In the season finale, Juan and Kevin review the 2023 film, “They Cloned Tyrone”, directed by Juel Taylor, and starring, John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris.
Juan and Kevin review the 2023 film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, and Vin Diesel.
Juan and Kevin review the 2018 film, “Dragged Across Concrete”, directed by S. Craig Zahler, and starring Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, and Michael Jai White.
Juan and Kevin review the 2022 film, “I Used to Be Famous”, directed by Eddie Sternberg and starring Ed Skrein, Leo Long, and Eleanor Matsuura, now playing on Netflix.
Juan and Kevin review the 2021 film, “The Green Knight”, directed by David Lowery and starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, and Barry Keoghan.
On this bonus episode, Juan and Kevin set fire to the third bar and reunite to react to some of the latest trailers to tickle their fancy. Kevin is in the captain seat for this one. Grab your popcorn and settle into your favorite seat for these feature presentations.
THE OFFICE — “First Run” Episode 4001 — Pictured: Steve Carell as Michael Scott — NBC Photo: Mitch Haddad
Season 4, Episode 1 (continued into episode 2) of “The Office” titled, “Fun Run”, is one of the best episodes that the show put together, and it includes a subtle but impressive scene that showcases the talent, skill, professionalism, commitment, and potential chaos of capturing comedic brilliance. If you can’t recall, here’s what’s going on in the episode:
Michael pulls into the office parking lot and runs over Meredith because he was distracted. He fractures her pelvis.
Jim and Pam have secretly started dating, although Kevin has his suspicions.
Dwight euthanizes Angela’s ailing cat, Sprinkles, after she is forced to attend a group visit for Meredith at the hospital. Angela becomes distraught.
Pam’s computer has a virus completing a trifecta of bad events which lead Michael to the conclusion that the office is cursed.
It is discovered that Meredith has rabies from the time that Dwight covered her head with a bag that contained a bat.
To deal with his guilt, Michael organizes a 5K fun run to honor Meredith and promote awareness of the dangers of rabies. The office is forced to participate.
Pam walks in on a naked Michael changing into his race attire in his office.
During the run, Michael battles illness from eating too much fettuccine alfredo and drinking no water. We follow his struggle through several scenes. Steve Carrell does a lot of running in this episode. The sweat around his collar may have been artificial, but it’s also completely believable and understandable that it was real sweat. At one point, Dwight and Angela are jogging together and he is explaining to her his reasoning for killing Sprinkles. As a farmer, he felt this was the most humane act possible, putting the sick cat out of its misery. As the exchange continues they eventually stop moving and turn to face each other to talk. That’s when we see Michael in the distance trailing behind them.
Michael is jogging about 50 yards behind them and as they talk he is getting closer and closer. The conversation between Dwight and Angela is intense (this would become a pretty critical moment in their relationship), and yet the subject matter that the actors are working with is utterly ridiculous, as exemplified by this line of dialogue: “Cat heaven is a beautiful place, but you don’t get there if you’re euthanized!” A part of the scene in which Michael, starting from a distance behind them, eventually catches up to them and runs in between them on his way to the finish line is done in one take. You can see it here starting at the 4:09 mark.
You have to stop for a second to think about what’s going on here. Everything has to go right; from the actors not messing up their lines to the timing of the dialogue, the pauses, Steve Carrell’s pace, the actors nailing their acting; all in tune perfectly for Dwight and Angela to finish their discussion for a cut to take place just before Michael runs through. If they laugh, they have to do it again…Steve has to start running from the beginning of his spot. If that laughter, for various reasons, becomes contagious between them, they have to start again…Steve, start running again. If they mess up a line, if they flub their acting for a second, they have to start again…more running for Steve. If he trips on a crack in the sidewalk, they have to start again.
It’s a relatively short shot. Blink and you might miss it. Or, like me, who’s seen this episode numerous times, you just never stopped to think about everything that had to happen to get this shot. Steve Carrell committed in a way that demonstrated his leadership to his castmates and his ability to put the show on his shoulders time and time again. Rainn Wilson and Angela Kinsey were beautifully professional in a scene that depended on their execution to land with an array of spinning plates. For the majority of the show, all involved flexed their significant comedic muscle, by delivering carefully crafted and meticulously-written scenes, while also utilizing the improvisational and comedic talent of their cast. Truly, this is one of the best shows of all time, and this might be its most impressive shot.
Juan and Kevin review the 2022 film, “Avatar: The Shape of Water”, directed by James Cameron, and starring, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Winslet.
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