Free With Ads - The Sting, with John Ross Bowie

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

This week Emily and Jordan welcome comedian and rock and roll superstar John Ross Bowie to the pod to talk about the movie The Sting, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman.John Ross Bowie's band Egghead is going on tour! Get tickets to see them in Philadelphia, or Baltimore, or Brooklyn, or even Boston. Jordan Morris is doing a book tour for Youth Group! See him at the OC Book Fair on July 13th, or see him in Sacramento at the Wild Sisters Book Company July 19, or see his panel at SD Comic Con on July 26 from 1pm-2pm, or see him on August 2nd at Silver Sprocket in San Francisco. Finally, see him in Los Angeles on August 24th at 826LA.Emily, Jordan, and producer Matt Lieb will be on Good Mythical Weekend throughout the summer, so if you haven't subscribed to GMM on YouTube, you should do so immediately.

This This is Free With Ads, the podcast that asks the question, why pay Apple TV $10 a month to watch Magic Mike when you can go on YouTube and watch The Sting for free and be transported back to a time when hunks didn't have to take off their clothes and could make everyone horny wearing giant purple suits. I'm Jordan Morris. And I'm Emily Fleming. Today's movie is The Sting, the heist movie classic starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Fun fact, it was at this movie's premiere in 1973 that a crowd of people for the very first time all joined together in unison to chant, kiss, kiss each other, kiss, little kiss, kiss. Spoiler alert, it doesn't happen. And to talk about this movie, which is, as of this recording, streaming free with ads, we have a wonderful guest, an actor, improviser, playwright, memoirist, and the bassist in the pop punk band Egghead, returning soon to stages and record players everywhere, John Ross Bowie. Hi, John Ross Bowie. Hi, John Ross Bowie.

It's so nice to see both of you. Yes. So glad to be here. That is the most comprehensive introduction I have ever gotten. You have a lot of bullet points on the John Ross Bowie resume. Yeah, well, I lack focus. Who needs it? Who needs Focus Dog?

Yeah, that's not what this show is all about. Before we get to the movie, we're going to get to know our amazing guest in a segment we call Talk to Guest. Talk to Guest. Okay. John. That was an amazing drop you have there, that little packet you have there. Thank you. I want to hear it one more time.

Can someone play it again? Talk to Guest. That's great. I hear something new every time it plays. Now do it like Austin Powers. I can't do it like Austin Powers. How would he say? He would say.

Talk to guests, baby. Talk to guests. Yeah, you're right. You can't do it. Sorry to ask you to do it. Hey, John, you do all those things we mentioned, but your band is returning to the road. Returning to the road and, as you said, to phonographs everywhere.

Yeah, right. We put out a CD in the year 2000 called Dumb Songs for Smart People, and it is coming out on vinyl. Remastered. Sounds great on colored vinyl, no less. Oh, so it's the first time the album's been on vinyl. Yeah. Because that's the new thing people enjoy. That is the new thing.

Everything old is new again, yeah. And it's got a nice little lyric sheet with some photos and stuff, and it's really exciting. I just heard the test pressing. It's the first time in, I don't know, 25 years I've heard myself on vinyl or something. It's cool. It sounds really, really neat. What's the first time in, I don't know, 25 years I've heard myself on vinyl or something. It's cool.

It sounds really, really neat. What was the discussion like? Because you all have other careers now. Yeah. You have all those things I talked about. Your band members have their things. Our drummer is an elementary school teacher. Aw, cool.

And our guitarist actually just, he's a screenwriter, and they just wrapped a movie of his that Alex Winter directed. Hey, okay. Yeah, so it's an eclectic bunch. But yeah, somebody actually reached out to us. So time to tour and have beer thrown at you. Yes, precisely. Time to play behind some chicken wire. Yeah, it's-

Whoa, Alex Winter from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? Yeah. Cool. Director of some renown. Cool. The movie is called Adulthood, I think. Yes. And it's...

They just wrapped it, so I don't know when it's going to be out, but it's a great, great script. But yeah, so it's... They're still... You know, we obviously started a text chain during the pandemic, as everyone did. And that was a very supportive thing. And then out of the blue, somebody reached out and said, hey, we'd like to remaster and re-release this album.

And we said, that sounds fantastic. And then that label cratered. But then two other labels stepped up and said, OK, we'll fix this. We'll come in. Oh, man. Hot damn. We love it. Moms Basement and Dead Broke Records, which are two phenomenal punk rock labels. Great. Judge them by their name, please. And they're releasing the record pretty soon. And then we

tour at the end of July. Hot damn. Okay. So let's talk about the tour. Like when you were touring then versus when you were touring now. What are the differences? Oh, Christ. I mean, this is where I show my age. What you did was you went to AAA and you got what was called a triptych. Ooh, okay. A triptych was a-

Can I sit on your knee while you're saying this? By all means, yeah. Just don't bump- Granddad? Don't bump the corncob pipe. Yeah, no. I mean, it's night and day. Thanks for the worthers, John.

I miss my wife. The, you would literally, they would design, you would tell them, like, here's where we're going, and here's where we have to stop along the way, and you would get this little spiral notebook from AAA that was basically your map, but it was not idiot-proof, and, you know, I have been lost in the Blue Ridge Mountains. You know, no cell phones.

Last time we did a serious tour was 1996. So you would, like, call. You'd use a credit card and call from the road. And that's how you found out your gig was canceled. And it was, yeah, it was very, very punk rock. So it's going to be just a little more comfortable. But we're still, you know, borrowing equipment and, you know, not changing our strings as much as we should. It's still pretty, it's still pretty DIY. Yeah. Uh, well, yeah, uh, the, the tour, where, where, where are you going?

Where can people see it? Little chunk of the Northeast corridor. We are in, um, uh, Somerville, Massachusetts on July 17th. We are in Brooklyn on the 18th, Baltimore on the 19th, back up in Philly on the 20th. Cool. Before we get into the movie, people would scream at us if we didn't bring this up. You are in a movie we did for this show.

Can I ask, am I the first guest with that? You are. Yes, you are. I am? That's exciting. Yeah, so you were in He's Just Not That Into You. I was, which if. I am? That's exciting. Yeah, so you were in. He's just not that into you. I was, which if I'm not mistaken, was your inaugural episode? I think it was one of our

two first episodes. I think Time Cop may have beat you by one episode. You were our second. So could you put us in touch with Ron Silver, please? I have horrible news. I hope you're sitting down. I'm not. I do this podcast standing up. Oh, that's weird. Sitting is the new smoking job. Okay.

That's great, though. I'm deeply honored to be in that special classification. Yeah. Whatever you want to know. Yeah, it was strange. I remember I had just, it was a really long time ago, actually, because I had just had my first kid and that first kid is 16 now oh my gosh um and so i was exhausted for the audition was

your kid born on the sag health insurance that you got from that movie uh no my kid was born on the sag health insurance that i got from i think santa claus three a couple years prior and assorted tv work here and there. But no, yeah, when you get the bill for having a kid, but you're on SAG insurance, it is remarkable, because you see how much you saved, and it is striking. So I had this insured kid. Amazing, good call.

But I was not sleeping at all, and I walk into this, literally she's maybe six weeks old. I'm in the thick of newborn town. And I had a take on the character, who is this Wiccan who bothers Jennifer Aniston at a wedding. That old trope. That old trope.

That old stock character. We've seen it before, but I was trying to do my own version. Honestly, if a Wiccan bothered me at a wedding, I would be so happy. I would be married immediately. Oh, that's sweet. In the woods wearing a crown of thorns.

Not thorns. It'd be little stupid flowers just like Lana Del Rey. Officiated by a coyote. And Florence Pugh. Oh, yeah. Pugh's got to be there. If only. A coyote named Florence Pugh. In a perfect world.

Perfect world. Bathing in menstrual blood. Hell, yeah. But I had this, and I don't know if this is an acting tip or what, but if you can go in to an audition just exhausted and not in your head at all, you will book that. Yeah. You will book that role. You will book that. Yeah, I will book that role. And it was it was remarkable because I did the thing and it was really close after Jennifer Anderson's very public divorce. Oh, wow. And she had a lot of walls up and I don't blame her. She's stunning in person. It's like looking into the sun. It's crazy.

But it was also it was also really cool because, you know, she she did sort of the Rachel Green straight man thing with me. Right. Yeah, totally. And that's awesome. And then she took that clip on talk shows. No way. Really? So, like, you know, friends of my mom are like, hey, John was on Ellen.

No way. So that was cool, right? And I don't think I'd ever been part of something like that. So it was a fun little boost out of everything in the movie. They went, this is the only moment. Well, because it was. Well, for her, she shines, though, because she's so good at being a straight man. She is so goddamn.

And they let me, like, improvise a bunch of Wiccan nonsense. And by the way, it's a good time to say to apologize to the Wiccan community publicly. I meant no harm. They're probably fine. John, I'm getting a text. Oh, no. The hex has been lifted. Oh, thank God.

Finally. My hair is growing back. I actually tried to pull out my phone to do that bit. I'm like, I don't have to. You pulled out a fake phone. It's a theater of the mind, but I appreciate your object work. A small little razor, wasn't it? Yes, I mimed a tiny razor.

Now I'm going to play Snake. 2002 phone. You pull the antenna out with your teeth before you flip it up. Honestly, was there a sexier phone? No, there wasn't. Ooh, everybody looks good pulling out that antenna. That's right. Oh, my God.

The early aughts, Agent Mulder, sign me up. Did it do anything? That antenna? I don't think it did. Well, it brought you closer to the satellite, to the tune of like two inches. But yeah, it was a fun, and I was thrilled to see it had a an extended life

by being mentioned on your podcast yes I was thrilled yeah you are you are terrific in the movie we had mixed feelings

about the movie overall but I think you and most critics yeah it was you know when I when I read the script

I was like oh this is gonna try to be an American love actually let's do this I'd be and I think that's all i'm gonna say that's yeah that's all you all you need to say and it and was it like was it like huge because it has so many stars in it and obviously you had been acting

professionally for a while but like did it it make a difference to your family and friends in a way that other stuff i mean it's hard to tell with things like this. You know, it wasn't like my phone just suddenly started ringing and wouldn't stop. Again, there were, you know, those very satisfying moments of my mom's friends seeing me on talk shows. But it's a great credit, and it was terrific tape. Oh, God, yeah.

It was terrific. Oh, my God. It's a self-contained scene. You don't need to know anything else that's going on in the movie. That's so true. It's just me being weird in front of Jennifer Aniston from Friends. Yeah. I think it still might be the first thing on my reel, because why not?

It's great. Fucking why not? Yeah. As they say, it's great tape. Great tape. Definitely. Well, hey. Thank you for being here.

Yeah, thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here. This tape. Definitely. Well, hey. Thank you for being here. Yeah, thank you so much. This is so cool. And I think this is going to get this conversation, just based on the pre-conversation about The Sting, it's going to get hot. It's going to get interesting. It's going to get hot. Yeah. Or I'll just let you guys do your thing. No, I specifically want to hear what somebody...

Well, yeah. That's a nice way to say it. Are you 40 yet? I'm 42. 42, okay. So I'm interested in what it looks like if you are, say, 15, 10 to 15 years younger than me, what this movie would be like.

Oh, I'm not far off from you. I just... Well, yeah, let's talk about... I'm a woman. And I'm bored. I get it. I get it. I'm bored. Too get it. I get it. I'm bored. Too many dudes.

This thing does not pass the Bechdel test. Not even for a second. It doesn't even show up to take the test. It actually blew off. It sends its dumb friend to take it for it. And it plays Pharaoh while it's supposed to be. There are women looking at ticker tape trying to take

a Bechdel test. But no, I will say, as a tired-ass bitch at 38, I really appreciate the tired-ass bitches in this movie. Oh, Eileen Brennan was one of the all-time great tired-ass bitches. All the bitches in this movie, tired as fuck.

And Robert Redford, num-num-num, he loves them. He loves them. Has a them. He has a type. He loves a tired lady. He likes them annoyed. He likes them annoyed. Spoiler alert, it almost gets him killed. Yeah.

It does. Yeah, he goes for like a really tired. He's got a type. He has a type. Well, yeah, actually, let's start talking about it. But I want to check in. How many times have you seen this movie, John? Is it a favorite of yours?

What did you think about it before this rewatch? I have a couple weird connections. I'm not old enough to have seen it in theaters, but I'm old enough for it to have been a mainstay of like Friday night ABC television and then a mainstay on cable in the 80s.

And here's a weird thing. A few years ago, I wrote a book on the movie Heathers that was part of a series of books about films that don't usually get written about. Oh, cool. In that same series, Matthew Spector wrote a book on The Sting. So I've read his book, and I'm going to be cribbing from it liberally tonight. I can't remember what exactly I'm going to be stealing from it. Cool.

But it was in the same – it was called the Deep Focus series. Cool. And it was a series of movies, most of them from the 70s and 80s, that were, Jonathan Leatham wrote one on They Live, which I fervently recommend. But yes, I wrote the Heathers book. Matthew Spector wrote the Sting book. And his whole thesis is that the movie itself is a con. It is conning the audience. Oh, that's interesting.

Oh, okay. And. Into watching it. Into watching it. Into watching it. Into watching it and to thinking that there's anything actually, there's any meaning to it at all. And there really isn't. It's pretty superficial.

Right. It's not even like, you could argue that the previous collaboration, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the two stars, the director, that's a meditation on friendship and loyalty, et cetera. And I guess to a certain extent, this is about loyalty because it's a revenge story but it's mostly just about like look over here whoop this happened you know it's a series of misdirects and so you either enjoy that ride or you know you're like fuck this i'm bored they're none of these women are talking to each other well no it's not necessarily about the women not talking to each other.

It's just that so many of these dudes look the same and I don't know what everybody's got a problem with. I'm so confused. He's like, I took your purse. Also, why y'all got such a big wallet when you're trying... It's too big. The wallets in the movie are too big. They're too big.

Get a tiny... That's why there's so many... That's why you get so many... Your pocket picks so often. You guys got, you stole the fucking like check bill thing from a Dave and Buster's and then made that your wallet.

Right. Too big. Too big. Well, yeah, let's start talking about the actual thing. Oh, actually, I'll say going into it that Butch Cassidy is like, it's like a top five for me. It's one of my favorites.

Really? So you go top five, yeah. Yeah, it really is. I really love it. And so, yeah, I like watched this movie after I became like Butch Cassidy is like a top five for me. It's one of my favorites. Really? You'd go top five, yeah. Yeah, it really is. I really love it. And so yeah, I watched this movie after I became Butch Cassidy-pilled. And yeah, really, really like it a lot. You were George Roy-pilled? Thank you.

I'm all done here. This has been awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Why don't we wrap it up? Tallest guy, hunk watch. All right, that's the end. Who is George Roy? The guy who directed the movie. Oh right, that's the end. Who is George Roy? The guy who directed the movie.

George Roy Hill. Got it. You said read and book and deep focus, and I want you to know this might be a tough podcast for you. If you have a story about fingering, try and slip it in when you can. Slip it in? Good job, Jordan.

Thank you, Thank you. So the movie starts with... So the movie... So the movie starts with an old-time version of the Universal logo. This gets me every time. I love it when movies use old logos.

If it's, like, period-appropriate, gets me every time. The illustrations in this movie were cool as fuck. Yeah, they're gorgeous. Gorgeous. Yeah. And the music under it is the entertainer. Otherwise known as my sex playlist.

You get your fuck onto Scott Joplin? Oh, you know I do. Stride Piana makes him come every time. Honestly, that is better than the stuff that I've heard, which is mostly Massive Attack. Stop playing that when you fuck people. Oh, just on sex playlists. The big thing when I was in college, the big fuck playlist was the Twin Peaks soundtrack, which is a horrible idea.

No, I would love that. No, it's sexy until you think about it. No, I don't think about it. Okay, well, there you go. You're a big thinker. I did a lot of college stuff to Bjork. Ooh, okay. Bjork, yeah.

Tracy Chapman. Tracy Chapman. It was my morning jacket, massive attack, like all that boring man with guitar shit from the early 2000s, and I just kind of sat there and prayed for it all to be over. I did my share of finger blasting to Angela Badalamente.

I am trying to assimilate. I did my share of finger blasting to Angela Badalamente. I am trying to assimilate. I am trying to fit in here and... It's all we ask, it's all we ask. So, okay, we've got a, it's the 1930s. It's the Great Depression. Which, by the way... People are waiting in line.

Musical anachronism. Yeah, right? Yeah, it's very strange. It's music from early 19-teens scoring a film that takes place in 1936. Imagine if you opened a film, takes place 2024,

and you come out with All Star by Smash Mouth. I want it that way by Backstreet Boys. That's literally the 24-year gap between the entertainer and when the movie took place. But it was filmed in 1973, which when I looked at it, I was like, really? It looks like the quality of the movie and the sound quality, which I want to get into later.

Yeah. It feels like it was filmed in the late 50s. I think it's deliberate. Yeah. I think it's a stylistic choice to, like, the flip. To not have a boom mic on set? They didn't have them then. We don't have them now.

It's called art, Emily. Okay, whatever. I mean, it depends on how heady you want to get about this. But in the first couple minutes, you are sort of set up as like, okay, this is going to be a weird mix of old Hollywood and new Hollywood. Sure. This is going to be like these guys, you know, this is going to be a weird mix of old Hollywood and new Hollywood. This is going to be like these guys, we're going to have a traditional opening credit sequence. We're going to have the old time Universal logo.

Everyone is going to be dressed a certain way. It's going to be, it's shot on- The intro with the flipped pages, which is a real old school thing. But also the cast, how they put their faces. The little roll call at the top. Yeah, I like the roll call. And that is a real old school thing. But also the cast, how they put their faces. The little roll call at the top. Yeah, I like the roll call. And that is it. Me too.

And I like knowing the character names. Can we start doing this for House of the Dragon? Yes, please. Thank you. And also adding da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Well, I will say House of the Dragon, I don't know who was into it. I really love the intro change from the first episode

or the first season to the new season because now they are actually for the first time ever in the intro showing images of the characters. You're right. Instead of the three-dimensional buildings, it's like woven thread. Is it like The Wire where they do a different version of a Tom Waits song each season?

Oh my god. They should do that. Run am, bitches, who's this guy? I'm unshaven and I'm smoking. When you house of the dragon. So yeah, you see, basically, so, you know, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, two of the most handsome men, and then just a parade of craggly faced character actors. Guys with interesting faces.

I love it. Catnip for this guy. I know it's a personal thing with me, but I was watching it. Again, it's not the first time I've seen it, but I was like, oh, that's fucking right, Dana Ellison. Ray Walston's in this. How did I forget Ray Walston is in this? You love a nicotine-stained man.

Oh, I love a nicotine-stained man. How great is Harold Gould? Harold Gould. Emily, How great is Harold Gould? Harold Gould. Emily, did you recognize Harold Gould? Which one? Is he from Dick Tracy? The guy who was the villain looked like a Dick Tracy face from the movie. Sure.

Is he in it? Harold Gould is the grandfather in the Jamie Lee Curtis Freaky Friday. Oh. I thought that might be a cultural touchstone. Might have been a swing and a miss. He had a long, fascinating career. He is cute. He is not on my hunk watch.

No, he's not on your hunk watch, but he's so great in this because he's constantly playing the guy who's too busy to deal with your shit. Sure. And that's part of his con. And I love that. And out of all the con artists in the movie, he gets a lot of screen time and I like it because he's so likable and he's so believable.

I think he's the all-star of that whole con. I'll buy that, yeah. I think he's the one who makes it all work. He's the MVP, yeah, sure. He's the MVP for sure. So yeah, so this is kind of the intro. We meet Robert Redford. He's Hooker.

He's the main guy and we meet him pulling a scam. He and his buddies are doing a thing. So this guy comes out of the mafia numbers office. He's got a big thing of money. This guy looks like old Tobey Maguire. Tobey Maguire didn't have the boyish thing going on. He looks like this guy.

And I think he's the tallest guy in the movie. Tallest guy. And so they have set up this fake mugging. And it's a scam, and I think he's the tallest guy in the movie. Tallest guy! So they have set up this fake mugging, and it's a scam. They lift the guy's wallet. He thinks he's getting a bunch of money off of him. He doesn't. But oh no, they've stolen from the mafia. But they don't know it yet. Robert Redford uses that money

to get a suit we mentioned in the opening, a giant purple suit. Such a cool suit. I would die for that suit personally. I wrote down, is this what Steve Harvey wears when he goes to the gym? Yeah, so even like, it is amazing how hunky he is wearing this thing. Also, like one of the only natural blondes I've ever seen in my life. You could tell he's a natural blonde.

He's a natural blonde because you see his chest hair so much. Yes, that's exactly what it was. Is it too early for Hunkwatch? You know what? Let's fucking talk about it now then. Yay. Matt, it's Sting. Go for Matt.

It's Hunkwatch. Yeah. Hunk of the movie. What do you think? Charles Durning. Oh, wow. Snyder the detective. Yeah.

Yes. Well, the first minute you see him, it's just... Okay. So I think about this movie in terms of like, who would I have a crush on on set? I would not be crushing on Paul Newman or Robert Redford. Paul Newman, even, I mean. Never going to happen. Oh, interesting.

I never. But I feel like the swagger that Charles. You just go up to him and say, I love your salad dressing. And that's how you start it. That's a good opening. Great opening. Yeah, but I just feel like. Wasn't a thing yet in 1973, but absolutely great opening. I love the salad dressing. And that's how you start it. That's a good opening. Great opening. Yeah, but I just feel like- Wasn't a thing yet in 1973, but absolutely great opening.

I love the salad dressing you're going to make. I'm from the future. And I am DTF. 73. I am DTF time cop right here. If I was going to use a salad dressing as lube, I would make it Paul Newman. There you go. And you would feel good,

not just from the lube, but knowing that the money goes to charity. Also that they're one of, his is one of the only independently owned food brands left. Really? Yes. I didn't know that. Oh my gosh.

It's true. John, do you have an opinion hunk of the movie? Newman Redford, do you want to weigh in? I really was, you can't, every time you see Paul Newman's blue eyes, it's like the first time you see Paul Newman's blue eyes. That little bitch mustache. Oh, that little bitch mustache.

You can spit on it, it's so tiny. You got a hak-tua on that. Hak-tua on that bitch little mustache. Yeah, this is. Is that what that meme's about? Speaking about Paul Newman's mustache? From The Sting. Wow. Specifically from The Sting.

Yeah. Not from The Verdict. I'm either the best guy for this podcast or the worst guy. You're perfect. You're perfect. We are absolutely going to Tangent Town. Yeah. Well, what I love about your fondness for Charles Durning, believe it or not, that's more or less the start of, not the start, but it's the first couple years of Charles Durning's career.

Really? Late start, Charles Durning. Late start. Army guy. Didn't get into acting. Didn't really establish a footing until the early 70s with movies like The Sting and Dog Day Afternoon. And then, of course, The Muppets in 1979. Well, I know him from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

No shit. And that number of the athleticism, he just sells. He was a song and dance guy, I think. I think he did a lot of theater before he started

to make it in movies. I mean, I just think he's so talented. That is a great scene. That's like an all-time scene. It's the best scene in that whole movie. Like,

it's so good. We're not gonna give it up to the football players dancing in the locker room 24-hour. Okay. No, we will. We will. Until we get to heaven. I will say, that scene in that movie, when all the football players are dancing before they go to the whorehouse. Yeah, that's pretty good. That is exactly

what plays, like, they have perfectly captured how it feels when you suspect you're about to have sex. That is that, that is that just put into the real world. It really is. It's perfect. It really sort of commodifies the uncommodifiable. Yes.

Like, you didn't think you could see a vision for that feeling, but it's a bunch of guys who don't actually look interested in women dancing around with a lot of women. Oh, no. A bunch of shirtless guys with their thumbs tucked into their belt loops doing a two-step. Yes. Thinking about how Aggie boys are about to get laid, and I'm sure they are.

Oh, yeah. I don't doubt a lot of people had sex on the set of that movie. I don't doubt it. No, that is not what I'm saying at all. Beautiful. That's saying that. No, that is not what I'm saying at all. Beautiful. So funny. Okay, so yeah, I'm going to say, I'll weigh in on Hunkwatch.

Yeah, I mean like Robert Redford, come on. How old is he supposed to be in this movie? They call him kid. They call him like scooter. They call him sport. Like everyone in this movie looks 45. Yeah, how old is anyone supposed to be in this movie looks 45. How old is, yeah, how old is anyone supposed to be in this movie? Yeah, absolutely.

It's impossible to tell. There's absolutely no... I think his blonde hair. Even the female love interest, I'm like, is she an older woman? 80 or 40? Yeah. It's strange.

I will say that I think both these guys have looked 45 their entire lives. Oh, that's a good, yes. These guys always looked 45. Paul Newman was about eight to 10 years older than Redford. Was he?

Yeah, they were not actually around the same age. Yeah. And Newman had already been working for quite some time by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Okay.

He'd already been pretty established. Speaking of someone who does look authentically old is, and I always forget he's in it, and I always forget who he is,

Robert Earl Jones as Luther. James Earl Jones's dad? See, that's interesting because you think of James Earl Jones as someone who's been internally 45. Yeah. Oh, totally. Really? That's how old y'all think he seems all the time? Yeah, I do.

He has seemed 70 to me my entire life well maybe that's it it's that i i how old do y'all think darth vader seems well he's had work you mean anakin skywalker fuck no i'm talking about i'm talking about episodes four through six yeah that was hayden christiansen No, that's episodes one through three. That's who I see when I watch it. Really? Matt's a prequels guy. I'm a prequels guy.

Charge our for life. I'm talking about the first time you saw Darth Vader. How old did you think he was? Old enough that I'm surprised James Earl Jones has a father. But of course he does. Fair, fair. This is a loud one. All right, cool.

So yeah, Luther is kind of his partner. He's the one who tips Robert Redford off. He's like, oh, I know this guy. You got to team up with him. I'm out of the game. And then, of course, Luther is the first one to get killed by the mafia who's coming to take their revenge. And this movie is pretty wacky and pretty like, it's a light romp, it's a jaunt, but it has a few horrific scenes.

This is one of them. It really sticks out. It's a weird like tonal left turn. It was marketed at the time and whenever it was going to be on TV, it's like, you remember how good this movie felt? This is a feel good movie. This is the good guys who aren't good guys.

Everyone's corrupt. But they win. And it was very much marketed as like a buddy comedy before we really had the term. Yeah. So the moments of abrupt violence in the film stick out. They totally do. And I think this was a real 70s ass thing to do. Like for Jordan,

Jesse go recently, we went back and watched a bunch of old Burt Reynolds movies. And those are jaunty romps with banjo and you jump the car off the thing. But there's one of those movies. It's not, it's not smoky in the band. It's like Gator or something. It's a little romp.

He's a bootlegger driving a fan boat. And then an old woman gets burned alive in her house with all of her cats. It's just like random horrors. All right. But this is what I think about how it is right out of the gate a real mix of old Hollywood studio system. Here are two stars and a bunch of what would normally be contract players, but we don't have a contract system anymore. Yeah. You know, and the wipes between scenes.

Right. That's a real old timey thing from the 50s. That's a real like the irising out and the wiping across stuff. All that stuff is very old Hollywood, but then it's mixed with the cursing and the abrupt violence. Yeah, you're right. And the bad guys kind of get away with their crimes at the end. So it's a really... And I think it matters that it's

1973. Sure. You know, because you're right at the... It's been a few years since Easy Rider. Yeah, here comes Taxi Driver. Right. Here comes all this stuff. Yeah, precisely. Sure. So yeah, so he meets... so Luther dies and then Robert Redford decides he's going to try and pull off this one last con. So he goes to meet Paul Newman at Coney Island.

He meets him at Coney Island where he has a little apartment above, or not above, but maybe adjacent to like a brothel. Do you know where they shot it? No. They shot it at Santa Monica Pier. That's the Santa Monica Pier. No way. Yeah. Oh my gosh where they shot it? No. They shot it at Santa Monica Pier. That's the Santa Monica Pier. No way. Oh my gosh.

That's the merry-go-round at the Santa Monica Pier. That's so cool. Oh my God. Which that merry-go-round is from Nashville. Really? No shit. They brought it here from Nashville, Tennessee. Oh my gosh.

If you notice, the way they shoot it, they put some fake elevated stance things on it, but they don't actually see the water. But there's just this old rickety step and everything. And yeah, that's the whole area around the Santa Monica Pier. Oh my gosh, I had no idea. That is cool how they set it,

like the secret brothel was you gotta go through there and there's a merry-go-round. That is pretty cool. It rules, yeah. And Paul Newman fixes the merry-go-round, that is pretty cool. It rules, yeah. And Paul Newman like fixes the merry-go-round for the madam of the, you know, for the madam of the brothel.

Later we get this great shot of just all the girls who work at the brothel riding around on the merry-go-round. We can all agree that sex work is real work, but sometimes it's also real fun. It's so worth it. Can I say something really quick about the merry-go-round? I just remember, because you said that it was in Santa Monica. I had no idea it was from Nashville.

That's so cool. I didn't know that it was the one in Santa Monica, and I knew it was from Nashville. And I remember looking at the merry-go-round, and there is one with University of Tennessee colors on it. Oh, wow. And University of Tennessee started in 1794. I don't know how, like, when the orange and white became the colors, but they just, like,

won D1 baseball. Oh, good for them. So, yeah, I know. Like, I don't know when UT has won baseball before, but I was looking at it, and I went, hey, UT colors. And now you said that, and I'm like, oh, shit. Was that little horse a UT horse? It might have been a UT horse, yeah.

That's crazy. Okay. Yeah, so they start to plot the scheme. Paul Newman is a drunk. He finds him just kind of drunk off his ass. He throws him in a tub filled with water. But, yeah, the banter is so great in this scene. I really love it.

It's a meet-cute. It is a meet-cute. By any measure, it is a meet cute. But that first shot of Newman where he's not on the bed, but you can hear him snoring and Redford goes around the side and he's like, he's fallen off the bed. He's got his nose pressed up against the wall. Yeah. It's a pretty incredible entrance for a guy who's already a movie star icon.

Totally. Yeah. It's fun. I like that a lot. And there's a lot of little, there's a lot of old timey-isms in this and I don't know if any of these are anachronisms but he's like, yeah, I'm a lop ear I'm a real shantusi and I'm like

I'm not following any of this. I love it. I don't know what any of these slangs mean. There's a bunch of great slang and some of it might be and they also, what was funny is how often Redford uses the phrase everything's Jake and that's where your buddies, the ska punk band, Less Than Jake, is that slang phrase.

They were less than Jake because they were less than doing well. So that's the origin of that band. I don't know if it's from The Sting, but it's from that slang term. That rules. A fun little piece of ska punk history. Yeah. I try to know my audience here. And so here's the scam.

They're going to try and get money off of this mob boss. So they go to meet him on a train. And the scam is that Paul Newman is going to pretend like he's a drunk rich guy and infiltrate his poker game and then use his card counting skills to win. Paul Newman faking drunk is so fucking funny. He's great. I love this scene. It's fun to watch.

This is such a fun scene. And what's so interesting too is, because we're not talking about Robert Shaw enough yet. Robert Shaw who is Dalton Lanigan is the name. Yeah, Lanigan. He's my hunk. Oh, Matt. He's your hunk watch?

Yeah, I love him. Matt's hunk watch. You He's my hunk. Oh, Matt. He's your hunk watch? Yeah, I love him. Matt's hunk watch. You like an Irish hunk. Yeah, I like the fact that he's just an Irish man who's the head of the mafia. You know, like that's cool. He's legitimately terrifying. Yeah, he's scary. He's a really intimidating presence.

He's Irish? He's supposed to be Irish, yeah. Okay. Sure, I guess. It's not like, It's kind of a cartoony accent. Is it? I didn't hear one at all. Oh, yeah. Well, it's there.

Oh, my name's Donald, and you'll get it right. You'll get it right or Jesus will cry. You'll get it right or I'll throw you off the train. He had that classic Irish limp. What was that? It was apparently a real injury. Oh, really? Apparently Robert Shaw fucked up his knee before the movie.

Yeah. I did a bit of a dive. But what's so cool about that performance, and you see this in some action comedies in the 80s, is that he's not playing it as if he's in a comedy. He is the fucking bad guy. And he is a constant source of dread and menace. And you do not want to piss this guy off. And him juxtaposed with fall-down drunk Paul Newman is delightful.

Yeah, he's so cool. And he's also a very dumb villain. He never suspects once that he's getting conned. He is just taken for the ride the whole time. They do this funny, well, the thing is that, like, he knows something is up in the card game, so he knows he's been, he does know he has been cheated. Sure.

And I think what happens is he gets so angry that it colors his judgment for the rest of the movie. The kind of part of it is that Robert Redford's thing is, I'm going to help you get your revenge. I work for Paul Newman, and I'm going to help you infiltrate his gambling organization. By the way, in the card game, Robert Shaw is getting hints from one of his goons

who is behind and looking at Paul Newman's cards. The guy looks like a flea was a ventriloquist dummy. So actually, maybe let's kind of go to the end. There's a bunch of shenanigans that happen, but the main scam is they're going to try and get Robert Shaw to put all of his money on like a fake horse race. Yeah.

Well, the kind of cool thing they do is that you don't understand the scam until the very end of the movie. Like we're not in on it with them, which is one of the reasons for my friend Matthew's thesis is that you and the audience are being conned. Right.

You are the mark. There's even a fake FBI that is set up to make you think that Robert Redford is going to flip on the whole thing. The great Dana Elkar who played those roles constantly to the day he died. He was the boss on MacGyver in the 80s about 10 years later. And he was a guy named Dana because back then you could name a guy Dana. So, yeah. So you kind of think that maybe Robert Redford is going to flip on the whole thing.

He has this little weird romance with a woman who works in the diner. Who looks exhausted. Who looks exhausted. This is Emily you mentioned. She's my bitch. This is my girl right here. Who looks exhausted. Who looks exhausted. This is Emily you mentioned. She's my bitch. This is my girl right here. But also the burlesque dancer that he gets into

at the beginning. Like Robert Redford wants to take a girl out on the town. Spend 50 bucks on her. He's gonna spend 50 bucks on this girl. Can I tell you how much I would appreciate a man spending 20 bucks on me? By the way, that's 50 bucks in 1936. There were no aways. That is, I'll never

experience anything like that. It's funny. I believe in you. You will. You will find a man who will drop a crisp Jackson on you. Speaking of, can you guys join Maximum Fun so I can take myself on a date?

Maximumfun.org slash join. Yeah. It's never too late to join. So, but yeah, actually, let's go back to the strip club for a second. It is a 1930s strip club. And this is the music that's playing. Matt, do you have the strip club music? So this is the music that's playing.

I like that this was the sexiest music available at this time. I like it. And also. That's old school burlesque. You got the big trombone going in there. Yeah. And her dancing, I would call wacky. It's this kind of wacky musical theater dancing.

Wackier than it is sexy. Sure. Yeah. Both her. Okay. Eileen Brennan and the tired lady he sleeps sexy. Sure. Yeah. Both her, like, okay, Eileen Brennan and the tired lady he sleeps with,

41. In the movie. No, in real life. At the time of shooting. At the time of shooting. Oh, wow, look at that. Which, hell yeah, that's my vibe.

Yeah, it is like interesting that they didn't cast a bunch of, you know, 23-year-olds to play these characters. It is really interesting, yeah. And it does kind of, there is something of 23-year-olds to play these characters. It is really interesting, yeah. And it does kind of,

there is something vaguely Smash the Patriarchy about that. Yes, I agree completely. It's my favorite part about this movie. I know. I feel represented. That Eileen Brennan is the romantic lead. She went on to be the drill sergeant in Private Benjamin 10 years later. Hell yes.

She was also in Pippi Longstocking, one of my favorite movies of all time. You kind of have to, with these movies that don't hold up to the modern scrutiny, you kind of have to go back and give them retroactive points. Oh, for sure. For sure. 100%. For stuff like this. Yes.

And it is neat. I mean, she's obviously, she's doing a lot with a little. It's not a huge part, but it is really interesting. She's doing a lot with a little. It's not a huge part, but it is really interesting. So Robert Redford goes up to her apartment after they have a little flirty banter at the diner. And he's like, I'm just like you. This is the waitress. Yeah.

He's like, I'm just like you. It's 2 a.m. and I don't know nobody. And he lets her in. It's really hot. It's a really hot moment. But later, she meets her in an alley and the guy we think is a cop shoots her. And it turns out she was going to flip on him. She was a plant.

What an elaborate ruse to work at the diner, flirt with him, and just assume he's going to come up. But, I mean, I think we know from kind of an earlier scene, you know, they know his weakness is the ladies. He has a weakness for the ladies. He's not great with money. He's not great with money. He's not great with money. But they don't kill him when he goes up because too many people would have seen him go into the building at 2 a.m. in Chicago. Right. But, yeah, but, again, there's a couple logic things with this movie. Sure.

Not least of which is the fact. Go on. Not least of which is the fact that, like, there's just a ton of capital they have to lay out. They rent a bunch of real estate. Yeah. So they hire tons of guys. Kind of seems like they already have money. I know.

But it's not. Yes, if you have the money to pull off this scam, what more do you need? But that's the whole point of the movie. It's not about the money. That's true. It's about the fucking thrill of the grift. And getting vengeance for Luther, who we lose early on. I feel like that kind of took a backseat in their brains at some point. Paul Newman doesn't need that.

That's the thing. So for him, it is about doing the big score. And getting money for those tiny little mustache razors. Baby little mustache razors. And for replacement carousel parts. Those can't be cheap. Yeah, carousel is not going to fix itself. There you go.

Very true. So we're kind of like to the main scam. They have set up this like whole fake casino populated with other scam guys who are all playing characters in this thing. All to get this guy's $500,000 off him. He's going to put this bet on the fake horse race. So we're going to talk about the thrilling twist and conclusion of the sting right after this. We're back. It's Free With Ads. We're going to talk about the thrilling twist conclusion of The Sting.

So, yeah, Lonergan's there. He's got $500,000. He's putting on a horse race. It's a fake horse race. It's coming down a fake wire. So is the deal is like that's a previous horse race that they're- It's interesting. It's a race that has been won already, but there is a Western Union telegraph delay because that's how they're getting this kind of information.

That's what they were reading on that little ticker. Yeah. Is that ticker tape? That is. Oh, cool. I never knew what ticker tape was and I guessed it.

Yeah, that's what they're throwing during all those parades that happen in movies and I've never seen happen in real life. Oh, okay. Oh, they do it when your local team wins the World Series. Oh, yeah, sure.

When the Yankees were on that streak in the 90s, it was just ticker tape coming out of the fucking sky. So you've seen ticker tape in real life? I've actually seen ticker tape in person, yeah. So what is it? How do they communicate through it? Morse code? They don't need it anymore, but it's just,

no, it's words. It's actual words, but you have less. It was started with the telegraph. So somebody is typing it in. Oh, okay. And the guy reading it in The Sting is Ray Walston, who 10 years later would be the history teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He's in everything.

He's another one of those guys that's the same age his whole life. Oh, yeah. He was middle-aged and then he died. A middle-aged baby. He was a middle-aged baby and then he died. It's whatever. It's not a Benjamin Button. It's a Ray Walston, I think. He lost a middle-aged baby. He was a middle-aged baby, and then he died. It's not a Benjamin Button. It's a Ray Walston, I think. He lost a little bit of hair at like 15, but no further loss, and then just rode that out.

He had suspenders on his body his entire life. Entire life. Never took them off. Never once. Bathed with them. Always had a weird bruise on the top of his hand. That happens. It's like you are kind of middle-aged, and then you got a big bruise on your hand. It hand. That happens. It's like you are kind of middle-aged, and then you got a big bruise on your hand.

It's the damn thing. That's when you're old. So we think that Robert Redford has flipped, and he's sold everybody out. This leads to a shootout. Paul Newman shoots him. The cops shoot Paul Newman. We think that they've died.

Lonergan runs out. He doesn't care that his money is still in there because he's getting away with his life. He's getting away with his life and there's FBI agents in there as far as he knows. Right. And then we learn that that was all part of the scam. They've got blood packs in their mouth.

And boy, what a realistic bunch of blood they did in this movie. Yeah, it's funny because the blood does not look real, but no blood looked real in movies at that time. I guess that's true, yeah. Yeah, so I think the first time I saw this, I maybe did, for a hot second, think that this happened. So yeah, there is my question.

Did you buy it? I think the first time I watched the movie, I did. Okay. Yeah. I was on the fence because here's the twist that I thought was coming. This is my first time seeing this movie. Yeah.

I thought that Paul Newman was going to be the big baddie. Oh, interesting. I thought he was the mafia. I thought that he was going to be the mafia head. And the whole thing was like a test for Robert Redford to be like- That would have been cool. Inducted into his gang. That's what I thought

it was and so then it wasn't and I was like, what is this? But it is so it's a scam. All the guys pat each other on the back. We are left to wonder how much this scam cost versus how much they made. No kidding! I think of that Soderbergh Ocean's Eleven movie, too,

when they have to make that scam work, they need a machine that takes the power out of all of Las Vegas. How much does that cost? Is everybody walking away with 15 bucks? That's very true. They should just sell that machine and split it. Right. Well, if these guys are setting up a fake casino,

they should have a casino. Those make money. Those make a lot of money. You have the stuff. But it's really, it's not just about making the money. It's about making sure that Robert Shaw loses money. Right. Right.

And loses his rep, too, to a certain extent. Has a reputation damage as well. a certain extent has a reputation damage as well. So his way of cheating this whole time when they had the meeting at the, like he had, Paul Newman had this meeting of genius con artists and they were like, he's a good cheater. Like our main baddie was a good cheater. And it turned out there was just a guy who sat on the other end of the room. Well, no, he also has a, he has a stack deck of all nines in his pocket at one point.

Remember, there's a moment when he takes a break and splashes water on his face. He's all pissed off. He's getting his Irish up. Yeah. And he takes a deck. His Irish. He gets a deck of nines and keeps that with him to kind of feed into his. Still not that good at cheating. He's not.

Still not that good at cheating. I remember going, wow, what's the cheating going to be like? And then it was that. And I was like, wow, what's the cheating going to be like? And then it was that. And I was like, okay. He even does this really obvious look at Paul Newman when he's cheating. And then he dabs his face with the handkerchief that he put the other cards in. And I'm like, he looks like he's cheating. Bold choice.

Yeah. Can I show you guys who, okay. When I saw the actor who played him, Shaw the actor I remember going is he in the Dick Tracy movie this is who I thought he was and I think someone looked at his face. Oh you thought he was flat top. I did. Who plays is that William Forsythe? Yes. Okay. But don't you think they looked at Robert Shaw's face in The Sting and they went yes this. Do that with putty. But with a worse head top of the the head. It looks like him. So they're all shaking hands.

Job well done. And Paul Newman asks Robert Redford if he wants his share of the money. And he just says, nah, I'd only blow it. Fucking great last line. Yes, great. Great last line, isn't it? And he seems to understand. And that's what I mean.

It's really just about hurting Don again. Right. And it's like. But the love of the con, too. Yeah. Love of the craft of the craft you know actually I'll save this observation when we talk about our ratings I would you want to talk about the best lines in this movie Emily I think this is a case where you and I both enjoyed the same thing okay I know you took notes on this I took notes on this there is a part in this movie where they're listing all of the con men. They're going to get to come to this. Yeah.

The fucking con man names. Matt, can you play this clip? A horse-faced Lee, Slim Miller, Suitcase Murphy, and the Big Alabama in from New Orleans. Suitcase Murphy? Brian Jonesy and the Boone Kid from Denver. Duffy Burke and Limehouse Chappie from New York. These and the guys outside should give you 30 or more to choose from New York. Well, these and the guys outside should give you 30 or more to choose from.

Good. Okay, who's your favorite goon? Oh, God. Horseface Lee. Limehouse Chappy is pretty strong. I'm a Limehouse Chappy, man. I'm a Suitcase Murphy. What is that?

That guy sounds crazy. It is just raining band names in this video. Because immediately when I heard that, I was like, oh, fuck, this is some dropkick Murphy shit. Everything sounds like a ska band. Slim Miller? I mean. This is amazing. I love it so much.

This is so funny. When I was doing my research, I actually found there's a longer version of this scene. Oh, is that a fact? Yeah. Did you know there's a longer version of this scene. Oh, is that a fact? Yeah, did you know there's a longer version of this scene that didn't make it into the movie, and I found it. Matt, do you wanna play the cut version of this? Let's see who we got here.

Toddler Tommy, Jimmy the Chair, Bobby Long Weekend, Bert the Squirt, Adulti the Kid, King Clitoris, Easy Hardman, Colt69, Zanku Chicken, Herbie Hot Tua, Pablo Dogwater, Stepdad Doug,

Timmy the Tit, Itchy Itchford, Mrs. Fields, Orange Julius, Johnny Sbarro, Court Halfpipe, Tommy Live Journal, Sonic the Hedgehog,

Gord Pumpkin, Christopher, the guy who always cancels plans last minute. Bugsy Bunniesley. Mickey the Duck. Sonny Fuckface. Your dad's friend from work. Standard-sized pussy. Pauly Deez Nuts.

Daisy Jones and the Six. Ricky and the Flash. Nice Darth Vader. Jonathan John Johnson. Timothy Butt Timpson, Sammy, the guy who won't shut up about his air fryer, and the real Santa Claus. Yes!

That's a longer cut version of that scene. Gotta kill your babies. Gotta kill your babies sometimes. Alright, which one? I'm Jimmy the Chair all the way. What was the life, Jordan? Normal-sized pussy.

I am. This is the best ab workout I've had in a year. I'm just saying, my stomach hurts. I haven't laughed that hard. Oh, fuck. Oh, my God. All right. Thank you for that, Jordan. We're all thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. It was a cut scene that I found. I found a cut scene. Oh, that's right. I forgot. I watched this on the Criterion Blu-ray. Good digging. We're all thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. It was a cut scene that I found. I found a cut scene. Oh, that's right. I forgot. I watched this on the Criterion Blu-ray. Good digging.

Good research. Good research. I bought the Criterion Blu-ray. Thank you, chicken. Thank you, chicken. Fuck off. All right. We're going to rank The Sting on a scale of 1 to 10 Super Loud Commercials.

Oh, when we come back we're back it's's Free With Ads. We're here with John Ross Bowie. We're talking about The Sting. How should we do our rankings? Why don't I go, Emily go, John go? Let's do it like that. We're going to rank this movie on a scale of 1 to 10 super loud commercials. Fair enough.

That's what you have to pay to watch it. Sure, sure. I'll go first. I really like these two dudes. I like this movie a lot. Hard not to compare it to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, written by William Goldman. That's one of the all-time great scripts.

Sure, sure. This is a really, really fun movie that I like a lot. When I watched it this time, I noticed that thing you said at the top, John, where it's like, this isn't really about anything other than the con, right? Like, it's about the grift. Like, these two guys and their histories

are pretty, like, incidental. That line at the end from Redford, not only blow it, like, does so much fucking work. It does so much work. It puts a real bow on it, yeah. Yeah, it's like he is just a thrill junkie who's doing it for the thrills. And I like that a lot.

And I really, and I like that and then noticed, I'm like, huh, yeah, the character moments in this are kind of few and far between. It's mostly like, it's mostly like set up and you kind of watching this scam. And I fucking have a blast every time I watch this movie. Yeah. And the music and the general old timiness is so great.

And this movie doesn't really take place in the 30s. It just takes place in olden times. And I mean, that's probably one of the reasons for like the glaring musical anachronism that we talked about earlier. It's just like, don't worry about it. It's a go. Yeah, that's the time. It's a go. Don't worry about it.

And yeah, lots of stuff you wouldn't do now. Lots of it doesn't really hold up to modern scrutinies. But as far as like a classic movie that's still a blast to watch and doesn't feel like homework, at least to me, it definitely doesn't. Some old movies kind of feel like homework. No, it flew by. I was like, I turned it on. I was like, wow, is it two hours and ten minutes? Wow.

It flew by again. I was watching it this morning and I was like, this is delightful. Yeah hours and ten minutes? Wow, it flew by again. I was watching it this morning, and I was like, this is delightful. Yeah, feels like an episode of TV. So, yeah, I think for me it's an eight. Eight out of ten super loud commercials. Emily, what do you got? Okay, when we talk about ads, it's super loud ads, right? Super loud ads.

So for a moment I would like to talk about the sound in this movie because it also affected the ads that I watched. So this movie had it also affected the ads that I watched. So this movie had crazy sound problems. There was a lot of voiceover that was added, I think in post, that did not match the movie. And I was having to turn the volume up and down. And then all of my ads. There's some weird ADR throughout. There is. So I was turning the volume up and down and you know how the super loud ads get super loud. Every single ad for me was the trailer for A Quiet Place, the prequel.

So you had to listen to it very loudly. And it was so fucking loud. Right. Ironically. So ironically. So I wanted to say that. I'm going to give this a six. I know it's liked by people uh six has it gone up has it gone up at

all in your estimation since we've been talking about it yes it went up from a two no shit yeah you came in really negative i and i feel like the more we kind of hashed it out it's just like do you remember the more i explained it to you emily i feel like it no no no of hashed it out. It's just like, do you remember? The more I explained it to you, Emily, I feel like it. No, no, no, no, no. I do not. You were not mansplaining at all. I've never felt that way in this podcast, by the way, just to say that out loud. But you're right.

When y'all talked about it, it did make me like the movie more. But I felt like when I was watching it, you know how you felt when you were seven and you were in a class and you couldn't escape? That's how I felt. Interesting. This movie, I was like, do something. I have to watch this for the podcast. It did feel a little homeworky. It felt homeworky, but I do.

Yeah, that's it. John, what do you got? Well, a couple interesting things. I don't know what's up with my algorithm yes i got the quiet place ad i also got um an ad for yacht vacations okay and i was like oh i'm watching this thing they think i'm a boomer with disposable income great um and then and then i got literally got ads for concert tours of artists I've not ever heard of. Like the K-pop band that was like, you don't want to miss these guys. And I'm like, I might actually miss these guys. I don't think I'm going to make it to this show.

One of them is Jimmy the Chair. He's the bad boy. And so I don't know. He's the bad boy. And so I don't know. And I mean, I guess like, OK, I do occasionally, you know, watch concerts on YouTube. I think it's great for that. Sometimes I watch people's shitty cell phone videos of concerts.

I'm not proud of that. But every once in a while I'll do that. But the yes, my algorithm was all wacky. That said, I'm really hand in hand with you on this, Jordan. I think it is a masterful example of form equals content. It is a movie about a con that is itself essentially a con. You are not in on hardly anything until the absolute last minute. It's not a who or a why done it. It's purely a how done it. And on that level, it works, but it's ultimately really superficial. So, yeah, eight loud commercials.

Eight loud commercials. All right. That's the sting. I had a little problem with it. Matt, yeah, what did you think? Oh, I should ask, is this your first time seeing this movie? No, this is not my first time seeing this movie. I actually have really loved this movie in the

past. Interesting. But I got really excited about us doing The Sting because I wanted to make The Sting a sting for The Sting. Yes. And I tried and I couldn't make a good Desert Rose sting. Oh, no. John, for your information, we have a running bit on

this show where we play Sting's Desert Rose. Okay. He doesn't need to know. Sorry, sorry. We do a bunch of stupid shit on this podcast. I think he needs to know. You were going to do a Sting Sting for the Sting? I was going to do a Sting Sting for the Sting. And it was going to be Desert Rose. I catch on remarkably quick.

You'll get it. But I have a couple. I'm going to try them out. Yeah, yeah. We'd love to try them out. Yeah, yeah. We'd love to hear them. Let's just hear them. See, that one didn't work. Nope. But let's just try I Dream of Rain. Here.

It doesn't work. That's not bad, though. That's better than the... They're getting better each one. I'm giving it a two. Listen, you can play Desert Rain and I'm gonna dance like a tired burlesque dancer with some bad titty covers on.

Yeah. Same thing. Pasties. Pasties. Okay, now you're mansplaining. Alright, sorry. I'm amazed we got this far. Well, hey, that was the sting. Hey, let's do some plugs. John Ross Bowie, we mentioned it. Egghead, Head in the Road again,

and soon to have a vinyl release. Soon to have a vinyl release out on a co-pro between Dead Broke Records and Mom's Basement Records. Say it as much as you can. Not a joke. Say it as much as you can. They're lovely guys. Two terrific labels.

In collaboration, Jimmy the Chair. Working with Zanku Chicken. Of course. And yeah, is there a place folks should go for all that information? Where's the best spot? Yeah,

at John Ross Bowie at Instagram is fairly well updated for a man my age. I should have mentioned this at the top. Tell us who you're touring with. Oh, I'm touring with two giants of the genre. Egghead is going on tour with Boris the Sprinkler us who you're touring with. Oh, I'm touring with two giants of the genre.

Egghead is going on tour with Boris the Sprinkler and the Ergs. Yeah! I'm very excited to hang out with them. I haven't seen Boris in, God, it's been like 14 years, and I love the Ergs. They're dear friends. It's going to be nice. It's going to be a hot show if you're out there on the East Coast. Lucky you. You get to see Egghead,

the Ergs, and all the rest. John, is there merch? There is merch. Yeah. Can you get it on your Instagram? Is there a link to the store? There will be. There will be.

Oh, I saw the shirt design. You let me see the shirt design. The shirt design fucking rocks. This is what I'm talking about. I want a shirt. Okay. Yeah, we can make that happen. We'll put a link to the shirt.

Okay, we will absolutely put a shirt link. We will absolutely put a shirt link. I'm so excited. We will. Hey link to the shirt. Okay. We will absolutely put a shirt link. We will absolutely put a shirt link. I'm so excited. We will. Hey, Emily, anything coming up? Any plugs? Well, I would like to plug for Jordan Morris, myself, and Matt Lieb. Good Mythical Weekend is back, baby.

Yeah. Good Mythical Weekend over there on the Good Mythical Morning YouTube channel. Monday through Friday, you got the great Loretta and Link goofing around on there. But on the weekends, dad's away and we're throwing a party. Yeah, these are really, really fun. We taped a bunch of these this week and they're a blast. They're unhinged. They're totally crazy.

On Saturdays, you can check them out. So yeah, make sure you go over there to the Good Mythical Morning YouTube channel. They're coming soon, I believe, in the next few weeks. So yeah, keep an eye out. And hey, y'all mind if I announce a book tour I won't shut up about this thing I have a new graphic novel with the great artist Bowen McGurdy it's called youth group it's a YA horror comedy about teenage exorcists and I'll be hitting the road signing books for y'all starting July 13th I'll be at the OC Book Fair with the great Megan Fitzmartin of DC Comics,

ocbookfair.org times TBD. On July 19th, I will be at the Wild Sisters Bookstore in Sacramento, California, doing a Q&A with the great Aaron Carnes of the In Defense of Ska podcast. Oh, I love Aaron. Yeah, Aaron's a great dude. Yeah, Aaron's a good guy.

Say what up. Yes, I will for sure. A Sacramento legend, he'll be leading the discussion over there at Wild Sisters Books, 6.30 p.m., free for everybody, but you can pre-order the book at a link that we are going to throw into our show description. You can pre-order it there.

From the good folks at Wild Sisters Books. On 7.26, I will be at Comic in san diego uh we're doing a panel called using fantasy and graphic novels to understand the real world it is friday july 26th 1 p.m room two three a b c yes that will really hopefully mean something to you if you're at comic con i'm gonna be doing that with uh the great comics makers Gene Luen Yang, Luen Pham, and Vera Borgesol. Going to be a fun panel. Please come on out. On 8-2, August 2nd, I will be at

Silver Sprocket doing a conversation with the great Maggie Tokuda-Hall. That's in San Francisco, California. Silversprocket.net is the website to go there. And right here in LA on 8-24, I'll be at 826 LA. It's a great non-profit

that helps kids get writing classes who don't otherwise have writing classes. They're a great organization. I'm going to be there with the great Bria Grant who was on this show

a couple weeks ago from the Reading Glasses podcast. You can find out more information at 826LA.org. I'll be talking about those more in the coming weeks thank you in advance for coming to those

okay I think we're done yeah thanks John such an honor so much fun seriously okay that is all next week our movie will be Alligator Maximum Fun A worker-owned network

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