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192 - After Earth (2013) image

192 - After Earth (2013)

S4 E192 · Disenfranchised
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57 Plays4 months ago

“Do not misunderstand me: danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”

This week, or Gettin’ Jiggy in July theme month continues as we take a look at Will Smith's attempt to make his son Jaden into the next big thing with this 2013 M. Night Shyamalan bomb! Two big names in need of a hit and the child caught in the balance! Join us as we talk this movie's overt influences and world-building and how badly they were trying to build this into a franchise! PLUS, Stephen records during an actual tornado and Tucker gets conflicted about nepo babies!

Let us know we’re not alone on this [after] earth please say hello to us on these various social platforms:

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Transcript

Introduction and Co-hosts

00:00:20
Speaker
How's it going for you? Take a knee. and cipher rage against the dying of the light. This is the disenfranchised podcast, that podcast all about those franchises of one, those films that fancy themselves, full-fledged franchises, before falling flat on their face after the first film. I am your host, Stephen Foxworthy, and joining me as always, the man who has never yet been ready to be a ranger, it's Tucker. Hey, Tucker. Hi, Stephen. How's it going? It goes, my friend. How about yourself?
00:00:54
Speaker
It's it's OK. My back's feeling a little better. That's good. You know, we had a doozy of a week last week. I got to say. That's true. And on my end of it, I was putting together a kiddie pool for the boy. And I bent down to. There's your personal stake right there. And. There was a pain and the pain was intense and so I tried to run away from it I don't know if you've seen that show Ridiculousness where they show internet videos and one of the segments is like people running away from the pain like they hurt themselves and they just like start running around in circles so I tried to do that I tried to run away from the pain and it didn't work actually it got worse
00:01:41
Speaker
Oh, no. To the point where I had collapsed onto the ground and was having trouble breathing because I was in so much pain. You ever have so much pain that it takes your breath away, Steven? Ever happened? Yes, I have, Tucker. Yes, I have. Doesn't that fucking suck? Doesn't that fucking suck, dude? It really fucking sucks. It is absolutely actually the worst. The actual worst, yeah. The actual worst. And so I just sat on my porch, just like sprawled out. And I was like, I might not be able to move, you guys. Yeah, it was real bad. It was real bad for a while, but it's better. I'm glad you're feeling better. For my part, I was just out of town, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was that was my duty sort of deal. Yeah.
00:02:25
Speaker
So, uh, but yeah, we're, we're back this week. our Unfortunately, our friend and co-host Brett Wright is not able to join us. He, uh, had a last minute, uh, got called away to the planet Ephitos. We wish him a very speedy return and hopefully he doesn't get caught in any storms that render his ship incapacitated.

Sci-fi Film Settings: Why Earth?

00:02:43
Speaker
Hey, as long as he's got the distress beacon handy. And he has a tall peak enough to like, keep it from any electromagnetic disturbance. Yeah, dude. Dude, yeah. Maybe that's why it was on Earth. You think? Yeah, you think? Because the electromagnetic field and all that shit. I don't know. I mean, you could have done it on another planet. Why was it on Earth? Why? Relatability, I guess. Question mark. What? No, look, we already know that they're Earth people and the Earth is dead. Like, why do they have to go there? I don't feel like they have to go there. Titan AE. Future episode of this podcast, Titan AE.
00:03:21
Speaker
I haven't seen that since it came out. That came out when I was at the movie theater. I watched it like three times. I thought it was pretty rad. I have never seen it ever. So it's pretty okay. Your boy, Matt Damon's in it. vietnam ah That one in Treasure Planet came out right around the same time. And and the the two movies that made America go, wait, are we ready for animated sci fi? I was. Tucker was. The rest of the world was not.

Introducing 'After Earth'

00:03:45
Speaker
No, pretty much not. Pretty much not. I loved your planet and I loved what was the other one that Disney did around that time. That was kind of similar. Atlantis. Atlantis. Yes. Yeah. That I lost kingdom. That was also I mean, that one's just Stargate. Really? When you get right down to it. That's just Stargate.
00:04:08
Speaker
Anyway, Tucker, we are continuing our getting jiggy in July theme month with yet another Will Smith. I shudder to call it a classic, but it's here all the same. ah Tucker, what are we covering this week? We're talking about after Earth. I'm sorry, or in the in the way these characters in this movie all talk off to Earth. We're gonna get into that. Oh, we're gonna fucking talk about

Critique of 'After Earth'

00:04:36
Speaker
that. After Earth, off to Earth, the 2013 Will and Jaden Smith vehicle, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, co-written by Gary Whitta, and co-starring Jaden, or I'm sorry, co-starring along with Jaden and Will.
00:04:55
Speaker
the great Sophie Okonedo, the great Zoe Kravitz, Glenn Morschauer, Christopher Hevesio. I don't know how to pronounce his last name. Christopher, I am so sorry. I should know by now. And David Denman and an uncredited Isabelle Furman. ah That's right, Esther the orphan herself in an uncredited role in this movie. What a cast, Tucker. I don't even know if I can bring myself to say it, but I'm contractually obligated to do so. What a picture. Look this is a fantastic sci-fi original. This is probably one of the best sci-fi originals I have ever seen.
00:05:32
Speaker
It is and in the kind in the context of that. This is great. This is great in the context of a what? I'm going to guess this had a budget of about 100 million at least. A hundred million dollar movie is the is the reported budget. One hundred and thirty. million Garbage garbage and even the way it's shot, even the way it's shot and even the way that its characters are included. This is definitely sci-fi original material. You have a star. right? And when you have that star incapacitated in one spot, so that he can shoot all his shit in a couple days. And you take all the emotions of every character and just pull them right up.

M. Night Shyamalan's Career and Style

00:06:08
Speaker
Everything that makes Will Smith compelling as a star, everything that makes you want to go see a movie that he's in, if you tell him not to do that,
00:06:18
Speaker
And usually if you're doing something like that, if a director is doing something like that with an actor like challenging their star persona, nine times out of 10, they're making them do something interesting. we're We're doing something interesting with that. We're not doing anything interesting with it here. And it's really frustrating because there are moments where you see it shine through. And that makes every other moment in this film 10 times more frustrating because you realize what he could be doing right now. here's the deal the the the writing in this movie is almost there it's frustratingly close to being passable writing frustratingly close so frustrating but then but then you tack that accent on top of it and every performance just comes off awful there are times when like I know like I think
00:07:09
Speaker
with what he was given, Will Smith did great in this. I think with what he was given, Jaden Smith did great in this, I thought, but they didn't give them shit. They didn't give them anything that they could do, anything that I could see through to see that performance. I know that performance was there, but you can't see, you can't see it because the writing is subpar and that accent is the nail in the fucking coffin. It, for me, it's a problem with M. Night Shyamalan scripts. is that the writing is always very earnest, but very flat. And that's kind of lethal. And you really need a good hook to pull it off, which is, I think, why stuff like the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable works really well, and why some of his later high concept stuff, like um Knock at the Cabin or Old. I like that one. Or even Glass and Split work really well. He's got a really good high concept.
00:08:08
Speaker
that kind of helped to anchor his very flat, yet very earnest dialogue. It's when he starts getting budgets and I would put that like right around signs and a little after that he kind of starts to lose his grip.

Will Smith's Career Evolution

00:08:25
Speaker
And like the the whole boy genius aesthetic that he had kind of cultivated up to that point kind of starts to crumble. For sure. And this is an interesting interestingly bizarre cross-section between M. Night Shyamalan and Will Smith, because it's these two incredible creators, like very like blockbuster, like these guys knew how to make money at one point in their careers, and they're both in a pretty distinctive career slump at this point. And I find that unbelievably fascinating, um because this does neither of their careers
00:09:06
Speaker
any favors at all. No, I can't imagine it would. um For Will Smith, I mean, we talked about I Am Legend last week. I'm going to actually pick it up a little from a little bit ah before that, because we had talked about Wild Wild West. He gets his first Oscar nomination in 2001 for Ali, but not before making the uncomfortably bad Legend of Bagger Vance. We get the worst men in black movie. So that's on Damon too. Speaking of Maddie Damon, that's on Damon too. Sure, sure. I think we were talking about Maddie D off. Come on. We were talking about Maddie D off, Mike. So that's a... No, we still love both of them. We do. I'm sure they just, yeah. It was a good paycheck, right?
00:09:50
Speaker
I'm sure I hope so. God, I hope so. They had a meeting and they were both like, like, we know we're both not racist, right? Like, we could make this move, right? We're OK. We're OK. We know. Like, you know that I know and you know, I know that you know. And so we're good. We can do this. The screenwriter were given some Sinai, but we're okay yeah OK. Yeah, we're OK. No one's going to blame us.
00:10:13
Speaker
2002, you get the worst Men in Black film, Men in Black 2. And then the year after that, you get maybe the best Bad Boys film, Bad Boys 2. I say maybe because I've not seen the two most the through yeah the two most recent ones. so I will say it's better than the first one though. It's certainly peak Bad Boys. Yeah. In 2004, you get a, God, just a triple-decker shit sandwich with Jersey Girl, which he has an uncredited cameo in, iRobot and Shark Tale. You know, I was thinking about that today. Who was that supposed to be? I can't remember, because it was supposed to be somebody else, and they couldn't do it, and so Will Smith came and did it. Do you remember who that was supposed to be? Which one, iRobot? No, Jersey Girl. The cameo wasn't supposed to initially be Will Smith.
00:11:02
Speaker
Oh, I'm going to look that up because I am not sure about that at all. That's a little bit. You're looking up. Well, I was at the time. This is when like a smodcast had just started and nobody had ever heard anything like that before. And I was pretty into it. It was like, what, 2009 ish, I guess, when all that happened. Sure. And you would know better than I would for sure. He was talking about Jersey girl. Kevin Smith was talking about Jersey girl and how that cameo was originally supposed to be somebody else. I want to say it was Bruce Willis, maybe. Maybe it ties into the whole. He worked with Bruce Willis and then didn't want to. But that was before.
00:11:42
Speaker
number But yeah okay so he he had worked with him on Die Hard and they got along really well. They did. As two actors. Right. So I think Jersey Girl was in between that and Cop Out. It was definitely in between that and Cop Out. So maybe it was supposed to be Bruce Willis. I don't memby but it's been bothering me all fucking day but I haven't had i haven't had the really had the time to look it up. um' during this movie but i'm looking I'm looking to see if it's just anywhere online and I am cannot find it. way way Well, hey if you know head on over to patreon dot.com slash disenfranch pod ah join for free and let us know in the comments because that is the official conversation of the disenfranchised podcast right there.
00:12:28
Speaker
Yeah, come for the main feed and stay for the additional content. I was going to say, you got to drop five bucks for that. But honestly, a bargain at double the price, quite frankly. Days, days worth of content spanning years. So much stuff back there. Um, but yeah, so I mean, that's, that's his, his 2004. Uh, and then you get hitch and pers, uh, hitch in 2005 pursuit of happiness. Yeah. Well, while you're mentioning hitch, uh, Jane Smith got to do it. The hitch got to do the hitch scene where his face blows up. Cause he, there's an allergy. He gets treated as soon as that happened. I was like, it's the hitch he's doing the hitch.
00:13:13
Speaker
that I was so happy. I'm gonna get my kid, my kid's gonna play the hits. I i clapped, I clapped. When that happened, I was like, it's the itch. 2006, you get Pursuit of Happiness, which is Will Smith's second Oscar nomination, and Jaden Smith's first movie. We'll get into Jaden's yeah storied heavy air quotes their career up to this point. That's what bothered me about this movie the most, I think, is that you have two actors that are literally father and son. Mm hmm. So they have natural chemistry. And you see it going as young good as young. Listen, even as young as Jaden is in pursuit of happiness, they have natural chemistry. And I think in the scenes that they have

Will Smith's Filmography: Hits and Misses

00:13:58
Speaker
in this together,
00:13:59
Speaker
that it's it's there. It's not strong because the writing's not strong. But where they fucked up is they separated them almost immediately. Almost immediately. And they're both great on their own. But again, the material's lacking. So maybe if you had had them together a little more, it would have lifted up that material a bit. A bit. But no, you take your people who have natural chemistry because they are blood related.
00:14:27
Speaker
and you just separate them at the beginning of the movie. And that's where the movie should have begin but begin began by the way, is at the crash. That's where the sci-fi original would have began, at the crash. I mean, it does, but then we go back. That's what I'm saying, we skip the go back part. Let's get the go back part. Not needed as much as, as much as they don't. How are you going to flesh out the world, Tucker? How are we going to build out the world for all the, all the sequels and TV shows and comic books that are going to come out of this thing? Okay. But do they do that anyway? No. It's ever telling us like everything in this world just has a bunch of sheets on it. Everything's made from bedsheets where they come from. Their spaceships are made from fucking bedsheets. It's all just sheets everywhere. Sheets on spread across poles.
00:15:12
Speaker
what I don't even know what that is. I'm not gonna lie to you the one one thing I actually did enjoy about this movie is the attempts at world-building like the that those opening scenes with the family and like because it's got I mean it's got like an Ender's game kind of quality to it like established sci-fi we're kind of creating I'm gonna be calling out a lot of the the References that I noticed in this thing because there are so many But like the beginning got this kind of enders game thing, but you know, his dad's the most powerful guy. He doesn't measure up to his father's expectations. We don't realize it at first, but we've got this whole the wrong kid died thing happening as well. Like that whole trope. Do we have an halved? I got cut in half real bad.
00:16:02
Speaker
well And yeah, this. Never miss an opportunity to shout out Dewey Cox. There should not have been another biopic made after Dewey Cox. The fact that biopics continue to be made is an insult to the memory of Dewey Cox, quite frankly. That's that's why how the that's why the good ones have had to get creative. For example, stuff like Love and Mercy. They do they do the constant time jump back and forth. Which is really interesting, actually. And Paul Dano is fantastic in that movie. And after reading half of after reading half of Brian Wilson's autobiography, I think John Cusack's fantastic in that movie, too. Right. Yeah. Before I was like, yeah, he's fine. But then when I read that book, I was like, oh, no, he's actually doing it perfect. Right. And you but you don't realize it because you you honestly you don't know. Yeah.
00:16:52
Speaker
and um 2007-2008, you get I Am Legend in future episodes of this podcast. Hancock, when are we covering it? Sooner than you might think. um And then also in 2008, you get another Oscar grab. ah Seven pounds. Unsuccessful, completely unsuccessful, but it's an attempt. I had no interest. I didn't see it. You'd think that since it was a Will Smith thing, I would have to see it. But no, there's some times where I'm just like, I don't think that's for me. Like, good for him. I hope he does well, but I don't think it's for me. But that's kind of the thing is starting here, like starting I would say in like 2004, 2005, the bloom starts to get a little off the rose. Like not everything is a guaranteed hit for Will Smith anymore. I remember sometime around 2008 or so, he's at the Oscars and he's like, man, y'all make some really good movies. It was the only difference between the stuff you guys make and the stuff I make is that my stuff makes money.
00:17:49
Speaker
And I'm like, it's a good joke, not as true now as it used to be. Really? Because I'm like, what was your last thing? It was Hancock. And Hancock doesn't, we'll get to it at some point, but it doesn't do that well. I mean, it does okay, but but not as good as like other Will Smith films. And then seven pounds is and then men in black three by men in black three. So he takes four years off between seven pounds and men in black three. For four years, he is just gone. Which is another thing that's really hurting him and putting him behind the eight ball is there's no like public recognition going on with him around this time. What year? What year did you say that was between what years? Between 2008 and 2012. Okay.
00:18:35
Speaker
I'm trying to think of when Lost and Found came out. I think that came out earlier in the 2000s. That's ah the last ah last record that he's put out was Lost and Found. That's what he was doing, but that came out in like, I want to say 2004 maybe. I was going to say 2005. He's got a couple of music videos for Hardy, Starter and Switch. And Switch, yes, that was his dance. He was trying to have a yes have a dance, his own dance. it's His own dance. Yeah, which hey didn't it didn't take off. Didn't happen. It's a well produced record, but overall, it's pretty fucking mid. Yeah, I just I don't remember anything about the song, but I remember at the beginning, it was like, oh, yeah, I heard he got that hot new thing. It's called Switch. And I'm like, is it a hot new thing, though? Is it a hot new thing?
00:19:26
Speaker
You're, you know, about 15 years, no, about 12 years too early, Will Smith. You could have done a collaboration with Nintendo, dude, in 2017, for sure. So then Men in Black 3 comes out, and it's supposed to be this big return to form. You're getting Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld all back together, and that underwhelms, that underperforms. And then his immediate follow-up to that is this movie. no
00:19:57
Speaker
And so he's immediately then thrown back on his

M. Night Shyamalan's Directorial Journey

00:20:00
Speaker
heels yet again. We'll talk next week about what he does after that and his slow and steady try attempts to rebuild his career. But at this point, he's pretty badly tarnished. And I think we say that in, if I recall correctly, I think we say that in the I Am Legend, um episode as well like this is kind of that i think we said that was kind of the beginning of the end for will smith such as it is you didn't you didn't want listen to the episode before you put it together steven not the whole thing man i got that's a revisited requirement i'm a busy man i got stuff going on oh that's cool no yeah that's fine no big deal your intro was pretty rad though i liked it
00:20:44
Speaker
Thank you. Appreciate it. I like that. I like that yours is stream of consciousness and mine is very scripted. Yeah, unbelievably scripted. Completely two completely different things. Absolutely. I like it. Well, you know, the the improv background precludes itself to top of the dome kind of stuff. So that's just what I do. yeah dude dude yeah And then meanwhile you have M. Night Shyamalan, who has this kind of meteoric rise out of nowhere. He does two very small independent films, Praying with Anger, which no one has seen. A movie that literally does not exist. And then a movie that literally fewer people have seen, called Wide Awake, with Rosie O'Donnell, apparently.
00:21:27
Speaker
and then just explodes with The Sixth Sense in 1999. When Will Smith is heading straight to the wild, wild west, M. Night Shyamalan is making a name for himself with The Sixth Sense. His follow up to that Unbreakable the next year I think is incredible. um are you really good yeah I really liked Signs when it came out. I haven't revisited it. But I remember really enjoying that movie. I saw that one in theaters. And then The Village comes out, and I remember liking it at the time, but thinking, not as good. And at this point, he's become, based off the strength of those last three movies, Sixth Sense and Breakable in Signs, he's become known as the Twist Director. And he- What the twist? What the twist? Oh, God, God bless Robot Chicken.
00:22:18
Speaker
Doesn't sound a thing like M9 Shyamalan at all. And I think that's the best part. But he that is something he can't get out from under until until people just stop caring. like It literally takes people just not caring anymore for him to be able to get out from under that whole twist thing. But the village, lady in the water, and the happening all have very underwhelming twists. um the The twist of the happening is that anyone would cast Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher. Really? That's the big twist. Hey there, Wind. How's it going?

Hollywood Trends and Filmmaker Careers

00:22:56
Speaker
What's going on, Wind? Say hi to your mother for me. Say hi to your mother for me. The oft lampooned, memed line from that movie when ah Betty Buckley's like, you're gonna you're gonna murder me and steal my stuff, aren't you? And Wahlberg's just like, what? No.
00:23:13
Speaker
oh
00:23:16
Speaker
It's amazing. Right? What? No. Like it's, it's one of the, you're like, we couldn't just get like one other take, just one. We couldn't get just a another take. The Happening is the last M. Night Shyamalan movie I saw in theaters until Glass. Um, because the promise of glass was too good. And then I saw glass and old in theaters. I didn't get a chance to see knock at the cabin. Uh, Brett, Brett and I actually saw old in theaters together. I treated it into a movie. Old? You seen knock at the cabin? Knock at the cabin. Have you seen that? Oh, no, knock at the cabin rules. Yeah, no, I saw it. Yeah, dude, it's really good. I liked it a lot. Yeah. Fuck yeah. It's really good.
00:23:55
Speaker
But I mean, he's saddled by the twists of the the village and the lady in the water. This is also a lady in the water is where he gives himself like his biggest role as, let me check my notes here, the savior of humanity. Yeah, dude. Like he's had cameos and everything up to this point. And then in lady in the water, he's just like one of the three leads of the movie. And he is his character is the savior of all mankind. Like that's the role he plays. And you're just like, fucking really, dude? Fucking really? I didn't see Lady in the Water because I saw the village and I did not dislike the village, but after it, I could very much tell that if I ever watched it again, I would hate it. hu And that made me be like, maybe I don't go see his next movie. Maybe I don't.
00:24:47
Speaker
I saw the signs, the Village, Lady in the Water, and the Happening in theaters. Saw all four of those in theaters. And diminishing returns on everyone. I was the only person at my screening of Lady in the Water. It was just me. Paul Giamatti, though. i That's what would have gotten me there. If I had a gone, it would have been Paul Giamatti. But even Paul Giamatti wasn't strong enough to bring me and see that in theater. He's doing OK, but he's doing too much. And Shyamalan is not a strong enough director to tell him to pull it back.
00:25:23
Speaker
to reign him in, you gotta be able to reign those guys in. you know Exactly, exactly. And and ah I mean, the fact that he was able to reign in Sam Jack is a feat in and of itself. Because Sam Jack's one of those guys like, I feel like he's he's great, but he's better when you've got someone to really kind of pull. i We will talk about a movie where I do not feel like Sam Jack gets reigned in enough. ah One of these days it is it is on our list. We will talk about it. And at that moment you will know what it is um It's the only it's a movie I came closest to walking out on of any movie I've ever seen in theaters Came very close to walking out on that one. Was it black snake moon? No. Oh I haven't seen black snake moon. I probably shouldn't it's trash.
00:26:10
Speaker
Okay, fair enough. But then he follows up the happening with the even more lambasted The Last Airbender, future episode of this podcast, The Last Airbender. And that one is really, really horribly received. And you start to ask yourself, like, why Like, was was this guy just a one-trick pony? Did this guy really only have one mode? And he's just kind of done with it. Because I remember, like, after Unbreakable, he's on, like, the cover of Time magazine or something with the the caption, the next Spielberg, question mark. Like, and that's something a lot of people love. that Like, JJ Abrams got saddled with that at one point, too. Like, they love to try to call people the next Spielberg. There will never be another Spielberg. It's never going to happen.
00:27:01
Speaker
but like he he had that notorious distinction, but he ran out of steam really fast. And I think it started happening when he started getting bigger budgets, when he started having fewer people, fewer checks and balances. And it's the whole theory behind the blank check podcast where you're like, and Shyamalan was the first director they covered on that podcast after the the Star Wars prequels. um But it's this idea that you have a number of successes and people think, oh, well, you get to do whatever you want now. But without the system of checks and balances, without the people creatively kind of reigning you in,
00:27:40
Speaker
your worst impulses sometimes get thrown onto the screen. And I think what the conclusion Shyamalan wisely came to after this movie is that maybe smaller budgets are for him. Maybe don't give him hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie. Maybe give him like tens of millions and see what he can do. And I think that recipe has proven successful for him over the course of the last 15 years. I agree. Yeah, it's really good that he was able to pull himself out of that because I think he is talented. Or I'll say 10 years. At a certain budget. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I think his early films attest to that. And I think his later films attest to that. But this is the end of that middle bit where you're just like, whoa, dude, what are we doing here? Like seriously. Well, I would say this attest to that as well because it's written and directed like a TV movie, man. And it's a $130 million movie, man.
00:28:37
Speaker
No, that's what's what I'm saying. like This is the end of it. I think this is the the final check that he needs to go, what am I doing? like i'm not yet i I'm not really getting much out of these. The audiences clearly are not fans of these. like I need to be doing something that's more enriching and rewarding. I need to make something that people are going to gravitate

Jaden Smith and The Smith Family Dynamics

00:29:00
Speaker
toward. What did I do before? I did a horror movie with a tiny budget. People loved that. Let's try that again. Well, and it's really. the red and twenty fifteen It's really rad to try new things and expand as an artist, but you also have to know your limitations and you have to know what you're good at. Exactly. Exactly. And in Hollywood has this, particularly these days. And this, I think Shyamalan is one of the first victims of this, where you do well in a certain realm for a certain period of time. And then you start handing you big budgets. Now the.
00:29:36
Speaker
The window for that is a lot smaller. You make one halfway decent indie movie, and they're handing you the next Marvel movie. Or in the case of the Russo Brothers, you make one really good episode of television, and they're handing you the next Marvel movie. Like, that's kind of where we're at in Hollywood these days. And it's depressing as hell. Oh, that was lightning. Yeah, no, that was thunder. You don't hear lightning. No, I saw the lightning, though. I keep seeing blue flashes in your window and I'm like, is that a weird thing going on with the screen or is that lightning? But I just heard that thunder. Oh, that's lightning. Fuck, dude. Yeah, dude. Don't die, Steven. Stay alive. Stay alive? Well, the tornado warning has passed, so I think we're good. You got to get to the centermost room in your house. Whoo, that was a big one. Yeah, buddy. Boy, I tell you what.
00:30:28
Speaker
That's like great like like probably a mile that way. We're having fun. love yeah Podcasting in a thunderstorm. Gotta love it. Yeah, dude. um But yeah, and so I think this movie is kind of a weird... it it's Honestly, it kind of reeks of desperation. both for Will Smith and for M. Night Shyamalan. And then on top of that, you've got this this third desperation of Will Smith desperately trying to make Jaden a thing. Which has been happening for like, here's the thing. He's had a career up to this point. We're gonna talk about Karate Kid.
00:31:08
Speaker
Next year, we're going to do it next year. We're going to wait. Wait, maybe if I guess it's out, I guess. Well, a if it comes out and be if it's if it actually functions as a sequel to the 2010 Karate Kid movie, then we probably won't cover um it. supposed to because Jackie Chan's in it with Ralph Macchio, dude, Jackie Chan, apparently playing the same role Mr. Han that he plays in. Why would he play someone different? I don't know, man. I don't know. This is kind of of quick over our situation, Steven. He's not doing karate, though. It's an universe. In any way. Anyway, um a we've got James Smith's first movie. He's done like he does a couple of his dad's music videos, does a few episodes of a TV show called All of Us. And his first movie is his father's film, The Pursuit of Happiness, for which Will gets his first Oscar um or second Oscar nomination.
00:32:07
Speaker
He's then in The Day the Earth Stood Still, the Scott Derrickson Keanu Reeves remake, which is bad. You know what? It's aggressively mediocre and that's what makes it so bad. It is. It's just so, it just it doesn't it doesn't want to be anything, but okay. and But he read the original is a fucking masterpiece, too. Yes, that's why you you you don't have to be a masterpiece, but you can't just settle for okay when you're remaking a masterpiece. You have to at least make it a little bit good, a little bit fun, do something different. To hear Derek's intel at the studio took over and did a lot of shit he wasn't comfortable with, which is
00:32:44
Speaker
I believe that. The point at which he decided I'm never going to make a movie for a studio again. Studio starts like cutting my shit, I'm bailing, which is why he bowed out of the second Doctor Strange movie so late in production. ah Because Marvel started tearing up his shit and demanding he do stuff he didn't want to do. And he's like, fine, I'm out. Which, good for him. Yeah. um But yeah, Jaden Smith's in that. and Karate Kid in 2010, so two years after Davey Erset's sale, there's the Karate Kid, future episode of this podcast, question mark. And then he does a lot of music videos because he starts his own music career. Yeah, because he becomes a musician, yeah. Yeah, so in 2012, he has an album come out, several music videos there, both Willow and Jaden both kind of have a music career. And I think it's because at some point Will Smith kind of sits his kids down and is like, look
00:33:41
Speaker
If you wanna have a relationship with me, we gotta you gotta plug into something I do. Music, movies, something. But you know if you wanna have a relationship with me, cause I'm gonna be gone doing this shit a lot. And if you wanna keep up, you gotta be a part of it. And I think his kids kinda feel obligated to be a part of it, which is shitty parenting, dare I say? I don't know. Like, I really don't know because I've never been in that situation, you know? Sure. ah But I think Jaden's fine as a musician. But the the musical, the musical talent in that family. And I will tell you, as much as I love the Fresh Prince and what Will Smith did as the Fresh Prince, the actual musical talent in that family is Willow.
00:34:29
Speaker
I mean, she is insanely talented, dude. Have you heard any of her recent stuff? No, I have not. Did you know that she whips her hair back and forth? That I know. Did you know she does like Doom medal now, dude? I had no idea. and fan Fantastic. She was on SNL last year, last season or season before. And I had no idea either. And I was like, what the fuck? This is insane. And it's good. It's really, really, really good. And I've listened to her most recent record a few times, and I really like it. That's where the musical talent is in that family. That's where, ah Jaden, you can release a record if you want to, but you don't have to because your sister's got it, dude. She's holding it down. Don't worry about it. I think Jaden is going to grow up to be like like one of those kids who's just famous for being famous.
00:35:20
Speaker
and like have like ah like a Hilton Kardashian kind of life where he just kind of goes around and is famous places. Yeah, I do agree with you, but I just remembered that Jaden Smith was on this ah Childish Gambino EP called Kawhi. And he did kind of a not a rap, but more of just like spoken word poetry in one of the songs. and it was really good and the delivery was really good. So maybe, I don't know. Now that I'd totally forgotten about that, i just that just popped into my head. So I don't know, maybe they're both kind of musically talented. Well, I do like the Gambino, so. i think I think Willow's more of the musical talent and Jaden ah is pretty good at writing poetry, it seems like, or lyrics, you know? um But this is Jaden's fourth movie, movie number four.
00:36:16
Speaker
after the pursuit of happiness the day the Earth stood still in the Karate Kid. Three years after the Karate Kid, he does this, and this seems like the big push to make him a capital M, capital S movie star. ah Will's kind of, and Will's in it too, kind of putting his his clout, his star persona, the weight of his star persona behind Jaden, um and, it doesn't really work. So I think this is the last, this might be the last movie he leads. And I think after this, he just decides, yeah, this shit's not for me anymore.
00:36:59
Speaker
because after that, I mean, it's a lot of music videos. It's a TV show. The The Baz Luhrmann Show, The Get Down. And then it's just like, you know, a couple of films here and there. He was in that. Yes, he was. I remember he was in that. You know who else is in that? Justice Smith. Unrelated. Oh, yeah. I do like Justice Smith. In that show. I saw the TV close, Justice Smith. It ends on a cliffhanger and

Plot Summary of 'After Earth'

00:37:26
Speaker
they didn't get they didn't get renewed. Yeah. I mean, that is so good. Netflix kind of mandates that all their shows end on cliffhangers and then they don't renew a damn thing. No, I agree. I'm right there. I hate them so much. Oh, Jimmy Smith is in this. OK, I might have to watch this. Yeah. Yaya Abdul-Mateen. Hell yeah. Yes, dude. Get down and get down, dude. Chamique Moore, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Corrigan, Daveed Diggs. I'm kind of in for this. This is kind of great.
00:37:55
Speaker
put it on your list. I might have to do that. I might it's on the Netflix have to do that is on the Netflix. But yeah, like this doesn't really give Jayden much to do either. Really like and fortunately, it's it's not a good showcase for his talent. And again, I think it has a lot to do with the script. I think it has a lot to do with the direction.
00:38:22
Speaker
because everyone has this, and again, this is a Shyamalan thing, but everyone's got this very kind of metered way of speaking. um like like And you kind of called it out earlier, like this, everyone is talking like this, very honestly. He's doing an accent, I can't place the accent. very It's very, very subtle. That's why you can't place it. Right. Because it's so, it's just barely there. It's kind of one of those like, ah your leg help Someone would tell him, oh, it's kind of fading in and out. He's like, oh my God, it fades in. Like, yeah gets really excited about the fact that his accent kind of fades in a little. Like, that's the impression that I get.
00:39:07
Speaker
there are times um i don't think the accent slips but the uh the manner in which they speak sometimes slips because there are sometimes where will smithill talk like this and then there are times where will smith will talk like this correct yeah and that's almost like it out of right and and those are the moments where i think You get moments of Smith's actual charisma starting to shine through. like For me, the most powerful moment of the movie is when they're getting ready to go to the ship and the dude with one leg gets kind of wheeled out and like kind of stops in front of him and says, you know I was on the plateau. You saved me and four of my friends. I just saw the face of my baby for the first time. And then Will Smith kind of you know magnanimously kind of you know nods. And he turns to the guy. He says, stand me up.
00:40:06
Speaker
And Will Smith's like, no, no, no, you you don't have to, you go, stand me up. And the way that Smith plays that is so good. Like you start to see Will Smith. And I was like, holy shit, is Will Smith gonna fucking own in this movie? Like, is this gonna be like a secret masterpiece? Is Will Smith actually gonna be really good in an otherwise shitty movie? And no just a bookend. It's not because they nail it at the end, too. They do. They nail it at the end, too. But everything in between is just such garbage. They nailed that callback to that really awesome scene. That's the only good thing to work in this movie. The speech where he tells the story should be that it should like what he tells the story about how he um like how he ghosted for the first time, which what a what a fucking dumb name for a thing.
00:41:01
Speaker
It's kind of one of those like, oh, this is gonna be a cool thing we can call this. We'll call it ghosting. And then ghosting ended up coming to mean something completely different. wow Like when you just like break up with someone and decide not to tell them. You just block them on everything. Right. You just fade from existence really carefully. Like a goat. Like a goat.
00:41:29
Speaker
Yeah. um You know what, Tucker? We're probably about 40-ish minutes, 45 minutes into this thing-ish. Is it time? It might be time. I think so. It might be time for us to brush off our friend, the coin of justice, and tackle the plot of this behemoth in 60 seconds or less. That's right, friends. It's time for the plot in 60 seconds, the part of the show where we, at the behest of either the D6 of Destiny or if there's two of us, like there are tonight,
00:42:01
Speaker
Coin of Justice, decide which of us will. Recount the plot of the film we're discussing in 60 seconds or less.

Further Critique of 'After Earth'

00:42:09
Speaker
Tucker, I have the Coin of Justice. I'm gonna give it a flip. I need you to call it, sir. Okay, Tails. It is Tails, you son of a bitch. Oh, good. Oh, man. Hey, Steven, can you time yourself? I wanna pee you while you're doing the plot. a fine I don't want to have to edit it out. Do you ever take a brown here? Thank you, Steven. Be sure to be like to yourself 30 seconds while you're doing it. OK, you got this, Steven. I'm gonna go pee. You got this. My time starts.
00:42:51
Speaker
Sure, whenever.
00:42:54
Speaker
Jaden Smith is a kid, he's in this academy, he's trying to make Ranger, he's not good enough. His dad though is like the biggest badass of all time and so he's got all these expectations that he can't live up to. His dad at the urging of his mom takes him to this planet, they shipwreck on the way there and end up on a ah class one quarantine planet called Earth where everything has evolved to kill humans. and And so he's stuck there, his dad's dying, they're the only two survivors. He's got to run across a vast swath of wilderness in order to pick up 30 seconds. An emergency beacon that's on the kind of the other side.
00:43:28
Speaker
of the thing and so he's like avoiding shit and his dad's talking to him and they lose touch after a big fight and so he finds the emergency beacon right as his power comes back and his dad can see him but not hear him and so he fires, the gets to a high point and fires the beacon 10 seconds and they're eventually saved and and his he ends up saving his dad's life and his dad stands up and salutes him at the end and he decides he wants to work with his mom. And that is time. Well done, Steven. That was good. You didn't mention the bird, though. Remember the bird where he helped defend his babies and he became his friend and saved him and then died anyway?
00:44:09
Speaker
That's really kind of dumb because all the babies die and the birds like crying in rage. But then you're like, oh, maybe there was a survivor because David Denman is like weirdly highly rated on the IMDB page. um So I'm like, maybe he's going to come back later in the movie. No, he doesn't. he's He's in like the one scene at the beginning. He's got a line and then he is gone. Power Rangers zone, David Denman, the offices, David Denman. um
00:44:39
Speaker
And so I'm like, maybe it's him. And then it was the bird. And you're just like, wait, really? Yeah. Okay. Sure. I guess. Yeah. Really undercut it. Really undercut it. Really undercut what I thought was a really, really sad scene where they worked really hard to get those lions or whatever they were. And then none of the babies survived. And that was really fucking sad. Like I was sad when that happened. Give me one. Give me one. One baby. One baby. At least. At least give me one. Make it make it for something instead of nothing. yeah But no, we can't do that.
00:45:22
Speaker
I don't know, I thought that was that was another thing about the movie I did like was how like kind of unforgiving that scene was and how like it it did cut it made me a little sad. like I was like, I'm feeling an emotion while I'm watching this thing I'm watching. And there were that's what is really frustrating about this movie is that there's talent there, dude. It's there. It is. just not It's not just not pointed in the right fucking direction, dude.

Gary Whitta's Screenwriting Career

00:45:48
Speaker
It's not at all. The compass is off. Their compass is off and they only got two like breath inhalers left.
00:45:55
Speaker
ah agreed. Now this so this is a story eventually or that I apparently was crafted by Will Smith. He comes to M Night Shyamalan with the story. And Shyamalan writes it with Gary Whitta. Let's talk Gary Whitta for a second. um this This is a guy whose first credit was the Back to the Future part two video game. Oh, no, no. Which one? Do you know what platform does it say? Uh, let me check. Because for the NES, it was the, the game was back to the future part two and three. There wasn't like a separate two. It says Konami PC. It says Konami. Japanese. Sega. Probably. Oh, a Genesis. Yeah. Oh, nope. That's probably master drive. It says arcade. Sega arcade. Well, then shit. I want to hunt that down. I didn't know that existed.
00:46:52
Speaker
It might be good. I take back what I said. I have no idea. His first credited Hollywood screenplay and the only one he's written up to this point um before this movie comes along is the Book of Eli. Oh, people like that movie. Yeah, my dad, one of the people who likes that movie. I think it's because the book is the Bible. I think that's the reason my dad really likes it. yeah I mean, it's a good movie. It's also Denzel. My dad typically likes Denzel for the most part. How can you not? How can you? You can't deny Denzel. It is also directed by two filmmakers you quite enjoy because it's directed by the Hughes brothers who directed your your beloved dead presidents.
00:47:34
Speaker
yeah I do love that movie and look, Book of Eli is a really good movie. It's just not a movie for me. Sure. I watched it and I was like, yeah, this is pretty rad, but I don't really have any interest in it. Honestly, you got ah you got Denzel doing Denzel things and then you got Gary Oldman just chowing down on some scenery in that movie. Yes, he just made a meal of that movie for sure. Fucking eating it up. I think the only movie he goes bigger in in my memory is Leon the Professional. Oh, yeah, he's everyone. He's also he also goes pretty big. He goes big for Bassan because he goes pretty big in the fifth element, too. He goes big for Bassan. Well, I mean, that's the right. It's in the writing. I feel like it is. gary And it's the kind of guy who reads that and he's like, yeah, I know how to fucking do that. Let's go.
00:48:22
Speaker
Exactly. And then that's, that's the thing about Gary Oldman. Like, was it the, the meme is like, you're living your life. You, you know, you're, you're on your death bed. You've had a good life. Some out of nowhere, you hear someone y'all cut. You stand up. You've been Gary Oldman this whole time. That's how good he is. I like that. I didn't see that. That's pretty funny. um But his follow up to this is Rogue One, a Star Wars story. Oh, people like that one. And people don't generally like new Star War. No. um But yeah, like he's. Wait, didn't Ronnie Howard direct that?
00:48:59
Speaker
No, Ronnie Howard directed previous episode of this podcast solo a Star Wars story. Oh, yeah. Yeah. though I wish that had been better for everyone involved. in You and every you and everybody else. I wish the I wish Lord and Miller had gotten the chance to actually follow that one through. How do you waste? How do you waste dung lover? as Lando fucking Calrissian. He's perfect for it. He's perfect for it. That was when that casting was announced. I was like, well, yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And then like how do you wait? Glover Glover plays Lando as pansexual like right before Billy Dee Williams comes out as pansexual. Like how perfect is that? Yeah, God, I love that so much.
00:49:45
Speaker
yes um No, Rogue One, Rogue One is that one is Gareth Edwards, mostly. And then I think he got, um he it was that thing that they do that Lucasfilm was doing around this time with some of its directors where they'd be like, um okay, we're taking you off the movie. We're gonna have someone else come in and do reshoots. You can hang out and still get a credit or you can fuck off. And like Lord Miller fucked off. And Gareth Edwards was like, no, I'll stick around. I'll play, I'll play ball.

Industry Insights and Trivia

00:50:18
Speaker
And so Tony Gilroy, who was one of the screenwriters on the film, on, uh, Rogue One, uh, along with Gary Whitta and tons of other, like the credited screenwriters are Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, John Knoll and Gary Whitta based on characters created by George Lucas. Like Nolan Whitta get a story by credit. Weitz and Gilroy get screenplay credit.
00:50:39
Speaker
Gareth Edwards sold credited director, but Tony Gilroy is the guy they brought on to do the reshoots. And Gilroy is the guy who gave us, in terms of stuff he's directed, because- I was going to say, what has he directed before that? Michael Clayton. Okay. With George Clooney. George Clooney. ah Duplicity, a movie I have never heard of. And Clive Owen and Julia Roberts in Duplicity. Okay. Yeah, it was a thing for for a very, very brief time. And then, drumroll, please, previous episode of this podcast. So you tell me because I don't remember recording this episode or barely watching this movie, The Bourne Legacy. Oh, yeah, remember Oscar Isaac and they were out and then the thing came and blew him up and it was sad. And that was a really cool part in the movie it was the only thing that was really good. And it was sad that it was only a couple of minutes. Do you remember that?
00:51:33
Speaker
Uh, vaguely. It's just like vaguely just a garbage fucking movie with just like a really awesome 10 minute segment with Oscar Isaac. Oscar Isaac, dare I say it, better actor than Jeremy Renner. I'm depending on the role, which is not to say that I dislike Jeremy Renner. I just think Oscar Isaac has ah a better body of work and a better presence. And yeah, he can do a lot of different things, too. Mm hmm. It's much more versatile. Jeremy Renner's cool though. I like him. He's cool. No, I don't dislike Jeremy Renner at all. I'm excited that he's going to be in the next Knives Out Mystery, the new explain one long film. Oh yeah, that's pretty fantastic. I can't wait. Which is also funny because Jeremy Renner had a hot sauce that was prominently featured in Glass Onion. Oh. Joe Moreno's hot sauce.
00:52:28
Speaker
getting, getting that, uh, that Halloween scream thing. Yeah. They're showing each other movies in their movies, but it doesn't make sense because if one is a movie in that universe, then how is the other one, the movie in the other universe? I love it. Way into it. So that's where we're at. But yeah, that's Gary Witte. So this is only his second ever screenplay. He's written three, all sci-fi, two, I would say, varying degrees of success. Of the three, I'd say this is the least successful of his screenplays. What are the other ones? I just told you. I thought you were saying he directed those. No, no, no, no. It's a Book of Eli and it's Rogue One.
00:53:12
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yep. Sorry. He's got, he's got the story credit. He's the sole credited screenwriter on book of Eli. He's a co-screenwriter with M Knight on after earth. And he is a, he has a story by credit on rogue one. So it's a tangled tangled web. We weave, but apparently he's buddy buddy with ah Kevin Smith. And yeah he it looks like he has produced it looks like he's producing podcasts. He's got a animal talking with Gary Whitta, and something called talk a TV series called Talk Guys Ultimate Chatting, um which apparently has 13 episodes looks like it might be a talk show. Felicia Gay, Jimmy O. Yang,
00:54:05
Speaker
name for a show I've ever heard in my life. Right. But his, uh, the only pictures of him on IMDB are of him and Kevin Smith. ah work Maybe they're pals. Maybe they're pals. Uh, the one thing he has directed are episodes of Animal Talking with Gary Witte. Apparently it was a TV series. Um, Gary Witte, uh, Animal Talking with Gary Witte is a live virtual talk show hosted by Gary Witte on Twitch. Oh, OK. The show is entirely created within a talk show set built in Animal Crossing New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch. So TV show heavy air quotes, the heaviest of air quotes. Ashley Johnson, Brie Larson, Selena Gomez, Danny Trejo, Elijah Wood, Kevin Smith, Simo Liu, Josh Gad, Felicia Day, Paul Scheer. He's had some good Lisa Loeb. He's had some good guests.
00:55:05
Speaker
Now, what's Lisa Lobe done in the last 30 years? She stayed. She did. She was in a House on Haunted Hill, the remake. Oh, there you go. I mean, I don't. I'd never saw it. Oh, oh, oh, Steven, just for the beginning. Like, it's a really fun movie for like one of those late 90s, early 2000s remake, kind of the beginning of that phase where they were doing like 50s horror films and stuff. um But just the beginning alone, because what's his nuts? Who's the guy who plays the bad guy in Mystery Men? What's that guy's name? Jeffrey Rush. Jeffrey Rush plays Vincent Price, basically.
00:55:47
Speaker
ah And Lisa Loeb is a reporter and he take, she's interviewing him for a new ride in his theme park. And just, I mean, even if you don't want to commit to the whole movie, look up the opening scene on YouTube, Steven, because it's fantastic. You asked what Lisa Loeb has been doing and it's, it looks like, mostly cameoing in a whole bunch of shit. Man, like she was in an episode of that 90 show. She was in an episode of Miracle Workers. Yes, she was. Episode of Robot Chicken, episode of Family Guy, episode of AP Bio, Fuller House. She's a small role in Sandy Wexler, an episode of Community, the film Hot Tub Time Machine. Yeah. um Mostly playing herself.

Plot Holes and Creature Design in 'After Earth'

00:56:39
Speaker
Yeah. But I mean, look,
00:56:41
Speaker
you You say that she only hears what she wants to. And and I say stay, Lisa Loeb. Stay with us. We love you. No, I do love Lisa Loeb though. I like Lisa Loeb. Stay. That's on fucking rules. And I will brook no dissent on that point. What ah what soundtracks that on, Steven? A ton of them. What soundtrack is that famous for being on Steven? Reality Bites? Yeah, dude. Okay. Oh, I'm so glad I got that right. Another movie I've never actually seen. Steven!
00:57:20
Speaker
and
00:57:24
Speaker
ah you Are you an only child? No, I have a little sister. A little? Okay, you don't have an older sibling at all. I don't know. That's that's why you that's why you didn't see reality bites Because it's a little before my time honestly barely but you have an older sister I have an older sister. So yes, I you have an older sister. I have a younger sister yeah So all the stuff that she, all the stuff that I introduced her to was all the, you know, the nerdy shit that I was into, like Star Wars and Star Trek and ah Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles and all that shit. Yeah. And Garbert. I mean, Gilbert.
00:58:09
Speaker
Gilbert? Gerbert. Gerbert. Gerbert. Who's that little orange puppet guy? Gerbert! Well, I miss that guy. I sent you a gif of Gerbert in the group chat, yeah or I put one in the group chat, and you about lost your damn mind. I lost my mind. I absolutely lost my mind. I love that little dude. It's Gerbert because Gerber is the baby food brand, and it's like one letter off from the baby food. Um, but yeah, after earth, so this movie has got like the early part has definitely got some enders game vibes. And then we get like.
00:58:46
Speaker
the There's some Avatar vibes, some Predator vibes, ah particularly when you get like the the big monster, the Ursa. And oh my God, can we just choreograph that that scene just a little more? like i'm Honestly, I'm pissed that we saved it for the end. I kind of want that thing to be slowly hunting in the entire movie. let me I don't want to go all John Baron-thaw on you, Steven, but let me ask you something. How? Do those monsters see anything? How do they get around? If the only way that they can quote-unquote see is by tracking pheromones, how do they move about terrain they are not familiar with? They were brought to this place. This is not a place they're familiar with. How, I mean, do they not, they don't have eyes. How do they know where they're going? How do they not constantly running into trees, falling off of cliffs, like impaling themselves on shit? How?
00:59:41
Speaker
It's a less well thought out, A Quiet Place, another thing that I noticed. Because A Quiet Place, it's the sound. like they They move around like by echolocation. Echolocation, which makes sense. Makes sense, right yeah. This is like, ah I mean, echolocation but for scent. Yeah, it's not it's not particularly well defined, and unfortunately. A rock isn't afraid, man. A tree is not afraid. Right, but maybe they emit like their own sense. And so they're able to separate those profiles from prey. I honestly don't know. I'm guessing because this movie is not interested in explaining it. Headwave, headwave, headwave. It's one of those things that ah ah a writer puts in a script because it sounds badass. And then everyone who reads it goes, that's badass. I like that. But no one asks the very obvious question that makes them go, oh, I, hmm.
01:00:38
Speaker
You know, huh. How do they know? You know, that's that's a good. I hadn't. Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. No. Yeah. We just we just don't we don't get to that point, I'm afraid.

Themes in Shyamalan's Films: Children and Families

01:00:51
Speaker
No, which is a big old fucking bummer. That really bothered me. I think I ranted ah when I was doing this movie, I went outside and I was talking to my pal Marv, who's taking care of the campground tonight. And I think I ran into him for about five minutes about how stupid that was.
01:01:10
Speaker
Appreciate you Marv for listening to Tucker's Rants. Unhinged Rants. Oh,
01:01:18
Speaker
oh I'm sure he is. Still, we we can sympathize with the guy. um This movie wastes its female cast members, like, utterly. You get some incredibly talented people like Sophie Okonedo and Zoe Kravitz. Zoe Kravitz might be the most beautiful human being to ever exist. Oh, and I believe them as mother and daughter too, because they have the same mouth, the same exact mouth and teeth. Like from here down, they're exactly the same person.
01:01:53
Speaker
I mean, and I love, I love Sophie Okonedo. I think she should be doing more. She should be a bigger, more recognizable name, because she's unbelievably good. This is, we talked about her in Aeon Flux, but she's nominated for an Oscar for Hotel Rwanda, a Secret Life of Bees, like but she she's in Death on the Nile, that one of those um was the Kenneth Branagh, Erkill Poirot films, the second of those. our lunchla films As discussed on our Wild Wild West episode, yeah um she will be in our upcoming episode on a Hellboy.
01:02:36
Speaker
like 2019 because she's in that movie as well but like she is so good like I love it when she shows up and shit she I just don't see her in very much like it's like no one realizes how fucking good she is and I wish more people realized it because damn it she's great
01:02:58
Speaker
She really is great. She's the Secret Life of Bees, which is, ah she's she's she's putting a little too much mustard on the sandwich on that one, but she is very good in that movie. But she's a future episode of this podcast, Stormbreaker. I mean, she's she's been on a fair amount of failed franchise starters, but no, fucking great. Love her, love her, want to see her do more. Please start putting Sofia Canado in more things. Please and thank you. I second that. And yeah, again, Zodiac's Kravitz might be the most gorgeous human being on the face of the planet.
01:03:35
Speaker
I mean, she's the daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz. Two very beautiful people. two Two of the other most beautiful people. It's like she's like genetically engineered in a lab to be the most perfect human being. like My brain can't fathom the level of attractiveness. But you here think she's also insanely talented. She's so good. And she's got ah she's directing a movement that's coming out this year that I'm Honestly, excited to see. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of stoked to see it. It's called Blink Twice. It's ah it's got ah Channing Tatum, Naomi Aki, Alia Shawkat, Christian Splater. Yeah. I've seen the trailer for that. I know Joel Osment, Kyle McLaughlin. I don't either. It's pretty wild. I am fucking all in on it though. And the fact that Zoe Kravitz is directing
01:04:27
Speaker
that right up to the front of my legs. And speaking of um famous kids directing movies, the movie Long Legs, I didn't have any interest in it until I heard it was directed by Oz motherfucking Perkins. Norman Bates is done, dude. I actually might go see that one for my birthday later this week. Please do and let me know how it is because I think I'm probably going to see it on Monday or Sunday depending on when we record next week. This this episode, by the way, im dropping on my birthday. So there's that. Fantastic. and Just pause this episode wherever you are and sing happy birthday to me and I will know and I will thank you.
01:05:07
Speaker
It's true. You'll be like how like even though Jaden couldn't hear his dad, he was like like intuitively doing those things at the end. Yes, exactly. and You've got to go up to you. I can't even do the asset. You've got to go up to the mountain. Well, no, can you say it like that? And it sounds like his character from Oh, God, what's that movie? Tell the truth. um Is that concussion? Oh, is that really weird Oscar play that he did concussion? um
01:05:40
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I think that is it tell the truth um It's cuz it's not collateral beauty. So it must be concussion. But yeah, there you go Yeah, tell the truth Tell the truth man. That's all we can do that you can do um But yeah, so I mean, I don't know this I I love the world building of this, like all the creatures effects and shit and the kind of design of the world feel very Avatar to me. Like, and this movie came out like four years after Avatar, so it has to be a point of consideration, particularly given how much they wanted to build this movie out after the fact, like they wanted this thing to do be huge.
01:06:24
Speaker
What's the, okay, look, here's the part of the show that we don't do sometimes, but when we remember to do it, we do it, so here it is and shut the fuck up. What is the sequel to this? This is a self, this is a bottle story. This is a monster of the week story. This doesn't get it to be continued. This isn't a multi-arc thing. No, they did their thing. That was a thing. It happened. Everybody's deciding to move on and do different things that would not make a good movie. You do one or two things. One, the thing they would probably insist on doing is you make it about Jaden who actually decides to follow in his father's footsteps and not work with mom and like his, you know, mission, his first mission as a ranger or something. Or second, what they should do is just expand out the world. Tell other stories set in this world.
01:07:18
Speaker
um stories of the Academy stories of so here's what they wanted to do what they had planned to do this was supposed to be and this was Will Smith's initial pitch was that this be the start of a multimedia franchise called 1000 AE there was going to be a film sequel a TV show I'm sorry, an animated TV show and a live action TV show. Oh, playing the ape style. Right, webisodes, mobisodes, a video game, i consumer products, nice and vague there, theme park attractions, documentaries, comics. Can Coosie? Can I get a Coosie? Maybe. That's all I wanted. You can't now, but in some alternate world where this was a hit, maybe.
01:08:10
Speaker
Maybe I'll jump into that timeline at some point. I'll bring one back for Steven. An educational program collaboration and partnership with NASA. Oh, that would be so cool. Cologne and perfume lines. That's dumb. And an entire social media platform. That's taking it a bit too far. He wanted this to be an immersive audience experience. But the movie fucking bombs. and that was never going to happen. It's kind of one of those, the ambition is a little too big, a little too great. And so we don't end up quite getting there because again, like you said, half of this stuff, how the fuck? yeah And not to mention the fact that there's a shit ton of like, that people have pulled like a shit ton of like Scientology shit in here, ah because there was a ah ah period around this time, Will Smith is,
01:09:11
Speaker
rumored to be flirting with Scientology. Is he still Scientologized? Do we know? I don't know. Jada. I'm sorry. We're keeping her name out of our fucking mouths. This mini series is his unnamed wife actually writes about that in her recent autobiography, where she announced that they've been separated for like two decades or whatever. I almost bought that the other day. Yeah. Yeah.
01:09:41
Speaker
um Anyway. Anyway. and for but you no she um ah But she says she never joined, and joining was never something that she had intended to do, but she absolutely used study tech, the Scientology-like technology, to homeschool her kids. well And apparently Jaden really took to it, which might be why he's in this movie. But that track he's, he's a little out there. He's a good kid, but he's a little out there, man. The whole fear is not real thing kind of reeks of Scientology to me. Yeah. And honestly, like a lot of the messages from movies that I like that have to do with fear is that fear is very helpful. If you're well, I mean, if doom taught us anything, it's that fear is the mind killer.
01:10:31
Speaker
Sure. I'm just saying, usually the message is, you know, you can conquer your fear, you can make that fear work for you. Right. Instead of being like, you just don't have it. No, that's an actual medical condition. I heard a show on NPR a couple years ago, where this lady just does not feel fear, not because she she doesn't want to, or because she's made herself not do it. It's because there's something wrong with her brain. I believe it. Without problem, I believe. Yes. So I think maybe, I don't know, I guess it's a good talent to have when these monsters, the only way they can see you is they can smell your fear. But outside of that, that's a pretty fucking shitty way to live because fear is a motivator for a reason. Fear exists for a reason in your psyche. In a better movie, that would be the point of the film.
01:11:26
Speaker
That sounds like it would be, but nope, they steer right into it. Right, yeah. Just like they do with that fucking storm at the beginning of the movie, just steer right into it. I know, they're laying somewhere. Right. Exactly, oh my God, it's, ah yeah. and And that's the shit that I don't like about this. And also, you you you're a little more positive on Jaden in this than I am. I, no thank you. I think don't really care for what he's doing here. I think he has the physicality for the role. It's really interesting to watch him do some of the things he does physically in this film ah just because of his body type. Sure. um I don't think he has the the the emotionality or the personality to play this role, though, I'm afraid.
01:12:14
Speaker
Again, if this were a sci-fi original, he'd be perfect for the movie. Correct. Correct. But it's not. It's a big bunch of Hollywood movies. He'd be like, look, you're watching this on the sci-fi channel and you're like, oh, damn. This is ah this is a pretty OK performance. You're watching it in a $130 million dollars movie. You're like, it's OK, I guess. Mm-hmm. It's not terrible, but it's not good. You ever notice that Airman Shyamalan loves working with kids? yeah Wait, in what? Oh, because you got Haley Joel. You've got in like every move. So Wide Awake, a movie about a kid. Yeah, yeah you've got Haley Joel in Sixth Sense, Spencer Treat, Clark and Unbreakable. You've got the the the Breslin kid and the Culkin kid in Signs. You've got families.
01:13:02
Speaker
You got a shit ton of Rugrats in the village. You've got, there's the little kid who can read cereal boxes and lady in the water. um You've got, you know, again, all the kids hanging out with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel in the happening. The entire cast of The Last Airbender is kids. Yeah, that's true. Hey kids, what? No. Where's your mother? Say hi to her for me. The main, the two main characters of The Visit are kids. ah The heroes of Split are kids. Glass might be the only one that doesn't have kids. There are kids on the beach that makes you old, in old, and there's a kid in the knock at the cabin. Like everything he does has kids. Dude loves working with kids.
01:13:48
Speaker
I think here's the deal. I think it's more a lot of his scripts are focused on families. There's always a family of some sort involved. And usually when you have a family, you have a child.

Challenges of Working with Child Actors

01:14:00
Speaker
o So I don't think it's like he's like, I want to write stories about kids. It's more like I want to write stories about stuff like signs. Like, yeah, that's a family story, even to an extent, the sixth sense, because, you know, it's the single mom. Well, is she a single mom? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I just I don't know. It doesn't stand out to me is what I'm saying.

John Landis's Controversial Film Shoot

01:14:23
Speaker
I mean, I just it's something I i kind of recognize as I was because, you know, some directors don't want to work with kids because, you know, yeah kids can only keep certain hours. bla Right. it's It's a whole thing. I mean, if you're a certain director who directed a segment of the Twilight Zone movie, those don't matter anyway. And okay.
01:14:41
Speaker
And that's how people die. Whatever. Labor laws. Those are just safety laws, dude. Well, but there were kids working, too. So labor and safety laws. Dude was just breaking them left and right. Somehow got a credit. Not sure how. Well, well, well, well, look, I don't think he meant to do it, but I think he deserves to go to jail for at least a bit for being reckless. Uh, yeah. You know what I mean? I don't think John Landis was like, I'm going to kill these motherfuckers, but he was real. I don't think I don't think he was either. But again, it's kind of one of those guilt by omission kind of thing. He was careless and he was selfish and people got killed because of it. So he should have at least got and a punishment. Exactly. Beyond like the slap on the wrist that he ended up getting or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, go there. That's probably the reason why we're never going to do Twilight Zone.
01:15:36
Speaker
Even though it qualifies for our for our list. I haven't seen it since I found that out That's been about 20 years man. I just this past week watched the the the John Lithgow, uh, Terrett, 30,000 feet segment of that. I could not just know those segments. Yeah. There's a Joe Dante segment in there that fucking rules. I know there is. To kick the can, dude. That kick the can is shit. No, that's Spielberg. No, we did. It's a good life. Oh, yeah. That's the one with Kevin McCarthy in it. And like all those, like, canted, like, weird German expressionist angles and shit. Yes, dude. Yes, dude.
01:16:19
Speaker
Oh, I know. Dude, you just said it was fucking kick the can. I get my anthology movies mixed up, you know, you like Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, the British one, not the show. I'm talking about the British movie. Sure, sure. ah Creep show, all that shit coming out in within like two decades of each other. I get a lot of those

Nepotism and Family Connections in Hollywood

01:16:40
Speaker
segments mixed up. The director's mixed up. I'm sorry, Steven, to have disappointed you. Uh, my disappointment knows no balance. Um, sorry. to chair Forgive me possibly ah potentially maybe keep updated. Let me know. Let me know if there's anything I can do. We'll see. Um, but yeah, no, I just, I don't, I don't think it's very good. And of course this movie got ripped for nepotism because of course, I mean, we'll very clearly trying to make his son a celebrity.
01:17:14
Speaker
I'm look, I'm very torn on the whole concept of nepotism of the nepo baby. Yes, I understand where people are like, well, I want to do that and I don't have those opportunities. I get that because I'm one of those people. Sure. You know, I know I dated a gal in high school who is very well to do. And she's a neurosurgeon who lives in Manhattan now. Her brother is a very famous opera singer in Germany right now. And her sister is a professional rugby player. right now right so I recognize that opportunities exist for different people for different reasons but what the fuck are they supposed to do look if you're the kid of someone famous
01:17:57
Speaker
and you want to do something, what are you just supposed to be like, oh, I can't do that because I don't want to be a Nebo baby? No, follow your fucking dreams, dude. If you want to do something and you think you're good at it, go for it. that's Because they're actually attainable for you, unlike the rest of us. Exactly. And that's why I'm torn because I get where people are like, that's not fair. Yeah, that's not fair. But what do you want them to do? Just not do it because you can't? What do you what do you want them to do? What are they supposed to do? Not follow their dreams? Not do the things that they want to do just because they have a shit ton of money that they didn't have anything to do with getting? It's like even if it's a shitty parent that's like an oil baron or something. Those kids didn't do shit, man. Those kids were just born in the world randomly like the rest of us. You know what I mean? Sure. Yeah. That's why I'm torn on the Nepo baby thing. I'm kind of right split down the middle. I understand both sides and I don't know where I stand. And you know, there are, you know, some
01:18:51
Speaker
i think it be yeah think it's an I think it's a question of privilege and whether or not you recognize your privilege. I think a lot of Nepo babies are like, ah no, I got to where I am because I worked hard and blah, blah, blah. And I imagine that you think that's true. But the fact is, you could there are other people working five times as hard who don't even have an their ability to get a foot in the door. Yeah. um Like Nick Cage changed his last name because he didn't want people to associate him with Francis Ford Coppola, his famous uncle. And he's like, I don't want that to be the reason people think that I got where I am and managed to carve it out. Like I remember like within the industry, I think it was fairly well known, but like um a lot of people are like, Hey, did you know Nick Cage is related to Francis Ford Coppola? Really? What? That's weird. Like, so.
01:19:44
Speaker
and yeah I mean, there's it's out there. It happens. and there And then there are some people who absolutely recognize it, like Jamie Lee Curtis, who's like, yeah, that's right. My mom was Janet Leigh. My dad was Tony Curtis. What? But she still like

'After Earth's' Box Office Performance

01:20:00
Speaker
barely got cast in Halloween. And even then had to like languish in low budget horror movies for a number of years before she finally got to be Jamie Lee Curtis. so I'm saying it's just, it's not a black and white issue. I think that's where I stand on it. I think context matters a lot. It's not, there's a lot of gray in the whole nepo baby conversation. I hate it when people are like, oh, fuck nepo babies. And it's like every one of them, because like, there's a lot of living.
01:20:29
Speaker
But I think when when when people think Nepo babies, though, I think they think something like this, where the the more famous parent is actually going, I will do this with my kid. Doesn't matter if he's good. Doesn't matter if he wants to. He's going to do it because I want him to do it and we're going to do it together. And that's that's what that is. So you're saying this movie is the mission in this movie?
01:20:55
Speaker
And this where like they're trying to get closer or whatever. And ah Jaden's mom in the movie talks to Will and then yeah they he's like, OK, you're coming with me on this mission. Are you asking me or telling you? Yeah, that's the behind the scenes shit. Absolutely. I mean, what it I mean, because again, I've heard that will did say, look, you want to be a part of my life, you got to do this shit with me. And after this, Jayden's like, you know what, I'm a pass.
01:21:27
Speaker
Maybe try the music thing for a little while, but I'm going to pass on this movie shit. I don't want yo to. be To be fair, though, they do seem to be, I do watch a lot of Will Smith's ah YouTube channel and they do still like all three of them, Will and Jayden and Willow. They seem pretty fucking close. Good. I am. I am glad for that. Makes me happy. Yeah. Yeah. If nothing else, I'm glad for that. But. Yeah, this movie, um it did not do so well at the box office. um On a $130 million dollars budget, it opens to 27.5, which is good enough for third place at the box office. ouch
01:22:09
Speaker
um not even the number one new movie of the of the week. a And then it goes on to gross just a little more than half of that at the domestic box office, 60.5 domestic. Now, it does make up a lot of that in in the international. You got 191 million international, which those are good numbers. But again, you got a sci-fi movie with Will Smith star power. That's going to do well in the foreign markets. So the total worldwide box office, 251.5 million worldwide, which is respectable, but like domestic's where you need to be.
01:22:51
Speaker
Well, and with the kind of marketing they would have done with this movie, especially internationally there, that's them. Like they're all wiping their brow, going, whew, because they just broke even. Maybe breaking even. Nobody lost any money. Nobody made anybody, but nobody lost anybody. Here's the thing, even in successful movies, nobody makes any money. Like people with like backdoor deals and shit, they're always like, yeah, apparently that movie never made money because I've not seen a cent from that movie. Like it's that kind of shit because Hollywood math is notoriously awful and only benefits the studio heads.

Box Office Rankings and 'Fast and Furious' Admiration

01:23:27
Speaker
So there you go. Yeah. Hurry for art. um So.
01:23:32
Speaker
Oh, I got the daily chart open. Damn it, Steven, get the weekend chart open for this weekend. I am awful. What can I say? I'm mad at you right now. ah You should be. I'm rage building.
01:23:48
Speaker
That little thing just saved your life.
01:23:52
Speaker
All right. So not so goody mob. They're not so goody mob. And Michael Bay's there. Yeah. Great time. I want to watch that probably tomorrow if I have a chance. Can we bring the brewskis? Yes, of course. You may most certainly bring the brewskis. This movie opens May 31st, 2013. It opens at, as I said before, number three behind the second weekend of Fast and Furious six. Oh. the, I would say third best in the franchise.
01:24:23
Speaker
Oh, and you're I mean, you are I like that franchise. I like I'm not an expert, but I like that franchise. Yeah. So here's the thing. Like, we respect your view on cinema and for you to embrace a franchise like The Fast and the Furious. It makes me feel like we should really listen to what you had to say about it. It's fucking good. I'm just say I've not seen X yet and I don't remember nine. So I really need to just do a full franchise rewatch and just get back into it. Let me know when you do because I wanna watch it with your excitement fueling me. Okay. I tried it earlier this year and then I ended up abandoning it because I got busy, but yeah. yeah ah in In second place, opening new this week. This is the number one new movie from Lionsgate. Now you see me. A movie with a the maybe the most wasted sequel potential ever in the sequel of the name of that sequel.
01:25:19
Speaker
You know what they actually called the sequel to that movie, Tucker? Now you see me too? Yeah. You know what they should have called it? Now you see me again? Now you don't. Yeah, dude. Wasted potential. After Earth in third place, in fourth place. God, I really didn't like this movie. I'd like this movie so So I saw it in theaters, didn't like it. Didn't like it so much. I didn't see them one that came after it. Neither did anyone else. That one ended up being very good. And they stopped making them after that. It's Star Trek Into Darkness. Oh, I liked him Into Darkness. Oh, Into Darkness was the bad one. I liked it. In fact, I think Into Darkness might be my least favorite Star Trek movie.
01:26:08
Speaker
I liked the second one. I thought the third one, um, just felt like a really long episode of a TV show that we should be watching instead of these movies. No, I really, really loved the third one because it felt like a TV show, but like less than the way that like insurrection felt like a episode of the TV show. Yeah. Let me tell you something about Into Darkness, Steven. I got two words for you. Peter Weller. you are You are kind of a slut for Peter Weller, it's true. ah have Yeah, dude. Yeah, I really, really am. There's so many they jokes I want to say right now that are just really, really crude, and I'm just going to say, like all of them. like Like a slut, yes, that's the perfect way to put it.
01:26:54
Speaker
And we'll leave it there. well We'll just let that one sit and let let that one still. Oh, Peter Weller. In fifth place, future episode of this podcast, Epic. oh What if that would what if it was epic? Yeah, what if what if there was an epic what if there was an epic in its second week? um Yeah, I guess we will and Yeah in sixth place running up the top ten in sixth place. You've got the hangover three In seventh place you've got Iron Man three In eighth place boss Lerman's the great Gatsby. No, thanks.
01:27:29
Speaker
In ninth place, I'm gonna butcher the name of this movie. I've never heard of this movie. Yejawani Haidiwani. I don't know what this is. Oh, this is a Bollywood movie. Okay. Oh. Right on. Cool. That's awesome. Did not do very well domestic, but made a made a decent amount in India. So there you go. um And in tenth place, Mud. Fuck is that? It's the Matthew McConaughey movie. Mud. Oh yeah, where he's all muddy. Yeah, where he's mud. He plays mud. He rolls the mud and then he becomes muddy. Right, you got it. You're Memby. I've basically seen it at this point. There you

'After Earth' Critical Reception

01:28:11
Speaker
go. ah The Tomatometer score on this one is a 12%. Critics' consensus after Earth is a dull, ploddingly paced exercise in sentimental sci-fi and the latest setback for director M. Night Shyamalan's once promising career.
01:28:28
Speaker
Dude, yeah. Oof. The meta score on this one is a 33 based on generally unfavorable reviews from 41 critics. And the letterboxed score. Tucker wanna take a guess as to the letterbox score of 2013's After Earth. Between 1.9 and 2.3. 1.7. Whoa, whoa, letterbox. I'm sure you'd have some meme reviews for this shit. Some five star senseless, ridiculous bullshit. I mean, there are 1,292 five star reviews. However, there are 25,801 one star reviews.
01:29:15
Speaker
21,062 star reviews. The hate is too strong. 17,203 half star reviews and 15,562 one and a half stars. Uh, it's, it's, the hate is just even more powerful than letterbox can handle. The hate a swelling in you now. like an l I thought I was low balling it. Honestly, I thought they were going to surprise me and like, cause you know, they're silly over there just for fun. They can be like sometimes. they can Not for any reason, but for fun, just for the memes, meme reviews. Right. I mean, that was evidenced by Marmaduke, I guess, but yeah.
01:29:59
Speaker
So Tucker, out of five stars, how are you rating 2013's After Earth? It gets two stars for me because honestly, about a third of the way through this, I was like, if I just kind of change my perception of this and think of it as like the most expensive sci-fi original ever made, I might have a good time. And um when i when I did that, I had a little bit of a good time. I was able to accept some of the the shortcomings and the performances and such when I looked at them in a way that kind of lowered my expectations even lower than they already were. It's a superpower of mine. But i had i had I had a little bit of fun. I kind of want to watch this again, just to put the nail in the coffin so that I hate it. OK. Because I'm pretty sure I hate this movie. I mean, it's it's on your chuffalist, on your voodoo.
01:30:52
Speaker
I was able to, you know, just kind of change my way of thinking and still enjoy this movie. So I don't know. I don't know what I want to do with it. But two stars, two stars. It's a one and a half for me because I really dug the world building. And even though I think they're wasted, I think both Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo are great in this. Fantastic. Yeah. So there you go. That. Is our episode on 2013's After Earth? Welcome to After Earth, I guess, is is the way to say that. But, uh... Off to Earth. Welcome to Earth. That's how, that's how Cypher Rage would say welcome to Earth from Independence Day. Yeah, dude. Do you know where we are? We are on Earth. Um, but yeah, tune in next week for the final episode of Getting Jiggy in July, or is it...

Podcast Promotion and Listener Engagement

01:31:45
Speaker
um But we'll be back next week with a brand new episode, we hope, unless life finds a way. um But until then, let's plug some shit. Yeah, let's plug our shit. um This is the disenfranchised podcast. You can find us wherever podcasts are sold. And while you're out there, if you could leave us a five star rating and review, we surely would appreciate it and would definitely, definitely read that review on the podcast, live on the podcast. um and I need to do a silly voice if you want me to. If you want to. yeah I can do some. I'm pretty okay at some impressions. Some. Some. Do you have a Christopher Walken? I do, but I don't want to give it away. I don't want people to know if it's good or not. Okay. I'll tell you. Everyone. Go ahead. It's about a seven out of 10. Okay. On my impression scale. All right. who's the one What's the one you do the best?
01:32:43
Speaker
Shit, I don't know, man. You don't have like one of your back pocket that you kind of go to and pull out? I was doing somebody the other day. I don't remember who it was. Fuck, I don't know, man. I don't. i Look, I just try everybody, really. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. OK. Yeah. but um But yeah, go ahead and and if you want us to read some more of stuff you've written on the on the podcast, ah shoot us an email, disenfranchpod at gmail dot.com. Let us know what you think of the podcast. um Let us know what failed franchise starters that we haven't covered that you would like to see us cover. um If we could revisit an episode, what episode would you like to see us revisit? But shoot us an email. We'll read that on the pod as well. You can find us on social media. We are at
01:33:32
Speaker
disenfranch pod, um, on what is it? Blue sky and letter boxed Instagram, um, YouTube, something else. I don't remember. I don't know. ben i Is there a thread still? No, i read we're we're on threads, but I don't use threads. but We don't thread. We don't thread. Okay. um I don't know. Maybe we should start. Should we thread some more? now that the the king of blue sky has been publicly disgraced maybe we should maybe we should go to threads was blue ski ever a thing though because i don't feel like it was i feel like you tried to make it a thing but it was never a thing i mean it's i'm there other people might not be but i'm there i'd rather do that one than the one owned by zuckerberg dude i just want you to know that i've never
01:34:21
Speaker
ever heard any other human being mention blue sky, nor have I ever seen an article about it on the internet. I've never seen it mentioned on Reddit. i've Outside of your mention of it, I have no knowledge of it. See you. Okay. Yeah. You feel better? yeah I mean a little. I was kind of hoping for a little validation, but that's fine. I mean, you're from me? Yeah, I mean, just because we're friends, honestly. I mean, I love you, but nah. I know. That's all I needed. Thank you.
01:34:57
Speaker
Um, ah but yeah, um and uh, oh disenfranch pod at gmail dot or no, um, I already said that uh patreon dot.com slash disenfranch pod here You get the the official conversation ah Join the free feed for episodes for the weekly main feed episodes pay five bucks a month for all the paywall content and there is a a significant amount of it. So go check that out. ah Tucker, when are we releasing another episode, that that episode of what are we watching that we recorded not that long ago? Oh, oh, oh, Stephen, I'm glad you asked. You mean the two episodes of what are we watching that were we we recorded for June?
01:35:36
Speaker
Yes. Are those ones that you're talking about? They sure are. Now it is halfway through July and Naria, one of them has dropped. Well, let me tell you, I've, I don't know, it's been busy. Look, after about the third week of June, the campground gets so busy that you wouldn't even, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you how busy it got. You wouldn't believe me. I would. Like I barely have time to do anything. I barely have to do any kind of podcasting stuff. a lot of Most of the time, pretty much all the time this season, I've been doing my editing at work because that's the only time I have to do it late night at work. So it's just, it's been rough trying to find time to do it. Except for when your computer broke last week. That's true.
01:36:24
Speaker
Though I don't think I really had time to do it then either. Like I'm glad you took over last week for the main feed episode because I didn't know how the fuck I was going to get that done if I've had my computer. So if the main feed episode sucked last week, it's all on me. And i look, I listened to the intro. It sounded fine. I listened to the intro and then the fade, the the transition, and it sounded fine. Okay. Right on. and I'll take it. So about five minutes total. So you also didn't listen to the whole thing. How dare you? I wish I had time. I wish I fucking had time, man. I really would. I get it, man. but
01:36:55
Speaker
but it's gonna cool down a couple weeks and it's gonna cool down i am goingnna try tomorrow and in the subsequent days to see if i can't um get them both out honestly because it wouldn't take me long because those i don't i don't like nitpick through those i just skim through and make sure there's no dead air or anything so it takes me on a two hour podcast it would take me about twenty five minutes to get it done i Whereas like with the main feed, because the way I do it, a two hour podcast would take me basically all night and a little bit of the next night. Right. Yeah. Cause yeah, you've, you've created more work for yourself, but it's, it's enhanced the listening experience. So we call it a wash. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
01:37:39
Speaker
But yeah, head on over to patreon dot.com slash Jason French Pod. And maybe soon, Tucker will release those already recorded episodes of What Are We Watching? And um yeah, what? Oh, yeah, I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy. Find me. I'm at Chewy Walrus on most social platforms. Some of them I use, some of them I don't. I don't know, find me, figure it out. um Brett doesn't really do socials anymore, so I don't follow him. ah Tucker, where are you these days?
01:38:10
Speaker
Brett still likes my stuff on Instagram sometimes. He's lurking. He's lurking. He does. ah Speaking of, I am on Instagram um at ice909, I-C-E-N-I-N-E, the number zero and the ah number nine. That's also where you can find me on YouTube. Oh, also, there's the tuck mugs on Instagram tuck underscore mugs. Mugs. I've been spreading the word about tuck mugs, man. I've been getting people interested in tuck mugs. I know sometimes it feels like it takes us a while to get stuff out. But
01:38:52
Speaker
It's always worth it. It's always worth it. Did you, the one, the Ari's mug that we put up like a couple of weeks ago. Fantastic. And it's a perfect example. It's a perfect example of where like, look on my posts, I'll write a fucking novel about a mug. yeah you will You don't have to you will not have to. Just a little blurb that gets the point across. That's fine too. Whatever. Whatever. I did find it a bit odd that the person that actually writes books just put like a sentence instead of like a couple paragraphs, but you know. she She's busy dedicating her time to writing actual books. yeah All right, cut her some slack.
01:39:31
Speaker
I tease anyway, we're we are friends, we're all friends. We are, we we are friends. But check out TuckMugs, Tuck underscore mugs. Sometimes we update it, sometimes we don't. I'd say we get a couple things in there each month. We try. A self-published and a guest mug, usually. We try. It's worth it. And you know what? If we did it all the time, it wouldn't be as special. If we were dropping like three or four times a week, then it would just get boring. But like it's something you anticipate and you wait for. And then finally it drops. You're like, oh, look at that mug. That's fantastic. That's that's the way to do it. I would like to post more, but I definitely don't want to post a shit done for sure. So anyway, tuck bugs, underscore mugs. That's where I am on the Internet's on the Infernet's check out the ads.
01:40:17
Speaker
the end. All right, cool. And that's that's all she wrote. That is our episode on 2013's After Earth. Join us next week for the final installment of Getting Jiggy in July or Is It Wink? Uh, and so until next time, uh, uh, this has been the disenfranchised podcast. I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy from my co-host Tucker and the absent Brett Wright. Until next time, remember the danger is very real, but fear is probably also very real. I'm afraid of everything, especially you.