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EPISODE 134: 2024 WAS TERRIFYING!
563 Plays8 days ago
2024 was a lot of things… but frankly, it was pretty damn terrifying. Listen in and relive some of the craziest moments with us.
MATTY & ANDREW’S TOP 5 of 2024
What will Matty and Andrew choose for their top five horror films of 2024? Listen in to find out!
WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?!
Listen in to hear what we’ve been watchin’... bitch!
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Transcript
Introduction and Historical Reflections
00:00:00
Speaker
Friday the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud, independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit Friday13.com.
00:00:12
Speaker
Happy New Year. Happy New Year. I can't believe we made it to 2069. I know, I never thought we would get through the Great Suppression. Dark days, dark days indeed. ah But hey, remember 2040? Oh man, remember the great pauper incident of 2058? We lost a lot of good ones. You know the one I can't really remember? 2024? Did anything significant happen that
00:00:57
Speaker
That's right. It's episode 134. 2024 was terrifying.
00:01:05
Speaker
I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the
00:01:24
Speaker
We're in real life. Doubters, the Doomsters, the Gloomsters, they are going to get it
00:01:56
Speaker
I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. Sometimes. That is better. Hey, listen to this
Queer Horror Podcast Focus
00:02:06
Speaker
today. Fox News presented President-elect Trump with the Patriot of the Year Award. Yeah, it's a huge honor, because out of all the totally made-up awards, Patriot of the Year is the biggest. I'm joking. Patriot of the Year is one of the most prestigious awards made out of macaroni.
00:02:21
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Friday, the 13th horror podcast. My name is Matty and I'm Andrew. And if this is your first time with us on Friday, the 13th horror podcast, this is the podcast. It's the only podcast that does it. I'll be honest with you that talks about horror in real life.
00:02:40
Speaker
and horror in the movies from a queer perspective. um If that's not what you're into, get the fuck out of here. Get out. um This is episode 134. This is the final episode that we are recording for 2024. What a fucking year. And we're talking all about it. 2024, yes, it was terrifying. We were hoping that maybe we might be proved wrong.
00:03:06
Speaker
We weren't. um In fact, we proved very much correct this year. Well, yeah. I'm not going to toot our own horns, but we did have an offline conversation where we predicted everything. We did. We did. um So it's it's possible that we actually are psychic as well. That might be a spin-off. Oracles. Yep. We'll see. Oracle sounds a little bit like oral, which is interesting. One of our favorite things.
00:03:31
Speaker
um So look, folks, what we're going to do on today's episode is really pretty simple. um You know, if you've been around for a while with the show, you know that we do a horror in real life segment. um And then we do a horror in the movie segment. We're doing those today just a little bit different. In our first segment, we'll be talking all about the horrific and terrible things that happened in 2024.
Top Horror Films and Personal Reflections of 2024
00:03:51
Speaker
And then for horror in the movies, we're not picking two movies. Instead, Andrew and I will both go both go through, pardon me, the top five horror films from 2024 in our humble opinions. So we look forward to that. So look, um Andrew, let's just let's just talk about you and me first before we go into the world.
00:04:14
Speaker
How was 2024 for you? Tell me. I mean, from a personal perspective, 2024 was pretty, um, I don't want to say uneventful because a lot of things happen, but nothing like that's knock on wood. If you say that, you know what? i am Yeah, but like nothing like, uh, hugely significant. I think 2024 for me was a lot about ah reset, a lot about um paying down old debts and trying to figure out financial futures and trying to just be be an adult, I guess, if you really want to talk about it. um it and And really setting up, you know, the next five years of just trying to figure out like, you know, what are we setting ourselves up for? What's what's next type of thing? I think that that was kind of the big thing for me. What about for you?
00:04:59
Speaker
Before we go to me though, were you successful, do you think? How do you, I didn't, yeah, I, I feel really good going into 2025, uh, respectfully. I'm just saying from my personal perspective, yeah sure not, not from the world perspective. It's a good thing to note. Yeah. We'll, we'll, we'll talk about that soon.
00:05:19
Speaker
2024 for me was honestly kind of the same in a lot of ways. This was probably the busiest year I've ever had professionally. Andrew hears me say that I'm busy all the time, but it's the truth. The job that I work in, I'm not saving lives here, don't get me wrong.
00:05:39
Speaker
um In fact, what we say, our motto is we sell software, we don't save lives, which is very true. But goddamn, if sometimes it can't be really, really stressful and really, really busy, and that was this year, for sure. So um that just it ate up a lot of my compute cycles in the old brain, you know? Yeah, I get it. But with that, it also meant like, look, this is you know my year to really get professionally ahead in a lot of ways, and I and i did that in a lot of ways.
00:06:06
Speaker
And I also, you know, got, got myself sort of, uh, financially, at least in better order. I don't know if I'm, I don't know if I'm good for the next five years, but we'll see. and I'm hopeful. I said setting it up. I didn't say it was fair enough. There you go. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. But you know, I did sort of make some investments here. I did this, I did that. I think also for me this year, I got my body, you know, not necessarily where I want it to be be, but I got my body back in order. And I'm really, I'm really happy about that because I had a few years where it was,
00:06:35
Speaker
It was out of order and I was able to get back into running this year. um I ran a half marathon on my own. I didn't run in the race, but I got myself back up to that distance, which I was really, really happy about. And, um, you know, went to the doctor about some things that, you know, like, you know, those things that you don't want to go to the doctor about, but you know that you should.
00:06:55
Speaker
I finally went to the doctor about those things and you know got my skin check this year. who There you go. There you go. um I get to start doing my colon cancer screenings in two years, I think. Woo hoo. Let's go. 45, baby. Oh, yeah, it's 45. So three years, three years for me then. um But, you know, like i'm i'm I'm happy with that stuff.
00:07:12
Speaker
and um you know It's interesting because we you know we're about to start talking about sort of these these these environmental things around us. I don't mean the environment. I mean like you know the world in which we live. It yeah it surrounds us all the time. And um look, the things that are coming in 2025, and we can talk about this you know perhaps at the end of the segment,
00:07:35
Speaker
I think are really, really scary. um Like they they really do, like it's not even like sort of, sort of like kind of freaking me out. Like they, they actually really do freak me out. But 2024 was sort of the setup for all of it. And I think, you know, I think for you too, I won't speak for you here, but you know, I i think it's true. I think we, we did a good job of not letting that, not letting the setup for the horror that is ahead get us off track.
00:08:03
Speaker
Does that make sense? Yeah, i I listen. I have now been disappointed in the world. More than my hands can show on fingers, and so I have to at some point just be. ah Moving forward, and I know that, you know, maybe one day I won't be able to. I know yeah something will prevent me from from doing that, you know but for right now,
00:08:31
Speaker
I kind of throw my hands up in the air and I just say like, all right, good luck everybody. and I don't know. I tried to tell you, I tried to say, I tried to do this. I tried to do that. I don't know. Somebody else take the take the wheel. I'm done driving, you know?
Sports and Social Events Discussion
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah, no, I get it. Um, and, uh, look, I actually, I had friend with a, um, with, with a, with a good old friend, um, who I actually like friend with a friend.
00:08:55
Speaker
but No, no, no. I said that, didn't I? God, that shows you how jet lagged I am. i'm i Folks, i'm i'm only like I'm just back from the States this week. I was i was over for Thanksgiving. um And for Andrew's 40th birthday, happy 40th, Andrew. Again, it was a really, really great time. Andrew rented out a screen at the Music Box Theater in Chicago, and we all watched Clue. It was a great time. That was really, really fun.
00:09:17
Speaker
um But I'm still jet-lagged. Anyways, I had dinner with a friend. That's what I was trying to say this week. I grew up with him actually in Hobart and he now, he's lived in Europe for a very long time, for 20 years, over 20 years. And he lives in London now and he was over in Dublin this week and I saw him.
00:09:32
Speaker
and um And one thing that he said, you kind of like what you were just saying was, you know, it's it's like ah we've done all that we can and now it's like saying good luck everybody and let Trump just drive the car off the cliff. Go ahead. Let's let's just let him do it. Take the keys, go. Bye. See ya. And maybe that's what's gonna happen. Who knows?
00:09:53
Speaker
It's so dumb. Yep, but I get it. Yeah. but Anyways, listen, 2024 is a lot of places that we could start. Where should we begin? What do you think? I mean, do you just want to start at the like the beginning? I mean.
00:10:06
Speaker
If we can, how how angry do we want to get? You know, like, well, let's let's talk about something a little more positive than first to start. Oh, go ahead. Yeah. What is it? So NCAA women's basketball had a great year in 2024. Oh, how nice. Caitlin Clark ah broke the all time scoring record over a man. Thank you very much. She's pretty good.
00:10:28
Speaker
And ah it kind of reignited interest in NCAA women's basketball, which is really cool. like a think For once, like the like women's basketball had a moment and yeah and it it continued on into in her career. I think she's now playing. I forget where she's actually playing now. I want to say Ohio, but that might not be right.
00:10:48
Speaker
Um, where it like became kind of like a thing for a moment of like everyone everyone was following Caitlin Clark. And I was like, this is actually pretty cool. At least I was talking about the fucking NFL for once, but oh wait, it's fall now. So that's all we talk about. Exactly. God, I i can't stand the NFL. It's so boring.
00:11:04
Speaker
So boring. Yeah, I listen. ah the Listen, all you football heads out there, I'm so happy that you get enjoyment out of this. I don't get it, but I like looking at the butts. I love I love I love I love college sports when it comes to professional sports. My brain just goes, well, I'm out of here. I just I just it doesn't matter to me. um But you know, what's interesting about about Caitlin Clark, though, is ah just women in sports in general. Right. And I know we're going to talk about the Olympics a little bit later in this list.
00:11:32
Speaker
But it reminds me of, you know, here is an athlete at at her absolute prime, right? Doing so well. Let's think about the boxer. You know, let's go from good to bad now, right? yeah yeah The boxer from from Turkey. She was from Turkey, right? Or was she from? Yes, I believe so. Yeah, ah one of but one of those countries over there. Yeah, like in in in that region, in that region. But I'm pretty sure it was Turkey. Anyways, the boxer from Turkey in the Olympics who who won the gold and who is an incredible boxer, like out of out of our minds good at what she does. And because she's good at what she does, and because she doesn't fit the the the mold of what men think, or actually what JK Rowling thinks a woman should look like, she got pegged as a transgender person, which she's not. But even if she was, who cares? And because of that, she faced the most intense ridicule online. It it was so disgusting to watch.
00:12:31
Speaker
so disgusting to watch and a harbinger of what is to come for trans people in 2025. It's absolutely fucking weird and gross. So you've got these two poles of women in sports right now when when we look at this at sort of like the reception of both. And it's just a shame that like when it comes to women just like doing something good, all people can think about is what they look like. Like yeah it's just so fucking bizarre, man, you know?
00:12:57
Speaker
it's um it's it's it's sad it's sad that we can sad word It's sad that we can't just ah enjoy people and enjoy the things that they represent or the things that they can do with their bodies or the things that they can't do with their bodies, with anything. like it it Just let people fucking live for God's sakes. it's a It's so short. It's so short. It's so short. It's so, so short. Anyways, what's the next one, Andrew? Tell me. Something interesting that happened this year was kind of this new acceptance of weight loss medication. so
00:13:32
Speaker
I think last year we kind of saw the emergence of the Ozempic and kind of like the almost like calling out of Ozempic of like, oh, you must be on Ozempic or oh, they must be on Ozempic or oh, that's Ozempic face like and this year we really had a lot of acceptance around kind of Ozempic, Manjaro, Govee.
00:13:51
Speaker
I mean, we Govee was just um approved by the FDA for heart problems. So like it it's it's really taking on ah quite a different ah so story this year because I feel like everyone's finally just being like, well, if it helps, it helps. You know what I mean? And I i do. And I think it's really important. I have friends on it um and they're doing really well and yeah um and their lives are improved and their health is better.
00:14:20
Speaker
if that yeah and if If that offends somebody, you've got you you have a serious fucking problem. you know like that's That's weird if that offends you. Yeah, I think that like this is an interesting one because they are also seeing um some studies that are coming out that are um helping people with addiction as well. Yeah, wow. Which I didn't know about that. Which is interesting. We'll see how that keeps going. But a lot of people are saying that A lot of people that are on these medications are saying that it it it turns off a voice and that sometimes that voice is food, sometimes that voice is alcohol, sometimes that voice is drugs. That is so interesting. it Depending on what they, their vices, you know what I mean? and so
00:15:01
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see where this goes. I hope that it keeps on the positive trajectory, and I'm always a little bit weary. I worked in pharmaceuticals for a little bit, yeah sure so I'm always a little bit leery about like what are the long-term effects of these things, but for now, if it's helping people get better, listen, leave them ah leave them alone. Let them take a shot in their stomach, for God's sakes. If that turns off a voice, and I start taking one of those, the tortilla chip industry is going to sink very, very quickly. um so they Big salsa's going down. Tostitos better watch the fuck out, man, and hope I don't get on a Zempic because they will lose a big customer. um Listen, yeah, i i I think it's a good thing. And you know and like you said, you know we need to be careful with the the medical part of it. And i I do think it should be done with a doctor and not just with a
00:15:50
Speaker
Random pharmacist kind of thing you know what I mean yeah the whole online of it all I don't know weird but I mean these are serious drugs that can impact your I mean obviously your health like you need to be careful with that but as long as you're being careful and your doctor knows about it and and and you want to do it.
00:16:07
Speaker
Girl, amen. Go, go, go get you a good life. get yeah we Yeah, we actually, I was just talking to with someone over at the Thanksgiving holiday, ah one of Michael's relatives, um and she completely reversed liver failure. so Wow. that's No way. She reversed liver failure. Yeah.
00:16:23
Speaker
So Andrew, and that is i that is incredible. Oh, my God. Wow. Yeah. What's next? that That's good news.
Political and Global Events of 2024
00:16:29
Speaker
Yeah. So big winners at the Oscars. Obviously Oppenheimer was the big yeah of the year. We all thought, is it going to be Barbie or is it going to be Oppenheimer? And it turns out Barbie got a few things, but Oppenheimer was the big winner. So big war, big winner once again for the Americans. You know, I think um i I think it's good that it won. um I mean, at the end of the day, it doesn't really fucking matter anyway. You know what I mean? But I do think, I do remain, the I do remain thinking that Oppenheimer, that's a weird way to say it. I still think that Oppenheimer was so, so important to get people to understand. It's sort of like like the book Nuclear War that I read by by Annie Jacobson. I talked about that on one of our previous episodes
00:17:16
Speaker
but like people need to seriously think about like Nuclear war means total destruction. Like everything is annihilation. Yes, it's annihilation. And like it's it's you it's not like, oh, we're going to drop a nuclear bomb and life goes on. Like, no, it's the end of the world as you know it completely. um Q R E M. So like it's it's good that it that it that it exists, that movie. And I'm i'm glad that it won. i I still think it was a really, really good one. um I haven't watched it in a while, but um it's good. Did you ever see it, Andrew?
00:17:44
Speaker
No, no, and I probably never will I don't know really yeah, I just I I have a lot of interest in the world and and That's not the one way and that's just not one of them. Yeah, I don't i don't know how it's to explain it like I will we'll talk about this a little bit When it comes to some other movies that we talk about in our top five sure sure but there's just like some movies where I'm like You know what? I'm so glad that everyone loves that not for me. Sure. And that's okay. You know what I mean? yeah So, um, some other sad news that happened this year. Uh, the container ship Dali collided with the Baltimore Francis Scott Key bridge causing it to collapse, which is crazy because we have not had a bridge collapse in
00:18:26
Speaker
i I since what, since a Mothman maybe? I don't know. That was wild. That was seriously wild. And that it killed six people, injured many others. think like i' This sounds bad, but thankfully it happened in the middle of the night. So it was not the catastrophe that it could have been, um but still crazy, crazy thing that happened. And hearts go out to those families that ah that that happened to because i think a lot of the people that died were workers that were actually like working on the bridge so that's insane um i don't know whatever happened with this like if anybody were was um prosecuted from the ship or anything but
00:19:06
Speaker
I think they're in repair. so you know ah Baltimore continues to be a place. Good old Baltimore. Star of a wire. Star of a wire. um ah some Some lunar news. There was a total solar eclipse this year if you didn't catch it. I know it was a big thing here in Chicago because we all thought maybe we'd be able to see it.
00:19:29
Speaker
I know some people said they did. I didn't see much, yeah but most of Mexico ah was the was the prime place to see it. I know a lot of people traveled down south to go see it. um it was the It's the only the second solar eclipse in the last seven years, so kind of crazy cool. I remember the last one because that was, uh, it was, it was my birthday. was my thirty they think my thirty fifth birthday yeah It was If you remember, we had, we had a party at your house the the night before. And then I drove to Nashville the day after very, very hungover. Um, and I went to, um, and I went to a crazy eclipse party in Nashville with my sister and my niece was crazy.
00:20:10
Speaker
I got really stoned. Um, and I was on the rooftop and, uh, when, and when the, when the, when the eclipse happened, I'll never forget it. Like the the total eclipse happens and I immediately e was like, I'm having a panic attack. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. It was, it was, oh my God. It was awful. I had to go inside. So I missed some of it, but God, it was so crazy. It was absolutely wild. Um, yeah, of course I missed this one. We didn't really get to see it over here. Um, but solar eclipses are cool, man. That that is,
00:20:38
Speaker
I would say if you've never traveled to one or like had the the the opportunity to go see one, the next time one is available, and I don't know when that is, if you can, go do it. It is well worth it. It is just an amazing thing to see.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, what I will say about the clips and stuff like that is it does make you feel very human. It makes you feel very small. Like, I don't know. It's weird. um ah So obviously, war continues in the world, especially in the Middle East ah and in Ukraine and Russia. and You know, we've talked about this a lot. um I don't know what else to say about it. I think that human lives should not be ah should not be reduced to this. And I think it's really sad and I don't like it. And I don't, but I don't know what to do about it. Cause there's not like a, because of the parties in power, I don't know what to do about it. And that's, that's the tough thing to swallow, you know?
00:21:36
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's awful. um and i And I think it's only gonna get worse. I think um i think that Ukraine will have to capitulate probably in 2025 and lose a large swath of territory. And the the only good thing that I've heard about that is that a bargaining chip that Zelensky is gonna try to use with Russia is um that he'll give up temporarily parts of Ukraine um in order to diplomatically get them back later, but only if ah Russia stops complaining about them joining NATO, or or joining joining the EU, joining the eu yeah which would be ah very, very helpful. So i'm I'm hopeful that that's what happens. As somebody who lives in Europe and has lived here for ah for a while now, um I am worried about what it means
00:22:30
Speaker
that the world is basically going well guess that's it and then this tyrant in Russia just is empowered to keep going further because you know if if you don't know a lot but about stuff over here it could be that Latvia is next or Lithuania or Estonia And those are right on the door of the rest of Europe. I mean, like, right it it is not inconceivable to think that a wide scale war could happen on the European continent very, very soon. um And that is just, it's terrifying. you know Not to mention, of course, just the the terrible things that have happened in Ukraine so far. And also, like and I'll be honest, like an and in Russia, like you know there's a bunch of young
00:23:12
Speaker
Guys basically dying for no reason like Russia Russia has I forget what the number is but like they've lost like like half a million people or it's ah i'm Probably that's probably too much, but they've lost six digits at least That is that that's sad no matter who it is and it's like what for what? What what why are you why are you doing this? What is so fuck is wrong with you, man? I don't. ah That's what I'll never understand about war. And I'll never understand about retaliation. And I'll never understand about any of this is like, if you die, that's it. yeah It's not done anymore. like Yeah, it's over, dude. And that just that really sucks. And then when it comes to fucking Gaza and Israel, you know what? i'm I'm so tired of so many things about the whole
00:24:02
Speaker
ah but but about all of it. I'm tired of one side not understanding that you you can't just go fucking kill people no matter what. And I'm tired of the other side being so fucking awful that you can't like like nothing makes sense to them. And like i i I support Israel, but I don't support them in a war that is never ending. And that's what this is right now. And I think Benjamin Netanyahu is a monster and needs to fucking go and everyone that supports him needs to go somewhere else, man, enough of this. And I just, it's, I just want people to live in peace there. That's it. Just want people to live in peace. And that is possible if you just let it be possible. And it's just, I don't know. It's terrifying that they just, that they just can't, you know, that they just, I don't get it. I don't, I don't, I don't get this. I don't don't understand how,
00:24:56
Speaker
I don't know. One day of death can result in two years of more death. and it's it's It's insane to me. I just can't. I can't i can't even fathom it that that kids can't go to school or you know ah women can't go to the grocery store or like men men can't go to their jobs and just like live normal fucking lives. yeah It's so insane. I don't know.
00:25:18
Speaker
and and And at the same time, that that Hamas still keeps hostages walked away. It's it's like, what what if you just said, you know what? Actually, we're done. We're done with this. It's over. But they both have so much fucking pride that they can't get over it. And it just drives me fucking insane. It really does. And everyone else suffers because of it. Exactly. Right. Exactly.
00:25:40
Speaker
All right, moving on. You know, obviously a lot of D.T. action happening this year, and but I mean, is Donald Trump. um Maybe we should just save Donald Trump for the end. Should we just do that? OK, well, I was just going to say felon now. we Yeah, well we'll well, we'll have a whole bunch of things to say about him. We'll come back again.
00:25:57
Speaker
um Boeing actually launched their Starliner, which was supposed to be the newest space station docked up to the International Space Station. However, because of equipment failures, then NASA said they couldn't go on it after it docked to this International Space Station. You know what? I'm going to say good idea because um remember when Boeing had a plane and the emergency exit door or it might it was that right. It wasn't a window or was it a window? It was a door. I think they just blew off in the flight. Like, can you like I sit in the emergency exit row pretty often. either It's either the first row or that row ah because I'm so tall. You see, um if that door came open while I was sitting there,
00:26:43
Speaker
I would probably have a heart attack and be like, because how could you not? Like, oh, my God, can you ah can you imagine how terrifying that would be? Yeah. Yeah. I think I think Boeing really needs to take a step back. I think they need to look at their quality. They're done. And also, like, you know, you're shaking a blow out that door. You know what I mean? Like your AirPods, they're gone. Your iPads, it's gone.
00:27:05
Speaker
Well, the crazy thing about it, though, is there's only like two companies that provide all of the airplanes. So like you it's like, what do we do? Jesus, man, that needs that needs to someone else build an airplane. OK, someone else, please. ah If you missed it, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange actually pled guilty to the U.S. charges of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security information. He was actually subsequently freed from a British prison and it turned to Australia.
00:27:33
Speaker
Which is pretty cool. I'm glad for him. That was a tough one, but in the end, I think that he did what was important to get news out there about the atrocities that were happening. So good on him. And my God, what a terrible journey. Jesus Christ. How long was he in that embassy? It was like seven years, I think. Maybe even longer than that, it's possible. Can you imagine just being in a fucking one building that one building time like fucking god jesus he probably had a lot of
00:28:06
Speaker
A lot of takeaway. I would imagine a lot of takeaway. God, all right. I'm going to save all the election stuff until the end. Yeah. Um, so let's talk about the Olympics. We rounded up a little bit. Did, did you just feel like everyone was real horny during the Olympics this year? Yeah, I was. Yeah, I was. Yes. So from the, uh, French pole vaulter to the, I think Italian swimmer yeah to like all these, be I was like, man, Andrew to all. So are you fucking kidding me? Like,
00:28:36
Speaker
all, literally all of them. In fact, just all of the athletes in general, like they're very good looking people. Um, that pole vaulter was definitely very cute and that he's got it. Look, let's just say it out loud. He's got a big, he's got a big old Dick that BDE literally brought down the whatever that that the bar is called, um and you his dick was so big, it hit the bar. That's insane. One might say he's ah dickly impaired because of because of was that. What's the biggest dick you've ever seen, do you think? like Oh, gosh. like in inches I mean, probably in porn, it was probably like
00:29:19
Speaker
I don't know like eight or nine. I don't know. Yeah. I don't think. Listen, can I be honest with you? I don't think a 12 inch dick exists, but it proved me wrong. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I've never seen it. the The biggest, the biggest one I've ever seen, and look, I don't really care about size. I'm I'm on top of anywhere, frankly, but it's it's just fun to think about biggest one I've ever seen 10 inches and now okay yeah it was Huge. And this one, I don't know how big this guy would be, but he's, look, he's packing. He's packing. Good for him. I say good for him. And that's what you just write. So you come to five, get a 13th for is good content like this important. You know, it just, it just felt like.
00:29:58
Speaker
Everyone was so fucking thirsty during the Olympics this year. It was so funny. and what What was great about it is like everyone was like kind of like unabashed about it, you know it's yeah which I think is great. I love that. It's wonderful.
Natural Disasters and Historical Milestones
00:30:09
Speaker
it's wonderful and like It was was so funny. like Let us be more open about our sexual desires. I think it's a good thing.
00:30:15
Speaker
g agreed agreed um um in other weather news hurricane haleen made landfall in florida this one was interesting because we all thought that this was going to affect uh you know literally the gulf like where it usually does but no this one actually hit the Carolinas way worse than what anybody thought and more than 230 deaths across the region. um Some estimates put the cost at about $200 billion. um I know I have a friend that lives down in North Carolina and they're still rebuilding. yeah and like They were gifted a car and they were gifted like um like money and stuff that are still rebuilding.
00:31:02
Speaker
who the the What was the next hurricane, the one that did hit Florida? Uh, it was the next one. It was like the next week, but I can't remember the name of it right now, but it didn't hit nearly as hard as everyone was expecting. So yeah I've got a brother and and some, you know, nephews and nieces now in Tampa. And for whatever that, that other one was, um, we were like, Tony, get the fuck out of there. Like, yeah, please get the fuck out of there. I was, I was very worried. And he's like, no, no, we'll be all right. It's okay. It's all right. We're going to be fine. We're going to board up. And I'm like, God damn it.
00:31:33
Speaker
Just fucking go ah get in your car and go that western and without a doubt but then and but that you know he told us he was like look I really can't I've got I've got a half a take a gas and there's nowhere to get gas and I was like.
00:31:47
Speaker
Fuck, there's not, ah honestly, there's nothing that he can do. And like, you know, thank God it turned out and ended up turning out okay. But the the the news was like, this is going to be the most catastrophic hurricane we've ever seen in the history of hurricanes. And I was like, holy fucking shit. My brother is like right in the fucking eye of it.
00:32:04
Speaker
That was wild. It was weird. Yeah. they Thankfully that one didn't hit as hard as what they were expecting. Exactly. Thank the Lord. You know, I'd rather be extremists about, uh, over explaining it than having people than having it sneak up on people. So whatever communicate, that's what I say. Over communicate.
00:32:22
Speaker
All right, Claudia Scheinbaum is sworn in as Mexico's first female president and the first Jewish person to ever hold the post. How lovely. And I just looked it up. Her current approval rating after I think she got sworn in in ah September, October, ah her current approval rating is 71%. Wow. So she's doing just great.
00:32:45
Speaker
It would be fun to see how how she does. I think it's I think it's amazing that that both a woman and a Jewish woman um and have have attained something like that. That's really as in in this world. I mean, that is ah it's it's it's incredible. That is something good like this year and like healthily like she wasn't like it wasn't like our election where it was like almost like 50 50. It was like she like healthily won that. So good for her. And I hope that Mexico can figure it out because I'm considering ring
00:33:16
Speaker
yeah is how um No, but I did look up ah Mexico's ah how you how you can become a citizen. It's very hard. So I don't know if I have enough energy for that. But an immigrant life is yeah there's a lot of hoops. You got to jump through yeah a lot of hoops. Former US President Jimmy Carter actually celebrated his hundredth birthday. That's sweet. What a sweet love.
00:33:40
Speaker
um Listen, I don't know if we'll see a president like Jimmy Carter again in our lifetime never um who continued to do work even after his presidency, actually being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. I don't know. I don't know if we ever will. I don't think that we i don't think that we value those things as Americans anymore. I really don't.
00:34:04
Speaker
Andrew, I don't think we'll see another president in our lifetime if I'm being quite honest with with you, let alone someone like Jimmy Carter. um I don't think, I mean, you just said this basically, but the the spirit of America is not that anymore. right And that that is what I think, um and like I know we're gonna talk more about this shit, but That's what I think makes me the most sad. is you know like when When people overhear a dog on America or whatever on America, i I do try to remind them, like, you know what?
00:34:35
Speaker
Actually, Americans can be really generous. We can be really, really kind. We fund a lot of great nonprofits and stuff around the world. We do a lot of good work, blah, blah, blah, blah. I try to remind them of that. And now it's a lot harder to believe that myself, if I'm being honest. I totally get it. Totally get it. You and I were just talking about this before we started recording, but I think you and I both agree that it's about to be a new era of like, well, it's like, what is it called? The man,
00:35:05
Speaker
the manscape era or like the maniverse or whatever it's called. The red pill era. Yeah. Like now it's, it's just going to be like a bunch of people making fun of people all the time. it' And like you were saying earlier, like it's going to be like 19, like late nineties, early 2000s humor is going to be like back.
00:35:21
Speaker
and like it's gonna be cool to like make fun of trans people and make fun of gay people and make fun of women and like and that's that's like that's what we're doing now. And like we're just we've just backtracked ourselves and it's so weird. And for someone like Jimmy Carter,
00:35:38
Speaker
that would just never be a part of how he would act because that's right not not in his character. And he is somebody who is a true Christian, a true Christian, unlike the people who call themselves Christians in America now who blindly follow literally the antithesis of Jesus Christ, the actual opposite of him. So um it's It's sad. i'm I'm really grateful that we, we still have somebody like Jimmy Carter around. Um, I'm grateful that he got to vote in the last election. Um, and I'm grateful that he's still an inspiration to at least some people, you know? Yeah, ah agreed. Um, ah speaking of a, uh, a big up and then a big down, um, Sarah McBride, ah a Democrat from Delaware was elected to the U S house representatives. She will become the first openly transgender member of Congress. um awesome um I've met her once. She's really, really cool.
00:36:32
Speaker
However, then this sparked Representative Nancy Mace to introduce a bill to ban transgender women from using facilities on federal property, even though a tweet from years ago showed her support of the LGBTQ population. ah So this is the new hypocrisy of American government. What's going to make me popular on the Internet? What's going to get people to talk about me? Oh,
00:37:00
Speaker
Shitty opinions that's what people to talk about me Nancy mace is a fucking cunt. There you go. That's all I have to say. She's a fucking cunt I hope she has a terrible life. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Well, that she'll probably be appointed to some board or sure she will um And then finally, two more stories and then we'll talk about the election a little bit. um ah Spirit Airlines actually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 in case you didn't hear. Is the first major airline to do so in 13 years? they suck
00:37:31
Speaker
kind of crazy. They drove themselves into this thought by by offering a subpar experience for the same amount of money. So yeah fuck off. I don't know what to say. That's just it. that That's the thing. Like i flying in budget airlines, like Look, if if you need to, you need to. I'm i'm not dogging you of if they like that's the only way that you can fly. Don't get me wrong. But like you end up paying for what you aren't paying for, if that makes any sense. No, totally. It's not going to be cheaper, and like they just pretend that it is, and they just dog you for the money. So like I say good. But people like them, people like Ryan Eyre, I could give a fuck less about. See you, dude.
00:38:09
Speaker
Yeah. yeah um It's kind of crazy to think about the amount of airlines that are left. There's not that many. That is weird to think about. they used but When we were kids, there were so many. So many. It's crazy.
00:38:23
Speaker
And then finally, something that just happened. Obviously we are recording on the 7th of December. So who knows who fucking knows what will happen for the rest of the year. But as of December 7th, this is the latest thing that happened. The CEO of United healthcare is assassinated on the street.
00:38:41
Speaker
This is insane. um i i i mean i get the listen um Healthcare care bankruptcy in this country is at an all-time high and it is insane what the insurance companies will do. Just for example,
00:39:00
Speaker
My husband had a little bit, of just a very minor medical emergency. We had to go to the emergency room. He stayed in the hospital for one night. When we received that bill, keep in mind I have top tier health insurance. sure His bill was over $5,000.
00:39:18
Speaker
We called the insurance company. Oh, oh, oh, they must have made a mistake. My final bill, $500. But if we would have not had the wherewithal to follow up and go back to the insurance company and make sure that they did everything right, we would have been $5,000 in debt, which is insane for one night in the hospital. And and like, you know, it it it goes back to like the the maximum of like the maxim.
00:39:45
Speaker
of like how much you need to have on hand for an emergency. And so stupid most people most people do not have an extra even $500 to spend. so And I forget what what the what the statistic is, but it's an overwhelming percentage of people do not have 500 bucks on hand if they needed to go to the hospital or do this or do that. And that is crazy. Also, UnitedHealthcare has denied more claims than any other major insurance company.
00:40:15
Speaker
yeah They denied between I forget what the with what the years were but between like 2017 I want to say in 2022 or something like that like the rates of their denials went up 20% 20% and and their prophet mean so man their Their profits went up 16 billion dollars. So look I don't celebrate death. I really don't um What I will say is that I?
00:40:42
Speaker
refuse to grieve over this. Absolutely refuse. Instead, I will reserve my grief for the people who died because they couldn't get the healthcare care that they deserved. While they were paying, literally paying that company to take care of their health care, that company failed them left and right. So if you think that you can do that and people won't be incredibly angry at you because they or their loved ones are in danger or dead, I don't know what to fucking tell you.
00:41:16
Speaker
Sorry. Yeah. If I, if I was going to run as a, as a presidential candidate, uh, my first order of business would be that movies have to start at the time that they say they will. Yes. Thank you. And then an absolute overhaul of the insurance industry because the insurance industry is way too powerful. It takes in way too much money and it doesn't do shit for me. And like, look I mean, look, I, I live in a place now where there is nationalized healthcare. It's not the greatest. Don't get me wrong.
00:41:46
Speaker
There are a lot of things wrong with it. A ton of things. So I also have private insurance through work. But if I didn't, I would be able to get the health care that I need here and I would be okay. This country would take care of me. It makes me insane. It does. And it's astounding that even still, something like Medicare for All,
00:42:06
Speaker
is not the reality in america where people actually need it and what's funny is that how people got talked into believe it into believing that it's something pie in the sky when literally every other major country fucking does it it's the only one that doesn't. So, like, get out of your asses, people, and start to understand that that is what it should be. You deserve free healthcare. care It is a human right. I'm sorry. or or Or just insurance that actually works because the way that insurance is right now is you can pay into insurance your entire life, but if you get cancer at 65, good luck.
00:42:45
Speaker
you're like It's not going to cover you. like it's so that's just it Without a system that like actually takes care of you, you're fucked. So like is that what we're really saying? That, oh, well, just we'll toss the dice here and maybe you'll be fucked and maybe you don't. It's such bullshit. Also, I will tell you this. Let's talk really quick about the pictures of the shooter that are online, right?
00:43:07
Speaker
um Number one, we don't need a picture out there because we don't need this guy caught. I'm just saying that. I'm just saying that. But number two, I am also saying he is a hottie. Hello. He is very cute with that mask on. I'm not going to get into this. You go right ahead and don't get into it. But me and the Internet agree that the picture of him with that mask off, if that is even really him, by the way, I don't I don't think that that's him. um He's a cute motherfucker. That's all I'm going to say. There it is.
00:43:35
Speaker
All right, let's talk a little bit about the election and then we'll do our in memoriam and then we'll move on with the
US Election Analysis and Notable Deaths
00:43:41
Speaker
show. So obviously a a huge election year. um Some might say the biggest we've had maybe since 2016, I feel like. Oh, do you mean the 2024 general election in Ireland? Let me tell you all about it. Oh, yes. Yes, please. Well, you know what? You know what I will say really quick? I mean, look, everyone knows what happened in the American election.
00:44:03
Speaker
um You might not know what happened over here, actually. so ah just and I'm going to tell you this to compare it to what we but what to what America had. um and Ireland did have an election. It was terrible turnout here, absolutely dismal. It's the worst turnout that it has ever been for an Irish election.
00:44:20
Speaker
um And this is a ah a country that understands that to a two-party system is absolutely asinine and does not make any sense. So there are multiple parties. The three biggest parties that won were Finegale, Fianna Fáil, and Sinn Féin. Finegale and Fianna Fáil are the the parties that have been in power in coalition with the Greens for many years now. um And ah Sinn Féin is a party that most other parties refuse to go into coalition with. um And there's a lot of reasons why, but the the main reason is that Sinn Féin is essentially like the party of the IRA. And and there's there's a lot of people over here who have very mixed feelings about what it means to be in coalition with a group that not all people, but some people here still view as a terrorist organization.
00:45:09
Speaker
And so it's really interesting to see you know how this is all turned out. Basically at the end of the day, nothing's really changed. So it's going to be Fianna fall and Fianna Gale again, that they'll probably go into coalition with another party maybe, um but they should have enough to to code to to coalesce together to form a government. um Not a whole lot will change here. And I've been saying to other people, like, you know what?
00:45:32
Speaker
Irish politics are kind of boring. And you know what? I'm pretty grateful for that. like it It is actually kind of cool to live in a country where the politics are just like, yeah, this is actually boring. like This is boring. and compared to America where it's always on tenterhooks and people are at each other's throats and it's fucking just the worst. Man, it's ah it's a refreshing thing. I got to tell you, it really is. Yeah. it's ah Listen, a lot of things went horribly wrong in the election. Terrible.
00:46:03
Speaker
I don't think we have to belabor it. I think that people kind of know where we stand. um But it just was a huge letdown of spirit in America, I feel like, for people that are want any sort of progress. What do you what what do you think went wrong?
00:46:19
Speaker
Um, I think there were a couple of things. I think that Joe Biden, uh, stepping down way late in the, in the, in the cycle, I think was a huge thing because we didn't have time to, uh, really have a ah good election where we actually chose someone that we wanted. And I'm not saying that Kamala Harris was, uh, was not a good candidate because I think she did do some, I did, I do think she did some things good. I do think she had some very big.
00:46:48
Speaker
deficits in her character. However, her refusal to speak on um big things like ah the war in Gaza, her her her big thing about not being able to connect with people at like a huge level, I think was was something. And I honestly think that just like her overall not stepping away from Joe Biden politics enough was the biggest thing. I think that she didn't take enough big swings and I don't think she connected with the them middle class like she thought she did. and yeah um And I think that that's the big detriment. I think that you know you can offer people money for babies and money for you know starting businesses, but if you're not going to connect with them at the at the level that they're at right now, and and and not everyone's going to want to start a business. And so when they say $100,000 to start a business, nobody fucking cares because they're already what they're already working or they've already been working for 30 years and they just want to fucking hand up.
00:47:41
Speaker
ah you know um yeah And I don't know. I just think that she didn't have enough time. And I think that she was ill-advised, if I'm being honest. yeah um i think she did it I think she did the best she could ah with the advisement that she had, because unfortunately it was the same people that you know ran the Joe Biden ship. And I don't think that they steered any different. And I think that that was to their detriment because At the end of the day, people want change. um And whether that changes for the bad or for the good, they don't care. They just want it different. Yeah. Well, yeah I think they want it different when their lives are in disarray. yeah know Think about the things that we just talked about. You've got a healthcare system where, I mean, UnitedHealthcare, I mean, do you know, is it the biggest?
00:48:26
Speaker
I think Blue Cross Blue Shield is still bigger than them. But even still, it's it's huge. they They probably have millions of subscribers. Absolutely. Think about what I just said earlier, right? Their rate of denial has gone up 20% in just a couple of years in America. Think about that ah rippling down or trickling down or whatever to like just normal everyday people in America. They're so mad about that, especially if it if that directly affected you or from any other company for that matter. So you've got that going. Wages have not gone up to keep up with inflation.
00:49:03
Speaker
the the the minimum wage is still, like it's like seven bucks still or something like that, right? People aren't making enough money. Whether whether we whether it's true or not, the perception is that groceries are very expensive now. um Gas, once again, whether it's true or not, the perception is that gas is very expensive. You've got people who are very, very angry because their lives are not where they know they are supposed to be. And you've got a bunch of rich people who sort of rub it in their face. And so it's like, what do you think they're going to fucking do? What do you think they're going to fucking do? Except vote for a strong man who tells them, I hear you. I'm with you. I'm going to make it better for you. Let me tell you what we're going to do. It's what, it's what, it's what, unfortunately, this vacuum of power that Joe Biden
00:49:56
Speaker
and democrats who don't know what the fuck they're doing have created he swooped in again and got the people's ears and went fuck them follow me i'll make your life better and by the way the people that you're angry at i'm angry at them too i'm so angry at them that i'm gonna fuck them up and people fucking eat that shit up man they fucking eat it up and maybe this will finally be the election that gets democrats to understand that class is at the center of everything and if you can't give people a better life a tangible better life
00:50:28
Speaker
They don't want you. They don't want you. That's it. And instead of you know being an elite party of people who just have a bunch of college degrees and are very smart, like maybe you need to start thinking about how you include normal everyday people more. You need to think about this.
00:50:45
Speaker
And the Democrats haven't. They have not done that. And, you know, look, I'm not saying that Republicans do that. They don't. I think that Republicans are good at bamboozling the middle class. They bamboozle the middle class and the poor into thinking we're on your side. And it's a shame. God, is it a shame? But here we are.
00:51:06
Speaker
I it is. It is. i I hate to say this, but it is almost comical now to see people that are coming to terms with what they actually voted for. And they're like, wait, wait a minute. I didn't. Wait, wait, wait. What's a tariff? but Who ends up paying for a tariff? Oh, I do. Got whatever. but you I mean, like you said, we don't have to talk about this forever. because It's not like people don't know. But what I will say is like. I don't know. I don't think there's anybody out there like this listening, but maybe there is. And I don't mean to sound hyperbolic.
00:51:36
Speaker
I really don't. But if you're like us, right? And I mean, if you're LGBT or if you're a woman or if you're, you know, whatever, some sort of other vulnerable group, if you're not taking steps to protect yourself right now, like maybe you should, maybe you should just think about that. And I don't know what that means for you personally. I don't know what that means for you, you, you, whatever, whoever you are listening. But like, it's not going to be normal. And i I just really want everyone to think about that that. What is ahead?
00:52:08
Speaker
is something that we have never experienced before. And it is it is a cult in charge of every mechanism of government in America, every single part of it they have control of. It's not just like normal Republicans. It's a fucking mega cult of people that are insane. Stuff is gonna fucking go haywire. That really does terrify me. It terrifies me for the world, but especially for all my friends and family and people that I love in America,
00:52:36
Speaker
Please you know if that means saving money if that means getting your passport renewed If that means, you know, if you're married, making sure that, you know, you've got everything in order. If it means, you know, if you are a, an LGBT person and you've got kids that you've adopted, you know, just look into things, just dot your eyes, cross your T's. That's all I'm, that's all I'm trying to say. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, it's, it's a, it's a very weird world that we are about to go into. And I don't think people really truly understand i know what's coming here. I don't think so either. I don't.
00:53:10
Speaker
All right. Well, let's, let's round out this segment with some people that we've lost this year. Unfortunately, I'm obviously a big in the horoscope. And one of my biggest regrets that we did not pursue a horror hookup with is Tony Todd so um gone and gone way too young to, he yeah was not that old. I think he was 71. That's not old anymore. My God.
00:53:34
Speaker
Talking about not being old, Liam Payne from One Direction. Very sad. Very sad. Passed away this year. Little cutie. Maggie Smith, of course. Oh, God. Legend, Quincy Jones. Yeah. ah Terry Gar. Who's Terry Gar? Comedy fame. You would know her from... I'm trying to think of like what would be her biggest thing. She's won a BAFTA.
00:54:01
Speaker
um i I'll look her up, but Terry Gar, Terry Gar, rest in peace. God bless you. Mostly 80s and 90s stuff. um James Earl Jones, of course. I forgot about them. Yeah, I forgot about them. um Journalism legend Phil Donahue.
00:54:16
Speaker
comedy legend, Bob Newhart. I've actually thought about going back and watching Newhart because I kind of want to see what the 80s version of curmudgeon was like.
00:54:29
Speaker
um Of course, Shannon Doherty of Charmed in 90210 fame. Uh, Richard Simmons, of course, the legend in the, in the exercise community. That was a tough one. That was tough. Like what in a what a gorgeous, beautiful soul he was. And what a weird end of life thing. Like just how he was like a such a shut in. And after being such a big human, like yeah figure in in the 90s, so crazy. and And suddenly coming back on social media too, the stuff that he was writing was just, i I adored following it, the little messages that he was putting up almost daily, it was incredible, it was incredible.
00:55:08
Speaker
Uh, someone that was formative in my youth, Dr. Ruth, uh, this was the first person that I ever heard talk about sex in like a very, like your normal way. And so like, I was like, whoa, we can actually like talk about this stuff. It's not taboo. It's not like, so I really appreciated Dr. Ruth, uh, her commitment to that cause. Obviously, Colonel mustard himself. marna oh Wow. Um, Donald Sutherland, we lost this year.
00:55:35
Speaker
ah Carl Weathers we lost this year. So sad. Comedy legend Richard Lewis we lost this year and obviously Cheetah Rivera who we lost this year. And a couple more on the list too. Phil Lesh OG from The Grateful Dead. Wonderful, wonderful man and also just incredibly talented musician. And also prolific, ah prolific tripper man. Like some of the stories about Phil Lesh tripping on acid are insane. I invite you to Google those and go get and go read them. But Phil Lush was a really cool dude. And um one that was ah really, ah really important to me because he was like my childhood hero, Paul Rubens, keeping him in himself. So very, very sad there. Another great person who we treated like shit. Totally. Yeah, exactly.
00:56:26
Speaker
All right. Maybe, and then maybe I put these on the list because I was like, maybe some of these people we won't miss so much. yeah I know that sounds bad, but some of no it doesn't. It doesn't sound bad. Yeah. Um, Morgan Spurlock of super size me who we thought was a good guy and turned out to be a game monster.
00:56:44
Speaker
a um OJ Simpson, who we all knew was a monster very long, but denied it. You're, you're a fucking murderer and you're lucky that you got the years that you got, you're gone by. Don't forget about it.
00:56:56
Speaker
My greatest accomplishment is that Toby Keith is finally gone from this earth because that man was a giant piece of shit. Goodbye. to You're done. See you later. Oh, I don't normally celebrate death, but some people just shouldn't be here. i'm Sorry. I'm not celebrating. We're just saying, you know, look, we're not as sad that you're gone. It's kind of like ah the the it's true like the United Healthcare guy. Like, look, i I feel bad for his kids. I'm not saying that I don't. I do. I absolutely do.
00:57:24
Speaker
And I also don't feel bad that he's gone. I don't have to grieve. I don't have to grieve that. I don't have to. Yeah. Yeah, ma'am. Well, that is 2024 in a nutshell. I mean, obviously there's a lot we missed. Um, obviously things like Twitter, we've already talked about in previous episodes. We had a whole episode devoted to AI. If you want to go listen to that. Wait, I'm going to stop you on this though. One thing from 2024, right? AI. I just heard about this this week. There's a new thing called notebook LM. Have you heard of this? No. From Google.
00:57:56
Speaker
So I heard about it at work. My, my boss told me about, um, he was talking with another colleague about, yeah, you put some stuff in here. You do you put in that source, that source, that source. He asked it to, you know, explain some stuff to you, whatever. And then it creates a podcast for you. And I said, I said, what? And he said, yeah, it creates podcasts for you. And it creates a podcast with two virtual people talking to each other about the topic that you've asked about.
00:58:24
Speaker
And Andrew, I've listened to it. It sounds like two fucking real people having a podcast. It is fucking weird. And I was like, this isn't cool. I was like, this all dead I'm a podcaster. This isn't cool. This is weird. They are not humans. This isn't helpful. How is this helpful right now? Tell me how this is helpful. There's no good answer for it. I think it's fucked up and weird.
00:58:46
Speaker
We're all dying. Right. it like I was like, great. Well, you know, maybe I'll have to do a podcast about our podcast. like yeah There you go. So fucking weird. Anyways, look, that is the first part of our episode. That's a long first segment. I don't think it's ever been this long before, but you know what? Look, 2024 was weird and terrifying. We had to talk about it. So there it is. Andrew, anything else about 2024?
00:59:08
Speaker
no i think that you know what we will talk about kind of the 2025 of it all at the end of the episode but you know take 2024 for what it was it's it's another year we made it through and fuck it and you know what but also like I don't know, reflect on it, learn something from it. Don't just like, don't just like, I don't know. I always feel like at the end of the year, everyone's always like, Oh, stick a fork in it. It's finally done or like death to 2024 death to 2020 or whatever. And I'm just like, you know what? If you're going to continue to do that, you're just going to continue to repeat the same issues and the same problems. So maybe reflect a little bit. I don't know.
00:59:50
Speaker
All right, folks, on to our next segment, which is the ever beloved. What you've been watching, bitch.
01:00:10
Speaker
And we're back with the beloved segment. What you been watching, bitch? If this is what you've been watching, you crazy 2024 bitch. Oh, my God, Andrew, I forgot that you were going to do that. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry. um Listen, folks, this is the portion of the show where we talk about the things that we have been watching. um But also I do have things that I've been listening to and reading this time. You'll see those. um So Andrew will tell us the first thing that he has been watching. Tell us, Andrew.
01:00:38
Speaker
Yes, mine will take mine for the first three will take on a little bit of a trend
Entertainment Reviews and Recommendations
01:00:43
Speaker
here. So my first one is from Netflix. It is called Hot Frosty. Oh, boy.
01:00:49
Speaker
And if that doesn't sound like a new sexual position, I don't know what does. So this movie is it stars Lacey Chabert. And she has a she has gifted a magical scarf that she puts around a ah so a snow sculpture of ah of a chiseled man. And he he comes to life. It's it's the real life Frosty the Snowman. um And then it is typically your typical kind of like Hallmarky type of movie. ah But it's It's actually pretty much. It's like it's like what Hallmark wants to do because it's actually like tongue in cheek. And sure it's actually kind of like it's not raunchy, but it definitely has like he has a shirt off a lot. And there's a lot of like fine with it like middle aged women ogling. We're very good looking man. So whatever, whatever you want to take that for. Maybe not the most family friendly movie, but um I thought it was fun and stupid. ok And listen, I don't know what it is about Lacey Chabert, but I always kind of have like a
01:01:49
Speaker
I hope she wins like in my heart of that of that person. and Maybe she's awful, maybe she's great. I don't know, but there's just something about her. Maybe it was her character in Mean Girls or something, but I just always want her to win. so I'm glad yeah to see her move on from like Hallmark movies and it and you know wind up on Netflix, which is is pretty awesome. so I liked this movie. It wasn't great. And listen, I'll rank these. I think this is the second best Netflix Christmas special that I will talk about today. Okay. Okay. I'm into it. I'm into it. i I will say like out of the ones that you have here, I probably will watch hot frosty one night well because and you can also watch the gay, the guy from a, um, uh, Schitt's Creek. Yeah. well and And that's, that's why I want to watch it. Cause I think he's just kind of charming also.
01:02:36
Speaker
What was the movie that we reviewed that he was, that he was, that he was in the messengers, saw the messenger. Oh God. Oof. God almighty. That was tough. Um, anyways, um, my first one, Andrew is a podcast that I am finally excited to talk to you about and everyone. Um, have you heard of the telepathy tapes yet? No, but it sounds um like something I would be into. Okay. I don't know how I didn't know about this until now or even how I saw it. I think it must have just popped up on my Spotify feed and as like a, you know, whatever. Um, cause I listened to my podcast and Spotify now anyways, um, the telepathy tapes, the reason why I listened is because I saw that Kai Dickens is the creator.
01:03:17
Speaker
Kai Dickens is a director of mostly documentaries that I know from Chicago. um I know Kai Dickens because back in my activist days in 2009, they had a feature documentary called Fish Out of Water ah that premiered in Chicago at Lincoln Hall. Actually, I was at the premiere. I still have photos from it.
01:03:38
Speaker
um Love the movie. I own the movie. um I've screened that movie for a lot of people personally. I did a screening of it at my church in Chicago, which was incredible. That movie is about um the intersection of LGBT people and the church, basically. um And Kai did a lot of interviews. and did it was it was It's a very, very good, good documentary. I really, really adore that one. Anyways, um I really respect Kai. I respect their work. And I saw that they were involved. And I thought, oh, I'll give it a listen.
01:04:07
Speaker
I, from the end of that first episode, absolutely hooked and my mind was blown. So here's what this is about. She somehow heard on like a podcast or something about how nonverbal people with autism have a predilection towards telepathy.
01:04:29
Speaker
And the reason why they like why this came out is because like parents were starting, parents of these young people were starting to realize that like, holy shit, my kid is my kid can't talk. And they're using like a spell board to spell. They've learned how to do that.
01:04:44
Speaker
But they know what I'm thinking all the time. If I think of a word, a crazy word, they spell out the word. If I try to hide a gift for them, they know where the gift is and they know what it is and they know how much I spent on it. If they're thinking about this, if I'm thinking about this, they know it and and they tell me about it on the spell board.
01:05:02
Speaker
And so that was freaking these parents out and they went to you know a couple of researchers. And I forget the doctor's name, but there's this one researcher who was a faculty at Harvard and who started to do some some research into it. um The problem is that the research that you do into something like this is pretty much flatly rejected by the scientific community. And so it's not like you know people are like, whatever, what the fuck? But I'm going to tell you what.
01:05:26
Speaker
This podcast does double-blind tests over and over and over and over and over again. And if you if you are someone who donates to the the the the future um the future feature documentary that is coming out that that Kai is currently creating,
01:05:43
Speaker
Um, you get access to the videos of these tests too. So I've seen the videos, seen all the videos. I've listened to all the tests. It is astounding, Andrew. It's absolutely astounding. There is no way that this is being faked and there is no way I'm telling you after listening to this podcast.
01:05:59
Speaker
No way that telepathy is not real. It is fucking real. And the stuff that these kids talk about and the stuff that the parents talk about will blow your fucking mind. like I feel like I'm like i'm like in a new world right now. like Consciousness is different. We are learning something new about our actual existence.
01:06:21
Speaker
And this is going to blow shit out of the water. So I'm going to leave it there. I am obviously obsessed with it now, but I binged it all yesterday and I can't tell you how good it is. I hope that you like it too. I hope that people get at least give it a try. Give it, give it a thought. Maybe you won't agree with it. Maybe you'll think it's bullshit. I don't know.
01:06:41
Speaker
But I don't think that it is, dude. And it was incredible to listen to. So I offer that to everybody. The telepathy tapes. The the final episode has not yet been released. Cool. Sounds it sounds really interesting. um My next one is also a Netflix Christmas movie. It is called The Merry Gentlemen. Do you know about this one? I don't.
01:07:04
Speaker
So this is about a girl. She is a jingle bell, which if you think is a rock, she's like a rocket, essentially, get it? And she is fired from the jingle bells. So she goes back to her small town where her Um, parents own a concert venue. They own it. I forget exactly what it's called, but, uh, they own like a little bar concert venue and it's obviously going out of business and she has to find a way to revitalize the bar. And what does she do? She runs into Chad, Michael Murray, which if you don't remember him,
01:07:38
Speaker
ah He's aged nicely. And she comes up with an idea to put on an all-male review in the bar to kind of raise money for the bar. And so she ah she gets her sister's husband, the local bartender, which if any if you went to any small town bar and this guy was the local bartender I don't know what you're, what's in that water, but, um, and then Chad, Michael Murray, obviously, and they do an all mail review. They eventually recruit another guy and they eventually recruit one of the bar stool, like the guy who's always at the bar. Um, and it's none other than, um, but what's his face from empire records, the guy who comes in and, um,
01:08:21
Speaker
is the is the music talent in in Empire Records. Rex Manning. Yeah, Rex Manning. Shut up. That's that's insane. And so um they they the movies all about them doing that. And then, you know, there's obviously some conflict and some love and whatever. That's I will say this one's like this one's fun because they're shirtless guys a lot. But like, sure, if you look at the overall story and about like, it's very misogynistic.
01:08:48
Speaker
Oh, really? Well, it's basically telling her to give up everything for this guy. I don't know. I'm not going to get into it. But like I listen, I had fun with it at a surface level. But when I really started to think about the impact of like the story, I was like, I don't know if this is good for people to watch. so Listen, it probably hits their basic demographic, doesn't it? You know what I mean? So in my scale of the three movies I'm talking about today of Christmas, Netflix movies, this is the worst one. OK, not going to watch that one.
01:09:18
Speaker
Um, Andrew, my next one is the day of the Jackal. Um, I think for you, it's on peacock. I'm pretty sure for us over here, it's on sky. Um, and it is really, really good if you like spy stuff and I do. Um, so I think I saw a commercial for this. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a lot of fun. So the day of the Jackal, um, is actually like, this is a fairly old spy story. There there's been a few iterations of it. There was a movie of it, like maybe like 10 or so years ago. I can't quite recall.
01:09:46
Speaker
Um, but in this new iteration, Eddie Redmayne is actually the Jackal. Um, and let me tell you, he's fucking great in this show. Really, really good. Um, give you the basic rundown. The Jackal is an assassin. He's like the best assassin in the world. People hire him to go kill people and they do that because they know he's going to get the job done. No matter what.
01:10:09
Speaker
And so he this is a ah ah show about you know double lives. It's a show about like disguises. It's a show about spies. It's a show about this, that, whatever. um I've had a great time with it. I really, really love watching this. um i I watched the latest episode last night. I can't wait for the finale. um So if you're into spy stuff, once again,
01:10:28
Speaker
What you folks know that I am, I say, watch it. It's got gotten great reviews. It's 85% of Rotten Tomatoes, 8.2 on IMDB. People fucking love it. And I am one of those people. So if you're into that kind of shit, the day of the Jackal, give it a watch. A lot of fun. Fun, fun, fun. fun Good to see Eddie Redmayne kind of so surfacing again. yeah And this this is something really different for him too, I would say.
01:10:51
Speaker
Yeah, um my next one is another Netflix Christmas movie because I just can't get enough. um Like the song says, um but this one is called Our Little Secret. This is the newest movie with Lindsay Lohan. If you if you remember correctly, she's had a Christmas movie now three times in a row.
01:11:10
Speaker
Um, I think we had Irish wish last year. Uh, and then before that I had the Christmas fall down or something like that. I can't remember the name of it, but, um, so this movie is all about Lindsay Lohan and her high school sweetheart. They've been together for since, you know, since high school, they really are in love. She gets a job opportunity in London. And so they decide to split up.
01:11:32
Speaker
And then ah years later, they are both dating their respective partners and they come back home for Christmas to meet the parents. And lo and behold, they are dating brother and sister. So then they have to figure out, do they tell everyone that they once dated and were in love or do they keep it a secret?
01:11:51
Speaker
Um, listen, this one is actually pretty good. Okay. Kristen Chenoweth plays the mother, which is really funny. Um, Lindsay Lohan. I don't know what happened to her between the last two years and this year, but she's somehow made up like a turnaround. God love her. You know what? God love her.
01:12:10
Speaker
she She just seems like her old self again, but but like 45 I'm genuinely really glad to hear that good for her So I recommend if you're gonna watch a Netflix Christmas movie this year I would recommend our little secret as your kind of family-friendly um funny Italian cheek ah still feel good movie of the year so far. That would be my opinion on these silly little movies, but our little secret was pretty fun. Gotta say, I would, I would recommend it. It's definitely better than Irish wish or that other one that happened. ago I live in Ireland and I'm not going to watch that fucking Irish wish. Hell no. It looks dumb as shit. Um, for me, my next one here is a book.
01:12:55
Speaker
I finally read a book. um you know You and I have talked about this. like As we get older and like our jobs get crazier, reading is so hard now. It is yeah genuinely very difficult to find time to read. And then when you do, all you can think about is all the shit that's on your mind. So you it's hard to like focus on the book.
01:13:15
Speaker
Anyways, I finally finished this book that is called The Devil's Best Trick. It's by Randall Sullivan. um I picked up this book because the New York Times had ah had a review of it and and they said this is one of the best books of the year and um it it really intrigued me.
01:13:31
Speaker
um Randall Sullivan was a writer for Rolling Stone and for a bunch of other different outlets. um And he's written some other books besides this one. But what this does is it goes into the history of evil. And it's sort of like a it's sort of a book that works on like three tracks.
01:13:49
Speaker
One track is about like the history of the devil. like How did the devil come to be, and like how do we understand the devil? like How does our understanding of the devil now, how do we get to that point? like How do we all think about, like oh, the devil is this? If I say, you know who's the devil for you? like You've got an image in your head of what the devil is, or what the devil does, or whatever. um So it's really interesting to go into that deep, deep history of just, like hey, here's how that came to be.
01:14:19
Speaker
Um, and so that's one track and he does that throughout the book, but then he layers two stories on top of it. Because really what this book is, it's not just about the devil, it's about evil. And it's about like big E evil. Like, is there evil in the world? What does it look like? And so he, he demonstrates the presence of evil through two, in two different ways. The first is through the story of the, um,
01:14:45
Speaker
The apparent suicide of a ah teenager in Childress, Texas in 1988, but this was very likely not a suicide. What it was, was probably a murder by a satanic cult in this little town.
01:15:04
Speaker
And there's lots of evidence that points to that, but not enough evidence to actually clinch a case. And so it's really interesting to go into the history of this case and everything else. And I had never heard about this one before, but really, really interesting stuff. And honestly, some scary shit in there. And it's not like satanic panic shit. It's not that this is like, no, this is some serious fucking crime going on, right? So that's one of the tracks. And the other track that I did not expect in this book is actually Mexico.
01:15:34
Speaker
And so like he he he hears about um like these satanic cults that are in like Vera Cruz and a couple of other places. And he decides to go on this trip with a translator named named, I forget her name now, but he goes down there with somebody else who can translate for him and she's with him for the entire trip. He goes to these these places in Mexico that like frankly you and I could never go to because we would probably be robbed and killed.
01:16:00
Speaker
um But he's able to get deep into it. And like he goes to Veracruz where ah the Brujereas are, which are like the the big witches that like do stuff for the mafia and do stuff for like stars. But like apparently, these are people who have their power because every year they go to this cave in Veracruz where they renew their deal with the devil.
01:16:24
Speaker
and And every year they have this big like convention of like sort of like evil witches basically there. And like this dude goes there and goes to this cave and he goes to one of the black masses and does this. and it It was an astounding journey that I just didn't think I was ever going to read about.
01:16:42
Speaker
So it's it's a really cool book that weaves together these three strands pretty well. um And man, i I'll tell you, there's some stuff in this book too that like, ah look, you and I watch some fucked up shit, right? Our brains are pretty good with that. There's some shit in here that I am never going to forget. And like honestly, still freaks me out after reading it. So like this is a book that if you choose to read it, it it may freak you out a little bit because it definitely freaked me out.
01:17:10
Speaker
and I finished it actually today and it was really, really good and well done. So ah there's that for you, The Devil's Best Trick by Randall Sullivan. Cool. Yeah, I actually have two books sitting on my bookshelf right now. that There you go, girl. There you go.
01:17:25
Speaker
Um, my last one ah is currently on HBO max or max or whatever they call it. God damn it. Um, uh, so I don't know if you have access to this, but it's called, I think it's Cotto Lake or Caddo Lake. Oh, I think I have this on, I've i've got this on something I do.
01:17:43
Speaker
you need to watch this really okay i will if okay so listen we're about to do our top five horror movies of the year i would have put this on my list but i disqualified it because i think it's more of a sci-fi than oh really okay um it follows uh it kind of like in a town Um, of Cotto Lake and it's, it's, it's concentrated on a couple people, but it's basically about this little girl that goes, it's, it's, it's West Texas by way of louis Louisiana. So I think of like Bayou, like that type of, that type of thing. So like a lot of canals and a lot of swamp and stuff. And it follows, um,
01:18:21
Speaker
this family where a little girl goes missing in the swamp and everyone's looking for her. I don't want to give too much away because there is like a lot of like twisty turnies in this. Yeah, sure. um And it follows Dylan O'Brien who's also. That's all you have to say. Oh my God, I love him. I absolutely and love him.
01:18:38
Speaker
And also, guess who else is in it? Lauren Ambrose, one of our favorites. No way. Shut up. So um it kind of follows all these people in this kind of like search for this little girl. And you yeah I don't want to, like I said, I don't want to give too much away because there's a lot that's going on in this movie that if I said anything, it would it would give it away. But. Listen, this movie, I have not heard anybody talk about this movie and it is really fucking good. And then I'm looking at the credits right here. It's produced by M night Shyamalan. So that really explains a little something. Interesting. Um, so yeah, if you haven't watched cattle Lake yet, definitely give it a watch. If not for the eye candy, that is Dylan O'Brien. Listen, Dylan O'Brien can do no wrong in my world um and anything that he wanted from me, I would give it to him. Anything. Yeah. Go watch this tonight. You will not you will not regret it. God, I fucking love it. And I just looked like I do have it on Sky, so I will watch it.
01:19:33
Speaker
um Andrew, my final one is a TV show. It's going back to a show that we I have been waiting for for almost 10 years to come out. It is the conclusion of the Wolf Hall trilogy. So Wolf Hall um was... it's It's a BBC... Well, first of all, it's been on a journey with this show. Well, because because it's incredible. that That's the reason why. I mean, number one, I love the books by Hilary Mantel. Hilary Mantel died last year, actually.
01:20:02
Speaker
um incredible author and these books are just fucking awesome I adore them and um they they made BBC made a ah television version of them um and the um the the first series came out which is the first two books ah that came out in 2015 so almost 10 years ago and Oh, wow. And then finally this year, Wolf Hall, the mirror and the light, the conclusion to it is finally out. I am. it It's only available on BBC, right? So you can really only watch it if you're in the UK, but you can also like use a VPN like I do and watch it on your fucking laptop and stream it to TV. Right. So that's what I do.
01:20:41
Speaker
um And it works works okay. um And this one is is as good as always, um as as good as ever. um This is Mark Rylance, who I just think is one of the best actors alive still. And he plays Thomas Cromwell um and Damian Lewis, who continues on as Henry VIII.
01:20:59
Speaker
And these are two actors in their fucking prime, man. like I just can't tell you enough how good Mark Rylance is. And Damian Lewis is just astounding as Henry VIII. So you know look if you're it if you're not into stuff like this, you're not going to like it. So don't watch it. But if you are into it, you need to watch the the first Wolf Hall series first. Don't jump into this on its own.
01:21:22
Speaker
um And then after you are amazed by its brilliance, go into the the mirror and the light because it is really fucking good so far. It's not over yet. So I'm very happy that that is back in my lifetime.
01:21:33
Speaker
Cool. um I feel like that's like, like I said, it's from 2015. That's quite a journey a girl. So, uh, all right. Well, that does it for what you've been watching bitch. Maddie brought us the tele telepathy. Thank you. I was like telepathy, a podcast, uh, the day of the Jackal on sky, or I think, like you said, I think peacock, I'm pretty sure. Yeah.
01:21:57
Speaker
ah The Devil's Best Trick by Randall Sullivan and Wolf Hall, the mirror and the light currently on BBC. And Andrew brought us all on Netflix Hot Frosty, The Merry Gentlemen and Our Little Secret, and Caddo Lake on Max or on Sky if you are in Europe. So that does it for what you've been watching, bitch. We'll be right back with that our top five horror films of 2024.
01:22:34
Speaker
these top 5 horror movies 2024.
01:22:42
Speaker
So look dudes, we're back and a little bit different than what we usually do in this segment where we have one film and then another film. We're going to do 10 films, but look, we're not going to talk to you for an hour. What we're doing is we're doing our top five lists of 2024. So Andrew has a list of five. I've got a list of five. Um, we each have one that overlaps, which is interesting.
01:23:06
Speaker
Um, and we will do these for you in order of what we thought was, um, you know, we're going from number five to number one, basically. Right. yeah So number, number one's the best one is good. Right. Um, and look, 2024, Andrew, I think you would agree with me here. Not a bad year for horror, right? I actually think it's an exceptionally year for horror. Um, this was, this was actually hard, hard for me to watch all the movies eligible. Um, because obviously I missed a couple. I tried to catch up with this. I could.
01:23:36
Speaker
Um, but also like, like literally you're number one. I haven't even seen yet. I feel bad about that. So like, listen, I think that there's going to be some that we missed and I'm just saying, sure because like, this is our, our humble opinion and what we were able to catch. Um, uh, and so like the, listen, if you don't like it, you know, suck it up. yeah You know what, you know what? andrew It reminds me of like, probably like four or five years ago, we, we, like, we released, you and me released like our top five lists on Instagram or whatever the fuck.
01:24:05
Speaker
And some motherfucker just dug into us for it. i know And I'm not gonna say his name because I don't fucking care, but it's just like, dude, who do you think do you think we run the Oscars or something? like Give us a fucking break, man. So yeah, everyone, look, these are not your favorite. That's okay. This is just the ones that we saw and the ones that we thought were good.
01:24:28
Speaker
And honestly, I thought that this would be a fun idea instead of doing like two movies that represent 2024. I think that 2024 was so jam packed that we kind of have to talk about more than that. Exactly. You know, so how about Andrew? Do you want to tell us what your number five is? Sure. My number five. Um, and I will say that my top four were very easy for me to slot. The number five position was the hardest one for me because I really do think that there was a lot of great stuff.
01:24:52
Speaker
I ultimately settled on the first omen. um I thought that the first omen was far and away better than anything i accept i I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a cash grab, like just kind of like you know put it together and we'll see what happens, but no, it was far better than I thought. and Honestly, on rewatch, I liked it even more, and I liked how they integrated it into the story of the omen. And so, ultimately, I had to give it to this. um you know I recently watched Apartment 7A, which is the prequel to Rosemary's Baby, sure and I felt very different about that prequel than I did this prequel.
01:25:34
Speaker
Um, the first omen is my number five. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a a great little, um, addition to the omen universe, which I think is highly underrated. Very cool. Thank you, Andrew. I have not yet seen that one. I'm looking forward to finally doing it though. Um, if for nothing else, I can just keep saying Damien, Damien. My fifth one is In a Violent Nature. um This is available on Shutter. It is a Shutter original. um I saw this in the cinema, um which I think helped with the film. I'll be honest. This has had a lot of mixed reviews, um and I think you and I probably differ on at least a little bit, I would say.
01:26:15
Speaker
Um, but I think for me, this is one that really hit pretty well. It's not a perfect movie by far. There's, there's plenty wrong with it. Most of all the dialogue if I'm being honest with you, but why this made my list is because I really do think it was pretty inventive for a film.
01:26:31
Speaker
For sure. It's not inventive as a video game, which is what it kind of feels like, but it definitely for a slasher was something a little bit different. um And I saw this on a date and I'll tell you, I just watched it and like i I tried to put the dialogue aside because a lot of it is just not all that wonderful. And there's definitely stuff that people do that pisses you off like every slasher, quite frankly.
01:26:55
Speaker
um But I think that the the the the killer in this one is pretty fucking cool. And the lore that they create around it in the movie in a very short space of time, only 94 minutes, they're able to create some really interesting lore. um And the deaths are fucking brutal in this movie, absolutely brutal. um Really interesting film, really enjoyed it. um And that's why it's my number five on the list in a violent nature.
01:27:25
Speaker
cool. Um, I think I said my piece on that movie when I reviewed it once you've been watching it. I thought it was, ah I thought it was cool, but like just not my complete bag, but I see why it would be on your list. Um, and my number four is Abigail, the vampire child movie. What a movie um um Ultimately, I had to put this on my list because I had so much fun watching it. It's a fun movie. i agreed I don't know how else to explain it. it's you know the The premise of the movie is it's a heist movie where they kidnap ah a little girl. Turns out that little girl is a vampire. a Spoiler alert.
01:28:01
Speaker
But we've talked about it on the show before. um And it's just chaos for the rest of the 90 minutes that plays out. And listen, I don't think that these filmmakers have had a miss yet. And so I'm eager to see what they're going to do in the future. I thought Abigail was um I think highly underappreciated from the amount of fun it was. It it just for pure like watchability. yeah um And Dan Stevens, so there you go. But yes, Abigail is my number four movie of the year. Nice. ah My number four is I Saw the TV Glow. What a movie. What a movie. um And ah it's so interesting. i'm I'm still thinking about it. I'm still thinking about this movie.
01:28:46
Speaker
um the The first three acts of the movie just had me in. the and I do kind of put this movie in like five acts. The final two, I think, were a bit indulgent. I think that they were a bit too far from from like what the film started with. I still think it was wonderful.
01:29:06
Speaker
And like and like if I'm being honest, the final two acts, I don't think that they were really for me, if that makes sense. like i Yeah, we talked about that a little bit. yeah I think that they were for somebody else. And I and i understand that and i and i and I respect that. So you know whatever criticism I have of those aside, I still think that they fit very well into the movie.
01:29:24
Speaker
I think that the cast is out of this world good. I think that direction was fan-tastic. I called it electric ah in my in my letterbox review that no one probably read. um And I think that the design of it was absolutely incredible. like I mean, this this movie takes place when I was in high school and I felt like I was right back in high school. um And the final scene really just ends. And I was ah like just stared at the screen like, what fuck what the fuck um it's an incredible little film and i really did enjoy watching it and like i said i'm still thinking about it i think it's a really important of film in the genre something very very different incredibly different um and at a time when things are pretty scary for transgender people
01:30:13
Speaker
I think this is a really important one and a really courageous one. Um, so this is one that I think, uh, had to be on the list and that's it. I saw the TV glow is my number four. Cool. Yeah. I think that, I think that that one will gain appreciation over time. Cause I feel like, I feel like it didn't quite hit with people or it wasn't quite accessible for people when it came out. And so I think as it maybe gets added to a streaming service, I believe it's on HBO max now. I think so. Um,
01:30:42
Speaker
But I think the more eyes that get on it, I think the more it will be appreciated. Have have you seen it again or just the once? Just the once so far. you knows Same for me and I actually own it. I bought it again with the intention of watching it and I just haven't been able to yet. and I mean, it's a depressing movie. Yeah, that and that that's why. But i'm I'm going to make myself do it and I promise on the show, I'll talk about it again after I do that um because i just i I want to see how it hits the second time for sure. Yeah.
01:31:08
Speaker
All right. My number three of the year was a late ad. I actually just watched it this week and I loved it that much. They added it to my list. It is strange. Darling. Have you seen this movie yet? No, no, but I've i've i've heard it. Tell me about it. So this is Kyle Galner, um, and, uh, and, and Willa Fitzgerald and the movie opens. It's very interesting how this movie is set up. I'm going to give you a little bit of setup, but I won't give too much away. Sure.
01:31:35
Speaker
it It opens by saying, strange darling, a movie in six act are in six chapters, okay but the movie starts you in chapter three, and then it kind of bounces around and gives you kind of like the ah the context in which you think you what kind of movie you're in.
01:31:54
Speaker
Um, but maybe you don't know what kind of movie you're in or maybe you don't know the intentions of all of the characters. Sure. And so i I thank you so much to, you know, the, the, the blue sky threads community that I put out there. I said, you know, what are your favorite horror movies of the year? And this one kept coming up. This one in oddity kept coming up. So I was like, you know what? I owe it to myself to watch these before we make this list. And although I didn't make my list, strange darling definitely did.
01:32:21
Speaker
Um, it's a kind of a cat and mouse pursuit movie. Um, but there's a little bit more beyond that. It's so funny though, because halfway through the movie, Ed Bagley Jr. Shows up with Barbara Hershey and they play a couple in the morning. And I was like, what the hell? What kind of movie am I watching?
01:32:42
Speaker
um But overall, I just thought that this, it kept me on the edge of my seat. It kept me guessing, which for avid horror fans to like really like keep you guessing in a movie, that's something. I don't know. you know ah we've We've seen a lot of movies at this point and not a lot of them really take the take the sales, if you will, but this one really stuck with me and I really liked it and I'll definitely be watching it again.
01:33:08
Speaker
just if not to like piece it together again because it was a fun little puzzle. So if you've not seen Strange Darling yet, I highly recommend it. And also, uh, what's this Kyle Galner only getting better with age. So yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Good. It's really good to hear. ill I'll put that on the list for sure. Uh, you gotta watch it. It's very good. Well, for sure. For sure.
01:33:29
Speaker
My third one, um look, this is a technical thing, right? So my third one technically did come out at the end of 2023, but guess what? It didn't come out here until 2024. So guess what? It's my podcast. I get to include it. um And it is the zone of interest.
01:33:47
Speaker
Zone of interest is not technically in the horror genre, but we have very big feelings about what should or should not be included in any genre on this podcast, quite frankly. And this is a horror fucking film. I don't care what anyone says. um The zone of interest is a a film about the Holocaust.
01:34:05
Speaker
that is a film like none other, none other period, but definitely none other about the Holocaust for fucking sure. This is a film that takes place um in a concentration camp in Auschwitz, but just outside of it. And so it is a harrowing movie that is terrifying and scary and sad, but you never see any of it happen.
01:34:29
Speaker
you only hear it that's it you only hear it just outside the walls of the house where the commandant and his wife and his children live and these people are so deep into nazi ideology and into the work that they think they have ahead of them that it doesn't bother them at all.
01:34:52
Speaker
Not at all. So outside of their home, literally right outside about the the walls of Auschwitz, they hear people screaming, people being burned alive, people being shot, people being tortured, having the worst possible thing set up them every single day. And you know what? They don't get flying fuck about it. They just keep on living. And that's what this movie does. um Incredibly brilliantly directed.
01:35:18
Speaker
um And it does a thing that that I think is really important. um Hannah Arendt, who was an incredible author who wrote a good deal about the Holocaust, but she she um she coined a phrase called the banality of evil. um And that's what's on display in the zone of interest. It's just, this is what we do. And that's it. That's it.
01:35:43
Speaker
And there's this great moment in the movie where um the commandant ah ah is like he's like dictating the letter. Right. And it's about um this this really important thing at the concentration camp that this project that he's been working on. And at the end of it, he he's telling the person that he's dictating to.
01:36:01
Speaker
uh like he's he's ending the letter like with like like with all the formalities and he just says heil Hitler etc etc etc and that's what it's like that's the banality of evil this is just what we do this is it this is this is the reality like how could it be anything else um and it's an incredible movie there is one if you haven't seen it i won't give this part away but there is one um part in the final act that might blow your mind, like might actually blow your mind the way that it's done, because it certainly did for me. This is a movie that has haunted me since the day that I watched it on January 20th, 2024, because I have my letterbox. And it's incredible. it's It's the most important Holocaust film I think I've ever seen in my life. I think everyone needs to see it because the danger of genocide is always lurking around the corner. And believe it or not,
01:36:48
Speaker
you could be a part of it too and you wouldn't even really know it until it's too late. And that's what's important about this movie. So it is absolutely a horror film. I don't care what any motherfucker says and extremely important to watch. And it's the number three on my list. Cool. Um, we have the same number two. So should we just in unison say what it is? No, no, no, no. That's my, that's my number one.
01:37:14
Speaker
Oh, I, you, you had me write them down wrong then. so no no no well I didn't number one is my number. So you're just go ahead and say it. Go ahead. My number two is the substance. Um, saw this in the theater and it's really, really stuck with me. I mean,
01:37:32
Speaker
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, I think is her name, yeah qualey ah who I didn't know was Andy McDowell's daughter, but do now. um And um it's all about an aging fitness ah ah guru slash child star, who essentially has told she's too old to now host her her show, and so she gets a mysterious note that says the substance, what does she say? It says the substance saved my life or something like that. She turns 50 is what happens. And the the main like producer is like, yeah, guess what? You're too old. You're done. And um shortly thereafter, Elizabeth Sparkle is her name. She has an accident. I'm not giving away too much here. I promise you. And while she's in the doctor's office,
01:38:21
Speaker
a very strangely attractive young man is there too and he's like a nurse kind of thing and he sees her body after the doctor leaves and he gives her a little um a little what is it called thumb drive yeah yeah yeahp i forgot what they're even called now because we never use them um but she plugs it her into her computer when she gets home because the guy told her He just says, you'd be a great candidate. That's all that he says. She goes home, plugs it in, and she sees this little video on there about something called the substance. And all the video says is, you know, do you basically want to be a better version of yourself? This is it.
01:39:02
Speaker
But what it says in the video too is, remember, you are one. And so you don't know what that fully means, but she's into it. And so she calls the number and she's over there and everything else. And she ends up going to this crazy, like a little weird storage space in LA and she goes and picks up her package um and she gets it and she does it.
01:39:27
Speaker
from that point forward, this is one of the craziest movies I've ever seen in my fucking life. Yeah, I like ah so the only reason this isn't my number one is just because A, I need to watch it again. And then B, I feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions and how like how it all works that I kind of need to like watch again just to like kind of put together because Originally, when I was ah offered the premise of this movie and when I was watching it, I thought that she was in control the whole time. But I don't think that's the case. they I think that the two exist on different like levels, which is kind of interesting because the perception when she first wakes up in the new body is that she's in the new body. But I I think that that's just a trick that the filmmakers play on you. But that that is because it's both of our selections so we can talk about it.
01:40:20
Speaker
Like, that is the point, right? yeah Is that you are one. And so it it is like this this confluence, this this giant circle of they're both in control because they're both one. And the one can't be without the other. And each of them thinks that they can be, but once they've created the monster, it's already too late.
01:40:42
Speaker
And so like they they she didn't realize when she first took the substance that, oh fuck, this this is going to be my new reality that I can never stop. And that's what it comes down to.
01:40:54
Speaker
Yeah, very interesting movie. I highly recommend people go and watch it. And listen, this doesn't only have three acts. It has four acts, if I'm being honest, because the end of this movie is so insane. um I can't give anything away. But if you thought you were going into one movie, congratulations, you just graduated to the next level of play. Yeah, like i'll I'll tell you, like it's it's ah it's a truly incredible piece of work. I think Demi Moore, I don't think she's ever done anything anything better than this in her life. and i like Just the way the same way that I felt about Toni Collette for Hereditary, I feel that way about Demi Moore for the substance. This is somebody who, you know, Demi Moore has been around for a very long time. in In the later chapters of her acting career, to be able to pull something like this out, I think is amazing.
01:41:48
Speaker
um Margaret Qualley, I've i really admired for a long time. she I first saw her in the Leftovers, which i you know you know that i'm I'm obsessed with that show. um And I think her acting chops are just really, really good. um And just this movie, like I remember getting out of it and thinking like,
01:42:06
Speaker
That's not just like a really great movie that's the best movie that i saw this year like that's just it's incredible and you know thinking about you know drugs for your body and this and that whatever and body image it's it's what we're all thinking about right now and i think it's I think it's an important message at the same time too. like this is Your body is who you, your body is your body. That's it. um It is the only one that you're going to have. And if you push it too far, if you try to make it something that it's not, you might end up with something that really, I don't know, that really wrecks you. And ah my God, that like like you just said, the final act of this, holy shit. Holy shit. Amazing.
01:42:49
Speaker
And if anything, it gave us the wonderful song that will never leave my head. Pump it up. You know, you got to pump it up. I love that song. I love it. it's It's on my workout list and I'll tell you what, when I'm on the treadmill, I'm like, yeah, okay, fine. Yes, I will. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. What is your number two? My number two is long legs, um, long, uh, long legs with Nicholas Cage. Um, and, uh, God, who else is in it? Uh, Michael Monroe and but kind a bunch of other people.
01:43:15
Speaker
Um, long wings. I thought was really good. Um, you know, there, there are but some issues that I have with it for sure. ah But I think in the end, like this is a movie that I went to go see and it, it scared, it scared me. It really, really scared me. And, uh, I think Nicolas Cage, I'm thinking about like Demi Moore putting in a fantastic performance, you know, late in her career. I think the same thing here with, with Nicolas Cage. Um, Nicolas Cage can sometimes be a little like too weird. I think for things but like that's why he gets cast for it and clearly he has a lot of fun playing those things. I think what was different with this one is that like fuck it just it really worked for that particular character um for the character of Long Legs.
01:43:59
Speaker
um And he's fucking terrifying in this movie. Just did a fantastic job. Michael Monroe knocks it out of the park too. Kieran and Shipka's in this fucking movie. Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt. like This is a good fucking cast. Osgood Perkins had a fantastic job directing. The design is really, really good. um And it fucking flows. It's it's a really good movie. i'm i I own it too. i'm I'm kind of scared to watch it again, but I definitely will.
01:44:26
Speaker
Um, it's one that really kept me going, man. I love the, uh, long legs. It's good. Yeah. I, I like this movie. I struggled to love it. You know what I mean? Um, it's one of those ones that I was like, okay, that was cool. Um, I think that there was, I can't quite put my finger on it and I don't know why it's on on your list.
01:44:46
Speaker
Well and I don't know if it's my dislike for Nicolas Cage but it's not even he doesn't even look like Nicolas Cage in the movie nor acts like him so I don't know if that's it but there was just something about it that I couldn't I couldn't take that extra step into the universe if that makes any sense but I still liked it I still liked the movie but it just took me took me I I just couldn't get there with it when I really wanted to. um But I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much. Maybe it was the theater experience that missed me. All right. My number one is Smile 2. I'm sorry. It was really fucking good. Naomi Scott is just like how you feel about Demi Moore in The Substance as to how I feel about Naomi Scott in Smile 2. I think she does an amazing job in this movie.
01:45:31
Speaker
I tell you what, there is a twist in this movie. I'm not going to tell you what it is because I know you haven't seen the movie yet, but I thought I knew things and I definitely didn't. So I just you know, the the story of Smile 2 is it's ah it's obviously a conclusion of Smile 1. We do get some um some conclusion with the Kyle Galner character of just I guess he's my actor of the year because he's on my list twice this year. But Um, we get the conclusion of his story from smile one, and then we get a new story all about, um, Naomi Scott's character. Um, I got to tell you, you got, you got to watch this movie, Maddie. If you liked smile one, you're going to love smile too. Um, and I know you really liked smile one. yeah So, sure um, it just dives deeper into trauma and it dives deeper into the smile demon and what it can do and what it can do.
01:46:23
Speaker
Um, and really what I liked about this movie so much is that it's not like smile one was a very insular story. It was a very like small story about like one person, you know, like you one woman going through this whole thing. Whereas smile two, it's like if fucking Taylor Swift got smiled, you know what I mean? Like it's like,
01:46:43
Speaker
And so you have to deal with like that level of of trauma and that deal, that at that level of a celebrity um on top of the fucking smile demon, which is insane. And so I think that this is a ah movie for the movie for the year, if I'm being honest, obviously my number one. so um I just really enjoyed it. I thought that it was just incredible. And I'm telling you, Naomi Scott, who I just realized was in the live action, Aladdin as Jasmine. I this so I'll leave you with this, the ah the EP that they released for the movie that has all of her songs on it.
01:47:23
Speaker
Definitely in my top eight of the year. It's so good. Yeah, this is what I just, you know, ah i I just didn't get around to it. And I think to like when it was actually in the theater, I think I was traveling a lot then or something. Yes, I just didn't have a chance for it. I do like smile one a good deal. So I'm looking forward to seeing this. I just I just need to rent. I just need to rent it and watch it. um So I am very much looking can forward to seeing that one. Cool. And then obviously your number one was the substance.
01:47:50
Speaker
yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just don't know if you want to talk any more about it. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, I think I've said enough. But I mean, I i will just say again, like, if you've not seen it, you definitely need to see it. I do think that, like, if you didn't see it in the theater, I'll be honest, I i do think that you missed something. i I'll be real. It's still I've watched it on my television and it's just fine.
01:48:10
Speaker
Uh, by the way, if you have movie, it's on movie. Um, so you can watch it there. yeah Big success for movie. What a fucking, Oh, fantastic. Blast off for them. It will make me, you know, to say again, like, look, if you're not going to movie theaters, maybe you should go to movie theaters, like get your ass out to them because it's a number one. It's important for the thing that we love, which is watching horror movies on the big screen. But number two, if you haven't been to the cinema in a long time, like, you're You're missing out on the cinema experience. like I don't and don't know how else to say that. like Seeing stuff on a big screen, the way that the movie you know maker wants you to see it, is really important. um and i i'm i'm definitely I go to the cinema a lot anyway.
01:48:52
Speaker
but I'm trying to go even more now because i I think it's important for the industry. I think it's important for our little hobby that we love so much. And you know what? I just enjoy the experience so much more. I do. Yeah. Um, I think I've gotten in the movies this year more than I have since 2020, you know, it's yeah um and I split my time too. Um, I no longer am going to the regal anymore. Regal has the regal sucks.
01:49:18
Speaker
a rugal so Um, but shout out to my Evanston and Skokie AMC's and my local theaters, like the Davis, the Elmo draft house and the music box. Yeah. so and And shout out here to lighthouse cinema who you should just be sponsoring us by now for how much I've mentioned your name on this podcast for God's sake. Um, but I also just renewed my loyalty membership too. Thank God. Um, and, uh,
01:49:44
Speaker
No, that's really the only theater that I go to here. That's it. Wait, do I go anywhere else? And the yeah, the one that I go to besides that one, I really don't like. So I try to go only go to the lighthouse. All right. Well, this is our top five movies of 2024. Mine were the first Omen at number five, Abigail at number four, Strange Darling at number three, The Substance at number two, and Smile 2 was my number one of the year.
01:50:10
Speaker
And for me, in a violent nature, was number five. Number four was, I saw the TV glow. Number three, the zone of interest. Number two, long legs. And number one, the substance. Cool, well that will do it. We'll be right back with a fun little segment to close out the show called Energy 2025. You know what my, no, remember what my solution is? For 2020 with two? No more broke dick, okay? No more what? No more broke dick. um No more penis from a man that has no money. Did you say broke, Jay? Yeah. But it's always good. Well, folks, that does it for episode 134. And frankly, that does it for 2024 as well. ah But before we go, we've got a little, a little thing we want to talk to you about called Energy 2025.
Reflections and Hopes for 2025
01:51:04
Speaker
And Andrew, why don't you explain what we're doing here? Yeah, so I I thought it would just be fun to put some energy out into the universe for both of us. um This can be either for, you know, um yourself or kind of like your, your people around you or whatever you want it to be. You can kind of do that with what you will, but just like what kind of energy do you want to take into 2025 and maybe something that you want to leave in 2024. That might be fun too. um So do you want me to go first or would you like to go first? Well, why don't we talk about what we want to leave first? Yeah. And then talk about what we want to bring into it. Yeah. um So for me in 2024, what I'm really leaving here is my envious nature.
01:51:49
Speaker
oh um I constantly find myself in envy of a lot of other people and a lot of other things and I really need to work on letting that go and understanding what I have and not what I don't have.
01:52:04
Speaker
And I think that's gonna be hard for me because I do get very envious of not not not necessarily like physical things that people have but maybe success or maybe like where they're at and they're where like where they're at in their life and things like that. You're so successful.
01:52:20
Speaker
I know, but it doesn't help that I just get envious of other people and I need to let that go. And so that's what I'm trying to leave in 2024 and just understand that you're doing just fine, young man. Comparison is the thief of joy. Yeah, exactly. Comparison is the thief of joy. And you've got a lot of good things going for you. So I'm glad to hear that that's what your thing is. For me,
01:52:44
Speaker
um Oh, geez. There's a lot of things that I'd actually like to leave behind, but i think um I think that I need to leave behind this notion that I have in my brain that I have to be constantly connected.
01:53:03
Speaker
And I think i I really realized this on this last trip. um And look, i I love my job. I love my work. And um ah for for someone like me, it's really hard to disconnect. And um I realized when I was at you know in in Chicago and in and in Indiana with friends and family,
01:53:23
Speaker
um that i was that I was forgetting that I was with them and far more worried about like being connected to like retain some control over it. i that probably That probably makes sense to somebody at least.
01:53:39
Speaker
And I don't wanna do that again this year. I can't handle that anymore. My my brain needs it needs ah needs a break and and my heart does too. And so I'm gonna, I'm already working on that, but that's that's an active thing that I'll be working on leaving behind is that that constant need to feel like I have to be connected because the reality is I don't. And the reality is too is that ive I have earned the right to not always be connected. So I'm looking forward to leaving that behind.
01:54:06
Speaker
I think that's a very good thing for you to yeah to do, because I do understand the stress that you're under, and it's not needed. and No. so i'm here Yeah, it is not. All right. In 2025, what are we taking with us in 2025? What I am taking into 2025 is, how do I put this? It's kind of a complicated structure to like talk about, but like,
01:54:35
Speaker
I want to take into 2025 that I still really care, but what I really need to do for myself and for the people around me is be a little bit more selfish. And I don't mean that in a way of like taking things from people, but maybe just um like letting myself enjoy the things that I have and enjoy the people that are around me. Because I think for a long time, a lot of us ah took advantage of that because we had our our friend group that was so ingrained in our regular life. yeah And now that those people are kind of separated a little bit more, I think that I just need to go into 2025 with reconnecting with a lot of those people yeah and appreciating those people a lot more. So that's kind of where I'm at. Good for you.
01:55:27
Speaker
For me, um, that this isn't something new for me. Um, I won't like toot my own horn cause I think I've always been into this, but I think the energy that I want to bring into 2025 is just being helpful. I think that there's going to be a lot of people who are under a lot of that will either literally be in danger and I really do mean that people that will be in danger.
01:55:52
Speaker
or people who will be incredibly stressed out or people who will be extremely worried. And, um you know, look, I am really I don't know what the word is. The word is not lucky, but I'm going to use that word. I am really lucky to be an American that gets to not live in America for the next four years. And I recognize that.
01:56:15
Speaker
And I'm not trying to rub that in anyone's face, although sometimes I think people think I am. I really hope that they know that I'm not doing that because I'm fucking not, but like I want to help people however I can. And that is, that's just on my mind. It's been on my mind for, since the election ended, I'll be honest.
01:56:32
Speaker
How can I help people? What can I do? What is the thing that I can be the most useful in right now? What does that look like? How can I get people the help that they need? um And we don't know all those ways yet because, you know, stuff hasn't come to light yet, but things will. And when it does, I want to be in a position where I can really help people in whatever way I can. So I'm thinking about that. I'm thinking about that for the year and not just for like election stuff, but like even here.
01:56:59
Speaker
people who aren't connected to America. How can I be helpful here? you know What are the things that I can do? And I'm starting to find that now in my community that I'm starting to build in in Dublin. um you know How can I be of of the best use in the time that I have? That's what's on my mind for 2025.
01:57:14
Speaker
Cool. I love it. and All right. Well that will do it for episode one 34. Crazy to think. Um, Hey, happy new year, everybody. happily year Hopefully, hopefully 2025 isn't as bad as we hope. I hope so. I hope I really, I really, really do hope beyond hope that somehow things turn around and 2025 ends up being a year that is actually amazing.
01:57:39
Speaker
Yeah, agreed. um And happy holidays to all that celebrate. um And listen, if you want to support the show, let's be honest, you just listen to us for two hours. Over two hours. like You're going to want to support us. Otherwise, we're going to go away. If that threat weighs on your little brain, there's two things you can do. You can either go to frag813.com slash support and support us financially.
01:58:07
Speaker
or you can go and leave a review which costs zero dollars. And thankfully, you know we see those as they come through and we love them. But if you haven't left one yet, I can't help you anymore. I'm so sorry. You're you're dead to me now. so Because of um ah even even still, even with how long we've been around, which is almost seven years now, which is crazy to think about,
01:58:32
Speaker
Um, yeah but even that long, like people still look at the reviews if they're new to the podcast. Absolutely. It's really important that you do it. Yeah. All right. Well that will do it. Maddie, I think as we go into 2025 and we leave everything behind and we strive forward for a brand new journey, all we can do to people is let them know that you can always get slayed.