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Lost In The Dead Man - Wake Up Dead Man Review
17 Plays2 days ago
Rian Johnson is back with his newest entry in the Knives Out filmography, Wake Up Dead Man. This is dropping on Netflix the same day as this episode, December 12th, so make sure to watch it, form your own opinion, and give this episode a listen. Leave us a review and follow us on Letterboxd!
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Transcript
Speculating Rian Johnson's Mystery Films
00:00:13
Speaker
How many more whodunits can Rian Johnson come up with? Four? Five? Six? Seven?
00:00:25
Speaker
That's really what
00:00:30
Speaker
it was. Welcome. seven. we were just talking about six, seven at work today. and I do think it's funny. I'm sorry. It makes me laugh. I want to see your fastest. Okay, ready?
00:00:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:50
Speaker
I'm gonna throw out my back. You need the exhale. All right.
Introductions and Listener Feedback
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to the Lost in the Frame podcast. I am your host, Tachi. I'm your host, Malik. I'm your host, Alex, and we're adults. We're all adults. We're all adults. We're so old and cool. we're so ready for today's episode. Happy Spotify wrapped season for all those who celebrate.
00:01:14
Speaker
Hooray. and Allegedly, we were in some of yours. according to like According to our Spotify wrap, we were in some of yours. Yes.
00:01:26
Speaker
So there are... You know what? We're new to this. We're going to get these numbers up exponentially in the next couple of years. I like that. I like seeing where we're at right now. But right now, I think this is pretty cool that for 17 individual people, we're the we're their number one show.
00:01:45
Speaker
Right. So thank you for those 17 people. And if you're one of those 17 people, feel free to leave a comment on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Let us know you're listening. Let us know that you're here.
00:01:57
Speaker
We'd love to hear from you.
Spotify Wrapped Music Preferences
00:01:58
Speaker
But thank you for everybody listening. send some feedback. Yeah. Any constructive criticism or just notes of kindness? Like does Malik need to tone down the blackness?
00:02:09
Speaker
Does Alex need to tone down the autisticness? Yeah.
00:02:16
Speaker
Something's wrong with Tachi. He's a little obscure, though. We're not sure. Can't quite put your finger on it. But it's there. How was you guys' is personal Spotify raps?
00:02:28
Speaker
Any surprises? or I took a trip to Magdalena Bay. I need to listen to them more. Yeah, you do. Whenever they first popped up on TikTok, they had that one song that was going viral, and I was like, oh, this is good. I was like wagging my finger, tapping my foot. Wagging.
00:02:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I do that. Interesting. who Who are they? what was's there What's their deal? They be vibing.
00:02:55
Speaker
All right. Sounds great. i don't how to describe them. It's like alt pop. i've I've seen them described as like prog pop.
00:03:05
Speaker
Prog pop. I'm not familiar. you guys remember what your top genres were? Dream pop was my number one. i can Dream pop. Because I have issues. Mine was Midwest emo.
00:03:19
Speaker
I feel like that tracks. I think so. had Midwest emo, indie rock, metal, pop, and shoegaze. Oh, shoegaze is so gas. Love shoegaze.
00:03:32
Speaker
I don't remember my genres, but um had a lot of The Weeknd, Childish Gambino, and Sleep Token. what Do you guys remember what your listening age was? Was it older younger than you currently are? It was 40. Yours was 40?
00:03:48
Speaker
and Mine got messed up because of that piano stuff. ah Mine's 63.
00:03:56
Speaker
Almost made me do some self-reflection, but it's okay. Someone at work, we were sharing our Spotify raps today. And she was like, I think Spotify was trolling me with the age thing. Cause her top five artists were like, it was like Taylor Swift, s Sabrina Carpenter, just like your, your Gen Z like pop artists.
00:04:14
Speaker
But it said that her average listening age was 67.
00:04:18
Speaker
And so she thinks it was just like a six, seven joke to travel. Because everyone's like, that makes no sense at all. My parents over Thanksgiving break told me that they hated six seven I mean, they're both like teachers, I'm sure they see it a ton.
The '6-7' Meme Discussion
00:04:36
Speaker
hit him with six seven hit them with them with had to. Here's my take on It is so stupid, like genuinely one of like the dumbest things that I've actually looped around to thinking it's funny. I agree.
00:04:52
Speaker
And I think that's what's so like endearing about it is that it's one about nothing. And two, it's just so stupid. That it means everything now.
00:05:05
Speaker
It's beautiful part modern society. It did actually warm my heart to those videos of the little kids at like the basketball games. Then like someone hits the free throw and it's 67. They're all going nuts in the crowd. like And then like the players are doing it too. It's like wholesome. you know the people yearn for community. yeah Let the kids be kids.
00:05:24
Speaker
okay We all... We all like stupid stuff, too. We all thought. mean yeah I'm sure we think our memes were like comedy gold and it was really bad. i remember the B emoji.
00:05:38
Speaker
What's that? thought it hilarious. Literally the letter B, the emoji, the red B. You don't remember that? Would that be was like replacing everything with B? Like booklet bookies?
00:05:49
Speaker
Instead of C? Oh, that yeah, that's part of my everyday vocabulary. So that one lives on. yeah Because Malik is gang affiliated. That's why he's moving to California. Is that a black joke?
00:06:05
Speaker
Maybe.
00:06:09
Speaker
Well, thank you for that. Yeah. well ah I'm a fan of 6-7, so maybe we'll throw a couple of jokes and in in this podcast episode for you guys. This is going to be our least listened to episode. um Today, we are discussing the new Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man.
00:06:27
Speaker
We saw this in theaters last night. yep This episode is releasing December 12th. So if you're listening today, this is available in your home to watch on Netflix. So just make sure you pay attention and watch it. But we're gonna talk about some movie news before we get into our thoughts and general discussion on Wake Up Dead Man.
00:06:46
Speaker
Anyone wanna kick off the news? Again.
00:06:52
Speaker
Go ahead. right. Now you're ready.
Upcoming Live-Action Projects
00:06:57
Speaker
Take your time. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Schatz of Percy Jackson confirmed that they are developing a live action Power Rangers series for Disney Plus. Hell yeah.
00:07:10
Speaker
Okay. I think the Power Rangers need some well-deserved TLC. i love fresh juice I genuinely don't know anything about like the Power Rangers or the Power Rangers lore besides the fact that they got those suits. They look like they ride motorcycles and they're multicolored. That's it.
00:07:31
Speaker
The Pink Ranger was hot once upon a time. yes That's basically all you need to know. I know Ball. And they kick ass. They do kick ass. So is almost every Red Ranger too.
00:07:44
Speaker
Anyways, i it's true I've always been a big fan of the Power Rangers um dating back to Mighty Morphin. i grew up watching a Japanese one um called Kakurenja.
00:07:57
Speaker
And there was, a they were there were ninjas. They were really cool. But they had, the show had the goofiest intro and outro. I can show you guys the, I can share the link later, but it's genius. And I really miss it.
00:08:13
Speaker
richard Richard. What? he said later?
00:08:25
Speaker
anyway. ah
00:08:31
Speaker
Let's move on. I can do the next one. All right. Vin Diesel will star and write a live action Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie for Mattel. Diesel says the film will examine the role of competition in a world often measured by strength and dominance that dares to reveal the power of compassion at its core.
00:08:49
Speaker
What about family? I think that's what he wanted to say.
00:08:54
Speaker
Rock'em Sock'em family. Live action Rock'em Sock'em robots. Now this is the one where you'd control it, right? like Yeah, and you just punch each other. so it's like real steel, which is sick, by the way.
00:09:07
Speaker
Yeah, but like with your hands. So are we going to see people or the robots?
00:09:20
Speaker
I don't know. What is this going to be? This is either going to be the worst movie ever made or it's actually going to be like, this is pretty good. With Vin Diesel attached, I don't know. I lean towards the latter.
00:09:31
Speaker
he has one short film that's actually like pretty good. Like genuinely like it's called, was it multifacial?
00:09:43
Speaker
It's about like, being a mixed race actor in New York city or something. I've seen it like twice. It's got this crazy, like super Italian opening and, uh, multi-racial multi right there.
00:10:00
Speaker
Um, sure. Maybe he channels back into that. Who knows? He could have, there could be something deep inside him that wants to be released. Um,
00:10:14
Speaker
Maybe. You don't think Groot did that for him?
00:10:19
Speaker
If the Iron Man, I mean, the Iron Giant didn't, then don't think Groot did. The Iron Man. The Iron Man. Tony.
00:10:32
Speaker
Firmly. We'll see. ah Scarlett Johansson is officially in talks to star in the Batman part two. Poison Ivy. yeah That was my first thought.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yes, please. Do you guys like her? Scar Jo? Yeah. Depends. i was going to say, it just depends on the role for her. She's either in like, wow, she's actually pretty good in this, or it's just like straight to DVD slop.
00:10:56
Speaker
I think she's good at balancing the like franchise hits, the money makers. And I would actually maybe not balance it. I feel like she does like a 70-30, like 70 franchise hits in the money makers and then 30% like the artsy ones.
00:11:11
Speaker
But yeah, like Alex said, depending on her role, like I mean, I do like her. Did she peak in Lost in Translation, though? Don't know. Still haven't watched it. Dude, you have a problem. Maybe I'll watch it tomorrow.
00:11:25
Speaker
Put that one in your watch list two years ago and let it marinate. It is. It's been marinating. Here's another one I needed to watch. I need to watch. Leonardo DiCaprio confirms he will star in Heat 2.
00:11:38
Speaker
We're actually like approaching when that would be in theaters. It's still not in theaters. So I don't think it's happening. For your your little reboot anniversary.
Reviewing Top Movies of 2025
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. here I'm looking right now. To see if it's going to be released. Yeah. Heat. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'll just watch it at home. That's fine.
00:12:01
Speaker
No, i because I wanted to... I think we should all watch it together okay as a friend group because we have other friends who haven't seen it. Let's do it.
00:12:12
Speaker
Organize it. Make it happen. My body's ready. There was another movie we were going to include as a doubleheader. Was it Lost in Translation? I think it was Popstar. Ooh.
00:12:24
Speaker
A tripleheader. Perhaps. Something. I'm down for it. As long as heat is shown on a TV so I can watch it.
00:12:35
Speaker
I'll do it. Yeah. And Popstar. Rolling Stone released their top 20 movies of 2025. And I wanted to talk a little bit about their top 10. Did you guys get to take a look at it?
00:12:49
Speaker
Skimming over right now. There are already some I've never even heard of. I'm looking. It's about that time. Are you guys, how's the movie watching been for you guys recently? are you trying to get caught up on 2025 releases? I'm behind. Yeah. I'm really behind.
00:13:02
Speaker
I'm grinding. I'm, I'm trying to grind. Um, I just went to go see sentimental value and that is Rolling Stones. Number 10 movie. No way. No way.
00:13:13
Speaker
What? Black Bag, number three. Get out of here. Okay, no way. Get out of here. There's just no way. Marty Supreme at number nine. I'm closing this list. We're moving on.
00:13:25
Speaker
Sorry, baby, for number eight. That one was good. No other the choice, number seven. I'm excited for that one. Train Dreams at four, Black Bag. So I think I think it's told you guys my story with Black Bag.
00:13:38
Speaker
um You fell asleep, right? I fell asleep, yeah. i I need to watch it again. I'm not saying that the movie was bad. I was just sleepy. I had two hot dogs before the movie started.
00:13:49
Speaker
not You got glizzied. I did get glizzied. ah Number two is Hamnet, and number one is one battle after another. I watched Black Bag on a plane.
00:14:02
Speaker
And I think raw dogging the flight would have been better. You didn't like it? No, I hated it and it was it It is a movie written by a stupid person about smart people, and it's stupid.
00:14:20
Speaker
Who wrote it? I don't know. john it's It's right there in the description the article. with John Le Carr. It's a Steven Soderbergh movie. You don't like Soderbergh, do you?
00:14:31
Speaker
It doesn't seem like you do. No, I'm fine with Steven Serberg, just based off of his last two films, this one. And then what was it? Presence? Oh, that was bad. He did Oceans, right?
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah, he did Oceans 11. Yeah, you know, Oceans 11. And I actually liked the Solaris remake that he made of the Tarkovsky movie. It was just his recent output.
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah, maybe he's just washed. yeah it could be i don't really see anything relevant oh he made the jake rivera movie there's magic mike logan lucky's fun haven't seen yet yeah i also haven't seen that one logan lucky was really fun that's channing tatum in that one right yep and daniel craig it's a heist okay and adam driver yeah nice that sounds like a fun movie it's it's really fun ah guys going to try to be catching up this month?
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah. Ideally. Because I've only seen two of the top ten on this list, I think. i Maybe just one. This list is whatever. like What's your personal list of what you want to see this year?
00:15:41
Speaker
Get your top ten. Because we've got to talk about our top ten like towards the beginning of the year. Yeah. In January. Yeah, I'll catch you up. I watched recently Bugonia.
00:15:53
Speaker
Really liked it. Sentimental value I wanted to love because I've heard nothing but great things. I liked it. I don't think I'm as high about it as everyone else. And I just watched K-pop Demon Hunters before this episode.
00:16:06
Speaker
Golden? That's a banger. It's golden. We're going up, up, up, up. In a minute in the morning. I had your idol spammed like, i don't know, three days straight.
00:16:20
Speaker
was obsessed with that song. It's like the song right after golden. It's when the, the Saja boys are being little baddies. Oh, it's a Saja boy song. Yeah. Is that the, uh, what did they say? The, the one that references like soda or something?
00:16:34
Speaker
No, that's soda pop. Okay. Soda pop. like My little soda pop.
00:16:41
Speaker
thing I'm blanking on your idol, but it's my favorite song on the album. Or the soundtrack. Yeah, there were some bangers. It was a cool movie. Good movie, yeah. yeah it was pretty. Good looking movie.
00:16:51
Speaker
Are we tired of the ah Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse animation trend going on? With every single animated movie. It's not particularly good.
00:17:03
Speaker
I think they rip it off. Yeah. I think spider bursts just kind of mastered it and everyone just wanted to hop on the train, but I am looking forward to, um, that cat movie that's going to have, it's like hand painted or something.
00:17:19
Speaker
We talked about this. Yeah. i can't remember what it's called, but it looks really, really cool. It's a new Disney movie, right? um I can't remember if it's Disney or Universal or did a trailer come out for it. I remember last time we talked about it i think we had just talked that ah we were coming off of flow and Disney had announced something similar and we just saw some like storyboards and artwork.
00:17:47
Speaker
Is it that is that the same one that we're talking about
Introducing 'Wake Up Dead Man'
00:17:49
Speaker
or is this something else? Yeah, I'm trying to find it, but I don't know if I'll be able to. That's all right. Yeah, we're getting off track, but that's OK. You guys ready for the movie?
00:17:59
Speaker
I'm ready for the movie. Okay. Alex? I think I'm ready for the movie. All right. So, Wake Up Dead Man, directed by Rian Johnson. Summary goes, when young priest Judd Duplantis, Duplantis, Duplantis, is that right?
00:18:17
Speaker
Do they ever say his last name? Yeah, do do I think DuPlanici is it. DuPlanici, okay. When young priest Judd DuPlanici is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it's clear that all is not well in the pews.
00:18:30
Speaker
After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.
00:18:45
Speaker
Starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Kaylee Spaney, and Daryl McCormick, who this was my first time seeing.
00:19:02
Speaker
Daryl McCormick? Yeah. He was in Twisters. I don't remember him in Twisters. Oh, yeah. fell asleep in that one. Out of this cast, he was like the only one that I that i was not familiar with. He said he fell asleep during Twisters?
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah. Don't forget my boy Thomas Hayden Church. Oh, true. Thomas Hayden Church. Dog. And Jeffrey Wright. for like i love Jeffrey Wright. do love Jeffrey Wright.
00:19:27
Speaker
I wish we had more of him. He probably nailed like his two lines though. Yeah, he really did. Just came in on a random day off and killed it and then left.
00:19:37
Speaker
Right. what are you guys ah expecting going into this? Are you fans of the series? I'm a fan of the series. I'd say so. Knives Out was like really refreshing and and a really good time.
00:19:51
Speaker
um i know people aren't as high on Glass Onion. It's fine. It's fine. I liked Glass. Like, I think at the worst, I can think we could probably say maybe Glass Sonia and overall could be the worst of it. But like at the worst of it, I think these movies are just a lot of fun. Yeah. I really enjoy Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. Like, he seems to have a lot of fun with it.
00:20:11
Speaker
Like, I don't know what that accent is, but it's a deep Southern that accent, maybe a little Savannah, maybe a little Cajun, but it's Southern. Yeah. who's the little foghorn leghorn yeah that's what i was thinking a foghorn leghorn i do declare it's like i say i sit on you i only know that from the office that's what i was doing uh what about you tachi are you what do you how do you feel about the knives out universe yeah no i i love them uh i i think i kind of
00:20:48
Speaker
agree with the general consensus that you know second is kind of the weakest but i really enjoy all of them i feel like each one kind of hones in on a specific way of approaching like uncovering the the murderer and and their motives and uh i really like ryan johnson's creativity yeah I think they're a lot of fun. Like if he keeps making these forever, we get like 20 more Knives Out movies. I'm cool with it.
00:21:23
Speaker
Do you guys think these movies should be renamed? Because they're like all like a Knives Out mystery. Should they be renamed something like Benoit Blanc blunders or something like that?
00:21:34
Speaker
I wouldn't say Blunders because that's got like a negative connotation. Yeah. But something like Benoit Blanc, know what i'm saying? Yeah, yeah. like just like I do you think i agree. Yeah. Okay. Knives Out was so central to the first movie.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. Not really any of the others, but... Yeah, I i mean, i do like that the marketing for this one has pretty much just only been Wake Up Dead Man. Same.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think they need to change the series name from like a Knives Out mystery to like, yeah, Benoit Blanc related. The Scooby-Doo live have action. A Benoit Blanc caper.
00:22:08
Speaker
I like that one. um Let's do our Letterboxd Love Like Loathe. Tachi's got our five star today. I have our three star and Alex with his one star. So my star kind of my five star comes in from Juggler.
00:22:24
Speaker
Best one yet. Best cast yet. Can't wait to see this again sometime soon. You're in for a proper Rian Johnson treat. Some insane cinematography that I just can't get out of my head. Such a brilliant movie. Adored the experience and loved every moment.
00:22:37
Speaker
Had to wait in a queue for five hours for this and it was entirely worth it. So really high praise. Yeah. Would you guys ever wait five hours for a movie? It depends on the movie. Yeah.
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah. Like doing three. Yeah. Oh yeah. All right. Uh, our three star comes from Taylor way too long. Messed up the pacing. We could have cut 30 minutes from the beginning and had the same movie made me rewatch glass onion. And I liked it a lot more than the first time I watched it. So maybe I just need to rewatch this one in five years.
00:23:08
Speaker
Thanks, Taylor. Neat. I have her one star. Joseph Earp, a letterboxed patron. it' Astonishing that the medium of cinema, which has gifted us unparalleled highs of beauty and insight also gave us wake up dead man, a movie that contains the word pwnage, a climactic speech about Facebook comments and a fourth wall break joking about Netflix.
00:23:41
Speaker
And ultimately it feels like a smug 2009 liberal, who has spent too long on Twitter farting into a diving helmet, placing it on their own head, and breathing it in for two hours and 20 minutes.
00:24:00
Speaker
Wow. The worst part is, I went on this person's profile to judge their movie tastes, They kind of know Ball. yeah like A lot of their five stars, I was like, oh, that's a good one. like How do you interpret that review? What what fourth wall Netflix...
00:24:21
Speaker
joke are they talking about they did name netflix like directly yeah well there was like a so like a streaming like oh this will be a streaming show on netflix or something i don't remember that think they made a joke about being like an unsolved murder yeah yeah yeah yeah and it appearing as like a streaming service thing i think there is some validity to some of the corny stuff like pwnage in 2025 are you kidding me it's Come on.
00:24:51
Speaker
I don't remember someone saying pwnage, and I'm glad I don't. ah You don't know Get Pwned from 2009? No, no, i don't yeah I do. I just don't remember them saying that in the movie. I don't remember who said it. it's It might have been... and think it was like i just like a random commenter, but Benoit Blanc commented on it. He was like, owned, but with a P. Pwned.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, let's get into what works for each of us. I know you guys don't like Rian Johnson because of what he did with Star Wars and all that. No, no, no. Let's not get it twisted. so back Let's back up We have audio recording.
00:25:33
Speaker
Of myself, at least. I can't speak for Tosche. We have audio recording saying I at least respect that Rian Johnson tried to be different. I think it was very, very poorly executed.
00:25:44
Speaker
And he's got an eye for flair. I mean, The Last Jedi is arguably the best looking of the Disney Star Wars movies. Rogue One has some great moments. so um But I don't hate Rian Johnson. I'm not one of those people...
00:26:03
Speaker
who post on r slash saltier than crate and call him ruin Johnson.
00:26:10
Speaker
That'd be a little too far. I have my criticisms, but you know, everyone has a bad movie. And I, while I did go into knives out with my guard up, I ended up giving that movie a nine out of 10 walking out of it I've seen it twice.
00:26:26
Speaker
So that's not just like a, Oh, I was, you know my expectations were low. And then, you know, It was great. And i overhyped it. No, I so saw it twice and I gave it a fair shot both times and I really enjoyed it.
00:26:40
Speaker
And I really enjoy this series. I don't have a problem with Rian Johnson. I don't have a problem with The Last Jedi. Agreed. That's fair. And I'm also objectively correct.
00:26:53
Speaker
Didn't mean to roll for your feathers. I just had to make sure. i just didn't know if it was just The Last Jedi, if there was any ill will towards Rian Johnson himself. um Do we think he's going to do anything else besides Knives Out?
00:27:08
Speaker
He probably will. Yeah. I wonder what that would look like. didn't even realize he did Looper. Ooh. I like Looper. Rick is good. The Last Jedi. Yeah.
00:27:20
Speaker
He did a couple episodes of Breaking Bad, including Ozymandias. Like that Breaking Bad episode. Oh, shit. That's big time. That's nuts. That's like thats top 10 all time. Yeah.
00:27:33
Speaker
Cool. He seems like a nice dude. I'd like to have a beer with him. Me too. He gives me... um Oh my God, why am I forgetting his name? He gives me like Frodo vibes.
00:27:46
Speaker
Is he... Elijah Wood. Elijah Wood. Like, him and Elijah Wood kind of look, so like, he looks like a more evolved version of Elijah Wood to What does that mean? i don't know, like, older, like, wiser?
00:28:02
Speaker
Like, that's what Elijah Wood's gonna look like in, like, ten years, maybe? No? It's funny you mention that, because I actually have him right here. you just walks in. Heard every word.
00:28:14
Speaker
um Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. I think it just gets better and better with each of these movies. And one thing that I really appreciated with this movie, going back to my three-star review, they said that they could have cut the first 30 minutes out of this movie and we would have had the same movie.
00:28:33
Speaker
I completely disagree.
Themes and Character Development in 'Wake Up Dead Man'
00:28:35
Speaker
I think the first 30 minutes were like some of its strongest, and I really appreciated like the late entry. of benoit blanc and just really letting us settle into this small town and this and this parish and what's going on with joshua kanda's character and how he got to to where he was so more like a parish am i right yes yes um are we going to try to talk about this for a little bit without spoilers or should we just give a spoiler warning
00:29:06
Speaker
now I feel like we can't talk about this without breaching your spoiler territory. ah Don't listen to this episode if you haven't seen this movie and you want to see the movie.
00:29:17
Speaker
Just put it on pause. Go re-listen to the Exorcist episode or something. And... Come back in like two weeks. Yeah, this episode is meant for you watching it at home and then maybe Saturday morning you're wanting to find out what people are thinking about it. You're like, oh wait, my favorite boy's got an episode about this. What do they think? I hope they do a whole spoiler discussion.
00:29:39
Speaker
We're doing a spoiler discussion. So if you haven't seen it and you listen to this, thanks for listening. We love you. We really do. But you're dumb.
00:29:55
Speaker
um Me when I listen to the synopsis of a whodunit movie and I find out who did it. Don't don't let that be you. um What works for you guys? We can go around the horn here.
00:30:07
Speaker
Love Josh O'Connor. He's great. He's awesome. He was so good in this. And Challengers. He plays, I think, This movie was pretty surprising for me. um It's very different from both Glass Onion and Knives Out.
00:30:25
Speaker
And we'll get into kind of the specifics of exactly why. But I think a lot of that, Josh O'Connor lends a heavy hand in He plays this priest... so convincingly and the struggles that he's going through both personally and with his faith.
00:30:42
Speaker
Like I was just like, I'm fully, i like I fully believed him throughout this role and I really, really like him in it. the the The character design of him having a neck tattoo peeking over.
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Was so good. So good. I feel like there's a lot of fun, small little nuggets in this that like I most likely am going to rewatch this when it comes out next Friday.
00:31:07
Speaker
For sure. I think these movies gain a little, um, como se edge to it. When you rewatch it, knowing like how everything kind of wraps up, you can kind of look out for those like little Easter eggs and everything like that. And of course, of course, this is why it happened. So i'm excited to to rewatch it.
00:31:31
Speaker
Alex? When I heard the synopsis as a movie announced, I thought it was going to be very, very, very lay-reddit atheism-y.
00:31:43
Speaker
Not that I have a problem with anyone's religious beliefs or anything like that, but there's there's just like a level of cringe that comes with that topic that i was like, oh boy.
00:32:00
Speaker
Like, please don't have a two hour and 30 minute movie be like art slash atheism because those people suck. And I think that I was a little bit worried as well because I thought the political commentary in Glass Onion was a little heavy handed. Yeah. And that's just something that it's a personal pet peeve of mine.
00:32:22
Speaker
I don't like it when things are too heavy handed. um It doesn't matter what it's about. It could be something that I disagree with because I agree with. I don't like it when it's heavy handed. And that was really where my worry was coming from, because, I mean, I think all viewpoints are valid.
00:32:37
Speaker
It's important to have dialogue and discussion and difference of viewpoints. That's not my point here. But I was genuinely really surprised to see that Rian Johnson was as detailed and as, i think, open about the religious aspects of the movie. I think we read this off camera before we started filming. One of the five star reviews said that this is like the most Christian movie made since The Passion of the Christ.
00:33:08
Speaker
And they're not entirely wrong. This is a very, I think, like a very overtly religious movie um in a weird way because Rian Johnson isn't really religious as far as I read.
00:33:24
Speaker
He grew up in the faith, but he i think he has a lot of respect for it. I don't think he particularly practices it. So I was really surprised to see this almost as like...
00:33:37
Speaker
His own personal treatise as to why someone should have the faith. And it made me think that this is actually probably the most thematically daring and in and bold Knives Out movie that has been made.
00:33:56
Speaker
I think it's the most in-depth. I think it tackles with some pretty heavy stuff for like a slapstick comedy mystery movie. And I think it worked really, really well.
00:34:08
Speaker
i think I think he pulled it off very well, actually. Um... I was, ah I love Josh O'Connor's character. There are a couple scenes in here that um I was just floored with that I thought were done so well.
00:34:27
Speaker
The most notably being the seeing the scene with the the receptionist on the phone. Yep. Yeah, I thought that was so well done. I thought Joshua Connors subtle acting and his voice inflections. I it was just it was perfect. It was perfect.
00:34:42
Speaker
I think it's my favorite scene in the movie. Yeah, it's one of my favorite scenes of the year. I'll put it in that maybe like a top 20, but. Yeah, no, it's one that I remember from this movie and I will hold for a long time.
00:34:55
Speaker
It's like, oh, that whereas Glass Onion, I don't think had one of those. Knives Out had ah had a bunch of them, but for other reasons, because they were just memorable. I don't think Knives Out was a particularly like impactful, like, whoa. I don't think it had many of those scenes. um There was the bit at the end, though, with Ana de Armas walking out and all the families is looking at her.
00:35:16
Speaker
It was probably ah that's probably that movie's equivalent. Yeah. um But I think that, ah yeah, I mean, the exploration of one's faith in this movie and like actually it being like a serious theme, I was not expecting it.
00:35:33
Speaker
I wasn't. And if you were raised religious or are religious, you will probably have a pretty good time with this movie. it's It's very interesting, I thought, especially for what it is.
00:35:47
Speaker
like It's not philosophical. like i mean It actually is philosophical, but it's not like you know deeply philosophical. but
00:35:55
Speaker
I was like, wow, that's actually very... I'm intrigued. I like it. I think it hits on those points on like those philosophical points enough to not be preachy, but to have everybody who watches this kind of take away like their own message, because I really feel like this really, it doesn't,
00:36:17
Speaker
make the audience want to lean in one direction or another whether that be faith or non-faith like it kind of just presents both of these possibilities and ways of thinking and just lays them out as they are and I think that's shown both with um Joshua Connor Joshua Connor's character um and Benoit Blanc who's who who's an outspoken like atheist and he gives a little monologue in the beginning of why he doesn't subscribe to the church or the faith and everything like that so you see these two very different people and this kind of turns into just like a like a buddy cop movie with these two being center stage and it worked very well and it worked very well their chemistry was off the charts it it really did work for me like
00:37:05
Speaker
Walking out of this one, I think out of the other Knives Out movies, I think this is one that I had to take some time and think about just a little bit more.
00:37:18
Speaker
And as I'm like kind of pondering my own feelings with it, I appreciated that that that was happening with a Knives Out movie. Because like like like I didn't expect that at all.
00:37:29
Speaker
Like the first Knives Out is just good fun. So is Glass Onion kind of more over the top. And then this one just really lets you like sit and and think with it for a second. So not even just with the whodunit aspect, but just the relationships and the people.
00:37:45
Speaker
I just really, really, really appreciate the intense level of care and attention to detail for Josh O'Connor's character being a priest just surrounded by so much, I don't know the the word for it, but I guess just finding himself lost in, in the conflict going around him and staying true to his like core tenants.
00:38:14
Speaker
Yeah. It was really, really interesting. And I don't know, I was really, really impressed. And the more I've thought about it, kind of like you, the more I appreciated the movie. I know walking out, I was like, I don't really know how I feel, you know? Yeah.
00:38:29
Speaker
But literally by the time I got to my car and i was you know sitting at the first red light ah outside the Alamo and um I was just thinking, wow, this was beautiful movie with beautiful messages. And and like you were saying, it doesn't really make you sway one way or the other.
00:38:50
Speaker
It's just, I think most people will be able to resonate with, I guess, a lot of the central themes. Yeah, i I think for me when we were when we were walking out, I'm like, okay, I know I liked it, but really trying to break down why i think I was a bit more hesitant because i mean, this is the third movie in the series.
00:39:09
Speaker
We know they're who done. It's like the mystery and how we got from point A to point B is kind of the whole thing. and To be honest, for me, the actual mystery and the actual like whodunit was the least interesting part of this movie. And so when we walked out, I was like, um, and so that's why i was excited to talk about it today because it does feel like it has to be a little like recontextualized for how different this movie is. And I think it's just overall a net positive.
00:39:44
Speaker
I agree. Actually, i had already guessed the the killer within the first 20 minutes, I think. Pretty easy. Yeah. Pretty easy. And i was just like, why why was this so easy?
00:39:57
Speaker
But why am I still so interested? yeah Why do i really enjoy what's going on right now? Even though for the the next two hours, I'm like, okay, I know who it is, but...
00:40:08
Speaker
why you know how um but also care yeah but also like what's going to happen to the priest and yeah you get it i really like josh brolin in this he's such a underrated actor He's very intimidating.
00:40:28
Speaker
He's very funny. And he just, he's like, he's a powerhouse in this. that He is a powerhouse. That first confession with Josh O'Connor was hilarious and like terrifying all at the same time. He's like, ah I've masturbated four times this week and six weeks since my last confessional. So we're 35, 30 times.
00:40:52
Speaker
I got lotion. It's like I finished on the under the Catholic Corner magazine, which I'm sure is a sin in itself. I'm not sure. Maybe not.
00:41:04
Speaker
Tried it with the hand facing the wrong way. Yeah. That one got me. and This is also, i think, the most visually striking Knives Out movie.
00:41:21
Speaker
The church and the the mood of the entire movie between like the church and the forest and the stained glass windows and the light pouring through it or being taken away depending on characters who walk in or out of the room.
00:41:35
Speaker
I disagree. What? had a witch part. It being a visually striking movie. I actually think it was pretty flat.
00:41:46
Speaker
I think visually striking for the Knives Out movies the most out of these three. I think the first one is is I think the first one was more striking in my opinion. In fact, maybe we're getting a little bit ahead of myself. This was one of my two did not work.
00:42:04
Speaker
I keep seeing like the camera shots, how gorgeous this movie was, and the comments and the reviews, and i I disagree. I think it's actually fairly bland. And to the point where during like a lot of the storm scenes, I thought the production quality wasn't that great.
00:42:18
Speaker
I think that's fair. No, you're supposed to argue with me. Well, okay, here's the thing. ah I think it's the best looking... I think it's the best composed shot-wise out of the three. There are a lot of good shots that I like in this...
00:42:34
Speaker
a lot so much so that i think i could put it just barely above the first knives out i think the first knives out does the mystery better i think it has a better supporting cast um better chemistry between all of the cast like there's a lot of things that the first knives out does better than both glass sundian and wake up dead man um but Like, for the shots-wise, I think I just really liked the setting of the church.
00:42:59
Speaker
I think it just really worked for the overall tone of the movie, and then that's why and then that's why I say that. Now, I have seen people say that, like, this is, like, one of the most beautiful movies, like, ever. Yeah. And that's where I can kind of agree with you on some points where I'm like, it's like it's totally fine.
00:43:17
Speaker
It's not bad. It's not bad. It doesn't really... go out of its way to do like the, I mean, it's one of those things. It's like, I say this from a place of love. If you think this is one of the best shot movies of all time, like just some, watch something else, please.
00:43:31
Speaker
I think, I think people think this in the framing of the knives out movies. I think there's just a lot of things that weren't expected from this movie that we got. And that makes people just like, Whoa, is this the best thing I've ever seen in my life?
00:43:50
Speaker
And I'm like, no, but it's really good. Like the shots I did appreciate. I like the use of like the windows and the light coming through and the angles and all that. That was neat. I think that's what it was in. But wasn't super original.
00:44:02
Speaker
hmm. It's like, oh, they're in a church and the light shining on somebody like. Whoa. Wow. Never seen that before. I really can't wait to rewatch this because.
00:44:16
Speaker
with the lighting i feel like there are probably a lot of visual cues that we just didn't you know pick up on because it's our first time viewing we don't know yeah what the story is but i just think that there are a lot more qualified people that are gonna have some video essays that i'm and i'll watch them probably gonna watch because i don't know i i thought it looked good not great but a lot of things seemed really intentional. And so yeah on, on a rewatch, I'm, I'm hoping to, to pick up on, you know, what Ryan Johnson was trying to do.
00:44:53
Speaker
I'm more with you on that one. Um, yeah, Daniel Craig, Joshua Connor and Josh Brolin are like my standout performances from, from this one. Um, and anyone else stand out for you guys performance wise?
00:45:08
Speaker
I don't know much about Glenn Close, but I really liked her in this role. My dad's going to come fight you. He doesn't like Glenn Close that much. He doesn't? In in general? In general, he just doesn't like Glenn Close. i don' Yeah, I don't know if I've seen her before. I've known of her, but... Oh, to be an older person who just has beef with an actor for no reason? Yeah.
00:45:29
Speaker
God. We were robbed. We were robbed of just a better life. We'll get old. In so many ways. We can beef with actors whenever we're like in our 60s and 70s.
00:45:42
Speaker
I'm old and I have beef with an entire family. So it's once you hit your thirty s is when the blood you would start coming. I'm sorry. Fast forward three years.
00:45:55
Speaker
um what of the things that I hit on earlier that didn't really work for me. This is a stacked cast. But I feel like the supporting cast was IMO.
00:46:07
Speaker
Very weak. To me. It was really underdeveloped. Yeah. So much was given to Josh O'Connor, which I am thankful for, but it did leave a lot of people out to dry.
00:46:20
Speaker
Yeah, and that's like part of the appeal of these movies is the ensemble cast and the different characters that we get. This one, they just kind of felt like, they just felt like written characters to me. They're like, oh, this guy is the author. He's the drunk author. This guy is the divorced doctor. this This is the crazy lawyer. like And it just felt like that was all there really was to them.
00:46:42
Speaker
So like, the weight is pulled by Josh O'Connor. You're totally correct there. But I do wish we had just some more oomph from the rest of the cast. Like Kaylee Spaney, love her.
00:46:53
Speaker
I didn't care about her. did not care about her character whatsoever. Yeah, which is a shame. like it was That's very ableist of you. did not care about her.
00:47:04
Speaker
Like the most interesting part, I think, about the supporting cast was when they were with Josh Brolin. seeing the control that he had over them. But as soon as he's like out of the picture, I feel like they just lost all steam, whether that be intentional or not. I don't know, but that's the last two hours of the movie without Josh Brolin.
00:47:24
Speaker
So yeah, that's basically my, what doesn't really work for me for this one. I think Thomas Hayden church was the only like
00:47:34
Speaker
supporting cast guy that was like you kind of care about him a little bit because he's like a normal human being yeah he just got that very like he's got a soft face you kind of just want to grab beer with him yeah well he's the he's sober oh no Yeah, you're right. when It's so short, but that scene when he gets into the ah the coffin and the face that he makes to Glenn Close, was like, wow, that's love.
00:48:02
Speaker
Yeah, he's just something in his eyes. Yeah. It's like, see you soon. And I believed it. Mm-hmm. Said that they spray printed rocket ships all over the. Great. Right.
00:48:16
Speaker
Yeah, no, I wanted more from Andrew Scott. I feel like it was building up something. and then. the last hour of the movie there's just like nothing from him really i really like andrew scott too yeah he i mean he gave us a couple laughs whatever because the shot of him building the moat that is some skills that's good alex you mentioned one of the ones that doesn't work for you was the visual style what was your other one well we did there was a third and it was the ensemble cast being a little half-baked okay
00:48:51
Speaker
But this is might be a hot, spicy take. Here we go. Benoit Blanc.
00:49:00
Speaker
You're getting a little too close to flanderizing him. You're getting a little too close. What do you mean? he is getting a He insists a little too much on himself in this one, just a tad.
00:49:12
Speaker
He's a little too much of a caricature of himself from like the first one. Pump the brakes. okay Don't ruin this character. I agree. Because if you straight up turn him into... like Look at me. I'm far going leghold. I know so much. And I'm a genius. And i' this is i know I'm to do this.
00:49:31
Speaker
You're going to ruin it. It's going to be ruined. And Rian Johnson had him like this close. You're telling the line. Now, I don't think Daniel Craig did a bad performance, but I think with what he was given,
00:49:46
Speaker
he you you naturally are approaching the line.
00:49:53
Speaker
I agree. And i don't i don't want to see that happen because I really like Benoit Blanc. It seems like it's a hard line to walk because we get the first movie, everyone loves this character, and you're wanting to develop him just a little bit more.
00:50:07
Speaker
And so it's like, in the first movie, you just feel like everyone's kind of just greasing their wheels, kind of getting everything ready. And then I feel like by this point, Rian Johnson and Daniel c Craig kind of know this character and know what they want from him, but like, is what they want going to end up being a little too much?
Future of Benoit Blanc's Character
00:50:22
Speaker
Here's what they need to do They need to take the So there's there's a fourth one, right? there that There was a fourth one greenlit? I think there was. i think There's a fourth one greenlit. Oh, nice. If not, breaking news, I'm making this up. Breaking news. There's a fourth one that's going to get greenlit.
00:50:35
Speaker
Because there there definitely is. For sure. If there hasn't been. the The fourth one needs to be a prequel. It needs to be like a young Benoit Blanc. And it needs to be like one of his first or second mysteries. Okay. Then you have the origins of the character and you can pump the brakes a little bit and let him not get flinterized because then you could just go back to what was working.
00:50:58
Speaker
in the fifth one which is gonna be greenlit touchy or i was just thinking like that entire thing i'm like we need for the fourth or fifth we need to understand him and just get more out of him than just he's a genius you know goofy whatever Because yeah sometimes I have I feel like as a whole, like we have issues with like prequels and these things coming out. But for this case, I think I would agree because Benoit Blanc is going to be the central recurring character for these movies. He is the vehicle for driving these these themes of whatever mystery he's solving are. So I think that would I think that would help.
00:51:47
Speaker
i good I'd be down for it. I would like a reason other than just him getting enjoyment out of it. Before we get the prequel, though, so all of these movies so far have all kind of been around a specific season.
00:52:00
Speaker
Knives Out in the Fall, Glass Onion, Summer, this one, though moody, Spring because of Easter. Right. So the fourth one, before we get the prequel, I need a winter-themed Knives Out.
00:52:13
Speaker
Do you mean Benoit Blonked Out?
00:52:18
Speaker
I do. i really do mean that. Let's get to the mystery. We've actually done a pretty good job not spoiling this so far. So if you listen this far and you haven't seen the movie, we're gonna we're for sure going to spoil it now. What are you still doing here? Leave. You're not welcome. Come back and bring snacks.
00:52:39
Speaker
um Like i was saying, the mystery I think was the weakest part for me. I think I was a little lost, to be honest, behind like Not just like motivations, but like why i don't think I liked that. We didn't find out about this jewel until like the last 15 minutes. I kind of felt like it just got shoehorned in there to give reason and motive.
00:53:03
Speaker
Um, But honestly, I was kind of lost just a little bit. Like, I'm not sitting here watching these movies trying to figure it out. But like, once we finally get the whole spiel and everything's going down, I'm kind of doing the Zach Galifianakis meme in my head. And I'm like, um, where are we right now? Like, what's going on? It took a moment for me to like, like, put it all together. Like, even after they explained it, be like, like, no, okay, that makes sense. It's just, they explained it very convolutedly.
00:53:32
Speaker
hmm. yeah I thought it was pretty straightforward. What was Jeremy Renner's motive for doing it? I think that's where I i was getting lost. whenever That's where I was getting lost. He wanted his wife back.
00:53:49
Speaker
well he Yeah, he wanted his wife back and the um Josh Brolin's character Wix was going to ruin him. And he had the most to lose.
00:54:00
Speaker
He had the most to lose. Because, hey i mean, drinking while being a doctor, drinking while ah like working with people. like Yeah. yeah Oh, this guy's a hack writer. okay. like Or like, he didn't even threaten, i forget the lady's name.
00:54:18
Speaker
He didn't even like care about her. Yeah, it was just like, you're going to get yours. And then he's like, Kaylee Spaney, you're crippled, and you're not getting better. That's your punishment. like the only The only person he threatened that had like any real weight or consequence was was Jeremy Renner's character. So between him and Glenn Close, you know Glenn k Close didn't want to see him become this non-holy like politician. Yeah.
00:54:47
Speaker
So they team up together because they both have like the most to lose. She loses her godhead. He loses his career after losing his wife.
00:54:58
Speaker
And they they team up to... They both get a win. He potentially gets his... Wife back with the the money. And she has her godhead ascend into sainthood in her mind.
00:55:17
Speaker
Yeah. i I did find the the murder to be the least interesting part. And... All I really wanted to see is just how Josh O'Connor navigates clearing his name and dealing with you know all of his internal struggles about staying true to himself, his beliefs, his faith, while just everything is crumbling around him.
00:55:43
Speaker
I guess I don't really have a problem with the murder and the mystery really not being the i don't know the the most captivating part of the movie yeah i would like that to be changed moving forward i don't want you know every murder mystery to be easy to solve or just not really that interesting so i think they work this time yeah i think though there will be a way in the future to balance out the tone of like the first knives out with the more like thematic presence of of wake up dead man i think i think they'll be able to figure that out for sure so hopefully in the future like i said i will always watch these movies i think no matter what they're a lot of fun who done it love a i done it
00:56:27
Speaker
i done it I really liked the reframing of um the mother. What do they call her? The harlot whore? Yeah. so I really liked the reframing of her that Glenn Close's character had in the end of it.
00:56:43
Speaker
I think that tied that up really beautifully. Good movie. The harlot whore. Calling your mom a harlot whore is crazy. That is. That is
00:56:55
Speaker
I said, whoever threw that piece of paper, your mom's a hobbit whore.
00:57:03
Speaker
It makes sense if you watch the movie, trust me. Which you should have if you're listening to this episode. Yeah, why are you still here? What are you doing? Just an hour of us chastising pain A masochist. I bet that he spoiled the movie. Oh, God.
00:57:22
Speaker
We're different side of movie reviews. We haven't really covered basically like a tertiary villain, which is the son. What do you guys think about him?
00:57:34
Speaker
I kind of lumped him in with the rest of the flock as just like fairly half-baked. Yeah. Slightly more baked than the others. Maybe like a little rare. I think there might have been rare been something interesting with him, but...
00:57:48
Speaker
When I think of the things that could have been interesting with his character, I think we already got out of Josh Brolin and his control over like the congregation. So yeah, I would just, I don't feel any certain way about him. Just, yeah, like I said, lumped in with with the rest of them.
00:58:05
Speaker
who else I did love how he was going to build Josh Brolin's political career with his, like, your viral sensation. It was like the views were all like a thousand. I think it would have had like 18 views. Like like ah like a reel or something like that. I didn't catch that. That's good.
00:58:22
Speaker
Kerry Washington had a good a good little monologue there for a little bit. Which one? um I don't know. She's kind of just popping off about something. I remember just being like, oh, that's pretty good. yeah is It was about like her like How much of a fraud Mix was. Yeah, yeah, okay yeah. That was solid. Having to like raise his i illegitimate son and everything like that.
00:58:45
Speaker
That was the highlight of her character. didn't do anything else of note besides that. She at least got a little bit. She was ripping cigs. That's the only other thing. Inside. Yeah. Inside.
00:58:59
Speaker
sixs inside. Bring them back. Mila Kunis as the sheriff. Yeah. Strange casting. Just there. Just there. To be there. Unfortunately. I kind of have the ick about her.
00:59:11
Speaker
Why? After the whole like Danny Masterson thing. Oh yeah. Didn't she like she came to his defense didn't I think so. yeah Yeah. Yeah. That's not very good. Yeah. I hadn't seen her. I think that was the last I'd like heard of her was the whole Danny Masterson case and then she came whole Scientology adjacent thing like we're not Scientologists but like we we could be maybe.
00:59:35
Speaker
i mean it'd be let's just say for the sake of the argument this would be crazy brought to you by the church of scientology they'll get us dude i'm not sure what they'll do but they'll get us down the have you seen the remodeled building on quad scientology building no looks really nice. You can actually see inside now. You used to not... be When I was in college, when i was at UT, you couldn't see inside it.
00:59:58
Speaker
Now you can see inside it. Where on the wall is it? you stand out on the sidewalk and look in the windows, you can see inside it. That's how it gets you. I think it's a across from the Target, right? Yeah, like around there that area. It's like, ah yeah, it's right by the target. Like near the canes and dominoes?
01:00:13
Speaker
A little farther up. or on like It's really close to the co-op. oh okay okay I to get my haircuts over there. Wounds? Yeah. They demolished it. oh No way. Yeah, they demolished that whole block, that whole building. No way. It's gone. We we do we drove past there after Thanksgiving.
01:00:34
Speaker
Wow. That whole thing is gone. yeah Even the Thai How Are You restaurant is gone. But that wall is still there. i know the wall wall is still there. i know I remember seeing the Thai How Are You being knocked down a while ago, but Wooten's was still and those stores were still up. Oh, that's so sad. That's where I used to go when when we lived together, Tachi.
01:00:53
Speaker
I would drive all the way down there. And then I'd park kind of far. And then I'd walk like down Gwad just to get some steps in. And then I'd go to Wooten's. Dang. Wow. They had eight times had a bullet hole in their glass from the ah from the shooter from whenever that happened.
01:01:10
Speaker
The tower? Yeah. There was like, like not not in the window, but there was like a marking on the wall. And like the first time I went there, they told me the story. i don't know if that's actually true, but I mean, the bell was right there. So I fully believed it.
01:01:23
Speaker
That's nuts. Yeah. nus yeah I hate... To go off on a tangent, I hate the amount of like old Austin stuff that has been torn down for copy and pasted apartment building number 8000. It's been.
01:01:37
Speaker
Rainy Street's a travesty. It's rainy street. Yeah. did the The amount of change since I moved here in 2016. Yeah. Is horrific. I mean, Graffiti Castle gone. Gone. Historic rainy street gone. gone Parts of Guad now gone.
01:01:56
Speaker
we need the West Campus gone. West Campus used to look like North Campus. What's it look like now? Tons of huge apartment buildings. Yep. It's like you you get like
01:02:10
Speaker
you get You feel trapped of all the big buildings around. It used to just be like a lot of like small condos. Frat houses. Smaller apartment buildings. Yeah, frat houses. like My apartment building in when i was at school was like one of the larger ones.
01:02:26
Speaker
And now you can barely see it from the street. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen pictures of like the skyline of the year I moved here. compared to now and i'm like holy shit you should see a picture of the skyline when uh texas a&m last beat ut it's unrecognizable like not there but except it's it's like it's like 2010 i don't even think the austonian was built yet saying wow anyway let's get off our tangent back to wake up bad
01:02:59
Speaker
we Lost in the land development. Just just wait till I read the monkey monkey wrench gang. You guys are going to just hear some crazy takes. um Anything else that you guys wanted to shout out that you either liked, didn't like, wanted to see more of?
01:03:15
Speaker
The writing had like tiny little dips of like, I don't i don't know. i don't know how to explain it. Maybe he was just tickling himself.
01:03:25
Speaker
But like the Scooby-Doo line. Yeah, just like strange, like almost like Marvel corny jokes. um I don't know. So some of that kind of bothered me, but
01:03:42
Speaker
It's fine. It didn't ruin the movie. Yeah. Don't do it, Ryan. Don't do it. i dont I feel like he could potentially be like on a slippery slope with the future of this franchise. It could go either way. Don't, dude.
01:03:58
Speaker
I'm begging you. i've I defended you on this pod even after The Last Jedi. Don't do it. I will call you Ruin Johnson. Yeah. But it will be about Knives Out, not about Last Jedi, which is crazy. That'd be something new. Don't do it, Ryan.
01:04:15
Speaker
Anything from you, Alex? are you guys ready for ratings? I am ready to rate it. Okay. Dibs on not going first today. So my initial thought was a three and a half out of five.
01:04:30
Speaker
And then I bumped it up to a four out of five. And I think I'm going to bring it back down to a three and a half out of five. Okay. Because I think you guys raised a lot of very valid things about the points. I mean, I bet the the writing and I, I agree with it.
01:04:49
Speaker
I have, you know my problem with the way that it looked and i had some problems with Ben Wildblanc's character. Getting a little close. He's getting close. But I think,
01:05:01
Speaker
What Josh O'Connor was cooking in this movie was Michelin star. For sure. Agreed. And. Oh, I like that. I'm going to I'm going to use that. That was really good. That was good. um What Josh O'Connor was cooking was Michelin star. And you should watch this movie just for that.
01:05:17
Speaker
um If he had a better support around him, I think this would be just as good as the first Knives Out. I agree. I think this is firmly my second favorite in the franchise. Okay. Okay.
01:05:32
Speaker
7 out of 10, 3.5 out 5. Okay. okay I really wanted to give this a 4.5. I liked so much of it. It had so many promising characteristics, but yeah, just the little bits of writing that I, the joke's just not landing for me at all.
01:05:54
Speaker
um Weaker ensemble, you know, whatever, but
01:06:01
Speaker
I'll give it a four. Four? Yeah. Really good. So walking out of the theater, the initial issue I had of the central, of the mystery itself, um but then like having to think about it for a little bit and then having like today's conversation, like walking out of the theater, I was definitely between like a three, yeah i enjoyed it, between like a three and a half.
01:06:26
Speaker
um I think I'll land on a three and a half for a lot of the same reasons ah that Alex is right now. Like Josh O'Connor is really pulling his weight here. Josh Brolin's first 30 minutes here I think is fantastic. I think with the help of a more fleshed out supporting cast, I think it would have elevated those performances just so much more.
Final Ratings and Rewatchability
01:06:47
Speaker
I really, really do appreciate the conversation that this is having with Alex. religion and faith. I think that's a really interesting way to take a whodunit movie.
01:07:03
Speaker
So potentially like on rewatch on a rewatch, this could bump up to a four, maybe just like tuning into those themes a little bit more. Um, but I feel solid with a three and a half. It was really good.
01:07:16
Speaker
I really enjoyed my time and I'm sticking to it. Nice. That sounds good. Watch Wake Up Dead Man. Let us know what you thought of the movie. We're going to get 20 more of these, so strap in and just and just have a good time with it.
01:07:32
Speaker
Sorry if we spoiled it. We're not sorry. for you We warned you multiple times. If you're still here and you didn't watch the movie, it's your fault.
01:07:43
Speaker
You have problems. What is what is on your guys's watch list for the rest of the month? What is your priority? Marty. Oh, Marty. Marty for sure. yes I'm trying so hard not to see anything. I still haven't seen the trailer.
01:07:57
Speaker
I've accidentally seen like three seconds and then I'm like, oh shoot, it's Mario Supreme. When I'm like going through TikTok or whatever, the trailer will come up. artist everyone christmas day march I can't wait for that. And oh, and Avatar.
01:08:10
Speaker
I'm excited for Avatar. Yeah. I'm excited. I need to see like sentimental value. Same. I want to, there's a couple of things i want to catch up on like Begonia. I need you to do Wicked part two.
01:08:25
Speaker
I'm kind of dreading Wicked part two. it's I guess I need to see... want to watch it at home so I can get up and walk around if I need to. I guess I need to see after the hunt.
01:08:37
Speaker
Yeah. Just stuff. are you guys interested at all in Anaconda? No. No. Okay. When did I... think I think I just saw that trailer and...
01:08:51
Speaker
I don't know. it It feels like a Jumanji-fied anaconda. It feels like Jumanji slash Minecraft of monster movies. knew Paul Rudd was in it.
01:09:04
Speaker
I just don't know what I was expecting. rental fan I need to see Rental Family. Oh, yeah. Rental Family. Yes. So I just don't know what i was expecting for this Anaconda movie, but watching the trailer, i was like, oh, okay.
01:09:17
Speaker
Whatever. Yeah. I mean, I don't like hold Anaconda to like the highest regard or anything like that. but Jack Black looks homeless again. he has to stop.
01:09:29
Speaker
um Get some help, dude. I'm excited for Other Choice. Yep. Gas that one is I'm really excited for that one. The couple that we haven't mentioned. i want to watch if I had legs I'd kick you.
01:09:43
Speaker
Need to watch the life of Chuck. And I've got 32 movies on here. I don't think I'm going to get to all of them this month. So I'm going to have to try to prioritize. So like I might i just skip Tron Aries.
01:09:57
Speaker
I do need to see Avatar way of water. Oh yeah, we know. It's beautiful. You got a week and a half. I might do it tomorrow. Good. Good. What's the deal with Hamnet? Is it getting a theatrical release?
01:10:10
Speaker
It's out now. Oh, it is. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It came out see the last week. I do want to see Hamnet. That and Train Dreams. Train Dreams is at home. Yeah. I've seen a lot of Train Dreams hate on my timeline though. And I'm like, really?
01:10:24
Speaker
Y'all are miserable.
01:10:27
Speaker
Live a little. Feel something. um Yeah, I'll be excited to see what our end of year list lists look like come January, and then we'll get to award season. Hopefully do some fun things there.
01:10:40
Speaker
Are we going to have like a ranking episode of 2025? Oh, for sure. Okay. For sure. We'll dig through the gold and see what all the poopoo was. i need to upset some people.
01:10:54
Speaker
All right. Well, I think that just about does it. Go watch Wake Up Dead Man. Go into it spoiler free. Watch it before the internet tells you to hate it. We liked it here and it's good.
01:11:06
Speaker
Let us know what you thought. We'll see you in the next episode. Have a good night. Thanks. Peace, Mike.