Is The New Avatar Bigger and Bluer?

Summary

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The Nightly – “Is The New Avatar Bigger and Bluer?”

Podcast: The Nightly
Host: Matt (A), with guest Josh (B)
Date: January 11, 2026

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Episode Overview

This cozy, late-night episode of The Nightly, hosted by Matt with returning guest Josh, delivers lighthearted pop culture commentary, friendly banter, and a whimsical Sunday pub quiz. The main throughline explores whether the ever-expanding Avatar franchise is getting “bigger and bluer,” with detours into construction delays, nostalgic movie memories, and quirky trivia. The tone is gentle, droll, and intentionally relaxing – perfect for unwinding before bed.

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Key Themes and Discussion Points

1. New Year Musings & Resolutions

[00:43–03:09]

• Matt and Josh exchange updates on their new year, with Matt admitting he’s still working through “the Christmas lag,” while Josh feels “creatively energized.”
• Both poke fun at New Year’s resolutions:
  • Josh: “I have the same New Year's resolution every year, which is to be an increasingly available and present friend as well as an increasingly looming and formidable enemy.” [01:33]
  • They agree impressive life changes rarely start on January 1st.
  • Matt: “I've never met anybody who's done something impressive ... and they've said, oh yeah, I started doing that on the 1st of January.” [02:37]
• The mood is self-deprecating and playful.

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2. Epic Delayed Construction: The Local Roadworks Rant

[03:20–06:32]

• Matt shares a news article comparing the painfully slow pace of a local roadwork project to historic feats of engineering, all to comedic effect:
  • The roadworks will take 3.5 years for minor adjustments, contrasted with:
    • The Eiffel Tower: built in 2 years, 2 months, 5 days [04:20]
    • The Empire State Building: “one year and 45 days” [05:14]
    • Titanic: “three years and two days. So again six months shorter than the Botley Road.” [05:52]
• Josh: “I do think if we're talking about successful completion of construction projects, I don't know that we want to use one of the greatest shipwreck disasters in history as the benchmark.” [05:59]
• They riff on how technology (and phone distractions) might slow “modern” work.

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3. The ‘Avatar’ Franchise: Is It Just Getting Bigger and Bluer?

[06:32–08:50]

• The conversation veers into the longevity and spectacle of James Cameron’s Avatar films:
  • Matt: “I didn't even realize they were still making Avatar films. But it's still going strong, isn't it?” [06:50]
  • Josh: “When the new one came out ... I was like wait, another one already? The first and second one there was a 15 year gap in between.” [06:56]
• Surprisingly, the second and third films are released much closer together (13 years gap, followed by three years).
• Josh admits he’s never seen the movies but distills the public perception:
  • Josh: “I just think about it as, is it bigger and bluer than the ones before?” [07:38]
  • Matt: “It's just a sort of CGI Smurfs, isn't it?” [07:56]
• They credit James Cameron for technological advances, especially in 3D, but remain bemused over the franchise’s cultural staying power.

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4. Titanic Memories & Leo’s Alleged Blindspot

[08:51–10:20]

• Matt shares a tidbit that Leonardo DiCaprio claims never to have seen Titanic (though he attended the premiere). [09:04]
• The hosts entertain reasons for this:
  • Josh: “I bet he was smoking cigarettes. I bet he went outside ripping butts.” [09:36]
  • Banter about DiCaprio’s age during filming leads to musings on casting norms of the 90s.

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5. Pub Quiz Segment: Whimsical and Unexpected Trivia

[10:20–18:43] Matt brings three favorite pub quiz questions from his weekly outings, guiding Josh (and listeners) through endearing and often absurd guesses.

a. Prince Harry’s Engagement Dinner

• Q: What meal did Prince Harry serve to Meghan Markle when proposing?
  • Josh’s Guess: “Fettuccine Alfredo.” [11:25]
  • Answer: Roast chicken – “the engagement chicken” popularized by Glamour magazine as a proposal catalyst. [12:00]
  • Josh jokes: “Maybe the recipe includes ... You hide an engagement ring inside the body of the chicken.” [13:06]

b. Wile E. Coyote’s Middle Name

• Q: What does the “E” in Wile E. Coyote stand for?
  • Josh’s Guess: “Earnest.” [13:48]
  • Correct Answer: “Ethelbert.” [15:42]
  • Matt: “Maybe that stems from the fact that his middle name is Ethelbert.” [15:42]
  • Discussion on whether Wile E. is truly a “bad guy” or simply hungry/naturally motivated.

c. Pre-Cheese Photo Poses

• Q: Name the dried fruit people were told to say before “cheese” to smile for photos in the 1800s.
  • Josh’s Guess: “Apricots.” [17:04]
  • Answer: “Prunes.” [17:45]
  • Josh: “That’s like a selfie style, like 2010s duck face ... all trends are cyclical.” [17:53–18:11]

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Notable Quotes

• Josh (on resolutions):

  “I have the same New Year's resolution every year, which is to be an increasingly available and present friend as well as an increasingly looming and formidable enemy.” [01:33]

• Matt (on historic construction):

  “The Eiffel Tower ... was completed ... after two years, two months and five days.” [04:20]
  "Empire State Building...one year and 45 days..." [05:14]

• Josh (on ‘Avatar’):

  “Good doesn’t even occur to me. ... I just think about it as, is it bigger and bluer than the ones before?” [07:38]

• Matt (on ‘Avatar’):

  “It's just a sort of CGI Smurfs, isn't it?” [07:56]

• Josh (on ‘engagement chicken’):

  "Maybe the recipe includes. You hide an engagement ring inside the body of the chicken." [13:06]

• Josh (on photo posing):

  “That’s like a selfie style, like 2010s duck face ... all trends are cyclical.” [17:53–18:11]

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Major Timestamps

• [00:43–03:09] — New Year catch-up & resolutions
• [03:20–06:32] — Construction delays vs. historical marvels
• [06:32–08:50] — Avatar’s sequels and public perception
• [08:51–10:20] — Titanic, DiCaprio, and 90s trivia
• [10:20–18:43] — Pub Quiz questions and playful debates

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Memorable Moments

• The running joke of “is it bigger and bluer?” becomes a stand-in for Avatar’s place in modern pop culture.
• The comedic roasting of slow construction work by comparing it to the Titanic and Eiffel Tower.
• The trivia segment’s combination of earnest attempts and off-the-wall guesses, revealing both hosts’ offbeat chemistry.

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Closing Tone

Friendly, whimsical, and deeply relatable, this episode blends gentle ribbing, obscure facts, and a dose of pop culture nostalgia. Perfectly formatted to help listeners relax — maybe even drift off in the midst of “prunes” and “blue CGI Smurfs.”

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Transcript

[A]

Hello. You're about to drift into an episode of the Nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience. Visit Hatch Co. Enjoy. All right, I'm Mat. And welcome to the Nightly on Hatch, where you're listening to the Sunday PubChat and I'm joined by Josh. Hello, Josh.

[B]

Hello, Matt. Thank you so much for having me on Pub Chat this evening. I'm very excited. It's been a while since we've caught up.

[A]

It has been a little while. Yeah. How has the start of your new year been?

[B]

It's been really lovely, in the small picture especially. I've had a lot of time to hang out with my wife and our little dog. That's been really nice before, like, work kicks into high gear and I'm feeling really creatively energized. How have you been?

[A]

That sounds like a really positive start to the year. I'm sort of jealous of it, to be honest. Cause I'm. It takes me a while to wind up for the new year, you know, the Christmas lag. I've got a lot of chocolate and stuff left. And I just think it really starts for me in, like, the second week of January. That's when I start the new year. New me. At the moment, I am old me. Worst me.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

For another couple of days yet.

[B]

I'm certainly not better than I was a week or two ago. I have not improved a little bit. I have the same New Year's resolution every year, which is to be an increasingly available and present friend as well as an increasingly looming and formidable enemy. Where those apply. Do you do resolutions?

[A]

That is a really, really good. I mean, it sounds very well practiced as a New Year's resolution, which is not a great sign.

[B]

I honestly think last year. Not to brag, but last year was my best ever at that. I feel really good.

[A]

Well, if nothing else, you've got that. Yeah, I really enjoyed that.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

And I mean, I tried to aim for the same. Probably less eloquently put, but that sounds great. I am an increasingly available comedian. Try and work on that. I want to be a less available comedian.

[B]

That's right. Fill up that calendar. That's such a funny way. That's like a beautiful euphemism for being, like, not a lot booked so far.

[A]

Apart from that. I don't really do resolutions, per se. I was actually talking to a friend of mine last week about that, and I said, when I come to think of it, I've never met anybody who's done something impressive or, you know, amazing. And they've said, oh yeah, I started doing that on the 1st of January.

[B]

That's where the track to the Nobel peace Prize began, January 1st.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That's never been a news story, has it?

[B]

No, no, it's never come up. Yep.

[A]

And actually on that subject, I don't have any New Year's resolutions personally, but I am going to try and push them on other people who I think need them.

[B]

I love this.

[A]

That's my plan.

[B]

That's great.

[A]

I thought I'd start in a news story that I saw this week, which it didn't surprise me, but at the same time it blew me away, which is from my. It's the next city along. From me, the local paper there. There's some roadworks going on there and they've been going on for a long, long time. And it's basically to close a rail bridge and I think lower the road a little bit so that the road's lower and then full size buses can go under the bridge. That's essentially what the job is. This news article has listed all the projects that have been built quicker than this road. Right.

[B]

I like a news article that starts off kind of with like a spiteful tone.

[A]

It's so spiteful and it's so well deserved. So for example, this 231 million pound upgrade.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Which started in April 2023.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's been closed for about two years, nine months roughly. In contrast, the Eiffel Tower, which was the largest human made structure at the time, was completed in March 1889 after two years, two months and five days.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

That is insane, isn't it? And even the councilors locally, who don't tend to have a sense of humor, but Councillor John Howson, who lives near the Botley Road where this is going on, he said, why has it taken three and a half years to dig a hole? Cause that's the projected amount of time. Three and a half years.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I just thought it'd be interesting just to look a bit further into this, please. Would you like to take a guess at how long it took for the Empire State Building to be completed?

[B]

I feel like this must be off base knowing that it's what the scale we're talking about is. But I would say like 10 years.

[A]

I would actually, I would sort of agree with you on that. You would think for something like that, one year and 45 days. That was.

[B]

That's amazing.

[A]

It's unbelievable, isn't it? That was in 1930. Wow.

[B]

Well I guess they didn't have that much else going on. Nobody was messing around on their phones or they were just getting to work.

[A]

Yeah, there was no. No reels. That's what's slowing people down now.

[B]

That's right. It's all a reels based system of procrastination.

[A]

Long may that continue as well by the way. I agree. Two comedians talking. Keep looking at reels.

[B]

Yeah, we need that.

[A]

Another thing, the Titanic. Care to take a swing at that Josh?

[B]

Titanic. Five years to build a ship that big.

[A]

I think three years and two days. So again six months shorter than the Botley Road.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Unbelievable.

[B]

I do think if we're talking about successful completion of construction projects, I don't know that we want to use one of the greatest shipwreck disasters in history as the benchmark. Although we did get the movie out of it. So was it worth it? I'm not going to say that is true actually.

[A]

I bet actually financially that obviously take away the tragic loss of human life. Of course financially that's gotta be a net positive, hasn't it? By like some wild degree. Cause that's the biggest film of all time, isn't it?

[B]

Right. Well it always goes back and forth I think whenever the Lion King or something goes to become the High, you know, they re release it. James Cameron I believe will like demand that Avatar be re released in theaters so that Avatar goes back to the top. But I think Titanic is top three still.

[A]

He's a smart man James Cameron, isn't he? I didn't even realize they were still making Avatar films. But it's still going strong, isn't it?

[B]

I know I'm not a Avatar hater. I've never seen them so I've got nothing bad to say. But when the new one came out and people were like I'm going to see the new Avatar movie. That was the end of last year. I was like wait, another one already? The first and second one there was a 15 year gap in between.

[A]

When was the second one then? Was that.

[B]

Let me see. I'm going to look it up in our pillow. Ford Encyclopedia. And the original Avatar came out in 2009. The second one came out in 2022, so 13 years in between. And then the third one came out only three years after that. 2025.

[A]

I wouldn't hold my breath about that third one being that good.

[B]

Fire and ash. I can't tell. Good doesn't even occur to me. It just. I'm like big and blue. Those are the things that I think about with Avatar, I don't even put it on a good to bad axis. I just think about it as, is it bigger and bluer than the ones before?

[A]

Yeah, I agree. It's just a sort of CGI Smurfs, isn't it? From my limited knowledge of it, which is probably. I mean, James Cameron would be furious about that.

[B]

He would be furious. He loves them so much. All he does is make Avatars now and think about being underwater. But I think supposedly, and I'll give this credit where credit's due, the 3D is just better than other 3D. Like, he thinks so much about how to make it look good and everyone says it does like look better. Not like cheesy or uncanny, which I think is pretty amazing. But I don't know if that means I'm gonna watch three movies to get to go, oh, that did look nice.

[A]

Yeah, it's quite the commitment for that, isn't it? I feel like you could just look at a picture of it and appreciate the aesthetic. But you are right for 2009 as well. Yeah, that is pretty good going. But he did it with a Titanic film.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What they did with CGI is pretty unbelievable for. Was it 97? Probably. Also, do you know what I read recently that surprised me? Leonardo DiCaprio has said that he's never seen Titanic.

[B]

I just saw that Titanic came out when I was in middle school. Like smack dab in the middle of middle school. And I knew girls who saw it. Now, now, adult women obviously, but girls when I was a kid who went to see it like three, four, five times in theaters. Leonardo DiCaprio hasn't seen it even once.

[A]

I don't know if I believe him or not because I know that he went to the premiere. I've seen the pictures. And that film's like three and a half hours long. Like how long of a piss would you have to have gone for, right, to have missed the whole thing?

[B]

I bet he was smoking cigarettes. I bet he went outside ripping butts.

[A]

Yeah, I bet. Yeah. He's chatting somebody up.

[B]

Yeah. Leaning against a wall, chatting with at the time an age appropriate woman.

[A]

Yes. For legal reasons. An age appropriate woman.

[B]

In the 90s. He could date a 25 year old woman. Nobody would bat an eyelash. They'd be like, yep, those two. Those two match exactly.

[A]

Yeah. Well, actually, how old was he for Titanic? Like 1920.

[B]

I don't know. Let me look this up in our encyclopedia. He was born in 74. So by the time he did Titanic. Early 20s.

[A]

Early 20s. Okay. Yeah.

[B]

I don't know how long it took to film. I imagine I always over guess how long things take is what we're learning. So I imagine Titanic took six years to film.

[A]

Either way, it still would have been quicker than the Oxfordshire roadworks. We can absolutely say that for a fact. That's just something I wanted to get off my chest. And then what I thought about doing every Sunday, Josh, is I go to a pub quiz every week and I always get tripped up by a few questions. So I thought I would bring these questions to you.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And see if you would fare the same.

[B]

Yeah. I love this. I consider myself. Cause I don't do a lot of trivia, but because I'm very competitive and only marginally good at it, which ends in frustration. But I do consider myself a good guesser. Even though I don't know a lot.

[A]

Of facts, I think that's just as valuable an asset.

[B]

Thank you. Yeah, let's do it.

[A]

Right. So this is the Sunday pub quiz. Play the jingle. There's not a jingle. There is no jingle. We'll get stuck into it.

[B]

I was waiting for the jingle.

[A]

We waited a long time. The first question, Josh, that tripped me up. On last week's quiz, Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle over a meal of what?

[B]

Oh, wow. This is outside my realm. This is a Kristen question. Honestly, she would love this. Our co host, Kristen, is so good with, like, royal trivia. I'm gonna say fettuccine Alfredo.

[A]

Okay. That's actually weirdly far more fancy.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Than what it was.

[B]

What was it?

[A]

Um, I. I mean, I. I guessed the takeaway. That was what I thought.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They were. If you've got. If I had that much money, I wouldn't be cooking for myself.

[B]

For sure. Wouldn't be cooking for myself.

[A]

But apparently it was a cozy night at their cottage where they had roast chicken.

[B]

Roast chicken. All right. That feels like. Do you know the stereotype, the kind of cultural thing of like the every once in a while a recipe for a chicken that's like, this is the chicken that'll get him to propose to you. Like, you make this chicken.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I wonder. I can't imagine. She was like, ooh, got him. Like, I bet they were just progressing along a natural relationship course and they happened to be eating chicken when you proposed. But that's what that makes me think of the, like, proposal chicken or whatever they call it.

[A]

That's exactly it, actually. It was the engagement chicken is what it's called. And It's a recipe that was created by a fashion editor at glamour magazine over 30 years ago. And apparently it led to loads of proposals among the staff. And then they published the recipe in a magazine. And then about 60 odd women straight away said they got engaged after making it.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So there's something in it. I don't know what the recipe is. I've had a lot of roast chicken in my time. Not once has it resulted in an engagement in marriage. No.

[B]

Maybe the recipe includes. You hide an engagement ring inside the body of the chicken.

[A]

Maybe that's it. Yeah. Engagement giblets.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

What a nice way to start a relationship. So that was the first. So it's. Roast chicken was the answer to that, which I was a million miles off that I didn't even know where to start. The second question that got me, and this one really annoyed me actually, because I don't know how you're supposed to know this. What is Wile E. Coyote's middle name?

[B]

Oh, okay, so it's Wile E. Letter E. Coyote. Right. So it's gotta be an E word. I'm gonna guess earnest.

[A]

That's. I mean, it's a good guess. That was actually on the multiple choice.

[B]

Wow, okay.

[A]

That was one of the options.

[B]

So I was wrong in a predictable way.

[A]

Yeah, you would have definitely fallen for the trap.

[B]

What were the other options? Do you have them?

[A]

I can't actually remember off the top of my head. I've got the right answer.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And I remember Ernest was one.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But actually, for those of you that don't remember, Wile E. Coyote is the coyote from Looney Tunes. Who would you say? Wiley Coyote is a bad guy.

[B]

He was hungry. We know that about him.

[A]

He was hungry. He liked Roadrunner. He wanted to eat Roadrunner.

[B]

I would say he was the antagonist to Roadrunner, but we don't know that much about Roadrunner's intrinsic goodness.

[A]

That's very true. No one ever talks about the backstory of Roadrunner. What is he running from?

[B]

That's right. Yeah. And I get why he doesn't want to be eaten. That's like a natural impulse to not want a coyote to eat you. But I don't know that that makes him good and the coyote bad.

[A]

No, you're right. That is just nature, isn't it?

[B]

Even my. I have a lot of friends who are, you know, have plant based diets. A lot of vegan friends. And I even think they wouldn't blame a coyote for wanting to eat a Roadrunner.

[A]

No, I Guess you're right. I suppose he was underhanded in the ways that he went about it.

[B]

I'll say that he was aggressive. Dynamite, painting a wall of a cliff to look like a tunnel and such. Yeah, yeah. But that was his thing. He was always trying to catch and eat the Roadrunner. Although you know what, now that we're talking about it this way, after a while he certainly could have sought out slower, more available prey.

[A]

Yeah. It is weird that he's stuck with Roadrunner.

[B]

It felt personal. Which I don't think speaks highly to his character.

[A]

No, he's a very vengeful animal.

[B]

Yeah. Kind of single minded. Vengeful.

[A]

Maybe that stems from the fact that his middle name is Ethelbert.

[B]

Ethelbert. Wow.

[A]

I think that'll screw with somebody.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Ethelbert. An unusual name. Apparently it's comics writer didn't intend for this to become like official law, but it. It appeared as a question on Jeopardy. In 2007. That's where it gained.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Widespread recognition.

[B]

Wile Ethelbert Coyote.

[A]

Yeah. So he was from money as well.

[B]

Yeah. Sounds a little money.

[A]

Which does change the dynamic as well with the.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Working class roadrunner. Probably.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. So there you go. Wiley Coyote.

[B]

Yeah, I guess he is a bad guy. We're learning.

[A]

Yeah, there we go. So I'm glad we cleared that up. That's what everyone has been calling for. On to Josh, the final question.

[B]

Yes, please.

[A]

That tripped me up this week and I could honestly say I got nowhere near this. I think I had an answer. It was wrong. Obviously. Saying the name of what dried fruit used to be used to encourage people to smile before a photo in the 1800s before the phrase cheese.

[B]

Cheese. Okay, I'm gonna do a few and kind of clock my.

[A]

Feel it out.

[B]

Yeah. Like prunes. That doesn't seem quite right. But like apricots. I'm gonna go apricots.

[A]

Okay. That's interesting. I mean we say apricot, you say apricot.

[B]

I think that does it too.

[A]

Which actually is more conducive.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Apricot. Yeah, I think. I believe I went for dates. Dates Which I'm not even sure is a. Is that a nut or is that a. That's a fruit.

[B]

I think.

[A]

Yeah, I think that there was a lot of that going on in the pub. A lot of people sort of contorting their faces.

[B]

Yeah. I'm going to lock in apricots. Apricots. But it sounds from your response like I was incorrect.

[A]

You are incorrect. But I would say that I think that's actually a better word to use because in actual fact, before cheese became popular, photographers in the 1800s would tell people to say prunes.

[B]

They do say prunes, but that's like a selfie style, like 2010s duck face like prunes.

[A]

That's. That's mewing. Is that mewing? Is that what it's called?

[B]

Prune?

[A]

I think that's.

[B]

It gets your lips all puckered, like.

[A]

Yeah, that's so interesting. So that's. That is exactly the same pose that. You're right. People would do 2010 selfies. It's the same one in the 1800s.

[B]

Wow. Everything old is new again. All trends are cyclical.

[A]

Well, that is. Do you know what? I didn't even think about that at the time.

[B]

But, yeah, I think it's easier because as we're recording this, I see my own image reflected back at me.

[A]

And how does it look?

[B]

Look incredible. I'm gonna start saying prunes even when people tell me to say cheese.

[A]

Perfect. Well, that's your next New Year's resolution.

[B]

Next year, you're gonna have to add.

[A]

That onto the soliloquy that you've been.

[B]

Running with 20, 26. Year of the prunes.

[A]

Year of the prunes. And with that, I think it's about time we get to bed, I think. Josh.

[B]

Yeah? I am really tired from losing at trivia, so I'll see you next time. I'll talk to you soon, Matt.

[A]

Good night, Josh. To learn more about our phone free light and audio experience, head to Hatch Co. You can also follow us Hatch podcasts.