EP. 366 — This Is Me…Now: A Love Story

[00:00:00] Paul Scheer: Why my poop green? We saw This Is Me Now, so you know what that means.

[00:00:06] Music: [Intro Song]

[00:00:12] Paul Scheer: Hello everybody and welcome to How Did This Get Made.

[00:00:15] Today we are talking about the 2024 J-Lo Music, video, film. Self-Produced $20 million Story of Love.

[00:00:24] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, whoa.

[00:00:25] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:00:26] Jason Mantzoukas: What this, this cost more than Super Bad?

[00:00:29] Paul Scheer: Oh, cost more than a lot. A lot of movies. A lot of movies. But to give us a little taste of it, take a listen to this.

[00:00:36] Movie Audio: So when I was a little girl, whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always, in love.

[00:00:53] I wanna be in love, but I learned the hard way. Not all love stories have a happy ending.

[00:01:04] Paul Scheer: And then the motorcycle crashes and the movie begins. But to discuss this all, please welcome my co-host, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael. How are you both?

[00:01:13] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, well, I mean, we just got back from the meeting of the Zodiacal Council, and, uh.

[00:01:20] June Diane Raphael: By the way, by the way, let’s start there because I, I really. My only, my only critique of this movie is that Capricorns were not represented.

[00:01:31] Paul Scheer: Neither were Aquariuses.

[00:01:33] June Diane Raphael: I know.

[00:01:33] Jason Mantzoukas: Not at all?

[00:01:34] June Diane Raphael: No.

[00:01:34] Jason Mantzoukas: I figured they, because they were all named after star signs. There would what?

[00:01:39] June Diane Raphael: Oh, Jason. They, they didn’t have everyone.

[00:01:41] Paul Scheer: No. This made me mad.

[00:01:43] June Diane Raphael: Representation matters.

[00:01:45] Jason Mantzoukas: To say this, but my sign was represented by the unequivocal best person at this thing, the pantheon level god, Jane Fonda playing Sagittarius.

[00:01:56] June Diane Raphael: And by the way, Jane Fonda’s also a Sagittarius.

[00:01:59] Jason Mantzoukas: SAG baby.

[00:02:01] June Diane Raphael: So I am, I’m really happy for you, Jason, but the Capricorn erasure.

[00:02:05] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow.

[00:02:05] June Diane Raphael: Was really hurtful.

[00:02:07] Paul Scheer: June, I was furious that there was no Aquarius in this. And I, and I said, well, maybe I missed it. You know, I, I don’t know.

[00:02:14] June Diane Raphael: I went back as well.

[00:02:15] Paul Scheer: I, and I, I looked the whole thing, I, I’ll let you know the Zodiac, uh, sorry. I,

[00:02:19] Jason Mantzoukas: I believe they called it the Zodiacal Council.

[00:02:22] Paul Scheer: Yes. The Zodiacal Council is made up of, uh, a lot of interesting people. Like we said, Jane Fonda. We also have Post Malone, uh, we have

[00:02:30] June Diane Raphael: Kiki Palmer doing it.

[00:02:31] Paul Scheer: Kiki Palmer.

[00:02:32] June Diane Raphael: One best moment of the movie. Oh, her, her Maya Angelou impression.

[00:02:37] Jason Mantzoukas: So good.

[00:02:38] Paul Scheer: Trevor Noah.

[00:02:39] Jason Mantzoukas: Jay Shetty. We have Kim Petras, we have Neil Degrass Tyson,

[00:02:43] Paul Scheer: Sophia Vargara. I mean this, it, it is, you’re , you’re like, wait, what, what, what? I mean here take a little, listen.

[00:02:50] Movie Audio: We are the Zodiacal Council, but the stars hold all the power.

[00:02:54] The stars can speak their minds, but what is in the deepest resists of your heart is ultimately what will manifest itself.

[00:03:02] Sometimes I chew my hair.

[00:03:03] Same.

[00:03:05] You know what? You would look hot in bangs

[00:03:09] Leo always shooting your shot.

[00:03:11] Let her get out there and explore. Mm Yeah.

[00:03:16] The nept bells are ringing.

[00:03:19] What is with this woman and weddings ?

[00:03:20] June Diane Raphael: But, but by the way, according to the documentary about the making of this movie.

[00:03:25] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, wait, what?

[00:03:26] Paul Scheer: You watched that? I did not watch that.

[00:03:28] June Diane Raphael: I just, I just, I finished this on a flight and then I got to the hotel room and just been unpacking. I thought, lemme put on the, uh, making of.

[00:03:37] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait. Maybe I think this might be the first time in history that.

[00:03:42] June Diane Raphael: I wanted more.

[00:03:43] Jason Mantzoukas: That June.

[00:03:44] June Diane Raphael: I sought out more.

[00:03:46] Jason Mantzoukas: That June has done extra homework for the podcast.

[00:03:50] June Diane Raphael: I was actually gonna say, can we push a half an hour? ’cause I think I have to finish this.

[00:03:54] Jason Mantzoukas: I would’ve watched it.

[00:03:55] Paul Scheer: I wanna watch it too.

[00:03:57] June Diane Raphael: What was fascinating is who passed on being a part of the Zodiacal Council and one of those people who just couldn’t find her way into the role was Khloe Kardashian.

[00:04:09] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, wow.

[00:04:10] Paul Scheer: Oh, there’s a lot of, a lot of nos in this movie. Like a, a two a point where you’re like, she asked. So, so many people, uh, to, yeah.

[00:04:20] June Diane Raphael: I’m surprised we didn’t get a phone call.

[00:04:22] Paul Scheer: At this point. I will say.

[00:04:23] June Diane Raphael: From Benny Medina,

[00:04:25] Jason Mantzoukas: I’m upset. I was cut. I did do this, but I was cut.

[00:04:29] June Diane Raphael: I could have been one of the friends. I could have been one of the.

[00:04:32] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, come on.

[00:04:32] June Diane Raphael: I could have been at the, the Lovers Anonymous, you know, lovesick anonymous meeting.

[00:04:38] Paul Scheer: Look, one thing I’m gonna say, just right out of the gate, I have a lot of opinions about what we just watched here, but I will say this. J-Lo is pretty great.

[00:04:46] June Diane Raphael: Oh, she’s just amazing.

[00:04:48] Paul Scheer: Like, whatever, whatever’s happening I’m on board with, like, she does some. Some stuff in this movie that I was just like, I, yeah, I’m okay with this. Like.

[00:04:59] June Diane Raphael: And I’m gonna say something I have supported her for, so I’ve supported her when no one has, I’ve supported her when people didn’t want her at the actors round table with other, you know, Oscar nominated actors and this and that.

[00:05:14] And I have stood beside her and I enjoyed the hell outta her in this. And watching the docuseries really getting to understand.

[00:05:25] Paul Scheer: Wait, it’s a series?

[00:05:25] June Diane Raphael: Sorry, movie.

[00:05:27] Paul Scheer: Okay. I just wanted to make sure.

[00:05:27] June Diane Raphael: I wish it was a series. You really, I’ve been rooting for her love story and that’s what this is. I’ve been rooting for her all these years to find love. And that’s what this is about.

[00:05:38] Paul Scheer: Well, let me just say, uh, just to put a cap on where we started, the, uh, celebrities who did not wanna be in the council, uh, Taylor Swift. Jason Momoa. Jennifer Coolidge. Lizzo.

[00:05:50] June Diane Raphael: Hold on, Paul. I, so we don’t know that they didn’t want to be in the council because according to the documentary, they were unavailable. And J-Lo does say, are they really unavailable or did they not wanna do it? ’cause that’s what I say when I don’t wanna do it.

[00:06:06] Paul Scheer: A hundred percent. And, and I will say this, they were all shot on green screen, so it did seem like the availability was flexible. It wasn’t like they all had to be there on the same day. I’m just in the grand scheme of things, there was.

[00:06:18] June Diane Raphael: Within a week of time. Sure. I mean, it was, again, she’s financing this whole thing.

[00:06:22] Jason Mantzoukas: I also find, uh, J Lo incredibly compelling.

[00:06:26] Paul Scheer: Sure.

[00:06:27] Jason Mantzoukas: You know, like, uh, especially I will say, especially on screen, you know, oh, I am a, at best, very casual fan of her music.

[00:06:37] June Diane Raphael: Yes.

[00:06:37] Jason Mantzoukas: I, I couldn’t tell you a J-Lo song.

[00:06:39] June Diane Raphael: I’m still, I’m still.

[00:06:40] Jason Mantzoukas: But that being said, I think she’s incredible on screen and is incredible inside of this. But it is ill conceived as a piece. I felt like, to your point, June, I would’ve loved it if this was truly a deep dive into the ups and downs of the JLo’s romantic life told through song and image.

[00:07:03] But I think it dead ends well.

[00:07:05] Paul Scheer: It’s trying.

[00:07:05] Jason Mantzoukas: I think it’s trying, but not really because at a certain point I think you have to understand that if you’re having repeated problems, uh, manifesting, engaging, and following through on a successful relationship and it’s not working, the problem might be that Fat Joe is your therapist.

[00:07:21] Paul Scheer: I was just gonna say. I think it all stems from Fat Joe being a terrible therapist. And that is, he is, uh, in a cardigan in this and he is like doing a multiple acting scenes with her.

[00:07:31] Jason Mantzoukas: Maybe get for another therapist. Maybe it’s not Fat Joe. I’m just saying like, I love Fat Joe as a performer, as a rapper, I think he’s, he’s incredible. Maybe he’s not a licensed therapist.

[00:07:43] Movie Audio: I believe that love never dies and that forever is real and that as long as I can.

[00:07:48] Time’s up. Let’s pick this back up next week. Wifey’s calling. One sec.. Hey, what’s up mama?

[00:07:57] Paul Scheer: Let’s, let’s check off some reasons why Fat Joe might not be a good therapist. A, he sets an alarm to go off very loudly in the middle of sessions to say Time’s up.

[00:08:06] That’s jarring. Um.

[00:08:08] June Diane Raphael: And usually most good therapists, they just have, they have a clock nearby actually that’s just facing them and not the patient.

[00:08:14] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah.

[00:08:14] June Diane Raphael: And just sort of casually glance.

[00:08:16] Jason Mantzoukas: He also, the minute their session is over, takes a call from his wife who is audibly yelling at him about continuing to see J-Lo and demanding that he stop seeing her while he casually hands J-Lo, J-Lo still in the room, a piece of paper that’s a, like a almost like prescription for her to go to Sex and Love Anonymous, uh, addicts Anonymous, right?

[00:08:39] June Diane Raphael: Yeah.

[00:08:39] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, something like that. And, and his wife is still like, this is bad form all over the place for a therapist.

[00:08:46] June Diane Raphael: And he also, I I, maybe I missed some backstory with him, but he does seem to, at one point she is, she’s describing a dream she has where she’s walking through the Bronx and, and it’s, you know.

[00:08:58] Paul Scheer: By the way, that was my subway stop. I was very excited about that castle. That’s, I was like, wow. I could have bumped into her. We were from the same block.

[00:09:06] Jason Mantzoukas: Poly from the block. Is that why you keep trying to call yourself Polly from the block?

[00:09:11] Paul Scheer: Yeah. I was really trying to be like, when I was working at my dad’s pharmacy, I was also poly from the block. I would run around.

[00:09:16] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, how great would it have been if she walked by like a storefront and it was just your dad’s pharmacy.

[00:09:22] June Diane Raphael: Oh my God.

[00:09:22] Paul Scheer: My dad’s pharmacy Z stop drugs just walking by Z stop.

[00:09:25] June Diane Raphael: Uh, well, her therapist, Fat Joe does, does remember the store that she references standing in front of. I can’t remember what it was called. Cause she says, oh yeah.

[00:09:39] Paul Scheer: She, she’s gone deep with Fat Joe.

[00:09:40] Jason Mantzoukas: She calls him Joe.

[00:09:42] June Diane Raphael: I remember that. So is he saying, I remember that from your dreams, or, I remember that. ’cause I also am from the block.

[00:09:47] Jason Mantzoukas: I think he’s saying I’m also from that neighborhood.

[00:09:50] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:09:50] Jason Mantzoukas: And she calls him Joe.

[00:09:52] June Diane Raphael: He’s Fat Joe from the block?

[00:09:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Yes.

[00:09:54] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:09:55] June Diane Raphael: Wow.

[00:09:56] Jason Mantzoukas: She also calls him Joe, which led me to, because I also had problems inside of the story being like, am I meant to believe this is a J Lo? This is J-Lo uh, uh, in some sort of personal analysis of her life. Or is this a J-Lo esque character she’s settling into?

[00:10:15] June Diane Raphael: Well, do you wanna know the answer?

[00:10:17] Jason Mantzoukas: I do.

[00:10:18] Paul Scheer: Oh, can I take a guess before you tell us?

[00:10:20] June Diane Raphael: Yeah.

[00:10:21] Paul Scheer: I think it’s a fictionalized J-Lo. So it has a lot of similarities, but it’s also different. One might even say a doppelganger. J-Lo.

[00:10:30] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, hang on. Now this, now hang on. This is, now this is interesting.

[00:10:35] June Diane Raphael: So, so again, I didn’t get through the whole thing ’cause I have to record this fucking podcast.

[00:10:41] Paul Scheer: Sure.

[00:10:42] June Diane Raphael: But I, from what I saw, she keeps on describing it to people who have many questions.

[00:10:48] Jason Mantzoukas: And those people still have those questions now after the movie’s done.

[00:10:52] June Diane Raphael: And, and she says, well here’s what I, I actually wanna say this in a very positive note. She, when we find her in the documentary.

[00:11:01] Paul Scheer: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:02] June Diane Raphael: A streaming, a studio, I don’t know who it was.

[00:11:05] Paul Scheer: Amazon.

[00:11:05] June Diane Raphael: That she had to deal with. It was Amazon.

[00:11:07] Paul Scheer: I believe it was. Yeah.

[00:11:08] June Diane Raphael: I don’t know. She had to deal with to finance this movie slash music video. Signed deal. They pull out. Okay. So then she’s forced to finance it herself, which Ben Affleck has a lot of feelings about and makes them known. Now she keeps on saying it’s, she’s so inspired by what’s happened to her and her story, which is the Greatest Love Story Never Told, which is a book that Ben Affleck gave her.

[00:11:39] And in that book, which he titled The Greatest Love Story, never Told, he had compiled all of their emails, all of their texts to each other, all of their letters to each other over the course of not just this current relationship they had, but the 20 year span that went on between the two of ’em. So when we find Jennifer Lopez in the documentary, she keeps on talking about how the chances of of finding this love later on and realizing she had never fallen outta love with him. They had just been on pause.

[00:12:16] Paul Scheer: And this is, and this is the saddest part of this, is.

[00:12:19] June Diane Raphael: Knowing they’re no longer together.

[00:12:20] Paul Scheer: Yeah.

[00:12:20] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, what?

[00:12:21] Paul Scheer: Oh, yeah. Yeah. They’ve divorced.

[00:12:23] June Diane Raphael: Jason.

[00:12:23] Jason Mantzoukas: I know, I know, I know. Sorry. I’m an actor.

[00:12:28] June Diane Raphael: So, so you are. That was great. So, but the funniest part of the documentary is that she takes that book, that very private book that he’s bought, brought to her.

[00:12:38] Paul Scheer: Well, this is, yeah.

[00:12:39] June Diane Raphael: This is so tough. You know this part, Paul.

[00:12:41] Paul Scheer: I know this part.

[00:12:41] June Diane Raphael: Okay. You know this part.

[00:12:42] Jason Mantzoukas: I don’t.

[00:12:43] June Diane Raphael: Oh God. It’s really tough. So again, this book is a giant binder.

[00:12:47] Jason Mantzoukas: She keeps it as secret for herself and she only looks at it and shows it to herself to remind herself what love is.

[00:12:52] June Diane Raphael: Jason, she takes it to the recording studio.

[00:12:55] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh boy.

[00:12:57] June Diane Raphael: And it’s splayed out on a coffee table. And

[00:13:00] Jason Mantzoukas: Uhoh

[00:13:00] June Diane Raphael: People are invited to flip through it, and they cut to like music supervisors or whoever, and they’re like, yeah, I just felt like I wasn’t supposed to be reading some of this.

[00:13:09] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh my God.

[00:13:10] June Diane Raphael: And then they have an interview with Ben and he’s like. Yeah. I mean, I thought that was sacred and private, but it is her process and I, I, yeah, he’s so deeply uncomfortable.

[00:13:26] Jason Mantzoukas: Of course.

[00:13:27] Paul Scheer: Well, this, a lot of people point to this movie and doc and that moment as potentially one of the reasons that frayed their relationship because it is so intensely personal.

[00:13:41] I think he doesn’t wanna live that kind of life. I think he wants to live a little bit behind the scenes and, you know, the first opening, uh, scene that we see, you know, or there’s a moment in there where J-Lo is burning a love letter. That was an actual real letter given to her by Ben Affleck. So she does actually burn it for the movie.

[00:14:03] Jason Mantzoukas: You mean in the scene where she’s in the LA mansion and it’s thunder and lightning out like it always does in LA.

[00:14:10] Paul Scheer: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:10] Jason Mantzoukas: She’s inside at the fireplace drenched, inexplicably drenched in a gown.

[00:14:17] June Diane Raphael: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:18] Jason Mantzoukas: And she is burning all the memories that are inside of a Louis Vuitton like tr train case. Like a trolley case. A big box.

[00:14:26] June Diane Raphael: That’s later.

[00:14:27] Paul Scheer: That’s later. This is in the beginning when she was, I think out in the desert. ’cause the letter reads,

[00:14:31] Jason Mantzoukas: okay,

[00:14:31] Paul Scheer: Life’s tough, but you’re sweet.

[00:14:34] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh God.

[00:14:35] Paul Scheer: Thanks for the gift. Hope you like the flowers. You told me you could never have enough. I believe you.

[00:14:43] Jason Mantzoukas: And it said I got her number. How do you like those apples?

[00:14:51] Paul Scheer: This is a tricky, a tricky movie to make about. She’s a love aholic.

[00:14:56] June Diane Raphael: I mean, well, it’s not a fully, it’s not fully a movie. What is, babe?

[00:14:59] Paul Scheer: What is it?

[00:15:00] June Diane Raphael: Well, that’s what the, uh, that’s what’s so hard is people don’t have a, people watch this without understanding the author’s intent.

[00:15:10] Paul Scheer: Okay.

[00:15:10] Jason Mantzoukas: And what does she? Yeah. Does she elaborate yet?

[00:15:13] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. It’s not a, it’s not a music video and it’s, it’s Purple Rain.

[00:15:17] Paul Scheer: Well, purple rain’s a movie.

[00:15:18] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s Purple Rain? Well, Purple Rain has like a narrative thrust that this kind of doesn’t have, right?

[00:15:23] June Diane Raphael: Oh, I think it does.

[00:15:24] Jason Mantzoukas: This feels more to me like something between Purple Rain and Lemonade.

[00:15:29] Paul Scheer: As Codi. As Codi said, Codi thinks it’s a love letter to her love of dance.

[00:15:34] June Diane Raphael: Oh, interesting. Well, I think it was, I think there was a clear narrative. She couldn’t find love. She was blaming it on all of these men. It was never working out. She was too quick to commit and to, you know, fall in love with this idea of love.

[00:15:48] And then of course she had to realize like she hasn’t loved herself.

[00:15:52] Paul Scheer: Well, but that, that scene. Wow.

[00:15:54] Jason Mantzoukas: I love that. I love that. I love that idea. And I wanna be clear, I love this as a, a thing.

[00:16:01] Paul Scheer: I’m in.

[00:16:02] Jason Mantzoukas: You know what I mean? A piece like, I like this. You know what it is? It’s not in any of the things we just said. It’s just a longer thriller.

[00:16:08] Paul Scheer: Right. I agree with that.

[00:16:09] Jason Mantzoukas: You know what I mean? Like it has, it has a loose narrative, but is actually really just about dance sequences and songs, which I believe is what’s going on.

[00:16:17] Paul Scheer: The dance sequences and songs. I’m gonna just give an A plus. I don’t need to dissect them at all, but I will say.

[00:16:23] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, you’re giving the songs just a blanket A plus across?

[00:16:27] Paul Scheer: Like I was, I was en raptured in like, I was like, oh, this is fun.

[00:16:30] Jason Mantzoukas: By the songs?

[00:16:31] June Diane Raphael: He gives both songs an A plus.

[00:16:34] Paul Scheer: Well, I don’t even know if I’m paying attention to the lyrics. At a certain point, I’m watching the dancing. I was all in. I was like, maybe it was, maybe it was a respite.

[00:16:39] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, yeah.

[00:16:40] Paul Scheer: From the, from the heaviness of the plot. But all I’m saying is, and like Thriller, it’s like there’s a moment Michael Jackson’s like, Hey, you wanna walk down this block?

[00:16:48] And then they walk down the block and then the thriller video starts, like this goes into like false scene work. I mean this is, we’re seeing scenes and I’m gonna say this. She goes to therapy with Fat Joe. Fat Joe, you know, does what all therapists do. Offer to give her a ride home. I think that probably you shouldn’t do.

[00:17:06] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s rain. It’s raining outside.

[00:17:08] Paul Scheer: Well, now she got a nice rain jacket. Uh, but, but that’s, that’s when I knew the movie wasn’t about J-Lo. I’m like, JLo’s not walking home or, and or taking the bus.

[00:17:16] Jason Mantzoukas: She said she’s gonna take the bus. That, that was what blew my mind. And then proceeds to do an homage to singing in the ring. Singing in the ring, the Gene Kelly from Singing In the Rain.

[00:17:28] Paul Scheer: A plus.

[00:17:29] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s good. It’s good. I will say.

[00:17:32] June Diane Raphael: See, that’s the only down sequence I didn’t like.

[00:17:34] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah.

[00:17:34] Paul Scheer: I didn’t like that one either actually too.

[00:17:37] Jason Mantzoukas: I, I, I, you just gave it an A plus. I don’t understand what’s going on.

[00:17:41] Paul Scheer: I know, but I had to ride it. I had to ride it.

[00:17:43] Jason Mantzoukas: I, I don’t mind.

[00:17:44] June Diane Raphael: Well, because my problem with that sequence was there’s no world in which J-Lo should ever be doing. Well, really, it upsets me to even talk about, but there’s no, the fact that she was wearing flats for that whole sequence really took me out of the entire piece.

[00:18:04] Paul Scheer: Wow. That took you out.

[00:18:05] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. And, and it just was so surprising that J-Lo would be in flats and be do, I was like, put her in a little bootlet. Put her in a, she was way, and I don’t know if it was a safety issue. I don’t know what, but it really took me out of things. And I don’t think she, but she didn’t seem comfortable.

[00:18:25] Paul Scheer: It was part of Rain outfit. I would’ve liked to her in Rain Boots.

[00:18:28] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. Better.

[00:18:28] Paul Scheer: I mean, but now was she at the end when she did that song and dance and singing the Rain Dance, was that supposed to be in the Bronx or LA? Because that’s the, I believe that, okay, so she is walking home from LA because the therapist is in LA.

[00:18:41] Jason Mantzoukas: Sometimes. Sometimes he’s in the Bronx. That’s what’s like, it’s all over the place. And that’s why I, you know, that’s why this to me is unsuccessful is because I’m neither clear on what the exact storyline that she’s interested in interrogating is beyond the idea that she’s gotten to be, you know, middle aged and has three divorces and doesn’t know how to do love right. That again, is something boy would be wonderful to interrogate, but I don’t, I, the songs didn’t help me get at that. Like they weren’t helping me. They weren’t in service of how me understand how she was reconciling her difficult feelings or her failures into turning them into successes and so forth. I would’ve liked more.

[00:19:24] Paul Scheer: Whereas Thriller,

[00:19:26] June Diane Raphael: Okay.

[00:19:27] Paul Scheer: It’s like, hey, we’re walking home and there’s some zombies out there. You know, so like that, like at least lines up like this. This is what I’m saying. It’s like we’re going, we’re really taking like some 180 degree turns and I think if we’re gonna discuss it, we should also just start where the movie starts because it does start in the heart factory. Outer space.

[00:19:44] Jason Mantzoukas: No, I, I think that’s in the, I think that’s in her body.

[00:19:48] June Diane Raphael: Don’t think that’s in outer space.

[00:19:48] Jason Mantzoukas: I think that’s meant to be her heart.

[00:19:49] Paul Scheer: Well, no.

[00:19:50] Jason Mantzoukas: That she has to restart.

[00:19:51] June Diane Raphael: Correct.

[00:19:52] Paul Scheer: I thought that Zodiacal Council was like at one point the camera.

[00:19:56] Jason Mantzoukas: I don’t think the Zodiacal Council is where the Matrix Revolutions style, uh, rhythm nation. Janet Jackson, rhythm Nation style, right heart. Metal heart scene takes place. I think so.

[00:20:09] Paul Scheer: The Heart Factory.

[00:20:11] Jason Mantzoukas: I believe is inside her chest.

[00:20:13] June Diane Raphael: It’s within her. I, that’s what I thought too.

[00:20:15] Paul Scheer: So the heart factory runs on rose pedals.

[00:20:17] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s because it’ss, remember she’s in the motorcycle accident first, and I believe they’re saying her heart is stopping because of the injuries in the motorcycle accident?

[00:20:27] June Diane Raphael: That end. She’s heart broken..

[00:20:29] Jason Mantzoukas: I’m sorry. Yes.

[00:20:30] Paul Scheer: Yes. Because the, the motorcycle, the motorcycle accident is a metaphor for heartbreak, right. She’s living the best life. And that guy in the motorcycle, that’s Ben Affleck, right? That’s, and Ben Affleck does make, uh, a couple of appearances in this. Uh, but that I don’t, I don’t know if that’s truly him or it’s a representation of him, like he is the guy. ‘Cause he looks, he has the same Armageddon, Ben Affleck haircut.

[00:20:54] June Diane Raphael: Just seen in the documentary, she says this is all loosely inspired, so don’t look too closely.

[00:20:59] Paul Scheer: Loose.

[00:20:59] June Diane Raphael: Yeah, but also don’t, okay, don’t be too far away.

[00:21:03] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah, and everybody, I think a lot of the people that were cast in it, especially the husbands, are all dancers. It’s Derek Huff. It’s people who are executing these elaborate huge dance sequences.

[00:21:16] Paul Scheer: Well, let me just for a second, just talk about this heart factory just for a second. All right. So if that’s inside of her, if that heart factory’s inside of her.

[00:21:22] Jason Mantzoukas: And if you haven’t watched it, just really imagine Matrix Revolutions, like those scenes

[00:21:27] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:21:28] Jason Mantzoukas: Like in what’s the, what’s the city called in the matrix, what they’re trying to get to where it doesn’t matter, but it’s where the radio.

[00:21:34] Paul Scheer: I know what you’re talking about. Yes. And, and so she has to put on a special suit to get inside the heart chamber because the heart is running on rose petals. Rose petals are in short supply, I guess because there’s also a meter that’s running very steampunk esque meter.

[00:21:49] I was upset that there were no men in the heart factory. And I was wondering maybe she could use some men in that heart factory. I don’t know. Do women not, do men have their own heart factory?

[00:21:56] Jason Mantzoukas: Are you saying that they needed men to make the heart work?

[00:21:59] June Diane Raphael: Careful.

[00:21:59] Paul Scheer: I’m just saying that maybe.

[00:22:00] June Diane Raphael: Careful.

[00:22:01] Paul Scheer: She, her counterbalance is that she needs a little bit of men and women in there.

[00:22:05] Jason Mantzoukas: Are you saying because men are stronger, they need the men, the stronger men to come in? Paul, is that what you’re saying?

[00:22:10] June Diane Raphael: Easy.

[00:22:10] Paul Scheer: Hey, like you, you said it, you said it, but if it makes sense to you, then who am I to disagree?

[00:22:15] June Diane Raphael: Well, it’s within her own heart, so all of those women are ostensibly her. Versions of her.

[00:22:22] Paul Scheer: Oh. Okay.

[00:22:23] June Diane Raphael: I mean, I guess there could be a very masculine version, but.

[00:22:27] Paul Scheer: Well, yeah. Maybe that, maybe that that’s a part of her that she, ’cause they all looked a little bit like her and maybe there needs to be, I mean, because here’s the other thing. The Zodiac Council is one council on.

[00:22:38] June Diane Raphael: Zodiacal.

[00:22:38] Paul Scheer: So sorry. The Zodiacal Council is one council.

[00:22:40] Jason Mantzoukas: Put some respect on their name, Paul.

[00:22:42] June Diane Raphael: And I know you’re angry about the lack of represent of aquariums. And I’m too,

[00:22:46] Paul Scheer: I’m, there’s no men in that Heart factory. There’s no Aquarius in the Zodiacal Council. What the hell is this?

[00:22:52] June Diane Raphael: And can I just tell you something that I was just, just, sorry to interrupt Paul, but I, as the movie’s going along, I’m like, wait, did I miss the goat? Where is, where’s the Capricorn? Where are the Capricorn?

[00:23:04] Jason Mantzoukas: Meanwhile, we have two Pisces. We have Pisces represented in, in two, in two ways.

[00:23:09] June Diane Raphael: Oh, Gemini. Well, obviously we have two Geminis, so I’m like, what the fuck? I quickly Google. Who’s the Capricorn in, this is Me now? And it says Lady Gaga and I, so I spent what you have to understand, I spent the entire movie slash piece waiting for Lady Gaga to come out as a Capricorn.

[00:23:33] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, so you did it before you Oh wow.

[00:23:35] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. ’cause I, there were like two scenes. I’m like, did I miss the Capricorn? I’m like, I, I have to find out. ’cause that’s the, you know, that’s the big father energy. Who’s gonna, who’s gonna be playing her? And it said Lady Gaga online. I don’t know what happened there.

[00:23:49] Jason Mantzoukas: I wonder if that was, yeah, I wonder if that was maybe what they were trying to do, or maybe I, do you think Lady Gaga was cut from this?

[00:23:55] June Diane Raphael: I don’t know.

[00:23:56] Paul Scheer: She didn’t, it didn’t work. I mean, maybe she just forgot that Lady Gaga said no. Uh, and, and just kept it in there because again, I mean, I’m just, I’m so torn on this movie because there’s so the, by the minute you wrestle with the steampunk heart, then all of a sudden you’re transported into this magneto prison world that she lives in a glass apartment with a super, she wakes up to Fox News where Ben Affleck is, uh, Rex, the, the anchor of the Fox.

[00:24:26] Jason Mantzoukas: I feel like Ben Affleck so badly did not want to appear in this movie that he agreed to undergo what had to have been hours worth of prosthetics to be added to his face, to seem to be unrecognizable.

[00:24:37] Paul Scheer: Because he doesn’t look like a typical, he looks like, uh, a melted puppet.

[00:24:42] Jason Mantzoukas: He looks like tom Snyder. He looks like, like a, he, he brought them a picture of Tom Snyder and said, gimme this.

[00:24:46] Paul Scheer: Yes. And he is anchoring the local news. She wakes up in the morning, she’s like, okay, I’m in my glass apartment, which is visually very beautiful. And then this guy that she’s with, uh, very violent guy, he is drinking. Seems early in the morning. ’cause it seems like Dawn when he wakes up. Then they have this like, fight there, but they’re torn.

[00:25:05] I like, I like this. I know everything in this movie is a little heavy handed, but I like them being like, tied together. I thought that was a cool.

[00:25:12] June Diane Raphael: I did too.

[00:25:12] Paul Scheer: Visual representation of the push and pull in a relationship. Uh, but he also endured, like he gave me no.

[00:25:19] June Diane Raphael: Hated him.

[00:25:20] Paul Scheer: I didn’t like this guy. ’cause the first moment that we see him, he spits on the floor and he punches a hole in the, in the wall. I, I don’t, I didn’t find my, my heart pouring out to him. But then they’re together. Where did he come from? Because is that another dream or is that real life?

[00:25:35] Jason Mantzoukas: Well, i, I guess I would’ve, I, I agree with you, Paul, and I guess I would’ve liked it if a lot of these relationships that are depicted inside of the dance sequences, I was better understanding where they fit into the chronological learning or not learning of JLo’s character in this? Is she learning from each subsequent relationship and getting better? Or what she seems to be saying in therapy and in the intervention is, what’s wrong with finding someone for the rest of my life? Or what’s like, like having these kind of, almost like teenage questions. Uh, and I’m like, well, where are we in the trajectory of your understanding of love?

[00:26:14] Paul Scheer: At one point when she’s getting married, she’s getting married to four different gentlemen, uh, that keep on switching back and forth. And I guess they’re supposed to be.

[00:26:22] Jason Mantzoukas: Well, I think those are just all the different weddings in her life.

[00:26:25] June Diane Raphael: Well, I can speak to that a little bit if you wanna understand from just a financial perspective why certain creative choices were made. So originally they were going to show like a sequence of multiple weddings. Different locations. This look, this wedding is on a beach. This wedding’s over here, it’s multiple locations, giant extras, all of it. And then they ran into some budget issues.

[00:26:48] Paul Scheer: Got it.

[00:26:49] June Diane Raphael: Which is why creatively they had to readjust. I liked it.

[00:26:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah. I didn’t mind that.

[00:26:55] Paul Scheer: I thought it was cool looking.

[00:26:57] Jason Mantzoukas: That didn’t bother me. And I, I got what they were saying, you know, but again, it almost was, it made them, it made the husbands all so interchangeable in a way.

[00:27:06] Paul Scheer: Well, that’s the issue with it.

[00:27:07] Jason Mantzoukas: It kept me from understanding each of their impact as singular impact on her life. For good or bad.

[00:27:14] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. And I guess that’s what I took away from it in general, which is that all of these men in her life were inconsequential, were sort of faceless stand-ins for her needing to greet herself before she could, um, end up with anyone, which she doesn’t at the end of the film. Peace project. You know?

[00:27:37] Paul Scheer: Right. So she was married, uh, just so we, like, she’s married four times. She was married to, uh, this guy Ohi Noah. Uh, they were, uh, married in 1997, divorced seven months later. She was married to Chris Judd. He was a Leo and a dancer. Uh, they were married for two years. Uh, then she was married to Mark Anthony for a while.

[00:28:00] They have two kids. Yeah. They, 2004, 2011. Then she was married, uh, to Arod. Uh, also a Leo. A lot of Leos in here. By the way, if you’re, if you’re keeping track of the people she’s dated, she’s dated a Gemini, a Scorpio, a Leo, a Leo, a Virgo, an Aries, a Scorpio, a Leo, and a Leo. Uh, Ben Uck is the Leo.

[00:28:18] June Diane Raphael: So I’m just gonna say, because you know, Leo men are very interesting. And when we have a son who’s Leo and I was very excited too because they are usually very in touch with the feminine.

[00:28:33] Paul Scheer: Okay.

[00:28:33] June Diane Raphael: And so I do find it interesting. That’s because she is a very powerful masculine side. And so I do find it really interesting that she is drawn to Leo men.

[00:28:43] Paul Scheer: So Ben Affleck, Arod. They’re the Leos in her life. The true love, potentially, potentially.

[00:28:49] Jason Mantzoukas: Obviously I know that this is the movie for, for how, however it was able to turn out that J Lo set out to make right because she is so in control of this. But I think what we are coming up against, or what I will say for me, what I’m coming up against is, and what we’re talking about is so much of what she seems curious to interrogate is so interesting and so compelling, but as a. As a, a, a person to be looking back on their loves and their growth and their emotional growth. All of that’s super compelling and interesting to me. The movie didn’t capture it enough for me to get invested, but boy, do I wish, uh, and again, I know this was not her intention, but boy, do I wish that J-Lo had instead made a, a narrative feature film in which she truly plays a character who is unpacking these same issues because this is fascinating territory.

[00:29:46] June Diane Raphael: Maybe we’ll see that.

[00:29:50] Paul Scheer: Well, this is where I want to talk about the Diddy intervention scene. That’s her relationship with Diddy.

[00:29:55] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, I didn’t know that.

[00:29:56] Paul Scheer: Oh, yeah. And that to me, huh, was I thought the most like reflective of who she was and where she was. And I’ll also say that’s. I think one of her best scenes of acting too. She’s coming home, she’s drunk, she’s been partying.

[00:30:10] June Diane Raphael: She was great.

[00:30:10] Paul Scheer: Diddy’s got a gun.

[00:30:11] June Diane Raphael: Diddy’s got a gun.

[00:30:12] Jason Mantzoukas: What’s super interesting.

[00:30:14] Paul Scheer: Yeah, I mean that is true. That’s that. I think they both were arrested for that.

[00:30:16] Jason Mantzoukas: What’s, what’s hard about the movie as it exists because it’s such short time and the, there’s, it’s so dominated by the songs that like all of the, all of the husbands appear to be happening to J-Lo concurrently almost at the same, in the same period of time.

[00:30:32] Right. Like there’s no effort to make that slice of it feel as though it is from quite a long time ago. Do you know what I mean? Like.

[00:30:39] June Diane Raphael: Sure.

[00:30:40] Paul Scheer: Right. It all feels like it’s happening within a week.

[00:30:42] Jason Mantzoukas: Yes.

[00:30:42] Paul Scheer: Right. It doesn’t feel like a going back and forth. Right. It just seems like she’s Yes. I understand. Like the timeline of it is weird because it’s not all in therapy. Like she goes to therapy, she leaves therapy, she comes back, she’s having dreams, she’s having real moments. Fat Joe is changing costumes, like we’re, we’re with her in this whole thing.

[00:31:00] June Diane Raphael: Well, that’s interesting because in the documentary, there’s a great scene between her and Ben Affleck where he’s, you know, he’s writing on this script, just an FYI, and he’s, he’s punching it up and they’re working on it together.

[00:31:13] He’s on a computer and I did think it was interesting that she’s on an iPad with an detachable keyboard.

[00:31:19] Paul Scheer: Got it.

[00:31:19] June Diane Raphael: Okay. So that. That’s interesting to me.

[00:31:22] Paul Scheer: Different ways of approaching the work.

[00:31:23] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. We, Paul, and I know somebody who’s, who like exclusively works off of an iPad, no computer, and I just find that to be the most reckless way to live.

[00:31:33] But, um, she’s telling him something about the story in the movie and she’s like, yeah. And then I was 28 when this happened and he goes, no, you weren’t, you were older than that. And she’s like, no, well, well no. But the, but the, but I was 28, meaning the character and I’m speaking and I was 28. And he goes, you’re telling me that in your own autobiographical film, you’re making yourself younger?

[00:31:58] Music: Yeah.

[00:31:59] June Diane Raphael: It’s such a great moment. And they have a laugh about it, but it does seem like she’s unwilling. And I understand, and I can appreciate this to nail down ages and times and to be quite honest. She’s a woman in her fifties. She couldn’t look better.

[00:32:18] Paul Scheer: Couldn’t look better. Couldn’t dance better.

[00:32:19] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, looks incredible.

[00:32:19] June Diane Raphael: She could not look better.

[00:32:21] Jason Mantzoukas: But you know what I would’ve loved, like what I, one of the things I loved actually was, and I would’ve liked more of this, is when there is a little girl who is representing the little girl, J-Lo, the little Jenny in the world. I would’ve loved it if there was another actress representing her at a, at a teenage or early.

[00:32:42] June Diane Raphael: Oh, that’s interesting.

[00:32:43] Jason Mantzoukas: Early twenties. I would, it would’ve helped me understand the different relationships happening to different age J-Lo rather than it seeming like a woman in her mid fifties is dating 20 something gangster, like gun toting Diddy wanna be to, um, to the Derek Huffs and the Ben Affleck analog and so forth.

[00:33:04] June Diane Raphael: Yeah.

[00:33:05] Jason Mantzoukas: It all feels like it’s happening to her.

[00:33:06] June Diane Raphael: !In the present day.

[00:33:07] Jason Mantzoukas: It, it, it’s, it muddies the story because it makes it seem like she’s doing all of this in her forties and fifties, and that’s just not the case, you know?

[00:33:14] June Diane Raphael: Right.

[00:33:15] Paul Scheer: Well, let me ask you about this. We have the, uh, the council, we’ve talked about the council, but she’s also surrounded by her friends.

[00:33:22] Jason Mantzoukas: I like that you’ve now just abandoned saying Zodiacal.

[00:33:25] Paul Scheer: Now she’s also surrounded by her own friends. The the biggest thing I had of a problem with in this movie is that J-Lo doesn’t have any friend named Mike. Like, like when she says, my friend Mike, I was like, I found that to be the, the, the boldest. I was like, she has a friend named Michelle.

[00:33:40] She has a friend named Mia. She like, Mike, there’s no Mike, she’s not, and this guy comes on with a British accent. I’m like, this guy is, we give him a name that’s like, give him some, don’t call him Mike.

[00:33:51] Jason Mantzoukas: That’s like in Game of Thrones, where, uh, there’s like all the, there’s tie Lannister and there’s this guy, and then there’s just a character named Kevin Lannister. Kevin, and they’re like, what do you think, Kevin?

[00:34:03] June Diane Raphael: Well, I couldn’t tell one apart from the other. They all seemed, there were just simply, uh, I think too many, many.

[00:34:09] Paul Scheer: Well, June, they, that’s why they weren’t given names. They were giving the, it is Mike is the cynic and the rest don’t have names. Yeah, it’s the cynic, the lover, the quiet one, the realist, the idealist and the fighter. I don’t know who the stealing person is. I think that may be the quiet one, the one that’s always stealing all the stuff all the time.

[00:34:29] Jason Mantzoukas: And I couldn’t figure out what they were supposed to represent. You have these two large ensembles, the friends and the Zodiacal council, the count, and they kind of are the Greek chorus of, of the piece.

[00:34:40] Um, interesting. But, but again, doesn’t really work. You know, you’ve got like the gods of the Zodiac sign up in the heavens and you’ve got the, the chorus of friends on the ground, but none of it really adds up to anything I, I end up caring not at all for the friends except for even like their, um, their, the intervention could have been a great scene for those friends to really drill down into character bits or any, I don’t know. It just.

[00:35:07] June Diane Raphael: Well, I’m sure you were happy with the Zodiacal Council. There was this Sagittarius there

[00:35:11] Jason Mantzoukas: Always. Yeah, always. Yeah. I loved the Zo, the Zodiacal Council. Just ’cause they are wearing crazy outfits. They’re clearly alone.

[00:35:19] Paul Scheer: It’s Clash of the Titans style. They’re all talking across the circular table and ’cause they’re never gonna be in a shot together. It’s always over somebody’s shoulder that you don’t see. And one of the things I love is they all love Vanderpump.

[00:35:31] Jason Mantzoukas: That was funny.

[00:35:32] June Diane Raphael: So funny

[00:35:33] Paul Scheer: by the way. And that’s what I’m saying, like this movie does have like a weird sensibility too, where I’m like, that was fun. All right. Well.

[00:35:39] Jason Mantzoukas: And that, and that would’ve made it, I think, a lot more fun if it, if it was interested in having more fun itself. You know, if the movie’s tone was closer to the movie that Kiki Palmer is in,

[00:35:50] Paul Scheer: I like that.

[00:35:51] Jason Mantzoukas: You know what I mean?

[00:35:51] June Diane Raphael: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:51] Jason Mantzoukas: Like who I think is so funny and so, and is doing such funny stuff again alone in a vacuum, I’m sure. But that’s interesting.

[00:36:00] Paul Scheer: Also, at the end has a funny outtake on, like, you have me saying the craziest shit.

[00:36:05] Jason Mantzoukas: Like oh, there’s a, there’s a thing where Sophia Vargara says, I think this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever done. Or something like that.

[00:36:11] Paul Scheer: By the way, did you not? There’s one person I didn’t recognize in that council and, um, that was played by guru to the stars. Uh, Sata Guru. Do you know Sata Guru? I didn’t know Sata Guru.

[00:36:24] Jason Mantzoukas: No, I looked it up as well though.

[00:36:26] Paul Scheer: Okay. Yeah. Sata Guru was paid $200,000 for his appearance in the Zodiacal Council.

[00:36:33] June Diane Raphael: Whoa. That’s a lot.

[00:36:34] Paul Scheer: Yeah. A lot. He is a, uh, he’s.

[00:36:37] June Diane Raphael: Who is he?

[00:36:39] Paul Scheer: I mean, the way that it is described to me is he is the guru, guru to the stars.

[00:36:44] I don’t, I mean, and, and look, he looks, he has got a, a nonprofit. Uh.

[00:36:48] Jason Mantzoukas: I wish that they had just cast Mike Myers as, as the Love Guru.

[00:36:52] Paul Scheer: Oh. I mean, by the way, it would’ve been.

[00:36:54] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. That’ve been great.

[00:36:55] Paul Scheer: He was very, unfortunately busy.

[00:36:56] June Diane Raphael: Maybe Rob Hubel could have.

[00:36:58] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah.

[00:36:58] June Diane Raphael: One of the stars to love.

[00:36:59] Paul Scheer: Uh, he has a unique approach to blending science with spirituality, which actually resonates with the global audience. Uh, rather than dismissing modern science, he often incorporates scientific perspectives into his teaching, uh, using them as a framework for deeper spiritual understanding. So I imagine that him and Neil deGrasse Tyson are really getting along on that Zodiacal Council.

[00:37:20] Jason Mantzoukas: It was, I thought there was something interesting. The, the movie again, comes in at an hour and cha like it is.

[00:37:25] Paul Scheer: 65 minutes.

[00:37:26] Jason Mantzoukas: Short. It is a, it is a one hour and change movie. Um, and it is, you know, mostly just long form music videos. Um, that being said, there are all these kind of scenes, but it starts interestingly with not the Zodiacal council or not these kind of big thematic elements.

[00:37:43] But I thought a really smart and interesting thing, which is this fairytale, this, this, this fairy tale about Alta and, and what that story is. And I was like, oh, that’s a great way to frame this. That’s a great through line. It does not. It’s not a through line. It’s not, it comes back near the end. But I was like, tell me your story through the, through the lens of this fairytale that I understand that I get, that’s something I can wrap my head around.

[00:38:07] But I didn’t think that the scenes were a necessarily, maybe I’m wrong, a necessarily a depiction of the events of Alita’s journey in the fairytale and, and J-Lo putting herself inside of that.

[00:38:19] June Diane Raphael: Yeah, I don’t think so.

[00:38:19] Jason Mantzoukas: Which would’ve been interesting.

[00:38:21] June Diane Raphael: I thought that that fairytale was showing us how obsessed with falling in love she was as a little girl, and how it felt like that was going to be her destiny, and then she never found it.

[00:38:32] I mean, most of the scenes that are not like the dance sequences. Not, except for when she comes in rather tipsy, they’re not that compelling except for the scene with the little girl.

[00:38:44] Jason Mantzoukas: Great.

[00:38:45] June Diane Raphael: And I’m not gonna lie, I tear it up. Now, my one question though is when she’s singing with the little girl, the little girl is singing in the, in the, in the piece. But there’s no sound to her voice.

[00:38:57] Jason Mantzoukas: No. Sh So she, she’s like, um, lip syncing.

[00:39:00] Paul Scheer: Yeah, just lip syncing. Well, because you don’t wanna hear her sing.

[00:39:04] June Diane Raphael: I would’ve loved.

[00:39:05] Paul Scheer: No, it’s to JLo.

[00:39:06] June Diane Raphael: I did wanna hear her sing. I was like.

[00:39:07] Paul Scheer: It is J-Lo You are hearing her sing. J-Lo was singing.

[00:39:10] Jason Mantzoukas: Yes.

[00:39:11] June Diane Raphael: But I, I thought it was so strange to have her mouth moving.

[00:39:14] Jason Mantzoukas: I agree with you. Because what I feel like is, that is in microcosm, the problem with the movie. The movie would’ve been narratively more compelling if the little girl, Jenny, had a voice. If, if, if the little girl herself had a voice. But at the end of the day, what we’re doing is selling these songs, you know what I mean?

[00:39:35] Paul Scheer: You two jerks don’t get this fucking movie and it makes me upset to even fucking talk to you about it. You’re, you’re putting.

[00:39:42] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, are you quoting the Reddit right now? Now are you reading from the Reddit?

[00:39:45] Paul Scheer: Lemme me just tell you what that scene is. All right. She had to become a singer for someone to give her love because she didn’t give her herself love. And you’re saying, oh, we want her to sing. No, she’s not a.

[00:39:55] June Diane Raphael: Well, only because her mouth is moving.

[00:39:57] Paul Scheer: No.

[00:39:58] Jason Mantzoukas: She doesn’t have a voice yet.

[00:39:59] Paul Scheer: She’s only is doing that singing shit because no one, ’cause she didn’t love herself. And by the way, did she figure it out like Fat Joe’s a bad therapist. She should have said you didn’t love yourself. She figures it out. She spent all this money on Fat Joe couple’s therapy.

[00:40:12] June Diane Raphael: Well the role of a good therapist is for you to be able to come to your issues on your own. So.

[00:40:17] Paul Scheer: So you think Fat Joe, that Fat Joe is Fat Joe is a good therapist’s. Gonna write this down.

[00:40:21] Jason Mantzoukas: Fat Joe is a good therapist because he, A, fires her, but then does bring her back and see her after his wife had made , uh, has made him fire her. JLo, that is um, but then also Fat Joe is, I believe all of the couples therapists for her marriages also. Correct? That’s, you should have your own couples, right? You can’t, yeah, you should not, you shouldn’t be seeing one of your therapists as your also couple counselor issues.

[00:40:45] Paul Scheer: Budget issues.

[00:40:46] June Diane Raphael: I agree.

[00:40:47] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, I’m sure you’re right. That was the same as the weddings, I’m sure. But that being said, I was like, at this point, fat Joe.

[00:40:54] June Diane Raphael: That’s what Paul said to me. Budget issues. Budget issues. We have to go see my therapist.

[00:40:58] Paul Scheer: As a matter of fact, I do half of my session. I bring June in for capper at the end, and we get out of there. Just gonna save money.

[00:41:05] Jason Mantzoukas: Once the alarm goes off, June pokes her head in for five minutes of quick, of quick downloading.

[00:41:11] Movie Audio: Time’s up. Let’s pick this back up next week.

[00:41:14] Paul Scheer: Now, is she going to a hopeless romantics? Uh, like a, an AA for Romantics or an AA for sex addicts or aa? Like, I mean, is it just.

[00:41:23] Jason Mantzoukas: I think it’s Sex and Love anonymous.

[00:41:25] Paul Scheer: Sex and love. So she is addicted to sex a little bit.

[00:41:27] Jason Mantzoukas: I think. Love.

[00:41:28] Paul Scheer: Okay.

[00:41:28] Jason Mantzoukas: She’s addicted to love. I think the movie is, movie is telling us that she is so addicted to falling in love and finding that love and being in love That. That that is the thing that she, that is the cycle. She seemingly can’t get out of that. She can’t find a love that is, will last will go the distance, right?

[00:41:47] Paul Scheer: Yeah.

[00:41:47] Jason Mantzoukas: That she is always in this limerence period or this, this, the, the, the, the electricity of, of falling in love, you know, or finding, thinking you found that love. Does that sound right or am I misrepresenting it?

[00:42:00] June Diane Raphael: I think that’s right, Jason.

[00:42:02] Jason Mantzoukas: Okay.

[00:42:02] Paul Scheer: You know, I, I, i, I wonder if, I mean. She, when she puts it all together at the end.

[00:42:10] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, sorry, can I just jump in one second because I wrote down something that someone says in the thing she is re she’s, you know, she’s saying, you know, it’s the intervention. She’s saying, what’s wrong with wanting to spend your life with someone, blah, blah, blah. Um, and it’s, it’s the idea of romantic love versus real love.

[00:42:25] Paul Scheer: Right.

[00:42:26] Jason Mantzoukas: You know what I mean? Like the, the idea of the, the ideas of around romance versus what a long lasting, lifetime loving relationship actually looks like versus the music video versions of love that are, you know, dance sequences and that have all this big emotionality to them, if that makes sense.

[00:42:47] June Diane Raphael: Well, I also think, you know, what, what I thought was cool about the very end was that after realizing that she is not able to find love or real love that’s based in reality without loving herself, I. You know, she was also, once she came to that conclusion and decided to love and take care of herself with that little girl, part of her, you know, the other thing she was able to do was to genuinely be happy for someone else who had found it.

[00:43:17] Jason Mantzoukas: Yes. At the, uh, burning Man wedding at the end.

[00:43:20] June Diane Raphael: That’s right.

[00:43:21] Jason Mantzoukas: Yes. And you’ll also notice that in that same section of the film we do in fact cut back to the interior of the metallic heart matrix world in which she has successfully rebooted the heart. She has successfully.

[00:43:36] June Diane Raphael: I wasn’t sure how.

[00:43:36] Jason Mantzoukas: She, I don’t know. More pedals, but she successfully rebooted the heart, put a pedal in there or whatever it is, and then she comes out and the roses are blooming and she’s figured out how to love herself, herself.

[00:43:46] Paul Scheer: And this is, this is what makes it so bad.

[00:43:48] June Diane Raphael: Well, it seems there’s some sort of container, there’s some container of petals that she was able to bring into the atrium and drop off. And somehow.

[00:44:01] Jason Mantzoukas: But then they come out and the fields, the fields are rich with roses that are growing from the ground. Whereas before those fields have been fallow.

[00:44:08] Paul Scheer: And again, I just have to keep on saying that as we talk about this, but.

[00:44:11] Jason Mantzoukas: A lot of imagery.

[00:44:12] Paul Scheer: A lot of imagery. But I also wanna say it makes it even more sad that she’s now divorced from Ben like after this.

[00:44:17] June Diane Raphael: It doesn’t actually.

[00:44:18] Paul Scheer: Why?

[00:44:19] June Diane Raphael: Because, so I thought about that a lot, watching it.

[00:44:22] ’cause I was like, is she gonna end up with him at the end of this? Because. At the end of it, she is on her own.

[00:44:28] Paul Scheer: Okay. So she’s without, like, she doesn’t need a man to fill that void because she’s figured out.

[00:44:32] June Diane Raphael: I believe in, in the world of this story in her mind, she needed to complete this journey in order to come back to him. That’s the part we didn’t see.

[00:44:41] Paul Scheer: Right. Because she needed to be full before she could be. And I And I, and I love that idea. Yeah. But here’s my question.

[00:44:46] June Diane Raphael: And by the way, they might get back together. I would not rule it out.

[00:44:49] Paul Scheer: Wow. You heard it here first.

[00:44:50] Jason Mantzoukas: Why not?

[00:44:51] June Diane Raphael: You heard here. You heard it here first. I would not rule it. I would not rule it out.

[00:44:55] Paul Scheer: I think we said Helen Muren was gonna be in Fast and Furious and we were right. This could be the second one.

[00:44:59] Jason Mantzoukas: Why does everybody in this movie put sunglasses on at the same time? That is. Everybody in the scenes. The Zodiacal Council, after a certain point in the movie, everybody’s just inexplicably wearing sunglasses. I, I couldn’t figure it out.

[00:45:17] June Diane Raphael: Well, I do know in the heart sequence when I believe that was at the end when all of the roses were everywhere. They were wearing rose colored, rose tinted glasses.

[00:45:27] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, so you think that’s it? They’re looking at the world through rose colored glasses, which by the way.

[00:45:31] June Diane Raphael: Yeah.

[00:45:31] Jason Mantzoukas: That is very, I, I like that. But that is actually unreliable then because to look at the world through rose colored glasses is actually to not be looking at the world as it is.

[00:45:41] Paul Scheer: Right.

[00:45:41] Jason Mantzoukas: That usually is something you say about someone who is, attributing a false sense of positivity to the world that they’re in. Right?

[00:45:49] June Diane Raphael: I think that’s true, but in the case of, of the artist, which is what Jennifer Lopez’s character is named the, in the case of the artist, she, her heart needs to believe that it’s possible again. Which she does.

[00:46:05] Paul Scheer: I’m gonna just say, uh, I, I just, yeah, I mean, I just, I, um, so I, I did do a little research on the Hummingbird thing as we were talking about it here. It seems like J-Lo kind of made up that story. It’s kind of true, kind of false. It’s a little bit more like Romeo and Juliette, uh, and a little bit like Pocahontas in a way too.

[00:46:23] It’s a, a mixed story. Uh, but it is that same idea that, that these, that this bird is always looking for love. His, and, and this, the hummingbird is looking for his lost love. And I think that that’s JLo. It’s weird that JLo’s mom told her the story and cast her as the girl when she actually is the she act. I think that J-Lo is the hummingbird.

[00:46:46] June Diane Raphael: That’s interesting.

[00:46:47] Jason Mantzoukas: It leads the, the, the story, the legend of the Hummingbird, which is the Alita story is the story, like you said, it’s a, uh, Romeo and Juliet. It’s a taboo love between the Alita character and someone from a rival tribe. They’re forbidden Love leads to Alita being transformed into a beautiful red flower and the man into a hummingbird forever searching for her among the blossoms.

[00:47:09] That is the fairy tale of Alita. Well, which is interesting to me because it, it’s, it’s that, that I didn’t get from the movie, which is that she’s waiting for the one man she fell in love with. I guess that’s, that is Ben Affleck. She’s been waiting for him to find her in and amongst the, the roses that she’s been mixed in with.

[00:47:29] Is that right?

[00:47:31] June Diane Raphael: I think so. I, I think so too.

[00:47:32] Paul Scheer: It’s, but she wasn’t ready to be sniffed.

[00:47:35] Jason Mantzoukas: Okay.

[00:47:35] Paul Scheer: Properly.

[00:47:36] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, I wait. Where did you.

[00:47:37] June Diane Raphael: First of all, don’t ever say that again. Ever.

[00:47:40] Jason Mantzoukas: Where did you put the words, where’d you get sniffed from?

[00:47:43] Paul Scheer: Well, you know, like a hummingbird is kind of dipping its wick in everything, you know, like.

[00:47:46] Jason Mantzoukas: You think hummingbirds are sniffing with a wick?

[00:47:49] Paul Scheer: Yeah, with their little nose. like little wicky nose.

[00:47:51] Jason Mantzoukas: You think a hummingbird, the, the thing. Okay, so what’s a Tucan’s thing called a wick as well?

[00:47:56] Paul Scheer: A uh, no, that’s a beak.

[00:47:57] Jason Mantzoukas: Okay, so you think a hummingbird doesn’t have a beak? It’s got a wick.

[00:48:00] Paul Scheer: I think it’s a little wicky thing. Yeah.

[00:48:02] Jason Mantzoukas: Like a little wicking, like, like a John Wick. I mean, I, Mr. Wick, I’m TikTok Mr. Wick. I don’t understand what’s going on here.

[00:48:10] Paul Scheer: Well, so they wanna a beak it, they, she, the hummingbird wants to beak all these flowers. Right. And, and they.

[00:48:15] Jason Mantzoukas: Well it’s looking for his true love. He’s looking for Alida, but she, he’s got a, he’s got taste. Gotta taste all the other roses to find her.

[00:48:24] Paul Scheer: I think that’s what I think she’s doing. She’s got a piece.

[00:48:27] Jason Mantzoukas: Well, I think they both are.

[00:48:28] Paul Scheer: I don’t think he, we don’t see anything about this guy.

[00:48:30] Jason Mantzoukas: Well, he goes off and marries Jennifer Garner.

[00:48:32] Paul Scheer: We, not even in the movie. But they got married.

[00:48:36] Jason Mantzoukas: I don’t know. Did they get married?

[00:48:37] June Diane Raphael: Oh, no, but no, but they were together for long.

[00:48:39] Paul Scheer: He’s definitely had a lot of relationships. Um, I, I’ll say this, uh, the, I, I, uh, I, I don’t know what Rex represents and I actually find it to be confusing. This is a final thought that I have on this.

[00:48:51] Jason Mantzoukas: Who’s Rex?

[00:48:52] Paul Scheer: Ben Affleck’s character on the Fox News.

[00:48:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was his name. Sorry. Forgive me.

[00:48:56] June Diane Raphael: Oh, yeah.

[00:48:56] Paul Scheer: No, I mean, it was pretty clear, Jason. Rex is, you know, uh, clearly I was like.

[00:49:00] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait a minute. What?

[00:49:01] Paul Scheer: Yeah, Rex, uh, Rex, who hosts his, uh, his morning show, Rex Stone, he also was the biker by the way. He did actually play the biker. Um, he did, he did. According to this IM db.

[00:49:11] June Diane Raphael: Oh, interesting. Okay.

[00:49:13] Paul Scheer: So what is Rex representing? That we are the, the, the tabloids attacking her.

[00:49:20] Jason Mantzoukas: That’s what I assumed, but, but the very few times we cut to him, I didn’t feel like what he was saying was really on any point that I was clued into, it just felt like superfluous filler. I, I don’t know, it didn’t feel targeted or sharp enough. What I, I don’t, I’m not sure.

[00:49:40] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. I don’t know.

[00:49:42] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, and especially because it was Ben Affleck, I was trying to find other meaning in it as well. I was like, why is the hu her husband, her actual current husband inside of this structure, why is he right, should be, what’s this supposed to be telling?

[00:49:56] Paul Scheer: I feel like we don’t really even get a chance to see the biker in the story. Um. One last thought here. Uh, I’ll say this. Uh, the greatest love story never told. That’s the documentary about the making of This is Me now. Uh, that comes in at an hour and 26 minutes. Uh, so it is, it is a longer, the documentary is longer.

[00:50:17] Jason Mantzoukas: That’s incredible. Okay. We gotta do the documentary for a Last Looks.

[00:50:20] Paul Scheer: I would love, I mean, I actually would.

[00:50:22] June Diane Raphael: I’m really enjoying that.

[00:50:23] Jason Mantzoukas: Can we, can we agree that we’ll all three get together for a, a brief conversation in a future

[00:50:28] Paul Scheer: Sure.

[00:50:28] Jason Mantzoukas: Mini episode to just talk about the doc? ‘Cause I will watch that.

[00:50:31] Paul Scheer: Oh, I wanna watch it tonight.

[00:50:32] June Diane Raphael: I also just wanna say two things. Where was Leah Remini her best friend?

[00:50:38] Paul Scheer: Oh wow.

[00:50:39] Jason Mantzoukas: In reality, you’re best friend?

[00:50:40] Paul Scheer: Wait, she’s probably one of, she’s probably the lover or the quiet one. Or the, maybe Is Leah Remini the, the thief?

[00:50:45] June Diane Raphael: No, I mean, where, why isn’t she in this?

[00:50:47] Jason Mantzoukas: You mean physically. Why isn’t she, why isn’t she Aquarius or whatever.

[00:50:51] June Diane Raphael: Jay Lo, so Jalo and Mark Anthony were at. Anthony, were at, um, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ wedding and.

[00:51:00] This, the what happened there with J-Lo and Leah Remini not being seated at the same table, has basically caused the downfall of Scientology because Leah Remini questioned it and trying to get them to all sit together. Katie Holmes reported Leah Remini having some like conflict with the wedding planner, and then Leah Remini got reprimanded by Tom Cruise and others, and it made her so upset that she started questioning infrastructure altogether.

[00:51:32] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow.

[00:51:33] June Diane Raphael: But yeah, J-Lo and Leah Remini have been friends forever, so I thought it was odd.

[00:51:37] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, I didn’t know that. Oh, that’s interesting.

[00:51:38] June Diane Raphael: That she wasn’t in the movie.

[00:51:39] Paul Scheer: Here’s why June, you ready for it? They had a very big falling out.

[00:51:44] June Diane Raphael: No.

[00:51:45] Paul Scheer: When J-Lo got together with Ben Affleck because she expressed to him, she expressed to her she was not, she didn’t think that he was coming from the right place.

[00:51:54] June Diane Raphael: Oh, no.

[00:51:54] Jason Mantzoukas: And so wait, Leah, Leah Remini thought Ben Affleck was there for the wrong reason, right?

[00:51:59] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:51:59] Jason Mantzoukas: Got it.

[00:51:59] Paul Scheer: She said, uh, he was selfish and not fully committed as a partner. So she, they were, did not go to the wedding. They had not spoken.

[00:52:07] June Diane Raphael: Okay. I saw him behind on all this.

[00:52:09] Paul Scheer: When, but then when Leah Remini got her divorce, they have recently reconnected.

[00:52:15] June Diane Raphael: Oh, that’s great.

[00:52:15] Paul Scheer: They buried the hatchet.

[00:52:17] June Diane Raphael: I’ve for them as, as friends, so that’s great.

[00:52:19] Paul Scheer: So for two, for two years, they’ve been apart. But they had a long heart to heart conversation.

[00:52:23] June Diane Raphael: Good.

[00:52:23] Paul Scheer: And they couldn’t believe were both in the middle of a divorce. Yeah. And, uh, they rekindled their friendships. So that is, that is really good. And look, and, and by the way, a good friend to get out in front of that, and she was right. She was right.

[00:52:39] June Diane Raphael: Well, listen, it’s all a part of the journey. I still think that, goddammit, they might find their way back to each other again.

[00:52:47] Jason Mantzoukas: I hope so. I hope so. You know, I hope so. They, they, whenever they get together, they do seem happy.

[00:52:54] June Diane Raphael: They do, Jason.

[00:52:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Which is, which is kind of amazing. But yeah.

[00:52:57] June Diane Raphael: They have something.

[00:52:58] Jason Mantzoukas: Like this. There was something that just, I, I found this film to be, I. Kind of impenetrable.

[00:53:04] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. I, I, that’s why I think it’ll be interesting to fi. Well, for me to finish and for you all to start the companion piece.

[00:53:11] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah. I think I’m gonna get way more out of the documentary. I think that’s gonna be what I want, which is actual conversation about actual feelings.

[00:53:19] June Diane Raphael: Yes.

[00:53:20] Paul Scheer: Right.

[00:53:21] June Diane Raphael: And I do think visually, there’s a lot in here and they talk about in the documentary that is, you know, a reflection on her other album. This is me, it’s like 20 years later, however, however long later.

[00:53:35] We’re getting some visual references that take us back to the other album. And there’s a lot going on that they get into. And by the way, I kind of think it’s fine to have a documentary or a companion piece to then watch another piece with, and I have to say, I do appreciate and you get to know more about it in the documentary J-Lo trying something.

[00:54:02] Jason Mantzoukas: Sure.

[00:54:03] June Diane Raphael: And you get to hear about how scared she is of this failing.

[00:54:06] Jason Mantzoukas: But imagine, imagine if these songs were great, like have any, forgive me, have any of these songs been hits?

[00:54:13] June Diane Raphael: No.

[00:54:13] Jason Mantzoukas: And I’m just unaware of it.

[00:54:14] Paul Scheer: No.

[00:54:14] Jason Mantzoukas: Like if these were like, uh, if this was a, like Lemonade, this is not, if this was a series of songs that were undeniable, then we would be having a very different conversation. You know.

[00:54:26] Paul Scheer: This is the thing that makes it even more of a, an issue is, you know, she, uh, wanted to go out on tour with this album.

[00:54:34] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, uh, this was the canceled tour. This was the canceled tour.

[00:54:36] Paul Scheer: Yes. This is the canceled tour.

[00:54:38] Jason Mantzoukas: I see, I see.

[00:54:38] Paul Scheer: Yeah. Uh, so then when she realized that it wasn’t working, she said, uh, she changed it from, This Is Me to This is Me Greatest Hits. And then it just, it, yeah. And it canceled.

[00:54:50] Jason Mantzoukas: Um, I’m so looking forward to the, to the documentary because I do think that’s where, that’s the movie I wanted to be watching, you know?

[00:54:57] June Diane Raphael: For sure. And then, and it’s, it’s hard, right? Because like you look at Beyonce and what she’s able to do visually and what she was able to do with.

[00:55:07] Paul Scheer: Oh, right.

[00:55:07] June Diane Raphael: Lemonade and what she’s able to do with her songs and her dancing and how sort of iconic and like the visual language she has created around her music has been so effective. And it feels like J-Lo is so inspired by that, that she wanted to, to do it too. And then she was also, you know, to me watching the documentary, I’m like, oh, there’s a sweetness to seeing this woman who’s so drunk in love.

[00:55:41] Paul Scheer: Right.

[00:55:41] June Diane Raphael: You know, and who’s like, I am 50 and I figured it out and I want to share it. And it’s very, it’s very endearing and it’s, but it’s just not. It’s not Lemonade.

[00:55:57] Paul Scheer: Well, I guess what you’re saying is maybe she needs to get off that iPad and maybe get onto, uh, you know, maybe a, the final draft. Yeah, final draft.

[00:56:03] Get onto some sort of a, a, a, a laptop of some kind, because I don’t know if an iPad’s gonna let you go that deep. That’s all I’m saying. It’s like I know what you’re saying.

[00:56:11] June Diane Raphael: No, it’s such, honestly, there’s so many creative limitations to an iPad. It’s, this is real. It’s true.

[00:56:16] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah.

[00:56:17] June Diane Raphael: You can only do so much on an iPad.

[00:56:19] Paul Scheer: I mean, it’s just gonna, by the way, I just Googled Beyonce laptop. There’s multiple. Images of Beyonce with a laptop, carrying it into locations on a bed, typing at a kitchen counter. Of course, Beyonce’s on a laptop. Of course, she’s, she’s carrying, she’s carrying a laptop around.

[00:56:39] June Diane Raphael: With like a 16 to 18 inch.

[00:56:41] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow. And I’m not, I’m not saying it’s either Beyonce or J-Lo, either.

[00:56:46] Paul Scheer: There’s so many pictures of Beyonce with a laptop.

[00:56:49] Jason Mantzoukas: I, it doesn’t have to be Team Beyonce or Team J-Lo. These are both iconic, uh, performers of our time. But I, I just did the, this was not sticky. I don’t remember the songs and the stuff felt.

[00:57:02] June Diane Raphael: Sure.

[00:57:03] Jason Mantzoukas: A little derivative of other things.

[00:57:04] Paul Scheer: I’m gonna say one more thing. I just typed in J-Lo laptop. It’s only from movies. Then I typed in Taylor Swift on laptop Taylor Swift’s on tons of laptops. Everyone’s on laptops but J-Lo.

[00:57:14] June Diane Raphael: Wow. This could be the, the problem.

[00:57:17] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow.

[00:57:17] Paul Scheer: Get J-Lo a laptop. Fat Joe should have said your issue is not having a laptop.

[00:57:23] Jason Mantzoukas: His prescription should be, don’t go to Sex and Love Anonymous. It should be, here’s a MacBook Pro and Final Draft.

[00:57:30] Paul Scheer: Get her Final Draft.

[00:57:32] Jason Mantzoukas: And a final draft license, but it runs out in three months and it won’t work.

[00:57:36] June Diane Raphael: Oh my God.

[00:57:39] Paul Scheer: Obviously we have opinions about this movie. There are people out there where the second opinion is now time for second opinions.

[00:57:47] Music: [Second Opinions Song]

[00:58:08] Paul Scheer: Alright, uh, This Is Me Now Love Story. The average rating is 3.6 out of five stars. There are 476 total reviews. This is a film that is on Amazon, so, uh, easy to review it because you don’t even have to leave the, the place. 61% are five star reviews. Uh, the first one from ML is from, um, from Mike, The Cynics mom who said, uh,

[00:58:32] “Mike, the cynic is awesome. Five stars.”

[00:58:36] June Diane Raphael: That’s so sweet.

[00:58:37] Jason Mantzoukas: That’s cute.

[00:58:38] Paul Scheer: Uh, and then we go to Robin Glasgow, who writes,

[00:58:42] “Britney, Beyonce, Janet respect you as performers, but J-Lo ate I’ve watched it five times. Anyone who rates us below five stars was never a dancer, never been heartbroken, doesn’t get artistry, has zero creativity Or is a Taylor Swift fan. Five Stars. Jenny owns the block.”

[00:59:07] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow. Wow. Wow. That’s, that is, that’s a huge statement.

[00:59:12] Paul Scheer: Huge.

[00:59:12] Jason Mantzoukas: That’s she ate.

[00:59:14] Paul Scheer: Ate. Uh, emily. JH uh, I’ll read her title as the introduction line because that’s how they wrote it.

[00:59:20] “If you don’t enjoy watching a 51-year-old woman dance, like nothing else matters.”

[00:59:26] Paul note she’s 55.

[00:59:27] “Then maybe this isn’t for you, but if you think, damn, I didn’t know Jennifer Lopez could be that real within the first 10 minutes and proceed to watch the movie three times in a row because it’s just that gorgeous. You might be a complete movie nerd like me. Seriously, candidate for best film since the Truman Show.”

[00:59:48] Funny.

[00:59:49] Jason Mantzoukas: Whoa. Not if you gave me one month. And unlimited guesses.

[00:59:57] Paul Scheer: Yeah.

[00:59:58] June Diane Raphael: Never would have come to that. Wow.

[01:00:01] Paul Scheer: “Funny because I tried to listen to the album on its own and I was like, yeah, still not a J-Lo fan yet. Somehow this was transformative and yet it has cheesy moments.”

[01:00:11] June Diane Raphael: See that is interesting.

[01:00:12] Paul Scheer: “No one stands up and gives a moving speech in the first time they walk into a 12 step group. But the dance number that followed nailed the room. I watched that scene alone probably 10 times. Now, I shocked you with the Truman Show thing. Get ready for this therapists out there, fantastic inner child scene that I’ve already used in my sessions.”

[01:00:34] Jason Mantzoukas: What?

[01:00:34] Paul Scheer: So this is a therapist bringing it in.

[01:00:36] Jason Mantzoukas: Fat Joe. Is it? Is that from Fat? Fat Joe? Dr. Fat Joe?

[01:00:42] Paul Scheer: Bunny Blue writes,

[01:00:43] “For less than 50 minutes long. This packed a big punch for me. Never have I been a J-Lo fan, but this woman is so talented and has matured and grown. Wasn’t sure about the beginning, but now I get it. Love the songs, the theme, the approach, the costumes, the humor, the astrological side theme, and surprise appearance of actors that I know.

[01:01:05] And at the end when I found out who Ben Affleck was in the movie, I belly laughed at the end. I kept smiling when she quote unquote, got it.”

[01:01:16] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh.

[01:01:16] Paul Scheer: “And that she has the courage to attend a 12 step meeting. That was awesome. I hope that helps others do that too.”

[01:01:23] June Diane Raphael: This is not a real 12 step group.

[01:01:25] Paul Scheer: I know, not.

[01:01:25] Jason Mantzoukas: I know.

[01:01:26] Paul Scheer: “Maybe because I’ve always been a total romantic. Maybe because I’ve been married and divorced three times too. I used to think of myself as a three time loser, but maybe because I believe in miracles and signs. Although mine come from God and. I know that love is the greatest gift that we can give and receive in this life. Romantic love is just one expression of it. I love this movie and considered purchasing the cd. The songs are great. I’ve read that J-Lo isn’t a great singer. Well, she is now.”

[01:01:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Whoa.

[01:01:55] Paul Scheer: “That scene at the end when she does a take on on Gene Kelly’s singing in the Rain. That was wonderful. Respectful of the original, but in her own style. We’ll watch this again and again.”

[01:02:05] Bonnie Blue. Outstanding.

[01:02:08] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow.

[01:02:08] June Diane Raphael: Isn’t Gene Kelly kind of in tap shoes in that number?

[01:02:12] Paul Scheer: In singing in the rain? No, he’s like in Boots, I believe. Right? Because it is, he is like hitting the rain, right? I don’t think he’s in.

[01:02:17] June Diane Raphael: I just like, I felt like it’s, I, I don’t know. I just, I was so taken out by the shoes.

[01:02:21] Jason Mantzoukas: I’m pretty sure he’s in heels.

[01:02:23] June Diane Raphael: Soft shoes.

[01:02:24] Jason Mantzoukas: I’m pretty sure he’s in stiletto heels.

[01:02:26] June Diane Raphael: He’s in what I wanted her to be in. Well, I do wanna watch a 55-year-old woman dance and.

[01:02:33] Jason Mantzoukas: Sure.

[01:02:34] June Diane Raphael: I, I do. I want to watch that.

[01:02:37] Paul Scheer: Um. I will say, to answer June’s question, Gene Kelly seems to be wearing a loafers. And then he went in and dubbed his own tap dancing, uh, sounds afterwards.

[01:02:48] June Diane Raphael: That’s fine. But to me, that’s what that sequence needed desperately was the sound of shoes hitting the ground. I mean, that, that to me is like, that’s Gene Kelly. That’s, you know, and it seemed like she was wearing ballet flats. Anyway, I’ll, I’ll move off it.

[01:03:05] Paul Scheer: And the final thing I just wanna bring up, and we didn’t talk about it at all, is when she is lip syncing or movie sinking the Barbara Streisand scene from the way we were, that was an interesting moment.

[01:03:15] June Diane Raphael: I enjoyed that.

[01:03:16] Paul Scheer: I enjoyed that too. I thought that was a very interesting moment. And, and.

[01:03:18] Jason Mantzoukas: But then well that was, yeah, again, that was one of the moments that I felt like this is real.

[01:03:22] Paul Scheer: Yeah. How much money do you think that cost for her to license that into her movie? Because that’s a pretty big movie.

[01:03:28] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, yeah. I don’t know.

[01:03:29] Paul Scheer: I, I, I read Barbara Streisand’s book and for her to even get her hands on some of her old work, I think she did a restoration of that or did some sort of tweak on that. And it was a manu, it was a monumental task to get her to, to kind of get in there and tinker this. And so I, I, I wonder, I mean, this movie seems like I spent a lot of money on gurus and, uh, on random stuff.

[01:03:51] Jason Mantzoukas: Random stuff like, and, and, and digital effects.

[01:03:54] Paul Scheer: And all those pedals.

[01:03:55] Jason Mantzoukas: Like, they must have spent millions and millions of dollars just building those glass boxes and those glass houses and all that stuff that is just digital.

[01:04:04] Paul Scheer: And Neil deGrasse Tyson needed a special kind of sunglasses ’cause he refer, he refused to wear any sunglasses that wouldn’t block out the moon in the sun for real.

[01:04:13] Uh, he was very, uh, it was, he was like, if I’m gonna wear these sunglasses, I want it to be truthful to the sunglasses that I would be wearing. Yeah. So that was very expensive too. Um, any final thoughts?

[01:04:22] Jason Mantzoukas: Everybody’s, everybody’s out of their goddamn minds.

[01:04:25] Paul Scheer: Uh, anybody, uh, any final thoughts? Uh, oddly I loved it. I would watch it again. I, I kind of am like, it’s one of those ones where. There’s so much of a person in this that I also felt like oddly connected to her. I, I was fascinated by it. I think I do need the chaser of the doc to understand. I don’t know if I, I mean, it’s, it’s ham-fisted. Yes. But I also kind of feel like there’s stuff I don’t get.

[01:04:49] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. I, I, I agree. I think it, it will be interesting to finish the doc and to, you know, I think this requires you to approach it in a different way. I think that it’s not music video enough, and it’s not like narrative film enough to like, satisfy either of those wants. But it is something a little different.

[01:05:11] And I think that, um, it’s very hard to not watch her. It’s, she is incredibly compelling. Um, and I wanna see her, I guess what I walked away with main mainly is, oh, I wanna see her act more. I wanna see her in Outta Sight again. You know, I wanna see her.

[01:05:31] Jason Mantzoukas: I agree. Again, I wanna see her elevating things that are not good the way she does. Like, I like that movie Marry Me That She did with Owen Wilson is not a very good movie, but she makes it very watchable. Like, that’s.

[01:05:45] Paul Scheer: Thought she was great in Hustlers.

[01:05:46] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah, she’s, she’s done great stuff. But, um, yeah, I would love that. And I would, I would even love it in service of a story like this, a story about a woman in middle age confronting the, the failures of love’s past and future and present.

[01:06:03] You know, like that’s an interesting story to me. I would love J Lo herself to do it in a movie.

[01:06:08] Paul Scheer: Here’s what I’ll finally say. Uh, we haven’t put no reference to GLI in this at all, and I feel like that should have been to Gli. To Gly. I feel like there should have been a moment where we referenced Gli. I mean Right.

[01:06:21] June Diane Raphael: I forgot about it.

[01:06:22] Paul Scheer: You might, you might be up for So Good Wear and J-Lo is coming out with Kiss of the Spider Woman this year.

[01:06:27] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, okay. Yeah.

[01:06:28] June Diane Raphael: Okay. Okay. Wonderful.

[01:06:28] Paul Scheer: Bill Condon. Big.

[01:06:30] Jason Mantzoukas: Great.

[01:06:31] Paul Scheer: She’s starring with Brett Goldstein right now in a, a movie called Office Romance. I mean, there’s, there’s some big shots here.

[01:06:36] Jason Mantzoukas: Fantastic.

[01:06:37] Paul Scheer: Some stuff coming up for J-Lo.

[01:06:39] Jason Mantzoukas: I will say this just in, in a, in a recommendation in a similar vein, a movie that I think is a sim, it’s only a half an hour long, but it is all in, it’s all music and a performance. And it is the Mike Mills movie. Um, I Am Easy To Find, and it is all The Nationals music, the band, The National, but it features at its center, an Alicia der performance.

[01:07:03] June Diane Raphael: Oh, cool.

[01:07:04] Jason Mantzoukas: And the idea of the movie through these songs is that it charts her life from birth to death.

[01:07:11] Paul Scheer: Wow.

[01:07:11] Jason Mantzoukas: And it’s incredibly moving.

[01:07:14] June Diane Raphael: Is Miranda in this?

[01:07:16] Jason Mantzoukas: No, she is not.

[01:07:17] June Diane Raphael: Okay. Since I was thinking about Mike Mills and I was thinking about Miranda July’s last novel, which features her Obsession with a dancer. And so that’s why, that’s what I was thinking about.

[01:07:25] Jason Mantzoukas: I think that book is incredible. And I think all of the Miranda July stuff prior is just like her book.

[01:07:30] June Diane Raphael: Yeah. I think this, this one was her best.

[01:07:33] Paul Scheer: Alright, people, we are on the road. How Did This Get Made is coming to a town maybe near you, maybe not near you.

[01:07:39] Uh, go to HDTGM.com. We just also announced a Toronto date in May. Get your tickets there. Movies will be announced about a week before the film. But San Francisco, Austin, uh, Seattle, Portland. Idaho, uh, we’re, we’re coming. We’re coming for you now. Yeah.

[01:07:56] Jason Mantzoukas: Is there any truth, Paul, to the fact that, um, Canadian shows are gonna be, uh, 25% more expensive now?

[01:08:03] Paul Scheer: Well, but they’re gonna be 50% more funny. Like, that’s, uh, we’re like, yeah, they. The tariffs, the tariff are.

[01:08:08] Jason Mantzoukas: We’re doing comedy tariffs.

[01:08:09] Paul Scheer: Yeah, the comedy tariffs are different. We have to be funnier now, even though tickets are more expensive again. We’re, I guess that was what the pm the Prime Minister of, uh, CanSata sent down to us.

[01:08:18] If we are coming in, yeah, we gotta be funnier. Um, uh, it is the Doppelganger tour so uh, Jess St. Claire will be joining us on those. I will say that we have brand new stuff in the store. We have this amazing shirt on the, like, on the pocket of the shirt is, uh, is Mickey Rourke being held by that winged angel, uh, Megan Fox, which I love.

[01:08:38] We also have a shirt that just simply says Doppelganger. Um, anything else we wanna plug, get out there? Uh, anything at all?

[01:08:45] Jason Mantzoukas: Um, I will plug, uh, obviously our tour, but I’ll also plug Invincible Season three on Amazon Prime and, um, Taskmaster Season 19, coming on YouTube and the Taskmaster app in, when is this coming out, Paul?

[01:08:58] Paul Scheer: I have no idea.

[01:08:59] June Diane Raphael: On march 21st.

[01:09:01] Paul Scheer: Also, uh, you could watch Dark Web every week. It’s a show that I’m doing with Rob Huebel and June, just so you know, I did a little bit of research and it’s not off the table that J-Lo and Ben could get back together again, but this is what they said that yes, J-Lo has stayed over Ben’s house a couple of times.

[01:09:16] When it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad, it’s really bad and things are good when they’re friends and things are better between them because they’re separated, but yet she kept the engagement ring. So never say never.

[01:09:28] Jason Mantzoukas: Huh? Have they gotten actually divorced?

[01:09:30] Paul Scheer: They have, and, and she.

[01:09:31] Jason Mantzoukas: They have. Oh, okay.

[01:09:31] Paul Scheer: Yeah, she kept her $5 million engagement ring.

[01:09:33] June Diane Raphael: Good for her.

[01:09:33] Jason Mantzoukas: Got it.

[01:09:34] Paul Scheer: Good for her.

[01:09:35] June Diane Raphael: Just quickly, what is her sign in the movie?

[01:09:37] Jason Mantzoukas: Who knows?

[01:09:38] Paul Scheer: She’s born in July. July 24th. What does that make her June?

[01:09:41] June Diane Raphael: She’s a leo.

[01:09:42] Jason Mantzoukas: It looks like Leo.

[01:09:43] June Diane Raphael: Oh, Leo. Interesting.

[01:09:44] Paul Scheer: Um, well, there you go everybody. Uh.

[01:09:47] June Diane Raphael: I guess I’d like to plug The Greatest Story Never Told the documentary about this movie. Yeah. Also on Amazon Prime.

[01:09:55] Paul Scheer: You sold me. I’m in. All right everybody, thank you so much for listening. We’ll see next week for Last Looks. So maybe at that point we will all have watched the This Is Me Now documentary. We could talk a little bit more about it. Um, okay, here’s the deal.

[01:10:07] This show was put together by an amazing team, our producers, Codi Fischer and Molly Reynolds. Our movie Picking producer, Avaryll Halley, our associate producer Jess Cisneros, our engineer, Casey Holford. But I wanna give a special shout out to Emily Higgins and our intern Zaria Taylor for their extra help on this episode.

[01:10:24] You work magic. We appreciate it. Don’t forget to follow and rate us. You know, we like to be rated. Just get those numbers up. Tell people about the show. It helps come see us live, get people talking. I mean, come on. We’re not the Kelsey’s. Um, and also thank you for everyone who voted for us at the iHeart Awards.

[01:10:44] We are now, uh, winners. Thanks to you. So, uh, if you wanna join the conversation, you wanna follow us on the show socials, you could do that at @HDTGM. Join our Discord at Discord.gg/HDTGM. The conversation continues. And next week, it’ll continue when I talk about what you want to talk about in Last Looks.

[01:11:04] Bye for now.