For Super Mario Galaxy The Movie, We Get Help from Get Played

Summary

The Besties Podcast
Episode: For Super Mario Galaxy The Movie, We Get Help from Get Played
Date: April 10, 2026
Hosts: Russ Frushtick (absent), Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy
Guest: Matt Apanaga (of Get Played)

---

Episode Overview

This lively crossover episode brings together The Besties and Get Played podcasts to review and dissect the newly released "Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie." The hosts and guest Matt Apanaga riff on the film's (lack of) narrative, how it compares to other game adaptations, the performances of its star-studded cast, and the broader challenge of adapting Mario to film. They also discuss the roguelike game "Raccoun," touch on Resident Evil, SNL UK, retro handhelds, and more. The episode is punctuated by irreverent humor, thoughtful critique, and a passion for games (and films) that actually take risks.

---

Main Discussion: Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie

1. Setting Expectations

• Not Really an Adaptation:
  The movie isn’t an adaptation of "Super Mario Galaxy" but is instead a wild mishmash of Mario characters and scenarios with little regard for cohesive storytelling.

  • Justin McElroy (07:00): "The Super Mario Galaxy movie is not an adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy."
  • Chris Plant (05:10): "It also might or might not be a movie by any standard definition of that term."

• Low Story, High Momentum:
  The film is described as a relentless sequence of events without connective tissue or meaningful arcs.

  • Matt Apanaga (08:14): "It's truly just, this happens, this happens, this happens, this happens, this happens… I didn't, it's not a good movie, but I didn't not enjoy myself."

---

2. Lack of Character Arcs and Themes

• Mario as Blank Slate:
  The hosts lament that Mario has no arc or development; he’s not even a character, just a brand.

  • Justin McElroy’s daughter (as quoted, 09:05):
    • Justin: "What is the Super Mario Galaxy movie about?"
    • Daughter: "Mario."
    • Justin: "Absolutely."
  • Griffin McElroy (10:11): "Mario the person gets nothing in this fucking motion picture. Absolutely nothing in this."
  • Matt Apanaga (10:16): "There's not a single arc in the entire movie. It is just right. It is 100%. The movie is about Mario, full stop."

• Comparison to Mickey Mouse:
  The hosts compare Mario to Mickey Mouse as unchangeable icons not suited for character-driven films.

  • Justin McElroy (14:56): "You know how many feature length Mickey Mouse movies there are? Zero… Maybe this guy shouldn't be in a movie. Cause he can't change and he can’t grow."
  • Chris Plant (16:01): "The sweet spot is when it can do both. Like old Pixar. Nailed it."

---

3. Plot Absurdity and Video Game Logic

• Levels Instead of Narrative:
  The podcast points out that the movie plays out as a series of “levels,” much like the games—sequences loosely connected, if at all.

  • Griffin McElroy (11:00): (Describing Peach’s inexplicable zero-gravity casino fight) "While watching, I was like, why do we do it? How did we get here?"
  • Chris Plant’s Theory (11:50): A Nintendo exec imposed game logic on the film: "Say about three sentences of a story up top? And then you have individual levels that no story is conveyed."

• Nostalgia Over Substance:
  The film leans heavily on NES-style references and nostalgia rather than storytelling.

  • Justin McElroy (12:46): "It is like showing you like, remember, it's like this. Hey, stupid. It's like this."

• Sonic Movie Comparison:
  The Sonic movies tried to provide arcs and stakes, while Mario’s film skips all that.

  • Griffin McElroy (13:10): "If you want to talk about, here's a different way to do an adaptation… they went through the effort of having character arcs and having a reason for scenes..."

---

4. Enjoyment Despite Flaws

• For Kids, Not Adults:
  While the hosts are critical, they recognize that kids love the film for the spectacle and Easter eggs.

  • Griffin McElroy (13:10): "But my son who is 9, was like, ape shit, going gaga for it, right? And so like, it's for them, right? That's great."
  • Chris Plant (15:53): Plays devil’s advocate, preferring spectacle and kid-friendly action to preachy, adult-focused movies: "…the action is good… the choreography of it… kicks ass."

• Never Boring, Just Shallow:
  The film’s relentless pace at least keeps it mildly entertaining.

  • Matt Apanaga (19:11): "It's not boring. I don't think a second of this is boring to me. But it's not…we just actually watched [Return to Silent Hill] for our Patreon. This movie at least is like, hey, this looks pretty nice. And we're having a little bit of fun…"

---

5. Performance Highlights & the Press Tour (27:12)

• Voice Acting Standouts:

  • Justin McElroy (27:10): "Donald Glover does more with the very few Yoshis that he has... Charlie Day does a really good… Luigi…"
  • Griffin McElroy (28:07): Shouts out Benny Safdie as a surprise standout as Bowser Jr.
  • Matt Apanaga (30:03): "Glen Powell… eats everybody's lunch. He's great in the movie."

• Press Tour Absurdity:

  • Chris Plant (22:26): Highlights the surreal nature of celebrity press tours for brief roles ("doing a press tour as the voice of Yoshi…")
  • Matt Apanaga (24:07): "…then you post these clips and… people will literally comment. Is this supposed to be funny?"

• Notable Quotes:

  • On Rosalina’s acting:
    Griffin McElroy (29:43): "There is a way in which Rosalina sort of responds to the things other characters say… that does suggest that maybe these lines were recorded in a half hour zoom call."
  • On Bowser's arc:
    Justin McElroy (34:37): "But then [the film] immediately wants to do a fatherhood story… I’ve been turned evil by caring, wanting to connect with my son. Hey, that could be a cool movie. You do not have the chop, Super Mario Galaxy movie. You cannot swing that."

---

6. The Star Fox Surprise (21:11)

• Discussion of Star Fox’s (Glen Powell) appearance—and the missed opportunity for a more emotional, potentially more character-driven Nintendo Cinematic Universe.
  • Justin McElroy (21:21): "That could be really interesting because there’s characters that could learn things. I’d rather watch a Star Fox movie right now…his dad died. Mario’s dad didn’t fucking die."

---

Secondary Discussions & Honorable Mentions

1. Game: Raccoon ([35:15-41:59])

• A roguelike coin drop game with tons of unlockables.
• Matt Apanaga (37:20): "I love Number Go Up. I love... Number Go Up is so good."
• Addictive and mindless fun, but possibly not as deep or sticky as Balatro.
• Praise for creative class mechanics but some critique for runs being "a little too long."

---

2. Resident Evil (Games and Merch) (42:45-46:39)

• Matt Apanaga: Deep dive into Resident Evil remakes; newly obsessed.
• Mr. X vs. Nemesis—Mr. X found funnier for his "cute little hat."
• Struggles with collector’s impulse while in Japan, buying exclusive merchandise.

---

3. Other Games & Media:

• Mugenics:
  Ongoing engagement but hard to maintain progress after a mental break.
• SNL UK:
  Justin McElroy (48:14): "It is really interesting to see a show that structurally apes SNL almost entirely..."
• Ayn Thor Retro Handheld & Chrono Trigger DS:
  Griffin McElroy (53:35): Rediscovered the joys of Chrono Trigger on a full-screen retro handheld.
• Book: Partially Devoured
  Chris Plant (54:47): Frame-by-frame analysis of "Night of the Living Dead"—“the most sicko shit possible.”

---

4. Self-Promo & Plugs (58:00)

• Matt Apanaga plugs his podcast Get Played and its spin-off Get Played DLC, as well as his voice work on the Netflix animated show "Strip Law."
• The Besties plugs their Patreon, including upcoming content and foot-related jokes involving Russ’s sunburned feet.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You can't be lost if you don't move, if you don't go anywhere, it's impossible to become lost." — Griffin McElroy (07:16)
• "What's Super Mario Galaxy movie about? ... Mario. ... Absolutely." — Justin McElroy & daughter (09:05)
• "There's not a single arc in the entire movie... 100%. The movie is about Mario, full stop." — Matt Apanaga (10:16)
• "It is truly just, this happens, this happens, this happens..." — Matt Apanaga (08:37)
• "Maybe this guy shouldn't be in a movie. Cause he can't change and he can't grow." — Justin McElroy (14:56)
• "Nostalgia over substance—Hey, stupid. It's like this." — Justin McElroy (12:46)

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–03:29: Cold open, introductions, banter with guest Matt Apanaga
• 04:58–14:25: Main discussion: Super Mario Galaxy movie—premise, lack of story/arcs
• 14:25–21:57: Thematic analysis, kids-vs-adult appeal, Mickey Mouse comparison, Sonic movie contrasts
• 21:57–32:09: Star Fox cameo, press tour energy, voice acting analysis
• 32:09–35:07: Bowser’s arc and movie’s narrative confusion
• 35:07–41:59: Review & deep-dive: Raccoon roguelike game
• 42:45–47:06: Honorable mentions: Resident Evil, gaming hardware, collector’s fever
• 48:14–54:47: SNL UK, retro gaming, Chrono Trigger
• 54:47–56:02: Book recommendation: Partially Devoured
• 56:02–59:15: Matt’s current projects (Get Played, Strip Law)
• 59:15–end: Jokes, Patreon plugs, outro

---

Takeaways

• Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie is visually entertaining, briskly paced, and shallow, with no real story or character growth—much like playing random Mario levels stitched together.
• The movie’s appeal is strongest to superfans and young viewers; adults or critics will find little substance.
• Star power and nostalgia can’t rescue a film whose IP is more mascot than character.
• The podcast’s hosts and guest deliver honest criticism wrapped in jokes, with a shared hope that game movies can aspire for more.
• Tangents on games like Raccoon, retro hardware, and SNL UK provide broader context for what the Besties value: innovation, risk, and stories that matter.

---

Transcript

[Chris Plant]

Hey.

[Matt Apanaga]

Hey.

[Chris Plant]

Hey, Matt. You free this afternoon?

[Matt Apanaga]

Ish. Yeah, Like, I guess.

[Chris Plant]

Okay.

[Matt Apanaga]

Not to give you, like, an early answer, but for what?

[Chris Plant]

I was just thinking that maybe we could do, like, kind of like a work lunch. Like a work lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

[Griffin McElroy]

There we go.

[Matt Apanaga]

No, that's really good. Yeah, no, I can't get. As long as I can order a white pizza with bacon and a peach lemonade, I'm all in, baby. Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

Good. Good. And the only bad thing is, you know how it is. The waiters, they're just so laissez faire. I wonder if they'll ever get around to pick up the check.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're so. They're kind of just, like, doing their own thing almost. It's almost like that work at the restaurant is secondary to their main thing, which is almost not taking care of me at all.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Californians.

[Justin McElroy]

That's good, dude. That was good. Dude. That's actually.

[Chris Plant]

Sorry, that was a little Holly weird for everyone.

[Griffin McElroy]

No, it wasn't weird at all. I liked it. It felt.

[Matt Apanaga]

Can we go to a TV taping afterward? Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

Oh, yeah. Do you think that they can give us some, like, really stale pizza and not let us take a piss for four hours?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. So we're gonna go eat pizza, then get free pizza at a TV taping.

[Chris Plant]

Right? Right, right, right, right. This is great. This is great.

[Justin McElroy]

This is what I would do to go to a TV taping. And you just say it like it's nothing.

[Griffin McElroy]

You sound like it's a fucking joke. I would eat cold Domino's pizza at a taping. Hart's Avi Shola reboot, and you guys are making a fucking joke out of it.

[Justin McElroy]

I've been on one TV taping. It was the TV taping of the show that I was on, and we wanged it so bad, they're never gonna ask us to do TV ever again.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's the only thing.

[Justin McElroy]

And they. They never let us do it to you. I would go see any show.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

How fascinating to see how the sausage is made.

[Matt Apanaga]

The TV sausage.

[Justin McElroy]

Stop laughing at me, Matt.

[Matt Apanaga]

I swear to God, stop making me laugh.

[Chris Plant]

I just want to confirm, though, Matt, for tonight, cpk followed by Rizzoli and Isles.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know. Yeah, it's gonna be. That's. That's. That's my.

[Chris Plant]

I'll see you there.

[Matt Apanaga]

I'll.

[Justin McElroy]

My name is Justin McElroy, and I know the best game of the week.

[Griffin McElroy]

My name is Griffin McElroy and I know the highest grossing Motion picture maybe of all time.

[Chris Plant]

My name is Christopher Thomas Plant and I know the best film of the week. And I am not going to let the guest introduce himself.

[Matt Apanaga]

Okay?

[Chris Plant]

I made a mistake before the show started. I said that he could, and I got harassed by some of my best friends for it. So instead, I'm going to welcome our guest because that's what we do here. I want to introduce everyone here to the one, the only, the Xbox Kid, Matt Apanaga.

[Matt Apanaga]

I'm doing. I have to clarify this. I at one point hate the nickname. Well, here's the thing. I have many nicknames on my show. On Get Played, they call me the Finisher. They called me. They just recently started calling me the Franchise because I've been digging in shit.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's good.

[Chris Plant]

That's a good franchise.

[Matt Apanaga]

That's a really good. Really good. That's courtesy of Nick Weiger. That's good stuff. The Xbox Kid moniker came because I got an Xbox series S and I never had an Xbox before. And I was like, I gotta. I gotta see what this Xbox thing's all about. I gotta see what they're talking about. This is an Xbox. I gotta see what they're talking about. And now it's like the thing that I have that I think I hate the most on Earth is the Xbox series S. Yeah. And then I was.

[Chris Plant]

You got the one that doesn't play video games?

[Matt Apanaga]

I got the one that doesn't play video games.

[Chris Plant]

The one Xbox.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, I did. Then was gifted a Series X by my co host, Heather Campbell, who was basically ready to throw hers away. I don't want this anymore. And now my cat sits on it. It just like sits on it like it's like a chair.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. It doesn't change.

[Chris Plant]

Like a small cat chair.

[Griffin McElroy]

You have two Xbox series, so I

[Matt Apanaga]

think I have the Xbox series.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

So when a new Xbox exclusive comes out, you must be like, there's a time where you're like, which one am I going to play it on? Like, you must be so torn.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah. When it happens, I am always so torn. What do I do? How do I budget the time for this particular game? But if something came out that was good, I'd be picking shit. It'd be great.

[Justin McElroy]

Chris Plant. This week we're gonna be talking about Super Mario Galaxy. The movie. The Super Mario Galaxy movie.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think that's right.

[Justin McElroy]

Thank you.

[Chris Plant]

Sure.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yes.

[Justin McElroy]

What is that? Chris Plant?

[Chris Plant]

This one's a tough one because you would think this is a movie adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy, which it is. Decidedly not. It is a movie featuring Super Mario, other Super Mario characters, and also some characters not from Super Mario, and scenes from various Super Mario games, but not those actual scenes. It also might or might not be a movie by any standard definition of that term, but we'll get into all of that after the break.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

This episode of the Besties is sponsored by Ritual. You know, it is the time of year where we all go on trips and vacations, things like that. And you know what you don't want to have on a trip or vacation? A problem with your digestive health. Oh, so true. With Ritual Symbiotic plus, you only need one capsule a day for simple streamlined gut support. I personally take Symbiotic Plus. It is one of my favorite ways to maintain a healthy gut microbiome and it has definitely helped internally as well as just my general energy. It feels like it's doing the right thing thing. Symbiotic plus is a 3 in 1 biotic formula with pre, pro and postbiotics in a clinically studied doses to support a balanced gut microbiome. Ritual Symbiotic plus is formulated with 11 BCFUs of the world's most researched probiotic strains backed by over 100 publications of human clinical trials. And one daily minted capsule is all you need to take for bloat gut and regularity support. Support a balanced gut microbiome with Ritual Symbiotic Plus. Save 25% off your first month at ritual.combesties that's ritual.combesties for 25% off your first month.

[Justin McElroy]

The Super Mario Galaxy movie is not an adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy. My daughter looked at me as the credits began and she said, I never played Super Mario Galaxy, so I'm worried I'll be lost. And I said, sweetie, I don't think anyone in here is going to be lost. I think we're all gonna have a pretty good idea of what's happening at.

[Griffin McElroy]

You can't be lost if you don't move, if you don't go anywhere, it's impossible to become lost. That's what I do enjoy about this movie, is that the plot. I didn't have any difficulty following it because it was a static sort of object that. And it's just an easy Rider, this flick.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I. I had. I had the luxury of watching this in Japan and it was the second night I was there and I was so tired. I felt physical pain while I was watching it. Like, I was just like so tired from the trip. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to stay awake during the movie. And luckily that was not an issue because there was something to focus on every single second of the movie.

[Griffin McElroy]

Awesome.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

It's so cool.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

If you're not enjoying the movie, if you wait, not a joke, 45 seconds.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

They'll be doing some totally different shit.

[Matt Apanaga]

Like, for all of its faults, I do think it is sort of a masterclass in Momentum because it is just like there's this, like, trained Matt thing. This, like this. The south park guys, they have this thing that's like, stories should be. This happens. And because of that, this happens. And because of that, this happens. There's none of that.

[Griffin McElroy]

Literally none of that.

[Matt Apanaga]

It's truly just, this happens, this happens, this happens, this happens, this happens. And, you know, it could. It could be worse. Like, I didn't. It's not a good movie, but I didn't not enjoy myself. You know what I mean? I was like, oh, they're just always showing me stuff.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah. Hoops, I'm curious for you. I feel like I'm slightly closer of the Maybe. I don't know how I feel about it. But, Hoops, I think you had almost an existential experience.

[Justin McElroy]

Okay. I like. What's frustrating about this is that I actually like Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelinek from Teen Titans Go. There's a lot of stuff on that show that's really subversive and really funny. And it is like a kind of chaotic and bordering on nihilists sometimes. Or anarchic is probably a better way of describing it, where that can withstand 11 minutes. I think, like, you can sit with that energy a little bit, but this movie happens. But it's not a. I asked my daughter, who's 11, we were driving home, and I said, I want to talk to you about theme. And she basically understands theme. But I was like. To drill down what I'm talking about. What's Frozen one about? And she says, love. And I said, what's Frozen two about? And she said, change. I said, wow. And what is the Super Mario Galaxy movie about? She said, mario. I think that that's like, absolutely.

[Griffin McElroy]

It's absolutely. And it's the abstract. It's Mario in the abstract because.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah. Not Mario the person. Just like Mario the person. Mario.

[Griffin McElroy]

Mario the person gets nothing in this fucking motion picture. Absolutely nothing in this.

[Matt Apanaga]

There's not a single arc in the entire movie. It is just right. It is 100%. The movie is about Mario, full stop. Yeah, that's. It yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

The Mario franchise and wider Nintendo properties.

[Justin McElroy]

The Mario Galaxy.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yes. Can I just. To really. To folks who have not seen this movie and may not plan on seeing this movie, I really want to hammer this down of, like, how they just kind of didn't really worry about a story in this one. Just to focus on Peach's plot line. She's talking to Mario. Will they, won't they? A star comes through, is like, hey, Rosalina has been kidnapped by Bowser Jr. And everyone's like, yes, yes, we know all about. We know these guys for sure.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

And then she goes, yeah, she leaves in secret for some reason, goes to the Gateway Galaxy where they're going to find him. But then a monkey steals their stuff. Well, you got to get the stuff back from the monkey. Following the monkey, they end up in an underground casino, a Zero Gravity Casino, where they have a kill bill Crazy 88 space fight against the antagonists of Super Mario Brothers 2. And while watching, I was like, why do we do it?

[Justin McElroy]

Like, how did we get here?

[Griffin McElroy]

Because movies, even the most threadbare plots will be like, and here's the reason why this is happening now. And this was just like. And now you, Wart, tell me where Bowser Jr. Is. Like, why does Wart know where? You didn't talk about this fucking at all. That's convenient that this dude works for Bowser Jr. It's really not ever. Nothing is ever set up ever in the whole movie. It's just stuff happens.

[Chris Plant]

I have a theory. I have a theory about how this. How this movie came together. So at the beginning, you see, like, the executive producers, right? And there's two names, and the second name is Shigeru Miyamoto. Yeah. And a lot of times you see that and you're like, oh, good, that person got to collect their check. This feels like somebody from Nintendo, because they're very, very protective of the series, came in and was like, no, no, no. What works is what we do in the video games. And they were like, wait, were you, like, say about three sentences of a story up top? And then you have individual levels that no story is conveyed. And they were like, precisely. And they were like, that's not how films. And they said, quiet. It made so much money. Just please be quiet. And then they made levels like, the game is literally just level like this game. The movie would be a blast to play. I am convinced it would be a very fun.

[Justin McElroy]

It's insulting, though, because it gets to the last. By the last scene. It is literally cutting back and forth between A NES style representation of a final level and how that is being represented on the screen to a point where you don't even need to bring nostalgia. It is like showing you like, remember, it's like this. Hey, stupid. It's like this.

[Griffin McElroy]

The conversation around this movie has been so light, like weird and frustrating because there's so much to criticize just from a. I'm not a film guy. Fucking. I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about ever. But even I was watching it, like, there's gotta be some sort of connective tissue that just. They decided that too hard compared to the Sonic movies, right? If you wanna talk about, like, here's a different way to do an adaptation of a video game with a fairly threadbare plot. They went through the effort of like having character arcs and having a reason for scenes to in the sequential order that they happen in. And this movie didn't do that. And it's still just. It kind of. It's not hugely unpleasant to watch because it looks so great. And they do sneak in some like pretty clever kind of like Easter egg shit that even I was enjoying. But my son who is 9, was like Ape shit, going gaga for it, right? And so like, it's for them, right? That's great. But people who are critical get shit on it. Cause they're like, it's just a kids movie. Enjoy it. Not every kid's movie has to be the Wild Robot. Not every kid's movie has to be Puss in the Last Wish. But just like a story, like any

[Justin McElroy]

story would be like better I think

[Griffin McElroy]

than no story at all.

[Justin McElroy]

I want to hit you guys with a thought. And this is probably something that the first movie I really hated. And it's largely because Chris Pratt sucks so bad as Mario. And I don't even want to talk about it. Sucks so bad. He's like really bad. He's not acting. He's really bad at it. It's not a character. It's not anything but that's a big part of it. But you know how many feature length Mickey Mouse movies there are?

[Chris Plant]

Zero.

[Justin McElroy]

Zero. There's none. Why? My theory is that Mickey Mouse has to be exactly the same at the end of the picture as he is at the beginning of the picture. Right? Mickey Mouse cannot change. I would make the argument to you guys that maybe if Disney has not cracked the Mickey Mouse movie, maybe there ain't a Mario movie. You know what I mean? Like, maybe this guy shouldn't be in a movie. Cause he can't change and he can't grow. In the first movie, he barely doubted himself, you know what I mean? And his brother double doubted himself. So they had the same arc, just more this movie, they don't even pretend like there's an arc. They just sort of are going through. Maybe it's just like, not a good movie guy. He's like, maybe not good in movies, you know, maybe just don't make a movie about him.

[Chris Plant]

I do want to play a little bit, a little bit of devil's advocate here.

[Matt Apanaga]

Okay.

[Chris Plant]

Because I had a slightly, I would say actually probably significantly better time. I did not love this movie by any means.

[Griffin McElroy]

No.

[Chris Plant]

But I saw the Film Hoppers a few weeks before, and I would take this movie over another movie that gives me a milquetoast political message and largely makes the movie for me and not my kid every time. The sweet spot is when it can do both. Like old Pixar. Nailed it. Sonic Closer. But these are like two ends of a spectrum that I feel like I'm having to choose from, and I don't really want to be on either end. This film, for all of its problems, the action is good. The action sequence, the actual staging of it, I think kicks ass. That's what makes it even more frustrating that there's not a plot that is holding me in with the stakes, because I was not expecting the choreography of it to look this class.

[Justin McElroy]

Choreography wise, I agree with you. There's just zero tension ever. Because Mario can't ever be in peril. Like, you know, Mario's not in danger. Mario's never going to get a cut or a nick or a scrape, so you can't do. You know, I think the best set piece in the first Mario movie is the one in the real world with the dog, because the destruction has stakes, Right. Once you're in the mushroom kingdom and blocks are getting smashed, who gives a shit? Then it's like the Superman problem of, like, well, our hero can't ever be really in danger and he can't ever change or evolve. So, like, what should we do in the movie? I guess I don't know what to do in there.

[Chris Plant]

Matt, you were in Japan. You are sleep deprived. You're watching this movie. You're in physical pain. What is the thing that you're like, I dig this, or this is actually the cruelest form of torture that I've ever gone through.

[Matt Apanaga]

I think that really did color my. My viewing of it. Like, you know, I was on home turf, right? We were sort of like, invited there for It So like, I was kind of like, there was already a little bit of buy in of just being like, I'm already having a fucking blast.

[Griffin McElroy]

This is awesome.

[Justin McElroy]

Sure.

[Matt Apanaga]

Like, and we were sort of watching it with other press, like people who were stone silent in the, in the theater.

[Justin McElroy]

And I was about to say stoned. I thought you were about to say stoned. I was so happy.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, they, yeah, they brought.

[Justin McElroy]

And they were all just like, bomb watching this.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, it was tough. It was. Yeah, it was. They were going wild in there. It was crazy. But they were being so quiet during the movie that I felt like an idiot like, like bonking himself on the head with a hammer while I was just like laughing my ass off. Like, I was just like, this is like, it could, you know, it could have been tired. It could, it could have been jet lag. It could have just been that, like, I was like, already treated so well,

[Chris Plant]

like, while I was there.

[Griffin McElroy]

You're in the spirit.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, I was in the spirit. But like, I, I, I, I go see all these movies. Like, I've seen every Sonic movie in the theater and I'm usually, you know, a solo childless adult with other dads and their kids at the movie theater.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

So this was a unique experience because there were no children and I would have been laughing as much as the kids were probably. But like, this was like, I, I, I enjoyed the action. I enjoyed like the, the, if things were of consequence at this pace, I would be like, this rocks. This is Fury Road with Mario. And it's just going and going, but it's just fast with nothing really happening kind of. And I think that is probably, it's, it's its greatest flaw. But I would say that it's not boring. You know what I mean? Like, I don't think a second of this is boring to me. Yeah, but it, it is. Like, it's not. We just actually watched because there's like a real spectrum of what can be done with these adaptations. You have Fallout in like, sort of rarefied Air where it's like, it's, that's good stuff. You have like the first season of the Last of Us, these Sonic movies, and there's like other ones. We just watched Return to Silent Hill for our Patreon.

[Chris Plant]

Oh, no.

[Matt Apanaga]

And this movie is Super Mario Galaxy deserves an Academy Award compared to.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Return to Silent Hill. That was like, that was a horrible experience because that movie's boring and that's its greatest sin. Like, it is actually boring to watch.

[Griffin McElroy]

Right.

[Matt Apanaga]

This movie at least is like hey, this looks pretty nice. And we're having a little bit of fun, you know? Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I don't know how we want to get into, like, the spoiler territory in so much as you can spoil things, but there are. You can defer a week.

[Griffin McElroy]

I know they've been sort of pushing it, but I would be hesitant.

[Chris Plant]

I don't even know what you would spoil because they've talked about everything.

[Matt Apanaga]

I thought they told us we couldn't spoil stuff on the show. And then literally a day after we recorded, when we were there, they, like, posted the big. What I think is the biggest spoiler of the movie, which I think we can fairly say now. Star Fox is in the movie.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, okay. So let's say. Okay, that was the one that I

[Chris Plant]

didn't know they did, like, posters and trailers. It's everywhere already.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, they posted it before the movie was out.

[Justin McElroy]

When they did that, when there's the nod towards a different, like, expanding the reality out a little bit. To me, that got me pretty excited because I thought, okay, Mario's boring. But if you're gonna use the Mario as, like, the fulcrum point for a Nintendo world, you know, broader Super Mario galaxy thing, that has potential, that's like. That could be really interesting because there's characters that could learn things. I'd rather watch a Star Fox movie right now because at least that's like an archetype that you make movies about. You know, like, his dad died. His dad died. Mario's dad didn't fucking die.

[Griffin McElroy]

There's nothing for them to work with there.

[Justin McElroy]

And Glenn did a great job.

[Chris Plant]

He seems also like a piece of shit.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, but it.

[Chris Plant]

It is.

[Justin McElroy]

That opportunity comes and goes. I mean, it's like it's there, and they have no fun with it. And it is like. Does he say the thing? Yeah, somebody says the thing. Somebody says the thing about barrel roll. It's not even the person. They just say it because it's like, here, swine, here's your pearl. He said, do a barrel roll. Go home. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. The whole thing is that vibe.

[Chris Plant]

Before we wrap this section, I do want to talk about the people who I think have had the most fun with this film. More than us, more than kids, more than anybody, which is the people who are the voice actors for this film who have been on a press tour. Yes, specifically Donald Glover, who I think has three lines in this movie, but has been part of this press tour. Matt, you interviewed these people. What was the energy with Them. Because I cannot imagine doing a press tour. I mean, I've seen and intended a billion celebrity press tours. Yeah, doing a press tour as the voice of Yoshi is one of the most fascinating things I've ever seen come out of Hollywood.

[Matt Apanaga]

It's really funny because, like, I mean, because we were just one stop on their day, like, and they were all so game. And so we had to, like, because, like, we don't usually do that, right? So, like, we had to very quickly onboard each of them as, like, this is what our show is and, like, what we normally do. And like, so this is, like, atypical for us, but, like, it's gonna be fun. You're gonna be fine. We're gonna make you look great. Donald was like. Donald wanted to know where we record, like, immediately. And I was like, oh, we, like, record in Los Angeles, in Silver Lake. And he just, like, laughed because he thought that was funny. Because, like, he lives nearby. He's like, why are we doing here? We could have done this at home. So he was already in a silly mood. And we sort of knew that, like, you know, he has, like, a cop. He's. He started as a comedian like us, like, from UCB and stuff. So we, like, hit him with some funny questions and, like, you know, questions we thought were funny. Some people who then found the clip.

[Griffin McElroy]

Thank you for hedging that, like, well,

[Matt Apanaga]

because, like, it's funny because, like, then you post these clips and then it reads. Reaches people who don't listen to the show. And then people will literally comment. Is this supposed to be funny?

[Griffin McElroy]

Terrifying. Terrifying. We call that breaking containment. Whenever, like, who the are these guys?

[Matt Apanaga]

Why do they look like that? It's like, no, okay, that's not part of. That's not part of it. Somebody did say something like that about me. And they had in their profile picture, it was them and their child. And I was like, hey, I just hope you do better for this kid in your profile picture. Picture. Like, what he's talking about. Good.

[Griffin McElroy]

And then teaching moment.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yes. And. But, like, Donald was like, he was down for it. Like, he was just, like, down for anything. Heather, my co host, asked him if Yoshi has one singular eyeball or with two pupils or is it two eyes separately? And he got a real kick out of that. And we talked about that for a while. Like, he. So I think he was down to clown. I think, like, some of those things are, like, like a little more sterile. Right? Like, tell us about, like, yeah, being Mario. How cool is it to be Mario? And it's just like, really, like, softball kind of stuff. But, like, we sort of positioned it as, like, a opportunity to, like, be silly. And since that episode came out and the clips came out, there were two separate articles about how Donald Glover is silly again, and they linked to our show. And I was like, that's so funny. Yeah, because he was like, you know, he's like. He was like a serious musician for a while and he was like, I perform with my shirt off now, so I'm like, not silly anymore. I'm like a serious guy, actually. And now he's like, I'm silly again. I'm just like a silly guy now.

[Chris Plant]

I like it once you get healthy.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, I'm sure it's still off, but it's in a funny way now. Like John Belushi, you know, funny.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think the news article I've seen the most that's come out about this press tour is Charlie Day's quote about his favorite Luigi.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

In recent American history. And he, without missing a beat, does say Luigi Magione. Just sort of like, no hesitation, just drops it.

[Matt Apanaga]

And then everyone, like, you know, there's not that many. Yeah, sure.

[Griffin McElroy]

That is a fair point.

[Matt Apanaga]

When I saw that clip, I had a question that I wanted to ask him that. Then I pulled back on because there was talk while we were recording that it was like, this is a kids movie. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna pull off of this for a second. Then I see this clip where he's talking about Luigi Mangione. And I was like, I think I could have asked my question, which was, it might have been a Polygon article, I think, that suggested that luigi's hog is 3.7 inches flaccid. And I was going to ask him if he considered that in his portrayal.

[Griffin McElroy]

That sounds like some shit Polygon would say.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

What happened to our once vaunted institutions?

[Justin McElroy]

I wanna.

[Matt Apanaga]

But I didn't ask you. Cause I got scared.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah, sure.

[Justin McElroy]

I wanna. Guys, this might be a bit of a pivot, but I would like to take a break and then come back and talk more about the Super Mario Galaxy movie. Specifically, I'd like to go roll by roll and talk about each performance, if we could, very briefly. Would that be okay by you guys?

[Matt Apanaga]

Sure.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah. We can talk about it.

[Griffin McElroy]

I'll be a raccoon later for sure.

[Chris Plant]

Great.

[Justin McElroy]

Perfect. Okay. Welcome back. I just need, like, five minutes real quick. Yeah. Just to draw some hot takes on the. And I would love to talk about raccoon, too. Just Real quick. I wanted to give credits to people that I thought were doing a good job. Because you mentioned Donald Glover not having a lot of lines. But I will say this. Donald Glover does more with the very few Yoshis that he has. He brings more acting to that than some of the people who have more lines. I don't actually know if Mario has more lines than Yoshi in this movie. He's barely set dressing. But, like, I think Donald Glover does a really, really good job. I think Charlie Day does a really good. I think he's really dialed in on Luigi as a character. Like, he really. I think he really brings a lot to it.

[Chris Plant]

I would rather have a Luigi's Haunted Mansion movie more than anything else in the Nintendo universe at this point. I think that would be legit.

[Griffin McElroy]

That would be strong. I thought that Benny Softee turned in a great Bowser Jr. You know what? To have a character that they hadn't fucking talked about even a little bit at all. Even a little bit, just show up and like, oh, no, it's a baby Bowser.

[Chris Plant]

That's a lot.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's a tall order, man.

[Justin McElroy]

I know that Benny Savdy is a name, but I think that it. It feels less like stunt casting than a lot of these do. And I really would love an era where, like, not every one of these roles has to be an out of left field bizarro pick.

[Chris Plant]

Right.

[Justin McElroy]

I don't think Brie Larson does very much at all. I don't. Especially when compared to in scenes with Anya Taylor Joy, who I think does a really, really good, incredible job. Personally, I just. I think Brie Larson is. Is not doing anything.

[Griffin McElroy]

There is a. There is a way in which Rosalina sort of like responds to the things other characters say in this movie that does suggest that maybe these lines were recorded in a half hour zoom call. Once there's one, there's one where, like, Bowser is talking about how. Or Bowser Jr. Is talking about how he's going to destroy Bowser Jr's plot in this movie is that he's kidnapped this woman to drain her powers to create a cannon that can destroy the universe. That's fucking wild.

[Chris Plant]

Bowser Jr.

[Griffin McElroy]

But he says this and she says, like, the universe will never forgive you. And it's like, that's the way that you said that was not really appropriate for the sentence that was said to you. That, like, I know that a lot of the time voice actors aren't in the same room where they record these things, but this felt like. I don't know, man. This felt so out of pocket.

[Matt Apanaga]

That's also like a scripting issue, though, because that's an insane thing to write for somebody.

[Griffin McElroy]

The universe will never forget.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, the universe's feelings will be hurt. The universe is going to give you a guilt trip about this. Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Why'd you do that?

[Chris Plant]

Oh, Toad. Toad, Toad. Solid.

[Griffin McElroy]

Solid. Not much. Not much. Toad in the movie.

[Justin McElroy]

Solid.

[Griffin McElroy]

Who's the fool who plays Star Fox? I thought he did great.

[Matt Apanaga]

Glen Powell. I think he eats everybody's lunch. He's great in the movie.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, he's fucking great.

[Chris Plant]

I think so.

[Justin McElroy]

He nails it, man. I want that Star Fox. Fox movie. Thank you.

[Matt Apanaga]

Glenn, by the way, like, went to the Nintendo, like, went to the Nintendo, like, and was like, I want. I want to be Star Fox. Let me be Star Fox.

[Justin McElroy]

They were like, dude, Glenn Pal. Glenn Pal is a. Is a. Seems like a real sweetheart. That's just. He seems great. What I've heard from people who've talked to. Talked to Glenn and people who have loved or been loved by Glenn, just close, personal friend. His dad. Everyone I talk to loves Glenn.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I took God. But I'll tell you, Matt, you guys are in la. Let me ask you this. This is fair. My brain refused to process Glen Powell for probably eight years. That guy had to fight tooth and nail to get any sort of mind. Mind grip on me.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, Yeah, I think that's. I think that's fair. I think because he's like. He was like a supporting character in some good movies. Like. And then he. Then he's like. Actually, no, I'm like the main guy now. Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I'm the gu.

[Matt Apanaga]

Like three or four movies a year and you're sort of like, what? This is like more than I wanted. This is too much plan. And I was starting to get sick of him. And then now he's in this. I'm sort of like. He's kind of like. He's kind of good. Now I'm in again.

[Chris Plant]

It's like, honestly, Hoops, it's kind of hard for people like Matt and myself because being in, you know, like, the scene and like, in the mix. And now we might see it. We see Glenn. I mean, I have. Like eight years ago, we were seeing him at Max Fabelman's parties, you know, every night,

[Griffin McElroy]

just chopping it up.

[Chris Plant]

Listen, thank you, Matt. Thank you.

[Griffin McElroy]

That was just for Matt. It's nice.

[Matt Apanaga]

That's shit. Well. Cause I remember the night. I remember the night. It was really fun.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah. Well, the weird thing about that Night is Max actually had to take his mom. We were having this great party, and then Max left, and we're like, where is Max? And he was with his mom in his closet, showing her a film he made of his mom cheating on his father.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

And then he showed her Jaws.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. I could have got two bangers for you. One this one.

[Chris Plant]

It was a fucking insane night.

[Justin McElroy]

Anyway, Glenn was still talking about. Listen. Yeah, Glenn did a much better job than anybody else in this. If we could take a little spoiler bubble. I just. If we just, like, for two minutes. What happens with Bowser in this fucking flick? It's so crazy to me. Not just the fact that he sells himself into slavery to Issa Rae. So after he becomes friends with those guys for two minutes.

[Griffin McElroy]

For 45 seconds.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, for five seconds. Yeah. Then later on in the movie, he falls into lava and dies. And he comes back out as a skeleton, and then the skeleton's destroyed and he's just a skull. And it's like. I don't know what you want me to fucking feel about this guy at this point. Is this a. Is this a being? Is this an entity? You know what I mean?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

This is the problem. This is not a guy that has thoughts and feelings. Right. Bowser is not a character if he can be reduced to a skull that his kid carries around. It's fucking crazy.

[Matt Apanaga]

Something I've always thought about the characters of, like, dry bones and, like, dry Bowser and stuff. The implication is that when you have skin and, like, muscle and, like, flesh, you're. Those are wet bones. And I think that's weird. That's strange.

[Griffin McElroy]

They're unnecessary.

[Justin McElroy]

I don't think of myself as wet currently.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, no, I'm not wet. I'm dry.

[Justin McElroy]

It's like Mitch Hedberg said, corn comes on the cob. I'm not Mitch altogether.

[Matt Apanaga]

I'm not whipped.

[Griffin McElroy]

The arc of Bowser in this is such a miss, because the Bowser villain to hero arc is about as good of a story that the Mario universe is capable of telling. It's not even that good, but it's

[Justin McElroy]

as good of a story as it can do.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. I mean, I remember playing Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars, and the moment that Bowser joins the party and it turns out that he's like, your pal now because you're working together again. That rules. That was like, the first time in a story that I had seen that kind of like, the main bad guy is good now. And so, like, there's some. Obviously, it's Been done a bunch of times in a bunch of Mario games. But, like, there's something you can do with that. And the movie kind of does it, and then it doesn't.

[Justin McElroy]

But then it immediately wants to do a fatherhood story, right? So it's like it does halfway villain redemption, and then he meets his kid, and his kid's like, you're evil. Right? His dad's like, yeah, actually, fuck being good. I'm actually. I've been turned evil by parenthood, that old classic movie trope. I've been turned evil by caring, wanting to connect with my son. Hey, that could be a cool movie. You do not have the chop. Super Mario Galaxy movie. You cannot swing that.

[Chris Plant]

Hey, should we talk a little bit about Raccoon?

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, I would actually.

[Chris Plant]

I want to stuff if anybody has any more Mario Galaxy.

[Justin McElroy]

No, I don't think I have other positive things to say about Mario.

[Griffin McElroy]

Raccoon is great. It is a roguelike that is modeled after a coin drop sort of. Not arcade game. How would you classify the coin drop sort of game? Because it's one that I think a lot of people have seen, of course, at arcades and bars around the country, but it's not one that I think people pay a lot of attention to. It's the one where you drop coins in to push coins down off a shelf and then knock other coins in a hole and get prizes or more coins sometimes. I love a coin drop machine. Chris and I had a fun trip once with some buddies where we went to a bar that had a coin drop machine and we played that shit for hours. It was great. It was a good time. This one is a roguelike version of that where you play coin drop with different classes, and the different classes can buy different special coins that have different effects, usually to boost the value of of those coins or to change them in some way. There's a coin that is a buzzsaw that will chop a coin up into four smaller coins so you can get scored on those four times. There's one that makes all the coins super big so that it makes it easier to push other coins down. But then each class has its own sort of mechanic, its own synergies. There's like a cooking class that has recipe, like, ingredient coins that you can mix together to make shit. So there's a ton of variety there. And then it also does the slay the spire style like you're buying. Not relics. I forgot chips, I think they're called, that have like a constant sort of effect. There's items that you're also finding and buying. It's really, really deep. But the main mechanic of. Of the Coin Drop game feels like such an unsolvable property to me, where it's like, it's. It all kind of funnels through the barrel of the coin Drop mechanic. And that is a tough thing to kind of, like, understand the physics of with any amount of certainty that you can sort of strategize around. Around how you're dropping your coins. Matt, you played some of it too, right?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, I was playing this, and I. I do because I love. I love Number Go up. I love.

[Griffin McElroy]

Number Go up is so good.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Number Go up is so good.

[Justin McElroy]

Good genre. Good genre.

[Matt Apanaga]

Good genre. But this. This does feel like if there was anything less than this, I would just be, like, in a cage at a zoo, kind of like. Yeah, like, I like it. It is like, the sort of final wrinkle in my brain smoothing over completely. Like, it's like there is things to think about in the game. Like, you do sort of have to sort of like, figure out, like. Like, what you're doing and why and stuff. But, like, I'm just trying to watch those coins fall. I'm not really. I actually don't care about what the special coins do or anything like that. I'm there because I want to see those coins fall in. That's all. Yeah, that's all I want. And if I don't have a good run, that's all right. I'm gonna start again. I'm gonna watch those coins keep following. That's all. That's all it is. And I fear that if I don't uninstall it soon, I might never play another game again. Because it is just like. It's just candy. It's just like, it's in I, I, I. And I. I'm really, really enjoying it. I had the same issue with what was the ball one? Ball pit. Ball pit. Same.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, it was rough.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, same. Same thing. It was just like, I can't keep doing this.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

But it is. I look, I like the raccoons.

[Griffin McElroy]

The raccoons are great. There is, like, a ton of shit to unlock, right? So when you have a failed run, you are unlocking different special coins. And some of the special coins, like, really do synergize in interesting ways. There's one class that is about. You have, like, lily pad coins that are, like, worth more money. And they also get water coins. And if you water the lily pads, they will multiply into multiple lily pads. And then you can spawn in a frog coin and they'll jump over from lily pad to lily pad, knocking all the other coins. Like, there is definitely stuff to think about and you have to be smart about when you deploy those special coins and how you. You can exchange this, like, other currency for more coins that you can drop. Like, there's some. There's some strategy to the, like, physical play of the thing.

[Chris Plant]

I.

[Griffin McElroy]

It is not. I've beaten the game a bunch and played through all the classes. I haven't necessarily found it to be like, there's a lot of different routes that you could take with the different classes. It feels very much like, okay, if you're playing as the chef class, you know, like, you need to get these recipes, you gotta get these ingredient coins. You're trying to shop around for these types of things.

[Justin McElroy]

So, like, despite the fact that there

[Griffin McElroy]

is a ton of stuff to unlock and you are constantly getting new coins and stickers and clips and all that stuff, I don't know, it just kind of feels like I'm still sort of doing the same thing and hoping that I make whatever correct choices to like, really crack the thing wide open, which is very satisfying when it does come together.

[Matt Apanaga]

I think that the. The runs might be a little too long.

[Griffin McElroy]

A little bit, yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Like, because it'll be like, you're on, you know, you're like part one of 15. And I'm like, 15? Yeah, what about 10 would be nice.

[Griffin McElroy]

I would prefer that. So, like, I have enjoyed. I enjoyed my time at the game. I enjoyed, like, when I unlocked a new class saying, like, okay, the. Oh, the special coins are doing something totally different after, like, tried it. But I also, like, I think I'm done with it. And that is. I'm okay with that. But it's also not a staple of the genre. Like, if you are playing this expecting it to be coin drop Balatro, like, it doesn't. I don't think it approaches. Approaches that necessarily. But also, I've never played a coin drop video game before, and they did a pretty damn good job of like, simulating that sort of experience. And what makes it so, so sticky.

[Matt Apanaga]

But to that point too, like, I feel like none of these ones that have come out to. Since Balatro are as sticky as Balatro. Because, like, I still have Balatro on all available platforms, including my phone, because it's just fun to pick up, even just for like a run, like a quick run just to see what we can do. But, like, I haven't. I haven't touched Ball pit in forever.

[Chris Plant]

Right.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think the only one that's come close to me is Merge Maestro, which is sort of a different. A different style of game. Absolutely. But I think the connective tissue is absolutely there. And that is a game that I really, really sunk my teeth into.

[Matt Apanaga]

Okay, I'll check this out.

[Griffin McElroy]

This one is. Oh, yeah, it's on iOS. It'll. Oh, Matt, I'm sorry.

[Matt Apanaga]

No.

[Griffin McElroy]

I'm gonna fuck you up, man.

[Matt Apanaga]

My life sucks. It's okay. It's over.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I wouldn't. Now your life's better.

[Chris Plant]

It's gonna be good for the next three or four days.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

While I'm awake, those whole days, in

[Justin McElroy]

my experience, that's when. After that is when.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's when you die.

[Chris Plant]

The crushing realization.

[Justin McElroy]

I just hate raccoons. So I can't do it. I hate raccoons.

[Matt Apanaga]

What's your beef?

[Justin McElroy]

Well, I keep snacks outside my house for delivery. Folks come by, and I have to remember to go out there and get them every night or else these fucking little guys, like clockwork, will just come out and assault my snacks. And they'll leave a huge mess. They'll get in the trash. I hate these guys. That's all.

[Matt Apanaga]

I'm sorry.

[Justin McElroy]

It's all right. I don't want them to push their coins on me. That's it.

[Chris Plant]

Hey, should we do some honorable mentions?

[Griffin McElroy]

I would love to do some honorable mentions.

[Chris Plant]

That sounds great. Hey, Matt, to start things off, you have been going through the Resident Evil universe.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yes. Yeah. I had previously only played Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 4 VR, Resident Evil 4 remake. And now I. Since re. Since Requiem was coming out, I was like, I gotta get more involved here. I gotta see what this is. And because my boy Leon's back, and I gotta see what he's up to. So I played two remake. Loved that, then jumped straight into Requiem. Finished that. Love that. And now I'm playing Resident Evil 3 remake, which I would say, as someone who's not played the original, I think I'm probably having more fun with it than somebody who has experienced the original. But I still don't like it as much. Like, it doesn't feel as good to me. I don't. I think Nemesis is simultaneously too much heightening from something like Mr. X and also a D heightening because he's only, like, in scripted areas kind of.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Whereas, like, Mr. X is more dynamic. And there is something scary. I was just unpacking this the other day. I think there's something scarier about Mr. X. Because he's wearing a little outfit.

[Griffin McElroy]

Like, he's.

[Justin McElroy]

It's his cute little hat. Like.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Griffin McElroy]

It's tough to be, like, super scary.

[Justin McElroy]

That's somebody with a plan setting.

[Chris Plant]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

Like, why did you. So you're just wearing these clothes. You put this on you, you had options.

[Chris Plant]

It does look like he can solve mysteries too, you know, which makes more

[Matt Apanaga]

of a. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's gonna figure out where I'm at and what I'm up to and why I'm. Why I'm doing it.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah.

[Matt Apanaga]

He has to get all his clothes

[Griffin McElroy]

at, like, men's wear out, like, big and tall.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

I'm sorry, Matt. It's the best hat I could afford on my salary. He was in limited options due to my size.

[Matt Apanaga]

He has a salary. He gets a W2 addressed to Mr. X.

[Chris Plant]

This is tough.

[Justin McElroy]

From the Umbela Corporation.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. First name, Mr. Yeah, his first name is Mister. Mr. X is my father. Call me Mr. X. But I'm doing that and I will finish it because I want to play all the ones that are available for PS5. I just upgraded to the Pro recently, and I want to check out Biohazard.

[Griffin McElroy]

Got in there before they jacked the price up.

[Matt Apanaga]

I hope I got in there before they jacked the price up. And let me tell you. Did I need to do it? Probably not. Probably didn't have to do it at all. But they scared me and it worked. So congrats to them. Shout out.

[Justin McElroy]

That's a great marketing tactic. Like, hey, we know we're not doing games on these things anymore, but here, in a week, they're gonna cost two grand, so buy them while you can.

[Matt Apanaga]

I guess I better get it. And then. And then two weeks after that, PS6 comes out next year. Like, no. Oh, great.

[Griffin McElroy]

Oh, man, you done done it again.

[Matt Apanaga]

I done did it again. I'm gonna have to get that one. And then the cycle, of course, will just forever continue. But, I mean, yeah, I'm looking forward to playing 7 and 8, so I can see what those are like. But I. When I was in Japan, they had the. I had no interest in the Requiem Switch 2 controller here because it. They have a switch to a Resident Evil Requiem switch to controller with, like, a newspaper, like, sort of, like, decal on it, and it's all black, and it just says Resident Evil, but it's covered by the Switch 2 logo. So it just says, like, resident. And like. Like, that's.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, it says Bio switch to.

[Matt Apanaga]

But they had the Biohazard one when I was there and I was like, well, I have to buy this because I can't get this at home. I gotta get this. And now I have it.

[Chris Plant]

This is the trouble of visiting Japan.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

Is everything you can't get at home so you therefore want it?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. I'm still awaiting my shipping container of all the things that I bought when I was there because I was like, well, I have to have everything I lay my eyes upon. But, yeah, Resident Evil is sort of like my new obsession. I've been contemplating watching the movies because I've only seen the first one, and I know that they're not anything like the games, but I kind of feel like I have to go all in on all of it.

[Chris Plant]

I feel like, let me tell you this, they are better than this Mario movie. Oh, I say that very confidently, but I am biased. I do tend to. Well, maybe not the animated ones.

[Matt Apanaga]

I'm in for any of it. So I'll determine. I know that the bar is now Galaxy is so much higher than Return to Silent Hill. So if it can even clear Return of Silent Hill Doom. I think I can sit through something that's pretty bad. So we'll see. I love it.

[Chris Plant]

Hoops, what are you up to?

[Justin McElroy]

Still playing Eugenics.

[Matt Apanaga]

Wow.

[Justin McElroy]

Mugenics.

[Matt Apanaga]

It's great.

[Justin McElroy]

It's a good game that I watch.

[Griffin McElroy]

I've taken too long a break from eugenics and I've tried to get back into it a couple times and I don't remember what my priorities were vis a vis breeding. And I had like a really intricate kind of system going. And now that I've tried to plug back into the game, it's like, oh, man, that's it. Everybody is each other's grandpas. What the fuck was I doing?

[Justin McElroy]

You know what's surprisingly funny is SNL uk. You can watch it on Peacock. I'm somebody who is a big SNL fan. You know, I see the good and the bad, obviously, but it's something that's been part of my life my whole growing up. So I found it really interesting to watch a different iteration of it. I was really prepared for it to be pretty lousy, just because you're starting with an untested group people and untested writers. And there's a huge expectation. I was really impressed. I've been really impressed by the first two episodes that I've watched. They really. It is really interesting to see a show that structurally apes SNL almost entirely, to an extent where when there's small differences, you feel it, like, it's very noticeable, the things that are different, but tonally feels very different. Like, there are sketches that feel more Monty Python or more. A bit drier, maybe more specific to, like, British culture. Things that wouldn't hit the same way here, but it's. It's also. It doesn't have the same restrictions on, like, language and stuff like that. So it feels really sharp. It feels really pointed. The Weekend Update bits, I think they've done hit a lot harder than anything that they've done in America recently. And I really think I. I was shocked because I think it's good enough that there will be kind of a bit of, like, competition or back and forth between the two staffs, because they're basically have the same dictate on different sides of an ocean about five hours separate from each other, which is kind of wild to think about. Like, how do you avoid doing the same gag? You know what I mean? Like, how do you avoid the same. I don't know, but I think that's really the first episode. Tina Fey is the host, which feels, I mean, kind of the perfect choice, I think, if you want to communicate a sort of passing of the torch with someone that still feels, like, cool and relevant, I think. But I laughed the whole way through. I was really, really impressed. Yeah, it's on Peacock uploading the day after the show, just like in America. But I thought it was really, really funny. Another bit that I. Just to give you an idea of the kind of show the first episode had, the big memetic thing was an impression of Princess Di that sort of busted out because it was one of the guys performing the role was extremely funny. Then in the second episode, there was a skit that referenced Prince Di, and it was Prince Philip holding up a newspaper that had his picture from the week before as Princess Di printed on the newspaper that he himself was whole. It's really. It's cognizant of its own. It's cognizant of itself in a way that I don't think the SNL like, it feels too young to be doing, but in a really smart and interesting way. It's like, it's really confident. The opening sketch of the second episode was Prince Andrew being brought into MI5 the day after Princess Diana died and being told that, listen, what this means is that Charles will take over as king one day, and the best way for the people to fall in love with him is for them to hate his relatives and for you to look bad by comparison. So we have a special mission that we are sending you out.

[Matt Apanaga]

Oh boy, howdy.

[Justin McElroy]

Because you would do. We know you would do. You've always been such a nuke. And he, he's going through, he's going through the folder like really, all of this. And they're like, we know, we know. But you know, you would do anything for the crowd, anything for your brother.

[Matt Apanaga]

That's really good.

[Justin McElroy]

It's. I mean I was. It's hysterically funny. It's really, really good. By the way, it's. Andrew's Wikipedia page has been updated 26 minutes ago. So still an active crime scene investigation.

[Griffin McElroy]

I have been messing around with the Ayn Thor. That's the full screen retro handheld because I got the itch to play the Chrono Trigger DS version. That's one. I go back and play those, like play Final Fantasy those games like a bunch usually like at four times speed, just blazing through them. But Chrono Trigger is not one that I return to as often. And man, it's really just. It truly is one of the best games really ever made. Like there is so much about that game that is so transportive and just a complete fucking knockout effort. Freak collaboration from some of the best who've ever done it. And just so cool. The music's so cool. The DS has a different translation. It also has like some pretty neat quality of life stuff where you can assign shortcuts to different menu selections like on the bottom touch screen so you don't have to like go through a bunch of different shit to like equip the new sword that you just found. Which is a pretty basic thing. But yeah, it's really great and it's still just a joy to play. Shit. On the. On the Thor. I've been hoping to get a new sort of horizontal retro handheld because I've heard a lot of good stuff about the Retroid Pocket 6. I enjoyed the 5 a lot. But again, all of those are just really, really fucking difficult to source right now. Like really really hard to find in stock anywhere because of the myriad issues sort of facing the computer entertainment industry at this point.

[Matt Apanaga]

I ordered a Thor toward the end of February and it has still not shipped yet from. Directly from. From ain. So I'm waiting to get some kind of update because I want it. I want it so bad.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, maybe that's the new. Maybe that's the new shell game, right? You make a great device, charge an affordable price, wait till the pre orders come in, shut down the company. That's it.

[Chris Plant]

Yeah, it's good. I like this mine's a very quick one. A new book called Partially Devoured, which is a breakdown of the film Night of the Living Dead, George A. Ramirez original zombie movie. And if you've ever thought like a movie like franchise breakdown. No. A movie breakdown. No. A scene by scene breakdown. No. I want a frame by frame breakdown where the chapters are 0 minutes, 32 seconds, 4 frames. Let me tell you, it's here I am about six hours into it, and I think we're on minute seven of the film. It is the most sicko shit possible, and I am very, very, very much enjoying it. I do not know if I recommend it to everybody, though. But hey, if you have it at your local library, you can check it out without all that financial pressure. I do want to wrap up before we do that, though, Matt, I want to give you a chance to plug your stuff. I know that you are working on that film with Max Fabelman and his brother Sammy, but other than that, are you working on anything else?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah. Untitled Fablemind, Apodaca. But. So that'll be out TBD, summer 2028, I think. So it's gonna be a big temple event.

[Chris Plant]

Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Classic Fabelman.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah, yeah. I'm working on the. I. They're working on the movie. I'm sort of designing the popcorn bucket.

[Justin McElroy]

Oh, that's cool.

[Matt Apanaga]

They sort of brought me. So I am working on the movie. Right.

[Justin McElroy]

But is it true. Is it true that in tribute to the theme, the popcorn bucket is going to be shaped like a popcorn bucket? Is that. Is that right?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. So for. Well, okay.

[Justin McElroy]

Just to celebrate the love of the movies and the magic of the movies.

[Matt Apanaga]

This was a leak that you were. Know that. But the popcorn bucket is shaped like a popcorn bucket with popcorn in it.

[Justin McElroy]

Oh, my God, that's fun.

[Griffin McElroy]

Like, there is like plastic popcorn.

[Justin McElroy]

Yeah, I love that.

[Matt Apanaga]

But then you have to sort of.

[Chris Plant]

Where does popcorn go?

[Matt Apanaga]

Well, this is the thing that we're really trying to figure out because it doesn't have a hole in it, but it is sort of like a Easter egg. Like, you know, like, it can come in half.

[Justin McElroy]

You have an Easter egg.

[Matt Apanaga]

So then it's kind of like two bowls, kind of.

[Justin McElroy]

You could even say there's an egg in the pop. So you open the popcorn, there's an egg in the popcorn, and then inside the egg is real popcorn.

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah. You can put real popcorn in the egg. Yeah, yeah.

[Justin McElroy]

Okay.

[Griffin McElroy]

Unpopped kernels.

[Matt Apanaga]

Unpopped. Just a couple kernels. So then you could take that home and then sort of like make sort of like six pieces of popcorn at home.

[Chris Plant]

Kids, that's great. I can see some, like, technical challenges between now and 2028, but it's good that you have. It's good that you have that.

[Matt Apanaga]

We're going for buzz, you know, Is

[Chris Plant]

it true that Tony Kushner is actually writing the kind of bio for this popcorn bucket?

[Griffin McElroy]

Matt, do you have any projects that are maybe out sooner than 2028 and extant?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yes, I have a video game podcast also called Get Played with Nick Weiger and Heather Ann Campbell. We talk about video games. I don't know why that was so hard. We've been doing that for seven years and it's. It's an. It's an absolute blast. We do that on Mondays and then on Wednesdays we have a. Our show Get Played DLC or. That could be anything. Yeah, that could be any kind of thing. We talk about those movie. We just did an episode about the game show Family Feud. You know, just like sort of unpacking what that's all about. That's on. That's on Wednesdays [e-mail] GetPlayed I was on an animated show this year called Strip Law on Netflix, and I think people should watch it because I think it's really funny. And you'll know who my character is because he sounds exactly like me. Like, he just. I didn't. I'm not an actor. They asked me to do the show and I was like, okay, this is what I got. And they were like, that's great, Perfect. But I think that's extremely worth checking out if people haven't seen it, because I think it's. I think it's really, really funny. But that, that's it for me. Thanks for having me, guys. I had. I, I listened. So I was very excited. I was very excited to join you guys and it's a real honor.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think you did a bang up job, Matt. We usually wait until after we finish recording to give mostly when Russ is here, like, pretty harsh criticisms.

[Matt Apanaga]

Okay. I was scared of Russ. So that's.

[Griffin McElroy]

Yeah, he's. Yeah, he. I think he. If I'm following the story correctly, he sunburned his own feet so bad that he couldn't record the podcast today.

[Justin McElroy]

That's what it's.

[Griffin McElroy]

I think that's the story he gave me when he posted.

[Chris Plant]

He did send us photos of those feet and they will be on our patreon for the $100 tier.

[Justin McElroy]

They don't pay enough for that. We need a new tier for foot shots.

[Griffin McElroy]

That's patreon.com thebesties right. Where you can become a member and find an ad free $10 tier version of the show. Is that what you're talking about, Chris?

[Matt Apanaga]

Yeah.

[Chris Plant]

Or the $5 tier where you can get the bonus episodes, two restyz episodes and a monthly besties bracket every month. I mean, that's how much and I

[Griffin McElroy]

guess pictures of Russ freshstick's toasty puppies.

[Chris Plant]

I think what I'll probably do is like draw it for people so they can have an idea of what it looks like. It's kind of one of those things that if you see it too much.

[Matt Apanaga]

Right.

[Chris Plant]

Let me just say, if you don't have a foot fetish yet, this won't do it either.

[Griffin McElroy]

Remain the same. I don't know that we know what we're doing next week, but I won't be serious.

[Chris Plant]

I don't think we can say what we're doing next week. I think it might be embargo.

[Justin McElroy]

I think.

[Chris Plant]

I'm not sure. So we should probably just say that it's gonna be something great if it's next week or the week after that. The thing I am playing right now, I'm very excited to talk to people about. So you'll have to tune in when you want to hear that.

[Griffin McElroy]

Take us home, Justin.

[Justin McElroy]

That's gonna do it for us this week on the besties. Be sure to join us again next time for the besties because should the world's best friends pick the world's best games.

[Griffin McElroy]

Besties.