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The Rewatchables ·

Old School

year 2003decade 00sdirector Todd Phillipsgenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
All 16 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 16:30

The kitchen scene at Mitch's new house: earmuffs and Frank with the hockey stick

Four opening nominations: Frank the Tank at Mitchapalooza through the streaking and the women driving slowly beside him; the green-hat oral-sex class; the dart-gun birthday party, including the bread maker re-gifted a third time; and Blue dying during the KY wrestling match, which may run into Blue's funeral and Will Ferrell singing.

Another nomination is the first meeting in the kitchen at Luke Wilson's new place, with earmuffs and Frank walking around with a hockey stick destroying things, watched eight times that week; everybody knows the guy who picks up the hockey stick mid-conversation and makes you afraid something will break.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 57:38

"Blue, you're my boy!"

It comes down to Blue, you're my boy; 'fill it up again, once it hits your lips it's so good'; 'I thought we were in the trust tree in the nest'; and the earmuffs exchange ending with Frank's 'cock balls', which the hosts re-enact.

The film

Old School (2003)

Directed by Todd Phillips · Drama

90 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Luke Wilson Mitch "The Godfather" Martin
Will Ferrell Frank "The Tank" Ricard
Vince Vaughn Bernard "Beanie" Campbell
Jeremy Piven Dean Gordon "Cheese" Pritchard
Ellen Pompeo Nicole
Leah Remini Lara Campbell
Perrey Reeves Marissa Jones
Elisha Cuthbert Darcie Goldberg
Harve Presnell Mr. Springbrook
Artie Lange Booker
Matt Walsh Walsh
Sara Tanaka Megan Huang
Sarah Shahi Erica
Todd Phillips Gang Bang Guy
Bryan Callen Avi, the Waiter
Snoop Dogg himself
James Carville himself
Warren G himself
Kokane himself
Terry O'Quinn Goldberg (uncredited)
Andy Dick Oral Sex Instructor (uncredited)
Ashley Jones Caterer
Arthur Taxier Professor
The Dan Band Wedding band

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

16:30

Most Rewatchable Scene

The kitchen scene at Mitch's new house: earmuffs and Frank with the hockey stick

The kitchen scene at Mitch's new house: earmuffs and Frank with the hockey stick

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:30Read transcript
  • Four opening nominations: Frank the Tank at Mitchapalooza through the streaking and the women driving slowly beside him; the green-hat oral-sex class; the dart-gun birthday party, including the bread maker re-gifted a third time; and Blue dying during the KY wrestling match, which may run into Blue's funeral and Will Ferrell singing.
  • Another nomination is the first meeting in the kitchen at Luke Wilson's new place, with earmuffs and Frank walking around with a hockey stick destroying things, watched eight times that week; everybody knows the guy who picks up the hockey stick mid-conversation and makes you afraid something will break.
  • The first scene with Jeremy Piven's character is very funny and a weirdly good Piven performance, subverting his PCU character now that he is old enough to be the dean; it is pre-Entourage and before he found the right toupee.
  • The opening with Juliette Lewis and two people in the bathroom, with Todd Phillips at the door, is nominated as a great twist on the familiar scene of a man coming home to noises in the bedroom; it is a good Luke Wilson scene too, and probably her best grown-up performance for one host, who otherwise fears her Natural Born Killers mode.
  • Asked for the most rewatchable, the pick is the hockey stick scene. — Chris Ryan
  • Another host goes with Frank the Tank coming back to life, from the guys pressing Frank to have a drink through the 'nice little Saturday' Home Depot speech to 'we're going streaking', and plays the clip; whether the scene runs into his wife finding him and the Speaker City speech is debated.
  • Other candidates: Vince Vaughn mouthing along to his own commercial, Will Ferrell talking about the car's restrictor plate, the wedding with 'it takes a real man to give away an angel' and the under-the-breath 'this is such a mistake, you got to run' muttering in the church that kills Will Ferrell, and drunk Luke Wilson meeting Ellen Pompeo with 'Denver, the sunshine state'; the hard thing with comedies is whether something is a moment or a scene.
  • The third host goes earmuffs along with Chris, calling it the most iconic thing in the film aside from the streaking and the most repeated line in his life; the hosts realize earmuffs came from this film, wonder whether it was a Vince Vaughn ad lib or something heard around LA, admit owing him royalties for Ringer-office use, and play the clip.
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24:08

What’s Aged the Best?

Earmuffs

Earmuffs

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:08Read transcript
  • Luke Wilson disrobing when frisked at the airport, about a year and a half after 9-11, was the first time anyone had fun with TSA, set to Ryan Adams's To Be Young, called one of the best songs of all time; Ellen Pompeo, about to become one of the most bankable TV stars of forty years, is a baby here with an under-written part; Perry Reeves looks the same as in Entourage and Kicking and Screaming and should have had a bigger career.
  • Earmuffs will probably win the category; the Dan Band swearing through the wedding song is great, especially the cut to Vince Vaughn with his hand up and the freeze-frame reactions of Will Ferrell and Perry Reeves when the first 'fucking' drops.
  • The Dan Band are in The Hangover and other Todd Phillips films, were LA legends who played bigger bars and Jimmy's show, a host's wife went to five or six shows, and Dan the leader co-wrote a song in the Netflix film Dumplin'.
  • Snoop Dogg is caught at a great moment with Cocaine and Warren G as DJ and Don Magic Wand (as transcribed) at his side, reportedly doing the music to get into Starsky and Hutch; a four-minute performance in the film is odd, and Melissa McCarthy's Life of the Party lifts the structure with a Christina Aguilera performance.
  • Craig Kilborn is fun to see, maybe the first person to appear in both aged best and aged worst: a memorable shitheel character in two scenes and the credits, yet he reads lines the way he read The Daily Show and cannot act next to professionals, which is presumably why he has not kept acting; as stunt casting it worked.
  • The closing credits have aged the best for one host: Kilborn crashes while smoking, goes over a bridge and kills a fly-fishing Jeremy Piven, two and a half minutes of credits story; Porky's and Cannonball Run bloopers are recalled, and The Hangover's Polaroid credits are called the best ever.
  • The soundtrack is a murderers' row of weird music: Papered Up, Paid in Full, Dust in the Wind, Hungry Like the Wolf, Gonna Make You Sweat, The Sound of Silence, Total Clips of the Heart (as transcribed), Lady, Metallica, and Here I Go Again played about four times.
  • Not Craig Kilborn; this is the best Luke Wilson performance. — Chris Ryan
  • This and Tenenbaums are called the alpha and omega of Luke Wilson, a good everyman for a while; the fuller Luke Wilson conversation is saved for unanswerable questions.
  • The film launched Will Ferrell, who has made one host laugh more than anyone since 2000; earmuffs is settled on as what aged best because people still say it as ordinary conversation rather than a movie line, like Kleenex.
  • A late addition: You're My Boy Blue, along with earmuffs, is in the lexicon and deserved a shout-out, as does the running bit of repeatedly calling some random guy Spanish; the clip of Blue is played.
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32:24

What’s Aged the Worst?

Luke Wilson's character sleeping with Elisha Cuthbert's high-school character

Luke Wilson's character sleeping with Elisha Cuthbert's high-school character

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:24Read transcript
  • A philosophical question first: does aged worst mean what has become offensive or what seems antiquated, like a 1984 action scene or seventies red-paint gunfights; the answer is simply what has aged poorly, and here it is Elisha Cuthbert's high-school character at the top of the list.
  • Kilborn's acting is brutal; Piven's toupee needed another trip to the shop; Artie Lang (as transcribed) and Matt Walsh, two of the funniest people, are misused and told to play it serious, probably a favor and a paycheck around the Howard Stern years after Dirty Work.
  • James Carville has aged worst two ways: why is he in it, and sixteen years later younger viewers do not know who he is; when the film turns into a Back to School competition, as Stripes does by going to war and Animal House started, the last fifteen minutes are entertaining but forced, which is why stunts like Carville are needed; Craig knows Carville mainly from Bill Hader on SNL.
  • Luke Wilson sleeping with a high-school girl who then greets him on his date with Ellen Pompeo is a tough beat; she might have been 18, which would have aged less badly, though the Terry O'Quinn scene has him say she is seven months from college, so she is 17 or 18 and either way not great.
  • Brian Cowan's (as transcribed) agent is added to what aged worst, out of frustration that his career was not bigger.
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35:59

Casting What-Ifs

Nothing found beyond the part of Beanie being written for Vince Vaughn

Nothing found beyond the part of Beanie being written for Vince Vaughn

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:59Read transcript
  • There is nothing to report: little information exists, the part was written for Vaughn, and despite the oral-history boom there is no Old School oral history because there was no drama, just everyone in the right place at the right time; a sequel script was written but Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell did not want to do it, and it would have been a spring-break film.
  • Earlier: Scott Armstrong and Todd Phillips, the writing partners, wrote the part of Bernard (as transcribed) with Vince Vaughn in mind, a comeback for him seven years after Swingers.
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36:14

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:14Read transcript
  • Craig Kilburn (as transcribed) is nominated because he probably regards it as a heat check; Juliette Lewis was incredible in only two scenes, one the supermarket invitation in the closing credits, like an amateur porn star before the term existed; the Dan Band and the actor who played Blue are also named.
  • Sean William Scott (as transcribed) as the animal trainer Peppers is added for yanking the goat's chain and for his reaction to the dart gun, 'you just took one in the jugular, man', played as a clip.
  • Juliette Lewis is one host's winner, with five threes in nine minutes; Brian Callen as the Greek waiter with 'it is on me, Godfather' is a weird performance, and he is a favorite who never made it despite MADtv and Inside Schwartz, now around the Rogan and UFC podcast world.
  • Terry O'Quinn, uncredited, post-X-Files and pre-Lost, in two scenes, does not qualify; he was just a big guy in movies until Lost revived his career; two hosts go Juliette Lewis.
  • Bows to Juliette Lewis but is a big Sean William Scott (as transcribed) supporter. — Chris Ryan
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41:12

Half-Assed Internet Research

A 2006 sequel script, Old School Dos (transcribed 'Dose'), by Scott Armstrong was turned down by Ferrell and Vaughn; ...

A 2006 sequel script, Old School Dos (transcribed 'Dose'), by Scott Armstrong was turned down by Ferrell and Vaughn; Luke Wilson said in 2016 he would do it; Todd Phillips plays the man at the door; Ferrell streaked for real near a 24-hour gym and shot it in two parts; Patrick Cranshaw (transcribed 'Crenshaw') acted for fifty years, played the sheriff in the Air Bud films and died about four years later; the frat house is a real Pasadena house on Bushnell Avenue used in Back to the Future, Back to the Future 2 and Teen Wolf

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:12Read transcript
  • In 2006 Scott Armstrong wrote a sequel, Old School Dose (as transcribed), about the aging fraternity going to spring break, turned down by Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn; Ferrell's 2008 explanation was that it had funny set pieces but felt like repeating the fraternity setting; one host would still have seen it, another does not need it after The Hangover 2 and 3.
  • Of the era's comedies, Old School 2 is the sequel one host would most want; great comedy sequels are rare, Austin Powers aside, Caddyshack 2 was a tragedy, Wayne's World 2 is defended as genius after it came up with McKay, Anchorman 2 will have a life once off Epix, and both Anchorman films have hours of alternate footage.
  • Luke Wilson was ready in 2016, saying he would do it at the drop of a hat; Todd Phillips plays the man in the curly wig who knocks on Luke Wilson's door for the gangbang, a role he reprises in most of his films including The Hangover.
  • Will Ferrell ran naked for real, horrifying locals at a 24-hour gym; the streak was filmed in two parts, the second in front of everyone during the Snoop Dogg performance, and he needed to get a little drunk first.
  • Patrick Crenshaw (as transcribed), who played Blue, had acted in films for fifty years before this role made him famous, played the sheriff in all the Air Bud films, and died about four years after the film.
  • The fraternity house is a real residential house in Pasadena on Bushnell Avenue, obviously LA, used in three Michael J. Fox films; the hosts guess Doc Hollywood and The Secret of My Success before landing on Back to the Future, Back to the Future 2 and Teen Wolf, and joke about Redfinning it as more attainable than the Boogie Nights house, though it may be a two-block stretch rather than one house.
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45:56

Apex Mountain

Vince Vaughn; Luke Wilson

Vince Vaughn; Luke Wilson

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:56Read transcript
  • Craig Kilburn (as transcribed) is a no: not this, not SportsCenter where one host thought he was God, but his first season of The Daily Show; he probably regards this as his apex because he had the CBS late-night show and this part, which is more than a cameo, and the hosts like him and have had him on their podcasts.
  • Will Ferrell is a no: his apex has to come from his movie career, Anchorman, since his SNL apex was 2000 with Strategery as Bush.
  • Vince Vaughn is a yes for one host, not only his best but the revival that leads to Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers and gets him out from under The Cell; another goes Wedding Crashers a year later, when it was no longer a fluke, he was dating Jennifer Aniston and on the cover of Us Weekly, one of the biggest stars in the world for a year and a half.
  • Luke Wilson is a yes: this is his mainstream run with Legally Blonde 2 and Charlie's Angels, when he got the lead white-guy roles, and in a different era he would be in the Harrison Ford zone, which the others call blasphemous and a wild take; he is a comedy actor like Charles Grodin, not an action lead.
  • The Luke Wilson conversation: one host does not think he is very good, lucked into the right movies, benefited from his creative brother Owen and Wes Anderson, and keeps replicating the doe-eyed Bottle Rocket regular guy in Charlie's Angels, Legally Blonde and this; others love his persona now as a golf, bourbon and Cowboys sportsman you could meet on a semi-private course on a Thursday with a Tecate.
  • The defense of the take: they fucked up by not waiting to make Star Wars until Luke Wilson was around to play Han Solo, and had he stayed in game shape there was an action-movie path for him. — Chris Ryan
  • Elisha Cuthbert draws a no, 24 season 1, against the argument that 24 began around 2001 and this came a couple of years in, about as good as it got; whether Girl Next Door is her best performance is asked, and she is incredible on Happy Endings.
  • Patrick Crenshaw (as transcribed) is probably at his apex here, going out high.
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53:14

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Patrick Fischler (transcribed 'Fishler'), Jeremy Piven's henchman; Patrick J. Adams (transcribed 'Patrick Adams'), th...

Patrick Fischler (transcribed 'Fishler'), Jeremy Piven's henchman; Patrick J. Adams (transcribed 'Patrick Adams'), the guitarist during Dust in the Wind

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:14Read transcript
  • With a lot of nominees, one host gives it to the Mad Men actor who plays Jeremy Piven's henchman, name unknown, who later turned up on Mad Men as Bobby Barrett's husband, the mean comedian in season one, and tells the diner story in Mulholland Drive before the dumpster scene.
  • Another host has a different winner: a far-background player, Patrick Adams, who plays guitar during Dust in the Wind and became the star of Suits.
  • The henchman's name is supplied as Patrick Fishler (as transcribed), a very good character actor; not knowing a name while naming nine credits is how the Joey Pants Award is won.
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54:17

Is This Movie Better With…?

None needed; Steve Buscemi as the principal and Danny Trejo as a silent frat brother floated; Michael K. Williams doe...

None needed; Steve Buscemi as the principal and Danny Trejo as a silent frat brother floated; Michael K. Williams does not fit

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:54:17Read transcript
  • Buscemi maybe could have played the principal; Treo (as transcribed) would have been a great frat member, the intimidating mute guy they pulled in; Michael K. Williams does not fit and would have been weird; nobody thought the film needed any of the three, a tough category for this one.
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55:03

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Andy Dick

Andy Dick

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:03Read transcript
  • It comes down to Sean William Scott (as transcribed) and Andy Dick; Andy Dick, out of his mind in his one scene and perhaps literally so at the time, is the pick, with a warning not to sleep on Scott really going for it.
  • Ferrell has many Rubinek-esque moments, 'we're going streaking' at the top of his lungs and his speech to the pledges with cinder blocks tied to them, 'do you believe that I don't want to see you get hurt'; Andy Dick is still the answer.
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55:47

Picking Nits

Why Ellen Pompeo's character would ever touch Luke Wilson's character; why Vince Vaughn's character is written not to...

Why Ellen Pompeo's character would ever touch Luke Wilson's character; why Vince Vaughn's character is written not to be a cheater

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:47Read transcript
  • The biggest flaw: why Ellen Pompeo's character would ever touch Luke Wilson's character, who spills a drink on her dress at the wedding after twenty years apart, is confronted on their date by a high-schooler in an Oakwood High jacket apologizing about her dad, breaks up her relationship with Mark, and has a kid to be stepfather to; the counterpoint is that she dated the scumbag Mark for two years, so her taste in men is terrible and she was barely fleshed out.
  • Why Vince Vaughn's character would not be a cheater: they had to zip that up so he stays within normal behavior, otherwise he is Satan; the scene where the girl kisses him and he pulls back is one of the best and weirdly well acted.
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57:38

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

"Blue, you're my boy!"

"Blue, you're my boy!"

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:38Read transcript
  • It comes down to Blue, you're my boy; 'fill it up again, once it hits your lips it's so good'; 'I thought we were in the trust tree in the nest'; and the earmuffs exchange ending with Frank's 'cock balls', which the hosts re-enact.
  • Blue, you're my boy is declared the best quote as the memorable line other than earmuffs; the whole wedding toast is also loved, from 'Frank's dad's here, love you dad' to Mitch's true-love speech about catching the early flight home from San Diego and the blindfolded nude couple.
  • Late additions: Beanie's line that Columbus wasn't looking for America but it turned out okay for everyone, his 'that's awesome' when told a professor lived in the house thirty years and died, and 'I know a great sand guy' from the hockey stick scene.
  • Earlier, You're My Boy Blue had been held for best quote and the Blue clip was played.
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1:01:19

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

No

No

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:19Read transcript
  • The back-to-college film keeps getting remade, Melissa McCarthy's last year included, but as a show about thirty-somethings at college it would not work: there has never been a frat TV show like this, and a series would belabor the midlife-crisis elements, which is not why anyone watches Old School.
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1:02:26

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Who is the 2019 Craig Kilborn? Could the Luke Wilson part have been cast better?

Who is the 2019 Craig Kilborn? Could the Luke Wilson part have been cast better?

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:26Read transcript
  • Who is the 2019 Craig Kilbourne (as transcribed), the stunt-cast non-actor who would play the two-scene boyfriend Mark: a YouTube guy like Logan Paul is too young, so a sports broadcaster is sought, with Joe Buck, Gus Johnson, Jim Nance (as transcribed), Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Trevor Noah floated before Jalen Rose is settled on, though he would never do it.
  • Could they have improved the Luke Wilson spot: definitely not Harrison Ford; Owen Wilson as the star is offered, and one host thinks Luke was born on third base here and others would have been wanted more, while another thinks the role requires only being smart and a little spaced out.
  • A favorite thing about the film is that in some scenes a character looks brutally hungover because the actor is, such as Vince Vaughn paying for breakfast in the diner looking like his night just ended and Luke Wilson's circles under his eyes; the 'Godfather' greetings in front of a nonplussed Ellen Pompeo are a good Fight Club joke.
  • Luke Wilson could be improved upon but would not be changed by one host, who loves 'Denver, the sunshine state, gorgeous'; the Harrison Ford take is called one of the worst ever heard on a podcast, and the hosts promise not to raise it on every episode.
  • Earlier, the fuller Luke Wilson conversation was deferred to this category.
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1:05:51

Who Won the Movie?

Todd Phillips; Vince Vaughn; Will Ferrell

Todd Phillips; Vince Vaughn; Will Ferrell

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:51Read transcript
  • Todd Phillips for one host: he is bigger than Apatow by box office though nobody thinks of him that way, his next film is a Joker movie, and he will probably be Oscar-nominated this year as a producer of A Star Is Born with partner Bradley Cooper; Cooper's Toronto premiere speech crediting Phillips's note of belief made Cooper Ali (as transcribed) and Phillips Jackson.
  • The Ringer ran a Mike Powell profile of Phillips at launch in summer 2016 with Cooper and others quoted going to bat for him; his real skill, learned from Ivan Reitman, is choosing people at the right time, as with Ferrell and writing for Vaughn; the vote is Todd Phillips.
  • Another host goes Vince Vaughn for variety, calling him incredible with every line quotable.
  • The pick is Will Ferrell because the film launches his comedy run. — Bill Simmons
  • Tic-tac-toe, three different answers; sorry Luke Wilson; a joke about whether a note saying nobody believes in you like I believe in you should have been given in 2012 to the host then running the Triangle at Grantland.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Todd Phillips
Speaker not identified
Vince Vaughn
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1:13:14

The Johnny Fontaine Award for the Most Glaringly Bad Actor in the Movie

Craig Kilborn

Craig Kilborn

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:14Read transcript
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More from the conversation

Fennessey arrives after a devastating bad beat on the Godfather podcast, not knowing where the Corleone compound was; for the first time the show will end with a Stat Boy on PTI style run through things the hosts got wrong, which one host fears will be used to relitigate the roasting.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:28Read transcript
The film came out in 2003 and was weirdly important for Will Ferrell, who had been on SNL since October 1995 without a hit film or a true starring role apart from Night at the Roxbury, and whose Austin Powers and Zoolander bits raised the question of whether he would be a bit-player cameo guy; one host discussed this with Adam McKay that week.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:03Read transcript
SNL stardom had not reliably translated to film: it did for Sandler and Mike Myers, for Farley only for one loud great comedy before Dirty Work and bit parts; Ferrell tried the Myers playbook of a character movie and failed, and five years later Frank the Tank became the template for his sweet, dumb, loud characters who can freak out, an extension of the Dodge Stratus suburban-insanity sketch.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:08Read transcript
The film started the frat pack, a media term nobody uses, and the 2003 to 2009 R-rated comedy boom from The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers to The Hangover; it owns its R rating, and frat films arrive every ten to fifteen years, Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, PCU, and have to be R to work.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:39Read transcript
Todd Phillips and Scott Armstrong worked with Ivan Reitman, and the film is the son of the Animal House through roughly 1984 comedy-plus-nudity run, Stripes, Caddyshack, Easy Money, Bachelor Party, Kentucky Fried Movie; the Apatow films that followed became meta commentaries on those films, with thirty-something stars and Pineapple Express as a Midnight Run or 48 Hours homage.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:45Read transcript
Before this came the SNL-characters-into-movies era and a silly era of Sandler and Jim Carrey, juvenile films without nudity a six-year-old could watch; Sandler built one character over ten movies while Carrey was larger than life, whereas Old School has a maturity and more ideas despite its offensive humor; the Farrelly brothers, Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, Outside Providence and There's Something About Mary, laid the ground for Road Trip.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:16Read transcript
Todd Phillips's documentaries: the student film Hated about punk singer Gigi Allen (as transcribed), an hour on YouTube that won him an HBO internship under Sheila Nevins and work on Taxi Cab Confessions; Frat House, a template for this film, controversial for staged scenes at Muhlenberg College; he executive-produced Project X and made the Phish film Bittersweet Motel; he reportedly took only points on The Hangover and made fifty million dollars, a deal one host is teased for having tried to get on The Flat Circle.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:51Read transcript
Road Trip was really funny in the moment and is set at Ithaca University, where one host went to college; the film caught Will Ferrell at his jump and gave Vince Vaughn a comeback seven years after Swingers, after the Psycho remake and serious roles made studios doubt he could do comedy, so Phillips pushed for him and reportedly pointed to his Letterman appearances; he then made only comedies for five or six years, Dodgeball, Starsky and Hutch, Wedding Crashers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:40Read transcript
Starsky and Hutch was a misstep for everyone and a waste of a great career moment; the TV-remake trend worked for The Brady Bunch and The Addams Family, which reinvented their sources, but not for Starsky and Hutch, The Dukes of Hazzard or Chips, which tried to be pure comedies, a mistake blamed on everyone loving the Beastie Boys Sabotage video.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:19Read transcript
The budget was 24 million dollars; it made 76 million in North America and 11 million abroad, a success rather than a massive one that became a dorm classic on DVD, TBS and HBO; reviews were mixed to positive at 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:28Read transcript
Ferrell's run of Old School, Elf and Anchorman back to back is a great three-film run, and movies were really funny for six or seven years afterward; the hosts decline to relitigate whether the film would work in 2019, having done that too much on the Wedding Crashers episode, and insist it is simply funny.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:44Read transcript
Juliette Lewis is funny, this may be her first real comedy, and she is an untapped resource who could have anchored an HBO show ten years ago, though she was tapped on Camping this year.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:56Read transcript
Plugs: Sean Fennessey's The Big Picture and its Oscars coverage, an LA-movies episode with no Michael Mann films on Chris's list that two hosts recorded without the third, Chris Ryan's The Flat Circle True Detective after-show premiering Sunday, The Watch on Mondays and Thursdays, and the Ringer group chat; 'he always thought you could be the next Indiana Jones' is joked at Chris.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:25Read transcript
Elisha Cuthbert tangent: she is incredible on Happy Endings and on The Ranch now, could have had a Drew Barrymore rom-com run but rom-coms died just as she arrived, and she never made another big-screen comedy after The Girl Next Door, a lightning-in-a-bottle cast with Paul Dano and Oliphant that should have worked; Chris Ryan's Unreasonable Comps becomes a bit after 'Elisha Cuthbert could have been Elaine May'.
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:24Read transcript
Wedding-toast tangent: the hosts miss bad best-man speeches, recall one heckled for fifteen minutes, propose a show or YouTube channel of brutal wedding toasts, and one host and his wife Carrie watched a stranger's wedding from a Torrey Pines hotel balcony in San Diego with a bottle of wine, with a drunk combined maids-of-honor toast and an overlong dad speech; weddings still play the same songs, and the film slots into the open-your-movie-with-a-wedding theory alongside Wedding Crashers.
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:53Read transcript
Next week is The Fast and the Furious, the first one, with Shea; the Godfather corrections begin with a warning that selective listener responses are about to be cited.
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:02Read transcript
The Corleone compound is actually in Long Beach on Long Island's South Shore, prompting seven emails; the host is from the North Shore till he dies, and Todd Phillips, director of Old School, is from his hometown and would side with the North Shore.
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:04Read transcript
Listener Ian Lewis explained that Sonny would take the parkway from Long Beach, hence the Causeway line, and that calling the operator with LB4 or LB3 was the tip-off; timeline emails note the Bobby Thompson (as transcribed) miracle home run game on the radio at the toll booth, putting that scene in September 1951, with the wedding in 1946, Kay in 1952 and the christening around 1955 or 1956; a joke about Michael's Knicks tickets and box scores in Sicily follows.
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:50Read transcript
Readers argued Carlo was not killed at once because he was the Don's son-in-law and killing him would tip off Barzini, with one theory that Tom was pushed out so Michael would be the one to remove Carlo; the phone-call clue and, in the book, Paulie faking sickness as part of the setup, were raised.
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:22Read transcript
The ongoing Frank Sinatra bit is disputed: the host never said Sinatra was not cool, only that Johnny Fontaine is not a replica of Sinatra; the other thinks both are right, since Sinatra was angry because the From Here to Eternity part made Fontaine seem to be him, and saw Al Martino cast.
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:25Read transcript
Listener Jason Cox asked what happened to the kids Kay was teaching when Michael turned up; a rewatch shows no assistant teacher, so she abandoned the children in the street, which the hosts joke is how Children of the Corn starts and could be Godfather 4.
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:14Read transcript