Til Death Do Us Blart: 2018
November 22, 2018 12:09 PM - Subscribe
American Thanksgiving can mean only one thing: Five people, somewhere on Earth, have watched Paul Blart Mall Cop 2. Stay tuned to the end of this year's installment of this beloved tradition for some exciting news from Tim and Guy! Current hosts: Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy, Tim Batt and Guy Montgomery Music: "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw
I watched it last night, in preparation for this. And you know what? It was a lot better than I expected. As far as it counts as a movie, it's terrible. But the boys are right, there are amazing little moments that, as vignettes taken on their own, are some fantastic dada-tastic humor.
The oatmeal cookie moment cracks me up, just thinking about it.
posted by meese at 6:09 PM on November 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
The oatmeal cookie moment cracks me up, just thinking about it.
posted by meese at 6:09 PM on November 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Merry Blartsmas! This podcast continues to be good. Maybe I'll watch the film in like 7 years time.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:04 AM on November 23, 2018
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:04 AM on November 23, 2018
Yeah the terrible thing about this wonderful podcast is the number of people who will eventually wind up watching Paul Blart 2 out of sheer curiosity.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:34 AM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:34 AM on November 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's obviously a stealth-marketing campaign funded by the Blart-Industrial Complex.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:56 AM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:56 AM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
I listen to a ton of McElroy, but I've not listened to this due to no interest in PBMC2.
Should I revisit that stance?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:11 PM on November 23, 2018
Should I revisit that stance?
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:11 PM on November 23, 2018
no interest in PBMC2
I don't think anyone involved in this podcast has any particular interest in PBMC2.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:26 PM on November 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
I don't think anyone involved in this podcast has any particular interest in PBMC2.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:26 PM on November 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
(Yes you should probably binge-listen to all the episodes so far)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:39 PM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:39 PM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Blart-Industrial Complex
Big Blart, surely.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:11 PM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Big Blart, surely.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:11 PM on November 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
2017 was the first year I listened to the show so I binged on the years up to 2017 in preparation, and let me say I think the most fascinating aspect of this show is how the situations and lives of the people involved are reflected through the unchanging prism of Paul Blart Mall Cop 2. For instance, in this show several of the hosts mentioned watching the show with their kids. Imagine the difference between late Obama-era Till Death Do Us Blart and Just-After-The-2016-Election Till Death Do Us Blart.
It already is in a way, but I hope this show evolves into being explicitly being more about how each person comes to Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 as they age and the world around them changes rather than being directly about Paul Blart Mall Cop 2. This show has the potential to be an interesting anthropological experiment, like when someone takes a picture of themselves every day for 30 years, but instead it's watching Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 every year forever.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:51 PM on November 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
It already is in a way, but I hope this show evolves into being explicitly being more about how each person comes to Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 as they age and the world around them changes rather than being directly about Paul Blart Mall Cop 2. This show has the potential to be an interesting anthropological experiment, like when someone takes a picture of themselves every day for 30 years, but instead it's watching Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 every year forever.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:51 PM on November 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
I listen to a ton of McElroy
You will love this then. It's just them hanging out with friends. Just as Griffin said he realized this year that he would be watching Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 once a year for the rest of his life, I realized that I will be making an intentional decision NOT to watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 once a year for the rest of my life. And I'm totally cool with this.
(Although, I WOULD watch it at some sort of McElroy-fan screening.)
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 7:56 PM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
You will love this then. It's just them hanging out with friends. Just as Griffin said he realized this year that he would be watching Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 once a year for the rest of his life, I realized that I will be making an intentional decision NOT to watch Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 once a year for the rest of my life. And I'm totally cool with this.
(Although, I WOULD watch it at some sort of McElroy-fan screening.)
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 7:56 PM on November 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
The podcast is so much better with the movie. Without the movie it’s kind of like sitting down at some strange family’s table in a restaurant and trying to follow their conversation.
posted by bleep at 4:34 PM on November 24, 2018
posted by bleep at 4:34 PM on November 24, 2018
bleep, that's interesting! I may watch it next Thanksgiving then. My only hesitation is that once I've watched it I can never not watch it. WHAT IF I PREFER NOT HAVING WATCHED AND THE PODCAST IS RUINED FOR ME
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 9:54 AM on November 25, 2018
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 9:54 AM on November 25, 2018
i don’t know, i’ve listened to all three seasons of Worst Idea Of All Time, where “don’t watch the movie” is an oft repeated mantra, and i’m not sure i agree with bleep.
i had already seen Grown Ups 2 before i started the podcast and when they talked about certain scenes i did get a sort of knowing “yes, of course, the scene where they’re all shamed into jumping naked off a cliff, quite nice” feeling. BUT i sort of preferred the way i was able to build a movie in my head during the second and third seasons when i hadn’t seen the movie. my version of coffee guy is way zanier and more fun than the actual coffee guy in SATC2, and when i saw that clip it did take something away from me. it’s easier to buy into the heightened version of things, where the shadow man is real and there are dimensional rifts all over the casino, when you don’t have a real movie to anchor things to.
basically my point is, the show is fundamentally different if you’ve seen the movie but i’m not sure it’s better per se. i think it probably varies from person to person.
posted by JimBennett at 10:38 AM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
i had already seen Grown Ups 2 before i started the podcast and when they talked about certain scenes i did get a sort of knowing “yes, of course, the scene where they’re all shamed into jumping naked off a cliff, quite nice” feeling. BUT i sort of preferred the way i was able to build a movie in my head during the second and third seasons when i hadn’t seen the movie. my version of coffee guy is way zanier and more fun than the actual coffee guy in SATC2, and when i saw that clip it did take something away from me. it’s easier to buy into the heightened version of things, where the shadow man is real and there are dimensional rifts all over the casino, when you don’t have a real movie to anchor things to.
basically my point is, the show is fundamentally different if you’ve seen the movie but i’m not sure it’s better per se. i think it probably varies from person to person.
posted by JimBennett at 10:38 AM on November 25, 2018 [2 favorites]
If watching the movie pokes holes in the Shadow Man theory, it won't be worth it. I want to believe!
posted by jason_steakums at 10:41 AM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jason_steakums at 10:41 AM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
No it makes Shadow Man better because it’s 100% true and undeniable.
posted by bleep at 11:49 AM on November 25, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by bleep at 11:49 AM on November 25, 2018 [5 favorites]
And I’m not saying that ironically.
posted by bleep at 12:13 PM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 12:13 PM on November 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’ve been listening to this episode on and off for days because I don’t remember enough about the movie to understand what they’re talking about so I kept getting distracted. I’ll have to watch it again next year. I think it’s worth it though. To me the best thing about this podcast is that they sit there and relentlessly engage with this piece of shit on its own terms. It’s like the opposite of every toxic fandom that thinks their job is to play network executive and give notes on how they think things SHOULD be. There is no should. There’s only what we got. So let’s really dig into it. And they find all this magical shit.
Another thing I liked about this year is that they are all demanding that Travis let them finish and stick with conversational threads. At times the energy in the “room” came off as a little strained which was also interesting.
posted by bleep at 10:41 PM on November 26, 2018
Another thing I liked about this year is that they are all demanding that Travis let them finish and stick with conversational threads. At times the energy in the “room” came off as a little strained which was also interesting.
posted by bleep at 10:41 PM on November 26, 2018
Just finishing up a very entertaining binge re-listen (first time I've ever re-listened to a podcast I think). I feel like the years summarise thus:
2015: This film sucks (Travis: I made a list of the 11 times I laughed).
2016: I remember this film being OK? No, this film SUCKS. Our partners refused to watch it with us. (Travis: I made a list of the 13 times I laughed).
2017: This film is actually pretty funny, also it syncs up with Dark Side Of The Moon (Travis: I made a list of the times Justin laughed).
2018: **Existential despair**
Anyway this podcast is very binge-able - the evolution of hate/hate/love/hate again, and processing and reprocessing jokes and weird scenes is very entertaining.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:52 AM on November 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
2015: This film sucks (Travis: I made a list of the 11 times I laughed).
2016: I remember this film being OK? No, this film SUCKS. Our partners refused to watch it with us. (Travis: I made a list of the 13 times I laughed).
2017: This film is actually pretty funny, also it syncs up with Dark Side Of The Moon (Travis: I made a list of the times Justin laughed).
2018: **Existential despair**
Anyway this podcast is very binge-able - the evolution of hate/hate/love/hate again, and processing and reprocessing jokes and weird scenes is very entertaining.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:52 AM on November 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
I really like how joyful they are at certain scenes, specifically the lunch scene. Well, only the lunch scene, really.
posted by graventy at 10:30 AM on November 27, 2018
posted by graventy at 10:30 AM on November 27, 2018
One of my favorite podcasts is The Flop House, so I'm amused by the notion that you'd need to watch a bad movie before listening to a podcast make fun of it. I've seen maybe 2% of the movies covered by The Flop House but it's still funny to listen to other people suffer through them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:50 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:50 AM on November 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I also re-listened to the previous episodes and it's a joy every year.
Doing this once a year is so good as well as the energy is always so high and everyone is relishing on being back on the same bullshit.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:48 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Doing this once a year is so good as well as the energy is always so high and everyone is relishing on being back on the same bullshit.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:48 AM on November 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I want to say it is exactly the right amount of time to pass between watches of Paul Blart Mall Cop 2, but... no... no it really isn't.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:32 PM on November 29, 2018
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:32 PM on November 29, 2018
The irony is that this podcast will continue until the end of linear time, and from now until the end of linear time is a good amount of time to leave between watches of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:55 AM on December 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:55 AM on December 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 2:54 PM on November 22, 2018 [3 favorites]