Latest / Popcorn and Pals / Ep 21 - The Nice Guys (2016)

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Ep 21 - The Nice Guys (2016) · Popcorn and Pals

• justin: welcome back to Popcorn and Pals, the podcast where we talk about all sorts of movies, good and bad, and we give you our completely unqualified takes on them. He's Zach, and I'm Justin. And today we're talking about a 2016 buddy cop movie that you've probably never heard of. It's The Nice Guys. Zach: I know dude, I feel like this movie got done dirty. Cause no spo no justin: Yeah. It's Zach: spoilers on my opinion, but it was great. I loved it. So it's justin: Yeah. Zach: it's really too bad. But anyway, this is Justin Month. So this is your first movie. justin: Yeah. It's definitely the newest movie I think we've ever talked about. Twenty sixteen. I was trying to Yeah. Zach: Yeah, probably by twenty years. justin: I don't have we have we cracked the two thousands yet? Have we done a movie in the two thousands? Zach: I think the closest we've gotten is like ninety seven. justin: Mm. Zach: Which we've done three ninety seven movies, including one movie that's very derivative of this movie, I feel like, with Kim Basinger and and Russell Crowe, but justin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, so it's I don't know. I I tried to keep there's a specific reason why I wanted to watch this movie, but I tried to keep things different than what we normally do. Just to sh to shake things up. You're very lucky Zach: Sure, sure, sure. Yeah. justin: that we did not do an anime movie. I had Akura on the trigger. Zach: No, I'm telling you. W we should we should figure I don't know what your second movie is for your month, right? Cause this month is your birthday month, so it's like your movies that we're doing. justin: Mm. Zach: And 'cause I feel like I'm always injecting myself onto this podcast 'cause it's not even like I like the movies that we're watching, but I'm just like I I'm like I wanna watch old movies 'cause I feel like I want to grow my horizons. And so I'm forcing that onto you. So it's good to justin: Yeah. Zach: have a Justin Month where we're actually doing movies that you like. justin: Yeah, take a breather. Zach: Yeah, yeah. justin: Yeah. But anyway, how are things? How is Zach: All right. No, okay, so I'm before we get into the movie, which this justin: Yeah. Zach: is gonna be like very nuanced and be peop like fortunately we don't have a large audience and we probably never will, so you know, whatever. But so I am my son is five, right? He's starting justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: kindergarten. The thing I was the most excited about to force him into You know, 'cause you want them to play sports, you want them to do clubs, you want them to do all kinds of things. And the one thing that I'm like I am gonna be involved in and all that stuff is Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. So he starred in justin: yeah, fun. Zach: Cub Scouts this year, and I'm gonna be his like den leader, his little leader for his little ki for the little kids. justin: Yeah. Zach: And I don't know, like Were you involved in scouts at all as a kid? justin: I wasn't but I always wanted to be and I never got to be. Zach: See, like I wonder now, I'm like, I think there's just too much baggage with scouts. And see, maybe justin: Mm, yeah. Zach: it's the Catholic in me, because I'm Catholic. I wasn't Boy Scouts. Like I was like, you know, prime target for justin: Sure. Yeah. Zach: things happening to both of those institutions. And maybe justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I'm just like, you know what? Like it didn't happen to me in those institutions. So like I'm still okay with them. justin: You you somehow Zach: But I feel like there's so many people outside the world are not justin: Yeah, you somehow walked out unscathed. That's saying something, Zachary. Zach: Yeah. justin: They didn't want you. Zach: No. That's probably more accurate, right? I'm just not that I'm just justin: Mm. Yeah. But that Zach: supposed not worth it, you know? No, seriously though. I was like I do feel like there's like a stigma with with scouts now because of justin: Mm. Zach: like, you know, a bunch of crap in the nineties and eighties and just the way the scouts handled it and all that stuff. But justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: at the end of the day, I'm like, I just feel there's something great about being outdoors, having fun. Learning like about friendship and responsibility and nature and all that stuff that's so good for a kid and I just it's too bad because now I'm doing it, I'm leading it, and justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: there's just not the interest. I remember as a kid, I was like one of fifteen kindergartners. I'm like, justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: we are working hard to get four, you know? justin: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. I never I remember the documentary, I don't know if it was on Netflix. I don't think I watched it, but I remember hearing about all of the stuff that came out about Boy Scouts and yeah, there's probably like you say, there's probably like a a unfavorable view. Zach: I mean they basically filed bankruptcy over it, right? They had so many lawsuits and everything. No, I was c Yeah, it is. My wife was like justin: Yeah. But that's a that's exciting though, that you're getting involved in that. It's Zach: basically like, You have to be their leader. I trust you and no one else So justin: Yeah, I d I don't blame her. And you also know what you're doing. For anybody that is unaware, Zach is a very outdoorsy person. Zach: Yes, I guess. I mean, you know, there's obviously people who are more intense than I am, but I can at least, you know, make a fire. I made a fire last night at our house and my son and I were cooking hot dogs on it and we were making s'mores and all that stuff. And justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: my daughter had no interest in it at all. But justin: Mm. Zach: it was yeah, he was he came away today, he's like, Dad Can we make another fire? Can we cook hot dogs on it tonight? And I'm like, I don't know if I can do two fire hot dogs in a row. But you know, I'm like So he was getting justin: Yeah. Zach: into it. He's very excited about it. He's like, Am I a tiger? Am I a lion? Am I a whatever? Yeah, all the ranks that they have in Cub Scouts and everything. So he's he's all into it right now. We'll see. I have to wear the uniform too. justin: Yeah. Do you wear short shorts and like high socks? Zach: No, not this, not yet. justin: And the and the ascot, is that what that's the the den leader outfit? Zach: I definitely I No, I don't have the little ring and little scarf and all that stuff either. No. Just the just justin: Was it? Yeah. Zach: the brown shirt and all that. But you know. justin: Well good, that's exciting. I'm glad that you guys are doing something fun. Zach: My wife and I will do some role playing. justin: wow. Zach: I'd be like, Do you want to buy some popcorn? justin: my god. I can't wait for her to listen to this this intro on this episode. Zach: she'll k no, she'll kill Luckily I don't think she does, so justin: It's safe. This is a safe space. Zach: This is the same place, yeah. You know, I'm just like I'm just speaking my fantasies, that's all justin: Sure, why not? Zach: I'm saying. What do you got going justin: It's Zach: on? What's going on with you, your fam, G, all that good stuff. justin: Yeah, we started well, we all got sick, so that was fun. we got sick before we started daycare, but we've officially started daycare. She's doing great and loving it. Zach: Good. justin: yeah, which yeah, I don't know. Th so like all of that, that's been going really well, so we can't really ask more out of that. and it's Zach: Yeah, speaking of being Catholic, you've s you're sending your little girl to where I went to church when I was a kid at a Catholic justin: Yeah. And it's Zach: church and you're not Catholic, so you know. She's gonna be shunned. That's what that's what we do as Catholics. We shun those who are less than us. justin: I know. I I have to I remember going to our friend's Catholic wedding and having to do the X over my chest. 'Cause I'm not a part Yeah. Zach: So we're good at, you know. That's what we do. justin: Let's alienate everybody. Zach: Yeah. justin: no, they're great. it's awesome. I mean she's doing great. It's it's like a Mother's Day out, so it's not like anything too intense. But yes, so that's going that's going well. Even more exciting talking about activities with children. I recently started playing through a Pokemon game and she joined me on it. And I let her battle, she's obsessed. And Zach: There you go. justin: teaching her all the right moves, we only use attack moves, we don't use stat boosters and that bullshit, you know. We just we go for the we go for the throat and the one hit KOs Zach: Yeah, that's bullshit. Yeah, you don't need that shit out of justin: every time. So it's great. And then she just she's like, I wanna do it myself and she just runs around. It doesn't matter, 'cause it's not like Mario Kart, like she wants to play Mario Kart all the time, but I'm so competitive in Mario Kart that I can't throw a race and just let her fuck it up. So with Zach: Ha ha ha justin: with Pokemon she could just run around. It doesn't matter, you know? It's d do whatever she wants. So it's Zach: There you go. justin: been exciting times over here for us as well. Yeah. Zach: There you go. I know I've been really toying with like one of those like I'm they're probably from China, but like all those like it's like a faux Game Boy with like a ten thousand games pretty loaded on it and stuff. I was thinking about getting justin: Mm, yeah. Zach: that for my son for Christmas 'cause I'm like, he's gotta start playing something. I'm not you know, justin: Yeah. Zach: you know me, I'm not a big gamer. So I never ever ha like I just played games with you basically justin: Mm. Zach: and growing up. And so I don't have anything. I got like an Xbox three sixty from like two thousand and four that's unplugged in like a closet, right? You like that's all I got. So So he hasn't justin: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's Zach: he hasn't been exposed to the world. He's been exposed to Candyland. That's the most gaming he's done. Yeah. justin: That's fair. That's probably a good that's a good s starting point. yeah, talking about like stigmas and stuff, I feel like gaming stigmas have eased up over the years. Like there's I see shit all the time. It's like there's scientific studies that say if you play games that you're you keep your cognitive functions in working order and you can make decisions better and all this stuff and so Zach: Not according to the nineties, you were gonna w worship Satan. justin: Exactly. So s you know, slow roll it. don't don't put your son on Grand Theft Auto just yet. But Yeah. Maybe s may start off on like some puzzle games. Get him Tetris. yeah, there you go. Run run some people over. Zach: Yeah, he'll Yeah. Start off with I'll start off with Crazy Crazy Taxi. There you go, that'll be our that's our gateway into Grand Theft Auto by eight. justin: I still I I don't know if you and your brother played Majora's Mask. I think I I think that's where my anxiety started. Like so many people Yes. Zach: With Zelda, with Zelda's Majora's that game's got some pressure, I will say. justin: Yeah, where you have a limited amount of time and i it you lose if you run out of time. I mean Zach: My brother Rick, not I know you know he's my brother, but just for context my brother Rick, his kid they've been Rick loves Zelda. Like that's like his favorite by far. And that's like justin: Mm. Mm-hmm. Zach: the only thing he plays with his kids. They've just been like running their way through a bunch of Zelda games. And justin: Yeah. Zach: his five year old is or hi he's almost six, yeah, his five year old is all about Zelda. So it's justin: Yeah. That's that's why we're I'm playing Pokemon, 'cause I I bought a Switch two for the Ocarina of Time remake. And I'm I'm just Zach: But the one thing justin: I'm wasting time until it comes out so I'm playing Pokemon. Zach: There you go. The I'm getting my son into z he had a Pokemon birthday, you were there a little while ago. And then we still justin: Mm, mm. Zach: we go to McKay's, which is like a used bookstore we've talked about before on this podcast, and there they have you can get like a s it's like a s it's kinda like a Ziploc bag, not quite the same size. but you can for five dollars you can stuff as many Pokemon cards in it as you want. You can put like three hundred in there. So you just justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: go through this big pile of Pokemon cards. None of them, they're all trash. There's not a good one in the bunch. But he's justin: Sure. Mm-hmm. Zach: he's he loves just going through them, picks the worst ones. He like picks all the gym trainers. I'm like, what are you doing? But you know I don't know. I'm like justin: He w he wants to be a trainer. Let him dream. And then and then you use you use those shit Pokemon cards for kindling when you are out there doing Boy Scouts and you build fire. There you go. See it's all it all comes full circle around here. Zach: There you go. There you go. Mm-hmm. Speaking of full circle, you wanna get into our the nice guys? justin: Yeah, let's talk about the nice guys. Let's talk about the tragedy that that is Yeah. Let's talk about the tragedy that is the nice guys. No one's No Zach: A well rounded movie, you know. That was the weak that was the weakest transition anyone of Yeah. I should leave up to you. That was terrible. justin: one is going to fault you for it. So yeah, I know I have seen this movie multiple times, which is why I picked it, but this was your first time seeing it, right? Yeah, Zach: Yeah. Yeah. justin: what are your what's your initial thoughts? Zach: I loved it. I thought it was great. Yeah, so I'm like a I'm a relatively decent Shane Black fan. justin: Mm. Zach: I've seen a lot of his stuff. And this was like always on my list. But it was just, you know, it came out in 2016. We were twenty six. I was starting my first job. You know, one of my first so it's like just in the beginning of my career. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: And my wife and I had just moved we in fact we were engaged in 2016. So we were going through our wedding planning and I was justin: Mm. Zach: alone in Cincinnati with my wife planning a wedding. Just n this is not I mean, she would love this she would like this movie, but like was not like let's go to the theaters and see it kind of thing. And justin: Yeah, yeah. Zach: so it just passed me by and it's been on my list forever. So when you like were like, Yes, let's watch this, I was like, Alright, I'm in. I'm I'm excited to watch it, let's go. And Met my expectations and exceeded them. I thought it was incredible. I thought it was great. It was so much fun. But tell me tell me justin: Yeah. I think that's I think Zach: why. Tell me why you picked this movie. justin: So I think well, one, I think that sums it up perfectly. This movie is just it's just fun. Like I I think I come back to this movie at least once every like year two. Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: because it's just so well rounded and it's so fun. But the reason why I want to watch this movie is because I think One, it harkens back to an era of buddy cop movies in like the most brilliant way, right? I think buddy cop movies really they hit their stride in nineties, I think, and then like, yeah. Yeah. Zach: Yeah, maybe eighty eight er late mid eighties, early nineties at max. Yeah. The latest in the nineties. justin: And I like I think This movie does it in such a brilliant way. And like I put this in the same kind of tier as I would Rush Hour. I grew up on Rush Hour. I love the Rush Hour movies, Zach: Ha ha ha justin: right? Because they're they're fun. At the end of the day, they're fun. Zach: Yeah, they're great they're g especially that first one. I was playing war for my kid the other day justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: and my w I was like, Hey Car I got a song for you I played and c Carly was like did not see that one coming and I'm like rush hour, you know? What is it good for? justin: Yeah. exactly. Like they're they're f they're funny, they have the they have good mysteries, like you know, like that whole thrill of you're you're right there alongside them solving a crime, it's it's a fun process, right? Zach: Yeah, it's it's like forty eight hours or any ed you know, a lot of those Eddie Murphy movies from the eight Beverly Hills cop, right? Like they're just justin: Yeah. Zach: like you're solving crimes with them, they're fun, there's justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: hijinks, there's all kinds of good stuff, yeah. justin: Yeah, so you have this movie that was made in like arguably what, two decades after like primetime buddy cop era? Zach: Yeah. justin: And it introduces two major stars, even at the time, back in twenty sixteen, Ryan Gosling was he was pretty big, but especially Russell Crowe. Like Zach: Yeah, this is post drive. This is pros twenty f twenty d Blade Runner twenty forty nine for him. so yeah, so he's like fully justin: Mm-hmm. So Zach: established in Holly. justin: Exactly, right? And I think more importantly, like outside of this is just a fun movie, it's very well rounded, so many things are done very well with this movie. I think it is a fantastic case study of something that is the right place at the wrong time. And Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: also in terms of like success, like the business side of movie making And release schedules and all these things. So when you look at this movie, I wanted to call this out. It has a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So it's it was like critically praised, right? By people really like it. Critics, audience members, all the things. It bombed. It made 63 million on a $50 million budget. So In the United States, this movie was originally scheduled to come out June of twenty sixteen, but Warner Brothers moved it up to May, and then they gave its original space to Central Intelligence, which is another buddy cop movie with the fucking rock. Yes. The Rock Yeah. Right? The Rock and Kevin Hart. Yeah. Right? So Zach: That's the Kevin Hart one, right? Yeah, The Rock and Kevin Hart. Yeah. I remember that. Trash movie. But The Rock was like bankable at that point. That was the heyday of The Rock. justin: So because of that date change, the nice guys went released on the same day as Neighbors 2, which is like directly this the target audience for the nice guys, older people. Zach: Yeah, and it's trash. justin: And and the Angry Birds movie. So the parents that did not see Neighbors Two were probably going to see the Angry Birds movie with their kids. So it got buried and it just it slumped and it didn't do anything in the box office. Meanwhile, Central Intelligence was a commercial success, a gross two hundred seventeen million on a fifteen million budget. So like had they kept the original release date for the nice guys, I think it probably would have had success. It probably would have been way bigger than it was. I mean they even set it up, like the end of the movie is set up perfectly for a sequel. I think they had clear Yeah, they had they had clear Zach: Yeah, we'll get to it in sequels, but clearly. It's it's an anthology, right? Yeah. Or not anthology, but like a it's serialized. This could be a television series. Yeah. justin: Yeah. Yeah. They had very clear plans to try to do something more with it. But I think all of that makes this a fascinating movie to me because any time I ever bring this movie up to anybody, nine times out of ten they're like, I'm never even not only have I haven't heard of it, but I've never seen it, right? So it's just it's a it's a wonderfully entertaining movie, but it just like I said, right right place, wrong time. so yeah, it's interesting, if nothing else, just on that whole front. Zach: No, I completely agree. I mean this is 2016, even if it wasn't up against Angry Birds and against Neighbors Two, which is horrible. I don't mind neighbors one, right? justin: Yeah. Zach: But neighbors two, no good. justin: Mm. Zach: i I I just feel like this was just not the era. This is when streaming is starting to get bigger and bigger. you know, the cinema is film or movie theaters or whatever you want to call them are turning into more advent spaces. It's not justin: Mm. Zach: a space to see like you know i i it's right on the edge. Like if this movie comes out five years earlier, I think it does better. If it comes justin: Yeah. Zach: out now, I think it does better. But the fact justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: that it came out in the height of Marvel Mania, in the height of CGI spectacle mania, on top of being in a a weekend that was crowded by competitors justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: for the exact, you know, people it's trying to get. I justin: Yeah. Zach: just it's just too bad 'cause I think this movie this is what we should be making, you know? justin: It's it is Yeah. It's it's original. It's it's there's so many aspects about it, I think are very well done. We'll get into it. But yeah, like I think objectively there is a lot to like about this movie and it has a lot of entertainment value. It's not the most thought provoking movie, it's not gonna make you cry, like nothing like that. But I think for something If you just want to be entertained for two hours, you you will have a lot of fun with this movie. but yeah, it's just it's Zach: Yeah. A hundred percent. justin: it's interesting to think about like, you know, if you were gonna compare it I don't know what it would be today, that'd be like what, Timothy Chalamet and I don't know what somebody else who it like a very popular actor. Two actors, sorry, headlining a movie that just completely tanks. Like it's it's just an Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: interesting case study to me. Zach: Yeah, I feel like this was at the height too of like star power meaning less. I feel like it's starting to mean a little bit more. You know, Matt Damon can open a movie right now, Chalamet can open a movie, Jacob or Lordy can open up a movie, Margot Robbie can open up a movie, but like at the height of like franchise IP craze that was two thousand in probably two thousand and eleven through like 2020, you know, through COVID, the beginning of COVID, that like IP franchise craze. It's like movie stars couldn't open movies. It had justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: to be a franchise. It had to be IP. And they're still trying to do it now and they're starting to fail, which I'm like, thank God. I'm so tired of like seeing the same thing over and over again. justin: Yeah. Zach: And it was fun. It was fun while we were in it. I loved it, justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: you know, in my twenties, I was like, pfft. This great. I'll go see every Marvel movie made, baby. Go see s give me some Star Wars. And then you get burned like one too many times. And you're like, alright, well, I want to see something justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Zach: different. I want to see something new. And I think justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: it was just wrong hundred percent wrong place. Wrong time. But you know what? We have it still. It's still here. We can still watch it. It's still good. That's the point of this podcast. You can go back and watch those justin: Y yeah, that's that's the beauty of Yeah. Zach: things and be I got it. There's still something for me. justin: Exactly. So for anybody who has not even heard of this movie, let alone seen it, what what is your plot summary? Tell us what it's about, Zachary. Zach: Jesus. Do you want my Here we go. Alright, here's my synopsis. Okay. Here we go. I gotta I gotta pull out of my phone justin: You didn't handwrite this? Zach: No, not this well no, not this one. I was so in case you can't tell, I'm a little more animated than I usually am. I've had a couple beers. I have a few days off so for the Labor Day weekend. This is just so everyone knows when we record this, we're recording this ahead of Labor Day. And so I was like, all right, you know what? Let's go out to dinner. We'll go get pizza. They love this place. It's it's not like a Chuck E. Cheese, but it's like a a much more palatable parent version. You've been there, Pizza Perfect of Chuck justin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Zach: E. Cheese. It doesn't have all the grossness that is Chuck E. Cheese, but it's still got games and stuff, so they can go play and my wife and I can sit there, have pizza, and have a couple beers. So it was nice. and then I'm also drinking a beer right now. So justin: Mm. Zach: I wrote this on my phone while I was doing that. So if anyone wants to understand why I'm a little loose here, goosey here, then I normally Ha ha ha Mm. I'm gonna have to do this off memory, Justin. justin: It's fine. Zach: Okay, here we go. Plot synopsis. In a grubby 1970s Los Angeles, two dirtbag PIs investigate a series of murders while seemingly unconcerned and continuously in danger Ryan Gosling's thirteen-year-old daughter. justin: That's perfect, yeah. That's perfect in a nutshell. Zach: I'm not gonna lie, the entire time I was watching this movie, I don't I think I caught their names a couple of times. It was I I wrote down like Russell and Ryan the entire time. justin: Yeah. March March and Healy. Holland Zach: Yeah, yeah. justin: Holland March. I don't know if I don't know if we actually hear them say Healy's first. There you go. But they just refer to him as March and Healy. Zach: Jackson, Jackson Healy. But yeah, I just was like Ryan and Russell the entire time. So I'm gonna they're gonna be Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as through our entire discussion. And in Ryan's justin: Sounds good. We can make that change. Zach: defense, transformative performance, right? Like I mean it's him, but it's like not him, you know? justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: but yeah, the whole time. Ryan and Russell. Alright, now that we've done our plot synopsis, I'm not gonna even try to do a real synopsis for this movie. Like it's it's two justin: It's Zach: PI or one's not even a PI. I said two PIs, but like I don't even know what Russell Crowe is. Beat someone up for money guy. But basically two PIs investigate a series of convoluted murders and plots and they end up finding out that, you know, I don't know, automakers are gonna bring down the Country's air. It doesn't matter. Right? This justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach: movie doesn't like the plot really doesn't matter for this movie. It's it drives action. But justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: to me, what makes this movie is like the dialogue, the one-liners, the like it's a very smart, like kind of gags. Like it's a movie justin: Yeah. Zach: with a bunch of gags in it that are smartly tied together. That's all that really matters for you. It's so like I don't think the plot even truly matters for this movie. I think it's justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: if anything, I would probably still need to watch it a couple more times to really understand the nuances of all the why are you investigating this? Who is this? Why was who hired you? Wait, I thought you were hired by this person to do this part, but there's you're looking into this part, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Right, like it's like kind of convoluted. now I'm hiring you for this, you're hiring me for that, you're blah blah blah. It's like it's not important. S the investigation in the one-liners. so anyways, that's the real plots and num that's the real plot summary, right? It's it's all justin: Yeah. Zach: about the investigation and one-liners. Don't care about the plot. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: gr but from a podcast structure, just so we're clear what's gonna happen here, we're gonna chat about the movie, which we've already gotten into. We'll compare some notes, and then finally we'll go through our superlatives. and whether rate whether we think this podcast will be a classic. justin: This movie will be a classic. This podcast is a Zach: Thank you. God, see this is this is what I'm telling you, man. I had two beers. It like two beers is not even that much. Now they were IPAs, so they're a little stronger. But I'm like, my god, whether or not this movie is a classic, we will rate it. Dude, you have two kids and you just don't drink anymore and justin: You are you are a lightweight. The old Zack that I knew could could down like a you're out of you're out of your prime. You're out of commission. You need to you need to get back on the horse and start really drinking hard. Zach: Yeah, I r you know what I need I need a Ryan Gosling level of problem. That's what I need right now, right? My kids have to justin: Yeah. Zach: I want my to be a burden. That's what I need to do. justin: You you need to wake up in a filled bathtub while wearing a full suit. That's what you need to w that's how drunk you need to get. Zach: You don't I think I could be a ki I think I can be as capable of an alcoholic as Ryan Gosling, I'm pretty sure. No, he's having a great time. justin: Yeah. He just has fun in this movie. He's like whenever he goes and yeah. Yeah. Zach: I think he's having the most fun out of anyone making this movie. justin: Yes, he one thousand percent is. Zach: So let's talk Shane Black. Are you a Shane Black fan? I we I brought him up a little earlier. Have you justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I mean I I think I've seen the Lethal Weapon movies. I don't go back and rewatch them at all. but like every Marvel millennial have seen Iron Man Three. Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: which is also very random that he did Iron Man Three. Zach: Yeah, I feel that way and then his his Predator movie, I kinda feel that way too. I'm like they're very random for him. justin: Hm. Yeah, it's funny that like between Iron Man Three and Predator, the nice guys was sandwiched right in there. I think easily probably his Zach: Yeah, you can tell he has like a particular movie that he's like good at making justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: and he's like, Okay, I've done what I'm good at. Like let me like go for the commercial success. I wanna be the bigger director. I wanna be something bigger than like the Buddy Cop movie or, you know, the kinda like dark humor movie. Like I wanna be something bigger, so he's like, I'm gonna go take some temple franchises and I don't think he quite nails it on those ones, but And Pred in his justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: defen like I mean, Predators is fucking awful, so justin: I don't know if I ever saw that. Is that that's not the one with Adrian Brody, right? Or yeah, that that yeah, I think that's the that was the last Zach: No, that was a good one. I don't even know if it's Predators. It's Predator whatever, right? The Predator, Predator, whatever. Whichever one he did. The Adrian Brody one is great. justin: that was the last one I saw. I I so I don't even yeah, I'm not familiar with the the Predator movie that Shane Black did. Zach: No, this the the one that I there's like an autistic kid who saves the world by using alien tech. It's not very good. justin: Wow, that's yeah, that sounds fun. Zach: I mean it's good for representation or whatever, but like it's it's not very good. justin: Yeah. Well yeah, let's dive into did we go through our superlatives already or? Zach: We haven't gone through them yet. No, I was gonna see if you had any more last minute thoughts, anything you wanna talk about. We can't talk about the Oscars because it wasn't nominated for anything. justin: Nope. Zach: which is disgraceful in my opinion. Especially in 2016. But justin: Mm. Zach: let's see. Wait, let's look at I I did you look up what was in the 2016 Oscars? Like who would it have been competing with? justin: that's a good question. I don't even remember. Zach: Let's see, let's look up let's start with best pitcher and I think best actor. I think those are the two categories it has the most strongest claim to. Alright. Best pitcher up that year was Big Short, which is legitimately great, I think. justin: Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach: Bridge of Spies. Brooklyn, justin: Didn't see that. Zach: which I don't Bridge of Sprise is good. It's a Steven Spielberg movie. justin: Mm. Zach: The Martian, which I think is incredible too, and his div The there's yeah, the Juggernaut that was the Reverend. And then Room is the one that won. justin: I love the Martian. Mmm Yeah. Zach: so the Revenant. I said the reverent, but the revenant which justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I am not a fan of. That's again like the the tough. justin: It was it was just so Leo could finally have his his moment. That Zach: Yeah. justin: was all that was. Zach: And Mad Max Fury Road. Alright, this is a pre-stackier. Alright. justin: Yeah. Zach: Big short, great. Bridge of Spies, good. You could probably replace it this movie easily. justin: Mm. Zach: but it is good. I think it's got it's a Spielberg movie, so it's like automatically, you know. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Mad Max, which is it's just incredible. Probably should have won that year. The Martian, which justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I love. Revenant, which is Oscar Bait Central, and then justin: Mm. Zach: The Room. Okay. it's pretty stackier. Alright, alright. And then Best Actor, which I've never seen Trumbo. Well, that was Brian Cant Brian Cranston's nomination. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: but he's I love Brian Cranston, so that's good. Matt Damon, the Martian, he's good in that movie. Faustbender and Steve Jobs. justin: Mm. Zach: I like Fastbender. I think there's probably better performances from him. Leo in the Revenant and then Eddie Redmane in the Danish Girl. Redbane had justin: What I what Yeah, yeah, Leo Zach: like that was like that was like peak Redbane moment, right? justin: Yes it was. Which he yeah, s I forgot about him. He definitely fell off the face of the earth. But that yeah, that year was Leo had to win. I think if Leo didn't win, I think he probably would have retired and we would have never seen him ever again. 'Cause I remember all of that before the Oscars came out, they were like, Leo actually ate a buffalo heart, like, on film and like he did the most amazing things to win this Oscar. Zach: Ha ha. justin: So yeah, Ryan Gosling. I mean Russell Crowe is also he I think he's really wonderful in this movie too, but Ryan Gosling Yeah, he's Zach: The Goose is the Goose is I mean, we'll get into best character. I I love Russell Crowe in this movie, but justin: It's yeah, this I feel like this movie yeah, we we'll save it. But it Ryan Gosling is he is the star. He crushes it. Zach: He walks away with this movie. all right. So yeah, let's get into our category. So we're gonna do best scene, best character, worst character or weakest link of the film. age the best, age the worst, which will be interesting for this one because it's justin: Mm. Zach: a relatively new movie. I think I got like one thing. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: WTF are they talking about? what would be a good sequel, which this movie is just like teed up for? And then we'll justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: last we'll kinda go into some hot takes or nitpicks. And then finally we'll rate it whether or not we think it's a classic. So let's start out with best scene. Let's give give me a nomination. justin: so I have I only have like one serious one, but I will call out like my honorable mention. And and Zach: Okay, let's do that one first. justin: arguably I think my honorable mention is my favorite in the entire movie, but it's so short that I don't include it as my my number one pick. but when Ryan and Russell go to the hotel towards the end of the movie to go try to well not towards the end, middle of the movie to go try to save Amelia. The entire elevator scene is just perfect. Zach: No. Yeah, I think getting getting into this section, I had with I mean I'm 100% with you, that was one of my top scenes too. this movie is so funny. It justin: Yeah. Zach: is so funny. Like every scene, like I could rattle off like thirty nominations and they're just they're so funny. But that scene, justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: it when they get in the elevator. And they get to the top and there's like a guy, you know, with a gun shot in his neck or whatever. justin: He got his Yeah, he's like bleeding from his neck. And then they look over and they see that this other guy gets shot. And then Ryan's like he's trying to get back in the elevator and he's pressing the button super fast. And then it closes and they see somebody fly out the window. It is so Perfectly timed and it's so funny. And he like there are certain things that I feel like he does Ryan Gosling does in this movie that I would be curious if these are his own little quirks that he added or if he was directed. Like after the guy goes flying out the window, his eye starts twitching and because he's Zach: Yeah, I know, right? He's justin: because he's so stressed. And it was it's just it's perfect. It's my favorite scene in the entire movie is the elevator scene. Zach: There go. That's a good that's a good nomination. justin: But that that but it's so minor. My actual like favorite best scene, and I only have one, is just the entire party scene. when they go to the the house party. Like I think that move that Zach: Yeah. The the in the middle of the movie. The the the porn star party. justin: the entire house party scene is i it encapsulates everything that I love about this movie. It has so much humor, it has action, it has kind of like some intense moments in it, but yeah, it's just it's so perfect. everything Zach: Do you do you include the part where he where they throw the like the produ the porn producer's body over the fence into the t into the dinner table? justin: The d Yes. Yes. Yes. From when he falls down the hill and then Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: he sees he sees Amelia, but he doesn't know that Amelia's down there. Ryan sees Amelia. and he's trying not to freak her out. And he's like, Whoa, whoa, whoa! Like I I don't mean you any harm. I'm just looking for my gun. And then she runs away and he's like, no no, it's okay, I found it. But yes, and then they f they find sh Sid's Shattock, they find his dead body and they try Zach: Yeah, Shatdox. justin: to dispose it, so they throw it over the fence and then it lands on Zach: Ha ha justin: a table of people. my god. but then it gets like super serious, like Holly gets kidnapped, Ryan's daughter in this movie, and then Zach: Yeah, yeah, yeah. justin: you know, like there's a big chase scene and a shootout, and like that just the entire house party is so much fun. it It's it's just hands down, I think. It it's my personal favorite. like Zach: Yeah, it's clever, you know, they throw the gun in the in the hot tub and he shoots it through the hot tub, you know, when Russell Crowe's justin: Mm. Zach: fighting Keith David. And I justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: yeah, it's it's a very fun scene. There's a couple of moments in it where I'm like i Ryan Gosling's being a little crazy in it, like the when he's swimming with the mermaids and stuff. justin: Yeah. Zach: but it i it it is very fun. I lo I do lo I did love that scene. The part I mean, I died. When he throws the body into the dinner table like justin: Because the like you just don't expect it. They set it up that they're Zach: That was the only five minutes Carly watched with me 'cause she was like, you know, doing something and justin: Yeah. Zach: getting the kids ready or something. And so she comes over there, she's like, What is this movie? And like, it's called The Nice Guys and she sees him find the dead body, then then throw it over the the fence. justin: Defense. Zach: And she's like, What are you watching? This looks fun. I'm like, Yeah it is. It's great justin: Yeah. Yeah. And I like I I think yeah, there's so many like little humor elements like peppered throughout here that you don't expect. And I think that's why they're really fun, because they don't telegraph those moments in certain cases. Like Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: throwing the dead body over the fence. You just think they're trying to get rid of this dead body so they're not tied to it, and you see them getting ready to hoist it over a fence. You don't expect that it's like a a cliff drop. Zach: No if anything it's a drop it's a drop off to the ocean or something, right? They they clearly did not look over the fence beforehand. Honestly, it's kind of a nitpick, justin: Yeah. yeah, and it Zach: like you're not hearing the dinner party going on, but you know, whatever. justin: Mm. Yeah, yeah. Zach: It's but it's a great it's a great gag. justin: Yeah. What did you have under your best seat? Zach: Alright, I had a few because for nominations. Just it's small but in the opening narration when they're like, you know, in this city you gotta do what it takes And like Ryan Gosling is getting ready to break the w window open with his fist on that door justin: Yeah, I think Zach: and he like breaks the glass and he's first like when he wraps up the paper around his hand and then it like kinda falls down and he's like and he puts it back up. justin: Mm. Zach: And then he breaks the glass and it cuts his wrist open. And he's like, that's a lot of blood. That's a justin: Yeah. Zach: It's another great gag. justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: Again, this movie to me is like it's like it's it's one-liners and gags that are so good in this movie. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I really liked the the scene in the bathroom after Russell Crowe like breaks his arm and like threatens him and he realizes he's like, justin: in the the bowling alley. Zach: I actually need him to find Amelia. So he goes back to him at the birthday party and Ryan Gosling is in the bathroom like fussing justin: Yeah. Zach: with the door and like trying to like keep it together and like drops a cigarette in his pants and he's holding up the gun and he's got the newspaper justin: Yeah. Zach: and he's the door's closing and he's trying to like you know it Ryan Gosling's like timing in that scene and like how he's navigating it is just incredible. justin: Yeah. He this we'll get into it later, but I I was really blown away by just how funny he is. like he's he's hilarious and there's so many little things that he does almost like physically that add to that. When Russell Crowe breaks his arm and he screams like a five year old girl. Yeah. It's just Zach: No. He's like No No No And then he sli then they break his arm. He's like and he screams like a little girl. Yeah. justin: It's so funny, yeah. Zach: alright, so I I agree with you. I think the best scene in the movie is the party scene. With justin: Yeah. Zach: his daughter like in the background, you know, and all that stuff. But justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: my favorite scene, and probably the one that made me laugh the most, was when they go it's kinda like two scenes together, or maybe like three scenes if depending how you break it up into. But when they go to the protests and they pick up Chet, right? And they're justin: Yeah. Zach: like You know, they step on the hand and they're like, We're dead And he's like, Is Amelia here? You know, they're like getting frustrated with these stupid protesters. They pick up Chet for justin: Yeah. Zach: twenty bucks, they're driving with Chet over to the burnt out house, and then they see the kid on the bike, and the kid is you know, they're like, Hey, do you know who lived here? Do you know what's going on? It's like, Yeah, you know, I know what like I know who it is. He's like, You give me twenty bucks, I'll tell you more, kind of thing. And then he's like, Yeah, I wanted to be in the film, I got a big dick. And then when he when the k little kid justin: Yeah. Zach: Said that he had a big dick. And then Ryan Gosling's face is like, what the fuck is this? Like, what the? And then he's give me another 20 bucks, I'll show you my dick. And Ryan Gosling's like, I justin: Yeah. Zach: spent my last 20, you know, for the information. Wait, what am I talking about? I do not want to see your dick. Like just that justin: Ha ha ha. Zach: whole scene of like making fun of Chet when Chet's like, too, when they're in the burnt out house and Chet's like, Yeah, you know? Yeah, he he made his life work and then it caught on fire, and then his life work killed them. He's like, Isn't that interesting? And Ryan Goslick, no, it's not. justin: He's so yeah. In like these moments of like seriousness, He's so funny. Like when they finally come to the realization that there's a second copy of the film at Zach: Yeah. justin: Misty Mountain's house, and Misty's aunt is there with them, and they're like, they have this big revelation that like there's a second copy of the film and and Misty's old geriatric aunt is like, I've been listening to you talking, I don't know what you're saying. Are you saying that Misty is dead? And he's like, Yes! Zach: Yes. justin: He's like so angry and frustrated at her because she's not keeping up. he's so he like I know we've said it a million times, he is so pitch perfect funny in this movie. It's really it's impressive. Zach: But yeah, I just the kid on the bike. He made me laugh so much. For like a fourteen year old kid, he's killing it in that scene. You know, in justin: Yeah. Zach: his defense he's bringing he's bringing some big dick energy. I don't know wh justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: wh where they found that kid. But he is he's good in it. He's terri it is terrible. I would be doing the same thing. I'm like, get the fuck out of here. What are you talking about? justin: Yeah. It is and it comes out of no Yeah. It comes out of nowhere too, right? 'Cause like you see this kid who lives in the neighborhood, maybe he knows something about this burnt down house. You have no you have Zach: Hmm. justin: no idea that he's gonna bring up having a big dick. And it just com it comes out of left field and it's so funny. Zach: I just both Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in that scene are like, what the fuck? Just like no, justin: Ha ha ha. Zach: go away, get outta here. justin: Mm, yeah. Zach: But no, I do I think I think the best scene overall is the party scene. But that was my favorite. I was dying laughing that whole time. Then making the his conversation with Chet in the burnt out house, the whole conversation on the stairs at the protest, and then like the p the kid on the bike. I was like, this is really funny. justin: Yeah. Yeah. I agree. It's yeah, it's it's almost kinda difficult. I think the house party scene stands out because it's to your point, Zach: Yeah. justin: so much of this movie is like just these quick scenes and one liners and gags that the house movie stands out or the house party scene stands out because it it is a more drawn out Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: collection of scenes, I guess you'd say, but It's it's hard to pick. It really is. Mm. Zach: Alright. So yeah. house party scene, best scene. Let's go to best character. justin: Yeah. I mean it's th it's no question. It's it's Ryan. He's he's just so perfect. I think this was the first this really was. This is the first time that I think I've ever seen him do I mean, r some really hard comedy and he I was just blown away. I didn't know that he could be that funny. Like, I feel like I always Zach: What what was your history with Ryan Gosling before this movie? justin: So I've I think the very first memory is remember the Titans. and then I remember Zach: Yep, same. He stands out. He's pretty comedic in that moment mo in that movie for the little scenes he does have. justin: Mm-hmm. I r I never saw Drive. I didn't see Drive until actually like kinda I think I watched it like during COVID because I was like I Zach: Mm. justin: everybody always talks about Drive. I think I need to see Drive. but I remember like I saw the notebook Against My Will. I saw You did this shut up. Okay, you wanna review it? You wanna do? Zach: No, that movie's good. Don't don't knock the notebook. That movie is a good movie. It's a five a good time with that movie. When Noah is holding his wife and they die at the same time at the end of the movie, you're not crying. I'm well justin: Wow. Zach: I'm tearing up a little bit. justin: Okay, you know what? Let's do the notebook as one of your movies for your month. But like Zach: I'm not wasting one of my two movies on the notebook, but that'd be that'll be year like eight of our podcast. Then I'll pick the notebook. justin: He he is he is really good in the notebook. but with La La Land. He's really good in the l and then what's the comi Zach: Confession, never seen Lala Land. justin: You should watch it. I I mean I don't know. It's mm it's not my favorite. But it is I think it's worth watching. what's the and then the comedy that he did with Steve Corell. Yes. Zach: crazy stupid love. Yeah, he's great in that. Yeah. justin: Yes. I think but so all of those which he does have funny moments in in several of those movies, but nothing like this. This is like I don't know, it's like they took the leash off and they just let him go. And he's he's just so funny. Zach: Yeah, if anything, this is like his auction tape for like Ken in Barbie movie justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: or whatever, right? Like he's like allowing himself to be a little more comedic and you know stretching outside of his comfort zone, not being the cool guy, not being the romantic lead or or stoic justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: or whatever. He's kinda they give him space to be a little justin: Yeah. Zach: fun and a little crazy and a little self deprecating and, you know, kind of the butt of the joke. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: And I think that translate well, even though I'm not the biggest barber movie fan, but that does translate well into his role as Ken, right? So justin: Yeah. Or even what was the Hail Mary? Like he has yeah, Zach: he's great in Hail Mary, yeah. justin: like this is i this is like a branch off of Or Hail Mary is like a branch off of like his performance in this in terms of goofiness, 'cause he's not fully Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: goofy, but he's still kind of in the same vein. I mean, he's yeah, like his I think his range as an actor is is really phenomenal. And Russell Crowe is really good. I think even Holly has a lot of strength in this. but I Zach: Mm, for sure. justin: just I don't think anybody comes close to Ryan Gosling. He's he is the the the humor and the entertainment in this movie. Zach: No. Like I mean, I think we have to talk about Russell Crowe for a minute. 'Cause he is very good in this. Like especially coming off of where he is at in his career at this point, right? You know, he's past his late nineties, early two thousand run, where he's like just crushing it and is like the actor's actor. You know, probably starting from like nineteen ninety seven's LA Confidential through Gladiator through all of what comes, you know, the the next five, ten years, beautiful mind and whatever, right? Like he's justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: coming off of being the more serious actor and then he kinda kinda finds himself like in this place of like He's doing little goofier goofier stuff. And he's still like he brings gravito gravitas to like bit parts, but he's not justin: Mm. Zach: carrying a movie. He's doing Noah. He's doing, you know, mm, you know we're we're not not great. Not great stuff. justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: And to find him here at this moment, I think they cash in on a great actor with a lot of experience and tenure who can makes something out of, you know, what could have been a I'm not saying that he's not replaceable in this movie. I think you could find a lot of actors who could pull off his part. But justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I think he brings a lot of gravitas to it and I th he does a great job. He's Ryan justin: Yeah. Zach: Gosling steals this movie. But he does justin: Yeah, yeah. Zach: a good job in the role. They're very fun together. justin: Yeah, like I think them two as a pair are just perfect. It l it's like peanut butter and jelly. They work exceptionally well together. so yeah, I think Zach: Mm-hmm. We needed a Guy Pierce cameo. Like I feel like this is like a spiritual sequel to LA Confidential. Like Bud has like come off of that case, you know, he's broken his jaw. He leaves the police department. He's in LA doing like, you know, the same thing he was doing in LA Confidential. Like basically muscle for hire for against pedophiles. Like literally Bud. He's literally Bud. justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: and he's just Bud in his fifties, you know. In his early fifties. justin: Yeah. If if if Guy Pierce was in this movie, this this might be in my top three. It it Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: wouldn't even be close. It it would it would have cracked that top three, buddy. Zach: But yeah, so the goose does it. I think also his daughter what's that actress's name? justin: Right. Zach: Angle Anglo Angry Angry A N G O U R I E Angry. justin: Yeah. I think she is Australian, so I don't know how to pronounce her first name. But Zach: Angry Rice. But yeah, she's good in it. I think she has a justin: Yeah. And she's you know, it's funny, my wife was watching it Zach: Teenager? justin: with me, when we were we were watching it, and she was like, She's so familiar, like what has she been in? And like after this movie, she has been in tons of stuff. She has built a very, very great career for herself. Zach: Mm-hmm. Yeah, she's got that little bit part in all the Spider Man movies. justin: Mm. Zach: As like one of the classmates of Peter Barker. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Yeah. And then obviously I don't know if you want to get into Margaret or Margaret quality right now at all. We can get into her I sh I have her next in the next category, so Yeah. justin: you do? I no, I know I didn't have her in anything. She's just kinda there. But let's that's Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: that's a great segue into our next category. Zach: Yeah, let's get into a worst character or weakest link of the film. So this justin: Yeah. Zach: is like where we're gonna either rate whether we think this is like the villain, like they're either like the best worst character, or they're justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: just like an outstandingly terrible performance. Right? justin: So which which one is market quality for you? Zach: I I think she's She's like You can tell I don't know, this is probably unfair to her, because probably a lot of people saw this movie and came away with like, yeah, we need to make her a star. Cause she is justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: like she's risen very high past this movie. I'm justin: Yeah. Zach: not saying she's like A plus, but she's like A minus star range right now, right? justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: But I think when when she's actually has dialogue in a scene, which is like basically one scene when they're at Ryan Gosling's house. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Man, she is she's like I have to act. I have to yell. I have to be like justin: Yeah. Zach: you know, like like I don't know. She's doing a lot. She's justin: Yeah. Zach: a lot I thought she was okay in this movie. I would have not justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: walked I would have walked away thinking that however you say her name Angory or Anjury or Angory or whatever, Angory Rice would have been a much bigger star coming out of this movie. She still might be, but you know she's only like in her early twenties, but justin: Sure. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Zach: I don't know. Margaret Qually in this movie I thought was like okay, you know. A lot she had a justin: Yeah. No, I yeah. Zach: lot going on. justin: She yeah, she's pretty manic in that scene. I don't know if that was by design or if she just overacted it, but 'cause yeah, I mean we don't we kinda get a little bit of a taste for her she's, you know, kind of Scatterbrained when she meets Healy for the first time in her car, which is also really funny because she pays him and he's like, You're seven dollars short. Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: This girl is like feel f fearful of her life and he's trying to get more money. But like she's you know, just she doesn't really I don't know, she probably has like two lines or three lines in that early scene, but then yeah, Zach: Yeah. justin: it's like they're chasing her. She has a a pretty big presence in this movie because she is the driving plot device. We have to Zach: Yeah, yeah, she's justin: find him Zach: their MacGuffin. justin: yeah we have to find Amelia and then when they finally do get her she is just like w a little bit over the top with with you know beh manic behavior but no I would agree I because there's there's so many solid performances I think in this movie it's kind of hard to pick out a bad one. I think she she Zach: No, there's great villains. I think Matt Bomer is very intimidating as John Boy. I think Blueface is great, w whatever his name is, you know. justin: Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. I thought he was yeah, I thought that whole thing 'cause it it's it sets up the element of Blueface. I love that they just call him Blueface too. Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: 'Cause like Russell Crowe is like a seasoned professional. Blueface Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: is like, you know, it's he's he seems like a kid who's never done this before and like, you know, so it yeah, it has that element of Zach: Yeah, or at least he's like he's done it like three times and thinks he has it figured out, right? He's like a twenty justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: one year old, you know, is like, I got my I'm in my job, like pfft, I went to college, I know what's going on. justin: Yeah, exactly. But yeah, like all so many of these side characters are very, very well acted and yeah, I I would I would agree with you. the only worst character I had was Jessica, Ollie's friend. Zach: No, yeah. justin: Jessica almost gets them killed when John Boyce shows up to the house. But I o yes. Zach: No, definitely clu clueless does not understand the stakes of the situation at all. justin: Yeah. But I will give I I think we should give worse character tomorrow. Zach: Kim Basinger is pretty weak in this movie too. I mean, she's gotten not much justin: Yeah, she doesn't Zach: of a part, right? But like as a menacing villain presence, I don't know. I don't know about justin: Mm. Zach: we'll get to what has aged the worst to me, but like as soon as she was like, here's Amelia's mom, I'm like, Well, okay, there's she's gonna be the bad guy. You know. justin: Yeah. If I think with her, if you if they didn't explicitly say that her character was like the head of the DOJ, I would have never guessed that like that that's who she is. Like Amelia's mom, whatever. But like this person who is supposed to be a h super high up government employee and she's almost like I don't know, like aloof and scared and like all these things. I don't it it it felt like an interesting Zach: Yeah, it's an interesting performance. justin: Yeah, an interesting way to tackle that character. Zach: It was interesting seeing a reunion between, you know, Bud and what was Kim Basinger's character that she won the Oscar for amazingly in LA Confidential. justin: Mm. Zach: But it was fun, like a little reunion, you know. But justin: True. Zach: definitely yeah, she's whatever in this movie. She brings justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: her name, I think, as an actress, but like if anything it telegraphs, right? It's like, it's Kim Basinger. This she's gonna justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: have a big there's gonna be a reveal later justin: Yeah. Zach: that she's not the good you know, she's bad or whatever, 'cause like it's Kim Basinger. Why else would you bring her in here for this scene? justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: And I liked Keith David. I love Keith David, the old guy, the yeah. He's great in this too. justin: Yeah. He's always f he's always fun anytime you see him in anything. Zach: Mm. Alright. Let's get to worst so what what's your final verdict on worst character? justin: market quality. We'll go with that. Zach: Alright, sounds good. I agree with you. I think she's kinda like whatever. justin: Hmm. Yeah. Zach: alright. So next is Age the Best. I got quite a list, so justin: Yeah, I do too. why don't you kick it off first? Zach: Grubby LA man, nineteen seventies LA. Pff is there a better time to place a movie for just hijinks and the justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: worst people coming out doing the worst stuff. It's a great like great justin: Yeah. Zach: s plot area. justin: I love in the very opening scene, they open with LA at nighttime behind the Hollywood sign that's like destroyed. Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: And I feel like that sets it up perfectly. 'Cause th the background is like it's smog, it's gross, like there's porn Zach: I know justin: everywhere, like it's it's just fun it's dirty, it's grimy, yeah. Zach: I know you're like a you're not like a big like drinker guy and all that stuff. Dude, I honestly think I would have thrived in dirty ass LA. Like I would have been it would have been great. I would have been at the justin: I bet you would have you Zach: dive bars, just you know, who gives a fuck? You know, just every person you meet, you're like, Well, can I get give me twenty bucks, I'll tell you whatever you don't want in the like justin: Yeah. Zach: they don't meet a single person that doesn't try to extort for money. Just I think I would have thrived in Grubbiella. justin: Yeah, it's kinda like lawless territory. It is funny 'cause 'cause March, Zach: It is. justin: Ryan, his character comments so frequently on like this is what the world's coming to, the Chets and that kid on the bike, that's what Holly has to look forward to. Like Zach: Yeah. justin: it's f yeah, it's funny. He and he says too, like, I work in a cesspool. and he's what does he say? Like, my wife used to tell me that my job was all about rumpy pumpy. Zach: I wrote I I wrote it down. What what'd you say? It was yeah, rumpy pumpy. justin: Rum rumy pumpy. Like so I mean yeah, it's like they make very conscious efforts to call out like how grimy this this environment is. Zach: But if if you want a little bit of debauchery in your life, man, I would've had great time at that party. It wasn't like you justin: Yeah. Zach: go to a party now, you gotta like I mean, I'm older now, but like when I was in college, I should r rather I should say I'm not my parties now are like, you know, wine and like playing, you know, charades or something. But as a as a youth we would go justin: Mm. Mm. As a youth. Zach: to you would go to parties and it'd be like, Alright, we gotta we gotta dance and You know, someone's gotta play whatever, a drinking game or whatever. But man, they like there's no half naked mermaids. There was justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: no, you know, like I don't know, doom blow off of something you know, off the counter justin: Current. Zach: and all that stuff, right? Like I feel like I'm like, man, these guys new head up party. They're like, who cares? justin: Yeah. Wa people walking around with cigarette like wigs where you just pull a cigarette on Zach: Yeah, dude, that's another thing. Okay, that's another thing. Look, I get it. I'm it's twenty twenty six. We gotta be health conscious. Man, I wish I could be lighting up some darts. Like I God. It just like it looks so much fun, just always gotten the you know, just like s you you're justin: Yeah. Well they're Zach: socializing as smoking in the back alley of some place. The best. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Tell I would I would have thrived in nineteen seventies grubby ne grubby LA. justin: Yeah. I think that is the tagline for this episode. A movie where Zack would have thrived. I hear you though, like it it does. It's it almost paints like this fantasy place that it's just it's so far removed from like what we have as suburban dads in the year twenty twenty six. It's Zach: Yeah, yeah. justin: it is, it's very it is very fun. It's a fun place to explore and have have a crime drama well not drama, but a crime story set in. Zach: Alright, so that was my first ace the best. What do you got? justin: okay, so this one I'm gonna give you an example to it, but scene progression and the reason why things happen. So I'm gonna give you an example. The party scene. So when they pull up in the car and the valet sees that Holly is in the trunk of the car, and he's like, Hey, I c I can't take your car with her in there, right? at the end of the house party scene, Amelia runs off, Blueface tries to shoot her from the car, Amelia runs off. there's a gunshot and Blueface in the car. They drive off, they chase after her. Ryan's character doesn't see any of that, right? Like he is still in the party, but he hears it and he's like, I I should probably go check that out. He o like I think that brings a very interesting problem because how do you get Ryan's character out there to get involved in that car chase, Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: and you know, all of that? Because Russell Crowe's character, he is in the party, he's fighting Keith David, all the things, he he can't Zach: Yeah. justin: join. So when Ryan runs up, the valet tells him, Hey man, that girl that was in your trunk was in that car that just went down. It was a simple line, but like boom, now Ryan is in the chase. Zach: Invested, yeah. He's justin: He's Zach: focused, yeah. justin: he's highly motivated because he knows that Holly is there and now she's in danger. Like I think most and I don't I don't want to say this generally, but like I think there are a lot of movies, especially in like the action genre, they wouldn't waste time with that. They would just have the car peel off and then you'd probably see the camera swing around and see Ryan Gosling just running after it, right? But like just that little tiny detail, it like it's it's very thoughtful, right. Zach: Or they would do the opposite, right? They would be like Yeah, where you're like hi it's very concise dialogue that gets the point across justin: Mm. Zach: and motivates the character. Now they'd be like, Hey, that girl that you came here with, she had blonde hair. Do you remember her? She was in the scene earlier and th they would like over justin: Yeah. Zach: be like, the audience is too dumb to figure out what's happening. He's like, She's justin: Yeah. Zach: I think she's related to you, you know? And like justin: Yeah. Zach: you're Like they would over explain it, right? They would either do like justin: Yeah. Zach: yeah, they'd either Netflix it with over explaining or they would, you know, I don't know, like just be like justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: what's it, like fast and a furious, logic aside, things just happening. Yeah. justin: Yeah. Yeah. It it's it's a it is a tiny moment. in this movie, but this movie is packed with a lot of those little little tiny nuances, I think, that it just I think it's very thoughtful writing and it weaves together these plot elements in a very logical way. that I and I don't know if it's because Shane Black is just, you know, he's like a seasoned pro at this and like he's done this for God knows how many years, or if it was something else. Because I know he co-wrote this with somebody else, but it was just I feel like don't see that a lot and I really appreciate those little moments 'cause it's like that makes total sense why he would run after them. Zach: Yeah, I I had the dialogue in writing. I think it's just it's almost more important than the action in this movie. I think we'll get to Age the Worst. I think the third act is a little dragged out. But like justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: the the dialogue is just spot on. It's like it's efficient, it's funny, justin: Mm. Zach: it's clever, it's like all the things you want it to be to keep the movie moving forward. And to justin: Yeah. Zach: make the motivations make sense. Like it's hard to find nitpicks, even though I ha I do have a long list of things I wanna talk about in hop takes and nitpicks, but like justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: as far as like a knit on the dialogue or like motivations, you really don't have any of this movie 'cause it does a really, really, really smart job. justin: Yeah, agreed. Zach: I had maroon suits. Great. justin: Yeah. The style of the seventies. Zach: I had I had I had his Foo Man Chew kinda mustache little soul patch thing. I could never pull it off, justin: Kinda kinda makes you want to grow one. Zach: but dude he br he's rocking it. Ryan Goslin is rocking it in the movie. Buddy Cop movies, age great, love it. justin: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Zach: We talked about earlier. I had rated R comedies, we just don't get them anymore. Like justin: Yeah. Zach: I love like a theatrically released rated R comedy. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Action comedies too, like Probably before this the only one I can even think of is like the Coronado trilogy. Right? justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: Like I can't even think of anything else that's been like a good action comedy that you've had. justin: Yeah. Absolutely. Zach: That's great. So art rated art comedies, action comedies, good. justin: Yeah. Zach: Those are my two those are my other things. justin: I had I also had like Ryan and Russell, their characters are they're very funny, right? But I also Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: I like I appreciate how they added a little bit more complexity to their characters. Like Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: Ryan's character, he's he can be a bumbling idiot, but like he's also a pretty fantastic detective when it comes down to it. But like he's he's haunted by his past. Like even plugging in his backstory of not being able to smell, it starts off as a j a a joke, right? Like when they're at the party, he's like, I can't smell and Russell Crowe is like, you're a detective that can't smell Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: Right? But then they plug it into the bigger picture of he can't smell, which directly led to the gas leak in his house, which exploded and killed his wife. And like he is haunted by that. And that's why he drinks so Zach: Right. justin: heavily and like he can't focus on life and all these things. And then you have Healy who's like muscle, but he wants to be more. He talks about like how he just wants to be useful. And when he saved every Zach: Yeah, he talks about the story where he like saved everyone at that bar, right? Like justin: Yeah. In the in the diner, like that was the best day of his life because Zach: Or not die yeah, my bar died. justin: because he actually got to be useful for once, right? And like he Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: when they when they run away from the hotel from the from the best elevator scene, Healy's like, We c wa we can't leave her in there. Like, we have to try to go back there and do something. Like, faced against this ultra hit man who is going to kill them without blinking, like, he wants to go back in there and try to do something, right? So I just Zach: Yeah, I I think it's it's like this dichotomy, like one of the themes of this movie is like the dichotomy between like what's the smart thing to do versus like what's justin: Mm. Zach: the right thing to do. And they're always I you can tell they're always battling with like, well it's smarter to do this, but justin: Yeah. Zach: the right thing is to do this and like as they grow and as their characters develop they start leaning more towards the right thing. Especially Gosling justin: Mm. Zach: who has like the most growth to do in this movie. He's like, Yeah, justin: Yeah. Zach: let's do the right thing. justin: Yeah. But yeah, I just like thinking back to all of those buddy cop movies and not trying to compare this to them, but they fall in that same category, right? Like most of these buddy cop movies, they don't really expand on you know, a whole lot of extra stuff. You just kinda what you see is what you get. So I I appreciated those extra backstories to these characters 'cause it makes them it gives them something else, right? Rather than Zach: Yeah. justin: just, they're they're funny. Like, you know, there's more to it, but Zach: Well makes it more yeah, like more real, you know, grounded. They have they they live outside of this movie. Hmm. justin: Mm-hmm. exactly. and then the last thing I had, the Long Con jokes. I love the Long Con jokes. So a couple examples. The ankle gun, my god, when he is daydreaming that Zach: No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. justin: Russell Crowe has an ankle gun. And then when they're held up at gunpoint like twenty minutes later, he goes for his Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: ankle and he's What are you what the fuck are you doing? He's like, You don't have an ankle gun? And he's like, wait, did I Zach: Do I dream that? justin: did I dream that whole thing? Right? Or n the Nixon story, like seeing Nixon before you die. And it And he jumps into the pool and he sees Nixon pointing at him. Like it it's such a simple, clever thing. and then f for so I don't I still don't understand this because it doesn't really have like a payoff, but Ryan's character has such an outward intense hatred towards Hitler and Nazis, but it's called out multiple times throughout the movie, and there's really Zach: No, they they have like eight they have like eight Hitler jokes in this movie. Yeah, it's justin: Yeah. And it's it's really funny, but like it doesn't it's not like there is like reasoning given to it. It's just he hates Hitler and he con It's just really funny. But like those long con jokes that man Zach: I just like I think my favorite was when he's like I forget who it says, like I'm just following orders. He's Well Hitler was following orders and I'm like, No, he wasn't but he just says justin: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. the Zach: He's giving orders. But justin: what he's they're in the elevator and he he couldn't remember the word for somebody who doesn't have their balls and he says Munich. He's trying Zach: Yeah. justin: he got confused with Munich, but he said Munich and Russell Crowe's like, No, Munich is a city in Germany. But this is yeah, for those like so much of this movie is fast jokes. But those jokes Zach: Yeah, yeah. justin: that like they plant those seeds early and then they grow and they pay off later. I love those. They're so funny. That was it. That was my age of the best. Zach: Alright. Alright, let's get to a let's get to age the worst. What do you got? justin: I really I didn't have much. I just some of the jokes I thought really kinda fall flat. not everything lands. and I mean I I have some examples on here, like at the end when they're at the the car show and they're trying to find Chet the projectionist and He asks like some dude like Where's Chet? and the guy's like, he's back over there and he says, like, All right, thanks buddy And the guy turns around and is like, How'd you know my name was Buddy? Like, that's fucking Zach: Yeah, yeah, yeah. justin: dumb. Like why humor is subjective, I get it. But there were definitely a bunch of jokes that just did not land for me. Zach: Yeah. I I I'd say the hit rate is in the nineties though. It's it's but yeah, I agree justin: Mm. Zach: with you. There was I felt the movie like there's points where it's a little predictable. Like justin: Mm. Zach: as soon as I we talked about earlier, like as soon as they introduced Kim Basinger, I'm like, well that's that's the real villain of the movie, right? Like justin: She's a bad guy. Mm. Zach: you know, like i it's Like when they dropped the gun in the hot tub and then his face was in the hot tub, I like, the gun's in the hot tub. Like it's not like I'm like, justin: Yeah. Zach: there's like, wait, where did he get that gun? yeah, that was back three seconds ago. Like justin: Mm. Zach: th there's a couple times I felt like in this movie, like, it's they're telegraphing stuff and it's it's kinda cliche. Which justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: to the movie's point, while there is some convolutedness, another thing that aged the worst to me is like trying to understand like why Ryan Gosling's character is after Amelia but I'm like, wait, I thought he was after the porn star who died or like wait, why is he after this person? Now it's like the the the path that both characters get get to are is a little tough to follow at first. I like so I think you had to watch the movie three times to make sure the logic is sound. justin: Yeah. Zach: I think it is, right? But but it's not super important to understanding the movie, but there's like it's a to kinda tough to follow, but at the same time then there's elements they introduce and I'm like, this is cliche. Yeah, like obviously she's gonna be bad, or obviously this is gonna happen. Like you telegraphed it so justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: hard, or like this pivot came out of the blue and like it's the most cliche villain to be like, Well, my I hired you to be the whatever, right? Like literally justin: Yeah. Zach: like LA confidential. They're assigned to the case by the guy who's the villain, right? And like they're like, Well, I thought you wouldn't be able to handle it or whatever, right? So it's justin: Ha ha ha Zach: it's very cle like there's a there's a lot of similarities between this movie and LA Confidential. It's a little cliche, but justin: Yeah, yeah. Zach: so that's my thing. Age war's some of the predictability of the movie. justin: Sure, yeah. Zach: also big one nineteen seventies porn Ugh ugly men, hairy women. I don't know about you, bro. Not for me, you know? No? Just me? Okay, alright. justin: You didn't you didn't you d ev everybody has their taste. You didn't like Misty Mountains? Zach: I'm just saying, I'm glad I live now. No, I'm just kidding. justin: Ha ha ha. Zach: but it's fun actually the nineteen seventies for like a like like the porn industry era movies, like you can see it's like used all the time in, you know, television shows or like it there's like all kinds of HBO shows themed around. It's actually like a pretty justin: Yeah. Zach: compelling, grubby narrative, gross place to b to place a narrative and like a lot of people do it. But it was justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I don't know. I just be nineteen seventies porn, get out of here. Well that's all I got though. I thought this movie was pretty tight. I actually had a really good time with it. So I don't have too Ace the Worse on justin: Yeah. I got we'll get to s some stuff on the hot takes and nitpicks, especially around like the story and the plot. 'Cause you you touched on it, but yes, it takes multiple watch throughs to to understand how everything connects. But even having se I think I've seen this movie probably at least five times now. And I still there are glaring plot holes that just don't make sense. Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: we'll we'll get to those though. I have one to call out specifically. Zach: Alright, well yeah, let's let's get let's get to those. So let's talk about let's we got a couple things left. So we're gonna do WTF. Which justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I don't have much. I have one thing that I was like, kind of. But I know what it referring to, I just don't know what who it is. but justin: Is it the the Omar Sharif line? Yeah. Zach: Yeah, Omar Sharif quote. justin: I ha I had this that's the only one I had too. And you would know better than me, 'cause I've never seen Lawrence of Arabia, but I'm pretty sure. So the the the scene and line that we're talking about, Ryan's character is talking to Misty's aunt or he's talking about Misty's aunt and how she can't see and she has Coke bottles for glasses. But he says if you painted a mustache on a Volkswagen, she'd say that Omar Sharif sure can run fast. Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: I'd never heard that name before. Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: but I'm pretty sure it's he is a main character in Lawrence of Arabia, and I don't know if he runs in that movie or I don't I You would know better than me. Zach: Yeah. I've seen I I so Lawrence of Arabians on our list. It's like four hours long. I took a crack at it. I think you have to be like prepared for it 'cause it justin: Mm. Zach: is like a movie that you have to pay attention to and it is justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: long. I almost think we should the way we should do this movie, if it ever which we have not done yet, I've been thinking about is like They sometimes they'll play like classic movies in like a cinema. I justin: Mm. Zach: feel like that's one you have to see, like in a theater. Like watching justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: it on like your little TV with kids screaming around you while you go get a snack out of the pantry is like not the ideal location with your phone next to you. justin: Yeah. Zach: it's a tough it was tough for me the first time I tried. So justin: Mm. Zach: we'll get back to it. I mean it's like considered one of the greatest movies of all time. justin: Sure. Zach: and I do recognize him from it now that I googled him and pulled him up, but nah, blew right over my head. justin: Yeah. I'm assuming that maybe his character 'cause I think he is ti he's billed as a main character, at least according to Google. Yeah. Zach: Yeah, yeah, he's the main character in it and he's got a mustache, so there's those two things. justin: I'm assuming that maybe he has a scene where he runs or something. I'm sure the internet would probably flay us alive for having no idea, but that's I think that's the reference that Zach: Well, we're a classic movie podcast. Why would we know classic movie actors, you know? justin: Yeah, exactly. We should know that. but th that was the only what are they talking about? I d I I thought everything else 'cause it it is from twenty sixteen, even though it takes place in the seventies, I think the the dialogue is pretty modern for sure. Yeah. Zach: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's a modern movie, right? Like that's why I took the liberty just to write down some of my favorite lines 'cause it was like it the I was there was other than the Omar Sharif reference, which was I think just to place the movie in a time period. But justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I was like, I'm I'm just gonna write down some of my favorite lines 'cause I thought there was so many that were great. The Seymour Holly is like there's like whores here and stuff and then Ryan's like don't say and stuff say daddy there are whores here got me it was a good one any Hitler joke got me practically the whole time justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: the scene where Russell Crowe like first beats up Ryan Gosling's character he's like let's play a game you shut up and I'll talk justin: And Ryan says, I love that game. Yeah. Zach: I love that game. justin: Hmm. Zach: It was like the like the scene where the Detroit is like where he's like when they're talking with Kim Basinger at the end of the movie and she's like, I did it for Detroit you know it's like, he's like you killed your daughter? Yeah, I was like I I I read about I was like, I you know, I took that vote. It was a really big turnout The other one I had too, like Marriage is buying a house for someone you hate. That was like the you I think there's a Russell justin: Mm. Zach: Crowe line in that movie too. That it made me laugh. I don't know, there's justin: Yeah. Zach: just several lines I was like, this is that was a great movie. justin: Ha ha Zach: Killing your daughter. Yeah, I took that vote but it was a big turnout. justin: Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny. There's a lot of clever lines. I love it. Hmm. Zach: No. Alright, let's get to sequels. I I don't have like justin: Yeah. Zach: a particular plot, but I'm like mo I just justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: wrote down more cases. Like more and more cases. Like let's just follow these two through a series of adventures. justin: Yeah. I I mean they it it kinda writes itself. They set it up for a perfect sequel. In the final little confrontation with Cuttner, Zach: Scene. Yeah. yeah, yeah, yeah. justin: th yeah, she talks about like you didn't bring down Detroit, like you can put me away, but they'll just replace me and she she sets it up that like Detroit will be back or they will have to continue to deal with it. And then like they Brian and Russell go and have drinks and he even shows him Ryan shows Russell that he updated his flyer for the nice Zach: Yeah. justin: guys. And he adds him to the flyer. So now they're like a team. I mean it sets it up perfectly for a sequel. It every time I see the end of this movie I get sad 'cause I'm like, man, they they could have Yeah. Zach: They could do it now though. Like they don't need to wait like honestly, like Russell Crowe does not look that different. Neither does Ryan Gosling. I know it's been justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach: like ten years, but like Probably get two you can probably get two more movies out of them. At least out of Russell. justin: Yeah. I mean it's like I going all the way back to the very beginning of this, had they never changed the schedule and like if this movie would have released when Central Intelligence released, I think it would have been a success, we would have probably gotten more sequels and Zach: Yeah. justin: it probably would have been a franchise. Who knows? But Zach: I know. It's too bad. It was a great movie. But yeah, more and more cases. Just more cases. We can have an a justin: Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Zach: plethora of sequels. Alright, let's get in the nitpicks. Let's do it. justin: Yeah. I'll kick it off. My biggest nitpick is the convenience plot devices. so Ryan conveniently finds Sid Shattuck's dead body. at the bottom of a hill during a party that he just happened to roll down. Convenient. Healy finds a note that sends them to the hotel where Amelia was meeting the film distributors. Just happened to find the note. I think he said in Sith Shattock's office. Holly just happens to find the note in Misty's house that sends them to the auto show. Like for all of the clever transitions, there are also a lot of lazy transitions. Zach: Ha ha ha. justin: But those, man, they they they kill me every time. They're like, I just happen to find this note that tells exactly where she was going. Zach: Yeah, no, I agree. It's kinda like you're like, Alright, we just need some connective tissue. Like justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I mean I guess they are investigating, so you could say like, well they're always looking and eventually they'll run into something. But he i justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: like e even goslin kinda comments it like at some point in the movie where he's like, I think I'm invincible. Like he's just kind of stumbling his way justin: Yeah. Zach: through the whole process. He's like, I'm not gonna I'm not dying, I don't know. We keep finding justin: Yeah. Zach: stuff, I keep not dying You know? justin: Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Zach: So it does. And even when he's wrong, it's like he's he's right enough in his being wrong to keep the plot moving forward, right? It's like, well, all right, this apartment complexes go down, let's go to the airport, but on the way to the airport we see the hotel, right? It's like i justin: Yeah. Zach: he's like right enough in his being wrong that like he's they're able justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: to keep moving forward. justin: Yeah, sure. Zach: I alright, first one I had. This is a s a minor one. So like when they get to Dean's burnt out house, it is to the studs burnt out. Like full like everything is burnt down. No roof, nothing. The house is justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: next door to it, not touched. I'm like, this is LA. It is dry as hell over there. It's windy as shit. Those houses justin: Yeah. Zach: are not have do not have any burn marks on this house that burnt. To the studs. They didn't put the fire out early in the house, you know? justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Zach: So I was like, well, like one, that whole neighborhood's aflame. So. justin: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Zach: This is kinda like a mediocre one, but like sometimes what I in I don't know. Both Ryan G especially Ryan Gosling's character is like a good detective. He might not he's kind of a drunk and he's obviously depressed and all that stuff, but he's a good detective. But then he'll do things and just be really shitty at his job. It's like sometimes like he just makes big mistakes. And it's like there's justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: like part of me is like, why would you be so good at this? You obviously had so much passion for it at one point. That you are so good at doing this and yet like you don't care, you don't like there's like there's no part you're like willing to get in and out of justin: Mm. Zach: it. I think when I sat down and thought about a little bit more later, I'm like, he is really hot and cold. And I'm like, that's either part of his depression and you just have to accept it, but he's either like making really good choices, not in his behavior, but really good detective work. Or he's making justin: Mm. Zach: really bad th choices and he's like missing things. Like the whole subplot with Kim Basinger's assistant and he's like, Yeah, justin: Yeah. Zach: I'll take the money and Russell Cro come on, we're gonna deliver the money for him. Like why on earth would you trust her? Like, justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: you already kinda know the DA is like ups. Why would justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: you trust her assistant? And I'm like, it really bugged me bugged me. That's like a more broader plot. justin: Yeah, yeah. Mm Zach: Nitpick I had. justin: hmm. Yeah. Definitely agree. Zach: Let's see, I think I had Did you fully understand like this is another more broader plot thing for me. So like the automakers are making a a calibrator, caliber, or whatever it's called. Some cal c catalytic converter or whatever. I don't know. I'm not a car guy. justin: Count Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Zach: They're making a car part that's polluting the earth. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: And so Kim Basinger's daughter, Margaret Qually, and like some amateur filmmaker and some porn stars are gonna make an expose about how they're polluting. And this is supposed to be so earth shattering that she's willing to murder her own daughter for and murder s five people. The government is willing to essentially murder five people to keep justin: Mm. Mm-hmm. Zach: undercut like like to keep this amateur film made by porn stars like quiet? Like do you really justin: Mm mm. Yeah. Zach: think that's gonna bring down I no one's gonna watch this film, you know? You're gonna see it at a film festival. justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: You may have some local newspapers cover it, maybe one story at a you know in a national if it catches on. And then it's done. justin: Mm. Zach: Like it's they're gonna be the government's gonna be like, well, no, what's not? Or whatever they're gonna do or what you know, like or like, yeah, we fixed the issue and here's a hundred thousand dollars like you know Ford is gonna send a hundred thousand dollars to a, you know, better earth. And it's like, Yep, we fixed the issue and and whether they did or not, like no one's gonna double check them. Like it's just especially in the seventies, I'm like justin: Yeah. Zach: I'm like she's willing to murder her own daughter over like what is basically No one's gonna care. Like this is not no one's gonna care. And at the end of the justin: Yeah. I think Zach: movie, no one cares, even when it all comes out. justin: Yeah. no, I you bring up a great point. I feel like the porn aspect of it was done all right, if you took the porn aspect out of it and it was just they made a movie and they're trying to distribute this movie in theaters across the nation, then that would make sense as to why her mom is killing people and doesn't want it to get out and all the things. But because it's a porn movie Zach: Telling her own daughter justin: Yeah, Zach: for justin: because it's a porn movie. Like, even the people that are gonna go see this movie are not gonna care about the story of said porn movie. But I I I think it's just they it's probably because they wanted the to your point, that that seventies era, that gritty pornography era of that time, they wanted that to be a a key pillar of this movie, clearly. And I think unfortunately Zach: Yeah. justin: it just intertwine into like the biggest plot device there is, which is this movie. but yeah it doesn't it doesn't make any sense as to why they would go to the lengths of murder, extortion, all of these things to cover up a an independent porn movie that might get in like five theaters. Zach: Yeah, exactly. I don't know. I just feel like it seems like they're killing a lot of people and including her own daughter for something that is justin: Mm. Zach: like all right. You got any more? justin: Yeah, I've got one kinda I don't know, it irks me 'cause I've I it always irks me. But and then I'll do the two minor ones. John Boy is supposed to be this super scary hitman, but he can't shoot Ryan or Russell Crowe in their first shootout. there's like the cla there's Yeah, there there's the classic trope of Zach: Yeah, he's got a submachine gun, right? And yeah, they're like behind a the trunk of a car. justin: I think it's I think it's Ryan. He runs across like the yard and he shoots behind him. You see bullets ricochet behind his feet. He's chasing him. he shoots an automatic weapon from the hip. Just stupid. Right? He's supposed to be this big professional hitman, but he can't he can't beat him in a shootout. and then we never we never see what happens to Tally. So sh we know that she's still alive. At the end of the movie we see that she's like trying to get the film from Holly, and the film gets like rolled out of the window. But Tally is still she's still there. She's fine. But we never we just don't really get closure. I mean you assume she gets away, maybe they were planning on her having a bigger role in like a sequel but all right my my biggest erk so this is a minor it's literally like one line but I think it plays into a bigger overall issue with like some of the writing and to your point I don't think you watch this movie for the plot I think you watch it for the humor like just maybe some of the action Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: but okay so after they bring Amelia back home Ryan calls Tally to check in. Tally starts telling him, Hey, I need to send you on a job to deliver a hundred thousand dollars. She does that in an effort to get them away from Amelia, but she doesn't even know that they Zach: Mm. justin: found Amelia at that point. Ryan tells her, We found Amelia, and she is like shocked. You found her. my god, where is she? Right? She's telling Marsh about this plan to deliver the $100,000 before she finds out that they found her. like I think this, and this is where there is confusion about the story and the plot, right? So Could Cuttner Kim Bass Basinger Bassinger. She tells them at the end of the movie, when they're talking to them, that she really did want them to save and protect Amelia. We could say, like, I don't know, maybe she's a lion or whatever, but she makes it seem like she's not actually like working for Detroit. She's just fearful of them. But she wanted Detroit was trying to kill Amelia, and she really wanted them to save her, right? So that could in turn mean that Tally works for Detroit and not She doesn't actually work for Cuttner and that's why she's trying to pull Ryan and Russell away from Amelia so that they can just go after her. But like all of this, none of this makes sense. When Ryan calls her on the phone and when John Boy shows up to his house, like none of that should happen because the story just gets so convoluted at that point. Nothing none of it makes sense. Zach: Yeah, yeah. justin: Right? And so I don't know if this was just bad writing. I don't know if like maybe they had bigger plans to expand upon this in like a future sequel something. or something, but like in that point in time it does not make sense. It feels super clunky. and it yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Zach: Yeah, her character's definitely the most confusing. I agree. And it's like I i I mean, even in the moments where like why like when she's in they're in the film room, why didn't she just shoot You know, it's like there are I th I do think there's probably a longer version of this script to your point, and they had to get it under two hours. 'Cause this film is like one hour and fifty-six minutes, right? It's like justin: Mm. Zach: They wanna like, Alright, we gotta get another two hours and so they lean it up. And it works in a lot of ways 'cause the the dialogue and the writing is so good. but yeah, I I definitely agree. And I didn't even notice that at the time, but again, I think I need to watch this movie like two or three times to really fully understand the plot. I think at that point I'm like, justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: I'm not making all the connections here, so I'm just gonna go for the ride. But yeah, I hear ya. justin: Yeah. Now like having having seen this movie several times, like there are certain things that start to well, you're like, okay, I understand that now. Especially like the first two thirds of the film, but when you start getting in you called it out, like the back third of the film, it kind of breaks down a little bit. And Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: I think that's where a lot of the squeaky wheels really start to pop up 'cause it's like what how does this make any kind of sense? Zach: Yeah. And the The whole the whole shootout and fighting i it it drags a little bit. If it you know, it's that modern justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: third act where they have to have a little more spectacle and drama to it. And like justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: we we watched what, like the good, the bad and the ugly in the final shootout, it's like staring and then shots and then it's done. And it's just as dramatic in a lot of ways as this one is, if not more compelling and more memorable. justin: Yeah. Zach: but yeah. So my last one. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: This is not really a nitpick on the film, but it's more of a hot take on like the film industry and like everything. We talked about how great Ryan Gosling is in this movie. My hot take is like he's an A lister, but he justin: Mm. Zach: should be in the conversations with like Leo and Matt Damon. Like if anything, I think he's better and has better range than Leonardo DiCaprio does. Like I think justin: Sure. Zach: he's i he's an A lister, but I think he's even more underrated than justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: than he really is. Like that's my honest hot take. I'm like he is so good and his range is so big. He and like Leo he can do comedic movies and he is justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: comedic. You know, he's just he w what was that movie he was just in the the Anderson movie, Paul Thomas Anderson movie. justin: yeah. Zach: One battle after another. Like he's comedic in it, but he's not like justin: yes, yeah. Hmm. Zach: he doesn't have the timing and the comedic charm that like Gosling has. And then Gosling can still go and be serious and stoic. Like Gosling to me could have done. Maybe this is another hot take, but like he could have done the Reverend. He wouldn't do it because he's like, it's not that interesting of a movie and a character. You're just doing it for the Oscar. Like I feel like This movie to me, he we read the Oscar list. While this is a very competitive year for the Oscars, justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: he's just as good as any of them and like Like this is an Oscar winning performance in my mind. Like it's he is justin: Yeah. Zach: so good and he should be in the conversation a plus star for like actor of a generation. justin: Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I completely agree. I I think I think comedy is really hard to do, and I think that's why it's so impressive, that he's so good at it, right? And like I like you talking about like having range and stuff, you still I don't think you've seen Blade Runner, right, with him in it. Did you ever see Blade Runner? Zach: I've seen like a I've yeah, I've seen like parts of it. I've gone to watch it. I didn't ha I don't justin: Cause it Zach: have a affinity for Blade Runner. like the universe, right? Like I justin: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Zach: I've tried to watch the the the Harrison Ford one many times and I'm like meh. So justin: Yeah. Zach: like I think I but after I love Del Anu and justin: Yeah. Zach: and I love Ryan Gosling. Like I know I need to go back to it and justin: Yeah. Zach: Give it a shot now that I'm older. justin: Like T talking about range, right? Him and that movie him and Blade Runner is it is polar opposite of this movie, right? He is solitary, he is very stoic, he's very serious, right? And I Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: think, yeah, you get to see like all the things I think it'll be very interesting if he ever gets an opportunity to do something completely out of anything that the realm of anything he's ever done before. Like let I'm not saying like let him be like the joke. or something like that. But I alright, like talking about range Zach: I think a villain would be really interesting though. justin: like i if you look at like Leo doing Calvin Candy and Django Unchained, right? That is something that was a huge departure Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: from anything that he's ever done, right? But he played it really, really well. I I would love to see Ryan Gosling do something like that that is so far removed from what he normally does. Even like a villain character, maybe. And just 'cause yeah, you when Zach: Yeah. justin: you look when you watch the nice guys and you see what he can do, I think it's like kind of shocking that he's so good at it. 'Cause yeah, it's it's something that we're just not used to seeing him in, but he's really he's exceptionally talented for sure. Zach: Yeah. No. He should he should be in the He's a generational talent and I think he's I I like him a lot. I think he's got more range than a lot of the ones who are in the conversation all the time. So I think that's my hot take. Like A plus star, we justin: Yeah. Yeah. I completely agree. Zach: need him to be more in the conversation. justin: Mm. I feel like he's he's getting that I don't know if it's like the projects that he chooses or just what comes his way, but I feel like Hail Mary was that was like a very, very big movie. and I think he did exceptionally well in it. I would yeah, I'd like not he's been a leading man for very long time at this point, like what, coming on, like two decades probably. so it's not like he he can't lead his own movies, but it would be interesting to see him do other things. Zach: Well Hail Hail Mary's interesting 'cause he's like e I mean, Rocky's there and he has something to act off of, but he's acting off of you know, a puppet. justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: So it's like it's kinda like his castaway, right? Where he like I can I can hold an hour of a movie by myself, basically. justin: Yeah. Zach: and maybe that's not fair 'cause there is Rocky there and like but he you know he's selling that the Rock It's a real thing that's in the room with him, right? justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: And so like I think he does. He has like his castaway. He has his like this is my performance where I am the star and I own everything in the movie. Yeah, I like this scene. Like I'm like like I'm I think it's fine that he wants to do a Star Wars movie. I think it's fine that he wants to do a Marvel movie. You know, justin: Mm. Zach: like he's seems like he just wants to have a good time, like in this movie, you know? So I just wanna enjoy what I'm doing and have the fun projects and the cool stuff and the big stunts and like what I enjoy, you know, doing. but I w I'm like I'm kinda disappointed that those are his next two projects. justin: Yeah. Star Wars and Ghost Rider. Yeah. Zach: You know, ca and I'm like I just want yeah, I'm like it'd be nice to see him do some more interesting unique parts, justin: Yeah. Zach: you know, and and justin: I I would like to see Ryan take the path of, say, Robert Pattinson. Like I think Robert Robert Pattinson, Zach: Yeah, exactly. justin: he does a wild magnitude of things. I like I think honestly one of my most anticipated movies is Primetime, where he plays Zach: Yeah, yeah. Chris Hansen. justin: what's it yes, Chris Hansen. Like watching that trailer, I I love watching him p like portray that because it he it it feels like he never does the same thing twice. He's always doing something different. I would love to see Ryan Gosling do stuff like that. Zach: Yeah, yeah. He r he's definitely like two indies for me, one mainstream for you, two indies for me, kinda guy, Robert Padson. And so justin: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Zach: I think I I do I agree with that, I think it'd be interesting. But you know, I mean, hey Who am I to criticize Rob Ryan Gosling's career, right? But but justin: Yeah. Yeah. Zach: my hot take is like, dude, he's probably one of the best actors of his generation by far. Alright. justin: Yeah, I agree. Zach: Let's get we've talked enough. People are tired of hearing us. so let's let's sign off here. Let's get into whether we think this movie is a classic. justin: Should this be a classic? Yeah. Yeah. I will say okay, first and foremost, I love this movie. I don't it's not a classic. I you don't put it in the same conversation. Zach: What? Right. justin: No. I look, hey, Zach: Disagree a hundred percent. justin: I love a lot about this movie, but I don't think it's in that upper echelon, right? It's now, I will say, I think if you make a best buddy cop list or a best comedy list, absolutely. Put it on there. But I think it's just more importantly, it's one of the most entertaining movies I think you've probably never seen. it's just so Zach: Mm-hmm. justin: fun, it's so well done, it will make you laugh, it like you will love I love watching these characters and when it's over you're gonna wish that like, man, I wish they would have made more. But yeah, I as much as I love this movie, I I don't know if I put it in like the classic list. but I it's absolutely it it's Zach: Wow. justin: absolutely a must watch if you haven't seen it. Zach: Well, full disagree. I think this movie's easily classic. Yeah, easily, dude. I'm like I'm justin: You could have put it as a classic. Zach: look, I was hesitant on Goodfellas, you know, notoriously. justin: Mm. Zach: I p I had a way better time watching this movie than Goodfellas. No, I like justin: Yeah, yeah. Zach: we talk about this or I talk about this kind of like Ep movies have like Which I have to define. I'll probably have to get a little more robust to my theory. But they got like seven things they need to do well to make it a great movie. And I think justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: this movie at least six of Right. I think the acting justin: Yeah. Zach: i it's incredible. I think the r dialogue is wonderful. I think the I mean the The cinematography is not distracting, like it does what it needs to do in every way, right? It's got some great editing. it's got, you know, wonderful costume design. You really feel like you're in this world. There's other movies that take place at this time period that don't feel as like you're in it and as authentic and as tangible. Like like the justin: Mm-hmm. Zach: the only thing I think it's not i it it falls short a little bit is every once in a while in the plot there's some contrivances. But if you're justin: Mm. Zach: going for the ride, I think you're you're in it and you you know, like I don't know. There's to me like it does six and a half out of seven things well. And so I think it's it deserves to be in cult classic status and I think it deserves to be on everyone's like watch list. And so to me it's a classic. justin: Yeah. I will say I th Zach: I'm really glad you made me watch it. I'm excited. I'm excited for your next movie. I'm curio I don't even know what it is yet. I'm so I'm super pumped. Have you have you figured justin: Yeah. Zach: it out yet? justin: We're gonna talk about it because I don't know. I have I have Zach: Haha dude justin: I have options, but I don't know which one. Yeah. Zach: Okay, okay, all right, all right, all right. We'll we'll keep everyone in suspense. justin: Yeah, exactly. but yeah, no, I agree I I definitely agree with you. I think cult classic status for sure. but yeah. I don't know. I think this movie is what you want it to be and it's just really, really fun. Like I feel like any time I ever talk to this mo talk to s somebody about this movie, I'm always like, just please go watch it. Like you will you will have so much fun if you watch it. And I think that's yeah. Zach: It was it was great. I had a great time. justin: Yeah. That's the most important thing is just having a fun time. 'Cause that's what that's what the movies are all about is having fun. Zach: Yeah. all right. Well hey, let's any other final thoughts? justin: No, other than this Zach: Okay. justin: was a fun movie to watch again. Zach: Agreed. I had a great time. All right. So let's sign off then. everyone, thank you so much for listening. if you wanna contact us, we have an email at popcorn and pals at gmail dot com. you know, tell us how annoying we are, tell us that you can't stand when I say the word like or that I interrupt Justin all the time. I'm working on it. You know, it's a personal point of justin: Yeah. Zach: of improvement for me. and then or you know, shoot us your movie recommendations. I think we would love to try to some movies that we haven't even thought of yet. So we also have a YouTube channel. It's Popcorn and pals pod. we just post the the The podcast up there as well as some shorts. I gotta get better by getting them out timely, but if you wanna check us out there, that'd be really helpful. and then in the meantime, everyone, thank you so much for listening and keep popping that popcorn.