Dec 21 2023
#250 – Leave the World Behind, Old Dads, Stavros Halkias’ Fat Rascal and GOATs doing GOAT $hit
In this year-end episode I speak about watching the movies, Leave the World Behind and Old Dads. I also speak about watching Stavros Halkias’ latest stand-up comedy special: Fat Rascal. Lastly, I wrap things up for the year with the final Goats doing GOAT $hit installment of 2023. The Spun Today Podcast is a Podcast that is anchored in Writing, but unlimited in scope. Give it a whirl. 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I’ll share your insight and motivation on the Podcast: http://www.spuntoday.com/questionnaire/ Shop on Amazon using this link, to support the Podcast: http://www.amazon.com//ref=as_sl_pc_tf_lc?&tag=sputod0c-20&camp=216797&creative=446321&linkCode=ur1&adid=104DDN7SG8A2HXW52TFB&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spuntoday.com%2Fcontact%2F Shop on iTunes using this link, to support the Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTop?genreId=38&id=27820&popId=42&uo=10 Shop at the Spun Today store for Mugs, T-Shirts and more: https://viralstyle.com/store/spuntoday/tonyortiz Background Music: Autumn 2011 - Loxbeats & Melody - Roa Outro Background Music: https://www.bensound.com Spun Today Logo by: https://www.naveendhanalak.com/ Sound effects are credited to: http://www.freesfx.co.uk Listen on: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Google Podcasts | YouTube | Website Episode Transcript [00:00:00] What's up, folks? What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today podcast. The only podcast that is anchored in writing, but unlimited in scope. I'm your host, Tony Ortiz, and I appreciate you listening. In this year end episode, I speak about watching the movies Leave the World Behind and Old Dads. And Old Dads. I also speak about watching Stavros Halkias latest comedy special, Fat Rascal. Shoutout to Stavi Baby. Lastly, I wrap things up for the year with the final goats doing goat shit installment of 2023 stick around for all that good stuff and more. But before we get into this year end episode, I wanted to tell you about a quick way that you can help support this podcast. Your support means a lot, especially with the motivation and inspiration that provides for me to continue putting out this content. Here's one quick way that you can help support the Swan [00:01:00] Sunday podcast. And then we'll jump right into the episode, leave the world behind. It's a movie that came out in select theaters and it's a Netflix movie that was available as of December 8th, 2023. Here is the official synopsis. A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyber attack knocks out their devices and two strangers appear at their door. And as we like to do here on the Spun Today podcast, I'd like to shout out first and foremost, the writers. Leave the World Behind was written by Ruman Alam and Sam Esmail. Shout out to them. Also of note is that the movie is based on a novel written by Ruman Alam. And I'd also like to mention that Sam Esmail is the writer, creator, director of Mr. Robot, which is that series. Starring Rami Malek, which [00:02:00] I've covered here on the podcast in the past. If you're interested in that, feel free to look at the Spun Today archives for all that good stuff. Now let's get into my little recap and review of this movie. Where as usual, I'll share a couple of my favorite lines and overall just let you guys know what I thought of it. First off and foremost, I'd like to start out by saying, Y'all Are a bunch of fucking HATERS I've only heard negative Just shitting all over this movie And for the record, I enjoyed it. I liked it It was a good watch. I thought it was a good movie I didn't think it was a piece of shit or like, you know It was So so worth watching, whatever, not a waste of time I thought it was a good movie, I enjoyed it First and foremost So I'm going to put that out there, but what's funny to me is that this movie also of [00:03:00] note, it was produced by Barack Obama and his production company and the deal that he has, I guess, with just producing content for like Netflix and Spotify, et cetera. And most of the critique that I've heard, on the negative side of things, again, only the negative side of things, and also not just from. My friends on the right, for example, but just random or not random, but just like different people from different walks of life and just folks, you know, personal friends and people that I found online that watched the movie just all had the same negative type of reaction towards the movie saying it's a complete waste of time. I just wasted, you know, two hours of my life, etc, etc. And as I'm watching, I'm . This movie has to end horribly for that, all those, all, all that negativity to make sense to me, in my opinion, because I liked it all [00:04:00] throughout and the ending was just even more fitting. I was , what the fuck? What's the everybody's beef with this movie? But anyway, one of the biggest critiques of it is that since this is produced by Barack Obama, there's some sort of hidden meaning and it's like left wing propaganda. I heard some folks stating shout out to Vinny, I believe from the PBD pod stating that this is called a predictive programming, which is when at least my layman understanding of it, when media or movies or music or books or, you know, different types of art kind of try to prime society for something that is to come. That's called the predictive programming and this movie, especially because of the fact that it's being produced by Barack Obama and his production company, got even more of those labels attached to it and that like conspiracy lore, in my opinion. Does [00:05:00] anyone know for sure? Of course not. One way or the other. I just don't think that that's the case and I'll tell you guys why in a bit. But essentially the movie, what it's about is. This family lives in the city, in New York City, decides to go out to a house in Long Island. Seems like the Hamptons or Montauk or something like that. A fancy, you know, big mansion with a pool. And the parents, played by Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke, who did a great job. And their two children, played by Farrah McKenzie and Charlie Evans. Now they decide impromptu to go out to this little family vacation getaway. And while they're there at this Airbnb mansion that they rented, the internet goes out, the phones are down. There's a bad connection, signals going in and out and the TV's not working. And then in the middle of the night, Mahershala Ali and his daughter, Myhala, I believe that's how [00:06:00] you say her name, which by the way was an actress that was in an episode of Black Mirror, the latest season, which I completely forgot to recap and review, which I thought was a great season So that'll be coming soon 2024 But she was the main actress of Locke Henry, which was my favorite episode of Black Mirror Well, I don't know my favorite, but definitely one of my favorites of that last season. But more on that when, when I recap that. But they show up in the middle of the night and they knock on the door. Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke open up, you know, mind you, they're in the middle of nowhere, Long Island in this mansion that they just rented. And two people show up. Dressed to the nines. Maha Shali is in a tuxedo. His daughter. My, my that was probably more wrong than I said it the first time, [00:07:00] but she has a, you know, beautiful nightgown on and they pretty much tell them, listen GH Scott, I'm George. I'm the person that you emailed with. And this is my house. You know, we, we rented it to you guys because we were going to stay in our, our house in the city. Cause I'm part of the Philharmonic or some Ritzy Rich thing he mentioned and Julie Roberts and Ethan Hawke are kind of like taking it back what? We,, what are you doing here? We rented this place and they explained that there was like a blackout, the city's all dark and you know, their apartment is a penthouse in the 40 something floor. So they decided just to drive back there and they were hoping they could stay in the basement. So they're in quite a predicament, you know. Nobody's phone is working. The, they eventually ask him for ID. To prove that it's his house. He left it in his jacket supposedly at the theater. So he doesn't have ID on him.[00:08:00] Ethan Hawke is more on the side of believing him. Julie Roberts is super skeptical. And there's a liquor cabinet that's locked. That was supposedly not part of the rental. So there was no keys for it for it. And Mahershala Ali kind of used that as the proof that it's his house. And offered them a 50 percent refund. And he went to that liquor cabinet. And they're being super nice, you know, because they understand it's a really awkward situation. And why should they believe him? And he goes to the liquor cabinet, you know, he's, he's looking for the keys, doesn't know exactly which key it is. But eventually finds it and opens it, unlocks it and gives them money. And I just thought of a, a story telling device that I just realized. They say you're not supposed to show a gun, for example, unless you use it later on in the story. Unless you shoot it. But I guess you could argue that it was used. [00:09:00] It wasn't shot, but it was used. Because in this scene when he's opening up the liquor cabinet, He opens a drawer that has money there. He takes out the envelope of money, but the camera pans to a gun that's there as well. So it's kind of like, you know, ratcheting up the tension of the story. And that gun is never used or shot except for when Mahash Ali is has a confrontation with a neighbor. Kevin Bacon when they go to his house To he's a doomsday prepper. So they figured he would have supplies that would help and Charlie Evans this character, which is Ethan Hawks kid Got bit by a tick or something that and and got pretty sick so they went over there to see if he had antibiotics or something like that and Being a doomsday prepper, you know, he comes to his porch Respectfully but kind of not with a Shotgun And eventually they, you know, they make a trade for some meds, which does make the kid better. But I guess in that [00:10:00] moment Mahash Ali does pull out the gun kind of to protect himself against Kevin Bacon's character having the shotgun. So technically it didn't break that storytelling device. They showed the gun and they used it. They just didn't shoot it, I guess. But okay, going back. So there's this awkward. Thing going on where, you know, is this really his house? Is it not his house? They seem to know where everything is. He had the keys, but he doesn't have ID. He shows up in the middle of the night. You know, nobody's phones are working. Like, what the fuck is going on? TV's not working. Radio, , nothing. So they ultimately agreed to let him let them stay. But stay in the basement. And then the daughter, she's kind of upset because she's , wait, this is our fucking house and the worst thing in the basement of our own house. She kind of has that more confrontational attitude that Julia Roberts is reciprocating. And they're kind of like, you can see that there there's tension between them and they're gonna butt heads from jump. [00:11:00] Ethan Hawke's character is more laid back, more trusting. Mahershala Ali is more disarming and more understanding of the situation. And also lets on that he knows something of what's going on. He works in finance, deals with billionaire, really rich clients. Kind of lets on in speaking to his daughter and confidence that one of his clients told him something about what's going on, but he doesn't want to raise suspicions or scare anyone. And he's not a hundred percent sure either. He's just kind of reading the financial tea leaves, if you will. Now, another, I guess, conspiracy layer to this whole thing being this whole production being a predictive programming or whatever, is that the kids had a NASA shirt, t shirt on, and the other kid had an Obey t shirt on, and the Obey t shirt what it's supposed to symbolize, it's a, you know, a counterculture skateboarder brand, and what it's [00:12:00] supposed to symbolize, Within the, you know, conspiracy lore is, you know, speaking truth to power and not obeying the narrative or something along those lines. And then the NASA thing is supposed to be some sort of conspiracy thing, but I couldn't find anything on that. I don't understand the significance behind that and why, you know, it's considered an issue by some that it was in the movie. Also, that kind of fueled the whole conspiracy theory thing is, That apparently Obama said a statement where he stated that he gave a lot of notes to Sam Esmail and Rumaan Alam, who again, wrote the novel that this movie is based on. Sam Esmail wrote the screenplay for it, adapting it to the screen. But Obama provided notes on how to make the movie more realistic. So because of that. [00:13:00] You know, folks are saying, you know, he's trying to tell us something, you know, they're priming us for something that's going to happen. And ultimately what does wind up happening, spoiler alert, is that there was a concerted attack on America, specifically our electrical grid. And everything from communication to hospitals, electricity itself, is all tied to this, you know What we know to be this crumbling infrastructure of an electrical grid that we have that's super outdated and that politicians always run on stating that we need to fix it because if not, if we don't make serious strides in terms of fixing it and enhancing it, it could be catastrophic. But in the movie, some hackers apparently were able to bring it down. And America began to be bombed and it was a concerted effort by America's enemies.[00:14:00] Now, to that point, and also to the point of the t shirts that I was speaking about earlier, I buy the fact that it's a realistic, I don't know about hackers and stuff that. Maybe it is, but a realistic thing, because it's something that we've heard for, for years and years, probably decades that The infrastructure, the crumbling infrastructure of the electrical grid is a problem that needs to be dealt with. So I feel like something fucking up in that realm or whether being bombed or hacked or just deterioration over time or what have you is going to have detrimental effects to American society. That doesn't seem far fetched, that doesn't seem like a conspiracy, that doesn't seem like I guess the angle from the conspiracy perspective is that They're letting us know that this, you know, is looming this, this threat or something like that, or it is happening to them. But it's definitely within the realm of possibility, right? Like, I don't hear that and say , Oh my God, that's, that's nuts. That would never [00:15:00] happen. It's actually the exact opposite. It seems very plausible. Now to the part about the t shirts and, you know, left leaning tendencies being sprinkled throughout the movie to that, I say, of course. It's produced by Arguably, probably not even arguably, but the most influential Powerful Democrat in America, which is Barack Obama Sorry, Joe and He's behind producing this movie If Dwayne the Rock Johnson was producing this movie, I'd expect to see Wrestling t shirts and and shit throughout the movie You know what? I mean? It's like No shit is going to be left leaning and, and to have a bias in that direction, because it's being produced by someone that has that bias and is from that direction. Also, and this is just my speculation, if it also seems plausible to me that someone Barack Obama, who's [00:16:00] in, you know, obviously the highest of the public eye, former president of the United States now is going into this space of media, whether through Spotify deal and podcasts and producing movies and books. To me, it makes sense that part of the reasoning for that is to do what he can from his former being now being a former president, doing what he can to influence. A big way to influence is through culture. A big way to, an effective way, seems to influence culture and sentiment is through the mediums that society consumes. That we as consumers take in, whether it's movies, whether it's books, whether it's podcasts, whether it's music. So if he, which I don't know any reason to think otherwise, but if he, [00:17:00] Has this concern about the, the grid, the electrical grid, as we've heard many politicians in the past, you know, speak to probably been Obama. I just can't remember any from memory right now, but if he does have those concerns and he's in this space, you know, mental space or what have you of wanting to do something about it or what he can do about it, And with the tools that he now has at his disposal, again, movies, media, books, podcasts, it makes sense for him to push that type of narrative. You know what I mean? It's a, it just
