There's only a few things that I really care about in my life.
My body, my pad, my ride, my family, amen, my church, my boys, my girls, and my podcast.
Welcome everybody to the polarized podcast.
Happy to have you here.
We're, I mean, you saw the title, you know what it's about.
We're talking Don John today.
I couldn't help myself.
Uh, we, I had to intro the movie like our intro of the podcast.
Like the, we intro the movie.
Um, this is polarized podcast.
This is a podcast about polarizing movies, which this be one of them.
Uh, that means sometimes audience love and critics hated or vice versa.
This is the one of them.
Yarr.
You just be one of them.
You're her.
Me.
D.
You best start believing in ghost stories because you're in one.
Polarizing movies.
Movies.
Cause you're in one.
Scary.
John baby.
Let's go.
Um, this is 80% critics.
58 stinky, uh, on the audience side of things.
Uh, yeah, we talked about polarizing movies here today.
We're talking about Don John.
This is a, the 2013, uh, directorial debut of JGL, um, starring himself, uh, Scarlett
Johansson, Julian Moran, Tony Danza, and I'll say Glenn Henley too.
Uh, she's pretty great.
The mother and, uh, one of the very first performances of, uh, a Brie Larson, uh, who
goes on to have somewhat of a career.
Um, not somewhat of one.
I'm great.
You know, so far a great career.
Marred by some controversy.
Not just a Brie career, but a Gouda career.
Okay.
So let's get it.
So it's not just, obviously it's not just me talking to you here, that other voice
in the, uh, that's chiming in and rightfully so.
Cause there, this movie is goofy.
We're talking.
It's my right.
Get used to it.
It's your right.
Uh, as I said, I'm the one who suggested this movie and I'm really interested to talk
to my, uh, co-host.
He also referred to him as the forever guest.
Um, I'm going to intro now, uh, Mr.
James Lindsay, how's it going?
I'm a feature.
I'm featuring on the episode and I'm here again.
Uh, welcome back everyone to the polarize pod and welcome to the Don Brandini show,
baby.
Yes.
That is a, you can appropriately named aptly named the Don Brandini.
I go by many names and Don Brandini now is just, uh, put, uh, put itself on the list.
I'm collecting them.
You're collecting them.
Yeah.
I am.
Uh, yeah.
I also go by the great brandini, uh, the breezy brandini, the, uh, yeah, I don't know the
man, the mystery of the brandini, you know, those kinds of things.
Um, but yeah, James.
Hey, how's it going?
Oh, I didn't see you there.
I didn't see you there.
I was trying to think of like other, uh, JGL directorial soft morrick efforts.
Cause I don't, I don't know any after this one.
What else is there?
No, there's not.
No, uh, not, no.
Yeah.
Cause this also kind of torpedoes his career as well.
Um, so even though I feel like there's going to be some times in which I am to say, like
on the, on this movie side, um, upon this, uh, I would say probably this is my fifth
rewatch of this movie.
Cause I used to show people this movie.
Um, and like, yeah.
There have been many times where I'm like, Oh, let's watch this movie because it's pretty
easy, breezy.
All things considered, right?
James.
I mean,
like four tight 84, like you're kind of in and out.
It was like, it says hour and a half, but that's including credits.
I was like, Oh, it's exactly hour and a half.
Hell yeah.
And I was like, Oh, that's including like six minutes of credits.
Dude, totally right?
Like it doesn't have, you know,
I'm sorry, no, no, no, please.
Yes.
I mean, you have, you have just some, it's still took two, two settings for me.
I couldn't finish the hour and a half movie in one set.
It's hard to launch cause, uh, you know, anybody who's listening to this episode,
go listen to our fountain episode where, um, no, this isn't a revenge.
Hate.
No, it's not revenge.
Hate at all.
No, no, no.
The reason I only bring that up is cause I sell, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,
you know, I.
More often than not, like we have a somewhat of a diplomatic like back and forth
about what movies to pick, but there are some movies that were like,
I would like to do this.
You know what I mean?
And that's the only thing I'm saying that really let's be honest, uh,
lesbianhek, um,
Don John would say that you are don Brandini Brandini.
Yeah.
I think with like, polarizing movies, it was inevitable that we were going to get
some movies that we are passionate one way or the other.
A lot of times we're we're in the middle, which is like middle.
A lot of the time, a lot of like 80 percent.
Sometimes it feels like a cop out, but it's really just how I feel about a lot of things.
It's like, oh, it's pretty good.
They spent all this time and effort into making it.
It's like it's pretty good.
And then for it to be like really great takes a lot more and for it to be really bad.
It takes a takes a whole lot of something too.
So for us to feel passionate one way or the other takes a lot.
And then even then, I feel like it's likely that we're both holding hands
on the negative or positive.
But for us to be opposed or some special apps, I think they're they're fun,
which I feel like we're already we're getting there a little bit.
Because this is my first time seeing it.
I remember seeing the trailer at the time.
And I do remember you telling me that you liked this movie
like when it came out and I should check it out.
But I never got around to it.
Yeah, and I'm trying to think if like my twenty three year old brain
might have liked it more than I've been into it.
I like a little bit more.
What I like to do more.
But also I could see it being yeah, forgettable as well, even at that time.
Well, I don't know. But what was so you wanted to like show people?
Do you have a couple like fun viewing memories of this movie?
Because I remember we had like Jersey Shore parties,
not to bring it into the Jersey Shore.
Yeah, no, no, this is why.
No, I was glad you brought.
Yeah, it was a fun thing that we did on Jersey.
We had Jersey Shore nights and we all brought red wine, like box wine.
And we got trashy and watched Jersey Shore.
And that was a lot of fun in college.
Absolutely. I'm so glad you brought that up because that's obviously the.
Persona JGL is affecting here.
Is this hyper masculine?
And what he conceives as the wrong
stare like the wrong stereotype being propagated by popular media?
It's just interesting because.
This is later than that.
So it's just it's something that was sticking around with him for
quite a bit of time, but nonetheless, like this little.
His his his character here is very much of that.
A Jersey Shore type of persona where this person is like their whole
identity is wrapped up in things that are.
Worth critiquing because they are in opposition to a more.
Like, if you were to be more critical of your life and go, what matters in life?
It isn't these things that you own, or the perception of yourself,
It's how well you love.
And he has an issue with loving because he is so like, I need to be seen as cool.
I need to be seen as fucking.
I need to be seen as a good son, you know, a good boyfriend, whatever.
And yeah, I think a lot of the like why we watched Jersey Shore was very ironically because
we watched it like how it's like watching.
Any reality television is people when given carte blanche to just go, you know, we want
you to be as crazy as you can be.
That's the type of persona that ends up shaping itself is somebody that is all about their
looks and has.
Yeah.
And it's like very little depth.
It's like all you're doing is drinking and you're fucking like a cave person, essentially.
Yeah, the character is propped up that way.
And he's definitely very concerned about image.
And I think they get that first part across well as far as like who this guy is.
And I feel like we can imagine if not this guy, at least the stereotype of this guy because
it's because it is very much that.
Yes, very much so to the point where Danza and him are wearing identical like matching
like Italian, Italian American sort of fucking.
Oh, yeah, my feet are ATC belts and boots and you know, tuck it in and they take their
shirts off at dinner is so funny to me because I love that is I think that's such a funny
thing that families could potentially do because again, I don't know for certain.
And I don't want to now after seeing this for like at this point in my life because
there's been a long gap between the two.
That's also builds into the excitement that I have for this conversation is that when
it first came out, I was really, really about it, mainly from the way that it looks at pornography,
which we'll get into.
I think it's really interesting, especially how ahead of the curve in my mind.
It is to the incel red pilling movement that is now prominent online is there's a lot of
men who are anti porn, then become anti women and then become really radicalized on certain
ideas because then they just start getting filtered into this.
Like, why doesn't anybody love me now?
This group loves me in order to be loved by this group, then I need to be this person.
That's where I feel like you're giving the movie a little too much credit in my mind
because that's where I wanted it to go was more into that that kind of stuff and in some
other different way, because when I'm saying like, yeah, earlier with that beginning of
that sense was like, you get to get that first part right of like who this guy is, but they
don't have anything to really like say about it or say about him as in my opinion, that
like very little and it comes kind of like right at the end and the moment with Julian
more in him not to jump too far ahead is kind of no, no, no, no, it's kind of the big change
for him because he is like, like you're saying this guy who's like needs if he doesn't have
it all figured out, you at least has to portray that outwardly to the people around him because
that's what matters a lot is the age and at least what people think of him, even if some
of that stuff may not be true, as we find out that he you know, he actually does need
other things than he lists in the movie.
But I just think that the movie would have been much more interesting if it had a commentary
on that a little bit more of a commentary on that.
And I think what you brought up right there would have been an excellent place to go or
even if you wanted to go into the more transformative route with him or more humor or I'm not sure
it just there seemed like a lot of lazy choices for me.
But you mentioned the porn aspect of it and that that was something that caught you when
you first watched it.
And yeah, I was just wanted I was curious for you to like, if you want to expand more
on that because you said that that was something that drew you to it.
Yeah, like it's depiction of that.
Because I think that's something that yeah, for me, like it does that in a way that's
a lot of I can't think of a lot of other movies that portray in yeah, in male loneliness in
this way.
But then he's like he enjoys it more than sex.
So that that was an interesting dynamic of his character.
But was that part of it for you or just having that?
Yeah, because it was just part of the movie in general.
I just I recognized in college, especially being a part of multiple social circles like
how.
Porn is becoming more readily available and it is influencing the way that people can
see relationships if they don't educate themselves or like maybe not educate themselves, but
like keep themselves grounded in reality.
You know what I mean?
Like it's just and porn is one thing and it's an easy thing to go to.
Because I don't want to chastise porn and I don't think the people making this movie
are anti porn.
Right?
Like I I don't get that sense.
But what they're saying is is like it's.
Porn like the way that people could consume porn is very can has a lot of similarities
to now a lot of modern ills is like every there's so many things are so easily accessible
that you can just indulge in them all the time and you can lose your sense of reality
in it because it will become your reality because you're just able to consume it every
day.
So if something exists every day for you, it's your reality.
Right?
And I I found it very interesting that it is just making a stance by an actress that
I respect the shit out of who does at least communicates the the things that you should
think about in order to unpill yourself essentially from a reality that isn't actual like real
the real reality.
There's like, you know what I mean?
Like there's a like people build up in themselves, you know, a reality that doesn't exist, I
guess, and it's hard for me to I don't know the terminologies for this psychologically,
but like now because you can live online a personality that personality will become you
and then once it becomes you, it's a reality.
And that doesn't necessarily mean that it's true like based in facts.
It's just based in, you know, facts in that they exist there.
But are they really good for you or they true?
Is almost beside the point.
And I just find this movie is like.
And what it's kind of what it's trying to say at the end event, really interesting.
Yeah, that was the most interesting part was Julie, some up at the end for sure.
And her kind of dressing him down.
And that is absolutely what the movie feels as well as her is what her character tells
him at the end, because yeah, it's not championing Scar Joe and in the movie, if anything, it's
showing how toxic and incompatible their relationship is, which can happen to anybody
is that you just like your priorities and your needs don't line up and they're not
treating each other well.
And then, you know, there's on the outside looking in of this movie, I see the arc of
him moving on to Julian more and then having just accepting that's an easy breezy thing.
But like you're saying, that really comes together at the end and up until then it is
this routine, which I think when you discuss reality, I think his routine is the makeup
of them and that's the buildup of that reality that he's constructed for himself and that
convenience and that ability to, yeah, make these or use something like that that quick
and easy is turns out to be ends up being kind of selfish and borderline.
I don't know, narcissistic wouldn't be the word, but just yeah, just like so so like
and Julian were to tell him to tell him like you don't give anything to anybody and you
expect everything in return and that at least was borderlining on something that I was interested
in the movie getting more into and it's a shame that it took so long.
I feel like to get there because there's a lot of time spent with him and Scar Joe and
him trying to hide his porn addiction to her into the church or just trying to work through
that with with the father, the church with the father.
Yeah.
So yeah, you want to break down the list and talk about all this.
At least Scar Joe.
I mean, Scar Joe.
Yeah, I would love to James.
Yeah.
That's what you do every day to you.
Don Brandy Don Braun Don.
You betcha.
Scar Joe is is solid to as far as like the Jersey accent goes.
She isn't too too shabby at making it fun and like wearing us.
Yeah, she's good.
Costumes are pretty crazy.
But you know, she wears a leather jacket and everything.
It's it's that she's she's cute and fun.
And it's like she's having having a good enough time and making it somewhat lived in.
And then there's JGL.
But what do you feel about Scar Joe and the rest of the cast?
You could talk a little bit about the cast.
No, no, no.
Yeah.
But I get what you mean is like JGL is trying a lot harder than Scar Joe is to affect like
and we've talked about this with I like I always am really kind of hurt by which is
so funny because she's in this movie.
What's her?
No, no, no.
In Hathaway.
Oh, yeah, she is in this movie.
It's so funny to me that in Hathaway is the like idealistic or like the representation
of film love.
Right, which is compares to pornography for women is essentially what for women.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Which how do you feel about that statement?
No, because romance is and as with porn, I guess could could be just it's non binary.
You know, it's it's all it's all a matter of preference.
I guess is like one for the other.
And I've and I'm definitely one to enjoy a good romantic drawler.
Me too.
Absolutely.
I feel I feel more inclined to reject because I want some of that too for myself.
I want some romantic comedy joy as well.
It's it's yeah, I watched even I tried to watch 50 Shades recently to this whole side
tangent, but damn, it's that was like, oh, made me so upset when it's trying to be so
sexy.
This is in a different sort of way and a much more masculine sort of way.
That's trying that one's trying to please the female gaze, which is like something that's
much needed in movies as well.
And that was and it sucks for it to fail so so bad.
But this is very much.
Yeah, about masculinity.
And I wanted to get more into the toxic side of that as well.
Like like him for him to be an asshole, but he ends up getting with Scarjo and they're
kind of just assholes to each other.
Which is what the comeuppance is, right?
It's like it's the idea that he like she is as equal in the sense of being so.
Interested in the what you're supposed to be like what the ideal is, you know.
Like she he, which is to Scarjo's real credit, like she meets him at being the person who
is that like smoke show, but is not really that interested in.
Wanting to like she wants to change him to his ideals, right?
She wants to own him.
Yeah, absolutely.
She like wants to own him as property and all.
But she's also wants him to be exactly like she thinks a man should be.
Right.
And he feels the same way about that.
It's like he wants in his mind.
There's a role in yes, the fill, which is a.
And there's a role he feels that she has to fill that she's not fulfilling as well.
And it's just weird and uncomfortable to have those like lines of monologuing where he's
talking about like doggy style sucks, you know, and girls don't want to necessarily.
Oh, he likes mission.
No, he he likes doggy style.
He doesn't like.
He's like that's right.
But they like.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
And it's all of that to me is so interesting because.
GGL does understand that this movie is satire and there is.
Finn is so thin, but it's trying to be, I know.
Right.
Absolutely.
To just kind of backpedal a little bit is to talk about GGL where he's at is like this
movie also kind of ends a very strong run of his.
Yeah.
When is this?
Is this after inception and like Dark Knight rises and shit?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
He was hot shit and then he did the hit record show after this.
He'd been doing hit records before all of that.
Okay.
Gotcha.
I remember like came to like a more prime time maybe viewing.
Yes, it did.
Oh, sure.
That's true.
Yeah, but in a big, big way.
But he started hit record in 2005 because his brother who passed away was really into
this idea.
So he just always kept with it.
And it was like an online thing.
And then it became like a show like on streaming, right?
This one I.
Oh, YouTube, like YouTube something.
Okay.
Gotcha.
And it was all pure created content that would kind of come in.
Yeah.
And I would jump, I would jump into that every now and then and check it out.
And it was like, it was a, it was a very earnest, honest, sincere concept from someone who wants
nothing more than to be creative and to practice that creativity in like a public space.
And much like Anne Hathaway, sometimes it's a little much to be the audience in those
circumstances.
You're like happy for him.
Go, hey, go get him, JGL.
Go get, you know, but sometimes it's like, ah, it's a little much, a little much to watch.
It's like anybody.
Yeah.
It's like any.
Anybody.
Good.
Kind of a friend who is a, um, like a feeder major and.
Hey, it was almost me.
It was almost you.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, but you know what I mean?
It's like there are certain theater majors that are like a lot.
Damn.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
I was in that role there.
They're a lot.
Oh yeah.
It's so performative and so like exuding this need to be seen and through their creativity.
I don't want to, I'm not trying to demean anybody who is a theater major.
I'm sorry.
Oh, no, they'd be the first to admit, I'm sure.
I'm sure.
But yeah, like there, there's just that.
And that's why upon this viewing, it was very noticeable about the accent and about this
persona JGL is affecting, which is incredibly distracting.
This viewing where I'm like, my God, this is just a person who's seen a New Jersey person
on TV like watched, you know, it's an impression of the situation.
It's right.
It's like, it feels very much like impression, impressionistic of, of doing like the big things
that'll get you, get you through, but it's not, I don't know.
It was kind of insufferable to watch him a lot.
Well, in a lot of there's so much, there's so much narration.
There's a lot, a lot of narration of like daily just going through his routine.
I'm curious how many days this goes through, at least the routine of it, because it just
it goes through those and it starts to get very repetitive very quickly.
And he's just narrating it the whole time and telling you exactly how he feels at all
points and there's just a lot of other times for other, other kinds of introspection, but
he's just not that type of guy.
But that, that yeah, that accent and the whole, the whole thing was just one note a little
bit.
Sure.
And you bring up a point that upon this viewing that I was really tuned into is like, this
isn't a good movie.
And this as a first time directorial debut, this movie is relatively boring.
It is a little weirdly aimless and just rests on its laurels.
But it feels like a debut for sure.
And even then, like not a debut, you're like excited about this thing.
You know, now, now watching this year, just like, I like again, I, and I, and I think
this is something obviously that'll, that'll be, yeah, that'll be present throughout this
whole episode is like, there are some ideas about this movie that I'm not going to criticize
my younger self for being into.
But now looking upon this again, I'm like, yeah, there are some like visually, uh, plotting
wise and just overall, like where your focus is, is aimless, not well developed and uninteresting.
The editing and choice of and pacing, as I mentioned, is the repetition of that routine.
But just, just as a single example, there was this moment, I figured exactly where in
the movie it's like where he, he and him scar Joe, like, leave each other at the end of
the night.
And then it goes into the morning and it does the slow zoom out on top of the kitchen counter
to him washing a plate.
And he's looking at this little thing on the plate like, I really got to get that.
Yeah.
And scene.
And then it goes into him like going to church and like, why, why did we need that?
What was the point of that?
I was like, need freak.
He's such a need freak, dude.
The conversation that he has, like he's just, which, okay.
The swiffer guy.
He was just watching the.
Okay.
Can I just say the swith of the editing was bananas, dude.
I had to like stop for a second.
I was like, I rewound.
I was like, what did I miss something?
Did something else happen?
And then he knows just him and this shot was like really trying to be like, look at that
morning light.
Look at that.
And then there's other things like the stop animation, which I thought was kind of cool,
but also like someone making a video for you.
Right.
That's top animation of him jerking off in all these places.
Right.
And the bed, like in the changing, like the sheets and the pizza.
He jerked off like 12 times.
I think it's like 11 times.
He ordered a pizza.
He jerked off like seven times.
Order a pizza and then into the pizza and then jerked off more.
It's, but that is like a clear sign of, yeah, like a debut of an amateur.
Oh my gosh.
Sorry.
Sorry, buddy.
But like it's like something that's very earnest.
He's such an earnest dude and he's trying something different.
He's like, we're going to have a whole sequence of like a montage of me jerking it.
Stop stop animation because, because I want to, because I want to try to see if I can
do it, you know, and it like.
Because it's all of his influences.
It looks kind of cool, but it ends up being kind of pointless as well.
But it's so interesting that all of his influences are on display like that because he literally
was on.
He did a Spielberg movie, a Nolan movie, and then a Mark.
Oh, and so Lincoln's and then web was which one was the web one?
Web was.
500 days of summer.
Ah, yeah.
I mean, this is definitely writing off the high of that.
Well, in interviews, too, he said as much as like I watched an interview where.
They were the guy, the guy interviewing him was like, this has a lot of similarities to
500 days of summer because it has the tendency by male viewers to misinterpret him like the
main character, right?
As being a good guy and, you know, and if anybody and that's all what's funny about
500 days to summer for me in my life is like, you're supposed to watch that movie as a guy
and go like, here's this fucking self absorbed piece of shit that is ruining a relationship
with somebody because all he gives a shit about is himself.
And it's like.
And but they're romanticizing and putting people right things on.
I've seen movies, too, but that's right, I've seen movies, too, so I can understand how
you get there, but you're misreading the tea leaves, you know, it's like anybody who's
ever seen fucking.
Fight club fight club.
Yeah.
Oh, fight.
Yes, fight club.
That's what I want to talk about because recently watching Fight Club again.
It was kind of similar to this movie where a younger version like the younger me didn't
notice certain aspects of it or didn't understand the tone of it well enough because they just
hadn't seen enough or hadn't experienced enough.
So I got wrapped up in like how cool this is when you watch these things, you're like,
no, these aren't.
These aren't good people.
These aren't the guys you want to be.
Yeah, like, yeah, like there's no plan.
There is no plan.
There's no plan.
And also, too, all of this shit that is happening to them is because of that.
Even though it's like exciting to see in a movie, so then you think, well, if I act
like this, then my life will be exciting.
But you're like, all of these terrible things are happening because they put themselves in
there by having terrible views on like society and on life.
And it is.
Yeah.
Again, this movie is so interesting to me because it presents itself as here is what
a terrible way of looking at things is.
Yeah.
And like it gets there at the end and you would have to be pretty pretty stupid to not
get it, but with this one, it is not there and like banging you over the head at the
end necessarily, but it's it's absolutely there.
And that's a big part of what the ending is.
And you'd have to be pretty stupid to not understand that.
And with fight fight club, it is so multi layered and it looks so cool.
And you have Brad Pitt and everything that like people just get so disillusioned with
the make the makeup of it all rather than the substance.
But I told this is better movie.
Especially like an impressionable mind and everything.
Yeah, it is.
It is still a great movie, but it is interesting like to see how people interpret things and
people understanding media literacy these days.
And I've already talked about this with like poor things and everything.
And it's like people misinterpreting what the movie is trying to do is so frustrating.
And it's like it's totally fine if you don't like it.
But then when we read these reviews on the on our podcast and it's like, oh, you don't
like it, whatever, it's fine.
But like you really don't like it for like this other reason that's like seems it's it
confuses and befuddles me when people misinterpret it so badly that it like offends them in
a in a stupid way rather than like the right way.
It's like you it's OK if you're offended, but you're not offended in the right way because
you're too stupid to get it, which I'm not the smartest guy in the in the tool shed.
And you know, there's not many smart guys in that tool shed.
But that's just me in there trying to trying to screw or something.
Well, they call you the hammer, right?
They call me the hammer.
Because I'm doing it.
Yes.
No, I am smart.
And far to guess.
Starticus.
So this so like there's there's like sections of the movie.
I mean, like the I'm trying to think of like any other sections.
I feel like the club and like the dinner sections of the movie.
Can I talk about club stuff?
Club stuff.
Let's go to club.
And can I? Yeah.
So something that threw me off this time around is how terrible of a relationship
he has with his friends, even though that's also what he cares about.
You know what I mean?
But when I saw this this time, I really picked up.
I'm like, he couldn't give a shit less about any of these so-called friends.
And like he only makes fun of one guy all the time and never tells him he's doing
anything great and just like makes fun of him.
Like his friends function as wallpaper to his life.
And it was so crazy to me to be like.
That to think about it at that level of like when somebody says and I've met these people,
you know what I mean?
It's like and you have to I'm sure.
Is.
These people are functioning only as like I'm going to show up to this place.
I'm going to need to talk to somebody for a little bit of time,
but I couldn't give a fuck less about what's going on with their life.
Yeah, and it made me hate Don John a lot because I'm like, you don't give a shit
about any of your friends.
If anything, your the his black friend was like an actually good person.
Oh, yeah, like shows up and was like, hey, dude, that's so frustrating.
You said this at the club the other night and like, wait a minute, like that's.
OK, what's going on?
And I was like, thank you.
Finally, somebody is like.
Like ask because right, like with the voiceover and with where the scenes are
and the camera is like all you know is his perspective.
The so much of this movie like 80 percent of the movie.
And it is annoying at a time because you're like, but I'm not supposed to like you though.
Right. So like it's not smart enough or funny enough where even though I'm not
supposed to like you, I'm OK with hanging out with you.
I'm just getting frustrated with being around you.
Like you're making dumb decisions.
You're like having the wrong perspective on stuff.
Like even from jump, you're like.
I can understand.
To like.
You wanting to have fun.
But your version of fun sounds shitty like all you're doing is you're going
to the club just to hook up because you need to rectify your porn addiction.
And you're like, why do I give a fuck about this character?
And it's so competitive and it's like that can definitely be a part of it.
But when it gets into.
That that was the most frustrating moment is that there's no follow up
to him treating his friend like utter shit for coming and stopping by to check on him,
which was already a little extraneous.
Like as far as like that.
They do have a makeup for that.
No, that's not true.
They have a makeup because one night he just doesn't give a shit about chicks.
And so then they had that night where they're just eating tacos together.
And they're like, you know what, you're still a piece of shit.
And then they're just and it's it's so vapid and it's so that could have been
a little bit of the other layer of that moment.
That was much more interesting.
Yeah.
But I mean, but the other layer of him visiting to beyond just being a shitty
friend is is the extent to his porn addiction.
Is that dire that like he is so annoyed at his friend stopping by that he's like
treating his friend like shit.
Yeah, because he's in the middle.
I mean, you should just like point.
I guess it's porn.
It's just or or a masturbation, whatever the addiction is.
You could one of you.
What do you break it down to?
He defines it as for me for all all my knowledge in the movie.
But like for him to be so annoyed with his friend, so annoyed with like life
events and the things that he needs to do, like his routine and everything,
and that it's obstructing those things is a true addiction.
And to get into that of the movie, too, of like, oh, he's like, got to figure
this out because it's like fucking up other parts of his life.
But it's not really at all.
Right.
The well, the the way that that is relation to that comes about.
Is just the part that that's the crux of the Scar Joe.
And then the night class thing, I don't know, whatever.
That would be the other section we could talk about as well.
But like him going to leave the best of the movie.
But like that's where that rears its head.
Is what I'm talking about is like that's where that rears its head is like
he brings his phone into fucking a public place, his school and his watching porn
at his like that kid.
Extract like that could that could expand to such an interesting scene
or conflict or something that could happen within the movie of like
he gets caught, he gets caught in a public place.
I mean, he gets caught by Julianne more or whatever.
A sound for comedy for something.
I don't know.
It's just like I was just thinking of something like for him to
to really face his porn addiction head on in a way that like someone tells him
like you need to get help in a sanctioned way because you got fucking caught.
And I don't know not to not make him a sexual offender,
like put him on a list to that extent, but just get him.
Yeah, just get him to the point where like he he has to face his issue.
And I feel like he never gets there in terms of his issues.
But like in terms of his own, I don't know, like
intimacy with a with a person is one thing.
And he understands that's an issue with that and his ability to be intimate
with somebody and to have a relationship.
But I feel like the issue with the porn addiction is much bigger than is my.
OK, OK, I feel like it's a life consuming borderline.
Like he's but yeah, it's a real issue.
But it's not necessarily because his apartment's clean.
He has a job like all of these things.
And then he just likes porn. So it's not. Yeah.
Yeah, I guess I was just expecting it to like.
Yeah, you want to accelerate or the plot to like the plot to like
go up has very little drama to go up or something.
But it just kind of flat lines like movie fucking flat lines and just
then goes away like whatever.
Yeah, rather than do anything.
But you know, yeah, it's very shallow.
This movie, right?
I I mean, you're making me say I guess it is.
I guess it is.
But I mean, shallow.
Yeah, I guess dinner scene with like Tony Danza is even something that I said.
It's right now. It's shallow.
I mean, he's got the cut to my face.
It's fucking shallow. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. It's fucking shallow.
Like really, I feel as a real JGL Tony Danza dynamic we had there.
You like let's talk about Tony Danza.
We have I know that's like something I should have enjoyed the dinner scenes more.
I thought the mom was fun, but like I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
There was it was great to see Tony Danza.
Great to see Tony Danza.
Respect. It was.
Yes.
That's how I felt about it.
That's why I felt about the two when the movie came out.
I remember telling I feel like it's great.
It's about this.
It's like Tony Danza looks great.
He's bringing the heat.
And it was so funny to watch interviews with Tony Danza about this movie
where he is essentially what Joseph Gordon Levitt is.
Is you know what I mean?
It's real Bruce Willis loopers.
It's a true issue to Brian Johnson.
They should have given given him.
I don't know what would you need for Danza?
Big blues, because he got those big, beautiful eyes.
Yeah, he does.
I don't think you can match that.
He looks great.
He fills out that that I guess you is it's probably not
called a wife beater, but that's no, it's a T is what you call it.
And the 80 is like this.
Like it's an instead of there's a T shirt, which is why the it goes out like this.
And there's an A shirt.
Gotcha.
He's an A frame.
A shirt.
He's an A shirt.
It's your dance.
A shirt, Danza.
He loves football.
He gets mad when anyone interrupts.
There's this whole scene about Tebow that.
Hey, good God.
Hey, I don't know.
I don't know how I feel about it.
Well, it is interesting because I've had that conversation with my parents.
That exact conversation.
You know what I mean?
Oh, we all have JGL rule, tapped a nerve there.
He did for me.
I'm just saying is that you have to nerve where I'm just like kind of big
factory quitting you a little bit like, you know, what do you know?
Oh, you know, one of the most successful movies ever.
Big factory.
Great one.
OK, yeah.
One part. OK, not the whole movie.
I put windows on my cuts because of the movie.
You're supposed to put them on your pimples.
Oh, you do for everything.
Do for everything.
Brandini, Don Brandini.
Oh, I made him upset.
I made him upset.
Whoa.
He's going to pull up again.
And then I guess we there's church, church section, which really is just
a let's it's just walking in and then face and then walking out.
And then he gets frustrated with the complex plays around with this.
Where he's like, he really thinks it's a personal
relationship that he has with the father.
But it's really just a different guy every time and he gets frustrated
with all the shifts.
They don't say they don't say that's how they don't say, though.
That's how that arc works out is.
But then I guess it it forces him to confront his own demons himself
rather than rely on.
Yeah, I have to do the extra work, though.
I have to do I feel like I got to do extra work here.
But you got there.
I know it's very obvious, but I just want them to put the scene in.
I feel like there's editing choices where like they put
stuff that doesn't matter in and there's other scenes that are missing.
Yeah. OK, so let's get to the end of this.
So I mean, there's the Brie Larson scene.
That's very important. All right.
She does say one line.
The breeze. Yeah, we Larson is dude.
And in her whole bit with him is pretty great.
It's good. It's a good part. It's good.
It's a really good part.
It's like, no, she wanted you to be something else.
And I was just hanging out with a friend of ours where I was like,
that's the relationship problem you're having, too, is like somebody
that wants to just be with you because they see what you can be in their own
image is not a healthy place to be at.
Like you don't want somebody to like a part of being in a relationship
with them is they're going to change you and fix you so that then you become
the person that they want you to be, you know.
Yeah, it's there's no room for growth.
And that's where this movie comes to a head.
But.
Yarr, much too late, Yarr.
It to be one of them movies that comes much too late, Yarr.
I was going to go through my notes real quick.
One of the first line, I think the very first line is the Mac sound going on
like, because that is a big motif in the movie.
And then the first line in the movie is not going to lie.
That sound gets me hard as a rock.
And then the movie begins.
My my notice, yo, not going to lie is the first line in the movie.
Yeah, yo, no, I forgot the yo.
So.
Not going to lie.
It's like, thanks for not lying.
J.G.L.
Things.
Yeah.
I know that out to my TV when I was watching you.
I was like, thank God.
I was like, oh, Brandon's going to love this.
Yeah.
I'm like, we hear a polarize love when people say not going to lie.
Yeah.
Not going to lie.
Honestly.
Finally.
God, I'm so glad to know that what you're saying is not a lie.
Yeah.
The first line of the movie should not be a lie unless you're Stanley
Kubrick, where you believe anything that anyone speaks is a lie.
And the truth stays hidden.
And it's up to you to figure it out.
Maybe.
No, that's not what this movie's doing.
He very much speaks his truth throughout the whole time.
My body pad ride.
No.
Oh, my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girl.
My girls, my porn.
My body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my boy.
My body, my my my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my boy.
That's a little like un-wieldy, more un-wieldy than GTL.
He says, handful of teddy at one point.
Your mom has some big ass titties.
They're talking about, yeah, it really gets in the Freudian aspect in that
club scene, which the movie is trying to do for sure.
Real pussy can kill you.
And then the line in this movie.
They use the computer trash sound when he's throwing it in the dumpster.
That thought that was a very, I don't know, that's like, it was creative,
but then they did it every time and so much that you notice it every time.
But it was, it was good.
It was good.
It just was such like a, I can picture JGL being like, yeah,
I'm going to use the Apple trash sound as we throw it away.
It's going to be perfect.
And then he stalks her.
He like straight up Facebook socks.
He looks her looks her up on Facebook, Boba Shugerman.
And then like, well, he does.
Or two, he asks, he comes over to his friends place.
Them looking up.
Because he doesn't know how to use these.
Oh, yeah.
His computer is solely a porn machine.
Performed, I can't have him tracing it back to me.
I don't understand a search history.
That whole bit was a cookie.
I don't know.
Like, wait, you're you're very tech, unsavvy, but then
porn is what you figured out is so funny to me.
He just says, yeah, that's.
Yeah, he just has no understanding about how a computer works,
but he watches a lot of internet porn.
Like that's yeah.
And he uses a black laptop.
That's pretty bold for strictly porn usage.
Sorry, gross.
The fake movies are so hard so fast with Bruce Blackstone
and Kelly Vallette, which is John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, I believe.
And then the other movie is that they actually do watch
a special someone with Conor Vero and Emily Lombardo,
Channing Tatum and Anne Hathaway.
Then comes the scene of them doing dishes of him doing dishes after that date.
And they just show a Carl's Jr.
ad with no commentary on it.
And just like they were like that's that.
It was like a good moment of like representing what the movie was to me is like.
They just show you a Carl's Jr. ad.
Yeah, they do with Brooklyn Decker.
And they don't.
There's nothing out.
There's no there's no one says anything.
It didn't know and that commercial existed, too, which is so interesting.
It's just straight up a commercial.
And Carl's Jr. was up here with him. Oh, oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. I remember all those.
Do you remember? Yeah, absolutely.
And then I remember talking to my dad about those commercials
because it would be something that would come on on the weekend.
Like for football games, like between football games and shit.
And it's like and then your dad being like they didn't make a.
It's like they don't make commercials like this anymore or whatever.
And you're like, wow.
Or some dad joke is like, yeah, she's really getting that car clean.
Sure.
Yeah.
Right.
You missed a spot.
She doesn't eat those burgers.
I can guarantee.
OK.
Those are the parasol sometimes.
Yeah, it was definitely reminding me of a time, but it was just like another thing
where it just didn't seem to have much to say other than show you,
which was like a good place to start the movie beyond like when you actually
started talking was like a compilation of how sex crazed our society is a little
bit, but also like in a very edging sort of we're just like just like on the
on the tip of always like everything is always, you know, and like that's a good
place to start with this movie for sure.
And that's why like being let down was frustrating for sure.
I think this movie would be like noticeably better if the intro where it
just flashes images of popular television and like porn together
in her slice in them is that if they play the actual Cisco song song,
your music that they got at the beginning of this is like so bizarre.
And even the music to.
Yeah, just shitty if he got Cisco's song song, if you were to cut this
movie with Cisco song song at the beginning of it, I think it would be like.
Five X better.
Dude, the movie entirely for sure.
It definitely is like cutting corners with having this generic ass fucking
club.
Yeah, whenever they go to the club and like it was so frustrating when he would
like make eyes and they wanted to do the like quick cut like, I don't know,
you might recommend for dream.
Like just like a quick cut of like he sees a girl and then like it cuts to
them like dancing together and you go see the routine or whatever.
If that song that they do each time and the motif that they use to
the time and the motif that they use was more like a big deal and recognizable
like that moment would hit so much harder and said it's just like.
Chicka, yeah, yeah, that's just gross.
Yeah, it's so boring.
It's yeah.
There's four play while they're talking about meeting families.
And then there's the whole yeah, we didn't talk about the hallway scene
where they dry hump to like he she holds him hostage.
Yeah.
Yeah, in order for their family them to meet each other's families
because they haven't they haven't had sex yet.
So this is her way of forcing the commitment to go down this road by.
Yeah, it was.
It was a very strange scene.
It's very strange scene to say the least.
And I like it's strange enough like I'm OK with something being very uncomfortable
and like a romantic comedy, like something could be weird, but it just is so weird.
And how it starts is like, yeah, yeah, you want to meet my brother and my sister,
don't you?
Yeah, yeah.
You want to meet my mother, my father, yeah.
You want to come over and say, yeah.
Come on.
It's so funny.
Come on.
It's so funny.
I'm laughing at it.
I'm not laughing with it.
I feel like I don't know.
Me too, though.
I feel like there's a part of it where they're trying to be on the road.
It's getting close to the pants.
Dude, though.
Yeah.
Yeah, he does.
And then he like gets he has to do his laundry later and he sees his cum
saying he's like, oh, great.
He scratches it.
You can hear that.
Oh, is that like him watching the dish is like, oh, this reminds me of my
cum.
You know, the other.
Oh, I got cum on my dish.
I haven't taken out too much.
Oh, my.
Yeah.
Now you can get it.
That was a bonkers ass scene.
It was it was silly, but he just came in his pants and she's like, all right,
see you later.
Yeah, I'll see you later.
We're going to go out to bed.
Meet each other's families.
And then don't be fuck in like a child's bed.
It's her whole bedroom, I guess.
And her at her family's place.
And they're like, everyone's there.
And they're like, hey, can you come help?
Can you come help make dinner or whatever?
And they're like, and then she's like, we got to go.
I mean, we got to go make dinner with him.
He's like, damn it, I want the fuck.
He's like such a dick.
He's like, I want to fucking your childhood bedroom now.
Smoothies on hands, James.
I'm telling you.
I don't know.
And then OK, can we talk about when he meets?
Sorry. Do you want to go?
OK, I feel like I feel like we should go back.
I don't know.
It's your turn to do it now.
OK, OK, OK.
Am I will do a note?
I have I have a note here.
I have a note here that what Julianne
Moore stands for is finally something interesting.
Yeah. Substance, right?
It's what's going on with her.
Is solves the problems of this movie.
And I'm OK with it, like because it's handle
by one of the best actresses of all time.
Like, I haven't seen a movie she's in where she is not in
just incredible, like, understands the assignment
and just like brings it full fucking force.
And this viewing in particular is like everything
Julianne Moore is about.
That's what matters is because this idea that she's like,
here's a like, how hot is it for a girl to give you a porn thing?
And it's even hotter that it's not about just fucking.
It's about like people probably just like being naked around each other.
Or like, you know, like, I don't get it.
Like that's hot.
And, you know, it's.
Her.
What she stands for to with the family stuff is is really interesting.
How do you feel about that?
Because it's like it's a lot on top of a lot.
She has a lot of weight to put on her shoulders.
Absolutely like you're talking about with her performance
because the movie has not provided us the enough substance to this point.
And I would my note that I was going to bring up was how he meets her,
which really bummed me out.
Well, she is bawling, crying in front of the entrance of the building
to get back into the night class.
And his reaction is like, oh, perfect.
I got to walk by this lady who's crying.
And he was so annoyed, which is the fact that he has a walk by her.
And he walks by.
She's like, oh, I'm so sorry.
And she's like, hey, don't worry about it, whatever.
And he's like, fuck an annoying ass bitch.
But the the growth of that relationship is something that I had the most
curiosity about.
And she had I had the most like curiosity about as a character for sure.
About like where that was where that plane was landing with them.
And overall, like I'm happy. I am happy where it landed.
And there's in their scenes together, like they are so rough
because there's such an imbalance between the two of them.
But she looks like to his soul and delivers a line that doesn't
lead the movie doesn't deserve.
It doesn't deserve her.
She cuts to the core of her of him and the movie and is and just like
look straight through him.
And I was like, no, you're full of shit. Like shit. Yeah.
Yeah.
And I thought that she is such a successful actress that anything
she touches is going to shine a little brighter.
But the crazy how bright she shines, right?
Yeah.
I'm watching the Gloria Bell for this podcast.
It was like kind of like the scene kind of a similar energy or
something of just like free this free spirited, but also like a lot of
yeah, that's her her facial expressions, a mo like loss and
feeling pain and hurt and also like an attempt to let go and free
be free and everything.
And JGL just has the same like, yeah.
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah.
And then she looks at him like you're such a fucking idiot.
Like what are you talking about?
But then she's still hot.
Up with him because he's gone.
I don't know this like he's the main character and she's able to
make that seem real and add so many more layers to what the core
concept of the movie is.
And it's just really wonderful to see an actor elevate themselves
beyond the material.
Always.
And she's so good at that.
She is the heart of the movie if there was one.
And if there were one, there was one.
And if there was more follow through on her, I think too, and
her ability to affect him through their relationship.
There's a part of me that would have been more curious about
that of truncating the Scar Joe relationship and providing more
of a follow through with the Julien Moore because where it ends,
I'm curious because it is about living in the present and being
open to change and breaking out of your routine.
And maybe this isn't going to last forever.
But we're intimate in this moment.
We can enjoy each other's company and who knows what's going to
happen next, but we're enjoying our time together now.
And that's like Eternal Sunshine.
And it's like one of my favorites too.
That's like the whole point of that movie is just like, you know,
we could this could all end in heartbreak as well.
But who cares?
We're like, that's part of being human.
And she teaches on that, but it's just the movie doesn't know when
to highlight the things that are working and when to put away the
things that aren't, unfortunately.
But they got such a great cast, especially.
Yes, I think Julien Moore for sure is MVP.
And then I'll, yeah, I'll see you in the other.
Yeah, let's let's do a little break.
You want to do break our notes notes.
I'll do quick fire notes and then we'll definitely get get to break
because I think I don't have much else beyond.
Yeah, he's annoyed at somebody crying.
Oh, when Brie Larsen was leaning against the church, like she's always on her
phone at church.
She's always on her phone throughout the whole movie, but there's one.
She does a different pose every time and when she's leaning against the
wall of the church, I thought that was my favorite.
She gets really upset about him not.
Or about him wanting to clean his own place is like a big thing.
Okay, good.
You want to talk about that now or when we get back.
No, no, no, no, no, that was like a big, a big point of conflict,
which I yeah, which beyond the point, which cracked me up because.
A.
Bit of mine, you know, thing I've taken on the road.
Yeah.
It's it's it's a try and trust a good bit.
So I'm going to say it on this on the pond is.
I think what would really kill for a magazine like a calendar for women
similarly to like.
Hot chicks for guys is a calendar for women.
That would just absolutely crush is men doing chores.
And that's their thing is that they're doing chores around the house,
but they're kind of like, oh, my bottoms fell down a little bit.
Like, oh, my, oh, shit.
My shirt fell off or something like that.
I'm cleaning the fireplace just with this single tiny apron.
Yeah.
You don't like to clean the fireplace.
Don't worry.
I'll take care of it for you.
I've done two loads of laundry right now.
My shirts in the laundry.
I got a mow the lawn with just this.
All right.
Clean the pool too.
Wow.
And the feedback that I've gotten from women on that bit is funny
because it is sexy.
It is sexy.
I was going every every other Thursday.
You go down to the.
I go down to pulling up.
No, but the polls out there.
I'm saying the polls out there.
Um, I'm not going to go down to the pool.
I'm not going to go down to the pool.
I'm not going to go up there.
Um, women, it's funny because.
Not the Scar Joe Scar Joe would hate that.
No, she would.
Barbara Sugarman would.
Okay.
That's what I'm getting.
So, okay.
Yeah.
So to get off the bed, I'm sorry.
It's not that good of a bit, but nonetheless.
Uh,
Oh, I like, I'm just saying she would hate it.
I just, I just, I just, I just, I just want to be.
You know, figure out how much we need to pay for car insurance.
You know, like those types of things, like figuring shit out.
Um, it can be very, very small and rudimentary,
but then like, oh, like you're like, ooh busted and a little
guilty about it.
Very funny.
Um, anyways, the idea that she is upset about him wanting his
place to be clean.
Kind of drove me nuts.
Yeah.
I get the point.
If you're trying.
If she's trying to be like naggy about like a lot of things in
the movie,
unfortunately the movie doesn't do enough to do like, oh, she's
controlling about every little thing.
It's like, they only show like the porn and the cleaning.
So it almost makes it just seem like she's very specifically
piss off about just these two things and everything else is fine.
Yeah.
It could have done a little bit more to be like, like, she's
trying to, to control a lot of his life, but the cleaning thing,
they spend like a few, like a minute or two really having this
whole argument in a public place.
And the, at the store about just using, no, I got, I'll get you
my, my cleaner.
Don't, don't worry about it.
Swiffer babe.
I think I wrote down.
I was so frustrating too.
Cause in was really painting her in a different light when like,
we got to work through JGL's issues a lot of JGL's.
It's the best.
Yeah.
That was like a reminder.
The Carl's Jr. thing where I was just like, oh, this is paid for
as well.
But it was like, it was, it was focusing on her fault.
And, and, and problems when there was so much presented with JGL
that I made me realize that that moment in the movie, which I
maybe really was starting to realize to that point was like,
oh, we're not going to get into him enough.
Like this is getting into her now and their relationship.
And then when that took so long to fall apart and eventually get
to Julianne Moore, it was just like, oh, now he's like on his
way by the end, but it was like, I want to see, like, maybe I
don't want to see, but it like the movie that would have been
more interesting would take place when yeah, act, the end of act
three would be the end of act one a little bit sort of thing.
Can I just say it's, it's crazy to hear you say what it would be
more interesting for more of this thing to exist in the movie
because that's what we're doing more, you know, oh, definitely.
But I feel like that has come up in this podcast before and it's
interesting to just note that.
Yeah, in opposition, it's funny when you're like, oh, I just wish
that this movie would go into and more tense to be a place of
contention. Yeah. And it's I try to catch myself when I say those
kind of things where like, yeah, I shouldn't tell.
Shouldn't necessarily say how the movie should be made or what
should be different because I really do think that JGL kind of
made the movie that he wanted to.
But a tight movie. It is a toy hour and a half.
It almost seemed like they didn't have enough edit.
It's up in the editing room. We're like, hey, what if we put a
scene of him washing dishes?
I mean, broke the car window with just his hand.
He's got some serious, some serious rage issues.
Let's hear what the and then all of my last note was I hate how
he smokes joints.
He's like, I'm going to smoke some weed now.
Yeah.
I'm high as shit.
He just made like such like a meal out of like him, like grabbing
that joint every time we grab.
He's like, OK, let me try some of that tobacco, wacky tobacco.
Wow.
Overacting. That's a good stuff.
Yeah. But let's take a little break and we'll be back for some
reviews and our own final thoughts.
Ever.
Never.
James, you know what was on the other night?
I had a couple of people over and we watched stop making sense.
Oh, fun. That's so great.
It's the best.
Watching that with a group of people I'd never done until I saw it
at the the movie, like the Pantages thing too.
So that was that cool.
Everybody dancing around.
Yeah.
Isn't it just like the best how it's like constructed and everything?
I don't know. It's so satisfying to see the band get constructed
and on stage and just see the energy just grow.
Yeah, absolutely.
To start the show off with your biggest song, but it's like stripped
down then to build on top of that is so crazy.
Yeah. And it's like their first big hit to it's on that for that
album you got as a record here.
God, isn't that crazy? Speaking of debuts, we're back everybody.
Speaking of debuts, I'm going to just jump right in.
That's 77 talking heads.
What a fucking debut.
It blows my mind that like, oh, this is like your yeah, this is your
first album.
I know it's tough, JGO.
You can't be a talking head 77.
Yeah, I get it.
Well, let's hear what the critics loved about this movie.
They gave this this good score.
They gave it a certified fresh 80%.
That is very good.
We've been around the rotten tomatoes black on this podcast.
It's very good from the critics.
A certified fresh and then it's a 58% from audience.
Yeah, it's like the scores I think are like a little surprising on both
sides. A little bit.
Totally.
This is like really at the beginning of round tomatoes too, but I don't
know I could be wrong or like at least the popularity round tomatoes was
growing.
It's got 50,000 reviews on the audience side too.
Wow.
So yeah, it's like the scores are in.
There's some that polarizing ones.
Yeah, where it's like maybe you're a obscure movie we've done here and
there that like none not too many votes and like those get to be more
pronounced.
But yeah, there's a big.
So interested what your score is going to be.
There's a big sampling.
I mean, I was yeah, I like to always like to keep it fluid coming into this
record and everything.
I'm like, I'm definitely curious to hear what Brandon has to say because
I that always it always changes my score every single time like we go on
the podcast.
I think I kind of know and then I listen to you and it changes it.
Yeah, either one way or the other.
Right.
Same goes for me as well.
Yeah.
That's where it's a great, great part of it.
Yeah, that's what's good about having a conversation about a thing.
And we've yeah, we've been at each other's throats this whole time.
Like I'm going to get you.
I'm going to get you.
I mean, you have the you have your pistol sitting sitting there on the
desk.
I know I got pistols that are going to shoot through the Internet from
Betsy Sharkey.
Los Angeles Times four out of five.
Who would have thought one of the most amusing and oddly insightful
romantic comedies would be built around the power and potent pull of porn.
Yeah.
Power and potent pull of porn, power and potent pull of porn,
but one power.
Geetha from Mary Rine Stein, US Weekly GTL comparisons aside, John Sublime
journey extends well past the shenanigans along the Jersey Shores
old boardwalk three and a half out of four.
And from Bob Men Bob Mandelo NPR.
Angelo Bottleman.
Get in here, Angelo.
Oh, I want to be one part in Dune.
I fucking hate being here, but just put me as one of the sand, the fucking
spice harvesters.
I don't fucking care.
The second George Lucas talked about the walks.
I got a headache.
Mel Brooks helped me immensely.
Any other questions?
You shouldn't know what's going on.
That's the point point.
Bob Mandelo NPR.
Gordon Levitt keeps things riotous for the film's first hour.
And if he eases into an ending that's a little Hollywood standard after
having so much fun tweaking form and content, I'm guessing audiences will
cut him slack.
I feel like people like, they're like, oh, it's it's JGL.
I'm just like, yeah.
Oh, we feel bad for it.
Oh, it's not that great.
We feel bad for him.
Oh, he's he's so sweet.
He's so sweet.
He's so earnest.
You don't want to be mad at him.
Even Bob Mandelo is like, oh, I'll cut him some slack.
Manola Dargis.
It's all the credit.
Isn't that interesting?
They're like, oh, they'll be nice because the movie's not so great.
So they got to be nice because they like him.
Manola Dargis, New York Times, a deceptively sincere movie about masculinity
and its discontents.
Mr. Gordon Levitt making a fine feature directing debut shapes into a story
about a young man's moral education.
Three and a half out of five.
Just a couple more here.
Claudia Puy USA Today writer, director, star JGL takes an intriguing
subject human attraction and nimbly probes it with wit, insight and a
disarming forthrightness.
And then finally from Ty Burr, Boston Globe, our rating aside, it should be
required viewing for every 15 year old boy on the planet.
Three out of four.
Kid you a badge.
All right, young boys, it's 11th grade.
And now you have to watch a JGL movie.
Don John is on the docket.
All right, let's go to the audience side.
They were not very happy here on the audience side with a 58 not too low,
not too high, but definitely disagreeing with the critics from,
let's see, Carlo Galluccio.
Carlo Galluccio.
One star out of five.
I don't know why they felt the need to stereotype Italian men in such a
negative way.
Seems like showing Italians as vulgar, classless people with basically
no moral values is a must in Hollywood movies.
Poor Carlo.
I can even pronounce his name properly at first.
Oh, my God, that's funny that that's the first one you read because like totally
like from Anthony a lot.
This is a movie.
Anthony Lonzi.
One star nothing worse than actors who play characters that are supposed to
be from Jersey, but try using bad Brooklyn accents to be authentic and
fail miserably.
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know.
What is that?
I don't know.
He should never be allowed to direct again.
Rhett cop, you know, one star, it will be remembered as the worst thing he
ever did to do that to Scarlett Johansson is unforgivable.
Oh, this is the body.
From Abdul Samad Rashid, one star.
I just want to say stop all this kind of stuff.
From Nazia body, one star out of five.
I think this movie is not good.
Okay, and then we'll do a couple of letter box ones just for the hell of it at
the end here.
I feel like this is like a different category, but I am going to use the
negative scores because I did more audience side from Grace Belman, one
star out of five.
This movie ruined my life.
From Stringer Bell, JGL really wrote and directed a film where he's porn
addicted fuck machine who gets to hook up with Scarlett Johansson and Julian
Morris, his love interest, right?
From LaMia, one star, Brie Larson stole the whole movie with one line.
From Jack Keller, one star forgot to log this from the other day.
So bad.
Joseph Gordon Leavitt was on his way to stardom and then this happened.
Yeah.
And then, yeah, someone says there's no opaque text.
And then finally from Marika Brownlee, one star, Brie Larson during this
movie was me watching this movie, Side Eye on the phone.
That was the letter box to sampling.
There's some drastic ones in there.
That's so great.
There's some good ones.
Well, yeah, who wants to start here for our own feelings?
You do.
This was not an enjoyable experience for me.
Even at like a tight, yeah, less than 90 minutes, I found myself watching it
in 45 minute each segments kind of about because I found the very repetitious.
I was hoping for more.
I was hoping for more things to talk about that I liked and I feel like
I've gone on enough about things to complain about beyond just like, yeah,
amateur is directing all around and him putting him in the star role.
And that performance was extremely rough for me.
The things that I want to enjoy like Danza and his mom were pretty good,
but just the construction of the scene in the dialogue was extremely rough.
And the pacing was hard to sign on for when I knew that it wasn't going into
a place where like the characters were going to change or grow until the very end.
And even then it was like, we didn't even talk about like the night school.
The only reason he was going is just because like Scar Joe, like made him.
And then he was, what's cool is he's going.
And then he meets Julian more that way.
And it's just like, there's a little lack of control over his life that he, you know,
and that's that's that's cool that maybe he figured it out at the end.
Like the follow through by the director to accentuate the points to make it
an interesting movie was a failure.
Like there's a there's a structure of this movie that isn't necessarily all bad.
Like there's a there's maybe even a good version of this movie.
But he fit.
He like patently like failed as a as a as a director to like give it give it to
me as an audience member in a palatable way where like I not only like obviously
understood what was going on, but I just didn't get the pops of the moments
that really needed it.
And when I thought it was about to get there, it would either be some pacing
issue or some narrative choice that was baffling.
It's hard, man.
I'm good.
I love it.
I'm sorry.
I really didn't didn't have a good time.
I was like yelling at the movie by the ending car.
I love it.
I came in at the end and I was just like, oh, it's like, why are we waiting for
this for the very end, all this Julianne Morse off and he's like, he's finally
figuring it out.
And it's like, I feel like I'm having a similar reaction to like the Chuck and
Larry episode a little bit where like, I do kind of want to watch or like, I do
kind of want to like Chuck and Larry, but it's like about these characters that
are just like, oh, I'm getting it now.
Oh, yeah.
And it's like, you should think we should rewind and get that like act one and
figure that and then like that would have been an interesting movie to start
from there, like and then move past that, but it takes so long for them to get to
even a modicum of like tolerance or in this case, intimacy, that tolerance was
in Chuck and Larry, but intimacy was in this one.
And then by the end, I was like, that's sweet.
That's nice that he's with Julianne Morse and they're going to have a moment,
but it was too late too, too, too late for me, too little too late.
And I'm going to give it because there was some like fun little artistic pops
of like even the stop animation and him being an earnest director about trying
to like be his best to make a good film.
Still even at that, I'd give it like a one star out of five, which would
essentially be a 20.
So I'd give it a 20.
Yeah, I would join all these audience members really.
I feel like not the like it ruined my life.
But sure, it was unenjoyable and I would not recommend it.
Sorry.
No.
Sorry, sorry, JGL.
Hope you hope we can still I want to come up with the G. G. T. L.
of of of his list.
But it would it would be so long.
It would be.
B. P. R. F. C. B. G. P.
Body pad ride family church boys girls porn.
Yeah, you know, my B. P. R. F. C. B. G. P.
OK, carry on, Brandon.
What do you feel about Don John?
Don Brandon.
So.
I used to hold this movie in higher esteem.
Then I do now now that I've seen this movie.
Again, at this point in my life.
And it was a fun revisiting a movie like that where.
You understood why like parts of it, why you liked it.
But now you realize that you're not understanding what's really
important and.
It's it was cathartic to go through that process.
But ultimately with the movie, it is not a very visually
interesting movie.
I think the concept that are the.
The.
Point it's trying to make is very interesting to me, but it
isn't accomplished very well.
Like I'm going to put this movie is so usually I say 50% and above
is.
If you have the opportunity to watch it, it will be fine.
I'm going to put it at a 49% because I think if.
You get interested enough to watch it do it.
It's got something somewhat interesting to say, doesn't say
it effectively enough.
But.
Yeah, a 49% I think is where.
I think you yeah, I totally get what you mean by that where you
are kind of putting it in whoever is listening to this of
like their hands of like.
If if there's enough.
There would whether you would see the poster or watch the
trailer or something that interests you, I feel like you're
going to know whether you're going to be into this type of
movie.
But I'm also kind of curious to see if another type of this
movie comes out at some point, like I don't know, like putting
it into and this is just what I would like or something, but
not necessarily with this movie is trying to be or what it
should have been, but I don't know.
The guy kind of reminded me like taxi driver or fucking
American psycho Patrick Bateman a little bit of like he just
like yeah, I don't know.
He has such a like or like he's dealing with OCD or
something.
I don't I just wanted him to come confront his problems a
little bit more head on rather than just start to scratch the
surface of the very end.
But speaking of the very end, I know folks it's so hard to get
to the very end of polarized pod.
I've been your forever guest and it's been a true pleasure.
My main guest.
He is the main.
Yes.
Oh yeah.
Forever on he is Don Brandini the main guest and I am the
forever guest and this has been Don John and this is also
where I reveal to you find folks what we will be talking
about next app whenever that may be.
It is going to be another sexy thriller.
This one was in a very thrilling for me, but this one
hopefully well it is cruel intentions and what I'm
realizing now with cruel intentions is kind of the
inverse of what we just did score wise.
So we don John was an 80 58 and then cruel intentions is a
54% by the critics and an 80% by the audience.
So we're flipping it and we're doing another sexy
feature and I bet and reverse it.
I hope Missy Elliott shows up.
I hope she does.
This would be the time.
What when when did a cruel intentions come out next week
on polarized Missy Elliott talks about crew intentions.
1999 it is an hour and 37.
How about that?
I love it.
The premise of these.
Let's see what Rotten Tomatoes premises.
Annette Reese Witherspoon unwittingly becomes a pawn in
Sebastian's Ryan Philippe and Catherine's Sir Michelle
Gilles.
Flipe.
Deliciously diabolical wager of sexual conquest when she
writes an article in 17 magazine about how she intends to
stay pure until she marries her boyfriend.
She's more than he bargained for as he attempts to woo Annette
into his bed.
And I just say that every sexual conquest that I do it's
diabolical.
Wow.
I know.
Could you imagine like, oh, it's a lighthearted sexual
conquest.
Yeah.
No, it's diabolical.
Most diabolical.
Yeah.
You heard it.
You heard it here first folks.
Dawn Brandini sexual conquest are diabolical.
Every time.
That's what it dawn does.
And what a good polarized pod does is discuss polarizing
movies.
As long as we possibly can before we've done we've talked
about everything and we've reached that point and we love
you all.
We appreciate you making it this far.
If you'd like to rate your experience on the way out.
Please do leave a little review on the old Apple podcast
or wherever you listen to the podcast subscribe and all
that good stuff.
And yeah, we are pretty, pretty far in here.
We have fun and we're doing the darn best we can and we hope
we'll see you next time on Cruel Intentions.
Now we got to hit the old dusty road.
Bye bye.
Stop by.