I was mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore.

So you lie to yourself to be happy.

There's nothing wrong with that.

We all do it.

We all go a little mad sometimes. Come on.

One of you nuts has got any guts. Let's put a smile on that face.

You're only as healthy as you feel. Listen to me. Listen to you.

But what right?

Because I have a right to be. And I have a voice.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Pop Culture Case Study.

Yeah, let's do it. I'm pumped. Let's let the healing begin.

Welcome to Pop Culture Case Study, where we analyze pop culture from a psychological angle. I'm your host, Dave. I'm here with my co host, Will. Will, we have a. You know, really a masterpiece incoming. Yeah, we do Minions and Monsters, baby. I mean, how could we not be? Is it. Is it Minions and Monsters? Monsters and Minions.

It has to start with Minions or people would be like, what is this movie?

Even if it said Minions, is this a monsters movie? Yes. So we are taking a look at. We are taking a look at another animated film with monsters in it, and that is Pixar's Monsters, Inc. So we are talking Monsters, Inc. And negativity bias. So usually I ask you, Will, like, have you seen a trailer for this? And if you've been to a movie in the last three months, you've seen some sort of advertisement or trailer for Minions and Monsters. So how are you feeling about. And. And also, like, what is your connection to Despicable Me, the Minions movies? How do you feel about these in general and this one coming out?

That's. That's an interesting question. I. Well, yeah, because I finally got one. I'm. I'm trying. I'm trying to think of if I've actually seen, like, a proper trailer for this. And I don't think I have, to be honest.

Yeah, it's all bullshit advertisements.

If I've seen anything.

Trailers in between trailers. Yeah, yeah.

Or yeah, it's like, get a Coke, but beware of the Minions. Or it's like.

I hate that sentence so much. Well, it's the worst.

Or it's like, hey, hope you're enjoying the NBA finals. Oh, there go the Minions. You know, it's like, okay, yeah, appreciate that. My connection with the Despicable Me franchise overall, though, is it. It came at an interesting point,

I

think, just in my life, because this is. Obviously, this franchise is one of the most popular of all time, but I have zero connection to the. And of course, I don't have a connection to every single. In incredibly popular franchise.

Sure.

Especially because a lot of those, I mean, now Super Mario, the Super Mario movies, like, I don't have a connection to those movies. They're bad. I played all the games growing up, and yet I still have zero interest in, in these movies. Even if I will see them, I'm not going to feel good about it. That's just the plight of a cinephile. But you know, with Despicable Me, like, I think the first time I ever watched one was probably on a babysitting job, to be honest with you.

Like, I, I don't know that that tracks.

Ever seen any of these in the theater? I mean, they're. The first one was fun. I couldn't tell you a darn thing about any of the rest of them, to be quite honest with you. But everlasting popularity and the Minions are like, The Minions are more synonymous with, I feel like, public and common vernacular than any brew or any of the other characters in it. I have no idea. But, like, you know, it's so fluffy, I'm gonna die. I think that's from Despicable Me. Like, I know that, you know, I, I have some of the reference points, but the Minions, I mean, you can't escape them. I think a couple years ago, I, I won like, a minion at a claw machine and gave it to my girlfriend just, just because she didn't have a connection to just Despicable Me or the Minions. But I was like, here you go. Here's a plush. I got it for you. She was like, cool. When was the last time you bought me flowers? And I was like, oh, oh, wow.

Yeah, I, I, I think I have a similar lack of connection to that. Like, I, I think those, I think the despicable, Despicable Me movies are, you know, fine. They're disposable. I'm glad Steve Carell's getting an easy paycheck. Good for him. I, you know, these are the movies that sour me on animation as an art form, where it's like, you can, you can almost see the money being printed just behind the frame, where you're just like, okay, yeah. Have figured out the formula to attract insane children to your property and for parents to have to deal with this. And the Minions are the perfect example of that because they are entertaining and cute. They're nothing. They don't have any depth to them, which sounds ridiculous to talk about, but there are animated films with characters with depth. Despicable Me and the Minions are Not that I. I kind of like the idea that this one is supposedly kind of a love letter to old Hollywood and the monster movies of that time. That sounds fun. I. I think it would be fun if the Minions weren't involved. Like if it was just an animated film about that period of time. I think that would be interesting. But, you know, everything's got to have sell that. Yeah, exactly. You got. You got to sell it. You got to have a hook, you got to have ip. And that's where we are. It just feels like there are people in a boardroom somewhere. So going, like, where can we put the Minions? Where. Where would be funny that people will come spend a billion dollars at the box office because that, I mean, these movies make so much money.

Well, like it's saying they make.

Every time you take a look, you're like, really?

If you look at any box office list over the last decade and change, you are seeing a Despicable Me or Minions movie come up on the list. Likely towards the top and likely in the seven. No, not seven. Ten figure range.

Yeah.

A ton of money. And I don't, frankly, look, there is,

there is power in making something entertaining enough to plop your children in front of for 90 minutes.

Yeah.

So parents could just go, fine, it's enough. It's a break. It's fine. I recognize Steve Carell's voice. That's nice. And then they could go on with their days. Yeah. You know, do I think this is going to be good in any way? No. Do I think any of these movies are good? I just recently watched Despicable Me 3 because my nephew was hanging out and he wanted to watch it and it entertained him. And it was. I watched it and I was like, huh, good enough. You know, it's not like. It's like these movies are offensively bad. Like, they're not. They don't, they don't make you angry as you're sitting through them. And there are plenty of children's movies that do do so. So it's above that for sure, but it's just never going to be an is cinema type film. That's really not what the Minions or Despicable Me will ever be, nor do I think they have any desire to be. So.

Yeah.

So this week we are talking about negativity bias, which is human beings tendency to look at the negative in a protective way. So Will, I'm gonna let you go first. What is. Yeah, very uplifting. What is your negativity bias? Movie recommendations recommendation.

So I'm Gonna try like as we run through our recommendations, plural, I will try to avoid some of the things that I think have come up before because there's some crossover just with the nature of, you know, a movie podcast that talks about psychology. There's crossover with mental health, of course. So like I'm gonna avoid the After Suns and even the Magnolias and all these things. The movie I'm gonna recommend is something

that I feel like Midsummer.

Well, going to avoid that too. There, there is. Although it would fit there. There's a movie that I don't even know if people necessarily would think of it as a movie, but it's a feature length project and I really adore it. And that's Bo Burnham's Inside. Yeah Music special on Netflix.

But I mean that counts as a movie.

I love it. And it's literally Bo Burnham, the comedian who has often featured a lot of music in his, in his standup shows, writing songs about how he feels about the world and how he hates himself and particularly how that all was exacerbated at the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. And I just think it's brilliant. I mean I really, really cherish this movie. I, I know it's silly because he's singing about like a white woman's Instagram and you know, making jokes because that's what people do when they are depressed and they are comedians, which is kind of synonymous with the word comedian. I feel like at least a lot, yes, of those that are public facing. But he, he is, he just has a mind that I, I am fascinated by. I think that the way that he dissects these topics is something that I really relate to. You know, I, I, I'm at the point with this project in particular that I abs. I'm true. I truly have some of the songs like memorized because I actually think they're good. Like, I think no, there's, he's a

good box on there, no doubt.

Singer with auto tunes aid. But like you know, I, I really, this is a special project. I think people, anybody who struggles with any sort of mental health, you know, any, any sort of, any sort of struggle with depression or anxiety or self image or self hatred, any of that. No matter if it was spiking at the start of COVID or not. Like, this is a really profound project that, that looks at it in a, in a fun and also really insightful way. I love this movie.

Yeah, I mean I was on, I was on a podcast and I, I think it was on in session and I called out that All Eyes on Me was the best song of the year. I think it's incredible.

It's so good.

I. I have it on my Apple music. Like, it's in my collection. It is ready to go at all times. Yeah, totally agree. No, that's. That's a good call. I'm going with a movie that I know that you like, a movie that my wife, she. She watched part of it and then turned it off because it made her too anxious. And that is whiplash. Obviously, J.K. simmons character, Terrence Fletcher kind of weaponizes the negativity bias and how everyone is out to get you and everything is terrible. And here's why. You have to prep and be the best and do everything over and over again in the best way, or you are useless and worthless. So Whiplash is. It's a movie I think I have seen twice. Once in the theater and once at home. But it is a movie that's, like, tough to be like, yeah, I'm just gonna sit down and watch Whiplash. Like, that's. That's a rough evening that you're setting yourself up for.

Like.

And, you know, I'm not one of these people who dislikes Miles Teller. I actually. I think he's actually quite a good actor. I know there are many people who. Not many people that think he's a bad actor, but many people that say he has a, quote, punchable face, and they do not like him very much. But I like my Miles seller a great deal. I think he is actually one of our best. Yeah, I guess. Can we call him young actor still? He's been around for, like, a decade at this point, which is Baby face Crazy, I think. Yeah.

You know. Yeah, he's got a young. He's. I wouldn't say is a punchable face. I think he's a young face. And he's, you know, came up when he was a teen or early twenties. So I would say. I'd say it's fair to call him, like, yeah, young, almost turning old.

Yeah. So Whiplash is my choice. What else do you got, Will?

I have a few. I have Lynn Ramsey's you are Never really Here, which I almost recommended as the.

The.

The top. At the top. But I think this. This movie is, again, not. Not necessarily a sit down and enjoy yourself. Typically, Lynn Ramsey's films are not. But this one is particularly depressing. I mean, you could throw d my love in this if you wanted to. Although I think there are other themes going on in that movie that are a Little predominant. But, you know, I said I was going to avoid stuff that we've talked about before, but I feel like they, they fit and we don't. We spent a whole episode on Possession. That's certainly.

You think that's negative. Felt like that was happy Galactic, you know. Yeah. Pleasant, raucous comedy.

Really good double bill with Minions and Monsters. Depends on who you ask. Maybe, maybe there'll be a reference. Who knows? Again, I, you know, Manchester by the Sea comes up, but there's a couple more that I feel like we haven't mentioned. Todd Salons is Happiness a movie?

I still need to see the movie

that I only got around to watching. I feel like recently, because I got the Criterion and was like, it's actually

playing at one of my local theaters. They're doing that bleak. They're doing that Bleak Week thing. That's kind of n. Why.

Well, talk about bleak, everybody.

Saturday night event.

Everybody in this movie is depressed and desperately seeking connection to fellow humans. And the returns are quite middling. It's a black comedy, of course, so it does so in a. In a dark satirical way. But it's very, very good. I have Todd Haynes is Safe, which

another movie I need to see. Really. I know a lot of, I know a lot about it, but like have not actually seen.

I mean, it's. No, but a woman who. Doctors don't listen to her when she says I'm sick and she begins to spiral and her life goes to pieces and it's. Yeah, it's. It's terrific. Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa.

Oh, good call. Yeah. Oh yeah.

I love it. Animated.

I also understand why people hate it. The people hate it. Like, I get it, it's a hateable movie, but I really appreciate it.

I love it.

I think it's wonderful.

And he is. You know, I've talked about my love for Charlie Kaufman on here, but this movie is really just a. As good of a recommendation from his odd ass filmography as you can come up with.

There are no easy recommendations with Kaufman. It's no adaptation. Maybe.

Yeah, I don't know if that's easy

or the most approachable.

Yeah, sure, maybe not. I'm thinking of ending things. Really? No, no, absolutely not. And the last.

But speaking of before I let you do your last one, my sister in law was asking Tessa and I, hey, you know, give me a movie recommendation. And my wife, God bless her, it's like, I'm thinking of ending things and I'm like, whoa, whoa, let's, let's Pump the brakes.

This is not recommended.

I don't know. My wife actually watched that on a plane. Like, we were on our way. I can't. I think on our way to New York. And she watched that. I had already seen it, of course. And she was like, is this good? I'm like, yeah, it's great. Good luck. Good luck. But she really liked it, so, you know, she turned into a cinephile before my eyes, you know, but to the point where she's like, yeah, you should watch this. And I was like, well, maybe. Maybe something a little more mainstream. Look, I. Paula, my.

I love Tessa, but my respect for her just shot through the roof with that being her.

It was pretty cool. It was a pretty cool moment. I. You know, at first I was like, no, let's not do that. But I was kind of looking like, yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, good for you.

After that, you're like, actually, you know what it go. And then the last. The last one I had on this list is another animation, but it's stop motion. Actually. It's Memoir of a snail, Adam Elliott's 2024. I mean, these. Those snails, those little. Little creatures, whatever the they are, they. I mean, they hate themselves. It's all about triumphing over life's despair and despair within yourself. And, you know, there's a lot of movies about people that. That are just biased towards negativity. I mean, these. These movies really. Aren't we all. Hit me. Yeah, well, that's what I was gonna say is like, they are really. They hit me right between the eyes. Oh, I actually had two more I'll just name quickly. I forgot they're not on my list. They're on my. My browser. Pedro Almotivar's Pain and Glory.

Perfect movie.

Literally. It is. Yeah. And bed.

There should have won an Academy Award for that performance. It's stunning.

Correct. It's. It's a perfect movie. And I'll just throw this in there. Thunderbolts.

Oh, sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, that's a good call. Honestly, one of. One of the best mainstream movies about mental health I've ever seen.

Truly.

Like, it's really good. They handle it really well.

There are few movies that dare, especially Marvel movies serious, that even that would even think about broaching the topics that that film broaches. And. And it does it really, really well. I mean, the. I. I was looking at the poster. It says not super. Not heroes. Not giving up. Like, that was one of the taglines. Like. Yeah, that's actually, you know, that's I'm accurate. Trying to be tongue. Tongue in cheek there and nudge you a little bit. But, I mean, these people are depressed.

Like, yes.

You know, we are nothing. We are not a team. It's. I. I actually responded quite lukewarm. I think the first time I saw it. The second time I saw it, I was like, you know what? Take away all the marvelness of it all, I really like this. I don't need the New Avengers. Like, I think these guys are good.

Yeah, it's solid movie. Agreed.

What else do you have?

All right. On my list, we already covered it on the podcast, but Minority Report, that's like, the whole reason the whole plot works is because people are inherently focused on Negative Ratatouille only because it's a popular movie. And. And because of Anton Ego, the ultimate example of negativity bias. And then there's a bunch of movies I picked that were like, movies where people are scanning for threat because that's what negativity bias is. It's why we do it, so we can save our lives. So the following movies follow into that. It follows Enemy of the State, A Quiet Place, the Game, the Village, the Invisible Man. So all of those, I think, really hit. And then the last ones on my list are more like kind of suspense movies because you have to be biased towards negativity to really feel that. So Klute, Blowout, Prisoners, and the Conversation, I think, are all kind of in that same vein. So all those movies are great. What? No. No. Oh, no, no, no.

Coppola. Duh. What the fuck?

Yes, yes. So lots of good options for you there. So check out any of those movies, and you will have a good night. All right, so we are going to take a quick break. I will talk about negativity bias, and then we'll bring Will back to talk about Monsters, Inc. Real quick.

Before we do that, the Celebration is the vintage movie. I Had a Brain Fart.

Yeah.

Now we'll go to the psych section.

All right, so it's time for the psychology section. So today we are going to be talking about something called the negativity bias. The negativity bias, first of all, is a cognitive bias. It's kind of what it sounds like. It's a bias in your thinking. They would define it as a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality. Basically, it's a way of thinking that's a little bit off, but there are reasons for for it. So the negativity bias is also known as the negativity effect. So it's a cognitive bias that human cognition is relatively more affected by a negative affect than an equally potent positive affect. This bias has been seen across many different areas, including how we build first impressions, how we evaluate things, we pay attention to our learning and memory, even decision making and risk consideration. So researchers Paul Rosen and Edward Roisman, they had four elements of the negativity bias in order to explain the way it manifests. So it's negative potency, steeper negative gradients, negativity dominance, and negative differentiation. So the first one, negative potency. This refers to the idea that even if there's equal magnitude or emotionality, negative and positive items are not the same. We don't see them as the same. Rosen and Roisman note that this characteristic of the negativity bias is only able to be demonstrated empirically in situations where we can actually measure it. So if we can compare how positively or negatively a change in temperature is interpreted, then we can really figure it out. The second one, steeper negative gradient. So, with respect to positive and negative gradients, it seems the negative events are thought to be perceived as more negative, and then positive events are positive. This is especially noticed the closer you get to the event itself. So in other words, there's a steeper negative gradient than a positive gradient. For example, the negative experience of a dental surgery you have coming up is perceived as way more negative the closer you get to the date of surgery. This, if you compare it to the positive experience of an impending party, it's perceived as more positive the closer one gets to the date of the celebration, but not as intensely as the negative event. Rosen and Roisman argue that this characteristic is distinct from that of negative potency, that first one we talked about, because there appears to be evidence of these steeper negative slopes even when the potency of the event itself is low. Negativity bias is a scale. So you put 10 positive comments on one side and 10 negative comments on the other. The side of the scale holding the negative would be lower because our brains feel the emotional connection stronger towards negative comments than positive ones. All right. Third, negativity dominance. This describes the tendency for the combination of positive and negative events to skew towards an overall more negative interpretation than would be suggested by just summing up all the individual positive and negative components. So the whole is more negative than the sum of its parts, and the same cannot be said on the positive end of things. And fourth, negative differentiation. Negative differentiation is consistent with evidence suggesting that the conceptualization of negativity is much more elaborate and complex than positivity so research indicates that negative vocabulary is more descriptive of the affective experience than positive vocabulary. There appear to be more terms employed to indicate negative emotions than positive ones. This notion of negative differentiation is consistent with something called the mobilization minimization hypothesis. And that says that negative events as a consequence of that complexity require more cognitive resources to deal with the experience and a greater effort to minimize those consequences. So what evidence we have? So most of the early evidence suggested that this negativity bias comes from research on social judgment and impression formation. It became clear there that negative information was more heavily weighted when people were tasked with forming evaluations and impressions of other people. So, generally speaking, when people are presented with a range of trait information about a person, the traits are neither averaged nor summed to reach a final impression. Or when these traits differ in terms of positivity and negativity, negative traits impact the final impression in a disproportionate way. So there's a very famous example, a famous study by Leon Festinger and his colleagues. And they investigated critical factors in predicting formation of friendships. The researchers concluded afterwards that whether or not people became friends was most strongly predicted by proximity. But in further research from Ebsen, Joze and Konecti, they demonstrated that proximity it's not predictive of friendship formation. Rather, proximity serves to amplify the information that is relevant to the decision of forming a friendship or not. Negative information is just as amplified by positive by proximity. And as we know, negative information tends to outweigh positive. So proximity may predict a failure to form friendships as opposed to a success. So one explanation about why negativity bias is demonstrated in social judgments is people might generally consider negative information to be more indicative of a person's character than positive. It's more useful than positive information in forming an overall impression. This is supported by indications of higher confidence in the accuracy of a person's impression when it was formed more on negative traits and than positive. So negativity bias shows up a number of different places. So cognition is a big one. Negative information seems to require greater information processing resources and activity than positive. We think and reason more about negative events than positive ones. Neurological differences also point to greater processing of negative information. People exhibit greater event related potentials when reading about or viewing photographs of people performing negative acts that are incongruent with traits than when reading about incongruent positive acts. The other area is attention. So a large number of studies suggest that negativity is basically an attention magnet. For example, when we are tasked with forming an impression of presented target individuals. People spend longer looking at negative photographs than they do looking at positive photographs. And the third area is learning and memory. Learning and memory are direct consequences of paying attention. The more attention that's directed towards something, the more likely we're going to learn it and remember it. And we know that we're more likely to pay attention to negative things. So of course we're going to remember and learn negativity as well, and then decision making. So studies of the negativity bias have also been related to research within this domain, particularly as it relates to risk aversion or loss aversion. When presented with a situation in which we stand to gain or lose something, potential costs were argued to be more heavily considered than gains. The greater consideration of these negative outcomes is in line with this idea of negative potency as proposed by Rosen and Roisman. And then finally, politics. Big surprise. Negativity comes in. In politics, research points to a correlation between political affiliation and negativity bias. Conservatives are more sensitive to negative stimuli and lean towards right leaning ideology, which considers the idea of threat reduction and social order to be the main focus. People with lower negativity bias lean towards liberal political policies like pluralism and are accepting of more diverse groups because they're not afraid of them threatening social structure and having a greater risk of unrestricted. Now, negativity bias does change over the lifespan, so in infancy. So the majority of investigations into negativity bias primarily focus on adults, especially undergraduate students. And here's a little secret. Basically every investigation psychologically is going to skew heavily towards undergraduate students. And the reason for this is because most studies are done in colleges and they view undergraduate students as willing subjects. You give them a gift card and they're willing to be a subject in your study, and they have the time to do so because most of them do not have full time jobs. So anyway, there are some studies involving infants that indicate still the presence of negativity bias. Infants are thought to interpret ambiguous situations on the basis of how other people around them react. So if there's an adult that displays a reaction of happiness or fear or neutrality towards a target toy, infants tend to approach the toy associated with the negative reaction significantly less. So if an adult looks at a toy and they have a fear reaction or a negative reaction, the infant is going to as well. So there's greater evidence of neural activity when the infants were shown pictures of a negative toy rather than the positive or neutral toy. So again that paying more attention to negativity starts really young. Although Recent work with 3 months old suggests a negativity bias in social evaluations as well. There's also work suggesting a potential positivity bias in attention to emotional expressions in infants younger than seven months. There is some evidence that negativity bias emerges during the second half of an infant's first year. Now, when we talk about aging and older adults, some research indicates that older adults might display, at least in certain situations, positivity bias or effect. This is proposed by Dr. Laura Carstensen and her colleagues and it's called the socio emotional selectivity theory and outlines a shift in goals and emotion regulation tendencies with advancing age. And this has shown a preference for positive information over negative, a dramatic change from the rest of the lifespan. So aside from the evidence in favor of this positivity bias, there are still many documented cases of older adults displaying that negativity bias. There's a reason why this bias exists. It's actually a leftover survival mechanism from our ancient ancestors. Our ancient ancestors lived in a much more physically dangerous world. Anytime they went outside their caves or their huts, they were in danger. They were not the apex predator. So thousands of years ago, people had to scan for and remember threats. This could be predators, food that was poisonous, and it literally was a life or death decision. And there's also this idea of the stick versus the carrot. So if you miss out on a reward, a carrot, that would be positivity bias. You can try again tomorrow. But failing to avoid a life threatening danger, the stick will end your chances permanently because you might die if you get to the stick. So there's a lot of reasons why this has stuck around. And there's a lot of things in, in our brains that are remnants of thousands and thousands of years of evolution. It is something that has kept us safe. But there are situations where it's actually not helpful. If we're constantly just looking out for the negativity, for the bad things, we in many cases are either missing the good things entirely or not taking advantage of them. And I think actually this movie, strangely Monsters Inc. Is the perfect definition of this. Right? The whole movie has this idea that we have to scare these children. That's what gives us energy. And we're going to use fear mongering techniques to tell people that children are dangerous, even if we don't know that for sure. And really it ends up that laughter the positivity, that is actually what gives more energy per capita than anything else. So a really interesting way to look at an animated film and psychology. All right, so we're going to take a quick break and then we'll bring Will back to talk about Monsters, Inc. All right, Will, we are back to talk about Pete Doctors Monsters, Inc. Yeah.

All right, let's get a move on, people. We are on in 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Okay, people, Eastern Seaboard coming online. The creators of Toy Story. Good morning, fellas. Hey, what's shaking, bacon? Did you lose weight? Or a limb take you into the

world behind your closet door?

Raz, you're looking fabulous today. Is that a new haircut? New makeup?

You've had a lift.

You've had a tuck. You've had something.

We've always been afraid monsters were there. Scary feet, scary feet, scary feet.

Hook the kids awake waiting to scare us. Twins and a bunk bed. But what we didn't know is that we scared them. What happened? The kid almost touched me.

You can't touch a child. They're toxic.

If a kid ever got through one of our doors, the results would be catastrophic. Walt Disney Pictures Presents Whoa, kitty.

That thing is a killing machine.

A Pixar Animation Studios Film.

There's a kid here. A human kid. We can neither confirm nor deny the presence of a human child. Let's keep it. I always wanted a pet that could kill me.

Easy five. What are you doing?

Monsters Incorporated. It's a musical. Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.

So help me.

So help me.

And pun.

So this is so. I saw this in a theater. I've seen it numerous times, actually. I think like three or four times. I like this one quite a lot. This is like, to me, this is like the heyday of Pixar. This is when Pixar was at its height. This is when there was a period of time, I think a year or two after this, where there was a thought that Pixar was going to go off on its own and leave Disney behind and make movies not just for kids, but to make movies for real audiences. And I think you can see it in a movie like this. Like, yes, it is kid focused for sure. But I'm trying to think of more than like, one or two jokes in here that are like, okay, this one's for the kids. This is stupid humor. This is actually pretty adult stuff that, that they're dealing with here. Like, yes, a kid is a main character, but it's, you know, it's talking about nepotism, it's talking about fear mongering, it's talking about not being able to trust corporations. It's talking about, like, hoarding. Of energy. Like, it's, this is not kid stuff, really. Like, it's, it's appropriate for kids, certainly. But I think the themes of the movie are much, they think much higher than standard. You know, like a Minions movie. It goes much, much higher than that. So this is a movie I really like. And you know, with animated films, sometimes when you see them in the theaters, you're like, oh, that was really good. And then you rewatch them and you're like, nah, that, that actually wasn't that good. It was fine. But this is a movie that for me at least, really, really holds up. And, you know, some of it's those themes, some of it's also just like just great voice performances. I mean, like, Goodman and Crystal are perfect. Buscemi is perfectly dastardly in this movie. Like, everyone in it, like, really hits their mark. It's really, I think it's a really. Not just an excellent cartoon, but, but actually quite a good film. Like, I, I really do like this one. I. It's so good that I'm annoyed they made a shitty sequel to kind of ruin it. Like, I, I saw that movie, Monsters University. I saw that movie in the theater and I literally couldn't tell you anything about it other than it takes place at a college. I, I have no other memory of it because there's nothing there. Whereas this one, there are moments in it that even if I didn't re. Watch it, I think I would remember.

I'm with you. Quickly on, on those, the shitty sequel thing before I talk about my history. Like, it really, it just goes with everything that is wrong with Pixar. That.

Yeah, it's a studio that does like the Incredibles too.

Yeah. Look, I'm sorry, but I, I remember when people saw that in 2018 and were like, this, this rocks. They didn't make a mistake making it,

you know, better than the first.

I just remember I saw that certainly in the theater and I just remember. I think I saw it with my, like entire family. Because I was raised on Pixar. This was Right, yes, was my cinema as a kid, you know, like Pixar was at its earliest, when I was growing up. You know, Toy Story came out only a couple years before I was born. Like, I just fell right into it. These were the movies that I was shown. Naturally. I shudder at the thought that like a five year old is out there and they're like. And their parents are like, hey, Hoppers. You know, like I. And I think Hoppers is like a solid movie, but that Being the first thing that they see, like one of those early ones, you know, that's just what you do. But anyway, I will say, I would

say that movie is almost too adult. It is for that to be your first anime film. Like, it's literally a movie about how, you know what you should do. Political violence. That'll solve all the problems.

Peaceful protest until it doesn't get peaceful.

Yeah. And then kill them.

Kill everyone, including the mayor. Blow up the, the high. The. The pond to build a highway.

Insane.

What are you going to go to school for, honey? I'm five anyway.

Right.

I don't. The Hoppers is not the point. The point is that, you know, Pixar just, they, they do this now. The, the days of Pixar, your. Of Toy Story and the Incredibles, and of course, the film we're talking about today, they're not gone, but they're just different because, you know, you kind of look on those. You look at those films and you're like, this is the peak of everything that they did. And you could probably even look at that up until. I don't even. Probably not that far in the past. I mean, we're Getting Toy Story 5 in a matter of weeks. That series as it is now, that franchise within Pixar, like, could have ended at 3 as they leave.

Andy should have then.

Right, I said that too. But then I saw Toy Story 4 and I was like, okay, I'm. I was very apprehensive going in. And then I was like, that is a great, great, great conclusion to Toy Story. And now we got a fifth one, and we're probably gonna get a sixth one because all these movies just make a ton of money. So the Monsters Inc. Part of it just, it. The thing that makes this movie special is the, the aspects that you're talking about, at least to me now as an adult viewer. As a kid, I'm sure. I can't remember when I saw it. I don't know if it was in a theater. I kind of doubt it. But I certainly saw it when I was very young. And, you know, it was just an animated adventure with monsters that weren't all that scary and was an idea that I could get behind as a. Whatever year old. You know, I was like, yes, the. I, I like that blue guy and I like the green guy with one eye. Here we go. Let's save the world, right? Great. That's all you needed as a kid. Now as an adult, I'm watching this movie. I'm like, this is a great Movie about like modern labor and.

Yes.

Corporations and, you know, the, the, the things that happen to us when we get bogged down in a competitive 9 to 5. Like all of these, even the smaller ideas within, like you talked about hoarding energy. That's a, that's a big idea that I'm sure not a ton of people necessarily pick up on when, when they watch it. Especially not kids, of course, but like, as adults, you def. You certainly see that. You're like, oh, my God, this is. They're literally stealing energy in order to fuel their operations, you know, in the form of children's screams. Of course, because this is an animated movie of children, we have to make it somewhat digestible. But what Monsters University did is it's like, let's make a prequel about how these two guys met. I don't care. Apparently, apparently there's another one that's in development as of March. I didn't know that. But why, you know, like it's. I, I can answer the why.

The money.

And it's always going to be about money now because that's what you have to do to be a healthy movie studio, is make money. Pixar is one of the best at doing it. But I'm, I do miss the days when their originals were the thing that drove everything. Like, I remember those days vividly. I can only remember the films in and of themselves. And every time I watch one of originals, that is profound and has big ideas, but can also be digested by kids. And I mean, you, you mentioned that this is a really adult movie. That's kind of Pixar's whole shtick, right? Is that they make movies for adults that are, you know, in kids clothing so that the kids can go with the parents, the parents can feel one thing and the kids can enjoy another.

Yeah.

You know, Monsters Inc. Is, I think, a prime example of that. I really like, love this movie a lot. It's, it's very, very good.

Yeah. And when I say, like, this is the peak, like this is actually pretty close to the beginning of Pixar. I realized, like, I was just looking at it because it's like Toy Story or Bug's Life, which is fine. Toy Story 2. And then this was like the first thing after that. So you have this crazy run of Monsters Inc. Finding Nemo, the Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille Wall, E up, Toy Story 3. That is crazy. There's not a bad movie. There's not even a, like less than really good movie in that run. And then, but then once we get to the time of, like, Monsters university. We have Cars 2, Brave Monsters University. And that's a really rough run. And then, like, you know, there's one sneak in there of Inside out, which is really good. They found like one good one, and then after that, the good dinosaur, probably the worst Pixar movie. Finding Dory, Cars three. And then they kind of get back to it with Coco. Like, it's. There's all these ups and downs, but, like, this period is like, you. You can't. You not to be fucked with this period of Pixar. This. It's so good. This is really the height of what they were doing. And, you know, I think this one might get ignored a little bit when you compare it to the things like Wall E and up and The Toy Story 3, which is seen as kind of the masterpiece of Pixar. And I honestly, like, when you talk, talk about just pure enjoyment, I probably put this right next to Ratatouille as far as, like, a movie I would just put on and enjoy myself. By the way, thank God there is no Ratatouille 2 as of yet. It's like the only thing they haven't tried to sequelize at this point or prequelize. I don't. I don't need to, like, you know, and Remy was born and this is what his childhood was like. I don't. I don't need that. And it's like, it just. And this is why I go back to, like, I wish Pixar had left because they wouldn't be stuck just making sequels. That feels like a company mandate at this point where it's like, well, we need an ip. And it's really sad because this. It. I do think that a bad sequel can sully. Sorry for the pun. Can. Can sully a really great original movie. Because, you know, I think about this. I'm like, oh, yeah, Monsters University exists. That sucks. Like, that's one of my first thoughts when I think about this movie. And that's shame, because I also think this is a really good movie about friendship, like, and about working together and, you know, you and your friends having different skill sets and different perspectives and talking things out. And it's also a really sneaky, good movie about parenthood, about new parenthood, like, figuring out how to take care of a kid and how to make sure they go to sleep on time and eat and behave. Like it's got all of this in. And all of that is done with comedy. It's done with humor. Like the sequence where they first like, you know, figure out, I guess she's safe. And they have her at their house and it's. He's, like, dropping Cheerios to, like, lead her to bed. And, you know that cute moment where she climbs into bed and just, like, kind of snuggles in? It's really cute. Like, this is it. It's not really a child performance because she doesn't really speak much. Like, she just makes sounds and then says, name.

Frequent English. Yeah, she said, yeah, Mike Wazowski. She finally gets Mike Wazowski down.

And I think. I think that's kind of why it works. Because if you're focused so much on the kid stuff, then I think the movie goes haywire. This is, after all, Monsters, Inc. This is about the monsters. We have to get back to the monsters. And when you have John Goodman and Billy Crystal, two of, like. I mean, if we're being real, two of our best comedic performance performers. Performers of the past 50 years.

Phenomenal.

Like, John Goodman, weirdly underrated as an actor. Like, this is a man. Like, every time I think about the fact that he doesn't have an Oscar, it's like, how is that even possible? Like, he is one of our best. He could do comedy, he could do trauma. He can do, you know, things a little off kilter. He can do Cohen's. He could do Scorsese. He could do it all. And it's like, you know, yeah, he lost a bunch of years to Roseanne, and he lost a bunch of years to alcohol addiction and struggling with that. But, like, the man, even in bad movies, he does not get bad performances. He's good as Fred Flintstone in that horrible Flintstones movie. Like, he still good in that. Like, it's just. He's so dependable. And granted, I feel like the Billy Crystal performance, it's very. It's very much like, this is Billy Crystal. He just happens to have one eye and be a green monster. Like, it's a very, like, neurotic Billy Crystal performance. But I think the. The script uses just enough of that. It would be very easy for that to be overwhelming and bad and really kind of, like, grating. But it never hits that point because the movie doesn't allow him to be much of a hero. It's like, he's always the one that they're kind of on until the end. It's always kind of like, all right, shut up, Mike. We got. We got stuff to do. But also, this movie is. It's a really good action movie.

Oh, yeah.

Like. Like, there are, like, Three action sequences here. And as any good action movie does, it builds on itself like that, that chase on the doors, that's. That's exhilarating stuff. Like, that's really, really good. Like, I watch it and I was like, I just can't. I. When I watch this, I think of things like Spider Verse, like, my God, the planning that had to go into this, the structure that they built for this. But it never feels so structured that it feels false. It always feels like, oh, that's the next thing we're going, going, going, like any good propulsive action sequence does. I think they handle it really well.

I think they do too. I think to the point of that action sequence. And just the action in this movie, that's certainly what. Almost certainly what drew me in. Like I said earlier when I was a kid, because that's what drew me into the Incredibles and. But at the same time, what really, really stands out, I would imagine stood out then and still stands out now, is another point you made about this being a great friendship movie, because Pixar has always done that extremely well. You know, they did it with Buzz and Woody. They. They've done it across any number of films. You know, I'm sure there's examples I could make, but you just go through their filmography and you'll see it. You'll be able to pick them out for yourself. There's too many for me to list off right now as I try to remember the rest of my points. But that. That door sequence you mentioned, it's like, I watch it today and I think a little bit about the peak of Pixar, as you said, like Toy Story 3. That conveyor belt sequence when they are going into the. The incinerator, or almost going into the incinerator, like, it's right up there with that sort of thrill of like, what's gonna happen to these guys? And of course, the idea is that everything is going to be okay again. This is a kids movie. Death is not necessarily on the table,

but

there is enough there to thrill all ages. And there is also just the fact that, you know, these are two friends looking out for each other is, I think, what really drives this movie. And of course, they have their conflicts as well. Like when they get sent through the door. Spoiler for Monsters, Inc. They get sent through the door to the Himalayas to be with the Abominable Snowman because their boss is corrupt. Shocker.

Yeah.

This nepotism family business is. Is not exactly.

Do you think that's. Do you think that's the most kind of kid moment of the movie. The Abominable Snowman stuff like the, like, you know, don't worry, it's lemon. Like, you know, like.

Yeah, I think that's probably like the most on the, on the nose joke in terms of like, oh, it's yellow, you know, but at the same time, like, I don't know. I don't know if a six year old is, is necessarily up on yellow snow.

Depends where you live.

Depends where you live. Depends on you live in Buffalo, New York.

You know, you might know what yellow snow is.

I was certainly aware. But you know, that is. Yeah, that's a, that's a good sequence. John Ratzenberg or John Ratzenberger, of course.

Gotta be there.

Legendary. He's gotta be there. You hear that voice and you're just like, I've heard this voice in nine Pixar movies and it's always the same and am I gonna turn it down?

Never. Nope.

But yeah, the, the instant knowledge when you hear the voices of Goodman and Crystal is really special. Especially now. Yeah, like you, you mentioned that those are two fantastic voice performances. They really are terrific in this and I always get a kick out of like the footage of these, these incredibly talented, dramatic, comedic whatever they are actors who I've loved actually seeing in human form in films for the longest time. But then I see footage of them in the voice booth, like so good. It circulates all the time. But footage of like Tom Hanks and the unfortunate Tim Allen of it all. But like they're in the voice booth, you know, like, wow, Buzz. You know, it's like, it's really funny seeing these guys do it and I can, I want now to see Goodman and Crystal doing it because they are so good in this movie and I don't think voice work gets enough credit as it is.

Agreed.

I think it's really so important and if you, if I don't buy into your voice work, I'm not gonna necessarily be all in. You mentioned spider verse. And funny enough I can look past it because I'm just a spider man head, but I don't think Shamik more. Or is it Shamik Moore?

Yeah.

I don't think like he has the greatest voice for Miles Morales, but at the end of the day I just kind of look past it because it's not.

The visuals are so incredible.

The visuals are so incredible that it doesn't really matter. But like, like, you know, if I think about it hard enough, I'm like, it's fine. But Then when you see something like this, you're like, oh my God, these guys are perfect. And of course also they're stylized perfectly. Like Goodman is the massive, tall, lumbering, like, dominates it. Gets the hello from everybody when he walks in the door. And then crystal, no shade to him. Love him. One of my favorites. But it like fits that he's this little green one eyed guy who's like, hey, I'm part of the team too.

You know, kind of annoying, but like, in a nice way.

I, I've been making jokes. We are, we're recording this, you know, as the NBA finals are going on, as I referenced earlier. But like every time they flash to the sidelines and Chalamet, Stiller and Spike Lee are all like high fiving and like coaching the team. And I'll make the joke of like, bro thinks he's on the team. I think the first bro thinks he's on the team is Mike Wazowski. Like, he is the assistant, but he's like, we're gonna break the record. It's like, you're not scaring anybody. And yet he's, he's a pivotal part obviously of this duo. And you can't. The movie fails if they, if they aren't as good as they are.

Yeah. And I, I wanted to bring up like a couple things that I really like and one thing that made me really sad, but it's still a positive about the movie. Tell me in whole first, Jance Coburn as Waternoose is also incredible. Like, I really threads an interesting needle because he has to be believable as a villain by the end, but also believable as kind of a gruff boss who has his favorites. Like when I first watched this movie, I remember being surprised. Yeah. By the villain turn. I was like, wow, this was real. And I was an adult when I watched this. Like, I was like, wow, that's really convincing. Like, just a perfect choice for that particular role. Really, really, really great. The other thing I really like about this is I'm trying to remember who wrote the script. I'm sure Dr. Was involved in the script as well, but has a real mastery of the bit.

Yeah.

Of the comedic bit. The whole like 23. Was it 2319. Where like a child, something gets on you and all, they fly in and shave you and all that. And that happening three or four times to the point where at the end it almost happens again and he, you know, puts it on his handler who is going to get him in trouble. It's like a great wrap up of that bit. It creates an ending point. Some of sometimes when movies have recurring bits, you're like, this is never ending. And now it's annoying. This one really masters, like, closing that loop with a fine, perfect joke at the end of it. Like, I was like, wow, that is really, really well handled. And the other thing I thought of when I was watching this, because this is a movie I have owned on physical, I think, two or three different times.

Wow.

And it made me yearn for the days when we put in effort to physical media, because I have very strong memories of. There is a special feature on the original dvd, you remember in the movie where they almost get caught. And he's like, oh, we're doing a play. You know, put that thing back where it came from, or so help me. Yeah, they do a whole animated play as a special feature.

Oh, that's.

And it's. It's incredible. It's. It's a perfect short film. It is really funny. It pulls on your heartstrings. Like, there's a. Mike Wazowski has, like, a. A ballad called she's out of Our Hair. Like, it just.

I remember seeing that when I was a kid, actually.

Fantastic. And I just, like, I. When there was that moment where they were lying about that they were doing a play, I was like. I got legitimately very sad. Like, oh, man, I wish we still did this. I wish especially companies like Pixar, because that's the great thing about animated film, is that there are no limitations. Right? You can do anything. You don't have to, like, get them back and, like, actually film it. You could just have them in the booth for, like, a day, and we can do this fun special feature, and it'll be a little Easter egg for the folks who really like the movie. And I was just like, I wish we still had that. But this, again, is the heyday, not only of Pixar, but the heyday of, like, home video and home media. Like, now. It. It also makes me sad that it's so niche and so goddamn expensive to have physical media. This was at a time where, like, especially kids movies, like, there was no Disney plus right? There was. This stuff wasn't on Netflix. You had to. And this is why Disney just reamed people and made so much money on these, like, oh, it's going back in the vault. This is the clamshell. This is that. And blah, blah, blah. And they would charge people, like, $75 for a movie. And that's why I think, in many ways, they are One of the reasons physical media has basically died is because they were just trying to rob parents blind. But this was like kind of the heyday of that and like, I kind of missed that where like all this stuff was available and they put real effort into special features, into special editions. And that is sadly, unless you go and get something from Criterion or Arrow and God knows those are going to be expensive, that's the only place you're going to get like that amount of effort. But this movie is a movie that does put forward effort in kind of everything. Like this is, this is the antithesis of a lazy kids movie. Like everything here is really well thought out. And to me it's like it's top tier Pixar, which is, I agree. Which is high praise because Pixar, especially during this time, they're the best of the best. They knew exactly what they were doing. It didn't really get as far as animated film for families. This is, this company is the height and this is the height of the height.

To me, I'm with you. I think it's interesting on that point when you look at the beginnings of Pixar before it became what it is now and before it even started to sniff what it is now. Like the first four movies, as you listed earlier, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. Those were all November releases, which I think is really kind of an interesting, you know, anecdote. Like Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2 were all Thanksgiving releases. You know, make sure you go with the family. But also like November is just other than Thanksgiving is kind of a weird month for releases now. They're just peppered across the, the release calendar. I mean, you know, right. There's one practically every year and it's typically a summer thing. Like Toy Story is coming in in June. Hoppers was I think in March. And I don't know if they have another one coming this year. I don't believe so. No. They have in development or upcoming now is Toy Story 5 Gato, which will be a March movie next year. The cat voiced by Mark Ruffalo, the Italian cat. And then the year after that.

That sounds great. I mean that sounds fantastic.

At home on criterion for 40 something dollars.

Not Italian, not interested.

No. And, and then incredibles three, of course, in June of June of 28, like these are tent pole releases because that is when kids are out of school and they're going to make billions and billions of dollars.

That's right.

But yeah, I, I also have that longing for the days when I had all of these movies, or at least my parents had all of these movies on VHS. Sure. We eventually got DVDs once those started coming along. But like VHS in 2001, you know, when this came out, I'm sure we had a vhs probably.

Yeah.

And there's another thing. Like you mentioned the special features and the play and you know, I think they probably. They probably had the. An extended Mike Wazowski comedy thing for the now. I think they've turned that into some sort of event at Disney World, like the make make you laugh Monsters Inc. Ride.

I'm pretty sure these are the jokes, kid. Right, the jokes.

This is it. But like, they would do that with Toy Story. They would have a blooper reel at the end. And yeah, it was the animated characters that were performing the bloopers. And the hand would come into the. An animated hand with a, you know, a director's clapper. Clapper would come in and. And go like, all right, let's do it again. Those were the days. Right?

These, yeah.

These movies at the end of the day, really do remind me of a different time.

Yes.

While also, you know, certainly keeping me rooted to the ideas that it has on its mind and all of the very interesting things that it's saying. But like, credit, credit to Pete Docter, of course. You know, he. He is one of the mainstays and I believe, unproblematic. Don't know, to be honest, I haven't looked into it. But he. Yeah, he directs this. Co directs with Leon Unkrich and David Silverman, but is also, you know, he wrote. Co wrote the story with three other people and he didn't do the screenplay, but Andrew Stanton, another mainstay at Pixar, co wrote the screenplay and it's, you know, we have. I don't think we've mentioned Randy Newman's name. I mean, just the tried and true. Like you hear it and you know it.

Well, now we got Taylor Swift, so we don't need Newman.

Right. Thank goodness. Appreciate your service. Randy. We now have the most money billionaire in. In all of music.

Yeah. I don't know how you go from the guy who did I love LA to Taylor Swift. That's. That's quite the drop off. But. But let's talk about negativity. Well, yeah, so that is the theme

of me talk about negativity. I'm in. Let's go.

I found, you know, you know, as I watch these movies for the podcast, it's always interesting because I'M watching it with a different eye, with a different perspective because I'm constantly like, okay, what should the theme be? What do I need to pull out? Sometimes it's really obvious. Obviously I could have done this about fear. You know, there's a lot of our friendship or parenthood. There's a lot of options and. But then I was thinking about the end of this movie, of course, where we find out that like, not only do we not need children's screams, but children's laughter is like 10 times more valuable. And it got me thinking about the way we as a culture, American and worldwide treat energy. Whereas, like, we continue to use energy like gas and nuclear energy that we know are inefficient, that we know are expensive. And we denigrate things like electric cars and solar powered homes and we know that these are much more efficient, better for the environment, better for all of us. But there is more money to be made with the negative energy. And I thought, what an interesting thing to put in a tentpole movie for Pixar. And they're not really hiding it. I mean, it is relatively subtle. But I mean, if you're watching this at all with a critical eye, there's a very clear big middle finger to corporate America, to governmental practices at the end of this movie. And I was really, really struck by that. Now what is that we.

What does any of that have to do with negativity? I'm.

Yeah. Shocking, I know. And this idea that, you know, whoever started this process in this Monsters Inc. World was hyper focused on negativity and the danger that they thought children would pose and they decided, I'm not going to do any research. I know that that's dangerous and I know that this is correct and this is how human beings interact in the world in many ways is we find out, we think something or find out something is mildly dangerous and we treat it like it's a monster. We treat it like it's something to be feared always. Instead of actually doing further scientific research and figuring out like, actually they're not dangerous and if we make them happy, things are actually better for all of us. And I thought, like, what a really interesting way to frame an energy crisis in a, in an animated film. I just thought that was a really, really smart idea.

I agree. I look, I just think again that this is what I've said already. Pixar does this really well. And I, I love now, I love that I can have a different relationship to these movies. Thinking about these bigger ideas more consciously. I think I Kind of keep coming back to the same thing of that Pixar has this sequel problem. I even wrote, I think a feature about that a couple years ago for a website called Screen Sphere about how I think it was after Inside out too. I really did not like inside out 2, but I just was like, they don't, they don't dive into any of these things anymore when they make these sequels. They just are mining the same sort of the plot mechanics.

Yeah. And even if they do, they're just saying the same thing as they said five years ago.

Exactly. And you know, I think in terms of. Repeat what you said about the. Them not really doing any research and just going forward with the idea that they had.

Yeah. Just this idea that we found out something is we think it's dangerous and we're just going to accept that and we're going to treat it as a danger to protect ourselves instead of, I don't know, science figuring out a different way around a problem. No, don't want that.

No, no, no, we can't, we can't do that. Yeah. I think that again, that is something that I think any, any of us can get behind in terms of seeing as an omnipresent thing in our world right today, back then, you know, I mean, especially today.

Good lord.

I mean, I'm gonna go down a path right now that I don't even know if I'm prepared to go down. But like this was released in November of 2001. Something happened in September. And yeah, fear was top of mind

and it was the dominant emotion in America.

Dominant emotion. And understandably so. But what that spiraled into was fear of things that you did not need to be fearful of, but you were not willing to, as you said, do the research to, or do any sort of digging to understand the truths behind those things. It was just about what emotion can we capitalize on?

Yeah, I mean you're, you bring up a good point that this is like actually not. I don't think they meant to because like this is the timing. This was being made for years. But the rise in Islamophobia after 9, 11. I mean this is a, this is actually a kind of a one to one example of like, you know, there were people of that faith or who purported to be of that faith who enacted terrible things. So now every person who looks like that, I'm going to assume that they are evil. I'm going to assume that they're out to kill me.

Right.

Because if I don't, and I'm wrong Right. Then I'm dead. Right. It's exactly what we talked about in the psychological section that like, you can recover from missing something if you're looking at it in a positive way. If you miss something from a negative light, there's a serious price to pay. And it's just like looking at that, it's like you understand why people acted that way. It's horrific that we acted that way as a country and that it was accepted not only by the common man and woman, but by our government where it was like, that's actually fine because we need to stay safe and never forget and all this other United.

A United.

And we're still dealing with it now. It's still happening now. It's crazy. Like, we have not gotten any better. Actually. We've probably gotten worse. Yeah. So yay, America.

Yes. I mean, like, look, I did not expect us to get to Islamophobia in, in this conversation about Monsters, Inc. But I mean, it's.

It.

The broad idea, if there even is such a thing as a broad idea with this is just that, you know, you, you are taught to fear what people want you to fear or you come to fear something because other people fear it before you or other people around you fear it presently. And I mean, this movie again, worked on for a very long time and fundamentally just about the juxtaposition between how humans, especially children, look at monsters in their closets and then, you know, interestingly flips it on its head and it's like, like we are designed to scare these, these young beings in order to power our world. But God forbid they get near us or touch us or anything that is theirs touches us, we are. We're dead.

Like, right.

Flipping it on its head is a really. I mean, it's. Look, I'm just saying that, hey, good idea, Pixar people. But it is like at the end of the day, it's it. You can dig into it much deeper if you choose to. And sometimes really interesting conversations come out of that. Other times you can just be like,

hey, good movie, Kitty.

Yes, yes, absolutely.

Also, like, just to close. Like, this is also just a really sweet movie.

Yeah.

We have like the relationship, the relationship between Boo and Sully is one of those lovely non parental, parental relationships that I've ever seen. I think it's really lovely. Like, it just, it really works on me and every time I watch it, I think it's not going to work this time because I'm like, oh, I've seen this a bunch. It's not really going to hit. But like, it really does. Like the. The scene where he has to say goodbye and the scene where his friend put all this work together to rebuild this door so he could see his friend again. I mean, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful expression of. Actually a beautiful expression of male friendship. I don't know how to talk to you about the emotions that you're feeling, but I'm going to do a thing that's going to help you. I'm going to put in the hours, I'm going to put in the work. I'm going to find all. I'm going to do it in secret. I'm not even going to tell than of doing it because I can't. I can't possibly deal with the disappointment if it doesn't work. It's a really nice ending to that. That discussion of friendship. Him rebuilding that door and finding all the pieces. It's great.

It is beautiful. And then he gets to have the drawing that she made on his clipboard as he now runs this last floor. And with a little splinter of wood, even though the door was put back together, it's. It's all beautiful. Two quick. Two quick things. One, the. The one plague of watching these movies now is that you will find one little hole and it's just gonna stick in your craw. Like I. Where are Boo's parents? Like her actual human parents. This girl was gone for days. Unless time works differently. Yeah, that's why.

Like, that's my. It was all. Time is different in Monsterland.

It's gotta be right.

It's like Santa Claus. He did it.

Or it's like infant.

What's it called? It's Christmas Carol.

Yeah.

They did it all in one night. It's fine. Yeah.

So funny. I'm just like. Where the. Are they? Yes, absolutely. And then the. The last thing before we go, what do you think they're gonna call it? The third one? Monsters IO or Monsters X Grox?

It's gonna be open. Monsters. That's. That's what we're. A way to make it worse.

Now kids really aren't scared. It's adults who are scared of AI. So we have to.

Yes.

How do Sully and Mike Wazowski come together to fight the. The looming death of artificial intelligence?

Good gracious. It would not surprise me. Yes. All right, well, so next week, Evil Dead Burn is coming out.

Coming out so soon.

And that is a movie that is about a family gathering. And then, as you might guess, things do not go well since it's an Evil Dead movie. So we're gonna. We're gonna talk about another movie, a great movie that has to do with a family gathering where there's some ups and downs. We're gonna talk about Mira Nair's monsoon wedding. So more power to your mayor in New York. We're going to talk about his mom. All right. So, Will, what are you working on? Where can they find you on the Internet? I've heard rumors that you write.

I do, yeah. Doing a little bit of that. Fingers are working. I certainly by this time, you'll be able to read my review of Leviticus, which will have been out.

We'll see how well I do.

You're busy, but you're not that busy. There will have been Tribeca reviews for sure. The festival long over by this time. But yeah, I mean, we're. We're just looking ahead at the release calendar and, and hoping to get back to it. You know, I've had a busy couple of months with work transition, but I missed. I missed writing, so I'm happy to be doing it again. You'll be able to find me on In Session, hopefully Geek Vibes Nation as well. And you can follow me at. By Will Bearnar and on. On Twitter and then will be on our. On letterboxd. As for the show, you can find us on all platforms at Pop Case Study. And Dave, what are you working on? Where can we find you?

What will I be working on? That's a good question. I was going to be doing a review for Stop that Train, but I don't think I'm going to do that anymore because it feels like. Feels like they've been using generative AI. They've denied it, but their denial is, like, very questionable. So I was very happy to see that. I got rejected for a screener for that yesterday. So I was like, terrific. Now I don't have to write it. So that's great. But there will be some Tribeca reviews. I wrote a review for Ponderosa. There'll be a review for the Leader. Obviously still doing stuff for In Session. All. All kinds of stuff. And obviously podcasting. I'm always available here. You can find me on Twitter and everywhere else at darn that day. So please feel free to follow me wherever you follow people on the Internet. All right, so until next time, we will be here diagnosing your favorites and judging you for what you watch.

Everyone loves you, you know.

Yes, I know, I know, I know.

But I must admit it, Big eye, you always come through. I wouldn't have nothing if I didn't have you. You and me.