Intro

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This week we cover three movies that deal with uh testing limits, I guess.

SPEAKER_06 0:06

I guess that's true. Like testing the resilience of human or Kryptonian spirit in Supergirl to just testing the limits of pain and disgusting disregard to the human body and jackass best and last.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

And also testing the strength of a relationship between Gilday and the celebrity sex pass. Yeah, I know we said we were gonna talk about our top summer Blackbusters this week, but since we were lucky enough to catch an early screening of the movie, we figured we'd push that to next week so we can give you uh this third new movie review instead.

SPEAKER_06 0:44

Damn, that sounds like a jam-packed episode of movies. We're basically at our limit. So let's just move on to the intro, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

This is we should not episode 14 movies.

Movie Review: Supergirl (2026)

SPEAKER_06 1:22

Let's get into it. Our first movie today is Supergirl, the second movie in the James Gunnified iteration of the DCU. It's directed by Craig Gillespie, known for Itanya and Cruella, so he's got a sharp, rule-breaking female leads vibe. And it stars Millie Alcock as Kara Zorrell, aka Supergirl, alongside Eve Ridley as Ruthie, Jason Momoa as Lobo, and of course David Cornsweat as Superman. The film follows Kara as she sets off to save her beloved dog Crypto, reluctantly teaming up with an unlikely companion for an interstellar journey of vengeance and justice. So, Sushi, what did you think?

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Well, being a longtime comic book fan and on again, off again reader of current DC comics titles, my awareness of Supergirl is pretty limited. The only details I know about her character of the comics are kind of limited to major DC storylines that involve her and likely some appearances and some Superman-led titles that I've read. So for the most part, I'm most familiar with the characterization of Carazor L from the comics that was angry due to a pretty messed up backstory.

SPEAKER_05 2:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

By that, I mean she was a teenage girl that was basically forced into a ship and put into suspended animation by her father as her planet was about to explode, then ended up on Earth to find her cousin that she used to babysit back on Krypton, was a full-grown adult now, and became one of Earth's greatest superheroes. So that's a lot. Yeah, obviously a lot to deal with, which in the comics leads to some interesting story arcs. One of my favorite is when her rage actually leads her to being chosen as a red lantern. But that's kind of a deep dive. So yeah, let me get back on track. Beyond that, I recognized Millie Alcock as Supergirl from appearing at the end of the 2025 Superman movie.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

And recall hearing news that she'd be getting her own movie at some point, but really didn't keep any tabs on it otherwise. Seen Millie, obviously, in the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon. Aside from her, I think the only other people I recognized from the trailers were David Cornsweat, who, like you said, played Superman in the 2025 movie, and Jason Momoa, who debuts as the DC Studios version of Lobo.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Lobo.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Uh the latter, I admit, kind of being hyped about. Since if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you've probably picked up that I'm a Momoa fan.

SPEAKER_06 4:20

We're real Momo heads, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

And I really do think that this is a role that Momoa doesn't have to do much to be a good fit for.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Yeah, given that he, like Lobo, is a greasy, rough around the edges dude who loves riding his motorcycle. I mean, dude literally just had to let makeup paint his whole body white except for some black face paint, so he looks like whatever alien race Lobo's from, and have him chomp on a cigar. I don't even think they had to do much with his hair except maybe dye it darker.

SPEAKER_05 4:52

Yeah, yeah, seriously.

SPEAKER_02 4:54

Anyway, let's talk trailers. Uh, between the teaser and the full trailer, the teaser was definitely the more fun one, given that it had Blondie's Call Me in it. Love it. And it seemed to highlight more the action sequences. Comparatively, the full trailer used the song What Becomes of the Broken Hearted by Jimmy Ruffin, which is definitely more of a somber song.

SPEAKER_06 5:23

God, I love that song.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Yeah, and the trailer pairs it with uh a heavier helping of tonally similar scenes of Supergirl's past and present that highlight the trauma she's been through and the isolation and loneliness she feels, even with a cousin that's made an effort to stay connected with her. Additionally, the full trailer pretty much covers the plot of the story, along with the central themes of grieving and otherwise dealing with trauma, as well as the argument over the best way to address or avoid everything that comes with it. So, given that the trailer was played pretty frequently before other movies we've seen recently, and I think was promoted at least a fair amount based on what I've seen as far as appearances from the actors on various YouTube channels and TV shows that cater to upcoming films. It at least seemed like DC Studios cared about trying to make the movie a success.

SPEAKER_05 6:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Seeing the movie, I didn't think that DC Studios did an awful job. Yeah. But unfortunately, this is definitely a superhero movie that suffers from being fairly forgettable and at least didn't have the kind of world building that the Superman movie did. And I think that it's because they chose to really only focus on developing Kara as a character in this movie. If you've seen the 2025 Superman movie, you probably remember that we got to meet Mr. Terrific, Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl. I think even with the limited screen time each of them might have had, the movie did a great job developing each of their character personalities on screen so that audiences could easily understand uh their personalities better and their power set. Right. Looking to the crew for this movie, I feel like most of the strengths in it are probably owed to the director Craig Gillespie, since he's generally pretty well regarded by both audiences and critics when it comes to writing these kind of unusual characters that oftentimes deal with some serious character flaws. But moreover, because it looks like the writer Anna Nagera is more known for being an actress and playwright. And Supergirl is actually the first feature film she's written.

SPEAKER_05 7:46

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Yeah, I'm not close enough to this production to know for sure, so I can't say, but if she was responsible for any of the weaknesses in this film, I wouldn't be surprised if DC Studios rethinks her upcoming involvement in the untitled Teen Titans and Wonder Woman films she's supposed to be writing. Because yeah, I mean, I don't know if somebody who has this limited of experience writing these large-scale feature films is really the best person to be putting in this position.

SPEAKER_06 8:23

I will say I liked her dialogue. I think, but I'll get into it in my review bit too.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Okay. As far as the cast goes, I don't think any of the roles they played were real breakthroughs. Uh Millie Alcock isn't bad as Kara Zorel, Supergirl. Uh well, I think she does a great job in moments that portray how a normal young adult would probably deal with all the crazy shit she's been through. Uh, and honestly, I don't blame her at all for how she does it.

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Uh, my biggest problem with her character in this movie was that I really didn't feel the anger part. Uh, I could see that of her character, which I really do think was important to highlight in this movie, especially given that, and this is in the trailer, she tries to convince Eve Ridley's character, Ruthie, that revenge isn't the right way to deal with her loss. Right. It's not just that I didn't feel like Alcock's betrayal didn't do much to convey this. Like, we don't get shown any flashback examples or anything like that.

SPEAKER_06 9:27

Right. It's not fleshed out.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Yeah, but also Kara's literally still dealing with her own shit. Like, I get young people avoiding their problems, but I just don't get why she felt the need to turn this completely coincidental meeting into a teaching opportunity of some sort.

SPEAKER_04 9:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Like, what authority does she really have? She doesn't even seem like the type of person who'd be motivated to do this.

SPEAKER_06 9:57

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's from personal experience, and it doesn't seem like she has that sort of teaching kind of energy to her. That's a really good point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

Yeah, like you were saying, from the flashbacks we're shown, given that Superman looks about the same age, from the flashbacks that we're shown, given that Superman looks about the same age that he did in the 2025 movie, it seems like she's only been on Earth for like a few years at most. So yeah, it's just kind of weird that we're even putting her in a position like this uh for a story. Anyway, Eve Ridley is Ruthie, is probably the character I had the least issues with. Oh, okay. She's believable as a teenage character and seems to think and act like one would given her situation, especially when Kara starts trying to give her advice or protect her. Jason Namola's Lobo, again, probably the character I was looking forward to seeing the most. He's fun and pretty much what I expected, though they definitely could have made this movie without his character being in it. I won't elaborate on that since that kind of gets into spoiler territory. A fun fact, though, I came across in my research. Tom King, the writer for the Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow comic miniseries, this movie was based on. Back when he actually pitched his story, he originally envisioned it as a true grit-style team up between Supergirl and Lobo. But his editors had him change it to Supergirl Solo story.

SPEAKER_06 11:28

Oh, dang.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

So it's pretty interesting that ultimately someone, I'm assuming lately James Gunn, made the call to have this movie be his DC Studios debut.

SPEAKER_03 11:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

So that's kind of interesting. Uh Matthias Joan Arts is Krem of the Yellow Hills. I honestly think this is probably the most forgettable villain in a comic book film in recent memory. I'm sorry, but I felt like he not only lacked the expected presence or personality that we've gotten used to with live-action adaptations of comic book villains. But aside from being responsible for kicking off the story by shooting crypto with some poison dart, he literally just wasn't in the movie enough for me to really care about it. The design elements of the movie were probably the strongest aspect of it. With that said, I'll start off mentioning probably the weakest of the design aspects, which I felt were the fight choreography and stunts. Uh they were fine, but definitely didn't present us with anything we hadn't already seen before in other comic book and action movies.

SPEAKER_05 12:43

Yeah, I'll talk a little more about that. I think there's some reasons for it.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Oh, okay. With that said, moving on to what I thought was good. If you've seen recent DC live action films, you know, movies like The Flash definitely had moments of noticeably janky CG.

SPEAKER_06 13:01

Oh, God, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

This movie, even with me really paying attention during scenes that were shot in slow motion or where the camera follows the action, everything seems to look really polished. Yeah. Sure. When you see some of those shots, you can tell that obviously they're not real camera angles or it's not real camera work and it's CG. But the actors, their portrayals with the CG in them do not look as out of place as something like that.

SPEAKER_06 13:39

It it looks as real as something in such an unreal situation could look.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah. It's I would say some of the better CG I've seen for those types of action scenes is probably the best way I could put it.

SPEAKER_05 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Passum's practical effects and set design, I think all contributed well towards the whole feel of this movie taking place across different planets in this DC universe. So that was cool. Lastly, I thought the music in this movie was good for the most part. The score wasn't memorable, but there were some fun needle drops, even if one just seemed kind of weird.

SPEAKER_05 14:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

A fun fact about that selection, though, and I'm sure those of you who see the movie will know the song I'm referring to.

SPEAKER_04 14:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Apparently, James Gunn chose that song out of quote about 45 songs that were in the running.

unknown 14:37

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02 14:38

I kind of want to hear what those other 44 said.

SPEAKER_06 14:43

Yeah, really.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

I don't know how bad it is.

SPEAKER_06 14:45

And he normally has such good needle drops.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:49

Like I love that one from the Mr. Terrific fight in Superman last year.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

But then again, he didn't direct this film, so Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:57

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Not down on him, I guess, completely. As far as whether the movie met expectations based on the trailer, yeah, I do think it actually didn't only do that with the story, but also with the overall lack of excitement and lack of memorability when it came to the movie. Moving on to my ratings, uh, I gave this a two and a half for enjoyment and a three for quality.

SPEAKER_03 15:26

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Unfortunately, if I'm being honest, this is probably going to go down as one of the most forgettable comic book movies. Like my enjoyment score was right down the middle because I was split between enjoying the look of everything on screen and really disliking the writing. I think one of the biggest factors that contributed to my dislike was that we're basically asked to invest a lot of trust and Kara as a character without her having any screen time prior to this movie, except a few seconds of the 2025 Superman movie. As a movie studio that makes comic book movies, there's unfortunately really no way you won't get compared to Marvel Studios.

SPEAKER_05 16:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

So even if DC is trying to differentiate themselves this time around by having DC Studios focus on character-focused movies, as someone who cares about the world building and lore aspects of comic book-based entertainment, that's kind of the fastest way to make me think, okay, so I don't need to see every DC Studios movie, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 16:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Beyond that, I think weak character development of the main character followed with an extremely disposable villain and a logo appearance that was cool but arguably unnecessary rather than the negatives. Quality as far as design elements was pretty undeniable. Like I said, the movie looked good. The other part of quality for me always includes writing and how a movie compares overall to other movies like it. In this specific case, an action movie that also belongs to the comic book movie category. And this movie really just wasn't doing anything new or exciting as an action movie, nor did it make me care because I don't even feel the need to continue following DC Studio movies because this seems way too self-contained, and none of the elements that really characterize it as a comic book movie seem like ones we're going to revisit any deeper in the future. As far as recommendations go, I'm going to stay on topic with Supergirl and recommend the 2023 DC animated movie Legion of Superheroes. Supergirl is actually the lead character in the film, but I will preface this by saying that you might feel the need to watch some of the other DC animated films from the same Tomorrowverse story arc that it's part of for more context when you see it. So, you know, just keep that in mind. If you're not somebody who likes animation, but you are somebody who cares about kind of understanding lore or the larger story that a film might be a part of, that might bother you a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Yeah. What did you think about uh Supergirl?

SPEAKER_06 18:23

Well, uh, I have mixed feelings about Supergirl because I had a really good time watching it. But the more time that passed after I left the theater, the less I found myself remembering. I felt like I had Supergirl amnesia. And weirdly, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I mean, I I really enjoyed it at the moment. I laughed, I was entertained, I had a good afternoon at the movies. Um, but then when I started thinking back on it a few days later, there just weren't that many individual moments that really stuck with me.

SPEAKER_04 18:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:57

Um, what did stick with me, I will say, was Kara, the character and the performance. I don't think I've ever seen a superhero movie that understands what it's like to be a complete train wreck in your 20s like this one. I mean, damn.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Yeah, I guess I'll get with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:14

It's amazing. Like uh Kara starts this movie partying, hungover, avoiding responsibility, and she is just trying not to deal with her life. And um, yeah, I really related to that. I have been there. You know, that feeling where you don't really know what you're doing and you're just hoping eventually something will click, but you're gonna have fun in the meantime. And I love that this movie doesn't judge her for being a total wreck. Instead, it just sort of slowly shows her finding her purpose through trying to save crypto and helping Ruthie. She starts realizing she's capable of making a difference. I think that Millie Alcock really sells both the train wreck version of her and sort of as she's learning lessons along the way. You know, she's really scrappy and charismatic. And she's oh my God, she isn't tiny, she's minuscule, but she's still believable in the fights, both in the way she fights and just how much she sells it. Also, oh, I loved all the character moments. I think I agree with you that the script overall acts something, some oomph, but I think there was some good dialogue, and I liked the character moments. Like she's in the spaceship that looks like a crappy apartment. She answers the door and she just goes to pee while she's still talking to the person who showed up. You know, like that's hilarious. I know that girl. Then she falls asleep on the toilet and gets jolted awake when the person at the door starts speaking again. I loved that. I appreciated those moments almost the best because they were the most uh unique thing, I think, in the movie. Once you get past Kara, I think that the movie does get more uneven. I think the cast is good. I think the performances are good, but I'm just kind of mixed on how they use the characters. Like we have Superman, amazing, but I wish we got a little more of him because I think that seeing his optimism bounce off like Tara's mess and aimlessness and cynical vision of the world, that would have been a stronger way to explore who Kara is. Ruthie is used as someone for Kara to care about. But outside of wanting revenge, we don't really learn a lot about Ruthie. And Jason Momoa, oh my God, he is so much fun. He's just like you see him on screen and you just want to giggle a little bit because you're so happy he's there. And Yeah, he's great, even though, like you were saying, why was he there? And I think my biggest criticism of this movie ties into the overall lack of specificity or lack of pr having a specific point of view. Because one of the things I really look forward to with these superhero movies is the action. And I was entertained while I watched the movie. I didn't think there was anything wrong with the fights. But afterwards, I just couldn't remember anything. I only remembered the beginning of the very first fight, and she is fighting through this whole thing. You compare that to Superman, where I can instantly picture multiple standout action scenes. Or if you're going to the best of the best in action, like Furious, that we just watched, where every fight has its own identity and purpose and unique way of working within the space. And afterwards, I was really curious about who did the stunts because I like following who the second unit directors and stunt coordinators are. I think it's really fascinating to look at their careers. What I discovered is Craig Gillespie, the director, chose to direct both first unit, which is the typically what a director on a film does. That's like the main scenes between actors. But he also did second unit. Normally there is a different person doing that, shooting the smaller scenes. And it in large movies like this, they're in charge of the action design.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Yeah. Has he done any other movies with heavy action scenes? I feel like he does a lot of character-based.

SPEAKER_06 23:55

From what I know of his movies, the two I mentioned earlier, and I know he did uh the Ryan Gosling one.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Oh dang, why did I I know he did Cruella?

SPEAKER_06 24:05

Yeah, but I don't think he's done one of this scale. And I think that's a real shame to lose his second unit director. Like I understand wanting to have the action tied to Kara's emotional state, which is what he said was his main focus. But bringing in another creative voice, someone whose entire career is thinking about action, that's gonna get you way better fight scenes. I'm sorry. It just is. You're gonna have a unique perspective and knowledge of what's possible. So I was disappointed to see that, but it did make sense with what I saw, how things were good overall, but not distinctive. But one thing I did like throughout the movie is the theme of being nice is not the same as being good. Superman has figured his life out. Tara doesn't have anything figured out, but that doesn't stop her from helping people. And I thought it was a cool idea and it was executed well. But if I have to be honest, it doesn't pack as much of a punch as in last year's Superman, where we have him saying that kindness is the real punk rock. It doesn't have that memorability and that strength. So overall, did I like Supergirl? Yeah, I did. I did. Just maybe not in the way I like some other movies, like Superman or The Dark Knight or The Winter Soldier.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

You know, those I'm never gonna like anything better than The Winter Soldier.

SPEAKER_06 25:41

I did mention it because I know it's your fave. It's kind of mean of me to put Supergirl in that movie in this essay.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

I mean, it's like you want it to be compared horribly.

SPEAKER_06 25:54

No, no, I want this movie to succeed, you know. I want to be super entertained. I want the creatives to have their vision realized.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

No, I understand. I feel the same way. I just feel like it was just a strange combination to have it so polished, but also so forgettable.

SPEAKER_06 26:13

Yeah, I've been going over in my head since we saw it. What kind of a movie is this? Like, it's not like those other superhero movies I mentioned. It's not even like Ant-Man or or even the Marvels. I kept trying to figure out what it was. And yesterday I stepped outside into the ugly 95-degree heat and it hit me. Supergirl is an air conditioning movie. Okay. If you're like me and grew up without air conditioning, every summer there'd be that one insane, brutal, hot day where my mom would say, This is too much. Let's go to the movies. Not because there was a masterpiece playing, but because you knew you'd cool off, you'd have fun for a couple hours, and forget how miserable it was outside. And that's exactly what Supergirl feels like. It's colorful, it's funny, it's genuinely enjoyable to spend time with. But am I gonna think about it five years from now? No, no way. But on the other hand, two hours on a summer afternoon, that's not so bad in weather like this. So for my uh scores, I actually gave the inverse of yours. So I gave it a three for enjoyment. I did really have a good time. I walked out of the theater happy, but quality, once I started thinking about it, things fell apart. So we landed on a 2.5. But I do like Millie Alcock in this role, and uh hopefully it's something where in the right story that character can can shine.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

Yeah. I mean, I guess there is one thing that I will remember from this movie.

SPEAKER_06 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

How Jason Momoa's abs were literally painted on.

SPEAKER_06 28:06

Oh my god. Oh my god. I couldn't believe it. You know what he looks like to me? He looks like when you see the Ninja Turtles undercarriage.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yeah, it does really look like that. Looks like that.

SPEAKER_06 28:18

It looks like he's a hero in a half shell.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yeah, and I know we don't really do spoilers, but I will say this really quick thing about Jason Momoa and his painted on abs. They're not trying to hide that shit because there's literally uh a scene where they draw attention to it. So yeah, it's kind of funny.

SPEAKER_06 28:40

When you see an old man at the grocery store wearing a shirt of a man's chest with abs, yeah, yeah. It's that kind of energy.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Yeah, because we know Jason Momo isn't serious about that shit. I don't know if you guys out there have seen the interviews with him. Oh my god. Go on a YouTube. Where they talk to him, and he basically is just like, yeah, I ain't gonna work out unless somebody really pays me to do it.

SPEAKER_06 29:11

Hey, that's my attitude as well. No one's paid me yet.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Yeah, so it's like, well, we obviously know that Zack Snyder did that.

SPEAKER_05 29:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

You definitely worked out for that movie, but you didn't for this one. So man. You know. It is what it is. But yeah, I guess I will remember that. So on to the memory with me.

SPEAKER_06 29:33

I like that. I like that very much.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:36

Uh to the abs. I don't know. To the abs.

Movie Review: Jackass: Best and Last

SPEAKER_06 29:48

Ooh boy friends. Uh, this next one is wild. Next up, we're talking about Jackass. Colon, best and last. And I do mean Coland. This movie is directed by Jeff Tremaine, who's held every mainline jackass movie in the franchise. So this is very much him closing the thing out that he built since the beginning. And the cast is, you know, your OG crew. You got Knoxville, Steve O, Prisponnius, Weeman, Preston Lacey, Dave Anglin, etc. Plus, you've got newer editions who just joined up in that last jackass movie a few years ago. So it's not a total reunion, uh, but there's some fresher blood mixed in as well. Now, this is a section of the intro where normally I tell you what the movie we're discussing is about, but this is jackass. This is not a normal movie. There is no plot in sight, it's just mayhem composed of new footage, unreleased clips, and best of type moments. There is, however, an ongoing theme of getting older and according to Knoxville, ending the franchise. I mean, will it likely be the last Jackass? Uh, I don't know. I have my doubts, and several members of the Jackass gang do too. But anyway, let's get into it. What did you think about this madness, sushi?

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Well, I've pretty much been a fan of Jackass since it aired on MTV back in October of 2000. Goddamn near 26 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

Oh, that's rough.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

I've probably followed the movies and guys associated with it less closely over the years, but I think I've pretty much seen every theatrical release movie they've put out, except maybe the last one since I remember it was delayed due to COVID. And oh for me, 2020 to 2022 was still kind of spotty as far as keeping up with newer releases.

SPEAKER_05 31:51

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 31:52

But yeah, needless to say, I'm familiar with the franchise. Seeing the trailer, man, kicking off with a montage of old footage when the guys were young with some heartfelt music playing in the background, then moving on to current day old Johnny Knoxville, legit getting choked up a bit. I'm not above admitting I felt something too.

SPEAKER_05 32:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

But yeah, then the music ramps up, and we start with the newer footage that kind of pokes fun at their age. So it's cool to see that the guys were in good spirits. Yeah. Uh beyond that, I at least believe there was also some older footage mixed in when I saw the trailer. But honestly, this isn't a movie trailer deep dive analysis. And moreover, this is a jackass movie, like we were saying.

SPEAKER_05 32:41

It's barely a movie.

SPEAKER_02 32:43

Yeah. So the older footage didn't stand out to me that much that I question it. I'm not gonna spend too much time trying to confirm it either. You know, because regardless, I was gonna see this shit. And unless you've for some reason been forced to watch the exact same stunts and pranks from Jackass over and over and over again, or something stupid like that, I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say I don't mind seeing old Jackass stuff. Yeah, it was a different time when only select crazy people got paid to hurt and humiliate each other on screens for money. So I get if younger people don't really understand the appeal.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

That's so true.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

All that to say, I expected this this movie to be mostly like the other Jackass movies as far as content, but maybe leaning a bit more into retrospective territory. And that's pretty much what I got when I saw the movie. I really truly believe that aspect of looking back on the whole jackass franchise in this movie was what ended up really setting it apart from the other movies, which I felt were pretty much just collections of stunts and pranks that were filmed since the time the movie before it was filmed.

SPEAKER_06 33:57

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Yeah, I honestly think leading up to the movie, believing that we'd get kind of a retrospective movie. I did have some concerns regarding the quality, especially with this being the fifth jackass film, and Johnny Knoxville admittedly unable to do any stunts that could cause him another concussion.

SPEAKER_05 34:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

There was always a chance that it seemed too much like a cash grab. But luckily that didn't end up being the case at all. I think, especially with this movie, otherwise just being a compilation of interviews, new footage, old popular footage, mostly of stunts that were like escalated and repeated over the years, uh, and even previously unreleased footage. What I think makes it really strong as a movie is that it's curated so well that it keeps your attention on Knoxville and the guys throughout the movie.

SPEAKER_05 34:50

Yeah, uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

Yeah, it basically feels like the audience is engaged in this ongoing conversation with them. And they're either in the middle of doing new stuff or just reminiscing on some notable old stunts they did or showing off previously unaired footage. So yeah, that's true. It really just feels like you're hanging out. Since I'm talking about the cast, while our returning cast is pretty much the same as before, except probably a bit older and more sober if they didn't deal with that several years ago. I was kind of surprised to see Jasper and Dark Shark from Loiter Squad on this.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

But then again, uh, I think Tremaine also produced that show. Oh, okay. I'm sure these guys all crossed paths at some point previously. So yeah, not too much to talk about as far as the cast and specific people, I guess. Oh, but I will say that the OG Jackass guys definitely Knoxville and Steve oh, man, they did look like dudes that were old enough to really call it a day after the last few stunts in the movies. Yeah, yeah, they looked out of it, so it was kind of wild. Uh design elements. Overall, they disgusting.

SPEAKER_06 36:07

Oh my god. Oh god.

SPEAKER_02 36:11

But in all seriousness, this is again a situation where everything is pretty much in line with how they were before. No big jump in quality or budget really on this one that I could really spot. Music as usual was just occasional, but when used, it typically added to the tone or mood of whatever was happening in the given stunt, usually just making it goofier or crazier in some kind of way. Thinking about it now, I guess there were some fun sets, like that moving set that you see in the trailers that looks like a Jamaiquis music video. Oh my god, I loved it. Which is kind of the scene that opens the movie following probably the most uncomfortable scene to start a movie I've ever sat through. Yeah, I don't want to spoil it, but if you listen to our reviews for insight before seeing the movie, then all I'll just say is you should at least be prepared to feel stressed out. Yeah. But obviously, as is with movies and shows like this, anything that's able to make it all the way to the theater or on a TV likely means the people involved are fine.

SPEAKER_06 37:19

Yes, exactly. I always keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

Yeah. But yeah, pretty much what I expected from the trailer and a final jackass movie. So let's move on to my ratings.

SPEAKER_06 37:30

Let's hear it.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

I gave this a four and a half for enjoyment and a four for quality.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Yo, again, it's so weird to say I experienced actual emotions seeing a movie with dudes hurting and or humiliating themselves.

SPEAKER_06 37:50

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Oftentimes butt ass naked.

SPEAKER_06 37:53

Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

After feeling so detached from that super girl movie we reviewed just before.

SPEAKER_05 37:58

Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

But that's what's up, I guess. You know? Yeah. I can't speak for people younger than I am, and I'll even go as far as assuming they probably won't feel anything towards this movie aside from it being wildly funny or entertaining. But in a lot of ways, I kind of reflected on the years of being a fan of Jackass since it aired on TV. The premiere of the show actually coincided with my freshman year at college. Oh. So I got real memories tied to Jackass. It was like, regardless of how rough of a week I had at school or how crazy of a weekend I had party, myself and most of the other guys on my dorm floor would have their doors open on Sunday nights without fail whenever we watched Jackass, since it was pointless having them close given how loud everybody was laughing for that half an hour each week. Oh my god. So yeah. F that, I can't deny that contributed to my high enjoyment rating for this movie. I mean, how else can I give a movie with some middle-aged dudes still punching and kicking each other in the nuts for money after two decades of doing so? Like I couldn't.

SPEAKER_06 39:05

Well, we do watch wrestling.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Yeah, I guess. And it's like Jeff Germain knew that too, you know? Yeah. So instead of giving us another helping of another jackass movie, and given Johnny Knaxville's inability to do any more stunts that can potentially lead to concussion, we got this beautiful retrospective of Jackass as a whole, including some new stunts. It's really kind of the perfect helping of everything because it gives you something new, lets you relive some memories, but also shows you some footage that was never aired previously. What more could you want from a jackass experience as a whole? That really leads me into the quality. How can I even evaluate a movie like this qualitatively? Sure, there might be a story there, but it really isn't story-based either. Seriously, how do you critique a bunch of dudes getting together and doing wild fronts while also being completely aware of how potentially stupid and dangerous they are? It needs to be more, and we honestly got more than we ever expected. I mean, there's moments of the previous jackass TV episodes and films that I could easily step or look away from as they were on screen, but I felt pretty glued to the screen during this movie.

SPEAKER_05 40:26

Yeah. Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

Like I was mentioning before, that feeling I really feel is due to how well this movie was assembled and curated. If not for the type of content that it's covering, I honestly think you could mistake it for a pretty solid documentary.

SPEAKER_06 40:43

Yeah, I'd agree.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

Yeah. So to round out my review, I'm actually going to go a bit specific this time. We're still talking about Jackass, but just a very specific stunt. Oh probably my favorite thing they've ever filmed for the TV show. Oh my god. And that was Mexican snowboarding from season one, episode three of Jackass. I mostly love the stunt because it's not really one where the guys are getting seriously hurt because it's happening on sand dunes. But it's kind of one that puts some of their more innocent, goofy humor in the forefront. Yeah. It stars probably my favorite dude from the OG cast, Chris Pontius, along with Mike Kasich. Both dudes are decked out in ponchos and sombreros and getting pulled by four-wheelers across sand dunes while on boogie boards. They wipe out, you know, get sand in their goggles and mouths. It's hilarious. It's also got some great dialogue where they're trying to talk about Mexican snowboarding on a technical level.

SPEAKER_05 41:49

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Like how the style that they're doing isn't the traditional style. And also, there's some amazing quotes. I'm just gonna run through a few of them for you. The first one is looks like we might have some federales when they see the cops pull up while they're doing this. The next one is This is the original Mexican snowboarding. This is where it all originated, baby. Las Osos, Mexico. Then dude yells, Viva Las Osos before taking off kind of huge sand dune. Oh my god. FYI. In my research, I found out that Los Ozos, Mexico doesn't actually exist. Las Osos is actually just in California.

SPEAKER_06 42:35

Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

And then my last and probably most favorite quote from this episode, and I think it even closes out the sketch, is Mexican snowboarding isn't for macho jerks. It's 110% pure adrenaline. Ultimate rush, ultimate high.

SPEAKER_05 42:57

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

And that's that. So actually, what do you think about the movie? I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 43:04

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_06 43:04

How can I follow Mexican snowboarding? I can't live up to that.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

I mean urban kayaking. That's how you follow it up.

SPEAKER_06 43:13

Oh, that's also one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

Urban kayaking was good.

SPEAKER_06 43:17

Man, you're so into the lore. So this is actually what I wanted to say. I've never been a big jackass person, you know? I think a lot of it is just because of my personality, man. I mean, I am not a daredevil. Well into my 30s, if I was with a group of people who said, let's go on the roof to watch the fireworks, I would say, I'm gonna read on the first floor, a fireworks gonna hit you all and you'll explode. Okay. So that's where I'm coming from going into this.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

What I find amazing about that though is for somebody who doesn't have the desire to get into those situations, you kind of end up in some crazy ones. Like this lady fell and landed in the holes, man. How does that happen?

SPEAKER_06 44:08

I fell in a drainage hole in New Orleans on Halloween in the daytime. Both legs. No, just one. Just the one that time.

SPEAKER_01 44:19

That was both legs.

SPEAKER_06 44:20

Then again, maybe that's why I'm so cautious. Because I know it is not my nature.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 44:26

But uh I I never fully got why people love, love this show and movies. Then I watched Jackass Best and Last. And for the first time, I think I got it. I always assumed the appeal was kind of watching people get hurt. And uh there's plenty of that. But what surprised me is that the movie isn't really about pain. I mean, it's just so much about friendship and and also a lot of imagination in a way that I never realized before. Yeah. These guys are nuts. Okay, the opening sequence really caught me off guard. Woo! You get, I'm not gonna say uh what the stunt is, but I'll say that it was incredibly shocking. And the fact that I know how it turns out didn't make it not stressful.

SPEAKER_04 45:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 45:17

So you've got that, and then it goes into this gorgeous scene and that white set you were talking about. Oh, it was great. Yeah, it's this pristine, all white set, and they're just gliding through these beautiful composed shots. As each one of the cast members slides by, they each get their own weird stunt. They just slowly move up to electrodes and get zapped. Or uh somebody gets slapped with a giant hand, which is a classic, and then someone else just gets cornered among three cacti.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

That's probably one of my favorite parts of the place.

SPEAKER_06 45:59

You knew it was coming, it just slowly happened because you're like slow, and you're like, he's just standing there because that's what he's here to do.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

That's what he's getting paid for, man.

SPEAKER_06 46:10

I know it was so choreographed, so cinematic. I mean, it was kind of gorgeous. I loved that, and it's wild that Jackass still manages to make you think, I can't believe they fought to do that. How did they do that? Why did they do that? But what I really loved in the movie that again, probably if you're a regular watcher, this is something you already know about them, but they're not fearless, man. Before some of the biggest stunts, they're pacing, they're nervous, they're psyching themselves up because they know exactly how much it's gonna hurt.

SPEAKER_02 46:48

Hold on, I just want to stop you for a moment because not only that though, I know that it's normal to feel that way before a stunt where they're expecting it to hurt. But what always gets me is the times when they feel that way about a stunt that's literally just going to be disgusting. It's almost like it's more concerning to them when it's going to be nasty because they know that their body is going to react in a way that's probably just they're gonna end up puking or like not handling it well, man. Like it's just gonna make the situation even more gross.

SPEAKER_06 47:26

There's no way this production is OSHA approved, man. But yeah, somehow the fact that they're afraid, it makes you relate to them, but it also makes it funnier. And oh my god, something that I just honestly never thought about. It never occurred to me that sometimes they have to do these stunts more than once, sometimes many times. Okay, there is a sequence where Johnny Knoxville does an incredibly dangerous stunt. Afterwards, he watches the playback and realizes it isn't what he wanted. So he's like, damn, I have to do it again. Oh man. But what happens blows my mind. His reaction to that is not fear of doing the stunt again, it's someone in a creative field who is trying to get the shots they want, who's trying to get their creative vision across. Yeah. But also, it's disgusting and insane. And right after he realizes he has to do the stunt again, there's this amazing moment. Okay, Knoxville just quietly rests his head against one of his friend's shoulders for a second, and he just sighs. It's just this moment of vulnerability. It's like he's trying to work up the courage before doing something he knows is a terrible idea.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

Oh man.

SPEAKER_06 48:53

And you know what? It was a terrible idea. There were consequences, but yeah, these guys aren't fearless, they just love making each other and us laugh. So insane. I think that I spent probably the majority of the movie gasping and being like, ah, it wasn't just laughing, it was noises of shock, like someone spooked me.

SPEAKER_02 49:18

The whole audience was like that.

SPEAKER_06 49:20

It was incredible.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

What I really noticed during our screening, especially when I was watching those moments, that both the audience is really cracking up, and the people who were involved in the shoot were cracking up. Yeah. That's what the essence of Jackass is, basically. It's getting together with your friends and doing dumb shit, and people just laughing because of how stupid you guys are getting. You know what you're doing, you know what you're getting into, but it's like being a kid again and doing dumb things that you know are in your best inch.

SPEAKER_03 50:00

I think it's nostalgic. It's about friends.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

But like ones that you would do as a kid that you would hurt yourself potentially physically or do something disgusting, not like shoot your financial future away or something. Yeah. Not like the ways that you would ruin your life as an adult, very much the ways that you ruined your life as a young person. So I do kind of like that aspect of it. Uh I guess that in a way is kind of endearing, weirdly.

SPEAKER_06 50:28

There is this group of boys I went to high school with who I think of every time I think of jackass. It's because one time one of my friends was talking to one of them, what do you do over the weekend? He said, Oh, it's awesome. Dude, one's parents were out of town. So we drank so much, and then we had projectile vomiting contests to see who the furthest. And I'm like, wow, it's like those guys are 50 and still doing it with this movie.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

Yeah, man. They're just trying to push it to the limit.

SPEAKER_06 51:04

They do. And speaking of the limit, I reached my limit with Jackass best and last when everything turned to literal shit. Okay. You can close your eyes. You can close your eyes. I didn't just close my eyes, I closed my eyes and put both of my arms in front of my face. And I could hear the sounds. I knew what was happening. Oh my God. And you know what? I do dock them for that in my story.

SPEAKER_02 51:35

I definitely have several tens of thousands of more hours of jackass watching. Yeah, definitely. Than you do. So I've been conditioned to basically be okay with all of it at this point. Because I'm like, what? What more are you guys gonna do? Wow. Now I just see it because it's in like full view.

SPEAKER_06 51:58

Yep. And just warning this movie features swanging dongs, buttholes, vomiting.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

Yeah, piles of shit, various states of shit, severe head trauma. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 52:23

And honestly, a lot of creativity.

SPEAKER_02 52:26

So a lot of laughter. A lot of laughter.

SPEAKER_06 52:30

Yeah. It was something else. And you know what? Everyone in the movie makes fun of Johnny Knoxville saying, You said the last movie was the last movie. If they make another one, man, I am there for screening day of the stuff. Yeah, because it's gonna pay for that man's funeral. Ah, true. Oh no, that poor man.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

I don't think he can survive another one. I mean, it only takes one bad slip-up when you're trying to kick a dude in the nuts where you end up kicking him in the head instead. I'm just saying, on a jackass set, I could see that happening. So I don't think they're gonna chance it, dude.

SPEAKER_06 53:11

Yeah. Oh, one bone to pick. The one female cast member didn't have a single stunt. She was just watching to the point where we're like, why is she just watching? Is she not in the cast?

SPEAKER_02 53:23

Yeah, I forgot she was in the last one. I think that might have been the one that I didn't see. Or two.

SPEAKER_06 53:29

Closing out our jackass discussion. I am seriously docking a half a point from both of my scores because of the shit.

SPEAKER_03 53:38

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_06 53:39

I am. I feel strongly about it.

SPEAKER_03 53:41

That's okay.

SPEAKER_06 53:42

But so for enjoyment, I gave it a four, but I enjoyed it a 4.5. Okay. I'm just except for that moment. It was a really long segment, guys. So much longer. Because you think, what's the joke there? You see it and then it's done. But yeah, I could hear from the sounds, yeah, and then the people around me that some wild things were happening. And for quality, I would have given it a four, but I deducted 0.5, so I gave it a 3.5. But I think that's pretty damn good for not quite documentary, not narrative compilation.

SPEAKER_02 54:23

I assume that you, like other people who didn't watch Jackass regularly, were just aware of it as a phenomenon. Like if you're not really somebody who watches Jackass, and especially haven't like followed it as it's progressed throughout the years, you probably don't really have context as far as how disgusting it can get.

SPEAKER_04 54:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

But there's one thing that I do want to mention that I did think about that was related to that. And what it is is the look of disgust on their face as older men now is completely different than it was when they were younger. Because younger, I think it was just like, oh, this is nasty. Let's get it over with. But now that they're older, and at least a few of them have probably done some acting or some type of work that doesn't require them to put themselves in the positions anymore.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Yeah. Going back to it, you can kind of see it in their faces. They're kind of like, What am I doing? I don't need to do this anymore.

SPEAKER_06 55:25

Why they're so guys, or at least some of them are, you know.

SPEAKER_02 55:29

I think that was probably one of the most amusing aspects of it, as somebody who has been a long time follower of the guys.

SPEAKER_05 55:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:40

Yeah. Probably just ended that then. Thanks. But yeah, it was quite an experience and definitely an interesting movie to rate.

SPEAKER_06 55:51

Yeah, and definitely see it in the theater, man. Ooh. It's wild.

SPEAKER_01 55:55

It was a good time with the thing.

SPEAKER_06 55:56

Although there's things you don't want to see that large on a screen. So just again, close your eyes and then cover your face with your arms. It works like a charm.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

Uh, funny.

SPEAKER_06 56:08

All right, onwards.

*Bonus* EARLY Movie Review: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

SPEAKER_06 56:12

It's not over. Stop it. No, no more butt rock. I'm so sick of the butt rock. However, the butt rock is justified because of the way it ties into our next movie: A Gale Doctory and the Celebrity Sex Pass. This one is definitely just destined to be a cult classic, okay? It's directed by David Wayne, the guy who basically wrote the book on this kind of unhinged studio comedy. He's probably best known for Wet Hot American Summer. And he co-wrote with his longtime collaborator Ken Marino, who is also a fellow former state member. It stars, oh my God, such a good cast. And because I love them all, I'm just gonna tell you a bunch of names, okay? So you got uh Zoe Deutsch as Gail with John Ham, uh John Flattery, Miles Pete is Riley, Ben DeWong, Hobie Windham, Richard Kind, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lotrulio, Weird Al, Pen Gillette, and Carrie Kenny. And yeah, they're amazing. And the movie follows Gail Dottree, a small town Kansas hairdresser, two weeks out from her wedding. Then her fiance actually cashes in on the celebrity sex pass that the two of them had jokingly agreed to, sleeping with his pick the moment he gets the chance. Reeling from the betrayal, Gail heads to Los Angeles, determined to even the score by tracking down her own pass, John Hamm. Along the way, she picks up a ragtag entourage, a talent agency assistant, a washed up paparazzo, and an out-of-work John Slattery, while dodging a group of Italian mobsters, hunting them down the whole time. It was a lot. What did you think, Sush?

SPEAKER_02 58:10

Well, first of all, I would say that Gail's situation is unfortunately unlike the band Dotries situation as described in the lyrics home, which if you forget, or I'm going home.

SPEAKER_00 58:28

Oh god. Back to the place where I belong. Oh god. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 58:36

But for Gail, that's the opposite.

SPEAKER_03 58:39

Oh. Very insane.

SPEAKER_02 58:41

Yeah, so it does also tie in.

SPEAKER_03 58:43

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 58:45

But literally, other than that, I don't have very much to say. Correct me if you feel differently, but I'm pretty reassured that this was just one of those movies that we knew we couldn't pass up. It had a wild enough title and premise. Strangely diverse cast of new and longtime names in TV and film. Oh, yeah. It fit enough ridiculous, funny shit within the little over two-minute trailer that we kind of had to see it after literally only seeing the trailer once. I honestly didn't even catch or look into who directed or wrote this. I was just sold on what I mentioned before and just how insane the trailer was. And I think that up because that was the only thing that I experienced connecting this movie leading up to actually seeing it in the theater. So hey, really short start for my review on this one. Seeing the movie, it was pretty much everything I expected from the trailer, but as I hoped, they still saved a lot of hilarious moments that weren't in the trailer for the movie itself. I mean, even a lot is kind of an understatement. But when I kind of looked into the writer-director team on this one, it made a lot of sense that it delivered the type of humor that it did. Even if I admittedly didn't recognize either of the guys by name alone.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:13

Ah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:14

But comedian David Wayne actually directed this. He's definitely worked on a bunch of stuff I've seen before, but role models is probably my favorite movie he's worked on.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:23

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:24

Also, Ken Marino co-wrote this with him. I'm personally most familiar with Merino from his roles on Brooklyn 99 and Adult Swim sitcom, Children's Hospital. Oh, right. So it was cool to discover that he actually directed several of the episodes of Children's Hospital in my research. Since I mostly knew him as a comedic actor. If you don't know the type of comedy Wayne and Marino are usually involved in, it's really difficult to describe this movie without spoiling the plot because this is really one of those movies where the plot is mostly taken up by this adventure of sorts that Gail and her friend go on. And it waste very little of the early runtime setting things up. With that said, I know Ashley and I both mentioned that we thought the humor in this movie really reminded us of the 2021 comedy Barb and Starr go to Vista del Mar.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:18

Oh my god, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:19

Uh with Kristen Wig and uh Annie Mamolo. Uh same sort of weird, seemingly innocent leads that just have this weird essence of Unhinged. Uh-huh. But by the time you kind of realize that, you're like treading, trying to stay afloat in this sun tsunami of off-the-wall shit that you were never expecting in the first. Hopefully that makes sense. But needless to say, this movie was right up our alley. As far as the cast goes, and uh just apologizing in advance, because I might at least hint at a given actor's degree of involvement or character. Uh yeah. I will make my best effort to not spoil any moments from the story.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:07

Zoe Du Witch, who played the lead character, Gail Daughtery. I didn't recognize her, but I found out I've actually seen a few movies that she's been in. Jur number two, which Ashley knows I kind of hated.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:21

Yeah, not for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:23

And Anniversary with Diane Lane and Dylan O'Brien, which we actually reviewed back in November of last year. Definitely starting to seem like one of those actors that do a great job playing characters with wildly different personalities. All you gotta do is pretty much just dye or style her hair differently. And then you got somebody completely different. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:45

So true.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:46

Miles Gutierrez Riley is auto, her best friend. He also works with, but they're actually friends, I think. Like this didn't seem like a work besties situation at all. But yeah, he was unexpectedly hilarious. Yes. Admittedly, another actor I didn't recognize, since apparently he was in Smile 2, which I really enjoyed. Yeah. Ben Wong is Caleb, a young agent that works at John Hamm's talent agency that ends up being in a good part of the movie. I obviously recognized them from Karate Kid Legends, which we saw on both enjoyed, but didn't end up reviewing on the podcast for some reason. His character in this movie is pretty much at the heart of the group.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:32

Yeah. John Slattery playing himself. Again, sorry for any potential spoileriness. Unexpectedly rounded out what I call our core group that took part in most of this journey. Beyond that, if you've seen the trailer, you know there's plenty of celebrity cameos. Most notable to me were Ken Marino, uh Thomas Lennon, Joel Latrulio, Fred Melamed, and obviously John Hamm. Again, can't really talk about them too much because I might potentially spoil stuff if I do. So while I know we compared the humor in this movie to Barb and Starr, as far as the design elements go, there's some similarities. The main characters of both movies are from a quaint small town. Yeah. So the design is kind of the same as far as the sets go for that type of stuff. But there's definitely crazy moments where there's a lot of physical comedy taking place and sets that emphasize or otherwise contribute to the chaos.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:34

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

But comparing the two, I'd say that this movie overall is a bit more grounded.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:44

Uh, I mean, there were some crazy visuals in Barb and Starr that were potentially hallucinations, if not wild visual representations of feelings or ideas. That kind of stuff isn't really as present in this movie, though it does try to leverage cinematography and sound in a similar manner. Uh aside from that, this movie is fairly grounded in reality, at least in its physical appearance. Uh-huh. So if there was any use of VLX or CG or anything like that, it was probably fairly minimal since I can't recall catching any use of it. So going down to my ratings, I gave this a four for enjoyment and a four for quality. Nice. I was going to give this movie a higher score, but considering the reasons for giving high scores and both enjoyment and quality for this movie, were kind of in lying with the reasons. I rated stop that train so high and less podcast. Basically, the steady onslaught of hilarious moments, the cameo appearances, those contributing to enjoyment, and uh the overall self awareness that this is. A big studio film and knowing when to lean into the low budget aspect to enhance rather than take away from the movie. And given that I did enjoy that movie and felt it was higher quality than this movie was, I had to basically lower each score by half a point. Oh. So that's how I got to that four for each one. But yeah, I really enjoyed this movie because it was a great fit as far as the humor. And it's almost fun seeing some actors that at least seem like they usually gravitate towards more serious roles appearing in a movie like this. True. Yeah. Anything from a cameo to a major character part. And yeah, like I was saying before, even though this isn't a big budget studio film, at no point during this movie did I feel like anything looked bad nor cheap. Uh-huh. But there were some moments where either the cinematography or some kind of visual aspect of the shot seemed low budget, like in a student film kind of way, if that makes any sense. So, like I respond to most of those kinds of situations when it comes to movies and shows. If it feels like it goes with the rest of what the movie or show is doing, then it actually kind of reinforces those aspects, which I definitely consider a qualitative win. So as far as recommendations go, only because I know Ashley might already be planning to recommend Barb and Star, I'm gonna go for another movie that, like this movie, features celebrities appearing as themselves in crazy situations. And that is This Is the End.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:37

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:38

The 2007 Apocalypse comedy from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. There's a ton of cameos from actors and comedians in this movie, too. Off the top of my head, Danny McBride, Michael Serra as a douchebag version of himself, Greg Robinson, and even names like Emma Watson and Rihanna.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:59

Oh my gosh, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:00

Yeah, it's definitely a good time, especially if you like stunter comedies. So check that one out. But yeah, Ashley, what did you think about uh Gail Daughtery and the Celebrity Sex Pass?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:10

Oh man. Okay. I'm gonna say the full name because it's kind of fun to say.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:16

But Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is genuinely one of the hardest movies I've had to review. And not because it's complicated, but because it completely refuses to play by any roles. Yeah. About 20 minutes in, I realized I needed to stop trying to predict the jokes. Every time I thought, okay, I know where this scene's going, then the movie like swerved somewhere completely different. And after a while, I just gave up trying to stay ahead of it. And that's honestly when it became even funnier. If you've seen David Wayne's work before, you'll recognize that energy immediately. I think the best way I can describe it is he makes movies with like sketch comedy logic instead of logic. Most comedies start with a story and build jokes into it. This feels like David Wayne started with what's the funniest, craziest possible thing that could happen right now, and then kind of work backwards from there. And the result is a movie that doesn't just ignore reality, it ignores movie reality too. It constantly teaches you to stop anticipating the punchline because it's almost never interested in the obvious joke.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:31

And the movie Man, it leans into familiar character types right away. All right. You've got the impossibly wholesome couple from Kansas, the supportive best friend, the Hollywood assistant, the celebrities. You immediately think you know these two people and how they're gonna behave. And that's that's the setup. The joke is that they almost never do. And it's not that they just surprise you once. The movie keeps changing the rules. Every time you think he found its rhythm, it makes another choice that feels like it wandered in from a completely different movie. And eventually, yeah, you just have to enjoy it and expect silly nonsense. What's impressive is that despite all the chaos, it never feels random. Everything comes together really seamlessly, despite all the madness. The movie always feels like it's moving forward, even when every individual scene seems determined to surprise and confuse you, or at least that's how I felt.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:32

But I think the most important thing here is the cast. None of this works if the cast isn't just completely committed. And they definitely are. A few that really stood out to me. Oh man, John Slattery playing a version of himself is almost the funniest performance I've seen in a long time. He's just so willing to make himself look ridiculous.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:55

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:56

And then, oh man, Toby Windham is, I think, the MVP. He plays John Ham's assistant with this completely straight-faced sincerity while saying truly the most insane things imaginable. And that just makes it even funnier. Ben Wong has this amazing, sort of naive energy. Tom Lennon is out of control. Honestly, the supporting cast really steals the movie. Yeah. And nobody's worried about protecting their image or looking cool because they all look insane. Everyone is 100% committed. You just feel like they must have laughed so hard their faces hurt making this movie. Oh, yeah. It is just so silly. I also have a feeling it's one of those comedies that's going to get better on repeat viewings. Because there were multiple times that I missed jokes because I was still laughing at the previous joke. And I already want to watch it again, but definitely with subtitles so I can catch everything I missed. More than anything, though, I just walked out realizing how refreshing the movie felt. Not because it's saying something profound, because uh it's not, it's barely saying anything, but because it's not trying to be anything other than incredibly funny. It just exists in a weird little universe where the biggest problems imaginable are completely ridiculous. And for 90-ish minutes, I think it's just kind of a relief, you know. I just love going to a theater, forgetting your problems, and just feeling like you're in another universe of weirdness. And that's what this was. So if you're willing to let go of trying to predict what's coming next and just surrender to I I guess I would call it David Wayne logic, then I think you're gonna have a good time. And then for scores, yo, I gave the same to you fours. So for enjoyment, again, I was going back and forth between four and four and a half. And uh truthfully, I don't know why I went with four, it just felt like a four to me, more like a four plus, a four point two five.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:09

Well, regardless, the quality entertainment award right there. Oh, that's right. I mean, honestly, I think really the only downside of it is that the title of this movie reminded us of the existence of uh butt rock band Daughtery.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:26

So oh, maybe that's why I deducted some some you know. It could be, yeah. Because I don't want to hear that song again. But uh knowing your penchant for impressions, I think it's gonna be a fixture around the house this week.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:42

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:43

But yeah, definitely see it, guys. It's getting a release, but it's not the biggest movie this weekend, but it's a fun one.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:51

If you can't find it around you, just keep it on your list and then check it out when it comes to streaming or something.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:57

Yeah, because you're gonna want to watch this more than once. You're gonna want to dress up as these characters, it's great.

What We're Watching Next

SPEAKER_02 1:14:07

Sorry, since we're on the butt rack tip this week. Uh figured I'd go in that way, but yeah, what are we watching next?

SPEAKER_06 1:14:15

Well, since Fourth of July holiday falls and the the weekend this year, it seems like the studios decided to play it safe with more family-oriented movies. So while I'm sure all of you out there are immensely disappointed, we will not be reviewing Minions and Monsters, nor Young Washington.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:35

Hey, I don't know if I told you, but I low key think minions might be racist. Not really, but yeah. Still not gonna see that for the other movie. But since that's the case, it is officially the summer, and in years past, studios actually put out some of their most expensive and ambitious movies around this time of year. Indeed. We're gonna follow through with what we originally planned for this week's podcast, which is a discussion of our top summer blockbusters.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:05

Yes. Now, truth be told, we're still hashing out some details, but you can bet that we will be referencing a list of summer blockbusters that topped box office earnings when they premiered. So given that movies that make a lot of money don't necessarily ensure acclaim or success as far as other aspects of movies go. Expect to hear some picks that might just make the list because of their um unique qualities.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:34

Yeah. I just hope you guys like when we dunk on movies because I have a feeling that's gonna be some of that, at least for me. Oh, and how could I almost forget? Silo is back this weekend. So I'll be back on TV duty too.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:51

Oh my god, I love Rebecca Ferguson. I cannot wait. So, yeah, that's what we'll be watching next, and we hope you tune in. Thank

Outro

SPEAKER_06 1:16:02

you so much for listening, guys. We really, really appreciate taking the time. Hope you have an excellent 4th of July weekend. Don't get hit by fireworks, okay? They're everywhere, they're dangerous.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:12

Definitely don't do any jackass things. Don't do it. Instead of doing that, you should subscribe, rate, and review us positively. Like how I gotta believe that at least one of the guys from Jackass's hepatitis C test results came back at some point.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:32

Oh god.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:35

But yeah, follow us on social media, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook as well. Other than that, thank you again, and we'll catch you guys next week.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:46

Have a fun week. Goodbye.