A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

The Out-Law Witcher doing Bad Things

• Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet • Season 1 • Episode 184

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The Steves discuss what's making them happy in pop culture today, include Out-Laws, Witcher Season 3, and Bad Things.

What's making you happy in pop culture? Let us know @happylifepod on all the socials, or at happylifepod@gmail.com

Until next time,
Stay happy!

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

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Steve:

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin,

Stephen:

and this is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome, welcome to

Steve:

A Lifetime of Happiness, the podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.

Stephen:

And today we've got a mix of everything. As we discussed the quirky comedy outlaws the new season of the Supernatural Adventure Series, the Witcher. And shutter's new film, the lesbian Shining, I mean, bad things.

Steve:

Yes. But before we get into that, my love, besides surviving a hurricane that put us out of commission for a week or two, what's been going on that's been making you happy?

Stephen:

Well, last week was a super blue moon. Super indeed. And the next super blue Moon won't be until 2037. I'll be dead. No. Oh, okay. It's only 14

Steve:

years from now. Oh no. I'll be alive. I expect to be alive. I don't know how to do math. Math, math is hard, right? Math is hard. That's why math is hard. That's why I'm married, a finance major.

Stephen:

Okay. And so full moons are always great. Blue moons are even better. Super blue moons are the best. And we had a really great crowd. A lot of returning people, some new people, and it was just a good evening. Yeah. I

Steve:

love that your moon ceremonies that you hold each month now are virtual, so even listeners in theory could find rising Phoenix metaphysics on, on Facebook, and yeah, sign up. Cool.

Stephen:

I mean, You might even put it in the show notes, if

Steve:

I remember. Babe, you're at tall orders now, recording the night before release. Yes. Well, I also have to add that I recently have fallen head over heels in love with AI between Canva's. AI writing that I can say make this mean thing, I wanna say at work sound nice to Spotify's DJ X, which somehow has been managing to find the perfect combination of nineties pop punk as well as modern day top hits. And with a titch of musicals, but not too many has been really fun. Like the fact that it really seems to know me, and I mean obviously it does, it knows what I'm listening to. But it's cool having a DJ that. Makes the radio for me. Exactly. So yes, I'm ready for the robot revolution. I'm on the side of the AI because they make my life

Stephen:

better. Yeah. I'm gonna still stick against AI at this point, just because people are trying to use it to get rid of actors and writers. Oh, well

Steve:

we, we need those people.

Stephen:

Yeah. People are trying to say that AI can write movie scripts, and I'm like, I

Steve:

doubt it could do it better than some. It could do it better than the killer unicorn. Which is one we won't even be covering on this podcast, but it exists out in the universe. And don't

Stephen:

go find it. Yes. But

Steve:

yes. We'll start with Out The Outlaws, which is a 2023 American action comedy film directed by Tyler Spindle and produced by the Happy Madison team. That stars Adam Devine, Nina Dore, Ellen Barkin, and Pierce Brosnan. The film follows Adam as his engagement to Parker and career as a bank manager collide, as he suspects his future in-laws are the culprits behind the heist.

Stephen:

Yeah. This So Adam Divine. Sometimes I think he's funny and sometimes I think he's trying too hard. Yes. He run, he walks that fine line in a lot of his performances because, If he's in a movie, you know what you're getting. And he is always at 11. He's always at 11. Even in that show, I've been watching the Righteous Gemstones. Oh, okay. He, it he's still very Adam Divine. Yes.

Steve:

But the movie was great. I mean, I, I love, loved him. Nina like didn't have to do much in the movie, but she did well with what she did. Looking at the two of them together, I would never buy their chemistry, but they definitely had it on film. Like I bought them as a couple even though it was wacky. Yeah, absolutely. I saw them together. Yeah. The moment she started like noticing like the action figures that were representing the wedding people and she was able to like notice the different superheroes and stuff he was into, I'm like, oh, okay. Like, so she like not only tolerates his nerdiness like we see so many. Oftentimes like the, the housewives or the girlfriends like tolerating the nerdiness. Yeah. Like she loves it and I love that

Stephen:

for them. Exactly. And like we got to know Nina Dobra from the Vampire Diaries. And at first as Elena, I was always like, eh. But then whenever she played Catherine, and there would be times where. It was both of them together in the same episode. Catherine pretending to be Elena or Elena, pretending to be Catherine, and you could tell which of the four she was doing, like I have a lot more respect for her acting ability and it's nice to see her doing. More

Steve:

things. Yes. And while I did love the Outlaws, like, and they were more endearing than I thought they would be with Alan Barkin and Pierce Brosnan's performances, I, I almost feel like I enjoyed the, the other in-laws more with Richard Kind as Neil and Judy Haggerty as Margie Brownings, because. They remind me of my mom and dad a little bit.

Stephen:

So Richard Kind was always really good in this Michael J. Fox show called Spin City. Mm-hmm. And Julie Haggerty is an amazing character, actress, whoever thought to put the two of them together. Yeah. Brilliant. Yes. Like I want to see them as more parent things. Yeah. Or like. Running a school together or something like there's comedy gold between the two

Steve:

of them. Yeah. And you've worked at a bank before or did you ever get a bank heist where it was an armed robbery in West Virginia? Doesn't it not work because everyone's related?

Stephen:

So funny. We actually got sent out of town once. By the F B I because dad's bank was being targeted by the Russian Mafiaa and so they sent us on vacation because there was a whole thing where what they would do is kidnap the bank president's family, hold them for ransom. And make the bank president get the money out of the

Steve:

vault. Well, I'm glad that didn't come to happen. How would you react though if you Oh, I have more. Okay. I was trying to cut it off'cause I know one part of the how the story No, we're, we're okay.

Stephen:

And, but one of our branches was robbed and the branch manager was locked in the vault. For how long? I think only an hour, but there's air vents and things in there. You can't, you won't suff die from suffocation. Yeah. All the bank vaults are made safely these days. Yeah. But just like. It's a tiny town and it was robbed like, yeah.

Steve:

That's crazy. Yeah. I mean, how would you react if like, I know that I would, I would be the one on the floor. I would follow the commands. I would not question it. I would just let

Stephen:

myself be robbed you. First day of training, they, the person that trained me was like, it's money, it's insured. Don't be a hero. Give them what they want. Don't do anything else. Yeah.

Steve:

Well then I would do just fine in a heist. Under the right horrendous circumstances like Adam found himself in, could you ever see yourself robbing a bank? Yeah, of course. Alright. I mean, yeah. Yeah. But I, I would say that this was a perfect combination of action and comedy. Oh,

Stephen:

absolutely. I mean, you know, with Adam Divine, it's gonna be a comedy. Comedy and Richard Kind and Julie Haggerty. Then to find out that. Ellen Barkin. I've seen her in a lot of things. She's extremely talented. She was great in Oceans 13, and Pierce

Steve:

has done a, an action movie or two,

Stephen:

right? I mean, he may or may not have been James Bond at one point. And he also was in the two Mama Mia movies. Yes. So I

Steve:

would say that this is a watch. Check it out. It's free on Netflix. Yeah,

Stephen:

I absolutely watch it. It was funny. And I would say it's probably one of those things if we're ever like having a lazy, rainy day or something and all of a sudden it pops up on cw, I'm not gonna change the channel. Yeah.

Steve:

True. Now also on Netflix. We recently watched the most recent season of The Witcher, which I'll get us started until I get to Russian names that you can read. Okay. So it is based off of the video game series of the same name that we both know and love. We play through it on our switches. Yes. And The Witcher was created by

Stephen:

Lauren Schmidt Trich, who previously wrote for the West Wing Private Practice and Daredevil the series as well as the Umbrella Academy. Stars Henry Cavel as Geral of rvia a magically enhanced monster Hunter, known as a Witcher, Anya Charra as Juniper of Berg. A quarter elf sorceress and they're now basically adopted daughter Siri, the Crown Princess of Centra with a mysterious destiny surrounding her elder blood.

Steve:

Yes. And the first two seasons were really about their journeys as individuals and to get together. Yeah. So I was very interested to see how season three would handle. With going forward from there. I, I personally loved the beginning when I got, when we got to see them play house for that like first 10, 15 minutes of the episode.'cause it really did change the, their entire dynamic for the rest of the season of these three characters. All of a sudden I have this like, loving tenderness for towards one another.

Stephen:

Yeah. And as I had told you, like in the game, I was torn between Tris and Effer. Garal being with Tris or Juniper. But in the show it's, there's not even a choice. No. I mean, the chemistry that Henry Caval and Anya have is truly amazing and it's just impressive. And Siri has grown on me because, I don't care for her in the game

Steve:

at all. No, I'm like, she gets you through a lot of extra work and it's not fun to play as her.'cause you don't have all your ma magic

Stephen:

powers. No. And in the first two seasons of this show I was like, I don't think you're worth it.

Steve:

I liked it once I saw in season two when she was getting the fuck beaten out of her on that obstacle course in Karen Warren. Yes. Like that's when I was like, okay, she's got something. She's not just like a little whiny and privileged protagonist.

Stephen:

Yeah. And but this season she was so much

Steve:

better. She was very good. And we finally had some gayness with our favorite bard and Prince vid. What'd you think of their little romance?

Stephen:

I loved it. They had amazing on-screen chemistry, you could see it right away. And. I just really, really enjoyed

Steve:

that so much. Yes. And the first half of the season, which came out first,'cause this was one of the Netflix split in half ones Uhhuh ended with the Witches Ball, which we've been promised would change the, the face of Revia forever. Yeah. Whatever country they're in. Like how, what was that ball like for you watching it?

Stephen:

It, so it was a, More drawn out Red wetting Yes. Is how I felt that it went. But not red wetting in the sense that died. There was, there was nothing that the other side could do. Just that level of

Steve:

shock, death,

Stephen:

blood, like game changing things. Yes, and that's exactly what this was. And. It was incredibly well done for a television show. The special effects were phenomenal.

Steve:

Oh, cinematic quality. Yes, for sure. Yes. Yeah. And yeah, I would say that it definitely delivered on its promises of changing everything. And if you are watching an episode where a third of the way through, you're wondering whether it rewound or skip back, it's not. It's just how they're telling the story and it's worth it. So stick it. Yeah.

Stephen:

Just so you are watching it for one episode. They're telling it from certain person's perspective and then they go back and show you how it all came to be. So you're not on drugs. You didn't fall asleep. It didn't rewind. I didn't relapse without knowing it. Exactly. It really is just showing you from a different, different angles because so much went into where it all got to that. It's interesting to see all the moving pieces, and this was the best way to do it instead of drawing it all out, was to show us, this is how it looked from this way. This is how it looked from this way, and this is how it looked from that

Steve:

person. I. Yeah. And the second half of the season was equally as impressive. It felt like it sped through after the, the red, the, not the red wedding. It's not officially that, but, but the witches ball, after the witches ball, it, it definitely was a nice kind of coda to that, more so than an entirely new story. Yeah. But I also am interested to see, What's ahead?'cause we know that Gerald has been recast as Liam Hemsworth. So Yeah, with like, without getting into specifics, like I was planning on the, something happening at the end of the season that would like disfigure his face tragically, or

Stephen:

I've seen pictures. It's real close. It's real close. So we might not even Yeah, you're, other than probably a little bit of voice and that Henry CA's a little bulkier I. I think it's gonna be fine. Okay. Liam's Hemsworth is a good actor. I mean, he's one of the Hemsworth triplets. Yes. Quadruplets. Quadruplets. I always forget about the fourth

Steve:

one. One. Yeah. There's the fourth one from The Good Place.

Stephen:

Yes. Now. And so I'm excited to see where that all goes. I do feel bad for Henry because I think he got screwed over by DC because rumor had it. That he left this show and they made the decision because like, they were like, oh, you can't be Superman and Gerald of rvia and like, and now he's ne

Steve:

neither. Oh no. And he was such a good nerd with it too. Yeah. Well here's looking forward to next season, but if you've enjoyed the Witcher so far, or like science fiction, fantasy. Fun. Not science fiction, but fantasy. High fantasy, fun checkout. Yeah.

Stephen:

It's a good time. Yes. And last is bad things. Yes.

Steve:

Was bad things bad.

Stephen:

We'll find out. It was. It was not.

Steve:

Yes, it's a shutter. Original. Bad Things follows A group of friends who go to a hotel for a weekend getaway. Or like to prepare it for selling. Yeah. Because they own it. Yeah. And soon discover that women do bad things there. That's the legit I M D B description. But I would say it's the lesbian shining much better. Doesn't that kind of add up for you what to expect?

Stephen:

It does. It was written and directed by Stuart Thorn Dark Stars Gale Rankin. Hari Neff Annabel Dexter Hones and features Molly Ringwald. So Gale Rankings character. Has inherited a budget choice hotel. Yes. Not a great hotel, but it's a hotel. Her girlfriend, Harri, Neff is with her and two of their friends. There's been some situations we hear a lot about Gail's mom and that she's supposed to be meeting them there to help with the sale because I. They're just gonna sell the hotel while hard enough's, like, I think you could actually do something great with this and is trying to get her to be a hotel Ss or a ho hotelier.

Steve:

Something like that. Yeah. I mean, what'd you think of the setup? Did it work for you for telling this story? I. It

Stephen:

did. Because, you know, they get there, a storm's coming. The hotel's not open for operations, so they're the only ones in the hotel. There's the onsite manager that helps with things when no one's there. I definitely think it had a great potential. The I. I think they could have gone a little further with some stuff. Mm-hmm. Like if we're talking about the execution of things I like'cause they started showing things of people that ghost had happened. The ghost, yeah. Yeah. The ghosts that had things that had happened to'em. And I wish that they had found more information on some of those things and that we got a little deeper in with that. I do like how as it went on, everybody started seeing other things. It, it's kind of funny, it feels. Even though it's a modern day movie, it kind of felt like it was filmed in the eighties.

Steve:

Yeah, probably also'cause of the budget, probably. Also. Probably, yeah. I would say that if the idea of watching a lesbian version of The Shining sounds awesome to you, it's on shutter. If you're already paying for the subscription, check it out. Don't get shuttered to experience the lesbian Shining. There are other great things on shutter, on shutter like ula. Yes, but also like, I mean, it felt like it was like 30% horror, like ghost horror and 30% psychological horror, and I couldn't really figure out where the, the missing 40% was

Stephen:

it Exactly. It was like that. They didn't go far enough with either and it should have been a 50 50. Yeah. And it left it with it, it felt like a piece was missing. I think. It felt like a piece was missing and you keep watching it and you're like, I wish they had done this or I wish they had done that. And I'm, and I'm not saying it's a bad movie'cause it's not, it's well acted. It has a great concept. I would've changed, you know, a few slight things like apart, right around the ending I would've changed. Yeah.

Steve:

I mean, it was better than killer unicorn.

Stephen:

I have not watched many things that are worse than killer unicorn.

There

Steve:

we go then. So we'd love to hear what you thought of the three movies that we discussed today, or the two movies in one show we discussed today. And if for some reason you put yourself through Killer Unicorn already and wanna lament, we'd love to hear about it. Email us at Happy Life

Stephen:

pod@gmail.com. And you can get in touch with us on all the socials, especially if there's something that you've watched that you're like, Ooh, you guys need to watch this, let us know. We're always looking for things to watch. Yeah, talk to us on the socials It is. Happy Life Pod on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,

Steve:

and until next time, everybody stay. Stay happy.