[00:00:02] Blank Check with Griffin amp, Jack with Griffin That's what it's all about. Podcasts and butter, baby. You little dumb motherfuckers Yeah Yeah, Bing Reims. Bing Reims talking about butter. Guns and butter?
[00:00:36] Guns and butter. I mean this is my favorite line from the movie, but I couldn't change the words without Removing all of its value. My favorite line of the movie is obviously when Jody played by Tyrese Gibson says
[00:00:50] Popeye your bitch ass ain't gonna do shit. Yes when he is Throwing some shade at Popeye while watching a Popeye short, right? But that's a little out of context that doesn't really have a lot to do with the movie itself
[00:01:04] Maybe it does. Maybe it's everything. Maybe it's the turnkey of the whole thing Yeah, no, but no come on. Bing's got the most courtable stuff in this movie He does. Bing Reims is unreal
[00:01:19] The only other line I considered doing for the opening was let me smell your podcast I considered it. I consider it. Maybe I should have done it. Maybe I should have done it. Maybe that's what I should have done Let me smell your podcast but
[00:01:33] David you infamously keep a spreadsheet Of all the movies you've seen from every calendar year Going back to years and years decades and decades before you were born and what you would nominate in every category in the Oscars
[00:01:47] For each year. So I will throw random statements out of my ass like oh He'd be my winner that year. Whereas you bring receipts and you've actually done the math I will say speaking out of my ass
[00:01:59] I think Bing Reims might be my best supporting actor winner from 2001 The only thing I'll say that's one of the most crazy loaded years of all time, but yeah I was thinking through it. I was thinking through it Because what the actual nominees are Ian McKellen Jim Broadbent?
[00:02:15] Well Ben Kingsley Ben Kingsley Ethan Hawke Oh Ethan Hawke that's 2001. Yeah, and John Voight in Ali. I Think the Grimes is my winner. I you know some other good one Busce me and ghost world is the fuck the big hitter who missed out there fuck
[00:02:35] You know you got Joey pants and memento. You got Jude Law in AI You got Bing though Making scrambled eggs and baby boy. I stand by it would be it would be a showdown between Bing and Busce me That's if that I'd watch that show down. Yeah Yeah
[00:02:55] Our guest is allowed to speak at any time any any moment that she wants to butt in With her opinions on this but also can remain silent for the entire episode if that is her right if she feels
[00:03:07] She's making some good faces very expressive deep consideration. Oh, she's had a thought she's she's playing drums She's running in place Yeah, I was running Uh This is kind of the end of like the king shit Ving Reims run though, right? Like he's got he's got this run
[00:03:32] For ten years where he's kind of like the most exciting guys in movies wait or any time he's in a movie You're like just pumping your fists and you're right after this. I mean I
[00:03:43] Cobra bubbles in Lilo and stitch. Whoa. He is he is cobra bubbles. I am pretty good You are correct. That is his last Performance of that run we should say very clearly our guest today is Iowa Debrae
[00:03:58] creator of the Kaminsky method, but also from Big Mouth and the iconography podcast And this is a podcast About filmographies is called blank check with Griffin and David. I'm Griffin. I'm David
[00:04:13] It's about my oh guess say it say it say it. We're putting you above the title this episode It's about directors who have massive success early on in their career and are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects
[00:04:26] They want and sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce baby boy Yeah, baby boy Maybe the only time I've gotten to do that joke on this podcast Have we ever had a movie title that starts with baby before I don't think so, right?
[00:04:43] It's a mini-series on the films of John Singleton. It's called pods in the cast today we're talking about Baby boy which fits a very particular type of blank check movie Which is the kind of like you can't go home again movie
[00:04:58] It's the like massive success early on in the career goes a little astray and the director's like, okay Okay, I got it. I'm gonna go back to doing the thing you all like to be doing the most Yeah, it's funny It's also I don't know
[00:05:13] It's like his stealth movie that people are like well, that's his best movie You know what I mean? They're like there are certain people who might be like well, you know what the Singleton's you know real gem is this baby boy
[00:05:25] I think that's a wild fucking take but it's certainly a lot of movie and it's maybe the most Singleton movie I'm still kind of I'm well that you can't go home again part of it. I'm still stuck on
[00:05:41] But I guess I get what you mean like boys in the hood and poetic justice We're all kind of like quieter learning rosewood Sure, and then and then he does like shaft and it's like big but right right right higher learning is like so
[00:06:00] Ambitious and messy shaft is him doing like a big blockbuster And I also think if you look at the reviews of poetic justice we talk about this in our episode
[00:06:09] But like Roger Ebert feels like was one of the only critics who kind of got that movie and everyone else was like What is this like? Why is he doing this now? You know sad and wrong?
[00:06:21] Right, right, and I feel like you know Roger Ebert was like oh He's like pointedly making a counterpoint movie to boys in the hood like he's doing the flip movie He's trying to do the opposite in a lot of ways
[00:06:32] But I think this is kind of when you read the reviews of his follow-up films It feels like baby boy is what everyone was expecting him to make after boys in the hood
[00:06:44] They were like this guy is just gonna be like the chronicler of young black men in America In LA in LA like he's just gonna do different versions of this And then he was like I kind of want to do what they say Yeah
[00:06:59] To his credit and then by the time he came back around to do this movie I remember the press being like you know him doing interviews of being like I'm look this is what everyone liked I'm doing like boys in the hood again
[00:07:10] This is my most boys in the hood movies since boys in the hood and then the movie just kind of came out I think everyone was sort of like well didn't really recapture the magic Maybe that was a lighting the bottle thing. Yeah, it got like good reviews
[00:07:22] Right, you know I You asked for this movie so I just want to yeah because this is a movie well because This is a movie that I kind of grew up with And it wasn't until I was an adult that I like realized the jugs important
[00:07:43] if that makes sense because he was just like This movie was constantly on replay on BT growing up Like all the time to the point where I did not really like this movie because yeah
[00:07:59] Yeah, it was just like always on and there's like so many like scenes from that are just Engrained in my brain because I've just saw I've just always seen this movie forever and also When this is a read this ask originally happened
[00:08:18] It was right before you had your Baby oh I owe you. I'm so glad you brought this up I almost forgot my baby girl because I Requested and how and how often does this have I requested Griffin to to reference his own joke
[00:08:37] Uh-huh that he made because I thought it was good. It's something that Happened happens almost never Yes, cuz this was this was back in January. Yeah But but even earlier than that like I feel like months earlier in that we knew we had singleton on the schedule
[00:08:56] We threw you out like a longer list as one of our favorite people of like here are the Elaine May movies Here's singleton here's like musk or clements Does any of this jump out to you and you said baby boy
[00:09:05] so then I sent you an email following up in January when we thought we were gonna record this episode before David's baby came early and I Said You still want to do baby boy
[00:09:15] And then I wrote Sims is about to have a all-caps baby girl of his own in March And then I said hello would love to do baby boy to be honest if that's okay
[00:09:25] And then the next email I followed up and I said also you should show David this email I think he did a great job with the whole baby boy slash girl thing now. I'm realizing it doesn't play as well read out
[00:09:37] I really think it was a triumph of formatting and capitalization. I think it's a visual email Yeah, you had a space. You had a graph break or whatever you went into caps Yeah, that's exactly it. I mean I to be clear
[00:09:51] I did not have a baby girl my wife did but I was there You were there too you're gonna do an episode with gorelly about it, right? I'm gonna do an episode of gorelly about yeah, my wife going into labor
[00:10:05] On I was there too. I was there too for the whole thing. You were there, too But and she did come early she was a February girl not a March girl in the end, but I Don't have a baby boy. I do like baby boy the movie
[00:10:21] Maybe so I I owe yes John Singleton are there other movies that were Whatever like formative or on replay like as well like or is it later that you come around and you're sort of like Singleton has like a rich filmography that I will now investigate
[00:10:42] No, I literally grew up and have watched and rewatched boys of the hood poetic justice higher learning baby boy It's too fast too furious four brothers watching all these movies It just took a while for you to unify them all as one person's yes
[00:10:56] Yeah, and I think that I mean I think it's like a combination of things like growing up not really realizing like What Like what directing was and like what a director wasn't and what they meant and also I think there was a certain element of him like
[00:11:14] Probably being a Black man and also kind of like a relatively young black man. We're in my head my head I maybe minimized it to a certain extent and and also to be honest
[00:11:27] It's like it was on BT and I think my brain did something where instead of being like wow How cool that there is this black movie by a black director on BT That's like a comp like what a great accomplishment
[00:11:42] Same with boys in the hood and poetic justice it was more like okay, like here's a BT movie because I think You know black person growing up and like your associations with like That channel are like yes for us, but it's like this isn't for
[00:11:58] Other people then or other people don't necessarily see the same value especially when you go off to school and your base of references Like it's not the same Yeah, as other people and in certain it's into a certain extent is Given less worse not overtly all the time
[00:12:18] But no but it is I the conversation has been Is being had a lot now I feel in like The film community and the things surrounding the film community of just like how our cannons established
[00:12:35] You know there was that big New York Times piece about a criterion collection and How few filmmakers a color? Well, it was so exciting to for when like Robert Townsend Like his movies were like on
[00:12:49] We're starting to be like put on there and not even all of them But like you know having Hollywood shuffle there and like understanding the importance of that
[00:12:58] And also like his I mean just he's another one like who his whole career to me is just like it's incredible And it's so inspiring, but at the time it's just like okay cool
[00:13:07] Like Baps is on TV again like okay. I'm gonna watch the parenthood like five heartbeats is on TV again like oh Cool raw like you know, it's just you're just like sure it's like stuff for us and here we go again
[00:13:19] It's comforting and I love it, but I didn't think I Necessarily like attached a steam to it or anything and now that's changed obviously, but right I mean there was like I feel like I saw some pushback to the criterion piece that was like who cares
[00:13:35] They're like a DVD company. They're not like the grand arbiter of what's good But it's like but they have become a stamp of legitimacy in the same way. Yeah, I owe thumbs down
[00:13:45] I agree with you where it's like it's the same thing as like when you call a channel Turner classic movies right and you curate a certain like rarefied air and you have serious men in suits Presenting like these movies and like burnished wood like studies
[00:14:01] It does make any movie that plays after that introduction feel like I guess I need to take this seriously now As opposed to like what you're saying I owe of like if the movies playing a BT and it has commercial breaks
[00:14:11] And like what's it sandwiched in between on the programming? You know In the same way that like you know like a movie playing on TBS has less esteem You know then one thing on HBO or whatever It is
[00:14:27] Important like the way we sort of I don't know the way these things are presented to us and I also think it's I think I think you know, it's like now I can have the view of like Wow how great that this was available
[00:14:39] But I think at the time it was like oh cool. Okay boys in the hood and baby boy have like the same Sort of association to me as like the parkers sure like like a Martin rerun, which is also again not
[00:14:57] I'm not downplaying the importance of either of those things but I think just in my head It put it in a different canon and And then I'm like, okay score says he is a different type of guy altogether
[00:15:09] He's just in a different school and and there we go But like this is also like by far his most like formally adventurous movie sort of most like low concept movie like it's
[00:15:25] It's weird that it sandwiched in between shaft and too fast too furious like his most obviously You know commercial franchisee things that like he sort of slunk off and in between he was like
[00:15:35] I'm gonna do boys in the hood without a message and with way more kind of weird dreamy imagery and like sort of Fast-cutting storytelling, you know like you know like it's and he wrote this as a novel first
[00:15:51] I mean, I don't know. It's just like I'm trying to think of it within the blank It's it's kind of it's not his blank checkiest movie because that's probably like rosewood, right? That's probably but in certain ways it is I'm not sure what's gonna make that argument
[00:16:06] This is where like when people get like nitpicky about our definition of blank check and who is a blank check director And who isn't what movies blank checks and whatever where it's like first of all we fucking
[00:16:16] We were malleable with it to fit what we want to talk about But also like the notion that because this movie only Costs 15 million dollars. It is less of a blank check than shaft costing 60
[00:16:30] Is it's like this is a wilder movie to make for 15 and shaft is for 60 Like the freedom he had to have that budget for this movie to execute it in this way is
[00:16:41] Bananas and that's not something that happens even if it's a smaller budget unless you've gotten to that point in your career I feel like if like Having a movie where there's a scene of Snoop Dogg smoking weed to a Bootsie Collins song does it?
[00:16:57] Qualify it this as a check movie that I don't know Exactly a man fully open like in utero like a growth right Floating in fluid But this is like Tyrese's first movie and Snoop Dogg's first movie. Yeah, and one of Taraji P. Henson's first yeah
[00:17:17] But it's like he essentially like minted three movie stars Like because the selling point this way obviously like Tyrese and Snoop Dogg are very well known They're incredibly famous at this point in time But it still says something about the fact that like up until this movie
[00:17:35] John Singleton is kind of the biggest name attached to any John Singleton movie And even when he did poetic justice and it's like oh fuck He's working with Tupac and Janet Jackson. It's like can you believe Tupac and Janet Jackson are in a John Singleton movie?
[00:17:49] Like it was like legitimization for them and I you know in doing research for these episodes when I do like I Try to read so much of like the press from when the movie was coming out
[00:18:00] Like promotional interviews from before to try to figure out what the attitudes and expectations were He's always Front and center, you know, he's like the spokesperson for his movies
[00:18:12] he was for a moment there one of those directors who became like a publicly known figure in his own right and The baby boy press is all like he's going back to his roots. He's making the small like young man movie again
[00:18:27] He's like going back to South Central They're releasing it in the middle of the summer like it's $15 million, but it's coming out like with a major studio push a summer release He's got too big like music stars in it
[00:18:40] And then a year later too fast to furious comes out and I remember like being at an AMC theater Walking by the too fast to furious poster looking closely at it and going like this is directed by John Singleton And then when I went home to my dad
[00:18:56] I was like, do you know that John Singleton directed the fast and furious sequel? He's like that's you must have that wrong That's impossible like if John Singleton was directing a movie called too fast too furious that was a sequel without Vin Diesel
[00:19:10] That that we would know about that and it was like they were hiding him in the press for that movie Like that was so a four-higher job In terms of the positioning of it, you know Although that movie is very bizarre and individualistic
[00:19:25] But I do think like this is the last time it's like a John Singleton movie Kind of means a specific thing I feel like something for me that happens I don't know is like and I'm sure you've talked about it in like the other episodes
[00:19:38] But like sometimes I just it feels like lately history is just happening every day So things move so so quickly and you kind of like forget The importance of things and also to be honest, there's no like VH1
[00:19:54] I love the 90s so you don't really understand like I sometimes I'm like what are the big moments like what do they really mean? And it's like sure was the youngest person to be
[00:20:05] Nominated for best director in addition to being the first black man like breaking like so many barriers at the same time and like and youngest best screenplay nominee I think we figured out as well and and I mean an IO you said like your
[00:20:21] Understanding of him at the time that you were watching these movies on TV and being like I guess he's relatively young He's 33 when this movie comes out which is pretty wild to consider that he's made five movies That's insane by Actually is crazy
[00:20:37] Like if he had not died there's a whole because like his career had sort of peered out And then it was sort of starting to come back with you know the TV show he was right
[00:20:46] You know he was kind of like maybe igniting and like there could be just a whole second act of his career like I mean he there are like things what was the oh
[00:20:58] Samuel Jackson had something he was gonna do with him. I found some interview where he was talking back on shaft He's like but we're in good terms now There's like a script I've been developing with him that I think we're gonna do
[00:21:09] He said he was writing something new for Taraji P. Henson and Tyrese That wasn't like literally a baby boy sequel, but he wanted to do another thing with them And he just co like was like co-created snowfall, which like actually is pretty good and
[00:21:25] Like I just also I'm imagining like in addition to maybe that other second act Like he cared a lot about black people and like when you hear like there's like interviews of him like talking about black people and especially like black people in art and I
[00:21:41] Can't help but like imagine a second act where he was like producing and Maybe mentoring other young filmmakers Maybe that was the period that was gonna happen next, but it felt like Here's another thought I had like watching this he
[00:22:01] Created movie stars out of so many musicians, right? Mm-hmm and part of that is like there was not a very robust crop of Sort of Bankable like studio green light a ball young black leading men
[00:22:20] Uh-huh, and I have heard people criticize that it was sort of like well There's a self-perpetuating problem if you only give those parts to people who aren't actors But are known as musicians first and foremost
[00:22:32] Then you're not letting actors get those breakthrough opportunities that arguably like Morris Chess Not and Cuba Gooding got in the first movie You're only creating a new generation of ice cubes which perpetuates the idea of those are the only bankable black leading men of that generation
[00:22:46] Right, but you do look at like now in 2021 There is such a robust crop of like there's this generation of Kaluya and Stanfield and Michael B. Jordan and all these guys where you're just like
[00:23:00] Man, it would have been exciting to see him get to make movies with any of those guys Yeah, you know like and you can kind of imagine any of those guys being like now that I have clout
[00:23:11] I want to make a John Singleton movie like I want to use that clout to help John Singleton get a smaller film-aid or whatever Let me get into some of the context of baby boy
[00:23:22] Let's talk baby boy a little bit as you said Griffin. He wrote it as a novel initially That's where the womb stuff comes in didn't complete it right, but he started And I mean this this is the quote I have to read Griffin
[00:23:38] I assume you're looking at our dock on this but like it's so funny Just like with like what's the genesis of the project? And he's like the idea came from me sitting around the Crenshaw Mall south central LA watching these cats
[00:23:50] They walk in with those shirts on they're like 20 years old They're flirting with teenage girls one minute then some other guys come to the mall and there's a fight I thought I want to write about one of these cats. What's he doing with his life?
[00:24:00] Just wandering around aimlessly all of the hero's actions are defined by his fear of dying He has a sign will give a fuck attitude that allows him the freedom of not realizing
[00:24:08] He's afraid so he's just like seeing people hanging out and he's like what's up with these guys That's a movie like that. That's that's what he's sort of like rubbing stones together
[00:24:17] Well, this is the other subgenre that this movie falls into that is one of my personal favorites Which is kind of like Director imagines what their life would have been like if things had gone different. Yeah
[00:24:31] Right like because you consider that he was making boys in the hood at the age of this character Yes, and I think it is it is him looking at the mall and being like it like, you know
[00:24:45] Things I I have an Oscar nomination. I made five movies, but just as easily none of that could have happened an Oscar nomination I Defied expectations And I'm at the mall right right like
[00:25:00] I don't know like it's it's the reason I love and we talked about this extensively on when we did the episode on this But the reason I love Ed wood so much is I do feel like Ed wood is Tim Burton looking at Edward and being like
[00:25:11] I don't understand why I'm successful in this guy isn't Like I don't understand what the difference is between the two of us other than people like my movies
[00:25:19] And they don't like his and I think the singleton has that same kind of thing where it's like there's like a very fine line here And so much, you know, his films are I feel like if anything the biggest theme of his movies is
[00:25:32] Like, you know fathers and the lack thereof and how they define Development in lives, right? Yes And and this is sort of like, okay, what what happens if I don't have a dad around?
[00:25:46] Maybe you know, whereas like boys in the hood is so much about what if you get sent to your father's and he kind of shapes your entire life That's that all makes sense I mean also there's the Tupac thing of like he's writing this for Tupac
[00:26:00] Right, right and it seems like he feels like a lot of kinship with Tupac as a fellow like Slightly wayward person who got famous really young and was overwhelmed by it like right like, you know, he's really shaken up by Tupac dying
[00:26:15] Yeah, I mean this is the amazing Tupac quote which is from a Hollywood reporter piece where he says He had all Tupac was a baby boy. He didn't know whether he wanted to be a thug or a revolutionary
[00:26:28] He had all this brilliance but not enough time or purpose and no mentoring at all and by the time somebody was ready to Mentor him. He wasn't ready to accept it. That's this whole thing of this generation thinking they know everything and they don't know shit and
[00:26:41] That was from an interview he did like late in his life in 2014 where he was sort of looking back at his whole career But he was like pitching this movie to Tupac when they were making poetic justice
[00:26:52] He was like, you know, this is your mean streets and then now I'm gonna make your taxi driver You know, I'm gonna make your raging bull like you're gonna be my deniro Here's the movie I'm writing for you
[00:27:02] It's gonna be the one that like legitimizes you and gets you an Oscar and then yeah when Tupac died the movie sort of got like Slowed down for a while right until I think he felt
[00:27:12] Maybe while being gummed up in like the gears of shaft like I want to get back and make something more personal again In it is I guess I just didn't realize that Taraji not been in anything. Obviously Tyrese Like is is a fine as an actor
[00:27:30] He takes this to Columbia and like they're the only studio that wants to make it because of boys in the hood They're like, all right, you know, we can sell it as like It's a quote-unquote spiritual sequel. Well, and this is another like thing to think about is
[00:27:44] There was a point in time where a major studio could look at a movie like this and go it only cost us 15 million dollars What's the risk? We'll still release it wide in the middle of summer against blockbusters. Yeah, right
[00:27:58] Whatever and now studios just don't even bother with a movie this small It would not even be a consideration for them Even though it's kind of hard to lose money on a movie of this size
[00:28:10] Yeah, I don't think this movie lost money, right after after singleton died his family sued Sony and they paid him Half a million dollars in royalties from this movie that they had been hiding wait Studio bullshit, right? Yes. Yes
[00:28:26] But you know it cost 15 million dollars and made 30 right, you know like I'm sure Sony was like yes All right, didn't you know they like sold it for a bunch of money to cable and it probably sold a bunch of DVDs
[00:28:36] Yeah, I've watched it so many times right And I mean so yeah henson like she's basically done some TV stuff She's just like a crazy fun now. I guess I didn't realize that like yeah, she is Like the breakout star
[00:28:53] She's so I mean she's rarely bad to Raji P. Henson She is so good in this movie Yes And it's sort of similar to like a lot of those other early performances I feel like that she stood at like hustle and flow where like
[00:29:07] Hustle and flow is also singleton like that singleton. Oh, I know yeah Right. Yeah, but just she's so like vulnerable and relatable and yeah kind of like so funny and so
[00:29:21] Like Regina Hall level energy, that's how I felt like there were just certain scenes where it's like it reminds me of how I feel When I watch early Regina Hall where I'm just like you're so magnetic and full of energy and like just
[00:29:37] It like it's there you even though she's acting It's not me deriding any acting ability, but there is a thing where she's like oh my god I feel like you're just being yourself like you're just being authentic. Yes, even as she's playing a character
[00:29:49] Which is like so cool Not easy to do No, no and and Taraji is just one of those like Jesus Christ careers are so fucking long people You know where it feels like you have like multiple kind of false starts where it's like as you said
[00:30:05] She just essentially does TV until this movie, right? And be and little little tiny. Yeah, like guest spots guest spots after this she gets stuck on the division for 66 episodes a
[00:30:18] Show that like runs for years and her and like John Hamm and a bunch of other highly capable actors Just cash paychecks while not really like getting any attention, right? Yep
[00:30:29] And then it really is like four years later for brothers and hustle and flow a movie singleton directs and a movie singleton Produces he pushes her through again and is like what do I have to do to make people notice this woman?
[00:30:42] Hustle and flow is the one where I feel like people like stand up and take attention Then she's in this run of like okay now. She's getting like Supporting parts and shit. She's in like smoking aces and talk to me and then Benjamin Button Oscar nomination
[00:30:56] Yep, and then even post Oscar nomination it feels like people don't really know what to do with her Yeah, she does a lot of movies, but it's only like Tyler Perry giving her like a Tyler Perry is the first person to put her above the title
[00:31:11] She has like you know a nothing paycheck role in date night as one of the cops She's the mom and karate kid where she's like the Oscar nominee You add to that cast to add a little bit of weight, right?
[00:31:22] And then you know Larry crown like the think like a man movies But all the same time she's on fucking 55 episodes of person of interest Oh, yeah, she was the second lead she quit that show because she's like all the fucking marketing is just Emerson and
[00:31:40] Cavizal it's three people on the show I'm nominated for a fucking Oscar and you don't put me in any of the ads So she quits and then her career like takes off like then it finally happens where like Empire happens Empire, right?
[00:31:55] And then she becomes a leading lady It's wild but but that's like a 20 year journey essentially and she probably still doesn't get enough respect I don't know well. I am David next next year
[00:32:06] She of course is voicing Bell Bottom and minions the rise of Gru so that's when the career really peaks. Oh boy That's so hard being a black actor. Oh my god Well, that's the thing I mean and then Tyrese like I don't like
[00:32:23] We have to have a Tyrese conversation I think he's good in this movie. I think he was this very like Interesting presence in these movies he made early on like post this right? I like him in honestly
[00:32:39] I like him a too fast or furious saying kind of a different character than he ends up playing Okay, but I just want to say Tyrese is a really good singer and Yes, singer obviously his solos as well has his work with TGT three kinks is iconic
[00:32:57] And I feel like that bedrock Also, he's insane Yes Yes, I mean if you look at Tyrese's social media, he's a he's a lot of person He has a Benny Hanna in his backyard Okay, all right, but this is my question
[00:33:14] This is my question with Tyrese cuz you look at the does he still get Hibachi from the Benny Hanna in his backyard Is that your question? He also has like full-sized transformers in his backyard
[00:33:26] Is there a point at which that he kind of tipped that way or was that always Tyrese's energy? No, no You okay? What I know what's your this is my personal thought. This is my okay? Okay
[00:33:40] This is and I'm if I don't really this is my thought into the black people listen to this podcast You'll know what I mean. There's just there's just There's just men when they get money everything that was already going on underneath there that it just gets more
[00:33:56] It just amplifies. It's like how drinking just intensifies all the traits that are already there sure Sure, he was always gonna want to make Betty Hanna at three in the morning and have a Z's on sorry
[00:34:10] He was always gonna want to have transformers in there in his backyard They're probably just gonna be like small and he's just gonna be that weird dude Legos Now they're huge now. They're huge now their life's like quote-unquote life-size or what I don't know
[00:34:23] I mean life size would be even bigger. I suppose but yes, but like Transformers is the moment where he turns into current Tyrese Actor you know current screen Tyrese Which is just like a guy who is in Transformers movies fast and the furious movies and not much else
[00:34:42] And as you say is kind of crazy on social media and that's the whole vibe, right? Like that's kind of it, right? Pretty much. I guess he's in Morbius. He was on the mass singer. He was on the mass singer
[00:34:55] He was the porcupine. He was robo pine robo pine Like he's a celebrity now like he's like or I mean he always was but like you know what I mean like his identity is that he is A celebrity and he's like a figure and he's fun and goofy
[00:35:12] It's so hard to be a mononym. That's what happens when you're a mononym, too Yes, like where it's like he's Tyrese That's the other weird thing is it's like as you said his music was really good, right? And was like pretty like earnestly soulful, right?
[00:35:29] And when he starts out as an actor, he's playing all these like very serious intense young men You know like that was very much how he was positioned as a movie star and then at some point he becomes like a goofball
[00:35:42] And I like how they use him in the Fast and Furious movies now But like when we talk about Too Fast Too Furious next week, we're gonna have a rude awakening trying to like
[00:35:54] When you go straight from like too fast to fate of the furious. They're fundamentally different people He has nobody to do with each other. The comic relief of the franchise. He's the goofball
[00:36:04] He's the guy who's trying to puff out his chest and like everyone like knocks him down And like the the the Transformers movies. It's like oh, it's incredibly weird The Tyrese is in like three
[00:36:16] Transformers movies and is in them a lot and does a lot but doesn't really have any specific Impression that he makes like he's just a guy running around and screaming at Transformers And him and Josh Joumel they're soldiers, right?
[00:36:28] I just remember there's a lot of scenes where they're like thank you transformers and like you know salute them and stuff But he had this moment where uh on social media I feel like maybe after fast five or fast six
[00:36:42] When he was like i've realized i've been wasting time. I have all this power I should be like one of the great actors of my generation. I'm gonna start doing serious shit I want to start playing serious roles, right?
[00:36:53] And he was like I want to play Nelson Mandela like he started like Just like stating like i'm gonna fucking do it I'm gonna get up there with like the greats and then this audition tape leaked out of him
[00:37:06] auditioning for Django in Django Unchained that everyone clowned on Online it was sort of like a smaller scale version of the Chris Klein mama Mia thing Where it was just like oh, this is a guy like wildly overreaching
[00:37:19] And people kind of had this attitude of like why is Tyrese trying to pretend that he's a real actor and it's like But he kind of was He was he was no, but he definitely was early on
[00:37:32] You're like oh, yeah, this guy's talented like when he's in like anapolis and like Flight of the phoenix like these are not great movies, but he's he's he's good And I still think he's good at what he does like he's become a good personality
[00:37:45] As you said io like he has become good at being tyrese the celebrity and being able to be tyrese in movies But it is fascinating that there was a point in time where he was really being groomed as like A kind of really potent leading man
[00:38:01] Okay, somebody who kind of reminded me of this journey and I feel and and feel free to disagree But I think it's maybe an apt comparison also because of the role music plays in it is uh, Yasin bae formerly known as most death
[00:38:19] Who like actually like started as a child actor I think and then Became a rapper but then in the in the midst of that was like showing up doing his little things bamboozled monsters ball brown sugar Look the italian job. He'll be like in the woodsman
[00:38:39] Yes, he's so good in the woods doing top dog underdog on Broadway Like there was that moment where people were like is is like most death tom hanks I mean he really could have been he could have been most of is a very good actor
[00:38:53] I agree and he like is one of those guys who is simultaneously A very good actor and capable of doing just the movie star shit when he needs to I did um hitchhiker's guide and be kind of rewind watch when I was back
[00:39:09] When i'm in quarantine and I was like this man is good. He's great in both of those He's really fun in those movies. He did he just stop? He just kind of
[00:39:18] Feels like he kind of chose not right. He just kind of put it down. It feels like yeah I wonder if he lost passion for it or also I think that stop kind of coincided with like
[00:39:31] More I mean he always was very political, but I feel like there was like a lot more protesting and the name change as well Right, right and and like his music career changed as well like it does feel like he just kind of got
[00:39:49] Understandably a little freaked out by like celebrity culture and tried to ground himself in some worship. Yeah, it's pretty weird Well, this is the thing you have to be in this stupid machine
[00:40:01] And do supporting roles in studio movies and like what right like and it's like it must be such an exhausting and irritating letter to climb Anyway, but especially if you're also like a famous black rapper like I just can only imagine how exhausting and annoying
[00:40:18] The meetings with you know producers and honchos and so, you know and like the the process of trying to get scripts that are interesting and like, you know I Then Tyrese it feels like just I don't know what you know
[00:40:32] I think Tyrese loves being famous. Like I think that's he's just like, you know what? I'm gonna be Tyrese and I'm gonna be Roman on Fast and furious and I'm gonna be super famous. I'm gonna have transformers
[00:40:42] You know even movie movie that I think is underrated and I bring up a weird amount on this podcast I think he's very good in black and blue. That was like the one time recently I've seen him give an early Tyrese performance the one with Naomi Harris, right?
[00:40:54] Yeah Yes, the the body came out like last year or something or two years ago. It came out 2019 Yeah, so right 15 years ago. Well, and now I'm gonna get sad about Naomi Harris now Well, she's yeah, it's fair to get sad
[00:41:11] That is the only time Naomi Harris has ever been the lead of a movie which is wild to think about But uh, he's really good in that. He's gonna have also I've never seen waste Deep, I don't know if you guys have seen Vondie Curtis Hall's waste deep
[00:41:28] I have people like that movie. I feel like that's good in that I feel like that's the end of original flavor Tyrese, right? Because like that's 2006 and Transformers is 2007 and then it's transformers death race transformers to Legion fast five Transformers fast six
[00:41:46] Interesting like dual high moment, I feel Like 2006 seven feel like that's sort of Megan good Megan good Peak and then it goes up down and then it goes up down a little Great to see her in shazam happy for the girl so good to see her
[00:42:04] Hey, shazam had the highest rate of I'm excited to see this person Like cameos right where you're just like hey good for that guy good for her Well, but also the great thing is it's now like oh you're telling me you're making a shazam too
[00:42:18] Or Megan good is going to be one of the leads right then all of this Give me all of that you got. Yeah, I'll take as much as you have Uh, I feel like I had this exact conversation with you IO maybe on iconography about shazam
[00:42:32] Yes for this reason my slam on Zachary Levi in shazam is Zachary Levi is playing quote unquote a kid And Megan good is so specifically playing that Yes, no Megan good and also, um my boy adam
[00:42:49] Um brodie adam brodie nailed nailed playing grazer. Also adam brodie. I want a brodie sauce I think we're we're close. I think we're close to a brodie It's gonna have an op but I feel like
[00:43:04] Okay, we all loved the vichy zam we got excited to see him in promising young woman Despite any feelings about that movie. I won't reveal them. Um, kid detective
[00:43:16] Haven't seen it. No people love it a lot of people are watching kid detective scooping that one up and being like Hey, you know, there's here's something so like that's happening. There's something. Let's talk about brodie. That's all I'm saying I'm laying the seeds
[00:43:29] Really good and ready or not a movie. I don't love but I feel like he's the one actor who's totally on the right Wavelength in that He's not that he's ready to work. He's ready. I have to assume a brodie sance means television
[00:43:44] Not because he can't be in movies just because they're just I don't know it doesn't that make sense like It's just not enough Returns of form as well. I think it's like what you're feeling is is
[00:43:55] You also want something something complete. You want something a little bit cyclical Not to speak for you I mean I I would love to have see him have a a show perhaps a streaming show with short seasons that really makes good use of him
[00:44:11] And allows him to keep doing these types of film roles He's doing but give him like an anchoring leading project to to go in the only reason why I don't want that is because I feel like there's too much tv and
[00:44:24] As somebody definitely that's the problem. I'm saying I want him to keep this movie train going That's that's how I I would prefer it to
[00:44:33] But I don't know. I don't know. I just think it's tougher, but you know, I and in general here for the brodie sance honestly He's looking better than ever. He's looking great
[00:44:46] Him and leighton is just an interest. It's a great couple where they're they're explicitly like we were both on josh Schwartz shows that was our bond Yeah, that's how we got to know each other So odd uh, so yeah, right. We've talked about thyrice and uh
[00:45:01] Thiraji now we touched on ving just being like in the absolute zone Are we gonna just gonna briefly mention monique coming in doing the work or cool a j johnson
[00:45:13] The only complaint is more please, you know, that's the problem like eight. Well a j johnson is really fun She's got a lot. She actually has several fun scenes But monique I was like holy shit and then like she's really just in like a couple scenes
[00:45:27] I think she's only in the one scene. Yeah, I thought time she was like, I don't know. I think And who's to say but like, you know, sometimes you see like a working comedian in a movie and you're like what is going on
[00:45:41] So I feel like like she's like, you know, she's monique, you know I don't know. It's like she came in and she did she did the work. She's great She did the work and there was going to be more in the future
[00:45:55] Yes, a lot more and then a lot less was the arc Unfortunately, it was really cool when she was at the when she was at the Oscars though She was dressed like um Like the black woman who won the frisaskie. That's cool
[00:46:08] It is interesting. I oh because like I do feel like a lot of stand-up comedians When they come in for a scene like this in a movie even if they pop It's like well, you're just now kind of hijacking the movie and doing your shit, right? Yes
[00:46:22] Like I think of most of the 90s Chris rock film appearances are just like and then the movie just gets handed over to chris rock for five minutes You know or or anytime he's on screen or whatever and monique was someone where even when she's funny
[00:46:36] It's like she does always understand what movie she's in. Yes Yes, another person who's excellent at that chris tucker Correct Who is who is like has a lot of energy He'll be like well, I know you hired me for my energy
[00:46:52] I also know that this is a sci-fi movie or this is jackie brown and i'm about to spoiler alert Die and I hear you were saying you just rewatch jackie brown and that's such a good example of like
[00:47:04] You know that's the year before rush hour when he's like, okay. This is my movie. I do whatever the fuck I want. There's no way I can break it but to quote the meme
[00:47:15] You watch jackie brown. He understood the assignment you watch fifth element. He understood the assignment Silver lining's playbook. He's really fucking good. Yes. He's really He's great in silver lining playbook. He's honestly good in billy linds long halftime walk
[00:47:30] I'd love him to do other things. Where is he? I don't know where the fuck is he you tell me I know he's had like weird tax things, but like he's really not doing anything anymore
[00:47:43] Jesus he hasn't done it's rush hour three 2007 silver lining's playbook 2012 billy linds long halftime walk 2016 Nothing since that's it. Yeah Damn and he does nothing between rush hour two and three anyway. He's not but it's also like this thing where
[00:47:59] You and I don't know if this is that how I feel about this This statement is you know, um take it as seriously or as lightly as you want to but like I feel like You you used to be able to like be a movie star
[00:48:14] And do that and like take really long space between projects and I feel like the nature of social media and all that stuff Trying to do a war in baby Yeah, huh interesting. Yeah. Anyway most anyway, monique is fantastic and she is and also oh more good
[00:48:32] Oh more good. Yes, which is I that's always a thing I like when a director works with like multiple members of the same family. Yes There's a there's a gooding Dynasty happening. Yeah, because the son. What's the son's name who was in book mason? He's really good
[00:48:52] We went to school together Really? Yeah, he studied dramatic writing. Hey, is he nice? Yeah, what if I was like no Yeah, I don't know. I'd be like, all right I could see that no, he's nice. We're happy for him
[00:49:06] Mason gooding apparently is in the new scream. I'm really happy for him Upcoming scream it was also it was really something like I don't know in school where I remember just being like, why are you here?
[00:49:19] Like why are you studying writing? Sure, right? Let's go be a movie star. Yeah, you just look like a movie star What's going on? Why are you here? But he also was a he was a good writer Okay, I know I guess he already had acting a lot
[00:49:34] Let me mind that teaches me mind my business We'll dig into the the proper plot of the movie in a second But I do just want to call up before we get into it
[00:49:41] The the snoop dog factor here is interesting just because snoop dog was so fucking famous And kind of was in like a decade of the 90s where almost every breakout Rap artist ends up also doing some movies or TV Had kind of stayed away from that
[00:50:02] Like it felt like a big deal that snoop dog was like in this movie above the title on the poster Here's a dramatic part of him playing a character and then you watch the movie
[00:50:12] And he's like not in the first 75 minutes and you were like why is snoop dog in on the poster? And then he comes in and he kind of Hijacks the entire movie like he sort of becomes a black hole of just like well snoop dogs
[00:50:25] Charisma is so bizarre That the entire movie kind of gets sucked into whatever he's doing Yeah, he's actually good in this movie because he's playing an unsympathetic and scary character He's kind of like the raleota and something wild of this movie
[00:50:42] Right. Like I think I figured he would phone be phoning it in and he is not it's funny No, we should He's really trying Yeah, this is the year that he's in training day He has if you remember a small role in training day
[00:50:54] Yes in this and in bones the earnest Dickerson Of vampire movie where he's a vampire one of ben's favorite movies. This this is The snoop movie year This is right He had done like some cameos and like a straight to video thing
[00:51:11] But like this is when he's like, all right here. I am and then post this I feel like he's like, okay if i'm gonna be in a movie. It's like star ski and hutch like I am
[00:51:19] Right. I'm just doing like a version of myself because probably after this he was like wait I like acting and i'm good at it, but also it's like hard work And you have to be on set for days and hours Um, and so that part sucks
[00:51:34] But showing up in a tv show and being myself or showing up in a movie and basically being myself That's great or being like in soul plane. That's incredible Right, right this year 2001 is the wash bones training day baby boy the wash as well
[00:51:48] That's right for movies and then it's like Okay, he voices ronnie rizat in malibu's most wanted He appears as himself in old school Then he's huggy baron star ski and hutch
[00:52:00] The next year same year as him playing the captain in soul plane who's spoiler alert dies pretty early on He's the voice of the fucking basset hounded racing stripes Yep Because he has one of my favorite trailer lines If that's a horse then i'm a do double g
[00:52:17] Which it's like you are a dog. That's your Character that's you are a what does that mean? What is the implication of that line? Um, right, but then he essentially just kind of plays himself or does like One hour of voiceover work and shit
[00:52:33] And I also feel like around that point starts to become like the parody version of himself Where he's like hosting s and l and doing like doggy fizzle televizel You know which like leads to him just being like, I don't know
[00:52:47] I do a show with martha stewart now because isn't that funny that the two of us are friends He's also funny in in the beach bump playing laundry. I oh he's great in beach bump. I I just The snoop dog conversation is complicated In the in the 90s
[00:53:03] I feel like he was someone that like my parents were supposed to be scared of me listening to his music, right? Yes, like that's the snoop dog thing like oh that Yeah, the horrors that would happen to you specifically. You know what I mean Oh
[00:53:19] Like he was like he was like sold Obviously like you know young people loved him and I feel like he was like someone that tabloids were just like that that man Is he's a murderer? He was a gang right? Yeah, he's like
[00:53:33] And then by 2002 every single white person is making isle jokes Exactly like right around here. He becomes this like package that is On behalf of white people will you apologize? I will apologize for the There's a lot of apologies. This is the feeling our nation needs to have
[00:53:52] Kind of I mean it's like he started a gaming You know team he like endorsed uh beyond meat at some it just sort of feels like he's like If you want to be in business with snoop dog like but let put forward
[00:54:07] You know what what's the angle? How do you sell it around his persona? So scary. Oh my god on one of my uh Cell phone games I play when you have to like watch and add in order to get more lives or whatever
[00:54:22] One of the ads that keeps on coming up is some like online Some cell phone poker game or something where they get Celebrities to endorse it via cameo It's the weirdest fucking shit where they're clearly like paying someone on cameo to read ad copy
[00:54:40] Because it will cost them less than hiring someone to actually be the spokesperson And the videos they include have the cameo watermark still on them and snoop dog is one of them
[00:54:50] Where I'm like snoop dog just sitting in his living room and some guy with some shitty poker app Is sending him like 500 dollars to be like this is my favorite game on my cell phone I play it every day snoop dog in 2018 set the um
[00:55:06] Guinness world record for the largest paradise cocktail by creating a 550 liter gin and juice drink so just uh You know that's that's something that's been going this is what you know, it that it's that's what you're talking about It's the wild ride of I don't know his like
[00:55:24] Post 2000s persona being like commodified. I mean he's obviously making money And having fun. I assume I don't know He does like an album every year like he's he's he's recorded like 18 albums
[00:55:41] Listen, we're you know rappers aren't on a monolith. There are rappers who are good actors and who are willing to do the work Method man He's a good actor the best. Yes, whiskalefa I will say, you know, there's some bias But he's a really good actor
[00:55:59] I was working with him on set. He was really nice and he was like good script already. And I was like, thanks whiskalefa Have have you worked with method man? I know um, I I have I have seen Method man read for something He is
[00:56:17] Unfucking believable on set. He was really good A he's a great actor B It's just like that is a guy who is so good at like treating every single person on set Like royalty and being kind and being really hard-working and like everyone fucking likes that guy Yeah
[00:56:35] Anyway, this movie starts with a fully grown tyrese in utero That's right. That's he's in the womb, baby. He's a baby boy. He's a baby boy. Yes um And john singleton just uh
[00:56:51] Literally just spells out his thesis of the movie with like a block of text at the very beginning Uh, it voice over Yes The thesis of the movie griffin, please Please go ahead A generation of young black men not growing up Right
[00:57:09] In a culture that sort of supports that infantilization But here's what I like about this movie and Feel free to disagree with me. I this movie never feels like luxury Despite that thesis which sounds so fraught
[00:57:24] Yeah, you know what I mean like you like you might like hear that or start this movie or watch a scene for this movie Like oh, this is a movie about
[00:57:32] How x is the problem with young black men in america or how like y is the problem with like how we're raising people You know like and it's not that at all It feels like
[00:57:43] Candid and like it's very interested and it's very interested in the inner lives of its characters But it's not trying to be like the here's the systemic thing we need to talk about
[00:57:54] Which boys in the hood is more about and like and that's fine like it works with boys there That's such a message movie But like this feels like despite it being like spiritually related to that movie not That at all. It's much more of a character study
[00:58:08] I mean it is it does feel like the movie of just like john singleton like As we said looking at a dude in the mall and being like, hmm. What is that guy's afternoon like? You know I also think this movie
[00:58:23] Largely succeeds in telling an interesting line between You know just actually Depicting this guy's behavior good and bad You know just being interested in him as a complicated contradictory person and also someone who's very much in Progress is not fully formed Yes
[00:58:49] I am now reading yes, okay. So this movie is also horny as hell very horny Yeah I was I laughed during There's a particular sequence That I laughed out loud It it's just to Raji Having sex with him with with Tyrese after Uh
[00:59:13] Actually they have the fight like outside the apartment complex And this is the the one that like it's only her it doesn't intercut with anyone else and I mean she's just Yelling um like insane
[00:59:30] Insane amount of screaming and back and forth between them and I like laughed and then I was like, oh wait Maybe this isn't supposed to be funny. Well, and then it kept going and I was like it's funny to me
[00:59:40] Even if it's not supposed to be funny this one in particular is Making the laugh well the movie It's so tonally Interesting because as you said David it goes into like these weird dream-like states But I also feel like at times He experiments with going like very broad
[01:00:01] There there are scenes in this movie that are pitched very Comedically and things in this movie that are deathly serious and I'm always a sucker for people Experimenting with tone that much and trying to reconcile wildly different energies within one film
[01:00:18] But it does sometimes create an odd experience where you're not sure how any given scene is supposed to be Here's a quote from singleton that I really like where he's just like He seems to be I like he just see
[01:00:33] It's what we're talking about with in terms of fame and in terms of the weird pressures of Making a movie that gets you an Oscar nomination when you're you know barely out of college and you know
[01:00:44] You're the first black filmmaker to ever get a dirt. You know all that People that are bougie can kiss my ass if they think they can tell me what kind of movie I'm supposed to be making
[01:00:53] Get real. This is an ethnographic film of the time just like boy. What boys was there are no cops There's no white people. It's all insular. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone else It stays in the community. It's all right there. It feels like he's like
[01:01:06] life is realistically comical and dramatic and violent and also like goofy, right? Like he's just kind of like I don't want this movie to be point a to point b like, you know
[01:01:19] I'm here's the arc of a person and then and that's that right like he's kind of like I just want to throw my camera Into the middle of these conversations of these arguments and this like, you know
[01:01:30] Lovemaking and like this violent. Like, you know, I don't know like it's so daring in a way that boys in the hood is is Feels very like controlled compared to this. Yes. It's certainly a much more straightforward film. Yeah
[01:01:46] But I also think I also wonder how much of that is to like to do is like, you know, your first like your first films versus The ones where you do have Okay, dare I say it that blank check? um
[01:02:04] But I I mean like even with my like pilot samples, I don't know I just like remember when I first was like looking for representation or first looking to get hired
[01:02:14] It's like you do stuff that is more controlled because you're also like these are me. I'm like, I'm young I want people to know that I know how to do this Like I want people to know that I you know know how to write and
[01:02:27] I don't know if he had those impulses as well And so you take structure and take form and you try to attach your interests But as you write more and create more and experience more, it's like, you know what?
[01:02:38] There's going to be a grown man in you to grow and snoop dog is actually going to have a press and curl and That is what I want to show the world and yeah, you get it. You get it and if you don't then
[01:02:52] Well, you know I try but hey, maybe it's not for you to get Maybe people just need to understand that snoop dog will have a press and curl Right. I also think it's interesting that
[01:03:03] This is a point in time where like spike lee's career is kind of in a dip at least in terms of like widespread recognition respectability right like This is the period where people are like, I don't know he's making like small weird shit
[01:03:19] Uh, you know and and then like, you know, he has a swing back towards more commerciality Then he sort of like dips again. And then now he has his like Later sort of Oscar round. He's been on but um, I feel like when you read uh
[01:03:37] Reviews of spike lee movies in the late 90s when people are kind of like turning on him It's mostly about that tonal shit where they're like, why is some of this so goofy? Like why is he taking these huge swings? Why is he getting
[01:03:54] Expressionistic in this moment. Why can't he make something that's like all on the same level and there was that feeling where like wait Oh, I sorry. I just say I can't wait for everybody to return to ma in 50 years and realize I was right
[01:04:08] Oh, yeah, I think you've already been been winning that argument. I'll keep fighting. I'll keep fighting a good fight But but yeah, this yeah, sorry go ahead go ahead take note
[01:04:20] I can't do a tate taylor uh tangent which I was about to fire up. I can't do it. Keep going It gives a little gives a little tape. It's just crazy. He's done two movies since ma
[01:04:30] It's just wild that there's yeah two movies from tate taylor have just come out since ma Yeah, yeah the man's insane And he probably should have made the woman in the window
[01:04:42] Don't you think he probably should have made the woman in the window like I haven't seen it yet But it sounds like the problem with that movie is that it takes itself too seriously
[01:04:49] And like he should have just been like he tate taylor is the one to ask What if there was a woman in the window like she he's the one to ask
[01:04:56] He was the only one who had the courage to ask what if there was a girl on a train? That's what i'm saying. That's what i'm saying and that movie is dog shit
[01:05:03] And it's watchable and it's that's the tate taylor experience and like that's what we need to go But anyway, i'm sorry for taking us on a brief take taylor Uh tangent a t a t t t Not unlike a not unlike a t g t
[01:05:20] Not too far away This movie is not narrated other than this opening where you sort of have this like this immediate like A full force blast into this guy's brain right where you're hearing this internal monologue Sort of him trying to like come to
[01:05:41] Summarize his life. I guess to some degree But also the culture that he's a product of and you're also just seeing all of his key relationships established
[01:05:50] Really quickly. I do like i mean, I feel like it's deliberate that you know, they they talk about at the beginning like The language of you know, they they call it a crib
[01:06:00] They call it like your friends or your boys and then you call your your women ma right? and then uh, not not octavia spencer ma of course, but one can help one can dream But but you see both of uh, the women who have
[01:06:18] Mothered his children and then when you get to his mother It takes a moment for you to realize. Oh, this is literally his mother Because the age difference is not that great and he's calling her by the same name that he calls that right and
[01:06:31] He's kind of sexually jealous of his mother. Not yes Not in like an it You know completely on the surface way, but like ving reams is coming up and they call it out ving reams on his edifice shit
[01:06:43] And it's so there's one particular like moment when when um, his mom and ving reams are going on the date and Um the blocking is just like it's so funny Where he's basically like holding on to his mother
[01:06:58] Then ving reams crosses and comes around and takes his mother and you see Tyrese like almost like try to still hold onto his mom and like adjust as they like go out of frame and he's still like
[01:07:12] Doing this this again like weird thing that I think like the movie deals with And and tries to show in a lot of different ways, but like where he's both the father that isn't there And the son and like being a baby
[01:07:29] But also trying to be like like trying to be perceived as like Some sort of intimidating adult figure and it's just not Happening at all It's the which is why reams is is so well cast because tyrese is this really handsome really, you know
[01:07:46] In shape dude. Yeah, and then ving reams comes in and he just looks like a refrigerator and he's a man He is so sexy A lot of man. Yes. Like him making the eggs and just like he's just so insanely virile his ass is incredible
[01:08:03] His ass is incredible. He's got the tightest ass in the world It's crazy. It's crazy to find a tighter ass than tyrese's But it really kind of is ving ream because he he also shows tush
[01:08:15] And I now pronounce you chuck and larry and I remember going like I did not expect it to be that tight Because he's sort of a stocky guy, but he's just like the way he's lit
[01:08:24] The just the just but also just the utter confidence of him as a performer. Just you know like the complete Uh assurateness. I mean that's the voice of our bees, babe
[01:08:36] It is he's got the meat one could argue that ving is the one who's got the meat, okay Ving's got the meat But I also feel like we're saying like he's just as Reliable a screen presence from like 92 to 2002 as anybody, right?
[01:08:53] But the other thing is ving is so good at playing off of movie stars Like even a movie like this where it's like here's a new movie star Uh, but compared to also things where he's playing off of like tom cruise or bruce willis or john travolta
[01:09:07] Or nicolas cage or whoever. I just feel like he's so good at finding the right complimentary energy For whoever's at like the center of the frame and whenever he enters into any scene of a movie
[01:09:19] He's the guy you're paying attention to but he somehow also is making the other person look good at the same Time like he's a weirdly generous actor for someone who is that much of an innate scene stealer And and I just feel like anytime
[01:09:36] He is in this movie. It's a masterpiece like the the ving reams tyree scenes are just so Fucking like loaded for me. Just feel like so dense in in the best possible way
[01:09:51] There's so much going on and just watching the two of them play off each other is so endlessly Fascinating and his shifts are so Fascinating like he does these hairpin turns from when he's being sort of condescending to him and infantilizing
[01:10:06] To when he's really trying to be supportive to when he's being antagonistic He's got such a live wire energy while also being kind of quiet and steady It makes it so exciting to watch where I can also I don't know
[01:10:21] Obviously projecting but it's like I feel like you feel tyrese being like a better actor Like you feel him trying to be on that same wavelength and like that that first scene where they're like feeling each other out and I feel like
[01:10:40] I mean he does it seem to see but especially in that scene. It's like it's like line to line Where it's like is this reading condescending? Or trying to like Can I am I don't know you can just like feel tyrese?
[01:10:52] Being like are we good? Do you not like me? Oh, you hate me. Oh, you pity me. Oh, like I don't know This is something amelio Diaz friend of the show said on letterbox
[01:11:05] I think but like tyrese is weirdly good at playing low status for such a handsome and talented man Like that's become his comedic persona now and that's the thing is he acts like he's king
[01:11:16] Shit and everyone tells him these stupid. Yeah, right as he leans into it as like right as a sort of supporting movie star Right. Yeah, right and in this he's playing a much more emo version of that
[01:11:28] But like he's just carrying a lot of like, you know, this is about a 20 year old guy Who has two kids from two different women? He doesn't have a job He lives with his mom, you know, like, you know, he's obviously like
[01:11:39] Pretty lost and he just convincingly carries all that in his shoulders without it without giving this like extremely Overwrought performance. He's just yeah, just very realistically kind of like
[01:11:51] Lost and burdened and and like emotional about it like when he's fighting with tiraji's characters when event like especially like He's such a baby. Like he's so horrible and emotionally communicating There's that scene where she's like berating him like, you know, are you are you cheating on me?
[01:12:09] The condiment of car scene is unbelievable Like he's so fascinating because you're just like you want to scream At the screen and go like to fucking like just engage with her Like respond to what she's saying engage with her as a human being
[01:12:24] This is what movies are like kind of none That this is why I think this movie is so fascinating Like they're just like how many movies are there? I mean, of course there are movies about just people who are like fuck ups and do too, but like
[01:12:37] There's no like there's not like a lot of central spine to baby boy It's just you're just kind of like rattling around with this guy who is likeable but also a tough hang and
[01:12:49] Is often often really, you know a sweetheart, but then often like, you know, he he hits a woman He's you know cruel. He's obviously completely makes a woman get an abortion
[01:13:03] Yeah, right that's it is kind of incredible that this movie opens with like him reciting the text of that that's that study, right? And then you see in that opening sequence the flash forward of him hitting tiraji
[01:13:19] And then the first proper scene of the movie is him picking her up at an abortion clinic and being a totally distant asshole about it Like it's it's an incredible position to start a character a central character at the beginning of a movie because you're like
[01:13:32] In the hole with this guy just being like this guy seems like he sucks Like i'm just gonna find this guy so frustrating in his inability to get his shit together and act like an adult
[01:13:44] But but I think tiraji and and the movie is good at framing this a playing the tension of like There are the moments where the guy has this kind of lucidity and emotional intelligence that make it all the more
[01:13:56] Frustrating when he backs away from that like you can see The full adult in there And he's constantly fighting whether or not to actually let it sprout It's I I think also it's like a credit to
[01:14:11] John singleton as a director for like letting that rattle and letting that go on but I think also like part of his intention of just being like, you know Black people are not a monolith and
[01:14:24] Like, you know, there are these community issues and things I want to talk about but i'm not gonna maybe gave you the answer that solidifies Your preconceived notions or gives you what like some sort of moralistic Like I don't know put down or whatever like
[01:14:43] This is just about a guy This is about a guy first and foremost Right it's about a guy who's Inscrutable in a lot of ways and it's like singleton beholding People on the street and being like, yeah, what's the inner life of this person? I bet it's complicated
[01:14:59] Unless this guy who's at this auntie and in front of me Whoa Right, you know, I'm at the orange julius. I'm in line. I've asked you questions I also feel like part of the design of the movie is that the guy is kind of like Pointedly
[01:15:17] Unexceptional, you know, like even in terms of the the events of the film it is not like Anything extraordinary really happens to him or he does anything Extraordinary like the scale of both the good and bad for him is pretty
[01:15:33] Like ground level, you know, and it sort of is this consideration of just like as you said like this is any guy You know, this is just some guy, but it's a guy that a movie does not
[01:15:44] Usually interrogate this deeply and and few movies ever interrogate their lead characters this deeply especially if you're looking at like commercial studio filmmaking of the 2000s Yeah, i.o. Has brought her dog onto the zone grommet and I just want to say that
[01:16:04] I wish that the movie wasn't on a dog. Oh my god grommet Oh my god grommet. He's like a nut. He's like so self-centered. You can't like see outside of dogs in movies I love that he's called grommet like are there
[01:16:19] The because the plot thing that we haven't discussed I guess is the sort of like return of snoop dog Like that that's the closest thing this movie has High-stakes stuff and it's really the last right. Yeah, he has these premonitions throughout the movie of him dying
[01:16:33] Right, there's the sort of like by the way. This is a long movie. It's like two hours and ten minutes long Which is like crazy like it Highly uncommercial of it to be sort of this sort of like long hangouty movie with not a lot of plot
[01:16:45] right but uh But yes, he has these premonitions of him dying, but that's sort of more like Casting a shadow over the movie than it is like an ongoing tension. He wants to figure out like a career for himself
[01:17:00] So there's this like side hustle of him selling dresses and trying to figure that out Which you almost think like is this gonna become the whole movie, but it's just a thing He's got this friend who's like more of a loose cannon than he is
[01:17:13] He's got these relationships with these two women I mean, I I think it's kind of a failing of the movie that the other baby mama doesn't really exist Uh, I I'm not saying maybe that like, you know, I need her to be as fleshed out as tiraji
[01:17:30] But it does feel a little odd that she is so much just like Another person Yeah, and like if anything kind of like a frustration A complication for and complication for um, Yvette, tiraji p henson's character like I
[01:17:49] Maybe this is wrong when I feel like the baby mama the second baby mama Whose name might be like peanut is peanut in this peanut. Yes They're like in the same amount of scenes like her and dires and her and
[01:18:05] And and and Yvette the actress is Tamara. Let's see on bass like I've never heard of her. I don't I mean no no offense But she just doesn't Is never given that much to do and is certainly not really given interiority
[01:18:21] Almost the mother's character that the peanuts mother Almost like kind of has more authority and more things to say Yeah, uh, yeah candy and brown. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know But It's also funny that this movie is advertised as tiri snoop dog and ving reims. Yeah when
[01:18:41] Teraji is sort of a huge part of it. She's kind of the second Absolutely character, right? Like that's that's pretty No, it's like you would think that like Snoop, I mean just like by the poster and like knowing and be like, oh, okay
[01:18:54] Like snoop dog is his best friend character is going to try to get him like In a gang life and away from his family and it's like no, he's no he's just kind of crazy crazy guy
[01:19:06] Right. He's like a lunatic who comes in at the end of the movie and creates conflict But you earlier described him as a black hole and I think that that is like, I don't know
[01:19:14] I've just been thinking about that. Yeah, he just sort of like sucks everything into his orbit But that makes sense why he's like also sort of spare has to be a little bit sparingly Yeah Used here because um when he's on screen, it's like, oh god
[01:19:31] But the first 75 minutes are pretty much just like these three main dynamics in his life of Teraji his mother and ving reims, right? And it's like primarily sort of like confrontation scenes with those three characters
[01:19:46] And then Omar gooding sort of exists as his sounding board like anytime. He's in a scene with Omar gooding It's not really about Omar gooding. It's about now. He's actually able to express himself like he's more verbal Then he
[01:20:01] Emotionally with with gooding than he is with anyone else Um, I mean and I you call both these things out, but I do think like in singleton's Filmography, I think this movie is the most interesting in terms of a how he works with actors
[01:20:17] And be blocking like it really feels like he's trying a lot of shit in both of those areas Like I feel especially those confrontation scenes with those three characters. I mentioned all feel like uh acting class exercises in the best way
[01:20:35] Where they're not like show bodie like I'll out act you shit, but they feel like let's really experiment with energy Right And changing the status from line to line within a scene of sort of who has
[01:20:48] The ball who has the upper hand and there are all these sequences that are built around really really interesting blocking. I mean he's doing a lot of sort of like Expressionistic physicality
[01:21:03] Like non literal this is not necessarily what someone would do physically in this scene, but this is kind of The most ecstatic Expression of how these characters are feeling in these scenes and there are also a couple sequences where he's like monologuing to Omar Gooding
[01:21:20] Where it starts in like a real wide shot of them walking around some environments And then slowly both like the camera moves in and they move towards the camera until it becomes like a tyrese close up And it's like literally this character
[01:21:35] Forcing himself into being like the center of the frame and commanding the movie And really feeling like he has some clarity on who he wants to be in his life um It just feels like a movie that is very
[01:21:49] Directed in a good way like yes. He's trying a lot of stuff. Yeah a lot of shit Wow, there's like a block that's interesting like in the end of the Movie with like his mother and the rose garden that I find like
[01:22:04] So like striking and clearly just such like a visual image and it also reminded me of because I was hanging out with my friend Emma um Salegman who directed ship a baby the other day and we watched a movie together that um Is a really stupid movie
[01:22:23] Um keeping the faith Oh, yes, the faith is great. Keep it a faith rules My wife's favorite movie of all time. Okay, and we love wood women love this movie Um, Emma loves it and was like referencing scenes that were references
[01:22:40] Like just in terms of blocking and I was like that's this is so hilarious to me that this was one of your references but only to say that like that that ending blocking it reminded me in a weird way of moonlight and
[01:22:52] That last scene with Naomi Harris and the beautiful man Uh, Trevante Rhodes Like it reminded me of that like last scene in the garden like with that sort of like people don't sit like this in in real life, but it heightens
[01:23:12] the the moment and and and the and it adds to this overall feeling that this movie has created of like Dreamy things feeling so real and real life feeling like this bizarre dream, especially for this man who is in such a
[01:23:30] an in between state in his life and in his and in his choices Right, but that's like I mean that's where the sort of good version of the acting class thing comes to me where it's like You know, okay
[01:23:44] You have two actors who have like worked on some text and have tried to perfect the most literal version of it And a good acting teacher knows how to do this one a bad acting teacher does this just sort of like performatively
[01:23:56] Um, but where they're like, okay now do this scene again, but this time play it like You're an alien, you know or play it like You're hungry and that's the only thing you're thinking about where you like do a run-through of it with some odd note
[01:24:12] That is not intuitive, but somehow might unlock some odd energy in some other area of The scene and like that whole stretch. I know we're jumping all around but the whole stretch of uh, the mother finding
[01:24:28] The weed in the rose garden yelling at tares about it him defending himself ving reams coming home Owning up to it. Tyree's trying to get her to throw ving reams out like just the constant energy shifts in that whole sequence are so Fascinating, you know
[01:24:48] And and just ving's character in general is just so fascinatingly rendered. I mean here's another thing. I just want to call out which is uh um, this is from Uh, the village voice piece about this movie when it was coming out the greg tate wrote
[01:25:08] Uh, where singleton said there's a talk of a sequel to shaft But sam jackson. I want it in our contracts that there will be some sex You can look at baby boy and see all the sex that was frustrated on shaft. I put it down in this one
[01:25:21] The horniness and we we talked about on the shaft episode how he was annoyed that he couldn't I don't know like have horniness all over that movie. Yes, right? It's all spilling into this one And then this is the incredible quote from singleton. He said, uh
[01:25:36] As soon as a j came in for the first day of rehearsals ving picked her up Put her on his shoulders and acted like he was eating her out like hey, what's up?
[01:25:44] And then he was smacking her ass and she was like, I don't feel that I said, yeah, this is what it's all about I wanted this movie to be almost as soulful as a marvin gay record and man those actors bared their souls for me
[01:25:55] The sex scenes in this movie are so bizarre because I feel like there is a uh There is an odd honesty to the odd power dynamics that are often inherent in any sexual Uh activity and on top of that the goofiness of sex
[01:26:18] Like there is a wide array of like it's is goofy, right? Like you have you have a scene like that scene where he is like crouched with AJ in his arms and
[01:26:30] Tyrese is knocking on the door asking him to quiet down that is played as like pure comedy But then you also have the scene after tyrese hits to rajee p henson Where he goes down on her that is like one of the most
[01:26:44] complicated sex scenes I've ever seen in a movie In terms of just the weird collection of emotions at play Like he's using sex in a lot of different ways in this movie But the biggest way is just you rarely see Uh sex depicted on screen this broadly
[01:27:04] I mean the man had like seven or eight kids I think that's odd his wikipedia. It's seven or eight the the man fucked A lot It's yes, it's worth we have not really delved into the man is complicated
[01:27:19] Uh, it's about the mildest way to put it. Uh, but yeah, he was the father of Eight children. Uh, yeah, I'm not sure why wikipedia says seven or eight citation needed up there But it looks like it was eight
[01:27:33] Uh, that you know, there's there's this washington post profile of him about this movie that's Points this out where it's like at that point he had five children with four different women He'd had this um, you know, uh
[01:27:47] Sort of alimony argument with one of the mothers of his children I mean, we should talk about this. Yeah, because this happens right before this movie There is a domestic abuse incident with the mother of one of his children
[01:28:00] Right that also then gets caught up in an alimony lawsuit And then as part of the settlement he has to make a short film against domestic violence
[01:28:09] But that all happens like right around this time before this move and he also like was fairly dismissive of the whole thing Where he was like I pled no contest to get the charges off of me and like I want to make this
[01:28:21] Domestic violence film about violent women like I it did not seem like he was someone who took Uh, whatever, you know, whatever the sort of resolution of that case was seriously Yeah, like But but no, but I think the bigger point you're trying to make is yes Okay
[01:28:42] Hey, obviously a very complicated guy with with his issues But uh, this washington post piece was this guy whoever was interviewing him saying like It feels like there's some interesting parallels in this movie
[01:28:54] Obviously, you have a very different career and you're 10 years older and you work in the industry But you've had children with different women and you had this Uh domestic abuse allegation thrown against you and all this stuff. Is there like some sort of
[01:29:07] You trying to I don't know reckon with this point in your life thing and he like completely Dispelled all of that like he very aggressively fought against the idea that this movie was any reflection of anything that he was dealing with internally
[01:29:20] He's like no, no, I was just hanging out and like watching people and like trying to understand him It's funny but it's also like you I don't know I feel like I could say anything about
[01:29:33] My work and I can be like this has nothing to do with me or whatever for like subconsciously at a certain Level you do wonder like yeah, I don't know How much of this is Does is attached to your life and every movie's about yeah
[01:29:51] That's something we say a lot every movie is sort of about the director like in some way or other It's the jd amato thing, right? Right, but this is like in the in the washington post piece. He like says
[01:30:05] Uh, you know like in trying to explain why this character is totally different from him, right? He says he doesn't have the resources that I have both economic and mental I'm a 33 year old man with a job
[01:30:16] And it's like right, but that's sort of this thing where like I was talking about earlier Where like filmmakers make movies about who they think they could have been in a different life Where it's like right. This is a movie about
[01:30:27] You without those resources possibly like I think part of the empathy of the movie is he understands that's like Well, maybe if I didn't have Those economic and mental resources
[01:30:38] I would not have been able to become a filmmaker and I might not have figured out what I wanted to do with my life You know, but he Worked over time to try to position this is like no this movie is an act of imagination for me
[01:30:51] It's like empathetic imagination. It's not any form of interiority Uh soul searching. Yeah Um I I just have to imagine. I mean it's It's interesting To be fair he did write this movie years earlier like that's that's the sort of you know
[01:31:07] Because obviously the movie was coming out in the middle of his life essentially But like he did I suppose write it
[01:31:13] More in the sort of like post boys in the hood phase of his career and he wanted you know for tupac and all that but like, you know It feels it feels More personal than some of his work, especially some of his upcoming work
[01:31:26] You know what I mean like it kind of feels like his last Personal movie It's his last like intimate drama uh It it's this sort of It's it it's this weird grace note on a career that continues that that which is just that that rarely happens
[01:31:46] Uh, yeah, and I you know, I agree with io that I think There would have been a second act for him whether it had continued in television or back to movies or whatever it was it did feel like he was
[01:31:58] Evolving into another stage of his career after being lost in the wilderness for a little bit Uh, but right because he tragically dies young This ends up being like kind of the last
[01:32:13] Movie of its kind in his career and the next three films are odd in their own ways Do we have anything else we want to say about baby boy? The thing that I just don't particularly vibe within this movie is the ending where he's where omar gooding shoots
[01:32:28] Snoop Dogg just because it feels like it's kind of happening to have something happen at the end I just don't really also it like it's hard for me not to like imagine like Okay, so what happens nobody gets arrested There's nobody that comes after these guys
[01:32:44] Right and they're also like omar gooding like had said at one point earlier He wants to get baptized in the movies like yeah, he you know what he kind of converted to christianity got over it
[01:32:54] This character that's sort of like in the background of a lot of scenes, but is you know, we don't really delve into too much like they don't But that's like
[01:33:02] It's another issue which is you're watching this movie. You most likely have already seen boys in the hood, right? In that movie omar gooding's brother is on the fence about taking part in some like Revenge, right And Like sits it out
[01:33:23] ice cube makes the move and the movie famously ends with ice cube Disappearing and you being told that he was killed in like retaliation two weeks later, right? So it's like you're having all these visions of the guy dying
[01:33:39] But when you actually get to the scene, I mean, I guess that's a scene to talk about Where they they go attack the The the gang of dudes who jumped him and sort of just try to embarrass them above all else
[01:33:52] And like omar gooding is the instigator like he's the dough boy in that situation And tiris is the guy who's constantly waffling in and out and like how much he wants to be doing this It does feel odd that that final Shooting against sneak dog
[01:34:10] Is just sort of like and then that just happened when The same decision has made boys in the hood and it like destroys everyone's life, you know, it's like A thing of such consequence
[01:34:22] That then in this it's like and then we see omar gooding get baptized in the end credits as you said It's just sort of like this odd I don't know it makes it feel like snoop dog is some like Uh boss level of a video game
[01:34:39] You know where it's just like well, and then of course you have to defeat him It ends also in this way. I don't know I keep thinking about like I Because it's the end credits And also there's that thing. There's a little bit of like
[01:34:54] When omar gooding gets baptized It almost reminds me of the beginning of like tiris in utero And like I don't know I know it's happening and I know it's Real but there is a part of me that I'm like maybe it's not
[01:35:08] Maybe it's not and he's also ramping that shit up more towards the end of that movie I mean, I think the sequence the drive by shooting with snoop dog is a really good sequence where he
[01:35:19] Thinks that he has been shot and you see which is phenomenal. It totally works That sequence is phenomenal his perspective But also in that period of time when he thinks he's been shot or is Imagining that he was shot
[01:35:32] You're seeing the glimpses of like the life that he's not gonna live, right? And there's like that really interesting montage of like him imagining getting married to tiraji But also him replaying his moments of embarrassment And it's both like literal memory and projections of a possible future
[01:35:50] And like that scene kind of crystallizes I feel like the most interesting shit this movie has going on Which is just like it's about a guy who's sort of at like a crossroads Despite the fact that he feels like he's in no rush to need to do anything
[01:36:07] Um All of that in credit shit. I do agree. I oh like I Believe it's meant to be taken literally but tonally it does feel kind of closer to All of those projection fantasy sequence glimpses It's interesting movie. I don't know what's going on. It's an interesting movie
[01:36:29] Snoop Dogg's not bad in it. It's just it's just it's just a weird subplot Taraji is amazing. Tyrese is great. Bing is amazing. There's a lot of great things, but also I'm
[01:36:39] Yeah, I'm not sure it's not the kind of movie where I would just be like you should check out baby boy Oh, what's it about? You know, like, you know, it's it's not the easiest sell. It's not the easiest watch. It's really intense and
[01:36:51] You know kind of difficult, but it's also really funny and You know has a lot of scenes that like like you said I oh like if you just have this on they're right there scenes you that you grew to hate because they were just so memorable basically
[01:37:04] Yes, basically. Yes. I remembered the movie too much and I resented it Sure, right, but like there there are scenes that are just so compelling in this like the condom car argument The scene where ving reims gets him in a headlock. Yes
[01:37:18] The final ving reims tyrese gun scene is kind of amazing as well Another moment of like this isn't real blocking but it's effective. It's super effective. Yes. It's very theatrical like um, but I don't know it's like
[01:37:36] It's it's an interesting glimpse of a side of singleton that never really got to develop past this perhaps, you know um It's just so fucking uh that it's like 2000 shaft 2001 baby boy 2002 too fast too furious It makes this film feel even more
[01:37:57] Anomalous and then you know, then he just makes two smaller commercial action movies Of which, you know four brothers is you know, obviously more personal but it's still him trying to make a hit movie I want to well, let's play the box office game
[01:38:17] But before that I just have a couple pieces of breaking news I want to drop to you guys that it broke while the podcast was happening one the golden globes will not Be happening next year Wow, NBC will not air them and they've been essentially cancelled
[01:38:33] So that's one thing. Wow no globes Uh, good rinse. Yeah is this like Is this like Emily and Paris like protest? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Emily and paris is returning her globes in fury. Did she win them? I forget
[01:38:50] Tom cruise returning his globes though. Tom cruise actually returned his globes. Yes all three of them Is that your other piece of news? No, my other piece of news is Dave bautista has been cast in the knives out sequel
[01:39:03] Which I kind of love. Absolutely. Yes. Kind of dig that all the way. Yeah Yeah Anyway, good for everybody involved. Dave bautista who famously fought Daniel craig on a train in one of the bond movies I think specter. I can't even remember
[01:39:17] Yeah, so so they're back together that man's so big. I'm sorry. I've got to say you you just have to acknowledge how large he is Good for ryan johnson. He seems like he's like chilling. I think he is chilling like a villain
[01:39:32] Yes, I only announced that Dave bautista is also getting 95 million dollars for the knives out sequel That's the thing. Everyone has to get the same amount of money. So it eventually the movie costs billions of dollars and only 12 people are involved
[01:39:46] Because they're like a bunch of static control. Wait, I have another piece of breaking news hit me please that's so exciting for Only the person involved in the breaking news Joseph Gordon Levitt confirmed secret knives out cameo Oh, oh my god
[01:40:02] He had one that or he's going to have one. Is he like a voice on a phone? He had one he had one in 2019 and he will have one in the future
[01:40:11] Whoa, he's had a cameo in every single one of ryan johnson's films from brick to the brother's bloom and even star wars the last Jedi Who did he play in knives out? It's a voice in the beginning keep your ears open. Wow. Okay
[01:40:29] Okay, it's ret literally literally a ret from joseph walking gordon levit And I actually put the fucking in the wrong place. I should have put it between gordon and levit I agree to that was a mistake Hey writing is rewriting. That's what I do
[01:40:45] Writing is rewriting. That's the commenced method in effect right there. Do anything else correct? That is the method itself in Practice, okay, david. Let's play the box office game. This movie came out on june 29th 2001 Okay, like a wild thing to think about shrek Uh
[01:41:04] Shrek is number seven great guess it is in the 10 Here's the thing griffin It'll it's been a very long time, but we did this box office game Many years ago because this is the weekend that ai artificial intelligence came out. Wow They dropped that in june
[01:41:23] That movie is the least june movie ever made that movie should come out in like the secret month after december It's a very nevuary. It's a It is funny that like studios used to put like
[01:41:40] Heroine personal passion projects from otor directors in the middle of the summer and they were like, I don't know They had hits in the past. Maybe you want to see this movie about a robot boy recognizing
[01:41:50] That none of his feelings are real right so ugly ugly ugly movie Did did you see that thread that was like? What's a movie that you think like truly put evil into the world evil movie thread
[01:42:01] And nobody said ai wow makes you think it's my kind of evil here But here's the thing And I want to shout out that at number nine is crazy beautiful, which is a great movie That was sort of like an instant vhs classic
[01:42:15] But but ai is an underwhelming number one right? Uh, yeah, it's opening to 30 million dollars Which is I think was underwhelming right? Sure. This is yeah exactly um, but Number two three and four are all franchise movies two franchise starters in a sequel. So number two griffin, okay
[01:42:35] It's the start of a long-running franchise still going it'll be welcoming us back to theaters soon It's the fast and the furious. It's the fast and furious and I also realized Connection there's a connection here his
[01:42:49] Looming in the future of of in like his opening and how is how is john to know that's cool My timeline was wrong. I forgot the two fast two furious is 2003 right, but it is interesting that this weekend
[01:43:01] Fast and furious and it's what second weekend it is its second weekend Is beating john singleton in his first weekend and singleton's like I guess if he can't beat him join him pretty much Um, and so that's doing great. It's made 80 million bucks basically, you know
[01:43:18] huge hit huge hit there I remember What I believe is next at the box office because this is A pivotal moment in my life where my mother dropped my brother and I off at the theater and said you guys pick
[01:43:32] What you want to see like leaving us alone to see a movie by ourselves And I desperately wanted to see doctor do little to correct. That is number three at the box office and my brother jamesy
[01:43:43] Push for fast and furious a gift that has kept on giving right Uh, I have seen doctor do little too. I remember there's a bear that poops Yeah, it's all I remember meeting. I sure I don't know don't remember. I think they're camping a lot in that movie
[01:43:59] I have you seen doctor do little too? Um, no, all right I mean probably like in the back seat of like us suv or something like on a dvd player Yes, I think I saw it like a at a children's birthday party or something
[01:44:15] That was like an era where eddie murphy phoning and a doctor do little sequel three years later and like 10 million americans Are like, okay. I guess i'm contractually obligated to go see this sure. I guess like it just makes 100 million dollars
[01:44:28] Right, um, it should have been called doctor do little more. Anyway, number four at the box office Doctor do more yes. I oh I oh yes less. Yes. Yes. Yes. I oh as I said previously
[01:44:43] Number four is a it's a video game film to film about based on a video game Hmm It's summer 2001. Oh, it's a franchise It's a laurcraft tomb raider It is the beginning of a short franchise because it is laurcraft tomb raider Starring angeline a jolly
[01:45:03] Of course, they would make one more and then they would reboot it And now there's a sequel Coming ben wheatley is supposed to make the sequel but we'll see if it ever happened He got fired it's someone else now someone else. Yes someone else is making it now
[01:45:17] But now I can't remember who it is Doing the meg two he is doing the meg two instead. Uh, maybe he didn't get fired I shouldn't say but he's not attached anymore tomb raider two is now attached to alicia alicia vickander flop season sorry wow
[01:45:34] It is now attached to misha green the creator of a lovecraft country is going to direct tomb raider two Yeah, yeah, that's flop season. Yeah, that doesn't sound good Uh, I like that first tomb raider movie. I felt like that had the bones of a good franchise
[01:45:50] Let me make sure she doesn't follow me on twitter Has some fun stuff alicia or misha Yeah, alicia on the burner. Oh boy alicia vickander. Does she have a twitter? It doesn't look like she does
[01:46:05] Uh, good for her. Yeah, I I we're we're we're united on that one griffin that movie's fun It's kind of fun. Yeah, it's kind of fun. It's got fun stuff It also has some sort of boring stuff
[01:46:16] But like when she's a bike messenger, that's fun and when she has to solve puzzle the color puzzle at the end of the Movie, that's the best color puzzle scene is good. Yes um, it is kind of astounding though where like uh
[01:46:29] Tomb raider feels like it should just be a slam dunk autopilot franchise And they've essentially taken three bites at the apple and not gotten particularly close The closest they got was the jolly movie the first one that one at least made money. Well, yeah, but it's bad
[01:46:42] It's horrible. That was so fucking boring. It's one of the worst My dad still cites that as one of the worst films He's ever had to see right and I go like the worst and he's like because most of the bad movies
[01:46:52] I took you to as a kid. I could sleep through but that one was also loud too loud Uh young daniel craig in that one too, of course hot bringing it back around Yeah, shrek is in there at lantis the lost empire is in there
[01:47:06] Uh pearl harbour. Oh, I could have guessed that one. Yeah, you didn't give iO the chance to guess I only do the top five usually. I'm sorry. There was no chance to guess in this game Also griffin no offense. You were in the memory palace
[01:47:21] When it's 2001 when griffin was 13 years old, he's in the memory palace But this is another thing you have to understand This is The week I believe before I go to sleepaway camp for the first time in my life
[01:47:34] So i'm fucking getting in all the movies. I can't okay. Well, did you see the movie? This is so insane to like have this much like memory Did you did you see the movie opening at number 12 this week directed by a very canceled comedian? Freddie got finger no
[01:47:53] Oh, pootie tang pootie tang. Sorry. Sorry. Freddie got finger came out in april. Um, I Did not see it in theaters. I'm actually realizing this I think was The week I screamed out so I got really excited to know something
[01:48:07] I saw I saw pootie tang on vhs when it came out I remember being Upset that I didn't see it while it was playing because it was only in theaters for like five days that I missed it I was very amped for it. Yeah, it's so bad
[01:48:18] Uh, yeah, let's say that yeah, watch it on vhs. Watch it many times. Yeah I saw a lannis in theaters. You saw a lannis in theaters. Did you see well?
[01:48:27] I saw a lannis in theaters and I saw shrek in theaters shrek was the first movie I saw in theaters Shrek was the first movie you saw in theaters. How young are you? Yeah, just dressing
[01:48:36] Um, well, I was like seven though. Yeah, yeah fair enough. Okay. Okay. Uh, or wait Yeah, no six. Sorry. I was six Well, I was 15 and I also I said sorry. Yeah, I said sorry Apology accepted
[01:48:55] I also saw swordfish in theaters, which is number 10 at the box office. I didn't see that one in theaters, but I saw almost all of these in theaters. Yeah I saw all of these. I did not see a lannis in theaters or dr. Do little too
[01:49:07] But yes, this was a big theater time for me First for certain. Oh my god. Sorry. I wasn't even I wasn't even six. I think it was five Oh
[01:49:19] Did you like shrek? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Yeah, I love shrek. Well, I saw it more than once That was like that was part of it now shrek is 20 years old, which is disgusting
[01:49:31] Yeah, yeah, I saw it shrek 20th anniversary in theaters. I went to theaters and saw shrek You went to a recent 20th anniversary screening of shrek Yeah, but it was kind of a mess because basically
[01:49:42] Well, it was like the theaters first week open. You're telling me a post-covid 20th anniversary screening of shrek was kind of a mess What are you talking about? It basically was like, um
[01:49:56] The theater was like it's first week open. So they barely had any candy only the cherry icy Work, they didn't have any of the other flavors. They had no chocolate candy So I couldn't even get m&m's with my popcorn Then we went in the theater
[01:50:14] Barely finished the first act what happens the screen goes black What? Well, that's because the first act to shrek is so good that it probably just burned the real
[01:50:24] I mean that's how it would happen it while the real burned up and fizzled in in the in the viewfinder And then what started playing qvc What just just the home shopping network
[01:50:37] Literally the home shopping network started to play I know that's quite a story. That is pretty funny I mean i'm imagining them being like fuck I don't know try and get another copy of the dcp throw on qvc just to distract these idiots
[01:50:50] It was really crazy. We got a refund that that aside. How did shrek play for you today? um, it's like funny because I remembered 90 of the script and I remembered also like quoting things with my friends like as jokes that weren't jokes lines from shrek um
[01:51:16] Also, it looked horrible That's bad. It is it is a terrible looking movie. I cannot imagine what it would look like watching that on a theater now looked so bad Yeah, like in every respect it looked awful better. It was like fun to see shrek computers and also
[01:51:33] um in the theater like there So it was just me my friend and then like a mother and her young daughter And I think like maybe the dad or something Um, and it was really funny like the kid was like barely laughing Yeah, it just feels like
[01:51:50] We dunked on track. We were dismissive about trek in some episode a year or two ago And a lot of our listeners like closer to your age than ours got very defensive about it in my Yeah, we're all this fuck
[01:52:06] But like my sister was three when shrek came out I saw shrek three times opening weekend. I was all about trek My sister watched it all the fucking time. She had all the shrek toys
[01:52:17] Like shrek was like a very prevalent thing. I was a fan at the time But I just in my mind started like star on the hollywood walk of fame
[01:52:25] Well, look he is a star. I'm not gonna argue against that for a second. He's a star. We can't fake that He he paid for that, you know, he put it. Yeah, he put it up there Oh, what's next tom cruise is gonna return his damn stark rope
[01:52:38] up Oh my god They should what if shrek announced that he was returning his best animated feature golden globe? He should Yeah, um Uh, I'm seeing a new story here uh, hollywood foreign press association promises top to bottom reform hires Lord far quad to run
[01:53:02] He's no good. No that guy Oh, no My my thing io and I feel like your story supports this is I just think watching trek today it is An ultimate time capsule movie
[01:53:17] That I think your relationship to watching it is going to be completely tied to your memories of it at the time And as you said, I cannot imagine that movie making sense to a child today
[01:53:27] It was so reactionary like everything about that movie was standing in opposition against what disney was at the time Which it isn't anymore Yes Weird yes very weird. But anyways, I mean, I don't know it's like that movie to me is just kind of like an onion Oh
[01:53:47] Okay I oh I was I was I was debating making the same joke No, you weren't I was I was thinking about it. I was thinking about it and I'm glad you made it instead You delivered it better It's got layers
[01:54:01] All right, uh, let's wrap it up. Thank you so much for being on the show again You're the best. You are the funniest people in the world. You're the best I oh David sounding exhausted
[01:54:11] Well, I look come on. I'm sleeping like four hours tonight. Give me a break if you guys are the pep in my step Hey, listen, I I'm I'm not having a baby. So that's what I did in order to get a nice sleep
[01:54:26] I just didn't have a baby Yeah, right and this is my method is I didn't have a baby and I also don't sleep well So I need to find some I need to pick a lane
[01:54:36] The two of you have it figured out and I'm stuck in the middle Well, we can stay up late doing podcast In the morning. I'm making waffles Sorry Watch the Kaminsky method on netflix watch big mouth Anything else iconography dormant listen old iconography episode
[01:55:01] It's currently dormant, but we're we're we're we're trying to chef up some stuff. Yeah, come on. There's an old episodes I don't know. Yeah, they're ever green evergreen content uh Next week
[01:55:15] We're finally doing it. We're kicking things into gear for the first time ever in the history of blank check We are covering a fast and furious movie too fast Too furious with john gabris. That's right. Tune in for that I'm really happy for you griffin
[01:55:30] It's a it's a big day. It's gonna be a big Fucking day and also we could not have timed this out better And we didn't know because the movie's gotten fucking punted a bunch of times on the release schedule
[01:55:43] But our episode is now coming out like four days before fast nine comes out Are you seeing fast nine in theaters? Uh, I know I am currently investigating the rates to rent out a private screen and how many people I could invent so I could Uh, just see
[01:55:59] fast and furious nine with me familiar Uh, it's some of the people I have now not seen in 15 months. Oh my god I'm wishing you Nothing but but luck and joy I look I want to I'm trying to be realistic about this
[01:56:15] But my expectations currently are that it needs to be the single greatest day of my life And if it isn't I will be crushed. Yeah, that's that sounds right to me. That sounds fair Putting everything on the idea of seeing this movie with my friends
[01:56:27] Um, sure, but thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate review and subscribe Thank you to Marie Barty for our social media Thank you to laymont garmory and the great american novel for our theme song pat reynolds and joe bowen for our artwork
[01:56:44] JJ bursh and nick loriano Yes, thank you And uh, a jen mckayin and alex barron for our editing assistants And you can go to blankies that read dot com for some real nerdy shit and go to our t public page for uh, or our
[01:57:03] Shopify page both for some real nerdy, uh merch And as always trying to think of another shrek quote That's okay And as always And as always Not my buttons not my gum drop buttons