We dive into the cult legacy of the 2008 live-action Speed Racer adaptation from the The Wachowskis and ask the big question: was this movie misunderstood all along? We break down the movie’s hyper-stylized visuals, anti-capitalist themes, chaotic storytelling, anime influences, and why audiences may finally be appreciating it years after its box office failure.
In this episode of Never Seen It, we strap into the Mach 5 and revisit the wildly ambitious 2008 live-action Speed Racer from The Wachowskis — a movie that bombed at the box office but has since become a genuine cult classic.
We discuss why the film struggled financially upon release despite its groundbreaking visual style, massive budget, and all-star cast including Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, and Matthew Fox. We also explore how the movie found a second life on DVD, streaming, and recent IMAX re-releases.
Throughout the discussion, we break down:
We also talk about how the movie balances children’s entertainment with heavy political commentary, why some viewers find it visually overstimulating, and whether the film’s ambition ultimately helps or hurts the experience.
If you love cult movies, anime adaptations, racing movies, visually experimental filmmaking, or discussions about misunderstood box office bombs, this episode is for you.
Welcome to the Never Seen It Podcast.
The only podcast called Never Seen It that's worth listening to.
With us tonight, Mr. Arnie, The One Man Part,
a.K. Arnold is here, Mr. Daily Day.
Dares, aka.
Filipino Grigio, aka.
Alexo, The Brotherso.
Mr. Ghost Nerd 88, aka Justin Holden, Mr. Milkman America
aka.
Chris, is here tonight.
And then there's me, Boots, Too big, aka.
Adrian D. With us tonight, a special guest,
Jessica Ks is an independent writer and director.
You can also catch her on her new YouTube channel at
Jess, where she'll soon be releasing longform video essays about movies
and pop culture.
Welcome, Jess.
Thank you for being on the show show with us tonight.
Thank you guys for having me.
I'm so excited to be here.
Of course, Absolutely.
Happy to have you here.
And the movie we're discussing tonight is the
2008 film Speed Racer
Directed by the Wakowskys starring Emile
Hirsch, Christina Ritchie, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon,
Matthew Fox, Roger Allum.
The film is about speed racers.er, a young, brilliant racing driver.
When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life,
speed must team up with the police and the mysterious racer X
to bring an end to the corruption and criminal activities.
Of course, this is just a fantasy because there is no corruption in real life.
Justin, I believe this was your movie.
Why did you choose Speed Racer?
So this movie came out back in 2008
in theaters.
I as far as I can recollect,
we didn't do like, I didn't go to the theater to see this movie.
I think I just saw it like on DVD, but I was very excited to see it.
If I did see it in theaters, I don't really remember.
But I felt like 2008 was also
a time where a bunch of other movies were coming out out.
I think that it kind of got overshadowed a little bit
by a couple of other big movies.
Like, I think the first one that comes to the top of my head about
releases is like Iron Man and Marvel was like that
new big thing going on and everybody was super invested in the movies that were coming out for.
Marvel.
I think this movie kind of got a little bit overlooked in the theater.
But aside from that, I think it's a
wonderful movie that the directors of the, you know,
the Matrix, the Wakowskis, they went to direct this movie and
it was such a fun movie when I first watched it.
And then going back into it now with fresh
new eyes, because it's been years since I've seen this movie, I
think I appreciate it even more now than I did back then.
I don't think I appreciated what it was then.
But that's for the most part, what I think I think I chose this movie.
And there's like a current like love for this movie going around recently.
You know, it did have an iMAX re-release
in theaters for like a short week, and they're getting like a brand new
4K steelbook edition coming out on May 19th.
So before or after, you know, this episode comes out.
Gotcha.
I also remember this other little movie that came out called The Dark
Knight, 2008, but, you know, that was that was a little film. movies suck.
Yeah.
Alex, you had something?
I'm kidding, Internet.
I'm just kidding.
I was just going to follow up with Justin, how he said he
didn't get to watch it in theaters, and it's probably tracks because most people didn't watch it in theaters.
It was considered a commercial flop
It was made for 120 million and
only made 90 million in the theaters.
And but it didn't pick
up steam until it hit DVD.
So it kind of tracks for most people.
And that's when it started like picking up traction for a lot
of fans and It also, it also is because
that from what I read, it was the
first movie that they wanted to, the Wakowskis wanted
to make that wasn't a rated in our film.
They wanted to make a family film
And they also, the interesting
thing about it is that they wanted
to make a family film, but a lot of their inspiration,
like Lana Wakowski cited that
she wanted to make the movie with
inspirations from James Joyce.
Picasso, Cubism, and Lichstein.
That's very eclectic mix.
They wanted to make a movie that completely abandoned narrative.
And
to do that, to make a children's
movie and do that, and it's kind of spells disaster for the most part.
Yeah.
Chris, you had something?
That was a great argument for why it flopped.
Like,
Sometimes I think when
we talk about like passion projects and things that like we
want to do and commercial success, there's a reason why a lot of
like that the big box office stuff
hits so hard is because they're following a formula.
They have like all these specific actors. like these spent
$120 million dollars on this and that's a lot compared to what was actually shown.
And I think that is unfortunately like tied into like when it was released, right?
It took a $120 million to produce a movie like that back then.
Whereas like if they were to release it now, they could have done it for five million.
Well, those areceptions.
To be fair, though to be fair, though, they, when they were
making this movie, they shopped
the movie around to several different design houses,
and they came back with two options that they really wanted to do.
One, they wanted to go really mid-century modern,
very realism, and they were going to do like like celebrate cars and car culture and stuff like that.
And then they weren't to the opposite direction, which was like a lot of stuff that was going on that day.
They were going towards that whole comic book-y sort of thing.
And then they wanted to like celebrate
anime.
Speed Racer being one of the very first anime shows to
be even hit the U.S. They decided to go with that and they they
were one of the first few films that filmed in a warehouse full of green screen.
And that's how they were able to pull it off, a lot of those effects off.
Let me just say I really love this movie.
I'm not in the camp that doesn't like this movie.
I love this movie.
Well, you're about to find out real quick.
Jessica?
Yeah, I just wanted to say, I thought that was really
interesting that you said they like, got rid of all narrative structure
because I don't dislike this movie.
But my biggest issue with it is that there's like too much narrative going on.
There is a lot happening storywise,
and I think it would even further benefit from like trimming some of those out
because visually there's so much happening that is like so
exciting that it's really easy to get lost in that alone.
And then when you kind of are like, wait a minute, but storywise, where are we?
I don't remember.
I get lost a lot in the plot here.
Yeah, and I'm glad you bring that up because this movie was,
I think it clocked in at like two hours plus two hours and some change
I don't know that a
movie like this as campy as this, needs to be more than an hour 30.
Justin?
Yeah, I can understand where you're all coming from, where it's like, it's kind of everywhere.
That's why I feel like this movie is definitely where of
those types of like second watches in a way only because like
after watching it, I don't know, I think that's probably the third time I've ever seen this movie.
But I I think it's paced in such a way where it's
like, they don't want you to get too caught up in like the origin story side of things.
I think the Lukowskis are like, this
is an opinion, not a fact, but I think the
Wakowskis had this idea of like, okay, let's not
like pander to the audience and just give them like a full-on origin story.
What they did, like, especially with the intro of the movie, they
kind of went back and forth between like past and present and
and and they kind of like pieced things together as
his current race was going on just to kind of give you an
insight on like who these characters are and why they're important
like why Racer X is the way that he is.
I think it's
done in such a way that kind of mimics the original
cartoon animated series because even in the original cartoon
animated series, if you've ever watched it, Adrian, I have not.
You can tell that it's very, very quick paced, fast, sporadic.
But I also think that's the point with
Speed Racer in general, and that's what they were trying to get across is that it's quick.
You have to get all this information into a 20 minute episode.
And the animation style was also super janky,
but that's also where the charm comes in.
Not only is like, his name's Speed Racer
and he races, but also the show is super quick, too, and so is the pacing of this movie.
Everything is about like, like, they just drop
you in and it just go, go, go the entire time
And I think it, you know, it is a little
bit of a kind of a neck
jer jer or a little bit when it comes to trying to keep up with the storytelling.
So I see where you come from with that.
Yeah.
Jessica.
I will say the beginning is probably my favorite part of the whole movie.
I love that beginning.
I love this like non-linear storytelling of like, here's his life.
Here's where we're at right now.
This is sort of everything leading up to it.
But it's told in these like really interesting little sements, like the most important parts
I personally have never watched the original anime.
I didn't even know his like government name is actually Speed Racer.
Like, I didn't know that.
I thought it was just like what they called them.
But so I was also curious as I was re-watching it this time
what, how I would have maybe like taken in this movie
had I been a fan of the animation and like what that is sort of like.
Like, I don't know if there were little pieces from the
series that are in this movie storytelling wise that I just like have no idea about.
So maybe that would have made all everything going
on easier to digest if I had already had that blueprint going into it.
Chris?
Yeah, those are good points.
And yeah, I would definitely agree.
Like the beginning starts off really, really strong and I
it just really interesting leading into the rest of the movie where
it just kind of like disperses off into its own separate lanes.
But like, the point
that I want to like kind of touch on is that
movie is the movie's really unique, but
you can also like tell whether other directors pulled
from this movie as inspiration or it was influenenced by movies around its time.
Like when I watched this movie, I wrote down like Cat in the Hat, the live action movie
uh, like from like how over the top and colorful it was.
Uh, Scott Pilgrim versus the World, which did come up
after this movie, but in the same sense of like pulling from a
source material and like turning it into the big screen.
with those two, though, like when I think about those as
being, in my opinion, like successful movies, whether
it was box office or not, they played up
to the adult audience.
And so so especially when it comes to like this source material of like, okay, I want to make a family movie
But then like the people who watch that content are
adults, it's, it kind of like does a disservice because they're there was so much
information in this movie that to like make it visually stimulating for a kid is awesome.
But like to your point, like the narrative was so all over the place.
There's so many like nuances to this movie that are either
get completely missed or they hit you over the head so many times with like, this is what we're trying to do.
Don't you see it?
Isn't it cool?
And so like when you pack all of this into like a two hour ten
movie, like by the end of it, you're just like, what did I, what did I just experience?
Because it's so much.
And like, who's the intended audience?
Because that's at the end of the day, that's where I'm like, okay,
they didn't appease any audience member.
They just kind of like threw a bunch out there and some for the kids,
some for the adults, some for like the film people, some people who don't even like film
enjoy.
And it kind of I think it kind of gives its own in its own way in some ways.
I Can you talk about some of the nuances?
Because I didn't quite catch them.
Well, we'll get into that, Alex.
Yeah, I do agree that it's all over the
place and that was like one of the difficulties
in marketing this film with their intention of making a family film.
So the Wokowskis are a very family oriented family
right?
Throughout the their whole career, oh, like, sorry from like the
Matrix, the family, their families would constantly be at the set.
And so that was, they've always wanted that.
And the producer of this film, like almost all
all their films was producer Joel Silver.
And Joel Silver, he like kind of championed a lot of like
this.
By the end, he was the one like, well, let's go the opposite
way of what you guys are doing and let's do like a family film.
And because of like what I had talked about before
about, like how the styles and
the desire to do a family film like kind of clash when
they went into marketing film, they even like released a lot
of toys and things like that and they just didn't know how to market it very well
They even did like test screenings of it.
Test screenings failed with kids.
It also failed with like some of the adults because they're
like, even some of the adults didn't know what speed rate racer was.
It was like such an old property, such
an old IP that, like, even in
the 2008, when that when it came out, people were like
they were fans, but a lot of like anime fans had moved on to like
newer, like, I think.
Once like a cure hit, that's when like, oh, people
had moved on to like more mature styles of anime and everything.
I think a lot of people were like, were probably watching the
like Batman shows and like the old school because
Speed Racer like came out around the 60s and it only
and it wasn't a very long show.
As far as like anime is concerned, they may have more episodes,
but as far as like just a straight up, regular animated
series, I think it comes up to like 50 or 52 episodes.
Jessica?
That's really interesting to me about test audience
with children doing so poorly because I would think like even with
all the story, a lot of that happening, we still have like
these bright, fun races and all the kind of excitement kids love
And when you said that, I kind of wondered if the reason
for that was maybe Emile Hirsch leading this because
while I was watching it, I realized he takes himself very seriously all the time.
Like, he's just a very serious actor.
And I think this could have been better
if it was led by someone who was willing
to be more silly in camp because I feel like he's almost
like too quiet and too muted for how like big
to stow it for this like really boisterous light up world.
You're
To be fair, though, the whole cast, they were committed to the bit.
They all, they all seemingly watched
the source material, and they really leaned into the source material.
And each character that you watched, I know Adrian,
you didn't watch the cartoon Justin can attest to this.
He's seen the cartoon.
Yeah.
You know what?
I agree with you, um, Jessica, because when
it comes to Emil Hirs, Hirsch is acting as speed racer,
you know, he, and I agree, he's trying to do this serious role.
And like, I appreciate him for this role.
Like, I think, like, who else at
that time would have even like been able to fill those shoes?
Because Speed Racer is kind of an eclectic,
fast-talking, but very intelligent
type of character.
But that's the thing is that that's one thing that takes me out of it just a little bit.
He was a little bit too serious when he was racing.
He just kind of had this face of like, I absolutely need to win this race
at all costs.
And he doesn't talk fast enough.
Speed racer in the cartoon.
He's just nonstop old fast that you can't even hear.
Like, I think I sent a meme to some of you guys on the Discord that we have.
And
like Speed Racer is just like yamme on like super fast but like like, hey, stop crying.
You know, we got stuff to do.
Like, like super quick hit.
I didn't get that from Emil Herschel.
I mean, Herss was just like, okay.
You know, like, where was that energy in this movie?
I didn't see it, but maybe I missed something.
The energy was everybody else.
No, no seriously.
Even what is it?
Spittle?
The little kid, the brother's.
Oh, brother?
Spidal.
Yeah, he was talking fast, like how he does in the cartoon.
Yeah.
Because everybody else does.
And even even Royalton, he was like a very fast talker.
He was.'s a bad guy, right?
The bad guy, yeah.
Bad guy.
He was a fast talker.
Yeah.
He was such a mustache twirling villain.
He's like, oh, I'm going to make you sign this contract or I ruin your family.
I'm like, bro, calm down.
Chris, you had something?
Yeah, I just wanted to bring it back to Arnie,
uh, the Baddie, um, the Batty racer.
and your original question of like the nuance of this movie.
And I think it comes down to the decisions
that were made, um, to influence,
whether it be the actors and what's actually on screen and how they're executing it.
Um So like what we're talking about specifically with like the acting choice, right?
The acting choice of like, uh, we're going to play this straight and it's going to be really grounded and rooted
And in a lot of ways that contrasts so much
to like the action and the over top essence
of like what the action lived didn't necessarily match like the acting, right.
And so like that's when it's not so, it's like slapstick action
with like solid grounded acting.
And so like in some ways, like that nuance of like, if
you pick up on it, like it's really talking about like what's important.
And they really kind of drive in like, hey, while this movie
is big and beautiful and lots of action impact, like this, we're talking about some serious themes.
And that kind of like ties into like the nuances of like what we're talking about.
Like the, the reason I don't think the bad guy
pays off well, especially with the younger audiences
is that we're talking about corporate greed and politics.
Correct.
Corruption.
You know, it's the Star Wars preals problem.
Pod racing.
Politics.
Lightsaber fights, Politics.
You know, Sword fights.
Trade wars..s.
At the same time.
Kids don't give a shit about that.
Go ahead, Justin.
Well, I mean, there's politics in, like, all of our sports and media.
Anything and everything is politics based political.
Everything.'s political.
That's a good point.
That's a good point. movie, that's perfect.
Apparently taken a knee is political.
Well, I mean, that's the thing, too.
Like, with this movie, there's very a very purposeful
intent to do anti-capitalist politics.
And I want to talk about that because I did gather that a little bit.
When you're saying anything can be political, sorry, be political.
It could be whatever what you're looking for.
It could be sexual.
I don't know.
Go ahead.
Jessica.
Just like Arnold Why is sexual.
Just Arnold's like looking for that all the time.
Yeah, Well, no, his chat is asking him this.
He's just living vicariously for them.
Sorry, Justin.
You know, I know, Adrian.
You subscribe.
That's what they're asking.
Hey, that's between us.
Go ahead, Jessica.
But yeah, I was going to say when it comes to to the capitalist
storyline of it and the mustache twirling villain, I don't know.
For me, like that is that happens in kids' movies all the time, though, right?
Like we do see, like you said, like Star Wars or there's,
or even like Space Jam. Like there, there is sort of this
like corporate greed flatlines that are within kids movies.
So it's not the first to do it.
But I think it might be the fact that it's so like heavyed Yeah.
That that maybe that's where it's sort of not hitting,
but like heavyed would work in this sort of universe.
So
I don't know why it doesn't exactly like feel streamlined
or like it's a little shoehorned in here.
It's kind of like, it's it comes down to, in my opinion, right?
What do I actually know?
But it comes across from me, at least in the
execution of how it's being delivered
of like, yeah, you talk about corporate greed, but if
your audience is for kids, right, you're not going to deliver a soliloquy
that's like nuanced in how the delivery is.
Like, I just think about that scene between Speed Racer and him and
he's going on and on and on and on and on, like sniffing his own farts and like doing his whole scheme.
And there's, and again, because it's so rude and grounded, he's trying to like play it real
Like, kids don't want to see that.
They want to see him go like, like, why are you doing this?
Like kids like that weird slapstick type of stuff.
Like, that's what they react to.
And like, so that's why I think it's just so weird because you can't, like, to your point, you can do it.
Star Wars did it.
That's a wonderful example that you both brought up
And you see how here it just kind of like lands flat with both
adult and kids' audiences because it's like, what are you trying to do here?
Like, are you educating us?
Are you, like, what's the point?
When you try to educate everyone, you educate no one.
You know what I mean?
Alex drink to that.
to be fair, like, the film that they did
previously to this was V for Vendetta.
So.
Was that the Wakowskis?
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, shit.
I didn't know that.
So if you, if they're in that
world of like talking about like politics and
anti-fascism, that's where they've
been the past few years so like to put that into the writing of
the story of like their next film.
It kind of makes sense.
Yeah, Jessica?
Yeah, I think it it like definitely belongs here.
Like it makes it does make sense, especially like you said, with their previous work.
Like, it absolutely makes sense that they would include that kind of commentary
But I think your point about like going back to Emil
Hirs being so serious might be why kids don't resonate with it.
And I'm not saying it's like good or bad that he was
muted because I kind of, while watching it was wondering if he was kind
of going for like almost like an every sort of portrayal, like,
I'm just a guy and the whole world around me is crazy.
But it again felt like too quiet.
Like, it felt like he was in into the wild thrown into Speed Racer.
Like,
he just felt like, I don't know.
Like, I kind of wanted to see a lead that was at
least seeming like he was having fun with it or, like, happy to be there.
And like, hey, we all got a bills to pay.
I don't blame Emil Hirch for taking a big budget.
But it's sort of like, do you hate it here?
Because I don't know if you're happy to be here, my guy.
Yeah.
Just to clarify, the Wakowskis wrote and produced
V for Vendetta, and James McTeague directed it.
But, I mean, still, like, what a fucking great.
I love that movie so much, Chris.
Yeah, I think like to that point, it
some of the best villains, right?
When we were talking about the big baddie in the movie, the main star, right?
When they're enjoying themselves, truly, through
and through, it makes it A easier to hate them
and they have a very clear point of view.
And when they kind of play it real, like, I'm just another person
and this is just how the world works and like places the blame
on just like the system instead of themselves.
And again, it takes the fun out of it.
It's like the kids don't care about that the system's fucked up.
Like,
Yeah.
They just want to see a guy be a dick.
Not with that attitude.
Yeah, exactly.
By the way, he don't have to powers in the chat.
You don't have to power says.
John Goodman as a dad, was a badass.
The scene with the ninjas gets me every time.
Roger Allen is just that kind of.jas he
said ninjas, but maybe he misspelled it.
The nanjas?
The nanjas.
Is that what I'm?
Okay.
No, ill You Mr. John Goodman said yes.
I'm devoid of humor tonight.
I get you, Justin.
I get you.
I actually remember.
The HLP says the Smurfs was political.
What was the political edge on the Smurfs?
I don't remember that.
What was that?
They're blue?
They're blue?
No, they' all the time.
I mean, yeah, they' are nuances to this movie.
It just felt to me like, and I think, I think Chris touched on this as well,
which is like, are you doing a movie with like
nuance about this sort of stuff towards adults, but also trying to balance that way with like fun stuff for the kids?
Like, I just feel like that there was a little imbalance there.
You know, we mentioned about John Goodman.
Susan Sarandon.
I thought she was a great mom in there.
She played a great mom in there.
But, I mean, we saw her recently at Coachella.
I mean, Couchachella.
She was at Coachella?
Yeah, she was on
Sabrina Carpenter's.
Oh, on a weekend one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sabrina Carpenter, that's. the blonde girl.
Yes..
Okay.
I'm old, so I don't know who many people are.
I hear Chappel Ronin and I hear Sabrina Carpenter and I'm like, I don't know who's.
They're not one.
Chappel Ronan It's Chap Japanese.
That's right..
Do you have a nude team in T movie?
No, I don't know what that is.
Chapel Ronan is a former samurai.
That's the Pink Pony Club girl.
I hate to say it, but it is Chapel.one?
No Chapel.
Yeah, I know.
I'm.
I was trying to give just Adrian's Chick, but
speaking of the nuances..
Thank you, Chris.
If it came out before 2008, I don't know what it is.
Go ahead, Justin.
No, so, like to kind of go back and
talk a little bit about, like, the gap in between,
like, you're saying some of you guys were saying, like, the story is a little bit
everywhere.
I feel I disagree a little bit.
I feel like it has a very consistent storyline
from beginning to end, although it's chopped in such a way that it's very like
you know, fast paced and sporadic.
But I do feel, and I think this is a thing that we can all agree on.
I do feel that there is a huge large chunk
of the movie where it just kind of like
it kind of holds itself back just ever so
slightly and that's when he starts to go talk to like like Royalton and
there's this just huge gap of just nothing really happening.
It's just story story, story pop, pop, plot.
But at the same time, it's kind of sort
of in this moment holding my hand telling me like,
oh, this in excruciating detail, all of this is happening
This is why.
And at the same time, I like appreciate
the movie for doing that because it gives a little bit more of a reason.
It gives
these scenarios that, you know, speed
has to overcome along with his girlfriend, Trixie and his family.
And Speed Racer is in this moment where he's like,
you know, he's getting, he's growing up, getting older.
He's starting to like break away from home a little bit.
And he's thinking to himself, you know, maybe
uh, you know, maybe I am being held back by my family.
Maybe I should be taking this offer from Royalton,
even though he can obviously see that there's
some like scandal going on, he's
kind of doing it, you know, for the sake of his family.
At the same time, he kind of wants to go off and do his own thing.
So there's like this huge section of the movie where he's in
this strange conflict with him within himself.
It's just a gap of information.
That's what it is.
Yeah.
I wish they would like cut I wish they did cut that
section a little down a little bit, especially because this movie is so fast paced.
I wish I wish they uncut gems to this movie.
I think this movie should have been whatcut.
This is how I win.
Yeah, exactly.
But I think I think and
I could see where that kind of drops off for some people,
because I do think we have a solid opening.
I think we kind of have a little lesser than mid, you know, mid-section of the film.
And then we have a banger of a clout.
In my opinion.
I think that movie ended so fucking spectacularly,
but we can talk about that in a little bit.
What does Logan Roy say in succession?
You want to hear my favorite part?
part of Shakespeare?
Take the fucking money.
I love that moment.
Alex, you had something?
I was just going to agree with Justin.
I do feel that section where he's like, it
does feel very handholdy where they're explaining like, this is what's going to happen to you.
I mean, it's a necessary point and to kind of,
and I feel like it's kind of like for the kids.
I think that's what they
the Wakowskikis were thinking like, oh, this is going to help the
kids understand what's going on.
And I do feel like they maybe
didn't, they don't really understand
making a children's film, per se.
But at the same time, I do feel like they,
their strengths, like that they were talking about, like the whole James Joyce thing.
Like, James Joyce is like known for, like, just being a very
complicated, like, they make
he writes run-on sentences that completely abandoned narrative.
They're very, very rich.
And, but a lot of my friends who have gone into the literature,
they told me, like, yeah, there's actually literal books,
textbooks, to help you understand what James Joyce is trying to say.
And I think that is kind of one of those things where this
movie is like, okay, you kind of have to like understand the source material.
And then you have to understand
the mindset of the Wokowskys of what they're trying to accomplish.
And then you're like, is this this hodgepodge
of information that you have to come with to
understand like what they're trying to get.
Like I for me, like I watched this twice just because
like I enjoyed the movie the first time and I was like, I feel like I miss some things.
Let me watch it again.
And so I watched it again because I wait one, like I said, I enjoyed it.
But too, I was like, it's like, I think it's one of those films
that like if you enjoyed it the first time, you can get more and more out of it.
Even though it is a should be
like a trueance film that's a little bit more simplistic in its approach.
But like, here's the thing.
You watch up.
That movie is so good.
WAL, that movie is like a classic.
Like, you watch that more and more and you get more out of those.
So that shouldn't negate the ability
to rewatch it and gain more things out of a film just because it's a children's film.
I'm glad you bring that up because tomorrow premiered on Disney Plus, Gravity's
Rainbow by Thomas Pinchon based on the 8,000 page novel.
Hunter Burns would appreciate that reference, but he's not here tonight.
Chris, you had something.
Yeah,
Interesting points.
But, and not to put you on the pot of the
spot, Jessica, but from like when you're watching that,
you sort of talked about how like the nar narratative's all over the place and
we just talked about like the middle of this movie being like the real issue, right?
Because it starts off strong.
It finishes
at least fast and bright and showy.
What What about the middle of this movie or the narratives
that when you're watching that or after the fact that is like itching at your brain?
Like, oh man, if only they would have done this or I if
I if you were god of this movie, right, what would you have done?
Yeah, thank you for asking that.
That's a really good question.
I think for me
and I want to say, I do like this movie.
I know I'm being very critical about it, but I do overall enjoy it.
And I think for me, there is a lot
of characters that we don't need in every single scene.
And I feel like sometimes, again, because the visuals are so big
and so grand and there's so much going on,
I feel like a lot of the story can get lost
in these bigger group scenes.
Because, like, Christina Ricci, for example, love her.
I love her so much.
I think she's fantastic.
A lot of the time in this movie, she's just kind of silently
there and then we'll say like a sentence.
And then I get sort of distracted by like, oh, yeah, what's her deal?
Oh, yeah, going back to her for a second.
I just remembered she's still here.
Or like the, gosh, I don't, okay, I don't know.
And I will say, I also watched this twice and I still
am like, I don't know if I got everything.
The mechanic guy, is that also like
a brother or is that just like a family friend?
He called John Goodmanman Pops at one point.
Okay.
Or everyone calls him Pops.
Oh, okay.
No, everyone calls him.
What's his name?
Fuck, I forget his name.
That's right.
I forgot his name, too.
Ray Valley Smarky.
That's Sparky, yes, yes.
Uncle.
Okay, that's Sparky.
Okay, because that was another one where like he would say a sentence and I'd be like, wait, who's this?
What is his deal?
What's his backstory?
we get that?
I don't think we did.
And so I think like that is something that I
would probably have done differently is not necessarily like cut
people, but like be a little more strategic
with like who's in what scene when and when we are bouncing
between different plot lines with them.
Because then we like we'll spend a lot of time with a lot of characters
and then we won't see them for a really long time.
And then they'll come back at the end and it was like, oh yeah, what was going on there?
I kind of forgot.
How did we get here with this person?
I don't remember.
Like there's just a lot of people in this already
really big world that it's a little overwhelming.
Yeah, Arnold and then Justin, go ahead, Arnold.
Just a lot of the stuff that was going on, like visually, like there's so much going on in the background
It made me feel like I was at walking into the exhibit hall at Comic-Con.
You have so much.
It's like, it's like overloadimul.
You're overstimmy.
I completely agree.
And then then you have like a face.
You're looking at all this stuff, and then you have somebody walk
by like, whoop, oh, oh, excuse me, excuse me.
Oh, yep, yep.
And then you have like, you know, like all these different, what do you call that,
that, that type of overstimulation?
No, no, no.
Like how they did it in the movie.
Oh.
Like where they were showing their patients?
Yeah, they just had a lot of very, very smooth,
well, smooth is social construct.
They had a lot of transitions between every, not just every scene, but every moment.
And Are you talking worked for me in a lot of ways.
Are you talking about when they would show like the reactions of
the characters to like the certain, like the race and everything.
Yeah.
Is that what you were talking about?
Right, like the race or I don't even know.
You probably wereling across.
When it was actually used as like an editing swipe.
So that was like when the person is the swipe.
Right, yeah.
Instead of like, uh, instead of having like
the camera swap back and forth between like faces,
it's when like their faces going across the screen, they're still talking, but they're still in that scene
Yeah.
I think that would be considered a transition, right?
Yeah, that is a transition.
That would be a transition swipe.
I mean, I thought it was pretty cool.
Which is I thought really cool.
I thought that was such a cool technique.
I thought I thought it was it was too cool that I got caught up
in that and then didn't realize what was going on.
My favorite moment of that was when
the bad guy's name, I'm forgetting right now.
He was telling Racer the whole thing.
He's like, telling him, like, this is what it's going to happen.
If you don't sign the contract.
And as it's approaching the end of his monologue, it starts
like fast swing to racer in the car racing, because that's what what he does.
And the way that
that segued into that, I thought was brilliant visually.
EP.
Arnold Royerton?
Yeah, yeah.
DP.
Gardra photography?
We won't get into that.
Justin, you had something?
No, I was going to go back to like the family stuff
and them all being in the scene
I think, I think for more or less, like when it comes
to Trixie, Trixie is the supporting girlfriend of Racer.
She's so dedicated.
Even in the TV show, the animated series, she was very dedicated to speed.
Like they were they had a very healthy relationship.
As far as like the family goes, I mean, again,
this is more of like, you know, if you're familiarar with the show, you,
you're familiar with like, who's who and, uh, you know,
everybody's in the scene all the time in the TV show for
the most part, unless speed is racing, then more or
less he's solo or he has Sprittle and
Chim Chim or Sprital and Chim Chim in the back seat in
his trunk doing like desardly things getting in trouble and things like that.
But But other than that, like, whenever, like
speed is not racing, he's always there with his family.
And that that just shows that they're very family oriented type of people.
There are family dedicicated people
Yeah, exactly.
So I think, and it's cool because they're all
like supporting each other in their own way.
But I also think that's like a plot point that plays
in White House speed feels or how his,
you know, brother was feeling in that way too,
of being like, oh, you know, maybe I should should grow up
and I should, you know, break off of
uh, you know, family, oriented, activities.
Yeah, Jessica.
I love the analogy that you had for walking through
the exhibit hall of ComicCon. and being overly stimulated.
And I think that that like really summarizes how I've what
I've like been wanting to say really well, because it's like you're doing that.
Like you just walked in the exhibit hall and're like like, oh my God, everything is so cool.
I love being here.
This is so exciting.
And then your friend is right next to you trying to tell you a story.
That's sort of how it feels
with the plot sometimes, where if it was like, girl, just leave that part out.
I'm really distracted by everything right now.
Like, I can't really focus on all your stories right now.
I'm so sorry.
Like, I enjoy being there, but, like, I need you to be a little quiet because I'm trying to take all this in.
Like, and I, again, I really liked this movie
a lot, but the visuals was what made it so special that
that's where it's like, if we just simplified the plot a little bit more and
we could just be in this world and then not feel overwhelmed when we're like, oh, I was just looking at that transition.
What did I miss?
Because I was focused on like this really cool visual and I feel like I missed something
But again, that also could go back to the fact that I never watched this series.
So like you were saying, like having all these characters in
every scene is very much of the show.
Like that's something I didn't know.
So that again, could just be like my perception of why I'm
like, this feels overwhelming because I didn't come in with that context already.
So that just could be me personally.
I mean, I personally love the fact that the Wows like, were given millions
and millions of dollars and just did whatever they want and like, didn't really care what anyone thinks.
Like, that's pretty awesome
But at the end of the day when I'm watching it, I'm still like,
I don't really, I'm a little lost, guys.
I don't know.
I agree.
And you know what?
My ADHDS can only handle so much.
Like, if I walk into a grocery store and I see 30 different types
of spaghetti, bro, I don't need 30 different choices for spaghetti.
Give me one, two, max, and that's it.
Like, and this movie had 30 choices of spaghetti.
That's why it got to Trader Joe's.
Doesn't this movie have like a warning
at the beginning of it saying that it may potentially,
at least I think I got it when I didn't see it got the movie.
It was like, oh, this movie may potentially have like
you know, visual, overstimulating images or something like that.
I get it.
I think it, okay, for me me, I think the visuals
satisfy the stems for me.
But as far as, uh, I will say this movie should probably
have a stEM warning at the beginning
especially for, uh, modern generations.
I'd be like, okay, if you love visual extravagant
flashing colors and lights and things just fucking happening the
whole time, then this stem is for you.
Otherwise, it's fucking not, you're not going to stem very well off this.
This or lawnmower Man?
Lawnmower Man is a personal stem of mine.
Chris?
Yeah, like, just to add on to that, like the,
when it's we're talking about like the filming and like Arnie, you kind
of touched on it as well, as far as like between the
different transitions and the actual graphics that are on screen
So like by design, when they film this movie, um, if
you like watch it for a third time, you'll
you'll notice that every's in focus at all times.
And so like that was like by design because like they did
spend so much money on like making a really good focus.
Good.
See exactly.
Did I see Kim Kardashian go across Arnold's screen?
What was that?
Okay.
So, that was Selina?
Everything for Selina..
Sorry, Chris.
No, You're good.
I mean, this is exactly what was happening during the entirety of the movie.
Yeah.
Just Selina.
Yeah. her way across.
So everything's in focus.
And that way, like at any point, like whether
you tune out from actually listening to what's happening, if you were to
like appreciate what's happening in the background, like these are like really beautiful sets that they're putting behind it
And then like the talking about like the graphics and the transitions
that just plays into, if I'm not mistaken, there's like a manga of
this, of this series.
And so like that's why I compare
it to Scott Pilgrims because there is so much
happening, not only visually, but musically in that movie
and they were able to take it one scene by one scene and
thread it all the way through where you're not like completely overwhelmed, you're able to digest it all.
And this movie just like didn't give you that opportunity, which is why you
almost have to watch it multiple times to be able to like,
oh, this was an all-eat buffet and you just like the conveyor belt never stops.
Like it's an I love Lucy scene where you're just like eating chocolate
and I don't know.
That is a great point.
And there was an emotional thorough line
to this movie, which was the brother that passed away earlier in the story.
And I have to ask, and Justin, I'll start with you really quick.
Racer X, was he the brother or was that supposed to be ambiguous?
I'm still not clear on that.
Oh, my.
As he face palms his way through the answer.
Um, yeah, face palm indeed.
His brother died during that,
that race that Pops didn't want Racer to go
to because it was like, hey, your brother died there.
Yeah, that was absolutely his brother.
Racer X is his brother.
But why did he not tell him in the end?
Why did he not admit to it?
I'm not clear on that arc.
Like, why did he say?
To project him.
Yeah, to protect his family.
Because he is wanted by like very bad people.
Like I like he was trying to probably
do a similar deal to like Royalton and whatnot.
And correct me if I'm wrong on this, because I may be, this is me interpreting it.
But made a bad deal with Royalton. wanted
to get out of said contract, didn't want to be bound to this guy.
He made a mistake
and he decided that the best way out was to fake
his own death, fake his own funeral.eral, get a complete rhinoplastic.
It's also the stereotypical superhero trope.
To become a superhero, you kind of have to hide who
you are in order to protect your loved ones.
And so in order for him to protect his loved ones, he couldn't remain.
Like, I guess he went too so far.
I don't know if that's the same thing.
They probably created that like storyline of like like him
getting plastic surgery for, they obviously did for the
movie, but in the cartoon, it's just, he's just this superhero.
He's this kind of this guy who is
does the things that Speed racer can't do.
He's like fights.
He actually fights the bad guys who are in the back,
like doing the really, really nefarious things where Speed
Racer is the guy who just races in the cartoon.
But like
so in this movie, he's like, he's
like a skilled Racer X is a skilled fighter who could like beat
up ninjas, obviously, and can like, you know, detect
whether he's like' going to be assassination attempts on their family.
Yeah, and in the show, and I know this like
being in a horse to death, whatever, but in the show,
it's like he's always kind of there in the background, even though he he's
made out to be this kind of villain type of guy.
He's always in the background saving speed
But speed doesn't speed just, most of
the time speed thinks, you know, just another race.
Everything's golden and good.
But most of the time it's Racer X who's actually defending
them and keeping them from dying by these guys that want to kill
Speed Racer for being the best racer of all time.
The Angel.
needs a good lawyer.
That's what he needs.
I mean, he needs to go through..
I mean, the guy had like 30 contracts sitting on the coffee table in front of a Speed Racer at one point.
And I'm like, surely the Speed Racer has the
wherewithal to hire a lawyer to read through all this.
No, or is that is that the one part of of the movie that's just not even a factor?
Like, somebody has to have lawyers.
Like, in this world, you have a lawyer, an accountant, and an agent.
And maybe a P person.
They're poor.
They're poor.
Come on.
That's a good point.
Yeah.
I do not think about that.
Okay.
They're poor, but they can build a car in 32 hours.
Yeah, they.
Yeah, exactly.
So, Justin, let me ask you this.
And this question's mostly only for you.
Don't you want to ask Jessica first?
Well, I'll go around the room
F1, starring Brad Pitt.
Is that a low-key remake of Speed Racer?
What do we think?
I never watched F1 because I'm not interested in.
You, I'm missing much.
But I would say no.
I would say Speed Racer stands Alone and is inspiration for everything else.
F1 is just trying to be a serious movie to.
It's just one big ad for that
type of racing that I'm not interested in.
Yeah.
Jessica, what do you think?
F1 Secret Speed Racer remake, or am I going wave?
I think that notion is just as
crazy as F1 being nominated for Best Picture.
But what I was going to say,
when it comes to the brother at the end, I thought, or
who I think is the brother.
I guess it's ambiguous.
I think it's his brother.
And I think one of the reasons why he doesn't reveal himself
is not only for protection, but also to sort
of live with the consequences of his own actions,
kind of like I was the one that got myself in this bad deal.
It would be really selfish of me if I like told my family who I was.
Like I have to live with what I've done.
So it wasn't only like protection.
It's also like
no, this is what I've chosen to do.
I cannot do that.
And that to me was like, that that was really upsetting to me.
That really hurt me.
I hated that.
But I also was curious again, as a non-show watcher in the show, is that his brother?
Or like, I know you guys kind of talked about it.
He's in the background.
Do we know as the audience if we watch the show that that's his brother who faked his death?
So I, I know that there was like
an animated Speed Racer thing that came out that I didn't watch.
I believe it was like an animated like
movie of some sort.
And throughout the TV show, I don't think I made it that far because
50-s episodes is a lot and I don't have the attention span for 50-some episodes.
But
I know throughout the show that he's always kind
of remained like just this trope mystery type
of guy where he like, he swings in at the right time,
saves the day, but Speed Racer or whoever
else takes credit for what Racer X does.
I think
I think he is revealed
at some point that it's his brother, but I think he just kind
of remained the, you know, the mystery
behind the scenes save the day type of guy.
Alex.
So I just want to read off what HLP says.
All-time family business against Megaorporations, Money versus Talent.
That makes
more sense a lot of sense of like why he won
didn't't have a lawyer.
I don't know how many small businesses can have a lawyer on retainer.
They also didn't have ChatEBT to hit up about law questions.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And then, too, like, he absolutely was his brother.
They talk, they reveal it in the movie.
Like, I don't know how you could have missed that, but
I'm just asking the questions.
You know what I mean?
I know you are.
I kept waiting for him to do.
Remember the maskasked magician in the early 2000s and he took off the mask and
he's like, it is I. And I kept waiting for Matthew Fox to do that.
And I was like, yeah, who the fuck are you again?
Well, This was a true kid movie they would have done. first point
it was like the, you know, she said
exactly what he says in the movie.
He's like, I'm doing this to live with my consequences.
He's like, he says in the movie, I can't really say it verbatim,
but it was like, first that the FBI
agent asks him if he wants to go downstairs with the
rest of the family, and then you see him pause
and he, you know, then he asks him, he's oh, no, I'm not going to go down there.
He's like, do you regret ever not revealing yourself?
He's like, well, if I do, this is just something, again, like what Jessica said.
He says it verbatim in the movie.
Like,
I have to live with this consequence.
Yeah.
Justin.
It just did a quick little research and yes.
At some point in the 1967 animated
series, Rex Racer revealed
himself in an episode, specifically, the episode called The Trick Race
Racer X X reveals himself,
was it privately to speed, revealing that he is his brother.
So I'm just not entirely sure which episode
that is, how far it is, but that episode in particular, yeah, he was revealed in the show as his brother.
Gosh, I'm your brother.
The brothers was Trixie
in in the cartoon?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Oh, cool.
That's cool.
And her the funny thing is, is her flying, she was actually
you know, flying in the helicopter for the most part, or sitting in
what do they call like the spotters.
So the helicopter is a spotter thing.
And then she also, there's like episodes where she'd be in like the stands and she'd be a spotter as well.
Trixie is more or less Speed racer spotter.
And that's an actual racing thing.
They have spotters in racing.
Yeah, so.
Not drones now?
Maybe Maybe they do drones now.
I feel like that would be a little bit more difficult to spot somebody.
But when you.
Okay, so I don't know how many of you have been to a racetrack before.
I'm white.
So anyway.
I've been to a racrack, but I've never never seen a race.
Does that make sense?
Yes, that makes sense.
So kind of like what you do when you're like filming
certain events where you're like high up on a tower and things like that,
it's similar to that, except they're above,
like the announcer booth, and they're on top of this platform.
And not all places do this, but but some of them will have this platform on the top.
And if you are like sitting in the stands and you turn around and look
up, you'll see people hanging over and you're like, oh, they got good seats.
No, those are actually the spotters who are making sure that,
you know, they're not going to die when they're racing.
Yeah, that's pretty much what it is.
But they know the land of the track ahead of time, right?
I mean, they know what they're getting into.
Yes, but they also, like, we, like us
regular vehicle drivers, we have the privilege of having rear
view and side view mirrors, and now we have like cameras and stuff like that on our cars
When you're in a race car and that, none of that is there.
You don't have any of that.
Maybe a rear view mirror, maybe, but that's
those things are actually dangerous, especially if you're getting into an accident.
So, like, you have to have a spotter because you can't see who's to the right of you.
You can't see who's you.
And most of the time you can't see who's behind you.
So you need that person to tell you, hey, it's okay for you
to, you know, advance forward or, hey, you
got somebody on your left or right or you got someone tailing you because
it's more or less like a safety thing.
And so they're like on the mic in their ear?
Yeah, and that's what they have those mics for and everything.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They did that in F1.
They had like four guys talking to Brad too.
Yeah, I'm just mansplaining now.
Thanks so much for that, guys.
I need to re-watch this with my kid.
I think my kid would like this movie.
Yeah.
And I may just do that.
You, as soon as I can find a non-pirated version of this, I'm going to watch it with my kid.
Just get the Steelbook for $39.9.999.
$39.
And this economy, my friend, on May 19th.
Or if you watch it on Howdy
it's a plug in on Amazon.
They got a free tri trial.
That's how I watched it.
Sunday day free trial?
That's how I watched it.
I tried to watch it three times.
That's an unpaid plug, by the way.
We're not getting any money from Howdy, so don't even start with that.
You know what I mean?
For those of you listening.
How How?
The movie is Speed Racer, for those of you joining us.
We're on the radio now, guys, on KLOS 105.1,
the Deserts leader and smooth listening.
No, but
Arnold, I have a question for you really quick, Arnold.
Okay, I'm turning on my brain.
Okay., thank you, because you need for this.
At what point does the Mach 5 stop being a car and become an
extension of speeds fractured inner child screaming into the void of the late stage capitalism, Arnold?
I believe it was a 1969
if I'm..
On April 20th, 1969, right?
Chad, what do you got?
There's a bunch of your Chad's been quiet tonight, by the way, Arnold.
What's going on with that?
I mean, because I haven't been sharing a lot of the stuff that they're saying.
There's like, you know, no more Christina Rici.
Okay.
I bet
Susan's.
What's?
Susan very youthful in this movie.
I was shocked.
I was like, is that Susan Sarandon?
Holly Molly.
She was just looking, I just forgot how young she was and 2008.
You know what I mean?
I't.
She was 61 back then.
She
Not that you looked it up, right?
Yeah.
I was more worried about John Goodman.
I was like, oh, look at John Goodman.
You know what I mean?
John Goodman..
I didn't have to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she was making them.
I was like, because the whole time during the movie,
I was like, I was wanting to grab something to eat.
But then I was like,
ooh, I'm going to finish this movie by 629
and we'll be recording the podcast at 630.
Yeah, that's that's a good point.
So...
I didn't.
All right, guys.
All right, gang, I should say that's the movie.
That's Speed Racer.
I think it's about that time.
And I have a question I want to go around the room, and I'll start with you, Jessica.
Do you think this movie would have're out the hour marks, so don't mind Arnold?
Do you think this movie would have succeeded in 2026?
I think it has more of a chance of succeeding
now than than it did back in 2008.
And here's why.
I think it was ahead of its time in that it
did attempt to be almost both a big budget movie.
This is I'm just going to keep going.
A big budget movie.
Please, just cover your screen like this.
It was both like a huge,
big budget blockbuster and like an artthouse movie.
Like it really did try to be both things.
And I think back in 2008, people were not really open to that.
I think, I forgot who was saying it, but there was also like a marketing issue with this film.
And I think, especially back then, people wouldn't know how to market a film.
One of my favorite films around that time, I don't think it was quite 2008.
I think it maybe it was 2009, was Jennifer's Body, which was
very well known for how horribly that was marketed.
And people came thinking they were going to see one thing and saw another.
But it just sort of like Speed Racer, those who got it, got it and loved it.
And I think nowadays people would be more open to
something that took a lot of risks that was different
that also had that little bit of nostalgia, but was also
just there to like have a really good time.
Like that's what this is.
It's a very big, boisterous campy kind of movie
that I think if it was marketed as just that.
Like this is going to be a crazy time.
You're going to visualals are going to be insane.
And if you get it, you get it, and if you don't, you don't, I think more audiences would like it now
than they would have.
But if also, if it was made in 2026, this would just unfortunately be
like a Netflix movie that would be number one, you know?
I need to see Jennifer's body because I it
looks like it's just, this is just a horny movie with Megan Fox, but it's more than that, right?
Okay.
It's so much more than that.
See, you felt victim to the marketing.
I really did.
They got you.
They got you.
Can we lock you in, Jessica for Jennifer's body on this show?
Please's got that. fantastic.
That's with Megan Fox?
Yes, sir.m Amanda Sfried.
Yep.
It's so good.
It's on Netflix now.
Oh, I I'll be here for it.
Absolutely.
Next week, get a ball. champagne and a coffee..
Let's lock it in.
I'm so down.
Thank you for that, Jessica.
Where can people find you, by the way?
And please, whatever you want to plug, whatever you want to talk about really quick.
Yeah, thank you.
Well, thank you guys so much for having me on.
I'm sorry.
I was so critical about Speed Racer.
No, no, no.
But I tend to be very critical.
Even about things I love, I tend to like No apologies
because that's what this just discussion is for.
Exactly.
Exactly.
But overall, I loved it.
I thought the visuals, I had such a good time watching it and I had a good time chatting with you guys about it.
So thank you again for having me on.
You can follow me on Instagram at Just.
It's usually where I'm the most active.
I'm also launching a YouTube channel soon where I'll do like long
form videos about pop culture and movies
My first one is going to be about Euphoria and
all the drama that surrounds that show.
I got a lot to say about Levinson.
I have a lot of takes.
So you can catch me on YouTube where I'll be soon.
And thank you guys again for having me.
I have nothing going on.
So if you want to get me on to talk about Euphoria, by all means, I will talk about Euphoria.
I love day on that show, too.
I love you Euphoria.
Yeah.
I'm loving this season so far.
Okay, you're one of the very few that is, I got
to say, not a lot of people are loving this season.
I like guilty pleasure, trash.
Mylevel television, which that show is.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
Yeah. definitely.
No, but thank you seriously for being on and we appreciate you and yeah, let's do Let's do it.
Let's do Jennifer's body.
I would love that.
I will be here.
Absolutely.
Let's do.
It's a done deal.
It's a done deal.
Chris, Mr. Milkman America, do you think this movie would survive today, Chris?
Give me your take.
I I think it would do better.
I mean, part of the reason why they're doing like the,
not remake, but like they' juicing this movie up
is because it was restricted by when it came out.
It was so ahead of its time that it didn't have the tech and
sound design to deliver on what it was mainly supposed to be about
And so I think it would do slightly better.
I think it still has held captive by,
I think, a really messy story and not knowing what its audience is.
So, I mean, if they were to tighten both of those things up and made
it for a specific audience and was
able to put like the firepower this movie deserves, then yeah, sure.
I think it would do great
But if you just like released it as it
today, no, I think it'd still flop.
Well, people would be hamming it up because you're like, oh, it's the Wakowsk, man.
It's the Wakowskis.
They made the Matrix.
We got to go see speed.
They nostalgia factor alone, I think, would get butts and seats.
Butts and seats.
That's all we're worried about these days.
Come to the movies.
Watch.
So I would give this movie a two out of five.
I thought there was so much to like. and it What was the Ch-fil-A girl?
There was so much to
like about this movie, but it just didn't't know where to land or how to land the plane.
Like, like it just, I I went through a lot of turbulence.
I went through a lot of GForce around that track and I didn't
know what to, what I was supposed to get from it.
And I didn't watch it twice.
I think that if you don't do it on the first time, you miss the point.
Um and now you're just giving me homework to appreciate what you were trying to deliver.
So, um, I know it's a little harsh, but the,
again, they're seriously really good at what they do.
It just didn't come together for me in this package
So yeah, two out of five.
And, uh, Oakk Man America.
Anywhere and everywhere.
Your homework is to write me a 300 character think piece on
Speed Racer and why it doesn't work.
You got it.
If you want to be part of this show, you have to, you, write
us some think pieces there, Chris., but thank you.
Hear that, Arnold?
You got to write something.
Arnold.
Chat GPT, my friend.
No.
You got that guys on the chat.
Chat GPT.
All right, help me out.
Oh, we'll get it done.
It was not on.
I was not.
Never seen it. blog.com.
Justin, will this movie survive today?
What are your thoughts or Where can people find you?
I think Speed Racer would absolutely survive today.
If we have like the technology
that we have now compared to then, which it's not really really that far off
but the significant changes in technology would
probably benefit this movie significantly because this
still looks fucking green screen, blue screen, whatever.
It obviously looks like it was filmed on a screen.
But I think there's movie, besides that,
if you're able to just take that mind out of your head and
just be like, okay, appreciate it for its face value for what it is
this movie is visually stunning.
This movie has so much going on.
Like, I like some of the things I'm like looking at it, I'm
like, how the fuck did they do that with with what the technology they had back then?
Half of it, I don't understand.
Like we were talking about the transitions.
I don't think I've really seen any other movie do anything
similar, maybe close, but they were just so false to the wall.
Scott Pilgrim, yeah.
I still, I still think
hate me for it.
I don't care.
I love Scott Pilgrim.
I think I think this movie just did it a little bit better.d Rocky.
I think it was Rocky, maybe Rocky.
I don't know..
Maybe Rocky might beat out everything.
You know.
Anyway, I'm just joking.
I think this movie is visually stunning.
I think the transitions are incredible.
I think the story, you know, I personally think it's easy to follow.
And you know what?
I will say I do agree on the topic of that
yeah, you probably shouldn't have to do your research
or know the show prior to seeing something that probably
most people would have never watched before
and probably probably will never watch.
So having a little bit more
of a clear cut direction for you know, the characters in story plot.
And instead of expecting your audience to be like, hey, you should probably know this.
Like, oh, you don't know this?
And then making them like pay for it.
And I can see how
it's just not there for some people in that aspect.
But as far as like longevity goes, for it
being a two 2008 movie, I still think it looks fantastic.
It's unique.
I don't think I've seen anything like it.
Like, like you said, Scott Pilgrim, yeah, Ready Player one, maybe.
Like those are all really good movies, but I think this is so
is such a different and unique take on what they did
and whether it was inspired or inspired other films
I think it needs time.
I think I heard it best where it's
like, this is this is one of those movies that if you're
really stoned, this is going to be a great watch.
Like, if you're stoned, you're on fucking shrooms
I think, I think you will have an even more fantastic
of a time watching this film.
I think all the characters were relatively solid.
I think, you know, I, unfortunately, I have, not unfortunately,
but I have like a crush on Christine Ritchie from like when I was a child.
Get in line with my friend.
See
No, I'm first in line.
I don't care.
After Susan Sarandon, right?
After everyone on this chat.
Yeah.
Susan Sarandon from Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Anyway,
yeah, honestly, I had a really great time with it.
Um, I even found myself like, now that I
have a better understanding of this film, watching watching it,
like the couple of times that I've seen it and like having a refresh on it,
I found myself really enjoying the plot line of it.
I really didn't have to think too much into it only
because like, you know, I know where it's going.
I know what's going on and
how it plays out.
And I also found myself to be a little bit emotional at the
end because I feel like, I'm like, man, like all
this, all these bad things are happening in this movie.
And then, you know, we all know that Speed Racer is going
to win regardless, but they do they do this in
such a way that has a lot of buildup to a point in time where
I'm just like, I feel for these characters now.
I'm so invested.
And I I just felt a little emotional near the end there.
So maybe it's just me.
But I think I thoroughly enjoy this movie.
I will come back to it again and again.
It has a lot of rewatchability for me.
And I would love to see what they do with the
remaster when it comes when it is re-released
on 4K. I don't know what they're going
to do differently because as far as I know, I just
watched the standard digital version that was available to me.
I unfortunately couldn't make it to the iMAX re-release, but
I'm very excited to see, um what they're going to
add as far as like, you know, updated, you know, graphics,
maybe some behind the scenes stuff.
And I would really love to see what
they come up with on this next release.
And then no, Speed Racer sequel.
What do we think, Justin?
Yeah, on that tangent,
Speed Racer sequel?
I will say most of the cast is still alive today.
I do think the kid
that plays Sprital
probably too old to be Sprital
at this point.
I think that would be the only only thing that I'm like, okay,
well, if they're going to either they're going to age everybody's
significantlyantly, Ch Chim, Ch Chim's dead.
I'm sorry to tell you guys. died long ago.
Chim Chim is dead.
But if they have a new Chim Chim, you know, I'm sure they can train another monkey
No, I think, I think a sequel would be amazing.
I would love a sequel, but everybody will be significantly aged.
I think the only one I think that doesn't age is Christina
Ricci, and she would be the little one that probably doesn't look.
They all still got it.
John Goodman hes still got it.
Susan Sam's still got it it.
They do.
They all still got their acting chops.
Even Emil Hirsch, I know he's like trying to make a comeback in some shape or form.
And a little bit of trouble, let's just saying, few years back..
I'm unfamiliar with that.
I'll have to look into that.
But anyway, not to get too political in this.
It's not even political, but yeah.
Yeah.
It was a joke.
But, yeah, I would I think
I think it's deserving of a sequel.
I just don't.
I wouldn't really know how they would go about it.
My letterbox rating, I'm going to give it a four and a half out of five
Pretty solid for me.
You can follow me on Letterbox, Ghost Nerd 88.
I also have social medias, Ghost Nerd 88 as well.
And anything else?
Justin, what you're passionate about, I'm passionate about.
Let's just put it that way.
You know what I'm saying?
How condescending.
No, no, no, no, no.
No.
I, you bring it into the show.
You really do.
Lawnmower Man was a highlight of this show.
We should revisit that movie.
You, you guys still talk about it to this day.
And I never would have watched that if it hadn't been for you.
So thank you.
No, but thank you for that, Justin.
Alex, what do you think?
Speed Racer?
What do you have made it today?
What do we think?
Probably not.
With the
the updates to technology, maybe.
It's just two different times.
Like, back then, it could survive off of DVD
sales and DVD rentals, if that was still going on.
I think that was like a tail end of DVD like of
Blockbuster and video rental as a major thing, driving force for
aftermarket, after theater
sales or whatever proceeds, whatever.
I think that if we're asking the
honest question of like not changing a thing other than maybe like the
technology, I don't think so.
I think we're looking at a day and age where the studios
don't want to invest money.
If it's going to be either like a $500 million
movie or a $20 million movie.
And Speed Racer was made for
$120 million, which I don't know, adjusted for inflation.
I didn't do the math, but it's still well under that $500 million
And I think that a lot of studios aren't willing to
take risks on that sort of thing.
I could see maybe a remake or
a reboot of it being done in Japan, like doing a live action.
And then, like you said, like maybe Netflix, because they they
are doing the One Piece TV show.
They have that.
That's right.
So, but see, that's the thing.
It's like you're then you're completely redoing a lot of things with it.
That being said, I I with Justin,
I agree with almost everything that you had to say with
the exception of the fact that you had to be
aware or a not knowledgble of the source material,
I think they do a good job in this film of like talking about the characters
and introducing the characters and not having
to be familiar with the show.
I think that they did a really great job with that
I think that they all stood alone
as like, you know, the characters were introduced.
They didn't really.
The characters were what they were.
And they didn't, you didn't need to be like flipping through a book.
That being said, it's also you have that whole like kind of broken
you know, uh deconstructed narrative that I was talking about.
And that does pose an
obstacle for even today's audiences.
They talk about how like in Pixar films
that they write a lot of their films now
to for adults.
And like a lot of kids aren't really into the
newer Pixar films.
They're not like how they were earlier Pixar films were
like Toy Story and like
the Bug's Life. and those films
were definitely, a lot of comedy was put into
those films to satisfy
adults, but there is also storytelling in it that helps
keep kids engaged.
Whereas this film, like I said, it tested poorly with
children, and I think it's probably even worse now.
I think it would be even worse for kids
because it's like it's almost not fast enough.
Attention spans are like just too fast.
I don't know.
There's just like this like this thing where
it's not sinking up it at all with like the attention spans for kids today.
But
for me, I really enjoyed this film.
I think that my David Lynchian fanboy
brain really enjoys the broken up narratives.
And like, to me, it was just,
it kind of was just like a normal, like I agree with Justin.
It was like very, it was easy to follow.
Like to me
And, um I gave this a four out
of five on Letterbox and you could find me at daily Dares and all of the socials.
Thank you, Alex for that.
And all great points.
HLP, by the way, says that he thinks it would survive.
He says, I think so.
I mean, what is coming out now and even matching it visually and for
movies, you go for a visual experience.
The casts are all legends.
You have a monkey who is hilarious.
Who the fuck does?
Not like that?
I would rather watch this than any of the Star Wars prequels.
Probably more than any of anything of Star Wars, really.
And I actually agree with you.
And that's coming from a big Star Wars fan, by the way.
That was visually more
taking than Star Wars, and these races were better than the pod races.
And I think ALLP makes a great point.
So thank you for that, HLP.
We appreciate that.
Arnold, ann now it's that part of the show, my friend, and Jessica,
this is my favorite part of the show.
As you know, Arnold, I think it's that time to introduce
the Arnold Snoometer.
High
production quality, only on Never Seing a podcast.
Arnold, take it from here.
So I guess I'm learning
that I still have a bit a child's brain
because for me, I found it very hard to follow.
I had three attempts at by watching this movie.
I thought the first two attempts
was because I watched it like late.
I mean, it's the NBA playoffs right now.
I was watching the NBA playoffs.
And so then, you know, so I started watching it late, you know, close to 10 o'clock.
I look at it, I'm like, oh, gosh, a two-h long movie.
Which F ask me, oh, what would you change?
Or I don't know what we do.
Maybe you see today?
To me, maybe an 80 minute long version of this would be.
Like, this should really embrace the speed based on the speed,
like speed it up, like make it quick, you know, that would have been
maybe better for me.
The other two nights, I thought, maybe, oh, I just started watching it late.
But today I got out off of work a little bit
early because I was like, okay, it's crunch time, guys.
I got to finish this.
Even then, midday, no heavy meal.
No ice cream and beer?
No.
All I had was my lunch earlier, like
at noon.
And I was actually starving.
I was like, man, I'm hungry.
So, no food come out.
Even during the day, my wife was nudging me like, keep your eyes open.
Watch.
You're watching?
You're watching?
He's up.
Like, for a good, like five minutes, she's like tapping me, like, making sure.
But then by then, it's almost like rocking it as sleep, you know?
And so, um
I've I found it, yeah, I just found it hard.
And, but Star Stud cast is like, like
I feel I feel bad because like John Goodman, Emila
Hirs, I love them in Alpha Dog.
which was like, I think two years prior to this movie.
I've never seen it.
I love Emil Hirsch in Dangerous Lives of the Altar Boys.
Oh, I've never seen seen that either.
I've never seen that either. a girl Next Do. Now, that
I've seen.
Lucky guy.
What was I saying?
Now I'm stuck on G. Here's Z rating.
You're Z rating, yeah.
Ah, Z rating.
So,
the Z rating, it grew and grew.
It built up even more like smallball effects.
Went from a 1.5 to today a
4Z rating.
Wow.
Yeah.
More and more.
Well, oh yeah, just, the more Z,
the more I fell asleep. on the movie.
A Z rating is good, basically.
It is good.
But yeah, I mean, the Z rating8 grew.
Like Monday night, it was a one, I was like, oh, how are we going to give this a one?
Yesterday it was like, well, maybe a two.
And then I was hoping that today it would go down,
that would go down a little bit, but then it actually went up.
And I feel bad because great cast the people, the
colors, you know, the the green screen of all that.
I mean, it was it was a lot.
I mean, back then, the people in the chat, they're
saying that that they would take acid back in the days to see those kinds of colors.
And that's that's what I that's what they would like.
But I can't really relate because I didn't do that stuff.
You're a straight edge.
But, uh, what was I saying?
I don't know anymore.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
This movie had a lot of those colors and stuff.
And, you know, oh yeah, like you said earlier, Justin,
what a trip that would be, I mean, I can only imagine
The people in the chat are saying that for
sure you get it's a road trip, yeah.
Yeah.
But by my letterbox rating, which I
really will try and actually put it on Letterbox.
I'm with you, Chris.
A
stars?
Hearts?
Thumbs?
Stars.
Up stars, St.
I know.
Clover.
Two Clover rating.
Hey, man, are you messing with me?
Um, Not at all.
Uh, That would be my rating on, um,
Letterboxed.
Nice.
Where can people find him?
I'm Arnie Colego everywhere.
You can find me.
Jessica, do you have a letterbox?
Yes, I do.
I'm also at Just Qu unlterbox.
I didn't even put this up on my letterbox yet.
I kind of forgot, but it's all.
I would do two and a half just right in the middle.
So sorry. we all lie anyway.
I know.
Actually.
I apparently lie because I give a rating, but then if
you go to my little box, you're like, hey, where's, you said it was a one.
You said it was a one and a half.
You said it was a 4. and a half, a 4.20 whatever.
He lies about a lot of stuff, you know, lies
about having a private chat, blah, blah, blah..
No, those are all true, right, Arnold?
That's right, Mr. BWOTZ to Big where
last but lot, not least, what do you have to say?
You know, I didn't hate this movie.
I want to rewatch it with my kid.
I feel like he would enjoy it.
My only qualms with this movie is it's a little too long.
I think the length of it does it a disservice.
I think that if you get shaved off like 30 to 35
minutes, Max, you could have had a nice, tight story
where you can have the depth of the corruption and
the emotional thorough line of the dead brother, quote unquote dead brother.
While still having the fun visual treat that
is each and every racing scene, because the racing scenes were great.
My biggest problem was that the racing scenes at the same time felt too, it was too digital.
It was too green screen.
It was too like, let's completely ignore the
laws of physicsics and just do like this video game slash anime feel to it.
And it reminded me too much of Spy Kids.
I understand that this movie came out during an era where filmmakers were like the years actually.
Snyers of the world and you know the Wakowsk.
Robert Rodriguez were like, let's film everything in front of a green screen and call it a day.
They did this movie in 16 days, 16 days,
which, if you know anything about just Jessica, you would appreciate this. 60 days to
film a featurelength movie is crazy.
Like that's crazy.
That's crazy.
I didn't realize that.
That's insane to do all of this in 60 days.
It's ridiculous because most movies take way longer than that and they still have to go back and do
reshoots.
But for this movie, they were like, green screen, green screen the whole fucking thing.
D. And it's like, I get that, but at the same time, you got
to pick one lane or the other.
You got to pick like, let's do some some campiness
with a little bit of an emotional thorough line or let's do like a
story about anti-capitalism correct corruption, but you can't really balance both equally that well.
I mean, even the Wakowskis who, if they had only done the Matrix and
they retired after that, legends, right?
Living legends.
Then they did this movie
and it was like, okay, good take
on Speed Racer, whether you're a fan of the show or not.
But like, come on, guys. give me something that's just a little bit tighter.
This was like two hours and some change.
And I was just like, too much, too much.
But
I didn't hate it.
I did not hate this movie.
I want to be clear.
This movie had all the right parts.
I just thought they overstayed their welcome a little bit.
So I agree with you, Adrian.
If they would have shaved off a little bit, you can see a lot more.
You can a lot more.
Exactly, my friend.
So we're on the same wave.
This is why it's brilliant to have you on the show
Shave foot off, Arnold.
Time.
Oh, time.
Time.
Oh, yeah, okay.
Which, which, you know, that's the thing about, uh.
That's the thing about being rich, Arnold, which someday you're going to be a rich man, Arnold, I. I can feel it.
The biggest thing that ri book can buy, it's not boats.
It's not houses.
It's time.
Time?
And I want to buy back at least 30 30 minutes of my time from this two-hour long movie.
But then that's okay.
That's okay.
That's why we do this show, right?
We We don't know how to like the same stuff.
We don't know how to hate the same stuff.
Sometimes in the middle.
And
this movie, it was entertaining.
Like, I wasn't bored by this.
This movie didn't bored me because my ADHDS was like, oh,
shit. scene after scene after scene after scene.
You don't have time to be bored when watching this movie.
So, having said all that, I'm going to give
this movie a strong 2.5 stars out of five on Letterbox.
And you can find me in Letterboxbox at Boots Too big.
You can find a show everywhere else.
Never seen a podcast.
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If you like the show, give us a comment, us a review, you know we'll read that shit on the air.
Big thanks to Mr. Kyle Ma and a Burns cycle for the intro
and music you can follow Kyle on Instagram atersnderscore pets.
You can follow Mr. HLP for the Arnolds News andmeer Music.
And thanks to him for that.
Thanks Thanks for listening and watching and everywhere else
Everything else, I should say.
Any final thoughts from the gang?
Ghostspeed Racer.
Ghspeed Racer, Ghostspeed Rer, G