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Mean Girls Musical
37 Plays1 month ago
This remake isn't exactly something we can sing about. This episode, we are joined by Armand Haddad from The Cinedicate to dissect the 2024 reboot of Mean Girls.
We do not, nor do we claim to, own the rights to this film in any way, shape, or form.
TW: bullying, discussions of weight, inappropriate teacher/student relationships,
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Reshoot' and Guest Appearance
00:00:04
Speaker
Dude, we got Armand here. That's so fetch. Stop trying to make fetch happen. Welcome to reshoot amateurs no suits. Too many movies to explore.
Focus on 'Mean Girls' and Network News
00:00:16
Speaker
Ruthie, Hector, and Ed left till the end.
00:00:28
Speaker
Okay. Theme song, did you? the Theme song.
00:00:33
Speaker
um Welcome to Reshoot, an amateur's guide to gooder film where we make we take movies that we like, dislike, or somewhere in between and make them objectively better. Totally didn't flub that. 10 out of 10. Nailed it.
00:00:47
Speaker
And we got we got Armand here from Syndicate. Thank you so much for having me. I'm back. I think the last time was it was not Minority Report. guess i got it yeah Yeah, it was Gattaca. Because we only do sci-fi movies with you. And this is our favorite sci-fi movie yet.
00:01:07
Speaker
Mean Girls. Yes, absolutely.
Discussing 'Mean Girls' 2024 Musical Adaptation
00:01:12
Speaker
yeah Thank you for humoring me because this was my recommendation for you guys. Also, congrats on the new network or the new network you created. Oh, so you heard it from WSTR? Nope, if i heard it when I heard it on the Grindhouse Girls episode.
00:01:28
Speaker
Oh, so you heard it from them. Thank you so much. Wait, I'm unaware of this. It's still in the soft launch phase. They're up my butt about it, but don't worry, guys, if you're listening to this episode, which probably you will, I'm working.
00:01:46
Speaker
It's going to get there. Don't worry. Awesome. but Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:01:53
Speaker
Anyways, we watched Mean Girls, the 2024 version, which is a musical. And, uh, yeah.
00:02:06
Speaker
Ed has thought and feelings thoughts and feelings. and feelings because the original has a very special place in my heart. But you haven't seen it in 10 years?
00:02:17
Speaker
Not 10 years. Yeah, probably more actually now that I think about it. I'm on. Why did you think I'm 31 now? And I watched a day over 21. Yeah. And I watched it.
00:02:28
Speaker
a over twenty one yeah and i watched it In college, but I don't think I was 21 at the time. Illegal. I don't think I was. No, because I was not an alcoholic when I watched this movie. Yeah, it came out in 2004.
00:02:42
Speaker
um I don't think I watched it in 2004. I was probably like 2005 or 2006 personally. So I was like high school. Damn. But you saw it later than that. Yeah, I saw it when I was probably like 19 or 20, would say.
00:02:59
Speaker
I remember when I saw Mean Girls for the first time. I remember i saw Mean Girls shortly before watching Oldboy. Damn.
00:03:09
Speaker
Like in the same week. very different experience a great double feature that is a choice yeah yeah it was a choice but yeah mean girls is like i'm just gonna say this right away the first like five minutes of mean girl is funnier than the new mean girls like the entire thing
00:03:36
Speaker
Like that's not really a hot take. Yeah, it's not. But I'm just saying i don't want to like show my cards immediately. But yeah, this new movie was not good for many reasons.
Broadway Adaptations and Marketing Challenges
00:03:52
Speaker
But the original. Is amazing in many different reasons. Yeah. Why did you pick this one, Armand? Why did I subject everybody to the Mean Girls remake? Well, because since you guys are reshoots, an amateur guy to good or film, you take bad movies and make them objectively better.
00:04:13
Speaker
And I was like, okay, we have ah remake that no one asked for. We have Mean Girls 2024. That's musical too. Yeah, you know, when the actual Broadway came out, which I saw, and it was great. It was two and a half hours of Broadway goodness, which is very long for a Broadway.
00:04:34
Speaker
Yeah. and the thing is, it was kind of a flash in the pan because... You know, it didn't really have that great of songs, like as in memorable songs that you like, like take, which is kind of a bad ah example, like Wicked, where like every single song is a banger. And that's why it's like a cultural icon. Define gravity.
00:04:59
Speaker
Exactly. So like with Mean Girls, it's like, oh, OK, they're they're taking a movie that we grew up with that we love and they're turning into a musical, which is kind of like a trend going on because like we have the Heathers musical.
00:05:10
Speaker
We have the Beetlejuice musical. Saw the musical. Saw the musical. Evil Dead the musical. And now Mean Girls the musical. like, OK, makes sense. And watching it, I'm like, you know,
00:05:22
Speaker
It was fun. It was great. You know, it's live entertainment. And then Tina Fey probably was like, I want more money. And then she made ah movie adaptation of the musical that she helped make.
00:05:38
Speaker
And it was so critically panned because no one asked for this. And the marketing withheld the fact that it was a musical. So like everyone that did go see it was like, what the heck is this?
00:05:52
Speaker
and yeah i was like you know what here's a turd let's make it objectively better yeah And you know that that's actually the trailers withholding that it is a musical seems to be a trend with Hollywood because apparently if you ah market a movie that's a musical it just does worse in the box office because the same thing happened with La La Land.
00:06:20
Speaker
It wasn't marketed as a musical at all. And neither was a there was another one. ah that The Joker 2 Joker 2 is kind of a musical. This was still a better musical in Joker 2. Believe it or two believes or're not, Wicked Part 1 was also not marketed as a musical. Oh, that's right. Right. it wasn't.
00:06:40
Speaker
Which is insane. And it's stupid because like, I think, I think, I might be wrong, but I think La Land reignited the Hollywood musical.
00:06:53
Speaker
Like, people want to see musicals, I think, again. And they're still, like, scared to market, oh, we're making musicals again. It's focus group test. You're trying to avoid... ah like pissing off the focus group but by doing that you take away what makes ah advertising campaign unique. Also if you advertise as musical you can get a bunch of Broadway fans to go support it many many times.
00:07:17
Speaker
Broadway fans are terrible. That's the thing that they're afraid of is that like if they market it as a musical they think that only like Broadway people and think people that like musicals will go see it and the like regular movie goer won't.
00:07:30
Speaker
But I think the regular moviegoer is warming up to the idea of musicals coming back to Hollywood. I mean, fucking Minecraft had a few musical segments, and then they made a sing-along version now.
00:07:40
Speaker
And then Amelia Perez was also a musical and also not marketed as a musical? they shouldn't have marketed Amelia Perez at all. True, true. someone who's seen it.
00:07:52
Speaker
Yeah, I still haven't seen it. I'm sorry. it's It's a movie you need to hate watch with multiple people and pause and shit talk. And alcohol? Yes, alcohol required. Nice.
00:08:06
Speaker
Anyways, that was
Comparing Original and Remake 'Mean Girls'
00:08:07
Speaker
a tangent and a half. um Well, we won't we don't do synopsis anymore. i don't know if we did that last time we were here. yes Yes, we did.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah, well, we don't do that anymore. Unless it's like a little known movie, but generally everyone's seen Mean Girls. Yeah. most indies Hit indie darling Mean Girls. Since you were the one who recommended the movie to us, that makes you our episode Cesar, which allows you to dictate who goes first.
00:08:35
Speaker
Okay. You can choose yourself. You know what? Yeah. Since Mean Girls is a feminist movie... I'm going to be a feminist right now and say, Ruthie, you go first. I was hoping for a swerve and you say Ed.
00:08:53
Speaker
I'm about to get yelled at a lot. um This is going to be a controversial episode. I think it really is. Let's see how mad I get. You're going get real mad real fast here. I'm excited. She didn't tell me shit. Is Ed going to be like the Looney Tunes yelling meme?
00:09:11
Speaker
yeah ah so i will I will deafen myself. I have have prior knowledge of what Hector's Fix is is going to be. I'm going to deafen myself for that. Thank you. and Let's do it. Unplug my headset.
00:09:26
Speaker
All right. Fuck you. I'll cast no breaks. Let's go. Okay. my first My first like. I actually didn't hate a lot of the songs in this musical. There we go. I'm feeling it. But did you like any of them?
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, I just said I liked the music. I just said I liked the songs. I didn't hate it. I liked some of them. Yeah. She's trying to soften the blow. Yeah, I was waiting for the...
00:09:53
Speaker
um The teenagers looked like teenagers and they acted like teenagers. It wasn't like in the early 2000s where there was like clearly adults pretending to be teenagers.
00:10:04
Speaker
I don't know. I thought that was a good touch with the new one. um The way that they integrated social media being a part of the message and like a part of the storytelling, I thought that was very interesting and they did it really well, especially because this adaptation came you know it it was from before social media.
00:10:24
Speaker
Yep. I thought it was a really good way to integrate and it made a lot of sense the way it was used as a tool. Dare I say, I'm going to be the grandpa now.
00:10:36
Speaker
Myspace was around.
00:10:39
Speaker
Yeah, Facebook was only a couple of years away. Yeah, my parents didn't let me have a MySpace. I was far too young for a MySpace. mean, me too. I looked at my MySpace recently.
00:10:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah? How'd that go? I was cringe as fuck. We all were. Wait, what do what do you mean were, Ed? Oh, yeah, what do you mean were? Yeah, I'm so fucking, yeah, whatever. a reason why I purged it from the internet.
00:11:06
Speaker
You purged yours? Oh, yeah, I deleted it. Really? i More than a decade ago. I still have it deleted mine. It's just like, I don't know. Maybe, maybe i mean, I won't, I probably won't have kids, but maybe somebody, somebody else's kids will...
00:11:23
Speaker
take a nibbling under your wing or something no someone else's kids will be like oh the crazy alcoholic uncle ed let's see if he has a myspace or a facebook oh boy rusa go on sorry I liked the depth that they gave to some of these characters that were on the side. The the original movie was like just between Katie and ah Regina George.
00:11:49
Speaker
And that's great. There's nothing bad about that. But like this movie felt like it treated a lot more of the cast as human. Like actual people with like thoughts and feelings and dreams. Okay.
00:12:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I liked the transitions between the locations. I felt like they were very clever and Broadway-y. Mainly the beginning and the end of it. Yeah, those were the ones that mainly stuck out in my mind, where it would be like... heaven Bookends.
00:12:16
Speaker
Yeah. Where it was like, ah the garage, and then it pans out, and then it's Africa, and then ah the camera is pulled back in from the prom, and then they come back, and it's the garage, and then they shut the garage I wish they did more of that, though. That was my biggest thing, because it started so cool. Like...
00:12:33
Speaker
school like garage to the so to africa to the school i'm like oh so it's gonna be a lot more like that no no okay yeah uh dislikes i'll get this out of the way ah something that armand and ed are gonna be very upset about i only saw both iterations of mean girls last week oh my god Legally Blonde was one of my favorite movies growing up, and I didn't see this one. Holy shit. I know. I was a fucking misogynistic little kid back in the day. would have avoided anything. thought you were saying you were some misogynist until you saw Mean Girls.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah. Girls changed me. I understand feminism now. You're cured. You're like that Danny DeVito meme. She's like, oh, I get it. Yeah. You can't steal another person's girl.
00:13:21
Speaker
Or was it in the movie? Yeah. Ex-boyfriends are off limits. I can't date your ex-boyfriend, so off limits. So that's feminism. Yeah. I get it. It's girl code. It's girl code.
00:13:32
Speaker
It's also bro code. who Right. Dislikes. Everybody wanted to fuck Regina George, including the cameraman.
00:13:43
Speaker
In the new movie? yeah Yes. Yeah.
00:13:48
Speaker
like There was something between the chemistry of Katie and Regina where Katie is like, oh my god, I'm a lesbian. Every time she's looking at Regina, I swear.
00:14:01
Speaker
She was the off-brand, great value, Sydney Sweeney.
00:14:10
Speaker
I don't think Sydney can sing, though.
00:14:14
Speaker
she doesn't need to. She does not need to, no. This movie shouldn't have been a musical, but go on. um Regina's songs felt like they were the same two to four lines just repeated over and over again. a and she the You can boil down all of her songs to I am very sexy and I'm going to sing like Ariana Grande, discount Ariana Grande. That's right. Yeah.
00:14:41
Speaker
Was the original Broadway like that? Because know it was lot of the same songs. um When I was watching this, it was like going down memory lane. i'm like, oh, yeah, these were the songs. Not all of them, but these were the songs.
00:14:56
Speaker
It was I mean, she, if you didn't know, the actress that played Regina George in the movie was the original Regina George in the Broadway musical. Oh, OK. Oh, interesting.
00:15:08
Speaker
I thought she was like out singing most of them. So that makes sense.
00:15:14
Speaker
That makes a lot more sense. Yes. Oh, that does remind me. Speaking of out singing, a lot of the actors, actresses, when they were singing, you could clearly tell that it was like ADR. They were kind of just like standing there.
00:15:30
Speaker
Lip syncing. Yeah. Yeah. Especially Karen's song. Which was. oh yeah. Broadway version is funny and memorable.
00:15:43
Speaker
The movie version. How garbage. And it was clear as day. She was lip syncing. Yeah. Well, the one I was thinking of is like when Katie's in Kenya, was like, wow, she's got like the whole opera I get she's probably like on a green screen. But like, you know, if I was like outdoors, I would be kind of a lot more like movement. I'd be running around. I would be like, i don't know.
00:16:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. She was kind of just standing and or running sometimes, but the nothing in the song changed.
00:16:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. um More just a complaint about the movie in general. Katie's really naive and I like get that she's a homeschooler. I get that she hasn't lived in the US s up until like
Cultural Impact of Original 'Mean Girls'
00:16:36
Speaker
five hours before like the main plot really kicks off, but like It does drive me crazy.
00:16:43
Speaker
Here's the thing. So you saw both versions. Less than a week. yeah So would you say the portrayal of Katie was faithful to the original one?
00:16:58
Speaker
For the most part, yeah. I just didn't like it either. What? um what I don't know. She wasn't... We're and we're the ones the with the
00:17:11
Speaker
i'm i'm I'm not crazy thinking that Ruthie's just wrong here, right?
00:17:17
Speaker
Okay. thought it was fine. Here's the thing. i think just like The original film with Lindsay Lohan, like, was she... I wouldn't say she was naive, more like she didn't know social norms.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah. While in the the remake... They made her a lot more naive. Yeah, she was a bit... She didn't really understand things.
00:17:47
Speaker
So they kind of played into the homeschooled aspect of her. Yeah. Like, a bit more. actually appreciated the naivete. It made it a lot more... Because she seemed too smart to be to be tricked by Regina and the OG...
00:18:00
Speaker
Like it felt like a bit of a plot thing. which I was fine with. If you're homeschool dude, you don't understand like the social construct of stuff like that. So it made sense. It's just for me, especially it was just a bit too much in the remake.
00:18:17
Speaker
I just didn't care for it in either version. Sorry, keep going. Yeah, I just didn't care for it in either version. This one, it was a little bit flanderized, but that was just something I didn't i didn' always like Katie's. I don't know.
00:18:28
Speaker
It of drove drove me up a wall sometimes. I know it's necessary for the plot. I actually thought it was just fine in this one compared to the original if for what they were going for, because like Katie didn't seem to struggle too much outside of like the, in the original, I was saying, was it Jumbo to all the black kids?
00:18:48
Speaker
Jumbo. Thank you. That was so goddamn funny. That was so funny. That was great. But yeah, like outside of that bit, there wasn't many, like there should have been more fish out of water moments and then they had like three or four.
00:19:03
Speaker
can, you know, we have to pick a French name. Well, the French people I talked to didn't mind my name. Yeah.
00:19:13
Speaker
um there are a couple jokes and scenes that were cut from the original movie. The one that sticks out in my head is my favorite. It's the We Should Totally Just Stab Caesar Yeah. Or gretel Gretchen in the original movie, she's like trickling out the secrets over the course of a few months.
00:19:29
Speaker
And then in the new movie, totally skip out on my favorite joke. And Gretchen just like, you know what? Word vomits all the secrets thinking that she won. But that wasn't,
00:19:43
Speaker
how it wasn't nearly as satisfying as the original one where you could tell like this was the plot like this was their scheme coming together let's talk about that so it's not only that but also many of the lines in my opinion just fell flat in the remake like like i'm a mouse duh Yeah, all of them. It felt like they were doing a checklist.
00:20:14
Speaker
It's like, okay, we have to do this line. It was... Get in, loser. Yes. Like, all the lines were were delivered almost inauthentically. Like, they were like, I just couldn't believe it.
00:20:27
Speaker
And the thing is, how do I even articulate this? It felt like a complete carbon copy of the original film. Without the heart.
00:20:39
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. And with, I think, worse sets.
00:20:44
Speaker
Worse sets. Here's the thing. The so the movie is over 20 years old, and yet it still holds up. You know Because you could tell it was shot on film, and it looks great.
00:20:57
Speaker
And they actually tried. And with the new movie, everything is shot flat. So, like, you're doing a stylized version of Mean Girls where it's like, oh, this is supposed to be a musical. It's supposed to be kind like Broadway movie.
00:21:10
Speaker
You should lean into that and actually film it where it's like interesting to look at. Like it's visually stunning and, know, a little bit artistic. And with the first film, the director was a comedian, like ah a comedy director.
00:21:25
Speaker
He did other comedy films before Mean Girls and after Mean Girls. The director that I tried looking up for the remake, I couldn't find any information on them.
00:21:37
Speaker
So it's like, were these just hired guns? Yeah. because it looked very amateur. Yeah. Very amateur. But going back to the original point, it's like, yeah, a lot of the lines just fell flat.
00:21:51
Speaker
And a lot of the jokes that worked really well in the original film were completely either changed or omitted. Didn't have the same punchline. And it's like, huh, this feels empty.
00:22:06
Speaker
This feels hollow. Mm-hmm. Why did they make this movie? Yeah.
00:22:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:18
Speaker
And now I try and make it objectively better. had a really hard time trying to come up with a fix. Same. Damn. The only thing I Because you loved it so much. I mean, it was it was hard for me because it's hard to just like.
00:22:35
Speaker
You can't. like ah come Just like make the original again. Like. I saw your review on Letterboxd, Hector. You gave it a 3.5. That is a 7 out of 10. God.
00:22:46
Speaker
i can so Okay, so a 3 is forgettable. 4 is decent. 3.5, I said, was because the songs... I'm a sucker for musicals.
00:22:59
Speaker
They get a good amount just for being... But they're songs. They're not the worst songs I've ever... They're not good. They're not good i mean that they are act Have you seen Joker 2, Armand? No. It permanently gave a lot of other musicals a permanent higher grade up on the curb. Like, it was but it was bad. it It lived run free in my head.
00:23:17
Speaker
You can't set the bar as, like, Joker 2 musical. It's like saying, like, oh, every... so you know Have you seen Titanic 2? Oh, you haven't seen Titanic 2?
00:23:28
Speaker
That just raises the bar for every sequel ever. No, I'm... The movie where they raise the Titanic from from underneath the ocean.
00:23:39
Speaker
And then they sail it back.
00:23:43
Speaker
It was okay. 3.5 just meant I like the song. i actually like a lot of the songs. I gave Sinners 3.5. What the fuck is wrong with wrong with me? That's a 7 out of 10. What is wrong with you?
00:23:55
Speaker
said it was 4 stars. I gave it like, I think 5 5. I can't remember. I gave it 4.5 or 4. I don't remember. I gave Mean and Girls 2024 half a star.
00:24:06
Speaker
That's fair. Which is 1 out of 10. I get it. i get it. I just personally like the songs. And I like the... I'm always forgetting the character's name in both versions. Which one? the first for ah ka Janice. I i like Janice's actress in the in the musical...
00:24:24
Speaker
Dare I say, I'm always harping on remakes and sequels. They're like, um' I'm always like, do something different, do something different. And then they did something different for this film.
00:24:35
Speaker
And I didn't like yeah Yeah. I think part of it was Janice's character. The whole main joke of her character was like, oh, she's a lesbian. She's a lesbian.
00:24:46
Speaker
And then at the ending of the movie, The math league guy is like, so what are you? She was like, I'm Lebanese. So the whole point of her being quote lesbian was a big misunderstanding. She's actually not gay. I completely missed the joke. I forgot that i completely missed the joke.
00:25:03
Speaker
And then the remake, they're like, let's just make her gay. so Yeah.
00:25:08
Speaker
You ruined the joke of the character. Yeah, yeah. No, agreed. Again, agreed. i just liked the song The songs gave it a what gave me a thing. I like Janice's actress.
00:25:19
Speaker
So that was it. I'm not saying it's a great film. I will agree that the Janice actress in the remake a good job. She's great. and She's Moana. Before I start harping on my objectively better take, she would work better as a different character. Oh, for sure. For sure.
00:25:35
Speaker
For sure. Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:38
Speaker
Anywho. Oh, my ah my last complaint about the movie. The spacing between the songs was weird and like the first five minutes there's two songs and then like some point at like halfway in the movies ah there were like points where I would forget.
00:25:53
Speaker
Oh right, this is a musical. Where are the songs? Yeah. But La La Land did the same thing. Yeah, but- Ruthie doesn't like La Land all Singing in the Rain did the same thing too. i haven't seen Singing in the Rain. know,
00:26:05
Speaker
i know i know
00:26:10
Speaker
He's looking for an exit. He's looking for a window. Yeah. Oh, geez. Now you're going to tell me you haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life. I have seen that one. I've seen that one.
00:26:23
Speaker
well just a wonderful light that one We're back on the rails, everybody. du it's It's funny that like we we go to your podcast and it's like fine and dandy.
00:26:34
Speaker
And then you come here and just incredibly disappointed. Incredibly disappointed the whole time. You're disappointing dad, guys. i know.
00:26:46
Speaker
I'm sorry, puppy.
00:26:48
Speaker
We're cutting that. who Here's how it fixed the movie. Make Daddy proud. We're cutting that too. Stop, please.
00:27:00
Speaker
Katie, in preparation. Proud. I'm quoting Freddy Got Fingered, but go on. Katie, in preparation for entering American High School, ah she and her mom have VHS tapes of old 80s high school movies.
00:27:17
Speaker
Yeah. So she's like, I need to prepare. i need I need to study. I need to get familiar. So she in preparation for joining American High School, she watches... Breakfast Club, Goonies, Dead Poets Society, Teen Wolf, Teen Witch, like just anything that's vaguely high school-y so she can just like, she's gonna get her research in. She's not gonna go in blind.
00:27:42
Speaker
That was one of my things. it was just like, she didn't do any like research of what it would be like I don't know. She's a very like smart person. For me, it makes sense that she would like do some kind of research. Plot goes on.
00:27:54
Speaker
um I think after the first time she goes to Regina George's house and she sees the burn book, she's talking with Janice and she's like, I don't know if this is like, I don't know about this. This is weird. we're I'm just like, stuck I'm just repeating the weird shit they say to you.
00:28:12
Speaker
And Janice is like, no, no, no, no. no no Jane Goodall. You're like Jane Goodall, but you're like studying the plastics. And Katie is like, right, okay, if I'm gonna study the plastics, I need to, like, publish my research.
00:28:27
Speaker
And she ends up making, like, a TikTok or, like, an Instagram. And she starts, like, documenting all the stuff. And she names it, like, after the burn book. And ah to give Damien a little something to do, he's the one who sets it so ah Karen, Gretchen, and Regina, they're all blocked so they can't find this TikTok page that's dedicated to shit-talking them.
00:28:54
Speaker
And ah the the discovery of the burn book is Regina- Instead of, like, just having the burn book and, like, handing it off, it's Regina finding the TikTok page and sharing it with the whole school and being, like- Or, like, I don't know, maybe she find and she makes, like, a duplicate page and she's, like, framing- Again, kind of like, the was surprised i didn't just say she hacked the- She logged into their account and logged them out.
00:29:19
Speaker
Yeah, maybe. Yeah. That too. I came up with that last fix like 30 minutes ago because I've been struggling. Yeah, I get i get even That was not a bad fix for a last minute. Yeah.
00:29:31
Speaker
I don't know. The plot, the bones to the movie are good.
00:29:39
Speaker
Did I ever redeem myself even even a half point here? With me? Yeah.
00:29:48
Speaker
Um... Where do I even begin?
00:29:54
Speaker
I'm getting graded over here. heres Here's the thing.
00:30:00
Speaker
So how would you fix this? um She adds more social media to it. yeah The burn book is actually by Janice. i Those elements actually derailed the movie.
00:30:12
Speaker
Really? To me, that's what cheapened the whole experience. Because, thank God i didn't watch this in theaters. I don't even know if it even came out in theaters. It did. It did. God, I can't even imagine watching those sequences on the big screen of seeing the user interface of TikTok on a 50-foot screen. It's just cheapened the film. it It turned into a YouTube video at that point.
00:30:44
Speaker
And I understand what they're doing, but I feel like it would have been more effective if they just didn't have those moments of like kind of the fake influencer video montages and just actually had the repercussions of just people finding out information like immediately via social media.
00:31:12
Speaker
agreed that's just me yeah i didn't i did not like the yeah i did not like the vertical video never thing i' know and i started skipping i was like no then every time there was a song i'm like nope yeah yeah the the the vertical video shit was like cringy as fuck like the little snippets of like social media bullshit like It was clearly they're trying to cater to like Gen Z, Gen Alpha that would be watching this.
00:31:42
Speaker
And it just does not work and in the cinematic language. no It just doesn't. Yeah. sure They should have kept like instead of instead of like doing the whole like yeah vertical video shit, like they could just, you know, shot people recording themselves.
00:32:02
Speaker
Exactly. Normal. so Yeah. Yeah. Like. it works fine that way oh i i'm visualizing a much better film like we still maintain the beats but like shot differently it would have worked so think if with ruthie's fix i think to fix could get a win maybe instead of like she's doing a vertical thing it's like investigative journalism kind of like the cameras shot almost like a like it's over katie's shoulder as she's filming it
00:32:33
Speaker
No, more like, uh, like when she's investigating what the plastics are doing, it's kind of like a, uh, either like a secret camera, like a hidden camera thing or like a, uh, what is that movie you guys?
00:32:48
Speaker
Blair Witch. Oh, yeah. Blair Witch style. Found footage kind of shit? Yeah, just for like those little moments. And then it's just... That's gross. I don't like you. you don't know Not even I don't like it. It's I don't like you. Thank you. Yeah, just turns into the quarantine or wreck.
00:33:04
Speaker
Yeah. Dude, wreck is so good. Wreck is good.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I had. That's what you have? Okay. All right, Armand, who's next? Ed, you're next. Okay, I'm next. So, Arvond?
00:33:23
Speaker
Yes? I didn't completely hate the movie. I'm sorry. One of us! please like I didn't like it.
00:33:34
Speaker
So, what did you like? disliked it. I didn't hate the movie. What I liked, honestly, were the callbacks to the original, even if they didn't launch it.
00:33:46
Speaker
Because it reminded me of the original. You stood up and clapped and you're like, I know what that is. I understood that reference. got the neighbor the Again, the reason I like those callbacks is because it reminded me of how good the original was.
00:34:01
Speaker
Remember Regina George? I do, I do. I remember. ah We only wear pink on Wednesdays, member?
00:34:13
Speaker
Basically, i I was... I don't know. I think... I'm a cool mom, member? Oh my god, her not being Amy Poehler again actually hurt. That one actually sucked. honestly Honestly, Armand, I think... I think...
00:34:28
Speaker
after doing this dumbass podcast for so long, and it's just like bad movies after bad movies. Thank you for believing the product, Ed. i am and becoming desensitized to actually hating bad movies again.
00:34:45
Speaker
What the fuck did you just say to me? So you were desensitized. I'm desensitized. Yeah. okay i don't like I feel like I'm not recognizing horrible movies as much as I used to.
00:34:56
Speaker
trash recognizes trash shit I'm sorry no don't apologize he needed what Ruthie is saying splish splash what did you say ah could I just like eviscerate myself you did you did starting with the mispronunciation of desensitize did I mispronounce that yes hard desensitize what you said i don't know what you said since um fucking know
00:35:27
Speaker
oh That's been, you know, knocking a few back. And I'm going to be honest with you. I should have to get through this film. There was like three points, maybe five points where I paused the movie and was like, should I just stop?
00:35:42
Speaker
Should I just stop? Should this just be my take is like, it was so bad. I couldn't even finish it. The bottle of whiskey just called you like the green gobbled mask. I will say, I will say that the more, the more we burger King criminals call into me.
00:35:56
Speaker
The more we talk about it, the more I start to actually hate this movie. but like Because the first movie was so good. It was it was a cultural moment.
00:36:10
Speaker
Yes, it was. And the thing is, okay, but i don't I'm getting too ahead of myself. So yeah what else did you like of the movie? What else did I like of the movie?
00:36:22
Speaker
Honestly, Janice's character, even though, yes, would worked better as a different character because of the whole, you know, the joke of the character. I agree with that. She's Lebanese, not lesbian.
00:36:33
Speaker
um
00:36:36
Speaker
And that's that's about it. Yeah. So what did you not like? All right. Buckle up, everybody. It should have been a musical. Number one. noted you know how hard that's for Ed to say? He loves musicals. Number two, it should have been set in the early 2000s again.
00:36:54
Speaker
period. It just works better 100%. It does. Everything works better prior to smartphones, but go on. Yes. And that's that's the thing, because like... I didn't get to finish rewatching the original, but I got to the point where Regina does the three way call trap basically with with Katie.
00:37:13
Speaker
Yes. And people don't call anymore. So that wouldn't work anymore. But I thought that was a really interesting thing that Regina did, and it doesn't make her look like a complete idiot sometimes.
00:37:28
Speaker
those Those are the dates, which brings me to Karen.
00:37:33
Speaker
World. She's stupid. She's always stupid. I know, but she is. Am I? Did she seem way stupider in the in the remake?
00:37:45
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Like she was having trouble drinking from a straw. Well, because in the original version, the two facts about her were she was very stupid and she was a big slut.
00:37:57
Speaker
But in this one, I think they were worried about cultural insensitivities because the main actress is not the the actress for Karen is not white. So that was the casting's fault. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:09
Speaker
And I'm like, i that's a thought that came into my mind. I'm like, okay, so I understand like... They can't make the joke about her bringinging wanting to make out with a cousin because he's really hot. That was really funny.
00:38:20
Speaker
That was in the original, right? That was in the original, yeah. yeah Because you have the cousins and then you have first cousins. hilarious Yeah, but he's not my cousin. He's my first cousin. And then their second cousins. Oh, Karen, that's not how that works.
00:38:36
Speaker
yeah And then she still wants to kiss him after that. Karen was stupid in the original, but she wasn't like... She was more ditz. Yeah, she's much more of ditz than just like actually just like...
00:38:49
Speaker
and ah Mentally challenged. Mentally challenged, yes. Basically, that's what it's that's what it felt like in the remake. Here's the thing. So like we had a person of color. We had ah you know karen's and Gretchen's character in the original.
00:39:04
Speaker
She was a Latina. I believe. And so they made that character white in the remake. And then they made Karen. She still talks. She still does. She's still loved Latina.
00:39:17
Speaker
It's just she's lighter skinned. And she mentioned that. She presents white. Here's the thing. She presents She does. I watched it. And i was like, that's a white lady. So and then we have, you know, a brown girl as Karen. And then she's the dumb one. I'm like, oh, they didn't think this through, did they?
00:39:33
Speaker
Oh, dude, that was dumb. One minority character and she is perceived as stupid. I'm like, oh, no. Yeah. whoop Yeah. Dude, that was my complaint on the movie Sing.
00:39:44
Speaker
Whose bright idea was it to make gorillas criminals?
00:39:52
Speaker
Were the cops pigs? No, no. ah But honestly, I would have put it past them. there's We haven't seen Sing 2, you guys. haven't since we know There's still a chance.
00:40:05
Speaker
um But, yes, I hated Karen's character. No one. It was bad. So much more. So much more. yeah Gretchen. And like, that's another thing. Gretchen sucked in this movie. Yes, Gretchen and Regina seemed a lot more, also a lot more stupid in the in the remake than the original.
00:40:25
Speaker
Here's the thing. Here's the thing, Ed. I'm going to fix your brain because I want to finally show my cards. Here's one reason I believe the remake did not work. And it has to do with the plastics.
00:40:37
Speaker
So in the first film, where the plastics are revealed. Regina, Gretchen, Karen, they're revealed. It's like, these are the plastics. know, we have like all the other clicks in there.
00:40:49
Speaker
You know, in the 2004 one is how kids dressed at the time, and you know, sweats, sweatshirts, sweatpants, like comfy clothing, kind of bigger clothing.
00:41:00
Speaker
And with the plastics, they looked very, very feminine, super feminine. They look like the name plastics. It implies that they look like Barbies, like little Barbie dolls.
00:41:14
Speaker
Super feminine. And then we have the reveal of the plastics in the remake. And they don't look feminine at all. Yeah. Like, were you just wearing a ah double rider, like a biker jacket?
00:41:27
Speaker
Yeah. the first thing was here hu And baggy pants. yeah Yeah. Which is in style right now. Yes. But would you say that's feminine?
00:41:41
Speaker
Well, and the whole point is that they but only wear sweats on Fridays, too. Yeah, that's right. right
00:41:49
Speaker
Yeah. okay but and i'm asking you would you say that that is a important factor to not only the plastics but the film itself because the original film is like start to finish just exudes femininity it's very like the women are super feminine yeah their clothing and then with the remake it's like everyone kind of dresses the same. I mean, as a film goes on, there's moments where, you know, especially when Katie has her transformation, she becomes more and more feminine dressing.
00:42:25
Speaker
But like, yeah, I mean, as I was watching, I'm like, These are supposed to be the plastics? I feel like that's also a problem now with... I've been hearing about this online where a lot of TikTok and the internet, it's just kind of homogenized a lot of culture and subculture and stuff.
00:42:43
Speaker
Gentrification. yeah Not gentrification. Glacierification. Glacierification, yes. Progress is becoming glacier in its movement, where it's like barely moving.
High School Dynamics Then and Now
00:42:55
Speaker
Because if you look at 2004, you can tell it's tiny bit dated. But for the most part, people could be dressing like that right now. yeah and that was 20 years ago when it came out 2004 20 years ago was 1984 people did not dress like people in 1984 in 2004 yeah in two thousand fold yeah but people in 2024 could dress like people from 2004 yeah uh but yeah i will say that the the whole femininity thing yes it was very important and that's
00:43:30
Speaker
and Again, that's one of the big things about the movie is like the cliques in high school and how different they were in the 2000s. It's not really a thing anymore from what I've been told.
00:43:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's everything's a lot more like mixed and like similar now. Because of the internet and social media? Yeah. yeah yeah it's Like I said, everything's homogenized.
00:43:54
Speaker
Yes. and And also, like... I really don't like bringing this thing up, like how everyone's a lot more safe about things.
00:44:06
Speaker
Like, because the original took, you know, it was ah more accepted back then, but you know, the R word use, the white racist freaking... ah joke there.
00:44:18
Speaker
I mean, don't forget the Vietnamese saying people saying the N word. Well, and there's also like the the Vietnamese high schooler girls were apparently what was it making out with the coach or like full on banging him? Yes.
00:44:30
Speaker
Which was which pissed me off that that joke was removed in the I'm like, you got to be kidding me. yeah Because like that that also took away from the third act where they're prosecuting Tina Fey's character because they're like, oh, maybe there's some validity to this burn book because Coach Carter was actually messing with minors.
00:44:54
Speaker
Coach Carter, stay away from that underage girl. Coach Carter was Jon Hamm, right? Yeah. In the remake Yeah, that felt... Why was he there? had, like, two scenes. Yeah, wasted.
00:45:07
Speaker
but yeah, I don't know, like... Dude. I know. The iconic lines just, like, missing so hard it was... ah felt like they were just phoning it in, going through the motions. We have to say these words.
00:45:23
Speaker
the the The biggest one was in what in my opinion is the funniest scene line in the movie is the girl explaining why she had to use jumbo tampons.
00:45:37
Speaker
And I, the delivery in the remake was just like, so fucking like i don't i don't even know like it just didn't land and then the thing that made it funnier in the original was the principal's reaction to that comment and in the remake he didn't even have a reaction to that at all no everyone seemed like they were phoning it in that came back yeah okay like what why did they have to including tina fey Why did they have to also just like cut the, the, like, we're going shopping scene? I gave, I gave, I just edited the letter box. Get out of here.
00:46:15
Speaker
I'm in the middle of my fix. Get out here. yeah
00:46:20
Speaker
Also the get in loser. We're going shopping. Sigma is speaking.
00:46:27
Speaker
get out get in loser we're going shopping why did they got cut the we're going shopping because kids don't go shopping anymore no they don't so go to amazon and they don't so i should have been set in the 2000s again because exactly no i agree with you again so the more i talk about it the more i just fucking hate this thing yeah i'm old and you know i'm I don't know some things, but it's it's pretty eye-opening what you're saying, like how there aren't really – apparently there aren't really cliques in high school as much as how it used to I mean, there are cliques, but they're just not as –
00:47:09
Speaker
Prominence? prominence or like Or like rigid. yeah more yeah they they're more It's more fluid and more like they're they're more similar than they used to be. Mean Girls in and of itself is kind of a product of the time. yeah because like When I was re-watching Mean Girls, even for this podcast, I was like, oh, this feels like...
00:47:27
Speaker
kind of a throwback to like John Hughes movies, you know, like the Breakfast Club and ah Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This is just like a modern John Hughes movie.
00:47:39
Speaker
And when I was watching this, I didn't get those vibes at all. And then now what you're saying is like this being more of a product of its time. And I'm like, yeah, I guess it is. Yeah, but it's like it still holds up because wasn't that long ago.
00:47:58
Speaker
And it's just so apparent when you like remove those elements of 2004 from it where the movie just falls apart.
00:48:09
Speaker
i And, you know, it shouldn't because it's about high schoolers having high school problems. But like,
00:48:17
Speaker
Like I said, when you remove, for example, the landlines going to the mall, skipping class. They even fucking skipped. They removed that part. that's right. They removed the skipping class part.
00:48:31
Speaker
Jesus Christ. So it's like these bad influence friends that she makes aren't really a bad influence. I'm going to Looney Tunes scream. Do it. Do it. Do it. it Do it.
00:48:45
Speaker
forgot about the skipping class thing. No, but... Because like the the thing is, is like with the original film, it's like, you are the average of your friend group.
00:48:56
Speaker
And Katie, being a wholesome kid, turns into a bitch because she's surrounded by bitches. So it's like, oh, you are the average of the people you surround yourself with.
00:49:08
Speaker
Be careful who you surround yourself with. And... Keep going, sorry. No, that that was it. It's like there's that hallmark. There's that um lesson to be learned with this film. It's like, be careful who you choose your friends are. And like the real friends are probably not going to be the popular people.
00:49:27
Speaker
And with this film, it's like it has that message, but it's the journey to get there is not the same. And so the impact of that message is like, who gives a fuck?
00:49:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:43
Speaker
Another thing I will say is the, you know, when Katie first goes to school in the original, she earned the remake, the musical.
00:49:55
Speaker
It's like a musical number. And then a girl bumps into her and she's like, move, bitch, kind of thing. right and i'm like yeah oh that's pretty funny i thought i thought that was funny and then i started re-watching the original and it's just like katie being super weird goes up to a random girl starts hey i'm new here nice to meet you and the girl's like talk to me again and i'll punch you in the face and that is so much funnier did so Because it's Katie going up to the girl, not some girl bumping into Katie.
00:50:26
Speaker
It just like shows that Katie is so socially inept. The original is just so fucking funny, dude. I don't think Tina Fey had a hand in Ryan the musical, right?
00:50:39
Speaker
Because it shows. She did. Not the actual Broadway. Not the Broadway. no um She wrote the screenplay for the film. Yeah, she did. That's really disappointing. She's really funny.
00:50:51
Speaker
Because I thought, it's okay, because like with the original film, I looked at the credits and he had Lorne Michaels as the producer. you know He produced SNL and he got all the SNL people to do this movie.
00:51:02
Speaker
Tina Fey wrote it. So it's like, okay, we had some comedic geniuses working on this film. and That's why it's so funny. That's why it still holds up today. And then with the remake, I'm like, something's off.
00:51:14
Speaker
Something's not right. Is it because Lauren Michaels is not involved with this production? He was, he was, he was, I'm like, he just threw money at it.
00:51:25
Speaker
pretty sure. Cause it's like, okay, what was the missing elements? Like what, what made this just fall on its face? And,
00:51:38
Speaker
Honestly, I think Tina Fey just wanted some money. She wanted... She'd been trying to make... like I looked into the film. She was trying to make a sequel for years.
00:51:49
Speaker
And other people have been trying... on it It was never the right time. Lindsay Lohan wanted to make a sequel for years, too. Yes. And it was... I think that was going to be her return to acting is what was her original plan. oh damn. And then it just never... because it I guess Tina couldn't come up with anything because I think she said like there were going be moms and that was going to be the...
00:52:08
Speaker
you know Like Mean Girls 2. That would have still worked. It could have still worked, but I don't think Tina had enough faith in the product. but like you know like bitchy adult friends. Exactly. It could have worked.
00:52:19
Speaker
You know, honestly. white The White Lotus Season 3, pretty much. You know, I watched the White Lotus Season 3 season finale without watching any other White Lotus.
00:52:32
Speaker
Why? Nice. Yeah. Why? Because I was just invited to do that and I didn't know that was a thing and I watched it. You wanted to be socially relevant. I guess. ah But yeah, now now that I watched the season three finale, I'm actually invested in probably going to watch that.
00:52:46
Speaker
Season one's the best, which has Sidney Sweeney in it. Season one? Season uno. which is el Yeah, but season two has Aubrey Plaza. Yeah.
00:52:57
Speaker
That's also great season. I didn't really like the third season, but we're on a White Lois tangent. How would you fix this film? How would I fix this film? right so Honestly, the best way to do it is just you know remake the original, but that's also bad.
00:53:12
Speaker
so We're not going to do that. so We're just going to lean into it. What is this? fucking musical. so Lean into that fucking bullshit like as hard as you fucking can.
00:53:25
Speaker
and honestly Like a real musical. Like a real musical. Like interesting sets and very stylistic. Yes, and very, very, very dreamy looking as well. Yes. like ah I think one of the best set designs of recent years was ah Poor Things.
00:53:40
Speaker
It was very, very dreamy, very surreal kind of shit. And I think that could have worked in this also. ah But I would also take the La La Land approach where it would be the first half of the movie is very musical heavy and very dreamy and stuff.
00:53:55
Speaker
And then once the whole like scheme comes together and all the consequences of all of that starts going in you get more realism and less musical numbers, which they already kind of did.
00:54:08
Speaker
ah And i would I would also set this movie back in two thousand Maybe later two thousand and with Facebook around to kind of keep that social media theme still going.
00:54:23
Speaker
So you want it to be a period piece. Yeah, I want it to be a period piece, but maybe a little bit little bit more to kind of, you know, yeah and the ten identify with the with the in newer crowd. We're still keeping the old crowd.
00:54:37
Speaker
what Oh, dude, Vine would have slapped. Vine, Facebook, the the the bigger stuff like that. Snapchat. Snapchat, yeah. yeah Yeah, because it's old enough, but also new enough. Yeah.
00:54:51
Speaker
Where there's some sort of nostalgia around that. Yeah, I think that would work. Yeah, and and back in those days, I'm pretty sure in the late-ish 2000s, people were still using landlines, right? So we could still have the three-way call trap thing, which yeah honestly is – it makes Regina seem kind of smart, actually. You could still do it now. No one knows when you're calling, it's a conference call.
00:55:14
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah, you're right. I got tricked with that once. And then and the other thing is I would throw money at Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the fucking music.
Suggestions to Improve the 'Mean Girls' Musical
00:55:27
Speaker
you have to send a lot of money his way. Because I'm sure his first reaction is like, nope. His first reaction will be absolutely not. But then i'll I'll be like, but I have all this money that I have to get rid of. Why can't I hold all this money? and we're Ed, we're both Puerto Rican. We can convince him.
00:55:46
Speaker
He's one of us. Yeah, and yeah then we can make Gretchen a Puerto Rican. We can make yeah are we making Gretchen happen but also make Karen just you know just like plain kind of a dunce not actually mentally challenged please Jesus Christ that was so infuriating still being like a little slutty i Yeah, ah they're all slutty. That's the point. Yeah, yeah like yeah. That's the spice to Karen. and like it it it It really drives the point home where they're like, Halloween's just an excuse to dress as slutty as we want, and nobody can say anything.
00:56:31
Speaker
And the thing is we also removed, speaking of that, we also removed the slub plotline of Regina George cheating on Aaron. the whole time with the other guy that was come it was in there but it was minimized it was was yeah they they were trying to plot throughout the original they were trying to plot erin catching the two of them but in the new one he just catches them yeah there was none of the list that kind of sucked i like the list yeah it seemed a lot smarter yeah oh well oh well so is that all your fixes
00:57:11
Speaker
Honestly, yeah, I would just lean into it a lot more in the first half of the musical shit and get somebody get somebody recognized to write the music. don't know. like it so it It works so much better as an early 2000s kind of thing or like somewhere in the 2000s kind of story thing.
00:57:36
Speaker
Hector, how about you since you gave this five five? out of five yeah I lured it back down to after hearing you guys. I didn't... I got too wrapped up with... I think my problem was... And here's the thing. Why I gave it such a high thing.
00:57:49
Speaker
Revenge Party was a genuinely good... Like, it had everything in musical need. A fun set. Like, the the singers were great. It was actually decent dancing.
00:58:02
Speaker
And I think I got wrapped up... Some of the moments were great. Some of the moments were great. But I'm saying Revenge Party especially was like the one that was like, okay... I think it let me forgive a little too much.
00:58:15
Speaker
Cause that was like the one really good song.
00:58:20
Speaker
like So what did you not like about it? Okay. So let me get to the thing I was trying to find. God damn it. The thing got my notes. Give me a second.
00:58:32
Speaker
Uh, this is PowerPoint ready. Okay. i have ah I have a giant Google sheet with every... I'm surprised you keep it on one Google sheet. I have all the end credits on one, but then I've got individual things for my notes because I don't want that to happen. Nope, because I put it... I'm not going to talk about this here, but it's I have a whole system.
00:58:49
Speaker
mean, you wrote it. ah I did like the new version of Katie's Friends a little bit more. I don't know. The original, I'm watching and I'm like, I like these characters so much...
00:59:01
Speaker
i Like Damien and... Why am I forgetting her name? Janice. Janice, thank you. The name always escapes me. I keep saying Janet, but no, it's not right. Janice. I'm like, I would... They remind me some a little by of my friends from high school.
00:59:13
Speaker
I'd like to see more of them. So I kind of was glad to get more of that.
00:59:19
Speaker
I did like New Katie pre-plastic more than old Katie. i i Here's the whole thing. I'm going to get dinged a lot. I know. I see in your face. There we go.
00:59:31
Speaker
I'm not the biggest Lindsay Lohan fan. Like she's great. What does that mean?
00:59:37
Speaker
how do I explain it? She was way too, like, they prettied her up way too much, even in the beginning. that are you out of your damn mind? Are you out of your fucking mind? I probably am. Yeah. yeah I did like the Katie in the new one. Actually, I have a thing for playing James. Let's go.
00:59:56
Speaker
What? What? Go on. No, what did you say? i didn't hear it. I said, do you have a thing for plain Janes. Go on. You saying that from Ruthie? Smart man. ah I'm saying because you're like, Katie looks great. I like said the girl next door look.
01:00:12
Speaker
And I think Lindsay Lohan doesn't do Right out of the African savannah. yeah I want dirt on her face.
01:00:22
Speaker
Lindsay Lohan. ah She's too pretty. What? What? I think she's too pretty for pre for pre-plastic, Katie.
01:00:34
Speaker
you hearing some Lindsay Logan and slander? Yes. And not only here, before we started recording, like maybe like last week or something, when you were watching this, you're like, Aaron's not even hot.
01:00:46
Speaker
Nobody's hot in the remake. Yeah. original Everybody is. Yeah. Every single person, including Coach Carter. Including Coach Carter. Especially Coach Carter. If you have sex, you'll get AIDS and die.
01:01:01
Speaker
Now get some rubber. ah I did like prince the principal and Tina Fabian a couple. i know it's like a one-off joke, but it was like, don't know. i passur That was for fans of the movie. It's like, hey, they got together in the end. Yeah.
01:01:18
Speaker
it was It was nice. I did like meta Lindsay Lohan. All those jokes were actually fun. Let's go back to Lindsay Lohan. um mc Okay, fine. Please. Keep roasting me. I'm here for it. oh She was... Okay.
01:01:33
Speaker
Please explain why you think she was too dolled up. In the first half of the movie? Yes. It's not dolled up. I think it's just the style.
01:01:44
Speaker
It was just like, I don't know. was the style? i think it Film makeup? it was It was also the clothes. I don't know. It just felt like... clothes? It was like... Okay, maybe I'm misremembering, but it just felt like... Tank top and jeans?
01:01:57
Speaker
They wearing a pretty nice tank top. Ruthie's laughing at you. I know. She is. She asks me all the time. That's nothing new. No, it's the way that Armand's grilling you. No, it's funny. It is. I don't know. way too attractive. don't know. I can never buy... You're attractive wearing jeans? I can never buy her... She is? Dude, I am...
01:02:15
Speaker
i am no Honestly, I think Hector was like, no, I can't avert the eyes. the No, it's the fact that I was holding a knife to his neck as we were watching the movie.
01:02:27
Speaker
You think she's pretty, huh? No! No, no, Lindsay Lohan! Actually, she's ugly. I like a girl next door. Please don't hurt me.
01:02:37
Speaker
There's a girl right next to me, actually. That's how next door I like. it
01:02:43
Speaker
Okay, I actually just, like, realized, yeah, no nobody in the remake is hot. except Except for Jon Hamm, but, like, you know, that doesn't really count. Yeah, Renee Rapp, like I said, discounts. Sydney Sweeney.
01:03:01
Speaker
But, you know, Jory Rice, you know, she's fine. i Everyone else, it's like, were they afraid to like hire attractive people? okay post Maybe they just wasted too much money on Tina Fey. I think they wasted... Honestly, I think Tina Fey just... or the That was the majority of the budget.
01:03:25
Speaker
Yeah, and maybe even Jon Hamm. Because he's a big name to now, too. gina Tina... Lindsay, I think... Okay, i figured it out. I think it's a thing because... She's always seemed very pretty, like too pretty for me since like Freaky Friday.
01:03:41
Speaker
i grew up watching Freaky Friday. Lindsay Lohan. Yeah, she was Freaky Friday. Yeah, I know. I think i was around the- I grew up with her with the parent trap. I mean, i saw that one too.
01:03:52
Speaker
She's been hot since the parent trap, but go on. Holy shit. Holy shit. You stunlocked me out of that way that one. Good job.
01:04:04
Speaker
Okay, so for people who don't listen to Syndicate, Armand and I have this like little game we've never said out loud where we try to stunlock each other somehow or another. Drew Barrymore hasn't been had since E.T.
01:04:16
Speaker
We fought. Holy shit. ah
01:04:24
Speaker
Ruthie's never seen E.T. She was like four. Jesus Christ. I haven't been fucked like that since grade school. Same energy. But don't know. It was just like, Lindsay Lohan, always really pretty to me.
01:04:39
Speaker
And it's just like, it doesn't hit the girl next door as much for Katie. Because by that point, she's already like an adult. She's very pretty. When I saw Parent Trap. Well, she was actually older than me in The Parent Trap.
01:04:52
Speaker
And when I watched it and I was like, whoa.
01:04:56
Speaker
My little kid brain was like. what doling Twitter painted. So in Hector's mind, Lindsay Lohan is just.
01:05:10
Speaker
But here's the thing. She is a movie star. She is. But I like it. I like how you won't drop this, Armand. She was the it girl. I know. 20 years ago.
01:05:24
Speaker
And you're complaining, why is she pretty? No, no. It's that she's too pretty for the first half. Where she's not plastic yet. Here's the thing. She doesn't dress like plastic. No, but she's still too pretty. I you now. You're in my...
01:05:42
Speaker
your advice is okay I'm right on the visor. Yes. roga that's speed Can we pull out in time?
01:05:50
Speaker
it didn't go in. Hector. So you're saying that to be pretty, you need to wear makeup.
01:06:01
Speaker
Yes. um Absolutely wrecked, dude. Yeah. i I knew I knew going into this is going to be a controversial episode. heckctor are you you got don Are you a mustachinist?
01:06:16
Speaker
Jesus Christ. i'm literally sitting or else iminent i wonder He literally said was. said he was not that long ago. Maybe he's a fake feminist. ah are you Are you feminist to get brownie points?
01:06:29
Speaker
What kind of feminist are you? I can't. sh I'm trying to do the fucking Civil War. American? yeah say What kind of American? yeah all that femin is What kind of What kind of feminist are you?
01:06:45
Speaker
yeah Even with a face scratch? i'm like Virtue Signaler? Roundypoint Man? I'm not going to walk myself out of this. I am like... Soy boy. kind feminist are you?
01:06:58
Speaker
White knight.
01:07:02
Speaker
All right, let's take a step back. So you think Lindsay Lohanen was just too pretty for to be the ugly girl? To be the outcast. You know, it doesn't matter what you look like to be the outcast. The point is that she was from different culture. Literally, she was from Kenya.
01:07:19
Speaker
And then she goes to ah North Shore, Illinois and was like, all right, I know how to converse with people. I can make friends. And then she falls flat on her face. It doesn't matter that she's pretty.
01:07:31
Speaker
It doesn't matter that's. You know, she looks like everybody else. But in actuality, she was the outsider. And then she makes friends with other outsiders, a goth chick and a big fat gay guy.
01:07:46
Speaker
just want to function almost to function almost to gay, almost to gay to function. Which was another line that fell flat in the remake. It was like, just like, oh yeah, he's too gay function. Anyways, I'm like, what? who yeah Yeah. By the way, Hector, ah Regina tells Katie that she's really pretty.
01:08:08
Speaker
She's supposed to be pretty. Which is why she was invited to become a plastic. It's like... like Regina, being the vampire, was like, I'm going to make another vampire.
01:08:20
Speaker
I misread the scene? The whole point. Let me talk.
01:08:27
Speaker
I'm saying is that I thought they just said she was pretty because she's a cause whereci is a fucking liar who manipulates everyone. I thought she was just want to have some fun with the new girl and try to mess with her. Why on earth would she surround herself with ugly people?
01:08:41
Speaker
To make herself feel better. No. regina wait. Richie does not like that. And also the whole point, the whole point, or like, is is that ah Katie is pretty.
01:08:54
Speaker
That's the thing. Like, this isn't an ugly into a pretty kind of story. She already was pretty, bro.
01:09:02
Speaker
She's supposed to be pretty. Yeah, it's not like she takes off her glasses. Oh my God, you're pretty. yeah that's not the point of the fucking story, bro. Jesus Christ. Thank you for mansplaining me, Ed.
01:09:17
Speaker
She rolled with the wrong crowd. She made friends with the wrong people. I'm crushing out. i' crushing out I'm crushing out.
01:09:27
Speaker
not to this is crash Now I'm too aggressive to my actual fixes. Okay. but ah when when when do i When do I have to unplug my my headset so I don't have to hear the... You're already there.
01:09:37
Speaker
the god No, no, we're not there. We're not there, Armand. um' um I might not even do it. I might not even do it. No, you gotta do it. No, you're gonna... No, we won't.
01:09:49
Speaker
We'll be good sports. You can get it out if you want, but you're going to have to do it still. Fine. so the I think the movie was better when it made its own jokes. That's a dislike. yeah if it Anytime it repeated the same jokes, it wasn't as good, like y'all are saying.
01:10:02
Speaker
I don't like the camera lens and also the fact that it was digital. It made it look a lot worse. I did like the lighting, how did they played around with lighting, but that's just a typical musical thing. Like how they played around with the as aspect ratio?
01:10:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's right. I realized that I had like the aspect ratio change. That's right. Yeah. All of Regina songs, they became more cinematic. Yep. black Wide angle.
01:10:29
Speaker
It's almost as bad as the aspect ratio changing in It Comes at Night.
01:10:39
Speaker
Yeah. I don't remember the aspect ratio changing. Maybe I was too high. Go on. Well, that's a good movie to watch. the dream sequences were were wider screen.
01:10:51
Speaker
So the black bars were bigger in the dream sequences for It Comes at Night. ah yeah It's impossible to not notice it once you're aware of it.
01:11:03
Speaker
Whoa. So what I... How would you fix this film actor? So few things, better camera lens, look less cheap or whatever the, you call it. Don't change the aspect ratio. Don't change the IMAX 70 millimeter. Go on. Yes. IMAX 70 millimeter. Give it the sinner's treatment.
01:11:19
Speaker
Keep Regina's little, keep Regina's little sister and have her always reading a book. There's a reason I'm doing this for my fix. There's a reason I'm doing this for my fix.
01:11:31
Speaker
Okay. He has the guitar. Go on. It was a, it's a ukulele. Cause don't have a guitar. um No, we're getting a song. We're getting a song, yes. so But do it's not good. i had like a day. I came up with this like very recently. I'm like, let's see how much I can scratch off in a day. Ends up writing music's a lot harder than i thought.
01:11:50
Speaker
So... Let's do it. There's going to be Grection telling Katie... Oh God, it's happening. Look at that scene in Barbie.
01:12:02
Speaker
Yeah.
01:12:05
Speaker
Alright, let's do this. One, two, ready, go. Her nose job was a fake. She moved. I can't fucking do it. I got stage right. Just read it. Honestly, the ukulele when you play No, hold on.
01:12:18
Speaker
The ukulele when you play it, it muffles your words. So just read it.
01:12:26
Speaker
o So yeah, okay. So all I got was her no-shot was a fake. She moved her ears. Come I'm sing! Fine, her no-shot was a fake. She moved her ears. Her mom has a DUI. They've kept a secret for years. I want the ukulele. Shit.
01:12:40
Speaker
She once went on a grapefruit diet. It stopped when in English it made her butt riot. She blamed that poor farting kid. Fully bad that he left school and hid. ah grapefruit diet and stop when and wait it' stop when in english it made her butt riot she blamed that for
01:13:03
Speaker
She pays them athletes in bathwater, so she isn't seen as a stupid daughter. I didn't have anything else except for, like, a little bit near the end. i ah That bathwater fucking thing?
01:13:17
Speaker
Hilarious. I love you. Thank you. Somehow, Bell Delphine returned. Yes, exactly! Thank you! I'm glad y'all caught that. She pays the mathletes in bathwater. Yes! Jesus Christ, That's hilarious.
01:13:33
Speaker
That was a good lyric. Good job. Um... You have a future ahead of you, son Thank you! It's tiring to keep all these secrets...
01:13:47
Speaker
This is helping me with my regrets. Again, I was running out scene by this point. I swore to never say the way she's mean like day to day. don't remember how even... Thank you, Boomer. He's like scratching his A companyist.
01:14:04
Speaker
Yeah. Percussion. It's just great to get a release. It's nice say what I please. I don't know why I defend this girl who's not my friend. This... Oh. Hoo-hoo. This is the end.
01:14:17
Speaker
Just like her makeup were not a blend anymore. and it's ah And it was supposed to stop and she's like, also she cheats on Jason with Sean. And that was just gonna be the end. Dude?
01:14:28
Speaker
two That would have been hilarious, actually. That i've that actually improves the movie like a lot. Do we have to record this song and put it on Spotify? Because they're not like... Reshoot records. Honestly, the stoppings, they also she cheats on Aaron with Sean in the closet.
01:14:48
Speaker
Honestly, actually kind of funny. Yeah. No, i I didn't have a lot of time to make this. And so writing music's hard. um But yeah. Turns out. Turns out. Who would have thought...
01:15:00
Speaker
What a thunk. But yeah. From now on, everyone's going be like, well, no more musicals. We don't can't risk this again with Hector.
Casting and Performance Critiques
01:15:08
Speaker
All right. So that's how you would fix the film, huh? Just comedy music the songs weren't really funny for what's supposed to be a comedy movie. Yeah. Kind of.
01:15:18
Speaker
Kind of. Kind of felt weird. Yeah.
01:15:23
Speaker
Wow. Thank you, Hector. That's my life. I can tell her mom's gonna like, I'm never coming back. Yeah.
01:15:32
Speaker
Last time was two years. It's going to make it three years before I come back.
01:15:39
Speaker
You want to hear my thoughts now? Yes. All right. What I didn't like the whole movie. I think I sprinkled in all the stuff. i did Yeah, I think you did. What did you like about the movie, though? What did I like?
01:15:53
Speaker
um I thought the actress that played ka Katie Heron in the remake was appropriate. um I thought she embodied the spirit of the character. um Yeah, I think she did a great job.
01:16:08
Speaker
um That's the about it. I like the actress that played um Janice, but think she would have worked better as Gretchen. and I can see that.
01:16:20
Speaker
I think she would actually work better as one of the plastics. I think I know why they do you know who she is or what else she's done? She Moana. Yes. And I think that's why they put her in for a bigger role. because like she's too big of a star now to not.
01:16:35
Speaker
But the thing is, I know there are up and coming actresses, but like you had. um ah Why am I blanking all their names now?
01:16:48
Speaker
The song just burnt your brain out. You're like, I can't do this anymore.
01:16:53
Speaker
Yeah, we had...
01:16:56
Speaker
way oh oh my God. i put i'm I'm crashing. You're fine.
01:17:03
Speaker
Yeah, you had Rachel McAdams. You had... um Hold on.
01:17:13
Speaker
Was she in the remake? and the remake No. Cause he had Jenna Fisher who looks a lot like Rachel McAdams to the point where it's like joke on the office.
01:17:25
Speaker
Um, no, what? She looks nothing like Pam Beasley. Did you not see the episode where they're both together side by side and they look pretty simple?
01:17:38
Speaker
Cause you're confusing her with, um
01:17:43
Speaker
what's her name?
01:17:46
Speaker
Jenna Fisher and Amy Adams. Oh, yeah. Not Rachel. mick i got the Adams right. Yeah. Oops.
01:17:56
Speaker
Oops. Give me back your cinephile card. You sure? I'll wash it. I'll wash it first. Don't worry, Armand. But yeah, I mean, you had Rachel McAdams.
01:18:08
Speaker
You Amanda Seyfried. Lindsay Lohan and now they're all big names and then we just watch hot frosty that stars the forgotten mean girl.
01:18:23
Speaker
Gretchen. Gretchen Wieners.
01:18:27
Speaker
Her name isn't in the cast listing. Wonderful.
01:18:34
Speaker
Well, yeah, we had hot frosty girl. Here's the thing. This is like, yeah, I would replace all the plastics. um I would actually um go big or go home. You have Sydney Sweeney as Regina George because she would be the ultimate mean girl.
01:18:51
Speaker
She is Regina George in real life. Or the character that she plays off camera is like Regina George. So like you would have her attached.
01:19:03
Speaker
Keep Katie. And then. man, Karen, Amanda Seyfried's character has to be she got White if you're going to make the dumb joke.
01:19:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Just be blonde. The dumb blonde. That archetype. Come on.
01:19:27
Speaker
Who would that be, though?
01:19:31
Speaker
You're going to get mad if I give my answer. What? Sydney Sweeney.
01:19:37
Speaker
She has to be some sort of plastic. At the end of the day. Pew? No, she's too old now. She's too old? Pew? I feel like Pew's too intelligent to play... I guess, yeah. She can't be... I don't know any... Maybe Elle Fanning.
01:19:56
Speaker
She could still play kind of young. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, she could do it. Maybe Karen.
01:20:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like here's the thing I would lean. Okay. Hopping off of your train, Hector, I would lean into the, or actually Ed, I would lean into your idea, Ed, of making it more stylistic, like a La La Land.
01:20:21
Speaker
I would even make it look aesthetically like euphoria. I would have it like super stylized and almost like, like just beyond reality, breaking reality.
01:20:34
Speaker
And I think that's how you do it. Like if you're going to do like a musical version and also have no dialogue, just have it be all singing start to finish like Les Mis. Yes.
01:20:47
Speaker
That's how you, that's how you do it. that's Then you can like, then it's completely different. It's it's I mean, you can still have it be comedic in the music, but like you don't have like the phoning it in lines that we've gotten in the remake where they're like, I'm a cat or I'm a mouse.
01:21:08
Speaker
Duh. It's like. cool
01:21:14
Speaker
yeah size tampon in my wide vagina ruthie no no guy she did the fucking transgender operator emilia perez god damn it i used to
01:21:31
Speaker
be now i'm not here's the thing That's how you do it. You just lean into whatever it is. Just like, if you're going to do a musical, have it be a fucking musical.
01:21:45
Speaker
yeah Don't do this half-ass shit where it's like, oh, let's do a carbon copy of the original, but add in songs. And it's like, oh my god. You gotta come in. I don't quite agree with making it all singing from start to finish. 90%.
01:22:02
Speaker
ninety percent It will make it distinctly different than Mean Girls 1. one Yeah. Because it's like, oh, this is like completely different. i still think.
01:22:13
Speaker
Just animated at that point. The La La Land treatment would be better. Where like the first half is basically nonstop singing with like some short breaks in between and then the second half was consequences start happening. It's not. yeah and you make it like super like realistic and grounded so like you have like these fantastical elements in the first act for sure second act and then with the third act it becomes like drama city yeah yeah it becomes like degrassi euphoria
01:22:48
Speaker
But then then it's like, oh, now we're taking it too seriously and it's not supposed to be serious. It doesn't have to get super serious. just I mean, once you get hit by a boss.
01:23:00
Speaker
sure I hated this movie. wish it never existed. really struggled to finish it Thank you for picking it, Armand.
Humorous Commentary on Modernizing 'Mean Girls'
01:23:09
Speaker
hey this was I think our ideas, if you just combine them all, would make it objectively better. Do we keep the bathwater joke in there? Do it 100%.
01:23:18
Speaker
Okay. okay you know and Honestly, this is another thing that's that's happening more recently. Regina George would have had an OnlyFans. She was like 16, wasn't she?
01:23:30
Speaker
Yeah, she's a junior in high school, but that wouldn't stop Regina George from having an OnlyFans. That would not stop Regina George.
01:23:38
Speaker
age enough but they're seniors yeah yeah yeah age enough to seniors but also this is another thing that's been happening i've become more desensitized again desensitized desensitized i nice desensitized desensitized god damn it what the fuck is wrong with me You're unfazed by things. Yeah, i'm I'm less unfazed. But once we talk about it and we do the recording, then I'm like, oh my god, I hate this movie.
01:24:12
Speaker
You're oppressive. Yeah, you're detentatized. desensitized desensitized yeah and you should just come over and watch emilia perez with us because uh if you're desensitized that will resensitize i don't know if i can handle i don't know if i can rewatch it will resensitize you yes i don't know if i can rewatch emilia perez i could i don't we need alcohol how many how many how many shots do you think you'd need to watch that yes ed you're going as soon as serena so as soon as c selena gomez comes on screen
01:24:43
Speaker
Hard nosedive. So, wait, so you've seen a movie of hers? Yes. No. no Oh, okay. It's real bad.
01:24:53
Speaker
I'm not giving that girl a cent of my money. Okay, but would you watch the parody that ah the Mexican trans ladies made where ah it's Amelia Perrette, like the same similar plot thing, but instead of gang members, it's the heiress to baguette factory and the heiress to a c croissant factory.
01:25:17
Speaker
Or the heir to a croissant factory. There's a parody movie where two Mexican people... I have so many years on this planet, I don't want to waste it. Dude, already wasted two hours on the original Suicide Squad, so... In theaters, mind you. In theaters. And I went and I literally watched Kraven on IMAX, so... He's seen Kraven three times. I've seen Kraven three times.
01:25:43
Speaker
And he thinks it's better than... Alright, think we ran out of runway a lot. It better than Madam Web. It's still garbage. Armand, we're gonna one of those water planes at this rate. Armand, Armand, have you seen Madam Web?
01:25:56
Speaker
No. i could have told you that. need to watch Madden Web and Craven tell me which one's worse. I don't need to. Obviously Craven. Thank you. oh my god.
01:26:08
Speaker
Okay, whatever. Madden Web's bad, but it's entertaining. Craven's just boring. that's not That was my whole thesis for that episode. Madden Web has interesting actors in it. It also has Sydney Sweeney getting completely and utterly obliterated in the funniest way possible.
01:26:24
Speaker
I'm never going to watch it. So anyways, ah thank you so much for humoring me with the mean girls and the mean girls, the musical, the mean girls. Oh, we do that one little thing before we end.
01:26:35
Speaker
ah I'm ready. Anything you've been, one well, one grades for the actual film. D. D
01:26:44
Speaker
um on d minus. Cause that's more embarrassing than an F. Yeah.
01:26:50
Speaker
Yeah. I'll, I'll go with the deal. So. Okay. Okay. now No. D- also. You know what? F+. plus That's better. Failing plus.
01:27:04
Speaker
ah Failing plus, yeah. what so Okay, Armand, you get
Media Recommendations and Humorous Anecdotes
01:27:08
Speaker
two. Any media you've been enjoy enjoying? like Books, movies, games, TV?
01:27:16
Speaker
Well...
01:27:20
Speaker
I just watched Starship Troopers for the first time. For the first time? I haven't seen it yet. You're finally doing your part. I'm finally doing my part. Does Helldivers make more sense now?
01:27:33
Speaker
Yes. And I enjoyed every single minute of it. I got my Helldivers movie already. You can catch me on WSDR talking about Starship Troopers. Probably after this podcast comes out.
01:27:47
Speaker
Other than that, I've been watching Andor, and Andor is just amazing. I've heard. I need to catch up. God, it's just so incredible to have adult storytelling in Star Wars, having a Game of Thrones quality storytelling and grandiose.
01:28:05
Speaker
Like Caesars 1 through 4 Game of Thrones, right? Yes. Okay. Like this is pretty much like the war of the five Kings um level storytelling for Andor.
01:28:18
Speaker
That's some good shit. It's just, Oh my God. It's just really, really good.
01:28:25
Speaker
That's it. All right. Ruthie. um Long time fans may not know. I'm a huge Dean D nerd. Really?
01:28:37
Speaker
I've been re-listening to Fantasy High, and I, like, speed ran through freshman year, so I burnt myself out right as I was getting into sophomore year, and now i'm like, halfway through sophomore year, and fucking hell, this was just funny. It's on YouTube, right? Yeah, it's on YouTube. And Dropout.
01:28:53
Speaker
And Dropout. um And i Hector and I have also been watching The Pit. Hmm. Two ends, two very different ends of a of a spectrum. We're taking a break because last episode actually wrecked me. Yeah, that one hurt. That one really hurt. And I'm like, i need to take a break for a day or two.
01:29:10
Speaker
want to know what's a good show to watch as a palate cleanser? OK, I feel like you're going to say something fucked up, but go on. The Four Seasons on Netflix. It's on my list. It's on my list. um It's actually pretty good. It's on my list.
01:29:24
Speaker
ah Ed?
01:29:27
Speaker
I mean, I think I mentioned this last time, but ah Farmland Saga, Vinland Saga is pretty good as an anime.
01:29:38
Speaker
It's getting a weeb. I am a huge weeb. Come on. It's probably one that Armand would like, actually. i think, yeah, I think you would you might enjoy It's a... Waifus.
01:29:49
Speaker
Hmm? Waifus. oh Actually, none. None of this. no Wait, why do you have that? you have that Don't question the man.
01:30:04
Speaker
No, it's not his name. No, Vinland Saga is ah it's like a fictional story of like Vikings from Denmark and some Swedish people getting involved.
01:30:17
Speaker
ah Britain, Wales, a whole bunch of this stuff. getting like and It's different areas of the world. but all right yeah It follows... it follows like actual like historical things that happen but follows a fictional character and it's it's it's pretty uh it's not super action heavy there's a lot of action be careful not to spoil it's it's really good i would say i would say it's a it's a pretty decent one there's only two seasons of it so far Because I think they're waiting for the manga to finish.
01:30:50
Speaker
Because the manga is quite done. It's been on the final arc for like eight years now. But but it is about Vikings. Yeah. I feel like it's not your typical anime.
01:31:01
Speaker
It's not. I've seen bits and I've read bits. Armand would love it, but I get why he wouldn't. I would like i would say it's it's as digestible for like people that aren't introduced to anime like is like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are pretty digestible if you're not new if you're.
01:31:18
Speaker
yeah They have people getting completely wrecked and they like slide back 50 feet. Yes. That hurt pretty well. all right it's getting Not quite. People get sent pretty far and die Do they have the blood coming off ah one corner of the mouth? and like ah yeah Nope.
01:31:38
Speaker
There's blood everywhere. Do they eat sensu beans? your your
01:31:44
Speaker
You gotta watch some anime, bro. Some good ones. he start Your eyes need to be opened. Come on. All right, they'll they'll be opened.
01:31:57
Speaker
Watch at least Cowboy Bebop. It's episodical. It's easy to digest. yeah that's that's an old jam. I love it. It's my favorite. i have I have the entire Blu-ray and two records.
01:32:09
Speaker
Alucard? I haven't seen Alucard. Helsing. Helsing Ultimate? Yeah, I should watch it. Oh, dude, Helsing Ultimate is so fucking good. Yeah, fucking Inuyasha.
01:32:21
Speaker
All right. how about you, Hector? ah I really like Sinners, and Ruthie hasn't seen it yet, but out of the three of us, I think I like it the most, and y'all are giving me shit for No, it was a great film.
01:32:34
Speaker
It just, I know, but it's just like, I gave it like, don't know if I get four and a half or five stars, but it was just like one of those films. I don't think it was the best thing ever. No, I'm not saying it's the best thing ever, but it's definitely the best of the year for me personally. Which is funny because- I mean, this year kind of sucked.
01:32:48
Speaker
What? This year sucked for movies. I mean, Mickey's- This year, it's 2025.
01:32:55
Speaker
Exactly. It's Mickey 17. I guess we're almost halfway in. But yeah, it's it's my number two movie of the year, Sinners, so far. Number one being Mickey 17. I don't think anything's going to beat that this year.
01:33:09
Speaker
Friendship. No. The Tim Robinson film on a twenty four Friendship. It's going to be the one. Oh, dude. Also, the the the Phoenician. What's that coming out this year?
01:33:21
Speaker
Armand, if you do... Another A24 movie with Dakota Johnson. and Oh, it's with the lady who did, it's directed by the and written by the lady who did Past Lives, which made me and Ed cry.
01:33:33
Speaker
Oh, shit. It has Pedro Pascal in it, and Chris Evans. It's a love triangle between them and Dakota Johnson. Damn.
01:33:44
Speaker
Fuck. Hold on. I'm just worried because it has Dakota Johnson in Materialists. That's right. Yes. That one might be the surprise of the year. Who knows? Oh, yeah. I saw a trailer for this. I remember.
01:33:58
Speaker
It does look good. hopefully it's Hopefully Dakota Johnson got a good agent. I mean, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans are in this movie, so. Probably. Here's the thing.
01:34:09
Speaker
With good direction, anybody can be. Nick Cage can be good. Yeah. a Pig, bringing out the dead. Mandy, unbearable weight. Damn, dude.
01:34:21
Speaker
Good actor. I know. Wicker Man. Renfield. He was good in Renfield. think he good. think he was good. Wicker Man had some iffy moments. You don't want him dropkicking an old lady in a bear costume? Knowing Next.
01:34:33
Speaker
Ghost Rider. I am actually a big fan of Knowing's plot. you're just naming Nick Cage movies. Not ones where he got good directing. I mean... speak for yourself Armand was the one you and I did for that raisingis arizona no no the one you and I did no it was oh right being Drive Angry I mean, Mean Girls 2024 made Drive Angle look like Citizen Kane. Yeah.
01:34:59
Speaker
I'm watching. I'm like, wow, Armand. I have to hard on you. Drive angry. I recently watched Citizen Kane for the first time. Yeah.
01:35:10
Speaker
November last year. hmm. Is it the pinnacle of all movies? It's like everyone says. It is a very good movie. Which one? And I can see why people say it's the greatest movie ever made.
01:35:24
Speaker
is it the Citizen Kane of films? and it you It is not my personal favorite. It's not even my top 10. Sorry, let me rephrase the question for it. All of the films that we love, you know,
01:35:40
Speaker
our we they were influenced because of Citizen Kane. Mm-hmm. So let me ask let me ask this in a way Ed will and understand. Is it the La La Land of films, Ed? Shut the fuck up, dude.
01:35:52
Speaker
So, ah sorry, speaking about this, so side tangent, I recently found out that the guy who wrote The Godfather's screenplay slash the author of the book When he went to go make Godfather 2, he was like, I'm gonna actually learn how to write a screenplay, because he didn't know how to do it when he wrote Godfather.
01:36:10
Speaker
So he went and to go take a class on it, and the professor of the class apparently- or no, he read a book first. And the book said, just go watch Godfather, that's the pinnacle of screen making.
01:36:22
Speaker
are you his His mind was blown. He was like, goddammit! You're already good at it, man. ah You're saying go see Pagliacci the clown. I love that. But doctor, I am Pagliacci.
01:36:40
Speaker
I guess the other one related to clowns, Lies of P, there are clowns in the game. I am like a good chunk of the way through it and I can totally get the hype now.
01:36:50
Speaker
I didn't think a Pinocchio Souls-like would work, but boy am I eating my words. Palm knee? what How do you know what that is? is Holy shit.
01:37:03
Speaker
but What? No, Armand, don't. your sw Armand, this we're going to sink ourselves away. Okay. okay
01:37:14
Speaker
Okay.
01:37:17
Speaker
We got through everything, right? Yeah. We got through it all. And I just have to say, Armand? ed Citizen Kane, you know, I know it's a nomenclature for like the best of for film.
01:37:31
Speaker
So would you say that La La Land a Citizen Kane of films?
01:37:37
Speaker
Oh my God. La La Land isn't even my favorite movie anymore.
01:37:44
Speaker
It's now Mean Girls musical. He took he took down the poster, guys. He's crashing out. No, I still have the poster. He's going to replace with Mean Girls 2024.
01:37:56
Speaker
He's going to get a tattoo and it's the Mean Girls 2024. He's going to tattoo his lip and it's going to say Mean Girls. It's going to say fetch.
01:38:09
Speaker
I don't know how else we can end it. no yeah here's Here's how we end it, Armand. Plug yourself. Oh, yeah. I have a podcast.
01:38:21
Speaker
So you can catch me on the syndicates film and TV podcast, wherever you listen to this show, it'll be on there too. I've had Hector on, I've had Ruthie on, I've even had Ed on.
01:38:35
Speaker
And we talk about why we love films and the magic of cinema. Check it out. My next episode, by the time this comes out, will be about by the way the great Muppet caper.
Concluding Remarks and Podcast Plugs
01:38:48
Speaker
Wait, what? And we talk about the Muppets. That sounds amazing. Jim Henson and Disney's Fumble with the Muppets.
01:39:00
Speaker
Check it Could have been their Looney Tunes. Yes. Objectively. Objectively. Objectively. All right, everyone.
01:39:10
Speaker
Thank you for listening. ah Five stars. If you're aren't watching us on YouTube, like and subscribe. And hit that bell. Hit hit the bell. ah Smash that like button. Hit the bell for notifications.
01:39:24
Speaker
Thanks, chat.
01:39:27
Speaker
Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Today's film was Mean Girls, directed by Samantha Jane and Arturo Perez Jr. The film was written by Tina Fey, based off the book written by Rosalind Wiseman, and the cinematographer was Bill Kirstein.
01:39:46
Speaker
Go show some love to their very social media accounts. They made a movie, which is more than we can say here. You know, it's always a treat having Armand from Syndicate join us.
01:39:57
Speaker
And speaking of joining, join us for our next episode, Totally Killer.