Ep.#447 - Venom: The Last Dance

Dan McCoy

[0:00] On this episode, we discuss Venom, The Last Dance.

[0:03] Why did I say it that way?

Elliott Kalan

[0:07] Perfect.

[0:08] Yeah, perfect.

[0:09] Dander the best one.

[0:11] Cut, print, use exactly.

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

Dan McCoy

[0:41] I'm Dan McCoy.

[0:41] I'm Stuart Wellington.

Stuart Wellington

[0:43] And I'm Elliot Kalin.

[0:44] Hey, folks.

[0:45] The Flophouse podcast is on the Maximum Fun Network,

[0:49] and that's important because right now is the MaxFun Drive.

[0:53] The MaxFun Drive is the one time a year, a two-week period,

[0:57] where all the shows on MaxFun are going to be asking you,

[1:00] the listeners, to support our shows by becoming MaxFun members.

[1:04] I'll be talking more about what the MaxFun Drive is

[1:07] and what your support does later on in the episode,

[1:10] but right now you should head over to MaximumFun.org

[1:14] slash join and sign up right now and support our cool show.

Dan McCoy

[1:20] Thanks for calling it cool, Stuart.

[1:23] Yeah, this cool show is where we watch movies that

[1:26] either audiences or critics rejected,

[1:29] or we're middling on, often in the case of this particular series.

[1:33] Or we were excited to talk about it.

[1:35] Or we just wanted to talk about it.

[1:36] You know, just stuff we want to talk about.

[1:37] We don't need a reason.

[1:38] Kind of gets loose, man.

[1:39] But mostly bad movies we talk about on the show.

Stuart Wellington

[1:42] Or it fits within a very tight theme.

[1:44] Yeah, oh, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:45] The theme month.

[1:46] The theme month.

[1:47] Of course, this being MaxFun Drive,

[1:49] we're doing a very exciting theme month.

[1:52] All movies without Spider-Man in them.

[1:54] I'm talking Raven, the Hunter.

[1:57] I'm talking Venom, the Last Dance.

[1:59] I'm talking Heartbeats.

[2:01] Directed, written by Paul Schrader.

[2:04] One of the least Spider-Man having movies there is.

[2:07] All three of these.

Elliott Kalan

[2:08] Listener, prove to me that Spider-Man is in Heartbeats.

[2:10] You can't.

[2:11] He's not in it.

[2:12] Therefore, it fits the series.

Dan McCoy

[2:14] But obviously, a couple of those are part of the Sony Spider-Man universe.

[2:18] Notable for its lack of Spider-Man.

Elliott Kalan

[2:21] It's the Spider-Man without Spider-Man universe.

[2:23] Yeah, just like Sony without Garfield.

[2:25] Sony, more like baloney.

[2:26] You got him.

Dan McCoy

[2:28] You did it.

[2:29] Pack it up.

[2:30] We succeeded.

[2:31] This is a comedy podcast as well as being educational.

Elliott Kalan

[2:34] So, in this episode, we'll be...

[2:37] Even though we're under hints and life hacks in the podcast app.

Dan McCoy

[2:41] Tips and tricks.

[2:42] This one's about Venom, the Last Dance.

[2:44] The last dance between Eddie Brock and Venom,

[2:49] one would presume,

[2:51] it seems like this is actually going to be the final one of these.

[2:54] They sure kill Venom at the end.

Stuart Wellington

[2:56] So, in the first movie,

[2:58] we were led to believe that Venom died

[3:01] and then he shows up again at the end.

[3:03] And then the second one,

[3:04] doesn't Eddie die?

[3:05] And then Venom brings him back.

[3:07] I think so.

[3:08] So, there's nowhere else to go from...

Dan McCoy

[3:10] There's certainly no way that this could be brought back

[3:12] as some sort of stunt

[3:13] in the larger MCU mainline stuff

[3:17] and not this weird side Eddie that they co-produced.

Elliott Kalan

[3:21] The fact that this is the only profitable part

[3:24] of the Spider-Man without Spider-Man universe,

[3:26] I don't think that would let them ruin

[3:28] the narrative coherence of the series

[3:29] by bringing the characters back from the dead.

[3:31] I don't know about that.

[3:32] Anyway, yeah, sorry, go on.

[3:35] So, Venom 2 was the one that ended

[3:37] with him being pulled into the Marvel universe, right?

Dan McCoy

[3:40] Yes, and this addresses that briefly

[3:42] at the beginning.

[3:45] But so, let's get into it.

[3:46] Let's do it.

[3:47] Who's doing the summary this week?

[3:48] Me.

[3:49] Me.

[3:49] Oh, buckle your seatbelt.

[3:50] Sort of the venom of the podcast.

Stuart Wellington

[3:52] Yeah, you're the real venom of the podcast.

Dan McCoy

[3:55] Got that lethal protector energy.

[3:57] Uh-huh.

[3:58] Sure do.

[3:59] Yep.

[4:00] So, we begin the movie,

[4:01] as my closed captioning said,

[4:03] with hissing and snarling.

[4:05] And we meet Null,

[4:07] god of the void,

[4:08] slicer of worlds.

[4:10] Now, this is a Marvel villain

[4:13] that actually exists.

[4:14] This isn't,

[4:16] of what we say, not as what?

[4:17] Not as I presumed,

[4:18] some bullshit that Venom made up.

[4:19] But I looked it up.

[4:20] He does look like a

[4:22] World of Warcraft villain.

Elliott Kalan

[4:23] Yeah.

[4:24] He does.

[4:24] He is the villain from a storyline

[4:25] that was in the relatively recent

[4:27] Venom comics named

[4:28] The King in Black,

[4:29] where it turns out that

[4:30] he is the personification

[4:32] of the void.

[4:33] He personifies the void

[4:34] by basically being

[4:35] an evil Ernie-looking

[4:37] type of like,

[4:38] smiling like a rictus,

[4:39] pale, long-haired,

[4:41] white-haired character.

[4:42] And he is the creator

[4:43] of the Klyntar,

[4:45] also known as the symbiotes.

[4:46] And he can do stuff

[4:49] to control them

[4:49] and whatever.

[4:50] And he represents

[4:51] destruction and nothingness.

[4:53] And in the,

[4:53] I don't know if they've made

[4:54] this connection in the movies,

[4:56] probably not,

[4:56] but like,

[4:57] Gore the God Butcher

[4:58] from the Thor movies

[5:01] and the Thor comics,

[5:02] he is connected.

[5:03] That's how he gets his power.

[5:04] It's somehow connected

[5:05] to Null also.

Dan McCoy

[5:06] And this,

[5:07] I mean,

[5:07] the existence of this character

[5:08] made more sense to me

[5:10] when I started,

[5:11] when I remembered

[5:12] that like,

[5:12] you know,

[5:13] in the Marvel universe

[5:14] we have these corners

[5:15] that are like Asgard

[5:16] or like more high fantasy corners.

[5:19] Because watching this movie,

[5:20] I'm like,

[5:21] this seems weird

[5:22] that there's this sort of like

[5:23] dark fantasy character

[5:26] with like a flaming sword

[5:28] in shackles somewhere

[5:30] and that that's somehow

[5:31] connected to the Venom symbiote.

Stuart Wellington

[5:32] And at no point

[5:33] does he actually interact

[5:35] with any other characters.

[5:36] Yeah, that's true.

Elliott Kalan

[5:37] I will say,

[5:38] this is a character

[5:38] who I have mixed feelings about

[5:40] in the actual comics

[5:41] because it does feel like

[5:42] it takes a character

[5:43] who I grew up with

[5:45] thinking of as

[5:46] a crazy guy

[5:48] with super-powered clothes

[5:49] that are also crazy.

[5:51] And he is more of a

[5:52] murderer

[5:53] who thinks he's a hero

[5:54] and hates Spider-Man.

[5:56] And this blows him up

[5:57] into a cosmically important character

[5:59] who at a certain point

[6:00] is the only thing

[6:02] standing between

[6:03] total destruction

[6:04] and the continuing existence

[6:05] of the universe.

[6:06] But it is weird

[6:07] to suddenly start this movie

[6:08] with a character

[6:09] who looks like Elric,

[6:10] basically.

[6:11] Like, you know,

[6:11] talking about how he will

[6:12] make the universe burn

[6:13] and things like that.

[6:14] Which is something

Stuart Wellington

[6:15] that Elric would probably do.

Elliott Kalan

[6:17] Sure, yeah.

[6:18] Evil sword and everything.

[6:20] So I could see

[6:21] how this might be jarring

[6:22] to audiences

[6:22] who are not familiar

[6:23] with this character at all.

[6:24] It's a real tonal shift

[6:25] for the main series.

Dan McCoy

[6:26] But Noel drops

[6:28] some backstory on us.

[6:29] He was betrayed

[6:30] by his, quote,

[6:32] children,

[6:32] which is, of course,

[6:33] are these symbiotes.

[6:35] He talks about

[6:35] some bullshit codex

[6:37] that will free him.

[6:39] And so the movie

[6:39] has its MacGuffin.

[6:41] And he sends

[6:42] some non-symbiote

[6:44] slimy monsters

[6:46] to find...

[6:47] The xenophages

[6:48] or xenophages.

[6:49] Xenophages.

[6:50] Xenophages, okay.

[6:50] Yeah.

[6:51] Is that from the comics?

Elliott Kalan

[6:52] I think they are

[6:53] from the comics, yeah.

[6:54] A lot of this

[6:55] Null stuff,

[6:55] I read it at the time

[6:56] and it didn't quite see...

[6:57] There is a codex

[6:58] in the comics,

[6:58] but it's in,

[7:00] I think,

[7:00] the blood of Dylan Brock,

[7:02] Eddie's estranged son,

[7:04] who's a kid,

[7:04] who eventually becomes

[7:05] Venom for a little bit.

[7:07] And it's all stuff that...

[7:09] It's stuff that doesn't...

[7:10] It's not the Venom

[7:11] that I grew up with.

[7:11] That's all I'm gonna say.

[7:12] Yeah.

[7:12] But this is a lot

[7:14] of comic stuff, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[7:15] So we join

[7:16] Eddie Brock, though.

[7:17] Tom Hardy,

[7:18] our hero.

[7:19] Bronson himself.

[7:21] He's still at a bar

[7:22] in the MCU universe

[7:23] that he was,

[7:24] of course,

[7:24] zapped into

[7:25] during No Way Home,

[7:27] but he's quickly sent back

[7:29] to the No Spidey's Averse,

[7:30] presumably by Doctor Strange

[7:32] offscreen.

[7:33] We don't see...

[7:34] Talking to the same

[7:35] bartender played

[7:37] by Danny Reyes

[7:38] from Ted Lasso.

[7:40] Mm-hmm.

Elliott Kalan

[7:41] It really is an enormous

[7:42] waste of the idea

[7:44] of Eddie Brock

[7:45] showing up

[7:45] in the Marvel universe,

[7:46] and I don't know

[7:47] if I think it is funny

[7:48] to make a big deal

[7:50] out of him being transported there

[7:51] and all he does

[7:52] is hang out at a bar

[7:53] and then get sent back home

[7:54] or if I think

[7:55] it is a waste of potential.

[7:57] And I'm not sure...

[7:58] Because the other thing

[7:58] is that Venom

[8:00] we probably talked about this

[8:01] with the other Venom movies,

[8:02] his whole motivation

[8:03] is that he hates Spider-Man.

[8:05] Eddie Brock's career

[8:05] was ruined by Spider-Man.

[8:07] The symbiote

[8:07] was rejected by Spider-Man.

[8:09] So they combined

[8:10] their hatreds of Spider-Man

[8:11] into become this new being

[8:13] that hates Spider-Man the most.

[8:14] And so for Venom

[8:15] to show up in the Marvel universe,

[8:16] I guess the implication is

[8:17] now he's gonna go after Spider-Man.

[8:19] Why would he?

[8:19] They don't know each other.

[8:20] They're strangers.

[8:21] It doesn't matter.

[8:21] I do.

Stuart Wellington

[8:22] My favorite bit in the comics

[8:23] was when Spider-Man defeats Venom

[8:26] by being like,

[8:27] okay, symbiote,

[8:28] you can come back

[8:28] and I'll take you back.

[8:30] And the symbiote

[8:31] pulls too hard

[8:33] and that he and Eddie

[8:34] are joined too closely

[8:35] and it knocks them both out.

[8:37] Yes.

[8:37] Perfect.

Elliott Kalan

[8:38] And it's also that like,

[8:39] so the whole thing is that

[8:40] the symbiote and Eddie Brock

[8:41] have permanently bonded

[8:42] in a way Spider-Man

[8:43] refused to do with the symbiote.

[8:44] When him saying like,

[8:45] I'll take you back,

[8:46] what I like about it,

[8:47] it is the hero

[8:48] defeating the villain

[8:49] by breaking the villain's heart

[8:51] by showing that

[8:52] the villain's like teammate

[8:53] would rather be with Spider-Man

[8:55] than with Eddie Brock.

Stuart Wellington

[8:57] Which is kind of like

[8:58] the way audiences have reacted

[9:00] to this non-Spider-Man universe.

[9:02] I guess so, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[9:04] But anyway,

[9:05] in what is for Eddie Brock

[9:06] bar prime,

[9:09] tropical bar prime,

[9:11] Venom quips about

[9:13] being done with multiverse shit.

[9:15] The whole audience applauds,

[9:16] I assume.

[9:17] They're like,

[9:17] yeah, we get it.

[9:18] And he does some

[9:19] Tom Cruise cocktail stuff.

[9:21] Love it.

[9:21] Makes him a drink.

[9:23] On the news,

[9:24] a convenient report

[9:26] relating to Eddie Brock himself.

[9:27] He's wanted for murder

[9:28] for something that I had forgotten about

[9:29] from Venom 2.

Elliott Kalan

[9:30] It's also amazing

[9:31] that this local

[9:32] American crime story

[9:34] is on Mexican news.

[9:35] Yeah.

[9:36] I mean,

[9:36] it's English language news

[9:37] broadcast in Mexico,

[9:39] you know.

[9:39] But it's a big story, I guess.

[9:40] I mean, it's probably,

Stuart Wellington

[9:40] it's a bar that's catering to tourists.

[9:42] It makes sense.

[9:43] Yeah, good point.

Elliott Kalan

[9:43] Good point.

[9:44] It's always tuned to MSNBC

[9:45] or something, yeah.

[9:46] But, yeah,

Dan McCoy

[9:48] it's because he supposedly

[9:50] killed this cop

[9:51] at the end of the last movie,

[9:52] which, of course,

[9:53] it was not him.

[9:54] Probably Carnage did it

[9:55] or something.

[9:55] Carnage did it.

Elliott Kalan

[9:56] That cop with the,

[9:56] he bonded with a.

[9:57] With the not at all,

[9:58] no imagination name

[10:00] of Patrick Mulligan.

[10:02] He is the character

[10:02] from the comics.

[10:03] But I just love,

[10:03] they're like,

[10:04] I guess he's an Irish cop.

[10:05] Let's call him Patrick Mulligan.

Dan McCoy

[10:06] Like, sure.

[10:07] They're like,

[10:08] okay,

[10:09] we got to hide out

[10:09] in New York

[10:10] because we're wanted men

[10:13] slash alien.

[10:14] And they're immediately

[10:16] picked up on CCTV

[10:17] as they leave the bar

[10:18] so we know

[10:19] they're being watched.

[10:20] They do some

[10:20] lethal protector shit

[10:21] eating up some

[10:23] dog fighter guys.

[10:26] You guys have caged

[10:26] with the dogs.

Stuart Wellington

[10:27] That's Tom Hardy's,

[10:28] Tom Hardy's really passionate

[10:29] about dog rescues.

[10:30] So I'm glad that he gets

[10:31] to bring his love

[10:32] into this.

Elliott Kalan

[10:32] That's true.

[10:33] He does love dogs.

[10:33] The thing is,

[10:34] we see they have

[10:35] a lot of dogs in cages.

[10:36] I think it's just

[10:37] kind of implied

[10:37] that they're doing

[10:38] something bad

[10:39] with the dogs.

[10:39] We never see them

[10:40] do anything.

[10:41] They seem like a ledger

[10:42] that has a bunch of

[10:43] note-like hash marks on it.

[10:44] Oh, okay.

[10:45] So maybe that's it.

[10:45] Because all we really know

[10:46] is that these are

[10:46] a bunch of guys with

[10:47] illegal dog fights.

[10:49] Yeah.

[10:51] Monday,

[10:52] buy dogs.

[10:53] Tuesday,

[10:54] make them fight.

[10:54] Wednesday,

[10:55] kill other dogs.

[10:56] Because all we really know

[10:57] is that guys with

[10:58] tattoos on dogs.

[10:59] evidence.

[10:59] Evidence.

Dan McCoy

[11:01] It's all here.

[11:02] Black and white.

[11:04] Yeah, they do a fight.

[11:05] This fight's kind of funny.

[11:07] Eddie throws a shoe

[11:08] at one point,

[11:08] which leads to a movie-long gag

[11:11] about how he's always

[11:11] losing his shoes.

[11:12] Mm-hmm.

[11:14] And so as they leave,

[11:16] one of the big other monsters

[11:18] is lurking in the shadows

[11:19] and someone somewhere says,

[11:21] get me General Strickland.

[11:23] So you know things

[11:24] are getting serious.

[11:24] Uh-huh.

[11:25] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[11:25] General Strickland's

[11:26] being called in.

[11:27] Oh, boy.

[11:28] He's got Strick in his name.

[11:29] You know this dude

Elliott Kalan

[11:30] doesn't fuck around.

[11:32] The scenes between

[11:33] General Strickland,

[11:34] we'll get to them,

[11:35] and the scientist in it,

[11:37] it is nonstop

[11:38] Juno Temple.

[11:39] Juno Temple.

[11:39] Them saying exposition

[11:40] to each other

[11:41] that those characters

[11:42] would already know.

[11:43] And I found,

[11:44] I was like,

[11:45] there was much,

[11:45] and I will not blame

[11:46] the writers of the movie

[11:47] for this,

[11:48] but there was so much

[11:49] of the movie

[11:49] where I was like,

[11:50] why am I trying so hard

[11:51] to hide the exposition

[11:52] and the things that I write

[11:53] when these characters

[11:53] are just stating it outright

[11:55] so blatantly, you know?

Dan McCoy

[11:56] Well, let's talk about him.

[11:57] We meet him right now.

[11:58] Chiwetel LeGiofor shows up.

[12:00] Great.

[12:00] Second go-around

[12:02] in the MCU, baby.

[12:04] Who was he before?

[12:04] This is not the MCU,

Elliott Kalan

[12:05] technically.

[12:06] He was Mordo.

[12:08] Oh, yeah.

[12:08] Oh, that's right.

[12:09] He was Mordo

[12:09] in the Doctor Strange movies,

[12:11] but that's a different universe,

[12:12] so it's okay.

Dan McCoy

[12:13] He kidnaps the bartender

[12:15] because he's been exposed

[12:16] to this symbiote guy,

[12:18] I guess,

[12:19] so trying to figure out

[12:19] information,

[12:20] I don't know.

[12:20] This is, of course,

Elliott Kalan

[12:21] an American military operation,

[12:23] so, of course,

[12:23] they can go into Mexico,

[12:24] kidnap a Mexican national,

[12:26] and then,

[12:27] like, how do they have

[12:27] the jurisdiction

[12:28] to do any of this stuff?

[12:29] He's probably black ops,

[12:30] by the way.

[12:31] I guess.

[12:31] But it's black ops,

[12:32] but they're all in,

[12:33] I mean,

[12:33] they're, of course,

[12:34] all wearing green camouflage

[12:35] as they walk around

[12:36] a Mexican city,

[12:36] but, you know.

Dan McCoy

[12:37] Yeah, that's ridiculous.

[12:38] We should be sending them

[12:38] to Canada,

[12:39] apparently,

[12:40] to stop all the fentanyl

[12:42] that's, I guess,

[12:43] what?

[12:44] Sorry.

[12:46] Bad reference

[12:47] to bad, stupid people

[12:48] making stupid news.

[12:50] Yeah.

[12:50] Let's see.

[12:51] We're introduced

[12:51] to, you know,

[12:52] Temple's character.

[12:54] She's having some kind

[12:54] of dream

[12:55] where she's a kid

[12:56] with her brother.

[12:57] He's like,

[12:58] I want to work

[12:59] at NASA so bad,

[13:00] and then he gets

Stuart Wellington

[13:00] struck by lightning.

[13:01] He's like,

[13:01] as long as I am not

[13:02] exposed to my only weakness,

[13:04] lightning hits.

Elliott Kalan

[13:06] I love space

[13:07] and the things

[13:07] that come out of it.

[13:08] Uh-oh,

[13:09] something from the sky

[13:10] has killed me,

[13:10] but I love it so.

Dan McCoy

[13:12] This is so weird to me

[13:13] because it's like,

[13:14] what,

[13:14] are we not going to believe

[13:15] that Juno Temple

[13:16] could work

[13:17] as a,

[13:17] like,

[13:18] alien scientist

[13:20] at NASA

[13:20] without having

[13:21] a backstory

[13:21] involving a kid

[13:23] brother dying

Stuart Wellington

[13:24] from lightning?

[13:25] Dan,

[13:25] sometimes when people

[13:26] make movies

[13:28] or tell stories,

[13:29] they're like,

[13:29] my audience

[13:30] is fucking stupid.

[13:32] So I need

[13:33] to make things

[13:34] as clear as possible

[13:35] and explain

[13:36] every little

[13:37] fucking thing

[13:38] because they're idiots.

[13:39] I have this job

Dan McCoy

[13:40] because I have to

[13:40] fulfill the dream

[13:41] of a man

[13:42] who died.

Elliott Kalan

[13:43] I guess,

[13:43] if ever there is,

[13:44] it's,

[13:45] and this is a character

[13:45] they don't do

[13:46] that much with

[13:47] in the movie.

[13:48] It feels very strange

[13:49] that they've given her

[13:49] any backstory

[13:50] or flashbacks at all.

[13:51] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[13:52] They should have

[13:53] used that time

[13:54] to give her stuff

[13:55] to do in the present.

[13:56] Yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[13:56] Now,

[13:57] so according to Wikipedia,

[13:59] she's haunted

[13:59] by the death

[14:00] of her brother

[14:00] from a lightning strike

[14:01] that also paralyzed

[14:02] her arm.

[14:02] I did not recognize

[14:03] her as having

[14:04] a paralyzed arm.

[14:04] No,

[14:05] not at all.

[14:05] Did you notice that?

[14:06] No.

[14:06] I didn't notice it at all.

[14:07] Okay.

[14:08] But it is very funny

[14:09] to suddenly go to a flashback

[14:10] for a character

[14:10] who otherwise

[14:11] will receive

[14:11] no character development

[14:12] throughout the film.

Dan McCoy

[14:14] Well,

[14:15] she and Strickland

[14:16] head for work.

[14:17] Where do they work?

[14:18] Not in an office.

[14:19] Area 51.

[14:20] Not Area 51.

[14:21] They work under Area 51

[14:23] in a different area.

[14:24] Because Area 51

[14:25] is being decommissioned

[14:26] as we hear on the radio.

Elliott Kalan

[14:27] It's being decommissioned

[14:28] in the funniest

[14:29] possible way

[14:30] which is by having

[14:31] voice-activated

[14:32] tanks of acid

[14:33] spill out onto the buildings

[14:35] to dissolve them.

[14:36] It is...

[14:37] I think it's a good idea,

[14:39] actually.

[14:39] And of course,

[14:40] they're setting it up

[14:40] to be used

[14:42] in the big climax

[14:43] against the bad guys.

[14:44] But it is a very funny way

[14:45] to demolish

[14:46] government property

[14:47] is to set up

[14:48] a huge tank of acid,

[14:49] attach it to a

[14:50] voice activation trigger

[14:51] so that Strickland

[14:52] has to go to each one

[14:53] and say,

[14:53] Strickland.

[14:54] And then it says,

[14:55] voice activation recognized

[14:56] and then just sprinkles acid

[14:58] out of the tanks

[14:59] onto the buildings.

Stuart Wellington

[15:00] Yeah.

[15:01] He's using the

[15:02] Chekhov brand...

[15:04] Chekhov brand acid tank.

[15:05] Acid tanks, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[15:06] Yeah.

[15:08] So, anyway,

[15:09] these two are

[15:09] a real odd couple.

[15:11] He's a...

[15:12] She's optimistic

[15:13] about aliens

[15:14] and he's a real,

[15:15] like,

[15:15] everything's a potential

[15:16] enemy guy.

[15:18] Not since

[15:19] The Thing from Another World

Elliott Kalan

[15:20] have we seen

[15:21] such an interesting pairing

[15:23] of a scientist

[15:25] who likes aliens

[15:26] and an army guy

[15:27] who doesn't.

[15:27] What does Steve say?

[15:28] Yeah, in the biz

[15:28] we call this a Dharma and Greg.

[15:30] Oh, okay.

[15:31] I mean,

[15:31] they're not technically

[15:32] a couple, though.

[15:32] They're not a romantic couple,

[15:33] we should say, also.

[15:34] Maybe they are, actually.

Stuart Wellington

[15:35] A romantic couple

[15:36] on Dharma and Greg.

[15:36] I thought they were

[15:37] just roommates.

[15:38] No, no, they were married, Stuart.

[15:39] I don't know,

[15:39] I'll have to watch

[15:40] the show again.

[15:41] Again?

[15:43] It's a big thing to miss.

Elliott Kalan

[15:45] You might have watched

[15:45] Dharma and Grieg

[15:46] in which Dharma

[15:47] and Edvard Grieg,

[15:48] the composer,

[15:49] Yeah, they were just friends.

[15:50] They were just friends.

[15:51] They were just roommates, yeah.

Dan McCoy

[15:53] Well, at Area 51

[15:54] they're studying the cop

[15:55] that Eddie supposedly killed,

[15:57] but he's actually got

[15:58] Patrick Mulligan.

[15:59] Stray space goo

[16:00] all over him

[16:01] and he's turned into

[16:01] a symbiote himself.

[16:03] Or he has one, rather.

Elliott Kalan

[16:04] He has a symbiote now.

[16:05] Now, did they,

[16:06] does he already have one

[16:07] or they exposed him to one?

Stuart Wellington

[16:08] I think he had one

[16:09] and he was,

[16:11] They collected them.

[16:11] He wasn't doing well

[16:12] so they had to bond him

[16:14] with another symbiote

Dan McCoy

[16:16] Ah, I see.

[16:16] Okay.

[16:18] The 51 crew interrogate the cop.

[16:21] They learned that the symbiotes

[16:22] came here to try

[16:23] and escape Null,

[16:25] which, I don't,

[16:27] I mean, like,

[16:27] I, it's a weird,

[16:30] it's a weird way

[16:30] that this movie

[16:32] tries to make

[16:33] all of the symbiotes

[16:34] into sort of, like,

[16:35] nice guys.

[16:36] They're all refugees

Elliott Kalan

[16:37] from an alien monster,

[16:39] alien authoritarian.

[16:40] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[16:40] Also still do, like,

[16:42] you know,

[16:42] bite people's heads off

[16:43] and eat them.

[16:45] But,

[16:45] whatever, you know,

[16:46] it's the classic,

[16:47] we'll make you like these guys

[16:49] by having a bigger bad guy

[16:50] Yes.

[16:51] situation.

[16:53] And the cop has some sort of

[16:55] generic fantasy vision

[16:56] of an apocalyptic future

[16:57] with a flaming sword

[16:58] and he goes,

[16:59] the darkness has teeth.

[17:01] And meanwhile...

[17:02] It is,

Elliott Kalan

[17:02] it is so funny to me

[17:04] anytime this happens

[17:05] in a thing,

[17:06] and I'm sure I'm guilty of it

[17:06] in my own work sometimes

[17:07] or will be in the future,

[17:08] where people are like,

[17:10] explain to us what's going on

[17:11] instead of saying,

[17:12] we're fleeing Null

[17:13] who's an evil alien god

[17:15] and he's trying to

[17:16] find it and destroy us.

[17:17] It's like,

[17:17] it's like,

[17:18] out in the darkness,

[17:19] he waits.

[17:20] The darkness has teeth.

[17:21] Something grew.

[17:22] Something grew.

[17:23] Or like in 28 Days Later.

[17:24] Gru?

[17:25] Gru is out there?

[17:26] Gru is out there.

[17:28] He's out there

[17:28] looking for cheese dip

[17:29] causing trouble.

[17:31] With Usagi Yojimbo?

[17:34] Uh-huh.

[17:35] We'll put them together.

[17:36] Of course,

[17:37] because Stan Sakai

[17:38] works on both,

[17:39] where in 28 Days Later

[17:40] when a guy wakes up

[17:41] from a coma

[17:41] and he's chased by a zombie

[17:42] and he's like,

[17:43] what's going on?

[17:43] And the woman goes,

[17:44] it didn't happen

[17:45] the way you'd think

[17:45] it would happen.

[17:46] And it's like,

[17:47] just tell me

[17:48] that there's zombies

[17:48] on the loose.

[17:49] I want to know

Dan McCoy

[17:49] what the antecedent

[17:50] to it is

[17:51] in that sentence.

Elliott Kalan

[17:52] It's the it

[17:53] that I'm wondering

[17:54] about the existence of,

[17:55] the identity of.

Dan McCoy

[17:57] Yeah.

[17:57] Well,

[17:57] Eddie and Venom

[17:58] are flying to New York.

[18:01] Not the normal way,

[18:02] but on the outside

[18:03] of the plane.

[18:04] It's pretty funny, actually.

[18:05] They're clamping

[18:05] on the outside.

[18:06] It's funny,

[18:06] but it's weird

[18:08] because Eddie himself

[18:09] is mostly outside of Venom.

[18:11] Venom could engulf Eddie,

[18:12] but instead Eddie's

[18:13] sort of like hanging

[18:14] on to Venom

[18:15] up in like

[18:16] at 30,000 feet

[18:17] or whatever.

[18:18] Where there's not

Elliott Kalan

[18:19] enough oxygen to live

[18:20] and it's super cold.

[18:21] And also,

[18:22] the symbiote,

[18:22] I don't remember

[18:23] if it's the same

[18:23] in these movies,

[18:24] but in the comics,

[18:24] the symbiote is weak,

[18:26] one of his weaknesses

[18:26] is loud sounds.

[18:28] So to be strapped

[18:28] to the side of a plane

[18:29] would be very difficult

[18:30] for him probably.

[18:31] I mean,

Dan McCoy

[18:31] later on,

[18:32] there's a reason

[18:33] why Eddie can't

[18:34] go full Venom,

[18:35] but I don't think

[18:35] they know that

[18:36] at that point.

[18:36] No, they don't know

[18:37] that yet.

[18:37] There's a reason to.

[18:38] It's mainly a goof,

[18:39] you know.

[18:40] Just for silliness.

Elliott Kalan

[18:41] I mean,

[18:42] it's a silly movie.

[18:42] Come on.

Dan McCoy

[18:44] There's a mid-air

[18:44] action sequence.

[18:45] They're attacked

[18:45] by one of the monsters

[18:47] and Venom turns

[18:48] into a parachute

[18:48] to save Eddie.

[18:50] That's cool.

[18:51] And then we meet

[18:52] a UFO conspiracy couple

[18:54] who are like

[18:54] driving around

[18:55] in like a Winnebago.

[18:57] And I didn't know.

[18:58] Starring Reese Iffens.

[18:59] Well, yeah.

[18:59] I didn't recognize him

[19:00] at first and I'm like,

[19:01] oh, Reese.

Elliott Kalan

[19:02] Reese Iffens

[19:03] appearing in yet another

[19:05] Spider-Man related movie

[19:07] after playing the lizard

[19:08] in the Amazing

[19:09] Spider-Man series.

[19:09] Yeah, it's great.

[19:11] I just,

[19:11] I wanted a Reese's piece

[19:12] and I got one.

[19:13] Piece of Reese.

[19:14] I will say,

[19:15] this family,

[19:16] it's this hippie family

[19:17] that is trying to

[19:18] see Area 51

[19:19] so they can see an alien.

[19:20] Yeah.

[19:21] I at first

[19:21] hated this family

[19:23] then loved them

[19:24] and then got

[19:25] very disappointed

[19:26] that they didn't

[19:26] go away

[19:27] and they had to be

[19:28] part of the climax

[19:29] of the movie.

[19:29] Yeah.

[19:29] There's a part

[19:31] in the movie

[19:31] that's coming up

[19:32] where they're riding

[19:33] Eddie is riding

[19:35] in their car

[19:36] and they're singing

[19:36] a song together

[19:38] and there's a moment

[19:39] where the mom

[19:40] is driving

[19:41] and the daughter

[19:41] who's a teenager

[19:42] who hates her family

[19:43] is in the front seat

[19:44] and the mom

[19:44] kind of holds

[19:45] onto the daughter's hand

[19:45] and the daughter

[19:46] looks at her

[19:46] and smiles at her

[19:47] and they have

[19:48] a younger son

[19:48] who's genuinely

[19:49] enjoying this trip

[19:50] and I was like,

[19:51] this is the most real

[19:52] any characters

[19:54] have felt

[19:54] in any of these movies

[19:55] in years,

[19:57] I feel like.

[19:57] Just this one family

[19:58] that is doing

[19:58] like kind of a family thing

[20:00] and Eddie's just

[20:01] there watching it

[20:02] and I was like,

[20:03] I really love

[20:04] this moment

[20:05] in these characters

[20:05] and then the characters

[20:06] keep showing up

[20:07] throughout the movie

[20:07] and I'm like,

[20:08] come on guys,

[20:08] just let them go.

Stuart Wellington

[20:09] I would say

[20:10] the scene is slightly

[20:11] undercut

[20:12] while they're singing

[20:13] Major Tom

[20:14] that Venom

[20:15] is shouting

[20:16] the lyrics

[20:16] alongside them.

Elliott Kalan

[20:17] Yes, that's true.

[20:18] It's more the moments

[20:19] between the family

[20:20] and not Venom going,

[20:21] this is my jam,

Dan McCoy

[20:22] yes,

[20:23] oh,

[20:24] you know,

[20:24] that kind of stuff.

[20:25] Well,

[20:25] the emotion's undercut.

[20:26] We can argue about that scene

[20:27] when we get to it.

[20:27] We're not quite there yet.

[20:29] Oh my God.

[20:30] Eddie notices that

[20:31] Venom is acting weird

[20:33] when they land.

[20:34] I thought you said Veni

[20:35] for a moment.

[20:35] I'm like,

[20:36] my cousin Veni?

[20:37] My cousin Veni.

[20:38] Oh man.

[20:39] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[20:39] we'll get my cousin Veni.

[20:41] His lawyers.

[20:42] He'll just eat the judge.

[20:44] His symbiote's the lawyer

[20:45] and then Marissa Tomei

[20:46] is shouting at Venom

[20:47] going,

[20:47] my biological clock

[20:48] is ticking like this.

Stuart Wellington

[20:52] His accent is pretty,

[20:54] would be fitting

[20:55] for a New York,

[20:57] New Jersey lawyer.

Stuart Wellington

[20:57] But now you're

[20:57] mentioning Venom

[20:57] in the city.

Elliott Kalan

[20:58] He goes,

[20:58] the two Utes.

[20:59] Excuse me,

[21:00] what is a Ute?

[21:01] You know,

[21:02] Utes.

[21:02] Now I just want

[21:03] to see my cousin Veni.

[21:04] Don't play it, Tom.

[21:06] So you're saying

[21:07] Grits cooks faster

[21:08] on your stovetop

[21:10] than anywhere else

[21:11] in the known universe?

Dan McCoy

[21:14] Eddie notices

[21:15] that Venom

[21:16] is acting weird.

[21:17] Oh.

[21:17] This is manifested

[21:18] by Venom being

[21:19] sort of like

[21:19] a little floating head

[21:20] next to Eddie

[21:21] with, you know,

[21:23] symbiote tendrils

[21:24] attached.

[21:24] And he's like,

[21:26] why are you acting weird?

[21:27] He forces him

[21:28] to do an exposition dump

[21:29] where Venom explains

[21:30] if Eddie died,

[21:32] Venom can bring him

[21:33] back to life.

[21:33] But the act of doing that

[21:34] would combine their DNA

[21:35] forming a key

[21:36] called a codex.

[21:38] And uh-oh,

[21:39] turns out that's

[21:39] already happened.

[21:41] We see a flashback

[21:41] to a previous

[21:42] Venom movie

[21:43] where Eddie died

[21:44] and a thing that I also

[21:45] had forgotten.

[21:46] I had forgotten about,

[21:47] yeah.

[21:47] So I'm glad for this

Stuart Wellington

[21:48] explanation even though

Dan McCoy

[21:49] it is.

[21:49] Oh, thank God.

[21:50] Without it,

[21:51] we'd be lost.

[21:51] Exposition.

Stuart Wellington

[21:52] We'd be lost in the

[21:53] darkness like Noel.

Elliott Kalan

[21:54] Yeah, and Noel

[21:55] needs that codex

[21:56] to escape the prison

[21:57] the Klyntar

[21:58] put him in.

Dan McCoy

[21:59] It just rolls off

[22:00] the tongue,

[22:01] this non-jibberish.

Elliott Kalan

[22:02] Also, I've never liked

[22:03] the name Klyntar.

[22:04] That's straight from

[22:04] the comics.

[22:05] I've always thought

[22:05] it was not a good

[22:06] sounding name

[22:07] for that alien species.

Dan McCoy

[22:08] I am President Klyntar

[22:10] from another land.

Stuart Wellington

[22:12] But if Eddie

[22:13] or Venom dies,

[22:14] the codex goes away.

[22:16] Yes.

[22:17] So how do they get

[22:18] the codex

[22:19] without killing them?

[22:21] I don't think

[22:21] Noel cares about

[22:22] killing them.

Elliott Kalan

[22:23] I think he's fine

[22:24] with doing that.

[22:24] But if he kills them,

[22:26] the codex goes away.

[22:28] I think it's the,

[22:29] well, who knows?

[22:30] He keeps them alive

[22:32] until the last minute.

Dan McCoy

[22:33] Stuff them into a keyhole.

[22:35] Okay.

[22:35] Yeah.

[22:35] Shove Eddie Brock

[22:36] into a giant keyhole.

Stuart Wellington

[22:38] Because if the whole thing

[22:39] was the Klyntar,

[22:40] the Xenophages

[22:42] were just trying

[22:42] to capture him

[22:43] and like take him

[22:44] back alive,

[22:46] that would be more fun

[22:47] than them trying

Elliott Kalan

[22:47] to like eat everything.

[22:48] I think that,

[22:49] well, the Xenophages

[22:50] are not the best tool

[22:52] for getting someone

[22:54] and bringing them back

[22:54] as opposed to

[22:55] just eating everybody.

[22:55] But it's similar,

[22:56] I imagine it's a similar

[22:57] situation to Borderlands

[22:58] where they're under

[23:00] the belief that the girl

[23:01] is the key to the vault

[23:02] but that using her

[23:03] to open the vault

[23:04] will kill her probably.

[23:05] It's that kind of thing.

[23:06] So probably the Xenophages

[23:07] would,

[23:08] maybe they can,

[23:09] maybe they can pull

[23:09] the codex out of them

[23:12] It's a dumb movie.

[23:13] It doesn't make sense.

[23:14] Maybe you built them

[23:14] to do that.

Dan McCoy

[23:16] So anyway.

Elliott Kalan

[23:17] This is also an alien species

[23:17] that eats people

[23:19] and then spits the blood

[23:20] out the back of their head

[23:21] like they're a wood chipper.

Dan McCoy

[23:22] I kind of like that part.

[23:24] Yeah.

[23:25] The other main plot upshot

[23:26] of all this gibberish

[23:28] is that Venom

[23:29] cannot totally take over Eddie

[23:30] as I said before

[23:31] because that,

[23:32] when he's in full control,

[23:34] the bad guys can sense him

[23:36] and track him.

Stuart Wellington

[23:36] So I come to a Venom movie

[23:38] and I don't get to see

[23:39] fucking Venom.

Elliott Kalan

[23:40] Don't worry, Stuart.

[23:41] You're going to get to see

[23:42] plenty of Venom

[23:42] because they just can't

[23:43] help themselves.

[23:44] And you're going to get

[23:44] to see a Venom horse,

[23:45] a Venom frog,

[23:46] some other Venom stuff.

Dan McCoy

[23:47] Speaking of that horse,

[23:48] they find him right now.

[23:50] I didn't love,

[23:52] I felt bad for the horse

[23:53] because it starts out with like,

[23:54] how fast can you make

[23:55] that horse go

[23:56] without killing it?

[23:56] And I'm like,

[23:57] don't put that thought

[23:58] into my head, movie.

[23:58] No.

[23:59] Yeah.

[24:00] But just do the thing.

[24:02] But they find a horse,

[24:03] they turn him into a Venom horse.

[24:05] Does Venom do this shit

[24:06] in the comics?

[24:07] No.

[24:07] Okay.

[24:08] The thing is that

Elliott Kalan

[24:10] sometimes they'll put the symbiote

[24:11] on different stuff,

[24:12] but the whole thing

[24:13] about Eddie Brock

[24:14] and the symbiote,

[24:15] at least originally,

[24:16] was that like,

[24:17] they're bonded permanently.

[24:18] Now they cannot be separated

[24:19] from each other.

[24:20] But then eventually

[24:21] they did find a way

[24:21] to separate him

[24:22] and he's gone around

[24:23] and there's been Venom animals.

[24:24] That's boring.

[24:25] When they do it,

[24:26] it's not,

[24:27] well actually,

[24:27] they'll do it

[24:28] with other symbiotes a lot.

[24:28] There was a Tyrannosaurus

[24:29] Venom at one point.

[24:31] Like there is,

[24:31] they do that stuff.

[24:32] Landed in the Savage Land

[24:33] or something?

[24:34] I don't remember,

[24:35] or something like that.

[24:35] All the characters

[24:36] have had Venom symbiotes

[24:37] on them at some point

[24:38] or another now.

Dan McCoy

[24:40] But they gallop at super speed

[24:42] to Don't Stop Me Now

[24:43] by Queen.

[24:45] Do you think,

[24:45] how did you guys feel

Elliott Kalan

[24:46] about that song choice?

[24:47] Did you feel also as I did,

[24:48] but that is a song

[24:49] that I've heard a lot

[24:49] in stuff now

[24:50] and I'd be happy

[24:51] for them to find

[24:51] a different song

[24:52] that got across

[24:53] the same idea?

Dan McCoy

[24:54] Somehow I had actually

[24:56] not heard that song

[24:57] pre-Shawn of the Dead

[24:58] even though it's

[24:58] a big Queen song.

[25:00] But since that time,

[25:02] yeah,

[25:02] it's all over the place.

Stuart Wellington

[25:03] Should have been what,

[25:04] like Take Me Home Country Road

[25:05] or something?

Elliott Kalan

[25:05] What are you thinking?

[25:06] I mean,

[25:06] that would have been funnier

[25:07] if it was Take Me Home Country Road.

[25:09] It's funnier to have

[25:10] not a high energy song

[25:11] while you're watching

[25:12] a guy get pulled

[25:13] by a horse

[25:13] covered in an alien goo.

[25:16] What if it went,

Dan McCoy

[25:17] wild,

[25:19] wild is the wind

[25:20] that takes me away.

[25:21] What if that song was playing?

Elliott Kalan

[25:23] What would that say?

[25:24] I've been riding

[25:24] to the desert

[25:25] on a horse

[25:26] with no name.

[25:27] Actually has a name.

[25:28] It is Venom.

[25:30] What about Goodbye Horses?

Dan McCoy

[25:33] What about Q Lazarus?

[25:34] Yeah.

[25:35] I don't know that song.

Elliott Kalan

[25:36] Silence of the Lambs.

[25:36] Have you ever seen

[25:37] Silence of the Lambs?

Dan McCoy

[25:38] That's when he's like

[25:39] sticking his penis

[25:40] between his legs.

Elliott Kalan

[25:40] Oh, that's when he's

[25:41] like dancing to himself?

[25:42] Oh, okay.

[25:43] Goodbye Horses.

[25:44] Add it to your gym mix.

[25:46] I will.

[25:47] The mix that I play

[25:48] when I'm hanging out

[25:48] with my friend Jim Davis,

[25:49] creator of Garfield.

[25:50] Oh, shit.

Dan McCoy

[25:52] Yeah, yeah.

[25:52] It's all Zondi-based raps.

[25:56] Well, anyway,

[25:56] the Army,

[25:58] they don't buy this

[25:59] like we're refugees thing.

[26:01] By the way,

Stuart Wellington

[26:01] if you put a single

[26:02] Happy Mondays song

[26:03] on that playlist,

[26:04] Jim Davis loses his shit.

[26:06] He's going to be so mad.

[26:07] Mondays are never happy.

[26:08] Go on, Dan.

[26:10] No, I appreciate it.

Dan McCoy

[26:12] So Chiwetel's like,

[26:14] let's go snag

[26:15] Venom.

[26:17] I thought,

[26:17] guys, let's go snag

[26:20] Venom.

[26:20] Let's go snag Venom.

Stuart Wellington

[26:22] You want to pick up

[26:23] some Venom on the way home?

[26:24] I like him so much

[26:25] as an actor,

[26:26] but he is always,

[26:27] he's always forced

[26:28] to play a guy

[26:29] with a lot of gravitas,

[26:30] and I would love it

[26:31] if he got to be

[26:32] like just a silly guy.

[26:33] Yes, I would love that too.

Elliott Kalan

[26:34] I feel like he's got it in him,

[26:35] and I wish he could

[26:36] use it more often.

[26:37] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[26:38] I thought this was

[26:40] a kind of fun action sequence,

[26:41] even though, Elliot,

[26:42] you expressed disdain

[26:45] for Venom bonding

[26:46] to other things,

[26:47] but I like this

[26:47] river action sequence

Elliott Kalan

[26:49] where he's like...

[26:50] When the Venom symbiote

[26:51] is kind of like

[26:51] jumping from animal

[26:52] to animal,

[26:53] and it's just

[26:53] a second of siege,

[26:54] I was like,

[26:54] that's cool.

[26:55] I like that idea.

Dan McCoy

[26:56] Yeah, he becomes a fish,

[26:57] he becomes a frog,

[26:58] a Venom frog.

[27:00] He saves Eddie

[27:01] by fully transforming,

[27:02] even though

[27:02] that'll tip off

[27:03] the alien again.

Elliott Kalan

[27:05] And Eddie,

[27:06] before he's fully transformed,

[27:08] Eddie kills

[27:09] one of the soldiers

[27:09] that is chasing after them,

[27:11] and this really bothers him.

[27:13] I mean,

[27:13] they did bite the heads

[27:14] off of four men

[27:15] earlier in the movie,

[27:16] but this one

[27:16] particularly bothers him,

[27:17] I think,

[27:18] because he can't say

[27:18] Venom did this,

[27:19] it's I did this.

[27:20] He did this,

Stuart Wellington

[27:21] and he also like,

[27:22] see,

[27:22] like,

[27:23] their mask comes off

[27:24] after he shoots them,

[27:25] and he like,

[27:26] looks them in their face

[27:27] as the last light of life.

Dan McCoy

[27:28] Also,

[27:29] you know,

[27:29] like,

[27:30] I'm not personally

[27:31] in favor of

[27:32] just going out

[27:33] and killing criminals,

[27:35] but at least

[27:35] in his morality,

[27:36] he's like,

[27:37] oh,

[27:37] Venom's got to eat,

[27:38] so we're eating criminals,

[27:40] not like someone

[27:41] who was presumably

[27:41] just ordered to take me in.

Stuart Wellington

[27:43] Yeah,

[27:43] but I mean,

[27:44] he's like black bag squads.

Elliott Kalan

[27:45] They've probably done

[27:46] all kinds of horrible shit.

[27:47] I guess so.

[27:48] Venom also likes

[27:49] to eat chocolate,

[27:50] and so they could just

[27:52] buy a lot of chocolate,

[27:53] but instead they go out

[27:54] and they bite the heads

[27:54] off of criminals.

[27:55] It feels like at that point,

[27:56] it's a choice

[27:57] to eat the brains

[27:58] and kill those people.

[27:59] I will say,

[27:59] one thing I want to say about,

[28:00] which we haven't really

[28:01] talked about this,

[28:01] is Tom Hardy

[28:02] really commits

[28:03] to playing a guy

[28:05] who looks like

[28:06] he is a total wreck

[28:08] and just like a total slob

[28:09] who is at the end

[28:10] of his rope

[28:11] and has hit rock bottom,

[28:12] and I really like that about it.

[28:13] Tom Hardy,

Stuart Wellington

[28:14] a guy who can be

[28:15] incredibly physically intimidating,

[28:17] but he makes himself

[28:18] seem like such a wimp.

Elliott Kalan

[28:20] It feels like a superhero movie

[28:23] where the dude Lebowski

[28:24] is like the hero of the movie,

[28:26] just kind of shambling through

[28:27] and does not look like

[28:30] he should be winning fights

[28:31] and I really like that aspect of it.

[28:34] He looks like a guy

[28:35] who has been worn out

[28:36] by the past few movies.

[28:37] Yes.

[28:37] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[28:38] Well,

[28:38] yeah,

[28:39] he's got a venom on you.

Stuart Wellington

[28:40] And we see this

[28:42] in the long flashback sequence

[28:44] at the very end,

[28:45] the flashback montage

[28:46] of times shared

[28:47] between Eddie and Venom,

[28:48] a lot of which

[28:49] just happened in this movie,

[28:50] but you do see a couple

[28:51] from the first movie

[28:52] and you're like,

[28:52] oh man,

[28:53] he was a little bit younger.

Dan McCoy

[28:54] Yeah.

[28:55] Back in Area 51,

[28:57] Juno Temple

[28:58] interrogates

[28:59] the symbiote again

[29:01] and the symbiote's like,

[29:03] Venom is the one

[29:03] who has the codex,

[29:04] which gives the army

[29:05] even more motivation

[29:06] to kill Venom.

[29:08] Meanwhile,

[29:09] Eddie meets that family

[29:11] of hippie alien seekers

[29:12] who offer him

[29:13] a ride to Vegas

[29:14] and as previously mentioned,

[29:15] there's a sing-along

[29:16] to David Bowie's

[29:17] Space Odyssey

[29:18] that Venom loves.

[29:20] He's for once glad.

[29:21] Space Oddity, right?

[29:22] Sorry,

[29:23] Space Oddity, yes.

[29:24] For once he's glad

[29:25] he did not eat people.

[29:29] And yeah,

[29:29] the emotions perhaps

[29:31] are a little undercut

[29:32] by Venom

[29:33] yelling out lyrics,

[29:35] but I enjoyed it

[29:36] because I was imagining

[29:37] Tom Hardy

[29:38] playing Venom,

[29:40] loving David Bowie's

[29:41] Space Oddity

[29:42] and knowing how much

[29:44] he loves to play

[29:45] that character

[29:45] and do that crazy voice.

Stuart Wellington

[29:47] I feel like a lot

[29:47] of these choices

[29:48] are probably in line

[29:49] with things Tom Hardy

[29:50] wants to do.

[29:51] Yeah.

[29:51] Like he's not doing

[29:52] things he's not into.

Elliott Kalan

[29:54] My guess is that

[29:54] Tom Hardy has a certain

[29:55] amount of control

[29:56] at this point,

[29:57] yeah,

[29:57] over what's happening

[29:57] on screen in these movies

[29:59] and what he does.

[29:59] But this scene,

[30:00] like,

[30:01] this is the kind of scene

[30:02] you would have seen

[30:02] in an older movie

[30:03] and then those characters

[30:05] would have dropped him

[30:05] off at Vegas

[30:06] and they would have

[30:07] had a goodbye,

[30:07] which we see,

[30:08] and they would have

[30:08] disappeared from the movie.

[30:10] Or later maybe

[30:10] they would have looked

[30:11] at a TV

[30:12] and seen Eddie

[30:13] on the TV

[30:13] and been like,

[30:14] that's the guy we saw.

[30:15] But instead these characters

[30:16] keep coming back

[30:17] throughout the movie

[30:17] and it lessens,

[30:19] this one scene,

[30:20] like I was saying,

[30:21] has an emotional power

[30:22] that I feel like

[30:22] is a real thing about it.

[30:23] Eddie seeing,

[30:24] Venom seeing a family

[30:25] that he will never have.

[30:27] That's an experience

[30:27] he'll never experience.

[30:29] And Venom says to him,

[30:30] we should have had a family

[30:31] or maybe we should have

[30:32] had children.

[30:33] And I was like,

[30:34] oh,

[30:34] this is a real emotional moment

[30:35] that is working for me

[30:36] in this movie.

[30:37] But the movie,

[30:38] yeah,

[30:38] it cheapens it each time.

[30:39] And as soon as I saw that kid

[30:41] and he's like,

[30:42] I'm afraid of aliens,

[30:42] Eddie,

[30:43] I'm like,

[30:43] oh,

[30:43] they're going to put him

[30:44] in danger later.

[30:45] I don't want that.

[30:46] Like,

[30:46] that's not something

[30:46] I want in this movie.

Stuart Wellington

[30:48] And I mean,

[30:48] I feel like that's

[30:49] kind of symptomatic

[30:50] of all the Venom movies

[30:51] that like they're fairly standard

[30:54] and then they have

[30:55] occasional brushes

[30:56] with actual like

[30:57] interesting stuff.

[30:58] Like what,

[30:59] when Venom went to the rave

[31:00] in the second one?

[31:02] Yeah.

[31:02] And performs a song,

[31:04] right?

[31:04] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[31:05] Well,

[31:06] much as the movie

[31:07] sort of takes a break

[31:08] at this point for a song,

[31:09] let's take a break

[31:10] to go over to Stuart

[31:11] for some more

[31:12] Max Fun Drive.

[31:13] Earlier,

Stuart Wellington

[31:13] I mentioned a thing

[31:14] called the Max Fun Drive.

[31:15] And if you've been listening

[31:16] to our show,

[31:17] you have probably

[31:17] already heard of this,

[31:18] but I need to explain

[31:19] what the Max Fun Drive

[31:20] is all about.

[31:21] This is the one time

[31:22] a year where our show

[31:24] and the other shows

[31:25] on the network

[31:25] come to you,

[31:26] the listeners,

[31:27] hat in hand,

[31:28] saying,

[31:29] why don't you support

[31:29] our show.

[31:31] It's also a time

[31:31] that we put out

[31:32] some of our best shows.

[31:33] We are doing three

[31:34] full-length shows

[31:35] this month

[31:36] during the Max Fun Drive,

[31:38] and they're all about

[31:39] movies without Spider-Man.

[31:41] We also are going

[31:42] to put out a bunch of,

[31:42] we have some cool

[31:43] bonus stuff.

[31:44] There's,

[31:45] in addition to bonus content

[31:47] that's going to be

[31:47] in our bonus feed

[31:48] for all members,

[31:49] and I'll talk about

[31:49] that in a sec.

[31:50] We're also going

[31:51] to be doing things like

[31:52] on the evening

[31:53] of the 20th,

[31:54] Dan and I are going

[31:54] to be doing a show

[31:55] from our Twitch,

[31:56] from my Twitch stream,

[31:58] where we do a show

[31:59] called The Slop House,

[32:00] where Dan and I

[32:01] cook things in his kitchen.

[32:02] I cook up drinks,

[32:03] he cooks up food,

[32:04] we get hammered.

[32:05] It's pretty fun.

[32:07] And we answer the questions

[32:08] that are burning

[32:09] in your brain

[32:10] that you want to ask us

[32:11] right away

[32:11] when we are at our

[32:12] drunkest and easiest

[32:13] to convince.

[32:15] I think we're also

[32:16] going to be doing

[32:17] an AMA

[32:18] on the Flop House

[32:19] Discord,

[32:19] which there will be

[32:20] more info,

[32:21] I'm sure,

[32:21] in the show notes.

[32:23] And this is also

[32:24] the best time to join

[32:25] during the MaxFun drive

[32:26] because this is when

[32:27] you are going to be able

[32:28] to kind of help

[32:29] boost the numbers,

[32:31] unlock extra things,

[32:32] and also have access

[32:33] to all kinds

[32:34] of cool new gifts.

[32:36] Gifts?

[32:37] Well, I'll talk about

[32:37] that in a second,

[32:38] but first I want to talk

[32:39] about why being part

[32:40] of MaxFun

[32:41] is important to us.

[32:42] We are supported

[32:43] almost entirely

[32:44] by listeners.

[32:45] We are not beholden

[32:46] to some kind of,

[32:48] like giant megacorporation

[32:50] that hands down

[32:51] rules for what

[32:52] we can say on the podcast

[32:53] or controls our content

[32:55] or forces us to do ads

[32:56] for companies

[32:57] that we don't believe in.

[32:59] Now, by being

[33:00] listener-supported,

[33:01] we're able to

[33:01] kind of make the show

[33:03] that we want

[33:04] and we're able

[33:04] to make a show

[33:05] that is,

[33:06] I think,

[33:07] the best possible show

[33:08] for you,

[33:09] the listener.

Dan McCoy

[33:10] And I think it's good

[33:11] to say,

[33:11] like,

[33:11] we own our own show

[33:12] and we work in

[33:13] sort of concert

[33:14] with the network

[33:15] and we get

[33:17] the largest cut

[33:17] of the money

[33:18] and the network

[33:18] gets some of the money

[33:19] the network

[33:20] which is

[33:21] worker-owned

[33:22] and operated.

[33:23] So,

[33:23] it is owned

[33:25] by the people

[33:25] and the money

[33:27] goes directly

[33:27] to the people

[33:28] making the shows

[33:29] or helping the shows.

Stuart Wellington

[33:30] So,

[33:30] what this is leading

[33:31] me to is to say,

[33:33] please,

[33:33] why don't you

[33:34] support us today

[33:35] by becoming

[33:36] a MaxFun member?

[33:37] Head to

[33:38] maximumfund.org

[33:39] slash join.

[33:40] And when you get there,

[33:41] what you're going to see,

[33:42] if you're a first-time member,

[33:44] you're going to set up

[33:46] your account

[33:46] and if you sign up

[33:47] for at least

[33:48] $5 a month,

[33:49] you are going

[33:50] to then be able

[33:51] to split your,

[33:52] pick the shows

[33:53] that you listen to

[33:53] and those are the shows

[33:54] that are going to

[33:54] divide up the money

[33:56] that you pledge

[33:57] to support.

[33:58] Also,

[33:58] some goes to

[33:59] maintenance

[33:59] for the network.

[34:01] You can also,

[34:02] and joining

[34:02] is going to give you

[34:03] all kinds of great access.

[34:05] You can also

[34:06] boost your membership,

[34:07] which is going to let you

[34:08] put a couple extra bucks

[34:09] in the coffer

[34:10] per month

[34:10] if you want to give

[34:12] a little bit more

[34:13] and if you want to give

[34:13] a lot a bit more.

[34:14] You can also upgrade

[34:15] your membership.

[34:16] We have different

[34:17] membership tiers

[34:18] and one of the cool things

[34:19] is each membership tier

[34:20] is going to come

[34:20] with some extra

[34:21] little bonus bits

[34:23] of swag

[34:23] that you're going

[34:24] to be able

[34:24] to show off

[34:25] to impress

[34:26] all of your cool friends.

[34:28] If you're,

[34:29] everybody who supports

[34:31] at least $5 a month

[34:32] is going to have access

[34:33] to our huge catalog

[34:34] of bonus content.

[34:35] I mean,

[34:36] there's so much

[34:36] going back

[34:37] for what we've been

[34:38] on MaxFun

[34:38] like almost 10 years now.

[34:40] So much stuff

[34:41] and that's all going

[34:42] to be right to your feed

[34:43] and I'll talk about that,

[34:45] what's going to be

[34:45] in that later.

[34:47] But if you support

[34:48] at the $10 a month

[34:49] or more,

[34:50] you're going to get

[34:50] a pin of your choice.

[34:52] There's a pin

[34:52] representing each

[34:53] of the shows.

[34:54] Our show is represented

[34:55] by a pin featuring

[34:56] Mads Mikkelsen

[34:57] in his guise

[34:58] of Dr. Hannibal Lecter

[35:00] and it says,

[35:01] Mad About Mads

[35:02] because that is an old joke

[35:03] we made

[35:03] and we love it

[35:04] and stand by it.

[35:05] We are still mad

[35:06] about the man.

[35:08] At upper,

[35:09] you can join

[35:10] at even higher levels

[35:11] which will give you

[35:12] access to things

[35:13] like a super cool

[35:14] beach towel,

[35:15] a bucket hat

[35:16] so when you go

[35:16] on the beach

[35:17] your head doesn't

[35:18] get all fried up.

[35:19] You don't have to use

[35:20] a normal bucket.

[35:20] You can have a hat

[35:21] that's just shaped like one.

[35:22] That's the thing.

[35:23] You can get

[35:24] a really cool cooler

[35:25] that is branded.

[35:26] All these things

[35:27] you can do

[35:27] so that when you

[35:28] are hanging out

[35:29] with your friends

[35:29] they will know

[35:30] that you are

[35:31] a cool person

[35:31] supporting cool people.

[35:34] So,

[35:34] once again,

[35:35] head to

[35:35] MaximumFun.org

[35:37] slash join

[35:38] today.

Dan McCoy

[35:39] Let's get back

[35:40] to our buddies

[35:42] Eddie and Venom.

[35:44] The eternal buddies.

[35:45] What are they up to?

[35:46] Well,

[35:46] they've just made it

[35:48] to

[35:48] what do you call it?

[35:51] Las Vegas.

Elliott Kalan

[35:52] That's what I call it.

[35:53] Lost Vegas

Dan McCoy

[35:54] from One Six String Samurai.

[35:56] They shamble

[35:58] around Vegas

[35:58] for a while

[35:59] kind of just

[36:00] talking to themselves.

[36:01] At one point

[36:02] they knock a guy out

[36:03] so Tom Hardy

[36:04] can put on a tuxedo.

Stuart Wellington

[36:05] I do like the bit

[36:06] where he's not allowed

[36:07] to go into

[36:07] a Vegas casino

[36:09] because he doesn't

[36:09] look good

[36:10] guys,

[36:11] he looks exactly

[36:11] like everybody

[36:13] I've ever

[36:13] fucking seen

[36:14] in Vegas.

Dan McCoy

[36:15] Yeah,

[36:15] what is this

[36:16] dress code

[36:17] casino?

Stuart Wellington

[36:19] But,

[36:19] you know.

[36:20] Also,

[36:21] I kind of missed

[36:21] the days

[36:22] where the symbiote

[36:22] was his like

[36:23] clothes.

[36:25] I kind of,

Dan McCoy

[36:26] you know,

[36:26] maybe the producers

[36:27] are like,

[36:28] for God's sakes,

[36:29] Tom,

[36:30] we'll let you

[36:30] look like a shamples

[36:31] for most of the movie.

[36:32] Put on a tuxedo

[36:33] once in this film.

Stuart Wellington

[36:34] And they make jokes

[36:35] about how he looks

[36:37] like the sexiest man alive

[36:39] he was,

[36:40] I'm sure he was

[36:40] People Magazine's

[36:41] sexiest man alive

[36:42] at some point.

[36:43] I think,

Elliott Kalan

[36:44] here's my fix

[36:46] for why Venom

[36:46] can't be his clothes

[36:47] is because

[36:48] I think that would

[36:49] get to the point

[36:50] where there's enough

[36:51] Venom on him

[36:52] that maybe the

[36:53] xenophages can see him

[36:56] But you're right,

[36:58] Eddie Brock is just

[36:59] wearing underpants

[36:59] with the symbiote

[37:00] on top of him

[37:01] and it just changes

[37:01] clothes depending on

[37:02] what he wants to do.

Stuart Wellington

[37:03] Yeah,

[37:03] and they're like

[37:04] big old tighty-whities,

[37:05] right?

[37:05] They're like

[37:06] John Cena in underwear.

Elliott Kalan

[37:07] They're usually white.

[37:08] Yeah,

[37:08] they're just big

[37:09] white Hanes underpants.

[37:10] Yeah.

[37:11] Man,

[37:11] man.

[37:12] Awesome.

Stuart Wellington

[37:13] In the casino,

[37:15] Venom immediately...

[37:16] No wonder they're close

[37:17] because all he's wearing

[37:18] is underpants

[37:18] and then he's covered

[37:19] with his best friend.

[37:20] Yeah.

[37:21] Everyone's dream.

[37:22] You have to wear

[37:23] your best friend around.

[37:25] Skin to skin.

[37:26] Like a mother

[37:27] and a newborn baby.

[37:28] While I was watching

[37:29] this movie...

[37:30] Yes,

[37:30] this is what we're

[37:31] talking about.

[37:31] Yeah,

[37:32] not to give too much info

[37:34] on the life

[37:35] of Stuart Willington,

[37:36] but as I was watching

[37:37] this movie,

[37:37] I was sitting down

[37:38] on the bed.

[37:39] I was wearing some...

[37:40] I think I was wearing

[37:40] my jeans,

[37:41] which is important

[37:42] because that is the cue

[37:44] for my cat Muscles

[37:45] to jump onto the bed

[37:47] and then roll around

[37:48] on my lap for a while

[37:48] because he doesn't

[37:49] like bare skin.

[37:50] He only likes jeans.

[37:51] Unlike Venom,

[37:52] he doesn't like

[37:52] being skin to skin.

[37:53] He likes to be

[37:54] on my jeans.

[37:55] But it was a moment

[37:56] where I'm like,

[37:57] ah,

[37:57] Muscles.

[37:58] Muscles was also

[37:59] kind of groggy

[38:00] because he was

[38:00] recovering from

[38:01] having surgery.

[38:02] So he was rolling

[38:04] around on me

[38:05] Muscles is kind of

[38:05] like my Venom.

[38:06] Like he yells at me.

[38:07] He's annoying all the time,

[38:08] but I love him going.

[38:09] You brought it back

[38:09] because like,

[38:10] you know...

[38:10] I was also wondering,

[38:12] Dan,

[38:12] how this is related

Dan McCoy

[38:13] to anything.

[38:13] Unlike Elliot,

[38:14] I love cats.

[38:15] I adore them.

[38:17] But I was kind of

[38:18] wondering what the...

[38:19] Yeah,

Stuart Wellington

[38:20] you look concerned

[38:22] why are my two friends

[38:23] concerned about me

[38:24] telling a story

[38:25] about my life?

[38:26] Aren't they interested

[38:27] in my life

[38:27] and hear from me?

Dan McCoy

[38:29] Is that really

[38:30] a story about your life?

Stuart Wellington

[38:33] Yes,

[38:34] just because I wasn't

[38:35] the hero in the story.

[38:36] Sometimes we're not

[38:38] the main character

[38:38] in our lives, guys.

Dan McCoy

[38:40] Because they facilitated

[38:41] a moment of close

[38:42] between you

[38:43] and your beloved pet.

[38:46] Anyway,

Stuart Wellington

[38:47] Elliot looks angry

[38:49] at the idea

[38:50] that I could have

[38:51] a closeness

[38:51] with somebody

[38:52] that isn't him.

[38:53] Well, Elliot,

[38:53] next time I'm wearing jeans,

[38:55] you can roll around

[38:56] on my lap.

Elliott Kalan

[38:57] Thank you.

[38:57] That's all I'm asking for,

[38:59] to get the full experience.

Dan McCoy

[39:02] In the casino,

[39:03] Venom has an immediate

[39:04] gambling problem.

[39:06] He wants to play

[39:07] the slots.

[39:08] They run into

[39:09] Mrs. Chen,

[39:10] the daily order

[39:11] from the first couple

[39:12] of movies.

[39:13] She's been winning big.

[39:15] They go to her room.

[39:17] She looks great

[39:18] in her sequined dress.

[39:19] She wants to dance

[39:20] with them.

[39:21] And Dancing Queen starts

[39:23] and Venom, I guess,

[39:24] is so overcome

[39:25] with the power of dance,

[39:26] he forgets the one rule

[39:27] that he can't

[39:28] fully become Venom

[39:29] because he immediately

[39:30] does it for this

[39:31] dance sequence with her.

[39:32] Yeah.

[39:33] And that's what.

Elliott Kalan

[39:34] Guess what?

[39:35] Is the xenophage

[39:36] not going to notice

[39:36] because he's dancing

[39:37] so cool that the codex

[39:39] is there?

Dan McCoy

[39:39] No, it does notice.

Stuart Wellington

[39:40] I mean, I like to think

[39:41] that Venom wanted

[39:42] an audience to his dance.

Dan McCoy

[39:44] It is a fun

[39:45] sort of weird fake out

[39:46] because they do that though.

[39:47] Like they have the monster

[39:48] show up

[39:49] and then Venom hides

[39:51] inside Eddie again

[39:52] and it's like,

[39:54] you know,

[39:54] T-Rex rules

[39:55] and oh,

[39:56] like you can't sense

[39:58] the monster anymore.

[39:59] It'll just go away.

[40:00] And then the army

[40:01] comes in

[40:02] and kidnaps Eddie

[40:02] immediately afterwards.

[40:04] So I guess

[40:05] that was the fake out.

[40:07] Meanwhile,

[40:08] the hippie family

[40:09] is at Area 51.

[40:10] They want to break in,

[40:11] see what's up.

[40:13] Hippies, right?

[40:14] Yeah,

[40:14] they're always breaking

[40:15] into army bases.

[40:16] Always trying to break

Elliott Kalan

[40:16] into Area 51.

[40:18] That's the thing

[40:18] I know about hippies

[40:19] for sure.

[40:20] A de-venomized Eddie

[40:22] runs into the-

[40:23] Let's just say also,

[40:23] these are bad parents.

[40:25] It's one thing

[40:25] to take your kids

[40:26] to look at Area 51.

[40:27] A hippie?

[40:28] Another thing

[40:29] to have them be

[40:30] sneaking in

[40:31] under the fence

[40:32] at a classified

[40:33] military installation.

[40:35] And I think

Stuart Wellington

[40:35] the eldest child

[40:36] keeps pointing out

[40:37] that they're bad parents

[40:39] and they should be

[40:40] taken away from them.

[40:41] Yeah,

[40:41] that's true.

Dan McCoy

[40:43] Yeah,

[40:43] so Eddie runs in,

[40:45] he's,

[40:45] Eddie's in a jail cell.

[40:47] He runs into

[40:48] the cop in the next cell

[40:49] who tells him

[40:50] to release the symbiote army

[40:51] kept in the lab

[40:52] and to keep the codex

[40:55] from null.

[40:56] The army shows up

[40:57] to fuck everything up

[40:58] like officials tend to do

[41:00] and in the chaos,

[41:01] Eddie and-

[41:01] Wow,

[41:02] very libertarian bent

[41:03] from Dan all of a sudden.

[41:04] Well,

[41:05] I guess you want

Elliott Kalan

[41:05] to drain the swamp

[41:06] and take a chainsaw

[41:07] out of the deep state,

[41:08] Dan.

Dan McCoy

[41:09] Wow.

[41:09] Okay,

[41:10] I'm talking about

[41:10] the military industrial complex

[41:12] specifically.

[41:13] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[41:14] you're mad

[41:14] about all these

[41:15] DEI hires

[41:16] that are screwing

[41:17] things up

[41:17] for America's military.

[41:18] Normally he talks

[41:19] about that off air,

[41:20] but today he can't help it.

[41:22] I'm just amazed

[41:22] he's bringing it

[41:23] onto the show

[41:23] and bringing it

[41:24] on Max Fun Drive,

[41:25] no less.

Dan McCoy

[41:26] It's an anti-military stance,

[41:28] not the people,

[41:30] but sort of

[41:30] the general vibe.

[41:32] Yeah,

Elliott Kalan

[41:32] sure,

[41:32] yeah,

[41:33] the robots

[41:33] that are in control,

[41:34] it's all people,

[41:35] Dan.

[41:35] Anyway.

[41:36] Lizard people

[41:37] is what Dan says.

[41:38] Yeah,

[41:38] yeah,

[41:38] because he's been listening

[41:38] to a lot of David Icke's

[41:40] stuff,

[41:42] all the shape-changing

[41:43] multidimensional lizards.

[41:44] The point is,

Dan McCoy

[41:45] they create chaos

[41:47] so that Eddie and Venom

[41:48] can be reunited,

[41:49] solving a plot complication

[41:51] almost immediately.

Stuart Wellington

[41:55] Yeah,

[41:55] like the symbiote

[41:57] like jumped on

[41:58] one of the researchers

[41:59] and then like bounced

[42:01] from her to Eddie,

[42:02] right?

Dan McCoy

[42:04] man.

[42:04] It happens so fast.

[42:06] It all happens so fast.

[42:07] Yeah,

[42:07] it's a duck blur.

[42:08] The monster shows up

[42:10] and Geno Tempo

[42:12] listens to Venom's

[42:14] like hist instructions

[42:15] to release the symbiotes

[42:16] who bind to various scientists

[42:17] to fight the monster

[42:18] and everyone breaks out.

[42:21] Which is what we signed up for,

Stuart Wellington

[42:22] right?

[42:22] We signed up for a movie

[42:23] featuring a ton of Venoms

[42:24] and we get a ton of them.

[42:26] I mean,

[42:26] I assume that those are-

[42:27] If you look to a Venom movie,

Elliott Kalan

[42:27] it's going to have more Venoms

[42:28] each time, yeah.

[42:29] Those are Easter egg Venoms.

[42:31] Yeah,

[42:31] are these all Easter egg Venoms?

[42:32] Not all of them,

[42:33] but many of them

[42:34] are Easter egg Venoms.

[42:35] There's Riot,

[42:35] there's Toxin.

[42:36] These are characters

[42:38] that are loosely based on,

[42:40] on symbiote characters

[42:41] that are also in the comics

[42:42] and who don't show up

[42:43] that often.

Stuart Wellington

[42:45] And later on,

[42:46] not to spoil things too much,

[42:48] but Juno Temple

[42:49] bounds with a symbiote

[42:50] and she's got cool

[42:51] symbiote hair.

[42:52] I like that.

[42:53] That's how you know

[42:54] she's a lady.

Elliott Kalan

[42:55] There's a comics,

[42:56] there's a symbiote lady

[42:57] who has long symbiote hair,

[42:59] yeah,

[42:59] in the comics.

Stuart Wellington

[43:00] Are there any,

[43:01] at least,

[43:03] male characters

Elliott Kalan

[43:03] with symbiote hair?

[43:05] No,

[43:06] the male characters

[43:06] tend to be pretty bald

[43:07] when they're in the symbiote mode,

[43:09] yeah.

[43:10] It's only a ladies thing,

[43:11] yeah.

[43:11] Much the same way

[43:12] that the personification

[43:13] of death in the Marvel Universe

[43:14] is a skeleton in a robe,

[43:16] but she still has boobs,

[43:17] so you know she's a lady.

Stuart Wellington

[43:18] Yeah,

[43:18] I like how you said

[43:19] personification,

[43:22] which is what the first version

[43:23] of Sonic the Hedgehog

[43:24] when his face

[43:25] looked too human.

[43:26] Too human,

[43:26] too much,

Dan McCoy

[43:27] yeah.

[43:28] Those little teeth.

[43:29] The fight spills out

[43:30] to where the hippies

[43:31] can see them,

[43:32] Eddie reunites with them.

[43:33] At one point,

[43:34] one of the symbiots

[43:35] yells at Chiwetel

[43:36] for killing another one

[43:37] of them,

[43:38] saying,

[43:39] we are not the bad guys.

[43:40] I'm like,

[43:40] what are we doing here,

[43:42] everyone?

Elliott Kalan

[43:42] Dan,

[43:43] this Venom movie

[43:44] about a man

[43:45] who has alien clothes

[43:46] that is being stalked

[43:47] by other aliens,

[43:48] it's got an important message

[43:49] about not othering

[43:50] people who are different

[43:52] than you.

[43:52] Aliens who come down

[43:53] and chop on heads.

Stuart Wellington

[43:54] This xenophage

[43:55] is like unstoppable.

[43:57] It like scarves people.

[43:59] If it takes any damage,

[44:01] it like reconstitutes.

Elliott Kalan

[44:02] You blow it up

[44:03] and it's fine.

[44:03] You shoot it

[44:04] and it's fine.

[44:04] Although,

[44:05] it is vulnerable

[44:06] to having its head

[44:08] chopped off

[44:08] as we find out later.

[44:09] It's the one

[44:10] that you can't do.

[44:11] It's vulnerable

[44:12] to when the right character

[44:13] kills it.

[44:15] I was going to bring this up

Dan McCoy

[44:17] when we got there

[44:18] but we may as well

[44:19] talk about it now.

[44:20] Yeah,

[44:20] later on,

[44:21] one's head gets chopped off.

[44:22] Another one gets blasted

[44:23] in the head

[44:24] with a rocket launcher

[44:27] okay,

[44:27] I guess that kills them.

[44:29] Like,

[44:30] literally everything else

[44:31] has just had them

[44:32] reconstitute themselves

[44:33] and the movie

[44:34] is not really making it clear

[44:35] that these are like

[44:37] permanently dead,

[44:38] especially when there's like

[44:39] so many monsters

[44:39] racing all over the place.

[44:41] This is one place

[44:42] where I,

[44:42] as a stupid audience member,

[44:43] could have used someone like,

[44:45] cut off their heads.

[44:46] It's the only way

[44:46] to kill them.

[44:47] It's like,

[44:47] okay,

[44:48] I know where we're at now.

[44:49] Thanks.

[44:50] Thumbs up.

[44:50] I know the rules,

[44:51] but...

[44:53] Their head is their connection

[44:54] to null

[44:54] so they must not have it

[44:56] severed from their body.

[44:57] Well,

[44:57] speaking of things

[44:58] the monsters can

[45:00] and can't do,

[45:02] it lets out a ringing signal

[45:04] to both alert null

[45:05] and also temporarily separate

[45:07] the symbiotes

[45:08] from the people

[45:09] that they're on,

[45:09] which had me wondering

[45:10] why did this monster

[45:11] not do this

[45:12] at any time

[45:12] earlier in the movie?

Stuart Wellington

[45:14] It's gotta be

[45:14] on a fucking cool down

[45:15] If they have that ability

[45:16] all the time,

[45:17] it's OP,

[45:18] it is gonna ruin the game.

Elliott Kalan

[45:20] And they don't necessarily

[45:21] want to separate

[45:22] the symbiote from Eddie,

[45:23] too,

[45:24] because they need

[45:24] that sweet codex.

Dan McCoy

[45:26] Eddie zooms off

[45:27] on a motorcycle

[45:27] to distract the monsters

[45:28] for a while

[45:29] from the family

[45:30] who've decided

[45:30] they don't like aliens

[45:31] after all,

[45:32] other than their friend Eddie.

[45:35] Chiwetel is stabbed

[45:36] by a monster tail.

[45:38] Meanwhile,

[45:39] Venom and another

[45:40] symbiote used

[45:41] chopper blades

[45:41] to cut off

[45:42] a monster's head,

[45:43] fully killing it.

[45:45] Eddie's pulled

[45:46] to safety.

[45:46] With some motorcycle

[45:47] tricks, too.

[45:48] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[45:49] Venom uses

[45:50] his long arms

[45:52] to pull Eddie

[45:52] to safety.

[45:54] He's been

[45:54] stabified by some

[45:55] shrapnel

[45:58] And Venom's like,

[45:59] I have to sacrifice

[46:00] myself

[46:01] to keep the codex

[46:03] from unlocking

[46:03] null.

[46:06] These sentences.

[46:08] So he does

[46:09] a hero walk

[46:11] while the symbiote

[46:12] absorbs various monsters,

[46:14] which is yet another thing

[46:15] where I'm like,

[46:16] he could do this

[46:17] all the time?

[46:18] I feel like,

Stuart Wellington

[46:18] as silly as this is,

[46:21] there was something

[46:22] like,

[46:23] there was something

[46:23] weirdly sad

[46:24] about this scene

[46:25] between the two kids.

[46:26] Sure.

[46:26] Well, you know what

Dan McCoy

[46:27] I found genuinely tender?

[46:28] I was about to get to it.

[46:29] He ejects Eddie out

[46:31] to keep him safe

[46:32] while he's putting himself

[46:34] in acid.

[46:35] And there's

[46:36] this weirdly sweet moment,

[46:37] I thought,

[46:38] where he sends

[46:38] a little tendril out

[46:39] to put an armored door

[46:40] over Eddie

[46:41] to try and protect him

[46:42] from what's coming up next.

[46:44] He does not do that

[46:45] for a Chiwetel chief.

[46:46] Chiwetel.

[46:47] No, Chiwetel,

Elliott Kalan

[46:47] who is dying.

[46:49] He's just holding him up

[46:50] to the voice recognition thing

[46:51] so he can say,

[46:52] Strickland,

[46:53] and then have the acid

[46:54] come down.

Dan McCoy

[46:55] And he blows everything up

[46:56] with a grenade too.

[46:58] Oh, sure.

[46:59] Which,

[46:59] I'm not sure how

[47:01] that door protected Eddie

[47:02] because that grenade

[47:03] also seems to set off

[47:04] like the entire,

[47:06] anything explosive

[47:07] in the general vicinity

[47:08] goes up.

[47:09] I mean,

[47:10] much the same way

Elliott Kalan

[47:10] that in Kraven,

[47:11] he is blown up

[47:13] with a missile

[47:13] and then falls in a pile

[47:14] of,

[47:15] a pile of rubble

[47:15] falls in him

[47:16] and he just bugs Bunny

[47:17] his way out

[47:18] where he just suddenly

[47:19] is standing behind

[47:20] the bad guy

[47:20] with no explanation.

[47:21] Yeah.

[47:22] It's just hero stuff.

Dan McCoy

[47:24] At the last minute

[47:25] as everything explodes,

[47:26] Juno Temple

[47:27] is only able to save

[47:28] one of her colleagues

[47:28] by breaking a test tube

[47:30] and turning herself

[47:31] into a symbiote host

[47:33] at the last minute.

[47:35] And Eddie-

[47:35] Oh, great.

[47:36] She's got a best friend now.

[47:37] It's cool.

[47:37] Yeah.

[47:37] Eddie wakes up

[47:38] in the hospital

[47:39] calling for venom

[47:39] and an army guy's like,

[47:42] he's not coming back.

[47:43] These Sony movies

[47:44] were a bad idea.

[47:45] He's not coming back.

Elliott Kalan

[47:46] I love this.

[47:47] It's a very funny moment

[47:48] when he looks over

[47:48] and there's just been

[47:49] an army guy

[47:49] standing there

[47:50] the whole time

[47:51] waiting for him

[47:52] to wake up,

[47:52] I guess,

[47:53] to deliver the message

[47:53] to him.

[47:54] But it's just very funny.

Dan McCoy

[47:55] Yeah.

[47:55] But at least he pardons

[47:57] Eddie for anything

[47:59] he possibly could be

[48:00] prosecuted for

[48:00] with the caveat.

Elliott Kalan

[48:01] Something that a military

[48:02] leader doesn't really

Dan McCoy

[48:03] have the ability to do.

[48:05] Well, maybe he's a messenger.

[48:07] I mean,

[48:07] he brings the,

[48:09] he adds the caveat

[48:10] that, of course,

[48:10] he will be indefinitely

[48:11] detained somewhere

[48:12] if he speaks a word

[48:14] of any of it.

[48:15] And then we have

[48:17] the ending of the film

[48:20] before the credits.

[48:21] What?

[48:22] Where Eddie walks

[48:23] around New York

[48:24] dreaming a sentimental montage

[48:26] of all of the fun times

[48:27] he had with Venom.

[48:28] Because Venom had been

Elliott Kalan

[48:29] talking about how much

[48:29] he wanted to see New York.

[48:31] Yeah.

[48:31] The one thing I missed

Dan McCoy

[48:32] is that.

[48:33] Room 5's of Memories plays.

[48:34] Sorry, go on.

Stuart Wellington

[48:35] Yeah, it's fine.

[48:36] The one thing,

[48:37] the one clip

[48:37] that they did not play

[48:38] from previous movies,

[48:39] I really would have liked

[48:40] the moment where

[48:41] Michelle Williams

[48:41] is sitting with him

[48:42] on a stoop

[48:42] and she's like,

[48:43] Eddie, I'm sorry

[48:44] about Venom.

[48:45] I'm sorry about Venom.

[48:47] What a great line.

[48:47] We're all sorry about Venom.

Dan McCoy

[48:50] And he stares out

[48:51] at Lady Liberty

[48:52] and he says,

[48:54] I won't forget you, buddy.

Stuart Wellington

[48:57] Such a really sentimental ending.

Dan McCoy

[49:00] A tale of a man

[49:02] in love with an alien.

Stuart Wellington

[49:02] Like, no shit, dude.

[49:04] He's not going to forget

[49:04] the, like, months

[49:06] he was bonded

[49:07] with an alien

[49:08] biting people's heads off.

Dan McCoy

[49:09] No matter how much

[49:10] therapy he can get,

[49:11] he will never forget Venom.

[49:13] I mean, it does open

Elliott Kalan

[49:14] the possibility

[49:15] that he'll get married,

[49:16] have a family,

[49:17] and then just be like,

[49:18] eating dinner sometime,

[49:19] be like,

[49:19] oh, you know

[49:20] who I just thought about?

[49:22] Venom.

[49:22] I haven't thought

[49:23] about him in years.

[49:24] Yeah.

[49:25] Who?

[49:26] Oh, I never told you

[49:27] about him.

[49:28] My roommate

[49:28] slash body mate.

[49:30] Oh, we were,

[49:30] yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[49:31] We were the,

[49:32] we were so close.

[49:33] Yeah, he's on a camping

[49:34] trip with friends

[49:35] and somebody gets

[49:35] bitten by a snake

[49:36] and they're like,

[49:36] hurry, Eddie,

[49:37] get the anti-Venom.

[49:38] He's like,

[49:39] Venom,

[49:40] I got a story

[49:41] for you, buddy.

[49:42] Eddie,

[49:42] there's not time.

Dan McCoy

[49:43] So the listed

[49:46] runtime for this film

[49:47] is one hour 50,

[49:49] but here at one hour 32,

[49:50] we get credits.

[49:54] And Stuart was like,

Stuart Wellington

[49:55] ooh,

[49:55] I'm living on borrowed time,

[49:57] baby,

Dan McCoy

[49:57] and he turned it off.

[49:58] Of course,

[49:59] are there credit scenes?

[50:00] You better believe it,

[50:01] Vin Heads.

[50:01] Sure.

[50:02] There's a mid-credit one

[50:03] where Nulls swears

[50:05] he's going to find a way

[50:06] to Earth

[50:06] and destroy it.

[50:08] Don't worry,

[50:09] we'll never see him again.

[50:10] He says,

[50:10] and you will watch.

[50:13] I don't think so.

[50:13] Unless they change around.

[50:15] Unless Sony changes his mind.

[50:17] But maybe,

[50:18] I mean,

[50:19] if it happens,

[50:19] we will watch it

[50:20] for the podcast probably.

[50:21] Yeah, of course, yeah.

Elliott Kalan

[50:22] And then there's

[50:23] the end credits.

[50:23] Venom,

[50:24] the actual last dance.

[50:25] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[50:26] At the very end of the credits.

[50:29] I think there's another one?

[50:30] Yeah,

[50:30] the bartender emerges

[50:31] from the smoking ruins

[50:32] of Area 51

[50:33] where he'd been held

[50:34] and a cockroach crawls up

[50:36] to some remaining symbiote

[50:37] in a test tube

[50:38] which retroactively

[50:39] gives context

[50:41] to some utterly

[50:42] meaningless chatter

[50:43] Judo Temple has

[50:44] with the security guard earlier

[50:45] about how cockroaches survive

[50:48] for millions of years

[50:50] or whatever.

[50:52] yeah,

[50:52] that's a true thing

[50:53] about cockroaches.

[50:54] Why is this in the movie

[50:55] at this point?

[50:56] Just to set it up.

[50:57] It's funny because

[50:57] the security guard

[50:58] is like,

[50:58] also nods like,

[51:00] yeah, yeah,

[51:00] you're not very good

[51:01] at making small talk

[51:02] on you.

[51:03] Well, go on.

[51:04] Does it become

[51:05] like a venom cockroach?

[51:07] It threatens to,

[51:08] but the screen goes black.

[51:09] It's implied

[51:10] that this cockroach

Elliott Kalan

[51:11] will now be a venom cockroach

[51:12] which is one of those things

[51:13] where it's,

[51:14] we've already seen

[51:15] a venom,

[51:16] we've seen venom symbiotes

[51:17] in the wild

[51:18] on people and other animals.

[51:19] We know there are

[51:20] other venom symbiotes

[51:21] that survived.

[51:22] So I don't quite know

[51:23] what the purpose is

[51:24] of this moment

[51:24] if it's supposed

[51:25] to seem cool

[51:26] but the idea

[51:26] usually this is when

[51:27] you realize,

[51:28] oh,

[51:28] there's still one left.

[51:29] Here we go again.

[51:30] We know Juno Temple's

[51:31] walking around

[51:32] with one on, right?

[51:33] Like the other ones

[51:33] are still around,

[51:34] I think.

[51:35] So it kind of undercuts

[51:36] the coolness

[51:38] of finding out

[51:38] there's another

[51:39] because you know

[51:40] there's a bunch

[51:40] of other ones too.

Dan McCoy

[51:41] Well, let's get into it.

[51:42] get into our final judgments

[51:44] of the final

[51:45] or last dance.

[51:48] For now.

[51:48] Not the final dance.

[51:50] Is this a good,

[51:51] bad movie?

[51:52] A bad,

[51:52] bad movie?

[51:53] Or a movie

[51:53] kind of like?

[51:55] This is entirely

[51:56] out of like

[51:57] weird affection

[51:58] that I've grown

[51:59] to have for this movie

[52:00] having to watch

[52:01] all of them

[52:01] for the podcast.

[52:03] I did kind of like this.

[52:04] I think it's just

[52:05] Stockholm Syndrome

[52:05] of like Tom Hardy

[52:07] really loves doing this.

[52:09] There's enough silly things

[52:11] in each movie

[52:11] that I have fun

[52:13] and this one,

[52:14] like I said,

[52:15] before the credits drop

[52:16] was only an hour and a half.

[52:17] So I kind of liked it

[52:19] but I wouldn't

[52:20] recommend it

[52:21] to anyone per se.

Elliott Kalan

[52:22] So it's not your recommendation

Dan McCoy

[52:23] for this episode yet.

[52:24] Circumstances have

[52:25] caused me to

[52:26] learn to love Venom

[52:28] the way Eddie has.

Stuart Wellington

[52:29] Yeah,

[52:30] you've been bonded

[52:31] to the Venom series

[52:33] as Eddie Brock

[52:33] has bonded to Venom.

[52:35] Yeah, I mean,

[52:35] I feel like this is

[52:36] kind of on the border

[52:37] between a bad,

[52:38] bad movie

[52:38] and a movie

[52:39] I kind of like.

[52:40] There's some,

[52:41] like,

[52:41] it is,

[52:42] I feel like it's

[52:43] by the numbers

[52:45] in a lot of ways

[52:46] but there are weird moments

[52:47] that are great

[52:48] and it is just

[52:49] such a strange thing

[52:51] that this,

[52:52] so much of the movie

[52:53] is this guy

[52:54] who's like

[52:55] kind of hapless

[52:56] and like barely a hero

[52:59] just wandering around

[53:00] and then

[53:01] there's just a loud voice

[53:03] yelling at him

[53:04] and you don't even see

[53:06] Venom for most of the time.

[53:07] It's just like,

[53:09] it's just such a strange choice.

[53:11] It's just,

[53:11] they're weird,

[53:12] they're weird movies,

[53:13] okay, right?

[53:14] I think we can agree

[53:15] they're weird movies.

Elliott Kalan

[53:16] Yeah,

[53:17] I agree with you.

[53:18] It's on that same line

[53:19] for me between

[53:19] Bad Bad and Movie

[53:20] I kind of liked

[53:20] when it's just,

[53:22] exactly,

[53:22] when it's the weird moments

[53:23] where it's just Tom Hardy

[53:24] and Venom

[53:24] talking to each other.

[53:27] That's the kind of stuff

[53:27] in the first movie

[53:28] I was like,

[53:29] all right,

[53:29] he's like a wisecracking alien

[53:30] who loves

[53:31] pop culture stuff

[53:33] but now that has grown on me

[53:34] and I think it's because

[53:35] in a weird,

[53:36] it's weird to say this

[53:37] but I feel like Tom Hardy

[53:38] has grown into

[53:38] the Venom character

[53:39] in addition

[53:40] to making the Eddie Brock character

[53:42] more of a shambling loser,

[53:44] you know?

[53:44] Yeah.

[53:44] And so I really like that

[53:45] but anytime it's dealing

[53:47] with the main plot

[53:47] of the movie,

[53:48] it's super dull

[53:49] and exposition heavy

[53:51] and by,

[53:52] yeah,

[53:52] like you're saying,

[53:52] by the numbers.

Stuart Wellington

[53:53] And it's kind of fascinating

[53:54] that like Tom Hardy

[53:55] has basically turned this into,

[53:57] and I'm assuming

[53:58] he has a lot of control

[53:59] over this,

[54:00] but I feel like

[54:01] the movies have turned

[54:01] into a weird like

[54:03] love affair

[54:04] between Tom Hardy

[54:05] and Tom Hardy.

[54:06] It's like he's like,

Elliott Kalan

[54:08] it's just such a weird thing.

[54:10] It's,

[54:10] and I would much rather

[54:12] see a movie about,

[54:14] about Eddie Brock

[54:15] trying to have a regular life

[54:16] and dealing with the fact

[54:17] that he's like a drop dead Fred

[54:19] type version of Venom,

[54:20] you know?

[54:21] Because I agree,

[54:22] right?

[54:22] It's this weird thing

[54:23] of a love affair

[54:24] between two characters

[54:25] played by the same actor

[54:26] who feel like they're playing

[54:27] different sides

[54:28] of that same person

[54:29] and that's more fun to me

[54:31] than any of this stuff.

[54:32] It would be so much more fun

Stuart Wellington

[54:33] if they had lowered the stakes

[54:35] and there was like

[54:36] no other Venom characters

[54:38] in there

[54:39] and it was just like him like,

[54:40] yeah,

[54:41] like him like,

[54:41] okay,

[54:41] I have to deal with,

[54:43] yeah,

[54:43] I'm just like doing,

[54:44] it's like a slice of life story

[54:46] where he's like dealing

[54:47] with like neighborhood problems

[54:48] basically.

[54:49] Yeah,

[54:49] that's what I want to see.

[54:51] Oh,

[54:51] you want to?

[54:52] Yeah,

[54:53] so earlier today,

[54:54] I've been doing a lot

[54:55] of teasing folks.

[54:56] I'm the tease master today

[54:57] and I was teasing

[54:58] all the bonus content

[55:00] that we have

[55:00] and you know what?

[55:01] We have so much bonus content

[55:03] available for anybody

[55:04] who supports

[55:05] the MaxFun Network

[55:06] and our show.

[55:07] Well,

[55:08] just anybody who's a supporter

[55:09] at $5 a month or more.

[55:11] Everybody has access

[55:12] to this massive library

[55:14] of bonus content.

[55:15] A library that you can also

[55:17] like tweak and tailor

[55:18] depending on what your needs are

[55:20] because not only do we

[55:21] have bonus content on there

[55:22] but all the other shows

[55:23] on the network

[55:24] have been contributing

[55:24] bonus content

[55:25] and some of those shows

[55:26] have been on the network

[55:27] longer than us.

[55:29] We've done so many

[55:30] cool things

[55:30] from like full length

[55:32] feature length

[55:34] full movie commentaries

[55:35] so that you can try

[55:36] and sync up the thing

[55:37] to watching the movie.

[55:38] I think we did one

[55:39] for Country Bears.

[55:40] We did one for what?

[55:42] Cats?

[55:42] Cats.

[55:43] Yeah,

[55:43] some other things.

[55:44] We have a bunch of like

[55:45] weird side episodes

[55:47] where we did an episode

[55:48] where we were like

[55:49] did the,

[55:50] put the Flophouse treatment

[55:51] to some TV shows

[55:52] and then as Dan,

[55:53] I think Dan or Elliot

[55:54] mentioned on a previous episode

[55:56] we did a series of three

[55:59] kind of slightly shorter

[56:02] episodes of the podcast

[56:03] where we go over the movies

[56:05] of Graydon Clark

[56:06] such as Joysticks,

[56:08] one of the Lombada movies

[56:09] he made

[56:10] and what?

[56:11] Star Games

[56:12] which is,

[56:13] yeah,

[56:13] that's something special.

Elliott Kalan

[56:14] Which is basically

[56:14] a family home movie

[56:15] that is released

[56:16] as a film.

[56:17] Yeah,

[56:17] it's something special.

Dan McCoy

[56:18] You know what?

[56:19] It occurs to me

[56:19] that this is the second one

[56:21] of the drive.

[56:24] Some stretch goals

[56:25] have been announced

[56:27] by now

[56:27] so I just want to

[56:28] reinforce them

[56:29] on,

[56:29] you know,

[56:30] main episode

[56:31] of main feed here.

[56:32] Like,

[56:33] as in previous years

[56:34] we have stretch goals

[56:35] if we get 500

[56:36] or more

[56:37] new or upgrading

[56:39] members

[56:40] we're going to do,

[56:41] you know,

[56:42] a raffle

[56:42] like we did before.

[56:43] Stuff,

[56:44] you know,

[56:44] like we're going to pick

[56:45] I think 30 of y'all

[56:47] to get stuff

[56:49] from all of us

[56:50] whether it be

[56:51] swag

[56:51] or a personalized

[56:52] drawing from me

[56:53] and also

[56:53] for a thousand

[56:55] the stretch goal

[56:57] is there's a

[56:58] script that I wrote

[56:59] that I'm going to

[57:00] produce as a fully,

[57:01] you know,

[57:02] like fully produced

[57:03] radio play.

[57:04] So if that intrigues you

[57:06] if you're like,

[57:06] oh,

[57:06] some scripted content

[57:08] from Dan McCoy

[57:09] that he has to do

[57:10] a lot of work for,

[57:11] you know,

[57:12] make me do that work

[57:13] by becoming a member.

Stuart Wellington

[57:15] And basically

[57:16] what Dan's saying

[57:16] is that

[57:17] if you are considering

[57:18] signing,

[57:19] if you're considering

[57:20] supporting,

[57:21] do it now.

[57:22] Will you please

[57:23] go and support

[57:24] the Flophouse today

[57:25] by going to

[57:25] maximumfun.org

[57:27] slash join

[57:28] to support today.

[57:29] Now,

[57:30] one final piece of Boco,

[57:32] that's bonus content,

[57:33] it's pretty,

[57:34] it's close to my heart

[57:35] is there's a couple

[57:36] of episodes

[57:37] of the Flop Tales

[57:39] where I make

[57:40] Dan,

[57:41] Elliott,

[57:41] and Jubin

[57:42] play role-playing games

[57:43] with me,

[57:43] with me as the

[57:44] dungeon master.

[57:45] I have a feeling

[57:45] that some of our

[57:46] listeners might be

[57:47] interested in

[57:48] tabletop role-playing games

[57:49] and that was a thing

[57:50] that started as us

[57:51] doing a crossover

[57:52] from a way past,

[57:54] what,

[57:55] eight years ago

[57:55] or something,

[57:57] MaxFun thing

[57:58] where we did a crossover

[57:59] with the Adventure Zone

[58:00] so we played some D&D

[58:02] and I got them to do that

[58:03] and then we have since

[58:04] spun into other settings.

[58:06] There's like a weird

[58:07] boiled,

[58:07] almost pseudo

[58:08] Lovecraft game,

[58:09] there's one where

[58:10] they are animated dogs

[58:12] and then this year

[58:14] we produced

[58:14] a game where

[58:17] I had them

[58:19] running and staffing

[58:20] a seaside seasonal

[58:22] restaurant

[58:23] on the first day

[58:24] of the season

[58:25] and just trying to

[58:26] keep that thing going

[58:27] kind of in the vein

[58:28] of TV shows

[58:29] from the 70s

[58:30] like It's a Living

[58:31] or Alice

[58:34] And those shows

[58:35] are the

[58:36] Flop Tales

[58:38] or in this case

[58:38] Slop Tales

[58:39] are really important

[58:40] to me because

[58:40] that's a hobby

[58:42] that I love

[58:43] and it's also

[58:43] by far the most work

[58:45] I've ever done

[58:45] for the podcast.

[58:48] With that in mind,

[58:50] one of the things

[58:51] that's great about

[58:51] our show

[58:52] and doing it

[58:53] listener supported

[58:55] is that so much

[58:56] of pop culture

[58:57] these days

[58:58] is being increasingly

[58:59] controlled

[58:59] by a small group

[59:02] of very big

[59:03] companies

[59:04] and

[59:05] it feels like

[59:08] if you want to

[59:08] support

[59:09] like watch anything

[59:10] or listen to any music

[59:12] you're giving money

[59:13] to companies

[59:13] that are not cool.

[59:15] They are bad companies.

[59:16] They are bad

[59:16] and they are supporting

[59:17] bad people.

[59:18] And one of the great

[59:19] things about supporting

[59:19] us and supporting

[59:20] kind of creator-owned

[59:22] things is that

[59:23] you get to feel like

[59:24] you are putting

[59:25] your money toward

[59:26] the people who are

[59:27] actually making

[59:27] the thing that you're

[59:28] enjoying and not

[59:29] just some kind of

[59:30] like bullshit

[59:31] world zaibatsu

[59:32] that's like

[59:33] grinding out content

[59:34] just for the sake

[59:35] of it.

[59:36] Your money is

[59:37] directly supporting us

[59:38] and I think that's

[59:39] really important

[59:40] and for me

[59:41] I found that

[59:42] specifically during

[59:43] the pandemic

[59:44] it really helped me

[59:45] realize my priorities

[59:47] when it came to

[59:48] where I'm putting

[59:49] my money.

[59:50] I'm not just asking

[59:51] you to support

[59:52] the Flophouse

[59:52] or support the

[59:53] creators you love.

[59:54] I put my money

[59:56] where my mouth is.

[59:57] I like to put my money

[59:58] toward things like

[59:59] Bandcamp,

[1:00:00] Patreon,

[1:00:00] and I'm also

[1:00:01] a MaxFun member

[1:00:02] I like to

[1:00:03] if there's creators

[1:00:04] out there that are

[1:00:05] making things I love

[1:00:06] I like to give them

[1:00:06] money if I can

[1:00:07] and that's one of the

[1:00:09] nice things about

[1:00:09] MaxFun is that

[1:00:10] not only

[1:00:11] they give us a

[1:00:12] platform for doing

[1:00:13] this they give us

[1:00:14] the freedom

[1:00:14] to make the show

[1:00:16] that we want

[1:00:16] and they give you

[1:00:18] a relatively easy

[1:00:19] way to support

[1:00:21] us the Flophouse

[1:00:22] your favorite podcast.

[1:00:24] So why don't you

[1:00:24] head over to

[1:00:25] MaximumFun.org

[1:00:26] slash join

[1:00:27] and become a

[1:00:28] MaxFun member

[1:00:29] today please.

[1:00:31] Let's

[1:00:31] let's do some

[1:00:32] letters guys.

[1:00:34] Let's do some

[1:00:34] letters.

[1:00:35] Let's treat ourselves.

[1:00:36] Yeah that's what we

[1:00:36] call it right?

[1:00:37] Doing letters?

Dan McCoy

[1:00:38] Well I'll read them

[1:00:38] and then we'll

[1:00:39] respond.

[1:00:40] This is from

[1:00:41] Adam last name

[1:00:42] withheld.

[1:00:43] Adam McGowan?

[1:00:44] director of Exotica

[1:00:47] and the Sweet

[1:00:48] Hereafter.

[1:00:48] Adam writes

[1:00:49] as a native

[1:00:50] Minnesotan I

[1:00:51] hold the 1996

[1:00:53] Arnold Schwarzenegger

[1:00:54] documentary Jingle

[1:00:55] All the Way

[1:00:56] near and dear to

[1:00:57] my heart as the

[1:00:58] pinnacle of the

[1:00:59] 90s Minnesota film

[1:01:01] renaissance.

[1:01:01] Standing alongside

[1:01:03] Fargo, Mall

[1:01:04] Rats, the Mighty

[1:01:05] Ducks, Drop

[1:01:06] Dead Fred and

[1:01:07] Drop Dead

[1:01:07] Gorgeous as an

[1:01:08] essential piece of

[1:01:09] our cinematic

[1:01:10] history.

[1:01:10] The Drop Dead

[1:01:11] series.

[1:01:12] Drop Dead

[1:01:13] Before Midnight.

[1:01:14] This year my

[1:01:16] wife and I

[1:01:17] meticulously tracked

[1:01:18] and mapped

[1:01:19] Schwarzenegger's

[1:01:20] Christmas Eve

[1:01:21] film odyssey to

[1:01:22] get a Turbo

[1:01:23] Man for Jamie

[1:01:24] and determined

[1:01:24] that to jingle

[1:01:26] all the way

[1:01:26] means driving

[1:01:27] 100 plus miles

[1:01:29] and or 3.5

[1:01:31] hours plus in

[1:01:33] search of one

[1:01:34] very specific

[1:01:35] last minute gift

[1:01:36] not counting

[1:01:36] shopping, committing

[1:01:38] multiple felonies,

[1:01:39] pushing his SUV

[1:01:40] 10 across town

[1:01:41] or many, many

[1:01:42] other shenanigans.

[1:01:44] Are there other

[1:01:45] movies that come

[1:01:45] to mind for

[1:01:46] compressing an

[1:01:47] absurd amount of

[1:01:48] chaos into one

[1:01:49] day slash night?

[1:01:51] Thanks for the

[1:01:52] laughs and keep

[1:01:52] your stick on the

[1:01:53] ice.

[1:01:54] Adam last name

[1:01:54] withheld.

[1:01:56] Not after hours.

[1:01:58] That makes perfect

[1:01:59] sense to me.

[1:01:59] Well the thing is

[1:02:00] like I gotta say

[1:02:01] I love the one

[1:02:02] crazy night conceit

[1:02:04] and I will forgive

[1:02:05] the idea of like

[1:02:07] a bunch of chaos

[1:02:08] being compressed

[1:02:08] into one night

[1:02:09] because that's part

[1:02:09] of the fun of it.

[1:02:11] What always

[1:02:11] bothers me in

[1:02:12] movies even

[1:02:13] though I know

[1:02:14] that one of the

[1:02:14] points of filmmaking

[1:02:15] is we can

[1:02:16] compress or expand

[1:02:17] time at will.

[1:02:18] It's one of the

[1:02:19] magic powers of

[1:02:19] the cinema but

[1:02:20] when a movie

[1:02:22] really relies on

[1:02:24] like putting

[1:02:25] something off for

[1:02:26] a long time for

[1:02:27] suspense and then

[1:02:28] at the end like

[1:02:29] oh we magically

[1:02:29] did it in like

[1:02:30] five minutes at

[1:02:31] the end of the

[1:02:31] movie and that's

[1:02:32] okay.

[1:02:33] I don't like that

[1:02:33] kind of like

[1:02:34] playing with time

[1:02:35] but.

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:36] I like it when

[1:02:37] they take the

[1:02:39] moments before

[1:02:39] death and they

[1:02:40] slow it down and

[1:02:41] I get to see my

[1:02:42] hands running

[1:02:43] through the wheat

[1:02:43] field.

[1:02:44] I can see my

[1:02:45] dead family far

[1:02:46] off in the

[1:02:46] distance and I

[1:02:47] realize revenge

[1:02:48] was worth it you

[1:02:48] know.

Dan McCoy

[1:02:49] Or if you're like

[1:02:50] falling down the

[1:02:52] middle of like an

[1:02:52] atrium in a big

[1:02:53] building because

[1:02:54] dread has shot

[1:02:55] you or whatever

[1:02:56] happens.

Stuart Wellington

[1:02:57] dread has smashed

[1:02:59] a tube of slow

[1:03:01] mo into my

[1:03:01] mouth and then

[1:03:02] thrown me off a

[1:03:03] building and I

Dan McCoy

[1:03:05] get to experience

[1:03:06] slow mo style.

[1:03:08] What a picture.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:09] What a picture.

[1:03:09] What a picture

[1:03:10] indeed.

[1:03:10] I think the only

[1:03:11] thing that bothers

[1:03:12] me along those

[1:03:13] ways is when

[1:03:14] characters go from

[1:03:16] from hating each

[1:03:18] other to being in

[1:03:19] love with each

[1:03:19] other over the

[1:03:20] course of one

[1:03:20] night you know

[1:03:21] or one day.

[1:03:22] That happens a

[1:03:22] lot in movies.

[1:03:23] No man you

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:25] haven't lived.

[1:03:26] I guess not.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:27] I guess not.

[1:03:29] But it can also

[1:03:30] be fun to see

[1:03:30] something where

[1:03:31] it's just like

[1:03:31] oh what a

[1:03:32] night oh so

[1:03:33] much stuff

[1:03:33] happened.

[1:03:34] Oh what a

Dan McCoy

[1:03:34] night.

[1:03:35] Yep that's

[1:03:35] how it goes.

Elliott Kalan

[1:03:37] So much stuff

[1:03:37] happened in this

[1:03:39] movie.

[1:03:39] This actually just

Stuart Wellington

[1:03:40] like the last

[1:03:41] episode this

[1:03:42] listener question

[1:03:42] is going to tie

[1:03:43] in with my

[1:03:44] movie recommendation.

[1:03:45] Teaser.

[1:03:46] Oh the tease

[1:03:46] master strikes

[1:03:47] again.

[1:03:48] Wow.

[1:03:49] Toes.

[1:03:51] Toes.

[1:03:53] Alex edit

[1:03:53] that whatever

[1:03:54] Dan just said

[1:03:55] about.

[1:03:56] So that

Dan McCoy

[1:04:04] doesn't really

[1:04:05] answer but it

[1:04:06] sort of does.

[1:04:07] Blake last name

[1:04:07] withheld also

[1:04:08] writes in.

[1:04:09] Oh cool.

[1:04:09] Blake writes

[1:04:10] the ice cream

[1:04:11] truck just drove

[1:04:13] by and I was

[1:04:14] immediately.

[1:04:14] Is this a poem?

Stuart Wellington

[1:04:16] Man Blake Edwards

[1:04:17] is waiting for an

[1:04:18] ice cream truck.

Dan McCoy

[1:04:20] the ice cream truck

[1:04:22] just drove by and

[1:04:24] I was immediately

[1:04:24] compelled to cease

[1:04:25] my lazy day get

[1:04:27] out of my awesome

[1:04:28] Jedi bathrobe and

[1:04:29] get dressed.

[1:04:30] I didn't run out

[1:04:30] there in the nude

[1:04:31] and run after it

[1:04:33] to buy a Batman

[1:04:35] popsicle.

[1:04:36] I am 40 years

[1:04:37] old.

Elliott Kalan

[1:04:38] What are things

[1:04:39] that create.

[1:04:40] So this is one of

[1:04:41] those baby shoes

[1:04:42] never worn type

[1:04:44] stories.

Dan McCoy

[1:04:45] What should I

[1:04:46] do.

[1:04:47] What are things

[1:04:48] that create such a

[1:04:49] childlike sense of

[1:04:51] honest nostalgia for

[1:04:52] you that you have no

[1:04:53] choice but to

[1:04:54] indulge.

[1:04:55] I don't mean fan

[1:04:56] service.

[1:04:56] I mean the stuff

[1:04:57] that actually triggers

[1:04:59] emotion.

[1:05:00] Love you guys.

[1:05:01] Blake last name

[1:05:02] withheld.

[1:05:03] Thanks Blake.

[1:05:06] This is a hard one

[1:05:07] to go like I

[1:05:09] feel like oftentimes

[1:05:10] we sort of like

[1:05:11] dance around the

[1:05:12] question because

[1:05:13] it's easier to be

[1:05:14] frank.

[1:05:15] But there's

[1:05:17] stuff like that

[1:05:19] came to my mind

[1:05:19] like I love a

[1:05:21] movie that has

[1:05:22] stop motion in

[1:05:24] it just because it

[1:05:25] creates this like

[1:05:26] connection to like

[1:05:28] such a simple

[1:05:28] like beautiful past

[1:05:29] craft but it's not

[1:05:30] like I'm indulging in

[1:05:31] a particular thing

[1:05:33] it's just like a

[1:05:33] thing that I like

[1:05:34] when it comes

[1:05:35] up.

[1:05:37] Another sort of

[1:05:38] thing that came to

[1:05:38] mind is you know

[1:05:40] my childhood movie

[1:05:43] hero was always

[1:05:45] Harrison Ford in

[1:05:46] you know like Star

[1:05:47] Wars or Indiana

[1:05:48] Jones and so no

[1:05:49] matter how grumpy

[1:05:50] the man is in the

[1:05:52] future.

[1:05:52] Or when he turns

[1:05:54] into the

[1:05:55] you know I like

[1:05:55] even during the

[1:05:56] lean Harrison Ford

[1:05:57] years I always at

[1:05:58] least considered

[1:05:59] seeing a movie that

[1:06:01] had him in it just

[1:06:02] because he was in

[1:06:03] it you know.

Stuart Wellington

[1:06:03] Was that one with

[1:06:05] Brad Pitt the

[1:06:05] IRA movie?

[1:06:07] The Devil's

[1:06:07] Zone?

[1:06:08] Ugh.

[1:06:11] Review.

Elliott Kalan

[1:06:13] What do you guys

[1:06:14] think?

[1:06:15] I mean I find that

[1:06:16] most of my nostalgia

[1:06:17] gets triggered by

[1:06:18] seeing old commercials

[1:06:19] like the commercials

[1:06:20] from when I was a

[1:06:21] kid they feel so

[1:06:21] different than

[1:06:22] modern commercials

[1:06:22] but also I think

[1:06:24] like the taste of

[1:06:25] Kiber National

[1:06:26] Beef Salami is a

[1:06:27] real taste of my

[1:06:28] childhood that I

[1:06:29] don't get that

[1:06:30] often.

[1:06:30] you know the

[1:06:32] touch of the

[1:06:32] fabric of my

[1:06:33] life yeah.

[1:06:34] But in terms of

[1:06:35] movies yeah I

[1:06:36] don't know I

[1:06:36] mean there's

[1:06:36] certain movies I

[1:06:37] mean it's just

[1:06:37] there's certain

[1:06:38] movies that that

[1:06:40] like I think

[1:06:40] movies that are

[1:06:41] have a very

[1:06:42] mid-80s level of

[1:06:44] technology whenever

[1:06:45] watching those there's

[1:06:46] a certain sort of

[1:06:47] nostalgia to like

[1:06:48] when I was a

[1:06:48] little kid and

[1:06:49] just how much

[1:06:51] more analog the

[1:06:52] world was and

[1:06:52] how much less

[1:06:53] digital it was.

[1:06:54] So I have a

[1:06:54] real you know the

[1:06:55] for a long time

[1:06:56] the like Anna

[1:06:58] Perna logo which

[1:06:59] is looks very much

[1:07:00] like a like a VHS

[1:07:01] tracking you know

[1:07:02] or an old TV

[1:07:03] turning on like that

[1:07:04] would really get to

[1:07:04] me.

Dan McCoy

[1:07:05] So I just thought

[1:07:06] of one that like I

[1:07:06] really turned around

[1:07:07] on early CGI like

[1:07:11] at the time my I

[1:07:12] was just like angry

[1:07:13] I'm like well we

[1:07:14] have ways of doing

[1:07:15] the thing that you're

[1:07:16] doing that look

[1:07:16] better for the

[1:07:17] technology and

[1:07:18] budget you have you

[1:07:20] know but now

[1:07:21] like they had a

[1:07:21] rock why do they

[1:07:22] have to come up

[1:07:23] with this CGI

[1:07:23] scorpion.

Stuart Wellington

[1:07:24] But I

[1:07:26] but now I look

[1:07:27] back at that stuff

Dan McCoy

[1:07:28] I'm like oh give

[1:07:28] me more like I

[1:07:29] just saw at the

[1:07:31] most ridiculous the

[1:07:31] most recent ridiculous

[1:07:32] sublime screening at

[1:07:34] the Nighthawk with

[1:07:35] virtuosity.

[1:07:36] Oh boy.

[1:07:37] It's got some

[1:07:38] beautiful stuff in it.

Elliott Kalan

[1:07:40] We did that live

[1:07:41] show about Spawn and

[1:07:42] like when the Spawn

[1:07:42] movie came out I was

[1:07:43] like ugh this looks

[1:07:44] terrible but watching

[1:07:45] it now I'm like this

[1:07:46] looks beautifully

[1:07:46] terrible.

[1:07:47] Yeah and it's all

[1:07:48] nostalgia it's just

[1:07:49] nostalgia.

Dan McCoy

[1:07:49] And it's in that

[1:07:50] like in virtuosity

[1:07:51] is like the world

[1:07:52] that Sid is in is

[1:07:54] this like very

[1:07:54] vaporwave world where

[1:07:56] it's you know it's

[1:07:57] like oh it's just a

[1:07:58] vast void with

[1:07:59] columns in it and

[1:08:00] someone's playing

[1:08:01] giant chess pieces

[1:08:03] behind him.

[1:08:04] I'm like this is

[1:08:04] what we thought

[1:08:05] technology meant back

[1:08:06] then.

[1:08:07] It all looked like

[1:08:07] you know like the

[1:08:08] animated menu on

[1:08:09] CD ROM.

[1:08:11] Yeah.

Stuart Wellington

[1:08:12] I think you guys

[1:08:15] have kind of answered

[1:08:16] the main question

[1:08:17] pretty well.

[1:08:17] I mean I will also

[1:08:18] throw in there if I

[1:08:19] ever see in a movie

[1:08:20] if I ever see glass

[1:08:21] bricks like a glass

[1:08:22] brick wall I'm like

[1:08:23] oh fuck give me

[1:08:24] that shit.

[1:08:25] Yeah.

[1:08:27] I feel like there's

[1:08:27] going to be some

[1:08:28] silk stockings here

[1:08:30] but the thing

[1:08:33] there's a thing that

[1:08:35] I have trouble with

[1:08:36] and that's when I

[1:08:39] when I was watching

[1:08:40] the first season of

[1:08:41] The Bear there's an

[1:08:41] episode where they

[1:08:42] install a like a

[1:08:44] ticket machine for

[1:08:45] doing takeout

[1:08:46] orders and the sound

[1:08:47] of that fucking

[1:08:48] ticket machine is

[1:08:49] drives me insane.

[1:08:50] like it reminds me

[1:08:51] of working in

[1:08:52] places where I

[1:08:53] had a ticket

[1:08:53] machine or with

[1:08:56] the the the

[1:08:57] the timers at

[1:08:59] the bar have a

[1:09:00] very specific tone

[1:09:01] and if I ever hear

[1:09:03] that like that

[1:09:03] specific ringing

[1:09:04] tone like I hear it

[1:09:05] in my dreams

[1:09:05] sometimes but like

[1:09:07] one of my bartenders

[1:09:08] was playing a song

[1:09:09] that had that tone

[1:09:10] that ringing tone

[1:09:11] and I'm like turn

[1:09:12] that fucking thing

[1:09:12] off.

Elliott Kalan

[1:09:13] I used to have I

[1:09:14] had an alarm clock

[1:09:15] that made the same

[1:09:16] sound as the alarm

[1:09:17] clock at the start

[1:09:18] of the theme song

[1:09:18] for the animated

[1:09:19] tick TV show.

[1:09:21] Oh, okay.

[1:09:21] And I remember at

[1:09:23] one point rewatching

[1:09:24] one of those and

[1:09:24] that sound came up

[1:09:25] in the beginning

[1:09:25] and I was like,

[1:09:26] uh, like even

[1:09:27] though I was awake,

[1:09:27] I jolted as if I

[1:09:28] was waking up.

Stuart Wellington

[1:09:29] Yeah, like when

[1:09:29] movies use the like

[1:09:31] use what the the

[1:09:32] stock Apple like

[1:09:34] iPhone alarm thing

Dan McCoy

[1:09:36] I'm like I hate

[1:09:37] this movie.

[1:09:38] Yeah, I hate this.

[1:09:39] I want to leave.

[1:09:42] Um, let's uh,

[1:09:43] let's recommend

[1:09:44] some movies, shall

[1:09:45] we?

[1:09:46] Yeah, why not?

[1:09:47] Do it.

[1:09:47] Do they make

[1:09:48] any good ones?

[1:09:49] Oh, I would.

[1:09:49] Oh, thank you.

[1:09:50] Um, I'm going to

[1:09:51] do something a little

[1:09:51] unusual and I'm

[1:09:52] going to recommend

[1:09:54] a short film.

[1:09:56] Um, it's from

[1:09:57] Elliot, is this

[1:09:58] okay?

Elliott Kalan

[1:09:58] It's okay.

[1:09:59] I mean, he's

[1:09:59] recommended short

[1:10:00] films before so he

[1:10:01] can do it again.

[1:10:01] Yeah.

Dan McCoy

[1:10:02] Uh, thank you

[1:10:03] for the ruling.

[1:10:04] Yeah, precedent

[1:10:05] is on your side.

[1:10:06] Yeah, well, you

[1:10:06] know, that doesn't

[1:10:07] always mean anything.

[1:10:07] I appreciate that

[1:10:08] you have kept

[1:10:09] old ways.

[1:10:11] Uh, it's

[1:10:12] Windy Day is

[1:10:13] the title from

[1:10:14] 1968.

[1:10:15] It was, I found

[1:10:16] it on the, um,

[1:10:18] Criterion channel.

[1:10:20] I was looking to

[1:10:20] see what sort of

[1:10:21] animation, what sort

[1:10:22] of short animation

[1:10:23] they had on there.

[1:10:24] It's, uh, directed

[1:10:26] by Faith and

[1:10:28] John Hubley, uh, a

[1:10:31] married couple.

[1:10:32] They made a lot of

[1:10:33] animated, uh, animated

[1:10:33] animated, uh, yes.

[1:10:34] Yes, yes.

[1:10:35] And this one, it's

[1:10:37] their two daughters,

[1:10:38] one of whom, uh,

[1:10:39] went on, grew up to

[1:10:41] be a founding member

[1:10:42] of Yola Tingo.

[1:10:43] I found it.

[1:10:44] Oh, I didn't know

[1:10:44] that.

[1:10:45] Uh, looking up this

[1:10:46] movie, but this is

[1:10:48] some audio of the

[1:10:49] two daughters

[1:10:50] playing and it's at

[1:10:53] least somewhat just

[1:10:56] like found audio,

[1:10:57] like, like

[1:10:58] improvised stuff.

[1:10:59] But I think that

[1:10:59] also from what I

[1:11:00] read, it was guided

[1:11:01] a little bit by, you

[1:11:03] know, the hands of

[1:11:04] the parents, but, you

[1:11:05] know, kids are not

[1:11:06] gonna, it's, it's, it's

[1:11:08] gonna go off into

[1:11:08] weird directions.

[1:11:09] And this is a

[1:11:10] beautifully animated

[1:11:10] little short that is,

[1:11:12] uh, audio of two

[1:11:13] real children playing

[1:11:15] and it captures sort

[1:11:16] of the phantasmagora,

[1:11:18] like, things like

[1:11:19] keep shifting, the,

[1:11:21] the, uh, older girl

[1:11:23] wants to put on a

[1:11:24] play, the younger

[1:11:25] girl's like, why do

[1:11:25] you always want to do

[1:11:26] plays, doesn't want to

[1:11:26] do it until like it

[1:11:27] starts happening and

[1:11:28] then of course she

[1:11:28] wants to join in.

[1:11:29] And it, it just

[1:11:31] really captures the

[1:11:32] feeling of kids at

[1:11:34] play and how they

[1:11:36] sort of stumble into

[1:11:37] weird and profound

[1:11:39] misunderstandings

[1:11:40] about the way the

[1:11:41] world works because

[1:11:42] they're children.

[1:11:43] Um, like the movie

[1:11:44] kids, right?

[1:11:46] Not like that at

[1:11:47] all.

[1:11:47] And, uh, yeah,

[1:11:49] Elliot mentioned that

[1:11:50] John Hughley did a

[1:11:51] lot of stuff.

[1:11:52] I was looking him

[1:11:53] up, did Disney work,

[1:11:54] did work for UPA,

[1:11:56] was responsible for

[1:11:57] the MAPO

[1:11:57] commercials.

[1:11:58] I want my MAPO

[1:11:59] co-created, uh,

[1:12:00] Mr. Magoo, did a

[1:12:02] bunch of Sesame

[1:12:02] Street animations, did

[1:12:03] the Doonesbury

[1:12:04] animated, uh, special,

[1:12:07] like his hands are

[1:12:08] all over the,

[1:12:08] place, uh, green

[1:12:10] internet.

[1:12:10] Was that about

[1:12:10] politics?

[1:12:12] Yeah, probably.

[1:12:13] Um, but it led me

[1:12:14] down a rabbit hole

[1:12:15] of looking into more

[1:12:16] of that work because

[1:12:17] it's, it's interesting

[1:12:18] stuff.

Elliott Kalan

[1:12:19] Yeah, and he, they

[1:12:19] did a number of

[1:12:20] cartoons using kind of

[1:12:21] kid audio.

[1:12:23] Yeah.

[1:12:23] Also, um, yeah,

[1:12:25] those are really

[1:12:25] good.

Stuart Wellington

[1:12:26] Stuart, what are you

[1:12:26] going to recommend?

[1:12:27] I'm going to

[1:12:27] recommend a movie

[1:12:28] that kind of fits

[1:12:29] into the compressed

[1:12:30] time, a lot of

[1:12:31] stuff happens genre,

[1:12:32] and that's a recent

[1:12:34] comedy called One of

[1:12:35] Them Days starring

[1:12:37] Kiki Palmer and

[1:12:38] SZA.

[1:12:38] Um, it's basically

[1:12:41] like a, like a

[1:12:42] goofy, uh, friend's

[1:12:44] buddy movie where

[1:12:45] they are, uh, facing

[1:12:47] a economic crisis and

[1:12:49] they have to get it

[1:12:50] done by the end of

[1:12:50] the day or else, uh,

[1:12:52] bad things will

[1:12:53] happen and things

[1:12:54] keep getting

[1:12:55] progressively worse

[1:12:56] for our two heroes.

[1:12:57] Uh, but they are

[1:12:58] both very charming.

[1:13:00] Uh, there's a, you

[1:13:01] know, a bunch of

[1:13:01] weird characters

[1:13:02] intersect with their

[1:13:03] journey.

[1:13:04] Um, it's a lot of

[1:13:06] fun and it was, uh,

[1:13:08] it was a movie, I

[1:13:09] saw this movie, I

[1:13:10] feel like about a

[1:13:11] month ago when it

[1:13:11] was in theaters.

[1:13:12] Uh, and it was just

[1:13:13] so much fun to see a

[1:13:14] movie like this in a

[1:13:15] movie theater because

[1:13:17] it's so rare to see

[1:13:18] like comedies, like

[1:13:19] mid-budget comedies

[1:13:20] showing up in movie

[1:13:21] theaters.

[1:13:22] Um, and yeah, it

[1:13:23] was just like a fun

[1:13:24] hangout movie with

[1:13:25] two leads who are

[1:13:26] incredibly likable.

[1:13:27] Uh, and I would

[1:13:28] watch them make

[1:13:29] another one of these.

[1:13:30] So that's my review.

[1:13:31] One of them days.

Elliott Kalan

[1:13:33] I'm going to recommend

[1:13:34] a movie that's kind

[1:13:34] of the opposite of

[1:13:35] that.

[1:13:35] It's a documentary

[1:13:35] that is not a fun

[1:13:36] hangout movie and

[1:13:37] it's about a main

[1:13:38] character who is very

[1:13:39] unlikable and very,

[1:13:40] uh, and a little

[1:13:42] frightening.

[1:13:42] Uh, and this is the

[1:13:43] movie The Emperor's

[1:13:44] Naked Army Marches

[1:13:45] On.

[1:13:45] This is a Japanese

[1:13:46] documentary from

[1:13:47] 1987 that, uh,

[1:13:49] Kazuo Ohara

[1:13:49] directed and it

[1:13:50] follows this guy,

[1:13:51] Kenzo Okazaki,

[1:13:52] who, he's a

[1:13:53] veteran of World

[1:13:54] War II and he has

[1:13:55] become convinced

[1:13:56] that it is his

[1:13:57] calling to go and

[1:13:59] confront other

[1:14:00] veterans of World

[1:14:01] War II for their

[1:14:01] failures, both fail,

[1:14:04] the failures of how

[1:14:05] they took care of the

[1:14:06] soldiers who were

[1:14:07] fighting for Japan in

[1:14:08] New Guinea.

[1:14:08] And also it is to

[1:14:10] confront them over their

[1:14:12] attempts to try to go

[1:14:13] back to normal life

[1:14:14] rather than becoming

[1:14:15] kind of almost

[1:14:16] biblical prophets of

[1:14:18] the madness of the

[1:14:19] war.

[1:14:20] And he is a very

[1:14:21] difficult person.

[1:14:22] He is at times a very

[1:14:22] violent person who is,

[1:14:24] who, he'll be

[1:14:25] confronting someone

[1:14:26] about what happened to

[1:14:26] them in the war and

[1:14:27] then just start beating

[1:14:27] them up because they're

[1:14:28] not doing, they're not

[1:14:29] saying the things he

[1:14:30] wants them to.

[1:14:31] And he is especially

[1:14:32] focused on the deaths

[1:14:33] of two soldiers that,

[1:14:35] that were executed under

[1:14:38] somewhat mysterious

[1:14:39] charges of desertion, but

[1:14:40] they're executed after the

[1:14:41] war had officially ended

[1:14:42] when they shouldn't have

[1:14:43] been able to be tried on

[1:14:44] those charges.

[1:14:44] And this is a spoiler.

[1:14:46] Most of the movie is him

[1:14:48] talking to people in tense

[1:14:49] meetings that because of

[1:14:51] Japanese etiquette more

[1:14:53] than anything else, I

[1:14:53] think people will sit down

[1:14:54] and talk to him and the

[1:14:55] meetings are, can try to

[1:14:57] say, talk calmly despite

[1:14:58] the tension.

[1:14:59] But about halfway through

[1:15:00] suddenly all their

[1:15:02] conversations become about

[1:15:03] cannibalism among Japanese

[1:15:04] soldiers during World War

[1:15:05] II and who they were

[1:15:07] eating and why they were

[1:15:08] eating them.

[1:15:08] And it was just one of the

[1:15:10] most, one of the biggest

[1:15:11] kind of sudden breaks in my

[1:15:13] understanding of what a

[1:15:14] movie was about in the

[1:15:15] middle, in the middle of

[1:15:16] it.

[1:15:16] And it happens very calmly

[1:15:18] that someone is just like,

[1:15:19] yeah, anyway, I heard they

[1:15:20] were killed because they

[1:15:21] were going to talk about

[1:15:22] all the cannibalism that

[1:15:22] was happening.

[1:15:23] And then suddenly the movie

[1:15:24] is on that road.

[1:15:25] And it's a, it's a, it's

[1:15:28] a, like a real life

[1:15:30] portrait of almost like a

[1:15:31] real life kind of like

[1:15:32] Travis Bickle type person.

[1:15:34] And this crusade that he's

[1:15:36] on that is of questionable

[1:15:38] value and the secrets that

[1:15:40] he's digging up

[1:15:41] potentially going on.

[1:15:42] And it's a, I found it

[1:15:43] to be a really kind of

[1:15:44] like fascinating movie

[1:15:45] and a really hard hitting

[1:15:46] movie, though it's not

[1:15:47] always, sometimes, sometimes

[1:15:49] it's a, it's an unpleasant

[1:15:51] watch, even though it's

[1:15:52] mostly scenes of people

[1:15:53] just talking to each other

[1:15:54] in different, in different

[1:15:55] rooms and occasionally being

[1:15:56] beaten up by this guy.

[1:15:57] It's not a screwball comedy.

[1:15:59] It is not a screwball

[1:16:00] comedy.

[1:16:00] It's not a particularly

[1:16:01] funny movie.

[1:16:01] And that's the Emperor's

[1:16:03] Naked Army marches on

[1:16:04] well worth seeing, but it's

[1:16:06] not like, it's not a fun

[1:16:07] hangout movie.

[1:16:07] Cool.

[1:16:08] At all.

Dan McCoy

[1:16:09] Uh, Stu, any last, uh,

[1:16:11] MaxFunDrive words before we

[1:16:13] sign off?

Stuart Wellington

[1:16:14] Yes.

[1:16:14] What I'm going to say is

[1:16:16] if you are considering it,

[1:16:17] if you're on the fence,

[1:16:18] why don't you join MaxFun

[1:16:20] for five bucks a month?

[1:16:21] That is, five bucks a month,

[1:16:23] that is like one egg a month.

[1:16:26] Uh, so you can join and

[1:16:28] that'll give you access to

[1:16:29] the full bonus content

[1:16:30] library.

[1:16:31] Um, and you can try, try

[1:16:34] what it's like over here on

[1:16:35] the good side of supporting

[1:16:37] MaxFun shows.

[1:16:38] You can also boost your

[1:16:39] membership if you can't do a

[1:16:40] full upgrade or if you're

[1:16:42] living large, why don't you

[1:16:43] upgrade that membership and

[1:16:44] get some of that cool swag so

[1:16:45] you can show off your

[1:16:46] allegiance to MaxFun and

[1:16:48] impress all your friends.

[1:16:50] There's great gifts.

[1:16:51] There's tons of Boco.

[1:16:52] You support creators like me,

[1:16:55] like Dan, like Elliot.

[1:16:57] Yeah.

[1:16:57] So please join today.

[1:16:59] Go to MaximumFun.org

[1:17:01] slash join and become a

[1:17:02] MaxFun member now.

Dan McCoy

[1:17:05] Thank you for that forceful

[1:17:06] pitch.

[1:17:07] Uh, and thank you to our

[1:17:08] producer, Alex Smith.

[1:17:10] He goes by the name of

[1:17:11] Howell Doughty as a

[1:17:13] musician, as a Twitch

[1:17:14] streamer, um, you know,

[1:17:16] making jokes on the

[1:17:17] internet.

[1:17:17] You can find him.

[1:17:19] Um, and, uh, thank you

[1:17:20] producer Alex.

[1:17:21] Thank you to the network.

[1:17:23] Thank you to you, the

[1:17:24] listener for being with

[1:17:25] us.

[1:17:26] Uh, well, you're one of

[1:17:27] the hosts.

[1:17:27] Uh, and, uh, for the

[1:17:29] Flophouse, I've been Dan

[1:17:30] McGoy.

Elliott Kalan

[1:17:31] I'm Stuart Wellington.

[1:17:33] And I'm Elliot Kalin.

[1:17:35] Bye.

[1:17:36] See ya.

[1:17:45] I wonder if this is the

[1:17:46] first time that the

[1:17:47] director of a movie has

[1:17:48] been an actor in the

[1:17:49] sequel to that movie.

[1:17:51] Who is the director?

[1:17:52] Because Andy Serkis

[1:17:53] directed the last Venom

[1:17:54] movie and he plays

[1:17:54] Null in this movie.

Stuart Wellington

[1:17:56] True.

[1:17:57] Yeah, he really plays

[1:17:58] the hell out of it.

[1:17:59] The, uh.

[1:18:00] The characters barely

[1:18:01] exist in the movie.

Dan McCoy

[1:18:02] Director for this is the

[1:18:03] longtime screenwriter.

[1:18:05] Oh, that's right.

[1:18:05] Yeah.

[1:18:06] Which I thought was

[1:18:07] kind of nice.

[1:18:08] Getting a chance.

Stuart Wellington

[1:18:10] Sure.

[1:18:10] Put him in, coach.

[1:18:11] I mean, movies

[1:18:12] aren't very good,

[1:18:12] but, you know.

[1:18:13] Something that, uh,

[1:18:13] something that Venom

[1:18:14] would probably say.

[1:18:17] Eddie, put him in, coach.

Dan McCoy

[1:18:21] Not first class for them.

[1:18:25] Maximum Fun.

Elliott Kalan

[1:18:26] A worker-owned network

Dan McCoy

[1:18:27] of artist-owned shows

[1:18:29] supported

[1:18:29] directly

[1:18:30] by you.

Ep.#447 - Venom: The Last Dance

Transcript

In this episode

Description