Transcript
Speaker: That you would, if you could And you know that you should Yes, you know that you should
Speaker: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite bad movie podcast. It's the only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, if this movie's so bad, why do you like it so much?
Speaker: We're your hosts. My name is Chris Anderson, and I think you could say I i like to to get out there and spread the good word about bad movies. so I might be the preacher of the show, ok you could say. Okay,
Speaker: i' picked a You picked a good one for yourself. Yes, that's very good. think so. Well, of course, you're you, Greg Bossy, my co-host, yeah you're you're quite lovable, so I got to put you as the Dax. You're the Dax of the show for sure. Okay.
Speaker: Okay. Interesting. I mean, i is that not fair? i think it's fair. So this is, I mean, he's the least interesting character to me in the film. Interesting. Yeah. So anyway. think he's the straw that stirs the drink. We do not have, of course, my lovely wife, the big fella of the show, Anna Anderson. Nice.
Speaker: But we do have a very special guest. You might know him as the canonically on-again, off-again researcher of the monumental podcast Blank Check. But today, he's here teaching us all about the old school, so he's got to be our own personal Uncle Drew. It's Mr. J.J. Bursch. How you doing, J.J.? I'm honored to be compared to the great Uncle Drew.
Speaker: and I hope to put on a Rucker 50-style performance for you today with no abandonment whatsoever. I'm ready to play. and I think the three of us together, we will be taking it to the hole. will be ah getting the the threes. It's going to be a ah classic slam dunk. Obviously, we're talking about Uncle Drew this week.
Speaker: If you haven't seen Uncle Drew, here's just a brief summary of the film to hold in your mind.
Speaker: a down-on-his-luck amateur basketball coach teams up with a ragtag band of geriatric ballers to take on the world's most important streetball tournament, the Rucker Classic.
Speaker: Yeah. Right? Yeah, that's it. No, that's that's the whole thing. You maybe could have mentioned Pepsi a couple times, but yeah, no, that's it. No, no. Pepsi comes up so organically that I feel like it's... So what's what's funny is I did a little bit of research on it. tried to do a little bit of research and I heard like a lot of product placement. And then when I got done watching it, I was like, where was the product placement?
Speaker: So it worked on me. But I realized that I think it's just because you're just so accustomed to seeing Pepsi advertisers, especially at like sporting events, that i just they just were blanks to me. like All I saw was the game. I did not see the Pepsi in the background, which is probably why I saw it. and why I drink Pepsi.
Speaker: I'm sure we'll talk about it more later, but I do feel like the Pepsi almost does fade into the background, and this feels like an Aleve movie more than anything anything else. yeah There's a lot of Aleve.
Speaker: lot of aite yeah Hardest painkiller in the game. Yeah, they don't ever like specifically mention Pepsi by name. They're just like, and all the ads in it are just like would-be diegetic ads that are just sort of placed prominently and perfectly color graded so that you are seeing them. But they're all diegetic, and so it it's sort of... strangely work. Makes sense, yeah. Yeah, if nothing else. But, JJ, when I asked you to come on the show, you said that you had a background in studying product placement, and that's why you have a love for Uncle Drew. Oh, interesting. Is that accurate? I mean, that's at least how I initially framed my love for Uncle Drew. ah Opening weekend, I dragged a bunch of my friends because um I was in grad school when this film came out, ah working on my dissertation, which was about the mainstream emergence of product placement in the nineteen eighty s um And so I could be like, we all have to see this to help my my research. um I think i
Speaker: i don't I don't think I ever mentioned Uncle Drew once in that dissertation. Okay. But I did convince so many people to go see it. And everyone who went to go see it with me was so surprisingly charmed by what is a feature-length adaptation of a series of viral internet commercials. So, yes, I have a background in product placement. I use that to justify my interest in Uncle Drew. But really, I just i enjoy i enjoy the film.
Speaker: yeah It was certainly very enjoyable. i had a perfectly fine time watching it. you know This is a a classic like Saturday afternoon cable type of watch. it like Oh, Uncle Drew's on? Yeah, I can catch a half hour Uncle Drew until the game starts or whatever.
Speaker: and Greg, had you seen Uncle Drew before? No, I had no idea what this was. And so it's a basketball movie based on a Pepsi commercial. This is going to be a blast.
Speaker: Can I do a quick, can I do just a quick correction? It's really important. It's a Pepsi Max commercial. And I think it's important we we establish that from here on out. Yes. Absolutely. Pepsi Max commercial. 100% Pepsi.
Speaker: I did watch the commercial before I watched the movie. And I just remember thinking, that's kind of what I expected. Yeah. And then I was like, and I guess they turned that into a movie. So we'll see what that's like.
Speaker: And then they pretty much did, more or less, just getting rid of the hidden camera angle. Mm-hmm. ah Yeah, I had not seen this one before. I remember when it came out in theaters and hearing that it was like an adaptation of a viral marketing campaign. And it was interesting, like, well, I guess.
Speaker: And also, I don't like basketball. So there's really no reason for me to ever watch this movie sort of organically. Yeah. ah But it is, you know, pretty pleasant.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. And i I found out a little bit about how this came to be. do you guys want to hear what I got? Oh, absolutely. Yes, please. It's good to see someone else doing this instead of me.
Speaker: Yeah, you can take it easy this week for once.
Speaker: I had some context about the background of the film. Script director actors on set. What was going on on screen? I wanna hear some details.
Speaker: Gossips can do all that shit. Can't imagine all details.
Speaker: So Uncle Drew was released June 29th, 2018. Perfect summer movie. ah You got your director, Charles Stone III.
Speaker: And we've got eight taglines. That's a new record for us. That's wild. I think because there were so many character posters. These are all character taglines. Yeah, it's the ones with the character posters that have a tendency to have more. Saw the same thing with Troy. Yeah.
Speaker: who so Two movies always compared. Uncle Drew and troy Troy. Two sides of the same Greek coin. ah Tagline number one, respect your elders.
Speaker: Are sure? That's good. Yep, makes sense. Tagline number two, all his plays are on in the paint. Sure. Don't probably refer to one of the characters being in the paint all the time. Maybe Bigfella, probably. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. He's probably, yeah. He takes a three and has a heart attack. So probably good to keep it in the paint. ah Tagline number three, don't mess with the master of dunk foo. Definitely big fella. That's big fella. Yeah.
Speaker: Time to go really old school. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: Grab your squad and go. i'm thinking that's a character poster of the van. If I had to guess. Okay. That makes me more interested.
Speaker: Tagline number five. No, six. Tagline number six. Uncle Drew is raining buckets. Yep. He sure is, Youngblood. and I mean, maybe if there's rain on the poster. i don't know.
Speaker: Tagline number seven. Fast brakes, no brakes. That's got to have them in the van. Yeah. It's good, too. Yeah, not bad. no I think the simplest one, The Legend Returns.
Speaker: Yeah. yeah I think that's the one. The fifth entry in the franchise. Yes, technically, I suppose. ah So in 1993, Pepsi released Pepsi Max, their latest salvo in the Cold War Wars.
Speaker: that both colas were struggling to get their diet colas a male audience, and they're trying new formulations and naming conventions to reach the male sugar conscious consumer.
Speaker: ah Young men who don't want too much sugar became the core demographic for Pepsi Max. And in 2012, they launched a new internet based marketing campaign that was laser targeted right at young men.
Speaker: The concept for the ad was simple. They hired 20-year-old NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving to star in ah a hidden camera commercial, and he would be disguised in the best old-age makeup they could guess.
Speaker: And they would go play basketball in a public park and clown on all the public on all the players there. Ice buckets of free Pepsi Max were provided so they could get plenty of footage of people cheering and drinking soda.
Speaker: Sounds great. And yeah, i I've watched this and there were apparently a grand total of four of these. watched all four of them. and I only watched the first one. they were You got the idea. Yeah. much You missed himself.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, you missed ah you missed a couple of, I guess, what's his name? BJ Smoove. He was in one of them. So he was one of the few other characters that returned ah love from J.B. Smoove. I love J.B. Smoove. He's a a delight.
Speaker: yeah Yes, yeah underutilized here, but great to see where he pops up. Yeah. Before you get back real quick, I just, I have to ask, has there ever been another episode of the show that felt this much like a Doughboys intro? Because turning it back to soda in the 90s, sugar conscious drinkers, pretty incredible.
Speaker: Thank you. Well, I mean, I really like to zoom way out. ah So this Pepsi ad, it went viral on YouTube and ah they went on to make four of them showing uncle Drew playing on courts across the country, often partnering with or squaring off against other fake old basketball players.
Speaker: ah As a side note, these spots were directed by somebody named Jonathan Klein, but he allowed them to be credited to Kyrie Irving. And I can't imagine how the director's guild would allow somebody to get away with that. That seems like that's true. You don't want that kind of trouble.
Speaker: Uh, hopefully Jonathan Klein didn't, got at least a slap on the wrist. i don't know. Uh, so the fourth and last Uncle Drew commercial came out in 2015, but this was not the end of Uncle Drew. Uh, in early 2017, PepsiCo announced that they were partnering with Temple Hill Entertainment, the company that brought you Twilight, The Maze Runner, and The Fault in Our Stars, so they could bring Uncle Drew to the big screen.
Speaker: Just one of the greatest production companies, I suppose. I like the idea of there being a shared universe between Twilight and Uncle Troop. They should be a video game crossover where they all have to fight each other. They're both kind of ageless beings capable of magical acts. Especially sports-based ones.
Speaker: Yeah, if if you unlock Bigfella, obviously he's going to be your go-to tank in this situation. ah Producer Marty Bowen started... work immediately.
Speaker: ah The cultural memory of a soda commercial on the internet can only last for so long. It's true. He approached an old writing partner of his named Jay Longino about writing the script. Longino's secret weapon here being that he had played some college hoops and a little semi-pro ball in Mexico.
Speaker: So he knew ball, at least. ah For directing, Bowen went with Charles Stone III. Charles Stone III broke out on the big screen in 2002 with the surprisingly good college band drama Drumline. You guys seen Drumline? Oh, absolutely. Charles Stone III is like one of those secret, like really good, like old hand style directors, I think. nice um And specifically like of sports movies. This is his third sports film if we count Drumline as a sports movie.
Speaker: It's definitely a i come up competition film. Sure. yeah Yeah. And yeah, surprisingly good. Really well edited. All the drumming sequences. Obviously, that's something that's going to take pinpoint editing to match up all that drumming. And it it does come off really sick. Let's see. His most widely seen directorial work, though, is doubtlessly he directed the Wazzup Budweiser commercials. Ah. Yeah.
Speaker: So also a background working with brands. Very important here, too, let's say. Now, from there, all they had to do was assemble a cast of world-famous basketball players who were also comedic actors who wouldn't complain about setting in makeup chair for three hours a day and then acting in that makeup for a full day in Atlanta in August.
Speaker: Luckily, they were able to find some guys who were up for that. Filming went smoothly, near as I can tell, and audiences were on board. It was able to make nearly $47 million dollars on its $18 million dollars budget, though I'm sure it made more than that before it even went to theaters just from the product placement.
Speaker: So other comedies of 2018. Obviously, this was in comedies were not a big thing 2018. We're still in the low era of comedies, but there were a couple out there.
Speaker: i You got the death of Stalin. Okay. ah Sorry to bother you. I've only heard good things. Never got around to it. Yeah. ah Game night.
Speaker: I remember that occurring. Yeah. Game night. Not, you know, passable. Deadpool 2. If you're a Deadpool guy. Deadpool always gave me bad vibes. I've not seen any of them. I'd like to maybe. Oh, you don't want to hang out with that guy? The merc with the mouth? Yeah.
Speaker: No, I find the mouth to be a bit much. I wish he'd tone down the mouth. It's quite a bit. least favorite Magic the Gathering card. don't doubt that. I can't imagine the guys who are like, I got to get the Merc with the mouth in my deck. It's got wild abilities, but that's not what this is about, so let's move on.
Speaker: No, let's talk about the last one, Blockers, a.k.a. Cockblockers with John Cena. He plays a Dan that doesn't want his daughter to have sex, if I remember right. That's right. Yeah. good for that guy. It was the role he was born to play. Right.
Speaker: Well, that's what I got for context. So that just means one thing. Audience, you know what time it is. It's time for me to play the plot bumper.
Speaker: Plot bumper, listen to me. I'm gonna give you the plot summary. Come on, baby. Here's the synopsis.
Speaker: Plot bumper, plot bumper.
Speaker: so we open on a parody of ESPN's 30 for The subject of this one is a man known only as Uncle Drew, the greatest streetball player who ever lived, who disappeared after having a falling out with his team 50 years ago at the world-famous Rucker Classic.
Speaker: There's lots of real-world basketball talking heads who would lend this movie a lot of credibility if I knew anything about basketball. yeah Do you guys have any kind of relationship with basketball? Yes, I love basketball. That's, I think, part of my enjoyment of the film.
Speaker: Okay. It's also, i mean, again, i didn't I didn't know for sure. It wasn't to stereotype either of you two, but I did think it would be fun to talk about a basketball movie um with two guys I didn't think were maybe the biggest hoop heads. well I'm going to tell you right now, you're going to succeed at that task. yeah The sports was big in my family. So like I have some granular detail about basketball and in particular, like the Chris Webber timeout joke near the end. I knew exactly what that was about. So it's like I have some background familiarity with basketball, but it's not great. The good news is I feel like there aren't too many Easter eggs. It's more so just people pop up. And I mean, Dikembe does a little of the finger wag.
Speaker: That's known. People know that. Yeah. There's nothing super obscure. Maybe the Jerry West logo gag is a little bit obscure, but you know, it's nothing that like makes it impossible to engage with the movie. It didn't feel inscrutable. I never felt like anything. Like I was just like, what was that about? Like, you know, like I felt included, you know,
Speaker: Yeah. And all the basketball playing in the movie is fairly intuitive. You know, you understand he's trying to get the ball in the hoop. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: It's it's not super complicated. You know, like in a football movie, you could get lost a little bit sometimes because football is more complicated. But it's really easy to understand and they don't, you know, overcomplicate I do love the idea of you bringing that up. The person watching this movie and thinking, why are they putting the ball in the hoop so much? what is Why is that what they're doing?
Speaker: Is that the game? too that is Wait, is the hoop the basket? The basketball? ah So we cut to a gym where Dax, as played by little Rel Howley, is ah hanging out.
Speaker: ah He's an amateur basketball coach trying to lead a winning team in the Rucker Classic, the most important streetball tournament in the world. And this is a real big, real streetball tournament, is my understanding. I learned about it through Law & Order Criminal Intent.
Speaker: what What happened on Law & Order Criminal Intent that led them to the Rucker? ah Vincent D'Onofrio was investigating a basketball crime and he was like that. We got some footage. They were doing like a little Drew situation in this episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent. And in the hidden camera footage of the crowd, it was to promote like a sports gum. And then the crowd was one of their suspects. And so they're like, we had to, we got to find that guy that's in the videotape.
Speaker: Wow. D'Nafio cocked his head to the side a little bit. yeah You already knew who it was. remember the show. And because he's six foot four he obviously gets out there and like hoops with some kids there and does you know fine. Gets some credibility before questioning the guys. Great stuff. Anyway, ah his team only has one good player. Dax's team, that is.
Speaker: His only good player is Casper. ah But that should hopefully be enough to beat Dax's rival, Mookie, a quirked up white boy played by Nick Kroll, who is doing like great Nick Kroll stuff. This is just the amount of Nick Kroll that I like. he's yeah He's unbelievable in this film, I think. um This should have been his Oscar. Not that there are too many other opportunities. Maybe they'll give it to him for GOAT this year. um But he's... He's unbelievable in this movie. And one thing I should note too, um as the ah lone basketball fan on here, Casper is played by Aaron Gordon, who at this point in time was like a, seemed to be a burgeoning superstar, um much lower on the totem pole than anyone else in the film and was known as like,
Speaker: the best dunker in the league. He and yeah another guy, Zach Levine have this legendary dunk contest. The last good one, maybe where he did something called the butt dunk would recommend you check that out. um It's pretty incredible. I'm definitely checking out the butt dunk. Shortly after this film, his star kind of ah burns out. He's traded to the Denver nuggets becomes the best role player in the league. Totally different from who he is in this film.
Speaker: Okay. Well, and I think getting ah obviously a great dunker. Dunks are what you want in a basketball movie. Exactly. So getting the best dunker you can find is a smart play. ah So ah Dax and Mookie, they have been rivals since they were kids.
Speaker: Mookie blocked his game-winning three-pointer and Dax never recovered. Mookie shows up at the gym to play some mind games and brags that he's going to steal Casper and crush Dax. Dax.
Speaker: So Dax sets home to the apartment that he shares with Jess, played by Tiffany Haddish, our third comedy ringer in the movie. She's very excited for Dax to win the tournament so that he can buy her a Tesla, which is, ah ah that's sort of her whole vibe, I feel like, yeah of Jess.
Speaker: Yeah. ah It was both a different time and also maybe a little like saw into the future. Yeah, yeah. Jess is not a sympathetic character, so yeah you can tell.
Speaker: This is the beginning of Tesla's brand image decline. This is what drove that guy insane. Yes. So Dax, he's underwater here. He's, you know, he cannot handle this woman. He is going, he's in trouble.
Speaker: The next day. Casper shows up at Dax's job at Foot Locker, brought to you by Foot Locker. I realize this is the first piece of product placement that I didn't recognize. I even wrote down, you're realizing that now? And was just like, oh, they were in a Foot Locker.
Speaker: Well, I'm going to say even before that, in the previous scene, Dax promised him some Jordans, brought to you by Jordans. And now it's Chekhov's Jordans. It's paying off. and yeah ah Casper has come to collect.
Speaker: Unfortunately, even with his employee discount, Dax can't afford to buy Casper and Casper's entire crew Jordans, ah but Jess loans him some money. It turns out that getting Casper these new dunks was a bad move for Dax, though, because the next day, Mookie has stolen Casper for his team, just like he said he would.
Speaker: When Jess finds out that he lost their superstar, she kicks Dax out of their apartment. Rock bottom stuff. Yeah.
Speaker: And, you know classic storytelling beats. You love to see this point in a narrative. This is going to send Dax out on his adventure. This is us this movie has a solid structure to it. Oh, yeah. a huge part of what makes it so enjoyable.
Speaker: So now Dax is homeless and teamless, and he begins looking around to find some players to take the non-refundable spot in the tournament that he paid for. He asks his barbers if they have any advice. One of his barbers played by JB Smooth. The other one played by newest member of the two-timers club, Mike Epps.
Speaker: Way to go, Mike. Mike Epps, of course, playing Madam Web's boss in Madam Web. Yep. Yep. Congratulations, Mike Epps.
Speaker: um But they say, oh, you should go track down Uncle Drew. And Dax is like, ah the guy that you're describing is going to be at least 70 years old. I don't think he's going to be very good at basketball anymore.
Speaker: There's this strange cameo in that scene where the rapper Rick Ross is just getting his haircut too. and it's never acknowledged really that it's Rick Ross. He's just there. That's cool. yeah He just likes Uncle Drew. He's like, put me in a movie somewhere. I don't care. um So, ah yeah, he starts looking around at players.
Speaker: He's about to give up. When he sees Uncle Drew himself destroy a young streetballer, it looks like old Uncle Drew has still got it. And we get to see him, you know, hitting some threes and breaking this kid's ankles, as I understand it.
Speaker: ah What did you guys think of this premier Uncle Drew appearance? That's good. I... It's sell you. You buy it. Well, so again, I come to this movie having seen both the ads and watched Kyrie Irving a lot.
Speaker: um The interesting thing about the movie that I don't remember being central to the ads, um and I rewatched some of them just get a sense of the differences between the style, but you can correct me if I'm wrong, Chris, but... I don't remember as much of it being about how like horny he is, which is a major plot line in the movie. yeah like Before we even see Uncle Drew, we're told he like has a foot fetish and we're told all these strange things. so Then we see him like in his sweatsuit that's like wet and nancy It's very different from the ads which set him very much in this like heroic mode so soon.
Speaker: um yeah But yes, i like i mean I like that Kyrie Irving is one of the great dribblers in the history of the NBA. There's nothing else of note um to – I'm not sure if you're aware of Kyrie Irving's off-the-court struggles after this. realize he – I saw that he went a little bit ah cuckoo. Yeah, I think he so he's come back around. People like him again. Kyrie was the center of the – You know, you had Aaron Rodgers in the NFL as kind of the like COVID vax person. Kyrie played for the Brooklyn Nets in 2020 and could not play any of their home games because the state of New York required anyone to get a who went to the arena to get a um COVID vaccine, saying which he refused.
Speaker: um And that's it. That's the only con. No, there's many other things, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Anti-Semitic videos posted online, other things like that. But he seems to be doing yeah much better now. So oh God bless.
Speaker: Yeah. Hopefully you got all that out of your system, Kyrie. You certainly, it's not on display in this movie. if he he no way No, I had no idea. And I will also say that like ah he's a professional basketball player. He's got a pretty good command of his body. And I feel like this is a film in which he gets to utilize that pretty well.
Speaker: And it is also very interesting to watch someone who outside looks very old, but watch their movements and recognize that they're not. like it was made a weird disconnect in my brain at times that was not bad. it was kind of enjoyable, actually, but it was just very interesting to see.
Speaker: But yeah, they don't quite give you the feeling of like an old person, like an actual old person. They're definitely a young person who is trying to move like an old person. And they're not like they didn't go to like clowning school. They don't have that type of like mastery of the craft. Right. But it's still pretty good, I thought.
Speaker: It's also, I mean, the the ads mostly surround him with other current and NBA players. And here there's one when when we get to the other players that is close to current. and I can't remember if Nate Robinson was retired or not at the time. The other people are actual old people, oh which is a really interesting decision for them to have made. Yeah. Not not as old as their are character. right That's true. Yes. They are still in old age makeup, but they are well retired this point.
Speaker: So Dax, he tells Uncle Drew that he can get him into the Rucker, which will let him prove that his old school fundamentals forward style of play is better than this flashy style that the kids are playing these days.
Speaker: Which, I'm going to be honest, it seemed like Uncle Drew's style was actually kind of flashy. yeah I didn't see a lot of like crisp chest passes in this movie. It's almost exclusively flashed. Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, he's he's not quite walking in the walk, but I appreciate the the message that he's sending out. Uncle Drew says that he's in, but only if he can use his old team. They're scattered across the East Coast.
Speaker: So that means we get a good road trip, which is a great foundation to build your second actor this way. Yep, yep, yep, yep. We also get to do it in Uncle Drew's cool van. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And we also now we get to see Dax sort of interacting with ah old people. And so, like, that dynamic and being like, this is rap music. He's like, I don't like rap music. We start putting those kinds of conversations in the movie. But they're not bad, you know? yeah I've seen this done worse, you know?
Speaker: This is like light afternoon entertainment. It doesn't need to be like edgy or deranged. It can just be like, i don't like rap music. Uh, So first they go and they pick up a preacher played by Chris Weber. That's right. And he's a power forward turned preacher.
Speaker: And he's happy to play just so that he can escape his wife, Betty Lou, for a while. Betty Lou played by WNBJ star Lisa Leslie. Don't worry worry. She will be playing basketball.
Speaker: Also, the only recasting, I believe, because Betty Lou in the commercials was Maya Moore. A different WNBA star. Okay. So who would not be even with old age makeup, probably age appropriate for Chris Webber. So good on them.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's fair. I think that gives a better vibe on the movie. We should also note, what is what is Preacher doing when we meet him? i believe he's baptizing a baby. yeah And is he doing it the normal way or is he passing the baby around his back? No, he is like spinning it around his back and looks like he is about to slam dunk it and someone's like, don't dunk that baby. It's like, no, no, no. No, let him dunk the baby. Let him do it to the baby. He's excited about it. It's a pretty great scene.
Speaker: It's really good. Yeah. Uh, so on route to their next player, they stopped for gas and drew asks Dax, if he ever plays basketball and Dax says, no, I only coach. I don't like to play basketball.
Speaker: They'll investigate that some more later, but first they pick up their next player. His name is lights. He's played by Reggie Miller and he lives in a retirement community. And when the team shows up looking for him, they find out he's actually at a Dave and Buster's across the street playing one of those basketball arcade games.
Speaker: But on top of that, he's missing every shot. Dax asks him if he's blind and lights responds legally or actually, which was, I think my favorite joke.
Speaker: Yeah. That's just good old Bush belt jokes. This is, that's what this movie has in spades. ah But Lights is on board, even though Dax is not particularly excited to have him. But he's not the only team member at the assisted living facility.
Speaker: There's also a catatonic wheelchair-bound septuagenarian named Boots. Dax strives to convince Uncle Drew that Boots is a bridge too far, but Uncle Drew and Boots' attractive granddaughter, Maya, convince him otherwise.
Speaker: Boots is played by Nate Robinson. Maya agrees. Yeah. Boots is a great character. Yeah. Great vibes on Boots. Maya agrees to come along to keep an eye on Boots.
Speaker: So all they need to do is break him out of the rest home. Dax creates an elaborate plan, but before they can execute it, Boots has broken himself out. I feel like you probably could just sign him out.
Speaker: Yeah. It's not a prison. Yeah. I mean, I assume that's kind of like what happened is he was just like, I'm just going to go with them. They're like, all right. Right. Yeah. They do. They have this whole like heist planning sequence where Dax is showing off his coaching skills. Yeah. And then ah Boots just shows up. Yeah.
Speaker: It's fun. Nice little deflation. And soon they're on the way to pick up their last player. On route, Maya and Dax get to talking. and Maya thinks the team is definitely going to lose.
Speaker: But she also thinks that Dax is very sweet for hanging out with all these old men and giving them something to do. The team soon pulls up to a small karate dojo to pick up their final player.
Speaker: Big fella, as played by Shaquille O'Neal. Of course you gotta have Shaq in this. Now this one you know. You know Shaq. Yes, Shaq. yeah The whole world is familiar with Shaq.
Speaker: You couldn't do this movie without Shaq. Well, I feel like the strange thing is it's so weird for him to appear in a film based on a commercial. The man hates advertising. I know his integrity is just so unimpeachable. I never thought Shaq would do this. What does the general think of this?
Speaker: I know. And it's he doesn't unleash his signature green, unfortunately. He does a little bit. He does a little bit, I thought. He's a much more frowning and grimacing. He's a very stern character. There's that one point at which he does smile, because I remember thinking, like, there it is.
Speaker: There it is. He makes you wait for it, I suppose. ah he does look kind of like a creative character in Street Fighter 6. He's huge and wearing a sleeveless yellow karate gi.
Speaker: once Somebody calls him the Old Man Wolverine at one point because he's got that Wolverine facial hair. Are you aware of Shaquille O'Neal's history with Street Fighter style video games?
Speaker: Well, I'm familiar with Shaq Fu. Shaq Fu, there we go. Of course. You've got to get the Kung Fu Diesel out there. But... Bigfell is pissed off at Drew for some reason.
Speaker: ah The team broke up 50 years ago, so Dax tells him, don't do it for Drew. Do it for the three other guys on the team. Which is actually a fairly reasonable point. Yeah. ah So Bigfell is on board.
Speaker: They get the team together, and ah unfortunately... Preacher's wife, Betty Lou, is still hot on their tails. So they all pile into the van. We get a quick blind guy driving the van gag as lights drives the van and they ask escape.
Speaker: Now, this van is loaded down with what I'm going to guess is at least 1,300 pounds of elderly basketball players. So it's running low on gas. And unfortunately, Dax is also low on cash. But luckily, at this latest gas station, there's a girls high school basketball team.
Speaker: Dax bets their coach that his team of giant old people can beat the two-time state championship girls.
Speaker: The old guys get out there and promptly get wrecked. Yeah. Drew covers the bet and the gas, and they all admit that they have a lot of work to do because the tournament actually starts tomorrow.
Speaker: I also like that they're like, you know, you just could have asked us for the gas money. i remember thinking like at the time, they' like, yeah, why didn't he do that? Actually? Like, why didn't he just be like, I actually don't have any gas money. Does anybody have any money for gas?
Speaker: You know, he's embarrassed. I mean, I get it. No, and I get it it. It helps the plot move along. But as soon as they said I was just like, yeah, it actually makes a lot of sense. Look, the thing is, um, big fella is pretty grumpy. I don't know if I would ask him for money. Uncle Drew is a nomadic, um, crazy street ball player. Yeah, this sort of basketball Ronin. Right. And then you have a catatonic man in a wheelchair and you have ah a but blind man who seems the most insane of all of them. So it's not who I would go to maybe to immediately be like I and um he's trying to be the coach, you know, he wants to be in a position of authority.
Speaker: Exactly. I've got this together. this is actually important. So important for me to note the storytelling choices being made here. Uncle Drew doesn't want to do this for the money. He thinks money is bad for basketball.
Speaker: So if, you know, if Dax reveals how destitute he is, maybe those suspicions come in earlier about why, if it if if he really loves the game or not.
Speaker: Now, if you had to guess, how much do you think Kyrie Irving was making a season at that point? At that point? So let's see. He's probably on his second contract by this point. He's definitely on his second contract at this point. Salary cap was much lower back. Then he's probably making it the 30 millions.
Speaker: Okay. Okay. Not what he's making now in the 50s and 60s. But still, he's not doing too bad. But the crew, they finally get back to New York City.
Speaker: And it's the middle of the night, but they decide to go stop by the Ruck for a little inspiration. And Drew, he's brought gifts for everyone. For lights, he got him some prescription sports goggles. So now he can see he's given him the gift of sight and his problems are solved. He's still crazy old, but boom, one down.
Speaker: Boots, he gets his old namesake work boots, a pair of white Converse high tops he used to wear every time he played. I'm going honest. If you wear white Converse high tops more than I'm going to say five times playing basketball, you're going to tear through the soles of them.
Speaker: Of course. But boots is light on his feet, I suppose. But now because he's gotten his boots back, boots can get out of his wheelchair and play basketball again.
Speaker: Beautiful scene. Literally made me cry. This man can walk again. this is It's his walkabout moment. It's fantastic. ah Preacher, he's been complaining about missing his life at home.
Speaker: So Drew gives him an old crucifix. I don't know. Who cares? This was of the worst. ah He also tries to give Bigfella the first trophy that the two of them ever won together, but Bigfella stomps on it with his giant shack shoe.
Speaker: A buddy of mine used to have one of the like display shoes that they put in shoe stores that was like Shaq's shoe size. Right, to see how small your feet were. This is a big fucking shoe, dude.
Speaker: So what Bigfellow really wants from Uncle Drew is an apology. And after blowing up a Drew about it during their first game, ah they figure... it's time to work this out.
Speaker: They barely squeak out a win before they both go to big fellows, wife's grave. We find out what happened with uncle drew. Turns out uncle drew fucked big fellows, wife, he took it to the boom, boom room.
Speaker: That horny back of the van. Yeah. Which is a couch in the back of the van. Looks like it's made out of asbestos. with No shoes in the boom, boom room. Absolutely not. You can have them three feet forward in another part of the van. That's that's right. In the living room.
Speaker: Yeah. That's, it's not the boom, boom room. It's living room. Uh, now he apologizes for fucking his wife and then everybody sort of moves on. it It's a beautiful yeah No, no, it's all you got to do. Yeah.
Speaker: You should apologize, brother. Well, I did. I did like the part where he's like, loved her. He's like, I loved her too, man. It's like, that's all right. That's a fine response. I i mean, I was married to her for several decades.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, that was after. This was the night before the wedding. And that's when he learns, too. He's like, oh, you married her. And he's like, I loved her. And he's like, that's the thing. I loved her, too.
Speaker: yep Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. They loved more than just the game. It's true. They love the same woman. That's sort of an Arthur and Lancelot situation.
Speaker: Yeah. Although they also very much have a Gilgamesh and Enkidu vibe, the two of them. Yeah. Now, the next day before the games start, Drew finds out that there's now a $100,000 cash prize for the tournament, and he confronts Dax about it.
Speaker: Drew accuses Dax of loving money more than basketball. And Dax explains that he always loved basketball, it just didn't love him back. not since his arch rival Mookie blocked his game-winning three-pointer back in sixth grade or some point.
Speaker: This is probably what we should mention too, because the film kind of forgets about it um even at this point. But Dax was also an orphan, we learned. So that's part this was like his way of being accepted. This was his like community he formed. And it all went away when the dastardly Mookie blocked his shot and yeah took took away the one the one home he had found.
Speaker: Right. Okay. And I like the idea of him being a guy that liked sports, but was bad at sports and always felt sort of unfulfilled by that. And like that sort of, that was an interesting relationship for a sports movie to explore. Do you think, quick question. Do you think they reached out to Kevin Hart first?
Speaker: Before they got Lil Rel, because Kevin Hart is like, his whole thing with the NBA was he would play in every celebrity all-star game. He might even still, but I'm past that point in my life of watching the celebrity all-star game. That's good. And his whole thing would be, yes, growth. um His whole thing would be that he's small, a joke he's never made anywhere else.
Speaker: And so much of this movie is about how Lil Rel, I mean, it's in his name, is very small. Right. yeah and And they do feel very, even more so than anything Lil Rel's ever done. Very Kevin Hart coded to me. Yeah. It feels like yeah playing that part, if nothing else, like the part that Kevin Hart has kind of made his in many ways.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm sure that they realized Kevin Hart's quote was not worth it He would probably cost, I'm going to say, at least five times what a little realm gold. Might be even a little bit higher. yeah And then yeah i think you have to pay The Rock, too, probably. Yeah, yes he so you could just come in and, like, wave. He he would play cash. Wave the check that he got, yes.
Speaker: um ah But yeah, they do spend like a good, I want to say 20% of the screen time on this movie just having the assorted team members bust on Lil Rel and be like, you got a big head, Lil Rel.
Speaker: You look like a bowling ball on top of a peanut walking around. And they're like, it damn. You know, it's it's great. It's really fun. ah Let's see. that that that Fucked his wife. The next day before the game.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. The money. Drew, oh, yes, he comes clean about ah why he doesn't play basketball. Drew respects his basketball honesty, and he agrees to keep playing.
Speaker: The good news is their team is now looking great. With Bigfella on board, everything's coming together. They win their next game, and that night they go and they celebrate at the club, and they get drawn into a dance battle against some young folks, and we get an old people dancing sequence. It's a pretty good time.
Speaker: Yeah, just good, clean fun. You can't complain. ah Meanwhile, Dax and Maya, they drink Bud Lights, brought to you by Bud Light. What's up? So much product, place.
Speaker: And the two of them, they connect a little bit more. Dax almost goes in for a kiss, but then he chokes at the last second. The team sees him fumble, and they bust his chops about it.
Speaker: Classic team dynamic. And then we're back at the Rucker. And really quick, I did write down all the ads that I saw at the Rucker. Oh, we go. Okay.
Speaker: So we got a throwback brand, which I think is like a Nike apparel brand, if I had to guess. Ortega. Never seen Ortega just advertise the movie, but they got a big poster for Ortega.
Speaker: ah Enterprise Rent-A-Car, obviously. Nice. ah Aleve. Yep. Shout out Aleve. Omnipresent. Shout out. yeah Hardest painkiller in the game.
Speaker: Absolutely. ah Nike, of course. And KT Tape, which I'm guessing is that like sports tape? Must be. one thing we didn't One thing we didn't mention, I should also mention this. There's so much important stuff to talk about with this movie. Absolutely. In the first of the two gas station scenes when Drew and Lil Rel are only there, Drew and Dax, there's an ad on the gas station, like the pump screen. um That is when, of course, Mookie does the Aleve shout out, hardest game killer in the game, where it yeah feels like they're coding him as like, the Craven capitalist to like yeah evil person in the movie that is again, an adaptation of a series of internet-based commercials.
Speaker: Yeah. Can you believe Mookie is so crass? How could Mookie take that Aleve money? ah And if any team needs a leave, it's it's Dax's team that needs the Aleve. Oh, absolutely. Definitely.
Speaker: I did like that it was on a gas station television. Like that's a good little moment of like real life. she Like, oh, the TV and the gas station is talking to me. Great. And everyone who's ever spoken on a gas station TV screen is giving a k Nick Kroll style energy. Do you? Yeah, absolutely. It's the sort of the public access of the 21st century. That sort of vibe. It's never quiet. It's always in your face and very alarming and feels like a fire hazard. And it is certainly trying to get you to do or purchase something. Yes.
Speaker: And I think this is the only time I've ever seen gas TV in a movie. It's the only time I can think of, which is almost applaudable in a way. Yeah. Yeah. Really reflecting our society back in this. Thank you, Uncle Drew.
Speaker: ah So the next day, ah Mookie is busting Dax's chops, but also explains that, ah you know, their rivalry is what drives him as an amateur basketball coach.
Speaker: All my life, search for worthy adversary. That's right. We've got a worthy adversary, folks. We love a worthy adversary on the show. As if that weren't bad enough. Yeah.
Speaker: Big fella, he has a heart attack in the middle of their next game. That's not what you want. No, that's that was always the danger when you were casting all these old people, casting, ah recruiting all these old men into your basketball team. ah Luckily, they do still win, and big fella does not die.
Speaker: They go and they visit him at the hospital, and while they're there, preacher's wife Betty Lou shows up. And she says that she's not mad at Preacher anymore because he's out here chasing down his dream and playing in the rucker like he should have all those years ago.
Speaker: And since she is played by WNBA star Lisa Leslie, she is going to be suiting up and joining them for their final game, taking Bigfella's slot. Boom.
Speaker: I didn't see this one coming. I really thought Dax was going in for Bigfella. Yeah. that Yeah, big, big, a small for a big. I wrote that to was like, big fella out, Dax in, curl in, Dax wins it.
Speaker: Delayed gratification, you know? Yeah, yeah they really saved that. ah So instead we get our final game. Mookie's team gets off to an early lead and Mookie yells out to the crowd, old people are overrated. See, that's my favorite part. that is great is so that That has stuck with me for nearly a decade at this point.
Speaker: No, that's understandable. That might be the line. It's so very good. It's very good. It's what you, bring it's what you bring Kroll in for. Exactly. Uh, but our team, uh, the Harlem buckets, they start fighting their way back. Renamed. We should know. Yeah.
Speaker: To have a gender neutral Harlem money. Yeah. Uh, they're down by two when, uh, lights and Casper crash into each other and they both get injured.
Speaker: The team convinces Dax ah to put behind his childhood basketball trauma and Dax steps in while Mookie steps in for the other team. And this time when Mookie tries to block Dax's game winning three pointer at the buzzer, Dax is able to juke and get it in.
Speaker: The buckets win. Dax kisses the girl and the credits roll over assorted codas and outtakes. We need to talk about the kiss. Okay. It's a great little moment. yeah What does he do? he he doesn't go up to her and kiss her. He looks at the steps of the bleachers, climbs up, and then takes her takes her head and and gives her gives her the kiss. just And she's she's loving it. She's like, wow, this has solved all of all of the issues we had earlier. This has given you a newfound confidence, even more so than the maid shot.
Speaker: Really, really beautiful stuff. I think it's a great piece stuff. Oh, definitely. ah We also didn't mention that you get to see Shaq's butt. And that is that is such a good bit.
Speaker: And that is the kind of thing when I say that Charleston III is this steady old hand style director because... There is this extended sequence of returning to Shaq, first looking for a TV. He can't get the TV to work. He tries shaking the remote. Yeah, yeah. he starts looking for a TV. Everyone's sassy to this man who just had a catastrophic heart attack.
Speaker: And finally, he finds a room where the old people, they're watching... It's like a waiting room or something. Yeah, it's like a waiting room. I'm trying to remember or find what they were watching, but it was one of those shows you see in a hospital. Yeah. Dr. Oz.
Speaker: And finally, tv when they win, we first see Shaq from the front and then finally cut to right. He's been wearing a hospital robe this whole time. His ass is hanging out.
Speaker: Both cheeks. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, final thoughts, five-star ratings in terms of watchability and weirdness. Greg, how watchable and how weird did you think this one was? So I thought this one was pretty watchable, to be perfectly frank. I would give this five, but I think that the beginning, for me...
Speaker: The biggest drag, once you get all the basketball stars in, I feel like they're all having a blast and I'm having a blast with them. But until then, it's a little, it it did it just drags a little bit.
Speaker: Like you need the other guy's energy. And like even the one bit where you talked about like Uncle Drew's like, I don't like rap. It's like, we don't really need that joke. Like that's a really standard cliche. Like I'm an old person, like chop that off. It's like 142 minutes, make 135.
Speaker: You know what Just take seven minutes out of that first bit before they get to Chris Webber. And then once Chris Webber comes in, I think the thing just kind of becomes electric, frankly. And it's a blast to watch these people who I don't associate with being like great performers, like have a lot of fun, have show some comedic chops. You kind of forgive them for some of the stuff a little bit, even though it's maybe not the best performance you've ever seen. It's a really winning performance, you know, and it's just hard to be mad at this movie for any real strong reason.
Speaker: And I had a really good time with it. I was shocked, ah genuinely. like i was like i Because I was like, oh, sports movie based on a commercial. That's going to be a hoot for Greg. There's two things that he loves. ah And I really had a blast with it. Really good time.
Speaker: I don't think it's that weird, though. But there are there are a few things. ah One is that it does seem to be making a point about aging. And yet no one in the movie is that old.
Speaker: Some of them are older, but it's just like, look at this young man, pretend to be old and think about what it's like to be old. It's like, I don't know if that really works necessarily. It's not a huge point of the film, but that is sort of strange to the makeup is really good.
Speaker: But after like 45 minutes or so, I can just only see the real people underneath it it wasn't like distracting or bad, but it was just like weird moments where it's just like you are just a you are much younger than what your makeup is showing. And so I had like a mask style quality to it that was still really enjoyable, but it was a little weird. And then also some of the sound.
Speaker: So it was almost like in my head when I think about this movie, it felt like a documentary in a way, the way it is shot and done. And I think a part of that I noticed in one scene, like when he's pulling him aside to talk about the money, like they're beside a basketball court in a city under some trees.
Speaker: And you hear the wind in the leaves, but you don't hear the city. You don't hear the basketball court. You don't hear any birds. And there's nothing wrong with that. But the whole movie kind of had that feel to me. So it felt like I was closer to the actors than I was expecting to be.
Speaker: which is a bit of a weird sensation for me. Like I felt like I was in the room with them in a way that I think you have for a documentary because you're not adding all this textural sound to it. It's just like what's being spoken and that's it. If something loud happens, you're going to hear it. But all of that, I think I'm just going to give it a weirdness of one.
Speaker: That's too crazy. Nothing too crazy. But I just noticed those little things. I landed pretty similar similarly to you, Greg. so it's four and a half for watchability because it would be five, but I'm giving a four and a half. Sorry.
Speaker: No, it makes perfect sense. I gave it four stars for watchability. It's a light sports comedy with plenty of sports and plenty of laughs. You know, the basketball players are aren't great comic actors, but they were kind of like the Muppets, I feel like. They don't need to be sort of great. You're just like, oh, hey, look at that. Oh, look at him. Oh, he's got a little simple joke that he delivers. You know, nobody's trying to reinvent the wheel with this. You know what I mean? But they all they all hit their marks.
Speaker: And... For weirdness, I gave it one star. It is strange to feature so many non-actors so prominently in a multi-million dollar studio film. But they, you know, like I said, they're asked to do something so simple and they do it so effectively that you don't even really notice. ah JJ, what about you in terms of watchability and weirdness? What do you think?
Speaker: Now, you mentioned earlier this is like that Saturday afternoon kind of movie, and I agree it can be that. This to me is like the sleepover movie. There were so many movies like this in like the late 80s, early 90s. Movies that are about sports often feature real athletes, something like um Little Big League or Rookie of the Year, or if we want to go later, like Rebound with Martin Lawrence. Yeah. A movie I have not revisited since childhood and assume holds up 100%. I think part of the the joy I have for this movie is they they just don't make too many movies that feel like that anymore, that serve this purpose. And it it brings me comfort to know there were likely children 2019.
Speaker: watching uncle drew and saying old people are overrated out on the court and having this you know incorporated into their love of the sport and their burgeoning love of of of cinema um it's extremely watchable um again that's i think a lot to do with charles stone the third who just is such ah a steady hand um and the performances are yeah i mean kairi is a charming person give or take you know the conspiracy theories, um, tab on his, uh, his Wikipedia. Yes. He does not come out as a flat earther in this movie.
Speaker: Um, as he has, uh, in real life. Um, that would have been a good detail for uncle Drew. They should have the end. these I don't like rap music in the earth is flat. yeah Your game is as fake as that globe you keep spinning. I would also give this, I think, a four and a half for watchability. The the point five I'm taking off is Charles Barkley should have been in this film. um it's really It's really missing missing that that element. We have Reggie Miller, who is also ah an NBA broadcaster and a much worse and m NBA broadcaster and frankly a presence I do not quite enjoy. Mm-hmm. Okay. Whereas Barkley is made for this kind of thing. And just yeah imagining him in the old man makeup, he's with Shaq on TV all the time.
Speaker: There's so much stuff. We can add, we already have so many jokes about Lil Rel being so small. Now we can add some jokes about Charles's fluctuating body like we have on TV all the time. but I think the only person the culture has decided it's okay to comment on his weight all the time at this point in time. um So I'll take 0.5 off for not having Chuck there. um In terms of weirdness, I think you you're right that the weirdness isn't really in the film. I do think... There is a lot of weird energy in having Kroll in this kind of thing and not in his own thing. Because even just thinking about Kroll's career, most of what he's done is his own stuff, it feels like. Yeah. yeah um And this is one of his most prominent film roles. And he is doing the full Bobby bottle service kind of thing, hitting every single ah weird emphasis he can at the end of his words. And I just, I really love the energy he brings to this movie. Yeah.
Speaker: Um, it's one of those, those performances that sticks the other one, not to, i mean, to bring up Martin Lawrence again, but, um, I have similar fondness for Martin Lawrence in the beach bomb, which I think is one of the great performances of like the past 10 years. Um, and I just, I love that this, this thing is in this movie. A lot of the weirdness is off screen. The fact that this movie exists at all, that there is this yeah franchise of commercials where Kyrie Irving dresses up like an old man, bad grandpa style um or dirty grandpa. Excuse me. And that was right extremely disrespectful. Easy to get those. lates Dirty, dirty, dirty grandpa. Now I'm mixing up both of them.
Speaker: Which one is the Knoxville and which one is De Niro? think that's dirty. I think dirty grandpa. Wait, is no, I think dirty. I think I was right originally. I think bad grandpa, bad grandpa. I take it back. i was right. Bad grandpa is absolutely the Knoxville. Dirty grandpa. That's a dirty grandpa.
Speaker: up de Niro. um Okay. Okay. There is something weird about that. There's weird that, i mean, it's weird that this is a um a Pepsi commercial extended to an hour and a half. That feels much more like an Aleve commercial than a Pepsi commercial. um now to leave that Again. Uh-oh.
Speaker: Yep. I think Big Mike Epps just shut Chris down. Maybe. So we've had this happen before. so let's just hang out. We're going to chill right here.
Speaker: All right, listeners, we had a brief technical snafu where my laptop shut down on me. And if you're hearing this, that means I could not smoothly edit it around it. ah So I'm just going to mention that Mike Epps is an anagram for MK Pepsi.
Speaker: So. So. So you think about that. ah JJ, ah you had one more weird thing to give us and you're weird to scale. Absolutely. I mean, the final weird thing about this is there are so few films that are feature length adaptations of commercials. And yet this is a commercial for a product that is no longer named.
Speaker: what it was named when these commercials were made over the course of six years. um Pepsi Max is now Pepsi Zero Sugar. When I brought this up to, I mean, um it was a bad name because the idea of Pepsi Max was it was like a a Coke zero, right? An alternative of to diet Pepsi. Here is the Pepsi that tastes like Pepsi, but Pepsi max seems like it has extra caffeine, extra sugar, something. Yeah. So it is now Pepsi zero sugar and all, but like, I think there are still a few markets um carrying the Pepsi max name, um I had it pulled up and now I should have done that while we had this. Yes, it is still Pepsi Max in Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland, Tanzania, and Australia, although it is Pepsi Black in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Malaysia, Singapore, and mysterious others, according to to Wikipedia. So yes, this is a a feature length commercial for a ah brand that no longer exists.
Speaker: Um, that's going to bump it up to two stars on the weirdness rating rating for me. Absolutely. it seems very reasonable. Well, those were our ratings, but I wanted to find some ratings from a couple other uncle drew fans, and we're going to talk about them in the review review.
Speaker: Review, review. Where we review reviews. You wrote a review of the film, now we're going to review you.
Speaker: Review, review.
Speaker: Review, review. Review, review.
Speaker: So listeners, as you may know, IMDB is still requiring you to sign in to just read reviews. So they are still under embargo. So we have returned to Common Sense Media to find out what the kids think of Uncle Drew.
Speaker: I'm very excited about this. Well, our first review comes from an 11-year-old named Pac-Man. pac man yeah Pac-Man writes, he gives it five stars and he writes, ballers will love it.
Speaker: Funny, amazing basketball movie. There was some language. One use of the S word, son of a bit. And there was a debt.
Speaker: yeah A few, but that's really it The thought that Kyrie was playing Uncle Drew is hilarious. There's a scene that can be viewed in the trailers as well, where Uncle Drew is eating nuts and gets ready to play, goes to someone and says, hold my nuts. And the person replies, hold yo nuts.
Speaker: But it's a really good movie. This title has great messages, great role models, too much swearing. Yeah. Wait, so the hold my nuts thing was negative. The reviewer did not like that. It is in the movie too, but I don't know if the hold your nuts part is in the movie. He does hand the nuts. He says to hold his nuts. Absolutely.
Speaker: I feel like it's common sense media so part of that is people are trying to read these reviews to find out like what sort like did they smoke in there or is there anybody cursing and so everyone is under this obligation to be like here's some things you should know about it there is an s-word so there's a lot of like informative statements that we don't typically get with reviews which if I find very intriguing. Someone will say hold your nuts. Just FYI so that's something to help you make a decision.
Speaker: ah Honey, i don't know if we want to watch this one. Pac-Man said that they say hold your nuts in this one. Pac-Man's the only reviewer I trust. but Except for, of course, maybe you prefer to get your reviews from Movie Madness. A 10-year-old who gave it four stars said it was appropriate for 12-year-olds and up. Movie Madness thought this was a little too mature for them.
Speaker: I thought he was like, it's too much for me. Yeah, no, no, no, that's too much. One of my favorites... I love this movie so much. This movie is motivating me to practice more basketball.
Speaker: Nice. rated it a four star because of the teamwork that Uncle Drew gives to Dak. This is a really good movie and I think you'll love it. This title has great messages, great mode role models, too much consumerism.
Speaker: Movie Madness got their finger on the pulse, I gotta to say. it's the too much part that I adore. Yeah. it's not like there's some or there's a lot. It's like there's too much of it. You could have some but this is too much.
Speaker: For me this is too much. Next we got Lulu 28 another 10 year old but they think 10 and up is fine. They gave it four stars. Uncle Drew is a hilarious movie with some language and there is a scene where they show a man's butt but that's it.
Speaker: That is true. There's a button in this movie. This movie has great messages and great role models. I'm now wondering, is the boom boom room going over everyone's head? think the 10 year olds don't know. There's so much in this movie that is just about him being a horny dog. Because you say boom boom room, like, yeah, it's where they like to play the music and stuff.
Speaker: There's a blooper at the end where he's like, I boom boomed on that seat, there's a stain or something like that. So I don't know. Yeah, no, these that that's going to go over a 10 year old's head, I'm sure.
Speaker: ah Last one we got from Chubby Cotton, another 10-year-old who thinks 11 plus, four stars. Okay. Funny and hilarious, definitely for kids 11 and older.
Speaker: yeah Chubby Cotton really in in the deep end on this one. Overall, in the new film... I love starting off a review with overall. Overall, in the new film, Uncle Drew shows compassion, teamwork, collaboration, and some funny jokes.
Speaker: This film also says how important it is to try hard, take risks, and never give up. Not much kissing, only near the end of the movie. now Some scenes by a bar, drinking. But all in all, it is a great movie.
Speaker: Not much language. Violence isn't an issue to worry about, although some characters are shown injured. A player hits his head hard on the wall and is forced not to play anymore. Another character is shown with a knee injury, but no blood is shown.
Speaker: Another main character is found at the hospital and is forced to never play basketball again. Spoilers. Jesus. Another scene where a man has a heart attack on the court.
Speaker: Either way, Uncle Drew is a great movie for tweens 11 and up. This title has great messages, great role models. Nice. There's something so endearing, right, about each of these children being like this movie's for someone just a little bit older than Just a little older than me. But I actually thought it was pretty cool and I liked and Yeah. i thought it was actually good.
Speaker: it was okay for me. I just mean other kids my age probably. Should wait a couple years. I'm in the fifth grade, but I watch movies at a sixth grade level, so this should be fine.
Speaker: Feeling your reading test and being like, I actually watch Uncle Drew at home, so. I can handle some pretty mature themes. Themes like a butt. Too much swearing. Consumerism. ah Do you guys want to play a game?
Speaker: Yeah. Absolutely. All right. We're going to find out how there's a lot of different jobs if you want to work in film. a and Really long bumping. a good one, though. Yeah, I don't mind.
Speaker: We
Speaker: show up at the film set Running from the mob I'll take whatever I can get There's so many kind of jobs A key grip, a PA, I'll do it if it pays, a best boy, make up, I tell you folks, that's what's up.
Speaker: There's a lot of different jobs if you want to work and build.
Speaker: There's a lot of different jobs if you want to work and build.
Speaker: That's right. There are a lot of different jobs if you want to work in film, and we're going to be talking about them in this game. So what I've done is I've gone through the closing credits of Uncle Drew, and I've chosen nine people, and I'm going to describe what their job was on this film, and I want you to guess their name. I'll be choosing three different names that are from the credits. One of them will have had this job.
Speaker: This is a buzz in game. You'll buzz in by saying your own name. If you get it wrong, your opponent will have the chance to steal. Is everybody ready? Absolutely. JJ. Question number one, hands on buzzers.
Speaker: Automobile stunts require professionals trained in the fine art of stunt driving. Those professionals are what we call precision drivers. Was the precision driver Dave Presto, Cheryl Benko, or Trent Mayo?
Speaker: Greg. Greg? Cheryl Benko.
Speaker: No, I'm sorry. It wasn't Cheryl Benko. JJ, can you steal? yeah What was the one that wasn't Mayo? The first one? Benko? there what was it? Dave Presto? Dave Presto. Yes, that is a driver.
Speaker: I'm sorry. That was Trent Mayo. love Question number two. Yeah. Uh, this technician works closely with the cinematographer and lighting designer to set up lights in accordance with their artistic vision.
Speaker: It's the gaffer. The gaffer, Anthony G. Nacko-Neknig, Doug J. Meerdink, or Quantral D. Colbert.
Speaker: ah Greg? Greg? Could you tell me the first person's name again, please? Anthony G. Nekoneknige? Anthony G. Nekoneknige.
Speaker: You're correct. Thank you. You're on the board, Greg. Good job, Anthony G. Spelled N-A-K-O-N-E-C-H-N-Y-J.
Speaker: ah Question number three.
Speaker: I think it's something about the break we took with the technical difficulties. I'm not handling this well. What was the second name? Like Dink Mark or something? It just really got me. Doug J. Meerdink? Meerdink, that's what it was. The names and credits are incredible. Like every day I watch with group of people, I'm just shouting out the names of people in the credits. That's really good news.
Speaker: Question number three. For a movie like Uncle Drew, you'll need people who can do old age makeup, camera makeup, normal person makeup, all types of makeup. You don't just need a makeup person.
Speaker: You need a makeup artist. m Was the makeup artist Tammy Chun Trimble? Char Coats Crump?
Speaker: Or Isis Men Netter? JJ. JJ? I gotta go with Crump on this one. You're correct. It was Charcoats Crump.
Speaker: Nice. It's all tied up. Question number four. So film cameras will sometimes have little video cameras attached to them so you can watch the footage back on set instead of waiting for the film to be developed. The guy that runs this little video camera is called Video Assist.
Speaker: And sometimes even the second unit gets one. It's Video Assist second unit. Was that James Big Game Gallimore?
Speaker: Huey Carroll? Or... ISIA Merriweather. Greg. Greg? yeah I wouldn't think this person is going to be the person the credits that has a nickname, but whenever I see the nickname, I go for it. So we're going for Big Game.
Speaker: You're correct. It was James Big Game Gallimore. i love when there's a name in quotes in the middle of name. Yeah. It always draws your eye right to it. yeah yes often It's often Scooter 2, which is always really interesting to me. Yeah, common nickname amongst the crew.
Speaker: Question number five. When it comes to hair, you don't just want it to look good. You also want it to be consistent with the work overall, aesthetic of the film, as well as the character.
Speaker: You'll need a full-time hairstylist for that. Was a full-time hairstylist Abs Petit, Paradise Franklin, or Precious Jackson?
Speaker: JJ. JJ? Paradise?
Speaker: No, I'm sorry. It wasn't Paradise Franklin. can Greg, can you steal? Can I get the other two again, please? Abs Petite or Precious Jackson? Abs Petite.
Speaker: No, I'm sorry. It was Precious Jackson. You know, I was going to say Precious, but I just wanted to say Abs. Abs Petite is a fantastic name. It's really good. And this is my this my issue with all the games is I just want to say the stupid ones. Well, not that's their name. That's not stupid. But it's silly. It's fun.
Speaker: Yeah. Question number six. Sometimes your camera and lighting departments are going to need support structures, scaffolding, cranes, things like that.
Speaker: All that stuff gets set up by a rigging grip. Was the rigging grip Greg Waddle, Daniel Hank, or Joey Sisson?
Speaker: Greg. Greg? Greg Waddle. I gotta go for Greg. I gotta to go for it Greg. That's that's Greg solidarity. I thought it was Greg too, but I, I, I held off. I wanted the 50, 50% shot. You gotta go with guts. You gotta go with those guts. It's also, it's a, it's a, it's a hard metric to, to parse, you know, question number seven.
Speaker: It seems like you can't make a movie about an old man playing basketball without hiring a team of visual effects artists. Then, To put all that work in the movie, you're going to need a visual effects editor.
Speaker: Was the visual effects editor Carl Pedregal, Brock Shackleton, or Bruce E. Merlin? the JJ. I'm going Bruce E. Merlin. yeah I'm sorry, it wasn't Bruce Merlin.
Speaker: was Was there a Shackleton in there? Brock Shackleton? Let's go with Brock Shackleton. You're correct. Wow.
Speaker: Question number eight. The editor needs an assistant editor. Sure. But sometimes the entire department needs an assistant to share. It's the editorial production assistant.
Speaker: Was the editorial production assistant Grayson Guldenschlü, Max Unterfänger, or Vanya von Seck?
Speaker: Greg? Greg? It was Vanya Van Sek. You're on fire tonight, Greg. I don't know how I'm doing this. But what's funny is i when you said that, i was like, I think I've heard of Vanya Van Sek for some reason.
Speaker: I would be genuinely surprised, but who I would be too, but yeah. This feels like I'm the old man and you're that high school girls team. ah Yeah, well, I'm just guessing. So that's the key is just go with those guts.
Speaker: yeah You got one last question, JJ. This is a chance maybe you can regain some integrity. Shooters gotta shoot. Question number nine. The dialogue you record in post won't just magically show up in the movie.
Speaker: You need an ADR editor to make sure it cuts in just right. Was the ADR editor Yolandi Thame German Camardella Or Jasper M. Bolzerson?
Speaker: JJ. JJ? Yolandi?
Speaker: No, I'm sorry. It wasn't Yolandi. Greg, can you steal? Was it Jasper M. Bolotsen? It was not Jasper M. Bolzerson. It was German Camardella.
Speaker: But congratulations, Greg. You're a big winner. Gadzooks. Gadzooks.
Speaker: Uh-oh, it's the Batty Awards.
Speaker: Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
Speaker: Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
Speaker: Congratulations to all the nominees.
Speaker: That's right. Congratulations to all the nominees. It's the Batty Awards. Those little awards that we give out to all the people, places, moments, decisions, all the things that make a bad movie so good.
Speaker: Greg, hit us with your Batty Award. All right, so this is going to go to one of my favorite moments in this. i don't It was when ah the preacher is trying to leave to play basketball, and he's talking to Betty Lou, and she doesn't want him to go. And I don't remember someone said, let's have a verse battle or not, but they just get into a battle with each other by just quoting Bible verse numbers to each other. And I just thought that that was really hilarious. they Corinthians 12, 13 through 15. And you're be like, well, Genesis, and it was just... I just already lost it there. i had a really good time with that joke. I thought that was hilarious.
Speaker: That was a great joke. I'm going to give my Batty Award to my favorite image from the movie, which was a giant Shaquille O'Neal standing in like a brown T-shirt and gray sweatpants at his wife's grave at sunset, just silently standing there.
Speaker: For some reason, it really got me. ah JJ, do you have a batty award? I mean, it has to go to a Nick Kroll moment because I've been extolling the virtues of his performance.
Speaker: um When Dak shows up to the Rucker, I think it's before the semifinal game, before they are soon to play if if they make the finals. There's this classic improv scene of just Nick Kroll trying to ape everything that Lil Rel is doing. And it's just, it's extremely, it's extremely funny. It's really, it's really good.
Speaker: Really good. And it has a little callback to at the end when he thinks that even just like the handshake is another way to get in his head. And um it's good. Kroll's good in this.
Speaker: yeahp Yeah. nail There's no argument here. And I got to say, JJ, you were good in this episode. Thank you so much for coming in, hanging out. Do you have anything that you want to plug? do you have people, uh, you have places that you want people to follow you? Anything going on?
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, you can listen to, to blank check the show I work for. You will not hear my voice, but you will hear, um, references to my job security. Um, subscribe. What you should really subscribe to is checkbook, the blank check newsletter where I am dropping, um, extra ah trivia stories that do not make it into the episodes um each week, along with recommendations for um independent video games and whatever music I'm listening to. um And you can follow me anywhere. I'm just JJ.biz, JJ, D O T B I Z. All right. Check it out listeners.
Speaker: And check us out next week when we will be joined by, Christie admirable, Christie admiral, and we'll be talking about heavyweights.
Speaker: So, uh, two sort of, uh, sporty comedies. yeah I don't know. In in their own ways. i there's There's DNA in common here. Family fun for the fellas. And, ah of course, while you got your phone in your hand, give us that five stars. Five stars is free brother. That's all i I'm saying.
Speaker: And ah give us a follow, leave a comment, all that kind of stuff to help us beat the machines. We'd love it. And ah find us on Blue Sky. You can find us on Instagram. You can come join our Discord where we are screening Tyler Perry's The Oval every week and watching movies once a month.
Speaker: Always a blast. And until next week, be good and goodbye. Goodbye.
Speaker: It's bad to be bad. It's bad to be bad.
Speaker: that you would, that you could. And you know that you should. Yes, you know that you should be good.
