August 15, 2023 • 25 mins
The Steves discuss their summer movie marathon of "Red, White, and Royal Blue", "Bones and All", and "Cobweb", along with what's making them happy today!
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Steve (00:02):
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners.
This is Steven Bennett Martin.
And this is Steven
Stephen (00:07):
Martin Bennett.
And welcome and welcome to, to aLifetime of Happiness,
Steve (00:10):
the podcast where we take you on our journey through some
of the movies, shows, and otherbits of pop culture that are
helping to keep us happy, whilehopefully bring a smell to your
face along the way.
And
Stephen (00:19):
today it's all about summer movies as we discuss
Amazon Primes, red White andRoyal Blue Bones and all and as
well as the movie
Steve (00:29):
Cobwebs.
Yes.
And before we get into all ofthose movies that we all, that
we watched together in all ofone evening.
Yes.
What else has been making ushappy?
Stephen (00:40):
For me it was bumper cars go-kart riding and arcade
Steve (00:44):
games.
And funny thing, we did allthree of those.
Things at once.
Well, we weren't playing arcadegames while on the go-kart, but
it was at the same location forour friend's party.
We went to one of our localarcades and had a really good
time and the bumper
Stephen (00:57):
car spun around in circles.
Yes.
That was really,
Steve (01:01):
really cool.
Yeah, and I love how, you know,we chose the location because
our friend has children who aretweens that are the age where
arcades are the place you go onFriday nights.
But it worked out just how muchthe adults, you know that in our
thirties and forties were justhaving the time of our life
playing the arcade games too.
We were doing ski
Stephen (01:19):
ball in that, shooting the basketball game and then
trying to knock down the clowns,throwing baseballs, and of
course the lesbian beat both ofus.
Well, of course she did.
What about you, my darling?
What's making you happy?
Steve (01:33):
I would say for the first time in probably six plus
months, I took a mental dayhealth.
Day off from work the other dayand it was very nice just taking
a day off for no other reasonthan I was tired.
Stephen (01:45):
That is absolutely fantastic.
I fully support mental healthdays, anything people need to do
for their mental health.
So bravo to you.
I.
Yes.
Steve (01:56):
And something that also helped my mental health was we
watched these three movies andtwo of the three were awesome.
Stephen (02:03):
So we won't tell you ahead of time which one wasn't.
You'll have to figure
Steve (02:08):
out if we sandwiched it in the middle or led with it or
ended with it.
Yep.
First up though, and let's startwith red,
Stephen (02:14):
white, and royal Blue.
Yes.
It's based on the 2019 novel byCasey McQuiston.
Red White, and Royal Blue isMatthew Lopez's feature film
directorial debut, and isproduced by Greg Ante, who does
so many good things.
Sarah Schechter and was releasedon Amazon Prime on August 11th,
(02:35):
2023.
Steve (02:36):
Yes, the film Stars Taylor's car Perez.
Is Alex the first son who fallsin love with his rival Nicholas
G as Prince Henry?
Stephen (02:47):
Yes.
And.
What was your thought on the
Steve (02:51):
setup of this?
When I heard the setup I waslike, okay, Dennis recommended
this in like our Gem in theHolograms episode or something
as a book.
Because
Stephen (03:00):
he had just read the book.
Yeah.
Steve (03:02):
Over a year ago probably.
So I love the setup.
It's very cliche.
It's very though like cliche fora reason because people love
those types of movies.
I mean, we love watching aPrince fall in love.
I mean,
Stephen (03:16):
we've seen the, the
Steve (03:18):
Christmas Prince.
Yeah.
And all those
Stephen (03:20):
movies.
So I was like, and The PrincessBride.
I was like that.
That's the movie I love.
I was gonna say, so I
Steve (03:25):
mean the, the Straits love a royal romance and so do
the queers apparently.
'cause this was a very fun
Stephen (03:31):
setup and it worked really well.
And can I also mention how muchI love Uma Thurman as the female
president with a TennesseeWilliams draw?
And yeah.
Like this, so this was a
Steve (03:46):
better world or a better universe.
Right.
And I
Stephen (03:49):
also love, like so the first son is bisexual because we
see him talking about arelationship he had with a
scandalous reporter.
Mm-hmm.
And, but we also see all thesewomen falling all over him.
His parents don't know about thebisexuality.
(04:09):
When he finally did have to comeout, you're wondering, what's
the president gonna say?
And all she said was, we'regonna need some pizza.
And then they had this wonderfultalk and it was lovely and like
it's nice that the most powerfulperson in the world took it so
well.
Steve (04:29):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, did you buy theirromance?
'cause I mean, 100% yes.
Was it the chemistry of theactors?
Stephen (04:37):
It was the chemistry of the actors.
It was also their sharedunderstanding of the constraints
they have had to live under howthey were born, where they were
born, what their families did.
And you know, even if it hadjust been a buddy movie, it
(05:01):
would've been you're an islandin the storm type of thing that
like you understand what I'mgoing through.
But beyond that, it was alsolack you.
Steve (05:13):
I know.
And what would it mean to likethe real world if we lived in a
world where the first sun andthe prince.
Fell in love.
Stephen (05:21):
We would probably need a world where we elected a
president who was not in theirseventies.
And the closest we had to, thatwas when Obama was there.
But when Obama was in theoffice, the girls weren't old
enough to be falling.
Oh.
Could you have imagined though,if one of the Obama girls ended
(05:43):
up marrying Harry, the one thatcan marry anybody he wants.
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
That would've been amazing.
Steve (05:50):
Yes.
Now with this and Heart Stopper,which we covered last week has
one of the two male leads inthis romance being bisexual.
Do you feel that this is toincrease by visibility or to
straighten up our game movies?
So with
Stephen (06:04):
Heart Stopper, I think it was by vi visibility because
they weren't shying away fromAce.
Trans anything.
I think that was, Hey, we'resaying that buy is legit.
Yes.
As well.
Like I bought that.
Mm-hmm.
With this, I'm of two minds.
Yeah.
So it might be to straighten upa gay movie for mass market
(06:25):
audiences.
Mm-hmm.
Or when I thought about it more,it does add some complexity to
the plot because the prints.
Would've been more hesitant andconfused, thinking that the
first son was straight, seeinghim kiss all those women and
having seen nothing different.
And you know, the first son doescome off a little because he's
(06:49):
from Texas, so he is a littlemore rough and tumble.
So maybe he is straight.
So I can see how him being bi.
Works with this story, but I'malso not giving them full credit
that they weren't trying tostraighten up the story a little
bit.
Steve (07:06):
Yeah, I would love it if we get to the point we're in
these types of movies, they'relike, actor, what do you
identify as?
And if the actor's like, I'mgay, they're like, great, you're
gay.
And if the actor's like, I'mbisexual, they're like, great,
you're bisexual.
So especially like if it doesn'tultimately at the end of the day
impact the plot.
Stephen (07:23):
Funny thing.
So lots and lots of people watchthis movie this weekend.
Yes.
Lots of straight girls werecommenting on Twitter.
That sex scene had to beimaginary.
They can't do missionary.
And so then you have all ofthese gays explaining to them
how gay men can do missionaryposition looking at each other.
(07:47):
And all these women are like,Wow.
Mind blown.
Oh,
Steve (07:51):
sweeties.
Now, why do you think that welove movies like this that make,
because obviously this moviemade us happy, we enjoyed it, we
recommend it.
It's free in streaming if youhave Amazon Prime and if you
don't have Amazon Prime, yourmom, or your cousin, or your
brother does, and what are youdoing with your life?
Yes.
So check it out.
It's well worth the admission,but why do we love these types
(08:13):
of movies?
So it's
Stephen (08:14):
escapism.
Yes, it's the fantasy of it all.
It's why on soap operas, most ofthe people come from money
because they're able to go tothese parties and wear these
clothes and do these activitiesand fly these jets.
There's glamor and it's thosethings that 98% of America can't
do.
(08:34):
And we'd like to see people thatwe can root for doing those
things.
'cause most of the people we seedoing those things are awful and
we hate them.
Yeah.
So it's nice to have people thatwere like, oh, I like you.
It's okay if you go to thisparty.
Dress like
Steve (08:49):
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I enjoyed it and definitelycheck it out.
Now let's move on to Bones andAll, which is a 2022 romantic
horror film directed by, that'swhat
Stephen (09:01):
it's called.
I, I know, I know.
It's just romantic horror
Steve (09:05):
film.
Horror film directed by LucaGuino, based on the 2015 Novel
by Camille d Angelus.
The movie was not successfulwith the budget of 16 to$20
million in a box office of 14.5million, which means it lost
money, which like rarely, manyof these movies we cover lose
money even if they're not hits.
(09:27):
Yeah, but the film was justrecently released on Amazon
Prime, so maybe it'll grow a newlife in a cult following.
Who knows?
The film is a love storyfollowing two young cannibals on
a journey of self-discoveryacross the United States.
Stephen (09:40):
So there was a band in the eighties called Fine Young
Cannibals.
Yeah.
And so when you were readingthat, I was like, two young
cannibals.
I was like, fine.
Young cannibals.
Well, you have
Steve (09:50):
the answer for a question I'll have for you later then.
But, so how did this movieperform as a love story?
Okay,
Stephen (09:58):
I, I wanna get to that in a minute.
Sure.
$20 million budget.
Where?
I don't know.
I don't see it because, okay.
Was
Steve (10:08):
it for Timothy
Stephen (10:08):
Shaima?
It must have been because do youknow what the budget for
Halloween 2018 was what?
$20 million?
Steve (10:17):
Yeah.
This doesn't look like they didthe same budget.
No,
Stephen (10:20):
that's what I'm talking about.
Like I thought this was anindependent film.
That's major studio money.
Mm-hmm.
They must okay.
But as a love story.
Honestly, surprisingly well as alove story.
It was not the movie I thought Iwas going to
Steve (10:38):
be watching.
What did you think you weregonna be watching?
Stephen (10:41):
A, from the trailer?
A story of a girl who isafflicted with something that
makes her accountable anddiscovering that and running
from and hiding from thesepeople that also have the thing.
And those elements are in there,but what it is that it about,
(11:03):
it's a cannibalistic love story.
That's honestly what it is.
Steve (11:07):
Yes.
And now you laughed when Icalled it a romantic horror
film.
Would you consider this a horrorfilm?
Technically
Stephen (11:14):
it has to be because of the subject material.
Just like Silence of the Lambs.
Some people are like, that's nota horror film.
I'm like, trust me, that's ahorror film.
This is a horror film.
There's no way you can have amovie.
With the cannibalism that wasinvolved in the different things
and not call it some form ofhorror because it's not because
(11:36):
of the scares.
'cause there weren't any, therehad potential for scares.
Two of those characters wereterrifying, but they didn't go
as far as they could with it.
But maybe that's not the storythey wanted to tell.
I don't know.
Was it, do you think it was ahorror film?
Steve (11:53):
Again, like because of the subject matter, but it's a
horror film that like I, if, ifwe ever had brain surgery that
made us feel like we wanted tohave kids, I wouldn't feel an
issue having an eight year oldor a nine year old watch this
because of cannibalism.
Right.
If
Stephen (12:10):
they changed it from cannibalism to.
Steve (12:14):
Like if they call, if they change it to vampirism, it
would've been the next twilightin terms of being able to be
shiny happy people, or?
I was
Stephen (12:21):
gonna say that it was only about people that they have
a gluten allergy, like if youreplace the thing with a gluten
allergy, It'd be the same story.
Pretty much,
Steve (12:35):
yes.
Well, did you buy the chemistrybetween Taylor Russell as Marin
and Timothy Chalamet as Lee?
No,
Stephen (12:41):
absolutely not.
I thought it felt very flat andemotionless.
The only part that I boughtlater on was when they were
going to the universitytogether.
Yeah.
And it was just cute and theywere having this life The people
that had the most emotion in themovie were that first character
(13:03):
that she ran into.
Sully.
Yep.
Sully.
The guy in the woods.
That was honestly scary.
Yes.
And my friend Burgess, whoplayed the nurse and Chloe 70,
those scenes had the onlyemotion in the film.
The rest felt so flat.
And before you respond, I dowanna say, it was so cool, I'm
(13:23):
watching this movie and then
Steve (13:25):
it's someone, you know.
I would be amazed too, ithappened when we were watching
or when I was watching Manifestthe final season.
Yes.
And I realized I knew someonefrom, it's exciting when you see
people you know, and I had
Stephen (13:34):
no idea that Burgess was in it, but I heard her voice
and I was like, Bird.
That's bird.
And you're like, okay, who'sbird?
And I was like my friendBurgess.
Steve (13:43):
Yes.
Yeah.
Now there one thing that I lovedabout this film or the concept
is that the idea that the peoplethat we run into on a daily
basis, that we kind of give usthat creepy vibe or that ick
factor, that like that magneticpull that pushes us away from
this individual is kind of asign that they're an eater or
like this world's version of acannibal.
(14:05):
That's
Stephen (14:05):
better than what I usually think of those people.
Steve (14:09):
There we go.
Yeah.
No, I, I definitely think it'san interesting concept that like
you're repelled against thesepeople because there is
something fundamentallydifferent or wrong from them.
Yeah.
And how does the title work?
I was getting really excited forhow the movie might end when
they explained that the conceptof bones and all in a cannibal
love story is exactly what youwould think of, which would be
(14:30):
the bliss that you experiencewhen you devour everything and
you eat everything, bones andall.
And that
Stephen (14:37):
means nras, colon sphincter, like bones.
Like they say bones and all.
Yeah.
So you're talking so Bones.
Bones and all like Yeah.
You're talking about I'm eatingyour ribcage, but don't forget I
just ate your colon.
Yeah.
Steve (14:53):
Now, I mean, once you get over the logistical difficulties
of how one human could fitanother human inside of their
body.
Yeah.
Like in their stomach.
What do you feel like that, howdoes this work for this movie
and this plot?
So as a title,
Stephen (15:08):
the title does add something to it.
Like the whole question, if youwere stranded somewhere and your
friend died, would you eat themto survive?
And most people would say yes,that they would eat the person
to survive.
They might not like it, but tosurvive.
But eating the bones and all,that's not about survival.
That's something else entirely.
(15:29):
That's something darker.
And I wish they had exploredmore of that instead of that
being, well, we think that'swhat she did at the end of the
movie, we think, but we don'tknow how, but we don't know.
And so the.
It kind of feels like a cheat.
Steve (15:47):
Yeah.
I, I hope she got to experienceit, but it didn't look like she
was very happy about it.
I don't know.
I, who knows.
So at the end of these three,can you tell which one of us
made us the least happy?
Stephen (15:58):
Well, seeing as we haven't even gotten to the third
one yet.
I'm gonna go ahead and tell youall.
It was this one.
Yes, it was.
So
Steve (16:05):
it didn't make us happy.
Do I regret the hour and a half?
I've done worse things orwatched worse content, but
absolutely.
I wouldn't go out of the way towatch it.
If you're looking for horror orif you're looking for romance,
if you're looking for a horrorromance with cannibals, with
cannibals.
Then go for it.
But you also probably, if youwere one of the$14 million worth
(16:28):
of people that felt that waybefore, you probably already saw
it.
So let's move on to a new horrormovie that everyone is talking
about.
Stephen (16:38):
Cobweb.
Cobweb is a 2023 American horrorthriller film directed by Samuel
Boden in his directorial debut.
Bravo.
Based off the screenplay byChris Thomas, dev Thomas Devlin,
the Man behind the most recentTexas Chainsaw movie you either
loved or hated.
I loved it.
(16:58):
I did too.
And the film had a limitedtheatrical release.
Well, on July 21st, 2023, beforeit was released on video on
demand services everywhere.
Friday, August 11th.
Now, I want to comment on thisfor a moment because it's almost
like.
The Hocus Pocus Dilemma.
(17:18):
Hocus Pocus is a belovedHalloween film that was released
in the summer when it came out,and it tanked this movie being
released on July 21st in themidst of Barb Heimer.
Yes.
Could the studio have donebetter about releasing at some
(17:39):
other time?
Steve (17:40):
Possibly.
But I think anything against SSBarbie Heimer would've been
hard.
I also feel like it's not likethis was too halloweeny.
It's short, it took place onHalloween.
At Halloween.
Yeah.
You know, and had a jacko nearthe climax and all of that.
But I would when this, thisHalloween, when we're trying to
rewatch the Halloween moviesthat make us scary.
(18:00):
Yeah.
And happy.
I wouldn't call this a Halloweenmovie vibe, would you?
Stephen (18:06):
I don't know.
It's definitely on my, I willwatch it again.
Steve (18:09):
List.
Well, yeah, for sure.
I mean, this is from, Ooh, thefilm follows Woody Norman as
Peter, a young boy with amysterious knocking sound coming
from his walls at night, who isbeing gaslit by his parents,
Lizzie Kaplan as Carol and HomeLander, A K Anthony Star as
Mark.
Stephen (18:23):
So when we were watching this, I said, You
realize that Lizzie Kaplan isJanice Ian from Mean
Steve (18:29):
Girls?
It, I didn't realize it untillike, oh, they were doing more
of her when she was gettinghysterical.
Yeah, because her hystericalvoice, I was like, it's Janice,
Ian getting married at
Stephen (18:38):
her.
But like in some of thebeginning things, You're like,
damn, Lizzie Kaplan has
Steve (18:44):
range.
It's like, damn, we're also allgetting old.
And with Homeland, it took me amoment to realize it was
Homeland, but I'm like, he's adark hair, but it's like, I know
I don't like him and that heclearly is evil.
And then I'm like, oh, okay.
It's Homeland.
Makes sense.
And that's,
Stephen (18:59):
that's what I said.
I was like, I knew that I didn'tlike him as a person and I had
to look it up.
And once I saw it was Homeland,it was like,
Steve (19:07):
Yep.
Yeah.
Tracks.
Now from the minds behind BarBarbarian, if like us, you
enjoyed the barbarian, do youthink you would enjoy this film?
Stephen (19:15):
I 100%.
There's always room for someabsurdity in horror if the
acting performances can sell it.
Like what was malignant.
Malignant was another horrormovie that swung for the fences,
took big risks, and I think paidoff.
So just like that, and inbarbarian the acting
(19:36):
performances here, absolutelysteal it because not only is
Lizzie or Lizzie Kaplan andAnthony Starr great as the
parents, Woody Norman as thechild.
Does a great
Steve (19:48):
job.
Yeah, does a great job for akid.
Yeah.
Or just in general.
And because it is very new andbecause everyone is talking, but
we won't get into explicitspoilers.
Yeah.
But I would say of the two mainconcepts, one of them revolves
around the ways that parentscompare cell billings.
Were you able to relate to thatat all?
Stephen (20:04):
Yeah.
I was the golden child.
I saw how my brother gotpunished for misbehaving, so I
made sure to do the opposite.
But then that also led towhenever my anxiety reared its
ugly head, I had to be perfectin all the things I did.
But that's a whole discussionfor another podcast.
It's true.
Steve (20:24):
But yeah, I experienced that and it wasn't even that,
like one of us was better thanthe other on everything, but my
parents were constantly,Comparing each other.
You know, if it was that Iwasn't as good at art, it was
that, well, your brother'sbetter at art.
Why can't you be good at art?
If it was that I wanted to, toplay video or like that, I was
better with school, they were,they would guilt him about not
being as good at school with me.
(20:46):
But if it was sports, They wouldbe guilting me about not being
as good as him.
It was always a competition, butmy parents were the coaches of
that competition and eventuallymy brother and I just didn't
wanna play.
Yeah.
Barry was
Stephen (20:57):
the sports.
I was the student.
Steve (20:59):
Yes.
And the other theme that thisshares with Barbarian and a lot
of these movies that they'remaking, like is the concept that
sometimes people are justnaturally born monsters, and in
these cases it's literally.
Like, what do you think first ofthe making that figurative
concept?
Literal
Stephen (21:16):
100%.
I think some people are justborn evil.
I don't think when we're talkingabout this level that it's
something you learn.
Like I always say, racism is notborn.
It's learn learned.
It is taught to you.
You are taught to hate with thistype of thing.
(21:36):
This is something you're bornwith.
You have to be predisposed toit.
Mm-hmm.
Steve (21:41):
Yeah.
And yeah, I, I certainly agree.
I know that, you know, you couldsay if someone was born as a
sociopath right in, in thisworld, that, you know, even if
they were in the middle of ajungle raised by wolves, that
they would be just a sociopathicand murderous as if they were
raised by two loving parents ina overprivileged white
(22:02):
household.
Yes.
In Connecticut.
Like, but do you think though,if someone were to, in this
case, in this universe of films,be born physically a monster, do
you think that naturally meansthat the innately they have that
same monstrous pregnancy?
No.
So
Stephen (22:18):
I think if someone were born disfigured, I don't think
they'd be inclined to evil.
But you could go on that way, onhow you were treated.
Like are, is it a the peopleunder the stairs type of
situation where the parentsbrought that out or is it, or,
(22:39):
or they were bullied andhumiliated?
Or is it someone that's justdisfigured and they live a
lonely, sheltered life?
I mean, I think,
Steve (22:48):
but So do you think in this movie there's an alternate
reality where Big Sis is justrunning around playing hopscotch
with her hair in the backyard?
No, not
Stephen (22:59):
this girl.
No.
I think, I think in this one,it's inside and out.
It's inside and out.
She was born dark like that, andshe could have had the best
parents, but she's going to beheaded down.
A path of darkness.
I mean, and she didn't get thebest parents.
(23:20):
Spoiler alert.
No.
On the other side of that myfavorite book.
Good Omens.
Yeah.
So you have Damien the hellspawn given to the best parents
ever.
Yeah.
And he's like, well, I don'twant to end the world.
Yeah.
So I guess maybe even if you'repredisposed for it, maybe you
might not ever get
Steve (23:39):
there.
Yes.
Well, we already said thatyou're gonna watch it again.
So I would say it's worth the$6of on demand rentals for a good
United Oh,
Stephen (23:47):
absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, it's less than one movieticket.
Yeah.
You watch it in the comfort ofyour home.
Do it.
It's a good time.
And.
Lizzie Kaplan's performancealone sells the movie.
Yeah,
Steve (24:02):
it was very, very good, so I definitely enjoyed it.
Now we are currently watchingWitcher season three, so expect
an update on that real soon.
But in the meantime, let us knowyour thoughts on any of these
movies or what else we shouldcheck out by emailing us at
Happy Life pod@gmail.com.
Stephen (24:19):
Or you can get in touch with us on the socials, whether
that is Facebook, Instagram, orTwitter.
And happy Life
Steve (24:26):
Pod and until next time, everybody, stay.
Stay happy.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners.
This is Steven Bennett Martin.
And this is Steven
Stephen (00:07):
Martin Bennett.
And welcome and welcome to, to aLifetime of Happiness,
Steve (00:10):
the podcast where we take you on our journey through some
of the movies, shows, and otherbits of pop culture that are
helping to keep us happy, whilehopefully bring a smell to your
face along the way.
And
Stephen (00:19):
today it's all about summer movies as we discuss
Amazon Primes, red White andRoyal Blue Bones and all and as
well as the movie
Steve (00:29):
Cobwebs.
Yes.
And before we get into all ofthose movies that we all, that
we watched together in all ofone evening.
Yes.
What else has been making ushappy?
Stephen (00:40):
For me it was bumper cars go-kart riding and arcade
Steve (00:44):
games.
And funny thing, we did allthree of those.
Things at once.
Well, we weren't playing arcadegames while on the go-kart, but
it was at the same location forour friend's party.
We went to one of our localarcades and had a really good
time and the bumper
Stephen (00:57):
car spun around in circles.
Yes.
That was really,
Steve (01:01):
really cool.
Yeah, and I love how, you know,we chose the location because
our friend has children who aretweens that are the age where
arcades are the place you go onFriday nights.
But it worked out just how muchthe adults, you know that in our
thirties and forties were justhaving the time of our life
playing the arcade games too.
We were doing ski
Stephen (01:19):
ball in that, shooting the basketball game and then
trying to knock down the clowns,throwing baseballs, and of
course the lesbian beat both ofus.
Well, of course she did.
What about you, my darling?
What's making you happy?
Steve (01:33):
I would say for the first time in probably six plus
months, I took a mental dayhealth.
Day off from work the other dayand it was very nice just taking
a day off for no other reasonthan I was tired.
Stephen (01:45):
That is absolutely fantastic.
I fully support mental healthdays, anything people need to do
for their mental health.
So bravo to you.
I.
Yes.
Steve (01:56):
And something that also helped my mental health was we
watched these three movies andtwo of the three were awesome.
Stephen (02:03):
So we won't tell you ahead of time which one wasn't.
You'll have to figure
Steve (02:08):
out if we sandwiched it in the middle or led with it or
ended with it.
Yep.
First up though, and let's startwith red,
Stephen (02:14):
white, and royal Blue.
Yes.
It's based on the 2019 novel byCasey McQuiston.
Red White, and Royal Blue isMatthew Lopez's feature film
directorial debut, and isproduced by Greg Ante, who does
so many good things.
Sarah Schechter and was releasedon Amazon Prime on August 11th,
(02:35):
2023.
Steve (02:36):
Yes, the film Stars Taylor's car Perez.
Is Alex the first son who fallsin love with his rival Nicholas
G as Prince Henry?
Stephen (02:47):
Yes.
And.
What was your thought on the
Steve (02:51):
setup of this?
When I heard the setup I waslike, okay, Dennis recommended
this in like our Gem in theHolograms episode or something
as a book.
Because
Stephen (03:00):
he had just read the book.
Yeah.
Steve (03:02):
Over a year ago probably.
So I love the setup.
It's very cliche.
It's very though like cliche fora reason because people love
those types of movies.
I mean, we love watching aPrince fall in love.
I mean,
Stephen (03:16):
we've seen the, the
Steve (03:18):
Christmas Prince.
Yeah.
And all those
Stephen (03:20):
movies.
So I was like, and The PrincessBride.
I was like that.
That's the movie I love.
I was gonna say, so I
Steve (03:25):
mean the, the Straits love a royal romance and so do
the queers apparently.
'cause this was a very fun
Stephen (03:31):
setup and it worked really well.
And can I also mention how muchI love Uma Thurman as the female
president with a TennesseeWilliams draw?
And yeah.
Like this, so this was a
Steve (03:46):
better world or a better universe.
Right.
And I
Stephen (03:49):
also love, like so the first son is bisexual because we
see him talking about arelationship he had with a
scandalous reporter.
Mm-hmm.
And, but we also see all thesewomen falling all over him.
His parents don't know about thebisexuality.
(04:09):
When he finally did have to comeout, you're wondering, what's
the president gonna say?
And all she said was, we'regonna need some pizza.
And then they had this wonderfultalk and it was lovely and like
it's nice that the most powerfulperson in the world took it so
well.
Steve (04:29):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, did you buy theirromance?
'cause I mean, 100% yes.
Was it the chemistry of theactors?
Stephen (04:37):
It was the chemistry of the actors.
It was also their sharedunderstanding of the constraints
they have had to live under howthey were born, where they were
born, what their families did.
And you know, even if it hadjust been a buddy movie, it
(05:01):
would've been you're an islandin the storm type of thing that
like you understand what I'mgoing through.
But beyond that, it was alsolack you.
Steve (05:13):
I know.
And what would it mean to likethe real world if we lived in a
world where the first sun andthe prince.
Fell in love.
Stephen (05:21):
We would probably need a world where we elected a
president who was not in theirseventies.
And the closest we had to, thatwas when Obama was there.
But when Obama was in theoffice, the girls weren't old
enough to be falling.
Oh.
Could you have imagined though,if one of the Obama girls ended
(05:43):
up marrying Harry, the one thatcan marry anybody he wants.
Mm-hmm.
Oh yeah.
That would've been amazing.
Steve (05:50):
Yes.
Now with this and Heart Stopper,which we covered last week has
one of the two male leads inthis romance being bisexual.
Do you feel that this is toincrease by visibility or to
straighten up our game movies?
So with
Stephen (06:04):
Heart Stopper, I think it was by vi visibility because
they weren't shying away fromAce.
Trans anything.
I think that was, Hey, we'resaying that buy is legit.
Yes.
As well.
Like I bought that.
Mm-hmm.
With this, I'm of two minds.
Yeah.
So it might be to straighten upa gay movie for mass market
(06:25):
audiences.
Mm-hmm.
Or when I thought about it more,it does add some complexity to
the plot because the prints.
Would've been more hesitant andconfused, thinking that the
first son was straight, seeinghim kiss all those women and
having seen nothing different.
And you know, the first son doescome off a little because he's
(06:49):
from Texas, so he is a littlemore rough and tumble.
So maybe he is straight.
So I can see how him being bi.
Works with this story, but I'malso not giving them full credit
that they weren't trying tostraighten up the story a little
bit.
Steve (07:06):
Yeah, I would love it if we get to the point we're in
these types of movies, they'relike, actor, what do you
identify as?
And if the actor's like, I'mgay, they're like, great, you're
gay.
And if the actor's like, I'mbisexual, they're like, great,
you're bisexual.
So especially like if it doesn'tultimately at the end of the day
impact the plot.
Stephen (07:23):
Funny thing.
So lots and lots of people watchthis movie this weekend.
Yes.
Lots of straight girls werecommenting on Twitter.
That sex scene had to beimaginary.
They can't do missionary.
And so then you have all ofthese gays explaining to them
how gay men can do missionaryposition looking at each other.
(07:47):
And all these women are like,Wow.
Mind blown.
Oh,
Steve (07:51):
sweeties.
Now, why do you think that welove movies like this that make,
because obviously this moviemade us happy, we enjoyed it, we
recommend it.
It's free in streaming if youhave Amazon Prime and if you
don't have Amazon Prime, yourmom, or your cousin, or your
brother does, and what are youdoing with your life?
Yes.
So check it out.
It's well worth the admission,but why do we love these types
(08:13):
of movies?
So it's
Stephen (08:14):
escapism.
Yes, it's the fantasy of it all.
It's why on soap operas, most ofthe people come from money
because they're able to go tothese parties and wear these
clothes and do these activitiesand fly these jets.
There's glamor and it's thosethings that 98% of America can't
do.
(08:34):
And we'd like to see people thatwe can root for doing those
things.
'cause most of the people we seedoing those things are awful and
we hate them.
Yeah.
So it's nice to have people thatwere like, oh, I like you.
It's okay if you go to thisparty.
Dress like
Steve (08:49):
that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I enjoyed it and definitelycheck it out.
Now let's move on to Bones andAll, which is a 2022 romantic
horror film directed by, that'swhat
Stephen (09:01):
it's called.
I, I know, I know.
It's just romantic horror
Steve (09:05):
film.
Horror film directed by LucaGuino, based on the 2015 Novel
by Camille d Angelus.
The movie was not successfulwith the budget of 16 to$20
million in a box office of 14.5million, which means it lost
money, which like rarely, manyof these movies we cover lose
money even if they're not hits.
(09:27):
Yeah, but the film was justrecently released on Amazon
Prime, so maybe it'll grow a newlife in a cult following.
Who knows?
The film is a love storyfollowing two young cannibals on
a journey of self-discoveryacross the United States.
Stephen (09:40):
So there was a band in the eighties called Fine Young
Cannibals.
Yeah.
And so when you were readingthat, I was like, two young
cannibals.
I was like, fine.
Young cannibals.
Well, you have
Steve (09:50):
the answer for a question I'll have for you later then.
But, so how did this movieperform as a love story?
Okay,
Stephen (09:58):
I, I wanna get to that in a minute.
Sure.
$20 million budget.
Where?
I don't know.
I don't see it because, okay.
Was
Steve (10:08):
it for Timothy
Stephen (10:08):
Shaima?
It must have been because do youknow what the budget for
Halloween 2018 was what?
$20 million?
Steve (10:17):
Yeah.
This doesn't look like they didthe same budget.
No,
Stephen (10:20):
that's what I'm talking about.
Like I thought this was anindependent film.
That's major studio money.
Mm-hmm.
They must okay.
But as a love story.
Honestly, surprisingly well as alove story.
It was not the movie I thought Iwas going to
Steve (10:38):
be watching.
What did you think you weregonna be watching?
Stephen (10:41):
A, from the trailer?
A story of a girl who isafflicted with something that
makes her accountable anddiscovering that and running
from and hiding from thesepeople that also have the thing.
And those elements are in there,but what it is that it about,
(11:03):
it's a cannibalistic love story.
That's honestly what it is.
Steve (11:07):
Yes.
And now you laughed when Icalled it a romantic horror
film.
Would you consider this a horrorfilm?
Technically
Stephen (11:14):
it has to be because of the subject material.
Just like Silence of the Lambs.
Some people are like, that's nota horror film.
I'm like, trust me, that's ahorror film.
This is a horror film.
There's no way you can have amovie.
With the cannibalism that wasinvolved in the different things
and not call it some form ofhorror because it's not because
(11:36):
of the scares.
'cause there weren't any, therehad potential for scares.
Two of those characters wereterrifying, but they didn't go
as far as they could with it.
But maybe that's not the storythey wanted to tell.
I don't know.
Was it, do you think it was ahorror film?
Steve (11:53):
Again, like because of the subject matter, but it's a
horror film that like I, if, ifwe ever had brain surgery that
made us feel like we wanted tohave kids, I wouldn't feel an
issue having an eight year oldor a nine year old watch this
because of cannibalism.
Right.
If
Stephen (12:10):
they changed it from cannibalism to.
Steve (12:14):
Like if they call, if they change it to vampirism, it
would've been the next twilightin terms of being able to be
shiny happy people, or?
I was
Stephen (12:21):
gonna say that it was only about people that they have
a gluten allergy, like if youreplace the thing with a gluten
allergy, It'd be the same story.
Pretty much,
Steve (12:35):
yes.
Well, did you buy the chemistrybetween Taylor Russell as Marin
and Timothy Chalamet as Lee?
No,
Stephen (12:41):
absolutely not.
I thought it felt very flat andemotionless.
The only part that I boughtlater on was when they were
going to the universitytogether.
Yeah.
And it was just cute and theywere having this life The people
that had the most emotion in themovie were that first character
(13:03):
that she ran into.
Sully.
Yep.
Sully.
The guy in the woods.
That was honestly scary.
Yes.
And my friend Burgess, whoplayed the nurse and Chloe 70,
those scenes had the onlyemotion in the film.
The rest felt so flat.
And before you respond, I dowanna say, it was so cool, I'm
(13:23):
watching this movie and then
Steve (13:25):
it's someone, you know.
I would be amazed too, ithappened when we were watching
or when I was watching Manifestthe final season.
Yes.
And I realized I knew someonefrom, it's exciting when you see
people you know, and I had
Stephen (13:34):
no idea that Burgess was in it, but I heard her voice
and I was like, Bird.
That's bird.
And you're like, okay, who'sbird?
And I was like my friendBurgess.
Steve (13:43):
Yes.
Yeah.
Now there one thing that I lovedabout this film or the concept
is that the idea that the peoplethat we run into on a daily
basis, that we kind of give usthat creepy vibe or that ick
factor, that like that magneticpull that pushes us away from
this individual is kind of asign that they're an eater or
like this world's version of acannibal.
(14:05):
That's
Stephen (14:05):
better than what I usually think of those people.
Steve (14:09):
There we go.
Yeah.
No, I, I definitely think it'san interesting concept that like
you're repelled against thesepeople because there is
something fundamentallydifferent or wrong from them.
Yeah.
And how does the title work?
I was getting really excited forhow the movie might end when
they explained that the conceptof bones and all in a cannibal
love story is exactly what youwould think of, which would be
(14:30):
the bliss that you experiencewhen you devour everything and
you eat everything, bones andall.
And that
Stephen (14:37):
means nras, colon sphincter, like bones.
Like they say bones and all.
Yeah.
So you're talking so Bones.
Bones and all like Yeah.
You're talking about I'm eatingyour ribcage, but don't forget I
just ate your colon.
Yeah.
Steve (14:53):
Now, I mean, once you get over the logistical difficulties
of how one human could fitanother human inside of their
body.
Yeah.
Like in their stomach.
What do you feel like that, howdoes this work for this movie
and this plot?
So as a title,
Stephen (15:08):
the title does add something to it.
Like the whole question, if youwere stranded somewhere and your
friend died, would you eat themto survive?
And most people would say yes,that they would eat the person
to survive.
They might not like it, but tosurvive.
But eating the bones and all,that's not about survival.
That's something else entirely.
(15:29):
That's something darker.
And I wish they had exploredmore of that instead of that
being, well, we think that'swhat she did at the end of the
movie, we think, but we don'tknow how, but we don't know.
And so the.
It kind of feels like a cheat.
Steve (15:47):
Yeah.
I, I hope she got to experienceit, but it didn't look like she
was very happy about it.
I don't know.
I, who knows.
So at the end of these three,can you tell which one of us
made us the least happy?
Stephen (15:58):
Well, seeing as we haven't even gotten to the third
one yet.
I'm gonna go ahead and tell youall.
It was this one.
Yes, it was.
So
Steve (16:05):
it didn't make us happy.
Do I regret the hour and a half?
I've done worse things orwatched worse content, but
absolutely.
I wouldn't go out of the way towatch it.
If you're looking for horror orif you're looking for romance,
if you're looking for a horrorromance with cannibals, with
cannibals.
Then go for it.
But you also probably, if youwere one of the$14 million worth
(16:28):
of people that felt that waybefore, you probably already saw
it.
So let's move on to a new horrormovie that everyone is talking
about.
Stephen (16:38):
Cobweb.
Cobweb is a 2023 American horrorthriller film directed by Samuel
Boden in his directorial debut.
Bravo.
Based off the screenplay byChris Thomas, dev Thomas Devlin,
the Man behind the most recentTexas Chainsaw movie you either
loved or hated.
I loved it.
(16:58):
I did too.
And the film had a limitedtheatrical release.
Well, on July 21st, 2023, beforeit was released on video on
demand services everywhere.
Friday, August 11th.
Now, I want to comment on thisfor a moment because it's almost
like.
The Hocus Pocus Dilemma.
(17:18):
Hocus Pocus is a belovedHalloween film that was released
in the summer when it came out,and it tanked this movie being
released on July 21st in themidst of Barb Heimer.
Yes.
Could the studio have donebetter about releasing at some
(17:39):
other time?
Steve (17:40):
Possibly.
But I think anything against SSBarbie Heimer would've been
hard.
I also feel like it's not likethis was too halloweeny.
It's short, it took place onHalloween.
At Halloween.
Yeah.
You know, and had a jacko nearthe climax and all of that.
But I would when this, thisHalloween, when we're trying to
rewatch the Halloween moviesthat make us scary.
(18:00):
Yeah.
And happy.
I wouldn't call this a Halloweenmovie vibe, would you?
Stephen (18:06):
I don't know.
It's definitely on my, I willwatch it again.
Steve (18:09):
List.
Well, yeah, for sure.
I mean, this is from, Ooh, thefilm follows Woody Norman as
Peter, a young boy with amysterious knocking sound coming
from his walls at night, who isbeing gaslit by his parents,
Lizzie Kaplan as Carol and HomeLander, A K Anthony Star as
Mark.
Stephen (18:23):
So when we were watching this, I said, You
realize that Lizzie Kaplan isJanice Ian from Mean
Steve (18:29):
Girls?
It, I didn't realize it untillike, oh, they were doing more
of her when she was gettinghysterical.
Yeah, because her hystericalvoice, I was like, it's Janice,
Ian getting married at
Stephen (18:38):
her.
But like in some of thebeginning things, You're like,
damn, Lizzie Kaplan has
Steve (18:44):
range.
It's like, damn, we're also allgetting old.
And with Homeland, it took me amoment to realize it was
Homeland, but I'm like, he's adark hair, but it's like, I know
I don't like him and that heclearly is evil.
And then I'm like, oh, okay.
It's Homeland.
Makes sense.
And that's,
Stephen (18:59):
that's what I said.
I was like, I knew that I didn'tlike him as a person and I had
to look it up.
And once I saw it was Homeland,it was like,
Steve (19:07):
Yep.
Yeah.
Tracks.
Now from the minds behind BarBarbarian, if like us, you
enjoyed the barbarian, do youthink you would enjoy this film?
Stephen (19:15):
I 100%.
There's always room for someabsurdity in horror if the
acting performances can sell it.
Like what was malignant.
Malignant was another horrormovie that swung for the fences,
took big risks, and I think paidoff.
So just like that, and inbarbarian the acting
(19:36):
performances here, absolutelysteal it because not only is
Lizzie or Lizzie Kaplan andAnthony Starr great as the
parents, Woody Norman as thechild.
Does a great
Steve (19:48):
job.
Yeah, does a great job for akid.
Yeah.
Or just in general.
And because it is very new andbecause everyone is talking, but
we won't get into explicitspoilers.
Yeah.
But I would say of the two mainconcepts, one of them revolves
around the ways that parentscompare cell billings.
Were you able to relate to thatat all?
Stephen (20:04):
Yeah.
I was the golden child.
I saw how my brother gotpunished for misbehaving, so I
made sure to do the opposite.
But then that also led towhenever my anxiety reared its
ugly head, I had to be perfectin all the things I did.
But that's a whole discussionfor another podcast.
It's true.
Steve (20:24):
But yeah, I experienced that and it wasn't even that,
like one of us was better thanthe other on everything, but my
parents were constantly,Comparing each other.
You know, if it was that Iwasn't as good at art, it was
that, well, your brother'sbetter at art.
Why can't you be good at art?
If it was that I wanted to, toplay video or like that, I was
better with school, they were,they would guilt him about not
being as good at school with me.
(20:46):
But if it was sports, They wouldbe guilting me about not being
as good as him.
It was always a competition, butmy parents were the coaches of
that competition and eventuallymy brother and I just didn't
wanna play.
Yeah.
Barry was
Stephen (20:57):
the sports.
I was the student.
Steve (20:59):
Yes.
And the other theme that thisshares with Barbarian and a lot
of these movies that they'remaking, like is the concept that
sometimes people are justnaturally born monsters, and in
these cases it's literally.
Like, what do you think first ofthe making that figurative
concept?
Literal
Stephen (21:16):
100%.
I think some people are justborn evil.
I don't think when we're talkingabout this level that it's
something you learn.
Like I always say, racism is notborn.
It's learn learned.
It is taught to you.
You are taught to hate with thistype of thing.
(21:36):
This is something you're bornwith.
You have to be predisposed toit.
Mm-hmm.
Steve (21:41):
Yeah.
And yeah, I, I certainly agree.
I know that, you know, you couldsay if someone was born as a
sociopath right in, in thisworld, that, you know, even if
they were in the middle of ajungle raised by wolves, that
they would be just a sociopathicand murderous as if they were
raised by two loving parents ina overprivileged white
(22:02):
household.
Yes.
In Connecticut.
Like, but do you think though,if someone were to, in this
case, in this universe of films,be born physically a monster, do
you think that naturally meansthat the innately they have that
same monstrous pregnancy?
No.
So
Stephen (22:18):
I think if someone were born disfigured, I don't think
they'd be inclined to evil.
But you could go on that way, onhow you were treated.
Like are, is it a the peopleunder the stairs type of
situation where the parentsbrought that out or is it, or,
(22:39):
or they were bullied andhumiliated?
Or is it someone that's justdisfigured and they live a
lonely, sheltered life?
I mean, I think,
Steve (22:48):
but So do you think in this movie there's an alternate
reality where Big Sis is justrunning around playing hopscotch
with her hair in the backyard?
No, not
Stephen (22:59):
this girl.
No.
I think, I think in this one,it's inside and out.
It's inside and out.
She was born dark like that, andshe could have had the best
parents, but she's going to beheaded down.
A path of darkness.
I mean, and she didn't get thebest parents.
(23:20):
Spoiler alert.
No.
On the other side of that myfavorite book.
Good Omens.
Yeah.
So you have Damien the hellspawn given to the best parents
ever.
Yeah.
And he's like, well, I don'twant to end the world.
Yeah.
So I guess maybe even if you'repredisposed for it, maybe you
might not ever get
Steve (23:39):
there.
Yes.
Well, we already said thatyou're gonna watch it again.
So I would say it's worth the$6of on demand rentals for a good
United Oh,
Stephen (23:47):
absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, it's less than one movieticket.
Yeah.
You watch it in the comfort ofyour home.
Do it.
It's a good time.
And.
Lizzie Kaplan's performancealone sells the movie.
Yeah,
Steve (24:02):
it was very, very good, so I definitely enjoyed it.
Now we are currently watchingWitcher season three, so expect
an update on that real soon.
But in the meantime, let us knowyour thoughts on any of these
movies or what else we shouldcheck out by emailing us at
Happy Life pod@gmail.com.
Stephen (24:19):
Or you can get in touch with us on the socials, whether
that is Facebook, Instagram, orTwitter.
And happy Life
Steve (24:26):
Pod and until next time, everybody, stay.
Stay happy.
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