Michael with Kevin Porter

[00:00:01] Blank Check with Griffin and David, Blank Check with Griffin and David Don't know what to say or to expect All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check This is the quote I'm gonna do Okay

[00:00:23] Just cause I think it's the funniest one to modify It's podcast. He smells like podcast and the smell gets stronger when he's in he Oh my god Right? Cause I was looking at other options and I was like, you gotta remember Sparky no matter what they tell you

[00:00:45] You can never have too much podcast But that's not as funny as implying that Michael the Angel smells like podcasts And it gets worse The hornier he is Also though, this is weirdly a movie lacking in punchliney kind of humor Wouldn't you say?

[00:01:06] I was looking up. I was trying to find as much context on this movie as I could It was very hard So I mostly was just reading reviews from the time Cause I was trying to find like where did this movie come from?

[00:01:18] How did it come into existence? Everything about it is strange And there was one review not that it's exclusive to this movie That really applies here That described it as Nora Efron's new wafer thin comedy Oh Bam Bam

[00:01:36] And there are things that I like about this movie but the comedy itself is certainly wafer thin Like the biggest joke in this movie is a It is It's weird Do you think she was trying like that's something Also there's no context on this movie

[00:01:54] And I feel like it just looks like I forgot But like do you think it's like She's trying to do like kind of a forties being crossed You know what I mean? Like that more gentle sort of you know road trippy comedy

[00:02:07] That's just like pals and then there's a weird supernatural element I'm giving her this It feels entirely intentional It's not like this movie is going for laughs it doesn't get And it has a very different tone and vibe than any of her other films So I do think

[00:02:23] Have you guys watched Everything is Copy the documentary on HBO I need to watch it you're making me feel dumb and unprepared Oh no no no please don't I wanted to be a good guess so I did watch that

[00:02:35] And I will say that during the montage when they're like And she had a few clunkers along the way They do show things like mixed nuts They show hanging up which she co-wrote with her sister I want to say They show zero clips of Michael

[00:02:50] So Michael was not good enough to make the clunker montage But this is what's fucking weird about this Most of her career it was a hit That's the thing Most of her career was this alternation between hit flop Hit flop hit flop Like almost perfectly calibrated

[00:03:05] Like she makes a perfect Nora from rom-com Then she makes a movie that's a little caustic That one flops and she goes back to the well Like whatever it is This is the weird one in the middle Where it's a big hit and it has no reputation

[00:03:18] Bad reviews, no cultural tale It made almost 100 million dollars Was that just Pulp Fiction runoff you think? Okay this is the context we have to talk about here Cause I don't think we've ever talked about Johnny Traves on this show Have we?

[00:03:32] I am looking through his filmography to think of when he would have crossed paths with us There's so much to talk about with Johnny Traves too Exactly So I think that's our context for this episode Cause Johnny T has not come up Introduce the podcast, introduce our guest

[00:03:47] While I comb through the filmography Just to make sure we've never had it I guess we haven't Right? Wow Hello everybody This is a podcast entitled Blank Check with Griffin and David I am Griffin I am David David looks resigned as he scrolls through Travolta's IMDb page

[00:04:05] Scrolling through his IMDb page might make you look a little resigned I'm sorry to say it There are some heavy sighs within there It's a podcast about filmographies Directors who have massive success early on in their career

[00:04:17] And are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce baby This is a mini-series on the films of Nor Afron It is called You've Got Podcast And today we're talking about Michael

[00:04:37] Inexplicably one of our highest grossing films And our guest today is doing such a great job Not only speaking before he was introduced but also He was miming along with every part of the introduction He rocked a baby I'm a listener

[00:04:53] You have to do visual bits on Zoom They're for us That's just for us Well actually it's being recorded so it could be for everybody He's one of the best in the biz A podcasting luminary But not for luminary, famously Not yet Luminaries coming up

[00:05:11] Everyone has a price They're gonna come a-knockin' You know I'm from Good Christian, Fawn And Inside Voices And Gilmore Guys And Maisel Goys Yeah that's right Nailed it Hey guys thank you so much for having me What a fun time The great Tevin Key quarter Tevin Key quarter

[00:05:35] That's absolutely fine Now here's a fun fact You and I had followed each other on Twitter And had been friendly We finally I feel like broke the threshold And became friends like a week before the pandemic COVID Eve I would say

[00:05:49] Yes it was like the last time I was in New York Which was beginning of March And Griffin was so nice to come on Inside Voices And we met up and had a nice time And had a nice little walk afterwards And then two weeks later

[00:06:01] Everything ended forever It felt like a nice last hurrah It was a really nice time You literally flew out of New York on March 11th March 12th Well I traveled a lot On the east coast during that time unfortunately So I was in New York, went to Philly

[00:06:17] Came back to New York, went down to Washington DC Then flew out of there on March 9th And then came back to Los Angeles So I could have should have maybe had something I did not thankfully You got very lucky You got mail and I got very lucky

[00:06:31] You've been like talking more during this Yeah You've been a nice distant friend to have A socially distant friend to have And it's exciting that we could get you on this episode This felt like a really I was looking at the schedule and I was like

[00:06:45] This feels like a good fit Oh I'm so honored by it I mean this show has meant so much to me personally I've listened to this show for a very long time I'm a big fan I hope you guys always feel flattered when like

[00:06:57] The guests you have on the show are actually listeners And our fans I feel like that's kind of rare For a show I feel like that happens a lot with Blank Jack I deeply resent it I resent it No I'm kidding I'm flattered

[00:07:11] But I did your podcast Good Christian Fun And we talked about Left Behind The Nicholas Cage remake Of a Biblical I've never seen that It's bad Yeah is Cage in a lot of it It's kind of sprinkled in Like how much Cage

[00:07:31] Yes and no he's a little bit like Bob Hoskins and Michael Where he's got a number of scenes But they all take place with him sitting in the exact same chair Yeah okay They were like Nick it's a week of your life

[00:07:41] And you won't have to do anything Right He's pretty much just in a cockpit The entire movie and he only interacts With three other actors Except for one scene he has In the food court of an airport He's definitely JFK Is so clearly JFK

[00:07:59] They clearly shot in New York for real And you know it because there's a little placard On his table that says welcome to JFK New York City Yeah I think it was Louisiana that they shot In for real Because Nicholas Cage lives in Louisiana

[00:08:15] And I think he has some sort of tax break There but the point is Was talking that movie with you On your show where you talk about Films that are like explicitly Christian Like sort of faith based Films Faith based entertainment which I think is

[00:08:31] One of the more fascinating Genres of film going right now And well this will be fun For all you box office mojo heads out there There was one faith based Movie that the weekend Right before Or like right during lockdown did Extraordinarily well I still believe

[00:08:51] Did extraordinarily well Which is like almost a very Damning box office statistic Because it means like the Venn Diagram overlap Of people who want to see I still believe And also believe that Covid was fake news was kind of One for one

[00:09:07] I appreciate you saying that because I can't say it as a Jew You say whatever you want bud That's the one with KJ Appa I believe KJ Appa I know Archie Is in it and he is playing With his pants the singer Who has this tragic story

[00:09:23] Or whatever right what's the name Jeremy campus his name And Shana Twain is in the movie For self-sacrifice Also Britt Robertson Who had gone the Allison Lohman path Where I'm like is she just gone Like did Hollywood just rule Like now that you can't play

[00:09:41] 16 year olds anymore you're out Which is what happened to Allison Lohman Like she Allison Lohman She was like 28 or whatever Then Hollywood was like the charade Is over and you're out Just bringing up Allison Lohman's name I mean wide only under get at me

[00:09:57] I love Allison Lohman she got a raw deal You know but I feel like Britt Robertson Lohman married was it Neville Dean Or Taylor she married one of the crank guys And the only movie she's Appeared in in the last 10 years Are a couple cameos in their movies

[00:10:11] Neville Dean she married Neville Dean And she had kids and maybe You know she partly had the sort of Like you know what fuck it I'm gonna Send my retire and do something else The other one who falls Into that category although she has continued

[00:10:25] Working but how long has she Been a teenager exactly And I was looking this one up last night Brittney Snow By the time that she appears at pitch perfect And I'm like you're going on your second Decade of playing a high School or college age person

[00:10:41] But the thing that blew my mind is She's 34 now She's like my age right She was 15 in American Dreams there's some of those Because of the Kearnigh Lee thing Where she's technically 31 Now so she was like 15 And love actually or whatever it is

[00:10:59] Ben it like Beckham she's really young Like you're right love actually she's playing older Like that's the weird thing with her So it fucks with you and like When American dreams was on TV I was like this must be a 27 year old

[00:11:11] So by the time she gets to pitch perfect I'm like shouldn't she be 40 now But in fact she was still Like 25 Anyway Here's a man who has never aged Who has looked exactly the same as his entire career John Travolta He's got My classic youthful glow Goodness gracious

[00:11:35] I know I mean John Travolta No go ahead Kevin I was just gonna say Yeah that's the thing and I feel like I'm only that familiar With like post pulp stuff I don't feel like I've really Dove into like any of the Saturday night

[00:11:51] Fever or blow up or any of like What the 70s was for Travolta Well let's take a little tour through Travolta I think we need to stay in control Okay so I'm gonna try Griffin can you let me at least Get like and then but I'm gonna try

[00:12:05] And lay it out every week and valid very quickly Obviously becomes well known on the TV show Welcome Back Cotter That's his original and then From there you've got you know right during Welcome Back Cotter he's in Saturday Night Fever he's in Greece His hair looks normal

[00:12:21] And like you know he's a good dancer He's a good singer he's like you know kind of Like he's an attractive guy like he's sort of A style icon like I mean talk Right out of the gate huge star Oscar nomination While he's still on a sitcom

[00:12:33] But let's just say also incredibly fast And from sitcom star To doing TV movies To legitimate movie star With an Oscar nomination like a rapid Right it's all happening Right at the same time and then in the 80s the rap on him is Ah he blew it

[00:12:51] Even though he's in blowout which is a great Movie but wasn't a hit He's seen as a bomb right and then he's in You know actual bombs like staying alive And two of a kind in perfect that are all Kind of like well known

[00:13:03] Bombs like early razy faves right Would you say Griffin especially staying alive Absolutely and also in 1978 He makes the straightest film of all time Moment by moment where he and Lily Tomlin love each other Where he plays Strip Harrison Yes Looking at the filmography on Wikipedia

[00:13:21] Because there are so many multiple Films that he's done per year It does look like It looks like the Bruce Willis is making Movies for Russians that you've never Heard of phase of someone's career because There's so many already Kevin we will get there

[00:13:37] We'll get there and hit us hard I forgot to mention Urban Cowboy in the early Which was a huge movie of that That's 1980 so it's really after 1980 he hits a fallow period Exactly and then so and he barely Makes movies honestly and then in

[00:13:51] 1999 he makes Look Who's Talking and everyone Is like Travolta's back The comeback baby he made it He's back people love it it's a hit I appreciate you saying this because I feel Like people talk about Pulp Fiction as if It rescued him from total obscurity

[00:14:05] Now maybe Look Who's Talking Wasn't respected but those first two Movies are humongous hits They were huge and it was definitely at the time Seen as a comeback but because Of he barely makes other stuff Except for Look Who's Talking sequels Quickly I think it's another dip

[00:14:21] It's like no alright no that I guess that didn't take Totally I'm looking at this filmography Look Who's Talking in 89 And then Look Who's Talking 2 in 90 What is that production They were just like You need to give me a script in three days

[00:14:39] There better be another talking baby in it But like Wayne's World is like that too Like you look at certain comedy sequels They used to just be like we cannot let this Thing rest like Scary Movie 2 Comes out nine months after the first Scary Movie Wow

[00:14:55] It's crazy but yes he pumps out Three Look Who's Talkings the first two are Big hits the third one is not He looks like he blew it again Uh exactly Alright alright so then Pulp Fiction obviously Obviously he's come back Oscar Nom he's cool again

[00:15:13] Like who would have thought and there's just That whole narrative of like Tarantino Saw this in him and no one else Do you know what I mean they had to talk him into it And he didn't want to do it And then he really has a run

[00:15:25] Cause it's like get shorty the next year Michael and Phenomenon in 96 Not well reviewed but are both big box office hits He also has Broken Arrow in 96 As is Broken Arrow which was not as huge Of a box office hit but like did well

[00:15:37] And then Face Off in 97 Which obviously rules Surrounded by two kind of semi-flops Mad City and she's so lovely But like you can survive those If you're doing a hit a year If you have a Face Off yes

[00:15:51] And the 8th I mean gets great reviews for primary colors Which is not a hit but is well received And also for a civil action Which kind of gets ignored but is a good Like solid you know cable Kind of movie And was a solid on base hit

[00:16:05] Not a blockbuster but a hit I would also like to point out a civil action Is about my hometown Oh yes it is I love that movie I'm a huge fan of a civil action Much in the way that Mad Max Fury Road Is about Ben's hometown

[00:16:19] And this movie is about my hometown Heaven As Randy sings in the opening credits The place that only you will get to go Kevin That's right out of the five of us But then he does his little Poppin in Infin Red Line And then in 99 honestly

[00:16:37] General's Daughter was also a huge hit Like people just it's just that those movies Are mostly forgotten because they're not very good But they were hits made 100 million dollars Yes and then 2000 Lucky numbers it's like that's when it starts And then like Swordfish does okay

[00:16:51] But like that movie think of Travolta And Swordfish that's where it's like What is what does he think His screen images Like what is he doing to manage His appearance here because it's just getting Weirder He's first built in that movie

[00:17:07] But that movie becomes a hit and helps Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry it does not help him Everyone walks out of that being like One Halle Berry obviously Right two is like that Jackman guys You know he's charming Travolta is getting leapfrogged No it's beyond that though

[00:17:23] The beat on Travolta I think walking out of Swordfish Is like what's going on with him Like what's this now Right because like you still have Like I think Ladder 49 Was sort of an on base hit Right yeah Love song for Bobby Long not so much

[00:17:39] Punisher villain feels like a downgrade I was gonna say he's sort of playing Support for younger movie stars Like I feel like Ladder 49 is a hit but people are more like Joaquin You know and then him playing the Punisher Villain in like the Artisan Marvel movie rather than

[00:17:57] Like a big studio Marvel movie Like all of this is weird Basic as a bomb you said Yeah basic as a bomb be cool it's like You're going back to the get shorty Well ten years later and like And those two movies are fascinating

[00:18:11] Because it's like if you didn't If he wasn't called Chili Palmer and you didn't tell me He was this was a sequel to get shorty You could watch both those movies And not really know they're related right Totally Kevin's having some virtual background I'm sorry

[00:18:27] I just wanted a nice lady on screen as well Kevin changed his background to Margo Martindale I also just want to say David's background Is a photo of Michael standing In the field with the dog But because of the positioning of his head

[00:18:39] Looks like there are wings coming out of David's head Which I kind of appreciate That's kind of fun We could do that franchise griffin for the Patriot I mean you know who else is in Be Cool is Robert Pastorelli Yes his final film Michael

[00:18:55] His final movie Travolta brought him back But that's this is where things get kind of wild Because you go okay be cool 2005 he's trying to make a sequel To get shorty but also Evoke Pulp Fiction by bringing A new film into the fold Everyone rejects it

[00:19:11] Travolta's cooked he's never coming back Right And then you hear Vroom vroom vroom I was born Born to be wild And so We're calling Wild Hogs come back Number three Right would you agree Four maybe And it's funny It definitely is a comeback because after that

[00:19:37] You have hairspray ball taking a film One two three old dogs right like those are all Like you know big studio releases Wild Hogs and hairspray Both come out within Like six months of each other four months Of each other and both make hundreds of millions Of dollars

[00:19:53] Right Then I feel like it's just Sort of at that point it's like obviously He's too old Right because then it's like He's showing up in your from Paris from Loves And your savages where you're like what are you doing Is he good in bolt I never saw

[00:20:11] He's not particularly good in bolt I'm not a big fan of bolt I think savages falls a little John Travolta I think savages Falls into the path he should have taken Which is like take the smaller role Be more of a character actor He's pretty good in savages

[00:20:27] And also he's not Wearing a wig I mean the hair stuff How much do you think The hair changed the trajectory of his career I think it's that thing Where it's like it's not just the hair But he starts adjusting everything around it

[00:20:43] Where like his eyebrows are died And he's like hand caked in Makeup even when you see him like On talk show appearances and he just stops Looking like a human being He just did the thing where he couldn't accept it But instead of just sort of like

[00:20:57] I don't know doing the Bruce Willis thing of like He's just like I don't know he turned to Ever more radical and confusing Ever It only just gets His main issue is That he didn't do what he should have done Which is just like I'm going to transition

[00:21:15] To being a full time character actor Savages I think savages is not a great movie But he's good in it and that's the model Of what he should have kept on doing Can I nominate like a low key Maybe fifth comeback role

[00:21:27] Not low key and I'm sure I know what you're about to say Robert Shapiro on People of Great Versus J That's another window in which He should have ran with the ball Yeah it's exactly it though You're like great, he's figured it out

[00:21:39] He's going to be like big Popping characters supporting roles And you're going to be like man True Volta what a wild man Kind of do the cage thing Right and then here are the titles Of his immediate follow ups To American crime story

[00:21:55] Which should have been his final Comeback performance to take him into The final stage of his career His follow ups are I am Wrath, Gotti Speed kills Are a trading It is true Trading paint The poison rose A pit bull music video And Fred Durst filmed

[00:22:19] The fanatic in which he plays The character Moose Which I got a FyC screener DVD for And I was like True Volta paid for me to get this It was one of those things where I'm like Oh Jesus Speed does kill I know someone who worked

[00:22:39] On a film With him around this time And I asked about the hair And it was a bald director Okay And he worked with True Volta showing up On set or showing up for rehearsals With the wig And he was like

[00:22:59] I just knew the wig was so bad Like it's so low quality He's got that one wig he uses all the time That looks like a Pomeranian You know what I'm saying? Yes, I do With the little fringe on the side

[00:23:13] And he was like Kevin is now changing his background to Moose from the fanatic choking somebody Love that line He was like My thing was we will pay From the budget to get you a better wig We will get you a wig that suits Your character more

[00:23:29] We understand it if you don't want to be bald And he wouldn't acknowledge the conversation Ha Like my one goal was trying to get him To agree to can we make you a good character Wig

[00:23:41] And he kept on saying like I don't know where we're talking about this is my real hair Right So there's just it's just like a locked room And there's just no way inside or something Right like He's barricaded it And it's just like

[00:23:55] There is one aspect to his career We have not touched upon Which is his Musical output He did put out a Christmas album with Olivia Newton John in 2012 Called This Christmas And it's him and Olivia Newton John from Grease fame back together again Doing Baby It's Cold Outside

[00:24:15] And there's a pretty wild music video for at least one of those songs I remember that video it's incredible The other video I suggest people watch Of course in this period of time John Travolta makes my favorite cursed film Old Dogs which is currently my zoom background

[00:24:27] There's a music video for that He does a cover of Bobby Brown's Every Little Step With his daughter Ella Blutrivolta And that video is absurd Wait is Old Dogs that was supposed to be rated R And then it was recut to PG

[00:24:39] There are many rumors about what went wrong And it's just like There are many rumors about what went wrong with Old Dogs And none of them fully make sense But all of them kind of make sense Hogs and dogs man He should have gone on that lane

[00:24:53] It was the re-team he was supposed to do Wild Hogs 2 after Old Dogs And Old Dogs was such a disaster They cancelled Wild Hogs 2 But there's one other Element Travolta we have not talked about here Which is his faith On subject with this film

[00:25:09] That he was for so long Hollywood's second most prominent Scientologists He and Cruz were like the two Pillars And despite Cruz having like a rockier period Of like just real turmoil He has been able to sort of Stabilize more Whereas Travolta never really Recovers

[00:25:31] Everything that's weird about him now Does feel like that Oh he's in a Scientology bubble Do you think that's because Travolta Is explicitly inflected by Scientology Like Battlefield Earth and Cruz never really Did one I think that's part of it

[00:25:47] I think Cruz was for a very long time Very savvy about not bringing His religion To the forefront And then it was that one disastrous War of the Worlds press tour Where it kept on coming up Where the videos leaked out Where he called Matt Lauer Glib

[00:26:05] Right and like Travolta always Was a little too horny For Scientology on main You know? Nick Kroll has a bit I've seen him do where he talks about It's crazy you look at Tom Cruz and he talks about how Scientology helped him unlock himself

[00:26:23] And he is the most high functioning person In the world and then you look at John Travolta It's so weird with Travolta because I feel like You do always kind of have to talk around So much like innuendo With him and

[00:26:37] It's not like I know things that I can't reveal It's more just like there's so many Different kinds of innuendo with him Like you definitely hear that he's kind of A weird guy to work with but then also He's worked with a lot of great directors

[00:26:49] Many of whom have employed him multiple Times it's not like He's one and done with these people Like he works with Norah Efron again I will say this about people I know Who have worked with him Consumit professional He comes on set he treats everyone so nicely

[00:27:05] He works so hard you understand why he's a movie star Which is what you hear about Cruz as well Totally He's very nice to everybody Cruz is like a politician Like I mean Cruz that guy feels like an No I mean I've interacted

[00:27:19] I mean he is like an A list politician type Where it's like You just feel like you could say anything to him And it would just bounce off of him and he'd smile at you And ask you a question that made you feel like included Or whatever

[00:27:31] He's a big business whole life basically He's a dancer and singer which requires A lot of professionalism That requires you being able to Practice and work And hit your marks and all that I feel like he does Have an eye for scripts but then you do

[00:27:47] Hear the stuff like the Pulp Fiction thing Where he's like well I can't do that Because he takes heroin And he has to be talked into it Where it's like you'd think Anyone would read that script and be like This is a good script like I'll do it

[00:28:01] It's also one of those things where Like so many movie stars When they're in their Crappiest films, their I am Wraths Their trading paints, their speed Kills is When they're doing press for them You're like God this is like gun to their head

[00:28:17] They're clearly embarrassed about this movie They're lying through their teeth And every time Travolta promotes a movie I'm like I believe he thinks this is the best Film he's been in Well it's just interesting This movie is very Very interesting In the Travolta arc It's basically

[00:28:37] How many noir movies have you guys recorded thus far by the way? We've recorded everything up until this point We've done this Oh chronological Okay, for producer Ben have we thrown out the name Ben and Women Can't Be Friends Oh fuck

[00:28:53] No we have not and I love that We have not That might be the winner Kevin Hey Happy to help the team It was either that or Lucky Num-Benz It's neck and neck between the two It's a squeaker I mean I'm looking this is

[00:29:13] Alright okay it's not exactly halfway in his career Cause he's made way more movies on the back half of his career Cause he makes so much shit now But I'm right In terms of years this is really a midpoint And it's like he's still

[00:29:25] Being used in this movie As a sex symbol but he is The more older, broad Kind of John Travolta Who's kind of stocky looking now Not like the live you know young fit John Travolta Well this is weirdly him playing against type By stretching

[00:29:41] To play what Travolta becomes Ten years later Well and it is interesting to think of him As like a As an object of desire, sexuality And it's like a movie Especially maybe like the Era that he comes from And you do wonder how much of that is

[00:29:59] Informed by like Oh yeah back when Nora Ephron was Growing up like kind of weird looking Guys with the sex symbols And kind of like thicker guys and people With you know more than 2% body fat So you do wonder that type of calculation

[00:30:13] I was trying to like frame this in my head But the scene where he appears for the first time And you see him shirtless and his The kitchen He's really doughy in that And I accepted it because That's what Travolta kind of looks like now

[00:30:27] But then I realized he probably Gained weight for this role Like he was more live In the films before And after this He always was a slightly stockier guy He was never a rail thin guy But like I think he gained a little

[00:30:43] Weight for this, I think they specifically Wanted the reveal of look at it Like he was kind of a slob You know Like he was sort of pushing himself Out of the sex symbol zone Even though everyone wants to fuck Michael

[00:30:57] Part of the joke of this movie is he looks like Kind of shitty Well I thought he was already kind of looking Like that by pulp already So I feel like pulp was almost him Announcing himself as like Oh don't worry I can look like shit now

[00:31:11] And it's fine so I feel like Michael Is an extension of that in some ways Mainly thinking of pulp fiction Where there's like They have to strip down Remember him and Sam Jackson And they get sprayed or whatever You know he has the same basic build

[00:31:27] Okay fair enough I always think about my mom Dislikes John Travolta Would never want to go see John Travolta movies And she Whenever I was like that movie looks good She'd be like I don't like John Travolta He's so bovine Oh my god That is a tough

[00:31:47] The on fucking Travolta man That is tough Doesn't he actually play a cow in a movie though And he fights a cow in this movie First cow it just came out No it's like you're out of the animated cow movie No he's not in home on the range

[00:32:01] If that's what you're asking Oh doesn't he just like look like that cow Yes It's not even I want to make it clear No it's like a meme I'm making a size joke here There's something about his face That is weirdly cow like to me

[00:32:17] Yeah I think it might be his lips Maybe his lips have always been I mean this is bordering on I feel bad But I'm also just not getting over What a brutal hit Bovine is Oh my mom like Just because no one says that

[00:32:35] It's not like she said like oh he's ugly Or I yeah he's you know She had such a specific word That was her explanation for like Not taking us to go see Michael I remember wanting to see this movie

[00:32:47] And she was like I can't stand to me so bovine I'm realizing the movie I was thinking of Was called Barnyard and Otis the Cow Is in fact voiced by Kevin James Kevin James The cast also includes Courtney Cox Sam Elliott and Danny Glover

[00:33:01] Yeah and that fell in one best picture That's awesome in one best picture We don't remember that Brokeback Mountain Yeah more like Barnback Mountain Terrific Now with Nora Efron Context I know there's so little To go on for this specific Movie but like

[00:33:23] What's our take on her thus far Because I'll say for me I've seen the big boys I've seen sleepless in Seattle When Harry met Sally You've got mail I did watch Julia and Julia for the first time ever

[00:33:35] Cause it was on Netflix and I watched that a couple nights ago Just to kind of get a Kind of a more clear vision Of who she is and what she's about But it does seem like Apart from those That her career is very spotty

[00:33:49] Okay her first movie rules Which we discovered Silkwood Her first film she directed This is My Life Which is about a single mother Stand up starring Marge Simpson That one rules There's this thing because she started as a humorist And a lot of her pieces Were more caustic

[00:34:11] And had a harder edge to them That she will try to make films With that sort of sense of humor And the public rejects them and then she goes back To her souffle movies And she kind of does that better than anyone else I do think watching

[00:34:25] These movies has made me appreciate Her more as a Technical filmmaker because it is so easy To focus on her writing Because her voice is so specific And her voice was so specific as a screenwriter Before she even was directing films But like I think this

[00:34:41] Is a fairly Well directed movie Like I like the aesthetics Of Michael a lot There's one scene in terms of Like I generally Agree with both of you but I do think there's one scene Early on in the movie where the three of them are on the road

[00:34:59] And there's like these very strange cuts To the exterior of the car And very loud blaring country music And not one of any MacGow songs It's when they're explaining the history of Sparking the dog, right? That's the one that was like whoa what is going on

[00:35:13] But I will say like from the documentary And not to make this More about me in any way But like I was so struck by parallels To Amy Sherman Palladino For some of this stuff In terms of like a Very kind of like brash A very aesthetic woman

[00:35:31] Who idolizes Dorothy Parker And cares more about You know the work Than people's feelings And people like going on record in the documentary Like yeah she was pretty mean You know and she like softened out Over time and with the agent stuff

[00:35:47] But I was struck by that in terms of Like some of the similarities with female actors When the darker stuff Comes into her career it is Honest like it is a reflection of her Personality, it's part of what's there for her

[00:35:59] And I feel like she kept on trying to find The way to make that connect with an audience And it didn't and then this movie is like Square in the middle between everything She does Right, yes While not being wildly successful at any of those things

[00:36:13] Right but not a total failure But definitely it kind of just like Lands weird This movie, I don't know how else to put it Right? Would you agree with that? I mean well here's Is this a rewrite of someone else's script Because there's a point in it?

[00:36:29] This is the other weird thing about her Most of her films are that Like despite the fact that she gets her film career Started by like adapting her own novel Doing when Harry met Sally Which is like you know Rob Reiner Hiring her off of his premise

[00:36:43] Silkwood which is an adaptation You know most of her films that she directs Are she takes a script From someone else and like Nora Ises it so even sleepless And Seattle was like that Was developed by two other writers Before she comes on and makes it her own

[00:36:59] Michael's like that too She usually comes on with her sister D'Elia Efron Who I realized in a previous episode I erroneously said was an original writer For SNL because she was part of that scene And she's in all those books about SNL

[00:37:11] She dated Michael Donahue for a long time But she was part of like the edgy 70s Comedy scene, the groundlings And all of that sort of shit But her and her sister come on And they're like a new asset so I don't know where this script comes from

[00:37:23] But I presume it was not incubated By them that it was the first two writers Who were credited and then her and D'Elia came on And rewrote it It's made by Turner Pictures In the brief period of time where Ted Turner Was like fully financing his own movies

[00:37:37] And then having New Line release them The Megan Allison of his time Yes but like most of what he made At this time was like Gettysburg Right Cause that was his His interests I like how it's so dance I thought that movie was terrific They don't dance though

[00:37:57] And we needed that movie to teach us that But this movie is like a weird sort of like outlier In that and it's the most successful one And then Warner Brothers acquires Turner very shortly after And folds in and like

[00:38:09] So you're like, so did he read the script And love it? Did Nora read the script and bring it to Turner? Like I can't find any Answers about how this movie comes to be But it does feel like very specifically A 90's movie Like peak movie star

[00:38:25] Where if John Travolta wants to do it It's getting green lit That's the most 90's thing about it Making over 100 mil at the box office You could just slap from Sleepless in Seattle person And Travolta's in it It's about a weird angel I don't care

[00:38:43] Travolta was just in the pocket for like four years And having the poster be like John Travolta is Michael Having the TV ads Be like him at the bar Dancing, like that's all people needed to see They were there for it The dog doesn't hurt either

[00:38:59] The dog certainly doesn't hurt Obviously the dog is central to the movie But have you seen that Demented poster that's just His Travolta's face and then there's the dog in the corner Right and then some feathers But like clearly they were just like

[00:39:13] The dog needs to be somewhere Like I'm sorry We're not putting this poster out But it's weird that the dog is so Centralized in the marketing campaign And then the movie is about this dog That they use as a marketing hook There's this weird meta element

[00:39:29] To how forefront the dog is In everything But I remember this being a big movie Where like as good as it gets Like Frasier Where it was just like All over the marketing We're pushing the dog hard We're pushing the relationship

[00:39:47] He's an angel but he's not a saint I mean that was the other thing It was one of those like one sentence pitches In a way that was like John Travolta is an archangel But he's like He drinks beer and smokes cigarettes He's a bad boy

[00:40:03] Which is like a fine premise But that's not really what the movie is No I turned this on Expecting it to not be a road trip One Expecting him To have a more romantic Sort of Part to play like obviously he is Romantic in the movie

[00:40:25] He's as we say In heat and smells like cookies But like he has no He explicitly has no part No part to play in like a love triangle or anything like that Well the billing is also The billing is weird on this movie

[00:40:39] Because it's like above the title Huge John Travolta Then William Hurt, Annie McDowell A rung down from him And then the title Michael And then and Bob Hoskins So I was like That's a weird billing block And it's also weird for Annie McDowell

[00:40:57] And William Hurt at this point in their careers To be playing sidekicks To John Travolta in a movie And then I watched this movie and it's What does the sidekick Like Annie McDowell and William Hurt are Absolutely the protagonists of the story And like this is a time

[00:41:13] When Hurt is really at a Career Low, right? Which you say? He's hurting for sure I mean I feel like we talk about this In our Lost in Space episode that movie's a couple years later The big hurt But like that's his whole 90s Basically

[00:41:31] His leading man career is collapsing slowly Yeah and they can't figure out What he's supposed to be now Right because he's like aged a little bit He's still handsome guy but he kinda has Like How would you describe it? Like he has this sort of like Boardroom feel

[00:41:47] Is he hot? I can't tell if he's hot or not I mean in like broadcast news absolutely I think this is the last time He's sort of conventionally hot In a movie But he does have that thing, the older he gets The more the asshole qualities

[00:42:01] Come to the forefront Like you look at broadcast news a decade earlier And it's like okay here's a guy Who's secretly a piece of shit But he's so charming that everyone falls for And then this movie is the opposite Where it's like this guy is such an asshole

[00:42:15] I don't believe anyone would fall for him There is something so off putting about him Unfortunately Right, right 100% I don't get him. Also The Andy McDowell conversation Guys I'm not sure About Andy McDowell I've never been sure about her And this is Right after four weddings

[00:42:37] Or it's two years later You have Groundhog Day in between That's the important step Groundhog Day is 93 That's 93 That's before Wow Four weddings is the one that she's objectively bad in Haven't seen it The weird thing about four weddings is It's an explicitly good movie

[00:43:01] It's basically like a Genre changingly good movie Agreed With Mr. Bean Classic romcom A side of Bean You love the setting David What's the setting? David loves weddings but that's weird because I believe it's in Is it in London? Just have your fun Alright I am wondering how

[00:43:29] The bit is strained via Oh no they do It tends to happen quicker I feel like it tends to just sort of like happen My point about I'm Grypp and Britton What? Wow Although actually I thought on F1

[00:43:49] We were doing the reverse bit where you knew I grew up in Britain Well I'm sorry I forgot about it too No reason to apologize We can cut that out David what would that be? You know I grew up in Britain but you forgot

[00:44:03] That for my first nine years I lived on the Upper West Side Uptown Davy Sims That's the new bit It's Uptown Davy Sims and I keep forgetting Now that actually is news to me A lot of people forget that part So is she good?

[00:44:17] I just want to finish my four Weddings thought That's what I'm saying I think the best part about this movie Is considering that she is really bad in it She's like a percival of pain It's one of those bizarre films It's like the opposite of hairspray

[00:44:33] Where it's a great movie That somehow even Overcomes The central bad performance In a way where hairspray I think is great Other than Travolta being misguided Like every time he's on screen It sticks out if that makes sense I think she's very good in Groundhog Day

[00:44:51] Yes she's great in Groundhog Day I don't know I find her charming In the sort of Southern mode Which she's in here but I just feel like this movie Does not know what her character is Can we say what she is Oh Miss Margaret Qali's mommy

[00:45:11] Well she is but I was going to say That's true I'm not sure When you're talking about her specific charm She's She's Bargain store Mary Steenburgen Oh Oh Right Oh my god Could you at least say generic brand Bargain store feels like a real good cheese

[00:45:39] Steenburgen's second tier Is she a Southern Belle as well I feel like there's not I don't think about that What I think of Steenburgen Really Now I need to look up where Mary Steenburgen is Hexus? Am I wrong about this? Arkansas I don't think about that Interesting Arkansen

[00:46:03] Arkanian I think of her sweep I don't think of her Southern She's generic Brand Where is Steenburgen Where is Steenburgen never misses Annie McDowell's really hit and miss She is a very hit or miss I think she's great in Sex, Lies and Video Tape Muppets from Space

[00:46:29] Does she Have an affair with Pepe in that movie I don't recall it's been a few years Some human being I think is implied to have slept With Pepe the king prawn in that film I need to rewatch Muppets from Space Only movie

[00:46:45] Kathy Griffin makes out with Pepe That's what it is I know my Muppets That really is life on the D list You gotta make out with Pepe I can't even make out with Rolf I feel like I've only loved her Magic Mike XXL She's great in that

[00:47:05] She's great in that She's sort of doing a better version I've tried that a few other times In Beauty Shop Beauty Shop Beauty Shop does rule that's accurate Isn't she in the Footloose remake She is She plays the Diane Weist role Yeah I'm just looking because

[00:47:27] Sex, Lies and Video Tape she's great I think she's pretty great in Green Card She's got some good ones there Who does she play in Shortcuts I totally forget her being in Shortcuts She's a teenager She plays Mrs. Shortcuts The owner of a Beauty Shop Josephine Cut

[00:47:45] It's a Beauty Shop prequel I've seen Hogg Yeah right Her career is all over the place Her first film is Grey Stoke The Legend of Tarzan In which she is fully dubbed by Glenn Close Is that right? Is that true? I believe she's fully dubbed in that movie

[00:48:07] Because they didn't like her accent She does have that southern accent So that's correct Guys, Wookiepedia says The dialogue of Annie McDowell who played Jane Was dubbed and posed by Glenn Close According to Hudson this was due to McDowell's Southern US accent which he did

[00:48:23] Not want for the film and that she was not At the time a trained actor That's crazy Her fucking over the place Her voice is like a huge asset Totally She's bringing it to the table And as we found out in this movie Also her sangin' voice

[00:48:45] She's kind of charming in this I don't dislike her in this I don't dislike any of them in this I do think everyone's a little undercooked Everyone's roles Right I don't know if this movie was Edited to death or something

[00:49:05] It just feels like there's something missing from it I don't know what it is because I started watching it And it kind of jumps from plot to plot kind of rapidly And then we'll just stop and sit in something That's only somewhat interesting Can't we all agree

[00:49:17] I'm sorry Griff, I'm glad I was going to say I would love if we could agree That the cut of Jean Stapleton Dropping an egg into a frying pan To a funeral is an I think you should leave sketch Absolutely I think it is I was very disappointed

[00:49:33] Reading the cast list when I saw Jean Stapleton's name And for five minutes thought it was Jean Smart But it wasn't It's Edith, I forgot She would also be good enough What were you saying David? I'm sorry I had a question about the egg thing

[00:49:49] Because that's early in the movie Obviously Jean Stapleton's making them all breakfast And she keeps asking what their eggs Should be yada yada yada They say over easy She's clearly handing them scrambled eggs They're not over easy eggs It is a pile of yellow Scrambled And what

[00:50:09] Is this just somewhat a fuck up Like did they decide over easy Sounded funnier later I couldn't get over it I cannot wait on this because I was covering my eyes This entire scene No I'm revolted Wait do you not like eggs Griff? Oh my god

[00:50:27] It has a speciality If you ask me All eggs are deviled eggs Oh my god He said it Very sandwich It is a weird moment I was going to say I started watching this movie And I was looking at the Wikipedia

[00:50:48] And I saw that it had 30% on rotten tomatoes And I was like this movie feels kind of charming Like I know this doesn't have a reputation For being great but 30% is really low And then you get to the end of the movie And you're like nothing catastrophic

[00:51:00] Has happened here But it's very hard to say that this movie works Yeah It is hard to say It was hard to say anything about the movie I also wanted to be kind of a pleasant watch But I can't really wrap my head around it

[00:51:14] But at the end of the first act When it sort of finally has settled down And when Michael says to Annie McDowell I'm going to want you to know To Annie McDowell I'm going to want you to sing

[00:51:24] And to William Hurd I'm going to need you to apologize And there's like a master plan In place that we don't really know about And it's a road trip I'm like okay I think this movie is set up I think I'm on board

[00:51:38] A bit of a slow start but that's cool Even though that is Basically what happens It never felt like it Gathered a lot of momentum They get to that pretty quickly A lot of just space to fill No I don't know if you guys felt this

[00:51:56] Jumping around but I felt very disappointed When it became clear The point of this movie is Michael was sent to earth Specifically and exclusively To make Annie McDowell and William Hurd fall in love Yes Which is weird Which is weird And I'm fine with the two of them

[00:52:16] Ending up together And that's his mission It's weird that he Like used his last You know whatever Miracle chip right His last like earth pass To get two Fairly annoying people together Who don't have a lot of chemistry And don't really have fully drawn characters

[00:52:38] It feels like a Rube Goldberg device too Cause if the idea is like You guys need to fall in love It's just like well just do the street running thing Like in Chicago And don't even deal with Iowa And the road and the twine and stuff

[00:52:52] Absolutely just turn your TV on god damn it You know don't have a mouse Like run to a baseball bat And knock over a teacup Is this evidence of Like a script that was written And then rewritten like is it like

[00:53:06] It had this and then Nora came in And was like I want it to be like a road trip And they go to the big ball of twine Like is that what happened We can't find any answers Congress release the files What is Nora's touch though

[00:53:20] What's her signature Where it's like oh there's this in this movie Like all of her movies Like she loves journalism She loves a newsroom And editor or writer Even if it's for the Daily Mirror Is that what it's called? I believe it's called the National Mirror

[00:53:38] The National Mirror too Cause the Daily Mirror is an English That's where you know that Oh I find it Smashing Simply smashing Also just side note Robert Pastorelli For the first 20 minutes of this movie I'm like did Stephen Van Zandt say No thanks to this

[00:53:58] Is Stephen Van Zandt a market correction To Robert Pastorelli Are we just potting everyone in the spoon No I don't I love Stephen Van Zandt I own guitar picks From Stephen Van Zandt We do love Lil Steep We love a gangster Norway We stan Lily Hammer

[00:54:16] This is sort of Pastorelli's Like last great moment Right I mean he's like Pastorelli's last dance Right I mean cause 4 years later He gets mired in scandal And 5 years after that he kills himself Not to be bleak here So sad Treasure Planet Eraser

[00:54:38] He's like a big window of like he's coming off of what he was on Suddenly Susan or Murphy Brown He was on Murphy Brown Yes And then had his own sitcom for one season It's interesting I mean he's You know he's a big part of this Movie

[00:54:56] This is what I thought this movie was going to be at the halfway point I thought it was going to be These cynical journalists Are in a car with Michael Accompanying him On his journey to solve whatever he was sent on earth to do And along the way

[00:55:12] He changes them just by proximity They start to fall in love Their hearts open up And there's some big reveal at the end of what Michael was sent to do In the ultimate sacrifice he makes Yeah instead this functions as lost

[00:55:24] Right where the end of loss is like The point was that you guys met And love each other The point was you guys Which I don't like Like it feels way too small And I also just like She's had such a bad run of relationships

[00:55:40] And he is such an asshole That I'm not convinced this is an ultimate victory For the two of them to be together No and especially And this gets shaded in a different way When it is a woman directing it But the kind of wild Gender and sexual politics

[00:55:56] Of ending your movie With a woman saying no five times And then saying yes And it's a yes Is Bananas and I don't know how to unpack it And that's like That's almost a Nora touch Like that feels like putting the key Line pie in Jack Nicholson's face

[00:56:16] In Harper, you know Like that feels like when you're asking what the touch is It's this weird combination Of bitter and sweet It's this person who knows how to Make a souffle with some Tabasco sauce In it, you know You love a souffle

[00:56:32] Yeah, or a sour cream raisin pie As they alluded to at some point in the movie Yeah, no thank you by the way At her most successful she was Sort of the preeminent souffle Filmmaker of her time And then she tries to like expand out

[00:56:46] To these other things to varying levels Of success But this movie has this like really interesting It's got this like autumnal Color palette It's all very brown And it's really just like dead white And it's very much framed around these Big open landscapes as they're just

[00:57:04] Like driving through like the empty Terrain of America It has a very different look And feel to most studio Comedies of the night It all feels very intentional, right? Like no question Completely and I think it looks good I think all this is well done

[00:57:22] I do too. I think it's a nice And there's like these nice little cinematic touches Like collapsing at the beginning or the bank Whatever it is, you know I like, I don't know Some of this stuff with his feet

[00:57:34] And like you can feel the air moving around him Like the way that it tries to communicate That there's like something about this guy When they introduce him and you see the floorboards From the ceiling that he's stepping on And the dust coming from them

[00:57:46] Which I wasn't even sure if that was supposed to be When they first get To the milk bottle motel Or whatever it's called Floorboards creaking I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be reading that Is that a size joke? Where it's like look how much they're creaking

[00:58:02] Here comes trouble I mean because so much of this This movie is You'll never expect an angel not to be Ripped. You'll never expect an angel To smoke maulberries. You'll never expect An angel to fuck All of those sort of subversions Yeah Speaking of aesthetics though

[00:58:22] One man who was working overtime on this movie Randy freaking Newman Kevin with a perfectly Time zoom background change For the listener What Kevin in the middle of that sentence I wouldn't have known otherwise I wouldn't have known He's got a beautiful picture of Randy smiling

[00:58:42] And he clicked it right as he said Randy Newman It's Randy at the Oscars I think Right? That looks like an Oscar shot I think this was the most recent year I like the Randy score here Now I have to admit I'm just sort of like

[00:58:56] This strain of Randy score Tickles such a nostalgia spot for me Just because of Toy Story Anything that feels like mid 90s Randy Newman Is just immediately hitting the heart strings For me And you do notice how much of Like What I associate is like oh it's the

[00:59:14] Toy Story sound it's just like that's just Randy That's Randy being Randy It's like the kind of Very um melodically Sophisticated Americana stuff And he was doing on the natural and stuff too But he's like so Heartfelt about it There is something interesting

[00:59:32] It does raise a question though with Randy Like who his influences are like Honestly who are his guys Oh boy okay Okay Kevin obviously came to play Okay I'm trying to be a good guest Listeners when Kevin said Who are his guys I gotta say he played that

[00:59:52] That tee up real straight Real dry I did not think he was setting up a joke Which on its own a funny thing we like to say On the show like on its own funny enough Absolutely But at the moment he said it makes you wonder Click

[01:00:06] Who are his guys He activated a photo of Mark Marin and Randy Newman together I assume at the cat ranch And Randy's eyes Are looking In two wildly different directions I know I don't want to be mean I hope he's okay He looks great

[01:00:26] For whatever that song is I love I don't like bootin He's trying to hack a vote I do think though all this is like Part and parcel I keep on using that term here But it's like This weird sort of approach To Americana this movie has

[01:00:44] Like I kept on thinking Like there's some painter It This movie looks like Like it's almost got like the color palette of like American Gothic you know And you have Randy doing his sort of like Weird like post-modern Neo Americana thing And it is so much like

[01:01:04] This movie is driving through parts Of the country that are never in movies Yeah It's like really just the landscapes And I think about like It feels like Efron wants us to be Like really beholding the natural Beauty of like It's kind of funny but isn't

[01:01:22] The challenge or whatever he says What is it? Battle Battle he says to like the bowl Is that supposed to be like This is real America It's just like kind of out of his mind guy In the middle of a field running A bowl and like

[01:01:38] It's like a scam on the score and it's very Gorgeous and supposed to be like Building up to this epic conclusion It was confusing, it was confusing to watch But that was another moment where I was like Okay so is this what this movie is

[01:01:50] This is where you reveal That he has visited Earth like Whatever he says 28 times But this is his last time There's some time limit or there's some Finite amount of visits After this mission whatever he Was sent here to do he has to go back

[01:02:06] To Earth again so this road trip is him Trying to get his final his last Lixin but then it feels Like the sort of bucket list element Of the movie which could be really fun Cause you're like what's on the bucket list

[01:02:18] Of an angel who can't be hurt You know That stuff isn't really A through line that follows Through he just likes to put sugar on Everything and fuck a bunch of women In front of their boyfriend That shit was disgusting But he is smoking and drinking like

[01:02:36] It don't matter so I mean There's that But I want like I don't know It's like the bullfighting you get it You're rocking a very Michael lifestyle Yeah If I was an angel and I had only a little bit Of time left I would be doing the same

[01:02:52] Kind of shit just sans sugar And well you know what It would be a sugar cube with LSD on it Like that kind of stuff Ooh baby I'm not an angel but I mean like I don't look I'm not a liturgical expert But like Michael the archangel

[01:03:08] Is famous for doing battle He's like fight Satan He's in the book of Everlation He's sort of like an action angel So it's the idea like You know The guy likes sugar He's you know he likes fucking But also like he's spoiling for a fight

[01:03:26] Like he loves to throw down whenever he can Right I don't know A bar fight where like people are flipping And stuff The bit though of that he has invented stuff I like that Standing in line or marriage Yeah it's kind of good The standing in line joke

[01:03:44] Is also just like that's like a good Nora Ephron line where he's like You should have seen it before everyone was just milling around Yeah and then people say Standing in line for what And he says to get in which is another good Nora Joke

[01:03:58] And then he's like And he's like And he's like And he's like And he explains it for like 25 minutes This is a wild thing We haven't talked about it all in this mini series We haven't Was married to Barbara Esteen Who obviously helped break the water

[01:04:18] Right their toxic marriage Was the basis for heartburn Right they cheated on her And they got divorced and she wrote a book about it And a movie was made about it You know obviously right their relationship fell apart And for the rest of her life

[01:04:32] Before the revelation that Mark Felt was deep throat She would routinely At dinner parties whatever Just be like oh it's Mark Felt Just f-y-a-t Telling people And like I don't think she said it in terms of like I know because he told me

[01:04:48] She was just like I know because I lived with him And like it's obvious She saw his initials MF Which they always said stood for my friend That was the My friend Mark Felt But she was like Noir Efron doesn't get enough credit for being the original

[01:05:08] Mr. Policeman I gave you all the clues Like she was just telling us She was telling us but maybe it just felt I mean it's not like she wasn't the only person Like Mark Felt was considered A candidate for deep throat In the days of you know

[01:05:22] So maybe people were just like well that's her guess But it is funny that She was just saying it partly As a f-y you to Carl Bernstein I also think that she wasn't saying it like It was a big announcement so people assumed

[01:05:34] Like that can't be real if this was The truth she would be making some grand proclamation It would be an exclusive You know to some outlet instead She was just like oh yeah yeah yeah no it's Mark Felt Like she just kept saying it over and over again

[01:05:46] And I do love for like A certain you know part of culture And for that time period The Bernstein-Effron marriage Is there like Brittany K-fed In terms of like it was short But red hot it affected Culture forever It's tied to so many things both of them

[01:06:04] Equally accomplished in different ways Public like I was talking about Harper and with my sister And I was like you don't understand like The movie teams down the fact That this was like national headlines Like it was like My who breaks watergate Cheats on one of America's

[01:06:22] Most beloved humorous with The daughter of the prime minister Like all three names involved were so juicy Daughter of James Callahan's Yeah, former British Prime Minister How do you know that? Again very weird Very weird history And then the other crazy thing we haven't talked about

[01:06:40] Is Nora then marries the man she's with Until her death Nicholas Pelagy Yeah And then the guys guys The book that became Goodfellas Yeah and he wrote Goodfellas with Scorsese and he wrote I believe he wrote Casino right? Correct but But Nora writes

[01:07:02] And does not direct a movie called My Blue Heaven Which is the sequel to Goodfellas Yes that's right She writes a comedy with Rick Moranis And Steve Martin Is playing the Henry Hill character That is A studio comedy based off of Nicholas Pelagy's findings

[01:07:22] From Henry Hill once he moved Into witness protection in the suburbs Oh very strange And it's Neboshi Rick Moranis lives next door To former mob guy Played by Steve Martin with a flat top I just think that's so Bizarre, a thing we don't talk about Is like she

[01:07:40] Writes a movie that is in all but name Seekled a goodfellas Except in a different genre They didn't market it like that though right? No absolutely not Absolutely not Look up the poster for this movie Oh I'm looking at it It's an aggressive poster

[01:07:58] Like can you believe these two Talking to each other I guess he's a cop in it Is he the He's got a gun on the poster And it's called My Blue Heaven Blue Heavens Matter Blue Heavens do matter that is very true It's actually very very true

[01:08:16] Okay let's Talk about the setup for this movie Because we've talked around a lot of other stuff But the setup for this movie is so weirdly complex They work Robert Pastorelli and William Hurt Work for A sort of a world Weekly news national Enquirer type paper

[01:08:38] That both covers like a supermarket tabloid That covers fake stories Like Santa Claus discovered Living in North Pole But also seems to do celebrity gossip And stuff Yeah I think it's supposed to be kind of like the British tabloid hello It's like a higher end

[01:08:54] Not like a supermarket tabloid That's just on like really cheap paper And it's just gobbledygook A glossy A glossy Really kind of big and very photo heavy Sure That would be like 30% celebs 30% like Royal family All the princess dying on that shit And then 30% like nonsense

[01:09:18] So this paper is owned and run By Bob Hoskins who seems to be Like a billionaire Sure He's a mogul of some sort Right But they have very ritzy offices They fly in the world's largest Christmas tree This seems to be a very very popular publication

[01:09:38] But not respected And William Hurt used to be a respected journalist And now he's stuck here With his best friend Robert Pastorelli They're partners Now he's slumming it But the weirdest thing And the thing that is hardest To figure out And like I didn't even grasp early

[01:09:58] Is that the dog is like central The whole editorial mission of this whole publication Without the dog the paper absolutely falls apart The dog is not only the mascot But it's like they have this wall of photos That's like the dog meeting Queen Elizabeth And the dolly Loma

[01:10:12] And the pope and shit And I saw that and initially I was just like Yeah it's a celebrity And then like they're saying you need that dog And I'm like they need the dog Yes they need The dog The dog is the central conflict

[01:10:28] Of the movie and let me explain it as Concisely as I possibly can It's a stray dog who is very Taken with Robert Pastorelli Who's usually a grump But had a dog like this as a child And the dog senses that on him

[01:10:42] The dog then starts getting photographed With all these celebrities Which is key to the popularity of the paper So the dog is intrical But the dog only listens to Pastorelli So Pastorelli has job security As long as the dog is still alive

[01:10:56] But Bob Hoskins doesn't want to keep Pastorelli on staff And he's trying to get the dog To be a journalist And in the process Pretend to be an angel expert An angel expert is what's best That is not a thing But the thing is 80 to 90%

[01:11:14] Of what you're describing is laid out Initially The last couple pieces get put in Like an hour and 20 minutes into the movie They then basically drop it Until right near the end When Andy McDowell's like This is a whole ruse It's so complicated

[01:11:32] She says that she's a dog trainer In response and defense of her Killing a dog on accident And you have the one scene where she's saying goodbye To the dogs But it's like he is meeting with Hoskins is meeting with McDowell Explaining to her what he wants

[01:11:48] Which isn't even really clear to the audience At that point Meanwhile, Hurt and Pastorelli Are getting the letter about the angel They get the phone call They get the tip off on Michael They get a letter with a picture inside of it So then they storm Hoskins office

[01:12:04] To be like we found an angel You have to let us go down there And that's the moment where Hoskins says Take this angel expert with you So she has had no prep time To fake this personality She goes like oh I am I'm hired

[01:12:20] She finds out she's hired And finds out what ruse She says it Like she barely understands What she's supposed to be pretending Right? Like she's like an angel expert What? And Pastorelli And Hurt supposedly journalists Like you know are just like I guess we got saddled with this

[01:12:40] Angel expert who's definitely An expert on angels and knows Everything about angels Like I guess there's no further questions on this one Three people definitely need to do this I had to be interviewing at this moment And you stormed through and said

[01:12:54] I got a letter about an angel Right It's bizarre and it doesn't make sense So then the movie becomes Pastorelli and Hurt Who sense that their careers are in danger Even though Hurt says to him As long as you got the dog you're safe The dog sells papers

[01:13:10] Decide to go find Michael Because they think this story is so big It will solidify their standing Within the paper McDowell is with them To secretly try to train Sparky To respond to her instead So they can fire Pastorelli Who is a photographer

[01:13:28] And also why do they need to fire him What's the problem here? Is it that he's costing too much money? I don't know They just quit anyway They want control of the dog The dog rules it all If you've got the dog then you're in Yeah

[01:13:44] You're still just making the dog inextricably tied To a different person Our dog's Nora Efron's thing Is there like a cute little doggy and bewitched As well I know you've got mail ins with the dog Jumping on Hanks as he's smooching with Meg Yeah

[01:13:58] I don't think the dog's heavy Right But there's also just like There's no sort of real world equivalent for this Where you're like oh yes That publication whose identity is tied to The dog being in photos with every famous person Yeah I'm just like racking my brain

[01:14:18] This is again what made me think That she was inspired by like 40's Bing Crosby going my way Because it's like that's the kind of Insanely Specific Hollywood-y Kind of premise That I can buy in those kinds of movies

[01:14:34] Where it's like well everybody loves Jim the Wonder Dog Like if What are you gonna do? He's the talk of the town But it's like it's the 90's I don't think people are still like The pics of a celebrity with that specific dog Every month

[01:14:48] As we said like Like tonally the movie is not It does not feel like a pastiche It is very much of the 90's But you have to think in terms of storytelling That's the kind of vibe she was Going for And this weird subtle magically realist

[01:15:04] Comedy because then it's like They get to the milk bottle motel They meet Edith Bunker And then Michael comes in Upends all their expectations Oh Michael you're here Boy you're wakelin' Miller play Can't you help me with Banks

[01:15:24] Which I will say I thought it was weird for them to give her A 15 minute musical number In the middle of the film I thought that was cool because that's a throwback as well Like you were describing with the genre It is a throwback

[01:15:36] So she's in this and then she's in You've Got Mail As well It's almost like a baton toss of Like she works with Rob Reiner On All in the Family Then he works with Nora On Harry Met Sally Then she works with Nora on Michael

[01:15:52] And you've got mail And then Michael kills her And then Michael Her first coughing fit Is something I would like to discuss Me too because So the movie has this Honestly when the movie starts It's gonna be Retrivolta McDell And Stapleton

[01:16:12] It just sort of feels like they're like Get ready cause Stapleton is gonna be All over this thing They might leave Pastorelli behind Pastorelli might have to go But then she has this coughing fit And I was like oh I get the jokes gonna be

[01:16:28] That she dies like the second they meet Him and her And then she says no I'm contemplating My death right is that what she says Like that It's this wild physical bit though Where it sounds like she's Hamming it up But she's not

[01:16:46] But she kinda is cause she's being dramatic about it And like slouched over until they ask her What's wrong It was a very strange energy But then I don't know what 10 minutes later If that, the same thing happens to her And she dies

[01:17:02] She cracks an egg and she dies And she even do a rule of 3 It's 2 And then hard cut from egg to funeral That was the hardest I've laughed Since lockdown started I will say this I think a hard cut to a funeral Is usually gonna work

[01:17:20] That's usually pretty funny Especially if it should be Outside Maybe the coffin lowering That's always a good cut I think of Grimes Like I can touch these exposed power wires I'm Homer Simpson cut to a funeral The harder the cut, the better And they even

[01:17:42] Put a cherry on top of the cut Which is Annie McDowell Sobbing hysterically And William Hertz says you knew her for like 3 hours Yeah That's the thing is they stick around town For the funeral Yeah For the ceremony of it all That's just become like Okay

[01:18:04] I guess come back to Did they want to come back to Chicago So they could take a picture of him in Chicago Was that the I was very confused about why they need to be in Chicago They want him to meet Bob Hoskins But also He refuses

[01:18:20] To have his photo taken before They get to Chicago But he doesn't like planes And he needs more time They are now in a car The four of them And sparky the dog Driving to Chicago It feels rain manny though Here's this man who's like weird

[01:18:40] And we have to like bend to all his Not weird But in this case It applies The premise is what if there's a weird guy On the road trip with Because of the weird guy you have to drive Like rain man is that Like the specific subgenre

[01:18:58] Of like this guy is weird And won't get on a plane for some reason He makes everything more complicated I would like us to reimagine All the scenes in this movie with Dustin Hoffman as rain man Smelling like cookies and taking women Back to his hotel room

[01:19:14] Can I say I fundamentally think Travolta is bad casting For this movie Okay, so we're talking about it I think he is weird in all of The wrong ways for this role And even you just Saying Dustin Hoffman right now I'm like that would work better for me

[01:19:32] I think Travolta Is a weird combination of the ways In which he's weird feel like He's not aware He's not self-aware And in this pocket Especially now that he's back to being a major movie star He's always a little Too concerned with being charming and sweet Yeah

[01:19:52] In the charming sweet stuff I do find comes off as strange Very He seems weird When he's dancing in the field And doing his stuff and dancing with the ladies On the dance floor I'm like no no no This probably needs to be a movie star

[01:20:10] Who was known for being a charming cat Like it needs to be Hoffman Or Bill Murray or Jack Nicholson You know Murray I could see obviously Nicholson It would almost be too cute Cause he like plays a devil Like right now it's like well

[01:20:26] What if there was an angel and they're like Wait up it's Jack Nicholson Murray was the one I kept Thinking of especially in this time period Murray would be interesting Be a very different movie Cause Murray is not a guy Not that he's not romantically intrigued

[01:20:42] But he's not like a sex appeal guy Right? Like in the same way No but don't you also think that Travolta has a horny Don't maw And I'm not saying that's a good thing I think Dana Barrett would disagree He charmed the pants off of her

[01:20:58] He made her levitate I have to google that now Sleeps above the covers It's a Gornie Weavers character Oh that's right excuse me Three feet above the covers But Griffin do you know what I mean like Yes Travolta is dirty But I'm not saying that's a good thing

[01:21:16] Or agreed that's not quite the right energy Well I think that's a problem with this movie Is like Travolta still is Borderline enough of a regular sex symbol That When Women constantly turn their heads And are drawn to him inexplicably in this movie It isn't as funny

[01:21:34] As if it were like Slovenly Bill Murray Chainsmoking pouring sugar in his coffee And suddenly everyone was going like Who is that? I think that's accurate Like a Brian Dennehy Oh my god I mean Dennehy in this movie He would slay John Goodman is Michael

[01:21:56] But that's the problem Is I think he's weird in all the wrong ways And he's charming in all the wrong ways This is what's complicated about it Griffin And you're right Yes John Travolta has at this point Aged beyond Marquis Idol Romantically Like it's not like Pulp Fiction

[01:22:14] Guts Shorty like in these movies These movies are not He's a romantic lead He still gets the leading lady in his films But they're not romances first informers Exactly Right he's still a little too in that For it to be weird that he I don't know

[01:22:32] Right it has to be a guy like Nicholson I'm not saying it should be Nicholson But that Nicholson power of like This guy inexplicably became a sex symbol Like a cage For Chaka Maybe they got the wrong face off It's better because you need that

[01:22:48] Contrast for like I would not go for it Well it's like Well him and Moonstruck is kind of like The chaotic energy But he's still somehow very charming Yeah I want to hear what David's going to say But I just want to quickly work it off

[01:23:02] Of what you said Ange Pitch a clean face off You have Nicholas Cage do Michael You have John Travolta do City of Angels Wooo Is that not a better fit for both Is that not better for both Should this be a new thing like face offs

[01:23:18] Where we like let's take two movies From the same year ish And like didn't work And see if switching the leads does anything I think this is a fun segment Who are you going to propose David I think an internal face off Travolta should play the magazine editor

[01:23:34] And Hoskins should play the angel I think that's a great pitch Because I think Travolta could have fun With you know 10-15 minutes of You know newspaper jerk Right like weirdo Like truly DeVito as Michael Like some words like ooh The weirdest thing

[01:23:52] About get shorty a movie I really like Is that DeVito plays Someone who is basically the biggest Movie star in the world And I love Danny DeVito Because like the joke in the book is that he's short Sure but that's a joke about Tom Cruise

[01:24:06] Like they're not saying that he's five feet tall Even on a good day in sneaker Like it's just like A crazy overcorrection where they're like What's the deal he's short Call Danny DeVito But you know David even like an internal face off

[01:24:20] I'm not saying he's the ideal casting But I think this movie works better If William Hurt plays Michael And Travolta plays the editor I considered that You talk about what's wrong with The casting of both of these guys Travolta is a little too Conventionally charming

[01:24:38] And not self aware of how he's weird William Hurt is a guy where anytime A woman ends up with William Hurt in a movie Or like that feels like a prison sentence Like I can tell this guy's difficult You're never gonna fully melt That heart right

[01:24:52] Now it's awful It's absolutely awful There's something about him that is just Like very very Very very Thorny And I think you can't pin the movie On you wanna see them break each other down Yeah Again with Travolta it just feels like Movie star bullshit where it's like

[01:25:14] Putting the script that everyone loves me Where it's like that actually is the script And what's supposed to be genuinely funny about it But it's just It's almost there But he has to be like putting the script That I specifically am not letting Andy McDowell look me

[01:25:28] I put a block on you I put a block on you I blocked you Oh my god Speaking of casting what is For Groundhog Day who did Andy McDowell's role Almost go to Tori Amos Really? Tori Amos That is fucking wild Now imagine this movie

[01:25:52] With Tori Amos instead Yeah I can't do that What if Tori Amos it was a sliding door scenario Yeah Tori Amos in Magic Mike XXL She would have ended up getting every Andy McDowell role No Now Tori Amos as a country western singer Songwriter that's interesting

[01:26:10] And to me this is my Favorite part of this movie Is Andy McDowell's subplot Excuse me her hobby Writing country western songs Specifically that genre is her hobby She is a dog trainer Who wants to get hired as a decoy By a tabloid but secretly

[01:26:28] It's too much business Too much business Kevin I'm with you I think the country writer thing is cute Like there's a version of that That you could make really really cute I love it But I'm just too Like tripped up By like

[01:26:48] Trying to figure out like wait the dog trainer Thing and like how did she even get wrapped up In a tabloid I can't even get to when she takes out her Fucking notebook and I expect her to be Like wow I'm a reporter

[01:27:00] She doesn't even have treats in her pockets Like she's no expert She doesn't know from dog training That's a great point This is the most scathing thing I can say about this movie A movie that I probably give a gentleman six I gave it a six

[01:27:14] I waived it between five and six But I think I gave it a six The things I like in it I like enough to give it a six The most scathing thing I can say about this movie is This should not be a movie

[01:27:24] Where I need to consult the Wikipedia page While I'm watching it To figure out the plot Yeah this is that Tinker Taylor soldier That is how I felt And that is great reference Kevin Because that is the ultimate movie where you're like Did I miss 20 minutes like

[01:27:42] I love that movie With Tinker Taylor soldier spy you can't hold it against the movie You're like it's a hit Totally But I should not have to reopen the Michael tab Four times to go like So that was in the first scene

[01:27:56] There's that one scene where she's talking to the dogs That feels kind of just cute and tossed off I didn't think it was a plot point This is a plot Linchpin This isn't a point This is the biggest bread crumb Even the pie runner

[01:28:12] I thought I missed a scene Where they're like hunting for pie all the time Which I do relate to a lot We did do big little pies The watch party last summer Back when HBO had original programming coming out And I've gotten familiar with pie

[01:28:26] And hunting for the best ones But I didn't understand why the characters in this movie were But was I delighted When Andy McDowell did Write and sing a song Totally About pie, apple, pumpkin, cherry Banana cream This is my favorite part of the movie

[01:28:44] So disappointing when you're like Oh, that's a runner merely to set up William Hurt and Andy McDowell fucking But the pie stuff? Right, because it was like He was hunting for pie So that he could get her in the place To sing a song about pies

[01:29:00] Yeah, I guess Because that's the thing, he makes the two promises He's like, you promise me that you'll apologize To William Hurt and you promise me that you'll sing To Andy McDowell And that's the moment when he calls out And he says, you have to sing now Yeah

[01:29:16] I'm not crazy for saying this They don't have any chemistry Andy and Will There is one Scene If I can even call it in that movie There's one scene of this movie where I give all Credits in Orat Afron that I think is Borderline transcendent In just

[01:29:36] Her direction And it is the scene That's the scene that closely plays as an unbroken Two-minute oneer Oh, on the stairwell at the motel That scene is good I think they fundamentally do not have a lot of chemistry

[01:29:50] They don't have a lot of chemistry even in that scene It's a well done scene That scene is a master piece of blocking And of camera movement And I like the dialogue about You're really just directly above my room The way he says that like it's a flirt

[01:30:04] Even though you're like You know what I mean If they come out of the Honky Tonk bar Which is right next to the motel they're staying at There's a little bit of shot reverse shot As they're saying good night to each other

[01:30:16] And then it moves to this shot from like behind William Hurts head As like he starts to walk up the stairs Then he grabs her hand and kisses her on the cheek Or it's the other way around Right, he's on the ground and she's walking up the stairs

[01:30:28] I believe that's right They kiss on the cheek and then she continues Walking up the stairs but she doesn't let go of his hand Yes Really, it's like good fucking Lubitsch touch shit And then she walks back down They kiss again

[01:30:44] And then it's just like this tension of it Until they start going up the stairs together And that I was like This is a very good depiction Of two people in a weird circumstance Making a spur of the moment decision to sleep together

[01:30:56] It is not the scene that sells me On them being together for the rest of their lives Lubitsch is a good Reference That's who I maybe think of even more than Like you know Hope and Grosby Like that twist Of supernatural to

[01:31:12] Like a sort of battle of the sexist type Movie, like I get that But when people talk about the Lubitsch touch They talk about like that sort of like Incredibly concise Characterization That also functions as moving the story forward That also is charming and humorous

[01:31:28] And that usually is Entirely visual or behavioral It's not the characters explaining themselves And that scene is like a perfect distillation Of that And a thing that I think she was good at doing But I was more into Like oh look they're falling backwards Into this weird affair

[01:31:46] This might sort of change both of them a little bit And I felt so deflated The moment I find out No this is his heaven sent Mission That's the problem It kills the chemistry Not that it really exists anyway Because then the movie is just about

[01:32:04] Well this has been ordained by God Or Michael or whoever So that's why it's happening Because it's like some divine Command We love a God ordained romance That's my favorite kind of love story When God wants two people to come together

[01:32:20] When I hear that at weddings I'm like Yes this will work He has something hotter He has some line where he's like Helping the world's iciest heart Like the man who no longer Knew how to love He frames it like it was like He was the Grinch

[01:32:40] As if he was an iconic Scrooge level And I don't think William Hurt is playing the level Of asshole where you're like There's no way this guy could ever fall in love I think he's playing classic mild Asshole William Hurt Very mild asshole And the crucial

[01:32:58] So when early on Michael is like I'm gonna need you to apologize And you're gonna have to do it Like he makes that sort of compact Another kind of nice scene In prison I really like that scene But right then in the prison scene

[01:33:14] I don't know there's something about the energy She's suddenly upset in a way Where I'm like I guess I get why And he's suddenly being really jerky In a way that I'm like In his vibe up until now He's more over it than an asshole

[01:33:28] So even though I like The choreography of that scene And I like the idea Of like yeah there's gonna be a moment A pivotal moment where you're gonna need to stop being such a jerk I just feel like She doesn't lay the groundwork for it right or something

[01:33:42] I don't know As you said I got excited When he says at some point I'm gonna ask you to apologize I love that I'm gonna get a lot of confidence in a movie Because I go like oh my god The writer is calling their shot They're setting up

[01:34:00] The fucking Rube Goldberg machine In a good way to later pay off Blu-y-d-o-f-ly And I'm leaning in and I'm like What's that gonna mean How is that gonna be recontextual It's a good little mystery for a rom-com Rather than I don't know

[01:34:16] We have to figure out who's behind the chemical spills Like it's just like He's gonna need to apologize But like Kevin you've gone back to your John Travolta's moose in the fanatic zoom background I have yes But on your real wall you have a framed

[01:34:30] Illustration of Paddington the bear And we're talking about setups and payoffs Well but also Certainly that's a perfect set of payoff movie But also Paddington is like A perfect example of a genre Felt my love a lot which is One character quietly changes

[01:34:46] Everything and everyone they come into contact with Yes but it feels organic It doesn't feel like manipulated And that's true in both Paddington's But really true in the first one Like the whole block is changing Because of him and right But that's what you want out of Michael

[01:35:02] Like that's the promise this movie is making Is here is this guy who seems like a Slab Who seems like no conventional angel Will you've ever seen I don't know how many comparisons I want to make Marmalade his frosted flakes With sugar and more sugar

[01:35:20] Like he puts it in ketchup at one point He puts sugar on french fries At one point It's overdoing the bit Right you want it to be this guy seems like He's a piece of shit Like this guy is like a drunk You know he's smoking

[01:35:36] He's like a horn dog But slowly but surely He quietly touches Everyone every life that he encounters Upon the way and instead it's just Like something about how A tunnel vision this movie becomes At the end to the extent that like When Sparky gets hit by the truck

[01:35:54] And then Andy McDowell divulges All of the plot twists Right and then William Hurt demands That Michael Save Sparky and he says That's not my area and Hurt With all the emotional Passion and intensity of I love you wife says

[01:36:12] No you have to bring him back to life Do it He's just not into it What is this about her 90s Hurt And then Michael does it But it takes so much power Out of him that it almost Shedding his little feathers from his wings

[01:36:28] And he just wants to see the Sears tower Which I think is a line I missed or something Cause like it becomes very important And I was like wait I didn't realize It was bad focused on the Sears tower Well he wants to see big stuff

[01:36:40] And that's the biggest bubble I support it That's where Ben really resonated With in the movie He went to the big ball of twine Ben's just a home like But they get to Chicago That's cool I'll see the twine The biggest non-stick pan

[01:36:58] That one was a weird one That one's very niche like I've heard Of the biggest bubble of twine Non-stick yeah Also those old guys are really in A moment where he's just going off About the battle of hell Oh when he's talking about throwing Satan out of heaven

[01:37:14] And the old guys are like oh okay I love that No it's fun stuff But once he's in the field And is like I don't have much longer It takes three minutes to get to Chicago Suddenly they're like rapid speed In Chicago he's dying outside the Sears tower

[01:37:32] Yeah and then the movie And I'm like okay is the movie over The last movie is like 10 more minutes And I'm like I don't need the Right not before We get to my second favorite part of the movie My first favorite part is

[01:37:46] The song in which Andy McDowell Does sing about all her 16 ex-husbands Which I thought that was going to be the thing Is that oh they're fake and she's being A con lady in a different way With all these like outlandish stories about he

[01:38:00] His tires was bald and so was he But it's actually all true and she put him in the song My second favorite scene of course Is when William Hurt goes out For a nice pasta dinner by himself And who Should be his waiter In the restaurant Angel have

[01:38:18] Pasta Mr. Chilby Ziegler himself Who maybe like should be like I don't know like indicted By the like anti-Italian Disparagement committee or whatever You know what I mean? Like whatever this sort of Like where I'm just like Richard I get the joke but

[01:38:36] Why are you the one doing this? I love Richard Schiff He is playing the illustration on the pizza box It is Outrageous and Beardless Richard Schiff We've come to Find out with People with beards and non-beards during quarantine Myself included Beardless Richard Schiff is about 49% smarmier

[01:39:00] Than bearded Richard Schiff So you almost feel the contempt he might have For the man on the Italian pizza box When he's doing an impression of him I also just think Schiff is one of those guys Who is so thoroughly Jewish You can't suddenly put

[01:39:14] A different group on him The man Played Toby Ziegler for a reason Like that character is not called you know Toby Jones He's not named Tony Linguine Toby Bonini Can I just say Something about the sugar before I forget I just want to complain about that Please Griffin

[01:39:38] Michael, he likes to smoke cigarettes He likes to get his rocks off Okay come on He likes to indulge in food Pie French fries I don't know So the bit is Yeah he's an indulgent guy He's sort of hedonistic Right? No one enjoys Frosted flakes with a

[01:40:00] Like a cup of sugar added It's not like I'm every day Like you know what I really Want is a cup of frosted Frakes with sugar piled up It's a hat on a hat my friend It's like four hats on a hat Absolutely and he is also

[01:40:16] It's Lids, it's the Lids store On a hat But here's the fix If it was Pixie Sticks I would never then I'm on board Absolutely Here's what you do guys For all of us doing cereal during this time Grape nuts with honey drizzled

[01:40:34] And a nice unsweetened vanilla almond milk Terrific treat Sounds classy I agree with you This is why I was going to say He is putting so much sugar on that cereal That he is essentially eating spoon fulls of sugar

[01:40:48] Which I think all of us learned as a child Is not fun Like it has a bad texture Classic thing you learn You're like why don't I just cut out the middleman Why don't I just eat sugar And then you're like no I get this

[01:41:02] When he's introduced eating that much sugar Like essentially just fucking Mainlining sugar I was like it's going to be Revealed that it's part of Something of his physiology Like he needs it to survive There's some weird chemical reaction Because of his wings or whatever

[01:41:20] It's going to be if you were an angel Wouldn't you do that Which I don't relate to Or maybe they cut out a scene where He was diagnosed with diabetes Maybe they cut out a scene where he's like My fucking powers come from Sugar

[01:41:36] Well gang I want to be clear And especially is this movie rated PG Or PG13 PG or PG13 So okay it is a PG movie And right before Lil Sparky He does get run over by a truck In the movie He absolutely does

[01:41:54] But him and Michael do have a tender moment Sitting on like a bench or something In a field And he turns to Sparky and at one point He does say Well you can never have too much Sugar Which as a message in a PG movie

[01:42:10] I can't sign off on it No I don't think that's great The film should be rated R Diabetes transnationally In comparison to the year that The movie Michael came out There was a huge spike Michael might have doomed a generation

[01:42:26] In the same way that babe made kids go vegan Michael made kids But you know how movies now it's like PG13 contains violence smoking You know cigarette use Like what if it was rated R Excessive sugar consumption I could tell you one person who'd love this movie

[01:42:42] Michelle Obama would love that No I look Kevin you're being Sarcastic she would hate this You know who would love this movie Edgar Well that's the other thing That's the other thing and that movie is after this So I can't hold this Men in black the following year

[01:43:00] He's all about trigger water It's the only thing I can think about When he's piling that sugar on I'm like this is Edgar's bit and when he does it It's menacing and it works way better The other thing it makes me think of

[01:43:12] Is Elf where the bit is He's a lunatic from a children's book Like who would eat maple syrup on pasta Right But combining like I love smoking And boning down with I also love spoonfuls of sugar I was gonna say like smoking Drinking

[01:43:30] Boning are all sort of in the same Pyramid and then sugar Is something in left field Like if it was just he's eating a lot Like the guy orders a lot of food That's fine Exactly He likes to fight and water That's the vibe

[01:43:48] The fight with the early scenes You're like is he not even gonna be charming Like is he just gonna be completely bizarre Right And then after two weird scenes Then he sort of starts to be charming I kept waiting for them to be like

[01:44:02] Oh his wings run on sugar That would have been cool Like one of them breaks off and someone's like Oh it tastes like Like sugar But they also explain that he smells Like cookies but to different people They think he smells like different things Like butterscotch

[01:44:22] I guess he smells like whatever you like Whatever the woman desires is what he smells like Yeah I do think there is kind of In the interminable last 10 or 12 minutes of this movie Interminable There's that thing where like Angel, pasta And then Andy McDowell is asking

[01:44:42] For angel food cake And they're like this is a Dunkin' Donuts We don't have angel food cake I think it's a Starbucks It's an early Starbucks It is an early Starbucks Yes you can see the logo But then there's that thing where

[01:44:58] Pastorelli and Hurt meet at the bar And Pastorelli is like That was wild right And Hurt's like didn't happen Fundamentally didn't happen I love that And Pastorelli is like how do you explain it What happened to your jacket Where were we for two weeks

[01:45:16] Hurt's like absolutely not didn't happen I love your wife The planet core But then he says that thing of like Look if angels exist I'm gonna step outside and you see the sneak preview Of what he's describing That he steps off the L train

[01:45:32] And walks that he has the sudden instinct To turn the other way Then a car gets a flat tire And it's the woman of his dreams And then the rest of the scene plays out at the bar Then he gets on the train

[01:45:44] You also have that moment where he's at the train station And there's the Michelangelo exhibit And it looks like Michael Angel Yes the Michael Angel You get it I didn't get it actually can you explain it to me Sure so the film is called Michael

[01:45:58] Michael is an angel The words Michael and Angel Are both contained in the name Michelangelo What does this have to do with turtles that like pizza I just don't get it Spelled very differently I always did because Andy McDowell Does like hold her little fingies up

[01:46:14] To the fingies of the angel And I was waiting for more Like for her to say Michael Angel and then I did want her to say Oh I did Oh Just like Griffin in the box office game Oh It's just But then he gets off the train

[01:46:36] He turns the other way The flat tire hits It's two bearded men He scoffs at the universe How silly for me to believe But then he sees Michael Doing a little treble to dance Chainsmoking with the jacket His classic semi-mullet hairdo What a hairdo

[01:46:58] He's got the Richard Lewis Kevin has changed his background Ricky Schiff at the Italian restaurant Bad stuff Bad stuff But it's like It's like a minute and a half Of him following Michael until He literally bumps into Andy McDowell And then they fully admit that

[01:47:18] They're in love with each other And they want to get married And then you see Michael with Edith Bunker Being like this with my toughest assignment Yeah look at me I pulled it off And then they do a dance They do a dance in the street

[01:47:36] But is she supposed to also have been an angel Or is he just hanging out with the ghost Here's how I take it It's not like this is explained His angel chits or whatever Have been used up But she is so great Or whatever

[01:47:52] She is now like an angel in training And he's Like only along for the ride Is like her mentor Her driving teacher I love that Kind of a sweet idea But also it is weird For how much this movie is specifically about Michael

[01:48:12] A very specific archangel who has such an epic Story How he essentially is revealed to just sort of be Clarabel And he's just dealing with like very small human concerns And like I like that line I don't know Kevin if you want to speak

[01:48:28] There's that line where he's like you can't Mess with the fundamental nature Of the world There's some line where he kind of Kind of does some world building Where he's like he can do little miracles You can't do big stuff It's basically like Jesus logic

[01:48:44] With some of it where it's like well Jesus Can do water to wine If you want to like turn back time or something Or like genie rules in Aladdin I can't make someone fall in love I can just set up the pieces He's like

[01:48:58] Mostly I try and lead by example Sure I can do a little magic It's just But the movie Maybe because Efron thinks it shouldn't Be too like I don't know fantasy Heavy or whatever but like It doesn't really want to get into it

[01:49:16] What is the most interesting thing About this to Nora? What does she love about this? Yeah I don't know I can't figure it out I mean as you said She loves journalists and I think maybe Just the hook of It is people who write fake stories

[01:49:34] For a sensational tabloid Who come across a real Miracle but it is not How they would imagine it to be I think if you hear it If you go that way you go That sounds like a Nora Efron movie Sure I have found an article by the great

[01:49:52] Rachel Handler on Vulture Andy McDowell answers every question we have About Michael Thank fucking As we wrap up I'm just going to see if there are Any Weird hit bits that she has About Making Michael The largely dismissed And I was a fan of Nora Efron

[01:50:16] Love the script, thought it was magical She was cast really early She sang in her audition Which was crucial They didn't dub over her voice She does sing and she has an Emma Stone In La La Land Quality Voice She says like

[01:50:32] I don't think of myself as a singer But I think I did a good job singing in the audition Pumpkin Cherry Travolta A huge person Very generous Had his own cook and would always be offering to feed you So it seems like Kind of like

[01:50:52] Big boisterous energy type Like I don't know Do you remember if he was really eating the sugar Probably sounds like something he would have done He's that kind of actor I love that's his version of Tom Cruise being Like I really hung off an airplane

[01:51:08] I really ate that much sugar for Michael Gang we got to the most important question though Sorry to scoop you David It does say do you remember the lyrics To the pie song And she does say

[01:51:20] I can sing the pie song but I'm not going to do it But I can do it I've had people ask me to sing The pie song and I will sing the pie song If someone asks me on the street to sing the pie song

[01:51:30] But I'm not going to stay here on the phone And sing the pie song but I promise you I can I can't I mean I'm going to sing to sing the song But I'll sing the pie song And sing the pie song But I don't know

[01:51:45] I see you I can't I'm curious I don't know But At first And at first I was like Every moment I couldn't Just I don't know surprised by this. But when I'm asked this question, Karla Gugino is the actor career I would most want.

[01:52:10] Oh yeah, has worked with all kinds of great directors, memorable, well liked, has just done everything has been in every type of genre, every size role, every size budget works with so many great people. She's always fucking good. She can be a

[01:52:24] family comedy or an action film or drama, do TV, do stage, do movies. And I also just feel like she is at the perfect level of like established, but not famous enough where she becomes a celebrity over an actor. Right, right, right.

[01:52:41] She's got the perfect career if you ask me. So, I mean, yeah, no, I agree with you. I love her. I'd love to see her in something right now. She rolls. Andy says Nora at the time she was directing was

[01:52:52] forced to be in touch with her masculine side, was kind of intimidating. She's sort of talking about how Merrill said she was sort of an intimidating person to work with. And Andy's like, I think it's sort of like a reverse sexism thing of like she had

[01:53:05] to be tough because you know, there was such a spotlight on a female director at that point. Makes a lot of sense. Makes a lot of sense. She I don't know. She doesn't really the pie answers. She's not answering our big questions, which is why

[01:53:20] why does this movie exist? OK, we have a break here. I have scrolled down and she does sing the pie song in the end. Wow. But like she does. But like in general, her take seems to be like,

[01:53:35] I think it's a sweet movie and I think that's great. Like, you know, she's definitely not like it's a weird one, you know, like she's not like just. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, how can you even tell? I mean, if you're if you're an actor and that stuff

[01:53:49] like how objective is Andy McDowell about like, now I think Groundhog Day worked because of these X factors. And I think Michael was a little off because of the cast that like right, like it's just impossible to be objective. And why wouldn't you be?

[01:54:05] Now let's play the box office game for this movie that was a big hit. All right. So this movie came out Christmas time, 96 and that makes sense because Sleepless in Seattle had been such a huge hit. It was a summer movie.

[01:54:16] Yeah, but this is an angel movie, right? Like it's a it's a PG movie. So it makes sense that the studio, which is what new line, I think was Turner and New Line released it. Yeah, right. That they're like Christmas. This is a Christmas family movie.

[01:54:33] And it's a Travolta's having this blockbuster year. So it's number one. Good on him. It opened to number one on December 27th. Very impressive in my life. That's very impressive. Yeah. And it grosses $27 million over the holiday weekend. It makes 95 total. Yeah, unreal. Good. I can't.

[01:54:51] What do you think it costs? 40. Yeah. Yes, right. Like, you know, I think it was like a very robust hit for them. Yes. Number two, Griffin. It's a movie we've discussed on the podcast. We've covered it with an episode. We have. Think Christmas 96, baby. What's Jerry McGuire?

[01:55:10] It's Jerry McGuire. Just truckin'. Jerry McGuire. So Scientology is just owning the box office. That's a fear of pinkies. Yeah. Do you think they're just like rubbing their hands together in the Christmas of 96? They're like, we are everywhere. Number three is for richer or poorer with Kirstie Alley.

[01:55:31] Is that number four is a Beck biopic? I'm trying to think of Scientologists. Giovanni Robisi. Swenathan with Eliza Deschke. Oh, yes. No, Erica Christensen, right? Erica Christensen. Yes. Oh, God. Is she a Scientologist? The other way around. Yes, she is. Christensen is. Deschke is not.

[01:55:51] Yeah, fair enough that we know. Number three, Griffin, is it's a Thanksgiving release. So it's been out for five weeks. It's made a hundred and four million dollars. It's another family movie. So you'd say it's a grower, not a show. Oh my God.

[01:56:07] Yeah, that's what I usually say about family movies. We usually say about family films. It's a grower. You know what? Now I want to check its multiplier to see if it was a grower or a show. I mean, it opened to 33. It's at 104 after five weeks.

[01:56:18] I'd say it was a bit of a show. What is that? No, Pat. What's the final total? What's the final? The final domestic total for this film was 136, 304 million dollars worldwide. Wow. Is it live action or animated? Live action.

[01:56:36] Oh, but with an asterisk tone to the way I said that. Yeah. OK. What was the other thing you were about to say about it? It was one of those things where I remember even as I was what, Tim, when it came out,

[01:56:47] I saw it in theaters with my family. Even as a kid, I knew like, oh, well, this casting is a fucking grand slam. Like was it Jumanji? Of course. No, although believe me, I was very excited for Jumanji. Yeah. So it really was like this actor

[01:57:03] playing this role was just money in the bank. Interesting. Actress. Oh, is it 101 Dalmatians? That's right. Yeah. See, this is what's weird. You're saying this is like the difference of like three years. We know at this age is a big deal.

[01:57:20] Have you guys seen the cut of 101 Dalmatians where Andy McDowell dubs over Glen Close? It's weird. I got to get those. I want those. I have that skin. Puppy. Ferry puppy. Sliver. See, the difference for me, David, is you were like that slam dunk

[01:57:40] Glen Close as Grella Deville. And for me in the following years, I was like, oh, it's nice to see Corella Deville working like this was my first impression of Glen Close. But like, don't you think it's funny that me at 10 years old?

[01:57:53] And obviously I was a little nerd about movies. So even I knew through cultural osmosis like, oh, well, Glen Close famously great at playing like kind of scary people, like scary ladies. Like she's funny. She fatal attraction, dangerous liaison like she is the lady for like to play

[01:58:09] like an iron lady. I remember feeling that way when I was like five years old and I saw the VHS cover for Popeye. I was like, they're two for two. Robin and DeVall. Oh my God. It's fair. Yeah, what a weird. We got to talk about that movie.

[01:58:26] And we got a Popeye. OK, yeah. One question, Griff, you've seen on the donations I have the remake. Does she die at the end? What happens to her at the end? Because in the animated film, it's really scary when she's driving.

[01:58:39] Remember, and then the car goes over the bridge. And that is very scary. No, she goes to jail because there's a sequel, 102 Dalmatians. Of course, right. I forgot there's a sequel, which I also saw. I believe it starts with a jailbreak. Yeah, well, there you go.

[01:58:55] I remember that Gerard Depardieu is in it. Absolutely he is. In 101, does she at some point like fall in? Not tar, but like I feel like she kind of gets like tarred and feathered in a way. There's a slimy, which I feel like was just

[01:59:10] absolutely paramount in the 90s for a kids movie. It's like someone's got to get some gross substance has to fall out of a bucket and onto the you got to get gooped. You got to get gooped. Paul Giamatti and Big Low. What's it called? Big Fowlier. Big Fowlier.

[01:59:25] Oh, yeah. Of the triple Frankie Munoz. All right. Yeah, number four. Fried Wars, Griffith. I know I'm joking. I'm combining the two. He's going off the mud. Hell yeah. Ben number four, the box office. And I feel like for some reason, Griffin,

[01:59:45] we've discussed a lot of movies in this range because Bar's attack is number eight. Wow. Obviously, we've talked about Jerry McGuire. I feel like there's another movie coming up. Maybe like we've been in this area a lot. 96 holidays, big time for our tours.

[01:59:59] It had been number one the previous week. Ben, I'm sure you were there in theaters. If not, you were a big drop. I mean, it's actually only a 50% drop, but definitely front loaded. Is it a Steven Seagal film? No.

[02:00:15] I mean, I just think that even at this age, Ben, you were like, I'm there. I don't know. Maybe you caught this on video. Action or comedy? Animated. Oh, animated. Oh, we've talked about this because it's so weird that this came out at this time of year.

[02:00:30] It's so weird that it's a Christmas movie. Beavis and Butthead Take America. Yeah. Of course. Comes out the weekend before Christmas. So weird. Jerry McGuire, I get it. Michael, I get it. 101 Dalmatians, absolutely. And then Beavis and Butthead Do America, which is... Right, it's Do America. Yeah.

[02:00:50] And the number five movie, which has been out for two weeks, has made $21 million, but is going to hold so extraordinarily well that it will make $103 million, despite opening to only six. Is it a best picture play? Is it an Oscar play?

[02:01:10] No, but it's such a huge hit that there's a sequel the next year, even though it came out in December. Whoa. It's one of those rare films with the sequel came out less than one year after the original. It's not a spin tour. We were discussing.

[02:01:28] It's not a Jim Carrey. No. It's the revival of a genre. It's a crucial moment for a genre coming back. Oh, it's Scream. Oh, Scream. Oh. Right, where Scream 2 comes out like 11 months later. Scream 2 came out 11 months later. Yeah, it's crazy. Legendary performance from fellow Pasadena

[02:01:49] California resident Shaggy. Oh. Like Zoinks, I'm the killer. Man, them choosing Will Forte and Scoob over him is... It's rude. It sucks. I was about to say, like this will come out later, but are we all pumped for Scoob? It's Scoob's opening day. Oh, yeah.

[02:02:08] Oh, is that today? Oh, I got to do the Scoob, the TikTok dance. That's a real thing that's trending right now for some reason. Here's what I'll say about Scoob. I am very excited for the fact that the existence of Scoob does not feel

[02:02:23] like it will prevent me from being able to sell my Scooby-Doo pitch one day. Hey. Griffin, you're right. I have a Scooby-Doo pitch. This thing is going to come and go. Yes. I have a Scooby-Doo pitch that I will tell you, Kevin, when we stop recording,

[02:02:36] that David got angry at how good it is. It's so good. And it's also just so. It's just devastatingly obvious. It's money in the bank. It's just devastatingly obvious. I'm not even saying I'm some brilliant artist. No, you are brilliant, but it is also just a little...

[02:02:48] It's just the most commercial obvious pitch of all time. Wait, is it Baytank down Harvey Weinstein? God damn it. And it's called hashtag me Scoob? God damn it, Kevin. What? Yes, that's my pitch. It's called me Scoob. I don't know.

[02:03:01] I will say, Griffin, I don't know if you know this, but I assume you do. I'm told that the movie is heavy on world-building and universe, Hannah Barbera universe shit. That Dick Dastardly is in it. And the fucking... Dynamo, Blue Falcon, Captain Caveman. Yeah, yeah.

[02:03:17] And the Blue Falcon guy is the lead character. Played by Mark Wahlberg. Once again, I think all of this works in my favor. Yeah. What? Because I just feel like people are gonna be like, absolutely no thanks. Please try again.

[02:03:31] They were like, we wanna do an animated cinematic universe. We wanna treat it like Marvel and work as many different Hannah Barbera characters into Scoob and then from there be able to make eight more films with different properties. Shared universes don't work.

[02:03:45] It's an origin story, but it's also a team-up movie. No. Don't try and cram a shared universe down my throat in the first movie when I don't even know if I like them yet. And it's like, get out of here. My Scooby-Doo pitch is clean.

[02:04:01] And you know who else is clean? Kevin T. Porter, the cleanestist in podcast. I shout everyday even during this time. You look great, you sound great. You're one of the best in the biz. And people should listen to all your podcasts.

[02:04:16] Sure, oh if they want to, they can. They're allowed. They should, I insist. Wait, they're allowed? I am sad that I never got David on Gilmore Guys. I didn't know that you were such a big Gilmore head. The biggest Gilmore head.

[02:04:31] I feel sad about it whenever I hear your passing references, day as paid. That's a fair point you should have put me on. Gilmore Guys and the world is worse off for it obviously, but I don't know, we'll figure it out. I know, it sucks.

[02:04:43] I do feel like all those shows did become a blank check about Amy Sherman, Paladino, but except for whatever 15 episodes about 15 movies, like 300 something about all her weird jobs. My favorite thing about Gilmore Guys was that the Atlantic, and when I was working at the Atlantic,

[02:05:03] wrote an article about you guys. I don't know if you remember that. I think they talked to you. Yes, Kevin O'Keefe. Kevin O'Keefe, yes. And the headline was, The Guys Who Love Gilmore Girls. Fine headline. And something went wrong with social

[02:05:15] and so the Atlantic's social account, Twitter account, just tweeted, The Guys Who Love Gilmore Girls with no link and no further explanation. And everyone was like, I heard about that. It was such a weird moment. It was very weird. That's incredible.

[02:05:32] That feels like yeah, like a text bot or something. It's just, we can just go on. That's amazing though. I'm listening. No photo, no nothing. And that's you with past guest friend of the show, Demi Adizha Webe. So people should listen to that.

[02:05:48] They have no idea. Oh, that's right. I know what a great man he is. One of the greats and you're one of the greats and thank you so much for being on the show, Kevin. Oh, my pleasure. I truly love you guys, love the show.

[02:05:59] I think all four of you are terrific. I'm very happy you and I got to hang out in person at one time before that became illegal. I know. And the work you guys are doing on this podcast for people listening right now looking for

[02:06:14] sense of normalcy and comfort. It is essential to some people. So I'll be an audience surrogate and encourage you in that sense. It's good stuff. Well, thank you very much. And I do plan to file my taxes this year as an essential worker because you set that.

[02:06:30] Good. Now I want all the blankies to go out to their balconies wherever they are. And the day that this comes out, 815 Eastern Standard Time. Clang together pots and pans and then shout out your favorite kinds of pie in honor of the Blank Check podcast.

[02:06:47] And don't finish until you've given 25 pies. That's very nice of you. I personally will be flying a jumbo jet. I'll just be buzzing Cincinnati that day, I've decided. Just gonna give Cincinnati a fucking haircut in a Dreamliner. But you're also going to be skywriting.

[02:07:05] Yeah, but like it'll immediately just start to dissolve into the air. So it'll just look like mush. Like that happened in front over my neighborhood. Con? Con? You know, someone sky wrote like thank you healthcare workers. Just immediately it looked like blah, blah, blah.

[02:07:18] But you know, just whatever. Yeah. I mean, you're writing is one of the most laborious things for the least payoff that we can do. Absolutely. No. It says a text. It says who Barb? I. I love it. Well, that's been our episode on Michael,

[02:07:37] a movie that very much exists. Tune in for next week when Nora does what she always does. She rebounds so fucking hard with you've got mail. Oh, absolutely insane. And now Kevin has changed his background to a picture of Lord Durant. He's just speed rounding different Lord Durant.

[02:07:54] It's a Cavalry. Oh, there's Lady Gaga. She wants to get a look at us. Given the sonic Mario maker and Sonic. I like that. I like that. Tom Hanks. Mr. Bean. Man, Kevin's rolling deep on good zoom background. Here's another plug. Why don't you zoom Kevin?

[02:08:13] You get a lot of really good. Oh, this is good because it looks like this is the role. You know, oh yeah, actually and out. He's actually is a super size. I've seen that picture before. The science course Bradley Cooper's the elephant memory just makes a funny face.

[02:08:32] You have the picture where they give the I guess Scientology gave Tom Cruise like a medal or something and he gives this speech. It looks like he's running for president of the Olympics. Like it's so weird. Yes. Guys, I'm so badly. So thank you all for listening.

[02:08:52] Please remember to review, subscribe. Thanks to Ant for co-producing this show. Rachel Jacobs for editing help. Thanks to layman coming for our theme song. Joe Bowen and Pat Rounds for artwork. Go to blankies.red.com for some real nerdy shit. Patreon.com.

[02:09:05] It's a Kendall Roy rapping is now the background. Patreon.com backstab. Blank check for blank check special features. And as always, I'm going to describe the next background is Ellen DeGeneres. What better way to end the episode? Famous fictional character, nice Ellen. Nice Ellen, my favorite fictional character.

[02:09:27] And the quote underneath it is the message we should all take with us because we should live how Ellen lives. Be kind to one another. Thank you. Griffin, go pee. I just want to say one thing to you, Kevin,

[02:09:43] as the CEO of Quibi, I'm going to order you just switching up zoom backgrounds for six minutes is what a new show on Quibi. Go for Kevin. OK. You guys. Who is this? Oh, that's my girlfriend. Ben's girlfriend. Oh, I thought it was like, I don't know,

[02:10:03] like a cosplay thing or something. Humble Brown. Yeah, could be. What if Ben's girlfriend was actually like a Mrs. Doubtfire? Now I would love that. Ben, hold on one second. I'm going to go get. Wait, can I can I tell you a fun good gossip celebrity thing? Please.

[02:10:21] Because you said Mrs. Doubtfire. And now that we're recording. Yeah. Well, yeah, I'm sorry. This won't make it into the episode. This will be real quick. But my friend Nick is dating Karen Gillen and we were playing code names over Zoom the other night.

[02:10:36] She was she only played for a little bit and then she went into the other room to watch X Factor. The whole time she was watching it, she laughed like Mrs. Doubtfire. She's like, oh, at all the funny contestants on X Factor is very sweet.