This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jesse McAnally: Hello, I'm Jesse McAnally.

[0:02] Alan Seales: And I'm Alan Seales.

[0:04] Jesse McAnally: And I'm Liz Esten. And welcome to Carrey'd Away, a podcast where we explore the films and television shows starring the one and only James Eugene Carrey. And this week, we have an extra special guest and one of your favorite people on the internet.

[0:20] Alan Seales: James Eugene who?

[0:22] Jesse McAnally: Carrey!

[0:23] Alan Seales: Carrey?

[0:24] Jesse McAnally: Carrey! James Eugene Carrey. I'm getting cyberbullied but in real life. Please join us in welcoming one of the greatest internet YouTubers to ever do the job. And one of, I think I could say one of my good internet friends that I like hanging out with. Definitely. Please welcome Ethan from the YouTube channel Sideways.

[0:37] Sideways: Hello. How are you?

[0:39] Jesse McAnally: Good. I'm doing alright, but sadly I'm having a bit of a problem.

[0:43] Sideways: Oh yeah?

[0:44] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, I thought I saw a drowning man but instead I found a mask but now I'm doing robberies and physical assaults on people at night.

[0:50] Alan Seales: That's actually, it's a really common problem in Edge City if you think about it. You're pioneering some new technology in movie cinema though, so that's an upside.

[0:58] Sideways: That is an upside. And I'm there. But have you ever thought?

[1:02] Jesse McAnally: No, no, no. Alan's the police officer, Sideways is the dog, and that makes you the Lois Lane reporter.

[1:09] Sideways: I get to be the dog! Woo!

[1:12] Jesse McAnally: No, I'm gonna confuse the keys for cheese. Milo? Get the keys, Milo! That's the keys, not the cheese.

[1:20] Alan Seales: Honestly, I never understood why in the sequel they lent so far into the dog thing until this rewatch where I'm like, oh, the dog is stealing every scene. That's the best dog in all of movies.

[1:30] Sideways: I remember the Ebert and Siskel review. They're like, this movie sucks, except for that dog! That dog's great!

[1:36] Jesse McAnally: I had no idea they said that!

[1:38] Sideways: No, the dog is amazing though.

[1:40] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[1:41] Sideways: No, no, that dog deserves an Oscar. It really is a dog. He's precious. He was a great dog.

[1:46] Jesse McAnally: That was great. Well, what are we talking about today?

[1:49] Alan Seales: In case you haven't picked up where we're throwing down, this week we're talking about the Jim Carrey classic, The Mask.

[1:55] Jesse McAnally: This is the story of Stanley Ipkiss. Stanley, you are the nicest guy. But now...

[2:02] Sideways: Hey, you! What are you doing down there?

[2:05] Jesse McAnally: I'm just looking for... my mask! All that is about to change. Because Stanley Ipkiss is not the man he used to be.

[2:14] Alan Seales: Smokin'! Jim Carrey is...

[2:17] Sideways: That's the guy!

[2:18] Jesse McAnally: Hello! The Mask. Ooh! Somebody stop me!

[2:24] Alan Seales: So The Mask was a film that was released on July 29th, 1994, continuing Jim Carrey's year of ascension of 1994 that he never... no one's ever had again.

[2:34] Jesse McAnally: Written by Michael Fulton and Mark Veldhine, and based on The Mask, the Dark Horse comics. It was directed by a really underrated director of like three incredible films, Chuck Russell, Nightmare on Elm Street 3, and The Blob, and The Mask. Like, three 10 out of 10 banger films, and then did nothing else.

[2:54] Alan Seales: The plot of The Mask is, bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss is transformed into a manic superhero when he wears a mysterious mask. And that's enough.

[3:02] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, that's the movie. It just shows up.

[3:05] Sideways: Damn scuba divers.

[3:06] Alan Seales: Scuba diving in the beginning that are never heard from again.

[3:09] Jesse McAnally: Mm-hmm. They find a Viking chest, as you do.

[3:12] Sideways: As you do. I like the alternate opening where you see Odin bury the chest in the water.

[3:17] Alan Seales: Wait, is that real?

[3:19] Sideways: Yeah, that's real.

[3:20] Jesse McAnally: Holy shit, I had no idea.

[3:22] Alan Seales: I didn't know that either!

[3:24] Sideways: Yeah, there's a lot of interesting... The Mask is in the MCU.

[3:28] Alan Seales: Yes, yes it does. A Logi is in the sequel.

[3:32] Sideways: Yeah, by Alan Cumming.

[3:34] Alan Seales: Oh, I remember that. I remember seeing that movie once and going, oh, okay, so some movies can be bad.

[3:40] Jesse McAnally: Well, you have to watch the early Jim Carrey movies.

[3:42] Sideways: Yeah, obviously. Fun fact, the man who did the VFX for my short film, After Ashes, was also a VFX worker on Son of the Mask, and would go on to make many short film adaptations of The Mask comics and got ceased and assisted by the original creators.

[4:00] Jesse McAnally: So, Ethan, I'm not even lying, what is your history with Jim Carrey? What is your connection to the man and his work?

[4:08] Sideways: Oh my God, okay, so I was, I don't know if this is too weird, but I was born at a really interesting time in media history in America. So, I was born in 1990, and it was right after Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and then there was this huge resurgence in animation, right? The Disney Renaissance, all these Saturday morning cartoons and all kinds of stuff, it was great. But what that did was I ended up being a very confused child.

[4:34] Jesse McAnally: So, what I would like, as literally growing up, I'd watch the Batman cartoons, then I would see that there was a live-action film, and I'd be like, oh, cool, they made a movie out of the cartoons, right? I saw the Flintstones cartoons, then they came out with the live-action Flintstones, I'm like, cool, they made a movie of the cartoons. So, my introduction to Jim Carrey was through this movie, where I saw The Mask and Ace Ventura cartoons, and then, you know, on a random Friday, we were at Blockbuster, and I'm like, oh, cool, they made a movie out of the cartoon. I got everything totally backwards.

[5:12] Sideways: And that was like, sort of like a moment of serendipity, because both, I think, in Ace Ventura, but especially in this movie, Jim Carrey, just, like, he's a real-life Looney Tune. There's so much about him that's so cartoonish, and there's so many cartoon references in this film, and that's what really sort of did it for me.

[5:30] Alan Seales: I agree, and the thing that makes Jim Carrey so different in this film than a lot of his other things is you get the moments where he gets to be a 10, and then you get the moments where he's, like, at a 5. And those 5 moments make the 10 moments stand out even more.

[5:43] Sideways: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Because Ace Ventura is just, like, always on, but Jim Carrey getting to be Stanley Ipkiss, it's, like, it's that contrast.

[5:52] Jesse McAnally: I love, yeah, I love that contrast. And originally, I thought, oh, okay, he's coming off of Ace Ventura, I can see that trickled in here, toned it down, but this was filmed first.

[6:02] Sideways: That's what was really interesting. And then they did Ace Ventura while this was all in post, which, by the way, I just want to talk about the budget real quick, $23 million in 1994, which is now almost $50 million in 2024, which is pretty crazy.

[6:19] Alan Seales: It's crazy because, like, Joker was $40 million. Like, this looks better than Joker.

[6:24] Sideways: Like, the money is on screen.

[6:26] Alan Seales: Like, when you're seeing those shots at night in Alleyway where Jim Carrey is stepping through different lighting effects to, like, bring out different contours in the mask and the prosthetic and everything, it's pretty sick.

[6:37] Sideways: And every light in the background is an intentional gelled light. Every single practical in the world is wacky.

[6:43] Alan Seales: Yep, yep.

[6:44] Sideways: And it's very, very cool that, I mean, this was the first time that they combined animation and live action on the same character, right? And this was, like, at this scale.

[6:54] Alan Seales: Because Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mary Poppins, they all had done live action next to animation, but to overlay animation on top of live action, I was reading this was, like, a huge breakthrough in all of that tech.

[7:05] Sideways: It kind of started with Death Becomes Her. So you have all those animated pieces on top of real, which they then developed to the mask.

[7:12] Alan Seales: So Death Becomes Her is technically the first.

[7:15] Sideways: Magic.

[7:16] Alan Seales: Drink that potion, and you'll never grow even one day older.

[7:20] Sideways: Bottoms up.

[7:22] Alan Seales: No warning.

[7:24] Sideways: Now a warning?

[7:26] Alan Seales: Siempre viva! Live forever!

[7:30] Sideways: I don't believe you.

[7:32] Alan Seales: No, do not accept.

[7:34] Sideways: All right.

[7:36] Alan Seales: Alternative facts.

[7:37] Sideways: Alternative facts, just like, nah, I disagree. Oh, okay.

[7:41] Alan Seales: Yeah, you would believe that, wouldn't you, Alex?

[7:44] Sideways: You shut your piehole!

[7:46] Alan Seales: It felt good to, like, neg someone that isn't Liz.

[7:49] Jesse McAnally: Are we fighting, boys? Are we fighting?

[7:52] Alan Seales: Always.

[7:53] Jesse McAnally: We have to.

[7:55] Alan Seales: Boys, stop fighting.

[7:57] Jesse McAnally: Do you like it? We can do more.

[8:00] Alan Seales: Please stop fighting.

[8:02] Jesse McAnally: Was the mask sexist? Did Cameron Diaz not have a strong female persona?

[8:12] Alan Seales: What presents are you speaking of?

[8:14] Sideways: She was second choice for this role by the way.

[8:17] Alan Seales: Oh, was she really?

[8:18] Sideways: Yeah, and Nicole Smith was first choice, and then they realized she couldn't act.

[8:23] Alan Seales: Yeah, duh.

[8:24] Sideways: This was her first movie, and she's incredible in it, but Liz, you seem to think that she doesn't have much of a presence, so I'm very curious to find out.

[8:32] Jesse McAnally: Oh, she's great.

[8:33] Sideways: She just has, like, she's like half a chicken strip to work with.

[8:37] Jesse McAnally: Like, her character is sexy woman who wants man who isn't an evil drug lord.

[8:43] Sideways: It's like, okay, cool.

[8:45] Jesse McAnally: I want the tattoo.

[8:47] Sideways: You are such a sexy chicken strip, Jesse McAnally.

[8:51] Jesse McAnally: Oh, I know it.

[8:52] Sideways: That's a really good way to put it, though.

[8:54] Jesse McAnally: Like, she's got no character.

[8:56] Sideways: And that's not Cameron Diaz's fault.

[8:58] Jesse McAnally: That's how the character's written.

[9:00] Sideways: Cameron Diaz does a great job with said half a chicken strip, but she gets some ranch, and then it improves greatly.

[9:06] Jesse McAnally: But, you know.

[9:08] Sideways: Cameron Diaz is the ranch.

[9:10] Jesse McAnally: Cameron Diaz herself is the ranch in this metaphor that I just made up with my very tired brain.

[9:16] Alan Seales: Now, character-wise, I agree with you.

[9:18] Sideways: But what it's doing with narrative expectations, I think, is great.

[9:22] Alan Seales: Okay.

[9:23] Sideways: Because, like, you set it up as the femme fatale, and I know we've kind of undone this by this point, but it's still kind of in that territory, where you think she's going to be the one to betray Stanley, but really it's the mild-mannered reporter that turns on him, and then he ends up with the femme fatale.

[9:41] Jesse McAnally: Gosh, Peg.

[9:43] Alan Seales: Do you really mean that?

[9:46] Sideways: Actually, no.

[9:48] Jesse McAnally: What?

[9:50] Alan Seales: What took you guys so long?

[9:52] Sideways: I've been vamping here for, like, 20 minutes.

[9:55] Alan Seales: Is this him?

[9:57] Sideways: You got the 50,000?

[9:59] Alan Seales: Give her the money.

[10:02] Sideways: Right.

[10:03] Alan Seales: When he puts on the mask, he turns into that green thingamajig.

[10:07] Sideways: Peggy.

[10:09] Jesse McAnally: What are you doing?

[10:11] Sideways: Sorry, Stanley.

[10:13] Jesse McAnally: You really are a great guy.

[10:15] Sideways: I just can't lose my condo.

[10:18] Jesse McAnally: I don't know how hard it is to find an apartment in this city.

[10:22] Alan Seales: So they're playing a little bit with trope's expectations, and once she gets out of just being the trope, I think she gets ‑‑ I feel compelled, and I don't think it's absolutely ridiculous that she and Stanley end up together in a way that I think of in other Jim Carrey films, like Ace Ventura or, you know, me, myself, and Irene.

[10:45] Sideways: Oh, fuck that.

[10:46] Jesse McAnally: That is interesting.

[10:48] Alan Seales: I didn't think of it that way.

[10:50] Sideways: Because every time I think of, like, the final scene, it reminds me of, like, the ending of Aladdin, where she's distracting the bad guy so she can give the hero the upper hand, you know?

[11:01] Jesse McAnally: I mean, she's involved in the ending, at least.

[11:03] Sideways: True.

[11:04] Alan Seales: She does one thing.

[11:06] Sideways: She does a singular thing.

[11:08] Alan Seales: She kicks the mask.

[11:10] Sideways: She kicks the mask, which is important for the plot, so good on you.

[11:14] Jesse McAnally: I will agree with that argument, but they should have made both the characters interesting, at least.

[11:20] Alan Seales: Like, the reporter is a reporter, and she just wants a job, allegedly, but she's tricking Stanley of Giz into, like, so she can get 50K from the mob.

[11:30] Sideways: Oh, and then she dies.

[11:31] Alan Seales: And then she just fucking dies, and it's like...

[11:34] Sideways: She what?!

[11:35] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah.

[11:36] Sideways: She gets thrown into the newspaper press, and then you see, like, the newspapers print out, like, her death, and it's a pretty fucked-up death, and I wish it stayed in the movie.

[11:46] Alan Seales: Oh, that's dark.

[11:48] Sideways: But, like, she could have been interesting, and that would have made the swap more interesting if both of them were, like, more, like, characters outside of being a trope.

[12:01] Jesse McAnally: Like, I get it's a reference to, like, Red Hot Riding Hood, Betty Boop, all the old cartoons I know about, but, like, this is 1994, not 1920-something.

[12:12] Alan Seales: We can, like, give them, like, personality.

[12:15] Sideways: We now give you our brand-new little sweetheart of swing, that little red-headed ball of fire, Red Hot Riding Hood!

[12:23] Audience: *APPLAUSE*

[12:25] Alan Seales: MUSIC

[12:46] Sideways: I think the frustrating part for me, like, now that you bring that up, is that, like, it's right there.

[12:51] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah, no, Tina's just, like, you know, doing what she can to pay the bills, working in a club, whatever, but she's actually a huge cartoon fan.

[13:00] Sideways: Yeah.

[13:01] Alan Seales: And then that's where the two can bond, right?

[13:03] Sideways: It would be less than 30 seconds to put that in.

[13:06] Alan Seales: Or maybe, like, she wears the mask one time, and she's just like Stanley has the mask somehow, and it's like, he could have done something with this.

[13:12] Jesse McAnally: I'm sorry, Liz, women can't be funny, so that can't happen.

[13:16] Sideways: No, that's, like, some weird Bechdel test thing.

[13:19] Alan Seales: Everybody gets the mask except for her.

[13:22] Sideways: Even the dog gets it.

[13:24] Alan Seales: Yeah, exactly.

[13:25] Sideways: Even a baby in the sequel.

[13:27] Alan Seales: Oh my God, I didn't even think of that.

[13:29] Sideways: Well, the baby doesn't get the mask.

[13:31] Alan Seales: Even Jamie Kennedy.

[13:33] Sideways: The baby with the mask is basically Jack-Jack.

[13:36] Alan Seales: No, no, that's actually wrong.

[13:38] Sideways: The baby is the product of the mask in a human woman.

[13:41] Alan Seales: So Jamie Kennedy fucked with the mask on, and then he had all the mask spurb, not making that up.

[13:46] Sideways: You see the mask faces on the spurb.

[13:48] Alan Seales: Yeah, the mask spurb dances.

[13:50] Sideways: Can we talk a little bit about the villain Dorian, who I actually think is, like, the best kind of villain in a Jim Carrey movie.

[13:56] Alan Seales: A super serious foil.

[14:51] Alan Seales: Doesn't tell jokes, isn't trying to be the funny one.

[14:54] Sideways: I think that that presence of having an actual threat is very good for this movie.

[14:59] Alan Seales: What do you think?

[15:00] Sideways: Layout's not bad, but, um, uh, motion detectors are a pain in the ass.

[15:05] Alan Seales: But you can't pull this off, right?

[15:07] Sideways: Hey, you talking to the doctor.

[15:10] Alan Seales: I do have one question.

[15:13] Sideways: Which is?

[15:14] Alan Seales: What does Nico have to say about all this?

[15:17] Sideways: Nothing.

[15:19] Alan Seales: This ain't his grip, man.

[15:21] Sideways: Get real, man.

[15:22] Alan Seales: Everything is his grift.

[15:24] Sideways: He owns you, he owns this club, he owns this whole stinkin' town.

[15:29] Alan Seales: Things change.

[15:32] Sideways: You mess with Nico, you end up taking a dirt nap.

[15:37] Alan Seales: He's the only one who's napping.

[15:40] Sideways: Yeah, it makes sense.

[15:41] Alan Seales: Like, I think other than the lack of a chicken strip character for Cameron Diaz, for Tina, I think the script is halfway decent.

[15:49] Sideways: What have I done?

[15:50] Alan Seales: Structurally, yes.

[15:52] Sideways: Structurally.

[15:52] Alan Seales: You're always talking about structure.

[15:53] Sideways: Yeah, structure's really important.

[15:55] Alan Seales: What about the enjoyment factor?

[15:56] Sideways: Yeah, but if it's not structurally good, the enjoyment factor is way lower.

[16:02] Alan Seales: So, remember the sex and violence family hour?

[16:06] Sideways: Which had no structure?

[16:08] Alan Seales: Which was pain?

[16:09] Sideways: Also alternative facts.

[16:10] Alan Seales: One of those, yeah.

[16:11] Sideways: Oh, I'm so sorry.

[16:13] Alan Seales: I think structure's important because it's like a building.

[16:17] Sideways: Like, you can't paint a beautiful mural on a building that's falling down.

[16:20] Alan Seales: Yeah, it's like a painting without a frame.

[16:22] Sideways: You can't hang it.

[16:23] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[16:23] Sideways: Yeah, exactly.

[16:24] Alan Seales: You guys are so deep.

[16:25] Sideways: So, I think like, as this, they don't overdo the mask.

[16:28] Alan Seales: He doesn't overstay his welcome.

[16:30] Sideways: But when he's on screen, he's there enough where you actually feel like it's a presence.

[16:35] Alan Seales: And I love that kind of side to it.

[16:38] Sideways: That it's not even, the mask is not its own thing.

[16:41] Alan Seales: It just makes the person more themselves.

[16:44] Sideways: Which is much more interesting than just, he's always Jim Carrey bald.

[16:48] Alan Seales: Hold on, sugar.

[16:52] Sideways: Daddy's got a sweet tooth tonight.

[17:12] Alan Seales: Somebody stop me.

[17:15] Sideways: Yes.

[17:15] Alan Seales: That's actually something I thought was really great.

[17:18] Sideways: Again, because there's just so many allusions to cartoons, especially early Rubber Hose-style stuff throughout the film.

[17:26] Alan Seales: But because of that, there's almost like these vignettes.

[17:28] Sideways: These little 30-second instances of a character that you never see again.

[17:33] Alan Seales: You know, it reminded me a lot of In Living Color.

[17:35] Sideways: Just because that was like a huge springboard for Jim Carrey's career.

[17:40] Alan Seales: Right.

[17:42] Sideways: That's a really fair point.

[17:43] Alan Seales: And I think that speaks to, maybe that speaks to why it was successful and why it still is successful.

[17:49] Sideways: Equating that to why social media videos of a particular format are so successful.

[17:53] Alan Seales: Now that it's just jump cut, jump cut, jump cut, change, change, change every five seconds to keep people's attention.

[17:58] Sideways: So then this, back in '94, was TikTok of its day.

[18:03] Alan Seales: Holy shit, we just uncovered everything.

[18:13] Sideways: No, I mean, I kind of see that.

[18:15] Alan Seales: Because I can see with an Ace Ventura or a Dumb and Dumber, if any of the characters are grading on you, it's like, well, buckle up.

[18:23] Sideways: There's 90 more minutes of it, you know?

[18:24] Alan Seales: Yes.

[18:25] Sideways: But, you know, because if there's the one scene in the park where I always felt like it was a Pepe Le Pew reference, where he's the really aggressive French dude, you know?

[18:34] Alan Seales: If that happened every time Jim Carrey put on the mask, I'd be like, all right, let's see what else is on.

[18:38] Sideways: Yeah, it's cute for 10 seconds.

[18:39] Alan Seales: Exactly, yeah.

[18:41] Sideways: Hello, chéri.

[18:43] Alan Seales: We meet again.

[18:45] Sideways: Is it fate?

[18:46] Alan Seales: Is it meant to be?

[18:47] Sideways: Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?

[18:52] Alan Seales: I'd like to think so.

[18:59] Sideways: Kiss me, my dear, and I will reveal ma croissant.

[19:03] Alan Seales: I will spread your pâté.

[19:05] Sideways: I will dip my ladle in your vicious wasp.

[19:11] Alan Seales: She is so coy.

[19:15] Sideways: I love it.

[19:17] Alan Seales: Let's talk about something in this film that I miss in a lot of modern comedies.

[19:23] Sideways: Memorable side characters.

[19:26] Alan Seales: Yes.

[19:27] Sideways: Everyone, although they have, you know, a chicken strips worth of personality, you kind of remember them in their-

[19:34] Alan Seales: Half, half a chicken strip.

[19:35] Sideways: No, only Cameron Diaz has half a chicken strip.

[19:37] Alan Seales: Everyone else has a full basket.

[19:39] Sideways: Okay, like, I love the fumbling cops that are chasing after Stanley at all times.

[19:44] Alan Seales: I love the villain's little gang of troops, like the fucking Chris Elliott looking motherfucker that's always like, come on, Romeo, let's go!

[19:49] Sideways: Yeah, balding guys with long hair always have a place in a gang.

[19:57] Alan Seales: And then, of course, Ben Stein, who's a Republican piece of shit, but my god, he makes an impression in this small role he has.

[20:04] Sideways: Oh, the mask expert, the, like, anthropologist, psychologist guy, yeah.

[20:08] Alan Seales: Clear eyes complete makes relief simple.

[20:11] Sideways: Relieves seven eye symptoms and provides up to 12 hours of soothing comfort.

[20:15] Alan Seales: Clear eyes complete.

[20:17] Sideways: Wow.

[20:18] Alan Seales: What's another kind of film where you, like, even the small, small bit players, like the mayor.

[20:23] Sideways: The mayor, I was about to call out the jailer, you know, who, like, had a little moment with Jim Carrey in the dog.

[20:30] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[20:32] Sideways: All the, like, bit players are, like, memorable and effective, and when's the last time you had one of those?

[20:39] Alan Seales: Except in the best film of 2024 so far, Trap, directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

[20:45] Sideways: Jess, we're not getting into this right now.

[20:46] Alan Seales: We're not getting into this right now.

[20:48] Sideways: I haven't seen it, is it good?

[20:49] Alan Seales: Jess and I texted each other about Trap for, like, an hour, like, a couple days ago.

[20:53] Sideways: Trap is great.

[20:54] Alan Seales: Trap is wonderful, and everyone should go see it.

[20:57] Sideways: Is Trap a movie that I'm going to laugh with or laugh at?

[21:00] Alan Seales: You'll laugh with it.

[21:01] Sideways: You'll laugh with it and at.

[21:02] Alan Seales: It's actually kind of enjoyable until the third act, which Jess and I argued about, so.

[21:06] Sideways: So the mask.

[21:08] Alan Seales: Yeah, so the mask.

[21:09] Sideways: Thank god.

[21:10] Alan Seales: Are there any VFX that you feel, like, haven't aged well?

[21:13] Sideways: Because this is 30 years old this year.

[21:15] Alan Seales: The dog mask.

[21:16] Sideways: The dog mask.

[21:17] Alan Seales: It looks awful.

[21:19] Sideways: You mean aged well in terms of, like, now it's offensive, or just don't look good for modern CG standards?

[21:24] Alan Seales: Or it takes you out of the movie.

[21:26] Sideways: Like, I think any bad VFX is fine if it doesn't take you out of the movie.

[21:31] Alan Seales: This is mostly cartoony, where none of it's trying to look real, so I was going to argue that it mostly hit me okay, but the dog one is the roughest of them all.

[21:40] Sideways: The only thing that bothered me, that took me out, I like the dog.

[21:43] Alan Seales: I disagree.

[21:43] Sideways: I thought the dog was great.

[21:45] Alan Seales: I thought that when he falls out of the window and lands flat, when he peels himself up, you can tell that super, like, that does not look good.

[21:51] Sideways: It's a flat him on top of an animated flat body, and I was like, ew, that's gross.

[21:56] Alan Seales: That's gross.

[21:57] Sideways: The rest of the animation I thought looked fine.

[21:59] Alan Seales: Weirdly enough, the one part of the movie that stood out to me is when Ipkiss and Cameron Diaz are sitting at a bench, and you see, like, the methane fumes over the city.

[22:06] Sideways: I don't know what it was about that scene, but it's just like, I know that they're looking at a giant green wall right now, you know?

[22:13] Alan Seales: You know, I hardly ever stop by here.

[22:23] Sideways: It's kind of hard to believe it was just a garbage heap.

[22:26] Alan Seales: Yeah, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's really beautiful right around sunset.

[22:33] Sideways: The methane emissions really pick up the colors.

[22:38] Alan Seales: All those pinks and greens.

[22:41] Sideways: Like, out of everything else that happened in the film, it's like, that's the one where I'm like, there, yeah, it's okay.

[22:46] Alan Seales: They could have plated it.

[22:47] Sideways: You never know.

[22:47] Alan Seales: Yeah, that's true.

[22:48] Sideways: But yeah, no, I kind of agree with you, Jesse, in that, like, because there's such an emphasis on the cartoon element, that it looking plasticky, it looking cartoony, just kind of, like, adds to it, right?

[23:00] Alan Seales: Like, if anything looks rubber, it's like a rubber hose kind of vibe.

[23:03] Sideways: Let's go into our favorite part of this show, where we compare our opinions to those of the real critics over on Letterboxd.com.

[23:08] Alan Seales: It's the Letterboxd game!

[23:11] Sideways: I love this game!

[23:13] Alan Seales: I love critics.

[23:17] Sideways: Alan, you have a very tough opponent.

[23:18] Alan Seales: Ethan loves, is very good at the Letterboxd game.

[23:21] Sideways: I love this game!

[23:23] Alan Seales: I am so bad, but I'm so competitive, so this is going to be terrible.

[23:26] Sideways: Oh, it is shit posting.

[23:28] Alan Seales: Just a game show version.

[23:31] Sideways: Alan, I could be on your team if you want.

[23:34] Alan Seales: Yes!

[23:34] Sideways: I've never been on your team.

[23:36] Alan Seales: This is a first.

[23:36] Sideways: No, no, you were on his team when James was here, because I wanted to be on James's team.

[23:42] Alan Seales: Oh, right.

[23:43] Sideways: Right.

[23:44] Alan Seales: I don't have any territoriality.

[23:45] Sideways: All over this.

[23:46] Alan Seales: I'm very territorial towards certain guests, I guess.

[23:49] Sideways: For the listener at home, this actually might be your first episode in this case, again, because, you know, actual Wellmore movie.

[23:54] Alan Seales: You have to access your inner gremlin.

[24:00] Sideways: So, I pulled real Letterboxd reviews for the masks that are either 1 or 5, and Ethan and Alan have to guess if they're positive or negative based on very little context and a lot of gremlin posting.

[24:06] Alan Seales: So, that's the rules.

[24:14] Sideways: All right, Jess, are you ready to go?

[24:16] Alan Seales: I'm ready to go, and Alan is, too.

[24:19] Sideways: Jess, I am.

[24:20] Alan Seales: Greatest fictional town name of all time.

[24:22] Sideways: Oh, this is me starting.

[24:24] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[24:25] Sideways: Reminder, it's called Edge City.

[24:26] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[24:27] Sideways: Greatest.

[24:27] Alan Seales: Oh, Edging City.

[24:28] Sideways: Edge, Edging City.

[24:30] Alan Seales: Get it.

[24:30] Sideways: It's like laying in film.

[24:31] Alan Seales: Five star.

[24:32] Sideways: Five star.

[24:33] Alan Seales: No, that's a one, but it's about cumming.

[24:35] Sideways: Come on!

[24:37] Alan Seales: I didn't make this.

[24:38] Sideways: Literally, you can't even blame me for this.

[24:40] Alan Seales: I'm just reading.

[24:44] Sideways: I mean, at least Liz tries to deadpan it.

[24:46] Alan Seales: You like, you ain't that excited.

[24:47] Sideways: You're trying to trick me.

[24:48] Alan Seales: We're on the same team.

[24:50] Sideways: I was excited to start the game.

[24:52] Alan Seales: Okay.

[24:53] Sideways: I love this game so much.

[24:54] Alan Seales: All right.

[24:57] Sideways: It's so weird.

[24:58] Alan Seales: All right, Ethan, are you ready?

[25:00] Sideways: Hell yeah.

[25:00] Alan Seales: What the hell is this?

[25:02] Sideways: Um, Jim Carrey.

[25:07] Alan Seales: Uh, one.

[25:09] Sideways: That's actually a five.

[25:12] Alan Seales: All right, we're even.

[25:13] Sideways: We're still good.

[25:14] Alan Seales: Die hard fan.

[25:15] Sideways: Jim Carrey, five.

[25:16] Alan Seales: Five stars.

[25:17] Sideways: Jim Carrey, five stars.

[25:18] Alan Seales: Is there like a period after?

[25:19] Sideways: No, it just says Jim Carrey, no punctuation.

[25:22] Alan Seales: Nice, Jim Carrey.

[25:24] Sideways: It's just a statement of fact.

[25:25] Alan Seales: That is not an alternative fact.

[25:27] Sideways: Just saying.

[25:28] Alan Seales: Honestly, a lot of cleavage for a kid's movie.

[25:31] Sideways: Oh god, that could either go one or five.

[25:35] Alan Seales: Because it could be like a Christian mom, you know?

[25:38] Sideways: Right, right.

[25:38] Alan Seales: Or is it a really happy dad?

[25:40] Sideways: Oh, yeah.

[25:41] Alan Seales: Or happy mom.

[25:42] Sideways: Yeah.

[25:44] Alan Seales: Let's not commit by erasure here.

[25:45] Sideways: Five star, five star, five star.

[25:46] Alan Seales: That is a one star, Alan.

[25:47] Sideways: You're wrong.

[25:48] Alan Seales: Damn!

[25:49] Sideways: If the mask was real, he would have been used for American warfare.

[25:52] Alan Seales: Iraq Roar.

[25:53] Sideways: Purple Hearts.

[25:54] Alan Seales: Desert Storm.

[25:59] Sideways: Said those so pointedly.

[26:01] Alan Seales: He put a stick up Osama Bin Laden's butt.

[26:04] Sideways: No, hang on.

[26:04] Alan Seales: Get a proctologist.

[26:05] Sideways: I'm thinking that this is like a neck beard working out the power scaling where he's like, actually, the mask versus Goku would be way closer than you think.

[26:10] Alan Seales: I'm going to give it five stars.

[26:14] Sideways: It's actually a one.

[26:16] Alan Seales: No!

[26:17] Sideways: Are we at zeros across the board?

[26:20] Alan Seales: Wow!

[26:21] Sideways: High scoring game, this one.

[26:23] Alan Seales: Okay.

[26:24] Sideways: High scoring.

[26:25] Alan Seales: Yeah, yeah.

[26:26] Sideways: Yes, I am.

[26:27] Alan Seales: I know what you're going to ask me.

[26:28] Sideways: Okay.

[26:28] Alan Seales: Well, he's green.

[26:30] Sideways: Five star.

[26:31] Alan Seales: That is correct.

[26:31] Sideways: We're on the board.

[26:34] Alan Seales: It's close.

[26:34] Sideways: All right, Ethan, you got this.

[26:36] Alan Seales: This has got to be the same universe as the Scooby-Doo movies.

[26:39] Sideways: Five.

[26:39] Alan Seales: Correct.

[26:40] Sideways: Yes!

[26:43] Alan Seales: Everybody loves the Scooby-Doo movies.

[26:44] Sideways: They're great.

[26:44] Alan Seales: They are.

[26:45] Sideways: True.

[26:45] Alan Seales: All time.

[26:45] Sideways: James Gunn icons.

[26:48] Alan Seales: Yes.

[26:49] Sideways: Jim Carrey is hot in this one.

[26:51] Alan Seales: Bro!

[26:52] Sideways: Are you mad at yourself for liking that or is...

[26:55] Alan Seales: Let's see.

[26:55] Sideways: That would be a one.

[26:56] Alan Seales: I'm going one.

[26:57] Sideways: That is correct, Alan.

[26:58] Alan Seales: You keep going.

[26:59] Sideways: Keep getting the hints.

[27:01] Alan Seales: That person loathes themselves.

[27:02] Sideways: That's why they think that.

[27:04] Alan Seales: All right, Ethan, you got this.

[27:05] Sideways: Okay.

[27:05] Alan Seales: This explains a lot about me.

[27:10] Sideways: Cameron Diaz wrote that herself.

[27:12] Alan Seales: In retirement, you got a letterbox to count.

[27:15] Sideways: I'm going to say that's a one.

[27:16] Alan Seales: It's actually a five.

[27:18] Sideways: Fuck!

[27:21] Alan Seales: I was like, is this self-deprecating?

[27:23] Sideways: No, this is just a narcissist.

[27:24] Alan Seales: It's a narcissist.

[27:26] Sideways: Alan.

[27:26] Alan Seales: Yes.

[27:27] Sideways: I'm only five minutes in.

[27:30] Alan Seales: And?

[27:31] Sideways: Yeah.

[27:32] Alan Seales: Period.

[27:32] Sideways: Figure it out.

[27:33] Alan Seales: And?

[27:34] Sideways: And?

[27:35] Alan Seales: And I wrote this review because I love it.

[27:40] Sideways: It's a five.

[27:41] Alan Seales: That is correct.

[27:42] Sideways: Yes.

[27:43] Alan Seales: See, I have to put myself in the shoes of these people's fingers as they're typing.

[27:47] Sideways: You know, I think letterbox might be the only platform on the internet that's actually immune to AI because how could you get worse comments than these?

[27:59] Alan Seales: Damn.

[28:00] Sideways: Okay, Cameron Diaz.

[28:01] Alan Seales: Fire emoji.

[28:03] Sideways: That's a five.

[28:03] Alan Seales: That's a one.

[28:04] Sideways: I tricked you.

[28:06] Alan Seales: I tricked you.

[28:09] Sideways: Shit.

[28:10] Alan Seales: Really, Liz is on my team.

[28:11] Sideways: I'm enjoying this.

[28:12] Alan Seales: I don't like this.

[28:13] Sideways: I want Ethan to win.

[28:16] Alan Seales: Alan.

[28:17] Sideways: Ethan, if you want to follow me on Twitter, I totally understand.

[28:19] Alan Seales: Just to be clear.

[28:20] Sideways: Okay, good.

[28:20] Alan Seales: I'm glad you get it.

[28:21] Sideways: Who still uses Twitter?

[28:23] Alan Seales: Okay.

[28:23] Sideways: Yes, I am.

[28:24] Alan Seales: I'm ready.

[28:25] Sideways: Basically, the same plot is limitless.

[28:27] Alan Seales: Not really, but okay.

[28:29] Sideways: I get it.

[28:29] Alan Seales: One.

[28:31] Sideways: That is correct.

[28:31] Alan Seales: Yeah, found my mojo.

[28:33] Sideways: I oversold my happy.

[28:36] Alan Seales: All right, Ethan, this is the last one.

[28:40] Sideways: There's no way.

[28:40] Alan Seales: There's no way you can win this, but you get two points.

[28:42] Sideways: I'm doing this for glory.

[28:45] Alan Seales: This was the most passionate letterboxing game you've had on this show.

[28:48] Sideways: I'm giving up smoking.

[28:51] Alan Seales: Damn.

[28:51] Sideways: Go with your instinct.

[28:52] Alan Seales: Go with your instinct.

[28:52] Sideways: Sounds like the opening to a Sondheim song.

[28:56] Alan Seales: Five.

[28:57] Sideways: Correct.

[28:59] Alan Seales: Yeah, two points at the end.

[29:01] Sideways: We're now in a blaze of glory.

[29:02] Alan Seales: It's such a fun game.

[29:05] Sideways: It's actually really fun to make.

[29:06] Alan Seales: And you know what?

[29:09] Sideways: I'm happy to say I didn't rip it off from anyone else.

[29:12] Alan Seales: What do we all think about the impact of The Mask as a film on our culture?

[29:18] Sideways: And should there have ever been a proper Jim Carrey-involved sequel?

[29:24] Alan Seales: There are so many quotes from my childhood that I still use.

[29:30] Sideways: Yeah, can't make the scene if you don't got the green.

[29:33] Alan Seales: Smoking?

[29:34] Sideways: Somebody ARTY because I gotta.

[29:36] Alan Seales: There's like, there's tons.

[29:37] Sideways: Yeah, I like it made a huge impact.

[29:40] Alan Seales: I mean, for me, honestly.

[30:13] Sideways: I wasn't a concept, but I did have two siblings.

[30:17] Jesse McAnally: So the cartoon came out after the movie.

[30:20] Sideways: Yes.

[30:21] Jesse McAnally: I forgot there was a cartoon.

[30:22] Sideways: Yes, there was a cartoon.

[30:23] Sideways: And then I saw the movie as a consequence of the cartoon.

[30:26] Sideways: So I wouldn't have seen it until the later 90s, and it wasn't referenced in school.

[30:31] Sideways: It was one of those, like, turbo-nerd, I-enjoy-this-by-myself kind of thing.

[30:42] Jesse McAnally: Oh, yeah. If you're under 10 watching this in the 90s, yeah.

[30:53] Sideways: You made your own cult out of it.

[30:55] Sideways: I vividly remember, like, sitting watching it for, like, the 17th time that week.

[31:00] Sideways: And it's the scene where the mask pulls out a condom instead of a balloon animal.

[31:05] Sideways: And my dad turns to my mom and goes, does he know what that is?

[31:08] Sideways: And I'm like, yeah, it's a messed up balloon.

[31:11] Sideways: And he's like, that's right.

[31:14] Sideways: I remember that to this day.

[31:15] Sideways: No, but, like, yeah, no, it's so ingrained.

[31:17] Sideways: I have, like, this is a really, really weird, like, tangent, but strap in.

[31:21] Sideways: So my mom is Chilean. She's from South America. Spanish is her first language.

[31:26] Sideways: She came to the States when she was, like, seven or eight and didn't speak a word of English.

[31:30] Sideways: And so she says that she remembers watching the Beverly Hillbillies and that even though she didn't understand what they were saying, she remembers the sounds that they were making, right?

[31:39] Sideways: And, like, the way that those formed words. And, like, that's just something that stuck with her.

[31:47] Sideways: And, like, a similar thing happens with me whenever I watch the movie because, like, I remember, like, the cadence.

[31:52] Sideways: I remember sort of, like, the cadence, the rhythm, the melody of what they're saying, the sound effects, what's happening, the timing of the jokes.

[31:59] Sideways: But I clearly didn't understand what, like, doggy ordinance is, right?

[32:04] Sideways: And so, yeah, like, there's just this very, like, formative childlike attachment that I have to this film that I absolutely love.

[32:11] Sideways: God, talking about this, I'm now discovering I was in kindergarten when I first watched this film.

[32:17] Sideways: I was like, oh, mom and dad, that might have been too early.

[32:20] Sideways: People are getting shot. Like, come on.

[32:22] Sideways: I had a blast. Like, I remember getting it for Christmas, so it had to have been, like, my sixth birthday I got the VHS.

[32:28] Sideways: You remember getting a movie? You couldn't just go stream it. You couldn't download it. You had to get it.

[32:35] Sideways: I am a huge advocate for physical media, and it's not because I'm a giant hoarder.

[32:41] Sideways: But I still have all my VHSes and my DVDs and my Blu-rays and my cassettes.

[32:45] Sideways: I have everything.

[32:46] Sideways: And now I'm not some creepy loser with a bunch of boxes full of stuff. Now I'm an archivist.

[32:54] Sideways: Once you pass a certain age, it becomes respectable again.

[32:57] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, at this point, it's more of a hobby. It's a collection.

[33:00] Sideways: Right, right, right, right.

[33:01] Jesse McAnally: Your blockbuster's coming to you.

[33:03] Sideways: Yeah, there you go.

[33:04] Jesse McAnally: There you go.

[33:05] Sideways: Right.

[33:06] Sideways: And I will say, watching this, I think this is the first time I've ever watched it in HD.

[33:10] Sideways: I watched that VHS so much when I was a kid, but I don't think I ever revisited it in the meantime.

[33:17] Sideways: So watching it here in full HD, I really got to appreciate, like, all the small details in the world and how strange and interesting this world is.

[33:27] Sideways: It's like a comedy was shooting just on the outskirts of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies.

[33:33] Jesse McAnally: Yes!

[33:34] Sideways: I like that it's based on a character that is a horror character.

[33:39] Sideways: And then they turn this into a comedy with Jim Carrey, right?

[33:44] Sideways: No, the one thing I wanted to say, that I forgot to say earlier, was that I love that in this whole reality of Edging Town, that there is this cartoony-like character literally bouncing around and doing things that no human can do, and no one questions it.

[33:58] Sideways: It's just like, yeah, that's what that guy can do. He wears a mask. All right.

[34:02] Jesse McAnally: I'm just going to go into history shit. Is this like how they went from the comic to the movie?

[34:07] Sideways: Basically, yeah. So what happened was Chuck Russell directed, by commission basically, Nightmare 3, The Dream Warriors, one of the best Nightmare on Elm Street movies of all time. Don't at me, anyone who disagrees.

[34:32] Sideways: So New Line picked up the mask and were like, Hey, Chuck Russell, we want you to make a new horror series based on this comic book.

[34:41] Sideways: And Chuck Russell was like, Hey, I would love to do that, but this is just Freddy Krueger, but green. So I actually don't want to do that.

[34:49] Sideways: So we're going to do something else. So they cast Jim Carrey, and it became a romantic comedy kid movie along the way.

[34:57] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, that's what happened.

[34:58] Sideways: Wow.

[34:59] Jesse McAnally: Dude, that's wild.

[35:00] Sideways: Yeah. Like, you know the scene in the movie where they do the dance number with the cops?

[35:10] Sideways: I'm the king of the rumba beat. When I play the maracas, I go chick chicky boom, chick chicky boom.

[35:16] Sideways: Yes, sir, I'm Cuban Pete. I'm the crates on my naked crate. When I start to dance, everything goes chick chicky boom, chick chicky boom.

[35:24] Sideways: Yeah, Cuban Pete. In the comic books, he just commits mass murder and kills an entire police department with a lot of dust.

[35:31] Jesse McAnally: See, that was something that hit me once I got older. And I was like, Oh, I wonder where this comes from. And it's like, Oh, it's this comic. Oh, that sounds like a fun comic. It's not like a ha ha kind of fun.

[35:42] Sideways: No. No, and I just, that gets me thinking, or it's like you could, you would never get away with that nowadays. You know, anything that is remotely not comic accurate, just, there's going to be 17 YouTube videos and every single thumbnail is going to be Brie Larson, you know?

[35:58] Jesse McAnally: Brie Larson is still there, no matter what.

[36:01] Sideways: Yeah, no matter what.

[36:02] Jesse McAnally: She's not even in the movies.

[36:03] Sideways: Brie Larson was even like an actor in 1994. It's like, it's her fault.

[36:06] Jesse McAnally: Yeah.

[36:07] Sideways: Yeah, right?

[36:08] Sideways: The neckbeard union is going to come after you.

[36:10] Jesse McAnally: That, you'd never be able to get away with that nowadays. It'd just be, it'd be torture.

[36:14] Sideways: But, but like they did that and they made something new and that's really cool. And I like that. It's like a Broadway adaptation.

[36:20] Jesse McAnally: Oh my gosh.

[36:22] Sideways: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like Back to the Future, but what if we had shitty songs?

[36:29] Jesse McAnally: But there's still a flying DeLorean.

[36:31] Sideways: And still mom trying to fuck her own son.

[36:33] Jesse McAnally: The things that we all come to the theater for.

[36:36] Sideways: Also, fun fact about the comic book. Stanley Ipkiss dies in the first of three issues.

[36:40] Sideways: So, the mask goes to like 800 different people for the other two issues.

[36:43] Jesse McAnally: Oh, snap.

[36:44] Sideways: Yeah, Stanley Ipkiss dies because in the comic book, he's an abusive asswipe. And his girlfriend kills him at the end of volume one and takes the mask.

[36:52] Jesse McAnally: Jeez.

[36:53] Sideways: Yeah, there's a lot.

[36:54] Jesse McAnally: How old are you to this now?

[36:55] Sideways: That would have given Cameron Diaz more of a chicken strip.

[36:58] Sideways: If you don't want to, if you don't want to do any reading, you can watch The Mask, What's the Difference on YouTube by Cinefix. That's how I got this information.

[37:06] Sideways: Comic book Ipkiss, on the other hand, has filled his heart with thoughts of revenge. He's the kind of guy who blames the world for his problems and is just waiting for the right moment to release his full-blown fury.

[37:16] Sideways: The same can't be said about Jim Carrey's Ipkiss, who reacts to his misfortunes with self-pity. His journey is one of courage and self-respect.

[37:23] Sideways: And that is where The Mask comes in. Known as Big Head in the comics. Speaking of that, what is our overall thoughts on The Mask? And is it an alrighty then or a no spank you?

[37:30] Jesse McAnally: I feel like this is going to be the most obvious ones of all. Ethan, why don't you start us off?

[37:40] Sideways: Yeah, it's an alrighty then. I'm going to give it a 10 out of 10 for absolutely no analytical or professional reason. I love this movie. I grew up with it. It's got its own little room in my head where it lives forever.

[37:55] Sideways: And that's terrifying to say out loud with real words. But yeah, I'm way too close to this film to be any kind of impartial analysis. I love it. If you haven't seen it, you've got to check it out. I think it's funny. I think it's still funny. Yeah, cannot speak more highly of it. So that's an alrighty then.

[38:12] Jesse McAnally: Alright.

[38:13] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, 4 out of 5. Alan, you're next.

[38:16] Alan Seales: Yes, I am. What's your rating, Alan?

[38:18] Alan Seales: Oh, wrong game.

[38:23] Alan Seales: I too enjoyed this. I think it was on the tail end of me being impressionable. I was more of a, well, I'm still impressionable. What am I saying? Around this time, I was into Teach Me Ninja Turtle, Back to the Future, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I would not see this repeatedly, but I did love it. I loved watching it again earlier today. And I enjoyed learning the trivia. Definitely a strong alrighty then.

[38:49] Jesse McAnally: Liz, how about you?

[38:50] Liz: Please no one murder me. This is the first time I've actually sat through and watched the entirety of The Mask.

[38:56] Alan Seales: No.

[38:57] Liz: What did you think?

[38:58] Alan Seales: Oh, that's fine.

[39:00] Liz: What happened was I watched so many clips of this on Freeform, whatever TV channel it aired on. I convinced myself I've seen it. I've never seen this whole movie.

[39:07] Alan Seales: Oh, yeah.

[39:10] Liz: That's me in the whole Twilight series.

[39:12] Alan Seales: Yes, exactly.

[39:13] Liz: I've never actually seen a whole movie all the way through, but I've seen chunks of it so many times. First time I've seen this movie in full. And I love it. I love everything about it. I grew up on Mel Brooks absurdist comedy, Mel Brooks weird comedies with very little real-world logic. I love this shit.

[39:30] Liz: Barb and Sargon of Isabel Mar, one of my favorite comedies of recent memory. I love comedies like this. It's so fun. It's actually funny. It's very referential of an era of cartoons I grew up watching a lot because my dad owns 80 Looney Tunes VHS tapes.

[39:47] Liz: We would circulate them as a kid. It's like Best of Bugs Bunny, Best of Daffy Duck, shit like that. We'd circulate those a lot in my basement along with Elmo and Grouchland, but that's unrelated.

[40:00] Jesse McAnally: Yes! Someone else brought that movie up.

[40:02] Liz: I used to watch that all the time as a kid.

[40:04] Alan Seales: Same, I burned that VHS tape nearly to the ground.

[40:06] Liz: Yeah. It was my favorite movie. But yeah, I love The Mask. Watch it. Don't watch Son of the Mask. Burn that in hell. So, alrighty then for The Mask.

[40:15] Jesse McAnally: So, you guys.

[40:17] Jesse McAnally: Jess?

[40:18] Jess: I think that The Mask could have been a lot better.

[40:22] Alan Seales: Fuck off.

[40:23] Jess: Of course you do.

[40:24] Alan Seales: Interesting.

[40:25] Jess: Jess, do you actually think or is this a myth?

[40:28] Jess: No, I'm just being a troll. The Mask is great. I can't handle that.

[40:34] Jess: The structure, but the structure. The movie is structured perfectly. The lighting is great. The cinematography is great. Everything is peak.

[40:44] Jess: Jim Carrey is at his best because he has the most to prove here. He isn't sitting back. He's like putting every effort into this and it is. He's incredible in this.

[40:55] Jess: He shows range, which I need in Jim Carrey. Like, my God. And he and Cameron Diaz have good chemistry and they never work together again.

[41:05] Alan Seales: What?

[41:06] Jess: And this is her first acting gig. Like a major, major budget thing they took a chance on her.

[41:13] Alan Seales: There's something to be said for that, right?

[41:15] Jess: Because they wanted to hire a chicken nugget, right? Half a chicken strip, you know, whatever, right? Something bland and boring. And, you know, she fucking brought it, right?

[41:28] Jess: She brought the Lord. She brought the ranch.

[41:30] Alan Seales: Exactly.

[41:31] Jess: She brought the ranch. So it's like, good on her, you know?

[41:34] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[41:35] Alan Seales: I mean, she brought what they wanted. The role was not really written with much substance at all. And she filled everything there was to fill.

[41:42] Jess: Yeah.

[41:43] Jesse McAnally: Ethan, thank you for joining us.

[41:45] Sideways: Oh, thank you for having me. This is a joy as always. From the first episode you were on of Musicals with Cheese, you have been one of my favorite people and you continue to be so.

[41:54] Sideways: Thank you so much. I love your guys' show. This is so much fun.

[41:58] Jesse McAnally: Yay. I love it. I don't know if you're still doing YouTube content because I know you're learning with a big boy degree and all that. But please promote what you can if you're interested.

[42:07] Sideways: So I just graduated from grad school.

[42:10] Jesse McAnally: Yay. Congratulations, sir.

[42:12] Sideways: Thank you. Yeah. This is like the summer after I graduate. My diploma.

[42:16] Sideways: Grad summer.

[42:18] Sideways: Yeah. My diploma's supposed to be in the mail. So I'm looking to get back into making videos and getting back on that horse.

[42:25] Jesse McAnally: But other than that, yeah, I'm just waking up and doing my best.

[42:30] Sideways: Yeah.

[42:31] Jesse McAnally: So if they don't know where to find you already, where can they find you?

[42:34] Sideways: Just YouTube. Just Google sideways?

[42:36] Sideways: Yeah. That's pretty much it. I don't have anything fancy.

[42:39] Sideways: Hold on. Hold on. It's YouTube.com slash sideways 440.

[42:45] Sideways: And at this point in the story, Miles is crossing the return threshold, returning from the unknown back to the known world, which is why this entire scene not only takes place in Brooklyn, but is a direct contrast to an earlier scene when Miles was trying to understand his powers and failing.

[42:59] Sideways: And what do we hear? We hear Miles's known identity with his spider hero, unknown identity glued together with the musical idea that represents Miles's journey.

[43:20] Jesse McAnally: Thank you for listening to this episode. Please follow us on Instagram and Carried Away Pod. Email us at carriedawaypodcast.

[43:25] Jesse McAnally: Our title card is created by the amazing Grace Aki. I love you, Grace Aki. They just did a big old performance in the UK and they're back stateside. Happy to have them.

[43:33] Jesse McAnally: This show is produced and edited by the wonderful Elizabeth Eston, and they're doing a fantastic job.

[43:38] Jesse McAnally: Our theme song is I Choose You by the band Thanks. Thank you to the Broadway Podcast Network for having us on the platform and for not kicking us off for, I don't know, all the horrendous crimes we did while we were wearing the mask.

[43:44] Sideways: Yeah, I robbed a bank.

[43:49] Sideways: Yeah. I killed a guy.

[43:51] Jesse McAnally: Damn.

[43:52] Sideways: I did the Chase bank robbery.

[43:54] Sideways: That's a joke.

[43:56] Sideways: I pirated the mask.

[43:58] Sideways: I pirated the mask.

[44:01] Sideways: I pirated Son of the Mask. It was a horrible mistake.

[44:05] Sideways: Not really, NSA. I didn't do any of that illegal activity. That was purely fiction.

[44:10] Jesse McAnally: We'll see you next time on the Carried Away Podcast.

[44:13] Jesse McAnally: Bye-bye.

[44:14] Alan Seales: I'm Alan Seals.

[44:15] Jesse McAnally: Bye.

[44:28] Sideways: Bye.