Gooday, Peter Hall, are you here? Welcome to You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet? The movie podcast where I chat to a movie lover about a classic or beloved movie they haven't quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest is Sam Mack. And before we get to Sam Mack, I do want to point out that today's episode, or this episode of You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, was not
recorded in our lush studios at Castaway Studios. It was in fact recorded during Lockdown online, so the audio quality is not quite as you would expect from Castaway Studios. But you know, I think we got by. It was lockdown. It was a pandemic. God damn it.
Enjoy life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it.
Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortambousn right stuff?
Nobody attacks their job with the unbridled enthusiasm and vigor of San Mac, but call him a TV where the man doesn't do justice to what Sand Mac does. He has turned his morning TV meteorology spots into mini tonight shows offering musicals, contests, and sketches. For as long as I've known Sam He's made stuff. He is a creator, putting content into the world before content was a hashtag. Hilarious, talented and generous. Un chucked the course, Sam mac a mate.
Thank you for reading that introduction. I emailed you last Stay Pete. It's an honor to be on the show. My name is Sam Mack. My three favorite movies at time of recording are Silence of the Lambs.
Rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
The Truban Show.
Was nothing Real, You Were Real?
And Hunt for the Wilder People sh Yes will. Up until earlier this week, I've never seen the movie Mean Girls.
I'm sorry I last to you.
I'm sorry I called you that.
I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me, but I can help it that I'm popular.
Yes.
Meet the Plastics, led by Regina Georges, paid by up and coming superstar Rachel McAdams, alongside up and coming superstar Amanda Siegfried, who puts a pretty decent down payment on the name Karen and Lucy shaburb played plays the wonderfully named Gretchen Wieners. They are the A list click the
Plastics who roam in Los Angeles High School. Doing as they please, they recruit a new girl, Katie, played by then So Hot Right Now superstar Lindsay Loewen, the homeschooled girl whose family has lived in Africa for the last few years, but she's returned home to face the jungle
of the high school school yard. All is good until Katie and Regina find themselves vying for the love and the arm of high school heart throb Aaron Samuel's in Tina Face Hilarious two thousand and three High School Classic Mean Girls, Sam Mac welcome to You. Ain't see nothing yet. You did not email me. I was going to be very clear, just in case there's any kind of copyright issues or legal action, or in case that introduction goes on that makes money, is monetized somehow turn into a musical,
just the I owned intellectual rights to that introduction. Let's be very clear on that.
I mean, using the word intellectual to describe anything that we're producing today is ambitious, to say the least. Peter, thank you very much for me on. I must say that was a very very generous introduction. I appreciate that. I did get a little bit worried at the start of the introduction, when you were just focusing on my enthusiasm, you know, my unbridled passion. I felt a little bit like I was about to be awarded the most improved trophy at a club. But then it got there in the end.
No. Well, I mean we've spoken about this, both both personally and publicly about you know you for those who don't know, because we don't know who's listening to this part of the fun of the Internet because it goes outside Australia. I'm not sure if you know about the Internet, Sam, you'll learn a few things today.
Thankfully. My appeal is global.
So Sam does the Sunrise Breakfast show in Australia, does the weather, which is a bloody tough job of a whole lot of travel, which obviously you're not doing at the moment, but and interacting with the people you get, you know, a certain amount of time which has to include the weather. But you have crammed in entertainment into that, into that spot and it's it's a it's a joy to watch.
Thank you mate. I feel a little uncomfortable at the moment because we've been talking for three minutes and no one's shouted rapping in my ear, it's a very unusual scenario for me to be in. But yeah, it is called the weather, and I guess you know, the weather
is something I definitely do every segment. But you know, those who watch Breakfast TV in Australia and I think in America a number of countries, the weather role is very much finding people's stories, meeting characters out in their local you know, sporting clubs, or championing great causes, or going to a school and having fun with the students. Every day is a different adventure with the role, and that's the appeal of it to me. I'm fully aware
of how absurd the role is and how ridiculous. You know, we've dedicated a whole morning to knitting. We did a whole morning where every half an hour I did a live cross on national television for about three or so minutes.
They wanted them to be shorter, just talking to ladies about knitting, and by the end of that morning it's one of my favorite mornings because we actually started a gangster style rivalry between the Niches Guild and the New South Wales Knitting Club, like an east side west side rivalry. So I love that we can just find an adventure. As long as people are happy to have us there and they're passionate about whatever they're doing, that's half the battle. The rest normally takes care of itself.
Oh are they happy to have you there? Or what I mean? The sort of the flirting that happens during your segment sometimes with some of the older ladies is enough to make a forty four year old man in Melbourne blush.
I enjoyed that. I mean, you know, obviously Sunrise as a more senior demographic. You know, I can't walk through a nursing home without being mobbed these days. It's really tough.
Well, I mean, hopefully you're not walking through nursing homes at the moment before we get you into trouble and before the police start knocking. Let's let's start off talking about your three favorite films, three great films which I've seen all three. Let's start with Silence of the Lambs. Did you see that was at a cinema screening upon release?
No, I didn't see it at the cinema. I saw it at home. I remember watching it with my sister Paula, and I think part of the joy of the experience for me was seeing how much she did not enjoy it. You know what it's like when you're watching something with your brother or your sister, and often your enjoyment can be heightened by their lack of approval of the content on offer. And obviously Silence of the Lands is a
very dark movie. But the thing that I loved about it and I don't like the performances obviously were incredible. I think, you know, Hannibal Letter has to be one of the all time great characters in any genre, and the delivery of Sir Anthony Hopkins, like the whole thing. Yeah, But what really struck a chord with me with that movie was how unpredictable the twists were. I mean, I was young when I saw it, but I did not see so many of the moments coming up until the
big crescendo as well. That one absolutely hit me for six you know when it's without giving too much, I mean people should have seen it by now, but you know when it's a different house basically, and that I just remember thinking about that for days and days and days after and like how did they lead me down that path? Like I started to think for the first time about the craft of whoever made this, how did they make us go down this way when it was
that way the whole time we didn't see it. I just thought that was absolute masterpiece.
Absolutely, and that's that, you know, the you had Clarice who was being psychologically fucked with by Hannibal Elector, and in the same way, the filmmaker, which I think was Jonathan Demi, was fucking with our minds as well, which is a nice touch.
Yeah. Absolutely, And I think that with Hannibal Lecter, I think a lot of people were torn because or in brilliant as I like to call it, which is a not very topical reference, but I think that he had this sophistication about him where he would listen to Mozart, he would paint these amazing paintings. He would talk about his lust for you know, the beautiful land and the beaches and the life that he wants. But then he would just say something so grotesque and he would potentially eat your brain.
Census taker once tried to test me. I ate his lever with some father beans and a nice kend.
So there was this there was a complexity to the character that I don't know, like I found myself as a viewer, and even when I've watched it multiple times since I warned to him on a number of occasions, even though I know what he's going to do and what he has done and what he wants to do, I connect with this monster, do you know what I mean?
Yeah, And that's one of the great things about movies is you are allowed to sympathize with the bad guys. You know, like in real life, we tend to kind of go once we know somebody has done a certain thing, you're a bad guy, you know. Obviously there's different levels, but if you're truly you know, as somebody who's done horrendous things, you know, we don't want to sympathize if we won't sympathize with you, And that's you're You're entitled
to do that. The fun of with movies is to go nah and TV no ive got a dig Hannibal Lecter. You know, I think he's got some interesting views.
You know, that's the one quote that they're going to use it in a promo of this episode. Just you're going, I kind of dig Cannibal Lector.
I mean, the anti heroo is revolutionized television certainly, you know, I mean Tony soprano. Of course if we if heisted in real life, we wouldn't have much time for him, and we hope that he wrote it in jail probably, but we love him on TV.
I agree, and even more recently, Joe Exotic in Tiger Kings can well a great around here. I mean that, like I found, I think it's up until around it felt like episode maybe four. It was when my view on him changed up until that. I don't know if they intentionally, you know, executed it like this with a way that it was produced, but there was something really endearing about him and obviously he was so entertaining, like he was fascinating to watch. Should think that this guy
could be a real person, not scripted. This is a real, living, breathing human who lives his life like this. There was something that I admired about how he was who he was, Like he was like an openly gay guy in a redneck place who wanted to build this animal park, also wanted to be a celebrity, wanted to run, you know,
to be the president, wanted to release hit singles. I'm like, Wow, this guy has so much ambition and he's just going for it and there's something about that that I love, but it's only I think it's around episode three or four when you start to learn more about potential cruelty to animals and how he's treating other stuff, And then suddenly I remember going, ah ah, okay, I now feel like a little bit of an idiot for kind of
getting sucked into believing. And even if you look online now, like, there's still a lot of people who just love him, like he's become a meme in a sense, but there's a lot of people that are willing to you know, he was remorseful for how he treated the animals and has a big animal lover like I see that as an inexcusable So I can't ever really respect you if you would knowingly harm an animal like that. But I definitely think that there's a lot of people that just
love the idea of him. And yeah, he is a flawed.
Person, Yeah, I mean that that episode where he he's tragically his husband dies in his own hand, obviously tragic, but when they have the funeral and he sings, he sings a song and also talks about his presidential hopes, it is my mind was doing kind of backflips and kind of a rollercoaster because he's seeing somebody, you know, like in pain, but then he and then he's making it about him and trying to launch a presidential his
presidential campaign. Is it's I mean, it's Ricky Gervais, Like, I mean, it's you know, it's it's incredible.
Yeah, I agree, it's it's absolute cringe. But and part of why the series has been a phenomenon, it's because it's real. It's because you know, this actually happened, and these people they live their lives like that, and they just happen to have cameras on them for all of that time. And it happened to be really well produced and having to be released as we were going into a global pandemics, so people at time in their lives and their schedules to watch and to get passionate about
something and it just blew up. Speaking of cameras on them. Twenty four to seven, The Truman Show is it's come up a few times as people's favorite films. I watched it kind of recently.
I really liked it when it came out, but up until when I watched it recently, I think I appreciate of how good or how great it was.
Yeah, it's a movie that I have seen at least fifteen times. I still get excited. But I see that it's on TV, you know, on a Friday or Saturday, i'm home, I will absolutely watch it. It's just it's really high concept, I think, considering it's a Hollywood blockbuster starring Jim Carey, you know, it's really a high concept to communicate this idea of this guy's whole life has been fabricated and he's being watched and he's basically a
TV show and he doesn't know it. And it's a high concept movie, but it's delivered in such a way that you get it straight away. But then you also go on the discovery with him. And I remember, similar to when I watched Silence of the Lambs, like things stuck with me, things that I thought about in my own life after that, like you know, what if cameras
were on you all the time? Like you just have these little thoughts, or when you see the same person in your street a couple of times, you automatically think, oh, that's like in the Truman Show, when you know he's like someone's going to ride around in a bike any second. Now and then when he starts to go a little bit rogue and the producers have to go like, all right, send round the best mate with a six pack of beers,
and they just crash in on him. And I don't know, you're on that journey with him, and I just think it's so brilliantly executed, and it's heartbreaking as well, because you know, what a life for that guy to live. And it also says a lot about the viewers and how connected they come to become to him, where they feel like he is part of their family. They love him, they cry for him, They wanted to be happy, but at the same time, how can he ever be happy
when that's his life? And you know the heartbreaking moment when he tries to go out over the water and they turn on the weather as a weatherman, obviously that connected with me, but then he hits the wall and he can't leave, and it's just this soul crushing moment where I don't know, you're sitting there and you're like, I love this TV show element. I mean, this is
why we've fallen in love with him. We've been able to see his whole life, but he was also a human being who deserves a chance to live a normal life and get out of this. So I just can't speak highly enough of that movie. I think it's an absolute ten out of ten for me. There is not a scene, not a moment that I would change. I love it to bits.
What I found when I was watching it recently was I laughed literally out loud. There should be some kind of expression for that laughing out loud. Maybe we can come up with him on by the end of the.
Well, if this is an NRL game, they play some sound effects of laughing at some crowds underneath this.
But what I what I laughed that lad was was and you mentioned that the best mate coming like constantly coming over with the six pack of beers is just so funny all the time, the middle of it, when he rocks in the middle of the night with a six.
It's so true. But then I also think about the fact that you know in that world that best mate is an actor, and is he like sitting somewhere on the standby waiting for a call. How quickly can he get to the house, Like does he have to stay in a trailer like three doors down from the house.
That's I think That's what layers that that moment, and with so much comedy, is that this sky has yeah, basically been you know, woken in the middle of the night. You know, he's probably got you know, you know, cases of beer of six packs in his fridge, you know, and he's just going to grab one, and there's a hot tail to Druven's house. It's so great and Laura Lennie is so good in that movie as well.
Yeah, the performance is the story, the execution. I can't fault that movie. I can't wait to watch it again. You know, it's it's just a masterpiece.
The closest thing I ever had to a brother, Druman.
I know, other things.
I haven't really worked out for either of us, Like we used to dream there would I know that feeling when it's like everything's slipping away and you don't want to believe it, so you you look for answers somewhere else.
But well, but well, the point is I'd gladly walk in front of.
Traffic for you.
Well, the point is I would gladly step in front of traffic for you, Truman.
And the last thing I'd ever do is lie to you.
And the last thing that I would ever do is lie to you. Let mean think about dreaming.
If everybody is in.
On it, I'd have to be in on it too. I'm not in on it, drumman, because there is no end.
So I saw Hunt for the Wilder People in New Zealand. I was over there and doing some stand up and caught Hunt for the Wider People. Loved it, loved it so much. I came home and took my three boys release in the cinema. It's absolutely beauty, isn't it.
They love it?
They loved it. Yeah, they genuinely loved it, and I think they're now that they're pretty proud of themselves for getting on the Taiko w T bandwagon early. Yeah.
Yeah, there's a smugness that comes with that, which is why I put it in my top three of all time, just to kind of let people know.
Boy, you want to get really Snowball would be even bigger.
Yeah, I agree. I've been lucky enough to work with quite a few Kiwis as well. I've spent a bit of time in New Zealand. I hosted a show actually, the first year that I started on Sunrise, I hosted a show that went to air in Australia but was produced by a New Zealand production company. So we shoot it in Auckland and it was like a comedy panel show and it was called The Best Bits or bis
Butts as they would call it. And it meant that I got to work with this guys like Josh Thompson, who does the project New Zealand.
Is it's in my chair in the New Zealand Project. He doesn't do it anymore. He left about three years in, I think focus on some acting because he was getting act He's in a Monkey TV series, Monkey Magic, Yeah, and he's in an upcoming episode and by the time this goes out, the episode of avert but I got him over to do an episode of How to Stay Married. A very funny, very funny and lovely bloke.
Yeah, one of the nicest guys you'll meet and super super funny, And so I got to sit and work with him on this show and their production company, and I don't know, it just gave me an even bigger appreciation of New Zealand has its own nuance in comedy. You know, Flight of the Concourse obviously gone global and you know, and then yeah, what Tiger's doing with movies like this. So yeah, I've really always really enjoyed the nuance of Kiwi humor and my sister's actually Key which
was born born in Wellington. So yeah, I've always had this affinity with New Zealand. And I remember watching Hunt for the Wilder People for the first time, watch it by myself, and like you were talking before about laughing out loud, I remember I was sitting alone, but like crying, like lat tears of laughter. It just I think I went into it with not low expectations, but just kind of like I'll check this out. Little did I know that I was going to be just so affected in
a positive way and just on a high after. And then I almost took it on as my mission to tell people to watch it, Like I became that guy's like, no, you've got to see this. I'd send people the links to it. I started working in marketing for them. Basically, I just loved it so much, and I think, put simply, it's absolutely bonkers, like the storyline is so ridiculous, but it's also got a heart and it's beautiful at moments.
The performance is an incredible Sam Neil of course and Julian Dennison, and I just think that again, the comedic twists and the willingness to go somewhere where you probably shouldn't for a laugh, or for a joke that they had in that movie. Again, I've watched it multiple times and I prefer it over Jojo Rabbit, but I also love that, and there's definitely similarities between the two and
the style of humor. But yeah, that I can't wait to watch whatever he does next because he's got his own he's got that style and his comedy absolutely translates, and I'm really excited for Kiwi's like to get that humor out to the world. It's really exciting.
Yeah, they've been able to capture their humor on screen, I think more successfully than Australians have. I think I think if you you know, Crocodile, Dundee and Mirror's Wedding, The Castle or Great or Great films, but all very and very different films. But the Kiwis seem to have been able to bottle their essence more regularly than the Nazis have. I think.
Yeah, Well, I mean I think that it's interesting you say the Castle, because I definitely felt like this feels like their version of the as in their The Castle movie like the one that works locally. But I mean, I don't know how well The Castle did internationally, but you know, obviously it's really highly regarded by Ossie's. But yeah, I think that that movie is is one that absolutely
absolutely translates internationally. I don't know how much money it's made, how big it is, but you know, I would happily send that to an English friend or an American friend and say, have a look at this. If you've got a decent grasp of human and a bit of a reverence, then it's it's I don't know, I just I love it when you see it's a big movie. Still, when you see big movies that don't have to how do I put it, like the comedy, the humor, the jokes doesn't always have to be as big as the budget.
And a lot of movies are like that, a lot of Hollywood comedy blockbusters, like you know, they can still be funny, but it's a different type of funny. I felt that that The Hunt of the Wilder People had nuanced humor, had like small jokes, tiny jokes, quick jokes. They don't all have to be like big. You know, doubled over jokes. Sometimes they just they just move through them, and if you get them, you get them. If you don't, you don't.
You know, sometimes in life seems like there's no way out, like a sheep chapped in amaze designed by wolves. And you know that if you ever in that situation, there's always two doors to choose from and through. The first door, Oh, it's easy to get through that, and on the other side waiting for you all the numbie's treats. You can
imagine Fanta Dorito's, l MP, burger rings, coke zero. But you know what, there's also another door, not the burger ring door, not the fence door, another door that's hard at the get through.
I guess what's on the other side.
Anyone want to take a gift.
Feegetables.
I love that type of comedy. I love that type of entertainment. So yeah, I'm one hundred percent excited to watch whatever whatever they do next.
Well, Tiger's actually I mean, we'll get on Mengols very soon. But Tiger's writing and I think directing, uh either the next Door one of the next Star Wars films. Yes, line so, and there's a part of me that's so thrilled that when I read that, I was so excited that's happening. The slight downside to that is that we
may miss out on the next Jojo Rabbit. You know, that's going to take his energy and focus, so it might be a bit longer than until the next you know, because I imagine he's also making a thaw the next thaw ye with him, So I, yeah, that's the that's the only downside. But I'm completely thrilled that he's on board the that's true.
It's a fair point, you know. I can't imagine him doing a pedophile joke in a Star Wars movie, Like I just had that in my mind because there is one scene where they do make one of those jokes, which ordinarily you would go that is no, no, no, But the way that it's delivered and the reason they make that joke in Hunt for the World of People, I remember just like physically being affected by the execution of that joke and just oh my goodness. So yeah,
it's a change of pace between Style Wars. But if anyone can do it, he can.
Let's talk, men, girls, what did you make? I really enjoyed it. I love Tina Fey. So that's part of why I picked it. So when we first spoke about coming on your show, I remember you saying to me, you know, pick here.
You sent me a list. You pick something that you know, you've heard of a bit, or you've always wondered about or just never got around to seeing. And the reason I picked Mean Girls was because I almost feel like I know it without having seen it. And I think
there's a lot of movies that are like that. There's a lot of movies that just infiltrate pop culture in a way that you know the lead character, you know a couple of the quotes from the movie, you know the gist of what happened, and you haven't even seen it. So there's some movies and I feel that Mean Girls is one of those movies. But I've you know, catchphrases from it and quotes from it, and a number of times.
And everyone would have this a number of times with friends when they find out that I haven't seen it. There like you can feel the disappointment and you can feel you can see it in their eyes, and you can feel that if there was a button, they would literally unfriend you on the spot. So there's inherent pressure that comes with that, and I've had that over a
number of years. I've had so many friends like, how can you you, Of all people, you should have you loved seeing a Fae, you should have seen this movie. So yeah, I was bullied into watching this movie and you just had to legitimize it by making a podcast based on it. But I really enjoyed it, I must be honest. Part of why I probably hadn't watched it beforehand was it felt like from the little snippets that I'd seen, and like the little shots, I knew that
it'd be funny and all that kind of thing. It felt like a chick flick in a way. I don't know. Maybe that was just a misinterpretation of me because it was so pink, it was so like girls at high school and bitchiness that it just didn't feel like my normal style of what I would love to watch. And definitely that's a big part of the movie. But you know, it's a comedy and it made me laugh, and that's the job of a comedy. I would say that it was possibly a bit predictable, but that's okay, Like it's
not all about the plot. It's about you know, how did you feel watching the movie? And I laughed, and I've got a few little take home points from it, and I enjoyed it, So yeah, I thought it was predictable that you could tell right from the start she's going to become one of those girls and it's got to backfire on her. She's going to become one of the plastics, you know, the good looking girls who are a bit bitchy and who you know, everyone wants to
be like them. You could tell that she was going to become one, and you also knew straight away what's going to happen when you becomes one. It's going to backfire. It's not going to work for her. There's going to be some sort of message about being true to yourself and you don't have to be like that group. So I could see that from a mile off. But I laughed and I enjoyed it, and I like the characters, and yeah, how did you feel about it? Well?
I saw it when it was released in two thousand and field. Some of us are busy peak. I saw it for work, so snap, I was doing radio and breakfast radio, and so saw it for that because we interviewed Tina Feye, which I must say at the time I was excited about. But if I got to interview Tina Fae, now I would be excited, you know, tenfold. I've got to know, up until that point, I knew she was on Saturday Night Live. She was the first female head writer I've Saturday Night Live. You know, we
said it, not live. I'm sure your relationship, we said it Saturday Night Live. But in Australia, I think we just tend to see the clips of it. You know, nobody really, very few biople I know, really watch it, you know, as far as episodically. We just kind of you know, if if a sketch catches fire and goes viral, we tend.
To catch exactly the same.
Yeah.
I've definitely enjoyed and laughed at a lot of moments from it, but that's over what twenty thirty years whatever it is, Like, I'm not someone who sit down and watch a full episode of it, like, but there's definitely glory is and some of Will Ferrell's performances, and you know, there's some amazing stuff. But I also, to be blunt, like, found a lot of it hit and miss, but that that's comedy.
I guess, yeah, absolutely particalarly sketch comedy. I think sketch comedy almost needs to be hit and miss a bit, otherwise you you maybe playing a little bit too safe. But so I saw Me and Girls, you know, and and a bit like you, albeit sixteen years earlier. Was a bit like, what's this going to be? You know? Is it? You know? I think I knew what I was going to see, and I was. It was just one of those lovely, bloody surprises that you get sometimes with movies where you go in a bit like you
with Hunt for the Wider People. I went with so, you know, not low expectations, but just think this, I'm sure this would be okay, And I thought it really funny, really clever, and I really enjoyed it. It's it's it's really I think it's one of my favorite high school movies. Probably Breakfast Club would be the number one, and that's probably because also when I watched Breakfast Club, I was probably at the age, you know, roughly the age of those kids, maybe a little bit younger, so it kind
of felt like it spoke to me. But Me and Girls, I think I can't think of many films that were Trump Me and girls. Outside of the Breakfast Club. There's a great movie a year or two ago that Olivia Wilde directed called Book Smart, which was a really really great out of high school movie. But yeah, yeah, I mean the high school movies speak to you.
Well, I've seen good and I've seen bad, so I don't really Yeah, I wouldn't say that I don't like high school movies. You know. I happened to see Greece was on TV on the other side, sound like, who just watched Yeah, Sam can't afford Netflix. Greece was on Channel seven obviously, just the other week, and I watched it with my girlfriend and I hadn't seen Greece for about I think a decade. But I loved it. I loved it. It was some parts of it were so dated,
but that's a school movie, really, you know. Yeah, and I found it funny and found it crass, and I think what made it extracrass was thinking about what year this was released, in the era that it was released, and how shocking that would have been at the time, which which makes it go wow, they really took some risks with this because I just you just have it in your mind as grease. It's a fluffy all time classic you don't think about Oh wow, some of the
jokes were pretty edgy. Some of the topics were quite severe. So, yeah, I've seen good and bad high school movies. I think
definitely Mean Girls would fall into the good category. I think that I was reading a quote Tina Bay was talking about it and said something to the effect of part of what she thinks it connected with people through was a lot of young kids were watching it and they could just kind of identify with that's what that's what such and such is like a school, That's what I'm like, And they just got caught up in the drama of it all, and they really like felt it
because that's their life, whereas older people could watch it and appreciate it for the jokes and how silly it was and and you know, I used to be like that, and that mum, you know Amy Polar characterism. That's hilarious, that Amy Polar character is the mum you know, like laughing at that kind of thing. So and that's part of obviously why I had that broad, two pronged appeal. But yeah, it's it's very funny. It's something that I
would watch again. There's there's enough laughs in it, and there's a few nice little moments and points in it, and and yeah, and it's it's quite out there, I guess.
Yeah. And it is just I was gonna say, peppered with jokes, but it's probably not doing it enough justice, Like there are so many jokes in it, Like Tina Fey, let's just make so many smart, funny choices in in
this movie. Even when Lindsey Lohan these Katie's giving her final speech, which is you know, you know, you know, in these kind of high school movies, there's going to be a speech at the end the graduation or a prom and Katie's given the speech and it's a lovely speech, but she's seen her face smart enough to make sure there's jokes in there. So Tim Meadows as the high school principle, coming in and saying, you, seriously, people usually just take their prize and leave.
Why is everybody stressing over this thing?
I mean, it's just plastic.
It's really just.
Sure, a piece for Gretchen winners, a partial sprinkling queen, a piece for janis Ian.
Seriously, most people just take the crown and go.
He he was a standout. I don't know much about him Tim Meadows is that that was playing the principal. So what else has he been in, because there were a couple of moments that I just really loved his performance.
Tim Meadows is a Saturday Night Live alumni. Yeah, but this was also produced by Lord Michaels, who's obviously the emperor of Saturday Night Live. So and obviously had Amy Poehler, as you mentioned, and tin Face. So there's and he he's he's in a lot of stuff. Tim Meadows. He's actually in no activity at the moment with Patty Bramle in the in the States. And I was watching Tim Meadows last time. I'm glad you brought him up because
it's really funny. He's always funny. Tim Meadows. I've never been I never quite worked out why in the world. I mean, I mean, it's respectfully like with Will Ferrell, who I think is arguing with the funniest person in the world. Yep, it just kind of you know, subqucially, you can just kind of see what he's doing and or or he's got his go to things Tim Meadows, and yeah, Will for all this makes you laugh just looking at him. You know that gets him funny air.
And you know, Tim Meadows is a handsome dude. Doesn't have a funny face as such. He's a handsome dude, and he doesn't he doesn't do whacking things with his voice, but he's just something I can't quite figure that.
I agree. I mean, I don't know many of the other movies and roles that he's had, but just judging him on mean Girls, I agree with you. He is very, very funny. I think what I found funny about him is because he is understated, because he doesn't need to tell you that it's a joke a lot of the time. And obviously the writing's good, but he's almost expressionless when he's making the jokes, which is not a very American
way of being generally. I find that American performances are much bigger and like, you know, a bit more in your face and here's the joke and you know this is crazy, whereas he almost maybe has a bit more of a British sensibility to him, where it's a little bit like you've got to go to him to find the joke rather than him giving it to you. But it's also clever, clever writing. You know, like, well, you
know the scene. There's a scene where there's just anarchy at the school, like the book has got out, which has all the secrets and nasty things about all the students, and literally the students maybe the girls are all just fighting, pulling hair. It's going wild. And they cut to him, the principal in the office, and the first thing he
does is grabs a baseball bat. It's just such they've just had so many misdirections with his character, but you just believe it, like all right, and he takes the baseball out and he actually hits the fire alarm thing. You're like, ah, okay, okay, cool, I get it, but just he delivers it with ease as well. The other bit that I love from him, I think around that time, the same part that you were talking about whether they're giving the speetures he was talking about he said something.
It was a really big classic Hollywood movie build up moment where like the music starts to go and he's like he's threatening the students, and he's like and da, no, no, no, if you don't pull yourselves into line, if you don't know this, and we will, you know, will cancel the spring Fling, which is their big dance, and then he goes, actually, I can't do that. I've already paid for the DJ,
and I just it's such a stupid joke. It's so stupid, and it's one of those jokes that I'm sure in many Hollywood, in many big budget movies would not get past the writer's room, Like they would find it funny in the writer's room, but they would go, nah, no, we're not doing that. But to have they're basically parodying, you know, those big build up Hollywood moments. But to have that total misdirection of the fact that I've paid some DJ two hundred bucks is the only reason that
he's not going to cancel the spring. I just thought that was that's my sense of humor.
That it's so funny. That's that's my favorite scene in the movie. I think that is the best scene in the movie. So yeah, so that it turns on the sprinklers that the cart, you know, that makesually he's trying cold water on this you know, this riot and then and then he's taking his shirt off in the next day, so he's in this John McClain singlers and and he's been the tough guy, he's got the baseball, he's got
he's got the baseball bat. And and like you said, like we said, it's just making sure there's jokes all the way through it. And you mentioned something which you know, it's taking the piss of what usually happens in Hollywood. And you're absolutely correct. So there's all these tropes that most movies will you know, the tropes exist because they work,
you know. But what what you know, I think clever writing does, particularly in comedies, is to recognize the trope and kind of you know this, it's a bit of a wink to the audience to kind of say, we know this is a trope and and we know, like when what I mentioned earlier, when he says to Lindsay Lowe and you know, usually people don't make a speech, you know, like that's that's recognizing what we're doing right now is a trope that you've seen many times, that we are gonna you know, subvert it.
I agree. I think you're right, and I think they also do it to a degree where it doesn't take too much time and it doesn't take away from the you know, the younger audience who were just talking about before, who just are identifying with these characters because they're at school and they know the bitch and they know the nice person, and so it doesn't take away from their experience too much. So it might be a three second thing. It might be a little nod. It might be, but
it's something for the other, the older audience. I think it's kind of like version of The Simpsons. You know, you could be an intellectual. You can sit down and watch The Simpsons and you can enjoy how clever the writing is and the references to Shakespeare. Or you could be sitting there with your old kid who laughs because Homer gets hit in the head by a basketball, do you know what I mean?
Like the.
It's it's executed in a way that both both parties are happy and it doesn't take away from either of them. It's kind of every everyone's happy. So I think that was what was really clever about how they managed to do that.
That scene when he's he's making the speech and eventually one of the girls says, somebody wrote in that book that I'm lying about being a virgin because I use super jumbo tampons.
But I can't help it if I've got a heavy flow and a wide set vagina.
Yeah, I can't do this. When she mentioned the white zep Vagihina of the heavy Fly, that's his cute to get out, and and he hands over to the Tina Fey's characters Norberg I think her name is, and then he's basically delivering the sermon of the film. I mean, this is a this is a great movie.
This.
I have three boys, and I'm going to highly recommend that they watch it. But if I if I had girls, I would I would make them watch this film. I mean, this is a this is a really strong messaged film. Tina Fey is always reliable to put the good vibes out and not make it, you know, a chore. I mean, this is this is a really strong feminist film. It's
it's got the you know, the you know. It talks about women dumbing themselves down to please men, you know, and and and the speech she gives again is really strong on message. But again it's got jokes all the way through it.
Yeah, that's right. I'm the great example of that is is Lindsay Lohan's character. Yeah, like you said, dumbing herself down. She's really good at maths and the guy that she thinks is hot Aaron Samuels. She pretends that she's struggling with maths just so she's got a reason to talk
to him. But they're so aware of it in their execution, and you know, credit to Tina Faith, there's so aware of it in the execution that when he turns around, you know, with his hair flowing and starts to tell her, like how to do the massing, the voiceover is going wrong, like telling him that he's getting it wrong, as you know. But obviously she's still just like looking at him, just in awe of his you know, how attractive she is
to him. But they're in the end that whole method of hers, of trying to dumb herself down so she'd get more time with him, does not work. So you're right, that is a that is a good lesson for young boys and girls, like, you know, don't dumb yourself down. So yeah, it's not all it's not all just for fun. But but I think when they do those those those learning points or those you know, potential serious take homes, they still do it in a way that's entertaining and
funny for the most part. So it's not one of those earnest. Everyone sit around, We're going to learn something for three minutes. It's not that which can be really tedious in Tina Fay though a little bit off topic, but she she looks exactly the same now in two thousand and three like she aged in seventeen years.
Yeah, she's there's I think there's six people in the world who just have to don't age, and Tina Fey is one of them.
Yeah.
I've aged more during Corona than she's aged in that seventeen years.
I've more during this podcast than.
Getting someone in my ears saying rapping. We don't even have to producer, so we told about chance. What's going on.
What's interesting about me girls is it's based on a book called Queen Bees and Wanna Bees and and I'm a bit confused how this happened. So Tina Fay brought the rights to this book and this is probably this and this is what I read about. So I feel
like it's been confused and then conveyed as facts. And I'm going to call bullshit on it because what I read was that Tina Fey bought the rights or got how paramount to buy the rights to this book, which is based on But this book is like an instructional kind of manual for parents with teenage daughters. It has no narrative at all.
Okay, so what type of instructions would it? Does it teach like just about how to behave at school or friends?
Or I think I think it's aimed that. I'm sure it's aimed at dealing with you know, bullying and uh,
you know, peer pressure and that kind of stuff. But what I find it intriguing is that if this was true, that why would Tina Babe, you know, lobby for the rights to a book obviously without having read it, like and then and then and then this movie is based on it, but it's got no Well, it sounds like a massive a bit of a fuck up, to be honest, because I would love to know how it actually it did happen, because you know, what I read was on I m b D that Tina Fey got the right
with paramount. I think it's paramount, and and then was like, hang on this hat, this hasn't got It sounds absurd because yeah, she's basically written in original scripts, but obviously has to then credit this Queen Bees and Wanna Bees.
It doesn't feel like it's based on a book. I mean, I haven't read that book, but but it's yeah, I don't know, I mean I think that, like you said,
it feels like it's an original screenplay. And perhaps she took a couple of the themes, but still, why would you need to buy the rights if you just take a couple of themes, Like they're pretty obvious, like well known, well documented themes like bullying, like you know, trying to be cool to the other kids at school, doing the right thing, Like they are universal themes that you don't need to Maybe a friend wrote that book and she wanted to get a sweet payday from Paramount.
Part of me felt a bit sad watching this because this was Lindsay Loewand like easily best film, you know, apologies to a Freakie Friday and Herbie loaded crowd. But I kind of looked at what she did afterwards, and she did to be honest outside of appearances as herself,
and it's not a lot. The best thing she probably did after this was in the ensemble Emilio Estevez's ensemble film Bobby, about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and that was you know that was that was an ensemble cart so she was, you know, one part of a larger thing. But it's kind of she really did go off the rails after this, and it's because she's so good in this film.
Well, she speaks very highly of the movie and Lindsay Lohander, and she has on a number of occasions and even at the time was really passionate about wanting to do a second one at the time. So she obviously, yeah, felt that it was so well received. She performed really well in it, So yeah, I think it feels like that was sadly heard her peak and then if she had a big number of personal problems after that, didn't she?
Yeah, and she ended up working with Hughsey. I mean, really, really.
That's a combo you never thought you'd see, isn't it.
I know when I when I found out that Matt Hughsey was wegging with Lindsay Lowe and on the Masked Singer, it was it was I laughed. The days I really did. The plastics are great. This is, of course, is the movie that introduced us to the Ragiel McAdams. Who is the villain, I guess Regina George and she's fantastic in this. Uh, Lacey Chabertbert, I'm not sure s I'm not sure how to pronounce her surname. She's fantastic in this as well.
I really knew her from Party of Five, which I watched, but I remember being in that and also it introduced as to Amanda sci Fi, Freed and Roy. I. Obviously I shouldn't have to play her name because she she she's done some stuff. I'm not a huge Muma Mer fan, to be honest.
So Freedom's Blog, Well, what's your problem with it? Are we going to start a few here? I don't even know what you're talking about it, Like I'm watching SBS. I just thought we were going to talk about the movie, mate, I didn't realize you're going to read all the cast memphids. How you fill out the last ten minutes of the podcast?
The extras were you know man on bus, No, the plastics were the plastics were were really well cast. And I think I think Rachel McAdams, who after this went on to do obviously wedding crashes, I think the year after is just fantastic in this.
Yeah, they're very believable and and I think even if even if the version of it at your school is not as extreme that every school. Every group has that, you know, a version of that, and even for guys as well, like there's there's a guy version of that. You know, there's the group who are the popular ones, who are the successful ones, the good looking ones, and then there's all the others. So that universal theme is
obviously strong. And yeah, they I think they nailed that, And I really enjoyed all of their other subgroups as well. I thought that was a really funny sort of introduction to the movie when they went through all the different you know, the attractive Asians. You know, they had all these different groups really really sharp, really funny. This map shows the school's central nervous system of the cafeteria.
You got your cool Asian spurnounce jocks, the greatest people you will ever meet, and the worst.
So you've never been to a real school before.
Shut up, Shut up.
We watched The Castle with Sam Pang, who hadn't seen it controversially hadn't seen it considering he works with working dog uh and and they do a similar thing with
Darryl Kerrigan or Dale Carrigan. Actually Steve Curry setting up what the house means and and the family and and and there's all these lovely little vignettes that they that they do and it's a really great format because it gives you an opportunity to the layer it with jokes, but also go this is, this is our geography, this is you know, these are the people who populate it. And and it's you're right, it's really it's really funny in this.
It also moves the story and it moves the setups along super fast. Rather than have scenes play out, you're just getting like shopping lists, but like you say, with jokes, visual jokes, but also written jokes. And yeah, it's a really clever I think they used that very very well. Yeah, I do remember that from The Castles and Castle. Yeah, it's probably my favorite Australian film, definitely top three. So what did Sam think of The Castle?
Oh? He loved it. I mean he was typically Sam. He would give a compliment and then give him a slap but with his tongue fen planet in his cheek now, but he genuinely loved it. And you know, I think it stands up really well, particularly do you know people of our generation, it's it's yeah, it's a classic and highly recommended. There's only one part of this film, which again is a bit of a trope in movies that I thought was a very small weak spot of the
you understand why it's necessary. There was the moment where who's the hot guy Aaron Samuels supers, Yeah, no judgment. So there he's about the hook up with Katie Lindsay Lowen. They're on the bed, she's had a few drinks. Yeah, they're about to make out. Yeah, we assume, and Katie, because he's had a few drinks, admits to lying about matts and then he takes offense to this and they
get into a fight. I just don't know a bloke in the world actually be that offended that they're going to, you know, refuse what's about to happen.
You make a really good point if you are, well, he would have been seventeen, so year eleven or whatever.
He is in.
A girl's bedroom. It's just the two of them, they're alone. Yeah, that is not the time you'd expecting to take a mumble high ground on anything.
I mean, you know, if she said, you know, I kill animals for fun, Yeah, get out of there, Get out of there. She doesn't deserve. You say that your offended because she lied about being bad at matt'sh That didn't quite cut up for me.
And they ended up together as well, didn't they. Which I wasn't sold on that that there was a happy ending. I didn't think they were right for each other.
Yeah. Well, you know, it's interesting, actually you kind of I wonder if they were the Rid in twenty twenty, whether Tina Fey would maybe have them together. I think it might be even a stronger message to say that they didn't need to be together. You know. That's I think we're seeing a lot more of that where the ending isn't that the girl gets the boy. Yeah, and it doesn't happen to be Yeah, the girl chooses her friends, you know, you know, or you know, herself over the over the boy. Yeah.
The other thing that I was a bit disappointed with was Regina the nasty head plastic when liddy Land's character very cleverly gave her the Swedish protein bars to help her lose weight, and obviously they were making her game weight. I was expecting there was going to be this scene where she was just the size of a house because she'd been eating nots I was really hoping. I just thought it's going to be predictable. But I'm going to
laugh at that, and that didn't come. So I was a little bit dumb that that didn't eventuate as well.
Yeah, there was there was a subtle, a subtlettle gut pouch that, yeah, you had.
It wasn't enough. I want more.
You're expecting Buena Pultro in shallow Hell, yeah, that's just before before we up. I think Australians and you know, I know doubt people around the world enjoy watching American high school movies because it feels so it's familiar to a degree, because you know, we all go to school and there's there's certain things that correlate, but it also feels quite foreign and away, you know, to us, there are certain things. It seems to be much clickier than
certainly when I went to school. How are your school years and how do you view You know that the compare the Australian school experience of the American film experience that we received via movies.
Well, I definitely wasn't the Aaron Samuels of my school. Come on, I'm shocked. Yeah, I agree, very different. I think that I don't know whether this is true or whether they just amplify it for movies, but they're always so blinded and so passionate about the schools in a sense that like they wear the uniforms with the names of their schools all the time. They're so proud of them. It means the world to get onto the school basketball
team or the school cheerleading team. And that's a huge part of all American school movies, that that's the recurring theme. I don't know whether that's amped up or whether that is actually the case. In my schooling, not so much like we you know, we had school teams, but anyone could make the school It was so easy to make this I made. I made the school team for AFL, which is saying something like I'm a soccer player, right. I played soccer from the age of five. I don't
want to make a big thing out of it. But I represented Australia at International schoolboy level rapping, rapping, so so I didn't really play I love AFL, love watching it, but I didn't really play a lot of AFL footy. But I made the team pretty easily, and that was one of the better players in our in our school footy team. So it's so much easier to make the teams or to make the grade in Australia, I think.
But yeah, it's very different in that regard. I certainly wouldn't wear a jumper with my school logo as a matter of pride unless I wanted to get beaten up.
Yeah did you?
Was it similar for you?
Yeah? I mean I had a real crush on America growing up. I desperately wanted to, you know, my parents have sent me on an exchange program to the States. I just I think, and a lot of it was because I just loved movies and I had this you know, kind of CPA kind of view of America through film. I mean, how the world has changed.
Certainly.
The one thing I also kind of envied about American high school movies were the parties. We had parties growing up as well. There's going to be a lot more red plastic cups used in American high school parties. We just usually drunk out of VB cans, yeah, or a goon bag. Yeah. I mean I wasn't.
I wasn't huge on the party scene because while we're at school, I still and this is completely true in my mind, my destiny was to play for Manchester United. So if I wanted to be that level elite sportsman, I couldn't drink, couldn't smoke. In fact, it was almost a form of reverse bullying. You know how they talk about peer pressure, like at school, like people are going to try to get you to smoke and drink. We were peer pressuring people to not smoke and drink. So
we were like, don't smoke, man, you'll get cancer. So like So pretty soon after that, the invites to parties started to decree.
That is great, that is great. Well it's been it's been a bloody joy hanging out with you and watching this bloody fine film. I really, I really enjoyed watching again last night. It's been a few years since I had seen it. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Yeah. Likewise, thank you for having me on and thanks for I guess giving me the motivation to go and watch it, because I'm really glad I did. I now I now feel that I get what people are talking about. And yeah, and this podcast has been fetched.
You got to it just before I did.
Yes, it's a win. It's a win for the good guy.
I try.
Some people are just me sometimes it seems like the whole world is in high school. What did I tell you?
Sam Mac is just such great company, a born entertainer and a bloody funny bugger, and I just cannot wait to see how Sam's career continues to unfold over the next many many years. Yeah, they're calling this a breakfast TV whether man does not doing any justice at all. I also want to point out Sandre's a lot of great work in the mental health space. We shared a close personal friend, Richard Marsland, and Sam has done a lot of work keeping Rich's work and spirit alive. Hopefully
have contributed with that as well. From my end, if you go to my Twitter account p J Hallier, the pin tweet I think is still the story that I did on Richard, So if you haven't seen it, maybe take a look at that. But like I said, rich Sam does a lot of great work in that space, so I really love hanging out with him. So that was me and girls. That was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. I hope you did too. I want to thank Derek Meyers from Casawaystudios dot com dot au.
If you're looking to get a podcast up, this is the place where you need to come. Get in touch with Derek on the website and he will get you sorted with all kinds of different packages. It's a great space, great professional space to record in. We Also you can email email us at YASNY podcast at gmail dot com. I love getting your comments obviously. We love you also to rate as we are. We are five star rated,
and I encourage you to keep that going. But the emails I'm getting and how quickly people have taken to this podcast has been I've been really toughed. This is kind of a bit of a passion project. I've tried to be as hands on as I can with it, and certainly Derek has been has really guided me through this as well. But I have that response and growing our community. Who you are funny, you are kind, and you are passionate. And thank you for that next episode.
You ain't seen nothing yet. I'm very excited. My great mate and LOGI winning comedian Derok jayres Singer is dropping by to chat about Francis Ford Coppola's nineteen seventy nine masterpiece Apocalypse. Now that's right, really survived the horror. Let's find out next week. And you ain't seen nothing yet until then. Bye, and so we leave old Pete
Safe, Fan Souf and to our friends of the radio audience, we've been a pleasant good night