Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (Classic)

Summary

Podcast Summary: How Did This Get Made? – Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (Classic)

Release Date: April 28, 2026
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the "How Did This Get Made?" crew—Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas—take on Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (aka Job's War), the baffling 1996 sequel to the not-much-less-baffling Lawnmower Man. Known for their witty and brutally honest deconstruction of so-bad-they’re-good movies, the hosts wrestle with the film’s nonsensical plot, strange casting choices, inexplicable changes in tone and style, and its vision of “cyberspace.” Personal anecdotes, 90s nostalgia, and a healthy sense of defeat set the tone for an episode that’s both hilarious and cathartic for anyone who has ever watched (or tried to watch) this movie.

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Main Themes

• The utter incoherence of Lawnmower Man 2
• Recurring confusion about plot, casting, and setting
• 90s representations of cyberspace
• The roles of nostalgia and movie rip-offs
• The emotional and technical highs and lows of making the podcast itself

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Deflation: Host Energy Sets the Tone

• The team begins the discussion with Paul sounding “defeated” as he tries to summarize the film, which immediately affects morale. This quickly becomes meta, as Jason and June chide Paul for not bringing enough energy to lift the group out of their collective fog.
  • Memorable Moment (06:07) – June: "I cannot lift us up. I have to be totally, truly honest about."
  • Memorable Moment (08:23) – Paul: "It’s so funny that you guys bring this on me, because I literally thought to myself as I recorded that opening, ‘this is a nice, clean boom, boom, boom opening.’"

2. Plot Disorientation: Attempts to Decode the Movie

• None of the hosts can summarize the movie's plot or motivations, even after previous viewings.
  • Jason (03:10): "Having now seen Lawnmower Man 1 and Lawnmower Man 2, I don’t know what these movies are about. I don’t know what they’re trying to say... It really felt like perhaps a script for something else that they just repurposed for Lawnmower Man 2."
• The film’s connection to Ready Player One (04:17): The dystopian world, cyberspace as escape, and “kids living in subway cars” evoke echoes of Spielberg’s later film.

3. Confusion Over Continuity and Casting

• Discussion of how key roles (Jobe, Dr. Angelo) have been recast or altered, with special bafflement over Max Headroom’s Matt Frewer replacing Jeff Fahey.
• June isn’t sure if she watched the first film, and no one is certain who played whom or what happened in the previous movie.
  • Jason (13:08): "The arc of Lawnmower Man 1, June, just so you know, is that Jeff Fahey is a severely mentally disabled man who is the landscaper..."
  • Paul (22:09): "You replaced Jobe, who is a character within a virtual reality world, with a man who is synonymous with a character in virtual reality world."

4. Visual and Stylistic Oddities

• The hosts are bewildered by the film's inconsistent aspect ratios (4:3, switching to widescreen), sudden shifts to black and white, and the general lack of logic behind these choices.
  • Paul (20:21): "They do a cut to the trial...and it’s in black and white. Why did we go backwards in our technology?"
  • Jason (21:00): "The movie straight out the gate makes like three to four huge choices that are straight bananas."

5. Cyberspace as a 90s Concept

• The group pokes fun at the laughable depiction of digital reality: clunky graphics, flying through “fiber optic tunnels,” and being able to affect the world simply via computers.
  • Jason (39:39): "The version of cyberspace we get in this movie...it's literally as if you go inside the computer."
• Dog as Computer Expert: The hosts laugh about the logic-defying moment where a dog successfully operates computer equipment.
  • June (26:17): "I did have one note, which is, love that dog."
  • Jason (26:59): "The dog is better with computers than my father!"

6. Max Headroom & Meta Casting

• Matt Frewer’s casting as Jobe is discussed in depth, as he is closely associated with Max Headroom, itself a digital/virtual reality character from 80s TV.
  • Jason (22:52): "Matt Frewer, we most know him for being a Cyber character. So why draw that direct parallel now?"
  • Mini deep-dive on Max Headroom, its place in pop culture, and its connection to the film’s director.

7. Rip-Offs & Genre References

• The movie is accused of liberally stealing from Indiana Jones, Goonies, Double Dragon, and Ready Player One.
  • Paul (56:26): "It's Goonies meets Indy meets the Internet. Write the check for me, please."
• The iconic “jacking in” and other 90s cyber-lingo are greeted with giggles and eye-rolls.
  • Jason (33:38): "Please don’t say jacked in."

8. Character and Motivation Puzzles

• The team repeatedly expresses confusion about the motivations of nearly every character, from Jobe to Dr. Trace to the business villains.
  • June (52:59): "I don’t understand anybody’s motivations."
• Relationship between kid and Jobe (the “lawnmower man”) seems perennially odd and under-explained.

9. Production Woes & Anecdotes

• June shares technical misadventures: repeated failed attempts to watch and record the episode, computer shutdowns, and a house with “40 horses” affecting their dog.
• The group gets meta about the curse of the episode, playfully blaming Jobe for their difficulties.
• Tangents about motion-smoothing, improper TV settings, and watching movies at weird brightness.

10. Second Opinions & Amazon Gold

• Paul reads reviewers from Amazon, most of whom are more excited about the first film; some five-star reviews simply say “my grandkids loved it.”
  • Darren Tate (74:18): "Loved the first Lawnmower Man. Really good film. Second film. Hmm, a bit weird. Five stars."
  • Valdon Rawel: "Didn’t play. Total ripoff...Very disappointed. One star."
• A hilarious detour about plug adapters, using other people’s screens, and travel tech mishaps.

11. Box Office & 90s Nostalgia

• Lawnmower Man 2 was a flop, losing over $13 million at the box office and ranking 187th for 1996. It was trounced by Independence Day, Twister, Mission Impossible, and even Space Jam (which, as the hosts note, has better effects).

12. Recommendations: To Watch or Not to Watch?

• June: Hard pass. Found it dispiriting, confusing, and not entertaining: “I did not like it. I don't recommend it. I hated it. I hated talking about it. I hated every attempt I made to watch it.”
• Jason: Surprisingly yes: “It's cuckoo, crazy banana time...If you go into it with the assumption from the jump that you're not going to make heads or tails out of any of this, I think you might have a fun ride.”
• Paul: Leans yes for lovers of cinematic oddities: “I embrace the more insane films. I'm like, what is happening?...I recommend it a lot. Because it's so bizarre.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jason (03:10): “This movie was like...It felt like perhaps a script for something else that they just repurposed for Lawnmower Man 2.”
• June (41:46): “I am really impressed that you both digested so much of this movie. I mean, I found this to be not watchable.”
• Jason (26:59): "The dog is better with computers than my father. It is crazy."
• Paul (56:26): "It's Goonies meets Indy meets the Internet. Write the check for me, please."
• June (80:01): “We are, you know...I don’t know when this is gonna drop, but right now we're just a week past a coup...And this film really pushed me over the edge. I did not like it. I don’t recommend it.”
• Jason (81:16): “Would I recommend it? Yes, absolutely. People should watch this because it's cuckoo crazy banana time.”

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Plot confusion, opening woes: 02:06–06:34
• Casting and Lawnmower Man 1 recap: 13:08–17:10
• Aspect ratio, black and white debate: 16:35–21:15
• Cyberspace as depicted in the 90s: 28:31–31:16
• Max Headroom & Matt Frewer: 22:09–46:00
• Dog uses computer: 26:33–28:11
• What is the Chiron chip/Egypt thing?: 38:51–39:05
• Ready Player One parallels: 24:24–35:36
• Rip-offs: Indy, Goonies, Star Wars, more: 56:26–59:44
• Amazon Second Opinions: 69:05–75:55
• Host recommendations: 79:40–83:22

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Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in comedic befuddlement, as the hosts swerve between pop culture analysis, tech nostalgia, personal anecdotes, and meta-commentary about the act of podcasting while defeated by a film. Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace gets roasted for its lack of coherent story, wild tonal shifts, and dated cyber-fantasy—but the hosts find a strange, almost enjoyable absurdity in the chaos.

Final Take:

• June: Avoid at all costs
• Jason: Watch for the trainwreck factor
• Paul: A “must-watch” for fans of cinematic disasters

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For further discussion, join the new How Did This Get Made? Discord, and check out John Lajoie’s music or the latest plug-worthy projects from the hosts!

Transcript

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In theaters May 22nd. Get tickets now. What if cyberspace wasn't cyber at all and it was real? If that idea sounds super cool, then you're gonna be so excited that we saw Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond Cyberspace, aka Job's War.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Now it's time for failure, not just be a hater.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Catch.

[Paul Shear]

You know, you wonder how did this campaign.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Let's wallow in the mediocri of subpar art. Perhaps we'll find the answer to the

[Paul Shear]

question, how did this get made? Hello people of Earth, and welcome to how did this Get Made? I am Tal John Shear and we are going back to the well of the Lawnmower Man. I guess going back to the mower, I don't know. We have a very fun, crazy way to start off the new year. And I know we already had one episode out, but this is the first episode we were recording in 2021. And what a way to start lawnmower man 2. What you have to know. Do you have to see the first movie to know the second movie? No, not at all. It almost seems like they were independently written. Number two, I would say. What is this movie about? A synopsis of it would be hard for me to parse out. Honestly, it's the first time I'm incredibly stumped about it. All I know is that a guy is in the Internet and he's causing some problems and I think government is involved. I got to get into this with my two co hosts. So let me just bring them out right away. Please welcome Mr. Jason Manzoukas. How are you, Jason?

[Jason Manzoukas]

You know, Paul, I'll be honest. Having now seen Lawnmower Man 1 and Lawnmower Man 2, I don't know what these movies are about. I don't know what they're trying to say. I don't know what they're. I don't know what the themes of them are. This movie was nuts to watch. This movie was like. It really felt like perhaps a. A script for something else that they just repurposed for Lawnmower Man 2. Or like, like in my mind I was like, oh, maybe there's a way in which they took some sort of like cyberspace Goonies adventure because of all the kids. I don't understand why there's all these kids.

[Paul Shear]

A lot of kids, too many kids.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And they just plugged it into this other pre existing property. I. I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. It did though, and I wonder if you will agree with me. Did you feel at all like a tremendous amount of this movie seemed just like the movie Ready Player One?

[Paul Shear]

You know, there was a large element

[Jason Manzoukas]

there living in subway cars, living in dirt. And all they want is to get access to cyberspace because that's where they really want to live. That's where they can fly, that's where they can not. All the pop culture stuff and all that stuff, of course, but like the bones of it felt like Ready Player One to me.

[Paul Shear]

Well, there's so much in this movie that is hard to parse out and I have a million questions about it. I will say that this movie is gonna be exceptionally hard for our next guest to talk about because not only was this an insane film, but we delayed the recording of this episode from when she initially saw it. So I'm not even sure that she remembers seeing this film. But please welcome our other co host, Ms. June Diane Rayfield. Hello, June.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Hi, Paul. How are you?

[Paul Shear]

I'm doing well. How are you?

[June Diane Rayfield]

I'm doing okay. I thought your opening was. I've never heard you so defeated to describe a movie.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I will agree. So much so that you didn't perhaps for the very first time in history, say at the End of your tag. So you know what that means.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, I didn't. I said, oh, wow.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Like you said that when you, when you, when you opened the episode, you were defeated. I agree with you.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I honestly thought you were gonna cry.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I. I was like, oh, no. All hope is lost if we lose all. Let's be honest, like, it's all over.

[June Diane Rayfield]

And I'm looking to you because right now, the place that I'm in, I mean, I've already told both of you before we even started this podcast, like, I'm pretty down as a person. I'm pretty. Feeling pretty sad. And so I was looking to you, Paul, to really come in with a lot of energy, a lot of positivity, a lot of forward motion, because this movie requires it.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Well, you know the saying. As goes Paul, so goes the podcast. So we're really.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I cannot lift us up. I have to be totally, truly honest about.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I'll be honest. I am hanging on by a thread.

[Paul Shear]

Well, I wanna. I wanna assure both of you that I have a genuine excitement about talking about this movie. I cannot wait.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Let's start.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, where is it? Because I was only. When I don't hear. So you know what that means? Upswing. Because that tells me. Yeah, that tells me. You know what? Don't you worry. We got this. But this one, you were like. And I guess it's about a lawnmower. Oh, no, no. And then the theme song played.

[Paul Shear]

You know what? I'm so sorry that I gave you that impression. I literally get nervous doing the opening in front of you. I feel embarrassed because you guys can't speak at a certain point. So sometimes I rush it, sometimes I forget it. So I literally don't know why I would forget it, but.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Well, I mean, I will point out that. And I hope you actually hear this, Paul, and hear what an integral part you are to the podcast. Cause I know we did a live show in New York and my brother in law came to see the live show. And after the show, he said, June, you were so funny. You were so incredible. And he said, and Jason did so great. He really made me laugh. And then he said, and Paul, you did such a great job playing those clips.

[Paul Shear]

Really, it was a real blow. It was a real blow to the ego to get that.

[June Diane Rayfield]

And so I want you to hear how much actually your energy level and what you provide is important. I feel completely dysregulated after your opening.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Here's what I'll say. Like, keep in mind. Keep in mind, Paul, like. Like you just spoke about during that portion of the podcast, June and I cannot speak. And so. Well, that's the truth. When the podcast begins, you are the engine. You are setting the tone. You are. You are driving us forward. You are providing momentum to what we are going to do. And as far as I'm concerned, we're doomed.

[Paul Shear]

It's so funny that you guys bring this on me, because I literally thought to myself as I recorded that opening, this is a nice, clean boom, boom, boom opening. I didn't make it rerecorded a million times.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Is that what you're always trying to get, A boom, boom, boom opening?

[Paul Shear]

You know what? I'm going to redo it just to bring up your spirits, and I don't.

[Jason Manzoukas]

No, no, no. Not redo it.

[Paul Shear]

Not redo it. I'm just going to do it here. The audience is going to hear this whole conversation. I'm not cutting this out. I'm just giving you both and the audience what they need. If you ever thought to yourself, what if cyberspace wasn't cyber at all and it was real, Then you are going to love the film that we just saw. We saw Lawnmower Man 2 Beyond cyberspace, aka Job's War. So you know what that means. There you go. A little bit better. I. I got. I got. You know what? I. I realized why I got tripped up, because I realized that I'm looking at my notes, and it says beyond. It says beyond cyberspace. But the. But another title for this movie is Job's War. And I remembered that as I was doing it. I was like, sheer.

[Jason Manzoukas]

God damn it.

[Paul Shear]

You caught it in the middle of the air. You made that. I. I was so impressed with myself. I. That I. I pulled something I didn't even have.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I like that you call yourself sheer in your head.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, yeah. I got a. I like that you're like, so.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I like that your inner. Your inner monologue is a. Is your bro.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, yeah. I got to. I got to shake myself out of it. I got to get.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You are killing it, buddy.

[Paul Shear]

Sheer, man, you cannot drop the ball on these two. We're in the middle of the.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Of a COVID pandemic looking to you for guidance.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I mean, I think it's become really clear how much we rely on you, because I was like, we have to stop. We have to stop, because I know this is the second time I tried to record this podcast, and I was like, it's. The universe is telling us, like, do not do this.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I wonder. I wonder if.

[Paul Shear]

Agree.

[Jason Manzoukas]

If there is. If, like, we are courting danger by doing this because we tried to do this episode a week ago, not quite a week ago, and failed. Which means, at least for me and I suspect for June, my mind has already wiped the movie's existence from, like, from my memory. I have. I don't remember. I have. I'm looking at my notes and it is gobbledygook. I don't even know why I wrote some of these things.

[Paul Shear]

Look to me. I will be your Sherpa, because I literally wrote to Avril, who picks these films. She is our film producer extraordinaire. She is the one who is behind all these films. And I said, I want to look

[June Diane Rayfield]

to you, babe, but it's hard. You seem leadership has been, you know, rattled.

[Paul Shear]

I'm so impressed that I remember Job's War.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's where I'm at, Job's War. I have. Okay, let's get into it, because I do have a million questions, including the. What you are talking about, the fact that it was called job's war, etc. Etc. Because there's a part of me that is like, was this again, was this because.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Forgive me, are you saying, Jason, that we saw Lawnmower one on this podcast?

[Paul Shear]

Well, that was going to be the

[Jason Manzoukas]

question, but I don't know, maybe perhaps June was not on that episode. And I do not know.

[Paul Shear]

I'm looking at it right now, but

[Jason Manzoukas]

we Definitely did Lawnmower Man 1.

[Paul Shear]

I believe you were June on the

[Jason Manzoukas]

episode, which is not the actor who is playing the cyberspace person in what we just watched that. This is. We weirdly, right? This is Matt Frewer, right? Matt Freer, who in this era of time is synonymous with playing. Why him? Why is Matt Frewer synonymous with playing cyber characters? Because he was also Max Headroom. He was.

[Paul Shear]

I want to get into. I want to get into all. I have a lot to break down for both of you. I want to first reveal the first thing. June was not on the episode of the Lawnmower Man. We were on that episode with Emily Heller and Neil Casey. And I remember this episode very close because it's a Stephen King novella, maybe Lawnmower man and June, just because I want to get your take on the beginning of it, because the only tie that this movie really, truly has to the first film is this opening where the building from the first movie, the ending of the first movie is on fire and exploding. And the way that the first movie ended, and this is the way I remember it was our main. Our leader in that film who Was foe Jeff Foege, who is in the Internet. And it leaves him this cliffhanger because he's, like, trying to get out of the Internet. Trying to get out of the Internet.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, sorry. Can I interrupt you? Sorry, please. The arc of Lawnmower Man 1 June, just so you know, is that Jeff Fahey is a severely mentally disabled man who is the law. Who is the landscaper. Right. Who's a landscaper, by the way.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Let's. Can we just start there for one second? Jason?

[Paul Shear]

He's a lawnmower man. He's a lawnmower man, not a lawnmower man.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Is the phrase lawnmower man a phrase?

[Jason Manzoukas]

No.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Like, that's not. I think you would say, description of like you say, oh, my landscapers are coming over. We're the gardeners.

[Paul Shear]

But okay, let's not get. Let's not get so richy about it. I think most people go, oh, the lawnmower man is here.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I. Is it possible? Is it possible, though? And I. Forgive me if I'm wrong. Did the kid refer to him as the lawnmower man? Like, was it a. I think the.

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I think a lot of people have been a kind of colloquial. Kind of like, they referred to him as the lawnmower man because he is. He is he. Yeah. He's not a landscaper. Like, he doesn't work for a landscaping company. He is just a guy with a lawnmower who mows people's lawns, basically. In. In classic Stephen. Yeah, classic Stephen King. Small town, New England. Great. Blah, blah, blah. He befriends the scientist. The computer scientist guy.

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Who begins experiment. No, it's not Aiden Quinn. Did you think that was Aiden Quinn for some time? Oh, my God.

[Paul Shear]

Wait, you're thinking the person in this movie was Ayn Quinn.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Quinn? You thought that was Aiden Quinn in this movie? Well, that's just as. That's just as crazy as Paul thinking Taylor Swift was in all of Cats.

[Paul Shear]

Well, she was in Cats. I just was confused about who she played in Cats.

[Jason Manzoukas]

So he befriends that scientist. That scientist starts allowing him to access cyberspace, which makes Jeff Fahey's Lawnmower man character a genius. Is that right, Paul?

[Paul Shear]

Yes. And he gets, like, telekinesis, and he starts to grow very rich with his own powers.

[June Diane Rayfield]

But I thought in Lawnmower 2. Lawnmower, wow, that's hard to say. Lawn Mower Man 2. I thought they said this neighborhood, aka Job's War. Job's War. I. I thought the whole thing was that the neighbor was doing experiments on him?

[Paul Shear]

Well, that the neighbor was the scientist.

[Jason Manzoukas]

This neighbor was the scientist he was doing.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh, but now you're saying it was kind of consensual.

[Paul Shear]

Well, I think he was like, hey, can I help you out?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

And he's like, okay, sure.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It was consensual. And then I believe it got out of control and. And the whole thing blew up at the beginning of this movie. Those building explosions are the end of the first movie. Right, Paul?

[Paul Shear]

What? Basically. Yes. Basically what happens is there's another scientist who swaps out this experimental drug. That. Angelo. That's his name. Or Dr. Angelo. Is Pierce Brosnan in it? Dr. Angelo has given Joe. Wait, this medication.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Pierce Brosnan. Oh, my God. That's right. So the. The not Aiden Quinn guy is playing the Pierce Brosnan role, and the Matt Frewer guy is playing the Jeff role. Or are they new characters?

[Paul Shear]

So.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Damn it.

[Paul Shear]

So basically, yes. I mean, basically, Jeff Fahey has been replaced with Matt Frewer, and that's the only recurring character except for the kid who we see in the flashback in the opening, who's like, lawnmower man, it's your birthday. Blow out the candles. That kid.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I did not like that relationship.

[Paul Shear]

I had a couple questions. The. The opening of the film is shot in, like, TV ratio. It's very small. It's not widescreen, which is odd to me because it is a feature film. And then when they go to the

[June Diane Rayfield]

court, if I can just jump in for a second also. So when we. Paul and I tried to watch this the first time, we were having WI FI issues, and we were on. The TV was on, like, that VCR mode. Like sports mode.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, yeah.

[June Diane Rayfield]

So, you know, where everything looks exciting.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Motion smoothing.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah. And so Paul thought that this was just like the tv, you know, I thought that, too. Oh, you thought that too? Yeah. And he.

[Jason Manzoukas]

When it started playing and it was on it and it was giving me a square, I was like, oh, some setting is off.

[Paul Shear]

That's what I. It's too confusing. It's confusing because it's not the way that feature films normally open.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's also not the way. It's also not the way. If you were to watch those scenes of lawnmower Man, 1, they're not in a.4. They're not in a square aspect ratio.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Right?

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. They're not four. Three.

[June Diane Rayfield]

You and I did watch an entire movie when we first started dating. We watched an entire movie at a

[Paul Shear]

hotel where the Brightness, the Manchurian Candidate, the remake.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I know. We've talked about this. The brightness was lit.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And you guys thought it was a choice.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh yeah. And I was like, God, I can't see any of these people.

[Paul Shear]

We were in love. We didn't question things like now where I was like, I need to go fix this motion.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I love those. I love first. I love those things in early on in your relationship where nobody says anything because you're like, I just want to seem as though I'm somebody that rolls with things and is easy to get. Easy breezy.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yes. And I.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Beautiful cover girl.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Right. When you're first dating someone, it's also like we're excited to watch a movie together. Yeah, we're not really watching a movie together. Like we are. We were but like we are just excited to be here together. But we did truly watch the entire thing on.

[Paul Shear]

We did watch that one.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

We had silhouette where the actors were in silhouette. I couldn't imagine it made us. It was kind of like old school school radio presentation of Manchurian Candidate America's best network just got bigger.

[Jason Manzoukas]

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[Paul Shear]

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[Jason Manzoukas]

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[Paul Shear]

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[Jason Manzoukas]

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[Paul Shear]

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[Jason Manzoukas]

It went perfectly.

[Paul Shear]

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[Jason Manzoukas]

They're picking it up tomorrow.

[Paul Shear]

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[June Diane Rayfield]

So what's the problem?

[Paul Shear]

That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes to smoothing. I'm waiting for the catch.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Maybe there's no catch.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Wow, you need to relax.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I need to knock on wood.

[Paul Shear]

Do we have. What is this table wood? I think it's laminate.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, that's good. That's close enough.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Car selling without a catch.

[Paul Shear]

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[June Diane Rayfield]

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[Paul Shear]

I will tell you this much. So what was really got to me besides that it was a 4, 3 ratio, which is like a smaller ratio than the typical widescreen. Is they do a cut to the trial. Whatever trial happened at the end of Lawnmower Man 1, which we were not privy to. And it's in black and white.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yes.

[Paul Shear]

Like, wait, why is this in black and white? This what? Why did we go backwards in our technology?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Because the black and white seems to tell me this is almost like 1950s newsreel footage.

[Paul Shear]

That's exactly what I was like saying. I was like, why?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Why are we like.

[Paul Shear]

That's why. It further confused me like, something is really wrong with this rental.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

Amazon has messed it up.

[Jason Manzoukas]

To be clear, the movie straight out of the gate makes like three to four huge choices that are straight bananas. One is that they've replaced the lead actor. Two.

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Is that it begins in a weird aspect ratio and is quoting the last movie. Three, the black and white video courtroom drama that I was confused by. That is also makes me confused. What is the timeline. And then four, when they go and they get Dr. What's his name, who invented cyberspace. So you're telling me that's what he was?

[June Diane Rayfield]

Well, I also thought he was Tommy Wiseau for like, I think actually, I

[Jason Manzoukas]

guess second he came on screen, I get. I mean, I understand that he looks

[Paul Shear]

a little bit like Jeff Fahey. I have to say, I was like, past somebody who looks like Jeff Fahey.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It looks a little bit like Jeff Fahey. Also looked a little bit like John Savage, who's another character actor from that era. And I was like, wait a minute. Are they. So I was. For the first 15 minutes of the movie, I genuinely was like, I don't know what's going on.

[Paul Shear]

And can I just also just add one. One more level of just. These are all things that are visually confusing. Now I'm going to add something that's mentally confusing. You replaced Jobe, who is a character within a virtual reality world, with a man who is synonymous with a character in virtual reality world. Like, Matt Frere played Max Headroom. Like, there is like, why, why, why such.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's such a. I kept. I wrote this too. I was like, this makes no sense. He. Matt Frewer most. We most know him for being a Cyber character. So why draw that direct parallel now?

[Paul Shear]

You know, I found out because apparently this movie was written by Farhad man,

[Jason Manzoukas]

who also directed it. Right.

[Paul Shear]

Who also directed it, who wrote Max Headroom and directed episodes of Max Headroom. So this is like his world. This is his sweet spot. He was locked out of the editing room by producers who. Yeah, who. Apparently the producers wanted a movie that would appeal more to their target demo, which was teenage boys. So there seems to be a lot of issues here. But I guess going back to where you both thought I was depressed, I'm having a real hard time understanding what this movie is about and what they are trying to achieve in the. In the basis in the base level. Like, what's the one liner about this movie? Like, what is also.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Also like? Clearly, Job, the character now played by Matt Frewer, is simultaneously for the. The. My. What I think is he is both a protagonist in this movie and unequivocally the antagonist of this movie. Right. So he. He is like, if cyberspace dies, then I die. So he contacts his, like, young friend through cyberspace to be like, you have to save me if cyberspace is dying. And if it dies, I'll die. You have to come save me. And by the way, we.

[Paul Shear]

The world that We Lawnmower Man 1 takes place in a world that we know that is very familiar to us. Nothing is unique about it. Oh, like in the. You know.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, yeah. You know, it's like. It's like a Stephen King small New England town. It's like somebody's mowing the lawn. People are doing this and that. It's a very. It's not a dystopia at all.

[Paul Shear]

And 10 years pass and we are automatically in the world of Super Mario Brothers or Double Dragon, where it is Trash Can Fire City. Like the. And we are also in a major metropolitan city. The kid that we were introduced to in the first movie who had a relationship with the Lawnmower man, who becomes the protagonist here, is older, but the world has, like, darkened and yet cyberspace didn't take over.

[Jason Manzoukas]

The world has fallen apart in a way that previous to the last two years, I wouldn't have thought could happen so fast. And now I'm like, oh, yeah. No, I think maybe they were right. It's very likely we could be living in Lawnmower Man 2 next year.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's why I was unsettled by it.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, I mean, I could very easily see living in abandoned subway cars

[June Diane Rayfield]

in

[Jason Manzoukas]

the very near future.

[Paul Shear]

But by the way, these, like, again, only A few years have passed. This kid was living in a nice suburban town, and now he is working out of a subway car with a bunch of, you know, again, very much like that Alyssa Milano movie Double Dragon, where they're just. They're kind of under the sewers. Just.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Here's what I'll say. I kind of loved the young punks in Love Story. I kind of loved him and his girlfriend and their band of, you know, cyberpunk friends, like, getting up to hijinks in this dystopia. You know, Like, I didn't mind that

[June Diane Rayfield]

there were so many of them. I couldn't keep tabs on them. I did. I did have one note, which is, love that dog.

[Paul Shear]

So always this dog.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Whoa, the dog. Oh, you mean the dog. The dog that knows how to use a computer.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah, the dog who doesn't.

[Paul Shear]

Jason, the dog doesn't know how to use a computer. Well, yes, he does.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yes, it does.

[Paul Shear]

More. Yes, I was gonna say. I was gonna say, not only does he know how to use a computer, he literally can manipulate, like, a floppy disk or like a cd.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Like a mini disc.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, yeah. And insert it into the computer. Like, when he.

[Jason Manzoukas]

When that dog talk.

[Paul Shear]

When that dog wall put a thing.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Listen to me. The dog is better with computers.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Realistic part of the movie.

[Jason Manzoukas]

The dog is better with computers than my father. It is crazy. Like, the dog can execute complex communication, complex computer functions better than my dad. It's like.

[Paul Shear]

Like.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Like the dog. Like, literally, is it. When they're trapped in cyberspace so much like, again, much like, ready, Player one. The kids all live in. The kids are all, like, orphans. They live in a subway car. And so the only thing that gives them pleasure, the only escape they have, is they steal access codes to get into, quote, unquote, cyberspace. And when they get into cyberspace, they can fly, they can ride bikes, they can go to the jungle. They can experience a life that isn't the destroyed life they're living in.

[Paul Shear]

But I need to talk about a couple things here, because there's a couple things. First, the way they communicate to that dog is the kid literally looks down the barrel of the camera and is like, okay, Baxter, hit the thing.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Do the puppy.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's your dog. That was your old dog, Paul.

[Paul Shear]

I know, but I was just using it as an example. I don't remember the dog.

[June Diane Rayfield]

All right, well, you have a new dog now.

[Paul Shear]

Meatball. Meatball, put the disc in. And I'm like, where. Who is he addressing? Like, if you're in a virtual reality world, like, you just don't turn to. Like, he turned to the camera. And I guess the thing that I love about this movie, because this movie isn't that old, right? It's not like this movie came out.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, what year is it? Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

1996. Okay. And they're still in this, like, disclosure world where, like, the biggest idea of cyberspace is you either standing in a room full of giant files, like, you know, it's like, oh, this. Sure, I'm literally in my desktop, and. But when these kids go into cyberspace. As someone who has been in cyberspace. Yes, I have an Oculus Quest. Yes, I have.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I've also been in cyberspace.

[Paul Shear]

You've been like, you.

[Jason Manzoukas]

This idea that you have never been in cyberspace.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh, Jason, once, you know, we return to the real world, I want you to get out of it and into cyberspace at our home.

[Paul Shear]

I want to. You will love the Star wars game. There's a great Star wars game that you will go bananas for.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I never put on a VR headset.

[June Diane Rayfield]

You know what? As somebody who was really resistant to it, and I will advise, like, do not. It's. It's tough to watch your loved ones in cyberspace. It's, like, sort of like watching someone. It looks like, very masturbatory and weird. Like, it's very.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You mean like, just somebody doing stuff in.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Walking around the house and being in cyberspace, like, it's. It. It should be a private experience, I think.

[Paul Shear]

But I agree. I've done it plenty of times privately, and it's. It's way. Yeah, that sounds creepy, but okay.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Although you have to be careful, because my sister. We put the goggles on my sister, and she did a game called, like, bar fight, and she almost knocked herself out, destroyed our tv. Like you. She almost punched through our television.

[Jason Manzoukas]

She does, though, have untapped anger reserves, so.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's very true.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It might have just unlocked something.

[June Diane Rayfield]

It's really amazing.

[Paul Shear]

There are. There are, like, boundaries, and you have to pay attention to them. Like. Like, as a. Like, you still have to have that disconnect in your life to be like. Right. Like, when that shows me I'm in a warning zone, I have to adjust to that.

[June Diane Rayfield]

But I think your sister was somebody who's, like, very. Which I think my sister is, and I am too, like, very susceptible to hypnosis, et cetera. Then. Then it. It could be very physically dangerous.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I. I get that. The. The version of cyberspace we get in this movie, though, is. Is part of what used to be part of how we represented the idea of cyberspace back in the 90s, which was. It's literally as if you go inside the computer. So they're, like, in tunnels. They're flying through tunnels. But you realize those tunnels are fiber optic cables or those tunnels are circuit boards. And then it's like they fly like they're physically inside a computer. And that's. That's just not at all what's happening.

[Paul Shear]

It's like they're flying through, like, the Bill and Ted's, like, time circuits. Yes.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Why hasn't. Because I. You know, I am curious. During this pandemic, like, I know you're on Twitch. I know you're doing all sorts of different platforms and things, but why haven't you done anything in cyberspace? Like, what's going on?

[Paul Shear]

I have done. I've done a show in cyberspace, but not during the pandemic, because my big VR system is. I feel like VR hasn't really cracked it. Altspace tried to do some stuff in there that was good. Reggie Watts actually was very much at the forefront of doing comedy shows there. But it's a little like, if you're gonna.

[June Diane Rayfield]

There's no way we could do a live. How this get made in cyberspace.

[Jason Manzoukas]

We could definitely do it. We could definitely do with, like, avatars of ourselves. Everybody could be. But here would be my question. My suspicion is not enough people have headsets.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh, yeah. I guess that's pretty limited.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Well, that's still prohibitively expensive.

[Paul Shear]

Well, not Oculus Quest. Like, Oculus Quest, you can get for 200 bucks. And it's one piece. You don't have to hook up to a big computer. It lacks some of the larger elements that make a fuller VR experience really crazy. But I think it's equally as good. I mean, I would.

[Jason Manzoukas]

If it makes sense. I would 100% do a VR. I mean, this would have been a

[June Diane Rayfield]

great show to do.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, my God.

[Paul Shear]

We should have saved it. Maybe this is the reason why we weren't able to record it the first time, because Jobe was trying to give us a message from the world of cyberspace, stop us from recording. Because he's a. He's a. Yeah, he's a real Mick.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I want to be very clear about something. Even if I'm in cyberspace, I don't want any of your avatars to try and touch my avatar.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Why are you saying we need to be avatars?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Because wouldn't it. Wouldn't we have to choose how we are physically represented in cyberspace?

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, yeah, right. As our avatar. Some something June, you would look like my avatar looked like me. But you know, if you, June wanted, you could have wings and a tail if you wanted.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You wouldn't, you wouldn't. It wouldn't be a photo representation of us. It would be.

[Paul Shear]

It was a.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Some sort of thing, an animated character.

[Paul Shear]

I did a house party show and everyone's hanging out at the house party and it's kind of playing around and doing bits of people in the audience. But there is a little bit of a. It's a little bit of a lag. But I never, at any point when I put in my stuff, I never jacked in and, and flew through wires.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Please don't say jacked in.

[Paul Shear]

You know, I never jacked in.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, and especially the way you're leaning into jacked.

[Paul Shear]

But I mean, here's the thing.

[Jason Manzoukas]

They jacked in so many times in this. I was like, oh my, no, thank you.

[Paul Shear]

I mean, they had to know that jacked in meant something back then. But when they meet Lawnmower man and these kids have been. I mean, again, this is where I'm unclear on what. Like, why is cyberspace going away? Like, because it does have. The movie does at a certain point. And June, I know you haven't seen it hits a very big similarity with Wonder Woman 84 at the end where Matt Frewer is like, everybody come in, I'll give it to you all. And there seems to be this disconnect of like they're just in cyberspace, but yet if you knock off the glasses, they're back to normal. But yet they act as if they're trapped in this world. They're not. They're not like physically.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah. What is the actual threat? What is the big picture threat that Job presents to the larger world?

[June Diane Rayfield]

Not because he can access all computers.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Is that it? Okay, but wasn't he building a real city?

[Paul Shear]

Wasn't he making a virtual city into a real city? And that was a part of it because they showed you that like glass city and like this virtual world is going to become real. And then it was like all these castles and pillars and it's like, okay, so what is that? And then he brings all these people into a virtual world and then kind

[Jason Manzoukas]

of ready Player one. Paul, isn't that kind of ready Player one. Where people would rather land, people would rather live in this utopia, this cyber utopia where they go on adventures and they can race cars and they can do all this stuff rather than lead their miserable, poverty stricken lives of the dystopia that is now, you know, the world we live in.

[Paul Shear]

I'm reading the Wikipedia page.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I only saw Ready Player one once, and I didn't enjoy it and I didn't read the book. So I'm just going off.

[Paul Shear]

I read the book. The book is great. I did not enjoy the movie. All right, so this is what. Okay, this is what I guess the plot is, because I know people who are listening are probably furious that we're not understanding it. It says the founder of virtual reality, Dr. Benjamin Trace, who's a guy that you think looks like Tommy Wiseau, has lost a legal battle to.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Can we just very briefly describe him for a second? When we meet him, he is in full cultural appropriation mode, where he is wearing Native American jewelry and items. He's appropriated all sorts of shamanistic looks from different traditions. And he looks like he's also trying to do Indiana Jones.

[Paul Shear]

And he looks like the star of a Cinemax skin flick. He's got that kind of build that the hair is just, like, long enough, like two moon junction or something like that. Like, he looks like he could have

[Jason Manzoukas]

junction with Sherilyn Fenn.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, man, I remember taping that on vhs. But, like, the. But the idea of, like, this. He looks like he could have been, like, you know, a little too sweaty. Like, it looks like the COVID Like he. If in the right light, you put him on the COVID of a romance novel, and he's ready to go. He's ready to. To hammer it home. You know, that's. I think he's ready to hammer it home.

[Jason Manzoukas]

So he.

[Paul Shear]

So he lost the pack.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, man, when this pandemic is over, man, I'm going to be ready to hammer it home.

[Paul Shear]

Like, he's like. So this. By the way, this movie revolves around a character that we never met who is like, the key. Anyway, so he loses a cat.

[Jason Manzoukas]

See, I thought he was the Pierce Brosnan character from the first movie. Okay, I forgot that Pierce Brosnan was in the first movie. I thought this guy was in the first movie as that part. No, I was all sorts of fucked up.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. I mean, I also thought at one point that maybe he was Job. Even though I knew that Job was not him. I was like, I'm just giving it, like, the benefit of the doubt that maybe this is Job because he looks like Job. So it says he lost a patent on this. This chip, and it's the most powerful chip, the Chiron chip, which. Which is touted as the 1 operating system to control all others. So it basically be like, if you had, like, a Mac, this chip could control that, and it could also control Windows. I guess in the wrong hands, the Chiron chip has the potential to dominate society, depending or making society dependent on computers. And then a virtual reality entrepreneur is trying to take over the Chiron chip, and then they realize that Job is trying to also kick them out of it. So I guess that's the battle here, is everyone is trying to get this powerful Chiron chip, and the Chiron chip is explained like this.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I mean, what's with this Egypt thing, Doc? I mean, doesn't he need that from you?

[Paul Shear]

If Job's worried about Egypt, it means he's about to use that chip to its full hideous potential, which is enter every and any system in the world and take over through Beor.

[Jason Manzoukas]

So is there any way to stop him, or should we just start digging up our own graves?

[Paul Shear]

We've got to get the Chiron ship from him before he figures out Egypt.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's what we've got to do.

[June Diane Rayfield]

So is the Egypt thing that. Is that the Chiron ship?

[Paul Shear]

Yes, the Chiron chip that they use an ice cube to steal?

[Jason Manzoukas]

The Chiron chip is the triangular chip that allows for this whole thing to be possible. Egypt is a. Like a firewall inside of the chip that. That is kind of protecting. That is basically protecting Job from fully taking over. And I thought it's a. They refer to it as a. I think a dam. Like. Like, it's somehow. Yes, it's somehow the. It's the only thing that Matt Frewer cannot access. Oh, how about the fact that when they go and they find the Indiana Jones Cyber. Dr. Trace. When they find Dr. Trace, he's like the guy that invented cyberspace. They can't believe it. And they tell him all this crazy stuff that's happened, and he's like, now get out of here. He then pulls out a box of computer equipment, puts it up, puts it together, turns a computer on, and then with a few keystrokes, is able to call up video footage of a scene earlier in the movie that occurred between Job and the kid inside of cyberspace. So he's so cyber. So there's so little inside cyberspace. He's able to be like, oh, let me just watch whatever conversation they just had. And he does.

[Paul Shear]

But by the way, they also go like, we need to track him. And the way that they kind of track his tag was one of the most, like, bizarre, bizarre things, because he's like, all right, we'll go back through these Firewalls. And. And. And they're, like, looking at different insignias and turning. Like, when they find out that it is Job. But, like, they know it's Job. Yeah, because Job revealed himself to them.

[Jason Manzoukas]

But the kid thinks Job is a good guy, and so it needs to be revealed that he's. So the. The. The. It's the scene where Job sends the train to come and smash into them, where they have the. The train switch off, where there's a whole action sequence that's built upon the fact that both Dr. Trace and Jobe. All they're doing is hitting the switch to change the track of a subway train. And they just are opening and closing. It goes on forever.

[June Diane Rayfield]

There is an innocent bystander killed in that. Yeah. And I did feel badly for that guy. I have to say, I am really impressed that you both digested so much of this movie. I mean, I found this to be not watchable. And Paul, I'm especially.

[Paul Shear]

Well, you were laughing a lot. You were laughing a lot because you just love the fully animated performance of Job. I mean, he was.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Okay, this is what I'll say. I actually thought that the actors in this movie did a great job. I thought Job was great. I thought that they showed up and they did a great job. So I have no complaints about the acting. And there was a line that really made me laugh when Job. Someone came in and said, what happened to your memory? And he said, I forget. And I lol. So I did.

[Jason Manzoukas]

There are moments in this where Job is straight up channeling, like this era. Jim Carrey.

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yes.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You know, he's like, I was gonna

[Paul Shear]

ask who came first?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Big Jim Carrey reactions. What'd you say?

[Paul Shear]

Well, I said, who came first? Did. Did Jim Carrey steal Matt Frewer, or

[Jason Manzoukas]

did Matt Brewer still get a question? I think you could say, like, there's definitely some of Max Headroom in Jim Carrey in living color characters.

[Paul Shear]

I mean. All right, so the mask came out in. Let's see here. I mean, you know, 1994. And I would say this is a little bit more like Ace Ventura. So that came out in 1994. So in a way.

[Jason Manzoukas]

When did Max Headroom come out?

[Paul Shear]

Max Headroom came out. Let's see here.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That would be my question, because I feel like there's a little bit of Fire Marshal Bill in Matt Frewer. 1985.

[Paul Shear]

1985. By the way, let's take a listen to, I guess Job's Jim Carrey impression or maybe Jim Carrey's. Well, I guess Not Jim Carrey's Matt Frewer impression. Here, take a listen. He's watching. He won't jack in, jack in, jack

[Jason Manzoukas]

off, what's the difference? Scared of the boogeyman, doctor.

[Paul Shear]

You can least humor me with a point of view, can't you?

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Doctor. I feel like we're almost.

[Paul Shear]

I'm blushing. Family? I don't think so, Jobe.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Don't be so sure. Incest, the game the whole family can play. My brother's my daddy. We have a lot in common, Dr. Trace. So we're both unwanted, underappreciated, and ahead of our time.

[Paul Shear]

Yet the only difference is, your time was then. My time is now. It's a short ride, job. Enjoy it while you can.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, I plan to enjoy it for a very long time, Doctor.

[Paul Shear]

You see, I found the secret to immortality in the Chiron ship.

[Jason Manzoukas]

We should also. I don't know if this is. This is a. I'm about to blow my own mind. I think we might need to explain to the audience what Max Headroom is.

[Paul Shear]

Ooh, that's a good question. Yeah, right. Because I guess.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I don't know if it's enough of a cultural touchstone for younger listeners to know. I guess maybe just look up Max Headroom. Max Headroom was a computer. It was the first computer animated character that have ever appeared in any medium. And it was not true computer creation. But it was like he was full

[Paul Shear]

kind of crazy makeup. Yes. And, like, shot on a green screen.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I believe it was initially a advertising campaign for Coke.

[Paul Shear]

Yes. Because it didn't. It was also in Back to the Future, too. When Marty goes to Cafe 80s, he sees Max Headroom in there.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And then it was so popular. It was such a exciting thing that was happening. This crazy, weird, stutter, talking computer character that they gave Max Headroom. I think MTV had a Max Headroom TV show. Am I right?

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah, that's ringing a bell.

[Paul Shear]

It started off as a British. As a character in a British cyberpunk TV movie called Max Headroom, 20 minutes into the future that came out in 1985. And then the Max Headroom series was something that premiered in the UK and on mtv. And then it went into a dramatic series on ABC and in 90 and 87 and late 87, where I think he was, like, solving, like, solving crimes with other people. And then, like, he's been in a bunch of other books and things like that.

[Jason Manzoukas]

So, yeah, I mean, like, if you've never heard of Max Headroom, Part of me thinks just like look it up on YouTube because it's going to tell you a lot about. It's going to inform a lot about why we're talking about it so much.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, it's a very bizarre. Like he would always be skipping and, and talking. He also apparently. Yeah, like, yeah, who knows? I guess he, he, he used to like break into several broadcast signal hijacking of television stations in Chicago. Also like hijacked using him as a. As, like as an avatar.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, it felt kind of history a cool, it felt like a cool new computer thing. Even though it was not computerized, it looked like it. I remember it being very cool.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. So there. I mean. Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

As a 12, 13 year old and

[Paul Shear]

I think, you know, for the people who watch the show, all 14 episodes, they were very excited about two seasons. 14 episodes.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's a great rewatch. Great rewatch,

[Paul Shear]

basically. Yeah. I mean we don't have to get into all.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I know we're throwing that around.

[Paul Shear]

No.

[Jason Manzoukas]

People might not know what the hell we're talking about.

[Paul Shear]

America's best network just got bigger.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Switch to T Mobile today and get

[Paul Shear]

built in benefits the other guys leave out. Plus our five year price guarantee. And now T Mobile is available in US Cellular stores. Best mobile network based on analysis by Google of speed test intelligence data 2H 2025 bigger network. The combination of T Mobile's and US cellular network footprints will enhance the T mobile network's coverage price guarantee on talk text and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply. See t mobile.com for details.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I sold my car in Carvana last night.

[Paul Shear]

Well, that's cool. No, you don't understand.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It went perfectly.

[Paul Shear]

Real offer down to the penny.

[Jason Manzoukas]

They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong.

[June Diane Rayfield]

So what's the problem?

[Paul Shear]

That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes as smoothly. I'm waiting for the catch.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Maybe there's no catch.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Wow. You need to relax.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I need to knock on wood.

[Paul Shear]

Do we have wood? Is this table wood? I think it's laminate. Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's close enough.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Car selling without a catch.

[Paul Shear]

Sell your car today on Carvana.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Pick up fees may apply.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Why have I asked my H Vac

[June Diane Rayfield]

guy I found on angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change pop pops tube while I was on vacation.

[Paul Shear]

Make it quick, young man.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Aw.

[Jason Manzoukas]

See Pop.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Pop trusts you.

[Paul Shear]

I think we should call a doctor. Connecting homeowners with skilled Pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail]. i want to talk about. You were talking about great acting, and to me, sometimes, you know, as an actor, and I want. I want to go down this path with both of you as actors, and, you know, a character doesn't fully come alive for me until I. Until I get on the clothes and find that right prop. And I want to just applaud the senator for finding that pipe, because the way that he did that pipe work in this movie was very impressive to me.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

I mean, it's so bizarre to see somebody, like, earnestly smoking a pipe in modern times.

[Jason Manzoukas]

In modern times. It's so strange to see people smoke a pipe in modern times.

[Paul Shear]

My dad smoked a pipe.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah, we used to smoke a pipe. It's quite a smell.

[Paul Shear]

It's a big smell. I remember my dad, like, trying to smoke one to get me, like, out of my house.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I remember when you would walk past someone smoking a pipe on the streets in New York, and it was like a. It was a nice smell, you know, more aromatic.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. You pack it in.

[Jason Manzoukas]

But it was very strange. And I loved that, like, that Job just, like, crashes that dude's plane into the ground and kills everyone on board.

[Paul Shear]

Job is a very violent guy. Like, Job is a. Like, Job has turned evil, and it really is just to be the most powerful person. But yet he's in the Internet and he seems to know nothing. Like, at one point, they revealed to him, like, you haven't given him his legs yet. He wants his legs back. But you would think that there'd be some sort of paper trail that Job could find. I mean, if Job is, like, popping up into this kid's, like, dreams or, you know, his virtual reality, you'd think that Job would be able to read an email that said, hey, hey, let's hold off on those. Those prosthetic limbs for Job. You know, he's still doing my business.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Why is the lead. So the lead scientist who works with Job, who works for the villain, who

[Paul Shear]

looks like she's straight up out of, like, the 90s in modern times. 90s.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And she's not from the first movie, Paul, is she?

[Paul Shear]

No, no, no one is, except for the kid.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay. Okay, good. Okay. So my question was with her. Why doesn't she. What is her. What is she trying to do? Why doesn't she realize she's part of an evil plot. Like, I don't. I couldn't understand why she was. She was both so protective and supportive of Job while Job is clearly a monster becoming a monster. And also she hates Dr. Trace for some reason that I'm thinking

[June Diane Rayfield]

for personal reasons, I think he fucked her over in some way or broke up. Yeah. So I think that's just their own personal history.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay.

[Paul Shear]

But I also thought that was interesting, was that she looked so normal. Everyone in the movie looks so normal. But then there was one of the scientists who looked like she was out of Blade Runner. Like, short, cropped blonde hair, and she was dressed. No eyebrows, and she was dressed in, like, leather skirts. Like, this is, like a science facility. By the way, one of the things that irritated me so much about this movie is it all of a sudden moves to la. I mean, the movie. The first movie seemed to be, like you said, New England town, very simple, very easy. Now it's in la, and when they go to, like, the place, I think they're always trying to find, like, oh, what would be a cool building to be the home of our virtual reality entrepreneur? And it's the Griffith Park Observatory, which, you know from Rebel Without a Cause and a million other things. But, like, they don't ever label it as, like, oh, yeah, that's the old Griffith Park Observatory. It's like, no, no, this is a cool building. No one. It was such a bizarre choice. It's like, you got to acknowledge that this is something that is a landmark that now you've just taken over. Like, there's no. There's no acknowledgment. Like, at one point you'd be like, we'll buy that. We'll buy that. And that's like. I think it would be a hard thing to buy as a business.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah. All of it. Like, in the bad guys, what is the. So the bearded bad guy, what is his plan for the businessman? Yeah, he wants the. Chiron's plan.

[Paul Shear]

He wants the Chiron chip to have the most power on the Internet. But I still don't understand the Crystal House.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Like, that's the other thing like that, that I think what we're trying to get to the bottom is for what?

[Jason Manzoukas]

For and everybody. For what?

[June Diane Rayfield]

For what? What's everybody.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I don't understand anybody's motivations.

[June Diane Rayfield]

No.

[Paul Shear]

Well, maybe the idea is like, it's sort of like it's a technology thing. It's like, I want to. The technology of, like, you know, how to make an electric car or something. Like, that like. So the idea of being like, why

[Jason Manzoukas]

does Job ask the kid to save him?

[Paul Shear]

In that opening, he's tricking the kid. He's saying, go get the founder because he doesn't have legs. So he's like, I need an outside person to mess this up. I can only crash planes and stuff like that. So I think he's like, go get that guy so I can get him in. Involved in the whole thing. I mean, by the way, the fact that. The fact that this kid even just remembers his Lawnmower man so fondly after literally living through a dynamic sort of apocalypse, I mean. I mean, and he speaks about him so nicely. I mean, this is the only exposition you get from the first movie about the lawnmower Man.

[June Diane Rayfield]

The reason I came is because my

[Paul Shear]

friend Job is dying. He said that you're the only one who could save him. You seem a bit young to know anything about Chiron Ship.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Well, Job told me about it.

[Paul Shear]

Who's Job? He was a lawnmower man back when my mom was still alive. He was my best friend, but now

[June Diane Rayfield]

he's stuck in virtual reality.

[Paul Shear]

What's he know about it? He's building it. He's building it? Yeah, that's what he said.

[June Diane Rayfield]

So you're gonna help or what?

[Paul Shear]

I don't live that life anymore. All that technology, it just consumes the soul. Yeah, I mean, it's. It's. I almost think it's a testament. I know Junior didn't like it, but to their relationship, like, it makes me feel like that kid made the cupcake for him, but yet did not really question where he went or how he went evil, because it would probably be on the news or at least the way they kind of.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I don't think there's any reason for that child to have any sort of a relationship with a grown man who.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That man is doing something so reprehensible by continually putting those children in jeopardy.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

He should say, thank you for this information. Thank you for your help. I will now go and execute because I'm an adult and you are children.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Before I do, I will make a call to child protection services to let them know that children are living in an abandoned subway.

[Paul Shear]

Do you want to put that kid in a home, June?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yes.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah,

[Paul Shear]

not in this world. Who knows? It could have been very Fagin. Like, they could be mining or. I mean, look, that world of trash can. Yeah, that world of trash can fires. I don't think that they have, like, really good human health and resource services.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I don't Think probably you're right.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, I don't think that. But I do think that the reason why the kids stay involved is because it's more the other scientists. The. The guy who culturally appropriates Native American garb, Dr. Trace, who kind of puts them along because he's making them, like, jump out in front of cars. Remember that scene where the kids, like, pretend to get hit by a car?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, yeah. There's also lots of attempts at physical comedy.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

With the kids. Like, the kids are sometimes treated like. Like the dwarves in the Hobbit movies where they're, like, collapsing all over each other doing physical bits while Dr. Trace is trying to, like, help things. It's. It's kind of like if Indiana Jones was not interested in archeology but future technology, but still dressed like he was obsessed with archeology, and he had, like, five kids as his side. As his sidekick, which makes It's Gonies.

[Paul Shear]

It's Goonies meets Indy meets the Internet. Write the check for me, please. I got.

[Jason Manzoukas]

By the way, that is the movie. That's the pitch.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's what you should have started your opening with.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah. And you know what that means. And you know what that means. See?

[Paul Shear]

And you know what that means.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Even go further up at the end, Paul.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

And you know what that means.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay, see, now I feel safe. Now I feel safe.

[Paul Shear]

John. I was kind of protecting you guys on all different sides. I mean, this. And by the way, they steal from Indiana Jones.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I'll be honest, at the beginning of this episode, I felt abandoned.

[Paul Shear]

Oh, wow. Guys, I'm so glad that we talked about it openly and we didn't carry this into the episode. The idea that they steal directly from Indiana Jones. Like, they do a scene out of Raiders, which I still don't even understand what they're trying to do. They're trying to steal the chiron chip, which is in a pyramid like structure, which is kind of also the way that you can communicate with Kyber crystals. I don't want to get into that. But, Jun, you know what I'm talking about. And. And they. They bring an ice cube in is that.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And we're talking about real Kyber crystals. We're not talking about the fake Kyber crystals that Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi found on that other planet. Okay.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, this is. These are the real ones that have messages embedded in them. And if you. You know. And you know, even the way that it was written in the last of the. The new trilogy, Kylo Ren was actually Going to look at one of those kyber crystals and be the wrong person for the information. And that's how he's gonna get another scar on his face from Emperor Palpatine, because the message is for Darth Vader. Anyway, it's a good script. You should definitely read it.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I hate this episode.

[Paul Shear]

We did have. We did have a. A Kyber crystal reader in our house. Like one of those little pyramids and a holocron. A holocron? Yeah. And it was.

[June Diane Rayfield]

What are you talking about?

[Paul Shear]

You don't remember our son running around with a holocron in our house?

[June Diane Rayfield]

I don't know what any of these words mean.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's a repository for Jedi information. Dune.

[Paul Shear]

Come on, get with the fucking program.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh, that little, like, plastic pyramid.

[Paul Shear]

Yes. It wasn't plastic. It was full of gears. And anyway, we got it at Galaxy's Edge. The thing is this. They go in there with this plan to steal it. And I don't even understand what the plan is, but it's very much like Raiders, where it's like, okay, we got the moment. Let's go get the thing. They're on this deck. But that's a real. That's a physically real location that they're in, right?

[Jason Manzoukas]

What do you mean?

[Paul Shear]

When they're stealing the. When they're stealing the crystal. But that looks like a virtual reality room.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's what was so confusing. I thought that room was virtual reality. Because that's where he looks like he went in virtual reality.

[Paul Shear]

Well, it's weird to. Yes, it's weird to have a movie that's heavy on CG and then also in a virtual reality world.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Well, no, because when they're in virtual reality, we know they are because it looks like screensavers from the time. Like, they might as well go. They might as well be in a world in which the flying toasters are passing them by. You know what I mean? Like the screensaver from old computers. Like, that's the level of what cyberspace looks like in this movie. It looks like old screensavers and is hilarious. So, no, when they are trying to steal the Chiron chip, that's the real world.

[Paul Shear]

That's the real world. But then at the end, when Matt Frewer is like having all those human beings up against the wall. Like in that kind of. Again, very.

[Jason Manzoukas]

When Matt Frewer is in the golden suit, that's cyberspace again.

[Paul Shear]

Another comparison to Wonder Woman 84.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That was strange. Did anyone else notice? It was so ill fitting.

[Paul Shear]

Why does he need A golden shirt.

[June Diane Rayfield]

The shape of it was just so odd.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, I agree.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Like the front was almost like an egg.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And why does he need to have this sci fi type of thing to exist inside the Internet? And like. Right.

[Paul Shear]

Like he doesn't need protection. And.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And because when the kids go into the Internet, when the kids go into cyberspace, rather to fly or ride their bikes or go to the jungle or whatever, they are only ever wearing the exact same clothes they were wearing in the real world. They just jack in and, and fly around the Amazon or whatever.

[Paul Shear]

So at the end of the movie, when Matt Frewer has the fight with Trace, that is in virtual reality. But I don't even understand how he could be hurt in virtual reality if he has the most power. I mean, I don't know that end fight scene. I rewound it twice. June walked in on me and she's like, what are you doing? I said, I'm rewinding it for the parts that I didn't understand. And she laughed at me.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Well, I'm impressed.

[June Diane Rayfield]

At one point also, Paul, I mean it was so. This whole experience of this movie has been so chaotic. But there were, by the way, June,

[Paul Shear]

your microphone is pointing to the ground.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Well, Devin, can you hear me?

[Paul Shear]

Okay, much better now.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's better. When you point it at your mouth, literally pointing at the desk, I can't

[June Diane Rayfield]

get it to stay. Oh, maybe if I. Oh, this is what this does.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay. Wow.

[June Diane Rayfield]

No, it doesn't wanna just push it backwards. I guess I'll just have to hold it. I'm not doing well. I'm not well right now. So, Paul, there were a few times where I was watching the movie because this is the other piece of it. I've had three viewings of this feature film. One I started watching with Paul, fell asleep. Then I woke up at three in the morning because Meatball, where we were staying, there were 40 horses and our dog literally was having panic attacks about these horses.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, he thought the horses were giant dogs.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Of course he did. And was so rattled by the sight of them. And so he was, he was talk about not well. He was not well and kept on waking up. So I was up at 3 in the morning where I watched 20 more minutes of this movie. During that time, Paul, do you remember saying over and over again, wait, I don't remember this. I don't remember this. There were so many scenes that you were walking into and waking up to and saying, I don't remember this.

[Paul Shear]

I don't remember that.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh my God, this Movie. The experience of this movie was like a fever dream to all of us. Like, I, I, it doesn't help that it makes so little sense. There's so little to hold on to,

[Paul Shear]

you know, I mean, because it also seems like this movie, I mean, just to add it to, if you've not seen this movie, and I do recommend that you do see a bit. We'll get to that in a little bit. But there are, like, security cameras, too. Well, we'll talk about it. Yeah, it's what it's. I am. I embrace the more insane films. I'm like, what is happening? Like, there looks like there's security cameras that are also, like laser guns like, that Matt Frewer can control. So, like, this whole, this whole facility is outfitted with, like, lasers that can just, like, gun down people immediately. Like, there's so many weird choices, but yet the, the, the technology is so antiquated that, like, one of the end fight scenes, they break a TV over somebody's head. And I think at that point, my, I must have been broken down by this movie. And I really felt bad for the person. I was like, wow, that must be. If that happened in real life. If someone broke a TV over your head, that would be.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Oh, by the way, all those TVs that were not plugged in were on and had footage of Job from a control room on.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, Job was making his big appeal across all the television networks.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Right. But those TVs were not connected to anything. It doesn't matter. Who cares?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah, I think, I think, I think the logic of the movie assumes that, like, electricity is the same as the Internet, like WI fi. He can access anything that's plugged in anywhere. You know what I mean?

[Paul Shear]

Wouldn't that be, wouldn't that be like that other Stephen King novella where it was the guy who gets executed goes into electricity? Remember that? I remember the COVID box for it at Blockbuster was a guy, a guy in the electric chair, and, like, his spirit went through electricity. So if you plugged in something, you would become the evil guy.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Stephen King is so fascinating to me. I'm not at all an avid reader of Stephen King, but he, he, he is so prolific that I feel like he uses the same ideas over and over and over and over again.

[Paul Shear]

It's like you're hanging out with him and he's telling you the same stories, and you're like, ugh, I already heard the story. But it's like, but he's obsessed with it. It's like he's just obsessed with like, yeah. Killers getting the power of electricity. Like, you know, like. So you just kind of have to hear him tell that story, like, 10 more times. Yeah, I don't know. I mean. Yeah, that is a. That. That. That guy. Remember the COVID box? Being so scared of it.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Dr.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Trace puts these children in such real jeopardy. He. He puts them in. He brings them into a military compound where people are truly out to kill them. And it is so blase, and it genuinely feels like he should be. He's a bad guy. He's like a bad person for doing what he's doing because he's using them as cannon fodder or. I don't know.

[Paul Shear]

By the way, guys, the movie I was talking about is called Shocker, and it's a Wes Craven movie, so get on. Get on. Shocker.

[Jason Manzoukas]

But, yeah, a lot of people yelling at the radios. Shocker.

[Paul Shear]

Shocker, Paul. Shocker. Oh, man.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Radios. Jason.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Huh?

[June Diane Rayfield]

You can't. Serious on radio.

[Paul Shear]

Serious.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Aren't we. Aren't we being broadcast on radios right now?

[Paul Shear]

We are on K97W.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I May Day.

[Paul Shear]

What. What does the traffic look like up there, Juni?

[June Diane Rayfield]

I've only done a couple of them. Those radio tours they have to do, like, in the early morning.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[June Diane Rayfield]

They are talking exhausting. Yeah. Johnny, have you ever done it in person?

[Paul Shear]

No, Johnny.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And the me to do it, to sit in a room in person with people who are at that pitch at like, 7am is chilling.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I know, I know, Paul. I said I needed more energy from you, but I don't need that kind of energy.

[Paul Shear]

All right, then tell us about that traffic, then. What do you got up there talking about?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Lawnmower Man, dude, the doves war. Who knew?

[Paul Shear]

Job?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Who knew? The kids, the chiron chips. Out of control. Paul, what was it like?

[Paul Shear]

Let me tell you. I got on the Internet this weekend, and my wife doesn't like that at all.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You know what I mean?

[Paul Shear]

The.

[Jason Manzoukas]

We definitely should do an episode of how did this get Made? That's just drive time. Radio hosts reviewing a movie.

[Paul Shear]

You know, Molly Shannon was in this movie.

[June Diane Rayfield]

What?

[Paul Shear]

Molly Shannon was in this movie as a homeless person. Probably one of her early jobs.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, wow, that's interesting.

[Paul Shear]

I was trying to find a picture of her. I don't know where she popped up, but she is, I think at the end, when everyone is putting on VR, she is one of the. The homeless people that is putting on VR.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, funny.

[Paul Shear]

We've talked a lot about this movie. I mean, like.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And we've. We've barely even. I Don't understand it now any better than I did then. Like, as much as we've talked about

[Paul Shear]

it less, I think there was like

[Jason Manzoukas]

a. I don't know. I don't know the motivations of any of these characters. I don't know what Cyber Indiana Jones wanted. I don't know what the kids wanted. I don't. I don't know if it was. I don't know if it was a success, you know?

[Paul Shear]

Well, I'm going to. I'm going to tell you something.

[Jason Manzoukas]

No, no, no, no. The. The mission, they were.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I think it was the only thing we know, Jason.

[Paul Shear]

I think it was a success because they got the chiron chip and that was what they really wanted, right? So they wanted that chiron chip and they got it. So I feel like in that way we should give them a lot of. A lot of love. But obviously we had opinions about this movie, but there are people out there with a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions.

[Jason Manzoukas]

A piece of shit. Yet this person recommends it. Tell me, what is the message? Maybe that art is subjective. I need a second opinion.

[Paul Shear]

Thank you. John Lajoie, who I. I miss seeing on a regular basis, but I love hearing that song so, so much. Here we go. These are Second opinions. Cold from Amazon.com I'm just going to. Give me a second. I have to figure out where I've.

[Jason Manzoukas]

While you look it up, I'll say, please go and listen to John Lajoie's music. Go to his streaming service, go to Spotify or Bandcamp or whatever you use by his music he's been putting out. You might know him for doing funny songs on YouTube or on the league, but he's been doing absolutely beautiful music in the last bunch of years. That is not comedy type songs.

[June Diane Rayfield]

And he's just the loveliest guy, the greatest.

[Paul Shear]

He is really, really good. He also has been doing, like, some cool bigger projects. Like he did a lot of music for. For the Lego Movie. Lego two.

[Jason Manzoukas]

The Lego Second Movie. Yes.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. Lego two. Yeah. Yeah. You could definitely check out his albums. There's. There's two of them I remembered, but then I forgot. And Perfection, Nevada, which were also released under like, Wolfie's Just Fine. So check it out. He's always awesome. Here we go. Lawnmower Man 2. Beyond Cyberspace, aka Job's Warbs. Aka Job's War.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Job's Warbs.

[Paul Shear]

George Worbs.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It could be called George Warbs and I'd be like, fine.

[Paul Shear]

Lawnmower two. George Orbs.

[Jason Manzoukas]

George Warbs. I'm the new man.

[Paul Shear]

I'm in the Internet.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Lawnmower Man 2 is just about the next guy who mows Pierce Brosnan's lawn.

[Paul Shear]

By the way, I would like. All right, these are good T shirt ideas. We should have Pierce Brosnan as a lawnmower man, or we should put Jim Carrey as Max Headroom. These are ideas that I just put it as Job's warps. Okay. Lawnmower Man 2 has 41% five star reviews and 18% one star reviews. And I believe the reason why it has 41% five star reviews is because the only way that you can purchase Lawnmower Man 2 is if you buy the two pack of Lawnmower Man 1 and Lawnmower Man 2. So a lot of the reviews are. I love the first one. The second one is complete trash. But this one right here is five stars from Jerry S. Jerry writes my grandkids loved it. 5 stars. This one goes here. This is from Darren Tate. Darren Tate, on March 6, 2015, writes, Loved the first Lawnmower Man.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Can I stop you for a quick second?

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Did we lose June?

[Paul Shear]

How did this get made? Is experiencing technical difficulties. Please hold. Okay, hold on here. She's gonna come in here.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Okay. So just to catch people up, June disappeared off of the Zoom and has now reappeared next to Paul.

[June Diane Rayfield]

First of all, nobody even noticed I was gone for a long time.

[Jason Manzoukas]

June, I want credit. I noticed.

[Paul Shear]

I'm reading on Amazon. I'm getting my notes together here. I'm looking up at Wolfies just fine. All right. I'm trying to do the work.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Episode is cursed because my computer just died out of nowhere.

[Paul Shear]

Was it plugged in?

[June Diane Rayfield]

It never, by the way.

[Paul Shear]

Can I just say that we are traveling right now? June and I are traveling. June did not bring a computer cord, nor did she bring an iPhone charging cord. Two things. She did not bring on vacation.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Okay, we're not on vacation.

[Paul Shear]

We're not on vacation. We're not on vacation. We're just changing away from home.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Away from home.

[Paul Shear]

Yes.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yes. I was gone for a long time.

[Paul Shear]

Paul, into the microphone.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I was gone for a long time while I was trying to fix.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Sorry, Paul, you're going to have to point that microphone at the ground for June to understand how it works.

[June Diane Rayfield]

That's very, very strange. I'm very nervous. That garageband. I don't know how that works. Devon, if it's just gone.

[Paul Shear]

No, wait. Well, this is now.

[Jason Manzoukas]

This is St. Clair, part two.

[Paul Shear]

All right, we have now repositioned ourselves. June and I Are next to each other, on top of each other in a very small room, essentially a closet. And we are ready to take this show to the finish line. June, how are you?

[June Diane Rayfield]

I'm not great. I. I continue to not be great. Now, I want to say I don't know why my computer shut down. I received no notifications on the computer

[Paul Shear]

that it was about shot of the way that June and I are. Are recording this.

[Jason Manzoukas]

No, this is. I listen, I'm willing to say I think St. Clair put a hex on June's computer.

[Paul Shear]

Yes, that's the only one.

[June Diane Rayfield]

It's a new one. That's what I don't understand.

[Paul Shear]

But I also have a belief maybe it wasn't fully plugged in or it was plugged in, but it wasn't charging. If that. That outlet may not be working. That's my first thought.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, boy.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Well, I didn't receive any push notifications that it was about to go well.

[Paul Shear]

Okay. I don't know if they call them a push notification, but anyway, we'll get into that in a second. This second review is from Darren Tate. He wrote it March 6, 2015, and he writes, loved the first Lawnmower Man. Really good film. Second film. Hmm, a bit weird. Five stars.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Wow. Still five stars.

[Paul Shear]

All the five star reviews are very, very short. There's not a full range.

[June Diane Rayfield]

There's not too much to say. Yeah, yeah.

[Paul Shear]

There's not too much to say. And those are really the only two that I pulled, or I shouldn't say I pulled. But Nate Kiley, our man on the ground, have to do all the research. He did send me a third opinion from Valdon Rawel, who seems not to have a problem with the film. But the DVD itself, as he writes, didn't play at all. Ripoff. That's the title, the review, and the actual review goes like this. Didn't play. Total ripoff. I would send it back, but it's not worth the time or effort. Very disappointed. One star. That seems like more about the company, less about the product. Anyway, I did want to say that I do have some research here. June's seeing how I have multiple screens set up here. Do I travel with a second screen? Yeah, I do.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Now, do you bring the appropriate power adapters to keep them turned on?

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, yeah, do the whole thing.

[June Diane Rayfield]

You didn't travel with this screen?

[Paul Shear]

No, I traveled with this screen over here.

[June Diane Rayfield]

There are three screens in this tiny room.

[Paul Shear]

Don't worry about it.

[June Diane Rayfield]

This is the owner of the house screen?

[Paul Shear]

Yes, but that's okay. I just Plugged into it. That's all I did.

[June Diane Rayfield]

They did not say that was available for use.

[Paul Shear]

I'm not using their computer. I'm just using their screen.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Aren't these your things right here?

[Paul Shear]

Yes, but that's. But that's my computer. They're on the same. It's the same computer. It's not that. It's. It's just using two. All right.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Anyway, this peek behind the curtain is incredible.

[Paul Shear]

The tagline of this movie, God made him. Simple science made him a God. Now he wants revenge. These things don't seem like they're really at play in the sequel as much, but I guess the revenge part, I don't know. I guess it's all there. The budget was 15 million. The opening weekend was 1.4 million. It made a total of 2.4 million. So a loss of about 13 million

[Jason Manzoukas]

there, which is a lot of money at that time.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah. In 1996. The top three movies of 96 are Independence Day, Twister, Mission Impossible. This movie came in.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Think about that for a second. Independence Day's visual graphics are amazing compared to the visual graphics of this movie, which, again, are the equivalent of screen saver Twister.

[Paul Shear]

Jason Twister.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Incredible.

[Paul Shear]

It's crazy. And this movie came in 187th out of all movies of 1996. It was beaten by Space Jam, Jingle all the Way, Dragon Heart. I'd argue Space Jam even has better effects. The island of Dr. Moreau also has better effects. Escape from LA questionable, the quest, Glimmer Man, Kazam, Barbed Wire. Wow. This is a big record year for. How did this.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Wait, did we do all of these movies?

[Paul Shear]

We did. Except for Dragon Heart.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Did we do every movie. Movies of that year for the podcast.

[Paul Shear]

Did anything? Basically, 1996 was a banner year for this podcast, it seems like.

[Jason Manzoukas]

By the way, I would also do Independence Day. It's not good.

[Paul Shear]

No, I would get on that. I would get on all these. I'll tell you this. Oh, no. This blows my mind. I didn't read this. Farhad man, who wrote and directed this, also wrote and directed Return to Two Moon Junction.

[Jason Manzoukas]

What?

[Paul Shear]

Wait a second. That movie that I just referenced, but that. Now I'm getting the whole. The whole idea here. Hold on one second. Is the same actor.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's blowing my mind. Hold on. Does that also have Sherilyn Fenn in it?

[Paul Shear]

Two Moon Junction is a movie that says Sherilyn Fenn. Milla Jolovich. Zalman King was the director. They don't really list, but Zalman King

[Jason Manzoukas]

was like the Impresario of softcore Showtime movies.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, I don't know. They don't list the male actor, although he's kissing the woman, Sherilyn Fenn, there. But Return to Two Moon Junction is a little bit more graphic. The COVID box, he's just straight up grabbing her breasts. And on this one, and that stars Melinda Clark and John Clayton Schaeffer. And it says she had everything except for what she desired the most.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Molly Shannon, also in that movie.

[Paul Shear]

Wait, what?

[Jason Manzoukas]

Molly Shannon is in Return to Two Moon Junction.

[Paul Shear]

She must know Farhad Man. That's the only reason.

[Jason Manzoukas]

That's the only explanation. She is Tracy in that movie.

[Paul Shear]

This is amazing. Two fun facts about this movie were the last two minutes of the five minute credits are completely silent. Whether there was music originally is not clear. It just seems like they just stopped putting. They just gave up at the end of the movie. And the other thing that was interesting was that when Lawnmower man was released in 1993, at the end of the film it said, look out for Lawnmower Man 2 Mindfire in 1994. And that never happened. And this appeared two years later with a different title. If you want to see something really cool, Avril Halley cut together an old commercial for that board game Crossfire with clips of Lawnmower Man 2 and its perfection. And you can check it out on all of our. How did this get made? Social media. It's worth a watch. She did a great job there. Would you recommend this movie, June, I know that you love it, so what would you say?

[June Diane Rayfield]

I mean, I would like to explain something like, I. I don't think I've brought my best. My best best into this podcast episode and technically and even just like energetically and Paul, you have some. You have to shoulder some of the blame there.

[Paul Shear]

What for?

[June Diane Rayfield]

For setting the. Setting the stage at the beginning of this episode.

[Paul Shear]

Okay.

[June Diane Rayfield]

But I'm also. Listen, I'm also. We are. You know, I don't know when this is gonna drop, but right now we're just a week past a coup. Attempted coup.

[Paul Shear]

We are, you say in a very cute way, attempted.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Q. We are. You know, the Army Hammer news just broke. Like, I. I'm disgusted in general. And this film really pushed me over the edge. I did not like it. I don't recommend it. I hated it. I hated talking about it. I hate. I hated every attempt I made to watch it. It was. This was just horrible.

[Paul Shear]

Wow. Okay, Jason, what do you think?

[Jason Manzoukas]

In this time where I am 10 months into complete isolation again, I want to reiterate, I don't have the emotional capability to try and figure out these movies. Okay. I am reduced.

[June Diane Rayfield]

We're not a well people.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I am reduced to panic and anxiety when I don't understand what's going on. So this movie was stressful. Now, would I recommend it? Yes, absolutely. People should watch this because it's cuckoo crazy banana time.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And it's fun to watch and it's not too long and blah, blah, blah. And it's interesting enough. And. And if you go into it with the assumption from the jump that you're not going to be able to make heads or tails out of any of this, I think you might be on for. You might have a fun ride.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Even though I walked in with that, Jason, I walked in with that very assumption.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, see, I walked in with dread. I walked in with dread. I was like, fuck. I've got. I've got. I want to watch something that makes me feel good. I want to watch Hilda or Derry Girls. I want to watch Dickinson. I want to watch something that's going to make me feel good and up because that's what I need to watch. This is to feel as though my battery is being drained.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Do you know, I will say this,

[Paul Shear]

I will say that. Like, you know, when I watch these movies, I am always a big proponent of people who swing for the fences. And this is a mix of so many bad tropes and choices and. And look. And like Eugene said, not bad acting. It's just. It is just not well thought out. It feels like a movie where the director was kicked out of the edit bay.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It like. And there are so many movie ripoffs. There's so many references to other movies of that era. There's a direct Indiana Jones moment. They fall. They fall down, trash shoot into a trash compactor like in Star Wars. They. They ripping off all of the things. The Goonies, they're ripping off everything from that era.

[Paul Shear]

Yeah, it's really serious too. It like. Like it's so weird. By the way, Devin just popped up in the chat and said that Matt Frewer is also in Return to Two Moon Junction, which makes me feel like we must do Return. Return to Two Moon Junction. I feel like let's. Let's finish off.

[Jason Manzoukas]

We're going to do that. We might have to watch Two Moon Junction, which I am not mad at because, boy, I had just from Twin Peaks, the most enormous crush on Sharon. Giant Fresh.

[Paul Shear]

Oh my gosh. With the blonde hair. Oh, my goodness gracious. I recommend it a lot. Because it's so bizarre. Hats off to everybody behind this movie. Long live Lawnmower Man 2. I hope he's out there. Long live.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Long Wait, did you just pledge fealty to Lawnmower Man?

[Paul Shear]

I am in. I am.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Wait, are you elevating it to. To our monarch?

[Paul Shear]

Job, thank you for sabotaging June today. Job. Thank you, Lord. Job. Thank you, Lord. Job, do you think Joe, do you

[Jason Manzoukas]

think Job is the one that lost the ballots?

[Paul Shear]

Yeah.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Do you think Job, do you think Job, the. The tampering with the machines. Job. Tampering? Oh, my gosh.

[Paul Shear]

Job, how did you get.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Stop the steel. Job. Stop the steel.

[Paul Shear]

Stop the steel or steal it back. Job, we look to you, Almighty Job. Job, bless us and, and it bring us to the end of this episode

[Jason Manzoukas]

with my favorite thing right now that's happening on screen just for the viewers is while we're talking June must be the first time June has set foot in this room of the house they're in because June is now full blown examining everything in the room she's in.

[Paul Shear]

She's in, really picking it all apart.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Oh, my God.

[Paul Shear]

This episode is airing here in late January. Do we want to plug anything, tell anybody to watch, see, do experience anything at all?

[June Diane Rayfield]

Gosh, I don't know. I just saw a little news story today that President Elect Biden's dog, the shelter that they got him from, is going to do an official inauguration.

[Paul Shear]

Amazing.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Which I thought was just so cute. And I want, I can't wait to get my eyeballs on that first rescue in the White House.

[Paul Shear]

At this point, you will be able to just google that up because I'm sure it will be completely available at this point in time as it comes out.

[Jason Manzoukas]

This is a question, does the dog, does Joe Biden's dog also get sworn in as first dog? Like, is there a dog, Is there a dog Supreme. Is there a Supreme Court dog that

[Paul Shear]

I don't want to talk about his issues. The dog's issues are a little bit. Look, he came from the streets. He has very strong ties. And, and, and look, there's going to be a lot of bad things coming out for, for birds and squirrels and cats in the future.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I know that they're nervous.

[Paul Shear]

Heard that. I've heard that from a lot of people.

[Jason Manzoukas]

The bird community is nervous right now,

[Paul Shear]

are freaked out right now. My dog or our dog voted for this dog. So that was a, that was a good thing. You know, we're happy in this house. He's, you know, we're all on the same page. I will just say, by the way, I've been hosting a bunch of stuff on Twitch. Check it out at Twitch TV. Paulshear. It's free. Just go on it. Like YouTube. But more importantly, I talked to some of the ride and dies at how did this get made? Who have been on the message boards for many years posting some of the best content that we use for all of our mini episodes. And I've convinced them to start up their own Discord, which is a little bit more inviting because the Earwolf message boards have kind of been left to tumbleweeds and they are starting up a brand new how did this get made? Discord. And stay tuned because at this point in time, you may be able to get on there and if you want to participate in these amazing conversations, you can.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Paul, if you wouldn't mind. Of course. I know what it is. But would you mind telling some of the audience maybe what Discord is?

[Paul Shear]

Discord is. Yes. Discord is actually a really awesome. You know, it has elements of what Slack is and Geneva. The idea of it is it's a thriving message board place where it's basically a glorified message board with a lot of bells and whistles where you can have video talks, you can have audio talks, but more importantly, just a big conversation is the way I'm.

[Jason Manzoukas]

So it's a forum for fans to go and talk about the show. Episode.

[Paul Shear]

Exactly.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Shear]

They can talk about it. Yes. So we already have this. We already have this on earwolf.com, it's a little bit of an antiquated system that's hard to get into and hard to post on, in my opinion, as someone who is frequenting message boards. So I talk to them.

[June Diane Rayfield]

Frequenting message board.

[Paul Shear]

I'm here for the show anyway. I have my own Discord. You can jump on that too.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You have your own Discord.

[Paul Shear]

I have my own Discord for all the.

[Jason Manzoukas]

And what happens on it.

[Paul Shear]

There's a lot of conversations about a lot of. We talk about the NBA. We talk about the Twitch shows. There's a lot of. There's a lot of conversation.

[Jason Manzoukas]

We.

[Paul Shear]

Politics, Wonder Woman.

[Jason Manzoukas]

There's. I'm here to say I have never been on a Discord.

[June Diane Rayfield]

I think you have. You might not know if you want

[Paul Shear]

to go on my Discord. It's Discord. Ggpulshear. But anyway, we have great conversations. We actually had a dating game that we ran on the Discord last week was fun. Anyway, I don't. Dating Jason. We don't have time. We're busy. We're in, you know, we're in strange times and I just got to look out.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I think it's good to be dating on Discord. Is that. Do I need to join Discord to date? Is that how you didn't even know Modern Dating?

[Paul Shear]

Jason. Where. What. What can people do? I mean, besides, obviously we're all in Big Mouth, which is currently airing on Netflix, which is great.

[Jason Manzoukas]

You know, I'm, I'm. I, I don't know, in terms of, like, new things coming out, I don't really have much, but I will say I did a couple of episodes. I voice a character in a couple of episodes of the TV show Dickinson on Apple, which the. Which has just released its second season. I'm not in the second season, but I love the show. So it's after watch.

[Paul Shear]

I've heard it's fantastic.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Yeah. Really fun. Really great. Really enjoyed it. Watched every episode of Bridgerton. Not sure why. Did not enjoy it. It's crazy.

[Paul Shear]

I got to get into this because Cool up was telling me about this. It's a.

[Jason Manzoukas]

It's top to bottom. A straight up. Yikes. I can't. It's. It's worth. It's a. It's. It's a worthy discussion. I'm trying to think if there's anything else to plug. No, not really. Everything else is the same Big mouth. All the rest.

[Paul Shear]

Well, we appreciate you all listening and we will be back with an episode not cursed by Job. And we appreciate y' all being here and we will talk to you all soon. If you want to comment on anything that you've heard here today, give us a call at the mini episode, which is 619p a u l a s k. That's 619paulask. You can ask me about your personal life, but you can also ask me about this movie. A big thank you to Cody Fisher, who is our producer, super producer and head of a lot of big things at Earwolf. I don't even quite even understand anymore. She's a big boss now, but she is awesome and she's sick and she's here. Devin, our engineer who's always doing about 95 shows a week and surprised that they can keep them alive here at Earwolf. Molly Reynolds, who is just killing it for all of us. Nate Kiley and our other producer, Avril Halley. All of them doing such great work. The ghost of Craig T. Nelson, Kyle Waldron, both with the amazing art that you're seeing on all of our social media pages again, rate and review this show. It does help. It actually really, really does help. So please, if you have a second to do that, we'll do it. And we'll see you next week on a mini episode. Bye for now.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify.

[Paul Shear]

Once I figured out that Shopify was

[Jason Manzoukas]

a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know,

[Paul Shear]

and it thinks about the customer more than anything.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Every day I'm thinking about some other

[Paul Shear]

new business, but Shopify is doing it

[Jason Manzoukas]

to me because it's so easy to use.

[Paul Shear]

It's like I can't stop.

[Jason Manzoukas]

I'm addicted. Start your free [e-mail]

[June Diane Rayfield]

why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them, should something happen to us.

[Jason Manzoukas]

Are you my dad now?

[Paul Shear]

No, sorry. I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie Combination.