June 7, 2023 • 47 mins
The Steves discuss some of their favorite movies across the genre in the first of two episodes dedicated to the movies that make us happy!
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Steve (00:03):
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners.
This is Steve Bennett Martin,and this is
Stephen (00:07):
Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a lifetime of
Happiness, the
Steve (00:11):
podcaster.
We take you on our journeythrough some of the movies,
shows, and other bits of popculture that are helping to keep
us happy, while hopefully bringa smile to your face along the
way.
And this
Stephen (00:19):
month is award season for our podcast and we're
kicking it off when presentingour favorites in these common
movie genres.
Steve (00:28):
Yes.
And you love movies so much.
What would you say was the firstmovie that you ever truly fell
in love with and that youwatched over and over again?
Stephen (00:38):
Clue.
Clue.
It was I remember that we wentto.
The movie rental place in ourhometown small town.
So we did not have a blockbusteror anything like that.
Mm-hmm.
It was a locally owned place andwe were looking for a movie and,
our family had played boardgames forever in today.
Mm-hmm.
(00:59):
And the guy was like, well,here's some new things that
we've got on vhs cuz that's thetime.
That was the time.
And one of'em was clue.
And I think I watched that moviesix times, that first weekend.
(01:19):
Awesome.
And you've loved movies eversince.
Yeah, and I like.
Kept asking for us to rent itevery time we went to the move
place.
And I was told, no, we can't dothat.
And it honestly, and I finallytaped it off of HBO once.
Yeah.
But I didn't own it until I waslike, 18.
(01:41):
That's your own
Steve (01:41):
faults.
It is.
But yes.
Why don't we get into startingwith the genre that I'm probably
least passionate about, butfound two, I still like
Stephen (01:51):
Favorite movies, action movies.
Yes.
What
Steve (01:54):
are your favorite movies where things blow up or
disastrous happen?
Stephen (01:59):
So my first one that I think is just so good is speed.
I love Sandra Bullock.
I love Keanu Reeves, and theirchemistry in this movie is
amazing.
The action sequences in the buswith the jump over the
unfinished part of the freeway,or the escape at the end, it's
(02:22):
all so really good, and it'sdefinitely one that I could
watch again and again and again.
Steve (02:27):
Yeah.
I always forget which one's theone on the boat and which one's?
The one on the truck
Stephen (02:32):
bus thing.
Bus is speed and the one on theboat is speed two that Sandra
Bullock was contractuallyobligated
Steve (02:39):
to do.
Oh, no, that doesn't sound funwhen you put it that way.
No.
Stephen (02:44):
What's one of your favorites?
Steve (02:46):
I would say Jurassic Park was the first one that I just
growing up was just, It was atthe time where it was in the
movie theaters and like I was alittle kid and what little kid
doesn't love dinosaurs?
Stephen (02:57):
I was fully obsessed with the movie Jurassic Park.
I had read the book and like Iwas all Jurassic Park all summer
long.
Steve (03:07):
Yeah.
What's another of yours?
Stephen (03:09):
It would be true Lies.
Steve (03:11):
Never seen it.
You,
Stephen (03:15):
you know I love me some Jamie Lee Curtis.
Yes.
And she is magic in this moviewith Arnold Schwartzenegger.
And you are Eliza douche coo.
I was gonna say, that's why
Steve (03:23):
I would watch it now.
Yeah.
Stephen (03:25):
He's a spy, but it's a secret and she thinks that he's
a boring nothing.
Mm-hmm.
And then they get kidnapped andhave to be spies together.
And there's this amazing sceneon, we haven't been to the Keys,
but you know that really longbridge.
Sure.
That goes to the Keys andthere's a whole like big action
(03:47):
scene there.
The whole movie is so very, verygood.
Steve (03:50):
Yes.
And if I were to pick a secondone, I'd say Aliens, the second
one.
Not the first one, but the firstone's a close second to the
second one, which is funny.
But yes, aliens too, I think wasalso a very fun action movie.
Stephen (04:03):
Absolutely.
And that was definitely one.
Where even more so SigourneyWeaver just got to be a badass.
Steve (04:10):
Yeah.
Cuz the first one was definitelymore survival.
Horror.
The the second one is like,action.
Yeah.
All right.
And what about drama, since youlove drama?
Drama?
Stephen (04:21):
It would be s Shashank Redemption.
Doesn't that make you happy
Steve (04:25):
though?
Is it a happy movie?
Stephen (04:28):
Our drama's usually happy movies.
Sometimes we shall see.
Oh.
Well, I wait till they see theone you picked.
Oh, okay.
Go for it.
So Shawshank Redemption, TimRobbins is a man wrongfully
convicted of his wife's murder,and he ends up in prison where
he meets Morgan Freeman and TimRobbins unknownst to the others,
(04:49):
spends his time there digging atunnel all the way outta prison.
The human interactions in thatand what a lot of people don't
know is it's based off ofStephen King.
Short story called Rita Hayworthand the Shawshank Redemption.
Oh, I did not know that.
Yep.
Tell us one of your happy dramamovies.
Steve (05:12):
I love the movie about the young woman who learns that
she can enjoy love, butultimately puts herself first
and lives a full happy life.
Titanic.
Stephen (05:21):
Yeah.
Because everyone knows thateveryone leaves that movie
theater just smiling and happy.
No one leaves the theater
Steve (05:28):
crying.
No, never.
Never.
It's a happy drama.
I love more of like the drama oflike the boat stuff.
Oh, is it more than like, Ididn't even put this as like a
romance movie cuz I don't lovethe love story as much as, I
just love like the drama on theboat.
Stephen (05:42):
Oh, the, when the boat starts sinking and that last 45
minutes or so.
It's amazing.
Yes.
What's another one for you?
So that would be almost famousUhhuh.
This is where I fell in lovewith little Katie Hudson Uhhuh.
It's a movie about a young manthat's given a chance to write a
story for Rolling StoneMagazine.
(06:03):
And so he goes on tour with thisup and coming band and the kid's
like, 14, 15, 16.
Yeah.
Somewhere in there.
And he meets Penny Lane.
Mm-hmm.
Kate Hudson.
And he has experiences thatchange his life forever.
The soundtrack is to die for theacting and the writing are
exceptional.
It's a movie that is justastounding.
(06:26):
Excellent.
Now, What is your secondfavorite drama movie of all time
Steve (06:33):
I chose, I wanted to have an L G B T one or a gay one.
And after looking at the list ofgay movies, so many of the
dramas are either about likedying of AIDS or your loved one
dying of AIDS or hate crimes.
Yep.
And because of all of that, Iwould say my happiest favorite
(06:54):
gay drama is Fire Island, whichwe watched last year together,
and it was, no, I'm not sayingit was one of the best movies of
all time, but if you want adrama that shows.
A stories about a gay group ofmen in their thirties trying to
find themselves that it's moreabout the their own journeys
than it is about finding theirnext piece of ass.
Or about drugs or about, yeah,like any of the negative stuff.
(07:17):
I would say that it's a goodwatch for that reason.
And
Stephen (07:20):
it's also based off of
Steve (07:21):
pride and prejudice, which I would never have known.
And you figured out what halfwaythrough or like, not even like a
third of the way through
Stephen (07:27):
or a third of the way through.
I was like, Wait a minute.
I know this story.
This is pride and Prejudice.
Steve (07:31):
That's awesome.
Everyone loves a good laugh.
What gets you laughing?
So in
Stephen (07:36):
terms of favorite comedy movies, it would be my
cousin Vinny.
I believe that the movie isinfinitely quotable.
Marissa Tome was a revelationand absolutely earned her.
Oscar.
Joe Peci is at his funniest, andI can watch this movie again and
again and never get tired of it.
Mm-hmm.
(07:57):
It's, I don't know, like it justamazes me that somebody wrote
something that is this funny andis still this funny like 30
years later.
Steve (08:07):
Yeah, no, I agree.
And that's awesome.
I watched it for the first time30 years later and it was still,
Stephen (08:13):
yes.
Now, what's one of yours?
The
Steve (08:16):
sweetest thing.
I love that movie.
It was a comedy that was like,well, it's a romcom.
It was more about like the groupof girls and their adventurous
together, which I liked and itjust makes me happy and it makes
me laugh, and it just taught mehow I'm supposed to react to
your penis whenever I see it.
Ooh, it's so
Stephen (08:36):
big.
I loved this movie because.
It gave Christina Applegate.
Yeah.
A comeback.
A comeback and a big starringrole.
Treating her like a real actressfor the first time because she
was great on married withchildren.
Yeah.
But it was wonderful to see heras an adult actress and really
(08:56):
talented.
Yeah.
And it also has some Blair who Ilove.
Yeah.
Steve (09:00):
That's one.
I could just, if I was to, if wewere flipping channels and it
was on tv, be like, hold on,let's at least watch till the
next commercial.
Yeah.
Stephen (09:07):
Now my other one is one of my favorite movies of all
time.
Death Becomes
Steve (09:14):
Her.
We've done an episode on itpeople can listen to.
Stephen (09:16):
Yes, Meryl Streep and Goldie hon.
At the top of their game, Iprobably have this movie
completely memorized.
And I should have known earlierin life I was gay as this was my
favorite movie as a 12 year old.
I can see
Steve (09:30):
that being quite telling.
Stephen (09:31):
Yeah.
What about you?
What's another favorite comedymovie of yours?
I
Steve (09:35):
would say it was not Ano, it's not another gay movie and I
know that you feel differently,but it also, I think, shows.
Our age got more.
Cuz at the time when in themovie came out, it wasn't even,
not another gay movie for me.
It was like the first like gaymovie that I saw or like, not,
not like the first one but likethe first comedy one like this.
But like I was able tounderstand about like half the
(09:56):
jokes just from like pop culturein the time.
But I didn't get some of the gayor gay jokes that I get later on
whenever re-watching it.
But it was also just amazing,like cuz I was, at that time
where I was like, I think incollege or like fresh out of
high school-ish where it wasjust, Seeing like guys being
able to talk about theirsexuality so blatantly and even
though it was like, it's funny,but it's also just like, it was
(10:18):
just freeing at the time, beingable to be like, wow, like you
can have gay friends and liketalk about your love life and
stuff and it was just
Stephen (10:25):
cool.
Yeah, and I love that it wasthat there were enough gay
movies by that time that theycould do this as a parody.
Yeah.
It was funny.
Now what about some of yourfavorite musical
Steve (10:37):
movies?
I love The Greatest Showman andI can watch it over and over
again and we did a whole episodeon it about it.
Yes,
Stephen (10:44):
I agree.
The Greatest Showman isfantastic and they had such a
good viral marketing campaignmm-hmm.
Leading up to it showing likethe behind the scenes, the
behind the scenes rehearsals onthose two songs that got people
sharing the videos and gettingreally excited for it to come
out and.
It was everything.
Yes.
Yeah,
Steve (11:04):
it was.
But what It will always be youreverything.
Stephen (11:07):
Molan
Steve (11:08):
Rouge.
Yes.
You can also hear a wholeepisode
Stephen (11:11):
of us talking about that.
Yep.
Nicole Kidman's role that madeher a movie star.
She goes all in on her actingand over the top zaniness.
Her singing is exceptional.
The story gets me every time.
It's funny, it's heartbreaking.
The cast is superb.
And I also have to do a quickshout out to Chicago, the movie.
(11:33):
It is my favorite Broadwaymusical.
And the movie version is stellarand I believe it actually shines
brighter than the stage showfilling in some gaps in the
story of the stage show.
And if I had been able to pickthree, Chicago would've been the
third slot.
Steve (11:48):
Awesome.
Well, we can give that honorablemention because my second one is
kind of cheating.
It's pitch Perfect.
Stephen (11:53):
That totally counts as a musical movie.
Yes, it's
Steve (11:56):
a musical movie with pop culture, like pop songs that I
knew.
So it was super fun.
And Sideway is running and Ilove it.
Yeah, it's very funny and itholds up and it's funny.
Stephen (12:05):
It is really funny.
Mine second one is Sister Act.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Another movie from my childhoodthat I would watch on Repeat
will be as hysterically funny.
It's the movie that introducedme to Dame Maggie Smith and
Kathleen to Jimmy.
And I love the song Choices.
The sequel is excellent, but theoriginal is top tier for me.
(12:28):
Yeah.
Awesome.
Now favorite romance movies?
You can go first.
Steve (12:33):
All right.
I would say the notebook, ascliche as it is, because with
all the drinking and drugs Idid, I know that I'm gonna get
some form of dementia one day,and I just hope that you take
care of me that way.
Stephen (12:48):
I will absolutely take care of you with a pillow acro.
I mean, yes, I would take careof y'all.
Okay.
What about eu?
Mine is also another movie frommy childhood that has stuck with
me.
And this along with PrincessBride Clue, are tied from my
favorite movies of all time.
It is the Princess Bride.
(13:09):
I have, and that, that and DeathBecomes Her and Princess Bride
are my top three and has notchanged for 30 years.
This movie makes me laugh.
It makes my heart soar.
It hits all the right notes, thewriting and the acting.
I could go on and on and I didbecause we did an episode on
this one.
Again, it's just great.
(13:30):
I love
Steve (13:30):
it.
Yeah.
And for my other one, it isanother game movie that we did
an episode on.
Yes.
Call Me by Your Name.
Just a solid romantic love storythat I went in expecting to
throw super amounts of shade at,and at the end I was actually
like, good story, bro.
Stephen (13:44):
I liked it.
That one kind of broke my heart,but I mean, I think that's what
he was supposed to do because itwas about his first love and
Steve (13:53):
Yeah.
And that normally, but like whatI appreciated was it was broken
heart where like they both endedup like living lives.
Yeah.
And not like a broken heartbecause one died.
Right.
Stephen (14:02):
Which, yes.
I can definitely appreciate
Steve (14:04):
that.
Yes.
Let's do a something.
Oh wait, you have one more to goover and it is a Happier Romance
movie.
Stephen (14:09):
Yes.
So it is my Big Fat Greekwedding.
Yes.
This is the movie that gave usthe wonderful NEA Vados who
wrote this movie.
Based off her one woman stageshow.
This was the little independentmovie that could, I saw it three
times in the theater.
It's just really, really funny.
It holds up well after all theseyears.
(14:29):
And another movie that has somany wonderful quotes in it.
Especially thanks to the amazingacting talents of Andrea Martin
as her Aunt Vula.
Mm-hmm.
With You don't eat.
No meat is okay.
It makes me smile.
Yes.
Now it wouldn't be our podcastif we didn't talk about some
(14:53):
super superheroes.
So let's talk about somefavorite Marvel M C U movies.
Well, you're
Steve (14:59):
already on the record for your favorite being Captain
Marvel.
So why don't you remind us forthose who didn't listen to the
episode.
Stephen (15:05):
Yeah, so this movie was so much fun.
Bree Larson did a phenomenaljob.
Her onscreen chemistry withSamuel L.
Jackson was fantastic.
I would like, I'd watch a BuddyCop or like a competing
detective movie or somethingwith them in it.
I love the throwback to theeighties, especially the
blockbuster scene.
(15:26):
Mm-hmm.
And I'm very much lookingforward to the Marvels.
That will be very good.
Yes.
What about you?
What's one are of
Steve (15:34):
your favorites?
I feel like, I mean, you haveto, we have to throw a nod and a
out, like for the amount ofstorytelling and perf like
storytelling, perfection theyachieved with the Infinity War
endgame combo.
Agreed.
It would, it would be an entirepodcast in itself to explain the
lead up and the events of themovie.
In an episode, but it just, itthe fact that they took so many
(15:56):
years of world building acrossthese different stories and
managed to tie it all togetherin such an amazing, like, it was
a cultural phenomenon, like theending of Infinity War and like
how it left people until we gotendgame.
Oh, I know.
Like it
Stephen (16:10):
was like 20 movies.
Yeah.
Steve (16:12):
The country like grieved together over half of their
superheroes dying, even thoughwe hoped that most of them would
come back and figured theywould.
Oh, like it just, You have likefor something that changes pop
culture as we know it.
I think we have to give a nod tothose, that combo.
Oh,
Stephen (16:26):
100%.
No.
No company has ever built upthat kind of mythology and story
with that kind of payoff.
Ever, and I doubt it will everbe done again.
Steve (16:43):
Yeah.
I'm still enjoying all theMarvel movies.
I, I get annoyed at the hatersthat are like, well, it hasn't
reached the same heights.
I'm like, how could you
Stephen (16:48):
expect it took 10 years?
Steve (16:50):
How could you expect them to hit that level every 10
years?
It just seems
Stephen (16:54):
absurd.
Well, and also we're only inlike year four of the buildup.
Give it some time people.
Yes.
Well,
Steve (17:02):
wanna know something that is universally praised and
beloved.
What's that?
Your next favorite
Stephen (17:06):
one?
Oh yes, black Panther.
There's something so specialabout this movie.
Yes.
The acting is amazing and it'ssome of the best of any
superhero movie, and I think alot of that goes to our leads.
Especially the.
Absolutely wonderful.
And too soon gone.
(17:28):
Yeah.
Lead himself and especially missStella of how Stella got her
groove back.
Yes.
Angela Bassett, Angela Bassett,that I love so much.
But something has to be saidabout the amount of myth and
world building that was done insuch a short period of time in
that movie that feels so fleshedout and so real, and you buy
(17:49):
into all of it and.
Yeah, this movie has held upextraordinarily well
Steve (17:54):
as also, it's only been a few years.
It's not like we're talkingabout decades.
Stephen (17:57):
I know, but like sometimes you see a superhero
movie, you're like, that wasgood.
And you go back and watch it.
You're like, oh.
Not as good as I thought.
Steve (18:05):
Yes.
Well, we haven't re-watched ityet, but I also added to this
list Spider-Man.
No Way Home, because again, justin terms of what they were able
to accomplish, taking all thesecrazy different Spider-Man movie
timelines and reboots andremakes with copyright issues
and have it actually make sensein a plot of a movie that was
actually cohesive and good wasjust
Stephen (18:24):
really cool.
Well, and what's kind of funwith this is.
Usually Spider-Man's originstory is done in the first 45,
50 minutes of a movie mm-hmm.
With Uncle Benton dying.
Yeah.
And his origin story was thetrilogy.
Yeah.
This is what made himSpider-Man.
And you don't really get thatuntil the Aunt Mac at the end of
(18:48):
No Way Home and you're like,fuck.
They build all of this up as hisorigin story.
Yeah.
And.
Oh, it was super, super well
Steve (18:58):
done.
Yes.
Plus, we now know that Canongeologically Spider-Man could
have a three-way.
With himself.
With himself.
Stephen (19:06):
So awesome.
Steve (19:08):
Yes.
Now, we also can't give a wholecategory related to superhero
Marvel movies without giving oneto superhero movies where
Marvel's not allowed.
Well, where
Stephen (19:19):
it's not M C U.
Well,
Steve (19:21):
true, true cuz we are gonna twist it with the Marvels.
So go into a non M C U superheromovie of your
Stephen (19:26):
favorite.
That would be Xmen two XmenUnited.
Well, days of Future Past isfantastic.
This one is still my favorite.
It's based off of one of myfavorite X-Men stories.
God Loves Man Kills, which iswhere they're trying to destroy
all mutants.
And it gives us more of RebeccaRomaine as mystique and her
(19:50):
interactions with Mag Nito FKAJanssen as Jean Gray is
outstanding in this one given somuch more to do.
Then the first movie.
Great Action.
Great effects, great story.
A plus best X-Men movie, Ibelieve.
Steve (20:05):
Yes.
And while not an X-Men, he mightas well be sometimes yes.
I also am just in love withDeadpool and how they were able
to take this smirk worth ofmouth from the comics and like
bring him to life in like aperfect way.
Like Ryan Reynolds was made toplay that role.
It's just, that's another moviejust.
I could re-watch it over andover and over again and laugh
(20:26):
every time.
It is
Stephen (20:28):
so super funny.
They did nothing wrong inDeadpool.
Like it is a perfect movie.
Yes.
I I I wouldn't change a thinglike Bravo.
Steve (20:42):
Yes.
And what about another movie youthink is perfect?
Stephen (20:45):
So this is me going over to the DC Universe.
Yeah.
It would be Batman Returns.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.
That is, that's all you need toknow.
Yeah.
But it has so many other goodthings.
The chemistry she has withMichael Keaton, who is my
favorite Batman.
Yeah.
Their chemistry is palpable.
The line about the missile toe,whenever they figure out who the
(21:08):
other one is, and Danny DeVitoas the pen was actually scary to
me as a child.
So yeah, that one is my favoriteBatman movie.
And one of my favorite superheromovies of all
Steve (21:21):
time.
Yeah, and I would also have toadd to that list Spider-Man into
the spider verse, cuz whowould've thought a cartoon
Spider-Man movie would be likethe best superhero origin story?
That we've seen in probably 10,20 years.
That's like, again, non Marvel,
Stephen (21:39):
but just, oh, and the animation was so beautiful.
Yeah, it was so
Steve (21:44):
cool.
Like all of it was so well done.
I can't wait to see the new one.
Stephen (21:47):
For those who haven't seen it, hey, go watch it.
But it's about Miles Morales thebest fighter man, and it's, oh,
it's so good.
And I'm very excited to see.
The new Spider Verse movie.
Yes.
Steve (22:02):
And we've already talked a little bit at the opening
about your favorite mysterymovie of all time.
It is
Stephen (22:07):
Clue.
I know it's shocking.
Wait, I knew that.
Yeah.
This is the Apex best evermystery movie Case closed.
Hands down.
I can actually quote this entiremovie.
It's funny, it's witty.
They don't slow down for thelaughter after the jokes, and it
has three different endings thatall worked how it was filmed.
(22:27):
A truly all-star comedic castthat worked so beautifully with
each other, and even after allthese years and literally seeing
it over a hundred times.
Mm-hmm.
There are still certain thingsI'm noticing because usually
I'll focus on.
Somebody, but I've been takingtime whenever we will re-watch
it again.
Yes.
To watch people who aren'tspeaking Yeah.
(22:48):
And how they're all acting withtheir whole bodies and reacting
and it, it's just so good.
And it deserved more at the timewhen it came out, but I'm glad
that.
It has the respect It does now.
Steve (23:06):
Good.
Excellent.
We all, I also love knives outand we spend a whole episode
talking about
Stephen (23:10):
it.
Yes, it is very, very good.
I'm glad that it is now amystery series.
Yes.
I fully support that.
And again, he's grabbing actorsat the top of their game,
throwing them in and lettingthem play these wonderful games.
Yeah.
Together and.
I can't wait to see what theycome up with for the third one,
(23:32):
because obviously the first twowere so successful.
There's gonna be a third.
Yes.
What about your next one?
You may not have seen this one.
Nope.
It is the usual suspects.
Steve (23:42):
So, and by the way, knives out three is confirmed
apparently.
Stephen (23:45):
Oh, excellent.
Usual suspects, the solesurvivor of a peer shootout
tells the story of how anotorious criminal.
Influence the events that beganwith five criminals meeting in a
seemingly random way.
Great actors.
Unfortunately, it's directed byalleged sex offender.
(24:07):
Brian Singer.
Same.
So is X two X, so was X two.
You just
Steve (24:12):
love sex offenders?
I do not.
You just love them so much,Steve?
I do not.
They're your favorite of people.
Stop.
Okay.
Just kidding.
That was not on the
Stephen (24:21):
record.
No.
But the most important questionfor the usual suspects is, Who
is Kaiser Soce?
And I'll show you sometimebecause it's honestly a mystery
movie I think you would reallylike.
Steve (24:34):
Cool.
And more recently we watchedMissing, which I just loved for
the turning the mystery genre onits head with the way that it
was done using modern technologyand communication and just
showing how resourceful thesekids can be with the technology
when they have.
Critical thinking skills.
It was just really at the storyitself was fascinating.
(24:56):
I was constantly like guessingwhat's gonna happen next and
constantly wrong, and I enjoyedevery
Stephen (25:00):
minute of it.
I did not expect to enjoy it asmuch as I did.
And yeah, I don't want to giveanything away because it's newly
out on streaming.
And there are so many twists andturns that like there were
certain things I was like, oh, Ihope that's not true.
Or Oh gosh, no, no.
And like then the movie wouldturn and you'd be like, I didn't
(25:22):
see that coming.
Yes.
So favorite documentaries.
Well,
Steve (25:27):
we have to show how smart we are, so we have to talk.
Well then again, I looked at myanswers.
Let's not talk about how smartwe are.
Let's talk about the nonfictionwe enjoy.
Okay, you go first.
I.
My mind was blown with the codedbias on Netflix and talking
about just the way thattechnology as it's been
developing unknowingly, has biasbiases against people, whether
(25:50):
it be women against differentpeople of different ethnicities,
gender identities, and it wasjust really eyeopening.
How,
Stephen (25:57):
how does it have these biases explain a little bit.
Because I don't think I watchedit with you.
Steve (26:02):
We'll rewatch it together because I'm not that smart to
say it on the spot.
But it, it also is the reasonwhy after watching that, that I
never click on sponsored Amazonads or sponsored anything.
If I search, I always scrolldown to the non-sponsored ones
cuz they taught me about how badit is.
But like, it really makes youthink about the way that you're
using the internet.
And I love like socialcommentary.
(26:23):
I love the technology talk.
So it was a really
Stephen (26:26):
eye-opening experience.
Excellent.
My, one of my favorites is GrayGardens.
Mm-hmm.
That we did an episode on.
If you haven't gotten the idea,I force Steve to do episodes on
my favorite things and I lovehim for it.
So the Gray Gardens deals withthe cousins of Jackie o and
their acentric lives and theirfall from Opulence.
(26:49):
Yes.
It has such great charactersthat you wouldn't be blamed if
you thought they were made up.
And we can actually send aspecial thanks to Jinx Monsoon
for bringing little Edie BouvierBeal into the minds of a new
generation of queers.
Steve (27:04):
Yes, it was great seeing Ronnie's cousins
Stephen (27:09):
or big Edie Ronnie in the future.
Yes.
Steve (27:14):
And I also secret, I love porn.
And sex and all of that.
But like, not even in aperverted, like for me doing it
myself type of way.
Like I love listening to, andlike people's talk about their,
like sexual experiences, not ina pervy way, but like how
different it can be for so manydifferent people and how we can
look at sex differently, likewhen
Stephen (27:35):
we watch that.
So you wanna build a sex roomshow?
Steve (27:38):
Yeah, exactly like that.
So like I, the recently watchedon Netflix Money Shot the
PornHub story Pornhub's thewebsite that pops up anytime
most of us type P into our webbrowser.
But just, and it was a reallywell done that had talked about
some of the controversyassociated with it, where it was
justifying they were like notdoing their best to make things
a safe space on the internet.
(27:59):
Mm-hmm.
But then it was also fascinatinghearing about the way that the
blowback against it wasn'thurting anyone other than the
consenting performers.
Right.
And so I just.
I love it.
I love, like I said, if you, ifyou love like it's honorary, the
shout out was there was onerecently I think on sex work on
Hulu as well.
But I just, I love sex workdocumentaries and like porn
(28:22):
documentaries and all that kindof
Stephen (28:23):
stuff.
I also enjoy one's like, wewatched that oh, it was Sex
Steve (28:28):
for Sale, the untold story about like all the
different streaming things.
Stephen (28:33):
We also would watch one called Stay Sweet.
Yes.
Where it was exposing a certainsect of a religious order and I
really enjoy, like, exposethings like that.
And there's a new one about thatcreepy Dugger family.
Oh, you'll have to watch that.
Yeah.
But my other favoritedocumentary is Paris's Burning.
Mm-hmm.
It is a look at the ballroomscene of New York City in the
(28:56):
1980s.
It is a must for any lgbtq plusperson.
This is our history.
This is where we came from.
That scene and that time gaverise to so many parts of queer
culture that we still have andwe now celebrate and.
(29:18):
It's it honestly, just watch it.
It's really good.
All
Steve (29:22):
right.
And what about, I need to take anap real quickly.
So I only talk about thehistorical fiction movies.
Well,
Stephen (29:29):
so one I saw over Christmas that I didn't think
you would like, but now I'mlike, it's so good.
I might have you watch it.
It's called r r r, and it is anIndian movie with subtitles for
Part of it.
And I first saw this movie onNetflix, and it tells the story
(29:50):
of two freedom fighters whoembark on a long journey before
fighting against Britishcolonialists.
And it has one of the best dancesequences of any movie.
And the song with that dancesequence ended up winning the
Oscar for best original songthis year.
Steve (30:07):
Yeah, I liked Apollo 13 because it made history seem
almost fun and space is cool.
Stephen (30:12):
I went to Space Camp.
I know, and, and like I used tothink I wanted to be an
astronaut.
And then they were like, oh, youhave to go if you really wanna
be an astronaut, you have to bein the military and a pilot.
And then I was like, no, thankyou.
Yes.
Steve (30:26):
And what about another one for you?
Stephen (30:28):
It would be Hamilton.
Yes.
So thanks to Lynn Manuel Mirandaand Disney Plus, we got to see a
filming of the original Broadwaycast.
So 10 Nickley
Steve (30:37):
counts as a
Stephen (30:38):
movie.
It counts as a movie, and it's astunning and amazing musical.
And the soundtrack isexceptional and sticks with you
and.
I really, really liked it.
So yes, I count this as ahistorical fiction movie because
it, we got to watch it.
Yes.
Steve (30:57):
And then I liked the help because it was funny in parts.
I want to give some people a poopie some days, and I appreciate
them for giving me that visual.
Stephen (31:07):
Yes, that was another movie that we covered and
exceptionally well acted.
In all parts, whether it was theheroes or the villains, and I
just think that is another justmm.
A plus movie.
Steve (31:24):
Yes.
And I for, I see that you lovedfor Disney movies, the Little
Mermaid last week.
So much.
It's your favorite Disney movieof all time.
Well,
Stephen (31:31):
the animated movie is one of my favorites.
Oh, okay.
That makes no sense.
Yeah.
I immediately fell in love withthe character of Ursula and the
song, poor Unfortunate Souls.
And as you know, as I've beentalking about for several years,
since they announced it, I'vehad high hopes for the live
action movie and it did notdisappoint.
In some ways I loved it evenmore.
(31:52):
And what I think is great is nowI have two versions.
Of my favorite Disney movie.
Steve (31:57):
Yes.
Unlike me who I still have tostick to, my favorite animated
movie being Lion King, which thelive action was not as good.
No.
Or happy or uplifting.
No.
Or made me feel good.
No.
I, when I was little, wanted tobe Simba so bad and I didn't
understand why I couldn't justbe a lion cub.
(32:18):
I see that for you.
Stephen (32:19):
Yeah.
That adds up, right?
Yeah.
I was really disappointed in thelive action.
It.
Took the color and the joy.
And I know that there's darkthemes in there, but somehow
everything, it all seemed dark.
Yeah, it all seemed dark.
The things that I really enjoyedout of it.
(32:39):
And what's crazy is, I thinkit's the same director that did
the Jungle book for Live Actionand the Jungle Book Live Action
was fine, was fantastic.
Oh, I don't remember it.
Oh, I loved the Live ActionJungle book, so yeah.
Stick with the animated LionKing.
Yes.
Steve (32:57):
And we've done an episode on this one and talk about all
the time.
Hocus Pocus is
Stephen (33:01):
your second?
Yes.
It's one of the first movieswhere I wanted to, the so-called
villains to win.
I just wanted them to get onechild so they could stay young
and make it past the firstnight.
Mm-hmm.
Like, I don't, and I, and I'mglad to know that as I got
older, I found out I'm not theonly one.
That one of the Sandersonsisters to win?
(33:24):
Yes, we all did.
And every queer person knows andloves the, I put a spell on.
You've seen?
Yes.
And though some didn't enjoy thesequel, I found it thoroughly
enjoyable and allegedly they'refinishing out a trilogy.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah.
And what is your other favoriteDisney movie?
Steve (33:43):
I would say Finding Nemo.
It came out in a time that, Asfar as I'm personally concerned,
and I haven't looked at whatother US came out around that
time, but it felt like a dryspell for Disney for me.
I think so.
And it was just like, oh, I canstill love Disney.
And it was at the point where Iwas in high school, so I was
like a little bit too old forit, but I was still able to
appreciate it and enjoy it.
(34:04):
I still remember like one of mygirlfriends in high school
giving me like a NEMO stuffedanimal that made it to me to
college.
Mm-hmm.
And so, yeah, just for where itcame out in my life and the fact
that it still holds up prettywell, And I have the memory of
Dory sometimes.
So it was nice to be, definitelyhave dory's memory.
It's generally selective.
(34:25):
Like if I wanna remembersomething, I will remember it.
But if we're talking aboutsomething and it doesn't
register, in my mind, doesimportant.
Like I have Dory moments quitefrequently, so it's
Stephen (34:34):
like, babe, we have to do this.
What do you mean?
We talked about this?
I don't think we did.
We did, but normally
Steve (34:42):
my answer always for that is like, okay, I'm down for it.
And that's probably why I didn'tbother remembering it as I was
like, when it will happen, I'llbe okay
Stephen (34:48):
now.
Other movie, other movie studiosbesides Disney make animated
movies.
Really?
It's a shock, but
Steve (34:55):
it's true.
Yeah.
I loved one called Shrek.
Stephen (34:59):
I really enjoyed Shrek.
I actually think I enjoyed Shrektoo more.
Yeah.
But Shrek is fantastic.
Yes.
What else for you?
It's held a Train Your Dragon.
It's my favorite Dreamworksmovie.
Shrek was also done byDreamworks.
Something about Shk two is ithas a great soundtrack and
(35:19):
there's some really fun things.
On the D V D that there was likeDVD karaoke stuff on there.
That's fun.
Yeah.
But How to Train Your Dragonfavorite Dreamworks movie.
I love the story.
It makes me cry every time.
Mm-hmm.
Like to this day, I love thefriendship between Hiccup and
Toothless, and I would totallygo to live in that world at the
(35:42):
end of the movie so that I couldhave a pet dragon.
Steve (35:45):
That would be awesome having a Pet Dragon.
And while I hesitated putting iton my list of happiest movies,
Stephen (35:51):
it's not happiest.
It's favorite.
Steve (35:53):
The favorite.
The land before time was like inmy childhood, I was like, how is
this not a Disney movie?
Because it just is so Disney.
Well, and, and other than themom dying, it was like pretty
fun movie.
Stephen (36:05):
And his grief and trauma afterwards.
Well, yeah, but that willhappen.
But it was a good movie.
Yeah, it is a really, reallygood movie.
And
Steve (36:13):
I re, that movie as, as a young child, helped me show like
see that like stories could betold that aren't always about
happy endings and it was stillokay.
Stephen (36:22):
Yeah.
And I remember having a stuffedlittle foot.
Yeah.
And I remember, I think PizzaHut had.
The puppets of each of thecharacters that you could get?
No.
That was a really good movie andmy other favorite, it's
technically animated.
(36:42):
It's who framed Roger Rabbit.
Steve (36:44):
That counts enough.
Stephen (36:46):
I was obsessed with this.
Yes.
In my childhood.
Steve (36:48):
Yes.
You're on the record forthinking Tune Town was real and
being upset that you couldn'tvisit it.
Stephen (36:52):
Yeah, that is true.
Yes.
It had Disney characters andWarner Brothers characters, so I
actually don't know.
Who made the movie?
Who cares?
Yeah.
It blended animation with thereal world.
As you said, I wanted to visitTune Town badly, and I wish
there had been more Roger Rabbitmovies like this, but I'm glad
that we have this one that Ithink is just perfect.
(37:15):
Yeah, and
Steve (37:15):
we have the remake they're doing.
No, I know.
I'm kidding.
Stephen (37:20):
Okay, then let's talk about favorite.
Fantasy movies.
Steve (37:25):
Well, I grew up at the age, well, maybe it wasn't,
maybe it was old at that time,but Willy Monkin, the Chocolate
Factory was just whimsy on astick that
Stephen (37:32):
was old when I was young.
Steve (37:34):
Okay.
So, yes.
But I remember growing up withthat movie and just the fantasy
of it all.
And everyone wanted to visit thechocolate factory and didn't
want to be one of the brats andevery, I was like, I would
totally be Charlie.
Like I wouldn't be one of thebad kids.
Stephen (37:47):
I could see you being Mike tv.
I don't
Steve (37:49):
know what you're
Stephen (37:50):
talking about.
That's okay.
I see myself unfortunately beinglike Violet, violet Bogar.
Yeah.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
I loved the mpa Lumpa songs.
Yeah.
So much like, and some of thekids got songs like Veruca, I
Want it Now.
Yeah.
And it's kind of dark and scaryfor kids too, like when they're
(38:12):
on the boat.
I enjoyed it.
Yeah.
No, it's really good.
And I.
I did not enjoy the remake asmuch.
No, me either.
And I know that it was morehonest to the book or whatnot,
but I also believe that theydestroyed the MPA Lupe songs cuz
you couldn't understand thewords.
Yeah.
Now one of my favorite fantasymovies is Practical Magic.
(38:36):
We did an episode on it, we didtwo Sisters, both witches and
it's the story of them and loveand family.
Nikki Kidman, Sandy Bullock.
Great story.
It's fun, funny, emotional, andthat scene at the end where they
all work together is everything.
Yes.
Steve (38:54):
I also wanted to throw a curve ball on this list with the
Shape of Water, cuz that was areally cool
Stephen (38:58):
fantasy movie.
It was a really cool fantasymovie.
And I love anything withGuillermo del Toro.
Yes.
And I know a lot of people justrefer, they're like the Shape of
Water, the fish sex movie.
I'll take it.
Yeah.
It.
Was really, really well done.
And you believe the story by thetime it's all said and done.
(39:20):
I, I agree.
Yeah.
That's a fantastic
Steve (39:22):
movie.
And for your second one, if Ihad remembered it would've been
on my list as well.
Jumanji?
Yes.
The original.
The original, well, I, the new
one's
Stephen (39:31):
good too.
Yeah.
Because it technically is asequel.
Yeah.
And this movie makes me happy.
Robin Williams is always adelight.
But I think he's even morewonderful in this.
And even though the board gamethey were playing was trying to
kill them, I always thought itwould be fun to play it myself.
And also it's nice to know thatthis movie Stars two Broadway
(39:54):
Divas, BB New and Laura BellBundy.
Yes.
And
Steve (39:59):
what about favorite adventure movies?
Favorite
Stephen (40:01):
adventure movies?
So, For me, and I think this isa product of my age and things.
Mm-hmm.
But it would be Indiana Jones inthe Temple of Doom.
That adds up.
I enjoy all of the Indiana Jonesmovies, but this is my favorite.
You have K mall and the pulling,the beating heart out snake
surprise.
(40:21):
You have the Mine car actionsequence.
The musical number at thebeginning, not to mention Kay
Hui Kwan who as a child was sofantastic in that movie and now
we love him in everythingeverywhere, all at once.
Yep.
Now, what about you?
(40:42):
What's a favorite adventuremovie?
Back to the Future,
Steve (40:45):
which you showed me as a grownup and I still love it.
Like I was a kid.
Stephen (40:47):
Yes.
These movies were a huge part ofmy childhood and they all aged
extremely well.
Michael J.
Fox, Christopher Lloyd, LeahThompson, they make magic.
And this trilogy, I also thinkis perfect.
Yes.
For me, a second one would beThe Mummy.
It's kind of Indiana Jones for anew generation.
(41:09):
Brendan Fraser is funny andcharismatic.
The action is really good.
I find the story compelling.
I really enjoyed the specialeffects.
Not so much the special effectsas the rock, as the serpent king
in the second one, which ispretty bad, special effects.
But overall, Excellent.
Steve (41:27):
Yes.
And then of course Jaws cuz weneed a
Stephen (41:30):
bigger boat.
We need a bigger boat.
It's an excellent movie.
It made a lot of people afraidto go in the water.
Yeah.
I prefer the action of Jaws too,more than the original.
Yes.
But this one had really, reallygood dramatic and emotional
depth to it.
Mm-hmm.
And for its time period to makepeople believe that that was a
(41:52):
real shark.
Is kind of impressive.
Yes.
Steve (41:55):
And what about science fiction?
Yes.
This
Stephen (41:58):
is our last category for this episode.
And
Steve (42:01):
then I'm taking a nap.
Stephen (42:02):
Favorite science fiction movies.
So for me my first one is SpaceBalls.
Mm-hmm.
My brother loved the Star Warsmovies for me.
It was the Parody Space Balls.
Steve (42:15):
I actually thought that that was another Star Wars
movie.
No, when I was younger.
Stephen (42:20):
Mel Brooks's parody send up of the Star Wars movies.
It has Rick Moran's Dark Helmet,Daphne Zuniga from Melrose's
Place as Princess Vespa.
And there's always somethingabout this movie that just
tickles my funny bone and.
Like there were certain jokes Ididn't get as a child, but I
still thought they were funny.
(42:40):
And then watching them as anadult, I thought they were even
funnier.
Mm-hmm.
So this has always stuck withme.
What about you?
I
Steve (42:49):
enjoyed Star Wars six.
I think the number was Return ofthe Jedi.
Yes.
Because I wanted an Ewok for apet and I love the Ewoks and I
also love the pet.
And now we have
Stephen (42:58):
our own Some little, now we have our own We Ewok.
So yeah.
I love it.
I agree.
The Return of the Jedi wasreally good.
I think that was probably one ofthe first end of Trilogies that
a lot of people had seen.
And to have that story of playedout and you get all of this
payoff and everything.
I think I saw it first.
Steve (43:19):
Oh, okay.
Stephen (43:21):
That's
Steve (43:21):
interesting.
Yeah, it happens.
It was on TV and it was on, so Iwatched it,
Stephen (43:27):
For me, W e easily in my top 10 favorite movies of all
time now, and my favoritescience fiction movie,
everything Everywhere, all atOnce.
It was the movie of 2022.
Incredible cast, Oscars allaround truly epic, funny,
emotional action.
(43:49):
The special effects in fightscenes are legendary and already
iconic.
I mean, Fighting with dildos.
I love that it's a truly specialmovie because even once you look
past some of the absurd things,the deeper story of a woman
finding herself is trulywonderful and, and it, I really,
(44:15):
really love that movie.
Awesome.
Now what about you, FA?
Other favorite science fictionmovie?
Total
Steve (44:23):
Recall, but it was more just cause I was struggling
finding a second.
Stephen (44:27):
So you mean the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Steve (44:29):
No, the re, the remake, but I still like it with the
Three boobs lady.
I just think that that'd be acool world to live in for a
Stephen (44:35):
minute.
I have not seen the remake atall, so I can't comment on that.
But I will trust you.
I also
Steve (44:42):
didn't think too hard.
So if someone's like, really,that doesn't add up?
It probably doesn't and I'mmisremembering it.
But every Rose site I wasresearching, I had to stop cuz I
ran into ET on the list and Ihate ET and it makes me scared.
So I had to stop.
Why does
Stephen (44:56):
ET make you scared?
It's
Steve (44:58):
been terrified since I was a child for it.
My family would traumatize meand they thought by getting me
over the fear, they would sneakme onto the ET ride at Epcot or
at the Universal, universalUniversal Studios.
And I was.
Having full-blown child meltdownin my family who just was
laughing at me the entire time.
That's
Stephen (45:16):
some trauma right there.
It
Steve (45:17):
was really bad.
Like the, that was like, but ETwon't be on the ride.
And they're like, no, he won'tbe on the ride.
He won't be on the ride.
He was everywhere on
Stephen (45:23):
the ride.
And he's at the front of yourcart too.
Steve (45:26):
It was, it was rough and it was only when I watched it in
high school that I was like,okay, it's not terrifying, but
like as a child,
Stephen (45:34):
I was terrified of it.
I don't think I've watched itsince I was a child because it
bothered me so much.
Yeah.
No, no,
Steve (45:41):
so that's, that's where we're stopping for the day.
Yes.
That's it for now.
We'd love to hear what you thinkof our categories so far.
Any favorites you might have onthe list or any ones that we
might have missed.
You can do that by emailing usat Happy Life pod@gmail.com, or
Stephen (45:54):
you can get us in touch with us on all the socials and
tell us that you agree with ourpics or we totally missed out on
this one.
By getting in touch on Facebook,Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at
Happy
Steve (46:08):
Life Pod.
And until next time, everybodystay happy.
Don't worry.
The horror movies are comingnext week.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners.
This is Steve Bennett Martin,and this is
Stephen (00:07):
Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a lifetime of
Happiness, the
Steve (00:11):
podcaster.
We take you on our journeythrough some of the movies,
shows, and other bits of popculture that are helping to keep
us happy, while hopefully bringa smile to your face along the
way.
And this
Stephen (00:19):
month is award season for our podcast and we're
kicking it off when presentingour favorites in these common
movie genres.
Steve (00:28):
Yes.
And you love movies so much.
What would you say was the firstmovie that you ever truly fell
in love with and that youwatched over and over again?
Stephen (00:38):
Clue.
Clue.
It was I remember that we wentto.
The movie rental place in ourhometown small town.
So we did not have a blockbusteror anything like that.
Mm-hmm.
It was a locally owned place andwe were looking for a movie and,
our family had played boardgames forever in today.
Mm-hmm.
(00:59):
And the guy was like, well,here's some new things that
we've got on vhs cuz that's thetime.
That was the time.
And one of'em was clue.
And I think I watched that moviesix times, that first weekend.
(01:19):
Awesome.
And you've loved movies eversince.
Yeah, and I like.
Kept asking for us to rent itevery time we went to the move
place.
And I was told, no, we can't dothat.
And it honestly, and I finallytaped it off of HBO once.
Yeah.
But I didn't own it until I waslike, 18.
(01:41):
That's your own
Steve (01:41):
faults.
It is.
But yes.
Why don't we get into startingwith the genre that I'm probably
least passionate about, butfound two, I still like
Stephen (01:51):
Favorite movies, action movies.
Yes.
What
Steve (01:54):
are your favorite movies where things blow up or
disastrous happen?
Stephen (01:59):
So my first one that I think is just so good is speed.
I love Sandra Bullock.
I love Keanu Reeves, and theirchemistry in this movie is
amazing.
The action sequences in the buswith the jump over the
unfinished part of the freeway,or the escape at the end, it's
(02:22):
all so really good, and it'sdefinitely one that I could
watch again and again and again.
Steve (02:27):
Yeah.
I always forget which one's theone on the boat and which one's?
The one on the truck
Stephen (02:32):
bus thing.
Bus is speed and the one on theboat is speed two that Sandra
Bullock was contractuallyobligated
Steve (02:39):
to do.
Oh, no, that doesn't sound funwhen you put it that way.
No.
Stephen (02:44):
What's one of your favorites?
Steve (02:46):
I would say Jurassic Park was the first one that I just
growing up was just, It was atthe time where it was in the
movie theaters and like I was alittle kid and what little kid
doesn't love dinosaurs?
Stephen (02:57):
I was fully obsessed with the movie Jurassic Park.
I had read the book and like Iwas all Jurassic Park all summer
long.
Steve (03:07):
Yeah.
What's another of yours?
Stephen (03:09):
It would be true Lies.
Steve (03:11):
Never seen it.
You,
Stephen (03:15):
you know I love me some Jamie Lee Curtis.
Yes.
And she is magic in this moviewith Arnold Schwartzenegger.
And you are Eliza douche coo.
I was gonna say, that's why
Steve (03:23):
I would watch it now.
Yeah.
Stephen (03:25):
He's a spy, but it's a secret and she thinks that he's
a boring nothing.
Mm-hmm.
And then they get kidnapped andhave to be spies together.
And there's this amazing sceneon, we haven't been to the Keys,
but you know that really longbridge.
Sure.
That goes to the Keys andthere's a whole like big action
(03:47):
scene there.
The whole movie is so very, verygood.
Steve (03:50):
Yes.
And if I were to pick a secondone, I'd say Aliens, the second
one.
Not the first one, but the firstone's a close second to the
second one, which is funny.
But yes, aliens too, I think wasalso a very fun action movie.
Stephen (04:03):
Absolutely.
And that was definitely one.
Where even more so SigourneyWeaver just got to be a badass.
Steve (04:10):
Yeah.
Cuz the first one was definitelymore survival.
Horror.
The the second one is like,action.
Yeah.
All right.
And what about drama, since youlove drama?
Drama?
Stephen (04:21):
It would be s Shashank Redemption.
Doesn't that make you happy
Steve (04:25):
though?
Is it a happy movie?
Stephen (04:28):
Our drama's usually happy movies.
Sometimes we shall see.
Oh.
Well, I wait till they see theone you picked.
Oh, okay.
Go for it.
So Shawshank Redemption, TimRobbins is a man wrongfully
convicted of his wife's murder,and he ends up in prison where
he meets Morgan Freeman and TimRobbins unknownst to the others,
(04:49):
spends his time there digging atunnel all the way outta prison.
The human interactions in thatand what a lot of people don't
know is it's based off ofStephen King.
Short story called Rita Hayworthand the Shawshank Redemption.
Oh, I did not know that.
Yep.
Tell us one of your happy dramamovies.
Steve (05:12):
I love the movie about the young woman who learns that
she can enjoy love, butultimately puts herself first
and lives a full happy life.
Titanic.
Stephen (05:21):
Yeah.
Because everyone knows thateveryone leaves that movie
theater just smiling and happy.
No one leaves the theater
Steve (05:28):
crying.
No, never.
Never.
It's a happy drama.
I love more of like the drama oflike the boat stuff.
Oh, is it more than like, Ididn't even put this as like a
romance movie cuz I don't lovethe love story as much as, I
just love like the drama on theboat.
Stephen (05:42):
Oh, the, when the boat starts sinking and that last 45
minutes or so.
It's amazing.
Yes.
What's another one for you?
So that would be almost famousUhhuh.
This is where I fell in lovewith little Katie Hudson Uhhuh.
It's a movie about a young manthat's given a chance to write a
story for Rolling StoneMagazine.
(06:03):
And so he goes on tour with thisup and coming band and the kid's
like, 14, 15, 16.
Yeah.
Somewhere in there.
And he meets Penny Lane.
Mm-hmm.
Kate Hudson.
And he has experiences thatchange his life forever.
The soundtrack is to die for theacting and the writing are
exceptional.
It's a movie that is justastounding.
(06:26):
Excellent.
Now, What is your secondfavorite drama movie of all time
Steve (06:33):
I chose, I wanted to have an L G B T one or a gay one.
And after looking at the list ofgay movies, so many of the
dramas are either about likedying of AIDS or your loved one
dying of AIDS or hate crimes.
Yep.
And because of all of that, Iwould say my happiest favorite
(06:54):
gay drama is Fire Island, whichwe watched last year together,
and it was, no, I'm not sayingit was one of the best movies of
all time, but if you want adrama that shows.
A stories about a gay group ofmen in their thirties trying to
find themselves that it's moreabout the their own journeys
than it is about finding theirnext piece of ass.
Or about drugs or about, yeah,like any of the negative stuff.
(07:17):
I would say that it's a goodwatch for that reason.
And
Stephen (07:20):
it's also based off of
Steve (07:21):
pride and prejudice, which I would never have known.
And you figured out what halfwaythrough or like, not even like a
third of the way through
Stephen (07:27):
or a third of the way through.
I was like, Wait a minute.
I know this story.
This is pride and Prejudice.
Steve (07:31):
That's awesome.
Everyone loves a good laugh.
What gets you laughing?
So in
Stephen (07:36):
terms of favorite comedy movies, it would be my
cousin Vinny.
I believe that the movie isinfinitely quotable.
Marissa Tome was a revelationand absolutely earned her.
Oscar.
Joe Peci is at his funniest, andI can watch this movie again and
again and never get tired of it.
Mm-hmm.
(07:57):
It's, I don't know, like it justamazes me that somebody wrote
something that is this funny andis still this funny like 30
years later.
Steve (08:07):
Yeah, no, I agree.
And that's awesome.
I watched it for the first time30 years later and it was still,
Stephen (08:13):
yes.
Now, what's one of yours?
The
Steve (08:16):
sweetest thing.
I love that movie.
It was a comedy that was like,well, it's a romcom.
It was more about like the groupof girls and their adventurous
together, which I liked and itjust makes me happy and it makes
me laugh, and it just taught mehow I'm supposed to react to
your penis whenever I see it.
Ooh, it's so
Stephen (08:36):
big.
I loved this movie because.
It gave Christina Applegate.
Yeah.
A comeback.
A comeback and a big starringrole.
Treating her like a real actressfor the first time because she
was great on married withchildren.
Yeah.
But it was wonderful to see heras an adult actress and really
(08:56):
talented.
Yeah.
And it also has some Blair who Ilove.
Yeah.
Steve (09:00):
That's one.
I could just, if I was to, if wewere flipping channels and it
was on tv, be like, hold on,let's at least watch till the
next commercial.
Yeah.
Stephen (09:07):
Now my other one is one of my favorite movies of all
time.
Death Becomes
Steve (09:14):
Her.
We've done an episode on itpeople can listen to.
Stephen (09:16):
Yes, Meryl Streep and Goldie hon.
At the top of their game, Iprobably have this movie
completely memorized.
And I should have known earlierin life I was gay as this was my
favorite movie as a 12 year old.
I can see
Steve (09:30):
that being quite telling.
Stephen (09:31):
Yeah.
What about you?
What's another favorite comedymovie of yours?
I
Steve (09:35):
would say it was not Ano, it's not another gay movie and I
know that you feel differently,but it also, I think, shows.
Our age got more.
Cuz at the time when in themovie came out, it wasn't even,
not another gay movie for me.
It was like the first like gaymovie that I saw or like, not,
not like the first one but likethe first comedy one like this.
But like I was able tounderstand about like half the
(09:56):
jokes just from like pop culturein the time.
But I didn't get some of the gayor gay jokes that I get later on
whenever re-watching it.
But it was also just amazing,like cuz I was, at that time
where I was like, I think incollege or like fresh out of
high school-ish where it wasjust, Seeing like guys being
able to talk about theirsexuality so blatantly and even
though it was like, it's funny,but it's also just like, it was
(10:18):
just freeing at the time, beingable to be like, wow, like you
can have gay friends and liketalk about your love life and
stuff and it was just
Stephen (10:25):
cool.
Yeah, and I love that it wasthat there were enough gay
movies by that time that theycould do this as a parody.
Yeah.
It was funny.
Now what about some of yourfavorite musical
Steve (10:37):
movies?
I love The Greatest Showman andI can watch it over and over
again and we did a whole episodeon it about it.
Yes,
Stephen (10:44):
I agree.
The Greatest Showman isfantastic and they had such a
good viral marketing campaignmm-hmm.
Leading up to it showing likethe behind the scenes, the
behind the scenes rehearsals onthose two songs that got people
sharing the videos and gettingreally excited for it to come
out and.
It was everything.
Yes.
Yeah,
Steve (11:04):
it was.
But what It will always be youreverything.
Stephen (11:07):
Molan
Steve (11:08):
Rouge.
Yes.
You can also hear a wholeepisode
Stephen (11:11):
of us talking about that.
Yep.
Nicole Kidman's role that madeher a movie star.
She goes all in on her actingand over the top zaniness.
Her singing is exceptional.
The story gets me every time.
It's funny, it's heartbreaking.
The cast is superb.
And I also have to do a quickshout out to Chicago, the movie.
(11:33):
It is my favorite Broadwaymusical.
And the movie version is stellarand I believe it actually shines
brighter than the stage showfilling in some gaps in the
story of the stage show.
And if I had been able to pickthree, Chicago would've been the
third slot.
Steve (11:48):
Awesome.
Well, we can give that honorablemention because my second one is
kind of cheating.
It's pitch Perfect.
Stephen (11:53):
That totally counts as a musical movie.
Yes, it's
Steve (11:56):
a musical movie with pop culture, like pop songs that I
knew.
So it was super fun.
And Sideway is running and Ilove it.
Yeah, it's very funny and itholds up and it's funny.
Stephen (12:05):
It is really funny.
Mine second one is Sister Act.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Another movie from my childhoodthat I would watch on Repeat
will be as hysterically funny.
It's the movie that introducedme to Dame Maggie Smith and
Kathleen to Jimmy.
And I love the song Choices.
The sequel is excellent, but theoriginal is top tier for me.
(12:28):
Yeah.
Awesome.
Now favorite romance movies?
You can go first.
Steve (12:33):
All right.
I would say the notebook, ascliche as it is, because with
all the drinking and drugs Idid, I know that I'm gonna get
some form of dementia one day,and I just hope that you take
care of me that way.
Stephen (12:48):
I will absolutely take care of you with a pillow acro.
I mean, yes, I would take careof y'all.
Okay.
What about eu?
Mine is also another movie frommy childhood that has stuck with
me.
And this along with PrincessBride Clue, are tied from my
favorite movies of all time.
It is the Princess Bride.
(13:09):
I have, and that, that and DeathBecomes Her and Princess Bride
are my top three and has notchanged for 30 years.
This movie makes me laugh.
It makes my heart soar.
It hits all the right notes, thewriting and the acting.
I could go on and on and I didbecause we did an episode on
this one.
Again, it's just great.
(13:30):
I love
Steve (13:30):
it.
Yeah.
And for my other one, it isanother game movie that we did
an episode on.
Yes.
Call Me by Your Name.
Just a solid romantic love storythat I went in expecting to
throw super amounts of shade at,and at the end I was actually
like, good story, bro.
Stephen (13:44):
I liked it.
That one kind of broke my heart,but I mean, I think that's what
he was supposed to do because itwas about his first love and
Steve (13:53):
Yeah.
And that normally, but like whatI appreciated was it was broken
heart where like they both endedup like living lives.
Yeah.
And not like a broken heartbecause one died.
Right.
Stephen (14:02):
Which, yes.
I can definitely appreciate
Steve (14:04):
that.
Yes.
Let's do a something.
Oh wait, you have one more to goover and it is a Happier Romance
movie.
Stephen (14:09):
Yes.
So it is my Big Fat Greekwedding.
Yes.
This is the movie that gave usthe wonderful NEA Vados who
wrote this movie.
Based off her one woman stageshow.
This was the little independentmovie that could, I saw it three
times in the theater.
It's just really, really funny.
It holds up well after all theseyears.
(14:29):
And another movie that has somany wonderful quotes in it.
Especially thanks to the amazingacting talents of Andrea Martin
as her Aunt Vula.
Mm-hmm.
With You don't eat.
No meat is okay.
It makes me smile.
Yes.
Now it wouldn't be our podcastif we didn't talk about some
(14:53):
super superheroes.
So let's talk about somefavorite Marvel M C U movies.
Well, you're
Steve (14:59):
already on the record for your favorite being Captain
Marvel.
So why don't you remind us forthose who didn't listen to the
episode.
Stephen (15:05):
Yeah, so this movie was so much fun.
Bree Larson did a phenomenaljob.
Her onscreen chemistry withSamuel L.
Jackson was fantastic.
I would like, I'd watch a BuddyCop or like a competing
detective movie or somethingwith them in it.
I love the throwback to theeighties, especially the
blockbuster scene.
(15:26):
Mm-hmm.
And I'm very much lookingforward to the Marvels.
That will be very good.
Yes.
What about you?
What's one are of
Steve (15:34):
your favorites?
I feel like, I mean, you haveto, we have to throw a nod and a
out, like for the amount ofstorytelling and perf like
storytelling, perfection theyachieved with the Infinity War
endgame combo.
Agreed.
It would, it would be an entirepodcast in itself to explain the
lead up and the events of themovie.
In an episode, but it just, itthe fact that they took so many
(15:56):
years of world building acrossthese different stories and
managed to tie it all togetherin such an amazing, like, it was
a cultural phenomenon, like theending of Infinity War and like
how it left people until we gotendgame.
Oh, I know.
Like it
Stephen (16:10):
was like 20 movies.
Yeah.
Steve (16:12):
The country like grieved together over half of their
superheroes dying, even thoughwe hoped that most of them would
come back and figured theywould.
Oh, like it just, You have likefor something that changes pop
culture as we know it.
I think we have to give a nod tothose, that combo.
Oh,
Stephen (16:26):
100%.
No.
No company has ever built upthat kind of mythology and story
with that kind of payoff.
Ever, and I doubt it will everbe done again.
Steve (16:43):
Yeah.
I'm still enjoying all theMarvel movies.
I, I get annoyed at the hatersthat are like, well, it hasn't
reached the same heights.
I'm like, how could you
Stephen (16:48):
expect it took 10 years?
Steve (16:50):
How could you expect them to hit that level every 10
years?
It just seems
Stephen (16:54):
absurd.
Well, and also we're only inlike year four of the buildup.
Give it some time people.
Yes.
Well,
Steve (17:02):
wanna know something that is universally praised and
beloved.
What's that?
Your next favorite
Stephen (17:06):
one?
Oh yes, black Panther.
There's something so specialabout this movie.
Yes.
The acting is amazing and it'ssome of the best of any
superhero movie, and I think alot of that goes to our leads.
Especially the.
Absolutely wonderful.
And too soon gone.
(17:28):
Yeah.
Lead himself and especially missStella of how Stella got her
groove back.
Yes.
Angela Bassett, Angela Bassett,that I love so much.
But something has to be saidabout the amount of myth and
world building that was done insuch a short period of time in
that movie that feels so fleshedout and so real, and you buy
(17:49):
into all of it and.
Yeah, this movie has held upextraordinarily well
Steve (17:54):
as also, it's only been a few years.
It's not like we're talkingabout decades.
Stephen (17:57):
I know, but like sometimes you see a superhero
movie, you're like, that wasgood.
And you go back and watch it.
You're like, oh.
Not as good as I thought.
Steve (18:05):
Yes.
Well, we haven't re-watched ityet, but I also added to this
list Spider-Man.
No Way Home, because again, justin terms of what they were able
to accomplish, taking all thesecrazy different Spider-Man movie
timelines and reboots andremakes with copyright issues
and have it actually make sensein a plot of a movie that was
actually cohesive and good wasjust
Stephen (18:24):
really cool.
Well, and what's kind of funwith this is.
Usually Spider-Man's originstory is done in the first 45,
50 minutes of a movie mm-hmm.
With Uncle Benton dying.
Yeah.
And his origin story was thetrilogy.
Yeah.
This is what made himSpider-Man.
And you don't really get thatuntil the Aunt Mac at the end of
(18:48):
No Way Home and you're like,fuck.
They build all of this up as hisorigin story.
Yeah.
And.
Oh, it was super, super well
Steve (18:58):
done.
Yes.
Plus, we now know that Canongeologically Spider-Man could
have a three-way.
With himself.
With himself.
Stephen (19:06):
So awesome.
Steve (19:08):
Yes.
Now, we also can't give a wholecategory related to superhero
Marvel movies without giving oneto superhero movies where
Marvel's not allowed.
Well, where
Stephen (19:19):
it's not M C U.
Well,
Steve (19:21):
true, true cuz we are gonna twist it with the Marvels.
So go into a non M C U superheromovie of your
Stephen (19:26):
favorite.
That would be Xmen two XmenUnited.
Well, days of Future Past isfantastic.
This one is still my favorite.
It's based off of one of myfavorite X-Men stories.
God Loves Man Kills, which iswhere they're trying to destroy
all mutants.
And it gives us more of RebeccaRomaine as mystique and her
(19:50):
interactions with Mag Nito FKAJanssen as Jean Gray is
outstanding in this one given somuch more to do.
Then the first movie.
Great Action.
Great effects, great story.
A plus best X-Men movie, Ibelieve.
Steve (20:05):
Yes.
And while not an X-Men, he mightas well be sometimes yes.
I also am just in love withDeadpool and how they were able
to take this smirk worth ofmouth from the comics and like
bring him to life in like aperfect way.
Like Ryan Reynolds was made toplay that role.
It's just, that's another moviejust.
I could re-watch it over andover and over again and laugh
(20:26):
every time.
It is
Stephen (20:28):
so super funny.
They did nothing wrong inDeadpool.
Like it is a perfect movie.
Yes.
I I I wouldn't change a thinglike Bravo.
Steve (20:42):
Yes.
And what about another movie youthink is perfect?
Stephen (20:45):
So this is me going over to the DC Universe.
Yeah.
It would be Batman Returns.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.
That is, that's all you need toknow.
Yeah.
But it has so many other goodthings.
The chemistry she has withMichael Keaton, who is my
favorite Batman.
Yeah.
Their chemistry is palpable.
The line about the missile toe,whenever they figure out who the
(21:08):
other one is, and Danny DeVitoas the pen was actually scary to
me as a child.
So yeah, that one is my favoriteBatman movie.
And one of my favorite superheromovies of all
Steve (21:21):
time.
Yeah, and I would also have toadd to that list Spider-Man into
the spider verse, cuz whowould've thought a cartoon
Spider-Man movie would be likethe best superhero origin story?
That we've seen in probably 10,20 years.
That's like, again, non Marvel,
Stephen (21:39):
but just, oh, and the animation was so beautiful.
Yeah, it was so
Steve (21:44):
cool.
Like all of it was so well done.
I can't wait to see the new one.
Stephen (21:47):
For those who haven't seen it, hey, go watch it.
But it's about Miles Morales thebest fighter man, and it's, oh,
it's so good.
And I'm very excited to see.
The new Spider Verse movie.
Yes.
Steve (22:02):
And we've already talked a little bit at the opening
about your favorite mysterymovie of all time.
It is
Stephen (22:07):
Clue.
I know it's shocking.
Wait, I knew that.
Yeah.
This is the Apex best evermystery movie Case closed.
Hands down.
I can actually quote this entiremovie.
It's funny, it's witty.
They don't slow down for thelaughter after the jokes, and it
has three different endings thatall worked how it was filmed.
(22:27):
A truly all-star comedic castthat worked so beautifully with
each other, and even after allthese years and literally seeing
it over a hundred times.
Mm-hmm.
There are still certain thingsI'm noticing because usually
I'll focus on.
Somebody, but I've been takingtime whenever we will re-watch
it again.
Yes.
To watch people who aren'tspeaking Yeah.
(22:48):
And how they're all acting withtheir whole bodies and reacting
and it, it's just so good.
And it deserved more at the timewhen it came out, but I'm glad
that.
It has the respect It does now.
Steve (23:06):
Good.
Excellent.
We all, I also love knives outand we spend a whole episode
talking about
Stephen (23:10):
it.
Yes, it is very, very good.
I'm glad that it is now amystery series.
Yes.
I fully support that.
And again, he's grabbing actorsat the top of their game,
throwing them in and lettingthem play these wonderful games.
Yeah.
Together and.
I can't wait to see what theycome up with for the third one,
(23:32):
because obviously the first twowere so successful.
There's gonna be a third.
Yes.
What about your next one?
You may not have seen this one.
Nope.
It is the usual suspects.
Steve (23:42):
So, and by the way, knives out three is confirmed
apparently.
Stephen (23:45):
Oh, excellent.
Usual suspects, the solesurvivor of a peer shootout
tells the story of how anotorious criminal.
Influence the events that beganwith five criminals meeting in a
seemingly random way.
Great actors.
Unfortunately, it's directed byalleged sex offender.
(24:07):
Brian Singer.
Same.
So is X two X, so was X two.
You just
Steve (24:12):
love sex offenders?
I do not.
You just love them so much,Steve?
I do not.
They're your favorite of people.
Stop.
Okay.
Just kidding.
That was not on the
Stephen (24:21):
record.
No.
But the most important questionfor the usual suspects is, Who
is Kaiser Soce?
And I'll show you sometimebecause it's honestly a mystery
movie I think you would reallylike.
Steve (24:34):
Cool.
And more recently we watchedMissing, which I just loved for
the turning the mystery genre onits head with the way that it
was done using modern technologyand communication and just
showing how resourceful thesekids can be with the technology
when they have.
Critical thinking skills.
It was just really at the storyitself was fascinating.
(24:56):
I was constantly like guessingwhat's gonna happen next and
constantly wrong, and I enjoyedevery
Stephen (25:00):
minute of it.
I did not expect to enjoy it asmuch as I did.
And yeah, I don't want to giveanything away because it's newly
out on streaming.
And there are so many twists andturns that like there were
certain things I was like, oh, Ihope that's not true.
Or Oh gosh, no, no.
And like then the movie wouldturn and you'd be like, I didn't
(25:22):
see that coming.
Yes.
So favorite documentaries.
Well,
Steve (25:27):
we have to show how smart we are, so we have to talk.
Well then again, I looked at myanswers.
Let's not talk about how smartwe are.
Let's talk about the nonfictionwe enjoy.
Okay, you go first.
I.
My mind was blown with the codedbias on Netflix and talking
about just the way thattechnology as it's been
developing unknowingly, has biasbiases against people, whether
(25:50):
it be women against differentpeople of different ethnicities,
gender identities, and it wasjust really eyeopening.
How,
Stephen (25:57):
how does it have these biases explain a little bit.
Because I don't think I watchedit with you.
Steve (26:02):
We'll rewatch it together because I'm not that smart to
say it on the spot.
But it, it also is the reasonwhy after watching that, that I
never click on sponsored Amazonads or sponsored anything.
If I search, I always scrolldown to the non-sponsored ones
cuz they taught me about how badit is.
But like, it really makes youthink about the way that you're
using the internet.
And I love like socialcommentary.
(26:23):
I love the technology talk.
So it was a really
Stephen (26:26):
eye-opening experience.
Excellent.
My, one of my favorites is GrayGardens.
Mm-hmm.
That we did an episode on.
If you haven't gotten the idea,I force Steve to do episodes on
my favorite things and I lovehim for it.
So the Gray Gardens deals withthe cousins of Jackie o and
their acentric lives and theirfall from Opulence.
(26:49):
Yes.
It has such great charactersthat you wouldn't be blamed if
you thought they were made up.
And we can actually send aspecial thanks to Jinx Monsoon
for bringing little Edie BouvierBeal into the minds of a new
generation of queers.
Steve (27:04):
Yes, it was great seeing Ronnie's cousins
Stephen (27:09):
or big Edie Ronnie in the future.
Yes.
Steve (27:14):
And I also secret, I love porn.
And sex and all of that.
But like, not even in aperverted, like for me doing it
myself type of way.
Like I love listening to, andlike people's talk about their,
like sexual experiences, not ina pervy way, but like how
different it can be for so manydifferent people and how we can
look at sex differently, likewhen
Stephen (27:35):
we watch that.
So you wanna build a sex roomshow?
Steve (27:38):
Yeah, exactly like that.
So like I, the recently watchedon Netflix Money Shot the
PornHub story Pornhub's thewebsite that pops up anytime
most of us type P into our webbrowser.
But just, and it was a reallywell done that had talked about
some of the controversyassociated with it, where it was
justifying they were like notdoing their best to make things
a safe space on the internet.
(27:59):
Mm-hmm.
But then it was also fascinatinghearing about the way that the
blowback against it wasn'thurting anyone other than the
consenting performers.
Right.
And so I just.
I love it.
I love, like I said, if you, ifyou love like it's honorary, the
shout out was there was onerecently I think on sex work on
Hulu as well.
But I just, I love sex workdocumentaries and like porn
(28:22):
documentaries and all that kindof
Stephen (28:23):
stuff.
I also enjoy one's like, wewatched that oh, it was Sex
Steve (28:28):
for Sale, the untold story about like all the
different streaming things.
Stephen (28:33):
We also would watch one called Stay Sweet.
Yes.
Where it was exposing a certainsect of a religious order and I
really enjoy, like, exposethings like that.
And there's a new one about thatcreepy Dugger family.
Oh, you'll have to watch that.
Yeah.
But my other favoritedocumentary is Paris's Burning.
Mm-hmm.
It is a look at the ballroomscene of New York City in the
(28:56):
1980s.
It is a must for any lgbtq plusperson.
This is our history.
This is where we came from.
That scene and that time gaverise to so many parts of queer
culture that we still have andwe now celebrate and.
(29:18):
It's it honestly, just watch it.
It's really good.
All
Steve (29:22):
right.
And what about, I need to take anap real quickly.
So I only talk about thehistorical fiction movies.
Well,
Stephen (29:29):
so one I saw over Christmas that I didn't think
you would like, but now I'mlike, it's so good.
I might have you watch it.
It's called r r r, and it is anIndian movie with subtitles for
Part of it.
And I first saw this movie onNetflix, and it tells the story
(29:50):
of two freedom fighters whoembark on a long journey before
fighting against Britishcolonialists.
And it has one of the best dancesequences of any movie.
And the song with that dancesequence ended up winning the
Oscar for best original songthis year.
Steve (30:07):
Yeah, I liked Apollo 13 because it made history seem
almost fun and space is cool.
Stephen (30:12):
I went to Space Camp.
I know, and, and like I used tothink I wanted to be an
astronaut.
And then they were like, oh, youhave to go if you really wanna
be an astronaut, you have to bein the military and a pilot.
And then I was like, no, thankyou.
Yes.
Steve (30:26):
And what about another one for you?
Stephen (30:28):
It would be Hamilton.
Yes.
So thanks to Lynn Manuel Mirandaand Disney Plus, we got to see a
filming of the original Broadwaycast.
So 10 Nickley
Steve (30:37):
counts as a
Stephen (30:38):
movie.
It counts as a movie, and it's astunning and amazing musical.
And the soundtrack isexceptional and sticks with you
and.
I really, really liked it.
So yes, I count this as ahistorical fiction movie because
it, we got to watch it.
Yes.
Steve (30:57):
And then I liked the help because it was funny in parts.
I want to give some people a poopie some days, and I appreciate
them for giving me that visual.
Stephen (31:07):
Yes, that was another movie that we covered and
exceptionally well acted.
In all parts, whether it was theheroes or the villains, and I
just think that is another justmm.
A plus movie.
Steve (31:24):
Yes.
And I for, I see that you lovedfor Disney movies, the Little
Mermaid last week.
So much.
It's your favorite Disney movieof all time.
Well,
Stephen (31:31):
the animated movie is one of my favorites.
Oh, okay.
That makes no sense.
Yeah.
I immediately fell in love withthe character of Ursula and the
song, poor Unfortunate Souls.
And as you know, as I've beentalking about for several years,
since they announced it, I'vehad high hopes for the live
action movie and it did notdisappoint.
In some ways I loved it evenmore.
(31:52):
And what I think is great is nowI have two versions.
Of my favorite Disney movie.
Steve (31:57):
Yes.
Unlike me who I still have tostick to, my favorite animated
movie being Lion King, which thelive action was not as good.
No.
Or happy or uplifting.
No.
Or made me feel good.
No.
I, when I was little, wanted tobe Simba so bad and I didn't
understand why I couldn't justbe a lion cub.
(32:18):
I see that for you.
Stephen (32:19):
Yeah.
That adds up, right?
Yeah.
I was really disappointed in thelive action.
It.
Took the color and the joy.
And I know that there's darkthemes in there, but somehow
everything, it all seemed dark.
Yeah, it all seemed dark.
The things that I really enjoyedout of it.
(32:39):
And what's crazy is, I thinkit's the same director that did
the Jungle book for Live Actionand the Jungle Book Live Action
was fine, was fantastic.
Oh, I don't remember it.
Oh, I loved the Live ActionJungle book, so yeah.
Stick with the animated LionKing.
Yes.
Steve (32:57):
And we've done an episode on this one and talk about all
the time.
Hocus Pocus is
Stephen (33:01):
your second?
Yes.
It's one of the first movieswhere I wanted to, the so-called
villains to win.
I just wanted them to get onechild so they could stay young
and make it past the firstnight.
Mm-hmm.
Like, I don't, and I, and I'mglad to know that as I got
older, I found out I'm not theonly one.
That one of the Sandersonsisters to win?
(33:24):
Yes, we all did.
And every queer person knows andloves the, I put a spell on.
You've seen?
Yes.
And though some didn't enjoy thesequel, I found it thoroughly
enjoyable and allegedly they'refinishing out a trilogy.
Oh, awesome.
Yeah.
And what is your other favoriteDisney movie?
Steve (33:43):
I would say Finding Nemo.
It came out in a time that, Asfar as I'm personally concerned,
and I haven't looked at whatother US came out around that
time, but it felt like a dryspell for Disney for me.
I think so.
And it was just like, oh, I canstill love Disney.
And it was at the point where Iwas in high school, so I was
like a little bit too old forit, but I was still able to
appreciate it and enjoy it.
(34:04):
I still remember like one of mygirlfriends in high school
giving me like a NEMO stuffedanimal that made it to me to
college.
Mm-hmm.
And so, yeah, just for where itcame out in my life and the fact
that it still holds up prettywell, And I have the memory of
Dory sometimes.
So it was nice to be, definitelyhave dory's memory.
It's generally selective.
(34:25):
Like if I wanna remembersomething, I will remember it.
But if we're talking aboutsomething and it doesn't
register, in my mind, doesimportant.
Like I have Dory moments quitefrequently, so it's
Stephen (34:34):
like, babe, we have to do this.
What do you mean?
We talked about this?
I don't think we did.
We did, but normally
Steve (34:42):
my answer always for that is like, okay, I'm down for it.
And that's probably why I didn'tbother remembering it as I was
like, when it will happen, I'llbe okay
Stephen (34:48):
now.
Other movie, other movie studiosbesides Disney make animated
movies.
Really?
It's a shock, but
Steve (34:55):
it's true.
Yeah.
I loved one called Shrek.
Stephen (34:59):
I really enjoyed Shrek.
I actually think I enjoyed Shrektoo more.
Yeah.
But Shrek is fantastic.
Yes.
What else for you?
It's held a Train Your Dragon.
It's my favorite Dreamworksmovie.
Shrek was also done byDreamworks.
Something about Shk two is ithas a great soundtrack and
(35:19):
there's some really fun things.
On the D V D that there was likeDVD karaoke stuff on there.
That's fun.
Yeah.
But How to Train Your Dragonfavorite Dreamworks movie.
I love the story.
It makes me cry every time.
Mm-hmm.
Like to this day, I love thefriendship between Hiccup and
Toothless, and I would totallygo to live in that world at the
(35:42):
end of the movie so that I couldhave a pet dragon.
Steve (35:45):
That would be awesome having a Pet Dragon.
And while I hesitated putting iton my list of happiest movies,
Stephen (35:51):
it's not happiest.
It's favorite.
Steve (35:53):
The favorite.
The land before time was like inmy childhood, I was like, how is
this not a Disney movie?
Because it just is so Disney.
Well, and, and other than themom dying, it was like pretty
fun movie.
Stephen (36:05):
And his grief and trauma afterwards.
Well, yeah, but that willhappen.
But it was a good movie.
Yeah, it is a really, reallygood movie.
And
Steve (36:13):
I re, that movie as, as a young child, helped me show like
see that like stories could betold that aren't always about
happy endings and it was stillokay.
Stephen (36:22):
Yeah.
And I remember having a stuffedlittle foot.
Yeah.
And I remember, I think PizzaHut had.
The puppets of each of thecharacters that you could get?
No.
That was a really good movie andmy other favorite, it's
technically animated.
(36:42):
It's who framed Roger Rabbit.
Steve (36:44):
That counts enough.
Stephen (36:46):
I was obsessed with this.
Yes.
In my childhood.
Steve (36:48):
Yes.
You're on the record forthinking Tune Town was real and
being upset that you couldn'tvisit it.
Stephen (36:52):
Yeah, that is true.
Yes.
It had Disney characters andWarner Brothers characters, so I
actually don't know.
Who made the movie?
Who cares?
Yeah.
It blended animation with thereal world.
As you said, I wanted to visitTune Town badly, and I wish
there had been more Roger Rabbitmovies like this, but I'm glad
that we have this one that Ithink is just perfect.
(37:15):
Yeah, and
Steve (37:15):
we have the remake they're doing.
No, I know.
I'm kidding.
Stephen (37:20):
Okay, then let's talk about favorite.
Fantasy movies.
Steve (37:25):
Well, I grew up at the age, well, maybe it wasn't,
maybe it was old at that time,but Willy Monkin, the Chocolate
Factory was just whimsy on astick that
Stephen (37:32):
was old when I was young.
Steve (37:34):
Okay.
So, yes.
But I remember growing up withthat movie and just the fantasy
of it all.
And everyone wanted to visit thechocolate factory and didn't
want to be one of the brats andevery, I was like, I would
totally be Charlie.
Like I wouldn't be one of thebad kids.
Stephen (37:47):
I could see you being Mike tv.
I don't
Steve (37:49):
know what you're
Stephen (37:50):
talking about.
That's okay.
I see myself unfortunately beinglike Violet, violet Bogar.
Yeah.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
I loved the mpa Lumpa songs.
Yeah.
So much like, and some of thekids got songs like Veruca, I
Want it Now.
Yeah.
And it's kind of dark and scaryfor kids too, like when they're
(38:12):
on the boat.
I enjoyed it.
Yeah.
No, it's really good.
And I.
I did not enjoy the remake asmuch.
No, me either.
And I know that it was morehonest to the book or whatnot,
but I also believe that theydestroyed the MPA Lupe songs cuz
you couldn't understand thewords.
Yeah.
Now one of my favorite fantasymovies is Practical Magic.
(38:36):
We did an episode on it, we didtwo Sisters, both witches and
it's the story of them and loveand family.
Nikki Kidman, Sandy Bullock.
Great story.
It's fun, funny, emotional, andthat scene at the end where they
all work together is everything.
Yes.
Steve (38:54):
I also wanted to throw a curve ball on this list with the
Shape of Water, cuz that was areally cool
Stephen (38:58):
fantasy movie.
It was a really cool fantasymovie.
And I love anything withGuillermo del Toro.
Yes.
And I know a lot of people justrefer, they're like the Shape of
Water, the fish sex movie.
I'll take it.
Yeah.
It.
Was really, really well done.
And you believe the story by thetime it's all said and done.
(39:20):
I, I agree.
Yeah.
That's a fantastic
Steve (39:22):
movie.
And for your second one, if Ihad remembered it would've been
on my list as well.
Jumanji?
Yes.
The original.
The original, well, I, the new
one's
Stephen (39:31):
good too.
Yeah.
Because it technically is asequel.
Yeah.
And this movie makes me happy.
Robin Williams is always adelight.
But I think he's even morewonderful in this.
And even though the board gamethey were playing was trying to
kill them, I always thought itwould be fun to play it myself.
And also it's nice to know thatthis movie Stars two Broadway
(39:54):
Divas, BB New and Laura BellBundy.
Yes.
And
Steve (39:59):
what about favorite adventure movies?
Favorite
Stephen (40:01):
adventure movies?
So, For me, and I think this isa product of my age and things.
Mm-hmm.
But it would be Indiana Jones inthe Temple of Doom.
That adds up.
I enjoy all of the Indiana Jonesmovies, but this is my favorite.
You have K mall and the pulling,the beating heart out snake
surprise.
(40:21):
You have the Mine car actionsequence.
The musical number at thebeginning, not to mention Kay
Hui Kwan who as a child was sofantastic in that movie and now
we love him in everythingeverywhere, all at once.
Yep.
Now, what about you?
(40:42):
What's a favorite adventuremovie?
Back to the Future,
Steve (40:45):
which you showed me as a grownup and I still love it.
Like I was a kid.
Stephen (40:47):
Yes.
These movies were a huge part ofmy childhood and they all aged
extremely well.
Michael J.
Fox, Christopher Lloyd, LeahThompson, they make magic.
And this trilogy, I also thinkis perfect.
Yes.
For me, a second one would beThe Mummy.
It's kind of Indiana Jones for anew generation.
(41:09):
Brendan Fraser is funny andcharismatic.
The action is really good.
I find the story compelling.
I really enjoyed the specialeffects.
Not so much the special effectsas the rock, as the serpent king
in the second one, which ispretty bad, special effects.
But overall, Excellent.
Steve (41:27):
Yes.
And then of course Jaws cuz weneed a
Stephen (41:30):
bigger boat.
We need a bigger boat.
It's an excellent movie.
It made a lot of people afraidto go in the water.
Yeah.
I prefer the action of Jaws too,more than the original.
Yes.
But this one had really, reallygood dramatic and emotional
depth to it.
Mm-hmm.
And for its time period to makepeople believe that that was a
(41:52):
real shark.
Is kind of impressive.
Yes.
Steve (41:55):
And what about science fiction?
Yes.
This
Stephen (41:58):
is our last category for this episode.
And
Steve (42:01):
then I'm taking a nap.
Stephen (42:02):
Favorite science fiction movies.
So for me my first one is SpaceBalls.
Mm-hmm.
My brother loved the Star Warsmovies for me.
It was the Parody Space Balls.
Steve (42:15):
I actually thought that that was another Star Wars
movie.
No, when I was younger.
Stephen (42:20):
Mel Brooks's parody send up of the Star Wars movies.
It has Rick Moran's Dark Helmet,Daphne Zuniga from Melrose's
Place as Princess Vespa.
And there's always somethingabout this movie that just
tickles my funny bone and.
Like there were certain jokes Ididn't get as a child, but I
still thought they were funny.
(42:40):
And then watching them as anadult, I thought they were even
funnier.
Mm-hmm.
So this has always stuck withme.
What about you?
I
Steve (42:49):
enjoyed Star Wars six.
I think the number was Return ofthe Jedi.
Yes.
Because I wanted an Ewok for apet and I love the Ewoks and I
also love the pet.
And now we have
Stephen (42:58):
our own Some little, now we have our own We Ewok.
So yeah.
I love it.
I agree.
The Return of the Jedi wasreally good.
I think that was probably one ofthe first end of Trilogies that
a lot of people had seen.
And to have that story of playedout and you get all of this
payoff and everything.
I think I saw it first.
Steve (43:19):
Oh, okay.
Stephen (43:21):
That's
Steve (43:21):
interesting.
Yeah, it happens.
It was on TV and it was on, so Iwatched it,
Stephen (43:27):
For me, W e easily in my top 10 favorite movies of all
time now, and my favoritescience fiction movie,
everything Everywhere, all atOnce.
It was the movie of 2022.
Incredible cast, Oscars allaround truly epic, funny,
emotional action.
(43:49):
The special effects in fightscenes are legendary and already
iconic.
I mean, Fighting with dildos.
I love that it's a truly specialmovie because even once you look
past some of the absurd things,the deeper story of a woman
finding herself is trulywonderful and, and it, I really,
(44:15):
really love that movie.
Awesome.
Now what about you, FA?
Other favorite science fictionmovie?
Total
Steve (44:23):
Recall, but it was more just cause I was struggling
finding a second.
Stephen (44:27):
So you mean the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Steve (44:29):
No, the re, the remake, but I still like it with the
Three boobs lady.
I just think that that'd be acool world to live in for a
Stephen (44:35):
minute.
I have not seen the remake atall, so I can't comment on that.
But I will trust you.
I also
Steve (44:42):
didn't think too hard.
So if someone's like, really,that doesn't add up?
It probably doesn't and I'mmisremembering it.
But every Rose site I wasresearching, I had to stop cuz I
ran into ET on the list and Ihate ET and it makes me scared.
So I had to stop.
Why does
Stephen (44:56):
ET make you scared?
It's
Steve (44:58):
been terrified since I was a child for it.
My family would traumatize meand they thought by getting me
over the fear, they would sneakme onto the ET ride at Epcot or
at the Universal, universalUniversal Studios.
And I was.
Having full-blown child meltdownin my family who just was
laughing at me the entire time.
That's
Stephen (45:16):
some trauma right there.
It
Steve (45:17):
was really bad.
Like the, that was like, but ETwon't be on the ride.
And they're like, no, he won'tbe on the ride.
He won't be on the ride.
He was everywhere on
Stephen (45:23):
the ride.
And he's at the front of yourcart too.
Steve (45:26):
It was, it was rough and it was only when I watched it in
high school that I was like,okay, it's not terrifying, but
like as a child,
Stephen (45:34):
I was terrified of it.
I don't think I've watched itsince I was a child because it
bothered me so much.
Yeah.
No, no,
Steve (45:41):
so that's, that's where we're stopping for the day.
Yes.
That's it for now.
We'd love to hear what you thinkof our categories so far.
Any favorites you might have onthe list or any ones that we
might have missed.
You can do that by emailing usat Happy Life pod@gmail.com, or
Stephen (45:54):
you can get us in touch with us on all the socials and
tell us that you agree with ourpics or we totally missed out on
this one.
By getting in touch on Facebook,Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at
Happy
Steve (46:08):
Life Pod.
And until next time, everybodystay happy.
Don't worry.
The horror movies are comingnext week.
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