Transcript
Speaker: Come on, it'll be just like in the movies. We'll pretend to be someone else. You don't just lie for no reason at all, folks. You know, just all of a sudden. A big lie will spill out of your evil head there. You know a guy will come up and go, hey, you ever see that movie with Meryl Streep and the horse? And then you go.
Speaker: Yes! man va gra What the hell am I lying about over here? I stand to gain nothing by this lie. i Roll the dice and take your chances. You know something, Marge? It's not that tough being a film cricket.
Speaker: Stay a while and listen.
Speaker: Let's begin now. Hey everybody, welcome to the Late Night Double Feature, part silver screen critique, part tabletop survival. Adjust those speaker boxes, grab your popcorn and snacks, kill the headlights.
Speaker: Let's roll for initiative. I'm your host and DM, Andy Wilson. This is Dungeons and Drive -Ins. For the uninitiated, this all started... earlier this summer and when I accidentally entered a warlock pact with the Mortube Corporation.
Speaker: So I didn't fully read their terms and conditions. Their CEO, Stevie Master Blaster Vance, makes me run through a dungeon for their entertainment as my D and &D character alter ego, Jeff Virtues. My name is Jeff. Not before watching a film I've never seen before.
Speaker: All to feed the undying lich, Old Joe Gun Cotton. who feeds on the enjoyment of first -time watch of films feed his decrepit skeletal body. I was unable to escape becoming a warlock slave, but I was able to switch.
Speaker: my patron from Mortube's chief legal officer and fallen angel Lexiel. to her sister Cariel. A celestial. All of this is filmed by Zanacron, the beholder director of the action in the dungeon.
Speaker: and beamed throughout the multiverse and planes of reality. and narrated by Ringmaster Gelatinous Cube Stanley Kubrick. Luckily I don't have to do this alone. as Cariel was also able to negotiate Aika inviting guests to watch and run through the dungeon together.
Speaker: ah where we all currently play. dungeons and dragons version 5 .5 and are all playing on dnd beyond not a sponsor but hey guys call me Or I guess maybe we're switching to Demi Plain and Daggerheart. And that's a threat.
Speaker: So thank you all for joining us. Let's introduce our party. ah excuses for the folks who couldn't be here. ah But we do have a new member of the party.
Speaker: ah One of my. oldest friends and new to the podcast. JB Flinders. JB, how are you? I am. Hello, my dear friend, Andy. Yeah. Good to be on this one with you.
Speaker: is ah It is. A great joy to come across to ah a second podcast with you. um as we spend a lot of our time on the... ah not roll for initiative.
Speaker: Odyssey Podcast. with our good friend Ammon. So yeah, nice to be over here with you go getting back into. Um, None. Greek.
Speaker: heroic movies in some form. So anyway, thanks for having me on. and um I'm excited to... to roll for. the the The essence of Henry Rollins.
Speaker: through my character. Well, tell ah tell us about your character. What what is his name? So my my character is a mashup of the Dalai Lama and Henry Rollins.
Speaker: Nice. Dolly Rollins. Um, And there may be a point in the campaign where he won't be that because he is. A liar.
Speaker: so We will see how far along we go. um If Dolly Rollins is who he says he is. in this life. But yes, he is. a A bald. Um,
Speaker: Formerly angry. Um, spiritual being. And thank you for helping me respect him. So he's also an insightful. ah thieving spiritual man it was really funny when you when you pitch this character to me you're like What if he's like... a rock musician and a pro wrestler.
Speaker: But he's also like. spiritual and shit and I'm like oh that's really cool like i bet we can i bet we can totally like come up with something like that so Yes, and I'm excited for his Halloween costume.
Speaker: Yes, I'm sure we'll. Talk about later. We're going to a Halloween party when we go to the dungeon. So ah yeah stick around for that. ah Because this week's. movie. is Love, Simon, the 2018 romantic comedy about a young man dealing with coming out in high school.
Speaker: and all sorts of things. i had not seen this when this came out obviously that's the premise of the show these are movies i've never seen but But you saw this. yeah then or soon after or It was pretty close.
Speaker: I think it was during one of my Josh Duhamel. Kicks. Josh Duhamel, a .k .a. Almost Timothy Oliphant, depending on how many Conan episodes you watch yeah with Timothy Oliphant. So i but I believe, and again, i I apologize to the crowd for not.
Speaker: remembering things as well. but yeah I think it was. probably right after it had been released. you know, onto, onto DVD at the time. The director, I i remember quite well because you know you as you and i did watched arrow and the flash and that's the craziest thing about this movie Greg Berlanti of the CW Arrowverse.
Speaker: It's like, okay. Cool. Yeah. Cool, Greg Berlanti. Like. Who knew? Yeah, there's there's a lot of those tie -ins where... my history with our dear friend davey williams anything that was angel buffy Right. Those... CW vibe multiverses.
Speaker: I'm like, oh, I'll check this out at least for him. And I hadn't read. it's It's based on a... a book or a short story. Bye. I can't remember its... I feel like it's probably a full -length novel.
Speaker: I think so There's a lot here for this to be a short story. This feels like a YA novel. This is one of those books you'd read in high school. That's like, oh. I feel good about growing up, you know? Yeah. In the book, Jacques loves Elliot Smith.
Speaker: Yeah, and he's got a... which i thought was He's got a big Elliott Smith. ah poster on his wall in the movie Savada. Yeah. that time out Which is, I think, a ah pretty random. but delightful.
Speaker: Choice, right? so Yeah, and this this movie has a lot of really interesting needle drops. Like at one point over Christmas, he's like, you have to listen to the greatest Christmas song ever.
Speaker: ah Forgive it for being a little bit twee, but here it is. And it's the Jackson 5 version of Someday at Christmas, which I love that song. my My favorite flavor of it is the... ah Stevie Wonder version. rather than the Jackson 5 version. but Uh, uh. Tell me some more of your mic drops.
Speaker: that you really liked because i think there's a few that you liked My my absolute favorite and. probably my favorite scene in the entire movie. is when... And Simon's talking about like, oh, you know, I always kind of thought that like.
Speaker: I'll graduate from high school and then I'll go to college. and when i'm in college i will kind of become this new person And I will be out as gay.
Speaker: And he has this fantasy sequence where. He's, uh... In his. ah college dorm and everybody's singing and dancing to I Want to Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston.
Speaker: And first of all, damn that song slaps. Like, I love that song. oh And... And that's just. That's just a lot of fun. Um... but and then And then at the end, he's like... Okay, well, maybe not that gay.
Speaker: Which is also a really funny stinger on that. Like, I appreciate the... The jokes on jokes. um this is a This is a really tight little script.
Speaker: And I really appreciate that about it. Uh, All killer, no filler. It zooms along. Everything has a purpose. uh, And.
Speaker: And they just... They just pull this. this nice charming tale of super super well I really appreciate that Uh, Really quickly, I'm going to do our patented.
Speaker: World's most incomplete. Plot summary. ah So, spoiler alert. Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Spoilers incoming.
Speaker: Skip if you do not want this plot spoiled. Okay, here we go. 17 -year -old Simon Spear has a perfectly normal high school life, except for one.
Speaker: fiercely guarded secret, he is gay. He lives with his therapist mom, Jennifer Garner. His. former high school quarterback, dad, Josh Duhamel, little sister who's ready to go on Kids MasterChef.
Speaker: Even his three best friends don't know Leah, the girl next door who's smart and confident. Nick, who Abby calls the love child of. Cristiano Ronaldo and Sigmund Freud. and the three of them have been friends since kindergarten.
Speaker: And then there's Abby, who just moved in three months ago and has a really pretty obvious crush on Nick. When another closeted student at his school posts anonymously,
Speaker: about his sexuality under the pseudonym Blue on a popular school gossip blog. Simon reaches out using the name Jacques. The two boys strike up a deep email correspondence, sharing their fears and daily lives. and quickly fall for each other without knowing who is actually on the other side of the screen.
Speaker: But because Simon doesn't know who Blue is, he keeps thinking different people in his class might be him. and picturing them together. However, he scratches off some of these possibilities as the movie goes on.
Speaker: Oh, and... His vice principal is Tony Hale from Arrested Development and Veep. That's right. It's Vice Principal Forkey. Simon's carefully managed world is threatened when he carelessly leaves his email logged on in a library computer.
Speaker: Martin, who was in the school. play of Cabaret. with Simon and Abby, screenshots the messages and blackmails Simon. threatening to out him unless Simon helps Martin date Abby.
Speaker: terrified of losing his connection to blue and being exposed before he's ready simon agrees They all go to a Halloween party hosted by Bram, who Simon thinks might be Blue. At the party, he tells Nick that Abby has a secret college boyfriend. pushes Abby towards Martin. and completely misses that Leah is totally into him.
Speaker: instead telling Nick that Leah is into him. and they should go to Hong Kong. together. He also sees Bram in a bedroom with a girl dressed up as a minion, so he assumes...
Speaker: That guy can't be blue. He then begins to think Blue might be Lyle, the cute waiter at the Waffle House. where Martin makes a big public show. makes Abby stand up and say she is a superstar and deserves a superhero boyfriend. Simon then later comes out to Abby and makes her promise not to tell. anyone.
Speaker: At homecoming, Martin interrupts the national anthem and asks Abby out. And she says she just doesn't feel about him that way. Humiliated and angry in front of the entire student body, Martin tries to take the focus off himself by outing Simon on the blog gossip blog.
Speaker: Simon. comes out to his surprisingly supportive family. but refuses to talk to his friends over the holiday break. When he goes to pick them up on the first day back to school, they call him out for his lies and manipulations.
Speaker: Leah says she was into him, not Nick, and Nick and Abby hooked up. over New Year's and couldn't be happier. Simon tries to ask for forgiveness, but they're not having it. Later that day at school, some bullies tried to make fun of Simon and the only other out gay person at their high school.
Speaker: Blue cuts things off via email because he's not ready to be publicly out. and block Simon's email address. After some really affirming discussions with his family, Simon writes an open blog post asking Blue to meet him at the school carnival.
Speaker: After the performance of Cabaret, Simon waits on the Ferris wheel for hours, running out of tickets, until Martin shows up and apologizes. and pays for one last ride.
Speaker: At the last second, Bram finally climbs into the cart, revealing himself as Blue and they kiss. the top of the Ferris wheel. All is well with the fen friend group of four.
Speaker: which is now five, and Simon picks them up for school, only to propose they all skip school for an adventure from their suburban homes. into the close by city of Atlanta. So like.
Speaker: Ferris Bueller ending. I don't know I think this movie deserved a Ferris Bueller sequel. But... There we go. though That's Love, Simon. That's everything that eat more or less. What they didn't talk about is the adventure.
Speaker: is Bram. while Blue turning into Wally West. and taking over. That is the title. Yeah. Flash. for the to save the world. Yeah. so Bram is Wally West on The Flash. I yeah gosh i love that show.
Speaker: I love all the really stupid Berlanti shows. A lot of them were dumb. but I love them a lot. They're still pretty good. they You know, they follow them. I follow the good script, so it's hard not to lie. The consistency of them. Here's question number one.
Speaker: For you. Because i I think this is always... It's a movie thing, right? I can't imagine. leaving one of my friends hanging like that.
Speaker: Yeah. And i I know it gets a lot of chatter back and forth, and I think that's... Probably. The one part of the movie that I remember going. Yeah.
Speaker: What? Because I understand why they'd be angry. Yeah. Right. But at the same time... And I think it goes back to what you and I were talking about at the beginning. What does this movie look like in 2026? Yeah.
Speaker: certain certain areas of the United States where sexuality. gender things are more fluid. Right. And. And I think those... That stigma is still there, but not as.
Speaker: You know, i don't I don't know that that scene happens. as much nowadays. But I don't know. what's your What's your take on... That was the thing that really stuck out with me. with all of that. It's like, Yeah, they're mad at Simon. But then... Martin is still sitting with them at lunch at school.
Speaker: And it's like... He's... He's the jerk. He's the... The one manipulating all of you. Like why? Why is he allowed to just get a pass? i Yeah, that did feel kind of. contrived but it was con you know we have to throw drama in uh at the beginning of the third act so that everything can...
Speaker: can come back together and... make a heroic, you know. etc etc so well and maybe and maybe there's something to it too andy right like i I know.
Speaker: probably both of our sets of children, stepchildren, what have you, have members of their friend group that we go, why why has that person continue to be? In your friend.
Speaker: Oh yeah, oh my gosh. And it's sort of so... I mean, while I didn't like it. as much. I guess it's. Maybe more indicative of.
Speaker: There's always a couple or one or something in a group. and you and I as adults look at it and go, just get them out. just Right? Yeah. but i'm like They're not worth the drama like what is going on here.
Speaker: But yeah. but then And i don't I don't remember us having those. people in our friend group as much, but... We also didn't have social media, so we...
Speaker: It could just be. You know, old old men yelling at clouds. i don't I don't know. I mean, I do think that things are inherently different these days. I think Kids these days relate to one another on a very different wavelength. than we did when we were growing up. And especially anyone who went through COVID as a 12 to 18 year old. There were some major. things that changed.
Speaker: with just our ability to... be social, and make friends. And i I think that's true of adults, too. I don't think that's true of just kids. but fair Anyone who was an adolescent going through. 2020 to 2021. I think that's.
Speaker: It's like an even. bigger strain on that. The other thing is that it also tends to make some group. group cohesion tighter. that because because friendship is so rare. means that you have to hang on to those people who are around you. So, I don't know. I think this is.
Speaker: This is interesting, but One of the nice things that I... I liked about this movie is there's the one funny scene where they're like hey why is it that only gay people Come out.
Speaker: Like. What would happen if? straight people had to come out and then it's all all of them being like Mom? Dad? I'm straight. And they're like, Oh no. Why? What did we do? like You know?
Speaker: that's very funny Lots of pearl clutching. Yeah, I know i really enjoyed that. And and I think that... That's a... You know, that's a concept. That's an idea that's kind of been out there.
Speaker: And... I like that, and I... But I do think that that is the reality for. like most of Gen Z and Gen Alpha that like, Yeah, coming out is just like...
Speaker: Maybe not a big deal. Like. Like. My oldest kid. came out to us when They were. 1213. And I'm just like.
Speaker: Oh! Well, that's cool. All right. Well, what do you what do you want to do with that information? Like, I think you're a little young to be like. you know, having a girlfriend. Still. But...
Speaker: you know. you know we're supportive but you're also still. very young. So. like. What's up? Let's let you. continue to develop. But...
Speaker: yeah no difference. like you're still You're still our kid. We still love you very much. so i don't know Yeah, and I think Kids in my life. I think for us, you you see it coming.
Speaker: And you're just waiting for them to. Talk about it. Yeah. Right. so My experience, probably much more of that. Jennifer Garner in the sense of Yeah. Do.
Speaker: Are you okay? Are you okay now? Yeah. Of course you are. who you are. Now breathe. Yeah. back in that's That's such a good thing. Which is the best. as It's a, I mean.
Speaker: as ah As an older... person I mean, the scene on the Ferris wheel is, of course, fantastic. yeah I think the parent scenes were the ones for me that were like, It's so nice to see that represented where.
Speaker: Josh Duhamel is like, hey, I'm sorry. Right? Like... You're my son and it doesn't matter. you know, and Jennifer Garner, like, and now you can breathe, exhale, right? Like but you still should get everything you want.
Speaker: um Yeah. You know. So I... To me, that was that's worth the price of admission as seeing. Accepting Parents Anyway, I don't know what your take was on that. No, 100%. The two of them really drive home.
Speaker: God. heart of the movie. Something that's very universal is. I think having very tender feelings when you're a teenager. I think that's been true since.
Speaker: Time in memoriam? And... What this shows me is that. having a good group of friends and a good family. Who?
Speaker: provide support and and love. are really what everybody needs no matter i think that's just like a universal thing Well, I was going to say, I remember watching Subway takes.
Speaker: And there was a guy on subway takes who said the... the biggest wild card. you'll get the... you know the best hand you can get dealt is emotionally supportive parents. like 100 % agree if you have his take was if you have a Yeah.
Speaker: That's what debts what yeah everybody was like, well, yeah, duh. Like if you have to. a number two, three, however many of Mosley's support. pair Um, That's the biggest. That's the win.
Speaker: Right. And the other thing you said that I was going to come back to is you said. friendship is rare. And I said, friendship is rare, except when you say something on stage and your bandmate is like,
Speaker: Friendship isn't that rare. anyway he's Oh shit, there's a bear. ah Anyway, that's a saying. ah yeah side and And everyone else morning. that. uh,
Speaker: Oh, gosh, man. yeah this is me but no i think yeah i think that you make a really good point which is I mean, there's ah there's a lot to unpack. in And.
Speaker: Again, this movie, like you said, is very... Not linear, but... It's... It doesn't mint. It's like, this is what this and movie's about and it's great. Right. um i think But I do like that.
Speaker: Yeah, the other thing that I thought was... ah particularly interesting. interesting as being. a very middle -aged person watching this, the transition of Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel to being like.
Speaker: Solid. parent figures rather than you know, what what we'd been. used to seeing them playing it's like oh If you would have told me when Alias first came out, and it's like.
Speaker: Yeah, like 15 years from now, she's going to be like the. best. Mom. in like coming -of -age movies And Mike.
Speaker: Really? Maybe the best ex -wife in Hollywood? Okay. Wow. ah I mean, i I think I think that's probably true. I mean, to talk about a supportive Caring.
Speaker: Whether it's like, is she just, is she just a saint? Like, I don't, I don't know. Like, I obviously don't know her, but like. My vibe from her is like. And things that I know, it's like. Bye. She seems to be a... Really?
Speaker: good person. that's yeah I don't agree with you. Don't make me. uh doubt you jennifer carter i mean i don't destroy my faith in humanity But the same with Josh Duhamel too. It's just like, you know, it's like, oh. Yeah. Well, he is solidly the dad in here, and very emotional.
Speaker: in a way that... you know I was not prepared for. him to have these layers like Hmm? She's like, good. actor. So. yeah Yeah. Well, and... and I don't take take this for what you will. I i don't.
Speaker: Um, take for granted that two cis hetero Old white guys are talking about. a movie from a very contextual point of The parent role.
Speaker: right so the those of you who are younger and watch this film i'm sure you will get other Like if. My stepdaughters watch it. They would get the view of a teenager. So.
Speaker: I understand that. you know there are plenty of other Um, you know groundbreaking and meaningful parts in this movie and I think you and I would ah would could talk about a lot of those, but I do like that.
Speaker: We're approaching it from the parent angle. Going. Yeah, this... It's... why you wouldn't be supportive of your children. for who they are.
Speaker: Seems strange, right? like Uh -huh. Friend groups are going to be friend groups, probably different friend groups now than 10 years ago. but I keep coming back to the. how well they did the parent piece because we need more.
Speaker: Supportive. engaged parents to let the kids be, unless your kid's a sociopath, then that's you know, you don't well, then you you need some other support. Yeah, there's a different level of support. but um ah Yeah, again, there's plenty of other.
Speaker: components of this film that I think are well done. but I do keep coming back to. Like you said, that those scenes with the parents. feel really nice. yeah It's good because I can tell. the movie's working on several different levels and it's going to meet you kind of where you're at And I think that is. the sort of best part. here.
Speaker: even even if you're not gay. you can enjoy and... empathize with the situation because it's really not that different. from having a secret crush. in high school. in any other circumstance. If you're a parent,
Speaker: you're vibing with that. Yeah. up. So I i just... I don't know, I really I really applaud this movie. this So yeah any last things or are we ready to.
Speaker: delve into the dungeon yeah i think again i think good choice Uh... you know again you've You. i'm I'm glad you saw it and I'm glad you've made me want to watch it. in greater detail again. because it's been a while. and Yeah. um It will be interesting when I watch it again to see how.
Speaker: the similarities between how I see kids. In my sphere. um versus kids on these. movies so yeah anyway Absolutely. yeah All right.
Speaker: Let's head into the dungeon! and
Speaker: Da -da -da -da. all Alright. We... were led into The next room. And as we open the door.
Speaker: into a room that is... Part open -air stadium. The crowd is watching us. The scene is very different. Last week we had... A scene. from a car crash.
Speaker: Enamores perros. ah We are at. The Halloween Party. ah that That is being... that is being thrown in kind of the center of the film.
Speaker: So ah we've got to change into our Halloween costumes. What is... Dolly Rollins going to change into? Well, Dolly Rollins, um,
Speaker: In... lo those many, many years ago. ah was in a a video. where he he portrayed um Many things.
Speaker: But one of the things he portrayed was himself as Superman. So i my Halloween costume is 1994.
Speaker: Dolly Rollins' Superman. nice Complete with tights. you'll You'll go well with Abby's Wonder Woman. costume dolly rollins of course is a friend from work.
Speaker: And since we're in a stadium, that may always... play to his advantage. So. Huh. Nice. Uh, ah Jeff Virtue's ah is is going to come in dressed in a sailor suit.
Speaker: from ah his From Burt Gurney's big song and dance number. ah No Dames from Hail Caesar. Very nice. That is a nice choice. um So we're there. ah We we walk into the party. We are.
Speaker: Even though we are a bit older than these high school kids. ah ah we are to them imperceptible. ah We are in their peer group.
Speaker: And ah and and here's everyone. There's there's Simon and Leah dressed as. John and Yoko. Like I said, Abby is is Wonder Woman. There's Ronaldo. There's the Freudian slip, Martin. Nice.
Speaker: I believe our mission. should we choose to accept it. is to... Try to rewrite. this film for a, better outcome.
Speaker: I think we should try to... Lift Martin's phone off of him. and delete the blackmail evidence. and see if we can See if we can then distract him long enough to erase it.
Speaker: maybe even convince. simon uh to come out to his friends. i ah i would like to what do he I would like to add to that. I think how the kids these days do it is they ship people.
Speaker: Really? So I would like to use Insight. my powers of insight to Help. Simon and Blue.
Speaker: ship help help the friends ship them. early at night. process. So ah not only are we working on keeping Martin's phone away, but we're also planting the seed.
Speaker: to ship them so these things can coincide and work without any conflict. to anyone. in the process. Right. So you have early shipping that's awesome and then.
Speaker: No Martin. No Martin embarrassment, no phone. OK, do we do we want to split up or we want to go together? Who do we want to? Try to talk. I think we have enough time.
Speaker: To do both of them. What do you think? Yeah I think so. I, we can also do some of the shipping. in the friend group together. Yeah.
Speaker: So. why don't we Why don't we get get. together with the group. at the party. uh, Okay. And see if we can catch. the i I guess, is Martin near them?
Speaker: Can we get the yes? In fact, where we are right now. ah They have just gathered around the beer pong table. oh And, um, we can.
Speaker: We can join them there. We can talk to them there. ah we can even jump into the game if we want. Let's jump into the game and let's make a deal with Martin.
Speaker: That if... Which one of us has greater dexterity, you or I? Oh, you definitely do. So why don't we make a deal that if I beat Martin at ping pong. bear pong he has to go Pick up. Del Taco Taco time.
Speaker: Okay. For the for the crew. which we will subsidize him. He just has to go pick it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. for it But that might get us. A little. Gap. From Mark. Okay. Great.
Speaker: let's do that and then and so So we walk over to the table. Yep. I'm like, Hey everybody, what's up? Great seeing everyone. Martin, that is a, uh...
Speaker: Pretty fly costume there. Freudian slip? I assume. He's like, oh, man, you got it. That's right. And he like. Uh, Do you think the beard and the...
Speaker: the, the. cigar too much i'm like no no no that's that's how you can tell who you are gonna have make sense Hey, so... um You beer ponging?
Speaker: You hear with Abby. Yeah. Yeah, man. Uh... You. You down? I'm like, yes, absolutely. You know what? Um, Let's make this interesting.
Speaker: we'll We'll put down 20 bucks here. And if... If we beat you. ah you take this 20 bucks and you go grab us some Del Taco. Everybody.
Speaker: But let's put down let's put down 40. I got plenty of cash. for grab a for Grab it for everybody. that way No, Martin doesn't lose. He looks like a hero if he wins. He looks like a hero if he goes and picks up food for it.
Speaker: Awesome. 40 bucks. and And then if... uh, If you win, you just, you get the 40 bucks. yes so Yeah. And you you can go get Del Taco and be a hero if you want to. but There we go. ah So. JB, why don't you roll for persuasion?
Speaker: And let's see if... We've convinced him. To take our bet. 18. eighteen Yeah, he's in. ah That's... That's very persuasive. Are you?
Speaker: And. um he's Martin agrees he's down. Okay, so we are now playing beer pong ah I'm going to throw... The first ball. type I'm just going to roll a straight.
Speaker: ah Dexterity? to see if... If I can hit this. Oh, wow. Um, Uh, 10. Okay, the DC is technically 11, so I miss.
Speaker: And I need to take ah so I need to take a drink. I'm going to do a. quick constitution saving throw. cry Ooh, nice.
Speaker: Good work. No problem. Good work. Um. I'm not getting intoxicated. Okay. You go ahead. Dexterity roll. Dexterity. 22. twenty two Yeah.
Speaker: Uh, yeah. you You hit exactly your target. No problem. Okay, now I'm going to roll for Martin. ah His dex is... is minus one. Ouch.
Speaker: So... He's not. He's not going to do as well. And he rolled an eight. So that is a seven. He misses. He's going to take a drink.
Speaker: Again, a con roll and he has a con of minus two. That's a five. ouch ah He is going to start. Feeling that. prit it is yeah I'm going to say he's got disadvantage now on.
Speaker: his future. Dex. rolls. So we've got a this is going to be a first to five. Okay. I go first? Yep, you're next. Or wait, no, I'm sorry, Abby. Abby gets to go.
Speaker: And she's just got a straight. Straight decks. Oh, but she rolled a two. Her con is a little higher. She's got a plus one. 1819 there you go so she's So she's okay. She's not.
Speaker: She's not getting inebriated. great. You go ahead and, uh, and and take your next throw. 20. 20. Oh. You hit your mark. Exactly. nice Nice to be a monk. No problem.
Speaker: ah I roll mine. Let's roll by you. I roll a 21. Yeah, um... My dex is not too bad either. Yeah, it looks good. extras for for a warlock paladin. um Never dump decks, kids.
Speaker: Uh, yeah. Okay, so... Okay, so we're now at three. And they're at zero. Let's see how Martin does on his next one.
Speaker: Drunk Martin. Drunk Martin. Rolling at disadvantage. So he rolled a 16 and a three. So... ah he He is taking the three.
Speaker: And his con save. He rolled a two. Oh, poor Martin. So. That is that we're going to count. Okay, that's not a gnat one. But that is a score of one.
Speaker: Um, He's it. Yeah. yeah Abby can drive to Del Taco, right? But he's about to pass out. Okay. Let's... As he's about to die. Pass out.
Speaker: Let's you and me. Go and... you You can roll for sleight of hand or I can roll for sleight of hand. Let's see if we, he's about to fall over.
Speaker: we're gonna stop him and see if we can reach in his pocket and grab his phone. Okay. I only got a 10. So hopefully. Okay. Do it. Let's do it with advantage since I'm helping you. So roll again. oh gotcha okay Yeah.
Speaker: 11. 11. okay Uh, That's not unfortunately going to do it. um We do keep him from falling over. That was my intent. It was not to pick his pocket, of course. It was to...
Speaker: hold him up. No, yeah. Well, but he doesn't he. Sure. We still rolled high enough that he. you know. He didn't notice anything. he's a He's... protein inebriated Let's...
Speaker: Let's go ahead and – well, he's – So Abby's going to do. her role. to see if they get. She rolls a... She rolls a 15.
Speaker: ah They get. So they've got one. We're at three. ah Let's see if we can get. if we can get the final two balls in on this throw. Okay.
Speaker: 22 for me. 22, yes. You absolutely delivered. Nice. And I got a natural 20 for a 23.
Speaker: Um... Ballgame. Ew. with That's ballgame. We won. Uh, Yeah, Abby is like... Martin's not doing so good.
Speaker: We lost the bet. I'm driving him to Taco Bell. anything you guys want. Let's. take one more opportunity. to try to grab his phone.
Speaker: Man. 14. 14 almost. The DC for this is 15. So. Try one more time. There we go. You did it.
Speaker: 18. Great. So you're able to grab his phone. They drive off to Del Taco. Let's do an investigation. Geishen.
Speaker: check to roll through his his phone real and try to Try to find this um Oh, ouch. Hold on. There we go. Sevens.
Speaker: Sevens. Ugh. Should I use insight instead to to see if I can find where in the phone to look instead of investigate? Yeah, do do an insight check. Maybe that'll help ah help guide us.
Speaker: um i got on this I got a Okay. Not only that, I also got all of his credit cards. Yeah, you you know he's got a hidden folder somewhere. But then that means you also know where to look now for it.
Speaker: Um... I'm gonna... I'm gonna cast... Okay. uh Why, do I have guidance. Um. No, but I'm going to cast Bless on you.
Speaker: yes You can add a... um Or wait, no, I'm sorry, that only works on attack rolls or saving throws, not skill checks. I was gonna... give you an additional D4.
Speaker: Okay. No, just go ahead. let's just go ahead and roll ah investigation checks until until we can find it. Should I roll a performance roll?
Speaker: And then... See if I get out. I mean, do you want to like perform a song or something? Well, I'm just wondering if that will... Hype up the phone.
Speaker: Here's my investment. I don't know. Maybe. ah There we go. 17. 17. We got it. Okay, we found it.
Speaker: ah were able to... Delete the photos. We're all good on that. We have we have saved that. Let's. Go find. Simon.
Speaker: Cut. And... ah we is there a Before we do that, is there a lost and found at the party? No, but I think what we can do is we can.
Speaker: Either give the phone to Simon. or give it back to martin and just be like oh hey you left this at the table i was gonna say can we give it to abby and say this fell out of his pocket when he was falling down.
Speaker: Yeah. Alright. Totally. I wipe my fingerprints off it using deception. perfect since I'm an advantage I don't even and i'm i'm Yeah, I'm not even going to make that a contested role. yeah you your your deception score is high enough. and OK, that's you know, you're just.
Speaker: you know, Just wiping it off on your on your Superman cape. Yeah, I got it. you're here're You're all good. right Okay, so... ah We're able to find Simon. And...
Speaker: uh pull him away for just a moment and be like hey Um. We know. What? Martin has been doing with you?
Speaker: And we just wanted to let you know. That's... In our game of beer pong, we, uh... We got him drunk enough, we got his phone away from him and were able to find the hidden folder where he...
Speaker: had those screenshots saved. You do not have to worry about them anymore. Do with that what you will. Hopefully that. gives you a sense of freedom. And you can.
Speaker: Tell your friends what's been going on. and Write your own story out of this. ah Do you want to add anything to that? I'm trying to remember, do the friends... The friends know about blue or No. He's the only one who knows about them. Okay, so we can't.
Speaker: necessarily ship. The two of them. We just have to let Simon basically ship himself. Now that he's unencumbered. yeah Okay.
Speaker: I think that's fair. I think um the only thing I might do is. Sing a song to the friends about acceptance. Oh, okay. Because friendship is rare. Do you know what I'm thinking? Hey, you know what? they're we've They've got that big karaoke.
Speaker: machine in the other room there we go ah Let's... Let's go play Sour Girl. Okay. So let's, um... That's great.
Speaker: Abby? And Martin come back. We give Martin's phone back to Abby. Everyone's there in the room. it's our turn for karaoke. We're going to do Sour Girl.
Speaker: Uh, you roll. You roll for performance with advantage. because I'll be backing you up. You can roll a second time. Well, you already rolled a 22. I mean, that's going to be.
Speaker: That is the most epic. Wow. karaoke version of sour it was the greatest it was the greatest sour girl But it was just a tribute. And everyone Everyone's crying and like... oh Oh my God, this is so good, I really love it.
Speaker: Yeah. ah We love Stone Temple Pilots. Like these kids would listen to Stone Temple Pilots. But sure. I really like that. I really like how that ended in terms of the Stone Temple Pilots part.
Speaker: um Yeah. we should probably yeah I don't know if we should play a different song now that everyone's crying about. Um, Should we play more than words? Yeah, people people are like, hey, Encore, do another song. All right, let's do... ah Let's do some more than words in a 25. Peace. Yes.
Speaker: ah ah Which is... You and I you and i nail crush those. Crushed it. Nuno Benicourt and Gary Cherone harmonies. ah Everyone is, again, like... crying and So I'm going to be like.
Speaker: Hey everybody. It's hard to express yourself. We know there might be some of y 'all who... don't have the words to... ah Tell the people that you care about.
Speaker: the way that you feel. ah We hope all of you will be brave and do that, especially anyone who's maybe. hiding a part of their selves. Anyone who who might not be out. and who was harboring a secret crush.
Speaker: Now's a great time. to tell the people that you love. What's going on with you? Be honest with ah with your friends and your crushes. and I was about to say don't do drugs, but that's I'm like.
Speaker: Dude. Not don't do drugs. Do the right amount of drugs. Do the responsible. drugs do i response yeah now of ah of do Do the Do a responsible amount of drugs. Yeah.
Speaker: check with it Check with your parents. to do make sure you get your uh your friend's home safe. Yeah, this... this this ah I believe everyone in the film was under 18, so...
Speaker: We're going to have to check on this beer pong game. So. they They were, they were all drinking near beer. It's near beer. Yeah. That's how much or jewels. Martin had.
Speaker: It was bad news. Okay, Martin does need to do a... another constitution saving throw because as we remember ah He pukes all over the John Lennon costume. No, not the John Lennon costume. Oh, Martin.
Speaker: Oh, Martin. Okay. ah We're going to. So we're going to try to intervene here. And let's see if we can do a dexterity check.
Speaker: move Martin either to a trash can or a ah Or a bathroom or a sink or something. 17. We got him. 17, yeah, that'll do it. So he... he pukes into.
Speaker: a, um, Oh, let's say let's say it's a potted plant. All right, a potted plant is good. It's still. That's still fine. There you go. that's better than... all over. all over your friend. So.
Speaker: And... I am going to go. Up. to Simon. And I am going to i'm going to cast command. on him.
Speaker: With. One of my warlock pact slots. As I. Put my hand on him. I'm gonna say. Confess. Oh, give a one word command and then he has to.
Speaker: He has to make a wisdom. 15 saving throw. He's got a straight score to his wisdom. Um, Oh but he's a little bit drunk.
Speaker: So I'm going to make him roll with disadvantage. uh he rolled a 7 and 11 both of those would have um would have failed. So he is he is going to take that opportunity to...
Speaker: ah come out to his friends. They're like, oh. Well? That explains a lot. And... And he also apologizes. He's like,
Speaker: Abby doesn't have a boyfriend. I was trying to deflect because I didn't know how to talk about this. Dolly and Jeff. ah singing those songs really made me think about.
Speaker: uh how we need to. be honest with each other about our feelings. so I just wanted my best friends in the world to know everything about that. very nice Role for me...
Speaker: Let's see whether whether Bram's in the room or not. for all of this or if he's upstairs trying to make it with the Minion Girl. we just roll straight and anything above 50 % is yes. Anything below 50 % is no.
Speaker: Ooh, I got a two. oh Well, nope. he's He's upstairs. He missed the... he missed all of this. Okay. So. Wind condition. we still... We still changed the story. Everything's great.
Speaker: uh a Another doorway opens up with a sign. with an exit sign that's going to lead us into the next room. Stanley Kubrick is like, well, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker: Isn't that wonderful? Another happy ending. ah Maybe not the Hollywood ending, but... We'll take it. Let's let's let's give it up for our heroes. Dolly Rollins and Jeff Virtues in the crowd. Yeah.
Speaker: Uh, They're all. ah the The crowd was all crying at more than words. and and Uh, Sour Grill as well. well Very nice.
Speaker: So there we go. um And we go into the next room. where we ah Where we get to open the treasure chest and roll the dice. All right.
Speaker: Before we do that, ah let's Let's give our ratings and our... ah and are our awards for this movie. right on a scale of of 1 to 20.
Speaker: As if we're rolling a D20. Uh, Where do you put this movie? you know it's I think it set out to do what it intended. Yeah. There wasn't anything blockbuster -ish or... spectacular in terms of like filmmaker and anything but it was a I think it was a well done.
Speaker: Fun movie. So I'm kind of in the 15 to 16. Yeah. That's. i'm I'm like... Is this is is this a 16 or is this a 17? Yeah. And. It's.
Speaker: It's really close. I think I'm going with a sit just a straight 16. This is... This is very good. I had a great time watching it. Um.
Speaker: It's got some problems. There's things that... that aged not as well but just a really stacked cast with um you know, great performances. And like I said before, a really tight script that I, I really appreciate. Nice. And. And and good music. yeah did good music and Now, now including more than words and sour. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. ups the soundtrack substantially. Yeah. Uh... The soundtrack now has ah Channing Tatum and Henry Rollins singing both. Very nice.
Speaker: Exactly how you'd want your more than words to be. Total. Absolutely. Who is the midge of this story? Who do you think is the. the one side character who... ties it all together.
Speaker: Oh boy. I mean, you've got some within the friend group that I think are essential to the film. I mean, your protagonist is...
Speaker: kind of martin right i mean he's the one who really sort of sets the movie to do what it intends to do right well yeah he's the i mean he's the dilemma he's the insider of the action for sure he's the i think the i know you and i talked about this a little bit before we came on midge is probably mom or dad yeah but that's coming from old old man me uh yeah yeah yeah well You know, if the if the kids watch it, maybe there's someone within the friend group who is kind of the glue for them all. Yeah. We can also shout out to the one really, really tall guy. um
Speaker: I don't think he ever got a name, or if he did, I missed it, but that guy was just a fun visual presence in the movie. I don't think he's a midge, though. I think I am sort of. programmed.
Speaker: To like Leah. Like. That is... That is generally like the kind of person that I am. that I'm attracted to.
Speaker: People were smart. and um empathetic. I think among the friend group. there's a strong case to be made for that. But yeah, for for me, it's... I think it comes down to...
Speaker: to the mom. mi I think Jennifer Garner does such an amazing job. as an actor here, like you, you said like. That is the best scene of the movie. Where she's like, you've been waiting.
Speaker: Two. Exhale. m And you know now you're ready. Mucan. Breathe in and take this. this next step of your life. No. Um. That's it. That's the movie.
Speaker: And now we will award. The play of the game. It's very obvious to me, JB, that you. Did the play of the game with those back -to -back twenty epic performance.
Speaker: rolls. roles So I'm going to give you the play of the game and therefore you get to. ah roll the dice to determine What? we're going to watch. next All right. What have I got? autowise Um,
Speaker: Roll a d20 first. And that will determine which of the 20 categories we're in. right let me roll
Speaker: Four is the AFI. 100 years, 100 movies list. Nice. Okay. A list I... while List, Sean, and I tried to make our way through one summer.
Speaker: So very good list. And that's the Yeah. Uh, as As I mentioned on a previous episode, the joke from 30 Rock where... ah Liz Lemon said.
Speaker: ah We tried to watch the AFI Top 100, and we just kept watching Star Wars and Tootsie. Yeah. I can see that. That's very funny. Okay, ah now roll a D100.
Speaker: And. um We will try to find something on this list that I haven't seen. Where the heck did my D100 die in here? Or you can roll two. ten it's But it's down in the ah bottom left -hand corner.
Speaker: uh on dnd beyond oh there we go uh there is a Yeah. Alright, here you go.
Speaker: 10 and a 10. 12. 12. So we are. We are at the top. of the list there's no way we we're gonna there's no way you haven't seen that one Okay, let's see. Number 12.
Speaker: is... the searchers i have seen the searchers okay i love this it's a great movie here we go ah And then the rule is we go up the list until we reach. Let me roll one more time just for fun.
Speaker: oh okay roll again Double zero and nine. So nine. Nine is vertigo. Yeah. I have definitely seen vertigo. We were just talking about the mid. I got 20 and four.
Speaker: 24. for. ET. i'm happy This is why it's more fun because I like. Case closed. Six. 6. We might be here a while. Oh, Jesus. Gone with the wind. you've um or I have seen Gone with the Wind. We don't have to watch it again.
Speaker: I'm not gonna watch it again. Now we're getting into the. 58, The Gold Rush. Great move. I have not seen the gold rush. Oh, well done. the chaplain. The Chaplin movie. Excellent movie. That's great.
Speaker: yeah Perfect. Perfect. ah perfect thing to be able to. cross off the list so okay great well we will watch the gold rush looking up on JustWatch .com.
Speaker: Not a sponsor, but... Hey guys, please. Give us a call. Please call. Yeah. Um... The Gold Rush is available.
Speaker: ah to watch on uh hbo max uh but is leaving in 29 days oh so um better Better get to that. It is also on the Criterion channel.
Speaker: If you have that. Looks like there's there's a lot of other places that... that have it, the Roku channel, free with ads. Hoopla free, Flixhouse free.
Speaker: Darkroom free. Prime Video, free with ads. Sumo play free with ads to be free with ads. I... i'm I'm a little shocked that this isn't everywhere.
Speaker: I thought this movie was in. The public domain. So I thought I would be just everywhere. But. I don't think just watch. has Like YouTube.
Speaker: on it so you could probably you You probably, I'm. I'm almost sure you could find this on YouTube. Yeah. Motto. also many of the other streaming services. so great YouTube where I first watched.
Speaker: The Lodger. Oh my gosh, I love The Lodger so much. You were so happy with that movie. It's one of my favorite moments ever of us the hopping onto the podcast and you being like, guys. li guys you are so happy the launcher rules that was such a joy seeing you so happy that was so much fun well this has been a joy as well uh thank you jb i mean a very a very non -dnd dnd encounter
Speaker: playing a typical high school party rather than, you know. beating up goblins and orcs and stuff. I would rather beat up goblins. So thank you for making me face my worst fear.
Speaker: uh high school public singing A high school party. i said now Now, if it had been seminary, we would have been in good shape because we could have played for what it's worth like the old days. but Yeah. That was too early, though. what du We had like the 7 .30 or something. Wasn't that when the talent show was?
Speaker: Oh my gosh. Would you show up at like 7 .15 to sing that? Yeah, there well there well, I think we even played the early morning show at like 6 .15. That might have been.
Speaker: like And then we played the 7 .30. ah the 7 .30 and the 8 .30 show yeah as well. Yeah. Like for like the first three periods. That was that was crazy.
Speaker: yeah ah Yeah. Back in the old days of... high school. Seminary Talent Show days. playing Creedence Clearwater. and ah No, I'm sorry. Buffalo Springfield.
Speaker: Not Credence. we did We did play our fair share of Creedence, but... He did. Yeah. yeah In a different basement. Yeah. ah Who knew that song would...
Speaker: Be. not as prescient in 1994 -95. But. Very prescient. in 2025, 2026. So.
Speaker: ah Yeah. As long as they keep getting royalties, kudos to them. But yes, that was... yep Still one of my favorite memories of us. Got the crack of dawn dragging in. all of our gear to play for what it's worth because they would not let us play some of our other hits because of the naughtiness.
Speaker: Yeah. it's saying Although we... We one time did play in. in my church for, uh, for a youth activity and they had us play and we played born to be wild, which I thought was like pretty.
Speaker: Pretty subversive for a church audience. No. yeah ah yes so Got it. stepping wolf in 1995 we were hardcore man yeah you gotta watch out for us Well, they wouldn't let us play the smashing pumpkins, but we'd play the.
Speaker: we We can play Born to be Wild, but we can't play Zero. Bye. Hmm. emptiness is lonely which was weird because you had the shirt and everything so it was pretty disappointing Yeah, so there we go. That's funny. well that's That's it.
Speaker: Yeah. So everybody go watch the gold rush. Enjoy some. ah Enjoy some silent movie action. JB, hope you can you can join us next time. Our apologies to...
Speaker: Brooke and Kit, who both weren't feeling well, and ah Melissa and Mark, who are also excused. Uh, Everybody pay attention to what's going on in San Antonio right now. There's about.
Speaker: 50 ,000 people in the city who still don't have power after after a couple of days after a big storm. seems to be happening in a lot. uh but pay attention to that stuff because that's not okay. We gotta do something about that, but we're excusing Mark and Melissa. If people in your community don't have power, maybe you don't need to be playing D and &D.
Speaker: and watching movies. but But we'll be back next week as we run through the dungeons some more. May all your popcorn be fresh. May all your dice rolls be nat 20.
Speaker: We'll see you next time.
Speaker: To get out.
