250: The Mean One (2022)

SPEAKER_03 0:18

If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with a perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the cowardly creeper Ryan. We are not equipped for this level of bad. The classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Merry Christmas, you green bitch.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

And the paranormal paramour Binks. Yahoo Dory, motherfucker. This week we're commemorating the holiday season by checking out a newly released Christmas parody starring David Howard Thornton. Thornton took theater-going audiences by storm in October with his performance as Art the Clown in Terrifier 2. That indie horror film went on to make more than 40 times its original budget, and while Terrifier 2 was shocking audiences and experiencing overwhelming success in October, news broke that Thornton was starring in another 2022 horror film. Now, two months later, audiences are experiencing Thornton as an entirely new silent killer, one we may all know well from a particular children's book penned by one Dr. Seuss. Despite not obtaining rights to the story, the filmmakers formed a parodied alternative take on how the Grinch stole Christmas and shows us a world where the Grinch's plans also include murder. This week we're talking about the mean one. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Jeez, uh I was really hoping for this to be good in some sort of way. I feel like there's definitely opportunity for a twisted version of this classic holiday story. I definitely love what David uh Howard Thornton did with Art the Clown, so I I did have high expectations for this mean one or this Grinch character, which unfortunately they weren't able to say. You just never know with holiday horror films, though, right? There's there's a good amount of options out there, but few are really good.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yeah, Sean, I'm I'm gonna have to disagree with the part when you said you never know, because I do know every holiday horror movie is miserable. Every once in a while we get one that's okay, uh, but the rest of them suck. And I went into this expecting a dumpster fire bigger than the year 2020 was.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Dang.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

There's nothing that I expected positive from this movie at all, except maybe some of the charm of the Grinch. Maybe that's it.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

I said a few. I said a few were good. That's like three.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

We got Gremlins, we got Black Christmas, we got Krampus. I never particularly liked any of those. I didn't I didn't hate all of those. We got P2, we got the Lodge. Not the kind of horror, you know that's not a holiday horror. That is a horror movie over at Christmas, but it's not a holiday horror movie. You know that. It's different. It's the same, but it's different.

SPEAKER_04 3:12

I feel like you set ablaze the entire holiday horror genre in 0.5 seconds that we started this discussion. It's my third year in a row. This is not new. True that. True that. Poured gasoline right over it. That being said, uh going into it, I similar to Sean, I mean, I I wasn't expecting that this was gonna be great, but at the very least, you know, with David Howard Thornton being the mean one, I expected it to be decently entertaining to some extent, or at least his character to be entertaining, was expecting a lot of gore. I figured, you know, considering that this is a parody, maybe there would be some comedy in it, but I again was expecting that coming out of him and his character, right? Not so much maybe the plot. But yeah, I guess uh we'll we'll see how that patch out later on.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Yeah, see, going into this, I expected a campy, low budget, fun experience. And while it was unlikely to be as quality as Terrifier, I thought it'd at least be somewhere in the realm of as memorable. And I really expected a standout performance from David Howard and Thornton, right? Like this man and his portrayal of Arthur Clown is so iconic. And to see his talent put into that clown, I thought, man, what a perfect person to take a childhood character and really just make it so sinister, right? I expected comedic riffs on a classic tale. And listen, obviously, I know this is low budget. You know, obviously, this is getting a theatrical release on the coattails of Terrifier 2's success, but I expected it to still be a campy time. And let me just say, obviously, I I went to go see this in the theater at 11 o'clock at night. Uh Binks and I were the only ones in the theater, and I felt a number of things in this experience. Some of it was genuine joy and laughter, 100%. But I also felt a tremendous amount of secondhand embarrassment, bewilderment, and shock.

SPEAKER_04 5:15

Yeah. Chris, you saw my facial reactions throughout and uh right there with you. Mostly shock. Uh, 95% of the movie, I was really laughing at the movie and not with the movie, and also laughing at how cringe I was like feeling um the things that were said and and decisions that were made. The dialogue was a bit shocking sometimes, or character descriptions that I obviously we'll get into later. I will say that at the very least, coming out of the theater, I was thankful that I definitely watched it with you, and because this is a movie that needs commentary, and I'm glad we were the only ones in the theater because you it's one of those movies where you have out loud thoughts, and I can't imagine me not, you know, commentating during and being just like, what in the world? You know?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Yeah, I very much agree with most of those feelings. I think one of my big ones was it it felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie, but I paid ten dollars to watch it in public in a theater with one other person, but by myself, you know? Like it was a weird, I I think throughout the movie I said, why is this in theaters? Like a more than a handful of times out loud. And yeah, it's um shocking is definitely a word that you could use in many ways to describe this.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yeah, I I don't know if I got the same comedic humor out of the movie as as you had described Binks and Chris uh just enjoying making fun of the movie, maybe. I don't know. I I just didn't get that the whole time. I think even to the first, you know, scene, I think I turned to my wife and I was I was like, this is gonna be a long hour and a half. Uh and and I agree with you, Ryan. My initial thought was when did the Hallmark Channel start making horror movies? That was like one of my first thoughts because the acting felt so Hallmark channel, it hurt. Everything just felt so low budget about the film. And and it's not that I was expecting something miraculous and high budget and and perfect, but it just felt so low budget from the actors to unnecessary things that they feel like they cut corners for no reason, that even to cheap jump scares, like the feelings that I got were just lots of disappointments.

SPEAKER_04 7:38

Okay, I feel the hate for Hallmark Channel, but hold on. I just want to say, not that I'm like the biggest fan of Hallmark Channels movies, but you know, I might dabble here and there when I just want to feel nothing. Are you a lifetime girl? I'm more of a lifetime baddie, for sure. In terms of the Hallmark Channel, I'm gonna say that some of the movies that Hallmark makes made me feel better than the feelings that were evoked out of this movie. So justice for Hallmark Channel.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Look, I I I get it. The Hallmark Channel has its place for certain types of movies, and it's not that I'm bashing the Hallmark Channel or the Hallmark Channel movies, it's just that the acting and the way that this film was portrayed just felt like one of those movies, but it felt like one of those movies trying not to be one of those movies. Like it just didn't feel like it was it was right, like it felt off-putting.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

Yeah, you know, there really is a reason why we didn't hear about this until two months before it came out. Let's just be real. Uh, this movie was originally intended to be a release publicly for streaming on December 15th, and then they managed to get into theaters and then postponed the streaming date. And there there are layers to this whole process here, right? But I think the biggest thing that surprises me about this movie is that they had the audacity to release it the same year as Terrifier 2. Like, sure, on the one hand, you could think David Howard Thornton, he's having a moment. He's really hot right now. Let's just get it in there. We're d guaranteed to sell tickets. But on the other hand, if I was behind the wheel for this project, I would look at this and I would look at Terrifier 2 and I would think, yeah, let's just put this on streaming. I don't want to fall big in theaters.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

It's hard to understand how this has gained any strength from the coattails of Terrifier 2. It's so weird. And honestly, the biggest surprise for me is that David Howard Thornton does things like Terrifier and Terrifier 2 and then turns around and does this. Why?

SPEAKER_03 9:40

Why are you doing that? So let's be clear the production for Terrifier 2 started before the pandemic and it was interrupted because of the pandemic. And you know what? When you have a long time and a long gap between gigs, I imagine employment is a necessity. Plus, the opportunity to play the grinch, like let's just acknowledge that on paper, this movie is not a bad idea. Like Brian, I know your feelings on holiday horror aside, but for him and all his talents to play a twisted version of a classic children's tale, that sounds promising. Sure, but did he read the script?

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Like, you know, like just because it's a a nice one-line concept, he also did the whole movie. So he was the it's not enough, you know. I I don't know. I understand it's a very different time, but at the same time, like he did great in Terrifier One. It's I my thoughts of him are more positive from Terrifier One than Terrifier Two. And I don't know, it's just it's it's rough to me that he did this to follow those up.

SPEAKER_04 10:44

Us discussing this, it it just feels like my biggest surprise and is my biggest disappointment, where this movie as a whole just feels like one big marketing stunt ultimately. And we keep talking about David Howard Thornton, and it's just like, yeah, you know, we're gonna put him in this movie. It's the duality of like him being popular through being art, and then the Grinch being the Grinch, right? And and and that's really it, period. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah, I think you know, I think maybe they thought it would have been strategic to have this release after Terrifier 2. Like I know Terrifier 2 was postponed, and I know that you know we got it this year, and maybe maybe they had high hopes that that some of that popularity would carry over, and that's why they thought that they could put this in theaters. I'm not sure. I don't make those decisions, but this definitely felt like something that could have gone to like tubi right away, something something just free right away for sure. But uh, you know, the biggest surprise for me in this film was I was so surprised and taken aback by the distasteful Jewish jokes in this film. That it was cringy the first time it was cringy, then it kept going, and it just it was just terrible, and I just feel like it didn't need to be in the movie at all.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Also, not a good time.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Not a good time for bad Jewish jokes, you know? Really, the whole movie is just in poor taste because of that. It's poorly timed, poorly executed. It's like, hey, we have this thing, I see nothing wrong going further.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

So glad we're discussing this because I have that saved in my back pocket. Yeah, I think it's extremely in poor taste. And I understand that this is a Christmas movie, and so were they trying to cater to other religions or cultures by obviously including, you know, a Jewish character for Hanukkah, but no, that's not oh, it was definitely, definitely not great.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

100% those jokes were jarring because they felt like they weren't even cohesive, right? I think there's something to be said for humor that's done in a particular taste that has been established in a particular direction, and it lands for some and it lands for none. But I think this just lands for no one. This just felt poorly executed, poorly cared for, and it just felt like terrible writing. And I think that's why I was, you know, if I were to describe the biggest disappointment I have with this movie, it's genuinely everything.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

It is rough, and I agree. I think that it didn't add to the movie at all. But the biggest disappointment for me, it might not be surprising, but I was truly disappointed that, you know, to make a movie like this, they couldn't get the rights to even say the word Grinch in the movie, and that was I maybe I should have known that going in, but I was super disappointed watching this movie and them having to dance around the word.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

You know, I think that's one thing that didn't completely like ruin my vibe, is was just like a little quirky, a little funny. I mean, it is a parody movie, right? And I spent a lot of time thinking about like what a parody movie is, and I'm not gonna give this a lot of credit for being a parody if we're talking about, you know, some of the things it's up against. But I honestly I kind of thought it was funny that they couldn't say Grinch. I thought, what if I go this whole episode without saying Grinch? Would that be funny? Would people pick up on it? Probably not.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

I mean, it is a bit of a bastardization, right? But I think what's even worse than just like playing up to a lack of like Grinch presence verbally is just the overall lack of presence from the Grinch from the memo himself. And I think the upsetting thing about this is how scary they could have made him, but I feel like they misutilized him so much to the point where he has little to no impact besides being a brief moment of reprieve, like, oh thank god he's here, and I can smile a little bit, and then you know that that moment passes pretty swiftly.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Yeah, I have to agree. I mean, obviously, I I don't really think this movie was like trying to be scary or anything, but I think they just went a little too far with the Grinch. It just went too far into like Thanks killing uh like character design territory, you know, like just an absurd thing kind of, instead of being like, look at this friggin really cool thing, he's evil, and like he'll kill it. Like, I don't know. It I feel like it could have just been really cool, but we just get so little of him, and even when we do get him, we just don't get that we only get like a smidge of the David Howard Thornton and the and the Grinch charm, and like, dude, the Grinch is already evil, technically, like it should have been easier. We should have got so much more of that. That should have been the star of the show, not uh training for your first MMA match. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Yeah, the the Grinch, I th there was just so much opportunity with the thought of the film. I guess you know, if you're making a parody, you're making a parody, but I felt like there was uh a bigger opportunity to make a way creepier Grinch story than what they did with this film. Um, and you know, because of the direction they went in, the film was not frightening or scary at all. It it had a couple of cheap jump scares, but they were just cheap overplayed jump scares that we see time and time again. So um if if those types of things get you, then maybe you'll have some jumps throughout the film. But overall, the film definitely not scary. There is very little about it that would even be considered frightening for sure. It it just missed in that in that whole fright factor. Even David's portrayal of the Grinch and the way it that he was utilized, it was just more violent than scary.

SPEAKER_04 16:22

Yeah, ultimately, at the end of the day, I think this movie is just too ridiculous to consider frightening. I think you're too caught up in how absurd it is, the things that they're saying, the characters, to even realize, oh, that was just a jump scare that happened. And actually, you were mentioning even the cheap jump scares, those in themselves you can anticipate. There are other elements in the movie that just are glaringly like this is about to happen. Boom, here it is. You know, I I just didn't find it scary at all. And how disappointing, right? Not to go back to that, but like that's another disappointment for this movie. The fact that we've got the potential to have so much gore, so much creepiness, so much of everything that a horror movie should be, or at least a parody horror movie, whatever, and none of that.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

Yeah, I think to your point, you can see things coming. It felt like when you're going through a haunted house, but you can see all the scares happening, like two crowds ahead of you. And so you're just like, all right, yep, uh, you know, 20 yards up, um, this person's coming out of this angle. Like it's yeah, it just didn't, it just didn't, it just didn't work.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yeah, it's like you're in a haunted house and you can see that 20 yards up, someone's gonna jump out and make a bad Jewish joke, and it just ruins the whole vibe.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

I'm deceased. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

You know what, Ryan, you're right, because it it definitely has this whole vibe of like it's all fun and games until someone makes a bad joke, and then you're like, what are you doing, man? Like we were all along for the ride, and then you just fucking killed the mood. Get that shit out of here. But let me say this: when pressed for a compliment, I'll say that I appreciate the difference in how this Grinch stole Christmas. Really just understood the assignment, had an impact on the society. And I think my problem here is, you know, Ryan has called me out on episodes in the past. There goes Chris Rojas falling in love with potential again. Because I did fall in love with the potential of what this could have been. Because in the original story, he steals material possessions and like the defiant, resilient who's down in Hooville came together for the spirit. But here they give into fear and are thwarted by his brutality. So while it is almost impossible to have like an original take on the Grinch and the Grinch stealing Christmas, I do feel like the direction that someone intended to go initially was probably about as original as you could get making it a horror movie.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

I guess I could see that. I mean, it is definitely hard to be original when you're making a film surrounding a story that has already been told and retold and just creating like a horror twist to it. It's just that even the main plot points throughout the movie have been used countless times in other horror movies. So it just there wasn't much about this movie that felt original. It just uh it just felt like everything was just second-hand hammy-downs.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Yes. And Chris, you're right. The idea of what this movie could have been uh had some originality to it, but we're not reviewing the idea of the movie. We're reviewing the movie, and the movie is not original. It feels like, once again, every cheesy Christmas movie you've seen, but then also just twisted to be bad or worse.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

You know, you can't even say the audacity is that original because look at what Bunny Man did.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

That's right. I mean, Thankskilling has the Audacity trophy, you know, for holiday horror. Like, there's nothing else.

SPEAKER_04 19:40

Yeah, I think at the end of the day, there is no originality here, not from obviously it parroting the Grinch to this whole, you know, revenge plot that she's gonna protect the town now. Like we've seen it. I'm sure that there are Hallmark movies that I could probably, if I could sit down and think about it, there's probably is a nice, cute Hallmark movie with that same theme as well, in some capacity, shape or form.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

I think the reality is, for me at least, you know, we talk about like how original it is, we talk about how frightening it is. Yeah, I think the best part about this movie and its ending was the fact that it was over. It's it's one of those it's one of those kinds of movies where you just wanted to not go on any further, and unfortunately, it manages to end itself with one of the biggest fucking eye roll moments I could have imagined.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Hey, they successfully got to a part of the end that we're all used to, in a sense, from the classic storyline with a little twist, you know. I'm not saying that the ending was that successful, but they did at least successfully get to wrapping it up in a way that we may have all been used to. That being said, I had a rough time with this one. I I did not like what they tried to do there. I was surprised immediately after that, but like it was an eye roll moment for sure. I agree with you. It was just like really.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

And let me be clear, it was a bigger eye roll moment than they slash them, which I thought was the biggest eye roll of the year.

SPEAKER_04 21:10

That's actually, yeah, now that you compare it to that, I can that's saying something. At the end of the day, the ending happened, and I was like, well, we successfully saw that. And I have to agree with you, Sean. I was kind of like, oh, you know, really, that that's that's where this is going. They not even to the very end could you try and improve it, but it is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Yeah, I think the problem is once you get to the end of this, you're already, if you're like me, just so not into it that it doesn't even really matter what happens at the end, honestly. It's just like, please, whatever it takes to get it over with, I'll I'll go for it. I'm on board, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

And and there and there was a post credit scene.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Oh, I can assure you I didn't see it.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

I just had to throw it out there.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

And I can't even find out. About what it is, because this movie's not on YouTube like it should be.

SPEAKER_04 22:03

And to be honest, seeing this movie really is like a fever dream because Chris, did we see the post-credit scene? We did.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

Oh. It was like a I don't know, mid-credit scene, something like that.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

It played just soon enough to know that you were still sitting there looking at your neighbor, like, what the fuck did we just watch? That's the timing there. Well, that's good. That's exactly what happened with us.

SPEAKER_04 22:25

Alright, I that's what I figured as much because I'm thinking there's no way that they expected someone to really sit through the entire set of credits to see if there was an end credit scene, did they? Because that would have been a very big mistake, along with the rest of the movie being a mistake.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

This just really supports my hate for end credit scenes, because what audacity of a movie like this to have an end credit scene. How dare you? You didn't deserve the scenes in the movie. Like, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Uh, so good. I'm glad I brought this out.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

At this point, just rebrand the movie to be like the mean audacity.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

The mean audacity. I almost missed this. I almost missed this scene because we were on our way out of the theater and then I heard the scene cut, so I walked back and watched it.

SPEAKER_04 23:11

The moment that they that you saw one credit, you were like, get up, we're leaving.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

I was like ready to go. I was already lifting out of my seat at the ending scene.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

You're by the exit. I want us to dial back a few episodes when you have to always convince your wife to stick around for it.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Right? Yes, I know. But you know, I didn't know that this one had one. I didn't look it up ahead of time, and we both were just so ready to leave that, you know, it was just we were halfway out the door, then I heard it, and I was like, oh gosh. Okay, I'll go back.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah, this is one of those movies where um if you drag along your significant other and you guys are having a little bit of a rough day, it really could throw your relationship off the rails for making them watch this with you.

SPEAKER_04 23:53

You want to break up with your significant other, take them to the mean one. Take him to the mean one.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

Start a fight, get him in a bad mood, take them to see this movie. They'll be pissed.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

So obviously, we have our sentiments about this movie, and I think it's clear which direction we're going, but let's go ahead and start making our way there. Now, before we actually score this experience. Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Uh okay. So you we do see some gore in this film, right? It's there. There are some scenes where we see some body parts that I think look way better than some of the blood that you see throughout the film. Uh, some of the blood you see during some of these kill scenes look like early 2000s video game graphics, like something, like some of the worst CGI I've seen in 20 years. Uh, ultimately, I would still have to, on a technicality, give this film a medium gore score, and that's kind of stretching it just due to the amount of blood and you know gory body parts that you see despite how low quality it really is.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

I would like it to be known that I disagree.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

What would you rate this?

SPEAKER_02 25:02

I would rate this a low gore score.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Hmm. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Because of the blood? Because of what blood? That is a three-dimensional graphic created in Photoshop. What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 25:13

It's still technically meant to be blood, which is you have to factor that in. You have to factor it in.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Does Kool-Aid count? I I don't have to factor it in because it's not gore. Listen, we get an eyeball in there.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

If cheap red paint counts as blood and gotta factor that in, so does shitty graphics.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

It's giving Jaws 3D. And what about the animal report? Yeah, unfortunately, even our our animal report couldn't make it out safe here. Um, it's not a great one.

SPEAKER_03 25:42

Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. The mean one from 2022. We have to decide if it's a hack or a slash, and let me just kick things off here. The three words that best describe this movie are as follows, and I quote, stink, stink, stunk. When Binks and I left the theater, I said, among like many things obviously, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. And since then though, I I've actually thought about this a bit, and I actually am just a little bit fucking mad. Because this movie was pitched as a Christmas parody, and and while I knew it wasn't gonna be the best film of the year, I expected at the very least, something can't be and fun. I expected to laugh with it, but most of the time I was just laughing at it. At moments it wasn't even trying to be funny. And the worst part of all of this is I expected David Howard Thornton to shine. Somehow, though, this m the rest of the production managed to be such a sour experience that it turned a shining star into a diamond horrifically obscured in the rough. The really, really, really rough. And if you're gonna watch this, watch it with a friend. Because if I hadn't had Binks with me, I would have been far less entertained and I'd probably be just as much of a fucking Grinch. It's a hack, and quite frankly, it's one I wouldn't touch again with a 39 and a half foot pole. Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 27:13

I love that for you.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Oh my gosh. Ouch. I don't know if anyone can say it any better. Uh you know, I what I will say is I can't remember the last time that I actually wanted to walk out of a theater, but this movie did just that to me. Uh, I had a really hard time uh sitting through this one, and if it really, if it wasn't for this podcast, I probably wouldn't have. Um the movie felt cheap, the quality of the acting was subpar, the lighting was bad, the cinematography was bad, the effects were bad, the humor was bad, the story was just not good. The movie is a hack, and I can't even see anything that could get this film anywhere near slash material.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Absolutely. And I think it's very clear that we're all gonna hack this movie. I do need to say this movie has a 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is five points higher than when I saw it last night and looked at this. Oh no. There there is no number low enough to describe what this movie should be. But I do want to, in lieu of just trash talking it completely, I want to say one scenario in which I think that anyone should watch this movie, okay? And this is gonna be hopefully something that sparks a memory of maybe another time you've seen a movie that maybe you wish you hadn't seen. But this movie belongs on the really, really deep, deep dark shelves of a blockbuster back in the day. And you have a friend, and maybe you guys partake in some nefarious activity, you know? Maybe you guys have smoked a little weed, but and you guys think, man, let's go look for like a crazy movie, okay? And maybe your friend has a friend that has a friend that heard about this movie one time, like, dude, it's about the evil Grinch. And you guys go find it. You're stoned out of your mind, you put this movie on. That is the only way in the world that anyone should watch this. It should be right now, present day, free on YouTube. It should be free on YouTube with just comments full of people horrified over how bad this is. But you should only ever see this knowing how bad it's gonna be, not expecting it to even be so bad that it's good, just knowing that it's bad, but like you have somebody with you in like you, it's a it's like a legend. That's the only way this should exist. It's like this thing that you've heard of, like the beginning of internet memes, you know. For me, this is kind of how I ended up seeing Requiem for a Dream, and it it felt like a fever dream, and it's something that I would have never seen any other way. That is the only circumstance this movie should exist, and that's all I got. It's a solid hack, maybe the worst movie I've ever seen in my life. Definitely one that made me think, God, this podcast is not worth it.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

But I love these people so much that it is.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

But in the moment right after this turned off, I thought, why do I do this?

SPEAKER_04 29:55

In that same vein where you're talking about what this movie reminds you of, the equivalent for me is The Room by Tommy Weisau. Anyone that might know, look up The Room and watch that movie. And that is just the drama version of the mean one, essentially, in terms of terrible, terrible movie. And I think at the end of the day, we've all said it. No surprise here. Also a hack for me, but in a little more of a serious note, if I may, because I do love some trash talking. I really, really do. It gives me such joy. What's really horrendous about this movie is how insensitive and disgusting those Jewish remarks were, and how they basically have a whole character that's on screen more than some other people that we wished were on screen, and it just was so distasteful. So, on top of all of the other things that will make you think this is one of the worst movies of a lifetime, that in and of itself just does not sit right. And I can't imagine myself ever wanting to recommend this movie to anyone or see this movie again. But perhaps it can live in the legend of one of the worst movies ever. I I would agree. I wouldn't even give Blockbuster that kind of movie in and of itself, justice for Blockbuster, a little bit, but maybe like one of those video stores that are in a dark alley somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 31:29

Well, there you have it, folks. The mean one from 2022. We've said a lot here, but it is in fact a universal hack. Now, you can find this movie around, but do you really want to? What you probably should do instead is just go ahead and skip forward and join us in the second half so we can continue roasting this beast together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

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SPEAKER_03 33:02

Welcome back, folks. You're now entering the spoiler zone for the mean one, which has earned a universal hack. We have a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings, Sean, take us through the kills.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

It's debatable. I feel like I counted 18, uh, which is a pretty high kill count. I may debatable, maybe 19. Um, it was hard to keep track of some of the scenes in the movie, but the problem isn't the amount of kills, because obviously there's a decent amount of kills in this one. Some of them are pretty fun too. The problem is the effects in the gore were just lackluster. Uh also, a majority of them happen in one scene, the diner scene. It's also the most visuals we get of the of the Grinch, or the mean one, if you will. But speaking of that, what were your favorite kills?

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Let me first just say that this movie really is the embodiment of you only care about the numbers, you don't really care about the quality. It really is about trying to hit a metric. That's what this movie is. Uh then let me just say my favorite kill has to be the dad. Because holy fuck, I was so ready for him to go. I didn't believe he was her dad. I didn't believe he lost his wife. I didn't believe he lost the mother of his child. I was ready for this man to fucking expire. So for him to have gotten the uh poker through the eyeball, and then we see the eyeball breaking through the glass in the front door, fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Yeah, him being the father was definitely questionable. He acted very sus for sure. I would say that if I had to pick a favorite kill, which is hard because I agree, Sean, all of them happen so fast, most of them all in one scene, and also sometimes even off-camera, right? So it's a little difficult to really give this assessment, I would say. But the one that sticks out to me, let's just say it for that, right? Like the one that sticks out to me right now would be in that diner scene, the girl that gets thrown into that blunder, and then we have that moment where it's kind of just pause, her legs are just flailing in the air, and all of a sudden it goes again. That one was was quite something. If I were to, if I were to say that there was a kill that just gave me a little tiny morsel of extreme terrifier, or like, you know, just like gore that I was kind of anticipating, that was like, again, a morsel, but that would have been it.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Yeah, that was a good one. I do just want to reiterate, I really, really, really wanted more gore from this movie. What's the point if it's not funny or gory? Like, what are we doing here? What are we getting after? So it was disappointing, but I will go with one of my favorite kills just because I mostly hated this character and wanted them to die from the first moment they were on screen, and it is Mayor McBean. Like, get her out of my face, please. I don't know why he took a bite of her. Is he hungry? Was her cheek tasty? I don't know, but I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

It's because he wants to take a bite out of crime and corruption. Chicago, Illinois. Well, he took a bite out of his Instacart deliverer.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Did this thing eat people? Was it implied that it ate people? Did it just kill people? I felt like it kind of hinted at eating people at one point.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Like it's like hunting. You either hunt for food or you hunt for sport.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Yeah, I feel like they said like feeding, kind of, I think. I don't know. I basically have the assumption that he kind of ate them. There wasn't like remains. We didn't have like skeletal remains, we just had wallets.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

And and I agree. Um, the mayor was a good one. She deserved it for sure. Watching her uh head get just smashed in with the trunk and get decapitated. And I also agree, I wanted more gore and better gore out of the film. And just to justify why I chose to give it a medium score was because some of the decapitations, those prosthetics, didn't look half bad. I thought they looked pretty good. It was the CGI blood that was terrible. Um, but because of the other visuals that we got, I thought maybe it deserved on technicality some form of a medium-ranged gore score.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

You know, how great for them that they could afford those prosthetics and then couldn't afford someone who knew how to properly white balance a camera. The color.

SPEAKER_02 37:16

I just feel like honestly, with the with the kills in like the whole blood and the fake blood thing, I would have rather like implied, you know, like old school 80s, you know, they a head moves really fast and then the camera, you know, the head's no longer on the screen, and then some blood spurts. I would have preferred that, that kind of like implication of something rather than seeing it happen and then just like three-dimensional blood shooting clearly added on top of the film. I don't know. It I just don't know why I had to be so bad.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

Yeah, I agree. My favorite kill was actually, and I I I don't know that I caught the name and I couldn't verify it anywhere, but I want to say it was Don, uh, the guy from the restaurant. He was the guy that got delivered by accident the package of holiday ornaments or holiday decorations, if you will. Um, that was a good kill scene because he literally took a meat cleaver to the dome piece and then was hacked to death and then eventually decapitated. There were a few decapitations in this film, but that one was great.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

It was a good one. We love a cleaver anytime. Yeah. It wasn't a terrifier decapitation, but I dare say it was among one of the best. I think one of the things that also stands out to me is, you know, we can obviously talk about how obvious the Grinch's death was gonna be, right? The three sizes too big, the sudden cardiac explosion. But I think the saddest thing is that, you know, David Howard Thornton really was out here dying for our sins. We didn't deserve him in this movie, and I don't think this movie deserved him.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

He certainly didn't deserve to explode because his heart grew. Like when that happened, I was so disappointed because there weren't that many through lines from the original Grinch, and I guess I should have saw that coming, but like I don't know. At that point, I was like, okay, I I guess that's how that had to go.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

It's the most natural conclusion.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

It was surprising, yes, but the way that they led up to that, I mean, they had to they had to do something to make up for the horrendous attempt at a plot twist of why the mean one turned into the monster that it was, was it was just terrible. So the fact that they had to make his heart explode and die, it's cool. Let's just get it over with and end the film because you failed.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

So here's the fucked up part of this, though. It's not even that much of a plot twist because we know from previous Grinch stories that the Grinch is only Grinchy because he's been bullied or outcast or othered his entire life. That's the fucking problem here. So really, the issue here is the forgiveness is what's was is what kills him. And the fucking forgiveness is a logical fallacy that, like, I know I shouldn't be out here looking for logic. But you don't fucking go from young child to tormented adult to MMA fighter to I forgive you because you happen to be wearing this really fucking cheap necklace I gave you before you murdered my mom accidentally, by the way. The whole fucking thing is just a problem. And you know what? Like, yes, it's a natural conclusion for him to die that way, but it was still super shitty.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Yeah, can we just talk about for a second how Cindy just all of a sudden became like Rambo? Like she just over the course of like 24 hours just started like working out and training and became like a sharpshooter and like an MMA fighter, and was like, I don't know, like some form of a Ronda Rousey overnight.

SPEAKER_04 40:48

I was just going to say that. I think I even said that out loud in the theater. I was like, oh my gosh, she's an MMA fighter, she's Rhonda Rousey. Here we go, Ronda Rousey versus the Grinch. I didn't even realize I paid for this pay-per-view. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

UFC Fight Night 246.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

They also just like fully committed to we're gonna have her shoot a gun one time poorly, and then the next time perfectly. And that's progress, guys. That's this is how it works. You just do it once, and then a little bit later you do it again and you're better, and it's okay. You're great now. You can do this.

SPEAKER_03 41:21

You skip the step where she learns how to like jiggle the clip, but it like the it is like stuck in the the actual gun, and she's like slamming it and just looking all confused. You forgot the confused step of the equation.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

There was a confused step. There was more than just her being confused by that, that's for sure. Because because I was also a confused step. So I we're gonna have a lot to go on and on about this, but we if we want to move into visuals, I am gonna struggle. I'm gonna complain first. I'm gonna complain about how this entire movie is blue for no reason. Like, for absolutely no reason, every single thing that's shot in this film is blue, and not like artistically blue, like she's blue because she lost her mom, and then he's green, and like there's dueling energies. No, no, no, it's just blue. The whole movie is blue. Why?

SPEAKER_04 42:16

Look, I'm gonna say it now. For all of my Twilight fan listeners out there, it's giving Catherine Hardwick, but not in the way that we enjoyed. It was a it was a Twilight bad. It was a Twilight real bad.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

For the non-Twilight fans, that's regular.

SPEAKER_03 42:32

I think the frustrating part of it is it it created this illusion of like maybe they're trying to shoot day for night. But the problem is when you shoot day for night, you have to not shoot the fucking sun, the highlights that was on the mean one. It was so clear that it was in the middle of the fucking day, bro. What are you doing? I absolutely detested the color in this film because here's the thing I can forgive amateur writing, I can forgive, you know, a half-hearted attempt at a parody. What I cannot forgive are those two things put together combined with terrible fucking visuals. Like if you're at least getting someone, because you know, it's not hard to find people who are self-taught and talented who are hungry for an opportunity. If you can't even find someone to give a fucking chance to, but you're paying someone to do this bullshit, fuck that.

SPEAKER_02 43:23

Yeah, that that's the anger that I felt about this movie being in a theater next to other actual movies. Yeah, right. Different but the same. Like, how are you here? This is offensive.

SPEAKER_04 43:34

I d I definitely said to Chris, I looked at her dead in the face and I said, You're gonna tell me that this movie's in theater and you don't have a movie in theaters right now? You better get it together. So let's go. We got a writing room right here.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

Come on, Chris. We're gonna do it. Okay, the goal for twenty twenty three is to make a short film. There you go. We'll check back in on it next year.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

That is there, it is. Yeah, for sure. Can we can we also just take a second to appreciate if you You will, the comical value of the photoshopped images of the mean one Sasquatch vibes in the background of all the pictures of the tourists that were lured to their deaths. Like those were so bad. That was that was that may have been the funniest part of the movie for me is just watching them look at these pictures of this terrible photoshopped image of the mean one in the background of all these pictures.

SPEAKER_03 44:22

Listen, I don't like the vibe or to create the illusion that I'm just not out here paying attention to the movie, but I will say that's one of the bullshits I didn't see. You didn't catch that? You didn't catch that? You know what? I might have been too busy talking shit. I that might have been what was on the agenda.

SPEAKER_04 44:39

That's funny. You're talking, you're talking shit to me, and I definitely caught that because I was thinking to myself, I would actually print those photos out, cut him, cut the Grinch out, and put it in my Christmas tree right now. I feel like that would be really funny.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

I think similarly but different, my favorite part was the missing poster or wanted poster that was just like a blur. Like that was one moment where I was like, this is so dumb, it's funny. One very small moment where I was like, you know, the friggin' description was like big, furry, green. It wasn't green in the picture at all. It was a black blur. That was like one thing where I was like, oh my okay, it's a little funny. It was like it was a little chuckle out of me. That's it though.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

You know, it's it's really hard to find something that I truly enjoyed from a visual element standpoint. Uh the film cuts corners in all areas, uh, making this feel like a dollar store film. If I had to pick something though, I it would it just have to be what I was talking about earlier, was just maybe the prosthetic heads used for the decapitation scenes. I thought those looked pretty good despite almost all of the other effects looking like hot garbage. So if I really had to dig for something, that's probably my favorite visual from the film.

SPEAKER_03 45:59

Yeah, I'd be curious to see some behind the scenes to really see how that all came together. I think for me, it's gonna sound a little weird. It's the Grinch's hands. Even some ways, the the Grinch is a character design. I wasn't totally mad at. Very expressive. I enjoyed some of his prosthetics. But the the energy, the movement of the hands, the physicality of the hands, David Howard and Thornton's performance with the hands, fantastic. But that gave me the closest sensation to like the Grinch that we all know and love.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Okay, yes, I enjoyed, but also like the furry, like the long fur bits of the end of the Grinch's fingers are so specific and so required. Like I missed that. His hands were good, like they were kind of more of like a claw kind of thing, but I wanted the little hairy, creepy bits. Like, imagine the little long Grinch fingers, but covered in in blood. Like it would be so good. Little fluffy bloody bits. No? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 46:57

Bloody Grinch hands would have been great, but let me just say that I think some of the best hand work he had was in my favorite scene, which is when we get to see him the most, as Sean mentioned earlier. He was in the restaurant, slowly making himself seen, the dramatic fingers. Uh he was twisting his cane, he was wreaking havoc. The kills nearly ruined things for me because of how anticlimatic it was. It was like, okay, yes, this is when we finally get it, and then all of a sudden almost everything was off screen. Uh, but we really get some of his best handwork in that whole in that whole moment.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

I feel like it was just so overwhelming to have very few kills and then so many kills ever like second after second, you know? Like we didn't even get to appreciate everything cool that he did in the diner and like the different ways that he killed everybody because it was just so fast and so much going on and so much squirting blood. Not the squirting.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Yeah, they they definitely sped through those kills way too quickly, way too quickly. Like we should have seen we should have seen more of that, and maybe that's the budget because we got terrible graphics throughout all of those kills. It's a tough one. Did anyone catch like the the parallels to the opening of that scene where he's locking the door the same way Art locked the door?

SPEAKER_02 48:18

Yes. Yes, him at the door is so good. He's um he's so creepy, and some people that I showed the trailer to were like, is that the guy from Terrifier? And I was like, dude, it is. Like they had no idea that that it was when I showed them.

SPEAKER_04 48:33

Yeah, I did, I did love that. I did love that. My favorite scene, which is saying a lot because this favorite scene is I think it happens for maybe 30 seconds. Do y'all remember the part where he crushes the gingerbread house? I remember that Chris, you and I looked at each other, we're like, that was us, like that's a vibe. Encapsulated, that was us crushing this movie, really. He just demolishes that gingerbread house. And I'm like, where was that energy for the rest of this movie? But I loved it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 49:02

His facial expression in that moment is just top notch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

Yeah. Uh one of my favorite scenes is also very quick, and it's when they're in like his like the cave that he's dwelling in, and uh, and he pops out of nowhere with the mistletoe. Like that was one of my favorite quick scenes. Um, but it's tough, right? Like, I don't think that there's a ton of really, really great scenes to talk about. I did appreciate the ridiculousness of the scene towards the end when they're fighting the mean one, and uh Cindy's got like the baseball bat wrapped in Christmas lights, and they're making lightsaber sounds as it's being swung around like we're in some Star Wars film.

SPEAKER_03 49:42

Bro, the JJ Abrams light flares. Yes. We were both, Binx and I were both talking about how the fucking they were just like playing with lightsabers this whole time. I think I also started saying You did.

SPEAKER_04 49:55

You did, you did. That was what in the world.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

And the candy cane wrapper on the shotgun.

SPEAKER_04 50:02

And then we were talking about how she might have washi-taped that freaking shotgun.

SPEAKER_03 50:05

Yes. From her bullet journal, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

From her bullet journal.

SPEAKER_04 50:09

Yep. Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

It sounds like you guys had more fun than me. I'm not gonna lie. That's good. I tried.

SPEAKER_03 50:15

Binx was a great theater partner, and I usually don't like really talk through movies at all, but I feel like y'all two would be a riot together, Frian.

SPEAKER_02 50:24

Oh, I'm sure, but I was angry, not laughing. I did not have fun, I had anger, but I was like, I'm I I paid for this. Most of my anger comes from paying for it.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

The struggle. I feel that. I feel that.

SPEAKER_04 50:40

Yeah. I look at the end of the day, I truthfully am not. It's like I said earlier, right? Like, I'm usually not a commentator during movies, but how could you not? I mean, I'm telling you, thank goodness that we were the only ones in that theater. So I could be loud and obnoxious and be like, what in the whole fuck? Because I'm sorry to whoever would have been in that theater, but I would have been like, at this point, just join us. Come sit next to us. Let's all experience this together as a community.

SPEAKER_02 51:06

Oh, there were two other people in our theater. They were seated quite far behind us, and I'm certain that they heard my commentary the whole time because I was like, it wasn't even trying to be quiet. Every single time, I was like, why is this here? Like, I just full volume. I do not care. And I didn't hear any commentary from there, and that's what really scares me about our society.

SPEAKER_04 51:29

Yeah, I I feel like at this point, if we had been shushed, I would have been like, Are you okay? A. And B, truthfully, at the end of the day, the favorite visual element, going back to that just for quite a quick second, the favorite visual element of this movie is our commentary. That's the favorite visual of this movie.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

It's the only positive thing it could come from this. Absolutely. Absolutely. As much as we've had to say here, unfortunately, the next category is not going to be any better. The characters in this movie are um in both insensitive as well as unfunny. And um their stories are unbelievable. Like, like you said, Chris, I think it's I didn't believe that she lost her mom, I didn't believe that she lost her dad, I didn't believe that that was her dad. It seemed like some creepy man that maybe came along with her that she met at like a therapy group or something. Um nothing about this this storyline worked for me except the Grinch. He seemed to have his head on straight mostly, you know, aside from the killing people, but everyone in the town was weird. I maybe uh maybe Doc gets a a small shout-out.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Maybe Doc gets a little shout-out. That's it. I thought Doc was pretty entertaining, but also I just had this realization that the dad was more like Creed from the office, except a little bit more annoying. Like Creed and Kevin put together.

SPEAKER_01 52:55

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_02 52:56

It did not give a loving father who lost his wife and daughter's mother. I don't know. It was weird for like it just felt weird for some reason.

SPEAKER_04 53:06

You you caught me off guard with that Creed and Kevin comment because that is that's an atrocity to them. Don't even, don't even do that to them. Don't, don't. Not my not my chili man. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

Not my chili man.

SPEAKER_04 53:19

So let's say that, okay? But but the thing is is that when he first showed up and started talking, I was like, this isn't an alien movie, is it? Like he's not like possessed or an alien somehow, right? Like, is he the Grinch somehow? Like it was just so weird. He was so bizarre, a little too chipper for my taste. And um, quite frankly, someone who acts that calm about their daughter going back into the house where their wife like was murdered or whatever, should should go to jail. Prime suspect right there. Prime suspect.

SPEAKER_03 53:53

It was so weird. It was so weird. I'm just now remembering all the times we paused and said, Is he gonna be the Grinch? Like for any other character in the fucking movie. Yeah. It's like, where's the twist here? Is the twist that we're all the Grinch, really? I think the other thing about this is I I can't remember the last time I found a final girl so damn unlikable. It's as if to add insult to injury, her romantic interest is a complete fucking doofus.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:23

What the fuck? There isn't a single person to fucking root for in this movie besides the Grinch and maybe Doc.

SPEAKER_02 54:29

Also, like the number of times that she woke up from a dream that either was or wasn't a dream. You know how I feel about dreams in movies. Um usually I just hate it at the end, but I also hate it when it happens three times. Like, I don't need that. And I didn't care about anything that she said or or felt. Like I didn't believe her. To me, it seemed like they just went for like uh playing on the romantic comedy thing of like, I went back to my city and I met somebody and he really likes me. Like, I definitely saw what they were trying to do there and like the comedy they were trying to make out of that, but but it just didn't work, it just wasn't good. Giving Sweet Home Alabama.

SPEAKER_01 55:08

None of it really worked. I I mean the care I I could see Doc semi-entertaining. Um David, I think, you know, he did what he could. I I still don't think it was his best performance by any means. I felt like for the majority of these characters, they all kind of fell flat on their faces and didn't really sell shit. I I mean I do I do understand that it had been 20 years, so maybe they're a little bit desensitized to what happened, but but still like it didn't feel it just none none of it was selling any kind of emotion.

SPEAKER_03 55:41

If you're so sensitized as to not celebrate Christmas because the Grin stole it, you're not desensitized enough to excuse any of the bad behavior in this fucking movie.

SPEAKER_01 55:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:52

Yes, and I I should have said this sooner, but I just need to say this any person who listens to this and is leaving uh us a comment, a message, any any kind of communication that uses the word camp for this movie owes me a dollar, like on default. Like you cannot in I don't care. I know it's a thing now with the with me, but you cannot use the word camp to describe and excuse this movie. It's not that, it's not campy, it's just bad, and it's just a bad movie. Bad movies are bad, it's not funny, it's just bad.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

Here's what it is this movie feels like it was made with the intent of we're gonna make it campy, but then they, like you, don't know what camp is, and that's how we got here. I know camp better than this. This I would never you do, but let me just say they misunderstood the assignment and have our money.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

I'm with you. This you can't argue, I mean, you can argue to Chris's point that they may have intended this to be campy, but it did not work, it wasn't campy, it was just bad, to your point, Ryan. Uh, you know, we think of we think of good camp movies. The first one that always comes to my mind is Bruce Campbell and Evil Dead. Like that is good camp in horror to me, right? So when I'm comparing something, because that's probably the first movie that introduced that uh that idea to me, uh, that's what I compare any movie that's trying to be campy to, because that was just brilliant, in my opinion. And here I'm here I am uh honoring a movie in a movie that I'm talking shit about.

SPEAKER_04 57:37

Love it.

SPEAKER_03 57:38

Listen, Sean, every once in a while we had to find a silver lining, and I will say that for me, the silver lining in this movie was the narrator's voice. I actually really enjoyed that. I know I've already complimented the Grinch's handwork, but I feel like the narration at least, and you know, even Doc a little bit uh really gave some shining moments here. Also, the amount of fucking Dr. Seuss Easter eggs that weren't just like obviously Grinch, like there's a restaurant named Horton's. Obviously, we have like Dr. Zeus, then okay, sure. There's like a bottle labeled after Dr. Seuss's real last name, even like the egg heaven uh restaurant sign is written in green, so it's like green eggs. Those tiny little things I thought were cute.

SPEAKER_04 58:23

I mean, so you basically just named the only good parts of the entire movie. So to talk about those, um actually no, you you missed one now that I'm saying that out loud, so I take that back. There is the bartender that behind the bar, like every time that they're about to say Grinch, and then she says like shots for Finch. Matt Finch. That I thought was pretty funny. So that was like another best part where I was like, although it sucks that you can't say the Grinch, like to your earlier point, Ryan, like that part wasn't some like so bad because it was kind of funny. Probably the only time that I laughed with the movie. Yeah, all of those the Easter eggs, the handwork was so good. I I said it earlier. David Howard Thurden could not save this movie if his life depended on it, but he put his best foot forward, his best hands forward, and uh it was good. It was good.

SPEAKER_01 59:13

Yeah, okay. Well, so Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:16

Please say something else that's good so that I could hopefully I could do my best.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

Look, you you all touched on some fair points. The really the best part for me, and truly the only moment that I actually got any natural humor was was Doc's lines at the end. That that was really it for me. That's all I could pull out. I mean, when he's sitting there with the with the sniper rifle say, you know, getting ready and saying, Merry Christmas, you green bitch, or Yahoo Dore motherfucker. Like those were those were classic moments that really made me laugh in the film. And it's sad that we only got like, I don't know, all of a minute and a half of all of that. Um, but I truly can't find anything that could make I mean that could make up for the horrendous atrocity that is this film.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

Don't worry, Sean. I got you. You were close, but you missed you miss the best part. Okay. The best part of this movie is when it's over. That's literally it. There's nothing else. It sucks so much. It's so good when it's over and you walk out. You feel a little bit of of of hate in your heart, but the joy of walking away is so good.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:26

Knowing that you're going home.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:28

Knowing that you don't ever have to see it again.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:30

Wow. You know what? That's fair. I was also gonna say that the best part of this movie is the experience uh you have roasting it with friends. Uh, because again, talking shit about this movie in the theater was actually a fucking hilarious time, an evening well spent. But let's be real, this movie is, as I said earlier, not one I'm ever gonna touch again. And not only will I never watch this again, I'm gonna promptly re-watch all other Grinch content in existence and then just carry on with the hopes that this purges itself from my memory.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:04

Yes, definitely. I can't imagine that any of us want to re-watch this. And I do just want to add on, I committed to the bit there. There is actually one thing that I did really enjoy in this movie, and it's how nice the mountain peak looked when they showed the city with the the Grinch's mountain behind it. That was an enjoyable part of this movie. Um, but you know, the bit was better than that, so yeah, uh no, I will never watch this again.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:29

I feel like we've all established that, as I said earlier, as we've all said, if I were to ever re-watch this movie, I want someone to call 911. I'm not myself. I've been possessed. I got you. Thank you, Ryan. Because I just could not find myself re-watching this movie whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:49

This is now the new way that we find out if any of us are an imposter. Holy shit. If you ever are unsure if Chris is the real Chris, you just ask her what she thought of the mean one from 2022.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:00

Loved it. David Howard Thornton. Clearly, that must be a slush. Exactly. You got it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:08

Oh, that's good.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:09

Mine would be Officer Burke is so hot. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:14

Oh no. Look, there is no way in hell you will get me to watch this movie again. You couldn't pay me to watch this one again. If there was a rewind of this film on this podcast, I'm out. I'm done. It's not happening. This film sucked. I'm sorry. I can't, I can't ever I don't even want it. I just don't I don't even want it to be mentioned. This should become like the Voldemort of horror films. This is the movie that should not be named.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

Well, there you have it, folks. The mean one from 2022 has really disappointed us all and earned itself a universal hack. A rare one at that. Now we've certainly had a lot to talk about here, but the conversation doesn't end here by any means. We want to know what you think, so let us know.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:59

You can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. Click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:04

And if you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com slash hackerslash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember, there's no such thing as monsters. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

Yahoo Doray, motherfucker.