The Weekly Planet - 472 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Episode Date: April 3, 2023It'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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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+.
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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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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.
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?
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?
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
$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,
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
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,
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
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
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?
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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
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,
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.
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.
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.
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 –
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
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
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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
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,
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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
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
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
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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
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?
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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?
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.
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
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?
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?
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
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.
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
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.
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
yeah
because that's the only
downloads is the only metric
agreed
yeah
alright
is that the show
that's the whole show folks
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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+.