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Shake and Bake: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby vs. Step Brothers
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Rock & Rob are back for season 2 and they have so much room for activities! When Will Ferrell teamed up with John C. Reilly, two of the greatest comedies of the 2000s were born and it’s time to finally determine which one wins and gets a trip to the Catalina Wine Mixer while the other crashes and burns in an invisible fire. Listen in as Rock & Rob debate both movies head to head while discussing important topics such as the best sports comedies of all time, car births and Tom Cruise. Just remember there’s no second place here because if you ain’t first, you’re last.
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Transcript
Introduction and Season 2 Announcement
00:00:00
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention?
00:00:09
Speaker
Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. sal like up from la die I don't want your life. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul. Okay, a simple wrong would have done just fine.
00:00:26
Speaker
What is going on, everybody? We are back for season two of the movie showdown with Rock and Rob. My name is Rob Mansfield. And with me, he's been called the songbird of his generation. It's Alex Rockline.
00:00:38
Speaker
Shake and bake, Rob, shake and bake. Absolutely. We are back from summer break. It is great to be doing this again. Well, let's open up season two with a five star review.
Engaging with Audience Feedback
00:00:50
Speaker
Alex, this one comes to you from The Rune Project, the title nonstop bangers. The review with an arrow pointing up C title short to the point. Love it. We appreciate you, the Rune Project, and we appreciate your five star review. We'll start with the rock question of the week.
Will Ferrell's SNL Legacy
00:01:09
Speaker
Do you have a favorite Will Ferrell, SNL sketch? Wow, there's so many. OK, I have a few. Some might be a little more deep cuts, maybe get off the shed is definitely one of my favorites, which partners with get on the bag when he's at the baseball game.
00:01:22
Speaker
He auditioned for SNL with Get Off The Shed. That to me is like classic Will Ferrell. The Spartan cheerleaders. Yeah. Very good. Obviously Harry Carey is very good. But I think one of my favorites is with Garth Brooks. Garth Brooks. He plays a singer in the sketch. Obviously he's a singer in real life, but he can't think of a song to raise he a writer's block. And he like just says something about like, I'd do anything for an idea for a song. And then Will Ferrell shows up as the devil.
00:01:47
Speaker
And he has his guitar and he's like, oh, I'm going to like, you know, I'm going to melt your face with the song I have. And then it's like, yeah, it's not good. It's a very good sketch. I'm pretty basic. I love the celebrity Jeopardy sketches. I love the Night at the Roxbury sketches, but I'm a sucker for more cowbell. Horatio Sands is in that one, right? And Jimmy Fallon and then Christopher Walken and Chris Catan. That era right there, I think, is pretty solid SNL. Obviously, when you have Will Ferrell, it's hard to go
Will Ferrell's Transition to Film
00:02:11
Speaker
wrong.
00:02:11
Speaker
Well, so we're talking about Will Ferrell. We wanted to open season two with something special. And since we closed season one with Adam Sandler week, we thought it would be fitting to open season two with a Will Ferrell movie matchup. As mentioned earlier, Will Ferrell, SNL star from 1994 to 2001 then went on to be a massive movie star took in my opinion, the comedy championship belt from Sandler.
00:02:37
Speaker
I don't know if you knew this, he's a big sports guy. This is really cool. March 12th, 2015, spring training, he played for 10 different major league baseball teams in five games. So he played on one team, switched over to the other team. I think he may have played like every position. It's worth looking up the highlights because it's just hilarious seeing Will Ferrell in full uniform playing professional baseball. Must be nice to be really famous and be able to be like, Hey, can I play for 10 teams today?
00:03:01
Speaker
callback alert here. Garth Brooks also played spring training games for the Padres. You are a fountain of knowledge. Well, so Will Ferrell had a run of like five years where he was the biggest comedy star on the planet and didn't miss with the movies that he
Top Comedic Actors Discussion
00:03:18
Speaker
came out with. And every so often this happens where an actor will just have just a run of elite comedies. So Alex, give me your top five actors with the best five year consistently good stretch of comedies. I'm going to start with an honorable mention. Bill Murray from 1979 to 1984. You got Meatballs, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters. Wow, that's pretty elite. Number five, Vince Vaughn, 2003 to 2009, old school, Starsky and Hutch, Dodgeball, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Wedding Crashers, The Breakup, Fred Claus, Four Christmases Couples Retreat. I love all of those movies. a Couple of former movies on the pod. Number four, Jim Carrey, 1994 to 2000, Ace Ventura, The Mask,
00:04:01
Speaker
Dumb and Dumber. All of those were in 94 alone, which is just mind blowing. Batman Forever, Ace Ventura 2, The Cable Guy, Liar Liar, The Truman Show, Me, Myself, and Irene. Wow. That's a good six year stretch right there. Will Ferrell coming in at number three, 2003 to 2008. We got Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Kicking and Screaming, Wedding Crashers, It's more of a cameo, but you know what? Still counts. Talladega Knights, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers. Number two, Adam Sandler, 1995 to 2000. Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Bulletproof, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky. And coming in at number one, this is because we got two runs here. This is like your favorite football player, Tom Brady, when he had like two different careers where he won a bunch of Super Bowls.
00:04:45
Speaker
Sure. In the 80s and 90s,
Will Ferrell Week Introduction
00:04:47
Speaker
Eddie Murphy, 82 to 88, you got 48 hours, trading places, Beverly Hills Cop, the Golden Child, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Coming to America. Classics. Then from 96 to 2001, you have the Nutty Professor, Mulan, Dr. Doolittle, Life, Bowfinger, Nutty Professor 2, Shrek, and Dr. Doolittle 2. Dang. Two five-year stretches. That makes him the best.
00:05:09
Speaker
You take out one of them and you might be looking at Sandler sliding up to one. But that 82 to 88 is really good. And then for people our age, Nutty Professor was massive. I mean, Shrek, Shrek's like taking on a life of its own. Well, it is Will Ferrell week. Ferrell had so many great movies, but two specifically are really tied together. Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers.
00:05:32
Speaker
Will Ferrell teamed up with John C. Riley for both movies, and their chemistry was pun intended for his love of baseball, a home run. Alex, which of those two movies are you repping this week? This week, I will be representing Talladega Nights, the ballot of Ricky Bobby. Quick summary, a NASCAR pit crew worker who lives his life by two mottos, I wanna go fast, and if you ain't first, you're last, gets a chance to drive and becomes one of the most successful drivers on the circuit without ever actually winning the points championship. But his life is turned upside down when a new driver gets brought in to compete who is... French and puts him in his place. This movie was released August 4th, 2006, directed by Adam
Adam McKay's Career Shift
00:06:13
Speaker
McKay. He was with SNL from 95 to 2001, so a lot of exposure with Will Ferrell there. He was the head writer most of the time. He's a powerhouse when it comes to writing, directing, producing. Besides a lot of the other Will Ferrell movies that he's been involved with, you also have The Big Short, Vice, Don't Look Up, and his movies have 17 Academy Award nominations.
00:06:32
Speaker
I remember when Adam McKay shifted from just doing kind of the Will Ferrell comedies to these. How would you describe those movies like they're comedies, but they're kind of adult comedies with some serious messaging? Yeah, they're like comedic dramas. He just became one of the directors in Hollywood. He's one of those people that when you saw his name attached to something, you're like, all right, you know, i'll pay attention to this. Yeah.
00:06:55
Speaker
which I feel like can be hard to do when you're kind of in that one. You know, he comes from the Will Ferrell movies and then to branch out to something like The Big Short. He's coming from SNL. That's his background. And then he's working with people like Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio and some other like serious dramatic actors.
00:07:13
Speaker
Talladega Nights was written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. So they started a production company together called Gary Sanchez Productions, which I don't think is named after the baseball player, is it? God, I hope not. They produce many of Will Ferrell's movies since 2006, but they dissolved in 2019. This was actually due to a falling out between McKay and Farrell because Adam McKay cast John C. O'Reilly as Jerry Buss on the HBO show Winning Time over Will Ferrell. And Will Ferrell, as we talked about, was a big sports guy, big Lakers guy. Didn't like that. No.
00:07:43
Speaker
So Dalindaganites had a budget of seventy two point five million dollars. Pretty hefty budget there. When this movie was pitched, the producers told the studios the idea was six words. Will Ferrell as a NASCAR
Talladega Nights: Financial Success
00:07:53
Speaker
driver. I'm sold. Right. I mean, you could have said like Will Ferrell as a milk man. And I could have said anything. And I'm um'm one Will Ferrell as a target employee. That'd be pretty good. The box office brought in one hundred and sixty three point four billion dollars. We have a rotten tomato score of 71 percent and a Google audience score of 81 percent. It's a pretty solid Rotten Tomatoes score for a traditional comedy, but also surprisingly lower Google audience score than I would have thought. Well, so that means I will be representing stepbrothers this week summary to mid 30 something year old men who act like they're 13 are forced to cohabitate when their parents get married.
00:08:30
Speaker
And at first they hate each other, but then they become best friends because of John Stamos. So then they destroy a boat, which leads to their parents' divorce. So they have to grow up and try to fix it at the world famous Catalina
Step Brothers: Film Overview
00:08:42
Speaker
wine mixer. The Catalina wine mixer. Released on July 25th, 2008, directed by Adam McKay, written by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and John C. Riley.
00:08:53
Speaker
Budget of $65 million, dollars Box Office brought in $128.1 million, dollars Rotten Tomatoes score 55%, Google Audience score 84%. Interesting thing, both these movies were also produced by Judd Apatow, who I feel like at this time was basically producing every comedy that was out.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I watch these movies back to back and I remember Step Brothers as being like an R rated comedy yeah for the language, some of the jokes. And as I'm watching Talladega Nights, I'm like, am I watching an edited version? Because I didn't realize it was actually a PG-13 movie, which kind of makes sense why it made more in the box office. It was more marketable. But I do think that R rating allows Step Brothers to do some things that yes, probably very inappropriate or absolutely hilarious.
00:09:42
Speaker
All right, Alex, new segment on the show for season two. Oh, I'm excited. I'm calling this the did we just become best friends challenge? So here's what we're going to do. We're each going to list our top five favorite Will Ferrell movies. And if we match up at least three in the same spot, we win. Sound good. I love that. Oh, that's fun.
00:10:02
Speaker
So we'll start with five. I'll go five. We'll both say it at the same time and we'll kind of go through. I'm in. So number five. Anchor, man. Nice. Good for us. One for one. Kind of knew it was going to be in there. Number four, step. Aladega nights. OK. All right. All right. right That happens. Number three. Wedding that brothers. and I thought we had it. I thought we were good. Oh, man. We got two left. Number two. Old school. Yeah. There we go. All right. One more. We got to get this right. I'm feeling good.
00:10:31
Speaker
Number one. Elf. Let's go. Did we just become best friends? Yep. Oh, that was fun. I like that. It had to be Elf. Elf is like arguably the best Christmas
Debating the Best Will Ferrell Film
00:10:42
Speaker
movie out. Yeah. You can watch it every single year. Never gets old. And it's quotable. And it's good for all ages. That's why it's my favorite Will Ferrell movie. All right. You want to jump into these categories? Yeah,
In-depth Movie Showdown: Talladega Nights vs. Step Brothers
00:10:52
Speaker
let's do it. Round one. Best cast.
00:10:56
Speaker
Will Ferrell plays Ricky Bobby. Then you get John C. Riley, his right hand man. So John C. Riley plays Cal Naughton Jr., which to me is like a perfect NASCAR name. Yes. The junior, like everything about it. John C. Riley being in these movies is amazing, but especially the first time we saw him in Talladega Nights playing this type of role. He had done comedies before like Boogie Nights and some other stuff. But him in this specific type of role with this type of humor with Will Ferrell,
00:11:24
Speaker
So unexpected, yet so unbelievably funny. Yeah, he's again, one of those guys that like just his delivery just makes things that shouldn't be funny funny. Yeah. Sasha Baron Cohen as Jean Girard, the French driver who comes aboard. You might know him from the L.E.G. show. He is, of course,
00:11:44
Speaker
Borat, my wife, he's a really good actor and he's really funny, but he plays these really eccentric characters. I don't know how he pulls off the way he talks, but like still is funny. The Ali G show was such a big college show for like guys our age. People just put it on when you're hanging out in the dorm. His role in Talladega Nights, just even the little things that they have him doing, you know, drinking the macchiato in the car, then he's like reading when he's driving. Yeah.
00:12:10
Speaker
His whole persona in this movie, he's playing like the straight man to Will Ferrell while also simultaneously being outlandishly hilarious. Exactly. And like really like over the top, you know, they make them French. So you're going to do all these things and everyone's like, oh, he's French. Gross. Gary Cole plays Reese Bobby. So that's Ricky Bobby's dad. He has some classic roles in movies. Dodgeball. He's one of the commentators for yeah ESPN eight. The Ocho. Cotton.
00:12:37
Speaker
He's so good in that. He is Bill Lumberg from Office Space. He's great in this movie. Like he's, I think, underappreciated. To me, he's like secretly one of my favorite parts of this movie. Like in the beginning of the movie when Ricky's in school and he shows up for career day or whatever it is, he he just looks at him and he's like, man, you got big. How long has it been? Three, four months? And then Ricky's just like 10 years. He just likes of a cigarette and the teacher's like, Mr. Bobby, there's no smoking in here. It's all right. I'm a volunteer fireman.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah, he's very funny. So it's Reese. The catchphrase originates if you ain't first, you're last, which is actually based on a real quote by Vince Lombardi, legendary football coach. His was a little more
Evaluating Plot and Humor in Films
00:13:18
Speaker
eloquent. It was your either first or last. ah Jane Lynch plays Lucy Bobby. She is a legend in her own right. You may know her from Glee among a million other things. Yeah. So Gary Cole who plays Reese is only 11 years older than Will Ferrell. And Jane Lynch is only seven years older than Will Ferrell in real life.
00:13:35
Speaker
that will start a trend of people that are not that much older than Will Ferrell playing his parents. Six time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams plays Susan. The same year that this movie came out, she was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress in the movie June Bug. I mean, that's hilarious that she was doing both these movies that same year. So Amy Adams plays Susan. She is what is she like his manager? We don't really know. We know at the end she got a job for NASCAR. Yeah, she was just around. Speaking of pit crew, we have a friend of the podcast, Michael Clark Duncan. You might remember him from Armageddon. Oh, yeah. David Keckner, Jack McBrayer. They're a good little team. I absolutely love Jack McBrayer in everything that he is in. He's got like three lines in this whole movie as Glenn, but everything he says is gold. I just love in the beginning of the movie, they're like, we don't have a driver. And he's just like, well, here's some things we can focus on. One, we tried hard and two, we're still dear friends. Yeah.
Top Sports Comedies Ranking
00:14:34
Speaker
Everyone just like hates him. Yeah. He's very good. Greg German. He is Larry Dennett Jr. Dennett is the team that Ricky Bobby is a part of. He
NASCAR Accuracy in Talladega Nights
00:14:42
Speaker
serves an important role in being kind of like the instigator villain. Yes.
00:14:47
Speaker
I think one of like the more memorable scenes is the with all due respect sequence yes when Ricky Bobby says with all due respect and then goes on to criticize him and they go back and forth on how, even if you say with all due respect, that doesn't give you free reign to say. Yeah, you don't have immunity if you say that. Mr. Dennett, with all due respect, and remember I'm saying with all due respect, that idea ain't worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin getting it off.
00:15:13
Speaker
It's so good. Who writes that stuff? Apparently Will Ferrell. um Molly Shannon makes an appearance. She is Mrs. Dennett. She's like pretty underused in this. I'm assuming she probably like filmed all her stuff in like a day or two. but Most likely. She brings such a unique brand of like her humor to the movie. The one part where she's like sitting in the owner's box talking to Dennett Junior and she's just like doing that thing where the cars are driving by and she's like convulsing, talking about the vibrations. But when she's talking about it, she's staring at him and like doesn't blink at all. It's so creepy, but so funny. So good. We also have some real NASCAR affiliations here. Some of the broadcasters that are used in the movie are broadcasters for NASCAR. Then you have Dale Earnhardt, Jr. You have Jamie McMurray, even some real NASCAR team cars were used throughout Dale Jarrett, Casey Kane, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Bush.
00:16:06
Speaker
Those are actually names I know, and I don't know anything about NASCAR. You a NASCAR guy ever? I was never a NASCAR guy. When I was younger, I was a big Jeff Gordon fan. I don't have any idea why. I just think his car looked cool. So I like i don't follow NASCAR, but I know all those names, too. 24 car, right? Wasn't that Jeff Gordon? That's like all I knew. He was really popular in the 90s. I never watched NASCAR, but everyone knew who Jeff Gordon was. Rob Riggle, he is the speed channel commentator. His face after they do the speed channel segment on Jean Girard, the new racer, and it cuts to him after it and his face reaction to what they just spoke about is so funny.
Movie Reflection and Showdown Conclusion
00:16:41
Speaker
And like, look, I know we're trying to unify the country, but if there is one sport with a stereotype fan base that would be shocked with an athlete being gay, it would definitely be NASCAR, right? 100%. This is so inappropriate, but they're talking about Jean Girard and his husband and how he raises horses and how his horses are even gay. Yeah, right.
00:17:04
Speaker
And then it cuts to Rob Riggle, who's just like dumbfounded. It's so funny. I do like Rob Riggle a lot. This is pretty fun. So Cal, Ricky and Gerard, they're all introduced during the driver introductions at the 2005 UAW Ford 500 at Talladega. Ricky and Cal were cheered, but when Gerard was introduced as a driver from France driving the Perrier car, the entire crowd started booing without being prompted. See, NASCAR fans. Yep.
00:17:32
Speaker
And that's when they were like, yep, we have a gem here. So we also have some very good nicknames from this movie. So we got Shake and Bake, Iconic, R, Ricky and Cal. Then after the little split up between Cal and Ricky, Cal starts going by Magic Man. Now you see me, now you don't. ah And then he wants to hate it, but he's like, that is a phenomenal nickname. Will Ferrell then decides that he is now going to be El Diablo.
00:17:55
Speaker
But he doesn't know what it means. Yeah, what does he think it means? Yeah, he's like, I think it's a fighting chicken in Spanish. It's a great nickname either way. According to Steve Carell, Will Ferrell actually wanted to reunite with him for this film, but he couldn't do two scheduling conflicts. You think they wanted him to play Cal Naughton? I can't really see him in that role. No, I could see him as like a random like other driver. I could see him as like Dennett Jr. I love Steve Carell, but this movie, it didn't need him. Also, this cast features one Oscar winner, Adam McKay, and five Oscar nominees. John C. Riley, Sasha Baron Cohen, Michael Clark Duncan, Amy Adams, and Elvis Costello. All right. Let me talk about the cast from Step Brothers. We have Will Ferrell as Brennan Hough.
00:18:40
Speaker
John C. Riley as Dale Dobek. They're the two main man-childs. Mary Steenburgen as Nancy Huff. So she plays Will Ferrell's mom in Step Brothers, but she also plays his stepmom in Elf, even though she's only 14 years older than him.
00:18:58
Speaker
She's really good and she's spoken about how much fun she had filming this movie. Seems like a common theme with a lot of the actors that were in it. We have Richard Jenkins as Robert Dobak, that is Dale's father. That dude was obsessed with sailing. Yes. I think Richard Jenkins had some funny parts in this and I guess character works, but like he wasn't my favorite person on screen. No, I wouldn't say that. Then we have Adam Scott as Derek Huff. Adam Scott is amazing in this movie. Yes. The more I watch it, he is one of my favorite parts. The intro to him sets him up perfectly. So he missed his mom's wedding because he was on a fishing trip.
00:19:41
Speaker
And then we come to find out he named drops that he's with Mark Cuban, the cubes, Chris Daughtry, Jeff Probst, shout out survivor, super chef Bobby f Flay on this fishing trip, which I think we were supposed to think he was a D bag for that. Definitely.
00:19:58
Speaker
But I don't know if I'm skipping out on a fishing trip with the Cubes, Probst, Bobby Flay and Chris Daughtry. And Chris Daughtry at the time, too, if I remember, like he had just been on American Idol. Plus, like they got married pretty quickly, it seems. Yeah, within like a week, it feels like. He also named drops Chad Michael Murray a little later, which I love Chad Michael Murray. Big One Tree Hill fan. So I just really, really like Adam Scott in this movie. You know, you hate him, but at the same time, you like want him to be on the screen all the time just for the things he says, because it's so ridiculous. We have Catherine Hahn as Alice Huff. We've talked about Catherine Hahn before. She's consistently hilarious in everything I see her in. Yes. I couldn't give her higher praise because whatever role she has, she makes funnier. Agreed. We have Andrea Savage as Denise, the therapist, a.k.a. Dr. Angel Face.
00:20:51
Speaker
I mean, what a turn the movie takes with that. I feel like they were like, we need to throw in like kind of a romantic interest. We do it in the most ridiculous, absurd way. I think his first session and he's like, I love you. I'm just thinking about our life together. I feel like I'm walking out of cloud. My penis is tingling right now. And she's like, that is so off putting. He's like, you're not feeling this in no way, shape or form. Do I feel any feelings of intimacy towards you in any way whatsoever?
00:21:20
Speaker
It's so good. But then they end up together. That's great. We get small appearances by Seth Rogen and Ken Jeong. There are two of the people that Dale and Brennan interview with. And that interview sequence is so dumbly funny. They're wearing the tuxedos, which I feel like when I first saw this movie, I didn't think it was that weird. But obviously now that I'm in my mid thirties, I realize how weird it is. I love when all you can see is Will Ferrell and then that lady was like, mentions John Sierra and he pops out and he's like, hello, Miss Lady.
00:21:51
Speaker
They tell that lady at the other like, shut your mouth. You're just coming off stupid, which we've all wanted to say that in interviews at some point. Right. But probably the most memorable part of that is when they're sitting with Seth Rogen and he's like, yeah, I'm feeling this. I like it. And then John C. Riley just does the longest. It's not the typical comedic fart. Yeah, it's more of like a squeaky part, but it's really, really, really long.
00:22:20
Speaker
It's just like smacking his lips. He's like, I can taste it. And then later, john you probably is like, I thought it was going to be silent. will ferrell's Just like it was not silent.
00:22:33
Speaker
We've got Rob w Riggle in this movie as well. He's got some good parts. bam he's like what do you yeah And then apparently John Ham, Thomas Lennon and Dax Shepard all audition for the role of Derek. Yeah, I think all of them probably could have done something, but Adam Scott brought the level of douchiness that you needed. You know how much we love Thomas Lennon. This is like Thomas Lennon fan club right here between yeah you. I would have loved to see him in this movie in some capacity.
00:23:00
Speaker
So, Alex, what type of connections do you have for us this week? All right. So we got something a little bit different with our connections. These movies are connected in some obvious ways and some more subtle ways. So I thought we'd bring some of those to light. Love it. So both movies start with a title card quote Talladega Nights. We have an Eleanor Roosevelt quote. You fact check me here. This is true. Her quote is America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. I am going to guess that's not a real quote. You know, maybe that's maybe Teddy Roosevelt said that.
00:23:31
Speaker
Stepbrothers, we have this quote from George W. Bush. Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream. I actually do believe that's a real quote. It sounds like something he would have said. Another connection here. Ricky Bobby is talking to Jean Girard at his place. He says, I feel like I'm in Highlander. Jean Girard is not familiar with that movie. Did it win any awards? Yes, it won the Academy Award for best movie ever made is what Ricky Bobby says, which that is a line that has stuck with me for many years. That line probably should go in our intro somewhere.
00:24:00
Speaker
It probably should. Flip back over to Step Brothers, so Brennan has a sword and it's a replica of Duncan McCloud's katana from Highlander, the series. But still Highlander. Who's ah who's that sword autographed by? That is a genuine Randy Jackson signature on that katana. If you run into Randy Jackson, you're not not going to get his autograph. I would have done the same thing. Another American Idol call out there can see what was very important to our culture of that time. Another one here, Ricky Bobby works for Huggalos pizza when he is not driving. Yes. Now, when Dale and Brennan are in their room bonding, they're getting along. You can see Huggalos pizza sign in the room. Nice. I love it. Cool. So they take place in the same universe.
00:24:38
Speaker
which is beyond my scope of trying to figure out, but I love it. Okay, Talladega Nights, they make a Kobayashi reference. So he is a famous hot dog eater. So when he's at the bar with Susan, he makes a Kobayashi reference. Now, Brennan, get back to Step Brothers, when he asked torque to work the Catalina wine mixer, Robert Riggle says he is gonna eat Brennan's dick like Kobayashi.
00:24:59
Speaker
But it's an absurd thing to say to someone else. Rob w Riggle, he's a national treasure. One final connection here. Director Adam McKay, he makes a cameo in both movies. I love it when directors do that. So the original driver in Talladega Nights is named Terry Shavo. That is actually Adam McKay. And then one of the job interviewers and stepbrothers is actually Adam McKay. Love it. Pretty good connections. I love that. So best cast, a lot of overlap.
00:25:27
Speaker
At least for me, I think while Adam Scott is probably one of my favorite parts of both of these movies, I think the other supporting actors in Talladega Nights have a little bit more to do and move the story a little bit more. I feel like a lot of the people and stepbrothers are there for comedic purposes and they do a phenomenal job with that. But in Talladega, there's a little bit more story with some of the supporting characters. Reese Bobby, Jane Lynch, the pit crew, Jean Girard. So to me, if I had to pick a cast that I thought did a better job, I would go with Talladega Nights. Yeah, I would agree with you. I think it is more for the depth. I mean, the names that you mentioned with Step Brothers are there's some very big names, great parts, great characters. But I think Talladega Nights just has a little bit more. And six Oscar nominated people in Talladega Nights. That's very true. Alright, round one goes to Talladega Nights. Round two, best moments.
00:26:28
Speaker
So the first race scene in Talladega Nights is very great. So that's when Ricky Bobby is now they're like, so can someone drive again? But there's no way they're finishing third like they said. Yeah. So he gets in the car. He drives the race. They finish third. Yeah. There's no way that's happening. Yeah. No, they were in last place. They make a pit stop. The driver leaves to get a sandwich. Ricky gets a suit on. So like he goes from pit crew to like wearing a suit, get the helmet. We do see him later in the movie changing outfits pretty quickly. It's his like superpower. Still, that's a lot of time that has elapsed.
00:26:58
Speaker
And then before he takes off, Cal comes and gives him like that big speech like, you're my best friend. What are you doing after this? And after the race, I feel like we're wasted a lot of time here. Like at least they acknowledge it. they acknowledge it Yeah. Uh, then we, you know, we got his first interview. I felt like I was on spaceship and, uh, I'm not sure what to do with my hands, which as we all know is a line that has lasted.
00:27:20
Speaker
I don't know what to do with my hands. And then the guy just keeps putting him down for him. I love that. And then we get to and a great montage. He starts winning. He's got some great lines in here, too. Here's the deal. I'm the best there is. Plain and simple. I mean, I wake up in the morning, and I piss. Excellent. That's classic. I think it's part of that same montage when he starts doing all the advertisements. Yes. Mysterious lady part stuff. If you don't chew Big Red, then F you.
00:27:46
Speaker
Were those improvised? Oh, yeah, because I think there's like deleted scenes of them just doing so many different things. They're probably just riffing on them. Yeah. Of course, the dinner scene with the prayer. I believe in the South, they call it supper. You should know this. Oh, you're right. They call it supper and they're saying grace. Sorry.
00:28:02
Speaker
a slaving over this for hours and then they just show all the takeout. There's a lot of product placement, as we will come to talk about, but let's take a little detour. Let's talk about the product placement now. All right. sure So yes, in that first supper scene, you've got Domino's Pizza, Taco Bell, Checkers Burgers, KFC, Powerade, Coke, Budweiser, Wonder Bread. There's literally an Applebee's commercial in the middle of the movie. That's right. And that I'm not talking about when they go to Applebee's. There's actually an Applebee's commercial in the movie. So apparently Wonder Bread. So that's like his big look at his suit. That's like the big sponsor. So apparently Wonder Bread, Old Spice, which is Cal and Perrier, Jean Girard, they were not charged for their product placement. Old Spice and Wonder Bread promoted the movie through back end deals while Perrier was not required to take any action despite its presence in the movie. I wonder if it's because they were kind of like the butt of a joke. I'm sure that is exactly what happened. I mean, when you think of NASCAR, you think of their cars and their suits are just loaded with ads. So I do love when he puts the Fig Newton sticker across the windshield. Yeah, across the windshield. Talking about how dumb it is. And he's like, but I do love Fig Newton.
00:29:07
Speaker
Okay, so this brings us then to the prayer, the grace, sorry, the to the grace. No one doesn't know like this part. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you know this scene. I wish I could play the whole thing because it's so funny and there's so many little parts in it that are so good. But why don't you tell me what some of your favorite lines from the prayer are?
00:29:24
Speaker
Just to set it up a little bit, instead of just saying like, dear Lord, dear Jesus, Will Ferrell, so Ricky Bobby just goes into very descriptive Jesuses that he is praying to. Dear baby Jesus is one. And then Cal says, I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt because it says like, I want to be formal, but I'm here to party too. Yep. I love the grandpa getting so mad that Will Ferrell keeps saying baby Jesus and Will Ferrell keeps pushing it even further. Dear eight pound six ounce newborn infant Jesus don't even know a word yet. He's a man. he's a beard
00:30:01
Speaker
I feel so bad for the grandfather chip. Yes, being a chip, the kids, I mean, like they are out of control. Yeah, we haven't mentioned them yet. You got Walker and Texas Ranger. yep I mean, I still say all the time, I'm going to come at you like a spider monkey and I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew. They are funny. They are very funny. And then later in the movie, Jane Lynch kind of whips them back into shape fairly quickly. They get whipped back into shape. Didn't take much. I can assure you it's not that easy. Yeah, if you don't have children, that it does not work quite like that. It's not like one conversation changes their behavior instantly. I wish. But OK, now we're getting introduced to the slingshot maneuver. So this is the famous move that Ricky and Cal pull off where it allows Ricky to win all of his races. And it's kind of leads to Cal always finishing in second, which is one of his issues in the movie is he wants to finally win a race. He like tries to push it down. He's like, do you think I could win one? And then Ricky's like, if you win, then I don't win. He said, yeah, you know, you're right. You're right. yeah
00:31:01
Speaker
But I do love the slingshot maneuver and I think about it probably like once a week when I'm driving. Like if I'm on a highway ever, yeah I'm always like, all right, I'll get behind this car and then you know we're going to slingshot over. I love that. All right. Now we are introduced to Jean Girard. So he comes into the bar that they're all hanging out at, puts on some jazz music. Again, we're in the South. You know, we don't do that. No one plays jazz here at the pit stop. OK, so why is this song on the jukebox? We keep it on there for profiling purposes.
00:31:30
Speaker
We also got the Pet Shop Boys and Seal. My name is Jean Girard. Yeah. So just shots fired. I don't know. Pet Shop Boys, they sing that song, West End Girls. I don't mind it. And then Seal, I love Kiss from a Rose. I got no hate for Seal. Me neither. Yeah. So, you know, they're interacting now. Jean Girard and Ricky Bobby, he has quite the accent. He really plays it up. And the question is, Poz, what have you given the world? Yeah. So Jean Girardia being of French heritage and all the culture and all they've given the world is wondering, what has America given the world? And then you get these guys who are just like Chinese food. And he's like, that's China. He's like pizza, Italy, Jimmy Changa, Mexico. And then he lists all the things that the French have given them, including one thing that we won't talk about on the podcast, but it's an act of pleasure. We'll just say. And then so David Keckner's character is like, we created the missionary position.
00:32:25
Speaker
You're welcome. You're welcome. And then he puts his arm in a hole and he he's like, I'm going to break your arm unless you say that you love crepes. And Ricky Bobby doesn't know what crepes are. So then they start describing them as really thin pancakes. And he's like, why don't we compromise? Why don't you just say, I love really thin pancakes? And he's just like, no, no, he won't do it. And so he breaks his arm. I do have a question. Don't you think in that situation, one of those other patrons of the bar would have jumped in to help him? Oh, absolutely. They're all just standing around like watching. Yeah, I mean, you got some big guy like Lucius, like when Lucius jump in, you got to beat him up. OK, so you did mention the chimichanga. I love chimichangas, by the way. That's like my go to. So Jean says it's from Mexico. And while it is rooted in Mexican cuisine, most culinary experts that the chimichanga actually appeared in Arizona sometime between 1922 and 1946.
00:33:12
Speaker
Therefore it is American. So yeah, Jean Girard does ask Ricky Bobby, what have you given the world apart from George Bush Cheerios in the five master? This joke actually works on a more of a meta level because Will Ferrell is known for his George W. Bush impression from SNL. Yeah. Okay. So then we get the crash scene. So Ricky Bobby jumps out of the car. I think he's on fire, takes a suit off. He's running around the track. Just convinced he's on fire, but he's not on fire. Please don't let the invisible fire burn my friend. Yeah. The things he's yelling it's so funny the Tom Cruise part is great. Yep I mean the way he's acting like you know when my like three or two year old gets a bump on the arm They're always like I need a band-aid. Yeah, and it's like you don't you're not bleeding and they're like no, I need the band-aid There's nothing there. That's like what I equated that scene to absolutely. So he's in the hospital now He's he's actually paralyzed
00:33:59
Speaker
The whole hospital scene is so good. So he stabbed himself in the leg to say, you know, he can't, which he obviously can. Every single time I see this scene, he's holding the knife up. Even like now, when I know what's going to happen, it's still so funny. He just stabs himself yeah and then they're trying to get it out. And so Lucius is like, I got to use this knife to try it out. Yeah. So he stabs him with the other one. That's when Lucius has the funny quote. I hope that both of you have sons, handsome, beautiful, articulate sons who are talented and star athletes and and they have their legs taken away. I mean, I pray you know that pain and that hurt. Don't you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby!
00:34:40
Speaker
When Cal thinks that Ricky is like passed out or whatever, like for some reason, deciding to confess to him. He's like, you never knew this, but I pose for playgirl. I spread my cheeks as Mike. Yeah. Then he covers him with a pillow and he goes, oh, he's still got some fight left in you.
00:34:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Anyway. All right. So he's out of the hospital and now he's trying to make it back because a driver. So Reese shows up. He's going to teach him a driver with his heart. So he's driving blindfolded. He crashes into the house and then he puts the blindfold on when he's like, we got to leave. He's like, no, no, no blindfold. And then another one of his teaching methods is to put a cougar in the car. I love how they named the cougar Karen, which I feel like was ahead of its time with the whole Karen thing. Yeah, no, you're right. You're right. um The Applebee's scene. We mentioned Applebee's more product placement. They say that they are going to sit down and enjoy a gourmet meal and the cuts to Applebee's. And they say they should do this every week. And then that's when like Reese storms off. Ricky chases after me. Basically, Ricky brings up the slogan. yeah He's like, if you ain't first, you're last. And Reese is like, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. and He's like, what? I've lived my life to that motto. And Reese is just like, you can be second, you can be third, fourth. Hell, you can even be fifth. Yeah.
00:35:53
Speaker
Right. Another bar scene. We're back at the bar and Ricky Bobby is playing a video game that Jean Girard is already in and he is mocking Ricky Bobby. I love how Will Ferrell's like, how'd you get in on a video game so fast? so good So he meets up with Susan. He tells her that he has sent in his application to MTV, the real world. His backup plan is to be a crack dealer because he doesn't know what to do with his life now. His whole world is kind of shattered now that he learns his motto that he has lived by from his dad is It's no longer true. Well, she's like giving them the pep talk. And that's when he's like, I'm as hard as a diamond in a story. Yeah. And then towards the end of the movie, they tell Ricky that Glenn has died. It's before the big final race. They're trying to give him some extra motivation. And yeah, they say Glenn is dead. And then he then you see him and he's like, well, there there is right there. He's poking his head out of the like the side. Ricky catches him. He's like, there's right there. Then that's when um Susan gives another like really good speech. And then Glenn tries to say something after it. And Ricky's just like, everything cool that Susan said, you wrecked it. You wrecked it. That's what I got. I mean, there's a million of them, but those are some of the more memorable moments from Talladega Nights.
00:36:59
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's really hard to go through Step Brothers and Talladega Nights because every scene is hilarious. So it's like, how do you pick without just recording the whole movie? Yeah. And we had to cut out so much. That's so funny. And just try to go with some of the bigger things. But Step Brothers.
00:37:18
Speaker
I mean, the opening scene basically through their first night as a new family is as funny as an opening goes. So they're showing how Brennan and Dale live their life kind of like man children. Brennan's making the homemade nachos, which I do love me some homemade nachos. Then it's the parents wedding. Brennan screams. I didn't want salmon. I said it four times. so And then Robert seemed shocked when Nancy said Brennan was going to be moving in with them at the wedding. It's like how little communication did these people have with each other? Not much. So then Brennan and Nancy are driving to Robert and Dale's house to go move in, which I love that he's sitting in the backseat.
00:37:59
Speaker
That's so good. And that whole sequence is so funny, but I really love it when he's like, Robert better not get in my face because I'll drop that mother effer. And then Dale's talking with Robert and he's like, dad, we're men, okay? That means a few things. We like to crap with the door open. We talk about, edited for a family podcast, lady parts. We go on riverboat gambling trips. We make our own beef jerky. And then Robert just looks at him and he's like, we literally have never done any of those things.
00:38:26
Speaker
And then Brennan's asking his mom, oh, yeah, where do you go to medical school? And she's like, John's ho he's like, I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins. So then Brennan and Dale first meet face to face and they're staring at each other. And then the title stepbrothers comes across them, which is just a great we don't talk a lot about filming and shots on this podcast. It's not what we focus on, but it's a great shot. I love the font that they use. I think it's like the same font that was in poor things and where the wild things are. yep But it was just really cool how it's framed. Definitely. It's that same night. It's the dinner scene. And that's when Brennan says he's a great singer, but he's stage fright and he's like, I've been called the songbird of my generation.
00:39:06
Speaker
Dale says something, and Brennan's like, I remember when I had my first beer, and then Dale's like, that's so funny. The last time I heard it, I laughed so hard I fell off my dinosaur. But Will Ferrell's fake cry in response yeah to that is so great. you know then Will Ferrell's leaving the table. He does like an awkward hand holdout hug to Robert. Mr. Dobek.
00:39:26
Speaker
yeah So then that night, Nancy and Robert are laying in bed and they finally decide that they're going to talk about their kids at that point. Like yeah you're married now and now you decide, whatever. By the way, Robert's talking about Dale. He's like, he left college his junior year because he said he wanted to join the family business. And Nancy's like, but you're a medical doctor. And then just Dale and Brennan's kind of whisper fight scene. You and your mom are hell bellies. This is a house of learned doctors.
00:39:53
Speaker
Next great scene, the did you touch my drum set scene? Yeah. John C. Riley's character comes home. Will Ferrell sit on the couch after playing the drums. And Dale's like, why are you so sweaty? I was watching cops.
00:40:04
Speaker
portugo so that he goes up, he inspects his drum set, he sees there's a chip and everything's not the way it was, comes back down, they got him like a huge argument. Brennan, Holden's strong, he didn't touch his drum set. I love the way John C. Riley is just like, F you, Brennan. Like the way he just says it, it's just so sharp. He's like, I know you touched my drum set because cops doesn't start till four.
00:40:24
Speaker
Will Ferrell's like, well, I'm going to go put my nutsack on your drum set turns into a huge fight. I mean, there's so much funny parts on this. Like I said earlier, we try to be a family podcast. You can't repeat everything that is said, but it's so good. It ends with just a double headshot. One of them swings a bat. One of them swings a golf club. They go down. They're both out. Goes right into the iconic scene. You see it all over social media of the parents yelling at them and their responses. This is Mary Steenburgen at her best.
00:40:52
Speaker
Today, I saw my own son use a bicycle as a weapon. You yelled rape at the top of your lungs. Mom, I honestly thought I was going to be raped for a second. He had the craziest look in his eyes. And at one point he said, let's get it on. That was about the fighting. I'm so not a raper. And so then the parents were like, no television for a week. What? We are so serious, guys. You're high. This house is a f***ing prison! Unplanted bullshit! In the galaxy if this sucks camel dicks!
00:41:23
Speaker
then rolls into the first interactions with Derek and his family. Them driving, they're singing Sweet Child of Mine. Catherine Hahn starts singing it. He's like flat. It's so flat. $1,200 a week for singing lessons. And this is why. I love that they'd probably just take those lessons just to sing in the car. Oh, yeah. So then he's at dinner. He's talking about his fishing trip and fishing bonito. And then Dale's like, are bonito fish big? And Derek's just like,
00:41:48
Speaker
What's this guy's deal? It's like, well, Dale, they're what's called trophy fish. And then he's just like, don't be mad at Dale for ruining the story and possibly the evening. And like Robert is like so enamored by him. They're in the treehouse hiding out from him. Dale and Brennan are. He pops his head up. He tells him he made over 550 K last year, which good for him selling helicopters or renting helicopters. I don't really know what he does exactly. Yeah, same. But then Dale punches him in the face, which leads to Catherine Han saying to him when they're leaving and it starts this like weird love storyline. But she's like, I want you to know that tonight I'm going to pleasure myself to the image of you doing that to Derek. So we learned that she hates him. Hates Derek. Yes. Just another insight into Derek's personality. He calls Robert, Robbie, and then Bobby. And then he's like, Oh, I could sell this house for four fifths commission.
00:42:37
Speaker
it's commission Then that leads into the, did we just become best friend sequence? They put the night vision goggles on and Will Ferrell's like, they're not that noticeable. They're like, hi up theti very But that's the- On the count of three, name your favorite dinosaur. Don't even think about it. Just name it. Ready? One, two, three. Velociraptor.
00:42:57
Speaker
Favorite non traffic magazine to good housekeeping if you were a chick who's the one guy you would sleep with John Samos Did we just become best friends? Yep, you want to go do karate in the garage? I love how they just keep showing them like running up and down the stairs. They're like so giddy turns into the bunk bed scene. Can we turn our beds into bunk beds? All right. We've already figured out how to do this. The beds match up perfectly. And here's the thing. It'll give us so much extra space in our room to do activities. So they're putting the bunk beds together using like power tools and stuff. And they have no idea what they're doing. They're not screwing things into anything. Hell no power tools.
00:43:33
Speaker
Will Ferrell's under the bed. Dale jumps on top. Bed crushes on top of him. There's so much blood. And it's like a little cut. But then Brennan finally sings and we get to hear the songbird. Brennan finally sings. Let's give him something to talk about by Bonnie Raitt.
00:43:50
Speaker
And John C. Riley and the most serious praise of him says your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. Shout out to our intro. That is like easily one of the top three scenes in the movie, at least most known very quotable.
00:44:05
Speaker
Quick scenes, but I love when Derek's trying to sell the house. His real estate company is called D-Man Realty. My homes are nice, nice baby, yeah which is a callback to his vanilla ice performance. When he was in high school, he won the talent show, lip syncing, ice ice baby at that same talent show. Him and his friends made fun of Will Ferrell's character saying he has a mangina. And Nancy, Will Ferrell's mom joined in on the chance too. But when he's trying to sell the house at first, they're pretending like one of the neighbors is a Nazi. The other one is a KKK member. The other time they walk into the house and it's a dead Brennan and Dale's just like holding him when Nancy and Robert sit them down and tell them they're going to get a divorce. That scene's whatever, except for two things. One, Derek saying, I could have called this one. It's just more fitting for his character. And then two, Dale's screaming, crying, I think I'm going to throw up is really funny. But then that leads into fight night round two between Brennan and Dale. Brennan gets Dale in like a hole that was dug in the ground. What are you I'm burying you.
00:45:14
Speaker
All right. You're waking the neighbors up. And he pops out of the dirt. He likes our screaming like zombie. Yeah. And things like decent. The whole Catalina wine mixer and the singing and all of that. Like it's good. And there's some funny parts. But I do feel like this movie is loaded in the first half. Yeah. Yeah. I do like the interaction between Brennan and Dale when they're in like mature at the Catalina one. Yeah.
00:45:41
Speaker
So both these movies are hilarious. Both these movies have great moments. I think when I go through it, Step Brothers narrowly edges out Talladega Nights in terms of scenes that you could play for anyone and they would know just from pop culture. I think maybe there's like two or three from Talladega Nights. I think there's like four or five from Step Brothers. Yeah. And even like so much room for activities, like Abby says that I'm pretty sure she's never seen this movie, but like she just knows it. All right. Let's give this one to step brothers agreed. So we are one to one heading into round three, better title or soundtrack.
00:46:18
Speaker
The full title of Talladega Nights is Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Yeah. So what does the word ballad normally you hear it related to music. So one definition is it's a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. So what you're saying is it makes no sense.
00:46:33
Speaker
It makes no sense. It's just a funny title to put in here because it like is making so much more out of this than it is. It just will Ferrell as an NASCAR driver. Yeah. So initially NASCAR officials objected to the original title of Talladega nights. So here's what it was changed to high wide and handsome. That's terrible. Another consideration was loud and proud. Nope. Eventually went back to Talladega nights.
00:46:59
Speaker
Talladega is just fine. The word Talladega is fun to say. It's a NASCAR race, Talladega. I don't know why Knights, and I don't know why the ballad of Ricky Bob. I like it. I just like it. It rolls off the tongue. Some of the other music that is featured, we have Faithfully by Journey, TNT by ACDC. There is a French song. I'm going to try to pronounce this now. I don't know French. It is called Marie Daucer, Marie Collaire. It is a French song, but it is to the same tune as Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones. I do like that part. And I did think it was Paint It Black at first. And I was like, wait, these aren't English words. I did do a little Google Translate and it is not. Great song. I like that it's in French for the sake of this movie.
00:47:37
Speaker
We also have a song entitled Goodbye Cowboy that was written and performed by Will Ferrell's father, Lee Ferrell. I like it. Ricky Bobby also inspired the hip-hop song Do the Ricky Bobby by B-Hamp and its corresponding dance. I would have been impressed if you actually learned the dance for this. Sorry. But we're an audio medium. we Yeah. I'm doing it right now, everyone. Yeah. Oh, it looks great, everybody. Yeah, that's about it. There's not much in terms of music. Step Brothers is actually a very musical movie. So the opening song, A Punk by Vampire Weekend, great opening song. yeah Obviously there's the Ice Ice Baby performance, Sweet Child of Mine by Derek. There's a Hall of Note song in there. This is how we do it from the bunk bed scene. There's another Lee Farrell song in the movie, Brother, so Will Farrell likes to put his dad's music in his movies. yeah There's even some Christmas songs, which, you know, we love Christmas songs here. The song that Will Farrell sings at the Catalina Wine Mixer, the Ave Porti Volaire. ye Whenever I hear this song, I think about this scene.
00:48:36
Speaker
And there's been multiple times where I've heard it in random places and I'm like, oh, yeah, Will Ferrell stepbrothers. Yeah. this Which version is this? Oh, it's not the Will Ferrell version. But then I want to talk a little bit about the iconic Prestige Worldwide song, Boats and Hoes, their debut song. What a way to start. This movie came out in 2008. The Lonely Island, which is the SNL group, came out with a song in February of 2009 called I'm On A Boat. I tried to do some research to see if I could find any sort of like overlap similarities. I think it was just one of those things that it was just two really funny songs about a boat.
00:49:13
Speaker
But it is kind of coincidental that Step Brothers, which came out in July of 2008, had a song about boats and hoes while The Lonely Island in February of 2009 came out with a song called I'm on a boat. Maybe they were inspired by it. I'd like to think that they were also a Catalina wine mixer. There's a 1980s Billy Joel cover band. I like Horatio Sands, but I thought that whole thing was dumb. It was a little too much like, oh, we only do 80s Billy Joel. Like what? Yeah, I think it was ah trying a little too hard.
00:49:41
Speaker
Then the movie ends with Will Ferrell and John C. Riley starting their own business called karaoke and roll. It's a karaoke bar, but they say you have to be a good singer to perform there in the movie. Will Ferrell does his own singing and John C. Riley does his own drumming and Will Ferrell actually also plays the drums and he looks just like the drummer from Red Hot Chili Peppers. They've had like some drum offs before and it's actually like pretty awesome on Jimmy Fallon. They did. Yeah, it's so good. trans smith is his name They do look shockingly similar.
00:50:10
Speaker
I think titles like whatever, maybe Talladega Nights is a little bit funnier of a title. Step Brothers is pretty straightforward. But when we talk about the music aspect, I mean, Step Brothers is a super musical movie. I don't think it's even close. A punk by Vampire Weekend to start off. They're my favorite band, and that's just a phenomenal song. Okay. Step Brothers takes a two to one lead heading into round four. Plot holes, cringiness, random questions.
00:50:36
Speaker
All right, Alex, I got some plot holes for you from Talladega Nights in the introduction scene. Reese Bobby drives past the hospital, his wife's pregnant with Ricky Bobby, and then he slams on the brakes and you hear Ricky Bobby splat, yeah which may explain a lot of things. To be honest, that's not the plot hole. Do you think he like splat in the side of the car, the door? Like what part of the car did he splat in when they break?
00:51:01
Speaker
That's a great because the mom was sitting sideways. Yeah. And momentum was going forward. Correct. So I don't know how stopping would have shot the baby out of her hip. That's a great question. I know it doesn't matter at all. I wanted to bring that up just so I could say, do you think Ricky Bobby would splat into the side of the car? Most likely, which does explain a lot of things.
00:51:20
Speaker
So in the scene where Ricky first drives, NASCAR does allow relief drivers to get in the car. However, the relief driver must have practiced during that weekend at the track of the event. Since Ricky was on the pit crew, he definitely didn't practice in the car. So he would not have been allowed to get in the car for his first race.
00:51:38
Speaker
We don't really care about this stuff. I'm just pointing it out. That does nothing to diminish the movie for me. I just wanted to say it. Same with a couple of these other things about NASCAR, such as Ricky's car is shown to have a five speed transmission with a reverse gear. NASCAR only allows four speed transmissions with reverse gears and in that. scene where they do a double file restart with Ricky and Jean Girard towards the end of the movie. NASCAR didn't implement a double file restart for lead lap cars until midway through the 2009 season. So Ricky would have had to line up behind Girard, not right next to him. None of this matters at all. No, I'm just saying it. None of this stuff is stuff I would have caught either. No, but it is interesting to learn. Yeah.
00:52:20
Speaker
What's the timeframe of this movie? It's spread out over like 10, 11, 12 years, because the oldest son is 10. He goes from being a driver, getting popular, making tons of money all of a sudden. Cal's a driver now, and then he's got two kids. I feel like the timeframe stretches a really long way. And Ricky's the most popular driver on the circuit, which leads me to my plot hole. He has so much money, so much sponsors. How did they never win a points championship? No, that's a great call. I didn't even consider the time because yeah, they show him also needs the best. He's the best driver, but he's never won the points championship. He either comes in first or crashes. Well, if you come in first in like a third of the races during a NASCAR season, I think you're going to win the points championship for 10 years. Yeah, you're probably going to win at least one. So in that scene where Reese tapes the bag of Lucky Charms under Ricky's car and calls the cops trying to get Ricky's mojo back, the police are chasing him. Ricky hides, but the police knew where he lived. So wouldn't they just go back and wait for him? You think?
00:53:17
Speaker
Reese Bobby told Ricky that he was high when he said, if you ain't first, you're last. But he had a bumper sticker of the phrase on the back of his car clearly meant more to him than he was leading on. Yes. So Reese Bobby tells Ricky that he was conceived when he was only 17, putting Ricky's father at most 18 years older than Ricky. But later in the day in the kitchen, Ricky's father tells him that he's 55 years old, which would make Ricky either 37 or 38. But when Ricky gets his driver's license, it shows his date of birth is July 16th, 1971. And the date issued was July 16th, 2002, which would only make him 31 years old. Okay.
00:53:58
Speaker
Once again, none of that matters, but we do like a little math here on the podcast. We do. Yeah. Just seems like a little thing that could have been avoided. But who cares? The only cringy question I have, neither one of us are going to be able to answer this. I was just curious how much of this movie and the character of Jean Girard is offensive. You could say that about a lot of things that Sacha Baron Cohen has done.
00:54:18
Speaker
Yeah. One way to put it is like, would that be a character that they would put in a movie if they made that movie in 2024? Yeah. All right. Some random questions. What happened to Dennis? That he was there and then 10 years later is not there. Like clearly he died, but they just like skip over it. The movie gets real weird. So in three hours, Cal moves in, takes Ricky's wife and then Ricky moves away with the kids. They were away for like a few months and the wife never saw the kids. Like what happens? Yeah.
00:54:47
Speaker
It's one of those weird comedy things where like, oh, we're just going to it's just going to happen. It's just going to happen. Exactly. Yeah. Hopefully no one points it out on a podcast on there. Do you think that so when Ricky does try to come back first after his crash and he thinks he's going real fast and they're like, he's only going 26 miles an hour. Is that a nod to Chris Farley's gag in black sheep when he gets pulled over by the cop and he thinks he's speeding and he's like going seven miles an hour? I did think of that immediately. Who knows? But it did give me the same kind of vibes.
00:55:14
Speaker
I do think the racing scenes are all really good and the last race, they do like this cool drone shot through the back window, pass Ricky then out the front. That was a pretty cool shot. The whole thing is really well done, like in terms of the action. It looks like you're watching a real race throughout the whole movie. which does lead me to something I want to talk to you about. I think this movie is one of the best true sports comedies. So I want to give you my list of top five sports comedies. OK. Honorable mention Caddyshack. I think that movie is hilarious. Some good golf scenes. Number five. Varsity Blues. We've covered it on the show. I think this movie blends football and TV and comedy perfectly. Number four, Dodgeball. White Goodman is one of the greatest and funniest villains in movie history. And I'm not even kidding when I say he should have won the Oscar for supporting actor that year. I mean, what are you rather going to watch? Million Dollar Baby again or Dodgeball? Dodgeball every time. That movie is one of my favorites.
00:56:18
Speaker
Number three, Talladega nights, the racing scenes, really good. And it's absolutely hilarious. Number two, major league. We love baseball and we love baseball movies here and major league is the funniest baseball movie start to finish. Agreed. And number one, my favorite comedy of all time and some very, very good golf scenes. We've got happy Gilmore.
00:56:40
Speaker
This is peak Sandler. We've covered it on the show. Love. Happy Gilmore. That's all list. You could make arguments for a lot of other movies, but that's what I'm going with. I'm on board. All right. Talk to me about stepbrothers as ridiculous as a movie that stepbrothers is. There's not many plot holes. I mean, like one big one, how did Dale and Brennan never meet before they moved in? I mean, we talked about how fast that relationship moved. So yeah, but still never met.
00:57:05
Speaker
Yeah, so in the beginning of the movie, Brennan is 39. Later, it's revealed that Brennan was 17 when Derek, his brother, won the talent show when he lip synced Ice Ice Baby. Here's some math. If the movie takes place in 2008, then the talent show was in 1986. However, Ice Ice Baby was not released until 1990. Again, doesn't matter. No.
00:57:27
Speaker
And there's a chance that Brennan could have been held back a lot. Like, we don't know. That's a very good point. Some cringiness. We got the R word. I don't like that they say that, but I do love his response when he says I was like, but y'all don't say that. Y'all don't say that. Yeah. Yeah. We got a lot of instances of the F word and but buddy.
00:57:46
Speaker
The sexually derogatory effort. Correct. Not the the more common effort. Correct. OK, so just some random questions moving on. Does the sleepwalking scene, does that make you uncomfortable? Yeah, only because I don't like unnecessary destruction of movies. I'm always like, how are they going to clean this up, especially the glass when he's throwing like, yeah, I don't like that. OK, so when Dale kicks Brennan out of the boat, how do they get him back in? When did they realize he was gone? Cause they were just like in their own world. And he didn't like make any noise. Yeah, it was pretty funny though. It was really funny. Did Dale just not look in the mirror that morning before he went out when Brennan painted the fake gash all over him? I know he did it at night. You didn't look at the mirror. He's walking through like the mall or something.
00:58:25
Speaker
So this is like in a series of back and forth pranks, I guess you can say. So Dale writes on Brennan's shirt, I love crystal meth. What do you think the result was of Brennan putting that shirt on? I think that was a funny sight gag. I don't think anyone would have even commented on it. Probably not. OK, so Dale and Alice, Alice is Derek's wife when they hook up in the bathroom. Do you think that's the first time Dale ever had sex?
00:58:47
Speaker
I do because of his reactions to it. Some of the things he was saying, he's like, something's going to come out. yeah And it's like, well, you've already insinuated that that has happened to you before in other ways. But yeah it was funny. It was funny. Definitely not the first time that Alice peed standing up in a year. No, they golden pony boy.
00:59:07
Speaker
Why did it take Robert and Nancy until they were married to discuss why their kids lived at home still? I truly think they met and got married within like a month. I think it was like they met each other hooked up and were like, let's get married.
00:59:20
Speaker
Here's the thing. There's plot holes. There's cringiness in both of these movies. I think I got to go with Talladega Nights winning this one because of the fact that there's just certain aspects of what Nancy and Robert didn't speak about that like would have happened because that was supposed to be played like a pretty normal relationship in comparison. And it's like they would have talked about a lot of this stuff. No, I totally agree with that. All right. So we are two to two heading into round five. Miscellaneous question of the week. Would you rather work on the pit crew for Ricky Bobby's team or be a regional manager for Dale and Brennan's karaoke business karaoke and roll.
00:59:58
Speaker
I'll give you a little background here. So Cario Conroll at the time of the end of the movie has six bars, three restaurants, and two more want to sign up. So it was growing pretty quickly. You could probably get in with like good percentages when they eventually go public for stock options if you were a manager. So there's probably some money in it. However, you would definitely have to deal with a lot of complaints from people when their business motto is, if you can't sing, just sit down.
01:00:22
Speaker
And you probably have to handhold Dale and Brennan through a lot of it on the flip side. A pit crew member average salary is eighty seven thousand based on team success and sponsorships and like tenure. The Jackman and the fuel man could make like three thousand per race. A utility man would only make five hundred per race. And then it would just kind of escalate from there. So I'm going to let
Career Preferences: Karaoke vs. Pit Crew
01:00:44
Speaker
you take this one. Which would you rather do?
01:00:46
Speaker
I mean, pit crew seems pretty stressful. Yeah. It is dangerous. One wrong step. Tire flies off. You're standing in the wrong spot. You're getting hit. Yeah, I'm going to go regional manager of one of the karaoke franchise because you love Michael Scott. It's true. No, I mean, I think that could be fun. I mean, it's a a startup company that seems to be doing well. I guess in that role, you probably just like traveling around and making sure that the bars or restaurants so are adhering to the rules. We don't know exactly what that business model is, but seems to be growing well. And ah karaoke is cool. I like it done.
Trivia and Behind-the-Scenes Insights
01:01:20
Speaker
Okay. Step Brothers takes round five. They are leading three to two heading into round six. Better trivia. When Ricky is yelling for Tom Cruise as one of the religious figures when he is on fake fire, it's actually a dual reference here. The first one, Tom Cruise starred as a stock car driver who loses his ability to drive in the movie Days of Thunder. The second is a reference to Cruise's heavy involvement in the Church of Scientology. Oh, okay. John C. Riley also appeared in Days of Thunder as a primary member of Tom Cruise's pit crew. I like a little Tom Cruise trivia. So the name of the high school in which Brennan performs during the talent show is Great Valley High School, which is the name of the high school Adam McKay attended. Great Valley High School is actually in Malvern, Pennsylvania, not too far from where I live. And I have been there multiple times. That's cool. Yeah, it's a very nice school. Here's one for you. Talladega Nights is a personal favorite movie of acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Chris, friend of the pod.
01:02:21
Speaker
Give us a call, Chris. We love Chris. Come on. We got to talk to him about this and 10 things I hate about you. Yes. So for Step Brothers, Joaquin Phoenix claims to have seen this movie more times than he has seen any other movie. That's so random. That's so random. I wouldn't have pegged him, but I love it. Um, I like the Tom Cruise stuff and you know, I'm a big fan of Chris Nolan here.
Narrative Choices in Talladega Nights
01:02:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think Nolan trumps Phoenix. Yeah, I do too. All right. So Talladega Nights is going to take better trivia. So we're tied up heading into round seven. Better story, script, more fun.
01:02:55
Speaker
I actually think both movies endings are like, they're fine. And sometimes it's hard to end a comedy movie. I think the Talladega ending, it subverts your expectations of a sports movie. They crash, then Ricky and Jean Girard race on foot. Ricky technically wins the foot race, but it doesn't actually count towards the real race. It was just for pride. And since Cal was in third at the time of the crash, then Cal ends up actually winning the race, which like, that's cool, but it's not your traditional sports movie ending.
01:03:23
Speaker
where the hero heroically comes back. You know, on the flip side, Step Brothers, one part of the movie I don't like is the whole fighting the
Humor and Structure in Step Brothers
01:03:31
Speaker
middle school kids thing. Yeah. It doesn't make much sense. Like we didn't need it to show that these guys were losers. We already got that. The only thing I like about it is when Will Ferrell says, I got a belly full of white dog crap in me. yeah But in the mid-credits scene, they go back and they beat up the kids and they do like that Mario-go-round punch. Yeah, yeah. I think when it all comes down to it, I think Step Brothers is a funnier movie. It has better lines and it makes me laugh more. I think Talladega is a better constructed movie.
01:04:02
Speaker
Yeah, I know what you mean. And I think I would agree with that. Going through the scenes, the memorable moments, the quotes, they're both loaded. There's definitely more of those in Step Brothers. But like when you think of Teledegonites, I think the movie as a whole gets deeper in terms of cast and just like the overall plot and story. For me, I get like more resolution out of it.
01:04:23
Speaker
And maybe it's because you and I were sports fans. Yeah. Maybe that's what pushes it. The structure of a sports movie. I love it. I love sports movies. I personally enjoy stepbrothers more because I think it's funnier, but I think Talladega Nights is cleaner.
01:04:38
Speaker
Yeah. And even if you think about like stepbrothers, we talked about the R versus PG-13 and like, obviously with R with stepbrothers, they can push it a little bit more, but Teledyganis doesn't have to rely on any of that kind of stuff for laughs or for moving anything forward. So I think even like that part, they do a
Talladega Nights' Cultural Impact
01:04:54
Speaker
better job.
01:04:54
Speaker
And we got to give Talladega Knights a little bit of credit for coming out first in terms of that's true establishing the John C. Riley and Will Ferrell with Adam McKay. They started with Talladega Knights and then I think they saw how successful that was and decided they were going to push the limits.
01:05:10
Speaker
It's pretty interesting too with Talladega nights that within NASCAR, there've been multiple instances where racers like with their pit crew over over the radio have been quoting the movie Kurt Busch won a race. And after he won, he yelled shake and bake because one of his teammates helped him win. Oh, nice. There's a great story with ah Carl Edwards back in 2009. He crashed car, went airborne, bounce off another car's hood. Edwards gets out of this car and runs to the finish line crosses.
01:05:38
Speaker
Like it didn't count. He got it, did not finish, but he had a quote, which was great because he was asked about it, obviously. And he said, I'm kind of a Will Ferrell fan. He did that at the end of Talladega Nights, just like these guys thinking about this movie. I mean, they're probably pumped because NASCAR doesn't get the recognition. Yeah. Like baseball football movies, but I love that. I think that's so fun.
01:05:56
Speaker
I love it.
Final Showdown Verdict
01:05:57
Speaker
I think we're settled. We're going to give this round to Talladega Nights and narrowly Talladega Nights is going to beat Step Brothers in the Will Ferrell movie matchup. What rankings are you giving these movies? Man, I went back and forth. I really could not decide which one I was going to rank higher, so I didn't. I'm giving them a tie. I'm giving them both an 86. Oh, love it. I am going Step Brothers in 92 and Talladega Nights a 91. Wow. Pretty high. But these are my type of movies. There's no wrong answer, Rob. This has been the movie showdown with Rock and Rob. Make sure to like, subscribe, rate and review all that fun stuff. And follow us on all the socials at Rock and Rob show. Until next time. Peace. I'm out of here. That just happened. Yes. I'm glad you said that because I wanted to bring that up.