Episode 136: The Rise of Cregger (with Jake Atwood)

[00:00:19] Speaker A: I will say that the, the funniest thing that will happen with Crager's career going forward. He could make 15 films, 20 films, 30. You don't go on. It'll never be funnier than telling people who probably who watch his films and enjoy them and just go, yeah. Just so you know, that's the guy who plays Abe Lincoln in the Abe Lincoln bit in Whitest Kids, you know? [00:00:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:00:42] Speaker A: That's the guy that says, I'm going to grape you in the mouth. And the grapest bit, like, just the fact that he has a comic background and spent so many years doing like, you know, sitcoms and stuff. She'll talk about it. Like, he really just like going into his career, he just had like. I think I told you the story about like him saying he nearly got killed by Jimmy Fallon. He's right. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Yes. [00:01:06] Speaker A: He, like had a drunken fight with Jimmy because Jimmy Fallon produced a show with him and Anthony Anderson that was like on for a year, I think. [00:01:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:16] Speaker A: But it's just funny to think that when we watched, you know, all three of these movies, especially Weapons being Oscar winning. [00:01:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:23] Speaker A: The fact that we're going to get into an Oscar winning film out of the three. Oh, yeah, his second film is Oscar winning. [00:01:29] Speaker B: Yes. And his third film is a video game adaptation. [00:01:33] Speaker A: It is literally given basically a blank check. Not because of Weapons, but because the studio is so desperate for any kind of synergy, they were willing to let him just do whatever he wanted. [00:01:43] Speaker B: True. [00:01:46] Speaker A: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Odd Trilogies. Logan and Andy. I'm Logan, so watch. [00:01:50] Speaker B: And I'm Andy Carr. [00:01:51] Speaker A: In On Odd Trilogies, we take a trio of films where they're tied by cast and crew, thematic elements or just numerical order, and we discuss the good, the bad, and the weird surrounding them. And today we are not alone, because today we are talking about a director who had a comedic background. Oh, has a comedic background. And started as a comedian more than anything in a sketch comedy group and then ultimately has now become one of the prominent names in horror right now. And we couldn't do it by our. And because of that, we have our very good friend in real life as well as on the podcast, usually known for his religious fair on here or Holiday Fair. Holiday Fair. Rom com fair. [00:02:36] Speaker C: They run in the same circles. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Of course. He's probably going to be on the Bridget Jones episode whenever we do a Bridget Jones. [00:02:42] Speaker C: Oh, God. No. [00:02:43] Speaker B: It's official. [00:02:44] Speaker C: It's official. [00:02:45] Speaker B: I'm writing it in ink. [00:02:46] Speaker A: Jake Atwood. [00:02:47] Speaker B: Jk. Hi. [00:02:48] Speaker C: Hey. Hey, guys. Happy to be here. And happy to be back. And happy to be talking about three insane movies. [00:02:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Because today we are talking of the rise of Zach Kreger. [00:02:59] Speaker B: That's right. [00:03:00] Speaker A: Our episode today is about 2022's Barbarian 2025 weapons. And then this year, as we were recording just came out, 2026 is Resident Evil. A man who was born in Virginia in 1981 and had a sketch comedy group still technically a part of it, but started in the early 2000s called the whitest Kids. You know, um, and that ran from the television series ran, I believe from like 2007 to like maybe 2011. And then there was a. Basically a huge gap in his kind of career in terms of acting gigs. He. He showed up here and there. His biggest show. I don't know if either one of you has. Has seen clips of this. I remember watching an episode or two out of the blue. Cause my parents watched this. Yeah, there was a show, I think called Stranded. It was a TBS show that was like three to four seasons. He was a lead on that. [00:03:54] Speaker B: Okay, this sounds like esoteric Jake knowledge. [00:03:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm pulling it up right now. It's very Cougar Town esque in terms of. Just because it basically is. It's not a Lost parody, but it's basically like a Lost premise where it's like a plane strand. Like a plane crashes and all these people are stranded. But instead of it being like all these mysteries, it's just a bunch of incompetent assholes that are all on the beach and so all these kind of goofy things. It's got God. He's from Fly of the Concords. Rhys. He's got the mustache. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:26] Speaker A: You know what I'm talking about. [00:04:27] Speaker B: I can picture. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Very Kiwi. [00:04:29] Speaker C: It's got three seasons. [00:04:31] Speaker A: Yeah, three. [00:04:31] Speaker C: Oh my God. It's called Wrecked. [00:04:34] Speaker A: That's right. Honestly, every. The episodes I saw like two or three, they were pretty solid. But I will say we do have to get the. The. The elephant in the room. Or I guess the. The Playboy calendar in the room. Because the boys don't know this, but there is something that I own that I think we should talk about. [00:04:54] Speaker C: A relic is being retrieved. [00:04:55] Speaker A: A relic which is. [00:04:57] Speaker C: Wow. [00:04:58] Speaker A: The. The one elephant in the room. Which technically these three films are not his first films. His very first film was a co directed film with his now dearly departed Wise Kids. You know, collaborator and founder Trevor Moore. In 2009, he directed a film called Ms. March. [00:05:16] Speaker B: And Logan just revealed his unrated DVD copy. [00:05:20] Speaker C: I am stunned. [00:05:22] Speaker A: I loved Whitest Kids, you know, so much that what I heard they made a film in like, I think 20. So this film came out in 09. [00:05:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:31] Speaker A: Did not see this in 09. Clearly we were not able to buy the DVD. No, but I definitely watched every clip I could and was like, wanted to support in any way, shape or form. [00:05:41] Speaker C: Right. [00:05:42] Speaker A: Yeah. It's got Zach Krieger, Trevor Moore, of course, Hugh Hefner is in it for a scene, resting power. Craig Robinson plays a. A SoundCloud rapper basically called horsestic. MPEG. It very much is. I have seen this film maybe two or three times and I haven't touched it since. Literally couldn't even remember if I owned this or not until right before we started recording. I just looked in my room and found it buried Amongst all my DVDs. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Wow. It was just like shining at you, waiting to be. [00:06:20] Speaker A: I literally was like, maybe it's over here. And it literally was. Exactly. I'm like, I haven't touched this film, so. Because you guys haven't seen. [00:06:30] Speaker C: Yeah, let me. Let me give it a look. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Yeah, so it is. [00:06:34] Speaker C: It's. [00:06:35] Speaker A: It's the type of film it is. We were talking off mic before. It is very much tail end. This is why they don't make sex comedies anymore kind of vibe where it's [00:06:45] Speaker C: tagline on the back says, more babes, more booze, more bunny for your money. [00:06:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So the whole. The whole premise of that film was basically Zach Kraeger is abstinent marriage. And his girlfriend, you know, he's like, you know what? We're gonna get married, we might as well do it. And then something happens where he gets put in a coma for like a solid few years. [00:07:06] Speaker C: Classic. [00:07:07] Speaker A: And then he wakes up and finds out that his girlfriend, who is also abstinent, is now Ms. March in Playboy. And now he has to go find her to practically slut shame her in a way. Because again, it's 2009 and his best friend is of course, Trevor Moore in a Hawaiian shirt. Probably the best part of that film because Trevor Mo is just. He was. He was perfect as like the aloof slacker, almost kind of like stoner friend. [00:07:35] Speaker C: Very Harold and Kumar coded. [00:07:37] Speaker A: Yeah, there is. There is a bit. If I remember the. Probably the funniest bit in the film is that they're on like a party bus or like a. Like a tour bus, because they're with Horse dick. MPEG just makes it. And. [00:07:51] Speaker C: And they call him by his full name. [00:07:52] Speaker A: Well, the joke is, is they call him Horse Stick, but then Craig Robinson goes,. MPEG, right. He wants the whole thing. [00:07:59] Speaker C: That's his artist name because that's the joke. [00:08:01] Speaker A: This movie didn't do well, especially critically, too. There's a hilarious thing where even Zach Kreger said that, like. Like, he's like, listen, you don't have to like the movie, but Roger Ebert's website was way too mean. That's the kind of energy he has to it. But, yeah, this movie came out, and that's pretty much it. Like, it's. It is a film that, like, came out. Right. I think literally at the tail end of what a sex comedy would be. Profitable. [00:08:30] Speaker C: Mm. [00:08:31] Speaker A: And it wasn't. [00:08:32] Speaker B: And do you remember when you first saw this? You said you didn't see it at the time. [00:08:37] Speaker A: I think, like, 2011, like, a few years after, like, I think around the time the Dwight is Kids, you know, show was kind of falling off. Yeah, but like, YouTube, it was popping off more because I didn't. I did watch it on television every so often, but again, it was on. It was on IFC infuse. [00:08:53] Speaker B: Okay. [00:08:54] Speaker A: 2 fuse existed for a second. I think IFC technically still has a channel. Yeah. But yeah, so there's like, I saw, like, you know, the. The Call of Duty bit, which is really funny. There was a whole bit about how Trent Reznor, all of his good songs come from his shithead girlfriend who just, like, basically cucks him and he gets sad about it, really. Again, very much the of the time type of bits. But it very much. This film felt like if you were a fan of that, especially if you were 15, 16, it was like, oh, yes. And boobs. How could you say no right now? If I watch this now, I. I don't think there's any nostalgia really tied to this other than just seeing Trevor Moore. [00:09:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:40] Speaker A: Because it's now just funny looking at this being like, you know, now it's just a fun thing being like, you know, if anyone says, oh, my gosh, Barbarian. Such a great directorial debut, and it's like, well, solo directorial. Right. [00:09:52] Speaker B: Correct. Well, and given that we, you know, in. In our. In our evergreen pursuit of clout and fame on this podcast, I appreciate you keeping our street cred intact by sponsoring this segment on his true first film. [00:10:09] Speaker A: It's just also funny, too, because this isn't even the poster of the film. This is like, the poster was like, Trevor Moore with, like, the fold out being like. And it's just like, Zach Kreger's like, oh, my God, that's my girlfriend. Like, that's the whole bit. And this is just literally. [00:10:24] Speaker B: I think it's just a woman. [00:10:26] Speaker A: It's. Yeah, Raquel. Yeah, Raquel Alessi, who plays the girlfriend in the film. And yeah, it's pretty much, I would say bottom tier sex comedy. I would say, unless it's like the widest kids you know of at all. Like, it's literally just the two of them. I don't remember the other boys showing up. I think it's just them. [00:10:47] Speaker C: Now, Logan, would you say there's anything in this movie that foreshadows, you know, where Zach Krager is gonna be taking his horror comedy career? [00:10:55] Speaker A: God, no. God, no. I honestly, it's funny because I wanted to have this conversation with both of you because they're not on the same level. But it does feel like there are similarities and how him, like Crager going to Barbarian genuinely has similar kind of feelings. I had when Peels get out was coming out where I was like, nothing out of Keanu that like, you know, ever would make me think, like, oh, this guy is doing horror next. [00:11:24] Speaker C: Right, right. [00:11:25] Speaker A: So it's like the same with Craigger and like fucking Ms. March and the fact that he's been like, you know, doing like, you know, sitcoms and stuff for the last few years going to like, you know, Barbarian being this film that is. It's hilarious how like Ms. March is a 20th century film and so is Barbarian. It's also a now a century. Oh, and the fact that I think you can. It's easier to get a mismatch physical copy than it is a barbari. And copy is the funniest shit in the world because it's like, one is obviously better than the other. [00:11:56] Speaker B: Ms. Marsh. [00:11:57] Speaker A: Yes, of course. But no, it's just like the first film of our trilogy being like this almost slept on, like in terms of its marketing kind of release during. I would say like the late summer. [00:12:10] Speaker B: I think it was July, August. [00:12:12] Speaker A: I think, like wild that he's. All three of these films are like during the quote unquote, dead, like summer part, like the part of the summer and Barbarian comes out. And I mean, for you two, what introduced you to Barbarian? Because I know for me it was entirely the fact that I saw Cragger's name and I went, that's fucking crazy. That's the whitest kids, you know, Guy. [00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:36] Speaker A: And then I saw reviews and I went, hold on. Yeah, wait a minute. This is good. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Well, I love this prompt and I will absolutely answer the question. I'm curious about Jake's, but also before we get too deep into any of these movies, I do want to probe our guest a little bit about his initial interest in this trilogy, because long, long time listeners will remember Jake from the Garry Marshall Holiday trilogy. [00:13:02] Speaker C: It's true. [00:13:03] Speaker B: And the God's Not Dead sequels. [00:13:05] Speaker C: Thank you, Logan. [00:13:06] Speaker B: There's not. Unlike some of our guests who. There's almost like, kind of a particular mo behind you know, which episode, which things they join for. Yours are. What's the word? Almost more eclectic. Very honestly, the only thing tying the God's Not Dead trilogy and the Holiday trilogy is that they're both bad. So, like, were you motivated by. To do three good movies for once? [00:13:36] Speaker C: No, I definitely. I feel like, yeah, just to throw it out there. It's not that I just enjoy purely bad movies, but I feel like bad movies can often be good fodder for podcasting. But I think these movies are uniquely very interesting for podcasting. Take it from a lot of angles of, like, where horror movies are at now and, like, where. Where Zach Krager is with, like, horror comedies where it's like, right on that line where it's, like, really, really interesting things that are making people have reactions in the audience where they're, like, listening. I'm laughing. Like, we. You know, we had all saw Resident Evil yesterday, and the amount of times there are horrific things that are coming full speed at us, and I was sitting as a Logan, he was laughing. Shows where the line is for people on these movies, and I find that really fascinating. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:14:19] Speaker A: The way that Austin Abrams screams. [00:14:22] Speaker C: Yeah. But it's like, I want to judge him. And maybe it would play different if I was watching it at home, but I feel like I'm screaming the way Austin Abrams is screaming. If I'm in this situation, it wouldn't be incredibly manly. [00:14:32] Speaker A: No, I. Yeah, No, I think at one point after we did Gary Marshall, I think a few months after, you came up as a joke, but there was a tinge of honesty where you're like, can I please do something that isn't, like, a good joke? [00:14:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. [00:14:46] Speaker A: He's like, because you're a guy who does love the bitch. [00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah, you are. Also. [00:14:51] Speaker A: It's because there's. There's. There are people in our friend group, and I could be included. Both Andy and I can be included in this as well. Where when we get lost in a bit, we don't stand and go like, okay, why is this bit lost? You are the one person in our group that goes, hold on, let's take a seat. Why the fuck is this bit still happening? What is going on? [00:15:09] Speaker B: How did we get here? [00:15:10] Speaker A: And so like there's almost in your head internally, you're like, please tell me that the bit is not. I just only do bad things. [00:15:15] Speaker C: Right, right, right. [00:15:17] Speaker A: I'm glad you brought it up to us that you wanted to do something complet well. [00:15:21] Speaker C: And I came into this completely. I think opposite how you guys got introduced to Zach Krager was that of the three films I had seen Barbarian, latest, his debut. And really after. Yeah, it was after some point after Weapons, I was just really thrown by that movie and I was like very excited to get on the pod and talk about these movies. [00:15:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Because another thing too is it's not that you don't trust our opinion, because you definitely do, but it's also like, it's fun listening to how you're so in tuned with not like in terms of like what social media is saying about like the kind of the consensus of certain things. [00:15:56] Speaker C: Sure. [00:15:56] Speaker A: Because you're also like you. Because sometimes you'll come to us and be like, I've heard this is good. Is this good? [00:16:02] Speaker C: Right. [00:16:03] Speaker B: Well, you're a big public conversation guy. [00:16:06] Speaker C: I like a good poll. You love. [00:16:07] Speaker B: I mean, you know, the survivor and big Brother of it all. The tv, the phenomenon, rowdy competitions. Yeah. Even the prestige shows. You know, you were a big Game of Thrones guy. Just like you love being involved with like what is every. What's. What is this media doing to the people? [00:16:24] Speaker A: 100% the zeitgeist of it all. Yeah. Literally. [00:16:28] Speaker B: And Weapons was a huge movie for that. [00:16:29] Speaker A: God, yeah. [00:16:30] Speaker C: Right on that what pulled me in. And I also want to put this out for the public record. I was the one most supporting Aunt Gladys for the eventual Oscars win that no one saw coming. But it really was something where when I saw that movie, I was like, this is destined to be iconic. The movie is also great and it's definitely saying a lot of things, although it's not explicitly like landing on anything in particular. But I think with the Aunt Gladys of it, it's just like, I mean, yeah, this is gonna like a must talk about kind of movie moment. And I think of the three kind of his biggest, like in that realm of it. Although I. I hope that Resident Evil like grows, the conversation gets bigger about it. But Anglass was like the storm that kind of comes into that movie. [00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah. What? Yeah, Weapons definitely was. [00:17:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:14] Speaker A: When. When Peel kind of had get out immediately. Weapons, I think is the final. That's the get out moment for him, but not even before the Oscar. And then I think you add the Oscar on top of it and it's like, okay, so Craig are now can do what the fuck he wants. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:29] Speaker A: And he currently is like, we'll talk about what he's doing next. But yeah, I mean, that's why it's so fascinating because now I think with that in mind, because, yeah, you did tell me you're gonna watch Barbarian just today. [00:17:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:41] Speaker A: Since it's the freshest to you. [00:17:43] Speaker C: Yeah, let's talk about it. [00:17:44] Speaker A: What is your initial thoughts now that you've seen it? [00:17:47] Speaker C: I find Barbarian fascinating because it is like a haunted house movie. I mean, it deliberately is a haunted house movie, but I feel like it is very good in doing, I mean, things you later see in Weapons where it's like, let's take this person to the absolute deepest point of this haunted house and have a climactic thing happen. And then now we're just full cutting to another character. And then it's the pull of, you know, this person that you now are stuck with are going to come back into the same situation. And I can't really think of anybody else who's doing it quite like it. Although I think there is a fascinating, like, backrooms comparison that, like, there's gotta be other, you know, horror directors out there like, that are doing the same thing now because they're seeing it. [00:18:28] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it is. I will say, I think it's interesting, especially the conversation around cragger. I would say that all three of these films have a controversial aspect to them. And I think with Barbarian, the controversial aspect is, of course, you can talk to some people with Barbarian that do not like the halfway point. [00:18:45] Speaker C: The shift. [00:18:47] Speaker A: I've grown to love it because I think to me, the first time when I saw the film, I knew Justin Long was in it. And when we were ingrained, I was like, how the fuck is this guy popping in? And then as soon as he comes in, and it's a vastly different type of narrative with him and you're like, okay, where the fuck does he get tied into all this? And to get him there. It is such a fascinating thing to have a dual protagonist situation where you have Georgina Campbell as our first protagonist, who's this very sweet, earnest, very protective person who genuinely is just a. Is a. Is a modern woman trying to look out for herself and is understandable when she meets a Bill Skarsgard at her Airbnb. Being like this. This scary but also attractive man shouldn't be in my Airbnb. I' little bit hesitant about that. And is like, you know, watching how ultimately, as her character goes, she is someone who is just ultimately tries to see the best in people. And you hard cut to truly one of the biggest pieces of shit you could ever cut to. Like, it's so funny how when Justin Long shows up because at least. Because we saw. Did we see Barbarian together? [00:20:04] Speaker B: I think we did. [00:20:05] Speaker C: He's having the time of his life, driving his little car, and he gets a horrible phone call and it ruins everything. [00:20:10] Speaker A: He get a horrible phone call in his, like, first or full sentences. So the pilot didn't get picked up. [00:20:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:15] Speaker A: He's immediately like, wait a minute. Yeah, it might be me toot. In fact, because the. Yeah. Because the whole premise of it being, you know, it's very. Starts out as this. This woman who's here for a job interview in Detroit, and she's like, I think right outside of Detroit is her Airbnb in this desolate street. [00:20:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:37] Speaker A: This nice, perfect little house. And she shows up and Bill Skarsgard is like, oh, my God, we all. We have the same Airbnb tonight. I don't know, what are we gonna do? And then their whole thing kind of happens. And while that is happening later on, we get Justin Long's side of the story, which is a vastly different. An actor who is now going through a true paradigm shift in his life that he may or may not have caused. [00:21:06] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:06] Speaker A: And wondering how the. Does he get out of this and ultimately ends up in Detroit? Well, because it ends up that he apparently owns the house. Yes. [00:21:16] Speaker C: And needs to liquidate fast. [00:21:18] Speaker B: Yes. [00:21:18] Speaker A: And so he ends up living in the house a few weeks after the events with Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgard, which I have to say, it's not surprising. I mean, I love how the weirdest part about this film, at least initially, is the fact that Bill Skarsgard is not a monster. [00:21:35] Speaker B: Yeah. So I want to. I want to touch on that for a second. I want to go back actually to your question earlier that I never back to about, you know, what was our first. [00:21:45] Speaker A: I'm so sorry, Ms. March. [00:21:46] Speaker B: Really it all up or, you know, when did we first find out about Barbarian? I distinctly remember Barbarian being. You know, I don't know if we get one every year. Every couple of years, there's a horror movie that comes out and all the trailers are kind of like. They're not just like selling you on the premise of the movie, they're selling you on like, this is the scariest movie Ever. You know, this is the most terrifying thing. And I don't. I don't distinctly remember what the trailer exactly said, but I remember it having that vibe of like the most terrifying film in years, blah, blah, blah. And I was, you know, we're always skeptical about those things. I'm always like, okay, if that's. If that's what you're going to. Then, like, I'm probably, you know, not gonna bet on it. But what did sell me on it was that trailer showed, like, nothing. Yeah. I mean, the trailer does not tell you what the movie is at all, other than kind of the basic opening premise of like, oh, we double booked an Airbnb and your roommate is Pennywise. Like, you know. [00:22:53] Speaker C: Right. [00:22:53] Speaker B: And I was like, huh, okay. Like, the movie refusing to play its hand in the trailer so hard really sold me on it. So. And I was probably also you know, primed for kind of a shock and awe horror movie like that. Because I don't. I don't remember there being a lot of great horror movies, at least that I saw in 2022. So I remember really looking forward to it and like, sitting down for that screening with you and I think, Emma, I don't know who else was there, but probably. [00:23:28] Speaker A: Probably my ex. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Okay. [00:23:29] Speaker A: It might have been the four of us. [00:23:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that sounds right. And just sitting down super amped for it and still being like, just totally shocked by all the twists and turns. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Cause we've talked about on the POD before. We, I mean, especially Jake, can also be like this as well. We're so in tune sometimes when it comes to just all this fucking movie news that comes out with certain things that when something just comes out and is like, by the way, this is out and apparently it's getting good reviews. It's like, whoa. Whoa. [00:23:59] Speaker C: Yeah. A genuine surprise out of nowhere. Yeah. And you can. I mean, I'm watching it in 2026. You still feel like the turns of this, where it's like I am questioning Dan Stevens every turn in the beginning of the movie because he's just a weird little guy. He just, like, he's really nice and they have a nice evening together. But like, when her door's unlocked, you're like, well, yeah, it's gotta be this little freaky guy that's here. And I think the movie, as long as it can, stretches the idea of, like, he could be luring her into any trap. We don't know what his motives are. And we really never, like, know what his motives are. [00:24:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:35] Speaker A: Because he. Because he does seem insistent. By the way. You said Dan Stevens. You meant Bill Skarsgard. [00:24:41] Speaker C: Sorry, I got into a few days. [00:24:43] Speaker A: No, it's okay. Both are attractive men. But I will be honest. If it was Dan Stevens opening that door, I would probably not be able to say no. [00:24:50] Speaker C: That's true. Bill's a little bit more creepy in the face, which I think sells the movie. [00:24:55] Speaker A: Foot three. [00:24:56] Speaker C: He is charming, though, right? Like, do you think the movie's trying to make him somewhere on that line of charming and creep? [00:25:02] Speaker A: I think the fact that he. [00:25:03] Speaker B: I think he's. He comes across as genuine and kind in the film, which is part of what throws it and makes it like. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Yeah, because I think the fact that he executive produced this film too. Yeah, because I think a lot of it also, I think Bill Skarsgard pushed it himself post, like, Pennywise of it all. And also the fact that he's like, oh, he's a horror guy now. [00:25:24] Speaker C: That makes sense. [00:25:24] Speaker A: It wouldn't be surprising. Yeah, he reads the script, he like it, and it's like, not only do I like this, the role that I think I could be up for is not the monster. [00:25:31] Speaker B: Right? [00:25:32] Speaker A: Like. And yeah, I think he's very charming. I think it's like, he does say things a little awkwardly. And you find out it's because he's attracted to Georgina Campbell. They have a cute little meet cute situation. Literally finds out that she's there to do an interview for, like, this documentary about, like, jazz in Detroit. And it finds out like, oh, by the way, I do jazz in Detroit. And it's like, are you fucking kidding me? Like, it truly becomes a thing where it's like, initially you're like, he does do the. Do you want a glass of wine? And of course she's like, why do I want to drink with this drink? [00:26:03] Speaker C: He's very insistent about the tea, too. He's willing to make a second cup of tea. [00:26:07] Speaker A: And then he also says a line that I remember too, which clearly she's not a big fan of, where it's like, no, no, no. As a man, I don't prefer a woman being out there in the dark by herself. And there's almost like this weird, like, how do I take this? But then ultimately it's just like, no, he's just a nice guy. [00:26:24] Speaker B: Yeah, he's trying to be kind and just kind of fumbling his way through. [00:26:28] Speaker A: And honestly, I think the best, this first kind of like, you know, warm moment is like, by the way, I didn't want to open the wine because I wanted you to watch me open it so you didn't think I spiked it or something. I wasn't going to, but I want to make sure you feel safe. And it's like, okay. So that's the first, like, okay, he's really chill. And then I wondered if your brain was like this, where it's like. It's like, how much did you know going into Barbarian? Other than that it was going to probably get crazy. [00:26:54] Speaker C: I knew it gets crazy. And I know Justin Long appears, but I had no idea the order of chronology of anything going. Happening into it. And I think that, like, having weapons as a primer was interesting because I had experienced the. And now we're going to shift to a completely different pov. And it really didn't throw me as much as. I'm sure if you're watching this for the first time in that sequence, like, it really just. It really just takes a big turn with just going to Justin Long and then getting all the way back to the house. But it is able to set up this really interesting, like, well, now the place is creepy because it's gained a layer of like, well, who is this guy's? Like, there's random stuff that's being left there. And the amount of times it just cuts to the, like the toothbrush that's just charged in on the floor where it's like, these things are just obviously out of place. In a way. It's like someone's here, right? [00:27:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:42] Speaker B: God, yeah. I mean, that really is, I think, [00:27:46] Speaker A: the most Airbnb type shit ever. [00:27:47] Speaker C: I know. It's perfect. [00:27:48] Speaker A: The cord doesn't go to the. Doesn't go to the sink. [00:27:51] Speaker C: The counter isn't big enough for the charger pod. [00:27:56] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, there's a lot that I love about this movie, including and beyond the. The twists and the shifts in perspective. But I do, I. I really feel like a huge. I don't know, a foundation of the strength of this movie is this opening sequence. That's very simple. Yeah. Very straightforward and insanely tense because it's just like you want both of these people to be innocent and doing the right thing and trying. You want Bill Skarsgard to be just a guy trying to be helpful and it just being awkward because of, you know, social norms and gender relations. And it's awkward occupying an Airbnb together, you know? But also you're like, okay, I know this is a horror movie. I know this is Bill Skarsgard. You know, I mean, brilliant casting in that. That way that, like, to cast, you know, one of the recent icons of horror in this role. And, you know, I. I think it's. It's so effective in that tension before any of the crazy happens. And the fact that, like, at least from my memory, this portion of the movie is all you see in the trailer. [00:29:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Like, I don't remember. [00:29:11] Speaker A: You get some tunnel action. But again, the tunnel action is so, like, what the. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Yeah. It's very disorienting and lacking content. [00:29:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:19] Speaker A: Because the poster is. Is a. It's a red. [00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah. They're looking down a tunnel. [00:29:23] Speaker A: It's like when she puts the mirror to kind of reflect the light into the tunnel is what I think they use. It's a great poster. I also love the poster a lot. But, yeah, like, the little you see of the tunnel, you don't. Now, I bet if we watch the trailer now, we're like, oh, my God, there's so much shit they show. But you just don't know, right? [00:29:41] Speaker B: Yeah. When you're watching it without having seen the movie, I remember it feeling like, yeah, there's nothing in this trailer. [00:29:46] Speaker A: Because there's not just, like, you know, POV changes. There also is, like, you know, time lapses. There's like. [00:29:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:52] Speaker A: Like, aspect ratio changes to show, like, the different time period. [00:29:55] Speaker C: Go back to the 70s on the same block. That sequence is really good. [00:29:59] Speaker A: Yeah. There is some crazy, like, voice cameos throughout. [00:30:06] Speaker B: A. [00:30:06] Speaker A: Because Crager. Crager is a voice cameo in the initial. Justin Long, when they're calling him about the whole me too. Of it all. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:13] Speaker A: And then he plays. [00:30:14] Speaker C: He's the buddy of the body. Yeah. [00:30:16] Speaker A: One of my favorite moments, because when we saw this together, like, I was buzzing. I was like, fuck. I want. I want Adam to see this. Because Adam didn't come see it with us. And then I think a few weeks after that, I watched it, or maybe a month or so after I watched it with Adam and Lisa. And when Justin Long. When Justin Long is in the bathroom and he's like, what up? And he just says, oh, yeah. [00:30:38] Speaker C: Hard f. Slur. [00:30:38] Speaker A: Adam looks at me and goes, oh, he fucking did it immediately. And it's like. [00:30:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:44] Speaker A: It's like I was gonna say, yeah, Justin Long says the slurs. So. [00:30:49] Speaker C: Well, the key for me to unlock Justin Long's character in this movie was upon realizing there is this grisly dungeon tunnel, his first thought is me. Like, oh, square footage. This is great. It's the most sinning. And at that point I was, oh, he's dumb. You know what? I Mean, there was at least some way to get in to be like, oh, this guy truly is the dumbest person we've seen in the Cool. [00:31:12] Speaker A: Krager does a measuring. [00:31:14] Speaker C: He's just going straight down the stairs. Like, that's, like nine feet. [00:31:18] Speaker A: He does a great job of doing the thing that I think Denzel talks a lot about when it comes to, like, scripts or, like, it's like, how does it look on the screen in your head, where it's like, when it comes on page. Yeah, it could work well on a page, but how do you want people to react when they see it live? And I think it's so great to have Georgina Campbell be a protagonist that you want protected at all costs, because you find out throughout the film early on really good, subtle stuff with her where it's like, she's clearly out of an abusive relationship and she's trying to trust people again, but clearly is a very trustworthy person. Even when it comes to just meeting a sweet boy who has the same Airbnb as her, she ultimately goes down a fucking tunnel to save him when he should have just left with her. Then you have another protagonist who you just want to die at every given moment and just keeps finding a way to slip out of it and having that fun kind of dynamic of, is he gonna be nice to me and let her have a solid ending, or is he gonna be mean to me and let Justin Long get away with what he's gonna fucking do? It's that constant battle when you watch the film. And I think the way that it ends is very satisfying in that regard, but it's just. You can watch it being like, okay, he is thinking of the audience at the time as well as not using it to pander. Because I think a lot of the choices he makes are not pandering at all. [00:32:40] Speaker C: No. [00:32:40] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I. I think this is. This movie's a great example of. Is it. I think it's Tarantino, who talked in an interview about, like, as a filmmaker, the audience is his instrument. [00:32:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:55] Speaker B: And, like, the movie is him conducting the audience. And, like, that's very much what Barbarian is. Is. It's like, it's not. It is manipulating you. Most movies are manipulating you, but it's like, it's really taking you, but in the fun way. Yeah. It's taking you down these paths where you're constantly, like, looking for the next. You know, the next step in the story and always, you know, zigging when you want to zag and things like that. And it's just. I don't know, it's one of those that's like. It's a crowd pleaser, but very much in a. In a way that I don't think anybody honestly could say that. Like, they know. They knew where it was going. [00:33:36] Speaker C: Yeah, it's definitely a puzzle because, like, even trying to get you. Set you off foot in the beginning with the two of them and then, I mean, by the time they're deep in the bowels of the place, it's like, truly anything could come out. And you're just seeing more like environmental weird. Like, even just the tiny little, like, CRT that's playing like breastfeeding. I was like, it is really just like a mesh in the weird that is like, yeah, the dungeon of it all. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Which is great too, because apparently the voiceover for that as well as the voiceover for the woman that Justin Long assaults that he calls the one that is Crager's wife. Oh, fun for both of those because it's also, I think, in the call because Justin Long is, I believe, married to Kate Bosworth, who is Lois Lane in Superman Returns. I believe she's one of the calls, like the people that's on the phone with him at the very beginning of Justin Long segment. And then I think later on there's that one point where, like, Justin Long is talking to his agent when he's in Detroit and he's like. He's like, what, are they gonna arrest me? I think that's Richard Jenkins from, like, Shape of Water. [00:34:43] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, that is Richard Jenkins. [00:34:45] Speaker A: I was like, this is gonna be [00:34:46] Speaker C: very bad for you guys. [00:34:47] Speaker A: I was like, how many fucking people are just gonna show for a voice for five seconds? But I mean, yeah, Jake, in terms of what you were expecting was giant inbred incest tunnel. [00:34:59] Speaker C: You know, I didn't think it was gonna get all magicky. So when you first introduce it, it's like, oh, this is a giant or a troll or something. And I think it does a good job of spooling itself back to a reality where it's like, well, clearly multiple generations of inbreeding will lead to a giant wild mutations inbred mommy. [00:35:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Mommy, daughter. Like, it's. Yeah. To have the hard cut from. We find Skarsgard. Skarsgard gets his head smashed into a wall by monster cut to black. Just a long scene in his car as he's driving down the highway. It's just like. It's really the. I think it's. I understand why people probably don't like, that part as much as the beginning, if there is like that. But I just. That PETA. I was like, that's some nice levity, because I know we're gonna ultimately get back to Tunnel Monster, but I just want to see how they find a way to just, like, Rube Goldberg him into what ultimately is a cage with her when they meet up after, like, I think two weeks have passed. [00:36:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:08] Speaker A: Since the first part of the film. [00:36:10] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:13] Speaker C: Yeah. And it results in a movie that won't feel as miserable because we don't have to watch our main characters suffer for those two weeks in between. We just get back into the perspective once Justin Long's characters there, which I think is really adept from, like, cragger to be like, I want to keep. I don't want to, like, stay in a lull for that long. There needs to be something where it's like, okay, now we're following something new, and you feel like it's progressing back where, you know where you know it has to go. [00:36:37] Speaker B: Yeah, well. And it's. It's interesting, too, the. The shift he goes for there, because from. From my understanding, like, he said, he basically started writing this movie or this script as, like, just an exercise. Just a writing exercise. And he kind of keeps. He. Oh, gosh, I've lo. I forget the name of the book. But he was reading a book where basically a character is kind of teaching one female character, is teaching another female character. Basically the lesson of, like, be on your guard around men. Like, you're kind of unsafe when you're around any man by yourself. And so that kind of drummed up this idea in his head of, like, okay, what's a really uncomfortable, vulnerable position for a woman to find herself in with a man? Okay. The double booking. The Airbnb. Like, how do we navigate this? How do you navigate that relationship between men and women? [00:37:32] Speaker C: Because. [00:37:32] Speaker B: And then from there, he had no idea what he was gonna do. He just started writing, and then, like, got to a point where he's like, well, I don't know how I can take this any further without, like, a big jump. And so he makes a big jump, and. Yeah, but, like, it was originally just the Airbnb prep. And then he's like, yeah, I'm just gonna freehand, you know, see where this takes me. So, like, basically his idea was, if I don't know where it's going, the audience won't know where it's going. So he's just kind of making it up as he went. [00:38:04] Speaker A: And honestly, it leads to Some I think phenomenal visuals very early on. I love the shot he does this, I think in all three films. But I love the shot of her point of view as she scopes down the street and it's all dark. It's the only house. She just realizes she's so. [00:38:24] Speaker C: Only has lights on. [00:38:25] Speaker B: Yeah. She's been. So go, go, go. Get to the thing. [00:38:28] Speaker A: She's literally the only light source on the street. [00:38:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:31] Speaker A: And it's like, well, fuck, I. If I don't go anywhere, this is like. This is I guess the safe haven because there's light here. [00:38:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:38] Speaker A: And then of course there's the whole conversation about like, oh my God, there's like this doctor's conference or convention in town. So there's no hotels that are open. So it gets us y. Like this very uncomfortable. Basically the first part is like, this is. This is a really good short film. Now where do. How do we make this a feature? [00:38:57] Speaker C: Right. [00:38:58] Speaker A: You can definitely see like when she comes back out. And then you see that the whole like road is desolate, like completely. [00:39:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:08] Speaker A: And then there's the homeless main interaction where you see him running from the other side of the street trying to save her. And it's like, okay, now we're getting a little too tidbits of there's gotta be something fucked up here. [00:39:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:20] Speaker A: And then the tunnel. And then the tunnel happens and it's this wild fucking thing of just like how deep does this go? And also having the moment of her going in there, finding the singular room at that time of just like this piss green looks like the original Saul kind of color room with a shitty 90s camcorder and a nasty fucking mattress and just going. [00:39:46] Speaker C: And a bucket. Don't forget the bucket. [00:39:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:48] Speaker A: And just going, nope. [00:39:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:50] Speaker A: And just does not fucking. Doesn't go any farther. Is like further. It's like, okay, think. Fuck. At least she's not dumb. And then from that point on it's like all of her kind of weaknesses is just being a good person and wanting to just like, you know, yeah, she likes Bill Skarsgard. Maybe. Could. Could she have maybe gone on a date with him? Sure. But clearly like her going after him is because he's not a bad guy. He just made a dumb decision. And then you have hard cutting to. The only other person she ultimately has to help her survive later on is a bad guy who made a really bad decision and is trying to convince himself he is not a bad guy. [00:40:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:28] Speaker A: And it's just like that constant, you know, kind of back and forth. And I gotta say, because, again, he's done a lot of great roles over his years. This might be one of my favorite Justin Long performances. [00:40:38] Speaker C: He's really good. [00:40:39] Speaker A: He just, like. He's known. He was the dweeb for so long in the 2000 2000s. [00:40:44] Speaker C: Yep. [00:40:44] Speaker A: Of course, there's dodgeball. He's like the hacker in Die Hard 4. [00:40:48] Speaker C: Is it accepted he's, like, leading in that? Yeah, yeah. [00:40:51] Speaker A: He's like, very much like, of course, when you see him, you're like, oh, fuck this, Justin Long. Why the fuck is he here? And then, like, it gets to, like, when they ultimately get to the, like, the homeless camp, the homeless man's kind of like, encampment in the abandoned building. When he's like, you know, talking about how, you know, you just did one bad thing that doesn't make you a bad person. And it's like, fuck, this is so good. Like, this is why he's in this role. This is why he's here, is because, like, it's a. It's just like. Like, can people change? Is there still good and horrible people? And of course, the answer for him is no. He's still a piece of shit. But the monster has. Yeah, the monster has such a tragic tie to it. It's also a very grindhouse 70s idea to go. Well, actually, this tunnel belongs. This house used to belong to a serial kidnapping rapist who has built generations and generations of inbred monsters to the point where now the one monster that's still around, who is probably his daughter. Wife at this point, or just love her, he's just like 6 foot 7 and is just, like, so strong, she literally can jump down a huge hole, grab Justin Long, and spider her way up and she jumps. Like, she even gets off the fucking. When they fall at the end of the film, she's still alive. [00:42:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:09] Speaker A: It's so fucking crazy. [00:42:11] Speaker C: I think my biggest shock was like. Like, just the fact that the guy was still alive and that, like, he was in his own little, like, hobbit hole in there. Like, that was as stunning as anything. I was like, oh, you're still here rotting away. Yeah. [00:42:24] Speaker A: God bless that actor. He's a character actor who plays slimy characters. [00:42:28] Speaker C: Okay, cool. [00:42:29] Speaker A: He's a slime ball in Doom, the Dwayne the Rock Johnson film. [00:42:33] Speaker C: Oh, my God. [00:42:34] Speaker A: He also is, like, in Halloween, he's in Rob Zombies H2. Yeah. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Richard break. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Yeah. He's a great actor, but, like, he always plays to a point where it's like he Plays them way too well. And when he. Yeah, when he pops up as the guy, like, when you see the POV of like, the 80s or 90s, like the. [00:42:53] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, him in his car and, yeah, the street is, like, super. Like, kids are playing and bicing around and, like, the whole neighborhood's about to go to hell. [00:43:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Because he has that conversation with his neighbor where his neighbor's like, yep, white flight, baby. We gotta go [00:43:12] Speaker A: again. Another thing to add, when it comes to cameos, his neighbor is a part of the Adult Swim infomercial of the salad tosser. [00:43:18] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Okay. [00:43:20] Speaker A: And it's. It's like, when I saw him, I was like, this guy is also in this movie. This is another comedy guy. [00:43:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:43:27] Speaker A: What the. [00:43:28] Speaker C: But, like, honestly, you can imagine these people being approached me like, oh, I'd love to be in your movie for, like, one scene. It's. [00:43:34] Speaker B: It. [00:43:35] Speaker C: Yeah, it's really just such an interesting tapestry where it's. It feels like, I guess this is a fun thing to connect it with, like, weapons. Like, there is this idea of, like, the community and there are, like, things happening here, but truly, like, you just get the sense that, like, even leaving before you get any reveals with, like, the monster in the basement, like, that there is something that's corrupting the area, like, a witch's influence. And, like, I think that just makes it feel a lot more. More classic horror movie vibe of. The idea of, like, this is don't go into that house, you know? [00:44:08] Speaker A: Yeah, he does a good job with all three of these. Like, having the Detroit kind of location in this and really getting the rundown industrial town that has now become a shell of itself after years and years of just outsourcing. Going to, like, clearly Georgia with Weapons. Like a very, like. Because again, we'll. We'll talk about the inspirations of why weapons looks the way that it does. But, like, clearly they shot a lot of. In the Atlanta or, like, Georgia area to kind of have, like, that smaller town, kind of Southern area. Even though the politics doesn't feel that way, it does feel like a different. Vastly different type of community than in Barbarian. And then you have, like, the mountain, you know, kind of rustic vibe of a lot of Resident Evil into, like, the mountain town. That's all mountain city. That's, like, all by itself. Which is another vastly different kind of vibe of the three. And yeah, it's fun to. Again, there's nothing wrong with having their film set in LA or New York. It's just fun to see a horror film that's just like. It's like when it follows. When you find out it follows. It takes place in Detroit. It's like, okay, cool. We're not in the usual spot. We're in a place that makes sense. It's desolate and is ruined communities just because of this. Years and years and years of change in the system and racism. [00:45:27] Speaker B: Yes, that is the magical, corrupting force of this neighborhood is racism. [00:45:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, of course. But, yeah, it just. It is kind of like the fact that, like, all these things are clearly built upon this film. But ultimately, if you just want a scary romp, you get that scary romp. It's easy cut and dry. Like, what, an hour 45. [00:45:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:51] Speaker A: You get in, you get out, and as soon as you get, like, the pop. But the very end, it is hard cut to credits, and it just, like, sits you on that. It's like, that's good. [00:46:02] Speaker C: Were there any, like, really funny highlights of Barbarian that you want to mention? [00:46:08] Speaker A: I. Again, I. It doesn't take a lot to make. It does. It takes a lot to make me squeamish. But it was like, I. When they were talking about, like, the whole breastfeeding of it all, like, Justin Long being forced to breastfeed on the monster was so. I was like, you fucking deserve every bit of this. You're fucking getting, dude. One hair. [00:46:27] Speaker C: It's like, oh, yeah. [00:46:29] Speaker A: Like, this is so good. This is so unnecessary, but I'll take it. [00:46:33] Speaker B: It's very much. Yeah, it's just the movie's torturing this piece of guy with every bad experience. [00:46:40] Speaker A: Gosh, the cops are such shitheads in this. [00:46:43] Speaker B: Yep. [00:46:44] Speaker A: Probably my favorite, like, creepy shot. If it's not the opening shot, it's when she gets out the basement, and the hand and the monster slowly creep. Creep back into the basement. [00:46:54] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. When she gets out of the glass window. Yeah, it's really, really good because it's [00:47:00] Speaker A: like the house is so, again, picturesque. It's like, oh, my God. Like, the house is so clean and cute from outside. And then you see this horrible fucking monster's hands. [00:47:10] Speaker C: Yeah. I love the homeless guy that confidently proclaims, oh, no, she'll never come this way. And then she immediately breaks through a brick wall and kills him and beats him with his own severed arm. Yes. [00:47:21] Speaker A: God, the monster's so crazy. [00:47:24] Speaker C: The. [00:47:24] Speaker A: The actor does a great job in that suit and that. It does a great job being like, you know, clearly it's not. Clearly, it's not a woman in prosthetics. It is just a dude In a suit. [00:47:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Really, really well done. [00:47:36] Speaker C: Yeah. Super slimy. And yeah. [00:47:38] Speaker A: Does a great job of giving the monster such a tragic humanity of like just literally just being. It is a monster being bred to take care of people. [00:47:47] Speaker B: People. Yeah. [00:47:48] Speaker A: And if you don't want to be taken care by it, it will kill you. Or if you try to harm its baby. [00:47:53] Speaker B: That's all it. All it has is her maternal instincts. [00:47:58] Speaker A: Because when the. When the piece of father monster of it all just like gets the gun and shoots himself in the mouth. After Justin Long is just like what's up dude? And just starts watching snuff videos and oh my God, his snuff videos just say like redhead woman at gas stations. [00:48:17] Speaker C: Oh my God. Yeah. There's so many super creepy. [00:48:20] Speaker A: It's like where it's like the movie again. I think Cragar also shows a great. There's a fine line of knowing how to not be indulgent in the exploitative nastiness. [00:48:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:31] Speaker A: In a way that is like some directors go full nasty and I think he just does enough nasty without being [00:48:37] Speaker B: those little moments to be like, oh God, yeah. And then it goes to the next thing. It's not like we're going to sit in this for 10. It's not the. The pie eating scene from a ghost story. The ten minute long pie. [00:48:50] Speaker A: I love that scene. But yeah, that scene's indulgent. [00:48:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:48:53] Speaker A: I will say though, I think we all can agree one of the funniest moments of this film is when Georgina Campbell is falling and the mom arcs a jump down when she like flies down to get a grab. [00:49:06] Speaker C: One of the best scenes in the movie. [00:49:08] Speaker A: So funny. It's so insane. She like does. [00:49:11] Speaker C: And some eternal superpower she has to save her baby from getting crushed by a car. [00:49:16] Speaker B: It's a diver's incredible form. [00:49:19] Speaker A: It's incredible. And she's fine. [00:49:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:22] Speaker A: And Georgia Campbell is the only one that take her out with a gunshot to the head. And of course Bye Bye Baby being the last song as she like walks away. [00:49:29] Speaker C: That was the one part where I was like, it's really funny. But it is a. It is like a needle drop where I'm like, yeah, yeah. At the end of this movies do [00:49:38] Speaker B: that where it's like, oh, of course we're going to hit it with a 50s or 60s like Siri song. [00:49:42] Speaker A: Isn't it funny cuz she was her baby. [00:49:45] Speaker C: The lyrics mean different things now. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Oh my God. Yeah. No, that. I mean again, this movie. What's so wild about this movie is that, like, you know, people talk about it fondly and people, of course, this movie, I think a lot of people gave them the wiggle room to be like, all right, got to give weapons a try. Because weapons is marketing was bonkers compared to, like, Barbarians, where it's like this. I feel like you know less about weapons than you do Barbarian at times. [00:50:09] Speaker B: Yeah, Weapons kind of like, they deliberately kind of cash in on the mystery marketing of like, all these kids disappeared. Why did they disappear? Go to this website, read about it. Okay. I didn't learn anything from reading. I'm intrigued. [00:50:25] Speaker A: And I think there was like a. Produced by. Maybe it was like a, like, produced by something from Blumhouse or something from Barbarian. But having weapons, say, from the guy that did Barbarian, it's like, okay, this is what it is. And also, also, again, if you're way too in tuned with what the movie kind of news happens in between. Weapons was also the film that literally had such a intense bidding war that when Jordan Peele's company did not fucking get this film like he wanted it to, he fired the agency that fumbled this film for him. [00:50:57] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:50:58] Speaker A: This film is the reason why we got him last year. [00:51:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:02] Speaker A: He had to take what he could get. [00:51:05] Speaker C: There's so much fascinating stuff, like, with the Peel comparison to Crager, because I feel like, you know, Peele was also like this comedian turned horror comedy and went on a run and like, it has he. Zack Kreger has put out all three of these movies since his, like, Jordan Peele's last big one. So there is a bit of this, like, heat check where it's like, is Crager where Peel was. Is where is Crager going? What would Peel come back with? [00:51:31] Speaker A: You know, Peel's been great on the pulse. [00:51:33] Speaker B: Who would win the celebrity death match? [00:51:35] Speaker C: Thank you. Yes. [00:51:35] Speaker A: Yeah, but like, Peele's been great these last few years being the one that is, like, I think he's found his niche. And also, like, with his films being so much more expected of him from his bigger budgets and more of a hype around his films, he's done a great job of supporting filmmakers that clearly have the same hurdle as him, which is basically, you have the talent, people like what you do, but people don't necessarily like the thing you want to do. [00:52:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:06] Speaker A: Like, I think, like, they don't understand it. Yeah. Because, like, he produced Nia DaCosta's Candyman, which at that point. Ian DaCosta at that point had done one indie film and had just finished the Marvels. But the Marvels didn't come out until a year or two after Candyman, but he's like, I see what you want to do. I'm going to do that. He also produced Monkey man from Dev Patel. And it's like Dev Patel was basically told, I think by Nevada Netflix, if you don't take out the LGBTQ angle of Monkey man, we won't do the film. And Peel was like, that I will pick up the film. Yeah. So it's like Peele is like basically become the guy that is like, no, I see what you're trying to do and I see the hurdles. Let me pull those hurdles away from you. And to basically see that with weapons and to in his head fumble that. Yeah, especially too. It's also fascinating because it's like, you know, if we have that comparison, Peel's, you know, sophomore film is a much more niche horror aspect. Where it's like he goes from get out, where I think is much more of a general understanding of like, you know, you know, being a black man dating a white woman and meeting his her white family and realizing there's something insidious and racist going on in the backdrop. [00:53:15] Speaker B: Social commentary, but it's very high concept. You immediately get what it's going for [00:53:20] Speaker A: and then immediately jumps. Jumps to a niche horror that he has, which is Doppelgangers. Freak me the fuck out. [00:53:27] Speaker C: Right. [00:53:28] Speaker A: I was like, if I saw a doppelganger myself, it would horrify me. And that's like his thing. Cut to Krager, who goes from barbarian to weapons. And his big thing when he talked about weapons were for his horror film. His follow up horror film. His two inspirations were Magnolia and Prisoners. [00:53:48] Speaker C: Yeah, man. [00:53:48] Speaker A: Wild choices of like. Which is why the film looks the way it does. They literally shot in similar spaces because he wanted the film to look like prisoners and also the non chronological, you know, just like we're gonna follow this character for a while. [00:54:03] Speaker C: All these POVs. [00:54:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Like it's like to have it be like we're gonna go from, you know, this, you know, fun hour 45 to this two plus hour, not necessarily an epic, but like this multi like ensemble narrative. [00:54:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:54:19] Speaker A: That is like if you are not locked in at the first one, then maybe we'll see how you are at three or four. It's kind of a hard risk to go with that. Especially another thing with weapons that I was telling people about because when I rewatched this, I rewatched this with three people who had not seen it. Cool. Another thing that's Crazy about Weapons is that of the. Of the cast, of the people that we follow. The only person who actually was casted initially and stayed on until the very end was Austin Abrams. [00:54:52] Speaker C: I'd heard this. Yeah. [00:54:53] Speaker A: Because the crazy thing is, is Josh Brolin was supposed to be Pedro Pascal. [00:54:58] Speaker B: Right. [00:54:59] Speaker C: Would have been a way different movie. [00:55:00] Speaker A: It would have. [00:55:01] Speaker C: I mean, would have just been a way different movie. [00:55:03] Speaker A: Julia Gardner was supposed to be Renata Rines Fay from Backrooms. [00:55:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:55:09] Speaker A: Alden Ehrenreich's character was supposed to be played by. His name escapes me, but he's the British actor that played Orson Welles. And Mank. He was in Black Bag. [00:55:19] Speaker B: Okay, Tom. [00:55:22] Speaker A: Yeah. But you know what you're talking about. Really good actor. Vastly different vibe than all Aaron Reich. And then Marcus, played by Benedict Wong was supposed to be Brian Tyree Henry. [00:55:31] Speaker C: Right. [00:55:32] Speaker A: So all. [00:55:32] Speaker C: Which I can see that, you know, like, all these castings are like solid. It's just funny to think that they all backed out at the same time. [00:55:39] Speaker A: Two thirds of our protagonists are not who they were initially casted. And to go into weapons and at least in my opinion, I think the people that they replaced the. Them with, I think are better choices. Like, all those actors are phenomenal. But there's just something about at least with Julia Gardner, the mousiness of Justine Gandy or the fact that, you know, the aggressiveness of like, you know, Josh [00:56:05] Speaker B: Brolin kind of clearly was a bully in high school. [00:56:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:09] Speaker B: Energy of Josh Brolin is like, you [00:56:12] Speaker A: don't lived here his entire life, probably. [00:56:14] Speaker C: He's way more earnest. Construction worker. I'm torn up about my son and trauma and all that. And I think the movie is a little bit meaner and better for having Josh Bron him there. Yeah. [00:56:24] Speaker A: Aaron Reich being like this. This cop who seems nice from a, you know, a surface level, but really has an anger, mean streak that is genuinely intense that I think the actor who initially would have played it would have just looked intense initially because he just has that intense look. And then Brian Tyree Henry, I pray Benedict Wong, God, he's just such a delight in this movie. [00:56:45] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:56:45] Speaker A: Brian would have been great too. But there's some scene like. [00:56:48] Speaker B: I feel like Brian Tyree Henry would have been less terrifying in his later form than Bened [00:56:56] Speaker A: Wong's fucking bloodied face. And also just. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, going into weapons fully, the film is, you know, of course we're going to spoil everything about all three of these movies, but just, you know, it's about the disappearance of 17 children. In a elementary school class that all just happened at like 2:17 at night. They all got up out of their beds and all put their arms out like planes like Naruto. Yeah, yeah. And they all ran out to a George Harrison song and never to be seen again. And then a month has now passed and it's basically watching six different characters that are involved in this disappearance in some way, shape or form. Which is the Justine Gandy, who's Julia Garner's character, who is the teacher of that class that everyone believes is a witch or has something involved to do with it. Archer, played by Josh Brolin, who's basically like Andy. Sarah, like a clearly used to be a bully in high school is now just like a very. Feels like a very roided up like angry dude that's kind of. [00:58:00] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean he's a project manager or maybe a general like superintendent for a building contractor. He's probably like very used to getting his way and strong arming people. [00:58:12] Speaker A: His son was in Justine's class and is now being gone. And then that goes to got Paul, who is the cop who is basically, I think an old fling of Justine's. [00:58:28] Speaker C: And Yeah, man had a past. [00:58:30] Speaker A: Yeah. And he's clearly is a recovering alcoholic, but also has anger issues. [00:58:35] Speaker B: Yeah. He's also in a marriage with somebody he doesn't love. [00:58:38] Speaker A: Yeah. He's very much feels very submissive when he wants to be dominant in that marriage. There's of course, I would say the best character of all of them or the most fun. James, the local junkie played by Austin Abrams. And then of course there's Marcus, played by Benedict Wong, who's the assistant principal. [00:58:57] Speaker C: Is he. [00:58:58] Speaker A: And then Alex, who is the remaining kid and just the only class who [00:59:04] Speaker B: did not go missing. [00:59:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:59:05] Speaker B: Right. [00:59:06] Speaker A: And basically it's just this whole kind of, you know, this twisting, turning narrative about how this could have all happened. And it honestly, honestly, it is going from barbarian to this. It is bold. It's very risky out the gate of what it's trying to do. Literally it starts with a little girl telling you the story in the first 30 seconds is just pure black. [00:59:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Which I think is also the way the trailer sells the movie. And it's the best way to set up this movie. [00:59:34] Speaker A: Yeah. It's like the opening really going from that to the montage of all the kids and showing them running away. And then of course the George Harrison needle dropped. Drop into the, I think very eerie blue weapons logo pop with the triangle and the O. And then that goes into the actual Narrative leads to like. You know, I'm curious about YouTube because I think, if I remember correctly from what we've talked about with Weapons and what we. Because we saw together initially in theaters, I think I probably like it the most out of the three of us, depending. I'm curious. [01:00:11] Speaker B: I mean, Jake also. [01:00:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say I really [01:00:12] Speaker C: like weapons and I feel like, I don't know, maybe I'm just in like the halo of Resident Evil just coming out, but I feel like Weapons is like, it has like the social commentary piece that I think everybody was like, what are we really talking about? With kids disappearing from classrooms? And it doesn't need to explicitly say anything about it, but I think that that is such an interesting thing to get people into this mystery. And it really just like ends up being this really complicated thing where you're not even fully convinced there's going to be this supernatural angle until it pulls that card out. So I. I mean, I really like it. And I think that it's better off of the movies to have like this like the Angladis component of it all where it's like it really is kind of tricking you the entire time until it gets to the point where, you know. [01:01:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it gets like, weirdly enough, like a film that I would say a lot of people would say is not scary scary enough or maybe not as scary as Barbarian. [01:01:10] Speaker B: Right. [01:01:11] Speaker A: Most of the scares early on are of just this, I would say, Pennywise esque figure that just pops up to all of our characters. It is Old Woman. You're like, who the fuck? [01:01:23] Speaker C: The scene of her cutting the hair in the car when she fall asleep, I think to me is like, that's the scare of like maybe the first half of the movie, but definitely for the movie. Like, that's what I think about when I think it's really, really effective and classic. [01:01:38] Speaker A: I will say, because when we saw it in the span after we had watched it, in the week after it come out, I had seen it three times total. [01:01:47] Speaker C: Wow. [01:01:47] Speaker A: On accident, like, on accident. In terms of like, it wasn't like I was trying to intentionally watch it three times in a week, but what happened is we saw it. We all had this, like, we were just all trying to decompress about, like, and really talk about where the film was. And I just couldn't, couldn't I? Like Barbarian. I was buzzing. I was like, I want to see this again. And then Austin and Anna, our friends, were like, we're going to see it Sunday. And we saw this on Thursday. And I was like, well, fuck, I want to see that with them on Sunday. We saw it again with them. And then literally, I think that same day, Adam and Lisa were like, you know what? I think we're going to see it Tuesday. And I was like, fuck, I want to watch you guys watch it on Tuesday. [01:02:24] Speaker C: Wow. [01:02:24] Speaker A: Because in all. Because in all honesty, all three of the watch. Like that scene with the car and the hair, everyone reacted the same exact way. [01:02:33] Speaker B: I can vividly remember Paige was with us when we saw it. And just I remember, like, because that scene kind of. It's a hard cut to Justine falling asleep in the car. Basically like a match cut of she's awake and then she's asleep. And I remember Paige immediately laughing out loud when she's asleep. And then when the camera pans over to the door and the door opens, Paige, she might have said, bitch. No, [01:03:02] Speaker C: it's that perfect line of really funny. And then immediately the dread or the horror turn between. Like, this is a really funny situation. This is terrifying. And it can ease. It's very like this subtle balance where it can switch back. Like, even whenever she starts cutting there, it's a little awkward and a little like, what do we do? [01:03:19] Speaker A: What are you. [01:03:20] Speaker C: You're weird. Like, what are you doing? [01:03:21] Speaker A: Yeah, because it's like. Because what happens? Because again, barbarian has some horrifying moments and some really stuff that makes me. Chills down my spine. But Alex's house. Every time that front door opens and it's just black. Fucking freaks. It still gets me. And that scene is fantastic. [01:03:38] Speaker B: At the end of the street. Yeah. [01:03:39] Speaker A: Because to go from. Yeah. Justine falls asleep because of alcohol. And then you see Alex's house. The door opens. It's darkness. And then the mom is walking like a fucking doll. [01:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, it's so her hair whisping out all over the place. And the light catching. [01:03:55] Speaker A: The music is building and building. And then she gets to the. She gets to the driver's side and then just walks away. And people are just like giggling. [01:04:04] Speaker B: And then you hear the trunk open. [01:04:05] Speaker A: You hear the. You hear the. The passenger side door on. Behind the driver open. And then I just. I remember all three of our screen time to watch it. I heard like immediately took the breath out of everybody. And then just the slow scissors y. And then cut. And then like hilariously trying to take that strand with her. Hard cut to fucking Archer. And it's like. It's so funny. Cause when I just rewatched it with my three friends that hadn't seen It. When that cut happened, one of the friends went, okay. It was immediately like, wait, what? It's like, yeah, we'll come back to this. [01:04:46] Speaker C: And it is sowing seeds of, like, what the eventual plot is with, like, the angle ice of it all. But it really. Yeah, I just think that it balances a persistent creepiness that I don't think that barbarian doesn't have and definitely Resident Evil has in spades. But, like, it just. It's built on all these adult characters that are all flawed in a realistic way. So whenever you get to, like, this, like, really, really witchy, supernatural things that it's like toying at it just catapults into. I don't know. I was just so thrown by the movie. And, like, love the twists and turns it's dragging you through. [01:05:23] Speaker A: It really plays with the ideas that, like, have always been kind of, I think, inherent with the horror greats of the last few decades. But, like, when people talk, like, See, when people talk about, like, John Carpenter's Halloween, where it's like, people don't find that film scary anymore as much as it did when it first came out. But, like, I think Weapons takes a lot of the idea of, like, when Halloween, of course, inspiration wise of the fear of, like, suburbia. If you just saw something that was just off, just off enough, you're like, what the fuck is this? So finding a house that is newspapered up, you're seeing a child beeline into the house and the door opens. You don't see parents and just almost like an automated door. And you're just seeing a kid walk by himself through his street. You're seeing, like, you know, when you. Benedict Wong, when he. When you first see him in Archer's storyline, when he's fucking beelining to the gas station. [01:06:15] Speaker C: Oh, my God. [01:06:16] Speaker B: Just comes running out of the trees. [01:06:17] Speaker C: Yeah. That's maybe one of the most terrifying images in that movie for me because when I was watching, watching, I was speechless. [01:06:22] Speaker A: And it takes, I think, 20 to 25 minutes just to give you the explanation as to how that happened. [01:06:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:29] Speaker A: So you have to sit on Marcus [01:06:32] Speaker C: choking, and you're sitting in the character's POV of like, what the hell is happening right now? [01:06:37] Speaker A: It's. And it just. It just finds a way because, again, it's like, you know, Justine, I would probably say, is my. I think it's the weakest of the story, but also it's because it's the one. One that has to set it all up in a normal sense. [01:06:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:50] Speaker A: Where it's like, this woman is so normal. She's so sad because she genuinely is traumatized over the fact that she lost all of her kids that she really she cared for. And she's being blamed for something that she has no answers for. And literally every time she tries to talk, people are pissed at her. And she clearly has a drinking issue just enough that, like, you know, when it gets really bad, she's pounding it in a big Big Gulp cup outside of Alex's house. And then you're just like, okay, this is just so grounded. Where the fuck do we go from here? And then it just slowly is building and building and building until we get to the most unsuspecting person to find out the most crucial information, which is all these children are in fucking Alex's basement. And it's just like, where the fuck do you go from there? [01:07:40] Speaker C: It gets to have its cake and eat it, too, in terms of. Of, like, here's all these real adult things and grounded characters. And also, like, here is our horror icon monster, and she shows up and you get exactly what the drill is after she's, like, done her witchy things. And, like, the look is iconic. Everything, I mean, instantly destined to be a Halloween costume. I think it just knew immediately that it had that waiting in the back half. So it puts all this strength into all this character study early. [01:08:09] Speaker A: The first thing, because when we saw this, as when Andy and I first saw this, we saw this with not only just Paige, but our other friend who lives with Paige, Noah. Noah would not stop talking about how he was going to be Aunt Gladys that year. And he was ang Gladys that year. [01:08:22] Speaker C: An incredible drag. Incredible drag look. [01:08:25] Speaker A: And Gladys has such drag vibes out the gate, she. And also the funniest thing about this film, every time I talk to someone about it, it's like, oh, fuck, that's true. The only people that are nice to Aunt Gladys out the gate are the only two gay characters that show up in the film, which are Marcus and his husband. [01:08:44] Speaker C: Because, you know, she seems like a quirky old lady that needs to drink water out of bowls. [01:08:48] Speaker B: Right. [01:08:49] Speaker A: Who just doesn't know how to put her lipstick on properly. [01:08:52] Speaker C: Right. [01:08:52] Speaker A: Has a goofy ass hairdo. She looks like a character from Rugrats. [01:08:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:56] Speaker A: Which I think is so fucking funny. I think it's just. Yeah, she's Amy Madigan again. Just because I didn't want her to win the Oscar doesn't mean she doesn't deserve all the love she's gotten. [01:09:07] Speaker C: Sure. [01:09:07] Speaker A: But, man, when she does show up, and you. You finally hear her voice, you see her mannerisms. You start to get the little inklings of, how fucking old is this woman? Because the. A taste of consumption or a hint of consumption. And then like, Marcus goes, you have to excuse me, I thought they got consumption on the organ trail. [01:09:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:31] Speaker A: And she laughs. And then later he brings up cps and you can see him. Her face. She doesn't know what the that is. [01:09:37] Speaker C: No. [01:09:38] Speaker A: And you're like, how old is this one? It's to the point where we are, in fact getting a Gladus prequel film. [01:09:46] Speaker C: Fascinating that I'm. I mean, expected, but fascinating. [01:09:49] Speaker A: I'm glad Kraeger is not directing it to be genuine. Like I. He is writing and producing it. But I'm glad that he's gonna do other things and not going to be stuck in the weapons hole. [01:09:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:09:59] Speaker A: For like another. [01:09:59] Speaker C: He's gonna be directing more Resident Evil sequels. [01:10:03] Speaker A: I mean, we can save that for later. I mean, he did. He did. I mean, yeah, we could say that for later. But it is just kind of like. It is fascinating going from Barbarian, where it. Honestly, literally, as of this recording of this episode, it was just two months ago, I think, that they finally released a physical copy of Barbarian. It has been four fucking years. And they released a steelbook 4k that I fucking missed. And I'm still mad about it, but I will get it at some point. But it literally, like, people were like, I want to own your movie, Disney. Because Disney technically owns Barbarian through centuries, like 20th century. Please let us have it. And they're like, no, we like, why do you want this? And it's because we like it. And then Weapons comes out. And then Weapons immediately it's like fucking new line. And Warner Brothers is just lapping it up. Yeah, they're just like, oh, you guys hate us. Well, we gave you weapons, baby. How could you hate us? Oh, fuck. [01:10:57] Speaker C: And it is very poetic for New Line Cinema to come in for. For Weapons based on like, all the horror that have built them. Oh, my God. I don't know. It's really. I don't know. It was a really. [01:11:08] Speaker A: Gladys. [01:11:09] Speaker C: Exactly. It was just really compelling that they were like. He found a way to be like, you can make these Freddy Krueger, these giant horror icon things and also still tell the movie you want to tell [01:11:21] Speaker A: and also be a horror Magnolia. [01:11:23] Speaker C: Right. [01:11:24] Speaker A: Crazy. Because again, as someone who is not fully seeing Magnolia, but as seen clips and knows what that film's about, it is immediately when I watched, when we started watching Weapons the first time I was like, I see it. I see what he's trying to go for, cinematography wise, in terms of like, the camera movements and the blocking and like. Because, like, it is very much. There is some barbarian in especially like the Justine Gandy stuff where, like, you know, when. When Archer writes which on her car and he's like harassing her, there's a lot of barbarian in the way that they move around her house. Very much reminds of me, me of that. But then, of course, as the film goes on, there's some. They find ways to have. Each character has different almost cinematic tells where it's like Paul almost has a grittiness or almost like a fur, like a feverish, like, shaky cam to him. Like every time he's driving the police car, of course. [01:12:17] Speaker C: Oh, even that police chase or the alleys is super, super ex. [01:12:22] Speaker A: Gets Dutch angles, all Holly's. All these crazy little moves because he's just. Just meth out of his mind. He's tweaking. And then of course, Marcus is the most normal and has the most kind of like, you get the most out of like the whole. Oh, so this is the process of what happens to someone who is under a spell. [01:12:41] Speaker B: Right. [01:12:41] Speaker A: And you get the most, I think the most violent, like, at the time, the most violent scene in the film, which is Marcus headbutting his husband to death. [01:12:49] Speaker B: Right. [01:12:49] Speaker A: Crazy great scene because, again, because it has the energy. Like, I can see people who are probably watching the film being like, yeah, I hear people really like this movie and they say it's scary, but it's not scary enough. It's not gory enough. There's not enough going on. And then by the time that scene happens, it's like, well, fuck me. What? Okay. Yeah, so there's. There's some shit now. There's some shit going. Okay. And leads to just, you know, I will say, I. Gosh, I love the fact that they end on truly the saddest story. And I think is probably one I would say is like one of the biggest standouts that I'm excited to see from him more since he's so young. But the character that. The actor that plays Alex, yeah, he's so good in this to the degree where it's like. Because a lot of the time I think weapons being a win, getting an Oscar is ultimately a win regardless. Because horror is so, you know, poo pooed and pushed to the side of like, there's nothing really here. [01:13:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:43] Speaker A: But then you watch the scenes with him and Aunt Glass status are phenomenal. The way they both talk to each other, the way that she goes the. I can make him hate each other. I can make them hurt each other. I can make them eat each other if I want. And then later on when he's like, if I give you. If I bring you my classmates, will you leave? That whole scene where it's like, will you be better? [01:14:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:08] Speaker A: There's his just Microsoft crow, just, like, movements in his face. This is a child. [01:14:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:14:16] Speaker B: Well, the scene where he's. He's. Justine stops him on the street and tries to talk to him. Like, you can see him figuring out, like, I. I can't. [01:14:27] Speaker C: I can't mess up my plan. [01:14:28] Speaker B: I can't screw this up. I gotta get rid of you. [01:14:30] Speaker A: Listen, lady, please leave me alone. [01:14:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:33] Speaker C: And it has so many, like, it's. It's like the thing with, like, a horror environmental storytelling where it plants all. All these seeds. Like, why are all these cans of soup that are just, like, strewn about? Right? It's doing so much work to seed all these things that just seem weird and random at the time and just, like, make the place look more distressed. And then you see him feeding the soup to it, and it's like, oh, you know what I mean? Like, there's so many things like that in his movies where it's just like, this doesn't seem relevant at all, but this will, like, be something that's, like, super indicative. What's gonna happen, like, 30 minutes from [01:15:03] Speaker A: now when Alex spills the chicken noodle soup sauce all over his fucking pants because he doesn't know how to open a can opener? [01:15:11] Speaker B: Oh, y. [01:15:12] Speaker A: Truly one of the saddest fucking things it is. Truly. When I rewatched it and Rey was watching it for the first time, they were just fucking. I could feel like a Tears were coming up. Yeah. Almost like it's like this child, like, especially the fact that his parents are so normal and so cool. I like his parents in the little we get of both of them. And then they're immediately possessed. Immediately being attacked by this horrible fucking bitch of a woman. [01:15:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:15:39] Speaker A: And also the fact that the father. I think we might have to talked about this once or tw each other now together. But, like, the dad has such Trevor Moore energy. And it's just kind of like, man, I wonder if in reality, if Trevor still was alive, if he would just be the dad. [01:15:55] Speaker C: Oh, 100%. [01:15:57] Speaker A: The guy who plays him is really good, but there's just like, you know, hey, what's going on, Axeman? See any supermodels today. Like just such like late, like in his 30s. Totally. Like, oh, you're so old, dad. But not that old. [01:16:09] Speaker C: Like it's casual, it's realistic and it just, it makes all the, like them being like possessed and like ripping themselves apart just like. Yeah, there's like a lot of emotional anguish with, with Alex. And I don't think the movie works unless you have a performer that's as good as he's like giving his performance in this movie. And B, just like that, like third rail where it's like, well, at the end of the day, like, you know what I mean? Like this is like kind of the closest thing we have to a hero in the story. [01:16:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's an interesting thing too, because I think it's fun. I want to hear your guys opinions on this because the idea, idea of the title of the film. Because this is another thing that anytime I show people this movie or I talk to people about this movie, they're like, why weapons? Of all the names for this film. And I think it's very fascinating because of course I think we can talk about the fact that there's an allusion to school shootings with the disappearance. [01:16:55] Speaker C: Right? Yeah. [01:16:56] Speaker A: The trauma surrounding it and trying to move on after something so horrible had just happened and pretend like it's normal when in reality it shouldn't be. But it is in the country. [01:17:06] Speaker C: Right. [01:17:06] Speaker A: And but like it's also the fact that like the film also discusses parasites. It's a big thing that also is like kind of this illusion on the blackboard at all times. Aunt Gladys is a parasite. She siphons life force out of people, which is why she's doing what she's doing. But I think besides Archer talking about like how the kids look like they were weaponized in some way, shape or form, I think it's fascinating, the film at least feels like the title is almost about. About the. You know, how trauma can be weaponized, how curiosity can be weaponized, how empathy can be weaponized. Like how all these characters are finding different ways that they're. Whether it's their own emotions and their own kind of wants and needs are being weaponized to the ultimately the same place accidentally to the point where it almost kind of thing makes sense. Why, like he's like. I think in any kind of horror film where it's like at the very end when Archer and Justine are going to walk into an obvious trap, it's like these guys and it's like, well, like Glattus is literally weaponizing their Curiosity and their need to try to save these kids, to like, basically use them against each other. And it's just fascinating how it's like, you know, it's the. I want to hear your conversation, like, why you think it's called that? [01:18:20] Speaker C: Yeah. Andy, what were the real weapons all along? [01:18:23] Speaker B: The children we lost along the way. [01:18:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:18:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I think this question kind of raises what is, for me, probably like my biggest hold up with the film, which is kind of just. I'm super on board with this film as like, just a series of genre thrills. I have a lot of fun with it. It's spooky, it's funny. The perspective shifts have this built in kind of momentum reaction. Reset every 2010 or 20 minutes or so, which is fun. But I think the question of, you know, what does weapons mean? What is it getting at? Is where the film loses me a little bit because I think there's a lot of. There's a lot of ref or not even references, but like, leveraging of imagery. Like, you're talking about, like, school shootings and like, you know, community responses to tragedies like that that I don't know that the film actually is saying anything about. It's using that imagery to maybe conjure up a feeling in you as the viewer or a, you know, conjure up your theories about where it's gonna go. And of course, it doesn't really go any of the places you're probably expecting, which is fine. Yeah. But it does kind of feel like it's building this movie around this idea of the community and how the community, you know, attacks each other or, you know, the different pieces of the community isolate themselves instead of coming together, blah, blah, blah. And all of that, at least for me, kind of feels like it's thrown out the window at the end with all the witch stuff. [01:20:10] Speaker A: Okay. [01:20:10] Speaker B: Which is like, the witch stuff is fun. Like, just like I was saying, the genre thrills elements of it. I love Gladys, but also I don't really know what Gladys does for the story that it seemed like it was trying to tell about the community. [01:20:27] Speaker C: Can I throw in a take real quick? [01:20:28] Speaker A: Yeah, do it. [01:20:29] Speaker C: I think Glados is like this witch hag character is the old that's just ruining things for the young. You know what I mean? And if you draw that to a logical conclusion, it's like, yeah, everything with these kids is being weaponized. It clearly like, all these parents want safety for their families. And I love how much ring doorbells are included in the plot of this movie being like, oh, I think we're safe. But nothing stops your kid from running full speed. And you have the creepy video of them running away. Then it's just like there's all these sort of constructed layers, but, like, she doesn't care. You know what I mean? She's like, I will stay alive forever and I'll do anything and I'll wreck anybody to get in that quest. And I think that there are things, you know, you can extrapolate that to, like, where we're, you know, like, so certain aspects of society now where it's like, are we guiding things for, like, families, the young, or for the old? And so I think you can kind of read her as the parasite that way. [01:21:22] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. [01:21:22] Speaker C: But I get what you're saying, where it's like, there was something really compelling you're baiting us with, and then you're never really, like, going at that directly. [01:21:30] Speaker A: It's always kind of a. Yeah, it's always kind of really. It could be very much a blessing and a curse when you give the audience one thing to hate. When you give, like, these. All these possibilities where it's like, it's a film that is literally. It's talking about all these things we talked about. [01:21:44] Speaker C: I mean, we got to talk about the floating gun. [01:21:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:21:46] Speaker C: I'm surprised we went this far. [01:21:49] Speaker A: That is the weapon. [01:21:50] Speaker B: The chief image being leveraged that I was kind of referring to is like. And. And Craig has talked about it and literally does not have an explanation for other than I had a dream where I saw a gun floating above a house. It was like, okay, fair enough. I mean, that's what half of David Lynch's filmography is born out of. It's just. He had a dream about something. [01:22:11] Speaker A: I just love it emotionally feels. [01:22:13] Speaker C: When I watched the movie in the theaters, I think I heard somebody in my theater audibly go, oh, man. When it showed up, like, what, What? [01:22:19] Speaker B: What? [01:22:19] Speaker C: What? [01:22:20] Speaker B: Oh, man. [01:22:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:22:21] Speaker A: Cause it just. Yeah, it just pops up and then [01:22:23] Speaker B: it just says, 2:17. Yeah, the alarm clock, 2:17. [01:22:26] Speaker A: It never gets addressed again. Yeah. It is a film that is. [01:22:28] Speaker B: I do appreciate about it. It does. Doesn't really fix my qualms necessarily, but I love that the immediate follow up to that is Archer waking up and just screaming to himself, what the. [01:22:39] Speaker C: Yes. [01:22:39] Speaker B: Like, yeah, that's a dream. [01:22:41] Speaker A: My least favorite Gladys. [01:22:43] Speaker C: Very macho dream to have. [01:22:44] Speaker B: Oh, the. The Gladys in the bed. Yeah. [01:22:46] Speaker A: Because, like, they do. He does such a chica craker bastard. Doing such a cheeky thing of being like, oh, Matthew, you're in the bed and you're like, it's not gonna be Matthew. [01:22:54] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:22:55] Speaker A: But then it is for a little bit. And then. And then randomly the most insidious ass Blumhouse scare. And then leads, of course. Yeah. What the. Him sleeping in Matthew's Batman sheets. [01:23:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:23:08] Speaker A: Being like, what the. Yeah. [01:23:09] Speaker C: It just again, like these grounded characters where it's like you can tell that his marriage is kind of falling apart and that this kid thing was before and. And like all it seems relate. Dis. Like disconnected. The fact that like you sleep in a different bed, all these things. But it's like that all of these characters are so damaged and them trying to. To find the solution or the way to get through this is them confronting a lot of their own personal stuff. [01:23:33] Speaker A: It reminds me a lot of. Again, not in terms of what they're talking about, but how it's an angle that I think something like Bong Joon Ho's Parasite could have gone where if a parasite wanted to find a way to just be this one thing to be mad at, it could have. But the reason why that film is so iconic, I think in a modern sense is because the late almost twist turn of like there's actually people living in the basement is not the reason why these people are rich. It's not the reason why this is working out for them. It's just added upon the things that it's already been discussing and that already has an end point. It's just going to add that into the craziness of everything around it. While as Weapons is basically like, there is a version of Weapons where Anglatta shows up and she is not the full root cause of it all. But since she is, it does take a lot of all these kind of social commentary things that I think are clearly in there. But now it's like, I do understand where you're coming from, where it's like, yeah, now there's just this old fucking clown of a witch. This is really the reason why this is happening. And it's like, yeah, if it's. If that's enough to be like, ah, I wish we. I wish we had more of this kind of aspect. [01:24:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:24:36] Speaker A: But to me it's just like, I can't. It's the inverse of how you felt with Barbarian. It's like, this is supernatural. Was not really fully expected to be supernatural. [01:24:45] Speaker C: Right, right. And I think that like, that that's his strength is these like haunted house movies where the parasite comp. Is like, fair. Where it's Just like the Discovery, there's something buried below or there's something happening in a deep crypt or something. All three of these movies, to an extent, have this Haunted house quality that I think he leans into such a strength where it's like the wanting to. Needing to move to the next room, but dreading what's going in there. It's so like. It just keeps the momentum of this thing. Instead of feeling like, oh, no, we're about to get murdered, or like, keep the dreary. And then it's subject to levity. You walk into a room and then you see the most insane thing you've ever seen. [01:25:21] Speaker B: It can be funny. I love Krieger's, which I think he exhibits well in Barbarian, but I think kind of comes into his own in this is like his particular knack for the curiosity of horror. Like you said, the need to seek out that which you are terrified of. Just like we, the audience, are showing up to this movie knowing it's going to, like, make us shit our pain. [01:25:46] Speaker C: Like, don't go in that room. But I really want to see what's in that room. [01:25:49] Speaker B: You got to go in the room. [01:25:50] Speaker A: I want to face my fear. Bitch, that's not your fear. That's just a bad idea. [01:25:54] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:25:54] Speaker B: He just has a really. A really great eye for that. And, you know, I mean, obviously in all three of these movies, you can look at how he shoots doors, like door frames, and just, you know, the darkness beyond them and stuff. [01:26:09] Speaker A: And the crazy thing, too, is, I guess I think pacing wise is another thing I really love about this film is the fact that, like, this film is over two hours. And I. I didn't even realize this. When Alex's story hits, there's 30 minutes left. [01:26:20] Speaker C: I know. [01:26:21] Speaker A: So it's fucking crazy that it's like we're 90 minutes in and now we're going to hit everything that you need to know. And then when it. And then when it does that, it goes, oh, now it's time for the finale. And then the finale is just this bat shit. We get, I think, some of the funniest shit from Austin Abrams because he goes after his possessed body, goes after Archer, and Archer literally is ragdolling him across the living room back and forth. And then we have. Have, I think, the scariest Alden Ehrenreich has ever looked with his buggy eyes, and he's getting his fucking face peeled. Yeah, it's great how they did that design and then ultimately leads to Gladys nearly winning, but then leads to. I Would argue, like, my favorite. I love how this film ends. [01:27:04] Speaker C: It is so batshit, I think because [01:27:07] Speaker A: when we saw this in theaters, I was like, there's so much building up. This is two plus hours. Hours. Where the do you end this? Where do you go from this if you're going to try and make this satisfying? If that's the goal. And to have these children break through windows chasing after this old woman to ultimately rip her to mincemeat. Yeah, it's crazy. It's truly where it's like, this is why people are going to be talking about this movie for a while. There's so many things to, like, like, love about this movie. I like about this movie. It's the fact that this movie gets away with watching children rip this woman's head off and then spray blood all over them and not be considered, like, truly the most X rated controversial thing to come out in 2025. [01:27:55] Speaker C: I love it and it's such an exhilarating end. But I have to respect the people that, like, did not like this as an ending because it is so funny. It is as a horror movie now. It is so, so funny. And it has the twist of the spell getting turned on her, which I think is very fun and cathartic. Right. Super good. But in the end, yeah, they just turn her into pulp. It's crazy. [01:28:21] Speaker A: And also the fact that it's like, again, it's funny that Crager, when he talks about all three of these films, he doesn't. He's fine with it, but he doesn't really like any of these films to be described as horror comedies. [01:28:32] Speaker B: Sure. [01:28:32] Speaker A: These are just horror films to him with just bits of levity in between. But I gotta say, even with that in mind, watching Amy Madigan, like, Grover Muppet, like, Shuffle Away Shuffle. And then like, literally when they grab her and like, Archer's trying to find them, they're like, look what the kids did to the yard and all the way. [01:28:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:28:53] Speaker A: Like, it's. And then they're like, oh, there's a random man in the house. [01:28:56] Speaker C: It's the tracking POV where they're just running throughout. They're. They're just like, oh, my God. One little girl that's so. [01:29:03] Speaker A: And jumps on her. [01:29:03] Speaker C: It's like a full minute of them chasing, right? Yeah. And the guy going. [01:29:07] Speaker A: And just sees the backyard. And it just. I mean, it's just the fact that it's like, it ends on, like, I think one of the best tracks on the film. Like, it's a very nice ending. Track and you have like, you know, the. The narrator coming back in and you don't know who this little girl is, but it's just like, of course, just a little girl that just lives here that's talking about the myth of this place and the fact that it doesn't matter what happened to Justine. It doesn't matter what happened to all Archer. What matters is how are the kids? Or at least with like, you know, Alex's parents. Because of course, because we're talking about Alex. You know, Alex is safe with a. With an aunt who's nice, and his parents are eating soup somewhere else, but they're at least alive. And then of course, I think I love the final line where it's like, you know, some of the kids actually started talking just the other day a year before, and it's like, then it just hard cuts and it's like, again, it just looks like barbarian. Just immediately like, oh, it's done. Which is hilarious because we're going to get into Resident Evil where this film is, I think out of all three have the most contentious ending. And I think also does that. And I would say probably the weakest of the three in terms of like rushing to the end. Yeah, it also does that, but very, [01:30:16] Speaker C: very, very in line with Resident Evil for the third act to be the weakest one. [01:30:23] Speaker A: But yeah. Anything else about Weapons before we get into to the Resident Evil? [01:30:28] Speaker C: No, I'm ready to jump full feet in. This is kind of the one I've been most excited about. [01:30:32] Speaker B: We can backflip in like Leon Kennedy. [01:30:34] Speaker C: Yeah, let's do it. [01:30:35] Speaker A: Because again, after Weapons hits, even before it hits in the way that the weapons mania, I guess you could say it, the fact that even before that happened, like, Crager had such an electrifying introduction to Austin Abrams and had such a connection with him that he went, I want to fucking make another movie with you. And that leads into our final film tonight, which is a video game adaptation, a reboot per se, of the Resident Evil film franchise with Austin Abrams as a courier who's asked to take something to Raccoon City during the early stages of the Raccoon City infection that ultimately happens. A modern day version of like what happens in Russia. Evil 2. [01:31:24] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Just as a quick primer for everybody. How familiar is everyone here with either the Resident Evil movies or the Resident Evil video games? [01:31:33] Speaker A: You go first, Andy. [01:31:35] Speaker B: I am probably the least familiar with the games as I've played none of them. Most of my exposure to the games is through Logan. Just him Telling me things. [01:31:46] Speaker A: Spoilers that you're telling people [01:31:50] Speaker B: the movies. I grew up watching the first one. It's. It's not a good movie, but I have a certain amount of nostalgia for it. [01:31:59] Speaker C: Yeah, it's fun. [01:32:00] Speaker B: And I've seen the second one maybe once or twice. I didn't. I've not seen the three or six other ones. [01:32:08] Speaker C: There's like seven actually total. [01:32:11] Speaker A: No, there's six. [01:32:12] Speaker B: There's six. [01:32:13] Speaker C: They did. They tried for one. A couple. [01:32:15] Speaker A: This is why I know this, Jake, is because before we landed on Kraker, I threw to Andy, what if we did all the Mila Jovovich films? [01:32:22] Speaker B: Oh. [01:32:22] Speaker A: And Andy was not about it. Andy went, no. [01:32:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:32:25] Speaker A: Andy doesn't go hard. No. That often. But what he does. I'm not going to pry. [01:32:30] Speaker C: Not big Mila Jovich guy. [01:32:31] Speaker A: I'm not going to pry until later. [01:32:33] Speaker B: You know, it's funny. [01:32:34] Speaker A: There's a way. [01:32:35] Speaker B: The. I hope it's a minority. The. The vocal contingent of moviegoers out there who is not happy with this new Craig or Resident Evil because it's not like an actual adaptation of the story of the games. [01:32:48] Speaker A: Roll my ey. [01:32:50] Speaker C: It doesn't have Leon Kennedy or Chris Redfield or any of the crew. [01:32:53] Speaker B: Very distressing to me that some of them are even going so far as to say, like, man, maybe we were too mean to the Mila Jovovich. [01:33:01] Speaker A: It's the Star wars prequel bullshit. [01:33:03] Speaker B: They actually gave us game plot. And it's like, brother, hold on. We. Everybody hated those movies, regardless of whether you were a fan or not. Like, yeah, including fans. [01:33:14] Speaker A: They hired people in those films to almost look like porn parodies of the characters. Almost. Which sucks because those actors are solid actors, but those movies are not. [01:33:23] Speaker C: Well, and, you know, this is a problem, I feel, because most Resident Evil characters, the longer they're in the franchise, the hotter they get. You know what I mean? They start as normies, and then they all get sexified every single time they come back. [01:33:34] Speaker A: Unless you're Chris, where Chris has now had, I think, five different redesigns in the series. [01:33:39] Speaker C: Oh, Chris is only looking better and better. I'm pull up the most. [01:33:42] Speaker B: I don't know if Chris. [01:33:43] Speaker A: Please, Jake, please look up Resident Evil designs for Chris. It is literally insane. His jump from seven to eight. [01:33:49] Speaker C: Yeah. And eight. He's like a daddy. Yeah. [01:33:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Eight. He's like, yeah, he's this winter coat daddy. And it's so crazy. No. Yeah. To answer. To answer your question, Jake, I. I own. I'm pretty sure every Single Resident Evil that I could on my PlayStation 5. [01:34:11] Speaker C: Nice. [01:34:12] Speaker A: Besides the classics, I think I don't have one, two, or three, because you can buy the PlayStation. [01:34:15] Speaker C: And you've played, like, the remakes as well. [01:34:17] Speaker A: I've only played. Played the remakes. Like, I. Yeah, yeah. [01:34:19] Speaker C: You didn't go back to the old school 90s. Yeah. [01:34:22] Speaker A: I. My introduction to Resident Evil was when I was five and I had a PlayStation demo disc of one. [01:34:27] Speaker C: Wow. [01:34:28] Speaker A: And I tried playing it, and when the opening happens and the zombies started eating me, I got scared and I turned it off. [01:34:34] Speaker C: Understandable. [01:34:34] Speaker A: And I didn't play it again until Resident Evil 4. When that came out on GameCube, my dad bought it and said, you can't play this. And I found a way to play it. And then I got in trouble for playing it. [01:34:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:34:45] Speaker A: And I was. Was like 10. And then, like, I think I. This is something where we're connected. Because my love started again when I started playing Resident Evil 7 in college. [01:34:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:34:55] Speaker A: And you and Adam watched me play it, and that was such a fun core memory. [01:34:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:35:00] Speaker A: Like, playing this game, being like, guys, let's sit down and just watch me play it. It's actually really fun. And then, of course, it's like, seven onwards has now had a resurgence of. I've played two, three remake. I've not played four remake, but I've played Resident Evil 4 multiple times. Times. [01:35:15] Speaker C: Yep. [01:35:16] Speaker A: I just played Revelation, which was the 3ds game that got put on PS4. [01:35:21] Speaker C: So much resonating. [01:35:22] Speaker A: There's literally 15 plus if you don't count so much. But I just. [01:35:26] Speaker C: There's two TV shows. There was a Resident Evil TV show that came out like a year ago and no one watched it. [01:35:31] Speaker A: Oh, don't worry about it. [01:35:32] Speaker C: It's crazy. [01:35:33] Speaker A: If we. If we tried to add the CGI [01:35:35] Speaker B: film, I think we were too mean to it. Jake. [01:35:36] Speaker C: Okay. [01:35:37] Speaker A: I got. I would love to watch Andy watch one of the CG CGI films, because there's one film. The Gun Fu. The Gun Fu is hilarious. But no, I. I was super pumped for Resident Evil 9 to come out this year. That game's a banger. And I'm excited for Code Veronica to come out next year. So I. I went from being someone who was like, I should probably jump in at some point, to now being like, I now have too much Resident Evil. And honestly, I really enjoy all the games I played. [01:36:06] Speaker C: I've watched so much of it. But I think the only ones I've ever played are four and five. Which is funny because four is, like, very. And then five is the one where I think way more action y but also way more problematic. But, like, you know, it is. It's leaning into the whole every new game has to have a new virus or whatever. And I think these were the things I was worried about going into the movie was that it was gonna get lost in the sauce of, where is this virus and where is it coming from? How does the virus work? And we need to track it down. And this movie dispenses with it entirely because it centers itself just in this [01:36:35] Speaker B: one guy does all that in one scene. [01:36:37] Speaker C: It's all. Yeah, one monologue. [01:36:39] Speaker A: The crazy thing. [01:36:41] Speaker C: Monologue later. [01:36:42] Speaker A: The crazy thing about Resident Evil as a film franchise is while, yes, there have been television shows that have flopped, and, yes, the Milla Jovovich films are not well beloved, those films the Jovich films have made accumulated a billion dollars at the box office. [01:36:58] Speaker C: Crazy. [01:36:59] Speaker A: So, of course, Constantine film, who has had the rights since the very beginning, as well as. [01:37:03] Speaker B: I love Paul Thomas Anderson. [01:37:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And then, of course, Columbia Pictures, TriStar has had it for a while, and they. They tried a few years ago to do a reboot called Raccoon. It was called Resident Evil. Welcome to Raccoon City. [01:37:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:37:17] Speaker A: Which is basically what Robbie Amell. Robbie Amell. Kaya Scoldalero from Skins, who's now on the gentleman Netflix show. Yeah, basically. What if we did Resident Evil 1 and 2 in one film in an hour 45. [01:37:32] Speaker C: Right. And it's like, I love them, but, like, these are not the strongest. The plots are not the reason to play these games. [01:37:38] Speaker A: But that was another thing where that film was basically trying to be like, let's do the games. Right? And it still felt like cosplayers playing like, oh, my God, it's the monster from two. And it's like, Robbie Amell is Chris, and he's wearing the Chris outfit from one. And it's like, guys, if that's what you want, well, you got it. And guess what? [01:37:58] Speaker B: You. [01:37:59] Speaker A: You didn't go see in theaters because it didn't. Didn't make money, right? So it's like, now we're at a point where, like, Trice, like Columbia, and everyone's like, please, begging you, just let us do anything with Resident Evil. We'll do anything that anyone wants to do with Resident Evil. And here comes Crager. [01:38:14] Speaker C: How lucky for them that Crager shows up and is like, I got some ideas. [01:38:18] Speaker A: I have this. I have this lovable twink of a man who is just a sweetheart and it's just a blast. And he's. Most people know him from Euphoria, but he's actually so much more than just his Euphoria stuff. [01:38:29] Speaker C: I think I'm the only person that knows him him from his one time cameo on Silicon Valley where He played a 12 year old coder that was addicted to Aderall. He is, he was very, very young in the role. [01:38:40] Speaker A: He's also, he's. If you ever watch Walking Dead, there was a character that the fan base named Porch Dick. He was an. Like, he was the son of that character. [01:38:51] Speaker C: He actually been around. [01:38:52] Speaker A: Austin Abrams is the guy that takes out Carl's eye in the show. [01:38:57] Speaker C: Crazy. [01:38:58] Speaker A: It was just crazy. And then he dies that same episode. [01:39:00] Speaker C: Right. [01:39:01] Speaker A: But yeah, basically he's like, yeah, I have this guy who I really love and I want to make. I love Resident Evil. I've played all the games. Please make, let me have this series. And they're just like, here's money, here's the. Just fucking do something. [01:39:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:39:15] Speaker A: And what he does hilariously enough, because initially when they announced that he was doing a Resident Evil film, my head went, holy fuck. Austin Abrams could do a yellow young Leon. [01:39:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:39:24] Speaker A: Be kind of fun if that's what he's gonna do. That is not all what he did. Even better. He basically made a film about a guy you would hear about in an audio log in the fucking games. [01:39:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:39:36] Speaker A: Like a tragic story about this courier. [01:39:39] Speaker C: He'd be part of the environmental storytelling. [01:39:40] Speaker A: Yeah. He just like his, his whole thing in the film where his last thing is like an audio log on his phone. It's like, fuck, I can just see myself finding that fucking phone at like fucking Raccoon City General and hearing this story and being like, God, I wonder what this guy's life is. It's basically like. And again, I understand as in the fan base sense, it's like seeing like, oh my God, they're gonna do a Bioshock film and then they just make a film about one of the fucking audio logs you find in that game. [01:40:06] Speaker C: Right. [01:40:06] Speaker A: But even so, like, it's like if you know how to get the world right and you know how to get the vibe right of playing one of those games. [01:40:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:40:14] Speaker A: Is it really, is it really worth bitching about the fact that Leon's not doing backflips in the game in the movie? And I think, yeah, don't fucking bitch about it. We got the best Resident Evil movie. We are going to probably get. [01:40:26] Speaker C: Well and to talk to your Guys, earlier points about, like, trailers with reveal. I think the trailer is also just only showing what happens in the first 15 minutes of this movie and has so many twists and turns beyond, like, it just unspurls, you know, like, once you get past, like, everything that's happening in, like, the farmhouse and he gets to the tunnel, it's like we fully move into, like a second half of the movie that feels completely different. Looks completely different. [01:40:50] Speaker A: I think the most recent trailer is where they pop in Paul Hauser for five seconds and it's like, you're fucking here. [01:40:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:40:56] Speaker B: I did not know he was in the movie. [01:40:58] Speaker C: Yeah, he was a surprise. Surprise Zach Cherry. Surprise. Griffin Newman. Yeah. So good. [01:41:04] Speaker A: It's. It is very much small cast, very straightforward premise. It literally. He described it to some, like, in press as like a 90 minute, like, thrill ride. And this feels like just a fucking roller coaster. It just feels like you're going through the beats of a game that, like, if you play the games, you're like, yeah, this is just playing the game. Playing a Resident Evil for the first time. You feel like the biggest fucking idiot in the world. You're missing all your shots. You're shooting way too many times. You're not looking at enough visors in a car to find a fucking key that you need to get through. You can't shoot padlocks off for some reason. [01:41:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:41:40] Speaker A: And every enemy you run into is clearly more powerful than you are. You're basically lucky if you get out of there unscathed. [01:41:49] Speaker B: Well, and I think. I think that is the ticket to this movie success. And also kind of the key that finally maybe filmmakers are kind of realizing or studios are realizing or whatever about video game adaptations is that, like, the key to adapting a video game into a movie that's actually worth watching and. And feels somehow of the same blood as the video game is recreating the actual player experience, not recreating the story, not bringing in all the Easter eggs and all those. That this movie has plenty of those. Yeah. It's replicating that experience of what it feels like playing the game. Similarly, not a video game, but the Dungeons and Dragons movie I think did that really well. They don't do the framing device of all there's kids sitting around a table and these characters we're watching are actually their characters. But it does feel many times throughout that movie like somebody just rolled really poorly and like that's the way the cookie crumbles. You know, it's that kind of, you know, improvisational storytelling. And in this Even though I haven't played the Resident Evil games, what I know of them from you, what I've seen from, like, you know, watching gameplay, it is the rifling around and the struggling to aim and the fumbling over yourself through this absolute chaos that the movie just nailed. [01:43:14] Speaker A: The fan base constantly forgets, and every fan base forgets this a lot of times, especially if you're so entrenched, is that if you want to really. If you really want to enjoy The Resident Evil 4 cheesiness, the backflips, the chainsaw, the dual chains chainsaw fights, it's the way you really get to enjoy that is if you have moments of helplessness intertwined. Which is why Requiem is so much fun. Because while Leon is basically doing, like a side quest, like, he's basically back flipping, headshoting everyone with sniper rifles, you are also playing a character who has one gun and three bullets, and she's also half the size of Leon and doesn't know how to shoot a gun. And it's like, it's playing that. It's like as many times these games have come out, it's like when you play those sections, it like, you know, triggers a part of my brain that, like, gives me shivers down my spine because it's like, I can't fight this guy. So I have to find a table to run around him and get the around and hide. And then you get to Leon's segment, and Leon takes that guy out in one hit. But it gets more satisfying because of how much you felt helpless. And so to have a film that's like, no, these characters that you love started in this helpless phase or in this phase where it's like, you're not all, like, the one woman. It is fun to watch her in this film where it's like, Paul Walter Hauser is kind of like Bodyguard. Who. [01:44:33] Speaker C: Like, Maxine. [01:44:34] Speaker A: Yeah, Maxine, who headshots everybody and then ultimately is like, that's basically what they want everyone to be in this film. [01:44:40] Speaker C: Yeah, it gets to have their cake and eat it, too, in that regard. But it is so much better of a movie to have a character who's like, yeah, like, I'm not an idiot when it comes to guns, but everything I know probably comes from video games. And, like, I know I need to, like, click the safety off, but I have no idea where the safety is. And, like, there's just so much dread and comedy built into that. Where it's like, that is the experience of playing a game like that where you have limited resources and in a lot of cases, he's just firing off while he's trying to use it. In a lot of cases, poorly. His. [01:45:11] Speaker A: His big narrative, like, coming around moment is just being able to get a shot off. [01:45:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:45:16] Speaker A: A good shot off that isn't an accident. And that's, like, hilarious because it's like, yeah, in a Resident Evil game, that fucking rolls when you get a shot off. [01:45:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:45:25] Speaker A: And it is kind of like, you know, I think Cragger does a great job, too, of being, you know, knowing what, you know, he would want and what fans would want in terms of, like, oh, this is what usually happens in Resident Evil game. But also being like. But in terms of the narrative, like, every Resident Evil game almost ends in a way where a rocket launcher is involved at the very end and you blow the fucking monster smithereens. [01:45:47] Speaker C: Right. [01:45:48] Speaker A: It would completely, I think, lose all kind of just kind of intensity if [01:45:53] Speaker B: Austin Abrams wound up with a rocket. [01:45:55] Speaker A: Rocket launcher and does it. Especially when they're really going to commit to the idea that the ultimate final monster in the film is him, because he just ultimately, so good couldn't. He just couldn't get the. Get there in time. He got there in time to get the cure, but not in time to basically, you know, not become a monster. [01:46:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:46:16] Speaker A: Then leads to some truly, like, tragically horrifying stuff about the fact that he's just trying to be like, please help me, because if you don't help me, I'm gonna kill you. [01:46:24] Speaker C: I just also, like, when a horror movie commit to not having a rosy, like, bright ending and, like, at the point where he's just becoming this giant monster at the end. Spoilers, of course, but, like, you know, like, what is using a serum on him even look like, is his body gonna reject the eight other bodies that are inside of him? It just. It immediately kind of is just like, at that point you realize, like, oh, this is like a lost cause. [01:46:47] Speaker A: It's funny. [01:46:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:46:48] Speaker A: I mean, it is in Resident Evil, in the fucking lore, you could basically, yeah. Be on the near brink of death because of a virus and get the. Get the vaccine. You're like, all that pain. It's fine. [01:46:57] Speaker C: Incredible. [01:46:58] Speaker A: I mean, it's literally like whole Leon's thing. And nine is basically like, I'm now finally feeling my age at, like, 55, because the virus is killing me. [01:47:07] Speaker C: Right? [01:47:07] Speaker A: And it's like, I need to get. I need to get a vaccine that could help. [01:47:12] Speaker C: For me, the sequence of this movie where he is, like, he's in the second floor of this farmhouse and you almost sequentially, like, it's such a linear movie and I love it for it. But, like, you can see every scene that's got him here just like looking at out the window of like, all right, here's the guy. It's in there. And you see her. You see the woman he had said at the beginning, like, running full speed at him. There is so much set up in the stakes of that. That feels so core to like a Resident Evil experience. Down to like his girlfriend leaving the, like, the audio set that would be [01:47:44] Speaker B: trying to load the gun right. [01:47:46] Speaker C: It's just perfect. And I think that more than anything nails the vibe of like, what I was wanting out of this kind of movie. Down to him. Even just like nailing the shotgun shot where it's just like. It's so much of residue is like getting into a place like that and just like doing these horrible things. And this completely, like, you know, I don't know. I was speechless. I love that it was able to pivot Amelia into this tunnel and then get us all the way to there. But that, like, you know, it can fake you out with the whole, like, oh, is he going to be taking care of this little girl now? [01:48:17] Speaker B: Right? [01:48:18] Speaker C: Like, are we doing this again? And does the exact perfect thing to make her the monster and like, him get bit. I think that's so good. [01:48:26] Speaker A: That's probably my favorite scare is just her face opening. Was genuinely not expecting that to happen. Like, because I thought, like, her like [01:48:35] Speaker B: screaming at him, help me. [01:48:37] Speaker A: Because the leg, like, her leg I thought was gonna be enough. [01:48:40] Speaker C: The tentacles and it's wrapping and to [01:48:43] Speaker A: basically get around the. The fact that it's like he's becoming. He's possibly going to become a father. And to use this one person he's found that isn't technically dead is this little girl. But she is changing. [01:48:55] Speaker C: This whole moment is like, cool. There's another human. There's like a normal. Another normal person in all of this. [01:49:00] Speaker A: And the fact that Krager is not feeling like he's in. He's like, you know, forced to just stay with the typical zombie of the Resident Evil of it all. He is committing to. No, I'm not going to do lickers. I'm not going to do the frog monster. I'm not going to do a giant crocodile. The sewer, right. But I am going to do Stellan Skarsgard looking ass rat king dude that has all these infected rats in them. I am going to do a Mr. X nemesis type character. But that's basically just a katamari ball of decomposing bodies that are apparently sentient and like smarter than any zombie. [01:49:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:49:39] Speaker A: And it's like, it's all these things where he's like, he's like, oh, listen, I'm not gonna play with your toys far say, but my toys kind of look like yours and we can kind of play together at the same time. And I think, I love the fact that he's just committing to that. And also, like Jake has said, like not going to be like. And also have a rosy ending. [01:49:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:49:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:49:57] Speaker A: This isn't Leon, this isn't Claire. This isn't like their classic Resident Evil protagonist. [01:50:02] Speaker C: This is a normal person, a first time video game player dropped into this situation. And. And I think because he responds with that, like he doesn't have to examine the trauma after everything happens in this movie like a real person would. It's so much more like he's like, I shoot that person. Oh my God, like, what the fuck is happening? [01:50:19] Speaker B: He's like, I gotta keep going. [01:50:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:50:21] Speaker A: To have a video game adaptation have its lead character go, yay. Video games unironically, and I don't want to put a gun in my mouth. I think shows the success of how they are capable. Capturing the fun, you know, nature of the Resident Evil games while also getting the horror and also not, you know, kind of pushing anyone away from it. Like, you can enjoy this film. I mean, I mean, Andy can attest to this without having too much knowledge. [01:50:47] Speaker C: It's so much better for it. [01:50:49] Speaker A: 87 different viruses this fucking series has and like how long the fucking timeline is and all this shit. Like it's just. You jump in, you kind of know what Resident Evil is and you just go. [01:51:00] Speaker C: There's one scene with Lore and all you know is, hey, Umbrella company did. The corporate corporation did this and it's our fault. And. And you know, you got to fix it and you know, you have an important job. [01:51:11] Speaker A: The funniest thing too is. Yeah. The fact that it's like, yeah, it's. Fan bases will always kind of poo poo. It's like this is not like the games. And it's like. You mean the games where Umbrella basically just up. They nuke the city and then they basically rebrand and then just do the same thing again. Like they basically. [01:51:27] Speaker C: There's also like weird story beats where like Umbrella gets like sued into oblivion by the US Government and it's like kind of weird beat for your evil, evil corporation, for them to like become irrelevant out of nowhere because they could Sue. [01:51:40] Speaker A: Resident Evil 6 has Neo. Umbrella, I think is one of the company that is making like three different viruses that is hitting the entire globe. And then Resident Evil 7 has a version of Umbrella that is re. Like, like taken over to basically be like a FEMA type. Like we're trying to rebrand and actually use Umbrella Umbrella to help the world. [01:52:01] Speaker C: Right. [01:52:02] Speaker A: And then eight just completely scraps that entirely. Like the series is constantly. It's the same series that has fucking an alligator in the sewers in the fucking second game and a dommy mommy vampire in fucking eight. [01:52:15] Speaker C: Right. [01:52:16] Speaker A: Like the series is all over the place. And the reason why people still play it despite inconsistencies and like, oh, there's another fucking virus and this. And that is the fact that it's this movie. Like this movie. It's confident, it's fun and you're in for the ride. [01:52:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:52:31] Speaker A: And I think this movie really does handle that well. [01:52:34] Speaker C: I think it's just a miracle that Krieger got on board with this and wanted to do this. And as a series that has done so many things that are all disconnected and weird, like was able to kind of just like spin a story he wanted to tell in this world. And there is potential if they want to make sequels of this. I'm not opposed to another 86 minute horror movie where we get in and we get out and you know, we're like, we pick up right where we left off there and you're in this, you know, raccoon city that's hell on earth. And there's. There's just so much fun to the like feeling like you're this small character in this giant, you know, like. Yeah, yeah, it's funny too. Exactly. [01:53:14] Speaker A: It's funny too because after Weapons, Resident Evil was not the first script I think he finished. I think the we talked about after, after the movie is that he finished a DC film that was in development called Henchmen, which was basically this. But in the D.C. world where instead of it just being a courier, you're just a goon in fucking Joker Squad. And it's during a fight between Joker and Batman and he ultimately becomes more like. It was during. Around the time where Clayface got picked up and they were looking for other things and Crager was like, oh, I got an idea and pitched and I think wrote an early draft draft of that. [01:53:50] Speaker C: Interesting. [01:53:50] Speaker A: It's funny to think that like, I don't think Resident Evil exists because it's taken from Henchmen, but it is funny. That he clearly had the idea of. Like, the most interesting idea for me post weapons is living in these spaces that I admire and really like. But I'm not doing, like a Batman movie or a Claire movie or I'm not doing. Oh, it's four now. Like, it's. He just wants to have. Yeah. Wants to play in the playground, in the sandbox while also being. Being like, yeah, there's room to build upon it. But if it does get built upon, it's not going to be the standard sequel situation because Austin is a goddamn monster at the end of this. And his design looks awesome. He's so. I have to give props to not only the fact that Abrams is great at what he does and he carries this film on his back, but the fact that you get a shirtless scene with him and he is so fun, normal. [01:54:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:54:42] Speaker A: He's not. No cum gutters, no eight pack. This, like, this guy look. [01:54:47] Speaker C: Average guy. [01:54:47] Speaker A: He's an average guy who looks good. It is not like Hollywood it up. And whether or not he wanted that to happen. And Craig was like, no. [01:54:56] Speaker B: But it's like, I saw an interview where Craig. Craig and Abrams are sitting together. They're being interviewed together. And Craig goes, I wanted no hot people in this movie. And then he catches himself and is like, wait, wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. [01:55:07] Speaker C: Say you're not hot. [01:55:08] Speaker A: No, it's like, you get it too. [01:55:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:55:10] Speaker A: You. You don't want. I think what happens with welcome to Raccoon City. You have these very attractive people who, again, are good actors, but are also like, clearly, like, this is. You're clearly trying to get some people to be like, ah, look at these. Look at these characters. [01:55:25] Speaker B: The Everyman aspect of it, which is [01:55:27] Speaker A: where, again, the best Resident Evil characters start with the Everyman and then build from it. Yeah. [01:55:33] Speaker C: And then. [01:55:33] Speaker A: And now Chris started as just a random dude who just got stuck in a mansion, and then he ended up punching boulders in a volcano. [01:55:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:55:42] Speaker A: He doesn't get the boulder punching in the second game. It takes, like, four games. [01:55:48] Speaker C: The set piece is also down the stretch just feels so video gamic that. I mean, I gotta mention this. I'm not a big fan of rats. And the rat scare in this movie is so good. And I'm glad it didn't go any further than it did. [01:56:02] Speaker A: It's very brief. [01:56:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:56:03] Speaker C: But it really, really nails, like a certain video game Goric kind of thing. This movie is just really crushing. There's so many things that I feel like are unspoken that you Never really show like kids dying or all these other kind of weird gory things in movies. And this movie just plows straight through all of that and it makes the experience feel so much. Much like more of that. Like I. We have to go through this maternity ward. That's. [01:56:31] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a. [01:56:31] Speaker A: That felt like such. It was so good. [01:56:34] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a kind of violence and gore and just kind of visual horror to this movie that you don't really see outside of Japanese produced video games. [01:56:45] Speaker C: I love it. I love how. [01:56:47] Speaker B: So nice to see it in like a Hollywood movie. [01:56:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:56:50] Speaker C: And. And it still has that video game like it able to keep the levity even in these really just dark grotesque things with like here's this glowing little pod. It looks like a video game thing. Don't you want to like shoot it? And he's like the dumbass first time playing or like, oh yeah. And then a giant monster jumps out at you. [01:57:07] Speaker A: Oh God. Yeah. Cuz all the. I'm swear of all the Resident Evil games I played, I don't think they ever give you zombie children or zombie teenagers even. Like it's like. It's like it's all adults or monsters. Yeah. Because it's one of those things where [01:57:19] Speaker C: it's like tasteful anytime it was dealing with. With that or he dispatches the. The little girl or like all that stuff. Like it's. It's never really lingering on it which means it has more license to have this levity as he's going through what the going on. [01:57:32] Speaker A: I think it's why my brain goes to Dead space. Because I think Dead space was like the first horror series I remember that actually gave you like child monsters. [01:57:39] Speaker C: Yep. [01:57:40] Speaker A: Because the second game you have to go through a nursery and there's little zombie baby monsters. And it's like that it was controversial or it was like it was kind of like, oh my God. That's a bold risk at the time. Because people are like, why the. Because at a certain point you are asking an audience to be like, yeah, we thought it'd be kind of interesting. It was like, I don't know, kill kid monsters. [01:58:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:58:00] Speaker A: It's like at that point you're like, why the. Is that in your head? [01:58:03] Speaker C: We're talking monsters too crazy. We haven't brought up the. The Snowball Slash Katamari Dominic. A little monster that's just chasing him like nemesis the whole time. Yeah. [01:58:16] Speaker A: The. The wife. The fact that it's like a sentient super highly intelligent monster that is literally from the get Go. The woman that he accidentally hits in the car and it's just. [01:58:28] Speaker C: Never lets him go. [01:58:29] Speaker A: Never lets him go. [01:58:30] Speaker B: Latches onto him forever. [01:58:32] Speaker A: And the watching again. I think the film has so many great moments, like just singular scenes that are encapsulate how funny and great this movie movie is where it's like, it's so fun to watch the gross kind of Deacon, like the. The beheaded woman's body suck up the husband. And then you hear Austin and go, oh, that's just gross. I just can't fucking. And he's like, he's somebody. Before I didn't fully read the article, but like somebody compared Austin Abrams to like Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead franchise. And there's a part of me that that's like Abrams could have like his own tinge of that energy of just like every. [01:59:13] Speaker C: In Weapons Fantastic. In this movie, leading this movie. I think that like, yeah, you definitely feel like a very Evil Dead too. But even that movie, it's like, it's terrifying because of all the things that's happening around it. I've even heard the like Michael J. Fox comp with him. He's like. He's got the shrill voice, but he's in the situation. He's. He's like way out of his depth. But like, you know, he's trying and you're rooting for him. And like, I think that's kind of for him, a rarefied air in terms of like, you know, his squeal. Yeah. Like, so, yeah, he just really like, like. And it. It gets a little Die Hard at the end too, where you have him be like, you know, we're in the skyscraper and he. Down to him being shoeless, you know, like, it really like strips. [01:59:59] Speaker B: You gotta make the shot at the end. [02:00:01] Speaker C: He's got to make the shot. It's the most video game. Well, I got to pr. I got to do the quicktime event to get across this bridge. [02:00:07] Speaker A: To go from him being afraid to even shoot the woman in the beginning to literally sitting in a like decomposing elevator shaft to. To grab a acid monster to spew, [02:00:23] Speaker B: use him as a weapon and be [02:00:25] Speaker A: like, kill me you like, it's like, oh my God. His newfound confidence just to like. He just like arm bars him and it's like, just do it. Vomit on him. And then he pushes him out. I was like, that is the goofiest shit you could have done with that. I'm so glad you did that. [02:00:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:00:42] Speaker C: I think of the three movies, it definitely has the least, like, there's a social commentary bit to it, but I don't think it misses anything by just being this straightforward, linear roller coaster where you know why he's going to forward. And again, you have that pull to being like, there's somebody upstairs in this house that's trying to try to kill me, but in the next five minutes, I gotta, like, you know, call my girlfriend and find some ammo. [02:01:05] Speaker A: Well, I mean, Andy could also. We could also attest to this too. Like, we literally, you know, started this year off with the Silent Hill trilogy. [02:01:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [02:01:12] Speaker A: And literally Return to Silent Hill is a film that is like, as a director who really was trying, he's like, I've been wanting to do Silent Hill 2 my entire life, and that movie fucking sucks. And that movie is just like, okay, why the fuck do you do it this way? And then literally, we didn't do this on the pod, but we watched Mortal Kombat 2 together. And while I had a lot of fun with that movie, you were kind of like, yeah, that was fine. And I think a lot of the reason why I had fun with that movie is the reason why I think Resident Evil does it even so much better, is the fact that we are at a point with video game movies, where video games are movies in of themselves at this point. So I don't want. If I'm playing MK11 and I love MK11, and I'm like, oh, now they're gonna make an MK11 film and it's just MK11, but I can't play it, brother. [02:01:58] Speaker B: Don't. [02:01:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I feel like you just do your own thing. [02:02:00] Speaker B: And. [02:02:01] Speaker A: Which is why Resident Evil, I think, is such a great breath of fresh air this year. [02:02:04] Speaker C: This movie gets. Yeah, I agree with you. This movie gets to take advantage of what you can bring with a movie adaptation. These things which is like, the speed is so much more faster than these video games where it's like you're kind of anchored to how fast your character can go. And you have these POV shots that are feel so like you're in him as a character. I mean, we even talk about, like, the Suicide Jumpers thing, where it is literally whipping, like, behind him, these angles that are so, I think, so good. And it is this, like, on the line of being funny or scary, where it's like, I mean, they're trying to hit him with their bodies, but it is just really funny the way these bodies are falling and hitting things. [02:02:42] Speaker A: His squeal is so loud at all times, even when the bodies are like, so concussive. He's still. It's also, I guess, another props to, I think, Craigger as well, because Craig haven't really talked much. I think the music in all three of these films is really good. But it's the same duo and Craigger that did Weapons, or I think, at least the Holiday. I think it's Tim and not Tim and Zach, but the two guys that helped Craig with the score for Weapons. Did the score for this really like the score for this? Because it's not overbearing. Clearly has a lot of love for the Resident Evil series, but does enough of, like, for the, you know, the dramatic moments and the intense moments. It's just a lot of fun. And it just is like. And also the sound design, again, like, I agree with you, Jake, that I think in terms of, like, all three of these films, this film, I think, is, like, surface level. There's nothing you really have to do into it. But, my God, the shot where you watch the woman go through the front door, but you're seeing it through the second floor, like, just watching through the wood, knowing exactly where she's running up. Krager would not stop saying in interviews that he wanted people to know layouts and to know how many bullets Abrams had at all times. And I think the film succeeds that in spades, because as soon as you watch her get into the house, it's like, you know exactly in your head mentally. I know where the house is. I know where the stairs are. She's got, like, five seconds to get up here, and then you get to the city and you're like, oh, new place, new thing we had to figure out. But then, like, everything he has to do is like, the sewers. Oh, the elevator shaft. Oh, but you are at least, like, even in the elevator. Hilariously, Zachary Krager, with a voice cameo is basically like, yeah, you have to go up to the 24th floor, and then you have to take the sky bridge. [02:04:39] Speaker C: How relatable that after four. Four flights, he's out of breath and, like, I'm taking the elevator. [02:04:45] Speaker A: It's so good. It just like, yeah. This film is very much not trying to make you, like. It is very much. It feels. Could be a breath of fresh air for Craigger to be like, there was weapons, was doing so much. Just go easy peasy. [02:04:59] Speaker C: It must be so nice to, like, turn those, like, parts of your brain off and be like, what is the most fun monster thing I can do here? What is the most. You know. And I think the snow setting just makes the Beginning of the movie so much more prettier than the back half. You can are so good. [02:05:14] Speaker A: I mean it was hilarious that a lot of the, a lot of the reviews I saw was like, it's a film that really shows you that you should appreciate your postmates driver more or like kind of shit like that where it's like. It is hilarious how it, it does feel like. Yeah. In this film in America, of course this man is just going to take the best like as soon like the most desperate job possible and he's going to commit to it even though he's like at this point might as well just turn the fuck around to get out of there. [02:05:38] Speaker C: Yeah. I think my review on Letterbox is simply this is what it's like to work in the gig economy. [02:05:43] Speaker A: I mean it's, it is, I mean again when the movie starts I think similar to like kind of weapons and barbarian. Just him at that hospital where he's just like, hey, can anyone sign here? Oh my God. This is like seeing people do like surgery and stuff and he like. And you completely understand him where he's like, you know, when he forges the one woman signature, she's been an asshole. And it's like, it's like he's not an asshole. He's just, he's just a smart ass and he's clearly like someone who really, you know, is like clearly once you find out later he wants to have a family with his girlfriend. But it's a, it's a scary step. And of course instead of doing the scary step, he's like, I'm just going to take an easy, easy gig. [02:06:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:06:21] Speaker A: And then that easy gig honestly cost his life. But it leads to him to like do some growth in that. [02:06:25] Speaker C: And he's never like super cynical, but he's also never super noble in the movie either. There's nothing that ever draw like he's never motivated out of compassion for anything he's doing. He was purely paranoia and survival. [02:06:37] Speaker A: He was this close to get Maxine's keys and he still backs out. He's like, okay, we're not doing this anymore. Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I'm leaving. [02:06:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:06:44] Speaker A: It's so funny the that it's just like, yeah, it's just a great time. You really just. Whether it's your favorite or not of his three films, it is just like he really is just taking his kind of like going off of weapons and just being like, I can do more than just the two plus hour, you know, very packed ensemble film. I Can literally take this guy that I just love and hyper fixate on, put him in front of the camera, let him go wild, and I, I can just have fun. Remember, like, I'm the guy that did Barbarian as a lot of Resident Evil. Kind of has the energy of like, I did Barbarian. Like, I can, I can do this. [02:07:19] Speaker B: Yeah. I think he's just got. He's. He's clearly a massive fan of horror and really understands horror as a medium or as a genre. And, you know, the more he wants to play around just in the genre and do different things with it, you the better. Because I think as a. Just as a technical filmmaker and his ability to visualize these, these intense scenarios, he's just really strong. Yeah. [02:07:49] Speaker A: And it makes me curious to see what he does next because he's already talked about his next thing is full blown sci fi. Like, he's doing well. I think he says he's doing something that he is tying. He's basically doing 2001 A Space Odyssey with like alien vibes. So he's doing horror again, but it's like, interesting. Like, his next thing is like, yep, full blown sci fi. Sci fi horror. And I'm like, okay, now. [02:08:13] Speaker B: And if Horizon remake. Yeah. Shout out Paul Thomas Anderson. [02:08:18] Speaker C: Do you think this movie is gonna spawn sequels? Do you think we'll get it? Will this be like an Anglattis prequel situation where he'll come in and write or what do you think? Like, if these do really well? Like, I think there's a world where, I mean, I'm not mad at four more movies like this. 86 minutes and you're. You just. I mean, I throw ride. [02:08:36] Speaker B: I would think PlayStation would definitely be behind, you know, they. [02:08:40] Speaker C: Yeah, Sony would. [02:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. More of that. I mean, I don't know exactly how well this is doing, but assuming it's [02:08:48] Speaker A: doing well, it was on track to make 80, and I think it's in the 70 to 80 range, which is pretty, pretty good. And also the fact that it's like, like, you know, Krager right out of Barbarian. A few years after that, like, they used Crager's name to sell Companion, even though he didn't write or direct that film. So, like, Crager's name already has some kind of weight. And now after weapons, it's going to have even more weight. So with having Barbarian weapons and Resident Evil as a one, two, three punch, success wise, I think there's a good chance that we'll probably get a 2, but not with him. Unless they give him even More creative control. And then, like, maybe a bigger budget, but, like, he's got the sci fi film and then maybe they could do it too. But he produces or writes it. Like, he. He can go anyway, like, to me, like, I would say, you know, as much as I had a. I adore all three of these films in different ways. I would probably say that, like, if you compare him to Peele, I do probably say I get more out of, like, us and. Nope. Than I probably do, like Bar Barbarian or Resident Evil even Get out too. Even though Get Out's great in its own way. But there's something about Crager that I'm just so glad that the guy who co directed Ms. March isn't just the guy that co directed Ms. March. The fact that he had a decade to have some acting gigs and to do other things and then ultimately lead to a writing exercise that has now led to a newfound horror career that. That can now go wherever he wants it to go. [02:10:18] Speaker C: I think I looked up. The worldwide opening was $108.3 million worldwide. So it was a record for him and for Resident Evil as a franchise. [02:10:28] Speaker A: For opening, the movie has barely been out in a week. And I literally saw today of someone recreate. Like someone did a comic version of when he pulls the ladder from the barn and throws it at the dog and realizes he could have used the ladder. Like, people are already making fan art of him loving Austin in this. The fat chud in the sewers is like, again. [02:10:48] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I think that was a meme just from the trailer. [02:10:51] Speaker A: Honestly. Sold me immediately when they're like, that guy's not from the games. And I was like, yeah, but why is that fat chud in the sewers? I gotta find out. And he's the Rat King is basically the response to that. He's just fucking filled with rats that also can regenerate. But yeah, that's the rise of cragger. Honestly, I'm excited to see where it goes. Hopefully it's only up from here. [02:11:11] Speaker B: Here. [02:11:12] Speaker A: But regardless, yeah. Jake, thank you so much for joining us on this show. [02:11:15] Speaker C: Thanks again, guys. This is great. I'm glad to have the excuse to talk about these movies. [02:11:21] Speaker A: I bet when you're watching Barbarian, you're wondering when Pastor Dave was going to show up. [02:11:24] Speaker C: But I was worried he was in the basement too, that they had a little kennel for him. [02:11:29] Speaker A: And then he goes, you know what incest is in the Bible? It was like, okay. But yeah, Jake, thank you for joining us. And excited. It doesn't have to be Bridget Jones next. [02:11:40] Speaker B: Okay. [02:11:40] Speaker A: Something else. [02:11:41] Speaker C: We'll put our heads together, we'll think of something together. [02:11:43] Speaker A: But yeah, until then, our next episode is I would probably say also horror related, but not the traditional horror, because. [02:11:53] Speaker B: Correct. [02:11:54] Speaker A: This actually was supposed to be in June. Was it May? [02:11:59] Speaker B: May or June? Yeah. [02:12:00] Speaker A: So originally this trilogy was supposed to be in May, but the third film in this trilogy didn't get an American release date until literally a few weeks [02:12:10] Speaker B: ago, end of September. [02:12:12] Speaker A: So now we are finally doing, on October 24, we are going to be doing the Mononoke trilogy. [02:12:18] Speaker B: Right. [02:12:19] Speaker A: Which is. Can you. [02:12:21] Speaker B: Well, so yeah, I mean the, the trilogy is actually a kind of reboot or subsequent adaptation of, of a TV show, an anime called Mononoke from the 2000s, which itself was kind of a spin off of a prior ghost story anime called Ayakashi. [02:12:42] Speaker A: Yeah, it was basically three different stories that could have led into different shows. But Mononoke is the only thing to become its own show. [02:12:49] Speaker B: It actually became its own show. Yeah. So it was a 12 episode series in I think 2007. But basically the premise is this, this guy in medieval Japan who calls himself the medicine seller and kind of masquerades as a traveling medicine man, is secretly an exorcist. He basically removes demons and curses from areas and it's hyper stylized, this incredibly kind of surreal, abstract, very paper like texture to the animation. And the original series is a lot of fun, but these, these new films kind of reinvent the visual style. It still very much feels like the original series, but in it's amped up to a more psycho psychedelic degree. They employ more, you know, digital tools to further push the, the back boundaries of what the animation can do. [02:13:50] Speaker A: Jake, I'd recommend giving it like a try. I think it's on Crystal Roll and on our plex because it's like, it is the. Yeah, the fucking trippy like art style is incredible. [02:14:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so they're, they're basically psychedelic ghost mysteries set in medieval Japan. And the, the trilogy is actually so the original series, it's basically like every episode or every couple episodes is its own story. Yeah. And this movie trilogy kind of merges a continuous narrative with that episodic structure because each of the three films is its own mystery, but they're all tied together and, and tell one singular story across them. [02:14:34] Speaker A: And it's. They all came out in 2020, 24, 2025. And then the last film came out this year, 6. And it's Ashes in the Rain, Phantom [02:14:44] Speaker B: in the Rain, the Ashes Of Rage. And the Curse of the Serpent is the new one. [02:14:48] Speaker A: Yes. And we have both watched the show. I was gonna try and watch the original series. Or at least the original three episodes. [02:14:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:14:56] Speaker A: Cause actually the original three episodes are talked about a lot in the show. [02:14:59] Speaker B: They're referenced in the final arc of the show. Yeah. [02:15:02] Speaker A: But I'm really curious. Cause this is year. Kind of like you brought this up. And it's also something that I think we both have seen on our radar because it's this trippy, psychedelic ghost horror series that is honestly very abstract in its horror. [02:15:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:15:16] Speaker A: In a way that it's like. I can imagine some people being like, that's not scary. But other people being like, fuck me, don't. [02:15:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't like that at all. [02:15:23] Speaker A: I don't like that at all so much. [02:15:24] Speaker B: James Wan. Scary as it is, like, kind of conceptually eerie and dark. [02:15:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Closer. Like, not. [02:15:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:15:32] Speaker A: Because not Ito. Not Juji Ito. Not like body horror stuff. But it's very much taking, like the classic ghost story, like, Yokai kind of stories you might have heard just in just Osmosis and then just kind of like amping them up to 11 with a really cool psychedelic art style. [02:15:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:15:48] Speaker A: And you can watch it both subbed or dubbed. Honestly, both are really good. I watched the show, kind of mixing both. [02:15:54] Speaker B: I did, too. [02:15:55] Speaker A: And I keep. I keep wanting to call him the potion seller. Yeah. But he's a. Yeah. So tune in on the 24th when we talk about the Mononoke trilogy. And as always, I'm Logan Soosh. [02:16:07] Speaker B: And I'm Andy Carr. [02:16:08] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening. Bye.