One Battle After Another (2025) / Green River Wheated Full Proof Bourbon

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In 2025, director Paul Thomas
Anderson and star Leonardo

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DiCaprio gave the world an
explosively dark comedy that

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struggles to balance drama with
absurdism.

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Oh, in 2026 we try a whiskey
that might have us asking for

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one bottle after another.
I I like that, Bob.

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That's good.
Thanks so much.

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Thank you.
The film is 1 battle after

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another.
The whiskey is Green River

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weeded foolproof bourbon.
And we'll review them both.

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This is the Film and Whiskey
podcast.

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Welcome to the Film and Whiskey
podcast, where each week we

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review a classic movie and a
glass of whiskey.

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I'm Bob Book.
I'm Brad Gee.

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Brad, do you look like you're
you're still waking up here,

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man.
It's 12:00.

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What are we doing?
It's.

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It sure is.
It's just itch on my eye, Bob.

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That's all right, it's all
right.

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You know, we're rolling, we're
going live, and we're doing

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something different today.
Folks.

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Welcome into film and Whiskey.
By the way, if this is your

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first time joining us, we
typically don't talk about

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movies as recent as Paul Thomas
Anderson's 2025 film 1 Battle

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After Another.
We're usually looking at classic

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movies from bygone eras and
reviewing those.

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However, this season of the
podcast, we've gone back and

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we've reviewed every movie we
did way back in season #1 with

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the exception of two films,
because we had already revisited

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both of those films already, and
we figured that a third time

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might not be the charm to talk
about Goodfellas and whatever

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the other one was, Brad.
So we said, hey, we're going to

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have two open spots at the end
of the season.

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It's going to be right around
Oscar time.

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What if we take the two leading
contenders for Best Picture and

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talk about those movies instead?
And so this week we're talking

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about 1 battle after another,
which is by all accounts the

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front runner for Best Picture.
But next week we're talking

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about Ryan Coogler's
record-breaking nominated film

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Sinners, which is by far the
biggest contender with One

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Battle after Another.
So stick around for these two

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weeks because we're talking
about movies that are very, very

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fresh, that haven't really had
time to marinate not just with

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us, but within the culture.
Brad, I think you know, for the

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most part in the past we've
tried to stick to about a five

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year gap between the movie's
release and the time we've

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talked about it and other have
been exceptions for Cruise

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misses.
I know we've done Oppenheimer

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and the Holdovers and past
lives, but for the most part we

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try to put a little bit of
distance between US and the film

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chronologically.
Yeah, yeah.

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And and it works because we have
a chance to let it sit.

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It sits in the cultural
consciousness.

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And then, you know, we just come
in swing right in there and and

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give our to be honest with you,
Bob, the best opinion you'll

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ever find on any movie.
So.

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Well, you know, they say the way
to get the most clicks on your

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website and downloads on your
podcast is to wait five years

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after the movie's released.
You know, because culture

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doesn't like to know what a
current movie is like.

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They want to know what that
movie from 5 years ago.

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It's right, Brad, and that's why
we're so successful, folks.

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That's the key, the recipe to
our success.

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The the key would because
there's that like 25 year

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nostalgia window that like seems
like every fifth year you're

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jumping 25 years back.
And that's like the thing they

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make ATV show about.
So we really should be focused

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right now on like that early
2000s, which we kind of did.

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We recently released a 25th
anniversary episode about Lord

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of the Rings.
So do you want your nostalgia

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fix?
Go back and listen to that.

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Go listen to the Lord of the
Rings.

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I do like the kind of five year
rule, Brad, because it allows us

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to get like some things just out
of the way really quickly.

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So like when we did Green book,
especially for this revisit,

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it's like, look, everyone
acknowledges this movie

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shouldn't have won best picture.
Do we need to throw the baby out

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with the bathwater?
And I feel I feel like it

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allowed us to deal with the
movie on its own terms and to

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grapple with the kind of like,
you know, Cinderella esque

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racial tension in that movie
where it's like, is this really

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how racism gets solved or is
this a Hollywood thing?

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And because we didn't have to
have the conversation about the

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best picture of it all, it
actually allowed us to

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appreciate things about the
movie and to be a little more

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honest about its flaws, which
we're going to try to have to do

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that today with one battle after
another.

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A movie that has not yet allowed
the public to come all the way

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back around on it.
Like this movie.

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When it was released in late
2025, it was, I think, the best

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reviewed movie by most metrics
of this decade so far.

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The hype train was absolutely
off the charts for this movie.

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I went and saw it in the
theater.

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I'll very quickly tell you that
I was not on this movie's

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wavelength the first time I saw
it and I am, I feel very alone

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and very on an island about that
because like I said, universal

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acclaim for this movie.
So of course I have to be the

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contrarian and I never like
being the guy that's like this

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movie sucks because if someone
enjoys something like good for

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you.
I wish I enjoyed this movie

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more.
I go see this movie at like a

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10:30 PM showing.
I get out of the theater at like

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1:00 in the morning.
I'm driving home on this Country

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Rd. and there is a dead deer in
the middle of this road that,

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like, the construction on the
road has narrowed it down to one

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lane.
I'm going around a curve and

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there's a deer and I have no
choice but to run over this

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small deer that's already dead
in the middle of the road.

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It screwed up my whole, the
whole bottom part of my car.

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And then, you know, within a
month, I have to get a new car.

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So I blame this movie not just
for being a let down for me, but

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for having, but for totalling my
car, essentially.

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Brad.
Yeah.

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So I mean, if that's not coming.
No, I come into this rewatch

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with this movie's got to prove a
lot to me, to improve in my

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estimation, 'cause now Paul
Thomas Anderson owes me a

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vehicle.
Yeah.

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That, that's how I I take it to
be.

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I think, I think legally as well
that, yeah.

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I believe the law's on my side
in this one.

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That feels like an Old
Testament, like if your bull

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gores your neighbors and you owe
him restitution.

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I think Paul Thomas Anderson
owes you restitution, Bob.

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I agree with that.
All right, Brad, you have just

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seen this movie for the first
time.

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Now I know that there will be a
lot of folks out there that are

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going to be a little bit myth
that you did not go see this in

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the cinema but you saw it on the
small screen.

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I will say gorgeous
cinematography in this movie.

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And I think that one good sign
of a well shot movie is that it

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does translate to a smaller
screen, whether you're watching

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it on ATV at home or you
probably watched it, you know,

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on your computer monitor.
Brad, it's it's big enough,

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right?
At least it's not a phone.

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It's TV sized.
And I think that the movie in

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terms of the way it's shot, the
compositions, the sound design,

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that all translated to this
viewing where I streamed it as

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well.
So I think points in the

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transferability column for this
movie.

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But we want to hear Brad.
We're all waiting with bated

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breath what you thought of this
movie, and in order to do that,

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we have to explain what the
movie's about, and that means

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it's time for our first segment
of the day, which we call Brad

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explains.
Brad's going to give us the

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movie plots with only 60 seconds
taken on the clock, so let's go

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ahead and do your take with this
little segment that we call,

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Brad explains.
Brad Explains is the part of the

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show where Brad breaks down the
plot of the movie that he has

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just seen, often for the first
time.

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I believe this is the first time
this season we've been able to

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actually say this is a first
time watch for Brad G.

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It absolutely is a first time
watch.

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It's kind of nice to be back to
a new movie.

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I like, I've deeply enjoyed
going back to season 1 movies.

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It's been an absolute blast.
I was kind of excited I, you

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know, popped onto HBO Max and
was like, all right, let's do

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this.
We're watching a new movie.

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You know, I do feel like it has
been kind of a crutch for you

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this season that you already
knew what all these movies were

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about.
It really improved the quality

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of, Brad explains.
But the chaos factor has gone

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way down and I missed the
chaotic, Brad explains.

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Trust me when I say this is
going to be a chaotic, Brad

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explains.
All right, Brad, I'm actually

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really eager to hear your
thoughts on this movie because

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there's a lot of directions we
can go.

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Usually you tip your hand a
little bit with how you or what

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you decide to include in your
summary of the film, so you have

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60 seconds on the clock.
This summary is just going to be

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me reading off names from the
movie just as you jungle

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Pussycat perfidia Beverly Hills.
Folks, here's the thing, Brad

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explains.
It's going to be full of

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spoilers.
It always is.

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So if you don't want this movie
spoiled for you, it is now

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streaming.
You can rent it across a number

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of platforms or it's streaming,
you know, for free on HBO Max.

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Please go watch this movie.
It's likely going to win Best

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Picture 2 1/2 hours.
It's a long movie.

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Come back and join us for the
rest of the episode.

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But Brad, the task before you is
to spoil this movie in 60

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seconds or less and go.
One Battle After Another is a

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film that follows the members of
a revolutionary group called the

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French 75 who make it their goal
to attack ICE customs and

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enforcement officers and free
and allow immigrants to come in

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seemingly from Mexico into the
US.

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The 1st 45 minutes of the film
follows them on a revolutionary

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mission where the main character
Perfidia Beverly Hills comes in

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contact with a Colonel Lockjaw
of the military forces.

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They have a weird sexual
encounter and he gets her

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pregnant.
Fast forward 16 years later, she

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has been put away and escapes
from from confinement.

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What's witness protection?
Because she sold out her crew

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and she's gone.
You never see her again.

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The rest of the film follows
Leonardo DiCaprio who thinks

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that he is the father of
Perfidious child who is 16 years

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old and named Willa.
She is captured by Stephen

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Lockjaw because he is trying to
make his way into a racist white

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people club and trying to erase
the reality that this was his

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mixed race daughter and chaos
ensues.

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Leonardo DiCaprio is wildly
hilarious and I think, I think

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that's it.
I think that's it.

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That's a good start.
Brad is that is that, is that a

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good start?
Listen, I will commend you first

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of all.
Because that was that was pretty

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good.
That was pretty good and it was

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a very neutral and and what I'm
most interested to hear from you

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today, because Brad, you are the
resident, you know, right wing

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Alex Jones, loving conspiracy
theorist, worshipper of the

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rights on this podcast, right,
That that's a good explanation

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of of where you are.
That is me to a tee.

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I don't have any thoughts on my
own.

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I only follow what, Alex Jones
and Nick Fuentes and all that.

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I'm just like.
And I, I am a straight up

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communist who worships at the
altar of people like, you know,

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Rachel Maddow, let's just say,
you know, so that and Carl Marx

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and Carl, well, I mean, of
course that goes without saying.

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So you are a little bit more
right leaning than I am.

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And right before we pressed
record, you said like, I think

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this might be the most left wing
movie we've ever done on the

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podcast, which is saying
something because there's a lot

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of them and we've done quite a
few of them on the podcast as.

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Well, you tell me a movie that's
more overtly left wing.

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Well, see, here's The thing is
that, and I think that like,

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this is a good jumping off point
because I want to talk about

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like what we think the movie's
trying to do because our ability

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00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,200
to articulate that I think will
also tip our hand as to whether

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we think the movie works or not.
So this movie is based on a

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00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,360
novel called Vineland by Thomas
Pynchon.

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00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,400
And Thomas Pynchon is a very
lauded novelist who likes to

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write, you know, semi absurd,
humorous novels.

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00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,520
And this is the second time Paul
Thomas Anderson has adapted

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00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,440
Pynchon for the the screen, the
first time being his movie

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00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:38,080
Inherent Vice, which is probably
his most divisive movie.

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And a lot of people would say
it's his worst movie.

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I find it to be his worst movie.
It really rambles.

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00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,400
It's also 2 1/2 hours long.
But you get kind of similar

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00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,640
things where like there is a
level of like slapstick humor,

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00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,520
like Joaquin Phoenix is high all
the time and kind of like doing

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00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,920
pratfalls.
Same thing you get with Leonardo

239
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,680
DiCaprio here.
I think that movie is pitched a

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00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:01,080
little bit more absurd than this
one is.

241
00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,760
But you have all those kind of
classic traits of like absurdist

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00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,720
names like Lockjaw and Toe Jam
and things like that.

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00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:12,720
That's also in Inherent Vice.
What I really want to try to get

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00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,040
to the bottom of here, Brad, is
that I don't think you or I has

245
00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:16,720
ever actually read a pension
novel.

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00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,240
So we're here only experiencing
that through the lens of Paul

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00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,040
Thomas Anderson.
And the novel Vineland is set in

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00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,840
a different time period.
I think it's set in the 1970s.

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00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,680
So he modernizes it, adapts it
to what he sees going on in the

250
00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,560
country today and kind of makes
it his own thing, but tries to

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00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:39,560
carry over some of that
satirical absurdist humor as

252
00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,960
well.
Do you think that that is, have

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00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,440
I captured what we think he's
trying to do with this movie?

254
00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,960
I would say so.
It seems it seems like he's

255
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:55,920
trying to capture the cultural
moment in a way that uses

256
00:13:55,920 --> 00:14:00,800
absurdity to call out the
ridiculousness of what he sees

257
00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,440
to be negative things going on
in our culture.

258
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,200
Is that fair?
Yeah, I think so.

259
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,680
And I, you know, this time
around, I really did notice that

260
00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,200
while the majority of the
absurdism is directed towards

261
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,600
these kind of like hard right
figures and or, you know,

262
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,080
military structures, there
definitely is also this sense of

263
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:27,720
like, OK, if if Dicaprio's
character Bob is Paul Thomas

264
00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,280
Anderson's muse in this movie,
then there also is that sort of

265
00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,440
like, what the hell are the kids
doing?

266
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,800
I don't understand these kids.
Is that a he or a she or a they?

267
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,080
And then also like, you know,
the new revolutionaries that are

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00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,920
coming up underneath DiCaprio.
He's like, at one point he's

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00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,040
talking to the guy on the phone
and he hangs up and he's just

270
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,080
like you liberal prick.
And he hangs the phone up.

271
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,760
So there's also this sense of
like, I have a deep hatred for

272
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,400
what the left has become as
well.

273
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,320
And I find that really
fascinating.

274
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,160
Now, again, there's a million
directions we can go in.

275
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,520
Brad, I think I want to start
with just the simple question of

276
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,760
whatever the tone of the movie
that you think Paul Thomas

277
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:11,960
Anderson is going for, how like
what percentage did it actually

278
00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:19,960
succeed at that?
I found myself really struggling

279
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,800
with the 1st 45 minutes of this
movie 'cause it's played dead

280
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,960
serious like.
But besides the fact that these

281
00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,760
characters have ridiculous
names, which somewhat makes

282
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,480
sense, like you can tell that
these are pseudonyms.

283
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,880
They're not their real names,
they're revolutionaries.

284
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,200
Have that have taken on these
personas?

285
00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,320
Go ahead.
Can you set the stage for like

286
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,800
what is the 1st 45 minutes?
Yeah.

287
00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:46,920
So the first 45 minutes I
struggled a little bit because

288
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,760
they make it seem like it's set
in the 1970s, but then they're

289
00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,000
also using smartphones and so it
is a little bit confusing.

290
00:15:55,240 --> 00:16:01,640
It seems like it's set in 2008
to 2010 area where we have some

291
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,680
early smartphones but there's
still a lot of more just more

292
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:11,840
analog nature to life and the
whole 1st 45 minutes is the

293
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:18,000
French 75 revolutionaries waging
war on capitalist America.

294
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:23,720
They are freeing immigrants that
are being held by American

295
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,280
forces.
They capture that.

296
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,600
I mean, the key scene is when
she captures Stephen Lockjaw,

297
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:35,720
the Colonel, and like forces him
into like sexual humiliation and

298
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,760
he likes it.
And then I, this was something,

299
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,920
this is something that I
struggled with throughout the

300
00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,440
movie is that there's no
subtlety to this movie.

301
00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,080
This is like the the least
subtle movie I've ever seen.

302
00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,240
And the first note I took on
Lack of subtlety is like Stephen

303
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,040
Lockjaw, like walks Sean Penn,
played by Sean Penn.

304
00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,800
He walks funny and it almost
looks like he has a stick up his

305
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,480
butt because he likes a stick up
his butt.

306
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,079
He sure does.
He sure does.

307
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,839
But that's the first 45 minutes,
and it all ends poorly.

308
00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,599
When a bank robbery goes wrong,
Perfidia gets captured.

309
00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:16,680
She sells out her revolutionary
friends, she becomes a rat.

310
00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:19,800
And then as soon as she's set up
with her witness protection, she

311
00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,560
pieces out.
It disappears to South America,

312
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:25,640
I think.
Yeah, we don't know.

313
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:27,200
Where is?
Is that what you're looking for?

314
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,280
Yeah, yeah.
And I think that's helpful

315
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:31,640
because there is such a big time
jump in the movie.

316
00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,840
One thing that I struggled with
is throughout the movie, they

317
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,080
really play around with the
timelines.

318
00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,520
And because like the timelines
are just happening across a

319
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,840
couple days in the back half of
the movie, it's not that big of

320
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,600
a deal.
But there will be like, there's

321
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,280
this one moment late in the
movie where Dicaprio's character

322
00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,640
gets arrested, He gets tased and
arrested.

323
00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,960
And then they cut away to what's
happening with his daughter, who

324
00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:57,920
is being taken to like a safe
haven.

325
00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,560
And you kind of stay with her
for a day or two.

326
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,760
And then they cut back to
DiCaprio getting put in the

327
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:05,800
cruiser a couple nights before
that.

328
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,040
So you're, you're kind of
constantly aware of the fact

329
00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,640
that like we're jumping around
in time as it suits the story.

330
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,080
Where I struggle with.
Where I struggle with that is

331
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,840
that in the prologue towards the
end where like Sean Penn's

332
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,080
character has like fallen madly
in love with Perfidia 'cause he

333
00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,800
just attracted to her like raw
whatever sex appeal.

334
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,760
He drives his truck over to her
house and he gets out of the

335
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:34,800
truck and it's like a very
modern truck, like it's a 2020

336
00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,440
truck.
And then they show her escaping

337
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,320
and she puts on AT shirt and the
font on it.

338
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,520
I can't remember.
It was something that was

339
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,040
popular a couple years ago that
said like such and such club.

340
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,000
It was a thing from like 2022.
So I don't understand if they're

341
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,480
just like not paying attention
to the details of these scenes

342
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,840
or if we're supposed to
understand that she's been in

343
00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,040
witness protection for years and
years and is just now escaping.

344
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:02,400
I like there are things that
seem a little bit sloppy and

345
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,480
unexplained for a movie.
To your point, that just does

346
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,160
not concern itself with being
subtle in any other area.

347
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,080
Yeah, it what, what's it called?
You have like a person on set

348
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,960
that makes sure of like
continuum.

349
00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,760
Is that the word?
Yeah, yeah.

350
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,800
Like continuity, Yeah.
Continuity, thank you.

351
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,240
That like, I know that that is
like with a scene to make sure

352
00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,920
the person's seated the right
way when you reshoot the next

353
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,000
take, but like it feels like
they needed somebody like that

354
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,200
to be like, hey, this doesn't
make sense for 2008.

355
00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,240
Like 'cause I had the same
thought and I, and that's what

356
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,200
felt so confusing about the 16
year time jump that I was like,

357
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,640
wait, I thought this was like 30
or 40 years ago, but maybe it

358
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,840
wasn't because she had a
smartphone and I guess that

359
00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:49,560
would put him in this time
period.

360
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,840
But there was just stuff that
and it's, it's little things

361
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,200
like that that, you know, a lot
of people would be like, well,

362
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:56,640
why do you care?
It's you know, it's just

363
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:57,840
artistic and he's doing his
thing.

364
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,200
It's like within the world of
the movie.

365
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,400
I do want there to be some logic
to it.

366
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,560
That is such that I don't have
to worry about it, that I, the

367
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,680
viewer, don't have to be taken
out of the experience to go,

368
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,320
wait a second.
I thought this was set in this

369
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,200
year, but now they're in that
year and and it just takes you

370
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,440
out of the movie a little bit.
Yeah, so like returning to the

371
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,400
bigger question, 'cause, you
know, I said, like, what

372
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,360
percentage does the tone that
we're going for work?

373
00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,080
And the first thing you said was
like, I struggle with that first

374
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,480
part of the movie.
So that tells me that something

375
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:32,680
about the second part of the
movie must have worked a little

376
00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,680
bit better for you.
Yeah, I think once you do the

377
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,680
time jump and you have pothead
Leo who doesn't remember all of

378
00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,840
his revolutionary stuff from
there on out, I think the movie

379
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,280
works like gangbusters.
And I actually think that the

380
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,280
movie works better if you
completely cut out that first 45

381
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,440
minutes.
I think you just, you just add

382
00:20:54,440 --> 00:21:02,920
like like a 5 minute Leo telling
his daughter his version that he

383
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,040
wants her to believe of what
happened.

384
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,640
And it's like a pothead
flashback.

385
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:10,280
You kind of see things but you
kind of don't.

386
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,960
And it's 5 minutes And then
throughout the rest of the movie

387
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,920
you are finding out with Willa,
his daughter, the truth of what

388
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,360
happened back then.
I think that makes for a way

389
00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:25,160
more fascinating movie about a
young daughter trying to figure

390
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,160
out her past, her inheritance,
who she is and how she can

391
00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:30,840
connect with her father over
this.

392
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,560
It makes the revelation of
Lockjaw as her.

393
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,520
As her dad way.
Different I, I, that's, that was

394
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,160
my big take away.
Just the structure of the film.

395
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,320
I think you cut out those first
45 minutes and a, you get a much

396
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,480
cleaner film.
It's not 2 hours and 40 minutes

397
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:53,640
long.
And B, it gives you way more of

398
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,480
a perspective from Willa and it
makes her much more of the main

399
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,800
character than Leo.
And I think that that would

400
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,840
actually work better.
And I know better than Paul

401
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,000
Thomas Anderson so well.
Of course, I mean, you guys have

402
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,040
won the same number of best
director Oscars, so hey, you're

403
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:15,280
on equal footing.
Bro that was wow the dude PTA

404
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,440
fanboys are going to be coming
after you.

405
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,520
I mean, not if he wins this
year.

406
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,560
It's in fact he hasn't won yet.
You know, what are you gonna do

407
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,120
now?
I will say I've been thinking a

408
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,880
lot about this too, because the
movie really wants to be on some

409
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:34,040
level this kind of like semi
absurd, semi satirical, funny,

410
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,680
dark comedy.
And I actually think that this

411
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,880
time around, now, I saw this in
the theater, dead silent.

412
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,000
Like, I just don't think anybody
in the theater was on this

413
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,840
movie's wavelength.
Watching it at home a second

414
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,640
time and knowing what, like,
what he's trying for, I think

415
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,920
was much more successful.
I laughed a lot during this

416
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,880
movie, and I thought most of the
comedy was really well done.

417
00:22:54,520 --> 00:23:00,560
It also is very successful at
like, raising dramatic stakes

418
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,960
and crafting, like very tense
sequences of like robberies and

419
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,720
terrorism.
And, you know, the chase scene

420
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,680
at the end of the movie, there's
no jokes happening in that

421
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,760
stretch of the movie.
Like, it really is just a a

422
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,800
really good action scene.
It's the melding of those two

423
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,440
together or the lack of melding
and the sort of juxtaposition

424
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,120
from scene to scene, from moment
to moment of like, here's a guy

425
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:27,120
who's a buffoon and now he has
to be a concerned dad.

426
00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,160
And we're taking him very
seriously in his role as

427
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,000
concerned dad, not as buffoon.
And sometimes it just doesn't

428
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,440
quite land those beats to me.
And I've been thinking a lot

429
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,880
about like, what's the overall
theme?

430
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,920
What what are we actually going
for here because of that first

431
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,560
3545 minutes.
And I do think that Paul Thomas

432
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,280
Anderson is really making this
movie as a 50 something dad with

433
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,480
children who are about the age
of Willa.

434
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,280
And it's it's definitely a
commentary on getting older.

435
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,680
It's a commentary on being a
parent and not understanding the

436
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,560
world that your kids are coming
up in and, and feeling helpless

437
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,920
and like you don't have control
over that world anymore.

438
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,160
I think that all reads really,
really well.

439
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,880
And so if you look at it through
that lens, the first part of the

440
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,080
movie, I think it's about how
like when you're 25 years old,

441
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,680
everything you're doing is very
serious to you.

442
00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,520
Like we are changing the world
and like what we're doing is

443
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,040
revolutionary.
And then when you're 50 years

444
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,760
old, maybe that maybe you still
think that about your 25 year

445
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,720
old self.
Maybe you've changed in how you

446
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,400
look at your 25 year old self,
but there's a self-awareness in

447
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,440
the character in PTA by putting
this into the character of Bob

448
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,480
that like I'm kind of a loser
now.

449
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:45,520
Like Bob just sits around and
gets high and gets drunk and he

450
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,040
has like no meaning or purpose
to his life.

451
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,240
He doesn't engage with society
in any way.

452
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:55,200
And it's kind of a question of
like, what happens when you lose

453
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,880
your purpose as a middle-aged
person And that and through that

454
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,640
lens, I think the movie is
mostly successful even when it

455
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,080
doesn't navigate the tone
properly.

456
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:12,200
And I think like, this is kind
of jumping to my end point where

457
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,880
I landed with this movie.
I think that that right there is

458
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,240
why this movie is a failure.
I think he had such an

459
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:27,680
incredible chance to show that
the core of this movie is a man

460
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,920
who finds his purpose in being a
parent, in passing on his wisdom

461
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,440
to a new generation and being
active in his role in society so

462
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,320
that he can show his daughter
like, you know what?

463
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:43,880
There is something of value that
we can add to this society and

464
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,520
it doesn't have to involve us
enacting violence upon the

465
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,080
world.
And you see that at the end when

466
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,400
he when he finally finds her and
she comes out from behind the

467
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,360
sign and they're on the highway
together and he holds her.

468
00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:02,960
It's this beautiful moment of
like, this is the important

469
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,200
thing.
It's not all the destruction and

470
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:10,520
mayhem and chaos that the French
75 are causing upon the world or

471
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,400
these racist old white men are
causing upon the world.

472
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,080
It's the beauty of a familial
relationship.

473
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,320
And then he goes straight into,
he's back on the couch.

474
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,520
He's a pothead loser that just
smokes and drinks and can't

475
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,320
figure out how to take a selfie.
And she's the American girl who

476
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,480
is fighting the revolution and
continuing on what her mother

477
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,440
did for her.
And I was, I literally just sat

478
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,920
back and was like, you just
ruined your entire movie.

479
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,440
Like absolutely ruined the
entire movie for me because he

480
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:49,360
had a chance to point towards
something larger than the 1

481
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:52,120
battle after another narrative.
He had a chance to point to

482
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,800
something eternal and instead he
pointed back to like, Nope, you

483
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,680
just need to be in the moment
and fight the battle that you

484
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,440
see in front of you and it's
never going to end as a battle.

485
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,920
And and it just was such a
negative bull kind of ending to

486
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,960
the movie that I was like, oh
man.

487
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:12,800
Like I I thought he could nail
it.

488
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,720
I thought he was going to land
the plane and then it just.

489
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,000
That's interesting.
Yeah.

490
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,920
I mean, I actually, I think that
the the ending is kind of like

491
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,120
for Paul Thomas Anderson.
It's a very cheesy kind of

492
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:24,760
ending, right.
And even that needle drop of

493
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,680
American Girl, I'm like, really.
Like this is the most obvious

494
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,400
thing.
Like I said, it's not subtle, no

495
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,480
subtlety.
But then if you listen to what's

496
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,880
happening in that final scene,
you know, something comes over

497
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,440
the ham radio and it's like
something happened and there's

498
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,000
going to be a protest.
And they don't say like, we're

499
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,800
gonna go blow up a bank like
Perfidia did, you know?

500
00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,760
And I think so, like, they do
adapt and, and I think Leo has

501
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,360
realized that like that
revolution and even Perfidia

502
00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:53,960
says like, we failed at changing
the world through what we did.

503
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,720
Leo's just on the couch now.
He's like, I'm done with this

504
00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,280
revolution stuff.
And his daughter's like, I

505
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,840
actually want to fight what I
perceive to be the battle of

506
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,720
society right now, and I'm gonna
do that.

507
00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:08,000
It seems to be through
nonviolent means.

508
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,400
So I never had a problem with
that in particular.

509
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,360
But I think that we're pointing
at something here, which is

510
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,600
like, how is this movie actually
handling current events?

511
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,320
And it's hard to talk about it
without linking it to another

512
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,000
film that came out last year
called Eddington, which we

513
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,360
talked really briefly about on
this podcast.

514
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,600
Eddington is a movie by Ari
Astor who makes horror movies

515
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,920
for the most part.
And it gets even more kind of

516
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:37,760
absurdist in how it views
current events in the United

517
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,280
States and slightly less funny
and like less funny on the

518
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,640
surface, I think.
But they both are are trying to

519
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,480
portray current events through
this black comedy absurdist

520
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,200
lens.
I think because whether you're

521
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,480
on the right side of the aisle
or the left side of the aisle in

522
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,600
2026, I think we can all kind of
agree that over the last 10-15

523
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,000
years, America has kind of just
become a cartoon.

524
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,200
And it's really hard to talk
about like, what is going on

525
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:10,640
without trying to portray it in
the most absurd light because

526
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,920
reality now seems more absurd
than it did 20 years ago.

527
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,520
The problem is like, I don't
know if I can blame the movies

528
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,160
themselves or just like where we
are as a society, but you almost

529
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,640
need a more normal society and a
more absurd movie because

530
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,480
they're still too close together
in terms of the tone for me to

531
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,840
take it seriously as a satire.
You know what I mean?

532
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,880
Like, you and I were texting
about Doctor Strangelove the

533
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,960
other day.
And I think that like when I

534
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,520
think about a movie that is
making satire of current events,

535
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,920
I think about Doctor Strangelove
where it's it's about nuclear

536
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,960
weapons, but it's taking place
in this alternate America.

537
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,320
And yes, you do see like the
archetypes of the the George C

538
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,840
Scott character who's like.
What's his name?

539
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,920
Macho meathead guy.
And then you've got like the ex

540
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,280
Nazi Kissinger guy in the like.
There's definitely parallels,

541
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,400
but it's so much more absurd and
the names are even more absurd

542
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,000
than the pension names where the
president's name is Merkin

543
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,360
Muffley.
Like it's just because you get

544
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,760
it, the president's a pussy.
Brad, do you understand the

545
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,200
reference Like?
That's what we're saying here.

546
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,520
And I feel like this movie is
like just one tick less

547
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:30,440
satirical and I wish that it was
either not satirical at all or

548
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,800
just slightly more satirical
because the tone wobbles a

549
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,880
little bit.
Yeah, it, it does.

550
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:43,360
And I, I would say for me, when
the world starts to feel really

551
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:48,360
absurd, I think it's because as
a society, we've lost touch with

552
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:52,520
what we believe collectively
about like the eternal truths of

553
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,560
the world that we as a society,
even with all of our different

554
00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:01,400
viewpoints, are working with the
same set of like rules and

555
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,280
truths and stories that we're
telling about the world.

556
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,600
And so when the world becomes
really absurd, I think it's

557
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,560
because you have people who
believe very deeply different

558
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,520
things about the purpose of
humanity are living together in

559
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:19,320
close quarters, not that America
is close quarters.

560
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:24,280
And so I think a movie like this
just plays into that even more

561
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,760
where it's just like, yeah, life
is absurd and you just have to

562
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,160
fight the battle in front of
you.

563
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,720
And it's going to be just one
battle after another.

564
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,880
And and like he gives, he gives
away.

565
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,960
The end Reality of that is like,
Willa is going to be a 50 year

566
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:46,120
old someday laying on the couch
smoking pot, going, ah, man, we

567
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,960
didn't accomplish the revolution
that we thought we would.

568
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,160
And that like, there's this
weird obsession with young

569
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,440
people in the movie of like,
well, we old people screwed up

570
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,040
and we're just going to smoke
pot now.

571
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,240
And Perfidia has given up on her
dream of revolution.

572
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,760
And we're just going to let the
young people do it.

573
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,240
And we're going to kind of like
weirdly worship the young people

574
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,560
and be like, yeah, these young
people, they're going to figure

575
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:12,800
it out.
And I just, I just very deeply

576
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,520
feel like that's a bad vision of
the world.

577
00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,880
That's not a healthy vision of
the world to me.

578
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,320
The healthy vision is Leo at the
end of the movie, realizes the

579
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:28,840
cost of his decades of pot
smoking, beer drinking,

580
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,200
abdication of responsibility.
And he goes, you know what?

581
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:35,960
I'm going to take responsibility
for my life.

582
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:37,960
I'm going to take responsibility
for my daughter's life while

583
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,200
she's still in my home.
And we're going to do something

584
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,440
productive in the world.
And instead he just continues to

585
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,880
abdicate his responsibility
because life is absurd.

586
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,200
And we're just going to let the
children figure it out.

587
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,200
And that to me just.
Yeah, no, I mean, I I do think

588
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,400
it's funny because like I have
like very major issues with this

589
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,840
movie.
This is just not one of them.

590
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,760
And I think that like I just
take a different read on the

591
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,360
end, which is like.
The funny The funny thing is,

592
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,400
Bob, I actually really like this
movie other than the first 45

593
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:13,600
minutes.
The movie itself within the

594
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,200
world it sets up, I think, I
think it's a really good movie.

595
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,760
It's really funny at different
points and he gets his point

596
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:23,920
across really effectively.
I think that's why I started all

597
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:27,720
this by saying this is kind of
my end point of like, at the end

598
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:32,240
of the day, I just deeply
disagree with the vision of how

599
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:36,080
we as humans ought to live that
Paul Thomas Anderson lands on.

600
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,800
I think he gets there really
effectively and I I think it's a

601
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,960
really funny movie.
Yeah, I agree.

602
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,280
And and, you know, just to put a
pin in this particular

603
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,080
conversation, I just view the
end more as like an

604
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,280
acknowledgement that that life
is that goes in these kind of

605
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:53,080
cycles and there's seasons to
life.

606
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,000
And I, I actually was very
encouraged by the fact that I

607
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,200
think the argument he's making
is like, hey, guess what, old

608
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,880
people who missed your chance to
do real change in the world.

609
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:06,240
We actually do at some point
have to acknowledge that it's

610
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,159
time for us to recede into the
background and that the world

611
00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:11,639
that we're leaving to our kids
at some point has to be turned

612
00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:13,480
over to those kids.
And it's like, it's

613
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,000
acknowledgement of like, the
kids are going to be our rights.

614
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:18,440
She has a good head on her
shoulders.

615
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,679
You can't control what happens
in the world.

616
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,000
And I don't know.
And especially juxtaposing that

617
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,960
against like, the guys in the
Christmas club or whatever it's

618
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,880
called, where it's like they're
all between 50 and 95 years old.

619
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,080
And it's like these old men
trying to control the world.

620
00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:37,239
I don't think that we should all
abdicate responsibility and

621
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,880
smoke pot instead.
But I do think it's it.

622
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,159
It makes a point that like even
its dumbest, most buffoonish

623
00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:48,040
character understand something
that like, these powerful guys

624
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:49,520
don't understand.
Do you know what I mean?

625
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,159
I I know what you're saying.
I just deeply disagree.

626
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,000
Like it'd be what?
It'd be one thing if Leonardo

627
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,360
DiCaprio was 90 years old and
he's like, all right, let's let

628
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,160
the kids handle it.
He's like 50, 45 in this movie.

629
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:09,960
He's 42 according to the lie he
told to the people at the jail,

630
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:12,520
which I don't know, maybe he
gave them the correct age.

631
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,480
But then at the end of the movie
when they flash back to the

632
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,920
three of them in bed together
when the when Will is an infant

633
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,320
and you see all of Leo's like
neck rolls that a man that's

634
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,080
clearly 50 years old has, but
he's playing 26.

635
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:29,080
It's like, oh, I don't usually
add like I don't advocate for

636
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,560
CGI that often, but like, let's
clean up that jowl situation a

637
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:33,440
little bit.
PTA.

638
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,280
Totally.
I, I think what I'm trying to

639
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:41,520
say is that I hope we don't give
up on our ability to enact

640
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:46,240
change in the world when we're
42 or 50 or however old he is in

641
00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:50,080
the movie.
I personally prefer a vision of

642
00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:56,080
the world where people who are
middle-aged and older and

643
00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,800
younger all work together to
make the world a better place.

644
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,960
And the older people share their
wisdom with the younger people.

645
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,440
And sometimes they say, yeah,
like, I love your passion for

646
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:08,960
the world.
Maybe let's slow down a little

647
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,280
bit and think about the
consequences of our actions and

648
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,760
think about the fact that if you
get caught doing this thing and

649
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,440
you get thrown into prison, like
it will change your life in a

650
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:23,160
very negative way.
And how do we work within the

651
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:28,520
system to enact change in a
healthy way that isn't violent

652
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:32,800
and and broken?
And I just, like I said, it's

653
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,240
the vision of the movie that I'm
like, I'm out the the world is,

654
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,880
the world is not run by racist
people who are out to get you.

655
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,920
And because they're out to get
you, you have a right to

656
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,080
violently defend yourself.
Like that is something I just

657
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,560
deeply disagree with.
I think that's actually a really

658
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,120
dangerous way to view the world.
So.

659
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,720
Do you think that that that's
actually what PTA thinks is

660
00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:01,400
happening or are we just using
metaphors for like the struggle

661
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,400
that young people have and
parents have?

662
00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:08,520
So that's, so that's the other
big frustration I have with the

663
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,920
movie philosophically, is that
when you are making a movie that

664
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:18,840
like very clearly is about real
life modern events, like even

665
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:24,200
set 16 years ago, like for
better or for worse, there were

666
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:28,280
not revolutionaries in 2008 who
really cared deeply about

667
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,640
immigrant rights.
Like there's some, but that

668
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,760
wasn't the big thing we were
worried about in 2008.

669
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,080
The big thing we were worried
about in 2008 was The Big Short,

670
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:40,480
right?
So very clearly, even in the

671
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,000
past, he is making it about
what's going on here.

672
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,720
In 20252026.
When you are doing a movie that

673
00:37:47,720 --> 00:37:52,160
is very clearly about real world
events and you also make it a

674
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:59,800
dark comedy and a satire, I feel
like you are hindering your

675
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,720
ability to make any statements
about what's going on.

676
00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:05,640
Because the whole time you have
to ask the question like, well,

677
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:11,240
is the way he makes fun of
comrade Josh for needing a safe

678
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:13,360
space, like is he being serious
about that?

679
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,280
Is he actually, is that an
actual message he's trying to

680
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:17,560
make?
Or is it just a joke?

681
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,000
Are the, are the racist old
white men, the, the, the

682
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,800
Christmas nightclub are like,
are they serious?

683
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,040
Is he actually saying that
there's a cabal of evil white

684
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,560
men ruling the world?
Or is it, oh, it's just another

685
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:32,760
joke?
And I feel like that's a, that's

686
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,240
a cop out on Paul Thomas
Anderson's part to be like, you

687
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,480
know, if somebody approaches him
and is like, like, do you

688
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,040
actually think that the world is
run by racist old white men?

689
00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:44,320
He can just be like, no, of
course I don't.

690
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,080
It was a comedy.
And, and, and it just by making

691
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:52,080
it a comedy, he kind of takes
away any punch from his own

692
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,160
viewpoint.
And I I wish that he just made

693
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:56,840
it a straight drama.
I'm wondering though, like,

694
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,520
can't you say that to some
extent about every satire?

695
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:02,640
So like take Doctor Strangelove
where you have, you know, like

696
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,120
the the inciting incident of
Doctor Strangelove is this

697
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:09,400
general loses it.
And because of the way the

698
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,520
military is set up and the lack
of fail safes in the nuclear

699
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,320
arsenal system, the dominoes
fall in a very specific way.

700
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:19,840
And it happens, you know,
comedically, right.

701
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,800
But like, I do think they're
getting at something in the the

702
00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,920
character of the crazed Colonel
or general or whatever his name

703
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,040
is.
That's like, I think we're, you

704
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:32,880
know, we're a little aggressive
as a military in 1964.

705
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,040
And we're going to pitch that up
a little bit so that people will

706
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,240
recognize the absurdity here,
but also reapply that back to

707
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,600
what we see in everyday life.
That's satire.

708
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,560
Yeah.
I'm kind of wondering, are we at

709
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:51,440
a point now as a country where
we're like, beyond the efficacy

710
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,280
of satire?
Like, does satire just not work

711
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:59,840
on us anymore because we are so
aligned with our political

712
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:03,640
identities that anytime anyone
tries to do something satirical

713
00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:07,600
about either party, we only see
what we want to see and we take

714
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,920
offense to the things we want to
take offense to instead of

715
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:15,520
engaging the satire on its own
rights and asking like.

716
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,880
What is like, does this actually
get at something wrong with our

717
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,800
society that needs fixed?
Like I just wonder if we skip

718
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:27,960
the the self reflective part
sometimes and go right to like

719
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,600
it needs to be more balanced.
It needs to attack the left and

720
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,200
the right or, or whatever it
might be.

721
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,520
And I think, you know, to your
point, this happens on both

722
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,080
sides now.
Like, you know, the identity

723
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:41,880
politics is a real thing and I
think it's killed our ability to

724
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:46,040
be self reflective.
And I, I think what I would say

725
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:52,440
about satire losing its efficacy
and power in our current

726
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,120
culture, I would say that it's
lost its power because we are

727
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,720
such a cynical society.
I think satire works a lot

728
00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:03,520
better when you have really
sincere people who believe in

729
00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:07,400
the world that they live in, and
then you satirize something that

730
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,400
might not be great about the
world they live in.

731
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:13,240
And because we are sincere about
the world we live in, we can

732
00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:16,840
recognize a satire go.
He's obviously making a

733
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,360
statement about how ridiculous
this is.

734
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:22,520
But when we look at our own
world, it's like, OK, maybe

735
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,760
there is a point being made
because we're so cynical.

736
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,600
We've already thought of the
points they're trying to make

737
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:33,480
about the other side.
Usually before he ever made the

738
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,040
satire.
And we were.

739
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,720
Already defending them too.
And we were already defending

740
00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:39,960
them.
And so it's like, yeah, like the

741
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:44,200
satire doesn't hit home because
I've already thought bad things

742
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,720
about the other side or, or not
thought bad things, put bad

743
00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:50,400
intentions behind the other
side.

744
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:54,520
And I have to say, like when
Paul Thomas Anderson makes this

745
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:58,640
movie, he does make fun of the
left and the right, but he makes

746
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:02,440
fun of the left by going, you
need a safe space.

747
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:04,840
You're such a, you're such a
snowflake.

748
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:11,320
And he makes fun of the right by
saying they are racist evil

749
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:16,000
cabal of monsters that are
trying to control the society

750
00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:20,640
through racist means.
Those don't feel like even

751
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,320
satire to me.
Like if you were if you had to

752
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:28,200
be called a snowflake or racist
monster Bob, which one would you

753
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,640
prefer to be satirized into?
I I get it, man.

754
00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,000
I also do think that, like, you
know, satire usually attacks

755
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:40,480
whoever's in power in the moment
right now because PTA probably

756
00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:43,080
aligns more with the left.
Like would he be making this

757
00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:46,200
movie in an Obama era?
Probably not because he you're

758
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,200
right about there is identity
politics there.

759
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:51,480
I guess the question then is,
like for my left-leaning

760
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:58,080
friends, like, will you accept a
satirical comedy about the left

761
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:03,400
more at face value than you see
right wing people taking movies

762
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:06,200
like 1 Battle After Another or
Eddington?

763
00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:09,200
And I think that, like, that's a
challenge to the left, right.

764
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:13,520
Like, you have to allow people
to speak what they've perceived

765
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:16,600
to be truth to power, whether
that's through, you know,

766
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,800
lampooning them or taking things
really seriously.

767
00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:22,320
And Brad, I think it's about
time for us to get to our break.

768
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:26,040
So let me just say like 1 Battle
After Another, a very funny

769
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,120
movie that I think we need to
talk about more as a movie when

770
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:31,480
we return.
I'm glad we got the big picture

771
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:33,560
conversation out of the way
because I just want to talk

772
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:37,800
about like Leo and Benicio Del
Toro and Sean Penn when we come

773
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:40,880
back from break.
But before we get there, let's

774
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:43,400
try this Green River.
We did foolproof.

775
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:45,640
What do you say?
I noticed, Bob, that you only

776
00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,680
talked about men and that, you
know those three people you

777
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,080
named like what is there?
Is there something there we

778
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:52,440
don't like?
The women When?

779
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:56,440
You can tell me what time it is.
You can call me back, Brad.

780
00:43:58,240 --> 00:43:59,760
Let's let's drink that whiskey,
Bob.

781
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:08,360
All right, so today we're
checking out Green River

782
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:12,920
Foolproof Weeded Bourbon.
Now we have had many a whiskey

783
00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,120
from Green River in the past
couple years.

784
00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:17,520
We have a good friend that works
down there, Aaron Harris, their

785
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:20,840
master distiller, and their
latest offering is this Green

786
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:25,200
River Foolproof Weeded Bourbon.
Now, they've done their regular

787
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,560
bourbon as a foolproof before,
but then the weeded bourbon won

788
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,800
best overall whiskey at the New
York Spirits competition this

789
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:34,040
year.
And so they said, well, hey,

790
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,680
it's time for us to expand this
product line as well.

791
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,680
So now we're getting a weeded
foolproof.

792
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,200
I'll give some quick stats on
it, Brad, and then I want your

793
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,800
thoughts.
It says that this is going to be

794
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:49,840
a variable batch proof ranging
from one O 9 to 116.

795
00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:57,280
So this initial batch is at one
O 9.3 proof or 54.65 ABV and it

796
00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:59,400
ranges between 5:00 and seven
years.

797
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:04,880
In terms of the distillate we're
getting here, 71% corn, no 70%

798
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:10,560
corn, 21% wheat, 9% malted
barley in the mash bill and MSRP

799
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:14,520
on this, Brad, you're going to
love this 14999.

800
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:19,240
Dude, I, I mean, I will say,
unfortunately we've hit a point

801
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:26,360
where 50 bucks for like mid, mid
level, mid tier whiskey is like,

802
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:30,400
yeah, no, that's 50 bucks Now.
It makes my, my miserly heart

803
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:33,640
sad, but honestly, it's a, it's
honestly a good price.

804
00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,600
I I'm I'm being mostly
facetious.

805
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:41,360
Now I I will say the the best
thing we've tried by far from

806
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,320
Green River is their foolproof
of their regular bourbon.

807
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,800
So I'm really looking forward to
this one because I've kind of

808
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:48,960
gone back and forth on their
weeded mash bill before.

809
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,760
It seems like it's a hit among
other people with all the awards

810
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:54,440
it's winning, but I'm excited to
dive into this one.

811
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:56,360
Brad, Now, I know you've already
tried it.

812
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:58,160
I have not.
So I'm going to be sipping it

813
00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:00,640
live and you're at least doing
it for show here.

814
00:46:00,920 --> 00:46:03,600
So why don't you give us your
notes on the nose here, Brad?

815
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:05,920
I mean it, it might be a good
indication of how I feel about

816
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:07,600
it if I poured myself another
DRAM.

817
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:11,800
That's true.
I will say on the nose, this has

818
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:16,920
a really potent cherry syrup
bomb It, it has a lot of cherry

819
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:18,560
on it.
The vanilla is there.

820
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:20,480
There's a little bit of brown
sugar.

821
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,960
I feel like I got like a little
bit of a woody cinnamon, like

822
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:29,360
maybe a cedar vibe going on.
It's a really pleasant nose.

823
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:32,880
The cherry is like tipping on
the edge.

824
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:36,200
Like I said, cherry syrup.
It's tipping on the edge of

825
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,400
cherry cough syrup for me.
So I like, I'm holding off a

826
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,480
little bit.
It's a 7.5.

827
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:44,840
I I really like the nose a lot.
I'm just curious to see where it

828
00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:46,920
goes.
Yeah, I think I'm going to land

829
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:49,960
at a 7 out of 10 here, Brad.
And that that might even be a

830
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,800
little bit lower than I want to
go, but it's a gut reaction.

831
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:55,920
I had this poured and sitting
here for about 5 minutes, I

832
00:46:55,920 --> 00:47:00,280
raised it to my nose and it was
this very like syrupy Maple

833
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:04,080
brown sugar and cherry.
And then I kind of just swished

834
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,440
it around in my glass and
agitated it a little bit.

835
00:47:06,720 --> 00:47:09,520
And I got some notes that are
like just slightly concerning

836
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,600
here.
Like it's, it's not, it doesn't

837
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:14,080
smell like it's going to be
really viscous.

838
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:16,880
It has like a sort of thinner,
more aggressive, more alcohol

839
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:19,920
forward nose.
And then it has this note

840
00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,320
underneath that that's
characteristic of like younger

841
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:25,400
whiskey, like 2 year whiskey.
It just the little bit of

842
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:29,680
grassiness and like a, a lack of
maturity in the grains here.

843
00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:33,120
So even though it's five to
seven years, I'm kind of prep

844
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:35,840
preparing myself for a little
bit of harshness on the palate

845
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:37,560
here.
So I'm going to get ahead of

846
00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:39,680
that by giving it just a 7 on
the nose.

847
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:42,720
I think on the palate, I, I know
that the brand's not Hostess,

848
00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:45,240
but, you know, like the little
fruit pies in the box.

849
00:47:45,240 --> 00:47:48,400
Oh, yeah.
In like the Hostess section of

850
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,320
the gas station.
This reminds me of a cherry pie,

851
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:55,920
like one of those really cheap
cherry pies that's sugary and

852
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:58,840
delicious and like immediately
clogs the arteries.

853
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:01,480
The taste really reminds me of
that.

854
00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:05,000
There's a lot of vanilla on the
palate and the graininess that

855
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,480
you were talking about Bob comes
through in like a very

856
00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:13,240
unflavored cream of wheat
cereal, like hot cereal that

857
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:17,840
it's it's got this creaminess,
this wheatiness that isn't bad.

858
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,840
It's not uplifting it to a super
high height.

859
00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:24,680
I do like this a lot.
I think it's a really pleasure,

860
00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:29,120
full, interesting whiskey that
doesn't have a lot of richness

861
00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:30,760
or depth around it.
So I am.

862
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,840
I'm gonna stick it a 7.5 for the
palate.

863
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:38,440
Yeah, I'm a little surprised at
how kind of herbal and bitter

864
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:41,320
this stays on the palate and it
kind of spreads out across my

865
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:44,200
mid palate and right on the edge
of my tongue.

866
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:45,920
I get like this really bitter
note.

867
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:49,880
And I took two sips just to make
sure you do get acclimated to

868
00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:51,800
it.
And there does become like a

869
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:54,120
little bit of fattiness to it
that I didn't think would be

870
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,000
there.
But overall, I do think it's a

871
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,280
thinner, more aggressive
mouthfeel than I would like it

872
00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,880
to be.
It's not as it's not as fruity

873
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:05,920
and it's not as sweet as some
other weeded bourbons that it's

874
00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:08,080
now going to be competing
against in the market.

875
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,720
A much darker cherry note, a
much more bitter herbal note

876
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:14,800
here.
Like you said, I think it's well

877
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:19,240
made, but I think I'm just going
to give it a 7 out of 10 again,

878
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:22,120
Brad.
I think the finish is where I

879
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:26,720
fall to a 7 out of 10.
The finish is weirdly short,

880
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:31,800
like for a one O 9 proof whiskey
I expected to have a little more

881
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:34,480
staying power.
It's a little bit short.

882
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,720
The weak rain really comes
through now.

883
00:49:37,720 --> 00:49:40,040
The cherry flavor does sit with
you for a little bit.

884
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:42,880
So it's still it's a weeded
whiskey through and through.

885
00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,640
I'll give it a 7 out of 10 on
the finish.

886
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:48,240
Just not enough there to push it
over the finish line.

887
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:52,200
Yeah, I think this is really
where the barrel char becomes

888
00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:54,200
prominent.
But then also it has notes of

889
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:57,920
like a toasted barrel as well.
That sort of bitter oak that we

890
00:49:57,920 --> 00:50:01,800
get on toasted finishes a lot.
Again, like if this is your

891
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:07,640
wheelhouse, if you like a a sort
of tannic, unsweet black tea

892
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:11,120
note on your bourbon, and this
is like right up your alley.

893
00:50:12,080 --> 00:50:14,800
I don't know if I would peg this
immediately as a weeded bourbon

894
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:16,000
if you put it in front of me,
Brad.

895
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:19,120
Aside from that kind of dark
cherry note, it doesn't have

896
00:50:19,120 --> 00:50:22,320
that characteristic sweetness to
it that we typically associate

897
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,840
with weeded bourbons.
And it it's not especially soft

898
00:50:25,840 --> 00:50:27,960
on the palate either.
So like if you had told me this

899
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:31,120
was a high rye bourbon that had
notes of cherry in it, I'd

900
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:34,360
probably believe you.
Again, I think it's well made,

901
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:37,200
but I also think I'm probably
just going to be at A7 across

902
00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:41,240
the board on this whiskey.
Yeah, So balance wise, I'll give

903
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:45,200
it a 7.5.
I think that despite the fact

904
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:47,760
that I'm like a tiny bit let
down, I think I was hoping for a

905
00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:49,640
little more.
I I think this is a well

906
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:52,120
balanced whiskey.
They give you the flavor profile

907
00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:56,560
you're looking for and there's
there's no surprises for me.

908
00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,200
So 7.5 on balance.
Yeah, I'll do the same.

909
00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:01,800
I'll come up to a 7.5.
I do think this is like a three

910
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:04,920
out of four-star kind of a
whiskey and that takes us into

911
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:08,640
value where I'm trying to
balance much like Paul Thomas

912
00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:14,720
Anderson, the actual quality of
the whiskey or like my enjoyment

913
00:51:14,720 --> 00:51:16,880
of the whiskey versus like is it
fairly priced?

914
00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:19,480
Regardless of what I think, and
I think it is fairly priced,

915
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:24,440
$50.00 for a foolproof bourbon
is like very much in line with

916
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:26,400
the market and probably a little
better than the market.

917
00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:30,000
I do not like this as much as
the regular foolproof and and

918
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:31,640
kind of by a considerable
margin.

919
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:37,240
So I'm going to give it a 7.5 on
value again to kind of indicate

920
00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:40,240
that three out of four stars
like it's it's worthwhile.

921
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:43,080
It's just not for me.
That's so funny, Bob.

922
00:51:43,160 --> 00:51:47,040
So I gave almost everything a
higher score than you, and yet

923
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:49,160
I'm going to give it a 6.5 on
value.

924
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:51,920
Oh wow.
Like I, I think this is a good

925
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:54,200
whiskey.
I think $50.00 is a decent price

926
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:56,200
point.
I just think that there's other

927
00:51:56,200 --> 00:52:00,200
really good options at this
price point that kind of push

928
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:02,400
the value down for me a little
bit.

929
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:08,640
So I'm, I'm at a 6.5 on value.
I am coming out to a total of 36

930
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:12,120
out of 50.
I am also coming out to a total

931
00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:16,080
of 36 out of 50, so we're at a
72 out of 100.

932
00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:18,600
I love how we balance each other
on this podcast.

933
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:22,440
Man, this is perfect, Bob.
This is just over that line.

934
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,520
Typically around 35 is where
we'll start giving like a soft

935
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:27,800
recommend.
The closer you get to 40, it's a

936
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:30,640
pretty solid recommendation.
And then over 40 is just a darn

937
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:33,400
good whiskey.
This is solid, and I think it's

938
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:36,720
boosted, at least for me, by the
fact that it's not $80.00,

939
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,320
right?
$50.00 is a fair price to charge

940
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:42,080
for this.
If you are in the liquor store

941
00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:45,840
and you see the weeded foolproof
next to the regular foolproof,

942
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:47,960
take the regular foolproof all
day.

943
00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:51,640
That's one of the best values in
the world of bourbon and I think

944
00:52:51,640 --> 00:52:54,840
they could charge way more than
they are at that $50 price

945
00:52:54,840 --> 00:52:57,280
point.
This one's like, I'm glad I

946
00:52:57,280 --> 00:53:00,960
tried it, it's just not for me.
Yeah, I I think I'm with you.

947
00:53:00,960 --> 00:53:03,920
The regular foolproof Green
River is one of the best

948
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:05,240
bourbons on the market right
now.

949
00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:08,640
Go get yourself a bottle.
If you really like weeded

950
00:53:08,640 --> 00:53:10,560
whiskies, like go give this a
try.

951
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:12,720
It's 50 bucks.
You could maybe find a pour of

952
00:53:12,720 --> 00:53:16,760
it at the bar for like 8 bucks.
It it would be worth a try.

953
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:21,120
I think this is a recommend from
me, but definitely the regular

954
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:22,720
foolproof bourbon is where it's
at.

955
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:26,080
Now, Brad, while we're talking
about alcohol, I do have to

956
00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:29,680
bring up a a, a major part of
this film, which is the French

957
00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:34,520
70 fives, yes, which are named
after one of Bob Book's most

958
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,600
favoritest cocktails in the
whole world.

959
00:53:37,520 --> 00:53:39,080
You've you've had a French 70
fives.

960
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:43,160
I have not dude.
So listen, New Year's Eve is one

961
00:53:43,160 --> 00:53:46,040
of the few times that my wife
and I will will do anything

962
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:48,600
alcohol related together,
especially around our children.

963
00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:50,240
But we'll get a nice bubbly,
right?

964
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:54,960
So if 75, you essentially make
like a gin sour.

965
00:53:55,120 --> 00:54:00,000
So it's like an ounce of gin,
lemon juice and simple syrup and

966
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:02,800
you top it off with sparkling
wine of some sort.

967
00:54:03,120 --> 00:54:05,880
So it's like a champagne
cocktail and you get just a

968
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:09,240
little bit of that like
herbaceousness and bitters from

969
00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:13,320
the gin.
And when I tell you like my, my

970
00:54:13,320 --> 00:54:16,240
family all went to bed around
1:00 in the morning and I had

971
00:54:16,240 --> 00:54:18,640
half a bottle of Prosecco left
and I was like, I'm going to

972
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:22,040
make 6 French 70 fives right now
and just sit here and watch,

973
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:25,240
watch movies.
It is phenomenal.

974
00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:27,960
So folks, if you're not feeling
the Green River or the whiskey

975
00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:30,840
this week, I would highly
recommend trying out a couple

976
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:32,840
French 70 fives.
They're a really fun drink.

977
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:36,680
Yeah, have at it, man.
What say you though, Bob?

978
00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:38,480
Are you ready to go back to
battle?

979
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:41,240
Let's do it man.
Let's get back into talking

980
00:54:41,240 --> 00:54:50,440
about 1 battle after another.
All right, everybody, That was

981
00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:53,760
Green River weeded bourbon.
Foolproof.

982
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:58,520
A whiskey that just didn't quite
make the grade for us.

983
00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:01,840
Is that fair to say?
Almost made the grade like.

984
00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:04,120
It's like it's.
Like over that mark, but it's

985
00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:06,800
like a very soft recommendation
for me.

986
00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,880
Although we probably shouldn't
start this old battle back again

987
00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:15,760
regarding Bob's idiotic take on
the grading system, we will

988
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:19,200
leave that battle in the past
and we will move back into the

989
00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:23,600
weekly battle that is 2 facts
and a falsehood, Brad.

990
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:26,280
Is going to try to stump your
ball.

991
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:30,560
To.
Our right and what is wrong?

992
00:55:32,160 --> 00:55:35,960
2 facts and a falsehood. 2 facts
and a falsehood is the part of

993
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:39,000
the show where Brad presents me
with three items as.

994
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:41,360
Fact.
About the making of this movie,

995
00:55:41,720 --> 00:55:44,960
one of which is a complete lie
and I have to figure out which

996
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:48,080
one that is.
Now Brad I, I started keeping

997
00:55:48,080 --> 00:55:50,800
tally on this season.
I have not caught myself back

998
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:52,720
up.
I promise I will have a final

999
00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:56,200
record before our movie Sinners
next week so we could see where

1000
00:55:56,200 --> 00:55:59,280
I'm sitting.
I have a feeling I'm below 500

1001
00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:00,640
on the season.
You.

1002
00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:02,320
You've done a really good job on
this.

1003
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:09,800
I appreciate that.
I think that you are at like

1004
00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:12,520
11:50 wins if I had to follow my
gut.

1005
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:14,680
Yikes.
That's that's kind of rough.

1006
00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,560
I will say while we're talking
about games, you know, we

1007
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:20,400
participated again this season
in a thing called the Movies

1008
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:22,960
Fantasy League with Vulture
Magazine.

1009
00:56:23,560 --> 00:56:25,960
And when I go to their
leaderboard each week and I

1010
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:29,280
click through to the podcasters
division, of which there are

1011
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:33,600
probably like 100 to 200 people
in there, your boy is sitting at

1012
00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:36,280
3rd place among the podcasters
right now.

1013
00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:39,520
I would say.
Primarily because I chose I

1014
00:56:39,520 --> 00:56:42,400
chose 1 battle after another as
part of my team, so I'm doing

1015
00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:45,920
pretty well man.
Bob, I'm not going to lie within

1016
00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:49,640
our podcast division, which is
just you and me and some fans of

1017
00:56:49,640 --> 00:56:52,440
the Film with Whiskey podcast,
guess who's in second place,

1018
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:53,880
Bob?
That's right.

1019
00:56:54,320 --> 00:56:56,120
And.
Overall, you're in like 30

1020
00:56:56,120 --> 00:56:58,360
thousandth place.
That is not true.

1021
00:56:58,440 --> 00:57:03,840
Every week I check it I'm like
5800 out of I think it's like

1022
00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:08,680
35,000 people signed up.
So I'm just saying compared to

1023
00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:12,800
years past in this league, I am
knocking it out of the park.

1024
00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:16,520
Do you know what I chose as my
my username for this season?

1025
00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:20,560
What's that?
One barrel after another I boom,

1026
00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:21,920
I get it.
I see what you did.

1027
00:57:21,920 --> 00:57:24,040
Somebody had already taken 1
bottle after another.

1028
00:57:24,040 --> 00:57:25,920
I was like, oh that.
Dude, that was all.

1029
00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:28,920
Right, dude, let's get into our
two I'm.

1030
00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:31,480
Going to go all for the day.
I'm going to go all perfidia

1031
00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:40,280
Beverly Hills on your ass.
All right, fact number one.

1032
00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:45,480
There are a number of allusions
to parts of the novel Vineland

1033
00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:48,200
that were not adapted.
Early in the film, we see Willa

1034
00:57:48,200 --> 00:57:51,080
playing in the field outside her
trailer park home with a dog

1035
00:57:51,280 --> 00:57:54,640
while Bob notices a helicopter
flying high above them, which is

1036
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:57,200
a gag that alludes to the
climactic events of the book

1037
00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:01,640
that are otherwise excised from
this from the film adaptation.

1038
00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:07,480
Fact #2 The exterior of the
mansion where the Christmas

1039
00:58:07,480 --> 00:58:12,200
Adventurers Club meets was the
home of Ronald Reagan in

1040
00:58:12,200 --> 00:58:14,760
Sacramento when he was the
governor of California.

1041
00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:19,880
Fact #3 Paul Thomas Anderson
named Perfidia Beverly Hills in

1042
00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:23,200
part after an aunt he remembered
from growing up in the San

1043
00:58:23,200 --> 00:58:26,280
Fernando Valley.
The aunt was a quote fiery

1044
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:28,360
smoker who lived in Beverly
Hills.

1045
00:58:29,880 --> 00:58:33,720
I have no idea, man.
This is a good one, Brad,

1046
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:37,960
because I don't know which
falsehood is fueled by your

1047
00:58:37,960 --> 00:58:44,600
vengeful hate for the left.
I kind of feel like I love the

1048
00:58:44,600 --> 00:58:50,160
Ronald Reagan fact because like,
I don't care what side of the

1049
00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:52,440
political aisle you're on.
Like, that's kind of funny that

1050
00:58:52,440 --> 00:58:53,960
they would make that, you know
what I mean?

1051
00:58:54,640 --> 00:58:57,200
But I also feel like, you know,
that I would think that's funny,

1052
00:58:57,200 --> 00:58:58,800
and that's why you would totally
make that up.

1053
00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:03,120
I like making up good facts.
I don't know if Perfidia Beverly

1054
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:07,120
Hills is a made-up character
though, or if or if she was part

1055
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:08,960
of Vineland.
I'm going to go ahead and assume

1056
00:59:08,960 --> 00:59:11,160
number one is true because as
I've said, I have not read

1057
00:59:11,160 --> 00:59:14,200
Vineland so I have no idea.
So if you got me there, you got

1058
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,160
me there.
But you also haven't read it, so

1059
00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:20,560
you know.
I love I love the the Internet

1060
00:59:20,560 --> 00:59:23,040
world of like.
I don't know if this is true or

1061
00:59:23,040 --> 00:59:24,800
not.
I have no experience with it, so

1062
00:59:24,800 --> 00:59:29,480
I'll assume that it's true.
Well, it's more like the only

1063
00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:31,120
ones that I even have an inkling
about.

1064
00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:35,640
I want to put my chips on those.
And if I lose that way, I'm I'm.

1065
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:38,240
I feel better doing that than
like you tricked me on a book I

1066
00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:42,680
haven't read that doesn't feel
totally, I'm gonna say #2 is

1067
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:50,400
false, but I have no idea, Brad.
Bob, this was not fueled by my

1068
00:59:50,880 --> 00:59:55,080
far right ridiculous hatred of
the left.

1069
00:59:55,560 --> 00:59:56,880
It was.
It was.

1070
00:59:57,400 --> 01:00:00,560
That was that was the truth.
That is some that was real.

1071
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:05,400
Was it really?
Yes, that's funny, dude.

1072
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:09,760
When I saw it, I was like, A,
that's kind of funny, but B,

1073
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:13,160
that feels really disrespectful
to a former president.

1074
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:15,560
Like it's it's cool to
disrespect presidents who are

1075
01:00:15,560 --> 01:00:19,320
sitting or like just out.
But like, you know, I'm not

1076
01:00:19,320 --> 01:00:20,720
going to make fun of Jimmy
Carter.

1077
01:00:20,880 --> 01:00:23,400
Like, come on.
That's true.

1078
01:00:24,080 --> 01:00:28,320
That's true.
I Bob, I am with you if if you

1079
01:00:28,320 --> 01:00:33,400
are a person of left lefter
leaning orientation, I am sure

1080
01:00:33,400 --> 01:00:37,360
that that's one of the funniest
jokes that you could funniest

1081
01:00:37,360 --> 01:00:42,400
like behind the scenes little
that's like wow, exactly I'm

1082
01:00:42,400 --> 01:00:47,040
like I I recognize the humor and
I'm also like that feels really

1083
01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:50,280
wildly insulting.
Wait, So what was the falsehood?

1084
01:00:51,040 --> 01:00:54,840
The falsehood was fact #3 that
he named Perfidia after his

1085
01:00:54,880 --> 01:00:56,960
aunt.
Was Perfidia a character in the

1086
01:00:56,960 --> 01:00:58,840
book?
I don't know.

1087
01:00:59,720 --> 01:01:03,880
I do know that he was indeed
from San Fernando Valley.

1088
01:01:04,600 --> 01:01:05,880
Yeah, I do.
That is true.

1089
01:01:06,120 --> 01:01:08,720
That is true.
So that's, see, I knew I was

1090
01:01:08,720 --> 01:01:10,680
like if I just put one little
thing in there.

1091
01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:16,880
OK, listen, I want to start our
conversation after taking my L

1092
01:01:16,880 --> 01:01:20,120
here about Paul Thomas Anderson,
the bastard who owes me a new

1093
01:01:20,120 --> 01:01:26,760
car and I I have been reckoning
for a long time with a couple

1094
01:01:26,760 --> 01:01:30,240
different things.
Number one is my up and down

1095
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:33,800
relationship with his films
because I think that he has made

1096
01:01:34,560 --> 01:01:38,320
some true masterpieces and some
of the best films of the

1097
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:41,480
century.
And I also think that his miss

1098
01:01:41,520 --> 01:01:45,800
rate is a lot higher than people
admit that it is like he

1099
01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:49,600
definitely takes swings.
He definitely has a tone in

1100
01:01:49,600 --> 01:01:52,160
mind.
And especially with his comedies

1101
01:01:52,160 --> 01:01:55,080
like you, you look at a movie
like Punch Drunk Love with Adam

1102
01:01:55,080 --> 01:01:57,800
Sandler, that is a movie that I
have just never vibed with.

1103
01:01:57,840 --> 01:01:59,760
I cannot get on that movie's
wavelength.

1104
01:02:00,200 --> 01:02:03,280
It's an hour and a half long and
it it feels like it's three

1105
01:02:03,280 --> 01:02:05,800
hours long to me.
And then you have a movie like

1106
01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:10,520
Inherent Vice, which is a more
absurdist comedy, which falls

1107
01:02:10,520 --> 01:02:14,040
kind of in the camp with this
one, and I think much less

1108
01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:16,960
successfully.
So you could make the argument

1109
01:02:16,960 --> 01:02:19,680
that Licorice Pizza is a comedy.
I don't even think I would say

1110
01:02:19,680 --> 01:02:22,960
that I think Licorice Pizza is
just like a hangout movie that

1111
01:02:23,160 --> 01:02:25,160
funny and dramatic stuff happens
in.

1112
01:02:26,160 --> 01:02:28,680
But he's a guy that's like he
has really spanned the

1113
01:02:29,240 --> 01:02:33,720
transcendently great to very
good to like.

1114
01:02:33,720 --> 01:02:36,440
This did not work at all for me
range.

1115
01:02:37,120 --> 01:02:40,280
And that leads me into the
second thing I struggle with

1116
01:02:40,560 --> 01:02:44,560
with him, which is that I think
he's become kind of lionized and

1117
01:02:44,560 --> 01:02:48,480
and in a lot of ways the patron
St. of the modern film bro,

1118
01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,800
where he's achieved like Kubrick
territory.

1119
01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:55,920
So like he starts out in the
late 90s and he's making

1120
01:02:55,920 --> 01:02:58,080
independent films.
He he bursts on the scene with

1121
01:02:58,080 --> 01:03:01,080
this movie called Hard 8, gets a
little bit of funding and makes

1122
01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:03,240
Boogie Nights.
And Boogie Nights is like, it's

1123
01:03:03,240 --> 01:03:06,320
controversial because it's about
porn, but it's also like it's

1124
01:03:06,320 --> 01:03:10,320
just Goodfellas set in the porn
world and it's it's it's

1125
01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:13,200
Scorsese RIP off.
Then he makes Magnolia, which is

1126
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:17,080
this big messy magnum opus and
he takes a couple years off.

1127
01:03:17,160 --> 01:03:20,000
He comes back with Punch Drunk
Love, which is really divisive.

1128
01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:22,000
Then he's like, I'm out for a
little while.

1129
01:03:22,320 --> 01:03:25,920
I have overexposed myself.
I've been, he's on, he's doing a

1130
01:03:25,920 --> 01:03:28,960
ton of cocaine and he was like
spouting off his mouth and he

1131
01:03:28,960 --> 01:03:31,600
had a God complex.
When you say overexposed, you

1132
01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:35,480
mean like I?
Mean, maybe, I don't know, takes

1133
01:03:35,480 --> 01:03:37,680
five years off and comes back
with there will be blood.

1134
01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:40,240
And it's like, is this the
greatest movie I've ever made?

1135
01:03:40,240 --> 01:03:42,280
I don't know.
Paul Thomas Anderson immediately

1136
01:03:42,280 --> 01:03:46,280
jumped from like talented guy
with a God complex to like

1137
01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:49,000
actual movie God in people's
eyes now.

1138
01:03:49,440 --> 01:03:51,600
And he's been atop that pedestal
since then.

1139
01:03:52,160 --> 01:03:55,560
And when you get atop that
pedestal like a Kubrick, you can

1140
01:03:55,560 --> 01:03:59,480
explore your own idiosyncrasies
and get a pass for them.

1141
01:04:00,320 --> 01:04:03,360
And I think that that happens a
lot with PTA and it happens in

1142
01:04:03,360 --> 01:04:08,760
this film bro culture we have
now where it's like, it's it's

1143
01:04:08,760 --> 01:04:13,160
cool to like be in the Criterion
Collection and it's cool to know

1144
01:04:13,160 --> 01:04:16,760
about aspect ratios and IMAX and
things like this.

1145
01:04:16,760 --> 01:04:22,520
And so PTA is like this patron
St. that is like idolized in the

1146
01:04:22,520 --> 01:04:26,760
movie bro culture now.
And it just bothers me when we

1147
01:04:26,760 --> 01:04:29,680
have film makers who have
achieved a status where they

1148
01:04:29,720 --> 01:04:33,600
they seem to be beyond not just
reproach, but any criticism

1149
01:04:34,160 --> 01:04:37,480
because I think that this is a
flawed, messy movie.

1150
01:04:37,720 --> 01:04:43,000
That is, I'm still positive on
In the Balance, but it's hard to

1151
01:04:43,000 --> 01:04:47,280
talk about people like PTA when
it feels like you're fighting an

1152
01:04:47,280 --> 01:04:52,040
uphill battle just to offer any
criticisms of his films.

1153
01:04:52,680 --> 01:04:57,680
Yeah, absolutely.
The the reality is a lot of

1154
01:04:57,680 --> 01:05:01,920
times when people die is when
the opinion on their work is

1155
01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:04,880
more cemented and you know,
it's, it's still a little bit

1156
01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:06,360
wet.
You still have some people who

1157
01:05:06,360 --> 01:05:10,240
vary, but it feels like that's
when we lionize people.

1158
01:05:10,440 --> 01:05:13,040
And for that to happen when
somebody's still alive and not

1159
01:05:13,040 --> 01:05:17,280
just still alive, but still
actively making films, it feels

1160
01:05:17,280 --> 01:05:21,240
like you're not allowed to
engage in healthy discourse

1161
01:05:21,480 --> 01:05:26,800
around their work in a way that
you can around all these other

1162
01:05:26,800 --> 01:05:29,280
directors that that are making
movies.

1163
01:05:29,760 --> 01:05:31,240
And so I I'm kind of with you,
Bob.

1164
01:05:31,240 --> 01:05:37,240
Now I will say I have seen there
will be blood licorice pizza 1

1165
01:05:37,240 --> 01:05:41,080
battle after another.
So like my exposure to PTA is,

1166
01:05:41,080 --> 01:05:45,240
is very limited.
You know, three of his, what, 10

1167
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:47,720
films?
I, I would be very curious to

1168
01:05:47,720 --> 01:05:50,600
see the master at that.
There's something about his

1169
01:05:50,600 --> 01:05:53,240
exploration of Colts in that
movie that I'm like, I don't

1170
01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:55,600
know, I'm curious to see his
take on that.

1171
01:05:57,040 --> 01:06:00,640
I, I did see a lot of licorice
pizza in this movie.

1172
01:06:01,240 --> 01:06:05,640
There are like hangout moments
when Willa is in the bathroom,

1173
01:06:06,080 --> 01:06:08,880
just the way he shot those girls
in the bathroom.

1174
01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:12,520
I was like, oh, we're back at
Licorice Pizza, like, like right

1175
01:06:12,520 --> 01:06:16,120
back to it.
But then he also the at the end

1176
01:06:16,120 --> 01:06:21,480
of the film when he is filming
the car chase, it felt very

1177
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:25,760
deeply like a 1960s
Hitchcockian.

1178
01:06:26,040 --> 01:06:29,600
Like filming the chase from one
person's point of view, then

1179
01:06:29,600 --> 01:06:33,920
another person's point of view.
The camera like rising up and

1180
01:06:33,920 --> 01:06:37,120
down with the road felt like a
bullet type of movie.

1181
01:06:37,520 --> 01:06:40,800
There was so much about this
movie that I'm like, I think he

1182
01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:45,240
did a really good job for me.
To get to your point about being

1183
01:06:45,240 --> 01:06:50,880
able to critique PTAI think the
script is what's messy and the

1184
01:06:50,880 --> 01:06:53,000
script is what kind of keeps us
back.

1185
01:06:53,280 --> 01:06:58,560
I think PTA as a mover of the
camera, as a creator of action

1186
01:06:58,560 --> 01:07:02,440
scenes, I, I think he's a really
great director in a lot of those

1187
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:04,840
ways, and you see that on
display here.

1188
01:07:06,680 --> 01:07:09,200
I mean, I think one of the one
of the criticisms I gave of

1189
01:07:09,480 --> 01:07:12,240
There Will Be Blood, which I
don't know if we've talked in

1190
01:07:12,240 --> 01:07:15,480
the last year.
Last year Regal showed a whole

1191
01:07:15,480 --> 01:07:17,640
bunch of classic movies for like
a month straight.

1192
01:07:18,120 --> 01:07:20,080
Man, I went and saw There Will
Be Blood in the theater for the

1193
01:07:20,080 --> 01:07:23,240
first time since 2007 and I was
like, OK, never mind.

1194
01:07:23,320 --> 01:07:25,360
Like all my criticisms, pretty
much gone.

1195
01:07:25,640 --> 01:07:28,360
Gone.
I do feel like as a writer, he

1196
01:07:28,680 --> 01:07:32,080
he often writes himself into a
corner with his endings.

1197
01:07:32,600 --> 01:07:36,160
And so even There Will Be Blood,
it has that sort of explosive

1198
01:07:36,160 --> 01:07:40,240
ending and that final punchline
of like, I'm finished and then

1199
01:07:40,240 --> 01:07:42,800
it just goes to credits.
I still think that's the weakest

1200
01:07:42,800 --> 01:07:46,280
part of the movie for me.
It's, it's satisfying, but it

1201
01:07:46,280 --> 01:07:49,320
could have been more satisfying.
And I feel like that with one

1202
01:07:49,320 --> 01:07:53,160
battle after another where it's
like you have achieved such a

1203
01:07:53,160 --> 01:07:56,080
status that no one ever needs to
do a second pass of your work

1204
01:07:56,560 --> 01:07:58,720
and you're allowed to just make.
It's like Tarantino.

1205
01:07:58,800 --> 01:08:01,680
Like I feel like Tarantino's
last couple films have been, for

1206
01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:03,920
me, a step down from some of his
best work.

1207
01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:06,640
And it's because it's like
there's no one there.

1208
01:08:06,640 --> 01:08:09,160
Like Sally Menke, his former
editor, has died.

1209
01:08:09,160 --> 01:08:12,240
So the movies are getting longer
and like, there's no one there

1210
01:08:12,240 --> 01:08:15,240
to kind of rein that in.
And I think that you have to

1211
01:08:15,240 --> 01:08:17,560
surround yourself as a film
maker with people who are

1212
01:08:17,560 --> 01:08:21,359
willing to give you like, really
honest feedback and rein you in

1213
01:08:21,359 --> 01:08:24,359
when you need to be reined in.
Now how that it reminds?

1214
01:08:24,359 --> 01:08:25,880
Movie.
Go ahead, go ahead.

1215
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:28,920
It reminds me of our
conversation about David Fincher

1216
01:08:28,920 --> 01:08:31,600
and Aaron Sorkinson in The
Social Network.

1217
01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:35,640
That, like Sorkinson, needs a
director that, like, keeps his

1218
01:08:35,640 --> 01:08:39,120
writing at Bay.
Yeah, dude.

1219
01:08:39,120 --> 01:08:42,520
And I'm really concerned about
Aaron Sorkin's next movie, the

1220
01:08:42,520 --> 01:08:44,479
Social Network sequel that he's
working on.

1221
01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:47,439
I don't know how that's going to
turn out, but we we shall see.

1222
01:08:48,040 --> 01:08:52,359
But getting back to this movie,
I, I'm wondering, Brad, you

1223
01:08:52,359 --> 01:08:55,439
know, you've seen three PTA
movies and they are in three

1224
01:08:55,439 --> 01:08:59,359
very different kind of buckets
of types of movies he makes,

1225
01:08:59,800 --> 01:09:01,960
which if there's one thing you
can say about him, it's like, at

1226
01:09:01,960 --> 01:09:05,279
least he doesn't limit himself
to making one genre of movie.

1227
01:09:05,560 --> 01:09:06,200
Sure.
But.

1228
01:09:06,640 --> 01:09:10,200
What are the things that you now
notice about you know, in in

1229
01:09:10,200 --> 01:09:13,560
both the pros and the cons
column of him as a filmmaker?

1230
01:09:13,560 --> 01:09:16,080
I think, I think his
cinematography is incredible.

1231
01:09:16,520 --> 01:09:22,200
Like he just has a very obvious
real talent of working with his

1232
01:09:22,200 --> 01:09:27,640
cinematographer to photograph
reality in a very compelling

1233
01:09:27,640 --> 01:09:30,960
way.
Even even like small shots when

1234
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:37,120
they're at the 1776 compound and
you see the bounty hunter, which

1235
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:39,319
sorry, back to the skirts being
bad.

1236
01:09:39,640 --> 01:09:43,439
Like this bounty hunter is like,
I don't kill kids, but I'll take

1237
01:09:43,439 --> 01:09:46,880
kids to somebody who I know will
kill them, but then I'll feel

1238
01:09:46,880 --> 01:09:51,120
bad about it and go back and get
killed for her.

1239
01:09:51,399 --> 01:09:55,640
And you're like, huh, How like
how does this make any sense?

1240
01:09:55,760 --> 01:09:59,760
Anyways, They're like, there's a
few shots in that where you have

1241
01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:03,680
the 1776 guy sitting and you see
the dude walking from behind and

1242
01:10:03,680 --> 01:10:05,120
he just walks up and takes the
keys.

1243
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:09,080
It's the camera's still, it's
just sitting there, but it

1244
01:10:09,080 --> 01:10:12,440
captures the human experience so
incredibly well.

1245
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:16,160
So I, I think as a
cinematographer, when I think

1246
01:10:16,160 --> 01:10:22,560
about There Will Be Blood and
when I, I was going to say

1247
01:10:22,560 --> 01:10:24,320
Daniel Day Lewis, what's his
character's name?

1248
01:10:25,360 --> 01:10:27,080
Daniel Plainview.
Daniel.

1249
01:10:27,080 --> 01:10:27,640
Yeah.
That's how I was.

1250
01:10:27,640 --> 01:10:29,360
Like Daniel.
Daniel Plainview.

1251
01:10:29,360 --> 01:10:36,200
When Daniel's Plainview's grief
erupts with the fiery inferno of

1252
01:10:36,200 --> 01:10:40,640
the oil furnace, and like you
feel, that sense of this grief

1253
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:44,960
is a sweeping, massive Vista of
pain and suffering.

1254
01:10:45,480 --> 01:10:48,720
What does he do with the camera?
He gives you one of the best

1255
01:10:48,720 --> 01:10:53,400
camera movements, from the
spouting fire to following him

1256
01:10:53,640 --> 01:10:56,560
to Daniel Plainview screaming.
And it's this incredible use of

1257
01:10:56,560 --> 01:10:59,760
the camera that captures the
feeling of grief that Daniel

1258
01:10:59,760 --> 01:11:01,240
Plainview is feeling.
Like.

1259
01:11:02,000 --> 01:11:05,000
He does an incredible job.
He does it in licorice pizza

1260
01:11:05,240 --> 01:11:10,080
with the playfulness of the
interactions between the the

1261
01:11:10,080 --> 01:11:13,040
main 2 characters of that movie,
like the flirtatiousness of

1262
01:11:13,040 --> 01:11:15,440
young teenagers, young 20
somethings.

1263
01:11:15,680 --> 01:11:19,160
He captures that with the way he
slowly moves the camera behind

1264
01:11:19,160 --> 01:11:22,240
them as as they're standing in
line to get their pictures

1265
01:11:22,240 --> 01:11:24,280
taken.
And the young boy is like

1266
01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:26,760
following her.
Like it's like, Hey, if I if I

1267
01:11:26,760 --> 01:11:28,240
was in high school, would you
date me?

1268
01:11:28,600 --> 01:11:31,080
And like there's a playfulness
to the camera movement that I'm

1269
01:11:31,080 --> 01:11:35,480
like, I he just is so good with
the camera.

1270
01:11:35,800 --> 01:11:39,520
I wish he was better at writing
in one battle after another.

1271
01:11:39,760 --> 01:11:41,480
I out of Do you think that's
fair?

1272
01:11:42,760 --> 01:11:44,520
Absolutely.
I mean, I think any criticism of

1273
01:11:44,520 --> 01:11:47,120
any movie is fair with you
sharing it as well as you just

1274
01:11:47,120 --> 01:11:48,240
did.
And I think that's a good

1275
01:11:48,240 --> 01:11:51,160
jumping off point to talk not
just about the characters but

1276
01:11:51,160 --> 01:11:54,520
about the actors here we're, you
know, an hour plus into this

1277
01:11:54,520 --> 01:11:56,360
episode.
We haven't talked about Leonardo

1278
01:11:56,360 --> 01:11:59,680
DiCaprio, Oscar nominee.
We haven't talked about Sean

1279
01:11:59,680 --> 01:12:02,560
Penn, Oscar nominee.
We have not talked about Benicio

1280
01:12:02,560 --> 01:12:04,880
Del Toro, Oscar nominee for this
movie.

1281
01:12:05,320 --> 01:12:08,200
And you know, you you said I
talked about just the men, but

1282
01:12:08,400 --> 01:12:12,000
Chase Infinity, who plays Willa.
This is for all intents and

1283
01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:15,800
purposes, her first big movie.
I think she's phenomenal in this

1284
01:12:15,800 --> 01:12:17,560
movie and she does not get a
nomination.

1285
01:12:18,160 --> 01:12:22,800
Teyana Taylor does get nominated
for her role as Perfidia, which

1286
01:12:22,800 --> 01:12:26,440
is kind of shocking to me
because I think Regina Hall is

1287
01:12:26,440 --> 01:12:29,120
better in this movie than she
is.

1288
01:12:29,560 --> 01:12:31,880
But we know we've got a good
collection of folks that we can

1289
01:12:31,880 --> 01:12:33,960
talk about.
Brad, where do you want to start

1290
01:12:34,040 --> 01:12:40,040
with our main actors here?
I I do think starting with Leo

1291
01:12:40,040 --> 01:12:42,600
makes the most sense.
He takes up the most screen

1292
01:12:42,600 --> 01:12:46,760
time.
I I found I really liked Leo in

1293
01:12:46,760 --> 01:12:50,000
this movie.
I you know, as much as like I

1294
01:12:50,000 --> 01:12:52,440
said, I don't like the character
as written.

1295
01:12:52,920 --> 01:12:59,360
I love how Leo plays him because
he does bring that pained sense

1296
01:12:59,480 --> 01:13:05,680
of regret over his past that
like you need Leo to play that

1297
01:13:05,680 --> 01:13:08,560
depth.
Cause clearly we know that Leo

1298
01:13:08,560 --> 01:13:12,680
can play a tortured individual
but because he's playing a

1299
01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:17,200
character that's been a pothead
for 30 years, the moments of his

1300
01:13:17,200 --> 01:13:23,120
like forgetting the code of what
time is it is hilarious and the

1301
01:13:23,120 --> 01:13:28,120
way he plays it so serious.
His anger is so sincere it it

1302
01:13:28,120 --> 01:13:33,280
just works like gangbusters.
And the moments where he gets

1303
01:13:33,280 --> 01:13:37,400
the most angry and the most
emotional are around his

1304
01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:40,640
daughter and the love he clearly
has for his daughter.

1305
01:13:40,920 --> 01:13:43,640
And that's why Leo works for me
in this role.

1306
01:13:43,800 --> 01:13:48,360
He does just such an incredible
job of showcasing like I've

1307
01:13:48,360 --> 01:13:51,040
screwed up a lot in life.
I am not going to screw my

1308
01:13:51,040 --> 01:13:53,920
daughter up, I'm not going to
screw our relationship up, and I

1309
01:13:53,920 --> 01:13:57,800
will fight to get it back, as
buffoonish as I am as I try to

1310
01:13:57,800 --> 01:14:01,200
fight to get it back.
It is interesting to see the

1311
01:14:01,200 --> 01:14:05,400
sort of phases of the types of
characters Leo plays throughout

1312
01:14:05,400 --> 01:14:07,200
his career.
And we've spent a lot of time on

1313
01:14:07,200 --> 01:14:12,320
this podcast focused on that
sort of like mid 2000s departed

1314
01:14:12,320 --> 01:14:18,320
era Blood diamond departed up
through the mid 20 teens of the

1315
01:14:18,320 --> 01:14:23,040
Revenant where he was playing
like exclusively deeply tortured

1316
01:14:23,040 --> 01:14:26,760
souls who cry a lot.
Like that was like his thing.

1317
01:14:27,240 --> 01:14:29,680
And he takes a couple years off
after making the Revenant and he

1318
01:14:29,680 --> 01:14:32,560
comes back and now he's like, I
want to play dumb asses.

1319
01:14:32,840 --> 01:14:36,880
Like I want to play people who
are like losers and dumb.

1320
01:14:36,880 --> 01:14:42,240
Like that's who I am now.
And so he does, you know, don't

1321
01:14:42,240 --> 01:14:45,160
look up a couple years ago,
which is probably his lowest

1322
01:14:45,160 --> 01:14:49,680
rated movie of this era.
He plays a really intelligent

1323
01:14:49,680 --> 01:14:52,280
person in that movie, but he's a
person who's like on the outside

1324
01:14:52,280 --> 01:14:54,800
of the power structure.
And so he's kind of bumbling.

1325
01:14:55,160 --> 01:14:57,880
You know, he's in Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood playing Rick

1326
01:14:57,880 --> 01:15:01,800
Dalton, who is like this guy who
is a has been and kind of

1327
01:15:01,840 --> 01:15:04,080
pathetic.
And then, you know, you have him

1328
01:15:04,080 --> 01:15:07,880
in in a movie like Killers of
the Flower Moon with Scorsese,

1329
01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:11,480
where he's playing like a
genuinely dimwitted person who

1330
01:15:11,480 --> 01:15:14,760
gets suckered into doing
horrific things and pays the

1331
01:15:14,760 --> 01:15:16,840
price for it.
And then in this movie, once

1332
01:15:16,840 --> 01:15:20,160
again, he is like the dimmest
bulb in this movie.

1333
01:15:20,160 --> 01:15:24,800
He's a genuinely good dude but
like watching him try to process

1334
01:15:24,800 --> 01:15:29,640
things happen while stressed out
and high, it's a really funny

1335
01:15:29,640 --> 01:15:32,160
performance and I don't think
Leo gets enough credit for how

1336
01:15:32,160 --> 01:15:35,600
funny he can be.
He gets nominated for best actor

1337
01:15:35,600 --> 01:15:39,440
for this film on 1st watch.
I was like, this seems like a

1338
01:15:39,440 --> 01:15:43,240
kind of a minor Leo performance
to get an Academy Award

1339
01:15:43,240 --> 01:15:45,680
nomination.
But watching it back I'm with

1340
01:15:45,680 --> 01:15:48,360
you man.
I think that it's like it's not

1341
01:15:48,360 --> 01:15:49,840
subtle.
Like, nothing about this movie

1342
01:15:49,840 --> 01:15:55,680
is subtle, but the work DiCaprio
is doing, I think when you watch

1343
01:15:55,680 --> 01:15:58,200
it with the intention of like,
is this an Oscar worthy

1344
01:15:58,200 --> 01:15:59,880
performance?
It absolutely.

1345
01:15:59,880 --> 01:16:01,960
Is it like he's giving this his
all?

1346
01:16:02,160 --> 01:16:06,400
And it's a really, really good
kind of, you know, addition to

1347
01:16:06,520 --> 01:16:08,680
all the great roles he's done
over the years.

1348
01:16:09,280 --> 01:16:12,720
And, and I I'll go back to my,
my gripe with the movie.

1349
01:16:12,720 --> 01:16:16,080
I think if you end the movie
with him hugging Willa on the

1350
01:16:16,080 --> 01:16:20,880
road, Chef's kiss, like Oscar is
in the bag.

1351
01:16:21,520 --> 01:16:25,600
He has it because he provides
the emotional core of the movie,

1352
01:16:26,000 --> 01:16:31,920
which to me, the core message of
this movie that I take away is

1353
01:16:32,560 --> 01:16:37,160
the pursuit of family is a
pursuit that transcends all

1354
01:16:37,160 --> 01:16:40,320
political bounds.
Like, regardless of what he

1355
01:16:40,320 --> 01:16:43,600
believed in the past, he has
recognized I'm going to protect

1356
01:16:43,600 --> 01:16:46,200
my daughter.
And I, I think that's where

1357
01:16:46,200 --> 01:16:51,120
Leo's performance just like
leaps up into Oscar territory is

1358
01:16:51,120 --> 01:16:55,520
when you see him embracing Chase
Infinity and just, oh man, it's

1359
01:16:55,520 --> 01:16:59,160
such a great moment.
Let's talk about Chase Infinity

1360
01:16:59,160 --> 01:17:01,520
just for a moment because, you
know, she's she's not getting

1361
01:17:01,520 --> 01:17:04,800
the Oscar recognition.
But like to be able to be in

1362
01:17:04,800 --> 01:17:09,840
scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio
and Sean Penn and Regina Hall,

1363
01:17:09,840 --> 01:17:12,880
you know, for a couple minutes
and hold your own against all

1364
01:17:12,880 --> 01:17:15,920
these really, really great
actors as a newcomer.

1365
01:17:16,520 --> 01:17:19,880
And to be able to play like the
stress of the situation of being

1366
01:17:19,880 --> 01:17:24,680
kidnapped and the complete like
melting into Leo's arms at the

1367
01:17:24,680 --> 01:17:27,960
end of this movie.
Like, I'm kind of blown away by

1368
01:17:27,960 --> 01:17:30,120
the talent that she is.
And I'm excited to see where

1369
01:17:30,120 --> 01:17:33,640
she's going to go after this.
Absolutely like.

1370
01:17:34,360 --> 01:17:37,280
The.
Transition within scenes of when

1371
01:17:37,280 --> 01:17:41,640
people see her and she has this
shield up and she has her walls

1372
01:17:41,640 --> 01:17:46,240
up to when she's actually alone
and is curled up in a ball and

1373
01:17:46,240 --> 01:17:52,720
crying silently on the bed.
I I think she was lights out in

1374
01:17:52,720 --> 01:17:54,680
this movie.
I really, really loved her

1375
01:17:54,680 --> 01:17:57,920
performance when, when Sean Penn
is chewing scenery and like

1376
01:17:57,920 --> 01:18:02,840
flexing his biceps and, and just
being this big douche of a guy

1377
01:18:03,440 --> 01:18:07,440
and she's just got this like,
calm, powerful anger.

1378
01:18:07,840 --> 01:18:10,680
She nails it.
She is absolutely incredible.

1379
01:18:11,120 --> 01:18:14,280
I I am curious where you're at
on Sean Penn, though, because I

1380
01:18:14,280 --> 01:18:16,800
don't know if we're going to
land in the same place on him.

1381
01:18:17,280 --> 01:18:18,840
No.
And just to spoil things a

1382
01:18:18,840 --> 01:18:21,080
little bit, you texted me like,
I think this is the worst

1383
01:18:21,080 --> 01:18:23,720
performance of all time, which
is really funny because I think

1384
01:18:23,720 --> 01:18:27,560
he's doing exactly what he was
asked to do and exactly what a a

1385
01:18:27,600 --> 01:18:31,120
guy named Colonel Stephen
Lockjaw is supposed to do.

1386
01:18:31,640 --> 01:18:34,920
Yep.
It is interesting to me because

1387
01:18:35,320 --> 01:18:39,720
he's gotten the recognition of
nominations throughout award

1388
01:18:39,720 --> 01:18:41,600
season.
I think when this movie came

1389
01:18:41,680 --> 01:18:45,040
out, actor, supporting actor,
when this movie came out,

1390
01:18:45,040 --> 01:18:48,360
everybody was like Sean Penn
Oscar, Write it down like it's

1391
01:18:48,360 --> 01:18:50,960
just gonna happen.
And what we've actually found to

1392
01:18:50,960 --> 01:18:53,920
be true is that they're
nominating both Sean Penn and

1393
01:18:53,920 --> 01:18:56,400
Benicio Del Toro.
And in a couple instances,

1394
01:18:56,400 --> 01:19:01,040
Benicio has won a few supporting
awards throughout awards season,

1395
01:19:01,040 --> 01:19:02,920
you know, just from critics
groups and things like that.

1396
01:19:03,600 --> 01:19:06,120
But it's funny because Benicio's
giving a completely different

1397
01:19:06,120 --> 01:19:09,800
kind of performance and it's a
much more like thankless role.

1398
01:19:09,800 --> 01:19:14,160
Like it's a it's fun to hang out
with the sensei, but like he's

1399
01:19:14,160 --> 01:19:15,640
not the thing that's top of
mind.

1400
01:19:15,960 --> 01:19:20,560
Then it kind of reminds me of
like when Leo did Django

1401
01:19:20,560 --> 01:19:24,440
Unchained and he was like the
big bad villain, but he doesn't

1402
01:19:24,440 --> 01:19:26,720
get the Oscar recognition
Christoph Waltz does.

1403
01:19:27,360 --> 01:19:30,880
And and when you know, Jack
Nicholson does The departed, he

1404
01:19:30,880 --> 01:19:33,920
doesn't even get nominated for
the departed, but Mark Wahlberg

1405
01:19:33,920 --> 01:19:35,800
does.
So it's just kind of like, it's

1406
01:19:35,800 --> 01:19:39,480
one of those things to me where
Sean Penn seems to have the more

1407
01:19:39,560 --> 01:19:44,600
Oscari, big scene chewing
performance here, but they're

1408
01:19:44,600 --> 01:19:48,360
actually like, there's more love
going towards Benicio Del Toro

1409
01:19:48,400 --> 01:19:50,440
in this movie.
Yeah, I say all that good to

1410
01:19:50,440 --> 01:19:54,440
say, I I like Sean Penn a lot,
but it seems like people are

1411
01:19:54,440 --> 01:19:56,560
kind of coming around to the
idea of like, we don't really

1412
01:19:56,560 --> 01:19:58,920
have to give this guy an Oscar
just 'cause he's playing like

1413
01:19:59,080 --> 01:20:01,320
the big bad in a big movie, you
know?

1414
01:20:01,560 --> 01:20:04,680
Right.
And I I think my frustration

1415
01:20:04,680 --> 01:20:07,520
with Sean Penn probably is just
more about his character is

1416
01:20:07,520 --> 01:20:10,440
written.
We talked earlier about the

1417
01:20:10,440 --> 01:20:14,760
absurdism of the movie.
He is the height of that and it

1418
01:20:14,800 --> 01:20:19,880
clashes with the style and of
the other characters of the

1419
01:20:19,880 --> 01:20:22,760
movie.
It just it's so heightened and

1420
01:20:22,760 --> 01:20:28,440
so Doctor Strangelove levels of
absurd that I I kind of just was

1421
01:20:28,440 --> 01:20:31,480
like, I can't take this
seriously.

1422
01:20:31,880 --> 01:20:37,400
And you know, PTA and his
writing fell, fell prey to the

1423
01:20:37,400 --> 01:20:45,120
like, cynical Marvel humor of
having Willa say to him like,

1424
01:20:45,120 --> 01:20:47,960
why is your shirt so tight?
I love that dude.

1425
01:20:48,640 --> 01:20:51,400
And then there's.
Like the long, the long pause or

1426
01:20:51,400 --> 01:20:54,800
that he's like, I'm not gay if
that's what you're.

1427
01:20:54,800 --> 01:21:01,200
I thought that was hilarious.
Of all the comedy in this movie,

1428
01:21:01,200 --> 01:21:03,600
that one fell completely flat
for me.

1429
01:21:03,600 --> 01:21:08,480
I'm like, really interesting,
OK, Just the worst writing.

1430
01:21:08,480 --> 01:21:14,200
I There's something about
writing in the snarky.

1431
01:21:14,200 --> 01:21:20,120
Sarcastic youth Marvel humor
that I just find it is the least

1432
01:21:20,120 --> 01:21:22,920
funny thing I've ever.
Well, I think the only reason it

1433
01:21:22,920 --> 01:21:25,440
actually worked for me though is
because right before that he's

1434
01:21:25,440 --> 01:21:28,920
like, you should put more make
up on like, you know, like he's

1435
01:21:28,920 --> 01:21:30,600
like feeding into her
insecurities.

1436
01:21:30,600 --> 01:21:32,760
And then she's just like, why is
your shirt so tight?

1437
01:21:32,760 --> 01:21:34,920
And then he just immediately
gets defensive.

1438
01:21:35,280 --> 01:21:37,200
I'm with you, though.
I do think that there are, like,

1439
01:21:37,600 --> 01:21:42,320
there are definite misses.
But yeah, I asked you the

1440
01:21:42,320 --> 01:21:44,520
question earlier of like, how
often does the tone of this

1441
01:21:44,520 --> 01:21:47,360
movie actually land?
And if you'd asked me four

1442
01:21:47,360 --> 01:21:49,960
months ago, I'd have been like
50% of the time.

1443
01:21:50,040 --> 01:21:52,400
Like, I think I gave this movie
A6 when I walked out of the

1444
01:21:52,400 --> 01:21:55,240
theater.
I've come around a lot more on

1445
01:21:55,240 --> 01:21:57,400
it.
And I think that it's like 70 to

1446
01:21:57,400 --> 01:22:01,080
80% of the time the jokes work,
which if you're writing a

1447
01:22:01,080 --> 01:22:04,080
comedy, like if we're talking
about Anchorman, I think like

1448
01:22:04,200 --> 01:22:06,440
80% of the jokes work in
Anchorman.

1449
01:22:06,440 --> 01:22:09,160
And that's an all time classic
comedy, you know what I mean?

1450
01:22:09,160 --> 01:22:11,720
Like. 80% of the jokes work
every time.

1451
01:22:12,000 --> 01:22:16,280
Every time.
Yeah, I did write down a couple

1452
01:22:16,600 --> 01:22:20,080
a couple lines that really made
me laugh and moments that made

1453
01:22:20,080 --> 01:22:23,240
me laugh.
And like, when, when they have

1454
01:22:23,240 --> 01:22:26,160
all of the old white guys get
together for the Christmas club

1455
01:22:26,160 --> 01:22:29,400
or whatever and they're
explaining the situation to the

1456
01:22:29,400 --> 01:22:31,000
the assassin that they're gonna
send out.

1457
01:22:31,000 --> 01:22:34,520
And they say, like, you know,
they conducted a raid on the

1458
01:22:34,520 --> 01:22:39,440
chicken lickin frozen farm.
And the guy goes, oh, no, I love

1459
01:22:39,440 --> 01:22:43,120
their Nuggets.
It's just the line of like, I

1460
01:22:43,160 --> 01:22:46,400
love their Nuggets Made me laugh
so hard.

1461
01:22:46,520 --> 01:22:49,560
And there's just little moments
like that, like when when

1462
01:22:49,560 --> 01:22:53,640
DiCaprio is on the phone with
with Comrade Josh and just

1463
01:22:53,640 --> 01:22:56,640
losing his absolute shit.
I wrote down every line there

1464
01:22:56,640 --> 01:23:00,840
'cause it made me laugh so hard
and, and Comrade Josh is like,

1465
01:23:01,120 --> 01:23:04,840
you're violating my safety.
These are noise triggers.

1466
01:23:04,840 --> 01:23:07,520
And Dicaprio's like fucking
noise triggers.

1467
01:23:07,840 --> 01:23:09,560
He's like, what is your, what's
your name?

1468
01:23:09,560 --> 01:23:12,040
I want to know your name.
He's like, my name is Comrade

1469
01:23:12,040 --> 01:23:13,760
Josh.
And he goes, all right, well,

1470
01:23:13,760 --> 01:23:15,640
first of all, you need to get a
better name.

1471
01:23:15,640 --> 01:23:17,760
Comrade Josh is a fucking
horrible name for a

1472
01:23:17,760 --> 01:23:23,920
revolutionary.
Says the guy who his name not

1473
01:23:24,080 --> 01:23:26,960
This is confusing because you're
Bob, please be honest.

1474
01:23:26,960 --> 01:23:30,000
But I love when I because I'm
pretty sure he answers that by

1475
01:23:30,000 --> 01:23:34,200
going all right, Bob.
It's just this perfect, like,

1476
01:23:35,120 --> 01:23:37,600
yeah, Comrade Bob, all that much
better.

1477
01:23:37,800 --> 01:23:41,200
It's so much better.
And then there's like the moment

1478
01:23:41,200 --> 01:23:44,280
of like they cut back to
DiCaprio and they've put him on

1479
01:23:44,280 --> 01:23:48,960
hold with the the revolutionary
hotline and there's like hold

1480
01:23:48,960 --> 01:23:52,200
music on the phone.
There's just so many good

1481
01:23:52,200 --> 01:23:54,840
moments of comedy.
I can't hate on this movie too

1482
01:23:54,840 --> 01:23:57,520
much because like it, it really
does work.

1483
01:23:58,000 --> 01:24:00,360
Yeah, there's there's even
moments of like almost like a

1484
01:24:00,360 --> 01:24:08,040
Wes Anderson aesthetic When it
when Willa is at this nunnery of

1485
01:24:08,040 --> 01:24:12,480
like revolutionary nuns and it
just cuts to her perfectly

1486
01:24:12,480 --> 01:24:15,960
framed in the center of the
frame, like big wide stands

1487
01:24:15,960 --> 01:24:19,920
holding a machine gun, just
blasting off the same way that

1488
01:24:19,920 --> 01:24:22,080
you saw her mother doing when
she was pregnant with her.

1489
01:24:22,320 --> 01:24:26,240
But like this specific scene,
it's bright and vibrant and

1490
01:24:26,240 --> 01:24:29,760
there's colors and she and it's
she's perfectly centered in the

1491
01:24:29,760 --> 01:24:33,200
frame and somebody else is
talking off screen about her.

1492
01:24:33,800 --> 01:24:36,840
And it just felt like this Wes
Anderson comedic.

1493
01:24:37,240 --> 01:24:41,000
Like I just, I loved the little
moments like that throughout the

1494
01:24:41,000 --> 01:24:44,200
movie.
Yeah, we we should talk really

1495
01:24:44,200 --> 01:24:48,400
quickly about Benicio Del Toro,
who was in a Wes Anderson film

1496
01:24:48,400 --> 01:24:50,040
just this year, The Phoenician
Scheme.

1497
01:24:50,040 --> 01:24:52,680
He had the lead role in that
movie and that is one of my

1498
01:24:52,680 --> 01:24:55,360
favorite movies of the year.
I felt like it was really slept

1499
01:24:55,360 --> 01:24:57,800
on.
I wish Benicio was nominated for

1500
01:24:57,800 --> 01:25:00,400
that for best actor instead of
for this movie.

1501
01:25:00,400 --> 01:25:03,040
Not that he's not great in this
movie, but I just felt like he

1502
01:25:03,040 --> 01:25:05,720
was even better in the Wes
Anderson film.

1503
01:25:06,320 --> 01:25:09,600
I I am partial to Sensei though,
like I really like what he's

1504
01:25:09,600 --> 01:25:12,080
doing in this movie.
It's cool to watch him be an

1505
01:25:12,080 --> 01:25:17,200
ally to DiCaprio and just to be
like the the coolest cucumber.

1506
01:25:17,480 --> 01:25:20,760
He gets that great last line of
I had a few small beers and then

1507
01:25:20,760 --> 01:25:22,480
they just cut away and you never
see him again.

1508
01:25:22,760 --> 01:25:24,600
Like it's it's a cool character
for sure.

1509
01:25:25,280 --> 01:25:29,240
And the way he's like dancing as
the cops are like having him put

1510
01:25:29,240 --> 01:25:32,480
on his cops.
I think once again, I think

1511
01:25:32,480 --> 01:25:35,720
Benicio Del Toro's character
highlights the struggle for me

1512
01:25:35,720 --> 01:25:40,440
though of like, at first you see
him and, and he's Willa's like

1513
01:25:40,440 --> 01:25:44,280
sensei and trainer and he's
helping Bob out, but he's also

1514
01:25:44,280 --> 01:25:47,720
like organizing this like
resistance to ice.

1515
01:25:48,080 --> 01:25:51,560
And he's very serious.
And so I, I was struggling.

1516
01:25:51,560 --> 01:25:55,800
I'm like, is it, is he supposed
to be funny or serious or like

1517
01:25:55,800 --> 01:25:58,520
say something about the world?
What are we doing here?

1518
01:25:59,520 --> 01:26:01,440
And then at the end of all
things, he's just a very

1519
01:26:01,440 --> 01:26:05,840
unserious, funny character
that's like, you know, in the

1520
01:26:05,840 --> 01:26:09,560
eyes in in the eyes of the film,
he's doing the right thing.

1521
01:26:09,560 --> 01:26:12,360
But he's just kind of chill and
has a few beers and it's funny.

1522
01:26:12,360 --> 01:26:18,080
And like once I landed on oh,
he's an unserious character, I

1523
01:26:18,080 --> 01:26:22,360
was able to enjoy his
performance and and I he's very

1524
01:26:22,360 --> 01:26:24,240
funny.
The way he like puts his first

1525
01:26:24,240 --> 01:26:28,000
up as the carpet, like rolls
over him as he's leaving.

1526
01:26:28,000 --> 01:26:31,200
It's just like, it's really
funny and it's a great.

1527
01:26:31,200 --> 01:26:34,160
Performance.
Yeah, I think that every

1528
01:26:34,160 --> 01:26:37,760
character in the movie is an
unserious character, except for,

1529
01:26:37,760 --> 01:26:40,080
I guess you could say, except
for the female characters like

1530
01:26:40,480 --> 01:26:44,440
Perfidia is, is portrayed as
like this incredibly flawed

1531
01:26:44,440 --> 01:26:45,880
person.
And one of the things I do love

1532
01:26:45,880 --> 01:26:50,840
about the movie is like the for
a, for an unsubtle movie, like

1533
01:26:50,840 --> 01:26:55,520
she makes horrible selfish
choices, but nobody in the movie

1534
01:26:55,520 --> 01:26:58,240
has to be like she's a horrible
selfish, like they call her a

1535
01:26:58,240 --> 01:26:59,920
rat 'cause she literally ratted
on them.

1536
01:26:59,920 --> 01:27:04,200
But like, you understand as an
audience member that she is both

1537
01:27:04,240 --> 01:27:08,240
afraid of being tied down.
She's afraid of being a mom.

1538
01:27:08,240 --> 01:27:09,760
She's afraid of losing
attention.

1539
01:27:09,800 --> 01:27:13,360
She craves attention and she
like gets off on danger.

1540
01:27:13,480 --> 01:27:16,000
And like, this is not a, this is
not setting yourself up for

1541
01:27:16,000 --> 01:27:18,840
success as a mother.
So she abandons her kid and she

1542
01:27:18,840 --> 01:27:24,040
just she does, and I think that
like portraying it so frankly is

1543
01:27:24,040 --> 01:27:26,600
is perhaps the most adult thing
this movie does.

1544
01:27:26,920 --> 01:27:30,880
Like sure, and in letting you
actually understand, like I

1545
01:27:30,880 --> 01:27:33,880
don't like Perfidia because she
did this, but I understand her

1546
01:27:33,880 --> 01:27:35,720
motivations, even if they are
selfish.

1547
01:27:36,160 --> 01:27:39,280
So when you see a character like
Chase Infinity Willa in the

1548
01:27:39,280 --> 01:27:42,960
movie, she's like one of the
only serious people because

1549
01:27:42,960 --> 01:27:46,000
she's still like she's looking
around her at all these absurd

1550
01:27:46,000 --> 01:27:49,520
characters and trying to figure
out like, how do I make my way

1551
01:27:49,520 --> 01:27:52,400
in a world filled with absurd
people?

1552
01:27:52,720 --> 01:27:55,440
And you kind of get that with
Regina Hall because at some

1553
01:27:55,440 --> 01:27:58,080
point someone tells her you're
the only one that takes this

1554
01:27:58,080 --> 01:28:00,400
seriously anymore.
Like one of the nuns even says

1555
01:28:00,400 --> 01:28:03,040
like, I don't like doing this
revolution thing anymore.

1556
01:28:03,320 --> 01:28:05,200
You're way more involved in this
than we are.

1557
01:28:05,720 --> 01:28:07,960
So I I do think there's
something to the idea that,

1558
01:28:07,960 --> 01:28:12,080
like, the world is filled with
absurd people and only a couple

1559
01:28:12,080 --> 01:28:14,360
of us are actually serious about
this.

1560
01:28:15,160 --> 01:28:18,960
And that kind of feeds into the
comedy of it, but it also kind

1561
01:28:18,960 --> 01:28:22,080
of feeds into this disconnect
you and I both feel with the

1562
01:28:22,080 --> 01:28:24,680
tone of the movie.
Yeah, absolutely.

1563
01:28:25,120 --> 01:28:28,400
And I, I think the the
disconnect for me also comes

1564
01:28:28,400 --> 01:28:30,000
down.
I'm curious how you feel about

1565
01:28:30,000 --> 01:28:33,320
this.
It's interesting to me that the

1566
01:28:33,320 --> 01:28:38,320
most emotionally powerful part
of this film is when father and

1567
01:28:38,320 --> 01:28:43,480
daughter are reunited.
It's not when the villain of the

1568
01:28:43,480 --> 01:28:47,960
movie is defeated.
Like, it feels like there should

1569
01:28:47,960 --> 01:28:53,200
be this sense of like, like,
like we got in Locklear is dead.

1570
01:28:53,520 --> 01:28:57,400
They're free from his influence.
And yet, like his death kind of

1571
01:28:57,400 --> 01:29:04,240
feels anticlimactic and just
kind of like, OK, he's dead now.

1572
01:29:05,000 --> 01:29:09,240
And I, I just, I don't know, to
me, once again, the everything

1573
01:29:09,240 --> 01:29:15,560
that happens after Willa and Bob
are reunited feels like it just

1574
01:29:15,560 --> 01:29:20,160
kind of cuts the legs out of the
movie because we've already had

1575
01:29:20,160 --> 01:29:23,200
our emotional climax.
The whole thrust of the movie

1576
01:29:23,200 --> 01:29:25,840
has been completed.
And then there's all this add on

1577
01:29:25,840 --> 01:29:29,960
stuff that makes you go, oh,
maybe the movie wasn't about

1578
01:29:29,960 --> 01:29:34,680
what I thought it was about.
And it's it's maybe it's about

1579
01:29:34,680 --> 01:29:38,640
defeating Lock Lockjaw.
But when I see him defeated, I'm

1580
01:29:38,640 --> 01:29:42,240
just kind of like, OK, that
happened, I guess.

1581
01:29:42,240 --> 01:29:44,560
He was ultimately just a cog in
a machine, too.

1582
01:29:44,800 --> 01:29:47,040
Yeah.
And I think that if you wanted

1583
01:29:47,040 --> 01:29:51,080
to take a much more negative
view on PTA as a film maker,

1584
01:29:51,360 --> 01:29:56,120
then you could say that he's
kind of aping other film makers

1585
01:29:56,120 --> 01:29:59,480
and and he's kind of derivative.
I don't think this about him,

1586
01:29:59,480 --> 01:30:03,280
but like you could very clearly
map Boogie Nights is a Scorsese

1587
01:30:03,280 --> 01:30:06,280
movie.
Magnolia has always been

1588
01:30:06,280 --> 01:30:08,320
considered like a Robert Altman
type movie.

1589
01:30:08,320 --> 01:30:11,440
I think you could say that
Licorice Pizza being a hangout

1590
01:30:11,440 --> 01:30:14,640
movie is very Altman, but it's
also very like French New Wave.

1591
01:30:15,160 --> 01:30:17,760
You could say that There will be
blood and the Master are very

1592
01:30:17,760 --> 01:30:20,240
Kubricky.
And I think when you look at

1593
01:30:20,240 --> 01:30:24,280
this movie, this is him and his
most like Coen brothers, both in

1594
01:30:24,280 --> 01:30:27,840
trying to capture the dark
comedy and the sort of like

1595
01:30:28,160 --> 01:30:32,840
randomness and futility of life.
And there is a ton of No Country

1596
01:30:32,840 --> 01:30:36,320
for Old Men in the way this
movie is shot and set up.

1597
01:30:36,480 --> 01:30:40,200
You know, this whole idea of
like sending an assassin after

1598
01:30:40,200 --> 01:30:43,360
the main bad guy who just ends
up getting killed really quickly

1599
01:30:43,360 --> 01:30:46,360
too, like Woody Harrelson did in
No Country for Old Men.

1600
01:30:47,200 --> 01:30:50,360
I I do think there's a ton of
Cohen in this movie.

1601
01:30:51,240 --> 01:30:54,960
I don't know if he is as
successful at balancing tones as

1602
01:30:54,960 --> 01:30:58,680
the Coens are, but I do think
that there's something to the

1603
01:30:58,680 --> 01:31:02,480
way that it's like, well, you
know, this, we thought this was

1604
01:31:02,480 --> 01:31:04,680
our big bad.
And now he's been dispatched as

1605
01:31:04,680 --> 01:31:06,480
quickly as anybody else in this
movie.

1606
01:31:06,840 --> 01:31:11,440
Kind of like when Josh Brolin
gets killed in No Country and it

1607
01:31:11,440 --> 01:31:14,440
happens off screen and you you
fade back in and he's just dead

1608
01:31:14,440 --> 01:31:17,560
and you're like, what the hell.
Like, I I wanted the payoff of

1609
01:31:17,560 --> 01:31:20,520
seeing that happen.
So yeah, I mean, I think it's

1610
01:31:20,520 --> 01:31:23,880
purposeful, but it's also a
thing that you could pinpoint as

1611
01:31:23,880 --> 01:31:25,320
a potential weakness of the
movie.

1612
01:31:25,840 --> 01:31:28,240
Yeah.
And I, I think, I mean, Bob, I

1613
01:31:28,240 --> 01:31:31,360
think this is kind of wrapping
us up to the point where we need

1614
01:31:31,360 --> 01:31:34,360
to finish out with our last two
segments of the day, the first

1615
01:31:34,360 --> 01:31:36,800
of which being let's make it a
double.

1616
01:31:37,040 --> 01:31:40,320
We're near the end of the
episode, so thanks listening to

1617
01:31:40,400 --> 01:31:43,240
the film and Whiskey show.
Let's have another film with

1618
01:31:43,240 --> 01:31:44,680
this one, even if it's
struggling.

1619
01:31:44,680 --> 01:31:46,040
It's the final segment of the
day.

1620
01:31:46,040 --> 01:31:49,120
Now let's make it a double.
Let's Make It a Double is the

1621
01:31:49,120 --> 01:31:52,440
part of the show where we pick a
movie to pair up with this one

1622
01:31:52,720 --> 01:31:54,280
to make the perfect double
feature.

1623
01:31:54,720 --> 01:31:57,040
Brad, since you brought it up,
I'm going to assume you have a

1624
01:31:57,040 --> 01:31:59,720
good one on deck here for us.
So I'll let you go first with

1625
01:31:59,720 --> 01:32:03,480
Let's Make It a Double.
Yeah, I, I think that if you

1626
01:32:03,480 --> 01:32:09,520
look at this film as a man and
his daughter trying to reclaim

1627
01:32:09,520 --> 01:32:15,240
some semblance of life after a
period of war, after a period of

1628
01:32:15,240 --> 01:32:19,520
revolution of, you know, Bob
living this violent life.

1629
01:32:19,960 --> 01:32:23,240
I'm actually, this is like
probably a, a stretch.

1630
01:32:23,640 --> 01:32:26,680
I'm going to pair this with the
best years of our lives from

1631
01:32:26,680 --> 01:32:30,080
1946.
I, I think that there is that

1632
01:32:30,080 --> 01:32:35,800
sense of how do we make sense of
our lives after this very big

1633
01:32:35,800 --> 01:32:39,280
traumatic event that we
participated in?

1634
01:32:39,280 --> 01:32:43,160
And how do we, how do we
reconcile with our parts and our

1635
01:32:43,160 --> 01:32:45,800
roles in that war, in that
struggle?

1636
01:32:46,160 --> 01:32:48,640
I think that there's actually a
lot of similarities there.

1637
01:32:48,640 --> 01:32:52,680
And I think I would rather watch
1 battle after another and then

1638
01:32:52,680 --> 01:32:55,560
the best of your years of our
lives and end in this kind of

1639
01:32:55,920 --> 01:32:58,920
better, more optimistic place.
Nice.

1640
01:32:59,960 --> 01:33:01,000
Yeah.
I, I think there's a couple

1641
01:33:01,000 --> 01:33:03,640
directions I could go with this.
The first of which is if you

1642
01:33:03,640 --> 01:33:06,720
just want to keep it to 2025,
there's another movie that came

1643
01:33:06,720 --> 01:33:10,400
out this year called Marty
Supreme, which is shot in this

1644
01:33:10,400 --> 01:33:15,000
kind of hectic tension building.
This guy is screwing up his life

1645
01:33:15,000 --> 01:33:17,800
with every choice he's making.
And you make reckless choices as

1646
01:33:17,800 --> 01:33:20,880
a young person, and then you
kind of learn how to figure it

1647
01:33:20,880 --> 01:33:24,000
out when you see the eyes of
your baby for the first time.

1648
01:33:24,000 --> 01:33:26,560
And like, it's very much a movie
about fatherhood.

1649
01:33:26,800 --> 01:33:29,280
Marty Supreme would be a really
good movie to pair this with.

1650
01:33:29,960 --> 01:33:32,040
I think I'm going to stick on
the Coen brothers thing.

1651
01:33:33,040 --> 01:33:35,360
You know, there's definitely no
country for old men in this.

1652
01:33:35,600 --> 01:33:38,080
There's definitely some Fargo in
this movie as well.

1653
01:33:38,480 --> 01:33:41,200
I think I'm going to pair it
with one of my favorite Coen

1654
01:33:41,200 --> 01:33:44,560
Brothers movies which is called
Burn After Reading, which is a

1655
01:33:44,560 --> 01:33:49,440
great 90 minute movie that is
all about like CIA intrigue and

1656
01:33:49,440 --> 01:33:53,640
a bunch of really stupid people
who get trapped in having

1657
01:33:53,640 --> 01:33:56,960
documents they shouldn't.
A bunch of people get killed and

1658
01:33:56,960 --> 01:33:59,800
the end of the movie is very
much just like, what did we even

1659
01:33:59,800 --> 01:34:00,920
learn here?
I don't know.

1660
01:34:01,120 --> 01:34:02,200
And then that's the end of the
movie.

1661
01:34:02,320 --> 01:34:06,360
And it feels like very much akin
to 1 battle after another.

1662
01:34:06,560 --> 01:34:09,080
I think it does the comedy just
a little bit better.

1663
01:34:09,080 --> 01:34:13,200
So I'd highly recommend pairing
this up with Burn after reading

1664
01:34:14,320 --> 01:34:16,080
Brad.
We have made it.

1665
01:34:16,680 --> 01:34:18,880
We're an hour and a half in.
We should probably give this

1666
01:34:18,880 --> 01:34:22,240
movie some final scores here.
I'm a lot higher than I was the

1667
01:34:22,240 --> 01:34:24,680
first time I saw this.
I don't think it's a perfect

1668
01:34:24,680 --> 01:34:27,040
movie.
I don't think that it's like, I

1669
01:34:27,040 --> 01:34:29,600
don't think it even approaches
There Will Be Blood in terms of

1670
01:34:30,120 --> 01:34:31,840
Paul Thomas Anderson's best
films.

1671
01:34:32,840 --> 01:34:36,880
If it wins Best Picture, I won't
be mad about it.

1672
01:34:37,120 --> 01:34:39,960
I just don't think that this was
a particularly strong year for

1673
01:34:39,960 --> 01:34:43,320
film, and I'm going to reflect
that in the fact that I'm giving

1674
01:34:43,320 --> 01:34:45,680
this movie an 8 out of 10.
OK.

1675
01:34:46,480 --> 01:34:51,760
I think I just as a movie, I
think that this is I'm with you.

1676
01:34:51,760 --> 01:34:54,640
It's like an 8 out of 10.
Like the cinematography is

1677
01:34:54,640 --> 01:34:56,680
really great.
The scripts kind of average.

1678
01:34:58,240 --> 01:35:00,200
The action scenes are really
well done.

1679
01:35:00,200 --> 01:35:02,440
That there's a lot to like about
this movie.

1680
01:35:03,640 --> 01:35:07,960
I think for me, and you tell me
if I'm wrong about it feels like

1681
01:35:07,960 --> 01:35:11,440
there is a political statement
being made here.

1682
01:35:12,240 --> 01:35:14,080
Like, am I crazy?
OK.

1683
01:35:14,080 --> 01:35:19,760
No, not at all.
OK, so I for me, the vision of

1684
01:35:19,760 --> 01:35:24,080
the world, of the human
experience that he is promoting,

1685
01:35:24,440 --> 01:35:28,560
I just disagree with like on a
deep fundamental level.

1686
01:35:28,960 --> 01:35:33,240
So for me that's like it's like
a one out of 10 on the message

1687
01:35:33,240 --> 01:35:36,920
it is bringing to the world.
Like I just, I very deeply

1688
01:35:36,920 --> 01:35:40,040
disagree with it.
And so I, I think I'll land at

1689
01:35:40,040 --> 01:35:43,640
like a 6.5.
Like I think this is a really

1690
01:35:43,640 --> 01:35:47,000
well made movie.
I just think that the the

1691
01:35:47,000 --> 01:35:52,920
message that the world is run by
these dark, evil, racist people

1692
01:35:53,320 --> 01:35:57,520
and they are trying to ruin and
destroy people's lives.

1693
01:35:57,840 --> 01:36:01,920
And that therefore makes
violence OK.

1694
01:36:02,080 --> 01:36:05,040
It makes it OK to enact violence
and chaos on the world.

1695
01:36:05,120 --> 01:36:07,960
I just, I can't get down with
that man.

1696
01:36:07,960 --> 01:36:11,960
It really is.
And antithetical to how I view

1697
01:36:11,960 --> 01:36:17,280
the human experience.
So I I'm, I'm, I'm kind of in

1698
01:36:17,280 --> 01:36:19,440
the middle where I recognize
that this is a really well made

1699
01:36:19,440 --> 01:36:20,600
movie.
It's funny.

1700
01:36:20,600 --> 01:36:24,320
There's a lot to like about it.
I just found myself a little

1701
01:36:24,320 --> 01:36:27,800
sour at the end.
I hope that you feel like you've

1702
01:36:27,800 --> 01:36:30,880
been able to express your
dissenting opinion today.

1703
01:36:30,960 --> 01:36:33,600
And I've kind of, I've also
tried not to argue with it

1704
01:36:33,600 --> 01:36:36,800
because a, like the movie kind
of does the arguing.

1705
01:36:36,840 --> 01:36:39,600
You know, I don't agree with the
idea of like, we should

1706
01:36:39,600 --> 01:36:43,240
violently overthrow things.
But I do think that, like, the

1707
01:36:43,240 --> 01:36:47,200
course of human history kind of
says that there are powerful

1708
01:36:47,200 --> 01:36:48,840
people and people who are not in
power.

1709
01:36:48,840 --> 01:36:51,880
And like, change comes through
people protesting.

1710
01:36:52,520 --> 01:36:56,760
Now, my issues with the movie
are not of the political ilk at

1711
01:36:56,760 --> 01:36:58,200
all.
It's more just like, does the

1712
01:36:58,200 --> 01:37:01,320
tone of this movie work or not?
And I think for the most part it

1713
01:37:01,320 --> 01:37:03,120
does.
And I think you and I can find

1714
01:37:03,120 --> 01:37:06,880
common ground in the fact that,
like, what the movie does as a

1715
01:37:06,880 --> 01:37:09,360
movie, for the most part works
pretty well.

1716
01:37:09,800 --> 01:37:12,160
Yeah.
So totally, I'm coming out to an

1717
01:37:12,160 --> 01:37:15,080
8 out of 10.
Brad's coming out to a 6.5,

1718
01:37:15,440 --> 01:37:19,240
which puts us at an average of a
7.25 on this.

1719
01:37:19,600 --> 01:37:22,480
So next week when we return with
the movie Sinners, we're going

1720
01:37:22,480 --> 01:37:25,760
to be holding it up against this
7.25 and seeing which of these

1721
01:37:25,760 --> 01:37:29,520
two movies actually deserves to
win the Oscar for Best Picture

1722
01:37:29,520 --> 01:37:31,960
this year because of.
Our vote that matters.

1723
01:37:32,760 --> 01:37:35,400
That's right, now you can let us
know what you thought of 1

1724
01:37:35,400 --> 01:37:38,120
Battle After Another by getting
in touch with us on any of our

1725
01:37:38,120 --> 01:37:43,280
social media accounts, Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or

1726
01:37:43,280 --> 01:37:45,360
YouTube at film.
Whiskey.

1727
01:37:46,000 --> 01:37:48,200
Or if you want to join the
conversation, you can find a

1728
01:37:48,200 --> 01:37:51,240
link to our Discord server at
the end of every single one of

1729
01:37:51,240 --> 01:37:53,600
our show notes.
All right, we'll be back next

1730
01:37:53,600 --> 01:37:56,800
week talking about sinners, but
until then, I'm Bob Book.

1731
01:37:57,160 --> 01:37:59,920
I'm Brad G.
And we'll see you next time.