, again, it is pretty funny,

[37:56] actually.

[37:57] Again, the movie is riffing off of history in a way that is maybe oblivious, you know,

[38:01] to the implications.

[38:03] So Bob finishes the story, he's telling it to that kid in the restaurant, the kid's parents

[38:07] come and get him, and the kid is like, oh, wow, mom and dad, we never know what his problem

[38:14] was, why it's solved.

[38:15] Oh, no, you know what, they say they're going to buy him something.

[38:17] I forgot what it is, though.

[38:19] And Bob says goodbye to him, and the living ravioli peeks out of his pocket, and he's

[38:25] like, did you see that, mom and dad?

[38:26] But they didn't see it.

[38:28] And then we get credits.

[38:29] There's no credit.

[38:30] And your favorite thing happens, Elliot, they all do a dance over the credits.

[38:34] So there are some bloopers, but it is mostly all the characters in the different scenes

[38:38] dancing together to the same song.

[38:41] And as Dan knows, and as Flawless Listeners know, I hate this.

[38:43] I hate this shit.

[38:44] I always hate it.

[38:45] I don't like it.

[38:46] It's like someone was having fun without you.

[38:49] It always feels to me like they are trying to make me feel good by showing how they're

[38:54] throwing a party and I get to watch it.

[38:56] And it's like, oh, great.

[38:57] I mean, Barbie Star, a movie I really love.

[38:59] They do the same thing at the end.

[39:00] And I'm like, fuck this.

[39:02] Don't like it.

[39:03] I don't I don't like it at all.

[39:04] But also because it's such fake fun.

[39:05] I don't really think that they just let loose and had fun dancing for the movie.

[39:09] I think that they were told, like, we're going to do this thing at the end.

[39:12] We're all going to dance.

[39:13] We're going to shoot some B-roll of us dancing.

[39:14] We're going to shoot B-roll of us dancing.

[39:16] They look like you're having a good time, but I don't think it would be a one thing

[39:19] if it was like actual shooting at their feet.

[39:22] Yeah, exactly.

[39:23] If it was actual footage of a party that they had where they were having a good time, I'd

[39:27] be like, you know what?

[39:28] That's that's kind of fun to.

[39:29] Yeah.

[39:30] Yeah.

[39:31] Like some like a steadicam footage or a handheld footage of the rat party.

[39:35] Exactly.

[39:36] They're all ripping huge lines.

[39:37] Right.

[39:38] I feel like it's fucking crazy.

[39:39] Yeah.

[39:40] It's a movie that did that.

[39:41] And I don't remember which one it is.

[39:43] But isn't it or like that?

[39:45] Was it was it Book Club or one of those where with Mary Steenburgen were like at the end,

[39:49] I think they are showing pictures in the rat party and Ted Danson is in one of the pictures

[39:53] and there is something nice about like, oh, her husband showed up for the rat party.

[39:55] Oh, that's awesome.

[39:56] Yeah.

[39:57] Hell, yeah.

[39:58] Book Club.

[39:59] But but here it just feels.

[40:00] was fakie to me. So anyway, the movie ends as it began, bright and colorful, very loud,

[40:05] meaning nothing, having no relevance to the world that we live in. Guys, that's Unfrosted.

[40:11] That's the story of how the Pop-Tart was invented, you know?

[40:13] Yeah, the true story. I gotta give you credit, Elliot. You blazed through that adventure,

[40:19] in-out-done. I could have done it even shorter, but I had to make sure to mention all the

[40:23] taste pilots, you know?

[40:27] Let's do our final judgments, whether this is a good, bad movie, a bad, bad movie, or

[40:31] a movie we kind of liked. Alex, why don't you start off with...

[40:35] Now you're into it.

[40:38] I gotta do the Missed That Movie thing, right?

[40:43] Yeah, yeah. Missed That Movie. So Missed That Movie is something that regularly happens

[40:47] on our minis. If you're not listening to our minis, what are you even doing with your life?

[40:51] What's your problem?

[40:52] Regularly. I think we did three of them.

[40:53] First off, Elliot, fuck off.

[40:55] We're just asking for another one.

[40:58] Yeah, he's just begging for it. He's gagging for it.

[41:00] Yeah, let's do it.

[41:01] So it's... what is it? Should... wait.

[41:05] I think one is Gotta Not Have Missed It or something.

[41:08] Yeah.

[41:09] Sad I missed it.

[41:10] Sad I missed it.

[41:11] Had to not miss it.

[41:13] Had to not miss it.

[41:15] That means you literally, upon hearing this, immediately ran out and watched the movie.

[41:21] Wow. You know what? I actually hate having to go first on this because...

[41:25] Because you guys have described a lot of stuff that almost made you laugh.

[41:28] You've described a lot of stuff that sounds like it kind of sucks.

[41:31] I think we did it.

[41:32] And also a lot of people that I like who are money.

[41:35] So I'm gonna give this a... what do you call it? Like a tentative or...

[41:41] It's conditional on your all's thing, but I think I'm sad I missed it.

[41:47] I think I'm sad I missed it.

[41:48] So Alex was sharing with me today while we were walking around midtown Manhattan.

[41:53] It's always bad when Stuart says something like that. It starts like that.

[41:58] It's always bad.

[41:59] No, but Alex is saying that when he edits the episodes, he often puts the movie on so that he's watching the movie while we're talking about it.

[42:09] Yeah.

[42:10] So he didn't have that opportunity this time.

[42:13] Are you going... do you think when you edit this episode you're gonna be watching Unfrosted?

[42:16] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[42:17] It's basically what I was setting up.

[42:18] Actually, I will.

[42:19] Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

[42:20] Okay.

[42:21] So, yeah, you had to not miss it.

[42:22] Yeah.

[42:23] And you can pick up...

[42:24] I think there are a few famous people that we missed in mentioning and you can pick them up.

[42:27] Yeah, just insert it into the episode.

[42:29] Yeah.

[42:30] Just have that.

[42:31] Yeah.

[42:32] A really low voice.

[42:33] Okay.

[42:34] Well, I'm gonna say this is a bad, bad movie and that overall, you know, I didn't enjoy it.

[42:42] I wouldn't recommend it.

[42:43] It's just a weird experience because it's like it's not terrible.

[42:48] Like, they threw a lot of talent at this thing and everyone's trying, but none of the jokes

[42:54] are quite funny enough and they aren't presented in quite a funny enough way to make up for

[43:02] the facts that this is a completely irrelevant movie where you're like, why does this exist?

[43:06] Why did you think you had to make 90 minutes of this thing?

[43:09] Like, this is a movie where I'm like, I almost wish that like Quibi was back because it's

[43:13] like, if this movie was like broken up into Quibi sized chunks and you watched it that

[43:19] way, I'd be like, each one, I'd be like, oh, this is, you know, amusing enough that maybe

[43:23] I'll check in again.

[43:24] Maybe with Unfrosted, Quibi could work this time.

[43:29] Yeah.

[43:30] Yeah.

[43:31] And a Pop-Tart is kind of a quick bite, you know.

[43:33] It's even more of a quick bite than the shows that were on Quibi.

[43:36] Yeah, sure.

[43:37] You know, I think that Seinfeld probably is like, it's like a Pop-Tart.

[43:40] It's like a treat.

[43:41] It's like a little confectionary.

[43:43] But unfortunately, it's not a bad Seinfeld impression, but it's more like a Pop-Tart

[43:48] in that it has no nutritional value and it will make you sick because you have too much

[43:53] of it.

[43:54] Yeah.

[43:55] So that's what I say.

[43:56] What do you say, Stern?

[43:57] I was about to do a Seinfeld impression, but I feel like we'd get hit with some legal issues

[44:01] because it would be too close.

[44:04] He can't write in his voice.

[44:05] It would be fraudulently misleading people into thinking that Jerry Seinfeld had appeared

[44:08] on the show.

[44:09] So, yeah, that's the thing.

[44:11] Like, it took me so long for my brain to accept the reality of what I was watching that I

[44:18] was genuinely watching a movie about Pop-Tarts that is not factual, but it's also not like

[44:27] a metaphor.

[44:29] It's just this movie about Pop-Tarts, and it's not funny enough for it to really justify

[44:35] that.

[44:36] It's just really strange.

[44:38] And, I mean, I guess I'm glad that a lot of funny people got paid, but no, I would say

[44:45] this is a firm bad, bad movie, unless...

[44:50] Is there a way...

[44:51] I find it just so...

[44:52] It's a curious movie.

[44:53] Yeah.

[44:54] But I think it's bad, bad.

[44:55] It's bad, bad.

[44:56] It's just like...

[44:57] It's so strange.

[44:58] I am going to...

[44:59] After my description of the movie, after my summary, I think this is going to sound a

[45:03] little contradictory, and certainly I don't see it quite the same way as you guys.

[45:08] In some ways, this is a movie I kind of like, and I'll tell you why I said that.

[45:11] I don't think it's super successful at everything it does, but I want to judge it on a different

[45:16] standard than a regular movie.

[45:18] And I think the problem with this movie is partly that it is trying to be a movie with

[45:23] something of a story, but it should be a sketch movie, and at heart, it wants to be a sketch

[45:27] movie.

[45:28] And it's really hard to do a good sketch movie.

[45:30] It's nearly impossible.

[45:31] There's...

[45:32] Kentucky Fried Movie.

[45:33] I mean, even Kentucky Fried Movie has long stretches of crap, you know?

[45:38] And when you think about it, other than Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it's hard for me

[45:42] to think of a sketch movie where I'm just like, I love it, scene after scene, banger

[45:46] after banger.

[45:47] Like, you watch Holy Grail, the first six scenes in a row, I think, are just classic

[45:51] solid genius sketches, and that's really hard to do.

[45:54] And you have to be the funniest sketch group potentially in the history of the world to

[45:58] do it.

[45:59] And so I think it's...

[46:01] I'm giving the movie credit for being exactly what I think you guys, in a way, are faulting

[46:06] it for being, which is empty calories that mean nothing and are just kind of like, what

[46:11] about this?

[46:12] What about this?

[46:13] Is this funny?

[46:14] Try this thing.

[46:15] And I think it is...

[46:16] Even on that level, it's not always successful.

[46:18] But I found myself, even though I wasn't holding my sides as they split with laughter, I found

[46:24] myself enjoying it more than I thought I would going into it.

[46:27] And it was nice to see a lot of funny faces doing funny things.

[46:31] And it's not really a movie.

[46:35] That's what it comes down to.

[46:36] Yeah.

[46:37] Ultimately, I like the idea of a sketch movie, even if it's not going to work, but I feel

[46:43] like they laser focus in on the serial and 60s jokes so much that it wears thin so quickly

[46:51] for me.

[46:52] I agree.

[46:53] Here's my pitch.

[46:54] If Jerry Seinfeld had come to me with this, I would have said, I think what you have here

[46:58] is not...

[46:59] What would that sound like, Dan?

[47:00] Hey!

[47:01] Was that a real mom?

[47:02] Hey!

[47:03] Oh, shit.

[47:04] Okay, Dan, you're Jerry Seinfeld.

[47:05] Do it for real.

[47:06] You're Jerry Seinfeld.

[47:07] You're bringing this to me.

[47:09] Elliot!

[47:10] I can't do it.

[47:11] No, that was great.

[47:12] That was better.

[47:13] Okay, Stuart, you're Jerry Seinfeld.

[47:14] Bring this project.

[47:15] Okay, you might have to redact this, Alex.

[47:16] This is going to be too close.

[47:17] A movie about cereal!

[47:18] Delicious!

[47:19] Okay, Alex, you're Jerry Seinfeld.

[47:20] You're Jerry Seinfeld.

[47:21] Get you to me.

[47:22] What's the deal with you not making this movie?

[47:23] Oh, I thought it was the deal.

[47:24] This is the deal.

[47:25] I want to see it.

[47:35] What's the deal with you not making this movie that I wanted to make?

[47:39] I think the problem was having Midwestern and Southern Gentiles trying to do a Jewish

[47:45] Long Island impression.

[47:47] So Jerry Seinfeld comes to me with this.

[47:48] I would have said, I don't think you have a movie here.

[47:50] I think you have the seeds for the beginning of a sketch TV show.

[47:53] I would pitch it to him.

[47:54] I would call it Boomer Vision, and it would just be like sketches about stuff for people

[47:58] who grew up in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s.

[48:01] Don't set it just in the 60s, but the idea that, like, here's a sketch show that's about

[48:04] the different things that are floating around in our parents' generation's dumb heads that

[48:09] they can't let go of, and it's why they have so much trouble moving forward with the times

[48:12] or recognizing that they're not the center of human civilization.

[48:16] And I think there could have been some really funny sketches in here for that show.

[48:18] But I know what you're saying.

[48:20] For a movie, you're like, you get to a certain point about, and it's not that long.

[48:24] It's like 37 minutes in, and you're like, oh, they're still talking about cereal, huh?

[48:28] Still doing cereal jokes.

[48:29] Yeah.

[48:30] I really like the idea of hiring a bunch of Gen X and millennial actors and comedians

[48:35] to perform on the Boomer comedy show so that they still feel sort of alive.

[48:39] I think that would be, I would love it.

[48:41] I mean, I also, now I want to, maybe this is the show that I want to make, is the show

[48:45] about that show, where it's like the young people who have to work on, not young, they're

[48:49] millennials, they're not that young anymore.

[48:51] It's about the Gen Z people who work on the show.

[48:52] Oh, I'm so pretty, y'all.

[48:53] The 30 Rock about the Pop-Tart movie.

[48:57] Yes.

[48:58] And again, the best thing about 30 Rock is that it is a show about the making of a bad

[49:03] sketch show.

[49:04] It is very clear to us that this is a bad show or a dumb show they're making, and I

[49:06] love that.

[49:07] Can I ask a question that maybe I'm asking this kind of late in the process here, but-

[49:11] This is a podcast.

[49:12] We talk about bad movies.

[49:13] Yeah, yeah.

[49:14] Question.

[49:15] I'm Dan McCoy.

[49:16] That's Elliot Kalin.

[49:17] That's Scott Brodin.

[49:18] Yeah.

[49:19] But is it known, is this something that Pop-Tart came to Jerry Seinfeld to do, or was it something

[49:25] that he wanted to do, and then he had to clear all of the serial brands and stuff?

[49:29] I think that, my guess is that he probably had to clear it.

[49:32] Okay.

[49:33] You know?

[49:34] I don't think, you never know.

[49:35] I mean, there's so much brand IP stuff right now.

[49:37] Like-

[49:38] Yeah, like every sketch on a Saturday Night Live episode.

[49:40] I was, well, but even the fact that like, I know that Kellogg's has been going around

[49:45] saying how do we make movies out of our mascot characters?

[49:48] Like what's our shared universe?

[49:49] So you never know.

[49:50] It's possible that they came to him and he said, this is what I'm interested in, but

[49:53] I wouldn't put it past Jerry Seinfeld to see the other movies that are being made about

[49:57] how products came about.

[49:59] The Flaming Hut-

[50:00] Beto's one and the Air Jordan one,

[50:02] and being like,

[50:03] hey, you know what product,

[50:04] I'd like to say that about Pop-Tarts,

[50:06] because he has a bit about Pop-Tarts in his act,

[50:08] and so I wouldn't be surprised

[50:09] if that just came out of his natural interest

[50:11] in breakfast foods, you know?

[50:13] Because it really does sound like the kind of thing,

[50:15] like it sounds like it could be a 90-minute ad

[50:18] for Pop-Tarts,

[50:19] except for the fact that there are other cereal brands.

[50:22] Yeah.

[50:23] And the Doughboys need to get Seinfeld on

[50:24] to do like a Snack or Whack with Pop-Tarts or some shit.

[50:27] Yeah, they should.

[50:30] Hey, hey guys, this podcast is sponsored,

[50:35] and is sponsored?

[50:37] Has sponsored.

[50:38] And it had sponsored too.

[50:39] It had sponsored, but it's no longer not sponsored.

[50:44] If you say it's Kellogg's, I will flip my lid.

[50:46] No, you know what?

[50:47] Oh, Stuart, this is, no, this is the,

[50:49] hold on, I'll just say,

[50:49] there's a daily show I did where we ended the act

[50:52] with a joke that I made about China

[50:54] trying to undermine America,

[50:55] and I was like, what are you, Bank of America?

[50:57] And then literally it goes,

[50:58] the daily show is brought to you by

[51:00] Bank of America, and this is not a planned joke.

[51:02] It was just like, they had happened to just buy

[51:04] a sponsored spot with a commercial bump,

[51:06] and that joke was the one that went before it.

[51:08] Oh, it was great.

[51:09] I have a DVD of that somewhere.

[51:10] That's incredible.

[51:11] Well, this podcast is sponsored in part by Squarespace,

[51:14] your way to set up a unique presence online.

[51:17] If you-

[51:18] I guess a Pop-Tart is kind of like a square space

[51:21] for food filling.

[51:21] It is a square space in which filling is held.

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[51:27] you need a website,

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[52:15] The Flop House is also brought to you by Aura Frames.

[52:18] You know, guys, Mother's Day's coming up.

[52:21] Yeah.

[52:22] We all got mommies.

[52:23] Mm-hmm.

[52:24] And-

[52:25] I don't like the way you said it, but, yeah.

[52:27] Thing is, the thing my mom loves more than anything,

[52:31] other than, like, the thing she loves more than anything

[52:34] is a phone call from her baby boy, Stuart Wellington,

[52:38] and when she's talking to me,

[52:39] she loves looking at pictures of me,

[52:41] and a great way that you can give her pictures of you

[52:45] is by sending her an Aura digital picture frame.

[52:49] They're great because you can take

[52:50] a entire digital library of photos,

[52:52] and you can preload it and send that picture frame

[52:55] to your parents, and you know what?

[52:57] That's great, because I've done this

[52:58] for a couple of my older, my father-in-law and my parents,

[53:03] and the thing is,

[53:04] they're not particularly good with technology,

[53:06] so if I can do that all in advance,

[53:07] then they don't have to worry about it.

[53:09] I know Dan has done that as well.

[53:11] He's also got an Aura frame in the other room,

[53:13] and every once in a while,

[53:14] I'll see a picture of myself at Dan's wedding,

[53:16] and I'm like, oh, yeah, I do love Dan McCoy.

[53:19] Um, the Aura frames were named

[53:22] the best digital photo frame by Wirecutter

[53:24] and is featured in 495 different gift guides last year,

[53:28] so the next time you need to call your mom

[53:30] and you want her to be looking at pictures of you,

[53:32] why don't you send her an Aura frame

[53:36] preloaded with pictures of all the fun times you're having?

[53:40] So Aura has a great deal for Mother's Day

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[53:44] by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $35 off

[53:49] plus free shipping on their best-selling Carver mat frame.

[53:53] That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com, promo code FLOP.

[53:59] Support the show by mentioning us at checkout.

[54:02] Terms and conditions apply.

[54:04] T's and C's.

[54:06] T's and C's.

[54:06] Do you guys think that Aura would like it

[54:07] if we pointed out that it's a perfect gift for your MILF,

[54:09] your mother you'd like, I'd like to frame?

[54:11] Uh, I mean, we can try it.

[54:13] We can, I mean, I don't know if they,

[54:15] they might not like it, but they'd love it.

[54:17] I'll pitch them as a new slogan.

[54:18] Oh, Ali, do you have any personal plugs

[54:22] before we move on to letters?

[54:23] Do I ever have personal plugs?

[54:25] You betcha Dan McCoy.

[54:26] By the time this episode comes out,

[54:27] you know what's also gonna be out

[54:29] is my new children's picture book,

[54:30] Sadie Mouse Wrecks the House,

[54:31] featuring art by Tim Miller,

[54:33] my collaborator from Horse Meets Dog.

[54:35] This is my third children's picture book.

[54:37] It is the first one that I think is not just a sketch,

[54:41] but is a full kind of real story.

[54:42] Tells the story of Sadie Mouse,

[54:44] a mouse who's tired of being a good mouse and doing chores

[54:46] and decides she's gonna do all her chores the wrong way

[54:48] so that she never has to do them again.

[54:50] And she wrecks her house as the title promises.

[54:53] Sadie Mouse will wreck the house.

[54:55] That Sadie Mouse wrecks the house.

[54:56] Go to your local independent bookstore.

[54:58] Just pick it up off the shelf.

[54:59] If they don't have it, ask them to order it.

[55:00] That's great value right there.

[55:02] Yeah, great value.

[55:02] Before you leave the store, pay for it.

[55:05] Yeah, you should.

[55:06] Yes, of course.

[55:06] Don't just pick it off the shelf and walk out.

[55:07] Yeah, you gotta pay for it.

[55:08] Unless you're in one of those stupid stores

[55:10] where you can just like pick things up

[55:12] and walk through the door

[55:13] and it automatically charges you.

[55:15] There is a book called Steal This Book that's not this book.

[55:18] This is Sadie Mouse Wrecks the House.

[55:19] It's on bookstore shelves now.

[55:21] Also on shelves in another kind of bookstore,

[55:23] a comic bookstore, are issues of Harley Quinn,

[55:26] my series from DC Comics.

[55:27] I'm writing the main Harley Quinn book.

[55:29] It's been super fun.

[55:30] She is fighting gentrification in a very chaotic

[55:33] and not particularly effective way.

[55:36] And her arch nemesis is falling in love with her.

[55:39] And are they gonna get together?

[55:41] She's already with Poison Ivy,

[55:42] but maybe this real estate developer, Althea Klang,

[55:45] will be able to win her way.

[55:48] We'll find out.

[55:49] I'm gonna be on this book for a while

[55:51] and I'm bringing in just a lot of story points

[55:54] that are gonna continue to come together

[55:57] and bounce off each other in different ways.

[55:59] The funny thing is I'm writing an issue right now,

[56:00] but I have no idea of how far ahead I am

[56:03] of the issue that is out now.

[56:04] I think the one that's out, about to come out

[56:07] and will be out when this episode is released,

[56:09] I think is one in which Harley Quinn

[56:12] has to face her greatest nemesis, her own brain,

[56:15] which is trying to take control of her body.

[56:17] And I think introduces my new favorite characters

[56:19] on the book.

[56:20] These two preexisting DC characters, Mayfly and Gun Bunny,

[56:23] who are two ladies with guns that are kind of assassins.

[56:25] I teamed them up and they're now friends

[56:27] called the Gun Buddies and they're best friends

[56:29] who take hits and they're really fun

[56:32] and they're very supportive of each other.

[56:33] So that's Harley Quinn on Comic Book Store shelves now.

[56:37] And of course there's my other podcast,

[56:39] Smart List Presents Clueless,

[56:41] the game show podcast I do with Sean Hayes

[56:43] and that's still going strong too.

[56:45] So if you like very short podcasts

[56:46] about puzzles and games and riddles,

[56:49] that's the one to go to.

[56:50] The episodes are very short.

[56:51] You can listen to like three or four of them in an hour.

[56:54] You know, it's short there.

[56:55] Yeah.

[56:56] That is short.

[56:56] You can listen to three or four flop houses in an hour,

[56:58] but you'd have to listen to them so fast

[57:00] it would melt your brain.

[57:01] I have two very quick plugs.

[57:03] I just wanna mention that the bar

[57:05] that my wife and I inherited

[57:08] when our friend passed away,

[57:09] Commonwealth Bar in Brooklyn,

[57:09] is going to be reopening next week,

[57:12] which will be two weeks ago when this episode airs.

[57:14] So you can go now.

[57:15] So if you're in Brooklyn,

[57:16] you should go. I can't do the math, hold on.

[57:18] You should go and support.

[57:20] Well, does this episode drop on the 2nd of May?

[57:23] Oh, it's a story.

[57:24] Maybe not, I don't know.

[57:25] If you're around for Derby Day, come visit.

[57:26] Go to Commonwealth, see if it's open.

[57:28] If it's not, come back in a week.

[57:29] Yeah, I mean, it's gonna be open.

[57:30] And then finally, if you like Stuart Wellington

[57:34] and you like watching me nerd out about nerdy things,

[57:36] you can go over to my Twitch channel.

[57:38] I'm on, it's a week.

[57:40] My Twitch channel is Stuart Wellington,

[57:42] and that's my name.

[57:44] And I hang out usually for about two hours,

[57:46] and I build and paint like Warhammer stuff,

[57:48] and I yap, and it's a lot of fun.

[57:50] So come visit me.

[57:57] Good evening.

[57:58] Thanks for tuning in to 101.1 Max Fun.

[58:02] It's midnight here on Host to Coast,

[58:04] and we've got Sarah from Michigan on line one.

[58:07] Hi, I'm calling in for some help.

[58:09] I used to love reading, but between grad school,

[58:11] having kids, and the general state of the world,

[58:13] I can't seem to pick up a book and stick with it anymore.

[58:16] Sarah, this is an easy one.

[58:18] Just listen to Reading Glasses,

[58:20] a podcast designed to help you read better.

[58:22] Bria and Mallory will get all the pressure,

[58:24] shame, and guilt out of your reading life.

[58:26] You'll be finishing books you love in no time.

[58:28] Great, that sounds amazing.

[58:29] Also, I do think my husband is cheating on me with Mothman.

[58:32] Can you help me with that one?

[58:33] Ooh, I don't think they cover that.

[58:34] Reading Glasses, every Thursday on Max Fun Fun.

[58:40] Wrestlemania is the biggest.

[58:42] And busiest.

[58:43] Time of the year for wrestling.

[58:45] And the Tides and Fights podcast

[58:47] is more important than ever.

[58:48] We have so many questions to explore.

[58:50] How can you understand John Cena's motivation as a bad guy?

[58:53] Why is a car crash actually a great expression

[58:56] of friendship?

[58:57] You mean friendship, right?

[58:58] Of course.

[58:59] Whether you're a longtime wrestling fan

[59:01] or coming back after a break,

[59:02] the Tides and Fights has you covered.

[59:04] This Wrestlemania and every weekend after on Maximum Fun.

[59:08] ♪ Tides and Fights podcast ♪

[59:13] ♪ Tides and Fights ♪

[59:20] Let's answer some letters from listeners.

[59:23] This first letter is from Adrian, last name withheld.

[59:27] And Adrian writes, hey Peaches,

[59:29] I was wondering who your favorite characters are

[59:32] that have your job.

[59:34] Maybe you like them because they let people

[59:36] get an understanding of what you do.

[59:38] Or maybe it's in a setting that you wish your job was like

[59:41] so hijinks could happen to you.

[59:43] Like Elliot writing for shows, children's books or comics.

[59:47] Stuart with his bartending and fitness influencer lifestyle.

[59:50] And Dan going to the Alamo to watch films all the time.

[59:54] Love ya, Adrian, last name withheld.

[59:56] Now let me say two things.

[59:57] First off.

[59:58] Right off the top.

[1:00:00] I haven't been to the Alamo in a while, because they were on strike, and as a union man, I

[1:00:04] was boycotting in solidarity, and congratulations to them.

[1:00:10] They're back at work.

[1:00:12] They won reinstatement of the fired workers that they were striking over and other issues.

[1:00:18] So perhaps now I shall return, but I have not been.

[1:00:21] Yeah, were you a regal or an AMC guy in the meantime?

[1:00:23] I had been going to regal in the meantime.

[1:00:25] Our friends over at Blank Check had a discount code for them.

[1:00:31] And number two, I am still a writer.

[1:00:34] At least half of writing is not getting paid for the writing that you do, and I'm in that

[1:00:37] phase.

[1:00:38] You don't have to get paid for it to be a real writer.

[1:00:39] It all takes its good words down, yeah.

[1:00:41] That being said, I'm mostly a podcaster right now, so I guess-

[1:00:44] Alex Incorporated?

[1:00:45] Yeah, Alex Incorporated.

[1:00:47] I'm a real Alex Incorporated.

[1:00:49] I guess it's not a movie, but I'm going to go with Steve Martin in Only Murders in the

[1:00:54] Building, because like him, I'm sort of a tightly wound man.

[1:01:00] There's a certain warmth there, but a lot of don't touch me energy as well.

[1:01:04] So what do you say, Stuart?

[1:01:07] Yeah, let's see.

[1:01:09] I was going to say Alex Incorporated.

[1:01:12] Brian Brown and cocktail, yeah.

[1:01:17] That's probably the closest.

[1:01:18] I mean, I feel like there's got to be some cool bartenders and things, but I don't know.

[1:01:25] Bar owners?

[1:01:26] I don't know.

[1:01:28] Sam Malone's?

[1:01:29] Well, yeah, I think most bar owners in movies are the worst people in the world.

[1:01:36] Usually not.

[1:01:37] They're usually not a good guy.

[1:01:38] Oh, wait.

[1:01:39] Just like Stuart.

[1:01:40] Roadhouse.

[1:01:41] Roadhouse has a good bar owner.

[1:01:42] Thank you.

[1:01:43] I'm the guy from Roadhouse that hires, not the remake.

[1:01:46] I'm not as cool as Jessica Williams.

[1:01:48] I am the weird guy who hires Patrick Swayze to protect his business.

[1:01:51] Man, yeah, that's awesome.

[1:01:53] Thank you.

[1:01:54] Alex, that was great.

[1:01:55] Yeah.

[1:01:56] You know what?

[1:01:57] Hey, I'm here to help.

[1:01:58] Speaking of that, producer Alex, is there a way to see yourself before we talk to Elliot

[1:02:02] and Elliot?

[1:02:03] Hmm.

[1:02:04] Huh.

[1:02:05] When have I really seen?

[1:02:06] When have I really seen myself portrayed on film?

[1:02:08] Aside from Don't Worry, Darling, when the nurse, my favorite joke of all time, wife

[1:02:12] comes home to see the schlubby podcast producer wasting away under like a under a lamplight.

[1:02:22] Alex's wife saw the movie in advance and was like, this movie really spoke to me.

[1:02:26] I think you should watch it.

[1:02:29] Something about this just made me something about this made me feel represented.

[1:02:33] I don't know what it was.

[1:02:34] But yeah, I don't know.

[1:02:36] Is there a I guess I mean, if you're a musician, a musician, well, OK, aspiring musician.

[1:02:43] So, yeah, I guess you don't have to.

[1:02:45] As long as you're putting words on the paper and strumming those, you don't have to get

[1:02:48] paid to be a musician.

[1:02:51] Aspiring musician.

[1:02:52] This is easy.

[1:02:53] Purple rain.

[1:02:54] Yeah.

[1:02:55] Yeah.

[1:02:56] Yeah.

[1:02:57] Yeah.

[1:02:58] You know, I get it.

[1:02:59] My dream is to premiere a song that the rest of my band hasn't even heard yet.

[1:03:01] And have everyone in the room just stop and watch it happen and go.

[1:03:06] That was the best thing we've I know before they've even heard the song before that it's

[1:03:10] the best song they've ever heard in their whole life.

[1:03:13] This is this is the pivotal moment that changes their life.

[1:03:17] This is characters that we do relate to or we want to either one.

[1:03:21] I think they left it wide open.

[1:03:23] They're like, does it I take it to be relate to, but it's kind of also like, does it represent

[1:03:29] your field?

[1:03:30] Well, does it inform people or is it like how you wish your field actually was like

[1:03:35] kind of.

[1:03:36] Oh, I see.

[1:03:37] I think.

[1:03:38] Well, then I might be.

[1:03:40] I don't know.

[1:03:41] I guess the writers, because I took it as who's the right who's the person who does

[1:03:45] my job in fiction that I would like to that I wish I did it that way.

[1:03:50] And so I'm a writer.

[1:03:51] That's what I do for a living.

[1:03:52] I'm a writer.

[1:03:53] You all know who I am, how I make my living.

[1:03:55] I can catch your shark for this much.

[1:03:58] I can catch it and write about it for a little bit more.

[1:04:02] So eventually, so that's what I want to be writes about sharks, man, if it's anything

[1:04:08] in the water, it's all over the giant squids.

[1:04:11] He knows things that are comedy essays that his grandfather's stuff.

[1:04:15] So I think the first writer that came to mind, honestly, was Ford Prefect, who is a roving

[1:04:20] reporter for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[1:04:22] Yeah, his his beat is so much more about party life than mine would be.

[1:04:27] But I like the idea of going around different planets and writing about it.

[1:04:29] And who else is a traveling writer that has adventures?

[1:04:32] That's right.

[1:04:33] Jessica Fletcher.

[1:04:34] Well, I mean, aside from the fact that you are constantly surrounded by death and wherever

[1:04:38] you go, murder follows.

[1:04:40] I think you'd want to be Jessica Fletcher, right, because she has so many adventures.

[1:04:43] She's a successful writer.

[1:04:44] People respect her and she gets to live, live the work, you know, in a way that most writers

[1:04:49] don't.

[1:04:50] Yeah.

[1:04:51] And she had that quiet sass.

[1:04:52] There's like a twinkle in the eye.

[1:04:53] Yeah.

[1:04:54] Yeah.

[1:04:55] Just like Elliot.

[1:04:56] Quiet sass.

[1:04:57] The second and final letter is from Elliot's.

[1:05:01] Just saying what Elliot is thinking.

[1:05:05] This is from Linnea.

[1:05:06] Last name withheld.

[1:05:07] Quigley.

[1:05:08] Probably.

[1:05:09] Who writes.

[1:05:10] Hi, floppies.

[1:05:11] I don't actually understand a lot of your references and jokes as I myself and my quickly

[1:05:17] as I myself.

[1:05:18] I bet she would understand.

[1:05:20] Yeah.

[1:05:21] Yeah.

[1:05:22] Yeah.

[1:05:23] Probably very much so.

[1:05:24] Yeah.

[1:05:25] As I myself am not that into movies that much.

[1:05:26] But I stick around for your immaculate vibes along with your wonderful guests.

[1:05:30] So as a person who has seen fewer movies than the average American, I was wondering,

[1:05:35] are there any movies that you have seen that you consider unremarkable, average or even

[1:05:40] below average, but have somehow ingrained themselves into your mind for years to come?

[1:05:46] My movie is Hannah 2011.

[1:05:48] It's a decent movie.

[1:05:50] I wouldn't say spectacular, but good and holds no particular sentimental value.

[1:05:55] But for whatever reason, I've rewatched it several times and have pressed to name my

[1:05:59] quote favorite movie.

[1:06:01] I would say Hannah, not for any grand reason, but because it has stuck with me for all these

[1:06:05] years for reasons I can't explain.

[1:06:07] Eric Bann is in that.

[1:06:08] Right.

[1:06:09] Yes, I think he's very confused.

[1:06:13] He probably got confused.

[1:06:14] Yeah.

[1:06:15] Whenever her name was Hannah, you go, no, it's better.

[1:06:20] I've watched movies that I considered better than Hannah movies.

[1:06:23] I enjoyed more than Hannah.

[1:06:24] But the fact that Hannah is still in my mind over 10 years later, cemented into favorite

[1:06:28] status.

[1:06:29] I've since realized that I don't gauge favorites in media based on if I liked it a lot in the

[1:06:34] moment or even if it was well executed, but how it sticks with me regardless of quality.

[1:06:39] Then my heart says it's made for me.

[1:06:42] So do you have a movie like that?

[1:06:43] And by what scale do you gauge what your favorites are?

[1:06:47] So as someone who has watched too many movies and was also unsupervised a lot as a child,

[1:06:53] like a lot of the movies, there are a lot of unremarkable movies that stuck in my brain

[1:06:59] simply because for whatever reason, they're on television a lot.

[1:07:01] Like, I think I saw Brewster's Millions like 20 times, despite each time being like, I'm

[1:07:08] sure this will get funny at some point and it never, never happened.

[1:07:11] That was the toy for me.

[1:07:12] That was the movie that was always on TV and every time I'm like, I don't know why I'm

[1:07:15] watching this.

[1:07:16] Problematic choice.

[1:07:17] Doesn't work.

[1:07:18] And then there are movies like, I was, you know, I couldn't sleep recently.

[1:07:24] You know, you may have noticed there's a lot of stress in the world.

[1:07:26] I was like, oh, you know, what's on Amazon Prime, a movie that I watched a lot as a kid

[1:07:31] just because it was on with his feds, I watched feds, sort of like a pleasant movie with not

[1:07:38] that much conflict about, you know, two, two ladies who are in the FBI training program.

[1:07:45] It's Mary Gross and Rebecca DeMornay.

[1:07:47] Mary Gross, right.

[1:07:49] We remember from True Beverly Hills.

[1:07:51] I remember we taped that off one of those like Showtime preview weekends.

[1:07:55] So I watched that a few times.

[1:07:56] Making the most out of your dollar.

[1:07:57] I like it.

[1:07:58] It's pleasant.

[1:07:59] But I mean, in terms of like favorite movies, I, you know, I still, I think would put, you

[1:08:04] know, my perception of quality higher in my like, oh, what's my favorite?

[1:08:08] But that's kind of a mix.

[1:08:09] Like, because I do think that my favorite movies aren't necessarily like the ones I'm

[1:08:15] like, oh, this is like the best movie.

[1:08:19] But you know, like I would go to something like, I don't know whether it's still my favorite,

[1:08:23] but I remember watching Heather's over and over and over again when I was like a teen.

[1:08:30] And that was kind of it for me at the time.

[1:08:34] I don't know what it would be now.

[1:08:35] But that that's that's one that you also watch just one of the guys a lot as a teen, but

[1:08:38] just the one just the ending.

[1:08:40] You know, I've seen everything up till now.

[1:08:44] I don't need to worry.

[1:08:45] I get the gist.

[1:08:46] There's like an old guy who's apparently a teenager.

[1:08:49] Yeah, I would say, I mean, again, like I'm kind of in the same boat and it's hard for

[1:08:56] me to be like, I don't know.

[1:08:57] It's hard for me to be like, this is a I would just say the movie that I watch the most that

[1:09:02] if I'm like that, I think about the most and will it will watch in its entirety if I have

[1:09:07] the opportunity is The Guest, the Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett movie with Dan Stevens is just

[1:09:13] everything about it is like calibrated exactly for my brain.

[1:09:18] It's not so exciting that I get too worked up, but it's not too sleepy that I can't.

[1:09:24] It won't keep me enthralled.

[1:09:27] I find, you know, I would say that we've talked about this movie before, so it's not a surprise,

[1:09:31] I guess, or it's not a new thing.

[1:09:32] But like Teen Wolf probably falls into that category for me of like, this is not a good

[1:09:37] movie.

[1:09:38] This is a bad movie.

[1:09:39] But I've watched it so many times.

[1:09:40] We watch it so often when I was a kid that it's just stuck in my head.

[1:09:43] But also my head just things stick in that are dumb.

[1:09:46] I saw the movie Getting Even With Dad with Macaulay Culkin and Dan Danson once in the

[1:09:50] theaters.

[1:09:51] And yet I remember big chunks of it for no reason.

[1:09:53] I don't know why.

[1:09:54] Does he ever get even with death?

[1:09:55] He does get even with death.

[1:09:56] Oh, thank God.

[1:09:57] But I think Teen Wolf is the one where it's like, oh, well, this is a.

[1:10:00] part of me, even though it's objectively not good.

[1:10:02] It's objectively not a good movie.

[1:10:03] It's stupid.

[1:10:04] I don't like it.

[1:10:05] When it comes to favorite movies,

[1:10:06] I gotta just say, what movie do you enjoy the most?

[1:10:10] What movie brings you the most pleasure when you watch it?

[1:10:12] And that's how I decide what my favorite is.

[1:10:14] And I got my top five favorites,

[1:10:16] which for listeners know.

[1:10:18] A high fidelity moment here.

[1:10:19] Number one, it's gotta be taken to Pelham,

[1:10:21] one, two, three, the original.

[1:10:22] Number two, Shadow of a Doubt.

[1:10:24] Number three, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.

[1:10:26] And then number four and five,

[1:10:28] it's probably Singing in the Rain and Wizard of Oz,

[1:10:30] which again, these are not ones where I'm like,

[1:10:32] oh, these are my guilty pleasures.

[1:10:33] These are obviously like, these are really good movies.

[1:10:35] Those last two are great movies.

[1:10:37] But I can't-

[1:10:38] I really thought he was gonna say Fast Five

[1:10:39] was gonna be on there.

[1:10:41] But I can't help it

[1:10:42] if my taste runs towards beauty,

[1:10:45] towards magnificence.

[1:10:47] Sure.

[1:10:48] I can't help being a genius.

[1:10:50] Oh, yeah.

[1:10:51] But it's purely because if I'm thinking about what movie,

[1:10:55] when I'm watching it,

[1:10:56] do I get literally the most visceral pleasure out of?

[1:10:59] Like it's those movies.

[1:11:00] And that's probably Wizard of Oz.

[1:11:02] I think there's probably no movie

[1:11:03] that I find as magical as a Wizard of Oz.

[1:11:05] So maybe that's my favorite,

[1:11:07] but I don't know.

[1:11:09] It seems like it's too common a movie to mention.

[1:11:11] So maybe that's why Pelham gets the top spot.

[1:11:14] I'll just say something that has popped into my brain

[1:11:16] a few times as we've been talking about this.

[1:11:18] If we're talking about a movie

[1:11:19] that we acknowledge is not super good,

[1:11:21] not better than all the other movies out there,

[1:11:25] has great vibes, is fun to watch,

[1:11:27] and you kind of want to watch it all the time.

[1:11:29] You feel at home when you're watching it.

[1:11:30] I know this is true for me.

[1:11:32] And I know you guys appreciate this one as well,

[1:11:35] but Don't Tell Her It's Me is that movie.

[1:11:40] We saw that in the theater recently.

[1:11:43] Have you ever seen it in a theater?

[1:11:44] Was that a Ridiculous Sublime?

[1:11:46] Yeah, it was a Ridiculous Sublime.

[1:11:47] And it wasn't a riff show.

[1:11:49] We were just watching it straight

[1:11:51] with an engaged audience.

[1:11:53] And it was so fucking awesome.

[1:11:56] That sounds great.

[1:11:57] I did host a riff show of it one time on the screen,

[1:12:00] but mostly I've watched it just on TV.

[1:12:04] It's one of those things where I'm like,

[1:12:05] is this Stockholm Syndrome?

[1:12:06] Or have we been wrong?

[1:12:08] Because this audience is mostly people

[1:12:09] who had never seen it before,

[1:12:11] and they were going nuts for it.

[1:12:14] It honestly played really well with the crowd.

[1:12:16] In a legitimate, sincere way.

[1:12:17] Yeah, yeah.

[1:12:18] I mean, people were like, it's dumb.

[1:12:20] I went nuts for it the first time I saw it.

[1:12:22] I was in college, so I think it is that.

[1:12:27] It is all that.

[1:12:28] It's guaranteed entertainment, right?

[1:12:30] Is that what the box says?

[1:12:31] Yeah.

[1:12:32] It is perfect for Ridiculous Sublime

[1:12:34] where the idea is it is not one or the other.

[1:12:38] You can't separate the fact that it is dumb

[1:12:40] from the fact that there is stuff that works in it for real.

[1:12:43] Like any movie featuring Eric Roberts.

[1:12:48] Let's talk about our recommendations.

[1:12:52] I'm a big fan of the movies that maybe

[1:12:53] would be a better way to spend a little time than unfrosted.

[1:12:58] Speaking of Ridiculous Sublime,

[1:13:00] that's a Nighthawk series.

[1:13:01] I went to another series at the Nighthawk,

[1:13:04] a regular series that they do called The Deuce

[1:13:06] where they show movies that showed

[1:13:08] in 42nd Street theaters.

[1:13:11] Sort of during the heyday of all of the movie theaters.

[1:13:14] Dan, are you the programmer at Nighthawk?

[1:13:17] Oh, no, that's our friend Christina.

[1:13:18] We had her on the show.

[1:13:19] Yeah, yeah.

[1:13:20] You might remember.

[1:13:21] Seems like there's a lot of Dan-centric material

[1:13:23] going on at Nighthawk.

[1:13:24] Although this is programmed by the two guys

[1:13:26] who run The Deuce.

[1:13:27] I do not know their names, I apologize,

[1:13:28] but they're very entertaining.

[1:13:29] Danny Deuce and Donny Deuce.

[1:13:32] The Deuce boys.

[1:13:33] We saw The In-Laws from 1979

[1:13:37] starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk

[1:13:39] and I walked out of it and I was texting Elliot

[1:13:42] about how like, you know, when we were growing up,

[1:13:45] there was a lot of talk about like,

[1:13:47] oh, you know, if you wanna study a comedy screenplay,

[1:13:50] study Tootsie and Tootsie's never been my movie.

[1:13:53] Like, I don't think it's a bad movie.

[1:13:55] No, you're not in it.

[1:13:56] You didn't write it.

[1:13:57] You didn't direct it.

[1:13:57] Unfortunately, I don't get any residuals from Tootsie.

[1:13:59] Elliot looks mad right now.

[1:14:01] It's like, what movies is Dan walking around

[1:14:03] claiming are his movies?

[1:14:06] I'm saying I don't go for that one so much,

[1:14:08] but I watched The In-Laws and like,

[1:14:11] after the first couple of scenes,

[1:14:12] I'm like, fuck Tootsie.

[1:14:13] This is the movie that should be, you know,

[1:14:15] looked at for like screenplay

[1:14:17] because like immediately.

[1:14:20] Like within the first couple of scenes,

[1:14:22] you're like, what's going on?

[1:14:24] I'm intrigued by what's going on.

[1:14:25] You're introduced to Peter Falk and Alan Arkin

[1:14:27] and you know what these guys' deals are.

[1:14:30] Like, you know how funny it's gonna be

[1:14:32] when they get together.

[1:14:34] And it's weird because it's like these two guys

[1:14:37] both kind of with deadpan energy,

[1:14:40] but Peter Falk is playing a guy that you don't know

[1:14:42] whether he's a lunatic or not,

[1:14:44] but he's very chill about it the whole time.

[1:14:46] And Alan Arkin is a guy-

[1:14:48] That's basically Columbo, right?

[1:14:49] Yeah, exactly.

[1:14:50] Yeah, he's basically playing Peter Falk, yeah.

[1:14:52] And Alan Arkin is this guy who is super tightly wound,

[1:14:56] freaking out internally the whole time,

[1:14:57] but it's like, it's all internal.

[1:14:59] He's like completely deadpan

[1:15:01] and watching them go through adventures together

[1:15:03] is so funny.

[1:15:05] You know, everyone was laughing like

[1:15:07] through the entire film.

[1:15:08] It is a movie from the late 70s.

[1:15:10] There's a little bit of unfortunate

[1:15:12] sort of like cultural stuff in there,

[1:15:14] but if you can get past that,

[1:15:17] I don't think there's a lot of like ire

[1:15:19] or like malice in it.

[1:15:20] It's just, you know, not-

[1:15:22] Some whoopsies, yeah.

[1:15:23] But it's very funny.

[1:15:25] And those two guys are like just naturally charismatic,

[1:15:28] just sitting and breathing.

[1:15:31] So I recommend that.

[1:15:32] I love the thought of Dan bursting out the double doors

[1:15:35] of the theater and going,

[1:15:37] fuck Tootsie, immediately walking out of there.

[1:15:41] There's a reporter jotting this down for the headline.

[1:15:44] Dan to Tootsie, drop dead.

[1:15:50] I am gonna recommend a movie

[1:15:53] that I had been wanting to rewatch for a while

[1:15:55] and I finally got around to it

[1:15:57] is 2000's Sexy Beast,

[1:16:00] written and directed by Jonathan Glazer.

[1:16:03] Oh, that's a good movie.

[1:16:04] I hadn't seen it since it first came out

[1:16:07] and what, I was what, 20 years old at that point.

[1:16:11] And I remember watching and being kind of put off

[1:16:14] by how artsy it is and how like dreamlike at points.

[1:16:20] You want it to be more fartsy.

[1:16:21] Well, I think I was expecting it

[1:16:23] to be more of a straightforward crime movie.

[1:16:27] And I, obviously there's the like the big centerpiece,

[1:16:31] flashy performance by Ben Kingsley,

[1:16:33] which got him a Best Supporting Actor win, right?

[1:16:38] But watching it again,

[1:16:39] like it's so like Ray Winstone is so great

[1:16:42] and I want every piece, every article of clothing he wears.

[1:16:46] And it's just such like, I don't know,

[1:16:48] like I identify so much more with this guy

[1:16:51] who's like trying to retire and keep like,

[1:16:53] his old friends are like, no, like keep doing this shit.

[1:16:57] Like, I don't know.

[1:16:58] I think it's great.

[1:16:59] It was a really fun rewatch

[1:17:01] and it's always fun to rewatch a movie

[1:17:03] that you hadn't seen in so long

[1:17:06] and you kind of thought it was one thing

[1:17:08] and watching it as an adult, it feels so much different.

[1:17:12] Kingsley was nominated, but he lost

[1:17:15] and you'll be happy about this, Stuart,

[1:17:17] to Ian McKellen for the Fellowship of the Rings.

[1:17:19] Ooh, well, yeah, it's hard to beat the goat.

[1:17:23] Speaking of which, there's a goat character in that movie.

[1:17:26] I know there's a goat character in Wicked.

[1:17:29] That sexy beast has the, I think the best portrayal

[1:17:32] of it being really hot at the very beginning of the movie.

[1:17:37] And he's so happy about how hot it is.

[1:17:38] I am not that guy.

[1:17:39] I'm like, oh, I don't want to be there,

[1:17:42] but I appreciate how much he's into it.

[1:17:44] Yeah, enjoy being cooked.

[1:17:46] Well, and the way that like Ray Winstone's voice sounds like

[1:17:49] if you had to make like a Weber grill type of voice.

[1:17:52] Yeah.

[1:17:53] Yeah.

[1:17:54] Yeah.

[1:17:55] Yeah.

[1:17:56] Yeah.

[1:17:56] Which one do you want to go?

[1:17:57] Yeah, Elliot, you start talking.

[1:17:58] I'll go.

[1:17:59] Alex's gonna do next, yeah.

[1:18:00] So I watched a documentary, ooh,

[1:18:05] that actually I remember had come out in the theaters

[1:18:07] when I was in college,

[1:18:08] and I don't know why I didn't go see it.

[1:18:09] And I finally saw it.

[1:18:10] And that documentary is called Dark Days.

[1:18:12] And it's directed by Mark Singer.

[1:18:14] And it is about the people who were living

[1:18:16] in an abandoned underground Amtrak tunnel

[1:18:19] in New York in the 1990s.

[1:18:21] And it's one of these documentaries

[1:18:23] where there's no narration.

[1:18:24] It's just people talking to the camera

[1:18:25] and footage of people going about their lives

[1:18:28] in this very kind of like both bizarre,

[1:18:32] but also strangely normal subculture

[1:18:34] because they're living in a tunnel

[1:18:36] and they have to make their own kind of makeshift homes

[1:18:38] and things like that and hustle for survival.

[1:18:41] But at the same time, they're just people

[1:18:43] and they have regular moments of life

[1:18:44] and they're dealing with their mistakes

[1:18:47] that they've made in the past

[1:18:48] and what brought them to this place.

[1:18:49] And I really liked it a lot.

[1:18:51] The people in it are really engaging.

[1:18:53] And the way it's put together felt like it was like not a,

[1:18:59] it's not trying to force what's going on

[1:19:01] into a narrative necessarily.

[1:19:02] There is kind of an end point at the end,

[1:19:05] but there's, before that, it is not trying to,

[1:19:08] it's not reality TVing the thing where it's like,

[1:19:11] and now this person's gonna deal

[1:19:13] with this person in this way.

[1:19:15] There are two stories in it that two of the people in tell

[1:19:17] that are heartbreaking,

[1:19:19] that are just so, so incredibly horrifying.

[1:19:21] And so I wouldn't watch it if you're someone

[1:19:24] who is easily upset necessarily by people in turmoil,

[1:19:28] but I thought it was really good.

[1:19:29] And-

[1:19:31] Is this the movie about people

[1:19:32] living underground in New York City?

[1:19:34] Yes.

[1:19:34] Okay.

[1:19:35] Yeah, and there's one scene in it,

[1:19:37] but there is, having said that,

[1:19:38] there's one scene in it between two guys,

[1:19:40] one who is cooking a meal

[1:19:41] and the other one who finds it disgusting

[1:19:43] that the guy just leaves his pots and pans

[1:19:45] all over the ground where the rats are running around.

[1:19:46] That is very funny to me.

[1:19:48] And it has some very funny lines in it.

[1:19:50] And so there's funny moments in it.

[1:19:51] There's some really heartbreaking moments in it.

[1:19:54] But overall, I just thought it was really good.

[1:19:57] So it's called Dark Days.

[1:19:58] And I think it's available on.

[1:20:00] the America's favorite streaming service.

[1:20:03] Alex.

[1:20:04] I'm gonna pick a random recent watch from my movie night,

[1:20:09] where we watch a lot of like straight to video 90s,

[1:20:13] early 2000s stuff.

[1:20:15] This was a TV movie from the 90s

[1:20:18] that I think was like made for German television

[1:20:21] is something that somebody said,

[1:20:22] but I don't know if that's true or not.

[1:20:24] But this is a David Hasselhoff movie from 1996

[1:20:27] called Gridlock, where he plays a rogue helicopter pilot

[1:20:34] for the New York Police Department.

[1:20:37] And he's like, keeps getting in trouble.

[1:20:39] And it's a knockoff of Die Hard in the sense that like,

[1:20:43] literally like every beat of the movie

[1:20:46] is trying to replicate something that happened in Die Hard.

[1:20:49] There's literally like a scene where he

[1:20:51] is trying to get back in the building

[1:20:53] by using the fire hose and like kicking the glass.

[1:20:57] There's all those scenes

[1:20:58] where John McClane's flying a helicopter.

[1:21:00] Well, that's the really funny thing about it

[1:21:02] is he's a helicopter pilot who keeps getting in trouble

[1:21:04] because he doesn't listen to his boss,

[1:21:07] his boss, whatever you call the commissioner or whatever.

[1:21:10] And what that means for a helicopter pilot,

[1:21:13] because helicopters can't do a lot of like rogue shit.

[1:21:16] Yeah.

[1:21:18] So what it means is he keeps-

[1:21:19] They would crash.

[1:21:20] He keeps landing it, getting out,

[1:21:23] and then like breaking into a hostage situation

[1:21:25] to like solve the-

[1:21:27] So you're saying the helicopter pilot aspect of it

[1:21:29] is not really that germane to what's going on.

[1:21:31] Well, and then when they punish him

[1:21:32] for stopping a hostage scenario,

[1:21:36] they just take him back in the helicopter

[1:21:38] and they go, all right, watch traffic.

[1:21:39] And I'm like, what was he supposed to do before?

[1:21:43] That's way worse.

[1:21:44] There was a helicopter pilot once

[1:21:46] who didn't listen to orders

[1:21:48] and he didn't shoot on some people they wanted to,

[1:21:49] and they put him in the running man game.

[1:21:51] So like, he could be really bad.

[1:21:53] A helicopter pilot who disobeys orders

[1:21:54] might end up on national TV running for your life, you know?

[1:21:57] Against Buzzsaw.

[1:21:59] But it's a really funny little like experiment

[1:22:02] in recreating Die Hard at a very low budget

[1:22:05] to where there are like four or five action sequences

[1:22:08] that happen on this same ledge on the same building.

[1:22:11] Like they keep going back to the same ledge.

[1:22:14] It's a really fun-

[1:22:15] The ledge is the character, basically.

[1:22:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:22:17] The ledge is the third character after Kathy Ireland.

[1:22:21] Kathy Ireland is his girlfriend in it.

[1:22:24] So it's very 1996 is what you're saying.

[1:22:27] Hey, well, that's it.

[1:22:29] That's the last thing that we do on the show.

[1:22:31] Other than, Alex is here, so I can thank him in person.

[1:22:35] Alex, thank you for producing the show.

[1:22:37] You guys are welcome.

[1:22:38] You're welcome.

[1:22:39] Oh, thanks.

[1:22:40] And also thank you for being here

[1:22:41] because I don't have to send you notes

[1:22:42] about like what happened in the show at all.

[1:22:44] You know what?

[1:22:45] You were here.

[1:22:46] You know every inch of it.

[1:22:47] Do you have anything you want to plug, Alex?

[1:22:49] Oh yeah.

[1:22:49] Yeah, yeah, I'll plug some stuff.

[1:22:51] I have, let me plug three things real fast.

[1:22:55] One is a podcast I do called

[1:22:56] The Big Howl and Possum Podcast.

[1:22:58] It's a absurd little funny comedy podcast

[1:23:02] that I do with a character that is a huge talking possum.

[1:23:08] Okay.

[1:23:09] And it's a very absurd show.

[1:23:10] It's a short podcast.

[1:23:11] It's like 30 minutes long.

[1:23:12] And I think it's very, very funny.

[1:23:14] And I think listeners to this show will enjoy it.

[1:23:16] So check out The Big Howl and Possum Podcast.

[1:23:19] I have a Twitch stream.

[1:23:21] I stream three times a week.

[1:23:22] We watch like a lot of different kinds of stuff on there.

[1:23:25] Game shows, TV movies, stuff like that.

[1:23:28] And that is twitch.tv slash bighowldotty.

[1:23:31] And then-

[1:23:32] I've been a guest on a couple of those.

[1:23:33] It's fun.

[1:23:35] It's a good time.

[1:23:36] So check that out.

[1:23:37] Come watch me over there.

[1:23:39] I stream on Monday nights,

[1:23:40] Wednesday nights, and Friday afternoons.

[1:23:42] And then my music, HowlDotty.

[1:23:45] I write and produce songs that are oftentimes funny,

[1:23:50] but not always purely comedy songs.

[1:23:53] And you can find those anywhere you listen to music.

[1:23:57] Anywhere?

[1:23:58] Anywhere that you listen to music.

[1:24:00] Yeah.

[1:24:00] Like an old gramophone?

[1:24:01] Yeah, your fucking Victrola.

[1:24:02] Alex is a wonderful-

[1:24:04] Like an organ at a church?

[1:24:05] Wonderful musician,

[1:24:06] which has also been very helpful to us too,

[1:24:08] because we can be like,

[1:24:09] Alex, can you make us music for a thing?

[1:24:11] Yeah.

[1:24:11] And he said, yes, we can.

[1:24:12] I can.

[1:24:13] Yeah, I just wrote a bunch of tunes

[1:24:14] for the new Flop Tales adventure that's available.

[1:24:17] Slop Tales.

[1:24:18] Yeah.

[1:24:19] Available on the bonus feed.

[1:24:22] But we got a hard out today,

[1:24:24] so let's just say thank you to Maximum Fun.

[1:24:27] Go over to MaximumFun.org.

[1:24:29] Check out the other great podcasts on our network.

[1:24:31] And catch us next time.

[1:24:33] For the Flop House, I've been Dan McCoy.

[1:24:35] I'm Stuart Wellington.

[1:24:37] I'm Elliot Kalin.

[1:24:38] We've been joined by-

[1:24:39] Alex Smith, a.k.a. HowlDotty.

[1:24:41] Bye!

[1:24:44] I was expecting Elliot to talk a bunch

[1:24:46] when he knew we had a hard out.

[1:24:48] That would've been like me.

[1:24:57] All right, let's get into that.

[1:25:00] Yeah, Elliot's, I got,

[1:25:01] tickle his funny bone, I got him.

[1:25:03] Yeah, we got him, yeah.

[1:25:03] His funny bone's so-

[1:25:04] My funny bone's crying, yeah.

[1:25:13] Maximum Fun.

[1:25:15] A worker-owned network.

[1:25:16] Of artist-owned shows.

[1:25:18] Supported.

[1:25:19] Directly.

[1:25:20] By you.

Ep.#450 - Unfrosted, with Alex Smith

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