Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard XX
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[15] I'm David Ferrier, and New Zealand are accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick.
[16] Now, if it's one thing I love, and I've loved for as long as I can remember, Remember, it's been the movies.
[17] For me it all started when my mum and dad took me and my brother to see Jurassic Park in 1993.
[18] Pam, Alistair, Rob and me were transfixed, me in particular.
[19] I think we probably all have movies that got under our skin as kids, and Jurassic Park was mine.
[20] For others, it'll be Ben Hur or Gone with the Wind or E .T. For a lot of people, it'll be Avatar, the highest grossing film ever, over $3 billion taken at the box office.
[21] And number two, Avengers Endgame, followed by Titanic, and yes, Avatar 2.
[22] Star Wars, The Force Awakens, is in fifth place with just over $2 billion in global ticket sales.
[23] When you look at the biggest movies of all time, you can see how they're all American, and three of them are made by one American, James Cameron, who's now very rich and weirdly lives in New Zealand.
[24] But my point is, the global box office is ruled by America, and now I find myself in America, I see the Hollywood sign looming down at me every other day.
[25] So, grab your popcorn and candy of your choice, and if it's avatar, your 3D glasses, I guess, because this is the movies episode.
[26] Flyless, flyless bird touchdown in America.
[27] I'm a flyless bird touchdown in America.
[28] What?
[29] Rob's already giggling at me over there?
[30] Why are you giggling?
[31] I'm giggling because movies are so obviously not American.
[32] Yeah.
[33] They are worldwide.
[34] That's right.
[35] They're everywhere.
[36] They're not specific or proprietary to America.
[37] And so this is a bit of a stretch.
[38] It is.
[39] Yeah.
[40] So I want to explain my topic choice here.
[41] This episode, I sort of want to explore what the movie experiences in America, the movie going experience, because I think it's different.
[42] to what it is like in New Zealand.
[43] There's different options.
[44] There's different theatres.
[45] There's different ads in the theatres.
[46] There's more ads before the movie plays here.
[47] I was thinking back to when I was living in Fungare when I was 11 watching Jurassic Park.
[48] Yeah.
[49] And so much of my worldview has been directly affected by American movies.
[50] So, so strongly.
[51] Jurassic Park got me interested in movies.
[52] And I think if you went through like the steps that my brain went through and what I ended up doing.
[53] I don't think I'll be here now if it wasn't for watching Jurassic Park.
[54] I got excited by Jurassic Park.
[55] I was like, wow, maybe I want to work in the movies one day.
[56] Then I got obsessed, properly obsessed with Jeff Goldblum.
[57] Okay.
[58] And then the first time I came to America, which was a very long time ago, I specifically went to see Jeff Goldblum play jazz in a jazz bar.
[59] The reason for me coming to America was all informed by being excited about movies.
[60] Wait, you came to America just to see him in doing jazz.
[61] Not just to see Jeff gone.
[62] Not just, but it was one of like the top reasons that I was excited.
[63] Also, going on the Jurassic Park Ride at Universal.
[64] That's literally what I did on day one in America back in probably 2002 -ish.
[65] You don't not look like Jeff Goldblum.
[66] Oh, that's the nicest thing I've ever said.
[67] I can see your resemblance, actually.
[68] There's a photo I got of us at that jazz show, both staring at each other.
[69] I'm wearing my Jurassic Park t -shirt that I got in 1993.
[70] I knew I was going to still be obsessed with it.
[71] So I bought a large size, even though I was a child.
[72] You were thinking ahead.
[73] And years later, here I am in America, with Jeff, staring at him whilst wearing a Jurassic Park tea.
[74] That's very heartwarming.
[75] Do you think he was like, oh, no. This kid with this Jurassic Park.
[76] Just another obsessed fan.
[77] He's not here for my jazz.
[78] He's here because of fucking Jurassic Park.
[79] But my point is, movies in my mind are so American.
[80] Like, obviously, China's making a movie, Russia's making movies, Korea's making movies.
[81] India is making, oh, my God, ah, ah, ah, one of my favorite films of the last decade, Indian.
[82] But I guess in my mind, culturally, America and movies are just everywhere.
[83] You're right, and I heard from, I guess, multiple people, they credit, well, one person.
[84] I know, who's Australian, so not too far from you, from you.
[85] But he does such a good American accent, and he credits American movies and television to that.
[86] He said the reason that Europeans and other people can do such good American accents is because they were exposed to American speak patterns.
[87] I think I started doing an American accent when I got obsessed with friends for a while, like in school.
[88] Who were you being, Ross.
[89] Yes, that's so lame.
[90] Even though now I think Ross is hot I can do an American accent later It's pretty good Yeah we're gonna end on that So I went out into the streets And I asked Americans What do movies mean to you Like what has your movie going experience been like And this is what people said Honestly every time at AMC is a great experience So give me a free membership please Is that Nicole Kidman one where she comes up?
[91] Yeah She's like because here at AMC We make movies better or something like that I fucking love Nicole Kidman I mean, I was fine with the movies, but then I heard that the movies have bedbugs and, like, ticks.
[92] Yeah, apparently that is very common.
[93] I was watching Bruno when it came out, and the reel melted, like, right in the middle of the movie, and everyone there was pissed, and it was semi -riot, and then we got...
[94] People got angry.
[95] Oh, yeah, because we were, like, three -fourths of the way through, so we had sat that long just to be disappointed.
[96] I fell asleep when Star Wars premiered, which I was embarrassed about, but I went to the midnight premiere, so it was my mistake.
[97] I sort of realized the only reason I went to the movies is because I didn't really want to hang out with the person I was hanging out with.
[98] So we just watched the movie instead, and then called it a day.
[99] So then I just gradually stopped going to the movies.
[100] Are you still friends with that person?
[101] No. Yeah, I was like, yeah, this is probably a sign that it's not going to work out.
[102] New Beverly Cinema, I was there.
[103] I was going to see a Jennifer Jason Lee double feature.
[104] I was watching the film.
[105] There was nobody in the theater.
[106] All of a sudden, this large man walks in and sits two seats away from me. And I thought, okay, maybe that's his spot.
[107] Then I start feeling this weird sensation on the side of my leg that takes me a long time to realize it's his finger.
[108] I thought it was like an air unit or something.
[109] Oh, I thought it's gonna be a funny story that's actually horrific.
[110] I'm so sorry.
[111] This man put his jacket between us and put his arm through the sleeve, and was taking his finger and ever so slightly grazing my thigh as soon as I realized it was his finger I just froze and looked at him and he just picked up his coat and he left.
[112] Oh my God, pervert!
[113] Awful.
[114] Movie -going experiences best and worst for you, Monica.
[115] Are there any that jump out?
[116] Because for me, I love going to the movies so much.
[117] I do it a lot here and there can be good times and bad times.
[118] Good times and bad times.
[119] Hearing all those people really got my wheels turning.
[120] about the movies and how connected it really is to childhood.
[121] Oh, my God, yes.
[122] There's so many parts of it.
[123] Like, in my high school and middle school, you would on Friday nights go to the movie theater, everyone in the school, if you were cool.
[124] Oh, you went to the movies.
[125] Yes, but you would just stand outside the movie theater.
[126] You wouldn't go in and see a movie.
[127] What you'd just gather there.
[128] And what would you do?
[129] Just talk and gossip and then there are clicks.
[130] You know, you're jumping.
[131] thing from group to group.
[132] Do they have video games you'd play and stuff?
[133] No, we just stood there.
[134] We all stood there.
[135] Except there was one exception.
[136] When Bring It On came out, everyone decided to actually get tickets, like the whole, if you're cool.
[137] You went to the movie.
[138] You thought we hear every Friday night, we're going to take that step, and we're going to go and see a movie.
[139] Yes.
[140] And everyone got tickets, but the cool kids obviously got tickets first because they are the ones that made that plan.
[141] And then it trickled down, right?
[142] So by the time it trickled down to me, bring it all was sold out.
[143] So I had to see Coyote Ugly.
[144] That was second tier.
[145] It's a great film.
[146] It's a great film.
[147] Did you have any friends to go with?
[148] Or was it just you at that point, alone in Coyote Ugly.
[149] No, I was second tier.
[150] There was a lot of us in Coyote Ugly.
[151] It was the next best thing.
[152] And there was probably a third tier and a fourth tier, but I didn't know about those people.
[153] Oh, that's very, very funny.
[154] So bring it on, and people were in the, you know, aisles.
[155] Yeah, it would be crazy.
[156] People were making out, you know, it was that time where this person would be making out in the movies with that person.
[157] So that was really exciting.
[158] That's a great experience.
[159] One of my worst was last year.
[160] Top Gun.
[161] Great film.
[162] Incredible film.
[163] Really hyped up.
[164] What happened?
[165] How could that be a bad experience?
[166] What could have happened?
[167] So you guys, especially you, hyped up the film so much.
[168] And so Jess and I decided to see it at Dax saw in Man's Chinese theater and recommended that.
[169] So we got tickets, we go, we rush in, we sit down, and all of a sudden our seat starts vibrating.
[170] And I just snapped my head over to Jess what's going on here.
[171] Is someone kicking our seat?
[172] What's happening?
[173] Yeah.
[174] It was 4D.
[175] Oh.
[176] And I love this for you.
[177] As, you know, the movie starts and it's like a plane.
[178] So you're getting like reclined back, shaking like you're in fucking turbulence.
[179] I was like, this is the last way I want to watch this movie.
[180] See, this is kind of what this episode's about.
[181] The American movie going experience.
[182] We don't have 4D theaters in New Zealand.
[183] I mean, this is my first.
[184] They're new.
[185] For me, this is a nightmare.
[186] Like, this is the worst way you could, the most distracting, awful way you could watch a movie.
[187] So, so awful.
[188] And then it would stop and then start again.
[189] So you never knew when you were going to get jostled.
[190] I have not laughed that hard in probably the last five years.
[191] You were laughing so hard.
[192] And then a fight started to break out.
[193] Foss gets better.
[194] Was this part of the 4D experience or this was just separate?
[195] Maybe.
[196] Maybe.
[197] That's an actor's come in at some tense moments.
[198] That would have been so smart.
[199] No, I looked at Justin, I said, we got to go.
[200] And he was like, yeah.
[201] Okay, I've got another question for you then around this, because I'm really curious about theater etiquette.
[202] If something's going wrong in there, you know, maybe the bulb's too dim and you can't see the picture right.
[203] Maybe there's a fight.
[204] Do you just sit there and do nothing, or will you go out and get an usher?
[205] Or do you just leave?
[206] Or would you ever tell someone off in a theater if they're talking too loudly?
[207] Oh, this is so interesting.
[208] Okay, because this is just personality based.
[209] 100%.
[210] I would never say anything to someone who was talking to Lally, but I would just, like, give bad eyes.
[211] Evil, the evil eye.
[212] Evil eye them.
[213] Which can be hard in the cinema because it's so dark.
[214] It's true.
[215] But I would, like, look over and just, like, have a mean face.
[216] Yeah.
[217] Tell them telepathically to shut the fuck up.
[218] Theater rage.
[219] Theater rage.
[220] But I wouldn't ever stand up or say anything, which a lot of people would do.
[221] I also am sorry to say if something were happening, I don't think I would go get an usher.
[222] I would either, what we did in this case, just leave, or I would just panic silently in my seat, which is more likely.
[223] It's interesting because there's sort of less and less money going into some of these chains, they don't have many staff.
[224] And so there's not really even anyone kind of keeping an eye on things.
[225] So I find it fascinating.
[226] You go in there, you're sealed in.
[227] In the old days, they'd have a projectionist running each projector and, like, checking that everything's okay.
[228] Now, I assume it's all basically digital, and it all just goes off automatically.
[229] You're sealed in there.
[230] No one gives a shit.
[231] Oh, you're nodding your head.
[232] There's still fun.
[233] Well, I worked in a movie theater for three, four years after high school.
[234] Yeah.
[235] How long ago was that?
[236] Twelve years ago.
[237] It was before we went digital.
[238] Like, I left right as they had added one of our 16 was digital.
[239] The craziest thing that happened to you when you were working a theater?
[240] I mean, there was, people would shit in the theater and, oh, God, that's happened.
[241] And you didn't have to clean it.
[242] I didn't have, I didn't have to clean it up.
[243] Oh, that poor staff that has to clean up.
[244] Yeah, it's such an interesting, you're sealed in this room and it can be chaos in there, or it can be a really good experience.
[245] There was a drug deal once, too.
[246] That was, well, I heard a rumor, just like this person heard about bedbugs.
[247] I heard that there are razors in the seats from gang members.
[248] The gang members would put razors out there with their razor blades.
[249] I was so scared of gangs.
[250] And so I, to this day, it's just a habit at this point, but you always check the seat before you sit down because they're hoping for some naive chump to walk in, sit down, get razored on your ass, I guess.
[251] The worst place to get razed.
[252] Oh, yeah, because then there's AIDS in there.
[253] That's right.
[254] There was like AIDS on the razor.
[255] That never happened in our theater.
[256] Amazing.
[257] Yeah, I mean, there are certain theatres that aren't good, but I think ticks aren't a big thing.
[258] But I imagine there's the occasional theatre that would have something terrible.
[259] Razor blades, probably never.
[260] But an amazing rumour to be going around.
[261] I mean, we didn't, the seats weren't cleaned.
[262] Oh, there's a reason it's dim in there, right?
[263] Occasionally they were cleaned, but.
[264] Ew.
[265] Yeah, I walked into a theater one time, and the lights were fully all up, and those seats were, they were nasty.
[266] Like, it's pretty bad in there.
[267] You know, when I'm jealous of, I'm jealous that.
[268] You saw your favorite movie in the movie theater.
[269] My favorite movie I didn't see in the movie theater ever because I found it late, Google Hunting.
[270] So it was like a VHS DVD kind of a number.
[271] What was the first film you saw in a theater?
[272] If I was Jurassic Park, did it make an impact?
[273] I think it was maybe Beauty and the Beast.
[274] I remember my mom took me to something and it was a Disney movie and I want to say it was Beauty and the Beast.
[275] I don't know if that was the first one.
[276] Also, my dad took me to Dennis the Menace.
[277] Those are the two early memories I have.
[278] See, going with your parents is a big nostalgia thing.
[279] Obviously, I went with my mum and my dad and my brother to Drasset Park.
[280] That was like the ultimate.
[281] My dad took me to one of the alien films and that was one of our best.
[282] I still remember being excited going to see an alien film on the big screen with my dad.
[283] Oh, bonding.
[284] And then he also took me to a festival film, Etamamatambian, which was full on.
[285] Like at one point, there were a couple of dudes masturbating into the pool.
[286] And I'm sitting there next to my dad.
[287] I don't know.
[288] I was the age where it was embarrassing, which I'd say is any age to be sitting next to your day in the theater where a lot of sex is happening.
[289] But, you know, he took me and that was really nice.
[290] And that was the director who went on to make like Roma and gravity and all that stuff.
[291] And that was rated R. See, ratings is an interesting thing because they're different here, right?
[292] Ratings in America are different to New Zealand.
[293] In New Zealand, it's G .M for mature.
[294] Okay.
[295] R16.
[296] we have to be 16 R -18 Here you've got this weird thing Where you've got R But then one up above that is NC -17 Yeah Which is worse than an R But they don't really Like AMC won't have an NC -17 movie They just won't play them There's not that many NC -17s But to be clear Those are ones where Unless you are 17 or over You can't go even if a parent is with you Right Actually I don't even know I think R you can go if you've got a parent, NC17, you've got to be 17, or you're out the door.
[297] They're particularly like naughty ones.
[298] But R is 18, so that's weird.
[299] But with a parent.
[300] It's 17 and older.
[301] I believe so.
[302] I thought it was like adult or with an adult.
[303] Wait, let me have a look here.
[304] We need to check.
[305] So R is restricted.
[306] Under 17 requires accompaniment by a parent or guardian.
[307] NC17, adults only, 17 or you're not admitted Okay, so both 17 But one is about parents or not Okay NC17 is fascinating to me We don't have that Wow But you don't have PG -13 No, just PG Just G Which maybe we've got G Oh, I'm confused now Look, we've got G I think we do have a PG Yeah And then we've got an M And then R16 R18 And what's M like What 8?
[308] Just got to be mature I do you're like Swearing?
[309] Is it swearing?
[310] Is it swearing?
[311] Is it new to Because America, if there was nudity, it was going to be R. Straight away.
[312] America, you don't like nudity, do you hear?
[313] That's like a big bad bad.
[314] And swearing.
[315] PG -13 was language.
[316] Right.
[317] And violence is fine, though, in America, I find.
[318] Exactly.
[319] That's a weird thing.
[320] It's very fucked up.
[321] Anyway, I'm going to play my little documentary.
[322] I went to learn about the culture of American theaters.
[323] We come to this place for magic.
[324] One of my favorite things about becoming stranded in America is getting to watch this weird pre -movie message from Nicole Kidman whenever you go to an AMC theatre.
[325] It's so utterly deranged and how earnest it is.
[326] Her words have become seed into my brain for all eternity.
[327] Dazzling images on a huge silver screen.
[328] Sound that I can feel.
[329] Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.
[330] But as silly as it is, it did get me thinking about movies.
[331] and how, well, American they are.
[332] Well, the French birth cinema, as we know it today, America soon jumped on board in the early 1900s, Hollywood built the first film studios and production companies, and birthed genres like comedy, romance, horror, sci -fi, and action.
[333] And America not only embraced making movies, but the idea of the importance of sitting down in a theatre to watch them.
[334] I wanted to understand America's movie -going experience, So I needed to talk to someone who lives and breathes movies.
[335] I studied engineering and I got a job at Shell Oil as a facilities engineer.
[336] I hated that job.
[337] I was 24 and I regretted my education and I was looking for other things to do, kind of anything.
[338] And on my way to work, there was an abandoned movie theater.
[339] There was a for -lease sign on the movie theater.
[340] And literally a week later, I was like, I'll sign the lease and figure it out.
[341] So that's how I began.
[342] Back in 1997, Tim League opened a cinema in Austin, Texas.
[343] The Alamo Draft House was born.
[344] Tim was young and had no idea what he was doing, but he loved the movies.
[345] What other choice did he have?
[346] I did analyze, like, okay, I'm 24, I don't have kids, I'm not married.
[347] A worst case scenario is bankruptcy.
[348] That's not really that bad.
[349] So just go for it, just do it.
[350] I was also arrogant and a bit stupid.
[351] And so those are really powerful if you pair those up together.
[352] He's like, ah, I can do anything.
[353] His plan worked.
[354] and that one cinema turned into two, then three, then four, and so on.
[355] Tim's theaters also have a feature that doesn't really exist back in New Zealand.
[356] You can order food and drinks to your seat while the movie's playing, as in dinner, cocktails, chocolate shakes, cookies.
[357] It's all just delivered straight to your seat.
[358] It's what sets it apart from the three other giant cinema chains in the US.
[359] In America, you know, we've got AMC, Regal and Cinemark, and they, between them, they control 20 ,000 screens in the United States, right?
[360] And so they're the behemoths.
[361] And what happened in most of their growth, Regal in particular, is like an aggregation.
[362] So like small mom and pop theaters or chains or circuits that had got into it for a love of the game and a love of movies and showmanship.
[363] All the marketing got concentrated in its one voice and it's generic and as bland.
[364] It's the Starbucks effect.
[365] The major chains all feeling the same.
[366] Same advertising, same vibe, same experience.
[367] Then there are the art house indie theaters spring.
[368] across the United States, Tim estimates there are about 500 of them, and then there's his cinema chain.
[369] We're in this weird hybrid where we're 39 locations, we've got 300 screens, we're undeniably a chain, and yet I hate chains.
[370] I never got to chains because they suck.
[371] I'm constantly like, my primary job is like, oh, please just make sure we don't suck, and I'm neurotic about it.
[372] Tim loves the showmanship of movies, the art of marketing them in a compelling way, spreading the word building hype.
[373] He started this thing called The Rolling Road Show where they'd take a fully mobile projection rig out on the road.
[374] The very first one we ever did was actually my wife's idea.
[375] We did a canoe trip down the river to a screening of deliverance where we had like a whole pig roast by the side of the river.
[376] And it just ended up being really special to immerse yourself in the scene and the feeling and make a dumb, you know, sodomy joke and eat pig.
[377] And it's that It's just felt right.
[378] As I think about deliverance and all the other American films I've watched over the years, I realize they've shaped the way I see this country.
[379] Everything I know about America, I mostly learned from films.
[380] The American film industry probably shapes how a lot of the world sees America.
[381] I think it's fucking massive.
[382] It's not just American cinema, but just this American concept.
[383] I think about how America was largely populated, and it's this crazy genetic leap of balzy risk takers that defied death, and they left the people that would never take the ocean voyage behind and ended up here.
[384] And it's not everybody, obviously.
[385] It's a big melting pot.
[386] There's tons of different influences and cultures and reasons why people are here.
[387] But it's a significant amount of people that were like, screw it, coming to America.
[388] And I think that there's an unstoppable force.
[389] But there's so many people here, it's like, well, time to like take out 20 credit cards.
[390] Time to ask my dad to mortgage his house.
[391] Because I'm making a movie because this is just what I was born to do.
[392] It feels to me like that's a very American sensibility that's been around.
[393] And we take pride in it.
[394] And that is part of the being an American in general, but it's obviously being a part of an American filmmaker.
[395] So I think there's a lot of that.
[396] Of course, a lot of people are worried about the future of cinema and the act of going to the movies.
[397] Streaming was a big game changer, and from what I can tell, a bunch of people seem more enthusiastic about TikTok and YouTube over going to a movie theater and turning their phone off.
[398] But Tim reckons it's not that black and white.
[399] I'm not too terribly worried about this idea that all content has to be hyperpaced and bite -sized because I'm a dad.
[400] I've got an 11 -year -old girls, and they're constantly exploring.
[401] and learning, and I think they've got a more sophisticated mind than I did when I was 11.
[402] I was still feeling like I was drooling at 11, and they have complex thoughts, and they love long -form narrative.
[403] So there's that.
[404] It's just a different type of apple to orange story that you're absorbing in the cinema, but there is a true emotional response to reacting collectively to something, whether it's awkwardness, uncomfort, humor, or the combination of both, or terror.
[405] It's palpable in a group.
[406] And there's, the benefit of having the sanctuary in a darkened space where all electronics are off and there is no multitasking and you are dedicated and deeply focused on absorbing and losing yourself in a story.
[407] You can't do that on your phone.
[408] You can't do it on a laptop.
[409] You can't do that in a social environment.
[410] So it's special and I love it.
[411] So how do you feel about the theater going experience?
[412] Because I get really ultra religious about it and it has to be phones off.
[413] If I'm taking friends, I tell them that phone's got to go off.
[414] If I see them texting through trailers, I'll be like, that shit's going off when the movie starts.
[415] I get that.
[416] I'm a no phone.
[417] I don't think I turn it off, but I put it on silent and I put it in my purse.
[418] Because you know what it's like when you see a screen glowing at you from a row ahead, right?
[419] Yeah.
[420] Hellish.
[421] Okay.
[422] So you take it seriously.
[423] Of course.
[424] Yeah, I respect the movie going experience.
[425] I love it.
[426] I mean, it is so special.
[427] How do you decide if you're going to watch something at home, streaming or on demand or something, or go to a cinema?
[428] How do you balance that up?
[429] Because that's the big sort of world we're in now here, right?
[430] Exactly.
[431] Nowadays, I feel like it is, I hate to say it, it's hard to get me to a movie theater.
[432] Yeah, this is interesting.
[433] It has to be something that feels fairly epic.
[434] I saw a glass onion in the movie theater.
[435] Okay, yeah.
[436] I loved it.
[437] Which was an interesting model because that was released in cinemas for like this week of a window.
[438] Exactly.
[439] So you didn't have long to see it.
[440] And then suddenly it was on Netflix, which you could see anywhere.
[441] Yeah.
[442] But I loved the original knives out.
[443] And I saw the original knives out in the movie theater.
[444] So I think I had some weird connection to that because I loved it so much that I really wanted to repeat it.
[445] I really have a huge life regret.
[446] They should re -release it.
[447] Everything everywhere all at once.
[448] I regret not seeing that in the movie theater so bad.
[449] Oh my goodness.
[450] Yeah.
[451] And triangle of sadness.
[452] I like to think since it swept out all those awards at the Oscars, it will come back again, surely.
[453] I did get to see it at Dax and Christens.
[454] They have a theater downstairs, a little mini.
[455] Oh, that sort of counts.
[456] But it doesn't, because there is something about the shared experience, the stinky seats, the popcorn.
[457] Yeah, just being packed in with like hundreds of other people.
[458] Yes.
[459] I saw RRR, which is my favorite action film.
[460] Is that in Top Gun?
[461] like the two big ones for me. Uh -huh.
[462] But I saw that in an IMAX, and it was ballistic.
[463] It's very different watching that in an IMAX screen with people that are enthusiastic to watching it badly dubbed on Netflix at home.
[464] Yes.
[465] It's like a very different thing.
[466] Everything everywhere all that wants is playing right now.
[467] Where?
[468] Alma, AMC, Americana, T .S, the Chinese Theater.
[469] Going.
[470] Going.
[471] Great.
[472] You've got to do this.
[473] This is really important.
[474] So when you go to a cinema here, what defines where you go?
[475] Do you like ones where they bring you food at the seat?
[476] Do you just go to one that's like an IMAX?
[477] What's the thing for you?
[478] This is a sore subject because my favorite L .A. movie theater is now closed, Arklight.
[479] Gone.
[480] And that was devastating for so many people in L .A. Arclight was a real institution.
[481] There was a dome.
[482] And they closed it, and that's really sad.
[483] But Regal is my home.
[484] theater.
[485] You're a regal.
[486] Interesting.
[487] I don't think I've been to a regal.
[488] Oh, they're great.
[489] And they have this roller coaster at the beginning with candy that pops up.
[490] And you put your hands up.
[491] Well, it's a video.
[492] What?
[493] It's like the...
[494] You put your hands up?
[495] Yes, it's for fun.
[496] Oh, like a pre -show sort of experience.
[497] Yes.
[498] So it's like, okay, I see.
[499] And they like, you know, they tell you to like strap in and then put your hands up and you go, whoa.
[500] And then candy's popping up.
[501] And it's really fun.
[502] Yeah, okay, Regal, okay, this is good to know.
[503] And yours is what?
[504] I alternate between the draft house and an AMC theater.
[505] I've never done that draft house.
[506] They're really good, it's a good vibe.
[507] It's the best, yeah.
[508] Tim knows what he's doing.
[509] They curate special, like, little, like if you go to Magic Mike, they'll play clips from all his old movies beforehand, for instance.
[510] And just having stuff brought to your seat is really beautiful.
[511] Also, some people don't like it, though.
[512] They'll be like, I don't want the smell of some delicious chicken.
[513] So every person has their own things about the theatre experience that they love and hate.
[514] Stay tuned for more flightless bird.
[515] We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors.
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[545] In this next part of the dock, I speak to a couple of people.
[546] But there's one guy that I talk to Stacey Spikes, and it'll become apparent wife soon.
[547] But I just want to explain how cool this guy is by just reading out a couple of stats from his history.
[548] 1986, he worked at Motown Records.
[549] He was a product manager for Boys to Men, Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee, Queen Latifah, Eddie Murphy.
[550] In 1990, he joined Sony Music and worked on feature film soundtracks.
[551] for Jungle Fever and Pad Boys.
[552] In 94, he was VP of Marketing at Miramax and worked on films like The Crow and Scream.
[553] I just love all these things about him.
[554] Okay.
[555] So when he pops up in the dock, just remember that?
[556] Because I think Stone Cold Legend.
[557] The Angelica Theatre, which is a lovely little indie theater, but it's right down there by the subway, and every time you go there, you'll hear the subway cars going through quiet indie movies.
[558] Davinger Hardaway does a film podcast I love called The Filmcast.
[559] He lives and breathes film and we've been talking about some of his American movie -going experiences.
[560] There's also a clear crowd of local old folks who just go there to nap during the afternoon.
[561] I can always bet that somebody's going to be snoring through some sort of A -24 indie movie or something.
[562] It's hard to explain it, but seeing movies in America is different to how we do it in New Zealand.
[563] For one thing, everything's bigger.
[564] The size of the drinks and popcorn, even the seating.
[565] It's all bigger.
[566] But DaVindra reckons one element is getting too big.
[567] The pre -show ads and trailers before the movie.
[568] When I go to the theater, I give like a 20 -minute buffer after my showtime because you know they're going to be playing trailers.
[569] They're going to be playing commercials for stuff you don't care about.
[570] Then there's going to be like the intro to the theater, all that stuff at the very least 20 minutes before your movie starts.
[571] I thought maybe it was just me. But yeah, there's so much extra stuff they play before the actual movie here in America, and everyone just kind of accepts it.
[572] We've just been kind of forced into this situation where we go pay $10 for soda, another $10 for popcorn, and then have to sit through their ads.
[573] And I think something about that situation has to change, especially if they want people to keep coming back.
[574] They have to offer something new, and they can't just keep nickel and diming people all the time.
[575] DeVindra says a lot of cinemas now have subscription services to entice people to keep coming back.
[576] AMC has the Stubbs A list, and Regal has Regal unlimited.
[577] But DaVindra said that's all thanks to one company called MoviePass.
[578] Started back in 2011, MoviePass meant you'd get a monthly Movie Pass, which would let you see up to one movie a day for one flat fee.
[579] Movie Pass started as a very niche thing.
[580] Most people probably don't remember.
[581] In its first forum, you had to print out a voucher and bring the voucher to theater and be like, oh, this says I have a ticket.
[582] Just give me a ticket.
[583] And at a lot of theaters, it involved just begging and bleeding.
[584] During this whole process, movie theaters were fighting tooth and nail to stop movie pass.
[585] They hated all of this.
[586] I believe AMC completely rejected, even working with that debit card.
[587] So early on, it was a big fight between movie pass and the theater chains.
[588] Lo and behold, now the theater chains all have subscription services because you kind of have to.
[589] MoviePass started this whole trend.
[590] I never heard of Movie Pass till now.
[591] But looking into it, the company has a bonkers story as charismatic founder Stacey Spikes getting pushed out by the very company he founded.
[592] I called Stacey to find out what happened to his dream of revolutionizing the way we get to the cinema.
[593] Yeah, it's been a wild journey and a wild story.
[594] and I don't think you could make it up.
[595] It's been unbelievable.
[596] Stacey Spikes founded MoviePass 12 years ago, growing it from absolutely nothing into a booming business.
[597] Then MoviePass was acquired by an analytics company in 2017, but the CEO of the analytics company, Ted Farnsworth, and the new CEO of MoviePass, Mitch Lowe, really messed it all up.
[598] So they came in and part of the deal was they said, let's drop the price to $10 and get a bump and subscriber growth, let's add 100 ,000 people.
[599] Okay, and we figured it would take a few months.
[600] And 100 ,000 people joined in 48 hours.
[601] And so it was like, great, turn it off.
[602] And they were like, no, look how good.
[603] This is fantastic.
[604] Look how fast people are joining.
[605] And I said, you can make it $5 and they'll join even faster.
[606] That's not the point.
[607] We can't fly the plane at that price point.
[608] And they're like, we know what we're doing.
[609] So we were adding a quarter of a million new subscribers every month.
[610] But we were losing $30 on every person at a $10 price point.
[611] By the time we were approaching Christmas, we were approaching a million people.
[612] And I was jumping up and down going, there's no way this is going to work.
[613] We either need to raise the price or we've got to turn this off.
[614] And they said, you know, you don't seem to support us in what we're trying to.
[615] trying to do, you're fired and you're off the board.
[616] I couldn't believe, and they did it through an email.
[617] Stacey got kicked out back in 2018, and the company plowed ahead with wooing as many customers as possible with that $10 a month deal.
[618] Essentially, $10 a month for unlimited movies.
[619] Its new leaders were banking on customers not taking full advantage of Movie Pass, but they did, so Movie Pass's new overlords did a bit of a bait -and -switch, changing the terms and conditions.
[620] They also actively just mess with people who are using movie pass too much, like forcibly resetting the passwords of its most active users and making it hard for them to get back online.
[621] Long story short, they went out of business, they went through about a quarter of a billion dollars in under a year, and boom, it was all gone overnight.
[622] And I watched something that took 13 years to build, gone in less than 13 months.
[623] This should have been the death of movie pass.
[624] But Stacey Spikes did something very American a few years ago.
[625] He bought his company back again.
[626] So I called up the bankruptcy attorneys.
[627] I made a low bid and I bought it back for $140 ,000.
[628] Stacey says he launched a waiting list earlier this year, more than 30 ,000 people signing up in the first 30 minutes.
[629] And then in just over four days, they had 800 ,000 people sign up just to be on the waiting list.
[630] It was good news for Stacey.
[631] while it was nothing but bad news for the people that ran his company into the ground.
[632] And while all of this was happening, the federal court passed down indictment charges against those two guys.
[633] And they're looking at some serious time for what they did during the demise of movie pass.
[634] The movie pass story got so crazy.
[635] Mark Wahlberg's company is making a TV doc series out of it.
[636] Stacey is involved in helping tell that story.
[637] a story that isn't over yet.
[638] When you look at Henry Ford, his first attempt at Ford Motor Company failed.
[639] And if you look at Steve Jobs, he, in a sense, failed and got fired from his company.
[640] When you look at Michael Dell, I think in the spirit of don't give up, keep trying, you never know what happens if you just keep showing up.
[641] Stacey is now experimenting with a bunch of other ideas, including figuring out how to make watching all those ads before the movie worth your while?
[642] Our attention is a commodity, and it's the number one most traded, valued asset in the world.
[643] And where I think this needs to go is if I'm going to watch your ads, I need to get paid for that.
[644] And I want to be compensated for my time versus you're going to sell my data and my attention to other people.
[645] don't have any say -so over it.
[646] So he's experimenting with something called pre -show interactive, which would use your phone's eye -tracking technology to make sure you're watching the ads.
[647] If you watch, you get points that go towards free movies.
[648] If you don't watch, that's okay, but no points.
[649] DaVinja is watching this technology with curiosity.
[650] I could see it being a thing.
[651] It's creepy.
[652] It's super dystopian, but we also know people love free stuff.
[653] People love free movies and free TV shows.
[654] If you go to the Roku channel, which is on every, like, Roku device, that is one of the most popular ways for people to watch movies because they just sit through a couple ads and they get to watch whatever they want.
[655] It's a big money generator for Roku.
[656] So I think a lot of companies are looking to, like, what can you gain from making people watch ads, basically?
[657] As for me, there's one ad I'll always watch every time.
[658] Nicole Kidman got $20 million for making it, so I imagine she likes it, too.
[659] Regal has its own startup movie promo, which is not as fun, not as iconic, but Danny Treyho.
[660] in it.
[661] So sure, maybe these change can have a little more fun at this point.
[662] But it is funny, the Nicole Kidman thing was, I believe, just totally earnest.
[663] We love the movies.
[664] We want to honor the movies.
[665] Nicole Kidman's here telling you to love the movies.
[666] And the audience just, like, had fun with it.
[667] I think that's probably the best possible outcome they could have hoped for.
[668] And stories feel perfect and powerful.
[669] Because here, they are.
[670] When I go to AMC now, when she says that people get up and cheer and clap and, and And it's kind of magical.
[671] It's become its own force of nature.
[672] Yeah, it's really special.
[673] It got its own joke at the Oscars.
[674] Yeah, completely, right?
[675] And that was all organic.
[676] And, yeah, apparently $20 million.
[677] And we've got a sequel coming.
[678] There's going to be another ad.
[679] Oh, shit.
[680] And I bet she's going to get like $50 for that.
[681] Because it has to be her.
[682] It's got to be her.
[683] Oh, I can be no one else.
[684] She's got to be in an empty cinema.
[685] Yes.
[686] Talking earnestly about how good the movies are.
[687] Stacey Spikes has a book about all that called Black Founder.
[688] and it's going to be a show apparently as well.
[689] But the movie past story is so bad shit, the idea of him starting this thing, other people taking it over, running it into the ground, and then he goes and buys it back.
[690] And this technology he's working on with the idea that your phone is going to track what ads you're watching so it knows whether you're watching or whether you're talking to your friend.
[691] That's kind of wild.
[692] I am so mixed on that.
[693] It does seem interesting and I could see it really going places, but, ew, I just don't like the idea of that kind of, that level of monitoring.
[694] But if you get free movies for watching ads, you know, and knows if you're lying.
[695] But what's that going to do to the movie industry?
[696] From what I can tell, the idea when it was originally pitched was that you're sitting in your theater, the ads are on, your phone's on.
[697] Maybe you're watching them on your phone screen, that's part of it.
[698] And if you're like eyeballs are on there the whole time, then you get points.
[699] But how does a movie theater runs because you buy tickets?
[700] Yeah.
[701] So who's going to maintain?
[702] Well, that's like the question with something like movie pass and all these loyalty things.
[703] It's this balance of how many times will you go to the cinema and will that balance out with how many people are actually paying?
[704] Most of what a theater is making money on is the concessions and the studio is making money on the tickets.
[705] And that's why that's why they push.
[706] And that Coke and popcorn is so friggin' insane on everything.
[707] They don't make any money on the tickets.
[708] I think it's, like, pretty minuscule.
[709] Really?
[710] And they're also renting the film.
[711] Right, right.
[712] From the studios, too.
[713] It's a batch of landscape out there.
[714] It is.
[715] At the movies.
[716] And also, we're facing that thing now where you go to a cinema and if there's a Marvel film out, it'll mostly just be that Marvel film.
[717] Yeah.
[718] Which is why these smaller theaters, like Alamo, are so fun because they're actually playing other stuff.
[719] Yeah.
[720] We didn't talk about, when we were talking about our etiquette, our theater etiquette.
[721] kid.
[722] But this stock reminded me that I am a 100 % you have to get there by the trailers.
[723] Oh, you've got to watch the trailers.
[724] You have to arrive by the trailers.
[725] And you have to watch all of them.
[726] And I love trailers.
[727] Trailers, I do love.
[728] I will put that thing in there now where the trouble with some trailers is they're giving away too much.
[729] That's the one risk now.
[730] Because I love trailers.
[731] I'm obsessed with trailers.
[732] But there's a few I've watched and I'm like, I'm pretty sure I know the major beats from that film now.
[733] And I hope I forget it by the time I see it.
[734] That's the only danger.
[735] Well, my best friend Callie and I used to just watch on Apple trailers.
[736] Just watch trailers.
[737] Just all day.
[738] We would just watch those.
[739] We'd send each other trailers.
[740] I feel like we've come out of that a little bit.
[741] Although the Wakanda trailer, I feel like...
[742] Oh, that was a trailer.
[743] It was so good.
[744] Yeah, just the music through that trailer and how it changes and shifts is so...
[745] Incredible.
[746] And that was a great trailer.
[747] That didn't give away too much plot.
[748] And that was the perfect trailer.
[749] Do you remember the Hills Have Eyes trailer?
[750] I do.
[751] It was the Devendra Banhart song and they were just dragging a body.
[752] And the camera was just from the body.
[753] It was being dragged through the desert.
[754] There's such an art to it.
[755] There really is.
[756] My favorite trailer was Sweet November.
[757] I don't know that one.
[758] It was a love story, death story.
[759] Kiana Reeves.
[760] Reeves, I think maybe Charlize.
[761] Yeah, I think Rosenbaum's in that movie, too.
[762] Oh, my God.
[763] He's like the drag queen neighbor.
[764] The trailer's a 10.
[765] 10 out of 10.
[766] The film?
[767] Negative 4.
[768] I mean, that movie, sorry Rosenbaum and sorry Charlize.
[769] Lauren Graham's in it.
[770] It is so bad.
[771] And I remember that was the first time that I felt betrayed by a trailer.
[772] Yeah, it ripped off.
[773] Yes.
[774] There was, and I don't have.
[775] this at the forefront of my brain, but some people sued recently because there was a trailer that came out.
[776] When the film came out, they'd cut one of the actors out.
[777] It was a really minor part, but they were in the trailer.
[778] And it court rules in their favor essentially that this can go through to trial where essentially a movie company can't mislead you in the trailer and that everything in the trailer has to be in the film.
[779] And so this is currently, I understand, before the courts now.
[780] And so, for instance, if the judge ends up ruling that this has to be a thing that the trailer has to reflect exactly what's in the movie, then that Barbie trailer, have you seen the Barbie trailer?
[781] No. It's highly stylized and essentially the trailer starts on just a giant doll.
[782] I audition for that so triggered.
[783] Oh no. Amazing.
[784] It starts with this giant doll.
[785] It's like a stylistic thing in the trailer.
[786] Yeah.
[787] That won't be allowed if this gets ruled on.
[788] It has to be exactly what's in the film is the only things they give me in the trailer.
[789] So all those beautiful trailers you think of, and there are some really good examples of them where it's like an art piece unto itself.
[790] The Candyman for the new Candyman film, that trailer was all beautifully artfully done with stuff that wasn't in the film.
[791] That'll be out.
[792] What the fuck?
[793] Why?
[794] Why?
[795] I mean, these guys were just being assholes.
[796] They were just suing to make a point.
[797] We have too much real shit to be doing in our court system, then deciding if the stuff in the trailer has to match the stuff in the movie.
[798] I could not agree more.
[799] It's ridiculous and over the top and so silly.
[800] It's on the day armis.
[801] She was the one that was in the trailer for the movie yesterday that the Ed Shearron movie.
[802] Wait, hold on.
[803] Did he make the movie?
[804] He was in it.
[805] Oh.
[806] Yeah, so these, I think there were two of them.
[807] They went there.
[808] 2019.
[809] And they felt ripped off that they'd seen this actor in the trailer.
[810] They weren't in the film, so they sue.
[811] Ding, ding, ding, American suing.
[812] Go back and listen to the suing episode because, yeah, it is pretty crazy.
[813] Only in America could you do that.
[814] It was over $3 .99 rental.
[815] Not even that they went to the movie theater and bought $15 tickets or whatever.
[816] They're annoyed that they rented it.
[817] So dumb.
[818] And but also, like, it's really serious.
[819] Obviously, it hasn't been dismissed.
[820] Yeah.
[821] If that gets ruled on in their favor, then it literally will change the tools that people have to make trailers to sell that film and all these techniques and other ways of making them will just be like thrown out the window and creative space it is genuinely it's funny but it's also kind of terrifying yes i do not like this yeah america sam i am wait how many movies did you watch during those four years i saw everything that came out because i would build the movies and then we'd have to watch them sometimes multiple times i started hating movies every mainstream movie that came out.
[822] Yeah, just be on too much.
[823] I'd have to go to like the art house theater and find the weird stuff because I would just get sick of everything.
[824] Now, something I found out about Rob that he may have talked to you about is that he has a really unique thing where he loves theater popcorn so much that he will go and buy theater popcorn to take home when he's watching something at home.
[825] I do that all the time.
[826] Amc's on Postmates right now.
[827] And what I love, I was with him when he did this.
[828] He goes up to a cinema and just buys a big tub of popcorn and no movie ticket and it freaked them out.
[829] Wait, hold on, hold on.
[830] They don't know what to do.
[831] They're like, do you want it to end?
[832] And Rob's like, no, just the popcorn.
[833] And like, no, what movie you're seeing?
[834] It's like, no, just the popcorn.
[835] Wait.
[836] You just go and pick up the popcorn?
[837] You don't see a movie?
[838] So something that also I'm working in theaters is I have confidence of how the actual theater runs.
[839] So I know that like the usher's not going to care if you're just like, I'm going to go buy some concessions.
[840] But to your point, Monica, he just, That's the point.
[841] He just goes in to buy the popcorn just to take home.
[842] As if you're going to the grocery store.
[843] But it's like the low feel.
[844] The low's feel is three.
[845] That's two and a half blocks away.
[846] They do a great popcorn.
[847] They do.
[848] And I'm with Rob on that.
[849] I've just never considered doing it before.
[850] In my mind, it's like you have to see the movie.
[851] But no, you can treat your cinema like a supermarket.
[852] This is brand new information.
[853] I didn't know that about Robin.
[854] I didn't know that was a thing.
[855] Although Dax and I did postmate.
[856] a movie theater popcorn once.
[857] Oh, that's another level up.
[858] AMC, you did the buckets and the icing.
[859] Wow.
[860] Can you tell us a little bit about New Zealand and the difference?
[861] Also, I want to shout out Tyga.
[862] Tyca?
[863] Yeah, Taika.
[864] Taika.
[865] He's a New Zealander who's made his way through the American film system.
[866] Yeah, I mean, he's sort of, I mean, he's directing the next Star Wars now.
[867] He's in everything.
[868] No, I mean, we all love Tyker.
[869] I mean, he was a stand -up comedian in New Zealand.
[870] He made a short, and that's did really well.
[871] Are you friends with him?
[872] You are.
[873] We all know each other in New Zealand.
[874] Well, yeah, you said you text the Prime Minister and stuff, so I have a feeling you do know Tyca.
[875] We both had, when I had tickled out at Sundance, he had Hunt for the Wilder people.
[876] Oh, love that movie.
[877] And so that whole crew was there.
[878] So Tyker and Sam Neal and.
[879] and Julian, who played the kid, they were all there.
[880] And so we all, the tickled crew and the Wilder people crew all hung out.
[881] That's fine.
[882] And yeah, the thing with Tyker is he's just really lovely and inclusive and just sort of wants to help everyone.
[883] So we're not friends, but whenever he bumps into me, he'll be nice to me, which is so kind.
[884] But the theatre -going experience in New Zealand, it's not like this so much now, but growing up, there's always a huge delay before the movies would get to New Zealand.
[885] Oh, right.
[886] So we'd hear about these things, but we'd be waiting for like a month for them to come out.
[887] So when you say you saw Jurassic Park in the theater, you saw it when you were like 20, basically.
[888] I started a couple of years ago, finally reached us.
[889] No, so there's like a bit of a delay.
[890] Things are a bit more, again, it's change now.
[891] We are getting these cinemas that are customizable and sort of more Indian than the bigger ones.
[892] But generally, the main difference is the food and the drinks are smaller.
[893] There's just less of everything.
[894] And the trailers are the same?
[895] Less of them than here.
[896] Like the trailers and the ads, again, everything in America to me, it's big.
[897] and it's longer and more and more and that can be really good like if you're hungry yum more more more but like ads no no no get those away from me okay did you have the dollar theaters when you're growing up yes it was like all the late run stuff you go see for like a dollar yeah in my college town we would go to the dollar theater a dollar and yet you're still standing outside not going to a movie just chatting no that was the regal that was a regular price ticket but okay to be cool you had to stand outside and this is a ding ding ding to our waffle house yeah because the waffle house was right across the street from the movie theater and that's when the fight so it's all connected oh so it's all the senior of town you got your waffle house your cinema yeah all of those things everyone's outside the movie theater and then there's going to be a fight in an hour outside the waffle house i love this so much Trevor has a knife there was a specific theater in our neighborhood that people would go at to fight yeah see that was the flight the first White theater.
[898] The Streets of Woodfield Theater was, it was an AMC.
[899] It used to be a Lowe's.
[900] I guess when you're a kid, it's a mall, it's a theater, or it's like a chain, right?
[901] That's all you have in your life.
[902] There's nothing else to do.
[903] Oh, my God.
[904] They were the good old days, aren't they?
[905] Yeah, in New Zealand, we'd all go to, like, the town square.
[906] Kids now, they just are on screens at each other.
[907] Like, they're like...
[908] Yeah, they're online bullying instead of in -person fighting.
[909] Yeah.
[910] Should go back to the good old days of like fisty cuffs.
[911] Fattys.
[912] Okay, so you're going to go and see everything everywhere all at once on the big screen.
[913] I am.
[914] This is very exciting.
[915] I'm very excited.
[916] I've got a flightless bird -related gift for you, David.
[917] Do you?
[918] Are you going to give it on air?
[919] Oh, I love, yeah, I love, I love flightless bird -related gifts.
[920] Oh, my God, he's throwing it, so it's soft.
[921] I caught it.
[922] Okay, opening this.
[923] It's a new wallet.
[924] Oh!
[925] But it's got zippers.
[926] Oh, my God, this is really...
[927] For your condoms!
[928] It's pretty low.
[929] for you too.
[930] Oh my god.
[931] It's got a couple of skin condoms in here.
[932] Rob, this wallet is actually really beautiful because as you know, I have this little child's purse that I've had for years.
[933] This isn't too bulky and too insane.
[934] This is like really beautiful.
[935] And it's also got really funky colors.
[936] It seemed fitting for you.
[937] It does.
[938] It seems very Davidy.
[939] Wow, that's very thoughtful, Rob.
[940] It's got a little like flying octopus on the front.
[941] Oh, you love it.
[942] animals and two condoms oh there's more oh there's more in here but they're in the zipped are they're everywhere oh my god yeah four condoms wow you can't use these now you can go on your dates and that up to all i know i actually got told off after that podcast apparently having condoms in your wallet is terrible because if you sit on your wallet it goes through wear and tear the condoms get sort of uh they bring They break or something?
[943] Yeah.
[944] So that's just, I'm just putting it out there.
[945] That's what people got upset about.
[946] That's extra thick and it's protective of condoms.
[947] Extra thick.
[948] I still think I prefer for the guy to come prepared.
[949] To come.
[950] To come.
[951] To come prepared with their zipped up condoms.
[952] Rob, this is the nicest thing you've ever done for me. Thank you so much.
[953] I love this wallet.
[954] I'm going to take that to the movies.
[955] Will it fit in your pants?
[956] It'll fit in my pants.
[957] That was the only thing I was concerned.
[958] I know you're a front pocket guy.
[959] Oh, it fits.
[960] Perfect.
[961] It's perfect.
[962] It's in there now.
[963] Great.
[964] Oh, my God.
[965] I'm stacked with condoms.
[966] Going to hit the town.
[967] If you haven't listened to our Valentine's Day episode, that's where this originates.
[968] Yeah, there is this reason we're talking about this.
[969] Yeah, so Stacey's book is really good.
[970] Black Founder, the Alamo Draft House is really good as a cinema.
[971] And AMC, if you want to see Nicole Kidman harp on about how much she loves the movies.
[972] And the movies are fun.
[973] Go to the movies.
[974] Last question.
[975] What do you think about going to the movie solo?
[976] Yay or nay.
[977] Oh, I'm yay on that.
[978] Yeah, same.
[979] Big supporter.
[980] I love it, too.
[981] Big supporter.
[982] That's the best.
[983] It's actually the best place to do a solo event because you aren't talking anyway.
[984] When are you talking?
[985] If you're talking in the movies, you're a bad person.
[986] Go solo.
[987] Agreed.
[988] All right, well, you convinced me that this episode was worth doing.
[989] Thank you.
[990] So that's a big feather in your cap.
[991] Thank you so much.
[992] All right.
[993] So we've learned a lot about the American movie going experience.
[994] Yes, that was fun.
[995] You love trailers, I avoid them because sometimes it's too much given away.
[996] Spoiler.
[997] Am I more American or less American?
[998] I think you are only more American if you prove that you can do an American accent.
[999] This is a thing.
[1000] I learned this really quickly when I got here.
[1001] If I'm ever on the phone with any kind of American entity, the DMV, for instance, if I say, can I please book my driver's test?
[1002] I want to take it tomorrow.
[1003] They'll be like, what?
[1004] So I have to state it.
[1005] I'm like, hi, it's David Farrier calling.
[1006] Could I please book my driver's test for Friday at 1049 p .m. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[1007] You're selling a serial killer.
[1008] No, and you know what they say?
[1009] Of course.
[1010] Let's book it at that time.
[1011] I can understand you.
[1012] And I feel like an idiot, but it fucking works.
[1013] Listen, just because I understand you, I wouldn't say that means you do a good American accent.
[1014] I don't want to take you down a That was terrifying.
[1015] But that was not a good American accent, because that didn't sound American.
[1016] That just sounded like a strange psychopath.
[1017] Did you realize this is what Americans sound like?
[1018] This is how they talk all the time.
[1019] No, no. That's maybe like a southern.
[1020] It has a tinge of southern.
[1021] Hold on.
[1022] Let me close my eyes.
[1023] Do it again.
[1024] Hi, Monica.
[1025] My name's David Farrier.
[1026] Now, also moniker, you said, which is not American.
[1027] Hey, look, what I'm saying is it helps me. And I think that makes me, well, I would say 100 % American, you would say in the negatives.
[1028] Here's one thing.
[1029] I have noticed that you do it when we do our ads and you're saying bird.
[1030] You're trying to make the R punctuate.
[1031] Yeah, bird.
[1032] This is flightless bird.
[1033] How do you say it normal?
[1034] I'll say, so go to sewover .com slash flightless bird.
[1035] I think that's how I say it.
[1036] I roll the R a bit.
[1037] Yeah.
[1038] But I do that anyway because I do have a weird R already because, you know, remember when I went to school, I really idolized that kid in my class who was from the South Island and you rolled his ars.
[1039] And I took the ars on.
[1040] So that's sort of a weird New Zealand defect I have.
[1041] Okay.
[1042] Maybe that's.
[1043] But it does help me in America because boy, you love rolling the R. Do we?
[1044] Oh, you roll ours.
[1045] It's like a Spanish thing.
[1046] You roll the ayes.
[1047] You'll be like car.
[1048] No, car.
[1049] As opposed to car.
[1050] Car.
[1051] I guess comparatively on.
[1052] Pull up the car.
[1053] Man a car.
[1054] All right.
[1055] Movies.
[1056] I'm getting out of here.
[1057] Bye.