Bestcasts asks podcasters to discuss the three most memorable episodes of their podcast. Ties are allowed/encouraged. For greater podcast coverage, see Podmass, The A.V. club's weekly roundup of the ideal 'casts available.
The podcasters: As individuals of the manhattan-based comedy collective private Cabin, the fellows of We Hate videos spend virtually as a good deal time making films as they do criticizing them on their weekly podcast. So while a common episode could skewer a particular performance or plot factor, it can additionally play into the group's love of absurdist gags and developing their own loosely defined universe. in the WHM mythos, Wilford Brimley's a threat to toddlers, each female T. rex wears a purple bow on her head, and editorials penned by Jim Belushi have the capability to come to existence.
When hosts Andrew Jupin, Stephen Sajdak, and Eric Szyszka (fourth member Chris Cabin is currently on sabbatical) recently got here to Chicago for a are living taping of Predator 2, The A.V. membership met them over breakfast to talk about their three most memorable episodes. Unsurprisingly, every of their picks is significant not just for its cinematic evaluation, however for the way it extended the reveal's humorous experience of world-constructing.
Episode forty one: "Halloween III: Season Of The Witch"
Andrew Jupin: i wished to highlight Halloween III because it was the first time we realized enthusiasts were making an even bigger deal out of our stupid bits than we had concept. We had this bit where [Tom Atkins] goes into this fake bar we made up called Muldoon's. He spends the entire film lamenting that he's not ingesting.
Eric Szyszka: And where would he hang around? A werewolf bar. He's an everyday and will get in there at 10 a.m. if he wanted to.
AJ: That changed into the genesis of it, as a result of he receives known as in to work at some element within the film. "where did you find him?" "On the ground at Muldoon's." It turned into your bit, Steve.
Stephen Sajdak: I just observed Muldoon's as a name, after which you tied it in to Muldoon from Jurassic Park. We went on a bit rant in regards to the bar having 5 o'clock shooters and him saying "Shoooot her!"
AJ: americans received really excited about that thought. It become after we first begun realizing that individuals have been getting some thing out of the display, in a unusual way.
SS: It turned into after we all started constructing this false world, or whatever it is. It's nothing super specific; greater like these benchmarks. This guy talks like this. Holly Hunter talks like Gary Busey for some intent.
ES: And that stays.
SS: The reveal builds its personal rules.
AJ: also, should you're describing what that bar is, every person can get it. We've all been to that bar. "Oh yeah. That's what they imply by using Muldoon's."
AVC: where did you first word that americans have been paying attention to the area-constructing? On social media?
AJ: Yeah. It changed into stuff like "you should definitely put Muldoon's on a T-shirt."
ES: Which we ended up doing.
AJ: We took their information.
ES: That's additionally a great Chris Cabin episode, who's no longer with us. [Laughs.]
AVC: where did he go precisely?
AJ: His wife's getting her doctorate, so she's researching in Europe for slightly.
ES: That's the CIA cowl story.
AVC: He tends to get probably the most fired-up out of you guys. Do you consider like the Halloween III episode's a superb illustration of that?
ES: a bit bit. on every occasion you have Chris around, you're going to get a rant in there.
AJ: We tried to consider of some decent ones with him in it.
SS: It also took area all the way through the first or 2nd "listener request month," which is a neat issue we all started doing where people get to call in. For a long time, we had been rigging the device. Halloween III was one in every of Andrew's favourite movies, and that i had watched it with Cabin about three months prior and became like, "Oh my God, this film's like this?" Then, when someone requested it, we realized we had an outlet to focus on it. as a result of that's what the whole reveal became lower back then: sitting around and getting drunk and/or different things and looking at dangerous motion pictures. Then Andrew had the theory to place a microphone in front of it.
AJ: I additionally bear in mind that episode being actually handy, which some of those aren't, chiefly in the early going of what we were trying to do. a few of them could be a real slog.
AVC: What became challenging about a few of those early episodes?
AJ: We just didn't know what it became we should be speakme about. in case you analyze a lot of the early episodes, they're 20, 25 minutes, a few of them. We've simply learned how to expand that and figure out what the display must cowl.
SS: It's the handiest component we've ever performed comedically where the viewers is so important, but we also fake that there isn't any viewers. And that's a kind of episodes. Let's simply take a seat around and talk about Halloween III. It's what we'd be doing anyway. but in one of the crucial different prior episodes, there was too a lot artifice and us making an attempt to be like, "Welcome to the reveal!"
AVC: Eric, you're no longer on that episode. What are your feelings on Halloween III?
ES: It's a enjoyable time. It's in fact ridiculous and that i bet there are robots concerned?
AJ: It also has a really pessimistic ending since the guy nonetheless gets away together with his plan.
SS: It's a pleasant Twilight Zone ending where they don't should do any cleanup afterwards. They're simply going to kill each kid, have Tom Atkins screaming, after which cut to black.
ES: The fourth Halloween movie may still had been Michael Myers in a world without infants. that could have been first-rate.
AVC: The film has no bones about harming infants. There's that scene the place the child's Halloween mask explodes into a mass of snakes and insects.
SS: additionally, the indisputable fact that the leading personality's an alcoholic and it's certainly not really addressed. It's just there. It makes him ineffective in that film. It hampers him as a character.
AJ: So lots in order that he tries to call his spouse and is like, "You gotta get the masks faraway from the kid" and she or he's like, "You're under the influence of alcohol, you asshole!"
AVC: There's now not a ton of motion on his half.
ES: neatly, there's some action with that lady.
AJ: That's just one other gross, inappropriate thing.
AVC: Gratuitous nudity isn't as rampant this present day because it changed into within the '80s.
AJ: No, not in that approach. There's lips-on-nipple in that film, and nobody's requesting that. She's like 20 and he's just about 50. It's simply disgusting.
SS: That's the enjoyable part about having a 10-12 months rule, which is totally false, however we are trying to preserve to it for the most half. You get that context. We simply did Batman V Superman, but afterwards, all these people had been like, "You ignored this, you neglected that. How did you now not understand that Jimmy Olsen receives killed in that scene?"
AVC: Wait, what?
SS: Jimmy Olsen is the photographer within the starting of the film who receives shot in the face.
ES: It's no longer observed within the movie. here is minutiae you have to work out with the aid of reading the credit.
AVC: but isn't there a girl within the day by day Planet office named Jenny? i believed she changed into being install to be the female Jimmy Olsen.
SS: That's what i thought, too!
AVC: Did they trade it to a person who gets killed just to give it greater weight?
ES: I consider it's extra like, "Jimmy Olsen, CIA Agent. How cool! How cool is that?"
AJ: It's now not cool at all since it lasts four seconds!
SS: It's a timeless personality for no motive. And the 10-year rule gives you extra time to decide upon up on those forms of things. "remember within the '90s when we have been doing this?" in case you get caught, you will also be like, "study that cell phone."
AVC: changed into there some extent where you decided to no longer just discuss videos you hate, however additionally films you type of appreciate, like Halloween III?
AJ: initially—and nobody ever believes this—we had no thought that there have been different shows like this, as a result of I had on no account listened to podcasts. however after we begun recording and figured that out, we realized there are different indicates that do nothing apart from new motion pictures. How can we distinguish ourselves? We liked observing stuff from the '80s and '90s, so we made that our element for a while.
ES: We take these forgotten movies and highlight them so people can remember them. We recycle them for humor.
Episode 161: "Mortal Kombat"
SS: That was one of those nostalgia-buster episodes. however I additionally think it can be the foremost video game movie ever made.
AJ: i'd tentatively consider that.
ES: It's truly dumb, however so is the game, so...
SS: It's one of the vital handiest video game videos that hits all of its beats. "I wish to watch Johnny Cage do that ball punch." And he does it.
AJ: It doesn't overthink what it's. That Mario Bros. film overthinks itself, simply making an attempt to create this world.
SS: Is there ever going to be a depressing Knight of video video game films?
AJ: somebody who makes a video video game adaptation so tremendous...
SS: ...That it gets nominated for an Oscar.
AJ: No, that's certainly not going to take place. Wait, didn't break-It Ralph get nominated for top-rated Animated function?
SS: That's a superb movie.
AVC: Are there any moments in Mortal Kombat that you trust to be legitimately decent?
ES: The Scorpion/Sub-Zero combat, maybe.
AJ: I guess that holds up.
AVC: Wasn't there a rumor that it turned into Jean-Claude Van Damme secretly playing Scorpion under the masks?
SS: I think he was purported to play Johnny Cage at one point. There turned into a bidding struggle between the Mortal Kombat film and the road Fighter film, and the road Fighter film received.
AVC: have you guys ever idea about doing a highway Fighter episode?
AJ: We recorded it as a live display at some aspect, however we're talking about re-recording it. It was one in all our no longer-as-extremely good reside indicates.
ES: It was in the early days the place there weren't as many individuals popping out.
SS: again when I used to post on the Podmass boards.
AJ: Oh, you sock-puppeted the shit out of those boards.
SS: I under no circumstances sock-puppeted! I all the time stated who i used to be.
ES: I believe your name became WeHateMovies man.
SS: within the early days of Podmass, i was just trying to show peoples' consideration to it.
ES: because truthfully, nobody's going to care otherwise. Three whoever guys are speaking a couple of movie—you must try and recover from that hump, and it's a tricky hump to recover from.
AVC: Did the Mortal Kombat episode grow your fan base like Halloween III did?
AJ: I suppose it opened us up to new people. We ought to balance what we do. We like doing each tentpole videos and these weird things that no one's heard of in twenty years. but definitely, it's a great deal less demanding with the huge movies for somebody to be like, "hello, remember to listen to this. They're talking about this factor that you just're aware about." And Mortal Kombat become a major one for that.
ES: there were also some actually memorable moments, where we stated there being a themed resort for Mortal Kombat, with Raiden narrating the data channel on the inn.
AJ: That in fact catered itself nicely to our query of why any one in the world would try to do an impersonation of Christopher Lambert. however that's what we were doing, and it became just Peter Lorre-lessen-Triumph The Insult comic Dog.
AVC: Did the episode get a lot of listens?
SS: I think it's our second or third most common episode.
AVC: What's the first?
SS: I feel it's Mrs. Doubtfire.
AVC: I'll always watch that if it's on, notwithstanding the conception is inherently creepy.
AJ: Robin Williams is so completely watchable in that film.
ES: It's a creepy basic.
AVC: there are such a lot of circumstances of him having an argument with a person, then they'll depart, and he'll quietly say whatever wily to himself like "showtime."
ES: It's like, "What did you say, Mrs. Doubtfire?" [Laughs.]
AVC: Some friends and that i used to think it turned into humorous to say "showtime" like Williams does in Mrs. Doubtfire correct as a movie or a live performance changed into about to birth. however after he died, doing it simply felt sad.
AJ: That's some thing we've discovered on the exhibit. in case you do some thing lengthy sufficient, americans are going to die.
ES: Paul Walker become the massive one.
SS: We had that working bit in the She's All That episode: "Don't be anxious about Paul Walker. That man's doing nice."
ES: "He's obtained a gazillion dollars."
SS: Then two weeks later, he died.
ES: And the curse was born.
AJ: What's wonderful is that you've got people still finding the show. simply the other day on Twitter, somebody turned into like "Jeez, I just got to the Skulls episode. Wooowww. Awkward, huh?" but that episode came out four years ago. What do you want us to do about it? We're not going to take it down.
ES: once a month, we'll get a comment about Paul Walker.
AJ: and they're all the time the first one who's letting us be aware of, so far as they're concerned.
AVC: Has any one at once worried with a movie ever lashed out at you guys?
ES: We haven't been found out yet. in the event that they do, then they're going to get us. Larry The Cable man's going to hunt us down.
SS: I think like when and if that happens, I'll buckle like a belt. i'll simply be like, "I'm so sorry, sir!"
AJ: you will ask for forgiveness to Larry The Cable guy. "Cool! I'm gonna break your legs." basically, I just remembered a director who got here after us: the man who directed Free business. You guys remember that? He got here after us challenging.
ES: Oh yeah. What he did changed into actually say, "Oh hey, I basically like this, you guys." but then he kept casually mentioning it to his enthusiasts, and they realized we were making fun of the movie. He became actually sicking his enthusiasts on us passive-aggressively.
AJ: It changed into a true, "Get him, boys."
ES: a pair guys commented about how critical Free commercial enterprise changed into to be understood as a geek in these days. and that i'm like, "I bet so, but do you in fact ought to hate ladies?"
AVC: what number of fans did he get to come after you?
ES: He has four. probably five.
AJ: They bought truly aggressive notwithstanding. It was weird. if you must come on the cyber web to look after whatever, why are you opting for Free commercial enterprise to be that combat? That movie's trash.
ES: I bear in mind some of the other huge ones changed into secret guys, which curiously is a cult basic for individuals a little bit younger than us. a lot of people went crazy. It could have in fact began with Cocoon. That become a definite nostalgia buster. no one ever appeared back at Cocoon unless us.
AJ: Ghostbusters II. We ate shit for that one.
ES: Some people have made the argument that we're searching back and punching down on the previous. nevertheless it's a film. We get a lot of flak for workstation stuff. If we element out gay jokes that hit like a thud today, we should, because it's there.
AJ: The argument from these people is at all times, "Why are you ragging on this? That changed into simply the time."
SS: We get a lot of shit for bill & Ted's Bogus experience as a result of we element out that they say "fag" a pair instances. however to me, looking returned at that film, these guys likely wouldn't say that notice. these are guys so fun-loving.
AJ: They're simply gentle stoner kids.
ES: You suggest they aren't skinheads?
SS: They wouldn't say that. The screenwriter wanted to claim that, for anything intent.
AVC: You guys also bring that note up on the Freddy Vs. Jason episode. after I saw that movie as a teen, I didn't consider anything else of it. but that's the total aspect of looking lower back on a movie. You understand something's a problem for those who didn't before.
ES: It's like definite individuals no longer being allowed to sit down at lunch counters. "Why are you making fun of that? It became just the time!"
Episode 229: "star Wars: Episode II—attack Of The Clones"
AVC: if you did Episode I back in 2012, you spoke of you can in no way do Episode II or III.
ES: We went lower back on our be aware just a little.
AJ: Yeah, that changed into us mendacity for ratings. When The force Awakens become coming out, it has been well-nigh 4 years due to the fact we did that.
SS: It's also a type of issues the place I'll hearken to ancient episodes and say, "I hope we may do that once more." I simply comprehend that we're more advantageous now at what we do. We wouldn't have concept to do as many Cliegg Lars jokes if we had completed [Episode II] back in 2012.
ES: It goes again to that idea of world-constructing. Let's no longer be laborious with describing the plot. Let's just have fun with it.
SS: each time one in every of us does a foul impression, that's a cue for all and sundry else. here's now how that guy sounds, and that becomes a dish for jokes.
AVC: And with whatever like Episode II, ninety nine % of your viewers doubtless already understand what the plot is.
ES: So as an alternative, we'll do Nick Nolte as Cliegg Lars.
AJ: The episode was utterly shaped like that. We had been simply firing on all cylinders. It's additionally condensed into a nice operating time. occasionally, we simply flap our gums, and it could actually get long and old. but this is a 90-minute thing. We're playing in that world, and it's just truly loose and enjoyable.
ES: It also gave us an opportunity to speak in regards to the prequels when Anakin Skywalker's now not a baby. There's more happening. It's now not only a pod-race. It's him being an insanely sexually creepy adult.
AVC: George Lucas' concept of romance may be essentially the most unsettling point of II and III.
SS: That should be so vital to the plot.
ES: show them falling in love or whatever. in its place it's just, "Duuuh, I wish to marry you!"
AJ: The element I don't get about it is that [Lucas] has a wife who he naturally met and married. however you hear that communicate, and it's like, "Did you simply get a mail-order bride?" There's no knowing there of how these items naturally advance.
SS: [Anakin and Padmé's] relationship is like people that met at summer camp a very long time in the past, then meet every different once more and have nothing in regular.
AJ: because one person is far greater into it than the other person.
AVC: I have friends whose children have grown up absolutely loving the prequels.
ES: That's part of the unhealthy response we get when covering the prequels. There are people in their 20s who love them, and it's like, "I'm sorry, however you're wrong."
AVC: I be aware convincing myself I appreciated them when they came out.
SS: That's what I did every single time. the first one turned into bad, but i was like "It's awesome, since it's big name Wars!" And it ends with that Darth Maul scene. Then the 2d one doesn't have a baby in a spaceship, so you're like, "That's cool. That's so an awful lot enhanced!" Then two years later, you're like, "Oh, that variety of sucked." and then the last one comes out, and it's like, "Ooo, here is the darkish one."
AJ: i used to be bought on the darkness and turned into simply preaching that far and wide.
ES: It reminds me of that Simpsons episode the place Homer's chasing that roasted pig, and it goes into the water, then it goes down into some mud. "It's still respectable! It's nevertheless good!"
AJ: "It's just a little airborne!"
ES: "It's still good! It's nonetheless respectable!"
AVC: Do you have got a private worst moment in Episode II?
AJ: That marriage ceremony scene for me, the place he goes on within the different motion pictures to no longer bear in mind that these two droids were at his marriage ceremony. How do you not bear in mind that, Darth Vader?
ES: somebody basically tried to name me out on that line—how Vader and C-3PO in no way really meet within the long-established trilogy. So I went lower back to look through it, and nope, they share some screen time within the Empire Strikes lower back when Han's put within the carbon freeze.
AJ: "Oh , there's that droid that was the optimum man at my wedding."
SS: And Vader developed him! I bet that's the most advantageous version of droid racism that occurs in those videos. "they all seem to be the equal." He doesn't even observe that that droid turned into his superior man. The different scene that sticks out is the one where Anakin tells Padmé that he killed all these Sand individuals. It's the choicest example of the film now not working. That's the scene where this persona must be darkish, and it just falls so flat, emphasized via the incontrovertible fact that he tries to throw a cup and it doesn't hit a wall. It just goes off camera. If it hit a wall or something, it might be more dramatic.
AJ: examine him throw that mug!
SS: It doesn't make any sense. If my fiancée asked me what I did right here in Chicago, and i noted, "Oh, I just killed a bunch of Sand individuals," I believe she'd be like, "What the fuck is incorrect with you? I'm calling the police," as hostile to, "I'm so sorry."
ES: leaping off of that, the worst/best part of that film for me really is that Cliegg Lars. not best do I should see Anakin Skywalker as a child, now I ought to see his deadbeat stepfather?
SS: that's the worst case of a stepdad. "Oh, by the way, I lost your mom."
AJ: And he's just not doing anything else. That search is referred to as off. There's no factor now.
ES: It's a misplaced trigger.