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Thunderpants LIVE!

2024/8/9
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How Did This Get Made?

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The podcast discusses the 2002 film Thunderpants, highlighting its unique blend of sci-fi, comedy, and family elements, featuring actors like Rupert Grint and Paul Giamatti.

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Big news. How did this get made? Is doing a virtual live show on September 6th. Mark your calendars because we are tackling the bad movie classic Troll 2.

And we are very excited to partner up with MoveOn for this very special event. Tickets are pay whatever you can afford. And all proceeds go to moveon.org. Go to hdtgm.com right now to find out how to reserve your spot for September 6th live virtual show of How Did This Get Made doing Troll 2. See you there. It's a space movie. It's an opera film.

It's a coming-of-age story. It's a movie about the power of farts. We saw Thunderpants, so you know what that means. Thunderpants. I've got a lot to say. I took notes. I'm not okay. People of God! Things full of farts. E-Dub.

Rupert Grimford changed his name. So upset. I hate this. That's my ugly truth. This place is full of bees. Get this guy out of here. People of Dublin. Well, well, well. We finally did it. The 2002 classic film Thunderpants.

Oh boy, oh boy. This is a year, to put it in perspective, Gosford Park, A Beautiful Mind, and Thunderpants. All of them saying something important about this world. Should this movie have been an Oscar winner? Yes! It's a biopic, and it's got Ned Beatty in it. It's got all the ingredients of an Oscar movie. What is it about? It's about a small boy with a big problem.

who wants to be an astronaut, but sidetracked as an opera singer, and then has a short detour after murdering someone. But he does achieve his dreams, even though I'm not quite sure how, but we will break it all down. The tagline? It's time to blast off. And we are going to do that tonight indeed. Please welcome my co-host, Mr. Jason Manzoukas! What's up, jerks?

That's right! Here we go, Dublin! Ho-ho! Holy shit! People had to watch Absolute Dreck on this tour, except the beekeeper, and you guys got the fucking gem! Loved it!

I can't even wait to tell you about it. I loved it. A movie that asks, what if Dudley Dursley was the chosen one and Ron was Hermione? Come on. This is so plush. I can't get purchased. I refer to this film as the movie that broke Paul Giamatti into Hollywood. This is the movie...

That kid's got the goods. Holy cow. I swear to God, I'm watching this movie and I couldn't... The first 20 minutes, I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. No, me neither. I was like, oh no. I tried multiple times to adjust the color saturation because everything was green. Choice. Then Ned Beatty showed up on TV and I was like, what the fuck? I mean, so much is going on in this movie and...

My wife made the choice to watch it with our children. You gotta. And I want to hear how it was firsthand. So please welcome my co-host, June Diane Rayfield. Jason, you weren't kidding. It's cozy city over here. It's too much. I will say it's too plush. I need to be more engaged. I need to be more ready to rock if some of these fuckers come at me.

This feels like a chair that you might have an intelligent discussion about, Thunderpants, as if Thunderpants was a classic novel and we were introducing it on Masterpiece Theater. Ah, Thunderpants. If we were hosting a panel at Trinity College here in town. There's no reason to be reclining discussing Thunderpants. God help me if they bring an ottoman out.

Now listen, Paul. You brought up our children watching Thunderpants. And here's what happened. I was telling Jason backstage. So the beginning of the movie, one child was laughing hysterically. And I mean howling. And the other one was crying. And so deeply upset about what was going on. It's an upsetting movie because the farting makes him an outcast. And I guess that started at the beginning because...

At the very beginning, because as a parent, and I don't know how many parents are in the audience, but... Well, let's start at the very beginning if we're going to talk about being a parent. How did you make these kids? Oh, God, here we go. Here we go. They showed up one day and I was like, where did these guys come from? Here we go. So having a newborn, having a newborn, and having them release gas is to me like the most, it was like always the most satisfying experience ever.

Because you know it upsets them to have it. And so the reaction, the way this movie begins is so confounding to me because these parents, first of all, why do these farts smell? Like, there is a medical condition happening beyond two stomachs. But...

But, like, as a parent, it's such a relief to hear gas come out of a newborn. You're doing massages, you're lifting legs, you're doing all this stuff, and when you finally hear it, I mean, I found it deeply satisfying. Well, I mean... What a kill out. You have a real connection. I loved it. Oh, I loved it. I was like, let it out. When you gave birth both times, did the baby pop out without an umbilical cord? No.

fly over the doctor's head such that he said, it's a flyer, as if they've got a name for

What? It's a flyer. I also, I knew the movie was about a young boy and his problems farting, but when he was in the womb and they had that image on the ultrasound, I thought that was a giant fart bubble that he was sitting on. Was it? I also thought that, and I believe it was. That's what propelled him out. Oh, okay. I think that's what rocketed him down the birth canal. Okay.

I mean, that woman's never been the same. Well, everybody seems to hate this kid. His mom included. I think I know why. I mean, this, what they show in these opening scenes is truly disturbing. His family disowns him. His father leaves home. His mother abandons them.

With his mother crying at the car. The green car. That's when one of our children cried. Everyone hates this kid, period, until he meets... What's his name? Alan? Alan A. Allen. Alan A. Allen. What's Giamatti's name? Johnson something Johnson. Johnson J. Johnson. That is a recurring...

Joke? I guess so. The fact that you were able to... I think it's joke, but I'm not sure what the joke is. Well, no, here it is. It's Alan A. Allen is Rupert Grint. It's Adam Godfrey plays... Now, I do want to just shout out that earlier in the tour, you called him Rupert Grimpert. Which we made a shirt of. Which I am urging everybody to please...

Let's start a petition. We have to get him to change his name to Rupert Grimpert. We did make a shirt of Rupert Grimpert. It's not up yet. I will be the only person who buys that shirt. The opera singer, his name is Placido P. Placido.

And then it's Giamatti as Johnson J. Johnson. And then it's just a lot of smashes. And that's about it. I love when the doctor says, Mrs. Trash? And she says, smash. You know, I will say this movie has a tone that, and a sense of humor, bear with me, that is...

That is committed and consistent. Like, I will... I also... I enjoyed this movie. Now, I fell asleep several times because I was tired. But I woke up laughing and some of it I was like, am I still dreaming? I don't know. But I found it went down real nice. Real nice. There were a couple of times when I was like, oh no, I haven't taken notes in a while because I've been enjoying the movie.

I've been watching cinema assholes. And I was like, oh, they're going to be so mad. I don't have more to make fun of. But this was fun. I just love the bold choices that this movie makes. And one of them is, and we've already touched on it a little bit, everything is green. And that, at a certain point, makes it not green.

If everything is green, then nothing is green. And that was weird because I thought they could have gotten more with just making a couple of things green. But the green really got to me. The green disturbed me. It started to be crazy making. You started to be like, okay, wait a minute. Now we're at the school and the school is painted green? The teacher's in green?

He's on trial and everyone's green. This is the green. And is it just because farts are green? Are farts green? I'm going to say this. I don't think they're green. But we see physical evidence when the bully opens the fart lunchbox and gets a straight up green fart in the face. Oh, I need to get into that. I don't even want to gloss over it. But I do want to just. I'm not glossing over it. I want to foreground it right now. It is nuts. I also want to know. He deserved it.

I just want to know why farts come out like spray paint. But I do want to just show my favorite use of green. When they cut to the newscaster. The only newscaster in the world. He's the newscaster for the NASA story. He's the newscaster for the dead opera star story. He's the only newscaster this world has. I know, it's so wild because he's covering such big stories and such small stories. He's carrying, where does this take place?

Well, in the past, which I was shocked by. Where? In the past? No, no, I know it's the past. I did not know it was the past until John F. Kennedy came out. Yes, John F. Kennedy is in this movie. Oh, yeah. Was that Kennedy?

Hey, there. Good up, boy. But then they pulled out. I thought so, too, but then they pulled out and it looked nothing like him. I think also as well because the father is reading the newspaper. It says they've landed on the moon. Oh, wait, but is that the false? Okay, wait a minute. There's so much going on because that second moon landing. Anyway. I'm starting to pull at the threads and it's almost like this movie doesn't quite add up.

Let me just show you the one use of green that really made me laugh from that newscaster. Everything that the newscaster broadcasts has this weird font that looks like something that you would put in iMovie. Everything was this, like, it looks like the way that they advertise the Matthew Broderick Godzilla film. I was going to say it looks like Armageddon's color scheme. Yes.

I was like, what local news is putting up a graphic package like that? But here's the thing about the movie. The kid actors are so good. Well. I'm sorry. I thought they were great. I thought they were great. Well, by the way, is this pre-Harry Potter? Where does this fall? Yes. So he's shot. So he hasn't. Wait, no. 2002. 2002.

Okay, one of you decides. Here's my question. Elect one of you to talk. Here's my question. It's her. Had Harry Potter come out yet when he did this? Wow. Had Harry Potter 2 come out yet? Perfect. Between 1 and 2. Either way, it doesn't matter. It's not like this movie was the thing that got him Harry Potter. They were coasting off of that. That's okay. I just think it's wild they got him. He's so good in this. He's incredible. He's great.

My gut might be that that is why this movie was released. So it was shot. It found no home. Then Harry Potter came out. And they're like, ooh, we have a Rupert Grint movie. Rupert Grimpert's in this, too. I'm not going to let it die. Rupert Grimpert's knocking on my door tomorrow morning like, hey, man, knock on wood. I love Rupert Grimpert. He's so cool.

incredible in this and I have to tell you there's a moment where our main character is arrested Patrick Smash for murder and sentenced to death by firing squad but when he's first by the way I had to explain that to our children when they said what's happening and I said well that's a firing squad

They are about to kill this child. What are we talking about here? Yeah, I said they're all going to shoot him at the same time. So that no single one of them knows they were responsible. That's right. And they can alleviate their own trauma. And they said, well, why is he blindfolded? And I said, I think that that's, I had to really go into it. I said, I think he's blindfolded to actually make it easier for them to shoot him.

And then I guess my question was. I don't know, but that was my best guess. Because otherwise people would be like, I was looking him right in the eyes. Exactly, and they wouldn't do it. I mean, but then my question is this. Was the UK using firing squad in the 50s?

No, right? No. I should hope not. I don't think Firing Squad would be too long. They were doing the head chopped off still. This movie exists in a world that feels like they're trying to pull off like a Tim Burton-y kind of, it's got its own look and aesthetics. Almost like what the Paddington movies have now. Like a real color, the Matilda movie. It's Wednesday, but with farting. A real color scheme of this, of that. But they have a children's firing squad? I wish. I don't get it.

By the way, I wish the firing squad was children. Awesome. That's great. They should have done that, but it would have tipped the hat for a kid scientist for the secret room of all child genius scientists. Well, I will say this. I feel like he committed two murders. I would believe it if SpaceX was Elon Musk and 411-year-olds. Oh, thank you, Dublin.

Osprey? Don't mind if I do. But I feel like this movie kind of took him out of a second murder because he for sure murdered that bully in the park. They brought him back for the trial, but I was like, that motherfucker's dead. Wait, when? Wait, I don't

The bully testifies in the trial. No, no, but why does he die? Remember when he brings him out to the woods like Miller's Crossing and he's like, and he rips that fart so hard at him? You think it killed him? Oh, you think that killed him?

It ruptured the trees. Look at Tia Hart, Tom. Look at Tia Hart. I mean, that kid ran. First of all, that kid opened a lunchbox full of farts, got the face full of farts, and was running from this fart. And this kid knew. I don't know how. I don't know why he had a more powerful fart. But he was like, now I'm coming for you, motherfucker. And he brought him out to that woods. And I'm like, he brought him there to kill him. What's incredible? Wow.

What's incredible is not until the end of the movie, and it's not even literally done this way, but it is actually through mechanized invention. Thank you, Alan P. Allen. Alan P. Allen? Allen A. Allen Allen Allen. Oh, it's the end of tour. I just got that they're all the same goddamn initials. Anyway, it surprises me that our protagonist never once thought to light his farts on fire.

Something that the minute I found out it was possible, I was like, let's go. It did. I will say, maybe I'm revealing too much right now, but it did make me think like, well, what could farts do? You know, I know, I know you can light them on fire, but I don't know. I genuinely don't know what else they could do. You know that Twitch stars sell farts in a jar.

I'm sorry. Ew. You're going to have to say that entire sentence again, but slowly. You know that Twitch stars sell farts in a jar. That's a tongue twister. Everybody ready? Twitch stars sell farts in a jar. Pretty good. I'm sure there are many ways that they're fetishized and all that, but I just mean like what are they capable of?

Yes, why isn't science trying to harness the power of farts? Because it's full of adults.

One of the things that's really doing damage climate-wise, I believe, is cow farts. Yes. It is the methane created by factory farming and all this kind of stuff. That's why I try to eat as much meat as possible to kill those cows. So that's why, exactly. This movie, this kid's farts, that's got to be, I don't know how many acres worth of cows this kid, this kid is contributing mightily to climate change and should be put in front of a firing squad. Absolutely.

Here's my question. So he's had this condition since, honestly, he was in utero. He doesn't go to a doctor? The one time he does the doctor... Until he's about 12. The doctor's a fucking asshole. That doctor's such a dick. The doctor's like, everybody is like, you're a fucking idiot. He's like, the doctor the whole time is like, that's not what I said, idiot. But...

But here's what I don't understand. And this is the only flaw I found with the movie. Honestly, it's the only note I have is giving him a justification for having that much gas because him having two stomachs, it left me unsettled.

Thinking about him with two stomachs and I was like, oh, I think maybe he would just be very hungry or I don't know how that affects other things. But I just wish he was super gassy with no explanation. Sure. Yeah, we don't need a reason. And the reason, I mean, I don't want to even get into the end because it seems like the issue is how did this boy who wants to fart live a normal life?

He doesn't want to part, Paul. He has to. This is need. Well, I guess he feels like he can never be an astronaut because he can't control his problem.

Like, I mean, like, I don't know if farting would stop. Like, he seems to be dumb as shit. And... Hey, whoa! They literally say, Ned Beatty goes, this kid is a fucking moron. He's a tool. He's like, he's failed every test. Every physical test and every mental test. By the way, it's then revealed he's only been there two hours. Yeah!

And yet he's also eaten every leafy green substance this side of not NASA, whatever that was. Then he's launched into outer space. And what does he do? I want to be clear. I want to be absolutely clear. This is after he has one of the most prolific musical careers in history.

He's like a Forrest Gump character in that he's part of all of these aspects of history. He farts so loudly that a high note is created for Placido P. Placido. Well, it's not that it's loud. I think it is...

Yes, it's got some volume. It's hitting a note that... But it's high. It's a note that can't be sung. Or that Placido E. Placido is... P. Placido is pretending to hit. What did... Right, but only one other person has ever been able to... Sure. The man who Patrick smashed murders. That's right. Right in front of him. And now that man puts it together that the boy is the fart. Like the fact that he even is putting that together like, oh...

It's the fart. No, he doesn't know it's the fart. What he first sees is he sees Placido. Yes, walk one way. But he hears the note coming from somewhere else. Yes. So he goes into the room and our guy, Patrick Smash. Oh, he does say it. Full blown tells him, oh, I travel around. I make him tea. I do this. I do that. Oh, and I sing the high note with my ass. And this guy's like, blink, blink, blink. What now? And then he pours, what?

Mylanta? I don't know what he puts in that thing. And why does he have it at the ready? Why? Yes. He has a tincture that is perfect for this moment. A moment he couldn't have imagined. He couldn't have imagined what was happening. And then I felt like there's definitely child abuse going on because...

that little boy has the cream mustache on and it seems like hours later after he'd eaten that cream and no one told him to wipe it off. No one. Even Placido is not like, hey, clean yourself. Placido, this is a story about a boy who's treated like a tool by everyone. Everyone. And I love that when Placido P. Placido discovers him, it's Keira Knightley. Oh my God. It's Keira Knightley who's like, Professor, did you hear that?

What? Now, why was she there in that scene? Well, I think Princess Amidala was supposed to be there. And she's got to be there whenever Princess Amidala is. The courtesan has to be there. As her double. You fucking nerds.

This podcast is supported by FX's English Teacher, a new comedy from executive producers of What We Do in the Shadows and Baskets. English Teacher follows Evan, a teacher in Austin, Texas, who learns if it's really possible to be your full self at your job, while often finding himself at the intersection of the personal, professional, and political aspects of working at a high school. FX's English Teacher premieres September 2nd on FX.

Stream on Hulu. Every sandwich has bread, every burger has a bun, but these warm, golden, smooth steamed buns? These are special. Reserved for the very best. The Filet-O-Fish. And you. You can have them too.

There are a lot of reasons some people choose cannabis.

Whether you're tapping into your creative side or just trying to relax, the one thing weed won't do is make it any more safe or legal to drive afterwards. It can slow reaction times, for example, and if you thought a few eye drops helped you get away with it, know that people can tell when you've been smoking marijuana, including law enforcement. If you feel different, you drive different. Drive high. Get a DUI.

And then when they see the Thunderpants, the titular Thunderpants, which have nothing to do with the film...

Boy, was I disappointed. I really was like... Well, this is a movie that solves the problem in the first act. It's like, and here are these thunderpants at work. I was like, oh. Here's the problem, though. I checked the progress, and I was like, am I almost done? And then I was like, minute 14? Oh, no. Here's the problem with the thunderpants, though, because what Patrick Smash is worried about is controlling his problem. And...

This is what makes my heart break for Patrick Smash. It's that he wants to control the problem, but wearing a set of thunder pants is not really, how you say, hiding that you have a major issue going on.

major situation is happening with you. But it's so much better. Why not have... To witness it, to see those pants go, I might just let it out. This is more distressing. Why can't there be a second version that can fit under regular pants? Oh, V2? Yes! Thunderpants.20! I also feel like Patrick's

Parents have done him wrong. Yes, he farts. But don't dress him and cut his hair like that. Like he's Moe from the Three Stooges? Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? Get dirty! Like a mashup of Moe and Curly. That's where the movie, it does have sort of Matilda vibes where you just feel like this child, especially when he's delivering his speech. No, okay.

When he's delivering his speech when he goes up in the rescue rocket and he basically says like, I know. I'm so sorry. He delivers that speech and I cried. I did too. I did too. Emotionally just very available for Patrick Smash. Me too. I cried when he was going into the paddy wagon when he was arrested and said to camera, I'm scared.

I was like, I can't. Well, but here's the thing, too. And no offense to NASA, but they shouldn't be broadcasting that conversation where they go, hey, there's a 70% chance you're going to die. And you're on live TV. We told you on live TV. Also, I actually rewound that scene, Paul, where one of the engineers comes up to tell our main guy. I did, too.

That he only had a 21% chance of living. I'm like, where was this work about 24 hours ago? Like, why are you just crunching these numbers now? I actually have an answer. The entire thing was built by children.

The answer is, what do you think? 11-year-olds did this whole thing. Absolutely not. Also, his mother is watching the TV like she did not know where he was. She thought he was still with the opera singer or dead. We sold him to that molester. What's going on? It was a different time. I'm sure that the UK police...

Made it seem like he was dead. The CIA took him and that was it. And all this movie happens very quickly. Once that murder happens, the whole movie is over within 48 hours. Now, here's my big question. And I don't mean to poke holes in Thunderpants. What a fucking week for Patrick Smash. Opera star kills a man almost shot by a firing squad in outer space. One week. What?

But my question is this. They needed him to power the rocket. I won't even break that down too much. Because I did wonder, why don't they have fuel? Same. Same. It doesn't, but there doesn't seem to be a real reason given for why they need to power it with farts. The thing that I truly have a question about is, so he farts.

It goes up, and the movie posits that's it. Like, the astronauts are back. Well, we see the International Space Station or wherever he's headed in the distance. So I don't know. I'm assuming he's going to dock with the space station, fart them back to Earth? I mean, he seems to be the only person on that ship...

Oh, yes. Why were there other adult astronauts training? Yeah. He's training on treadmills. There's other adult astronauts like... And I'm like, okay, he's part of a team. I've seen the right stuff. I know how this works. Nope, just him in a rocket. And they're like, you're definitely going to die. And he's like, if I die, I die because I want to be doing my dream. And I was ironing my white shirt like...

And he doesn't even get to do the dream. Because in my mind, he wants to be an astronaut. This movie just posits he goes up and comes back down. Like he basically does what Jeff Bezos and William Shatner did. They just...

Bop. But for this time period, that's incredible. Give him a moonwalk. Give him a fart moonwalk. They already got it. Who did it better, Barbie or Thunderpants with the homage to 2001? So funny when they did that. I think he just wanted to go up there and be a spaceman, not an astronaut, a spaceman. Well, what's the difference? I don't know.

He just... So his dream... His dream is shit. I would have loved a spacewalk. Yes! Just powered by farts across space and time. But they couldn't afford it because when he's traveling the world, they have him on a...

a black, like a black stage, and it was like, here's a person dressed as the Canadian Mountie. Here's a person dressed as the Geisha. Here's a person dressed as like Attila the Hun. Whatever it was, it was just like there was no back, it was not even, not even green screen. They're like, who cares? Black. It was just, just to go back to his monologue, that devastating monologue. Should we hear it? Yes. I don't know if we can. Okay. Hello, everyone. My name is Snash.

Patrick Smash. And this is my dream. I'm going to try my best to be a good spaceman. I've never had the whole world with army before. I mean, I did try to do my best at home, but I wasn't what my mum expected me to be. I did try to do my best at school too, but I upset some of the other kids. And I was a bit of a disappointment to my teachers.

One time I thought I found someone who was helping. We went all round the world together. We sang together. But everything kept going wrong. But then my friend Alan came and showed me that what the people of in space need right now is a friend. And I'm going to try and be that friend. We are Patrick and Alan, the team. And with my gift, your genius and our friendship, we can never go wrong.

Thanks for remembering Sprouts this time. It was such an indictment on all of us, honestly, on humanity. Like, I was like, wow, the way we've treated this person suffering from a chronic illness. They don't believe they have any value in our culture and our system. And so the only way he's truly ready to sacrifice his life because he has no spot down here with us, with you all. No. No.

No, you all would have turned your backs on him and rejected him, made him some sort of pariah. All I'm saying is this. I know you were Dublin.

All I'm going to say is that Alan A. Allen should build him another pair of Thunderpants because at the end of the movie, he's back on Earth, but he's still farting. He hasn't controlled shit. He hasn't changed anything. But I think what happens is that when, I hope what happens is that when he comes back, because he's been such a hero and sacrificed so much and was so brave, that when he farts around us, we love it.

I love my children. I love my children. When one of them farts near me, I'm like, get the fuck out of here. Like, I want to get in the car and take off. See, I really felt for Alan A. Allen because I similarly have basically no sense of smell. Wow. So like sometimes when someone farts or when someone is like, oh, a skunk. I'm like, really? Really?

Oh, I can't. I don't smell it. One of our friends has the same illness. I don't like that. And I always feel like... I don't like A, the word choice, or B, how you said it.

I always think about it and I'm like, gosh, I would feel so scared walking around the world not having a sense of smell. Like, you don't know what you're putting out. Oh, not at all. That's terrifying. I remember so much so that I'm constantly trying to shower as much as possible because I'm scared. I don't want to be out in these streets smelling like a bag of old mayonnaise. Well, I remember that there was a friend that we had back in New York who, and the issue that he had was he never knew when to take out his garbage because...

Like, he didn't have the sense of smell. So, like, his house always smelled. What's that mean? Here's what I'll say about this movie. Ned Beatty brings it in this movie. Like, whatever it was, he sees the script. You possess the most powerful tutor I've seen. He says it. He says to the little boy.

He says it with a gravitas. And I watched Ned Beatty and Paul Giamatti do a scene. I'm like, these are two fucking fantastic actors just going like, we're here and we're going to just commit because...

That's why I think the tone of this movie is so successful. It really is. It's like everybody is committed to this strange world, and I loved it. I haven't seen this clip. This is either an interview with Ned Beatty talking about the movie or Ned Beatty acting in the movie. Either way, I think it's going to be worthy of watching because I read what happens in it. I want to be a spaceman.

But I have a problem. I cannot control my arse. Would that be a worry? Love, Patrick Smash. I'm joined now by General Ed Shepard, Commander-in-Chief of Operations at the United States Space Center. General, what makes an astronaut? I'll tell you what makes an astronaut, Todd. You've got to be focused, determined, and in complete control of yourself. But most of all,

All of my astronauts, each and every one of them has worked hard to overcome their problem. And each one of them is a uniquely gifted individual. I mean, that's good. I mean, that's just good. I was listening to it like, okay, is it me? Okay. It's so inspiring. I can't wait to show this movie to my kids. And then I'll say this. Do we like Paul Giamatti with hair?

With hair? Yeah. I don't like him that much with hair. I think he's a better actor without hair. Me too. And I don't know why, but I do. I didn't mind it. I agree with you. I like him without hair, but I like him with hair in the same way. Here's what I like.

I enjoy, and as I'm re-watching Moonlighting right now with young Bruce Willis losing his hair, I'm enjoying watching people who have these hairlines be on TV. Not everybody has either a full head of hair or absolutely no hair. No hair at all. And that's all we see in movies now is robust head of hair or no hair. And I like this. I like this. Same with teeth.

You know what I mean? Interesting teeth. Everybody in movies now, same teeth. Everybody's got them. Bing, bang, boom. Mouthful of teeth. You watch a movie from the 80s, it's like, this is the romantic lead with these teeth? And this hairline? All right, movie. You got me. Bruce Willis unequivocally looks good bald. Better bald. But boy, and die hard with his thinning hair. Dynamite. When I was a kid, I went to the...

the haircut or the barbershop and um and i said to them can you cut my hair like bruce willis and now bruce willis and they're like well what what does that look like i was like well you know in the front it goes down and then there are like these like like i didn't understand that that was a receding hairline i thought that was a cool haircut

Put it in the book! I have to tell you, it's not in the book, and it's making me think, like, we need another book. Yes! We need another book. Yes! That, I remember, like, my babysitter at the time and the haircutter having to explain that that is not something that we could achieve. And I was like, but no, no, it's easy. Just cut up here. They're like, the only person that can give you that haircut, son, is time. Yeah.

Father time. I got it. I got it. Eventually. Send a picture to that barber in your face. I told you somebody could do this. I'm stuck on the fact that a babysitter took you for a haircut, but I'll guess we'll talk about that later. I'm like, where's mom and dad? Okay. That's too important. My dad is here tonight. Give it up for my dad.

I never saw my mom more upset than when my dad's girlfriend tried to cut my hair and I came home with a new haircut. She's like, what? It's like, well, my dad's girlfriend tried to cut my hair. So it was a tough one. Sometimes I still hear about that. I was like, I was too young to say no. If someone says, can I cut your hair as a kid? You say, yeah. Too young to say no. Is that the title of the book? That's volume two, baby.

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All right, so Stephen Fry is in here. Yeah. Great. As the barrister. I mean, come on. This cast is stacked. Remarkable. Remarkable. My favorite thing, though, about it is

There are moments that don't need to be in this movie. For example, Paul Giamatti has saved this young boy from murder by firing squad, gets him on a private jet where the jet has made a bedroom for him. Now, he's just going from, like, the UK to the States. So, conservatively, what? Like...

you know, let's say the longest flight, eight to ten hours, they've made him a bedroom and they've given him multiple wardrobe changes, which is the same shirt and pants. I'm like, well, how many times is he changing wardrobe? But while you're watching all of that, Paul Giamatti goes to the front of the airplane. He's like, okay, so just keep on flying. Nothing happens in that scene besides like, great. He's intimately involved in every element of the movie.

Because he's also taking pictures of Alan A. Allen from the window of the limousine earlier in the movie. And I'm like, who is this creep? This is a movie about child predators because he's taking pictures of kids. Sure, I'll send you to space. Sure, just get over here. I'll send you to space. You want some candy? Come in my limo. The astronauts need your help. The astronauts need your help.

Oh, my gosh. What I was most disturbed at was at one point when they were ripping off the thunder pants, they cut to one kid and his mouth is full of thunder pants. Yeah. Which meant that he went...

He went down there. Yeah. With teeth. Those kids attacked him with a ferocity that I found upsetting. And then when they walked away and he was in his underwear, I was like, I don't need to see this. I know. I shouldn't see this. I know. It was another question from our children, which was like, what's happening now? And I was like, I think they're eating him. I think they've tied him to a jungle gym and are consuming him like piranha. What?

Like, they tie him up, they crucify him for farting, and at a certain point... For our sins. It was just Easter. Hear me out. I do want to go into the crowd. I want to see what Dublin has to say about these Thunderpants. Okay. Let me see. I'm going to come down. Hi, how are you? Hi, I was just wondering, you did a Jason Statham movie in London and a Jared Butler movie in Glasgow.

Did you do this movie in Ireland because it's green and Rupert Grint has red hair? Yes. And is that stereotyping? Maybe. But you know what? It's okay. You guys can take it. All right. So is anyone dressed all in green tonight? Is anyone in costume? I see someone in a green and black striped sweater right here. I don't know if that was intentional or not. Oh, my gosh. We have somebody from NASA, from USSC. Where? See her?

Well done. Do you have a... Wait a second, Paul. Is that Michelle? That's Michelle. Michelle. Michelle from the Belfast show. Oh, wow. Michelle, the belle of the ball. What is your question? My name is actually Dr. Michelle Poores. Okay, yes. Good for you. Yes, you got the doctor. If Patrick allegedly killed someone in Italy, why was he judged in England? Great question.

I assume that Italy extradited him, and I'm not sure why. Well, because it didn't... No, no, the man he killed was Italian, wasn't he? I think so. Well, I have a feeling that...

Because there were so many character witnesses for him being a bastard. Yeah, they were like, you know what? We need him back because we have some unsolved business with him. All right. I get it. Your name? Emma. And your question. Hi. I actually have a question and what I think is quite a fun fact. The fun fact is the news anchor fella who is talking to Ned Beatty and stuff, he is actually more well-known as Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies. Oh!

Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies. Wow. Tinky Winky. Tinky Winky. Wait a minute, wait a minute. And my question is a standing ovation from that single gentleman there. My question is, what's your deal? The creator of the Teletubbies in the house. Wait, do you mean the voice of or he's inside the suit? If you go on to his IMDB, it's not a picture of him. It's a picture of Tinky Winky.

Wait a minute. So you're telling me, Tinky Winky, that character puts on a skin suit and is this guy?

That's how good he is. That's a fucking performance. Good fun fact. And now what's your question? So my question is that Patrick kind of divides a lot of people. He, you know, some people love him and the U.S. government recruits him and some people think that he deserves to die, especially because, you know, his farts are so lethal. He like nearly kills a bully with them in the forest. Do you think this movie was an inspiration for Oppenheimer? Oh, wow. This is a good question. Wow.

I told you, this is an Academy Award winning film. I wouldn't be surprised. Also because I believe in the deleted scenes, quite a bit of graphic sex. All right, I'm going to go up to the balcony, but I almost set up the fire alarm. Sir, what's your name and your question? How are you doing? My name is Tom. My main thing I want to know is why are we making a shirt when we have a film called Thunderpants? Shouldn't we be making pants?

Great idea. Can we make pants? Can we make thunder pants? Guys, we can't start making pants now. I love the idea of just an exclusive pant for this show. But that is like... Love it. That has like metal on it and a lunchbox. The lunchbox I felt bad about because we've seen him carry a lunchbox full of nuts.

It seemed like he carried a lunchbox of squirrel food. And that was confusing, too, because doesn't that stuff make you gassy? I think so. I think his mother is... I think his mother is munchausen by proxy. I think she's a Gypsy Rosalie situation. I think we... Wow, Gypsy Rosalie now out, by the way. Out, doing it. Living life. Living life. This is some...

Sorry. Everybody's like now kibitzing about Gypsy Rose Lee. Did you hear? I'm in the balcony. There you are. Jump on balcony, monsters. Let me hear you. Here we go. What's your name? John. Okay. What's your question? You've been referring to Placido P. Placido as the opera singer who took Thunderpants, you know, around the country, around Europe.

Do you know who Sir John Osgood is? Oh no, is this going to bum us out? Yeah. There's sometimes these factoids that bum us out. All right, I'm going to come to you last, only because... Get it out of the way. What did he do? What did he do? He was the man who took him around. Placido P. Placido was the man who was crushed by the light. Oh, so we just had the names wrong. Oh. Wait a minute. What?

Okay. Got it. He's right, yes. We were calling Placido... The wrong person. I thought he was about to tell me that that guy was a child molester. I thought so too. Wait, does that make sense? He was just letting us know we fucked up. He did say they're all child molesters. All right, sir, your name? My name is Niall. Just in terms of you're asking about the green, methane is most of what farts are and under ultra-spectral light, it's green.

Wow. Wait a minute. Are you a scientist? I think that's the answer I was looking for. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. They've been a professor of chemistry for six years. All right. Professor of chemistry? Chemistry. Oh, okay. That's nice. And imagine if you were in this show and your fucking professor was here. You'd be like, what? I'm supposed to take you seriously now?

Alright, yes, hi. Hi Paul, how are you? I'm Raven. Hey, oh my gosh, Raven. Raven's our former intern for How Did This Get Made. Oh wow. Yes, welcome. Well, good to see you. It's wonderful to be here. So, I have a factoid, and it's a fun one. But someone previously asked about the green and if that's why you chose Thunderpants. I think we're forgetting about Dublin author James Joyce, who was partial to the fart as a form of sexual enthusiasm. Okay.

Look at this. This is why we had an amazing interview. Give it up for Raven. This is James Joyce. James Joyce. Well, I remember reading Doubletters and a lot of it was about farts. Obviously, there's a lot to talk about in this movie. And we love this movie. And you know, we're not alone. There are people out there that also love this film. So,

I'm going to say that it's not time for second opinions. It's time for the same opinions. But for sake of this, it's now time for second opinions. Woo! Hi, I'm Alan. Wait, whoa. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Everyone else has introduced themselves by name. Why did everybody respond to him? I'm sorry. Does anybody know this man? No, no, no.

Okay, this is wild. What is happening? Why did it... It's Alan? It's just because it's Alan. Oh, because it's Alan, yeah. Alan. A t-shirt that just says Alan. And by the way... It just says Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan. I've never been in a room that was so ready for a chant that they started it themselves.

They're like, if you guys aren't going to start a chant, whoever walks up next, we're doing it. Wow. Holy shit. I love this. Wow. I also think, Alan, you can leave now if you think it's best. Maybe it's best. Let's do it. No, Alan, you can do whatever you want. Go ahead. Please, please, please. And now it's time for second opinion. He packed my sprouts last night pre-flight.

Zero hour, 9 a.m. But I'm gonna be high on my own supply by then. I miss my mom so much, my sister too. But do they even know I'm gone on such a timeless flight?

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time till I find a movie out there that's so fine. I don't even care about these reviews at all. No, no, no, no. Just my second opinion. Second opinion I'm giving if I saws on Amazon. Amazing. Fantastic. Ellen! Ellen! Ellen! Ellen! Ellen! Ellen! Ellen!

I'm worried about Alan. What is happening? I don't know what's going on. We've elevated Alan. This is how gods are formed. This is how religion is born. People are like, I don't know. We just follow him.

What are you talking about? He's, as someone said, he's Alan. You don't question him. You follow him. I really do think just like a white shirt that just says Alan in black font is really... Love it. Alan, how did this get made? Dublin 2024. All right, so we go to Amazon.

292 reviews. 292 reviews. Wait, that's it? That's it. Well, this is, you know, of course. 64% are five-star reviews. Only 9% are one-star reviews. Eagle's Tale. Sorry. Well, sorry. I should say that again. Eagle's Tale reviewed... No, no, no. I think you had it right. Because it's like this. I think this eagle is stale.

Eagle's tail writes this. Don't eat that eagle. I think it's stale. It's been out for days. Finally, a movie that all the boys and I can relate to. My entire family laughed hysterically while at the same time learning to look at diversity in a whole new light. This film should be required curriculum for all 5th, 6th, and 7th grade boys.

Let's hope that the filmmakers agree and produce more great films for our guys. Five stars. Thunderpants. I do appreciate that fart noise out in the audience. I was just going to say, I have a genuine question. Does somebody have a whoopee cushion in the audience? Because there was just an audible fart from the audience. And I appreciate the restraint in using it up until this point. But if you've got a whoopee cushion, bring it out.

Keep your phones away, but whoopee cushion as much as you want. Somebody did say it's the Guinness. This movie is from G. Browning. I really enjoyed this movie. G. Browning your underwear. I really enjoyed this movie, and I think Rupert Grint did an amazing job. Rupert Grint.

Ron Weasley was always my favorite of the three main Harry Potter characters, and going from Harry Potter to Thunderpants was quite a transformation for Rupert. I wish he would have made more movies during this period of his life. Dan Radcliffe steals most of the thunder in Harry Potter. Thunderpants. And I would love to see Patrick Smash fart in Harry's face. Wow. L-O-L.

The extras on the DVD were wonderful to watch, and when Alan called Patrick Damon's little fart boy, I thought I would die laughing. My kids were amazed at the familiar faces in the film, especially the girls from Chronicles of Narnia. I would highly recommend this movie for a good laugh. The title? The Ugly Ginger-Haired Kid from Harry Potter? Five stars? Oh, my God.

What? That's insane. The text is full. The body, rather, is full of compliments. And then that's the subject? This is the clickbait kind of Amazon reviews. You know, you go, oh, I like this person. Also, he's never looked cuter and sweeter. I agree. Shut the fuck up. I thought he was a fucking home run. He looks so cute. 100%. That's why I read it, because I felt like it had no power.

He was making huge choices throughout. He's so good. And I loved every one of them. He's very good. He's very, very good. I loved when his dad showed up, looked just like him, slammed the door in Patrick Smash's face. He was like, yeah, he's gone. And dot, dot, dot, he's never coming back. Here's a letter. Get fucking bent, you idiot. All right, so, and we'll finally end on Lorraine Crystal Myers, who writes this.

This movie is the best. It was funny. It was cute. It was sad. But it ended so well. The little boy was so cute. We were all awing at the little boy. I also suggest The Muppets Wizard of Oz. Five stars. I love her so much, too, because she's like, I'll put my full name, all three names. Lorraine Crystal. What was her last name?

Wait, no, it's Lorraine Crystal Myers. Wow, good job. Which is Michael Myers, Camp Crystal Lake. It's somehow, I think, related. That's what I felt like it was there, too. Let me read you this thing. This movie has some interesting connections. And no one brought this up in the crowd, and I thought it was great, and I thought someone would.

This movie is being played in a scene from Five Minutes of Heaven. Five Minutes of Heaven is an intense drama-slash-thriller and Sundance Award winner from 2009 starring Liam Neeson. In the scene, one of the characters is watching the TV with his family after violently confronting Liam Neeson's character, the man who had murdered his brother 30 years prior during the Northern Irish Troubles. LAUGHTER

They get into a gruesome knife fight, nearly killing each other, and then they both fly through a second floor window. Liam begs the other actor to off him and live his life for his daughters, but that other actor walks away. Cut to the other actor sitting and staring uncomfortably at his kids, watching Thunderpants in the daytime. So that makes me feel like it is an Irish movie.

No. No. We don't want it. Don't give it to us. Please don't attribute this movie to our people. All right. Very quickly, I'll ask you. It's just like somehow this is a movie that people are watching somehow during the troubles? The movie is an hour and 27 minutes. How many farts are in it? Yep, they got it. 50. 50 farts.

Too many people did research. Hey, babe, what are you doing? We got to go. Nothing. Scan, scan, scan, scan. Budget, $7 million. Wow. Opening weekend, $627,000. In the UK, this film made $2 million. Okay. And in the... Pervert, someone yells...

Someone in the creep corner had something to say. And the worldwide gross was $3 million. The movie came in 2002, and it came out the same year as Britney Spears' Crossroads, The Country Bears, Master of Disguise, Rollerball, Jason X, Killing Me Softly, Shark Attack 3, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

And it was produced, written, and directed by the same guy who directed Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Garfield the Movie. Okay. There you go. Would you recommend this movie?

Absolutely. Forever, yes. I can't believe, honestly, I can't believe we hadn't seen it yet. This is, I'm also shocked we haven't seen it yet. I had never heard of it. As I wrote multiple times in my notes, I'm having a great time. So part of me is even, and I had a wonderful time here with you doubling tonight, give it up for yourselves. Yes.

You guys killed it. Great questions, great songs, engaged. You've done your research. But even still, part of me is like, should we have even done this for the podcast? This, for me, qualifies as a thank God this got made movie. Thank you.

I do think when you see a movie like this, you go, oh, kids movies used to be weird and fun and not generic and saccharine. And darker. Yeah. A lot darker. To have real, like, boy, like, he goes through it. And what I'm

of the things we haven't talked about is that Patrick Smash is constantly evaluating this is the best day of my life this is the worst day of my life and his life vacillates between those two poles those two extremes it is either the best day or the worst day and that's real and that's like a

fart. Sometimes you let it out. Oh, good. It didn't smell. And sometimes you let it out and you're like, oh, no, I cleared an elevator. Yeah. And also, I think what I really connected to, because I'm not sure this is the way he phrases it, but when he says, now we're going to do my dream or you promised me we're going to do my dream. It was so sweet and childlike. This idea that a dream or something you really want is

is an experience that happens once. That's why when you were saying Spaceman should be, he should have done more, I'm like, the idea of him being a spaceman was really just putting on the costume and sitting in that rocket, and that was enough for him. He didn't even really need to go up. He didn't even need to fuel the rocket with his fart. It was so...

There were things in this movie that were deeply moving to me. Well, as absurd as what you're saying is, June, and I want to be clear, it's truly, truly batshit bananas. But I agree. I guess what I'm saying is it wasn't I want to live my dream. It was I want to do it. I want to experience it and I want to get it done. And I love that this movie suggests that through absolute suffering...

You can achieve your dream. And it's all by pure happenstance. Yes. Because if he wasn't poisoned, he

He wouldn't have killed somebody. If he didn't kill somebody, he wouldn't be rescued. And if he didn't rescue anybody, he wouldn't have saved the day. My guess is that Alan A. Allen would have... When they came to the stage in development where they needed to propel the rocket with not rocket fuel, but instead farts, they would have come to get Patrick Smash anyway from wherever he was. It just so happened...

He was being put in front of a firing squad. Got it. And I can't, I'm really serious right now. I know I've not been serious most of the show. I'm dead serious right now. If you haven't watched this movie, watch it only for the scene in which they put a child in front of an adult firing squad and tell me this isn't the greatest movie you've ever seen in your life. How great would it have been if one person just took a shot? Scene 11, Beth. Take it easy.

I mean, what is this? I didn't even realize that he's wearing a jumpsuit that's the same color as his other shirt. And then it happened. Oh, his voiceover. I wish Giamatti had been Agent Smith. The United States of America Special Forces. Same color, the green. Your British Home Secretary has authorized the transfer of prisoner Patrick Smash. Look at him in the background. What's going on? This movie is brilliant. This kid's a genius.

So good. We're up here talking about how great Rupert Grimpert is, but this kid is great. And here's what I want to say about his performance. It could have been so overdone. The way he delivers lines like when he says, I sing out of my ass.

Dead. He's straight-faced. Dead. Dead. He is... Gives it nothing. Puts nothing on it. He's like the... He... I mean, and I want to reiterate. We are up here giving all the flowers to Rupert Grimford. This kid deserves everything and more. Everything's underplayed. And it's... Give it up for him. That...

I do think that's important to say. For a child actor, he does underplay it a lot. He's so good. He plays melancholy better than any kid I've ever seen. No, this is a master class. Yes. He's just taking every insult, everything, just like, he's not overdoing it. He's not like, oh, pity me, woe is me. He's just like, and then the voiceover comes in, which he also kills, and is like, that was the best day of my life.

That was the worst day of my life. I can't remember the refrain that they say to each other, these two friends, but it's quite beautifully written. Oh, he's like, what am I? And he says, you're a genius. You're a genius. Or, yeah. And we'll get through it through our friendship and there's nothing we can't do. This is a movie about friendship. It was beautiful. I would show this to my children if I had them. Yeah, but you don't. Oh, where are my kids?

Thank you, Dublin! Give it up for Jason Manzoukas, June Diane Rayfield. Paul Scheer, ladies and gentlemen. Dublin, Beth Thomas, our stage manager. Opening act, Bob, thank you for coming. We will be back! Eat shit, Dublin, LA!

All right, everybody, that is a wrap on Thunderpants, which means it is time to say cheerio to our UK tour episodes. Thank you so much to everyone who came out in Dublin and everyone who just supported us

on the road. We will be back. We will be back and we will do more shows. We're also going to be doing a show in New York in November. Dinosaur, Jason and I, we do improv. That's going to be touring around as well. So keep your ears open, your eyes open for announcements about those shows. And just another special thanks to Beth Thomas, our tour manager, and our recording engineer, Matt Rice. If you are obsessed with Alan as much as our

our live show was. You can snag yourself an Allen t-shirt on sale now at tpublic.com slash stores slash hdtgm. We still have all of our UK tour shirts on sale there for a limited time. And if you've been thinking about getting that Rupert Grimpert, which I have, and B.O. Swarm shirt, now is the time. People, I gotta tell you, I own every one of those. My Allen sweatshirt is...

I mean, truly great. And actually, the material is awesome as well. How did this get made? Like I said, we'll be in New York City on November 15th. A handful of tickets are left. Just go to hdtgm.com. My book, Joyful Recollections of Trauma, is available wherever you get your books, your e-books or your audio books. If you want a signed copy online,

Bye.

Thunderpants Universe, please give us a call at 619-P-A-U-L-A-S-K or write a comment on our Discord at discord.gg slash hdtgm. Then make sure you tune in next week to our Last Looks follow-up episode on Thunderpants to hear me respond to your messages, announce our next movie, and

And Jason and I are going to talk with the legendary Jake Brennan from the Disgraceland podcast. So don't skip out on this one. Remember, if you listen to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, make sure you are subscribed to our feed and have automatic downloads turned on in the show settings. It helps us and we appreciate that a lot. And last but not least, I got to thank our entire team.

for whom the show could not be done without. I'm talking about our producers, Scott Sonney and Molly Reynolds, our movie-picking producer, Averill Halle, and our engineer, Casey Holford, and our associate producer, Jess Cisneros. That's all I got, people. We'll see you next week for Last Looks. Bye for now.

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