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The Rewatchables ·

The Hangover

year 2009decade 00sdirector Todd Phillipsgenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
All 14 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 26:23

Brunch with Carlos the baby and the Baby Bjorn elevator ride

First nominee is the drive to Vegas, a fantastic five and a half minutes from the gas station stop through Galifianakis in the car to checking in at the hotel; Phil starts drinking as soon as he gets in the car, like the two guys at every bachelor party who get wrecked on the way there, and the others realize in the car that Galifianakis has 17 screws loose.

Waking up in the hotel room not knowing what happened is phenomenal: a nice camera move that follows a disoriented Ed Helms looking around, Galifianakis naked pissing next to a tiger he does not register for ten seconds, a chicken from nowhere, everybody sleeping on the floor and the woman sneaking out; a smart scene that sets up everything.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:12:25

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust"

Nominated lines: 'I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust'; 'it's at the corner of get a map and fuck off'; the reminder that their best friend Doug is probably face down in a ditch with a meth head butt-fucking his corpse; and Bradley Cooper on Alan, 'he's like a gremlin, comes with instructions and shit'.

The film

The Hangover (2009)

Directed by Todd Phillips · Drama

100 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Bradley Cooper Phil Wenneck, a teacher and the leader of the Wolfpack
Ed Helms Dr. Stu Price, a dentist
Zach Galifianakis Alan Garner, Doug's socially inept future brother-in-law, who has ADHD and acts childishly and erratically
Justin Bartha Doug Billings, the groom, who goes missing for most of the film
Heather Graham Jade, a stripper and escort
Sasha Barrese Tracy Garner, Doug's bride and Alan's sister
Jeffrey Tambor Sid Garner, Tracy's and Alan's father
Ken Jeong Mr. Leslie Chow, a flamboyant Chinese gangster
Rachael Harris Melissa, Stu's uptight, abusive and unfaithful girlfriend
Mike Tyson himself Tyson originally refused to appear in the film, but he changed his mind when he found out that Todd Phillips had directed Old School , which Tyson liked. Tyson later said that working on the film convinced him to change his lifestyle.
Mike Epps Black Doug, a drug dealer who is mistaken for Doug
Jernard Burks Leonard
Rob Riggle Officer Franklin
Cleo King Officer Garden
Bryan Callen Eddie, the wedding organizer
Matt Walsh Dr. Valsh
Ian Anthony Dale Chow's #1
Michael Li Chow's #2
Sondra Currie Linda Garner, Tracy's and Alan's mother
Gillian Vigman Stephanie Wenneck, Phil's wife
Murray Gershenz Felix (hospital elderly man)
Nathalie Fay Lisa (Caesar's Palace Clerk)

Everything from the episode

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

24:47

Roger Ebert's review
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:47Read transcript
  • Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 78 percent; Roger Ebert loved it and gave it three and a half stars, greeted with 'of course'.
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26:23

Most Rewatchable Scene

Brunch with Carlos the baby and the Baby Bjorn elevator ride; the police precinct sequence

Brunch with Carlos the baby and the Baby Bjorn elevator ride; the police precinct sequence

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:23Read transcript
  • First nominee is the drive to Vegas, a fantastic five and a half minutes from the gas station stop through Galifianakis in the car to checking in at the hotel; Phil starts drinking as soon as he gets in the car, like the two guys at every bachelor party who get wrecked on the way there, and the others realize in the car that Galifianakis has 17 screws loose.
  • Waking up in the hotel room not knowing what happened is phenomenal: a nice camera move that follows a disoriented Ed Helms looking around, Galifianakis naked pissing next to a tiger he does not register for ten seconds, a chicken from nowhere, everybody sleeping on the floor and the woman sneaking out; a smart scene that sets up everything.
  • Brunch with Carlos the baby: Cooper's 'not at the table, Carlos' and the bit where he pretends to jerk off the baby hits one host's funny bone every time, so inappropriate it would never happen now; the hosts like that the baby is named Carlos and seeing him in the Bjorn.
  • From the Hollywood Reporter oral history: Galifianakis did the bit first with a doll while the shot was set up, Todd Phillips waited for the baby's mom to go upstairs and asked the dad, who answered that his wife would be gone for half an hour and asked them to do it in that window; it belongs in the conversation of all-time inappropriate throwaway laughs alongside Stripes and Caddyshack.
  • Further nominees: the stun gun scene, Tyson reviewing the security footage, getting the tiger out of the car with Bradley Cooper pretending to hump it from behind while calling it a beautiful majestic animal, the blackjack scene with the calculus floating in front of Galifianakis's face, and the wedding reception with the Dan Band and Ed Helms breaking up with his girlfriend, about ten minutes one host had forgotten the movie still had.
  • One host goes for the entire police precinct sequence, not just the stun gun but the payphone call, the kid taking a cell phone picture and the phone kicked out of his hands; it is called the funniest thing Rob Riggle has ever done, with 'in the face' recited.
  • Brian Callen's wedding chapel scene is added as an amendment to how he was treated on the Old School episode: the same character and Greek accent, greeting them as the craziest bastard he ever met, the first clue in putting the puzzle back together, plus the baby goat while he is on the phone pretending to be in Napa; the hosts think he never found the right role and that the Greek grifter should have his own series.
  • One vote goes to brunch with Carlos the baby together with the Bjorn elevator ride to the brunch, the speaker's favorite part of the movie.
  • About four weeks ago the speaker and his son were flipping channels when the movie came on during the drive, not as a planned viewing; the son did not see the closing credits, was dying laughing at everything Zach Galifianakis did, and also liked Ken Jeong's character. — Bill Simmons
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33:32

What’s Aged the Best?

Zach Galifianakis as Alan

Zach Galifianakis as Alan

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:33:32Read transcript
  • The soundtrack: generic, predictable songs that are perfectly executed and make sense with the plot, not a Dazed and Confused soundtrack but what guys going to Vegas then would be listening to; the music under the blackjack scene with the numbers is smart, and the T.I. song Live Your Life was huge and still is.
  • A tangent on which songs from this century have joined the wedding mix: Heya (as transcribed) by Outkast, probably the T.I. song, Bruno Mars, Adele, and 1901 by Phoenix heard at 18 weddings, pitched as a Ringer piece.
  • Todd Phillips' taste for hard rock, the Danzig song at the start and the Metallica in Old School; the Dan Band has also aged well, with future generations asking why they never played the Super Bowl halftime show, and the 'just the tip' setup turning inappropriate fast.
  • Rachel Harris as the girlfriend from hell is an incredible character, every stereotype put on steroids to make her the worst character of all time; the 'you fucked a waiter on a cruise' bit and Galifianakis's 'what did she say' after Helms walks away are singled out.
  • The elevator scene with Todd Phillips' cameo; his habit of going down on a woman in his own movies is his version of Hitchcock walking across the frame.
  • Alan reading the letter on the roof with 'that's why they call it Sin City'; the subtle cut where he is finishing a description of the Ted Danson and Magnum PI movie as they head to Heather Graham's hotel; and the 'it's not illegal, it's frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane' exchange ending in 'thanks a lot, Bin Laden', the hardest one host laughed.
  • 'Alan, you're the man' answered with 'you are too, Phil' shows he has no idea how to be one of the guys; his aping of Phil throughout is well done; the two made-up songs are enjoyed, and Ed Helms' piano song while they wait for the tiger to fall asleep was apparently ad-libbed.
  • Old-school, last-decade Vegas; every Alan line, especially 'this isn't the real Caesar's Palace, is it? Did Caesar live here?', and the pitch-perfect reaction of the woman at the desk.
  • How high Alan ranks in the pantheon of comedy characters: the criterion is someone who was not the star but stole the movie, so Frank the Tank, John Candy in Stripes, Bill Murray and Ted Knight in Caddyshack, Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters, Matt Dillon and Chris Elliott in There's Something About Mary, Michael Keaton in Night Shift, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Anchorman, McLovin, the Wedding Crashers character as the backfire case and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids as the perfect example.
  • Galifianakis belongs in that conversation as the breakout; John Candy in Stripes was like that for a host who knew him only as Ox and never watched SCTV; Galifianakis is named the big winner.
  • The movie stood up in total for a host without as much of a rewatchable relationship to it; the actual plot of what happened to them is well done, with Jade, Mr. Chow and the roof payoff; the brevity, about an hour thirty-five with no wasted section, makes it the last comedy before the two-hour-ten Apatow era.
  • The DVD's deleted scenes were anticipated; the end credit sequence has held up as a convention, 'they pretty much invented Marvel right there', though another host had it for what aged worst.
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44:19

What’s Aged the Worst?

The end-credits photo reveal now that everyone knows it is coming; the sequels; the surprise of the Mike Tyson cameo;...

The end-credits photo reveal now that everyone knows it is coming; the sequels; the surprise of the Mike Tyson cameo; the mystique of Vegas; Who Let the Dogs Out; Justin Bartha not becoming famous; Ken Jeong's crazy Asian stereotype; Ed Helms' glasses frames; Mike Tyson's potbelly

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:19Read transcript
  • The end credits are argued as aged worst: ten years later it is hard to capture how funny the photo reveal was in the theater, with Wayne Newton, Carrot Top and Galifianakis getting blown ratcheting it up 17 notches; comedies are hard to end and this one sent people out saying it was the funniest movie they had ever seen, but now everybody knows it is coming.
  • The sequels have aged terribly and one host would rather pretend two and three did not happen; the makers more or less disavowed three as done for the money; two has moments, is pretty dark and is set in Thailand.
  • The surprise Mike Tyson cameo was a massive surprise and a marketing draw in 2009 and now carries no surprise; Tyson has acknowledged battling drugs during the shoot.
  • The mystique of Vegas has turned into something else, so commercialized that a movie like this now would feel like branded content and a partial money grab with strategically placed things.
  • Who Let the Dogs Out feels like ten years ago, a very literal case of aging badly, though they were already making it a joke, with the 'who brought this guy along' exchange recited.
  • Justin Bartha because he did not come out of this famous; Sudeikis or Gyllenhaal in the part would not have mattered since Doug is barely in the movie.
  • One host saw Bartha in the wild at a wine tasting around 2012, dating one of the Olsen twins, seeming really happy and thriving.
  • Another host and his wife saw him at dinner at the SLS hotel one table over with both Olsen twins, and then Galifianakis showed up, which made LA feel very weird six months after the movie; the four obviously became real friends, which may belong in what aged best.
  • The final one is called probably the winner: Ken Jeong playing up the tiny-dick crazy Asian stereotype, funny in the moment but not great, which Donnie Quack (as transcribed) wrote about on the Ringer last year; the fiancée accepting an extra night is held for nitpicks.
  • The homophobia is raised and shrugged off; there are a couple of lines you would be surprised to hear in a movie again.
  • An early aside proposes tabling the category because it would ruin what is fun about the movie, then offers Ed Helms' little rectangular glasses frames and a fat Mike Tyson whose potbelly could be fixed with CGI.
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48:10

Casting What-Ifs

Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned dow...

Lindsay Lohan nearly cast as Jade but judged too young by Phillips; Jack Black turned down Alan; Paul Rudd turned down Phil; Jeremy Piven turned down Stu; Mike Tyson refused until he learned Phillips made Old School; Alan was written as a Jonah Hill-type younger brother and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was considered

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:10Read transcript
  • Lindsay Lohan was almost cast as Jade; Phillips decided she was too young and is adamant about it, while Lohan's version is that she turned it down and it was the biggest regret of her career.
  • Lohan in the movie would have felt very 2009 and not a good version of her; Heather Graham is perfect, and being a little older makes the part work better.
  • One host is not as much of a believer in the theory that Lohan was a great Goldie Hawn-esque movie star whose talent was frittered away. — Sean Fennessey
  • The reaction is 'Oh, how dare you?' and 'This is your worst take you've ever had', with Parent Trap offered as proof: she plays two people, one with an English accent, like a 17-year-old Meryl Streep in training; Freaky Friday is weaker.
  • The Heather Graham conversation runs License to Drive, Twins, Drugstore Cowboy, Six Degrees of Separation and Swingers, by which point one host was in love, then Austin Powers; she may have been his number one 90s crush, Ed Burns dated her, and Boogie Nights, Even Cowgirls Got the Blues, Diggstown, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Scream 2, Two Girls and a Guy and Bowfinger show she was always in good stuff and good at sending up her persona; another gets her confused with Terry Polo.
  • Her ABC show Emily's Reasons Why Not never worked; Grey's Anatomy is raised as a show she might have led, but she is a comic actress who thrives in comedy; she is good here and way better than Lohan would have been, her 35 making more sense than weird 25-year-old energy.
  • Jack Black turned down Alan, thank God, since he would have overpowered the other three; Paul Rudd turned down Phil and would have been doing Brian Fantana and Sex Panther while making fun of it, whereas you believe Cooper as a shit bag even greeting his wife at the wedding; Rudd has not played a guy like that outside Neil LeBute (as transcribed) plays.
  • Jeremy Piven turned down Stu, thank God, probably because he was at the height of Ari Gold; Stu is the third lead.
  • Mike Tyson refused to appear and changed his mind on learning Phillips directed Old School; the Galifianakis character was written as a younger brother-in-law of the Jonah Hill type until Phillips realized an older brother was funnier, and Thomas Hayden Church (as transcribed) was the other option, a different movie.
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55:30

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Ken Jeong

Ken Jeong

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:30Read transcript
  • Seven names are on the list; Jeffrey Tambor as the father-in-law is not a heater, a subdued performance but always knowing Vegas will go badly, which sets off a bit about a host insisting he would be at his daughter's fiance's bachelor party; Rachel Harris; the doctor who has only one C, with 'get lost and buy a fucking map'; Brian Cowan (as transcribed), Heather Graham, Rob Riggle and Mike Tyson.
  • One personal vote goes to Rob Riggle; the award is defined as the biggest heat check, doing the most with the least playing time, like hitting five threes in ten minutes, and whether to take Riggle here or in Step Brothers is floated.
  • Ken Jeong should win even though the speaker does not like the performance, because he is doing a lot and really going over the top. — Sean Fennessey
  • The pushback that the award acknowledges something they like and that the integrity of the Dion Waiters Award is being undermined on the 103rd pod, answered with 'it's just good to examine what we're really doing here', gives way to agreement: Ken Jeong goes out like a Tasmanian devil taking shots and grabbing rebounds, almost Brandon Jennings-esque, and Dion Waiters would agree; Riggle is more Montrezl Harrell, the energy off the bench you really need, not Austin Rivers, and the movie vaulted him to another level.
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57:47

Half-Assed Internet Research

Inspired by producer Trip Vinson's real missing bachelor party; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, a pulled dental imp...

Inspired by producer Trip Vinson's real missing bachelor party; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, a pulled dental implant; Helms shot The Office by day and the film by night; a prosthetic was used for the end-credits blowjob photo; the script sold for two million and was rewritten by Phillips and Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed), who added Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser; Caesars guests still quote the check-in lines; Galifianakis improvised the Holocaust ring line; Todd Phillips traded his fee for 16 percent of the film and made about 80 million

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:47Read transcript
  • The story was inspired by a real event: Trip Vinson, a producer and friend of executive producer Chris Bender, went missing from his own bachelor party and woke up in a strip joint being threatened with a huge bill; Ed Helms' missing tooth was real, not CGI, because he had a dental implant for a missing adult incisor since his teens and they pulled it out.
  • Helms was shooting The Office at the same time, flying from Vegas to Van Nuys at four in the morning to shoot all day and the film all night; he said that stretch of The Office shows him out of his mind, slurring with a fake tooth in and living on Red Bulls.
  • Asked whether they like Ed Helms, one host respectfully does not, except in this movie, disliking the type of guy he plays; he is nonetheless one of the most successful comedy actors of his generation, with Vacation, the Night at the Museum movies, We're the Millers, Tag and animated films, the CJ McCollum of actors nobody leads a podcast with.
  • For the explicit final photo of Zach getting a blowjob, a prosthetic penis was used and an old porn actor was found to perform on it, prompting 'what a great podcast'.
  • John Lucas (as transcribed) and Scott Moore sold the script for two million; it was rewritten by Jeremy Gerlach (as transcribed) and Todd Phillips, who added the Tyson, the tiger, the baby and the police cruiser, which led to a WGA credit dispute; the two songs were improvised.
  • The film had a major impact on Caesars, where guests still quote 'Did Caesar live here?' and the pager-friendly line at check-in; the hosts advise against it since the staff have heard it; Galifianakis improvised 'I didn't know they gave out rings of the Holocaust' (as transcribed) and the filmmakers debated whether to keep it.
  • Todd Phillips' deal is called almost too good for the segment: his fee was about six and a half million, Legendary wanted to cut the budget after losing the stars they expected, and instead of half his fee he took no fee for points, ending up with 16 percent of the movie and about 80 million dollars, probably still earning from streaming; the four then negotiated as a quartet for the next two.
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1:03:04

Apex Mountain

Justin Bartha; Ed Helms; Zach Galifianakis; Todd Phillips; Rob Riggle; Ken Jeong

Justin Bartha; Ed Helms; Zach Galifianakis; Todd Phillips; Rob Riggle; Ken Jeong

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:04Read transcript
  • Justin Bartha and Ed Helms doing The Office at the same time are offered first and answered 'two for two'; Cooper is a no; Galifianakis is weighed against Due Date.
  • One host votes Galifianakis and is once again confused by the category; Todd Phillips is a hundred percent yes, six years removed from Old School with School for Scoundrels a miss in between and everything after this a big deal, especially when you make 70 million on one movie; Galifianakis probably too, at the peak of success and creative cachet.
  • Rob Riggle is a yes, having had a CBS sitcom; the Dan Band is not, since Wedding Crashers is preferred and this repeats it; Ken Jeong is a yes, or Community, and one host does not care about him.
  • Whether Vegas itself hit Apex Mountain in 2009, more than Sinatra at the Sands, splits the room one to one: one host says no but wants the conversation and would take Casino over this, noting Vegas makes more money than ever; this was right after the housing crisis started but before it demolished casino projects, and another says yes because Vegas is like pop music, ever replenishing for young people, though it was in trouble five years ago; Vegas is therefore not listed as a yes.
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1:05:09

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Sasha Barice (as transcribed), who plays Doug's fiancee

Sasha Barice (as transcribed), who plays Doug's fiancee

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:09Read transcript
  • Black Doug is floated but he is Mike Epps, too famous to win; Rob Riggle's sidekick is funny and a worthy winner precisely because nobody knows her name.
  • Mike Tyson's bodyguard is mentioned; Doug's fiancee is Sasha Barice (as transcribed), who no longer acts and is a professional poker player, and the award goes to her.
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1:06:57

Picking Nits

The villa could not cost 4,200 dollars; Alan looks nothing like his sister; how the tiger got into Caesars; where the...

The villa could not cost 4,200 dollars; Alan looks nothing like his sister; how the tiger got into Caesars; where the chicken came from; nobody checked the roof for a full day; Doug sits on 80,000 in Bellagio chips for two hours; the room damage bill; the tiger never used the bathroom; no rehearsal dinner; Stu hanging up on his girlfriend with no fallout; a Sunday backyard wedding; the fiancee accepting the extra night; whether Stu, Doug and Phil are even friends

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:57Read transcript
  • There is no way the room costs 4,200 dollars, which really bothers one host; in 2009 it would have been eight to ten thousand and now around twenty, unless it was a day-of rate or a Caesars-approved trick to lure people into villas.
  • Whether they are ever held accountable for the room damage is held for later; Alan was the bride's brother yet looks nothing like her, so he must have been adopted, though another host feels he does look like Tambor's offspring and it is the fiancee who does not.
  • How did they steal the tiger and get it into Caesars Palace when there are always people in the lobby even at five in the morning; Cooper's oral history bit that the cast showed up after night shoots with tiger scratches and nobody blinked is enjoyed, though people would blink at a tiger; where the chicken came from is better left unanswered.
  • Nobody thought to check the roof during a full day of searching, with Ed Helms' epiphany coming 24 hours in; in mitigation, these guys are stupid, they were roofied, and they were misled into thinking Doug was with them at dinner.
  • Doug waits two hours to tell them he found 80,000 dollars of Bellagio chips in his pocket; the speaker would lead with that in the first seven minutes. — Bill Simmons
  • The chips note is mocked as 'hey guys, I'm super sunburned, but good news, 80,000 chips right here'; nobody recalls them being in Barstow getting chips, and the money presumably gets split four ways.
  • The room damage, carried over from unanswerable questions, would be 20K easy or 20 to 50, given Vegas charges 11 dollars for a water bottle and hundreds for a broken lamp, and they definitely got soaked on the second night; it is also hard to believe the tiger never shit in the bathroom, excused as a road game and no morning coffee yet.
  • One host's biggest nitpick, bigger than any tiger issue, is that a huge wedding on a Sunday has no rehearsal dinner.
  • When Ed Helms hangs up on his girlfriend from the back of the cop car she would definitely be calling the Las Vegas people and the fiancee for the next three hours, since she thinks they are in wine country; the idea of calling to say you will be a day late might fit the payphone era, but this was 2009 not 1999, everyone has cell phones and there is texting in the movie, so bad job on tigers and texting, great job on everything else; there is definitely a rehearsal dinner that Saturday.
  • The Sunday outdoor wedding at somebody's house is ludicrous; nobody gets married on a Sunday unless they are saving money, which is called bullshit and a money save, and Craig is told no getting married on a Sunday.
  • Earlier, during what aged worst, the fiancee accepting the guys staying an extra night and getting back the day of the wedding was flagged and deferred to nitpicks.
  • Whether Stu, Doug and Phil are really friends was earmarked for the nitpicks: it is a weird threesome, and the guess is Doug was friends with each separately and united them.
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1:12:25

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

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust"

"I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust"

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:25Read transcript
  • Nominated lines: 'I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust'; 'it's at the corner of get a map and fuck off'; the reminder that their best friend Doug is probably face down in a ditch with a meth head butt-fucking his corpse; and Bradley Cooper on Alan, 'he's like a gremlin, comes with instructions and shit'.
  • 'Phil was always our designated drunk driver' was a very 2009 line you could not joke about now; 'yeah, I do believe that because she's grossed out by semen' is really funny; and the exchange between Alan and Rachel Harris' character after Ed Helms walks away, with the bartender's license and 'suck my dick' answered 'no thank you'.
  • Not a line but a moment: the way Bradley Cooper behaves during Alan's blackjack run, yelling 'fuck you, he's a dealer' and flipping off the security cameras; the hosts have seen guys get too familiar with dealers, and one does the overhead camera joke, shouting 'turn it on' when a table is running; after moving on they realize they never picked and settle on the Holocaust line as the funniest joke.
  • Earlier, during the research segment, the Holocaust ring line was flagged as one host's intended best line and the funniest thing in the movie.
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1:14:41

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

No

No

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:41Read transcript
  • Asked whether the movie could be remade as a ten-episode Netflix show, the answer after a detour is no, it would be bad.
  • A sequel pitch: The Hangover 2 should have been a blackjack card-counting movie that goes wrong with the casinos after them, going back the next weekend with Ed Helms on a date with Jade and Phil and Alan counting cards; a Phil trilogy or a seven-up style series returning to him every seven years is wished for, Phil being a comedy anti-hero like Kenny Powers; a John Wick 2 and 3 model picking up right after, getting banned and moving to Monaco or Macau, leveraging Galifianakis as a card savant, would have beaten the gangster movie the sequels became.
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1:15:26

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Is there a real drug that blacks you out yet keeps you having fun for eight hours? Does Alan die when Tyson hits him?...

Is there a real drug that blacks you out yet keeps you having fun for eight hours? Does Alan die when Tyson hits him? Should The Hangover 2 have been a blackjack card-counting movie? What was the room damage bill?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:26Read transcript
  • Is there a real drug that makes you black out while having this much fun for eight or nine hours straight: no, that is not how being roofied works, it knocks you out rather than keeping you up; the movie says Rufalin (as transcribed) rather than rehypnol (as transcribed), perhaps because they could not name it, an ecstasy version of a blackout drug.
  • Does Alan die when Tyson hits him: the hosts cannot believe he gets up, since Iron Mike even now could put somebody in the hospital; a generation has had triple-digit conversations about whether you could take a punch from Mike Tyson, which the movie captures perfectly, and his getting up with the worst shiner in history is paired with 'Ollie getting up from Frasier' (as transcribed) as the two greatest get-ups.
  • Should The Hangover 2 have been a blackjack card-counting movie rather than going to Thailand; the questioner is proud of it and the group imagines the casinos chasing them.
  • The room damage question was originally filed under unanswerable questions and handled during nitpicks instead.
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1:18:27

Who Won the Movie?

Bradley Cooper; Todd Phillips; Zach Galifianakis

Bradley Cooper; Todd Phillips; Zach Galifianakis

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:27Read transcript
  • Cooper is named first and seconded; another says it has to be Todd Phillips because he made 70 million dollars, which cannot be understated; Galifianakis became a star after this, but looking at what happened since, the case is made for Cooper.
  • A dissent says the others are wrong and Galifianakis clearly wins: the funniest character, going from a random dude in comedy circles to an A list comedy star right away, and still the funniest thing in it ten years later, though he never seemed to want that.
  • Asked whether the people who made it are embarrassed by it now, the hosts think Galifianakis is, being super douchey about it despite making two more, since the money was irrefutable for a guy on his North Carolina farm; Craig, asked who won, says Galifianakis, recalling the Facebook pages for every Galifianakis quote in high school, like 'it's a satchel, not a purse'.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Bradley Cooper
Speaker not identified
Todd Phillips
Speaker not identified
Zach Galifianakis
Speaker not identified
Zach Galifianakis
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More from the conversation

The film is called satisfying and the one that put together a really fun comedy decade in 2009; a host saw it in the theater with Adam Carolla, who was sad because anyone could have written this 500 million dollar idea; the ten-year anniversary is this month, it is still very funny, and being on cable a lot makes it the definition of rewatchable.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:01Read transcript
The movie is when Cooper was recognized as a major star, though Galifianakis was the bigger breakout; it led to Limitless and the Cooper era, and his slithering prick here runs contrary to Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle; Phil is a dead-on portrait of the friend who talks you into anything, the married father who is a shit lord for the whole weekend, smoking 400 cigarettes, losing ten grand, sleeping with a prostitute and never having a credit card, yet still a good friend.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:13Read transcript
Asked what stands out ten years later, the answer is Cooper by far: the sincerity associated with Bradley Cooper in the decade since, the wide-eyed we-are-making-art persona, makes it striking that he is such a cynical piece of shit in this movie.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:39Read transcript
Bachelor party stories: a friend who disappeared for 28 hours in what was basically the plot of the movie, the guy who goes to play blackjack and turns up at brunch asking if you had fun, the guy who needs a body man because he could cause civil unrest, and a friend who went to casino jail daring them to arrest him.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:21Read transcript
Ultimately a friendship movie that captures what the hosts love about Vegas; the self-described Vegasologist wrote about Vegas on ESPN from the mid-90s as the culture snowballed into cliche, the drive and the one guy who does not belong being why Alan is crucial; creative people were frustrated that an idea sitting there all decade made 500 million.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:22Read transcript
The one genius decision was making a crazy Vegas movie without showing the crazy night, saving it for the end credits, which turns a thousand-times-told wild-night premise into a detective mystery; it is set just before smartphones would have made Phil's notebook and the whole hunt moot, a perfect time capsule.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:29Read transcript
Between Swingers in 96 and this in 09 came Entourage and Rounders, a ten-year sometimes-ironic embrace of brodom and Vegas indulgence; one host's biggest column for his old website was a March 99 Vegas running diary with the Undertaker story, Vegas stayed underground for a while, and he retired from Vegas columns in 09 after a 40th birthday piece; another now goes four or five times a year like a kid going to Disneyland.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:35Read transcript
The film feels like the last vestige of a different Vegas: Caesars let them shoot and steal shots like the fountains, per the Hollywood Reporter oral history, and the movie blew up and rejuvenated a struggling Caesars that had been passed by Mandalay, Wynn and Bellagio; today you stay in one mega-hotel instead of bouncing between casinos, so the plot's casino hopping would barely make sense at a bachelor party now.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:29Read transcript
Vegas history from the hosts: it was underground and cheap in 95 with Treasure Island, all dudes during March Madness and no bachelor parties, then shifted; family Vegas with stroller entrances in 2006 or 2007; the movie is on the short list of five to seven films that make you want to go; it largely takes place off the Strip in chapels, motels and parking lots, capturing the moonscape oasis the mafia built in a cavalier state.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:00Read transcript
Everyone flies to Vegas with a number they cannot lose, like Phil's envelope stolen from his kids: 700 dollars at 27, or 180 dollars at Turning Stone in college when losing meant not eating; watching made one host confirm a November 1st Vegas trip with his group chat; the Summer League post-game podcast with Chang and House is recalled, Chang getting wrecked at craps, and one host now just plays blackjack for 12 hours.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:24Read transcript
The two sequels are to be handled at the end; the film is brilliantly executed and cast, three of the four leads perfect and Doug a throwaway who could have been John Krasinski, and there is one performance in the movie a host does not like, saved for later.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:09Read transcript
Shout out to Huntington, New York's own Todd Phillips, the show's second Phillips film after Old School; a favorite moment of the Star Is Born press run was Cooper at Toronto crediting a greeting card from Phillips saying he believed in him.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:49Read transcript
Could Leo have played Phil in 2009: no, not this way; Matt Damon probably, as an underrated shitheel from School Ties, Courage Under Fire or Saving Private Ryan; the key is that Cooper, working in theater in western Massachusetts when Phillips called, had less to lose than someone with the Bourne franchise; nobody could name a better choice for the Bartha role, the worst written part, Bartha being an up-and-comer from TV now on The Good Fight.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:24Read transcript
Galifianakis was a legend of the underground LA comedy scene who appeared on the first year of Kimmel as his own twin brother, a running bit everyone thought would make him famous; his VH1 talk show was a hyper-kooky Johnny Carson eight years ahead of its time; Live at the Purple Onion and the Comedians of Comedy doc with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford are recalled.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:03Read transcript
Figures recited: a 35 million dollar budget and 467 million gross, a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, 8.6 million DVDs and Blu-rays sold in the first week, the last movie of the must-own-the-DVD era, one host's wife pre-ordering it; Rotten Tomatoes 78 percent.
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:13Read transcript
With Doug as the centerpiece who connected Stu and Phil, the hosts reflect that different friends bring out different sides: a wedding reunion with college friends, a polite friend who turns into an animal on the golf course, and Stu being one guy with his asshole girlfriend and another around Phil, which explains the tooth; everyone has their version of that relationship and usually drifts from those people.
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:05Read transcript
Nothing beats someone giving everything up to become a professional poker player, which is why one host loves Shannon Elizabeth; a host is dared to step down from the Ringer to sit 2-5 for 14 hours a day with podcasts in his AirPods.
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:55Read transcript
The host challenged by Bill to step down from the Ringer to pursue his poker dream admits the Commerce Casino kicks his ass: he plays great on a Saturday against fish tourists but gets annihilated on a Wednesday by a 40-year Navy man, so he could never make a living at it.
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:25Read transcript
Asked whether he has enough material for a blackjack book, a host says the book after his basketball book was sketched out as a gambling book last decade, but writing a book is not fun and he never wanted to do it again.
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:55Read transcript
The satchel line has aged best in its own way, since lots of people carry satchels now; a father-in-law's fanny pack is enjoyed, guys now wear them like messenger bags, and a candidate turning up to a Ringer interview with a satchel would be hired as the lesser replacement.
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:33Read transcript
Sign-off: Chris and Bill are back in two weeks, Dead Poets Society is the next episode with the Vudu tie-in, and one host is sitting it out.
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:34Read transcript
The host sitting out Dead Poets Society thinks it is a good movie but does not have the same passion for it as the others; told he must not love poetry, he answers just poker, and that is why he is moving to Vegas full-time, by himself.
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:34Read transcript