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Episode 86: Mixed Nuts featuring Mallory and Rebekah Rine
75 Plays3 months ago
Honorary employees Mallory and Rebekah Rine are extending the holidays here at the podcast and they’ve brought Mixed Nuts (1994) to pass. This Nora Ephron directed remake of a French film that translates to Santa Claus is a Stinker stars Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson and too many others to list. It follows the “dark” adventures of non-profit workers being evicted for not making profits, and it’s Christmas Eve! Landing like a year-old fruit cake on the unsuspecting masses, most dodged it and the critics weren’t kind. Still, it’s a classic holiday snack for the Rines, but will it pass muster with the panel? Has age allowed the flavors to bloom? Tune in to find out!
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Transcript
Introduction & Episode Context
00:00:41
Speaker
Hello, hello, and ho, ho, ho. It's a special extra bonus Christmas episode of your favorite bad movie podcast. It's only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, this movie's so bad, why do you like it so much?
00:00:58
Speaker
We're your hosts, and my name is Chris Anderson. And with me, as always, i have the Jon Stewart's character to my Parker Posey's character, yeah mr Greg Austin.
00:01:09
Speaker
Yes, we are rollerbladers, and it is good to see you, Chris. Good to be here. are emblematic of the go-go 90s. That's right. i'm very, very excited to talk about this picture today. How are you doing, Chris?
00:01:22
Speaker
I'm doing good. We're recording this right before Thanksgiving. It's going coming out between Christmas and New Year's. Just an extra little dose of holiday magic for you listeners who didn't get in. That's right.
00:01:33
Speaker
Unfortunately, we don't have the Felix to my Gracie. My wonderful wife, Anna Anderson, could not be here today. But we do have with us a pair of very special guests.
00:01:47
Speaker
You might know them as the Conspirators of Pleasure. You might know them from the balcony. I like to think of them as our own personal pistachio and cashew.
Guest Introduction & Movie Overview
00:02:01
Speaker
It's Rebecca and Mallory Ryan. How are you guys?
00:02:04
Speaker
Hello. It's good to have the two of you on here. How are you doing? Great. Good to be back. Yes, happy to be here. Love talking about Great movies, bad movies, movies I didn't know were bad until just a couple years ago. Yeah, news to us. Yes, Mixed Nuts. We've had a couple of surprise revelations to our guests recently. when Lucy Valentine came on to talk about North. She was very genuinely surprised to find out that people didn't like North.
00:02:33
Speaker
Oh. Starring my boyfriend, Elijah Wood. Yes. Yes. I do believe that came out the same year as Mixed Nuts. It sure did. I don't know if we want to spoil it, um but I do believe it was considered a worse movie than this one so by just a hair.
00:02:52
Speaker
Well, I mean, I'm sure that depends on who you ask, but we are indeed talking about Mixed Nuts. Listeners, if you haven't seen the movie Mixed Nuts, here's my best attempt at a brief summary of Mixed Nuts to hold in your mind as we continue on through the show.
00:03:16
Speaker
The employees of a suicide hotline have a crazy Christmas
00:03:33
Speaker
Okay, Chris. I mean, fair enough. I think that's what happened in this movie. Is that fair to say? I guess. It's so great.
00:03:44
Speaker
It's a comedy of errors in a sense. All star cast. All star cast. Very true. That is inarguable. Rebecca Ann Maller, you told me that this was a Christmas touchstone in your family. Speak on that.
00:04:00
Speaker
Well, the first time I saw this movie, I remember it coming out. I would have been... nine when it came out and I certainly would have known who Steve Martin was i think I was familiar with Madeline Kahn but I'm not really sure what drew me to this movie but I remember it coming out I always saw it in the video store yeah face out yeah and classic Steve Martin with the Santa hat and I was staying with my grandmother one weekend and I convinced her to let me rent it and I just watched it by myself at nine years old and thought
00:04:34
Speaker
what a hilarious movie. Yeah. Uh, okay. Just kind of parked it at that point. I just, you know, I got to, I got to finally watch the movie. I'd been eyeing at the video store.
00:04:47
Speaker
And then some years later in the early two thousands, we revisited it as a family and, ah with our parents. And it kind of just from there on became a movie we would watch every few years as a family. we finally bought the DVD so we could watch it regularly. okay um Maybe like 15 years ago, we started doing a new year's day movie ah with the family and this, we always end the day with mixed nuts. So it's an annual tradition at this point. Yeah.
00:05:21
Speaker
okay Okay. Very interesting. All right. So this episode will be out in time for new year's day. It'll be out in time for the tradition. That's wonderful. Yes. Recommendation for everyone. New year's tradition.
00:05:33
Speaker
You do not speak for the panel on that one.
00:05:39
Speaker
I had... This, for me, was also something that always sort of haunted video store shelves because the... You know, box art, the key art for this is just pretty much Steven Martin in a Santa hat with a little tableau of smaller characters who you can't quite identify underneath and the title Mixed Nuts. And it's simultaneously both iconic and instantly forgettable.
Personal Connections to 'Mixed Nuts'
00:06:05
Speaker
And like, it I remember my eyes constantly glazing over it and be like okay, like not even taking that in as a possible thing I would ever want to see. And I never did. Greg, do you have a background with Mixed Nuts?
00:06:19
Speaker
Yes, I do. As you mar recall, this was like my third choice for bad Christmas movie because I had first come up with... them Jingle all the way. And I was like, that's everybody thinks of that one immediately. What other bad Christmas movies have I seen? And I looked at a list.
00:06:37
Speaker
Remember, Ernest goes to Christmas or Ernest saves Christmas and then mixed nuts. i was like, oh, what about mixed nuts? It's been a long time since I've seen that movie. So my story about it is that my, as I said, uh, for earnest, my family would bring in comedians for me to watch, but also my dad would bring in comedians that he liked and he liked Saturday night live. So we saw a lot of Jim Belushi movies. we saw a lot of chase movies, John Candy and Steve Martin, of course.
00:07:04
Speaker
So this one was one that we rented as a family. i remember we watched it. I think everybody enjoyed it. I believe I watched it again because that was at that phase where I was like, I will, If you can't watch a movie twice, it wasn't worth watching one time. you know So, yeah watching everything twice. And then in high school, I had a chance to write like a movie review or our school paper. And i was like, all right, so what am I going to get? and I went to the video store. i was like I'm going to write a review about Mixed Nuts. And then I also got So I Married an Axe Murderer for myself. And then after watching both of them, was like, I'm to write the review about So I Married an Axe Murderer because I think more people in high school will enjoy that movie more than Mixed Nuts. But I recall still liking Mixed Nuts.
00:07:47
Speaker
And so I was very excited to revisit it again. Things have changed a little bit, but I will say that like the, it was bizarre because the cadence of the delivery of some of the lines, like Madeline Kahn, when she stuck in the elevator yeah and basically everything Adam Sandler says, they're all like in my brain. Like I knew when she was going to speak and I don't know why, but this one really, another one of these that just really imprinted itself on me. when I watch it at 13 or whatever.
00:08:20
Speaker
I think because the, the dialogue is so rhythmic and it has a sort of musicality to it that lends it to being memorable and and imprinting. I find that whenever watching this movie with a new person, everybody's remarking on, oh my God, Jon Stewart.
00:08:37
Speaker
There's Parker Posey. There's Anthony LaFaglia, Julia Lewis, Rita Wilson, Jolie Fisher, Haley Joel Osment, Paul Ben Victor. The list goes on and on.
00:08:48
Speaker
Haley Joel Osment? At the end, the little kid. about that? There's Santa Claus. How about that? see It's also interesting that both the movies you picked on that fateful night, Greg, did feature Anthony LaPaglia. I meant to mention that, and yeah, that is that was an interesting twofer for Mr. LaPaglia.
00:09:09
Speaker
He was so hot back then. yeah He was. Stephen Wright. Yeah. Stephen Wright. Victor Garber's voice. Victor yeah Garber. Mary Gross. Yep.
00:09:20
Speaker
Mary Gross. From Troop Beverly Hills fame. All the stars came out for Mixed Nuts. Michael Mataluca. We could go. Robert Klein. yeah. Robert Klein. Robert Klein. Robert Reiner, a.k.a. Robert Reiner. Gary Shandling. Yeah, we can't skip over Gary Shandling. Shandling. How could you? Gary Shandling. Okay.
00:09:39
Speaker
but Well, do you guys want to hear about the the context research I put into this? We sure do. Yes,
Background & Production Insights
00:09:44
Speaker
please. All right. Then let's hit it.
00:09:59
Speaker
I wish I had some context about the background of the film. Script director, actors on set. What's going on on screen?
00:10:09
Speaker
I want to hear some details. Gossip stand to all that shit. Can't imagine all the time.
00:10:27
Speaker
So Mixed Nuts came out December 21st, 1994. Late drop for a Christmas movie. Yeah. Saboteur at the box office. Well, it was directed by Nora Ephron.
00:10:42
Speaker
i found one tagline. a comedy on the edge.
00:10:49
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Yeah. You're on the razor's edge of your seat. Rough. but So. Le Splendide is a small theater located in the Rue des Lombards in the 4th arrondissement of Paris.
00:11:09
Speaker
It was founded in the 1970s by a group of writers and actors who would go on to be some of the most celebrated people in the French cinema of the 80s. They were sort of like a second city or a upright citizens brigade of France in the 70s. Okay.
00:11:26
Speaker
Okay. In 1978, Le Splendid made their first movie, Les Bronzés, a.k.a. French Fried Vacation. In 1979, they made Bronzés font du ski.
00:11:42
Speaker
The Bronzé goes skiing, I'm i'm sure. And then in 1982, they made Père Noël est une ordeur, or Santa Claus is a stinker, based on a play of the same name.
00:11:57
Speaker
It was about volunteers at a telephone hotline for the depressed stuck at work on Christmas Eve. When Nora was ah Nora Ephron, that is, was looking for follow up to her earth shattering hit Sleepless in Seattle.
00:12:13
Speaker
She decided to remake Le Père Noël est une hauteur. Reminder, she got her sister Delia to help her write the script. Yes.
00:12:24
Speaker
Now, Nora Ephron was born in 1941.
00:12:28
Speaker
Her first professional calling was journalism. She worked at Newsweek, the New York Post, and Esquire. Then in the late 70s, she took a pass at a script written by her then-husband, Carl Bernstein, called All the President's Men.
00:12:46
Speaker
That's right, Nora Ephron was married to but Bernstein of Woodward and Bernstein. News you can use. It's a small world. ah While her draft was not used in the final picture, it did impress people enough to get her foot in the door in terms of screenwriting.
00:13:05
Speaker
Now, in 1986, she wrote the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, directed by Rob Reiner. And if you're a Rob Reiner fan, check out our episode 82 about Rob Reiner's North featuring Lucy Valentine.
00:13:20
Speaker
ah But her script for When Harry Met Sally got her an Oscar nomination and let her get her foot in the door directing.
00:13:30
Speaker
So in 1992, she teamed up with her sister Delia to write her directorial debut, This Is My Life. It's movie where Julie Kavner plays a woman that inherits a lot of money and starts doing stand-up.
00:13:46
Speaker
Okay, I remember right. Let's put that on the list. Put it on the list. March Simpson? Yeah, Marge herself, live and in the flesh.
00:13:57
Speaker
ah Their parents, Henry and Phoebe Ephron, were also an acclaimed screenwriting duo, having written What Price Glory, There's No Business Like Show Business, and Desk Set.
00:14:11
Speaker
a Desk Set, that's another classic holiday movie. Yes, a classic holiday Catherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy? Yeah. Yeah, and written by Henry and Phoebe Efron, Nora and Delia Efron's parents. They come by it.
00:14:27
Speaker
So Nepo babies, one could say. One could make that argument. Sure. ah But they did grow up with collaborative screenwriting as something that was modeled in their household. They they had that behavior displayed to them.
00:14:43
Speaker
Unfortunately, This Is My Life was a big flop. But her 1993 follow-up, Sleepless in Seattle, massive hit.
00:14:53
Speaker
It was much tricklier than a lot of her more acerbic writing that she had done when she was a journalist. And she wanted to do something that had a little bit more edge, a little bit more bite, little more punch.
00:15:05
Speaker
Hmm. Walt Disney had acquired the rights for remaking Père Noël et Unador, which was a French classic, I believe still beloved to this day. Possibly like the French A Christmas Story, who knows.
00:15:21
Speaker
ah But they started developing it, and at some point the rights went over TriStar Pictures, and that's when Nora and Delia came on board.
00:15:31
Speaker
Near as I can tell, the production went pretty smoothly. The only issues I saw were that shooting had to be relocated from Los Angeles to New York to avoid a pending IATSE strike.
00:15:42
Speaker
h And then while they were shooting the interiors in New York, there was a blizzard and the actors all had to take the subway to work. That was the big story. Oh, isn't that interesting? This is what they told the press on the circuit.
00:15:54
Speaker
All right. You could have seen Steve Martin on the subway on his way to shoot mixed nuts, but you wouldn't have recognized him because they dyed his hair chestnut for some reason.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Which really casts an uncanny Paul over the entire film. Look, he has to match with Rita Wilson. That's a big plot point. That's whole point.
00:16:15
Speaker
They match. I'm just saying it's a little strange. ah Unfortunately, the good vibes on set did not translate to a successful film critically or commercially.
Reception & Critique
00:16:30
Speaker
It opened at number 12 at the box office. who In between Nell in its second week and The Lion King in its 28th week. To fair.
00:16:44
Speaker
I mean, there clearly there's a lot of competition at your local cinema, so it understands why mixed nuts might get lost in the shuffle. And I bet you Speed was also in some of those second-run theaters as well at the time.
00:16:58
Speaker
Oh, boy. yeah Yeah. I'd love to go watch Speed on Christmas Day. Yeah. I'd love to go to a second-run theater, frankly. Well, some notable quotes from critics of the day.
00:17:11
Speaker
Janet Maslin of the New York Times said it was about as funny as a corpse.
00:17:19
Speaker
Michael Dwyer of the Irish Times said a truly pathetic effort. I think that's a little unfair. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. We all love ah Roger here at the show.
00:17:33
Speaker
Every character shines with such dazzling intensity and such inexhaustible comic invention that the movie becomes tiresome, like too many clowns.
00:17:45
Speaker
I think that's exactly why the movie is so great. Why it sings. So you're not saying too many clowns. You're saying just the right amount of clowns. ah Yes. Aces. Aces. Other Christmas movies of 1994. Ooh. You o you got, obviously, the heavy hitter of the year, The Santa Claus.
00:18:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Classic. Classic. Yeah, I mean, Tim Allen at his peak. Santa Claus, a classic character. Speaking of classic characters like Santa Claus, you also got the 1994 version of Miracle on 34th Street.
00:18:26
Speaker
ah Classic. You also got, ah if you were looking for an edgy holiday, you've got The Ref out this year. Oh. I don't know that movie.
00:18:38
Speaker
It's the one with Dennis Leary. I believe he takes Kevin Spacey hostage, maybe. Yeah, i maybe have seen it, but I really distinctly remember the cover because it's like Dennis Leary with his leg up and Kevin Spacey tied to a chair appearing underneath. It's very graduate. Oh, Mrs. Robinson. Yeah, it's weird.
00:19:00
Speaker
I think maybe I missed my opportunity to watch that movie. Yeah. yeah Yeah, I think maybe Dennis Leary's shtick might not have aged as well as it could have. But he was very good at He's a good actor. The other aspect of the equation, too. yeah There's also another yeah very big issue there.
00:19:18
Speaker
You also got a Flintstones Christmas Carol in the animated world. And if anyone in Britain is listening, you've got Naughty and Father Christmas.
00:19:32
Speaker
Noddy spelled N-O-D-D-Y. Some sort of puppet or wooden boy, I think. Sounds great. Sounds excellent, yeah. yeah Yeah, classic British children's entertainment.
00:19:44
Speaker
Well, you guys want to talk about the plot of Mixed Nuts? Yes. It's all over the place. It sure is. It
Character Highlights & Film's Humor
00:20:10
Speaker
So we open on Steve Martin as Philip.
00:20:35
Speaker
so we open on steve martin as philip And he's got chestnut brown hair. It looks strange. It looks like dirty somehow. So young and viral.
00:20:48
Speaker
Virile?
00:20:50
Speaker
Virile? Fierile is, of course, what I meant to say. I hope he's not viral. ah But he's bicycling through Los Angeles as I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas plays in the background. and your supposeds I love this version of the song. The whole soundtrack. The opening to this movie, it just like just sets the perfect tone. Oh, yeah. yeah Know what you're getting into something yeah you do know that you're going to be getting like jokes are like it's weird that it's sunny in los angeles on christmas huh yes it's venice beach it's so like it's just like a perfect you we don't need another movie set in a snowy climate around the holidays we've got those let's see what it's like in venice beach Okay.
00:21:39
Speaker
Fair enough. So ah on his way to work, he runs into a pair of yuppie rollerbladers played by Jon Stewart and Parker Posey, who were carrying a Christmas tree down the street. And they have run into a very pregnant Juliette Lewis and her Santa-suited boyfriend, Anthony LaPaglia.
00:21:55
Speaker
Five top-of-the-line stars within the first minute of the film. I'm literally colliding. Yeah. Literally. It's almost like there's too many of them. They all yell at each other and then they part ways. That's going to happen a lot in this movie. People are going to yell at each other and then they're going part ways.
00:22:14
Speaker
Hmm. Got to have a reprieve. Then we're off to the offices of Lifesavers, a small suicide prevention hotline. There we meet Catherine played by old Rita Wilson. Rita Wilson. Yes.
00:22:33
Speaker
Mrs. Tom Hanks herself. Rita Wilson. Uh, And ah her co-worker, Mrs. Munchnik, played by the inimitable Madeline Kahn. Yeah.
00:22:45
Speaker
What do you guys think about Rita Wilson and Madeline Kahn in this movie? I mean, Madeline Kahn in any movie, get out of town, instant classic. True. So hilarious. Her timing is impeccable.
00:22:57
Speaker
Yes. The way she lights up a scene. Yeah. She delivers some of the best lines. Oh yeah. In this movie. And she can even, even when she's not delivering a line, even when she's just having a little bit of a, hu her, the look on her face, she delivers. Yeah. I think she's the one that matches the tone of the film. The best. Yeah.
00:23:18
Speaker
That could be right. That could be right. I think everybody else needed to get to her level. What's confusing to me about her character is why she is working there.
00:23:30
Speaker
Because she doesn't seem to be very respectful of other people's emotions. And everyone who interacts with her seems to really dislike her. so it's very weird to me that she's the one.
00:23:43
Speaker
I suppose. She's so excellent at this job, as she states very plainly. And also she's obviously a widow. Yeah, she's looking for something to do. us no yep And I'm going to also, looking at, like I remember, Mallory, you said when we watched The Balcony that you really like it in a movie when you can see its theatrical roots, when it feels akin to theater.
00:24:09
Speaker
And this, to me, feels very much like a herald that was made into a script that was made into a movie. Interesting. This feels like long-form improv that was transcribed.
00:24:22
Speaker
Yes, this definitely seems like a movie that you could be that could be a play. yeah Oh, definitely. And probably why I am drawn to it so more than others. I mean, it's two degrees removed from a play. You know, Per Noelle et Unodore was originally a play.
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah. So... i it To me, it has like a lot of those vibes, which is why I think it comes off as very stylized and mannered, I think as well, because of those roots, um which I think is how Efron might be trying to navigate the tone of this, since it is about like a suicide prevention hotline. There's a lot of dark humor in it. So I think trying to make it more theatrical takes away that bite a little bit, makes it a little bit less impactful. Yeah.
00:25:09
Speaker
Hmm. That could make some sense. Yeah. But also, that's something I'm largely saying off the top of my head. So don't ah hold my feet to the fire on this one.
00:25:20
Speaker
Philip rolls in downstairs at the building and he runs into his landlord, Gary Shandling, and he's informed that he's being evicted. This is our second evil landlord eviction plot of Christmas.
00:25:36
Speaker
Yeah. And it's also our second, I run a nonprofit that can't make money. And at least this one addressed the fact that they're like, I don't really know how to make profits at this. It's like, yeah, I don't really know how you make profits at a suicide prevention hotline. I would again assume it would be like grants that you would be. Yeah. Uh huh.
00:25:53
Speaker
Which seems no one is addressing in either of these films. Yeah, they just need to get... tail Yeah. They need to get at some grant writers on staff. At least one.
00:26:04
Speaker
Come on. It's very funny to hear Steve Martin be like, I can't run my small business. It's like, you mean your nonprofit? is just not really ah It's not really a small... You're not selling like bicycles. Yeah.
00:26:15
Speaker
You're not selling anything even. He says specifically you can't save someone's life and then ask them for money. Gary Shandling very wisely says doctors do. Yeah.
00:26:27
Speaker
And, you know, all he needs to do is save the life of one millionaire. And then he's back in the pink. Or one 5,000 there. Yeah. need is in 1994 money. It's not crazy money.
00:26:39
Speaker
yeah which it is very doable in ninety ninety four money it's not crazy money ye ah Now, Philip heads upstairs and proceeds to not tell Catherine and Munchnick about the eviction.
00:26:55
Speaker
Instead, he re-gifts Munchnick a tinned fruitcake that she gave him last year before sending her off for the night. We're going to be getting fruitcake jokes. in Yeah, that is actually meant to be the same fruitcake from the year before?
00:27:10
Speaker
i believe so. It's unclear, but they're implying that it could be. Yeah, could Yeah, that was because like when I was a child, was like, yeah, last year's fruitcake. But this year was like, that doesn't really make a lot of sense. It seemed like it would kind of reek or something at this point. Fruitcake keeps. It's full of preservatives. All that sugar. Admittedly, I don't really, don't experience fruitcake, period. Oh, well, that's your mistake. You got to get your life right, Greg.
00:27:39
Speaker
That's not the going opinion that I hear, but you know, you've seen a movie called mixed nuts. Might may have you singing a different tune about old fruitcakes or any piece of media made before 1965. I remember that. It's like, it's the go-to like, here's your shitty Christmas gift and fruitcake fruit in month club. Okay. Great. All right. But what about those monks?
00:28:05
Speaker
The Benedictine monks fruitcakes. So delicious. Yeah. I'm not saying that there aren't good fruitcakes. I'm saying this is a classic punchline. Yeah. Now, Munchnick leaves to go to her dead husband's sister's Christmas party ah before she gets trapped in the elevator on her way out.
00:28:25
Speaker
Also, somewhere around here, a radio mentions that there's a seaside strangler running around. Yeah. Strangling. Yeah, we got the e-story of the serial killer. Yeah. If only, no I'm going to say this is more like the F story. There's a lot of stories. There are a lot. There's a lot happening in this movie. I've been trying to like write down where we are in the plot. And for this movie, I eventually was just like 23 minutes.
00:28:51
Speaker
Cause I was just like, I don't really understand where we are. Like, I don't have any touchstone to like write down. to like, Oh, they're in the bar. Now it's like some of them are in the hallway. One of them is in the apartment and some people are on the street and they don't really understand. They're all doing three things.
00:29:07
Speaker
And it weaves together seamlessly. Sure. Sure. I think what it is, is that they'll be doing something and then they'll be interrupted by the thing that they're going to do next. And then they start doing that next thing. Then they go back and finish the first thing and then they get interrupted by the next thing. And it sort of goes like that.
00:29:26
Speaker
Yeah. Which makes it very hard to write down what's happening. Yeah. Uh, so meanwhile, Anthony LaPaglia's Felix has run back to, grace juliet lewis is Gracie, Gracie. Uh, he's an unemployed artist. He describes himself as a wall artist without a wall.
00:29:44
Speaker
I'm assuming it's because he never heard the term muralist. Uh, so, uh, she's thinking about breaking up with him. Uh, and, uh, so she storms off.
00:29:56
Speaker
Back at the office, Munchnick fails to get the attention of neighboring simpleton Louie, played by Adam Sandler. And Philip gets dumped by his girlfriend after asking her for a loan, which really is very rock bottom.
00:30:11
Speaker
That was a very effective piece of storytelling. to be fair, wanted to do it with fax machine, but he doesn't even have a fax machine. This is a very good line. It's a real good line. But you don't even have fax machine.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And also my therapist told me I should break up with you is how she starts, which is also really good. Yeah. What does he think? Well, I've been seeing him for six weeks. yeah So then they get a call from Chris played by Liev Schreiber, who begs to let them ah allow her to come by on Christmas Eve so that she doesn't have to feel so alone.
00:30:54
Speaker
eventually fill caves and gives Chris the address. And then we cut to Chris revealing that she is in fact a transgender woman who is casually and routinely mocked by her entire family.
Plot Development & Character Dynamics
00:31:08
Speaker
I will say this scene when Chris is leaving her house is probably one of the most terrifying scenes in cinema. true I feel like it it feels like a cut to a Stanley Kubrick movie for about 10 seconds. Yes.
00:31:24
Speaker
When they're pounding on the piano, shouting Arnold. Yeah. fourth And then of course just right back to Christmas music. Yeah. We have Schreiber's theatrical debut, by the way.
00:31:34
Speaker
up Absolutely. And, but yeah, very ah sad scene for poor Chris. Chris Kimzoff, I think is the most sympathetic character in the movie. yeah In the the way the the family scene is like really chilling. Like you just watch it and you're just like, don't do that.
00:31:51
Speaker
Why are you doing this? You're like, i can't imagine a group of people choosing to do this. It's really terrifying. So you understand why Chris needs to go visit Lifesavers today. No, no. As far as I'm concerned, it's like, get out of there, Chris, and probably never come back, frankly.
00:32:07
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it is very, i don't know how it was supposed to play at the time. Yeah. I don't know what Efron's intent was with this scene. I think we're supposed to be sympathetic to Chris.
00:32:20
Speaker
Oh, I think that's true. But are we supposed to laugh at the way that they're treating Chris? and That's very upsetting. i don't think we're supposed to laugh at the way they're treating her.
00:32:33
Speaker
it's a, it's an odd scene. I think you guys were right in saying it felt out of place, but Chris, obviously a great character, Anna's favorite character in the film for sure. Yeah.
00:32:44
Speaker
Uh, and ah apparently Schreiber went through, took a lot of pains to make sure that they, that he spent time with transgender people at the time and like really wanted to make sure that this was a sympathetic portrayal and kudos to Liev Schreiber for doing that back in like 1994. Yeah.
00:33:01
Speaker
yeah I mean, making your on-screen appearance debut as as a woman. And a very alluring one at that. It's true.
00:33:11
Speaker
I've got to say, Chris, impeccably dressed, great haircut, looking sharp. Yep. Now, the good news is, finally, someone has noticed poor Mrs. Munchnick after she started rapping into a child's toy microphone that she pulled out of a sack of Christmas gifts.
00:33:28
Speaker
I love that scene. I'm stuck in the elevator. Help me, please. Help me here on Christmas Eve. Mrs. Munchnik stuck me in this place. Help me now hit me in the face. yeah Yeah. Yes. Somebody should give Madeline Kahn a microphone for some freestyling more often. Oh, yeah.
00:33:44
Speaker
I agree. And I imagine that when she was in there, ah you know, this was Nora Ephron saying, just yell and make noise and do whatever you want with this stuff. This has to be Madeline Kahn freestyling while she's in there. Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:58
Speaker
By the way, I do believe Mallory had one of those same little electronic toys as a child with the drum machine and the various horns. Yeah, I was not nearly as creative as Madeline Kahn. True.
00:34:10
Speaker
Well, yeah I'm sure you were creative in tons of different ways. I will say I got a text message from my best friend Susie ah just a couple months ago where she had gotten stuck in an elevator and could not get this song out her head.
00:34:28
Speaker
Wow. Hilarious. Yes.
00:34:33
Speaker
ah So, yes, the good news is that Mrs. Munchnik has been discovered. Unfortunately, she has been discovered by Robert Klein, who is playing Mr. Lobel.
00:34:45
Speaker
Lobel. Lobel. ah Who intensely dislikes her due to a previous incident with his pet dogs. Everything is very complicated. don't what's really going on with you and those dogs.
00:34:59
Speaker
Yes. Great stuff from Madeline Codd in there. So Philip and Kathy, ah they run out and they try to free Munchnik, but then they realize they're going to need to get a screwdriver.
00:35:11
Speaker
And then the phone rings. The constant interruptions in this movie. This time the phone calls from Gracie. She has some sort of prior relationship with Catherine. I'm not sure what it is.
00:35:22
Speaker
Do you guys know? It's revealed later on in the doctors in the veterinary office. That she went Catherine went to a meeting for adult children of alcoholic parents. And Philip says, are you an adult child of alcoholic parents? No, but I went there because I thought it would be a good place to meet men. Of course, I didn't meet a man. i met Gracie, though.
00:35:48
Speaker
Boy, Catherine's got to it together. breaks my heart. Yeah. She'll always be in the 10 items or underline. It's true. that was a There are so many nice little turns of phrase in this movie. that oh anyway Anyway, Catherine, Philip, they exchange Christmas gifts.
00:36:08
Speaker
and She gives him a pair of hand-knit oversized pajamas, and he gives her a membership in the Fruit of the Month Club that accidentally has their eviction notice taped to it.
00:36:20
Speaker
Catherine was just talking to herself in the bathroom about how her job is the only good thing that she has going on in her life. So she's very upset. But there's no time for being maudlin because they just remembered that Mrs. Munchnick is still trapped in the elevator.
00:36:36
Speaker
but which you mother reminded I was say she screams up like I'm still up. That's what it is. Yeah, now now they can hear her before they couldn't hear her. And she's in one of these open elevators in a stairwell. Like everyone in this building should be hearing this woman's room.
00:36:53
Speaker
But anyway, anyway. A lot of people have been evicted. a pedant would notice the strings. ah So... Philip pulls her out of the access hatch on the roof of the elevator, but he does this just as Gracie arrives at the building and calls the elevator down to the ground floor successfully.
00:37:15
Speaker
So there's a gag where Philip and ah Munchnik are hanging in the elevator shaft and they're screaming, and then the elevator starts coming up, but then it goes all the way to the top floor and they're about to get crushed, but they don't because elevators don't work like that.
00:37:30
Speaker
And also she has to go to the bathroom. And she really has to take a leak. She's been in that elevator for a couple hours. ah Unfortunately, Gracie runs in first and slams the door behind them.
00:37:45
Speaker
They have to bust through the door. Also, ah Felix has shown up. Felix has followed Gracie there. And they continue to fight over whether or not he's a loser ah while Madeline Kahn urinates in the bathroom with everyone there.
00:38:02
Speaker
Behind a towel. Yeah, behind a towel. She doesn't have it out. She also gives some very sage advice, I feel like, while urinating, which is pretty unusual, but, yeah you know, thumbs up.
00:38:15
Speaker
yes Yeah. The fight ends when Gracie chucks a the same fruitcake at him. The fruitcake's back in the mix. Hey. Yeah. The fruitcake promptly tears his scalp and gives him a minor concussion.
00:38:34
Speaker
Unfortunately, they can't afford to bring him to the doctor, but Philip knows a nearby vet played by Rob Reiner. So they take Catherine and Philip. They bring him to the vet. While Grace Lee and Munchnick mind the office.
00:38:49
Speaker
Unfortunately, while Philip and Dr. Rob Reiner joke around about how women have too many pillows on their bed. Classic bit. When a dog gets neutered, you can say that had to hurt.
00:39:04
Speaker
Also, he mentioned something about how that dog is going to be no longer a man tomorrow or something. And it's like, isn't tomorrow Christmas Day? Yeah. You're going to you going to neuter a dog? and Someone left their dog with you over Christmas to be neutered?
00:39:19
Speaker
He's a Jewish vet. He's Rob Reiner. Yeah, Rob Reiner. The dogs always come first. Yeah. That's his plot line. Yeah. Not that you even celebrate it anyway. I'm saying the owners. I would think the owners would probably want their The owners are Jewish. Yeah.
00:39:33
Speaker
ah All right. It's Hollywood, baby. You solved the conundrum for me. Thank you. Plus the classic bit about before there were people named Felix, there were cats names Felix or vice versa. Mm-hmm.
00:39:46
Speaker
Mm. Oh, yes. Felix. Speaking of Felix, he ODs on dog tranquilizers. Time to call him an ambulance and get him to a real hospital.
00:40:00
Speaker
Back at the office, Chris arrives. While Gracie is reasonably nice, Munchnik passes out at the sight of a trans woman, perhaps because ah she assumes that she's the seaside strangler.
00:40:15
Speaker
She passes out because the door hits her in the face. Okay, yes, that's what happened. I'm sorry. She gets knocked out. knocked out yeah And at some point also she finds out that they're getting evicted and not quite sure when.
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah. She claims she's going to sue which was confusing to me what the grounds would be. Yeah. She's just being hyperbolic. That's just her character. And she wasn't able to go to her dead husband's sisters for Christmas after all. That's true. Yeah, she'd been looking forward to reconnecting.
00:40:50
Speaker
Uh... Philip then comes back and tells Gracie that Felix has OD'd on dog tranquilizers. And so Gracie rushes off to check on him, arriving just in time to see him getting loaded into an ambulance.
00:41:03
Speaker
So then she grabs Catherine and gives Catherine a makeover.
00:41:08
Speaker
Meanwhile, back in the office, Philip gets to know Chris a little bit better. It's awkward at first, but when Chris finds out that Philip was once a competitive dancer, ah the two of them end up dancing together.
00:41:22
Speaker
And Philip ends up coming around a little bit more. It's really nice to see him. Like at the start of it, he's like, I don't even want my body close to Chris. And then by the end, they're like spinning each other and doing a lot, very involved. And it was just nice to see it go in a nice direction.
00:41:41
Speaker
Yes. It was nice that they stuck the lander. Yeah, there definitely a few jokes here and there that are, you know, definitely transphobic.
00:41:52
Speaker
But I feel like overall, she is portrayed as like a real woman and like a lovable character and somebody that the other characters come to accept.
00:42:03
Speaker
And Philip also has that nice line about how he's used to all kinds of different people and he doesn't care what people think and i neither should we. Yeah, I think the film, i think the film is more respectful to Chris than the characters in the film are respectful to Chris, if that makes sense. Yeah. ah tatatataoo tu
00:42:30
Speaker
They're dancing, they come together, but then Munchnik wakes up. She's figured out that they're being evicted somehow, which stresses her out so much that she yells at Philip and tells him that Catherine has a crush on him and then storms out. this stresses philippa so but This stresses Philip out so much that he yells at Chris and she storms out too.
00:43:00
Speaker
Underneath that mousy exterior lies smoldering lust. Oh, really? I mean, I'd be intrigued.
00:43:12
Speaker
Then enter Catherine, Gracie, and Louis. Louis, of course, Adam Sandler, who is now dressed as a gondolier and carrying a ukulele. Naturally. And he's doing a match also he's doing a very strong Adam Sandler in this film.
00:43:28
Speaker
Yes. Like, if you want to see Adam Sandler play the Adam Sandler character, this is a great film for that. I also think it's just the right amount of that Adam Sandler character because a full movie can be too much for sure.
00:43:43
Speaker
i think But this is the right amount, just a little pop here and there. he's got the ukulele. There's a reason for it. He's giving Catherine a Christmas song that he wrote. So I think Punch Drunk Love did a good job of like portraying the Adam Sandler character as an actual like someone that people like we need to actually talk about our brother because like he smashed stuff, you know, which is in an Adam Sandler was like, look at him smash stuff. I feel like this is a great use of the Adam Sandler character to be like, we have a really eccentric neighbor.
00:44:15
Speaker
he's the ukulele he kind of talks a like a yes fa start you know it's like this is perfect perfect is the guy who lives downstairs that people like oh hi louie yeah yeah and he's almost like this was his stand-up character and so it's almost like adam sandler's version of bobcat goldthwaite appearing in the movie that's probably close to where he was in ah his career that makes sense that makes sense Uh, so between Catherine's makeover and learning that she's now into him and being dumped earlier that afternoon, Philip is looking at Catherine as though for the first time.
00:44:57
Speaker
Well, that dress and the red dress looks great. Uh, for some reason or another, at some point, Philip tosses the fruitcake out of the window, which then smashes Mrs. Munchnick's windshield just as she was about to leave.
00:45:14
Speaker
Luckily, she runs into Robert Klein again. And in this vulnerable moment, the two of them are instantly overcome by lust and have sex on a nearby beach. It's it's pretty funny. I really like seeing Madeline Kahn just be like, just waltz over them. Like, what is she going to do? And then she just like wraps herself around them, kisses them, and then drags them to the beach with the dogs to have sex. And it's just like, cool. a little bit yes also I've never really understood why anyone says what can I do you for so I'm glad that that became the joke it's like you can do me for free frankly
00:45:57
Speaker
we think we'd all do Madeline Kahn for free giving that's probably true yeah no Madeline Kahn is looking good in this movie back at the office enter Chris she's come back for her cape which she left Enter Felix. He's out of the hospital and now he has a gun.
00:46:15
Speaker
He begs for Gracie back, but she's not interested. Chris steps up and tries to get the gun from Felix, only to get shot in the foot for her trouble. Felix feels terrible and they get the gun away from him, at which point Gracie says, you can't just take it from him. You have to empty it and probably begins firing the gun in random directions. It's great way to do it.
00:46:38
Speaker
Yeah, good way. Yeah. As good as any. Quick and easy. Yep. But there is one downside to this method. I can can't foresee any problem with this, Frank.
00:46:50
Speaker
No, no, no. ah She does, in fact, shoot someone who's right outside the apartment door. It's Landlord Gary Shandling. He is now dead, having gotten one in the brain and one in the heart in those two shots.
00:47:06
Speaker
As bad as they could get.
00:47:09
Speaker
Understandably, this causes Catherine to freak out, which lets Philip take her into the bathroom to help her calm down while Louie puts the move on the only mildly injured Chris.
00:47:22
Speaker
It's a really touching scene. I really liked that scene quite a lot. And this was another one where like Adam Sandler's leaving and he's I'm going to get you some Tylenol with the codeine. Like that whole thing, i would just like had the timing of it in my brain. I was just like, in there, in there.
00:47:39
Speaker
Nope, Brandon. That's the good stuff. Luden's cough drops, but that's for me. I got a scratchy throat. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, to be he's also saying like exactly the way you would imagine Adam Sandler would say. Yeah, and if you saw it tastes good, you know, it tastes very good.
00:47:58
Speaker
Yeah. Meanwhile, oh and hang on, nope. Philip, he makes his own move, and he and Catherine have sex in their office bathroom.
00:48:11
Speaker
Meanwhile, Gracie and Felix have disguised the the landlord's corpse as a Christmas tree. They'll leave to march the corpse down to the boardwalk where they will abandon it to be discovered hypothetically several days later. Well, first they make a plan to do so.
00:48:28
Speaker
First we do this, then we do this, then we do this. Yes. First we pick up the body, then we drop off the body, and then we go home. That is the plan that Felix comes up with. On route, they run into Munchnik and her paramour.
00:48:47
Speaker
Unfortunately, they also run into the rollerbladers, literally. And as their tree gets flung into the air, it ah then comes to the ground, mines a few branches, and it's very clearly a corpse wrapped in burlap.
00:49:01
Speaker
And we get a really great Aretha. Oh, Tannenbaum! Oh, yeah, yeah. He was Mr. Tannenbaum, so it all comes together. Yep.
00:49:13
Speaker
So the cops are called and Felix is understandably distraught at the idea that his girlfriend will be going to prison. So he grabs the gun and he runs to a nearby rooftop where he threatens to kill himself.
00:49:29
Speaker
As he runs by, a young Haley Joel Osment yells out, Santa, Santa. Good line reading on that one, Chris. Thank you. that Well, you know, I'm no Haley Joel. What can I say?
00:49:43
Speaker
As Felix threatens to kill himself, Philip must now step up and use his anti-suicide training. He steps forward and he tells him that he's not really upset about Gracie going to jail or his failures as a wall artist.
00:49:58
Speaker
He says it's because Christmas is a time of year when you look at your life through a microscope. So all your failings are writ large.
Conclusion & Film's Ending
00:50:06
Speaker
It's a surprisingly touching little moment, I thought.
00:50:10
Speaker
And Felix comes down. finally Nora Ephron allows herself to be sincere and it, uh, you know, the movie gets a hint of magic to it. I feel like the good news is no one is getting arrested because it turns out Gary Shandling was in fact the seaside strangler.
00:50:29
Speaker
It all evident in his gym bag. Yes. Another thread closed. Question here. If you accidentally kill a wanted serial killer, you still are like responsible for their death legally, right? like You don't just get that washed away, right? think it's not like ah you're off the hook 100%. Right, right. No jury in Los Angeles will convict.
00:50:56
Speaker
So she gets the reward automatically. Automatically no further examination. me i mean they open up why the reward is no questions asked that's right gracie does get a quarter of a million dollar reward as mallory was just saying and that she gives just enough to lifesavers to get them out of trouble philip says to katherine thousand dollars yeah gives them what is that uh two percent yeah not bad yeah
00:51:31
Speaker
ah Philip says to Catherine, let's get married. This is the miracle. yeah Yeah. Sure. It's a Christmas movie.
00:51:42
Speaker
It is a Christmas movie. And it's a, it's a romance. It should end with a kiss. It's a romantic farce. ah they We then cut to a huge mural that we can only assume was painted by Felix that depicts the characters and events of the film in his unique art brute style.
00:51:58
Speaker
Roll credits. Skipping over Gracie giving birth and the whole virgin mother tableau with the wise men and the dogs and the townspeople.
00:52:10
Speaker
Very Bethlehem at the stables. It's for Gracie Gabor. Starts snowing miraculously. Starts snowing. It's very funny because she's like jumping up and down because she's so excited. And I was like, wow, that pregnant woman's really getting up and down there. I don't usually see a lot of pregnant women jump like that. And she's like, oh, I'm having my baby now. was like, all right. So it's all it's all come full circle.
00:52:32
Speaker
Yep. You're right. I completely forgot about Gracie giving birth. I mean, there's so so much There's so much in this movie. Luckily, Rob Reiner is there to oh deliver the baby. Yeah.
00:52:45
Speaker
Yes, the vet also comes back. That's why it felt like an end of a herald to me, because all the entire cast comes back out on stage, and you wrap it all up with a neat little bow.
00:52:57
Speaker
Final thoughts, five-star ratings. Greg, why don't you kick us off? Okay, so um I still enjoyed myself watching this movie, but I have to say that it was i e My opinion on it has really changed quite a lot. This is ah so two metaphors here. One is that I don't know if you've ever been like driving or going somewhere and you're like, I just need a coffee.
00:53:23
Speaker
I just need a coffee. And you see a place that you know will have coffee, but you know, it's not going to be any good. And so you're like, I'm going to add some sugar and some cream to it. I'm not even going to taste it. I'm just going to add it. And if you do this just right,
00:53:36
Speaker
What happens is that you put that cup to your mouth and you drink it and all you taste is hot. it's as though this It's as though the sugar and the cream has somehow just gotten rid of the bad taste and has gotten rid of all of the taste. It doesn't taste like water, but it doesn't really taste like anything.
00:53:54
Speaker
But it has the caffeine. And you just feel like, well, I'm having it. I'm having caffeine. I think that's what watching this movie is like. like It's just like, it's happening.
00:54:06
Speaker
and I'm not really upset about it, but it's just kind of happening. um i think there's a lot of good things about it a lot of talented people in it. But I think it's got two main problems. One is that they spread it out too far. Everyone should just be in the same building, which would help end some of the confusion.
00:54:25
Speaker
The interaction should be happening in the building, maybe more so that it gives you a better sense of place. Cause sometimes it's like, are we in the apartment or the elevator shaft or outside there at a vet? Where is the vet? Why is their shop over there? And not just at the bottom of the apartment building, but that ended some confusion.
00:54:44
Speaker
And then also, i really like... That metaphor really sings. Thank you. Thank you. um I think also that I really like additive storytelling, by which I mean someone is always adding something. And instead of someone saying, no, no, what is this? And then you go over to have an argument about it. Like when someone's like, it's zombies. And someone's like, it can't be zombies. We have now stopped adding and we've gone to the side to like have an argument about the plot.
00:55:10
Speaker
Sometimes it can be good because then the argument will then lead to something that is additive. But I feel like the main issue with this movie is that the only people who are driving the plot forward in any real sensible way are Felix and Gracie. And they do that by dragging it to the side to have an argument and doing something really chaotic.
00:55:30
Speaker
And then that through chance makes the plot move forward. And that robs any momentum from the whole thing. because no one is doing anything. And then they come in and like, I accidentally shot somebody. It's like, well, now obviously the plot's going to move forward, but you just did that accidentally because you're chaotic.
00:55:50
Speaker
And I also don't really enjoy hearing people have loud arguments extensively because I just have never really enjoyed that. yeah So whenever you make that like a main part of your movie, it's like, okay, great. This is wonderful. It's like, in awkward time at someone else's house.
00:56:06
Speaker
ah But that being said, it's also weird. Like I didn't, I almost couldn't even take notes. I don't know if you can see this. Like I just ended up just kind of watching the movie and having a hard time really thinking of anything to say about it until this metaphor came to me.
00:56:23
Speaker
um So for watchability, I'm giving it a two. yeah It's not, you know, it's certainly watchable. I enjoyed it But not as much as I did at one point.
00:56:35
Speaker
And as far as weirdness goes, i can't pinpoint exactly what is weird about this movie. But there's something that is weird about this movie. There's something that feels a little off about this movie to me. So for that, I'm just going to give it a three.
00:56:51
Speaker
Fair enough. You ended up giving me the exact same score as I did, Craig. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. I gave it two for watchability because I found the artificiality of it to be a little bit grating. don't think it pulled me in. I think it pushed me away. And most of the jokes, frankly, did not hit for me. Yeah.
00:57:08
Speaker
And I find jokes not hitting to be a very rough ride. yeah ah I gave it a three for weirdness because I found it ah confounding. Here's where i got I put in my metaphor.
00:57:21
Speaker
I found it confounding to watch a bunch of people who ought to be able to do this not succeed. It was like watching a professional baseball team play cricket for no apparent reason.
00:57:32
Speaker
And for it like the the skill set didn't carry over somehow. Also for such a common complaint, a very few Christmas films tackle the topic of holiday alienation as head on as mixed nuts. I feel like that was at least unusual, yeah you know?
00:57:52
Speaker
Uh, so that, that a added a little sweet sense of, uh, weirdness to it. Uh, Rebecca and Mallory, where did you two land in terms of watching the alien weirdness? Watchability? gotta go 12. So great.
00:58:08
Speaker
So good. You're gonna find something new, a new little nuance every single time you watch it. It really stands up to the rewatch because there's so much to take in. There is a lot to take in.
00:58:20
Speaker
I mean, I feel like if we're on a scale of 5, I know you've really overshot it with the 12. really overshot it. But I would say... I mean, it's a five for watchability. ah we um We watch it every year. Obviously, it's very watchable to the Rhine ladies. If I had to, like, try to look at it from a perspective of maybe somebody who hasn't seen it before, maybe somebody who doesn't have the Rhine sensibility. Doesn't have the Rhine relationship.
00:58:52
Speaker
Yeah, I would say maybe a four because okay okay i I do think that maybe, you know, There are definitely jokes that don't hold up. There some jokes about suicide that I think would not pass today. But I do agree with you. I feel like tackling the topic, and I feel like a lot of it is successful. I don't think they're making fun of suicide other than there are a couple of jokes that don't. That one Stephen Wright. The Wright But boy, does it land. I mean, the timing is so excellent. And think if you hear people talk about this movie, Stephen Wright is a highlight. Yeah, for sure.
00:59:31
Speaker
Don't want to give that joke away. That's one worth saving. Good point. Yeah. So if I had to dial it back, I think that's the one thing for me that maybe doesn't quite hold up. um But ah I think the joke's. Or timed well. I think the writing is excellent. I see what you're saying about um Felix and Gracie not being the strongest characters in they they are the ones moving the plot along. But you've got this amazing cast of everyone else who are like helping fill that space and like move with them.
01:00:02
Speaker
And tight on the delivery. Tight on the delivery. so It's 97 minutes. You can't ask for more. That's true. What about the weird about our weirdness scale?
01:00:14
Speaker
I don't think this is that weird. I never thought about it as a weird movie. about weird So I'd say one. One on the weirdness scale. I feel like it's a classic ensemble movie.
01:00:25
Speaker
um I love a movie that, like as we've talked about, that feels like it should be a play. yeah Something for everybody. Yeah, there's just a little something for everybody. and yeah i don't I never thought about it it as a weird movie. It's a cast of weird characters for sure. yeah yeah but I think that's that is one of the things that I love about it is that it does kind of feel like a chosen family at the end. A real box full of mixed nuts. you might yeah How intriguing.
01:00:55
Speaker
Ain't that the truth? What about you, Rebecca? Where did you land in terms of weirdness? Yeah, I think same exact. One as well. It doesn't seem that weird. Weird characters, which I love.
01:01:07
Speaker
Okay. Well, the reviews are in listeners, but those aren't the only reviews we're going to be talking about this episode. Yes. Because it's time for the review review.
01:01:30
Speaker
You wrote a review of the film, now we're going to review you.
01:02:04
Speaker
That's right. It's the review review. i went to IMDb and I pulled three star reviews that I knew would drive our guests insane.
01:02:17
Speaker
Okay.
01:02:20
Speaker
This first one is from el Bruco 39. It was left November 24th, 2006. The title deplorably awful.
01:02:33
Speaker
Worst movie I have ever seen. Hmm. So bad. I just stared at the screen jaw hanging open that it could be so disorganized, unfunny, overbearing, hack acted and pointless. Yeah.
01:02:50
Speaker
I only kept watching because I believed at every 15 minute mark that it couldn't possibly get any worse. And yet it did every single time. And yet you kept watching El Bruco. So yeah, I don't, compell I don't trust El Bruco's opinions on movies. yeah You think El Bruco doth protest too much? Yeah.
01:03:14
Speaker
Well, let's see. Let's see what you think about this one. This is from ThroughTheVale69. Nice. They left July 6, 2014, titled Lost Respect Steve Martin.
01:03:26
Speaker
Wow.
01:03:33
Speaker
wow First of all, this is a remake, a remake of what may be the most funny and ah viewed comedies by French people.
01:03:46
Speaker
I wouldn't be surprised if half the French population could recite this entire movie lines by heart. Where the original version was outrageous, provocative, disrespectful, politically incorrect, etc.
01:04:00
Speaker
It has been watered down to nothing in the Steve Martin version.
01:04:05
Speaker
Everything that was funny is just blended down to family viewing version, which lose all appeal and originality. A total disaster and a shame. Well, now an interesting take. It's hard to do a remake of a beloved classic. So obviously, Through the Veil, 69 had a had deep relationship with the French original.
01:04:27
Speaker
We did try to to find it to watch before this, and we we couldn't come up with it for recording, but we we are still on the lookout. yeah I would like to actually see it. I'm very curious. And especially based on that review.
01:04:39
Speaker
Yeah. Well, i will I was on the hunt, but I'll see if I can put a little bit more legwork in. let me write myself a note. Yeah. Bear. Noelle. See if I can get it in time for that New Year's viewing marathon.
01:04:55
Speaker
nice In the meantime, last review. This one comes from Yasmin Hillary. November 18th, 2020. Fairly contemporary review with us.
01:05:11
Speaker
Madeline Kahn ruined this movie. Six exclamation points. Oh, mon dieu. Absolutely wild to take right off the jump. yeah yeahman Yasmin coming out swinging.
01:05:26
Speaker
I cannot stand Madeline Kahn's high-pitched, ear-piercing voice in this movie. ah I hope I never heard hear her screaming, Hello! ever again.
01:05:39
Speaker
She single-handedly ruined this movie. Well, good news, Yasmin, because you won't ever hear it again. Much to the chagrin of all of us. She went too soon. It's true.
01:05:52
Speaker
What a talent. Yasmin, fix your heart. Get out of here. You guys want to play a game? I always want to play a game. Let's play a game.
01:06:03
Speaker
Yes. Time to play a little this, that, or the other.
01:06:20
Speaker
As I ask you this question, The answer will be one of three.
01:06:34
Speaker
I ask myself, what will they answer? Will it be A, B or C?
01:06:45
Speaker
A, B or C? And each time I ask you question, there's one thing that I want to know. it this, is it that, or is it the other?
01:07:02
Speaker
Is it this, is it that, or is it the other?
01:07:13
Speaker
So as we mentioned, this is the first film appearance of Jon Stewart, Liev Schreiber, and also Haley Joel Osment. They all made their major motion picture debut in this film.
01:07:25
Speaker
Ah, Stewart too? yep Hello. Wow. So I'm going to read you a title and a description of a film, and I want you to tell me if Liev Schreiber, Jon Stewart, or Haley Joel Osment appears in this film.
01:07:41
Speaker
This will be fun. This is going to be a buzz in game. You'll buzz in by saying your own name. Rebecca and Mallory, since you're on the same computer, you can play as a team if you want.
01:07:53
Speaker
Oh, Mallory says no. Individual. Okay. Sister versus sister versus Greg. The classic showdown. Yes. All right. If your opponent buzzes in and gets it wrong, you will have the chance to steal. Is everybody ready?
01:08:09
Speaker
and We're guessing which of these three was in it. Yes. John Stewart. Based on the description. yeah Based on the title, and it's John Stewart, Liev Schreiber, or Haley Joel Osment.
01:08:19
Speaker
All right. Question number one. Repo men. In the near future, artificial organs will be available for purchase on credit, but one man who falls behind on his heart payments has to go on the run before it gets repossessed.
01:08:39
Speaker
This star, John Stewart, Liev Schreiber, or Haley Joel Osment. Greg. Greg? Haley Joel Osment. Hmm. No, he wasn't in that one.
01:08:52
Speaker
Rebecca for the Steel? Yes, Rebecca?
01:08:57
Speaker
Correct! He played Frank, who I believe was ah the doctor that turns out to be evil at the end. Question number two.
01:09:09
Speaker
Bogus!
01:09:12
Speaker
A recently orphaned young boy is taken in by his godmother, who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend, a flamboyant French magician named Bogus.
01:09:25
Speaker
Rebecca. Wow. I'll go with Haley Joel Osment for the orphan boy. Correct. The French magician, obviously played by Gérard Depardieu. Oh, yeah.
01:09:39
Speaker
The godmother, Whoopi Goldberg. i mean what of What a cast. I think I've seen this movie. All-star cast. I bet this movie stinks on ice. Yeah, I bet it does. Good candidate for episodes.
01:09:54
Speaker
Yeah, I might have to track down Bogus. Question number three. The great Buck Howard. A young man, much to the chagrin of his father, becomes the new assistant to an illusionist in decline.
01:10:11
Speaker
Mallory. Mallory. John Stewart. Correct. John Stewart was playing himself.
01:10:20
Speaker
Good on him. The magician, John Malkovich, the young man, was Colin Hanks. Wow. Question number four.
01:10:32
Speaker
Dougal. A clumsy dog named Dougal frees a cruel wizard who seeks to find three diamonds capable of, together, freezing the sun.
01:10:45
Speaker
Rebecca. I'm not done. Now a slug, a cow, a rabbit, and a train led by Dougal will have to save the world. Oof. Wow.
01:10:57
Speaker
Sounds like a real Quigley situation. It's a computer animated. It's more of a Barbie as Rapunzel. ah Greg? Greg?
01:11:08
Speaker
Jon Stewart? Correct. He played Z-Bad, one of the animals.
01:11:16
Speaker
Okay.
01:11:19
Speaker
Question number five. I'll remember April.
01:11:25
Speaker
Four young boys find a shipwrecked Japanese sailor during World War II and struggle with the decision to save him.
01:11:36
Speaker
Mallory. Mallory? Leif Schreiber. Yeah, that makes sense. ah Rebecca for the steal. Rebecca? Is Haley Joel Osment one of the young boys?
01:11:48
Speaker
Correct. He was Pee-wee Clayton. m That classic character. That's old Pee-wee. Question number six. Cargo. Cargo.
01:12:01
Speaker
A young car learns the importance of family when he embos out in when he embarks on a mission to rescue his father, who's been sent to Clunker Island to be repurposed as junk metal.
01:12:16
Speaker
Cargo. Greg. Greg. John Stewart. No, they wish they had John Stewart on this one. Rebecca for the steel again.
01:12:28
Speaker
Rebecca for the steel. Lee F. Shriver, based on the fact that he did that dogs movie for Wes Anderson, likes to do. ah Mallory for the win. Haley Joel Osment.
01:12:41
Speaker
Correct. He did play Danny, the young car.
01:12:48
Speaker
Question number seven. Spinning Boris. a russian The Russian political elite hires American consultants to help with President Yeltsin's re-election campaign when his approval rating is down to single digits. mallory Mallory!
01:13:07
Speaker
Damn it. Leah Schreiber. Obviously.
01:13:11
Speaker
Correct? I was really hoping it was not going to be Leah Schreiber. Haley Joel Osment or something. We got to get to Yeltsin. I don't know how to do Haley Joel Osment. I think you have to whisper. You have to be like, I see dead people.
01:13:28
Speaker
I have to get to Yeltsin. I see Yeltsin. I see Yeltsin. No, wait. Who was the one with the thing on his head? Gorbachev. Anyway, question number eight.
01:13:42
Speaker
Lackawanna Blues. A young boy's life is shaped by the cast of characters where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.
01:13:54
Speaker
Lackawanna Blues.
01:13:58
Speaker
Rebecca. Rebecca? John Stewart.
01:14:04
Speaker
Greg? Greg? Leo Schreiber? You're correct. You guys, we have one question left, and the score is two to three to three.
01:14:17
Speaker
Greg is on two. Okay. It all comes down to this. That's right. do Question number nine. Since you've been gone.
01:14:31
Speaker
The story of a 10th anniversary high school reunion told through the eyes of a doctor who was humiliated on graduation day by being badly beaten up by a fellow graduate.
01:14:45
Speaker
Mallory. Mallory. Leah Schreiber. ah rap For the steal, Rebecca. Rebecca. John Stewart. Correct. Jon Stewart played Todd Zielinski. Rebecca, you are the big winner.
01:15:06
Speaker
Congratulations. Listeners, update the wiki. And it's time for the Batty Board.
01:15:19
Speaker
Now you're messing with a... Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
01:15:30
Speaker
Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
01:15:36
Speaker
Congratulations to all the nominees.
01:15:44
Speaker
That's right. Congratulations to all our nominees. Congratulations to our listeners. You made it to the end of the show. You've made it to the end of the year 2025. Boom. Let's see what 2026 is going to have waiting for us.
01:15:58
Speaker
Let's see what Batty Awards the panel has waiting for us. Greg, why don't you kick us off? All right. So my Batty Award goes to my favorite joke in the movie, which is after the hail of bullets.
01:16:11
Speaker
ah leave Shriver. Chris is in the room and everybody leaves and Chris can't move because the foot's have been shot. And ah they just call out what's going on in there. Is everyone dead? And Adam Sandler just very quickly in on Adam Sandler, he just says, not everyone.
01:16:29
Speaker
and excellent There's something about that that just really got me this time. And I like nearly spit takes, you know, like it just really worked. I think partially because it wasn't like a, not his you know, it was not, it was just a very, just like, not everyone. Like it just carried so much tone and weight and was pitch perfect.
01:16:49
Speaker
And just like kind of out of the blue for that character. Really great moment. Loved it. yes Fantastic. ah I'm going to give my baddie award to the, this is the Who Knew Award. Something surprising I found out of my research. I had no idea that Anthony LaPaglia is Australian.
01:17:07
Speaker
What? It's true. He's from Adelaide. Yeah. Ooh, interesting. Yeah. Who knew? knew? I don't know he has his regular accent in The House of Mirth, starring Gillian Anderson also.
01:17:21
Speaker
Hmm. Haven't seen it. Rebecca and Mallory, do you have a Batty Award? Do you have two Batty Awards? Well, my Batty Award comes from the exact scene that Greg is referencing. oh And my Batty Award goes to Newprin because that's the good stuff. Newprin, that's the good stuff.
01:17:39
Speaker
Little yellow different.
01:17:43
Speaker
What about you, Rebecca? My Batty Award goes to the entire dancing scene with Chris and Phillip. Yeah. To the Shuwap Shuwap New Year's Eve song.
01:17:54
Speaker
So perfectly timed. The music is amazing. It starts off with this rhapsody on Henry Kissinger and how he goes to nightclubs and his funny little voice doesn't match his body. And then we ended up with this very passionate dancing scene and elaborate. So great. What are you doing?
01:18:12
Speaker
New Year's Eve. Shubhab Shubhab. That brings me to my runner-up, the soundtrack to this movie. The soundtrack as a whole. If you found the movie unwatchable, at least listen to the soundtrack because is one of the best compilations of holiday music. Santa Baby, got the Drifters.
01:18:35
Speaker
It's true. We've got Aretha. We've got Leon Redbone. You've also got an original song by Dr. John. Dr. John, Mixed Nuts. Mixed Nuts. me those Titular song.
01:18:48
Speaker
That will be our closing credits today. Listeners, make sure you stick around for that. And Rebecca and Mallory, thank you so much for coming and hanging out with us today. Thank you for bringing us Mixed Nuts, a movie I didn't like, but I am glad that I watched.
01:19:07
Speaker
Do you guys have anything to plug? Yeah, happy holidays. Happy holidays, everybody. Make sure you shop at your local Brits and Mortar bookstore or otherwise for your holiday gifts this year.
01:19:18
Speaker
Yes. Shop and local, shop independent. Support local theaters if you can. And do you guys want to be found online?
01:19:32
Speaker
You can check out watermarkbooks.com. For A-plus book recommendations and author event goings on in Wichita and virtually beyond. Yes, if you're in the Wichita area, feel free to visit wichitaorfeum.com to check out our 2025 film series that we're wrapping up.
01:19:51
Speaker
indi level We'll miss that recording, but we'll stay tuned for our 2026 anniversary film series starting tomorrow. in january yes definitely support the orpheum y'all and uh come back next week when we will be having our best bad movie of 2025 special
01:20:15
Speaker
we're gonna be talking about i can announce it here for the first time o primitive war congratulations to primitive war And if you want to make sure you don't miss that, hit that subscribe button, hit that follow button, hit whatever button your podcatcher has that will let you know when we have new episodes coming out.
01:20:39
Speaker
And hey, give us that five stars. Rebecca, Mallory, have you given us five stars yet? You know, I got that five stars on there. Five star rating, baby.
01:20:49
Speaker
Yes, five stars is free. That's what I'm talking about. Listeners, it's just that easy. And ah until next week, be good and goodbye.
01:21:04
Speaker
Goodbye. so long.
01:21:15
Speaker
Mayhem. I'm waiting. Say, Dick, I ain't fading.
01:21:26
Speaker
Yeah, no slackin'. Yo, kids, I'm crackin'. Damn, still, that cookies ain't caught you yet. Got a little something special about the TV.
01:21:37
Speaker
Good news. Hey, Santa. Cashews and pecans. Hooray. Ho, Santa.
01:21:49
Speaker
Bye.