T2 Trainspotting with Scott Aukerman & Shaun Diston

[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

[00:00:21] You know, since we're having this conversation, I can tell you that fully consensual, emotionally driven, not-for-profit podcasting has been attained. You know, I just, every time, I just never know. I'm sorry that I smile at the accent. I give you a smile.

[00:00:37] I feel like the John Lee Miller one's particularly tough to do. Sure. Because he's also the only one who is not natively Scottish. And he's kind of doing a posh, posher guy. Yes. Will I be happy to be over with our most British miniseries?

[00:00:51] You got one more in you, I think. I got one more. You gotta do Yesterday and that's it. Yes. That's kind of a funny line. Yeah, it's a funny line. I was trying to find a tagline for this movie but didn't have one.

[00:01:01] Tagline was, we did it. Can you guys stop asking us? Yeah, right.

[00:01:07] You know, Griffin, I'm kind of upset because I feel like you should have done Choose Life and then done the big monologue and then at the end found a way to say, choose your future, choose podcasts. Now, I did that for the first Train to Body.

[00:01:23] You did that for the first one. I did the entire thing. Is this one longer in this movie or shorter? Feels longer.

[00:01:30] It feels longer but that might be because it's a little less, like, it feels like he's getting random at a certain point and you're like, alright, when's this? By the way, he's not running. Sprig, I thought you would be upset at his bad accent.

[00:01:41] Well, look, we can't get into accents today. It's an accent heavy pod. Look, I'm not mad about the accent but really quick, hey David. Yeah. I'm listening to your voice now. I'm thinking to myself, something ringing very familiar about it. Oh yeah? What's that? Please go right ahead.

[00:02:01] A little, do you hear a little lilty here? I feel a little something like, I feel like, David, tell me what you call a toilet. I don't call it a loo if that's what you're trying to set me up for. Are you British?

[00:02:18] Look, I was on your podcast and you didn't bring this up. Because we were so distracted by how weird Gigi was. Yeah, and we were in turn of the century France. We were transported. Today I'm thinking to myself, this guy's got a little British lilt to him.

[00:02:33] Look, that's nice of you to say. You can hear the U in flavor. It's subtle but you can hear it. You can hear me turning those Zs into Ss. The Zed. You say Zed instead of Z.

[00:02:45] I know, I actually, when I lived in England, I really struggled to say Zed. That was one of the ones I could never do. I could never quite say Zed. I did used to have a lilt, Sprague. I don't think I have a lilt anymore.

[00:02:58] You spent some time working it off. Don't worry. In about an hour I'll work mine off as well. Yeah, maybe you will. Maybe it'll just sort of slowly erode. You still have two hours to go. Lil is a soft drink.

[00:03:12] Welcome to Scott hasn't seen the podcast that explores the movie Blindspots. No, no, welcome to Sprague hasn't seen the podcast that explores the movie Blindspots. Okay, okay. I gotta say, Sprague, you were saying you were surprised that I didn't do the True's Life monologue.

[00:03:27] I have to say I'm mildly surprised that you are the guest on this episode. It almost felt like it was a bit of a coin toss who would show up on the Zoom.

[00:03:35] It's true and then as soon as I started talking I said to myself, what feels natural? And it was this. When you're talking about movies, you're talking about Sprague.

[00:03:44] That's very true. But you know, to the fans of course Blank Check, I'll be having a serious conversation about movies. I'm here to dissect. Well it's important that we got someone from the UK to be on this episode. Absolutely.

[00:03:58] Look, I'm no movie expert. I will sort of fill the sort of Ben role where if something comes up that I think is gnarly or cool, I'll say, That's weird. I'll say, that's fucking cool. You know? I'll just do that.

[00:04:11] I don't really think of that as being your game, but yeah. For this episode it might be. This episode it might be. Look, this is a No Bits podcast. I think we need to make that very clear. Re-establishing right about the top.

[00:04:22] This is a No Bits podcast which is why we have two normal human guests today. This is Blank Check with Griffin and David. It's a podcast about filmographies, directors who have massive success early on in their careers

[00:04:34] and are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want. And sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce, baby. This is a mini-series on the films of Danny Boyle. It's called Train Spodcasting. There you go. Good job.

[00:04:50] Or for the sake of today's episode, T2 Train Spodcasting. One of the worst titles in the history of movies. It actually quietly might be one of the worst titles in the history of movies. Secretly one of the worst titles.

[00:05:01] A movie that I want to say, generally very positive on this movie. I think it's very interesting. I just don't know what they were thinking. No, and even just some of the choices of no colon. Every part of it.

[00:05:12] Not calling it T2 Train Spodcasting 2. T20 I almost think would be better. No, just drop it. What would you call it? Train Spodcasting 2! I think I appreciate the title because I guess I read somewhere that they were like, this is what the characters would have called the movie.

[00:05:27] And I thought, that makes perfect sense to me. No, just based on how fucking dumb they are, you know? T2 Train Spodcasting! But like, they also, and I'll tell you this, they sort of were like, oh, James Cameron wouldn't like that. That's funny. Yeah.

[00:05:43] That's a weird way to... That is funny. It's kind of funny, but... Yeah, it'd be funnier if they called it T2 Judgment Day Train Spod. That would be if they really want to twist the knife in him. Look, our two guests today, as they said,

[00:05:58] are the co-hosts of the hit podcast, the hit movie podcast. Our fierce rivals over at Scott Hasn't Seen. But as you were saying, Sprague The Western, Scott Aukerman. Hello guys! Hello, how are you? Thanks for having us on. This is the second part of a doubleheader for us.

[00:06:16] This is what I was getting at. You've been doing a Sprague Hasn't Seen week. Yes. Month. Month! But this same week, this episode's coming out, you just did the first train spotting, which Sprague, you had never seen before. I had never seen this film. And I liked it.

[00:06:32] You know, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a tough watch. But by the end of it, I thought, gosh, this Ewan McGregor guy, I want him to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. And of course, that was your main... Since then, you watched a whole bunch of Star Wars films.

[00:06:46] Then I caught up on Star Wars and I was like, thank God, this guy really did it. It's worked out. Scott, we reached out... Hello. Hi. Hey, Scott. Hello. Reached out a while ago, said we were doing Danny Boyle, had a feeling you might like the guy,

[00:07:01] asked if you had any preferences. This was one you threw out pretty quickly. Yeah. Which was surprising only because I think you might be one of five people who saw this in theaters. I saw it opening day at the Arclight, Hollywood. And yeah, me and...

[00:07:16] I remember coming out of it going... I had zero expectations going in. Because I was like, I love the first movie and what are they doing? Why are they making another one? It can't possibly compete. And it's a very different movie,

[00:07:29] but I walked out of it just saying like, holy shit, that was very moving. And that really spoke to kind of where I am personally in life. And I really enjoyed it. And the only other person I ever talked to who liked it was Jake Fogelnest,

[00:07:42] who had the same opinion that I did. And I was like, yeah, it was good. So yeah, I've thought about this movie since I saw it. And this is my second time watching it for this show. And yeah, I really enjoy it.

[00:07:54] By the way, you guys have both been on our show separately. Yes. And what I find it really interesting in a glimpse into people's personal finances with how long they take to respond to the email when I say, hey, I want to send you a check

[00:08:09] for being on the show. Griffin, six months. David, six minutes. Well, look, I will also say that actually speaks less to our finances. Although I don't know. I mean, maybe you got more cash in the bank than me, Griff. You're not paying daycare costs.

[00:08:26] I don't got no baby. Exactly. But that more speaks, I would say, to general email responsiveness. I think that's the takeaway. Trigger finger there. The takeaway is, wow, Griffin is so consistent in his poor response time that even if there is money to be made

[00:08:41] from responding to an email, it still will take him six months. I want the money. I gave you the money. I thank you. It just is very bizarre. There is maybe, I would say, 5% of the people who never respond to that email. And it's baffling to me.

[00:08:56] Because I'll take the money every time. I mean, look, if someone's going to pay me $50,000 to be on a podcast, I'll take it. Yes, yes. Which is, let's say, one of the better rates in podcasting. We pay too much. We pay way too much.

[00:09:09] One of the best guest rates. If I get an email, I have to reply to it right away or I'll forget about it. That's the thing. We all have our phones in our pockets and are looking at this constantly.

[00:09:20] Why are we pretending that we can't just email someone back? Right, I don't play hard to get. You can confirm that too. Correct. I don't play hard to get either. I want to make it clear. No, you're just bad at this.

[00:09:30] I also need to respond to an email right away or else I forget about it. And what I do is forget about it. Forget about it. I don't respond to it. I go, oh, right, you'll remember this. Email? Forget about it. Forget about it.

[00:09:44] Get the fuck out of here. Email. If they had been able to make a third Analyze movie. Sure. If the late great Harold Ramis hadn't left us. Analyze this, analyze that, analyze with a whiff of all that. Well, that's good.

[00:10:05] It feels like that's what it would have been. If they made the 20 years later Analyze sequel. If they made A3, Analyze This. It would have been De Niro's character struggling to do like virtual sessions. Yeah. It would have been like a pandemic.

[00:10:22] It would have been set during the pandemic. Yeah. Right, it would have been forget about it with the emails. See, I thought you were talking about like Hillary's emails. Right. Well, we'll get to those. Well, that's a different story. Don't worry. Like everything leads back to that.

[00:10:34] That's a serious thriller I've been writing. And we are going to talk about Hillary's emails on this episode, right? We're also Bo Biden's computer, all that kind of stuff is. All of it. All of it's coming up. Bo Biden's computer. You never hear about Bo's. Bo the dog?

[00:10:48] That's Bo Obama. His little doggy computer. Oh, that's Bo. Every key is shaped like a paw. Wait, does the first dog get like a dog computer? Absolutely. Yeah, okay. Yeah, right. Sure. Arfputer? I don't know. Come on. This is a serious podcast.

[00:11:04] We're talking about movies with two brilliant movieologists. Oh, okay. Get out of here. It's so serious. So serious. Is there a first laptop? Like, you know the thing. Or is it like Air Force One where like any computer Joe Biden uses is like laptop one.

[00:11:19] Does it become laptop one the second he types on it? All the news stories about Pelosi's laptop that they were trying to steal on that wonderful day, January 6th. They've taken great pains to say in all the stories what she used it for

[00:11:35] as to not have there be any like confusion about, oh, this was a laptop that if it fell into the wrong hands had state secrets on it or something like that, you know. Right. No, this is her laptop that she only uses for Neopets.

[00:11:51] This is her gaming PC. Right. That's her rig. It's her Steam Deck for Counter-Strike. She plays Diablo on there. Yeah, she does. She's a sorcerer. She's got two fridges and five gaming PCs. Yeah, what if they had broken into her office and it was all like black

[00:12:12] with like neon lines? Is that like a BioWare? Is that the gaming PC company? Alienware. Alienware. Yeah. I don't know. Funny. Is that funny? That's hilarious. Clearly, the four of us clearly know so much about gaming PCs.

[00:12:27] I'm a little bit younger than you guys, so I'm not getting these references. Yeah, you're too young. Scott, imagine she's using them for TikTok. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, I guess. What is TikTok named after? I've never been able to understand that.

[00:12:40] Oh, God, Scott, come on now. That's actually a great question. I have no idea. Why is it called TikTok? It's named after the Kesha song. Oh, okay, yeah. Thanks, Grandpa. Okay, but there's like this second tier Oz character, TikTok the Mechanical Man.

[00:12:55] Oh, I've never heard of this guy. Who played him? He's in Return to Oz. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, you thought Oz the Prison Show? I thought he meant the Prison Show. Remember TikTok the Mechanical Man?

[00:13:06] And I was like, I don't know, there could be a totally white supremacist called that. There's a rusty robot who shims people. You got Harold in the wheelchair. His nickname could have been the Mechanical Man because he has wheels for legs. That's true.

[00:13:21] Scott, we can't be coming on other people's podcasts and bringing our shit to it. Sorry. Why not? We invited you on for this. Now, can I ask you guys, I didn't listen to the train spotting episode that you guys did. Well, you just saw the film.

[00:13:36] Just saw the film. We didn't want to be influenced by all of your incredible thoughts. But I know you guys have already talked about it. And generally, was this one in the sort of Danny Boyle-iverse that you liked? Were you guys big fans? Oh, love this one. Massive.

[00:13:52] And I grew up in England as you referenced me. Oh, is that right? It's true. What street? Burley Road, in fact. Burley Road. Burley Road, NW5. I used to kick the old ball. You used to kick the old ball. My classic old British thing.

[00:14:07] Nothing Brits do more than kick the old ball. Pouring the vinegar on my fish and chips, of course. I did do that. Sprague, where exactly did you grow up? Yeah, exactly. Well, of course I developed my accent very young when I was in merry old England.

[00:14:20] But then my parents up and moved to Tampa, Florida where I grew up. I'm a central Florida guy. But originally, were you from the Sherwood Forest? Yes, right near Robin of Locksley. Oh, yes, your neighbor. Of course that normal thing people always say,

[00:14:37] I developed my accent very young. This accent, I came by it honestly. It's true. No hanky-panky here. No, no, no. But I wanted to ask you guys because I'm interested to talk about this film because I really liked the first movie for a very specific reason.

[00:14:59] And the main reason is it made me feel like I was doing heroin. It's a movie that's like a great approximation of what it's like to be addicted to heroin. He, by the way, he's addicted to watching the movie now. He watches it three times a day.

[00:15:13] I go home and I fucking tie off my arm and I rent it on iTunes again and again. Right, just buy it. You would collapse on the floor in ecstasy. Exactly. I'm under my sheets. You're neglecting your family because of it. Scott's under my sheets.

[00:15:26] He's like, hey, why are you watching the movie again? I'm like, get away from me. But this movie I feel like is different. It's like a totally different thing. I was very confused by it, I would say. I think that's fair.

[00:15:38] I think that's what I like about it. Yeah. It could so easily have, I guess, tried to be like, well, let's just kind of keep these guys as they were. Let's do it with the exact same energy. Let's do it with the exact same filming style. Right, right.

[00:15:54] Rather than being like, well, what would those guys be like if they were in their 40s? I don't know. They'd be like annoying and tired. Right. Like kind of grumpy. That's true. Yeah, I mean, this is one of those examples of a sequel

[00:16:08] that uses the amount of time that's passed really well. Yes. But yes, for such a long time, and we'll get into all of this, but Irvin Welch had written the sequel book, Porno, with the same characters. That was more of a lateral sequel, maybe.

[00:16:28] This book is somewhat inspired by that. It's another adventure from those guys. Right, yeah. Taking place sooner. Yeah. And I think it just would have been more of like, here are these guys with their energy up to some new tricks. They're up to new transgressive stuff.

[00:16:40] Have you read Porno, Scott? Or have you read either of the books? Oh, the books? Oh, no, I haven't read Porno in life. Oh, yes, the book. The dirty books. No, I read the original Trainspotting when the first movie came out.

[00:16:57] And then I remember when Porno came out, and I was kind of like, oh, should I buy it and read it? And I think it didn't get great reviews. So I stayed away from it. No one was sad.

[00:17:09] It was honestly a perfect example of why you don't do a sequel to Trainspotting when that book came out. Everyone was like, oh, yeah, right, this is tough. But yet, even though people didn't like the book, they were like, well, are you going to do the sequel?

[00:17:20] And I think everyone was like, well, maybe we would only take a little bit from the book. But that's when the conversation started in earnest of people going like, get the gang back together. Despite not really wanting to see that book adapted literally. Yeah.

[00:17:33] Well, I know that Danny Boyle, he said he wanted to do it 10 years later, but everyone looked exactly the same because they're actors and they take good care of their faces and bodies. Right, they're all hot. Yeah. Right. Ewan McGregor's hairline had somehow gone down.

[00:17:48] He had less forehead than he did in the 90s. Yeah, Scott, I want to ask you about, did you see Trainspotting in the theater, Scott? Like that's what, that's 96? Yeah, I saw it at the Sunset Five here in Los Angeles on opening night. Was very, very into it.

[00:18:05] I was super into the music that was on the soundtrack. So I was very into Britpop at the time. And then I also was into Shallow Grave, which I had seen on video, not in the theater. But so I was really primed for it.

[00:18:20] I was like, oh, Ewan McGregor, Danny Boyle, the music of Pulp and Blur. Yeah, I think I'm going to see this on opening night and be into it. And then it really just kind of exceeded expectations. You know, I think Danny Boyle is a really interesting filmmaker.

[00:18:38] Even when his films don't work, I think they're interesting at the very least. Always. So, you know, Life Less Ordinary, I also saw on opening night and was less than really impressed with that. So, but yeah, Trainspotting, I was very into it.

[00:18:56] It didn't take over my personality or anything. Like I didn't sit there like thinking about the fashion and the lifestyle of it and try to emulate it the way I did say with Ducky in Pretty in Pink in 1986. Oh, that's a wise choice. But that's what you're saying.

[00:19:14] It's like the whole thing with Trainspotting is that it is incredibly cool and it's incredibly plugged into the moment it's coming out in. But it's not some airy movie about nothing. You know, it's a very tough, you know, gritty, awful movie. I think that's why it's laced.

[00:19:30] I don't know if this is what you were sort of surprised by going into its break, but it feels like it could be a perfect example of a movie where if you haven't seen it before you watch it for the first time and your response is

[00:19:41] I get why this was big 20 years ago. I understand why at this moment these new people, new star, new director coming out, hitting their stride. This would have made a big cultural impact. You can sort of view it within context.

[00:19:54] But you watch it today and it's just as fresh. I think it works as well re-watching it as it does watching it for the first time now. But it's interesting the counterpoint between the two of you of like you seeing it opening night, Scott,

[00:20:07] in the bag for it, sticking with you, and then going to see the sequel in theaters like 20 years later in real time aging with these characters and Sprague just basically watching the two of them back to back and being like, they're different. They're totally weird. What a swerve.

[00:20:21] I think the first one, and I'm not saying I don't like the second one. I actually do like it, but I had more to reckon with after watching it. The first one is like the thesis statement of the movie

[00:20:33] is so broad and in my opinion the movie is just a great depiction of addiction. And I just don't think that's something that's going to age. Like addiction is happening right now. So like that part of the movie felt very relevant to me.

[00:20:48] Then the next one is like, it just feels like, okay, no, no, now we're building a big story. Which the first one, the story of it is like neither here nor there. I did read a review that said it was the addiction has changed from heroin to nostalgia.

[00:21:04] That's what I, I was like looking for some sort of broad thesis statement to it. I think that that, if you were to look at it in that way, I do think it does hold up in that it's just telling you like,

[00:21:14] yes, they're all trying to pine for the good old days. I mean, I mean, they, he, at the end of the first one, it's a character that gets away from his social group in order to save his own life. And this one is him realizing, hey,

[00:21:31] what if I had never done that and going back? And it's, it's something that at this age, I think you think about a lot is like, what if I had made different choices 20 years ago? You're sort of like hopefully a little more settled in your life.

[00:21:44] And you're like just still thinking about, but what if I had done that? What if I had done that? Should I have done that better? Should I, should I have, you know, mended that relationship with this person? Should I, should I still in the, in the,

[00:21:57] and that's what's really interesting about it is to me, yes, the first one is a heroin movie, but it's not really, it's about people at a certain time in their lives of a certain social class. And now what are they like 20 years later?

[00:22:14] Yeah. What's also like the first movie, these guys will not admit how much they mean to each other. Like they're so caught up in the energy of everything they're doing and the lifestyle. We were sort of saying like on, on our episode in the first movie,

[00:22:27] it's one of those movies where you're like, why are these my friends? You know, that thing where you're young and you sort of just like really bond to the people you just happen to be close to physically proximity. Literally like you live next to them.

[00:22:41] I thought that was such an incredible part of this movie is the sort of, it's not actual found footage, but the footage of these kids playing as kids together. And then that just is all throughout the movie up till the very end where,

[00:22:56] you know, he's, he's about to be murdered by Robert Carlyle. And he's saying like, remember that day that this woman sat me next to you and you introduced yourself. I mean, that's happened to me with someone that I then was friends with all throughout,

[00:23:10] you know, up until after I graduated high school and I still talk to, you know, it's like, yeah, it's just a very, none of that stuff is important when you're in your early twenties. So that's why the first film doesn't cover any of like how they got together.

[00:23:24] But, but it is very important to you later in life where you're going back and reminiscing over like all of the choices that you've made. Well, there's this, this aspect that I think the movie gets at well of like, um, at the end of the day, you know,

[00:23:41] you maybe go through a period of time where you're like, I can curate my friend group. I can seek out people. I can, you know, I could get jobs. I can find people who have the same interests as me who work in the same field

[00:23:52] as me who go to the same places as me rather than friends who are sort of circumstantial and like handed to you as a child through school, through proximity, whatever it is. I had friends who like my babysitter was friends with their babysitter.

[00:24:06] Like that's it. It's like, Oh, right. We both got kids to watch. Like, okay. Your babysitter had friends. That's freaking weird. You're friends with your babysitter? Babysitter, pain in the town rat. Wait, wait, did you not have that experience? Like I had the babysitters all knew each other.

[00:24:24] There was like a sort of a network of babysitters. They would all go hang out at the same like playgrounds and spots. Oh, I understand what you're saying. And like, that's how I made, I had like friends where it's like,

[00:24:33] like in retrospect, it was like my mom, like, wait, he didn't go to my school. How did I know that kid? My mom was like his babysitter was friends with your babysitter. I'm realizing maybe all my babysitters were loners.

[00:24:43] I know a guy who only had 12 friends and he did pretty well for himself. His name was Jesus Christ. Scott, this is an OBIT podcast. You know, what's funny is we're talking about this and I'm realizing this movie was hitting for me and I couldn't really realize what,

[00:24:57] I was like, it's not the same as the first one, but something about this is hitting. And I'm realizing what you guys are talking about now. I could relate to it so much because of course I came up in Florida after developing my accent in London. Of course.

[00:25:10] But as a growing up as someone in Florida. Rooting for them devil rays. Of course. But the fucking, the knuckleheads that you came up with. Like I had, I was a group of four friends that we were fucking, we were maybe as we weren't addicted to heroin,

[00:25:28] but we were now I'm thinking about it like, holy shit. This was my friend group. I had an ultra violent friend. I had a friend who was just like sad and addicted to whatever. And I remember one day I woke up and I had texted my friends.

[00:25:41] I was like, what are we doing today? Kind of. Cause you just every day hung out with them and they're like, oh, we went to the beach and we didn't tell you. And I remember thinking like, okay, I'm not, I'm not going to be these guys.

[00:25:52] Like I remember making the choice that you and McGregor made to the first one of like, I'm going to escape this friend group. And I think that's, that's the choice you make in your twenties. Exactly.

[00:26:03] And I think my life, I think it improved my life to a certain extent, but for this character to just like go live a normal bullshit life, the choose life that he kind of was like shitting on in the first movie,

[00:26:14] he ends up choosing it. And then he's like, wait, this sucks too. So I do like that. I think, I think both the whole choose life of it all is with two characters. It's with rent boy and it's with spud and with rent boy.

[00:26:29] He in the first one, he chooses life, which you think is the right choice. And he realizes it's the wrong choice for him because he's gone. He's gone back against everything that makes him who he is and who he is,

[00:26:42] is this guy who likes hanging out with losers and likes making fun of shit on TV and likes just sitting around and not doing anything. And he, he did choose what he thought was life going to Amsterdam and getting

[00:26:53] married and about to start a family. And it's not for him. But meanwhile, spud literally chooses life in this movie. The first time you see spud in the movie, he's trying to commit suicide and instead he chooses life by choosing art. And choosing to write everything down.

[00:27:08] And so it's like, it's these two characters making the exact opposite choice, but for the right reasons for them. No, it's also interesting, you know, Renton trying to sell spud on like, you need to find a new addiction.

[00:27:22] It's boxing or it's running or it's hiking or whatever it is. And he's that sort of type a, like there's just a way. Just switch your track. You just get your life together. Right. And it's like,

[00:27:32] we're seeing him try to help spud through that maybe 20 minutes before he finally breaks down and goes like, my life sucks. It's like a shambles. Spud actually has to find a thing that is an expression of himself.

[00:27:42] It's not like you can't just put the energy into a thing. Right. Yeah. You know, I feel like what is powering this movie more than anything is the meta narrative. Okay. Yes. It's so like, of like these guys getting back together,

[00:27:55] having not spent time together for many years. You and obviously reuniting with Danny Boyle, which we can talk about. Yeah. But then also just the weirdness of like, not that the other guys are the other guys doing fine, but you and Greg are re-emerging in their midst.

[00:28:09] And they're being like, Oh fuck man. You're all like hot. Like what's your deal? Like Jesus. Right. You're Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you're coming back hanging out with us. I mean, I don't want to deal with whatever your problems are. If you're, if you're swinging through town.

[00:28:23] This movie comes out when John A. Lee Miller is on like season seven of elementary. And you're making like big fucking CBS procedural Sherlock Holmes money. And even still you and McGregor walks on screen and you're like, Oh right.

[00:28:34] That's what a movie star looks like. That's like, there's a difference. This is why you guys are the connoisseurs of context because we know elementary got seven seasons. I just think it's, I mean, Not a bad show. The meta,

[00:28:46] the meta-ness of this movie was a little lost on me because obviously I'm watching these movies back to back. Yeah. And I'm not really thinking about the like moment in time. And when I looked at this movie came out in 2017, I was like,

[00:28:56] I don't even fucking remember this coming. Maybe because it wasn't on my radar at all. Well, during the Trump administration. Yeah. It's crazy that it was that recent. Not that long ago. The first time I watched this, this sequel,

[00:29:08] I think I rewatched trade spotting in order to remind myself of everything. But I, I feel like it was weeks before this, this time, we literally just watched it a few days ago and the meta textualness of it

[00:29:21] all was really hitting me because there are just iconic parts of that film and iconic parts of that first movie that they are fully embracing. And sometimes replicating, I mean, the part where he rolls over a car hood and smiles at the driver just so

[00:29:35] alive. They totally, they, they reshoot that. You know, it's just so much, you know, him falling backwards is an iconic shot. Like so much of it. You even hear the songs from the soundtrack and I know the soundtrack better than you Sprague,

[00:29:50] but you hear like certain songs from the soundtrack playing as if they're really far away. A lot of times you hear the song super far away. It almost as if it's in a dream or it's a memory. It's a memory.

[00:30:03] Shadow. Yeah. Oh yeah. You see the mother's shadow. They do a lot with shadows. Yeah. But yeah, but there's so much of it is, is about a person like, you know, even him just putting the needle drop down on lust for life and immediately

[00:30:18] taking it off going, no, that's the, that's the energy of the first one. So much of this movie is, it has no music and is so quiet, which is not like the first one at all.

[00:30:27] I thought it was such an amazing choice to go totally stylistically away from it and, and, and just go like, no, of course they're not going to have the same energy that they had when they were in their twenties. They're going to be old.

[00:30:41] They're going to be quieter and that's what the movie is, you know? And plus I do enjoy that Danny Boyle has embraced the Dutch angles 20 years later. Right. Yeah. He's very, I mean, and of course it's an homage to a Renton having lived in Amsterdam,

[00:30:56] you know, the movie goes, it's a very subtle Lamont. Yes. Right. Right. Do you think Dan Boyle, like if someone brings a, like a level on set he smashes it in half? I don't even want to see it. Tilt the camera. God damn it. Yeah.

[00:31:09] No, I think, I think there, there are the two meta angles. There's the, the sort of reuniting the four guys of McDonald Boyle, a Hodge and McGregor, which we'll get into and also obviously bringing these four actors back

[00:31:21] together at the same time. And then I also think as, as you said, Sprague, I think very wisely, this movie is sort of about like nostalgia as this new heroine. It's about this sort of, no, okay. Well Scott, Scott, I thought Sprague said very wisely.

[00:31:36] Sprague was quoting Scott. Sprague was quoting squat. Jeez. It's sort of a Tampa trick. One of his Tampa tricks. But this has become such a, it's Tampa tricks. This has become such a thing. The, like the legacy sequel,

[00:31:50] the bring they'll cast back 20 years later, the where are they now thing? And I think people asking Boyle and McGregor to get back together and make this movie predates that, but they're sort of cashing in on like,

[00:32:00] the one antecedent I think this has is the before sunrise trilogy, which we recently covered the first one. We have not watched the next two yet. Okay. And so I, but, but as I was watching this, I was like,

[00:32:13] it feels like it's going to be more like that than it is going to feel like top gun, which top gun is trying to sort of beat for beat, do exactly what the first one did and try and almost trying to say like,

[00:32:26] get out of here age. No, it's not going to take us. It's yeah, sure. He's, he's going to have a slightly different job, but he's still going to look exactly the same. And he's still going to fly around like he's 20. And it's good.

[00:32:37] This one is like, hello age. This fucking sucks. It starts with, I mean, you and McGregor literally running like he did in the first movie and having a heart attack. Yeah. And also I think this movie is, he's, he's on this metal level interrogating, like,

[00:32:53] why is this a thing we want? Right. Like this whole thing of like, Oh, these guys, a little depressing to see them and the energy's gone. And you're like, well, they'd kept that energy up. They would not all still be alive 20 years later. Be dead. Right.

[00:33:05] Almost certainly need to have shifted or slow down miraculously survived. They would just still be doing heroin in an apartment. Like that's not, there's no movie, but you get to these things when people are bringing Dustin characters off decades later. Right? There's always this question of,

[00:33:19] do you want to see them be the same as they always were? Do you want to see old, incorrigible Maverick? They can't change him. They tried to make him in structure. It didn't take, he's still just a pilot.

[00:33:28] He's never moved up the ranks. He's the bad boy. Right. And, and to some degree that movie pulls off the magic trick of like making it work. It does. It pulls it off. It's great. Well, sequels in general, and not even just these legacy sequels,

[00:33:39] that's the question of, of them is how much of it has to have the spirit of the original? Because I've watched sequels and I go this, that didn't feel like what I like about the first one. Like I, why, why do I care? So there,

[00:33:54] it's a real balance between how much you embrace and try to replicate the first one and also try to make it different. I mean, the, one of the classic examples is alien aliens, you know, where it's like, Hey,

[00:34:06] we're not even going to try to be the same movie. We're just going to literally pluralize the aliens and add up. Same with gremlins and gremlins too. Totally different tone. We talked about that one of like, okay, it's not hitting for me,

[00:34:20] what I like about gremlins because I was a big fan of the first one. It was my first date movie. Right. And I have watched it several times over the years. And, and for me,

[00:34:30] it was not what I wanted out of a gremlin sequel because it's not scary. It's not doing any of the things that the, what I love about the original that said it's good. It's successful in a different way. Yeah. It's successful in a different way.

[00:34:42] I wanted to ask you guys, cause one thing I was thinking about a lot with this and now that you guys even mentioned the like meta textualness of it, I was thinking about the new matrix sequel. Oh, a movie we love.

[00:34:56] I'm a huge fan of that film. Another film about the limits. It's literally about the like, it is about making sequels. I wish the new matrix one had embraced the interesting ideas of the first 20, 25 minutes of it a little more. Yeah.

[00:35:10] Because after that it just turns into, it just turns into the matrix. Like I love the whole movie. I do think the opening chunk is the best, but yet that thing that these two films touch on that I think very, I don't,

[00:35:20] I cannot think of any other legacy equals that do this really, that really try to interrogate like what is the impulse here as an audience to want to see these actors and these characters back in this sort of time

[00:35:31] loop way of like, you have to go back to do the thing you already did before. Right. And do we want to see the characters we love just be the same, be just as we left them or do we want to see them change and evolve?

[00:35:43] And if so, is it like depressing to see them grow and lose the traits we found interesting about them? I was watching a legacy sequel called disenchanted and I was a little bummed that the, uh, the, the animal talk. It was weird that the animals, yeah.

[00:35:57] No, but they, they lost what people liked in the movie. Griffin, what you're talking about. And it really feels like you're dog whistling fans of the last Jedi because I love, I love the last Jedi. And I think the people give that movie shit because they're like,

[00:36:14] I wanted Luke to just be in a black robe, shoot like slicing people up in a fucking lightsaber. And I'm like, that's boring to me. Like at the time that movie came out, the more interesting choice for me is like,

[00:36:27] show me like the version of Luke that has changed and grown in an interesting way. And I think like, if you know, to, to watch the movie and be like, Oh, I'm pissed at this. And it's a movie that's constantly yelling at you,

[00:36:40] like forget about the past, like fuck the past. It's all about the future. And I think that's interesting. So movies that will, I think sequels where people have changed dramatically and the movie is almost about exploring that is interesting to me.

[00:36:55] So I'm excited to see more of these, uh, the sunset movies, the sunrise. I want to see more of those because I feel like it'll have the same kind of energy. But. The one thing about the top gun sequel that I want to know is who's the

[00:37:08] photographer that they hired to take the pictures of them when they get off the planes after the successful missions. Cause he's always got that. Always got a picture. Always got these really beautiful pictures that he pins up on his bulletin board and they're there. And it's like,

[00:37:20] they're not iPhone pictures or anything. So does, does the Navy literally hire a photographer for this purpose? It's Ed Harris. Yeah. He just, he's just an amateur. He's really good at it. I don't like him, but the man knows his angles.

[00:37:34] Uh, I want to see the movie about that guy. That's the movie. That's the movie. Top gun pictures. Yeah, no, it is. It is like, so who's filming it? Like we're watching it. Who are these people with cameras filming it from different angles or something?

[00:37:50] And by the way, it's not one on broken take. Like there are cuts. Who's editing this? It goes from one cockpit to another, but by the way, sometimes there are lights in it. Who's lighting. Oh my God. Lighting this fucking, it's a huge franchise. It's dark. It's dark.

[00:38:05] It's a huge franchise. I can see people's faces. It's dark. And by the way, it's a talkie. I don't know if you guys picked up on this. They must, they must all be wearing like loud mics or something.

[00:38:17] And someone has to be checking the levels on those people on the day of shooting. Yeah. And by the way, I don't think this movie is improvised. I think someone pre-planned what they were going to say.

[00:38:31] Well, when the strike happens, that's what movies are going to be like. Anyway. Yeah. Then it'll be Top Gun, Chet, GPT. That's what it's going to get about. No, but yes, for this movie to start and be like, Oh, remember that movie? The first movie. So much fun.

[00:38:47] These guys had so much, so much energy, so much fun. And this movie starts and you're like, Eugene McGregor's morbidly depressed. Spud is suicidal. And also is crashing off the treadmill. Yes. The actual. And his mom died. Begbie's in jail. Begbie is in jail.

[00:39:03] Well, if Begbie wasn't in jail, that would make no sense. Begbie being in jail makes total sense. And Sick Boy has basically like, is the closest to where we left him, but he's sort of just like formalized his operation. He's become like a professional sort of. Douche bag.

[00:39:20] Scammer. Yeah. And addicted to a different thing. He's now addicted to cocaine. Yes. Yes. Right. But he's sort of the one who's moved laterally. And it's, you know, this thing of like these,

[00:39:31] these friends you try to get away from and then the four of them as they're in the same place are really mostly the main three, not Begbie as much. It does feel like this thing, this movie gets at really well is when they're all in the same place.

[00:39:41] It's like, oh fuck right. These guys know me better than anyone ever will. Yeah. They might not be my favorite people. There are just levels in which these guys understand me, the history we have that it's, it's just like there's undeniably a charge to this. Yeah.

[00:39:58] And is it more depressing to roll back to the good old times that were actually kind of bad? If you really look at them. You don't even have to look at them that hard. I mean like a baby dies in that movie.

[00:40:08] It's the soul-drifting part all the time. Yeah. Well, you know what I wanted to, what I wanted to ask Sprague is, is at the end of our train spotting episode, Sprague, you were saying like Ewan McGregor obviously blows the 16 grand or two, or I guess 12 or whatever,

[00:40:26] however much is his take home after spud on heroin. Were you surprised at what the reality of it? Yeah. I was trying to guess what the sequel would be about and I thought maybe he

[00:40:38] blew all the money on heroin is right back to where he started or something. But I was, I surprised, I mean I was no, not really because as soon as the movie started, I was like, okay, like the context of this movie coming out in 2017,

[00:40:53] they have to address like a long time jump and they couldn't have been addicted to heroin the whole time. You know? So I, when I saw that like they were all sort of coming from different angles,

[00:41:03] it made sense to me what I thought was surprising was Ewan McGregor pretty quickly being like, no, that life was bullshit. I've actually want to be back in like that was an interesting choice to me.

[00:41:15] I thought this movie was going to be about you and McGregor like actually like going around to all his friends and looking down on them and trying to change them. But it was really him going back being like, what did I choose before?

[00:41:27] Which I thought was an interesting choice. I also think it ties into the structure of the first one, which we talked a lot about on our episode of how anti sort of after school special that first one is structured like where he gets off heroin kind of

[00:41:40] early in the movie and then gets back on it and then gets off it again and then gets back on it at the very end. You know, it's like it, it, it's, it twists those expectations in this way where he comes back and you're right. There,

[00:41:54] there is that fear that it's like, okay, now I'm the, you know, white savior of our friend group. I'm going to come back and help all these guys. And, and even that spud scene where he takes him out jogging is like flirting perilously close to that.

[00:42:07] And when he lies to his friend about like, I have a wife and two kids and all this other shit. I thought that was interesting. You think it's going to be like, okay, let's help these guys out or,

[00:42:15] or it's going to be these guys dragging back dragging against his will. And to have him be like, no, I actually, I, the other thing that I thought was really interesting was the fact that he has 30 years left on his heart.

[00:42:29] And that's the depressing part to him is that these guys have always, and I, I sort of was, was the same way when I was 20, I was like, there's no way I see 40 and then you are 30 even,

[00:42:42] then you get there and then you get to 40 and then you get to 50 and it's kind of like, what do you do with all the time? You know, every single person I know who's old turns into a lunatic.

[00:42:52] Like they all turn into these fucking like anti-vax weirdos who spent all their time online. So it's like, I can really relate to him going like, give me three years. Sure. But 30, how am I supposed to fill up the time with 30 years?

[00:43:08] There's something too concrete about it where it's like you, you live your life being like, I don't know. I could live or die at any moment. Right? If they give you a prognosis that's bad and short term like that, you're like, well,

[00:43:22] I know how to make the most of the three years I have left 30. It's like, you've now put a clock on a thing that is still far off. Right? Yeah. I don't know what I do in the meantime.

[00:43:31] I also think he looks at his dad and it's like, well, my dad is clean. My dad chose this life that I was choosing, right? But now his wife is dead and he's just sad all the time. So I think he's like,

[00:43:43] I think he's looking at it like, well, what even if I have this 30 years, like, is it just going to be fucking boring? Like, and so he goes back to the most exciting time in his life, which was hanging out with his best friend and just watching football

[00:43:56] matches and like, you know, getting high and running scams and it's like, yeah. And, and there is no, what I like is that there is no comeuppance for those two characters. Like, yes, they get ripped off by Veronica and ostensibly, I was thinking about that this morning.

[00:44:16] I was kind of like, okay, so there they lost the hundred grand. Do they just renege on the loan? Or do they go like, Hey, we got ripped off. Here's the, here's the signatures we got ripped off or like,

[00:44:30] but the movie is not concerned with that at all because the last time we see these two guys, they're just hanging out on the couch and they're just watching TV still. And that's their happy ending. There's like, it's not a,

[00:44:40] it's not a movie about getting back in touch with the dangerous people from your youth and getting dragged back down into it with dangerous consequences. It's about like embracing that and that being a happy ending for this guy. Yeah.

[00:44:53] The ending is weirdly kind of tidy despite the fact that they get ripped off because you're like, well, Begbie's back in jail, Spud figured this thing out and the two of them have each other. Yeah. It's, it's romantic in this sort of small and large,

[00:45:07] small R and capital R way where you're like, huh, I guess this really just was about these two flawed people renting and sick boy. I would say so kind of figuring out the like, yeah, they should,

[00:45:22] they're better off friends even if like they're not going to accomplish much in their life. The scene where the two of them do heroin together again, you, you know, in the sort of like afterschool special where you're like,

[00:45:31] oh fuck is the next 40 minutes of the movie going to be them getting addicted and trying to kick it again. And you're like, no, this is kind of like a sex scene for them. It is. It really is. They cut to it like, here we go.

[00:45:43] That's it then. And you're like, what the fuck are they? And there are no consequences to doing heroin the way that there would be in another movie. Right. You can kind of think that maybe they still kind of keep doing it or they do

[00:45:55] or they flirt with it. They do it occasionally. They do it with cocaine. I don't know. You know, there it's the movie's not about that. No, it feels like you're watching like a screwball movie about fighting exes and

[00:46:05] you're getting to the scene where they finally admit they kind of like each other. Essentially about the two exes getting divorced and they get back together. Yeah. Like this whole movie has been them being like, you know, complaining mostly to Veronica about each other and being like,

[00:46:21] I have the better angle on this. Yes. I don't know him anything. I don't know him anything. I'm going to fuck him over. Right. Immediately her read on them when she's talking in Bulgarian is like, you two should just fuck each other.

[00:46:32] I don't really even know what the situation is. I'm barely interested in sick boy. I had sex with him once and it was clearly disappointing. And then rent him like, Hey, you're pretty cute, but you know, I can tell you're kind of a flesh in the pan.

[00:46:45] You're Obi-Wan Kenobi, but you know what's it's weird that everyone keeps saying that to him. The entire film. It's what's another interesting thing about rent boy and sick boy. Is that what they are? Renton and sick boy. The fact where when you see sick boy in the beginning,

[00:47:02] he's like, all right, I'm going to fucking make him my friend and then I'm going to fucking double cross his ass. And I'm watching the movie like, okay, this movie is a lot plot here. The first one seems like it's going to be a new our plot. Yeah.

[00:47:15] Like, okay, here we go. And then the thing we were talking about is like, they do start hanging out and they're like, actually, this is fun. And he kind of forgets about this revenge plot that he has. I thought that was another interesting choice where another movie might

[00:47:27] have gone in other direction, but like this one was just like, no, no, no. Like they're angry about each other, but all this is lip service because once they get together, it's like Mike, let's do Harold. You know, the one, the one sort of nod to plottiness,

[00:47:40] I think. And, and where it does turn into sort of a new, our plot is beg be coming back into their lives. The only time all four of them are on screen together is that last scene set piece. And that's where it kind of,

[00:47:51] to me turns a little shallow gravy. Like it, it started to feel like shallow grave at this point where it's like, okay, now there's an antagonist there. They're trying to kill him. There's a set piece where there's a, you know, the hanging and all that kind of stuff.

[00:48:07] But even during that, to me, it was just punctuated by so much, you know, so many beautiful lines, you know, about the, the, the film itself. And, and even beg be, yes, he's on the war path. And like, yes,

[00:48:23] the movie does have him kind of rattling around in the background where you're like, oh, he'll eventually get loose and it's going to be a problem. Yeah. There's this stuff, but also it's like, baby does just want to hang out with them. Yeah.

[00:48:33] That is his plot line really in both trains. So he really just wants to be invited to hang out and they don't want to hang out because he's great. It's ostensibly a movie about a guy who fucked some of his friends out of $16,000. And he's like,

[00:48:44] I'm not going to hang out with you. I'm not going to fuck his friends out of $16,000. But it really is like you left. We were friends. Yes. Right. It's the personal offense of the thing. It's less the money they lost and more the idea that he would want

[00:48:57] to pull one over on them. You know, you guys have had this experience with friends who you've kind of lost touch with, but when you talk to them again, there is this like anger slash resentment slash longing that comes in these conversations where it's like, Oh,

[00:49:16] good to see you. Motherfucker. It's like, so Begbie's whole character of like, I understand this. Calling a cunt exclusively. Yeah. It turns into something that I really understand. And I was reading that. So I also kind of read that beg.

[00:49:31] They say that Begbie's character is gay in the movie. Like, yeah, this was kind of hinted at in the first film. Obviously hinted at in the first film. It's hinted at in this one where he chases him down and that's when

[00:49:42] he finally could get a boner or whatever. And at the end of the movie where you and McGregor's like hanging and beg be starts to like pull on him. I was just reading that as like an embrace. Like, Oh yeah, he is trying to kill him,

[00:49:56] but he's like, he's also hugging him. And like, I was sort of wondering what it looked because to me it could have gone either way. It could have been like him apologizing and going here, here, let me help you. Yeah. I was like, is he gonna,

[00:50:09] is he helping him or is he trying to, like he is trying to help him technically help him die. He's like, he's trying to do it in a like, Hey, stop struggling. It's both violent and loving in such an interesting way.

[00:50:19] Like that I thought was a really like the beg me stuff to me was the stuff that was working the least. It was the most like, okay, so he escapes from prison and now he's on a warpath to kill his friend, like totally plotty kind of thing.

[00:50:30] But that ending moment where he's just like kind of hug slash killing him really worth it. And the other part of it that totally defies expectations is where he as the, you know, primeval force of nature and the, you know, the Tasmanian devil in the,

[00:50:45] in the plot who's just supposed to fuck shit up when he goes to spuds and has spud read him all of his writing. He loves it. And he loves it and starts acting it out like that to me is,

[00:50:55] is another great reason to have Begby doing what he's doing. Well, cause he's the most nostalgic of them all because he's really in prison. The mythologizing, even when they're the stories that are embarrassing about him, it's like, yeah, there's a power to this. You're putting importance on these.

[00:51:09] The best line is he goes, I remember that night and that is the movie. I remember that night. But I, but I agree with you guys that like the thing with Begby is, you know, the way he talks about losing 20 years of his life, right?

[00:51:23] How angry he is that he's been in jail this entire time. It's about what he's missing out on. And it really feels like he's like, I could have been getting up to so much shit with my guys. Yeah.

[00:51:32] That's the line that Johnny Lee Miller says where he's like, oh, okay. You've given me the money back. What am I going to buy a time machine? Right. You know, and that's, and that's what all these characters want is a time machine. And that's, it's very relatable.

[00:51:45] I think when you get to a certain point in your age where you're like, shit, what, you know, like, you know, you start thinking about, that's why I think reincarnation is such an interesting idea for people when they start to approach death is like, oh,

[00:51:59] maybe I'll come back and get to do it all over again. You know, it's, it's the way like Johnny Lee Miller talks to Veronica and Begby talks to his, his wife, his, his son's mother. They're just like, you don't understand it was $4,000 and every response to them.

[00:52:12] Like look, $4,000 is nothing. Sorry. 4,000 pounds. Sturdy. I wasn't going to correct him, David, but thank you for stepping in. And it's not Scott hasn't seen guest money, but that's true. That's true. And they're Scottish pounds too. Although at that point, look,

[00:52:29] I would obviously be furious if I wasn't getting my $50,000 for appearing on your podcast six months later. You know, you're giving us 50,000 to be on your podcast. So it's kind of a walk. Turnabout's fair play. I actually think it would be funny if we literally gave each other $50,000.

[00:52:42] Our tax people would get back and forth. Well, it's like, it's like how black Adam was profitable because WB bought the rights from itself for streaming or whatever. And the rock was like, see this thing's a moneymaker. But the way, the way,

[00:52:57] the way that everyone in the movie, when one of these guys complain sort of goes like, yeah, I get it like 4,000 pounds, but you're this upset about 4,000 pounds 20 years later. And they keep on sort of reasserting it. The thing they won't say is like, he fucked me over.

[00:53:10] I like he left. I don't left me. He left. He went in the middle of the night. He went out for cigarettes and took the money with him. Like that's the fucking thing. He is no longer. He denied our friendship.

[00:53:21] He is no longer part of our core group. Begbie's upset that he left. He's upset that he was put in jail and couldn't hang out with anybody. They feel abandoned. The thing that makes him most upset is to get out of jail and be like, wait a second.

[00:53:33] You guys have started hanging out together again. Yeah. You wonder what would have happened if, if sick boy would have said, Hey, Begbie guess what? Rent boys here. Right. Let's, let's patch this. Let's, you know, we've hashed it out. Let's patch it up. Maybe, you know,

[00:53:54] like maybe he punches him or something. Maybe he punches him and then they all start hanging out again. But no, yeah, I mean, I think that the fact that they like to be duped like that is just another, just indignity.

[00:54:02] It's the final thing that I think turns him into jaws. Fundamentally sick boy does not want to hang out with Begbie. Begbie is a horrible hang. He's only gotten worse. And sick boy's like, I figured my thing out. I don't need any drama and chaos.

[00:54:15] I have a basic con I run. Right. Yeah. But that, yeah, it's true. Like Begbie is so obviously, you know, desperate to prove his masculinity in every situation. Because of whatever reasons, right? Because he's a little guy. Uh-huh. Because he's possibly closeted homosexual. Uh-huh.

[00:54:34] Because he never was given the chance to learn about hotel management. That generation didn't have the opportunity. And so he has to be motivated by vengeance. Yeah. But yeah, if Renton was just like, hey man, I'm really sorry I took the money. Right. He'd be like,

[00:54:52] all right you cunt and he'd punch him and he'd be like, all right, let's, you know, I want to. You have Spud saying like, heroin is the only friend who never left him. You know? I want to,

[00:55:04] I think maybe we should do some of the context about getting here and then I, and then talk about Spud. Because Spud is very much the heart of this movie. Yes. And I think an unbelievable performance. But I want to talk about this film coming about because yeah,

[00:55:15] you were, you were asked about this break, but basically like, Shallow Grave, you know, comes out and it is these four guys together. It's Boyle has discovered Ewan McGregor. The film is written by John Hodge. It's produced by Andrew McDonald.

[00:55:29] And the four of them were kind of like, Don't forget about Doctor Who my friend. Oh. Yeah. But, but the four of them carry on to the second film and the third film. And it's like, this is the team. Right.

[00:55:41] These four guys are going to keep on doing this together in this configuration. And then the beach is the big moment where he had written the movie for Ewan McGregor. Fox goes, if you could get Leonardo DiCaprio, that would kind of change things. Yes.

[00:55:55] He drops McGregor for DiCaprio. It was a thing. Was DiCaprio coming off Titanic? Is that what it was? Yes. It was his first project after Titanic. And basically Fox went, we hear DiCaprio is interested. Because he's hot. You know, Danny Boyle is very cool. Right.

[00:56:12] And like everyone wants to make DiCaprio's next movie. Right. And it was by all accounts a thing that was sort of like, they never really had the direct conversation about it. No, they did. They did. And they talk about it here, but it's a combo of...

[00:56:25] I'm saying in the moment there was... Okay, okay. It's a combo of, it's tough to get dumped anyway. And Boyle says like, we didn't handle the dumping well at all. Like we did not finesse that. And McGregor was like, I held a grudge,

[00:56:39] I didn't try to make things better. The story that's really interesting that McGregor tells, because basically, right, it's like, so the beach is what, 1999? Yes. And this movie is 2017. And so there's basically an intervening 20 years of these guys like,

[00:56:54] really not talking to each other except being ships passing once in a while. I feel like 15 years in you hear, oh, they've sort of started to talk again, maybe Trainspotting 2 could happen. But there really was like a 15 year gap of nothing. Yeah, so, you know, exactly. So, sorry,

[00:57:13] I'm trying to find the specific anecdote in the research that I found just very interesting. McGregor talks about a lot though. It's kind of similar to the way we're talking about the idea of the money in this movie. Yeah. In sort of recent interviews.

[00:57:24] It's not that Leo DiCaprio was in the beach, it's that you didn't come up and talk to me about it. You feel betrayed by your friends. And like he had made three movies in a row with him. That was the thing. He was his guy. Yes.

[00:57:36] They were coming up together. They were the new exciting British cinema guys together. And then all of a sudden it's like, wait, what the fuck? Has basically said now with perspective,

[00:57:45] like I think the thing I couldn't verbalize at the time is I thought that's what my career was going to be forever. My entire sense of my career as a movie actor was the four of us make things together. And the second I was removed,

[00:57:58] the three of them were doing something with a different guy. It was less about ego of like he's the bigger star and more about who am I if not working with these dudes. Now, of course,

[00:58:08] this is happening at the same time he's already been cast as Obi Wan Kenobi. Yeah. But the thing is the actor part of it, he gets to go off and do these other fun jobs. But he expects to be in every single thing they do. Right.

[00:58:19] He's just like, this is the team. This is the creative process, all of this. And then there's just like 15 years where they would sort of be like, I don't know. It feels weird.

[00:58:26] So the most interesting one that he recalls is that apparently Boyle gave the news about the beach to McGregor at a place called the Union Club in Soho, but London's. So, yes. Ewan McGregor is there meeting a different director at the same table and Danny Boyle walks in.

[00:58:44] Yeah. And they see each other and McGregor like said, I went white. I got up. I went over and he said, Oh God, you're not sitting at that table are you? And Ewan was like, it was truly like bumping into an egg.

[00:58:55] Like it was that level of awkwardness. Yeah. Especially given the location. Yeah. So they clearly there had been some conversation of like, I'm sorry, but we're doing this. The other thing to just quickly, the plane one. Oh, sure. Say the plane one. Yeah.

[00:59:13] In 2009 Boyle and McGregor were on the same flight back from the Shanghai Film Festival. First class had Danny Boyle, Ewan McGregor, Ewan McGregor's wife, director Stephen Daldry. Okay. For whatever reason. Yeah. And that was it. There were only four people in first class and McGregor said,

[00:59:30] Daldry went to sleep. My wife went to sleep. They turned their lights off, went to sleep. So it's just me and Boyle sitting like, you know, a couple of seats away from each other. And it's a like 12 hour flight. And I'm just thinking like,

[00:59:41] I really should go talk to him. And I never left my seat. Yeah. So like it's very, it's clearly like deep for this, you know, this is not just some casual, you know, feud. Didn't Ewan McGregor see the beach? It's a good question.

[00:59:56] Like does he see the beach and think, Oh, bullet Dutch. Right. Or does he think like, Oh, I would have been good in that. Like the Phantom Menace come out the same year. Yeah. The Phantom Menace trashes that movie. Right. Uh, no,

[01:00:11] the other thing I would rather watch the beach than Phantom Menace. Yeah. Well, the detail of it is basically we covered this in our beach episode, but like they were prepping that movie suddenly became clear. Like, Oh, this is a movie that's going to cost $40 million, not $20 million,

[01:00:26] which has been Danny Boyle's range. And Fox goes, we feel uncomfortable giving you $40 million. If you and McGregor's the lead, especially since their last movie was life was ordinary, which is not exactly like the world. If DiCaprio is the lead, we'll give you $60 million. Right. Because he needs 20.

[01:00:42] Right, right. We'll tack the 20 on and free up the 40 for whatever the fuck you want to do. And it was this sort of like the money, but the money was representing the idea of the freedom and the growth and all that sort of shit. So when, when does,

[01:00:57] when do things finally get mended between the two of them? So Boyle, I mean, Boyle's perspective is basically I didn't treat him well. I think he's been magnanimous about it. Like Boyle is definitely not like he should get over it. He feels bad about it.

[01:01:09] It felt like 15 years of them both not wanting to have the difficult conversation more than they were like actively angry at each other. And you, by the way, you never have to have that conversation. Like many people's lives end and they never have those conversations. Yes, it's true.

[01:01:25] It's, it's, it's great that they did. So apparently at some point, McGregor says he was asked to present Boyle for an award. I think this is around the Slumdog era. Okay. And he said they'd given me,

[01:01:37] McGregor said they gave me some garbage to read and instead I just talked about like, you know, sort of from off the dome, like how much I loved him, how much I loved working with him, how happy I was always just, you know,

[01:01:51] to look over and see him on the set and I trusted him. And then, and then he said after I stopped working with him, I went on to make and I listed all his subsequent movies in order. Yeah.

[01:02:01] So Ewan was sort of like clearly doing the olive branchy thing of like, I haven't sort of been ignoring you. Like I, you know, I've been paying attention to what you're doing. Yeah. Right. That's kind of nice. It's kind of sweet.

[01:02:14] And I think the bigger thing about this movie is it's not just the two of them. It's like, it's the other actors as well. Like none of these guys had really been hung hanging out there. They were in their early twenties.

[01:02:23] I don't know if some of the other actors had issues as well with each other or. I don't know if they had like deep resent. I just read, I read some weird quote that it's like some of the other actors had some stuff going on,

[01:02:36] but they all solved it and we're all like back together. I think Charlie Miller has always been a little touch and go as a guy. He's touching go as a guy. What does that mean? I think I think he was married to Angelina Jolie. Do you know?

[01:02:49] Are you aware of that? Yeah. I think he can be a UK spring. I had a visceral reaction to that. I'm not like thinking about the two of them together kiss off of hackers. You know, you know, John Miller does a hacker Muay Thai boxing.

[01:03:05] I did not know that. Apparently he does that. I don't know. Anytime I read about like an actor where they're like in my forties, I got in touch with like exotic boxing. I'm like, okay,

[01:03:14] I feel like I've heard stories about him being a moody guy and I'm not using that as a, as a euphemism for anything. You heard that story from Watson. I did hear that from Watson. Yeah. You know, he was always on Watson's case.

[01:03:26] He showed no respect to hot lady Watson. No, I, uh, okay. Fair enough. You know, I'm just jumping to an assumption. It also, I mean, obviously Robert Carlisle does the full Monty. It's not like he wasn't a movie star,

[01:03:42] but then the man had a long character actor career out of him and you and Bremner really kind of feels like a guy who's like, look, I'm happy to be here. I'm not, you know, I like a good role.

[01:03:53] Incredible jobbing actor and even just looking through his view and those are the pretty boys of the nineties at the same time. There's probably a little more, you know, a dynamic competition. Sure. Yeah. Um, so we were talking about Bob, we were talking about a spud and I,

[01:04:07] we were getting into some of the context and I don't know where you guys are going with this, but the only thing I could think about the entire time I was watching the movie was this guy is Bob's from the wire.

[01:04:18] It's the end of the story spud from transpotting. No, I know. Oh yeah. But it's the end of the story and now all of a sudden someone's writing the story that we're watching. Like the final season of the wire, this guy's like,

[01:04:33] I'm going to be a writer now. And I remember being like, Oh, this is an interesting story to end with. So when that final season of the office, Hey, where are the guys filming? It's like a weird,

[01:04:42] but so when this was ending and that started to sort of materialize, I was like, how do I feel about this? The like person who's writing something in the movie you find out is writing the book. You know what I mean?

[01:04:53] Like the thing you've been watching is the inspiration for the thing you've been watching. Yeah. Like they do it at the end of game of Thrones. They do it at the end of a bunch of like narratives. Lord of the rings as well.

[01:05:03] Like the end of the Lord of the rings. So I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, do I like this or do I think this is like bad? I like the idea of spud and the rest of them gaining something through him writing it down.

[01:05:14] I don't know if I need him to be like, and it should be called train spotting. So at the end, where it's like, we've got a title, the name at the end of the way, that's Babu Frick. That is Babu Frick. So she, of course slaps, but yeah,

[01:05:28] at the end where it's like, I think I've got a title for this. I think it's a little bit of a cheap narrative trick, but because this movie, like you said, Scott is about that addiction of nostalgia. Yeah. I do think it works on a thematic levels.

[01:05:43] It doesn't just feel like, Oh, it's a plot device to make. I have to say what, what makes it work for me is the fact that it's so, it's so foreshadowed in the movie. Like it's, it's not something where it's like a surprise they're pulling out at the

[01:05:59] end. It really is something where it's like halfway through the movie. You know, he's, he's told, Hey, you should write all this stuff down. And then, you know, the next thing that happens then is he is the, he's the essentially the, the stand in for the, the, the,

[01:06:16] the writer of the novel. And so getting there to me, the end, having that be his redemptive arc is, is very powerful because it's like you, you knew it was going to happen. It's about the execution of it.

[01:06:29] And the fact that this out of all of the characters, this is the one that got saved. That's, that's the thing. Because I think in general, I find this type of device a little too cute and a little too neat.

[01:06:42] And I was surprised by how much it wasn't bugging me watching this. Yeah. I think do it for a reason. The choice to make it spot is a master stroke. If it was written doing it, I would be like, Oh, don't wait. Yeah. It's like it unnecessary. Right.

[01:06:57] And I think it's the same reason it works in the wire because this character who's like been the victim of almost all of the show. Yeah. But he's not an uninsightful person. Like Bob's like, you know, these are people who clearly understand things about what's going on around

[01:07:11] them. They're not. So I think it works in the wire and in this for similar reasons. But yeah. And they do such a good job of setting up this character and his state at the beginning where you really want to see him find any way forward.

[01:07:23] He needs something and you don't just want him to have stability. You want him to have some sort of joy in his life. I find that first sort of a meeting scene. You see with him where he just explains the chain of events that fuck up

[01:07:40] being 10 minutes late and then 10 minutes late and then 10 minutes late and then 10 minutes late. One hour because of daylight. But then, but then from then on out he's late to everything in the rest of the day and he's losing custody. And now it's like,

[01:07:52] well now we're just back down to heroin. Like he tried so hard to structure a proper life for himself and it goes away so quickly and he falls back to the thing he knows. Good advocation also of his storytelling skill slash. Whatever.

[01:08:07] I also think it's important by the way that the movie doesn't end with like him at a book signing or something. The movie where the movie ends is with Babu Frick reading this stuff. That's right. That's all we need is just loosely his.

[01:08:21] He now has the respect of his family longhand. And I also think it's like it's part of it is just he's not like I'm a novelist now. He's like, I needed to put this down. Like I need to sort of like do something to exercise this energy.

[01:08:34] All these things I've been sort of like. And I love that. I love that Ewan McGregor is like who's going to read it? No one. Like no one's interested. But then he says, I don't know maybe my grandson or something. Right.

[01:08:45] And I think that is what happens at the end. It's just like someone from his family reading and understanding his story is all he may be needed. There's also this beautiful thing. I mean it's like another meta level but this you know transpires a book

[01:08:56] then they do it as a stage play and when they did as a stage play you and Bremer played Rainbow. And it was kind of the thing where they set this up as a movie. He's like I got it. They needed a movie.

[01:09:06] They need someone who is more conventional. I'm not going to play Renton anymore. I'll be Spud. That's fine. I appreciate that they let me play the goofy sidekick part. So there's something kind of nice to having him suddenly be the guy telling the story you know doing.

[01:09:19] I love this quote from Ewan Bremner. He says it opens with someone running and going nowhere. I mean it's fucking brilliant. You read it and you think this is how the sequel starts. Oh it's ambitious. Like you know he.

[01:09:29] But the other thing is like this is you know basically just the idea of like we've all been running for 20 years to stand still. Yeah not to invoke you to the great band. Well but hey you talking you to me.

[01:09:41] I might be but this is a less you know this is a less gnarly movie than the original train spotting. They're doing less drugs but the the sight of him barfing I was going to say into the bag during his suicide.

[01:09:56] It starts him off really like a barf helmet. Rock. That is tough. Like it's already tough being discovered in this sad apartment mid suicide. He can't even pull that off but then just throwing in the barf to really

[01:10:10] drive home like this guy is is you know it was interesting to me because the first movie is very obsessed with shit. There's a lot of very nasty shit in the first movie. And in the beginning of this when when he barfs into his like suffocation

[01:10:27] bag I'm like OK here we go. Like there's going to be four or five times where I'm going to be totally grossed out by something happening but doesn't really do that. Yeah. No only one but I but I what I like about it is they're kind of telling

[01:10:39] you that you're like no well he's still in that. He's still the closest to that. Yeah yeah. The last time he saw him he was spreading his shit all over the family now he's speaking into a bag. Yeah.

[01:10:50] And I thought it was successful in that like a reminder of where they came from in a way. Yeah. I thought that was fun. I thought that here's a question for you guys because I think you've you

[01:10:59] might know this but so the title train spotting on our episode the previous episode we talked about what it means and where it came from in the book and the the scene from the novel that gives it its title train spotting is not in the first movie. Right.

[01:11:16] But then they show it in this movie. I was wondering if it was a deleted scene or whether they re shot it and shot it dark and shot it from far away. That's a good question because they reuse so much footage from the first movie.

[01:11:27] Yeah it started to make me go oh I wonder if they actually shot it for the first movie realize it didn't work and cut it out but now they're they're showing this footage in it because if you don't if you haven't

[01:11:35] seen the movie for the listener it's it's where the old man in the train station. Yeah. Sees them all and says what are you guys doing are you train spotting which is an allusion to shooting heroin. And then it turns out to be Begbie's father. Right.

[01:11:53] I don't think that some deleted scene that they revived or anything like that but it is interesting that they and I didn't mention that like when porno came out you know they were like all right John Hodge you know take

[01:12:06] a crack at it and he said he did like a screenplay that was basically an adaptation of the book and everyone was like this sucks right. We're not getting back. Like genuinely. That's hard. That's hard feedback to get from people. Hey this sucks.

[01:12:20] Like Danny Boyle was like I didn't even want to show it to any of the actors like to try and tempt them into like hey do you want to do a sequence I was like that because I knew it would just kill the idea.

[01:12:30] So porno is like mostly about them trying to make a porno right. It's about them trying to open a brothel in Holland mostly. It is this. So this movie borrows stuff from it and Begbie is kind of has a similar

[01:12:42] arc in it of like he's in prison trying to get out and all that. I thought it was like full Zack and Miri like let's get the gang together and muses there. Fuck each other on camera. No. So right.

[01:12:54] That's the thing like when he then eventually is like all right let me try writing a sequel screenplay again. I think he takes some stuff from porno but not all of it take some stuff maybe that's kind of inspired by real life but maybe he's also going back

[01:13:06] to the original book and being like what didn't I use here that I could. Yeah. That I could conjure up. I think I read that some stuff from the original book and I think what's really brilliant about that scene with the train station is like it is

[01:13:20] in a moment where they're reading a story from like it is in the past like it is almost like this happened in the first movie but we didn't show it to you. Right. I think it's just sort of a clever way of not like including it in this

[01:13:33] movie as a flashback. It also isn't just on its own. It's there to inform Begbie's. Yeah. It's like a flashback to the choices of him realizing oh shit I need to be a better father than my father was for my son.

[01:13:45] You know that that scene where they're eulogizing Johnny basically right. Johnny is the character I'm thinking of from the first movie. Yeah. The kid character. Right. And go back to the train station and the hiking. Right. Yeah.

[01:14:01] And then and then it turns into them like attacking each other for the worst things they ever did. Right. That's when he's like finally playing the baby card at Charlie Miller. And then the fact that that goes straight into them doing heroin again

[01:14:12] it was like fucking interesting right. This weird like this is the most intimate thing they can do like summoning up the ghosts. Right. Yeah. It's finally have the conversation right. Like it feels like the much more extreme version of Boyle and not and

[01:14:28] McGregor not talking to each other about the thing in the center for 15 years and then it immediately cuts to them doing the most intimate thing I thought you were gonna say it's the more interesting Sam and Diane kiss where they're like yelling at each other.

[01:14:41] They're screaming they're mad. It's like are you turned on. I just like are you turned on as I am more and then the kids. But in this movie they do heroin. Yes. No but it is it's the same sort of like what we're talking about the

[01:14:52] screwball banter thing of like you have to fight up to a fever pitch before you acknowledge like the thing here is we just want to fuck each other. I also I mean I don't know that I necessarily feel that it it's it's

[01:15:05] one of those Sam and Diane things I think I think that the heroine like them them addressing these worst things that ever happened in their lives makes them puts them back in it. Yeah. I need to make some need the heroin like that's where I sort of met.

[01:15:19] Right. Yeah. I mean just like when the baby dies in the first one the first thing they do is shoot up. Yeah. So it's almost like bringing up those ideas again. It's just you got to go right back to the thing that was helping you right.

[01:15:31] I mean sick boy does not strike me as a retrospective person. No. No. Right. Renton a little bit more but even renton is obviously tried to build up a tidy backstory for himself when he returns to be like hey I'm not like you.

[01:15:46] I mean I think it's so funny when he returns and he's got a movie star scarf. Yeah. It's like yes with the perfect not right. And it's just it does. It's like you McGregor is walking in. That's the thing. Yeah.

[01:15:59] I mean it's like you guys that thing where a golden globe a big star sort of returns to their roots and they're like but they're not going to drop the stylist. They have a little cultivated that they're not going to let go. And he has weight.

[01:16:09] He has the long hair on the treadmill right. That's the yeah. Has more of an Obi Wan. Yeah. You know sort of Revenge of the Sith Obi Wan. You know long hair. I was going to ask can we talk about the Veronica character. Yeah. Oh sure. Yeah.

[01:16:24] The one new characters one new sort of main character. I find her interesting in this movie. I think like I keep trying to think about like what is the purpose of her character and I think I don't know there's like a she brings a bit a bit of

[01:16:41] reality for being like an outsider in this friend group. Like I like when she's saying all that stuff like you should fuck each other and she like has a perspective that is outside there. I don't know.

[01:16:51] But it also is I think you know contributing to what you may feel is sort of plot plottiness of it because she has the typical femme fatale role in a noir movie which is essentially the two guys are going to fight over her.

[01:17:04] She's going to fuck them over at the end. But it never it also never really crosses over into like in a noir movie. It feels like you know these people getting fucked over is life and death

[01:17:18] life and death consequences and they just kind of like shrug it off at the end and it's like yeah well you know we would have done the same thing. I feel like it was everyone trying to replicate knowing they need to

[01:17:30] replicate basically what Renton does in the first one fucking everyone over sort of the bookending with those and having it be ironic but but it is the most like movie ish of the entire movie. Boyle loves making a fucking bag of money movie.

[01:17:47] It's like insane even when he made his children's film. It's about a little boy finding a big old bag of money and scary men chasing after him. But but I think he just likes having that as like the actual object in the

[01:18:01] center of the room that you can build all the drama around. But it's weird because the bag of money in the first train spotting is yes technically it's what the entire choice at the end hinges on but we were talking about in our episode comes in late.

[01:18:16] It's it comes in late but it also is not dealt with in the typical like 90s pulp fiction type of way which is like they're going after this big score and then it all goes awry and every you know they just basically they go after this big score.

[01:18:31] They get it. They get it and they all go yeah. They just celebrate right. You know like this this is like they they get their big score they get a hundred grand and then she slowly fucks them over the way that it happens in noir movies.

[01:18:47] So it's it's a little not exactly true to what the first movie did which was be a little more realistic about it. I don't know if I assume neither of you has seen Trance. No.

[01:19:02] OK so that's two movies before this sure boil his big noir twisty who's conning who thriller Rosario Dawson. Yes it stars Rosario Dawson James McAvoy in a distinct lack of pubic hair but that movie because this is that's a huge plot point Scott seemed like a weird

[01:19:22] comment you bristled at me saying that it's almost the central plot point of the movie. Well I didn't bristle because most of the times that I talk to you talk about somebody somebody's pubic hair and black leaned in when I said it was like oh here we go.

[01:19:36] Veronica set up at the beginning of this movie I was just like fuck is ball doing this again because that movie gets kind of like it gets a little exhausting with how many like yeah it's every 10 minutes right. Someone's fucking somebody stabilizing everything and even just her having

[01:19:51] conversations with both of them I was like are you going to have an ending where you realize this whole complicated thing she's been doing the entire time. I like that it's pretty low stakes it's low it's lower which I think makes it

[01:20:02] work for me because it's just like you're expecting that moment where she's been playing both people against each other and then she fucks them both over and it's it's pretty much obvious she's going to and she does it in a low stakes way and she does it.

[01:20:17] And I think what also makes it work is the fact that she's going to give Spud his cut. Yes. And he turns it down you know realistically says I just spend it on heroin.

[01:20:28] She goes well I'll give it to your family then you know it's like it all feels very low key in a way that most more movies don't. But can I give you my take on it.

[01:20:37] I think she's vitally important in the movie because at the end of it I was thinking I was like what is her role in this movie. And at the end she ends up screwing them over and taking the money.

[01:20:49] Oh I think she saves their relationship because she knows from learning these guys they're going to fuck one of them is going to fuck you over and then it's going to be total bullshit again.

[01:20:59] So the fact that she pulls the money out of the situation is allows for the happy ending of them just sitting on the couch. Yeah and I totally was like oh interesting like it is a little bit of a

[01:21:10] like oh you find out about the signature thing and then I like that Spud is like what would I do with the money I would just do heroin him refusing the money made me think it's right like the money is bad for them. Yes.

[01:21:22] So the fact that they get the money is like kind of the ticking clock of like what's going to happen next. Yeah because I guess it could have been like is Ewan McGregor going to fuck Johnny Lee Miller over or Johnny Lee Miller going to fuck him over.

[01:21:33] And you know Johnny Lee Miller is motivated to fuck him over at this point because it's like well you fucked me over in the past. Yeah and they're both they're both doing it with the other bag of money which is essentially her.

[01:21:45] Yeah like they're trying to fuck each other over when it comes to her as well. And so the fact that she goes like I'm removing myself and the money because it gives them the happy ending.

[01:21:54] They're not going to succeed at being criminal like the guy when the criminal guy kidnaps him and takes him to the woods he's like listen so I am in charge of brothels and such. Yes. You know this is organized crime and that's my job.

[01:22:07] I will kill you all. You guys won't be doing that right. And they're like no and he's like all right great. Right. Like he doesn't even have to threaten them he's just kind of like look listen. Walk home naked and you're fine. Exactly.

[01:22:17] Not even the money but the idea of the money is like the final space between them which she's able to remove that that gets them to be able to fit on the couch together again. Together. Right.

[01:22:27] And like the tragedy of Spud is like you know Renton comes to him and is like what about the money. You were the one guy gave the money. He's like I'm a fucking hero. I spent it on drugs. I spent it on heroin.

[01:22:35] When Begbie comes to him and finds out that he got extra money that he was the one guy who was given money by Renton he's twice as irate you know that the money went to him and that he blew it on heroin you know.

[01:22:46] And then it's like oh he didn't abandon you completely. Right. And so it is. Yeah. Well that's the other thing is is you. OK. What if they never got fucked over and they split the money. Would anyone's life be different. No. Would Begbie's life be different.

[01:23:01] I doubt it. It was not that much money. Yeah. He's and he's not in. Forgive me if and correct me. Forgive me and correct me if I'm wrong. But he's not in prison for what he did in the first movie. No.

[01:23:13] He's he he's he's been in prison because he's gotten married and had a kid since then. And the film is also beginning with him getting in addition his lawyers telling him you're getting another five years clearly because of some shit he did in prison. Right. Yeah. Like so.

[01:23:30] So yeah I mean I don't I don't think the money changes their lives at all. No. I think the only one who's changed by it is is Renton running away from them. But I think those three guys are in the exact same place regardless of what

[01:23:41] amount of money he does or doesn't give. And Renton's change is temporary. Like he eventually comes right back to where they were. Yeah. But but Spud's whole introduction is this sort of like I tried so hard to be a person. I genuinely love Babu Frick and my child.

[01:23:55] I tried to do right by them. I keep our little fricks. I can go in the bed. You know I keep shitting in the bed and she keeps weirdly criticizing my healthy sized penis. Right. Yeah. I don't know if you guys touched on that.

[01:24:09] She hates his giant flaccid cock. Right. Yeah. That somehow is a small penis. Yeah. Okay. Listener feedback was is she disappointed that he's not still hard while passed out. Yes maybe that's what it is but I don't know.

[01:24:22] Which makes her a dang ass freak if I if I dare say. But yes no it's like Veronica says the thing to him that he's never been able to put together which is I'll give the money to them.

[01:24:34] He's like well I'll fuck it up if you give it to me and she's like I know what your intention is. You wish you could give it to them. Right. You don't trust yourself. I'll give it to them.

[01:24:43] And and I think it's a you're talking about her being Veronica being a vital part of this movie right. We're basically only two female characters of any real size. Begbie's wife to a much lesser degree. Right. But you have the one big Kelly McDonald scene and Veronica.

[01:24:58] Kelly McDonald's function in this movie is to be like fuck we need help. Do we know anyone legitimate. Right. And it's sort of like embarrassing that for McGregor for Renton it's like who's the most upstanding person I know. That teenager I fuck 20 years ago right.

[01:25:14] She made something of herself. They show up in the office. She's not being rude but she has a sort of cocked eyebrow of like you're really coming to me about this. You don't know anyone better. Right. Yeah.

[01:25:25] He doesn't understand the difference between an hourly rate and like an overall rate. Yeah. That's a good point. What was the rate that you thought it was going to be like oh I'm going to pay you $50. Incredible. That's reasonable. A little generous.

[01:25:36] A little generous is an hourly rate. Right. Well I think her other role is and it's so brief it's just for it's the tiny scene where he's looking at her in the office later and reminiscing

[01:25:48] about well what if I had stayed and tried to make something which is just ridiculous because she's a teenager. Yes. In the first one if he had really tried to make a go at it like what that it

[01:25:58] doesn't make any sense but he sees her as like well what if I had been with her what would my life have been like you know like I maybe I would be living the same life you're living. Right.

[01:26:08] Meanwhile he's walking into an office with a new young woman and the thing she says is she's way too young for you don't fucking do this right. Yeah. Right. And and like for him we see her family in the first movie. She's got a good home life.

[01:26:19] She's got a support system. Her time with these guys is very much like youthful rebellion but she's never sinking all the way to the bottom with them. You know it's like a little bit of tourism it's a little bit of fun it's a little bit of learning.

[01:26:33] She was never ever going to get stuck in this shit whereas these guys it's like bone deep their lifestyle and Veronica feels like she exists in the trenches with them but then you're like no she's like a fucking immigrant

[01:26:45] she's here out of circumstances she's young she's trying to get back to her kid. An actress which she never mentions you just see it. Yes but it's like it's so the final piece is like everything she does is out of necessity. These guys it's bone deep.

[01:26:59] This is who they are. It's where they're comfortable. Right. And like for Kelly MacDonald it was a phase and for Veronica it was a necessity and for the two of them this is where they will always be. Is their ceiling. Right. Yeah.

[01:27:12] I mean her name is Angela Ned Yalkova. She's Bulgarian. She's done very few films just like a few Bulgarians. I don't know where they like you know found her essentially. She's good. I think she's pretty great. She's quite good. Yeah. She's very beautiful. Yeah. She's fun.

[01:27:27] She's like kind of loose. She's like got the energy they need I feel like. Yeah. She's beautiful because I was looking at her eyes the whole time. Oh OK. And never lower. And she says Scott my tits are down here.

[01:27:37] I also think it's interesting that Broad City walked so this movie could run when it comes to pegging scenes. Well sure. Sure. Because I do think that like when this started I was like when did this come out.

[01:27:53] So I kind of looked it up and I was like oh yeah like pegging had come on the scene as a phrase everyone knew I don't know around like 2015 or something and then forgetting something part of the beginning of this movie you're forgetting something though Sprague.

[01:28:06] What am I forgetting. 2016 a little Merc with the mouth. Yes of course. Got pegged on screen. Three hundred million dollar domestic suddenly. That's what it was. You know Danny Boyle was watching Deadpool and he was like I got a little something for my movie. Pegging's mainstream now.

[01:28:23] We can talk about it. But it's funny I do think that that's an interesting choice because I think like a lot of the movie like being emasculated and your masculinity there's like so much of that in this movie with Begbie and other characters.

[01:28:37] I think there's an interesting choice. I think there's a little bit of like life philosophy to even this con for sick boy that is like there is an intellectual dishonesty right hypocrisy to these guys being able to like being so terrified by the notion of

[01:28:59] anyone knowing their sex life that it plays against it. I think he's having no moral judgment about what they're doing. No he doesn't care. He's trying to get money but he just sort of knows like the idea of an

[01:29:10] upstanding citizen being pegged a thing you can never admit to your wife that you need to do in secret in a shady clandestine kind of way is the greatest threat to this delicate sort of like life the type of life that

[01:29:24] McGregor has been trying to live the white picket fence the straight job all of that sort of stuff. This sort of like just what do you enjoy. What's your pleasure. You know needs to be shameful needs to be in dark rooms.

[01:29:37] We get that as a drop for the next episode. What's your pleasure. What's your pleasure. It needs to be shameful. I'll send it as a doughboys drop next week. Okay good. We should start doing that.

[01:29:51] We should start doing drops of our own audio and sending it to the boys. Just yeah. Our producer Brett for Scott hasn't seen did a cut out for David's episode that we did about the movie Gigi.

[01:30:05] He cut out me just reciting the lyrics to thank heaven for heaven for little girls and a couple of the lines he's like should I release this as I was like absolute fucking looting not incriminating incriminating that is rated G cold open

[01:30:21] to that movie and they were rushing to hand it Oscars there were there were not enough Oscars that you have for little girls the little way they walk and you were like what don't get into specifics teach you train spotting is 100 percent less depraved than Gigi.

[01:30:37] There's that is undoubtedly what about G2 G Lee. Can we talk about my favorite scam in this movie. Yeah I think my favorite scam is pretending you've written a song that I love but it's in that moment like I really thought that scene where they go

[01:30:54] to the like 16 19. Yeah sort of whatever it is gathering and then that's everyone's pin number like I thought that was just a nice little inventive like it's really it's a small like episode in the movie but I thought it was really fun.

[01:31:09] We'll also have the specificity of like it's midnight we can get more out. Yeah. I was like such a such a you know coming from a background where it's like where I ran tiny little scams here and there it's like oh yeah that's the kind

[01:31:21] of thing that you think about a lot when you're in the heroine brain of like how do you get to. But then the fact that it like is hinged on them singing this song like yes I want.

[01:31:32] What's the story with this song like what is up with that in the script. It was such a weird moment but I like I also think it's like it to me was that where suddenly the movie started to feel like the first one and because the

[01:31:45] first one we were talking about on our episode about how Sprague here had thought that it was maybe going to be more of a requiem of a dream type of movie where totally where it was going to be like all about the perils of

[01:31:57] heroin and instead the first train spotting is so much of a fun movie where they're going around doing like you were talking about them shooting the shooting the pellet gun in the park you know so that suddenly they're doing

[01:32:09] a scam suddenly Ewan McGregor starts to feel like his old self again. The movie starts to feel like the first movie where they're where it's suddenly like this it's kind of a broad comedy scene you know it is the first

[01:32:21] time there's a broad comedy scene in the movie and then they get back in the car and that's where Lust for Life starts to play and the the the old music starts to play and it's like oh okay we're back into the world of train spotting again.

[01:32:35] But then you also have the choose life scene in this right the inversion of the original choose life that is like oh this kind of doesn't feel fun anymore. Right where she's like what is that he's like ah it's this great bit we used

[01:32:46] to do let me all right let me try and dust this off. With him going to his childhood bedroom with the trains and putting on Lust for Life and then taking it right off right. Right. Like where he's like I can't I can't handle that.

[01:32:59] But it's that thing I mean like Scott I'm sure you have seen this too many times something Scott has seen like comedians trying to do like angry bits and that fine line between someone being funny angry and the entire

[01:33:12] audience going like oh we just saw a little too much of something. Not like danger but it's like uncomfortable anger. Well it's so funny because like the difference between normal standup comedy which is usually done in clubs and theaters and then what we used to

[01:33:28] do when we would book the comedy death race show at the UCB was we were trying to get rid of the barrier between the audience and the and the performer. So that's why we would have the audience sitting on stage with the performer

[01:33:42] and everything would be up close and the lights would be turned up. That's why Todd Glass would always yell at us like turn the lights on the audience down because he wanted there to be a barrier. He wanted reverb obviously. Yeah obviously. But but but you would see.

[01:33:55] He wanted a check drop. He asked you to make fake checks to drop it. You would see comedians used to performing with in clubs where there's a barrier where it's a performance and they would do the angry bits like that

[01:34:07] to applause because everyone is watching a bit like that of like well you performed you memorized a thing. Yay. Right. And you would see people do that at our show and people would be uncomfortable because it's like dude you're doing this rehearsed bit. What what is happening here.

[01:34:24] And that's what it feels like in this movie when you and McGregor does the choose life thing and she just kind of like sits there. Really. What is this. Well you know it amused us at the time.

[01:34:34] That is so funny because in the first one it's kind of just happening. Right. He's just doing it to the audience. Yeah. And the audience is like yeah this is fucking cool. Yeah. And now in this one it's like someone sitting there listening to it and

[01:34:46] you're like oh this is what it would be like if I was sitting next to someone saying and I think that's a great. Yeah. So yeah if some guy in his mid 40s is like yeah man I mean I don't do what normal I don't choose like that.

[01:34:58] Everyone else thinks it'd be like OK. Like this is how do you. It goes back to what I actually like about the spud writing the stories element of the movie is like and I believe I didn't mention this before. His stories are written.

[01:35:13] They're right out of the book right out of the urban. It's urban. That dialect and all that wording. Right. So it's the kind of stuff that he would have played as Renton on stage. Right. Right. But but also like I have not read the transporting book. Right.

[01:35:30] But you know similar to let's say Clockwork Orange. I remember reading that and thinking like this is weird. So was the internal logic supposed to be that this guy actually sat down at a typewriter and wrote this.

[01:35:44] When you have a book like that by a character that extreme like Alex Deloitte right. Or written and the book is first person they're like let me tell you a story. I'm like I don't think this guy wants to write. Who was filming Top Gun.

[01:35:58] I mean that's the movie I want to see. Well no I but I mean back to the Choose Life monologue though I I think now that we're talking about it it is sort of the thesis for making a sequel 20

[01:36:12] years later is like how embarrassing would it be if we were doing that. Still like we're all old. How embarrassing would it be if we were still doing that you know and it's it's something you could say about Star Wars. Yeah.

[01:36:24] It's like how embarrassing is it that you're still making the movies and the TV shows exactly the way that they were made in 1977. I think that scene is so perfectly written because it ends and then he goes I don't know some shit we thought was funny.

[01:36:37] That is so McGregor nails it. But I like that distance too of just like if you're asking the question like why does Trainspotting as a book exist if I'm supposed to take these characters as real people sharing their story with novelists.

[01:36:50] Right. And you're like oh it's Spud is the one who 20 years later has the distance the fact that he's not quote unquote in this story telling character. Yes. And he's like I get that Renton's kind of the leader of this group.

[01:37:01] I could retell this I could do it in this sort of voice. I can take this perspective and that and the language you know being the same as in the book that he's not doing some flowery memoir.

[01:37:12] It is also just fun to think of you McGregor as the man who replaced Alec Guinness to play Obi Wan for a new generation. And then by the time this movie came out people were like I'm nostalgic for your take on Obi Wan Kenobi.

[01:37:28] Your refreshment of that character. I am now nostalgic for it. Can you do a similar legacy sequel in which you're like oh I haven't been a Jedi in a while though. These old bones. OK what's more successful T2 train spotting or the Obi Wan miniseries.

[01:37:44] I think T2 is wildly more successful. There was a Kathleen Kennedy interview like a year ago where she was like the main lesson they were like what are the lessons the mistakes you've learned from these last eight years of doing Star Wars.

[01:37:56] And she was like I think the main lesson we learned was like solo you can't recast the classic characters like people want the integrity of the original actor. And she's saying that in an interview promoting Obi Wan.

[01:38:07] But she's basically like you wins Obi Wan has now become a legacy character almost distinct from. Yes. Guinness Obi Wan. I think she's wrong but I do think this new Obi Wan show would have been better

[01:38:18] if there was a long monologue where he says I choose the force. That would be it would have been that would have been fun. He was like running on Tatooine and he got like hit by a speeder.

[01:38:27] He rolls over the dashboard and he smiles and says hello there. Yeah. Can I ask you guys a question. Anything. And this might be a little bit of a zig here but General Grievous gets out of prison he's trying to get him.

[01:38:40] I'm coming for you. No it's like go on. What's up. We can keep doing that. But another movie we watched in Sprague hasn't seen month is Raging Bull and there's a Raging Bull. I was so happy that you'd seen Raging Bull. Get it so you could get it.

[01:38:57] But I think it's so funny because it's such a random choice like the movie does have a little bit of magical realism in it like the first one. Is there a connection to Raging Bull in this movie. Like why choose to do that Raging Bull moment.

[01:39:11] Is it just I think it's just a comedy thing. I think it's like it's it's to me like freeze framing in the middle of action scenes. It's just purely a stylistic choice of like here's a here's a dash of comedy.

[01:39:23] Yeah I mean the the connection we kind of were making was like they're both movies about people who are like shitty. Yeah and they're like moralizing about those people in different ways. Unsympathetic. Yes. Unsympathetic protagonist. Element of Lamont is standing up on stage trying to like amuse people

[01:39:44] with the stories of his wild days. You know. Truly there are some parallels to the story. Right. I got up to some bad shit. Right. I do think you know I was I was asking Scott or not asking but to bring you up how quickly you you jumped.

[01:40:01] You ordered me. I ordered I demanded. No that we asked if you had any bull thoughts and you pretty quickly threw out your love of this one. And it's like I maybe knew three other people in the span of doing

[01:40:16] these episodes since they've been coming out who have messaged me as they've been listening and going like have you watched T2 yet because it's kind of great and no one talks about it. And what I find fascinating is everyone I know who's seen this movie

[01:40:27] thinks it's really good and underrated. Right. And then outside of that everyone I know who hasn't seen it either completely forgot it existed or they're like well there's no way that's good right. It was good I would have heard about didn't know it existed. Right.

[01:40:40] Or I have now heard from so many people listening to the show who think that this is a bit we've been doing for weeks. Right. That we're just like we make dumb bits where right now we're going to be

[01:40:50] yeah see you next week for the you know the beach to hardly beach and whatever. Right. And then someone's like oh and it's called T2 like that's the joke you guys would make is comparing it to a different sequel title.

[01:41:02] Well I think that's why I went in with such low expectations. Yes. And why I was so pleasantly surprised. Yeah it's weird. I sometimes feel like I'm the only person other than Jake Fogelness who's seen it.

[01:41:16] Well I think the thing of like 20 years of people being like do it do it do it and then Zoolander 2 comes out everyone's like pass I'm busy that day. Right. That's a great example of like a sequel that totally misses the mark for whatever reason. Yes.

[01:41:31] And you and and is it because they hew too closely to the original or is it or is it because it doesn't feel tonally like the original I don't know. No that movie. Yeah it's like you say it's plagued by all the problems these legacy

[01:41:42] sequels often have where they're like well we have to pay homage to all of the stuff from the first right. Right. It's been too long. Yes. Everyone wants us to do that right. And then they release that and then they've thrown in some new stuff and

[01:41:56] everyone's just like why the fuck did you do this. I hate this. Like 20 years of any interview stiller. That's the other thing. Wilson does. So when's Zoolander 2 coming. Right. And it was just like I guess people need us to make this fucking thing. Right.

[01:42:10] And then not only did it not work out but also like it made so much less money than the first movie which bombed at the time coming out two weeks after 9-11 like no one even went to see it out of curiosity.

[01:42:21] And then this you're like how is this. And I saw it opening weekend and I I couldn't quite tell while I was watching it because I was actively hating it. Right. And I was like but I like the first one. Have I changed.

[01:42:34] Has movie taste change or I just think it wasn't done well. I don't know. I mean fundamentally sure. Right. Yeah. Could have been done better. But I'm like is this truly the only example of the like quote unquote

[01:42:49] fan demanded decades later legacy sequel a revival of TV show or whatever that comes out everyone basically ignores and is good. Yeah. Right. I know. Ignored is the part that you can't really find. Yeah. Because they're being good ones.

[01:43:05] Yes there's probably although we haven't seen it yet the before sunrise trilogy we've talked about and Maverick is good. Yeah. You know but but this is one that people legitimately don't know about and I think have when they hear about it they just go like well I could

[01:43:20] that couldn't possibly be good. Seventeen. Yeah no way. Yeah. So why would I ever watch it. I mean if you do watch it people could go like well it's too different. I don't like it but but I when I think of Danny Boyle movies and I don't

[01:43:34] know if you guys rank them at the end of your season or whatever but for me this is one of his like top three. I think you know it's top five. I just yeah. It's just so my ranking. Yeah.

[01:43:49] So well done and so meaningful and I don't know whether you have to be my age to truly and because the same thing happened when we were watching sunrise where I am the exact age of those characters right. Yeah.

[01:44:02] And so I'm watching it now at a remove the same way Sprague watched the first one where it's like oh shit I could have been that guy if I had watched this the year it came out would I have been as pretentious as Ethan

[01:44:15] Hawk is in the movie. Would I have said like that's the way I want to act. Right. You know whereas now I'm looking at it going like this guy's embarrassing you know and and so it's it's it's yeah I don't know it's very interesting.

[01:44:27] I mean we we are younger than you Scott a humble brag but even just using that correctly I think it's pretty perfect. We have we have people who regularly write in and go it's driving me crazy. Griffin doesn't understand the application of humble brag when for me

[01:44:47] the application is a big pet peeve of mine. Yes because because people have been using it incorrectly so for so long that now I think it's come it's swung back around to now people are using it correctly because people people what we're saying it when they just meant

[01:45:01] brag right like they'd go like hey I have a lot of money humble brag and and I would go that's just bragging. But now I feel like it's a way to humble brag by saying humble brag right actually. It's like you're like if you go your own. Yeah.

[01:45:17] Now I feel like if you go humble brag and make a joke about it it's like it's like hey I'm not I'm bragging joking about it. Yeah so right now it's become the way to humble brag about actual humble

[01:45:27] bragging is saying like I'm having such a headache with my taxes because of how much I donated to charity last year like that's like a humble brag. I am still that's a that's more brag planning. I feel like you know you're right you're right.

[01:45:41] But but anyway I mean we could we could discuss it for I'm fighting the fight for using it incorrectly. That's my stance is I'm trying to be the last one out here only using it when it doesn't apply at all.

[01:45:53] It's it's the it's the torch I'm holding above my head. But my point was watching these spending the last couple of months living in Boyle headspace as the two of us have been watching these largely in chronological order.

[01:46:07] It did hit me hard just being like oh and here we are like rounding the end of our Danny Boyle journey and how how much things have changed. We've been watching fucking 30 years of film culture like zoom by week by week and talking about these movies.

[01:46:20] And the only bummer is like I obviously want Danny Boyle to keep making movies. I would like him to make another film soon. It does feel like this would be the perfect end to our mini series for where to leave him off right where you're like perfect grace.

[01:46:33] Now next week you got to cover yesterday. Yeah it is. We're in on yesterday. Yeah maybe we should have done this mini series three years ago. Right. It's so funny because like directors just I'm trying to I'm trying

[01:46:46] to think and that's maybe why Tarantino was saying he's retiring. Yeah but it's like I'm trying to think of any director who has a perfect final film you know it's just so hard to come by because it's usually you get to those like you know Billy Wilder.

[01:47:00] Right. What's his last movie you know buddy buddy. Usually they are. Everyone just has like two stinkers at the end of their career you know and it's just where they're basically like yeah I am bad at it. OK. OK. I stayed one movie too long. Right.

[01:47:16] It's not I don't think it's one of his best movies but I have always argued that Prairie Home Companion is a good final film like it's a good like final sort of thoughts and Garrison Keller is a great guy. I think he's a perfect guy.

[01:47:31] Because that movie is elegant. Yeah. Like sure but it's also like the sort of I don't put it anywhere near his first best movie that I ever made. But I'm like that's kind of a good final statement even if it's not ending on

[01:47:44] a high note you know but you rarely get to plan that out. Usually when someone has a good final movie not to be morbid it's because they died. Yes. It's because their career was cut short for some sad usually to incorporate the

[01:47:56] title of your show you know when when someone has a great movie they get that blank check again. Yeah. And they and they make things like you know that that last Christopher Guest Netflix miniseries.

[01:48:09] You know I mean it's just like Netflix is perfect is a perfect example of people giving enormous blank checks to directors myself included. And and then myself included. They do like two podcast guest appearances direct that. I know. The check itself they gave him was very humongous. Right.

[01:48:28] And they gave him like multi sized checks. No but yes he I Christopher Guest did an interview recently where he was like I don't think I'm ever making a mockumentary ever again. I think it's sort of been overdone and you go like I wish you had realized that

[01:48:40] like three mockumentaries ago. Sure. You know can we talk about one other thing in this movie. No. And it speaks to Scott Scott says no. But it's sort of the final film of it all and like the meta narrative that's happening.

[01:48:55] I do like that the movie ends with Spud hitting him with a clean toilet. Mm hmm. Yeah. The movie is hinged on a toilet. As you've seen the allusions to the you know the shitty toilet he goes into

[01:49:07] the shitty toilet and goes I haven't seen one of those in 20 years. So I keep like this movie does things where I'm like oh what an interesting like take on a sequel. But then they do the other thing where it's like oh that's a fun little Easter

[01:49:20] egg for the first one. He hits him with a big toy. And then it ends with replicating like the shot of the room stretching out from the first movie like they sort of start to play the hits and the remix

[01:49:29] of Lust for Life and whatever you were talking about the way the like the soundtrack from the first movie kind of echoes around this film. Right. Something that Boyle insists on he was like if we're going to use any songs

[01:49:39] from the past soundtrack they need to be remixed. They need to have a new flavor. But I also like they use Born Slippy almost the way the first Creed movie uses Gonna Fly Now where it's like they tease you and they're like is it gonna play now. Right.

[01:49:52] Yeah. I think it's about to happen and then they sort of cut it short or they obscure it and you're just waiting for like when are you going to give me the full thing again. Oh man.

[01:50:01] But it's like yeah there's this kind of sad ending of him being like I guess like OK here I this is where I want to be I want to be with sick boy these are my friends.

[01:50:09] But the other thing I've been running away from is like I guess I just got to get to know my dad as a person. He's really sad really sad. I guess I could just live in this.

[01:50:17] Well you know you mentioned that you mentioned the soundtrack and it's it's so interesting because there's this temptation to be like well this soundtrack is going to be of this moment. Right. And how sad would that be if it's like a bunch of you know 45 year olds

[01:50:31] going hey this this music is pretty cool. Yes or whatever. Yeah. You know instead instead they do really great allusions to like oh no listening to music is like a young person's thing. You know.

[01:50:45] But then there's been said this group Young Fathers I was going to say the end credit song which is so good and I looked up and is from like 2017 and is like a B-side single. And I'm like where is he fucking pulling the.

[01:50:56] Oh I mean he likes music. I know mentally throughout Danny Boyle's career. Remy Faso Latina. He loves that. And he's always trying to get that into the studio. Thank you. Thank you so much. I wasn't going to ask. Thank you for gracing us with that on the show.

[01:51:14] No it's like Lex G king of Internet movie commentators would always just be like mid 50s still being plugged in on all this stuff. The iPod. But it's it's impressive that it never feels that desperate or pathetic where you're like he is still finding good shit.

[01:51:26] I like the music he picks. Yeah but but how how embarrassing would it be if like you know you and McGregor's character you know rent boy is listening to Billie Eilish. Oh yeah. It's just like you know that would that would suck what you would. Yeah. Fear. Yes.

[01:51:43] That's the old guy at the club where you're like why is this guy here. Right. And like 30 percent of being a good director. And this kind of is like a John Waters thing to have like 30 percent of being

[01:51:52] a good director is you got to have good taste in music. Right. There are so many directors where I'm like oh I see your good taste in music making this movie better and that is that is the one thing about about my

[01:52:03] movie that the the person who did the music was very complimentary to me. He was like you have such a really good ear because you know I had to plug in a lot of temp music. Yeah.

[01:52:15] And he was like you know I'm in the process of like you know this is what it's got to sound like and all that news like you have such an amazing you know it is something that I think helps when you're trying to evoke a feeling

[01:52:26] from from a movie. And that's why what is so fascinating about this movie to me is that so much of it has no music yet. It's and it's so quiet. They're deprived like yeah. Burt nature sounds throughout a lot of it.

[01:52:41] Or if there's music you find that it's diegetic in a certain way like it's on the edge of the cliff. Yeah. I mean Scott last time you were on the show was something wild in our Jonathan Demme miniseries and that's similarly a movie where you watch and

[01:52:54] you're like God Jonathan Demme is cool. It's cool. Like every time there's a music choice in that movie you're like what a cool fucking dude I want to go to shows with him.

[01:53:03] There's not only a music choice but a choice of like where to set a scene or where to what what background artists to put in the scene. And you know yeah just his taste level is so exemplary. Yes. Even his movies that kind of like swing and miss.

[01:53:15] I'm like he does seem like a cool guy. I think he's even Slumdog. There's some like freaking bangers in there. What's it Jai Ho. Paper planes. Well you have paper planes and yeah. But yeah Jai Ho shout out.

[01:53:29] Yeah I think you know going back to this thing the how how does this movie have no reputation right. I think what's weird about it is like we can list so many examples of the things like Zoolander 2 where it's like they went back to the well one too

[01:53:40] many times they overstayed it's depressing now or whatever that it feels like any time this works it feels like such a magic trick that it either becomes like a hit even a bigger hit than expected or at least like in a

[01:53:55] before sunset sunrise way is like so lauded by critics as like you know what on paper bad idea but it fucking worked right. That it's weird that this one works and I do not know like you're making the

[01:54:05] point Scott of like I could see someone being disappointed that's not fun like the first movie. I don't know anyone who has that complaint it's like I don't know people who like it or haven't seen it. Yeah.

[01:54:15] The thing is I also feel like the movie business essentially is not the same in 2017 as it was in 1996 where you don't have a lot of people getting this hyped to see an indie film like this.

[01:54:29] You know I think I think it's a lot of people my age who are nostalgic for the 90s when it was like what indie film is coming out this week you know. Yeah.

[01:54:41] Like I said I saw it at the Arclight and I think you know the Avengers was playing you know probably across the theater you know it's just like not the same not the same as it was.

[01:54:53] Well we should play the box office game but I mean I will know this film did do very well in Britain. OK. It made like of course of course 17 million pounds there. Yeah.

[01:55:03] No of course which is like you know I think there may have just been a sort of a quick realization from Sony who distributed it like like oh we're getting no pulse out of America. This was this is a European play.

[01:55:18] They kind of went too big too quickly and then just abandoned. Yes. Yeah. The film came out March 17th. OK. 2017 2017. OK. So we're very early into the Trump administration so everyone's feeling great. Good. Right. The vibe is just fucking hitting. Things are starting to get great again. Yeah.

[01:55:39] It's opening number twenty nine. OK. On how on five screens. OK. To a OK thirty four thousand dollar per screen and then they go like a thousand screens the next week. It never got that far. OK. It's its biggest it was at three or three hundred thirty screens.

[01:55:58] Wow. And what was it sold out at. Two point three million dollars. Again than half a blackout. But in internationally made 40. You know so it made twice its budget. That's our ultimate metric is how many black hats a flop.

[01:56:13] And it only made it probably only made money because all the actors were like we won't take we don't need any money for this. Yeah. They famously took no money for this right. Like they. Yeah. No they were all paid the exact same amount of money.

[01:56:28] The four stars were paid equal scale essentially. And I think the movie that's coming out of the office this week Griffin is making I would say roughly about. I'm so bad at math. You know about eighty five times. OK. Trainspotting made in its total run.

[01:56:45] Oh it's one thing. So it's a huge opening weekend movie. Yes it's opening to one hundred and seventy four million dollars in twenty family film 17. It's a family film. Is it Beauty and the Beast. Another movie that is completely memory hold as forgotten as T2

[01:57:01] trainspotting except it made a billion dollars. I am wondering if there's a Trump thing here. If we were all in such a goddamn daze at the beginning of that year like Beauty and the Beast comes out we see it more like yeah sure I guess

[01:57:12] that happened to me. I don't know I can't really think about too much. Well Beauty and the Beast I mean I saw that of course at the Santa Roba Dome. Of course opening weekend but I don't remember that being like having any sort of Trump stink on it.

[01:57:25] I just remember seeing it and everyone in the theater being sort of like huh. He's saying we had Trump stink on us. Yeah I'm not saying like it was just like we're all in a bit of a daze. But I guess I don't remember my point of view.

[01:57:40] Sure. Being like I was I in fact if you had said like did that come out when Trump was president I wouldn't have been able to put that together. I just assume all four of us were still feeling pretty guilty for voting for him.

[01:57:53] I mean this is only four or five months later. I know. At this point you know it's starting to pay off. He's been proven right. Yeah I pretty much was still with him up till about January 19th of 2020.

[01:58:06] I think the day he got elected if I remember correctly didn't fight hard enough. I think if I remember correctly I was in a writer's room and we all got really sad and I believe we went to go see the movie The Accountant.

[01:58:18] And if you ask me if you were to ask me one detail about it. I couldn't tell you other than that I think it's a problematic movie. But yeah this is the Ben Affleck. Yeah. Yeah. Yes Ben Affleck is an accountant.

[01:58:32] He's so OCD it makes him the greatest killer in the world. Isn't that the premise of the movie? Essentially correct. Yeah. He's really OCD about bullets. He's really good at being a mob accountant and also shooting people. Ending up in the right place.

[01:58:45] Speaking of which I've been watching The Bachelor and they keep having ads for the good doctor and they make me laugh every single time I see them. I don't know what to think. It's the guy who played Norman Bates and he's going well I do believe we need

[01:58:55] to have a baby now. It's like I'm like this is a fucking show. What are we getting away with? Oh huge hit. What if we took the cancer out? I want to operate on you. Damn this doctor's good. Bobby I'll sell propane. Number two at the box office.

[01:59:17] Sure. Okay. Sort of a it's like a quasi remake quasi sequel. Quasi remake quasi sequel. Flatliners? No. That was a good guess. I suppose. Because they brought Kevin Bacon back you realize it's not a remake it's like a continuum thing or maybe they brought Kiefer back.

[01:59:38] They didn't bring Bacon back. They brought Kiefer back. Did they? I think. Okay no it's a big hit. Yeah. Big epic action movie. What studio? The good people at Warner Brothers. The good people at Warner Brothers. Brothers Warner. It's part of a verse. Kong Skull Island?

[02:00:03] It's Kong colon Skull Island. Brie Larson. Tom Hiddleston. Samuel L. Jackson. John C. Reilly. Samuel L. Jackson famously. Eugene Cordero. domestic. Yeah. But Warner Brothers was kind of just like, ah, full speed ahead, I guess.

[02:00:22] I don't know. He's got to fight Godzilla. Yes. Like who cares if people didn't even really like it? That's so weird that this was in March because in that summer I was at Comic-Con and uh, the director was still doing press. And I remember like I was part

[02:00:37] of this really weird rotten tomatoes program and I ended up having to apologize to him like that. I was a part of it because I was like, I was just the host. This was not my

[02:00:47] deal at a party later. So like it felt like Kong Skull Island had way more juice than Disney's Beauty and the Beast. But I think that was also them being like, he's gonna fight Godzilla. You're in on this. You know, it was less about people like loving that

[02:01:02] movie and more about the like, can we please commit to this? Can we all who's supposed to make the Metal Gear Solid movie? Correct. Yes. Although I need someone to make the fucking movie. I'd like someone to make it. I'd like someone to maybe not that guy. With

[02:01:16] Oscar Isaac, I think it would be fucking fantastic. I've seen some, there's like storyboards and stuff for it. I believe that is the plan. Yeah. I believe that film is in pre-production.

[02:01:25] Yes. And it's been in pre-production for a bit. It sure has. A long time. Uh, and uh, yeah, I don't know. I mean, uh, number three is a genuine hit. Okay. Also part of a verse,

[02:01:37] I suppose. You suppose it's part of a verse. Well, it's a very long running verse. Um, very long running verse. Um, but this film is R-rated. Ooh, it's a long running verse. Is it

[02:01:49] a horror franchise? No, no. It's unusual for a film to be R-rated. In this series? In this series. Interesting. Is it Logan? It's Logan. Good call. Good call. Did I just scoop Griffin in the box

[02:02:02] off his scale? Hold on, but David's going to tell you something that's going to blow your fucking mind. A little secret about that movie. A little secret. Actually, quietly a western. It's a

[02:02:13] western. What? If you think about it. No, when I think about it. Holy shit. You see Wolverine, you think, oh, yellow spandex. Superhero, you know. Yeah, but it's actually a western?

[02:02:22] Kind of a western. I look up, I see no long brimmed hat upon his head. There's some subtle hints in the movie such as characters keep watching the movie Shane and being like,

[02:02:31] yeah, this is familiar. I think about when I think about that movie is the guy going, the Wolverine. I've only seen it once. Yeah, same here. It was like an Oscar nominated huge hit.

[02:02:45] Yeah. And I liked it when I saw it. I watched the black and white version not too long ago. And I think it's fun. It's really good. It's maybe gets slightly comic booky in the last 20 minutes,

[02:02:59] but it is the most like realistic of all X-Men films. See, Sims and I are both big defenders of the Wolverine. I do like the Wolverine. I liked that until act three and it just totally falls

[02:03:11] upon you. You didn't enjoy Silver Samurai. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, that is, it's a tough needle to thread. That's the one I like. I'm a fan of that movie. Maybe we'll do the Wolverines. Yeah. It's kind of fun. Actually, Scott hasn't seen X-Men Origins Wolverine.

[02:03:27] That is a tough one. Yeah, but that's like a fun, real cup of vinegar. Because we do film series on Patreon and we can never do X-Men because it's 75% directed by different sexual predators. But we could just do the three Wolverines. Wait, you got Brian Singer and

[02:03:43] Wade, who's the other sex predator? Oh yeah. All right. Yeah. Number four at the box office, Griffin. Okay. Is a surprise horror hit. Horror hit. Okay. That has been out for a month. It's

[02:03:55] made $133 million. Wow. And it's a quiet place. It's not a quiet place. But a big hit. It's a directorial debut. Is it the Babadook? No, Babadook did not make that much money. Is it the Vvitch?

[02:04:12] It's not the Vvitch. 130. How many weeks has it been out? Four. Four. A directorial debut. Yes, it's a very, it's screamingly obvious what this is and you're going to be annoyed at yourself.

[02:04:23] I'm going to be so fucking, oh, it's Get Out. It won an Academy Award. It's Get Out. It's Get Out. Which, you know, not only opened really well, but then had such great word of mouth that it,

[02:04:34] you know, barely dropped. It had like a 1% drop in its second weekend. So Get Out, obviously a big one there. Now, number five. Okay. America said, let's get in to the theater. They did say that. And see that again. Number five is,

[02:04:49] the title of this film is, let's get out of this theater. Right. Because they need to clean it. Right. Yeah. Someone said to them at a certain point as well. Can you please get out?

[02:04:58] The next film is a faith-based film, I think. Is it Heaven is for Real? It's not Heaven is for Real. I always want it to be burpo. You always want it to be burpo. Is it, uh, fuck. Is it,

[02:05:10] is it the Jennifer Garner one? No, I think it's not quite as directly like one of those. It's not the shack. It is. It is the shack. Do you guys remember the shack? The

[02:05:21] King Kazam? Steel. No, I would call him the great shack. Uh, no, uh, it's, uh, you know, Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Tim McGraw. Yes. Jake Sully himself. Uh, Tim McGraw is in it as

[02:05:34] well. Yes. Right. Radha Mitchell looks like is in this cast. It's like a magical shack that'll ask you atone for your sins or something. I couldn't tell you. I know it's magical.

[02:05:43] So like Jacob in Lost? I think so. He lived in a magic shack. Yeah. Okay. So if you believe in the Bible already, why are we adding magic to it? Well, we may be using the word magic somewhat

[02:05:54] blasphemously. Well, I mean, it's, you know, it's like miracles and stuff like that are already kind of magic, but it's like, you don't, it's a hat on a hat here. You don't need to be like,

[02:06:02] Oh, also there's a magical house. There's a magical shack. Uh, and uh, looking up what the exact premise of the shack is. David, you brought up Lost before we end this episode. I want

[02:06:12] to ask you guys a Lost question, please. Let's table that. You think they're about to end the episode? Oh, I don't know when they got. I just want some of the other films in the top 10,

[02:06:23] like go Batman. I think we're both big fans of. Yes. Uh, new this week is the Belko experiment. Remember that? Oh, it was like the office. They murder each other. Yeah. James Gunn wrote that

[02:06:33] producing. Uh, yeah. Uh, he sure wrote it. Yes. Uh, and you also have hidden figures, uh, sort of hold over from Oscar season. You've got John wick chapter two. Now he's up to chapter four. I don't

[02:06:46] really know this. Uh, and something called before I fall. That's the Haley Lou Richardson. Is that a time loop movie or a time travel? Zoe Deutsch. Zoe Deutsch. There you go. The IMDB just one

[02:06:59] sentence synopsis for the shack is a grieving man receives a mysterious personal invitation to meet with God at a place called the shack. So the shack is apparently where God hangs out, where God

[02:07:13] hangs out. Well, the God shack is a little old place where God goes and hangs out with Jake. Scott, Scott, I'll start a script for that. He had been writing that for a while. Yeah. Thank you so

[02:07:27] much. The same, it's also the same premise is that TV show. God friended me, right? Yes. The show where God is friending people on Facebook. Well, in that case, right. The shack was, was online. It was not

[02:07:38] a physical shack. It's a little bit. Yeah. This fun little shack I like to hang out at called Facebook. Um, what's your last question? Okay. So I believe that lost is a piece of IP that

[02:07:51] is, it's interesting. It ended so poorly in the eyes of the people who watched it of the beholder that mostly enjoyed the ending, but yes, it has a weird sort of reputation now,

[02:08:03] but I know for sure that ABC has been open to any sort of reboot. Right. Does someone have a pitch and it got me thinking, cause I was like, this is what if they weren't lost? What if they were

[02:08:17] found? They were like, Hey, I know where I am. I know exactly where I'm dropping a pin. And then I'm sharing location with friends. You got the horn Blair and you know, the camera goes in on

[02:08:28] them. If they made locks now, you know that like the first 10 minutes would be people going like, I can't live without my tweets. Oh my God. The algorithm isn't working. I guess you don't want

[02:08:39] to see the movie about that guy. It's such an interesting show. That's already about like people's past and the future and all of it making sense. So to be making a sequel about loss,

[02:08:51] there has to be a take that like is going to encapsulate some of that. I'm always thinking like, what's the type of thing they would make? Is it people like, is it the version of it where

[02:09:01] they're just recapturing what worked in the first one plane crashes on another Island? They're just doing it again. Would you need to come at it from another angle? Would you need the old characters

[02:09:10] from the old show? Well, or right. Or do they, does someone pitch something really arcane? Like it's a Dharma initiative show. Yeah. Like we, we go all in on lore. Like we, we get even more

[02:09:20] niche. That's the thing. I think there is this sort of, uh, there's this sort of false perception that people's problem is with the finale of loss. And I think they make jokes about, we all remember

[02:09:30] the finale of loss as like shorthand, but it's like, no, you're like the finale was when people realized, Oh, all this shit isn't going to get answered. I think people have less of an issue

[02:09:40] with that episode itself and more with the like, Oh, maybe the last two seasons weren't what I want. The fifth season is incredible. I think people have problem with the final season of

[02:09:48] loss. I mean, Scott, you were a lost super fan, right? I think we were both lost fans. Like I really like, I even liked the last season. I look at it. I don't think it's perfect of course, but

[02:09:57] I always think about like, my accent just clicked back. I said, Scott, but I think to myself, I think to myself like, is a version of this is a version of the last thing.

[02:10:12] Like you have to find a whole new story and then find a way to connect it to the last. I think the only reason it was popular is or as popular as the, like not wish fulfillment,

[02:10:22] but the like modern people having to survive on a desert Island. So if you strip it of that and make it the Dharma initiative or whatever, then you're getting way too into the lore and

[02:10:33] all the lore. And so I think, I think for a take to be really be successful, you would need to do that part of it and then try to make the mythology of it make more sense.

[02:10:43] Right. I'm sure if that's part of the assignment is you need to start answering some shit, but also what was the answer going to be? I've talked about this before. It should have been something scientific. And those guys wanted to do something that was more theology based.

[02:11:00] They set up so many things of like pushing a button that were tech based and like a polar bear move the wheel. And then that's suddenly for them to go like, Oh no, no, no, it's all magic.

[02:11:13] It's the light. If it is like people going like, ah, okay. But you'll tell us at the finale. Right? But I actually like it because at a certain extent, like Thor said, of course,

[02:11:23] some people call it technology. Some people call it magic, but on, on a primitive civilization. Asgard, they're one in the same. Yeah. And he said that in law, he had said that during an episode. Yeah. Suddenly Thor flies down. Right. Also, what a wonderful world voice.

[02:11:43] One more last thing I need to bring up the song that is in train spotting where it's like their reflection song where it's like, that's the underworld song. The dun dun dun dun. Now

[02:11:56] is that sampled in future islands? A season song break because every time it came up, I was like, this future Island song is going to start the exact same thought. That is one of my most listened

[02:12:07] to songs. I've listened to bro. It's similar. I only this time watching T2 picked up on how similar the openings are, but I think that's the voice reminded me, but, but it really is interesting.

[02:12:22] I will say that someone once asked the lead singer of underworld who believe his name is Carl Hyde. That question being essentially like, are you aware of this song seasons? It kind of sounds

[02:12:32] like born slipping. He was like, it was intentional. I appreciate it. If it's a coincidence, that's nice. I wish them all the best. And then they asked, they asked the future islands guy and his response was love that guy to be clear. We love one of the greats.

[02:12:50] That song by the way, born slippy, I think is it's incredible. And it is like as groundbreaking as new orders blue Monday. I think it was, that's a good argument. It's also as speaking as a Brit

[02:13:03] and talk speaking of nostalgia. And I believe I said this on the train spotting episode, it is the number one needle drop in a club full of 30 somethings where when it comes on, everyone is

[02:13:14] like, Oh, and like runs to the dance. I'm like, what even is that for American? I don't know. Fucking rug rats theme or some shit. The whisper song, the whispers,

[02:13:25] like it is just sort of universal. Like, Oh, we all have had like our time with this song. Yes. I was a hit me baby one more time. Sure. You know, it's probably, it's also funny, David,

[02:13:36] because when I hear, even when I hear the song for the first time, I'm like, I feel like I've had time with this song, even though I'm hearing it for the first time. It has that instant sort

[02:13:45] of feeling of nostalgia to it, which is pretty well. It also is just like this 10 minute banger. They don't even play all of it in the movie. It's just like where it gets like super heavy.

[02:13:56] It just felt like, Oh my God, no one's ever done this before. In the same way that the first time I heard blue Monday with the dum dum, I thought it was kind of a joke or something and I sort of

[02:14:05] laughed at it. But yeah, I don't know. I love that song so much. Guys, thank you so much for coming on the show. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Everyone should listen to Scott Hasenstein. Our episodes first. Yes. Griffin and I, but then the other ones. Princess Diaries.

[02:14:22] Kindergarten Cop. You did Kindergarten Cop, then Princess Diaries. And then David, you just did Gigi with us. I did Gigi. And I'd love to return anytime, of course. Yes. Please come back. Next time you have like a movie with like a creepy pedo vibes, have David on again.

[02:14:36] I was just trying to finish my best picture list. It's weird that that was your first choice, David. By the way, David, do you like how he sort of sold you out in the intro before you were able

[02:14:45] to rebut? I was like, well, this guy picked this movie. Apparently he must like the content in it or something. I haven't seen it before, but I had to cop to the fact that I knew this movie was

[02:14:56] weird. Everyone talks about movies like a weird movie. Yeah, that's the first thing they ever said about weird. But obviously beyond just Scott Hasenstein, which people should listen to Scott, the comedy bang bang book. Yes, that's what I really I think it's out. I want to promote. Thank

[02:15:13] you for it. It's out. I don't know what day this comes out. This episode is posting on April 23rd, the day before my birthday. Okay, so it comes out in a couple of days. It comes out on Tuesday,

[02:15:23] April 20th. If you if you don't know what comedy bang bang is, it's it's essentially this podcast I do where I'm myself and then Sprague is himself occasionally. But then we have comedians on playing characters. Show where you talk to people. Unlike Sprague. Yes. Not like me. No,

[02:15:42] no, no. I come on. I'm pretty true to myself. I try to keep it cool. I'm British. Just vibes. And so the book is essentially what if all of those characters wrote stuff for a book?

[02:15:54] And so it's a collection of I have I have the book right here in front of me. It's a collection. It's a collection of like it's not really humble. Okay. It's a collection of

[02:16:07] like, you know, text pieces and lists and posters and flyers and games and strange ephemera that I think fans of the show will really enjoy. But I think if you're not a fan of the show,

[02:16:23] it's just a book packed with comedy. I also yeah, as a as a guest and a fan of the show. I think this book it is over a decade's worth of comedy history on this podcast. And I think

[02:16:36] there's there's stuff from really early on in the show. There's stuff from very recent in the show. So I think if you're a fan of comedy bang bang or you want to get into it, I think this is a great

[02:16:45] book to get. Hey, that's good. It's really great. I'm very, very excited. I'm a long time listener and fan. Yeah. I'm sure. David, didn't you interview or interview me rather in a in the

[02:16:56] Ace Hotel? I sure did. Years ago, like for a season one of the TV show. Right. It was right after season one of the TV show, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yes. I think we just started doing

[02:17:06] the podcast and you came back and we're like, I just interviewed Scott Ockerman at a hotel. Hey, David, who's your favorite sort of character on the who's your guy? I don't want to make anyone upset. You know, I don't want to play favor. I mean,

[02:17:20] you could make someone really happy. Well, you're you're not a character. No, no. But I just know, you know, my client, Sean Diston, of course, he's come on. I'd say Rudy North, maybe. Yeah.

[02:17:30] That guy's really funny. Hey, Rudy wrote something for the book. Yes, yes, yes. Speaking of speaking of, I have something I want to plug. Hmm. Sprague, your client, Sean Diston. I try to plug this once

[02:17:40] a year if I can as the greatest acting reel in history. Oh, thank you. I always plug this. And I went on to the YouTube recently because I watched it about once or twice a year. And I've seen that

[02:17:51] like there are comments spread out by a year of Griffin sent me here. And we all appreciate it. My client, of course, he loves it. He's not booking anything from it, but this is why I'm

[02:18:01] telling people what is real. Watch it. So do reels work at all? Yeah, I don't know. I thought I think he thought, oh, let me do something interesting. It is. Yeah. I don't want to spoil

[02:18:12] it for anyone. It's the greatest acting reel of all time. Sean, this incredibly funny guy. Thank you so much. I'll tell him. I'd love to have him on the podcast sometime. Yeah, but,

[02:18:19] you know, whatever. I've never been able to pin him down. He's a tough one to book. Yeah. Thought we had him once and then someone else showed up. Ah, yes, of course. Scott. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe. Thank you to

[02:18:35] Marie Barty for our social media, helping to produce the show. Lee Montgomery in the Great American Novel for our theme song. AJ McKeon, Alex Barron for our editing. Joe Bowen, Pat Reynolds for our artwork. JJ Burch for our research. You go to BlankCheckPod.com for

[02:18:52] links to some real nerdy shit, including our Patreon blank check special features where we do film series commentaries, as we were saying, and we're now doing the plan of the apes.

[02:19:02] Uh, I think we are. Yeah, that's right. Going ape in April. Yes. One of my favorites. Tune in next week for the final Danny Boyle movie. Yesterday. Next week. Yesterday. Yes. So far away. Yes. Uh, and yes, as always. Justice for Spud's dick. Yeah.

[02:19:26] As always. You say that every episode? I say it every weekend. It finally made sense after the first trade. It's relevant now. Okay. Yeah. It's why Zach Braff is our best living filmmaker.