Episode 179: Space Jam: A New Legacy + Space Jam

[00:00:06] I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you just hello everybody welcome back to the film buds podcast this is episode number one hundred and seventy nine and my name is Henry and I'm Paul this week we have a double header for you we have

[00:00:32] both space jams coming up for you we have we're going to be I guess be doing the new one first space jam a new legacy and then we're going to be doing a richer review of the original space jam from nineteen ninety six so

[00:00:47] that'll be great and then I figured we could talk about some of our you know top sports films and you know that genre maybe other stuff we watched who knows what else will come along so thanks again for joining us Paul how are you I'm doing pretty well

[00:01:05] you know it's been a pretty quiet week I got to see friend of the show Nick Delgadillo and he and I talked about space jam and space jam a new legacy because he's he's seen new legacy as well

[00:01:22] and it was a good time beyond that it's been honestly a pretty quiet time on my end how about you yep been okay it's been kind of a I guess you can call a lesser week for me but you know happens to everybody

[00:01:38] but other than that not not too much I mean I posted about on my Instagram but I did get finally received my tickets for the hella megator concert in early August which is Green Day weezer follow up boy and the interrupters which are you know

[00:01:57] pretty much for my favorite bands so that'll be a great time got my train ticket and and hotel for DC and so that'll be something to look forward to other than that not a whole lot else to say I guess what are

[00:02:13] you what's the number one song you want to hear I mean you know Green Day has always been my you know my top favorite by far I don't know if they they just played their first first tour or a first concert a couple of days ago

[00:02:29] after since the pandemic and they had their set their set list on there and there weren't a lot of new ones from the more recent album some hoping they're going to change that a little bit but

[00:02:41] I honestly I'm just going to be excited to see all four of those groups because Green Day is the only one I've seen live of those four so that'll be a good time. Are you worried that it's going to get canceled not that it seems to be going

[00:03:00] they seem to be optimistic I'll say that I if it does I don't know what I'll do cry. Yeah. But so I'm sure you know really hoping it's not hopefully maybe I can get in there just before they start cancelling

[00:03:14] them you know because it was supposed to happen. I guess last year around the same time I guess so it's been a long wait but I'll keep you updated on that. Yeah please do. Yeah. All right. Oh go ahead for listeners by the way Henry is

[00:03:33] currently wearing a Green Day shirt. Yes one of about 25 really yeah something like that. I've been buying them since middle school so you know. Oh wow this is this is like the size I was in middle school

[00:03:46] so I I've never had to you know replace them got you. Well Paul anything else you want to mention before we get started now I've eaten up too much of our listeners time we can get started. Okay. All right let's you know let's get into some some reviews

[00:04:09] let's get to our review of Space Jam a new legacy and we do have a clip so take a listen. Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls we wrap it now we wrap it. Who you really are notorious. Oh boy here goes nothing. What up it's parking.

[00:04:42] Double LG step to me either want no trouble. I was famous before the Internet since 1935 I've been getting respect. I'm super legit every time I'm out with people asking me for this you nobody knows you when you walk the street how your

[00:04:59] last name rhythm and you still off beat from beginning to the end. I'm here for all the smoke you squatting all star you squat is all jokes with one bar most famous of all quotes this battle is now over the that's all folks.

[00:05:13] All right when I stuttered there I sounded like a porky pig or I was about to I was about to say I think that that constitutes as a porky pig impression. Yeah it's fitting so okay a space space Jam a new legacy

[00:05:29] is now in theaters and it's on HBO Max and it's directed by Malcolm D Lee it stars LeBron James Cedric Joe Don Cheadle Chris Davis Sinequa Martin Green say our J right. Who am I forgetting here and anybody Zendaya is several of the voice actors from previous

[00:06:02] Looney Tunes releases but you know that's that's kind of the general expectation but that's everyone. The synopsis is a rogue artificial intelligence kidnaps the son of famed basketball player LeBron James who then has to work with Bugs Bunny to win a basketball game.

[00:06:26] Yeah so of course this is a sequel kind of it's not it's not really much of a sequel but because it's just like the same movie over again. Yeah it's it's I guess has been doing fairly well financially

[00:06:40] not so well critically was there a lot of hype for this one going in or no for people do you know was there a much buzz. I think that I think that there were some people who are interested you know I feel like there was definitely a

[00:06:55] contingent of people who were probably excited for the movie I was hesitantly excited I was hoping for the best. So far also in user reviews it's not doing great I think it's sitting at like a four on IMDB. Oh yeah yeah the letterbox reviews are pretty pretty brutal

[00:07:15] as well. Oh I should jump into those I haven't I haven't read any yet. Yeah. What did you think of it. Yeah I had like I had like negative interest in seeing it not that I'm upset that I watched it because I had seen

[00:07:34] the original Space Jam once when I was a kid and really had nothing no real attachment to it but so going in I was fairly blank and you know LeBron James I mean we will talk about it with the other one Michael Jordan is great

[00:07:49] obviously LeBron James I don't watch a ton of basketball but what I've seen of him I do like and he seems to be a good personality and so I think his his placement in this fits overall.

[00:08:04] I don't seem to hate it as much as a lot of people do I wouldn't necessarily give it a pass either but it's just kind of I saw it a week ago and I remember like almost nothing about it. I've almost forgotten about it at this point.

[00:08:20] Yeah that's pretty fair. So you know I thought it was when I watched it I thought it was entertaining there are a couple moments that I enjoyed but there are still a lot of issues with it that I'll get to later. What about you.

[00:08:34] Yeah like I said I had a certain amount of hesitant excitement you know I thought that if they landed this this could be a lot of fun you know I thought that the first one was fun I had seen it a few times

[00:08:47] since childhood but it wasn't one that I like really went back and rewatched you know a lot. So going into this one you know especially after I heard all the negative reviews I was like well maybe it'll at least hit a point of so bad that it's at

[00:09:05] least enjoyable in that regard and kind of like you said it doesn't even really hit that it's just kind of not very good. And that's that's just kind of it right to the bone is like it's just a not very good movie you know are

[00:09:23] there parts of it that are fine sure are there parts of it that even are good yeah but by and large it's not very good and like I don't necessarily know who it's for because it's not for children you know

[00:09:38] a lot of people have I've seen online have been making the argument of like oh it's for kids like calm down about it at an hour and 55 minutes you're really pushing that definition of four children brutally long.

[00:09:53] So it's I don't know who it's really for at the end of the day because I wouldn't say that it's for fans of the first one because it's not really a sequel but you know when it has elements of the first one

[00:10:07] I wouldn't say that it's it's for new fans though either because if it's for children you know do you mind if I jump into some problems that I have with it. No no go ahead. Okay. So if it's for children why on earth is almost every

[00:10:25] reference that they use an adult property. You don't think the kids would get the Mad Max Fury Road. I don't think that they're getting Mad Max Orange. I don't think that they're getting Casablanca. I don't think that they're getting and you know maybe

[00:10:41] they're getting Casablanca if some of them have maybe seen the old Casablanca Looney Tunes bit but we're getting into like a rabbit hole now at this point to discuss whether or not the children get the joke Rick and Morty show up for Christ's sake.

[00:10:57] Yeah and Paul we should counter blessings. Because you for I can't speak the film but listeners know what Casablanca is because you suggested we review it a few weeks ago. Yeah that's right. So you're we're safe everyone listening is safe you know that's true so

[00:11:21] no I think that it's just a weird movie. You know and what are what are some of your thoughts and what are your some of your negatives with the film or positives you know well I mean like positives I wouldn't say

[00:11:38] maybe towards the end I started to get a little board it was so frantic that I at least like kept some interest in it and it was so weird that I guess I kind of continue to watch it

[00:11:49] with some enjoyment but I mean LeBron James I don't think anyone expects him to be a great actor. He's not really in this but that's okay. He's familiar he's charming enough he does the job. I think Michael Jordan is better for you know multitude of

[00:12:06] reasons but one thing I didn't like I generally enjoy Don Cheetle maybe it's the writing I didn't really enjoy his villain it's just to know it's like it's at 11 all the time he's so he gets to be so mean and it's and spitefully

[00:12:24] just gets really tiresome so he was probably my least favorite part and then also there's this really sudden twist where the kid is like a major dick like he completely hates his dad suddenly and it's just all that stuff didn't really work now

[00:12:42] I mean some people you know all the references to other Warner Brothers properties like I could see how that could be barf inducing and maybe at times it was but I like I enjoyed the Mad Max references and the Mad Max Fury Road

[00:12:57] sequence Casa Blanco that was I mean it was different I wasn't expecting that in this some of the Harry Potter ones and all that was you know it was goofy enough to where I enjoyed and I'm a big Looney Tunes fan so I guess I'm kind of naturally

[00:13:12] inclined to like the characters but really as you're saying way too long like yeah. I like it in both films how long the game goes I like how the game is a big part of it but in this film.

[00:13:29] There's so much beforehand that you have to get through whereas the original is under 90 minutes you know I had one one more thing I was going to mention. Oh in terms of it being for kids like the original I can see that it's it's simple enough

[00:13:46] it's kind of it's charming it's entertaining and like a kid could easily get latched on to that but also one thing that I think the original does better in terms of being a good role model or message for kids is that in that game.

[00:14:05] It's basically just Michael Jordan's Looney Tunes group versus a group of big people and that's it whereas in this both teams start using these ridiculous like cheat codes and alternative moves that are completely within or you know

[00:14:23] only doable in a video game and so like a kid you know watching this who may be an underdog or who may feel he may not be able to you know step up to the plates so to speak. This film isn't really good inspiring representation of that

[00:14:41] whereas the original to a certain extent kind of is and so I feel like kids watching this I don't know what they would really get from it because you're just saying like here use these cheat codes to win you know if you're in a pickle but

[00:14:57] so yeah overall I think that the message of the movie is a bit of a failure. No yeah I think that's fair as far as positives go I think that for me the best sequence of them visiting a property

[00:15:13] is probably when they go to the DC world the DC like animated universe where Daffy Duck is trying to be a superhero. Yeah, yeah, he's staged a train robbery that goes wrong. That for me was probably the best sequence and I think

[00:15:31] that that one was the best because instead of trying to you know just transplant them into a property that already exists you know they created a world that that property exists in like tune world and therefore you know they could really

[00:15:51] play around with that reality and the tropes of it. And that kind of thing whereas with everything else you know it was just an implantation into already existing footage you know it wasn't like Sylvester or you know

[00:16:04] Roadrunner you know like living in a Mad Max world where it was LeBron dressed in a Mad Max outfit as like real life LeBron surrounded by a whole bunch of people you know and then there are also these cartoon characters who are who are

[00:16:20] also in a Mad Max outfit you know a little bit more Roger Ravity kind of and that was the other thing you know I think that this movie lacks some of the technical spectacle of that one because instead of having a be live action LeBron

[00:16:35] interacting with these tunes it's an animated LeBron interacting with the tunes but then the tunes are still tunes everywhere that they go so you know and I'm sorry to pick apart the logic of it you know I know that it is a

[00:16:52] kid's movie to a point but it lacks some of the spectacle that the first one had and some of the technical wizardry that the first one had. I agree on Ali G, our Al G rhythm there we go Al G rhythm

[00:17:08] being pretty awful bad guy first of all his name is terrible second of all and it's not Don Cheadle's fault second of all what does he want you know he sits down and he's like I want to have LeBron make these movies that I've

[00:17:25] created in an algorithm where you know I use a computerized version of his likeness to make movies with LeBron in them now which is an interesting thing for HBO of all people to have their villain want to do but then LeBron says no

[00:17:46] so then he's like haha I'm going to take you captive and I'm going to use you to get out there for my ultimate plan and like we have no idea what that means we have no idea if it's even world domination like it's

[00:18:00] very unclear what he actually wants. Yeah and so the stakes for the movie are very low and therefore it also gets a little bit boring and a little bit hard to care whereas with the Looney Tunes you know

[00:18:13] in the original Space Jam they were in danger of you know being taken by these aliens back to a theme park to work for Evil Danny DeVito. Yeah you know and and Michael Jordan was just caught up in it whereas this movie makes the mistake of trying to

[00:18:32] have it be like some sort of message movie thing for LeBron which also isn't a message that's for kids you know that dad learns a lesson that kids need to be you know who they are which brings us to another issue

[00:18:49] that the movie has which is that I don't find LeBron all that charming and that's because you know he he is a bad dad just sort of for no particular reason but also the kid still has access to all of the stuff he's still been able

[00:19:02] to make the game you know and it's this you know ultra hyper rich lifestyle but I think you know makes it a little bit disingenuous and a little bit distant from landing as a good message for for any average sort of viewer Yeah yeah that's a good point.

[00:19:24] Oh and also one thing about just the storytelling so this guy directed scary movie 5 and Barbershop the next cut and is not night school I think as well his best movie is his undercover brother. Okay yeah not a lot of gems there.

[00:19:44] Would you like to know a little about the production of this movie. Sure. Okay so it was originally supposed to there were a lot of scrap space jam sequels we can get into that in the discussion after the first space jam I guess there were a

[00:20:02] lot of space jam sequels this one finally gets greenlit you know LeBron's involved Justin Lynn was originally supposed to direct he ends up leaving to go and do F9 smart and the 10th fast and furious film.

[00:20:22] And so then they bring in a guy I think his name was Terrence Nance and he starts directing the movie and they get a good way into production and he apparently has been butting heads with the producers and the studio and he ends up quitting. Hmm.

[00:20:43] So then they bring in Malcolm Lee and they finish out the movie and it's during that time that they go in and excise Pepe Lapu from the movie and then they also go in and change the voice of Lola because they had actually done

[00:21:05] apparently most of the voice track or you know a certain amount of the voice track with the original Lola bunny from the first space jam and then they decided to after the new director came in get rid of her and bring in Zendaya. Wow.

[00:21:22] And so that's how we ended up with Space Jam a new legacy. Well Malcolm you did great. Yeah, and so on that point with the storytelling that there is so little plot in this and yet it feels so complicated. Yeah, you know, it's like so many characters.

[00:21:48] You know constantly cutting back to all these different people and it just is so unnecessary and by the end you're like what the hell is going on? Like who's who's with who what's you know this person's motivation etc etc and really you just want to watch some

[00:22:05] like fun goofy basketball with these characters but it's like this the CG is out of control. It's so in your face so glossy and I mean in like the worst way it speaks it speaks to like how studios such as Warner Brothers are making movies

[00:22:26] now where it feels like it came out of a computer. Like it's so polished. It's so glossy and this movie is a kind of a perfect representation of that. Yeah. So yeah, but you know even with all that said like it still was entertaining to a certain extent.

[00:22:45] I didn't I didn't hate it. There were parts of it I liked and so you know I'm definitely not going to trash it like a lot of people did because I was at least somewhat into it as I was watching it.

[00:22:57] No, there were parts that you know I did enjoy that did get a laugh for me. I did like some of the design stuff and things like that. Ultimately I did find the movie I think pretty disappointing

[00:23:12] you know and I didn't I guess expect the world from it but I expected more from it than this. You know I just think that there's there's enough wrong with it that it definitely is not something that I will actively revisit by choice again. Oh God, no. Yeah.

[00:23:35] And yeah, I think that I think that you're right. I think that it's a glossy product. You know this is definitely like content with the capital C. Yeah. Were there any Warner Brothers properties that you were upset they didn't include like I guess aside from the DC one

[00:23:51] not a lot of Christopher Nolan love no Dunkirk references no tenant no exception I had that I could see. You know I'm not upset you know are missing anything you know I'm fine with everything that they used I'm not sure

[00:24:05] if there's anything that I would add if anything I'm more just bothered by how cheaply the usage felt you know ready player one has just as many characters but they do a better job of just sort of having them even though

[00:24:22] they're not necessarily always integrated into the plot. I think they do a better job of having them be there and be in scenes and be in the moment whereas this it oftentimes just sort of feels like a cheap knockoff of that character just sort of being present.

[00:24:38] Yeah, yeah totally and also one thing with the concept of the movie it feels like the studio said here let's not do a sequel to ready player one just yet let's get away with it and do do essentially the same thing but in a space jam

[00:24:55] sequel because like you know there's you know King Kong and all these people who you see used in a similar way in ready player one but it's just regurgitated like three times over in this and so like I because you know I guess ready player

[00:25:10] one came out three years ago or something like that so it just feels like they said let's wait on that let's bank on this and just you know dress it up in a different way. Yeah, yeah so yeah no no great Gatsby reference either Paul

[00:25:30] great Gatsby the biggest one. Uh huh. Was there anything that you were looking forward to or reference wise that you would have liked to have seen? Not really I was I was happy they did a Mad Max one that's

[00:25:43] that was pretty cool so I'm I was content with that. So you know and to be honest I when they were the camera was like roaming all around I couldn't see who was where yeah so I miss I missed 90% of them.

[00:26:00] I was fucking floored by the use of Austin Powers. Oh yeah classic of all the things that they pulled out I could not believe that they pulled out Austin Powers. Yeah well anything else about Space Jam a new legacy and we'll

[00:26:23] get to the first one in a bit. I thought bugs his voice was all over the place. I didn't notice but I don't know for me I've I've heard better bugs. That's fair enough. All right out of five one and a half I'll go to an

[00:26:44] a half to an a very generous yeah I think I on letter box to anybody who follows me there. I think I gave it a three right when I finished but since then I've cooled cool down and went go to 2.5 so leave

[00:27:02] it there it's cemented in stone now for ever more. Yeah. All right well let's let's get to it. Let's get to the original Space Jam from 1996 and we also have a clip for this one so take a listen when the world's

[00:27:19] greatest athlete Michael Jordan teams up with the world's best love cartoon character bugs Bunny you won't believe your eyes. You. You. You're going to do your job. What's going on here. We need your help. You heard the dream team well with the me. Ready.

[00:27:54] Yeah you can get in here you go to the home and dominate we own defense. Oh yeah whoa. Alrighty so this original Space Jam is directed by Joe piteka I think as I said and it stars Michael Jordan of course. Wayne Knight Teresa Randall.

[00:28:20] Penny Bay bridges Brandon Hammond Larry Bird Bill Murray Charles Barkley Patrick Ewing Larry Johnson anybody I'm forgetting really. No yeah and the synopsis is in a desperate attempt to win a basketball match and earn their freedom the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion Michael Jordan.

[00:28:50] So this one definitely has had a bit of a you know a cult classic status over the years and you know I know a lot of people who maybe they watch it when they're kids and they say

[00:29:02] they still love it I tend to think not but you know it's definitely had a bit of a shelf life over the years Paula when was the last time that you had seen this one up until this college maybe maybe sometime after but it had

[00:29:17] been years plural for sure. I don't know what you think of it. I still enjoyed it. You know I was a kid who grew up with it and I enjoyed it the last time that I watched it before this most recent

[00:29:32] time and so yeah you know putting it back on. Yeah I still liked it. Yeah I think overall I enjoy it it's definitely better than the new one and for one thing as we were talking about with that one is it actually looks like a movie.

[00:29:50] Yeah, no like it's it's not constantly in your face. It's got a little bit of a roughness to it and of course that the 90s style just kind of helps make it feel more genuine. Yeah, and it's in contrast to that as well.

[00:30:10] It's it feels so simple like you could see a kid enjoying this yeah and so that's some something that I really enjoyed having watched this one just earlier today or rewatched it rather that I'm like wow I can I can tell what's going on. Yeah,

[00:30:25] it's nice it's straightforward. So Ivan rightman was a producer on this movie and he's you know one of the directors of Ghostbusters or he's the director of the first Ghostbusters and several other Bill Murray comedies and you know I think that they were smart and how they

[00:30:46] had you know Michael Jordan just be Michael Jordan and made it a Looney Tunes movie with Michael Jordan and I think that that is the standalone strength of the movie. It's like an episode of Scooby-Doo that has the Harlem Globe Trotters you know it doesn't suddenly become

[00:31:03] about the Harlem Globe Trotters. Yeah, it's about the Looney Tunes and the Harlem Globe Trotters. It's about the Looney Tunes with you know Michael Jordan and I think that that's what really makes this movie work and it it has the right amount of kind of you know tune

[00:31:23] humor Looney Tunes humor which is physical humor but you know turned up to 11. Yeah, and I think that that's I think that that's definitely on display in this there are some definitely some some visual effects that haven't hold held up as well.

[00:31:39] Now Wayne Knight inflating was truly horrendous to look at. Yeah. But you know honestly like it's just a nice earnest little movie. You know yeah. Also with the relatability of it which is something that you're talking about where

[00:31:59] in a new legacy you know he's still I guess in the movie he's still playing basketball he still he hasn't retired yet I don't think right. He's still in the middle of his career the Braun James. Yeah. Yeah. Whereas in this he's retired from basketball and he's

[00:32:20] trying to play baseball. He's not the best at it but it's still a little bit more of a like he's trying to you know to do more and trying to be great whereas in a new legacy it's like

[00:32:31] he's at the top of his career but he's still just not the best dad and so it doesn't feel as sympathetic in that way and so I think that's why this one succeeds more in that way and the the movie surrounding the basketball game is still

[00:32:50] enjoyable like I'm not just waiting for the basketball game to happen like I still like there's a little bit of character there some humor Bill Murray Murray is great of course. I really enjoyed the baseball scene where the catcher is telling him what pitches are coming you know

[00:33:06] yeah and you could really see like relate to that of like you know a celebrity going somewhere or trying something new and people loving them so much that they're just going to do whatever they can to get on their good side or make them look good and of

[00:33:22] course that you know drives Michael Jordan crazy but so I enjoy it that whole aspect and yeah it's I'll go ahead. Oh no go ahead. I had nothing else. No I really enjoy I enjoy Wayne Knight driving Michael Jordan nuts.

[00:33:40] It gets Wayne Knight gets one of my favorite jokes in which is when he's digging that massive a whole in the golf course and the guys come up. What are you doing fixing a divot? Yeah, what's he doing? He's fixing a divot.

[00:33:55] Yeah and also the visual of him at night in the whole and it's like a like a meteor has just crashed. That's great. And I think you know I think that the villains are fine. You know the villains were fine the little the basketball

[00:34:13] player villains were fine in the last one or you know in Space Jam New Legacy but the monsters are you know just a nice clean iconic cartoon look you know and I enjoy their little nerd look form as well.

[00:34:31] I enjoy the design of Danny DeVito's you know cigar smoking bad guy. It was originally supposed to be a human Danny DeVito and they ended up changing it to a cartoon and I think that that that ended up making it work better

[00:34:48] and that's actually something that I think could have made New Legacy better would have been changing Don Cheadle to a cartoon. Yeah, the time. Yeah. So I think that if you know I had any complain about the movie I definitely would have liked to have maybe trimmed down

[00:35:05] a little bit on the athlete cameos. You know extensiveness you know I'd have rather spent that time with like the Looney Tunes or the Mon Stars after they get their newfound powers and are trying them out for the first time you know I'd have

[00:35:23] definitely preferred something a little bit more like that than than letting Charles Barkley act for you know like three minutes. Yeah, I like I do like it when he's he's at the kids basketball game and the kids are like be gone. It's just walking away in shame.

[00:35:41] That's that was a great moment but I do like the whole aspect of these you know superstars losing their ability. I like that thing. I like it when the three guys the three tall guys are walking in the hospital and they all hit their head

[00:35:54] and fall backwards and you know so yeah it's really overall in comparison. It's just so much more charming and genuine you know and it has more heart in it to me. Let's see what else is there any other big moments for you or anything else about it?

[00:36:15] No, I just I think that even though the movie is simpler in so many ways I think that that's what ultimately makes it a much more effective experience is because Looney Tunes weren't big plot heavy cartoons. Yeah, you know the rabbit season duck season gag you

[00:36:35] know works in a very you know particular bubble that doesn't need a lot of plot around it. And so I think that that's what works great about the first space jam movie is like it's it's not too plotty it's very straightforward. What's your favorite Looney Tunes character?

[00:36:53] Can I include like Yako Wako and Dot in that? Sure. Then Yako Wako and Dot. I'm not sure if he counts as a Looney Tune. I know that he's you know in the Warner Brothers Pantheon and interacted with Looney Tunes cartoons but Freakazoid. Hmm.

[00:37:10] Okay, ever watched that cartoon as a kid? Uh-oh. You should give that one a look. I think you'd even like it as an adult. It was produced by Steven Spielberg. Okay, I will. I don't think I have but yeah, I'll check it out.

[00:37:24] I think for me, I think Bugs Bunny, but I remember as a kid what I enjoyed watching the most was Roadrunner. Okay. I think I enjoyed the Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner dynamic and adventure a little bit more than I did the actual Bugs Bunny cartoons.

[00:37:45] But I think in like the context of like this kind of film, Bugs Bunny is my favorite. Yeah, Bugs is definitely a favorite of mine. I really liked Daffy. Yeah. I really enjoyed all those cartoons, you know, growing up as a kid.

[00:38:01] Like I definitely remember sitting around watching like Kids WB and stuff like that and watching Looney Tunes and here's a question for you. They just popped into my hand. Are you familiar with Mandela Effect? Yeah. The sort of, you know, pop science phenomena. Yeah.

[00:38:21] There's one for Looney Tunes. It's whether or not it's TUNES or TOONS. And are you curious as to which one I would say? Yeah. Okay. Which one when you were a kid do you remember it being? Shoot. Gonna have to cut all the silence out.

[00:38:49] Well, you go first. I'm trying to remember. Well, I, you know, I'm one of the people who would have sworn that it was TOONS because they were cartoons. But the reality is that it's TUNES. I think I was the you. Okay. I think interesting. Yeah. A purist.

[00:39:12] So what would, getting back on track, what do you have any final thoughts on Space Tram? Not too much. It's not one that I'm, you know, would be a favorite of mine or, you know, really had a big impact on me, but it's,

[00:39:27] you know, I can see how it would have for someone else and I can see the merit and it's just not one that, you know, watching it this far removed it didn't really hit me all that hard. Yeah. But it's still, it's enjoyable. It's entertaining.

[00:39:43] You know, does the job. No, for sure. Yeah. All right. Anything anything else about Space Gym? No, I think it's, I think it's great. I think it's fun. I think it's a good one, you know, to show kids. I'd rather you show them this than the new one.

[00:40:01] Oh, yeah. And one of the sequels that we didn't get, sadly was Spy Jam starring Jackie Chan. That is a shame. Yeah. Out of five stars, Paul? I'll go four. Four and I'll go four. Light 3.5. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, with those done, we can move along here.

[00:40:28] So I guess we can discuss sports, the sports genre. We have some, some favorites here prepared before the show. Paul, are you much of a sports movie person? Are there many that you thought of or do you watch them often? I don't watch them often. Not really.

[00:40:50] I've seen a fair few of them. I think they're oftentimes fine. Yeah. I think, I think for me, there's a high bar to cross to make a great sports film for me and most do not. That's fair enough. I guess I kind of have phases.

[00:41:14] I kind of go in and out of my, my interest in sports movies. I always enjoy them and there's a lot of ones I love, but I wouldn't say it's a fairly consistent thing that I do that I watch, but I'm always, I'm always curious about them.

[00:41:30] One way or the other, you know. You know, I think for me, it's just I'm not overly much of a sports person and for the actual real life event. Sure. So it's hard to then go and create a dramatized version of that that I care about. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:41:49] All right. Well, no, I have about 10 ish here. So I had forgotten about a lot of them that I decided to and they're not necessarily, they may not all be five out of fives, but they're ones that I would, I would mention in a

[00:42:04] best of list for myself. Okay. Paul, do you? How do you want to and they're just going to go ahead? No, I was going to say, I would have you just probably like shoot your 10 and then I'll do mine and then we'll

[00:42:19] just sort of have a little discussion. Okay. Uh, all right. So I do not have 10. Shame. All right. So shooting 10 here. So not a whole lot of rank or, or whatever that word is. Uh, so going starting here, God, I cannot talk today.

[00:42:38] I'm going to have to move some things around when I edit. So, all right. So Tal taken, Taladega Knights. Oh, that's a great one. Yeah. Dodgeball. You know, those are kind of maybe basic choices, but you know, bear with me.

[00:42:53] Uh, the fighter that David O Russell, you know, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg film Moneyball is one of the best. I think Blades of Glory, which I just rewatched last night, another Will Ferrell film Rush, one of Ron Howard's, I think few very good movies.

[00:43:14] Field of Dreams is one of the best major league, which I talked about a few weeks ago, Fox catcher, rocky obviously, and then fever pitch with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore is actually one of my all time favorites. Okay. Yeah.

[00:43:33] And there's, you know, there's a few more, but those would be the ones I would, I would think of. What about you? So first off, I have a question. Does Molly's game count? Hmm. Is is like, what is that poker in there?

[00:43:54] And that she starts with skiing of course and then she ends up getting into poker. Yeah. How much skiing is in the movie? Enough for me to remember it. I mean, if they're skiing in there, I wouldn't poker is a sport, but you know, if I, I, I

[00:44:20] wouldn't fight you for it. So you go, yeah, go for it. No, I'll keep it out for to avoid controversy. Well, we'll bring that one back when we do some, you know, like blackjack, you know, poker, poker movies are there. We'll have to look into gambling movies.

[00:44:40] So here's here's mine cool runnings. Oh, yeah. Good moneyball. Yeah. Rush. Oh, nice. Oh, nice. Extremely goofy movie. Okay. Rocky. Yeah. A league of their own. Hmm. That's a good one. Sandlot. Yeah. You, you said them so I added them to my list. Talladega Knights and dodgeball. Nice.

[00:45:09] Raging bull. Hmm. And Creed. Oh yeah. Creed that would, that would be pretty close. But Rocky's on there. That's close enough. So yeah, that's what I thought of. That's a good list. It took me a second to come up with ones that I really

[00:45:31] liked the first one that came to mind was me ball because I found it, you know, it's an Aaron Sorkin script and his dialogue is just so tight. Yeah. So I like rush. I think that that's an underrated movie.

[00:45:44] I don't know why I feel like not many people have seen it, but not a lot of people have seen it. Not a lot of faith there. No, and like I get it, but I definitely think that it's it's one that's worth a view.

[00:46:01] It's probably like his best movie. Who's Sorkin? No, um, rush is probably on Howard's best movie. I mean, Paul, we're I'm sure you're excluding in the heart of the seat, but we'll, yeah, of course. Yeah. No, you know, I, I, I liked your choices of of Taladega

[00:46:27] Knights and dodgeball because I really had like completely blanked out on on both of those. Those are great, great choices. Yeah. Do you like balls? It's been a I remember liking it at the time, but it's been so long that I wouldn't be able to say

[00:46:44] yes or no. I'm horrified to go back to it as am I. Do we want to do that at some point? We'll have to. Yeah, we'll have to. Um, I'm very, yeah, very weary. Yeah. I feel highly highly suspect.

[00:46:59] It could be brutal, but we'll keep that one on the list. And also one thing with Moneyball is it's one of those sports movies that I mean, at least from the people that I've talked to about it.

[00:47:16] It's one that you don't have to like baseball to enjoy it. Yeah, you know, like it's a pretty accessible, compelling idea and concept that I think anyone could get into even if they're not a big sports fan probably. Yeah. So that's yeah, that's a real winner there.

[00:47:36] No, for sure. Uh, I looked at my list and I think it's pretty safe to say that what I prefer is, is, you know, sort of oddball sports interpreted on film or, you know, not, not things like football movies or, or a lot of

[00:47:53] basketball movies, you know, I've got Bob sled and cartoon X games and, you know, NASCAR dodgeball, you know, yeah. Now is point break a sports film? No. Yeah, that's what I thought too. Glad we settled that. Yeah, there, I mean, there are, you know, a few others

[00:48:25] like 42 is a good one with chat or both. Great one. I thought about putting 42 on my list. Trying to think what's another one that's, I know war is one that a lot of people like. Right. Yeah. With Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:46] What about Southpaw with Jake Gyllenhaal? Haven't seen it. It's okay. Oh, what about I Tanya? Oh, that's a great one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Son of a bitch. I can't. Yeah. But I mean, that's a, you know, those are some good, some good picks.

[00:49:04] So, um, I guess recently there haven't been a ton of great ones, I guess, because there's at the end of the day, there's only so much you can do with it. It is just a sport, you know, and so you kind of have

[00:49:18] to find new ways of reinventing it, which is tough. Yeah. The sports movie has the same problem that the musical biopic has, which is, you know, there's depicting real life or the biopic in general really, you know, there's depicting real life and then

[00:49:35] there's trying to find a moment in that person's life and figure out like what the theme of that particular part of it is or what the theme of their overarching life is. And I think that that's where you oftentimes get

[00:49:49] some of the best results of sports movies as opposed to when you just sort of tell what happened. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And going back to one thing that I said with moneyball. What is your favorite Sorkin work? Steve Jobs. Good choice. Yeah. What about you? Social network.

[00:50:17] Oh, good choice. Yeah. All right. Anything else about sports movies at all? No. Yeah. We covered it. Yeah. So and if anyone has questions or comments or you want to tell us yours, the film buds podcast at

[00:50:38] gmail.com is where you can send us some say hello or when we post on social media about this episode, you can just comment with some of your favorite sports films. So we'd love to hear from you if you have any or

[00:50:53] you could just tell us in person if you happen to know us. Whatever works. So. All right, you want to move on to picks of the week? Paul. Sure. Anything else? No, I honestly haven't watched terribly much. I recently rewatched Black Panther that was still tremendous.

[00:51:16] It's the first time I've watched Black Panther since Chadwick Boseman passed. So that was a little bit of a bummer. Yeah. It was it was definitely weird a little bit, you know, kind of like rewatching Dark Knight for the first time, you know, after or, you know,

[00:51:31] watching it knowing, you know, that he was gone. So it was it was one of those sort of experiences a little bit, but it was it was still a great movie. It's still a fantastic movie. It still shows how good a Marvel movie can be

[00:51:47] when they really put their their all into it. Made Black Widow seem all the paler in comparison. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Beyond that, not a lot. Oh, well, one thing Paul actually the other day I was going to log a movie and I saw you had you

[00:52:05] had watched it as well or maybe you just reviewed it a few good men. Yeah. Yeah, I rewatched that the other day. I saw that you had rewatched it and and reviewed it. I added it to I decided to go ahead and like shake

[00:52:20] up my favorites because I really don't have like a set metric of favorites at any given time. And so I decided to go through and purge what I had and change it. And I also didn't want to put something that I didn't

[00:52:35] have a review for you mean the top your favorite for films on the the file. Oh, yeah, I changed those like every day. So you're okay. So yeah, I really enjoy that movie. I think it's great. That's one of my favorite sorkin pieces.

[00:52:53] I think you know, he started out in in theater and a few good men was a play first. And I think that it translates well. I think Robert Einer does a really good job with it. It's a great Tom Cruise performance.

[00:53:08] I really wish that he would go and do more stuff like this again. You know, I love his action stuff, but I would really like to see Tom Cruise do something interesting like a like a few good men again. Yeah, me too. And it's, you know, Jack Nicholson.

[00:53:22] It's one of his best. I mean, he owns that movie. Yeah. Yeah, it's I hadn't seen it in years and I thought it was completely held up and it was it was awesome. So are any others for you? No, but I was going to show you real quickly.

[00:53:40] Boom. Freakazoid season one on DVD. You know, I think I saw a little bit of that. I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about it, but that I know that image is very familiar. Yeah, I'll have to check out more of it because

[00:53:53] yeah, that's that sounds good. All right. So I have a handful of things here. So just bear with me. So I've been watching some Yankee games on TV. That's been fun. They haven't been doing great, but that's okay. Yeah. If you good men is awesome.

[00:54:06] Re-watched RoboCop, which is awesome. Hadn't seen that in a long time. The first one? The first one. Not the remake. Oh no. Okay. Yeah. Well, I won't rewatch that. But no, I love the first RoboCop. Paul, do you? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:54:25] Re-watched another Tom Cruise early film, The Firm, based on the John Grisham novel and overall, I had never seen that before. Overall, I enjoyed it. I really enjoy lawyer courtroom kind of dramas. One thing though, it is offensively long.

[00:54:45] It's over two and a half hours and like it just feels so extended needlessly and you're begging for the end, but I thought it was okay. You're begging for the end. Yeah, but I thought it was okay. I gave it a four out of five.

[00:55:03] So there you go. Re-watched they came together with Paul Rudd and Amy Polar. Paul, have you seen that? No, I remember it coming out, but I didn't see it. Yeah, it's this romantic comedy spoof and it's one of those movies that you're either going to find completely hilarious

[00:55:23] or not at all. And I really enjoyed it. So stupid, but I really find it funny. I think Paul Rudd and Amy Polar are awesome together in it and really everybody in the cast is great. Then re-watched close encounters of the third kind, the

[00:55:39] director's cut, which I mean, I love close encounters. It's still awesome. I probably watch it about once a year or so and yeah, it's it gets better every time. And then lastly, I re-watched the conjuring, which I hadn't seen in ages and I still think it's pretty solid.

[00:55:59] Paul, I know you aren't a big fan of it, but No, I haven't re-watched the first one in a while. You know, maybe I'll warm up to it. I thought it was okay. I didn't hate it. I just didn't see the hype that everyone had for it either.

[00:56:14] Yeah, but you do enjoy insidious a fair bit, right? Yeah, the first one at least. Yeah, but no, it's so it's I thought it was still pretty solid. James Wahn's direction kind of at times gets on my nerves after especially on repeat viewing how he's always moving

[00:56:33] the camera constantly, but for the most part, it's effective. It's kind of toned down and there's a lot of good moments in there, I think and Vera for Miga and Patrick Wilson are awesome as always. So yeah, and I believe that is it. Okay, that's it. Yeah.

[00:56:54] Paula, anything else you want to mention about it? Anything? No, honestly, it's just been pretty quiet. Yeah, you know, yeah. All right. Well, yeah, I guess that is about it for the show. Sadly this week now next week, I think Paul and I were talking

[00:57:14] about about doing low key the whole show. I haven't watched any of it yet. So I got to get on that. Paul, have you finished it? Yeah. Yeah. And then also reviewing per my request doing a whatever you what's it called chaos walking. Yeah, there we go.

[00:57:35] I forgot about that one. Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland been directed by Doug Lyman. Right? It is. Yeah. One of his like thousand movies that he's done over the last couple of years and that one's on on VOD right now.

[00:57:49] So yeah, I think we'll do another doubleheader for next week. So you know, keep an eye out for that and on social media at film buds and at the film buds comm is where you can find out more, more stuff about it rate the show and

[00:58:01] you know review tell your friends if you wouldn't mind. Yeah, well, I mean Paul is always thanks a lot man. Always nice talking. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for for bearing with me through space jam and new legacy. Oh yeah, no problem. All right.

[00:58:17] Well, yeah, we we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and we'll see you next time.