Like Whatever

As You Wish, Rob Reiner

• Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr • Episode 61

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The week felt heavy, so we reached for the stories and rituals that hold us together. We start with a quick programming note for the holidays, then slide into the things that actually lift our moods: football catharsis, Krampus Fest dreams, and the strange power of a Taylor Swift doc to make us laugh, cry, and clap in the living room. From there, we sink into a heartfelt tribute to Rob Reiner and the films that quietly built our Gen X DNA.

Stand By Me becomes a north star for friendship, fear, and the first time we faced mortality—and maybe a train. When Harry Met Sally reminds us that timing is a character, not a backdrop, and that friendship can shoulder love until we’re ready to say it out loud. The Princess Bride is our endlessly quotable compass, proof that wit, honor, and true love can outmaneuver cruelty. And Misery? It’s the darker mirror that shows how obsession and control twist affection into a cage, and why survival is sometimes just the next smart move.

We keep it real and messy: a 1984 diary entry about sleeping late, playing outside, and stopping for White Castle sliders; stadium stories with snow, tailgates, and the long drive home with the heat on high; a Mandela effect rabbit hole that proves collective memory is a weird place; and a few confessions about holiday movies we love, hate, or tolerate. Through it all, Rob Reiner’s range—from romance to terror—feels like life itself: some days deserve a perfect kiss, some days require a bluff against a bully, and some days call for friends who bring pizza and hit play.

If seasonal depression is pressing in, don’t go it alone. Invite someone over, share a film that raised you, and let the room get warmer by degrees. If this resonated, subscribe, rate, and share the show with a friend who quotes The Princess Bride on command. Your reviews help more Gen Xers—and anyone who loves great stories—find us.

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SPEAKER_05:

Two best friends, we're talking fast. We're missing two arcades, we're having a blast. Seeing these dreams, be on screens, it was all bad. Like you know, it's like whatever. Never never never laughing, sharing, our scoring forever. We'll take you back like whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by, and about Gen X. I'm Nicole, and this is my BFFF, Heather. Hello. So it's been a heavy week. It has been a a week. Yeah, yeah. Um, the news has been no fun. No. Um we're thinking of you, Australia. Yeah. Um, it's awful. And Brown University. And Brown University. Yeah, they still haven't caught that shooter. No. They will. But yeah. Um, anyway. The world sucks. Yeah, it does right now.

SPEAKER_03:

But Merry Christmas. Oh, speaking of that, we're gonna drop next week's episode on Christmas Eve, which is Wednesday, so instead of our usual Friday drop. Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

So because we don't want you guys to have to go like through Christmas without one of our new episodes. Right. It's pre-recorded, so um it's entertaining.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't think I've really Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_03:

You you saw the documentary. Yes, yes. Or two of the six, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, two of the six have dropped so far. It I laughed, I cried, I clapped, I screamed. I loved it. Love it, love it, love it. I love her. She's amazing. Yes. And you get a little insight, a little, um, you get to see the early parts of like her and Travis, like her riding in the back of the car, like talking on the cell phone with him. Yeah. Like, I wish you were here. Oh, I wish I was there too. And it's all like cute and stuff. But speaking of Travis Kelsey, your football season got better this past weekend. Chiefs got eliminated from the playoffs.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so I said that the Eagles have been suffering, which, oh yeah. Um, but it made me feel a little bit better. But the Chiefs sucked worse. So, you know, I mean the thing of it is it's so hard to come back after you've been to the Super Bowl and won the Super Bowl the next season to come back and be able to keep up the caliber that you had. I mean, you lose coaches, you lose players, it's it's it's very difficult.

SPEAKER_02:

So And I believe in like a mojo to a team, like something just clicks just right. I've seen it in other sports where it just seems like it's just they're just ready. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And then, you know, and then they won it. Mm-hmm. So that chip is off the shoulder, and you know, you're you're playing a little bit with a swagger, and you and then everybody's gunning for you because you're the Super Bowl champion. So, you know, not to say they haven't sucked major ass. And I was yelling for the Hertz to be benched, and they did, you know. Of course, but they won the game like they're supposed to. Yeah. In the fashion that they should have.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes. Thank God it wasn't a close one against the Raiders. I mean, I'm pretty sure I single-handedly could have gone out and beat that Raiders team.

SPEAKER_03:

Like they might be awful. Well, but that that's the thing. Like, it would have been our luck that they would have been a close game. And then one of those flutes. If you didn't beat up beat the bricks off of them, right, then you don't deserve to go to the playoffs, is my thinking. And then this week against the commanders, if we don't beat the bricks off of them, you know, again. Although that's a little different because it's a division game and you know You never know. Yeah, those those division games are are are tough and whatever. So yeah, football.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and and I also heard um, I think yesterday, this is the first playoff in like three decades that Manning, Brady, or Mahomes haven't been in the playoffs. Huh.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, technically Brady will be there because he's an announcer, but whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

He's a horrible announcer.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. He's terrible. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

And Philip Rivers came back.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_02:

He probably just wanted to get out of that house, man. Ten damn kids and a grandkid. No, thank you. He was like, hell today, yeah. I will suit up and take the punishment.

SPEAKER_03:

He didn't play bad though. Yeah, I heard. Yeah, he did all right. I try to stay away from TV as much as possible. Smart. Well, because there's so much Christmas garbage on right now, and I live with Santa Claus, so I was listening to NPR the other day and they were at some Krampus festival in Austria.

SPEAKER_02:

We have to go. And it was so cool. This one kid, he had been a Kramp, he was 19, he had been a Krampus for 14 years. Uh-huh. He started at five. I love that. And they were like, weren't you scared of Krampus at five? He's like, I was scared of Krampus. I was not scared of being Krampus. Yeah, it sounds like the costumes are amazing the way they were describing them.

SPEAKER_03:

I saw some of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And they do actually go around like they don't hit the kids, but they're harassing people. They hit people with switches, and the one reporter guy's like, Oh, that actually hurts. He's like, I didn't even hit you hard, like at all.

SPEAKER_03:

I want to go. We gotta go next year.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Exactly. But it sounded like just an amazing time.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Uh what else? Um, my sister's here.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh-oh. I think. Wait a minute, did I take notes?

SPEAKER_03:

I didn't. Um, I can't think of anything else.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I did write, um, I did write myself a note to remember that um I knew we were gonna win when I saw that Joe Biden was at the game.

SPEAKER_03:

I know on Sunday when they showed him, I was like, oh, and in that cold I know. You know, it was funny. He did look good. Um one of my coworkers had season tickets. No joke. Three or four rows behind us where our season tickets were. No kidding. Get out! Yeah, that's so weird. Um, he had season tickets there, and Monday he has this two years ago, I think he stopped going. He gave his tickets, I think it's to his nephew or something. Anyway, he stopped going. And Monday morning when we came in, he and I were walking out to start our trucks at the same time, and he looked at me and he was like, Bet you're glad you weren't at that game yesterday. And I was like, You bet your ass. I was glad. And he was like, 44 years of doing it for me, and I was like, 25 for me. Yep. I was like, and that yesterday, because it was a blowout, uh-huh. So it was just sitting in the freaking cold, fighting to get up there in the snow.

SPEAKER_02:

Man, they showed the gates, I think, usually open at 6 for um tailgating, and they had to put it off till 7:30, but lined up around the city, waiting to get in there. And yeah, just doing it up like they do.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I just I was I said to him, I was like, you know, it's not even so much the sitting in the cold for five and a half hours. It's the once you get back in the car, and it's for me, it's a it's a solid two and a half to three hour drive home after sitting out in the cold, and then you get that heat on, and by the time you hit like Newcastle, which is like an hour away, you're like, I'm not gonna be able to stay awake for the rest of this journey. Yeah, it is so much fun though. Did you ever tailgate?

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, once we did. Yeah. Uh every now and then we would because we knew people that tailgated, but okay. Not my cup of tea.

SPEAKER_02:

I had a lot of fun tailgating there.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's really fun there. Yeah. Yeah, I think, yeah, I think that's it. I know I did finish decorating for Christmas. I'm happy about that. Um, yeah, that's about it. All right.

SPEAKER_02:

So uh like, share, rate, review. Yes. Uh, you can find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Yes. Please follow us on all the socials at like whatever pod.

SPEAKER_03:

For whatever reason. YouTube. We don't even hardly have any videos on there. But for whatever reason. Thank you, YouTube listeners.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_03:

We're close to monetizing on on YouTube. Oh, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe we will make it to Krampus Fest next year. Um, check out our website at www.likewhateverpod.com.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I do a blog.

unknown:

Oh.

SPEAKER_03:

I have two blogs. I have two blogs.

SPEAKER_04:

I totally forgot about the blog.

SPEAKER_03:

I did two. Well, I try to get them out relevant to the post, uh relevant to the episode on Friday. I try to get the post out on Friday also. But this week I forgot it did as well. So it didn't go out until I want to say Saturday or Sunday. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's funny because when we talked about it last week, I went home and I looked at your blogs and I thought about blogs, and then I went to sleep and woke up the next day and it was all gone.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I try to keep it relevant to the episode. Yeah. Last week I did it on it was on arcade. Arcades. No, no. Last week was not on arcades. It was on toys. Toys. It was Christmas toys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So check out my blog. Did you like the picture of the cobra snake? I did. I was so fucking jealous. I used to love making that one. All right. Um, or send us an email too, like whatever pod. Oh, not a comp. That part too. Yeah. All right. So speaking of heavy this week, um let's fuck around and find out about my favorite Rob Reiner movies.

SPEAKER_03:

R.I.P. Rob Reiner.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um very sad. I mean, very sad. Like I woke up that morning and I was like, wait, what? Because you know, you have the news on, you're making coffee and brushing your teeth, and you're just I was like, what are they talking about? And then at first, because they were like Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in their home. So I thought of Gene Hackman at first. Right. And that's what my just awake brain was like. Oh, they must have found some new stuff out about that or something. But then I saw it and I was like, no, no, no, wait. And then it just so much of Gen X is Rob Reiner. I mean, you don't even realize it from acting things he did from movies that he produced from um actors that came out of, you know, and had pretty good careers that started in a Rob Reiner movie.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I saw it on because usually in the morning I just put TikTok on and kind of walk away from it because you can hear it and I don't really have to pay that much attention to it. And I was zooming through it and somebody said, and I was like, half the time you can't believe any, literally anything on there. So I was like, oh, okay. And I didn't even bother to I was in a hurry. I I don't know, I just didn't, I zoomed past it, and I was like, oh okay. And then and then when you text me, I was like, oh shit, wait, was that real? Just the way the guy was talking about how when it happened, it seemed one of those that was like too fantastical to have happened. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah. Um, so I just wanted to pay a little tribute to him and a lot of my favorite movies from my childhood. Um he did. So I just want to talk about him a little bit today.

SPEAKER_01:

And I didn't realize he was married to Penny Marshall. Yeah. Yeah. And he adopted her daughter. Yeah, I didn't realize that. Yep, yep. Meathead and Laverne. Yeah. Exactly. I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. So Rob Reiner was such a big part of my childhood when I was a Gen Xer. And remembering my dad cracking up watching All in the Family was just. I mean, it Archibunker. I I almost want to say he stood the test of time. There was a lot not correct, but he was also just a grumpy old man spouting off at the mouth.

SPEAKER_03:

I I don't think I think the thing about it is the way he treated his wife was terrible. Yeah. Um, but I think Gloria and what was his name on the Meathead. I don't like anything that was Meathead. I I think it was Mike Michael. Was it Michael? I think so. Anyhow. I think they kind of were the moral compass of it. So I think it it it maybe does stand the test of time because you're getting the He wasn't just left free to just Just do what he wanted. He was called out on it, and you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um so and then there's the life lessons that we learned from Stand By Me. Like that movie was just they on Saturday morning, um, on the news, somebody had uh Charlie no O'Connell.

SPEAKER_00:

Carol O'Connor. No, the guy O'Connell.

SPEAKER_02:

The the guy who played the heavyset kid in Stand By Me. Oh, oh. And now he's Jerry, I think. Jerry, yeah. Did we not say that?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

We're both a little brain dead. Um, he was on and he was on the West Coast, of course, so it was like four o'clock in the morning, and he just the shock on his face, like he just was so stunned and talking about how you know, as a kid he was heavy set and he had trouble getting roles, and he wasn't very self-confident. And Rob Reiner actually, when he was filming Stand By Me, um Jerry said that he kind of ad-libbed a little part of it, and then he got like so scared because he was like, Oh, I'm gonna get criticized, or you know, I told I'm doing it wrong. And Rob Reiner was like, Yes, that's exactly it. Just keep doing that, like it's perfect. And like that's how he got built up. And it we've just heard so many wonderful things about him this week.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, he was not a your typical Hollywood star to begin with. I mean, on All in the Family, he was a well, he was an Epo baby.

unknown:

Oh.

SPEAKER_02:

And we'll get to that. Okay. I don't know much. I don't know much about him other than you'll know it when we get there. All right.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I'll just listen.

SPEAKER_02:

To me, one of the greatest love stories is not Rocky. I mean, it Rocky is a love story. But when Harry met Sally, God, I just love that movie so much. And it it was so it was at a time in my life where I was starting, you know, my late teens, and you know, love and love sick and all that good stuff. And you're seeing these two adults, and and I had a lot of guy friends, and it was like, can you actually have a guy and a girl be friends and not have there be some sort of tension there between the two of them? And I always kind of connected to that, but so I love that one. Um, of course, the ever-quotable cult classic, The Princess Bride. I think we all I mean uh I'm gonna get into that later. Um, these ones I'm listing now, I'm going to um talk about a little bit more later, but I want to talk more about Rob Reiner first. And then um, yeah, the stress and um that was induced on my young little brain when I watched Misery. I still have scenes from that burned in my brain. That movie scared the crap out of me. Yeah, like she was nuts. Yeah, and I was always kind of afraid of getting kidnapped anyway, so like yeah I never cared. Please take me away. So Reiner was completely intertwined into our generation. He gave us This Is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, and The Wolf of Wall Street. It was and all of these are so random, too. Like, he didn't certainly have a genre that he ran with. Um, he had roles himself in Throw Mama from the Train, another one of my absolute favorite movies. Just watched that the other night. Oh my gosh. I need to re-watch it soon. I it keeps popping up, and I'm like, I need to watch that. Um, Sleepless in Seattle. Uh, he was in the Andy Griffiths show, The Partridge Family, and the Rockford Files.

SPEAKER_04:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, and he was even the first celebrity to guest on a game show, which was Pyramid. Huh. It must have been before it was the$10,000 pyramid and then the$100,000 pyramid. It was just pyramid. They didn't want to put like$10 pyramid on there. Nobody would want to come.

SPEAKER_03:

It's a dollar pyramid. You have to pay to be on the pyramid.

SPEAKER_02:

Pyramid. Um, Rob Reiner was born in the Bronx on March 6, 1947. He's also a Pisces like me. Uh, he was born to actors Estelle Reiner and Carl Reiner. His mom started as a cabaret dancer and she appeared in a number of comedies. Um, my favorite memory of Estelle Reiner is her pointing at Meg Ryan in the diner and saying, I'll have what she's having. I did always know that was his mom. I did not, but I didn't know until I did this research that she um she had an acting career, just nothing like real big, probably things that people born in like the 40s would remember. Yeah. Um, but I think you'll know his dad. Um, his dad was in Showbiz for seven decades. He was the creator of the Dick Van Dyke show, and he directed many movies like Oh God with George Burns.

SPEAKER_03:

God damn. I I need to re-watch those because I wonder if they hold up.

SPEAKER_02:

I know those and Arthur. Remember Arthur?

SPEAKER_03:

I fucking love Arthur.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. I fucking love Arthur. Um, and he also um made the jerk with Steve Martin. Um and my favorite, Saul in Oceans 11.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh yep. It's all coming together now. Yep, yep. He does look just like him now that you say that. Yep, he does. Alrighty then.

SPEAKER_02:

I told you you don't. Um, Reiner was an activist. He co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which initiated the court challenge against California Prop 8 that banned same-sex marriage. He also advocated for early childhood education and the environment. Uh, and in 2006, Reiner was mentioned as a possible candidate to run against Schwarzenegger. However, he declined.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I'm gonna keep my political views to myself.

SPEAKER_02:

Currently, because yesterday there was some things that I think it's fair for anybody to attack him for what he said yesterday.

SPEAKER_03:

It's fucking ridiculous. I mean that's disgusting. You are a disgusting human being.

SPEAKER_02:

So disgusting.

SPEAKER_03:

Everybody jumped, everybody shit over the Charlie Kirk nonsense. Yes. That wasn't even against Charlie Kirk.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. It was against the movement.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. And then and people were getting fired for it, and people are, you know, and and and you come out and you say, oh, he had Trump derangement syndrome and that was what his issue was. Like just don't say anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Well. If you could see the look she just gave.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, come on. It's a human being who who was killed. Doesn't matter. Like, I did not care for Charlie Kirk. Did I go around saying hallelujah, praise the Lord, that the man was dead? No, I did not.

SPEAKER_02:

To be honest, I didn't even know who Charlie Kirk was until he got murdered.

SPEAKER_03:

Mostly because he's on the ticket, he's on my tickety talk.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, and I'm not on TikTok.

SPEAKER_03:

Because he would have people come in and he would argue with you.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, there's another guy that does it on the other side of the coin. Okay. And so for whatever reason, Charlie Kirk would come on my algorithm. Anyway, I guess because it's all political nonsense. Anyway, I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, even Michelle Obama went on a late night show last night, and she was like, unlike some people, he had dignity or something. Like she didn't mention him by name, but she certainly mentioned him.

SPEAKER_03:

It's just, I mean, come on. Like, wake up, people. Wake up.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Even as even as people were like, that put the Kool-Aid down.

SPEAKER_03:

Put it down. You know what happens when you drink too much Kool-Aid. Diabetes. You're gonna get the diabetes. Yeah. Put it down. Yeah. Gotcha. Flavorade, not Kool-Aid, I should say. Kool-Aid people get very upset when you say that. Oh. Well. Yeah, because it wasn't Kool-Aid. Yeah. It was flavorade.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, the cheap knockoff.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh man, that does suck. Yeah. I'd be pissed too.

SPEAKER_03:

It probably tasted gross. I hated flavored. I mean, it was flavored with cyanide in it, so probably not great. Don't doesn't doesn't cyanide like smell like almonds, or is that bitter?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_03:

I think it does. Something smells like almonds.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, probably. Maybe. Or maybe um, what's that one that starts with an X or an A?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, arsenic. Yeah. I don't know. Either way. If your flavor aid smells like almonds, don't drink it.

SPEAKER_02:

I wonder if it tasted like the grape Kool-Aid and grain alcohol that we used to drink out of the polar when we were kids.

SPEAKER_03:

Man. Yeah. Shoo. Yeah. I lost so many brain cells. So many brain cells. That's why I don't drink these days. Grain alcohol and Kool-Aid is what killed my ability to drink at this time in my life. Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, this is a perfect time. Because I forgot to do this earlier. I brought you another treasure this week. And it is a whole little stack. Oh no. Oh. Of 1992. Look at that.

SPEAKER_00:

Delaware.

SPEAKER_02:

Look at that. Pepsi. There's some really Gen X, like a phone with a cord.

SPEAKER_03:

This one's me very drunk. Is this Philadelphia? Oh, is that where you're smoking with your toes? Uh-huh. Oh, that's Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Look at that purse. I miss that purse. Smoking in the hotel room. Oh, yeah, man. That's when you were still allowed to do that. Got me drinking what? Vodka and Pepsi? Probably. Look at that. That's a gorgeous picture. Who was drinking the Mountain Dew? Dale.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. Oh yeah. Because that's what he put on his lucky charms, right? Or do you put Pepsi on his lucky charms?

SPEAKER_03:

You put Pepsi on his lucky charms.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh God, that was so gross. Dale, you're gross.

SPEAKER_03:

Look how young I am. Holy Moses. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. I know.

SPEAKER_02:

She was getting on your nerves in that picture.

SPEAKER_03:

Imagine that. Uh-huh.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

These were the days and passed out. That's how Nicole spent the mar majority of her time. Yeah. Which is why I found out. We all look drunk here.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I would say hi, but I know it wasn't hi. No. That was only when we went to Jimmy's dorm.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, look at that. That's the Velveteen Rabbit. Mm-hmm. Winnie the Pooh and the Velveteen Rabbit also drank. Uh-huh. Peach Snops. Oh, you had peach snaps. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And I had the vodka. Of course. Very cheap. Striking a pose. Yep. Ugh, that jacket. Girl. Yeah. I know. I remember getting it. Look at us. So young. I know.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you get to the one where they were body slamming in your no, not yet.

SPEAKER_03:

But I know what one you're talking about.

SPEAKER_02:

There's a couple on there that we've posted on. Oh, there it is.

SPEAKER_03:

This one's my favorite. I know. That's me reading the flannel.

SPEAKER_02:

That's why I saved that one for the last.

SPEAKER_03:

It's me reading the Bible in my favorite flannel.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah?

SPEAKER_03:

Is that the flannel you have of mine? I think it is. That's my favorite. Let me see.

SPEAKER_02:

I think that is the one.

SPEAKER_03:

We'll put that one up.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and I was planning. That's why I put that one at the last of the pile, too. So it would be the last one you read.

SPEAKER_03:

That's great. It is. You were trying. I was trying. I was preaching the word. You were. I was seriously drunk. If I am preaching the word, I have had too much.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my. So the first movie, um, Rob Reiner's movie, I want to review for those of you who haven't seen it in a while. Um, Stand By Me. Uh, so Stand By Me is a 1986 American coming of age drama film directed by Rob Reiner based on Stephen King's 1982 novella, The Body. It's also funny that Rob Reiner did multiple Stephen King movies.

SPEAKER_03:

So I was watching a thing the other day in which you're supposed to watch the movies in a certain order, and that they will make sense. Apparently they all live in the same universe, which makes sense because it's Stephen King. And I don't rem I think the first one is like it's the Shaw Shank Redemption. And then it's like I don't remember now. But there's a certain order that you read them in, and the very last one is Dr. Sleep. Ooh. Yeah. So I'll have to find it.

SPEAKER_02:

Because that includes like it? Yeah. Like all of it.

SPEAKER_03:

And Welcome to Dairy and all of it. Yeah. Apparently they all go together. Not like Christine or any of that, but like some of I I forget now. I'll have to look it up again, but it was like a a timeline. That's kind of cool. Yeah. Alright. Um because Welcome to Dairy is really good. Is it? Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I haven't watched it because I love the original it, and I tried to watch the new it and I couldn't. Like I have but it yeah. It was dumb.

SPEAKER_03:

I do like the original one. Okay. I think because it's a prequel. Oh yeah, so you're not not a remake. You're not comparing him to Tim Gray.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, right, right. Okay. Uh so Stand By Me stars Will Wheaton, River Phoenix.

unknown:

Will Wheaton.

SPEAKER_03:

My Star Trek. I know. I know Will Wheaton. I I I love Will Wheaton, the human being, but his character, Wesley Crusher, was horrible on that show. He's a whiny little brat. And you know it, Will Wheaton. But your Big Bang Theory, much better.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, um, the Lake Great River Phoenix, um, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell. We were correct. It's set in the summer of 1959 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Oregon. Um, the story follows four boys who embark on a journey to find the body of a missing boy. The film begins with an adult um named Gordie Lechance, who was Richard Dreyfus, another actor I love, love, love.

SPEAKER_03:

I hear he's a jackass, though. Really? I have not heard good things about him.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. Right. I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, too, because of Jaws, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um so he was reading a newspaper article about a fatal stabbing, which prompts him to recall his childhood. Flashing back to 1959, young Gordy, played by Will Wheaton, and his friends Chris Chambers, played by River Phoenix, Teddy Duchamp, played by uh Corey Feldman, and Vern Tessio Tassio, uh, who was Jerry O'Connell.

SPEAKER_03:

Was there a movie that then that did not have Corey Feldman in it? No, it had one of the quarries in it, or both. I guess we'll have to do one episode on the quarries.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Um, and they learn about the location of the body of the missing boy, Ray Browser Brower. Uh, they decide to find the body, hoping to become local heroes. The boys set out on foot, navigating the countryside and facing various challenges. Along the way, they share personal stories and bond over their individual struggles. Gordy, who is grappling with a recent death of his older brother Denny, who was played by John Kuzack, another name you might know if you're Dun X.

SPEAKER_03:

I love him.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. I love his sister too.

SPEAKER_03:

He is also a big activist, and I do love his sister. Yes. He puts her in all of his movies. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, and feeling neglected by his grieving parents, finds solace in his friends. The journey brings the boys face to face with both both physical and emotional trials. They encounter a train on a narrow bridge, narrowly escaping death, and are harassed by local bullies, including Ace Merrill, who is Kiefer Sutherland. I love Kiefer. Another name you may have heard. Um, the boys' camaraderie is tested as they confront their fears and insecurities. Eventually, the boys find Ray Brower's body. Their moment of triumph is short-lived as Ace and his gang arrive intending to claim the discovery for themselves. In a tense standoff, Chris brandishes a gun, forcing Ace to back down. The boys realize that finding the body has been a transformative experience, making them reassess their lives and their futures. The boys return home, having decided to leave the body and call in an anonymous tip to the authorities. The journey marks the end of their innocence and the beginning of their transition into adulthood. Boo. The film concludes with the adult Gordy reflecting on the impact of the journey and the enduring bond with his childhood friends. It's debatable that Stand By Me is the best Stephen King movie of all time, and equally debatable that it's one of Rob Briner's best movies. Alright, so my next movie I want to talk about is when Harry Met Sally. Love this movie so much. And I I mean, I just loved Billy Crystal as a kid. I think pretty much anything I saw him in, including Saturday Night Live.

SPEAKER_03:

You look marvelous.

SPEAKER_02:

Um I'm not a chick flick, so I'm well that's the funny thing is I hate chick-flicks. Like it is not my thing. Not a rom-com. No, no. Hallmark. God no. That would be a good way to torture me if you ever kidnap me. Make me watch Hallmark movies. But yeah, I I am not into the chick flicks at all. But this one, I mean, it is the boy meets girl, boy and girl breakup, boy and girl get together, which is the normal format. But this spans over decades. Yes. And I think that's what made it more. Anyway. Anywho. She's making me get defensive. Um I I didn't I didn't make her do anything. Um in 1990, blah, blah, blah. In 1977, Harry Burns, played by Billy Crystal, and Sally Albright, played by Meg Ryan, share a car ride from the University of Chicago to New York City. Their personalities instantly clash. Harry is cynical, blunt, and believes men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. Sally, on the other hand, is optimistic, organized, and slightly neurotic. I think she was more than slightly neurotic. Um, the road trip ends with the two parting ways, both unimpressed with each other. Years later, they meet again at the airport. Sally is dating one of Harry's friends while Harry is engaged. Their conversation revisits their earlier argument, revealing that neither has changed much. Once again, they part ways, not exactly as friends, but with a sense of mutual awareness. Another five years pass. Both Harry and Sally have broken up with their partners. They reconnect by chance at a bookstore, and this time to decide to become friends. I guess so if you just kept randomly running into somebody. I mean, obviously it's meant to be. Especially in New York City. I think it's real. A lot of people there. Yeah. Uh their platonic bond grows as they share late-night phone calls, lunch outings, and endless discussions about relationships, loneliness, and love. This portion of the film is the heart of the story, funny, bittersweet, and incredibly human. The friendship is genuine, but laced with unspoken attraction. One evening, after Sally breaks down in tears over her ex-boyfriend's engagement, Harry comforts her and they end up sleeping together. It's so funny as I read through this, I am picturing every single scene in my head. Like I've seen this movie so many times. I don't think I've seen it at all. The next morning, awkwardness replaces affection. Harry retreats emotionally, uh, afraid of what their intimacy means while Sally feels rejected. Their friendship collapses under the weight of confusion and hurt. Months later, at their friend's wedding, Jess and Marie, who are played by Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher. I know. Um, their tension resurfaces. Both realize how deeply the other's absence affects them. Harry tries to apologize, but Sally refuses to forgive him, claiming he cannot just show up and fix everything with words. On New Year's Eve, Harry wanders the streets of New York, reflecting on his mistakes. He finally rushes to the party where Sally is celebrating. Out of breath and desperate, he confesses, I got goosebumps just now. Um, and I for realed it. Uh when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. Sally initially resists, angry that he's only saying this because he's lonely. But when Harry starts listing all the little things he loves about her, how she orders food, how she gets cold when it's 70 degrees 71 degrees, how she takes an hour to order a sandwich, Sally realizes he's sincere. She bursts into tears, they kiss, and the crowd counts down to midnight. In the epilogue, Harry and Sally appear as one of the elderly couples featured throughout the film telling their story of marriage and timing, proving that love in the end finds its way. Yeah. Whatever. I love it.

SPEAKER_03:

And now we're gonna play play. We're gonna play that music.

SPEAKER_06:

Because I read your tea like and feel her teenage black. So I guess that's and freak your soul.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, so today is Sunday. Sunday. Yes. Uh Sunday, April 8th, 1984. Yes. Um that in Nicole's diary, by the way. You didn't go back in time. It is not actually April 8th, 1984. All right, so on this day, it's a Sunday. That means I had to get up and go to church. Oh no, I didn't. Oh. Today I never woke up till 10:30 a.m.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, she is a long sleeper anyway. It's like impossible to get her up early.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, to this day, well, it's not as easy because I have arthritis and stuff, so things start to hurt when you stay in bed too long. But I have not so long ago slept till like 11 o'clock on a Saturday. Oh no. Like, yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03:

Another way we are complete and total opposite.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but I was uh uh I slept till 10:30 because I was up because of last night. And if you remember last week we went to Jersey for Ann Gladys's wedding and we didn't get home till 12:30. 12:30. So I had to sleep till 10:30.

SPEAKER_03:

She had to sleep. Almost 12 hours.

SPEAKER_02:

And I probably slept a three-hour car ride on the way to. Unless I was hyped from the wedding. I don't know, maybe. Um, in the morning we had breakfast and played outside for almost all of the rest of the day. Oh my god. Yeah. Back when kids did that. Yes. Get off my lawn. Um, we went in and had a piece of Aunt Gladys's cake.

unknown:

Nice.

SPEAKER_02:

Leftovers. License after playing outside all day. Today we had to leave for Delaware from New Jersey. Oh, so we didn't go home. Oh, we didn't get last week. We didn't go home till 12:30, still in Jersey. Oh. Sure shit. No wonder. So tired. You did not sleep in the car, right? I did not. Um.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

When did we leave for Delaware if we played outside? All right, anyway. Um all day. 11-year-old me is confusing me. Um, on the way home, we stopped at White Castle. Oh my god. Where the fuck is there a White Castle?

SPEAKER_03:

New Jersey.

SPEAKER_02:

In Jersey, there used to be tons of White Castles back in the day. There is actually one, I want to say between 10 and 15 years ago on my birthday. There was one about four hours away, I think, in Elizabeth, New Jersey. That's too far. And we took a um road trip just to go get White Castles. And they were so good. Oh my god, they're so good. Um if you don't know what White Castle is, by the way, because I think it's strictly like a Jersey thing. I don't even know where else in the country is. Yeah, because there's that movie. Uh yeah. But they're in Jersey, aren't they?

unknown:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. But anyway, they are these little tiny OG sliders that have probably been around had been around since the 50s. I think there are still a couple little ones here and there, but they were these cheap little burgers. They were square, um, small, and they came on a really greasy bun, and they had um fried diced onions and a pickle slice. Yes. And of course, you could get them with cheese or you could add stuff, but no, you wanted it just the way it was made. And you could buy like a whole bag full of um and And they're my they were my parents' favorite, like yeah, anyway, really, really greasy, really delicious. But the person that I went to the White Castle with not so long, or like 10 or 12 years ago, thought they were gross, so it might be something you had to grow up with. I don't know. But if you see a White Castle, I would still try it. Um okay, so we stopped at White Castle and we got some White Castles. Yeah, yeah, hence the name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um when we got to Felton to take my stepsister and stepbrother home and picked up Trouble, who was our dog, from our friend's house. We stopped at the store to get a soda. What your mom let you have a sodium she probably got a soda, and I watched her drink it and I just marked it down like we got a soda. But yeah, pretty, pretty, pretty intense weekend for 11-year-old me. Yeah. That was crazy. That was so crazy. Until 1230, sleeping.

SPEAKER_03:

Until 10:30. She had White Castles.

SPEAKER_04:

Man.

SPEAKER_03:

Ugh. Wish I had a dialogue.

SPEAKER_02:

What a time to be alive. I'll tell you. On to the next movie. I think this is a lot of people's favorite on this list, The Princess Bride. And before I get into the movie, I wanted to go through because there are so many people in this movie. Like it's crazy how many people are in this movie. Um, and back then there were nobody. And now it's just okay. So anyway, um, so we're gonna start with uh Carrie El How do you say his name? I don't know. Elwis. Uh he's the one that played Wesley. Uh he was also in The Men in Black. He was what we played Oh, Dread Pirate Roberts. Um he was in Robin Hood Men and Tights, he was in Twister and Bram Stroker's Dracula. I don't remember him in the last one. I was wondering if you would.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, yes, I do. Okay. I remember him in Dracula now.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, okay. I was gonna say I saw his vampire. He was the cowboy. Okay. I saw his vampire name, but I couldn't remember what it was. All right, so then Robin Wright, who I love. I just love her.

SPEAKER_03:

Look, she is the biggest villain in any movie ever. I'm sorry, you can come at me every which way. I knew you were gonna be I this is a hill I will die on. Number one villain of all time.

SPEAKER_02:

So not in this movie. No, so she did play buttercup in this movie. However, the movie that um is being referenced by Heather here is Florest Gump.

SPEAKER_03:

Villainous, horrible human being. Uh she was Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks. I say that literally all the time. I used to say it to Christine all the time. Sometimes when we were sad, we would just text each other. Sometimes there aren't enough rocks. And when she passed, I wrote that sometimes there just aren't enough rocks. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And there's not.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. It's funny. We both tie a lot of strong connection to Forrest Gump because um I've never seen Forrest Gump because my first marriage, um, when I decided to tell my ex-husband that I wanted a divorce, he had turned on Forrest Gump. We had never seen it. And like a minute in, I told him I wanted a divorce. And you can imagine where the conversation went from there. And I never actually watched it, and so just for fuck's sake, I'm just never gonna watch it. I feel like it has its moment in time and it can just sit right there. It's a great movie, but yeah, yeah, I'm sure. And I'm sure through the years of my life I have seen the whole thing in clips here and there because it's referenced often. I get the gist. Yeah, um, yeah, so anyway, yeah. Uh anyway, Robin Wright was also in House of Cards, which I thought was an excellent show. Um not counting, we won't talk about that, but anyway, she was great in it. Uh, and she was married to Sean Penn. Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And they had kids together too. But she's also just been in a ton of stuff. Like, it's crazy. You'll be like, oh my god, there she is again. Um, she's been in something recently in a series, I want to say on like Netflix or something, but I've watched so much TV lately I can't remember, but I remember her being really good in that too. All right, so next Mandy Petenkin was um Enego Montuya.

SPEAKER_03:

I love Mandy Petinkin. Have I ever mentioned that there was a TV show and it only had two series, two seasons, and it's called Dead Like Me. And Mandy Petinkin is in it, and it is one of the greatest TV shows I have ever watched.

SPEAKER_02:

Is it? It's one that kept popping up when I was researching him. Mm-hmm. I kept seeing that.

SPEAKER_03:

It's a fucking amazing show. I don't know why it only got they're Grim Reapers. What? Yeah, it's great. It's great. Yeah. Absolutely. He's like the leader of the Grim Reapers. Wow. It's a great if you have never heard of it, if you haven't, it was like I said, I think it was on Showtime and or HBO or one of those, and it was literally two seasons and then it completely went away. And I don't know why, because it was I don't even think they ended it.

SPEAKER_02:

Like they must have gone a long time ago. Because I wonder if COVID would count. No, it was it was before that.

SPEAKER_03:

It was way longer than that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. But he has found fame in a lot of TV shows. He was has been on Chicago Hope, Criminal Minds, and Homeland. He's great on Criminal Minds. I've heard that. I don't watch those shows, but I love him on Criminal Minds. Yeah. Um, okay. Andre the Giant was Fezick. I love Andre the Giant. I don't think we need to say any more about that. If you don't know who he is, look him up. Shame on you. What are you doing here? Who are you? Uh Wallace Sean was Vizzini. The uh he was in Clueless, and he has been the voice in a ton of cartoon shows and movies. So he was the little guy that with the wine and tried to get him to drink the wine, then he drank his own wine. He's great. He is awesome. And it's like I couldn't even, he must have been in 50 different movies. Like he's been a character, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Because of his voice. Yeah. Um clueless, great movie, also.

SPEAKER_02:

And he was in some other movies that were popular, but I couldn't picture him in those movies, so I don't want to be like, well, if he's only in it for like 10 seconds or something.

SPEAKER_03:

Can I just take a second? Because you know what movie I absolutely love, and I don't know if it's like a if I should love it. I mean, I'd love it, and I'm not gonna be ashamed of it, but um legally blonde is I can quote that movie head to toe. I don't know why clueless and legally blonde stay in the same world for me, but ah, damn.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, we all have our guilty pleasures.

SPEAKER_03:

But man, legally blonde, what like it's hard? It's just one of my makes me want a hot dog real bad. I just fucking love that movie. Great movie.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh man. All right, next is Chris Sarandon, who was Prince Humpered Ink.

SPEAKER_03:

And he is also in two of my all-time favorite movies, uh Fright Knight, where he plays Jerry Danders, and he is the voice of one Jack Skellington.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, which is what I wrote because I knew. I'm pretty sure you were a charmed fan too, weren't you? Yes, he was. Yes, he was. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

Big Chris Sarandon fan. Big Chris.

SPEAKER_02:

Um let's see. Then we have Christopher Guess, who was Count Rugen. Um, he was in This Is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, and the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors. That was that was a great movie. That is a great movie. Yeah. Um, that's why I said the 86 version because that is definitely the best one.

SPEAKER_03:

My aloe plant that I've actually kept alive is named Audrey. Ooh, I like it. Um I also feed her blood. Just kidding. I don't. Unless she wants it. Aloe plants do not require blood. The cactuses, however, do.

SPEAKER_02:

Cactuses. I swear to God, I could be 10 feet away from my cactus and it will still find a way to get me. But whatever. Um, Billy Crystal. Uh, he was Miracle Max. Obviously, when Harry met Sally, throw mama from the train, etc., because Billy Crystal was in everything in the 80s. Carol Kane, who has always been one of my just favorite actress from all right, so she played Valerie. She was um Billy Crystal's wife. They were the little like troll people. Um, she I remember her from the TV show Taxi, and she played Simca Gravas, and she was so funny on that show. I was very little when that show was on, and I remember just cracking up at her. And then she's a great show, too. So, so good. And then she's in probably my favorite movie of all time, which is crazy because this wasn't even listed for her. I swear to god, I'm the only person in the world that remembers this movie. Transylvania 6500. And she's in that movie with um there are a lot of actors in that movie as well. Gina Davis, Jeff Goldblum, um, the guy who played the principal on Fair Sprers Day Off and then turned out to be a pervert. Also in Beetlejuice.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah. Isn't it sad? All our favorite movies have. Can I divert you again?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, the Mandela Effect, because this is relevant to what you just said about you're the only one that remembers this movie. Um, so my one of my podcasts I listened to did um episode on the Mandela effect.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And one was uh the Barenstein Bears, as but they're not the Barenstein Bears, they're the Barenstein Bears, which I can get that one because you probably just misread it. Uh-huh. Um Curious George, not actually a monkey. He's an ape and he does not have a tail. Yeah. Um, but we all rem collectively my mind is blown right now. Yeah, we all remember things differently. And that one is probably because you think of him as a monkey. Monkeys have tails. You put the tail there in your own head, but he does not have a tail.

SPEAKER_02:

I swear to God, a picture of him with a tail. He does not have to. Like swinging through the trees, hanging from his tail.

SPEAKER_03:

He ha he swings with from his feet. Yeah. Anywho, the big one, and this is one that I I will swear to is the Sinbad is in the movie Shazam, when there is actually no movie called Shazam, with Sinbad as a genie. But we all collectively remember, we all know this movie.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't I wouldn't say I remember seeing it, but I remember that it was a movie.

SPEAKER_03:

You didn't. And here and I found out why they explained what it actually is, and then the pieces fell into my like the little guy that runs around in my brain went back to the Sinbad file and was like, Yep, there it is. He did a um uh like a um TV thing where they played Sinbad the pirate. It was like three movies or something, and he narr not narrated them, but you know how they used to do that on TV and they hear. And he's wearing a purple turban and he's got on a vest, and it's the it is the outfit. I've they've posted that picture, right? That is the picture. He was wearing that in his thing, and we've because it was the same time as Shaq's movie Kazam, we've all put him in that movie from Shaq acted that far far back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_03:

And so he posted himself in that and he said, Mystery solved, here it is, and it was from him doing the it was like three movies, and you know how they did that in the 80s and 90s, where they would put and then they'd have somebody come. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Thornbirds was a big one, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So that the movie series is why we all think that Shazam is a movie in which he played a genie, and he does not play a genie in any movie, and he himself has posted this picture and said, See, this is where it's coming from. But we have all and it always when they come up with these mandiles, because there was another one that was on TikTok, and I was like, wait a minute. Um, like they he doesn't actually say Luke, I am your father, and um, it's not mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all, it's magic mirror on the wall, and like there's a whole bunch of them that we just collectively, but some of those it's it flows better as mirror mirror, so we probably just decided that that's right. Um and the Bernstein, Bernstein, whatever, but but man, it's just crazy to me that without internet we all remember a movie that did not exist, and we're all like, yes, it did.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, unless I'm way highly delusional, Transylvania 6500 does exist because I watch it probably every I've heard of it also, but I could be living in your delusion. Maybe probably every like three to five years. I have to watch it because I love it so much. Um yeah, but Carol Kane's in that, and then she was also in the movie Scrooged. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

That might be a Christmas movie you would enjoy. I do like that. That's is that the one with uh Bill Murray? Bill Murray, yeah. Yeah, I have seen that one.

SPEAKER_02:

That's a good one, and it's got um Del Toro in it. But CO del Toro. He's the taxi cab driver, I think. Yes, he is. Yeah, that's a good one. All right, um, Peter Falk uh was the grandfather, and he was the OG Columbo. Yep. And then Fred Savage was the grandson, obviously from the Wonder Years. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

His brother, equally as good in Boy Meets World.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. I didn't watch either of those shows.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, see, we weren't allowed to watch TV shows that my mom didn't like. Right. So I missed out on a lot of Gen X shows.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, Boy Meets World was on Disney, so we didn't have cable. Oh no, it was A well, ABC, so I don't think they owned anyway. Boy Meets World was a good show. You should go back and watch it.

SPEAKER_02:

You think I would enjoy it now?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. I enjoy it now.

SPEAKER_02:

What was the show we watched in college that we loved so much? The high school one.

SPEAKER_03:

I know 2-0. No, I never really got it. Saved by the bell. Yes. There's a whole thing about how Zach Morris is a horrible human being, and people just put clips of him from that show and how horrible. And if you go back and watch it now, you're like, oh my god. Zach is a horrible human being. Huh. Yeah. Like terrible. We were loyal to that show though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03:

And 902 and O.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and the sketch show in Living Color. We used to watch that. And Martin.

SPEAKER_03:

Martin.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, we get together.

SPEAKER_03:

And and and you remember the show The State from MTV? Um Doug. And you're dad. I'm out of here. We watch The State every now and then.

SPEAKER_02:

Did you hear they canceled uh Ridiculousness wine? Yes. After 46 seasons, 21 years. Wow. I saw me the other day that was like, damn, 46 seasons? I thought they just played the same 7-1 over and over again.

SPEAKER_03:

Now he's gonna have to go back to skating.

SPEAKER_02:

But I've been watching it for years, and no, he's not. Have you seen the house he's building? No. Oh my god. Jesus Christ. Um yeah, he's a very business savvy guy. But um yeah, I've been watching Ridiculousness for probably 10 years, and I still frequently see ones I've never seen before. Like there are so many, but even the ones I've already seen. I just love I love Chanel West Coast, and I'm not surprised that the show went off the air after she left because she was awesome. All right, back to the Princess Bride subject. We have been all over the place this episode.

SPEAKER_03:

Tangent after tangent.

SPEAKER_02:

It's because there's a lot of Gen X memories in Rob Reiner. I told you, I told you. All right. Um so the Princess Bride. The movie opens with a framing device. A grandfather reads a story to his sick grandson. This story becomes the fairy tale we watch unfold. Buttercup lives on a farm and constantly teases the farm boy Wesley, uh, who only ever replies with as you wish. The perfect man. Um eventually she realizes this is his way of saying, I love you, and the two fall deeply in love. Wesley leaves to seek his fortune, but is reportedly killed by the dread pirate Roberts. Buttercup is heartbroken. Years later, Buttercup is chosen to marry Prince Humperdink, a smarky, a smarmy, and manipulative ruler. But before the wedding, she is kidnapped by three outlaws, Vizini, Vezik, the gentle giant, and Inigo Montoya, who seeks revenge on the six-fingered man who killed his father.

SPEAKER_03:

Prepare to die.

SPEAKER_02:

The trio is pursued by a masked man in black who defeats them one by one. He bests Inego Inego in sword combat, a duel full of honor and respect, wrestles Fezzick into unconsciousness without killing him, and outsmarts Vinz Vizini in a battle of wits involving poisoned wine. He then escapes with Buttercup. Buttercup discovers that the man in black is actually Wesley, alive and well. He explains that he took up the mantle of the dread pirate Roberts. Their reunion is cut short when Humperdink and his sadistic henchman, Count Rugen, capture them. Wesley is tortured in the pit of despair. I don't know, that part makes me laugh. Um meanwhile, Inago's team uh teams up with Fezzick again. Uh both characters reveal more depth in Enago's lifetime quest to avenge his father and Fezick's loyalty and kindness. Together they plan to rescue Wesley so he can stop Humperdink's wedding. With help from Miracle Max and his wife Valerie, Wesley is revived, albeit only mostly dead. Inigo storms the castle, confronting Rugen in one of Cinema's most iconic duels. Despite being gravely wounded, Inego keeps repeating his mantra. Hello, my name is Enego Bantuya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. He finally gets his revenge. Inigo's revenge is Inigo triumphs over Count Rugen, avenging his father after a lifetime of training. His arc closes with fulfillment but also uncertainty about what's next for him. The weakened from torture, Wesley bluffs his way through a confrontation with Humperdink, threatening a gruesome fight he cannot actually deliver. Humperdink surrenders without battle. Buttercup, Enigo, and Fezick escape together. Buttercup and Wesley finally share their long-delayed kiss, described in the narrat narration as the most passionate kiss in the history of the world. Back in the real world, the boy asks his grandfather to come back to to come back the next day and read the story again. A touching closure that shows how the tale has bonded them. It's a perfect fairy tale ending. The villains defeated, the lovers united, and the hero's journey fulfilled. It is a great movie. Yeah, it really, really is. That's another one I need to watch again. Some of these you've seen so many times. You're like, eh, but then re-watching it. And there are parts you forgot, or maybe parts you didn't get the last time you saw it.

SPEAKER_03:

We watched the never-ending story, and I had to go past the horse. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

God, that movie's so good. I think I started that movie one night a while ago, but then I realized I was really tired.

SPEAKER_03:

No, it's just not the appropriate time. That movie is too much. Brutal.

SPEAKER_02:

Say my name! Oh, and when the rock man I love it.

SPEAKER_03:

I love every part of it except for one. Yeah. And when the the the turtle sneezes. Anyway. Rob Reiner.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Back to Rob Reiner. Um, all right. So my final favorite Rob Reiner movie that I want to talk about, although I could probably sit here all night and talk about his movies.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, we just took a break so that we could pare down.

SPEAKER_02:

I knew that this script was going to bring up a lot of conversation because, like I said, he is he is so much of Gen X. Um so anyway, misery.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I remember I did not realize this was one of his movies.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um, I remember seeing this movie at a very young age and being very traumatized.

SPEAKER_03:

It's a great movie.

SPEAKER_02:

Probably not something I should have seen. Another one that I haven't seen in a really long time.

SPEAKER_03:

This one goes into the whole list, also. Um right around Monster Truck. Right around the same time that you watch Oh, the Shinnin. Oh. Yeah. Because of the author thing. Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. I really have to look at that. Anyway, go ahead. I love Misery. It's a great movie.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. Alright, so um, Paul Sheldon, who is played by James Kahn, for you younger listeners that might be out there, he is the businessman dad, an elf that has no time for his kids until the end. Um, so anyway, he plays a successful novelist, famous for his romantic series featuring a heroine named Misery Chastine. Wanting to move on from this franchise, he finishes a new manuscript in his secluded Colorado lodge. After typing the inn, Paul celebrates with Champagne. But while driving away during a snowstorm, he crashes his car. Paul is rescued by Annie Wilkes, who is played by Kathy Bates. Great character. Yeah. And if you don't know her, look her up. I'm not gonna give you any information. She's apparently the new Columbo, right?

SPEAKER_03:

She is. Or Matlock. Oh, wait. I think it's Matlock. Yeah, I think you're right. Never mind.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but she's been in way, way better things. She's an amazing actress. Um, she's a seemingly kind woman who claims to be his number one fan. Uh, she takes him to her remote home to recover from his severe injuries, including broken legs. At first, Annie appears nurturing and devoted. And right there, like, obviously, when I watched this when I was younger, I didn't think of that, but why would you just let somebody take you to their house and then nurse you back to health? Why wouldn't you go to the hospital? I'm sure it was explained at the next hospital, it's probably like five days away or something crazy like that. Uh, because they were in a remote area. Yes. All right, so Annie's kindness quickly reveals darker undertones. When she discovers that Paul has killed off Misery in his latest transcript, she becomes enraged. Annie forces Paul to burn his new book and demands that he write a new novel, Resurrecting Misery. Paul realizes he is effectively her prisoner. Uh, as Paul resists, Annie's behavior grows more violent. In one of the film's most infamous moments, this is the one. Annie hobbles Paul by smashing his ankles with a sledgehammer to ensure he cannot escape. For those of you who haven't seen it, he is laying in the bed. He cannot move, and she takes a sledgehammer and bashes his ankles in. Yeah. That's that's the one burned in my brain right there. Um this horrifying act cements her control over him and remains one of the most iconic scenes in a in horror thriller cinema. It does. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Um you can't think about a horror movie without thinking about.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, it hurts my ankles just to think of it now. I'm not even watching it. Um, meanwhile, Sheriff Buster, who was played by Richard Farnsworth, investigates Paul's disappearance. His search leads him to Annie's home, but when he discovers Paul, Annie kills him with a shotgun. Annie gets your gun. Uh this crushing moment leaves Paul truly alone in his fight for survival. Using his wits, Paul plays along, writing a new misery novel under Annie's constant watch. Secretly, he stockpiles painkillers and prepares for a desperate escape plan. The climax unfolds when Paul completes the new manuscript, Misery's Return. Annie is ecstatic, but Paul tricks her into allowing a celebratory ritual. He sets the manu the manuscript on fire right in front of her. Furious, Annie attacks him and they engage in a brutal struggle. The fight is violent, with Paul using his typewriter and even a burning manuscript as weapons. Finally, Paul kills Annie by bashing her head with the typewriter and ensuring she cannot rise again. The film then cuts to months later, showing Paul in a New York City restaurant. He is still physically scarred and psychologically haunted by his ordeal. A waitress approaches, saying she's his number one fan. Though she's harmless, Paul sees a hallucination of Annie for a brief moment, showing that he may never truly escape her shadow. This ending underlines the long-term trauma of his captivity and highlights King's recurring theme: evil doesn't just vanish, it lingers.

SPEAKER_03:

Indeed. Great movie.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Man, I have so many movies I want to watch now.

SPEAKER_03:

Unfortunately. Seems to be a Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I've been trying to watch Christmas movies and I don't know, I'm just not feeling it too much. I never feel it too much. I watched the ones, you know.

SPEAKER_03:

You did watch the nightmare before Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, of course you did.

SPEAKER_03:

And I sang along and spoke along.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, I've watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Obvi. I've watched Elf Obvi. My newest favorite Christmas movie is the Christmas Chronicles. It's on Netflix and it has Kurt Russell and Goldie Hahn in it.

SPEAKER_03:

I did watch one that I had never seen because it's a Christmas movie. And this one I could tolerate. Four Christmases.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

That's not a bad one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you choked me up. Well, anything with um what's his face? Yeah. Yeah, I'll pretty much watch anything with him in it. He's he's a very beautiful man.

SPEAKER_03:

What is his name? Just get him confused with Vincent D'Nafrio. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_02:

Reese Witherspoon and now you said Vince.

SPEAKER_03:

Vince Vaughn. Vaughn. I don't know if it's because they're both named Vince. I don't know what it is, but I always get them mixed up and I don't know why.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And plus Favreau is that's one of his movies. Yes. And he all his movies are just so funny. And I love how he's in all of his own movies too.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it's a good movie. I I didn't I didn't hate it. Yeah. I don't want to watch it again, but I didn't hate I didn't hate my time there with it. That's a good one. I might be able to do that. So new and different. Elf made me want to hang myself, by the way. That's crazy. I had I just I just was like, I can't. That's no more. No more. That's a great movie.

SPEAKER_02:

I did almost really injure myself and watch planes, trains, and automobiles the other night. And then I was like, you know what? You haven't been feeling the best mentally lately in that movie? Did you watch that at all when you were younger?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, I've seen probably bits of it enough to have.

SPEAKER_02:

I've seen it a million times. It's one of those I can picture the whole entire thing, but it is just rips your heart out. It just is so sad. Like when you find out that Marie is dead, oh my god. Spoiler alert for a 50-year-old movie. Maybe 40. Um, anyway, yeah, so that's that. Uh, I hope you all enjoyed this trip down um memory lane. Um with a lot of the movies and stuff that meant a lot to us. I rest in peace, Rob Reiner and his wife. What a tragedy. It's awful. It's it's so sad. It's sad, just sad in every possible way. Um, his son did have mental health issues um and addiction issues. And again, if you need help, please reach out for resources. Yes. Um, there are people out there who can try to help.

SPEAKER_03:

Especially this time of year. If you know anybody that is struggling, yes, this time of the year is when uh these things surface.

SPEAKER_02:

Seasonal depression is a very real thing. So if you're a person with mental health issues already, um this time of year magnifies it, it does it for me. I mean, granted, I'm going through some stuff right now, which is really affecting my mental health, but this time of year is always, always hard for me. Yeah, I always have a really tough time with my depression. And I'm not particularly a depressed person, but this time of year is always rough on me. So not only if you need help, if you know somebody that needs help, but if you know somebody, and this is a tough one because everybody's like, check on your friends, and your depressed friends are gonna be like, No, I'm fine. But maybe don't just ask them if they're okay. Maybe, hey, you want me to bring over a pizza and watch a movie or something like that. Just because sometimes people just need to get out of their heads for a minute and realize it's not well, maybe not as bad as they think it is. So yeah. Um, but there are a lot of resources out there, so please reach out. Um, but besides that, I hope you all enjoyed my tribute to Rob Reiner. Go watch the movies. Yep. As we said, next week is going to be one that we recorded um a few weeks back because Heather is a postal worker and asking her to add anything else to her plate the week of Christmas is just rude. So rude. Already. So we will see you all again.

SPEAKER_03:

Um thanks for listening. Thanks for doing this, Nicole. Of course. Um also did oh, we're going to Podfest this year.

SPEAKER_02:

We are. Heather won us tickets. Yes. And we are going, and we are super, super excited. Excited.

SPEAKER_03:

We're gonna learn some, we're gonna learn us some stuff. Well, Heather's gonna learn. What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02:

And I'm gonna stand there and smile and look pretty. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's what we do, right? That's true.

SPEAKER_03:

Anyhow. Anywho. Um thank so we'll try we might be able to get. I don't know what we'll do, but we'll do it. Um, maybe we'll do some live streaming or something. Yeah. Um, so thank you for listening. Thank you. Happy holidays to you all since we technically won't be here next week. To those who celebrate, yes. Uh like, share, rate, review. That's what you can do for us.

SPEAKER_02:

That's what we would like for the holidays. Yes. Just just some five stars or something. Something. Or subscribe. Not yeah, subscribe. Subscribe. Like, follow, rate, review, all the things. All of them.

SPEAKER_03:

On all of the things. Yes. Every every one of them. All of them. Find us where you listen to podcasts. All of them. Yeah, all of them. That's where you would go to write rate and review. Yes. Especially on Apple. Um Yeah. And subscribe on YouTube. Please follow us on all the socials at like whatever pod. Join us on all of those. Um, you can check out the blog and the website. Uh W W W likewhap.com. Um, or you can send us an email about oh hold on, I got did I put the pressure? Okay, you can send us an email about what you sound like when you have an orgasm to like whatever pod at gmail.com or don't like whatever. Prepare to die.

Contributor

Heather Jolley

Host
Contributor

Nicole Barr

Host