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EPISODE 133: PODCASTING IS TERRIFYING
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EPISODE 133: PODCASTING IS TERRIFYING!
In this very meta episode, we discuss podcasting… on our podcast! From Joe Rogan to Ben Shapiro to, well, us… there’s LOTS of terrifying content to cover!
HORROR IN THE MOVIES
BODIES BODIES BODIES and HALLOWEEN (2018) are on your playlist and ready for your listening pleasure.
WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?!
Listen in to hear what we’ve been watchin’... bitch!
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Transcript
Introduction to Fry Gay the 13th and Purpose of Podcasts
00:00:00
Speaker
Fry Gay the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud, independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit frygay13.com.
00:00:11
Speaker
Podcasts, what are they? They're a way to reach into the real world with real conversations. Podcasts, what are they for? To tell stories and reach new audiences with stories we've told our friends a million times. Podcasts, why do they exist? To torture people with endless run-on sentences and to make people yell into their phones. Podcasts, who are they for? For people on social media to relentlessly call out corrections.
Episode 133: The Terrors and Evolution of Podcasting
00:00:42
Speaker
podcasts why do we do them because after it all we love them it's episode 133 podcasting is terrifying I am the writing on the wall the whisper in the
00:01:18
Speaker
Doubters, the doomsday, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong. Power out their memories. Where are you going to go? Where are you going to run? Where are you going to hide? Nowhere.
00:01:47
Speaker
I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning sometimes is matter hate her it's pitiful how you won't stop making fun of her stupid little podcast let her have the podcast listen to her podcast we What? I like your podcast, Alice. What is your podcast about? Hanging out with your smartest and funniest friend. Did you just groan? No. First of all, a podcast takes a lot of work, okay? You have to organize a guest, you have to do a Google Calendar, and then you build a following! It takes a long fucking time!
00:02:30
Speaker
Welcome to Friday, the 13th horror podcast. My name is Andrew and my name is Maddie. And this is episode one 33 of the podcast that talks all about horror, horror in real life and horror in the movies. And today we are talking all about, what do you guess it? Podcasting very meta, very meta because we're a podcast. You see, do you get it? You're listening to a podcast.
00:02:57
Speaker
talking who do you do you Talking about it it's it's an endless mirror. it does It's a sweater that keeps knitting and knitting and knitting. But yeah, we thought it was important, you know, coming into kind of the holiday season and coming up on our seventh anniversary that we just kind of examine podcasts and maybe talk about, you know, the podcasts of the year, talk about a little bit about podcasting news, and then really talk about like what's changed even for us in the seven years of doing this, which has been a lot. Well, let me tell
Changes in the Podcasting Industry and Influence
00:03:30
Speaker
you. Yeah. And, you know, look, I think there's really no better time to do it. I think podcasting has changed a ton since we started doing this and podcast began. And I think especially now you're seeing a lot of the big podcast fail and you're seeing a whole new structure when it comes to financing podcast. Not that not that we're too worried about that. um And you're seeing, you know, podcasts like the Joe Rogan experience become more and more important politically, whether you like it or not.
00:03:59
Speaker
And so, you know, like it or not, and for better or for worse, so podcasts are an indelible part of, I don't know, like the the the modern digital experience for people, the modern listening experience. It's the new radio. it It really is. I mean, who really listens to radio anymore when you think about it? Like you barely do. So, I mean, I think with with how important podcasts have become, this is a really timely topic right now.
00:04:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting. I was just reading a little op-ed before we got on the the pod, but talking about you know to ah and we'll talk about both these podcasts today, but talking about both Joe Rogan and um Alex Cooper, who does Call Her Daddy, and how the influence of the those podcasts have on kind of elections and how people think about politics. Huge.
00:04:49
Speaker
how each side is kind of representing a different um side of things, which is totally crazy because like, I mean, we've been spouting off for about seven years now and I don't know if we've changed anybody's mind, but hopefully we have. I think we probably have, but ah you know, I think what's, I think the other thing that's changed in this time is that people have begun to look to podcasts as more of a ah word of gospel than, than like journalists. Right. And so, and like, Oh my God, I hope no one looks to us that way. Please don't. Um, cause you shouldn't certain things you can. Well, you know what I mean though? Like, I mean, that that's just not who we are, you know? And like, you know, I think what's, what's good about, we won't talk about ourselves the entire episode, we promise, but you know, what's good about us is that we do bring generally like good researched articles to the show. you know we You can trust the things that we're saying in general. But like Andrew and I aren't journalists, and neither is Joe Rogan. So you need to be careful about who you listen to. And that's another thing that's really changed over these years is you know the ways that people look at the ways that people perceive truth. That's really, really changed.
00:05:57
Speaker
All I will say is that I did go to school for PRs. Yes, you did. There you go. Amen. So Andrew, you got a list of the top 10 podcasts of 2024. What were those?
00:06:09
Speaker
Yeah, so this is up to what what are we looking at? We're looking at the beginning of November when we're recording this.
Top Podcasts and Critiques of Popular Shows
00:06:15
Speaker
ah The top 10 podcasts so far of 2024, according to kind of a mix between Spotify and Apple. um So let's start at number 10. Still holding on at number 10 is my favorite murder. Wow.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, I I've never listened to my favorite murder. I know they were huge when we started. They were huge, huge. I think that they've maybe faded away a little bit, but I'm guessing that they're now relying on a lot more tours and stuff like that, that they don't really have to like do what you know the the weekly thing that everyone else has to do anymore.
00:06:50
Speaker
Um, number 10, number nine is on purpose with Jay Shetty. I have no idea. I have never even heard of this podcast. Never even heard about it. I don't even know who Jay Shetty is. What a name though. My God. I bet he got, that person got made fun of a lot in, in school. They had to. Oh, that's a, yeah, that's an unfortunate last name. Hey Shitty, what's going on? Right. Listen, as a person who has a last name of huff, it's a little hard in life sometimes. Number eight is office ladies. Don't know it, but it sounds like I want to listen to it, actually. So I know it. I've never listened to it, but it's the two ladies from The Office, from the TV show The Office, like recaps and interviews of episodes and kind of look back on their experience on The Office. And I know that the one woman
00:07:39
Speaker
just recovered from ah breast cancer. So congratulations. And now I'll tell you what I what I what i thought this was going to be is like to like ladies in corporate America does bitching about the office, which I would absolutely listen to. Like, i in fact, I might start that podcast soon. I don't know. We'll see. they'll just It's a lot of circle back and you know ah stuff like that. Basically. Yeah.
00:08:02
Speaker
Number seven is what we what we mentioned already call her daddy. We have some news on that podcast later on in the show. um Number six is unfortunately the Ben Shapiro show. Sorry, that's the sound of me fucking vomiting. I cannot stand Ben Shapiro. I might. I have a I have a wonderful nephew. I won't say his name, but I love him to death. And when he told me that he was listening to the Ben Shapiro show, I took him aside and I said, no, bro. No, that's over. You're not going to do that anymore.
00:08:31
Speaker
I do. I listen, there is a whole like weird angle of the Internet of just like guys that talk really fast and say things. And that's how you're supposed to believe. Yeah, like that's just part of this whole charade. And I. just yeah I don't buy into it. Sorry. It's that whole like Jordan Peterson crew. You know what I mean? mean Like they they think that they're like actual philosophers and it's like, no, you just yeah you you like you like read the Wheaties box one day kind of thing. Charlie Kirk, Andrew Tate, Candace Owens, all these fucking people that are crazy. All right. Number five is Pod Save America. I know we have a couple of friends that listen to this one. Have you ever really listened to it though? Has it ever been a thing for you?
00:09:16
Speaker
I have not listened to any of these podcasts on this entire list. I've listened to a few. This is one that has never really, um, it's never really been like the one for me. Like, like, you know, they're good people that do it. And like, obviously it's a wildly popular podcast or yeah be honest listen it has been for a very long time.
00:09:35
Speaker
it's It was always a little bit too moderate for me, I guess. and I think that's why it always turned me off. um and I don't know. i've just I've never really found my way into it, but you know people do fucking love that show, man. Jeez. I think that that might be like a way for people to enter into these conversations and then maybe like figure out how they're going to navigate that, either going more left or more right, whatever they yeah want to do. Fair enough.
00:10:00
Speaker
I think you kind of have to be, if you want to be, um, so far on um the list. Um, maybe that's why we are not so far. upon All right. Number three is this American life. Um, I, okay. I have to admit I've heard segments from this, but it's been on NPR, not on the podcast. if I mean, I have, I have listened to this American life for.
00:10:26
Speaker
at least 20 years if not longer. It is by far still one of my absolute favorite radio shows like and and of course now I listen to it in podcast form and I've done that for a long time. um it's It's astounding. I think what Ira Glass created um with with the crew at Chicago Public Radio, because that's where it's from. It's from Chicago. um It lives in New York now. um But it was just something incredible. like We had never heard anything like that before. And I think it still does a really good job.
00:10:58
Speaker
Not all the time. I think um you know sometimes it maybe just gets a little too It's like episode after episode after episode will focus on the same thing Sure and and like they they sort of lose like the storytelling aspect of it that that made it so rich another thing about this is you know folks might not know that they ah This American life when they moved to New York Ira Glass produced two seasons of of a TV version of this, too, on HBO. I think it was on HBO, or maybe maybe it was Showtime. I can't remember. Anyways, it was really, really good. There's one episode. Sorry to go into this, but I just have to. There was one episode called John Smith that still knocks me out. What it did, it was like a giant podcast episode, of course, but just, you know, on on screen. And they had, a you know, John Smith is like the most common name in the world, right?
00:11:51
Speaker
And so in America, they found, I think it was like six different John Smiths, and like one of them was a baby, one of them was six years old, one of them was like 15, one of them was 21, 30, and then like one was like about to die kind of thing. And so like they told the story of like John Smith through like these six or seven or eight different John Smiths, and it blew my mind, absolutely blew my mind. It was such a wonderful, lovely episode. Beautiful stuff.
00:12:18
Speaker
Cool. Um, number two is the daily, which I think that you listened to. I listened to it almost daily. That's true. Not all the time because sometimes it's kind of like this American life. It can just kind of do the same thing over and over again in the week. And I'm like, yeah, I've basically already heard this, but most of the time the daily really does hit. And then number one is the Joe Rogan experience. I listened to this every day. No, I don't. You know, what's so funny is that I remember when Joe Rogan was on last comic standing. Oh, wow. ge That was like when was that? Oh, God, it had to have been 2003, 2004. Was was he originally a comedian?
00:13:02
Speaker
Yes. Well, originally he was on, wasn't he on news radio or one of those shows? You know, I honestly kind of forget all about it. I'm pretty sure he was on news radio because I remember when Phil Hartman died. Oh God, Phil Hartman. me I guess when I should say phil when Phil Hartman was murdered. Exactly.
00:13:20
Speaker
um And then he was on Last Comic Standing, and I didn't think he was that funny. I think that he came in like fourth or fifth, like he didn't win. If you don't remember Last Comic Standing, it was a TV show on NBC where stand-up comedians basically competed American Idol style.
00:13:35
Speaker
and um And then he was the host of Fear Factor, if you remember that. I do remember that, yes. And then this podcast came along and he sold to Spotify for, I think, like $100 million. It was huge. I think it was actually even more than that. It was ridiculous.
00:13:53
Speaker
So, I mean, let's just go into it. Let's talk about Joe Rogan and kind of his ah controversy over at Spotify. I have a little article here that I'll read from. but Before you read this, though, let me ask you, have you ever listened to the show?
00:14:09
Speaker
I've seen clips on like Reels and like yeah like YouTube and stuff, but no, I've never like sat down and listened to like a full episode. What about you? Fair enough. i've i I have not listened to many at all. I've listened to, I think, two or three. um Some of them were before I knew that he was crazy. Do you know what I mean?
00:14:27
Speaker
and just asking questions. Yeah. Right. Right. Exactly. And like, you know, like back in the day, like he was pretty good about having like sort of all sorts ons. Like he had Bernie Sanders on once and he had, he's had Howard Stern on before, like you know, like people like that, people that you and I would not really disagree with. You know what I mean? It's, it's just, uh, well, I mean, look, i've I've said enough. Let's go into this article.
00:14:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it it it is what it is. He's kind of fell into the ah some of the grifting that we'll talk about a little bit later on. But um so, of course, Joe Rogan was going to be at the top of our list. This comes from a list of like the biggest controversies and in podcasting, which a lot of them were about YouTube. And I was like, sure. is Well, can I can I do a little like kind of a weird thing that I have a problem with yeah podcasting these days, please? YouTubers are not podcasters. I'm so sorry that if you think that way, but like YouTube is one thing. Podcasts are another thing. Podcasts are an audio way of yeah getting
00:15:29
Speaker
YouTube is a video wave of podcasting. So if you want to do a video podcast, that's totally fine. You can put it on YouTube, but don't call it a podcast. and and yeah please yesa And please stop asking us to do video. Please stop asking us to do video. We don't do video. We don't want to do video. Thank you. I literally i literally get out of the shower with wet hair and start this. I'm not going to get ready for you. Well, I mean, no, but I not not to spend too long on this, but I really get it. Like, I mean, we look just I'll just be flat out with it. We were constantly asked by our previous network to do video stuff on YouTube and we kept saying no, like that's not what we do. So yeah please stop asking us to do that. ah um Yeah.
00:16:10
Speaker
Alright, so the controversy surrounding Joe Rogan and Spotify has been nothing short of dramatic. It all began when Rogan's podcast featured virologist, ah Dr. Robert Malone, who spread misinformation about COVID-19, including a bizarre claim about mass formation psychosis.
00:16:30
Speaker
This episode sparked outrage leading to over 270 doctors to sign an open letter to Spotify labeling Rogan's podcast as a quote unquote menace to public health. So in response, what do you think what do you think Spotify should do? Should they drop the Joe Rogan experience? Should they try to do literally anything about it?
00:16:55
Speaker
Uh, they tried, they deleted 113 episodes and they issued new content guidelines. I don't have those guidelines in front of me. They were not publicly published, but I'm guessing they're basically saying like, don't spread misinformation.
00:17:10
Speaker
yeah but i And if it wasn't enough musical legends like Neil Young and your Joni Mitchell yeah righting to pull their music from Spotify unless action was taken against Rogan, Spotify chose to address the issue by implementing a content policy focusing on labeling and warnings rather than direct censorship.
00:17:31
Speaker
um Listen,
Free Speech, Media Literacy, and Podcasting Ethics
00:17:33
Speaker
we have the Second Amendment in our country. You're allowed to say the first. amount No, first. I'm sorry. sorry first man not Second Amendment is Second Amendment is also on my mind lately. That was great. was The first one. um Listen, I think that everyone I don't know if everyone should be able to say what they want to say, if I'm being honest, but it's free country and we got to let them. But I don't know.
00:17:57
Speaker
ah Here's the thing. i mean First of all, ah but both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are back on Spotify, by the way. um And when they left Spotify, I'm um i'm an OG Spotify ah subscriber, and i'm I'm not the biggest fan of Apple Music. I just think it's a bad interface. So when they when Neil Young and Joni did leave Spotify, to two artists that I truly do love with all my heart,
00:18:18
Speaker
I was like, fuck, that really sucks. And at the same time, I chose to stay on Spotify. um like i I actually do think that more voices make the world better. Now, that being said, I'm not saying that that is the truth with Joe Rogan, but I am saying you got to let people hear. like I mean, like and you have to let people make their own decision.
00:18:40
Speaker
And you know one thing that i've learned through you know learning more about coaching and about emotional intelligence and about you know helping people come to an understanding of a particular thing is that if you bash them over the head they're not going to get what you want them to get. You have to lead people to come to an understanding of something on their own and you know look people like you and me andrew we can listen to an episode of joe rogan and go.
00:19:06
Speaker
This guy's a fucking wacko. Yeah, what the fuck are you talking about? He's he's he's a natural whack job. And so with that in mind, I i don't have as much fear of it. Do I agree with him? Absolutely not. In the same way that like, you know, the New York Times has has brought on more conservative columnists, they brought on more conservative people to talk about this or about that. I'm a New York Times subscriber to this day, and that's not going to stop me from subscribing. I think it's actually a good thing.
00:19:31
Speaker
I think if we only create an echo chamber of things that we want to hear all the time, we're just going to shut other people out and push them over to an extreme right that we don't really want to push them to. And so like i I actually, i I did not like that Joe Rogan is is on Spotify. I didn't like that they paid him that much money. that That's what I had the problem with.
00:19:52
Speaker
was they could have taken that hundred million, paid this douche bag, 20 million, 10 million, maybe even less than that, and use the rest of that money to boost other podcasts, to boost independent podcasts, to say, we're going to have a whole new podcasting program here where we are developing people. We're going to give grants to little podcasts. We're going to do this. We're going to do that. No, instead they chose to give the devil a hundred million dollars. That was stupid. That was fucking dumb.
00:20:20
Speaker
But do I disagree with him having having him on there? No. And the other thing that I thought was funny about this whole Spotify thing was, y'all, he was still on Apple Podcasts the entire time. like right right it's It's not like he disappeared from that. So was everybody just leaving Apple stuff? No, they weren't. So I don't know. I thought that the whole hubbub about it was of maybe a little bit too hubbubby, if I'm being honest.
00:20:42
Speaker
All that being said, do I think he sucks? Yeah, I know he sucks. Yeah, i think like what I think what's missing in a lot of our modern day education, because we're online so much and because we're absorbing so much media, is that we do need more classes around media literacy and media understanding and how to interpret media.
00:21:04
Speaker
because there's so much misinformation out there yeah that is is is taken as truth. and people well and i'm like there fucking Ben Shapiro is one of them, will take money to make any conversation about what he wants it to be about.
00:21:21
Speaker
ah precisely about what he wants people to understand is truth. And it's just not, and you gotta be smart and you gotta be willing to look at that with a decisive ear, which I don't think that we do. I'm gonna be honest, if you're a person who listens to Ben Shapiro and you think that it's all true and not commentary,
00:21:42
Speaker
You're an idiot. I don't know what else to fucking tell you at the in the same way. Like if you listen to things that I say or even that you say, Andrew, and and people just go, yes, that is the gospel truth. No, I got news. Me and Andrew are just commentators, too. like like that's that's That's what we are. We're not preaching to you that this is exactly the way that it is or this is the the God's honest truth or whatever.
00:22:04
Speaker
We're just producing the show. That's what we're doing. And yeah I think it's it's deeper than just media literacy though, Andrew. i but but I agree with you on that. I think it's just critical thinking. I i think i think that i think that teachers don't know how to teach kids today because they the kids are so fucking disengaged. And that that is a systemic problem that goes beyond teaching, goes beyond ah pedagogy. it It goes into parenting. it goes into the It goes into so many different fucking things.
00:22:32
Speaker
And so we've got a bunch of you know young people who who aren't being taught how to think critically, aren't being taught how to problem solve, how to how to read into something, how to have good information seeking behavior, how to use a library, fuck, even how to read a book.
00:22:49
Speaker
Right. How many young people are actually even reading something anymore? And certainly they're not writing because all that they're doing is using chat GPT. So, you know, you've got people out there who just don't know how to think in general. And that vacuum leaves it open for someone like Joe Rogan or someone like Ben Shapiro or frankly, someone like Donald Trump to come in and tell them how to think. That's what's terrifying. That scares the fuck out of me.
00:23:17
Speaker
Yeah. And we should say that we're recording this before um election day, so we don't know what happened yet. Getting crazy. But yeah. And then I just wanted to highlight one other thing that's happening. Kind of the podcasting world is on the other side, call her daddy, Alex Cooper. um How this woman, I don't know what this show is, Andrew, what is it?
00:23:39
Speaker
Um, it's a lot about like, uh, dating advice, failed dates. Uh, like it's a lot more like, and is it, is it a guy that, that hosted or it's a woman. Yeah. a host that ah And basically she, it's, it's a crazy story. I read a whole article on it yesterday, but I didn't want to go in. Are you a listener to it or I'm not, I'm not. I think that the name itself turns me off. It's kind of dumb. Yeah.
00:24:03
Speaker
Yeah, but um ah basically what happened is she was laid off from her job. She was living in New York City and her and her roommate started a podcast just about like New York dating life and it just evolved into this crazy thing um where they had about like 12,000 listeners and then Barstool Sports actually bought them. There you go right there. You lost me there. bought them for $75,000 a year and oh wow they they were on Barstool Sports for a couple years and then Spotify approached them and offered them a $60 million dollar three year deal. Are you fucking kidding me? $60 million. $60 million. dollars Oh my God.
00:24:45
Speaker
Well, it doesn't end there. Just this year, they sold to Sirius XM for a multi $100 million. dollar Get ready for the next podcast with Andrew and Maddie called Call Him Daddy. premiering tomorrow if that's my If that's what I have to do.
Tips and Warnings for Aspiring Podcasters
00:25:03
Speaker
like No, I'll do it. um No, it's just crazy to think that like,
00:25:07
Speaker
There are like a very, very small amount of podcasts that do like rise above kind of the ranks of, you know, where we're at kind of in the middle, um, and make it big. And I'm so surprised because usually to make it big, you either have to have, well, I guess Barstool Sports was probably what like kind of pushed them above kind of the the line because they had marketing and support from them. yeah sure Um, but,
00:25:33
Speaker
Uh, if you're getting into podcasting for money, uh, good luck. Yeah. Unless you're famous already. that Don't, don't, don't, don't get into it for money. People, there isn't any, trust me. Yeah. Well, do you want to talk a little bit about, you know, podcasting in general and like, yeah, people want to get into it, what they should think about and kind of like that kind of stuff. Yeah, ah you know, when we right after we turned six um this year, i i ah so I put together some thoughts and I put them on, I think it was on Twitter back when I was still on it. I'm not on there any longer. um But yeah, I've got 10 things that people should think about if you're thinking about doing a podcast. So I'd like to read them to you, Andrew.
00:26:16
Speaker
and to everybody out there. um And you know what, look, I think Andrew and I, after these many years of doing it, um largely on our own, but with some help from people here and there, some really great people, um I could think of their names right off the top of my head right now, and we'll talk about them later, but I think that we know a little bit about what we're talking.
00:26:33
Speaker
Like, you know, right. I would hope so. gee Yeah. So, so look, this is, these are some things that I think, and like I said, there's 10 of them. So I'm going to, I'm going to read them to you. The first one that I think is really important about what makes a good podcast is this have an opinion.
00:26:49
Speaker
Don't shirk away, don't shrink away from issues, don't equivocate, have a bold opinion that you own. Because why else would people listen to you? The second thing I think is that you do not need a network. In fact, a network is likely not a good idea for most podcasts. Networks can hinder shows more than they help and shows can run into serious frustrations. Trust us on this. Just do it on your own and trust me, you can.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, third i'll state what I'll say to that, I just want to comment on this really quick is go ahead what I'll say to that is like when you like all of us, you know, meaning you and me and most of people that we're talking to right now have a job. They have a job that they do like normal and everyday life. And usually they have a manager or ah a boss that's telling him how to do that job.
00:27:39
Speaker
If you join a network, you now are adding a layer of a boss. you ah have yeah basically say You basically have to do what they say. And if you don't want to do that, then don't join a network because it man that's what you start to run into. And that was a lot of the frustration that we ran into when um when we were on you know Dread. And i'll I'll just say it is that ah you know there's some great people working over there.
00:28:05
Speaker
and They had some ideas for us that we just were not excited about and it just didn't fit with what we wanted to do. Well, i'll I'll take it one step further. I mean, look, when it comes to networks, like yeah they don't really care about you.
00:28:20
Speaker
No, they don't. It's all about money. yeah And look, you know I'm saying this i've flat out, I doubt they they're even going to listen, but you know from the the good people at Dread, if they did listen, like look, there there were some some really great people there um that did believe in our show. but i mean And this isn't like a trash talking thing. i Trust me, it's really not. It is just an observation of the truth. At the end of the day, you won't be there because they like you. You will be there because you're going to help to make that network money. That's the only reason why you're there.
00:28:48
Speaker
So don't so don't don't have any other errors about it. Anyways, that's networks. The third thing is this. Stick to your show's mission. And if you don't have a mission statement, you need to make one immediately. Yes. But once you have it, don't ever deter from it. Some people will get it and some people won't. In fact, if we're being honest, most people will not get it. But who cares? You keep going. The community that will build around you and your show will be better for it. For us, it's pretty simple what our mission is. We talk about horror, horror in real life and in the movies from a queer perspective. That's it. and That's never changed. It's never changed from literally day one. And, you know, maybe we've we've tried this or we've tried that for like different segments or whatever, but we've never strayed from that. And I would say the podcast you do, I stop listening right away.
00:29:41
Speaker
Well, there's a lot of there's a lot of podcasts out there. Thankfully, most of them have faded away to where it's just getting on the mic and having a conversation for an hour. And like, sure, if you're if you're famous and people want to hear from you, that will work. But like, if you're just like an everyday just duo, that's just like chatting about what happened during the week. Nobody wants to listen. I'm so sorry. And i I don't either. the The fourth thing, and this is what Andrew does very well, is get busy on social. This needs an explanation.
00:30:11
Speaker
It's pretty obvious that like, look, if you want to get worried about your show out there, you need to get on social media. Andrew did a great job with ours. He really figured out Twitter. um Too bad Twitter is a pile of garbage now, but that's not our fault. um and We had a good run. Right and you know and we've we've tried different things here and there and you know generally like look that's how people have found out about us and that's how we found out about people. So it's been really cool I think over these many years now to to look back and think about all the wonderful people that we still talk to on social um and some of the people who have literally listened from day one that we still talk to seven years later we're still here together it's pretty fucking cool.
00:30:49
Speaker
And I will say like from my perspective, I prioritize the pods social media over my own. So if you if if you if you want to get ahold of me, just go on to Friday. Andrew's social media doesn't really exist. Not anymore. It's basically just that. the fifth The fifth thing is this, beware of statistics. And I really do mean this. Oh, this one's tough. Remember, comparison is the thief of joy. And you need to trust me on this next thing that I'm going to say.
00:31:16
Speaker
Podcast statistics are ridiculously unreliable. Really bad. Different platforms so speak different languages. It's fun to see big numbers, but don't bet your savings on them. So here's the thing. We have been on a number of different like actual server hosts for yeah our show, right? Zencast, I can't remember the other ones right now, but we're on Zencaster right now. Each of them gives you your own set of analytics.
00:31:42
Speaker
I can tell you, every single one of them has been wildly different. wild And none of them have the same nomenclature, and none have the same jargon. So it's it's like literally, you're always comparing cranberries and like turnips. It's never the same fucking thing.
00:32:00
Speaker
so like when you hear from people who are like we have a million subscribers i go no you don't because you actually can't even figure out how many subscribers you have that can't know that that is the truth and i'm here to tell you that the only way that some people would know that is like apple with like your huge podcast they would have a number for that But when I tell you that they don't provide you that number in their API, they don't. It doesn't exist. It's not possible to get it. So when you see people talking about their big stats, largely, they're kind of lying in one way or another.
00:32:34
Speaker
If it's not downloads or listens, it's a lie because that's the only thing you have access to. that That is it. So just keep that in mind. Now, number six is this. Remember, your words have weight. You will get messages and emails from people about things you've said that you've frankly forgotten. And some of those messages will be positive, some will be negative.
00:32:57
Speaker
Let the darkness roll off your back, my friend, and let the sun shine on you with the positive. We have had overwhelming positive response to our show for all of the years we've been doing it. Every now and then we get some dumb fuck who just has to go out and talk about a podcast that he's listening to for free. um And you know, like Andrew and I will text each other and we'll bitch about it for a minute. And then we're largely okay with it. Like, yeah you you have to just let feedback come in and treat it as that feedback. And you know what? The best thing to do with really bad feedback is you just say, thanks for the feedback. That's it.
00:33:34
Speaker
It used to it used to bother me a lot more like a first and i think the first couple years when facebook was still providing um ah commentary basically i forget what they called them it wasn't called reviews it was called something like recommendations or something yeah yeah. And there was a couple of negative ones on there that really got to me. But after we dealt with those, I kind of just was like, you know what? One of them was like Mikey Bones or something. Remember that? like i was Oh my god, the saga. And and there there was there was one this year that it was a recent one that really did piss me off because somebody basically called me a fascist in in the review. And i I took that to heart because i I will not be called that by anybody.
00:34:19
Speaker
And I did say something about that on the show and that's that's a big exception for me. um But like that was ah that was an ad hominem attack and I don't appreciate it. Anyways, the next one is this. Number seven, have fucking fun. If it's not fun, why are you even doing this? And that is something that you can tell about a podcast listening to it from a mile away. Are these people having fun or are they not having fun?
00:34:42
Speaker
And I think, look, for Andrew and I, ah we've we've discussed this many times. There was a period in our podcast where maybe we weren't having as much fun as we really wanted to. yeah And and that was that was taking a toll on us. It wasn't until after we finally transitioned out of the network that we really started to have fun again. And so, like, trust me, like, if there's if you're not having fun, there's something wrong.
00:35:04
Speaker
figure it out, look into it, excise the thing that is making the fun go away. You don't need it. Get rid of it and go back to having fun. Yeah, agreed. and The eighth one is this. Be proud. Few people have the guts to get out there and do the damn thing. You do have the guts. Congrats. Be proud of it. No matter the stats, no matter the reviews, no matter anything. Take pride. You're producing a fucking show. That's very, very fucking cool.
00:35:29
Speaker
Number nine, be consistent. Take time off when you need and a hiatus or two each year is necessary, which is exactly what we do. But consistency is key and we have learned that with our show. We've tried different cadences throughout the years, but generally doing two a month is what matters for us. It's what works for our audience. We're a fortnight podcast. Yeah, and exactly. And and we're we're really consistent with that. And the final thing is this, be original.
00:35:55
Speaker
there are more than enough shows out there about pretty much everything you can think of. So if you don't have some kind of OG take or some kind of angle that is really unique, I mean, you should really consider, is that where your voice is really needed? Because maybe it could be used somewhere else.
00:36:11
Speaker
So that's really cool. So 10 things from me. Have an opinion. You don't need a network. Stick to your show's mission. Get busy on social. Beware of statistics. Your words have weight. Have fucking fun. Be proud. Be consistent and be original. Now go make a podcast. Congratulations.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah. One, one that I will add to this and we can talk about it a little bit is that beware of podcast grifters because there are so many people out there that will contact you on your social media and say, your I, I can get you listens, I can get you follows, I can get you downloads. They're all fake. They're all dumb. Don't listen to them. There are constant people that are selling classes on how to start podcasts. You do not need them. Do not pay to start a podcast now unless you're paying for equipment or software.
00:37:05
Speaker
yeah like do Nobody is an expert on this. It is literally only a 20 year old mo like thing. like yeah Podcasts are only 20 years old. so just what what i What I would say you should do instead, right? Because look, everyone does need help. And like there there are people that helped us very early on. Yes. um I'm thinking primarily of ah Bo, Bo Ransdale. Ransdale, right? Yeah. Bo Ransdale from Legion podcast. Huge help to us. And i i we just adore Bo so much. And and pat what's Patrick's last name? Patrick Walsh. yeah Patrick Walsh and Patrick Walsh. ah Those are two people that were, you know, they've been in podcast for a long time that really, really helped us. They reached out to us to literally help us.
00:37:52
Speaker
But guess what they didn't ask for? They didn didn't ask for money for money. Yeah, especially Patrick. you know Let's just tell the story right now. you know Look, but if you listen to our first five episodes, we don't sound very good because you know we were trying hard. We didn't understand or really how the equipment worked. We bought some microphones. Turned out they weren't really the right ones and we were we weren't set up correctly. We didn't know what software to use, all that kind of stuff.
00:38:16
Speaker
Patrick sent us and Patrick was ah with the Scream Queens podcast and he'd been doing that for a very long time. So Patrick was pretty well known in this and Patrick reached out to us one day and he was like, look, I listened to your podcast and you guys are, you guys are really good. And he said, you guys could be really good, but listen, you sound awful. So here are some things that you need to do. And instead of taking that personally, instead of looking at it as an attack, Andrew and I both went, you know what?
00:38:44
Speaker
He's right. He's absolutely right. like And let's try this stuff. And then when we did, it really changed the game for us. So ah I think you know both you and I were really, really grateful that there were these people that that reached out to us and and helped us. So you know that being said, if you're looking to start a podcast and you don't know what you're doing,
00:39:03
Speaker
reach out to somebody. you know Don't go pay for this. Don't go look for, how do I start a podcast? Just reach out to someone that podcasts and and send them an authentic message. Hey, right I'm starting a new show. i don't you know I don't need to meet with you. I don't need to whatever. But like do you have even just one tip for me? Just one thing. Or, hey, what software do you use? I'm looking at 10 different things. What do you think I should buy?
00:39:27
Speaker
If you send me or Andrew a question like that, we will answer you can guarantee. Yeah, I mean, because because we respect that. So reach out to the people that you respect and we'll get back to you.
00:39:37
Speaker
There's even been times where we were looking at new equipment or ah like thinking about getting new microphones or like whatever. And I would reach out to podcasts that I liked what they sounded like and be like, hey, what are you using to that that makes you sound good or whatever? like It's really easy to foster a good podcasting community because we're all just trying to like,
00:40:03
Speaker
You know, get our words out there and make maybe like a smidgen amount of money but to like, try to like, keep it going. And like, I think that just to break even. Yeah. I mean, I think what I'm trying to get at is I think most people are willing to work with each other. to make out to raise all ships, if you will, you know what I mean? ah What is it? A rising tide lifts all ships, you know, and and that's that's that's what it is. i I think, you know, another thing too that I would say is beware of Patreon stuff, like, and here's what I mean by that. We have a Patreon, we and we've got a wonderful, you know, group of patrons, so we certainly use it. um But we have been really clear from the beginning
00:40:41
Speaker
that we're not putting any of our content behind a paywall. and i think I think we're both still really proud of that. like you know You don't have to pay to listen to us. everything that Everything is there for free. We're not going to hide anything from you. and there are there are other podcast I've even been on podcasts before where like the episode that I was on suddenly was behind a paywall and I was like, so wait, even I can't listen to it? What the fuck is this? I really hate that shit. I think it's stupid. And i I think it's rude to your listeners. I really do. I don't think that Andrew and I need to make money off of you. We we just don't. like that's That's not it. Like he said, we both have jobs. And would it be cool if like we got a 60 million bucks one day from somebody? Yeah, great, cool. But like if anything, I'll get money from ads, not from you.
00:41:29
Speaker
So like the people that are patrons for us, but like I said earlier, they help us break even. That's it. And you know for $1 a month or for $5 a month, and we've even been saying lately like, please don't go any higher than that. like that's that's That's wonderful. Thank you for supporting us. That's all that we need. That's it. But like if you're going to start a podcast and you're thinking, hmm, how can I get a bunch of money out of people?
00:41:51
Speaker
I don't want to listen to you. Yeah. I don't know what else to say. i I really don't want to listen to you. That's not what I'm here for. I know there was, there was unfortunately one podcast podcast that I, I'm not, I'm not going to name it, but there was one podcast that I really, really enjoyed and it was by two people that I really, really liked listening to, but they went completely paid and I'm not going to do that. Tell me, tell me after we finished this segment, cause I want to know.
00:42:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it I mean, it is what it is. People got to make money, if especially if this is going to be their only way of making money. It is what it is. But like I think that podcasts in general. It's not for that. um It's not to make money. Yeah. And I think I think it's evolving into that, unfortunately. But it's silly. ah We're here to be free.
Conclusion on Podcasting Insights
00:42:36
Speaker
But like, listen, at the end of the day, if you do enjoy what we're doing and you want to throw a buck at us, I mean, we'll take it. great
00:42:45
Speaker
adrian dot com' slash right thirteen that's That's wonderful. But like, you know, I mean, look, we we have some sister podcasts that um if they were here right now, I would tell them to their face. Like you got to stop that dude. Like it's it's it's weird. I think it's strange. Yeah. All right. Well, I think that will do it for our horror in real life. We will take a break and be right back with what you've been watching, bitch.
00:43:20
Speaker
And we're back with what you've been watching, bitch. What you've been watching, you podcasting bitch. And this is the segment of the show where we talk about what we've been watching. It's pretty simple. So Andrew, tell us, what have you been watching, you bitch?
00:43:36
Speaker
So the first one that I'm bringing to the table is something that I was calling a completely different name. What did you say? Were you saying cuckoo? I was. Oh, Andrew, it's cuckoo. Jesus is the movie cuckoo. um This is the Dan Stevens movie. It is about a family that moves to the German Alps. I think I'm thinking. i'm thinking no sha i Yeah. And ah they are moving there to revitalize kind of like a hotel, like resort type place kind of thing. like a ski resort type place. I am very much looking forward to seeing this, by the way. And I don't want to say too much because it is kind of a wild story, but let's just say that there is a man there that's been there for a long time that's doing something a little nefarious and the family gets kind of wrapped up into it. That's all I'm going to say about Cuckoo because I do think this is worth a watch. It is a wild watch. I will say that.
00:44:33
Speaker
um I didn't know what was going on until the very end and I'm still not quite sure I know what's going on. It was a fun watch and um I rented this. We got a deal from Xfinity to rent a dollar. It was like a dollar to rent a movie. yeah sure This is what I chose. Awesome. so It was a fun little watch. The main actress in this, that the young woman that's in this does a great job. And Dan Stevens, of course, playing a creep is always kind of a fun little watch. So check out Cuckoo currently on demand. Excellent. Cannot wait to see that. ah My first one is on Netflix and it's called Don't Move. I saw this. I didn't watch it yet.
00:45:15
Speaker
Yeah, this is with, uh, what's his name? Finn Flynn? Finn Whitrock? Is that his name? Right? Yeah. yeah yeah fit From fin witch rockck American Horror Story. Yeah. And, uh, Kelsey Asbill, I think is her name. I'm looking at their names right now. I don't, I don't know. I don't think I've known her before. Anyways, uh, this is a really good little movie. Um, I was expecting a thriller, right?
00:45:36
Speaker
Well, I mean, yeah, yeah basically, yes. um It is, ah look, ah that this isn't going to spoil it for you, I promise. um This is about, what I won't tell you is is how it happens, but what what you'll find out if you watch, if you see anything about this literally.
00:45:54
Speaker
is that Kelsey as Bill, maybe that's how you pronounce her name. Anyways, so she is in a forest, right? And she is approached by this guy who's Finn Whitrock. They have a conversation. I won't tell you what happens there. And then it turns out, oops, he's actually a serial killer. and Surprise. This is not a spoiler, I promise. What happens is that he gives her a a shot that she doesn't know he's given to her.
00:46:21
Speaker
um that paralyzes her for an hour and so ah you ah she but he even tells her about it she tries to run away things happen from there there you go i'll leave it at that this is one of those um you know thriller sort of like killers chasing you kind of thing that can be a little frustrating at times But like that is literally the nature of the movie. It is supposed to frustrate you. it's that like That's what gets you going. It's what gets your blood pumping in this, right? It sort of reminds me of like when I first watched um Hush, remember with with Kate Siegel, but the whole time you're like, what the fuck are you doing? Fuck!
00:46:57
Speaker
but like that's kind of what this is like anyways um it's really good thin wet rock as usual plays a fucking weirdo um kelsey asbill does a great job um especially because she has to literally act like she can't move like think about that that's hard even like your eyebrows and shit think about that very very hard to do Um, anyways, I loved it. I thought it was really good. It's on Netflix. Chances are you have that anyway. So definitely give it a watch. I had fun with it. Don't move. Cool. Yeah. I saw that on my like recommended and I was like, Oh, what's this? I think, I think you'll like it. I think you will. Yeah. My next one is on Hulu. It's called carved. Um, this is the I started to watch this.
00:47:40
Speaker
ah Basically what this movie is about is a town is having a Halloween celebration and they are hosting a pumpkin carving contest. Little do they know that one of the pumpkins has been involved in a chemical spill. Of course it has. and maybe has some sentient to it now. And so it sees all of its ah pumpkin brothers and sisters being carved up and decides to take revenge on the people in the pumpkin carving contest. um Listen, I think that this movie is silly. um It is. it is
00:48:19
Speaker
And I think that it's meant to be that way. It's meant to be kind of ah if you remember a couple of years ago when a weird movie came out called slacks about a I love slacks. I'm not about a living pair of jeans. It's kind of in that same vein of like ah something crazy is taking revenge on the people. What I will say is that I think this would have been better served as almost like a um I don't know, like an American Horror Stories, ah which is like an hour long special or like ah in some kind of anthology. Yeah. What was that shutter show that we Creepshow, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They resurrected Creepshow. Well, they did like 45 minutes to an hour long this story. This could be a good one for that. I agree. I think that that is a better way of telling a story like this because by the end of it was like, okay, like, come on, like, come get on with it. It's a pumpkin. Like, how do we kill it? Like, let's, let's figure it out. Like, um, so like, I i think that it was a fun Halloween-y scary watch, but like overall I did get a little frustrated by the end. Um, just because like it's a low budget pumpkin movie. Like I don't know what to tell you. I had fun with it up until I didn't, basically. Yeah, i I started to watch it maybe like the day before Halloween, possibly something like that. And um you're right. If I had known this would be like a short story, you know, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, I probably would have finished it.
00:49:44
Speaker
But when I started it, I was like, I'm just not in the mood for a feature film about this right now. yeah So i don't maybe I'll come back to it. Maybe I won't. um My next one is called The Exorcism. It's on shutter. um This is with Russell Crowe. And it's interesting, right? Because, of course, he played the Pope's exorcist, right? Yeah, I was going to say, doesn't this movie already come out? Right. Right. But this is different. This is a brand new movie from Joshua John Miller called The Exorcism. um Really smart to choose Russell Crowe because this is a bit of a meta film. um This is about a, I'm just going to read it straight from from the letterboxed blurb.
00:50:22
Speaker
A troubled actor begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film, leading his estranged daughter to wonder if he's slipping him back into his past addictions or if there's something more sinister at play. um Really interesting movie. um Russell Crowe's in it. David Hyde Pierce is in it, too. Oh, Adam Adam Goldberg is in it. um Those are the the three big names in this, I would say.
00:50:46
Speaker
um But it's interesting, um you know, I think at the end of the day, like I what I what I wrote in my letterbox review was like, I don't really know what happened. Here. Oh, no. And i I think that there i I really do think that there was some promise with the story, but like it was just it was just hard to follow. I don't know what else to say. And so I think that this is something that could have been really, really cool and really good, but it just got lost in there somewhere. Maybe just a little bit, a little bit too wandering at some point and just spending too long on one thing.
00:51:21
Speaker
Some cool effects, some interesting things. It was fun to see David Hyde Pierce on screen again. um But other than that, yeah, like a lot of shutter things. It's kind of like a meh. If you watch it in the middle, yeah fine. If you don't watch it, you're you're not going to miss a whole lot. But I don't know if you're into exorcist stuff but like like I am, you might enjoy it. So that's it. Exorcism on shutter. Cool. I did start that new Chucky documentary last night. Oh, how was that?
00:51:47
Speaker
Well, it's four and a half hours long. I'm sorry. What did you just fucking say? It's four and a half hours long. So that's never going to happen ever. It's never going to happen. I watched the first hour of it and it was fun, but we'll see how long it takes me to. It had a really bad, it had a really bad rating on shutter. I noticed, huh?
00:52:03
Speaker
Like people rated it like like one skull. I was like, really? It can't be that bad. Jesus. and I liked it so far, but I've only watched an hour or so. All right. My next one is ah The Strangers Chapter One. Do you even remember this movie coming out? um No. So, yeah, this is the new trilogy of ah Strangers movies. It has the ah girl from Riverdale in it, the redhead from Riverdale.
00:52:31
Speaker
um She played it kind of plays the Liv Tyler role in this. um This is what I'll say about this. If this was a new movie, I think that it would have been i looked at as as a positive. I think because it's basically just the original Strangers, but like a little bit different. It's like slightly different. It's kind of pointless. Like I don't understand. And maybe this will be answered in the second and third movie. The second movie I think comes out in January. I'm not going to rush to the theater to see it because this first one was not super interesting, but like
00:53:12
Speaker
I just don't get why this exists. and Like I don't like there the Strangers is such a great movie. And then even the Strangers Pray at Night, I've learned to appreciate like for what it is. Sure. And so like I don't know what this movie is trying to say because it's essentially the same movie, but just like in a more wooded setting rather than like a suburban setting.
00:53:35
Speaker
and so i don't i don't know this one was a kind of a head scratcher for me i can tell you what michael said about it he said fuck this movie i hate this but that sounds like michael um and so i don't know if he'll be joining me on this trilogy of movies but but um i i had this was a head scratcher for me i can't wait till you watch it to see what you think so Yeah, I don't have that something like that. If it's stars, it'll either come to Disney for me or two now. So I'll have to wait to see what it comes to, but I'll definitely watch it for sure. um My next one is a rewatch of Twin Peaks. um Guess what? I had COVID fucking again for the sixth fucking time. I'm so tired of COVID. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad, though. Thank God.
00:54:21
Speaker
Um, and what did I do? So when I get COVID, I just want to say this, like I've had it bad before. So like I get it and I immediately go, that's it. Everything is shut off around me. I am not doing this. I'm not doing that. I am laying down basically for seven days.
00:54:35
Speaker
which is what I did because I just think your body needs to rest as much as possible so that you don't get super sick, right? So what do you do? You fucking watch a lot of TV, a lot of TV and a lot of movies. You rewatch stuff, whatever. Anyways, a Twin Peaks was actually on sale on Apple. So I was like, yeah, you know what? what I think I got it for like 10 bucks for the whole thing. So cool. um Watched it again. And God, that show is just still fucking good, dude. It's so good. Go ahead.
00:55:04
Speaker
Now when you say you watched it are you talking about the original run or are you talking about the original run plus the new stuff just just the original run right now i i will i will add the new stuff in probably next week actually cuz i just have time anyway um but yeah the original twin peaks 1989 david lynch kyle mclaughlin piper lori rust hamblin Maidkin Amick, Cheryl Lee, ah I mean, just incredible fucking people in this in the show. And, you know, ah look, i've i've I've seen Twin Peaks before, so this is not new, and it certainly won't be a ah big ah an insight for anyone listening, but Jesus Christ, this show is fucking weird. Just what a weird fucking show. And what's wild about it is to, is to you know, it's 2024, watching it again from 1989,
00:55:52
Speaker
is to really look back and think this was on like normal television it was just on tv and like people got into it it was such a weird fucking little crazy show that's crazy man it's fucking crazy so i don't know it was a lot of fun to watch again and uh to to really walk with the fire and have it walk with you um I loved it. It was great. If you've never seen Twin Peaks before, you really need to see it. If you're a horror fan, you will. Hopefully you will love it because it's just fucking bizarre. um Let the bizarre wash over you, give into it and have fun. That's it. Yeah. um I have a weird history of Twin Peaks because I didn't watch it until maybe I think over the over the pandemic, I think I watched it. Oh, really cool. And um
00:56:40
Speaker
I think that first season is kind of like a weird magic in a bottle type thing. Like yeah sure sure um something happened and it just was like it it was its own thing. Like, I don't know how to explain it, but then like that second season, I was like, what the fuck is this? Yeah, I don't know. It's it got a like, listen, for most David Lynch things, it just got a little too weird for me and I could follow it and I just couldn't figure it out. And so I kind of gave up. But I'm happy that people are still ah experiencing and this this TV show. So I'll tell you what, if we could have one person from the show from from Twin Peaks as a guest on our show, it would be the log lady by far and and and her log. Yeah.
00:57:21
Speaker
Oh, as long as he shows up with a log. Anyway, my last one just came to Max. It is the new M Night Shyamalan movie trap. Shyamalan ding dong. ah This is a movie about a father taking his daughter. And this is all in the preview, so I'm not giving anything away. But this is all about a a father and a daughter going to a ah pop a concert. Think of like a Taylor Swift or something like that. ah A big, a big arena concert.
00:57:51
Speaker
um And what they find out is that there are police officers and squads there to try to find a serial killer. like They've basically set up this whole thing to find a serial killer within the arena. um And you know I won't give too much away from there.
00:58:09
Speaker
um but ah Listen, um I think that this falls in the positive ranking for M. Night Shyamalan. Oh, good to hear. I will say it does it it was a positive experience. However, I will say it's not anything above like a village, if that makes sense. Okay, fair enough. That does make sense. um And so I would put it kind of around like, I don't know if you remember that movie he produced a while back called Devil, that elevator movie. Not really.
00:58:38
Speaker
I would put it kind of right around that area of his like of his thing, which I like to that double movie. I thought it was pretty good. But um this one is a little bit more straightforward than most of M. Night's catalog. OK, that's not a terrible thing. And it was fun because his daughter plays the pop artist. Oh, wow. And so it was fun to see like the next generation of Shyamalan Shyamalan Madindongs.
00:59:04
Speaker
and all the music that they use. And I saw a lot of people complaining about that there's too much um like there's too much concert in this movie. And I was like, they're at a concert. You have to show. Shut the fuck up.
00:59:16
Speaker
And but it was interesting to see that all of the music and vocals were all written and sung by her, which was kind of cool. Wow. um i I liked it. I didn't I didn't think it was like the best thing in the world, but I still was like a fun. It it was honestly kind of weird for me because I just watched like a straightforward M. Night Shyamalan movie. And I thought I was waiting for like What's the big twist or what's the big thing that's gonna be revealed and it's a lot more straightforward than that So kind of a weird experience for an M night movie, but I I i i enjoyed it. I mean that all the performances were good um and a weird Allison pill um Performed like she just shows up like a third act movie and I was like, oh Allison pill. Where have you been? Why not? Why not? but I would never like it
01:00:02
Speaker
I will never stop saying Shyamala Madin dong. It gives me great joy saying his name that way. um My final movie is one that we have talked about on the show before and had the starring character on our show as a guest. It is the film spiral, which you can watch on shutter. um I like this movie a lot. You know what? It was just I just wanted to rewatch it. It's been a long time since I saw it and I thought, why not for spooky season?
01:00:26
Speaker
Um, you know, look, I think this is, this is pretty good. We we've talked time and time again about how shutter originals are. very, very hit or miss. And this is one that I think is mostly a hit. Is it perfect? No. But does it pretty much get there? Yeah, I think it does. You know, there's there's some dialogue that I'm like, yeah, that doesn't quite fit or this kind of thing. Yeah, we almost get there. But in general, this film really does work. It really does. um And it was ah it was a blast having Jeffrey Belyer Chapman. God, when did we have him on the show?
01:00:59
Speaker
20, 20, 20, I think it was during the pandemic. Okay. Yeah. So it was a long time. You can go back and listen to that. It's in our catalog somewhere. Um, but I mean, look, I, I think he did a great job, i but I think, you know, beyond him, the other actors do a great job, man, like his, his husband.
01:01:17
Speaker
Really, really good. I remember that one kid being super creepy. Oh, the the kid who like tries to like break up their marriage. That guy. Yeah. And actually kind of cute, too, for being honest. us um the the The daughter is really good. I was going to complain about that guy on the bridge, though. What was that guy on the bridge? And you know what? And this time around, it still didn't make any sense for sure. So Look, I think, you know, I've i've already said it all that the hit or miss with shutter originals, but this one is is pretty damn good. So if you've never seen spiral, I would definitely give it a watch. And if you didn't like it when you first watched it, maybe try it again. It might hit you the right way this time.
01:01:55
Speaker
Very good, like spooky small town stuff. Agreed. Totally. Yeah. All right. Well, that would do it for what you've been watching. Bitch, Maddie brought us Don't Move on Netflix, The Exorcism on Shutter. You think they would come up with better titles at this point? I know. keep Twin Peaks, which you can stream, I'm guessing on HBO ah and then Spiral on Shutter.
01:02:17
Speaker
And Andrew brought us cuckoo. Just kidding, Andrew. It's cuckoo. Cuckoo on demand. You can rent that. Carved on Hulu. It's on Disney Plus for me. um The Strangers Chapter One on Stars and Trap on Max. So folks, that does it for what you've been watching, bitch. Stay tuned. We'll be back with our first film of the episode, Halloween from 2018. Testing one, two, three. We're on.
01:02:45
Speaker
We're here to investigate a patient that killed three innocent teenagers on a Halloween in 1978. um He was shot by his own psychiatrist and taken into custody that night. And it spent the last 40 years in captivity. Hello, Michael. Hello. I have something you might like to see. Hello.
01:03:26
Speaker
Everyone in my family, like, turns into a nutcase this time of a year. Yeah, I mean, your grandmother is Laurie Strode. She was almost murdered. Wasn't it her brother who murdered all those babysitters? No, it was not her brother. That's something that people made up. Do you know that I pray every night that he would escape? Belle, did you do that for?
01:03:50
Speaker
and kill him
01:04:01
Speaker
The bus crashed. Mom? What bus crashed? Michael escaped.
01:04:11
Speaker
Excuse me, somebody's in here. Hello?
01:04:41
Speaker
inside!
01:05:17
Speaker
Boo. It's not Halloween anymore, but it's always Halloween in our hearts. Maddie, tell us all about this strangely titled movie, Halloween 2018.
01:05:29
Speaker
Face your fate, Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, but not really. um The masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. Halloween was directed by David Gordon Green, I call him DGG, ah written by Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and DGG, produced by Blumhouse, Roughhouse, and distributed by Miramax.
01:05:55
Speaker
Laurie Strode played of course by Jamie Lee Curtis, Karen played by Judy Greer, Allison spelled in a way that I really can't stand played by Andy Matychak, Michael Myers or The Shape played by James Jude Courtney, Dr. Sartan played by Halleck Bill Gunner probably.
01:06:13
Speaker
Deputy Hawkins, played by Will Patton, Dana Haynes, who's one of the podcasters in the movie, played by Ryan Ries, Aaron Corey, who's another of the other podcaster, played by Jefferson Hall, and Sheriff Barker, played by Omar Dorsey. The film is rated R. It's 106 minutes long, made in the USA, released October 19, 2018,
01:06:36
Speaker
filmed in Charleston, South Carolina, which I did not realize. The budget was only 10 million also, which I was kind of surprised at, and it brought in 260 million, which is not too much of a surprise, to be honest. It was the 40th anniversary. um So, Andrew, not a first-time watch for either of us, for sure. In fact, I remember seeing this with you in the theater and the Davis. um I think I had a date with me and that on that one too, if I'm not mistaken. I may have. Anyways, Andrew, tell me what you thought about Halloween 2018, this time around.
01:07:06
Speaker
Yeah, so i eat like you said, we saw this in the theater and I don't think I've revisited it since I i maybe I watched it once ah during the pandemic when Halloween Kills was getting ready to come out, but I i don't remember. So it's been a minute since i've I've watched this this installment, if you will. I still think they should have called it Halloween Returns, which I'm just throwing it out there that that would have been a better title. um I don't know why they didn't call it something other than just Halloween. It drives me absolutely bonkers. But overall, like.
01:07:35
Speaker
I think that this is a fine movie. if That's the best. You know what I mean? Like, that's the ideal best way I can kind of put it is I think that there are things in it that I think work really well. I think like there are certain characters that work better than others. Like I actually think that the whole relationship between her friend, Vicki, I think it is ah Vicki, Julian, the little kid and her boyfriend, that whole sequence, I think, is pretty good, actually. um But I think like Overall, I just think that the biggest thing that suffers in this movie is just the dialogue. It's the writing like there's just a lot of things that people say that I'm like, people don't say that like people don't talk like this. And so like I just think that like there are certain things that just really bug me and I'll get to specifics when we get down into it. But could one of them be her granddaughter constantly calling her grandmother? Could that possibly be one of the things? now
01:08:32
Speaker
There is not one person in the world who literally says grandmother as though you're in a fucking fairy tale. It is bizarre. Anyways, I digress. Go ahead. Continue. And so, like, overall, I think that, like, I still enjoyed my time with this movie. um I think that it's kind of a shame that they don't pay any homage to Halloween 2. I think that this would have been a better continuation if we would have factored in Halloween 2.
01:08:59
Speaker
um I think it's really weird that they keep trying to go back to like the drawing board with like, Oh, no, this is this is the new timeline. No, we now we have like four timelines for Halloween. And I'm like, OK, like whatever you want to do, dude. um I think that that's just a little weird.
01:09:15
Speaker
um But overall, I think that the gore is pretty good. Some of the acting is good. um I think that Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer are acting very weird in this movie in ways that they have never seen them act before. um Because they're both very well established actresses and I don't know why it's why this movie is like this. But, um you know, ah that that's all I'll say for now until we get into kind of ah into the into the weeds of it. But um overall, I think it's fine. I think that it's it was fun when it came out. I think that it's going to age really poorly. However, what about you?
01:09:53
Speaker
um I'll begin by saying I am a huge fan of the Halloween story. right Michael Myers is my favorite killer um and favorite like supernatural being in horror films. um So I really, really love the first Halloween, of course.
01:10:10
Speaker
Halloween 2 isn't too bad. Halloween 3, you know, it's it's a it's that that was the anthology phase, whatever. We'll get to it. one Yeah, exactly. Eventually. um Moving into the other ones, you know, like when I was younger, I really enjoyed the curse of Michael love michael Myers. The return of Michael Myers was kind of cool when I was a younger.
01:10:28
Speaker
H2O, I still do love. I think H2O is probably the best post-original trilogy Halloween entry that exists by far. Agreed. um Halloween resurrection, hated. um just Just really not good. Go back to our reality TV is terrifying. right Is that your thoughts on resurrection? And then we come to David Gordon Green's, um, uh, trilogy. So Halloween, Halloween, well don't forget. We also had,
Critique of Rob Zombie's Halloween Movies
01:10:56
Speaker
we all don't forget. We also had Rob zombies. well it'ss right yeah Yeah, right. I kind of just ignore those though. If I'm being honest, that that that was not my flavor.
01:11:04
Speaker
Um, so then we come to this trilogy, right? And this one kicks it off 40 years later. Yes, it should have been called Halloween returns or even age 40. I would have been very happy with quite frankly, to keep that going. And then there could be an age 60 and another 20 years, whatever. but Um, I think, look, that it it this suffers from a number of things, but primarily it suffers from David Gordon green.
01:11:24
Speaker
And David Gordon Green is a good director who just can't take himself seriously. And that is a problem for me because I don't like people who don't take themselves seriously and who don't take their movies seriously and everything else. And so what does this end up becoming? This ends up becoming just sort of a vehicle for a few ideas to get down on paper.
01:11:46
Speaker
um so that the rest of this trilogy can be made and they can make a shitload of money. That's basically what happens here. And that's what bothers me. um There are some things about this that don't bother me. Like, you know, I think Jamie Lee Curtis, I think you're right, it is some weird acting in here. But like the idea that there is a Laurie Strode who is so traumatized from her earlier life that she could never really get it together. She had multiple marriages. you know she She couldn't really be a good mother. Go figure because she went through such a traumatic thing and never really got the help that she should have gotten. um And she's still you know very clearly scared about you know the possibility of of a return of Michael. So much so that she you know spends years and a lot of money, you would guess, preparing for it.
01:12:29
Speaker
um but I think that that's a good idea. The problem is that the execution of it just gets silly. And so you've got in the in this first one, you've got like you know sheep she um her granddaughter comes to her and says, you know come to the dinner for my graduation. And so she shows up at at the at the graduation dinner. No one's seen her for a long time.
01:12:51
Speaker
and she's talking, talking, talking, and then she just grabs a glass of wine and just guzzles it down. And we're supposed to believe that like you know she is an alcoholic because of her trauma and that this is clearly a problem and everything else. so However, do you really believe that, watching that? like Do you believe that that that's what that is? Instead, I just think it's sort of like a hokey little thing. It's just like it's like trying to explain it away with something that that doesn't really work. I i think it's it's a half measure.
01:13:17
Speaker
It doesn't honor the character of Laurie Strode, who is by far one of the greatest final girls of all fucking time. Well, just to pick up on that scene specifically right after, well, knowing that she's been drinking yeah and that she drank that wine at the dinner, what do they do? They put her in a car to let herself drive. Exactly. It's like, what the fuck? you Now, let me tell you about another part where I get really pissed off. There's a scene, um you know, where, you know, Michael has left the the hospital. He's in the the the hospital, whatever bus or something. Also, can they just fucking not move prisoners at night?
01:13:55
Speaker
in a bus. What if you move them one by one or what if you move them in the daytime? I don't know, just an idea. um But if you remember in the movie, there's like ah a dad and his son, they're in a pickup truck and they're the ones who come upon the wrapped bus. And so in the pickup truck, it's like it's like this dad is like a country dad talking to his son who's talking about how much he loves dance class, right?
01:14:19
Speaker
And they don't want to go hunting. Yeah, exactly right. And they're going back and forth about this. Somebody thought that was going to be cute. I fucking hated it. I fucking hated it. It was an I couldn't tell if it was ad lib. I couldn't tell if it was actually scripted. But whoever thought that some stupid conversation like this was going to be useful in this movie was a fucking idiot.
01:14:41
Speaker
Because that's what all the ad lib is in this movie. There's and there's another one with like two cops in the car outside of Lori's house. And they're talking about some stupid shit. And so all that I can think of is that you're just going for a cheap fucking laugh. And at the end of the day, you know what? I'm not watching Halloween to laugh. I don't want to laugh. In Halloween 1, I don't laugh. I chuckle a little bit when they have this or that. you know A couple of lines here or there.
01:15:08
Speaker
I'm not watching it for the fucking comedy, you dumb fuck. And that's why David Gordon Green drives me up the fucking wall. That is stupid for this movie and it doesn't treat it with the respect that it should have had. I get really worked up about it.
01:15:22
Speaker
Yeah, well, I mean, the fact that none of those conversations pay off in any way towards the story, like it doesn't make any sense. What is the point of it? Except, oh, let's get a cheap laugh out of this because that will get the audience going. that is the It's just stupid, man.
01:15:38
Speaker
And it's got to be said that Danny McBride was one of the writers on this. There you go. I think that he maybe had an influence over some of the comedy that's infused throughout because there's even like a line. It's right at the beginning where they're having kind of like the breakfast scene in the morning and the the step. there I don't think he's it's her actual dad. um Her dad is talking about how he's laying like mouse traps or whatever. and Yeah.
01:16:03
Speaker
He accidentally sets one off and he's like, oh, I got peanut butter on my penis. And I'm like, what are we doing here? And like also, like if we're being real, like what dad would say that? I really do mean that. like I think about like my brother, who's who's a wonderful dad and with with a few kids. he ah My brother would rather walk off a building than say that in front of his fucking kids. It's stupid. It demeans the character and it makes me not care about them. And, umm you know, I'm looking at Danny McBride's fucking writing credits right now. They all fucking suck. Here's one. The foot fist way, your highness, the something white tail deer hunter, whatever. And then, of course, he's he's a writer on all three of the DGG Halloween trilogy.
01:16:46
Speaker
He's a fucking idiot and it sucks and you can smell it from a mile away. And he's probably the reason why this movie is not what it should have been. It's a real shame because there's so much money put behind these three particular movies and I really want them to work. And I think looking back, you know, because I'm such a lover of Halloween, I really, I really defended this movie before in ways that I no longer do. And like now I'm like on this watch, I was like, actually, it really pisses me off, man.
01:17:15
Speaker
Yeah, I'm in the I don't want to talk about the trilogy too much because we might talk about one of those movies in the future. But of course, fair enough. i I'm like one of the weirdos that actually thinks Halloween ends is the best one. So I mean, a hally yeah, but I don't think that you're wrong. But I mean, out out of these three, I think I think that you're correct. But this this one in particular on this watch, it really just ground me the wrong way.
01:17:37
Speaker
Yeah, here's what I'll say what I do like about the movie. Yeah, sure. Is I like you, I actually think the story is pretty good. Yeah, totally. I just think it gets lost in its own sauce, if you will. I actually think that the setup at the beginning with the podcasters and the whole reason why we're talking about this movie is it actually does work at the beginning when it's taking it seriously. um And I think that that whole, I think that they are so,
01:18:04
Speaker
How do I put this? I think it's a really unintelligent thing to cast a almost exactly Dr. Loomis type again for Dr. whatever his name is. right Totally. and Because you could have done something different there and you could have been a little bit more like Because at the at the turn with the doctor, and we like learn that he like doesn't want to kill Michael. He wants to learn from him, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That would have been much more better served if you didn't cast someone that just looks just as crazy as Dr. Loomis like and sort of sounds like Dr. Loomis. Yes. Why did we not, why did we not cast? I don't know. Honestly, it should have been, it should have been like Dr. Williams and he's like an English guy or something. You know what I mean? Like it like or something that isn't Dr. Loomis. Come on. Or cast like, I don't know, like Famke Janssen as like a woman doctor who's like kind of like conniving or like a little bit sexy but you don't know why I don't know there's just there's so many things in this that I'm like did they just do this just as like an homage or just like kind of like that winger that that finger wagging thing you know it's like I know what that means I know what that means it's it's it's odd because one of the things that that isn't well done at all also in in in most Halloween films after the originals
01:19:19
Speaker
is that we don't really understand anymore where Haddonfield exists. We know that it's Haddonfield, Illinois, but especially in this trilogy, you've got accents from fucking everywhere. we're They're from the Bronx, they're from Brooklyn, they're from Missouri, they're from this place, they're from Georgia, they're from everywhere except from Illinois.
01:19:43
Speaker
Like, yeah, I got some news for you. And like, for sure, you know, Illinois is a very big state down South in Illinois. Some of the accents do change. It can be a little bit more country, I would say for sure. But like, you need to make a choice on that then, man. And like, that is one thing that maybe could have helped. Like the the doctor could have just been from there or like the people could all be from the same place so that you could actually hear that. You know what I mean?
01:20:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. um Some of the things that I noticed this time around, I don't know if you noticed this, but he' the one woman that he kills, it's actually an homage to Halloween II, the woman making the ham sandwich. Yeah, totally. um That's like a directly like ah from ah Halloween II, but I think in Halloween II, he doesn't kill that woman, if I remember correctly.
01:20:27
Speaker
Um, some things that I liked. Um, I actually really like, uh, like I said before, I think her friend Vicki is like the highlight of the movie for me. sure I think that whole sequence where she's kind of babysitting and it's an homage to kind of the babysitting of the original, um, is actually done really well. And I think when Michael jumps out of that, um, closet, when she's trying to close it, I actually think that's a pretty effective scare. Like I think for sure.
01:20:53
Speaker
And like when she dies, like that's a pretty harrowing thing and it happens right in front of that little kid. um But you know what's funny is that I don't remember Julian ever showing up in any of the other movies, so I don't know why we care.
01:21:10
Speaker
So there's that. I mean, look, that's a that's a problem, I think, with a lot of things in this film. Yeah. um it I did notice that this time around that j that Jason, geez, I almost just that know that Michael, um anytime that anyone asks him to talk like the he they become like enemy number one, like he's like, I do not want to talk. Yeah.
01:21:33
Speaker
Um, I think that honestly, I think the whole sequence of the podcasters is really good right down to like their death scene in the public bathroom. Like, I think that that's all done really well. The one thing I will say about that scene though, is that it's just happenstance that they end up at the same gas station together because there's no way that ah Michael would have known they were there like he just escaped from the bus and they were just at Laurie Strode's house It's it's a little it's a little unbelievable. It's a stretch um I do think that this does capture something um magical about the holiday of Halloween I think that they do a ah good job with that with like kids trick-or-treating you have kind of the um
01:22:15
Speaker
the older adults like going out in sexy costumes to go to a bar like they do capture like that part of it pretty well. um One thing I will say though is ah fucking Karen is wearing a Christmas sweater. Yeah, I mean, we're we're meant to believe that she's so anti Halloween that like she celebrates Christmas on Halloween instead.
01:22:37
Speaker
That's so dumb. but like honestly It's just kind of dumb, though. Like, honestly, Judy Greer is one of my favorite character actresses. Like, I think when she pops up and stuff, I'm like, oh, this is going to be good in this movie, though. She is so stunted and so just.
01:22:52
Speaker
there's there's one moment where she's really good and it's the moment in the basement where she's kind of crying out for her mom and she's like mom I don't know what to do I can't do it and then Michael shows up and she goes gotcha and like shoots him and I think and that part is fucking cool and that's cool that's awesome but why can't she be like that throughout the entire movie because the entire movie is just kind of a whiny little bitch and I can't I can't stand it. I mean, it's true. I think, you know, like like that that that closing sequence is pretty cool. It is. I like when they're doing all of that. And when you get to see sort of like the the mechanics, I really like the part to where, you know, ah Judy Greer is like telling and her husband is are going down into it. He's like, what is this? And she goes, my childhood.
01:23:32
Speaker
Yeah. like That's kind of cool. And the third act is good. Agreed. And the reason why is because it takes itself seriously once again. So like it I'm not asking for much as a viewer. I'm really not. I'm giving you money. I'm sitting down and giving you time. All I'm asking you to do is give me the piece of work or the piece of art, however you want to think about it, that takes itself seriously enough that you believe that I should spend my time watching it.
01:23:58
Speaker
yeah And the the blips in this where that happens, great. Unfortunately, there's so much of it that doesn't, that I just can't stand it. And like it just pisses me off. I agree with you. you know we're We're not talking about the trilogy, I know. But Halloween ends, maybe gets a little bit more play for me. um But this one, I don't know, man. I know I'm really worked up about it, but it's just because I love Michael Meyers so much and I love Laurie Strode. And um I don't know, this one just really hit me wrong this time, dude.
01:24:27
Speaker
Yeah, I did like the line at the end where she when she finally goes, it's not a cage, it's a trap. Exactly. I did like that. I think what i'm what I'm hearing from both of us is that we think that the first act is really strong and we think that the third act is really strong. It's really that second act that's just really middling that can't figure out what it wants to do.
01:24:48
Speaker
Like literally middling and and instead of like actually spending the time to make it work, they just they just devolve into silly things. And like, you know, the the story of a sissy kid with his dad isn't funny. I think I think that's why it pissed me off, especially considering they die right after Yeah, that that's not it's not funny to me as somebody who was a sissy kid. That's not funny. like I think it's stupid. And like I don't need to see that in Halloween. So don't create this like cute little gay kid that is a little sissy clearly and like and then expect me to like be cool with that. I'm actually not. I'm actually kind of offended by it. So like don't fuck with me, man. Jeez.
01:25:26
Speaker
Yeah, I just, and we haven't talked about the gore at all, but I do think that they do have some really effective gore scene works. Sure. Um, especially that one kid who gets the fence posts skewered under his chin. I think that that's pretty effective. Deserved it to be honest. Well, I don't know.
01:25:44
Speaker
and And this is another thing about the characterization of these people is like, he is a fun loving, just happy friend. And then he goes to date rapist right after. And I'm just like, what the fuck is this? It's it's a little, it's a little much like, yeah what if we just dealt with real people instead of crazy archetypes? It's like,
01:26:02
Speaker
I'm sorry and i'm gonna mention it it's like in halloween ends when you got the fucking band kids who are band kids that turn into fucking like absolute villains like yeah the worst villains of all in this trilogy are these band kids like their band kids dude what the fuck.
01:26:21
Speaker
um Did you notice in this movie that the Halloween three masks are in the costumes? I'm sure. Fucking did. Yeah. Listen, we're going to get to Halloween three. I promise. We'll figure it out. I love that movie. It's great. yeah it's It's weird and wacky, dude. Yeah. Silver Shambles. All right. Well, I think that that I think we've summed up what we think about this movie. That is that is twenty one and a half minutes of of crazy commentary right there. Here at Fraggate the 13th Horror Podcast, we judge on a seven-striped scale for the seven stripes of the gay old rainbow. Maddie, what do you give Halloween 2018? Believe it or not, I gave it a four, which is pretty fucking generous right now. I'll give it everything that I just said. And I said, look, I've tried over the years to be as generous as possible for DGG's Halloween trilogy, and I still see some brief merits, but all in all, it's the start of so many issues. I think if DGG was capable of letting his films take themselves seriously, maybe they could work.
01:27:17
Speaker
But it's just not possible. Yeah, I'm and i'm being generous in giving it a 4.5. I said, I really like the setup of this movie, and the gore is pretty good, but it can't outweigh the weird pacing and some strange writing decisions. Yes.
Introduction and Analysis of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies
01:27:33
Speaker
Well, that does it for Halloween 2018. We'll be right back with a very different film. Bodies, bodies, bodies. I I'm strong! I'm ready for what comes along!
01:27:45
Speaker
bra
01:27:51
Speaker
Who wants to play body spotty spotty? Yes! Oh my God! Does anybody have service? Yeah. Parkour? I'm a hot girl. Pop girl, rich girl. Guys, I get so stressed out every time we play this. Someone always ends up crying. I just want it.
01:28:11
Speaker
So how do you play? If you draw the piece of paper that has the X on it, you are the murderer. Everyone else has to avoid being killed. What is that? Xanax, do you want one? Yeah. What is happening? Our friend is dead. So if you could just, like, not escalate this situation, then I'm not escalating. You're holding the knife and you're moving your hands while you talk. um That would be so fucking obvious if I were the killer. David. More. You're always ghastly.
01:28:50
Speaker
You're so toxic. Relax, you're making this about you. What are the features that you're bringing? Well, I just look like I fuck. You know what I mean? I look like I fuck. And that's the vibe I like to put out there. Yeah.
01:29:17
Speaker
Get ready to talk about some body yadda yaddies. Andrew, tell us about bodies, bodies, bodies. This is not a safe space. That's kind of funny. I didn't realize that that was the tagline. In an isolated a family mansion, a group of rich 20-somethings decides to play Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, a game where one of them is secretly a quote-unquote killer while the rest try to escape. Things take a turn for the worse when the real bodies start turning up, setting off a paranoid and dangerous chain of events during a hurricane.
01:29:51
Speaker
directed by Helena Raine, written by Sarah Delape. Production and distribution were handled by A24. Sophie is played by Amanda Steinberg. Bea is played by Maria Bakalova. Jordan is played by... Mihaela? Mihaela? I almost want to say Mihaela, but it's missing at words a word. So Mihaela Harold. No, no, it's straight off the thing, so I think it's Mihaela Harold. Emma is played by Chase Sui Wonders. Alice is played by Rachel Sennett.
01:30:20
Speaker
garrett greg Garrett Greg is played by Lee Pace, David is played by Pete Davidson, and Max is played by Connor O'Malley. This is rated PG-13. It comes in at 94 minutes. It was released on August 5th of 2022, and it was a made in Chappaqua, New York, and the budget was $3 million, dollars and it brought in $14 million. dollars This is not a first-time watch for either of us, but listen.
01:30:44
Speaker
Alice, the podcaster, we can't not talk about her and it fits perfectly in with this topic. So today we are talking all things, bodies, bodies, bodies. Maddie, what do you think of this A24 pick? You know, I remember back in the day when I just really couldn't stand Pete Davidson, like anything that he was a part of, I didn't want any part of it. <unk> I don't even know why. I don't know if it was just how he looks or how he talks or whatever. I don't know. I just I just couldn't stand him.
01:31:11
Speaker
And so I avoided this movie for a long time, not a long time, but I've i avoided it for a while. And it was finally on a plane. I'm pretty sure back to America, I think could be wrong, um that it was on the, you know, the the player that you could stuff you stuff you could watch. And I was like, yeah, let's watch it now. Fine. just like Let's let's see what this is all about. And I loved it. Loved it. I was so incredibly surprised. I was really, really surprised that this is one that actually did hit me really well.
01:31:41
Speaker
about writing that works instead of yeah the other way. writing Writing that works, acting that works. And you know what? Pete Davidson did a fantastic fucking job. I think everyone did. This is a film that takes itself seriously, even though it's fucking ridiculous.
01:31:57
Speaker
And that is the only way that you can do it if you've got a storyline like this. um you You got to have people who don't know how to take themselves seriously and writing that does the same thing. And I think it's important because this is a film that eviscerates that generation. And you know I think that this is specifically looking at Gen Z and it's looking at a lot of different things. It's looking at Gaslighting and triggering and toxic and this and that and whatever and blah blah blah blah blah and this is a film that attempts to go you know a lot of this is just kind of bullshit have you thought about that lately have you thought about how much bullshit you're really spewing out there right now and I think it does a pretty fucking fantastic job of of exposing that um and giving ah ah an exploration of it.
01:32:41
Speaker
um I think it's bold in its story. I think it's bold in its writing. And I think it's bold in its direction. I think, ah you know, all the way up until the end, if it's if it's your first time watching it, you really are like, what is actually going on? And when you finally get the twist at the end, it's like, you've got to, I mean, I remember the first time I watched it, like my jaw hit the floor. I was like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. You have to be kidding me.
01:33:08
Speaker
and they weren't kidding. like It's absolutely real and it's crazy. It's absolutely crazy, the story. um So yeah, I mean, look, this time around, this this is my second time watching it. I really loved it. How about you?
01:33:21
Speaker
Yeah, um I remember when we rented this movie, we were having some issues with our cable and it kept like pausing that like it kept like ah like the streaming wasn't working correctly. So like the first time I watched it, I was like, yeah, that was fine. But I was so frustrated with the watching experience that I was like, I'm not coming back to this movie. And so like coming back to it for this, I was really excited because I was like, oh, I actually get to like watch it this time without all of the issues. Yeah. And like this movie is I don't know.
01:33:51
Speaker
You know, Sarah Delape, I'm hoping saying your name correctly. I don't know what age she is or like where she comes from, because I think this is our first writing credit, but like how she encapsulates these characters so perfectly so well.
01:34:07
Speaker
And the acting, especially from like our main core people. So our Sophie, our Jordan, our Alice, our Emma be to a certain extent. But I think B is meant to be like the odd person out. Exactly. um But like the way that they the way that she writes those characters and even David, too, even though he's not in the movie very long, is just so spot on for these kind of people. I think back to times when we've done things like this, where we've like rented cabins and like got blizzarded in and like, yeah like how we act and just be crazy and, you know, just do stupid shit. And this is like, this is like that, but like on cocaine. Which we were not. It literally uncocaine, yes. But um like I don't know, there's just certain areas of the movie that just, i like I almost want to rewind and listen to the conversation again because there's so many times where I'm either chuckling or like straight up laughing to where I know I'm missing stuff. because Totally. Because it's so fast paced like that with the way that they're the the the way the dialogue works.
01:35:12
Speaker
um and so Overall, I think this is a huge success. i i I was a little piffed on my first watch about the twist. And listen, this is a spoiler conversation, so we can talk about it. But like i I think this time around, because I knew what was coming and didn't bother me so much, because it's just like highlighting such what idiots people are. why don't you andrew why don't you just bring us through the basic storyline really really quick? yeah The basic story is um Sophie and Bea are girlfriends. They've only been girlfriends for about six weeks and they go to a mansion up in the, um I'm guessing upstate New York. um and but Probably like the Hampton, something like that. Yeah. And well, the only reason I say Upstate New York says there was like mountain trails that went on. so um And they are going to a mansion to basically ride out ah a hurricane with their friends. And their friends don't know that they're coming. They've kind of been estranged for a while. And there's kind of some underlying issues there that they have not resolved, but they kind of just sweep it under the rug and have a party.
01:36:17
Speaker
And they play the game bodies, bodies, bodies, which if you're not aware is kind of like a werewolf or an among us or or a mafia kind of thing or a mafia. Yeah. um And someone actually ends up getting killed. um But what we find out later is that he was just doing a fucking tick tock and accidentally slit his own throat trying to saber a champagne because quote to him ah when get when Greg does it earlier, it's not that cool, but he thinks it's so cool that he has to rec recreate it and then things devolve from there. But of course you don't learn that until the literal very end of the movie. And so the entire time that all these people are thinking
01:37:00
Speaker
that like there's a killer among them and they're trying to figure it out. And in the midst of that, like they kill each other trying to figure out who the murderer is. Right. And so, I mean, it is it is a crazy screenplay. So well done. It's so incredibly well done. I know I did read a little bit about how the author was looking at like old Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie novels and movies for this. You can kind of see that a little bit in there for sure. But I really like I just I said it a little bit earlier, I just love how Sarah Dilappe or whatever, however you say it, was not afraid to go in and just flay Gen Z and just go, actually, let's have some fun talking about y'all right now.
01:37:46
Speaker
and she goes in there and does it, and she fucking succeeds. It's very fucking cool. And I think it's most successful with our character of Alice, who's our who's our quintessential podcaster. Rachel Sennett, I've seen her in other stuff now. She's an incredible actress, and she does this kind of acting.
01:38:05
Speaker
Perfectly like kind of like the annoying friend. I do. I do love when they're like when they get into it about the podcast. Yeah, I do love how Alice like she explains what the podcast is. Right. And she basically says that it's about hanging out with your smartest and funniest friend. And I just think that I thought was like really cute in the in the midst of this movie. Like that is really funny, though.
01:38:28
Speaker
that Jordan rolls her eyes. She can't help herself. But like, God bless her. And then like when she goes into the tirade, not too long after that, and i i I almost wrote that down, but i I forgot to, but when she goes into the tirade about how hard it is to produce a podcast, I was like, you have to create a Google doc and you have to get guests. But but i I was also like, yeah Andrew and I have definitely done that before. you have the pick And or you have to build a following. It's really hard work. You have to arrange all the guests and look do you manage the calendar. but but blah was It was pretty fucking funny. And for podcasters, I think people, we look at that part and like laugh at ourselves, which is wonderful. Yeah, because we're ridiculous. Just exactly. she right
01:39:10
Speaker
But no, I think that like if if the dialogue doesn't work in this movie, it kind of maybe would be an annoying movie. I definitely agree with you. yeah Just because the the the people are not meant to be like lovable characters. They're meant to be you um they're meant real and like manipulative and like ah just having their own character flaws. And I think that in a lesser script, that would just get annoying.
01:39:36
Speaker
And I think that in this, it just works and it works in like this magic bubble of like this script. And I think that, you know, I could have watched this movie and been like, oh, that was awful. I hated everybody. But because the writing is so good, I walk away from it being like, man, that was a fucking great time entirely.
01:39:57
Speaker
But yeah, I just think that this one, it it just works. And there there's so there's a couple things that I wanted to ask you some questions on because there's um one death that I can't quite figure out. And that's Emma. So Emma is our character that she thinks everyone is in love with her. Like that's her character flaw. She is very self um involved basically. um And that's the whole precipice why Max isn't at the house the whole time because yeah he said that he loved Emma and then that got him and David into a fight and that's why he's not at the house anymore and that's why they don't have a car to escape anymore. and
01:40:36
Speaker
And so um and then she kind of hits on Jordan. She says something along the lines like, I thought that's what you wanted. And there's just a it's a very weird character thing. And then I think that um Sophie gives her cocaine or pills or something.
01:40:55
Speaker
yeah that's pill And then they find her dead at the bottom of the stairs, but not just dead at the bottom of the stairs, like blood everywhere yeah going down. And I was like, what happened? And they never they say that, you know, Sophie says something towards the end where she says like she tripped, but nobody, I didn't think anybody would believe me. But i there is no way that that girl just tripped down the stairs and got that bashed in. well i mean It's actually kind of interesting to think about, like, um like compare that to the staircase. Did you watch the staircase? did did yeah Do you know what I'm talking about?
01:41:26
Speaker
That's the dot the documentary one. Well, there's a document and then they also they also made um a movie of a two with Colin Firth and Tony Collette is the is her I'm pretty sure and I can't remember anyways it's like one of the main questions in that right because I forget their names now, but the the guy that Colin Firth plays the the the the husband in the staircase is contends that she fell down the stairs, but the police are like, there's blood everywhere, dude. There's no way that she only fell down the stairs right now. That's it. Like, there's no way. And so, like, I do kind of wonder if, um, if Sarah Delape sort of drew on the staircase for that particular death, because like, I mean, I mean who knows I mean maybe if you really i mean look there's a lot of blood in your fucking head dude lots of vascular tissue up there. It could be that if you hit yourself just right man fucking bloods gonna fucking spill if you fall hard enough and so I wonder if what she was trying to do was just create enough doubt in your head.
01:42:28
Speaker
so that like if it looked like she thought on the stairs, that might give away, it it might give the game away too early, almost. And like if you if you believe that somebody did bludgeon her to death, then maybe this keeps going, at least until the end when they find the phone.
01:42:42
Speaker
Yeah, it was just one of those things where I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. it was It was just so weird because it goes from that scene of her like kissing ah Sophie to just like her dead at the bottom of the stairs with like no explanation. And I was like, whoa, what's happening here? so and um But I think some of my favorite lines um are some of my favorite like turns in the movie.
01:43:03
Speaker
I think the whole veterinarian and army vet mix up is really, really fucking funny. She says like, he's a vet and they all take it as like, oh, he's a, he's a veteran and he's going to have like, uh, like violent tendencies and he must be the killer. And then after the he's dead, she's like, no, he was a veterinarian's assistant.
01:43:25
Speaker
I love it when i love when Alice says, he's a Libra moon and that says a lot. yeah And it was then it was it was funny because I was just watching Grey Gardens before this too. Have you ever seen Grey Gardens? I have, yeah. So good. But do you remember the part where Edie is reading the book and it's all about star signs and yeah she's and she's looking for a Libran? It brought me right back to that. yeah And what was another good one? What was it?
01:43:54
Speaker
I like the part where she one of the words she said about the podcast. I'm trying to remember those two. I didn't write them down like a fucking idiot. No, I like the one where she's like, she's talking to Jordan and she's like, I am not escalating. You're the one talking with your hands and moving them around. Or when Alice says, I understand and I am an ally and I totally get how it looks that way. It's like, my God, it's exactly it.
01:44:16
Speaker
or when B says like, you know, her mother is borderline schizophrenic and that's why she had to come back and help. And then Alice is, she goes, you know, I've never said this to anyone before, but I have body dysmorphia. i know
01:44:33
Speaker
and She's like, go fuck yourself. Basically Jesus Christ. We all like. I gotta fucking say Jordan is a fucking bitch in this movie. She is ah manipulating things from the start. So I thought that eventually it was gonna come out that she was the killer, but even in her dying breath, she points the gun up and she says, check her texts. I was like, you still can't let it go even in your death.
01:45:05
Speaker
and There's just like so many things. um I think Lee Pace, although he's like the weirdest standout character in the movie because he's not part of the same generation. i so He's so much older. I mean, he's he's older than us. Yeah, but I still think he fits into the like the the movie in and totally of itself because he's so that the whole part in the gym, which I have questions about that gym because why is the gym the only place that has electricity in this power outage? But that I.
01:45:34
Speaker
I got to let these things go. got I got to keep that treadmill going, bro. You know, I'm gone, bro. But I do like when he like wakes up and he's like, Oh, yo are you guys all still playing werewolf? first yes and I was like, that's just like different generations right there. But um I think that but it's funny. Did you did you play the game among us during the um pandemic? It kind of became popular during that time. i I remember. I know what it is. I remember you guys playing that. Yeah. you got it on Switch, didn't you? Um, I have something like that computer, I think. Oh, that's because I think we're playing it over zoom. I definitely know. I definitely know what it is, but I have not. um I have not ah played it, though.
01:46:17
Speaker
I'm wondering if this movie, either this movie was inspired by that or that game was inspired by this because it's essentially the same thing, but just in a game form. Like you basically walk around a space station and one person is a killer. They kill somebody. And then once you find the body, you report the body and then you go into like a pow wow to try to figure out who the killer is. Like that's essentially the game. Um, and so the watching this movie, I was like, huh, that's interesting. I wonder what came first, the chicken or the egg. You know what I mean? Yeah, totally. Um,
01:46:47
Speaker
I will say like there's not like a there's not in most movies, there is usually like a character that is just kind of doesn't work. And I think in this movie, everybody works really well together. I think there's not a there's not a performance that doesn't fit. You know what I mean? Yeah, totally. um And I think that taking out David Early was a really smart thing because he's such a fucking dick and such an unlikable character. He's such an asshole.
01:47:16
Speaker
When he sucker punches Greg, I, right then and there, I would have been done with this whole thing. Like when they totally do that whole like slap circle or whatever, which I think is the weirdest thing to do. But you know what? Maybe, well, back in the day you guys were whipping each other. So I guess I can't really say. Yeah, we did. Those are, those are crazy days. I'm glad videos of that don't exist really. Um, thank God.
01:47:42
Speaker
Meanwhile, I'm just sitting on the sideline like, what the fuck are you guys doing? You know, like we were we were weird. We were weird people trying to find our way in this weird world. Yeah. um I think that um it is the the reveal is pretty funny the way that she finds it because they're trying to they're fighting over Sophie's phone because B wants to see her text because that's like the it's so funny that it comes down to like texts like Girl, everybody is dead. Like, what do you care? it's And and that that's the other thing this movie deals with is just the complete stupidity of social media.
01:48:18
Speaker
And at the end of the day, that is like the real murderer here at the end of the day. It's the thing that sets everything off with David going on to do this fucking thing and then accidentally killing himself. I do think it's funny that she has to use his dead body to open up his fucking tongue. Exactly, right. And without that, none of this would have ever happened. And that is so cutting into the reality of today is how much fucking bullshit do we put upon ourselves with social media. Social media is a choice, right? You don't have to do it. Nobody is forcing anybody to do it. But we do it and we get ourselves into our own trouble and our own arguments and our own bullshit. And this movie just completely flays that open. really It's really fucking cool, man.
01:49:08
Speaker
I will say that the the scene that made me the most tense in this movie is, you know, they're kind of having their argument about ah the podcast and all that stuff. And then Jordan pulls out the gun. And as soon as as soon as she pulled out that gun, things got really tense, like the whole fighting over the gun, and the whole shooting scene, like where she's like, she basically skewers Jordan and says,
01:49:35
Speaker
I hate to tell you this, but your parents are upper middle class. She's like, no, they're not. And she's like, they both teach at a college. And she goes, public college. That is fucking funny. That's so much good. And then but there there's like a wrestling scene over the gun, though, after that, where it goes on for like much longer than I'm comfortable with. And it got it had me really tense because I didn't remember the total outcome of that fight.
01:50:05
Speaker
I just knew something bad was going to happen and that really made me itch, if anything, you know what I mean? Yeah, totally. My God, yes. But yeah, I think overall, I think, you know, bodies, bodies, bodies was kind of a surprise for both of us because when I saw a movie that had little to no people that I knew ah from A24, which was kind of of still finding its feet at this point in 2022.
01:50:28
Speaker
And then you throw in like Pete Davidson of all people, which at the time was kind of a weird casting choice. Yeah. I think we all were kind of like, what is this movie? And then, you know, we are pleasantly surprised. som madie And you know, you know what? When things can surprise me anymore, I'm really, really delighted.
01:50:45
Speaker
I am. Yeah, me too. So Maddie, what do you give bodies, bodies, bodies? I give it a solid 5.5 and I said absolutely entirely, 100% surprise me. I loved it, even on the second viewing. An incisive and truly cutting exploration of Gen Z, safe spaces, trigger warnings, gaslighting, and emotional intelligence. It is actually kind of brilliant.
01:51:09
Speaker
Yeah. And I have to now look at my score for Halloween and I have to bring this up. So I have to, I have to do a 5.5. Uh, I said, um, so true today's today's time with vapid manipulative characters. I want to say it annoyed me, but it isn't that the point, like right? Exactly. Totally. Well folks, that does it for our final film of the episode. Stay tuned. We'll be right back to close out the show.
01:51:33
Speaker
This is a new podcast and we have a new podcast. Very first podcast influencers, celebrities, journalists, random friends of yours. Everyone has a podcast. And folks, that was episode one 33 of Friday, the 13th horror podcast. But before we let you go, um we're going to end our podcast, not with a game, really, but just with a recommendation.
Podcast Recommendations and Closing Remarks
01:51:55
Speaker
And, you know, look, as podcasters, we want to support other podcasts and give you some ideas of the things that that we listen to. So, Andrew, you're going to recommend the podcast. What is it?
01:52:04
Speaker
Yeah, so I listen to actually quite a few podcasts. Some of them are more popular than others. And so today I'm going to choose to highlight a podcast that is maybe not as known because I feel like I listen to a lot. I listen to like a giggly squad. um I've had it like a lot of these ones that are kind of like on the upper echelon.
01:52:26
Speaker
Um, of, of podcasts. And so I want to choose to highlight one that maybe people haven't heard of. And that's, um, perhaps it's you. Um, this is a podcast hosted by two women in Minnesota and they do recaps of old unsolved mysteries.
01:52:42
Speaker
And so it's fun to go back and listen to Unsolved Mysteries from back in the day, and then they do cover some of the new ones. And they're funny, they're progressive. They just align with what I think. And I think that it's fun to hear about old Unsolved Mysteries. And then a lot of times the Unsolved Mysteries are solved now. So we get to hear some good things about being solved. Oh, I love that.
01:53:06
Speaker
Um, that's perhaps it's you. That's my recommendation. Of course I listen to a ton of other podcasts. Um, but that one is maybe one that you haven't heard of. Cool. Mine is from a network called Fox to push ink and it is a podcast called wild thing.
01:53:25
Speaker
The Wild Thing is really, really good. The host is Laura Krantz. There's been three seasons of it. The first season is all about Bigfoot, um which, look, Andrew and I weren't really big on Bigfoot until we met the She Squatchers. Until we were. yeah And then all of a sudden, we're like believers in Bigfoot now. So that's just how it goes. And um that is a really great season. Season two is my favorite season. It's all about UFOs.
01:53:51
Speaker
And lower krantz goes deep on it and it's really really well done the third season is called going nuclear it's about nuclear energy. um Atomic energy she it's it's it's pretty good but it's not my favorite compared to the the first two seasons anyways lower krantz is a wonderful ah podcaster and and journalist for that matter and she does such a great job with these long form podcasts.
01:54:14
Speaker
And um you know look, when it's when it's talking about stuff that you really love, and she introduces you to people you know all around the country, all around the world that are really interesting people, and she you know brings up new questions for you, that's something really really worth listening to, um especially season two. Season two, all about UFOs, was just so incredibly well done. um Speaking to a lot of experts, but also speaking to a lot of normal people, it's like regular everyday people,
01:54:42
Speaker
It's just fucking cool dude. So if you have not listened to wild things, so highly recommend it. You should absolutely do it. um She even developed kids books from it too, which is kind of cool. So like she has a kid book called the search for Sasquatch. She has one called, is there anybody out there about UFOs? And then one called, do you believe in magic?
01:55:02
Speaker
um So like it's it's it's pretty cool how she's created this whole sort of life around it, but it's one that I highly recommend that I don't think a lot of people listen to. Yeah, I'll definitely put this on my list. yeah It's called Wild Thing, and you know wherever you listen to podcasts, of course.
01:55:16
Speaker
And then, you know, i what I will say is two things. I have two things to end the kind of the podcast episode on is one, if you had podcasts that maybe you don't think that we've heard of or you think that we might like, please send them along either on social media or on Friday 13.
01:55:34
Speaker
at gmail dot com and Then, one other thing I want to just say to podcasters, and this is something that's going to hold true for us when when eventually this this podcast ends in the future, is that if you're going to end your podcast, if it's time to just call it quits or if it's time it came to like a natural ending, please record an ending.
01:55:55
Speaker
Please, please record an ending because I think it's weird if you don't do that. There are so many podcasts out there that just stop producing and they don't put anything on social media. They don't put anything out. And it's just me refreshing my feed over and over again, waiting to see if another one's going to come out like an eventually unsubscribing. And it's it's it's not hard to sit in front of your microphone for five minutes and say, hey, everybody, we're done. So sorry. thanks for the support. It's all you got to do. It's it's just a little thing that come on annoys me. so And and ill I'll say this one more thing, Andrew, I said it a little bit before, but hey, you know, for all the people that have been with this podcast from the very beginning, and and even out from the beginning, anyone who's ever listened to us ever, the people that have helped us, like I said, especially Bo Randel, and especially Patrick Walsh,
01:56:41
Speaker
Um, every, every, you know, sort of you a quote unquote famous person who came onto our show and we were still doing, um, uh, what were they called? Horror hookups. The guests that we've had, you know, just thank you everybody. Thank you, thank you, thank you for believing in our little tiny podcast. Um, and for keeping us going because it's, it's been a real joy to do this over these years. It really has.
01:57:07
Speaker
It's definitely, uh, upped our friendship for sure. My God. Anything. Yes. Um, so if you want to support fragmented 13th, obviously you can become a patron on Patreon, as we said before, or you can buy merch. Um, if you buy merch, let us know because I want to see what it looks like these days. Take a picture of it. yeah and we We've been saying this forever, Andrew. We need to fucking update our merch store. We have yeah we obviously do.
01:57:31
Speaker
Um, we will, and I want to find a new vendor too, because I think it's too expensive. Do you remember the very first vendor that we had? They were so, I don't remember what they were, but they were so high quality and the shirts were great and the coffee cups were the best by far. So good. Me too. Um, if you can't monetarily help us, we understand, but it's literally a dollar. So I don't know what what's happening over there. Um, But if you can't, if you can't, we understand, um, but you can leave a review for free. Um, we especially are hoping to up our Spotify reviews. So if you could just hit five stars on Spotify, you don't have to write anything. Obviously they won't let you write anything. Um, but if you could just do that, we'd be very appreciative, but at the end of the day, it's, it's, it's mid November. Actually, if you want to wish me a happy birthday, it'll be, yes. Um, and Maddie will be in Chicago to celebrate.
01:58:27
Speaker
um But yeah, you can do that, or you can also just go ahead and get slayed.