Miami Connection LIVE! w/ Chris Geere (HDTGM Matinee)

Summary

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How Did This Get Made? — Miami Connection LIVE! w/ Chris Geere

Date: November 11, 2025
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas
Guest: Chris Geere
Venue: Largo, Los Angeles

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Episode Overview

This live episode features the HDTGM crew—Paul, June, and Jason—with guest Chris Geere, breaking down the 1987 cult martial arts "classic" Miami Connection: a movie about a rock band/taekwondo team/orphan collective fighting drug-dealing ninjas in Orlando. The panel, energized by the film's oozing earnestness, wild soundtrack, baffling plot twists, and legendary bad acting, dissects the movie’s peculiar blend of violence, music, and 80s naivete while reveling in the joy of discovering a movie so bad it’s transcendent.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

First Impressions & Movie Experience

• Immediate Enthusiasm:
  • Paul: “For every piece of shit that we have made you watch, this is... this is a triumph.” [03:46]
  • Jason: “We have just thrown you a scrap of real meat. I mean, enjoy it like a choice.” [03:55]
• Why Buy It:
  • Paul: “I had first rented this movie, had to stop midway through. And then when I went back… I said, no, I want to fucking buy it.” [04:03]
  • Jason: “We should all own this movie.” [04:13]
• Celebrity Doppelgangers & Droll Nicknames:
  • The cast assigns characters jokey nicknames, like "Giant Michael Phelps" for the band’s towering member and riffs extensively on the sheer weirdness of the cast and costume choices. [05:18]

What Even Is Miami Connection?

• Geographic Inaccuracy:
  • Chris: “The connection to Miami is something... I can really relate to in that I have also been there once.” [09:38]
  • June: “Why is this movie called Miami Connection?” [09:59]
  • Jason: “The entirety of this is in Orlando!” [10:10]
• Opening Scene Confusion:
  • The hosts laugh at the film’s initial Miami-set drug deal featuring “the Village People of bad guys” (bikers, cowboys, ninjas—one even in a conspicuous all-white outfit). [10:18]

The Band/Ninja/Orphan Orbits—Character Dynamics

• Jane, the Perpetually Changing Woman:
  • June: “She to me looked different in every scene.” [16:08]
  • Paul: “Even in the first scene, I felt like she was just a groupie for the band, and then in the next scene, she leads singer.” [16:24]
• The Hairy Antagonist, Jeff:
  • June: “There’s hair at a density level that is so upsetting." [13:24]
  • Jason: "He is like a boiled wolf sweater on his entire body—that’s what he’s doing.” [13:30]
• Relationship Motivations & Sibling Rivalries:
  • The only reason given for Jeff’s antagonism: “Because the sister is dating giant Michael Phelps.” [13:11]
  • June: “So he’s just upset because his sister’s dating someone.” [14:27]

Plot Dissection: What Drives the Mayhem?

• Band Aspirations:
  • The group riffs on the hilariously clumsy “let’s tour our countries of origin!” scene [17:00–18:57], noting that every band member is—suddenly!—an orphan.
  • June: “They make a big point in this movie over establishing that everybody in the band is an orphan.” [19:16]
• Casting Real Talk:
  • Paul reveals that star and movie mastermind Y.K. Kim cast himself, all his students as the leads, and juggled writer/producer/casting director roles. [20:34]
  • Chris: "He was the casting director, writer and producer, along with the other guys… associate producers, production supervisor, lyricists.” [21:55]

Iconic (and Absurd) Scenes

• The Beach Montage:
  • Paul: “It starts off, you know, the band is driving on the beach and they’re like gawking at girls… Girls in bikinis. Old person on a scooter. Child.” [34:07]
  • June: “How dare you cut to a shot of a little girl also in a bikini, showering? Yeah, that’s really disturbing.” [36:23]
• Slow, Strange Kissing:
  • Jason: “It’s like they’re passing a gumball back and forth.” [38:24]
  • Paul: “It feels like when you put peanut butter, like, on a horse’s tongue to make them talk in a movie—like they’re both trying to get the peanut butter out of their own mouths.” [38:29]

Unforgettable Monologues & Performances

• Jim’s “My Mother Was Korean” Speech [42:04–46:39]:
  • Jason’s Recap (and the original):
    • “My mother was Korean and my father was black American. She gave me this picture when she was real sick… I knew one day when I grew up, I’d find him, whether he was dead or alive. I sent a couple letters to the Defense Department, and nothing happen…” [43:15, 44:14]
    • Chris: “An Oscar winning performance for Jim.” [42:05]
    • Paul: “Can’t beat the real thing.” [46:39]
• End Scene Reshoot:
  • The cast marvels at the abrupt, obviously re-shot hospital scene (with bizarrely young “old man makeup” for Jim’s father):
    • Jason: “Jim’s dad is conservatively 15 years younger than Jim…” [23:24]
    • Paul: “This is the reshoot scene.” [23:52]

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Production & Cult Legacy

• Origins and Rediscovery:
  • Paul: “They get a distribution company to purchase this film for $100,000... It had a very poor critical reception and it ended after three weeks, never to be heard from. What year?... Then in 2009, a programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse was on eBay and saw the listing for a 35mm print... and in 2010, screened the film—people went nuts.” [59:05–59:56]
  • From forgotten regional oddity to sensation after the Drafthouse screening. [60:05]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Plot

• June: “What is this movie about?” [50:35]
• Paul: “It’s about following your dreams and your heart... and you can’t be under the thumb of your drug dealing brother.” [50:42]

On the Film's Message vs. Its Violence

• Jason: “The heroes of the movie are murderers. Murderers are unrepentant.” [51:17]
• June: “That’s what’s so weird about the statement you read at the end of the movie about world peace and not using violence. You never see them struggle to not fight.” [56:23]

Audience Q&A Highlights

• [62:03] Kid Rock Croc Top: An audience member calls out the “henchman who humped like the mound of dirt” in a train yard fight.
• [62:56] On Ninjas Riding Motorcycles:
  • Audience Q: “If you’re a ninja and you’re trying to be all stealthy, would you pull up in your loud ass motorcycle everywhere?”
  • Jason: “Yeah, true…”
• [65:14] Absurd Family Tree and Character Confusion:
  • The panel and audience discuss the baffling sibling relationships (Jane, Jeff, Yoshito), confusing plot threads, and probable misdelivered lines.

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Music: The Real Star

• The panel repeatedly bursts into the film’s songs (especially “Against the Ninja” and “Tough Guys”) and agree that, miraculously, the music is amazing.
  • Jason: “The greatest soundtrack of any movie I’ve ever heard. I want these songs playing now.” [04:32]
  • Paul: “The music is, like, legitimately fantastic and good.” [04:54]
• They dream about a Dragon Sound T-shirt and agree it should be sold as HDTGM merch. [77:14]

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Strange Details and Running Gags

• Violence with No Consequences: Characters murder others unrepentantly, and romance blooms undisturbed.
• Random Grapes: They riff on a scene where Y.K. Kim silently hands out grapes to his male friends, calling it a “Christ allegory.” [78:35–79:04]
• Lace Suit Admiration:
  • June: “I’ve never seen lace pants.” [78:17]
• Fan Theories: Multiple explanations and audience theories about family trees, plot motivations, and—ultimately—assertions that nothing makes sense and it's beautiful.

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Second Opinions and Recommendations

• [70:04-73:15] The group reads loving (but hilarious) five-star Amazon reviews—one customer just brags about living “about 50 miles away from Orlando.”
• [81:17+] All panelists enthusiastically urge listeners to watch and buy the movie:
  • Jason: “I would urge our listeners to put this, to buy this movie immediately, and watch it with someone that they care about.”
  • June: “It is my kind of ninja movie, for sure.”
  • Chris: Sings: “We are friends through eternity... loyalty... honesty...”

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Memorable Timestamps (Selected)

• 03:38–04:19 — Panel’s first euphoria about the movie
• 10:18 — The infamously pointless Miami drug deal opening
• 13:24–14:04 — Hair density rants about "Jeff"
• 16:08–16:33 — Jane’s confusing identity
• 17:00–18:57 — The world tour/orphan scene (audio clip)
• 34:07–36:41 — Beach montage and its disturbing juxtapositions
• 42:04–46:39 — “My mother was Korean…” monologue (panel + film clip)
• 50:35–52:17 — Summing up what the movie is about (and “unrepentant murderers”)
• 56:23–56:41 — Martial arts philosophy vs. straight-up brawling

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Conclusion & Vibe

Miami Connection, as dissected by the HDTGM crew and Chris Geere, is a singular collision of bad acting, glorious music, accidental surrealism, and Florida weirdness. For the hosts (and their rollicking audience), it’s both a comedic goldmine and an infectiously joyful “good bad movie”—one whose earnest heart and delirious confusion demand to be shared with friends.
If you want to experience everything that’s lovable and hilarious about misbegotten cult cinema, this episode—and Miami Connection itself—should be on your list.

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Notable Quotes for Posterity

• Paul: “For every piece of shit that we have made you watch, this is… this is a triumph.” [03:46]
• Jason: “The greatest soundtrack of any movie I’ve ever heard. I want these songs playing now.” [04:32]
• June: "What is this movie about?" [50:35]
• Chris: “We are friends through eternity, loyalty, honesty…” [81:58]

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Highly recommended by the crew. And yes: “Bikers by day, ninjas by night.”

Transcript

[Paul Scheer]

On November 14, the now youw See Me movie franchise is back. The Four Horsemen of Magic, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher are reuniting for their biggest heist yet. This film delivers everything fans want.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Surprises, stunning practical magic and a few twists. It's the most fun your whole family.

[Paul Scheer]

Will have in the theater this fall. Now you SEE Me, now you don't. Rated PG13 only in theaters Friday.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Get tickets.

[June Diane Raphael]

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[Paul Scheer]

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[June Diane Raphael]

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[Paul Scheer]

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[June Diane Raphael]

Before you even notice them, and that keeps you gaming in the fast lane.

[Paul Scheer]

Lock in your price and unlock the possibilities. Xfinity Imagine that. Select plans only restrictions apply. Alienware's biggest sale of the season lets you unleash peak performance at Black Friday Savings. Prices start at $899.99 on select Alienware PCs like the groundbreaking Alienware 16 Aurora gaming laptop, taking performance to the next level with Intel Core processors. Plus you can save on all the latest accessories and displays like the Alienware 32 4K QD OLED gaming monitor. Visit alienware.com deals before these limited time savings end. It's a movie about a band of ninjas. No, literally, like a music band of ninjas. Yeah, that have to defeat Miami drug lords so they can play at Orlando's number one music club. Fuck it. I've said too much. We saw Miami Connection so you know what that means.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Remix how did Schwarzenegger grow a baby in his belly?

[Paul Scheer]

Rock a rhinestone vest while ripping Justin the Kelly or maybe see a burlesque show with Nick Crow and take a bubble speed to hitting cruise control J man Big Paul in the beautiful June gonna take you from the goob all the way to the room Random games of Street Fighter hope to blow off steam just to sucker punch the odd life of Timothy Green Sharp Nadal the bird Demic how we staying alive they calling in the badass and he's on the line cranking 88 minutes cause they cool as ice cause the bad Jim Vonnie looking kind and nice Paul and Drew getting literal Jason June is making sure all the monkey shots getting paid they judge a bunch of movies while they making the grade Here's a real question for you. How did this get made? Hello people of Earth, hello people of.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Largo We Are live here in Los.

[Paul Scheer]

Angeles at Largo, our LA home, the amazing Largo at the Coronet. And we have a great show for you tonight. Continuing our fascination with ninjas, we are talking about Miami Connection. I would argue the best movie with martial arts in it ever. Joining me, as always, are my two co hosts. Please welcome Jason Mantzoukas.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What's up, jerks?

[Paul Scheer]

Wow. Welcome to the wow.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We. We really did it this time. You are welcome, America.

[Paul Scheer]

For every piece of shit that we have made you watch, this is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is a triumph.

[Paul Scheer]

We have just thrown you a scrap of real meat.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I mean, enjoy it like a choice.

[Paul Scheer]

I had first rented this movie, had to stop midway through. And then when I went back to the screen where it said, do you want to continue the rental? I said, no, I want to fucking buy it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We should all own this movie.

[Paul Scheer]

100%.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Wowee.

[Paul Scheer]

So much fun.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is maybe one of the best movies we've ever done.

[Paul Scheer]

And, you know, let's see how much we can get through to talk about. And there is so much to talk about, but.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, God, is there ever. Oh, God, there are monologues. There are. There's so much in this movie. So much, not to mention legit. The greatest soundtrack of any movie I've ever heard. I want these songs playing now.

[Paul Scheer]

The music is, like, legitimately fantastic and good.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

From the minute they're on stage. These guys are undeniable. It's just oats. And it's great.

[Paul Scheer]

I will say that this movie is full of celebrity doppelgangers. We'll get into all that. Joining me also, as, like I said.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My other is one of them giant Michael Phelps. Can we just call one of them giant Michael Phelps?

[Paul Scheer]

100%. I would request that. We have to.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And that is some sort of Michael Phelps Frankenstein action to me.

[Paul Scheer]

The bad guy also reminded me of that sleazy dude from Die Hard who was like bubby pow. That guy Elliot who does the cocaine. So it's so good. Joining me also tonight, Ms. June Diane Rayfield. Careful.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Careful, too.

[June Diane Raphael]

Hello.

[Paul Scheer]

Welcome.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Exposed wires. This would never fly. This is very dangerous.

[Paul Scheer]

I know. I meant to unplug it, but I got so excited with the pre show. June Paul. One of the things that upset me the most about this movie was I didn't get to watch it with you because we experienced a blackout last night.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And you guys drank to the point of unconsciousness.

[Paul Scheer]

It's real. Virginia Woolf at our house. Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Wait, the movie. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[Paul Scheer]

No, Virginia Wolf.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Virginia Woolf.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah. Okay, I'm Virginia Woolf. She's Virginia Slim. And.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, we watched it separately. And I did feel watching it now, look, sometimes I have a hard time watching these movies. I've said that before. I'll say it again. And this was one where I really felt I had a limited time to watch it. And I thought, you gotta rewind. You've missed something so important. Cause usually I'll ask Paul, but you weren't there.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah. And you had to go at it by yourself.

[June Diane Raphael]

I did rewind and I.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Did it help?

[June Diane Raphael]

Not at all. Not at all. And now I think after watching the trailer, I didn't miss a thing. Yeah, I didn't miss a thing.

[Paul Scheer]

No.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I know it's very confusing, but fantastically simple.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I would argue that the ratio of unimportant scenes are matched by important scenes. Like, there's an equal distribution of scenes that matter to the plot.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

There are multiple instances of like nine plus minute scenes. Oh, yeah. That's unheard of.

[Paul Scheer]

It's some very cutting edge indie shit that we're watching.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, yeah. And there's a tremendous amount of ADR just trying to sew this movie together.

[Paul Scheer]

I have a different take on it. I don't think that they had a good sound person. I feel like they were like, oh, we shot this, we can't hear a word. Just come back in and do it all again. Well, we are very excited about our guest tonight. He is in the hit FX show, You're the Worst, which premieres September 6th. Please welcome Chris Gere. First ever. First ever costume guest.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love that.

[Paul Scheer]

For those listening at home. So happy, Chris is rocking the.

[Chris Geere]

Oh, check the back, check the back.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, wow. The back says. You see that says Miami. Miami.

[Chris Geere]

Dreaming. I wondered when I was ever gonna wear this. And then this opportunity came around.

[Paul Scheer]

It's amazing. Headband, fingerless gloves. And we are so excited to talk to you. What? So did you ever hear about this movie?

[Chris Geere]

I'd never heard about it, no. And. But I have to thank you for introducing me to what is.

[Paul Scheer]

Like you.

[Chris Geere]

Say, a movie that I believe everyone should have.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

It defies expectations at every step of the way.

[Chris Geere]

We'll obviously get into it. But the connection to Miami is something.

[Paul Scheer]

That.

[Chris Geere]

I can really relate to in that I have also. I have also been there once.

[Paul Scheer]

For.

[Chris Geere]

A short period early on.

[June Diane Raphael]

Why is this movie called Miami Connection?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, why indeed?

[June Diane Raphael]

What is being connected there, by the way?

[Paul Scheer]

I would argue it doesn't need to be called Miami Connection. Cause it takes place in Orlando.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, yeah. The Entirety of this is in Orlando.

[Paul Scheer]

The first scene is somewhere in Miami.

[Chris Geere]

Pointless drug scene.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, the drug scene in which it was like the Village People of bad guys. Every time. Cowboy hat, bad guy. Like 80s bad gu.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Biker, bad guy.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah. And ninjas, of course. Oh, yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And since when is there a guy who wears an all white ninja outfit? Like that guy, I feel like would be super noticeable in the rafters of a building. They meet for that drug dealer. There's a dude in a straight up white ninja's outfit. That's the opposite of being a ninja.

[Paul Scheer]

You're calling so much attention to yourself.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's like the height of ninja narcissism. It's like, no, I don't want to be silent.

[Paul Scheer]

I'm an example.

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, it's funny because the beginning before we. Before I watched the movie, I said we watched probably about two minutes of it. Before the blackout, we watched two minutes together.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And then there was stories. Now seems like a lie.

[June Diane Raphael]

No, it's all true. There was a blackout. It happened two minutes into our viewing. And I said to Paul, and I was very upset. I said, is this a ninja movie?

[Paul Scheer]

So disappointed. Still feeling the pang of Ninja Terminator, which was another great one. Chris.

[June Diane Raphael]

What Ninja Terminator did to me was so. I'm not recovered. I feel I've been traumatized by that movie. And once I realized, like, oh, I think this has something to do with ninjas, I felt so triggered. And I felt my body going to that place of like, I have to watch a million ninja fight scenes that I don't understand. I fucking hate ninjas. I hate them. And so to realize early on that it was a ninja movie, but then you told me it's not that kind of ninja movie. And to your credit, it wasn't that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Kind of ninja movie.

[Paul Scheer]

No. Very rarely do we get to see ninjas with extracurriculars.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Chris Geere]

On motorbikes.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah. They were a motorcycle ninja band. They were.

[June Diane Raphael]

In some ways, it was my kind of ninja movie.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It also posits a world in which fucking Orlando is overrun with ninja gangs. That's what I'm trying to wrap my head around.

[Paul Scheer]

Right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm like, okay, maybe a city the size of Orlando has one prominent ninja gang. This has multiple ninja gangs, one of which is an aspiring new wave band who are legit. Great. Here's the thing, guys, drop out of college, stop being ninjas. Just focus on this band.

[Paul Scheer]

Again. Like I said in the opening, they're trying just to be a band.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

These drug lords are after them. Not for ninja stuff. They're just a band.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's true.

[June Diane Raphael]

Why are the drug lords after them?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Just because the sister is dating giant Michael Phelps.

[June Diane Raphael]

But why does that matter?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Why does that matter? Because the little hairy dude was like, no, no, no.

[June Diane Raphael]

He's. By the way, he's not just hairy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's like.

[June Diane Raphael]

He's like condensed Harry. There's hair at a density level that is so upsetting.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He is like a boiled wolf sweater on his entire body. That's what he's doing.

[Paul Scheer]

He's.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

To me, he's like a close knit sweater.

[Paul Scheer]

I was thinking of like Captain Caveman from the old Flintstones. Just shaved in a couple more places.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Or if you took like. I'm trying to think of like a normal, proportioned, tall, hairy man. But compact.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yes.

[Paul Scheer]

Condensed.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So that it's like more follicles per square inch of body.

[June Diane Raphael]

You know what I mean? I feel like, honestly, for every pore there, or like a place where you could put one follicle for him, there was like 10.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, so you know how like a Chia Pet comes with the thing? What if you put all the seeds on a much smaller thing? Right. It'd look pretty crazy. That's what this guy is.

[June Diane Raphael]

So he's just upset because his sister's dating someone.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I think he's fucked up. I think he's projecting his anger over being so hairy and so short onto the fact that his sister's with giant Michael Phelps. And their proportionality is all off the scene where they're walking like with his. He's like draped over her like an ill fitting coat. What's going on?

[Chris Geere]

That's one of the only times where he's got his shirt on as well. Rather than just like a towel around his neck.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's got one of those very long trunks.

[Paul Scheer]

I feel like he's wearing a trench coat in the scene where he picks her up. But he's so tall that the trench coat only comes up to his waist.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What is going on with them sexually? You can, you can see, you can.

[Chris Geere]

See why she was so attracted to him. Due to his moves. You know his moves. When she's in the. She's in the classroom and he comes in, he's doing all this, like.

[Paul Scheer]

Winking and nodding. He also enters a very clouded classroom and he's like, hey, hey, come here. Like, as if there's not a million. Like a full classroom in session. Like, come here.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Hey.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, all right. Hey.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And she thinks he's fucking hilarious. I mean, I get it. He's Dynamite in the pool. But.

[June Diane Raphael]

By the way, that is a swimmer's body. Like, that's a body that belongs only in water.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I've gotta be honest. Do we know for sure that's not my.

[Paul Scheer]

I don't.

[June Diane Raphael]

I wouldn't say. I wouldn't dare say that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm not sure.

[Paul Scheer]

It may be.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Prove me wrong, Michael.

[June Diane Raphael]

No, she also. I don't know if anyone else had this problem, but she to me looked different in every scene.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Especially early on.

[June Diane Raphael]

Figure out especially early on she didn't realize that this person was the same person.

[Chris Geere]

Band hair and school hair and school hair.

[Paul Scheer]

Was she. Even in the first scene, I felt like she was just a groupie for the band. And then in the next scene, she leads singer.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, by the way, the treatment of her as the female character movie throughout is problematic, to say the very least.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What are you talking about?

[June Diane Raphael]

So in the first scene, she doesn't play an instrument at all?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, she's just hoping to make out.

[Paul Scheer]

That's why I thought she was a groupie. I thought that she was just like brought up on stage by the lead singer to like, kind of like, why.

[June Diane Raphael]

Isn'T she a part of this band and their aspirations and their. She kind of ninja training the lead.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Singer at a certain. But you're right, she has no function in the ninja portion.

[Paul Scheer]

Wait a second.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I just realized.

[June Diane Raphael]

Look at the conversations they have about how they want to build the band and go on a tour to all of the countries that their parents came from.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That. I mean, I could talk about that scene, that scene, conservatively, for three hours. I mean, this guy. This guy has only those lines in this scene. Talks not before and not after.

[Paul Scheer]

I want to play this scene. And I. I just had a realization of why these ninjas may actually be after this band. So if I forget, stick with us after the clip. So, Mark, how do you feel about putting some board breaking into the act? Sure, why not? We could write another Taekwondo song. And after Tom does one of his guitar solos, we could all break boards. Jack could do a drum solo. How about it, Jack? Love to help you write that song, John, but there's no way I'm gonna break any boards in that club. I don't even want us to play there anymore. Why? Because that other band jumped us the other night. Yeah, because of Jeff too. He's in there every night. His damn gang selling stupid cocaine. Don't worry about Jeff. If he bothers us anymore, I'll make sure he regrets it. What do you think about a tour? What Kind of tour. It would be a world tour. But what would make it special is that we play in each other's countries, you know, like finding our roots.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You mean we're gonna play in Ireland?

[Paul Scheer]

Right. While we're in Europe, we'd visit Italy, you know, Tom's home country. We visit all the countries where our parents came from. Korea, Ireland. We play in Israel. That's where my parents are from. I didn't realize this before. Table Sound is really an international band. Right. Wherever we'd go, we'd visit the local taekwondo schools. We'd promote peace and goodwill.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Think we could take a little time.

[Paul Scheer]

Out for dinner while we're trying to save the world? Oh, that scene is amazing. And they're very bad bookers for a world tour. I mean, some expensive flights.

[June Diane Raphael]

I don't even know where to begin with this. But they make a big point in this movie over establishing that everybody in the band is an orphan.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, well, that's just dropped. That's dropped in a scene where with.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The guy says he's looking for his.

[Paul Scheer]

Father, and they're like, wait a second, we're all orphans. Like, that doesn't mean that you don't have a father.

[June Diane Raphael]

But it is a strange thing because it seems as though that's how they found each other.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes.

[June Diane Raphael]

Also through their orphan identity.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes. And also they all, I think, go to college together. Right?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah. Ucf.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, so that's a question then. Two. Like, they put up a sign that said, looking for band members. Band members, bass, drums, keyboards. Must like these bands and be an orphan. Like, must have no living and no taekwondo. And international.

[Paul Scheer]

There's a lot of things that you need to know to be in this band.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Cause they've got a lot going on.

[June Diane Raphael]

By the way, this actor, whose parents are from Israel, he truly seems like. And I don't mean to be cruel, but he seems like he's acting under duress. Yeah, that something. And he would not be surprised to.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Find out that he had been abducted and forced to make this movie.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, let me. Let me just. Like, throughout the podcast, I'll drop a little bit of knowledge about this movie on you. And one of the things about it is, is the lead actor, the director, the guy who is, you know.

[Chris Geere]

Y.K.

[Paul Scheer]

Kim. Yes, Y.K. kim.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He plays Mark.

[Paul Scheer]

Right, Mark.

[June Diane Raphael]

He's also 45 years old.

[Paul Scheer]

Mark is an amazing Taekwondo star. He came here from Korea, and they said that what he did to the United States was he, like. He made, like, the McDonald's of taekwondo. Like, he franchised out taekwondo all around Florida, specifically Orlando. And when he was making this movie, one, he never had to get permit because everyone in Orlando loved him so much he could shoot wherever he wanted. And two, he used all of his students in the movies.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So they're not.

[Chris Geere]

None of them are actors. They're just his students.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So how did giant Michael Phelps get in the movie?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I mean, giant Michael Phelps is probably forced. You're so good at swimming, you got to do an extracurricular to kind of balance it out.

[Chris Geere]

What about Jim, though? Jim doesn't do taekwondo.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh. So maybe Jim was one of the guys who got it through an audition. Straight up audition.

[Chris Geere]

Guess who was the casting director on this movie?

[Paul Scheer]

Who was.

[Chris Geere]

It was YK Kim.

[Paul Scheer]

Story by yk, Story by him.

[Chris Geere]

He was the casting director, writer and producer, along with the other guys who were also associate producers, production supervisor, lyricists.

[Paul Scheer]

For all the songs. It was a. You know, it was a one man band, this movie. YK Kim also came in to direct the final scene of the film.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, he didn't direct it.

[Paul Scheer]

He did not direct it. He just directed the. The final scene.

[June Diane Raphael]

The jungle sequence?

[Paul Scheer]

No, the hospital sequence. Because when it's screened, and I want to make sure I get this right, when it's screened, I want to say in Cannes, I feel like that's wrong.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

When it screamed in can when it won the Palm d'.

[June Diane Raphael]

Or.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

When was it?

[Paul Scheer]

It screened in Cannes in 1987.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What's happening right now.

[Paul Scheer]

Jim?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What's going on? Did it just screen like I have played it in the part.

[Paul Scheer]

We'll move on. We'll get back to some. When it screened in Cannes and Madonna. And the ending was a bummer that Jim died. And he's like, well, we gotta reshoot the ending. So him and a very skeleton crew just went in there and shot that final scene where they took a young man, put. Put some white taco powder, and made him an older man.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

How crazy was that?

[Chris Geere]

All of them miraculously healed from the events of an hour ago.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Jen found shirts. Jim's dad is conservatively 15 years younger than Jim. You could not. The man playing Jim's dad is arguably 16 years old, wearing old man makeup.

[Paul Scheer]

Whoa. Jason. I will again say old man makeup.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Is a gray in his hair. This is wild.

[Paul Scheer]

This is the reshoot scene.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Doctor, how is my son?

[Paul Scheer]

Jim was extremely fortunate. The wounds weren't as deep as we initially thought. He did lose a lot of blood, but there was very little internal damage. Oh, thank God. When can we see him. I hear he all shortly. I'm gonna leave him under your care tonight. He needs plenty of rest and if you have any problems just give me a call. Thank you doctor. Telephone please. Doctor. Your being here has meant a lot to Jim.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Shaking hands for so long.

[Paul Scheer]

This guy was just stabbed in the gut. Screamed stabbed in the gut in such a violent way. He is being sliced on his own recognizance now like that. You're not even sent home on the same day.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love this move.

[Paul Scheer]

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[Jason Mantzoukas]

I want to talk about the bad guy gym where all the bad guys just lift weights.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, Jim.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Where it's like. It's a. Like, it looks like a gym that you might go and work out. Except all the bad guys in town are there, just working out.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, let's just, like, maybe just for the lay of the land, just go over all the different groupings. Right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, great.

[Paul Scheer]

So you have the band Ninjas, Sound Dragon. Right? You got Sound Dragon. Then you got the hairy guy and his team.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Is his name Jeff?

[Paul Scheer]

Yes, Jeff.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, you've got Harry. Jeff.

[Paul Scheer]

Jeff.

[Chris Geere]

Who is Jane's brother.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Who's Jane's brother.

[Chris Geere]

They also have another sibling, but we'll get to the.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah, they do a lot of questions there.

[June Diane Raphael]

By the way, the story of what happened to their parents is insane.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, that.

[Chris Geere]

Do you not know the siblings Jeff, Jane and Yoshito? I know. I know them really well.

[June Diane Raphael]

What happened to their parents? So she says her dad left her mom when she was like, 7 years old.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Gian Michael Phelps, who is her boyfriend, says to her, so, what's a blue family situation? What's that whole deal?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, first of all, he calls her out of class in a very flirtatious way to be. Come on, come on, let's have fun. Hey, so we never talked about your family. Give me the lowdown. Like that was the fun.

[Chris Geere]

I've actually transcribed that little bit. June, do you want to read with me?

[June Diane Raphael]

Please.

[Chris Geere]

Right. So you play the part of Jane. I shall be John.

[June Diane Raphael]

Great. I have a brother. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be going to this nice school or staying in this nice dorm I'm staying in.

[Chris Geere]

That's really nice of him, except for one thing.

[June Diane Raphael]

I don't really like him.

[Paul Scheer]

What?

[Chris Geere]

You don't like your own brother.

[Paul Scheer]

Why?

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, I can't really explain it. I just don't like him unseen.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Never explain anything else. That's it.

[Chris Geere]

Brilliant. I'm glad we cleared that up.

[Paul Scheer]

Hearing you guys do it. Bring it. That's crazy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I would legit pay for a shot for shot remake of this movie starring the two of you.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, my God.

[June Diane Raphael]

So the way she describes what happened to her parents and how they're orphaned is that her dad left when she was 7. Her mom died immediately after he left, and then immediately after that, her dad died.

[Chris Geere]

Rough year.

[June Diane Raphael]

Rough year. And it sounds just like, wow, that if you're that dad and you've left your. If you've left your wife and kids and then she dies right away, and then you die right away, it's like, wow. I really hope it was worth it. Really hope it was worth it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. For those final years to be just full of turmoil. Anyway, so. So we got.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, so we got gym. So we got our band ninjas. We got our gym ninja. Then we got.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, they're not ninjas. They're like the bikers.

[Paul Scheer]

They're the.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The hairy guys team.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, they're bikers.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They're not ninjas. They're like thugs. I feel like, okay, they're like just tough guys.

[Paul Scheer]

And then there's the. Then there's a group of also biker ninjas. Who are the higher guys? That's the guy who lives in Miami.

[Chris Geere]

They're the cocaine guys.

[Paul Scheer]

They're the cocaine guys. Yeah. So that's the other contingent. And then there's another set of bad. Bad guys, which is another band that we've never seen play. Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Were they a band? I was confused by that.

[June Diane Raphael]

I don't understand this.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Were they actually a band?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, that guy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So one guy is the guy with the gun, right?

[Paul Scheer]

The guy. It's my favorite scene in the whole movie. We don't have it as a clip where two guys stand next to each other and are screaming at each other. From the moment one, you can see the spit flying out of their mouth. And so one of that guy. That guy's in a band.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's like, how can you not put.

[Paul Scheer]

Me in a band? I don't like your band anymore. Well, all right. Well, no, like, that's. That's the whole scene. And so that guy. The guy who was in the band goes to Jim and is like, go, Jeff. Jeff. Hairy guy. Goes the hairy guy. He's like, kill that band. And then. But Jeff is already doing it because.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And if you Giant Michael Phelps is stone cold blasting his sister.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Chris Geere]

And then if you do that, we'll give you all of our earnings.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Not a percentage. Yeah, all of it.

[Chris Geere]

So they're now working at. Let's not be around the bush in a bar.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, for free.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

For free.

[June Diane Raphael]

Okay, but I. I'm sorry. So wait, but why does Jeff want to kill Michael Phelps?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Because he's blasting his sister.

[June Diane Raphael]

That's. But that's the only. So, God, what did happen between the two of them?

[Paul Scheer]

Because Harry guy was like, I don't want you dating this second rate musician he has. He's like, yeah, I fucking do drug deals on the side. I don't want you associating with musicians.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's looking out for his sister. He's like, you focus on school. Do your classes. Don't get distracted by this nonsense. And this guy, never see him again.

[Paul Scheer]

There's school, by the way, which came in fourth place. And he's like, hey, good news, everybody. We came in fourth place. And then the computer teacher walks around the group. He's like, hey, good job, good job.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Nice circle, nice circle, nice circle.

[June Diane Raphael]

I also didn't like how he was weirdly touching the women's shoulders as he walked by. That whole scene made me feel nauseous.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh. So here's my theory on why I think they want to kill the band or why people get. Because the band is revealing plot points of the cartel. Cause they aren't.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They don't.

[Paul Scheer]

They sing the song, like through song. Bikers by day, ninjas by night Steal all your cocaine. Wasn't that.

[Chris Geere]

Wasn't that like, oh, no, they found us out.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, like they're penning.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So you think they're writing the, like, social issue documentary? Like songs that are. That are opposing the crime syndicate? That would be.

[Paul Scheer]

I mean, there's songs where we're pretty much exposing the underbelly of Miami.

[June Diane Raphael]

Are we going to talk about the beach scene? Are we going to talk about the beach scene? The beach sequence?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

How many times do people walk up to other people and just walk up to strangers and say, can I get. Also, I have a quick question. Can you do that?

[Chris Geere]

Do you think there were. Do you think there were any release forms involved when the camera just went round the beach filming anyone anywhere?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I think this falls under. YK Kim can do anything in Orlando.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, you got. But here's what I found most disturbing about that montage. It starts off, you know, the band is driving on the beach and they're like gawking at girls like, you know, it's like girls in bikinis. Girls in bikinis. Girls in bikinis. Old person on a scooter. Child. It's like, it just like the images become more. And when you. What am I.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

When you juxtapose the obviously meant to be sexualized kind of buns and boobs on the beach with just shots of children, you're like, what are. What is. What is going on?

[June Diane Raphael]

I couldn't believe also that they set up our good guys this way.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. Oh, just oats.

[June Diane Raphael]

Just predators.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Walks up to a girl and is like, hey, can I get a kiss? He is pushed to the ground where he lands in another girl's cleavage, then rolls around on a bunch of girls who appear to just have a tickle fight with him.

[Paul Scheer]

So upsetting.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And that is his punishment for being a creep.

[June Diane Raphael]

The most upsetting shot, though, was when I think one of the girls is a girl in a bikini is like biking or roller skating past, I think one of our guys. And he's sitting down with a. Like a water gun.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I don't remember anybody else.

[June Diane Raphael]

Remember this.

[Paul Scheer]

Like a Uzi water gun.

[June Diane Raphael]

Race water at her.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is the shot where they. Yeah, that was it. We just saw it. Yeah, I don't think that's one of our guys, though.

[Chris Geere]

Child kids.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

By the way, Paul, can you rewind a little bit? Like, here we are. Here we are. Yeah, okay. Oh, here we are. Summer, Summer Having a crazy time. We're just friends. Jim's just friends. Buns and brews down at the beach. This guy's wearing a hat. Just oats, buns and friends. Buns buns and friends. Plus a creep driving down the boardwalk. Kids alone. Kids alone at the beach. These kids are lost. Kids are selling their bodies. What's wrong? Just guys hanging out, attacking women sexually. Just oats. Wants a kiss pushed into ladies boobs. This movie's amazing. The other movie about the kids living under the pier, though, that's a sad movie.

[June Diane Raphael]

By the way, don't put a shot after those shots of grown women in bikinis. How dare you cut to a shot of a little girl also in a bikini, showering. Yeah, that's really disturbing.

[Paul Scheer]

It was. It took me by.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It was like, none of those children have parents. It's an orphan beach.

[Paul Scheer]

It's an orphan beach.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, that's true. This might just be orphan beach. You're right. But smart. It's a theme.

[Paul Scheer]

When this guy falls on the girls, he exists on those girls for such a long time. Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

He knew exactly what he was Doing?

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Even with Giant Michael Phelps tries to pull him off. He is, like, flailing around as if he's still being attacked.

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, because he's pretending that he is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I guess.

[Paul Scheer]

So.

[Chris Geere]

Also, when you get to the credits later on and they're showing each character individually, that's the bit that they show for that character. Him just being slapped. That was his only.

[Paul Scheer]

Now, as disturbing as everything we just described was, none of it comes close to how the beach scene ends. Witches are two lovers in this film in a beach chair in the ocean.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So good.

[Paul Scheer]

Slow kissing. As if they've never kissed before.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, but it's not as if they've never kissed each other. As if they've never had a kiss.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Chris Geere]

It's just a quick peck, though, isn't it? Cause it's like, oh, no.

[Paul Scheer]

We don't even need sound for it. We just see.

[Chris Geere]

There we go.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, my.

[Paul Scheer]

Just a slow.

[Chris Geere]

It's like short turnaround.

[June Diane Raphael]

These weird short kisses.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

There's like, no. What are they going? There's no opening the mouth. They never open the mouth and get into any kind of rhythm. It's just like.

[June Diane Raphael]

No, it's like these hard, fast, slow.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's like they're passing a gumball back and forth.

[Paul Scheer]

It feels like when you put peanut butter, like, on a. Like on a horse's tongue to make them, like, talk in a movie or something like that. They both had, like. They're trying to get the peanut butter out of their own mouths. The thing that I think about that scene, too, is, like, clearly they're like, oh, we want to do like, a From Here to Eternity kind of scene. Like, you're rolling around on the beach. Yeah, that didn't work for whatever reason. Like, let's put the beach chair in the ocean, and you'll just kind of be jumping up out of the. Like. It's the mo. I've never seen that ever.

[Chris Geere]

It's like YK Kim, as well, said, you know, we've got it from one side. Got it from one angle. I don't think we got enough in that nine seconds. We'll flip to the other side so.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We can get another perspective.

[Paul Scheer]

It is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's a weird man there. He's, you know, like I said, a giant. And she's teeny tiny. So there's a lot of it. That's really weird. I just didn't care for it physically.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, there's also in the clip we were playing before where they're driving down the boardwalk and just Oates is Posing and stuff. There is somebody who has the line. He goes, they don't make buns like that down at the bakery. Made me really excited.

[Paul Scheer]

To me, the. The ad libs or the things that kept the scenes like, alive were my favorite part because it was like just these little moments where it would be almost repetition of it. Like there's one. One moment where they're getting excited about something in the apartment that they all live in.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And I want to talk about that for one year. And he goes, the band apartment.

[Paul Scheer]

He's like, hey, hey, quiet down. You're gonna wake the neighbors. And then like, it switches angles like, hey, you're gonna wake the neighbors.

[June Diane Raphael]

It was almost like they do that thing. I feel like this happens in the room too, where every character has to have a response to something. Like when Jim is opening his letter from the Defense Department and he's taking a while to open in every character. Open it. You should open your letter. That's a letter you should open, but really open the letter. This is a letter. We want to hear what is in that letter. Like, everyone has something to say about.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This moment and it's testament to that. They are such good friends and they're invested in each other's lives. And they're also doing that thing that we all do when we're hanging out with our friends at home as we take our shirts off and put a towel over our shoulder throughout the movie. All of them are shirtless with a shoulder towel. Like, that's a dude.

[Paul Scheer]

And Jim's never zipped up his flies. Jim's pants are always slightly undone at any given point. I also like when they got in mail another time. And, and, and, and Hall. Or was it hall or Oats? Which one is it again?

[Chris Geere]

Oats.

[Paul Scheer]

Oats is like, all right, what we got here? This is a piece of mail, and this is a piece of mail. And. And this is the. No, nothing is necessary in that scene. It's just like watching a person hand out mail that has no consequence to anyone.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

As if he doesn't understand conceptually how mail works, that each of those is for one of the people in the house. It has not just. It just arrived for the home. The home's mail. Holy cow. The first. Okay, I'm just gonna dive straight into Jim's story. Looking for his father.

[Paul Scheer]

Amazing.

[Chris Geere]

An Oscar winning performance for Jim.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

A staggering monologue that I found to be hypnotic. I watched it. I watched it it many times. I found a clip of it on YouTube just so I could find. Watch it only A bunch.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I mean, it's phenomenal. Jason, want to take a crack at it and then we can see how you stack up.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Let's see how we. Let's. Yeah. I feel like we all have it. Let's, let's.

[Paul Scheer]

Let's. Let's give it a Share you with.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Let's give it a whirl. Oh, boy. Okay.

[Paul Scheer]

Jen, do you have yours there?

[June Diane Raphael]

I've got it. I've got it.

[Paul Scheer]

So.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So, okay, so wait a second. YK Kim says. Wait, I thought we were all orphans, right?

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And then Jim goes. That's my father.

[Paul Scheer]

He walks out of the scene. Yeah. If we get a spotlight, we should be the other three.

[Chris Geere]

And bearing in mind that the three in the background is the fine line between trying to cry and trying to not to laugh, that's what they did.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My mother was Korean and my father was black American. She gave me this picture when she was real sick. I was only nine years old. They say that they loved each other and were real loyal and real happy. But then when he finished military duty.

[Paul Scheer]

He left.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And we never saw him again. She told me to find him, but I didn't like him because he left us. But I knew one day when I grew up I'd find him whether he was dead or alive. I sent a couple letters to the Defense Department and nothing happen and see and sing.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, my God.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Now that was.

[Chris Geere]

That was a one, wasn't it? It was a one take.

[Paul Scheer]

I can't follow that. I mean, that's good.

[June Diane Raphael]

Does really deliberate, though.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He steps forward into a spotlight in. In our.

[Paul Scheer]

By the way, I'm gonna say this. I don't. I think he just found his light. There are scenes in this movie where people are reading books in the complete dark. I feel like lighting in this movie was a mystery. Like the man who shot fire out of his hands and then never returned. In the credits. In the credits of the movie, he shoots fire from his hands. We never see that again. Okay. I thought for sure. Well, at the end. And they'll shoot fire. Let's just take a taste of how Jim does it. Oh, this looks like your brother.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I didn't know you have a brother.

[Paul Scheer]

It's my father. What? This is your real father?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes, it is.

[Paul Scheer]

You sure? I didn't know you had a father. I thought we are all orphans.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Three of them are not wearing shirts. My mother was Korean and my father was black American. She gave me this picture when she was real sick.

[Paul Scheer]

I was only nine years old.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They say that they loved each other and they were real loyal. They don't real happy.

[Paul Scheer]

But they. And then when he finished military duty, he left.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And we never saw him again. She told me to find him.

[Paul Scheer]

But.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I didn't like him because he left us. But I knew one day when I grew up I'd find him.

[Paul Scheer]

Whether he.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Was dead or alive. I sent a couple letters to the Defense Department.

[Paul Scheer]

Nothing happened. I love how can't beat the real thing.

[Chris Geere]

YK Kim in the last minute just kind of creeps really slowly behind him, like completely masked.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

YK Kim's character throughout the movie is learning stuff about his friends at every turn. In the previous scene, he learns that the other the drummer is is of Israeli heritage. He's like, I didn't know that. Like he doesn't know anything about these people.

[Chris Geere]

Now he knows that they all like grapes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yep.

[Paul Scheer]

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[June Diane Raphael]

So we're how many minutes into this podcast?

[Paul Scheer]

We've done a lot.

[June Diane Raphael]

What is this movie about?

[Paul Scheer]

Wow.

[June Diane Raphael]

What is it about?

[Paul Scheer]

It's about following your dreams and your heart. And you know, sometimes people want to stop you with force and you have to be strong enough to get out there and you can't be under the thumb of your drug dealing brother. You gotta make your own decisions and that's it.

[Chris Geere]

And also, only through the elimination of violence, that's what it is, can we achieve world peace. Despite the movie being Solely violent.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The heroes after heroes.

[Paul Scheer]

The 20 minute fight scene in the jungle.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The heroes of the movie are murderers. Murderers are unrepentant.

[Paul Scheer]

Michael Phelps kills his girlfriend's brother, and she's like, nah, that's okay. Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And he's basically killing. Chalks it up to like, my bad.

[Chris Geere]

Actually, I've. I've transcribed that one as well.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, fantastic.

[Chris Geere]

I'll be John, you be Jane. Yeah, okay. I'm so sorry about what happened. I felt so bad about that. Bear in mind, he's talking about killing her brother, which just. Which happened just a few hours ago.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, it's not your fault. I understand. Understand.

[Chris Geere]

See, we. We had to do it. We had no choice.

[June Diane Raphael]

I understand. It's all over now.

[Chris Geere]

That's true.

[June Diane Raphael]

It's okay. We're happy for Jim.

[Chris Geere]

Brilliant.

[Paul Scheer]

So happy for Jim. She is a low maintenance girlfriend. She's not gonna make it about her.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know, her friends. You know, her friends are like, jane, what are you doing? You have to dump him. He killed your brother. He and his friends are murderers. And, yeah, their tunes are banging. But again, he killed your brother. Do you think she's, like, out of school now?

[June Diane Raphael]

I'm pretty sure that her brother was molesting her from the age of, like, 15 to, like, there's. That's the only thing that makes sense.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, he's very jealous. He's, like, jealous.

[June Diane Raphael]

Very jealous of lover.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Only a lover can be. Yes, a lover. He's a jealous brother lover.

[June Diane Raphael]

And that's the reason why she's not upset that he's dead. If anything, I think she feels relieved.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, she did say early on she sets the stage for this. She says, I don't like him.

[Paul Scheer]

Right. Which makes it cool to be killed. And also, I think what really gave me insight to her relationship with her brother is in flashback, it's the most innocuous. Like, they have this thing and you see a flashback of her and her brother, and it's like him. Just like an inconsequential flashback of you. Like, oh, my brother. And it's just like them in front of the school. It's like a flash. That was the only moment she's like, oh, yeah, I remember him. Right. Yeah, he was the hairy guy. All right. It's a goal. It's cool.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

By the way, if Jim's sword wound did not kill him, dragging him through a stagnant pond is certainly gonna do it.

[Paul Scheer]

It's gonna get inside.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, he would have lived. But, like, apparently, apparently all of the bacteria was shoved into his body when you dragged him through Jason water, you fucking morons.

[Paul Scheer]

Little do you know about the suits that they make in Orlando. They are swamp resistant. And so when you got a nice Orlando suit, you can fall right off one of those gator boats and you'll be fine.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We haven't talked about the train yard fight.

[Paul Scheer]

We haven't talked about the fight.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We haven't talked about the B roll of bikers.

[Paul Scheer]

Bikers were all real and paid in beer. Yeah, Truth bikers. All real paid in beer.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Also, I read in the little trivia section that Jane's real boyfriend was just oats.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And in the movie, her boyfriend is giant Michael Phelps. And so whenever they had to do makeout scenes, they would send just oats out for beer.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They'd be like, hey, just go get us some beers, will ya? And he'd come back and they'd be like, your girlfriend just made out with giant Michael Phelps, you idiot. You fell for it.

[Chris Geere]

What are you guys shooting today? Oh, just the. Just the scene at the beach in the sea. Don't worry about it. Go get some beers.

[Paul Scheer]

He's like, I'll make it up. I'll just roll on women.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Also, how about the fact that there is a scene, I love the scene where, like, the. Where Jeff's gang of biker thugs were tailing soundtracks in a white Volvo. Like, the bad guy's car was just a boxy, safe white Volvo. I was like, they just are doing like, oh, well, my mom's got a car. We'll do it. Bring it.

[Paul Scheer]

By the way, speaking of this, every time there was a fight in this movie, I thought, june, this is actually a great movie for you, because I think you finally get your answer to what's a street Fighter? Because every time in this movie, it would seem like a bunch of people would get in the street and fight. They would always just, like, block a thoroughfare. And seemingly like 40 people without any stunt coordination just went.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Just going to town on each other.

[Paul Scheer]

Just attacked each other.

[June Diane Raphael]

People standing in convertibles, like, going like this. Just, like, raising one arm over and over.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

There was a lot of, like, sound. Dragon is vastly outnumbered. And then they kick ass ass. Like, poorly.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And defeat, like, people who sometimes have guns.

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, that's what's so weird about the statement you read at the end of the movie about world peace and not using violence. You never see them struggle to not fight.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They never try and turn down a fight.

[June Diane Raphael]

No. Which isn't that the whole thing about martial arts, that you learn how to Fight. So that you don't have to.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, no, they just go for it.

[Chris Geere]

But if you have the ability to hold someone's nose with your toe, you're.

[June Diane Raphael]

Gonna want to do that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Then.

[Paul Scheer]

Then you'll get.

[Chris Geere]

You're gonna use that, aren't you?

[June Diane Raphael]

I totally.

[Chris Geere]

As much as you can.

[Paul Scheer]

There was one. There was one funny moment in that scene where they get pulled. When they get stopped in the street of downtown Orlando and Miami. Oh. Oh, no. Orlando. Yeah. Where. Where the. Where one of the characters comes over and is gonna pour beer on all their heads.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

So he can get YK Kim, because he's right by him. But he really can't reach Michael Phelps. So Michael Phelps leans in to get the beer poured on his head.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I loved that. The bad guys were like, hey, Jerry, get over here. Do you do it? Or whatever. And like, there's like dozens of bad guys. Like, with guns. Right? With guns. And then this guy comes in, like, oh. And you think, oh, he's gotta be their most badass guy. All he does is pour beer on their heads. That's his big move, which is crazy. There's a Tough Guys song in this movie. Do you have the Tough Guys song, Paul?

[Paul Scheer]

You bet. By the way.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Fuck yes. This is some next level shit. Let's all fuck to this tonight.

[Paul Scheer]

Let's do it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Do it, people.

[Paul Scheer]

Somebody moves the camera. That is Tough Guys.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We missed the best. My favorite part of it is when he goes into the bar and kisses the bartender.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I was like, what?

[Paul Scheer]

That. That bar. That. That scene is crazy because it has two of the main bad guys there. They get at the bar and then they have a conversation where the mics are not on. And it's kind of like. It's like a moment where they're kind of meeting up to talk about something big. And like. Yes. So. And you don't hear what they're talking about. It's like, that should be a huge plot point in the movie. Not like a. Not a montage. Roll over the scene.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, my God.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This movie is great. I think you guys are lucky.

[Paul Scheer]

So much good stuff. Well, let me tell you a little bit about. About the movie. Just a little bit more, and then we'll talk to the audience. So long story short, they get a distribution company to purchase this film for $100,000. It opens an 8 theaters in Orlando. That was the release plan. It had a very poor critical reception and it ended after three weeks, never to be heard from. What year?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Sorry, what year is this?

[Paul Scheer]

87 okay. Then in 2009, a programmer at the Alamo Drafthouse was on ebay and saw the listing for a 35 millimeter print of the film for 30, $35. And in 2010, screen the film people went nuts.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Can you imagine?

[Paul Scheer]

The Drafthouse was like, holy shit. We found like the room of the 80s, the Tommy Wiseau room, not the Brie Larson room.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And although some of these people might have been forced into acting in this movie in a room scenario.

[Paul Scheer]

So basically, then they call YK Kim and they're like, we want to release your movie. Hangs up on them multiple times. He thinks it's a prank. And then they're, no, we really want it. And he's like, really? And they go, yeah, they re released this movie in 2012. It was missing. No one saw it. It wasn't available from 87 to 2012. And it just is a recent find that Alamo Drafthouse happened to find because someone was on ebay and found this thing and then screened. Would have only been those eight theaters in Orlando for that run. And so now the movie has become a big success and there's been money made from it, the million dollar budget. And. And just to show you. Well, we'll get into that at the end. But yeah, so that is amazing. Yeah, it's pretty amazing.

[Chris Geere]

And just deserved.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, it came back.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love that as like a. Like, I love that it's lost for all of those years and then came.

[Paul Scheer]

Out of nowhere and now, you know, he's getting some success off of it and he's still alive.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Has he made a second one yet, by the way?

[Paul Scheer]

He should. That would be amazing. Yes. With the same cast.

[Chris Geere]

The Orlando collection shot in Miami.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And plus. Plus Phelps can probably finance it now.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, let's. Let's go into the crowd and see if you guys have anything to bring up that we might have missed. Anything at all. All right, sir, how are you? What's your name? What's your question? My name is Casey. And I wanted to acknowledge during the train yard fight, one of the henchmen who I nicknamed Kid Rock Croc Top.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Who did like, he like, kind of.

[Paul Scheer]

Humped like the mound of dirt while Giant Michael Phelps was fighting other guys. And then he just danced for him, and then Giant Michael Phelps punched him out.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, there was a lot of pretty weird vignettes in that train yard fight.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, here we go. Let's see what's going on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, there were three. There were three.

[Chris Geere]

He made some air, though, didn't he, Once he got Kicked.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, he went. There are three bad guys that I found very funny and compelling. That guy. The little. Also the little methy kind of skinny guy with him and the big guy. Anyway, it doesn't matter.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, ma', am, your name, your question.

[June Diane Raphael]

My name's Jody. And my question is in the final.

[Paul Scheer]

Scene, when they're all sort of.

[June Diane Raphael]

Of samurai scimitar ing each other, who.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Are the people on the bridge?

[June Diane Raphael]

Are they just like.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Like observers?

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, I feel like those are people that were, like, Orlando locals who heard like, hey, they're shooting a movie down by the bridge. Can we watch? And then YK was like, yeah, you could even be in it. Really?

[June Diane Raphael]

It doesn't make a difference watching people die, like, getting.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, they're not in it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They're not in it.

[Paul Scheer]

They're just watching to see how it all goes down.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But if you think about it, if.

[Paul Scheer]

There were ninjas in your town, you would go out to see them.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's. That. That posits a world, though, in which, like, ordinary people out for a walk in the park witness a ninja fight that ends in multiple murders. I also.

[Chris Geere]

I also noticed that and, And. And questioned it. But I was too distracted by what was going on with Yoshito when he was fighting. Very clearly was not Yoshito. No, it was.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That man had a mustache at one point, I think. I think.

[Chris Geere]

I think it was Dead Jeff. Actor Dead Jeff had come back to play Yoshito. And the thing is very, very.

[Paul Scheer]

I believe that was a reshoot. And you're 100% right. Yeah. They have to make do with what they had. Yes, sir. Your name and your question.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My name's Kevin, and I'm wondering if you're a ninja and you're trying to be all stealthy, would you pull up in your loud ass motorcycle everywhere? Totally true.

[Paul Scheer]

True.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, true.

[June Diane Raphael]

I mean, what do these ninjas do? What are they up to otherwise? Like, what are. Aside from.

[Chris Geere]

That's in a lyric somewhere in. In one of the songs. Isn't it that they're ninjas by night? What is it they do during the day?

[Paul Scheer]

They're bikers by day, bikers by day, ninjas by night.

[Chris Geere]

But how are they earning money?

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, yeah, bikers.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know, it really is like. It's the duality of life. You know, the loud bike during the day and the quiet stealth of the ninja. You know, it's the real yin yang.

[Chris Geere]

Of you got two outfits in your wardrobe.

[Paul Scheer]

You got your.

[Chris Geere]

Got your leathers.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

And then.

[Chris Geere]

And then your full taekwondo gear.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

You know what I liked about him too? Like, when he was riding that motorcycle, he didn't look fully comfortable on it. Like he. In the Tough Guy's Song, he's supposed to be like, I'm a tough guy. And it looks like bugs are flying into his face. He's like, trying to avoid the bugs a little bit as it's coming out. Yes, sir. Your name? Your question?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My name is Frank. And I really want to know, are.

[Paul Scheer]

We gonna address the crazy family tree between the snow ninja and hairy little Jeff? Yeah. What?

[Chris Geere]

With Yoshito, right? Well, Jane, Jeff and Yoshito, obviously. I had to rewatch this scene a few times because I thought, do you think it was a typo in the script or a misdelivery by the actor when he went, I'm so sorry, but your brother Jeff is dead. Was it like originally scripted? Brother, I got to tell you that Jeff is dead and it's now turned and you're going, hang on. Jeff, Jane and Yoshito all grew up together.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Do you think?

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, I am remembering that their parents. So the dad who died very shortly after the mom, that dad, I'm pretty sure left them and married someone else or left for another woman. So maybe that woman.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Maybe it's a half.

[June Diane Raphael]

Maybe. Maybe Yoshi does a half, but he seems the oldest.

[Paul Scheer]

Also.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Also, Jane and Jeff do not look alike at all. He is.

[June Diane Raphael]

I think it's hard. Yeah, that's the thing. I think it's so hard to know without that amount of hair if they look alike or not. I think there's no way to tell.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But I guess I assumed that Yoshito was not a blood brother, but was like a brother to him.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, like a friend brother. Did he mention Yoshida?

[June Diane Raphael]

No, no mention of him.

[Paul Scheer]

Boy, Yoshido also has very lax entrance policies in the temple. Like, people just kind of barge in on him when he seems to have all the ninjas in a kneeling position and talking. When the ninjas, in the beginning of the movie, I forgot about this. When they go to grab the cocaine, they grab a handful of it and let it sift through their fingers as if that's some sort of indication of a. That's the cocaine. Like, you know, normally you wipe some on your gums or whatever, but they just seem like to scoop up a handful and then run and leaving also bags of cocaine fully intact. Bags of cocaine there. These are bad ninjas. Great bikers. Great bikers.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What was the ninjas plan? Did we know what they were fighting for?

[June Diane Raphael]

No idea.

[Paul Scheer]

Coke.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Did they want the coke trade?

[Paul Scheer]

I thought that he was. I don't know. He was just bringing them in.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I mean, I don't want to, like, stymie us all here, but, like, does.

[Paul Scheer]

Anyone have a clear idea of what the ninjas are fighting for? Oh, Miami. Kim, I'm. Come around here. You seem to really feel like you got.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

If it's YK Kim, I'm going to freak out.

[Paul Scheer]

Can you come over here just a little bit? All right, here we go. All right, tell me what your theory is. All right, so the Miami connection. Connection is Yoshito. He's the plug. He's the drug dealer in Miami that brings the drugs to Orlando. That's the Miami connection.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay.

[Paul Scheer]

That's all they wanted.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's all they want. So they're not siblings, really?

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, I couldn't answer that necessarily.

[Paul Scheer]

He said it, though, so emphatically. I bought it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But it does bring up other questions.

[June Diane Raphael]

It doesn't. The Miami connection of it all.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, I like that.

[June Diane Raphael]

Which I appreciate.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, ma', am, your name. Your question.

[June Diane Raphael]

My name is Megan, and my question is how much is the band getting paid? Because they're all driving around in one.

[Paul Scheer]

Car, which the convertible top doesn't seem to work because it's raining.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And they all want to talk to me.

[Chris Geere]

Just enough to buy grapes.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, there's a couple things I want to say. First of all, they are spending all their money on the pyrotechnics in the small club. But that doesn't. And that's normally for a big arena. But I love that they got in that convertible, and if you watch that scene, they have trouble getting into that car. So I counted at least two people. Like, it was not a graceful jump in. It was as if you, like, they just didn't know how to navigate it at all.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, they're also, like. All of them are physically bizarre.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, they all look like. You know, those crazy drawings that people do of you at fairs and stuff.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Caricatures. They are all caricatures. Sort of look like big, giant heads riding tiny skateboards, holding a tennis ball.

[Paul Scheer]

Especially.

[Chris Geere]

Especially when they're moving around on the stage during. During the songs. I don't know whether any of you noticed, but none of the instruments are plugged in.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

None.

[Paul Scheer]

And they're all playing guitar. They're all playing guitar.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Three guitars.

[Chris Geere]

Kim's doing his very best like this, but, you know, gliding between one note even still.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The songs are fucking amazing.

[Paul Scheer]

The songs are great. They nailed it. Now it's time for A second opinion.

[June Diane Raphael]

It's just that your opinion on this movie is no good and you really didn't watch it in the context that you should. My opinion might be second, but beside it, I have stood. I'd give this movie all 5 stars and 6 stars if I could.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes, Alyssa.

[Paul Scheer]

Great. You could go right there. You could go back, give it for Alyssa. And Alyssa Kumite is with. What's your name, sir? Cash. Cash. Now it's time for a second opinion. My, oh, my. Now what can you do when having one opinion just won't do? We thought the movie bad, but we could be wrong. Let's check out some reviews from Amazon, some reviews from people that hold this movie dear. Read with passion by my man Paul Scheer. We gotta take a second look. This movie couldn't have been a failure. There's a decapitation in the motherfucking trailer. Yes. Amazing. Thank you so much. That was amazing. Great job. Wow. Stellar. Stellar.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Stellar.

[Paul Scheer]

Stellar stuff.

[June Diane Raphael]

Amazing.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, wow. They're in the same row, too.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, so obviously, like I said, the second opinions here, they really aren't. They're not. They're not great because they love the movie, but I'll read them anyway. Okay. This one is from Jamie Gross. Written November 13, 2014. Catchy tunes, sweet action moves, and an important underlying message about the importance of family, whether it be by blood or other bonds. Five stars. And then this one right here, this is from just an Amazon customer. It's titled I can't help It. I really like this movie. The songs from the band stick in your head. I live about 50 miles away from Orlando. Five stars. Just laying down some facts. I don't know if.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Almost as if to say, I could go see Sound Dragon if I wanted to.

[Paul Scheer]

And then finally, this one from Andrew Rodelis, and it says, like this. Miami Connection is the epitome of movies that happen to combine Florida ninjas, martial arts, and music into one thing. Between the interesting facets of Dragon Sound, the escalation of violence in the movie, it reminds me a bit of the original Mad Max, oddly enough, especially considering the biker gangs. And the character of Jane, who echoes some of the feminist ideas, since her character arc is sort of all about doing what she wants and not obeying Jeff. There are some things that emerge here about Miami Connection that suggests it's not merely a brainless action flick. Five stars. Wow. So that is. Those are some very sincere. Sincere Jin.

[June Diane Raphael]

No, I love this movie. I really do. It's just so crazy. So crazy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Can we play some of these songs.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I wanna play the songs, but I have two treats here. The first being this. This is the original end. Okay, so it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Let's see one that screamed at con.

[Paul Scheer]

The one that's. Yeah, this is what the audiences in France saw. All right, so let's see. Jim, don't die.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Jim.

[Paul Scheer]

Want to see my poor father? Come on. Hang on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Where's your shirt, bro?

[Paul Scheer]

See what.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I don't want to say. I'm not.

[Paul Scheer]

Peace, you're alive. Peace, you're alive. Jim, hang on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

When we get to the hospital, Jim, you cannot die.

[Paul Scheer]

You need to die. You need to see your father. Hang on, Jim, your father is coming on. Oh, no. Jim's father's on that plane. Wow. Jim died in the back of the car just as his father's plane lands in Orlando.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Flies right over them. Flies literally right over them.

[Paul Scheer]

Which makes sense why they stopped the car when Jim was dying.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Holy.

[Chris Geere]

On a flight path.

[Paul Scheer]

I also.

[Chris Geere]

If they're on a flight path, then how did he know it was on that plane if the plane comes in every five minutes?

[Paul Scheer]

I did know. I did forget that one detail that I loved is that Jim's tie is also cut in half when he is. That is a dark ending. And they went for it. And now, because I think it's. I think we're all a little bit interested. This is a documentary. This is kind of the best of this documentary. So we get to see where these people are right now. So take a quick look at them now. It's short, but here go we go.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My mother was Korean, and my father was black American.

[Paul Scheer]

That was very intense. I was boohoo crying. And it took about two hours for that last. What you see on the movie, for that. That scene to be done. We're putting onion under my eyes and eye drops. And finally, I just recalled something from the past. Pass. And got a little bit out. But the first cat. The first cut that they didn't take, that was. That was a good one. You will find your father. It did come out funny that I always thought it was a good film, you know, had a nice little story and not perfect. Lots of little quirky things and.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And. Oh, my God.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, my God.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, my God.

[Paul Scheer]

Told me. I mean, that's just. It is what it is. The musical force behind Dragon Sound was the lead singer and the guitar player. Angelo and Kathy. They were actual musicians and they wrote the songs. They also helped us in terms of getting the musical instruments, getting drums, getting all the equipment, coaching us on how to look on Camera, you know, playing air guitar and things like that. I have a little rhythm.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I had a little rhythm look.

[Paul Scheer]

I did well. I thought for non artists it was that kind of new wavish time and period. I believe the songs that Angelo and Kathy wrote really reflected the spirit and the feeling that happened in that club. So it was very realistic from that perspective. Against the Ninja. I believe we may have done that in one day. We went in on a Tuesday. I don't know if we came. I think we came back the next night with it demo because we had a four track studio. So put it together and he loved it.

[Chris Geere]

A little I want a dragon sound T shirt. Do you think they're available?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I think you could have one made pretty easy.

[Paul Scheer]

By the way. We should make. That should be our next. How did this get made? Shirt. A dragon. Oh, he's wearing one right there.

[Chris Geere]

Did you.

[Paul Scheer]

That's awesome. Love it. No sleeves on that shirt.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That looks amazing.

[Paul Scheer]

Wow.

[June Diane Raphael]

I feel like we could do a whole episode on those. Like two minutes.

[Paul Scheer]

What is going on?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We do a whole second episode just on the music.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, it really is great. Is there anything as we are winding down here that we didn't talk about that anyone wants to bring up before we find out if you'd recommend it? Although I feel like that's.

[June Diane Raphael]

I've gotten about that all lace suit, the all lace white suit. So just want to talk about it for a second. I've never seen lace pants.

[Paul Scheer]

It would seem to me really hard to keep in shape. Like physical shape. Right?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah. I wanted a close up so I could see how they lay because I couldn't understand what they were. I mean that outfit was just amazing.

[Paul Scheer]

I love it.

[Chris Geere]

Let's talk about the grapes last time. Right. So I don't know whether you remember there's a scene where YK Kim goes around all the other characters and he doesn't have any dialogue in that scene. So he's obviously saying to himself, what can I do? What can I do in this scene? So he grabs a bunch of grapes and just feeds them to all his friends and then goes to the next.

[Paul Scheer]

Next one.

[Chris Geere]

Just keeps going around like four or five grapes. Here's like this homoerotic kind of.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Do you see it as a Christ allegory? Eat of this grape. It is my flesh. Right. He's definitely like the Christ of this movie. Ykn. Yeah.

[Chris Geere]

I can't remember what happened in the scene. I can't imagine it being that important. What happened?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I mean there. There are those. There's those scenes that make no sense. There's a scene where they just all eat and the chef just looks at them, is like, good job. Oh, wait a minute. Glad you're enjoying my food.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I had a question about that scene. When they get there to that restaurant, the owner is being beat up, right?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yes. And he's wearing a Mickey and Minnie Mouse apron, Right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What is his rela. Is he just also being hassled? Independent.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Why is that?

[Chris Geere]

Only seen that guy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What's that?

[Chris Geere]

Was that his only scene?

[Paul Scheer]

He has two scenes. One where he's watching the meat and he just stands at the front of the table and smiles.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

And then the next scene they reference, like, oh, he's having a hard time too. And then like, that gang is there and like this food shit.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And then we're not paying for this.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah. And they walk out. Yeah. They. After seemingly enjoying it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, because I was like, is he tied into something with them as well? Like, are. Are the people that are hassling them now expanding to hassle this guy? I couldn't.

[Paul Scheer]

I feel like that guy provided craft service for them. And they were like, we gotta put him in the movie.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I feel like, yeah, yeah, maybe.

[Chris Geere]

Oh, I just.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I just remembered, he's Mark's uncle in the movie. He's not Y.K. kim's uncle.

[Paul Scheer]

Okay, okay.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's Mark's uncle.

[Chris Geere]

One more thing that just came to mind, actually. You know, when Jane introduces Michael Phelps to my brother, she said, oh, this is my friend. And the brother goes, a friend?

[Paul Scheer]

Really?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Super loud. And giant Michael Phelps goes like, hey, Jeff, nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. And the height, if you can imagine the height discrepancy between Jane and giant Michael Phelps is. She towers above Jeff. Death could fit in giant Michael Phelps fanny pack.

[Paul Scheer]

Well, I'll go around and ask. I mean, it's a dumb question, but. Jason, do you recommend this movie?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Paul? 100%, yes. I would urge our listeners to put this. To buy this movie immediately.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And watch it with someone that they care about.

[Paul Scheer]

I bought it on itunes. And there's a special documentary about the music on itunes. Itunes. But I believe there's also DVD edition that's called Stupid Cocaine Edition and that has a little documentary on it and stuff like that as well. June, do you recommend.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yes, of course.

[Paul Scheer]

And you said earlier it is your type of ninja movie.

[June Diane Raphael]

It is my kind of ninja movie, for sure.

[Paul Scheer]

Chris, do you recommend this movie? Hey, come on.

[Chris Geere]

We are friends through eternity. There's loyalty. There's there's honesty. We're gonna be together through thick and thin.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

Ninjas day wins forever. Bikers by day, ninjas by night.

[Chris Geere]

Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

Still the cocaine.

[Chris Geere]

Hundred percent. What a movie.

[Paul Scheer]

I also concur by this movie. It's great. And before we go out, we have to talk about plugs. You're the worst. Coming back this September, early September, Very exciting. Is there anything you can even tell us about it or is it.

[Chris Geere]

Yeah, it's season four, season three finished. Tiny bit of a spoiler, but the two are now separated and this season is a fun, jam packed kind of selection of awful ways that they attempt to get back together. But it's, it's funnier and sillier and darker than ever. It's to going great.

[Paul Scheer]

I'm very excited. September 6th.

[Chris Geere]

Thank you everyone.

[Paul Scheer]

Jason, June, what do you got? Anything?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I got nothing. I'm good.

[June Diane Raphael]

I will plug an amazing way you can contact your representatives if you want to, which is through something called Resist Bot, which maybe people know about, maybe they don't. But it's literally you put the number in your phone, you text Resist to the number and you can and they will fax for you. It's run all by volunteers. Any questions, concerns you have to your representatives, you put in your zip code. It's amazing. It's super easy, but I really recommend it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's unbelievable.

[Paul Scheer]

And I will just say I have nothing that really lays it down. I have two things you can watch on Netflix, which is you can watch this movie open again night. There's two. Look at the picture and think of the one that I would probably be in and pick that one. And then the other one is Wet Hot American Summer. Ten years later, my character Dave comes back again for a couple episodes. Thank you all for coming. Give it up for Chris. Big thanks to April Halley for finding all these amazing clips. Nate Kiley for doing all this research. Kelly Alta for pulling it all together. Awesome.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Awesome.

[Paul Scheer]

Thank you. Thank you, Joel, everybody here in Largo, thank you. That's the show, but it doesn't end here. Listen to our mini episode where the discussion about this movie continues. You can give us a call at 6, 1-9-P a u l a s k. That's 619Paul ask. I will answer all your questions about this movie or even about your life also, if you like, how did this get made and you want to wear it or put it as a sticker or have it as a cell phone case, Head over to TeePublic stores. HDTGM teepublic.com store and you can check out all of our amazing merch like put her in a bra or the Jason Zardoz shirt, which I particularly love. A big thanks to Kelly Alto, Avril Halley, July Diaz, Nate Kiley, and Liana Waldron, all who come together and put this show and help me do the show every single week. But more importantly, everybody here at Earwolf, their amazing engineering team that puts together this episode makes it safe, absolutely flawless. Make sure you follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. I'm not gonna explain where you can figure it out, but it's pretty much hdtgm. Make sure you rate and review us on the itunes. We like that it's fun and we have a good time with it. And make sure you tune in to our mini episode next week cause we're gonna tell you what we're watching. See you next week. Bye for now. Hi, I'm Jenny Slate and believe it or not, someone is allowing us to have a podcast. I'm Gabe Leadman. I'm Max Silvestri and we've been friends for 20 years and we like to reach out to kind of get advice on how to live our lives. It's called I need you guys. Should I give my baby fresh vegetables? Can I drink the water at the hospital?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My landlord plays the trombone and I.

[Paul Scheer]

Can'T ask him to stop. You should make sure that you subscribe so that you never miss an episode.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I need to go.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes. Clorox Toilet Wand.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's all in one.

[Paul Scheer]

Clorox Toilet Wand. It's all in one.

[June Diane Raphael]

Hey, what does all in one mean?

[Paul Scheer]

The Caddy, the wand, the preloaded pad. There's a cleaner in there inside the pad.

[June Diane Raphael]

So Clorox Toilet Wand is all I need to clean a toilet.

[Paul Scheer]

You don't need a bottle of solution to get into this toilet. Rev. Clorox Clean feels good.

[June Diane Raphael]

Use as directed.