S5 E2: La Vida Lohan

In this Showdown episode, Conor and Caroline are bringing some magic to modern life as they pit two early 2000s films against one another, both featuring Disney Darling, Lindsay Lohan! Is the iconic body swap from 2003's Freaky Friday the “ultimate” transformation tale, or is 2000’s Life-Size the star of the show? Grab your guitar and Eve doll (bangs not included), because this episode is gonna change you!

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Transcript

Conor Perkins 0:00

I think I'm gonna die in this.

Caroline Aimetti 0:03

I mean, that's going straight to the Halloween playlist.

Conor Perkins 0:08

Oh yeah.

Caroline Aimetti 0:09

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 0:10

It's just a man talking.

Caroline Aimetti 0:11

Yeah, it's just a man talking. Which is a which is a true nightmare. The true nightmare.

Conor Perkins 0:17

Terror. That is creepy creep, spookies. Just men talking.

Opening

Caroline Aimetti 0:23

What could be scarier?  Hello and welcome to Poor Unfortunate Podcast, where Disney is what we do...it's what we live for! We're the two besties you never knew you needed. I'm Caroline Aimetti.

Conor Perkins 1:17

And I'm Conor Perkins. This is a Disney podcast for grown ups because we believe magic gets better with age. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to all of our returning listeners and viewers. Thank you so much for joining us once again. And welcome to any new listeners or viewers. Thank you so much for hitting play. Please also remember to hit follow or subscribe wherever you're getting the podcast and opt in for notifications if you're watching on YouTube. And then once we get to the end of the episode or right now, if you're feeling it, make sure that you leave a comment, rate it five stars, and then leave a written review so that other people can find the podcast or seen in search results. It's one of the best things you can do to help us sort of grow the pod. And if you're looking to listen to this episode without ads, you can always join the Poor Unfortunate Patreon available to you right now to sign up. All plans are under $10.

Caroline Aimetti 2:08

Woohoo.

The Showdown: Life-Size vs. Freaky Friday

Conor Perkins 2:09

Cool. All right. So we are back for our showdown episode of season five.

Caroline Aimetti 2:17

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 2:18

Caroline, what are we doing today?

Caroline Aimetti 2:20

We're kind of going back to our classic showdown style. We haven't done one of those in a little while. So we are pitting two films against each other. And this is a really, really fun pairing. We've really been looking forward to doing this episode. So we are taking a look at two early 2000s magical realism-esque films, both starring Lindsay Lohan, who is like having her comeback right now, which I love. We're also just very much in a early 2000s comeback moment in general. So this feels like the perfect time to be doing this episode.

Conor Perkins 2:55

I love Lindsay Lohan.

Caroline Aimetti 2:57

Lindsay Lohan, I mean, don't let me get into the meat of the episode, but she can act.

Conor Perkins 3:02

She can act her face off.

Caroline Aimetti 3:05

Yeah. Like I'm ready for her to really take on some stuff now that she's like, she's back, you know?

Conor Perkins 3:10

Me too.

Caroline Aimetti 3:11

So you probably have guessed what the two films are, but today we are going to be talking about Freaky Friday and Life-Size. I just have to say, I mean, I love both these films, but Life-Size, when we first started talking about doing Poor Unfortunate Podcast, Life-Size was on my list of things that were like non-negotiable. I have to talk about this Disney thing. So I'm just so excited that we're doing this.

Conor Perkins 3:35

Long time coming. Yeah. Long time coming.

Caroline Aimetti 3:37

So excited. Um, so we we try to make these a little bit more manageable. So we don't talk about these films for five hours because we could. So, what we are going to focus on for the showdown specifically, we're gonna really focus on the magical realism aspects of these films. So, we are going to take a look at the magic in each film, the transformation and like the quality of how that's portrayed in each film. And then we're gonna look at the character arcs that come about because of that. So, we're going to judge these films based on those two parameters to kind of keep it focused because there's so much to talk about in these, and we can get sidetracked in a million things: performances, music, like all of it.

Conor Perkins 4:21

And also, like, I kind of don't want to come away from this saying this one is better.

Caroline Aimetti 4:26

Yeah, this isn't like which film is better. We're focusing on the magical realism today. So let's get into it, baby. Let's get to it.

Conor Perkins 4:36

I should say this before we get started. Spoilers ahead. So if you have not watched Life-Size or Freaky Friday, the 2003 version, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, both are available for you to watch on Disney Plus, but there will be spoilers ahead. So go ahead, watch those two movies. Each one is like an hour and a half, so it's like it's a good time.

Caroline Aimetti 4:57

You can have a fun little rainy day with these two movies, you know.

Conor Perkins 5:02

Easy. Yeah. Um, so watch those movies, and we'll be here when you get back. And welcome back. Woohoo! Let's get into it. So, as usual, we have some background information for you. We're gonna go in chronological order with our background information. So let's start with Life-Size.

Caroline Aimetti 5:20

Let's talk about Life-Size. All right. Life size premiered on March 5th, 2000 on ABC as part of Wonderful World of Disney block. First of all, I will be a Wonderful World of Disney girl till the end of time, okay? It just provided me with so many of my favorite things. Bring back wonderful world of Disney. But also, we're very close to March 5th this year. This movie is about to be 26 years old. Wow.

Conor Perkins 5:46

Happy birthday.

Caroline Aimetti 5:47

Happy birthday, Life-Size.

Conor Perkins 5:48

That's an adult child who is about to lose their insurance.

Caroline Aimetti 5:52

That's right. That's right. So sorry to Life-Size. The producer was Fitch Cady, and it is directed by Mark Rosman. The screenplay is by Mark Rosman and Stephanie Moore with a story by Moore. So here's a little fun background information on the story in the script. So the script written by Rosman based on Moore's story was acquired by ABC after some requested rewrites from the original. So in the original script, Eve remained a human and married Casey's father. And so Disney wanted that to change. But more majorly, before the Disney acquisition, the film was titled Ken and Barbie. And we'll get into that in a little while. Yeah.

Conor Perkins 6:37

Because also watching this film after seeing Greta Gurry.

Caroline Aimetti 6:44

Yeah, you're welcome. Mm-hmm. Yes, absolutely. So obviously, this title changed because of rights concerns with Mattel. Like I said, we'll get into it. But wow, does 2023's Barbie owe a lot to Life-Size? Yeah. But anyway, the composer of the film is Eric Colvin, and the song written for the film "Be A Star" is by Mark Rosman and George Blondheim. And y'all.

Conor Perkins 7:06

It's a bop.

Caroline Aimetti 7:07

Good thing we're- that song is in my bones. So it's a good thing we're keeping this focused because like be a star. It's so good. Where you are, be a star. So good. I can't get sidetracked because if we were talking about this whole film, I mean "Be A Star" would just shoot it right up to the top for me.

Conor Perkins 7:32

See, and then I would probably come for you with "Ultimate".

Caroline Aimetti 7:34

I know, but that's what I would and I would have to agree. It would be hard because I was also obsessed with "Ultimate". I used to put that on on Radio Disney. Let it rock.

Conor Perkins 7:44

It's gonna play at my wedding.

Caroline Aimetti 7:45

It's automatic. Oh, that's gonna be so cute. Also, quick other thing about be a star. First of all, it was originally titled that because Eve was originally going to be named Star. Fun. Oh and then I'll stop with the fun facts, but I just enjoy this much.

Conor Perkins 8:06

I enjoy these.

Caroline Aimetti 8:06

Um, the dance sequence of them dancing, the cast dancing to be a star at the end, was just like something that they like threw in right when they were about to finish filming, and everybody kind of knew the moves and was super into it. And you can feel that. And I love that ending of the film so much.

Conor Perkins 8:20

I do too.

Caroline Aimetti 8:21

Yeah. Can't anyway. All right. Life size stars among others, Lindsay Lohan as Casey Stuart. This was part of a three-picture contract with the Walt Disney company that started with the parent trap for Lindsay. Tyra Banks as Eve. Tyra Banks, someone else is having a moment right now, maybe not for all of the best reasons, but Lindsay and Tyra are back in the media, people, okay? Oh my God. Uh, Jere Burns as Ben Stuart, Anne Marie Loder as Drew McDonald, Garwin Sanford as Richie Ackerman, Tom Butler as Phil, and Jillian Fargey as Ellen. Budget, couldn't really find one anywhere. Looked and looked, could not find one. I would be curious to know. Life-Size was released on VHS and DVD on May 30th, 2000, and it only became available on Disney Plus this past November. Until then, it had never been available for purchase or rental on digital platforms. And I think that is a large reason why it was living rent-free in my head, because I was just like, I need to see it again.

Conor Perkins 9:24

And so I mean, I still have the the good old crack it open VHS downstairs in the code.

Caroline Aimetti 9:28

I do too, babes. I do too. And I love that cover art. But anyway, I'm trying to stay focused. It's so hard. This episode, we were like, we're gonna focus. I can't. I love these movies. Okay. Anyway. So this film has a 5.6 on IMDb. Whatever. It's not for IMDB. You know what I mean? Whatever. I'm in a mood, people, because we were just talking about Wuthering Heights, and I'm just tired of people crapping on everything. Okay. Anyway. It's not for IMDb. It's not. It's for me. It's for me. And it also has. This is such a silly episode. I can't pull it together. Okay. I have the giggles. It also has a relatively incomplete Rotten Tomatoes rating with a 48% popcorn meter score, no tomato meter. People aren't really bothering. And I get it. It's just, it's for us, okay? But there is no denying that this film is something of a cult classic. Uh, the success of the Barbie movie also gave Life-Size a bit of a comeback in the media. And I'm honestly wondering if that's what finally got it to streaming after all this time. And if it is, amen. A sequel to the film Life-Size 2 aired on Freeform in December 2018. Tyra Banks reprised her role as Eve, and Lindsay Lohan was allegedly set to return as well before scheduling conflicts with her MTV show got in the way. The sequel centers around Eve returning to our world and befriending Hot Mess Toy Company CEO Grace. It doesn't seem to have been received super well, even by fans of the original. I mean, I have yet to see it.

Conor Perkins 11:03

I think I might have seen part of it, maybe?

Caroline Aimetti 11:06

Yeah. I yeah. Well, maybe one day we'll talk about that one too, because I'm now I'm interested. However, Tyra Banks has talked about her development of a third film as recently as a year ago, teasing that the story would bring the return of Lindsay Lohan as Casey. Who knows if she was just making that up, but if I would be into it, okay? I'd be into it. Here is a quick plot synopsis from IMDb. 11-year-old Casey is despondent after her mother's death. As she and her father Ben drift apart, she finds a book of magic spells and tries to use one to bring her mother back to life. But the plan backfires and she finds that she's animated Eve, a fashion plate dress-up doll. Eve is excited to be both alive and nearly six feet tall, but she has much to learn about living in the real world. And Casey doesn't think she has the desire or the patience to teach her. So that's a little bit about Life-Size.

Conor Perkins 12:05

All right, I'm gonna walk us through some Freaky Friday stuff. So Freaky Friday premiered on August 4th, 2003, in Los Angeles, and then August 6, 2003, in the United States. It was produced by Andrew Gunn, directed by Mark Waters. The screenplay was by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon. It's based on the children's novel Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers. The music is by Rolfe Kent, and it stars among others Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman / Anna Coleman, Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman / Tess Coleman, Mark Harmon as Ryan, Chad Michael Murray as Jake, Harold Gould as Alan, Tess's father, Ryan Malgarini as Harry Coleman, and Rosalind Chao as Pei Pei Chiang. The budget was $26 million, and the box office was $160.8 million.

Caroline Aimetti 12:57

Woo!

Conor Perkins 12:58

I will give you some uh just like a couple fun facts because you gave some fun facts. Um Jamie Lee Curtis only joined the production within like, I believe, a week of it starting. Originally, they were trying to get Jodie Foster, who played the like Anna character, the daughter character in the 1976 version. They were trying to get her to come in and play the Tess Coleman, and then she couldn't do it, and then they had some other people, and then they couldn't do it. And it was only like after someone like reached out and was like, You should you should look at Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jamie Lee Curtis came in at the 11th hour. Also, Lindsay Lohan wasn't going to play Anna either because they saw her audition tape and they were like, it was kind of meh. And so, like, they were looking at other people. Yeah, they were looking at other people, which is baffling when you can think of what they're actually doing in this movie, and like absolutely. Jamie Lee Curtis received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for the first time. I forgot about that. Wow. Yeah.

Caroline Aimetti 14:01

Wow.

Conor Perkins 14:02

So that was the right move. It was very well received, and it sits at an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. IndieWire named it the best body swap film of all time. And most critics uh praised the performances, particularly that of Curtis and Lohan, and the script, while also criticizing the transformation, arguing that it relied on many outdated stereotypes and problematic depictions of Asian characters. This is the third adaptation of the novel and the second from Disney after the 1976 version starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. And then following the success of this 2003 version of the film, Lohan and Curtis returned for a sequel, Freakier Friday, this time a four-way body swap, and have teased being interested in filming a third time, and they were like, we would do a six-way body swap.

Caroline Aimetti 14:59

Can we do a crossover with this and Life-Size 3?

Conor Perkins 15:03

Maybe. Maybe. Have you seen Freakier Friday yet?

Caroline Aimetti 15:06

I still have not.

Conor Perkins 15:07

I started watching it. It's good as shit, man.

Caroline Aimetti 15:10

Oh, okay. I gotta watch that. I gotta watch that. Okay.

Conor Perkins 15:14

But I will give you a plot synopsis for Freaky Friday, the first one. So single mother Tess Coleman and her teenage daughter Anna couldn't be more different, and it is driving them both insane. After receiving cryptic fortunes at a Chinese restaurant, the two wake up the next day to discover that they have somehow switched bodies. Unable to switch back, they are forced to masquerade as one another until a solution can be found. In the process, they develop a new sense of respect and understanding for one another. This movie, I hyperfixated on this movie, and I know it like annoyed the crap out of my sisters.

Caroline Aimetti 15:52

I didn't know this about you.

Conor Perkins 15:54

I hyperfixated on this movie. I hyperfixated on this soundtrack as well. I would like wake up every morning and watch and watch Freaky Friday.

Caroline Aimetti 16:02

Really?

Conor Perkins 16:03

I don't understand. Yeah, I don't know why. I don't know why. Well, that's funny because maybe it's because it's a good movie, and like I know what a good movie is.

Caroline Aimetti 16:11

I kind of had that experience with Life-Size, so this is gonna be really fun.

Conor Perkins 16:16

It's gonna be really fun.

Caroline Aimetti 16:17

Wow. Okay, I'm excited.

Conor Perkins 16:18

All right, so now let's talk about the transformation magic rules / like the process of it.

Caroline Aimetti 16:25

Yes.

Conor Perkins 16:25

So I'll start because I'm already talking with Freaky Friday, and then we'll go back to Life-Size.

Caroline Aimetti 16:31

Perfect.

Conor Perkins 16:31

So in Freaky Friday, the way that the magic works. So Anna and Tess, they receive fortune cookies at a Chinese restaurant, deliberately given to them by Mrs. Chiang, Pei Pei, the restaurant manager's mother. Upon opening the cookies, the fortune reads: "A journey soon begins, its prize reflected in another's eyes. When what you see is what you lack, then selfless love will change you back." Then an earthquake happens that only the two are able to feel with the body switch happening at midnight of the next day, Friday. And then when the spell is broken and the fortune is completed, another earthquake ensues. This time everyone else feels except for Anna and Tess. And then when the earthquake finishes, their bodies have swapped back. And so that's the magic of the body swap in this. Let's do magic for Life-Size. How's it work?

Caroline Aimetti 17:22

Perfect. It's it's rather in-depth. So let me break it down for you.

Conor Perkins 17:26

Okay, great. Because I'm following all of it, but I'll explain it.

Caroline Aimetti 17:31

Again, this was the part of it that being the child that I was, I was like, Oh, I'm telling me about the book.

Conor Perkins 17:38

Caroline the occultist child. Like, this is everything.

Caroline Aimetti 17:41

This was that's part. I was obsessed with Barbies. I was obsessed with like occult kind of mummies, shit like that. Like, this was my dream. This was my dream.

Conor Perkins 17:48

Where is Past Pages bookstore? Where is Past Pages?

Caroline Aimetti 17:51

I wanted to walk through the beaded curtain. I wanted to get to the rare books. Like, yeah.

Conor Perkins 17:55

That's another thing I think that these both films both have in common. Beaded curtains. They both have beaded curtains.

Caroline Aimetti 18:00

It's the early 2000s, people. Come on. All right. So, as we know from the plot synopsis, Casey in this film has sadly lost her mother. So Casey visits a mysticism and spells website where she researches resurrection in the hopes of bringing her mother back to life. The website suggests Holcroft's Book of the Dead. After stealing it, it was expensive, okay, from a nearby rare bookstore. She only was a little bit more than a few years. She paid for as much of it as she could. Okay. Casey reads the Resurrecting Lost Life Forces chapter, which involves preparing an altar in order to summon the life force. The altar includes a seashell, crystals, plants, and more, but most importantly, a remnant from the object to be transformed, placed in the center of the altar. Casey decides to use hair from her mother's brush. Unfortunately, a well-meaning but very annoying Drew, Ben's friend and coworker, barges in and uses the brush to brush the hair of the Eve doll she just gifted Casey while Casey is in the bathroom. Casey lights the required candle and speaks the incantation, which only works once and must be repeated until the transformation is complete: "Zomba Tarka Ishtu Nebarim." Okay? Don't forget it.

Conor Perkins 19:17

That was my "Treguna Mekoides Trecorum Satis Dee." Like that is what that is to me. That is that is yours.

Caroline Aimetti 19:23

"Zomba Tarka Ishtu Nebarim." Honestly, one day we're gonna need shirts with both of those.

Conor Perkins 19:28

It's very like "Bet y March, Bet y Guythur, Bet y Gugaun."

Caroline Aimetti 19:35

I can't. You're gonna break me this episode. I can't. Okay.

Conor Perkins 19:38

It's very "Ichita Copita Meleka Mystica...."

Caroline Aimetti 19:43

So we see the book shake, glitter, and glow, and so does the Eve doll across the room, unbeknownst to Casey. Casey falls asleep chanting the spell and wakes up next to a living human-sized Eve. Spells from the book become permanent upon the setting sun of the fourth day and can only be reversed using Holcroft's volume two, The Book of Awakenings. A few days later, when Eve realizes her place isn't Sunnyvale, her home, her doll home, she gets her hands on volume two, which teaches her the reversal spell. It doesn't seem to require as much, no alter in sight. But Eve chants, "Sun of Suns, Moon of Moons, once awakened, now to return." And as the sun sets, she is returned to her doll form. So that's how that works. Very occult, very, very occult.

Conor Perkins 20:31

It's also very interesting that like the resurrection spell is this like made-up language, but then Book of Awakenings, to send her back, it's just like, oh, just use English. Just use it.

Caroline Aimetti 20:41

And you don't need an alter, nothing, nothing.

Conor Perkins 20:43

No, no, no, no. This is just a quick returns line.

Caroline Aimetti 20:46

Oh man.

Conor Perkins 20:47

Okay, so let's talk about we're gonna divide this into the two things execution of the magic, magical realism, transformations, and then the characterization sort of as a result. So let's start with what's working for the magic.

Caroline Aimetti 21:01

Okay, great.

Conor Perkins 21:02

Let's let's let's work with Life-Size.

Caroline Aimetti 21:04

Great. So I think the biggest thing that's working here for me is that the magic is very precise. There's a spell book, a spell, an altar. I already said this, but I was a child of darkness kind of kid who was obsessed with shit like mummies. And so I remember this part of the film specifically having a hold on me. It really hooked me into the story.

Conor Perkins 21:26

Yeah, there's like eggs in the in the altar too, which I'm like, oh, there's more of a page that I can even see.

Caroline Aimetti 21:33

Yes.

Conor Perkins 21:33

Yes.

Caroline Aimetti 21:34

I mean, also the other pages that she flips past all have, I want to know what this book says. Okay. Somebody make it for me. Okay. And it definitely feels surprising in a setting that is otherwise very Disney channel esque, but I like that about it. I do talk about it later and what might not be working. It's more of a personal taste thing. But for me, personal taste wise, the precision of this and the occult nature of it is working for me. Also, Casey's reason for casting the spell to bring back her mom is very heartbreaking. And then even though Eve is so fun and we love her and we love watching her, it's interesting that we can also feel like, damn, that was Casey's one chance to see her mom again. And so I think the stakes and finality of this spell works really well for again, hooking us into the stakes of this story. I'll talk about this when we talk about Freaky Friday as well. But just like Freaky Friday, the rules about how long the spell lasts allow us to know that there is an end game here. So we can kind of relax and let ourselves get carried with the story because we know we've got kind of a finite amount of time or we've got a goal in mind. But in this case, again, I think it also helped add stakes. First, having us wonder if Casey was going to be stuck with Eve forever on this timeline that we're working on. And then if she would be able to stop her from casting the reversal in time. I also think Eve's reaction to the world is on point. Like what we have allowed Eve to know and not know or be able to do and not be able to do uh largely tracks for me here. And like we've we've touched on a little bit before, like this was kind of the Barbie movie before the Barbie movie, down to her crying for the first time and being like, What's happening?

Conor Perkins 23:18

Yeah, the the crying scene that's like exact in the cry the crying scene, but also there was a moment where she like looks around and she sees like different people and in love. And I was like, And this is the bus stop scene that they tried to cut out of Barbie, that Greta Gerwig is like, if we're not doing this, what's the what the fuck is the point? What are we even doing here? Yeah, and she was like, This is the scene from Life-Size. I'm like, that's probably what she was doing. But I'm like, this is the scene from Life-Size. Life-Size was doing it.

Caroline Aimetti 23:45

Yeah, yes. And they're like I said, I just feel like the details of it make a lot of sense to me, even down to the point of like, I don't think when the spell was cast that the Eve doll was holding her purse. So the purse is still doll toy purse when she's like, What happened in my purse? So we're being specific, we're looking out for details, which I very much enjoy. And she only has her one outfit, and you know, her whole wardrobe didn't come to this world. It's just Eve in that form. And so she's got to buy new clothes. Like, we've got rules and we're following and tracking them through. And at the end of the day, this is at this time a totally original, magical idea. And it's also brilliant. What happened? What would a doll be like if she came into our world? And I think there are only so many ways you can achieve that happening. Like, what is the explanation there? And it might seem a little bit, again, we'll talk about it a little while. It might seem maybe a little bit tonally out of the box to have it be from this like Book of the Dead. But at the end of the day, there are really only so many ways you can make it happen because unlike the Barbie movie in which we're in Barbie's world and it's like a fully functioning, like its own version of our world. Yeah, there's no decision coming from Eve. So she has to be brought here in this supernatural way. And there are only so many options. And this one very much worked for me. So yeah. Yeah.

Conor Perkins 25:05

Yeah. I'm I'm have a lot of agreements with you there. Like I think a strength is we've got a really cool spell. It utilizes a bunch of items and symbols of the occult and resurrection. It feels intentional, it's mysterious. We've got instructions.

Caroline Aimetti 25:21

Love.

Conor Perkins 25:21

And it also doesn't feel like it's drawing from any one single culture's traditions. So it's kind of left a bit ambiguous there. And I think that's a plus for it. And I think there's just like so much misunderstanding and harmful stereotypes when it comes to portraying mysticism on screen. So kind of like muddying it and making it a little bit ambiguous, I think that's like really smart. But at the same time, I want to know more about all of this. Like I want them to get even more specific.

Caroline Aimetti 25:52

Like, I want to turn, I'm like you, I want to turn through the pages of I was like freeze framing and trying to read the other pages because I have a problem.

Conor Perkins 25:58

I'm like, I want to know, did Holcroft write any other books?

Caroline Aimetti 26:01

Like is Holcroft from HalloweenTown? Like, what is this?

Conor Perkins 26:05

Is this person? I want the lore. I need the lore. Speaking of which, I'm like, the the spell book itself was just like really, really cool to me. And I think with the magic, the the plot device of needing a volume two to reverse the spell, I think really works in the film's favor of giving it some checkpoints and structure to it. Yeah. Where it's like, why can't she just reverse this? Because you need volume two. Duh. Like that's a really, really good thing.

Caroline Aimetti 26:32

Yep. Simple and straightforward, but like super effective. Yeah.

Conor Perkins 26:36

What could be better?

Caroline Aimetti 26:37

Okay. So I mentioned this before. Even though I'm into the spookiness, the Book of the Dead of it all, I can see how some people might say it makes this movie feel a little too Halloween-y and doesn't quite match the rest of the film tonally. I don't feel that way, but it does feel like a very different, it feels like a different comes from a different world sometimes. I love that about it though.

Conor Perkins 26:59

See, I mean, I would I think that you're being generous by including that as a weakness, but I'm I'm trying because I know I love this movie. Well, we see, but like in in the defense, like basically playing you of it, like you also have to take into account Casey and Casey's characterization. We're dealing with death and grief, and you know And Casey's kind of like a tomboyish type character. Like she's not gonna go to like sparkle and shine, wake up your mom, like that kind of book of the very true.

Caroline Aimetti 27:27

And that and that's a thing that I I guess I didn't mention before, too, is I do think another strength of this magic is that it is born out of grief. It's a very interesting story, and it's not something we get in like, you know, straight to TV movies a lot, in children's films a lot. Like we really through this magic, we do get to see this family dealing with grief. And I think that's really, really special. And I think the only reason I can really go into detail to pick the magic apart a little here is because we have the Barbie movie to compare it to, unfortunately. So, as I started to touch on in that world in the Barbie film, Barbie is living and sentient in her world. And when she lands in our world, she remains as such. When Eve transforms back into the Eve of Sunnyvale, when she reverses the spell, she appears in our world in doll form. Even though the Sunny Vale we were looking at is sort of in our world too. Like that was literally, literally Sunnyvale, right? She's not going to this like Barbie world in the way that Barbie does. Like she had to literally go to Sunnyvale, and I think that was it. Because she was looking at the movie.

Conor Perkins 28:36

That was a photo shoot place.

Caroline Aimetti 28:37

Yeah, but I think that's Sunnyvale.

Conor Perkins 28:40

Oh, I oh, maybe.

Caroline Aimetti 28:41

Because it's like she looked at she was like all seeing all the things she missed, her car and the no one live there? I was like, are you is it just you and that Prince Eric? Isn't that Prince Eric? Prince Eric. The fact that they use that is hilarious. Um, so I'm kind of confused there. But she says she is going to go back to Sunnyvale and change things and kind of like help all the dolls be better, which to me, I'm also like, I think they're all Eve. Again, a little questions here. So I guess she's sentient in Sunnyvale, but we just can't see it with the human eye, perhaps, which also adds this sort of uncanny quality to like Casey is holding her and like Eve is sort of trapped in there. I don't know. I don't know how it works. I'm confused. And with those maybe it's better. Yeah, with the when she gets the haircut, I'm crying.

Conor Perkins 29:28

Um Tyra, baby. No, girl.

Caroline Aimetti 29:31

And and this part of it, I think, also ties into what I'll talk about later when it comes to character transformation is, you know, Eve at the end is like, I'm gonna bring all of these things to the dolls, to Sunnyvale. And I feel like that didn't quite happen the full way. And I think part of it is because I don't know how bad how does she do that? Where is Sunnyvale to her? So, like, does her consciousness separate from the doll when she's in Sunnyvale? I mean, none of it is explained. We can't, we don't have time. But yes, because we don't see Eve existing in any way in Sunnyvale, all of that is left very mysterious. And I don't really know how that works.

Conor Perkins 30:07

I'm gonna tack onto this a little bit because I agree. And I think part of it comes from there's a trap of specificity around magic. As soon as you start creating so many rules, you start opening a bunch of other doors and you expose yourself, I think, to a lot of people trying to find loopholes and things like that. Whereas if you make sort of like very broad strokes of the pen in the way that like Barbie does, where it's like, they're Barbie's. Barbie looks like anyone, and you're just like, great.

Caroline Aimetti 30:41

So now Barbie just has to like drive forever, and then she like gets stuck.

Conor Perkins 30:46

Yep, and we're just like we're we have answers for them. They're broad strokes, they're simple, and so we just like it shuts a bunch of those those doors. And I think because there is like there is an intentionality and meticulousness to the way that this magic works, that there are some things that in the trap of a 90-minute, like sort of made-for-TV film, yeah, you can't address. And so then it starts spinning out into a whole bunch of other questions. And I feel like that it fell victim to that a little bit in that way, where I I have I have a bunch of questions about the magic. Like, if the spell was successful with the mom, would she have just awakened in her coffin since Eve just awakened where her doll ended up? Right.

Caroline Aimetti 31:28

Because I was wondering also, how do you know that the- you have to keep saying the incantation until how do you know when it's completely how do you know? Yeah, yeah.

Conor Perkins 31:35

When the resurrection spell brings something to life, why does it make Eve bigger? Wouldn't she just be like the doll but alive? Resurrection implies that something has died. So how could that have worked on Eve if she was never alive?

Caroline Aimetti 31:51

Well, also you asking this made me go back and it's interesting because the chapter that the spell is from is resurrecting lost life forces, like you said, if it was never alive. But the thing that needs to be placed on the altar is just a remnant from the object to be transformed. So I guess that's the loophole of like it doesn't have to have been anything that was ever alive before, but then resurrecting is the wrong word.

Conor Perkins 32:15

Yeah. I can't believe that was. And then I'm like, what happened with the mom's DNA in the spell? How did that work? Would they mix together? Or is it like the most recent hair or the most prominent hair in the brush? Does that get preference?

Caroline Aimetti 32:28

Yeah, no, you're right. And you know what's so funny is I really sat here and I was like, okay, let's really try to think. And the thing that I really was like, okay, there's there's obviously gaps here, is the doll sentient world thing, but you're right. The main thing that is an issue here is that it's not a resurrection.

Conor Perkins 32:42

Yeah, that's interesting. That's my thing. I'm like, it's like it would be simple if it was just like life spell. Like if they just called it like a spell of life or something. I I have two other things that I wrote down as weaknesses. One is just like very specific. The dated CGI is inconsistent. Like the initial look of the magic when the spell is being cast.

Caroline Aimetti 33:03

It was similar. No, it wasn't.

Conor Perkins 33:06

It was completely different from well, it's a reversal spell. One was like blue and like vibraty.

Caroline Aimetti 33:12

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 33:12

And then the other one had like all of these swirly, like magic sparkles.

Caroline Aimetti 33:16

First of all, they were both glittery. Okay. One is a reversal, but they were both giving me a little bit of Brandy Cinderella magic, which I'm living for.

Conor Perkins 33:24

Okay. No, no, no. No, that's that's fine. But I was just like, the magics, they don't, I didn't think that they look similar.

Caroline Aimetti 33:30

And so I'm like, so they didn't know. I thought it was because they were different spells.

Conor Perkins 33:34

I get that they were different spells, but they're there's they should be connected. One is basically like, hey, undo, undo, control Z, like kind of, I don't know.

Caroline Aimetti 33:43

Right.

Conor Perkins 33:43

We also like we see the transformation back into a doll, but not the transformation from doll to human. And I get that this is a choice. Like, we're not we're gonna show it once, but if they're showing it to us once, I'm like, I do think like the magic, even just like the magic color, needs to look the same because it makes me feel like something was hidden from me. Where I'm like, if it is two different spells and the two different spells manifest in two different ways, why do we only get to see part of it in the first one and then we get to see the full thing in the second one?

Caroline Aimetti 34:13

Like because we're trying to have the same experience that Casey has of like, oh shit, that's it. Sure.

Conor Perkins 34:19

Yeah, no, that's valid. That's valid. Yeah, I'm just I'm getting nitpicky.

Caroline Aimetti 34:22

I think also and I'm also getting defensive.

Conor Perkins 34:25

No, no, no, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. But also the timing of the spell for me, I think it's a key component of the magic. It comes permanent at sundown on the fourth day.

Caroline Aimetti 34:33

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 34:34

And yet throughout the movie, I found it really, really easy to lose track of the timing. Like about halfway through the movie, I completely forgot that they were racing against time, in addition to the question of like the will they won't they reverse the spell. So I don't know, that's something that brings in a lot of stakes. Timing, I think, brings in a lot of stakes, and then it goes away for a bit and then it comes back at the end, as opposed to feeling like it was like consistent pressure on the plot, which I think could have been a little bit more effective to make it.

Caroline Aimetti 35:05

And I wonder, I wonder if some of that is it's like if we focused on the stakes of like racing against the clock, all of these feelings that Ben seems to be having about Eve are like, dude, it's been it's been four days, yeah. Like, please just like stop.

Conor Perkins 35:21

Yeah. Yeah, which I'm kind of like I could have done without that. But then also, like, how do you have Tyra Banks living in your home and like we're not gonna talk about that?

Caroline Aimetti 35:31

She's looks so good. Yeah, yeah.

Conor Perkins 35:33

So that that's just my thing. But I'm just like, I wish that there would have been and I and I saw them like trying, like in the the it takes a week for the book to get here, but then also like it got there fast.

Caroline Aimetti 35:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know.

Conor Perkins 35:46

It was like the timing was like a thing for me.

Caroline Aimetti 35:50

Okay, I feel you.

Conor Perkins 35:51

Okay. Let's talk about the magic for Freaky Friday. So things that are working, I think its specificity and its simplicity is working really, really well. It's a consciousness switching between two bodies, period. Internal processes from the brain / consciousness / soul, like habits, mannerisms, monologues. They sound like the character that's inhabiting the body. All physical characteristics and processes like speech and appearance are that of the opposite person. Super clear, easy to learn. It doesn't take us long to understand the rules and agree to them, which that's something that like I think the Barbie movie does really well. Like they set out the rule, we agree to them, we move on. I wasn't like sitting here thinking of like what all the loopholes could be. I think it's a strength that the magic is shown through physical, practical effects as opposed to CGI elements. Like, in fact, it's often using really interesting camera movement, like the moving aerial shots between two bodies when the actors are changing the sleeping position. We've got the split screen across a door and shaking the camera, flickering the lights for that first earthquake, the practical effects, the cinematography, it just makes it all feel very grounded and real so that there's not too much of a leap for us, I think, in the magic. Not saying that CGI magic is bad at all, but I was like, they had an opportunity, they were like, we could do CGI, or we could just find ways to ground it in reality. And they were like, we'll do that one because we don't need to do anything else. So they didn't. And I really liked that. And then for me, I think a real strength is the time aspect of this spell. The spell lasts until the fortune is complete, period. There's no time limit on the spell, yet all of the magic of the film is contained to one single day. Storytelling-wise, that makes things super clear, gives us some good boundaries for the spell. But what I really like is that by the spell being open-ended, it takes away a lot of the pesky loophole questions that inevitably come up around magic because it's just like, no, this is how it is until the spell is satisfied with the change. So it's like, oh, but could they do this? It's like, well, did it did the spell finish? Then no. Like you get your answers to a lot of those loophole questions if you're thinking of them. And then also, and this sort of falls into a strength in the characters and the transformation arc, too. Because there is no time limit on the spell, the pressure that Anna and Tess have to change back and their timeline, it's completely self-generated and therefore can support that character growth journey for each of them. The scene at the rehearsal dinner where they accept that they've basically failed and are not going to change back in time for the wedding, is pivotal in getting them to the place they need to actually break the spell. At that point, they each decide to sacrifice something for the other. Tess, her wedding, so that Anna doesn't have to go through with it in Tess's body. And Anna, in giving her approval of Mark in the speech, and not calling off the wedding because she knows what it means to her mom. And additionally, because of how open-ended the spell is, they get this kind of like additional layer to the lesson that they can't rush the other person to be who they want the other person to be. So in addition to like gaining respect for the other person's perspective and like this, this, that, and the other, there's this other thing of like, don't rush someone to be who you want them to be. I just think it really deepens things a little bit, gives more sophistication to the Tess and Anna character arc. Because there isn't just like one single takeaway from the overall magical experience. There's like multiple things. Like, if someone were to like give a test and they were like, What are the takeaways? There's not one answer here. There's a lot of takeaways.

Caroline Aimetti 39:39

Yeah, I had a lot of the same things. Like I said, uh, having the guide for breaking the spell is super satisfying. We know what the end goal is, and we know that it's a family-friendly movie and they're gonna achieve it. So it's more of like we can enjoy the chaos that ensues so much more because we do know it's going to work out because some of these situations are so stressful. Um that makes it very it makes it an easy watch as well, which sometimes I'm looking for. Like I'll talk about this later, but sometimes in these magical realism films, I'm looking for this comfort factor sometimes, and it gives me that. And I also agree that I enjoy that we didn't use any CGI. So much of it being sold into performances is what kept us leaning more into the realism part of the magical realism, which I think is right for this story. Like I think it's right that Freaky Friday leans a little bit more into the realism part.

Conor Perkins 40:34

Because so much of the magic has to be in the acting, it's in how you're inhabiting the character.

Caroline Aimetti 40:38

And it's yeah, and the lesson is I mean, the lesson of Life-Size is emotional as well. But I think Life-Size leaning more into the magic of magical realism is also right. I think it really struck the right balance. And exactly what you said too, one of the things that really stood out for me is that the magic didn't allow them to pick up skills like Anna's musical abilities, which is a mental rather than physical skill. So we were very specific in what they were able to achieve. So yeah, absolutely agree.

Conor Perkins 41:09

Weaknesses, uh I've got one very obvious, very glaring one, which is it relies on dated and problematic racial stereotypes. They get addressed in the sequel film. I was like, I want to know how they get addressed, and they do Rosalind Chao in the second film, which has a huge Asian cast and is directed by an Asian woman. She doesn't do she doesn't do that sort of put-on accent anymore. And she has a lot more agency to the point where they're like, Are you doing this? Are you doing this? And she's like, I don't have time. She was like, You really think that I have time to be like trying to solve all of your problems when I have my own like culinary empire that I'm trying to manage? Like, no, I'm not trying to teach you lessons or something like that. It's so it's like they take little digs away at some of the problems of the first one. And you know, it's just like a frustrating choice because the Chinese fortune cookie concept for the Switch doesn't come from either the book or the previous remake.

Caroline Aimetti 42:08

That's what I was gonna ask. Is that from what is that from?

Conor Perkins 42:10

It was very much made up for this version of the film, so it just as easily could have been something else. What? Or if they wanted to do it, because I'm not saying that like you can't do it, but they could have put more intentionality into it and they could have done it a little bit more responsibly than the way that it was done. But on a side note, it is nice to see how many people who are involved with its production who are willing to recognize and call out it being problematic and efforts being taken in the sequel film to fix it, they're all very effective and very intentional. So, but that's that's kind of like a glaring thing. There's a lot of pretty harmful things that have been done with the sequel.

Caroline Aimetti 42:52

It's referred to as quote Asian voodoo, which is so fucking horrible. I mean, even for 2003, what are we doing? And it's like, yes, like you've built it into the story in some way. Maybe there's ways to not be so offensive, but you're having someone say that, yeah. Come on. And it's also like aside from the stereotypes in the characterization, and that that's the fact that that's where the magic comes from. You know, with Pei Pei's mother, it's like she causes the switch between Anna and Tess simply because she likes to meddle. And that in and of itself is a stereotype it's a stereotype. It's a huge that is a huge, very problematic stereotype. And we don't know a single other thing about her.

Conor Perkins 43:43

Yeah.

Caroline Aimetti 43:43

Like I she doesn't even have a first name. Like that come you're gonna have the catalyst of this magic. She doesn't even have a first name or any motivation or any true motivation for doing this, rather than like, I'm not sure. She just wants to teach a lesson. Yeah, I like to meddle. I'm a little like, you know. I'm gonna give that little mischievous grin.

Conor Perkins 44:02

I mean, in some ways, it is kind of giving the Enchantress in Beauty and the Beast, where it's like, I'm gonna teach you a lesson.

Caroline Aimetti 44:07

My God.

Conor Perkins 44:08

But also, like, we don't really like her.

Caroline Aimetti 44:10

And that's like, you know, for the good of the kingdom, okay? Like this ruler is bad. Okay. This is these are just two women who are trying to survive.

Conor Perkins 44:17

Yeah, they're having, they're having a night out with their family, like having someone's getting married in a few days.

Caroline Aimetti 44:22

Like, you could have just not done that. Okay. And and beyond that, it's also like, okay, how and why does she have this ability? Where does it come from? What does she have to do in order to make people undergo this transformation? Is she what is she? And and so we're just we're assuming that we're giving her these magical abilities because of her ethnicity. No, absolutely not. There's no specificity to it at all. It's just generic. Yes, well, of course she would have magical abilities. That's fucked. Okay. That's so fucked up.

Conor Perkins 44:58

Yeah, I do want to refer to when I was saying when I was applauding the specificity of, I'm talking about the spell in particular, not necessarily where it comes from.

Caroline Aimetti 45:06

Yes, absolutely. Um, if you're if we're not going to have any kind of explanation or backstory, then we need to be operating in some kind of world where there are a few select people who have abilities, but we're not it, we're in the real world, except for this one magical element. So it's we don't have to harp on it anymore. And then the only other thing for me is in the what the fortune says, selfless love will change you back. This I think this dips a little bit into character arc and transformation for me. It doesn't quite explain can you be changed back if one person shows selfless love, or do you both have to? Um, because I think "Ultimate"ly what Anna does is selfless. But I I think actually it could have gone a little bit further for me in order to be like, okay, we're locked in. She did the selfless thing for her mother. We're good now.

Conor Perkins 46:01

Um so it's just like I thought it was clear because she's basically saying, like, I'm accepting, she's saying I'm accepting Ryan. And then she's also saying, like, I'm not calling off the wedding. I know it's important to you. I'm gonna go through with this. I'm not gonna make because Tess is like Tess in Anna's body is like, you need to call off the wedding. And she's like, and if Ryan is the person that I think he is, then he'll understand. But it's like breaking her heart to do that. But like that to me is selfless because she's like, I'm not gonna make my daughter go through a wedding to the love of my life when she's still having issues about whether or not she wants him in the family. And then Anna's response being like, Yes, I do want him in the family, and I'll go through with this for you. I thought that was pretty selfless.

Caroline Aimetti 46:51

I just think if the spell was cast on me, I would be like, I'm going to achieve the selfless love. Like, I'm gonna try hard to do this as soon as possible because I want to switch back. Because the the fortune didn't say that we both had to do it. It's like, you know what I mean? There's a little bit of like it's nitpicky, it's nitpicky, but it's like but but it's the same thing that you were doing with Life-Size, also. Okay. Where, but it it is like for me too, if you actually track what the fortune says, okay. The oh, so the prize of the journey is reflected in the other person's eyes. I guess that is talking about the switch. When what you see is what you lack, then selfless love will change you back. I don't completely follow the logic of that. When what you see through the other person's eyes, or when what you see, you know what I'm saying? Like, I I'm not following totally. If I got this fortune, I'd be like, this could mean about 20 different things. I don't know how to solve this because I don't know what you're asking me to do. I got the selfless love part, but I don't know like what I see is what I lack. Because I to me, that gives me a little bit more of a story of like you each have something that you also need to take from each other.

Conor Perkins 48:00

Right. And I do think that they get that. Like when Tess realizes in Anna's body, like the bravery of going up on stage and like that, that sort of thing, and and like that that's something that she lacks, that sort of bravery. And then I think Anna recognizes like the thing that she lacks that her mother offers is I think could be a couple things, but I I think mainly you see it in the scene with her brother when she goes to the parent-teacher conference.

Caroline Aimetti 48:33

I just don't see them, I think they learn it and they appreciate it, but I don't see them taking it and being like, hey, there's a good quality about you that I could take and they're, you know, and doing that switch as much.

Conor Perkins 48:43

All right. So let's talk about the character arcs because we're already moving in that direction anyway.

Caroline Aimetti 48:48

Okay. So for what what was satisfying for me in Life-Size as far as transformation character arcs go is what Eve starts to learn that not being perfect and good at everything is okay, and that she can make mistakes and still be a role model. That's a good arc for a doll transformation movie that's more aimed at kids. Like that's the right, we're on the right track of like what would this type of character need to learn? We'll talk about it in a minute. I don't think it went as far as it could have. But I think the general lesson for her was a good choice. I just wish that she had taken that all the way, but we'll talk about it in a moment. But we were on the right track there. Also, you know, Casey going from pushing people away to like finding her way back to her dad and her friends post-Eve. Again, it ties into what I think makes this really interesting and valuable as a story, is just like the grief factor of it all and like the, you know, her her finding her way through grief. And, you know, she she still is in tears at the end of the movie, too, but it's okay. Like it's, you know, she when we see her at the beginning of the movie, she is removed and she's so sad, but she's not crying. And by the end of the movie, she's crying and she's letting it out. And I I love that what we did with her wasn't anything of like, oh yeah, like I can see that dolls are awesome now. No, it's just like what she moved through had to do with with grief. And I think that's much more sophisticated.

Conor Perkins 50:14

I agree. I said that I think she has like the biggest, most meaningful character journey in the film because she goes from being afraid of moving on after the loss of something to being able to embrace that moving on is a part of the process, and she gets to experience that after Eve makes the decision to leave. Like Casey wants her to stay, but Eve is making a decision to leave, and Casey has to learn to navigate that. So it's almost kind of like she gets a do-over of the loss of her mother, and now is better equipped to navigate through it.

Caroline Aimetti 50:49

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 50:49

And so I'm like seeing that, I think that's like top tier for me.

Caroline Aimetti 50:54

Yeah. One moment that really stood out for me, too, is when Eve says to Casey, you really are my special friend, because you're my special friend. It's her little catchphrase. It's such a beautiful moment. And it felt like Eve really learned what that means. She moves away from like at the beginning, she's talking about like Eve can do this, Eve can do that. I've done every job, I know how to do all these things, to really focusing rather than on Eve, to focusing on Casey and therefore fulfilling her true mission, which is to help girls, helping this one specific girl. And so I it wasn't such an overt, like, you know, Eve is this totally self-absorbed person. I liked the lighter touch that we took with it, but it still was there, that it was kind of all about Eve, haha, at the beginning. And then it became very much about the people around her. And you see, and you see Eve touch everybody in that way when it becomes much more about like her looking people in the eye and reflecting something back to them that's beautiful about them. I think she gave everybody a really else a beautiful arc because of that. We see, you know, with her giving love and attention to Ellit and her her fixing the horrendous coworker of Ben's, who was like sexist and all over women and everything, and just like I'm gonna look at you and I'm gonna acknowledge you, and that can heal you.

Conor Perkins 52:11

Reminding Ben what's important to the point of like she wrote into his planner that Casey's game was happening, which I'm also just like, bro.

Caroline Aimetti 52:19

Yeah, we'll talk about him in a minute. Okay.

Conor Perkins 52:23

Yeah, no, I pretty much I agree with those things, and the biggest strength of this, the biggest transformation for me is Casey. And also just like, again, another kudos to Lindsay Lohan, like how this child acts that and navigates through all of that. It's so specific, too, and so brave. Like she's just so willing to go there. Yes, yes, yes, and have it be messy and not pretty, agree. Which is, I think, hard for a kid, too.

Caroline Aimetti 52:55

Okay, well, now that we're talking about Ben, Casey's father, let's talk about him. Okay. Here's what's here's what's unsatisfying. And part of this is again, I think this happens to me in Freaky Friday. It happens to me with both of these movies, is some of this isn't necessarily in the unsatisfying writing of an arc. It's more in that, like, some of these people are just shit. Yeah, it's like so. When Ben finally decides to put Casey above his job, it turns out the forces against him were basically just him. When he finally decides to go to the game, his boss doesn't scream at him or threaten to fire him. His co-worker's high five. High five. So it was just him not really having his priorities straight.

Conor Perkins 53:43

And he does say like it was just he was like, it was really like it was just too hard. It was too hard.

Caroline Aimetti 53:49

But I'm also just like, well, sorry, sorry, bro.

Conor Perkins 53:51

You're kind of like a bad dad. Yeah.

Caroline Aimetti 53:53

You decided to have a kid. It's yeah, sometimes you have to be the adult.

Conor Perkins 53:57

Sometimes you get to be sad to make your kid happy.

Caroline Aimetti 54:00

Exactly. And so it's funny you say that because honestly, though, this could this could almost go in the satisfying section because super realistic, because I know a lot of dads who would do this exact thing if they suddenly had to single parent. And the parent who passed is the one who was showing up and is the one who was like kind of being that person for their kid. And I would love to see those guys learn their lesson. Sorry, not sorry. So who knows? Maybe it was satisfying after all. But really, like I was waiting for him to like look his boss in the eye and his boss is like, if you leave now, you know, this is gonna happen. I would have loved to see him be like, fuck it. I my kid has a game, I don't care anymore. I would have loved that.

Conor Perkins 54:38

Yeah, like even his thing is like, listen, you know how hard I've worked. And if this is enough, yeah, this is if this cost me partner, then that's like on you.

Caroline Aimetti 54:48

Yeah. But the guy's kind of like, no, no, I'll still give it.

Conor Perkins 54:50

He's like, no, I'll still give you a partner. But I'm also just sort of like, he should be like, you know what? Fuck being partner. This is more important. Like that's yeah, exactly. That's the energy we were looking for, and it exactly still felt like he was kind of like hedging his bed a little bit. He was, he was hey, I should still be considered for partner, but I'm gonna go.

Caroline Aimetti 55:06

Yeah, he's kind of annoying. So Drew and he deserve each other, so it's fine.

Conor Perkins 55:10

Kind of. They're annoying. I'm like, can Casey be a doll too? Can can she be like, listen, I'm going with you.

Caroline Aimetti 55:17

That's what I was gonna suggest for Life-Size three. I want Casey to go to Sunnyvale.

Conor Perkins 55:21

Casey be like, I hate everything. Yeah, my dad sucked.

Caroline Aimetti 55:27

Oh man. Okay, and so I I touched on this earlier too, but I would have loved to see when we're talking about kind of the magic of like bringing things back to Sunnyvale and what how what does that all entail? I have no idea. I have no clue. Um, but I would have loved to see a little bit more of a change in the Eve dolls once Eve returns to Sunnyvale. Yes, they have the updated look, they have the Bob. God, not the Bob. I'm kind of a that that okay, let me say one thing. That feels when she steps out into that look. When I was a kid, I was like, I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life. This Bob, this pink sweater, the belly shirt. Oh my god.

Conor Perkins 56:06

It's literally what Elle Woods is in Legally Blonde. She's like, gave herself a bob with bangs. I'm like, that's literally what they just did. They gave her a bob with bangs.

Caroline Aimetti 56:18

Also, it's funny because that day, like, she needed to go get this but like she had a lot to do that day, but she made time for a haircut. And her new catchphrase does reflect her time with Casey because she talks about, you know, you're 100 watts. I do love that. But I wish what happened was that she had a different catchphrase that was something like the most important thing is that you try your best. That's something that Casey's mom taught her that then she passed to Eve, or you're amazing just the way you are, because that's what Eve learned. Yeah. And you don't have to be perfect.

Conor Perkins 56:50

So the Eve doll should be teaching girls that it really feels like the only change that happened in Eve is her outfit. Is her outfit and her hair.

Caroline Aimetti 57:00

And that's why girls like her because she finally looks modern.

Conor Perkins 57:03

And I'm like, that is so not the story that we told.

Caroline Aimetti 57:07

Anyway, that's the thing. That's that's the one disappointing thing for me here, is like, even though, yes, there are gaps here for me when it comes to like what is the consciousness of the doll and the magic. I actually it doesn't, it doesn't change my enjoyment. This does because it feels like we didn't quite stick the landing. Yeah. Because I want to see Eve teach girls, help girls, the thing that she keeps saying she is desperate to do by telling them that just as they are, they are enough. Like that's the whole thing. Oh, so sad.

Conor Perkins 57:40

It really is.

Caroline Aimetti 57:42

I also think we could have, and again, maybe I'm being influenced by the Barbie movie. We could have gone a bit deeper with Eve's experience with emotions. A lot of her journey was learning that she isn't perfect at everything. But her feeling what crying is like, she does this the same thing that happens to Barbie, where she like feel feels the tears on her face. It felt like a big moment, and then we're racing towards the end of the film, so it didn't really go anywhere. Yeah. There was just, I think it was like too many good ideas.

Conor Perkins 58:10

Yeah, those big moments for Eve's arc felt very, very rushed.

Caroline Aimetti 58:15

Yeah, too many good ideas for a 90-minute movie, I think.

Conor Perkins 58:18

And I think it's because they were also, they were trying to have give her like a very complete arc, Casey a very complete arc, Ben a very complete arc. And I'm like, I think you might have needed to choose two out of those three.

Caroline Aimetti 58:30

Even Drew, they had to have her come back and be like, we're kind of good now. Like, you know what I mean? It's just who I don't care about her.

Conor Perkins 58:36

I don't care about her. She infuriates me.

Caroline Aimetti 58:41

I know. Fantastic performance because she gave me the ick. But yeah, I it and you know, and I think a lot of it is because this was the first like doll comes to the real world film, and you know, the writers were completely on track, and like there's so many interesting questions there. Yeah, and they're just there's not enough for a family-friendly 90-minute movie. There's not enough time to kind of address them all. So I think maybe then if she's anatomically correct. My God, pleased, please.

Conor Perkins 59:11

And that man who works.

Caroline Aimetti 59:12

These men, these men, I mean, all of the men in this movie get rid of them. Suck. I mean, the sex the sexism is like obviously a part of the story, but it does, you know, bother me. But yes, I think if we could have, even though I love the moment when Eve cries and like feels that, I think maybe it would have been cleaner to kind of avoid that and just focus on Eve is going back to Sunnyvale and is going to tell all the dolls there, all the Eves or whoever, and then teach other girls that we are just enough as we are. It would have been really clean. Yeah.

Conor Perkins 59:44

Yeah. Or like if like if the focus is gonna be on Ben and Casey, then Eve needs to be sort of like a Mary Poppins figure where it's like, yes, there is maybe something that she'll take away, but she is there to catalyze change for these other people, and it's not really about her changing that much. Yeah, no, that's that's kind of like what I had. Um for Freaky Friday, strengths here for the characterization. I just think the characters are so damn clear, and the ways in which both Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan realize and embody these characters is really freaking incredible. Like Curtis's performance has been likened to that of Tom Hanks in Big, and I couldn't agree more.

Caroline Aimetti 1:00:30

Yes, it is.

Conor Perkins 1:00:32

And Lindsay Lohan's tears will never fail to choke me the F up. There is something so special about her. That that scene at the rehearsal dinner where she is Tess canceling it and just watching the tears well up, but like not letting them come out.

Caroline Aimetti 1:00:49

It got me too. I I got choked up during the rehearsal dinner.

Conor Perkins 1:00:52

Oh, it got me.

Caroline Aimetti 1:00:54

It got me good.

Conor Perkins 1:00:55

And I just I I forget how how embodied they are. I I keep forgetting that I'm like, all right, you're not the adult. Like it, I just I believe the magic so much. It's so good. And then I think the depth of how much these characters are changed by one another is really profound. I'll, again, you know, call back to that final speech, moments leading up to it. Like remembering where these characters started and where they are now is such a 180-degree turn, but it all feels very earned and realistic. Like I never felt like that switch just like happened really fast. It did feel like we were steadily moving towards it. We started seeing moments of respect for one another happen in private moments, in moments where they were together, like the the pink slip performance. But like the fact that the pink slip performance, which so easily could be the climax of the film, is not the climax of the film. The climax of the film is the rehearsal dinner.

Caroline Aimetti 1:02:01

Rehearsal, yeah.

Conor Perkins 1:02:02

And I'm like, that is really, really good. Where it's like you could look at that and be like, oh, this is the most interesting moment, this concert, like they're gonna switch back or whatever, like right there in the middle of the concert. And that's a choice, and that could be made. But to take that and be like, no, there's something more emotional, there's something deeper if we just push it a little bit further. And wow, like the payoff is really, really good with the two of them.

Caroline Aimetti 1:02:28

Yeah, it got me. The most satisfying thing for me to see was watching Tess realize how many things were stacked against Anna at school. I can't, I don't know why, but I was super into that specifically. I think Tess's arc was satisfying partially because like she's got a lot of flaws as a parent. For someone who deals with emotions and mental health in her profession, she's very dismissive and belittling of Anna's feelings and needs when she's at a really delicate age. So it makes sense then having to have Tess deal with her shitty teacher and her bully. It's satisfying. But I think again, part of that is like because of the really rough place that Tess is starting in, which I kind of forgot about, or maybe it's coming back to this movie as more of an adult. I think back in the day, I was just like, yeah, a typical, a typical mom. But there are a lot of things she does that like are not okay. Yes, like if Anna was my child and the screaming and the slamming, I mean, it would make me crazy. But she really is not, she's got a lot on her plate, but she's not being a great mom.

Conor Perkins 1:03:40

Oh, when she shuts the power off.

Caroline Aimetti 1:03:43

The power, taking the door off the hands. The door, the door is bad. Like, if you told a therapist you did that, they would be like, that's going to make your child feel unsafe with you. So all of this to say, um, really seeing Tess have to experience what Anna's going through firsthand was super satisfying because I really was starting to feel like Anna, I'm like, wow, you really don't get it.

Conor Perkins 1:04:04

Yeah.

Caroline Aimetti 1:04:05

You don't get it.

Conor Perkins 1:04:06

Yeah. And and I will say, like, I like that Anna has things to learn too of like what the responsibility is of like being someone who people are going to for guidance. Like watching her interact with all of those patients in the office, where I'm just like, yeah, she's feeling feeling those feelings. But then also like what Tess's kind of role is as a parent means people are looking to you, are constantly looking at you, looking to you at the rehearsal dinner, on the on the TV show, at the psychiatrist's office, like at in therapy. And I think realizing like how many people are looking at her mom, I think like that's a perspective that she didn't get before.

Caroline Aimetti 1:04:50

But I like that she's sort of the TV show was so stressful. Please so stressful.

Conor Perkins 1:04:54

Oh my god, that's a nightmare for me. Um, weaknesses. So, okay. I don't really have a complaint for the characters or the transformation arc. I'm really satisfied. I thought they were all executed very well. I feel like Caroline, you probably have something that you're gonna say. Um the arc with Jake may I think be the only thing I have questions on where I'm like, yeah, why is he at the wedding at the end? And then the reset with Anna is helpful, but I'm also just like, how is he rationalizing away what just happened?

Caroline Aimetti 1:05:25

Yeah, yeah. I also just like it's I understand it's for comedic value and it's a part of the whole deal, but I didn't need him on the date with the with an older lady. I just didn't need it.

Conor Perkins 1:05:37

I know, but the chemistry was fire. It was really good.

Caroline Aimetti 1:05:41

Oh my god. Oh my god, Chad Michael Murray, baby.

Conor Perkins 1:05:43

I was Chad Michael Murray, and I'm like, that would have been like a bucket list moment where I'm like, I get to go on a date and flirt with Jamie Lee Curtis.

Caroline Aimetti 1:05:49

Oh my god, when she is when she is smiling, when she is riding on the back of a motorcycle with him, and she's just like that is so funny.

Conor Perkins 1:05:57

That is comedy gold. That and then more comedy. And being right there. Perfect.

Caroline Aimetti 1:06:03

My God.

Conor Perkins 1:06:04

Go ahead. Hit me with your big weakness.

Caroline Aimetti 1:06:06

No, it's not, it's not big. I I think probably what I have here might have to do more with me. And like, I don't know, my personal thing. I get it, of course, that in order to have conflict, we need to have these two kind of not want to help each other out at first as they inhabit each other's lives because they're so pissed off about this. And they're in such a and they're in such a difficult place with each other that they're like, yeah, I don't want to help you out. But Anna's specific unwillingness to play the part of Tess got very grading to me at times. And it kind of made me pissed off at her. And I understand that she can't get to a place of being selfless too soon. We gotta go on the journey. But to me, it didn't feel like as much of a journey as like, I hate, I'm not, I'm gonna cooperate with this as little as possible until the very last instant, which maybe is good for dramatic value. But I wish along the way she had these small moments of like, you know, when she when she's seeing those patients of being like, oh shit, that was really hard. But instead she's like, no, I'm gonna keep making my mom look like a fool. And I'm kind of like, stop, stop that. That's not I don't know. I needed to say, I understand that it's difficult, but I wanted little moments of her being like, Oh, this is hard to be her. Oh, but anyway, you know?

Conor Perkins 1:07:22

Yeah, no, I think I think that's valid. And I think we see moments of that like in the parent-teacher conference where she sort of softens.

Caroline Aimetti 1:07:32

But that has to do more with her brother than her mom.

Conor Perkins 1:07:35

Yes, that that's true. But then I think also we see those moments when she's like on the date and she's interacting with Chad Michael Murray, where she's like, I have to check myself, I have to remember that I'm my mom my mom, and my mom wouldn't do this. Like those are small, small things. But I no, I agree. I agree that there could be a couple more moments where like Anna as Tess is like, I've gotta do something.

Caroline Aimetti 1:08:03

Because I think Tess, I think Tess as Anna has those moments where she's like to the teacher, she's like, What the why are you doing this to me? Like, you know, and I think I guess that that's what it is for me as is Anna in Tess's existence. I feel like a lot of her growth happens as it relates to other people, not Tess. Like she has a new, she sees her brother in a new light. And then she sees Ryan in a new light. I feel like the biggest growth here is that she she ended up learning way more about the good intentions of Ryan, about how he's like, you know, all this time I've been trying to let her come to me. And he sees how he sticks up for her in moments that she never even noticed. And it's still a great thing to see in a new light. But I I kind of expected it to be more of like Anna saying, like, wow, my mom is really balancing and holding together so many things in her life. And I, and maybe that's why she is the way she is. But it was more about other people. So it took a little bit of the focus off of the main relationship for me.

Conor Perkins 1:09:08

I I completely understand that. And then I think I would also say, like, you could take it as a read of like all of the things that Tess was telling Anna were true, that like Ryan loves her and like respect, like respects her and things like that, and that her brother loves her, and like that Anna was just so resistant to those things being true and wasn't trusting what her mother was seeing. That, like, no, these are ways, like you could do a read of that.

Caroline Aimetti 1:09:35

Yeah, no, and I think she was. I think that definitely is true, but it it doesn't, it doesn't touch quite enough for me on the selfless love part of it, you know? It's yeah, it's not it's it's more of like, you know, I wasn't lying to you.

Conor Perkins 1:09:46

Wow, mom's mom's job is really, really hard.

Caroline Aimetti 1:09:49

Yeah, because I want it, because it's like, you know, she's trying to plan this wedding. I I I wanted it to, you know, instead of just being like, no, we're not having this fish at this wedding, I kind of wanted her to have this moment of like, oh my God. And people are calling me about the wedding, and I have a client and I have to go to the I wanted her to, yeah, I needed that from her a little bit. Because as as much as I come down on Tess, she does have a lot on her plate. And you know what? Maybe it's fine because at the end of the day, I feel like Tess learned more about Anna than Anna did about Tess. At the end of the day, this film is kind of for for the Annas.

Conor Perkins 1:10:21

Yeah, for the Annas.

Caroline Aimetti 1:10:22

So it's you know, so if that's the imbalance, you know, it is what it is.

Conor Perkins 1:10:26

Yeah. All right. Some final thoughts from from you. Where where are we landing on on these two with the magic and the characterization?

Caroline Aimetti 1:10:35

No, I mean what I'll say about what I'll say about Life-Size specifically is that this is one of those movies I wore out as a kid, and I was very, I haven't seen it in years. And I was very worried it wouldn't really hold up at all. And I think it did. It did way more than I thought it was going to. Um, there are, you know, problematic, we said it earlier, sexist things happening, though are all they're also kind of part of the story that are cringe. But the story and the soundtrack and the performances are all really good. And this is truly the Barbie movie before the Barbie movie in a lot of ways. I think concept-wise, you know, that's when I try to like, I feel like I always do this in our showdowns. Like when we talk about princesses, I'm like, oh, but I want to factor in like this princess wouldn't have existed without this one, where I'm kind of like, you know, Freaky Friday is based on another movie in a book. Life-Size at the time was a completely original idea. So I give credit for that. And in these, in these magical realism-esque films, I'm I'm looking for comfort, a like a world that's familiar with occurrences that feel exciting and make us feel like, oh, I wish that could happen to me. And I think both of these films really deliver on that. Both with a really nice amount of laughs for good measure, too. These are both very funny movies.

Conor Perkins 1:11:52

And there's a lot that's really connected between the two of them. I think like one of the sort of like unintentional similarity is that so much of the character transformations in both of these are about children and parents, and it's centered around grieving another parent.

Caroline Aimetti 1:12:08

A lost parent. Yes. It's so interesting.

Conor Perkins 1:12:10

Which is not true of Freaky Friday, the book or the previous that is solely invented for this version of Freaky Friday, is that Tess is a single mom.

Caroline Aimetti 1:12:20

Yeah, there's a lot of working through of grief in these, which I really love.

Conor Perkins 1:12:25

I do, I do too. And I think a lot.

Caroline Aimetti 1:12:27

I think what it really comes down to here for me, and I so I need to think about it for a moment, is I'm getting pulled by what what what had meaning to me as a kid. And and the idea coming being a kid who was so obsessed with dolls, the magic of a doll coming to life was so attractive for me. More than I was attracted to the idea of like, if I could switch places with somebody, who would I switch places with? Yeah. So I know that I have a I know that I have a bias when it comes to like what magic am I generally more interested in. But let me hear what you have to say. I'm I'm I'm I'm marinating.

Conor Perkins 1:13:04

I I understand all of that too. And I'm trying to be aware of my bias towards how much I wore out Freaky Friday.

Caroline Aimetti 1:13:12

I didn't know that about you. That's so interesting.

Conor Perkins 1:13:14

Honestly, like kind of didn't really know about myself either. Like, I until like Shannon was like, I can't watch that movie anymore with you. And I'm like, oh, okay. But see, I think for me, like coming down in terms of the the character transformation, the the sort of like arcs of the characters, the emotional depth of it all, I really I think I do come down on the side of Freaky Friday. I think the script and everything, it just is really, really deeply satisfying. I was watching this, I'm like, that is a solid-ass script. That is like the best version of Freaky Friday by far. And I just gravitate towards those characters more. I find myself like rooting for them to succeed more than I'm I guess I think because we're making Eve such a big character who has an arc, the fact that her arc does not land a hundred percent really bothers me in the way that and I feel like the the landing for Tess and Anna is more of 100 closer to 100% based on that final scene.

Caroline Aimetti 1:14:21

Yeah, I feel like I would give like arc for me, I would give arc to Freaky Friday.

Conor Perkins 1:14:26

I would too.

Caroline Aimetti 1:14:27

And I would actually give the magic part to Life-Size again for the originality of the idea, the specificity of the magic-y stuff of all of it, but also then the lack of really offensive shit happening in the world.

Conor Perkins 1:14:40

I know that's that's the thing, because I'm also just like, I really love, I thought they were being really creative with the way and and with just how effective the performances are in selling the magic in Freaky Friday. I'm like, there's so, so much about it that I like. I like how grounded it all is that and the lack of CGI of it all. I think it's just like it all feels very real. And if we're going for magical realism, making magic feel like it's a part of real life, that feels very right to me. But how do you, how do you with that?

Caroline Aimetti 1:15:19

I know, I know. Especially because I really was like, oh, this must come from. I know the book is old. It's gotta come from some outdated bullshit from.

Conor Perkins 1:15:29

I looked, I was like, where is this?

Caroline Aimetti 1:15:31

Why did y'all have to do that? Come on.

Conor Perkins 1:15:35

I don't know. So I think I think I can come down in agreement with you. I think I do have to keep reminding myself is like the magic of Life-Size is a doll comes to life. And that that is that is a big thing. Yeah, like that's a that's a big thing for movies.

Caroline Aimetti 1:15:55

Yeah. And just the amount of similarities to Barbie really, really.

Conor Perkins 1:16:01

I was really having a lot of those moments where I was like, oh, damn.

Caroline Aimetti 1:16:05

Like it was doing some it was doing some stuff.

Conor Perkins 1:16:08

Found some of the like the precious nuggets that like Breta Gerwig mined and then refined into this polished, beautiful thing.

Caroline Aimetti 1:16:15

Would a doll in this world cry and she's never done that before? And what does it feel like? I mean, it's a really interesting question.

Conor Perkins 1:16:21

And also the fact that like the role of a doll is to reflect back the most beautiful things about someone else, and that and that that's complicated.

Caroline Aimetti 1:16:31

Yeah. And that they could have existential dread about how much people need that.

Conor Perkins 1:16:36

Yeah, yes, and the and the pressures that they feel about I have to be perfect at I'm supposed to be perfect at everything, but I'm not. Like that's that's what's expected of me, and what happens if I'm not perfect at everything.

Caroline Aimetti 1:16:49

Yeah, yeah.

Conor Perkins 1:16:50

Like, there's a lot of those big questions that are central to these types of stories that come out through through Life-Size. So I have a lot of respect to the world.

Caroline Aimetti 1:16:59

Both of these films just end with fantastic songs.

Conor Perkins 1:17:03

Fantastic songs. I do think "Ultimate" is better than "Be A Star," though.

Caroline Aimetti 1:17:06

I will- "Be A Star" till the end of time.

Conor Perkins 1:17:08

No, "Ultimate" all the way. I could do a split on the magic going to Life-Size.

Caroline Aimetti 1:17:13

I was walking the dog the other day, and I was like, you know, this showdown, I really need to make some choices and stop doing what I do. But I do think in this, we were looking at two very specific things. Like this, like we said at the beginning, this wasn't which film is better. And I think, yeah, I just think each of these is stronger in the two one of the two categories we were looking at.

Conor Perkins 1:17:31

Yeah, and I just, I just think that like, I'm sorry, but like racial stereotypes, like that's gonna, that's gonna deduct like 150 points from your overall score in the end.

Caroline Aimetti 1:17:41

And it was oh it was hard to watch.

Conor Perkins 1:17:44

It w- it was, it was, it was everywhere.

Caroline Aimetti 1:17:46

It's it's to the point where I'm actually surprised that there wasn't oh, they took all of those away. I was gonna say that there wasn't a notification at the beginning of the movie.

Conor Perkins 1:17:56

Yeah, they took all of those away.

Caroline Aimetti 1:17:58

Oh, I hate this timeline.

Conor Perkins 1:17:59

I know cool. Great. I know. Welcome to the second Trump administration.

Caroline Aimetti 1:18:02

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Conor Perkins 1:18:03

But I think it's it's kind of like a thing of like, while I think the magic is really, really good in Freaky Friday, and I think that the the character transformation is really, really good in Freaky Friday, those racial stereotypes deduct a lot of points. And while I think the character transformations are fine for Life-Size, and I think the the magic is good. I think good plus fine is greater than excellent plus good plus racism. So I would feel comfortable.

Caroline Aimetti 1:18:41

What a math equation.

Conor Perkins 1:18:42

I would feel comfortable. This is the logic I have to do in my brain in order to say this.

Caroline Aimetti 1:18:47

Okay.

Conor Perkins 1:18:47

Because I of how much I do love Freaky Friday, yeah. I would feel okay giving Life-Size the win of this showdown for the magical realism and the character transformations. I will give it to that because as much as I think Freaky Friday would win, there's racism.

Caroline Aimetti 1:19:07

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 1:19:08

And I can't, and I can't with racism, you know?

Caroline Aimetti 1:19:11

Yeah.

Conor Perkins 1:19:12

Um, if it didn't have that, this would blow Life-Size out of the water for me. So just like know that.

Caroline Aimetti 1:19:18

Sure. I will take that and I'll put it in my pocket.

Conor Perkins 1:19:20

Because I think Freaky Friday is a really, really, really, really, really good film. Like just an objectively good film. But great films also have racism in them, and that's unfortunate. It's important that we talk about it. Like, I know I know we were kind of iffy about like how are we gonna have this conversation, but I'm like, I think it's really important that we can say, like, hey, we love Freaky Friday. There's a lot of great things happening in it, but this is not good. Yeah, and sometimes will cost you the win of a showdown on Poor Unfortunate Podcast.

Caroline Aimetti 1:19:51

And it's very interesting to look at it against a movie that could have been made with a doll that is like Barbie, the typical original Barbie, who is a white blonde woman and a black woman was given the role, and she is the epitome of beauty and and who you want to be like. Um, that's that pushes it. I mean, again, I know we're not looking at that, but then once we bring racism into it, it's doing really well on that front.

Conor Perkins 1:20:16

Yeah, that is, as Caroline Aimetti would say, "not for nothing." All right, so congratulations to Life-Size. You are a winner of this showdown because when it we're fighting back the Trump administration of it all.

Caroline Aimetti 1:20:34

So Life-Size wins, take that Donald Trump.

Conor Perkins 1:20:37

Take that fucking Donald Trump and all of you in the Epstein Files. We're we're giving the wind a Life-Size.

Caroline Aimetti 1:20:45

I'm crying. I can't.

Closing

Conor Perkins 1:20:48

Well, thank you all very much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Hope it brought you back a little bit in time. Uh or maybe introduce you to some movies that you hadn't seen before. If you liked what you heard or watched, please make sure that you hit follow or subscribe wherever you're getting the podcast, opt in for notifications on YouTube. And then this is that moment where you want to hit five stars, leave a written review or a comment wherever you're listening or watching the podcast, and then tap the share button, send this to a friend, send this to someone who was your person who you would watch these types of movies with, or send it to your mom or your dad or someone. I don't know.

Caroline Aimetti 1:21:26

Or your doll.

Conor Perkins 1:21:27

Or send it to your doll. Go go dig out the Barbie from the basement of your parents' house and send this to her.

Caroline Aimetti 1:21:34

She'll wanna she'll wanna listen. She will. She will. Please also follow us on social media. We are @PoorUnfortunatePodcast Everywhere. Instagram, Facebook, no more TikTok for now. Threads, BlueSky, I think that's everything. We would love to talk to you on there about what you thought about these movies when you were younger. What did these mean to you back in the day? We would love to hear. Or if you're coming to them for the first time, how are they for you without the nostalgia factor that both of us brought to this? I'd be very interested to hear that. So please comment on our post. You can DM us. But if you want to have even more of a conversation with us and with other people who listen to the podcast, please join the poor unfortunate fam. It is still our private Facebook group, but now, as you probably know, it is also our Discord channel. So we will talk about this episode. We've been talking about a lot of other things in there, like, you know, some products that may have come out recently we might all be interested in. There is a big conversation about that in there. So it's a great way for Conor and I to meet who's out there listening, tailor the podcast to what you're interested in, and just make us feel like this is all worthwhile. So please come introduce yourself. We would be absolutely thrilled to have you.

Conor Perkins 1:22:51

And if you're looking for merch, the Poor Unfortunate Shop is open, poorunfortunatepodcast.com/shop. And we will have some updates coming to you soon on our collaboration with Most Magical Printing Company. And if you want to support the podcast and get a little bit more while you're at it, please consider joining the Poor Unfortunate Patreon. You can get ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, "Caroline, What's New?", which will make the podcast a weekly podcast for you. All plans are under $10. And you can go to patreon.com/poorunfortunatepodcast to join. That's P-A-T-R-E-O-N dot com / poor unfortunate podcast. Okay, that's gonna do it for us for this episode. We will be back with some tips and tricks for you.

Caroline Aimetti 1:23:41

Woo!

Conor Perkins 1:23:42

And until then, Beluga Sevruga!