The Weekly Planet - 472 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Episode Date: April 3, 2023

It's not every day that there's a new theatrically released Dungeons & Dragons movie. It's happened twice. So in additionto a review of that we talk Clayface in The Batman 2, Ant-Man 3 bombs pret...ty hard, more information on Tarantino and Ike Perlmutter is given his marching orders from Disney and Marvel. Thanks for listening!Visit bigsandwich.co for a bonus weekly show, exclusive movie commentaries, early stuff and ad-free podcast feeds for $9 per month.Please be aware timecodes may shift due to inserted ads. Skip extra few minutes when avoiding spoilers. Feeds on Patreon, YouTube and bigsandwich.co are unaffected.00:00 The Start02:08 The Jonathon Majors Stuff04:14 Clayface in The Batman 2?10:24 Ant Man Bombs & Asteroid City Trailer13:29 Tarantino vs Star Wars Movie?16:01 Ike Perlmutter Leaves Marvel28:22 D&D: Honor Among Thieves Review (spoilers 45:45 to 58:06)58:06 What We Reading, What We Gonna Read01:01:44 Letters, It’s Time For Letters01:07:15 Liv Tyler Returns for Captain America 4Nick Mason joins Dice Paper Role Live on April 8th: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/2023/shows/dice-paper-role-and-friendsNick Mason joins Who Knew It with Matt Stewart Live on April 9th: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=1007171&James' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownMaso's Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/nickmaseauThe Weekly Planet Twitter ► https://twitter.com/theweeklyplanetPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesTWP iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767TWP Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetTWP YouTube Channel ► https://goo.gl/1ZQFGHAmazon Affiliate Link ► https://amzn.to/2QbmwGjT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-movies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret. The other, a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+. Will you rise with the sun to help change mental health care forever? Join the Sunrise Challenge to raise funds for CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, to support life-saving progress in mental health care.
Starting point is 00:00:33 From May 27th to 31st, people across Canada will rise together and show those living with mental illness and addiction that they're not alone. Help CAMH build a future where no one is left behind. So, who will you rise for? Register today at sunrisechallenge.ca. That's sunrisechallenge.ca. Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of the Weekly Planet where we talk movies and comics and TV shows.
Starting point is 00:01:10 My name is James, also known as Mr. Sunday. With me as always is a very jazzy Nick Mason. I'm so jazzy. It's true. That's all I had. Oh, okay. I didn't have like a cool extended riff to go on. No.
Starting point is 00:01:21 What are we doing then? No one's ever described me as jazzy. You were doing little jazzy moves though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want me to call you jazzy anymore? No, keep calling me jazzy. No, you don't seem very jazzy. I retract it. If you're not feeling jazzy and you don't and then I don't think you should be jazzy anymore.
Starting point is 00:01:38 I'm taking it back. All I'm saying is you could keep calling, you know they say fake it till you make it. I think I could, if you kept calling me jazzy I think I'd grow into a jazzy persona. Jazzy till you get a razzy. Good. Yep, good. Is that anything?
Starting point is 00:01:49 I'm enjoying this, yes. This is good. Are you? You're trying out new things. I'm liking it. No, don't put this on me. You said jazz. No, I did say jazzy.
Starting point is 00:01:59 Yep. There it is. Okay, I just figured it out. Yep. I started this, didn't I? You started this whole thing, yes. Hello. We shan't be starting again.
Starting point is 00:02:07 No. We've got not enough time and too much news. That's true because we're going to be talking about Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves this week. Yes. Which is a very exciting movie to be talking about, I feel, Mason. We also have to address the situation with Jonathan Majors, which we'll do up top.
Starting point is 00:02:22 We don't have to, but people will ask us. That'll be fun. It'll be good to talk about. I also want to talk about Clayface in Batman maybe and other things. The box office result of Ant-Man 3. Is that what we're calling it, the box office result? The box office result. You've got some other bits of news to throw in there.
Starting point is 00:02:38 A couple of little bits of news. To pepper in. And, of course, I do want to talk about I've done an extensive breakdown of the firing of Ike Perlmutter. If you don't know who that is. The Dark Prince of Marvel. You're going to enjoy it. World's meanest man, probably.
Starting point is 00:02:52 Never seen him speak. Don't know anything about him, but he seems mean. Yeah, he does seem mean, doesn't he? Yeah, no, I've got all of that ready to go. There's time codes if you want to jump to anything in particular. Anyways. Jonathan Majors, Mason. Yep.
Starting point is 00:03:07 So this happened, I think, just as we were recording last week. It happened about one hour before we were recording last week. Yeah. And we thought, we don't know enough about this situation. I think we still don't know enough about this situation. But there have been some updates. And like you said, we still don't know. But what was reported was that he apparently assaulted his girlfriend.
Starting point is 00:03:24 And soon after that, his lawyers and people came out and denied it Like you said, we still don't know. But what was reported was that he apparently assaulted his girlfriend. And soon after that, his lawyers and people came out and denied it and said they have evidence to prove, plus witness statements, that this didn't happen. Plus his girlfriend put in a retraction. Yes. Right. And that seemed to be the end of it, I guess. Sure, sure, sure. Though it's not always in situations, you know, things can just be bad all around. And then Major's lawyer released some text messages between the two of them.
Starting point is 00:03:51 Between the two of them and his girlfriend, yeah. And they're very strange. I've seen people say, oh, this exonerates him. I don't think so. I don't think it does. Yeah, and again, I think it's really a case of this is just ongoing and awful and we don't have all the information here to, you know. Yeah, look, I think we'll mostly be staying off this.
Starting point is 00:04:10 But one of the texts from the girlfriend. I can't believe they released those either. Like it's not, I don't think that was a very savvy move. She says, I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone. Yeah. And the accusation is like strangulation. So I'm like, I don't know what everybody else's world
Starting point is 00:04:30 is like, but I don't think you should strangle somebody for trying to grab your phone. No, I agree. This sounds, I mean, again, this sounds like somebody in a very bad situation who's sort of Stockholm Syndrome, don't worry. Yeah. So. But again, we don't have all the information. We don't have all the information. Yeah. I know people have asked, like, what does this mean for the MCU?
Starting point is 00:04:46 I mean, who cares? Like, I think this clearly needs to be addressed and they'll recast him or they won't. It doesn't really matter. Like, there's a million Kangs. Like, who cares? That's not really the big deal out of all of this. So, yeah, great.
Starting point is 00:05:02 Looking forward to more of this information coming out, Mason. Me too. Love it. Brightens our week. It really does. Now, Mason, Doctor Sleep filmmaker Mike Flanagan has pitched a feature version of Clayface over at the studio. Wait, what does this mean?
Starting point is 00:05:18 Several sources have told Deadline. However, no word on Greenlight yet, but the studio has not said no. Mike Flanagan has come out and said, Ari Clayface, the news today is entirely speculative. When or if something like that ever becomes real, I promise I'll tell you guys, smiley face. So there's that element of the Clayface story. But is there not a second element, Mason?
Starting point is 00:05:38 Oh, maybe he's in the Batman. Maybe he's in the Batman. Maybe he's in the movie The Batman. Well, not The Batman because that movie already came out. I mean, he can be anybody. That's true. Maybe he was in the Batman. Maybe he's in the movie The Batman. Well, not The Batman because that movie already came out. I mean, he can be anybody. That's true. Maybe he was in The Batman the whole time. Exactly. But he might be in The Batman Part 2. That's exciting.
Starting point is 00:05:51 So apparently this pitch from Mike Flanagan, if it's real, wasn't pitched as part of The Batman 2 which he also might be appearing in separately. And other sources are saying that the script is constantly changing and that clay face is a big addition to matt reeves's the batman 2 so we don't know whether or not either of these
Starting point is 00:06:11 things are true and if they are true whether they are connected and also if any of this is true what version of clay face that's what i mean that's that's that's our realm of rampant speculation obviously so the one i mean the one that people probably know that is probably most prominent is the one that's in Harley Quinn, the animated series, if I had to guess. It was a sort of, he's a sort of a very theatrical kind of, but he's, you know, he's got, you know, sci-fi clay powers. Yeah. But in the comic books there's been a bunch of different clay faces
Starting point is 00:06:43 and so the question becomes, is Matt Reeves' Batman universe going to become kind of supernatural or sci-fi fantasy or is he going to be more of a mundane Clay Face? So the first Clay Face initially was just a man named Basil Carlo who was like an over-the-hill actor who wore a sort of clay-like mask and committed a bunch of murders. He could be anybody to an extent.
Starting point is 00:07:09 Yeah, and subsequent clay faces have had shape-shifting powers and sort of the second one could, you know, become this clay creature who could replicate anybody's features and you couldn't kill him because, you know, bullets and what have you would just pass through his clay-like body. He's also in the Batman animated series. Yes, that's right. There's one really great episode where he appears.
Starting point is 00:07:31 I'm sure there are others. And there's a lady version of Clayface who can not only transform into anyone but gain their powers if they have powers. And then Basil Carlo gained Clayface powers. He gained a combination of the next two Clayface's powers. And there's a guy who has like a lava touch. He has to wear like a containment suit. I've got the lava touch.
Starting point is 00:07:55 Everything I touch, it turns to lava. Exactly. Yeah, that's the one. So is it one of those or is it an alternate option? Or none. Is he a guy who maybe he's got like maybe he doesn't turn to clay specifically but maybe he has like a malleable face? That kind of thing.
Starting point is 00:08:13 He's not going to fight like a big clay monster like we saw in like the Arkham games. Yeah, yeah, but maybe he can. And, you know, obviously there is in the comic books there's a character called Hush who has surgically altered himself to look like Bruce Wayne. Yeah. So maybe it could be a combination of those two. Maybe, you know, maybe he's fighting a version of himself.
Starting point is 00:08:34 Maybe it's, because I think it would also be too early to introduce a character like Hush. Yes. Because there's a lot of backstory to that character. And Bruce Wayne has to become more of kind of like a socialite. Yes. Because that factors into the story and he's not quite there yet, this particular version. What would your guess be in terms of what this?
Starting point is 00:08:50 Look, I mean it looks like a more gritty, realistic kind of the Dark Knight-esque kind of world. So I'm thinking like it will lean towards that. But I think there was a similar thing with Batman Begins. There was a time before that second movie came out where we didn't really know what direction these movies were going to go in. It was such early days Batman and there was like hallucinogen gas and all these kind of things where it could have potentially blown out
Starting point is 00:09:15 into a big sci-fi world. And I think we're in the same position here. I kind of want the gross clay man. Yeah. I don't know though. What do you think? I think I'm going to guess very malleable man. I'm going to guess like.
Starting point is 00:09:29 It's very malleable man. That's right. Look how malleable he is. Yes. Give me your money or I'll become more malleable than you can possibly imagine. I think it's going to be probably. Okay, here's my guess. It's Basil Carlo.
Starting point is 00:09:44 He's some sort of actor at the end of his career or something like a nerd and he maybe maybe he gains maybe he's he's had this ability or maybe he gains an ability to he wants to become more youthful and it's kind of a but then it turns out he can push his oh my god it's the opposite of the movie cat woman where you want to become more that's right you turn into a porcelain person. That's right. I think he's going to be just like a sort of shape shift. Yeah, like he can move the bones and flesh in his face and that sort of stuff.
Starting point is 00:10:14 That's cool. It is cool. And he'll have a big knife. Yeah, and a series of wigs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great. All right, cool. Well, I don't disagree.
Starting point is 00:10:22 Because I think if he's just a guy in a mask, that's just the Riddler again. Because I know they've also talked about, and maybe it's just more rumour, that maybe they'll do like a Mr Freeze or whatever. But Mr Freeze is, again, it's like a level below in terms of like a weird clay man. Yeah. You know, like you could be like, oh, no, he's got a cryo disease
Starting point is 00:10:39 and he has to be in a suit. It's not as. I think this universe is sort of more heightened than the Nolan. Definitely. So I think if any of these universes are going to have a more sci-fi bent to them. Yeah. I even, like I've said before, I think there was the capacity for there
Starting point is 00:10:56 to be a Superman in the Nolan universe, like a Golden Age Superman. And I think they could probably do it in this as well. I think they even looked into that. I think the idea was initially that they went to Christian Bale and it was like, no, no, no, no. Didn't I break my knee in that movie or something? I don't care if I fixed it. I don't want to do it.
Starting point is 00:11:13 I've got enough money and I already made a Terminator movie. That's true. Yeah. Great stuff, Mason. Variety reporting that Ant-Man 3 will not be breaking even. Uh-oh. It's apparently going to reach maybe $500 million at the worldwide box office, which you'd think would be good for a movie that didn't apparently need
Starting point is 00:11:31 $600 million to break even. Half a billy, you'd go, that's pretty good. It's pretty good. I mean, if this movie cost $10 million, this is the biggest thing that ever happened. That's right. But it didn't. It cost $600 million to break even is so much for an Ant-Man movie. It's also going to come in under both the previous Ant-Man movies,
Starting point is 00:11:47 which is, I mean, that's not good news either. Yeah. It is wild, isn't it? Did you see the trailer for Asteroid City? No, I saw the thumbnail. Oh, yeah? What does it look like? Really?
Starting point is 00:12:01 I mean, very Wes Anderson-y. People hate that, though, sometimes. They go, look at this. It looks like a Wes Anderson movie. Yeah. I hate it when every five years this guy comes out with another movie that i don't have to watch if i don't want to i hate that this guy sucks it looks fun and but that you got me thinking because an ant-man movie evidently costs 250 million dollars wes anderson movies don't cost, and yet the cast is insane. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:25 Like there's – Do you think there is something to like a studio like Disney going to actors and the actors and the people who manage them know that they can push them for like $10 million? Oh, yeah, definitely. If you do like a Wes Anderson, you're like, I don't know, I'll take a pay cut and I don't know. I think they just like working with him.
Starting point is 00:12:40 Yeah, exactly. And sit on a real set. This is the cast list for asteroid city jason schwartzman obviously shock what really but then scarlett johansson tom hanks jeffrey wright tilda swinton brian cranston ed norton adrian brody leave schreiber hope davis stephen park rupert friend maya hawke steve carell matt dillon hong chao willem defoe margot robbie tony revelry jake ryan and jeff goldblum my. That's like $200 million worth of casting. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:13:08 I mean Scarlett Johansson alone would be the entire budget of one of these movies. Like Wes Anderson movies are like $20 million. Yeah. But clearly people just like working with him. You know, it's one for me, one for you kind of situation. You do a big black widow and you do one of these. You do a ghost in the shell, you do one of these.
Starting point is 00:13:26 That's exactly right. But like the idea that, but that's what I'm thinking, because like these movies, you know, they're very Wes Anderson-y, but they all look great. And it's just like the fact that you're spending $250 million on Ant-Man and the Wasp, it's pretty good.
Starting point is 00:13:41 It's weird, isn't it? It is weird. It makes you think. He's also making The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar story, which is my favourite Roald Dahl short story, and I think story in general, about a man who learns to look through cards to win at gambling. Oh, that's right, yeah. It's a great story if you haven't read it. But Roald Dahl also has a complicated history.
Starting point is 00:14:03 Let me just preface that by saying that. But, yeah, maybe he learns a lesson or whatever. Whoa. Yeah, you know. Roald Dahl also has a complicated history. Let me just preface that by saying that. But, yeah, maybe he learns a lesson or whatever. Whoa. Yeah, you know. Roald Dahl, do you think he learns a lesson? He might have. Great. I think he was, you know, he was probably, I mean, he was.
Starting point is 00:14:15 He was very revolutionary and forward-thinking for his day. But, you know, it's now the modern day. You know, you've got to look at things through a certain lens, Mason. Mm-hmm. Hey, here's one bit of news, James. Oh, my God, for this show? Yeah, for this show. Let's go.
Starting point is 00:14:28 Not just for you and your life. All right. I'm saving that for later. So Quentin Tarantino, we mentioned last, in weeks past, he's got a movie coming out called The Movie Critic, and he's got a sort of a present-day love affair with old Hollywood, 1960s Hollywood, et cetera. And so they're like, okay, who's a prominent movie critic?
Starting point is 00:14:46 It could be about Pauline Kael. Oh, yes. But it turns out it's not. He's confirmed it's not about Pauline Kael. Oh, who's it about? He hasn't said. Is it about the nostalgia critic? That's right.
Starting point is 00:14:56 That's right. That's right. He's going to blow the budget on T-shirts and ties. But it's not about Pauline Kael. But the one piece of news here that I thought was interesting is it's set in 1977. What came out in 1977, James? Drugs.
Starting point is 00:15:12 Yeah, drugs. It's just going to be about drugs. That was the introduction of drugs, wasn't it? That's right. The first drugs came out then. Yeah, that's cool. Quaaludes. So is this a shot at Star Wars?
Starting point is 00:15:21 I think it might be a shot at Star Wars. And the blockbuster era movie making? I think it might be, yeah. Well, he has had run-ins with Disney, yeah. That's what I'm saying. We talked about this last week. It's not like you went, oh, it's set in the 70s, I guess, or whatever. But it's 1977. Very, very pointedly,
Starting point is 00:15:34 I think. I think this is going to be a shot at Star Wars and the blockbuster industry. But I also think it's interesting because he, from memory, he likes Star Wars. Because Star Wars, original Star Wars, Star Wars 1, working title was Blue Har, Star Wars 1. Yeah, yeah. Working title was Blue Harvest. Go on.
Starting point is 00:15:48 Like that movie, I mean, I know it was the biggest movie of the time it became that, but it was this really weird, underground, unusual movie. That's true. That happened to become the biggest franchise in the world. Yeah. So I think he, from that perspective, he liked it. But then in terms of like what it has become now yeah he obviously does not because they're disney f pushing his movie off cinema screens pushing every movie off cinema
Starting point is 00:16:09 exactly so yeah well that is very interesting i did not know that i think i think that's what it's going to be so should they get the critic uh from that animated show the critic whatever his name is yeah what's his name again what's john lo's John Lovitz. Yeah. It stinks. Yeah, it stinks. That's right. Yeah, I mean. Do you think it's going to be like a fictional critic, do you? Or like an amalgamation of. I think it might be. Do you think he's going to run into the theatre and machine gun George Lucas? Maybe.
Starting point is 00:16:37 Like the end of Inglourious Basterds. Maybe. And save cinema. Or he gets machine gunned, you know? Sure, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm interested to see how that's going to turn out.
Starting point is 00:16:45 What if the character's named Siskel Ebert? He's just a mutated amalgamation of those two. Oh, I love that. Do you have any more one bits of news, Mason? I don't currently know. Well, then let's talk about some more Disney stuff. Okay. This is actually sad news.
Starting point is 00:17:02 It's sad news for the 7,000 staff members of Disney who are affected by the layoffs that are currently happening worldwide. But the silver lining of that is it's very sad news for one particular man who has been caught in the layoffs, and that is one Ike Perlmutter. Yes. Now, a little bit of background on who this guy is. Please.
Starting point is 00:17:23 You may already know, but I've unearthed some stuff i did i did a pretty i did like a couple hours of a deep dive on this guy yesterday to to to figure you know to find some more information to figure this out so he's a billionaire businessman okay uh self-made so i don't believe billionaires can be self-made because their money is obviously built off the back of exploitation. Let's not get into it. Okay, Stalin. I know. Okay, Joseph Stalin. He says from an iPhone, et cetera.
Starting point is 00:17:51 I know. But I don't believe that that can be done without crushing people on the way out. Okay, Bernie Sanders. Anyways, he's also notoriously frugal and weird. He is known for being reclusive. There's a couple of very famous photos of him. There's this one of him with Trump. Do you hear that?
Starting point is 00:18:10 That weird noise. That weird noise that plays when you look at that photo. That's not edited in. That's the noise that that photo makes. Google it if you don't believe me. So he acquired Marvel in 1998 via a toy company that he controlled. Was it Toy Biz? It was something like that, yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:28 And Marvel was worth nothing then, basically. He got it for pennies on the dime, Mason, which is definitely why he bought it. Probably swapped it for some filing cabinets or something like that. They're like, give me some new desks if you agree to this purchase. So a little over a decade later, he helped orchestrate the sale of Marvel to Disney. That sale led by Iger was $4 billion, which obviously he benefited from. He took it.
Starting point is 00:18:56 Immensely. That son of a bitch. He did, yeah. And Disney agreed to continue employing him as a chairman of Marvel. Of Marble. Of Marble. I'm sure he has a lot of Marble. Of Marble? Of Marble. I'm sure he has a lot of Marble. Or maybe he doesn't.
Starting point is 00:19:08 I'll talk about it. Okay. Of Marble. He was a chairman. So also he rubbed people like the wrong way constantly. There's a number of, these are a few of the situations which have been reported on about this man over the years. He said we can switch out Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle
Starting point is 00:19:21 in the Iron Man movies. Because no one will notice. Because no one will notice. Because he was a notorious cost cutter and the quote from him was, black people look the same. His words, Mason. Wow. On a rare visit to Hollywood for the 2008 premiere of Iron Man,
Starting point is 00:19:38 he attended in disguise. Someone quoted as saying, he walked right past me and I had no idea it was him. He didn't want to be sworn by the press. Yeah, I guess. Abby Aron said this about him, notorious Spider-Man ruiner, and also brought Spider-Man to the big screen. He used to do this thing in our office that people would laugh at.
Starting point is 00:19:58 He spoke to the Financial Times about this in 2009. If there was some used paperclips or a memo lying around, he would rip it into eight pieces and then have a new memo pad. Apparently he would also. Yeah. What does that mean? He would just like use scraps to make new memo pads or whatever. Oh, right.
Starting point is 00:20:15 Okay. Like fishing stuff out of bins and stuff, which I'm not against recycling and whatever. I mean, you should. I mean, it's good to make use of it. But what are you doing? He would also. He probably got his old bit of soap and he use of it, but what are you doing? He would also... He probably got his old bit of soap and he squished it onto the new bit of soap.
Starting point is 00:20:28 He definitely did. I mean, that's fine also, isn't it? But he would fish paperclips and worn down pencils out of the trash for reuse. Apparently, Mr. Perlmutter and his wife enjoyed getting a Saturday lunch of a hot dog, a yogurt and a Diet Coke for $3.03 at the local Costco supermarket in Florida, but groused to colleagues that the same lunch cost pennies more at the same store near the couple's home in the New York area. This is also recently.
Starting point is 00:20:55 I just want to point out. This isn't in the fucking 50s. Now, did they get their own hot dog and yogurt or did they share a hot dog and yogurt? Did they get half a hot dog and half a yogurt each? Great question, Mason. He was also accused of shaping veterans' affairs under the Trump administration because they're buddies, right?
Starting point is 00:21:12 And in doing so, it ended up benefiting himself and his associates. So, you know, big veterans guy apparently. He was also a veteran himself, I believe, as well. Then we must salute him. Okay, Stalin. Though Stan Lee said this of him once. Okay, Storm and Norman Schwarzkopf. He said, I have the greatest respect for him.
Starting point is 00:21:34 He doesn't look for publicity and he keeps to himself. Marvel is run so beautifully. Ike is, to a large part, responsible for that. So there's a little bit of background. Kevin Feige was reportedly sick of reporting to him and in 2005 it came to an impasse. I believe one of the situations was that he wanted to bring Robert Downey Jr. into civil war
Starting point is 00:21:57 and Ike Perlmutter was like, absolutely not. That dude, like it'll cost us $20 million. You needed him at that point. It was a good decision to do it, right? And so Bob Iger apparently said this in his book, who now is back to run Disney, that Perlmutter wanted to fire Kevin Feige in 2015. And so what your dad Bob Iger did was,
Starting point is 00:22:19 it was officially your dad, this is a good running joke. Good bit, such a good bit. Is that he pushed him aside so Kevin Feige didn't have to report to him anymore and Ike Perlmutter was put in charge of the television division of Marvel. So this sounds to me a story about Bob Iger and Kevin Feige stabbing a man in the back. This is what this is.
Starting point is 00:22:38 A veteran, Mason. A hot dog enjoyer. This is sounding bad for those guys and pretty good for old Ike Perlmutter, let me tell you. So then as a result of that, like that's why we got the Inhumans. There was initially supposed to be an Inhumans movie. That was because Ike Perlmutter was pushing for that because they couldn't get the X-Men rights back at the time.
Starting point is 00:22:55 That is one of the very few Marvel movies that didn't happen, and I think it's because Kevin Feige was like, well, now that I don't have to do this movie, I'm not going to. That's why we got that weird Inhumans show. I remember it. And now also more recently he's actually been removed from even the television division. Whoa.
Starting point is 00:23:12 And he was then in charge of comic books, I should say until recently again. Now comics apparently brings in, Marvel Comics, about $60 million a year, which is, you know, good. But also peanuts. But also peanuts compared to like the billions that the TV, like streaming and movies bring in. Anyways, Mr. Perlmutter more recently continued to try
Starting point is 00:23:31 and influence movies making decisions after being forced out as CEO of Marvel. So even then he was still trying to get his little grubby paws on it, Mason. And according to people familiar with the matter, as recently as October, he sent emails to top Disney executives seeking financial information about the Marvel movies and questioning the studio's wisdom in greenlighting big budget titles such as last year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Starting point is 00:23:52 I also understand that when you look at a movie like Ant-Man. Obviously, that is over budgeted. I don't think a movie like Doctor Strange is, though. I mean, that movie nearly made a billion dollars. I think that was a good financial decision. But you can say that in hindsight. Yeah. Could you have said that ahead of time? For Doctor Strange, I think so I mean, that movie nearly made a billion dollars. I think that was a good financial decision. But you can say that in hindsight. Yeah. Could you have said that ahead of time?
Starting point is 00:24:08 For Doctor Strange, I think so, yeah. They did multiverse stuff and whatever. And you're probably right with Ant-Man. Being like a $200 million Ant-Man movie is probably too much. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently, though. I think you should go really small and hide in somebody's car or something
Starting point is 00:24:21 and jump out and be like, boo! You wouldn't have to do effects. You could just have Paul Rudd sit in your back seat and jump out and be like, boo! You wouldn't have to do effects. You could just have Paul Rudd sit in your back seat and jump up and be like, boo! Boo! Give me $10 million. Right. Just a fun little heist with Ant-Man hiding in your car, you know?
Starting point is 00:24:34 That's right. Exactly. That's what you need. You could be like, I was just in the quantum realm. Yep. It's where I'm so small. But I'm back. I'm back, though.
Starting point is 00:24:41 And I'm regular size. And let me tell you, it wasn't that interesting, so I'm glad I'm in this 1986 Toyota Corolla. Tell you that much. Where you're doing a small crime and I'm stopping you from doing a small crime. That's what it's all about, James. I agree. It was told on Wednesday that Disney is folding
Starting point is 00:24:55 his Marvel Entertainment unit into other parts of the company and that he would be let go. Apparently this was a long time coming. Like they wanted to do this for a while. And the final straw was that he was trying to get his friend and fellow business billionaire activist, which I think is cool, by the way, investor Nelson Peltz, who's actually the grandfather of Nicola Peltz from one of the Transformers movies, the underage card situation.
Starting point is 00:25:20 Oh, yeah, right. That's her. Okay. That's Hollywood, baby. He was trying to get his friend Nelson Peltz on board, on the board at Disney, so that they could push significant changes to Disney's governance and operations, including cost cutting. That's a big thing this week. I was going to include it in one bit of news, but I didn't understand it. Because there's too much going on, right? There's too much going on. It's something to do with the government of
Starting point is 00:25:44 Florida wants to take control of some of Disney's operations, but Disney's trapped them in some sort of contractual loophole where they've said that Florida can't take control of any of these particular operations until 21 years after the death of the last survivor, the descendants of King Charles III, King of England. So when's that? Like 2053-ish. Yeah. here's the thing about like which is a weird thing that
Starting point is 00:26:08 like apparently like this seems like a really obvious thing that a lawyer should have picked up on and been like well i i think like the idea of florida doing that and ron de santis specifically hate to get to political mason he's just throwing that shit out there to gain points in like this culture war without addressing any like actual systemic issues. Like the idea that like a corporation can dictate a government, it's ridiculous, but that is what happens. Most governments in the world operate at the behest of corporations
Starting point is 00:26:39 and this is an example of just that happening. Makes you think, doesn't it? But I think he knew that though. I think it was literally just to be like, we're going to stop Disney saying gay or whatever. And he knows that they're not really going to do it. And this just happened. Like, whatever. Anyway.
Starting point is 00:26:56 Anyway, we've covered that, I think, to everyone's satisfaction. Yeah. But apparently, in order to get this guy on the board, Ike Palmetto was reaching out to Disney executives. He did it six times since July. And then in February when it didn't happen, he was actually – Six times the charm, he said. That's right.
Starting point is 00:27:12 But he was actually quite happy in February because he heard that they were going to be – As happy as an Ike Perlmutter could be. Well, this is why, though, because – As happy as an Ike Perlmutter who's got half a hot dog in his gob. He's just chomping down that Costco hot dog. It's good value stuff at a Costco. I don't know if the last time you've been there. Do you reckon he'd take the bigger half of the hot dog?
Starting point is 00:27:31 Yeah, I think he would. Just slightly bigger. Yeah, exactly. But he was happy in February and he kind of pulled back on this because he heard about the 7,000 jobs they were going to axe and how they were going to reduce spending as a result by 5.5 billion. So he was like, good, not realizing that this affected him directly, it turns out. Surprise, number one job we're cutting is yours, Ike.
Starting point is 00:27:55 Yeah. Cop that. Yours is most of the billions there, honestly, of the money we're saving. It's mostly your salary. Exactly. The Wall Street Journal was going to say this whole fight was not, in Ike's mind, about changing the Disney board. It was mostly about changing their attitude.
Starting point is 00:28:12 So as a result of this, he got fired and his services are now no longer required. Now he can go. Whatever you do, we don't need it anymore. Exactly. So he can go live in a bin and eat expired cat food or whatever weirdo fucking billionaire has to do with their time.
Starting point is 00:28:27 So there you go. James, they're on big super yachts where they live in a bin, a big golden bin. They do eat cat food. I know. I mean, he's 80 years old as well. And I know you mentioned this recently when we were covering Avatar. Like the only comeuppance like someone like this person gets, like a billionaire, is when they don't get exactly what they want.
Starting point is 00:28:49 It's a minor embarrassment that maybe somebody at their country club will bring up, oh, so you got the boot from Marvel, did you? Yeah. And they all leave in their Rolls Royces or whatever. Exactly. Or wheelie bins, if you're right, Bill. Yeah, there you go. So, wow, what an era. Yeah, there you go.
Starting point is 00:29:06 So, wow, what an era. And I don't know. I mean, he seemed to do, you know, he broke at some deals, and I guess that's good. But all accounts, just a fucking dog of a bloke. So there you go. Yep. FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London.
Starting point is 00:29:31 One woman has a secret. The other, a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+. Will you rise with the sun to help change mental health care forever? Join the Sunrise Challenge to raise funds for CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, to support life-saving progress in mental health care. From May 27th to 31st,
Starting point is 00:29:55 people across Canada will rise together and show those living with mental illness and addiction that they're not alone. Help CAMH build a future where no one is left behind. So, who will you rise for? Register today at sunrisechallenge.ca. That's sunrisechallenge.ca. Now that we've done getting so political, Mason.
Starting point is 00:30:17 Oh yes, go on. Which everybody always enjoys. We're going to be talking about the big release of this week, Mason. Oh, a big time release. That's right. We're going to be talking about Dun big release of this week, Mason. Oh, a big time release. That's right. We're going to be talking about Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves. Now, with a budget of $151 million, these are early box office days because we're recording this a little bit early,
Starting point is 00:30:33 but it looks as if worldwide it's probably going to make about $65 million, and that's like on the conservative estimate. Okay. The US opening is probably going to be around $30 million, maybe a bit higher. I wouldn't be surprised if it did a little bit to much better than that though, considering that the word of mouth is pretty good, the Rotten Tomatoes score is good.
Starting point is 00:30:52 I enjoyed this. But what do you think the story was? Oh, man, we watched it like two weeks ago. I know. All right, so how can I do this? They were pretty confident in this that they just started showing general audiences. That's true, yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:03 Okay, so Chris Pine, he's a bard and he's living in the Forgotten Realms realm and he's all, he used to be a cool, he used to have. He's a cool spy bard. He's a cool spy bard and he had a wife and daughter and everything was cool and then since then he's hit tough times and he's stolen a thing he shouldn't have stolen and bad stuff happened and now he's on the outs
Starting point is 00:31:29 and it's just him and his pal, Michelle Rodriguez. Yeah. They're like, we're going to, they're in prison. We're going to bust out of this prison. We're going to get out and we're going to do adventures. Chris Pine's like, I'm going to get my daughter back. Yep. And we're going to stop the bad guys.
Starting point is 00:31:46 Yeah, because there's bad guys and whatever. Yeah, that's right. That's the movie. That's the thing. And they're like, we're going to get a team. We're going to get an adventuring party going. We do, don't we? We've got to stop Hugh Grant.
Starting point is 00:31:56 We've got to stop Hugh Grant. In real life too. He's a menace. That's right. Apparently he was rude on red carpets or something. Oh, I saw that, yeah. Did you think it was rude? No, he's British.
Starting point is 00:32:05 Yeah, exactly. He's just being British. Come on. He was doing a little British joke, and it seemed to me like he was increasingly trying to keep selling the joke, and they weren't getting the joke. And that's British. I'm going to try being more British until this breaks through.
Starting point is 00:32:20 I'm going to be more and more intensely British until they finally get this, but I don't think they ever did. Exactly. Now, this is from directors John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein. They also directed the movie Game Night, which if you haven't seen is a fun little board game. It's not really a board game movie. These guys' board games did it, but it's more about an experience of fun. These dudes are obsessed with board
Starting point is 00:32:38 games. Obsessed with board games, yeah. So, John Francis Daly, of course, was in Freaks and Geeks and there's a Dungeons and Dragons specific episode in. God, dude, get over it. Get over it. Stop it. There's already a definitive Dungeons & Dragons movie. Touch grass, dude.
Starting point is 00:32:52 God. I thought like this was a lot of fun and it kind of went, can we somehow make Guardians of the Galaxy, give it that vibe, and it does. It is unmistakably Guardians of the Galaxy-esque. But, I mean, that is just shorthand for it's a fun movie and colourful and it's got a bit of heart to it. Yes.
Starting point is 00:33:15 I'm sure there was probably pre-Guardians of the Galaxy there was a term for that. The Mummy movies. One of the Mummy movies. The first The Mummy movie. Yes, you're absolutely right. Yeah, I think it's got a really good balance of like humour and action And there's also the moments that need to be taken seriously are
Starting point is 00:33:32 I think there's also the party themselves Which I guess we can address individually are great And I think the use of the villains is good I think because you've got like your big cackling kind of red wizard Like demon entity villains is good. I think because you've got like your big cackling kind of red wizard, like demon entity, and then you've got like a foppish con man, British Hugh Grant. That's not a spoiler.
Starting point is 00:33:53 I think that's in the trailers. That's in the trailers, yeah. But I think that's. The relationship between him and the other characters, that's for spoilers. Yeah, absolutely. We'll talk about that more then. But it's, yeah, I think that if you had, I think, just one of those, I don't think it would have worked as well because you've got
Starting point is 00:34:08 a slimy little threat and then a greater threat, you know? Sure, yeah. And that's what I liked about it. I also think it's... Oh, maybe he wasn't a villain. Maybe he was just being British. Maybe he was just being British. So I like Chris Pine as, like, the leader of the group as well i mean he's he's just chris
Starting point is 00:34:26 pining about what does he like in real life is he like this is he like dry and funny and witty and all of those that's a great question he does that because he's pretty like i don't want to say reclusive but you know you see him in an interview and he's just kind of like oh yeah apparently he was at some sort of panel quite recently and he was like hey everybody anybody played dungeons and dragons dead silence nothing just expecting a woo and everybody was like, hey, everybody, anybody play Dungeons & Dragons? Dead silence, nothing. Just expecting a woo and everybody was like, no, actually we don't. We play Pathfinder, it's different. Hopefully he wasn't at a Dungeons & Dragons convention
Starting point is 00:34:57 because that would have been embarrassing. We do, but we refuse to acknowledge you, you're too handsome. Well, he's also talked about how he thinks it's great and I think he's got a nephew who played and he just loves the idea. No, he doesn't. He's made that nephew up. Oh, really? Well, that's me, Mason.
Starting point is 00:35:12 I was the nephew. Wow. Yeah, what do you think of that? You're not a real guy. That's true. But Michelle Rodriguez also is great. I agree. And I think what they do, so there's also Sophie Lillis
Starting point is 00:35:22 who's like this, what's she, like a changeling kind of? She is a tiefling druid. Thank you. So the druid is the character class. Look at this nerd. They commune with nature and so forth. What does it mean, a druid and a wizard? James, we do not have time.
Starting point is 00:35:36 You've got to get out of here in like an hour. We do not have time for me to hammer in the head the obvious difference between a druid and a wizard. Is druid doing like spells and stuff? Yes. And a wizard's blasting with a stick? Yes. Okay.
Starting point is 00:35:47 Which one can open a door, like a portal? I think they can both open a portal, but a druid would open a portal in a tree probably. Okay. The druid does nature stuff. More nature stuff, okay. The wizards tap into a magical element of the universe called the weave. The weave?
Starting point is 00:36:02 It's like the force. Okay. It's like the force and you go and I'll wave the stick and I'll say the words and then I'll use the magic to turn it into an effect or whatever. Can anybody be a wizard? No. Wait. So you have to be born with a particular wizardy ability?
Starting point is 00:36:14 No, I think anybody can be a wizard. I know you can use like magical items. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, anybody can be a wizard. You have to have a certain intelligence level, I think, in the game. Again, I haven't played Dungeons & Dragons in 20 years, so I don't know. I don't know what the requirements are now.
Starting point is 00:36:25 They've probably dropped the requirements. You can probably have a beard and tattoos now. Yeah, I hope so. Soapy Littles was great as that shape-shifting thing that you said. Justice Smith is great as the wizard. I really liked Regé-Jean Page as, like, this serious, the most serious and, like, noble man in the land. Like, I think, like, he's not in it for as much as I think
Starting point is 00:36:46 I would have liked, but I know there is, I think you even talked about this, like, there is kind of Drax kind of vibes with him. Yes. Because, you know, he doesn't get sarcasm or whatever. He takes everything literally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think also he's portrayed as, like,
Starting point is 00:36:59 more heroic and intelligent than that. And I thought he was a really good addition. And if you look at all those characters individually and then you look at like the action sequences, like one's shape-shifting, one's magic blasting, like there's sword play. Michelle Rodriguez does like a couple of really good like brawls in it as well.
Starting point is 00:37:17 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think there's a moment where they're in an underground cabin or whatever and the most serious nobleman in the world or whatever has a really good like just sword fight in the middle of this movie that's different than everything else which is happening. Yeah. Here's a question for you though.
Starting point is 00:37:33 Go on. What did you recognise in terms of lore from this? How lore heavy is it? Because I know there's moments where I'm like, oh, I heard Baldur's Gate. Oh, right. Oh, I recognise that chest with the tongue in it. A mimic.
Starting point is 00:37:46 That's a mimic, yes. Yes, a mimic. Yes. I mean, that has become a pretty common enemy in, like, fantasy lore in general. Sure. Like, if you play Dark Souls, there's often mimics and stuff like that. It's lore heavy, but it's not – they haven't done it to –
Starting point is 00:38:01 if you've never played a Dungeons & Dragons, it will not – Yeah. It will not confuse or upset you. you. You can just go into this and it's just like if you went into Lord of the Rings and they were like, oh, it's Rivendell. You don't need to know where it is specifically because I don't. Don't you want to open a map and have a look and go, oh, they walked
Starting point is 00:38:18 that stuff while they walked from the Hobbit from the Shire. But it is set pretty definitively in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. So in the Forgotten Realms, if you're playing it, does it, depending on the book that you use, it moves forward in time, I assume, and there are advancements in like a wizard might have tattoos
Starting point is 00:38:34 and whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like is there a timeline that you can put yourself in is what I'm saying? There is a timeline, but I think most people probably, like because there's like companion novels and stuff like that. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:45 And there is a, like there is a version of that campaign setting set in the distant past. Right. There might be a future setting. I don't know. But, yeah, I guess, I mean, technically you could set it, your own personal game anywhere in that timeline. But I imagine most people who play it go,
Starting point is 00:39:01 it's just sort of roughly. Yeah, wherever. Yeah, yeah. We're not going to mess with canon here, are we, Mason? No, exactly right. Yeah, absolutely. I don't know when this is set exactly. Although Justice Smith's character is a descendant of a character called Elminster Ormar.
Starting point is 00:39:15 Yeah. And he is like, he is the creator of the Forgotten Realms like avatar in that world. Like he's like, he's the mightiest good wizard in the world or whatever. Cool. Because that's the character that he played in real life and then he brought it into the fiction. Ah, okay. So.
Starting point is 00:39:32 The actor in this, I assume, is not the actual guy. No, I don't think so, no. Yeah, yeah. No. And he's described as, Justice Smith's character is described as the descendant of this character, but I think Elminster's like hundreds of years old. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:44 So it doesn't. It might not even be true. Yeah, maybe it Elminster's like hundreds of years old. Yeah. So it doesn't. It might not even be true. Yeah, maybe it's also not true. Yeah, exactly, yeah. But like other than that, like there's place names, there's Baldur's Gate, there's the Underdark. Yep. Which is where the Dark Elves live.
Starting point is 00:39:55 There's Age of Empires, there's Dungeon Keeper. That's right. World of Warcraft. There's Rollercoaster Tycoon. There's SimCity 2000. That's right, that's right. Yeah. And, you know, there's a lot of monsters common to the the specifically to the dungeons and dragons universe like displacer
Starting point is 00:40:12 beasts and yeah so on and so forth absolutely yeah um so there's a moment in this where i feel i feel like it does hint at things like that are going to happen i think we actually had this conversation because we saw this movie six years ago in that there's a moment at the start where, you know, Chris Pine is in jail with Michelle Rodriguez and they have to appeal before a court and they're waiting for this specific person to turn up so that they can make their appeal. And I guess this is probably more of a spoiler. Maybe I'll, you know what, this is a good reveal and I might save it
Starting point is 00:40:39 for spoilers. Okay, great. But I feel like there's more information in that scene if you know who's going to walk through the door. Oh, yeah, I guess you're absolutely right yeah then like you knew what it was but i yeah i have no idea what like what's going to happen and i i think there's probably a number of moments in this where i don't think it would spoil the ending i think as soon as the the you know as soon as the that particular action set piece or as soon as a particular character arrives on the scene you'd
Starting point is 00:41:04 be like i get it now. I get what they're little. There are a couple of schemers and I get what the scheme is now. I got the feeling in this, and maybe I'm wrong, that there were a number of moments in this movie like that that I didn't get until I saw it. It's like when someone in Star Wars goes, oh, look, it's Greedo. And if you know who Greedo is, you know that's a big deal.
Starting point is 00:41:24 He's back from the dead and he's looking for revenge. Yeah. What I think this also did well is that it doesn't lead into either pandering to like hardcore Dungeons & Dragons fans, which I think also people hate when it's just like a reference heavy, you know, like impenetrable, like just lore heavy kind of choked kind of thing. But it also doesn't like poke fun at it.
Starting point is 00:41:47 Like it's fun moments, but it's also if you like this stuff, it doesn't punish you for it. No, that's true. I think it's poking a little bit of fun. No, no, I mean in a good way, but not like you're an idiot for liking it. No, that's true. And we have, you know, recently we watched the movie Pixels. Oh, exactly.
Starting point is 00:42:00 Because like if you like video games, you suck. Exactly. Like often there's like in properties there's and it could be something like this there's like a disdain for it yes it's like when they changed deadpool in x-men origins it would that was really a case of like no we know better than you do right this is this is actually the cool way to do deadpool and i think that was like the balance in this is really good. And I think also not having the reveal be that like there are people
Starting point is 00:42:29 in the real world playing a Dungeons and Dragons thing. I'm really glad they didn't do that. Uh-huh, sure. Because I think that just cuts through literally everything that happens. If it's just like, no, it's just some story and it was about divorce. If it was about real world divorce or something. Yeah, right, right. And I'm glad they didn't go in any of those directions and that would remove the stakes of course completely yeah because if if the worst that could happen was some of the characters die
Starting point is 00:42:53 and you just either just bring them but you just you just rip up their character sheets or whatever and be like well you got a role in your character well great who cares yeah because you'd have to build that the whole movie around like the characters in the real world and the parallels in the fantasy world, and you'd end up with being that episode of Community with Dungeons & Dragons, which is great, by the way. I think, is there a couple of those? There is a couple, yeah. But that obviously works because it's the characters from Community
Starting point is 00:43:18 playing Dungeons & Dragons. But yeah, again, this is a fun heist adventure, and the action is pretty solid, I think, and the party interaction is the key to this. Yes. If like the first Dungeons & Dragons movie, which again we saw recently. It's a good movie. If all the characters are insufferable and they don't like each other.
Starting point is 00:43:37 And they're not funny. And they're not funny or interesting, then it's not going to work. But these characters, you know, good back and forth, and they all have, you know, they all have, you know, prior history with one another and they all meld together into a cool team. Into a cool, horrible team. They get bonded at one point as a big glob and they go.
Starting point is 00:43:57 Remember that bit? Yes. That's not true. It's another thing that happens. I tricked you, Mason. I think also like they put twists on things that you would see in other fantasy movies. There's a moment where they come across a dragon and you're like, oh, that's a terrifying dragon, Mason. I think also like they put twists on things that you would see in other fantasy movies. There's a moment where they come across a dragon and you're like,
Starting point is 00:44:08 oh, that's a terrifying dragon, whatever. But it's this incredibly like overweight corgi-shaped kind of dragon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that like having an action scene where it's not just your standard kind of dragon makes it more interesting. I think he might be a notable dragon in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, but I don't know who he is. They do name him specifically. They do, yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes it more interesting. I think he might be a notable dragon in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, but I don't know who he is. They do name him specifically.
Starting point is 00:44:26 They do, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a fun thing. And even stuff like they get the portal weapon from the game Portal. Yes, that's true. Which I believe is something. I thought that was a little bit. The way that when they discovered it, they're like, oh, this is a portal.
Starting point is 00:44:41 Yeah, it was a very, very, very convenient revelation. Yeah. Maybe there should have been a scene earlier where they figured out what it was or whatever. But, yeah, there's a moment where they really needed it and they were just like, oh, we've got that. We've got it already. But there's a moment where they have to get inside a horse-drawn carriage
Starting point is 00:44:58 and they're using the portal thing. And I think in like a more boring movie it would have just been you zap it through the window and then you just step into it. But it's like this fun little action stealth sequence. A little bit Ocean's Eleven-y. Yeah. A little bit, you know. And they thought about it, you know.
Starting point is 00:45:16 They didn't just go zap, oh, now we're in the cart and whatever. There's also like a really cool like shifting maze moment where there's a number of different creatures and there's slow down jelly acid. And a little cameo, which we won't spoil until spoilers, I think. A cameo, Mason? Oh, yeah, there is too. I forgot about that.
Starting point is 00:45:32 Part of an actor. Oh, but there is a cameo. I'm thinking about it too. There's some character cameos and there's an actor cameo, which we'll talk about. Oh, there is too. I completely forgot. Speaking of cameos, Mason.
Starting point is 00:45:44 Before you do that, Thimbershowd, the Wormsmith of Graxall's Chew, is the big fat dragon from the Forgotten Realms. And what's his deal? He's fat. That's it? I think so. Great.
Starting point is 00:45:57 Auntie Donna are in this. Are they in just the Australian version or the international version? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Because I recognise their voices. Yes.
Starting point is 00:46:07 But some of the voices also, well, so they're actors. They're all actors. So I'm like, I think this one's Mark, but I don't know. Yeah, it was a little bit unclear, wasn't it? Yeah. I think I recognise Zach. He has kind of quite a long monologue. But the other two are like, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:46:22 Yeah. I don't know. But you're right, because they speak to like five corpses in this grave. It's in one of the trailers. Yeah. And I'm like, are the other guys just regular voice actors or are they famous in another? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:37 Are they famous American voice actors? It's like when Rove was a crab in Finding Nemo. Was he in every version of Finding Nemo? No, just our version. Was it? We got Rove. Betrayal Finding Nemo? No, just our version. Was it? We got robed. Betrayal. Yeah, I know, right?
Starting point is 00:46:47 Yeah. Okay. The movie was set in Australia. God damn it. That's right. Yeah, but no, I think that scene in the graveyard is one of the best scenes. Yeah. Like one of the funniest scenes in the movie.
Starting point is 00:46:57 But the reason I mention this before we watch it, I'm like this is what I'm hoping for in this movie, which is the silly party back and forth and just it felt like real players playing around a table and attempting to outsmart the dungeon master but they're not that smart. Yes, absolutely. And I thought that was a lot of fun. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:47:19 They're fallible characters in various ways. Yes. One takes everything literally, one is overconfident, you know, et cetera, et cetera. One has a sword. One has a sword. Yeah, all the different character things. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:32 One doesn't believe in himself. Absolutely. You know? And I think we can all relate to that. I agree. Spoilers? Yes. Best movie ever.
Starting point is 00:47:40 Best movie ever. I hope it does well and we get a sequel. I don't know if it will. I would like it to. I think it definitely could yeah we'll talk about uh the follow-ups in in a moment i guess but no i would love to see more of this you know um at least one more and if they are going to do one more they should do it quickly because people will forget yes that's true if you look at like to use the chris pine movie as an example Trek 2009, and then they waited like four years and then it was Into Darkness
Starting point is 00:48:08 and it was bad. So it's like this side has to be quicker or better, you know, or both. Yeah. Ideally. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. What's that three-point thing if you ask for something? Fast, good.
Starting point is 00:48:22 Cheap? Is that the one? Yes, that's the one, yeah. Okay. Well, I want it fast and good and cheap. Okay, great. You're saying we should hit all three points. I'm saying we must hit all three points, yes.
Starting point is 00:48:31 That's right. It might not be those three. It might have to be all those actors around a table just playing Dungeons and Dragons. We'll take it, I guess. And they have to improv and be incredibly funny. And they're imagining they're in the real world and they've got office jobs.
Starting point is 00:48:42 No, they have a podcast. And they're pretending they have a podcast, Mason. Nice. Yeah, there we go. Anyways, Bradley Cooper's in this. That's right. Things are wearing spoilers. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:50 A little tiny Bradley Cooper, which I think was the only effect for me which didn't quite hold up in moments. But I think it's also because I'm used to seeing regular-sized Bradley Cooper. Cooper, sure. And also probably because they had to sneak him into a closet. Yeah, sure. Well, he's small, right? That's his real height and real life. Very, sure. And also probably because they had to sneak him into a closet. Yeah, sure. Well, he's small, right? That's his real height in real life.
Starting point is 00:49:06 That's right. Yeah. But he was kind of hobbit-sized. But not scaled like a hobbit. No. Just a small man. A small regular man. Look, first of all, I think they had to do it real fast.
Starting point is 00:49:19 Yes. Because otherwise they would have probably altered the scaling or whatever. Yeah. And also my question is, why is he in this? Does he know anybody? He likes a little comedy jaunt, doesn't he? That's true, but I mean like. I mean he's Rocket Raccoon.
Starting point is 00:49:32 Why is he Rocket Raccoon? That's a great point. Yeah. I mean does he like Dungeons and Dragons? I don't know. Does he have a, again, does he have a mythical nephew who's like, you should be in a Dungeons and Dragons movie. Maybe. Is he friends with Chris Pine a Dungeons and Dragons movie. Maybe.
Starting point is 00:49:45 Is he friends with Chris Pine or Michelle Rodriguez or the directors? Maybe. They must be. I don't know. I don't know either. Maybe he was just around the studio on the day and they were like, do you want to? Maybe they caught him in a rabbit trap.
Starting point is 00:49:57 They caught him in a rabbit trap. That's right. They caught him in a movie. That's right. Stop eating from our garden. Maybe they found him and he had a little twig in his paw and they pulled it out. It was the size of a tree trunk for him and they pulled it out
Starting point is 00:50:10 and he's like, well, I owe you my life. I'll do anything. And they're like, well, be in this Dungeons & Dragons movie for maybe four minutes. So the bit I was referring to earlier of that prison escape. Oh, the other cameo. I'm sorry, yeah. The other cameo is the Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party
Starting point is 00:50:27 from the cartoon. Yes. The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. They have the same clothes, don't they? And that's it. Oh, and there's sort of the custard carpet is sort of in this? Yes, that's right. Do you think that's a direct reference to the movie?
Starting point is 00:50:38 I think it is, yeah. If people haven't seen our video on the 2000 Dungeons & Dragons movie, one of the characters gets caught in a carpet made of custard and that makes a return in this movie. Sort of. Yeah. Yeah, really good stuff, man. So, yeah, there's a prison escape early on where they're begging for release
Starting point is 00:50:56 and he just wants to go and see his daughter again because he got captured because he was trying to get an amulet which would bring people back from the dead, but it's his wife he wants to bring back from the dead. That's right. And it's single use and for some reason nobody has ever used that. Yeah, right. Well, you'd save it up, wouldn't you? You would save it up, yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:12 How many are there in the universe? We don't know. There's one. Oh, also, yeah, so the premise is that he used to be part of the Harpers, which is a Forgotten Realms reference, which are like kind of like adventuring spies, but they work in the force for good, but of course you don't really get paid that well, but he's on the side of good. But, of course, you don't really get paid that well. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:28 But he's, you know, on the side of good. He's in ASIO. He's a little – are they on the side of good? Oh, yeah, good point, Mason. But then his wife gets very sick and he's like, oh, how's this Forgotten Realms health insurance? Don't know. And then she dies.
Starting point is 00:51:45 But then he turns to crime and he raises his daughter and she also likes a bit of crime but a fun bit of just a little bit of crime just a little bit of crime but then just a splash yes but then they have a fun crime gang of fun adventurers and then he uh he he's out of the game he is betrayed and then and then he they his friend hugh grant is like hey do you want to do you want to come on one last adventure? There will be a little resurrection totem thing and you can use it to bring your wife back. And he's like, I will do that. But then he gets caught and then he goes to prison with Michelle Rodriguez. But then it's revealed later that actually Hugh Grant wanted to get him caught deliberately or something.
Starting point is 00:52:22 So he could steal a bunch of gold and whatever. That's right, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And Hugh Grant has a 20-tail. It's just like being there. It's just like being Hugh Grant. That's right. That's what he wants in real life.
Starting point is 00:52:31 Anyway, you were saying? Yeah, so they mount a prison escape at the start and he pleads his case about why he's in there and they're at the top of this high tower. They're at a bail hearing, yeah. And they're waiting for this particular member of the committee to arrive because he's like, I really want to plead the committee to arrive because it's like i really want you know to plead the case to this particular guy anyways the guy who works in the walks in the room is some kind
Starting point is 00:52:50 of bird man he's a uh he's an aracocra yeah which is a yeah a big a big silly bird man and then it's revealed that their plan obviously was not to plead the case to the aracocra because he is so um noble and forgiving or they know know him even. That's right. But their plan instead is to just grab him and jump out the window and hope that he will fly them to safety. And then the reveal immediately is that the bail, the parole board was going to let him off anyway. Yeah, that's right, yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:17 It's very funny. It is really funny. Yeah. And then Hugh Grant attempts a similar thing at the end, which I quite liked. But, yeah, they name him as an Arakokra, don't they, before he comes in the room? That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:28 Yeah, absolutely, yeah. And I guess another spoiler of this is that Michelle Rodriguez dies and they bring her back using the amulet because she gets poisoned by an un-you can't unpoison yourself if you get a particular red wizard. That's right. And they bring her back using the magic amulet instead of the mother. Because the daughter is more, she knows Michelle Rodriguez as a parental figure as opposed to her actual mother,
Starting point is 00:53:53 which makes sense. Yeah. And there's like a very heavy-handed like, I'm your wife in a dream and you've got to let me go. Yeah. You better. You better. Now I'm back right now at the pivotal moment.
Starting point is 00:54:05 I'm like, come on. Come on. Let me go. It's fine. Let me go. It's all right. Don't even worry about it. I liked that also they were just mates.
Starting point is 00:54:12 Yeah. You know, just two mates and they were just, you know, just doing some work. Right. Sure. Looking after a kid, doing some little crimes at Capers. I thought that was a really fun dynamic. I enjoyed the dynamic between Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez more than Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez.
Starting point is 00:54:28 Has Michelle Rodriguez done a lot of stuff that isn't kind of fast and furious action-based kind of genre stuff? Has she ever been in a rom-com or anything? I don't know, actually. She could, though. She could. Yeah. I feel like she could be like a Star Wars kind of Cara Dune kind of character
Starting point is 00:54:44 as well. Oh, yeah, definitely, yeah. Yeah, let me have a look. 44 years old. Okay. 1.65 metres, pretty standard. Good, good, good. Yep.
Starting point is 00:54:53 Early life. Legal issues. Uh-huh, uh-huh. What have we got here? She was in The Smurfs, The Lost Village. Okay. She was in Fast and Furious 9. Okay.
Starting point is 00:55:03 The movie Avatar. Oh, yeah. She was in the movie Avatar. She was in Alita Furious 9. Okay. The movie Avatar. Oh, yeah. The movie Avatar. She was in Alita Battle Angel. Yep. She was in Milton's Secret, which is a family drama film. All right, then. So there you go.
Starting point is 00:55:15 That's terrific. She was in Machete Kills. That's a funny movie, isn't it? She's in the movie Inappropriate Comedy in 2013, which just looks like a – That cannot be good. No. And two of the – Oh, Inappropriate Comedy, like an app.
Starting point is 00:55:32 Okay, right. I'd never heard of this. No. Ari Schaefer, Rob Schneider. Oof, that's not good. Hey, I should have mentioned this in the movie Pixels. Yeah. I think that movie showed great restraint to not give the role
Starting point is 00:55:46 of Cuba to Rob Schneider. That's a really good point. Or they did and I didn't notice. Maybe. You know? Yeah. It's a level of like, you know? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:56 Unless the film they would have done that. That's true. That is so true. But in the masterpiece that was Pixels, they're like, no, no. They probably sat him down like, we're sure you we're sure you understand rob mr schneider we understand yeah you can't be in this yeah because you'd make it worse somehow yeah here's a bit that i loved also oh yes there's an evil red wizard who wants to bring back the undead and whatever and bad red wizards are they always bad red wizards seem so yeah i mean i thought you'd knew like of this i'm pretty sure there are cool they're all bad i mean maybe there's one outlier
Starting point is 00:56:28 yeah i mean there's a good there's a good uh dark elf exactly drizzit doerden yeah he's good but the rest of them are bad pulls a cat out of a fish or whatever is that the guy what no who's the guy i'm talking about this guy's not in the movie oh okay yeah no who's the guy what's he the guy who pulls a cat out of a fish he's a human man yeah but he's from like a particular race of people or whatever
Starting point is 00:56:48 and they're all evil and whatever but he's not oh yeah I can't remember and he's immortal maybe maybe he's a paladin
Starting point is 00:56:54 yeah they're talking about Regé-Jean Page exactly yeah anyway I liked the bit at the end where they all just beat up the red wizard
Starting point is 00:57:01 sure I know I've said this before it happens at the end of the first It movie just like a bit where they're just like and's just lady is from the first it movie oh yeah yeah she was like i insist on this as part of my contract we all get together and beat somebody up at the end you're right but yeah just the idea of like you got the you got this coming and we're all going to use our different abilities to just beat you up for a minute yeah yeah perfect love
Starting point is 00:57:23 that so they do want to make more of these apparently, but it's still very early days. Paramount Plus, though, have already moved forward with an eight-episode spin-off series. The show is described as a flagship and cornerstone live-action series of the multiple projects in development, while the series will complement the film aside of the franchise. So presumably same universe and you might get some character crossover
Starting point is 00:57:44 and whatever. First I'm hearing of this. I think we maybe talked about it in February of last year when they announced it or whatever. I see. Yeah, and we also talked about how Dungeons & Dragons, like as a brand, is trying to expand, become more mainstream and also wring more money out of people.
Starting point is 00:57:59 Oh, absolutely, yeah. This is the way to do it by making something good. Nice. You know? Yeah. But also people have to pay for it every month. Yeah, that's it, by making something good. Nice. You know? Yeah. But also people have to pay for it every month. That's right. It's pretty good.
Starting point is 00:58:10 I mean, maybe it'll be like, because the movie ended with the sort of the potential for a romance between Justice Smith's character and the lady from It whose name I will get right now. And potentially, you know, maybe there is a series. So fearless. There we go. Maybe the series, you know, maybe they're in the series. Sophia Lillis. There we go. Maybe the series, you know, maybe a little bit of some rom-com adventures with those two guys or something.
Starting point is 00:58:31 Yeah, exactly. Good fun and times and whatever. So she's like a weird shape-shifting thing and whatever. She's a tiefling, yes. But she's born to like human parents and they're like a – is that right? So tieflings, so the origin of – so tieflings are like your ancestors made some deals with the devil. Oh, no, that's bad. And so sometimes in that family line,
Starting point is 00:58:51 like somebody's born with like demonic features and attributes and so forth. That seems like a good one. But the shape-shifting is not from that. It's because she's a druid. Yeah, which is exactly like a wizard. No, James. We don't have time for this. There we go, Mason.
Starting point is 00:59:08 Should we move it along then? Let's move it along. I think, yeah, if you like this, you should say it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you like it. Exactly. Do you like it? I do like it.
Starting point is 00:59:17 I was thinking I think I could take my son to this. I know it's like an M rated here but I don't think it's too. Nothing particularly gruesome happens, I don't think. No, it might be a little bit spooky in moments. Do you think your son would be... I'm just telling that movies aren't real. Do you think your son would be disturbed by the bit where they all go into the big gelatinous cube?
Starting point is 00:59:35 No. Okay, what if you told him that that's going to happen to him? And there's one idea of it? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, probably. The only way out is if you turn into a snake, which I know for a fact you can't do. Great point, Mason. The only way out is if you turn into a snake, which I know for a fact you can't do. Great point, Mason.
Starting point is 00:59:49 Yeah. What's the time for? It's time for What We Reading. Yep. What We Gonna Read. Yes. I'm doing the thing. What are we reading today?
Starting point is 01:00:02 What are you reading? What are you going to reading? I recently discovered. What are you going to read? I recently discovered a YouTube channel. It's called Justin Hawkins Rides Again. Okay. Justin Hawkins is the lead singer of The Darkness, the band The Darkness.
Starting point is 01:00:17 Oh, yeah, okay. And he's got a YouTube channel. It's been going for quite some time. And it's like just musings about the music industry and music in general and like music he likes and okay and you know people people videos about addiction and stuff like that and it's just very interesting he's a very compelling kind of guy yeah some of the uh some of the thumbnails are quite clickbaity it's like damn noel you made me cry or whatever yeah oh there's
Starting point is 01:00:42 one that's like you know there'd be one that'd be like, how can anybody like Coldplay? And then he'll do a video about how like, well, of course, you can like Coldplay because here's how this song goes and how interesting it is and, you know, all that sort of stuff. Yes, absolutely. But it's very interesting. You know, there's stuff about like, you know, Spotify and their, you know, how they pay or don't pay artists and like, you know,
Starting point is 01:01:02 what happens if your song gets put in a movie or an ad or something like that. Yeah, there's one. Well, this video is the thumbnail says, well, this is embarrassing and it's responding to my song being used in awful commercials. Yeah, right, right, right. I mean, just do it. It's money.
Starting point is 01:01:16 Who cares? Well, that's exactly it. But it's very interesting, I thought. Great stuff. That's all I've been watching, really. There's a lot of those. You seem busy though, Mason. Well, what I've been watching, and this is more of a plug,
Starting point is 01:01:26 I played the Super Mario Brothers game, the original game. Oh, yes? Because I told you, apropos of nothing, that I could beat the Super Mario Brothers original game. We have brain worms. It's not apropos of absolutely nothing. It's the you have internet brain worms. It's true, I do.
Starting point is 01:01:42 And so there's a new thing on Big Sandwich where we're going to do, we're going to slot a Let's Play into rotation. And this one, it's a 37-ish minute video of me attempting and doing, might I say, rather well at doing Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 1. We won't reveal whether or not you broke the record for, we won't reveal whether you completed Super Mario Brothers. Super Mario Brothers 1. We won't reveal whether or not you broke the record for, we won't reveal whether you completed Super Mario Brothers 1 as you claimed you could without practicing.
Starting point is 01:02:11 Yes. And we won't reveal whether you beat the world's Super Mario Brothers completion time record without practicing as you claimed you would. But we did that, yeah. So that's on bigsandwich.co. That's right. If you are interested.
Starting point is 01:02:24 Yeah, it was a lot of fun. So if you've got any games that you want to do, the only other one that I am locked into definitely doing is Batman Returns on the Atari Lynx. Okay, sure. And that one I will practice base it because that is a devastatingly difficult game that I will complete. You've said this before.
Starting point is 01:02:40 This one I will do. I've never seen any evidence of this. Yeah, I would like that. So like from an era perspective, I would say probably like 8, 16-bit era, something along those lines. We will do whatever. We'll do anything, yeah, if there's something particularly notable or relevant for the current pop culture state.
Starting point is 01:02:55 Or a thing that you'd like us to attempt or whatever. Nothing I have to like get running on my PC that's really like new and difficult to do, please. Ideally in browser. You can just record it on a laptop. Yeah, I mean, anything, you know, I can record anything. But let me tell you, as somebody who was not at the controls, I had a lot of fun.
Starting point is 01:03:15 And so did I because I did an amazing job. Yep. Yeah. So that's what I've been doing. And we're going to marry episode next week. Also, I said we're going to do Batman Forever for Caravan of Garbage and we will. We've pushed it a week to squeeze in The Wizard next week.
Starting point is 01:03:29 That's right. So just so people know. But that is recorded. Yeah. Anyways, Mason, what else are we doing? Oh, we're going to do letters. Let's do letters. I love doing letters.
Starting point is 01:03:37 The classic one was letters. This is the classic one. Letters. We love you. Some letters. They're only a day away. I know they're here right now. We're going. Some letters, they're only a day away. I know they're here right now. We're going to do letters.
Starting point is 01:03:49 You have a slightly pained expression on your face, but that's only because I know that you're going camping after this. How did you know that's why I was doing the pained expression? I could tell. You've got that thousand-yard stare of an adult man who has to take his family camping. In the rain. You don't know it's going to rain.
Starting point is 01:04:04 I told you it's going to rain, Mason told you it's going to rain, Mason. It is officially going to rain. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Well, that's bad for you. That's some of the worst conditions to be camping in. Camping's great. But you know what? The rain will be coming down on the tent and you'll be like, ooh, this is nice. But I'm in a tent. I've set a fire in the tent, you could say, in the nylon tent.
Starting point is 01:04:20 I like camping when it's like hot and like near the beach or whatever. Yeah, right. But I don't know. Is it going to be hot and near the beach? No, Mason. Interesting. It's going to be cold in a mountain, inside of a mountain.
Starting point is 01:04:31 Oh, no. Yeah. Anyways, I'm sure it'll be fun. I'll pretend to have a great time for my kids. And then when they're old enough, I'll say, I fucking hated that. But I'm glad you had a good experience. You've saved it up. You've put a little.
Starting point is 01:04:43 Put a note in my phone. Yeah, that's right. I hated this. Let my kids know I hated this. And you leave no other context. So 20 years you look at this and you go, kids, I hated this. This whole situation, I hated this. No, because I haven't been camping before,
Starting point is 01:04:58 so I'm excited to actually take them. Yeah. That part, that's fun for them, I feel. Do all the camping stuff. That's right. Do the marshmallows and whatever anyway Mason
Starting point is 01:05:07 how do we reach the show how do others reach the show at gmail.com or you can find us on twitter and use the hashtag weeklyplanetpod
Starting point is 01:05:15 and we'll find it somehow or James will find it you know it do some sort of wizardry here's an email from H who says help my sanity by maybe discussing this
Starting point is 01:05:23 okay hi James and Mason I love you guys and the podcast but that's not the point right now. In the last couple of weeks, I've been seeing adverts for the mobile phone game Merge Mansion, featuring the world's hottest and currently most popular TV daddy, Pedro Pascal. Why is no one else talking about how weird this is?
Starting point is 01:05:38 It's bizarre and I don't understand what's happening. He's done three of these adverts. If you're not aware, Merge Mansion has millions of downloads, but it's basically a matching things game. It has previously had a long history of short animated adverts with a serial soap opera based storyline about a woman's romantic relationships and her murderous elder family member.
Starting point is 01:05:56 The fact that this has now escalated into a live action version of the story with Pedro being the detective is just unfathomable to me. However, no one I know has either seen the ads or feel this is odd enough for a brief, entertaining discussion. I've never heard of this. Is it just me that finds this so bizarre?
Starting point is 01:06:10 I have heard of this and it is strange. I am looking at this now. You're looking at it right now? There's so much information on this thing that I've never heard. It's everywhere. Oh, God, I'm going to be inundated with this because I Googled this once. That's right. I'm going to wipe this.
Starting point is 01:06:20 I'm going to delete my browser. Far out. So, I mean, these make a lot of money. So they would have just been able to throw. Yeah, right. Potentially tens of millions of dollars at this guy. Yeah. To promote this.
Starting point is 01:06:35 I think you. Oh, yeah. And so here's Merge Mansion. Yeah. It's just. So it's matching stuff. What's Grandma hiding? Renovate the mansion.
Starting point is 01:06:45 Yep. Unlock hidden areas. Reveal. Reveal family secrets. Discover every item. James, you can discover a pot plant. You can discover a little trowel thing. A trowel.
Starting point is 01:06:58 Different types of buckets. Okay. That's pretty good. Merge hundreds of items. That's the merge part. Yeah. They've merged a basket and a hat there. Two baskets and two hats.
Starting point is 01:07:11 Okay. A basket hat combo with another basket hat combo. Presumably you merge them, you get points or something. It's a mansion full of mysteries. Follow the story. Boy, there's a lot of thumbnails. Oh, Maddie says, oh, my, I think I put my hat in the oven and my cake in the hook gotta go
Starting point is 01:07:26 in the hook in the hook i don't know if this has been badly translated or something i don't know what it is but anyway um i look i get it in the sense that you might be like well pedro pascal's and he's into two tv series and you know that's yeah he's doesn't he have enough money i mean maybe but also both of those TV series, especially now, could disappear instantly. Exactly, yeah. As far as I know, The Mandalorian, not doing so well critically this season. No, not as much, yeah.
Starting point is 01:07:54 I think it's going to build to something, but there's also they've taken their time to get to the thing that they need to be at. Yeah, right. Yeah. But, you know, I've always thought there's good and bad in the Mandalorian, you know? What I'm saying is, like, you buy a house in Hollywood. Yep.
Starting point is 01:08:09 That's expensive to maintain. Yep. And it's very likely that anything you're on, whether it be a movie franchise or a TV show or whatever. Or Merge Mansion. Could go up in smoke. Now, Merge Mansion is the only thing that could not disappear in a puff of smoke. You've got so many secrets to uncover. Yeah, it's true.
Starting point is 01:08:24 More secrets than the Mandalorian, I bet. Can you kill the granny who's trying to murder you with a hammer? Doesn't say, doesn't say. Can you merge her skull with the claw side of a hammer? I think probably. That's great. I've got to go. I merged my grandma to death.
Starting point is 01:08:38 But money is the answer, I guess. Money is the answer. And, you know, it's probably a fun shooting day. Probably, why not? It's not like Pedro Pascal has been like, you know, I'm all about art and I don't think art and commerce should ever cross over. And I actually think that would actually be disgusting if I did that and then he does a Merge Mansion.
Starting point is 01:09:00 He's never said anything to that effect. So why not do this silly thing that they're going to pay him for? And download it. Download Merge Mansion. This is from T-Ball, a bell on Twitter, B-A-L. T-Ball? Hashtag Weekly Planet Pod. Sure.
Starting point is 01:09:13 Hello, little James, regular-sized James and Mason's twin brother. With the announcement that Liv Tyler is returning as Betty Ross in New World Order, how likely is it this film is actually going to be Hulk's no way home? That's a great question. We didn't even talk about that. There's been some on-set photos of Harrison Ford this week as Thunderbolt Ross.
Starting point is 01:09:30 Moustacheless. Moustacheless. But here's the thing, though. Oh, General Ross, when he – no, because when he becomes a Hulk, he loses the moustache. Are they doing the opposite? But I think when General Ross became the Red Hulk, I think he shaved his moustache and put a fake moustache on so people wouldn't recognise him. Oh, okay. I think when General Ross became the Red Hulk, I think he shaved his moustache and put a fake moustache on
Starting point is 01:09:46 so people wouldn't recognise him. Oh, okay. I think. Yeah. But I'm also wondering if it's also entirely possible that Harrison Ford has a fake moustache for this movie and they've called cut and he just whips it off and throws it on the ground.
Starting point is 01:09:58 Get me another moustache. And then he storms across set to get in his little plane or whatever. Breaks his leg. So I don't think this is necessarily a spoiler for the movie. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Thunderbolt Ross' only distinguishing feature is he's got a mustache and Harrison Ford does not have a mustache. He's mad.
Starting point is 01:10:15 But, yeah, this is interesting. So thus far we have two, at least two, Hulk character alumni in this new Captain America movie. That's right. I mean, you know, people have always been saying, hey, more Hulk players. But obviously there's that contractual situation with Universal, which means they can't give him a solo film.
Starting point is 01:10:35 Who knows what they're up to. Who knows, man. I think also apparently there was rumours this week that, I think this was from Jeff Snyder, that there's going to be, like Adamantium's going to play a big part in it. Oh, that's right, yes. Which leads into the X-Men and et cetera and so forth. That's right.
Starting point is 01:10:48 But, yeah. But where's his moustache? Great question. Do you have another Gmail? Here's an email from Megan. Mm-hmm. Mates, boys, gents, why are yawns so contagious? When going through your generous back catalogue of past episodes,
Starting point is 01:11:00 on episode 350 and 352, James does a big yawn, so I did a big yawn. I feel like I'm going to yawn now. And then yawned four more times. I've always had this issue where yawns are incredibly contagious. Even as I type the word yawn, I'm literally yawning. Why are yawns contagious? Please send help for I'm so very tired. That's a great question.
Starting point is 01:11:20 Contagious yawning has been observed in humans in a growing number of social vertebrates. While the majority of studies on yawns have been documented, this phenomenon, blah, blah, blah, there is no evidence. They don't know. Huh. They don't know, it seems. Wow.
Starting point is 01:11:36 I thought we were going to solve this, honestly. I thought we were going to solve this with you doing a quick Google. They think it might be a result of a social mirroring. Oh. So, like, you know, when you meet somebody and you copy their exact body language and try and say exactly what they're going to say as they say it. And then you take over their life. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:11:54 It's just like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great question though. I don't know. I wish I had all the answers. That's right. It's a social thing. Isn't it about getting more oxygen or something?
Starting point is 01:12:02 Something that's going to perk you up because you're tired? Maybe. Yeah. It's from William Robinson. Hashtag weekly planet pod. Hey. Hi, James and Mace. I was wondering if either of you had seen the comedy series Upright
Starting point is 01:12:13 starring Tim Minchin and House of Dragons Millie Alcock who have a chance encounter and end up on a hilarious and heartwarming journey across Australia. It's a hidden gem. Thanks. I've seen the first season of Upright and I really enjoyed it and I have yet to watch the second season. But, no, I think it's fun and it's got good music
Starting point is 01:12:31 and it's got good feelings and hearts. I think I talked about it on Suggestible, my less successful but probably better podcast. Go on, Mason. Excuse me, what? I said probably better. What? In what way?
Starting point is 01:12:41 It's better. It's more fun. What? More fun? I like it more. I like my wife more than I like you. Oh, what? Wow.
Starting point is 01:12:51 But go on. Wow. I can't believe you like your wife more than you like me. Wow. But by a little or by a lot? Well, I don't know. I mean, if I had to measure it, it would probably be a lot. Like if I had to put like a definitive amount,
Starting point is 01:13:06 it would be quite a wide expanse. But you would say that's probably Stockholm syndrome because you live with her and stuff. Yeah, I guess. But, you know, we've known each other for longer and yet I still think that. So I don't know what that says. Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe.
Starting point is 01:13:20 Yeah. Wow. Something to think about. Something for you to reflect on. I'm never going to think about it or reflect on it. Anyway, have you seen Upright? No, I haven't, no. It's good.
Starting point is 01:13:28 I got one more email. Let's do it. James ruined my half marathon. This is from Joe. Thank you. I wasn't going to stoop to this, but then you said you like your wife more than you like me. A guy you do a podcast with. Hi, boys.
Starting point is 01:13:41 Longtime listener of the pod from England. Hello. I used to listen to the pod whilst running as if there is one way to cure the boredom that is running around rural England. It's that. However, during the first attempt I had at a half marathon, I put on your best of 2021, where it was going swimmingly well. I got to the last part of the run on a good pace, and naturally the last part of the pod where I was greeted with a compilation of Westworld ringing through my ears. Not only was the body experiencing great pain, but now I was enduring a mental labyrinth of James
Starting point is 01:14:08 repeating Westworld over and over. I couldn't switch from the pod as my phone was attached to my arms and ended up calling it a mile early to end my suffering. Other than that, thanks for the laughs and can I be the official failed runner of the pod? Wait, a mile away? Yep.
Starting point is 01:14:23 I'm sorry. You could have walked it. That's very true. Oh, what I'm reading,. I'm sorry. You could have walked it. It's very true. Oh, what I'm reading, what I'm going to read, I forgot. I've been at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I've been so busy. You've been busy.
Starting point is 01:14:35 And I've watched a bunch of people whose work I enjoyed. Let me tell you, Beck portrayed as friend of the show. Oh, my God. As her first solo show. Glowing reviews, Mason. It's called Merry. It's about her worst Christmas ever, but it's a great mix of stand-up and
Starting point is 01:14:48 voice-overs and fun tech stuff, which is delightful. Friend of the show, Dave Warnicke, his show is he's back doing stand-up. David Warnicke? David Warnicke? He's back. I saw a Grace Jarvis, who's very good at stand-up. You might have seen her on Gamey Gamey Game.
Starting point is 01:15:04 Absolutely. Very funny. You should see her. I saw a woman who I don't know called Christina Spitzica, who has a show called Risky Spizness, which is about all the data she's saved up over her life. Like she's saved up like all her childhood journals and all her ICQ logs and like all the, just every piece of data she's ever. How did she find that?
Starting point is 01:15:28 She's just got a big hard drive apparently and a bunch of. My God. That's a funny show. Who else did I see? My friend Rose Bishop has a show called Feral, which is about her being feral. It's a very funny stand-up. Tommy Daslow has a great show.
Starting point is 01:15:41 He's back. He's back. It's about a time he got someone stole his identity and stole $10,000 from a bank. Oh, my God. It's a great show. He's back. He's back. It's about a time he got someone stole his identity and stole $10,000 from a bank. Oh my god. So it's a good show. And that's all I've seen so far, I think. Great. Wouldn't want to be someone I saw who I've forgotten about. Well, you can always talk about
Starting point is 01:15:56 them next week. That's true, I can. Anyway, everybody... Or we do an emergency podcast. That's right. If you're in Melbourne and you can see some shows, you should see some shows. Also, I met listener Liam, who works at one of the venues. He works at Campari House. Very good. He said hi. To me?
Starting point is 01:16:08 No. He specifically didn't mention you at all, honestly. I said, do you want to mention James? He was like, nah. But he knows who I am. I don't even know if he does. He did say who. I said, do you want to mention James?
Starting point is 01:16:19 He's like, who? Okay. I copped that. I copped that, Mr. I'm best friends with my wife. Think you're so good Also I ruined that guy's half marathon But to be fair I didn't edit that together The worst world compilation
Starting point is 01:16:34 That's not my fault You know what I find when I'm running or exercising And I'm listening to a podcast I'm like god this is a real grind And then I realise if I just switch to music, it's much easier. Yeah, I can't. But I also don't like, I'd rather listen to a podcast running. I can only listen to a podcast, I think, when I'm walking.
Starting point is 01:16:53 Okay, yeah. Or like sitting on a stoop or sitting on like a train or something like that. Or driving, I guess. But like I can't, like if I'm'm sometimes i'm at work and i'm on standby yeah if they if they need me to do something but i can't listen i can't read a book or listen to a podcast because i can't take any of it in because i'm like what if they need me like now you'll be alerted i'll be alerted so i can listen to music but i can't anyway funny
Starting point is 01:17:20 how brains work funny isn't it yeah sometimes you you somebody's like sometimes it, sometimes somebody's like. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes your brain just doesn't work and you're like, I'm a bit, what? My brain doesn't work properly. That's not a result of my brain not working, Mason. I think any podcast is better than a podcast. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that, though.
Starting point is 01:17:39 As if I'm James. Obviously, this one is more successful so in that respect I like it more and in a way it is better in that sense
Starting point is 01:17:49 yeah because that's the only downloads is the only metric agreed yeah alright is that the show that's the whole show folks
Starting point is 01:17:56 thank you so much for listening we 100% appreciate it maybe 110% appreciate it that's probably true maybe folks if you want to get into contact with us
Starting point is 01:18:04 you can go to weeklyplanetpod at gmail.com, at Facebook or Twitter at Bandcamp. You can go to the Planet Broadcasting Great Mates Facebook group. You can go to the Weekly Planet podcast Discord and subreddit. James is doing a vicious combo on all that. Shadow boxing. He's doing a bit of a shadow box.
Starting point is 01:18:20 If you want to have some fun discussions about podcasts and pop culture, you can go to all of those places. If you want to follow some people on the socials, firstly follow our friend Rob Collings. He's at RawCollings on Twitter. He's at The Weekly Planet on Twitter. He does all the socials. He does all the updates on this podcast.
Starting point is 01:18:35 He edits the podcast. He does videos. He does all sorts of stuff. You should check out his stuff. He's also got a YouTube channel where he's got some weekly planet animations, which are terrific in my opinion. If you want to follow us, I am at Wikipedia Brown on Twitter
Starting point is 01:18:46 and Nick Mesa on Instagram. James is MrSundayMovies everywhere. If you want to support the show, you go to patreon.com slash MrSundayMovies. Chuck the buck. Or a man you would not miss. Or you can go to BigSandwich.co. Sign up for $9 US per month.
Starting point is 01:18:58 You get bonus podcasts, movie commentaries, early videos, and ad-free podcast feed. Is that true? That is very true. I wouldn't lie to you. I don't believe you. Well, I guess you wouldn Free Podcast Feed. Is that true? That is very true. I wouldn't lie to you. I don't believe you. Well, I guess you wouldn't know then. It's true. Folks, if you want to buy some t-shirts
Starting point is 01:19:11 there at tpublic.com, just search for the Weekly Planet. Yep. And thank you to the Brute and the Basilisk and Rackham for all our musical themes. Next week, we're going to talk about the Super Mario Brothers movie. Woo! But not the one from the 90s, the new one. No, we already talked about that. We talked about it already. Also, you should review the show in-app. Ooh! Do you not want to do that, Mason? Oh, already talked about that. We talked about it already. Also, you should review the show in app. Do you not want to do that, Mason?
Starting point is 01:19:27 Oh, I forgot about that. Completely skipped over it. Whatever app you've got, you're using, you can do this. This is from Caffeinated Joe who says, always a top listen. My son got me listening to you a few years back ago, and now when an episode pops into the feed, it goes up to the top. Fun back and forth and takes on what's up in pop culture.
Starting point is 01:19:45 Thank you so much, Caffeinated Joe. And this is from I Approved This Message. I can't believe I forgot to recommend the review. No wonder this is still the best podcast, but not as much better than Suggestible. I Approved This Message says, Shows, five stars, by the way, love the show. I've been listening for years.
Starting point is 01:20:01 Great take on movies and TV. Love to hear their opinions, despite their high regard for The Last Jedi. Love the show. I've been listening for years. Great take on movies and TV. Love to hear their opinions despite their high regard for The Last Jedi. Uh-oh. Star Wars discourse. Still controversial. Before that kicks off.
Starting point is 01:20:12 That's right. Thanks, everybody, and we'll see you next time. Grab that jam, you guys. We'll see you real soon. Bye. FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship
Starting point is 01:20:24 between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret. The other, a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. Fx's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+.

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