Onscreen Offscreen
Josh Dietrich and Konlin Gappmayer discuss their media consumption, new and old. They discuss the good, the bad, and the impact it has on their lives
Onscreen Offscreen
Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts
PEAK, The Bear Season 3, Red Rising, American in Paris
00:00 - PEAK
08:49 - The Bear
21:47 - Red Rising
34:41 - American In Paris
40:39 - Thunderbolts
Hey everybody. It is onscreen offscreen. We're back with another great week with Josh, the man, Lauren, the greatest person in the world and me. We watch movies. We read
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:And I.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:what? He's gonna get into something later. He's, Josh is in a douchey mood today, just so everybody knows. Full blown douchey mood. I'm just kidding. He's a good dude. Um, we are, we are onscreen, offscreen. We love watching and reading and doing anything that we can to be able to find something that's gonna lift our lives. That's what we go for. Lauren, I think this is the perfect game for you and I really wanna know what you think.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Uh, peak.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Okay. So I have been fighting with myself on if I like it or not.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Really.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:yeah.'cause it, it's a game that you need to play with people. Um, I first started it playing it by myself,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:um, and so it took me a minute to the hang of it. And then I played with some friends that it wasn't as fun to play because I had one person who was just like, trying to make it up the mountain as fast as you could. And then another person was like, trying to explain to me how to play the game. And I was like, I already know how to play. Like, I know the basics. Like, um, so like, it didn't, it wasn't really that fun or goofy for me,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:tried it again today with someone else and it was. was really goofy I think I like it now. Um, but the reason why I, I put it on there is because like podcast on screen, off screen, uh, we were playing, I was playing this with some friends and then we went on a hike and we'd both been playing this. And then we were jokingly pretending to help each other up every two seconds and like pretending to be the characters in the game on the hike. Uh, probably to the chagrin of everybody else on the hike. But, uh, I think it was, it was, it's added to like my life.'cause now we have like a little bit of an inside joke of like shuffling our feet and like reaching our hands out as we're like going up this not complicated hike. Uh, but yeah, it, it, it does get goofy if you get the right people. Um, so I don't have much to say about this, um, other than like, make sure you have people who are there just for a silly, goofy time and not necessarily to be like the first one up the mountain.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:For the people who don't know what this is, what is peak?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Oh yeah. So peak is a new, uh, I think it's only on steam right now, steam game, uh, where you climb as like these scouts and there's like little luggage things around. Uh, and you can like get hurt poisoned. You get hungry as you're climbing. So you have to always be like constantly eating because all of those little things will affect your energy and how long you can climb up something. So there's a lot of things that can affect how much stamina you have to climb up the mountain. Um, and then I've seen some things on TikTok that. like I've seen other people get to like campsite 11. I haven't gone past campsite two. Um, and that's, I can only play it. I've only given myself two hours to play each session because I get so angry that when you die, it takes you back to the beach where you start and there's no new maps unless you get further than where you climbed before. So I keep dying, but I'm getting better at like, okay, I know this path works, so I'll like find that path real quick and then make up a new way. But ugh, I just get so angry when I die and I haven't even made it to like the second campsite. So I think I'm just really bad at the game. But yeah, so that's peak. Um, I think people should try it. Uh, but make sure you have like somebody who's just there for a goofy time. and not necessarily to. Like try to be the first up there or get too far because if you're trying to like get as far as you can at the very beginning, lemme tell you you're not gonna get that far. Or I just really suck,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Josh. Does this sound like something you would enjoy or would you hate this? Can you be goofy with Lauren? Let's see your goofiness right now.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:can't goof on
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:don't think that this is the kind of game that I would enjoy.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:He says that in the most dead pen voice of all time. He's like, I couldn't do it. Er, er.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:It's the survival thing. It's getting stuck all the way back at the beginning. Like, I hate Fortnite because no matter how long you play, no matter how good you can do, you can put hours into it and then be right at the beginning where you started.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Right? That's my frustrating part with Rogue likes is when you're not actually getting progress or you're unlocking new weapons or stuff, those games get really frustrating'cause you're putting all this time into it not progressing. Um, anything that is survival where you have to eat and drink has always been very frustrating to me.'cause I'm like, this is a video game. Can we just like not do this crap? I'm an adult now. I hate worrying about it on my own. I hate that I have to think of food prep and all this kinds of stuff.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:to feed my character chicken wings. I just want to eat real chicken wings. Why am I spending time with these stupid fake chicken wings?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah. Uh, I'd be willing to give it a shot, but it just does not sound like my kind of game.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay, cool. Me either, to be completely honest. But I thought, Lauren, I thought you would love this game, and it just sounds maybe too, too hard
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:I, yeah, I have it on the easiest setting and like, I still can't get past like day two, but I think it's, it blows my mind that people are like, I'm seeing like there's like this lava level and this, these other levels, and I'm like, I, I can't even get past the jungle. Like it's making me mad. So, and it's just like Josh said, like, I hate that I have to like restart. Like there is no save on this mountain. So like, if you make it to the first peak, it doesn't respond. You there, it responds You very at the very beginning. And I was like,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Hmm.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:could just respond me to like my, like if you had checkpoints,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Like at each campsite or something.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:yeah. I would like this a lot more. I might look to see if there's mods to do that.'cause then I would be, I would like this game a lot more.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Have you ever played Celeste?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Nope.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Have you heard of it?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Nope.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay. It sounds a lot like this game, but it's a super, super hard platformer, like really, really hard. Um, but you're climbing up a mountain trying to get to the top, kind of the same thing, except for this one does have campsites, it's so hard to get to the next campsite. That doesn't even really matter that it has campsites.'cause you're gonna die anyway.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah. And I fully think I could just be really bad at playing the game. that's, yeah. But like I said, I just added it to the list'cause I thought it was funny that it, like, made it into my actual hiking in real life. And it was like funny, uh,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:cool.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:to like add that on there. So,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:So right now, what is peak rated for you?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:um, I prob it probably went up to a six with my session that I just played. but before I probably would've said a three.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah, it might keep going up if I get better. So if I can make it past a jungle, I'll give it a seven, but I, it needs like new maps or something.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:You're like holding the game hostage. Like, unless you get me further, I'm, I'm rating you bad. You're getting a low rating.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:like, I'm so sorry. That is user error, ma'am.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:User error. No, you are a five now. I'll give you a five.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah. But I think maybe it's unfair that I'm putting the ratings there with like skill level, but that's what I'm doing. So.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Fair enough. Fair enough. Alright, let's go to my first topic. Uh, the Bears season three. I have no idea why I haven't watched this. I love the bear. I, I don't know. I don't know why I haven't watched this. I had Hulu. Why didn't I watch this show? Um, if you liked the bear. Actually that's not true. Most people don't like this season. I don't know why. To me, if you like the bear, you will like season three of the bear because it is more of the bear. There is a, season two has a couple of my favorite episodes of all time, and I wanted to talk to these guys about it, but we might do a top 10, top five episodes of all time kind of a thing. And it raised an episode that would probably get in my top 10. Um, there's a lot of these highlight episodes that are just like gold in the earlier seasons of the Bear. This one doesn't have that, it's still good. Good show. They're trying to make the restaurant work, they're trying to get that Michelin star. Things aren't going right. There's a lot of swearing, but they work it out anyway because they're a family. Like it's the bear. That's what you get. If you like that thing, you like the show. If you don't, you don't. this one just keeps it going. I, I was worried that season three would come kind of a cash grab because the first two seasons have been so good. But they, they're just going forward and it's just good. And I, I'd recommend it. Bear season three. Super recommend. Let's go.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Have you watched the entire FIR season three?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:No. See if Bear season three, first half recommend. Maybe the second half is where people don't like it. I don't know. I really, now I don't get it'cause it is just more of the bear.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:seen it, Josh?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Nope. I've never even gone through season two.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Oh, that's a
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I watched season one. I love season one. I always wanted to, but then season two came out and I was watching other shows and then season three came out and I was watching other shows and just never looped back around to it
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Season two is brilliant and the episode with the cousin character has more character development than almost anything I've ever watched. In such a short, it's like a 20 minute episode and the character completely changes and it feels authentic. It's crazy. Episode's crazy. So good,
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:So
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:but
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:they're family, is this like fast and furious family or like literal family?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:literal family. So the basic story of the Bear
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:both.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:this both, both. The,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:No,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:basic story of the bear is you have this main character who leaves the family business and goes and studies at Michelin Star restaurants. And he, he knows a lot about restaurants, he knows a lot about cooking and, um, his brother commits suicide and gives him the restaurant. he comes back and out of like a family duty, decides that he's going to apply all of this knowledge that he got from Michelin star restaurants to this family owned kind of diner and change it around. So it's
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:it's a sandwich shop.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:yeah. Sandwich shop, this
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:cheese steak type sandwich shop. and. Yeah, a lot of struggles back and forth.'cause you have this culture of kind of like, well, I get to mess around and I get to make my sandwiches and it's just like a cool hangout spot. And then you have this Michelin star guy who's like, no, we do it this way. We do it this way. We're actually gonna create something, the value, we're gonna focus, we're going to take notes, we're going to have like we're gonna actually do this thing. And he has to figure out how to push these people that are lower income kind of people into a higher income kind of mindset the fights that go in there. And along with that, you have this main character who's dealing with a lot of emotional problems himself. he has to deal with that kind of pain along with trying to force this, this restaurant into something special because he wants it to be something special. it's, I think it's a brilliant show. Brilliant. Um, anyway, what were you gonna say?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:to this because of like, you think his hardships or because of the drama? Or why do you think people like this?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:The characters that are the, just like everyday kind of people feel, very everyday kind of people. So you can really see yourself in that position. is always a, interest in, in raising yourself up. I think, um, in those moments where you can see like discipline people, like discipline, there's something that just like draws people in, even if they're not disciplined people. so the show, when it talks about those discipline moments, I think it brings people in and you're like, I, I wanna be better. I wanna strive to be better. But you know what? All of these things are hard and they show how hard it is to really change yourself and change your surroundings and change who you are. But the fact that you can do it is super inspirational, super hopeful. And I think that's why people. Enjoy the show'cause it's, it's, it's messy but still hopeful. It doesn't feel, it never feels fake to me.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:And so that's getting continued into season three.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah. Yeah. And I think also a lot of people just like cooking, like shows are a thing for a lot of people. And this is one of the first TV shows, like entertainment TV shows about cooking but isn't a cooking show. So like there's a niche there that really wasn't addressed in that another show that I can think of at least. What do
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Uh, well, I, I was just gonna add that like, it feels very human. Um, all of the, there's, uh, such a diversity of people, right? So you have your main character who is, wanted to work in this restaurant with his brother, but his brother wouldn't let him. Then his brother commits suicide, then he feels obligated to go back, but he wants to build it into their childhood dream. Like he and his brother had always dreamed and talked about having a restaurant together and what it would be called and what food they would serve. Um, they were very big food people. Um, and then aside from that, you have somebody who's the sous chef and she is this poor broke, gave everything she can for cooking, but hasn't necessarily had all the same opportunities that like Gordon Ramsey had. So, um, she knows that this main character had three Michelin stars before. So even though it's this ragtag Brooklyn sandwich shop, she wants to go learn from him because that's her wanting a mentor. Um. And wanting to do that. Then next to her, you have her, uh, another chef who is this like old lady. She's been doing this forever. She has absolutely zero shits to give about other people's opinions. She just wants to come in and do work and provide for her family. But as soon as our two other characters come into the sandwich shop and they start making these changes, and they start saying things like, we call each other chef because it's a sign of respect and we respect what each other person has to do, even if we're not the main person. Um, everybody contributes. We're all a team, we're all a family, all this kinds of stuff. Then she starts to change. She starts to buy in, and she starts to dream bigger than what she thought was possible before. So it gets to a point where they're like, yeah, we want to send you to chef school. All right. We have this other character who's like, I just dream of desserts. I just wanna make the best dessert that's ever had. And there's like a four episode period in season one where he's just like, I'm out to make the perfect donut. And that's like his life's mission. But you see that because of the discipline and the family and the setting goals and the dreaming bigger around him, he actually starts to pursue and do more than what he thought was possible. You have the cousin character who would not be able to work anywhere else in the country at the beginning of the show because no company would take him because he's such a dirt bag. But because he's family, he gets a lot away with a lot of stuff and it takes you a few episodes before he shows his rough side and where that actually starts to pay out and how he demands respect from the community and like the good side that comes from that other stuff. Um. So you have this very diverse group of backgrounds and people and like, yeah, you may not connect with the Michelin star. Go, go, go guy. But you can for sure connect with this lady who never even thought to try something more or to be more, and like, there's this amazing moment for me in season one where she admits that she's like, it never even crossed my mind that I could be more than this. Right? And it takes people believing in her and pushing her, in her, pushing her for excellence. Um, right. There's an episode where she's like, she's my favorite character, but she's like making these potatoes. And the sous chef is. Like nagging her, like, can I taste this? And she's like, no, leave me alone. I can do this myself. And then finally finishes it and takes it to her and throws it on the counter in front of her is like, Hey, tell me how shitty he is. And the sous chef tastes it and like, it's good. And like, because she just expected poor treatment. She went into it so negatively, but was surprised that like, no, you actually can meet this standard that we're asking for. Um, it's a great human relationship story and about how like everybody kind of fill a different role and how if you raise the standard, often the people around you also raise up. Um, so there's a lot of perseverance, a lot of hope, a lot of resiliency, a lot of. Personal challenges and changes and dealing with hu real human emotions. Like they don't shy away from the fact that the brother committed suicide and was a drug addict and this, that, and the other thing. But they still love him for the good things that he provided too.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:he's not just, yeah, he's not just a dirt bag of a person because he had these problems. He is one of the kindest people that any of them know, and they all kind of look at him as a hero. Even though he had all of these major problems that he was going through,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah. They often are like we, we just assumed he would pull out of it because he's that amazing. He has that many great qualities.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:yeah, it's a, it's just an, it's an amazing show. Um, and is it, is season three, does it have as many of those moments? No. There is one episode with the girl that Josh is talking about. That's my favorite part so far of season three. But it's still just good and I, I don't know what more people want. This is still a way, way, way above most shows, TV show way above,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:So what would you rate season three? The first half, on a scale of one to 10,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:uh, eight.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:and what would you rate Season one and season two, just for context.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Eight and a half and season two is a nine for me.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:If it, well, I still think it's brilliant the, they show fighting in a realistic way, which I appreciate. One second, you're like screaming at your sister or your cousin or whatever, and the next second you're best floods, which does happen. I've had that happen with my own relationships in my own life and I feel like it's pretty authentic, but I also sometimes don't enjoy the F you, f you, f you that the show can get into it takes it down just a little bit for me as far as enjoyment goes. Anyway, with that, let's go to our next topic, Josh. Well, I'm, read it. Let's, let's hear what you think.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I mean, I had started it a long time ago. Uh, my topic is Red Rising. The first book in the series, author is a person with a name. Uh. This was sold to me. Okay. No,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:No, that's not right. Pierce
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:that's an actor. That's, that's James Bond. What are you talking about?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:What is
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Pierce Brown Pierce
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Not
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:something? I don't know. Uh, anyway, uh, this has been sold to me by lots of people. So many people recommend this book, uh, especially if you talk about Miss Born or anything in that kind of like sci-fi fantasy area. It's name of the Wind and Red Rising are the second greatest things to happen since Miss Born or whatever his King Chronicles or whatever long ass series I'm never gonna read. Um, it's mentioned in the same sentences, but it's never quite. As good, right? It's, it's like tier three. You have Lord of the Rings and these other ones, and then you have Miss Born and then you have these kind of books. Um, but they're very popular. Like I said, I've had a number of people recommend it, and a long time ago I started it and I was listening to it and it's about this main character who is a red in on Mars. It's futuristic. They've populated all these planets and moons and things, and he's a red tear, which means he's the lowest scum of the earth, worthless human being. Never has even seen sunlight. He's always underground doing mining stuff, and he receives a like. His wife gives up his, her life and this triggers him to want to do more and change more and have bigger ideas than he did before or thought was possible. Um, and everybody told me, well, when you get to that part, which is like a third of the way into the first book, then it actually starts to pick up. That was the, that was the message. It was like, I, the fir the beginning of the first book is pretty slow, but as soon as you get to this point, it gets really good. And I had gotten to that point and I was like, you know, I'm still really not into that. So if people are saying this is quote unquote where it starts to get good, I am, I'm not sold. So it took a long time and honestly me running out of my audible books for me to go, okay. Let's try this again. Uh, I did not start over. Uh, because everything you really need to know about that really long, boring part is such and such. He was a minor. He has a strong grip. His wife committed, uh, sacrificed herself to send a message that, you know, they're not worthless. And he also died, but somebody resurrected him. That's all you need to know. There you go. I told you.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:really, really brave, skilled minor. That's important for later in the
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:other people.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah. Uh, but we just,
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:mine are not. He's a
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:he's, he's like in the core of, of Mars and he is using his hands to like crush stuff and like pull stuff.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:The red people are like the miners who basically live underground. They're like dwarfs kind
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:is a good way to think of it.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah, but there you go. I have just told you the first third of the book in like two seconds. And also there's a song that is forbidden that she sings, that that's what gets her killed,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah, that's
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:that that frequently comes up too. But holy crap. Does this book take off from this point? Uh, this is a book that gets better and better and better all the way through the end of it. It, it doesn't have any dips or anything. You do have to get past that and a little bit beyond what I was told, at least in my opinion. Um, I, I had to get all the way into the arena before I thought it was actually good.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Oh really? It was that
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:yeah. Because everything else was just like, I'm complaining about politics. Wha I don't know if I can do this. Wha I don't know if I, and I'm like,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:I was interested in the politics and like the
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:God,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:uh, class systems and like the different colors and him getting turned into a gold. Like all of that I thought was cool.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:yeah, that was interesting. But they established that, but then they reiterate it over the, the time. Right. And I know that the payoff is worth it, but he does spend a lot of time going like, uh, I don't even know if I can do this, but I'm gonna do it for my, my fallen wife and I don't know if I want to do this, or if I'm capable of doing it or what my reason is for doing. And it's like, dude, you already established your reason for doing it and I know we have to go through this lull of like, him not really getting it in order for him to get it and have that pay off. I understand that. But when you're actually listening to it or reading it, it just is like, come on dude, let's move forward. Let's move on. You've made a decision, commit to it kind of a thing. Um, but man, it, it absolutely takes off. I think the jumping point where it goes over like a five rating is when he encounters Julian. That's where things are like, okay, we're actually seeing what it means to be a gold. And a gold is like an enhanced human being. Like physically they're described as perfect, right? They, they're enhanced muscles. Um, they have grab boots, they have wings and they can fly and all of these kinds of things. And so you're actually finally getting that encounter of like, oh, okay. That's what it really means to be a gold and why you can really look at them and be like, wow, like. Such strength, such power, all that kind of stuff. And then you meet his brother Cassian, who I loved all the way through book one. Like I felt so bad for him. I've already started book two, so my love has fade faded. But in Book one, oh, he's just like becomes a whiny little. So Julian is Cassian's brother. And in order to progress into the arena that I was talking about before, everybody had to fight one-on-one. And our main character got paired up with Julian and ended up killing him to, to like prove he was worth it. And in book one, our main character convinces, uh, Cassian that somebody else was the murderer. Of his brother and they really bonded and became these friends. But he always felt like this guilt, it's beautifully written, it's amazing, and they're going through these challenges together. And then there's the utter betrayal of him finding out that our main character was the killer.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:And Julian is like the weak little brother that you want to just take care of, and he's written very well to be that character where you're just like, you want to help him, but you know the story isn't going there.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Mm.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah. Um, absolutely fell in love with this book. Um, like I said, I've already jumped into the second book. I'm like a quarter of the way through it already. Um, absolutely adore it. I do think that the first one could be better, but like we've talked before about how sometimes our authors. Write their first book and they learn from that first book and then they start writing better for the next book and then the next book and the next book. That's a kind of natural progression. I think this one gets better chapter by chapter, like he's really improving, not droning on about certain things or giving details that don't really matter and that kind of stuff, and it's awesome. I absolutely love this book. I can't recommend it enough. It's amazing. It's absolutely worth reading or listening to or whatever your thing is. If I were to compare it, I think this is far and away way better than the first Miss born book. Like so much better. But I also think Brandon Anderson is incredibly overrated. So that's where I'm at.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay. agree that this book is Like I, I, I even like the first third that he doesn't like. I thought this world was awesome. I love the language, like each, each uh, group of people, whatever color you are, has very distinct language in the way that they speak. And I absolutely loved that. After I read it, I was saying bloody damn, like all the time, because I just, I don't know. I love it. I love the, the whoever does the audio book does a very good job with it. And the part where he, uh, goes and takes out the gods is so sick in that first book. I love it. second book is even better, in my opinion, a large step better than the first book.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:So far I agree.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:in the second book. Like, it, it gets more complex. Like you, you talked about how the author gets to be a better writer. The story gets more complex, the characters get more complex, and it's, it's, it's better in every single way. And there's a part in the middle of book two where you're like, bloody damn, let's go. And I, it, it is a moment in book book reading that I will remember forever. And I'm excited for you to be able to get there.'cause it's, I love the series. I love it. Anyway,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:It's great.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:man? Bad.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:My gut is saying nine out of 10,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:but I also have to take into account that that is recency bias. And I didn't start from the beginning again. Right. Like I started as he was being turned into a gold. That's where I. Picked up, right? So from then that's quote unquote where it starts to get good. Uh, I agree with you. I think all of those details are super important and I don't think that they're wasted. Uh, it's just like, it's a big buildup to a really good payoff, but you, you kind of have to get through that buildup. Um, so with that being said, I'm gonna lower it to an eight
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:because I do have to acknowledge that, like, that first section of the book was really hard for me to get through. Like, it was so bad I stopped for years. So
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:enough.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I, I feel like I have to do that, but I do, I am genuinely super invested and my gut is to say it's a nine'cause amazing.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:that's awesome. That is so cool to hear. I, uh, for any gu, any of you guys who haven't read it yet, I think this series is very, very worth reading. Um, I was a little bit down on the last book, but Red God comes out this year and I'm absolutely pumped. It's the last one, so if you guys want to get into the series, it's a good time to do it. It's a good time to do it. right, let me get to my last topic, and American in Paris. Have either of you seen this? Us?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Nope.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:so I have never seen the movie. There's a movie version. We went to a stage production of it, and it was very good. world War II was ended and some of the American soldiers don't go home. And then you have a love story that happens inside of Paris and it's all about art. And each piece has a different, uh, character has a different artistic capability that comes together to create a ballet. Your main car, main girl is a ba, a ballerina, and then you have three guys that are kind of fighting over the main girl. You have one who's a artist and he does this, does all of the art for the. For the stage show, you have the music director, he does the music, and then you have another character who does some of the writing. But mostly he's connected because his family's the one who saved this main girl during World War II because she was a Jew. And you have the building con, uh, building tensions between these three men and this one girl. feels like that she owes the guy that saved her from the Holocaust and decides that there they should get bar married because he kind of owes her, which is a sad reason. He loves her. He genuinely loves her, but she feels like she owes him. You have the artist who they both have a real connection and she's like, no, I, I really can't. I need to be with this guy. But they have such a connection that they just keep talking and just keeps growing and growing and growing. And then you have the musician. flip people off. have the musician that is absolutely in love with the ballerina girl and he's a nerd and he's just trying to do everything that he can to her and love her. And he, and he's probably my favorite character because when she's trying to choose this guy,'cause she feels like she's indebted to him, the one who says, you know what? You're making a mistake. You love this guy and you should be with this guy. You should care for this guy. You should you, you dance with him, you love him. And the tensions build and build and build and the amount of talent that was on the stage is, is amazing. You had to sing, to do ballet, you had to clog, you had to tap dance. and you had to be able to act, you had to do all of those different things to make this show work. And the main girl is astounding. The, the skill and talent that she had was mind blowingly good. Um, the story was really very rom-com, but it was very effective rom-com and it makes me wanna watch the movie because I just had a smile on my face. And if you're watching a rom-com, you should just be smiling. Like, it should just make your heart lift. It should, should just, it should make you glow. for this one, it really did. Like they did a good job with a cute aspect of it. I, I really, really, really enjoyed this and if you guys have an opportunity to be able to go to a live action version of this, I would recommend it. My negative of the show is I feel like you have dance and you have song they kind of separate the two. So with the dance parts, you progress the story like ballet does and it progresses the story and then you kind of reset and you do the song part and it progresses the same story. So you get the same story twice in a row. I enjoyed it enough and the story simple enough that I didn't really care, but I could see that absolutely driving somebody crazy. That, that's kind of my negative. Otherwise, it's a very, very enjoyable, um, done in a time period in a place that's not really touched very often. Show that's very worth watching. Yeah. It's something that I, I would have to watch the movie to recommend it to you, but if the movie was as good as the stage production, I would recommend it to you, Josh. Absolutely.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:It sounds like my kind of thing. I'll be straight up. The movie is not going to be as good as the stage production.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:I don't think so either, to be completely honest.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:No.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:if it's good, it's
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:If it's good enough, I,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:good.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:am interested.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:It'd
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:enjoyable.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:So what would you rate the stage production on a scale of one to 10?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Eight and a half.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah, I would, I didn't wanna spend that much money again, but I would genuinely debate going to it again.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Where, where did you go see it?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Health Center, the new one, the Ruth in Pleasant Grove.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Oh, okay.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:If they still have tickets, it's, it, it'd be worth going to. It's very enjoyable. My that I've had since like first or second grade, his wife is one of the ballerinas in it. And I, I'm constantly amazed at professional dancers because they, they make it look like you're just floating on the stage and that you don't, you don't run outta breath. I was on the front row and I was looking for people to be out of breath, but they were all just smiling, like, I can dance for days and days and days and be completely fine. And I talked to her after. I'm like, is there a trick to that? How do, how do you do that? And she's like, every single time you turn around, you go and then you smile again when you look at the stage. It was very funny, but it's just, it's very light, very heartwarming. It's, it's just good. just good. With that guys, let's go to our final topic. And Lauren, you were the one that suggested this, so let's start with you.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Um, I will talk forever about this, so I think somebody else should start.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay, Josh, go ahead.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay, so the topic is Thunder built or New Avengers, uh, whatever you want to call it. Uh, this has been a constant thorn in my booty from Lauren ever since it came out because she went and saw it like 20 times and was like, are you gonna go see it? Are you gonna go see it? Are you gonna go see it? Are you gonna go see it? Are you gonna go see it or can you see it? When did you go see it?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:just twice?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay. Okay.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I feel like it was more than that, but I feel like at least once a week it was a, have you seen it yet? Kind of conversation and me saying like, no, I'm not going to movie theaters. Movie theaters are the stupidest thing. I hate them. As soon as it comes out, I promise you I will watch it. I finally did. Here's what my thoughts are. The first like. Two fifths of the movie is pointless and very Black Panther esque in that it is absolutely nothing special. Uh, completely mediocre superhero telling. Honestly, if they started the movie with everybody in the furnace room, I would've liked it better. Uh,'cause nothing that happens before that is necessary or adds to anything in my mind. It's, it's all stuff that we saw in the Black Widow movie. We, there's no new developments. We already know all of this kind of stuff. So I, I was kind of like, come on, Lauren, like, why are you so into this movie? But when you get to that point, it does become something. Completely special. Um, I, I know Lauren's gonna go into a lot more detail into why that is. Um, but for me it touched very specifically on, uh, depression and shame of that depression. Um, shame of feeling those things and building barriers up internally to protect those things. As a superhero movie, I still don't think it's anything extraordinary, but as a movie that I think you should watch, because if you don't feel those kinds of things, one, I'm very jealous of you two. It would give you a very intimate and empathetic vision of what that looks like. Um, and you should absolutely go see it for that reason.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay. Um, I'll talk about my thoughts then. First, one of my biggest negatives of this movie is that to really empathize with Florence Pew's character, you have to watch a movie that I think kind of sucks to be able to connect with this one. Um, the Black Widow movie, I think is, trash. I, I don't think it's good at all,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Agreed.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:and you have to watch that one to really get a lot of the backstory, which is a shame. I think this movie would be much better if this had been what we got right after end game. think a lot of people wanted something that was a little bit more chill and down to earth. And this movie does a good job of being more chill and down to earth and doesn't suck like Black Widow. I also don't think it's great either. It's kind of like this was pretty good was my, my thought. I think Florence Pugh is a better, basically black widow than Scarlet Johansson. I like her character. Um, she has a line where they're arguing about who has the most child trauma and she's like, I win child Assassin here. And then someone else responds, well, you are a child. So like, it wasn't a big deal'cause you were a kid. And that legitimately made me laugh. I thought that was really funny. uh, a, a Marvel movie hasn't really made me laugh like that in a long time, but that one got me and it surprised me. I appreciate that. Bucky does a good job in this one. I liked Bucky, I liked that he was a little bit more. Uh, it was matured into the audience. So when they're going through the torture scenes where you're going through all of your worst nightmares, we kind of don't see his nightmares'cause we've already been a part of them. And that was a really good choice on a direct rule and writing standpoint. They did a, they did it some really smart stuff. The main bad girl. Um, Valencia. Valencia, I thought she was kind of whatever, burger she could have been much better. she kind of took a little bit away from the show to me. Louis Pullman as Bob is fantastic. He did a very, very good job with the acting side of things. And David Harbor is just great in this, in this role. Uh, he's my favorite part of Black Widow. He's my favorite part of this show. I really just enjoy the character and he is a character that I, if, if they did a spinoff season television show with this character, I would watch that because I really. have a good time with him. Um, have all these little side characters and they're all done pretty well. You have the main, main issue with the, with the movie, which is Bob's character. He is, what's the common group character's name? Um, Sentry. He's Sentry. Extremely powerful. And the powerful comes with negative aspects. It comes with a, uh, show of depression, a show of bipolarism, like the darkness is where his power comes from, and you deal with that aspect. And it's a smart way of introducing a really, really powerful character and having actual negatives to that really powerful character. Instead of having a Miss Marvel situation where you're like, why doesn't, doesn't she just blow everything up every single time? She's a stupid character. This one is actually an interesting dichotomy. I am saying all good things, and for some reason when it came together in its final package, I was like, that was decent enough, and that's just kind of all I felt about it. Which is a shame because on paper I should think more than that, but I just kind of don't.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Oh, I, I just wanna add like, uh, if we're going into more detail of that, like. I sent Lauren a text that was like, how the heck does a Nazi controlled, mind controlled person get elected to Congress? That's absolutely insane. Uh, I've never been a Bucky fan. I think Captain America movies are some of the worst MCC that are out there. But like I, I was not a fan of him in this movie either. Like, he was supposed to be the person who was like tying this group together or mentoring this group.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:But he was kind of just like, there, like to me he felt like, uh, oh, let's put him in so people have more of like a popular character to connect with.'cause not everybody saw Black Widow. So she's just, he's just there. And I'm like, I was really frustrated'cause I was like, how the heck. With the American people. He can, he literally has no ability to control the fact that if Nazis show up, he's controlled. Like, yeah, run our country. My guy. Like, no, I very much know. Um, on the other side, uh, the found family aspect of it is very good. Um, it is way more of a family to me in what I see than like the Avengers. Um, I saw a TikTok and they said the Avengers are coworkers, thunder boats are actually family. And I like, could not agree with that more. Um,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:That's a good way of putting it.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:and like, this is really stupid, but the thing that makes this better than just decent, like you're saying, is how it looked when the city was going in black. The visual effects of that. I was so into it. I was like, that looks amazing. Oh my gosh. The city all black. Like let's paint New York Black.'cause that was freaking cool.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay, nice. All right, Lauren, you've heard our thoughts.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Mm-hmm.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:dismantle everything. Tell us why this is the greatest movie ever.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Uh, everybody, big spoilers, they haven't really spoiled it, but I'm probably gonna spoil it when I talk about everything. So you've been warned. Go watch Thunderbolts, then come back and listen to me. Um, yeah. Well, go kind of like surface level. Um, I do think a lot of people will think the beginning is kind of slow, but uh, does add to the ending, I believe Josh.'cause if you were paying attention like the shame rooms and stuff at the end, were all in the beginning you notice that. And like, she blew up, Bob. At the very beginning, that's what she blew up, was his lab. Um, and then also nobody mentioned that fricking Florence pew jumped off a building. So
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:literally that's what I was putting on my hand for. It's cool that she jumped off a building, but the cinematography of that moment was terrible because it, there was like no real thrill of it.'cause you don't get, they didn't do a a where you like look at the bottom of the, where you look at the ground or something, the filming's just like, oh, she's jumping off this building and it looks like it could be this teeny tiny ledge. And then there's a dot. There's a dot. And I think that's Florence Pugh, but I don't know.'cause it's a dot. then all of a sudden she's on the next building. And it was just for such a cool stunt. They didn't, that was not very well filmed. That was I at all.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:I would add it to the thing of like, I took that as like, she's depressed, she doesn't care, so they're not making it thrilling. It's, she's like, yeah, I could die. I don't care. It's just, that's kind of like the feeling of the flow. why I think the first part works so well is'cause it's, she's like, yeah, I'm doing this life and death, who cares? And like there was no real like, oh, is she gonna make it or not? Because it was like, so, this is what she does every single day. It's very run of the mill. So I was glad they made it run of the mill of her just being like,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Hmm.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:a big deal about it or like, not even being scared if she doesn't make the jump or anything. She was just like, jumps off a building. And then, uh, yeah, when she, I, I thought it was funny when she acts, the guy accidentally shoots his face and she's like, oh, I needed that face because she needed to like scan it. So I thought that was a funny
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:That did make me smile.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:do love that she saved the Guinea pig. Um. Which was very like foreshadowing. Um, I, I think this first part worked for me because I really like the details of things like that. Um, and like when I go back and rewatch it, I'm like, oh my gosh, this part goes with this and that. Oh my gosh, they like foreshadowed. Anyway, I am weird
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Cool.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:and I enjoy, uh, shows that will do that. So the beginning didn't feel useless to me at all. Um, and then, uh, yeah, she blows it up and that's, yeah, Josh.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Well, I just, I wanna clarify like there's definitely a lot of those details and they're cool to see, but they don't contribute to the overall plot. Like if you had just gotten the point from the furnace room and moved on from there, you would still get the same compelling story. So to me, those are cool Easter eggs, but they don't enhance or build anything better. Like you mentioned that she destroyed the other room, but they mentioned she destroyed the other room two other times since the furnace room.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah, I,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:So.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:but it works for me because like you're getting into her head at that be the beginning.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Right, but like Conlin said, you already have to have watched Black Widow and we already know that that's where her head is. That's what I'm saying is like there you already, you already know all of that stuff.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Uh, I. No, I watched Black Widow, but I don't remember anything about Black Widow.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:It's not worth watching. It's pretty terrible. But like that, that's where I was coming from.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:So I think if you haven't watched Black Widow, that's, it's better.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Probably true. You're probably just better off in general having not watched Black Widow.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:absolutely. Use the hour to file taxes. That's better than watching Black Widow.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah. Go to the DMV, sit there for two hours.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:um. I do agree with the thing of Bucky, like how did he get into politics? I don't think Bucky belongs in politics. Um, but then another thing of like, uh, I am a Bucky fan. I love the Winter
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Me too.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:something about like this movie that made me go watch it was because it has a lot of my favorite side characters. So it ha you have the Winter Soldier, you have, uh, the Red Guardian. You have, um, I don't think I was a real big fan of Ghost though, but I liked her in this one. Um, and then, uh, then I love Yelena. Uh, and then, let's see. Yeah, so then they go to like the, the secret place where you meet Bob like they do such a good thing like of building up Bob's character in when they're in the safe. Uh. Or the underground, whatever. And another cool thing is a lot of this was filmed in Utah, so I thought that was cool.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:That is cool.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:they, and uh, I also loved the part where he is like cucumber, cucumber because he can't s he's trying not to sneeze while they're all going up. that was a funny part. Um, anyway, so to get to the, and well also loved Bucky's entrance and how he gets a theme song now. So I just thought that whole sequence was awesome. Uh, and then laughed when Bucky catches them.'cause you think Bucky's on their side until he is like, no, I'm bringing you guys in too. And I'm like, no. Um, but yeah, so, uh, this is a big representation for bipolar and like, in fact, there's a monologue that he gives that I've. Literally when I try to explain people about my bipolar, I lit, he literally explained it how I explained it, um, where he is like, oh, I have these extreme highs where I am invincible. And I literally will tell people, I'm like, oh yeah, I call this God mode because I feel like nothing can touch me. Which a lot of people are like, oh, that sounds great. Like your high highs sound great. And I'm like, yes, except they're also destructive in a way that you wouldn't think like, um, when he's confronting her and he's like, why would I care what you think? I'm a literal God. You said I was a literal God. Um, so it's like I've had people be like, oh, so you're a narcissist? And I'm like, no, it's, it's different. It's just you feel like nothing can touch you. Um, it doesn't mean that like. You don't care what other people think, but it's like you feel like you're above repro, repro that
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:reproach.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Thank you. And um, like, yeah, I, sometimes I can get a lot of stuff done when I'm in that, in those highs and like I'll sometimes, um, if I know a high is coming, I'll be like, oh cool, let's hurry and put like everything that I need to get done when I'm in that high. but then also it's nice'cause I have a friend who will also kinda like check me sometimes when I'm in those highs. Um, but then he is like, but then you have those extremely low lows, which is his like void. And when he's in the void, he's like in this part in his mind where he says, this is the best room and that best room is still shitty. And, uh, he is like having to just, he is like trying to ignore everything and just like weather the void basically. And like, and these highs and these lows, which wasn't in the show last for like, really long periods of time. So like, uh, I think my last low, low lasted for about a year. And so, like, I was in that void thing, like just trying to weather out everything. And it, I still look normal to everybody else, but like, I'm stuck in that room like, just trying to weather it out and like it's, they did it so well in that moment where he's punching himself and like the void starts like creeping up on him.'cause like you can't yourself up out of. A low, like, but that's what you're like trying. You're like, why can't I do this? Why is everything so hard? Why can't, uh, like my own worst enemy. And like, you're very aware that it's you that's limiting yourself and like you're really hard on yourself. And like that moment when they all bear hug each other, it's like, oh my gosh. Yeah, the power of friendship. But like, for real, like that is the best thing. like I had a saint of a friend who would like rush. She, she would recognize because like even when you're in low, you can go lower. Like you can go into those worst rooms. Um, and she like, she would like recognize that and then she would come over and like, be the little dog pile hug. And it was like so thankful that she would recognize those things because. Yeah, sometimes you need like those people to like pull you out of that. Um, and so that's why I like, and it was, it showed mental health so well.'cause like, I, I put in the notes that when she, when Yelena is talking to her father about, she's like, I'm so alone. Like I, I don't know how to do anything. I basically just started crying from there when I first watched it to the end because it shows like depression and it shows, um, it shows bipolar and like all of these struggle, mental struggles that people have so well. Um, and yeah, and I really liked how, um, it also shows how bipolar people can get manipulated by narcissistic people so easily. Uh, when the, the girl, um, oh. I can't think of what her name is. Uh, but the main bad guy when she is, uh, talking to Bob
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Valenti.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Valentina when she was able to manipulate Bob and then she puts him into like that god mode thing, like it's really easy to like manipulate, uh, bipolar people. Um, and so you see a lot of times bipolar people meshing with narcissistic people, which is like the perfect bomb. And like, I've dealt with this with several narcissistic people in my lives and I've noticed like how much it eradicates like my moods and things. Um, and then how, uh, you'll notice that Valentina calls him Robert then, uh, the Captain America knockoff. Calls him Bobby and y Elena's the only one that calls him by his preferred name Bob. how much like that solidifies to him that he's like, you see me? And that's why he was like so attached to Yelena.'cause he's like, you can see me. but yeah, I think this movie, like I just attached myself to, because they represented bipolar so well and I was like, I've never seen that represented like so well before. And a lot of people were trying to call it BPD, um, which is a borderline personality disorder. But like, if you look into mental health issues, like they all kind of overlap and stuff. And like I've explained to my, I can't remember if he's a psychiatrist or psychologist, but like I explained to him, I was like, it's not that I feel like I'm different people, but it feels. Like different people. I'm like,'cause I still have like all my same memories and stuff, but like sometimes when I'm, my, I'm in my different moods, it feels like different people. So like you have Century Bob and the void. Um, and then luckily I haven't progressed enough to where I lose time like Bob does. But that is also something of bipolar that people with, bipolar will have. So yeah. Anyway, huge representation for, uh, mental health. And then I also liked how it wasn't super, um, superhero, because like I feel like all of Marvel, it's like, oh, well we save New York now we have to save the world. Now we have to save the universe. Now we're saving the multiverse. And I feel like they brought it back down for Marvel to be like, Hey, like, the best we could do was we helped ourself and our friend, like,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:And save New York.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:And we saved New York, um, from, from a depressive, hole. So anyways, so that's why I really liked it, is I feel like it grounded, it marvel back down. It had a lot of my favorite, uh, side characters, and it just represented mental health perfectly, almost perfectly.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:That's absolutely amazing. That's super cool. I pretty harsh on it, but I still, I still an enjoyable time watching it. It's not, it is one of the better Marvel movies I've seen in a very, very, very long time.'cause this one, if I was doing a Marvel rewatch, I would skip. there's been quite a few that I would skip. And one of my favorite, I don't know if they did this on purpose, one of my favorite things about this movie, because I feel like it's a allegory of Marvel right now as a whole, um, they were like, we get that you don't like any of our characters, so we're gonna make jokes at ourselves about how we're having the Avengers B League that we all kind of suck, but you like us anyway. Awesome way to go guys. And if they did that on purpose, way to go Marvel. I, I will give you that. That is really, really cool. I like that you connected with the character and with the story as much as you did. That's, that's absolutely awesome. I hope other people did too. I obviously other people did too, because there's a lot of people who love, love this movie.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely one that I would tell people to watch to understand me better with,
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:super cool.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:struggles that I have.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:That's literally what this show is about.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Mm-hmm.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:makes me like thunderbolts a little bit better, to be completely honest.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:and like, honestly, like the thing about, I think there's like an interview with Florence Pugh where they're like, well, who's the bad guy? And it's just like, mental health, mental illness is actually the bad guy. Um, like Valentina store. But honestly it is like mental health is bad guy. Not the, you don't have like a big space dude, that's purple. Coming to get you
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Okay. So Lauren, on a scale of one to 10, how would you rate this movie? Okay, Conlan.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Okay. Got a 50 i seven. I'd give it a seven.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:I'd give it a 7.5. Uh, it's not gonna be easily, regularly go back to, but I would not mind going back to this anytime.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:So
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:I would rewatch it.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:our scores, that's about a score of 25, right?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:That's the highest average score on onscreen offscreen we've ever had.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Thunderbolts for the Wind. Who knew Thunderbolts was better than Spider-Man? Two? Who knew?
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Not me.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Anyway, guys, that'll be our episode. We appreciate you watching, like, subscribe. Tell us if Thunderbolts hit you that hard. Does it make you more excited for Marvel in the future? Does it, I
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Does it make you more excited for Marvel in the future?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:me,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:I will, I, I would require two movies of this quality to be more excited.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:So if the next Spider-Man movie actually delivers
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:next Spider-Man movie. If Fantastic four actually delivers, I'd be a little bit more excited. Um, I also, I did wanna say this earlier. I didn't mention this. I think it'd be super embarrassing to DC to basically have a suicide squad where Marvel just outdid you again, because this is better than Suicide Squad. And the deal with mental health is better than what they did with Joker, so they just outdid DC again, that sucks for them. That
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:a joker is not mental health. He's just a crazy guy.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:in Suicide Squad, they try to have it be a little bit of mental health.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Well, suicide Squad sucked. Like. They changed the character entirely and people didn't like it. Who to thunk
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Crazy. Right?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:anyway?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:more excited at all, Josh?
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:It makes me microscopically more excited for Spider-Man. I don't think Fantastic Four is gonna be any good. I have zero faith in Pedro Pascal. Uh, but Spider-Man has always been pretty good. If they can do something more grounded like this, like Lauren said, and have it deliver, then it makes me more excited for Spider-Man.'cause that's what Spider-Man needs is. It needs to be very grounded.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:I
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:It does.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:not heard about Spider-Man. Is this Tom Holland? Spider-Man
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Mm-hmm.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Verse?
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Yeah, they're doing
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Tom Hollands, Spiderman.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Spiderman.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:actually, they're doing it. I'm pretty sure they're doing a whole trilogy, a whole second trilogy.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Uh, unconfirmed. The only one that's confirmed is this one, but it's rumored that, uh. Tom Hardy's gonna be in it as Eddie Brock. Uh, Disney now officially owns the rights to Spider-Man, so there will likely be a lot more Spider-Man. Uh, but as far as I know, the only thing that's confirmed is the next one.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Cool. Hopefully they don't screw up into the spider verse. screw up into the spider verse.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Well, that's Sony, so it's not Disney.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:but if they own Spiderman.
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:Peter Parker.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:Oh, okay. Okay.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Yeah,
josh-dietrich_1_07-09-2025_121920:don't own Miles Morales, or the villains or anything like that. They just own Peter Parker. Yeah.
konlin-_1_07-09-2025_161918:cool. Cool. Anyway, second closing out. Uh, we appreciate you guys watching. We will see you again next time.
lauren_1_07-09-2025_161917:Bye.
