Milana Vayntrub - Unsung Cinema

Hi, this is Kathleen Turner, and you're listening to Movie Meltdown. What's up, and welcome to Movie Meltdown's Unsung Cinema. I'm Brian, and I'll be your host in this spin-off series where we welcome a guest to discuss their involvement in film, and then round out the episode with a discussion of a movie that they enjoy that maybe didn't get the respect it deserves. And in this episode, we are talking to not only a brilliant actor and comedian, but I would say one of the most recognizable women in the country. You know her, you love her, it's Milana Vayntrub.

And with that, I say we get right into it as we welcome Milana and start talking movies. So usually I try to start at the very beginning and everybody sort of kind of brings their own weird version of this journey from their childhood. Yours might be slightly different. I don't know. But I mean, normally I ask people what like they were into as far as the arts and movies and.

Stuff when they were young. You, from what I know, started performing really young. Were you already in the industry in some sense before you even had favorite movies? I think movies were a part of my life, like before I even knew that they were a business for sure. Like just, you know, just because it was always on and I had two working parents and it was just like, you know, how we connect and the few VHSs we had at home were watched. many, many times.

And then also just, you know, whatever was on was watched, but I had, uh, a deep, almost like familial connection to, to TV. Definitely. That was, yeah, that was most of my childhood. I think at times I was specifically told go outside for God's sake. So.

Oh, for sure. For sure. And there were times where like, I was told to sit still and just watch TV. Yeah. It is a good babysitter more than people will admit sometimes.

For sure. I rely on it as a babysitter still. Did you have set things that you were like locked into, especially once VHS came into play, like there were just kids would just loop them, you know, it would wear out a VHS on specific movies. Yeah. It's so weird.

The only one I can remember, I wonder if it holds up at all, but I watched it. hundreds of times was Beethoven the movie about the Saint Bernard. The giant dog yeah yeah I it's been a while since I've seen it but I will say I mean to have a movie with Charles Grodin in it that's you know how can you lose there really even if it's a silly kids movie it's Charles Grodin. It's true and it's Charles Grodin like mostly frustrated and enraged which is kind of every really which is the best version of him it's. Yeah I mean even when he's not enraged like just him overwhelmed and just you know you're gonna get that whether he's dealing with Robert De Niro or Muppets like either way like he's just always kind of like exacerbated it's just there's always something that's overwhelming.

Him and there's a big beautiful dog in it which as a kid was all I really wanted was just to be around dogs and so I was of course always on the dog's side and had great empathy for this dog that like, you know, destroyed a dinner party because it saw a squirrel or a cat or something. I'm like, yeah, that's what dogs do. It's your fault for tying it to a table. And it's not the dog's fault that it's so strong and so excited by a cat. So I never like really could side with anyone else.

I was always like, it's, it's the dog is the hero, whether you like it or not. Even if the dog is creating the chaos, the dog is the hero. I mean, that's my, that's my status now, like in life. I'm just like, I'm always team dog. Humans do nothing but let me down.

Dogs are always awesome. Like even when they do something bad, you're like, ah, but they're a dog. Look how cute they are. Like, it's just, I don't know. I'm team dog.

I want to have my feet right now. I am definitely on team dog. So same. Well then I guess as you got into it, like just sort of what led you into, uh, entertainment in general, was it more theater or was it comedy or what did you sort of start down? Well, I started acting at a really young age.

When I was like five, I started going to acting classes and doing commercials like, you know, Barbie commercials and Polly Pocket commercials and things like that. The classics, you know. Yeah, the classics, the good ones, which, by the way, I cannot find online. If I challenge the internet, please, if anybody out there could find one, I would love to see it. My mom would love to see it.

One of the commercials, or you actually want a Polly Pocket at this point? Or both, I mean. If there is a Polly Pocket out there, call me. My mother is dying for one. No, I just, it's crazy that in the information age, I cannot find... these like many commercials that I did with Mattel and all those.

And you see a lot of them with actors from that point. Yeah. It's weird. I've seen so many actors from, you know, 20, 30 years ago that pop up on, you know, Burger King commercials and whatever. And like, so yeah, yours have to be out there somewhere.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So internet, do your thing. Internet, if you're listening. The other thing is, I think I just really loved being on set. more than I was like enamored with film at that age.

I was less like, well, that's not true. I think I was taken by film almost without like connecting the dots in some way as a young kid. Like I would watch movies about, you know, puppies or, you know, all-in-twin movies and get really moved by them or get really inspired by them without thinking of them as having actors in them. And then when I was on set, I didn't. And I like loved being on set.

I loved crafty. I loved makeup. I loved other actors. And I wouldn't fully connect that to like becoming a final project. Just two planes of existence.

Just exactly. Especially entirely separate things. Yeah, this is one is an after school activity. The other is my second mom. Well, and it's also a totally different experience because, you know, every kid kind of has that detached version sitting in front of the tv but like when it's like when you're on the other side you're looking at cameras and sets and teamsters and like crafty and like you've got a whole different you know point of view that that is very different than what you get when you're sitting at home totally well then i guess what led you to eventually you got more into comedy.

Right um i think Oh, waitressing, honestly, was the first step. You loved waitressing so much. You were like, I don't want to do anything else. Well, I found that if I can do bits with my customers and I can make them laugh, I would leave with a higher cash amount at the end of the night. And I worked at, you know, basically like a bowling alley.

And so I was allowed to be really spunky and weird and sometimes like, playfully mean. And, and it really worked. It's also like how I made a lot of friends. And, and so that I found to be like, like, I'm like, oh, this is a part of my personality, I want to exercise anyway. And so that was in college when I was waitressing.

And also in college is when I discovered theater and what is even comedic timing, because I had never performed uh live before really i mean i guess in like school plays but really like i never did community theater or improv growing up or even improv in college and so doing theater taught me comedic timing because you would hear the laugh and. Then it's in person in your face. It's unavoidable exactly and then for waitressing it was also kind of immediate because it was like an numerical value was given to my performance. And that was really fun. And then after college, I dated a guy who took me to an improv show at the UCB.

And I saw Brian Gallivan perform. He got the suggestion, Hollywood Bowl. And he started the scene with, I'm eating breakfast out of my Hollywood Bowl. And I had the reaction that probably a lot of improvisers have, which is like, wait, this is a thing and they're making this up and there are no lines to memorize, but they are just like, and this is a skill you could learn. They have classes for this.

And so I did that. And again, it's like how I made most of my friends out of college and then started making internet videos with the friends that I made in that world and That's how I got my reps and everything kind of came from improv with great credit to the UCB. Definitely. And that's such a weird world in and of itself, because it's like, there's so many different versions of it out there. And so many different people trying completely.

Different approaches and Sometimes it's great and sometimes it's a lot to deal with. So, yeah, it's a lot. Sometimes it's like more work for the audience. Yeah. It's like the audience is like, we have to perform laughter now.

Yeah, that's my nightmare. We have to. It's our job. I guess that's where the laugh comes in and it's our job to do that. That's our cue.

Yeah. This is comedic timing. We laugh now. Yes. The audience has a greater sense of it than the performers sometimes for sure.

And that is also like, that's also like almost a spiritual lesson in like what may happen, who knows what we will channel and what will come out of our mouth in this moment. And sometimes it's great. And sometimes it's a learning experience. And sometimes you're on a high and you've got like many amazing shows. And sometimes you're in a slump, which is very real where you're like, For some reason, when I'm on stage, I'm panicking and I can't think of the next thing to say.

And I'm barely listening to what the person in front of me is saying. And I'm only panicking. And then that is like also an insane life lesson in managing anxiety. Yeah. I mean, not just on stage, but also your day to day life, whether you're a waitress or you're in a business meeting.

Like it's just figuring that out, I guess. And how to like channel anxiety as life force. I like, I had a friend suggest that I take beta blockers and I took them once on set not so long ago. And I was like, oh, my anxiety is gone. Oh shit, my life force is gone.

Like the thing that I have learned to work with that allows me to spontaneously generate is gone. And so it's, it's not for me, but I have a, I probably have a different kind of anxiety that doesn't respond to that. I'm sure it works for. A lot of people. specifically in that scenario it's like yeah part of that is what's fueling you in a performance mode you know it's anything live particular you're going to be like fueled by that so yeah i don't know we we sometimes over medicate our system anymore do you think so do you think some of us perhaps are over as i've said to many people i know all of which were on drugs That I'm just like, what, what, what are we doing? Like, cause that was my thing.

It's like, I'm, I'm not mentally stable, but I feel like learning to manage it is part of it. Like if you're just. Completely blocked of it and then all of a sudden you run out of those drugs, like your brain does not know what to do. Like, so I think, you know, some people need them. I'm not, I'm not cursing them as.

A whole, but. No, and there may be times in my life where like my anxiety isn't driven by performance, but it's driven by, you know, real life stressors where I'm like, yeah, I just want this to go away. I don't need to be quirky right now. I don't need to be clever in this moment. What I need is to calm my body.

And in that moment, it'll be very helpful. But I have learned to use it as jet fuel and– I like, yeah, now I just almost like like it and crave it and want to perform live and want to be put on the spot to see what comes out. There's a balance there. That's what we're all looking for. That's right.

Well, that that you. Mentioned the Internet videos, that's something I was kind of wondering, too, is like just. since you started, you at least had the option of internet videos, which, you know, back in the olden days, nobody even had that. But even since you started doing it, it has changed so much. So what do you, I don't know, what do you even think of the market as it is now of just everybody just throwing stuff out on the internet? I think it is, I mean, when I was starting it, it felt like a little bit like garage bandy, like, okay, everyone's got a band.

And some of the bands are going to hit and some of them aren't. But now it feels like just like having a business card. It's like everybody's got to have something that they can send somebody else to show them that they can do something. And there's no reason to not have it. Or at least, you know, the excuses that we used to have about not having footage don't exist anymore, because our cameras on our phones are so good.

And we can edit for free. And we can do I mean, we can do like amazing post effects for free. And now we're AI generating music like there's, in some ways, it's, you know, for better or worse, I think, honestly, that in some ways, this exists in every industry, I've seen, like, how annoyed small business owners are that now they need to be content creators, let alone performers need to be content creators, you know? Um, and also this, this is true for other businesses where like everyone needs to wear a lot more hats. Like you can't, you're not really just a graphic designer anymore.

You're also an animator. You're also an AI image creator. You're also maybe a web developer, you know, like, um, and that's, true for actors and probably also writers and maybe also stand-ups now is that like you're not just doing stand-up you're also editing your videos now and putting them online and having like a social media strategy at least when I was starting you know this was maybe a decade ago it was really just like in the it was it was fresh YouTube days it was really like how do you make something good and work with other people that perhaps have a following so that you can slowly suck and drip out of their following into your following and then hopefully retain them. Um, and now it feels very much more about like, can you make something that the algorithm likes that has a momentary virality to it and then keep followers from that, which, um, If you have the drive and the energy to do, I think works for people.

Yeah. It does get people cast in things and it does get people to fill theaters and they can tour. And, you know, I think people are a little bit more, they're more Wild Westy than they've ever been because the systems that we've relied on to hire us are less reliable. Just the Wild West now resets itself every few years. Like I remember those early days of the internet, it was the Wild West and people did whatever they wanted back then.

Then a system came into play and kind of set some boundaries. And then five years later, those boundaries didn't apply anymore. It's Wild West again. Yeah. But yeah, you really do have to like just manage everything.

So many different. Things to even compete i think it's just keeping your head above water now you have to do everything. So which which i actually feel the most resentful about now that i am like just a little bit more tired i'm like i i just don't want everybody to always have to have a business all the time yeah i would really love for us to just be like okay we're a species that inherited this planet like can we just chill the fuck out do we all need to be business people all the time can we just enjoy that we have natural wonders around us or can we just go sit in a warm body of water more regularly that was gifted to us by the earth ah that's. Going outside I don't know about that yeah. Just go go outside find find a body of water and rest in it and that may that be as rewarding to you as your bitcoin you know And it's, um, I think that my resentment comes from like how, uh, expensive and mandatory life requires us to be working all the time.

And I want us to be, uh, resting and enjoying more. I definitely am on board with that. There are many times now when I'm like, I just, I just need to stop for a little while. I just, can I just sit down for a minute? So I don't.

Know. It doesn't everybody, it's just, it's out of control. And I've gotten to that point too. I'm just like, you know, sometimes it's okay. Just go take a nap.

You'll be fine. You'll carry on after that. It's okay. Yeah. That's maybe real adulting.

They say that like adulting is like being able to manage your bills while also exercising, while also keeping a clean house, while also staying on top of your job. And I'm like, no, I think real adulting is taking care of your body and mind and friendships and relationships. Setting limits when you need to set limits and coming to terms with that. Yeah. I don't think most people got that in general.

Yeah, I'm working on it still. Well, you mentioned the outdoors. I was going to get into at least a few of the movies specifically. So my first thought in putting this together was, well, we definitely need to talk about Werewolves Within. So that, I mean...

I went back and rewatched it, and the setup for that, it's almost you're being lured into a trap, and pretty much with your character, because it spends that first 15, 20 minutes just making her maybe. The coolest person ever. Was that a lot? Did you feel that reading it before you even made the movie? Or as you're in the middle.

Of this, it's like, is this a weird scenario to be like turned into this? again it was just such an idealized person in general that I'm like no nobody's this cool which yes I know that kind of plays into the movie but. Yeah I mean I think there is that like you know not that she's a manic pixie dream girl but she's a little bit of a dream girl and she's a little bit of like a cool girl like my needs don't matter I'm happy with whatever just put me up in whatever room you got you. Know um she's low maintenance. She's very low maintenance as we like our women to be Um, yeah, I think of that story as actually like, and you know, Josh Rubin and Mishna Wolf, who wrote the movie, um, have never talked to me about this.

And in fact, when I bring this up to them, they kind of look wide eyed and like pat me on the back, like, okay, hysterical much. But I think of this as like a wildly feminist story of like a woman who, you know, I don't know. Can we... I'm not going to give away too much, but like... Yeah, it's up to you.

A woman who comes across as like a perfect woman, a perfect girl, super easygoing, happy with whatever, but is actually like incredibly hurt and taking out her anger on people who are like literally fucking the earth. And... Hurting other women like the people she takes out are the people who cross lines, who don't listen to people when they say no means no. And, you know, insert a giant phallus into the earth to suck oil out of it. It's very allegorical to me.

And I don't think it was anyone's intent. I think they're like, let's just make this giant statue look like a phallus, because it's funny. And I'm like, oh, I get it, because it's Mother Nature's being, you know. And I just added so much feminist morality to it that I'm not sure was intended, but I liked to drive that into the character. Well, definitely, as you're saying that, I'm thinking about it, I'm like, yes, it's a lot of that with you, but I think The overarch, and this really doesn't come into play in the way that the movie, you know, plays out.

But definitely by the end, and that was one of the other cast I was going to bring up is Catherine. By the end, we get to her character and kind of just coming to terms with that same thing. Like, why am I catering to you idiots, in particular, all these stupid men that come into my play? So like, yeah, watching her character, I think by the end is maybe more because again, yours goes through a lot of other stuff. But hers is a little more.

Like real world of like, no, you know what? I'm done with all of you. So yeah, that definitely is a bait. And in like a triangle of sadness kind of way. She's like, wait, I have all the power.

Like I have a place to stay and I have food. And I'm housing all of you ungrateful motherfuckers. Exactly. Which is, again, kind of like very evolved feminine. I think my character was more, you know, toxic feminine.

Yeah. Yeah, she's got some issues, we'll say. Got a little bit of a problem. She's got some unresolved shit. But yeah, you mentioned the go outdoors.

So where did you shoot that and how outdoors, how much of that? Because it's built so much of that movie is just the scenery and the cold and the trapped and all of it. So how much of that was real for you? Really, most of it. I think they did add snowfall here and there.

And they added... you know, wind machines and things like that. And I remember them like retouching up our snow for continuity, but we did shoot it in upstate New York in February. So, uh, a lot of it was real and we stayed at little creepy cabins and, um, some people actually stayed at that inn. I think, I think maybe the producers like slept in rooms at that inn that we shot in. Did it work well horror wise for you?

Are you a horror fan? I'm so loud when I'm afraid. Well, that's just endearing, right? I guess that's the question for whoever's sitting next to you. I saw Weapons in the movie theater.

Which is awesome. Which is awesome. And yes, in retrospect, I loved. But during the movie... I yelled so many times and I was sitting between two friends that I would grab onto and subconsciously, I didn't even know I was yelling.

But while I'm watching the movie, I'm going, why am I doing this? Who needs this? For what? I could be laughing. I could be at a comedy.

I could be watching Superman. Why am I doing it? And then... Afterwards, I'm like, wow, what a trip. They really, I think it's like going on a roller coaster.

It's like, are you a roller coaster person while you're on it? Sometimes you're like, fuck, why am I doing this? But some people could be like, woohoo. And some people could be shitting themselves and then afterwards be like, let's do it again. I think that's how I feel about horrors.

While I'm watching it, I'm like, why. Did, why of all things? Like my life isn't stressful enough. I have to put myself through this synthetic fear. And then afterwards I'm like, what a ride.

It is exhilarating if it's well done. I think that kind of helps, too. Something like that is so well done that it really is a ride. Yeah, that one I do feel like you're better for on the other side. And Werewolves Within is a comedy horror.

Yeah, it's definitely fun. It's a delightful horror. I think teens could watch it and not have nightmares, you know? Yeah, it's fun. It's fun.

But yeah, weapons is heavy. There's a lot going on there. Yeah. Still kind of fun, though, really. Oh, my God.

So fun. So fun. Unless you're sitting next to me. I think the problem, though, too, is that I yell, and so I just frighten more people around me. It's just don't– yes, I will watch it, but I just shouldn't watch it in the company of strangers.

As long as your friends are still friends afterwards, you know, it's part of the experience. Yeah. I appreciate your empathetic approach. You seem like a good guy. Well, and I think the filmmakers would want that.

You know, it's like horror in particular, like they want that. And that's one of the few things that I think still works in the theater now is, you know, comedy and horror. And you feed off of the people around you and it kind of heightens the whole experience that, you know, you don't really get that from dramas and stuff. It's just those two, you know, subgenres that kind of feed off of it. Mm-hmm, an audience.

I agree. One of the other ones I wanted to get to, I did watch Bad Shabbos recently. That cast is pretty amazing. So what was your take on... And again, how is it?

Is Catherine just following you around? Because she's always like, why is she in this too? Don't get me wrong, I love her. Yeah, I wish she would follow me. We're talking about Catherine Curtin, who is...

I mean, she's a blessing to everything she's a part of. She's so passively funny. And, you know, she's like a star of stage and screen and the nicest person ever. I just adore her. I can actually agree with you.

I had her on the show years ago when she had come to a premiere of a movie that was shot near me. And she got on stage afterwards and gave this speech that was like so... Like it was inspiring. It was like she got up there was like because this was a little indie movie and she got in this this whole thing about, you know, supporting independent film and going out there and finding a place for them and building a community to put these together. And by the end was just like so worked up and had the crowd worked up.

And I was like, this is this is an amazing woman. So, yes, she's she's pretty impressive. Yeah, and she totally puts her money where her mouth is in that she does all those indies and she works with new creators and she's just so the real deal. She's really in it because she loves it and she's so good at it. And yet also, you know, you can find her on, you know, the biggest streaming TV series.

In the world right now. So it's like when she's also on Stranger Things, I'm like, well, she's kind of everywhere. You just have to know where. To find her. I'm going to ask her to marry me.

That might go. I'm going to prefer it. It seems like a plan. But yeah, like Curious Edgwick and David Paber and like just that whole cast was amazing. Like Method Man.

I did not expect Method Man to be so damn charming. Like what is up with that? He's my favorite part of the whole movie. He's so much fun. He's epic.

He's epic. And he had these improvs and he was beatboxing in the elevator. And I'm like, I. I wish I could bring so many people along to this experience because it would mean so much to everyone I went to high school with to just be sitting next to Method Man while he beatboxes. And yeah, he's just built to be a performer.

And so different from, yeah, I remember seeing him as he was coming into the music scene and was such a different mode and not doing anything all that different than you would expect someone coming into it from where he came from. And then you watch him sort of broaden his horizons and spread his wings. And now you see him and he's got a streaming show now. And I'm just like, he's built a whole new career out of this entirely different persona that's now kind of flourishing. Yes.

Yeah, he's brilliant. I mean, he's just so special. And that movie would not be what it is without him because... He, you know, the movie is about a family that accidentally kills somebody on Shabbos. And I think.

Like you do, I mean. You know. How many times? You know how we're accidentally violent all the time? Oops, you know.

Whoops, I slipped and killed a man. It happens. It's a comedy. We can do these things. But I think his name is Cliff, but Method Man slash Cliff's participation in it, his character's participation in it, like gives us all a pass because he gives us a pass because he's on board.

The audience, I think comes on board more. You know, like he's like the cool older brother, older uncle. That's like, okay, it happens, which makes the audience feel that way. So yeah, I just really think that was, that was some clutch. There was a lot of clutch casting.

Kira Sedwick as the mom is like so perfect. She's so beautiful and brought this very grounded, likable, neurotic Jewish mom-ism to it that isn't annoying. She does manic very well, but like a reserved, like normal mom version of manic. Yeah, yeah, that's true. And David Pamer, too.

I mean, the whole cast was really such a gift. Megan Leathers, who plays Megan... is also the outsider that approves or jumps on board to protect. And she's somebody that I hadn't seen a lot before, but I think is one of the breakout stars of the movie because she's also so grounded and so funny. And yeah, it's just incredible casting. The whole thing was put together really well.

And really well written. It's actually really smartly written, but doesn't lose any of the comedy in the process. Yeah lots of good comedy definitely and a great message about killing somebody on friday. Night i mean you got to cover your tracks you know it shows you some of the wrong things to do along the way but in the end you know you got to make sure you stick together and come up with the right cover. Story and just have method man standing by.

Definitely method man on your side i All right, well, if you want, I know we have chosen a movie, so we can head into the movie segment here if you are ready. Okay, I'm ready. I will usually give the breakdown. So our unsung cinema feature is Bad Grandpa. The year is 2013.

The director is Jeff Tremaine, and the plot, according to IMDb, 86-year-old Irving takes a trip from Nebraska to North Carolina... to take his eight-year-old grandson, Billy, back to his real father. That's not too far off. I'll give him that. So I suppose, spoiler alert, I don't know how much you can spoil this kind of. A movie, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

So I guess my first question is, I threw it out to you, any movie in the world, why this movie? It's one of my favorites. I... Um, you know, I think a lot of people who work in comedy will watch a comedy and kind of like watch it like a science and be like, okay, how was that edited? And what is, what's the line that made that line work and all that?

What's the timing and the camera and all that? And then in this movie, I just laugh out loud. I have so, and who, we all need that right now. And I think part of it is that it's my favorite thing about it. is all of the real reactions. So to set it up a little more, it's basically a hidden camera feature film with a real story plot, but it's shot out in the world.

And there are things that are more planted than others, but it's Johnny Knoxville, so it's Jack-esque pranks... But with Johnny Knoxville dressed and in very convincing prosthetics as a, did you say 78-year-old man? According to IMDb, 86. 86. Okay, as an 86-year-old man with an adorable, also incredibly convincing child, real child, who was like so on board, so down, so funny.

And they put them in these impossible situations. Also, this is, what was the year you said? 2011, 2013? 2013. Okay, 2013 it.

Came out, so they probably shot it in like 2011, 2012. This is before everybody just had a phone and was filming everything all the time. So there are no real, like, there's not a lot of cell phone action in this. Surprisingly, yeah, even at that point. Yeah.

You would think more of those would come popping out, but yeah, we don't really see a lot. But because of that, I think the audience is really different. surprised by a lot of the shenanigans. No one's like, or maybe if they were, you know, I imagine that like when Borat 2 was filming, they were, there were a lot more people who were like, I'm being tricked. I know this is a hidden camera show, but at the time people really bought into it. And so the reactions from people who are watching this old man lay on a what are they called?

Like one of those mechanically adjustable beds and watch that bed haywire with this old man in it. Their reactions are golden. Like they are acting lessons in themselves. And you watch those reactions and you go, oh, that's not how actors act when they're surprised. This is only how people act when they're surprised.

And so I love watching those reactions. I also find the story to be quite heartfelt and even the character the the actors that are plants that are actors are so good in it and um and i you know and then the actor filmmaker part of me is also really i and i i don't know if you're like this but i have a pitch to the entertainment industry after every movie have the option of a documentary about the making of the movie well. I mean they kind of have that because also in watching this i watched the 0.5 have you seen that no there there is a because i picked it up thinking i was like oh is this the movie and it's it is called bad grandpa 0.5 because i guess they don't even pretend like it's actually a sequel but essentially they've.

Shot so much footage. It was like 60 days of them just going out day after day filming this just to catch some stuff that works, some stuff that doesn't. And like they shot so much. This is basically like feature length, but it's all the other stuff they shot. So there's essentially like, so for you, this is, this is the dream project because it's a whole nother movie essentially that.

Is just more of that footage. The only thing that's different is this one is more, traditional jackass style because you see a lot more behind the scenes. So you'll see him sitting there beforehand going, well, we were going to try to get this shot. So it's a little more interview beforehand. You watch it go good or bad.

And then they come back and go, yeah, that didn't work. So it doesn't have the narrative that like leads you through like the movie does, but it's definitely the same, people the same characters the same people behind the scenes putting this nonsense together so it's very uh it's it's a different vibe because you don't have the story but yeah if you're looking for more reactions from people there is a whole nother 90 minutes waiting for you. Oh my god so. Thank you immediately when we're done you're out to tear out and buy some physical media Cause I didn't see it streaming. Like the movie comes up streaming, but I think this was something they just put out on, on physical media.

So again, I'm usually pushing people to go buy some physical media. So points to them for putting it out. Wow. That's so cool. That's so cool.

That's exactly what I always want with every movie. Now it exists for my favorite. See, there you go. Yeah. Maybe they heard you like the movie.

I had, what's weird is I hadn't seen it. I feel like I'd watched at least the first Jackass movie, maybe in the theater. I can't remember. It's sad. But it's so different than a Jackass movie.

But it's definitely different. Again, like you, you get the Johnny Knoxville vibe more or less, but the thing that sets it apart and that's what, because i was i was watching it and i'm going through and i'm like is the narrative necessary because that was the big difference and i'm like do we do we need that because it's still bits essentially so we're still like every time they stop you could just it's just a different skit from you know much like the jackass show it would just be like every minute they'd go to another thing so i'm like but as it went on it at least gave it momentum and gave it. And like I said, I think I liked it better presented that way than watching the documentary version of it.

It's different. Like I, again, it kind of breaks it and it really, it kind of makes them seem a little more like jackasses, no pun intended, but like you see them setting it up and you see them being like these jerky guys that just want to cause problems with each other behind the scenes. Where you take all of that out within the context. Of the movie. He's not purposefully doing this.

These things just keep happening to him from the storyline. But yeah, I think the main thing that carries it through for me is Billy. And not necessarily even the narrative, but that kid. This Jackson kid. Yeah.

He's so real. He can carry out the performance. Because most kids... knowing that they're acting, would get in there and mess something up or would break character. He never really has character. He is still essentially himself, but he also comes off super genuine while being committed to whatever dumb thing they're making him do.

So it's like he is so good at carrying the stuff that they're throwing him into that you totally buy it. And he still seems like a real kid. Yes. I think he. I read somewhere that he met Johnny Knoxville on another project.

I think it's Fun Size. Oh, they met on Fun Size. I think he was on Fun Size with him, yeah. And he just kept hitting him in the nuts. Which seems about right.

And again, if anything will endear you to Johnny Knoxville, that's probably it. Yeah, it's like someone else fucking with him. Well, I mean, they gave it a name eventually. They called it the Jackson 5. His five fingers going in.

That's very nice. So he's like, hey, hey, you'd like the Jackson 5? And then anybody on the set would get a Jackson 5. Oh, wow. Yeah.

A nightmare. But also, and I don't even have testicle. I'm just so deeply compassionate. I just think you have to find a kid who really loves fucking with people. And he does.

You just found a kid who wants to do this. Also, this child, this is what I'm really curious about. It's like, how do we get this guy on the phone? Like, what's his name? Jackson Nickel, who was maybe like 10 or 12 at the time.

Like, how do we get that guy on the phone now? What's he doing? Well, I was going to say, have you seen it now? Because I only, just in doing, it's sad that I did as much research on Bad Grandpa as I did. I don't know that anyone planned on ever doing research on bad grandpa, but I did go down many a rabbit hole.

And one of which was, it's really funny that the opening of this movie is him like, can we go fishing? And like all he wants to do, he's convinced he's trying to tell grandpa they need to like move to Japan and start working for a fishing company. And like this the whole time is like, I just want to go fishing. That's all he did. As a grown up, like all I basically all I found was his Instagram and his Instagram is just him out on a big boat, like fishing with people, holding up fish on just all these posts.

I'm scrolling through it now. It's all fishing. They maybe pulled that from real life. I know. The kid really liked fishing.

It's really just a guy and a bunch of big fish consistently. And then at the very end, he gets engaged. So now he's all grown up and stuff. What the hell? But you know what?

It seems like he turned out like pretty normal. I know, surprisingly, because usually you get this kid that's that talented this early and throw him in the middle of this and then it just becomes a train wreck. But no, he seems like he had like a normal life at some point. So that's awesome. The scene that I think about when I imagine him being a broken grown-up is the scene where he is the beauty pageant scene.

Yeah, yeah. That's the one I was like, I don't know that they would do now. No, I don't. I don't think they would. Also, what were his parents thinking?

But honestly, it seems like they just knew their kid. I have a four-year-old boy, and I could see... It's not necessarily his style, but I could see how he could be into it. Especially if he wants to be an actor. He's like... how much of this was like pressured onto him and how much of this was like a hell yes from the child.

But there's a scene- I think. You could tell if he was being forced in that scene in particular, because he's just, he gets up there and he's such a ham that you're just like, oh my God, this is just, he's just having a ball doing it. And like, yeah, I. Don't- Part of the behind the scenes that they play when they run the credits is this boy. Okay, so in this scene, the grandpa learns that there's a big cash prize at this beauty pageant.

So they enroll this boy in a girl's beauty pageant in drag. And he, first of all, fucking crushes it. Like every other element of it, he's better than all the little girls who are professional pageant girls. Which, by the way, that main girl is creepy. The one they keep going to.

I'm like, oh, this is like all of those bad documentary shows about pageant girls. She is like the center of it all. Like she is so creepy. Yeah, that reporter must have been a plant and they did such a good job. I mean, that's like.

That's good filmmaking to be like, okay, we're going to need to get like, I'm like, what is the pre-production here? Is that they're like, we're going to want to get interviews with the little girls and all these little girls are probably going to want to talk to a female reporter. So let's get like a pretty female reporter to walk around with a camera and do something for the local news. And again, this is like 2011. And so all these little girls want to be on the local news.

And this is now where moms would be like, no, we don't want this footage to live forever. We know that that's what happened. But in 2011, they're like, sure, make my little girl famous. And then they, yeah, she's creepy. Her mom is also creepy.

Well, she looks just like her. Like you can see, she is the mini me to her. Like it is so disturbing. But Jackson is doing the sexy walk. He's dressed in like a little sailor outfit.

And then, oh, he starts singing some like little sailor song. I don't remember what it was. Do you remember what it was? Uh, he does it again later in the, actually the crew starts singing it to him and then he starts doing the dance, but I can't something. I don't remember.

Yeah. It's like an old timey. Yeah. It's like, yeah, it starts as like an. Old timey and then ends as like Def Leppard where he rips off his little sailor girl outfit.

And underneath is a bra. He keeps his wing wig on, but underneath is like a full, he does a full stripper outfit on a pole, a whole dance number. And everyone in the audience is like covering their eyes, covering their children's eyes. There are judges who are shocked. Although I did see in one bit of like red carpet interview with the director where he did say one of the judges knew.

And so I think they had like strategic plans throughout where one person would know to help the others like play along. Here's one that I, as I, as specifically by the time we got to that scene, I was watching it going. Cause as I'm going through, I'm also playing the like real world game of like, how the hell did they do this? And where did they, so when we got to that one, by the end, I was like, is the whole thing they're doing? Like, did they so far in advance, like they put up flyers, they set this whole thing.

And I don't know this for sure. I'm just like, because they seem to have such a handle on what was. Going to happen. Like again, maybe the other judges didn't even know they just hired people thinking they were coming in to judge a beauty pageant. And like all of the moms got, you know, they just signed up like normal and every other one of these they do.

So like they, I, was trying. To decide if they just completely fabricated the entire beauty pageant so that then at least they don't feel bad ruining someone else's beauty pageant. They made it up, so it's okay if they ruin it. Well, he said that the director said in this red carpet interview that none of the reactions are staged. No, I believe that.

So they didn't even really use the reactions of people who know. Yeah. And I don't think there were that many. I think it was just mostly the crew people that they needed to have the cameras running. But yeah, it seems like most of the people in all the sets were pretty genuine reactions.

Yeah. So impressive. Such impressive filmmaking. I wish there was a way to do this again and I could be a part of it. I mean, you could.

It's just a little more difficult now. It is. The thing that's maybe most impressive, and this was the. Funniest part when I got to this, in all the facts about this, there literally on the rundown says, the first Jackass movie to receive. An Academy Award nomination.

I was like, oh my God. there's a statement you didn't expect ever to see but it's for makeup and it's so damn good. Yes and they use the same makeup team as Borat 2 used I don't know if Borat 1 used the same one but there is a very special little office that like an hour and a half outside of LA that does all of this incredible special effects makeup. And I had to go there once for a job and they have the Johnny Knoxville face. In the display. Well, it's what they were nominated for.

I mean, they, they, Kind of needed to be. I think it's, it's like 11 different prosthetics. It said in like a three hour process every morning that Johnny was on the behind the scenes complaining about. Cause that's his least favorite part. Yeah, I'm sure.

Yeah. And it's not just, it's not just like it works on camera. It had to work in real life. It had to be really good. Which they even in the, in the behind the scenes, they're showing the stuff because they came up with her being like back when they first started jackass and they're showing the old stuff and the old stuff.

Looks like bad. Prosthetic makeup like it looks like somebody dressed up like an old person which they've been doing for years in movies and a lot of them you can even go back and watch and be like oh yeah this looks like a whole bunch of makeup on this person right they show it in like the first movie and they show it in the second movie they bring him back and it gets a little better but yeah by the time you get to this like it's it's pretty convincing like i think you would you would be able to trick a lot of people even standing in front of them yeah. It's incredible It's incredible. And that is why it's my favorite movie. Maybe top five, but it is really special.

And like I said, it's just rare. First of all, comedies are just so much rare. But to have something that really makes you laugh out loud by yourself at home, it's one of those for me. Again, I spent so much time trying to figure out the behind the scenes of it, of just like, how did they get insurance for this movie? Yeah.

I bet they winged a lot of it or like when, yeah, when they mess up the, uh, the motorcycles. When he crashes into the motorcycle, which I was like, did they buy all those and plant them there? I would hope because yeah. How do you cover those costs if it was somebody who's actual motorcycle? So yeah, most of it was.

Like, how much am I trying to decide what's the plant and what's not? And what are you destroying that already belongs to you anyway? And you just set it up there the day before and like, but like the one when he catapults himself through a plate window, which I'm sure was breakaway glass, but still I'm watching it going, you don't know that. Somebody is not going to get hit with something in that. I was like, they're, they're pretty far away, but you don't know that's going to happen in the moment.

I was like, how the hell? And there's such like a business around it. There's so many people, there's vendors outside selling things. So I'm like, how did all those people get there? And how did they not see them replace that glass or put in breakaway glass?

Or, you know, how did they ever test? Did they never test this? Probably not. Again, knowing how much they wing so much of their lives. Yeah.

Maybe not. Which, again, is kind of impressive that there's not a horror story behind this of, like, Johnny Knoxville dead or some stuntman got killed. Yeah. We see that occasionally in movies, and surprisingly, it's not this. One, because some of it I don't know how they.

At least not all of them are, like, death-defying. It's just he's gonna get beat up a lot of times. There's many a time I'm like, yeah, I know Johnny's okay with getting punched in the face, because that's almost like a badge of honor if he suckers somebody that. Much, but. There's definitely moments when I'm like, oh, yeah, he's pretty close right here.

I wonder, like... how all of the injuries and concussions have affected him now. And he's probably like 50 now, right? Yeah. I think he's in, definitely in his like fifties. And I thought they were going to stop because I thought he literally had like, it had become like a brain injury that like, he's still functioning, but like it took, there was some, cause I do remember seeing an interview with him.

Like he was out of commission for like a year or more of like trying to go through, I think mental therapy to some extent and definitely physical therapy because it was affecting his basic process because he'd taken so many hits to the head. Like he literally had concussions. The shoulder and the hip and the knee and all of the normal things that start hurting when you're 50. That I can understand just from all the abuse he's taken over the years. But yeah, I think it got to the point of like enough concussions and taking a toll.

On his brain that. Yeah, he's a football player. you should probably yeah just just it's okay do some more regular acting because i actually like him and other stuff lately i love that reboot series he was really good in like i like that it's i'm like i like i like your regular acting it's okay you don't have to hit yourself in the head with. Stuff i mean. Must hit self in head it just can't stop. It was done at every audition Looking at his list of stuff lately, it was funny.

I was hit and miss on that History of the World Part 2, but casting Johnny Knoxville as Rasputin is maybe the most genius moment of the whole thing. As everyone's continually trying to kill Rasputin. Of course it's Johnny Knoxville. That's perfect. But yeah, I don't know.

I think so much of that is sort of built around the reaction and how much they... They plan stuff out ahead of time because it is interesting going back and watching it after if you see that behind the scenes stuff, because the behind the scenes version of it, there's almost nothing with the kid because I. Think there's so much. Speaking of the insurance, I'm sure there's so much of the stuff that they can't even have the kid around. Like all the all the times Johnny smacks the car into something, he can't even be in the car.

So, like, the behind-the-scenes version of him hitting the penguin. He's not even in the car. There's a dummy in the spot next to them. So when that guy comes out and starts giving him grief, eventually the stuff that's not in the theatrical cut, he goes in and, like, he doesn't even question why there's a child-sized dummy in the seat. The guy yanks the dummy out and starts flinging it around at Johnny as he's arguing with him.

So, like, there's all this weird... cut around that they do successfully in the movie that like now watching it when he goes over to the car and says to johnny that an insert shot of him like hey watch this and i'm like dude he wasn't anywhere near that car so like they do such a convincing job of cutting out the real world stuff that was like again it's it's pieced together better than you would expect a movie that you know oh it's a jackass movie but their editing is pretty impressive. Oh my God. They're editing. Yeah. It's, it's unreal.

And it's, yeah, it's perfect. Including editing out one of the more talented actresses out there. I mean, the, the dead body is supposed to be Catherine Keener, who is in a lot of the behind the scenes version. They shot a bunch. Of bits with her.

Yeah. They took her out of the movie. That must've been what happened. Yeah. So most that you see her is a dummy that's made to look like her that's being toted around.

Yeah. She's in a lot of the behind the scenes and not in a lot of the movie. But yeah, there's a good amount. There's several scenes of her in the, in that other movie that you're going to run out and buy now. So you do get to see her as, as you know, being the, and again, she's so serious in most of her roles.

So seeing her, hanging out with these dorks, making these ridiculous scenes come to life. Living my dream. Exactly. I want to be cut out of a prank movie. She stole your life.

Damn it. But that, yeah, that was interesting. I think that, to me, was maybe the most fascinating. Because, again, the. Weirder sex jokes and the scatological humor...

I think I got over pretty quick. To me, the way more interesting stuff was the dead body stuff. When I'm like, when you're coming face to face with that is one of these people that doesn't know. And they're like, okay. Like you just see them trying to process in the moment of like, how do I deal with this?

And then how do I get out of this scenario? Because this guy's got a dead body. I could be next. You're talking about the scene where he hires movers to move a body. I think about like how many movers did they have to bring in for this?

Like how many different people did they call? How much did they pay him to put a body? And he even says at the end, he's like, well, I had to say I needed you to move a bed because if I had said dead body, I don't think anyone would have answered. And they're just like, fuck you, dude. Like they take the money at the end and they're just like, fuck you.

I can't believe you made us do that. You've got the little kid going, thanks for the crime. Thanks for doing the crime. Yeah, thanks for the crime. I was like, yeah.

And then I also imagine their relief when they say, you know, this is a hidden camera show because they have to get them to sign something, I'm sure. And that must be a joy for them too. I love that I started this out by being like, I'm totally engrossed in this movie and I don't think about the behind the scenes. And I'm like, no way. Actually, I'm always thinking about the behind the scenes.

I'm thinking about the pre-production and the post-production content. when watching this movie. I definitely was. Yeah. The thing that's impressive, there's hardly any people blurred out. So that means they got almost everybody to sign this waiver that I'm like, were they paying after the fact?

I was like, they had to have been. That's the beauty of 2011. There's one lady in the bingo scene that's blur out, like, right in the center. And I'm just like, either this old lady just didn't want to have anything to do with you. Guys, or she just, like, disappeared on them.

They're just like, she was gone. Yeah, they just couldn't get her to sign. They were just like, where did this lady go? She's just like, I can't be on camera for other reasons. But, yeah, everybody else, like, no matter if they're, like, in the middle of the strip club, which you think maybe not everybody wants to sign off that.

They were there. But, like, no, no, they had everybody on board. And, like. There's some crazy stuff that you're admitting you were part of. But yeah, I think the dead body one was the most interesting.

And again, when the cutout version they did where he had it at home and he brought a guy out with like a backhoe to dig a hole in the backyard, again, telling him it was to like plant a tree. And then he's like, well, now that I got you here, I really just want to give my wife a home burial. Can you help me carry her out there? Yeah. And there's like two guys that do it.

Incredible. Yeah, I also, you know, I know they did this with Borat and I wonder if this is true here, is that really you have to talk to the people about non-weird things for about 30 minutes and then once in a while bring up something weird. And then in the edit, they just use the weird thing. I mean, although you just run into that, because I have to say, as I'm watching this, I'm thinking of like times when I'm like, I've ended up in weird scenarios with people saying weird stuff. And I'm like, I sometimes I'm like, I wish this was a hidden camera show, but then at least I wouldn't, I would be relieved that this didn't just happen.

But yeah, there are so many times when people will just say weird stuff in the real world. And I'm like, all right, whatever. It's a Tuesday. This is going on. So I feel like they're just going with it.

Be like, okay, here's a weirdo. There's a lot of weirdos out there. Yeah. Yeah, I know. But it's also like such a example of human psychology that we are just talked into things like that.

Or there's enough that we can just be told like, ah, come on, just help me. Oh, well, all you need to do is this. And people are like, okay, fine. I think it's just the get it over with scenario. Like there's so many people that are just like, What do I have to do to get out of this.

As quickly as possible? And they're like, help you. OK, I'll help you here. Like, let's do this. OK, I'm buying.

Bye. I'm leaving now. I feel like that's how. A lot of us get through those weird scenarios in real life. And they just happen to be filming these.

Yeah, it's true. I mean, I'm I think I'm most grateful that every time I've had a let's just get it over with situation, it hasn't been filmed. But yeah, that's your dream. I would prefer it. You just want it to be Johnny Knoxville.

I guess if at the end of it, it's Johnny Knoxville, then fine, film it. I will betray my morals and integrity for him. Yeah. All right. Good to know.

We've drawn the line. It's Johnny Knoxville. That's where the line is. Well, thank you so much for having me on. This has been so fun.

I thank you for, for giving me a movie and this was. Definitely an interesting one. And, uh, I, I, I feel like that's kind of what put this together for me. It's like I've talked to people for years and the more I deal with people in the real world and the more I come in contact with, again, in those awkward, let's get it over with scenarios, there's so much I don't have in common with everyone in the world. But I feel like there's just so many weird people out there.

And one of the few things that I can find that I connect with people on is movies. So I feel like that's the one thing we have. Our love of films kind of brings people together or hopefully does. So I thank you for coming along on this journey. And do you have new stuff you want to tell people about?

I know there is a giant movie coming out. I didn't know if you were supposed to be talking about that. Yes, there's a giant movie coming out called Project Hail Mary that is out on March 20th, only in theaters and in IMAX. And I think it's going to be a really, really, really good movie. It's a Ryan Gosling directed by Lord Miller.

And I think it's going to be really special. And I think it's going to be good for all ages. And I think there's a beautiful takeaway from it. It's based on a gorgeous book. And I think it's actually going to be visually stunning.

The cinematography, the post effects, it will be studied for generations to come. And then at one point they'll be like, oh, Anne Milano's in it. Somebody's going to say that. Somebody's going to bring it up on your podcast in like 20 years. And then you're going to be like, oh, yeah, Anne Milano was in that.

She was on the show once. They'll be like, oh, no, remember? back when she was just, you know, she was just in that movie before she took over and, you know, became the superstar that we all know her as. Before she revitalized that Beethoven series. Well, no, I think that's what we, okay, wait, I'm piecing it together for you. So it's a hidden camera show where you take a giant dog around with you and whatever crazy things the dogs do.

You get genuine reactions. It's like, yeah, I think we found your true calling now. Like, I think this is it, but. I'm so grateful for this time because I would never have found out what my true calling is without you. It's all come together.

Thank you. So, wow. This has been a beautiful experience for me. So do you. Well, thank you for coming along on this journey.

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Definitely. Otherwise, that about does it. Thanks for listening.

This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown. Produced and edited by the Oddity Studios. with music written and performed by Andrea Davidson. For more on how to sponsor or support the show,