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178 - Sorority Row (2009) w/ Ariel Powers-Schaub
91 Plays2 years ago
Sorority Row (2009) w/ Ariel Powers-Schaub
This week, in honor of the approaching release of her book Millennial Nasties: Analyzing a Decade of Brutal Horror Film Violence, our friend Ariel Powers-Schaub is back to talk about this late aughts horror remake! And while we’re at it, we discuss the origins and examples of ‘millennial nasties,’ the meanness of our main characters, the tragedy of Chugs, and even take some time to recommend a few film westerns to Ari!
Boost Ariel Powers-Schaub’s online reputation by being part of the company she keeps on these social platforms:
- @ari_hellraiser on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Xitter
- @arihellraiser on Bluesky
Ariel’s book, Millennial Nasties, is out September 17, but you can preorder it from Encyclopocalypse Publications HERE: https://www.encyclopocalypse.com/product/millennial-nasties/397?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=39
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- Find Stephen at @ChewyWalrus on Bluesky, Instagram, and Letterboxd.
- Find Brett at @sus_warlock on Instagram and Letterboxd or @suswarlock on Bluesky.
- Find Tucker at @icenine09 on YouTube and Instagram and @tuck_mugs on Instagram.
- Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content, including weekly episodes of What Are We Watching? at https://patreon.com/Disenfranchpod
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Transcript
Introductions and Guest Welcome
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the disenfranchised podcast where the company we keep bitches. I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy, kind of like spell check, but with a nice rack. And joining me, as always, is the man who sarcasm makes him sound like a little bitch. It's Tucker. Hey, Tucker.
00:00:39
Speaker
Hello, Stephen. How's it going? It's going, man. How are you doing? OK. Good. Good. All right. Good. I shouldn't. Oh, go ahead. No, please. I was going to say I opened the window in my my room today. Yeah. And now it smells like spring in my room. That's a good smell. I like that for you. Yeah, I'm a fan.
00:01:00
Speaker
We should mention that our other co-host Brett Wright is currently doing a campus visit to Rossman University in hopes of joining the Tri-Pies. So we do wish him a speedy return. Not sure why he's going back to school at the ripe old age of 39, but you know, hey, everybody's got to start sometime.
00:01:18
Speaker
But joining us tonight, you might remember her from our Black Christmas 06 episode. So honestly, consider this episode a sequel to that one. She is a senior contributor to Ghoul's magazine, a regular on the Pod and the Pendulum podcast. But most importantly, for our conversation tonight, she is the author of the upcoming book, Millennial Nasties, analyzing a decade of brutal horror film violence. Please welcome back to the show, Arielle Powers Shobb. Ari, welcome.
00:01:48
Speaker
Hi thanks for having me although I'm feeling a little bit like you might have called me a bitch at the beginning of this just sort of by proxy so now my hackles are up I'm gonna be really mean for the whole time. I mean it's it's honestly we have it coming.
00:02:03
Speaker
I'll just say it straight away. I can't sustain that. What do you mean we? I'm on her team. Let's gang up against Steven. Okay, sure. Yeah.
Arielle's Book and Horror Film Passion
00:02:13
Speaker
It's going to be one of those episodes. I have it coming. There you go. All right.
00:02:22
Speaker
You were on just a couple months ago, back in December, when we talked about Black Christmas 06. Honestly, one of my favorite episodes that we've done. Honestly, those Black Christmas episodes were really good. Those were great listens, too, by the way, you guys, I meant to tell you. Thank you so much. That's the one where my power went out, right? So I missed like half the episode? No, that was Christine.
00:02:47
Speaker
Okay, I would say we had three guests for three black Christmases and- No, we had two guests for three black Christmases. I know that my power went out at one point. Yeah, that was Christine with Rachel. Well, I let that part out. We are friends.
00:03:08
Speaker
So Ari, we had you on not too long ago, and we said at the end of the episode, come back anytime, and you basically said bet. Because I talk like a cool Gen Z kid. Exactly. Exactly. So do I, in point of fact. No cap, et cetera. Et cetera, et cetera. I don't either. It's fine. Something Riz.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, that sounds correct. Are they still saying, are they still saying goaded with the sauce or is that, are we done with that? I don't even know that one Steven. You've gone where I cannot follow. That's too, that's too much for us, man. We're already leaning in that deep. Sorry. Listen, I still call things hella sick. I really haven't updated since the 2000s. I do still, I do still throw around hella more than any human being probably should. So.
00:03:58
Speaker
Nah, lean into it. Anyway, I keep interrupting you with nonsense. That's what we do on this show. This is the place to do it. Exactly. If you're going to do it, do it here. But no, you have a book coming out in September, Millennial Nasties, analyzing a decade of brutal horror film violence, and you're like,
00:04:20
Speaker
You need to have me on." And we said, yes, absolutely. Is March too soon? And you're like, no, March is perfect. I was like, sweet. So here it is March, and your book comes out in a half a year, which means we're going to have to have you on again when it comes back out. I have an episode in mind for that one, so. Twist my arm. Oh, I have to.
00:04:46
Speaker
No, it's always it's always a good time. Always the one other time I did it. But so far, this one's good too. So we're having a good we're four and a half minutes in and this is going great. We're good. We honestly, we should just end it here while we've peaked. This has been disenfranchised. See you guys next week. Bye. Ari will be joining soon as fourth co host. Reprise the theme song and roll the credit.
00:05:08
Speaker
as if she doesn't have enough going on already. No, but we absolutely we we got some some advanced readers of it. We both have really dug it. It's it's a it's such a fantastic piece of work and it's
00:05:23
Speaker
It's such an easy read.
Horror Film Context and Influences
00:05:25
Speaker
This is an era of film that you clearly have such a passion for. And so before we dig into the movie that we are discussing tonight, and I probably should mention what that is before we get too much further. Can I say what it is? Sure, Tucker, what are we covering tonight? OK, we're covering 2009, 2009, right? 2009's Sorority Row, AKA I Know What You Did Last Semester.
00:05:52
Speaker
Hey, there it is. Very good. Very good. 2009's Sorority Row, directed by Stuart Hendler, written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger based on the film The House on Sorority Row by Mark Rosman and starring Brianna Evigan. I probably mispronouncing her name, sorry. Leah Pipes, Rumor Willis, Jamie Chung, Margo Harshman, Julian Morris,
00:06:22
Speaker
Carolyn Damore and the late, great Carrie Fisher. What a cast. What a picture. And are you actually requested to come on for this episode? And I was like, I will move heaven and earth to make that happen. And here it is. Heaven Earth moved here. It's happening. What? So first of all, I guess my initial question is,
00:06:51
Speaker
Millennial nasties, what that? Let's start there because I want to kind of dig into the central premise of the book and then start applying those things to this movie. So millennial nasties, the title of your book, What's a Millennial Nasty?
00:07:06
Speaker
Millennial Nasty is
Re-evaluation of 'Millennial Nasties'
00:07:08
Speaker
I decided I wanted to rename the sub genre of 2000s horror that has been sort of dismissed and ignored and in some cases quite maligned. A lot of it often called torture porn, which is not a phrase people like to say that they're super into. But also films that weren't lumped into torture porn, but kind of didn't have a home. You know, the slasher remakes at the time were especially nasty.
00:07:35
Speaker
So, yeah, they're slashers, but it was usually like, oh, I'm a slasher fan. Oh, but not those. Or like, oh, you know, I really like the glossy slashers of the 90s and Final Destination, but not Wrong Turn.
00:07:52
Speaker
Final Destination is also quite nasty, but you never heard it called Torture Porn. So I just felt like there was this time period with all these movies that did have overlapping things in common that we weren't quite talking about correctly or enough. And I happen to love this. I mean, it's no secret. I love this style of movie. And I wanted to take a critical but also appreciative and loving look at these films. And so that's what I did.
00:08:23
Speaker
What is it about these films that draws you the way that they do? What is it about these films that attracts you to them? Yeah.
00:08:36
Speaker
You know, in some ways, that's almost like a why is your favorite color your favorite color question? Like, it just is. But some things that I really like about these movies, I do enjoy the on-screen gore and buckets of blood that we get. And I enjoy how hard they go, a lot of them, and how they're not afraid to go to really dark, bleak places or explore really dark, bleak things.
Perceptions of Horror Films
00:09:04
Speaker
But they do it in a more upbeat manner where there's constant movement throughout the film and things are moving really fast. So I just, in a lot of ways, find that to be a really entertaining genre to watch. And then as I was consuming these movies over and over again, I was like, oh, they actually do have a lot to say as well. And every art is always responding to the world around it. And that includes film and horror films, of course.
00:09:34
Speaker
And the movies of this time are responding to the movies that came before and the things going on in the world. And I really just wanted to sort of put that all into historical context. Right on.
00:09:48
Speaker
I mean, a lot of people think that these movies tend to come out as a response to kind of 9-11. Would you agree with that sentiment? What else is going on there that kind of brings these disparate elements to create this very specific kind of subgenre? 9-11 is definitely a part of it. I don't think it's all of it. And there have been some good books written about
00:10:16
Speaker
like horror films after 9-11 and the direct response there. So I can't remember any of them off the top of my head, of course, but if you Google it, I'm sure you'll find them. There's a lot else going on in the world at the time too that I think impacted these movies. At this time, we had New French Extremity going on.
00:10:34
Speaker
And we had really violent movies coming out of Japan as well, sometimes called Japanese Gore Wave or like under the Tartan Asian Extreme label. And so every cultural movement was in context of the other ones that they are responding to.
00:10:54
Speaker
In the late 2000s, we also had a lot of economic insecurity and a big time recession. And that impacts the movies at the end of this decade, you can start to feel a lot of insecurity. And because of my book, I specifically looked at the English language films of this time from North America and Australia.
00:11:18
Speaker
It's a lot of it is, I think rooted in fear of the other that could be drawn to 9 11, perhaps, and I think a lot of it is like, there's a lot of like pro military pro gun, very pro Christianity in these movies too. And
00:11:38
Speaker
I think some of that is also in response to the feeling we lost from the 90s as a country, as a culture. The 90s felt like, yay, we did it. We won the world. We solved everything. Economic prosperity, we solved bigotry, we did it, guys. Let's all just have a house party till the end of time.
Future of Horror Films
00:12:00
Speaker
And obviously, that all wasn't true.
00:12:02
Speaker
And 9-11 is kind of the moment you can point to that shakes it all apart, but it wasn't the only thing that did that. So I think as we're dealing in the 2000s with the idea that this beautiful dream of the 90s is gone, it also led to a lot of fear. Okay.
00:12:21
Speaker
I remember distinctly in high school and I was in high school in the late nineties, one of my teachers saying like, this is what it feels like to be a part of the, you know, the greatest nation in the world to literally be on top of the world. And a chill ran down my spine when he said that. And then like just a few years later, it's I'm turning on the TV and seeing a couple of like smoking buildings. And it's just like, well, so much for that.
00:12:50
Speaker
Well, it kind of felt like there in the 90s that we had come so far and we were working towards a really great society and we were pretty much there and we were almost there. And then 9-11 happened and everything just started moving backwards from that point. I'm not going to say we had it all solved in the 90s, but our trajectory was on track.
00:13:13
Speaker
That's, I think, what everybody was excited about. It's like, look, people are being less racist. Like, you know, the economy is pretty rad. Well, and that's the thing. I was thinking about this the other day. I think you had smaller communities then. So when you have smaller communities like that, like now, it's a global community. The Internet exists, so everybody's one big community.
00:13:35
Speaker
Back then, you had these small communities and most of those people were decent people. So the people who were not decent people were kind of kept in line by the decent people. They didn't want to, you know, didn't want anyone to think ill of them. So they pretended not to be racist or whatever.
Plot Summary Tradition
00:13:53
Speaker
And that's that's good enough for me, man. If you got hate in your heart, just keep it in there. Don't like don't spread it. But then. Yeah, I think
00:14:06
Speaker
two other things that were happening around this time that sort of added to the soup that the millennial nasties came out of. One is the internet becoming a commodity and lots of homes becoming much more accessible. So as global horror is happening, we're all seeing it, right? And the three of us were old enough to remember like rotten.com and like just casually watching videos of beheadings.
00:14:35
Speaker
Really horrible stuff when the internet was in its like Wild West era and at the same time Social media is really starting to become a thing like Myspace is there but it's kind of different Facebook kind of blew everything up and it was suddenly like you could see through a window to worlds You didn't even know about and you could yell about your opinions and get very very rewarded for it and
00:15:02
Speaker
Meanwhile, while all that is going on on our screens at home, the other thing that's happening is a lot of straight to DVD movies happening. This streaming wasn't really a hot household thing yet, but DVDs were extremely accessible and DVD players were in more homes. And so a lot of these millennial nasty movies
00:15:22
Speaker
could get released straight to DVD with all types of extra deleted scenes and extended violence. And so we're
Film's Moral and Social Themes
00:15:30
Speaker
seeing violence on the news and then we're seeing violence like we've never seen before in our entertainment. And I think all of this stuff just swirls together to give us what we got out of that time. Yeah, I mean, because you're releasing direct to DVD, you don't really have to mess with the MPA. You can put whatever you want on there and it can be
00:15:53
Speaker
as shocking as you need it to be. I remember they would release films in theaters at PG-13 or R and then release the R-rated or unrated cut, which was apparently so egregious on DVD when really it was just a little more nudity and a couple more swear words.
00:16:10
Speaker
Well, that's the thing too. The things you could see, I mean, we're talking about these movies got theatrical runs. A lot of them did and did pretty well. And so people were hungry for this. They were paying, you know, movie theater prices at a time of economic insecurity and global crisis. They were like, yes, please, here's my movie ticket money. I would like to see the gore on the screen and like me included.
00:16:37
Speaker
So there was something, there were lots of things going on that made us really hungry for this kind of entertainment at the time. And I don't think this era could have existed in another era, if you know what I mean? Like these movies wouldn't have worked so well if they all didn't happen at this time, which is probably true for a lot of like movements and art. But I think that's the case here for sure. Right on. You know what I'm old enough to remember? I'm old enough to remember
00:17:08
Speaker
books like yours, because when I first started reading your book, all I could think about was young little Tukey, the 15, 16 year old horror fan going to the library and getting every book about horror movies I can. And all those movies were basically the same as yours. It was just like listing all these films and talking about them in the context of the focus of the book.
00:17:35
Speaker
And so something I really appreciated about your book was that it kind of took me back to that. Because we couldn't watch YouTube videos on this stuff back then. You had to take your ass to the library and get a damn book. And your book reminds me of those books. And I really enjoyed what I read of it.
00:17:55
Speaker
Thank you so much. Honestly, that just like made my whole entire week you saying that because I also remember doing that. And like, I have, you know, books that really inspired me that are really important to me that now I can purchase them and I don't have to, I mean, I still do go to the library, support your local libraries, everybody. Like, you know, as a little kid, you go and you're like, ooh, and it almost feels like you're getting away with something.
00:18:22
Speaker
Um, especially in my family, we were allowed to read whatever we wanted, but my parents were a little bit more strict about what we watched. So I definitely read as much as I could about horror movies. And so to hear you say that my book made you think of that, just like, oh my God, thank you. I feel like I'm going to be a broken record just saying thank you, thank you, thank you, but truly.
00:18:42
Speaker
I mean, we know it was it's it's a phenomenal read. It's, and it's so accessible. And even for someone like myself, who is admittedly on record, not a fan of these kinds of films. Yeah, I find your passion for them just incredibly contagious. And
00:18:59
Speaker
I watched legitimately, you're a part of the reason why I watched the Saw films last year. You and the coverage that you and Mike and the rest of the crew were doing on the Pod and the Pendulum made me go, have I been missing out on something with these? And so I watched the whole thing. And I mean, are they for me? Not really, but was I rewarded by the experience? Absolutely.
Role of the House Mother in Horror Films
00:19:28
Speaker
Absolutely, I was. And, you know, I you I feel like and I don't know if this is I don't know if you'll take this as a compliment or not, but I'm going to say this. I feel like you're an evangelist for this kind of film. Oh, I definitely am. OK. All right. If I can get like you saying I watch the song movies because of you, I'm like, ah, my duty here is done. And I can like float away into the sky like that Simpsons episode I'm thinking of.
00:19:57
Speaker
But truly, if my writing can make people think, you don't have to like these movies. Not everything is for everyone. That's cool. But if someone reads some of my book and goes, oh, I didn't realize these movies had something to say, that's kind of cool. I guess they do. My work here is done. If my legacy is getting people, even one person to think differently about these movies, incredible.
00:20:25
Speaker
And I think that tends to be the misconception about this era of filmmaking is that these movies are just like an excuse to be as envelope pushing as possible with absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever. Right. And what you and your book are essentially arguing is, no, that's not the case.
00:20:47
Speaker
There is a lot there. And I don't, you know, I also talk about the problems in the movies, you know, I'm not just like, yay, these are all perfect. But I'm like, this one did this. That's not great. It did it for this reason. Let's talk about that. Because I love them, but they're not above reproach. Right? Yeah, I think any piece of art is necessarily above reproach. And I think to really truly appreciate well,
00:21:12
Speaker
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but that's neither here nor there. Touché. But I mean, I think being able to engage with something on a critical level means to potentially look at the flaws in something, but understanding them still being able to enjoy the thing.
00:21:31
Speaker
Like, I love a lot of movies that are not perfect. I think there are some movies I think are perfect that I know deep in my heart or not, but they're perfect for me. Yeah, absolutely. Mystery Men is a big one of those for me. Like, that is a ridiculous, silly, not great movie, but is it absolutely perfect? Shut up, it's wonderful. Yes, it is absolutely perfect. It deserved every second of its 4K restoration.
00:21:54
Speaker
I look, I own that 4K restoration. I agree with you. Girl, me too. Girl. I didn't I get that for you? You didn't straight up buy that for you, Stephen. You straight up bought that for me. Yes, you did. Girl, you did. This is a really beautiful moment. A good purchase. It was a worthy purchase. It was. Money well spent. I agree.
00:22:13
Speaker
But we are not here to talk about mystery men. We are here. Oh, that's too bad. Look, we did that episode already. People can go back and listen to it. Part two. Look, if Ari wants to talk mystery men, we can talk mystery men. No, fuck off. Ari wanted to talk sorority row. So we are going to talk sorority row. Ari, why sorority row?
00:22:36
Speaker
Because it's so much fun. Calm the fuck on. This movie is fun. No, truly, when I was like, I want to go on disenfranchised, will they invite me on? I need to suggest a movie. I was like, okay, what's a movie I can suggest that doesn't have a sequel, right? Because that's the tough thing. That is. Where are my movies that don't have sequels? And I was like, dead silence.
00:23:03
Speaker
And you guys were like, no, we did that. And I was like, dang. And then I was like, uh, sorority row was supposed to get a sequel and it didn't. So honestly, one of the reasons I suggested it is so that I could come talk with you guys about it. Cause it fits your theme. Um, I've got an episode for your third appearance too. So I've got a movie already picked out for you. So you're going to have to worry about that.
00:23:25
Speaker
I tentatively have a spot for it on the schedule, too. So we can talk about that after we're done recording. Lock it in. Stone cold lock of the century. Hell yeah. Sorority row one, it's really fun. Two, it ends in a way where it could get a sequel, but it hasn't. Although as soon as we scheduled this episode, did you see the news? I did not know. Oh, no.
00:23:50
Speaker
It was like, as soon as we locked in, like, yeah, we're going to do this episode in March sometime. Josh Stilberg announced on Twitter that he's writing a sequel. But I was like, well, I can't tell the guys. I don't want them to cancel my episode. Oh, no, that just means you get to be on again. Because here's the promise that we made to our audience very early in this podcast is that if any movie we cover on this podcast ever does get a sequel,
00:24:18
Speaker
We have to cover it, which we are actually going to be making good on for the first time in September when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes out. Nice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Oh, don't say it too many times. Guys, come on. I'm like super afraid of summoning things by accident. Like I don't mess around with saying names. You will never find a Ouija board themed anything in my home. I'm like too afraid.
00:24:45
Speaker
No, the religious upbringing in me forbids me from ever going near a fucking legal court. So I can't do it. Get it. Yeah, can't do that. And look, I I see that. I see that article here. Did not say it at the time. But again, if this if this does come to pass.
00:25:02
Speaker
And that's a big if. That's a big if right now. They are constantly announcing movies that never get made. And at this point, I'm the person that says, look, I'll believe it when I see it. When I'm sitting in a theater watching it, I will believe that they've made it. Until then, I don't believe anything.
00:25:18
Speaker
Josh Stolberg seems like the nicest guy. He's really wonderful on social media. He interacts with people. He seems very kind and super passionate. He seems like a fan, and I love that. He admitted when he did this tweet, he was like, so I'm writing it.
00:25:34
Speaker
None of nobody's committed to anything. None of the actresses have said they're coming back like he's very upfront about the fact of just like Who knows guys, but I was like I believe we can wish it into existence I mean look stranger things have absolutely happened but do you think like
00:25:56
Speaker
I'm wondering because I don't remember this film doing very well. I don't think really anybody has it developed like a cult following. Yeah, but it has developed quite a cult following. Nice. I did not know that. That's pretty rare. There are dozens of us. Well, that's enough. That's enough, honestly.
00:26:17
Speaker
But yeah, so I, I had absolutely no familiarity with either of this film or the original, I actually watched both of them yesterday, in preparation for this episode. What is what is your familiarity with, I guess, for lack of a better term, the sorority row franchise or the sorority row film, both the original house on sorority row and this remake?
00:26:42
Speaker
I saw the remake maybe a couple years after it came out. I didn't see it in theaters. And I've watched it a bunch of times just because I said, like I said, I think it's really fun. But I never saw the original until a couple of years ago. Not for any particular reason. I just never sought it out. And then I think it was on Shutter or Screambox or one of those.
00:27:05
Speaker
And I was like, okay, it's time I finally do this. Plus I had heard how weird it is. And it is quite weird. I was not prepared for how weird that movie was going to be. It's very weird. It's cool. It's fun. There's some really good one liners, you know, the delivery of how do we know that she is alive is lives in my mind every day. But so mainly my history is just with this 2009 remake. Okay. Right on. Tucker, what about yourself?
00:27:35
Speaker
I had never seen any of them before yesterday. I mean, I was of course familiar with them existing, but I just never, I don't know, never really seemed like it was worth my time, honestly. Just seemed like, you know, it's one of those that gets thrown around with like, you know, all the slashers that came out in the late seventies and early eighties. And I just never heard anybody say anything like good enough about it to make me want to see either of them, honestly.
00:28:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And that's kind of where I mean, I knew I knew at least the original had kind of a cult following. I didn't know about the cult following on this one. This one kind of recent. OK. I was going to say, because this one is always kind of just felt like a weird oddity of the time. I mean, the early ought starting in 2003, like the arts are where we get a lot of horror remakes. I think I've got a letterbox list of just.
00:28:33
Speaker
American horror remakes. Well, you've got Dark Castle and then Platinum Dunes comes in. Right. And that's an entire decade right there, just with those two companies splitting it up. Right. And then they still like kept getting keep getting made, honestly. Like we had a like we had the Child's Play remake in 2019. Like they're they're still happening.
00:28:54
Speaker
We've got David Gordon Green ruining beloved franchises left and right. Left and right, just all over the place. I mean, in fact, he's not really remaking them so much as, you know, doing his thing. But yes, his thing is not universally beloved. I will say that. He burned me with the Halloween movies, man. I didn't even see that Exorcist one. I didn't see the Exorcist one either. Well, apparently they canceled all the sequels to it so we could probably cover it.
00:29:22
Speaker
Great. Perfect. I love that. What's he gonna fuck up next? Give him time. Let him pick the right project.
00:29:31
Speaker
I don't want to be so mean, but I just feel so burned by that last Halloween film. Yeah, me too, man. Me too. I stood up for him. I like Halloween kills. I liked Halloween kills. Me too. And I told people I'm like, yeah, but that's what's great about it. It was super violent. I love to see a super violent film in whatever it was, 2021. I was like, we haven't gotten violence like this forever. But maybe evil should have died tonight. You know?
00:29:59
Speaker
And apparently, according to that movie, Evil's name is Judy Greer.
00:30:07
Speaker
Because she's the only one dying that night. Dude, spoilers. Spoilers for a three year old movie that has been talked about on the internet to death. That's true. That's true. You know, I think one of the reasons the there's a couple of reasons I think the 2009 Sorority Row has gained the cult following that it has. One is Josh Stilberg's involvement
00:30:31
Speaker
in the Saw franchise and the Saw franchise getting a breath of new life and he's involved in that. A lot of people were like, oh, this is the Sorority Row guy. I love Sorority Row. And even Josh Schulberg was kind of like, where have you guys been all this time saying you love Sorority Row? Like, please let's say it louder and more frequently.
00:30:51
Speaker
And so all the fans started to come out of the woodwork for him. And two, I think there's a real hunger for these movies right now, which is why I was able to write Millennial Nasties now and get it picked up by a publisher now. We are far enough away from this time period for people to start looking back on it, both nostalgically and in an understanding way of like, oh, this is what was going on at the time. So I think we're gonna see a lot of
00:31:18
Speaker
Honestly a lot of movies in my book and movies that are adjacent to that getting a lot of Attention pretty soon. Yeah, just because there's a hunger for it right now that I saw when I was pitching this book See what you did there
00:31:36
Speaker
Oh, haha. I sure did. I didn't even mean to. Oh my god. I could have thrown you did because you really punch the word saw. I didn't. I didn't even I was just yeah.
00:31:48
Speaker
It's just one of those perfect moments that life just ends you on a platter sometimes. Six degrees of soporation. Which was just an insane, awesome, fun way to end millennial nasties, if I may say so. Thank you. And again, it demonstrates the...
00:32:10
Speaker
the dedication but also the just the pure love that you have for the Saw movies in particular but also for all these films that you're able to kind of pull pull these strings and I mean I there's a part of me that sees you like uh like the the Charlie Kelly meme from It's Always Sunny like with your board and your yes your strings everywhere just like
00:32:29
Speaker
kind of wide-eyed meme. Truly, this wall previously was my chart where I was charting the movies and I have it folded up over there, like it's over there. You'll never see the light of day because my handwriting is terrible. No, Ari, what I need to happen, I need a tweet or an insta of that when the book comes out. I need to see the process.
00:32:57
Speaker
I was going to ask if you had a photo of your Pepe Silva wall. I do have a photo because I sent it to my mom and I was like, check this out. But very truly, I was like late nights on IMDB. I was scrolling like I was looking through microfiche just like there has to be a connection. We have to find the connection. Oh, that sounds delightful though. That sounds like so much fun. It was pretty fun. It was pretty fun.
00:33:24
Speaker
That sounds like the kind of shit I do. Yeah. Just for fun, not because I'm researching anything or have any ulterior motive. I'm just like, Gee, I wonder what this guy did. Yeah. And I mean, I had done that.
00:33:38
Speaker
a lot. And so I was like, I know I kind of vaguely know these movies have a lot of connections, but I needed to connect all of them back to the soft franchise and six moves or less. And there were a couple of times where I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it. But damn it, we did it.
00:33:55
Speaker
Anyway, Mission Accomplished. Mission Accomplished. And I mean, this one is a fairly short walk with Josh Schulberg getting involved in the soft films later on. So I was gonna ask you this question later, but it's kind of come up organically. Like, in what ways do we see the influence of the millennial nasties now? And what do you think the continuing legacy of these films is going to be?
00:34:19
Speaker
I love this question. Because I just get to play Nostradamus and there's no consequences. No, your word is bond and we're going to hold you to it.
00:34:30
Speaker
Well, cool that I'm going to predict the thing I want and hopefully get it. So as we know, in the 2010s, we took a hard swing away from millennial nasties and we did trauma horror for a while and like excellent stuff. Right. Really? I mean, we got Jordan Peele, Karen Kusama, Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, obviously. Yeah. Just some truly, truly great films come out of that. Bangers.
00:34:58
Speaker
But we did a lot of that, and that's a little bit exhausting, and we're sad a lot. Mike Flanagan, I love him, but we're sad a lot. Oh, so sad. And now I think we're turning away from that. I think people need a break from that. I think we're going to start having more fun again. The horror movies that have come out in the last couple of years have been a little bit more fun.
00:35:21
Speaker
Mothriegan. Yes. Yes. Evil Dead Rise, Terrifier 2, Freaky, Totally Killer. What is this motion you're doing? My mic was off and I had said something and I'm like, why is no one acknowledging me? I'm sorry. No, no, I riggity realized that my mic wasn't on. Yeah.
00:35:54
Speaker
He wanted to be heard, he knows what he has to do to be heard. It's fine. I forgot the button. I don't remember what I said though. It was probably gold.
00:36:04
Speaker
There's probably really good. Yeah. Yeah. Now we'll never know. Never. So I think not only are we about to do an air malignant. OK, first of all, here's my theory is that James one tells us every 10 years what we're going to do for the next 10 years. Right. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. Because we did saw then we did the conjuring and now we're going to do malignant. I just really think it's true. So, um.
00:36:30
Speaker
I think we're going to have more fun for a while. And I also think audiences are ready for more violence and more gore again. So to come back to your question, like what is the influence now? I think we had to turn hard away from it for a while. The way we turned hard away from the glossy slashers of the 90s to do the millennial nasties, we had to take a swing in the other direction. And now I think we're ready to kind of swing back to the middle.
00:36:55
Speaker
I think we're not in a place where we're gonna ever I don't think we'll ever have a millennial nasties era ever again because of that soup I was talking about where it all came together we're not there and that's okay right good in a lot of ways but I do think audiences are ready to
00:37:11
Speaker
be challenged in different ways by their horror movies again, and not just be challenged psychologically and emotionally, but be challenged visually and to push the boundaries of what's okay to show on screen. There's so much, quote unquote, discourse lately about what's okay to show on screen. And I think the filmmakers are going to address that by showing a lot of stuff on screen again. And so I personally am very excited for this.
00:37:39
Speaker
Right on. No, I mean, I feel like a lot of these eras eventually kind of start to become in their own very weird way, start to become very oppressive. Yes, you get the hard pivot. Yeah. And what I I'm sorry, Tucker, go ahead. I was just thinking about how like practical effects is kind of having a renaissance now and and how that applies to what you were saying about how the tides could turn to
00:38:08
Speaker
some of those millennial nasties kind of having a comeback. Absolutely. I mean, that would be really cool, because that's my issue with a lot of those early 2000s and mid 2000s movies is like their reliance on CG gore. Mm hmm. So like to see it come back with a focus on practical effects, I think. I don't know. I think I'd be into that. Absolutely. I think we're all ready for that.
00:38:35
Speaker
And it's all about the people who are filmmakers at the time are taking their influences from whenever before. And so we always have to turn to a new generation of filmmakers who are pulling their influences from somewhere else. And we're back to filmmakers who are pulling their influences from
00:38:53
Speaker
practical effects and I think about so I love Terrifier 2 and I won't apologize but there's a particularly horrible nasty scene in that movie that is all practical effects and I won't say what it is for anybody who hasn't seen it but I could hardly believe it when they told me that I was just like you mean to tell me that's a human body truly that's a human's alive human body yeah so I love it
00:39:22
Speaker
Oh my. That kind of makes me want to watch Terrifier 2. I'm not going to lie. Why don't you save it for later this year when we cover it for The Pound and The Pendulum and then we can talk about it. Sounds good. I will tuck that one away. Sounds very good. I think one of the things that surprised me about
00:39:45
Speaker
sorority row is the fact that like a lot of films that tend to go harder as the decade wears on, this one doesn't get, I mean, plenty of gore, don't get me wrong, but it's not, I would say this is not half as gory as Black Christmas 06. Yep. Like it feels a lot more subdued in a way that as someone who is not particularly a huge fan of those gore elements, really appreciate it.
00:40:15
Speaker
Um, because it allowed me to focus on the story and the characters and the other elements that I'm, that I personally am kind of more drawn to. And it's something I really appreciated about this movie. Look, some of the kills in this movie are fantastic. And I think the best one kind of shows the least. And that's when homeboy tries to go down the laundry chute.
00:40:42
Speaker
And he like, you don't even see it stab him. You just see the blood like running up his face, which is such a cool visual because that's the wine bottle kill. Like that's a whole star right there. The one bottle killer. Holy shit.
00:40:58
Speaker
Fantastic. I loved the flare gun kill. That's a good one. I think that was my favorite. That one was fun. And again, that's one where you don't see it actually happen, but you see kind of the aftermath of it. Well, the lead up to it is really fun because you've got the bubbles and the neon. Absolutely. It feels like a very odd setting for a
00:41:23
Speaker
for a kill like that, but also a perfect setting for a kill like that. Well, yeah, it worked for me because I was still mad at her for pouring that shit in the hot tub anyway. You get a girl in the hot tub, and that's not yours. That belongs to Mrs. Crenshaw, and she works too hard. Exactly. She does. She does.
00:41:44
Speaker
She dies for you girls, man, in her motherfucking hot tub. That's yeah, I get that it's kind of kind of a trope of the era, but I just like all these characters are just such assholes.
00:42:01
Speaker
Yes, and that's what I was gonna say like where this is not a millennial nasty for the gore It's a millennial nasty for how mean it is And there's quite a darkness under everything I mean all slashers have quite a darkness running under them, but I Haven't done the plot in 60 seconds yet But this movie begins with a prank gone wrong and the prank is horrible on like five different levels like it's a very dark prank and
00:42:30
Speaker
And some of the things the character who dies by the wine bottle chugs, a lot of the things she says throughout are like deeply concerning. They make me want to take her aside and go, Hey, are you okay? Like, she's not, she's not okay. And like, that's where the nastiness comes in. It's it's the meanness and the darkness underneath not so much the blood. Although
00:42:56
Speaker
There are a couple of like, I do think there is a sexual element to the kills where women are penetrated in the mouth. Yep. Which is three. Yeah. Mm hmm. So in one of them specifically ends with like, oh, that girl needs to shut her mouth. And I was like, oh, my God, like we're we're putting it all right here for us to see. Yeah. It's really easy to make those connections.
00:43:21
Speaker
Look, I know writers that use subtext and they're all cowards. Good. No, I'm no that that's that's you know, 100 percent like it's it's that kind of double edged sword like it's it's overtly sexual, but it's also the you talked when you shouldn't have kind of there's that double edged sword to it. And it those kills are particularly nasty.
00:43:50
Speaker
Yeah, I love them, but they are rough. Yeah. And there's other horrible things of this era, like the way men talk to women, the way sexual like assault and also just like sort of sexual misconduct is played for jokes. Oh, my God. Yeah. The the, you know, quote unquote circling of the fat.
00:44:18
Speaker
on a girl who is not fat at all. Yeah, so like the focus on women's bodies and the comments on women's bodies, I think are just ripe for analysis, quite frankly. You mentioned something really interesting in this chapter, which first of all, the chapter title for this in the Black Christmas, punish the bitches.
00:44:39
Speaker
Nah, maybe one of the greatest chapter titles I've ever read. But you mentioned something in your chapter on this about women in the 2000s feeling the need to prove that they could hang.
00:44:53
Speaker
Yes. And I've, I've talked to up to women who have expressed this to me as well, like this desire that they can, they can be one of the guys, and that being particularly prevalent around this era. And that very clearly shows in this movie in a lot of ways. Like, can you could you speak to that more? Absolutely.
00:45:18
Speaker
So in the late 90s and early 2000s, we were moving away from second wave feminism into third wave feminism. And just as like a super quick breakdown, second wave feminism was like, we are not decorations, our women's bodies are not for men to look at, like we get to be ourselves.
00:45:39
Speaker
Third wave feminism is like sex positive. We can show our bodies if we want to. You know, being sexy is empowering, etc. So that's a super, super, super watered down version of that. But we were splitting from second wave feminism to third wave feminism, and there was a little fracturing.
00:45:58
Speaker
where we weren't getting our footing just yet. I think the best description of this I've ever heard is in Gone Girl, when she talks about the cool girl. Yes. I had to pause the movie and just have my ... I was like, I need to just sit with this for a minute.
00:46:20
Speaker
But certainly it was like, well, we fixed feminism. We fixed bigotry in the 90s. It's the 2000s now. Women should be able to take a joke. And if you can't take a joke, then they kind of put you in the bucket with second wave feminists, even though that's not the language they used. It was just sort of like, you are this non-sexual, non-fun. Approved.
00:46:45
Speaker
Right, exactly. Versus you can be fun and show off your body and take a joke and be an object for men and like, yay, empowering. But the thing we were failing to mention to women and girls at the time is
00:47:01
Speaker
Empowering means having power, and the word empowering got all twisted around into this message of empowering is whatever makes you feel good, but that's not true. So women and girls were still having power taken away by being put in this position to say, you better laugh at this joke. You better be able to just move past this thing that was done to you, because if you don't, then you're doing feminism wrong was the message. It was like you are being anti-woman if you
00:47:30
Speaker
can't out drink the boys or whatever. Very toxic, not a very negative messaging, not that we're in a perfect place with it today, but I think those particular problems we've moved away from into probably some other problems. Right. But yeah, absolutely. It was like being one of the guys that phrase makes my head want to explode because it was sort of like
00:47:56
Speaker
We are supposed to be supposed to act like a man until it was time to have sex and then and then acted certain different ways. So I think Sorority Row and Black Christmas are both really good examples of what women were expected to act like, especially considering these movies were written by men at the time. Right. Yeah, that
00:48:22
Speaker
Feel free to disagree, guys. Can we? I don't know. I don't want to come on your show and be like, and here's the final truth. But by the same token, if there was anything disagreeable in there, I probably pointed out. But no, I think you, at least from what I've heard and experienced from people that have gone through that, that's very accurate.
00:48:52
Speaker
And it seems like subtextually at least, I think it may be more in the performance than it is in the dialogue. But particularly Chugs seems to be really wrestling with that in particular, like the ways in which she delivers these lines like
00:49:20
Speaker
like the line about the about the the rihippnal, the roofie. Yeah. Like saying so bad you can get laid and get a good night's sleep. Right. Just and but her delivery of that. There's there's a tinge of tragedy. Yes. Even in the way she says it. Later, she says my brother's good in bed. Mm hmm. Yikes, man. My my doctor's really making me earn those meds this time. Yeah. Like.
00:49:51
Speaker
every line like that she delivers, there's this element of, I'm just joking, but this other element of no, but seriously.
00:50:00
Speaker
And it, yeah, the way she looks at herself in the mirror when she says cheer slut and just starts chugging the wine is such a heartbreaking moment to watch because you can, and again, it's all in her performance. Margo Harshman, I believe is the actress's name. It's all in her performance and it's
00:50:21
Speaker
It's an absolutely incredible subtextual performance on that level. Because again, it's, she's playing it. It's all right there. I don't know if it's, and again, I can't really speak to this because I don't know the writers or the conditions under which this was written. But for a script written by men, I think the actresses performing these, and again, if I'm out of line say so, I feel like the actresses performing these roles would understand
00:50:50
Speaker
this dichotomy that Ariel's been talking about better than the guys writing this stuff. And so I feel like any infusion of that within those characters is probably a performance question rather than a than a screenwriting question. Definitely could be. And again, I could be way off base there, but that's just my read.
00:51:13
Speaker
Well, I don't know either. I just got done saying how lovely Josh Stilberg seems. So I don't want to be like his writing. You know, right. Sure. I mean, maybe he didn't write those scenes. He's got to go. Yeah. Yeah. There are so many different ways to deliver the line. Cheers, slut.
00:51:28
Speaker
And the way that it's chosen to do is the most heartbreaking way. She's not having fun with it at all. So there's certainly a choice made there. I don't know if it's directing or by the actress, but that is clear. For sure. Yeah. And again, I think it imbues that character in particular with
00:51:52
Speaker
just a level of real tragedy that I think a lot of these other characters don't have. So, Ari, you mentioned, oh, gosh, about seven or eight minutes ago, maybe no, it's probably closer to ten at this point. More than that. Way more than that. That you hadn't done the plot in 60 seconds yet, and we're almost an hour in, so what better time
00:52:18
Speaker
really than to go ahead and work on the plot in 60 seconds. You have volunteered to do it graciously. For those just listening in because Ari is here, first of all, I don't blame you, welcome. But the plot in 60 is the part of the show where we recap the plot of the film that we're talking about in 60 seconds or less. Normally that is decided by either the D6 of Destiny or the Coin of Justice. But since we have a guest who has graciously volunteered to give us that plot,
00:52:48
Speaker
Ari will be taking that responsibility over today. I am going to put 60 seconds on the clock. I will give you the 30 and 10 second warnings and your time starts whenever you do. And here we go.
00:53:04
Speaker
At the beginning of their senior year of college, the women of Theta Pi play a prank that goes horribly wrong. To get back at Megan's boyfriend Garrett for cheating on her, the girls give him fake rupees to make him think he accidentally kills Megan. As the prank continues in the car on the way to the quote-unquote hospital, Megan ends up actually dead. Instead of going to the police, they hide the body in a mine shaft and go about their business.
00:53:27
Speaker
But at graduation, the girls involved start to turn up dead one by one. Is Megan back from the dead to exact revenge? Is it Megan's sister who is soon coming to campus? 30 seconds. Or did one of the girls finally snap from the guilt? None of the above. Cassidy's boyfriend, Andy, is trying to protect her future by killing everyone else involved. But the final girls fight back, walk away from the burning sorority house and kill the bad guy. Or do they? Yes, they do. But then there's another one.
00:53:54
Speaker
All right, and you a man like you had so much like 13 seconds to spare. That was incredible. I get it. I got nervous for the black Christmas one. I got like super nervous. And for this one, I was like, okay, I can do it.
00:54:09
Speaker
The more you do it, the less nervous you get. Like, I'm at a point now where I don't even prep. I'm just like, all right, what do I remember about this movie? Oh, yeah, this happens. That guy does a thing. We circle back around. There's other thing happens. Like, I don't even. But again, I've been doing this for like four years now. Yeah, I just trust the coin. I rarely have to do it. Yeah, it's true. It's mostly the guys have been have been kind to me.
00:54:38
Speaker
You guys, where do we start? Do we start about the perfect beginning of this movie or the shitty end of it? Like, where do we start? Because that opening that first act leading up to leading up to Mary's is it Mary or Megan? Megan. Megan leading up to Megan's death. Wow, that's some of the best stuff I've seen in a long time. And what do you like about it?
00:55:04
Speaker
I didn't really like this movie that much, but the build up to the scene where they have her out there. She's filming herself. She flips the girl off. Everything's we're still all having a good time. They're talking about getting rocks and stuff and they're over there giggling to themselves. Homeboy gets the tire iron and you see him and you're like, oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, I literally gasped and like stood up and held my chest. You guys, I love that for you. I was like.
00:55:33
Speaker
Whoa! Everybody calm down. I am such a sucker for things happening in the background of a shot that no one else can see. And you're like, not sure, like, is that, is that, is something gonna happen? Like, and that is 100% the vibe that I get when he starts like walking around and like looking at, like getting up, like picking up the tire iron and kind of looking at it. And I'm just like, dude, what are you doing?
00:56:01
Speaker
Like what are you doing? And yeah, I mean, if you've seen the original, you know it's there's going to be a prank gone wrong because that's kind of the vibe of the original tune. It's a very different kind of prank. In a lot of ways, I feel like the original prank is just as mean spirited, if not more so for its time. It's really fucked up, too. Yeah, they're both very fucked up. They're not like gentle pranks like we put a rubber spider in your shower. They're like horrifying.
00:56:30
Speaker
The first movie, the thing that cracks me up about it is the girls are like prepping the prank and all the other girls like, let's TP your room. Let's glue. Let's put glue on our toilets like all the like kind of normal prank. And then and then homegirls like, oh, my boyfriend's got a gun. It's like that escalated very quickly. Yeah. But in this one, I mean, let's let's talk about the prank like it.
00:56:56
Speaker
Um, so Garrett is the guy he's dating Megan. Uh, he's chugs his brother. Uh, he has cheated on Megan. And of course, because sorority you cheat on one of us, you cheat on all of us. We are one, we are Marshall, blah, blah, blah. We are Legion. We are Legion. You know, we are, I don't know. I was trying to think. We are Devo. We are Devo. Yeah.
00:57:21
Speaker
All of these, these are great. I love this. Nailing it. But so they decide on a prank. And about, I feel like only about half the girls are actually in on the prank. Yeah, a couple of the girls don't know what's going on until a little bit later. It's like Cassidy and Ellie, I think, are the two that have no context for what's going on. Everyone else seems like they're in on it.
00:57:41
Speaker
But she, while they're in bed together, which of course is on like a camera, like they're filming it, she vomits on herself and starts like convulsing and dies, basically just kind of like stops moving.
00:58:02
Speaker
he freaks out. And so, of course, our our heroes, our heroines are basically like, hey, let's let's go barrier in the woods. You killed her. How dare you? And then we realize, you know, what the extent of the prank is, Megan. And was it.
00:58:18
Speaker
Is it just Jessica and start like kissing each other or something? And that's when we oh, it's all a joke. And so they're all in on it. They go out to the this construction site and are I'm not sure what the end game of all of this is. It seems really poorly thought out. And also they've all been drinking. Yeah, like
00:58:44
Speaker
When you break this prank down, first of all, it's like, okay, Garrett cheated on Megan. We're all mad at Garrett. Got it. So they're like, let's get back at Garrett. Okay. I follow you here. They're like, let's make Garrett think he did something bad to Megan. Okay. Kind of follow you. So.
00:59:03
Speaker
They have to decide that Garrett is the kind of person who would roofie his girlfriend. That's right. Because they slip. They give him the roofies to give to her. Right. And we find out it's really just B12 tablets. No big deal. But like they have to know that their friend is dating a person who would roofie her. Garrett then has to believe that his sister
00:59:27
Speaker
And like his girlfriend's friends, that whole group of friends would give him roofies that for his girlfriend. So I'm like, what kind of fucked up friendship circle is this where they're all like on board with roofies? And then so okay, we know Garrett's the type of person who would roofie his girlfriend, he's the type of person who's going to believe these are roofies. Great, Megan's gonna pretend to die.
00:59:54
Speaker
They could just stop it there and be like, haha. Gotcha. But they decide to drag it all the way out to be like, now we need to dump her body, which is a whole other level of, of prank. Cause it's not just like, Oh, we killed her. Now we're going to call the police on you, Derek. Cause you roofied her where to call the cops. Ha ha ha. This was a prank. It's like, no, now we have to dismember our body. Like with sharp locks though.
01:00:20
Speaker
How are you going to do with some sharp rocks? No, that's a terrible idea. And like the worst. So I'm not proud of this, but like in high school, my friends and I like to prank each other and like, you know, one time I woke up to go to high school and my car was Saran wrapped. Oh, no, I'm going to be late for school because my car is Saran wrapped. So the next day, like.
01:00:40
Speaker
We let the air out of someone's tires, which is really bad for the rims. And I would never do that now. I know how bad that is. But in high school where you're like, he, he, he, it was never like, let's pretend Rufy a friend who then died, like the layers to how bad this prank is are horrifying. Right. And it's kind of just, again, the just the ramifications of every level of it are incredibly fucked up.
01:01:06
Speaker
Yeah, which then, of course, and someone says something about if there's air in her lungs, she's not going to sink. So we have to get air out of her lungs, which is what prompts him to stab her stab her in the chest with the tire iron to begin with. Look, when I heard that, I kind of thought, is that is that what's going to is that what's going to end then all of a sudden it did. And even though I thought it might, it's still.
01:01:32
Speaker
It's shocking when it happened. It's one of the great parts of the movie, but it's real, real good. Yeah, it's jarring. Like it's set up as great. The execution is great. It's fantastic scene. We don't have Derek's POV for hardly any point in the movie. And so our POV is with the girls who are giggling and all in on the joke. And so that's who we're focusing on. Garrett comes running in essentially out of nowhere and stabs Megan through the chest. It's shocking. Yeah.
01:02:00
Speaker
And again, it's that everything's happening and playing out. There's a full scene playing out in the background of the shot that we are either barely paying attention to or not paying attention to at all until it's too late. And that facilitates the shock. I mean, if you're watching it closely, then you realize this is all going on in the background at the same time. Like I kind of had an eye on Garyx. I'm like, that dude's not stable. Something's going on with that guy.
01:02:30
Speaker
And I was right. Well, do you blame him? No. What the fuck? Right. But and then, of course, like he becomes even more unstable as as the film goes on. Like he he he takes a mirror to his wrist. Like he he's clearly in a very, very bad way. Six in the six months later. Time frame when this this movie makes its little jump later. Like he's clearly in a very bad way. Clearly. I mean, he did kill Megan. Right.
01:03:00
Speaker
First, he's running with an accident and then he actually does it. Right. Yep. Like it's it's and you got to think about he and Chugs grew up in the same home. Mm hmm. Like wherever they're coming from, they're both not doing good. Right. There's and I it's interesting to see the different ways in which that plays out in their personalities and within the context of this film, because Chugs kind of seems to throw herself into
01:03:30
Speaker
you know, being the cool girl into being the girl that can hang the girl that can drink the girl that can do the drugs, the girl that can sleep with whoever whenever for whatever reason, like she throws herself into that. And he
01:03:43
Speaker
I mean, obviously, he's not doing great if he's the kind of guy who's going to be roofing his girlfriend at the behalf of his sister. Right. He's like, Oh, my girlfriend's friends gave me these great roofies. This is all going to work out like what was going on in your brain, dude. Right. And you're already dating her.
01:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's all the plan is fucked from jump straight. It's very fucked. But then, like, when he is then dealing with the ramifications of this thing that he's done, like, he he needs professional help. Very like he is clearly not getting the help that he needs. Because they all I mean,
01:04:25
Speaker
Tucker, I really liked your comparison to. I know what you did last summer. It's so goddamn perfect because it's a group of young attractive people going, we have to make a pact and we're not going to call the police no matter what. Even though we're all rich, white attending college, they're definitely going to not believe us. I'm like, you guys are going to be the most believed.
01:04:47
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, yeah, movies are incompetent at best. So no, you're fine. You're right. That's true. Don't worry. So they all agreed not to tell anybody. So they're all fucking deteriorating. Yeah.
01:05:02
Speaker
Like, and there's such a need for them to tell somebody that each of, with the exception, I think of Cassidy, everyone ends up telling someone because they can't- Yeah, I love that. I love that. And the fact that she was about to as well, like- Yep. Typical, man. Fucking typical. Mm-hmm. Like, and it's-
01:05:24
Speaker
And that, I think, widens our pool of suspects, which, of course, then start shrinking as they all start getting killed. Yeah, yes. Am I the only one who kind of saw the ending like the killer reveal coming? I guess so, because I thought, I don't know, it was so for me, it was so far out of left field that it didn't it kind of killed it for me. Oh, really?
01:05:50
Speaker
like that that beginning the first act set up a second act that was fine but I was still on board and then the third act came along and I just I don't know I just kind of they lost me especially with that reveal because it doesn't it just just doesn't make any sense to me like why would
01:06:10
Speaker
Like, I know why he did it, but why would he do that? Like, who the fuck does that? I mean, it just doesn't seem realistic at all. Characters in horror movies do. I know. I know. I know. I know. But it just felt for that character. It felt so unearned. I don't know. I mean, yeah, it's not really a full character, but exactly. Well, it's it's one of those where when you look back at it, you go, OK, I see how they set that up.
01:06:40
Speaker
They're using essentially like find my friends technology, but they're not calling it that. Pinning is what they call it. Yeah. You can see where your friend is by their phone, which I think was pretty new technology at the time. None of them have smartphones or iPhones. They're all on flip phones, yeah. Right. But it's like, OK, I know my boyfriend is this far away. And so when you look back at it, you're kind of like, why did they show us all that if it wasn't going to mean anything?
01:07:08
Speaker
I think I didn't see the ending coming. I totally believed that it was going to be Jessica's boyfriend because he's like, we need to have the perfect life. My dad's going to be the vice president or whatever. I think he's probably the biggest red herring. Yeah. And then they make it seem like it is him for a second. And then tell the fireman's ex to the head. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And I mean, I
01:07:38
Speaker
And but again, the pieces with the the friend finder or whatever, like and she looks at it and he's 83 miles away and I'm like, that's. I don't think that's right, like this this guy has not been in this movie enough and we've drawn to find a point on him for him to not show up again. That's good movie watching Steven. I just didn't watch this movie that well. Again, that's just that's just where my head I'm Benoit Blanc in this shit, I guess, but like.
01:08:08
Speaker
But I mean, that's kind of where I was so when he does show up and like, because she mentions him. And then he's there. It's like, surprise, like, which is what he does earlier. And so you're like, Oh, okay. But then, then the reveal happens even a little later than that, like, they're talking and he kind of slowly comes out that it's him. So we've got kind of this. It's this kind of multi tiered reveal thing where you first you think it's Kyle and then it's Andy. But
01:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I found it a little underwhelming, I think, like Tucker did. But by the same token, I don't know because we're completely getting away from the original in terms of the reasoning and the logic behind why this is happening. Like, I think it's a smart move narratively to tie it all back to that initial prank.
01:09:04
Speaker
But like we're not dealing with Mrs Crenshaw's like child and any of that. Like I will say, though, there are. So few things that I love to see more than badass Carrie Fisher with a shotgun. Oh, man, I love this. Oh, they did her wrong, man. Like, I feel like she should have gotten a better death.
01:09:30
Speaker
Me too. I agree. The table and the thing and like, I mean, that's cool. But like, it's Carrie Fisher. You got it. She got to go out with a bang and she got to take somebody with her.
01:09:40
Speaker
Mm hmm. Yeah. The fact that she didn't is probably the biggest bummer of this movie. Like even winged him like like injured him. I would have been OK with that. I would have liked that. And that being our clue as to who the actual killer was. That would have been good. That would have been a good move. Like so. Yeah, we see Kyle, but Kyle's not bleeding. Now, they don't know that he should be, but we would know that we would be looking for that.
01:10:05
Speaker
So I don't know. I think that could have been because she does. She takes that one final shot at him right before he dies with the buckshot. So that stuff's going everywhere. Yeah. You're telling me a piece of that didn't wing him at all. Right. At close range. Exactly. But no, she for the for the brief moment that she gets at the end of this movie to just like Toda shotgun and like
01:10:27
Speaker
She get away from my girls. Get the fuck away from my girls. Oh, good. I fucking like a whole extra star just for Carrie Fisher. I love I love how she clearly hates them all. Yeah. Also feels obligated to protect them. I love that. Yes. I really, really love that. Yeah. Yeah. You have you have your obligations. I get that. That's rad.
01:10:49
Speaker
I mean, the role of the house mother in these movies is like in I would I would also include the original Black Christmas and the original, like all the Black Christmases and the sorority row films, like I would include at least the originals in the first remakes, I think the second remake of Black Christmas, I don't think there is one. But like the house mother characters are so different in each of those films. And
01:11:13
Speaker
So such a fun part of all of those movies in different ways. Like I am really like because that again, I don't as as mentioned, I have no context for for Greek life. I think the closest thing my campus had to Greek life, which I was a part of, but it wasn't that at all, was a group called Burpo, which was formed by some guys in the 70s. And then their kids all went to the same school that I went to and kind of decided to restart it. And I was part of that, like,
01:11:42
Speaker
third wave second generation of that. What did BERPO stand for? It didn't stand for anything. Oh, OK. Just for burps. Yeah, just for guys belching, I guess. Got it. OK, for burps. Seven days, yeah. I worked in university housing for the first eight or nine years of my career. And I never did work in a sorority house.
01:12:12
Speaker
A couple of times I interviewed for
01:12:15
Speaker
They weren't called housemother positions, but like for the director of sorority houses where you live there and you take care of them like this. So like I could have been a Mrs Crenshaw at one point in my career. You would have bet you would have been a Mrs Crenshaw. You would have had a shotgun like they won't let you have a shotgun on campus, which is good. That's good. That's good. It's good. But as a housemother, though, like does that make you a good guy with a gun? Tucker, damn it.
01:12:44
Speaker
I'm so excited. Me too. Like, no, no, I couldn't help it. It just burst out of me. Yes. Oh, God. Very good. They never recover from that one. You might not. You might not. Worth it. Worth it. I've packed enough buckshot in my day personally to not be worried about statements like that. I was going to say you're you're you're from the Midwest. I'm sure there's some hunting somewhere in your past, so.
01:13:15
Speaker
It's just kind of part and parcel of life in these United States. Yes. No, I've never, I've never hunted. I have fished and cleaned fish. Uh, and I have packed a lot of like bucks, buckshot shells, like shotgun shells. That's that. Have you guys ever done that? It's like you take the little plastic shell thing, you have a big.
01:13:39
Speaker
You're drunk in a shed to start with, right? Obviously. That sounds like the best way to start any story. That's a safe way to start. And you've got all this buckshot.
01:13:50
Speaker
and you pour it into the little plastic shell thing. And you've got this machine that like tamps it down and like packs it down really good. And you can kind of get into a rhythm of it while you're with your cousin who's also drunk. And you just kind of keep packing shells until they tell you to come inside. Nice. You know, for example, I don't know anyone that has happened to. Right. No, how could you possibly? It's all speculation. I imagine that's what it would be like if somebody grew up in hunting culture.
01:14:19
Speaker
Sure. No, I mean that track. We don't know. How would any of us know? This is such a foreign experience for all of us. This is good content. I love all of this so much. Gun Corner. This is Gun Corner on disenfranchised pad. We have so many corners in this podcast. What's one more? I love it. Yeah.
01:14:40
Speaker
It's like you live in like a fucking dodecahedron. You got so many. Pretty much. Yeah. Speaking of guns, that flare gun like man. Oh, man. That is Chekhov's flare gun because they pull that thing out at the beginning and it does not go off until almost the end. And boy, howdy, is that I think a really good payout because it's. Claire is the character that has it.
01:15:09
Speaker
I'm going to take a sidebar here just to say I had it took me at least an hour into this movie until I was able to tell these girls apart. OK, like they all kind of have that like. That odd is kind of just like. Thin long hair. Yeah, this with the exception of Ellie, who's got the glasses and the braids.
Character Distinction Challenges
01:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, they pretty much all look alike. I would say that that
01:15:37
Speaker
Rumor Willis stands out because she has such a unique look. Yeah, that's Ali with the glasses. Yeah. But outside of that, yeah, I agree with you, Stephen, like for about the first half of this movie, I was like, who? Mm hmm. Like there was the one that was really, really mean, like the the meanest one of them all. I don't remember her name. Yes, she stood out. But like outside of her, the rest of them were just like kind of her underlings. But then you got others.
01:16:03
Speaker
mean girl style thing. You got the other blonde in chugs. And then so I was having trouble telling those two apart for the first like several minutes. And then there's there's Claire, who is who is Asian. But she's wearing her hair exactly the same way that everyone else is. So in group shots, it's impossible to tell anyone apart like it's it's.
01:16:29
Speaker
nuts this movie. And then you've got two characters whose names start with a C, Claire and Cassidy. So I'm constantly getting the two of them mixed up. I'm like, wait, which is that Claire? Is that Cassidy? I don't know. So it took me a good.
01:16:41
Speaker
And I don't know if I even know what Megan looks like because she's done so quickly in this movie. Like it looks like her. Is it the same actress that plays her sister? It's not. No, it's not. OK, I would have been. Couldn't remember because she's on screen for like a minute. Yeah. So I was like, is that the same? Megan is stunt casting one on one. That is Adrina Patrick from The Hills, I think.
01:17:06
Speaker
of the hills, not the ones that have eyes, although that is my favorite robot chicken sketch. They combine the hills with the hills have eyes and it got to love it so much. That makes my favorite robot chicken sketches. What a twist. What a twist. That's my favorite one. So good. But yeah, like I was having it was rough telling all these girls apart anyway. I did not have that problem, but I don't know.
01:17:36
Speaker
And I'm looking at the cast right here. I've got a picture of the cast pulled up off to the side on my computer. And I'm looking at them going, I can't. I know I think that one might be Megan, because she's the one I recognize the least. But I'm still having a rough go. Well, you know how they do the introductions of the whole group of friends is by gathering them together in a bedroom to do shots and going, we're going to say something nice about each other.
01:18:06
Speaker
And so that gets you hear their name and you hear a fact about them. And so then that's like your exposition for the movie. And the nice thing is the most backhanded thing. Yeah, they're terrible. Possibly say, yeah. They're so mean. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And it is like earlier, you mentioned clearization and that is true. And that is the only fact we get about her. Exactly. Because Jessica's Jessica's like quote unquote compliment to her is
01:18:35
Speaker
I like being your friend because it makes me multicultural without having to work hard. It's just like, holy moly, we don't have time to unpack all that. Right. And it's that it's that casual 2000s era racism where it's like, well, well, we've solved racism so we can be racist. I'm not racist. I'm just making this joke to my Asian friend about my friend. Just making an observation about what distinguishes us from one another.
01:19:01
Speaker
We didn't know the word microaggressions yet. No, no, that had not been coined or at least was not in the popular election. It was not in the in the zeitgeist culturally. No, it was not. Yes.
Film Techniques and Cultural Reflections
01:19:16
Speaker
Flare Gun. Yep. This was a digression. I'm just talking about Flare Gun. She's the one who has it pretty much the whole time. So when she gets dragged into the bubbles and with the neon, we see that bright flash of light coming from out of just the middle of the bubbles that are looking vaguely sky beamy, honestly, for half a second.
01:19:40
Speaker
And then we get the reveal of her with the flare in her mouth and her jaw is just starting to like. It's horrible. Turn to ash and crumble like it's. It's all bubbly, like, you know, like a burn. It's like blistering. Yeah, it's it's. And I. I don't know like if we if I can even categorize the levels of horrific, some of these deaths are.
01:20:06
Speaker
Like the wine bottle kill is, I think particularly horrific. Um, I think at least two girls get like stabbed up from their, their, the bottom of their jaw. I mean, the initial kill is, is shocking. That's pretty gruesome too. Like, and they don't say, yeah, they don't shy out. They don't, they show it away from it. Yeah. Cause we see the recording of it later. Yes.
01:20:31
Speaker
from Megan's phone that she was just recording on and just laid off to the side so she could, I guess, enjoy all this later. Yeah. Show it to her grandkids. LOL prank. Hashtag with my friends. Right. College life. YouTube had existed for one year.
01:20:51
Speaker
at this time? Because she says, right, I think that's right, because I think 2009 was the year that Time Magazine named you, Person of the Year. So we've all technically been Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Kind of fun. Which is great. I've toyed with the idea of putting that on a job resume. I think you ought to. I haven't done it yet, but I have considered it a few times. Kind of fun. Right?
01:21:15
Speaker
to be like, oh, yeah, that was the year we all were person of the year because YouTube. But she mentions that when Jessica like opens her laptop, oh, this is sure to be a YouTube classic. And I was like, this is kind of toward the because YouTube kind of signals the end of like the the Wild West of the Internet, because everything does very like streamlined and sanitized. It becomes the place.
Western Films and Other Genres
01:21:37
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, not that there were a ton of rules, but there were some rules.
01:21:43
Speaker
And they started to like have some standards and it wasn't just like 4chan and Motherless and E-bombs World. And it was sort of like, now we're going to put this stuff here. But yeah. Yeah. It was a different time. It was. Listeners, young listeners out there, you don't even know. It was a different time. Yeah. I mean, look, there were lawless days on the Internet, much like I imagine the old West would have been.
01:22:13
Speaker
And like the only person that was really enforcing any rules was the moderator of the message board you happen to be on. And if they were awake, yeah, if they were awake, and if they weren't on a power trip, like
01:22:28
Speaker
Yeah. Speaking of the Wild West, I watched Tombstone the other day for the first time. Oh, what a good movie. It's very good. Yeah. I was like, oh, Western. I don't really care. But no, it was really good. Sam Elliott. He can come get it. I don't care. But I'm your huckleberry. Right. Yeah. And Ari, all hell's coming with me.
01:22:50
Speaker
It's yes. I mean, what a cast. What a cast. What a picture. Exactly. You got Kurt Russell, you got Bill Paxton, who's like Val Kilmer in one of his best roles. Sam Elliott, the sweatiest man, Thomas Hayden Church, like early Thomas Hayden Church. Like what a what a great movie Tombstone is way better than that Kevin Costner, Wyatt Earp movie that I think that's a Walter Hill.
01:23:17
Speaker
picture.
Speculation on 'Sorority Row' Sequel
01:23:18
Speaker
People liked that movie. I've seen like two Westerns, man. I don't know. I had to watch all these 2000s movies so I could write my book. Fair. I mean, look, if you're looking for a good Western, Sam Ramey directed a good one called The Quick and the Dead with Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe.
01:23:37
Speaker
Surely I should watch that. Keith David. I mean, it's a Sam Raimi Western. How can you possibly go wrong? Not for nothing, but Clint Eastwood's The Unforgiven is a personal favorite of mine. I have seen that one, but I was a shithead in high school and I think I need to rewatch it. Maybe. Word. Like that's that's that's the last Clint Western in it. It says it's like his final word on the genre and it's yeah, it's really good.
01:24:04
Speaker
We can give you more Western recommendations later. There's some good ones. There are. There are a few. I mean, it was one of the most popular genres in the country for decades. Not for nothing. What else do we need to say about Sorority Row?
01:24:24
Speaker
Well, the ending. I want to talk about the ending. So this movie does a lot of time jumps. You know, it starts at the party at the beginning of the senior year. Most of the action takes place at graduation at the end of senior year. And then there's just a little epilogue at the start of the next fall semester. So Megan's sister has come to campus. She's no, it's, it's a year.
01:24:51
Speaker
It's more than a year later. It's like not the next semester, but the following. Yeah, because in the first year, she would have had to become a theta pi anyway. It's still like a high school senior at the end of the graduation party. So like a year and change later, it's like they're doing theta pi is doing their rush events where they're trying to recruit new members. And we see that Megan sister has become a theta pi and they're like, yay, doing their rush things.
01:25:17
Speaker
And the very last shot of the movie is someone like a man's hand holding the tire iron. And it has a slash at the wrist, which tells us it's Garrett. Yeah. But Jessica was supposed to have killed Garrett with her car. So that's where it was kind of like the delete. Like, could it be a cliffhanger sequel thing? Like is Garrett coming back to get his revenge on the girls? So I do wonder where.
01:25:45
Speaker
like Josh Stilberg writing a sequel. I wonder what that will be like. And I wonder if he'll pick up that thread in particular, if it's been. I have no idea. And and honestly, I didn't realize that that was the dude with the slit wrists. I thought it was the actual bad guy who got burned. I thought those were burns like it's it happens so quickly. It's like the magneto moves the chess piece kind of thing where it's like, bam, credits. Like, did you see it? Like, right. And top at the end of inception. But yeah.
01:26:15
Speaker
Yeah, I took it to mean that was Garrett. That was my that was my read of it as well. I trust that. I believe that that is true. I trust y'all's judgment. OK, thank you. Like Sorority Road to Garrett's Revenge. I'm into that. I'd watch that. The Return
Character Dynamics and Secret Motivations
01:26:32
Speaker
of Garrett. But again, now I wonder, has too much time passed? Is it going to be like Cassidy and Ellie's daughters going off to college and joining a sorority now? Like,
01:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know what you do with the sequel. It's been like, it's been 15 years. Yeah. That's an entire childhood. Absolutely. So like, yeah, like how, where do we go from here? Like is, and.
01:26:56
Speaker
I think it's smart. Again, I think narratively, it's smart to tie it back to that original prank in the first movie. So, you know, Garrett would make a lot of sense. Andy would make a lot of if he is able to survive the fire, like he would also make a lot of sense. The image of the three girls and Megan's sister gets so little to do and really just exists to be
01:27:23
Speaker
Like a red herring kind of a red herring, but also just awful like to every like yes, her sister died and that is tragic and I don't want to diminish that, but she's just terrible to everybody in this movie. She's like getting revenge on behalf of her sister. Yeah. And so like maybe maybe she becomes your villain in the next one. Like I love it when.
01:27:45
Speaker
I love it when cong girls like, oh, man, we didn't even mean to murder Megan and everybody's like like like her sister's like, what? Because as far as she knows, Megan is missing. Right. That was a different movie. I thought I thought that was a that was a good come up. It's for that character because that character is absolutely awful. And then when she shoots her mouth off and just like
01:28:11
Speaker
tells everybody that does not need to know that and then like Five seconds after that we get the reveal that she told her boyfriend. Yeah, and so it's like you You were the one that told anybody. Yeah, and that's I think that I think that's when Cassidy flips like am I the only one that didn't say anything and She was gonna expect Ellie to go know me either But Ellie just kind of looks at the floor and then we find out later Ellie told the Andy right, which is how he knew about it at all
01:28:41
Speaker
Yeah. Which is fucked, man. Like, if I shared a secret with a friend who then went and told my partner and neither of them told me, I'd be like, you can both kick rocks.
01:28:57
Speaker
And like, what was, what was his relationship with Ellie? Like, why did Ellie provide that in him? Like, had they been an item previously? That's kind of the implication that I got. And I was like, did I miss something in this movie? Like, was that, was that here? And I just didn't see it or that felt like it was supposed to be ambiguous. And I kind of, I kind of appreciated that because it kind of leaves it up to your imagination, what their relationship was at any given point in time.
01:29:26
Speaker
I thought that was that was fun. It was clever. Clever. I just the implication that he might have already known about it when he started dating Cassidy, but was like waiting for her to say something just feels like a little extra insidious on his part. I didn't even think of it that way. That's fantastic. Yeah, I just assumed he and Cassidy were together at the start. Do we not see them together at the start? I don't know.
01:29:53
Speaker
I don't think we see them together until the time jump at graduation. All right. That's true. Interesting. Well, at least that's my that's my memory. Yeah, I can't remember seeing that. We we see Cassidy do a choreographed dance number real quick at the party. And then she goes upstairs. So yeah, like I don't remember her ever with the exception of Megan. I don't remember any of them being with a guy at the beginning. Yeah.
01:30:19
Speaker
So, yeah, my my my recollection is that that I or my assumption was that happened sometime in between that that time jump. So, hmm. Yeah, it could be. But yeah, I just the idea. And again, that kind of plays into the villain angle of it. Like, did he know and was just kind of like waiting to see if he would trust him enough to let him in on it? I don't know. Which is a shitbag move, quite frankly. But yeah.
01:30:48
Speaker
So we'll see if this sequel happens. Well, you'll be back to talk about it if it if it does. If it does happen. Definitely. You'll be back. We're going to have you back before that, though. Don't even worry about it. I'm not worried. I didn't. Yo, speaking
Future Podcast Topics
01:31:03
Speaker
of just out of left field, I apologize. But have you seen the remake of a slumber party massacre? Yeah, I have it right here.
01:31:13
Speaker
Is that like band meeting behind the scenes? Is that something you'd be interested in talking about? Me? Yeah. Absolutely. I have the VHS. They put out a VHS. It's fantastic. I wrote 3,000 words about feminism in the original trilogy. So would I like to talk about Slumber Party Massacre? Yes. Can you link me to whatever that is you were just talking about? Sure, I can do that. With that remake, I'm, yeah, that's... I would, yeah.
01:31:43
Speaker
Let's put that on the calendar, Stephen. This is my on there somewhere. Yeah, I have my slumber party massacre to. Hey, no, I was actually thinking about that today because while when I was done watching this, I was I got some new Blu-rays and I was kind of putting them moving things around so I could fit them in. And I was moving my modern VHS releases and slumber slumber party massacre was there. And I was like, oh, you know what? Yeah, I'm your girl. Most definitely.
01:32:13
Speaker
Hell, yeah, way into that. I mean, yeah, at this point, like if there's just a like a millennial nasty era remake or something that we haven't covered yet, you're pretty much going to be our point. Well, and it's not even a millennial nasty, but just like I think your perspective on it is going to be really interesting. Thank you. Yeah, I would love to.
01:32:40
Speaker
Oh, it's it's not on the list yet. I will add it to the list. Damn it, Steven. Add it to the calendar. Figure it out, man. Oops. No, I will.
2009 Film Context
01:32:49
Speaker
I'll get it sorted. Don't worry about it. Sorority row came out ironically enough, given the conversation at the beginning of this episode on September 11th, 2009. Hashtag never forget.
01:33:06
Speaker
Uh, it opens at number six at the box office opens to $5.1 million on its way to 11 point, or I guess 12 million domestic. Um, it earns another.
01:33:24
Speaker
15 internationally for a worldwide box office total of $26.7 million on a budget of $12.5 million. So it does end up making back. It almost makes its budget back.
01:33:41
Speaker
Um, domestically, but then the, the worldwide puts it over, which is usually not a good indication that it's going to get a sequel. Uh, again, as, as, uh, the writer said, where have you guys been? Um, so this one didn't hit in theaters, but has since probably hit on home media in a way that has allowed people to discover it. Uh, the first, the number one movie in America on September 11th, 2009, hashtag never forget.
01:34:07
Speaker
is the Tyler Perry film I Can Do Bad All By Myself. OK. Don't even need no help. The only thing I know about is that's the one with Taraji P. Henson, because I love Taraji P. Henson. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. In second place, the movie Nine, which had opened on the 9th of September.
01:34:31
Speaker
Was that that animated? Yeah, animated movie Tim Burton was involved somehow. Green. Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of greenness. Elijah Wood never saw it, but I recall all the green. Yeah, same. And like this like rag dolls or in like a post-apocalyptic wasteland or something like that. Yeah, something like that. Who knows?
01:34:52
Speaker
In third place, I think this one might be his masterpiece. It's Inglourious Basterds in third, which has been in theaters for four weeks for a total of one hundred and four million. Now, that's what he says at the that's what he says at the end of the movies. No, it's death proof. But no, that's that's what Brad. Fucking love death. Just say it. It's death proof. Death proof. Fucking rules, man. Yeah. I don't I did not care for death proof when I saw it. I need to rewatch. That's too bad for you. And I hope that. Yeah.
01:35:23
Speaker
I saw Grindhouse twice at the theater, dude, twice in the like two weeks it was in the theater. So twice. Wowzers in that fun in fourth place. Future Razzie winner all about Steve. What if it was all about Steve? In fifth place, the third week of the final destination. That's that's the fourth. Is that the one I don't like?
01:35:50
Speaker
That's the bad one, right? It's not good. Yeah, the fourth one. I don't know. The fifth one's the one is my favorite. The fourth one. Three is my fave. Three is a lot of fun. Three is a lot of fun. Five is a good return to form. I agree. Four is a big old disappointment. That's the 3D one, too, which I remember the 3D effects being just awful when I was watching it at home on my non 3D television. But yeah.
01:36:18
Speaker
But part three, do you remember the DVD for part three? Like you could change the story a little bit. Maybe that. Yeah, it's wild. I think I still have that DVD actually. Of course you do. Yeah, that was a fun one. This has become a really fun, like sharing physical media portion where Ari and Tucker, it's like pulling VHSs and DVDs out and just showing each other. You guys want to see my bloody Valentine 3D glasses?
01:36:48
Speaker
Oh, that's fantastic. Yo, I used to have those, too, because I had that DVD. Yeah. I bought that. Wow. There's a big story behind that, but I'm not going to tell right now. But yeah, that's fantastic. We'll wait till we stop recording because that sounds like a fun story to hear. Six place, as we said, is sorority row. Seven is Whiteout.
01:37:08
Speaker
What if the with what's her nuts from those one movies? That was really good. Yeah. She that's a really good movie, though. You guys should check that out if you have a lot of fun. Yeah, it doesn't sound familiar at all. Yeah, it's very it's very isolated. It's very claustrophobic. It's it's good. It's based on a comic. I know that or a graphic novel. Sorry. Maybe that's all I know about it. I just want to be it being real good. And it has Kate Beckinsale in it. So I would probably like it. Yeah, go wrong. Yeah.
01:37:37
Speaker
In eighth place, we got District 9. In ninth place, we have Gamer. I don't know if that's a future episode of this podcast or not. That movie's awful. Have you guys seen that movie? No, I have not. No, I have not either. There's like the villain, right? Dexter's the villain. Yeah, Michael T. Hall, yeah. Yeah. You got Gerard Butler. Just Gerard Butler and all over the place. I have not seen that, but it unlocked a memory
01:38:06
Speaker
when you said gamer. Do you guys remember that movie Stay Alive from 2006? I was gonna say that's on our list. The guy from Days to Confused is in that.
01:38:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's also in all those other link litter movies. I need to write down all these movies that we're supposed to be covering with you. I it should be right there on my shelf. Where is it? I can't. Hey, that happened to me with Final Destination 3, man. They come and they go. You move and like you lose shit.
01:38:43
Speaker
Anyway, Steven, I keep interrupting. You're trying to run your show, and I'm like, look at my shelf listeners on this audio medium. No, I'm way interested in your shelf though. Here's the thing, Ari. It's usually Tucker. Well, now you've got two of us to just focus. Right. It's fine. Oh, my headphones.
01:39:03
Speaker
I'm used to it is what I'm saying. So yeah, no worries. I'm almost done to because the 10th movie out is Julie and Julia, which I saw in the theaters with my mom. That's a movie to see with your mom. Yeah, I watch it with my mom. There you go. Yeah, my mom and I went to the theaters for the last movie I saw in theaters with my mom was Ryan Johnson's Knives Out. It was the last movie I saw in theaters with my mom.
01:39:26
Speaker
Ryan Johnson represent. Just me and my mom going to the theater, watching a whodunit because my mom loves mysteries like that. My mom does, too. Yeah, I think I had her over to watch that. But I think the last movie my mom and I saw in the theater together was It Chapter Two, which is very disappointing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one of one of my partner's favorite movies, though. Well, there's some really good, some really good stuff going on there, but just as a whole, it just doesn't do what it needs to do.
01:39:56
Speaker
Yeah, Bill Hader is a bright spot for me in that film. For sure. Love that man. Yeah, he is. He is great in that for sure. I absolutely agree. I honestly, though, like how how did they not set cast Seth Green as one of the third? How do you not do that? I'm on it's right there. It's right there. Yep. I'm
Final Ratings and Book Promotion
01:40:18
Speaker
with you, man there.
01:40:21
Speaker
They didn't ask us. That's where they went wrong. Right? They should have asked us. My DMs are open, Hollywood. Right. The brain trust is ready. I've always wanted to be part of like a think tank. That's like my dream job. What are we doing here? I'm pretty sure this qualifies as a pink tank. It's happening right now, yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, no one's paying me to do this, though. Well, not with that attitude. No, they should is all I'm saying. This is what I'm trying to put out in the universe.
01:40:48
Speaker
And with that listeners, go to patreon.com slash disenfranchisepod. Yes, absolutely do that five bucks a month to get access to a ton of bonus content. I will say the tomatometer on this movie Sorority Row from 2009 is a 26%, which feels rude. Yeah, I think that is not the voice of the people.
01:41:10
Speaker
That is the voice of the critic. The audience score is slightly higher out of 33, though. So. But what's the letterbox score? Because that's where horror fans can I guess. Wait, can I can I guess what the letterbox score is? Let me guess. Let me do the meta score first, which is 24 generally unfavorable reviews based on 11. And the letterbox score, Tucker, your guess is the letterbox score is going to be in somewhere in between.
01:41:38
Speaker
2.6 and 2.9. I low balled it. What is it, Steven? It's actually 2.6. It's 2.6, man. Holy shit. This is a new skill that we've discovered he's had. Within the last month, we've discovered this. That's uncanny. That's incredible. In fairness, this is the closest he's gotten and only the second time he's actually gotten it right.
01:42:06
Speaker
Can we figure out some way to monetize this? I would love that. I'm feeling real good about it, yeah.
01:42:13
Speaker
I feel like we need to do like we need to be carneys about this and put this skill to work. This has become I think this this I think has the makings of a new segment on this show. Absolutely. Please exploit me, please. Tucker Tucker guesses the letterbox score. So I'm never far off is what I'm saying. And that I know. I don't know if you're off by like point one or point two. So I don't know if it's so much a skill of mine, but all letterbox stores average out right around three anyway.
01:42:43
Speaker
anywhere between 2.5 and 3.5. Show us behind the curtain. I just want to be impressed. All right, okay, well then they're waffled and I guess like those guys who do the Google Maps things. You know what I'm talking about? How did they do that? What are you talking about? No, there's this thing on the internet where someone will just show you a picture, like a Google Street View picture.
01:43:07
Speaker
And someone will be tasked with figuring out where the fuck that is with no context, except for that picture. And there are people. There are people who can do this in like minutes. Yeah, there's a game of that, right? They fucking probably. Yeah, like it was like it works that way. That's fantastic. There was like a lockdown game that, you know, COVID, we're all doing all types of weird stuff to deal alive.
01:43:33
Speaker
Like there was a game where you could like get dropped into Google maps and in so many clicks had to figure out where you were. I didn't play it because I'd get lost in a paper bag. But I know there are people on TikTok who like you can take like a picture of like where you are and kind of like.
01:43:50
Speaker
like take a picture around of like your surroundings and they can generally figure out right where you are. That's like just like people like from around the world who have never been anywhere near where you are. Like how do they do that? I don't know. It's almost like remote viewing. You remember that that movie, that guy who did the was that Nosferatu movie with Willem Dafoe?
01:44:10
Speaker
Shadow of the Vampire. That guy did another movie called Suspect Zero that was about remote viewing, which is a real thing. And I say real because I don't necessarily believe in it, but the government did actually spend money on trying to get people to like use their psychic powers to see where shit was. And that movie was rad. Okay, none of this sounds familiar to me, but I love everything I heard. That's okay. Yeah.
01:44:38
Speaker
And speaking of hearing things, um, Ari out of five stars, how do you? Classic transition, Steven. That was beautiful. I would love to hear how you rate 2009 sorority row. I give it four out of five tie your hands. Hell yeah. Tucker, what about yourself? Look, I came into this motherfucker giving it a one and a half.
01:45:05
Speaker
But I'm coming out of this motherfucker giving it a two and a half. Hell yeah, man. That's what's up. Whereas I came in giving it a two and a half and I'm coming out giving it a three. Yes. There you go. This is what we're going to raise that letterbox score. That's what that's what that's what we're about. That is that is Ari's mission.
01:45:25
Speaker
As the evangelist of the millennial Nasty. Look, we want to see that sequel. Just saying. We've got to. Any excuse to get Ari back on the podcast, quite frankly. You do not have to work that hard, Steven. You keep talking about it like I don't want to be here. I like coming out of the podcast. You just invite me. That's all you need to do. Right on. Right on.
01:45:45
Speaker
Hell yeah. Well, again, I've got another, I know your, your, your card is getting pretty full because I know you're on the press tour right now for Millennial Nasties. I always have time for you guys.
01:46:00
Speaker
And look, we no one appreciates that more than us. But tell us where we can find millennial nasties. Tell us about where else we can find you. Yeah. Just plug baby plug. Yes. So millennial nasties is out September 17th.
01:46:20
Speaker
You can pre-order it now internationally and domestically. There's lots of options. You can get hardcover, paperback, e-book, audio book. This is hot off the press. I was just talking to the publisher today on the day of recording. We're going to get some signed copies up for sale pretty soon too because a couple people have asked me about that. I was like, hey, is this the thing?
01:46:42
Speaker
Watch out for that. You can go to encyclapocalypse.com for their pre-order, or if you don't know how to spell that, you can go to any of my socials and it'll be the pinned post there. You can find me on Twitter, Instagram, and blue sky at ari underscore hellraiser. You can also find me on letterboxed at the same name. As Jessica would say, friend me on Facebook, I'll totally confirm. I'll totally confirm.
01:47:09
Speaker
Love that. I have so enjoyed reading Millennial Nasties. I cannot wait to buy a physical copy because I am a physical media enthusiast and I just want to have the tactile thing. And then, of course, I've got to track you down and have you sign it. So let's just give us an excuse to hang out in person. OK, yes. I mean, we don't live so far away that we can't make that happen. You should come to Telluride this year. I don't know what that is.
01:47:39
Speaker
Tell You Ride Horror Show in October in Tell You Ride, Colorado. It's the film festival that Mike got me involved with last year and it was so super fun. And you should come hang out with me and Mike at Tell You Ride. I mean, nothing would make me happier than to hang out with you and Mike. Lock it in.
01:47:56
Speaker
Um, I will look into it. I am starting a new job soon. So I, I don't know. Fair enough. No excuses. Make it happen, Steven. No, but I, I am so excited for everyone else to read this book. Um, and to discover these movies, um, some for the first time, some maybe rediscovering them, but I am excited for the.
01:48:20
Speaker
the wave of millennial nasty reappraisals. I'm excited for that term to become the new norm. I'm excited for for that one to gain gain momentum. So no, I'm so excited for people to read this. I am so excited for you being the one to do and thank you for including us as part of your press tour like that's
01:48:41
Speaker
Thank you for having me, oh my gosh. I'm the one who needs to say thank you. No, I'm just like, wait, she's doing a press tour? She wants to be on this show? Absolutely. Yeah, sure. I feel like I have a line. Now I've talked about a whole chapter on my book on this show. Yes, both Black Christmas and Sorority Row are covered- That's that whole ass chapter. In the Punish the Bitches chapter. That is what that chapter is called. It covers both of those movies.
01:49:10
Speaker
It was one of my favorite chapters to read, quite frankly. And not, I mean, not only because of the title, but definitely in part because of the title, for sure. It's a great title. You don't have to rate it on Goodreads, but you can if you want to. I will say that. At the time of recording, it currently has five stars on Goodreads. Well, I'll be happy to add five more to it. Yeah.
01:49:37
Speaker
Absolutely. No, for sure. Thank you so much for coming on again. I'm gonna we're gonna talk as soon as this is over, and figure out when the next time you're gonna come on is because again, I want to get you on closer to when the book is actually coming out so that we can talk more about another movie that you cover in the book and I've got one pic so
01:49:59
Speaker
Um, but, um, for our part, I guess this is the disenfranchised podcast. Um, and you've just listened to our episode on sorority row. Um, you can find us on social medias. We're on Instagram, letterboxed, Facebook.
01:50:15
Speaker
Blue Sky and YouTube at Disinfranch Pod. If you do follow us on any Podcatcher, please make sure you leave us a five star rating and review on that Podcatcher, particularly if it is Apple Podcast that does help us go a long way to finding more listeners like yourself. And we have said that if you do leave us a five star rating and review, we will read it on the podcast. No new one since the last one, but
01:50:41
Speaker
you know, anytime you're ready, guys, just drop it and we'll absolutely read it. So just let you know. If you would like to support us monetarily, as Ari mentioned earlier, head on over to patreon.com slash disenfranch pod. You can find weekly episodes of our What Are We Watching show where we just talk about stuff that we watched last time Ari was on. She did an episode
Engagement and Gratitude
01:51:04
Speaker
of What Are We Watching and it was a banger.
01:51:07
Speaker
Um, and we've had, uh, most recently, uh, we've had, uh, our, our, our buddy Samuel DeMoss is at the time of this, Sammy, Sammy was on the last one who you heard just a few weeks ago on our John Carter episode, which we're recording these pretty far in advance right now. That's so far in the future, Steven. I know this is like end of March. This is an end of March episode that we're recording at the beginning of March. I wonder what my life will be like when this comes out.
01:51:34
Speaker
It's impossible to know. It is. Everything could be different or everything could be the same or maybe some stuff's different and others isn't. I don't know, man. Yeah, you know. Yeah, dude. Yeah, dude.
01:51:48
Speaker
And we also speaking to the Patreon, I do want to let you guys know that we have recently started posting our full length main feed episodes for free on the Patreon as a way of asking for more engagement. So if you guys want to comment on anything we say in the episode, we will be able to read those comments. Just follow us on Patreon. If you have other Patreon accounts, you don't even have to pay us money to do that. Just just go ahead and shoot us a follow and you can write anything you want to.
01:52:18
Speaker
And that is the official conversation of the disenfranchised podcast. You are guaranteed to get a reply. I guarantee it. I personally guarantee it. I have answered every comment. He has. It's true. Last week's disenfranchised episode. I popped in. I will straight up comment. That was that was like he is known to do. Mm hmm. But.
01:52:42
Speaker
If you want to agree or disagree with any of my feminist takes, please get in the comments. Yeah, look, we want to talk. We're not saying you don't have to agree with us. Don't pander to us. Tell us how you feel, man. We want to talk about this shit. Yeah. If you want to tell me I didn't understand this movie or any movie from the 2000s, I think you should say it in the comments. You should. You should. You should say it.
01:53:06
Speaker
Come out and say it, you cowards. Yeah. Sorry, I called your listeners cowards. I didn't mean it. No, it's fine. You're right. JK, they're not. Love you. They're all very good looking and smart and wonderful. Sure. Yeah.
01:53:23
Speaker
I'm fine. My brain went like five different places and I'm just like, which thread do I follow? And then I just got lost in the woods. So it's fine. Anyway, I am your host, Stephen Foxworthy. You can find me on Instagram, letterboxed and blue sky at chewy walrus. Uh, you can find the absent Brett Wright on Instagram, letterboxed and blue sky at sus underscore warlock. And Tucker, where are you lurking these days?
01:53:52
Speaker
As always you can find me on YouTube at I at I nine nine Also on Instagram at that the same handle that's I see in I in e the number zero and The number nine I feel I'm feeling creative So there might be some new music soon. I don't want to say there'll be an entire EP But I've got I've got something there's something Something's happening
01:54:22
Speaker
I like that for you. Nice. So if if you if you're a subscriber to my YouTube, look out for that. Right on. Also. Talk mugs, talk mugs, talk mugs, talk underscore mugs on Instagram. It is the place on Instagram to just kind of chill out in a mug based community where all we do is like straight up look at mugs.
01:54:50
Speaker
Talk about where those mugs came from. And I don't know what's inside those mugs. Talk about what's in the mug. Ari, when are you going to submit a mug? I need a guest mug. Soon? Tomorrow? I don't know. How do I submit a guest mug, you guys? Well. So glad you asked.
01:55:13
Speaker
I also am glad that you asked. You can email us a photograph of your mug plus the origin of it and or what it means to you plus what is currently in it when you took the photo. You can send that to us at disenfranchpod at gmail.com.
01:55:31
Speaker
or you can message us directly on Instagram at tuck underscore mugs. Just follow us. You don't have to follow us to send us a message, I don't think. Just send us a message, we'll get it. Like I say, send the pictures and the rest of the kind of posts. If you go to tuck underscore mugs, you can see what the format is, kind of get a feel for it. It's not too complicated. I'm putting a reminder in my calendar for tomorrow morning to take a picture of my coffee and sundae tea.
01:55:59
Speaker
I'm way into that. We will talk mugs. We'll be honored to have you. And put a copy of Millennial Nasties right next to it so you can do some shameless self-promotion while you do it. I don't have any copies yet. They're not printed yet. So you just have to imagine. Just put your e-reader up, right? Or just like your phone with the cover. Yeah.
01:56:19
Speaker
I think I've got some pictures of the cover in the press kit so I can throw those on there. They are there. Feel free to promote my book for me. That's the whole reason that the whole reason we're talking is we're promoting the hell out of this thing. My goodness. Yeah.
01:56:36
Speaker
Absolutely. I mean, this is part of the press tour, right? Like, yes, it is. I just can't deal with mentally. I'm like, well, I'm on a press tour. That's crazy. But I've looked. It's the first time anyone's ever asked us to be part of a press tour, which is insane to me. But also, and they follow through, at least. Oh, snap. Oh, no. I mean, but like officially, like, I'll totally edit that out.
01:57:04
Speaker
but like officially getting like materials from someone to like review and discuss. And I'm just like, I feel very official right now in a way that someone like me has never needed to feel before. So yeah, it's pretty wild. I'm kind of here for it.
01:57:23
Speaker
Um, but yeah, that that is the show. Yeah, everybody did it. So check out go ahead and get your preorder on for Millennial Nasty. So you get that copy in your hands on September 17th when it releases. In the meantime, make sure you find Ari all the places that she is on the Internet and know all the stuff she's got going on. Her letterboxed is
01:57:51
Speaker
uh full of if you're into the millennial nasties she's got a ton of great wrecks in her recently botched at any given time oh wait i don't want to kill your momentum steven but should i should i or should i follow you on letterbox because i can't stand letterboxed um do you know why i hate you know why i hate letterbox why roll your eyes steven roll your eyes steven okay
01:58:16
Speaker
because it's all just like jokey meme reviews like nobody gives a fuck like about actually reviewing a movie on Letterboxd. So if you're doing like an actual thing, please let me subscribe to you. So that's what I want out of Letterboxd. You should we should definitely follow each other. I would say about half the time I do jokey bullshit and the other half the time I link to an actual review that I wrote. OK. OK. Yeah. And look, I feel like there is a place for that.
01:58:45
Speaker
And honestly, like some of them are there's some like really good parody reviews. They go on forever and just are so clever. But yes, yeah, some of them are really good. And 90 percent of what fucking letterboxed is, though. And I yeah, like I go in there looking for a movie and I want some kind of perspective on it or I want to validate my own perspective. And all I get is the memes and the lols.
01:59:11
Speaker
I hear ya. Nah, you should definitely follow me. Uh, just, you know, cause I think you should. It's okay. And you know what? So should everybody else go follow Ari right now. Ari underscore Hellraiser. Okay. There we go. Everywhere.
01:59:26
Speaker
Um, so yeah, that is our episode on the 2009 film sorority row. Um, God, what, what, what a fun time it's been. I always love talking to you. It's always always a blast. Always so much fun. Uh, this has been disenfranchised. I have been your host, Steven Foxworthy, uh, for my absent co-host Brett Wright, the very present co-host Tucker and the very
01:59:51
Speaker
very special guest, Ariel Powers-Shawb. Until next time. Oh, shit, what's the line from this movie I can use to close out this podcast? Cheers, Slut. Cheers, Sluts. Yeah, there you go.
02:00:27
Speaker
you