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Anna and the Apocalypse with Doug Davenport
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Merry Christmas, Morbid Hive! Happy Holidays! Join Nicholas and Doug Davenport (These Guys Got Juice Podcast) for a very special Christmas episode! They're discussing the Horror/Comedy/Christmas Musical, Anna and the Apocalypse!
They spend time discussing the strength of the musical numbers, especially in comparison to Wicked: For Good. Nicholas and Doug also spend some time discussing their Christmas movie watches from this year. We hope you all enjoy this special Christmas episode!
Thank you for all of the support in the first year of the podcast, the Morbid team loves and appreciates you all!
Follow Nicholas on Letterboxd
Listen to These Guys Got Juice on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Remember to follow us on Instagram @morbidcuriosities_pod
Email us at morbidcuriosities10@gmail.com with comments/questions/concerns/recommendations
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Transcript
Introduction and Santa's Holiday Insights
00:00:58
Speaker
you
00:01:12
Speaker
What's up, guys? We're Morbid Curiosities, your favorite horror movie podcast, and we're back with another episode. I'm one of your hosts, Nicholas Ewers, and Merry Christmas to everybody. Happy holidays to everybody. Oh, ho, ho, ho. Merry Slamis.
00:01:28
Speaker
And joining me today is a very special guest, Santa Claus. I talked about him on the whole last episode, the Silent Night Deadly Night episode. how is it Spoilers, he's not in that movie.
00:01:41
Speaker
by Oh, ho ho i they approached me, but I was busy. But yeah, i was able to snag the actual Santa for this one. So Merry Christmas to you guys. Santa, how are you doing?
00:01:55
Speaker
Oh, I'm I'm beat this time a year. This is i mean, this is really the only time of year where I'm busy. It's and then the rest of the year I get the chill. But now it's just nonstop, man. It's ah kind of kind just ready for Christmas to be over, if you know what i mean.
00:02:12
Speaker
Real quick, ah top three horror movies from Santa. Can you throw them out there real quick? Uh, well, Home Alone is terrifying because a child gets left alone and and the parents are so terrible and and those parents deserve coal, that's for sure. Uh, let's see, what are some other scary movies? Um...
00:02:35
Speaker
ah dinosaurs are scary. So Jurassic Park, like I was there, you know, like people don't talk about how Santa, I'm immortal. So I've been here since before there were like other people. You preceded people. Yeah, I was, I was here for the dinosaurs and those motherfuckers were scary. So, and Spielberg really, really tapped into that. And then, I don't know, like Halloween or something. Michael Myers, he's a naughty boy. a Competing holiday. Yeah, I'm surprised Nightmare Before Christmas isn't up there since you're an actual, like, you're a victim in that movie.
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, it's it's an intense scene, but, you know, it's it's justs just a very creative concept. And I i love i love what they did with it. You know, I love what not Tim Burton did with with that movie.
00:03:25
Speaker
All right. Henry Selick, I think is his name. Yeah, of course I remember saying. know everyone. i have a list. I just had to... ah You try keeping the name of every human in in your brain. and animal. I know the names of every animal. Even if the animals aren't named, I know them individually.
00:03:43
Speaker
What's the name of my dog? Their their real name or their slave name? Oh, wow. ah Well, I think Santa... Because his chosen name is... this It's Henrietta, so, you know. or it's Oh, wow.
00:04:00
Speaker
Well, I think that's all the time we've got for for Santa. Oh, ho, ho,
Doug's Take on Santa's Movie Choices
00:04:06
Speaker
ho. And also joining me on the podcast is the host of the These Guys Got Juice podcast. It's ah the Doug or not himself, Doug Davenport. How are you doing, Doug? What's what's up, guys? Sorry you had to bear witness to all of that.
00:04:23
Speaker
No, no. i'm I mean, I'm a big fan. um Yeah. Some of his choices for, like, chris ah the horror movies were a little surprising because, like, I don't... I mean, as a kid, I thought Jurassic Park was scary, but I don't even think of, like... Like, Home Alone? That's not horror movie. Yeah. don't know. It's not really that scary, but, I mean, he he's kind of a strange guy. He demanded that you didn't talk the whole time he was in the studio. I thought that was a weird power move. He yeah demanded that he be the only guest on this episode, but he was only available for five minutes, so... ah
00:04:56
Speaker
yeah i don't know yeah i just kind of hid and like didn't we didn't tell him that i was also here since he didn't want me on the episode and now i can i'm free to kind of speak my mind now but you know i'm not gonna hold against him he's he's eccentric but he just he's a brilliant guy you know it's kind of like we just give our our favorite directors a pass sometimes because we're like yeah they're kind of quirky but you It's like, oh, it's James Cameron. Does he have an ego? Yeah, but I mean, he makes those movies, so he delivers. Yeah, he I heard he's like a James Cameron with the personality of David O. Russell, which can be very complicated. He just starts throwing shit at the elves and yelling at them. like that I wouldn't want to work for him. I like the work that he puts out, but like if there was a job opening at the North Pole and they're like, yeah, we need like new elves, I'm like...
00:05:48
Speaker
That almost sounds as bad as working like in an Amazon factory. Yeah, or for like Ellen DeGeneres or something. Yeah. yeah Yeah, shots fired at all the people on on this Christmas episode. But hell yeah, guys. Merry Christmas. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for coming on the podcast, Doug. Yeah, thanks for having me. I feel like i' I'm finally in the the Christmas spirit. i wasn't i Not that I like...
00:06:16
Speaker
I'm anti Christmas. I just like kind of wasn't feeling it this year. And then now that maybe just because it's the week of but I I mean, we'll
Christmas Movies and Genre Blending Discussion
00:06:24
Speaker
we'll get to it. I feel like this this movie kind of did but push me and in a Christmassy mood. Have you done any Christmas movie watching in the past like month or so?
00:06:33
Speaker
Just like what's been on, like what my parents have on. So just be like, you know, like classic movie shit like White Christmas or, you know, ah ah It's a Wonderful Life. Jim Carrey's Grinch, of course.
00:06:50
Speaker
my hates that. The movie he directed. my my my dad hates jim carrey so that that would not be on uh unless i put it on um oh wow and i i i haven't even put on like any shane black movies that's how like not christmasy i had been feeling like i usually get like kiss kiss bang bang i mean i watched his newer movie which it has a scene where it's like, I guess, yeah, that is a Christmas movie. Cause that's legally it's Shane black. It has to be, but that wasn't that movie didn't like put me in the mood. I wasn't like, yeah, Christmas.
00:07:24
Speaker
Well, I'd recommend the predator. If you want to get in a Christmas Shane but black type of mode, I think that would be the perfect movie to watch. I still have, that's his one movie that I haven't seen.
00:07:36
Speaker
ah it's It's weird that that's like the, you know, black mark on his filmography when he was in the original Predator and then he becomes a filmmaker that's celebrating his own rights. So you're like, oh, he's going to do a Predator movie? That sounds like like a great fit. And then the movie's not good. like Or maybe it is. Maybe I'll be like a defender. I'll watch I'll be like, you guys just didn't get it.
00:08:01
Speaker
Yeah, I i recently i had a Christmas movie marathon ah the other day. Love Actually ended up on. That's a pretty fun movie. I i i enjoy that one. I don't know if you've seen it or ah what your thoughts on that are.
00:08:16
Speaker
I've seen it. and Some of it like. I feel like movies some movies that I like am introduced to through like via a parent, like like my mom would watch that one a lot. And then like I saw that movie before I even like was into like movie like romantic movies or anything. So i was just like, oh, it's just some boring shit. And then watching it even later, I'm like, oh, is that effect clouding my judgment? Because I'm like, I like these kind of movies now. But then... like I find like the sentimentality of parts of it, like kind of annoyed. Like, I don't know. There's not even like one thing about it that rubs me the the wrong way. It's just like certain movies that kind of um ah like emotional stuff will like work for me. I'll be like, you know, I'll turn into a total sap. I'll be like, Oh, this love is beautiful. And then other movies I'll i'll see and I'll be like, fuck off. Yeah. Yeah. And in in line with awful Christmas movies, in that same day I watched Jingle All the Way, a movie that people seemed to revile, but... You mean a great Christmas movies. That's like one of the best. It's so funny. I was watching it with Rocia and we were laughing like often. It just, I mean, put down the cookie. Yeah. The fucking explosive package bit that Sinbad has in it the movie domestic terrorist.
00:09:43
Speaker
It's played like a Looney Tunes gag. Arnold assaults a little girl to like get a ball out of her mouth. It's it's a wild movie. Yeah, Phil Hartman's like trying to cuck Arnold. He just like bangs all the neighborhood moms.
00:10:01
Speaker
That's a plot point in a kid's movie. Yeah, that movie, great Christmas movie. And then i in that same weekend, I got to the movie that we're talking about today, and not to have a sloppy segue, but...
00:10:15
Speaker
I felt natural to me. Yeah, as natural as it comes. But... i I had a great time with Anna and the Apocalypse, too. I had never seen it before.
00:10:26
Speaker
And I was like, ah this movie got me the most in the Christmas spirit. I didn't realize how hard this would go into like being a Christmas movie. And I mean, there's no point where they unwrap ah yeah unwra presents or leave milk and cookies for Santa or anything like that.
00:10:45
Speaker
But it is like it just is soaked in the Christmas spirit all the way through. And it really brought it out of me You were kind of alluding to the same thing, too. Yeah, I fired it up because I remember hearing about this when it came out. I mean, like a zombie comedy Christmas musical is, you know, the very unique thing. And one of my favorite movies when I was younger was ah a British zombie comedy.
00:11:12
Speaker
ah zombie comedy uh shawn of the dead so like that it kind of was on my radar when it came out and then i just never saw it and i forgot that it even was a musical it until like the very beginning but yeah it got me in the christmas mood and we'll talk about it like ah more in depth in spoilers but like just vaguely i want to say that like the thing that a lot of christmas movies that the ones that do work for me like like like i would say a recent classic christmas movie the holdovers which i should probably watch this week it you know like there's like a melancholy to that movie and like i feel like i'm like yes christmas is ah sad like we should there should be like a sadness underlying the but the thing and that that makes it feel more real mean that's what ah like charlie brown and christmas if uh people who haven't watched a while like that charlie brown's a really fucking sad kid so like that that that's a sad short and like i feel like a lot of my favorite christmas things do have like some kind of like even it's a wonderful life you know it was like tapping into like
00:12:21
Speaker
It's like, yeah, Christmas does make you want to kill yourself, doesn't it? but Yeah, i I vibe with the Charlie Brown Christmas. I just watched that and the Charlie Brown New Year special like a day or two ago. And both are like, even for the melancholy feel of the Christmas one, both have a sweetness to it that I love.
00:12:42
Speaker
The holdovers watch that around Thanksgiving, along with the Catch Me If You Can and Gremlins. Gremlins, that's a great Christmas movie. Another one through and through just Christmas soaked all over this movie. I like I've heard people say like what Gremlins Gremlins is that a a Christmas movie? I'm like, yeah. Have you watched it? It's baked into it.
00:13:06
Speaker
Yeah. Showed out Joe Dante. I love it's They're making a new Gremlins, but it's not going to be Joe Dante. They're getting fucking Christopher Columbus, who did the Home the home Alone movies are good. like Christopher Columbus can make like a good family film that's entertaining, but like I feel like you want Joe Dante is like a live action Looney Tunes filmmaker and I feel like you that's what you want for a gremlin like I feel like there's just no point to doing another gremlins if if you're not gonna get Joe Dante he said he wants to do it to kind of make amends for gremlins too I guess he really hates that movie and wants to kind of
00:13:46
Speaker
course, correct. At least from what I've heard. Columbus did Harry Potter, though, right? He'd be bringing in some of that. the first two, I think, right? The first two, yeah yeah, Yeah, he'd be bringing in that.
00:13:58
Speaker
And those movies have like some monster work, some kind of scary for kid elements. Maybe, i don't know, he'll be bringing something interesting with the things he learned from working on Harry Potter. That would be my best hope.
00:14:12
Speaker
I think he could bring some kind of magic to it. Like I said, like he's a good filmmaker in his own right. i just i it there's there's like It's not just the zany cartoon-ness.
00:14:23
Speaker
There is a dark streak to Joe Dante. like like Putting Mogwai in the... like blender or the the refrigerator in it or not not the the microwave and exploding it like like dark shit like that I'm like this Christopher Columbus gonna have that in him also I still don't think like what we shouldn't forgive him about what he did when he colonized the new world it's like we're just gonna let him get a free pass for what he did to the Indians like yeah ah that that is a very good point and we have been ignoring it for far too long but thank you for bring it up we can finally you know maybe call for justice right here on the podcast yeah not not to be that friend who's too woke but it's like come on guys we're not we're just gonna ignore the elephant in the room um to touch back on anna and the apocalypse you'd mentioned that you had forgotten that it was a musical until um you started watching it Same thing for me. The first song kicked in and I was just like, oh yeah, this is a musical, right? And I had the biggest smile on my face for that whole first song. i was just so happy to be watching a musical. It felt better than watching Wicked for Good, honestly. Okay, are we going to crack that open right now? This is straight up better than Wicked for Good. Oh, this is... Functionally a better musical than Wicked for Good, I think. um
00:15:55
Speaker
That's such, like, because this movie, and we'll we'll go, you know, through it it, like, it hits the emotion, like, there's such an interesting tightrope walk that, like,
00:16:07
Speaker
ah genre blending has to do like one if you're already doing like a zombie comedy that's a that's a tricky like tonal thing to navigate that's that's not easy because you have to decide like how serious you want to take the zombie stuff how funny is it going to be then you add musical on top of that that's trick Because musicals, you have to calibrate different, like a stage musical could be differently toned ah calibrated than when you film it. Because then like then you have to make decisions about like how dramatic do you want want certain parts to be. And I feel like Anan and Apocalypse nails it where Wicked for Good fumbled a lot of those moments for me where I was like, this should be her... Spoilers for Wicked for good, but her sister gets crushed by a house and it like kind of doesn't matter. like It feels like it barely matters to any of the characters in it. And it's like, oh, that's just taking me out of the movie now because like i'm I'm not buying the emotions of these people anymore. It's so weird because I know there's source material for this that has existed for a while, but I didn't realize how forced all of the Wizard of Oz stuff was going to be in Wicked for Good. It like it was weird, yeah.
00:17:16
Speaker
And Anna and the Apocalypse is a movie, much smaller scale, doesn't feel like it's really forcing any of its ideas ah into it. I know it's not juggling you know the Wizard of Oz and the whole legacy that that ah carries, but you know, it just, and in the apocalypse is just a way better experience. I think, but a lesser movie could feel forced with the like musical element. Cause like, I was curious, like from the first song of like, okay, they're doing this now, but like once we start introducing zombie stuff, will the song start to feel out of place? And the answer is no, it doesn't. Like it still feels like part of it. Even if the tone, like the movie gets,
00:18:00
Speaker
darker as it goes along as you get more zombie stuff but the songs still remain like and like I feel like that that's it's tricky to to do that kind of uh tonal tightrope walk but they they pull it off Yeah, and in general, I don't think many horror comedies really like successfully pull it off, especially to like a wide appeal. Some of them are just bad. Yeah, I'd say most of them are bad, especially like there's Little Monsters. That's a Lupita Nyong'o zombie comedy with like Josh Gad. That one, it like the humor didn't work for me at all in that, but
00:18:40
Speaker
I'm thinking like Shaun of the Dead, Cabin in the Woods, What We Do in the Shadows. Those are three that come to mind that I'm like, OK, those are horror comedies that just work.
00:18:51
Speaker
People love them. People remember them. One of them even got a spinoff TV show that's incredibly successful. But those are almost like the exception to the the rule, I'd say.
00:19:02
Speaker
Yeah, because a lot of them don't know when to have the... cue Like, even even just a regular horror movie that isn't advertising itself as comedic, a lot of times they don't know...
00:19:17
Speaker
how to incorporate moments of humor into it. Like they almost think like they're being like Sam Raimi-esque and then it's like just comes off as cringe.
Exploring Horror-Comedies and Margot Robbie's Roles
00:19:25
Speaker
Like I'm thinking of like IT Chapter 2 when they try to like be cutesy in moments of that. Like with like there's like a needle drop that is like really atonal like as someone's getting barfed like black sludge in their face. I'm like, this isn't working for me. Yeah, IT Chapter 2 in general just feels like a big flop.
00:19:46
Speaker
It's like a wet fart of a movie kind of. Well, it's just Muschietti was saving all his sauce for for the Flash. so For the Flash. He's like, I got ah i got a lock in for this movie so I don't actually care about fucking Pennywise. Yeah, and then that movie just completely went to shit. Who knows if he's even doing a Batman movie at this point. I haven't heard heard anything about that. James Gunn has forgotten that Muschietti exists. He'll talk about other stuff coming up and you like, yeah, so what about Batman? He'll be like, anyway, and then he just talks about Peacemaker or something.
00:20:20
Speaker
Yeah, it was almost just like a verbal promise or something he made. He's like, yeah, you'll you'll do a Batman movie. Don't worry. like You're all good. um He's going to be directing It Chapter 3 in a couple of years.
00:20:35
Speaker
I thought you said James Gunn. I was like, oh, that could be interesting. Yeah, maybe. Did you like the Supergirl trailer? Not to get too far into DC stuff, but what did you think of that?
00:20:47
Speaker
I haven't seen it. I actually didn't know there was a Supergirl trailer out. uh it yeah it's out it's the first because it's the first thing not directed by jay because even like the animated thing and then peacemaker superman all the dcu stuff so far has been james gunn so this is craig just let me or however you say his name he did tanya um oh that uh that Pamela Anderson miniseries. i forgot what that one was called. And then he also did what Cruella.
00:21:22
Speaker
i feel like I like none of those live action Disney things. I'm like, I'm, I'm not going to the bat for them, but like that one at least like has a take, like it's not just retelling. the story like it it's it's it's it's doing like a kind of weird thing and stylistically i think cruella is kind of interesting so getting that guy to supergirl um that could be fun Yeah, i haven't seen Cruella. It's always interested me, though. I was a big fan of I, Tonya when that came out, though. I've seen that a couple of times. I think that's a really fun movie. Probably one of my favorite um Margot Robbie performances. Yeah, I'd say that. I mean, because she kind of she has that performance. And then most of her other performances, even when it's not a DC thing, feels like a variation of Harley Quinn.
00:22:10
Speaker
So, yeah it like, I, Tanya, is one of the ones that feels like, no, that that's like ah a unique performance she's giving. And then, man, I don't know if you've seen her in a Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey. I just saw the trailer. Is she good in it? No, she's pretty flat. I have no idea what she thought she was, what performance she thought she was giving in that movie. She seems like...
00:22:33
Speaker
So checked out at Colin Farrell is doing a similar thing, but he, it works with him and his vibe. i almost feel like Margot Robbie's just miscast for that movie a little bit. She seemed out of place in the trailer. Cause I was like, Oh, a Kogan and I movie with Colin Farrell. And then I like Margot Robbie. So i was like, what oh what kind of chemistry are they going to have? And then based on the little scenes you have, i'm like, are they supposed to have chemistry? maybe is ah Is this an anti-chemistry movie? She feels like she wants to walk out of the movie as I'm watching it. I have no idea what's happening with that thing, but um I don't even know how we got on Margot Robbie. But speaking of, ah I don't know, foreign actresses, I guess. ah Ella Hunt.
00:23:21
Speaker
Ella Hunt, yeah. ah Let's just... We'll hop into spoilers, I guess, for Anne and in the Apocalypse. So, guys, if you haven't seen it, go check it out. I think we're both positive on the movie, at the very least. Yeah, I would recommend... Like, if if you don't like musicals, I don't think this is going to change. So, like... yeah, be open to
Spotlight on 'Anna and the Apocalypse'
00:23:41
Speaker
that. Like, cause I think if you, if if you're not expecting that and and then you don't like those kinds of movies, like, cause at first I was like, oh, so there's this going to be like zombie high school musical. And I say that as someone who's never watched a single high school musical. i I think I've seen a video of like the one kind of is, I would say it kind of is. Yeah. But in a good way, but if that sounds like utterly repulsive to you, I don't know that the movie is,
00:24:08
Speaker
when i mean i feel like it's just so successful in like the emotional elements in the in the character there is one character that i feel like that they kind of don't have a full idea for it but like mostly like the emotional stuff sells it so i i i just think it's a good holiday movie and it's heartfelt uh but yeah if you if you're just like allergic to musicals maybe don't watch it but it's on tubi so i mean you don't have to spend anything to watch it Yeah, and maybe give it a shot, too, if you hate musicals. The songs are really catchy, I think. They're fun.
00:24:41
Speaker
They are. it I will say i watched it with my girlfriend, I think she was like repulsed by this movie, the musical numbers. and but There's like a dorkiness to it, because like because like even down to the choreography and the ones that they're dancing for, it's it's like...
00:25:01
Speaker
It's not like they're doing purposely bad choreography, but there's like the characters are are almost, you know, kind of like the way they say, you know, like dance like no one's watching where you kind of have no shame and you just like flail yourself in a in a like ah awkward way. Like character some of the characters are doing that in certain musical numbers. But it I love it.
00:25:23
Speaker
a It's very charming because I'm like, that feels it's like a dorkiness that makes endears me to the character because that feels like character-motivated dorkiness where I'm just like, yeah, she would dance like this.
00:25:35
Speaker
Yeah, so the song that you're talking about specifically, it's Turning My Life Around. you know we'll We'll try to get the plot in order, listeners, but we'll also hop around a little bit. Turning My Life Around is the one you're talking about, right? When they're like dancing in the graveyard and... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:55
Speaker
That is one of my favorite musical numbers in this movie, if not my favorite. I was so delighted by that. I think it's my favorite, just just based on the choreography and like the the like energy of it.
00:26:07
Speaker
And it's so catchy. It's like, oh, it's a brand new day. Something like that. Yeah. It's awesome. And Anna is like, yeah, doing air guitar in the graveyard. And they both start like dancing towards each other. Even John, when he falls in that sequence, it's genuinely funny.
00:26:27
Speaker
When John is introduced in that song too, like I got delighted because he kind of just pops up and he's like, so cheery to wake up and all this carnage is happening in the background.
00:26:40
Speaker
And by the time they're in the graveyard, I'm like, we're in full night of the living dead homage territory. And I'm just a sucker for a horror homage at this point. When it's well done. Yeah. Cause it's not, if you see, if you get it, you get it, but it's also not, it doesn't feel like it's stopping the movie. Cause it feels organic. Somehow it feels organic that these characters would dance into a graveyard yeah on their way. to school yeah it's it just all of the dance numbers feel so natural and baked in and we'll get into but there's a moment later where we kind of get to be the audience on the outside of the dance number and a character is about to break in he's about to fight zombies and for a second he starts singing a reprisal of his old song but there's no music he's just kind of singing it to himself and I'm like
00:27:34
Speaker
is that the reality of what's happening? Are all of these people just singing aloud with no music playing? Is like is that the way the musical numbers are operating in this world?
00:27:47
Speaker
that that's Musicals get to have fun with like futzing with the reality of like how in on it are... Some people say that like if if the music is actually playing in the reality, I know people who are staunch like...
00:28:03
Speaker
go by the definition of like, that's not a musical. Like if it's like in universe music that people hear, that's that's different than like the reality breaking of like, this is like kind of imagined in their minds. I feel like you can like do both. Like in like- yeah We discussed this in our These Guys Got Juice Wicked episode, but like the musical numbers in that movie are like diegetic. Like they sing and communicate via musical Wizard of Oz as well. Yeah, people are aware of the performances in it So it's like, are you saying those aren't musicals? like it's like Or even my favorite, music Phantom of the Paradise. There are literally musicians in it, like auditioning and stuff. So I'm like, that's a musical. I don't know. like Some people get weird about definition stuff. Also, while we're on the stuff, Sinners is a musical. Fuck people who say it is. i't give you I don't give a shit.
00:28:52
Speaker
Yeah, I wrestle with this one in my head a little bit. If like Inside Llewyn Davis is a musical, because like it's weird. I consider the Ballad of Wallace Island to be a musical, but Inside Llewyn Davis for some reason, maybe it's because it's not wall-to-wall music. There's a lot of really quiet character moments that...
00:29:13
Speaker
but it It feels like such a blend in like a good way of drama and musical. that like but it almost doesn't stand It's kind of like a modest musical in way. I feel like the Coens are good at like blending in that way where it's hard to pin down on one thing. Because even recently, I've just been doing a Coen re-watch. We both, I think, just because of Blank Check, been watching Coen Brothers movies. i was re-watching Buster Scruggs, and I forgot how much music- I watch it for the first time. Great movie, man. Buster Scruggs fucks. Like, the first time i watched it, I bounced off a couple of the segments, and then on rewatch, I'm like, oh, these are all bangers. And they break into song in quite a few of them. like Or not break into song. The characters are singing in in, like, a good number of the segments. So I'm like, is that a musical? Because they are, like, making allusions to, like, that's, like, a genre of Western, like the singing cowboy. You know, you have Tim Blake Nelson, like,
00:30:11
Speaker
doing songs as he's on his horse and stuff. But I'm like, they they're good at like blending genre in that way where it's hard to pin down where it's like, it's like, I don't, it doesn't feel like a musical, but they are doing music in it Yeah, O Brother Where out Art Thou feels like their true musical, I would say. Yes, yeah.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, shout out to the Coens, man. Listeners, if you're not a fan of the Coens or you just haven't seen any of the movies we're talking about, do yourself a favor and just spend a weekend watching all of these. Throw No Country in there. Throw Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona in there. Get like a good...
00:30:45
Speaker
mix of their filmography. Yeah. Even watch Hudsucker. Go do them all. I love Hudsucker. Great movie. I'm going to probably rewatch that around New Year's. That's true. It's a New Year's movie. Yeah.
00:30:58
Speaker
Let's ah dive into the plot of this thing a little bit. See how much we can fully take it down. The movie begins with Anna, her best friend John, and Anna's dad driving in a car. She's driving him to school. And one thing I like, there's a CDC like news bulletin playing, and they're like, the flu-like virus is actually you know reanimating the and then just cuts off the radio, Anna does. And I like that thing. and i mean like It's like it's a bit that lot movies have done. Even Shaun the Dead has like in the background, there's like escalating of the like virus spreading and they're just oblivious to it. Like, I don't know, that works. That works for me like pretty much all the time. Yeah, and this movie feels so indebted to Shaun of the Dead. Oh, absolutely.
00:31:47
Speaker
Both, I think, filmed in the UK. One is like Britain, one is Scotland, but both UK productions, I want to say. Yeah. ah This one is an indie film. I'm not too sure. Was Shaun of the Dead an indie or was that a studio production? Are you two familiar with that?
00:32:04
Speaker
not certain about that. i Because, I mean, it's one of Egerwite's first thing, so it feels like it should be an indie. but It feels like it has a bigger budget than this one, though. Even though this does a good job of hiding its low budget during its musical numbers, I'd say.
00:32:22
Speaker
it does It does a good job of conveying scale, even though it's like clear they can't do the same amount of like zombie stuff and gore that a like bigger movie could do. But it doesn't it doesn't really feel small. Yeah. Even though we're only getting, I'd say, two locations, there's the school and the bowling alley mostly and then a little bit of shit out in the streets. Right. Like there's like kind of like just three locations basically, but like it still does feel it feels like believably something that this is happening everywhere. Yeah.
00:32:56
Speaker
And I feel like the intro does a good job of introducing us to all of our characters. We've got, you know, the three that I mentioned already. We get a good idea of their relationship. Anna and John seem pretty close together. Anna and her dad start to come to blows a little bit because Anna says she's not going to uni. Uni. She's going to be traveling instead.
00:33:20
Speaker
And her dad's pissed about that. And he's like, what would your mother think? And all that. And what would your mom think? What would your mom think? Yeah. I love the accents. but And we meet Steph. She's having issues with her girlfriend. I don't know if her girlfriend's able to like visit for Christmas or something. And she's also battling with this teacher, somebody named ah Mr. Shepard, over the school like newspaper or something like that, the school blog.
00:33:55
Speaker
yeah And then we get into our first musical number, Breakaway, number that I liked. And in that process, we meet um Lisa and Chris, I think is her boyfriend's name. Yes, yeah. Do you think...
00:34:12
Speaker
Lisa, maybe just me. She kind of has a Nora eyes, like Mikey Madison. I knew she wasn't Mikey Madison, but I was like, you have similar eyes to her. Yeah, she has a Mikey Madison vibe for sure. I, for a second, was kind of hoping it was Mikey Madison. I was like, yeah, let's see her. Nora's in this? Whoa, fuck.
00:34:32
Speaker
Yeah, Oscar-winning actress, Anora.
00:34:37
Speaker
This would have been before Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and that was her big break, I think. Yeah, that that would have been before. i could I don't really... And I feel like it's almost to this movie's benefit. like I don't really know or have it ah any baggage with with any of these actors even even though the one ella hunt almost looks like a british actress i know but then i looked it up i was like okay no that's not the girl from industry or uh black black bag it looked it looked she had like a similar vibe to to her but it's like no this is i think she's just like a singer
00:35:11
Speaker
I noticed the same thing. I think the dad, her dad is maybe the only actor in here that's actually been in a bunch of other things, but it's a relatively unknown cast.
00:35:23
Speaker
ah Ella Hunt would go on to be in Dickinson, the Hailee Steinfeld movie speaking or ah TV show speaking of sinners. I heard that's good. I haven't seen it. Yeah, I've heard heard it's pretty good, too.
00:35:36
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. what What are your thoughts on the first musical number that we see in this movie? Do you dig it? Yeah, i I dig it. It it it definitely, ah like I was alluding to or earlier, I was like, yeah, I do feel the, like...
00:35:51
Speaker
i I keep making this comparison even though i've I've seen maybe like one high school musical number, like the one where Zac Efron's like go walking on the walls or something where where he's doing an inception. We're soaring, we're flying. I've seen all the high school musicals. I will shamelessly admit that. I mean, maybe I want to watch them now because i that's the vibe I was getting from this first song. And I was like, I'm not hating this. So like maybe I'm into that. I didn't... I mean... We were both a younger when the high school musical movies came out. I'm like slightly younger than you, but we were kind of of that generation. And even back then, I didn't feel like those were bad movies with bad musical numbers. Maybe there's a decline as they go on especially story-wise. I think maybe they get a little lazy. There's one them where they're just like all on vacation. It's not even in high school anymore. Like change the name, guys. You can't do that.
00:36:51
Speaker
Yeah, but ah i when I say that this movie reminded me of High School Musical, I don't consider that to be a negative thing by any means. Yeah, no, I'm i'm using it as a positive comparison point to the point where I'm like, should I show watch the the High School Musical movies?
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, watch them and report back. I'd like at least watch the first one. I think you might be kind of charmed. Vanessa Hudgens. She's great. Like, I love her in Tick, Tick, Boom. I'm pretty sure you're a fan of that movie as well.
00:37:24
Speaker
Great. Underrated. Yeah, probably one of the most undersung Netflix movies. Exactly. One of the best things I think Netflix has put out, like. One of the things that like suffered the most from like, because because like that felt like it should have been like a more award season play. And it's like, oh, it just it just was kind of buried in Netflix. If it had had like a real release, maybe it could have got some noms or something. I what i mean, i don't remember it getting nominated for anything, but it should have.
00:37:54
Speaker
Neither do I. I love that movie. It was my favorite movie of 2021. I think I like I I know I can be very positive and pretty generous to movies, especially nowadays and on this podcast. But Tick, Tick, Boom is like a very special movie to me. And I get I'm so surprised.
00:38:13
Speaker
I mean, it's Lin-Manuel Miranda and just like and it's on Netflix and everyday people that I interact with who are totally fine with musicals and would love this and love Hamilton and Moana have just never heard of Tick, Tick, Boom. And when I say it to them, they are almost like, that's not a movie. And it's about like the guy it's about wrote a very popular mut like rent is very popular. Yeah, it's like you guys don't care about this. Yeah, it feels like at least at the time it should have been a more talked about movie. I mean, what was anybody really doing in 2021 anyway? I was going to that everyone was at like this. There weren't, I mean, movies did come out. Like there were good movies that year, but like this, that was there. It wasn't like a normal year. And like, this felt like it was like, Oh, some real food here.
00:39:07
Speaker
Yeah, and it came out on Thanksgiving or the day before or after. It came out on my birthday, which usually lands around Thanksgiving. And i was just... Everyone should have been at home watching it, but Netflix does a terrible job with their movies. I mean, same thing when Glass Onion came out.
00:39:24
Speaker
It wasn't even the main page on Netflix. I mean, I haven't seen a fucking thing about Wake Up Dead Man any time I open my Netflix app. Which is crazy. That's the that's like...
00:39:36
Speaker
ah if I think of Netflix franchises, like that's the one that comes to mind and it stars the guy who was most recently Bond. So like you think that they would make a big deal out of that. Yeah. These are the people that may be in control of Warner Brothers and HBO Max and everything that they own going forward. So that'll be fun.
00:39:58
Speaker
Yeah, but onto a positive note, Merry Christmas, guys. Special Christmas episode. um Oh, whoa, Santa just like drove by the studio. It almost felt threatening, actually. He had a Molotov cocktail in his hand. I thought he was going to use it He made the same face of, if you've ever seen that meme of a Luigi in Mario Kart, where he does like a side stare to someone, like when he turns his head and he looks like really angry. Like he kind of looked like that.
00:40:29
Speaker
And in all of this intro stuff, we meet this character, Nick, who's kind of perving over Anna. But very quickly, we're into the next musical number, which is Hollywood Ending. Probably this is up there. It's probably the catchiest one, would say. There's not any songs in here that I don't like, but i've I'm like, oh, if if this was like a bigger movie, that that would be the what like radio hit, I feel like, would be the Hollywood Ending. The accents are really working for me in the song. John's accent, when he comes in, he's like, what was I thinking? This is the dizzy. I'm way off script and losing the blood. I know I did it like a little wrong, but it just, no, i thought I thought he was here. Also, I just, I love John. Like, I think he's yeah very endearing. I mean, it's a trope we see in a lot of movies where it's like the best friend, you know, is in love with, with this girl. And like, it even if the,
00:41:28
Speaker
like a lesser movie i guess the yeah that could come off feeling like cliche of like oh we're really doing this again but you feel for like i don't know maybe because i have been that guy in life sometimes that i i i could i could relate to but i think he does a good job of like the john's a guy you want to root for it like you want to see him get with anna because i'm just like yeah he's a good guy I found him to be a very endearing character. i mean, Mr. Savage is the only character who I really wasn't too crazy about. He doesn't seem like the nicest fellow. He doesn't have the Christmas cheer, even though he's ironically You think there's something about that guy? Yeah, he he steals students' car keys. it's very He's got a weird vibe. I'm the headmaster. He's like Severus Snape, almost. Like a less chilled Snape. I would say just Snape as more chill than Yeah, there is a point where he, like, it's implied that he allowed everybody trapped in the school or, like, who's, like, taking sanctuary in the school to be turned into zombies and he, like, barricades himself. He seems unhinged. I thought the reveal was going to be when he lets like when they fight. He's like, oh, your parents are just in here. And he opens the door that there was going to be like some cannibalism like turn because he had he was like eating when they came in. And then i was like, oh, shit, they're going that direction. Like that. He like ate the parents or something. Yeah, I i ah he he just makes it. turn It's like, dude, it's only been a day and you're already resorting to this. Yeah, I thought it was kind of funny that he only left Anna's dad alive. It's like, what why would you do that? Besides Anna being the main... Well, because there's it's unspoken, but like there almost was a moment where I was like, oh, are they hinting at some kind of vibe between the dad and Mr. Savage? Because there was like there was like a slight like touch on the shoulder that like Savage like kind of jumped at, but not in a way where it was like he was almost just like surprised that...
00:43:35
Speaker
Anna's dad did that, but not in a way where he was like, oh, don't do that. But i was like, oh, is has there something here? I mean, he always is insulting your dad like, oh, you're just a fucking janitor. But that also doesn't preclude. Like you could still be attracted to someone that you're like dressing down and being like, oh, you're lesser than me. If anything, that could be like further the attraction where you're like, ah, this guy's scum, but I want him.
00:43:57
Speaker
I didn't pick up on those vibes, but that's interesting. I, you know, I could, I could get on board with that. Um, to kind of bring it back around to, uh, what's it called? The Hollywood ending. One thing that I heard, cause I listened to some people, some like YouTubers talk about this movie a little bit, and I feel like there's nothing worse than a horror YouTuber at this point. Um,
00:44:22
Speaker
listen to a for I won't say who it is, but I listened to a 45-minute review of this movie, and it was painfully boring. So I hope this episode at least has some fucking life to it and can be the definitive fun lesson for Anna and the Apocalypse. I mean, we had Santa Claus on the episode, so I think we we're already winning.
00:44:42
Speaker
Yeah, we did. That is a good point. We're miles ahead of everybody who's covered this now. But I heard like a couple people make this statement saying that Hollywood ending was foreshadowing like to them that they're like, this is clear that it's a song meant to foreshadow that this movie is not going to end happy. It's going to end in tragedy. And it's like, well, yeah, it could be serving that purpose. To me, the song rang more is a like a high school angst, how you could be yeah in high school and everything feels like the end of the world and people are having relationship issues or there's drama. crush you have feels like the most important. You're like, I will never love anyone else. like I will not get over this and this will be the most important attraction to anyone I ever have in my life.
00:45:37
Speaker
Yeah, while it feels like it could be it could be saying both things, I felt more like, okay, this is, yeah, the high school musical song that we're getting, where high school feels like the most important thing time in your life and the world feels like it's ending every time something goes wrong and one character is struggling with like identity and ah project that's supposed to express who they are and one character's having issues with faculty and also relationship issues it's you know it the little things feel so big and that's more of what the song represented to me i felt
00:46:22
Speaker
I agree with that. I mean, it could be both, but if anything, at this point, I'm still feeling like, oh yes, we're firmly in like high school musical territory. So I, i I'm still not, even though I know the zombies are coming, like I'm like, well, the movie's not going to get that dark. Like I, I, I'm still in that mindset at this point where I'm like, yeah, yeah but the zombie stuff is probably just going to be mostly aesthetic and like, everyone's going to be fine. Like I'm, I'm not thinking like, oh, the this is ending tragically. Yeah, I really didn't know what direction the movie was going to take. Part of me was actually convinced that they were going to find a way for our characters to save the world.
00:47:02
Speaker
It felt like I thought there was going a cure any moment like that. They know because you even see like there's like, oh, the scene where they're seeing the selfies of people who got evacuated. So it's like, OK, so we've already the idea of people can get out of this. But then also, like, are they going to probably come up with a cure? I don't know. it was like it seemed like.
00:47:21
Speaker
Yeah, i I just kept, maybe that was me just coping or deluding myself, ah but I was just like, yeah, I don't know. This movie's not going to be like the world actually ended. Like, we're going to, they'll figure something out. And we'll we'll get into what happens at the ending, but I i feel like this movie does leave us off in an interesting place. But, uh...
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah, we end up encountering our first zombie around this time. i think maybe it's breakaway or Hollywood ending. There's a scene or a shot where Anna's walking through a hallway and some kids are coughing and one kid's like clawing at a wall. And I was like, OK, I think those are like sick teenagers that are going to become zombies at some point. um It seemed like a funny little background detail. It's interesting that the, I mean, I'm not going to like be like cinema since ding for this the mood, but it did like, they kind of pick and choose how fast people are like fully zombified. I feel like depending on for dramatic effect, because there's characters that turn like so fast, like in a later segment. And then like for other characters, you're like, okay, well, they're going to be human long enough to like do like a, you know, an emotional goodbye or something or but then and then like the kids there in the hallway are like oh are they fully zombied yet because i guess they're not they haven't they're just like midway there which that you know i like i said i'm not like clocking that as as like an incongruity because like i feel like a lot of zombie things like futz with the how does the infection actually work i don't really care at the end of the day you Like it's just a means to an end. The Wreck movies do something similar. In the first or the second one, they establish that your blood type will determine how fast the inspection, ah the inspection, the infection. The inspection coming this far.
00:49:15
Speaker
how fast the infection takes hold of you. And then as the sequels and go on, it almost seems like they forgot that they established that. And then there's just no logic to how, when people turn or the rate or speed to when people turn, someone will get bit and they'll be like, we have to kill them immediately. They're going to turn. I'm like, well, you don't know his blood type.
00:49:37
Speaker
You said the blood type. kind of determined yeah so oh oh we're doing 28 days later rules now like they turned immediately like what is this yeah and then some people it just seems like they that franchise that i mean the directors do split off and maybe that's the issue but it seems like they forget their own rules by movie two and three uh for better for worse um mostly for worse even though i i didn't hate wreck three or four i still got I still gotta to watch 3 and 4, but like I do like... I can... if if like I'm just interested in the movie I'm watching being good and entertaining, so like if it's to the purpose of like furthering that, if something wants to kind of... like negate its own rules like I'm okay it's kind of like how you do it like if it's like so blatant where I'm like this doesn't make any sense of what you've done it seems like you forgot about that then it could be sloppy but sometimes it's like okay this feels like a choice that you're just like well I don't know we're not going to make that a hard rule
00:50:36
Speaker
But again, like for this movie, like I, the rules, I'm not like clocking that hard for zombie because especially like, like I said, earlier this early on, I'm like, how serious is the zombie stuff going to be? It's just going to be kind of playful, right? Like no, no one's getting seriously hurt like that. That's still my mindset this early on.
00:50:55
Speaker
Yeah, what's weird about the Wreck movies is Wreck 2 especially is such a rules movie. It's a movie that sets up so many rules. And then 3 and 4 is like, we're going to carry over stuff from Wreck except for the rules. We can leave those behind. Characters, they can come on. you know We'll reference everything that's happened. But the rules, those can stay in Wreck 2. Warren Beatty, the rules don't apply.
00:51:24
Speaker
It's kind of disappointing because rec two is my favorite, but I do enjoy the experiences of rec three and rec two rules. Like you you guys had a great episode on that one, but also just shout out that movie for that's an example of a sequel going in. ah It's not like a complete one 80 because they tease that stuff at the end of one that is like,
00:51:45
Speaker
you know spoilers for the rec movies but it's like demonic in nature so you like it's not like that they pull that idea out of their ass but then to fully embrace that into in like such a unique way where i'm like oh we're like in like evil dead territory now it's like that that made it like really fun Yeah, I loved Wreck 2. Guys, go go watch that movie if you haven't. It's fucking such a special movie. Most horror movies, low-budget horror movies, if you want to find them, they're probably on Tubi. They are.
00:52:15
Speaker
But yeah, so after ah like Hollywood ending and all of that, Steph and Anna have a moment in the parking lot. Steph's locked out of her car, and... and we know that Anna's mom is dead at this point, but Steph kind of drops a line like, oh, yeah yeah at least you don't have a mom that's constantly getting on her case, on your case. Steph is basically... Oops, oh, I'm sorry, I forgot your mom's dead. Shit. It does really have that vibe. And it's such a weird thing to say to somebody. I mean, her parents have basically left her behind so they can vacation. She's in a holdover situation. Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth. Yeah, it's ah she. But yeah, she was left behind. And then Anna basically bumps into a zombie. So it's like, OK, we're going to be it it feels very Shaun of the Dead again. Just this total there. ever be Everybody that we're following being totally oblivious to the zombie infection happening around them. Oh, especially by the time we get to turning my ah life around, that that feels straight out of the sequence of like when he wakes up hung over the next day and like there's like, you know, wreckage all around him and he's just going to the corner shop. He does not notice that the world has ended like that. that That's very much the the vibe. that the And I wasn't sure. I was like, oh, is the whole movie going to be like they don't know that this is going on? And it's not. But like early on, they do get but like some good comedic mileage out of that.
00:53:43
Speaker
Even before they get to like the full-on zombie outbreak, there's one, ah or no, two musical numbers that I thought were like genuinely funny. There's the penguin dance that they're doing together. chuckled at that.
00:53:58
Speaker
I did, too. yeah It's called the fish rap, and Mr. Savage is just like talking about how these kids are incompetent. He's like, you can't leave them to do anything themselves. Yeah.
00:54:11
Speaker
I was like, ah I agree, Mr. Savage. but um But then Lisa, she's played by Marley Sue. I think that's her name. And she ah gets the sexy Santa song.
00:54:23
Speaker
that i mean i don't know how you felt about that i thought that was like pretty funny there's like these like half naked teenage boys that come out and start dancing everybody looks uncomfortable there's an older lady in the background who like ah cracks a smile at one point then goes back to being like straight faced and serious i i thought that scene was pretty great i thought i thought it was fine then it's always just fun to see like ah someone who presents themselves as like straight laced and like ah proper person be flustered at so like like when savage starts being like oh i've never at the performance it's it's just funny to to to see some someone who's who's so uptight be like taken aback by by something like that and and it's all because it's like she's a teenager it seemed like the audience is like all adults like there's like the awkwardness of that too and so I want to go ahead and read some of the lyrics from this song. I'm not going to read all of them, but I'm going just pick out a couple.
00:55:27
Speaker
There's a lack of presence in my stocking, and my chimney needs a good unblocking. Let me know if you're feeling frozen stiff.
00:55:37
Speaker
My fire's burning hot for you. Before you take a nap, let me sit upon your lap. I've warmed your milk and made your favorite sack, so come over and unload your sack. boom And then, ah what does she say at the end? Like, come on, Santa, give it to me.
00:55:58
Speaker
That's so good. Yeah, it it's a well written song. im and I'm curious about like how like are the credited writers like they wrote the song or is it is that someone else who's in the credit? Like I'm just curious, like who actually came up with with like the lyrics for these songs? Because whoever did did a really good job. Roddy Hart and Tommy Riley. They're the credited writers for at least this song. Okay, so I mean, it's safe to assume they probably did other song songs, if not all all the other songs. Yeah, and then of course, the actress who sang on it is also credited.
00:56:34
Speaker
Yeah, great song, funny bit. The lyrics are really well written. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with that one. And ah at that same point, Savage is hearing a bunch of banging on the gymnasium doors, but there's no zombies there. There's just traces of blood left over. I thought he was going to be like an early kill or something. I wasn't not expecting them to like hold him off as like a last hack villain or something. So I was like, oh, well, he's just going to be some stupid stuffy guy who's like...
00:57:04
Speaker
do ah eats it early to kind of establish the threat. But no, there's no one there when he opens the door. I would have been cool if he died pretty early on. um I didn't really need him as a villain. He worked for me up until maybe the last third of the movie. Then I was kind of... The movie started to lose me a little bit when he becomes a bit of the main focus.
00:57:32
Speaker
I get what you're saying. i i and I don't have like because like I like the scenes that we get from like Anna and her dad that result from Mr. Savage like going crazy. But i'm like, could we have gone there another way? Like, do we need? And I'm not, I mean, like zombie things often have human villains and it's not like unheard of. It's just that his turn is so drastic. And I know we like, you know, in musicals, everything is like kind of heightened. So I can, I can go along with it to a certain degree, but like he becomes like such a cartoon villain that it it it felt like i was like, Oh, well,
00:58:14
Speaker
but you know if the rest of the movie is like Shaun of the Dead then like he feels like a villain out of I don't know if you ever played any of the like Dead Rising games but the like boss battles in that are like humans have gone crazy like they just call them psychos and like they're so over the top it's like so it it doesn't seem like that this person was ever rational at ever any point yeah I agree I have played the first Dead Rising game actually I've found those games to be pretty fun very difficult though Oh, they're hard because of the timer makes makes it hard to get around. But yeah, they're fun. Yeah, um that and like Dead Island, I think that was a very difficult zombie game as well. Yeah, that one's fun. Yeah, I didn't buy his villain turn too much either. It felt a little over the top, a little fast. I agree with you when you were saying it felt cartoonish. maybe make it more personally motivated if that's the direction you need to go, because it kind of just seems like he's just, the thing is like, they so decide they're going to leave and they don't need him anymore. And he's just like, but I'm the headmaster. Like you can tell from the way he says it, they're like, Oh, he's going to snap or something. But I'm, I'm like, but that's it. That's the only thing that like is making him like, obviously he already looks down on these people. So this is like pent up, like, like resentment, I guess. But like,
00:59:33
Speaker
Yeah, you could see that better, like, or make it even more overtly like a class thing, because he's already talks down to the dad so much that, like, yeah maybe that would be more interesting of a villain where it's just like, like, the upper, the upper class snobbery, which is in the character, it just doesn't feel like that's the reason that he becomes evil.
00:59:55
Speaker
Yeah, the headmaster thing isn't a strong enough thing to like hitch your wagon to. It really doesn't fully work for me or seem believable. And I know this is like a horror musical, but it just a little bit more work could have been done to make his character...
01:00:15
Speaker
just stronger to make his motivation stronger the reasons for his actions the things he does i mean they could have made his actions a bit stronger to him turning everybody in the cafeteria keeping one person alive it felt so cartoon villain without a real purpose just creating a villain just to create the villains Or if we see that escalation happen, because we just cut a away of him being like, I'm the head man, because they want to have that be the surprise of they go into the cafeteria and you're like, oh, shit, he' he's lost it. But like, if we see more of that building, like like, just, yeah, like, like, add more steps between that that we actually see. But I mean,
01:00:57
Speaker
you know, this movie doesn't ah need to be like longer. Like it is it is like an hour 30 minute, you know? So like, I'm all for the tight 90, but then if you're trying to keep the story that tight and tidy, then maybe you just don't need a human villain. Like, i don't know.
01:01:13
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I don't think we really needed it. um But yeah, so after the turning my life around sequence, again, one we both agree was just fantastic. I almost want to keep talking about that for another 20 minutes, but I know it's like it builds, too, because like obviously, like we said, it's doing the bit of like all this carnage is happening like basically the dawn of the dead openings happening behind her and she does not know ah but about it. And One of the funniest ones is are the girls with the backpacks who like because one zombie like sees and and like starts making a beeline for and then there's these girls with backpacks. They're like swinging them out like they're out of focus, just like swinging their backpacks at at the zombie. I was like, that's funny. After the musical number ends, they we snap back into reality and they encounter their first zombie. We're kind of full on in Night of the Living Dead mode with the two people and the fucking you know their discovery of the zombie outbreak. And it's a dude dressed as like Frosty the Snowman. Anna uses a seesaw to decapitate it. And they're both like like kind of freaked out by this. I like that they don't...
01:02:24
Speaker
lean into the comedy and be like oh that was fucking weird they they acknowledge it's zombies we get that out of the way there's no real toying like what is going on here we don't know they've seen horror movies like they've they've heard of zombie zombie culture movies exist so yeah that that That saves time that you don't have to bullshit around about that. But yeah, that's almost like an early indication that they are going to take the zombie stuff seriously, that it's not immediately... like The only joke there really is like the grossness and suddenness of the kill and them getting... like you know like John's kind of shell-shocked, like, ugh, all the blood over... like He's freaked out. But but they are kind of playing that moment for the drama of it. So it's like, oh, are so this is going to kind of walk that line of the zombie stuff will be a little serious maybe and yet basically like our characters are split off into two groups there's a group of people who are taking sanctuary at the school like we mentioned it's uh lisa mr savage and anna's dad and a bunch of just random people who don't really matter oh and chris's grandma is there too
01:03:35
Speaker
Oh, um didn't really clock that. My bad. ah Well, it's just that I just noticed it because, you know, ah not a Nora kit kept saying like, oh, don't worry, grand. We're going to get you help. You know, like she's like, oh, my heart.
01:03:51
Speaker
I'm old. Yeah. Good character. Always love that. Wreck 4 has a character like that, and she's not annoying at all in that movie.
01:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like real zombie apocalypse. You just got to kill a Grandma. I'm sorry. She's going to slow you down. Throw her overboard, at least in the case of Wreck 4. That one takes place on a boat. Spoilers. um But so...
01:04:16
Speaker
Yeah, and then the other group basically takes Sanctuary at the bowling alley. And one thing I really enjoyed is ah there's a scene where two of them are in the ball pit and they're talking about, like, do you think Robert Downey Jr. is infected? Ryan Gosling, Taylor Swift, one of the characters like...
01:04:34
Speaker
Tay-Tay is not infected. Tay-Tay is not infected. Why would you joke about it? I like how serious he gets about that. And in the fact that I've never, I mean, I'm not a Taylor Swift person, so I don't know that that culture, but I've never heard anyone call her Tay-Tay. So that's the attitude, the humor of it. Yeah, I feel like I may have heard that. But one thing I kind of like really enjoyed too about this is this movie came out in 2017 over in the UK, 2018 over here. And the three people they mentioned, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling, Taylor Swift, people very relevant in that ah like time.
01:05:13
Speaker
But I would argue they're all more relevant and more powerful now at this point in time. So I was like, okay, good references. Like, Yeah, they're not they're not that dated. like it or It's not dated at all, really, because it's like like you said, like there's still they're still relevant now. Yeah, RDJ, post-Oscar win, coming back as Doomsday. Ryan Gosling, post-Barbie movie, post-fucking-Oscar nomination, I think, for that performance. And upcoming Star Wars movie. And Taylor Swift, post-Eras tour. It's just like, yeah, they're all at the height of their power right now. And they were arguably some of the most like relevant celebrities back then. So I just thought that was a cool little it was a reflection moment that I had. There's a moment later where they mention a couple more celebrities who don't seem like they're I mean, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, both pretty relevant. But I felt like they really nailed it with RDJ, Ryan Gosling and Taylor Swift.
01:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, the Beyonce-Rihanna one is isn't as as strong. And I just like that sequence in the ball pit better. i kind of just wish Chris as a character had more, because that's kind of just his thing. is that like He's like internet, ah like social media obsessed, and like has so like he's the one who's going to make like the pop culture references. But I... i I don't know. I maybe could have used more so that when what eventually happens towards the end could have landed strong. Like I cared about what happened at the end because i was more invested in his girlfriend than him. But like I I i kind of I I don't know. Chris didn't completely connect for for me as a character. And I don't know what that way. could Because it's like, I'm not saying take away the pop culture stuff. It's like maybe just add more to I mean, I think that's part of the like thing that they're saying, because like his assignment was like, oh, you need to like have something real in your video. And like all his things are like, you know, like he's just referencing pop culture. But I'm like, yeah, but then then the character feels like there's just like nothing real there almost. Well, I feel like that Sexy Santa song, too, does really endear you to Lisa a little bit. I'm not even kidding. I feel like you really. I'm pro Lisa. I'm just saying like her boyfriend should be more interesting. I agree. I but i was agreeing with you. Like Lisa, I think, is a way better established character. Like they do better work in making you care about that character more than they do Chris. Maybe Chris just needs us because he doesn't really get a song that's his. He's in other songs, right? He doesn't have a song where he he gets to be like, this is my deal and song for. him Yeah, i don't think he does. He might be one of the only leads who doesn't get a spotlight musical moment because even Steph ah has her moments to shine.
01:08:08
Speaker
But when they're at the bowling alley, Steph and Anna are in the bathroom, and the old bowling alley manager, she's zombified now. She goes and attacks them, and they smash her face in with a toilet seat. And then this like wedding party of zombies bursts through the wall. Just bursts through the wall. i was i was Because it's funny like how...
01:08:35
Speaker
zombies are, can you make them like really fragile in the sense of like you, okay, they, you need to be able to burst their heads and make them like easy to kill in a certain sense. But then also they're strong enough to burst through. Yeah.
01:08:49
Speaker
yeah i i've never really thought about it that way. That wall did look pretty weak. I was wondering, was there like a wedding chapel on the other side of that? Why was there a Christmas wedding party going on right next to this bowling alley? I mean, maybe they were on the other side of town and like they'd just been wandering that way for a while. Yeah, it's like, whered where did these guys come from? Yeah, because the way they busted through that wall, it felt like they were busting through an interior wall. They weren't coming through like the outside of a building because that was fucking crazy the way they pour into that bathroom. Yeah. Yeah.
01:09:24
Speaker
But that leads us into what I think was a pretty awesome action sequence with some great music playing underneath it. It made me kind of wish that we got a musical action sequence, a little bit of a hybrid in this moment, at least. But I kept expecting that to happen. But I still, like you said, like, i think this is like...
01:09:46
Speaker
This is probably some the best zombie action that they do. Not that the of because there's other like kills and zombie action later in the in the movie, but in terms of just like how it's staged, I think just like a bowling alley is like a cool setting to to like fight zombies.
01:10:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I guess they do a zombie-killing musical number. It's just not as cool as this. it's It doesn't feel as flashy as it could have been. It's the Soldiers at War song or whatever that Nick gets when he's introduced. Which is which is fun. like that That one's fun, but also...
01:10:21
Speaker
though that's not is like creative of like zombie fighting that they're like they kind of trying to come up with like like funny or unique ways during that song you're like oh one of his guys is using watermelons or something to kill zombies and then like there's also the like it's almost like a fucking looney tunes bit that like one's pulling like meat on a string and then he just bashes them with the bat when he comes like you could just bash him with the bat you don't need the debate one thing i did like about nick's song is it did kind of show a little bit of the versatility in musical numbers this one is like a rock anthem i like the falsetto he kind of goes i mean vocally it's the weakest song i don't think the actor who plays nick is the strongest singer but that kind of ah adds a little bit of a charm to the number i think It's almost informing the character because he is trying too hard. Like Nick himself is like really wants to impress the girls and like come off as like some alpha. And then later we find out, you know, like, you know, the trauma that he's like gone through. So that's, that it's like, He's overcompensating here. And like the song kind of ah tells us that his eyes are extremely blue, like to the point where I'm like, are those contacts? But on his IMDb, those eyes are also that blue. So baby blues. I really like the falsetto line that he sings where he's like, The best form of defense is attack. It's like... There's... It's a good... All the songs are... Not all of them. Most of the songs are, like, super, super catchy.
01:12:02
Speaker
But, yeah, I feel like the bowling alley sequence is, like, ten times better than, like, when it comes to action than that musical number. But even, like... comedically, i mean, the music in that Bowling Alley sequence is great. I've already said it, but comedically, there's a moment that I really like where it's Anna and John, and John's like, okay, on three.
01:12:24
Speaker
Three, and then Anna throws the table, and he's like, I said after three, and then she's like, you said on three. Think think about your words, and he's like, think about your words. i was like, that's just a great fucking character moment. I i really enjoyed it. Yeah, it's fun banter between you by their best friends, like that they have that shorthand. and And even if they're not on the same page in that moment, but they're still in sync in terms of like emotionally, like where they're at, that they can still kind of like raz each other in this moment while they're fighting for their lives.
01:13:01
Speaker
And then in between like the bowling alley action and Nick's like rock anthem and us meeting him, there's like a song that I kind of appreciated. i was trying to think of what it reminded me of, but I couldn't. It's got like a nice...
01:13:20
Speaker
vibe to it though very atmospheric uh in the vocal performances but it's the people at the bowling alley and the people at the cafeteria almost kind of singing a song to each other and it's about i think not having internet connection or something or needing to be able to communicate with people but it's called human voice they're like yeah i need a human voice it's like again super catchy this almost feels like one of like a more low-key kind of song or one that
01:13:53
Speaker
well I get what you're saying because the energy of everyone is like they're not defeated, but the the song itself is kind of like about lack of communication or being cut off. So like they are feeling like there is there is starting to be a creeping hopelessness to the scenario because it goes unsaid. But like.
01:14:13
Speaker
some of the characters are like their ultimate goal is going to be that we need to get to the school, but some of them aren't expecting to find anyone alive, you know, what and they like they're not acknowledging it at that, at that point, but especially, um,
01:14:28
Speaker
what's her name Steph I feel like she's the one who's like totally being like oh everyone I care about is like dead speaking of stuff too we kind of like glossed over her a little bit in the bowling alley scene she gets a lot of great moments in that action I feel like that whole sequence really gets you on board with Steph and at least me she's cool I'm um yeah i'm a fan Yeah, she's badass. I was into her from the beginning, but I like the little dance she does when she like saves Chris, I think, from being killed by a zombie. Yeah, yeah. She like rolls a bowling ball.
01:15:01
Speaker
little move, yeah. Yeah, it's very charming. i This movie is just delightful. Yeah, after everybody, after Nick and his like squad joined the crew, Nick is basically like, we have to cut through this tree, this Christmas tree warehouse or something. And everyone's ah saying this means certain death. But Nick's like, this is the coolest, baddest way we got to go through here.
01:15:27
Speaker
And, you know, it's already alluded to at certain points. We kind of skipped over it that Nick's had some potential issues with his dad. His dad is in the military. He's away or something like that. And so that's stuff that's going to come into play later.
01:15:43
Speaker
But like at this point, I mean, I'm like not on board with Nick or his addition to the crew at this point. It seems like he's a problem. Like, I'm like, you guys should maybe not be listening to him.
01:15:56
Speaker
And this is where the movie is going to start to lose me a little bit. But we get an action sequence where these zombie elves start attacking everybody. And Nick's crew is just eliminated immediately. They're like, we're not even going to spend time with them. They're the ones who I'm talking, who they turn like so fast. Like he like rounds a corner and they're already zombies. And I'm like, whoa, okay. it It almost feels like they had been bit before they went into the place because I'm like, how how did you turn so fast? Yeah, one of them was secretly bit and then he bit the other two and they're like, right, we're going turn and not tell anybody. we're goingnna They decide that. Like, yeah, let's just turn over here. It'll be a really good. He'll be hold around the corner. He'll be so surprised.
01:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, but yeah, they get eliminated. And I think this is too, like shortly after that, where where John gets bit.
01:16:51
Speaker
Yeah, I was I was shocked. Me too. Because I was like, well, John and Anna is endgame. Like, like, because that's like the arc of you expect of these things where it's like, yeah, the friend's pining for the girl and she doesn't, she won't.
01:17:05
Speaker
You know, it's kind of unrequited. But then they realize that. the worth of you know like that that they do love each other and stuff and it's like no he's just gonna eat it and he does get to like do a heroic like thing but when he gets been the hand i almost start like maybe it's just me coping and because i like john like okay well they're gonna like cut his hand off or like even Evil dead. They're going to like fucking we got we got we got to just cut cut cut this off. They don't even consider any solutions like that. It's just like he just decides of like, okay, I'm going to shield her back her out of here and then fucking get myself to the horde. and maybe it's because rec three does something similar, but I was just like, they're going to cut off the arm. It's the only way we have to save John. And
Character Dynamics and Plot Twists
01:17:52
Speaker
they don't. And that's not even the worst thing. John gets fully eaten by the end of it. He gets a real like shitty ending. I felt pretty bad um for him. And I, it was sad to lose him after his death. That's where the movie really loses me. And we,
01:18:09
Speaker
like Because Anna and Nick have like they have a history that's alluded to. And they have a nice character moment right before the death. That didn't even clue me into the fact that he was going to die.
01:18:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, it it it feels shitty because, like, we're not... let I mean, I like Anna and I like Steph, but... And Nick does get, like, a nice, like, emotional moment, but I'm not into the Anna-Nick dynamic as much. Like, i to me, there's not really even a dynamic. Like, yeah, there's, like, oh, they allude like, okay, so they hooked up in the past or something, but I'm like, I don't really care about them as a thing, so... yeah i was...
01:18:49
Speaker
I was rooting for John and ana so now John's out here. i don't know. Fucking just kill everyone now. It felt like a really weird route to take. Usually in, well, maybe that's what they meant by Hollywood ending. John and Anna aren't going to get together, but they have this moment where Anna's saying how she's still going to travel and John is still going to go to art school and they're going to both live their lives. And it's almost, it almost plays as a way of Anna rejecting John in that moment. Because she she she it reiterates like, John, you're my best friend. Like she's she's like really, really throwing the friend zone in in his face a little bit of like, you're my best friend, John. You know, like nothing else.
01:19:37
Speaker
Yeah, and then to go and kill John off and basically make Nick Anna's love interest for the rest of the movie. And, you know, the movie does a little bit to get us more on Nick's side. They reveal that Nick's dad actually didn't go off into the service. He was turned and his dad told him, you need to be a man now. He he he had to put his dad down. like that and that that that That's a good scene. And it gives him a good moment later like when he tells Anna to like not do the same to her dad. like that That's good like emotional stuff. But like yeah, I'm just not... And them as a unit, I'm like it' just...
01:20:19
Speaker
Anna and John had so much juice. Like, even if it did subvert the thing where it's like, yeah, they're not going to get, I don't need every movie to do that. You just like, yeah, they could remain friends. ah And I would have been fine with that. But then t where it's like, not only does she reject him and then he immediately sacrifices him. He kind has a look on his face as he does it too, where he's just like, well, guess that's what I got to Like he's just like resigned to it where he does, doesn't even really question where he's like,
01:20:49
Speaker
all right, well, anna's got Anna has to live, so fucking let's get her out of here. Here, I could say the movie like stops working for me for the next 15 to 20 minutes, maybe.
01:21:01
Speaker
They end up going into the school. Mr. Savage is in full villain mode. We get a little bit more of some like action set pieces, some maneuvering around zombie type of work. Is his song the one that you say like doesn't ah you don't like?
01:21:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's not one of the only ones where I was thinking I won't put this in my playlist because I was adding songs from this into my playlist and this one i was thinking, not going to make it.
01:21:28
Speaker
I don't know if I'll revisit this one again. i mean, what are your thoughts on his song? Well, in a vacuum, like I like his like maniacal energy. It just feels like just like we said about the turn itself. like I'm like, this is like too out of nowhere. like that that you haven't like You haven't really earned this. like The other songs, yeah, do have a heightened emotionality to them, but it feels believable in terms of like where those characters' minds are at. and I'm like, I guess I just don't know that mr Savage's mind that well because this song just feels...
01:22:03
Speaker
It just feels like like a villain from another thing that like would be singing this song. I think a better move is you axe this song and its place that it has in this musical. You give Mr. Savage a song earlier to kind of set up his motivation and his villain turn. and make it as good as Be Prepared from The Lion King. I know that's a hard mark to hit, but aim for something like that. His song didn't even seem like it was reaching for catchy or reaching for a good vocal performance, to be honest. Yeah, no, I don't disagree with any of that. I think that actually would be a a good solve of like earlier on. That would make the villain turn make more sense. If you if you can sell it in song form of like what his motivations and his deal are, then when he finally does like snap, it might it might... It will at least have been seeded. But yeah, it doesn't... As as as is, it just it it does feel like the movie has made a turn that... i Because I just wasn't, i like like I said, like when he's like, I'm the headmaster, it's like, okay, well, nothing good's going to happen now. But I just didn't expect we were going to go straight to he let all the things in. Like, I, i in my mind, was expected like, okay, we're going to keep cutting back to the cafeteria as they like make their way back there. And then we see things like degrade there over time. But it's like, no, he just like let let the zombies in.
01:23:36
Speaker
Yeah, and I was kind of expecting to at a certain point since we had lost John that we were going to find out that Anna's dad and Lisa had both been turned. um That's not the case. We've already revealed Anna's dad is held hostage. Lisa was hiding in a janitor closet or something. Yeah, because when they go into the cafeteria at first, I thought that was the beat of like, oh, they're all turned. Like he he fucking took everyone off the board.
01:24:02
Speaker
Might have been more interesting if that was the route. Even though I didn't mind Lisa coming back into the fold, her hiding felt more believable than Mr. Savage just deciding to keep Anna's dad alive.
01:24:14
Speaker
But yeah, we get some funny moments with all of this zombie maneuvering. I really like there's a moment where Steph is trying to go and do something and Chris and Lisa are playing distraction. Oh, she has to get her keys because he took took her keys and that's the plan of like, we need my car so then we can get out of here.
01:24:35
Speaker
And Chris and Lisa have this tinsel and they're waving it around and it's just making no noise. It's not causing. I love that. Yeah, me too. It was a really charming moment. And the moment where they're hiding behind the TV I thought that was okay. I don't know if I believe zombies would sit there and buy TV, ah like would sit there and watch TVs, but won't notice the people crawling on the floor. They'll be super oblivious to that. It's just like whatever the loudest sound is what they're going to be drawn to.
01:25:06
Speaker
Because they't they don't get discovered until the video stops, right? Like, that's when the zombies are like, hey, there's people here. Wait a minute. And, yeah, Chris and Lisa both get bit. I was kind of shocked by that, but that's when I started thinking, okay, this going to have a surprisingly bleak ending for a Christmas movie. But, ah yeah, I was totally fine with these two characters getting taken off the board. I'm like, let let's get them out of here. Focus more on Anna and Steph.
01:25:35
Speaker
Once you've taken John off the board, I am like, there's still good stuff to come in the movies, like especially like the scene with with her dad. But like, I'm kind of, I'm a little emotionally checked out in a way where I'm like, yeah, whatever. Just turn everyone. Fuck, fuck, fuck these guys. I agree. There's less of an investment I have when we lose John.
01:25:57
Speaker
Him and Anna as a duo were this movie It almost should have been like everyone else. ever They lose everyone else. And then it's just her and John. Like that's like to me, i mean, maybe that's more predictable. So I, but I don't know, like that's what I'm, I'm invested in them.
01:26:15
Speaker
I mean, would have been fine with more predictable because the other choices of deaths they have are predictable, like eliminating Nick's faceless crew or all of the nameless people that are in the cafeteria. Yeah. I thought Nick was going to die when he starts to reprise like his song. and he's like good because he Emotionally, it does kind of almost feel like he's ready to die, too. He just bore his heart out to to to Anna about like what happened. but Although, it that the... the The scene works emotionally, but it almost is a weird beat of like where she calls him out like you've never done anything not for yourself. And he's like, I killed my dad. Like that almost feels like the start of another conversation. like, well, hold on. Let's finish talking about your selfishness first. You're like cheating a little bit by just bringing up your trauma. Yeah, exactly. And also that happened like what? Pretty recently. You've been an asshole for a very long time before the whole I had to kill my dad thing. Yeah. So you're just like not an asshole anymore because you did you did. what Is that not selfish? could I mean, your dad asked you to do it. So you're like, i I did his request, his final wishes. Yeah. But it also probably kept you alive, too, in the end. If you didn't die, if you didn't kill him, you probably would have died. So kind of selfish either way. Yeah. yeah
01:27:35
Speaker
But yeah, they ah they end up like freeing Anna's dad, and Anna's dad gets in like a fist fight with Mr. Savage on stage, and Anna's dad dangles Mr. Savage over like this pit of zombies. And is like, I'm not going to kill you. Savage double crosses him and tries to like almost literally stab him in the back. But Anna uses her sharp candy cane a weapon that she has to cut down a Christmas star to knock Savage into the pit of zombies.
01:28:07
Speaker
So he's dead. But Anna's dad is also bit. I didn't catch at what point he would have ended up bit. I think it's like during the tussle with because before he has Savage dangling over like where the zombies are, he's against the bars where the zombies are reaching up. So like one of them just like grabbed his ankle and bit it really quickly in that like second that he was a against the the bars on the stage, I guess. Yeah, i i I'll believe whatever you tell me at this point. I mean, I feel like the staging of of that sequence could, like, i the motion of where we get to with Anna and her dad works, but it's like,
01:28:46
Speaker
yeah, I don't know if if Mr. Savage was one, a better villain, but then also that that that sequence could have been... Because it just feels weird of like, yeah, okay. Because there's two moments of like, he's not worth it, don't kill him. And then he fucking tries to get them both times, but it's kind of underwhelming. Like, he just breaks a bottle and he's like, ah, like, i don there there should have been like some... If you're going to do that, like, do like a really... You're on a stage already, so like, do like some kind of theatrical, like... I don't know, there's swords there for some reason. They have a sword fight.
01:29:20
Speaker
Yeah, or do something maybe a little bit more musical. You could bring it back to a nice musical number. But um yeah, Anna's dad gets turned. he He's bit. And i I do like that the last things they say to each other is Merry Christmas. This is a true Christmas. It's not I love you. It's Merry Christmas.
01:29:41
Speaker
Yeah, he's the ah he's a good actor, the dad. Like, he the that the sells the tragedy. And then it just... But I like and also don't like because, like, you when you have a movie of, like, okay, your goal and quest is to get here. Like, it's just get to the cafeteria. She needs to reunite with her dad. And then the dad ends up dying anyway.
01:30:03
Speaker
there's, I do like stories like that because then it's almost just more about the emotional dream. But then i also, because I'm still sore about the John thing, I'm like, so John died for nothing then. Yeah. Yeah. Fucking, we didn't even, we even accomplish our goal. Like fucking. So, so so why did John die?
01:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, if if there's no John, this whole mission's failed. You might as well have just ended the movie when he died. They really they really blew it with John. Let's just go back and redo it. read the The movie's great up to that point. Let's just shoot another ending. Time to remake it.
01:30:37
Speaker
we'll We'll remake it. So Anna and her dad have this heartfelt goodbye. They say Merry Christmas to each other. And then they're out into the parking lot where they end up basically getting surrounded by zombies. And we get, i think, the last musical dance or musical number. It's called I Will Believe. This is the last one in the movie, right? Or... Well, it does it count the one that that there's like a song playing as like they're kind of driving off at the end and we check back in on like everyone who's been turned, but they're not singing it. It's kind of just a song that's, from what I remember, it's just like song. Yeah, it's a reprisal of Hollywood ending, i think.
01:31:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah. You're talking about as they're driving away? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I don't remember much of I Will Believe, but...
01:31:30
Speaker
I think it was a pretty good song. and Maybe it was kind of catchy. it It didn't stick with me. I'll have to re-listen to it, but I don't remember disliking any one. I mean, other than the Headmaster Savage one just kind of just slid off me. I didn't have a reaction to that, but like other than...
01:31:48
Speaker
than that like I yeah I I'm just gonna assume it was good based on the merits of all the other songs ah yeah yeah and and and it's emotionally you know they're kind of almost like ready to die at that for you because they're like they'd see they feel like oh they're surrounded and there's like oh I guess this is it that's kind of like the vibe of the scene And I thought that's what was going to happen because Steph ends up pulling up in her car. I forgot that she was alive. I didn't remember her or the car. When that car pulled up, it took me a minute. I started thinking, who could that be?
01:32:28
Speaker
Who has, whose car could that be? It's Anthony Ramos. Yeah. It's a callback to the These Guys Got Juice Twisters episode.
01:32:41
Speaker
ah that That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it was fun. Like kind of like we've already established that she yeah kind of is self celebratory in some way. Like when she killed the zombie, did the little dance. Like she shows she kind of like makes like kind of does a little cheer for herself when she pulls up in the car. She's like, save your life again or something.
01:33:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. i the She's just... Man, so I guess like losing John didn't fully like tank the movie because we still have Steph. Thank God we didn't lose her. Thank God she made it to the end It's just that Nick is not a replacement for John, so it' yeah like you can't do... if If John's off the table, then make the romance be Steph and Anna. like They're going to get together. Yeah, just make Anna bisexual. It's not that far of a a leap. Yeah, know whatever. She's experimenting. She's young. Yeah, it it it could work. ah Nick is just a little dull, kind of. Even her dad is like, i don't love your choice of boyfriend. That's one of the last things he says before they say Merry Christmas to each other. Nick shows up and he's like, yeah, I don't love your choice of boyfriend. like Agreed.
01:33:51
Speaker
Yeah, they're like his character could have used another pass in the writing part of the process. um But yeah, her gesture and her being like, save your life again. that's That's great. I love that. And so, yeah, they hop in the car, they drive off and reprisal of a Hollywood ending starts playing. and But now it's sad because we remember everyone we've lost. Yeah. Yeah, well, one thing i enjoyed about it, so ah the lyrics really, there's lyrics that happen, I think, in the background of Hollywood ending that aren't as present.
01:34:32
Speaker
And when the reprisal happens, the main chorus, like the main part of the chorus, kind of falls to the background a little bit, and we're getting... a little bit of those extra filler lyrics in there. Not to like use filler as a negative term. but No, i know what you mean. Yeah, I like the lyrics. I have them written here. It says, ah this is not the story you've been dreaming of. The one where you get all you want, so stop your pretending. There's no such thing as a Hollywood ending. And like it's really drowned out. like This not...
01:35:10
Speaker
The story you've been dreaming of. I think I think it's effective. I almost in my mind when they started doing that, I was like, oh, and we're cutting around to like everyone we lost. I was like, are they going to start even though they've been turned? We'll break the reality. and It'll be like that Magnolia scene where everyone starts singing. I'm like, oh, are they are they going to join in now? I thought that's what was going to happen. It
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
01:35:36
Speaker
cuts to John at one point and he's sitting. I would I would have been fine with John laying there and he starts singing because you're already kind of breaking the because ah the fact that there's even still a physical body for John. I'm like, oh, I thought they like fucking tore him the piece. Like you even see like bits of his guts like on the floor. So I'm like, oh, he looks intact, kind of.
01:35:55
Speaker
Yeah, I would have been totally fine. And honestly, maybe I would have liked the movie more if everybody, the all the zombies, everybody was in the reprisal of Hollywood ending. It would have totally worked for me. Because you get to keep the bleak. The ending's still bleak, but then you just get a little bit of, i don't know, it, it not soften the blow, but helped me accept. I still need, i need help moving on up over John. So like the, the movie would, would smooth, that would smooth it over for me.
01:36:28
Speaker
Yeah, and so Steph says, where to next? Then there's a big banner that says Merry Christmas. It flies at the screen, and then we get a quick jump scare of a zombified Santa, and that's the movie, Anna and in the Apocalypse.
01:36:46
Speaker
I enjoyed the ending. I really like where we left these characters kind of bleak. It maybe would have been better if John was in that car and not Nick, or if John at least got to join in with the musical number. I think either of those would have made the ending a bit better.
01:37:03
Speaker
it Losing John kind of holds this movie back a bit. Yeah, if john's if John stays alive or you do one of those things that we said of like he gets to join in the reprisal, then we can itch closer to like a five. still I'll be like, oh, this movie has everything.
01:37:21
Speaker
I still really enjoyed it, though, given all of that. Oh, yeah, I was i still were recommend it. And it's a great holiday watch. Like it it did put me despite the bleak ending. I mean, like, i i like bleak ending. So like, and for it felt true to like the story we were watching. It just felt like they ah Because, like, if you do a zombie comedy or a zombie musical, like, you could just, like, not have any of the zombie elements be that serious or dramatic, but they decide to follow through on, like, no, this is is a zombie movie, so, like, we're going to lose people and it's going to have...
01:37:58
Speaker
like that tone, which I appreciate. I also appreciate that about ah even if I would say this is a bleaker ending than Shaun of the Dead, even though people die at the end of Shaun of the Dead. But like that movie similarly follows through on the idea of like, no, you're going to lose. Like people will die and get turned. Like like the scene where he has to put down his mom when she gets turned is like, really heartbreaking in shawn of the dead and like kind of ah comes out of nowhere like you don't expect in a movie that had been so funny that you're gonna get something that dark so like ending here felt right i mean it it it just like i was like okay yeah they could they committed to the bit that they did you got any final thoughts on and in the apocalypse justice for john justice for john i agree
01:38:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think this movie's great. Great Christmas movie. It is filled with the Christmas spirit. I think I'm going to probably watch it around this time of year. I don't have a whole lot of Christmas movies that I just throw on. a lot of the times it's whatever's playing on TV that's most of my Christmas movie intake.
01:39:03
Speaker
But i could see myself putting this one on once a year and enjoying the musical numbers. The musical numbers are so good. They're, i and i mean, musically, it's not like they're breaking any ground or doing anything super creative.
01:39:20
Speaker
But it's just relentlessly catchy song after relentlessly catchy song. And the economy of musical is great in this one. It's way better than Wicked for Good. And I like the first Wicked movie a lot.
01:39:36
Speaker
But yeah this just functions better as a musical. this this clears i mean it was weird when when dorothy shows up in this and we like only see the back of her head and like it's kind of shoot her like jesus in the ben-hur movie like where you never actually see her and it was it was weird that like dorothy was even in in this but other than that like yeah it's better than wicked for good doug thank you for coming on the podcast thank you for being one of the first guests on morbid curiosities thanks for having me on
01:40:08
Speaker
Yeah. Where can more people find some of your work? Uh, if you people, uh, want to follow me on the health site, that's Twitter. Uh, they can follow me at at the Doug files. Uh, that's also my YouTube. Um, and also on the podcast, these guys got juice, uh, got lots, lots of cool stuff we've been doing over over there. It just wrapped up our coverage of, of the leftovers, uh,
01:40:33
Speaker
gonna have uh some pluribus coverage i mean we have been covering pluribus but we're gonna you know finish out the season on that there's a knives out episodes gonna be going up soon also gonna probably be putting out a chair company episode so there's there's there's a lot like even it's like like oh it's end of the year probably taking it easy or something like no fucking putting out lot of shit so just uh follow over there Yeah, you guys can catch me on those Pluribus episodes too. Check out Pluribus on Apple TV.
01:41:04
Speaker
Great show. Yeah, go listen to me and Doug talk about that. Go listen to everything going on at These Guys Got Juice. there's Hell yeah. There's a plethora of content over there. It's so worthwhile.
01:41:17
Speaker
And yeah, Merry Christmas to the listeners. Thank you guys for supporting. Thank you guys for being along for this ride throughout this whole year. There's only going to be one or two more episodes coming out. I promise Rec 4 is going to be coming either at the very end of the year or at the very beginning of next year. Rec 4 is coming. And then there's going to be some kind of top 10 episode coming your guys' way next week, Monday, the last Monday of the year.
01:41:46
Speaker
So I'll know more details in the future. Keep on the lookout for that. And thank you guys for your support. And we've been Morbicuriosities. No such thing as a Hollywood ending.
01:42:16
Speaker
Merry Christmas. ah ho