Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast

Dazed And Confused: A Xennial Girl Summer Rewatch

Dani & Katie Season 1 Episode 177

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Welcome back to our Xennial Girl Summer series -- this week we rewatched and discussed the 1993 coming-of-age classic Dazed and Confused.

Find out more about why the film was made, the young stars and if we think it's nostalgic or problematic through a modern lens. 

Hang out with us all summer as we revisit classic movies and books from the 80s and 90s during our Xennial Girl Summer series. 

This episode was made possible by the following sources:

Dazed and Confused on Wikipedia

Richard Linklater on IMDB

Jason London on IMDB

Ben Affleck on IMDB

Mila Jovavich on IMDB

Parker Posey on IMDB

Episode Topics and Mentions:

Jason London 

 Ben Affleck 

 Matthew McConaughey 

 Milla Jovovich 

 Parker Posey 

 Anthony Rapp 

 Joey Lauren Adams 

 Cole Hauser 

 Rory Cochrane 

 Adam Goldberg

Aerosmith 

 Kiss 

 Foghat 

 Alice Cooper 

 Black Sabbath

Led Zeppelin




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Cold Open And Welcome

SPEAKER_01

He's a great actor. Yeah. And look, if someone gives you that opportunity, you take it. You best know I'll be doing it. Like, I won't just be like, no, that's fine. I'll just do it in the script. Oh, you want to know what else I'd like to do in this film? Here I go. All right, all right, all right. No. Already off. Hello, everyone. Canceled. Here I am. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast where we remember, revisit, relearn, and this summer re-watch all sorts of things that we remember from being 80s kids and 90s teens. Hi, I'm Katie. And I am Danny. And you are here during our Xennial Girl Summer 2026 series.

SPEAKER_00

Mine's horrible. So is mine horrible. That was supposed to be airhorns, but we figured out we just sound like cats.

SPEAKER_01

I saw Sarah the other day and she did the sound to me. And I was like, oh, it's so bad. I know. Thank you, Sarah. She started laughing. Um, but anyway, yes, hello everyone. And today we are talking about the 1993 movie Dazed and Confused. And did I say I'm Katie? Yes.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

We're all over the place this morning. We got a lot, we got a lot going on. It's okay. Um, and yes, so that's what we're gonna be talking about. We both rewatched it because we had both seen it before. Oh, yeah, so many times. So many times. And I feel like I even watched like the reruns on like maybe MTV or VH1 or something. They had relatively, relatively censored, but I watched it, so there was one summer.

SPEAKER_00

I wanna say it was the summer between my sophomore and junior year. If there's anybody out there who I still talk to that is listening to this, let me know if I'm right or wrong. Um, where we would go to my friend Charlie's house all the time to hang out because his mom was never home. Well, there you go. And my parents are dead, so it doesn't matter if I can say that. You're not gonna, you're not gonna get in trouble as a 45-year-old. Um, anyway, we would go there all the time and that we would watch that one summer, we would watch it constantly. It was, no, it must have been the summer before my senior year because we had these grand plans of um doing like that senior initiation to the incoming freshman because a lot of our friends had siblings that were coming in. And uh we all had like a persona. Oh yeah. Can you guess what mine was? Uh well, back in the day, you probably Parker Posey. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's this one phrase I used to say all the time, and it's I forgot about it until she said it. And I went, oh my god, that was my catchphrase, which is terrible and probably says a lot about how I was when I was younger. It's where she was like, wipe that face off your head, bitch.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, first of all, I love Parker Posey's. Oh my god, so much I can't. She's the best in everything. She's actually the best in everything. Actually, um, I was I feel like I would have been Cynthia, the redhead. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_01

Probably, yeah. Or that one that's really nice, the sister. Who has a little brother? Yeah. Yeah, okay. I was probably mostly her.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And would be like, don't take it easy on my brother, not realizing that was actually gonna make it worse.

SPEAKER_00

And otherwise, me pouring oatmeal on these kids. Yeah, I like bacon on the floor. And all the ketchup. Oh my god. Oh my god, blessed. Troy goes, we're sitting there because Troy watched with me and he's like, So, like, the girls want to be picked to do this. And I'm like, Yeah, because it's like an initiation. And then you get to go to the party later. The boys, on the other hand, which we'll get to, don't want to get caught because they just get the shit beat out of them. They don't right. That one kid got invited to the party, but most of them didn't. They just got the shit beat out of them. And that was it, period. And then you move on. The girls were kind of like, Oh, let's take you to the car wash, and then you can come to us at this party.

SPEAKER_01

That was hilarious. The car wash was cracking me up. All right, so let's guess we rewatched this. And um, so let's get

What The Movie Is Really About

SPEAKER_01

right into it. So Days and Confused is a 1993 coming of age comedy written and directed by Richard Linkletter.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, really? Didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01

He wrote it and directed it, and it's set in a small Texas town on the last day of school in 1976. The film follows a sprawling, interconnected group of teenagers as they cruise the streets, throw parties, haze incoming freshmen, and ponder their futures. That is a very cerebral explanation of this movie.

SPEAKER_02

This movie.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but it really is so reflective that like coming of age is so true. There are parts of this that reminded me of so many of the others, like Can't Hardly Wait, and like it's definitely its own kind of genre. Obviously, it was set, it came out almost 20 years after when it was set. So sort of a flashback. So the film features a large ensemble cast of actors, many who would become major stars later, which seems to be a theme of the movies we're we're watching so far this summer, including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Mila Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Nikki Kat, Joey Lauren Adams. Yeah, yeah, he's so funny in this one. Joey Lauren Adams, Rory Cochran, and Anthony Rapp. I forgot Anthony Rapp was in this movie.

SPEAKER_00

And this is pre-rent. Correct. I was sitting there and I'm watching it, and he doesn't look like himself, if that makes sense. Like, I mean, once you know it's him, and you hear it. You hear the voice. But like I'm watching, I'm like, where do I know that guy from? What in the world? And then at the end, we were watching the credits because we couldn't remember Jason Goldberg's name. And we're watching the credits, and I went, oh shit. I was like, that's Anthony Rapp. And of course, Troy has no idea what I'm talking about. I was like, he was in rent. And I said he was on the movie one too. And he goes, Oh. And so then Cooper comes running in. What? What? Because he did not want to watch this with us, obviously.

SPEAKER_01

But rent, he wanted to know what's going on. Yeah. He had to hear. Yeah. So yeah, Anthony Rapp was the original mark on Broadway. I sure was. And in the movie. So, all right.

Linklater Origins And That Soundtrack

SPEAKER_01

So let's talk about why why this movie was made at all. So he originally planned to make a teen film, uh Link Letter, sorry, the writer and director. But before this, he had actually done sort of an independent feature film called Slacker. It's a 1990 comedy drama. Oh, I've seen that. Yeah. And it's kind of the same kind of feel. It's not teenagers necessarily, but it's a big ensemble cast of eccentric misfits, and it follows them through a single day. Okay. Yeah. And so each character is only on the screen for a few minutes, and then the film picks up with somebody different and just kind of follows them along. And so this film got a decent amount of critical acclaim. You know, it went to Sundance and won some awards and things like that. So the movie itself, Slacker, caught the attention of Universal Pictures producer Jim Jax, who secured six million dollars for Link Ladder's next feature. Okay. Okay. So wow, that's yeah. Six million. I mean, that's a decent budget for a film like this. Yeah. I feel like, yeah. So Link Ladder drew heavily on his adolescence in Huntsville, Texas to write the script, lifting actual names of people he knew. Well, that will come back later. I wish that I could write scripts. I would totally, I would do it. You can write a script, have you ever tried? No, I don't want to.

SPEAKER_00

It's not that hard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Says the writer. I mean, I've never to be fair, I've never had one like picked up, but like I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, I've always thought about if I did it, I would totally, I would totally do that. I would have real names to the people under the bus. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So yes, he used real names, and most of the actors for this cast were undiscovered talent, including McConaughey, who's just first feature film. Yeah. Yep. And he was, I want to say he was 23. He was 23 when this one came out.

SPEAKER_00

Can we just pause for a second and talk about he is one of those people who is incredibly attractive? I I know. Even when he's supposed to look skeezy, he is totally attractive.

SPEAKER_01

He actually, I have this later in my notes, but I'm just gonna say it now. He actually almost didn't get the part because he was too good looking.

SPEAKER_00

Because he's supposed to be skeezy. Yeah. Yeah. But listen, I don't care. You can, it doesn't matter what you look like, anybody can be skeezy. Right. That's why look at some of the serial killers who are attractive. It's terrifying. Yeah. What's the one everybody always talks about?

SPEAKER_01

Well, Jeffrey Dahmer, right? Um Ted Bundy Bundy. It's good looking.

SPEAKER_00

It's terrifying. It's scary. And because it helps them. Right.

SPEAKER_01

It's like the charming effect. Yeah. So, but he still almost didn't get it. But then he did, and they added like facial hair and like did like weird stuff with his hair. Yeah, to try to like help, which I think did help, honestly. It did. Um, with what they were trying to do. So the film was actually shot around Austin, Texas, and it included several of the members of the crew from his film Slacker. Oh, nice. Which is cool because those were like independent that was an independent film, now they're working on a feature film. Uh, the actors were encouraged to improvise and develop their own characters, and they helped write some of the scenes. Oh, that's fun. I think that's really cool. Love that. And then Link Letter gathered several 1970s rock songs for the soundtrack. Okay. Okay, that soundtrack fire.

SPEAKER_00

I used to listen to it and I still have it. I still have the CD, and it has like a big smiley face on the code. I love that. Yeah, it was such a good soundtrack. Yeah, it's so, so good.

SPEAKER_01

Um, the rock songs actually made up one-sixth of the budget for the movie, though. Oh, yeah, because they're huge songs. So that's a million dollars. Yeah. But it was worth it because that soundtrack. That soundtrack was really, really good. Um the picture was marketed by Grammarcy Pictures as a stoner film, which Link Ladder didn't really think it was. I mean, but that's I feel like of the things that have really carried through culture from that film, that is one of the things. Oh yeah. Well, it's like Mallrats and Funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, what's the other one? Clerks. Clerks. Yeah, Kevin Kevin Smith. I mean, listen, know your audience. Yeah. And teenagers wanna I mean, they want to see parties and people having a good time. That's what they want to watch.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So it was released September 24th, 1993. It was actually a commercial disappointment. Really? Grossed less than 8 million. So it made its money back, but didn't like got it. Whatever. And as I said, one sixth of the budget was spent acquiring the rights to the sound on the soundtrack. But I'm wondering, like, if that's just the film, the soundtrack probably sold a lot. Oh, yeah. So there's that. Um, so the title of the film is actually from a Led Zeppelin song called Yeah. But as we've mentioned before, Led Zeppelin is notoriously known for not allowing their music to be used in things. I mean, how do you think what do you feel about that? I don't know. I mean, I feel like if I created something and someone had a cool creative idea around and they want to pay me to use it, I would let them. Yeah, I would. I'd be like, sure, pay me the money, use the song. I can't figure out if it's because they're so protective of what they want it to be or because they don't want to sell out. Probably both. Maybe both. I would sell out. I would too. I'd be like, I already made it. I don't have to do anything else. Staying true to the art.

SPEAKER_00

Whatever. Give me this track.

SPEAKER_01

Now, I wouldn't do it if it was like a for like a politician or something. And you know, a lot of performers get really upset about that when politicians use it.

SPEAKER_00

That I understand.

SPEAKER_01

But even if a politician like approached me and was like, can I pay you for it? I probably wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think about that. But movies aren't really unless it's a super political movie. Right. So I don't know. I mean, it's a slippery slope. It's easy for us to sit here and say, because it'll probably never happen. No one's going to ask us for a music for a film.

SPEAKER_01

But but it did have some awesome people on the soundtrack, including Aerosmith, Kiss, Foghat, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath. Yeah. Just to name a few. Yeah. So even though it was quote unquote disappointment in the box office, it did become a home video market breakout success. And it ranked third on Entertainment Weekly Magazine's list of the 50 best high school movies.

SPEAKER_00

You know why I have a theory why it did better at once it was on video? What is it? It's because that movie is more enjoyable when you were um using substances. So that's a good point. I'm not kidding. So, like, I mean, when I was in high school and we would watch this, we'd all be drinking. Yeah. When I rewatched it with my husband, we had cocktails. Yeah. I could I'm not, I don't, I don't smoke pot, but I that's so such an old lady thing to say.

SPEAKER_01

I don't smoke pot.

SPEAKER_00

I don't smoke pot. I mean you don't, but I'm like that would make it way more fun to watch. Yeah. Do you know what I I and I'm I'm not endorsing it like you say, I am though, for this movie. I am. It makes it more fun. It's just like, have you ever seen um Across the Universe? Yes. Okay. Also, way better with substance use. That's a beautiful movie. It's so good. And I mean it's good on its own, but like it's amplified. As I'm sure it is, like if you watch Wizard of Oz when you go to the sphere. Oh my god. Can you now, if you have too much, it might be a little scary.

SPEAKER_01

Those flying monkeys in the sphere. You had had a few too many or an edible on the way or something. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00

If you didn't dose correctly, it could be very scary. Very scary. But that's why I think it did better. That makes sense. And um, that was back in the day of like Blockbuster and like you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was in the heyday of either a renting it, yeah, and the studios would make money off rentals, or buying it and just watching it on your own over and over. So I that it makes sense to me too. Yeah. And sometimes, you know, just when things hit in theaters, it can just be weird. Like maybe it hit at a weird time. I think it said it came out in September. Yeah, it's a summer. So it's like maybe it just didn't like hit well when it came out, but then as people kind of started re-watching it or whatever, yeah. I could totally see that.

Director Backstory And Name Lawsuit

SPEAKER_01

All right, so let's talk about this director, Richard Linkladder. Do you know anything about this?

SPEAKER_00

I don't know his name. Is he a problem?

SPEAKER_01

Uh-uh. He's not a problem that I found. What else is he done? I'm like, why do I know who this is? Um, honestly, just this and Slacker. Uh yeah. I didn't find anything else. I think that's a good stuff. Look, everybody out there is gonna be messaging us. You're gonna be mad. I promise. I was on IMDb. No, I believe you. Yeah. I don't know. Well, this is what I have on him. There might be more. He was born July 30th, 1960. He's a self-taught writer and director. So he didn't go to film school, didn't go to college, and he was one of the first successful talents to emerge during um the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s, where it was kind of like cool to make independent films. Typically, he sets each of his movies during one 24-hour period. And his work explored what he said, the youth rebellion continuum, focusing in fine detail on like rites of passage, things like that.

SPEAKER_00

Because what no matter what generation you're in, there's still some kind of universal themes. Sure. In coming in America coming of age. Definitely.

SPEAKER_01

So he was born in Houston, Texas, and then he started at Sam Houston State University in 82, but then he stopped going to school there to work on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Make some money. It's good money, actually. And then he ended up relocating to Austin, where he founded a film society and began work on his debut film, 1987's It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books. Hilarious. That's so long. That's hilarious. Such a long title. And then three years later was Slacker.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Have you seen Slacker? I ha I don't think I have it. I have.

SPEAKER_00

It's been years. I need to look it up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it came out in 1990, and he got a lot of acclaim for that one at the film circuit in 90 1991. I think you would like it. I think I would too. Yeah. Well, one thing I said, like in my general comments when we get to this, is that I do like movies in this style. I do too. That aren't like super plot driven and you gotta focus to know what's going on in the plot, but it's like a bunch of different stories that kind of come together. I think I've mentioned before I love the movie Crash. Yeah. And this. So like if Slack are similar, I would probably really like that. Yeah. I think I just like seeing lots of different people and how they're different and alike, and like how their stories intersect. Like that's very interesting to me. Yeah. I think that's a cool way to tell stories. I agree. Um, okay. So in 2004, three of Link Letters' actual high school classmates, Bobby Waterson, Andy Slater, and Richard Pink, Floyd. That's why they called him Pink, because his last name was Floyd. They filed a lawsuit against him. I mean, valid. Yeah. They claimed that he used their names and specific personas to create characters in the film without their permission. I mean, that's valid. And they claimed that being associated with a reckless stoner and party-loving on-screen characters negatively impacted their personal and professional lives.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I get it. If you're gonna use somebody's real life name and persona, you better pay them. Right. Like if you're gonna use my image and my stuff, give me a chick. Right. Um, just like change the name.

SPEAKER_01

It's not a big one. Or yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, right. Call me Lanny Stones or something. Call me what I came up with. Lanny Stones.

SPEAKER_01

Hello? I said Stones. Stones? Oh. Lanny Stones. That's actually the character that I'm writing that's based on your persona. That is now her name. Thank you. I don't know why that is why. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Well, now you have too long to think about it. See, I just came up with that. Never mind. I can't.

SPEAKER_01

I'll let you know. Or listeners, let us know what my what my fictional character should be, what my name should be. Um, so they settled out of court for an undisclosed time. I mean, so I mean probably like eh, okay. I mean, and it's one of those things. Did they really care? Or were they just like we can get some money? I mean, but did it really hurt their personal and professional lives? Probably not.

SPEAKER_00

But also, it depends on which character. True. True. Because I feel like Pink wasn't like he's fine. He's fine. I mean, he's a teenager, and he honestly he was sticking to what he he was like, you can't, I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do. I'm not signing this. And if you want me to play, I'll play. But um, if I don't choose, you can't tell me how to like what to do with my body. Right. So like that was like, okay. So who are the other two? Um Bobby Wooderson. So Wooderson was um who was that? Was that the fucking guy who was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

SPEAKER_01

Um I do. He's trying to read something. Is that him? Oh, I thought, I don't know. I thought Waterson. I don't remember. But um but yeah, so they were them. So anyway, and that's all I have on him. Okay. That's it. Whatever. Also, disclaimer, just like we had in I Know What You Did last summer, I cannot talk about everything about everyone in this film. No, there's some people I didn't even put anything on. I just said, here's who they are. It's fine. But I took like the main people, yeah, and specifically the ones I was like most interested in in the bigger characters.

Jason London And Twin Trivia

SPEAKER_01

So let's start then with the person who played pink, yeah, Jason London. He was born November 7th, 1972, in San Diego, and he has a twin. I knew that. So I feel like I've seen him in so many things. Yes, but sometimes it's not him, it's his twin. Yeah, they look way alike.

SPEAKER_00

Way alike. I was like, Troy, he's the guy that with the twin. Of course, he has no idea what I'm talking about. Yeah, because the twin was in Mall rats. Yeah, that's what I was trying to think of. I was like, what was he in? Yeah, he was in mall rats.

SPEAKER_01

In my head, it was the same person because I didn't know. They do sound a little different, they do sound a little different. Like if you watch them like back to back. They have different teeth. Oh, okay. All right. So he was born in San Diego. He's a son of Debbie, who was a waitress, and Frank London, who's a sheet metal worker, but then he was raised mainly in DeSoto, Texas. And his mom divorced Jason's father and moved the family 13 times in six years. That's hard. That's rough. I'm sure it's because she had to. Yeah. But um, and then his identical twin brother, Jeremy, is younger by 27 minutes. So that's a lot. That's kind of a lot for twins. Ooh, poor. She must not have had a C-section, right?

SPEAKER_00

Because quicker. Yeah. She must have been pushing. Take him out and like, just hold on here for a second. While you're in the shower, while your intestines are laying on your body.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. She she must have had them normal. Dang. I did say that. I mean, 1972. Maybe they weren't planning. They can't leave you cut open like that. That's what I'm saying. So she must have had them non-C-section. I know, but obviously. Right. But I feel like, okay, the reason I said that. Okay. Hold on.

SPEAKER_00

Let me clarify that three wild.

SPEAKER_01

And I might be wrong. Parents of twins, let me know. I feel like they schedule C-sections for most twins. I think they do now, more commonly. Now, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. It's not as common to just let nature take its course.

SPEAKER_00

I do know people uh several people who've had twins and they had them actually. Okay. I'm probably wrong then. But I mean, no, I mean, but that doesn't mean anything. Yeah. I mean, wow.

SPEAKER_01

That's so funny. But usually they're like, to your point, usually it's like four minutes apart. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Five minutes apart, something like that. So she was like, she was like delivered one and then the other one was just hanging on. I guess. Oh. Crazy. Bless.

SPEAKER_01

So as twins, they've acted alongside each other in the 2022 movie Hunk Club. Did you ever see that one either? Hunk? No. What'd you think? Hunt. I hunt. I wondered why you laughed.

SPEAKER_00

Hunt. I thought you said I thought you said Hunk Club. No, Hunt. That is a whole different movie. No, Hunt Club. I mean, that doesn't exist, but I'm just saying. Yes. That's so funny. Okay, Hunk Club. Although there could be a Hunk Club, but I don't think.

SPEAKER_01

Let's not. No. No. Because it probably does exist, but not in the way we would want to see. Okay. Correct. And then they were on the same episode in February 2003 of the WB Seventh Heaven entitled Smoking. I haven't seen it. I'm going to go out on a limb. Assuming it's anti-smoking. That they were bad boys who entered one of the girls' lives or boys and tried to, you know, peer pressure them. And smoking was a thing.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. That just feels like it would fit into that genre. Yeah. They also have a younger sister, Deedra, who was also an actress, but she died in a car accident in the in 1992 at the age of 16. Wow, that's so sad. That's really rough. And so then Jason London began his career as an actor, his junior year of high school. His brother Jeremy wanted to audition for the movie The Man in the Moon. Did you ever see that one with Reese Witherspoon? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was like her first film. She's super young, 1991. So Jason gave his brother Jeremy a ride to the audition. So they both tried out. So Jason got the part, and his brother was his stunt double.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's hilarious. So they're both in it. Can you imagine losing a part to your twin? I know. That'd be rough. That would be so hard. Who gave you a ride? Yeah. And just was like, well, hey, you can just jump off this building for me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Instead. I mean Whatever, it's work. Yeah. And so then he he played Reese Witherspoon's Love Interest in that movie, Court Foster. And then he was in Days and Confused. And then he was in a 1995 film called Fall Time, which had David Arquette, Stephen Baldwin, and Mickey Rourke. Oh. And then he was in The Rage, Carrie 2 in 1999. And then Jason and the Argonauts in 2000. And there are more films after that, but I tried to keep it kind of. Yeah, so he played, obviously in the movie we just watched, the character of Simone, so Joey Lauren Adams' boyfriend. But then his identical twin brother played her ex-boyfriend in Maul Rats. Isn't that funny? I need to I haven't watched Maul Rats. I don't either. I do like Kevin Smith movies. I know.

SPEAKER_00

I think they're really fun. We need to add I need to keep my I'm gonna grab it because we need to keep a little list. We'd be saying, we'd be saying stuff, and then we forget because listen, today it happened. Look, I did not watch Jocelyn's Creek because I didn't write it down and I forgot to do it. She forgot. We do this every week, and it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I'm gonna phone, so I can't. Well I'm gonna keep talking. Um and coincidentally, Ben Affleck was also in both of those films. Oh, yeah. But Ben Affleck is like a Kevin Smith staple. Okay, you know what?

SPEAKER_00

Did Kevin Smith do Dogma? Yes. Okay, I love that fucking movie. Yeah, that one's really, really good. Oh, I love that fucking movie.

SPEAKER_01

So, so good. Okay. Um and Jason London and Shannon Doherty were good friends. And she uh was until she passed away the godmother to his daughter. Aw, I know. I thought that was so fun. In addition to film and TV, he also appeared in Aerosmith's 1993 video Amazing with Alicia Silverstone. Okay. I remember that. As soon as I heard that, I don't remember that. So he was married. Uh Jason was married to an actress named Charlie Spradling from 1999 to 2011, and they have a child. Oh, and I looked at Charlie, I was thinking, oh, I didn't know you're married.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no, she's a girl. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

I looked her up. She was, I don't know if you ever saw To Sleep with a Vampire in 1992. No, how did I miss that? I don't know. But I also didn't see it, so I don't know why.

SPEAKER_00

I said it like happy loving vampire stuff. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and she was Nina in that, and she's she's brunette, she looked, she looked familiar. Okay. So she's been in other stuff. But they did get divorced uh in 2011, which is interesting because in November 2010, Jason became engaged to actress Sophia Karstens, and they got married in 2011, and um, so that's that. Okay, well. So little bit of tough guy stuff surrounding Jason. He was arrested in 2013 for punching a bouncer. Nope. And then again in 2021 for public intoxication. Uh-oh. So, you know, nothing beyond that. I was gonna say no one got hurt, but maybe the bouncer was. But the bouncer probably. Probably, yeah. So he's got a little bit of maybe a short fuse. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Hmm. That's all I found on that. Maybe he gets a little angry when he's drank and yeah, that's what it sounds like.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. All right, let's go to Ben Affleck, which again, okay, let's do it.

Ben Affleck Rising Plus Razzies

SPEAKER_01

This is very surface level, my friends. I know all I know I'm already not gonna say your favorite movie that he was in, and I am sorry for that. Um, but he was born August 15th in 1972 in Berkeley, California, which surprised me because I just assumed he was born in Boston. I know, I know. But he did move to Cambridge, Massachusetts at a young age, where he was raised by his mother, Chris Ann, who was a school teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, a social worker. Okay. And he's mostly of English, Irish, German, and Scottish ancestry. Same. He has a middle name, Gaza, and it's after a Hungarian family friend who was a Holocaust survivor. Yeah, so that's his middle name, Ben Benjamin Geza Affleck. That's pretty sounding. That is really pretty, actually, when you say it all spelled out like that.

SPEAKER_00

Especially with your princess voice. Say it again. Benjamin. What?

SPEAKER_01

Benjamin Geza Affleck. That's so nice. That sounded nice. Huh. I sounded like one of those people on the hotel TVs that are like, we hope you enjoy your stay.

SPEAKER_00

Or you know, it also made me think of that SNL. I mean, at SNL skit where they're the um podcast, the NPR people.

SPEAKER_01

We just delightful delights. What is it called? Um Delicious Dish. Delightful Delights. I don't know. I mean, yeah, could that feels like an SNL name for a show.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And theirs was, well, it was so long ago it was a radio show. Yeah. No, I thought it was NPR. Oh, I thought you said podcast. I thought you said they have their podcast. Okay, okay. So you're right. So you're right. NPR radio show. Yeah. Yes. Delicious dish. I do think we'll have to dress up and do some reels as that at some point. Except we should be like talking about 80s and 90s stuff and then throw in a little bit of like what they talk about too. Hilarious. Like some of their little phrases. We have so many good ideas that we know. We do.

SPEAKER_00

We're gonna do that one. One day when we have we're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So he ever since he was little, he wanted to be an actor, and his first acting experience was a Burger King commercial. I've seen it. And then he was on the PBS mini series series, The Voyage of the Mimi.

unknown

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

Of the what? Mimi. Like the grandma. I guess so. Okay. I feel like it's maybe it's a boat name ship. I mean, it's probably not a grandma. Of the grandma. No, probably not. 1984. Oh. And it was also around that age that he met his lifelong friend and fellow actor Matt Damon. They played Little League together. Freaking cute and took drama classes together. And they were both extras in the film Field of Dreams. Oh, that's fun. In 1989. Yeah. So Ben's teen years consisted mainly of TV movies, small television appearances, and then he made his big introduction into future films in 1993 when he was cast in Dazed and Confused. Oh, Banyan. Mm-hmm. His hair is so funny in the movie.

SPEAKER_00

He looks so old, too. He does. Him and the red hair guy. They do. Oh, is that Waterson? I don't know. Yeah, that might be. Or wait.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you're talking about the guy in the the red hair, not Anthony Rapp, the other guy with red hair. Yeah, they looked like grown men. They looked like someone's bad. Yeah. Yes. They really did. Um so then he did some independent films after that. Kevin Smith Small Rats, 95, Chasing Amy, Chasing Amy. 97. Also with what's her face? Uh Joey Lauren Adams. Yeah. She was so good in that one. He was living in an apartment with his brother Casey and friend Matt Damon. And him and Matt were both getting tired for being turned down for big roles. And since they were both having this problem, that's when they decided to write their own script. And of course, they, you know, being young, people like, we're gonna call our own shots, we're gonna do all this stuff. So they finished it in 1997. They gave it to their agent, Patrick Whitesell, who showed it to a few Hollywood studios, and it was accepted by Castle Rock, which they were super excited about. But Castle Rock wasn't willing in the negotiations to give Ben and Matt the control over the project that they were hoping for. Boom. So they, I guess, said no. No thank you. Yep. Their friend, Kevin Smith. Yeah, yeah. Nice to have good friends in high places, went to the head of Miramax, who bought the script for $600,000, and they got the control they wanted over the film and got to. That's all for Goodwill Huntington. $600,000 for the script. They got paid to be actors in it and all of that. Okay. And I probably producers too. But for the actual script. And they won an Oscar, right? Uh yes. Yeah. Yep. They did. So uh yep, it made them famous. Obviously, it was nominated for nine Academy Awards. I remember watching. Dang. I've watched the Academy Awards since I was a wee baby. I watched it a lot when I was younger. I don't watch it as much now. Oh, I don't miss it. Um, but I remember that specific year because I think that was the Shakespeare in Love year too. I mean, that was like the it was that the 90s like I can remember 97. 97. But they the Oscars would have been in 98. Right. Yeah. Right. So like early 98. Yeah. Yeah. So that was them. And so they were nominated for nine. They did win two best original screenplay. And then um, I don't know. I think it was, I think it won um Best Picture. I'm almost positive. Or maybe it was Robin Williams. That might have been when he won his award. I want us.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we gotta look at it.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know why I didn't put that one down. I just put original screenplay. Was it Matt Damie? It may have been Matt Damon. Let's see. Okay. I'm just gonna look it up because it's gonna drive us crazy if we don't know. Keep going. Yeah, so that was just a year that like he they obviously had a wonderful year and it worked out for them. And they were so young too. They were really young.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, best supporting actor. You're right, Robin Williams.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I probably read that when I was doing this too and just didn't pop it in here, so it's like fresh in my mind. So after that, Affleck was in Armageddon 98. Okay, Shakespeare in Love was 98, so that would have been the year after for the Oscars. And then Pearl Harbor, 2001. And then obviously a zillion films since. Yes, but I stopped around there. He was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018. They have three children Violet Samuel, Serafina, and then he was married to Jennifer Lopez, 2022 to 2025. I did not know they were married that long. Yeah. We talked about this recently. Remember? Well, no, and they dated before he dated Jennifer Garner. Right. So his personal life is a whole other ball of wax. But yeah, I remember, and back then, the in case I I don't want to assume that the younger folks know about this. So when he dated Jennifer Lopez, J Lo in like 99, 2000-ish, they were called Benefer.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

For them. And then when they got kind of back together in 2021, 2022, people started using the moniker again. Benefer. Benefer. The kids would say that's they were shipped. Like when you make like a what? Yeah, shipped. Have you heard that? Girl, you know I don't know that. What is it? It means like when other people like put people together. Okay. Like if you're watching a show like Dawson's Creek and we wanted to ship Pacey and Joey, we're like, that's what they are. That was like what's she gonna say? She's uh guess what? I'd probably just see all of them. Poey. Right. We have to ship them.

SPEAKER_00

JC. Jay C. I like that. That could work. That does not that we're not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_01

I mean Benefer's kind of stupid. But you know. It's got a ring to it. It's got a ring to it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

My husband and I have a have a ship name. What is that? Cobra. K-A-B-R-A. So we use that for like our umbrella marketing and media company, and then he used that for his wrestling website because he didn't want to use his real name. That's cute. So that's our ship name. I don't have one. And people are just like, what's Cobra? And we're like, it's both of us, even though I have zero to do with his website. I'm in the name. So therefore, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00

Lots of people named after them.

SPEAKER_01

That's not that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00

That's fine.

SPEAKER_01

All right, continuing on with Ben Affleck, he does have a gambling addiction and problem that he can as well as some substance issues that he has struggled with in the public eye. He received a lifetime ban from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Casino because he's so good at card counting. Was he in rounders? No, Matt Dick. No, no, that was Matt. He won, Ben Affleck won $356,000 at the California State Poker Championships in 2004. Wow. And he defeated some of the best poker champions in the world.

SPEAKER_00

You know what though? I was listening to NBR and I was listening to This American Life. That's one of my favorite podcasts since Jump. Whenever I started listening to podcasts, back, I used to listen to that back before they had podcasts, and it was just NPR on the radio. Anyways, there was an episode about, I don't know, chances, and they were talking about gambling. It's actually not illegal to count cards. Right. Which is it was so weird to hear what the it's not illegal, but they don't like it. So I don't understand. I don't remember the answer.

SPEAKER_01

And they well, they have the right to kick out anyone for any reason. For sure. For sure. It's not even like you're breaking a law. Right. But they can ban you. Correct. Right. Just like they would for anything else. And so they keep an eye on that. And you know, dealers keep an eye on that. Oh, yeah. They're supposed to alert their boss, their pit managers, whatever, when they think someone's just winning too much. Right. Yeah. And even if you're not card counting, they can ask you to stop and leave and get to ban you. Yep.

unknown

All right.

SPEAKER_01

So here's just some random trivia I found on him, most of it from IMDB. His father was once a janitor at Harvard. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

They talked about that uh in an interview during Cervall Hunting Times. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Which was the inspiration for Will um at MIT. Okay, this is great. It's a little dog fact. So you know I had to put it in here. Except to me, it ends kind of sad, but that's okay. When he was little, he asked his mom for a dog. She tested him by making him walk an imaginary dog for a week. He only lasted for five days, not seven, so she wouldn't let him get the dog.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, that's valid. That is so valid because taking care of animals is hard. It's so hard. And if you want one to take care, like listen. I go ahead, mom. Yeah. If he really wanted it, he would have made those two extra days.

SPEAKER_01

It's true. You were so close. You were so close, Ben. That's hilarious. Uh, when he needed to go to rehab in 2001, Charlie Sheen drove him. Aw. Yeah. Nice. When he was growing up, the Marvel comic book character Daredevil was his favorite. Oh my god. Yeah. So he got to play him in 2003.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't that so amazing? So cool.

SPEAKER_01

That'd be like if I got to be She-Ra.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh. That'd be amazing. Way too old now. But one day. Yeah. One day. Troy and I need to dress up like she She-Ra and He-Man. You do. Please do it. Please do it.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, that's it.

SPEAKER_00

You're doing it.

SPEAKER_01

Put it in your little notes. Okay. So in 1999, he was nominated for the Razzie Award. Worst screen couple in a movie for Armageddon. Oh, yeah. With actress Liv Tyler. They had no chemistry. It was awful. It was really bad. I really like Liv Tyler, but I feel like she's not a romantic character. I don't feel like sh the way she presents herself on film is like engaging or emotional enough to be in a relationship.

SPEAKER_00

So unpopular opinion, I just think she's beautiful and not a good actor.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

That's fair. Which is maybe lovely to look at. Put her in those Lord of the Ring movies where she just has to be pretty and elf-like or whatever the hell she was. She was great in those movies. I don't think so. I am not a Lord of the Rings person, which is weird because I love fantasy stuff. Yeah, that's strange. The stories go too slow for me. That's fair.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Anyway. Um so they didn't win, but then in 2004, he was nominated again and did win the Worst Screen Couple Award with Jennifer Lopez in G in Giggly. Yeah. Right. How do you say it? Because that was like always a joke.

SPEAKER_00

Is it is it is it it's gig? It's not how we think it's then. No, I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that movie was so bad. That was just a bad movie. It was so bad. And then in 2005, he was nominated once again for Worst Screen Couple. This time with both of the actresses in the film Jersey. Jersey Girl. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Listen, don't feel bad for Ben Affleck, guys. He's fine. He's fine.

SPEAKER_01

He's won plenty of normal things, makes a lot of money, married to beautiful. What is my name? Jennifer. I'm sure. Jennifer's. I know.

SPEAKER_00

He's sure now. He's one of us. I'm sure he was probably just like, eh, whatever. You win some, you lose some. Cashing my checks at the bank.

SPEAKER_01

Right. I mean, after this is after he already won an Oscar. Yeah. So come on. Look at my shelf. Come on. We're fine. So let's move on to Matthew McConaughey. Oh

McConaughey Breakout And Wild Stories

SPEAKER_01

boy. Born November 4th, 1969, which is my daughter's birthday. 1969? No. I won't I will I won't say the year because again, trying to not give all the bots online too much information, but she was born on November 4th. And he was so a lot of people in this film were actually from Texas. That's fun. Which is fun. Not Ben Affleck, obviously, but so he was born in Uvalde, Texas.

SPEAKER_00

I know where that is. Really? Well, when Troy went to pilot training, the first place I ever lived with him was Del Rio, Texas. And Uvalde is around there. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01

His mother, Mary Kathleen, was a substitute school teacher originally from New Jersey. And his father, James Donald McConaughey, was a Mississippi-born gas station owner who ran an oilpipe supply business. Have you listened to Greenlight? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Man. It's really good. I can just listen to that man talk. Yeah. So that's his autobiography. Right. And I would recommend if you want to read it to listen to it. Yeah, 100%. Because he's it's really, really good. So he's of Irish, Scottish, German, English, and Swedish descent. And he grew up in Longview, Texas, where he graduated from high school in 1988. And he had no interest in his father's oil business, which his two brothers did join. And he wanted something different. So he actually spent a year in Australia washing dishes and shoveling chicken manure. Wow. Get it, kid. And then when he was back, he went to the University of Texas in Austin. Originally he wanted to be a lawyer, but he read a book called What But he was in a time to kill. Yeah, and in The Lincoln Lawyer. Yeah, both of them. He discovered an inspirational Ogmandino book called The Greatest Salesman in the World. Before one of his final exams, he suddenly knew he had to change his major from law to film. That's so him, though. That's so him. Like I said, this epiphany.

SPEAKER_00

I can't say Matthew McCoy.

SPEAKER_01

No, but honestly, like he's so deep. He's so blue. I like it. So like, yeah, he really is. I know. Like more than you would expect. Um, so then he began his acting career in 1991 in some student films and commercials just regionally in Texas. And then once in his hotel bar in Austin, he met the casting director and producer Don Phillips, who introduced him to director Richard Linkladder for his next project. So this is what I've mentioned earlier, but I want to read it exactly like I found it. At first, Link Ladder thought Matthew was too handsome to play the role of a guy chasing high school girls, but cast him anyway after Matthew grew out his hair and mustache. His character was initially only in three scenes. It was a very small role, but it grew to more than 300 lines as Link Ladder encouraged him to do some improvisations and they stayed in the film. He's a great actor. Yeah. And look, if someone gives you that opportunity, you fucking take it. You best know I'll be doing it. Like I won't just be like, no, that's fine. I'll just do it in the script. Oh, you want to know what else I'd like to do in this film? Here I go. I come up with something. And if it gets cut later, fine. You gotta shoot your shot, which he did. Uh, in 1995, he started in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Next Generation. Oh, yeah, I saw that. Opposite Renee Zellwigger. Uh, he was in the film Lone Star in 1996 and A Time to Kill, where he was an idealistic young lawyer opposite Sandra Bullock and Kevin Spacey. He was in contact in 1997 with Jodie Foster, and then he was in Steven Spielberg's Amistad, which was 1997, and then in 1998, he teamed again. Oh, okay. So, see, this is another one of Richard Link Ladder's films. There you go. When you asked if there were more. Sounds like he did something. He was a bank robbing brother in the Newton Boys, 1998, which was set in Uvalde, Texas. Yeah. He also wrote, directed, and starred in the 20-minute short film The Rebel in 1998. And then once the 2000s hit, he was getting cast in romantic uh comedies a lot. Yeah. So, you know, he was in The Wedding Planner opposite Jennifer Lopez, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days with Kate Hudson. Was he in failure to launch Mr. Justin Parker? Oh my gosh. Yeah, and Cherry Bradshaw naked. Oh, good Cherry Bradshaw naked. Guys to my college, really. Well, I'll be crazy. Um looking this up. I keep it. I've kind of been stopping around the 2000s. I did want to mention that in 2013 he played HIV carrier Ron Woodruff in the biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club, which was one shot shot in less than a month. I know. I know. And he also lost 47 pounds. Yeah. And you know who else was in that that won an Oscar was Jared Leto. Yes. Oh, they're both so good. What a what a like great and important film.

SPEAKER_00

There was there was some backlash though. Yeah. Because neither of them is neither of them is a gay man. And um, well, and Jared Leto played a um, well, I don't know if they were a trans character or just presenting. Yeah. But that there was a lot of backlash about that. Um which I do understand. I do too. I mean, I get it. When you have actors who do identify and could do it.

SPEAKER_01

Well Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. But anyway. And he did for that film, he did win Best Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Actor. Sorry, he won Best Actor for the Oscar and the Golden Globe, among other awards. For Dallas Byers Club. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Wasn't he also nominated for Time to Kill? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't see that anywhere. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It was crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Um, he's married to Camilla Alves McConaughey. She was beautiful. Beautiful and seems awesome. She seems like kind of down to earth and woo-woo as well. Yeah. They married in 2012 and they have three children, Vita, Livingston, and Levi. Cute. So this is this is so him, but I was also like, I would probably also do this. He has three bedrooms in his house that he has more than three bedrooms in his house, but there are three in his house specifically that he just like rotates sleeping in for like different reasons. I just that just sounds kind of fun. Oh, it's like whatever mood I'm in.

SPEAKER_00

Katie dreams of having a house with extra rooms. Because there's so many people in her house. Honestly, yes.

SPEAKER_01

The room for me and my dogs, the room I share with my husband, just wherever I want to. So does his wife go with him? It doesn't sound like it. It just sounds like something he does. Maybe she does. Maybe she does. Just wondering. Maybe she's just like, I'll be in this one if you feel like also joining me at some point. I don't know. He's an animal lover. Yeah. He helped rescue many.

unknown

I wrote critters.

SPEAKER_01

Why did I because he probably had said that. That's probably why. That's probably what he said. Including countless pets stranded after Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, I remember that. He is afraid of revolving doors. He doesn't use them.

SPEAKER_00

I don't love them either because I always get stuck. Afraid of getting stuck. Yeah. Yeah. Or like your clothes stuck between. Escalators also freak me out. Like I am the one of those people who like pauses before you and then I'm like Buddy the Elf where like one leg, half of your body is brave enough. I used to drive Troy crazy because, like, you know, when you go places with escalators and you have a stroller and you have to like put the stroller on the thing. Oh, I hate that. And I would just stand there and Troy would be like, I will do it. I'm like, but what if you fall over? And he's like, what do you mean? And I'm like, fall over.

SPEAKER_01

I've got the stroller to keep my balance. I'm like that with like suitcases at the airport too. I'm like, oh, yes. I feel like I can't get myself and my suitcase on safely, despite hundreds of people around me doing it successfully over and over and over again. Yeah. So in this is so great. Okay. Police responded to bongos. Yeah. Yeah. You know this one? I do. All right. So for listeners, if you don't know this one, the police responded to a disturbance call at his home in Austin in October 1999 when they arrived. The music was blaring, and Matthew was playing bongo drums in the nude. Yep. He talked about that in his book. I think he did.

SPEAKER_00

There was like also a lot of SNL, like we can update funny things about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I can just imagine. He was probably high too. And he was probably just like, yeah, that was me. Like I'm living in. I'm just living the life. He was actually considered to play Jack Dawson in Titanic in 97. But then Leonardo DiCaprio, who was the first choice, he was like not sure if he could do it when he accepted that. But I I don't I feel like even in 97, Matthew McConaughey would have looked too grown up, I think. He's too handsome. Yeah. Where at that age, Leo was like cute. Correct. You know, and I don't think he could play like cute, young, naive, whatever. I just don't think that would have worked. He was voted most handsome his senior year of high school.

SPEAKER_00

I was gonna say every year.

SPEAKER_01

Every year, including this one. But it started in in high school. Well, probably before that. All right, so that's Matthew McConaughey.

Mila Jovovich Modeling To Movies

SPEAKER_01

Let's go to Mila Dovovich, who played Michelle. She was born December 17th, 1975. She's a Ukrainian American actress, supermodel, fashion designer, singer, and public figure, who has been on the cover of more than a hundred magazines and starred in such films as The Fifth Element in '97 and the Resident Evil franchise, which kicked off in 2002.

SPEAKER_00

I mostly remember her from modeling though.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, me too. Yeah. Yeah. As soon as I even saw her in this, I was like, oh yeah, that's that model. But she's on other stuff. Yeah. Like, especially like Resident Evil. I know. It's huge. Yeah. Uh so she was born in the Ukrainian SSR Soviet Union, which is just now in Ukraine. She had a serving father who was a medical doctor. So this is very interesting. So he was a medical doctor, and he met her mother, a Russian actress. And then at the age of five in 1981, Mila emigrated with her parents from the Soviet Union to London first, then to Sacramento, and then they settled in Los Angeles. But, like, okay, so her dad was a medical doctor. They were house cleaners when they came over. Crazy. Because you're like credentials don't transfer. Um, but they cleaned the home of director Brian De Palma, who was a pretty big director in the 80s into the 90s. I know we've mentioned him a few times and a couple things we've watched. So eventually her parents did separate and they divorced because her father was arrested and spent several years in prison because of a massive medical health insurance scam. Oh boy. Oh, yeah. Don't do that. So that's all I have to say. Don't I don't even know how.

SPEAKER_00

So it's easy for me to be like it's hard actually. You have to be incredibly smart to do insurance fraud.

SPEAKER_01

Oh man. Yeah. And nowadays, especially, I can't, there's no way. Yeah. So she shot to international fame after she was spotted by the photographer Richard Avidon at the age of 11.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

That's kind of creepy. That is kind of creepy. Yeah. I mean, that's kind of like when um Sarah Michelle Geller was in the pizza place and they approached her, an agent approached her.

SPEAKER_00

Did I tell you that I had a friend in college who we would get approached in the mall all the time about her modeling by creepy people? Oh, I don't like that. And she did do some modeling. And so, and I remember the first time it happened, and she was like, I already have an agent, thank you. Because she did. But it was great because she was tall and slant, and that's what she was like, it was the 90s, so the late 90s, so she was like tall and skinny, like super skinny. Yeah. And you know who she looked like? It was a tall version of um who's the one? Is it Rachel Lee Cook? She was in um that movie with where she's like nerdy and then gets I think that is her, yeah. She was in that episode of Dawson's Creek. Yes, that's her. That's who she looked like. Oh, yeah. But tall, but but tall. Okay. And people would come up to her all the time in the it was it was weird.

SPEAKER_01

And she was just used to it, but I was like Yeah, and she knew what to say, but still, yeah. She's creepy. So she got her first professional model contract at age 12, and she was um on the cover of The Face Vogue Cosmopolitan in 1994. She appeared on the cover of High Times in the UK, and the total number for magazine covers worldwide is over was over 100 by 2004. Damn. It's obviously gone up since then. In 2004, she made 10.4 million dollars, becoming the highest paid supermodel in the world. Crazy. So that's like nine years after Dazed and Confused. Wow. Which she was modeling before then, anyway. And she's been in campaigns for Chanel, Versace, Emporio Armani, Donna Karen, DKNY, Celine, PK, H H, and continues her role as the worldwide spokesperson and model for L'Oreal. Yeah. Yeah, she's still in stuff for them. She made an act, her acting debut in the Disney Channel movie The Night Train to Kathmandu. Don't remember that. It was on 1998. She was a guest star on the television series Married with Children. She played a French Exchange student. I don't remember that. You remember that? No. I used to watch that show though. She was in Paradise and Can't Oh, what is it? Parker Lewis Can't Lose. I don't remember that show either. She was on a lot of little TV shows. Uh and then in the in the 80s and early 90s, she was several supporting roles. Uh then starred in Return to the Blue Lagoon. Oh, in 1991. Yep. And then in 97, she was in the fifth element, starring alongside Bruce Willis. And then the title character of The Messenger, the story of Joan of Arc, 1999. So she was Joan of Arc. Don't remember that. Me either, but I don't know. I don't really see her as Joan of Arc. She's too pretty. Yeah. For some. Joan of Arc was like rugged. Yeah. That's what I mean. Yeah. I mean, you know, because I knew her. So did I. And that's and there's obviously actual photographic evidence of what she looked like. Um, she's huge into philanthropy. Uh, not Joan of Arc. Well, maybe. Back to Mila now. She has served as the Master of Ceremonies and co-chaired with Elizabeth Taylor for the Amphar and Cinema Against AIDS event at the Venice Film Festival. And she's also heavily involved with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as well as the Wildlands Project. Okay. She became engaged to director uh Paul Anderson, and their daughter is named Ever, which is cute. Ever Anderson, 2007, and then they got married in 2009. And then their second daughter, Dashiel, was born April 1st, 2015. Okay. So that's them.

Parker Posey And Resting Face Talk

SPEAKER_01

Parker Posey. Let's go love that. So Parker Posey is was older than I expected. She was born in 68. Yeah, she's a big one. She's short, so she's short. Yeah. And she was um, she's older than Matthew McConaughey. Hey. She was actually born two months premature in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. And she has a twin brother.

unknown

Ah!

SPEAKER_01

All kinds of twins in this movie. So obviously, they were both born premature. His name's Chris. He's a lawyer in Atlanta. He is not also an actor. And they were born to Linda and Chris Posey. And they were born in Louisiana. Oh, they were born in Baltimore, moved to Louisiana. Hey. And then Laurel, Mississippi.

SPEAKER_02

Hey.

SPEAKER_01

Where her dad became the owner of Laurel's own Posey Chevrolet car dealership. And she attended high school there. And then she went to college at the prestigious liberal arts schools at SUNY, so State University of New York, purchase, which I was like, is that a typo? I've never heard of that. I looked it up, no, that's what it's called. Okay. It must just be a location name. And while she was there, she was actually the roommate of Sherry Stringfield, who was on ER. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So they were roommates. That's fun. So she's been dubbed the Queen of Indies by Time magazine because she's been in more than 30 independent films. And a lot of them were like low budget grassroots kind of things that she's been in. She learned to play the mandolin for her role in the Christopher Guest film A Mighty Wind.

SPEAKER_00

Can I tell you, Christopher Guest movies are a win for me every time? I we watched Besson's show not too long ago, and I just did. Like everybody is so funny all the time in those movies. All the time. So so good. A mighty wind was so good. That was really good. Okay, anyway. But yay, so she was really playing. Yeah. Amazing. She's actually playing. She is an accomplished mime.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, ma'am. And I can see it. As soon as I read that, I was like, oh my gosh. Just like her. Yep, I can see it. In August 2009, she revealed that she does suffer from Lyme disease. Yeah. So she's dealing with that. She's a close friend of Jimmy Fallon. She was actually one of his neighbors when he lived in New York City.

SPEAKER_00

I think he still lives in New York City, but she's in that new show, uh, White Lotus, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

I haven't watched any of those yet. My sister is on me. She's like, you are good.

SPEAKER_01

I watched the first and second season, so I'm I'm behind, but they are really good.

SPEAKER_00

I heard an interview with her on on MPR, um, on Fresh Air, I think it was. And uh, I was like, God, I gotta watch the show because I love her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

All the actors are really good, and I just feel like it's kind of soap opera, kind of suspense. It's just it's a good show.

SPEAKER_00

I just now I'm thinking of her and Beston's show and of her running around trying to find her dog's um B. Like, do you know what? Yeah. And she plays a bitch a lot. She does. She plays it so well, but she sounds so nice and relaxed. She does sound really nice. But it is fun to play bitch. It Katie gets to in this in this show.

SPEAKER_01

I know. I've been like really thinking about my character choices lately, like at home. I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? And it'll be fine. I'll get I'll get it going.

SPEAKER_00

Cause because Katie gets to be mean. I get to be mean, bitchy and snarky, yep, and sing really fast.

SPEAKER_01

Correct. So what could go wrong with any of the things that you're describing for me to do? No, it's gonna be really, really fun. I'm I'm really looking forward to it. Yeah. Um, but she has like Parker Posey has like that original resting bitch face. Yeah. Like, I don't like she just looks intimidating. I wouldn't say she looks like a bitch, but she looks intimidating.

SPEAKER_00

Do you know what? I was thinking the other day of I don't think of you and I as people who have RBF. And then I was like, actually, we do kind of. Yeah. And I'm like, we smile a lot, but we do like when I catch screenshots of us like not doing shit, and I'm and then somebody said something to me the other day when I was just sitting there, like, oh no, it was when we were in Shrek rehearsals and like when we were doing the dragon training and the guy playing Donkey came up to me and he's like, Oh my god, your face, as Jared was talking, our director was talking to you, he's like, was fucking priceless. I was like, what was I doing? Like, I wasn't, and he's like, Oh, because you're and I was like, I was just standing there, like, but he thought I was being like, What the fuck are you talking about, dude? And I was like, Are you serious? Like, I and I wasn't feeling that in that moment. Oh my gosh, hilarious! I wouldn't, I was, I was like, I have to remember to tell Katie that because yesterday while we were sitting there in rehearsal, I was like, Are we having RBF right now? I think we are.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I think when we're together, it's worse because even if even if we're just sitting there, not even necessarily having like a negative thought when we're both next to each other doing it, definitely. We look fucking mean. We do look kind of mean fucking mean. So maybe we're intimidating and we just didn't realize it.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe we're not mean. I mean, we can be if we have to, but we're not of course most of the time. Katie's way nicer than me.

SPEAKER_01

But I mean, I do have a face, I get a face, and I know I do at rehearsals too. Because we're concentrating. But like, even like so my studio just finished hair and I had gone into a rehearsal when we were first trying to figure out sound. Oh, and I was frustrated with the sound because to me, when you pay all this money for all this equipment, it'd be nice just to plug it in and for it to work. But that's not how it works. Now with sound, it uses sound waves, all the science of it takes forever. So I was just hard at work trying to work on that and do different stuff and turn different knobs and move speakers. But my daughter works with someone who's in the cast. And that person said to my daughter the next day, Oh gosh, is your mom okay? She looked so like mad last night. She looked so stressed. And my daughter was like, Oh, I don't know, she seemed fine with me. So then later she's like, Are you doing okay? And I was like, Yeah, she's like, How's here? I'm like, Great, you know, it's okay, it's great, it's exciting. She's like, Oh, because she said this. And I was like, Oh, I was like, Well, it was had nothing to do with anybody there. It was the freaking sound was making me mad, and it's not their fault. So it's just funny because I didn't realize it was noticeable that I was like unhappy while they're trying to rehearse hilarious, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Well, the thing is, I make fun of my husband all the time because he really has one. You're yours too. Oh, yeah. And my but like my husband's whole family, like him and his sister, all his siblings, they all have it. Like, and they're not me, and they're all very nice. Yeah, but and I'm always teasing him. And then I thought the other day, like, well, fucking shit. I think I have this.

SPEAKER_01

Honestly, I honestly, maybe most people just be looking like that. Maybe. I guess it depends when you catch them, and you know, like I don't know. I think too, as I'm getting older, I'm just not masking as much as I used to. Oh, well, maybe that's what it is. Partly because I just don't have the energy, partly because I don't care. And I think I'm in spaces a lot. I'm in a lot of safe spaces too. And I think that's probably true for you. So, like, I I don't feel like I have to mask if I'm frustrated with sound at a research. I'm not gonna be mean to everybody about it, but like I don't have to pretend like everything's okay. Same with like when I'm working with, you know, people at my studio, my students, my home, my friends. Like, I don't have to put on a show very often. Yeah. So maybe sometimes the true feelings or just not an overly happy feeling kind of comes through.

SPEAKER_00

I'm not really good. I'm not really good at masking. Like if I'm pissed, you're gonna know. You gonna know. I just I can't. But also on the flip side, if I'm excited, you're gonna like it's it's either one or a hundred with me. Like it or zero to a hundred. Like there's no, I'm never just kind of neutral, which is probably something I need to fix. I mean, why fix it now? Right? That's what I tell my husband all the time. I've been living this long.

SPEAKER_01

Why do I need to fix it? Look, you got you got this far. Oh boy, save your energy for other things.

Anthony Rapp Joey Lauren Adams Highlights

SPEAKER_01

All right, so I just have a little bit more on a couple people. Right. Anthony Rapp, I had to include because he's just lovely. Uh, he is. I just love him. And he played Tony in the film. He was born October 26, 1971. He also is another one that started his career at a young age when he was six. Wow. He got his first professional job at the age of nine. And of course, his huge breakout. Yes, he was in this film. He did a great job, but it was in he originated the role of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson's production of the Broadway musical Rents. He's on the original cast recording, which has been streamed million billions of times at this point. He wrote the book Without You, which is a memoir about his career and the experience of losing his mother to cancer at the same time he was rehearsing Rent to like Well, and then Jonathan. J Batson died.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. The day before it debuted. Yeah. I just ugh.

SPEAKER_01

That whole story just sad, you know, my book. Legacy list, right? So I think about a lot of that stuff, and I think about that a lot. Like it's so heartbreaking because you're like, oh my god, he didn't get to see. But on the other hand, it's like it still happened. I know. And the seeds that he planted still grew, right? But I know, I know. So Anthony Rapp is actually a cousin of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the redhead from Modern Family. Oh funny. Yeah. And he is a childhood friend of the actor comedian Andy Dick. Oh. They like knew each other. Thought about that guy. Yeah. Yeah, me either. Um, I didn't put it in here, but I know uh maybe 10 years ago now, maybe not quite so long, he wrote an essay for the New York Times about Kevin Spacey. Oh. And some like gross behavior. Yeah. Um because he was a when he was a young m man, like a minor, he was in like Broadway shows and stuff. That's kind of how he came up. And he he's you know, uh alleges that there was nothing happened but that there was like a proposition when he was a child by him, which of course Kevin Spacey was like, I don't remember this at all. And if it did happen, I'm so sorry, kind of thing. But it it actually was the impetus for several other people to also say similar things. So uh yeah, so that was a thing with him. All right, let's go to Joey Lauren Adams, who played Simone. She's January 8th, 1968. She's been in several Kevin Smith um films, including Chasing Amy, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She didn't win, but she was nominated. She was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of three children. Her father was a lumber yard owner. I think that's really fun. And her mom was a homemaker. And she grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood and graduated from North Little Rock. Oh my goodness, North Little Rock Northeast High School. Woo! In 1986. And then she was actually an exchange student for one year in Australia. So another one. Yeah, weird, right? And when she got back from that, she announced it was her intention to pursue acting.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

She is a huge fan of country music. You nail it. She actually wrote the song that she sings in Chasing Namies. I love that. Yeah. And then um, when her brother was in a coma from an automobile accident, he would only show a response from her distinctive voice. Like that he could like hear and comprehend because she does have a very distinctive voice. She actually Filmed a scene for Wayne's World 2, but her scene was later deleted during editing. Oh. I know. What a bummer. I'm sure we could find it now. Because I thought it's really cute. So some of the people I didn't talk about, Cole Hauser, Adam Goldberg, Nikki Kat, and Rory Cochrane were all in the film as well. Because at some point you gotta stop. Some point you gotta stop.

Reddit Reactions Plot Or Vibes

SPEAKER_01

So for whatever reason, I decided to go down the Reddit Rub and I'm gonna go. Oh, because you love doing that. I love it. Okay. So I'm gonna read you exactly some quotes I found. I tried to be balanced.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, there's a lot.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I have two that are like people not so sure about this movie, and one someone explaining why it's a great movie. All right, let's go. So here's the first one, and this is a direct quote. I would like to ask you, what did you like about this movie? I didn't have any high hopes or great expectations, but I sure wasn't expecting that. The movie felt so empty and boring and superficial dialogues. I mean, sure, they're teenagers, but what's the point of showing an hour and a half of kids driving around drinking and smoking? Because that's what they do. Is it something about the time and setting of the movie I missed? And then in parentheses, it says, I'm not American.

SPEAKER_03

What the fuck? Okay.

SPEAKER_01

I love Reddit. Is it just obsolete? Was it a mere reflection of the life of teenagers back then and considered cool? The answers are all yes. Yes. So that was it. That's all I have from his. And then people were commenting different things. I mean, that's what I'm saying. Like some people were trying to explain, like, no, that you're like, correct. That's what the movie's about. And then other people were like, I agree, and it's just glamorizing this or that. And and then, oh, um, he said something like I didn't like the film. And someone put, oh, oh my God, it's a quote from the movie where they're like, it would be better if you did, or whatever. A lot cooler. Whole lot cooler if you did. And so people and he like responded to it. He was like, Well, I'm sorry that I didn't. And I was like, dude, it's a quote from the movie, like, calm down. Okay, so that was one. Here's another one. I hated it in the first 10 minutes. I wasn't expecting the Breakfast Club or anything, but I knew it was a critically acclaimed film. So I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. This person says, I'm 26 and from America. Just saw the movie. It was straight trash. This is my first time commenting on Reddit. I love these comments that you you picked into. There were so many, and these are the ones I think. It must not have aged well. No plot. There's no main character. And what was up with the paddling? Which we'll talk about. Paddling. Paddling. Like the hazing. Oh. With the paddles. Well, we'll get there. Yeah. All right. So here we go. Here is someone who likes that's a lot. Still likes the film. All right. I think it accurately reflects what life was like for American teens in the 70s. As you said, throughout the movie, it doesn't appear to be anything other than a bunch of teens driving around and drinking and smoking. I think this adds to the realism of what life was really like in the 70s. There was no internet or cell phones or nearly half of the entertainment available to kids' teens than there are now, and kids and teens were restless and bored. At the end of the movie, there is a quote: I just want to look back and be able to say that I did my best while I was stuck in this place. The nothingness in the movie again aids to perfectly represent American teens in the 70s and how they were left to their own devices to find things to do, which can be hard for our new generation today to understand with everything we have at our disposal to entertain ourselves.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I was thinking about why our generation enjoyed that movie so much. It's because that was a nostalgic time for us. Like kids today are looking back on like the early 2000s as like, oh, that was like the best time. Or like, you know, and then the generation before them looked back at like the 80s. And you know, it's just one of those things to look back. That's why generations after think it's cool, is because it's different than what you're experiencing. Totally correct.

SPEAKER_01

And even when we would have been watching this, which there was that's like you're saying, like there was obviously internet and stuff like that, but no cell phones or anything. Yeah, certainly not smartphones, not streaming music, not streaming. So, but even then the things in this movie were dated for us, you know. So, like you said, it's kind of like a time we never did experience, right? Which is a little different than like when we look back on things from things we experienced. That's true nostalgia. Right. But it's like a nostalgia for a time you didn't get. Yeah, for which is really interesting. Yeah, I think it's cool. All right, let's uh that's all I had on the film. Uh I know you guys are glad I I got the Redditors on board for this one. All right, so so general

Rewatch Takeaways Hazing And Creepiness

SPEAKER_01

thoughts. Okay. My first one is interesting. I was thinking about this when you said it was better when you guys were having a cocktail. Because I watched this one early morning over a couple days. Oh, yeah, see, you it's so one and done. I was caffeinated, I was drinking coffee, but I actually said it I didn't really enjoy re-watching it.

SPEAKER_00

I could see that though, because I think it's you gotta like it's gotta be, and there was another movie we watched that you did like that, and I said, I think it's because you did it, you didn't do it in a full thing. And I remember when we did remember when we had the intention that when we watch movies, you were gonna fucking sit there. This last week. I could not. I know. I mean, I didn't even watch Dawson's Creek. So listen, I can't preach to nobody. But yes, we need to start that again, is what I was gonna say. I wasn't doing saying not to lecture you, I was saying it, we're gonna start that again. It does make a difference because I think I think that's a good point. It does make a difference if you watch it in bed. And I did enjoy it. I was like, when's it done? See, and I watched it alone. And see, would have been more fun to watch with somebody else, yeah. Well, and I think when I re-watched it with Troy, it was fun. Like the music was good. And we had to pause it a few times to talk about some stuff because I was like, this don't hit the same anymore. True. And we're gonna get there because we'll be talking about that for a bit. Yes, yes. But I think he made a good point right when it started and we're watching, he's like, look, no cell phones. He's like, everybody is present the whole time. And then we were like talking, like, and then it made us remember things like that we did as teens, like where they're driving around and they kept switching cars whenever they would meet. We used to do that, yeah. Like, and there, you know, there's different meetup spots, like they had that like drive-in burger place, and you just see who you would see. I I mean, we had one strip that we would drive up and down, like looking for people, like you know. So I think I did enjoy it, but there's a whole part of it they should have left out, yes, and that is Matthew McConaughey's character, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Which we'll get to, which we'll get to. Even though I said I didn't enjoy re-watching it that much, I did have a lot of fun seeing the young actors. Yeah, and again, that thing I've already mentioned, that big ensemble cast where there's a lot going on with a lot of people and it all kind of intersects. I just enjoy, like I find that engaging. Um, so yeah, we we can get into it. Matthew McConaughey stuff, not great. In some ways, it reminds me of Jerry O'Connell's character in Can't Hardly Wait. Although that one was less that one you were meant to believe that he was a loser. Yeah. Jerry O'Connell. Because like Trip McNeely, like he's just sitting out there by himself drinking beers, and you're like, oh, like what a loser. Which this one, not so much, really.

SPEAKER_00

He's like part of the peer group. Right. So here's my thing. As we were watching this, and Try and we were talking about this, I said, first of all, it used to be funny, and like a lot of the catchphrases from this movie are his character's lines. And it this is the thing that's shitty, is that it used to be funny. Like because, and I said it brings up this whole, especially just because this has been on my mind a lot lately with lots of things that's happening in our country and just in our society as a whole. I've just been thinking about the narrative that surrounds men and how they treat women. And I we were born in this society that says, Oh, this creepy older guy who's preying on younger women, oh, it's funny. Right. It's funny and it's expected. Because as we're watching, I said, you know what's crazy is we all knew somebody like that, whether in high school or college. And I Troy was like, Oh yeah. And I said, I said, remember that guy, because Troy and I did not date in college, but he's four years older than me. But we had mutual friends that overlapped, and we were there sometimes at the same time. And I said, Yeah, I said, even in college, I said, Remember that guy, Pops? Like this fucking guy was like in his 30s hanging out at a fraternity house, and he was a creep. Like trying to hit on these 18-year-old girls that would come in who are barely legal. Come on, like yeah, and I I'm like the thing And yet he was allowed to be there, and people thought it was funny, right? And then they would tell you as a young girl, hey, watch out for Pops, uh, but he's harmless. No, because some of the shit he would say would make you feel disgusting, and like that, like every and then, like, you know, Matthew McConaughey's character like slaps that girl in the ass, who is a senior, so probably isn't even 18 yet. Probably not. So let me say this teenagers are still children. Yes, they are children. Um, and he isn't a grown-ass adult man, yep, slapping the ass of a child. And I never thought about that until we rewatched it.

SPEAKER_01

Totally. And I wonder, especially given like how deep and profound Matthew McConaughey is, if on a look back, I'm sure there's probably an interview out there somewhere, if he doesn't love the character either.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure. I'm sure. I mean, because here's the thing this has been a part of our society since the beginning. I feel like now we hopefully know a little better, but we're still right, it's still a problem. And I said the thing that sucks, because then of course I get on like a tangent when stuff like this happens, and my husband's like, oh God. So this is where we had to pause it. And but it's all valid. And I said to him, it's different for me when I get upset about it than you, because every single female I know in my life was preyed on by a creepy older man at some point in their life. Whether that means there was just a comment said to them somewhere out in public, whether it was an inappropriate look, whether it was uh, you know, more than that with touching or whatever, every single I cannot think of a female who has not experienced it. Right. Like y'all think about the Me Too movement, it's because it's fucking every female. Yes. Like there is not one. And and but we don't even realize it that like there's so much stuff from when I was younger that I didn't even absorb as a problem. I just laughed it off and was like, oh, whatever. Or I was like, oh, that made me uncomfortable, but it's fine. But now as an adult, I think back. Like I can remember being 12 years old, going to like a supercut with my sister get my hair cut, and the guy cutting my hair made me so uncomfortable. And he kept asking me how old I was and telling me how old, oh, you look so much older and like creepy fucking shit. Right. But it didn't even, I didn't know what that was. Now nothing else happened. I never saw that man again. But I said to my sister in the car, I don't ever want to go there again. Right.

SPEAKER_01

Cause you felt it, you know, and it it is inappropriate to it. It's one thing, like obviously hairdressers make conversation, but depending on the level, and even if it's a normal conversation, but you feel something different or shifting.

SPEAKER_00

And it wasn't. I mean, thinking back now, I'm like he was being gross. Yeah. Like literally gross. And I was 12 years old. Oof. And I did not look, and it doesn't matter because I said I am 12. And he I mean, I did not look older when I was 12. I look like a fucking 12 year old. Right. But even if I looked 18, I said I'm 12 years old. Right. Right. There you go. Period dot. I don't know. That character was really hard to absorb because also he's hanging out. Like if you're a grown-ass man hanging out with high school kids, something's wrong with you.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, that exactly. And they probably are kind of making fun of you on some level. Right. Because of that, even if it's even if the behavior's kind of tolerated. Um, yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah. I it made me really uncomfortable too.

SPEAKER_00

That and the and the physical violence of the hazing. Okay, and the hazing. That was the other thing because um that's been in a conversation with me and my oldest, because he's in a fraternity, and I, you know, now there's so many laws in place about hazing, but he said people still want to do the five because they find ways around it. I mean, sure was that like a couple years ago the high school here got in trouble for football hazing because they had video stupid. But I mean, when Troy was in college, I mean, they had paddles, they all had handmade paddles, and that's how you became like you'd have to go to every active member and get your paddle and then they sign it. I mean, I remember them doing at bars, like I it it was a thing when I was in college. Fucking crazy, yeah, and it's just sort of like what? It's just stupid. It's so stupid. Like, what do you mean?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's like it's toxic masculinity, and not to put a keyword on it, but I mean it is, it is, and it's also like uh another problem with how it was used in this movie is that particularly when it happened to Mitch, right, then he like quote unquote passed the test. Yeah. And he could like come to the party and be with all the cool people. And to him, he like felt good about it. I know, and it's like, I mean, again, not everyone was invited after that for the same things, but like it was it was sort of meant to be like, see, it was all for a good good reason, right? Everyone's happy now. I know, and I just it's like there's no other way to like do this.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, yeah, I didn't like I I mean I will say that was true to the times. It was, it was. I didn't like it, but um I mean I think yeah, I mean I if you're keeping it true to the times, that could still stay in, I guess, but I don't know. I feel like Matthew McConaughey's character could have just been taken out, or you could have put in somebody else who was their age that was I don't know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

I just said acted that way maybe, but was their age and or girls like kind of shot him down or something, you know, like that was the joke that he thought he was great and he wasn't.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know. The whole older man preying on younger children, and I'm sorry, teenage girls or children, is just a trope that is not funny. Right, it's just not like it's just gross, and then it's but it's part of a bigger problem when it's in movies like this, because then we see like women or females see this and think, oh, okay, well, that's just funny and it's okay. Right. There's one everywhere, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Right, which there is, which there is, which there is, but it should be not that oh, there's just one everywhere. It should be this is unacceptable wherever you are, yeah, and whoever you are. Yeah, I'm sure, and I mean some of the things I found just in general, like criticism of the film, not so much when it came out, but more now. Right, is that no better do but uh the glamorization of the hazing, specifically the violent hazing. Um, even the girls, like, yeah, maybe not a skirt, but like the way they're being spoken to and stuff. Like the bullying or some degradation, that sort of thing. And then, yeah, the inappropriate nature of and kind of making light of and making it a joke of Matthew McConaughey's character. Yeah. So I mean, those are the main criticisms of the film.

SPEAKER_00

And listen, I know people out there are gonna be like, oh my god, can't anything just be funny and nan. There are some things that I just they're just not. Yeah, it's no, yeah, I agree. I just like when it's I don't know. I I just yeah. And I think it's just because the state of our world, our country right now. We're we're very hypersensitive to it.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. It's it's wrong no matter what. Right. But it's it's more noticeable and cringy and and and honestly kind of maddening.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, because I feel like there's this pendulum swing backwards right now of what is acceptable to say to women, and um when people in power are saying things so disrespectful to just humans, period. Yeah, that now that I was saying I was trying to explain this to one of my kids, I can't remember which one. I said, I feel like because of that, it that is empowering people, regular day citizens, to do that. And they're like, well, that doesn't make any sense. I said it does because you're hearing this from people in power, and if they can do it, why can't you? Right. Even if you don't consciously absorb that, it happens. It's just and then that can happen on the flip side too. If somebody's in a position of power saying, we're not taking this, we're not tolerating this, that trickles down as well to people being a little more aware and trying to. So I think that's just why we're very super sensitive to it. So I I enjoyed it. Honestly, the hazing bothered me, but not as much as Matthew McConnell. Yeah, right. That was like secondary.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That was secondary.

SPEAKER_01

I loved the clothing, the music, the cars were really fun, the hairstyles. And I already said this, but I like I like movies that kind of kind of have this scattered plot.

SPEAKER_00

Now, I will say the acting was great, except for the young kid playing Mitch. Yeah. Do you know what he and I remember this driving me crazy when I used to watch this back in the day repeatedly? He messed with his face constantly. He did. He would always do this, this. And it reminded me of when my youngest started performing, he would always mess with clothes on stage. It's like a nervous habit. That's that's a really common one, the clothes. Yes, yeah. And it's and it's a hard thing to break because you're you don't know what to do with your hands sometimes when you're performing. And it's like the nerves are like coursing out of you. And I feel like that kid just kept wiping. He either would hit it like mess with his nose or his hair tuck. His hair took. He did tuck his hair.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god. I was like, stop it. Like which like can be a character choice when used on purpose.

SPEAKER_00

But he did it constantly, and he would always go, as he was saying something, like if sorry, this is a podcast. So he would always grab the bridge of his nose and be like turning his head to the side constantly. If you've if you've never noticed that, go back and watch ten minutes and all your nose. It drove me baddie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But other than that, the acting was great. Yeah, I thought the acting was really good too. I thought everyone did a great job in their roles. Yeah. And to just think about where some of these people went from theirs. Wild. Yeah. And inadvertently, we've done that with our two movies so far. That doesn't always happen. I know. Where it was like a lot of people's first feature film or like the breakout they needed from other things they've been doing.

SPEAKER_00

So well, and also I will say a lot, some of the nostalgia pieces that were fun was keg party, like going to a keg party when you're in high school and somebody somehow got their hands on a keg and you found some random place to have a party. Come on. Oh, and that was so funny when they show up with the keg at his house. And it's like right before his I forgot about that part. And the dad's like, unpack your bags. We're not going anywhere.

SPEAKER_01

And the wife's like, What? I know. I loved, I loved the mom. She was really funny. Yeah, that cracked me up. But the dad is like totally on to it.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I I got I got told that story on this podcast before about how my mom was supposed to go on a business trip and I skipped school the day she was supposed to leave because thinking, oh, I'll be fine, I'll get home and she'll be gone. And I got home and she was still there and she canceled her trip because she was knew I was skipping school. Dang.

SPEAKER_01

I was in so much trouble. So much trouble. Yeah. That's what it reminded me of. Oh my gosh, that's so funny. So, okay, so on a star scale, then one to five, what are you

Ratings Listener Questions And Wrap

SPEAKER_01

giving this one?

SPEAKER_00

I'm gonna, you know, it sucks because I feel like for me, even with the hazing, uh, I still enjoy I enjoyed re-watching it except for Matthew McConaughey's character. Yeah. Uh so I'm gonna give it a 3.5. I think that's what I would give it to. Yeah, I mean point five. Like, I mean, like Troy and I still had a good time watching it. The music was great. It was still fun. I think it's a well-made movie. I do too.

SPEAKER_01

It's just those certain things.

SPEAKER_00

Problematic elements, which is why we do these rewatches, is because it can be nostalgic and problematic to be the same time.

SPEAKER_01

Before I re-watched it in my head, I was thinking of it like, oh, it's like that Stoner film. Like, you know. But then when I was watching it, I was like, it really isn't like it's in there, but there's so much else going on. And I think that's just because that's sort of how it's been classified over the years, that it's kind of like in my brain that way.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But like I I really kind of forgot about the Matthew McConaughey stuff. I knew he was in it, obviously. Yeah. But like his purpose in the film, I sort of forgot, and I forgot the extent of the hazing. So, yeah, to your point, that's why we do this and talk about this for you listeners to hear because I'll go back to it again. I always say this when when we watched Can't Hardly Wait for My Birthday over a year ago, and I was not expecting it to be a nostalgic or problematic situation, and I ended up being one hundred percent. Like, I was like shocked. I know. I was like, wow, I haven't watched this film in probably 15 years, maybe straight through. Like I've quoted things from it, maybe seen little things on social media, but to like watch it start to finish, I was like, What? What I didn't remember any of this. Yeah, yeah. So it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00

And I I knew because I I have watched this movie so many times. I mean, I still remember the lines on lots of parts. I knew I was like, this is gonna be it's gonna be way different to watch as a 45-year-old lady who is aware of a lot of not great things now than I was then, you know. Right. That so, all right.

SPEAKER_01

Well, 3.5 is from both of us. Yeah. Uh, do you love this movie? When was the last time you watched this movie? That's what I want to know. If you have all these things you want to come back on us and say, And are you a female or a male? Because that matters. Also that. And and then we would like to hear um what you think about that. You can send us um inform all that information on our socials. We also have our email address in the show notes. You can send us an email. And while you're at it, why don't you leave us a positive review wherever you are listening? Another podcaster says that um sword and scale. It's a true crime. But he always says, please consider he says, consider leaving a positive review. That's cute, which I love. That's very formal. So it doesn't have to be five stars, but just anything positive. It does and consider it. But it but five stars would be great, as well as some some like writing in there. And we're not yet to triple digits on YouTube. We're close.

SPEAKER_00

So we pissed some people off on the TikTok. On the TikTok, they were not happy with us with the names, the names, because they were so I know what you did last summer, and yes, I think they did use the names from the book that somehow did not come up in in research. And we were talking about why did they use old people names? And people were like, duh, you guys know, like you've watched the movie, right? You know it's based on a book, right? They were mad. They were mad at us. We just let the trolls be trolling. We just let them go.

SPEAKER_01

And hey, it got us a lot of views. It did. And look, they they are very invested in that argument. And look, we love it. We love it. And if you have um anything similarly angry to say on the TikTok about this one, we would love to hear it. We would love to hear it. And um stay with us for the rest of our Xennio Girl summer. And uh, oh yeah. I gotta I gotta get better than meowing. There has to be a step up, guys. I'm gonna practice uh what that was. And catch us next time here on Generation in Between.

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