Superbad
In this episode of Movie Wars, we tackle one of the most divisive comedies in modern cinema: Superbad. Fresh off recording our Apocalypse Now episode, we couldn't be shifting gears harder as we dive into Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 2007 high school comedy that many consider the gold standard for post-80s comedies.
The debate gets heated as our hosts - Kyle, Seth, and Marianna - discover they're wildly split on this film. While Seth and Marianna guffaw through every scene (Marianna literally "scream-laughing at the TV"), Kyle doesn't crack a smile for 39 minutes and questions whether the raunch overshadows the heart. We dig deep into whether the lead performances from Jonah Hill and Michael Cera hold up, why Christopher Mintz-Plasse's McLovin is an absolute diamond in the rough, and how Bill Hader and Seth Rogen as incompetent cops might be the film's secret weapon.
We explore the film's place in comedy history, comparing it to everything from This Is the End to Fletch and Naked Gun. Is Superbad a masterpiece of authentic teenage awkwardness, or does it live too long in raunch-for-raunch's-sake territory? We dissect the period blood scene that still shocks on rewatch, debate whether the female characters (besides Emma Stone) are unbearable by design, and question if Greg Mottola's direction succeeds by simply getting out of the way and letting the comedy breathe.
Whether you're a homeschooled kid experiencing high school vicariously through film, a former head cheerleader who never went to a single party, or a bullied nerd who couldn't be paid to go back to high school - this episode breaks down Superbad from every angle. We cover film history, share our most interesting research factoids (randos), debate our questions, and settle scores in the War Zone with our category-by-category breakdown.
Takeaways:
- Superbad remains a lightning rod for comedy fans nearly two decades later, with passionate defenders and skeptics in equal measure
- McLovin, Bill Hader, and Seth Rogen carry significant comedic weight that elevates the film beyond its leads
- The film's authenticity to teenage desperation resonates differently depending on your actual high school experience
- Comedy direction is judged on whether it gets out of the way - and the outtakes you don't pick matter as much as the ones you do
- Some viewers find the raunch eventually gives way to genuine heart; others feel cooked before it arrives
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse being a drama student who couldn't even get cast in dramas is the ultimate underdog revenge story
- The period blood scene still hits like a freight truck on rewatch
- Superbad may not be as memorable or quotable as classics like Fletch or Naked Gun, but it captures a specific moment in comedy evolution
Films/Creators Mentioned:
- Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (writers/producers)
- Greg Mottola (director)
- Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader, Emma Stone
- This Is the End, Pineapple Express, Project X
- Fletch, Naked Gun, Caddyshack, Anchorman
- Apocalypse Now (our previous episode)
Keywords:
superbad podcast, superbad movie review, movie wars podcast, seth rogen movies, jonah hill michael cera, mclovin analysis, high school comedy discussion, 2000s comedy films, greg mottola director, bill hader superbad, coming of age movie podcast, raunch comedy debate, comedy film criticism, superbad cultural impact, teen movie analysis, comedy scriptwriting, film scorecard podcast, christopher mintz-plasse breakout role, authentic high school movies, modern comedy classics
Transcript
Foreign.
Kyle:Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Movie wars podcast.
Seth:What?
Kyle:What? I'm Kyle.
Seth:I'm Seth.
Marianna:I'm Mariana.
Kyle:And we couldn't be shifting gears harder.
Marianna:We.
Kyle:We just recorded Apocalypse now, and now we're doing Super Bad.
Seth: r a lot of comedians for post:Not quite as good as my favorite one, which is this is the End, coming from the Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg universe. But this was a delight to rewatch. I forgot how much I love this movie.
Kyle:Yeah. What about you?
Marianna:Oh, my God, I completely forgot how much I love this movie. I saw it in theaters last and then maybe, like, on TV errantly. But yeah, it's. Man, it's a fun one. And this is the End is my other favorite movie.
Kyle:Yeah. Yeah.
Marianna:So good.
Seth:So good.
Kyle:Just as a reminder, we're going to go into some film history. We might talk about our Feels a little bit randos, which are the most interesting factoids we uncovered during research.
The questions which generate funny or good insightful conversation. Then we end with the War Zone, which is our scorecard for the categories, and we give you our score. I'm getting better at that.
Seth:You are?
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:It took me some time. You know, it's interesting. This is the second time I watched this movie.
Seth:Okay. And actually, for me, really?
Kyle:Okay. Okay.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:Is this where you started to look? Because you love Seth Rogen. He's kind of a hero for you.
Seth:His first movie that I saw, I was 18, this is the End came out, and I. I was. I had never smoked weed before.
Kyle:Okay.
Seth:I had had maybe, like, three drinks in my entire life, and I saw this movie in theaters with my girlfriend at the time, and I did not stop laughing for an hour and 45 minutes. I was laughing the entire way through the movie. It was so good.
So that's when I started delving into, like, Super Bad and Pineapple Express and all the other kind of seth Rogen, Danny McBride, James Franco movies that was out at the time. And, yeah, like I said, this one. Great. Not quite my favorite, but it is definitely up there.
And as someone who grew up homeschooled, I think this is the closest I'll ever get to experiencing high school.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Because, like, I have no context for high school and high school parties or anything like that. So this. This is the. The closest I've ever gotten to feeling like I was actually experiencing high school.
Marianna:That's so funny, because I. In high school, I was a cheerleader, and for two years, I was head cheerleader.
And I did not go to any parties whatsoever in high school or drink at all. So I don't. I did not experience high school as well. This is so funny. It's so. I. I love this movie.
I feel almost inappropriate watching it because they're so young, and then they're. What they're going through is so, like. It just gives you so many emotions. But I remember laughing hard in the movie theater.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:And then the other night, like, I was exhausted. Like, we went through a power outage.
And then we had to go out of town for, like, an annoying trip and then came back and the power went out immediately again. But when we watched this movie, in this bookend of that, all that happening. And I remember I was. The word guffaw specifically scream.
Laughing at the tv, like, every time something would happen, I'm like, this is genius.
Seth:It's so good.
Marianna:It's just so. It's exactly what it needs to be.
Seth:The period blood scene.
Marianna:Oh, my God.
Kyle:God.
Seth:Is. Is the one that really took me off guard. I forgot about that moment, and it hit me so hard again.
Marianna:Oh, my God.
Seth:I. I could not get enough of that. It was so funny.
Marianna:I feel like that really happened to somebody, and I feel like this is a lot of stuff that really happened to people on this crew and the writers, and they were just like, let's get it all in one movie.
Seth:Yeah, absolutely.
Marianna:This, actually. Oh, sorry.
Seth:No, go ahead.
Marianna:I was going to say this. And then Project X are my two favorite high school movies.
Seth:Oh, okay.
Kyle:I haven't seen Project X. I never saw that one.
Marianna:Y' all should watch it.
Seth:Okay.
Marianna:It's very fun. Australians are crazy.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:So why didn't you like it?
Marianna:Well, yeah, I know we loved it.
Kyle:Well, maybe it's my high school experience. I started off as a bullied nerd, overweight, and then I didn't go through puberty until, like, my senior year of high school.
And so then I found myself in the middle. Like, some jocks were okay with me. Some wanted to beat my ass. I was. I was kind of in the middle of my senior year.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:But I. I didn't. You couldn't pay me to go back to high school.
Seth:You couldn't.
Kyle:You could not. You couldn't give me. Not even for a day. Just even dropping my kids off at elementary school. I'm like, that place.
Seth:This place of learning.
Kyle:Yes, exactly. You know, and I hate to say it, and I love comedy films. I like there. I have a few in my top 50 naked gun. All three of those are in my top 50.
Fletch Caddyshack is not in my top 50, but I love it. I love Chevy Chase films. I didn't laugh. I looked at the time. Marker. I think it was 39 minutes. I laughed out loud for the first time.
I didn't even smile until then.
Seth:You are a curmudgeon.
Marianna:This is not for Kyle.
Kyle:Maybe. Well, and not only that, I. This wasn't memorable. I didn't remember a lot of it. Like, I was re. Watching it.
And that's the hallmark to me of a comedy film.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Is that I could. I could tell you almost every scene from Fletcher Naked Gun, but I was like, oh. The only one that I remembered was the period blood one.
And that's just because that's the one that was just so gross.
Marianna:I didn't remember anything from this movie. I just. I laughed the first time. I laughed the second time. I don't remember any of it.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:And I. I tried to diagnose it, and I didn't spend too much time pouring over it. But I did ask myself, it's like, I know it's beloved. I just could never nail down why. And I. I started laughing.
When McLovin pops up and the driver's license.
Seth:That's so good.
Marianna:Funny.
Kyle:It's funny for me, not liking this movie at all. I do think the McLovin driver's license stuff is. Is comedic mastery. Genius. And Hater and Rogan.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:They are perfect.
Kyle:They are hilarious. I actually did laugh a lot with those three components, but anytime it's just Sarah and Hill, which is funny.
I've grown to love Jonah Hill as an actor.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:As a dramatic actor. But I just. I don't think any of the dick stuff's funny.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:I just. I'm trying. I'm like, I want to laugh because everyone else thinks this is funny. But I just.
Seth:I will be real with you. The best parts of the movie, 100% are the McLovin and Cops parts.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Like, there's some other. Other stuff that happens that I do think is absolutely great. And I Personal.
Like the way Michael Sarah's character goes through things more than I like Jonah Hill's character.
Kyle:Right.
Seth:But I. So I will 100% give you that those are absolutely the funniest parts of the movie. Is anything having to do with.
With Christopher Ben Platts or Hater and Rogan.
Kyle:And it's funny. Like, even though I grew up in, like, literal squalor, like, and I had a hard Time, music.
Like, I just never found myself in those kind of conversations. Yeah.
Seth:Michael.
Marianna:Sarah. It's a lot of the stuff that he's saying under his breath.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:There's a lot of, oh, my God. And then, like, on the cop, like, the radio, like, there's so much blood, like, those little things. That's what I would, like, guffaw at.
And it's not a lot of Jonah Hill. He's like, to me, the worst character. Because I'm like, I know there's an arc, but, like, fuck you.
Seth:Yeah. That's the point, though.
Marianna:I know He's. I hated this guy in high school.
Seth:He is the guy trying way too hard. Is trying too hard. Wishes he was cool.
Finally has a moment that he thinks he might be a little cool, and it goes to his head and he turns out to be a total asshole right up until the end of it.
Marianna:Yeah, totally.
Kyle:Yeah. We've lost. We've lost any ability for nuance.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:I think anytime there's that type of messaging or political messaging or whatever you want to call it in a film, it's so, like, brazenly on the nose.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:Whereas the filmmakers used to treat it like art.
Seth:Yeah. And this unfolded so naturally.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah. And, like, don't look up, for example. It's just like. Okay, I get it. I get it. Like, watching that in the middle of a covet was torture.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:I never realized that that was about climate change at all. And I've watched it a bunch of times. Love that movie. Specifically because I did not get the message at all.
Kyle:You got the message?
Marianna:No, I didn't get the message at all. I was like, this is so funny. This is great. Everyone in. This is great. I had no idea it was about climate change. That's so funny.
Seth:I love it.
Marianna:I love Adam McKay. And I know that that's controversial, but. Yeah, I. The message was unclear.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:I thought the message was just, nobody listens.
Kyle:Yeah. Yeah. Unless it's the one thing that celebrities care about all the time.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah. It does explain why Leo's in it. So.
Kyle:Yeah. No one pushes back like, hey, what is a greenhouse gas? Like, you know, farts.
Marianna:Cal farts.
Seth:Yeah. Moving on.
Kyle: right, a little history here.: Marianna:Wow.
Kyle:Oh, that's why they named the characters after themselves.
Seth:Makes sense.
Kyle:Yep. The script just languages for 10 years, and then finally DreamWorks offers to make it, but they wanted to do a watered down PG13 version.
And so they refused it. Rogan specifically refused that.
Seth:Good for you, man.
Kyle: e's an undeclared cast around: But after: Seth:Wait, undeclared is in the TV show?
Kyle: le readings that were done in: Seth:Was on a TV show called Undeclared.
Kyle:Yeah, at that time. Yeah, yeah. Jason Siegel was reading for the part of Evan.
Seth:Okay.
Kyle:And so. So there's stuff happening, but for years it just languishes.
But then what happens is a 40 year old version, Talladega Knights become very successful. Anchorman Amy Pascal actually tells Judd Apatow, I'll make every comedy that comes from these guys.
d started to get Green lit in:And then as far as casting goes, Jonah Hill was rejected approximately 100 times before landing Seth.
Seth:Wait, he was rejected for Seth and then still came. Kept coming back and got accepted.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:What?
Kyle:I know.
Marianna:What?
Kyle:I know it says that. It says during Knocked Up's production, I. He told Seth Rogen that I should play Seth. I don't know, because I don't love this film.
It's hard to know all these details.
Marianna:Because he's the guy with the shoes and Knocked Up.
Seth:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marianna:Amazing.
Seth:Which Knocked up was great.
Marianna:Amazing character cameo.
Kyle: evelopment really come out in: Seth: ore that. I think it was like: Kyle:That's crazy.
Marianna:Yeah, yeah.
Kyle:Now, I didn't love him here, but he's great in Arrested Development. Yeah, I love it now. He's actually the same.
Marianna:He's exactly.
Kyle:But I don't know why it works for me in Arrested Development. Not this, but yeah. So they actually had a huge casting crisis for McLovin that after they.
They had tested out thousands of kids, I think hundreds of thousands of kids. So they decided to expand the search and they started using MySpace.
They put 4, 000 or they put flyers in high schools and drama clubs and email drama clubs in schools. And they ended up getting about 4, 000 responses that poured in.
Seth:Amazing.
Kyle:And what's funny. Is the guy that ended up playing McLovin. Is it Christopher Mintz plus A. Is it plaque plats? PLS A S SE is weird.
Seth:But there's a TZ in there somewhere.
Kyle:Yeah. I don't know.
Seth:There's.
Kyle:There's all kinds of stuff, but he was at El Camino High School, and his drama teacher would not even put him in dramas in school. Like, he. They could not believe that this was the kid that got selected.
But he came in and apparently during his audition, he attacked Jonah Hill verbally in a way that said, this is the guy. Like, he just went after Jonah Hill. They loved it.
Seth:I love it. Ah.
Kyle:Emma Stone had had, like, three years of failed auditions before she gets here.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Which I didn't realize. It's so crazy seeing her here.
Seth:Oh, yeah. No, this was before she got easy. And easy is kind of what put her on the map.
Marianna:Easy is amazing.
Kyle:She's had such an interesting career.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:She's funny. And she also can do drama, like. And seeing her here. Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:She does both really well. But. Yeah. And so that's a lot of the. It ended up doing pretty well. It opened up in almost 3,000 theaters. The budget was 20 million.
It opened up for 33 million.
Seth:Amazing. Holy.
Kyle:It's so good. Outperformed Knocked Up. 30 million comedies just don't make that today.
Seth:No.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Needs to come back. Bring them back, people. Go watch comedies.
Kyle:Yeah. And make them.
Seth:That's the thing, though. People try to make them. I. I'm. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, because I know a lot of people disagreed with me on this.
Bert Kreischer's the Machine movie was amazing. It was absolutely hilarious. And no one went and saw it.
Marianna:Oh, I disagree.
Seth:I saw it in theaters, and I absolutely loved that movie. I was laughing my butt off the whole time.
Marianna:Oh, I wanted to like it so bad. I was going to go see it in the theater, but I did not like it. And I love that story. And I love Bert.
Seth:It was so. Mark Hamill was so funny. All the couple little digs that he kept making at Tom Segura throughout the movie. Like, the fact that was that.
The fact that there was graffiti on one random wall that just said, tom is fat just made me laugh my ass off.
Kyle:I don't know.
Seth:I had a great time with that movie.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah. Rando the dick drawing artist.
Seth:Oh, yeah. So good.
Marianna:I was wondering who they got.
Kyle:Somebody had to draw them. It was Evan Goldberg's brother.
Seth:That amazing sequence was one of my favorites.
Kyle: who's now a lawyer, drew over: Seth:Drowning lawyer man.
Kyle: published in the: Marianna:It's like Sausage Party.
Kyle:Yes.
Marianna:Like, they had to go edit.
Kyle:Like, I haven't seen that. What's the deal?
Marianna:Well, when they. They went. They knew that they were going to get, like, the. An NC17 rating.
Seth:The last scene is a food orgy.
Marianna:Yeah. So they. So they went crazy with it. And then they were like. They didn't get very many notes to pull it back.
So they were like, all right, I guess we're going to leave hairy balls in there. And like, whatever else. But, yeah. Sausage Party. I've never felt the need to rewatch it.
Seth:Oh, I've. I've rewatched. The show was actually really funny too.
Marianna:There's a show.
Seth:The show on Amazon.
Marianna:I had no idea.
Seth:Cast everything. It's. I love it.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:I saw that in theaters, too, and I definitely pissed the people off with how much I was laughing.
Marianna:You need your own theater.
Seth:I do. I really do. Yeah.
Kyle:Seth Rogen's mom wrote a joke for the movie, says Seth Rogen's mother came up with the joke when McLovin gets arrested for statutory rape at the end. Apparently that was. According. According to this. Again, I. I try to verify with as many sources I can, but Seth Rogen's mom wrote that joke.
Seth:Mrs. Rogan, hats off to you.
Marianna:Yes.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Yes. This is where I got it from.
Seth:That sequence of trying to make him look like a cool, badass kid at the end of it was just perfect.
Marianna:It's amazing. So good. I love when they're like, dude, we know you're in high school.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Okay. Okay.
Kyle:Yeah. What a household to grow up in.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:And this is my last and favorite rando, apparently.
And in Hawaii, there was a huge DVD controversy because Walmart had a special edition DVD that had a replica of McLovin's fake Hawaii driver's license.
Seth:Oh, that's great. I would have bought that.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah. Actually, that would be cool. I don't even like this movie. And that would be cool.
Honolulu Mayor Muffy Hanneman called it foolish warning that people could use it. Unscrew. Scrupulously. Unscrupulously. To deceive others.
They were worried that they really were going to use this fake license from the Walmart special DVD pack. So they pulled all that, all those copies from seven Hawaii locations, and they contacted the Department of Homeland Security about this issue.
Seth:What the hell, man? I wonder if I could find those now. There's. They've got to be somewhere.
Marianna:They should have sent them to another state.
Seth:Literally. Literally. They should. Oh, my God. That is so funny. Right? Because. Yeah. A single name on the license is not going to trigger anyone.
Kyle:Hawaii.
Seth:Someone else's face.
Kyle:Loving. Yeah, yeah.
Marianna:It's from a famous movie. None of these things matter.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:Sometimes government overreach is a problem.
Kyle:It is.
Seth:And this is. This is one of those moments I.
Kyle:Would like to argue that it's always a problem.
Marianna:No sense of humor, too.
Kyle:This is just the PSA. There should be no governments.
Seth:You could get a McLovin ID card on eBay.
Marianna:Oh, my God. How much are they?
Seth:$5.
Marianna:Oh, that's not my. Get one. He's getting one.
Kyle:There's some things that shouldn't exist. Governments, taxes. What else? Royal families.
Seth:Yes.
Kyle:All these things should go away.
Marianna:Yeah. The government hasn't done anything for the snowstorm. So I store ice storm.
Kyle:Yeah. A little bit. A little bit of soft. Anarchy never hurt anybody.
Seth:Fair. Very fair.
Kyle:The question.
Seth:Here we go.
Kyle:I'm going to have a hard time with these because you guys love it. I am actually more excited about hearing your responses because I'm trying to like Gusto.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:Who was funnier, Jonah Hill or Michael Cera?
Seth:Oh, Michael Cera, hands down.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:Of the two, I actually feel like, technically, Jonah Hill was the straight character. Yeah, like, totally. He wants to be the cool guy. And Michael Cera's lines are so absurd and so ridiculous throughout the movie.
And again, it's always the throwaway ones. Just whatever he says under his breath. Just.
Kyle:Yeah, it's.
Seth:He absolutely, hands down, so funny. Oh, my God.
Marianna:Totally. Michael. Sarah all the way. You're not funny. I mean, he knew he's not the funny one in this. Like, I get it. But yeah.
Michael Cera, when he's on the phone and it's breaking up. Especially, like, suck a dick.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Fucking horn. That was so funny. Like, I just. I love Michael Cera, and I feel like this, like, showcased him really well.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:I feel like they used him really, really well in this because I think the genius of Michael Cera is that he's so different than other comedians.
Seth:Oh, yeah.
Marianna:And it's so natural.
Seth:It always has to be the throwaway stuff, the stuff he says under his breath, because even in Like Juno.
Marianna:Yeah, that's how he was. I know.
Seth:He was the awkward. Like, oh, okay. Well, here's what I'm gonna say to your face, and here's what I wish you would say.
Marianna:And even that show where he's Amy Schumer's boyfriend or husband, I guess I can't remember what it's called. I should show. It's new. But he plays this very, very autistic guy.
Seth:Okay.
Marianna:And it's all Michael Cera throwaway lines the whole time. It's so good.
Kyle:Yeah, yeah, definitely Michael Cera. I don't know why it's funny, because I love. I love how Jonah Hill has translated to drama, but I just don't think he's funny here. And it's funny.
Seth:I will say I thought he was better in this than he was in Wolf of Wall Street.
Kyle:You think so?
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:I. I was thinking while you guys were talking, like, why did I like him in Arrested Development? I think it's because he's not a lead or a great standalone.
With the sense of humor, I think it definitely needs to be blended in with other actors, other comedy. And there's just so much great comedy happening in Arrest Development. You got Bateman, Will Arnett.
He's just surrounded by great comedians, and so it just kind of fits right in. But here you're just kind of getting a lot of it. And I don't like his partner, Jonah Hill in it. And, like, I don't feel like there's a great volley.
Seth:Yeah, see, I disagree with that. I think. I think their conversations feel exactly like my conversations with certain people when I was 17.
Kyle:Really?
Seth:Yeah.
No, like, that's the thing I like about this, especially compared to something like Pineapple Express, because I feel like they're very similar vain movies as far as, like, it's. They're both Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg movies. The thing I like about this one is it. It.
Even in its most over the top moments, it still feels like scenarios that would actually happen.
I could very much see someone like McLovin trying to go in and buy alcohol, and someone just gives so few fucks in the store, they're like, okay, whatever. And then that happening, and then him just getting punched in the face just. That made me so, like.
I don't know, it was so big and such a crazy moment that I'm like, I could actually see something stupid like this happening.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:And then you go outside and Jonah Hill gets hit by the car. And he. They're sitting there having the argument with that Guy. And again, it's like, yes, they're ridiculous. Yes, they're over the top.
But I feel like these are all valid responses. If that happened in real life. If someone backed into me.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:I feel like the way Jonah Hill reacted in that moment was a valid response.
Marianna:Oh, yeah, Totally.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Oh, man. Now that I know that 13 year olds wrote this movie, it makes so much sense.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Like, doesn't that make so much sense? Especially the cops.
Seth:Oh, yeah.
Marianna:Because I was like, the cops are doing everything you would want to do as a cop, like, shoot at the stop signs.
Seth:Just the fact that every time he's like, can we shoot guns at it? I don't know. Can you?
Kyle:Yeah. They're the. The hater is just so good.
Marianna:I know.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Peter's amazing. Wow. He can do drama too. Did y' all see Barry?
Kyle:Barry's incredible.
Marianna:Barry is, like, one of my favorite shows.
Kyle:Yeah, dude. He. He straight up can be dark in that.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Like.
Marianna:Like, it's one of the darkest shows I've ever seen.
Kyle:Barry is so good. I highly recommend. Are they done with that show?
Marianna:I think so, yeah.
Seth:I think it ended, like, three or four years ago.
Kyle:I. I uncovered it and binge. I don't binge a lot of shows, but when I. Because they're 30 minute episodes.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:And he definitely said that show was a. It was a. He wanted to, like, dedicate it to the Coen brothers. He was heavily inspired by no country, and he was like, this is my homage to. To them.
Seth:That makes a lot more sense, actually. I never got through the whole thing, but the couple episodes I watched, that actually tracks.
Kyle:Yeah.
atest comedy character of the: Seth:Oh, all those other ones. Yes. McLovin's the best. I hated Anchorman. I. It's. I loathe that movie with a passion.
Maybe it's because the most annoying people I knew in high school and middle school were the ones who wouldn't stop quoting it. And I hadn't seen it, so I didn't know what the hell was going on at this point.
I still haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, and I feel like I probably shouldn't, because I do. I think I just missed the cultural moment.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:I think I missed the moment where everyone was into it. And I don't. I don't think I will like that movie.
I do have one friend who says that I have to watch it, and I've told her, if you watch it with me, I will watch it because that's probably the only way I'll ever enjoy that.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Who was the other one?
Kyle:Borat.
Seth:Borat. I refuse to watch that movie. I'm sorry. Sacha Baron Cohen, I've liked him in a couple of roles, but I do not. I don't like shock humor.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:It's just not funny to me. So. No. No. Also the most ridiculously awful people I know love that movie. Like legitimately. The worst people I know, that's their favorite comedy.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:So it's. Yeah, that's kind of the gauge I have. If you love Borat, I will probably never like you.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Interesting.
Marianna:I only watched it for the first time recently for a reason I absolutely cannot talk about.
Seth:Cool.
Marianna:We'll talk about it later on this year. I feel like there's no comparison between any of those characters.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:How do you compare any of them? I have no idea.
Kyle: ke. Like when people think of: Marianna:Yeah, I know. I just really, I can't. You can't compare any of them. They're all just so different. And McLovin, it, to me is the most real.
Like if you just told me that that is just a kid. And they just said, kid, you're in this movie, do whatever you want. This is a person. I believe you. This guy is amazing.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Like, there's just. I, you know, I mean, that's exactly.
Seth:What a 17 year old would do. McLovin's a great name.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:What, I need a first name? No, it's just McLovin.
Marianna:No, from everything about this kid, like all of his mannerisms, every. How he handles every situation, how he's all nervous with the cops, like, I think he is the best part of the movie.
Seth:Absolutely.
Marianna:He's 100%.
Seth:And when. When Christopher shows up and this is the end and he's like the most pussy whipped bitch and like Michael Cera, like blows cocaine in his face.
Marianna:Oh, my God, bro.
Seth:I've never done this drug before. What are you doing? Is like, it's okay. Like the fact that that's kind of him and that's still that care. It's. He's, It's. He's a genius.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Like, you know, hands down, he's the best of all of those.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah. I, you know, this is funny. I. I've always just liked older.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:Love the doors. Apocalypse Now. Like, I just like old stuff.
Seth:Chevy Chase.
Kyle:Chevy Chase. I. But I did get swept up in Anchorman Mania. I was one of those people. It was one of the few cultural moments I actually felt. Felt a part of.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:And the quotes were insane. And we love quoting it. Yeah, we loved it. We loved the jokes. And it was just. I just think. I just think Angerman's in a different realm.
I didn't really like this. I will say that McLovin's the funniest part of this movie.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:But I don't even think he lands within. Within a. Within a snort of Ron Burgundy, my son. This is interesting. I didn't like Napoleon Dynamite, and you talk about it being a moment.
My 11 year old son just watched it and loved it.
Seth:Interesting.
Kyle:So that, that did make me wonder if it. If it exceeds the time it was in. And I guess my son loved it. He thought it was funny. But my son's a goofball.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:He's a goofy guy, so.
Seth:I mean, you are his dad.
Marianna:I know.
Kyle:Yeah. He's your son. And I'm as straight laced as they come.
Marianna:He's gonna have a goofball trout.
Kyle:Yeah, I, I only dabble in the normal things. All right. Do you actually kind of hit on this earlier? Would Superbad get made today?
Or is it too problematic for this amazing, beautiful time we live in?
Seth:That is a question that I hear on so many podcasts. And everyone's like, it couldn't be made today. It couldn't be made today. The fact that it's still beloved, I think means it could be made today.
Yeah, but. And it's, It's. It's the way I feel about Tropic Thunder. Everyone was on board. Everyone knew the ending. Everyone knew.
The whole point was don't have sex while you're drunk. Don't get people drunk with the purpose of having sex with them. And, and the fact that such a good moral came out of that.
And you do genuinely watch Jonah Hill's character go from thinking that's the only way anyone's ever going to give him any type of attention is through alcohol. And then by the end of the movie, he realizes, oh, no, she actually does like me for me.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:I, I think it. It in its current iteration, maybe there, there are a couple of changes that would have to be made.
I couldn't tell you what those changes would be, but the story itself. Yeah.
I do think it could get made today, and I do think it could be done in a way that still has that irreverence that we want from comedy movies, but also really still drives home what they were trying to drive home.
Kyle:Okay.
Marianna:I think you could make this now. I don't even see. So, like, now when I watch, like, shows like the Office and, like, I can't remember the other one anyway.
Seth:Parks and Rec, maybe.
Marianna:Park. Yeah. Parks and Rec. There's a few. There's a handful. Community has all kinds of stuff in it you could not make today.
And when I'm watching it, I'm blatantly like, that, that, that, that. All of this.
Seth:Oh, yeah.
Marianna:This whole episode, you know, things like that. This. I think there wasn't anything that jumped out to me where I was like, there would be, like, a social media frenzy over some of these things.
Yeah. I can't pinpoint anything. And I think because the moral of the story is so wholesome.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:And sweet. It's almost the opposite of, like, Animal House and, like. And, like, all of that where you're.
Seth:Like, you leave the nerds.
Marianna:Yeah. You leave feeling, like, good. And you're also kind of like, oh, sweet. They're like, best friends.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:And they, like.
Kyle:Yeah. You know, Animal House would be very problematic.
Marianna:Yeah. Well, Animal House is one of those where they. They're like. They actually rape a girl. So.
Seth:Literally.
Kyle:And she passed out.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:It's a horrible. It's a plot point.
Kyle:And screw frat boys. Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah, exactly. So you could make that now. No, but this, I think you could still. I don't see.
And I didn't see anything that I would think, oh, someone is younger than me would. Would freak out over this, so.
Seth:Because.
Marianna:Yeah, I hope so.
Seth:The conversations they have at the beginning. Yeah. Those feel off.
Marianna:Yeah. They're weird.
Seth:But. But when you see how the story unfolds and where the characters start from and where they end up, it makes sense. Then.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:You're like, oh, I get it. They have this warped idea of what love is and what people in sex, especially. And. And how they relate to their high school experience. Because when.
When I was telling him, like I said, because I've never experienced high school in that way.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:I can see how. How even though there is kind of a universal high school experience, it changes so much depending on where you are in the country.
Where you are in the state that you're in. In the country, which district of the state you're in and what people are around you and what kind of person you are.
Like, it all gets so down to all those little details that I still feel like this captures a general high school experience that a lot of people can relate to.
Marianna:Yeah, definitely. I had a weird high school experience for being in Alabama. Like, very liberal.
Like the head cheerleader was also like the head of math club and she's now a mathematician. You know, like we had out lesbians at a time when that was not a thing. You know, it was very weird Alabama, by the way.
Want to throw that out there again?
Seth:What part of Alabama?
Marianna:North Alabama? Lawrence, Alabama. So wild experience definitely doesn't match up with anything that was ever in movies.
I'm always like, I feel like I lived in the future when I was in the past.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:No phones though. Great. Well, yeah, you weren't allowed to bring them in school, but yeah, we had them. They flipped. What was the question?
Kyle:Could it be made today?
Marianna:Oh, yeah. No. Yes.
Seth:No. Yes, yes.
Marianna:I already answered this and now I'm jumping in again. I'm sorry.
Kyle:Yeah, okay. No, it's great. I think this could get today. Get made today because they only make comedies that aren't funny today and this isn't funny.
So it could easily get greenlighted, probably get greenlit for, for twice the budget and.
Seth:You son of a. Yeah, yeah.
Kyle:It would fit right in with today's slew of completely dis, uninteresting, non funny comedies. So I couldn't wait.
Seth:I can't wait for the Internet to come after you on that one.
Kyle:Yeah, I, I did write that down.
Seth:Clip that out specifically.
Kyle:I actually did tag write that down to say that. And I, I put a little picture of the Joker next to it.
Seth:He Marlon Brandoed and read it off the cue cards.
Marianna:Yeah, he has an earpiece, actually.
Kyle:I do. Yeah. I have some jerk in the back just feeding me lines from Seth's bathroom.
Marianna:It's the cat. The cat.
Seth:Harrison Ford gives him whispers.
Kyle:That's right. Harrison Ford's on my side. Last question before the Closer. Was Jonah Hill actually too old to play the high schooler?
Or does his performance make you forget because he was 23 here?
Seth:I mean. No, I, I wouldn't have guessed he was 23. I would have guessed maybe he was 19. But he's. He plays the immature really well.
Marianna:Yeah, totally. I thought he was in high school, but then again, I know there's always been that trope of like, you 25 year olds are always playing high schoolers.
But now I kind of know now that I'm in my 30s. I know why. Because when you're 25, you look like you're in high school.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:To Everybody else also, except for people.
Seth:Nights school also. You can't make these types of comedies with actual 17 year olds.
Marianna:Yeah. And I wonder if the girls were actually high school age because they look young. They look very young.
Seth:I, you know, at that point in time, I don't think so. I feel like they would have had to have been at least 18 in order to.
Marianna:I mean, 18, yes, but I mean, 18.
Seth:Yeah. Yeah, probably.
Marianna:Because, man, they were very, like. I don't know why they were. I guess they were just casting regular looking women for the girls because they did look like real high schoolers.
But, like, man, they were so forgettable. They were. They were the worst characters. Not Emma Stone. Emma Stone's great.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:I love who she is and who she stands for. After this, I was like, where was this movie when I was in high school?
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:It came out when I graduated, so.
Seth:That would do it. Yeah, that's where it was.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:Not made.
Marianna:I know. Well, luckily I was in a Wild High Schooler, so.
Kyle:Yeah. This question didn't even fall on me because I just don't like anything he's doing. So whether he's 23, 17, 4. It's not funny. It's not good.
So be 60 for all I care. Playing 17. It's. It's not funny or good.
Seth:Mr. Curmudgeon over here doesn't like anything fun.
Kyle:Hey, you throw Leslie any Leslie Nielsen film up here?
Marianna:Oh, that'd be fun.
Kyle:You throw. You throw Fletch up here.
Marianna:Do we kill a dead and loving it. Best Dracula movie of all time.
Kyle:So funny. I've never even heard of that. Dude. Leslie Nielsen from Naked Gun.
Seth:Yeah, I know who.
Kyle:An airplane.
Marianna:Hilarious in Dracula. Dead and loving it.
Kyle:It's great.
Seth:Okay, do we need to do It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World sometime maybe. Have you not seen that?
Kyle:I don't know.
Seth:It's a great Leslie Nielsen.
Kyle:I probably should because I'm shocked. I haven't seen it because I'm such a fan.
Seth: based, raunchy comedies from: Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:And long and short of it is this guy drives off the road and all these people see it and they run down and the guy is like, I buried a treasure under a giant W in, like, Santa Barbara. And then he just dies. And so everyone's sitting there and they're like, oh, well, I guess we could just, you know, not go after this treasure.
And then it's a race.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:With this. This ensemble of people trying to find this Treasure.
And Leslie Nielsen ends up playing this detective who's, like, trying to figure out why this group of people's going crazy across California.
Kyle:That's incredible.
Marianna:He's always a detective. Yeah, he's always a detective or Dracula. And that's it.
Kyle:It. Well, so good with the. With the new. With the new Naked Gun, we probably could cover Naked Gun one.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:Yeah. I think it'd be actually.
Seth:I think it's actually in my list of things we can add into the gap. So we'll talk.
Kyle:Yeah. Because I actually heard the new one's really good, actually.
Seth:I've heard great things. Yeah.
Marianna:I want to watch them all.
Kyle:Yeah, they're all. Have you seen them? No. They're so good.
Marianna:That'd be so fun for me.
Kyle:Slapstick as hell. And OJ Simpson is actually hilarious in them.
Marianna:Okay, great.
Seth:I forgot he's in it.
Kyle:So fun. Norberg, last question. The closer. Who or what won this for you? Who or what lost this for you?
Seth:Ultimately, and I think. I think we can all agree on this, McLovin wins the movie. McLovin's the best part of this. This. This godsend of a movie. It is.
It's such a ridiculous idea that he carries so perfectly because he's clearly the one guy you would never peg to actually get a fake ID but he follows through in the worst way possible, and it still works out. Absolutely. 100% love it. I do think the only thing that really lose it for me is Jonah Hill. Like, I don't. I don't hate him in this role.
He plays the role well. But I do agree with you in that he's the weakest part of the movie.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:But also, I don't. I can't think of anyone else who could have played that version of Seth Rogen the way he did. Like, I just.
I think obviously the character is meant to be disliked to a certain point, and I think Jonah Hill, like, played into that as well as he could. But, yeah, overall, he's.
He's probably the weakest part of the movie, other than maybe just the random high schoolers like the girls, but I don't know. He wasn't even that bad. But as far as the scale of things, he's the worst part of it for me.
Marianna:Yeah. What won it for me? The cops.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Seth Rogen.
Seth:Now you've got to figure out something else that wanted for you.
Kyle:That's my answer.
Marianna:The cops are my favorite part of the movie. Everything they do, everything they say is so perfect. They're exactly how I want to be as a cop. If I was a cop.
Seth:Can we get 13 beers to go?
Marianna:Yeah, we don't have time to pay for this. Can we get 13 beers to go? Everything, the handlebar mustache. Like Bill Hader just being this baby faced Bill Hader. Like everything about it.
Seth:Them talking about their wives.
Marianna:Yeah. Oh my God. Then totally pretending like McLovin is who he says he is.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:The whole time. I love that. I love it. They're the best part of the movie for me. Other than McLovin.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:But what lost it for me is actually the female characters other than Emma Stone. Because they're written like guys. They're so empty.
Seth:They were written by 13 year old boys.
Marianna:Yeah. But they are written as like the bad characters and they have no arc. They have nothing redeemable about them. There's nothing interesting about them.
I don't even understand why these guys like these girls. There is nothing. There's no substance to them. So that's what drove me crazy because I was like, they also look like they're from porn too.
truck me when I watched it in: Seth:I will say though, think about it from the perspective because. Because the story is told from the perspective of two 17 year old boys.
As much as we would like to think that at that age you can find things other than I'm attracted to this person to like attract you to that person, I don't think most boys are thinking beyond that at that age. So I feel like you're. You're almost seeing those characters through that lens very specifically.
Marianna:I hear you, but I just mean like, that's what lost it for me is like I disengaged with all the female characters and I was like, they're useless. Like, this is. How is this what women are in this movie? But anyway, you're right in that it's from their perspective. But in it for me, I was just so.
Like we couldn't have given them like a personality or something. Anything to like.
Kyle:Right.
Marianna:A nice face, anything. Sorry. Okay, now I'm just being horrible. Cut. Cut that. Cut the face part.
Seth:Leave it in.
Marianna:Cut their faces. Yeah, I look horrible today because I am dehydrated.
Kyle:No, you don't. Come on, girl.
Marianna:I'm very dehydrated. I haven't had any water in a week.
Kyle:She's been frozen.
Marianna:I'm Frozen in an ice.
Seth:Frozen.
Marianna:At least I'm not a. An actress in a movie right now.
Seth:So there you go.
Marianna:Anyway, but yeah, that's it.
Kyle:I specifically. So you said cops. I'm gonna say even more specifically Bill Hader. Me, I think cop out, but okay, you can tell. Oh, way to police my speech.
Seth:There we go.
Kyle:Oh, come back. Come on, come on, come on, come on.
Marianna:You should do a podcast. Yeah, we could.
Kyle:A lot of good banter here. Crazy. We should record it and release it.
Marianna:Record it.
Kyle:This. You can tell me if I'm exaggerating, but I think he's one of the most underrated comedic minds. I think he's His. His impressions.
Like when he did there will be blood on SNL and did the I will drink your milkshake show, that crushed.
Seth:Me out about that.
Kyle:He is so good with impressions, but he also is just his timing. He's brilliant, and I just think he's underrated. And he. To me, he steals the show.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Even more so than McLovin.
Seth:I wouldn't say he's underrated because he's done a lot. He's in a lot. He's usually one of the leads. And if he's not a lead, he's like the lead of the supporting cast.
Kyle:Right.
Seth:I think people who. Especially people who work with him and know him, know how brilliant he is.
Kyle:Right.
Seth:And I think what I've noticed is either. And it could be both. Either he's really good at picking roles that.
That he can thrive in, or the people who know him are really good at writing roles for him.
Kyle:Yeah. I think two. Part of it in my generation. But there is this element that he is associated with the absolute worst time period of Saturday Night Live.
He was the funniest thing going for a time period of Saturday night that for me and. And people probably closer to our age.
Seth:He's like the evo guy.
Marianna:Oh, my God.
Seth:Yes. So good.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:He's trying not to break character so often.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:So good.
Kyle:He. He was amazing. And there was a couple other funny people, but by and large, it's.
He was a star during a down period of what people used to be considered the mecca of comedic television.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:So I do think there is some of that. I luckily have followed him to Barry and some of the other things he's created, and I just happen to think he's a genius.
Seth:Absolutely.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:That was really fun. Dark, weird.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Him and Kristen Wiig.
Seth:Yeah. I didn't see it, but I remember when that came out, and I Forgot about that.
Kyle:What lost this move for me. I don't want to be. I don't want to be super hard. I've already said some. Really out.
Seth:Super hard.
Kyle:Super hard.
Seth:You don't want to be super bad about it.
Kyle:I don't want to be super mean. I'll just say it this way instead of saying it's not funny. I don't know. I can't really figure out why it's not funny. And I did. I asked myself.
I implored. I was like, everyone loves this movie. But there's. There's people that. That don't like Will Ferrell movies, by and large.
There's people that don't think he's funny. I don't think Seth Rogen is really that funny in general. I, I, I hated Knocked Up. I haven't seen a thing. I really.
I'm curious to watch the producer, that show. Yeah. Yeah.
Marianna:Oh, yeah.
Kyle:Is it Producer. The studio. The studio.
Marianna:That was my Ice Storm show.
Kyle:Really?
Marianna:That was what I downloaded.
Kyle:I heard it's good.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:And I probably like because it's a satire of the industry, but. But, you know, I am a Chevy Chase fan. I'm a Leslie Nielsen fan, and for whatever reason, this just doesn't. I love the Fairley brothers. I love.
There's Something about Mary. I love Dumb and Dumber. Like, I love those.
I don't know why, but the way that the humor's architected here, it never landed with me until Hater hits the screen. Yeah. And the McLovin stuff, that stuff got me. But once the girls are the focus, kind of along your point.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:They were just. They just could not stand them.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:You know, if they were funny, I couldn't tell because they were annoying the piss out of me.
Marianna:Yeah. So empty.
Kyle:But I also acknowledge that sense of humor is a very weird thing. And as comedians, we all know this.
Seth:Oh, yeah.
Kyle:I have played three shows in one night in, like, Phoenix, and I went from having maybe the best show of my life that I've ever had and literally knocking a room over.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:To going to a pizza joint where they weren't expecting comedy, but I got paid to do comedy. And I had some woman in the front just staring at me like, what are you doing? Yeah, I am here for the buffet.
Seth:I'm here for the salad bar.
Kyle:Yes. Why are you. Why are you telling cannibalism jokes right now? We're eating and, like, well, eat humans, you know, but comedy is fickle.
And so I also acknowledge that it's. It's very much even more so than just film in general. Comedy films.
Like, like, if you don't like someone's personality as a comedian or an actor, it's really hard to laugh at them. So I acknowledge that. So I, I don't diss anyone for liking it. I just, it just never landed with me.
Seth:No, that's fair. It's very fair. I mean, like you said, Will Ferrell is very hit or miss for me. I loved Blades of Glory.
I think Anchorman is one of the worst comedies that's ever been made.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:Loved Talladega Knights. Oh my God. I'm trying to think of other.
Well, that's the problem is, like most of the Will Ferrell movies that I've seen, I just don't remember because I just. I hate Elf. Oh, see is the only good part of that movie.
Marianna:We're totally opposites. Cuz I loved Anchorman, Elf, and. But I love Talladega Knights.
Seth:Yeah, that one's really good.
Marianna:That one's really good. And then I haven't seen a lot. I didn't watch Step Brothers, but yeah, they're. They're a little hit or miss for me.
They also hit a lot more for my age group when I first saw. So we're a little older than you, so I feel like only a couple years. Yeah. But like, it.
I think it matters for the fact that like, what was going on in society at the time, like Anchorman, I feel like hits for us because, like, nothing had ever happened like that.
Kyle:Yeah, it was so crazy.
Marianna:But it was also the supporting cast. It wasn't necessarily Will Ferrell for me. I didn't think he was so funny. I thought Steve Carell was the best part of the movie.
Seth:He and Paul Rudd.
Marianna:Yeah. And just Paul Rudd. Amazing.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah. Will Ferrell was annoying to me.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah. So I don't know.
Kyle:Yeah. And I think in your defense too, when they milk a thing for all it's worth, it actually can reflect negatively.
Like, yes, Anchorman was amazing, but they rode that Will Ferrell horse into the ground too much.
Marianna:Way too much.
Kyle:Oh, yeah, there was the basketball one.
Seth:Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot about Semi Pro.
Kyle:Semi Pro. Not.
Seth:Not good. I did not enjoy that one.
Kyle:Yeah, I did.
Seth:The campaign, I actually enjoyed. But I think I enjoyed Zach Galifianakis more than I enjoyed Will Ferrell.
Kyle:Yeah. What's the dodgeball one? Dodgeball, dodgeball, dodgeball. Wasn't funny to me. There's one funny quote, you know, let's see how it works out for him.
Cotton or whatever. I thought that was what, you know. Yeah.
Marianna:Old school.
Seth:The Locking Holmes or whatever. The one that he did.
Marianna:Remember that?
Seth:Yeah, that was. That was the. The third of the Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly trifecta. And it was God awful, apparently. Yeah, yeah.
Marianna:They were trying. They were doing too much. This is where it all got watered down because they were putting too much money in.
This is probably why they get nervous about putting money into comedies now, because they're like, we put all this money into comedies. These 16 didn't make any money. And it's like you did it too fast.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:You put out way too many with one actor. You can't overload the system with one actor.
Marianna:But if they had all been Bill Hader.
Kyle:Yeah, yeah.
Marianna:Could have been different.
Kyle:I mean, people forget they made two more dumb and dumber movies and they're awful. They did.
Marianna:They really did. Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite movies, oddly enough at this point.
Seth:Weirdly, I think the last like, like good, just straight comedy that was made was Tag.
Marianna:Oh, Tag is so fun.
Seth:Tag is really good.
Marianna:And it's based on a true story.
Kyle:It is.
Seth:And that's where one. One of those things where it had the irreverence that you wanted from the old school comedies, but it's still adapted for modern audiences.
And I. I think the one thing a lot of these types of comedies are missing right now is no matter how raunchy you get, it still has to have a wholesome conclusion. You can't just let it end in the raunch and in the grossness of whatever the comedy is.
There has to be some sort of wholesome moment that pulls you back into the reality of the story and the human nature.
Kyle:Right.
Marianna:Yeah.
Seth:And a lot of those miss it.
Marianna:You can't end in chaos.
Kyle:No.
Marianna:That's kind of what lost it for Sausage Party with me. I'm like, this is insane.
Seth:That one. Honestly, it's the exception for me because it was such a crazy concept to begin with. I was just like, I'm riding this train.
Marianna:The whole. It is animated. Which gives it more.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Leeway with that, I think. Yeah.
Kyle:But then you have ted.
Seth:I love Ted.
Kyle:Ted's funny.
Seth:Ted. So good. But. But Tag came out after ted.
Kyle:Yeah, Yeah.
Seth:I think it came out after Ted, too, actually.
Kyle:Really?
Seth:Like, that's how long Ted. It's been since the TED movies were made. The TV show, by the way, for ted. Better than both movies, really. Oh, my God.
Marianna:I watch all of them.
Seth:It is. It's on Peacock Season 2 is about to come out. It is insane. The kid who plays high school version of Mark Wahlberg. Perfect.
I've never seen a better kid version than that. It's amazing.
Marianna:Oh, I'm so excited.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:I need more stuff to watch.
Seth:Hell, yeah.
Kyle:All right, War Zone.
Seth:Let's do this.
Kyle:Our categories, we do cast, directing, writing, and film composition, which is everything else. The editing, stunts, music, cinematography, the whole thing.
Seth:Cast, I think everyone was put perfectly again, even though Jonah Hill is probably the weakest, his character was the weakest. I don't even think it was 100 his fault. The character itself was the weakest of both of them. Sorry, Seth.
I know he's based on you, but it is what it is. That being said, you have a legend like McLovin. The cops were so perfect. Emma Stone was incredible. The. The. The. The.
The people at the house party, the adult house party that they went to, such a fun sequence of watching all those people interact and the chaos and. And, oh, my God, it's just all so great. So, yeah, for me, the cast is absolutely a yes. The writing, it's going to be a squeak over.
I'm not gonna pretend like this is Shakespeare. This is not great writing necessarily.
And I have a very strong feeling that the best jokes were improv on set, that they just kind of open it up and they were just like, cool, we've got the lines now. Just say stuff. Just let her rip and see what happens.
So it's gonna be a squeak over for me, just because, yeah, it's not the strongest, but it's still very funny. Directing, I think it was very well done. I think from top to bottom.
I know you feel differently, but I. I was engaged from the moment the story started until it was over. I. And. And I think a lot of that has to do with a director knowing when you need to stick to the script and when to let the actors cook.
And I feel like there was a lot of letting the actors cook in this. These situations. So directing is a definite yes for me. Cinematography, I mean, yeah, it's all very simple stuff. This is a very simple movie.
You don't need a lot of complicated stuff, but it tells the story effectively. Nothing is ever distracting. Some of the background stuff that was going on, like when.
When Michael Cera and the girl he's into are talking outside and all those other people are behind them, the way that they're watching their conversation and looking at each other and reacting is some of the best background direction I have ever seen.
Given it Was so much fun for me to peek in the background and watch these people because I. I forgot that they were going to interact with them at the end of that scene. I thought they were just gonna walk off. But they did, and it was like. It was perfect. It was so seamless. So all of that, it's. It's four yeses for me.
It was such a fun movie. I love this movie so much. I forgot how much I love this movie.
Marianna:Yeah, that's so funny for cast love. Basically everybody except for the female characters, which I feel like could have just been a writing thing, but whatever.
Again, it's told from the perspective of teenage boys, which is fine. Which is probably why it's so fun too, because, like, I never got to be a teenage boy. But like, what you said about the background, the.
At the adult party. The guy that's running the adult party is from the show community. He's Professor Professorson. Yeah, I think he's the professor of grifting, too.
He's the professor of grifting. Professor Professorson. Anyway, side note, great actor, but this is just amazing. I love the cast. Very big fan. Bill Hader's the best, though.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Writing. I don't even think I would have noticed that it was, like, written. I feel like a lot of it is very improv.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Like, I wonder how much of this deviated from the script, especially since it was written by 13.
Kyle:There's a couple of scenes that are the more notable scenes. Like the tree bust, lip scene thing.
Seth:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Kyle:That's improv. Like Jonah Hill's reactions. Improv.
Marianna:Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I don't know. I just feel like anything with Michael Cera is like some improv. Right? Yeah. I think the writing is.
Got them in the right direction, maybe. Yeah, that's a good way to say it.
Seth:For those types of comedies. That's usually how it goes. It's a guideline. They get the. They get the words they need to make a scene happen, and then they just let them go.
Marianna:Yeah. With directing, I don't even understand. I don't feel the director in the.
Seth:Movie at all, which is probably a good thing. Yeah.
Marianna:I feel like for a comedy, I don't like a heavy touch. I never feel a director in a comedy because I'm just like, good. Because, like, why are you here? This is just a story. This is just fun.
Seth:And when you do, it tends to be Wes Anderson. I'm glad you gave that response.
Marianna:Old Wes Anderson.
Kyle:Great. That's exactly what I was Gonna say old Wes Anderson.
Marianna:Great.
Seth:Pre Moonlight Kingdom.
Marianna:Now. Yeah, Now. He's just too Wes Anderson.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:And all the people who like him are just insufferable. Yeah, please. Clip.
Kyle:He's got an expiration. He's got an expiration date for sure.
Marianna:We'll tag some people in it and they can cry. And then everything else.
Kyle:The.
Marianna:Am I on everything else now?
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah. Again, I don't really notice any of the other things. The. The cinematography. It all blends together really well. I feel like that's how comedies go.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:They just feel like life happening. This just feels like life happening. I don't feel like any of it got in the way.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:I don't feel like any of it was amazing. I don't feel like I changed my life. I just feel like it got the story where it needed to go, so.
Kyle:Yeah.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Cool. So you went for four. For four, I guess.
Marianna:What did I say?
Kyle:Biz am cast. I'm going to go. No, there's. There's a couple of Bill Hader can't.
Seth:Even give you a squeak over.
Kyle:No, not even a squeak because he's. He's a diamond in a very. To me, just a lot of mediocre. Here's the thing, man. I. I don't know.
Marianna:You.
Kyle:You said something that interesting that kind of maybe helped me illuminate why I don't like it as much. You said something about, like, the raunch factor. I actually think this qualifies under what you said. I think it does eventually find heart.
Like, there is heart at the end and there's middle pieces. It just lives in that so long that I don't think it ever. I never really found. I think it.
It was just became so overwrought for me that I couldn't sink my teeth into it. I do think I would qualify it as just. Just raunch for raunch's sake. It does eventually find a heart. It does. But by then, I'm just done. I'm cooked.
But I. I think hater here now. Rogan, too. Rogan at the cop pair. Love them together. The McLovin stuff is. Is fantastic. But outside of that, I just. I'm with you on the girls, man.
I'm just like. Besides Emma Stone.
Marianna:Yeah. Like, who are they?
Kyle:Yeah. Just unbearable. And maybe they're supposed to be, but unbearable in a way. I'm like, this is remind. They reminded me too much of the girls that.
That, like, hated me in high school.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Like just. And I. I just was not a I was not a good looking, popular guy in high school. Sorry. Nor am I now.
I just found a sympathetic woman who found me on the street one day tucked in a cardboard box and.
Marianna:And decided to have four children.
Kyle:And decided to have four children with me.
Marianna:He's populating the earth.
Kyle:Thanks, babe.
Seth:Love you.
Kyle:Thanks for the hospitality. Direct or we'll do directing. It's like you said, it's hard to say in a comedy film where the comedy is the. Is the feature.
And so much of it about is almost like getting out of the way and letting them go loose.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:Like Anchorman was that way to the amount of outtakes in every comedy movie or is probably outrageous. I guess I'll have to say no, because, I mean, that would be assuming if their.
Their job is to get out of the way and then decide and capture what is funniest and decide from the many outtakes. Like, I guess they didn't pick the ones that I laughed at. So I. I guess they didn't do. I guess it's not good.
Marianna:You need the redux.
Kyle:I need the redux. Give me super bad redux where there's a French plantation scene.
Seth:They're just randomly. In a French plantation.
Kyle:That actually would be funny to make fun of Coppola.
Marianna:The jungle.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:That would be such a meta. Joke. Writing I'm. This might shock you. I will go squeak over on writing.
Seth:Okay.
Kyle:Because even though, by and large, I don't like it or think it's funny, it is kind of crazy how masterful McLovin and Rogan and Hater are.
Marianna:Yeah.
Kyle:There are some moments here that. That tell me. Like, you know, there's. There is a film out there that I could like, and there's a version even though I.
And it's, you know, I don't like the two lead characters, but, I mean, there is some stuff. And like, I. I do think, you know, Rogan turns up to be, you know, a comedic. One of the comedic greats eventually.
And you see a lot of foundational elements of that here. Yeah. So. And I do think it's funny. I do.
As a nerd from high school, like the fact that, like, the guy that they cast to be McLovin was a drama student that they wouldn't even put in dramas. Like, I love that. That's a slap in the face of the man, and I love that.
Seth:Absolutely.
Marianna:I love that so much.
Kyle:Yeah. That's actually amazing. Meta and then film composition. I mean, again, comedy is interesting. Right. Like, the job is to just capture the.
The Comedic energy. I guess I. I guess I just do a squeak over here because I. I guess I can't. I don't fault it for anything.
Seth:See, with comedies, I feel like if. If it gets in the way, that's when it's.
Kyle:Yeah.
Seth:If it does its job, it's good enough.
Kyle:Yeah. It captured. The music is good. Like the. Like, I love the music during some of those liquor store scenes.
There's some good musical choices when they start doing that.
Seth:Wah.
Kyle:The Gua guitars.
Seth:Yeah.
Marianna:That's great.
Kyle:Yeah. I think. I think as far as film composition, I mean. Yeah. I go two. Two for two here.
I mean, that's probably more than I. I actually thought I would, but. But, you know, I think there's a. There's a movie and there's some heart here.
It just took me some time to get to it, and I like the supporting characters more than the leads. And when you don't. When that's the case, you have to spend a lot more time with the leads.
Seth:Yeah.
Kyle:And so fair. That's kind of my thing.
Seth:Valid.
Kyle:Yeah. But we just went super long on Super Bad, and it was so fun, and I'm so. I'm so glad that you two joined me for it. I'm Kyle.
Seth:I'm Seth.
Marianna:I'm Mariana.
Seth:See you next week.
Kyle:Love y'.
Seth:All. It.
