Bushwacked

Bushwacked

Elio, Top Gear Specials

00:00 - Elio

15:12 - Top Gear Specials

40:07 - Bushwacked

Transcript

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 0:00

Hey everybody. This is on screen, off screen show where we like to talk about our weekly media intake and how we, how, what, how our mood affects, how we watch it, and how it affects how we live. Um, this week we have Lauren, The best ever. and me, I'm also here. And I'm sick, so I apologize.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 0:31

The

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 0:31

Uh

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 0:32

not feeling the best.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 0:35

uh, no, not the best. ever. Got a lot of growth to happen over here. Um, Conlin is missing today. Um, he should be back next week, so sorry. I know he makes some good points occasionally, uh, but. Probably wouldn't have this week. So, and you'll hear about his thoughts next week Anyway, so with that being said, Lauren, we just started talking about your topic, so let's get started there. What did you think?

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 1:07

Okay, so, uh, spoilers everybody. I watched Elio, uh, it's the new Pixar, Disney movie. Um, and I feel like. I've been disappointed in Disney a lot lately. Um, but I wasn't disappointed in this one. Um, animation's great, uh, story I thought was great. Um, feel like there wasn't like anything getting pushed down my throat and, uh, it was, um. I like wanna talk. I just told Josh, I was like, it made me cry, but like, I don't wanna like talk about that scene.'cause I'm like, that's a, that's a spoiler, but it's also so good. Um, so, uh, I guess when you watch this, is it on your list at all, Josh?

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 2:02

Uh, no it's not so viewers, it's not on my list because apparently it's a credit scene and it's not actually in the movie. I am highly irritated with the lizard thing being all over my social media. I find it irritating. I'm not enthused by it at all, and I'm very sick of it, but I, to be fair, I don't know much about the movie, but I don't like that, so that's why it's not on my list. Um, for any listeners, this is a fairly new movie, so from this point out, spoiler warning, um, Lauren's going to talk very openly. You can just go ahead and skip to the next. Chapter and we will be talking about my topic. But go ahead, Lauren. Speak for you The.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 2:50

So Elio is about this kid, Elio, who his parents passed away and his. Aunt is taking care of him, and the aunt has like a full-time job. She works with the military, wanted to be, uh, an astronaut, but she puts the astronaut dreams on hold so she can raise Elio. And Elio is depressed and can't, like, doesn't feel like he fits in anywhere. And so he watches this thing at a museum about how we're trying to contact aliens with the, um. Not the Hubble telescope. That's not what that was. it's the satellite we sent with like samples of, uh, earth and like, things like that. And, um, so he's like, oh my gosh, aliens are coming here. So he goes out onto the beach and tries to get abducted by aliens. Like almost every night he like has flashing lights. He writes in the sand just with arrows pointing to him

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 3:49

I see why you've connected to this character.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 3:52

Yeah, I often go out at night hoping the aliens will abduct me. Um, and uh, so he starts like acting up in school because his whole thing is just trying to get abducted by aliens. And then finally, like the aunt has enough and she tries to like send him off to this camp. Um, and. While he's there, he actually did make contact with aliens with his ham radioed at home, and the aliens come and they abduct him thinking he's like the leader of Earth and they don't know he's a kid. And so he's like trying to tell them. Uh, he's trying to keep up this facade of being earth's leader so that they will accept him into the council and he doesn't have to go back. and they send a clone of him back to Earth so that no one will know that he's missing. Uh, while they're like having these diplomatic missions, uh, and this other alien race that's very like hostile and warlike pops up and also wants to be a candidate for the council. immediately they're like, oh, well we think we'll just run away to a far end of the galaxy where you're not and not accept you coming into our council.'cause we don't want the war. And, uh, Elio's like, wait, they were gonna just drop him off at earth so they could run away. And he's like, what if I talk with the, the war alien and get him to leave you guys? Then could I stay on the council? And they're like. Yeah. Yeah, we could. If if you wanna do that, go ahead do that. So he goes over to talk to the war aliens, doesn't go well, gets thrown in jail, and the aliens are like, we're definitely gonna just kill this whole galactic um, council. they didn't accept us and you're gonna watch it. And so he starts trying to escape and ends up finding the war General's son. And he had like written some things down on how to get this war general to listen to him.'cause he like went onto the alien computer to like ask how to persuade this guy. And he is like bargaining chip. he is like, talks to the, the alien son and he is like, do you wanna be a bargaining chip? And it's like just a, a kid his age basically. And he's like, yeah. And so he ends up taking him back to the galactic, um, uh, ship and got the dad to like, um, down. like, okay, like if as long as you don't hurt my son, like. We leave and they come back and Elio's having fun with this other alien and the other alien's like, Hey, like he's like this worm, but everything else looks mechanic. And he is like, yeah, I'm not on my care pace yet. Uh, and I don't want to. then I'll have to like go to war and I don't wanna war, uh, things. He is like, I wanna play, I wanna have fun. I wanna be a kid still. And the dad's like, as he's coming over to the planet, he's like, I have his care pace. He got stolen because he was just, he, he was too vulnerable. So we have to make sure he gets put into this. So then Elio's like, we need to make a copy of you, put you into the care pace and it'll be good. Well, of course that doesn't go good. War happens. Elio gets kicked back to his planet with the sun. then, uh, anyway, they had to make the sun come back because he needed warm They need like a really hot climate. And, um, EEO the whole time thought that the aunt still hated him and loves the duplicate more than him. And then. You see from the aunt's perspective, she's like clocking all the things that are different with this clone, and she's trying to get Elio back the best way. She knows how. And then Elio finally sees that like he sees her, that he sees him and actually loves him, then she tries to help him get the alien back to the dad. And when they get there, the alien dad. Rips himself out of his care pace and like they're little worms. Uh, and so he like comes out of there and wraps up his son, like swaddles his son and like holds his son.'cause he thought his son was dead. Uh, but he was like warming him up when he swaddled him everything. And that was like making me cry because this dad, that was like, once you go into the care pace, you're not supposed to come out. Um. to have like the dad just like rip open his armor to get to his son, which is like an act that they said was, um, humiliating. Uh, you bring shame on everybody, like the dad didn't care. Like his love for his son was more, and that, that got me crying. I was like, that's fine.'cause at this point. Um, Ellio had lost his translator, so he didn't know what the aliens were saying, so it was like just showing this part. There was no English dialogue. It was just basically the actions. And I was like, that was such a powerful choice to make sure that there weren't words there and that it was the actions that showed this part. Anyway, so that made me baw my eyes out. Um, and then. Everybody went back to their families. Galactic war ended and he became an honorary guest of the council, even though they found out he was a kid, uh, they're like, we'll come back in a few years because you did end a war. Um, but like, go grow up first. So that was a very quickly told story of this movie. And I think it was like, mean, I would. Give it a seven, which is more than I've given most Disney lately. But that one scene I would say is a nine'cause it's like so impactful and I loved how all the choices they made in that scene. It was awesome.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 10:13

Well, it is very good to hear that Pixar has gone back to show. Don't tell. Um. If we look at like up, right, he showed, um, the love and the romance and the wedding and stuff they didn't tell you. Um, but they kind of lost their way for a little while. I haven't seen it very often since. But it's good to hear they're doing that again.'cause that is such a good wholesome way to tell that part of a story. Um, so that, that's really good for me to hear. Um, so you rated it a seven overall, but that one seems a nine.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 10:52

Yeah. Yeah. Seven

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 10:53

Okay.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 10:54

uh, that one staying a nine because it was. Like I, I was enjoying watching the movie, but I was like, oh, this isn't really all that special, I don't think. But then that one scene, it was like, you are just so used to this one character acting out in violence. And then to have like no words or anything. It was just having him like rip it open and then like go to his son. I was like, oh my gosh. Just bawling my eyes out. It was fine.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 11:26

Oh good.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 11:27

But yeah,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 11:28

Um, so my understanding of you giving it a seven is, it's good, it's worth a watch, but it wouldn't make your top Pixar movies.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 11:38

no, I wouldn't like. I don't even know that I would watch have this on a yearly watch or anything, but like if somebody's like, oh, I haven't seen Elio, I'd be like, oh, let's put it on. That's good. You should see this one scene. The rest of it's pretty good too, but

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 11:56

Do you have any Pixar on a yearly watch?

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 12:01

I'm trying to think, I should know this off the top of my head. The Pixar movies.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 12:12

Monsters Inc. Oui inside out up Finding Nemo The Incredibles

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 12:21

I would say Incredibles.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 12:24

Story

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 12:26

Toy Story is an honor. That's like whenever I think Pixar, I think Toy Story and so I'm always like, I don't watch much Pixar.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 12:35

Bug's Life. Brave,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 12:38

I like Bugs Life, but I have not seen it in years. Um, I like Brave. It's not a yearly watch for me, but I really like it and I really like the music Brave.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 12:55

but Wally. So, yeah. You said Wally is a yearly watch for you,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 12:58

yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 12:59

but not oui.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 13:01

Oh, ouie is too. I

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 13:02

Okay.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 13:03

one. Yeah. I love Ouie.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 13:05

It's just like that's a big shot at Conlin.'cause he hates Wally and he loves Ratitude, but uh, okay. Monster Zinc inside out.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 13:15

Ooh, I Monsters, Inc. Is probably like, not yearly, but close.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 13:22

Okay.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 13:22

like Monsters Inc. I, cocoa is one that I'll watch, but it's not a yearly one. But I think it might start being on my, like Halloween watch. It was good music too. Um,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 13:48

Cocoa is only good for the last five minutes. Other than that, it's the longest movie I've ever watched in my entire life.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 13:56

It is, yeah. Cocoa's not a sit down watch. For me, it's a, I'll play it in the background. Um,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 14:05

Uh, for me, Wally, uh, not Wally. Wally's like a, every few years Monsters Inc. Is a little bit more popular for or higher on my list. Ouie Cars and The Incredibles and the First Inside Out movie is great. Um, toy Story I think is super overrated. I like finding an email, but I haven't watched it in a really long time. I should probably watch it. I love brave. I think brave is super underrated.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 14:35

Yeah. I love quoting the, when the dad is pretending to be her and he's like, I wanna be single for the rest of my life and run with my,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 14:47

Yeah, super great stuff. Oh,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 14:52

yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think, um, with E Elio I would probably put it on the bottom of my favorites of Pixar,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 15:04

Bottom of favorites. Yes, it does.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 15:07

of favorites. Yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 15:08

Bottom of favorites. Okay. Good stuff. All right, we're gonna go on to my topic. Um. As you know, I had a little over two hours of new topics to talk about last week. I was not really in the mood to continue on watching with a bunch of new stuff, um, after that experience. So I went to stuff I've seen before. Sorry. Um. Every year I usually watch the specials on top from top gear. They're called the Christmas specials because the first one happened to come around Christmas time. The rest of'em really haven't. Um, so they're called Christmas specials. They're not really. Um, so for those of you who don't know in top gear every few years, uh, the three of them, Jeremy Clarkson. Richard Hammond and James May do some travel thing, right? So the first one is in America. Uh, they do a challenge to see if it was cheaper and better to buy and then sell your car, um, instead of renting a car for your vacation. So they go and. Uh, they get a Camaro and a Cadillac that are all really old and in terrible condition and a Dodge Ram. They're all just like the Dodge Ram is dented up, right? They had a budget of a thousand dollars. So they bought these like crappy, crappy cars. They drove to, uh, across to another state. Uh, they ended in Louisiana. I'm not sure where they started. Um. And then they just do these challenges along the way. They race each other. Um, in America, they try and get the other shot by,'cause they're in the deep south, so they painted each other's cars. So the one says Hillary for president, the other one says, NASCAR sucks. And you know, uh, the other one is like gay love, um, stuff. This is from 2007, remember? Um, and so they, they were going and they were having a good laugh at about it until like. They actually stop at a gas station and piss off some people by their phrases. And then they're like, oh, well this is a little bit more serious than we were thinking. So they like clean it off and they rush out of there and whatever. Um, the next one they go to Botsa. The next one they go to Vietnam, Bolivia, middle East, India, Africa, Burma. And the last one for top gears. Patagonia. I've started watching the grand tour ones. I watched the beach buggy ones again. I watched their feed the world. Um, Mozambique one. I watched the Columbia Special Survival of the fittest and International Buffoons. Vacation is where I just finished. Um, so I travel all over the world. Doing these ridiculous fun road trips where they take cars where they're not quite supposed to go, uh, in Patagonia, right? They're driving across the Alps in V eight cars. The one is in a Italian sports car, one is in a V eight Mustang, the other one's in a Porsche, and they're like rock crawling these cars, um. I absolutely love these specials. I find it absolutely wholesome. I find it inspiring. There's a number of road trips that like if this podcast were to take off and I could afford to do it, I would take like you and Conlan on a road trip where we would build crazy cars and pull pranks on each other and do fun little challenges and stuff. I've always thought that that would be like a top way to spend my life and like they got to do it and I get to watch them do it, and they have a really great friendship and an utter respect for each other, and they make fun of each other, and it's funny and it's good clean, wholesome entertainment. It's on my yearly watch. We're gonna do top 10 here in a few weeks when we get to our one year mark. And I think I'm a little higher on, on these than I was last year because I like, I've seen these thousands of times. I know exactly what is going to happen to all of these things, and yet I still love it every single time. Like I said, I watch these every year. I'm watching them currently. I will continue to watch them, uh, until I finish rewatching them this year. Um, the only negative I have is they're done. They're not doing anymore. It's gone. No more specials, no more top square gear, no more grand tour. It's donezo and I'm like, that is so sad. And there's one that they started filming that I'm never gonna get to see because of COVID.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 20:36

Oh, gross.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 20:37

They went to Russia, they had their cars. They were spotted there doing some filming. They were, weren't able to finish it.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 20:45

Ugh.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 20:46

And so there's one more lost footage out there. I'm not gonna get to see. It's just sad.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 20:51

The Patagonia one, is that the one where they're like, wake up on a ski hill or what? Which ones where they wake up on a ski hill?

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 21:01

Uh, that one is a scandy flick. It's from the Grand Tour. It's not from Top gear.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 21:07

Oh, okay.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 21:08

that's where they do The ski hill thing. That's where, uh, Jeremy picks an Audi, which is like, I always think that they never pick Audis because it would make their challenges too easy. Um. Not biased at all. Uh, as an Audi lover, it's not biases. They, they just know that Audis are too good. Uh, um, all jokes aside, yeah, no, Patagonia is, they start in Argentina and their goal is to get to what I think is the most beautiful place in the entire world. And I would love to go there. Um, they're trying to get to, I can't remember what it's called. I'm sick, please.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 21:57

The brain fog is real.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 22:00

Yeah. Tier Del Fuego. They're trying to get to Sierra del Fuego, which is the southern tip. It's the southernmost city in the world. Um, it is the last checkpoint till you get to Antarctica. Um, they. Are unable to get there this time because there's some, uh, bad blood between Argentina and uh, Britain. Um, so they get kicked out before they're actually able to finish that one. Um, but no, they, like, they talk about history in these specials, which is something I love. Um, it is. Great friendship between them. I highly, highly recommend, like I get, not watching all of top gear. Um, if you're not a car fan, going back and watching them review a car from 2007 that nobody's gonna buy in 2025 because it's 23 years old at this point. Um, not really, but 20 years old. I get it. That's not gonna be that entertaining for you to see how they review a Kia Sorento from 2006 or whatever they're gonna do. Like I get, but like yearly watching the specials. It's a great way to spend your time. It, I, like I said, I, I find it inspiring. I have a ton of road trip ideas I would absolutely love to do. Um, there's an all off-road track that goes from. North Carolina, I think on the East coast all the way to the west coast. It's all off-road. You don't need a license to drive on it because it's all off-road track. And I saw somebody do it on a dirt bike and like, I think it would be very cool to do it like they did the beach buggies. You take some ridiculous car and you and a couple of friends. Go see how well you handle this experience. Um, you see so much of the world that way. You go to a lot of unexpected places. I would absolutely love to do stuff like that. Um.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 24:25

Yeah, I've.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 24:27

Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 24:27

Seen some top gear and I'm always so jealous of all the places they get to go. And uh, yeah, there's, I have a couple road, um, road trips planned out and it was funny'cause I was talking to my. Coworkers this week and I was like, Hmm, maybe I'll go to Washington. And they're like, state? And I'm like, yeah, I really wanna go to Olympia National Park. And I was

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 24:54

Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 24:54

and if I drive there, I can take my dog.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 24:58

Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 24:59

So it's like a lot of places that I'm just trying to make sure that my car is ready to go for long trips all the time now. Uh, so I can just get up and go. Um. But yeah, I their trips so much because that is something that like, I wanna travel, I wanna do road trips. Um, probably not through the Panhandle of Texas. Done that one. Don't need to do it again. But yeah, there's, I, I've seen, I think I've seen more of Grand Tour than I've seen of just top gear. So I need to get more.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 25:44

Like I said, I recommend watching the specials. There's a lot of stuff that is worth watching. Even if you go to like the non-specialist episode, um. Like, there's one where they do a challenge, where it's like unrealistic. Nobody in real life is gonna live their life this way, but they try and find the most, um, inconspicuous supercar. So like their goal is to travel through a poor part of the world and not get their car photographed or whatever. So like they choose an Audi RRA and a old Ferrari and a Porsche or whatever, and they're just do these challenges and stuff like Top Gear, grand Tour. Great way to spend your time. Um, with the Grand Tour, I would stipulate don't watch the, um, celebrity portions'cause that sucks. Um, it's not funny at all. And like in top gear, they used to have the stake. Um, where he would go and put lap times in the cars and it was very entertaining and they would say something ridiculous. Like some say he doesn't eat bread, but he was born from a fish and whatever. It's the Stig, right? They always introduce him in funny places. He goes, he sets a lap time. You get to see how fast the car does it woohoo, whatever. In the grand tour, it's the American and it's like he's an idiot and he's fat. That's funny. It's like, no, it's not. And then like in top gear, uh, they have celebrities come on and they all drive around the track to see how fast they can do it compared to other celebrities. Um, and it's entertaining and they talk about stuff. And in the grand tour, they can't do it for copyright reasons, so they kill the celebrities and it's like, oh no, Ryan Gosling fell from the sky and splattered on the ground. How tragic and. It's all staged and not very funny and whatever. I would skip those portions of the show and do when I go back and watch them. Um, but like I would watch all of TopCare. I love cars, even the old ones. I'm like, yeah, that car's in my budget now. I can afford that Maserati today. I won't'cause it's crap, but I can. Um, uh, so

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 28:13

Uh,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 28:13

great. Yeah, you should watch at least the specials.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 28:17

yeah, I was gonna ask what's your, like, do you have a favorite episode or,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 28:23

Oh, it's so hard to pick, so I'm gonna go, okay.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 28:32

some.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 28:34

so International buffoons vacation, they take RVs and they're in Nevada. And they trick out these RVs. So James May turns his RV into a pub and uh, Richard Hammond buys a truck with just a tent on top of it. And, uh, Jeremy Clarkson turns his into a bathroom, but also makes the roof a boat so he can drive from the roof.'cause he is big into boating. He's a boating fanatic. So. He drives his RV from the roof. And I'm like, that's so clever. It's so funny. Um, it's like people should make RVs that way. That is very interesting. Like thing that they did, um, they go out and do stuff like. The trio of them are just so great together. They're so funny. The way they riff off of each other. They always pull pranks on each other. Um, X, Y, z whatever, um, survival of the fattest is in Mongolia. They literally get dropped in the middle of Mongolia and then their airdropped parts to a car. So they build a car in the middle of Mongolia and their challenge is to escape. And like the map that they're given is like this hand drawn and it's like wobbly bridge and you get to the bridge and it's like fallen over. And so that's why it's wobbly. And then they're called, they get to like the bumpy bit and it's like this, um, think Lord of the Rings, this like swamp that Gollum is leading. Frodo and Sam through. It

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 30:26

gosh.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 30:26

is like this rough, terrible thing. Um, Columbia, they get car four wheel drive cars and they are trying to photograph specific, um, animals for Amazon's screensavers. Um, so like they go and they find a hippo and a condor and a tiger or a Jaguar, and, uh. A bear, right? So they're just driving around the wilderness doing these things, feed the world. They're trying to solve world hunger. So, uh, Jeremy Clarkson gets a Nissan truck and he puts a ice maker in the back with a generator. And his idea, the goal is to take fish into one of the poorest par parts of Mozambique. Um, but like the, the, it's not that far. It's like a few hundred miles, but like right on the coastline they have fitty and here in this small town they don't. Um, Richard hangs them off the back of his bike and his idea is to like drive them as he drives along on this motorcycle. And James May puts an aquarium in the back of his Mercedes car and fills it with water and fish. And like he doesn't put a roof on it. Yeah. So it keeps like dumping on him and stuff like that. Um, beach buggies, they go into Africa again and they build beach buggies and they huff to cross the Namibian Desert. Um, Patagonia we talked about, they get V eight cars and they drive. They're trying to, drive them to Tierra del Waco, the southern tip. And, um. Play car football with, uh, a Patagonian team and they don't quite make it. but they, they're, uh, Jeremy is a big fan of Butch Cassidy. So they go to Butch Cassidy's home and he starts reenacting scenes from the movie and stuff. Uh. Burma, I think is when they buy trucks like semi-truck and they have to drive to the River Kwai and build a bridge across it. So they're referencing the movie all the time and they go and they build a bridge and drive their trucks across it. Um, Africa, I don't remember which one this one is. I just watched it. Oh. They take A-B-M-W-A Subaru, uh, WRX and a Volvo, and they're trying to find the source of the River Nile. And so they're being, um, a adventurers and stuff. Um, India, uh, they are driving across India for some reason. I don't remember what the overall purpose is. Uh Oh They're trying to build relations. They're trying to be ambassadors for Britain and India, just so they're, they take British cars to try and show them how good India, show India how good British cars are. Uh, middle East, they literally drive through Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine during the Iraq war in. Little sports cars, Mazda Miata, Mazda MX five, uh, Fiat, and uh, BMWZ three. So like these convertible tiny cars. Um, and they're trying to be three wise men and they're trying to bring gifts to the baby Jesus in Israel. Um,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 34:32

Oh

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 34:33

it's so funny. Uh, Bolivia. Like I said, Bolivia is probably my personal favorite. Um, it's, they're dropped off in Bolivia on this river bank with their four by four cars that they bought side unseen, and they have to cross the desert to get to the Pacific Ocean or, or cross the jungle. So it starts. They have to like get their, like the first 20 minutes of the episode is just them trying to get their vehicles off the raft that their cars had been left on.'cause they were literally just like dumped there. Like they didn't have help. There was nobody helping them unload or even line up the, the raft to be straight. So they had to like get'em off. Uh, Richard's Land Cruiser wasn't running, so it had to get pole started. Um. James May picked a little Suzuki that was red, but he, when in the ad it said it was blue and its four wheel drive wasn't working and they were all making fun of, uh, Jeremy's car because it was a land cruiser. No, it was some very unreliable car. And they're like, yeah, that's never gonna make it. It's a piece of crap. And so they're, they're riffing on each other. Um, like I said, Vietnam, um, they go back to this one. They're riding motorcycles across Vietnam. They were given a budget of like a million dong, but it roughly translate to like a little over a thousand US dollars. So they like couldn't buy a car, so they decided to get motorcycles and. Jeremy Clarkson hates motorcycles, so he's whining the whole way and crashing. And Richard's having a great time. And James May picked the most pathetic little crappy bike that you could possibly think of. And they buy each other presents. And they all break each other's presents because they're on motorcycles and you can't carry them properly. Um, and the first real one, both Swana is, um. Where they drive across Africa and it makes this like really wholesome. Like I count the USA special, but it's not really the same as these other ones. If you start with Top Cures, Botswana Special and end with Grand Tours, Botswana special, it's like this whole like circle where they go back to their first one and they do it over again with modern vehicles and it's like, I'm excited to get there. I absolutely love these specials. They're good, clean, wholesome, entertaining, greatness, and I love them.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 37:31

Yeah, I see clips all the time and it always makes me laugh. Like the one where he's like, I'm a genius. Sometimes my genius scares me and he has like the uh, log tied behind and like right after he says that,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 37:45

Africa Special. Yep. Africa special. Sometimes my genius is So good you can hear it or whatever. Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 37:53

Yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 37:55

So my genius is so good. It generates gravity and he said like the phrases they come up with, the pranks they pull on each other is so good. Um, yeah, you should watch them. Everybody should watch them. They're fantastic.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 38:14

Yeah, I have that. I was like,'cause I think I've seen most of Grand Tour. It's just the, um, top gear I need to start making a dent in.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 38:25

Well, like I said, at least just watch the specials. There's like a lot of good stuff there if you ever want, but I watch the specials every year And it's awesome and I love it every single time.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 38:41

And this is the year is do you usually watch at the same time of year or

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 38:46

No, uh, most of the time it would probably fall around Christmas just because I don't actually like Christmas. Um, and in order to get away from Christmas music and Christmas movies and Christmas topics, um, I would, that's probably when it usually comes. Um, and I usually take a couple of weeks to do it, but like I said, last week I watched so much new stuff that I hadn't seen before. I was just like, I just, I wanna turn on something and not have to focus on it or analyze it and just enjoy. Um, I was very much in the mood for wholesome and good stuff, which is why I think to odd Thomas hit so well for me. And Notting Hill didn't. But it? led me to turn on the top gear specials and I will report on the rest of the grand tour specials next week.'cause I'm gonna continue watching them.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 39:48

Good.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 39:50

'cause now I'm sick and another excuse to watch. Familiar. Good content. I think.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 39:57

Yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 40:00

Well, sorry guys for that very long rant about why top gear's amazing. Um.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 40:05

No, it's good.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 40:07

We will move on to our shared topic this week. This week the shared topic is a movie called Bushwhacked. I know you guys have never heard of it before. Uh, this is a movie from my past. Uh, this movie is associated with my first like sleepover. Um, it wasn't really a sleepover. We were supposed to be sleeping and doing a scout camp in the backyard. Um, but we didn't do that. We went inside and it was my one and only, like, I wasn't allowed to have sleepovers as a kid. So this was my one and only like sleepover experience. I made the mistake of being the first one to fall asleep, so they put warm water on my crotch area to make me think I wet my pants. Um, jokes on them though, because I was wearing shorts underneath my, uh, pajama pants. So I just took'em off and I was like, Nope, still dry. I'm good. That was weird. And I went back to sleep.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 41:17

You guys were weird for that, wouldn't I?

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 41:21

Yeah. Um, anyway, so while we were avoiding doing what we were supposed to be doing, we put on this movie that I? had never heard of before. And Lauren, I'm very curious as to what you thought of this experience.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 41:41

Uh, an experience is definitely a word.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 41:45

It was an experience you cannot deny. It was an experience

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 41:49

definitely experience the whole time. it has, oh, the actor's name, I need to pull it back up. Um. He is the guy from, uh,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 42:02

alone.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 42:03

home Alone and I thought he was in 101 Dalmatians, but he's like the same character in

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 42:12

Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 42:13

everything. And I was like trying to think of,'cause he's so good at making like crazy faces that he just looks absolutely insane. Um. The actor, Daniel Stern, he, so to explain this to everybody, Daniel Stern is this, delivery man who gets roped into, like, don't, I wasn't paying attention to what the, the, he was. think it was money. Like he was trying to move money for these people. but he was just dumb and he was just like, oh yeah, I'm a delivery guy. You're offering more money, so of course I'm gonna do this shady deal with you because it's money. And, uh, this guy ends up, um, faking his own death and blaming it on Max. So Max was on the run and. Just like if there is a worst way to handle any situation, that is what this guy does. So, uh, when I started watching this, Josh was like, oh, well hope you're, and you're really tired. And I was like, don't worry, I'm really tired and I'm on pain medication, so it'll be great. And like I did enjoy it while I was watching it. And the whole time I was just like. I'm really glad I'm on drugs. But um, so this guy is driving across the country. They know what he looks like. They know what he is driving'cause he stole the car. So there's like an out on him and he sees. This on the news in a gas station. So he steals this like, um, scout master's car.'cause the scout master is trying to tell him that he parked in a handicap space and that's no good. So he glues the scout master to the steering wheel and he's like, you just keep driving to Mexico where I'm gonna shoot you. And then he ends up getting roped in to taking care of this scout master. Like group of kids and they call him the spider and he just accidentally keeps like showing them how to survive in the wild.'cause this bear starts mulling him. But he like passes out and they're like, yeah, no, he's doing good. You're supposed to play. And I was like, for a kid movie. Like they're, it's kind of really throwing him around. Um. But yeah, it was just like shenanigans like that. And then halfway through the kids realize he's not who he says he was. So try to turn on him. And there's this FBI agent that teams up with the scoutmaster, try to find the boys. Everybody thinks everybody off of the mountain thinks that the boys are being held hostage by Max. Um, but the kids really just thought that he was the scoutmaster the most of the time. Um, but then when the. BI agent and the scoutmaster catch up, they find out that like the FBI agent wasn't an FBI agent and was actually working with the guy. Yeah, there's a lot going on in this movie now that I realize. So the FBI agent. Who isn't the FBI agent? Um, ties up the scout master and then is now trying to kill Max and the kids. And so Max and the kids throw their backpacks off a waterfall, so everybody thinks they're dead, but they still have to find, uh, the packages at the top of this mountain to Wale. Improve Max's innocence at the end. So now they're still trying to get to the top and then the mom just drives there in like five minutes to go get the kids. Well, this has been like a three day journey for the, to make it to the top. But then of course by then the kids and Max are like tight. And, um, the mom is kind of okay with him because he saves, uh, her kid from falling off of a cliff. And, uh, yeah. And then it ends with him getting like an honorary scout thing and getting mobbed by millions of children. And he is, he's now taking care of all of these kids in Yosemite. And I was like. No. Why did you, why would you do that? You don't give that many kids like a weirdo like Max because of all of these kids for like a week. No. So it was funny, there were shenanigans. Uh, I, there was this scene where he was teaching'em about the birds and the bees, and I was like. We didn't need that, that that scene could have just been cut out. but yeah, the rest of it was, um, you have shenanigans and crazy eyes and yeah, if you're really tired, this is a, a show to watch. It's an experience to have.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 47:48

It sure is an experience to have. What would you rate it on a scale of one to 10?

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 47:55

On drugs. It was a six. Looking back,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:00

I thought you'd be a little bit better on drugs,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 48:04

well, it's only because it's, I probably would never watch this again. Um,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:10

but you said on drugs,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 48:11

on drugs. Yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:13

but It sounds like you had a great time with it. On drugs. I'm confused. I get give it a. six off of drugs and in hindsight, but on drugs, it really seems like you enjoyed it.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 48:25

Okay, bump it up to a seven because

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:28

Okay, cool.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 48:28

was freaking, I did laugh a lot about like his facial expressions and stuff. Um, off drugs, I'd probably say 4.5 because I'd rather watch, um, black Panther.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:49

Fair enough.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 48:51

medications and really tired, yeah, let's watch.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 48:55

Okay. That's totally fair. Uh, so I haven't seen this since I was a kid. I watched it that one time and yesterday. That's it. I watched it a total of two times. I, uh, I remember as an 11-year-old boy thinking like some of it was kind of funny and most of it kind of wasn't. And I still believe that today, um, I kind of agree with you and disagree with you about the birds in the bee scene. It is long for what it is, like it goes on for like two whole minutes and it should have been like a 15 second scene, but it made me laugh as much today as I did as a kid. When he went, oh, at the end I was like. Okay. That's, that's funny. Um, did it need to be as long as it was? No, definitely not. But the fact that the kids were kind of like figuring out that he wasn't a scout master, and they were like, it says in the manual, you have to teach us. And he was just like, okay. I, I was like, okay, this is funny. Um, this is little chuckles spread out. Through excruciatingly dull scenes. Um, and like there's some jokes that are just not that funny. Uh, like you've got the actual scoutmaster who's supposed to have like climbed Mount Everest and fought a tiger with his bare hands or something and has the nickname spider for whatever reason, right? And he shows up on screen and he's like the scrat. Lanky kind of guy and you're like, he's, he's the guy. I think he voices Yago and Aladdin. I think that's the same guy. If not, he's got a very similar like body typist, that guy. So you guys know what I'm talking about. You're like, that guy's not an adventurer. That guy has not climbed a 10 foot tall mountain, much less Mount Everest. Um. Okay, a 10 foot tall cliff. Um, like I don't buy the, he is what they're saying this guy is, and the fact that he just like accepts being glued to the steering wheel. I didn't find funding either. I'm like, I get the guy has a gun. But you're supposed to have fought a tiger with your bare hands or a bear or something. This guy is very clearly some unhinged crazy person and like you should be able to take him like fairly easily. I, I, like, I would chance my, I would take the chance of fighting this guy. You're supposed to be this like go all do all adventurer guy and. You just like, okay, I will let you glue me to the steering wheel. And then you get to the end of that experience and the cops pull over the actual scoutmaster and they rip him out of the car and they're like, ha ha so funny. And I'm like, no, that's not funny. Like,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 52:24

Yeah, the prolonged DL and zoom out. I was like.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 52:27

yeah, we can move on from That Like. Ha ha. He, he was super glued to a steering wheel and they ripped him off and that hurt him. Ha ha ha ha.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 52:42

happened.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 52:43

Yep. And those are the kinda scenes that are, that are in between the actual funny parts. Um, that being said, this is very much a hot rod, um, nacho Libre kind of humor. Um, and I do think it's. Better than those because I absolutely despise those. I think those movies are garbage. Those movies are nothing But the ripping off scene. Uh,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:16

But you have the babe.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:22

I'm aware.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:23

I love

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:23

I'm aware.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:25

it.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:25

I'm, I'm, uh, I'm aware I, get that a lot of people like those movies. If you like those movies, uh, you'll probably like this one. Just not as much. Uh,'cause there's not as much of that kind of stuff in it. Um,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:41

I, I disagree'cause I like those movies, but I don't like this one. I

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:46

you gave it a six,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:48

on drugs.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:49

uh, 4.5. Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 53:52

But the

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 53:52

I would argue to get any enjoyment in those movies, you need to be on a lot of drugs.'cause those movies are terrible.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 54:00

I, I like Hot Rod. I love Nacho Libre. am, I will quote, um, not, not Nacho, um,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 54:12

Napoleon,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 54:13

but I don't like watching Napoleon. It gets Embarrassed way too much,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 54:22

Okay.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 54:23

but.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 54:23

I don't like those movies at all. They're all just like, those movies make me feel stupid.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 54:34

And this, this, does this one make you feel stupid?

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 54:36

Not as stupid?'cause I do think some of the jokes are kind of clever, right? Like.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 54:42

Hmm

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 54:43

When he gets the kids to pee off the cliff and the FBI agent is like warm rain. This feels nice. Like, yeah, that's disgusting and kind of funny, not laugh out loud, funny, but a little chuckle. Sure. Um,

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 55:03

Uh, I,

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 55:04

I

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 55:05

hated that scene when he started licking his lips. I.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 55:08

Yeah, that took it a little far for sure. Um, but like, yeah, I'm gonna give it a 4.5 outta 10'cause I still don't like it. Um, as an 11-year-old boy, I probably would've given it a six. So I'm right there with you, Mike. If you're 11 and you have history with scouts, I. think that also changes my perspective on that a little bit. Having been a scout, um, like yeah, if there's some good stuff in it, is this going to be high on my rewatch list? No, absolutely not. It's going to be, not going to be, if I had to choose today, which would I rather watch Black Panther or This I would rather watch Black Panther to be fair. That is because I just watched this and I think I need a good 20 years again to, to get back to being able to enjoy some of this movie. Um.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 56:14

an every 20 year watch.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 56:16

Yeah, they, 15 to 20 years. You know, you might get a few chuckles out of this one. Um, yeah, it's, I would say it's underrated simply because I've never met somebody who's seen it, and I do think it's worth giving a shot. it's worth giving a shot, like you wouldn't say to somebody who hasn't seen it to try it out.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 56:45

It depends. There's some people that I'll just be like, yeah, not worth it. Some

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 56:49

Yeah.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 56:50

maybe.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 56:52

Yeah. like, there's a part of me that's like maybe. Con would enjoy this. Maybe, I don't know. Hopefully we'll find out next week.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 57:01

well bet.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 57:01

Probably not.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 57:02

it

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 57:03

I don't think he will.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 57:05

a

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 57:05

I think he'll be right here with us. I think he'll be like, there's some funny stuff in it blah, blah. It's a lot of rough stuff too. Um.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 57:12

Yeah, yeah. I think you're right with like, I feel like there was some jokes. The ones that did land me, they then just extended it to the point that it didn't land with me anymore.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 57:23

Yeah. yeah, absolutely right. The, the, the ping on the cops funny and then not funny, the birds and the bees scene. Funny then, not funny. Um, so it's. Then some jokes just Don't land on it. So I don't know there if, like I said, if you are a fan of Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, hot Rod kind of movies, I do think this one's worth a shot. I would say try it. Um, if you're not, I would say I probably. I

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 58:04

do it.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 58:04

really enjoy it very much, but it. wasn't like the worst movie I've ever seen.

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 58:09

Yeah.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 58:12

so Yeah. Any last thoughts?

lauren-_2_09-03-2025_170412: 58:16

Uh, nope. I think we covered it all.

josh-dietrich_2_09-03-2025_130414: 58:21

Okay. Thank you everybody for watching and or listening. Really appreciate you guys. Let us know if there's anything you want us to watch. I love getting recommendations. It makes it really easy to choose topics that way. Um, like we just automatically do it. It's great. Um, remember, it'll be better today than yesterday and have a great rest of your day. I.