Xanadu: LIVE! w/ Michaela Watkins (HDTGM Matinee)

Summary

Podcast Summary: How Did This Get Made? – "Xanadu: LIVE! w/ Michaela Watkins (HDTGM Matinee)"

Release Date: June 17, 2025
Duration: Approximately 80 minutes

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Introduction

In this special live episode of "How Did This Get Made?" titled "Xanadu: LIVE! w/ Michaela Watkins (HDTGM Matinee)," hosts Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas, joined by guest Michaela Watkins, delve deep into the enigmatic 1980 musical fantasy film Xanadu. Known for its cult classic status, Xanadu has long been a subject of intrigue and amusement due to its unconventional plot and eclectic mix of musical elements. This episode dissects the film's various facets, exploring its plot, casting decisions, production challenges, and enduring legacy.

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Plot and Character Analysis

The discussion kicks off with Michaela Watkins setting the stage for the episode:

[03:00] Michaela Watkins: "This movie is insane. Insane in a way that I feel like it was late night art deco furniture, cocaine use, and like I feel like there was someone fucking someone as they pitched this idea."

The hosts express confusion over the film's fragmented narrative, noting the lack of coherent character development and plot progression:

[05:03] Jason Mantzoukas: "This whole movie could be seen as, as far as I'm concerned, a Jacob's Ladder kind of. Perhaps a fever dream."

June Diane Raphael shares her experience of watching the film:

[06:10] June Diane Raphael: "I had chills when it started. By the end, I was hiding under my bed, so scared."

They debate the protagonist Sonny Malone's (Gene Kelly) journey from a frustrated artist to a club owner, questioning the character's motivations and developmental arc:

[14:27] Jason Mantzoukas: "Why make him a painter who then goes to paint replicas of... it's totally normal."

[24:25] Elliott Kalan: "He becomes part owner of a roller skating club that was never his dream. So she didn't."

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Production and Casting Decisions

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the film's casting and production mishaps. The hosts highlight Gene Kelly's involvement and the subsequent fallout:

[40:15] Jason Mantzoukas: "The director said the original 45-page script was weak. They repeatedly rewrote it but never fixed it, leading to improvisation."

Michaela Watkins uncovers behind-the-scenes insights:

[44:27] Mikaela Watkins: "Joel Silver, producer, locked the screenwriter in a room for over three days because he wouldn't finish the rewrite."

They discuss the casting choices, emphasizing how multiple actors turned down the role of Sonny Malone before Michael Beck was cast without auditioning:

[14:52] Mikaela Watkins: "Andy Gibb was first offered the role but said no, then Travolta, who also declined. It ultimately went to Michael Beck without an audition."

The hosts critique the portrayal of muses in the film, questioning their relevance and integration into the plot:

[25:03] Jason Mantzoukas: "This movie is about someone's mental illness. It's like Birdman, where there's stuff that you're like, did that really happen?"

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Critical Analysis and Theories

The episode delves into various theories attempting to make sense of Xanadu's convoluted narrative. One such theory posits that the entire film exists within Sonny Malone's psyche, drawing parallels to Birdman:

[56:11] Mikaela Watkins: "Maybe Sonny Malone is a homeless guy who lives inside that abandoned club. Everything just goes away, and he's in the corner with a bottle, just drinking."

Another theory suggests that the muses are projections of Sonny's desires and that the film serves as a critique of seeking external inspiration rather than finding it within oneself:

[82:44] Elliott Kalan: "Maybe what they're ultimately saying is that seeking muses outside ourselves is futile. Inspiration comes from within."

June Diane Raphael emphasizes the film's lack of cohesive storytelling and character consistency:

[61:41] June Diane Raphael: "He never had a partner before. Take me shopping. But he looks the same before and after."

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Production Challenges and Budget Overruns

The hosts highlight significant production issues that plagued Xanadu, notably the substantial budget overruns:

[48:24] Jason Mantzoukas: "We're a little over. We're a little over right now."

[48:46] Jason Mantzoukas: "13 million over budget. So, we're doing more cocaine and giving skates to extras, who are suffering broken legs."

They discuss how these financial strains led to creative compromises, such as an animated sex scene to save costs:

[41:40] Mikaela Watkins: "Instead of reshoots, they opted for an animated sequence, which is why it looks like Fern Gully but was running short on time."

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Audience Q&A and Interactive Segment

In the later part of the episode, Michaela Watkins opens the floor to audience questions, leading to humorous and insightful exchanges about the film's perplexing elements:

[63:32] Jason Mantzoukas: "I'm gonna fuck Gene Kelly for the rest of my life."

[66:36] Jason Mantzoukas: "Why does Zeus have an English accent? And his daughter has an Australian accent?"

The hosts collaboratively brainstorm alternative endings and interpretations, further illustrating the film's ambiguity and creative shortcomings:

[83:52] Mikaela Watkins: "The entire time. So when he sees her, everything just goes away. He's in the corner with, like, a bottle, just drinking."

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts reflect on Xanadu's place in cinematic history, acknowledging its flaws while appreciating its nostalgic and cult appeal:

[78:09] Mikaela Watkins: "This is the most important movie ever made because we take for granted, like, we see movies like, 'Oh, I hated that movie.' Most movies do the job of creating a cohesive plot. This one disregards that, making us thankful for every bad experience."

[85:45] June Diane Raphael: "He looks great. Gene Kelly was incredible."

The episode concludes with a unanimous recommendation to watch Xanadu for its sheer entertainment value and its testament to the creative chaos of filmmaking gone awry.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Michaela Watkins [03:00]: "This movie is insane. Insane in a way that I feel like it was late night art deco furniture, cocaine use..."

• June Diane Raphael [06:10]: "I had chills when it started. By the end, I was hiding under my bed, so scared."

• Jason Mantzoukas [14:27]: "Why make him a painter who then goes to paint replicas of... it's totally normal."

• Jason Mantzoukas [41:02]: "I am shocked."

• Elliott Kalan [56:11]: "Maybe Sonny Malone is a homeless guy who lives inside that abandoned club."

• Mikaela Watkins [78:09]: "This is the most important movie ever made because we take for granted..."

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Final Thoughts

"How Did This Get Made?" provides an in-depth, humorous, and critical examination of Xanadu, unraveling its complexities and celebrating its status as a quintessential "so bad it's good" film. Through lively discussions, creative theories, and candid critiques, the hosts offer listeners both laughter and a deeper appreciation for the chaotic beauty behind Xanadu's production.

Transcript

[Paul Scheer]

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[Paul Scheer]

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[June Diane Raphael]

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[Paul Scheer]

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[Mikaela Watkins]

If you are a roller skate, this movie is for you. We saw Xanadu, so you know what that means. Now it's time for.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Failure. Not just being hated. Let's throw in the mediocrity of subpar art. Perhaps we'll find the answer to the question, how did this get made?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Hello people of Earth. And hello kids people of Largo. We are live in our LA home here at the Largo Theater at the Cornet, one of the greatest theaters here in la. And we have an amazing show for you. But to begin the show, I need to introduce my co host. Please welcome Jason Mantzoukas.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What's up jerks?

[Mikaela Watkins]

June. Diane. And our very special guest for tonight, McKella Watkins.

[June Diane Raphael]

All right.

[Mikaela Watkins]

All right. Like I said, this movie has been told to me that we need to do this movie. I never believed people until I saw it. This movie is insane. And insane in a way that I feel like it was like it was late night art deco furniture, cocaine use and like I feel like there was a. Like I literally feel like someone was fucking someone as they pitched this idea and another person was in the room going, yes, yes, yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That person was Jeff Lyn, who was like, oh, you wanna make a super fucked up roller skating movie? Let's do it to Electric Light Orchestra so everybody can be miserable. I'm about to ruin the Traveling Wilburys in a couple of years. So for now, I will create this tone poem monstrosity.

[Elliott Kalan]

It's weird, though, I have to say. I know what the movie is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You do?

[Elliott Kalan]

I do.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, my God. But for me, well, then we can get to this much quicker than normal. June.

[June Diane Raphael]

I'm so.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What is this movie about?

[Elliott Kalan]

Oh, I don't know what it's about. But what I know for myself is, like, there's lots of lip gloss, lots of roller skating, lots of dancing. Like, I'm on board, you know, on a very real level. Like, I'm just on board.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, it's just. It's from that moment on.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wait, was there a moment where you.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Were like, it's experience.

[Elliott Kalan]

It's a good time. You know?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I mean, it is.

[Elliott Kalan]

It's a good time.

[June Diane Raphael]

I had that thing of, like, I had chills, you know, when it started. And then by the end, I was, like, hiding under my bed, so scared. So, like, it all felt like that. The whole movie, by the end, felt like in the Shining when he sort of fantasizes the whole room coming alive. Like that, to me, was the entire film.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, this, to me, this whole movie could be seen as, as far as I'm concerned, a Jacob's Ladder, kind of. The whole movie is just the moment before the main character dies. It is a. Perhaps a fever dream or. It's like people are saying that all of Birdman might be a psychotic break for someone.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is that movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Well, that's what I feel like. I feel like. It feels like one of those things where, like, some Hollywood executive was like, I like roller skates.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, a fat cat.

[Mikaela Watkins]

A fat cat. You know what I mean? Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know what? Did great Starlight Express. We need to do it again.

[Elliott Kalan]

Let me just say, by the way, something about the roller skating in this movie.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Flawless. Okay?

[Elliott Kalan]

Nobody looks comfortable on skates.

[June Diane Raphael]

Nobody ever put on a skate or took off a skate, but, like, the camera would pan back to them. No skates.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yep, skates.

[June Diane Raphael]

No skates.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The only. I will say this, the only person who seems to me effortless on skates, who is effortless and glides and skates his way through the whole movie is.

[Elliott Kalan]

Gene fucking Kelly, of course.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Amazing.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Who at. Of course, at age I don't know what, 1000 shames every other dummy in this fucking movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

That's right.

[June Diane Raphael]

It looks bad.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah. Watching Gene Kelly was like, wow, I feel like Gene Kelly was. He doesn't look like he's aged. I look at pictures of him, he looks like, oh, he just continued doing these movies and he just happened to be kind of a bad one. Or those movies were just bad and we didn't look at him this critically. I don't know.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, I don't remember watching it. Cause I watched it a long time ago as a kid, and I don't remember thinking like, I hope Olivia Newton John fucks Gene Kelly. But this time I did.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

I really hope he still got the.

[Elliott Kalan]

Girl in the end.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You weren't when you originally saw it as a. Did you see it as a little girl?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Cause you weren't like, oh, I hope the mom fucks the granddad in this movie.

[June Diane Raphael]

But I do hope she fucks the guy from Taxi.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. Who's not the guy from Taxi, but just looks like him.

[June Diane Raphael]

Just looks like him.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, boy.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I'm not gonna talk about things like plot and character development.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, please do, Paul. I would love for you to talk about plot.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Here's my issue about this movie. The simplest thing, right? It's about this artist who has no focus, right? He's doing like portraits, he's doing still life, he's doing machine parts. And I don't know what to focus on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Are we gonna start this movie? We'll start it with someone drawing. Action packed.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And he's a frustrated artist. He rips up his art, the art flies away, seemingly cross town. Lands in front of a mural that he did not paint.

[June Diane Raphael]

Right?

[Mikaela Watkins]

And that opens up a portal for Zeus daughters to come out.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, if you thought this movie didn't have connections to the Greek pantheon of gods, you're fucking wrong. Cause guess what, assholes? Zeus is all over this shit.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Zeus makes a vocal appearance in this movie. Not since Clash of the Titans has it been so good.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And an uncredited Hera. Walk on, by the way, not even.

[Mikaela Watkins]

In the credits are they called Zeus and Hera. They're just called Heavenly Voice and female Heavenly Voice. As if they could have gotten sued by the author of Greek mythology. But.

[June Diane Raphael]

Well, you're right, I do.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

At one point, I wish as a Greek person I could sue this movie. I wish I could as a Just under the sun. How dare you.

[Elliott Kalan]

Here's what's weird though. You bring up a good point about the musing of it all. Because you would think that he would be Touched by a muse that she would come to life and inspire him. Which is not really what happens in the movie.

[June Diane Raphael]

No, that's.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Hang on, wait a second. Really? Isn't that exactly what happens in the movie?

[June Diane Raphael]

That's exactly. But here's the thing.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But there's eight of them. There's eight Xanadu's happening.

[June Diane Raphael]

But nothing he does in the entire movie has anything. Anything to do with him being an artist.

[Mikaela Watkins]

That's exactly it. His dream that he succeeds in at the end. Spoiler alert. Has nothing to do with being an artist, which is clearly the one thing he is the most talented in. He is not talented in club owning.

[Elliott Kalan]

And that's what's really weird too. Like, why make him a painter who then goes to paint. This whole thing Confounded me. But paint replicas of.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, of replicas.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, my God.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He invented a. I don't understand why that's confusing. That's totally normal.

[Elliott Kalan]

So he's going to paint a large.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We can only print them so big, Right?

[Elliott Kalan]

So he's playing.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We need humans to make them bigger.

[Elliott Kalan]

A large.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Back in the olden days, they would paint every billboard by.

[Elliott Kalan]

By the way, were they even billboards?

[Mikaela Watkins]

They were. They haul them on record stores on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The outside of tower records, basically.

[Elliott Kalan]

Okay, fine.

[June Diane Raphael]

For advertising of the album. He paints the album. But bigger, but not.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But they don't want. They don't want the painting to be that good though. Yeah, it's not supposed to look good.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Don't make it. He keeps being told. Don't make it look good. Don't give it your like, flourishes or whatever. Just paint it. Make it look stupid and go hang it up, dummy.

[Elliott Kalan]

And my question to that is why?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, Such a good question. I wrote that a lot.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But I just want to bring. I just want to bring up this one point because before we get too far away from it, wouldn't it just.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I just.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wouldn't it make so much more sense that if he painted that first album cover where the girl was on it, then she came to life and then. I don't even mind the club stuff, but like, he painted the muse, then she came out. Not a rant. Who painted that mural? Yeah, because that guy. Like it seems like that guy needs to be.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Or you could argue she is actually the muse of the man who shot the album cover because she first appears in his art.

[Elliott Kalan]

So that's a really weird scene because when Sonny Malone goes to talk to that very guy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Sonny Malone is the lead of this.

[Elliott Kalan]

Movie to find this muse, the Guy, the photographer says that she just appeared suddenly.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, he says, I took 100 pictures of only the building. And in. When I was in the dark room, I developed it. And there was. In this one picture, there is a girl in it.

[Mikaela Watkins]

No, no, he said she didn't. He say that she rolled in on roller skates for one shot and she took off. And they're like, hey, we never got her name, so we couldn't get her.

[June Diane Raphael]

To sign the contract. And then she wasn't. And by the way, I would say this has sort of happened throughout the entire movie. Although Gene Kelly had one moment, nobody's really crazy, fucking surprised to see her show up everywhere. Like, he's always got a chip on his shoulder, like, hey, oh, well, my boss is really mad at me. I'm like, she just appeared out of thin air.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Okay.

[Elliott Kalan]

At some point.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is such a good scene.

[Mikaela Watkins]

They fly together.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is such a good scene because in this moment, I realized I had a real epiphany, which is the scene in which Sonny Malone is painting in his room, okay, Inside a building. Maybe you don't understand what the fuck is going on in this movie because we're saying she's his muse, which they don't establish until much later in the movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Almost at the end.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So early on, all you know, she is a being of pure light who arrives in and out of the sky at whim.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And I wrote down, I want to read the script. Because the first five minutes is. And then they beam up into the sky. And I was like, beaming up the fire escape.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's a horror movie. What this is, is a horror movie because she is some sort of devil that has the power to appear at any time. And she just, like, appears to him and is like, what are you doing while he's painting? And you're right, it's just kinda like painting. Oh, God.

[Elliott Kalan]

He sort of seems irritated with her.

[June Diane Raphael]

He's a frustrated artist, and I think he was cast really bad.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You think? You think you're questioning his casting?

[June Diane Raphael]

I mean, where are they gonna find an actor who can roller skate that well?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

First of all, let me tell who can act well enough.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Let me tell you two things here that will blow your mind. First of all, John Travolta was offered the role of Sonny Malone. He said no, probably because he just was in Greece with Olivia Newton John. He's like, let's not make this a thing yet.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Let's not make this a thing yet.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And then. Oh, actually, I'm sorry. Andy Gibb was first Given the role of Sonny. And that makes more sense. He said no. It went to Travol. Travolta said no. And then Michael Beck was just stone cold offered the part, no audition.

[June Diane Raphael]

And the casting director was like, I know a great guy that looks like Andy Gibb.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What about one of the other Gibbs? What about Barry? What, the monster? Gib? No, we can't have Barry. He's too dangerous.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Just.

[Elliott Kalan]

I have a question, though. Here's another thing that I found very odd. So he's a frustrated painter because. Because he can't find the time to do his own art. And I sort of wanted to say, like, well, you are. You are painting in your day job. Like you are.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Sure. No, he's being paid to do art.

[Elliott Kalan]

He is getting paid to do art.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But also, my job did not seem to be like, I hear what you're saying. Like, he was like, he was so frustrated as an artist. I'm being paid as an artist. Like, he left his job as an artist to work freelance, which, like, the freelance work seemed to be like, it wasn't like, I have a dream that I'm pursuing when I'm off. He's like, I'm working freelance now, to.

[June Diane Raphael]

Be fair, and now I'm broke. His first line of the movie, the first line, the first spoken dialogue you see after eight beautiful women dance and go into the sky is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, yeah. Because after the silent drawing opening is a six minute, like, dance montage on roller skates.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yes.

[Elliott Kalan]

I loved every second.

[June Diane Raphael]

Actual, like, when they turned the mic on was the line, guys like me shouldn't dream anyway. I don't. I rolled that around in my brain and I'm like, guys like me shouldn't dream anyway. Anyway. Good thing he had the anyway on there. Anyway, like, what were you saying before that?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love a line. I love a line that starts in the middle of a thought.

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, you're right, Mikayla, because there is like, who is this guy? I mean, we find out later on that he. He's like a real cad. And like, really, you know, later on, Sonny Malone.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

When he goes up to that woman and is like, can I borrow your bike? I'll bring it back. And they're like, sure, take it. Never drives it into, oh, Jake.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, he drives his moped. Never brings a moped. Drives the moped into the ocean. And then. And it was an elaborate chase sequence. An elaborate chase sequence. And then Gene Kelly, who was at the beginning of the chase sequence, just happens to be like, hey, kid, you fell in the water. And I thought, oh, Gene, KE is magic. He's not. No, he's not magic at all. Like, and I believe that he was okay to do that because he was magic. Now that he got really almost across town, it seemed like, oh yeah, in.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

A matter of seconds, he's, I believe he's magic.

[Paul Scheer]

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[Mikaela Watkins]

Just the opening montage, the women coming out of the mural. Because here's another thing that in the beginning, when I don't know what's happening, I'm willing to underst. Oh, they were trapped in there. Because I'm gonna do this. And if you're listening, you won't understand. But when Olivia Newton John comes alive, she's like, oh. And looks at her body like, oh, I'm free from this glass prison I've been in.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But that's not the case either.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's like the thing that they put General Zod.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Zod in Superman 2.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

In Superman 2, it's like a two dimensional thing floating through space. They appear to be trapped in a mural.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But they're not.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No.

[Mikaela Watkins]

They're living in Mount Olympus.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And they were reacting like, oh, I'm finally free. It's like, no, you're living in Mount Olympus.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm finally free. And I'm so excited. I need to dance. I need to dance because I am not free. And then fly over Los Angeles in a rainbow Light Brigade because what the fuck is happening? Because straight out of the gate in any movie you really want to establish.

[June Diane Raphael]

The rainbow rules into the Warner brothers. Lot like that. That just felt like they're like, yeah, we're, we're, we're dark that day if you guys want to use the lot. And then they didn't do anything to make it look like anything other than the Warner brothers.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But what I was so confused at too, was this record studio. Maybe it's time gone by. Like, it seems like everything was done there. Like an office building. It's like, oh, you want to go to accounting. That's on the first floor. You want to go to the music videos. That's on the first. You know, second floor. You want to go. Like, everything was in one building. And it seemingly, to me, felt like the guy who was like, paint those things bigger was also the head of the record company.

[Elliott Kalan]

I felt like he was also the guy who was operating the music video set somewhere.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, he was. Showed up and was like, hey, you can't turn this stuff on.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Do you think that David Geffen, when he was running Geffen Records, was like, popping and going, are we blowing up? The images big enough yet? I want these big. And he has my favorite line. He's like, I gave up art, and now I do this. Yeah, run a record studio.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He goes, look at that. Guess who did that? And it's a fucking sculpture of, like, a guy playing drums that, like, looks like something you would buy from, like, a homeless person on the street.

[Mikaela Watkins]

It's like they took, like, a couple.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Of coat heads and twisted it into garbage. And he's like, garbage, art.

[June Diane Raphael]

Can you believe.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I mean, can you believe I did that? Was me that did that.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, he also said. He also said, look, I got money. People return my calls.

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, but I did not think. I did not think he was the head of the record company, okay?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Because I. Because again, my thought was, if he is the head. The head of a record studio is an artistic position. Like, that's not like, you didn't give up art. You're still.

[June Diane Raphael]

I mean, he gave up the top. He gave up the top four buttons of his shirt.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Here's the thing. That's okay. What we haven't really covered yet, because, guys, this is a movie about two people falling in love and.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Well, really, three people.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Three people.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Well.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Cause, I mean, isn't it because of Gene Kelly? Yeah, I get what you mean. Yeah, but. And it starts. And romance starts like it always does with a man walking alone on the beach, a woman running into the back of him on roller skates. When he turns around, she kisses him, turns into light, and flies away. Was it a consensual kiss, you might ask? Doubt it. He had no time to see who was coming at him. He turns around after being bumped from behind straight in Kiss on the mouth.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Now, again, if we. Knowing what we know now, which is the end of the movie, it's more confounding because it seems to me that if he didn't get that album cover where she was on it, he would never have gone to search her out.

[June Diane Raphael]

Right.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Like he's like, this girl kissed me on the beach today. Anyway, go back to work. And then it just had those happenstance that he saw her, but it wasn't like in her plan to.

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, that's. I mean, honestly, maybe that. And maybe that's what happened though. Because ultimately she wasn't his muse. Jason.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh boy. Okay, here we go.

[Elliott Kalan]

She wasn't. Because what you said.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Mikaela accepted.

[Elliott Kalan]

What you said is absolutely right. He never fulfilled his artistic dream. He became part owner of a club.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Of a roller skating club.

[Elliott Kalan]

Of a roller skating club. That was never his dream. So she didn't.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Why not just say in the beginning of the movie, oh, it's my dream to have like a roller skating club? And then the movie would be so much more fulfilling. Like, wouldn't it? That's all you would need.

[June Diane Raphael]

In case you're not entirely sure. It's 1980 or 79. He said, I'm tired of painting vans and murals and album covers. Those are the only three things that deserve to code a pain.

[Elliott Kalan]

I think there's a different reading of this movie where you could say that he's actually her muse and he touches her within three.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So muses muse.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Whoa. I actually agree with what you just said. I agree with that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You're saying that this movie is about a muses muse's muse. Earth Bow muse.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yep.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Nope. I will not accept it.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Because he convinces her to stop being amused, to stop her musing.

[June Diane Raphael]

And I think it just rolled around in your head. We'll get to it. But I think a case could be really made for this right here.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Look, can I just.

[Elliott Kalan]

The reason. The reason, sort of she comes to life is to get this other dream. So she is amused and I know.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That to life by his failed art part.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But she doesn't exist.

[Elliott Kalan]

Jesus.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But that to me seems like a portal.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's what happens.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But it's also a portal. Like that's like the entrance to.

[Elliott Kalan]

Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

To. Like that just to Mount Olympus. Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, I know there's columns, bro. There's columns in the mural that dates.

[Elliott Kalan]

It's a part of it in your.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Culture, piecemeal by this. And you gotta hold onto it. But you gotta. Dammit.

[Elliott Kalan]

You have to admit, there's something very magical about the way that the paper finds its way across all those different highways and byways to land right on that mural.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Forrest Gump clearly stole from this one.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But then. Then it is awakens her that finds him.

[June Diane Raphael]

He was drawing a Viking. I don't know. I don't. I don't know.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But to me it's like, let's talk about Vikings.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He should have drawn her, ripped it up, send it away. Then the papers magically form a girl and she's like, hey, now I'm a beam of light. Right? Like, he didn't do anything.

[June Diane Raphael]

But because it was Venice, he didn't do anything. He had such a chip on his shoulder. I don't. I don't want to be the. I'm not told I'm the best painter. I'm told I'm the fastest.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What if she is his muse? But it is to find what he is truly meant to do, which is not be an artist, which is to be a good partner to Gene Kelly and to run this club and hire his art bros and have them be. Because it is art.

[Elliott Kalan]

Are you saying though, that if you're a muse, you don't need inspiration too?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, no, no. Because you're a beam of light. You're a beam of light.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But her dad is like, on her ass going, you gotta go make this guy into a great photographer. You gotta go make this guy into a great actor.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, she said, I was sent here to make Xanadu happen. Which that is her mission.

[Elliott Kalan]

And by the way, she did with the inspiration and the musings of Sonny Malone.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah. Of this loser. Of the loser.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, boy.

[June Diane Raphael]

She's like, what I need is a real loser.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is actually.

[June Diane Raphael]

This is a. This is like a micro. This is like a microcastle for the relationship between women and men in this big sense where it's like, behind every man is a great powerful woman. And so what she is. She finds some loser, right? And then she's like. And then she's like, you know, I'd really love a club, but you know what I need is this loser. I don't.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Because here's. Again, again. Gene Kelly, not magic, right? So the chances.

[Elliott Kalan]

Like I would actually say Gene Kelly is the one who has a very clear goal. He, from the beginning, says he wants to open up a club called Xanadu. And he wants to realize it. And so she is brought to him.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But they should have. But what should have happened again, simple connective tissue should have been like. She introduces the. That doesn't happen. He's on a mad search for this girl. He stops to get some popcorn. Because, look, when you're on a mad Dash to find someone. You gotta fill up on some delicious popcorn. He also along, flirts with the popcorn girl. I thought this is the love of his life that he's chasing. Just wants to get some dibs on other action in case it doesn't work out. Then continues on. But then's like, oh, wait, there's a weird flute noise. Let me go check that out.

[June Diane Raphael]

Ok. And then, and then so it's Gene Kelly playing the clarinet on a rock. And he's like, who died? And so he said he's like, pick up the pace. Kind of like, who's this asshole? Like, I'm playing an instrument on a rock on a beach. And some guy's like, it sounds like a funeral dirge. And then so he picks it up.

[Elliott Kalan]

And he's like, you're right in that moment, I thought, there's a lot of space on this beach. Like, if you don't like what he's playing, it's a beach. Like, go walk further.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He says something like, it was 1980. Everybody was criticizing everybody.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Whoa, guys.

[June Diane Raphael]

He goes, is that better? And then this loser goes, well, it was faster. And then. And then when he bumps into him again, goes, hi, clarinet. Cause that's how inventive he is. His imagination is so big that he like, hot dog guy. He's like, hi, hot dog.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I only. To be fair, I only referred to Gene Kelly in my notes as clarinet.

[June Diane Raphael]

Hi, clarinet. Oh, hi.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He also, upon meeting Gene Kelly, recaps the last 15 minutes of the movie for him. Gene Kelly's like, well, what do you do? And he goes, okay, well, I paint art, Real art. So you're an artist? Oh, no, they give me album covers. We've just seen this.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But let me tell you, we know what's going on. Let me tell you about. In 1980, people were leaving the theater a lot, lot to do blow. And they would leave and they come back and they don't want to miss stuff. So they needed someone.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Because this movie is full of recaps. Every 20 minutes there's like a one minute recap of the last 20 minutes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I just had. I just had a thought.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

How confusing the movie is.

[Mikaela Watkins]

The first image of the movie is Gene Kelly playing the clarinet.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And then the second image is him drawing. So maybe his art and Gene Kelly's music kind of meshed in the air and hit at the right spot and that activated the muse.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I like that. I like that.

[Elliott Kalan]

That's interesting.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

She brought them together.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

She brought both of their needs together. But here's what's interesting, she has already been Gene Kelly's muse.

[June Diane Raphael]

Right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

In, like, the 40s or 50s, when in the big band.

[June Diane Raphael]

She knows what he's got.

[Mikaela Watkins]

That.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. But again, couldn't figure out why. She's like, let's figure out why. Why? He was like, wait, but aren't you. And she was like, I have no idea what you mean. Does she forget being people's muses?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Is she like a Terminator? Where. The Terminator. The. The one that, like, was in the first.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Or in Battlestar Galactica. There's like, a million nines.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know, there's a whole bunch of nines running around or whatever.

[Elliott Kalan]

She felt uncomfortable being two muses to two different men at the same time.

[Mikaela Watkins]

She's like, oh, I fucked you, but I want to fuck this other guy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

She's a museum.

[June Diane Raphael]

She's like, I don't know. I don't. I don't. I don't know. I don't. But can I piggyback on that for a sec? Okay, so let's go with the theory that maybe she is pairing these two creative souls together to make one giant wunderblast of creativity. And let's just say it reminds me of. Remember in, like, the superhero thing where they were like. Like, form of, shape of. So it's like Wonder Twins. I remember they had to pick up an ice. They were gonna make an ice ball to, like, throw at somebody. And so one's like.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

One's like, form of two feet into an ice ball.

[June Diane Raphael]

But, like. But they're like. One is, like, form of a ball, you know, ice. And the other one's like, ball. And I was like, why couldn't it just be a ball? Why'd it have to be an ice ball? If you take these two people, if you need it. Well, hold on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I know Only one has to transform into something with water. Well, Janet.

[June Diane Raphael]

But they didn't need. They didn't need him. They didn't need him or her whatever. Just like, they don't need. They don't need that other. They don't need Andy Gibb guy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, they don't.

[June Diane Raphael]

They don't need Andy guy. Like, she could have just worked with.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. It just could have been mom and.

[June Diane Raphael]

Granddaddy, and it could have been a really cool, nice joint that actually made some modicum of sense.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Sure.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But it also seemed like Gene Kelly was like, this is perfect. Like, Gene Kelly was a little crazy, too. Cause he loved the end idea.

[Elliott Kalan]

But it goes back to Gene Kelly also. I'm sorry. To interrupt. But was he. Did he say at one point that he was in the family construction business?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes. Yes.

[Elliott Kalan]

What does that mean?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He constructs families all over the United States, wherever they need putting together.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He left music.

[Elliott Kalan]

But what is the.

[Mikaela Watkins]

To make buildings.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, construction.

[June Diane Raphael]

That's how he got all that bread.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

His family's construction business. Okay, wait, did you really think it was the construction of families?

[Elliott Kalan]

No, I did not. I did not.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He's like, not.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm putting mommies and daddies together. I'm giving them children top to bottom. I'm bringing. I'm bringing. I'm constructing these families the American way.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Just a little background on Gene Kelly.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm rich as shit because of it.

[Elliott Kalan]

But here's the thing. Sorry, Paul. But he wanted Malone to go into business with him because he felt like Malone would know where the hot commercial real estate spots were.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, he gives him. He gives him that. That was the T. He's like, hey, kid, you find me a space to run my club? And he's like, oh, this guy's making me find, like, he's making him a real estate agent. Another thing that he's not equipped to do.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, yeah, well, except that then his muse is like, well, what about this place? You know? And then that's. She puts him on the path. That part actually did add up for me how I'm just now realizing this movie was so cuckoo bananas that this part, I was like, I'm willing to buy this part.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I've actually, again, my whole thing is like, he's a fucking painter. At least when they have the club, they'll go, and you can paint your giant mural here. He doesn't do anything.

[June Diane Raphael]

Or, like murals on the floor.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, you would want it to be like leather chairs, you know, white. Like, he doesn't describe anything.

[June Diane Raphael]

He's not even a designer.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, he doesn't seem to. He doesn't bring anything to the club on any level.

[June Diane Raphael]

He brings nothing to the club to.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The degree that he also. Once she kind of accomplishes her task and is like, I know my job here is done. I now have to turn into a yellow beam of light and disappear from the staircase. He's like, I can't go on. I can't do the club.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And Gene Kelly has to come to the beach and be like, we're gonna miss you tonight at the grand opening.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Of the club, which seemingly this movie happens in four and a half days. And Max. Max.

[Paul Scheer]

And.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And the club is an abandoned. Like, weeds growing in front of it. Wreck and then it is a transformed into a multi million dollar club overnight. Seemingly overnight.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

If this movie had at the end.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And no magical powers were used to do that, it was real construction labor.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

If it had at the end, like, whatever, all of the music and had pulled back, pulled back, pulled back. And then it had pulled out, out of his head while he was like in a coma. And then it was like, boop, boop, boop. That would have been the most satisfying ending because this movie is a movie. Or if it had just been like, if it had pulled back and he was just painting and then his workmates were like, sonny, Sonny. And he was like, huh? And he's like, oh, I just had the weirdest daydream.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I was gonna say, what if it was more like a new heart ending and Zeus wakes up next to Hera and you're like, oh, my God, I had the craziest dream about our daughter last night.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I would have believed that. I would have believed it. This could have been a movie about a man and his imaginary friend. Olivia Newton John.

[June Diane Raphael]

Or Olivia Newton John wakes up and it's like 2018, right? And she's like, still looking for a missing husband on skates. And everybody's like, huh, Hang on, hang on.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I feel like I lost you guys there.

[Elliott Kalan]

We love her.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I want to talk about. I want to talk about the Gene Kelly memory boner scene is how I call it.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, God.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Where they make the most bizarre choice. He's listening to an old song and remembering it. And instead of like going into his memory, he stays in the left corner of the screen. The screen is in the right. In focus. And he's just like made me. I wanted to shine my eyes from it.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That I felt like was directly meant to, to be like a jerk off scene.

[Mikaela Watkins]

That's like, that's a memory bone. Let me tell you a couple things about Gene Kelly. First of all, is on record as saying he only took the role because filming was a short drive from his Beverly Hills home to the set. The big dance number between Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton John was filmed after production had wrapped as an afterthought, like, oh, yeah, we should get these two together in the movie. And he.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You mean this the Boners? The one you're talking about? The.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, the Boner's.

[Elliott Kalan]

Without that scene, you would never know that those two were connected at all.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And it's terrific.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And Gene Kelly choreographed it. And this tells me something about what he thought about the movie. He only would agree to do it if it was A closed stage with only him. With only him, Olivia, a cameraman and.

[June Diane Raphael]

Two other people and that guy Sonny, as far away from you as humanly possible.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's amazing.

[June Diane Raphael]

In fact, nobody can talk about the weather. That's how much I don't want. I don't want to know. I don't want to hear Sonny nothing. Because every time they showed those two in a two shot, it was Gene Kelly. And then you see like the back of poor Michael's head, that's the actor's name is Michael. And he's just like, everything's ADR'd. Every single thing I'm saying is completely ADR'd. Gene Kelly being totally true. And then more ADR stuff from that guy, Gene Kelly.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Really. I was enamored with him in this. I was like, wow, he's cool.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's amazing in this movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And it's kind of a sequel. There's a 1944 movie called Covergirl in which Gene Kelly starred and he played Danny McGuire. Dancer. Dancer. Cover girl.

[Paul Scheer]

Really?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I don't know if that was intentional.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Ooh, I kind of like that though.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Can I just play you a clip of the director now? By the way, this director didn't direct any other dramatic films after this. He went on to be a fantastic documentarian and directed Outfoxed and the Walmart documentary. Like this is. This director is a very established great director. But here, this is the director just talking about the movie. Here we go.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I remember very clearly getting this script. It was like 45 pages. It was very weak to be polite about it. And I said, oh, well, I guess they're gonna fix it. Universal called me back and threw the thing at me and said, we want you to rewrite it. So now I have an original script. I'm rewritten. I have another script and I'm rewritten. He did it one more time, maybe two more times. Well, lo and behold, the script never got fixed. Became longer than 45 pages. But for myself, there was always frustration that we really never had a script and we never solved the script. My solution was to dream up the most interesting magical musical numbers. Do a great good old fashioned musical only brought up to date.

[Mikaela Watkins]

That was it. There was no script.

[June Diane Raphael]

Shockingly shocking.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I am shocked.

[Mikaela Watkins]

45 script was rushed into production. 45 pages.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I told everybody, by the way, that makes so much sense because that's about the amount of movie there is here. If you don't think these people kiss themself into an animation sequence, you'd be wrong.

[Mikaela Watkins]

By the way, some Facts about the animation sequence done by Don Bluth. That's why it looks like Fern Gully. But more interestingly, the movie was running a little short on time.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, really?

[Mikaela Watkins]

And instead of going in for reshoots, it was cheaper to do an animated sequence after the fact.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I am not surprised by that in the least.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And just to. Just to show you the. I just want to show you this one thing. This is the thing that was so interesting to me was that the animated Olivia Newton John is wearing leg warmer.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Paul, can you stop right there? This. This entire animation sequence, if you watch it, because it starts with them kissing, is the sex scene of this movie. The entire sex scene takes place with magical cartoon characters, like, blasting each other into flower shapes. And that is real. I watched it again and jerked off. And it works, guys. It works, works. It being my dick. Did I get you back?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I want to throw one more fact at you and then we can get back to talking about it. How much would you say it cost to build the Xanadu Club?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

$14.

[June Diane Raphael]

How much is a porn set?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Priceless.

[Elliott Kalan]

What's weird to. There are so many. That's one thing I walked away with. There are a lot of, like, cavernous, large spaces in this movie. Like, there are. There's the huge, like, space where they shoot the music video or the music video stuff is. There's the club. Like, there are just big spaces. Couple actors walking into enormous spaces.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And would you say that that would mean that the movie was, like, really expensive or really cheap?

[June Diane Raphael]

I. You know, I think for this time, like, 1980. I bet you this was a big budge.

[Mikaela Watkins]

$20 million to make this movie in 1980, which is like, I feel like $100 million today. Right?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

$20 million.

[Elliott Kalan]

The whole movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

The whole movie. The Xanadu set, only a cool mill.

[June Diane Raphael]

They spent a million on the movie and 19 million on just coke.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Coke and roller skates.

[Mikaela Watkins]

More roller skates.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Coke, skate, lube. I want these skates lubed up. I need them going faster. I need all these mustachioed weirdos on skates to be unsettlingly, uncomfortably on their feet. I would love it if that director was only like. Well, it was 45 pages, so we did a lot of cocaine and we did the best we could, which was very poor.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Joel Silver. Joel Silver, producer of movies like Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, he was one of the producers and apparently locked the screenwriter in a room for over three days straight because he wouldn't finish the rewrite.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And his co writer that we saw there who looks like an ex drummer for the Ramones.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yes. And he says the Joel Silver quote is that son of a bitch wouldn't deliver. So I locked him in a room.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I went, I wish we were making movies in the 80s.

[Elliott Kalan]

So I'm just realizing now, like, yeah, why wasn't Sonny Malone a musician even? Or a dancer?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, Greg doesn't dance, he doesn't sing, he doesn't do anything act.

[June Diane Raphael]

He doesn't know.

[Elliott Kalan]

I gotta tell you though, I did love his co workers at the art factory.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, that wonder.

[Elliott Kalan]

They were just wonderful.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I mean, this is an old reference, but when that one guy is like the sassy guy. Remind you of from the one with the glasses? Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

I love when he said to him, this is the. This is the act out line. Like before it would go to commercial if it came on network television. He said, you're gonna make it as an actor, as a. You're gonna make it as an artist, cuz you're nuts.

[Elliott Kalan]

Are you developing this for I've Got a tv?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I would like to see the further Adventures of Xanadu. What happens two days after it closes is the idea of Xanadu. Because again, the movie's like, well, we're gonna have a club that is like the 40s and the 80s. But then it really is just a roller skating club.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Well, there's also music. There's a bunch of music being played by the Tubes. The band, the new wave band, the Tubes.

[Elliott Kalan]

Yeah, but there's Nothing, there's nothing 40s about the club.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But what's his face, the dummy kid. He's like, I like rock music, man. Yeah, but that wasn't rock music.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

No, it was like synthesizer. He was like, we need synthesizers. And six guys in jumpsuits. Also known as the Tubes. Can we get Devo? No, we can get Devoid ripoff band the Tubes.

[June Diane Raphael]

And also another thing this club was kind of missing was any libations. There was no glass, there was nobody having a beverage. There were no spectators. There were only people who were in the choreographed dance.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But to me, my thought was, is that part of the deal you are performing when you go to this club?

[Elliott Kalan]

Like there is like you learned the number.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Why else would the club have a curved a part of it that goes all the way around? Like a roller derby ring. Yeah, like the club is built as if it's like a. What's it called? Where you race bicycles?

[Elliott Kalan]

You know, like that did seem like fun though.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, it did seem like a lot of fun.

[June Diane Raphael]

And I love that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I Also thought he would play clarinet at the end.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah, no, no.

[June Diane Raphael]

They didn't really tie any threads.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Olivia Newton. Olivia Newton. John Broker. Cock.

[Elliott Kalan]

But the takeaway from this movie really is like, if you're an artist and you have a dream to do your art, like, you should give that up. You really should and, like, become a businessman. Become a businessman.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The person who wins in this movie is Simpson, his boss, who's like, you should take business more seriously.

[June Diane Raphael]

When I do it as a series. Right?

[Elliott Kalan]

You're gonna play him.

[June Diane Raphael]

You're gonna play him.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

His philosophy is actually the one that is cheating.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, guys, I'm sorry. While you were talking, I just happened to look at one of my notes. I did tell you the budget was 20 million. It was budgeted for 4 and production costs and delays increased it by 13 million. It went.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Hey, hey.

[Mikaela Watkins]

So 13 million over budget.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

So I just came from Zant to do. And we're a little over. We're a little over right now.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, yeah, sure. We got, well, what, a couple hundred thousand now? Four million dollars.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Triple the budget over right now. So four million.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And it went 13 million over.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Also, the lead actor murdered someone. Ooh. Also, everybody has broken legs from the roller skating. So we just have been giving skates to extras. Oh, also, Andrew Lloyd Webber is furious.

[June Diane Raphael]

He even says. He even says back to his co workers, I'm jumping back. But he says, you know that dream of mine while I'm finally doing it? That's him when he quits. And I'm like, what?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What, what dream? To be a freelance artist.

[June Diane Raphael]

I don't care that you're doing it. Just tell me what it is.

[Paul Scheer]

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[Mikaela Watkins]

Well, I feel like we obviously have a lot of questions, but I want to open it up to you guys out here who might have some questions. And I'm going to bring some stuff with me. Here we go. All right, so who. Raise your hand if you got a question. All right, here we go. Good questions from the people down here. Good people. Good people.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, here we go.

[Mikaela Watkins]

What is your name? What you would call this movie? Oh, someone's playing a. How'd this get made? Bingo. How are we doing? Let's see.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Wait, there's a How did this get made Bingo.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Jason. Jason. Say dum dum.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Haven't I already?

[Mikaela Watkins]

No. According to this bingo, you have not.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Dumb, dumb.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Close. You got a very close now to make it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Does that mean somebody is going to scream bingo in the middle of this show? Is this a thing that's happening that I'm unawares of?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Question back here. Your name, sir, what you would call Xanadu in your question? My name's Jay. I would just call it what the fuck. And my question is, you guys haven't talked about the scene where they go into the music recording studio that has Pompeys and a rooftop scene and a.

[June Diane Raphael]

Wind machine and rain, and the boss suddenly shows up and says, this stuff is expensive.

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, that I thought you were gonna say. We didn't talk about the Gene Kelly makeover scenes.

[June Diane Raphael]

His coming out. Yes, we did his coming out of the closet scene. Now we know why it didn't work with him and Olivia Newton John in 1945.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, interesting.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Well, I was fascinated by that because it was a recording studio that looked like a music video.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, no, I think it was for music videos.

[Mikaela Watkins]

No, it wasn't recording. And all that stuff was to inspire them. So.

[Elliott Kalan]

No, Paul.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Paul, my friend. My friend here. Wait, here we go.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

He's not even going along.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Hold on, hold on. How many people agree with me by applause that I'm right? Because I am.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

How many people agree with us?

[Elliott Kalan]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

All right. Don't try and juice it.

[Mikaela Watkins]

No, it's.

[Elliott Kalan]

What are you even saying?

[Mikaela Watkins]

He says it. He said when they walk in, he goes, this is our recording stages. We have these things to inspire our artists.

[June Diane Raphael]

No. Yeah.

[Elliott Kalan]

No.

[June Diane Raphael]

Remember, he goes, I don't know how to work this stuff. Beep boop, boop, beep, boop, beep.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Boop, beep, boop.

[June Diane Raphael]

And then all of a sudden, they skate and things have everything.

[Elliott Kalan]

But wait, I have a question. What do you imagine the artists would do on these things?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, they'd be like, ooh, deserted island. Ooh, that makes me think of something.

[Elliott Kalan]

But that also, just go for a walk.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But that also, again, it shows no knowledge of the music business because you'd be like, all right, let's get into the studio and just start. I mean, is that how it works? You just start.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Also, you know what you don't do? You don't record music in, like, an airplane hangar full of fucking. Where rooftop scenes drop from the ceiling.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

What?

[June Diane Raphael]

No, right? That's where you record porn.

[Mikaela Watkins]

They both fly in that scene briefly, and he does not react to it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Again, again, I do believe this entire movie is about someone's mental illness. It's like Birdman, where there's stuff that you're like, did that really happen? Or is he just in his head in that scene? Like, that could be this. This is the first Birdman.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Mike. Your name, your title and your question.

[Elliott Kalan]

My name is Bri. My title would be.

[June Diane Raphael]

You don't have to do this.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Gene Kelly. And I was wondering if you found.

[Elliott Kalan]

In any of your research, what was the impetus for this movie?

[June Diane Raphael]

What was the inspiration? Because when I was watching it, it was. I just kept thinking, they must have.

[Elliott Kalan]

Thought, let's make a movie where we.

[June Diane Raphael]

Just piss all over Gene Kelly's corpse. And then they found out he wasn't.

[Elliott Kalan]

Dead yet, so they hired him on because it just keeps mocking all these musicals. So you're asking, who's the muse for this? Who's the music movie?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I do. In the notes compiled by our great intern, Nick Kelly. Kylie, I have. I do have what it's based on. It's based on a older movie, but I can't imagine. I mean, the idea of a muse inspiring someone is a classic tale that could have been executed. So, like, that's a thing so simple. So simple. Have a dream. Make the. Make it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love it. I love, too, that in the movie, when she reveals that she's amused in a section that is. You know how DVD chapters have titles? It's called Kira's Secret, and she says, I'm a muse. Why don't you believe me? Look it up in a dictionary, which he does. They then close in a the dictionary so you can follow along, I guess, in case you're a dummy and you need to be explained what a muse is. And then the TV talks to You.

[Elliott Kalan]

No, there's a joke and.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, there's a joke, which is, do you believe me now, Sonny? And then the TV shows. Tv. And the TV turns on.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, that was.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And then the people on TV talk to him. Oh, I hated this movie.

[June Diane Raphael]

I like that part. I liked everything except him being like. Instead of going, holy. Holy shit. Is going.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

What?

[Paul Scheer]

No.

[June Diane Raphael]

Like, he's so pissy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. He's like, what am I, a real estate agent? And she's like, well, what about my place?

[June Diane Raphael]

I've never seen your place. I heard you. You're sisters. I get it. He was such a. He was such a jerk. He seems like. I'm like, you're gonna leave your amazing life where you get to travel time and be with all these people and do all these amazing things for this guy? Are you kidding me?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I still want to crack into the end at one point, too, because what exactly happens there is that the crux.

[Elliott Kalan]

Of the movie, that she has to make this decision to be with him or to go back to be immortal?

[Mikaela Watkins]

She made this decision. Zeus is like, you got to stay. I need. I need him. All my muses.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know what else just occurred to me?

[June Diane Raphael]

That's when they blew our minds, I think, with that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

If she was. If she was Gene Kelly's muse in the big band era, right? And he's like, I got my own band, blah, blah, blah. Why? I guess maybe she was just his muse only in as much as he had the success that he had. Because I guess once she disappeared, he didn't play clarinet anymore.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But I'm also confused.

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, he says. Doesn't he say, though, that when she left, he stopped? Yeah. That's.

[June Diane Raphael]

The music went out of him.

[Elliott Kalan]

His dream died.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Isn't that antithetical to being a muse?

[Elliott Kalan]

Yeah, it is. When she left, when she not mused at all.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

A muse, I believe, is like. She's like, I changed this for the best. And now. Or unless again, she's a business muse because it brings him into the business of constructing families.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah. Like, stop being a good clarinet player. Go be a great.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Hang up the clarinet. Hang up your paintbrushes. Be a great club owner. Be a construction worker. Stop. Everybody. Stop trying to be artistic.

[June Diane Raphael]

By the way, it was the 80s.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I think we figured out the best title for this movie business muse. But there was. What was this thing? I also had an issue with him because he also seemed like he was a singer. And I don't know many clarinet players who can sang.

[Elliott Kalan]

Gene Kelly did. Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

How are you a clarinet singer? Like that. Like, you're like, I play the clarinet and I sing. That would be a real hard combo to pull off.

[June Diane Raphael]

But I think that's why, to answer that young woman's question is that that's. That was the impetus for the film, is to show that Gene Kelly can do everything.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And he really could. Like when he was dancing, especially in the scene, the one with Olivia Newton John, when his boner fantasy comes to life. That was transformative. Like, that was phenomenal. He is effortless and so. And he. I don't know. How old is he when this is done?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Someone 70s.

[Elliott Kalan]

He looks great.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

68 years old. He died shaming everyone else.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He was alive for 16 more years, but said, no more movies after this one.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, is this the last one?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yep. 1980.

[June Diane Raphael]

This was really his last one.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yep. And then he didn't. He died in 1996. It's like, oh, he must have died right after.

[Elliott Kalan]

When he's doing the horrible makeover montage, it's still. He transcends what's going on. He's quite wonderful.

[Mikaela Watkins]

The only issue I have with that dressing up montages, he's like, I gotta get new duds. But his new duds look like his old duds. Yeah, he looks like an old man at the end, and he looked like an old man in the beginning. He didn't look bad, but he didn't really get new duds.

[June Diane Raphael]

He looks deep into his eyes and said, I never had a partner before. Take me shopping. And I just.

[Mikaela Watkins]

All right, your name, your title of the movie and your question.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My name's Ben. Title will be Xana.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Don't.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Boom.

[June Diane Raphael]

Woo. There it is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You should just sit down, Ben. It doesn't get better than that.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And I'd like to know. Marry. Kill. Fuck the three main characters.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Mary, Kill. Puck.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay, I'm really gonna think about this.

[Elliott Kalan]

Mary Gene Kelly.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Mary Gene Kelly. I think everybody agrees.

[Elliott Kalan]

Oh, guys, this is so easy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Kill the bad guy. And I'm bad. I'm gonna fuck Olivia Newton John.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Elliott Kalan]

Of course we all.

[June Diane Raphael]

I've married all.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And then I'm gonna fuck Gene Kelly for the rest of my life.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wait a second, guys.

[Elliott Kalan]

Great.

[Mikaela Watkins]

You guys, first of all, fuck the guy who yells at all the painters. That guy is wild.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Second of all, he said the three main characters.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, three main. Okay, I was going to say penis pubes. Mary, definitely.

[Elliott Kalan]

By the way, speaking of random popcorn vendor kill, what about that. What about that guy that Sonny runs into as he's searching for his muse who offers to. That was disgusting.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

She's like, hey, you're single. You're single. What about my daughters? And he unfolds his wallet picture.

[June Diane Raphael]

Lou, that was called exposition.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Horrible.

[June Diane Raphael]

We gotta show that he. Everybody wants to set him up. He's real hot to trot, as I will.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But to be fair, and I will say as a single man, men offer me their daughters all the time.

[June Diane Raphael]

All the time.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

They're just like, please, Jason, fuck my girls. They don't. Because that's a lunatic's behavior.

[Elliott Kalan]

And what to me was really disturbing about it was that he was pulling out like wallet sized pics.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, I don't think they were his daughters.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah, they were like high school senior pictures.

[June Diane Raphael]

These are my girls. I got all 15, 80 tall girls, short girls.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This one's got a lisp. Come on, Sonny.

[Mikaela Watkins]

All right, here we go. Another question. Your name. Your name of the movie. And your question. My name's Caitlin. Name of the movie's career killer. And I was just curious if you guys noticed when Sonny Malone meets Gene Kelly outside of the record store, he's putting up those large stupid records and he just walks off, leaves the ladder there, leaves the rest of the pictures there.

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, my God, so many things to his house. House.

[Mikaela Watkins]

This mansion. Huge mansion. That's, by the way. Thinking about that as well. Leaving all of his equipment there. That's a big no. No. But secondly, why is he even putting it up? It's a real full service job. Like he's hanging him up as well.

[June Diane Raphael]

You finished painting it, now go hang it outside the record store.

[Mikaela Watkins]

For this, you get a tarot read stick. That's a really good question. A really good question. Who has faith in their question? Oh, this guy in the front.

[Paul Scheer]

You.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, you got one too. All right, what's your question? Your name, your title of the movie. It's Joe. Can I sing the title? 100%, Joe. Shit, doo doo. That's pretty bad. I liked it, but I wish you would have just continued it on. That was good. All right. Shit doo doo.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Here, here we go.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Your question. Given the sexy short shot and the radical roller skates, who would be more.

[Paul Scheer]

Likely to be recast as Sonny Malone, yourself or Jason?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, me or you? Jason as Sonny Malone, to be cast as Sonny Malone. Gosh, we both. We both have so many qualities.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah. I mean, I feel like we. You know what? We could both probably do it together.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You know, it'd be the combination of both of us that would be the true Embodiment of Sonny Malone.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I mean. I mean, you know, it's awesome. I mean, if you think about it, Gene Kelly is the original Sonny Malone.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And then, you know. So I'll be the older guy, you be younger guy, and we got a whole new movie.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Sure.

[Mikaela Watkins]

June, you want to be the muse?

[Elliott Kalan]

Yes, please.

[Mikaela Watkins]

All right.

[Elliott Kalan]

Is there anything for Mikaela?

[June Diane Raphael]

Oh, I can see.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I was going to offer Mikaela the great big casting role here. Zeus, played by woman. Boom. Nailed it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And I can say Zeus in a Tron like world.

[June Diane Raphael]

I was gonna. I wanted to be one of the painters in the office at the beginning who's always.

[Elliott Kalan]

Those ladies are the best.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

We always believed in you, Sunny.

[June Diane Raphael]

Not to upset the boss. And, you know, I'll make an excuse for you.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Your name, your title of the movie and your question. You seem very confident that you have the best question.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My name is Dave.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Title of the movie?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My friend thought of it. Graffiti Girls from Greece.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, I like that. Graffiti Girls from Greece.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I like that. You gave your friend credit, friend.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Do you get a sticker? The not the beast sticker.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

My question is, when they're talking to Zeus. Zeus is a Greek God. Why does he have an English accent?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Great question.

[June Diane Raphael]

And his daughter has an Australian.

[Elliott Kalan]

Australian.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Let's maybe play that scene just for a second.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I have a question while you're getting that ready. Was she Australian the whole time? There was like, the first 20 minutes I was definitely sure she wasn't Australian. Yeah, and then she was very Australian.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Here we go. This is the Mount Olympus.

[June Diane Raphael]

That was before they paid for the dialect coach.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is Mount Olympus in a Tron like world. We need to be together.

[Mikaela Watkins]

All right, that's enough. You're leaving. Carers staying. No more discussions. Those are the rules and that's all there is to it.

[June Diane Raphael]

On the other hand, the rules were.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Made to be broken.

[June Diane Raphael]

We'll talk about that later. Which is later and which is earlier? I keep forgetting. Just a minute. Isn't anyone interested in my feelings?

[Mikaela Watkins]

What do you mean, feelings? Oh, you remember.

[June Diane Raphael]

Perhaps we learnt about feelings in our mortal history class. Yes, feelings. I guess that's what you call $20.

[Paul Scheer]

Million.

[Mikaela Watkins]

On a movie where they're both in black. 20 million.

[June Diane Raphael]

I've never asked to leave here.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Not ever.

[June Diane Raphael]

Not once in the whole time I've been here. No, it's true, dear. She hasn't. Not in all these centuries. Or is it minutes?

[Mikaela Watkins]

I do?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

This is what the movie looks like.

[June Diane Raphael]

Can't we just have this one night? Just one night.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Somebody should go by not possible Goodbye. And then Sunny gets put into the Hera. Just one moment. Goodbye, Sunny. All right, so this scene is garbage.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's almost like Hera has dementia in it as well. She's like, I don't remember what's earlier and what's later.

[June Diane Raphael]

That's when I was just like, this is so heavy. She's right, because she says, see you in a moment or centuries.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And all right, there's a couple more. Well, you know what?

[June Diane Raphael]

Let's not answer those See you in a moment of centuries. Let's not answer those weird, hard questions.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Now, obviously we have an opinion about this movie, but there are other people that have a different opinion. It is now time for second opinions.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Second opinions.

[Mikaela Watkins]

These are five star reviews culled from Amazon. Real people talking about a classic film. There are so many of them. The one thing that we noticed in compiling these is there is quite a few more than 10 that the review was 5 out of 5 stars. My wife loves this movie. Things like, I'm gonna get some brownie points for this one. My wife loves it. But literally, my wife loved it. My wife loves it. It's like 20 reviews of my wife loves it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And it might as well be My wife loves this movie and I love blowjobs.

[Elliott Kalan]

But, like, why do you need to write a review on Amazon?

[June Diane Raphael]

Cause, like, in case anybody's like, why are you watching it? For the 20th time, my wife.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Here'S.

[June Diane Raphael]

I'm gonna want it in writing.

[Mikaela Watkins]

There are so many great ones in here. I'm just gonna kinda give you a sampling of them. This is from Jay Trillo, Ms. Mustang Mary. And she writes, I need this so that I could do a drag number for a show, but the show was canceled. I love the movie. 5 out of 5 stars. This one was kind of great too. Okay, all right, I'm just gonna cut to the middle of it. This film was created to make you dream for your mind to be mesmerized by the colors, the music, and the beauty of its entirety. The music was great, the plot was cute, and while many may laugh at the roller boogie of the last scene, it takes me back to my high school years. Going to the rink, that was the thing to do. All in caps. Thank you, Olivia, Gene and Ello for making a movie and music that I still enjoy to this day. Five exclamation points. T. Johnson, North Potomac, Maryland. Five out of five stars.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I like all that specifics. Come find me if you've got a problem with it. North Potomac. I'm here and I'm ready to defend myself. I'm on skates.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I love this movie from Mandela. I don't know if it's the same one, guys.

[June Diane Raphael]

I hope so.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's him.

[June Diane Raphael]

I hope so.

[Mikaela Watkins]

This movie should not be seen for the first time if you're over the age of nine. But if you're under the age of nine, it is simply fantastic. What? What? I am buying it for my fiance's nieces because weird, weird, weird, weird.

[June Diane Raphael]

Nine and a half year old.

[Mikaela Watkins]

It is a creepy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I'm buying it for my nieces. Cool. I'm buying it for my fiance's nieces.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I'm a creep now, as Mandela puts in brackets. I'm buying it for my fiance's nieces. Being raised by two older sisters. He knows the words to all these songs, close quotes. So we don't know what's going on there, but he goes. Mandela goes. This is a great intro to the Gene Kelly musicals of yesteryear as well as classic mythology. So just take it for what it is and share it with the little girl in your life. Five out of five star.

[Elliott Kalan]

Oh, that's so creepy.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Right? So creepy. You guys weren't on board in the beginning when I thought he was a creep, but at the end, 100% creep. And little did we know. Nelson Mandela.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Nelson Mandela had a lot of time in prison to write good Amazon reviews.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

It's one of the only movies they had in prison. I guess we'll watch Xanadu again. Yep. That was in the movie. Idris Alba was like, are we watching Xanadu? They were like, yep, we're gonna do it.

[June Diane Raphael]

No other movies from yesteryear? Nope, that's it. Just Xanadu.

[Mikaela Watkins]

My favorite one. Here. This is from Malia. My three daughters have been watching this for the last month from Netflix, and I'm gonna buy a copy. They are now roller skating and single and having a great time, just like I did when I was their age. Yes. This movie won't solve the world's problems.

[June Diane Raphael]

I disagree. I disagree.

[Mikaela Watkins]

It did not like most movies.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That's what it aspired to.

[June Diane Raphael]

I disagree. I absolutely think it will.

[Mikaela Watkins]

It won't solve the world's problems, but it's good. It's clean fun. No sex, no risque, anything. And a few chaste kisses. One woman in a bikini. Lots of music and dancing.

[June Diane Raphael]

I counted.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I said, just a heads up, there's one.2 meter goofy.

[Elliott Kalan]

Oh, God, yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Worthless, no.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Because those are the two things that are in opposition to each other.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Watch it. Have fun. Find a roller rink and take your kids skating. Leave the cell phones at home and have some real fun. Five out of five stars.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Wow.

[June Diane Raphael]

I think, June, you'll probably agree with me on this. I think they did have sex in the animated thing. When they both jumped into that flower and the flower closed around them, it looked like it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

That animation scene sequence was the sex scene.

[June Diane Raphael]

That was sex. It was birds, it was bees, it was flowers, it was humping. It was sex.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And also, just to point out, the movie was based on a 1947 film called down to Earth. I think I'll be surprised. I think surprise, though. And I've saved this kind of for the end of where the movie's inspiration came from. And here, we'll just play this for a second. All right, so here we go. I was living in Santa Monica or the Palisades, and as a writer, producer, and a friend kept bugging me about doing a story on what had started as a small little thing at Venice beach and just kept growing and growing, which is roller skating. My friend was Brian Grazer. I think he's emerged a little bit bigger than that. He was. Then I built the storyline to go toward a big rock club at the end, which I called Xanadu. And I took it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Both after the house that Orson Welles named in Citizen Kane. And of course, he took it from the Coleridge poem. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree. That's it. But so Brian Grazer in passing said, make a move about a club named Xanadu, and that is it. Brian Grazer, not a producer, but inspired the entire movie.

[Elliott Kalan]

So he was the muse.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He was. That's what I was gonna point out.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Brian Grazer is the muse of Xanadu, the Xanamuse. In summation, I'd like to respectfully ask this movie to go fuck itself.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, you were not inspired?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I. I did not find it inspiring. Although Gene Kelly was amazing.

[Elliott Kalan]

I thought Olivia Newton John was great, too.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

No, wait, you're saying she was fine.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I just. I mean, I just. She had very. I felt like she had very little to do, actually. She was just roller skating and was kind of positive. Vibes in the Tron universe, it's enough for me. But like, Gene Kelly, I was like, wow, this is fantastic.

[Elliott Kalan]

Yeah, he's incredible.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I would say you have to watch this. Like, I feel like this is the most important movie ever made because we take for granted, like, we see movies like. Oh, I hated that movie. Most movies do the job of creating a cohesive plot that goes like, uh huh. Got it, got it, got it. This one disregards that we should be. This makes me thankful for every bad experience.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You're right. You're never ahead of the movie. You're never like, I bet I know where this is gonna go. Yeah, you're never like, never trapped in that thing of like, oh, I bet in 15 minutes there's gonna be like a nine minute dance montage in a costume shop. Oh, yep, here it is.

[June Diane Raphael]

And I really love at the end, the way they move into the Xanadu song with the whole, like, dancing and the clomping of. Of the roller skates.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I had a question about that. So why when she's. When they're in the Tron universe and they're like, no, you can't go back to Earth. You can't. Whatever. But then when they open Xanadu, she's there.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Cause Zeus is like, all right, kid.

[June Diane Raphael]

Take the car moment. Or centuries, they forget.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Okay. I just, I wanted to.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Zeus and the wife kind of continue the talking, and they're like, you should let her go. And he's like, oh, all right. And he lets her go with all the muses. And they all perform.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I guess that's true.

[Mikaela Watkins]

But then here's the trick. They all blast up into heaven. No one reacts as everyone. No one reacts.

[June Diane Raphael]

There's nobody in the club anymore. Everybody's gone.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, yeah, I guess you're right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Everybody appears to be gone. But then he's like, looking at the empty stage. But then he walks over to Gene Kelly and it's crowded again.

[June Diane Raphael]

It's crowded again.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He's wearing his Xanadu jacket.

[June Diane Raphael]

Worst. It's like branding around the waves.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You got to brand it, guys.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And. And Gene Kelly's like, someone's waiting for you. And it was her as a waitress.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But it's not her because she doesn't appear to know who he is.

[Elliott Kalan]

Right, well, now I'm thinking though, that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Do you think, like, okay, what do you think?

[Elliott Kalan]

Well, I don't know. I'm thinking, work it out.

[June Diane Raphael]

Do you think she. I mean, are we supposed to be.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Like, who wants to be a millionaire? Hear it out loud.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Say what's going on out there out loud.

[June Diane Raphael]

Come back as a morgue.

[Elliott Kalan]

This is tricky because I don't know know who she is. You know, I don't know who the last girl is.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You mean the girl that. The. The.

[Elliott Kalan]

The waitress.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

The waitress girl, you mean? Right.

[Elliott Kalan]

I guess what I'm saying is, like, maybe there's a world in which these men, these weak men, like, start to sort of see the same woman. Like, they're not really.

[June Diane Raphael]

All women to them are Olivia Newton John.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yeah.

[June Diane Raphael]

Like, all they see is Olivia Newton.

[Elliott Kalan]

None of them are her. None of them are what I'm saying.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

All of them are played by her, but none of them are her.

[Elliott Kalan]

Yeah, none of them are Kira, is what I'm saying. They're all sort of like vaginas that projections of their.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wait, so Kira is.

[Elliott Kalan]

Yes, vaginas that top.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Like, they're not, by the way, such a better movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

So, like, it's Kira, just like a form that is sent. So, like that Kira that, like, Zeus kind of threw him a bone and was like, take this soulless Kira. Like, she looks like the one that you love, but she's not.

[June Diane Raphael]

I think it could have been answered if he acted the last line of the movie. He says, like, can we. The last line in the movie is, can we go somewhere and talk for a while? Okay, now she's the waitress, right?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Olivia Newton John is playing the waitress, but is not the character she has been playing the whole time.

[June Diane Raphael]

We don't know. Because if he. If he said it to her, like, can we go somewhere and talk? And then he looked at her and gave her like a. I know who you are. And she gave him like a. Yeah, how would you not? Then you would go, she became immortal. But if he's like, hey, you look in his mind, telegraphing on his face. You look like that girl that I was following around for the whole movie, but not really that impressed to see her all the time. Can we go somewhere and talk? Then it'd be like, oh, you met the mortal version of your muse.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Now, wait, so they can be like, there are mortal versions of it. Because now I'm confused too, because she's immortal. Like, she should have said, like, hey, I did this for you.

[Elliott Kalan]

I gotta say this, okay? If she did become immortal at the end, a mortal.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Not immortal, right?

[Elliott Kalan]

A mortal person. She became immortal. Then it sucks that she's just like a waitress at this club.

[June Diane Raphael]

Again, my point, why would you leave your amazing life for this guy in this job?

[Mikaela Watkins]

She just performing on stage and looks nothing different. Like, so if they put her in a black wig at the end, you're like, oh, interesting. But she was just performing and then, like. And then two seconds later, like, maybe. Ma' am, martini, please.

[Elliott Kalan]

Maybe what they're saying. You guys. You guys. Maybe what they're ultimately saying is that this whole thing of, like, I was touched by, amused. I was inspired. Like, we're looking to these outside things to inspire us, but ultimately, like, that's. That comes from within, really.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Wait, wait, wait. No judo. You're gonna go in a different way. Wait, I was gonna say this.

[June Diane Raphael]

Thank you. Or.

[Mikaela Watkins]

So I was gonna say this. We're so big busy looking for our muse that we don't notice one right under our nose. A cocktail waitress.

[Elliott Kalan]

But he doesn't notice her and says, let's go talk for a while.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

But this is what I would argue.

[June Diane Raphael]

They don't even have drinks at that.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Place because the dummy guy is watching Olivia Newton John. And the other muses, they're dancing and they're doing a whole thing. And then they all, boom, go into the sky. Right. And then it appears as though he's alone in the club, looking at the stage. Am I. Would you think. Would you be surprised to find the rest of the patrons of the club didn't see any of those people dancing on that stage? And that only. He saw that. That it existed only in his mind?

[June Diane Raphael]

I think it's all right.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Gene Kelly wasn't like, whoa, what a great show. Let me get you a drink. Gene Kelly was like, go talk to that girl over there.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I want to jump on your theory about how the movie should have ended.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yeah.

[Mikaela Watkins]

He's a homeless guy who lives inside that place, that abandoned club. Yep. And this has all been in his head.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love it.

[Mikaela Watkins]

The entire time. So when he. When he sees her. Let's go talk. Everything just goes away. And he's just in the corner with, like, a bottle, just drinking.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

A pet rat.

[June Diane Raphael]

I have a theory.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Pet rat named Jason.

[Mikaela Watkins]

A blonde rat that he touches.

[June Diane Raphael]

I think I have a theory that marries all your theories, which they got to the end of the movie, and then they're like, we don't fucking care how it ends. Just end it. Because we're $13 million over budget right now.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yes. And also more coke, guys. We need more coke.

[Mikaela Watkins]

If you want an ending, you gotta give us 5 million more dollars.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And you're not gonna like it. And get real comfortable with being shamed.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, my gosh. So I think we're mixed on whether or not we would recommend it.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I mean. No, watch it. I do think. Watch it for sure. For sure.

[June Diane Raphael]

If the music is amazing.

[Mikaela Watkins]

The music is actually really good.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I fast forwarded through any scene that Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton John were not in.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Really? It's only, like, 80 minutes.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I fast forwarded a lot in this movie.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Minutes of the movie.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Every time the guy was talking to, like, the dummies, the artists that he worked with, I was like, buzz, buzz, buzz. No, thank you.

[June Diane Raphael]

Do we know what he's doing now? Do we have any?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Yes. I actually did a little bit of research on my own. Whenever I'm watching one of these movies, I'm like, I wonder what they're up to now. Two things always come up. They've never worked again. And they were in the movie. Say hi there.

[June Diane Raphael]

Say hi.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And they were in the warriors. This guy. So those are the two kind of runners that happens. This guy actually, though, has surprisingly, not surprisingly, he works constantly and is continuing to work. He's pretty much an episodic guy. Like, he's been on every sort of.

[June Diane Raphael]

Since 2004.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Like, I mean, when he.

[June Diane Raphael]

That's like, the last thing I saw on IMDb.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, I thought he was, like, in something. Like, just like. Yeah, I thought he was in.

[June Diane Raphael]

Like, I looked him up because I was like, what's he up to? And. But then I thought when you said, you know what he's doing, like, you're gonna be like, oh, he. He's got a vineyard.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Oh, he makes great wine.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Warriors wine.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Brave. Come out and play.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Come out and chardonnay.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Can't do better than that. By the way, Michaela is right. He has not worked since 2004, but he did a lot up until 2004.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I think you might want to check. Did he die in 2004?

[Mikaela Watkins]

He is 65 years young. Michaela, you have a brand new. Well, not brand new, but a very new show that's hilariously funny out right now. Benched. When is that on again?

[June Diane Raphael]

Tuesday. It's on Tuesdays at 7. Sorry, no. Tuesdays at 10:30 on USA, so watch that. I'm not in it. It's.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I know, but it's your show, right? I mean, come on.

[June Diane Raphael]

It's mine. It's mine.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I want to get.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Give our characters welcome on it. I'm just curious.

[June Diane Raphael]

You know what? Thanks for asking.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Yep.

[June Diane Raphael]

And the answer is, they sure are.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Oh, that's so great.

[June Diane Raphael]

They come on over anytime.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I'm gonna wrap. Well, we'll wrap this up in the studio, but my question to you guys is, who here is from the furthest away? Who thinks they're from the furthest away? Raise your hand. Ooh. Where are you from, sir?

[Paul Scheer]

In the front.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Alberta, Canada. Where are you from? Miami, Florida. Miami, Florida. Where are you from? Minneapolis.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Anybody international?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Detroit. Back there.

[June Diane Raphael]

Whoa.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Have you. Does someone drag you here? Or did you come here intentionally?

[June Diane Raphael]

Yeah, I don't know what the hell you're talking about.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Great. All right. So out of the people who do know what we're talking about, we got Detroit, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Hong Kong. Really? Did you.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

You live here?

[Mikaela Watkins]

Anyone else? Miami, New York, Moscow, Anchorage. Really?

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Good. That's pretty good.

[June Diane Raphael]

That's good.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Did you come here for this? All right, you're gonna get a T shirt. Come on. Come and greet me. You're gonna get a T shirt with Hulk Hogan on it that says sad doll hair for you. Sad doll hair, T shirt. Thank you so much for coming from Alaska.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

I love all the TV shows that are based on your home state.

[Mikaela Watkins]

And well, I think we've done it, guys. I think we did. That is the end of our show. Thank you guys so much for coming. Give it up for Michaela June Jason at the show. Good night, everybody.

[Paul Scheer]

When summer vacation calls, it matters where you stay. And Hilton and Sirius XM are teaming up to bring you the music that matters to you too. Because this summer, check in to select Hilton luxury business and extended stay properties and press play on your perfect getaway with free in room access to Sirius xm. Get the ultimate summer soundtrack with ad, free music plus podcasts, talk shows, sports and more. Stay closer to your favorite artists and.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Hosts when you stay at your favorite.

[Paul Scheer]

Hill Hilton for the stay.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Let's face it, our world is a hot mess.

[Mikaela Watkins]

So we're setting out in a rocket.

[Paul Scheer]

Ship to explore queerer pastures.

[Mikaela Watkins]

I'm Chris Renfro. And I'm Finn Argus.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

And every week on our show, one of us with Finn and Chris, we're.

[Mikaela Watkins]

Going on a new fully sound designed adventure. Part interview, part improv, and always full of plot twists. Join the best friend force every Tuesday from Good Get Productions.

[Jason Mantzoukas]

Wherever you go, there's one of us.