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🔢 EPISODE 156: MATHEMATICS IS TERRIFYING🔢
455 Plays1 month ago
What’s scarier than ghosts? MATH! This week we’re diving into the horror of math, algorithms, and the unsettling idea that randomness might not be random at all. From the Princeton PEAR Experiment (where intention may have bent probability) to dating apps, advertising algorithms, and the numbers quietly running our lives.
🎥 Films this episode:
🔲 CUBE (1997) – puzzle-box terror with murder math
🔢 PI (1998) – obsession, chaos, and numbers that know too much
🎧 Listen now— wherever you listen to podcasts!
👏Learn more and support our show: www.frigay13.com/support
⭐ Rate & review... please!
#FriGayThe13th #MathIsTerrifying #HorrorPodcast #QueerHorror #Cube1997 #Pi1998 #GetSlayed
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Fri-Gay the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit Fri-Gay13.com.
Humor in Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street Parody
00:00:09
Speaker
Do you remember that nursery song from A Nightmare on Elm Street?
00:00:12
Speaker
Uh, yeah. What about it? I've got a new one. Now just follow my lead. Okay. One, two, debt is coming for you. Three, four, better lock in your credit score.
00:00:25
Speaker
Five, six, grab your tax credit. Seven, eight, better stay up to date on your bank account. Nine, ten, never spend again.
00:00:36
Speaker
Jesus, that's just as scary as the original. I'd say as an adult, even scarier. It's episode 156. Mathematics is terrifying. am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom.
00:00:53
Speaker
I'm Marjorie Green, and I approve this message. To save America, stop socialism, and stop China. Faith of life, we honor thee from life to death to life.
Math and Horror: Personal Stories and Discussions
00:01:06
Speaker
in real life. Doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong. Horror in the movies. Where are you gonna go?
00:01:16
Speaker
Where are you gonna run? Where are gonna hide? Nowhere. Because there's no one like you left. What do we want?
00:01:27
Speaker
Justice! When do we want it? Now! Let's go! What are you waiting for, huh?
00:01:35
Speaker
waiting for i want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning sometimes dead is better so i'm afraid your moment has come not so fast miss scarlet i do have a secret or two oh yeah such as the game's up scarlet there are no more bullets left in that gun oh come on you don't think i'm gonna fall for that old trick it's not a trick There was one shot at Mr. Body in the study, two for the chandelier, two at the lounge door, and one for the singing telegram. That's not six.
00:02:06
Speaker
One plus two plus two plus one. Uh-uh. There was only one shot that got the chandelier. That's one plus two plus one plus one. Even if you were right, that would be one plus one plus two plus one, not one plus two plus one plus one. Okay, fine.
00:02:17
Speaker
One plus two plus one. Shut up! Welcome back to another episode of Frogay the 13th Horror Podcast. My name is Maddie. And I am Andrew. And look, if it's your first time with us on Freigay the 13th Horror Podcast, number one, welcome. And number two, get ready for an episode.
00:02:37
Speaker
It's the first episode of 2026 us. It's episode
00:02:43
Speaker
You can count all the way to 156. And that, my friends, is math. It's mathematics counting. Right? Right, Andrew? We've been counting for eight years now. This is our eighth year in production, which is fucking crazy. Next month will be our eight-year anniversary. And um this episode, we're talking all about math or mathematics. Or as they say over here in this part of the world, maths. Which still kind of conffus me confuses me why they do that, but whatever. um Look, math.
00:03:14
Speaker
ah You know, for me, Andrew, when I was back in school, ah back in the years ago. oh yeah. Well, I also didn't say we are the podcast that talks about horror, horror in real life and the movies from a queer perspective. There you go. um Way, way back. I was not good. i was not good in math when I was a kid.
00:03:33
Speaker
Were you? um I was not good, but I put in a lot of work and got better. Fair. Fair. I was because I was actually a ah so when I was in high school, we had this thing called teacher's assistant, basically. Yeah. And I and I was the TA a for algebra because I needed more help from my teacher in more in more advanced courses. So it kind of gave me an extra hour to not only help the kids, but also to like ask my teacher questions and stuff. So interesting.
00:04:03
Speaker
I wanted to be good at math because I think that math is, um I think math is one of those things that like, it's not like English or ah certain aspects where there's like not a solvable answer. Like in math, there's always an answer, which I appreciate. um However, you know, given the the the the podcast and everything, we can talk our way out of anything. So. I mean, true, true. You know, it's, um I think when when I was a kid, I think I was kind of scared of math because I was so, I was so into the other things. um
00:04:38
Speaker
And I don't know, maybe maybe I was just lazy too. I just didn't put in the real work. and And instead of like actually trying to like really take the time to to get through a ah math problem or something, I think there was something in me that was like, why am I doing this in the first place? Which is interesting because now you know i'm I'm fine at math now and and everything else. with the The math that I use in everyday life or in business or whatever, it all makes sense to me. um But like it i I think what's what's changed since I was a child is that I find math so incredibly interesting.
00:05:11
Speaker
And, and um but you know, I i think it's it's the language of of of the universe. And i think it truly is mysterious and and beautiful and glorious. And there's there's so many wonderful books on physics and this and that and whatever that I think are just really beautiful stuff. You know, whether it's talking about like um A Brief History of Time, you know, by Stephen Hawking, which would rely... you know, entirely on math at at the end of the day or the books. Oh, what what was his name? There's a great Italian physicist. I cannot think of his name right now. He's a wonderful author. Not going to get there with me. um But I mean, who wrote who wrote these books about like, I mean, truly just how beautiful it all is and how mysterious it is. And like when you know even a little bit about it,
00:05:59
Speaker
how it just really starts to to change your mind and and open yourself to this all these possibilities and in in literally the universe in reality and There's there's that a really great a documentary on Netflix called Infinity. i can't remember what the tagline is, um but it was wonderful. It came came out a couple years ago.
00:06:18
Speaker
And it's really great to watch when you're stoned. I'll say that for sure. But even if you're not stoned, the way that it that it talks about this... this thing that exists that we really, I mean, you said that math always has an answer. I mean, yeah, no, you know, it's like we know an awful lot about infinity, but we really don't know anything about it at the end of the day.
00:06:38
Speaker
And that's what's so, so wild is that the answers are probably there. We just don't know how to get to them. Like our yeah brains, our brains can't even handle it. Uh, and so I don't know, I don't know where i'm going with that. It's just, i I think math is so incredibly interesting. It really is. Well, if you if you think about math and you think about numbers, it's kind of our entire existence. like It's everything.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's a social security number. It's your bank account number. It's ah medical codes, credit scores, flight number. It's like it's always embedded into everything. So like when your teachers tell you that, you know,
00:07:12
Speaker
when you're learning, you know, algebra and whatnot, um they say like, you know, you're going to need this for your life. You actually will. Yeah, you do. I promise. You do. you You really need that. You need to be able to solve for things. And i had a really great, I had a really great math teacher in middle school.
00:07:31
Speaker
but I think her name was Miss Story. That might have been her name. But um I was in her geometry class. I remember when, and it was in, not middle school, with high school. um And it was it it was, this was 97. It was the year my dad died. And I remember I i really liked her class a lot. Because because geometry, like you that's when you start doing proofs. You have to prove. Yeah, proofs are hard, man. Step by step. But I really enjoyed that. I really enjoyed learning how to like systematize that. And I remember after, after, cause I was in her class that, that semester that my dad would have died in October of that year. And, um, and i remember her being really kind to me after and taking a lot of time to like, you know, take me aside and, and, and tutor me a little. And I'll, I'll always remember that. i don't know if she's still alive, but if for some reason she hears about this, I'll never forget that
Movies and Math: Discussion on Pi and Cube
00:08:23
Speaker
kindness. Um,
00:08:23
Speaker
Listen, Andrew, I was looking for different stories about you know math and kind of spooky stuff. And to be fair, there are a good few of them. um yeah And also, I should say, the movies that we have picked out for today are kind of perfect for this topic. They usually are. and We're talking about Pi, and we're talking about Cube. Cube from 97 and Pi from 98. What a time to be alive during these movies. I swear to God, totally. Cats. Holy, holy cats.
00:08:51
Speaker
We'll get to it. My God. um But one one story that I found that was pretty interesting is something called the PAIR experiment. So I'll tell you bit about this. And PAIR is an acronym. It means the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab. So at Princeton. So the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Program was a research program at Princeton University that studied parapsychology.
00:09:16
Speaker
Established in 1979 by then Dean of Engineering Robert G. John, Pair conducted formal studies on two primary subject areas, psychokinesis and remote viewing.
00:09:30
Speaker
Ooh. Yeah, exactly. My kind of stuff. Totally. Owing to the controversial nature of the subject matter, The program had a strained relationship with Princeton and was considered by the administration and some faculty to be an embarrassment to the university. Critics stated that it lacked scientific rigor, used poor methodology, and misused statistics and characterized it as pseudoscience. Payer closed in February of 2007, being incorporated into the International Consciousness Research Laboratory. So a little bit more about this.
00:10:04
Speaker
So at Princeton University, a group of engineers decided to test the assumption ah that one thing was sacred, randomness. They weren't hunting ghosts, they weren't chasing spirits, they were watching numbers. So the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab, once again, Pear, built machines designed to generate pure randomness, streams of ones and zeros born from quantum noise. And these machines should be immune to thought, to emotion, and to belief. So the participants in this study were asked to do something simple, just focus.
00:10:43
Speaker
And as they focused and as they intended, will the numbers change? They wanted them to will those numbers to change. So individually, nothing happened.
00:10:56
Speaker
The numbers look normal. But over millions of trials, something unsettling emerged. The math started to bend. Not dramatically, not enough to see with the naked eye, but enough that the odds of it happening by chance were astronomical. Random systems showed a tiny but persistent bias, an order where no order should have existed. No mechanism, no force, just intention, and the math quietly agreeing.
00:11:25
Speaker
The lab never claimed that ghosts were responsible, but once you accept that consciousness might influence randomness, the door starts to open. If human attention can nudge probability, what else could? What about places saturated with emotion or with trauma or with memory? What if hauntings aren't footsteps or voices, but entropy misbehaving. So the terrifying part isn't spirits. It's that mathematics doesn't say that this should be possible, and yet the numbers didn't behave.
00:12:01
Speaker
So really interesting story from Pear. And yeah it's one of those things where it's like you hear about something like this and it's a pretty simple experiment and how they start to see these little changes in there and that tiny bias. Once again, that was sort of an an astronomical chance of it happening. But that tiny bias starting to occur and it's occurring because of this and every other controlled part of the experiment, it didn't happen. So like, how do you account for that? Like, how how does that even work? And that's not necessarily like what what answer they were seeking, but just whether wouldn't happen in the first place. yeah it would need a whole other study to figure out how it was happening. But I thought that was really fascinating stuff.
00:12:43
Speaker
And that's how AI was born.
AI and Algorithms: Impacts on Society
00:12:45
Speaker
Oh, my God. Well, you know, I'll tell you on on on the um on the subject of AI, I actually am reading a book right now called, this is this is the real title, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Will Die.
00:12:58
Speaker
That's the name of it. And it's about artificial general intelligence, which is just what it sounds like. You know, right now, what you're using with ChatGPT or any of the other ones, it's not AGI, it's just AI and built entirely on LLMs that have been trained, but also after reading a really interesting chapter in the book.
00:13:17
Speaker
not not built, but they're grown. These are these are grown. it's it's ah It's a different way to think about these. They're not really built, they're grown. And AGI would be, that's the point where AI passes human intelligence, where it has memory, where it can really think for itself, where it tries to survive, basically. And I think it's, that's, um you know, it's, I think,
00:13:45
Speaker
I'm not a mathematician here or a physicist or whatever, but like that is closer than people realize right now. <unk> It's, and it's, it's, it's, it's not, you know, decades away. It's like a couple years away. And when that happens, fucking shit is going to change my friend, like in a big, huge way. And maybe we might all be dead. Who knows? Yeah.
00:14:08
Speaker
We'll see. Well, and like that, I mean, with the invent of the Internet and the vastness of information that lives on the Internet now, it has infinite ah possibility to find anything.
00:14:21
Speaker
ah it's It's kind of crazy. And that's why i think that they should be paying more taxes. Yeah, exactly. They're using all of our shit. Well, ah but the other thing too that I thought was really interesting was that like the the book was just sort of like comparing human knowledge and and, you know, AI knowledge. And it made this great point that I hadn't thought about before that's really pretty elementary when you get down to it. But like it takes, if you think about a human, right, it takes about 20 years to to give a human all it needs to know to function in the world.
00:14:55
Speaker
Sure. You have to like teach it things. You have to teach it how to survive. Autonomously, yeah. Yeah, you have to, you have to like, you know, give it, you have to put a lot of inputs into it for a very long period of time in order for it to like survive.
00:15:08
Speaker
AI is literally instantaneous copying. Like it doesn't, it doesn't need any, it doesn't need any time. It needs it needs a few milliseconds to copy itself and make itself even better.
00:15:20
Speaker
And you know that there's this really terrifying passage that I was reading about, like how AI will eventually just start creating better AI in a never ending cycle of recreating itself over and over and over and over and over and over and over again to make something smarter and better. And all of that happens because math, at the end of the day, it's all about like the way that things are weighted and the way that things are connected. And all of it is just by numbers. Every single part of it. It's absolutely fucking wild to think about. Yeah, the the day that someone comes up with a way to teach AI morality, we're all done. like It's done. Because that's the only thing that's left.
00:16:00
Speaker
Well, you know what what's interesting about that, well i mean while we're on the topic, is like like if you think about it, If you think about morality as like a – not as a constant, that that's not what I mean, but like as an absolute, I guess.
00:16:15
Speaker
um Then morality, then like theoretically the the the AI would be more moral than a human because it would look at the set of rules and so and and then make decisions only based on that set of rules. But the problem is whose morality it?
00:16:33
Speaker
what is What is human morality? Like, what actually is that? And like, to you know, to your point earlier about like, you like math because it has answers and this and whatever. And it's, you know, it's's it's not about, it's just about, you know, what's on the page. It's it's not about anything else. um or it's about the numbers or or however you want to think about that, is like everything else is so subjective. And so like it's it's terrifying to think that like whatever super you know super intelligence might be created, if it's given a particular set of morals, they might be so vastly different than so many other sets of morals in the world. Like how would it actually act?
00:17:12
Speaker
I mean, that's the thing, though, is like morality and civility changes with culture. You know what i mean? So it's not. It's completely subjective. Yeah, so it's and it's never something you can anchor down. I mean, you can say like the Ten Commandments are the rules and that's it. But like, m and are they? Well, I just want to say thank God that every school in America will have them in classrooms. I'm so happy about that for America. Really great stuff over there. Oh, religion is so awesome.
00:17:43
Speaker
especially that religion Especially when that religion is called MAGA, right? Just one big cult. One big fucking cult. oh So should we talk about a little bit about how math plays into our daily life now?
00:17:58
Speaker
I don't know. I guess. Yeah. Well, I mean, so like, you know, you kind of forget that like, you know, everyone just calls it the algorithm now. Like that's, it's all about the algorithm, all about the, you know, your movie algorithm, your social media algorithm, like all of it. But when it really comes down to it, it's all predictable. It's all predictability math.
00:18:17
Speaker
Like that's all it is. Like it's it's but it's kind of like the ebb and flow of probability and, you know, the other forms of math that you, it's basically trying to predict what you think. It's all numbers. It's all numbers. numbers at the end of the and so like everything is given a score that's it yeah and the one thing that it really i think has affected more than anything i think there's two areas that i really want to concentrate on uh there's dating the dating algorithm and and advertising how you how you sell people things you you've you've seen ah black mirror hang the dj right
00:18:54
Speaker
Uh, what season?
Dating Apps: Algorithm Influence and Social Dynamics
00:18:55
Speaker
It was, it was, it it's, uh, it's later on. must I can't remember the numbers right now, but it's, it's, it's later season. it's I may have not seen it cause I've, I've fallen off of black mirror a little bit. I, kind of forgot how existed. You should catch up on all of them. Number one, cause they, they're all coming true. But the dating one is, that I think it's probably exactly what you're about to talk about.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah. So with dating, think a lot of people think that like, oh, it's me. Nobody wants me. I don't have good pictures. I don't like know what to say. socially awkward, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:19:27
Speaker
Is it that? Or could it be the algorithm working against you? I mean, look, as somebody who is perpetually single in this life, I can tell you have no idea. Yeah. Well, there's a couple of things that come out of some studies that I looked up. And there's a couple of things that kind of stick out of where maybe you're not the problem. And I'm not talking about you specifically. Oh, I know. I'm not the problem. I know. I'm not the problem, Andrew. Thank you. I'm aware.
00:19:56
Speaker
um So one thing is the inability to predict compatibility. Studies have shown that the algorithm struggles to predict romantic desire and long-term um compatibility, often performing no better than random chance because human attraction is complex and defies simple data points or stated preferences.
00:20:17
Speaker
That's something interesting to think about. Like, if you're just looking at someone on paper, can you really predict whether you'd be compatible with them or not? um I mean, ah no and i And I think, i'm not were were you asking me the question?
00:20:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah. I want this to be a discussion, obviously. um Yeah, i I don't think that you can. Look, I i have been, um i mean you haven't been on dating apps in a long time. You've certainly seen them, but you haven't really used them.
00:20:45
Speaker
And like, use them on this podcast all the time. no Right. There you go. Like I have been on dating apps now for, ah I mean, for what seems like forever.
00:20:57
Speaker
What seems like forever? At least 10 years. Like at at the very least 10 years. If not, I can't really think about when I probably first downloaded one, but it has been a very, very long time. at least probably even 15 years at this point, I would say. So here I am. And look, I liked, I, Andrew would hopefully agree with me. I'm not a bad catch, right? am ah a fairly moral person. I like to think I'm handsome. Other people do too. I've got a good job now.
00:21:23
Speaker
You know, i make good money. i i take good pictures. i I'm not, you know, um I don't like take bad pictures. I so i don't think I do. um You know, this, that, whatever. Like I'm...
00:21:36
Speaker
kind of hope I know who I am, whatever. i on paper, and probably, I'm not trying to like blow smoke up my own ass. I'm just trying to be you know real about it. I'm not a bad catch. ah Why is it that on these apps, I cannot seem to find a person that I can actually connect with once we meet in real life? Because I think that that when we're looking on paper, all of this looks so good.
00:21:59
Speaker
And everyone is saying this and everyone is saying that. And you look at these fucking profiles and you always, there's always one, like at least one a month where you're going, oh, one plus one equals two. This is great.
00:22:10
Speaker
That person is a really great candidate. And then you meet them and it's absolute garbage. It just doesn't work for one reason or the other. um I don't know. i have no idea. mean, on the dating apps themselves, I think it's a bunch of bullshit.
00:22:27
Speaker
On Grindr, I do think it's interesting. that it's not about it's not really about feelings anymore right yeah never never really was but it's way more about like you having preferences and you having tags for very objective things like that's so silly yeah someone within this age range is someone within this weight range height range race, this thing, that thing, whatever. Do they have this tag? Do they have that tag? That all of those things are things that can be ah numerically, they they they they can all be given a numerical score. They can all be scored.
00:23:06
Speaker
And so now, from what I understand, AI, Grindr is using AI to make things pop up within our grids that make more sense to us to like hopefully be somebody that we're very attracted to in one way or another.
00:23:22
Speaker
And so like, I don't know. I mean, I'm i'm on Grindr. I'm not ashamed to admit that. And, ah you know, I don't know if it's working or not. I have no idea. But it's working towards a very specific thing. It's working towards, you know, me getting laid, right? As opposed to me finding a partner, which is right two very different things, even though I wish they wish they weren't most of the time.
00:23:42
Speaker
So, yeah, I mean, i mean how much how many of those how many of those people that you are swiping left on could potentially be someone that you could have a really good conversation with and eventually fall in love with? you know Yeah, I mean, it's it's highly possible. But I think um I've conditioned myself, I think, almost to be a...
00:24:00
Speaker
Not a winner in the game. and And actually, it's funny that we're talking about this. it's I was talking to another friend earlier this week. And she was like, you know, we were talking about dating in general. She's like, maybe you should go on like, ah like you're doing dry January. like Maybe you should do dry February from like dating and hooking up.
00:24:18
Speaker
yeah And I was like, you know what? That's actually a really good idea. I'm going to do that. And so I'm doing it. Now that you just talked about being a winner or, you know, whatever. And in these things, the next thing on my list was the gamification. Oh, that's it, baby. Yes.
00:24:33
Speaker
So apps use psychological triggers like intermittent variable rewards, um similar to slot machines. So think about when you're playing a slot machine and you keep losing, keep losing, keep losing, keep losing. Oh, my God, you won a little bit.
00:24:45
Speaker
yeah And then you keep going um to keep users hooked on the endless cycle of swiping for potential quote unquote jackpot match. um This design encourages antisocial behavior and perpetual use rather than exiting the app and finding a partner.
00:25:01
Speaker
So it's it's that swiping. It's that like serotonin boost of like, oh, could. Oh, you're that' so fucking right. it's crazy. you are correct. It is correct. And then another thing on the dating stuff, and listen, I don't think that this is just the dating apps. I think that this is kind of a... It's it's every app now. It's kind of a cult. Well, no, that's next fact that I'm going say because I think this is kind of what we've our culture has morphed us into is a focus on superficiality.
00:25:32
Speaker
um The swipe mechanism enforces ah users to judge potential partners primarily on looks and a short bio, leading to a transactional and superficial dating culture that ignores deeper compatibility factors like shared values. 100%.
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah. um Another thing to think about is ah gender asymmetry and frustration. The current structure creates a frustrating dynamic where women often face an overload of matches, unwanted attention and harassment, while many men experience rejection and invisibility. god that' so like That is not what this world needs right now. Jesus. know.
00:26:11
Speaker
um Another thing about AI is the use of deception. The rise of AI proxies and chatbots, quote unquote. Just really quick, just to go back to that, the gender asymmetry part. Like I i have heard, ah it's such a different experience for gay people. And I would guess lesbians too, but I don't know. And i honestly, I would guess trans people too, if they're looking for other trans people, I don't know. But like for straight people using like Tinder and Bumble and, you know, whatever, because they don't have Grindr. At least I don't think they do. Not for their lifestyle.
00:26:44
Speaker
Like I have heard so many girlfriends just be like, I can't use Tinder. Like all. Yeah. For, for, for, for straights. God, I'm talking about straights a lot late lately in these episodes.
00:26:55
Speaker
But for straights, like they use it like Grindr kind of. At least the guys do from what I, from what I understand. They're like, it's just like disgusting almost. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, there's there are dedicated Facebook groups in cities where they're like, don't date these people because they've either like harmed me or done me wrong or something. And it's always a women-focused group. You never see a men-focused group that's like, don't date these women. right You know what i mean? Yeah. It's a culture thing that we have never really settled up to. it sucks. I feel like in the 2010s, we got to a precipice of where maybe was going to change a little bit to where, yeah you know, we got like the, and these are like very, um, ah chatty phrases, but we got like the girl boss thing. We got like the, you know, like it it started to lean the other way to where men and women were starting to understand each other better and starting to, um not not appease, that's not the right word, but starting to bend a little bit and starting to understand constructs that we live within.
00:28:01
Speaker
And then- Not now. And then we went completely backwards. No. now. Not when you got Erica Kirk out there tradwifing it, baby. Yeah. and And now we're just kind of like fucked again for the next decade. so i it's' It's very, very annoying. Yeah. men Men and women dynamics. You know, this is this is when I'm...
00:28:24
Speaker
This is going to sound so stupid, but this is when I'm happy to be gay. Oh, 100%. Because then I don't even have to participate in it. Look, ah we just want to say we are we are a feminist podcast here, one. Absolutely. But i i i like I am so glad that I'm not a straight person. I mean, look, being gay it being gay does suck pretty often. I'm not going to lie you. It does. But like being i would not want I wouldn't want to live a straight lifestyle. No.
00:28:54
Speaker
i hope you know what i hope people are laughing at that i hope they are i think is that funny yeah i just i i see ah so many people struggle with the push and pull of men and women dynamics in in relationships specifically that looks so hard that congratulations if you've made it because damn you know as hard as I'll tell you what, at this point, any relationship that I see actually survive, I am like, I don't, I don't even know how you're doing it. Like it's, it's, it's, it's it, I want to say it's magic, but I know that it's not. It's, it, it takes work. It takes respect. It takes a lot of things.
00:29:31
Speaker
But you know, like just last week I heard about another, another friend's marriage coming, coming to an end and, ah and just, and it's been years of it, just years of it years of just a relationship that probably never should have happened in the first place.
00:29:45
Speaker
and i And I really was thinking like, why did you guys ever even do this? Like you never even liked each other. You really didn't. You never even liked each other. That's the thing that I never really understand about certain relationships is like, don't if you don't fall in like, how can you fall in love? I like i don't i don't get it. And look, we now we made our episode about dating. No, I'll get i'llga back to it.
00:30:09
Speaker
um Yeah, that stupefies me. But that is that in and of itself a math problem? i Maybe. Could be. So AI and deception, the rise of AI proxies and chatbots, quote unquote, chat phishing as a new layer of anxiety, making it difficult to discern if one of the communicating is a real person or an AI ghostwriting their love life.
00:30:31
Speaker
yeah this is This is something that we're going to see the rise of, I think, in the next five years is kind of this accidentally falling in love with AI because they will tell you exactly what you want to hear. They're there to agree with you. Okay, so I was dating somebody at the start of, what was it?
00:30:49
Speaker
2024, it must have been. Yeah. Yeah. His name was Barry. um And like he was he was goofy. And I was like, well, he's probably a little bit on the spectrum whatever. And um but, you know, we had fun. Like we paid played video games, and went out to eat and he was a vegan, which drove me absolutely insane. But like, it was you know, we we like had some fun times for like a like a couple of months.
00:31:10
Speaker
And um there was one time that he told me and he was kind of joking about it. He was like, oh, yeah, I i yeah i just ask AI what to text you.
00:31:21
Speaker
And then I started after he broke up with me, um which was not that big of a deal. i i don't I don't mean to make it that big of a deal, truly. But... I was like, you know what? Looking back on it, I think that's exactly what he was doing.
00:31:34
Speaker
I think he was using AI to fucking text me. And like, that is how like weird he really, like that little part of me that was like, oh, he's kind of weird, but he's probably on the spectrum. Like, no, you're just a fucking weirdo.
00:31:48
Speaker
Like yeah is that's an actual strange fucking thing to do. I was watching an episode of reality TV. This was, I think, last week or the week before. And one of the, I will i will say characters, because they're kind of just characters at this moment in reality TV.
00:32:04
Speaker
ah He literally said, oh I used chat GPT for therapy. And I was like, that's not what that's there for, because it's only going to tell you exactly what you want to hear. It's not going to you's not going to challenge you on anything. You didn't use it for therapy. You just got used, my friend. yeah You just got used. And then the final thing about the dating algorithm is the monetization of it and how it manipulates you monetarily.
00:32:29
Speaker
um Apps may deliberately limit visibility or offer enticing features such as invite only for $500 month. Sure. um to pressure users into paying for premium services, sometimes only throwing a bone of matches when users try to leave the app. um This is an important thing to remember is that in our culture today, especially if you live in a capitalistic society, everything is pay to play.
00:32:54
Speaker
And be careful how much you pay to play because you could just go out into the world and experience. You don't have to do this. You don't have to be tied to these apps, to these algorithms, you can just live life. It's true. It's possible.
00:33:11
Speaker
um And then the other one I wanted to focus on just because this is something that's close to me because they know as a marketer, i I do a fair number of advertising. Thankfully, I'm advertising something and that's helping people, which I feel good about. but It's not like a product. But the out at the advertising algorithm...
Media Manipulation: Algorithms and Public Perception
00:33:26
Speaker
Have you ever thought when you're scrolling through you know social media and you you see that weighted blanket for the 13th time that you that you've never thought you've needed and all of a sudden you're like, maybe I do need that. Oh, yeah, for sure.
00:33:39
Speaker
That's just frequency illusion. like that's It's once you notice something, your brain's reticular activating system, which I looked this up and it's the same system of your brain that handles arousal.
00:33:51
Speaker
um is it it filters for it, making it seem like it's everywhere, reinforcing your attention and desire. Think about when you were shopping for a car, for instance, and all of a sudden, all you saw was white cars because you thought you wanted a white car. And all you see is white cars. It's that same kind of effect. And that's what the advertisers are using a lot now because they know Doomscrolling is a thing and they know that you know people's attention is about three seconds long. And so they just serve it up to you over and over and over again, maybe repackaged in different ah different ways, but that's how they get you now. I can't tell you how many things I've ordered and then said to myself, did I really need this? Yeah, like for real.
00:34:34
Speaker
um The other thing is scarcity and desirability. This has been an advertising thing forever. So I can't really say anything about the algorithm on this one because it it's when you initially avoid something, but the persistence can make you, like it's meant to be increasing the allure or saying like limited time only. Think about like all the, you know, ah back in the day, all the TV things that were like, there are only 100 left, you know, that type of thing. Spoiler alert, there weren't. Exactly. Yeah.
00:35:04
Speaker
um Another one is psychological reactance. Sometimes the more we resist something, the more we want it. A form of rebellion against perceived control notes. um it's It's one of those things that like, i don't know about you, like but sometimes...
00:35:20
Speaker
I, in my life, I played a contrarian, like where I, if something was thrust upon me too much, that's when I would push away, even if it was something I liked. Um, like for instance, the band, the killers loved the killers when they first came out. I had a roommate at the time who became obsessed with the killers, killers, posters saying killers, killers, karaoke, everything was about the killers. Then I started to hate the killers because of that person. So it's almost the opposite when you think about it in advertising. is like
00:35:52
Speaker
If you think something is out of reach, that's when you want it the most. of course you know yeah um And then spiritual law of attraction. um Some believe this signals you're meant to have it, but only once you release attachment.
00:36:07
Speaker
Um, that's kind of a weird one. It's kind of ah a woo woo one a little bit, but there is something to thinking about like, oh, you're meant to, you're meant to be a runner. So you need these shoes. Like you're meant, you know, listen, listen, if everyone loves to hate on, on, on religion and like belief until they actually like need to fort, like look in the mirror and think about the crazy things that you actually believe.
00:36:32
Speaker
Like, for example, that you are meant to be anything. Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah society there's a lot of society in there, too. That's 100% crazy. But it's just it's just weird to think that, like, all of these things now are built into algorithms, which is which is its in and of itself math that predict how you're going to act.
00:36:54
Speaker
it's core Or or or and and not even predict, but but really steer how you are going to react and how you are going to perceive. And, you know, like like what you were just saying in there about people believing one thing or the other about like what they're supposed to do or or who they're supposed to be or what they're supposed to purchase because it will it will bring them greater, I don't know, glory or whatever, however you want to, you know, phrase it for their life. Like that's just it Like you just said there, it's it's all math.
00:37:22
Speaker
All of it is. And it's steering us every day, every single day. Every day of your life. Every day until you're dead. um That was a really stirring discussion about about math. did Did you ever think we'd we'd have an episode called Mathematics is Terrifying?
00:37:38
Speaker
and You know, I did come up with the idea, so yes. There, but I mean, before you before he came, listen, listen, folks, you have no idea how out of out of the air we pull these sometimes. No, you know, but ah that that's that's what I continue to love about our show now in our our almost eighth year, like is that we can talk about pretty much pretty much anything, which is yeah cool. Because the world is terrifying. 100%. 100%. look, too, i just I do want to say this is this is this is off. it It's not a little off topic. It is off topic. um Obviously, I don't live in America anymore. But ah what's happening right now is is very, very bad.
00:38:12
Speaker
um And sorry, I probably should have told you i was going to say this before we started recording, but I'm sure you feel the same way. um What happened to Renee Good in Minneapolis is extremely fucked up and awful and bad.
00:38:25
Speaker
And um if you were looking for like a reason to believe that like things are finally like tipping over the edge, that that this is probably your fucking moment to believe that. And i don't i like like speaking of like math and how people understand things, I don't understand how you can watch any of the videos, including the video from the fucker that murdered her.
00:38:48
Speaker
And not understand that she was literally just fucking murdered. Like that is, it's so incredibly fucked up. And I i just, I have to say that um on even this this little platform that that we have, because I think if I didn't, I would feel very bad that I didn't. And so that's all I'm going to say about it. I don't know how you feel about it, but I just wanted to put that in there.
00:39:06
Speaker
Well, no, I think it's i think it's very important um that we talk about those kind of things, especially when you talk about what we just literally just talked about with frequency frequency illusion, yeah is that the way that our news channels are now set up, and I'm not talking about independent media, I'm talking about the major news channels that are now purchased by billionaires and controlled by billionaires. Mainstream media.
00:39:29
Speaker
If they tell you something over and over and over and over again, you'll eventually start to believe it. Yep. And so that's why i mean, that's why Fox News became such a big fucking deal is because like they just told you the same things over and over and over again until you finally believed it And so when, if, so if you are finding yourself in a loop where people are making excuses for the shooter and not the victim, you need to reevaluate who you're listening to. Yeah. I just, I just, I, I think it's, I think it's so,
00:40:04
Speaker
I think it's really terrifying. It is. I really do mean it because like I was talking to a friend about this this weekend too. Like, I like, you know, ah the people that don't think the way that you and me do about those videos, right? Right.
00:40:19
Speaker
I really do believe that they're watching those videos and what they're saying about it. I don't think they're making it up. I think, you know, like like, you know, like you're saying, they truly have been indoctrinated that they really do believe that. like i I don't think they're just they're going, oh what i i'm just I'm going to make this up right now. No, they're not. In the same way that I'm not making it up. like I genuinely believe what I'm saying, that she was murdered. They look at that and see something entirely different, even when it's like cold hard right in front of their faces. It's right there. And that is that is the part about America right now that scares me the most out of anything. is that like that is just like the fucking Nazis, man. And you know i I'm going to talk about it and what you've been watching, bitch, but like the Nazis, because I watched something, that I should say that.
00:41:09
Speaker
um the nazi such weren't i been watching nazi right but like The Nazis weren't some like alien race. The Nazis were humans just like you and me.
00:41:19
Speaker
And they were taught how to do that. That's how the Holocaust happened. It didn't happen because ah an alien race landed on the earth, a different species who specifically hated Jews, and then decided now is the time that we kill all the Jews. It was just human beings who one day changed the other way.
00:41:40
Speaker
That's all that it was. And I think people really do fucking forget that. And that's what we're seeing right now is this. We're seeing people going like, oh, yeah, like she she deserved what she was getting. She's she's a lesbian. She's got pronouns and in her bio. She's she's a poet. And that's you know that that's a good code word for you know liberal and and and and and and ah ah intellectual.
00:42:02
Speaker
And so, of course, she deserved to die. not Not she deserved to be arrested and tried in a court of her peers. She deserved she deserved the judge and jury right there from the gun.
00:42:13
Speaker
And that, I think, is just so fucked up and it's just going to keep happening. That is fucking awful. It's really fucking awful. I think too many people are just on the side of power at this at this chris this time, and they don't even think about victims anymore. yeah you know Power, and not not to interject again, but but back to the fucking algorithm, it's all of these MAGA cult members who know that if they can bend the algorithm in their direction by being crazy enough online, say enough crazy things, do enough crazy things, constantly be online, constantly post, never stop, never stop, never stop,
00:42:51
Speaker
that it's just going to make them millions of fucking dollars. Yep. And that's all it is. It's, it's, it's no longer about actually being decent. It's all about just being, um, uh, like the, being the craziest voice in the war in the room. You know what i mean? It's about winning. anyway It's about winning that crazy race. Anyway, I just, I'm sorry. I just, I had to say that.
00:43:12
Speaker
No, totally. i mean, this is this is what our this is what our podcast was built on. The first episode was about the school shooting yeah was way back in the day in Florida. yeah And, you know, we're never going to stop talking about it. So either listen or don't. Andrew, andrew you and I, ah we might be the only honest journalists left.
00:43:35
Speaker
I don't know if what we would be doing is counting as journalism. No, it's not at all. We're pretty biased. we are We are incredibly biased people. So yeah, that's what this isn't journalism. Listen, folks, that does it for our first segment. We'll take a little break here. i'll be right back with what you've been watching. Biatch. Let's all go to the lobby.
00:43:56
Speaker
Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat. All right, it's that time. It's that time again for what you've been watching,
Recent Viewing Experiences and Film Reviews
00:44:09
Speaker
bitch. What you've been watching, you math problem-solving little bitch.
00:44:15
Speaker
Yeah, solve those problems, bitch. Yeah, you dumb bitch. Anyway, this is the segment of the show where we start talking about what we've got our eyes on lately. Usually it's movies and TV shows, but sometimes it could be books or podcasts or whatever. Matty, you've been watching? What you've been watching?
00:44:31
Speaker
ah You know what, the first one, i actually I was kind of surprised you didn't have it on your list, um is Stranger Things finale. and I knew you were going to talk about it, so I didn't either. So yeah, Stranger Things finale, look, it is a decade of television coming to an end.
00:44:45
Speaker
um You know, the kids are all mostly grown up. ah You know, look, I i i i enjoyed it. um And like, you know, but ah what I will say is like, yeah, were there parts of it that were maybe a little drawn out, maybe a little corny? Were some things definitely too, too complicated? did they take too long? Yes. Honestly, I agree with all of those things if I'm being real.
00:45:10
Speaker
but did i still love it and did i still have a great time and like did i still cry and did i was i still really moved absolutely for sure you know do i think it all could have been done in like half the time the answer the answer is unequivocally yes but like i get it and and um i think for something that that's been so grand you know once again a decade of of of this of this show i think that it got the send-off that it deserved and uh And i i was i was I was generally very, very pleased by it.
00:45:41
Speaker
I think that there's some controversial moments that people have been talking about, like the coming out scene or this thing or that thing. And like, you know, look, what the was the coming out scene maybe a little corny here and there?
00:45:52
Speaker
Yes, ah it was. is every coming out scene also kind of corny if we're being on as kind of yeah like you know look it's that's it i think you know if i don't really know how else they were going to do it if i'm being real so like it worked it was still emotional it was and like i think i think people need to kind of shut their mouths about it if i'm being real I mean, here's my, my take on that is when does this take place in in the earth in the early eighties? Yeah. And i don't like, I can see why people think now that it's corny, but that that's, that's what it was. yeah So, you know, I, I've seen a lot of people take bridge with that scene specifically. I was bawling my eyes out during that. yeah So I don't know what you're fucking talking about. yeah They they you need to stop that shit. That that's ridiculous. Yeah.
00:46:42
Speaker
The harshness of criticism over a fucking TV show. You like, sorry, like the Duffer brothers created this. You didn't. So you don't get to tell how it ends. They do. So I don't know what to say. And then like, oh, my God, I don't know if you had this discourse in Ireland or were fed this, but like the hidden secret ending. that there was going to be one more episode. I did hear a little bit about this. And I was like, well, maybe it'll happen. And then when it didn't happen, was like, all right, I don't really care. It was ridiculous here, the amount discourse around this. And I was like, you guys just need to shut the fuck up. People need to go to therapy a little bit. Some people just need to get a hobby. Sorry. So anyway, look. That's that's Stranger Things finale for me. I loved it. I had a great time. know, maybe maybe in like a year or so, I'll be ready to do a full rewatch of everything in one go, which actually would a lot of fun. But yeah, yeah, I was I was generally very pleased with it.
00:47:38
Speaker
Me too. I had fun with it. There are couple things that I wish they would have tied up, but there are couple characters that I just didn't know what happened to them. No, look, I do think that it is a crime that Linda Hamilton wasn't more involved. I'll be honest. Like there was no real ending for that character at all, which I... Or not Robin, but Robin's girlfriend, the nurse that was introduced this. Great point. Yeah.
00:47:59
Speaker
But it's like, it's fucking Linda Hamilton. Like, why, why'd you even hire her and in that case? Like, I mean, yeah I feel like she was, she was drastically underused. I'm sorry, but that, that is I was texting you. I was like, where's the Indiana Jones ending for that character? it's like Come on. It's, it's ridiculous. Anyways, that's Stranger Things finale. There you go.
00:48:17
Speaker
Cool. My first one is influencers. This is, piece you saw it. You did. Yeah. On, on shutter. Yeah. um So this is the sequel to Influencer, which we did on the show. we will will Wait, no, I didn't see this. Never mind. Never mind. Keep going, Andrew. Keep going. This is the sequel to Influencer, which we did on this on this podcast. I think it was one of the ones around social media, if I remember correctly. Great movie.
00:48:44
Speaker
Yeah, we both really liked it. And so this when this came out, I was like, holy shit, there's a sequel? I have no idea what this is going to be about. Because if you remember the ending of the first one, She's stuck on an island at the end.
00:48:56
Speaker
so I guess I need to watch this before before my my Shutter subscription shuts off because I finally canceled it. um So Influencers is ah basically about the continuation of the first movie. um the The girl who drives away at the end of the ah the first movie, getting off the island, she is found um on land with two bodies, if you remember correctly, in her boat. and So everyone thinks that she did it, and there's no one to... So it's kind of like her trying to atone for that crime, which is not a crime because she didn't do it. But then also like the internet coming after her for it kind of her downfall. wow But then we find out that a certain character from the first movie is still alive. Oh my. Yeah.
00:49:42
Speaker
is now continuing on what she thinks is a quote-unquote normal life until she's pushed back into her old ways of doing things with influencers. Listen, I think this is a great follow-up to that first movie. I really liked it a lot. It gets a little... um over the top towards the end, i will say. But I think they kind of did that on purpose. Like, it's it's kind of like where the internet culture is going in that over-the-top-ness way.
00:50:11
Speaker
and so I had a ton of fun with it. I think all the actors do a great job. There's a certain... um like quote unquote like manoverse angle that they take in this one with a certain character that was pretty funny and pretty like on the nose. And so that's cool. Yeah. if If you liked the first one, I would definitely recommend checking out influencers.
00:50:31
Speaker
okay well i will like i said i will watch it before uh my shutter subscription comes to an end because god love you shutter but it's just time to go um my next one is nuremberg um nuremberg uh really just came out ah like at the end of last year it is a movie that i watched on sky here so i don't know it might be on like hbo in america or something i'm not really sure It's on something because we were just scrolling the other day and it came up. So, so like I, the movie's got a lot of problems. Like, so here it's got a crazy cast. Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Richard Grant, Colin Hanks. Like it's, this is a pretty, you know, like star-studded fucking cast.
00:51:17
Speaker
But why they chose Russell Crowe to play Hermann Göring, who is Hitler's number two, was astoundingly strange because his German accent is truly laughable.
00:51:32
Speaker
it's like ah It's like a joke. And like when he's speaking German, as he sometimes has to do in this film, he sounds like a fucking person that cannot speak German. It's it is beyond me why they decided to cast him for this role. It is so fucking weird.
00:51:48
Speaker
Very, very strange. Anyways, it still is an interesting movie, even though I really didn't like it. It is about um this author who who was a scientist and a doctor who interviewed Hermann Goering to like get ready for the Nuremberg trials after World War Two, of course. And um what what what this this um this doctor who who wrote a book afterward contended is what I said earlier, which was like the idea that, hey, how did people come to do this in Nazi Germany? What what changed them? What was the psychology of like how it worked to get them to do the worst things that we've ever seen in humanity before? And that is really, really interesting. And what's what's also interesting about that story
00:52:32
Speaker
is that that guy, that that that doctor, that author, like that was the one book that he wrote, and it got totally panned, and nobody really believed his argument. And then he killed himself in like the 50s.
00:52:45
Speaker
And like he was absolutely correct. And we know that now. And it's it's just it's really kind of a sad story when you when you know the ending of it. So yeah, I don't know what I recommended. I i don't know.
00:52:57
Speaker
I guess like it's not just Russell Crowe's accent. it's it's ah It's some of the other stuff too. like If I'm being honest, I'm not a big fan of Rami Malek anymore. i find all of his acting just kind of strange. Leo Woodall. ah Look, Leo Woodall was good in what do you call it? ah ah the The hotel show on HBO. White Lotus. White Lotus. But everything else that he's in, I cannot stand him in anything else I truly can't. There's just something about him that I i don't like. I decided to- Because he has a smirky face. It's something like that. That might be it. I i just, I can't stand him and and anything besides White Lotus, I'm not into it. And so he's kind of the same here. He's just sort of like, he's cheesy, if I'm being honest. like It's like a cheesy fucking like bit of acting.
00:53:38
Speaker
so I think he can only pace play smarmy characters. And if he's not playing a smarmy character, then it doesn't come off as authentic. Yeah, and like, I don't know, like, like take off your shirt, I guess. There you go. Other than that, i I don't really care about him. So what I really recommend it, if I'm being honest, no. But do I think it was still interesting? Yes, I do. So that's where I am on Nuremberg 2025. I thought what you're going to say is when they cast Russell Crowe, and I was going to say in anything anymore. For real. like I don't really understand how he's a bankable actor anymore. but Very strange.
00:54:10
Speaker
Um, all right. My next one is called Bone Lake. um This I saw is... Boner Lake, more like it. Well, that's that's part of it. I'm going to be honest. um ah with I saw that this was in the category on Netflix as coming soon. So I think once maybe this episode comes out, you'll be able to watch it on Netflix. I rented it because we get like a free rental every month with our subscription or whatever. So I rented it. um This is about a couple... Um, and they are, um, they're kind of like at that point in their life where they're maybe starting to make a little bit of money, um or they're like, you know, just getting beyond like student loan, like type of thing. So they take themselves on a like little mini vacation where they rent this like, ah ah huge house on a lake on, on bone lake, if you will.
00:54:57
Speaker
Okay. And, um, the whole reason it's called bone lake is because back in the day, like way back in the day, um, they found a bunch of skeletons at the bottom of the lake. Like that's, it, and And nobody really knows what happens happened because there was only one family that lived on the lake at the time and they weren't connected to it. So that's why it's called that. When they show up to this vacation rental, um they're there, they're checking out the house, they're getting all romantic and all of a sudden another couple shows up.
00:55:24
Speaker
And the other couple's like, no, we rented this place. So what are you talking about? And they find out that it's kind of like a um barbarian situation where they both rented it. And so they're like, well, what do we do? Do we flip for it? And then they ultimately, they say like, you know what? It's a huge house. Let's just share it. If we ever feel like it's weird, well one of us will just leave. Like, we'll just figure it out. We'll just, you know, we'll get our money back or whatever. But Let's try to make the best of it. We're both around the... We're both couples. both around the same age. I think we can get along in this huge fucking house because it it is like a mansion. Sure. And so they decide to stay there for the weekend together. And then like little shifty things start to happen. i don't want to give anything away because it is a very twisty movie. um Listen, this I think...
00:56:11
Speaker
if I'm being honest, was probably one of my favorite watches in the horror genre of last year. And I'm ashamed that more people didn't see this movie. I'm hoping now that it's going to Netflix, it will get a little bit more attention. That's cool. But if you get it, if you get a chance to watch Bone Lake, I would definitely give it a watch. It's a very twisty, turny. The acting is really good.
00:56:29
Speaker
i really liked it. And it examines relationships in ah in an interesting way. So I will be sure to watch Boner Lake. I can't wait. You'll like it. um My next one is one that Andrew has already watched and talked about, but I'll talk about it again on our gay podcast. It is Heated a Rivalry. Finally got to watch This smut. This disgusting show. yeah Imagine if I came out as like a hater Oh my god, that actually be so much fun if you did. would be so much fun. um But look, it's ah it came out. it's this We are recording this the 11th of January. um It came out yesterday, the 10th of January, and I forgot about it and I clicked it on I was like, oh my god, finally. So then I i finally had something to do last night. It was great. um And then today, and i I've got one more episode left. I'm going to finish it after we finish recording.
00:57:14
Speaker
um But I love it. It's really, really good. um And it's like a mix of Heartstopper and Brokeback Mountain and like, I don't know other gay shit with a hockey, basically. It's like, no, I compared it Heartbreaker Hockey. It's Brokeback Stanley Cup.
00:57:32
Speaker
like it's It's really, it's it's it's all of those things. And I think it's wonderful. I've cried multiple times watching this. I have also, speaking of boners, I have had a couple watching this. And, um you know, it's it's really sexy. And right underneath it is this really great story about fucking how it's weird to be gay fucking sometimes, you know? And like... I think what I love the most about it too, beyond like the sentiment, because it's really, there are some really beautiful parts here, um is like, it shows, it shows us having sex, like the, like kind of real gay sex. And I appreciate that. Not because I'm turned on by it. I see enough of it and I have enough of it. It's so that people can see how we have sex. I think that's important that people actually see, oh this is how gay people do it. They're not fucking worshiping Satan while they do it. Do you know do you know what i mean? Like, I think that's actually important for people to fucking see.
00:58:31
Speaker
Yeah, no. um In this household, I've never called it by its actual name. We just call it horny hockey. There you go. And what I said when this show initially came on, because of because of the music choices and and everything that they they do in this, I called it um you know the the movie Challengers. It's Challengers, but if they actually went for it and didn't fucking edge you the entire time. well And, you know, and and look, speaking of music, like this is a Canadian show, obviously. um And there's a lot of great Canadian music in this. And I'm not being ironic about that. It's the truth. Like, I am a huge Feist fan. I love Leslie Feist. She's so fucking good. And to like hear multiple songs from Feist in this show is fin-fucking-tastic. It's really good. And some other great Canadian ah rockers and and and musical artists. It's a wonderful soundtrack. It really is.
00:59:22
Speaker
Yeah, overall, I liked the show. i thought it it started a little slow for with with a lot of like the just like horny parts and then like the jumping through time. But then when they finally, i think it's episode three is like where they finally like start to settle down a little bit. Oh, episode three is wonderful.
00:59:38
Speaker
and actually tell what the story is. And then by the end, and you're going to love the end, but not spoiling anything, but just the way that they bring it back to reality and not just make it all the horny stuff, they do a good job. There's something in the show. I think that they've already said that there's a three-season arc that they really want to do. Yeah, maybe. Bring it on. And so I hope they get a chance to do that because I think there are some important messages in here. And I love that...
01:00:06
Speaker
I don't know if you've seen some of the internet stuff that's been going on, but there's like this like straight, um they were like a hockey podcast and they're watching this. And even they are like, wow, this is a really great show. and it was thunderder You know, I was, I was texting with my friend Jimmy on Instagram because I posted about it today. I was like, oh, I finally watched it.
01:00:24
Speaker
And he was writing back to me and I, and he was like, what about that? He's like, how about that Russian monologue? And I was like, Jimmy, ah just shoot me in the head. I know, right? Because you know what? ain't like No one has ever loved me that way. like like I'm not even trying to be weird about it. It's the truth, like ever.
01:00:40
Speaker
And I don't think anyone ever will. I read this thing. It was like, what was it? It was like, what's his name? Rosanoff? Wait, what's the other guy's name? The other guy's name is Hal... Hudson? No, that's his real name. That's his real name. Hollander. Hollander. Hollander. It was like Rosanoff would literally unplug somebody's life support to charge Hollander's phone. And I was like, you're so right. Like that's the kind of love that I want in my life. Oh my God, it's beautiful. Anyways, that is heated rivalry.
01:01:11
Speaker
Cool. My next one is also in the queer category. It is Queens of the Dead. um This is currently streaming on Shudder. However, i'm going to give you guys a little like... ah You're watching a lot of Shudder stuff recently. Well, I'm going to give you a little behind the scenes thing. I don't watch anything on Shudder. I watch it all on AMC Plus because you get everything you get with Shudder but on AMC Plus plus more. So just... yeah It's a little behind the scenes that you can do.
01:01:38
Speaker
I mean, they are all it's all the same company or whatever. but um Queens of the Dead is ah about a ah gay nightclub um that is like struggling and it's about like the the lesbian that runs it. And it's it's kind of just like a it's a of the dead because guess who directed it?
01:01:56
Speaker
Can you guess? ah I don't know who did it. Tina Romero daughter I mean I was i was only gonna say somebody in the Romero family yeah daughter a daughter of Romero oh that's really cool and so this is kind of like a queer take on you know you know what whatever of the dead sure not a living dead day of the dead whatever but they're stuck in a gay nightclub oh so that's fun like And listen, I think that there's definitely flaws in this movie. Obviously there's like the acting is, it's kind of whatever. But if you think about that originally night, that original night of living dead, wasn't that acting some of a hundred percent. Yeah. um And so like, there's that, I think way too many, this is my only criticism of the movie because I actually really did enjoy myself with enough. enough people died for it to be a zombie. That's terrible. Like a lot of people make it through. And I was like, this is not the zombie movie I want. I don't know if they're setting up for like a sequel to where, you know, maybe more of these characters, you know, go on to the next movie. And then like, that's how we meet their demise or whatever. But like for an of the living dead type of movie. Not enough, not enough death.
01:03:01
Speaker
Kill them off. I don't care if they're queer. We need more murder, man. Come on, make it happen. Jesus. but Fun movie. Nonetheless, you should watch it before your shutter membership expires. I will for sure. I got to watch influencers too. My final one is one that I've been waiting to see for a long time.
01:03:18
Speaker
Very glad I got to see it um on opening night in a very crowded theater. That's the only part that I didn't like about it. Also, can I just say this before I talk about the movie? um I always sit in the same place at at at at the at the cinema that I go to. Always. yeah It's the same seat every single time. We don't have numbered seats anymore. They used to do that. They took it away.
01:03:37
Speaker
Oh, so interesting. which But it drives me nuts because obviously people, like it doesn't matter what you say to them or do to them, they will always come to a fucking thing. Wait, that's just what they fucking do. It drives me absolutely up the fucking wall.
01:03:49
Speaker
Anyways, this time they didn't come late, but this there's this couple that was like dithering about where they were going to fucking sit, what they were going to do, whatever. And like as we were walking into and into the into the into the screen, like the guy was saying to everybody, hey, it's sold out. Do not leave gaps. It's sold out. Do not leave gaps. It's sold out. Yeah. gaps Of course, people are leaving gaps all over the fucking because they're selfish as fuck. Anyways, I'm in my seat and these two people come to sit next to me they're like, oh, are those taken? And they and I was like, no, no, they're all for you. And They said something and I was like, no, I always sit in this seat.
01:04:18
Speaker
I always sit in this seat. And I said it just like that. And i maybe it is a little weird, but I did because I'm a weirdo. And the guy was like, wow, that's <unk> really good that you you have a specific seat. And I'm like, I am kind of a little bit autistic. Anyways, um then they took their coats, Andrew.
01:04:36
Speaker
And they put them on the coat in front, and on the the the seat in front of them. Okay. Is that not fucking weird? They draped it over the coat. And so in front of me was this couple, this young guy and this young girl. You know, they were like, oh, people were sitting in these seats. oh yeah, yeah. Like the whole thing is full, right? This is a full fucking theater. So they put their coats like over like they drape them over it's a like if you're putting your head back you're gonna touch that fucking coat that's fucking bizarre to me that's fucking weird oh i would not stood for that oh yeah well the the the girl because they they were a couple the girl had gone to get something at at the concession stand right and she came back and she she looked at her i was laughing so hard she looked at her boyfriend and she was like oh hey honey and she smiled really big and then she went into him and she was like
01:05:23
Speaker
Why did they put their coats on my seat? I was laughing so hard and she sat down and she was just like, fuck these people. But of course it's Ireland. She wasn't going to say a word and she didn't say a word. Anyways, I just want to say that out loud. If you do that at the cinema, you're an asshole. You shouldn't do that. Even if you listen to our show, you need to change the way that you're acting. Okay.
01:05:43
Speaker
I'm going to come back down now. Hamnet is the movie that I saw. Okay. At the theater. um Listen, it's so good. It's really, really good. um Don't listen to any haters. ah This movie stars Jesse Buckley as Agnes, who is the wife of William Shakespeare. Paul Meskel plays William Shakespeare. Emily Watson plays his mom. Jacoby Jupe plays his son named Hamnet.
01:06:12
Speaker
Now, this is a real thing. You can read the book by Maggie O'Farrell, which is one of my favorite favorite books of all time. um It's a beautiful, beautiful book. And the end of it made me like weep out loud for a while. And the same thing happened here. i was crying like a fucking child in this movie. It's so, so good. And it's a very, very sad story. but it has yeah and look this isn't ruining anything for you this is all like like like fact that the shakespeare and and his wife of course had a son named hamnet hamnet died early but not early but he died in his like like like pre-teens basically not too long after shakespeare wrote a very famous play you probably heard of it before called hamlet and
01:06:56
Speaker
And there are a lot of of writings and scholarly work about how that event and the writing of one of the best things ever written in human history are connected.
01:07:07
Speaker
And that's what this movie explores. It's very, very good. Paul, you know, even though I live in Ireland where he is one of our treasured sons, um I'm not the biggest Paul Meskel fan, to be honest. I think he's a really nice guy.
01:07:19
Speaker
He's very cute, all of that kind of stuff for sure. And i I think that he can be a really good actor, but I think oftentimes I see him and stuff and I'm like, i can't, i like you you mumble so much, I can hardly understand you. Sometimes I don't always believe him if I'm being honest.
01:07:33
Speaker
ah This is his best one. For sure. He's really, really really good. And honestly, Jessie Buckley, if she doesn't win every fucking award for this movie, there is no justice in the world. She is fantastic. And Jacoby Jupe, the kid that plays Hamnet, he should also be winning every award. Just wonderful. It's directed by Chloe Zhao, who's directed a lot of stuff, ah directed Nomadland. You might have heard of that one. And I didn't know this, Andrew.
01:07:58
Speaker
k Chloe Zhao is directing the new Buffy and the Vampire Slayer. Did hear about that? oh I did not. The reboot of the TV show? It's Chloe Zhao. Chloe Zhao's being directed, I guess, which I did not hear about. Or she's helming it in some way. So that should be really interesting. Anyways, it was lovely. It was beautiful. I highly recommend going to see it. Go see it in the cinema because you should support cinemas. There you go.
01:08:18
Speaker
Cool. um The last time I went to the theater, somebody brought in Buffalo Wild Wings right next to me and ate wings for the next hour. Let's talk about that for a minute. If you're bringing that kind of shit into the theater, you're also a fucking asshole. Why would you bring in wings to a theater? Why would you do that?
01:08:34
Speaker
It made my stomach turn. I couldn't even eat my popcorn. And I like wings, but like i don't that's not something I want to smell in a theater. like like Sit on your fucking couch, asshole, and eat wings while you watch something. Not in the fucking cinema. That's that is that's bullshit.
01:08:48
Speaker
Yeah. all right. My last one is Together. This is the Dave Franco, Alison Brie movie that came out over the summer. I unfortunately do um i didn't get a chance to see this in the theater. So when I saw it came on to Hulu where I watched it, um I was ah very excited. And so we we we sat down to watch it. And I got to tell you, I missed out on something in the theater because this was really, really good. Oh, that's good to hear. Yeah. I think it helps that Alison Brie and Dave Franco are a real couple because the movie is about a couple yeah that has ah that is following her dream to become a teacher. And so they move out to the country and they kind of like he kind of gives up his dream. but Sure.
01:09:30
Speaker
There's like an underpinning of like she's been supporting his dream for like five years and it's kind of time for her to do something with her life. And so there's like a push and pull of them there. They go for a hike out in the woods and they stumble upon a cave.
01:09:43
Speaker
And then from then on, they can't seem to get away from each other. Like they're being pulled together. And that's the rest of the movie. And I don't want to give anything away. Nice. Yeah.
01:09:55
Speaker
But listen, this went places I didn't think it was going to go. ah Very k Cronenberg level of body horror. Awesome. um And ultimately, pretty satisfying ending, which I didn't know how they were going end this movie. But you just got to watch it to believe it because it's pretty crazy. um Really liked this movie. i'm i'm I'm mad at myself that I didn't see in the theater because I think it could have benefited from a theater watch. But hey, you know what? We all have giant TVs now anyway. Yeah. If you've not seen this, I'm sure if it's on Hulu, it's on Disney Plus, so you can watch it in either of those places, but definitely would recommend it. I think Alison Brie is probably one of my favorite actresses right now, especially in these more like horror comedic roles. I think she just like fits the bill every time. um and i I like Dave Franco. I'm never going to be like the hugest Franco Brothers stan. um But of the two, I think he's the better one. So um But um yeah, I really liked it. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. So if you've not seen Together, i would highly recommend it.
01:11:00
Speaker
Nice. Well, that does it for what you've been watching, bitch. Andrew brought us Influencers, Bone Lake, Queens of the Dead, and Together. And Maddie brought us string stringnger Stranger Things finale, season five finale, Nuremberg, Heated Rivalry, or like I like to say it, Horny Hockey, and Hamnet.
01:11:21
Speaker
So folks, that does it for what you've been watching, bitch. Stay tuned. We'll be
Exploring Cube: Film Analysis and Themes
01:11:25
Speaker
right back with our first film of the episode, Cube. Cube.
01:11:43
Speaker
26 rooms high, 26 rooms across. 17,576 rooms? Does
01:11:57
Speaker
anybody remember how they got here? Why would they throw innocent people in here? Are we being punished? There's a way in here, so there's gotta be a way out. Do you think they'd go to all the trouble to build this thing if we could just walk out?
01:12:08
Speaker
Take a good long look around. but i got a feeling it's looking at us. We have about three days without food and water before we're too weak to move. I just want to wake up. I looked into room down there and something almost cut my head off.
01:12:22
Speaker
Motion detectors integrated into the walls. Top's a spot. getting at it Yes, we are! There is no way out of here! We need to get around the traps. They're identified by crime numbers. Figure it out. I can't! I'm not dying in rat maze! No more talking. No more guessing.
01:12:40
Speaker
You gotta to save yourself from yourselves.
01:12:49
Speaker
We haven't been moving in circles the runes have. We are the king. The king. awesome
01:13:07
Speaker
Well, guess what? This is a movie about a cube. That's all I have to say. Andrew, tell us about Cube. my My tagline for this is geometry at its finest. Don't look for a reason. Look for a way out. A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses a particular skill necessary to escape. If they don't, wind up dead first. Ooh. This is directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Andre Bizelic. Grame. I'm going to say because they they are definitely a Croatian. beage
01:13:47
Speaker
Grame, Manson, and Vincenzo Natali. This is production by Cube Libre. What I can tell you about this distribution is that, you know, Cineplex, Odeon Films and Trimark Pictures. I know that this because I have a lot of knowledge about this movie for some weird reason is that this was like like funded by the Canadian government. Like it was like a grant given to these people to make this movie. Quentin McNeil is played by Maurice Dean Wint. Joan Levin is played by Nicole DeBoer. And David Wirth is played by David Hewlett.
01:14:20
Speaker
And Kazan is played by Andrew Miller. And Dr. Helen Holloway is played by Nikki Guadagni. This is rated R. It comes in at 90 minutes exactly. It was released on September 9th of 1997, filmed in Toronto. And the budget was $350,000 Canadian. It made about $9 million dollars Canadian. But as most of you probably saw this, it was probably on VHS back in the late ninety s Wow.
01:14:48
Speaker
Maddie, what did you think and have you ever seen Cube before? Never saw it before my life. um I think I had definitely heard of it, ah but hadn't seen it. And, um you know, I texted Andrew it in the midst of watching it, and I was like, this movie is buck wild. Like some of the the dialogue in this movie.
01:15:09
Speaker
Pardon me. yeah There we go. The dialogue in this movie. is it can be very bizarre and it's it's so Canadian and some of it is just flat out hilarious. Like some of the shit, like I actually sent you one. like I'm going to my WhatsApp right now because what did I text you last night? Like there's there's definitely the one where... You don't want the boot. Oh yeah, you don't you don't you don't want the boot.
01:15:33
Speaker
i I like that was I literally fucking lost it. I lost it at that point or when it must have been it's Dr. Holloway, right? Where she says cats, cats, holy, holy cats. And that must be like how she says like fuck basically. Yeah. Hilarious, like truly hilarious. um And I just and just the whole thing in general. But like, look, I, you know, here's the thing.
01:15:57
Speaker
I had a great time watching it. it was It was actually really fun to watch. It was completely absurd and ridiculous. um But somehow this movie still works. it just It just does. And that was really delightful to see.
01:16:12
Speaker
um I think that the idea of like this never-ending maze of interconnected cubes and you have to find your way out through what might be a giant cube itself or you don't know what it is, is you know kind of compelling for sure. i think when we get to the point in the movie where we realize that the cubes themselves are moving and so like it's it's ah obviously the the complexity of how you're going to escape this thing is is um is is enhanced many, many, many times fold is is kind of crazy. And like the the idea that you know you might be stuck in there forever and die is it's fucked up. um you know i there There's definitely some 1997-ness of this, for sure. Of course, yeah. but like you know you're not going to escape that. I think you know watching it from a 2026 perspective, I must get used to saying that. um How many years ago was that? 41?
01:17:09
Speaker
that how How old is that? 30 years? 30 years? Yeah. 30 years? Yeah. It's like 29 years. It's come out in 97. So it's 29 years old. and Surprisingly, not that outdated, though. I don't know how you felt about it, but like it's really not that bad if I'm being real.
01:17:23
Speaker
But look at that budget. $350,000. Yeah. nothing. Well, that's the thing is when I saw that that's what that's but what it was, I was like, how is that even fucking possible? like how did they How did they make that happen?
01:17:35
Speaker
um That is just, it must be because of the the funding from the government. They must have covered things in other ways too. But like, that's that's pretty remarkable that they were able to make this movie. That look, it's not like the most high-tech sci-fi thing you're ever going to watch.
01:17:49
Speaker
But it's not bad. Like, and you believe it for sure. You know, there there are some parts of like the the death things in the rooms that like, definitely appear less real than the others. Like the room where it's just like a bunch of spikes come out.
01:18:05
Speaker
Yeah. Like very clearly that is just like early CGI stuff. But other than that one, the rest of them all kind of work from being real. So yeah, look, we'll we'll talk more about it. But in general, I had a great time with the movie. I did.
01:18:19
Speaker
Yeah, so Cube is one of those weird movies that I discovered. like So basically when I was in high school, I worked at the local movie theater. Shout out Cadillac 5. And after I was done with my shift, I would usually go to Family Video or Blockbuster. We didn't have Blockbuster at the time, but it eventually got there. But it was Family Video at the time. And I would just go into the horror section. And you, at the time, could get seven old releases for $7 for seven nights. Fuck, yeah. That was like the deal.
01:18:48
Speaker
And so I would go and picked random horror movies that I'd never heard of just based on the cover, like how you used to like in the video store. And this is one of those ones that I stumbled upon and fell in love with because I just thought that the um the story was so inventive, especially in fucking 1997. Hell yeah. we're you know we're just now getting back into like the scream like slasher you know type of movies but like this was truly original like for for that time and the fact that it then evolves into kind of a giant math problem and like that's how they figure out you know how to get out and like the dynamics of the characters and everything i i just find it very compelling i think that the some of the performances are way over the top don't get me wrong like pretty much everything that comes out of holloway and quentin's mouth is kind of just insane but But but then you have a character like um Worth, which I think Worth, he's actually like a pretty good actor. And then like even because even Cassand to a certain point is like is like a good actor. Obviously, he's portraying a very like flawed character that we would, you know, now handle completely different. Oh, yeah, for sure. yeah But, um you know, Levin, she has her moments like when they when they try to make her like a quote unquote like bratty character. i don't believe it because like then she like settles back into like her being like ah you know, a mathematician and like a very like, I don't very analytical person. i kind of believe her a lot more than when they try to make her like a teenage bratty character. I agree with that. So I definitely agree with that.
01:20:16
Speaker
um But I think that, you know, and then, you know, there's a lot of stuff in here where I'm just like, wow, they actually like did their work. Like when they're like, okay, so 434 feet square. There's 700 or 17,576 rooms. Like someone had to actually sit down and like do the math and like figure out like big time. what Like what were the actual parameters of the movie? And then you kind of weave in some of the social dynamics, like the dynamic between like Quentin and Holloway towards the end when they start to really go at it, when he says like, Pretty much calls her like a washed up dyke, essentially. Jesus God Almighty. And, you know, and then ah Levin fights back and says, like, how dare you say that to her? And like, there's some stuff in there that I think still to this day we're dealing with. Like, we're still dealing with like these kind of dynamics. And so I don't know. I think there's some a lot of good in here. I agree with you. ah Like some of the acting and some of the word choices and characters.
01:21:12
Speaker
you know It's a rated R movie. You can swear. like It's okay. Yeah. And and also, i um i watched I found this on YouTube to watch instead of renting it. So if you need to watch it for free, you can find it there. But the version that I had, like it was beeped when when like things were ah weird. Which I was like, is this actually happening right now? I'm watching a beep thing. But yeah, I was watching a beep thing. Yeah.
01:21:36
Speaker
Yeah, but there's just like certain things like where um they're trying to remember like where they were right before they woke up in the cube and all of sudden Holloway's like, pierogies. I was eating pierogies. Oh my God. I heard that and I was like, the fuck? fuck wrote this? Like, yeah apparently it was on. Well, I'll tell you who wrote it. Somebody named Andre Bielic. So actually, I think that they're there.
01:21:59
Speaker
They're probably probably half Polish, half half slob in some way. That's why they wrote about pierogies. But I was like, what a very specific choice to make. And that that's that's the problem with the script sometimes is that the words that they use are so specific and so just out of left field that youre like you you your brain can't escape hearing them.
01:22:21
Speaker
And um sometimes you don't want that. That's all. But but I do like like some of the details in the movie. like where like towards Towards the middle of the movie where Halloway is like, oh, they took away my amethyst. They took my rings. like And then all of a sudden they realize like, oh, Levin, they let you have your glasses. So why would they let you have your glasses? And then that leads into like the rest of the movie. But there are little details like that that I think like...
01:22:47
Speaker
a ah skilled filmmaker will do with without having to like tell you so much about it. You know what i mean? Yeah, fair. True. And so i really I really like that aspect of it. I like all the dynamics. I think some of the special effects are not great, but yeah when you look when you look at that budget, though, you can't really like have big budget special effects. Yeah. But they make it work. Like think of that initial kill when that guy wakes up and it's before we meet any of our our our cast and he's kind of just like checking out the cube and he goes into that room and all a sudden he gets sliced into like a million pieces. That actually looks really good.
01:23:24
Speaker
and and and And that was kind of troubling. I'm not going to lie. um But yeah, I think just overall, I think that there's some stuff in here that we are still dealing with today. Like when Levin, when she goes like, let him go, you Nazi. And I was like, oh, we're still talking about Nazis. Okay, cool. Cool, cool, cool. Yeah.
01:23:44
Speaker
um And I think like the discovery at the end is so heart-wrenching for these characters because they eventually realize if we would have just stayed in the room we started in, we would have been at the exit in like a couple of hours. so They didn't even have to do any of this. i mean let Let me ask you this question because you've seen this movie a lot.
01:24:07
Speaker
yeah What is it about? ah What is like the cube about? yeah I mean, like, you know, like what's like, what's like the bigger meaning of it? What do you think it is? Well, I know because there's a prequel that I've seen. Yeah. But I mean, like, what do you, like, what do you think it's, it's about? Yeah.
01:24:22
Speaker
I think that this is like um of the day. Like what I think is I think someone is watching this and I think that they're treating it as like a a social experiment, a.k.a. reality TV. So it's it's like Squid Game-y kind of.
01:24:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. That's kind of how I took it. is like I kind of side with like the kind of like um suspicion that I forget who says it, but like some millionaire just ah made this and is abducting people for their own. Wasn't it, um it it's the the older guy that was like the thief?
01:24:51
Speaker
Yeah, Ren. Yeah, Ren, that's his name. Yeah, I i think he's the one that said that. i think his his kill is so funny to me because he goes on this, like, diatribe about, like, you have to save yourself from yourself and da-da-da-da-da. And then he goes into that room and immediately gets sprayed by acid in the face. And you're like, oh, fuck. Sorry, dude. Oops. Um...
01:25:11
Speaker
and But yeah, I don't know. There's just something about this movie that intrigues me. um There are two sequels to this movie, Cube 2 Hypercube and Cube Zero, which is a prequel. um i have And have you seen them all?
01:25:23
Speaker
Of course I have. why why why i why Why even ask the question? Right. um Cube 2 is not great. And it goes into a little bit more about like quantum physics and stuff like that. And so it gets, it goes even further than this one does. And then Cube Zero, it's a prequel. So you learn about, and this is kind of minor spoiler, but you learn about Kazan and how he became the way he became. um And so it's an interesting watch. um There's also ah ah either Korean or Taiwanese remake that I have not seen yet that I want to watch. That's interesting. Yeah.
01:25:57
Speaker
Yeah. um What else? What else you got on this movie? It's your first watch. So I want to hear more about your thoughts. Yeah. You know, i I really was thinking more about just like, well, what is like, what is like the bigger meaning here? And I was thinking about like, just, you know, sort of the meaninglessness of life and God and who created this and why are we here and all that kind of stuff, which was interesting. You know, i look, I'm not going to lie. I i recommend watching this with an edible.
01:26:21
Speaker
I'm going real about it. Okay. Because it's, I mean, was was Michael a little stone when you guys watched this? I'm sure. Why am I even asking the question? Once again, the answer is yes. um That did make it a lot more fun for me, for sure. like Because, I mean, once again, like i I genuinely had fun watching this. I mean, like like so much. like i I don't always text Andrew about the movies when when I'm watching, and he doesn't either with me. But like this one had lines where I was like okay, that's fucking funny. i gotta I just have to say that out loud.
01:26:48
Speaker
um So, yeah, I mean, like you know i I think it does, you know but back to what I was initially saying, It does a remarkable job of of getting you through ah through this this weird and wacky plot with some weird and wacky characters, with some weird and wacky dialogue. um It does it remarkably well for very little money.
01:27:10
Speaker
and Yeah, and the fact that it only takes place in like, I mean, essentially, what did they probably build two of these rooms and just change the color? You know what i mean? Yeah, exactly. So, i mean, the the fact that they were able to do this and you look, I know 97 isn't that long ago, so it's not like we're like talking about like the fucking like ancient Romans here. But the fact that they were able to get this done in 97 when, you know, look, CGI wasn't, ah it wasn't well done at that point either unless you had a lot of fucking money for it, you know, like for Star Wars or for shit like that.
01:27:39
Speaker
Like the fact that they've made this happen, I think is, is honestly remarkable. it's It's the kind of filmmaking that I like to see. And like, yeah, we we could talk all day long about how some of it's cheesy about, about some of the corny dialogue about the words that they use.
01:27:54
Speaker
But like everyone believes like this is a movie where the whole cast, they believe what they're doing. Yeah, they bought in on it. yeah they They bought in They are acting. They're doing it for real. There's not a moment where I don't think they're, where where I think they're just playing it up to ham it up or something. I don't believe that at any point in this. They take it really seriously. And I've said this before, but like, look, man, as somebody who's done at least like a little bit of acting before, nothing, you know, obviously not nothing like professional, but like, I mean, sometimes when you got to say a line that's dumb, it's fucking hard.
01:28:24
Speaker
like it's It's not easy to say something stupid that you know is dumb. And so like, I don't know what these people were thinking when they were doing it. But you know what? Like i like I've been trying to say here, they took it seriously. And and i I really respect that. I really do.
01:28:39
Speaker
So yeah, like i I really enjoyed it. i'm'm And I'm still thinking about it. You know, that's why I was i was interested in in you know what you're thinking about. in terms of the broader meta meaning of this. Cause I, I think there's a lot more there and like i kind of want to watch it again, to be honest. And I think I probably will.
01:28:55
Speaker
should You should watch the prequel. So is that that's cube zero then? Yeah. Yeah. You know, maybe I will watch that. Um, I, and like, listen, I think that the, the ending is so of, is so human. I, I, it, cause there's a moment where lay more about that, say more about that.
01:29:14
Speaker
Well, there's a moment where Worth says like, or no, I think it's 11 that says like, one of them says like, well, what, what is even out there for me? Like, oh, that's Worth. He says like, what is even out there for me? And, and, and, you know, she's trying to get him to go because like the gate is only open for like a certain amount of time. She's like, a dude, we're, we're fucking here. You can't stop now.
01:29:34
Speaker
And, you know, and she said, and he she just says, Endless human stupidity. And I was like, yeah. and then she well And then she goes, I can live with that, which is kind of stupid. But then she gets stabbed to death. So um I don't know. There's just something very human of and like nihilistic about that, that like you finally get to the end and then you're just like, do I even want to participate anymore? don't know. It's... um those Endings like those are really good. You know, it's sort of like um the end of... ah What's that called? The Mist?
01:30:10
Speaker
Remember that? Yeah. ah That just really fucks you up. Like, we you know, obviously in that case with what happens at the end of it. And like in this case too, like, I mean, this is a... Like...
01:30:21
Speaker
It is kind of a movie. it's It's a situation where you can imagine like at a certain point you just you just want to give up because you're like, yeah, I can't solve this or like I'm tired. like And you know what? I'm going to die anyway. Just fuck it. It's like when you hear things like that, it is kind of like, you know, it's it's fuck you up a bowl, you know? Yeah, it's very nihilistic. yeah it but But in a way that works for this movie, I think, because at the end of this, like the the one guy almost wins for being like a psychopath like police killer. you know like And that's like all ultimately all like all we're all frustrated with. It's just like, when does corruption end? And it just like never does. Never. and it's it's so frustrating. And this movie, I think, does a good job of just being like...
01:31:05
Speaker
You know, people can act a certain way on the surface, but when you really get deep down, like what are they really like? And that's something that's examined here, I think, pretty well, even though it it's it's it's got a little bit of a corny shell. so Well, Andrew, guess what?
01:31:20
Speaker
This is a movie where both of us gave it the same score. why don't you tell me Why don't you tell me what the score was? So we both gave it a five and a half, which is pretty good for us. um
Deep Dive into Pi: Themes and Artistic Approach
01:31:29
Speaker
I said uneven acting and some subpar special effects, but honestly, it doesn't take away from the brilliant idea.
01:31:35
Speaker
So I said, this is absolutely stupid, to be honest, but it's also buck wild in a completely unironic way. So like I i truly, once again, i loved it. I had a great time with it and I can't wait to watch it again.
01:31:48
Speaker
Cool. Well, if you do want to watch the remake of this, it is on um the i think it's Korean, but it may be Taiwanese. I don't remember exactly. But it is on Screambox, which you can access through Amazon Prime. So I'm going to give it a watch. Listen, we I think we all know anything, anything that is it gets redone in Korean going to be absolutely fucking wild. So yeah I think I kind of want to watch that. Yeah. Well, and it's only from a couple of years ago. So it's like a new movie. Oh, that you know what? I'm going to find that tonight.
01:32:17
Speaker
Yeah. So um that will do it for Cube. um And we'll be right back with another math problem. And that is pie
01:32:34
Speaker
1245. Restate my assumptions. 1. Mathematics is the language of nature. 2. Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. 3. If you graph the numbers of any system, patterns emerge. Therefore, there are patterns everywhere in nature.
01:33:00
Speaker
This is insanity, Max. Or maybe it's genius.
01:33:06
Speaker
You only gave us part of the code.
01:33:23
Speaker
It's not cherry and it's not apple. but it is Pi. Matty, tell us all about Pi. Very funny, Andrew. true ah Faith in Chaos. A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality and thus believes he can predict the future. Pi is directed and written by Darren Aronofsky, produced by Parotozoa, distributed by Artisan Entertainment, Summit Entertainment, and it is now also distributed by a twenty four Yeah, i was going to say that. right last
01:33:56
Speaker
um Also, ah I'll add one credit in here. The music was done by Clint Manziel. And I say that because I'm a huge fan. ah Max, Maximilian Max Cohen is played by Sean Gallette, a Darren Aronofsky favorite. Sol Robeson played by the legendary Mark Margolis. Lenny Meyer played by Ben Shankman. Devi played by Samia Shoaib. And Marcy Dawson played by Pamela Hart. I think really, really well played by Pamela Hart also. Pi is rated R. It came out July 10th of 1998, 84 minutes long, made in the USA in New York City, a budget even smaller than Cube at $134,815.
01:34:42
Speaker
And it brought in $3.2 million with gross. So, Andrew, i don't think... Was this your first time watching it? It is. it is, yeah. Oh, it is. Okay, gotcha. So tell me all about your first time watching Pi.
01:34:53
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't know much about this movie. It was interesting that we picked movies that were so close together that have... In time. and in in like That have math in common. It's just yeah kind of strange that we were... ah obsessed with math, I guess, in nineteen late 90s. Yeah, totally.
01:35:07
Speaker
um But yeah, I'd never seen this before. i didn't know what i was getting. i didn't even watch a preview. i was just like, well, this is the one that Maddie said to watch, so I'm going watch it. And so I just turned it on. I had no idea what I was getting into her. I had no idea I was going to watch a black and white movie or like a more of an art house style movie. yeah And so like once I settled into it, I was like getting into it. um I just don't know like what I'm...
01:35:29
Speaker
and you know you yeah yeah i think that you're much more familiar with this movie than i am so maybe you can shine some light on it for me or maybe it's not meant to um but like i just don't really know like what we're supposed to get from the the like the movie because like it keeps going in like certain directions and we can talk more about the directions yeah you know as we continue to talk about the movie but it never really like pays off any of those directions yeah sure so i'm wondering what your your thoughts are on that but like I don't hate the movie. I just like don't really quite get it. i don't i don't like get like what we're supposed to understand coming out of it. And maybe we're not supposed to like that. There's always that. There's always that too. and Not every movie has to have like a ah ah like a clear delineation of of story like we can we can you you know diverge off of that. But like.
01:36:15
Speaker
I think just like given that I watched this movie first before cube and then cube is like such like a story driven movie. I think that I'd like maybe under appreciate this movie a little bit. um i don't know. There's just like so much where I was like, what are we fucking doing? Like what's with the ants and what's with this brain and what's with these, get this guy on the train and what's the, there's just, there's a lot of ideas.
01:36:40
Speaker
And then they never really like go anywhere. So that's kind of my initial thought on the movie. What are your thoughts on it? Yeah, so I started watching this way back in the day in 98.
01:36:52
Speaker
And the reason why I started watching it is because ah back then, my my friend, his his name was Kevin. um We were really into electronic music back then. And like Kevin had turntables and bunch, he had a ton of records and we would like go to, raid like I'm doing this in air quotes, raves in Northwest Indiana.
01:37:12
Speaker
And I just do all this stuff, right? And and the music is fun. yeah and he knew that clint manziel was the was like the composer and like and like music person for for this movie and so he turned me on to it way back in the day and i thought it was fucking brilliant thought it was absolutely like like when i was a young watching this i thought it was like the best that had ever been made before It's a very train-spotting music. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah ah ah Very much so. And Clint Mansell, if you don't know a lot about him, you should look him up and like it just like you know go to Spotify and just like like listen to one of the playlists. He's really, really good. And I think he did a great job with this movie in particular of of creating ah ah of a a pounding... That's the word I'm looking for.
01:37:53
Speaker
um a pounding ongoing beat throughout the whole thing. like he he He guides you with the music each and every time. Yeah, it's definitely layer that's needed to make this movie not boring. You know what i mean? and like, you know, i think, know...
01:38:06
Speaker
you know but just like straight to your question about like, okay, well, you know, what are you supposed to take from it? that That's a, that's a, ah that's a good and it's a fair question. I think that like, I think there's a lot of things that you could take from this. I think like, I think probably like the biggest thing is like, be careful, be careful what you wish for in, in a lot of ways. And like, if you, if if you look in the movie, there is a, ah when Saul, when they're playing go, um, which I've always wanted to learn how to play after watching this, I never really have. Um, um,
01:38:37
Speaker
when you're watching when you're When you're watching the scene where they're playing Go and Saul is talking about his fish and he says, there's a new goal there's a new fish here. I've named him Icarus after you. And like when you think about the myth of Icarus, it's kind of the same here. And and Max even talks about it, you know, from from the very first lines of the movie. You know, when I was however old he was, like 10 years, 10 or 11, whatever. You know, my mom told me not to look into the sun. So I did.
01:39:03
Speaker
and and it icarus is the same the myth of icarus is that icarus uh who was this beautiful creature that that had wings was warned don't fly too close to the sun and if and if you do bad things will happen and then that happened to icarus icarus had wax wings he didn't know it and so he met the wings melted and he was never able to fly again and so he fell and it's kind of the same thing with max in a lot of ways i think like you know he's working so hard to fly so close to the sun and he's not really thinking about like, what, like, what does it really mean to have this knowledge? If I'm able to predict the stock market, what does that really mean? And, and, and what, what sorts of things could happen? What sorts of things could fall if I do actually crack this code and you start to see it in the movie, like, you know, when, when he finds the 216 digit number, which by the way is six cubed, um,
01:39:55
Speaker
When he finds that number and throws it away into the into the trash can in the park, and then Marcy Dawson and her goons find it and they they plug it in, whatever that means, but they plug it into whatever.
01:40:07
Speaker
um you know of sort of so Exactly. Stuff starts to go wrong in the stock market. The stock market starts to go down. like A crash starts to occur because they put that number in there. So it's almost like the stock market, because they put the number in there, is starting to become aware of itself and in in some strange ways.
01:40:24
Speaker
So I think for me, that's that's sort of like the basics of it is like, okay, you you want this knowledge so bad, but what's going to happen when you actually get it? What's going to happen when you actually put this into practice? you know Will your life be better or will it not? And are you making your life better now?
01:40:39
Speaker
For him, he wasn't. He was making his life even worse. His hallucinations were getting worse. His migraines were getting worse. This was getting worse. That was getting worse. He he he was turning away friends and he was getting into stuff that he was never supposed to be in. Like Max was an atheist. And suddenly he's hanging out with you know, Hasidic Jews at the shul doing Kabbalah.
01:40:59
Speaker
Like it doesn't make, it doesn't make any sense for him. And, and, and he finds in that danger. i mean, they they don't just attack him. They beat him up, you know? So, I mean, like there's so much danger that he incurs because he's in this, this dangerous quest for knowledge.
01:41:14
Speaker
And I think that's kind of what it is. Interesting. and But do do you get my point, though, of like, um so like there's the there's the so there's the there's his what he wants to use the the numbers for and that's the stock market. sure Then there's the corporate greed side of it, which the Wall Street, the Wall Street people. And then there's the Jews who want it for make their own purposes to to find the one true name of God, andable but I think, to go to Eden or something. I don't know. that's kind of I don't really know what they want it for. um But then there's like other characters, like, but then there's like this whole part where he finds a brain on the subway. Oh yeah. Yeah. Sure. Sure. There's like, there's his own, he sees himself like bleeding on the subway. And yeah and I just, I'm like, are, I,
01:41:59
Speaker
Well, i think I think there's a lot of ideas in here. but I think that now that we've seen other Aronofsky movies, we kind of see what he was maybe putting too much ideas into this and kind of exploring it in other movies. Like if you think of Black Swan, oh yeah there's ah there's a lot of like this in Black Swan. like you know yeah um But that movie is all about her and all about like her her own kind of consciousness and like what that means and everything. yeah This, there's like so much world building that like there's never like a there's never like a thing. i don't know. it just, it, you know, I, I, I think a lot of, ah but I think those things are, are hallucinations and, all of and well, for, for the most part. Yeah. I like, I mean like, like the brain, for example, that is absolutely a hallucination and it gives him the idea to put the drill into his own head later.
01:42:49
Speaker
And I mean, like these are and and and like you know why you to just think about what you just said. I know. but But it's the truth. Right. Because like I think he gets the idea that like if he hits that spot, that scream that's constantly inside of him will will will finally go away.
01:43:02
Speaker
um But but in order to do like it's like this brain is full of knowledge. It's so full like it's about to burst. He's like, I'm just going to fucking burst it and let it go. Because i i if I keep this inside my brain, my brain can't handle it in the same way that my computer server couldn't handle it, in the same way that the the stock market couldn't handle it. you know're you're You're trying to put your this solution into these things that don't need a solution. like maybe if you just you know at At the end of the day, if you just learned at like at at the end of it, when the little girl comes up to him and and she's she's like, what's this number? And and he kind of looks around he's like,
01:43:39
Speaker
You know what? I don't know. What is it? Tell me. And it's like, what if we so i what if we stop constantly trying to know, constantly trying to know the exact answer to everything? what if you And this is what Saul was trying to get him to understand.
01:43:53
Speaker
like What if you just let that go? like Let that go and just live your life. There's more, like like Saul says over and over again, there's more to life than than math. And you you have to just live or you're you're literally going to die not living.
01:44:06
Speaker
you know Yeah. what There were a couple of things in this movie that drove me absolutely bonkers. The, the, his constant, like, I'm a very private person, leave me alone. And he's like all paranoid and everything. And I'm like, dude, you live in New York city. What are you doing? Right. Totally.
01:44:22
Speaker
um The other thing that was like, okay, so in this mythical New York city, no one else rides the train because there's never anybody on any of the platforms or in the trains, which is insane to me as someone who was just in York. city said a little four months ago Yeah.
01:44:36
Speaker
yeah um And then there was a there's a part that i totally identified so hard with. And it's the part where he is digging through the trash trying to find that piece of paper that he threw away. And there's this random Asian lady who's looking at him and just shaking her head. And I was like, and I was like, I am that lady.
01:44:55
Speaker
i am that lady. Cause I just silently judge everyone around me. um No, um no, I think like, i think you're right. I think that the soundtrack is probably what gives this movie more life than maybe what it would if it was a different soundtrack, because there's like a constant, like, um like go about like, keep going, keep going. Like it's, you know, where I think if it was like a traditional kind of, um you know, soundtrack or score, it may have come off as just a little too imaginary.
01:45:27
Speaker
do you know what i mean? Yeah. Yeah. yeah Fair. um So I think that helps ground it a little bit. i But I do think there's some really interesting stuff in here too, right? Like, I mean, when you learn about the Kabbalah stuff and and... Yeah, the Torah stuff was interesting. yeah Like the Kabbalah gematria stuff, that is really interesting stuff about how, like when you do the the word for father, the word for mother, like the the numerical, what's the looking for? The numerical value... Because in Hebrew, all of the all of the letters in Hebrew have a number attached to them. So when you do mother and you do father, like they each have their own numerical value added up by each of the of the Hebrew characters. And then the the word for child is the summation of those two. like That's just like really interesting. Or when he's going to get the Tree of Life and Garden of Eden, and then it becomes a Fibonacci sequence.
01:46:21
Speaker
that's just like That's really interesting stuff. I just wanted more of that, though. It's like actually it's like actually real. It's actually. Yeah. And, um you know, like I think, you know, the thing to remember with with pie is that like it is one of Aronofsky's early things.
01:46:37
Speaker
And and it's definitely a little bit arthouse. And for the time that it came out, it was so incredibly different. Like nothing like this had ever been done before. And it's not like some big whiz bang thing. It couldn't be for how much money they spent on it. But like once again, for 140,000 fucking bucks, they did this. That's absolutely insane. They were able to make that happen. And like, you know, kind of pretty well for for that much money. That's just not very much. And he like and and some of the trivia that I've got here, like he raised a lot of the money by asking friends and family for $100 contributions. And he offered them $150 back if the film made money and their names in the credits if it didn't.
01:47:19
Speaker
It's just kind of kind of funny. um It also won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 98. and The Independent Spirit Award for best ah first Best First Screenplay. So this was his first screenplay. um So yeah, yeah its it it remains one of my one of my little favorites. I i will say, you know, watching it now,
01:47:38
Speaker
there's definitely some lines where I'm like, oh, that's kind of silly. Like the one where he where he's like, I'm not interested in materialists like yeah and trying to understand our world. And I was like, you know what? When I was a teenager, I probably thought that was such a cool thing that he said right there. And now I'm like, that's it's a little cringy now, Max. But whatever. So like you know there's definitely stuff like that in it for me. But overall, it remains a really strong film for me. It does.
01:48:05
Speaker
You know what else drove me nuts in this movie? What? Is that he doesn't have blank paper any ever. No, he doesn't. Like, he's always writing on something. And was like, God damn it. You know what, though? I will say, like, do you know many academics?
01:48:17
Speaker
Not doctors. Do you know many academics? I mean, I went to college, so yeah. No, and no, no, no. Do you know like academic, like people with their PhDs, they're constantly doing this or they don't, they're they're about ready to defend their stuff. Not many.
01:48:31
Speaker
That is, that is kind of how they are. If I'm being real, like they're, they're like constantly a mess all the time. Like they're, they're always doing some wacky thing. They like, I remember a couple of my friends, I was like, God, your house is like literally never fucking clean. And this thing is, yeah it's like they, they, they live in their own fucking strange world. It's very bizarre.
01:48:51
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny. Somebody get that notebook. Come on. It did make me want a samosa, but that is what I'm having a samosa in so long. Yum. um No, I maybe I'll give this one a second chance. It just didn't take me anywhere on this initial ride. that's from But I mean, i didn it didn't. It wasn't like I was like it was a waste of my time or anything, but it was just like it's like one of those things where it ended and I was like, huh? OK, that's how it ends. yeah right means sure i think like like there's a much I think that there's a much more interesting idea. like When you started talking more about like the you know the the Torah and like the the Jewish part of this and like all of that stuff, I was like, yeah, that stuff's interesting. Keep going.
01:49:33
Speaker
Keep going with that. like We don't need like the Wall Street people and like all this other stuff. um but ah that you know that's just i'm i'm not I'm not going to tell people how to direct a movie. I've never made one. Yeah. It just didn't quite hit for me like it did for you. And maybe if I would have seen this when I was a kid, I mean, I was in some weird movies when I was a kid. So maybe if I would have saw this when I was ah a busting teenager, i would have ah I would have liked it a lot more. But as ah as a cynical adult, maybe not so much today. Fair enough. Fair enough, Andrew.
01:50:06
Speaker
All right,
Fun Segment: Round Up or Die Game
01:50:07
Speaker
Matty. So we here at Fargate the 13th, we judge on a seven stripe scale for the seven stripes, the gay old rainbow. What do you give Pi? I give Pi a five. And I said, what did I say? I said one of Aronofsky's brilliant arthouse earlies. It's a little corny here and there in retrospect, but I think it speaks to the era of AI in interesting ways, too. I i really kind of forgot to talk about that. um Nearly 30 years down the line. Plus, the soundtrack still rocks.
01:50:32
Speaker
Yeah, and I'm going to give this one, I'm going to come up a little bit. I'm going to say the three and a half. I think it's just like an average movie for me. um And I said, I don't really know what to make of this one. Every time I thought it was going somewhere, it just didn't. Someone someone get Andrew a blueberry pie right now.
01:50:48
Speaker
Well, look, folks, that does it for pie and also does it for our episode. But as usual, hang around for a second here. We'll be right back with a final game. mr Chairman.
01:51:01
Speaker
28 vacuums a week, that's a lot of vacuums to sell. And you only have seven salesmen? Certainly. That means they sell 13 vacuums a piece. You're right. 13 vacuum cleaners a piece? Yes, sir. What are you talking about?
01:51:13
Speaker
Seven times 13 is not 28. Yes, it is. Seven times four is 28. Mr. Chandler, seven times 13 is 28. Seven times four is 28. Did you ever go to school, stupid? Yes, sir. And I come out the same way.
01:51:28
Speaker
Well, folks, that does it for episode 156. But we're back now, of course, with our final game, which Andrew always creates for us. And it is called Round Up or Die.
01:51:40
Speaker
i don't know what going i happen, folks, but we're going to find out as usual. Andrew, tell us about the game. right, I'm going to read you some math predicaments, um and you have to tell me whether you... love that they're called predicaments. Whether whether you would just round up and you know and just deal with it, or you would be like, hell no, I'm not doing that. like i still not I'm going to die on this hill. This might be this might be your most interesting game yet.
01:52:06
Speaker
All right, your first scenario. The dinner total is $212 for four people. You ordered only one drink and a salad, but everyone says, let's just split it.
01:52:18
Speaker
Are you just going to round up or are going to die on this hill and say, I want my own check? Okay, so here's the thing. this is this is this is I'll give you an answer, I promise, but I do want to say this is conditional, right? So um there are there are some groups of people where we always just split the bill no matter what, right?
01:52:36
Speaker
like We are in a group of people like that. right it doesn It doesn't matter. like if If you order less, if I order less, if you order more, if I order more, like we know eventually it's going to end up you know all in the green anyway. So like who cares kind of thing.
01:52:48
Speaker
There are other people that I am with where they don't do that. And honestly, it kind of freaks me out when they don't do that. um The only time that it doesn't freak me out is when somebody's literally not drinking alcohol.
01:52:59
Speaker
And like, they're not drinking alcohol, then I'm like, well, of course they don't have to pay the same as everybody else because why would they? That it doesn't make any fucking sense. So like dry January is a great example of a time when that happens quite, quite a bit.
01:53:11
Speaker
Um, and so ah I'm, who am I with? Which, which group of people am I with? Let's say you're out for a business dinner with ah three colleagues of of your same stature. um Even that, have the same kind of groups with that too. all All I had was what again?
01:53:29
Speaker
ah salad and a Salad and one drink. The bill $212 for four people. um I'd probably just pay equal. Okay.
01:53:40
Speaker
All right. All right Your next one. Your coffee is $4.75, but when the iPad flips around, your tip options are only 25, 30, and 35%. I'm doing any those. i'm not doing any of those So you're going to die on that hill. yeah I'm dying on that fucking hill. Bye, everybody. See ya. yeah All right. you're look and but I just want to say, i will give you a tip for a coffee. I am not going to give you 25% tip for a coffee that you're, because my coffees are never complicated. I just want to point that out. They're like, it's literally just drip coffee. You're walking to a thing, you're putting the coffee in, and then you're giving it to me.
01:54:15
Speaker
I'm not giving you a 25% tip for that All right. Well, your next one is that you're splitting an Uber home with your with one of your ah housemates or your friends. i think when you had roommates, um your Uber ride is $24 and your friend only Venmo's you $9.
01:54:32
Speaker
nine dollars
01:54:35
Speaker
I'm not going to say anything. i'm i'm just I'm just going to take it, but I'm also going to like judge them in my head a little bit. Okay, fair enough. All right. um Your friend requests $17.39 with no explanation.
01:54:52
Speaker
I'm not doing it. Die. I'm dead. See ya. I'm out of here. No fucking way. All right. you' Finally, and this is the last one. Your bar tab is $38, but you only had two drinks, but the bartender is hot.
01:55:09
Speaker
I'll pay it I knew it. Yeah. I'll pay it. In fact, I think I've probably done that before many times now that I really think about it. Yeah, for sure. You emphatically pay it. yeah not I'm like, here you go. Just take it. I really don't care. Go ahead. All right Well, that does it for round up or die Andrew, drew that was that was a good one. I really enjoyed that. That was a really good one.
01:55:29
Speaker
um Well, look, folks, that is the end of episode 156. As usual, before we go, just a few housekeeping items. Number one, Happy New Year to you. Hope 2026 is already treating you very, very well.
01:55:41
Speaker
And if you want to treat us well, guess what? You can. Because you can go right now to frygay13.com slash support. And you, yes, you, my friend, listening right now, can support a proud independent podcast. You can do that by buying merch from us.
01:55:58
Speaker
Andrew, we got to get on that this year. We got to refresh that shit. um Let's talk about that after. Anyways, we you can also become a Patreon patron, even better. And you can do that for $1 a month, one measly bill a month. That's only 12 bucks a year. 50 cents an episode. It's it's nothing, man. So like if you like listening to us, great, awesome. Look, we don't need a ton of We just need to break even. That's all. We just need to break even. You know, we have some expenses throughout the year. We like to break even just like you. You like to break even on stuff. That's great.
01:56:29
Speaker
Cool. So yeah, maybe think about doing that, you know? Yeah. And if you want to get a hold of us, you can find us on all of the social medias except for Twitter. um and get get I just want to say this, by the way, except on Twitter, which is the social media network that has a tool. I want everyone to really get this. That creates child pornography.
01:56:52
Speaker
I want you to, I'm serious. I want you to understand for people that are still hanging on to Twitter, their claws still in it. Maybe this will be the linchpin for you that Elon Musk is refusing to get rid of it, refusing to get rid of a tool that creates child pornography. I want you to really think hard about that while you and your podcast whatever the fuck you do is still on Twitter. Think about that.
01:57:15
Speaker
yeahp yu Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, you can email us at fragay13.com or fragay13 at gmail.com. Sorry. um And you can you kind of message us through those various platforms if you'd like. You know, if you have an idea for an episode, yeah free to feel free to reach out because we're always coming up with ideas. Listen, y'all, if we have we have done so many wacky fucking wackadoodle shit things.
01:57:38
Speaker
nothing is ah Nothing is in left field for us. That's all I'm going to say. Come on. Or even if there's a movie that you want us to review, I can usually find a terrifying thing to take out of it for the working real life. Yeah, you can figure out. Let us know, man.
01:57:52
Speaker
And we're always looking for new ideas because, you know, we're a two-man show over here. And for the sometimes the barrel gets a little shallow. Been doing it for eight years now. You know what i mean? So come on, people.
01:58:04
Speaker
But at the end of the day, all we do and all we want you to do is for you to go ahead and slayed.