EP. 330 — The Pope’s Exorcist LIVE!

Paul Scheer [00:00:01] (Bad Italian Accent) Exorcism issa aboutas hard as doing an Italian accent. We saw the Pope’s Exorcist, so you know what that means!

Music [00:00:10] [Intro Song]

Paul Scheer [00:01:04] Hello people of Earth, and Hello people of Largo! Today we are talking about The Pope’s Exorcist, a movie that came out in 2023, a movie that is based on a true story. This is fact. What do you need to know about this movie? Well, a couple of things. The pope has an exorcist and he sends them out like a goddamn Ghostbuster. When there’s a problem, Russell Crowe jumps on a Vespa which we’ll discuss and saves the goddamn day. This movie is amazing. And not just the accents. There are so many things to break down, so many things to talk about in this movie. But here is just a little subject line. It’s fucking awesome. More movies like this, more loose fitting clothes on Russell Crowe. Because I think it brings out something good. No belts. Better performances. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, to break down tonight’s movie, please welcome my co-host, Mr. Jason Mantzoukas.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:02:52] What’s up, Jerks?! I love it. I love it. June and I already heated backstage. We were literally mid in the middle of it. And you said my name and I was like, Oh, shit, the show is happening. Fuck yeah. Friday night, Largo. Here we go.

Paul Scheer [00:03:14] No, Jason. No, no. Saturday night. Saturday night, Largo.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:03:23] Can it can it be Saturday night at Largo? Right here with all these fine folks? Every night, I guess it’s Saturday. Fine. Start the show over. Start the whole show over. Fuck, I fucked it up. I said it was Friday. I fucked up the whole show. Fuck. This movie with my new favorite Italian actor, Russell Crowe. Oh, he’s so Italian.

Paul Scheer [00:03:51] Oh, Jason, where do you fall on this movie? I mean, because I’m watching this and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Well, I have a lot to say about it, but I’m also finding it scratches an itch for me that I like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:04:07] I had a blast and this is 100% a movie I full on would never have watched, never. But for this podcast. And I genuinely was like, I’m so grateful that I’m watching this right now earlier this afternoon because I was like, Fuck you, this is crazy. Like, everything seems like perfect and I’m delighted, but I’m I’m I only want to talk about the very end of the movie and I, I can’t yet. I’m like chomping. So let’s, let’s get into it.

Paul Scheer [00:04:45] The good news is it’s not an overly complicated plot as far as what we have to get tthrough.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:04:54] I don’t know, because there are at least seven multi minute exposition dumps that are not helpful to understanding the movie.

Paul Scheer [00:05:04] Here’s all I’m going to say. Kudos to any movie that retcons the Bible. And you know what? And here’s someone who retcons everything you know about a great podcast host. Please welcome June Diane Raphael! Welcome, June.

June Diane Raphael [00:05:32] How are you, Paul?

Paul Scheer [00:05:33] I’m doing well, Thank you for asking.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:05:35] June, just before you say anything, it is Saturday.

June Diane Raphael [00:05:39] So, so many. This opening is so rocky because Jason and I, backstage, I did say the pope’s exorcist. I did say that because.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:05:51] We’re really doing it behind the scenes tonight.

June Diane Raphael [00:05:55] Because when I was watching it, I thought when I saw the title and I saw and Russell Crowe is one of my favorite actors, and I stand by this performance and I stand by him 100%. I stand in solidarity.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:06] He is. He’s one of our finest Italian actors.

June Diane Raphael [00:06:10] I love him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:11] One of the greats.

June Diane Raphael [00:06:12] I enjoy the hell out of him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:15] Crowe.

June Diane Raphael [00:06:16] So good. He’s so good. But Paul, what I thought for a good portion of this movie was that the Pope of the Catholic Church would need an exorcism at some point. And I thought, this is the best like concept for a movie I’ve ever heard of, and I’m so excited to see it.

Paul Scheer [00:06:37] By the way. No, I was like, isn’t that kind of what happens? But we never see it because the pope in the middle of this movie just vomits blood.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:06:49] Well, I thought so that I did in that exact moment think, Oh, because that’s when they’re saying, Oh, the demon has possessed multiple people. I was like, Oh, he’s going to grab the pope as well. Yeah. Especially after that vomiting of the blood. And then the pope is 100% cool afterward. So that’s when I was like, well, he’s for sure possessed because now he’s healthy and doesn’t have any ailments anymore.

June Diane Raphael [00:07:14] I think he just had a virus.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:07:18]  Do you think he had RSV?

June Diane Raphael [00:07:21] Because the way they talked about his illness, it was like the pope is ill.

Paul Scheer [00:07:25] (Bad Italian Accent) “I shouldn’t have had that Subway tuna club.”

Jason Mantzoukas [00:07:29] I have I just out of a real curiosity and please be cool about it. Is there anybody in the audience who may be able to help us with Vatican and or pope questions, as I am certain they are going to be brought up, but do you have an actual ability to. Front row, you do? You grew up Catholic.

June Diane Raphael [00:07:50] Well, I did too.

Paul Scheer [00:07:51] I did too. It doesn’t make me an expert on Vatican politics.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:07:56] Anybody, any any bishops or cardinals in the House?

Paul Scheer [00:08:01] Jason, all I’m going to say is this. This is based on a true story. So everything we see here is layed out perfectly.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:08:10] My first note, the movie that asks, what if Russell Crowe is Italian?

June Diane Raphael [00:08:15] I mean, seriously, I know we’re all doing jokes about him. I thought he did great.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:08:20] He did great.

June Diane Raphael [00:08:21] He did fucking great.

Paul Scheer [00:08:23] He is great.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:08:25] I would love an Italian person to weigh in on this performance because I will say, well, I also saw Russell Crowe play Zeus in the recent Thor movie. He only plays Greeks or Italians now. He’s deep in this accent. All I’m going to say is that Russell Crowe does what he wants. And I like this new era of Russell Crowe where he doesn’t have to be fully built. He doesn’t have to be gladiator. But when I first saw.

June Diane Raphael [00:08:55] He’s, like, enjoying the holidays.

Paul Scheer [00:08:58] Yes.

June Diane Raphael [00:08:59] It’s his body type. And I appreciate it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:01] I need him. I’m ready for him, in fact, to be just like, full on dad bod. The idea that he’s basically James Bond as a priest by the end of this movie.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:12] So great.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:09:14] I want this to be what a faith based movie is. And if the church was smart, they’d be making these instead of the Jim Caviezel rescues children from child traffickers or whatever. This should be faith based movies.

Paul Scheer [00:09:29] I mean, I love I love the way that this movie opened. Because, again, if we think about the pope’s exorcist as the new James Bond, you have this amazing opening patient, Vespa, and he’s going to go talk to this possessed person.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:48] They keep on calling him a boy, by the way. That’s an adult.

Paul Scheer [00:09:50] Yeah, that person was an adult.

June Diane Raphael [00:09:54] Just because he has track pants on, like he’s a, that’s a 36 year old man.

Paul Scheer [00:09:59] I just like that. The the opening of this movie, by the way, this is a period piece just in case, you know, if you’re if you’ve not watched it is a period piece. So.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:08] But the period piece is the eighties. That’s in the 1980s, right?

Paul Scheer [00:10:13] Yes. Yeah, it’s like 87. But there’s something so funny about we’ve watched these exorcism movies. We understand a certain thing is like, Hey, devil, bet you can’t get inside a pig. And and and the devil’s like, I can so. I can get in a pig any day. “Get in the pig.” He gets in the pig. Bang. They kill the fucking pig. I was like, This is awesome. This is the best.

June Diane Raphael [00:10:38] Great. I’ve just thinking what the church’s stance on this movie, the Roman Catholic Church. And I’m always thinking about them. I’m always thinking.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:10:46] Did you look into it?

June Diane Raphael [00:10:48] I didn’t, but I, no I didn’t go that far, but I just was musing because it’s at a certain point I thought, is this are they trying to say that the Roman Catholic Church had nothing to do with the Spanish Inquisition? I’m asking.

Paul Scheer [00:11:04] Well, that’s the retcon. Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:06] They are. Yes, they are. Because it was the devil.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:08] Cause it was the devil. So it’s like. But what’s also weird about that is like, he didn’t the pope, the real pope or pope John?

Paul Scheer [00:11:17] Don’t look at me.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:20] One of the recent popes, like did come out and fully apologize for the Inquisition. Yeah. And so.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:28] Well, let’s be clear. They’re having to apologize for quite a lot.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:32] And by the way, that was what was so funny is, like, I kept on watching this movie, just thinking like, Wow, in this world, priests are only interested in women. And that’s hilarious.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:11:42] I wrote that, too. I have that same note. They’re burden is the women, the grown women that they feel some connection to, that they lost.

June Diane Raphael [00:11:51] Can you please have the young boys haunt them for the rest of their fucking days?

Paul Scheer [00:11:56] The young boys, young boys pull them in by projecting beautiful women. And that may be also a retconning of the whole Catholic child abuse.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:07] What was crazy to me was the devil’s. And it’s true because every time one of those women are appearing before the priests, it’s the boy saying and doing all of that. Yes, think about that. I wrote down multiple quotes that the little boy says, but it just happens that the priest sees it as a grown woman.

June Diane Raphael [00:12:30] Okay. So in the world of this movie, in the world of this movie, the Catholic Church started the Spanish Inquisition because the devil got a hold of a friar.

Paul Scheer [00:12:42] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:43] And he was able to then. So evil.

June Diane Raphael [00:12:46] One one friar.

Paul Scheer [00:12:47] Yeah.

June Diane Raphael [00:12:48] One specific friar would have loved to have met him. Would have loved to have seen him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:12:52] What’s crazy is that the devil’s plan in doing this is that they can awaken all of the other army of the devil’s demons, rather if fallen angels, rather, who are somewhere on earth, the 199 other locations. Blah, blah, blah. So they can raise an army of fallen angels to destroy the church. My guy, give it another couple of years. The church is destroying itself.

June Diane Raphael [00:13:18] And also, I felt like the devil’s position was that the Inquisition wasn’t successful. And I’m like, I feel like it did a number for manhy many years.

Paul Scheer [00:13:27] Definitely had an impact. I mean, here’s the explanation of it. And by the way, a bold choice. Here we go.

Movie Audio [00:13:32] The Exorcist becomes possessed himself rather. You know, he is the man who convinced Queen Isabella. So that means from the time he is possessed in 1475, everything that happens after this is the work of the devil. Centuries of persecution and torture. The worst abuses of the Inquisition was started by the Friar and done in the name of God by the devil. The Vatican must have known this. The church covered it up. They buried the truth here.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:14:14] I mean, so it’s not the church’s fault. Great news, everybody.

Paul Scheer [00:14:20] Get back on the train. By the way, I do think and maybe you can’t ever get rid of it, but Russell Crowe has such a distinctive brogue or there’s a there’s an energy behind it that any accent doesn’t sound right, really, on him.

June Diane Raphael [00:14:36] I disagree.

Paul Scheer [00:14:38] Okay. Wow.

June Diane Raphael [00:14:40] At certain points, I thought. Oh. In his. His history. Father. Father Crowe, his history is that he. He moved to Italy as an adult. And, like, that’s when he went to seminary and stuff like, I well, justified it. And I thought Italian isn’t his first language, but I believe he learned it along the way.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:03] I was trying to have that happen because this movie’s also doing that thing that bad movies do expertly, which is jump between English and other languages, Spanish, Italian as needed in conversation, not as needed by as needed in conversation for us, the audience, not how they would speak to each other.

Paul Scheer [00:15:23] I agree. Because the way okay, I thought it was a brilliant choice to have the first 20 minutes be subtitled. Bold Move for a Mainstream commercial film. All right. So first, 20 minutes, Russell Crowe subtitle. And then he goes, and then you see him talking to another priest in the Vatican, and then it just, boom, English. And you’re like, Oh, they’re speaking Italian. And then like, Oh, no, they’re not. They’re not. They’re switching to English.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:15:52] Yes. And they do that throughout in ways that are so preposterous and absurd.

Paul Scheer [00:15:58] The Vatican’s like speaking English. What?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:01] And yeah, it is. And one of the guys in the Vatican’s American and then and then it was when it was only like late in the movie, when Russell Crowe introduces himself as an Italian man, that I was like, wait a minute, because I also thought he was just like, had learned Italian for the job and that was that. But he was still Russell Crowe. And then the other priest is Spanish, but when Julia comes in, she’s just full on English, like, Hey, everybody, welcome, yup. We we bought an abbey. Anyway, so, Peter. Fredrik, what are we doing here at the roof? No, attempt.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:39] I would love it if Cameron Crowe did a remake. We bought an Abbey. Crowe vs Crowe.

Paul Scheer [00:16:47] I just want this movie to acknowledge that everyone had a universal translator.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:16:51] That’s what it is what it’s like.

Paul Scheer [00:16:57] But it really is. I mean, I buy it. I like I like what Russell Crowe is doing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:02] I think what’s interesting and makes it compelling is it’s a great performance. He’s just it says so much that he’s such a good actor that he can pull off and literally shoulder this whole movie, which arguably should be about the family, the people that this is happening to.

Paul Scheer [00:17:23] This family doesn’t give a shit. There’s a boy with hate written across his chest and the daughter’s in the other room, like listening to her Walkman, like, nananana, but she’s acting like mom and dad are fighting over the bills. No, your brother is fucking puking birds, which I had to rewind. I thought it was a heart.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:43] Thought it was great.

Paul Scheer [00:17:44] What was. Where was the bird from?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:17:46] The. The woman. I remember. The woman. Come on. The movie makes so much sense. You know, it’s in. In Russell Crowe’s flashback, the woman who he didn’t save, eats a red bird. And then the boy vomits the same bird up.

Audience Member [00:18:06] [Inaudible]

Paul Scheer [00:18:11] You said that so confidently, but I don’t think anyone jumped on board with it. Let me see. Hold on. I’m going to go out to the audience. You’re off mic. Where are you? Where are you?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:18:22] This is dangerous.

Paul Scheer [00:18:24] All right, So what did you say? Because you might be right.

Audience Member [00:18:26] So when Russell Crowe is in the Resistance and he, like, fake dies and then comes back to life, the first thing he sees is the cardinal.

Paul Scheer [00:18:34] Well, now that makes sense. You’re right. Okay, perfect. But that is a that’s like that kind of retconning or weirdness when, like, I don’t know, this is a real deep dive, but in Death on the Nile, where they had to explain why Hercule Poirot has a big mustache, like is a weird like, why are we going back to this?

June Diane Raphael [00:18:54] I also thought too, to dive into sort of like the trauma of what Russell Crowe experienced in war. The, this is where the movie makes certain choices, where I’m like it is certain choices are so insane, just like, absolutely wild. And then his backstory as a soldier was actually very subtle and not I mean, I’m not saying it wasn’t traumatic. It must have been terrible to experience what he experienced. But I thought for sure, at a certain point we’re going to see a longer version of that scene and he’s going to have done something really terrible.

Paul Scheer [00:19:28] Right.

June Diane Raphael [00:19:28] And but what we really just see is that he pretended to be dead and that he has survivor’s guilt, which is so nuanced. And so there’s no sort of…. Excuse me?

Paul Scheer [00:19:47] The audience is really getting into it today. I was worried about this guy. This guy’s been on his best behavior so far with a lot of other people.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:19:53] So interesting, because everybody’s contributions are also, like, at like at personal level.

Paul Scheer [00:19:59] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:00] Volume wise.

June Diane Raphael [00:20:00] Yes. I feel like, you know, I feel like we’re interrupting their conversation.

Paul Scheer [00:20:06] I did say you’re a part of this show, but not this much.

June Diane Raphael [00:20:11] It is trauma-lite. It is trauma-lite. But at one point, we get during another exposition dump an explanation about who’s possessed. And it is certain people who have experienced trauma are more susceptible to possessions. And that was upsetting to hear. Yeah, I was like, haven’t they been through enough?

Paul Scheer [00:20:32] I have a question about this. It and this is going to be I’m opening myself to you.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:38] Okay. It’s a safe space.

June Diane Raphael [00:20:40] Is it?

Paul Scheer [00:20:44] Why in all these movies are people like, in the bed, like, the devil’s inside you, just go out and fucking do some stuff like.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:20:53] I had the exact same question. I had it in a slightly different way, which is why does the possessed person always go through the exact same series of stuck in a bed vomiting stuff? Crab walk upside down? Yeah. Gravity doesn’t apply to me. I’m climbing. Every it’s the same playbook.

Paul Scheer [00:21:14] (Vomit noise) Stick a crucifix in your breasts. I’m out. Like I’m walking. I’m done. I’m like, like, like they they hang out in the bedroom, like they’re, like, unemployed. I don’t know why.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:25] Get a job, Henry. Get a job.

Paul Scheer [00:21:29] And everyone has to come into this room that there. He’s not tied to the bed. He can leave at any point. He seems very powerful. Get the fuck out.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:21:38] The minute shit goes sideways and Russell Crowe shows up. Guess what? I’m telling the mom and the sister get out of here.

June Diane Raphael [00:21:45] That was crazy. And I had some. I had to do some mental gymnastics about why they stayed in that house. I was like, Well, they couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. But I’m also like put it on some Marriott Bonvoy points.

Paul Scheer [00:22:00] And he tells them to make him some coffee. He’s like, You guys go to sleep while I take care of this. It’s like like he’s like a plumber. He’s like, Well, okay, I’ll clean the toilet, but it’s going to take me. I got to get the guys here anyway. Take a nap.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:12] Here’s my super quick question. He is based at the Vatican.

Paul Scheer [00:22:16] Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:17] This is in Spain. He arrives on his Vespa.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:25] In this movie, does Russell Crowe ride a vespa to Spain?

June Diane Raphael [00:22:32] Listen.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:34] Real question. Where’s that picture of him on the vespa?

Paul Scheer [00:22:38] Forget about it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:40] I mean, really. And then when he’s back at the Vatican, he is entering on the Vespa again.

June Diane Raphael [00:22:46] I don’t know if there are train cars that are just for vespas.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:22:52] I  was like, this is blowing my mind.

Paul Scheer [00:22:55] By the way, this is a true story. So you would imagine that the vespa the probably is something that the the real guy. Yeah. No. Russell Crowe decided to add.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:07] I love that.

Paul Scheer [00:23:07] Thought it would be cool. And you know what? Absolutely right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:23:12] He is 100% right because not only is it so memorable, but because it makes no sense. It is clearly the whim of an actor to be like no matter where I am, I ride a vespa. The same vespa.

June Diane Raphael [00:23:34] I loved it.

Paul Scheer [00:23:35] By the way. Before we get too deep into the movie, I did want to just just touch this one comment that the mom makes. The mom says to the daughter. You got to stop dressing like this. We’re. You’re. You’re not in America anymore. We’re going to be surrounded by contractors. And my thought on that is interesting. It’s like, so American contractors would not be as flirtatious or like like it’s the way she says. It’s like. Italian contractors are real.

June Diane Raphael [00:24:09] Spanish.

Paul Scheer [00:24:10] Oh, Spanish, Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:11] Because they’re in Spain at that point.

Paul Scheer [00:24:12] So Spanish. Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:24:14] I was more shocked that as chaos ensued, she seemed to be wearing less and less clothing. Like I maybe I understand her act of rebellion upon arrival at the home and to stick it to her mom. But once things get real, nutzo magutzo with the demon. Guess what? I’m putting all my clothes on and I’m wearing my sneakers in case I need to get the fuck out of this house.

Paul Scheer [00:24:47] So it’s the period piece. Maybe she’s a fan of Andre Agassi, so she’s wearing the jean cutoff shorts. But also it’s one of those I mean, it’s a great moment in the movie because like they seemingly traveling forever in the mom’s like, Oh, why are you dressed like that? It’s like they’ve been in the car for hours. Like, why are you just noticing that she’s in jean shorts now?

June Diane Raphael [00:25:06] I also felt like I needed a little explanation from the mom about why they had to move in that quickly.

Paul Scheer [00:25:14] Sell the house.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:14] And also why did they? Also, there was a big wide shot at one point where it looked like Hogwarts. The house was enormous. You can sell it from America.

Paul Scheer [00:25:28] Oh, yeah, they don’t.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:29] You don’t need to live in it. Someone wants to buy this Spanish castle.

Paul Scheer [00:25:35] Flip the abbey. You don’t need to flip. It’s like it really is. It’s like, is it going to go for that much more? What would you put in? An elevator?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:25:43] Throw the Property Brothers on it.

June Diane Raphael [00:25:43] Let me ask you this. Do you think that the dad getting impaled in the car in front of the son and dying and starting this whole process of of the construction, opening up the portal to hell? Do you think that that was the devil’s plan somehow, or that was just sort of convenient?

Paul Scheer [00:26:07] I think it was convenient.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:08] Yeah, but I don’t. I don’t know. I can’t figure out like, what the long term plan of anybody is in this movie. But it did seem to be more happenstance. The construction precipitated the opening of whatever crack.

Paul Scheer [00:26:21] The hell mouth. The abbey was built on to. I think it probably was something I missed in one of the exposition dumps in the beginning where he’s like, Go to the library, read all the research, and he goes there, and I think there’s something about that abbey’s location and the Abbey was on the place where they hid the fact that the that the Spanish Inquisition was devil’s work.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:26:45] No, the Abbey is. Okay. Abbey is the abbey. And it’s well of skulls. Yeah. Those, I believe, are the fallen angels that the devil is trying to wake up to use. There are 200 sites, so apparently there’s going to be 200 installments of this movie series. And each one, they find a new they find a new site. Each site has 200 fallen angels. That’s going to be the devil’s Army. Is that wrong?

Audience Member [00:27:13] Yes.

Paul Scheer [00:27:14] All right. Hold on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:17] This audience is not with me tonight.

Paul Scheer [00:27:20] This is this is like going to a murder mystery. Everyone has one piece of information from the movie that they were able to retain. And then when you get together with 200 people, you can actually nail it. Who said who, where, where? Okay. Yes. All right. In the back. Okay. What what is the right answer?

Audience Member [00:27:37] The skulls belong to the victims of the Spanish Inquisition. The fallen angels each get their own site.

Paul Scheer [00:27:45] I see. I see. I’m sorry. Wait, is that Tim?

Paul Scheer [00:27:48] Yes.

June Diane Raphael [00:27:49] Of course.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:27:50] Okay, Tim, I take it back. You can criticize me, but none of you other motherfuckers can. Also, Tim, what are you doing in the back? My guy.

Paul Scheer [00:27:59] Tim’s being smart. Okay, that makes.

June Diane Raphael [00:28:07] Makes a little sense. Not a lot.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:08] But then why? What was the? Okay. Well, maybe Tim, you can just yell. Paul, you don’t have to go back. What was the hell, Mouth? Because it’s built on a Buffy style Hellmouth, right where I was like. Is this a is this a place where the. The separation between Earth and hell is, like, thin, and there you can traverse it. What is the.

Paul Scheer [00:28:31] Well, they go downstairs and they go. Ooh, getting close to hell. No, but then it only seems that they went about 20 feet below the surface. Yeah.

June Diane Raphael [00:28:40] Yeah. There’s a lot of gas and sulfur.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:28:43] Yeah, but then there’s the puddle on the ground that appears to be like a hole to hell? I don’t know. I was like, Is this. What is this? And then the Virgin Mary comes out of it, and then she turns into a demon. And then.

June Diane Raphael [00:28:57] Oh I thought that was Jesus.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:02] Hey, Tim.

June Diane Raphael [00:29:04] I thought that was Jesus.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:07] No, I think it’s the Virgin Mary.

June Diane Raphael [00:29:08] Wow.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:09] Yeah. I mean, look, because isn’t that. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. This. This movie is for how much the movie is about. Like a hero priest vanquishing pure evil with the power of the Holy Mother and Jesus Christ. This is fuckin wild. I mean, this, this. And we’re all like, Uh huh. Great.

Paul Scheer [00:29:36] This, to me, this little scene kind of encapsulates.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:39] Can I just say? This kid is great.

June Diane Raphael [00:29:41] Amazing. This kid’s amazing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:29:45] This kid is doing fantastic work and is is covered in prosthetics and fake teeth and all sorts of stuff. But I thought he was giving a great performance, especially in the first scene between when Russell Crowe arrives and the kid sits up in bed, when Russell Crowe starts praying and they have their first back and forth. Dynamite. The kid is fantastic.

Paul Scheer [00:30:07] I love it. This is, I think, the scene. I am right in saying this is probably the tone of the movie, which I kind of love, but also weird. Here we go.

Movie Audio [00:30:15] You don’t know who you’re dealing with.

Movie Audio [00:30:18] So tell me. Tell me your name. Unless you are too afraid.

Movie Audio [00:30:23] I’m not some stupid fuck you convince to get into a pig.

Movie Audio [00:30:28] So you won’t tell me your name?

Movie Audio [00:30:30] My name is blasphemy. My name is Nightmare.

Movie Audio [00:30:44] My nightmare Is France winning the World Cup.

Movie Audio [00:30:51] You can’t hide behind jokes forever, Gabriel.

Paul Scheer [00:30:59] That tone is amazing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:03] This right here is giving me big time Smeagel vibes. Yes, this is giving me. If you told me this was a Andy Serkis CGI or rather motion capture character, I would believe you.

Paul Scheer [00:31:16] I love that this kid threatens Russell Crowe by saying, I’m going to make you cum. Yeah, and you’re going to like it, and that’s going to fuck you up more than anything.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:29] He says, I’m going to fuck you.

Paul Scheer [00:31:32] And I’m going to make you cum.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:31:35] It’s this little kid is saying all of that to a priest. Finally, the kids get revenge.

June Diane Raphael [00:31:43] Seriously. And just say, you know, I had to. I got my hair blown out for you all. So. You’re welcome. You’re very welcome. But I had my little earbuds in. Beats the beats buds, and I. But she had. She had to, like, get in and do some work. And I said, Oh, I’ll take them out. And so the Bluetooth disconnected. I was watching the movie was getting it on this scene, and I just sat and watched and she watched and then I made no mention of it and then put them back in and continued to watch. It was very strange.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:32:23] You know what this movie, I was in the middle of this movie, and I realized what it reminded me of structurally or the type of movie it is like. And genre wise, it’s not like that, but it is a horror version of National Treasure. Because it’s just about finding secret rooms and maps and decoding puzzles and finding, like, secret elements to then kill that do a thing. I was like, This is like fucking national treasure. Imagine if this this series of movies met up with Nicolas Cage.

June Diane Raphael [00:32:55] But see, my big complaint and honestly, my only complaint is that this movie had the most like, just disappointing ending there.

Paul Scheer [00:33:05] What?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:08] What do you mean? What do you mean?

Paul Scheer [00:33:10] What part?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:11] You mean like the battle was disappointing or.

June Diane Raphael [00:33:13] The battle was really disappointing. You mean the 199 scene? Yeah. Yeah, that was wonderful. Although even that was a little disappointing because I was like, did they really just suggest we’re going to watch 199 of these?

Paul Scheer [00:33:30] That’s like the way that like my name is Earl. Like when a TV shows, like, you have 500 more people to apologize to. That’s our seasons, you know?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:38] Honestly though, give me one of these a week and I’m happy.

June Diane Raphael [00:33:41] But but then they tell us almost immediately after that that this man has died.

Paul Scheer [00:33:48] Who?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:48] Who?

June Diane Raphael [00:33:49] Father Crowe.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:33:50] Oh. Oh, oh, oh. The person it’s based on.

June Diane Raphael [00:33:54] So I’m like, there’s no way we’re getting. There’s no way. From this point on, he was able to accomplish 199.

Paul Scheer [00:34:00] Oh, June, Hold on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:02] Oh, boy. Uh Oh.

Paul Scheer [00:34:04] I’ll read you something right here. The number of exorcisms performed by Russell Crowe’s character, Friar Amaroth, vary depending on who he’s reporting to. He has claimed at times over 100,000 exorcisms over his career.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:28] Hang on a second. I’m going to need to figure that out.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:33] How many days in a year? Wait.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:36] So I’m assuming some of these were mass exorcisms for large for large groups.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:42] Like if we need to exorcize the entire audience.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:34:44] Sure. Yeah, exactly. Or like, maybe over an entire like concert.

June Diane Raphael [00:34:49] Right, right, right.

Paul Scheer [00:34:51] Well, he goes on to say, when questioned by skeptics, he claimed that a person could be possessed with upwards of a thousand demons.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:02] Oh.

Paul Scheer [00:35:03] And. And he measured each prayer and rite in the exorcism as a singular exorcism.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:14] Okay, so he’s.

June Diane Raphael [00:35:15] All right. These numbers are a little inflated.

Paul Scheer [00:35:20] Therefore, posessed people might require tens of thousands of exorcisms to be healed.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:26] Okay, this is ridiculous.

June Diane Raphael [00:35:28] But here’s my question. I could not quite understand what happened between him and that woman he did not help.

Paul Scheer [00:35:35] Oh, my God, that’s her name. That’s my favorite moment of that is like she comes to, remember me? I’m the woman you let die, like. Yeah, we got it. You’re not the ghost of Christmas past. Like. Like if I let you die, I’m like, you don’t have to, like, underline for me.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:35:53] But what’s crazy is Russell Crowe is having this moment with this woman that he let die. And of these memories and everything but everything she’s saying from the other priest’s point of view is coming from an 11 year old boy.

June Diane Raphael [00:36:04] Understood. But was she possessed?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:08] He says no, no, she had mental illness. But he in his pridefulness passed it on to someone else. He didn’t take care of her.

June Diane Raphael [00:36:16] But I don’t know that he was credentialed to take care of her. I think it would have been inappropriate.

Paul Scheer [00:36:25] That’s the whole thing.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:26] But he is the Pope’s excuse. I see him once a week for 90 minutes.

Paul Scheer [00:36:34] He is. But that’s his whole M.O.. His M.O. is he’s like a bad cop. So when he gets called in like, father, get the fuck in here. And he’s like, what is like, you shouldn’t be killing pigs. And he’s like, Hey, come on, come on.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:36:49] Tomas. Gabrielle in my office, right now!

Paul Scheer [00:36:52] Yeah. And that’s his whole thing is like, I answer, You got to talk to my boss. The Pope.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:04] There are multiple scenes where there’s an action packed, something happening, and the thing that we cut to on the other side is the pope reading a book from the 1400s or whatever that is redacted. Like the state department released it. I think it’s an it’s a redacted, illuminated manuscript.

June Diane Raphael [00:37:30] And also, can someone give him a desk?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:37:34] Yeah, he’s sick, let the pope stand. Let him said on Friday night.

Paul Scheer [00:37:44] Oh. By the way, I’m also realizing that this movie also works by the rules of Rumplestiltskin, which is if you can get the demon to say his name. Yeah, he’s out. Like don’t trick me.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:01] Russell Crowe treats all demons like “you little scamp.” Like he’s. All you got to do is. Yeah. Rumplestiltskin or just get him to say his name backwards. And he goes back to his dimension.

Paul Scheer [00:38:14] And he does these things like he is not. He is nonplused by demons. He sees it all the time. Obviously, he’s got his little tool kit. The most uncomfortable I’ve seen Russell Crowe in this entire movie is after the long Vespa ride, where he just pulls up on the side of the house to wash his pits, his dirty his dirty little pits over there. Like what?

June Diane Raphael [00:38:37] Actor’s choice.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:38:38] I guarantee that’s another Russell Crowe choise. This movie is rotten with lines and character beats that for sure are all him. I remember Darren Aronofsky telling this story once about every day. He would have to go up to Mickey Rourke and take sunglasses out of his pockets because he would fill his wardrobe with sunglasses that he would mid-scene pull out and put on. Because he thought the character would wear sunglasses.

June Diane Raphael [00:39:06] What’s so funny about this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:08] He won an Oscar for a movie he was actively sabotaging.

June Diane Raphael [00:39:16] So funny about this movie, too, is like we’re we are supposed to be on the side of, you know, fighting Satan and all. But there are times in this movie where I’m watching Catholicism play out and I’m like, What the fuck is this? Yeah. Like, people are confessing and they’re like, And the priest is like, do you feel sorry? And they’re like, Yeah, I do. They’re like, Great, You’re absolved.

Paul Scheer [00:39:40] It’s like, they like, they’re doing the cliff notes of it. It’s like we do the, the big shit we do for the.

June Diane Raphael [00:39:46] Yeah, it’s.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:39:48] The, the arc framework of the scenes we’re watching are a team up of heroes against the bad guy, the demon or whatever. But it’s so funny that all of their mechanics, tools and everything else are from the church and that they have to absolve each other of sin.

June Diane Raphael [00:40:06] And quickly.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:08] I thought that all of that stuff was so wild. It’s so interesting, I loved his little case. Oh, he has a little the medallion when he I thought it was very cool when he did the thing where he’s doing the for the, in front of Henry in it with his eyes and then his eyes splitting, too.

Paul Scheer [00:40:24] That was great.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:24] I thought that was dynamite. I loved that.

Paul Scheer [00:40:26] But to your point, June, the ending is disappointing because it kind of falls of the trap that all these movies fall into, which is like just throw some CGI shit at it and they are there. That happened because it is so like small when they go. I’m adapting it to Broadway and the end is going to be a little tricky, you know, to figure out how to do it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:40:46] You think it should be a musical, because you think Russell Crowe’s band, 60 Odd Foot of Grunts, should have done all of the music.

June Diane Raphael [00:40:54] I do want to talk about Russell Crowe’s singing. I’m a huge fan of Les Mis. And could he sing that part? No. No, but he acted the hell out of it to a point where I was like, I don’t care that you’re not singing what is my favorite song in all of musical theater. And that’s the power of this actor.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:16] I think that’s the same here. I don’t, I cannot imagine this is a good Italian accent in any.

June Diane Raphael [00:41:24] You know what’s so funny? When we played when Paul played that clip before, I wasn’t watching it and I was just listening and I thought, doesn’t sound very good. But once, I’ve got my eyes on him.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:36] It’s electric. You are drawn in, he can sell. That’s the genius of Russell Crowe, is he can sell it. He’s such a good actor. In spite of true bananas level stuff like this accent. I mean, this accent wild. Almost mario leve.

Paul Scheer [00:41:52] (Bad Accent) Letsa go get the devil!

Jason Mantzoukas [00:41:57] It’s a me.

June Diane Raphael [00:41:58] Can I just say about the vespa scene, like there is a part of me that almost wanted to laugh when he came out on the vespa with his priest outfit and sunglasses, but I thought it looked pretty fucking cool. And I was like, Wow, this actor man, like,

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:15] That’s it. You’re telling me that’s not Orson Welles?

June Diane Raphael [00:42:22] Awesome.

Paul Scheer [00:42:23] I mean, it really is. It is. It is amazing. But you’re right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:42:29] I think that’s really nuts. I thought, which is. Okay, sorry I interrupted you. Go ahead.

Paul Scheer [00:42:33] Oh, no, I. I think that there is that you said it before. He couldn’t sing that part in Les Mis, but he believed that he was singing it the best that anyone had ever sung it. And I think that’s the difference. It’s like he has no hesitation.

June Diane Raphael [00:42:47] Well, that’s. And also. Oh, do we want to talk about Javer in Les Mis and that character? Because he and I’ve seen I’ve seen every version of Les Mis and he brought something and a new he brought a new take to it, you know, and it wasn’t about. And so then I start thinking, he sounds great and I know he doesn’t, but I can’t help but think he does. It’s crazy.

June Diane Raphael [00:43:14] You cannot take your eyes off of him. And that’s what’s incredible.

Paul Scheer [00:43:17] I hung out with Russell Crowe one night for hours. It was amazing. And the night started off in a crazy way. But the second thing that happened was this. He calls over a waiter. We’re at a restaurant, and he goes, “Get up on this table and take out these lights.” And the waiter just said, “All right.” The waiter got on the table in a very fancy restaurant, unscrewed a light, unscrewed the other. Table that we were eating on walked off like he got him Svengali or something like he.

June Diane Raphael [00:43:54] It’s magic.

Paul Scheer [00:43:55] You take out these lights, right? And the guy walked like he did. Like, Oh, yeah, we do. Every night I walk on the tables and I take out the overhead lighting of this restaurant and I look, I watch as like, no hesitation. It was.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:44:11] He is incredibly and in in every movie performance incredibly capable at everything in this movie I believe they walk into the catacombs of this building. He’s not at all fazed by any of the discoveries that they make.

Paul Scheer [00:44:29] Nope.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:44:30] They he he sledgehammers, walls down, he opens wells full of skulls. They get down into like the Hellmouth area. And there is a 500 year old desiccated corpse. Shrunken up corpse. And he recognizes who it is. He goes, Oh, that’s father what’s his name. The most famous, the most famous exorcist in history.

Paul Scheer [00:44:56] Talking about him like Michael Jordan. Oh, yeah, I remember. Yeah. This guy.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:45:01] He recognizes the shriveled up body of a boy. I was like, Yup, absolutely. He’s like, Yeah, that’s who that is. Whatever. Are you not entertained? I’ll watch him do whatever he cannot. He cannot ruin. I mean the movie without. I mean, without him. This movie is an absolute, unmitigated disaster. Unless Nick Cage is in there. In which case, give. Give me every second.

Paul Scheer [00:45:35] There’s a bunch of weird choices here, too. I want to show you one thing I know. We talked about the Inquisition a little bit, and this is a visual thing, but so this is the the symbol of the Inquisition, right? That is the symbol that that is the true, real thing. This movie decided, well, we’ll change that a little bit. And that became that. We’re like, well, where did that come from? Oh, a video game. So. So wait, I’m going to show you. It’s just from a video game called Dragon Age. They’re like, Yeah, we’ll do that. We’ll do that. That will be what we’ll use. Instead, they ripped off a video games inquisition symbol.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:20] Wait, in the video game. It’s an Inquisition themed video game?

Paul Scheer [00:46:24] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:26] Everybody knows the video game?

Paul Scheer [00:46:28] Jason, Dragon Age, man. Dragon Age.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:32] Man. Gotta get in the age, bro. Did they get called out for that? Because that does seem egregious.

Paul Scheer [00:46:39] I mean, we just did it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:46:40] Like it’s like there are three elements in the real symbol, but none of them are an eye. That is curious that an eye has been.

Paul Scheer [00:46:53] Here’s what I think. Graphic designer in a different country is like inquisition. Dragon age pops up, he’s like, got it. Nananana. I don’t think it was stolen. I think it was Googled. And they’re like that one looks weird. I like that one. Well that one is designed. That’s why you like it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:47:14] So I think you’re right. I agree with you. It’s a foreigner’s fault.

Paul Scheer [00:47:18] Hey. God, dammit. I will say that this. This father. This father did have some views that were not mentioned in the film, one of which is on yoga and at a film festival in 2011. The character that Russell Crowe is based on said yoga is satanic because it leads to the practice of Hinduism, and all Eastern religions are based in a false belief in reincarnation and practicing yoga is Satanic and it leads to evil, just like reading Harry Potter.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:47:56] Wow.

Paul Scheer [00:47:57] Boom. Hit him. That’s. I love when you can hit. Not like you’re like. Oh, okay. Ooh. Like, you kind of keep on. It’s like hitting all the buttons in the elevators. Like you’re going down.

June Diane Raphael [00:48:10] I did love that this father had a, like, a chief officer title in the Vatican. He was the chief exorcist, which I was like, Wow, that’s a real title.

Paul Scheer [00:48:21] There’s a lot of people working in that building at the end of the movie.

June Diane Raphael [00:48:26] Well that’s the holiest of holy places.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:27] Yeah, well, it looks like like MI5. From the Jame Bond movies. Not even like like it looks like.

Paul Scheer [00:48:35] All I want is for Q to come up and say this crucifix also does this.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:48:40] Well, did you? Did anybody else think in this scene? In the scene that we were you were complaining about June, where the not very exciting final battle, the two priests are battling and there’s all this back and forth and they’ve got one of the priests has a medallion and one has the cross and. Did it sound to you like the cross made gun sounds?

Paul Scheer [00:49:01] Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:01] And there was a lot of tossing the guns like they were in bad boys or something. And it was like grab and go. But it’s not like bam, bam, bam, bam. It was like and cross and but I felt like it was making the clickety clank sounds of a gun or something. It felt like that’s how they wanted it to come across. Like they were badasses.

Paul Scheer [00:49:20] Definitely. There’s definitely like a yeah, yeah. It had a definitely had a, a much more metallic sound to it. And I guess you do need to because this is an action movie. It’s a cop movie.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:30] Well, that’s it. Like, that’s what’s so crazy is you think it’s going to have all those hallmarks of the end, the shootout at the end. But instead it’s crosses, holy water.

June Diane Raphael [00:49:41] And the movie makes such an interesting decision to pair him with Tomas and not the mother. And so then we’re sort of on this journey with Tomas, who I never cared about, you know, And I was like.

Paul Scheer [00:49:54] The panty sniffer.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:49:56] Yeah, how did he not die? Tomas absolutely should have died.

Paul Scheer [00:50:00] Tomas was tossed out the fucking door. Like, I was like, Yeah, that’s good. Why do we need Tomas? Tomas had no journey.

June Diane Raphael [00:50:08] Also, like, the love of a mother, which we’re told is the closest humans can experience to the love of God. The Father.

Paul Scheer [00:50:15] Wait, is that true?

June Diane Raphael [00:50:16] That’s what the movie said. But I’m like, the love of a mother did not do much in this film like it didn’t. It didn’t do. There was nothing like. She just. She just talked to her son after he was already depossessed. Nothing happened from her love.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:38] The family is irrelevant. Yes, truly.

June Diane Raphael [00:50:41] I didn’t have any attachment to them. I was like, they can stay or go. Like they don’t mean anything to me. I don’t care if this daughter kills her mom in front of my very eyes. I felt so disconnected from them.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:50:54] But that’s the thing is like he is he. And even like the criticism levied against him is that he is too prideful and full of ego. And then he is he’s basically like a gunslinger who’s like, I’m the only one who can save this boy. Get out of here. Like, like The Exorcist is about a family is about this happening to Reagan and her mom, you know, And this is like, you don’t matter. You’re just like, oh, we’re just going to go. But unless you can also be possessed. I liked it when the siblings were speaking in unison. That was amazing. That was there was a bunch of creepy stuff I thought really worked.

Paul Scheer [00:51:27] Let’s go to the crowd. Let’s see if anyone here has any ideas. Maybe can shed some light on things that we don’t know because we talked about chaos.

June Diane Raphael [00:51:34] I’d also love to know if anyone knows if the Catholic Church is still performing exorcisms. I think the answer is yes, they are.

Paul Scheer [00:51:40] The answer is yes. Yes. Okay. Yes, go ahead. Hi.

Audience Member [00:51:42] I just thought it was so strange that when you know she was going crazy, that the mother was like, I’ll go to sleep and she’s in another room. And then the daughter or the sister is sharing just the room, like next door, and she’s sleeping. I’m like, the priest. It was over 24 hours. Everybody was up. But the mother who was freaked out and the sister, I don’t understand.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:52:04] I also thought it was, yeah.

June Diane Raphael [00:52:05] It was wild. And I did have the thought because I had I was in the middle of watching this movie and I walked upstairs and Paul did one of the the crazy possessed voices. And in that moment, I thought if it if it honestly, if a child of mine was possessed, I would absolutely leave. I would not, I don’t know. I would not engage.

Paul Scheer [00:52:30] See, but this is where June and I differ, because I believe, like I said earlier, I’m treating this person like a carpet cleaner. It’s like I don’t need to be over them and look in like, Oh, how you are you cleaning the carpet? I’m like, I trust you. I’ll go in the other room.

June Diane Raphael [00:52:41] And honestly, there would be no part of me that would be like, Oh, it’s Henry, though. I’d be like that You’re the devil and I’m gone. Like I have not confused for.

Paul Scheer [00:52:54] I’ve seen Jun get out for lesser things like the thought of it being possessed. I’ve seen you go, We’re out, We’re done. You made us leave a hotel one time because got bad vibes. You’re like, we’re out.

June Diane Raphael [00:53:06] One thousand percent.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:53:07] If if, if a priest showed up at my house talking like he was talking, I would push back a step. I would be like, Hang on a second. Wait, what are you saying? Like, he’s like, very powerful Demon has possessed your son. Very, very powerful demon. Of course, I’m an Italian gentleman, very powerful demon. And she’s like, Uh huh, what? I mean, what?

June Diane Raphael [00:53:31] Jason, if your child and but we haven’t even talked about the scene where he the first time we hear that voice is when he grabs his mom’s breast and says, You didn’t breastfeed me as a baby. Baby hungry or something like that.

Paul Scheer [00:53:46] Wait a second.

June Diane Raphael [00:53:47] I was like, what the fuck?

Jason Mantzoukas [00:53:48] That’s my favorite scene in the movie.

Paul Scheer [00:53:52] Do we think that maybe that’s where the Mother’s love didn’t come into play?

June Diane Raphael [00:53:56] Again, that’s all I would need to hear is baby hungry. And I feel like, I’m gone.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:02] That’s the T-Shirt. Baby, baby Hungry with an arm. With an arm like this, baby hungry.

Paul Scheer [00:54:12] All right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:12] Yeah. I’d be the only one buying that T-shirt.

Paul Scheer [00:54:17] What’s your question?

Audience Member [00:54:19] So two things. One, Russell Crowe absolutely sounds like Puss in Boots.

Paul Scheer [00:54:23] Oh, yeah.

Audience Member [00:54:24] And two, so a friar as conduit for the devil speaking to Isabelle and Ferdinand are basically saying that the founding of the New World was brought about by the devil? Is he trying to make a comment on that?

Paul Scheer [00:54:43] Wow. By the way, great point.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:46]  I don’t think I didn’t realize that.

Paul Scheer [00:54:51] Basically the devil discovered America.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:54:54] It sounds like it. I didn’t put it together.

Paul Scheer [00:54:56] But that’s a really astute point. I think that’s leading as the best question of the night, that just basically America is the devil country.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:04] Yeah. Founded by the devil.

June Diane Raphael [00:55:05] Yeah. He’s our founding father.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:08]  It is it is heating up.

Paul Scheer [00:55:11] All right. Yes. What do you got here? Reach a little bit to me. Here we go.

Audience Member [00:55:17] Okay, so not to lay on more mom shame of the mom. But I believe that the mother’s love never really came into play because when Father Thomas is like, Oh, my God, I’m so sorry for your loss. Your husband died. She’s like, Oh, my God, it’s okay.

June Diane Raphael [00:55:33] I know there’s a weird reaction.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:36] And she said, It’s cool. Cool.

June Diane Raphael [00:55:41] So glad you brought that up. It was very very strange.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:44] I also freaked out at that.

Audience Member [00:55:46] Fast forward, we see that the son witnesses his dad get impaled through the skull and to rewind and say her reaction was, Oh, it’s cool.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:55:57] Keep in mind it’s the eighties.

June Diane Raphael [00:56:00] Like, she basically is like, it’s no big. Like it is not a big deal.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:05] I’m like, Oh, is she going to flirt with the priest?

June Diane Raphael [00:56:07] No.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:08] Oh, it’s fine. I’m single.

June Diane Raphael [00:56:11] Very strange.

Paul Scheer [00:56:13] She’s house flipping now.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:13] By the way, double. If if, if you’re if your son witnesses your husband’s impaling and death, don’t move him to a castle in Spain and be like, figure it out. Talk soon, please.

June Diane Raphael [00:56:29] Because honestly and I was also like, did she not have any insurance? Like, what were the what was did they not have any plan for this?

Paul Scheer [00:56:38] Maybe she was responsible for it.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:40] I mean, Oh, wow. Now, that’s interesting.

Paul Scheer [00:56:44] You know, let’s call it out.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:56:46] Yeah, She cut the brakes.

Audience Member [00:56:48] Two quick things. Why were the doctors in Spain speaking Italian?

Paul Scheer [00:56:54] I mean, look, I think across the board this is a very multilingual movie. Everyone is speaking every language at any point. But yes, that’s a good point. And by the way, this movie shot in Ireland.

Audience Member [00:57:06] Okay, I guess I forgot that this is based on a true story because I was convinced that both Father Amorth and Padre Escobar were possessed when they were in the Vatican. And I was waiting for the demon eyes to come out.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:21] At the very end, tou mean?

June Diane Raphael [00:57:22] Oh, that would have been great.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:24] I thought that would have been cool.

Paul Scheer [00:57:25] Like the Thriller ending? Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:57:30] I thought the Pope was going to be possessed. And that’s why he had suddenly gotten healthy, was that he had, like, the power of the demon, you know, and was healthy now. And that the setup was they were going to have to get him in the next movie. But no, they’re just James Bond.

Audience Member [00:57:43] So two quick things. One is June asked if the Catholic Church still performs exorcisms, and according to this website, it has grown exponentially. So in 2005, in the United States, there were 12 Catholic priests doing exorcisms. Now there are around 150.

June Diane Raphael [00:58:02] I can see a world in which because nobody’s becoming a priest anymore, I can see a world in which if this.

Paul Scheer [00:58:09] Brings him in?

June Diane Raphael [00:58:10] 1,000%.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:12] I agree. I agree. Because it’s not sexy to just be a regular priest in today’s world. We got a bad rap. But if you’re an exorcist now.

June Diane Raphael [00:58:22] Now we’re talking.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:58:23] Now you’re in showbiz, baby.

Paul Scheer [00:58:26] All right. Tim also has his own question, not just the follow up to June’s thought. Go ahead.

Audience Member [00:58:31] The woman who kills herself, that’s like plaguing Russell Crowe. You guys said that that was just mental illness, but it seemed like something more was going on there. There was like, the bird connection.

June Diane Raphael [00:58:42] I thought so, too.

Audience Member [00:58:43] When she landed on the cobblestone. The blood spatter was like angel wings. And then when the demon is torturing Russell Crowe as her, it’s like, Do you remember? Do you believe me now? Do you believe me now? So is the sin not saving her, or is the sin not believing that she gets fucked by the devil every night?

Paul Scheer [00:59:01] Oh, my God. This guy’s got an answer. He’s got an answer. All right.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:04] So there were rumors. He does reference that there were rumors of sexual abuse, so I didn’t know what he was.

Paul Scheer [00:59:11] We got we have. We have a very adamant person here.

Audience Member [00:59:14] Yeah. June was saying that the there were people in the Vatican that were obviously fucking this woman.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:20] Priests. Correct. Priests.

Audience Member [00:59:24] The person that comes to me at night looks like you.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:27] Right.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:30] Oh, not that it’s him, but he looks like you cause.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:32] He’s a priest.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:33] Right, right, right. Okay. Yep. That makes sense.

Audience Member [00:59:35] Doing the business.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:37] So. Okay, so now I understand.

Paul Scheer [00:59:39] All in the text. It’s all the text.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:41] The whole audience is like, Oooooh, yeah.

Paul Scheer [00:59:44] I told you, everybody holds one piece of this movie.

Jason Mantzoukas [00:59:47] Tonight’s audience is a raw, emotional nerve.

Paul Scheer [00:59:55] Everyone is revealing something as if we all did not have the same communal experience.

June Diane Raphael [00:59:59] I know, but that is. But that is so now I’m understanding just to say it again, that is what was haunting him, that he didn’t believe this woman who was who was being sexually abused. All right. That’s a fair haunting.

Paul Scheer [01:00:12] Wow. It’s a good haunting. Okay. Yes. Your question.

Audience Member [01:00:15] I just wanted to know if anybody else noticed. So you mentioned it was filmed in Ireland, which we sort of thought because it looked Irish, and then we noticed that the supposed library that’s supposed to be in Rome is really obviously Trinity College Long Room library. And you can see the Brian Boru harp in multiple shots, which is like the symbol of Ireland. It’s on Guinness logo and it’s real, real obvious.

Paul Scheer [01:00:40] Well, they spent the CGI budget on the last scene so they couldn’t go erase that other stuff.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:00:45] Hang on a second. That harp might be in possession of the Vatican.

Paul Scheer [01:00:51] Well, there you go.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:00:52] Wow.

Paul Scheer [01:00:53] Wow. This is really.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:00:54] We learned way more than I thought we would.

June Diane Raphael [01:00:57] Yeah, we really did.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:00:59] It was an education.

Paul Scheer [01:01:01] But you know what? There is going to continue to be an education here as we hear what other people have to say, because now it is time for second opinions.

Audience Member [01:01:11] All right. I’m Mark. Connor.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:01:18] I already hate it.

Audience Member [01:01:26] Have you ever met a girl that you tried to date? Their eyes are all red, and now she’s filled with hate. Let me tell you a story about my situation. I was talking to this girl in the Vatican Nation. Oh, baby, you. You got what I need. But you say I’m just a demon. But you say I’m just a demon. Asmodeus. You. You puked up a bird. But you say I’m just a demon. But you say I’m just a demon. So, Paul calls Amazon. At the time, I thought leaving a five star review wouldn’t be no crime because I leave reviews, and that’s a fact. When the boy grabs his mom’s tits, that shit was whack.

Paul Scheer [01:02:12] Amazing. Give it up.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:14] Wait a minute. Stay there. Stay there. One second. Stay there. One thinking. Give it up for these guys.

Paul Scheer [01:02:25] All right. There are 13,952 reviews. That seems to be a record for what we do on this show. 13,952 Total reviews. 63% are five stars.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:02:51] Paul, will you remind? This came out like a month ago?

Paul Scheer [01:02:54] Yeah, it came out just a little while ago. It came out April 6, 2023.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:03:00] But that’s amazing.

Paul Scheer [01:03:01] Yep. It has an 81% audience score, 81%. And this average, the average is a 4.3. All right, so the reviews are great from Dodger Girl 67, “This is not your average Exorcist movie. It led me to learn more about leading Exorcist. And I did actually purchase some of the father’s books. And the movie was fantastic. So fantastic. I watched it five times within a week. Cinema photography was awesome. And the use of Italian language mixed with English was very easy to follow.”

June Diane Raphael [01:03:50] That’s true.

Paul Scheer [01:03:52] “Five stars. Great movie.” Valerie Bickel writes this. “Being an ex Catholic. This was awesome. It’s surprising what people don’t know. Movie night!” The title is Wow.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:04:17] I like that one. I like that you read that one almost as if it was a poem.

Paul Scheer [01:04:24] Alorra writes “Even being bias about being Russell Crowe because he’s going to be my next ex-husband when we finally meet and all. This movie is riveting. It’s scary because The Exorcist, the movie was made about was a real exorcist. And while the movie story itself is all Hollywood and flair, the movie reminds us that there is true evil out there and they’re waiting for the humans to screw up and open themselves to it. Effects were great, especially the young boy and my man Russell, He owns a rugby team and sings. I am a sucker for music.”

Jason Mantzoukas [01:05:19] Is this review from Tindr?

June Diane Raphael [01:05:23] I do feel like I could have written this like I’m like, This is so crazy, but also like, yes, yeah, that part’s right.

Paul Scheer [01:05:30] The movie is a big hit. Budget was 18 million. It grossed 76.5 million worldwide. And 20 here in the States and there’s a sequel coming people. There is a sequel coming.

June Diane Raphael [01:05:46] Wonderful.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:05:46] And you know then I’m working on my Italian accent (Bad Accent) “Oh no! Father Amorth, eets a the devil.”

Paul Scheer [01:05:58] And for those of you who didn’t stay for the Post-credits sequence.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:02] Oh wait, that includes me.

Paul Scheer [01:06:05] They pop up. They pop up a picture of the OG. And there we go.

June Diane Raphael [01:06:13] Is there’s something in his nose?

Paul Scheer [01:06:16] There does look like there’s a there’s a there’s a boogie in there. Or maybe it’s a deviated septum. I’m not sure.

Audience Member [01:06:25] It’s the devil!

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:32] It’s just hair. It’s just a bunch of gray hair in his nose. Nothing wrong with that.

Paul Scheer [01:06:42] It is the devil. All right. Wow.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:06:47] Devil’s nose hair. I feel like. I feel like that’s a cocaine code. Do you have any of the devil’s nose hair?

Paul Scheer [01:06:57] Well, another reason for the strike to be over.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:03] That’s what somebody says that doesn’t know cocaine terms. I’m looking for the devil’s nose hair. What? How old are you?

Paul Scheer [01:07:14] Oh, my gosh. Jason June, would you recommend this movie?

June Diane Raphael [01:07:18] 1,000%, Yes.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:20] Give me all the rest of them immediately.

June Diane Raphael [01:07:21] I can’t wait to watch the sequel.

Paul Scheer [01:07:23] I kind of want this to be like it should be a television series where I can get one a week. I do really want.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:07:29] I would love it. I would love. I would love it the way that they are doing the Equalizer as both a TV show starring Queen Latifah and a movie series starring Denzel Washington. Give me the same give me Russell Crowe in the movies. And I don’t know Liev Schreiber in the TV show, also playing Italian.

Paul Scheer [01:07:57]  I, I agree. All right.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:08:00] We must have Italian listeners in Italy or here, Italian listeners. Please weigh in. Let us know.

Paul Scheer [01:08:06] (Bad Accent) I think it was good and it was a neat thing to do, but they pulled it off.

Jason Mantzoukas [01:08:14] And I love that he’s like “Do you know any jokes? The devil hates a jokes.”

Paul Scheer [01:08:22] Thank you for coming out! This has been How Did This Get Made. You all are fantastic.

Paul Scheer [01:08:29] What a show. Thank you, as always, to the wonderful staff at Largo. And you know what people? If you are jonesin’ to attend a How Did This Get Madelive show in person. Well, you got chances because we are in New Haven, Connecticut, tonight. If you’re hearing this early, come see us tonight in Connecticut. I think tickets are still available. I hope they are, for your sake. That’s October 20th, just in case. I don’t know when you’re listening to it. And tomorrow, October 21st, we are going to be in Brooklyn. Not to mention that we are going to be in Chicago and Minneapolis in November, on the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Get your tickets now at HDTGM.com. Now, I also want to direct your attention to another big live show on 10/25. We are doing a giant charity show at the Orpheum downtown. I’m talking Jack Black, Jeremy Allen White, Little Dicky, myself, June Diane Raphael, Rachel Bloom, Janelle James, Nicole Byer, who else, Simon Helberg. Oh my gosh. Lily Tomlin. I can’t even remember. But all of this is a big variety comedy, music, standup comedy. Oh. Ray Romano, Patton Oswalt. All these people are getting together to raise money for our crew who have been out of work for the strike. Tickets are affordable. And here’s the thing. I’m going to give you a special code right now. You can actually put this in the little lock box right up there. The code is “solidarity”. If you put in the code “solidarity”, you will get your second ticket half price. So one ticket, full price, one ticket half price. That’s 75 bucks for two tickets. It’s a great cause. Head on over to Ticketmaster right now. Also, if you want to just keep on spending and I know you do. We do have a Pope’s Exorcist show shirt. You can check it out at the Teepublic store, which is Teepublic.com/stores/HDTGM. I love it. It’s Russell Crowe on a Vespa and the tagline is Exorcize. There you go. And next week on Last Looks, we will be going over your corrections and omissions. So if you want to talk about the movie, get something off your chest. Leave me a voicemail at 619-PAUL-ASK or write a comment on our discord at Discord.gg/HDTGM. And of course, as always, Jason will stop by for a chat and we’ll announce our next movie. And by the way, if you haven’t heard, we are on the lookout for a brand new theme song. And if you’re a musician and you have what it takes to record a new earworm, send your theme song submissions to HowDidThisGetMade@Earwolf.com. Post them on our Discord’s theme song channel. Remember, you can find us everywhere online @HDTGM. If you love the show, tell your friends. Helps. Really does. Word of mouth helps us. It’s a lot more fun than watching these bad movies alone. Watch them at the buddy. And last but not least, I got to say thank you to all the listeners who support this show every single week and our entire behind the scenes team who keeps this show running. I’m talking about our producers, Scott Sonne, Molly Reynolds, our movie picking producer, Avril Halley, our engineers Casey Holford and Rich Garcia, and our associate producer Jess Cisneros, who makes our amazing social media videos. That’s all I got, people. And we’ll see you next week on Last Looks. Until then, bye for now.