Life Aquatic

[00:00:00] This week, we're taking a deep breath, grabbing our snorkels, and plunging headfirst into Wes Anderson's whimsical underwater adventure, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast. I'm Jackie. And I'm Danielle.

[00:00:28] And we're just two best friends and ex-blockbuster employees rewatching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. This week, we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 2004 quirky comedy, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. But before we dive in, let's get into some housekeeping. If you love the podcast and you want to support us, here are a few ways that you can.

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[00:01:19] And if you want exclusive content, including my Gloria Estefan sign language routine that we talked about on the rent episode, as well as our experience watching Broadway in the Park home movies, head on over to patreon.com slash no more late fees. Become a Patreon bestie and get exclusive material. Thank you.

[00:01:43] And we are welcoming our good friend Nick back to the pod to torture him, of course. Yay! It's what I do. It's what I'm here for. I'm so excited to be here yet again. Yet again. And if you've been under a rock and you don't know who Nick is, make sure you go check out our previous episodes of Monsters, Inc., Clerks, and Goldeneye. You can head to our show notes for all the links. All right, Jackie. What's this movie about?

[00:02:13] Well, I'll tell you what chat GPT says it's about. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou follows the eccentric oceanographer Steve Zissou, played by Bill Murray, as he embarks on a quest to avenge the death of his partner Esteban, who was devoured by a mythical jaguar shark.

[00:02:36] His journey is filled with unexpected encounters, including Ned, a man who believes Zissou is his father, and Jane, a journalist pregnant by another man. Along the way, Zissou grapples with his own fading fame, his estranged wife Eleanor, and the complexities of his relationship with his crew. It stars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Angelica Houston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, and Bud Quirt.

[00:03:04] It was directed by Wes Anderson. It was written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. And you can currently watch it for free on Hoopla using your library card, or you can rent it on Amazon. But before we start, let's get into our ratings, everyone. Yes, Nick, do you have a comment? We're already starting. We're already starting with this. With what?

[00:03:30] Only because, like, I was like, so your own synopsis has one sentence at the end, and I feel like leaving off that one sentence changes our perspective of the movie. And I'm like, why did you, like, I'm like reading along, like you're reading the synopsis, I'm like, come on, yep, yep. And then you get the, I'm like, why did you, that last sentence is like, that's why the movie is good. And you're already like, no, we're not going to say that sentence out loud. Because I don't agree with that sentence.

[00:03:59] What sentence is it? The film is whimsical and melancholy. That's because Chad GBT likes to give its opinions instead of just writing out facts. It's so annoying. It is an exploration of identity and grief and the search for meaning in a vast and unpredictable world. Yes. Yes, it is. That is, that is, yes. That's why I love this movie. So you know the drill. Before we get into the movie, we'll reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give.

[00:04:28] Then at the end, we'll see if our current selves agree with our initial rating. Our scale consists of, would buy it, would buy it again. The best would play on repeat. Five day rental. Would watch again. Two day rental. Okay, but nothing to write home about. And same day rental. You'll find it in the Walmart $5 bin along with this movie. Leave it at the bottom of the ocean. Nick, we're going to start with you, dear.

[00:04:58] What is your rating of this movie? Would buy it, would buy it again. As a matter of fact, when I had to watch it again for this podcast, I just pulled the DVD off of my shelf. I still have the copy that I bought 20 years ago. Very surprising. Yeah, right? I'm very happy for you. How about that, huh? Yes. I'm happy for you, too. Okay. No, this is good. Jackie, what's your rating? I had never seen this movie before. Danielle?

[00:05:27] Girl, same. Same. I have worked 20 years to avoid this movie. It wasn't that like, oh, I haven't seen it because I just didn't get a chance. It was a full-on conscious effort to never see this movie. I saw the Royal Tenenbaums and I said, thank you, Wes Anderson. Thank you very much. That is enough for me. All I needed to know. All I needed to know.

[00:05:57] Thinking back, I was thinking about this on the Y2K version. Why did I fall in love with this movie? Why did Y2K Nick fall in love with this movie? And I think I was thinking about kind of like our previous conversation about Crash and about how for a very specific kind of audience, it's a very specific kind of movie. And I realized, like I was thinking back about the movies that I liked during this age, about how who I am and who I was at that point.

[00:06:23] Like the sort of epitome of a privileged person kind of like going into college and kind of like looking into this vast world and trying to like find who I am and things like that. And it was like, I don't know. Am I a guy who reads literature? Am I a guy who watches artistic film? Am I a guy who eats sushi? Like, you know, like what am I? Do I go to museums? Like what is the new depth of Nick, right? Because, you know, I needed I was looking for something like that. And there's a lot of films that came out during this time.

[00:06:52] If you ever do Garden State, I think that was like it's, you know, I know, I know, I know. That's not one that I will defend. But I just like but I recognize that, like, I loved Garden State because it was made for me very specifically. Yes. Right. And I think that's originally why I fell in love with this movie is because I feel like it was made for someone like me. I was like I was intrigued by its kind of like quirky artistic nature. But like and I was like looking for things like that.

[00:07:21] But I think when I will talk about it again at the end. But when I rewatched it recently, I like it for different reasons. I still love it, but not for the same reasons I did when I was 20. Yeah. I was just I don't know. I was just reflecting on on that about how like I think this movie was made for me, which is why I gravitated towards it. And then the other thing kind of like you mentioned, you all saw Royal Tenenbaums. This was the first Wes Anderson movie I saw. And so this is my introduction to Wes Anderson.

[00:07:47] And also there's all there's I don't know, like I went to I went to see it on a date with a girl who was also like really cool. And like that kind of like maybe that caught in my perception as well. But like all these things kind of combined, I'm like, I was primed to fall in love with this movie before I even got there. And I did. I did. I don't know.

[00:08:06] How differently I would have thought about this movie if I had seen it when I was younger, because young Danielle still like didn't know what she knows now, obviously. But seeing it now, I was like, damn. White people can get money for anything.

[00:08:33] And that's not I mean, like what I this is how I feel when it comes to equity. I feel like every group should have the opportunity to make like cinema does should be a spectrum, right? Like everything doesn't have to be like artsy fartsy doesn't have to be Oscar worthy. There should be something for everyone.

[00:08:57] But unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to be mediocre or to be artsy within their culture, per se. Yeah. And I just think that humor culturally. Hits in different ways for different people.

[00:09:24] Culturally, this did not there were moments I was like, yeah, but very rare. And I was like, this is not for me. This movie is not for me. This is not a universally great movie. This is for a specific group of people. The cinematography, the coloring, everything was beautiful. I will give it that.

[00:09:49] But the fact that I what infuriates me is to know that there are people out there who have beautiful vision, beautiful stories. And they never could get the kind of money to make their passion projects. But this exists made me want to pull my hair out. Because what in the flying fuck is this?

[00:10:19] That's how I felt watching this movie. Like, what is this? What is this? What is this? Why am I watching this? What is this? How did Cate Blanchett get roped into this? How? How? How? Why are all these really famous people in this fucking movie? I think like, because they probably relate to the story and the storytelling as well. Like, I don't. What? But what story? Yeah. What? Like, what?

[00:10:48] Nothing happens in this movie. Absolutely nothing happens in this movie. You have a man who is Jacques Cousteau with a rival in played by Jeff Goldblum, who's with a woman that knows more than he knows. But also, he's got a crew that's dedicated to them.

[00:11:14] I don't know if Wes Anderson heard maybe some critiques in the fact that maybe there's not enough people of color in his films. So he took a black man and had him just in the background singing fucking songs. Like, what's happening? Steven Bowie in Portuguese. What is happening? What? What?

[00:11:47] What? What? Seriously, we're going to go play by play. You're going to tell me what the fuck is happening in this movie. Because there's no purpose. I text message Nick. There's claymation in this movie. And then I sent him a picture. And I said, why? Like. I think like. So I don't argue with anything that you said, Daniela. I think you're absolutely right. But so, okay. So I'm reminded of.

[00:12:18] This is how I teach, by the way. So welcome to. Welcome. Welcome to the class with Nick. Okay. So I promise there's going to be a point. I remember one time I was teaching about self-disclosure in my communication class. And we're talking about. Like, we're all self-disclosing. We're practicing it. We're talking about it. You know. Da-da-da-da-da. And we're talking about like, how do you respond to somebody when they self-disclose? And I had a student. And I can still visualize her. She was a sensational student. And she was a firecracker of a human being. She like raises her hand. And she gets like really like frustrated. Because she's like, I just can't stand it. When people will like tell me about their problems.

[00:12:47] Like they'll like, they'll dump all this stuff on me. All this self-disclosure. They'll vent and be vulnerable and whatever. And like, but then I'll offer advice. And they don't want my advice. And I'm like, well, then why did you tell me all this if you didn't want my advice? And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Ask that same question. But instead of asking a question as like an indignant response, ask a question looking for an answer. Right? Like why would somebody tell you all these things if they didn't like want advice? Right? Right?

[00:13:18] And because if you ask the question, like there actually might be an answer. And then answer worth exploring and an answer that could be valuable. And so I feel like, like all the things that you mentioned, Danielle, are like absolutely spot on. Like I don't argue with any of that about like the way that like, you know, the funding and the resources for making films and storytelling is grossly and tragically and violently, you know, unequally distributed.

[00:13:41] But then so why would all of these talented people with all of these resources sign on to this project? Like, like, I don't know. There's an interesting story being told here. Oh, I know. Like, the reason is this. Hollywood blows smoke up each other's ass all day.

[00:14:03] Wes Anderson, like sometimes when you at this point, in this point of his career, remember, like some of his previous works were like indie darlings, top notch. Which also the experience, you know, a lot of actors will say sometimes it's not even about the script or the writing. It's about how working with a particular director makes them feel. Visually, this man has a vision.

[00:14:31] It is very quirky outside the box. It's not like everything else. Again, this was not supposed to be like an everybody blockbuster. I get it. But for God's sakes, you could put gun to head. You try to tell me the real plot of this. And I'm just going to say white people shit. Because that's what this movie felt like.

[00:14:59] I hate to just relegate it to that. But that's what it is. Black people who listen to this podcast, y'all don't want to see this shit. Don't do it. And don't tell me why the fuck did you do this movie and tell me to go watch this. I would never do it. I'm not staring you wrong. You don't want it. It ain't got nothing to do with us. This ain't got nothing to do with us. I mean, and it has very little to do with women in general. They are just us for the men in this movie.

[00:15:26] Which is probably like why I couldn't even find a thread of connection. We have Kate Blanchett who's pregnant by another guy. And is talking in a weird baby voice the whole time that I could not fucking stand. This was, it was a choice for this accent as much as also the Kentucky accent. I said, Jesus, please just let me get through this.

[00:15:51] And then we had the other female employee who had to be topless the whole time. What the fuck was that? That was weird. I didn't, yeah, I was like, that's unnecessary. And then we had Angelica Houston's character, Eleanor, who was just the brains of the operation, got none of the credit, and was funding the whole fucking thing because her parents were the rich ones.

[00:16:15] They relegated her the way that, like, yes, this makes sense. How they look at women, essentially. Yeah. Yeah. The only saving grace for me was Willem Dafoe because, you know, I'd be... Not even Jeff Goldblum? Well, that too. But low-key Willem Dafoe, I'd be like, I'd be feeling him. I don't know why. We all have our things.

[00:16:44] We all have our devices. We do. We've... Okay, we've gone off course. Let me get into the budget and we'll... Because we're going to be doing this. Sorry, Nick. Oh, Lord. Budget. 50 fucking million dollars. Where did the money go? Claymation. And salaries. Million dollars. And it made 34 million dollars.

[00:17:13] That, I'm even surprised that it got that much. Yeah. He still makes the same fucking movie over and over again. He still gets funding. Sorry. Yes. Which also upsets me. There is a documentary with Geena Davis from her... You know, she has an institute where she does a lot of development and research about women in Hollywood and getting movies made.

[00:17:42] And unfortunately, for women directors, they get that one shot. If they don't make it big, even if it's actually a hit, the chances for them to get a second or third movie is damn near impossible and extremely difficult. If a woman were to direct this exact movie, never would probably get funding to make another again. But that's like a whole other subject. I will say that her...

[00:18:12] It's called the Geena Davis Institute. It's a great... If you're looking for somewhere you can donate to help women in the arts and not just women anymore. She does... Promotes rape and ethnicity, LGBTQTIA, older characters, diverse body types. It's a fantastic place. I do a monthly donation there. And it just... It's a fantastic organization if you're looking to help support women and minorities in film.

[00:18:43] This movie did have a lot of competition. So it was up against Ocean's 12, which was number one at the box office. Number two was Blade Trinity. Number three was National Treasure. Four of the Polar Express. And then five, Christmas with Cranks. So the fact that it still made $34 million with this, shocking. There's a lot of Knicks going to see this movie for sure. And their poor girlfriends that they dragged to see it as well. For the record, she dragged me.

[00:19:13] Hehehehe. Hehehehe. Hehehehe. Hehehehe. Lil Raj gave this movie 2.5 stars. He said... My rational mind informs me that this movie doesn't work. Yet I hear a subversive whisper. Since it doesn't so many other things, does it have to work too? Can't it just exist? Terminal whimsy? I called it on the TV show, yes.

[00:19:40] But isn't that better than half-hearted whimsy and no whimsy at all? Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizou is the damnedest film. I can't recommend it. But I would not for one second discourage you from seeing it. That! That is my position as well. I'm like... Yeah, anyways. Ladies and gentlemen, just remember Lil Raj is still an old white man.

[00:20:10] Mm-hmm. Not to say that we're not aligned sometimes, but... Yes, why would you see this? Why? Why not? Hehehehe. Because it is so hard. Hehehehe. Hehehehe. Hehehehe. So bad. I just feel like life is so short and I just wasted two hours, practically. Do you remember... Do you even...

[00:20:40] I mean, I don't know if you, when you were working at Blockbuster, did you ever have to block the wall of, like, to prepare for the new releases that were going to be put on the wall? Yeah. Just week after week after week after week. Just so many movies. And I'm like, this one is better than half of those. Which is not saying much. Like, that's not a gross endorsement, right? Like, that's not, like, saying it's the greatest movie of all time. But I'm saying, like, there's so many movies. This is better than a lot of them.

[00:21:08] I will say, I would probably re-watch Killjoy before I re-watched this movie. I don't even know what that movie is. I've never even heard of it. You haven't lived. It's something. And previously we have compared all other, like, two-day and same-day movies. Like, it was bad, but it wasn't Killjoy. Killjoy.

[00:21:38] Yeah. It is our bottom of the, the, it's the bottom of the ocean. I'm just, like, I'm thinking about how, like, like, every week, like, we'd block the wall for, like, 14 releases that were coming out that week. And of those 14, I only ever saw five. And the other nine just completely didn't ignore them. Then of those five, I only liked two. Like, when we start winnowing down, like, there is just a multitude of movies that we just, that are being made and not seen or being made and absolutely trashed.

[00:22:07] Like, this one is not bad. It's, I mean, you might not like it, but it's not bad. This is what I have to say. Visually, it is a gorgeous movie. We've talked about that. The acting, impeccable. Because you got top-notch acting. They took the most nonsensical script and they made something of it. Did it touch my heart? No. Again, because I can't relate to this movie. It does not have universal appeal.

[00:22:37] It does not speak to me as a woman, a Black woman, a person. Like, it does not speak to me at all. So, no heart. The plot and storyline didn't speak to me at all. I still don't even know why. And from a comedic standpoint, I did not find it funny. I don't, I'm pulling out straws here, Nick.

[00:23:07] Like, I- Right. No, no. That's fine. That's totally fine. But I just, like, when you add all those things up, I'm like, that adds up to, I don't need to see it. Right? Right? I'm like, okay, totally fine. But I'm like, could we, like, just, like, what does it mean to, like, nobody should ever see it? Like, that's a, that's a whole nother category. It's a very specific. Very niche group of people.

[00:23:31] If you are a white, cis, American man, this for you. This is your, this is your shit right here. Pop off, kings. Do it. That's it. That's fine. Like, look, I'm not going to yuck your yum. I'm yucking your yum because you brought your shit to our podcast and made us watch it. Well, we invited you. Called me.

[00:24:00] You called me. Nick, Nick, you said- Your podcast. You said, this is my list of movies. Yes. Jackie and I go, okay, what's coming up for anniversaries? They were like, goddamn, that Life Aquatic is on there. And mind you, Nick, every episode you come on, you drop Life Aquatic. So you really did put us into a quandary. And yes, you did bring this shit here to our podcast.

[00:24:29] I am so touched and honored to be the third member of the No More Ladies podcast. I didn't know that I was so deeply entrenched in it. Like, I feel like I've been, have I been being delegated tasks? And then let it count? Like, I didn't know. I didn't know what's going to be. Thank you. Yes, Nick. You are an, like, an honorary member of No More Late Feeds. There are a few guests that have become beyond guests.

[00:24:57] Like, everyone knows every season you're going to be on for sure. Next year might be two times. Yeah. This year was two times. Yeah. Well, okay. So yes, you brought this to our neighborhood. You were, you were promoting it hugely. Pretty hard. I was. I didn't think you would listen. I honestly did not think you would listen.

[00:25:28] That is also fair. You know, I mean, we know that art is subjective. We just have some critique. Like, again, it's not going to hit for everybody. You know, unfortunately, where people come from, their backgrounds affects how they look at things. And Steezy Zoo, we could have taken that millions of dollars and done something else. Just saying.

[00:25:58] But for people like you, it works. I don't know. I don't know. I hope if I was high. You know. Well, maybe, maybe as we get into it, I could. Yes. Explain why it works. I paused this movie so many times and I said, Nick better explain this shit to me. Well. I will try. Before we get into the cast and crew, let's hear a message from our pod pals.

[00:26:27] Hello, everyone. My name is Ben Groves. And my name is Rob McFarlane. And together we are the Every Movie Ever podcast. We've always found refuge in movies. We love them all. From sci-fi, horror, to Oscar winning drama, and so bad they're good B movies. Each of us has had major mental struggles. I'm sober. I should be. Trauma. Mental breakdowns. And to make sure that we checked in with our best mate at least once a week, we started the Every Movie Ever podcast.

[00:26:54] Join us as we survey the worst movies in the world and the cinematic gems that you may have missed. So, whether you're a fan of Batman or Billboards, Godzilla or God-level writing, we've got episodes done and hundreds to come. Nick Frost says we can't do Every Movie Ever. But we'll show him some fried f***ing gold. Find us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Or anywhere else. Click the link in our bio to find us. Consume! Did that sound good? Let's try it. Hey, this is Danny Drew.

[00:27:23] Hi, my name is Ken Kim. Thank you, Sheridan. The Every Movie Ever podcast. Okay, casting. So, Matthew Greg Rubler, intern number one, was also the co-writer and director. Wes Anderson. Oh, sorry. Was also Wes Anderson's intern in real life.

[00:27:53] As if that man, it better have been a paid intern. Because you making all this goddamn money and you get free labor? Kiss my ass. Just want to put that out there. So, the character of Steve Zizou was written specifically for Bill Murray. Anderson originally told Murray about the idea for the Life Aquatic on the set of Rushmore. So, he had this cooking even before the Royal Tenenbaums came out.

[00:28:19] Anderson allegedly wanted to make the character an amalgamation of Jacques Cousteau, the character of Guido Anselmi. Guido Anselmi. Guido Anselmi, played by Marcelo Mastriani. Really, really trying my pronunciation here. From the Federico Fellini from Eight and a Half and Murray himself.

[00:28:46] Murray has appeared in every Wes Anderson feature film so far except for Bottle Rocket, which was his debut film. Which I think was, he had a short film version. Didn't they make a short film and then they got funding to make Bottle Rocket? Anywho. And I think so has Owen. Owen Wilson has been in everyone, right? Was he in Bottle Rocket? I know Luke was, right? Rushmore.

[00:29:15] Was he in Rushmore? He might not have been in Rushmore. Let me check. I think I recently looked this up and I think Bill Murray missed on the newest one. Asteroid City. Because he got sick. Yeah, Owen Wilson was in Rushmore, so. So other roles in the film written specifically for the actors were Owen Wilson as Ned, Angelica Houston as Eleanor, and Bud Court as Bill the Bond Company Stooge.

[00:29:47] And then co-writer Noah Baumbach has a cameo in the film as Philip, the assistant to Michael Gambon's character of Ciri Dracula. These names too, man. I just want to go on record to say that Noah Baumbach is an asshole. Another asshole. That's fair. Where's the burn book, Danielle? Oh, I don't. I met Nana's, so I don't have it.

[00:30:15] But I will go back and put this in the burn book that Noah Baumbach, Baumbach, Baumbach? Who knows? I don't have to pronounce it right because he's an asshole. He's a cheating asshole. He used to be married to Jennifer Jason Leigh. They were married. And he cheated. Guess who he cheated with? Guess who he cheated with? Any guesses? No. Barbie movies sound familiar?

[00:30:46] Margot Robbie? Greta Groeg. Ah. Yeah, his new wife. And the marriage story movie that has Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, which if you watch that movie and know that it's like, that's his response. That's him telling essentially his divorce story.

[00:31:15] Unhealed man. Audacity of man. Justice for Jennifer Jason Leigh and Greta. You can't be out here talking about feminism and you stealing husbands and shit. Trifling. But guess what? The way you found them is the way you're gonna lose them. And that's all I'm gonna say. I'm just waiting for that to happen. Let's get into this movie, I guess. Awesome.

[00:31:44] So, very high level. Steve Zissou goes out on these grandiose oceanic adventures and films them and then debuts these films to the elite. Well, I... So... I got the impression...

[00:32:11] Like, I was taken to, like, elementary school science class when we're watching, like, PBS-style documentaries. Right? Like, I don't think he's... I think he premieres them to the elite in the way that all movies are premiered. But I think he makes them as educational features. Like, he is a oceanographer and a documentarian. He's making movies about aquatic animals for the masses. For everybody. For people. But it also feels like he's making shit up as he goes.

[00:32:40] He is! You don't know what he's doing. Especially now that his best friend is gone. Because we find out his best friend gets... They're like, was he swallowed though? He's like, he was chewed. I'm like, that is horrific. But yes. Yes. His friend dies. Steve needs therapy for witnessing a jaguar shark eat his best friend Esteban. Which he's not even positive. That's the animal that got his friend.

[00:33:10] But... But in thinking about... So we're talking about the beginning of the movie, right? And we're talking about, like, Klaus asking Steve, like, you know, wait, was he swallowed whole? No, he was chewed. Is he still alive? And he's like, no, he's like... You know, they're having this ridiculous exchange. So to preface, like, I think one of the things that I enjoy about Wes Anderson films is, like, the... The kind of, like, metaphor that I come up in my mind is, like, What if, like, we had a movie about Oz that had, like, no Dorothy?

[00:33:39] Like, there was no tether to anything that resembled a real world. And it's just kind of, like, quirky characters existing in their own sort of universe. In which case, like, it really sort of de-centers our understanding of, like, what is normal and what is real. Or, like, another kind of thing I think of is, like, we watch The Office. And, like, everybody in The Office has these, like, really quirky, weird idiosyncrasies. And you're kind of, like, no, like, every character is the punchline of a joke. But we only know that because we have Jim.

[00:34:09] Like, Jim is the character that's, like, that's the one that kind of reminds us, like, oh, this is a real world. And, like, there is somebody in here, like, rolling their eyes at, like, when, you know, whoever is doing whatever. But if you took Jim out of The Office and it's just a bunch of quirky characters with idiosyncrasies, like, how would you have any idea, like, who is normal or what even is normal anymore? And I think, like, when you get this, like, exchange with, like, Klaus and Steve with Steve in the ocean, you're just like, what in the hell is going on?

[00:34:38] And it's, like, we use this phrase a lot when we were talking about Bond where it's just kind of, like, conceit to the genre. I think this is an element of, like, Wes Anderson films where it's just, like, there is, like, everybody sort of exists in this weird space where, like, nobody does anything truly normal. You kind of have to sort of, like, recalibrate our brains to be, like, everything everybody does is going to be kind of odd. But if they all exist in the space where everybody is odd, is anybody actually even odd?

[00:35:08] I just think, I don't want to be mean, but I just was like, oh, all of these people are stupid. Except for Angelica Houston. Except maybe, yeah. Yeah. And so I'm like, oh, okay. Because I definitely think Bill Merton, Steve is a dum-dum. Like, and very self-centered. He, if you are, it's a great comparison to The Office because he is definitely giving Michael Scott vibes.

[00:35:38] Very self-centered, very internal. Like, here is this man who supposedly meets this man who's supposed to be his son. And there's no spiral. He, like, he takes it right away. And he's like, okay. Doesn't question it. And he just kind of goes with it.

[00:35:59] And, but he doesn't look at how this boy who turned into a man feels about the fact that he wasn't a father or anything. He just makes this relationship only works if it's in the way that he wants it to be. He's literally, like, cool. You want to go hunt a shark? Right. So, I think, like, the opening scene with the documentary that flops.

[00:36:29] And, like, you get a lot of little tidbits of Steve and, like, where he's at in his life through this. Like, you have the old man who's asking for the autographs on all of these movie posters, right? Like, during that premiere scene. And, like, and just one after another. Like, he's signing all these things. And then eventually, like, Steve's just like, how many of these do you have? Like, get the hell out of here, man. Right. And I think, like, that little tidbit. And there's, like, a lot of, like, small interactions like this that kind of set Steve up as a man who was at the top of his game.

[00:36:58] Like, was at one point very well. Like, he had a high stature. He had high status. He had prestige. He was well-known. He was well-respected. He had everything. And it's all starting to crumble and fall apart. And, like, I think as we learn through the story. Like, we're starting at the spot where it's like, this man is falling apart. We start to learn, like, because his status was kind of built on a house of cards.

[00:37:22] Like, he built up all of this status through, like, a long sequence of selfish mistakes. Mm-hmm. And so, like, we kind of get introduced to the, like, current consequences of the previous selfish mistakes that we didn't actually see in the story. So what we see is, like, this man kind of, like, being confronted with the consequences of the mistakes that we hadn't had. And so, like, when he's introduced to Ned, he's just kind of, like, shit, another one. Like, yep, oh, that's a mistake I made.

[00:37:52] Here it is today. This is fair. And, like, and he does, there is the moment where he just kind of, like, excuse me a second. And he just kind of, like, walks off and, like, walks through the boat and kind of goes out on his own to. And there's, like, a visual thing where, like, everything kind of starts to spiral. And so I think, like, that's the moment where it's, like, it's not that he, but then he does eventually be, like, all right, maybe I could turn this son of mine into my next move. And, like, it's going to help me regain my status because he's trying desperately to hold on to what he had.

[00:38:19] But it just continues to fall apart around him because he doesn't have anything. But, like, I think he doesn't just kind of, like, say, cool, let's go. He says, like, and there, I don't know. Like, I think I'm drawn to a lot of this introduction to Steve because, like, you see he's regretful. He's, like, he's always apologetic and always honest. Like, he's, like, every, like, there's a lot of times where he's, like, yep, you're right. I screwed up. I'm sorry.

[00:38:45] But then he, like, continues, like, he's trying, but he just keeps making a series of mistakes. And I think, like, this is another moment where he's, like, damn it, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But I'm going to make the same mistake again because I'm trying desperately to hold on to this thing that is drifting away. And so, I think, like, I don't know. I think, like, this introduction to Steve is actually, I don't know. It felt meaningful to me in, like, creating Steve as this broken character right out the gate.

[00:39:14] I love a flawed character. I'll say that. Normally, I do. This, I'm not so much. No empathy for Steve. Sorry. Because I'm, like, anywho. Okay. So, now Steve is, they're going to go back out and they are going to find this elusive jaguar shark that ate Esteban. So, he is assembling his crew. So, it's Klaus.

[00:39:45] Is that Willem Dafoe? That's Willem Dafoe, yeah. He's described as the jealous German. Eleanor, who is Steve's estranged wife. Pele dos Santos, the singing Brazilian crew member. And then, they're interns. One played by the guy who's on Criminal Minds. And I was like, oh. I'd love to see it.

[00:40:13] They're a crew of, like, misfits and outcasts that, like, they only have each other. Like, they don't, they aren't scientists. They aren't particularly fantastically skilled. They're just, they stick to each other and they go on these adventures. And it works for them somehow. I think Steve was really popular in his heyday because he was relatable to the audience, right?

[00:40:36] Like, he's not a scientist, but I think the way that he was able to describe and show the sea life was relatable to everyday people. And something has happened in between his heyday to now where he's kind of lost that charisma. And you can tell that his crew really believe in him, especially, was it Klaus?

[00:41:07] Is, like, die hard on his team. So, anybody that's new, because he talks about this. He says there's been people who've been here since forever. There's been people even before that. And then there's new people. The new people don't have the history to hold on to to say this man was great at one point. He's a legend. These new people kind of knew him from a distance. And now that they're up close and personal, they're like, this man's a menace. And I don't believe that he knows what the fuck he's doing.

[00:41:36] And I don't want to be attached to this in any way. So, it's very interesting to see that as troubles start to form, there is dissent among the crew. And it is a split between who has been there for a long time, who has his back, versus who doesn't. But the introduction of his son, which we see at the screening or whatever, is very weird. Weird situation.

[00:42:04] Because to this day, Nick, I don't know. Is that man really his son? I don't think so. We don't know. Two, did he really not know that that was his son? And also, why is his wife seem so, like, she's not wanting this situation to happen? It's like she doesn't even want the guy to be there. And I don't know if it's because she doesn't think he is really his son. There's a part of me that...

[00:42:33] You said there's no way he's Steve's son because Steve shoots blanks. Yes. I had to rewind that part twice to hear it. And so, I feel like she's irritated. But I feel like Steve is very much caring about his legacy. And I think that's what Efenor was worried about. She knew that Steve was going to take advantage of Ned and was like, Steve, don't do this. Don't do this to this guy. Yeah. Yes.

[00:43:02] Because at first, I was like, oh, she does not like Ned. But you could tell she's protective of Ned. And to the end, you realize that that's all Steve really wanted was a legacy. I do love that Steve tries to make it seem the reason that they did not have children. He puts it on his wife. He says to her that she was too old. She says, bitch, I was in my 30s. So, really, what are we talking about here?

[00:43:31] So, she's already alluding to you ain't shooting real nothing. Yeah. It's not my choice. Don't put that on me. So, I love how there's a lot of conversations happening that's indirectly and directly at the same time. That I can give them credit for. But yeah, Steve is living in his own delusion. And he's extremely selfish. There was one line that I wrote down kind of like in this scene. Like they've kind of like moving the story along.

[00:44:01] But they go to like Steve's compound. And they're kind of like gearing together to go on this adventure. And there's a line. Eleanor is talking to Steve about Ned. And like Eleanor asked something like, you know, like why do you want this kid? Like why do you want this young man with you? And Steve says, I believe in this boy because he looks up to me. And I was like, I feel like that's like Steve in a nutshell. It's just like if somebody is going to have faith in me, then I will have faith in them. Like because that's all I need right now is for people to believe in me.

[00:44:31] Because again, like everything is falling apart around him. And so, if there's anybody that's like willing to prop him up. He's like, I will take all of the props I can get right now. I don't even think it has anything to do with that times are hard. I think this is the core of who Steve is. Because that's what the role of his best friend played. So, it might be heightened right now because there's this gap. There's this person. Like a desperation there. Right. There was a person who has been his cheerleader. Who's been his right arm.

[00:45:00] Like his wife is going to keep it real. His best friend was really like inflating his insanity. And so, Ned kind of filled that gap. Which also I think Klaus is annoyed with because he's like, I could have filled that gap for you. You know, who is this fucking dude you're bringing on to the ship? It's insane. And also like his relationship with Eleanor. He, it seems that like he won Eleanor away from. Hennessy. Hennessy.

[00:45:30] Right. And so, you would think he would kind of be worshipped. He's more obsessed with his competition with Hennessy. Again, placing his wife almost like an object instead of like a person. Mm-hmm. Which is super weird. If you want her away from this other guy, shouldn't she be cherishing her? She's literally giving you, right. She's giving you signs that she's out this bitch. Mm-hmm.

[00:45:55] And you get this reporter who's played by Cate Blanchett coming on and he's already enamored with her because she's young, she's beautiful, even though she's pregnant. And we find out with somebody else's kid, he is enamored with her because it's an opportunity to have this story built around him. He keeps asking if it's going to be the cover.

[00:46:28] Mm-hmm. I don't want to be the guy that defends the patriarchy because I'm not. I'm not that guy. But I think Eleanor's role in the movie is much stronger than that.

[00:46:57] I think you're right, Danielle, that Steve objectifies her. It's like, I've got this amazing woman. She's super rich. She's healthy. But he sees her as a part of his process, a part of his movie-making machine that gives him the status. But she never sees herself that way. And she kind of always, I think through the whole movie, we see that she is at the point of their relationship where she's not taking Steve's shit anymore.

[00:47:23] And it's part of this process of she holds the line so well that it becomes part of Steve's growth, which I think is unfortunately, I don't know, now 20 years later, I think a lot of men in our world are realizing if women are going to hold the line against mediocre men, then mediocre men are going to end up broken and lonely. Because they need to step up their game. And we see Steve doing this, realizing, oh, I'm just a mediocre man. And this woman was always too good for me.

[00:47:50] And now here are the fruits of what I've sown. Instead of finding the opportunity for him to actually be better or to meet her where she is, he goes for a younger woman option, which I think is so fucking telling, knowing that Noah Baumbach wrote this movie. I think what's interesting is like, Steve goes for her, but she never gives him the time of day for a second, which I think is like,

[00:48:20] Because at the end, her son is what they're like, he, she has stayed with them, essentially, her son is with this man. She talks about when they're in the submarine, in 12 and a half years, he'll be 11. He's like, that's such a good age. And then we see, years later, this child is up, old enough to be about that 11 years old. And he's with Steve.

[00:48:47] The last time we see the child, the child's an infant in like the red beanie in the suit. What is that? Where's the ending of the movie where they're? That's Klaus's nephew. Oh, I did fast forward. I was like, they're with him the whole time. No, no. Okay, thank God. Thank God. I hope she got out. She's doing her thing. Like she's writing and, you know, she's still like, she's a fan of Zissou, but she's not like with Steve Zissou.

[00:49:16] Well, that changes everything for me. Yeah, no, Steve, Steve is still a broken man that does not win really in the end. Good, good. I will say I paused for some reason right around the pirates scene. And I was literally like, oh my God, I still have 47 minutes left.

[00:49:42] I literally told Ken, I was like, it feels like you've been watching this movie for three hours. How do I still have 47 minutes left in this movie? I was, I honestly watched it right before. That's what's so fresh in my mind. And you know what? It's actually better because if I had more time to think, it'd be worse. But I was like right at the end and I didn't have much time. So I had to like fast forward after Ned dies.

[00:50:11] Because when they were crashing the plane, I was like, oh shit, isn't that going to die? Are they going to die? I actually don't mind this ending. And then Ned just dies. And then I'm like, what in the hell? Yeah. Yeah. So let's, let's, yeah, backtrack a little bit. So we've met the, the cast of characters. Let's go to the, the pirate scene because what the fuck?

[00:50:41] What? So I just like the part where I really enjoy the scene where they go to Hennessy's lab and like, and they steal. And they're like, we got to find this shark, but I don't have the gear to find the shark. Hennessy does. Let's go to Hennessy's lab and find the shark. Oh, by the way, while we're here, we got 30 minutes. So the coast guard gets here, grab all of this stuff, get back on our ship at 15. And I'm like, and Steve's like, does this thing make cappuccinos? I'm taking the espresso machine.

[00:51:09] Like it's like, so it's ridiculous. But I think it's like, I don't know. So it feeds into this idea that like, just Steve is just desperate and broken. And he's like, and he's raiding Hennessy. Cause he's like, what, what do I got to lose at this point? Let's, let's fucking go. That part just cracks me up though. That scene just, I don't know. When the pirates get on the ship. So he busts into Ned and what's Kate's name?

[00:51:36] Ned and Jane's room or Jane's room that Ned is in. And because he has stated that he put claims on Jane, which is wild business. You're married and this woman is clearly pregnant, but you put claims on her. And he's like now kind of mad that Ned has, cause he met Ned at the show, invited Ned to come and be a part of his crew because Ned said that I'm your son.

[00:52:06] My mother just died, which is also showing what a despicable man Steve is knowing how vulnerable Ned is. And now he's mad that Ned, who is single and age appropriate for Jane, is with her. But he's like, by the way, there's pirates outside. Because you were supposed to be on watch.

[00:52:35] I will give him credit for that. Ned was supposed to be on watch for the pirates and did not. He left his post and now the pirates are there. And one of the bondsmen kind of like puts his life at stake to protect everyone. He's like, I don't know why a bondsman wouldn't go this hard for us. By the way, just to kind of give you like the another perspective.

[00:53:03] So this scene where, so like the pirates come and then the guy that works for the insurance company just randomly speaks Tagalog and is like communicating with the pirates. Like, okay. But anyway, so there's a part where it's like, okay, so now Steve is just like, I've had it. Like again, like Steve kind of like breaks where he's just like, he's in desperation mode. He's got nothing left. He's like, I'm gonna fight these pirates. Sarah, Sarah and I are watching this together. And like, so I'm in my, my team Zissou, you know, costume here.

[00:53:31] And Sarah is watching this scene where, where Steve Zissou is in the turquoise speedo and like the blue robe. And she's just like, you're telling me that was a costume choice? You went with this? I love in that scene that he is shooting at these pirates with one gun and the mount, I'm not a, I'm not a marksman.

[00:53:57] I'm not a gun person, but I know there's a certain amount of bullets that you could shoot in these guns. And he has shot so many. One guy had like a rifle and he's still outgunning these dudes. It's not as plausible at this point. And I, I did laugh when, after everything happens, they do see one of the pirates is dead.

[00:54:22] And so he tells his team, like all the different things to do now that they're not hostages. And they're like, okay, we're going to throw this man over like to the sea. And then Hennessy's boat comes up and he's like, oh. My dog, Steven, is that you? He's like, just get rid of him on the other side of the boat. It's like, what the, the amount of dead people in this movie that go over the boat.

[00:54:52] I was like, I hope they don't do this in real life that they have a full ass casket and throw it in the fucking ocean. I don't know about a full ass casket, but that is like a sea barrier. When someone dies at sea, they drop them in the ocean. Yeah. Sometimes you light it on fire. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And the island that they go to, to try to rescue the insurance bondsman guy or whatever, that hotel, whatever.

[00:55:21] Like I, the one thing about Wes Anderson movies is that there are like Easter eggs that connect all the movies together. And so I was wondering, cause I, and I think it's what hotel Budapest is one of his other movies. So I saw the sign on the abandoned Island for another hotel. I was like, oh, I wonder if that shows up somewhere else. So if you guys know as the audience, let us know. I'm not Googling it.

[00:55:50] Cause I don't care that much, but I thought that was, you don't want any Wes Anderson in your algorithm. You don't want that? No, not in the slightest. We're good. That's okay. So yeah, there were pirates and then he needs more money. Did we already talk about that? No, that's right. So Hennessy, Hennessy tows him to the nearest port and he just happens to run into Eleanor. Eleanor is at that same port.

[00:56:16] So he goes to Eleanor again, just now like you can see him breaking and like, you could see Steve kind of getting humbled in a lot of ways. And, and I love this moment where he's like, she's like, what do you want? And he's like, can I at least butter you up first? And she's like, no, what do you want? She's over his shit. Yeah. Rightfully so.

[00:56:40] So I, I love that she has the very young man in, in the studio or whatever. Cause she's a research assistant. Yeah. Like who are we fooling at this point? Nobody. Yeah. And she's not even hiding. She didn't even say like, Oh quick, go put a shirt on. She's like, no, here, shake his hand. Let him know. She knows Steve is ridiculous at this point. Yeah.

[00:57:08] But in the end she does help Steve out, like get his ship back afloat. And like, you know, I don't know. I think at this point she's not so much in love or loyal to Steve as she is just like up for an adventure. You know, she's like, I want to help out like this kid Ned. I want to help out this insurance guy. Like, I think you're finally trying to do something good. Like let's, you know, I don't care really about you anymore, Steve, but I want to help you finish this thing.

[00:57:37] You know, like see the thing through the end. And then do it's kind of fuzzy. Do they take the helicopter out before they find the electric jellyfish? Oh, this is well after the electric jellyfish. Or I'm sorry, not the electric jellyfish, the jaguar shark.

[00:57:56] So there is a local pizza spot here that they have two beers called electric jellyfish and jaguar shark. So, and it's a nautical themed pizza parlor. So I love that. Love that for them. They took Nick's idea of not bad pizza and really took it there. When you. I'm coming out to Austin for this not bad pizza and this aquatic beer.

[00:58:26] Let's go. Yes. And you better be wearing your Steve Zissou outfit. Ready. I'm ready. So things happen. Also, we, we did not mention the dolphins. So they have a team of two dolphins that kind of, or they have cameras on their heads. And so they're the scouts. And then the Bella Fonte is supposed to be this rundown ship.

[00:58:55] X battleship or military ship. But it also has all of these different rooms in it. It has a sauna. Like just the amount of ridiculousness. That is the Bella Fonte. I think it again. Again, this is me trying to, I'm like, I'm giving you the optimistic lens here. It's like, it's part of Steve's character that like, he has this amazing ship that any,

[00:59:22] that he's going to go out to do these like, you know, oceanographic research documentaries. But unlike Alistair Hennessy, who has this, like, it's like a high tech scientific research vessel. He's like, nah, we've got a spa. We've got a kitchen. We've got a library. We've got a balloon. Yeah. We've got a balloon and a helicopter. We got a sound editing room. We got like, it's like, that's, it's so unnecessary, but it's so like, that's Steve. Like that's, it's flawed decision-making.

[00:59:51] And he wonders why he's broke. Right. I think at this point of the story, he doesn't wonder why he's, he knows, he knows why he's broke. After everything happens with, you know, he, yes, Hennessy rescues him, but at some point he gets the entire crew on the deck and he draws a line and says, hey, if you think I'm doing a horrible job, if you hate it here and you want to leave, quit, whatever, cross the line.

[01:00:20] That scene where Klaus, Klaus, Willem Dafoe, he's the first to cross the line because he's so eager, eager. And he's like, Steve's like, what are you doing? He's like, what do you mean? Wait, tell me the rules again. Oh. And he's like, let's start over. Like that scene did make me laugh. But other than- He says something like, if you, if you, if you want to leave, then don't not cross the line.

[01:00:46] I don't like, he says it in such the most convoluted, like quadruple negative way. Klaus is like. Oh my God. The other, the other thing that was like, so there's a three-legged dog that the pirates left behind. And then he brings the dog over to Hennessy's ship to talk. Hennessy wants him to sign this paperwork to, you know. Pay for the rescue.

[01:01:16] Expenses for the rescue. And he gets up roll with a rolled newspaper and hits the dog. The dog was whining a little bit, like wasn't even doing, it's like, why was this necessary? I thought that was weird. But I know it's to speak to what kind of person Hennessy is, but Cody was the dog Cody. I don't know, but they left the damn dog on the island.

[01:01:46] So when, like, as soon as they get Eleanor back, they get a recording, I guess, from the pirates of the bondsman insurance guy. And they're like, we don't know where he is. And of course she's like, actually, and from the background, it's blah, blah, blah. So they all run over to this island. They get there. And when they do, they find him. But leave the damn dog.

[01:02:15] They also find the safe that they think, I love how he takes the time to open it on the ship. And then next thing you know, there's a hole in the back. Because obviously they didn't try to break it that way. So that whole scene, like, I love that scene so much of like when they do this, like this absurd, ridiculous rescue mission on this island. And it's like, it is because it's just, it's absurd. It's ridiculous.

[01:02:45] They're wearing these like ridiculous web suits. Like, I don't know why Pele has that like ridiculously like Susie and hat. Like, what is, what is that all about? Like, like the, the scene where they finally find the pirates and like Steve walks in and like, and Hennessy is there because he's been captured by the pirates. And like, Hennessy's like, Stephen, are you here to rescue me? And Stephen's like, well, I wasn't. But now that I'm here, I guess I might as well. Yeah. Like how much time has gone by too?

[01:03:13] Because I was like, weren't they just on the boat with Hennessy? How did they steal him? And I love the t-shirt he's wearing in that scene too. It's such a mess. It's such a mess. Well, I think like the timing of it is that like they were on the island and they needed time to get the Belafonte fixed up. And while they were on the island getting the Belafonte fixed up, like Hennessy went off and did his own thing. And then days later, they went to go on this rescue mission. But in the meantime, Hennessy's boat sank and he got captured and all of his crew got killed.

[01:03:40] I think Hennessy actually is trying to find the pirates because he thinks that they stole from him. And he, he, he, he thinks that's who he's going after. That's right. There was there in the, the scene on Hennessy's boat, Hennessy makes a comment about how like somebody came and robbed like him, his lab of all his stuff. And like, Steve just like probably the same guys. But yeah, so they do this ridiculous, they'd go on this ridiculous rescue mission. That's when, when they're on the boat going like leaving with everybody.

[01:04:08] That's when he says like, they go like, Oh no, we left Cody. We got to go get Cody. And like, everybody's like, no, we don't dude. Like we've, it's been too, like we've gone through too much already. We're not going. We went back to build a bond. No, they weren't even pretending to go back. Like everyone just looked at him and was like, and he wasn't even, I think he just felt like he had to say it to be right, but he wasn't going back for that dog. Like, like as soon as nobody said, yeah, he was like, okay, yeah, you're right. No, we're not. Goodbye, Cody.

[01:04:37] Why were they on the helicopter? Because at, after that rescue mission, like, so the money was gone. Like they, they did the, they did the whole thing. Everybody got hurt. The money was gone, but they barely made it out alive. And like, Steve was just like, that's it. We're done. Like, let's just go home. Like, hang it up. It's over. And Ned in his eternal optimism was like, come on, man. Like, don't give up. Don't go out like that. Like, let's go get on the helicopter.

[01:05:04] You know, if this fish is as big as you say it is, we could probably see it from the sky. Let's just, you know, we can't be far. Let's go for a spin. And they do see like the, the, you know, pink fish that are behind you, Danielle. And so they, they get excited and they think they're close, but then that's when the, yeah. So they went up in the helicopter because Ned wanted Steve to kind of give one, one more try to find this Jaguar shark. And it ended up. It's his demise for sure. Bye, Ned.

[01:05:32] There was so much blood in that fucking water. I'm like, where is Ned bleeding from? I honestly really liked the way that that was shot in like, it, like it seemed, cause it feels fine. Like the whole scene is setting you up like, oh, they're going to survive. Everything is fine. But then you don't actually say like somebody's hurt or somebody's dying. Just all of a sudden you just see blood in the water and Ned passes out and you're like, oh, Ned was really hurt. Really injured. Yeah. And then that's it.

[01:06:02] So then now we have to finally find the Jaguar shark and they all get in. The submarine and go down. Which is no longer called the Jacqueline. It was like, oh, it's me. What happened to Jacqueline? She never really loved me. Facts.

[01:06:28] And then they put the entire crew in this little tiny submarine, including, including a very pregnant lady. I don't even think that's medically like the pressure probably would like, no, that was not a safe choice. Not a safe choice. No. For anybody really. I was just like, what is this? I'll be honest. I was fast forwarding through this part too.

[01:06:57] So, so I think, I think I don't blame you for not fast forwarding if you weren't on the journey with Steve from the jump. Like, because I was running out of time before this episode. I had to get through. No, that's fair. That's fair. So like, I, I, so my reading of the movie is like, we have Steve as when we, when he enters the movie, he is like the, his house of cards is crumbling. He is broken and flawed and everything has fallen down around him.

[01:07:25] The whole movie, he's desperately trying to hold on to everything that he had. But I think at this point in the movie, after that rescue mission, after, after Ned dies, I think he comes to this realization of like, I can't do this. Like, I'm not that man anymore. I probably never should have been that man in the first place. Like everything that I had that I'm trying desperately to hold onto, I need to let it go. Like, that is not, that is not what I, what I need to be doing anymore.

[01:07:52] And so I think this scene in the submarine, when they all pile into the submarine and they just like, they just go down and all they do is just look at the jaguar shark. They're not trying to fish it or hunt it or kill it. They're just all in there to see it. I think it's this kind of like culmination of like, this is what we should have been the entire time is like just doing this because this is good. Not because it makes me famous or rich or powerful or women or status or whatever.

[01:08:19] It's like, I just need to be here to be here. And so it's kind of like this, this rebirth of Steve as this kind of new man trying to be better than he had been his whole life. Yes. And it like, to your point, it does, it does speak to grief. If anyone who's ever grieved, you know, going through the stages, you know, he does go through anger. He goes through denial and he goes through all the things.

[01:08:44] And then a lot of the times when you are grieving someone, sometimes you will find a distraction to focus on instead of actually dealing with your grief. So finding the Jaguar shark was a way to avoid all of the feelings of the fact, hey, my best friend died. And what does that mean for me having a midlife crisis? Cause that's what this is. What does this mean for this big change?

[01:09:14] That's it's ushering a change in his life. Like he, like you said, he has to let go of his, this career path. He has to let go of the life that he's known him and his wife has changed. Like this is all happening at once overwhelmingly. So, so his son quote unquote coming along is legacy looking at his opportunity, how he continues

[01:09:42] to live on how that's why he's selfishly kind of looking at it because he has faced death in the face. And now he's trying to figure out what am I leaving behind things? He never thought about before. So I see these elements, Nick. I'm not blind to it. Thank you. I'm just telling you it doesn't matter to me in the same way. That is fair. That is fair. Okay. I feel like, I feel like we've come to a point.

[01:10:12] You feel seen. You feel heard. Thank you. Like I don't, you don't need to like the movie. I'm not going to tell you, you should watch it again. But there is, there is a point, right? There is a story. There is, there is a character. There is a point. There is a purpose. It's just not, it's not your purpose. Like that's, and that's totally, totally fair. But yeah. So then we're now we're at the end of the movie, right? They, they released this. They have another premiere for the second part of the documentary about the Jaguar shark

[01:10:40] and it's much better received than the first one. And it looks like, it looks like. I think because it's, my guess would be because it's less about, you know, Steve Zuzu as a amazing, you know, hero and more about nature and the ocean and what it was always supposed to be in the first place. And so when Steve finally made a movie about a Jaguar shark rather than about Steve Zuzu, people were happy to see it.

[01:11:10] And now we're off on a new adventure. I do love, again, the aesthetics. I do love the outfits, the red beanies. Top notch. It very, very Ralph Lauren, you know? It's very true. It was good. So we did it, y'all. We did the live aquatic. Praise Jesus. We ain't never got to do it again. I ain't doing a rewind episode either. That's it.

[01:11:40] That's fine. We made it. Thank God I got my Steve Zuzu costume now so I could wear this every Halloween and I'll wear this when I go visit Jackie. I, this movie was made for me and I adore it and I will continue to adore it. And we love that for you. For you, we support it. Thank you. Thank you for that. What are some fun facts we missed? Let's see.

[01:12:06] Besides the Cousteau influence, the now famous blue polyester Team Zuzu uniforms were also inspired by the uniforms worn by the characters on the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series. Love that for you, Jackie. Kate Blanchett's character, Jane Winslet Richardson, was modeled after primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall. Maybe that's why she had that weird accent. I don't know. What else do we got? There's just, there's so many.

[01:12:36] Wes Anderson's brother, Eric and Owen Wilson's father, Robert, both appear as air Kentucky pilots at Ned's funeral aboard the Belafonte. Oh, okay. That was another fast forward. I was like, who these men? Oh, Ned died. I missed it. I had to go back. Because like you said, Nick, it looked like they were all good, right? So I was like, fast forward, fast forward. And I said, I can't get it. Ned died. I had to go back. I had to go back.

[01:13:08] So there's that. What else we got? Kate Blanchett never rehearsed with the crew and hadn't even met most of them before filming the nighttime electric jellyfish scene in which she first appears in the movie to add spontaneity to the scene. I also love that she wasn't pregnant before starting the movie. So she had a fake belly. But then later on, do you hear the plastic? No. Okay.

[01:13:36] But later on, she became pregnant. So then it's her real belly. Girl needed a check. That's what I'm going to say. Kate Blanchett needed a check. And that's fine. I'm okay with that. So you had mentioned earlier about how, like, why is there this Brazilian musician on the crew of the Belafonte on Team Zissou that makes absolutely no sense given where you are. But like, I don't know why, but like, it's conceit to the genre.

[01:14:05] Why is anybody on this boat? Like, why is anybody anything? Like, who knows? But, so I would love to look into further about how Sue George, the musician, ended up in this movie. But he arranged and performed all of these David Bowie songs into acoustic guitar and translated into Portuguese for the film. And you, like, see him playing them in the film. And the album that he made of acoustic Portuguese James Bowie songs is gorgeous. It's beautiful. It's such a beautiful album.

[01:14:33] So shout out Sue George and check out that Life Aquatic Sue George album of David Bowie acoustic Portuguese. I'm not mad at it. I just don't know why. But hey, I do love that Henry Selick, who is best known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I can go on tangents about the fact that it is not a Tim Burton creation. He just has his name on it like Trump does on buildings.

[01:15:03] I digress. To say that he did the stop motion animation for this film, which makes it even more, this man is a legend. And he still went and did this. I was like, all right, do you, boo. Yeah. And that Jaguar shark puppet measured three meters long and was the largest stop motion puppet ever created in order to give a sense of floating through the water.

[01:15:32] All the stop motion animation on the Jaguar shark was done upside down to make it sag against gravity. Genius. Genius. In the sea of nonsense. And then a line in the end credits reads, the filmmakers acknowledged that the real Steve Zissou is a prominent attorney in New York City specializing in complex federal litigation.

[01:15:56] The movie studio had to negotiate with the real life lawyer in order to use his name for the title character. According to the real life Zissou, it's been, to my surprise, a lot of fun. And I think Bill Murray is America's greatest living actor. Okay. Well, I know we talked about the music, but the funniest thing is that this is the first

[01:16:21] Wes Anderson movie to not have a Rolling Stones song on the soundtrack. I guess he was just like, I'm just going to give it to David Bowie and that's fine. Well, did you notice there is no score? Yeah. It's just either the Dave, either David Bowie, the acoustic Portuguese, David Bowie. Yeah. Or the like random Casio keyboard, like. Which felt very Napoleon dynamite.

[01:16:50] Did anybody else feel that? A little bit. Yeah. Yeah. And there was also a lot of smoking. I'm like, everyone is fucking smoking on in this movie. My, my daughter, my 10 year old, like kind of walked in during like some of this. And I was like, there's nothing like terribly violent or anything like that. I wouldn't want you to see. But she thought that every single character was a bad guy. Because they were smoking? Because every one of them was smoking. Not wrong, Jovi. Not wrong. No.

[01:17:20] Very smart. Very smart. It's a little more complicated than that. But for a 10 year old, yeah, that's fine. We'll go with that. Yeah. They're all, they're not good. Not good. Not great characters. Not good. They're not all good guys. They might have thought they'll be bad guys, but they're definitely not all good guys. I feel like we need like just Jovi's review of this movie from like the snippet she saw. I just need like a little circle with her just saying final thoughts.

[01:17:49] Jovi's final thoughts. Yeah, Jovi's final thoughts. I'll see what I can do after school today. Okay, perfect. Let's get to our ratings. But before we do, remember, make sure to hit us up at NoMoreLateFees on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Threads, Blue Sky, Lemonade. But if you really can, we're trying to make a concentrated effort to get more YouTube subscribers. So please, please, please hit subscribe on YouTube if you do nothing else today.

[01:18:18] All right, Nick, what is your present day rating? Would buy it, would buy it again. But like no, no hesitation. And I think like I was mentioning earlier, I liked it when I was 20 because I was looking for something artistic and interesting to give some depth to me as a person, right? Which is so, as the kids would say, so cringe right now, like looking back and like, man, that was weird. But I was 20, kind of coming some slack.

[01:18:43] I think today I honestly like appreciated this sort of coming of age of a middle-aged person kind of story. Like we see coming of age stories of like, you know, 16 into adulthood. But what about like 45 into or like 50 into the rest of your life? Yes, there's not enough middle-aged midlife crisis white man movies at all. Dan in real life?

[01:19:12] English? There's just not enough of this. I'm like, maybe I just, I don't have enough depth, but I, off the top of my head, I was like, something's got to give. I actually can't name very many. As good as it gets? Okay, so yeah, Jack Nicholson. Whatever, I haven't watched those movies in 20 years. I watched this one when I was today and I was like, you know, I can appreciate that.

[01:19:42] But on that, I also really like Dan in real life is one of my, make that one of my like employee picks. I really, really like that one. There's a subreddit called white guy going through crazy midlife crisis movies. Fight club, mid to late 20s. Office space, mid to late 30s. American beauty, mid to late 40s. Falling down, mid to late 50s. American beauty, Nick. That was one of your favorites.

[01:20:13] Both Garden State and Wish I Was Here fit. Those, like those, so Garden State. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. About Schmidt, which is the sixth, a guy in the 60s. Literally, that, that is cinema. Right there. So here we, here we go again. Okay, so now we're going back to this. Where it's like, I can name. The register went up. I can name six movies and all of a sudden like, that's all of cinema.

[01:20:42] I'm like, there's a lot. There's so many movies. The Incredibles. The World's End. A Serious Man. God Bless America. It, everything must go. So okay, but like, like, just because there's lots of them doesn't mean they're bad. Like, also like, The Incredibles. So The Incredibles, The Incredibles is one of my favorite movies of all time. Mostly because I love the growth of the character of Mr. Incredible.

[01:21:08] Like, I think I'm just, I'm drawn to that story of, of men changing and growing through their, like, fragility and their brokenness. Like, I appreciate that story. Because so often we see the story of men that don't grow and change. They're just like, they're the hero at the beginning and they're the hero at the end. I think that there's so many more stories that are like that. Oh, This Is 40? Yeah. I never saw that one either. Maybe I just need to be watching more movies. Maybe that's the moral of the story.

[01:21:39] All right. Anywho, quite a bit. Jackie, quick drop us. Let's go. Sure. So if you have any commentary on our Life with, Life with Steve, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou episode, hit us up at our quick drop 909-601-6653. Tweet us at the Twitters. Have us at the Threads. There's Blue Skies. I don't know. Butterfly in the Sky at Blue Skies. I don't know. And you can be featured on a future episode.

[01:22:08] And join us next week for a road trip with our buddies from Rotten Treasure as we cover Are We There Yet? Nick, as always, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for joining us. It is a pleasure. Thank you so much. We are retiring your red cap because we will never speak of this movie again. We didn't do our ratings, Danielle. Oh, we know what your ratings are. Oh, you're so right. Jackie, what's your rating? Quickly. Exactly.

[01:22:37] Same day. Yes. I would have to agree. Same day. No notes. It's not for us. It's not for us. Yeah. And as always, be kind and rewind.