Reel Talk & Banter
Ever wanted to just sit around and make fun of an old movie with your friends? That's exactly what Reel Talk & Banter is all about. Join best friends Omari Williams and Jay Richardson as they rewatch movies that came out at least a decade ago. It's a mix of a film review and a comedy roast, where they discuss everything from the plot to the terrible acting, and even if the film has stood the test of time. Get ready to laugh and hear some hot takes on your favorite (and least favorite) classic films.
Reel Talk & Banter
Fred Willard Explains Dogs Like He Just Met One: Best In Show (2000)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A movie about a dog show somehow turns into a full-on personality test, and our reactions could not be more different. We’re talking Best in Show, Christopher Guest’s mockumentary where the dogs are basically props and the real comedy is watching adults melt down over pride, status, and tiny mistakes. One of us sees brilliant ensemble work hiding under the chaos; the other sees peak unserious behavior and keeps asking the same question: where is the story?
We get into what makes this film so distinctive: the heavily improvised style, the stacked cast (Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch), and the way each handler becomes an exaggerated type you’ve met in real life. We also nerd out on details like the real championship dogs, how the production recreated a full dog show environment on a modest budget, and why some jokes land harder once you know what the movie is trying to do.
And yes, we spend plenty of time on the MVP conversation. Fred Willard’s commentary is so confidently wrong it becomes the perfect running gag, and it might be the single best argument for giving the movie your attention. We wrap with our full rating breakdown across plot, acting, production, sound, and cultural impact, plus the final score that puts this one in rare company on our list.
If you enjoy movie debates, improvised comedy, and honest reviews that aren’t afraid to disagree, hit play, then subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review with your take: genius or nonsense?
Follow us on the following social media platforms or email us at reeltalkbanter@gmail.com!
Welcome And Best In Show Setup
SPEAKER_06Hello and welcome to the Real Talk and Bancher Podcast, the movie podcast where we discuss and review films that are at least a decade old. I'm Omari Williams.
SPEAKER_03And I'm Jay Richardson.
SPEAKER_06And today we are discussing Best in Show. More like worst in show, am I right? No, sorry. That's not. Yeah. Let's not do that.
SPEAKER_03You can't do a quarterback to yourself. Like alright. It's fine. It's fine. We'll accept it. We'll allow it.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god. I'm gonna let you take over here because this is your movie, and I know you are very excited to talk about this with the listeners.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, alright. So uh it's best in show, guys. Uh I'm not gonna lie, it's it's a very interesting movie. Uh but genius. It really is genius in the in the background of things. So on the surface, it's just a movie about a dog show. If you didn't get it from the title, best in show, but really it's more about the people and how unserious people are taking something way, way too serious. Way too serious.
SPEAKER_06Way too much.
SPEAKER_03Let's get into the cast.
Cast And Dogs Behind The Movie
SPEAKER_03So this is uh a large, large cast here. Um, you have the director, Christopher Guest, who is also playing Harlan Pepper. Uh, you have Eugene Levy as Gary Fleck, the Grave Catherine O'Hara, rest in peace, as Cookie. Uh, you have John Michael Higgins as Scott Donlin, I'm sorry, Michael McKean, Stefan Wanworth, Michael Hitchcock as Hamilton Swan, Parker Posey as Meg Swan, um, Jennifer Coolidge as Sherry Ann Cabot, and Jane Lynch as Christy Cummings, and then uh shout out to Fred Willard as Buck Loglan. Um, and then a myriad of other people, at least uh 30 people are are have some um credits on this.
SPEAKER_06Fred Willard might be the MVP of this movie.
SPEAKER_03That's that's why that's why I make sure I even though he's not the main character, as I had to add him in there. Let's let's talk about him for sure. Um and let's just talk about the dogs, too. So all of the dogs that were featured were championship were actually championship dogs in Canada. Um so you had uh their naming thing is weird. I had to look it up because I was like, what the hell? So they they register their dogs based on uh the breeder and then uh um then the name. So and so they have two breeders, then they have two breeder names and then the name. So um, so one of them, Beatrice, the uh Wine Riner. Yeah, Wymariner, yeah. Thank you. Oh, you so oh, so you you took an interest. You you know who Beatrice is.
SPEAKER_06I I like no, I like dogs. Like I like dogs.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. And that's something that like the show.
SPEAKER_06That's the only that's the last positive thing I would probably say. I like dogs. Dogs are cool.
SPEAKER_03All right, so Beatrice, her uh well, I think her name was named her Arcat Eco Bar Take Me Dancing, is actually her real name. Um you had Winky the Terrier, uh, his name was Urchins Brill. I might be jerking that up, but that's fine. You got the Bloodhound, his name is Quiet Creek's Stand By Me. The Shih Tzu uh was Raptors Classic. Um, you had the other Shih Tzu, which is Shhamaroon's Red Hot Kisses, and then you have the standard poodle, whose name in the movie was pretty dope, Rhapsody in White. Um, but real name is Exos Desi Does It With Pizzazz. That's uh that's that's a lot. I'm assuming these dogs are probably no longer with us at this point, but uh yeah, I would I would think Exos Desi Does It With Pizzazz was their actual official real name.
SPEAKER_06So you could you could tell Pizzazz, more like hell yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, like you said anymore. Damn. Damn. Sorry, damn Christy Gnome, folks.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. This is gonna be a wet dream for her. Just she's just envisioning all these dogs. Can you stop hitting that woman? She's unemployed currently, okay?
SPEAKER_03So I mean, no, she's not unemployed, she got a different position.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah, she's like the shield of yeah, some shit.
SPEAKER_05She works for shield.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, she works for shield. Fucking Samuel L. Jackson. Nick Fury is her boss now. I don't know.
SPEAKER_06God damn it. Okay, as long as she didn't replace Nick Fury, all right. Not a black man lose a job for her.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god. Um
First Time Watch
SPEAKER_03this is my first time watching this movie. Um it's a lot to take in, it's a lot to to really understand. It it really starts off just swinging. Um, and you're almost like, what the hell is happening? Like, if you did no research at all. Which I didn't, yeah, yeah, you would be like, What is happening? What are we talking about? Like, they just immediately jump into chaos, right? Um, did you know that this entire movie was actually improvised?
SPEAKER_06Um, I came across that. Okay. It seemed like I did see that they said most of it was unscripted and they were drills, which I mean okay. I like here's another positive thing. It's an excellent cast of people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_06You know, and they probab they had the perfect collection of people to actually do this thing, but I don't know. This yeah, I don't know. Ugh, okay. I was trying to find something else positive to say.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you you immediately just you know, it gave up you said nothing at that point. But anyway, I I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the fact that I mean, if if it wasn't script, if it was scripted and this was it, I'd be like, that was trash. But the fact that they said they said uh doing the research, they had 16 pages of essentially just an outline of what what the characters should be doing and kind of the goal. 16 pages pages, that's it. That's it. They had 16 pages. That's all that uh Christopher Guest gave them. And then for every scene, all they got was these are the people that's gonna be in the scene, and here's the goal for the scene, and then go. So everything, everything they said was off the top of their head. They had no idea what was coming, and then what they were firing back was all off the top of their head.
SPEAKER_06It's just a fucking sketch comedy. Like it is a sketch comedy. We were watching a giant long ass SNL uh sketch. It was. I don't know man, it felt like it though. Like it, I listen, I and I'm all from mockumentaries, right? The Office is one of the greatest television shows ever. That's my jam, you know? But this just was not it was not hidden for
A Rant About No Story
SPEAKER_06me. I'm just gonna get my ranch out at the top of the episode so I can career as we discussed. I have to. I have to this whole thing, this is peak white people bullshit. Okay, I don't understand. This movie has a 93% on fucking rotten tomatoes. People love this movie, yeah. And I just don't get it. This movie is only mildly more interesting than an actual fucking dog show, which is also something I don't give a shit about. I like dogs. I I don't watch dog shows, I don't give a shit about that. So it's like you're taking a concept that I don't fucking care about, and then barely making a movie about it because you guys are just you guys just hanging out, just doing shit, which is cool, and there was some funny stuff. But then I also would argue it wasn't nearly funny enough to justify the movie because I should have been in stitches laughing from beginning to end. And instead, I'm like, what dude? I broke protocol after we finished this movie and I texted you. We never talk about movies uh before we start recording. And I texted you and I said, It's like, what the fuck is this? What did you make me watch? Like, what was that? I just I I did not have a good time, and then I saw um Eugene Levy and Katherine Rajera, right? And I got excited because Shits Creek is another all-time just great show. And I just I wanted that vibe from it. I thought I was gonna get that vibe, but I didn't get that vibe from it at all. I mean, it's different characters, so I wasn't gonna get it, but it's just I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I was I think you were looking for Moira, and Moira is not in this movie. No, no, no, Moira's not in this movie. Speaking of Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy said to you since you put us in there, they have a long-standing partnership, right? All the way to the 1970s.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I did not know that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they knew each other. I think Catherine O'Hara may I uh this might be wrong, but I think they mentioned when she passed that she is actually um Dan Levy's godmother, I believe. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Um but here comes my trivia for you.
SPEAKER_01They have starred in six films together.
SPEAKER_03Can you name at least three of the six not counting best in the show?
SPEAKER_06Oh man, like this you're right. We're in a blind spot for me right now, alright? Like this this these types of sh alright, let me try. Nah. Was what's Canadian as fuck? The movies? Yeah. Oh, really? Is um isn't um Eugene Levy in in my big fat Greek wedding thing or whatever? Is he in that?
SPEAKER_01I don't think so. Racist. What the fuck? He ain't Greek, he Jewish.
SPEAKER_06No, I know that, but isn't that I don't know what that movie's about either. I've never seen that shit.
SPEAKER_03Oh, so you just threw something out there. I don't even think Catherine Hara's in there.
SPEAKER_06What you just I don't know who's in trying to pick a movie that I thought I knew Lugene Levy was in, and then I was gonna just piggyback off again.
SPEAKER_03All right, well, I'm just gonna stop the bleeding. So we got Waiting for Guffman 1996, Best and Show 2000, A Mighty Wind in 2003. Uh they were in four-year consideration in 2006.
SPEAKER_06Uh you had considered that at all.
SPEAKER_03Oh shit. Club Paradise in 1986, and then 100%. And then, of course, Shit's Creek, uh, which is the series, which you did mention already, so I'll give you that point. So clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap for Shit's Creek. Um, wow. You were not prepared at all. And I am sad. I'm sad enough. So we're gonna move on here. All right, so we got Christopher Guest who directed it. Uh, this is his link.
SPEAKER_06Did you see he's like a lord or some shit? Did you see that? Or he was a lord for a little bit? No, I didn't see that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Oh my god, yeah.
SPEAKER_06He's he was the Lord hating guest for like a period of time. I almost fell down this rabbit hole, and I was like, stop. I don't care enough. So I backed out of it. Oh, but I missed that. He was British, he was like British royalty adjacent or something. I don't know. It was very interesting. And then he's he's married to Jamie Lee Curtis, which I was like, oh damn.
SPEAKER_03Oh shit, I didn't know that either.
SPEAKER_06From 1984, yeah. I don't know why that this guy got obsessed with him for a little bit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And I had to stop. He should have hit me with that.
SPEAKER_03I'd be like, I don't know. Like, what famous actors? I'm like, who? I don't know. I did not look into him at all. I didn't see that. Except for I know that he also directed Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind. So uh the three of them have done a lot of projects together. Christopher Guests, uh Eugene Levy, and uh Catherine O'Hara. So um, so yeah.
Characters As Extreme Personality Types
SPEAKER_03Let's get into the characters which you apparently hate. Each person references a different type of personality you see, uh, but almost to like an extreme. So you got the flex, uh, that's uh cookie and uh Mr. Two Left Feet, just regular middle class people. I was like, I don't know how you didn't. I mean, I wasn't okay, so okay, I wasn't in stitches the whole time, but there was some definitive, like, oh shh, laugh out loud.
SPEAKER_06I'm not saying the movie was completely unf it was funny, it had it had a lot of funny moments. Yeah. But I think like my confusion and just disinterest outweighed some of the funny moments. But that's fair. There were there were some legitimate moments where I was like, holy shit, that is funny as hell. That's fair. Which was the two left feet thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So actually that started out as it was just supposed to on the script, it was just supposed to like be a figurative thing, uh, that oh, you're just a clumsy person, but Eugene Levy took it literally and worked with the costume design team to actually create a shoe that even though it was technically right, it looked left, and then he did this kind of shuffle walk to to actually make it look like it had two left feet.
SPEAKER_06That's dope. I like that. All right, that's cool.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. So a little a point here, point there. No?
SPEAKER_06Hey, you're gonna be doing a lot of heavy lifting. I'm trying. My scores, my score's already in.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god, Jesus. I was I was hoping. I was hoping, I was hoping. Oh, so you got the flex, they're middle class people struggling. They have a very messy, well, at least one of them has a messy pass with Cookie and her several exes that. Hundreds. Hundreds. Yeah, they went from dozens to hundreds. That hundreds took him out. Like he's like, huh? And it it was proved everywhere she went, she ran into an ex uh who phrasingly ogled her, kissed her, hit it on her with her husband literally right by her side. And I don't know. What what are you doing in that in that instance? Your your spouse, everywhere you go, some guy rolls up and is like low-key caressing her in front of you.
SPEAKER_06That's on him, man. Like he he knew, because it sounds like he knew. I mean, I don't know. He said he said dozens when they were doing the interview, and she corrected him to say hundreds. Well, he said he didn't know. I don't know how you didn't know. Like, how would you not know that your your girl's, you know, a squang? I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I'm surprised you didn't shout he was a cook because you know that's your thing.
SPEAKER_06But uh I felt bad for him a little bit, man. That's tough.
SPEAKER_05Like, she she got bodies, she got bodies, and he's just like fucking hopeless.
SPEAKER_06He should have fought uh was that Will Sasso's character? He should have fought him when he fucking tongued her down. No, that wasn't Will Sassso.
SPEAKER_03That was um, who was that? Oh my god, I don't remember his name, but I thought Will Sasso. But yeah, I I got you. Yeah, that was that was that was beyond disrespectful. Like, I don't know how he didn't swing.
SPEAKER_06He should have fought, yeah, he should have fought. So that that's when he became a cuck. When it's just like, all right, well, this dude is just sticking his tongue down my wife's throat, and I'm just gonna sit there bewildered. And then he he talked about homeboy's wife's um luscious breast. Delicious luscious breast.
SPEAKER_03She looked so happy though. Yeah, she was like, I've never been confident in my life. She was she took our sweat.
SPEAKER_06You're right, that was not Will Sasso. Because that was the um the interrogator, the negotiator guy, and I'm sorry, I'm I didn't mean to switch on you, but it just took me to that scene at that table when he was talking about being a negotiator, and they were like, How is that? And he's like, Well, they all jump ultimately. That's what no one tells you. Is that they always jump. They always jump. But this last case was especially brutal, and then they go outside, the son is out with the dog on the roof, and he's like, I'm gonna stick a pistol in your eye, you little shit.
SPEAKER_05I'm like, oh my god, is this your negotiation tactics right here?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that doesn't help at all. That whole scene was a funny bit. I love that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I love that. Especially for the fact that they supposedly, you know, improvise that whole thing. Like, I I have that there. Yeah, I have that note. I was like, he said, I'll gouge your left eye out with my thumb. I shit you not, you little freak. I was like, damn. Which I also have the note, that kid does look like he's gonna be a serial killer at some point.
SPEAKER_06So he's already buried a few pets in the gr in the backyard. Yeah, positive.
SPEAKER_03100%. So I wouldn't, you know, the little freak, I didn't feel bad. I felt like, hey, he should probably be committed at this point because stuff is going on in that house.
SPEAKER_06But how much of that is because the father is a fucking psychopath? Because like a uh a repressed psychopath in his own right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, as I said, some something's going on in that house. Like something's going on in that house.
SPEAKER_06Um dark story.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So you got uh where were we? So you got middle class people, they're barely holding together. You got the swans, which are super neurotic and uptight. They're rich, uh, they're projecting all the issues onto their dog. It even has its own therapist in which they speak for it. The beginning scene with them starts out with the dog is apparently depressed because the dog watched them have sex at some point, and now they're trying to figure out how to get the dog out of depression. The dog probably just wants to be left alone. I don't know. But uh, yeah, that's them. Uh then you got Harlan Pepper, which I he was one of my favorites. I I liked him. He got a little weird towards the end. I don't know if they were just like they ran out of time and they're just like, just do whatever. But um Harlan Pepper is the guy for the um the Greyhound.
SPEAKER_06Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So he was a country dude, just simple, traditional, uh family legacy type of guy. Um generally. He was too busy um directing, so he probably cut his scenes, or he was just like, I don't have time for maybe maybe probably um then you got Sherrianne and her trainer, and then Scott and Stefan, who are out there just living their best uh theoretical life, like they already won.
SPEAKER_06I could have used more of Sherianne and Christy, uh Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch.
SPEAKER_03Jane Lynch, oh my god. Jane Lynch is definitely top-tier comedy and always has to be. All time, 100%.
SPEAKER_06I could have used it.
SPEAKER_03And yeah, every time she was on the screen, I died. I was like, the intensity she brought to a role. Exactly.
SPEAKER_06It was good stuff. It was good.
SPEAKER_03Um, she brought up that line when they were kind of doing the interviews of their different personalities, and she was like, Oh, I'm the disciplinarian, and um Jennifer Coolidge's character, she's the lovegiver. And she's like, and it worked, it worked for my family until my mom committed suicide in '81. I was like, oh, he died. I was like, no, she didn't crack a smile, nothing. She was just like deadpan. I was like, uh okay, next scene.
SPEAKER_06Jane Lynch is a fucking pro.
SPEAKER_03She is so good, so good. But um, yeah. Um, yeah, and the dogs are just kind of extensions of who these people are, and that's what the movie is really showing. So uh we finally get into I think the guy who stole the scene unexpectedly,
Fred Willard's Perfect Wrong Commentary
SPEAKER_03which was Fred Willard and the commentary. Um, and this guy is confident but wrong about almost everything, like and it makes it so much funnier. Like, oh my god, like, all right, so yeah, we got Fred Willard's character who who's uh a uh commentary or commentator, I'm sorry, for the actual dog show. Uh for the actual dog show, and uh yeah, he obviously I don't think he knows what a dog is, to be honest, but somehow he's on the show.
SPEAKER_06I felt like he was in a lot of ways a surrogate for the audience, you know, for like us watching. Because it's like everyone else around him is taking this shit so seriously, and he's like, guys, it's just we just have fucking dogs coming out here, and that's how I felt watching this movie. Everything uh Fred Willard said, I was like, Yes, it was too and then who was sitting across from him? Um, whoever was sitting next to him um in in the comedy dude, yeah. Yeah, just being a straight man the whole time. Just so he just all he had to do is be the straight man and just let Fred Willard just cook and go to work. And it was it was a very good pairing. Yeah, good stuff.
SPEAKER_03It was funny. It was like almost like it was like I mean, I like the fact that he didn't like just sit back and cook and he like tried to. keep it on task and like, no, that's not what's happening. And then Fred Fred Willers is like, what? I don't give a shit about any of this. I'm just here. But they said they said that's um they said that's an actual thing that happened. I guess one year they had a baseball player, um I'm sorry, a a baseball um announcer do it one time and yeah he knew nothing about dogs or dog shows so essentially they were just kind of making fun of that. I forgot the guy's name but um oh that's hilarious. Yeah. What were you gonna say I'm sorry?
SPEAKER_06It's too funny. No I was just like just thinking back to some of his lines when he asks um like do you think like you know the German dog versus a Chinese dog versus a French dog like are they speaking different languages or is it wolf? I'm like I'm sorry that's supposed to have a French wolf versus a German wolf like what is that he went to the rant about um about miniature dogs and he's like how how do they how do they get them so small?
SPEAKER_03Like is is it is it a puppy or is it just a small dog and you think you would want them full size right right you'd think you want them larger right like man's doesn't know what a dog is but somehow he's uh he's a commentator there and just don't at a very prestigious event and he's the commentator yeah it was too funny oh my gosh um but yeah everything he said just really and he and like he was like almost the back half of the movie by itself um correct yeah so they couldn't actually film a real dog show so they actually created that whole thing from scratch they brought in the real championship dogs the trainers and everything and built that little set there um I'm like is that worth it like that's gotta be so like the only thing worse than like child actors are fucking animal actors you know like to you gotta have the trainers the handlers and all these safety stuff or whatever I I don't know I mean I guess I presume these guys people are all friends that are having a good time I don't know how much money because the budget was only 10 million dollars and I gotta imagine a lot of that was eaten up by you know the the dogs the trainers the set you know get into location so I'm like did these guys they could not have gotten paid very much to do this movie that's my assumption um that they pretty much just did it I don't know not pro bono but they not what you would expect some of these people to make you know yeah but anything about that no I didn't see I actually Mr C forgot to look up how much it actually made so I have no idea. It only made 20 million dollars oh so they lost wait how much you said made no it was uh the budget was 10 million oh so they so they did 20 million out of made yeah they doubled they doubled so that's cool yeah um but yeah I mean yeah I think they were just there to just like hang out I mean they shot over 60 hours of footage and they were just shooting shooting and they just cut it down to this hour hour and a half or whatever uh yeah so you know I don't know I thought it was worth it but they said the dogs were actually the most the most are uh professional everybody else was just like cracking up and just full of jokes that's hilarious I guess so those are actually those are professional trained dogs so like they didn't miss a cue they didn't bark out of turn movie dogs yeah they're actually they compete for a living so I guess it was pretty easy so the dogs were actually yeah the dogs were pretty good but yeah the people were just kind of all over the place but they said the dogs were actually like never missed their mark never barked out of turn you know just kind of sat and waited for the cues or whatever and they were ready to go so yeah I guess it wasn't that bad.
SPEAKER_06I have a page of um Buck Laughlin quotes I'm gonna hit you with some sporadically for the rest of this podcast.
SPEAKER_03Okay I like it prepared for that I like it I like it one of them here is now tell me which one of these dogs would you want to have as your wide receiver on your football team I know and then the other guy was like well I don't need dog that plays football he was not having his shit yeah oh my gosh oh my gosh all right um so yeah I'm a little shocked that you didn't like the improv I actually thought it made the movie better like I like it I like it didn't like the improv it's not that didn't because obviously I'm here I'm laughing at it like it's it's not that didn't like the improv it's just there was no story here that's my problem I can't I can't get past that yeah I'm watching a movie this is I'm not watching a sketch I'm not watching a TV show I'm watching a movie so I would have paid money to go and watch this and I don't know like this isn't a movie it's just it's not a movie no no it was you know it wasn't a movie to show like hey you know beginning middle end it was just well I mean it had it a little bit it also just kind of showed more the barely fine but it had it you know you had a winner stuff was just you had a winner that's all that matters you had a winner sure I guess like oh did you care about the winner were you like yeah at the end or anything I mean I didn't like exclaim or anything but I was like oh okay I mean I didn't think I thought the Greyhound was gonna win for anyone to win I wanted the greyhound to win the Greyhound was I thought the poodle was gonna win I I didn't I think they're gonna take it away from her because they were so they were building up so much so I was like it's not gonna be the poodle that's true I thought it was gonna be the greyhound to come back because I think that was his supposedly his first time you know in the movie competing so I thought and the Greyhound was very pretty I was like oh sh they all I mean it was gorgeous dogs for sure yeah um but yeah they they apparently a lot of professionals said that the movie was very accurate like it inspired it's inspired by the real elitist dog show culture and all the things that you saw of things that really happened like these people who lost their shit I mean she lost her shit over the dog toy being missing I mean like oh that was that was Parker Posey right there she was in her bag with that one Parker Posey was good as well like I mean all these actors are really good all of them are good individually and they were good together I I I guess my only gripe and it's a big one is that there was no story here.
SPEAKER_06You know so there's no story like why are we doing this? You know but it was funny it was funny and they all did a really good job. Yeah yeah okay that's fine I could I could take that I could take that I could take that um with that said but did you feel like you learned anything about the world of dog dog shows or I still don't care about dog shows oh my god I actually watch dog shows do you I mean it's not like I've never seen like the puppy bowl or anything first of all the puppy bowl is not a dog show stop it's pretty much the same thing it's a good show it's ours of what does the puppy bowl do they try to make touch they played at like the Super Bowl the same day at the Super Bowl I try to do touchdowns maybe I've never seen a puppy bowl then anyway I've seen commercials for it sorry I thought it was another show um I've seen some of the the Westminster show and stuff um I don't I just nah like it did not it did not pique my interest it made me it just further solidified that like this is white people things and while they can over here care and stress out about their fucking dogs hitting the mark and shit the rest of us have to like you know live real lives and get jobs and do things this is bullshit it's all bullshit so yeah yeah they didn't have any black characters at all no there was zero like no there was no black people there yeah not even the cat not even people in the background there were like zero black people where were they no because but then at the same time it's like I didn't need any black people in this because that'd have been so fucking unrealistic because we don't give a shit well I guess you care but I yeah let's say uh you know I I kind of like I kind of like dog shows yeah that's fine I'm sure some black people like dog shows but this it just if if this was I don't know if this was about something I actually cared about then maybe I would be higher on it you know but I just yeah no it didn't I didn't learn anything it was just I just I it just reinforced that these are some great actors and like comedians and that was cool watching them do their thing but nah good could you be could you be friends with someone like a Harlan Pepper?
SPEAKER_03I mean he spent like a good like five minutes explaining that nut joke like would you cut him off
When Small Talk Traps You
SPEAKER_03or are you trying to like let him finish that story um oh my gosh so it's weird right so I end up in situations where people just try and talk to me and um especially like like old white people they'll just start fucking talking to me and I'm like why is this happening?
SPEAKER_06And I had to tell I had Risa about it because she's the worst because she never engages or helps she just like sits there or she just like retreats from the situation and I'm left there to kind of like handle it right so we're gonna get um Janera's passport a few weeks ago and we're all standing outside because passport office sucks on here we're outside waiting and this like old white lady is just like in the air she's there she's waiting she's like standing at all the wrong places first she's like standing in the middle of the walkway then she's standing in front of the door of this other office she's had to move three times people trying to go in and out the door and then she's like standing like way too close to me. So me and Risa are talking and next you know I see this fucking old gnarled hand just shove a phone in front of my face and I was like what the I was like hey and she's like look at this and it's a picture of her like granddaughter or something oh my god I'm like oh okay and Risa just puts her head down and just she just disengages from the fucking situation. I'm like are you serious right now? So abandoned you immediately immediately so I'm like all right hi oh cool that's that's nice you know like how old or something and then I disengage immediately the fucking lady starts poking me like oh look at this and I'm like oh we're still we're still doing you know this person no I've never seen her before in my life it was a whole thing fast forward to like this past weekend Jannera just got baptized this is a baby's fault because the baby's attracting all this unwanted attention yeah 100% blame the baby we're at uh we're at a uh um brunch uh buffet thing or whatever having lunch and um it's it's me Risa Malachi Janeira and Reese's mom and this this lady this old white lady comes over and she's like oh how cute is that baby now mind you she's in her car seat she's not even facing that direction you can't see the baby and then she's like is it a boy or a girl and I'm like uh it's a girl and Risa's hair eating her damn food just I'm like what the hell like help me like help me in this situation oh my god and she just stands there way too long just trying to like small talk about oh y'all look nice and this and that I'm like all right lady like keep it pushing like this is so to answer your question um I would probably entertain that shit for way too long and be upset because the people around me abandoned me and didn't assist me in getting out of the situation. 100% so yeah 100% I I now that you're saying that I can see me as with you as a kid and while you're being engaged and I just walk away you do you've done you do that all the time I don't know what you're doing but I'm leaving random random high schoolers will come talk to us and you just leave and I'm like what the f like what I don't know what you're doing but I'm leaving right now I don't feel like I have that much like I don't feel like I have a welcoming presence like all the time not on default and people just try to talk to me I don't uh yeah yeah yeah yeah you should have learned the art of like walking away I don't know what you were doing man you blew it I don't know I tried to teach you and you was just like I don't know I don't know you didn't pick up the skill disappointed in you to be honest yeah so what go ahead what else is that to say about this thing I don't know I think that I liked it I thought it was funny I thought it was funny enough on first watch do you think that if you watch it I wouldn't watch again but I mean I got it I got it like like if it was on I wouldn't like ah this stupid movie I'd watch it but like you know I also wouldn't go looking for it yeah I wouldn't go looking for it I agree but like it was on at like a you know doctor's office I'd watch it but yeah agreed agreed agreed um so you think it'd be funnier like on a on a second or third watch or you think this is just it it could be it I could I could see it being funnier on the second watch especially with me already knowing it's a mockumentary especially me knowing what to expect coming into it um and my expectations have been just wiped away because I know what it is it could be funnier on a second watch I'm not gonna watch it a second time to confirm that but yeah it could be let me ask you something yep uh how much weight do you think I could bench press was it 300 315 hey what do you think I got here you know our listeners who haven't watched it are gonna be like what the fuck why did they crack up like man uh take a guess take a guess yeah oh my god see I'm not the only one with little little tidbits here I got mine written down too man's just cooking 315 pounds at my top game maxing out at 500 there you go there you go oh shit oh my gosh there's also go ahead I'd be hard pressed in this category to pick my favorite but I think the shihtzu is a terrific dog which one is that the shitsu you don't play around with that name do you it doesn't come um tripping off the tongue stewardess can I take a little shihtsu on my carrion does it have to be oh my god oh it's a crowd pleaser oh my god oh buck Laughlin yeah he's great man's skill in it man's is there for a good time not a long time I like it there's also this scene where Jennifer Kuliage um is like in this in the stands of course and first of all what happened to her husband like the old decrypted dude he just I think he died off screen or something is that what happened then disappeared like she rolled him in one time and then he left and I was like I know he didn't walk away like what the fuck I think whether or not he survived to the end of the dog show is debatable but I know for a fact six months later yeah he was gone he was gone definitely 100% definitely but
Jennifer Coolidge and her Pink Thing
SPEAKER_06anyway so there's a scene where Jebra Culge is in the in this in the stands and she had this big pink thing in her mouth and I thought it was her freaking tongue until she bit it and I realized it was a cookie I don't know why but I was rolling like I just thought it was the funniest thing I've ever seen like it just looked like her tongue like what the fuck she biting her tongue like what the hell cookie it's like oh my god but yeah she definitely was them just doing random shit yeah I think they just like just had him doing random shit and just point the camera randomly and it was like oh caught something funny and it was like cool yeah but yeah I'm pretty sure they decided to use the footage or not yeah I'm pretty sure they killed him like off screen for sure and they were just like yep he was old whatever oh my gosh um so I mean I think I already know the standard brother asked anyway so who stole the movie for you yeah I guess it's definitely Fred Willard I'm sorry to jump your question earlier Fred Willard uh as Buck Laughlin all his commentary stuff every time he popped onto the screen it it was very helpful for me um if I had to give you a non-Buck Laughlin non-Fred Willard answer um I don't know I wanna say I wanna say Jane Lynch I feel like she wasn't in it enough though that's fair that's a good point yeah I I like the Parker Posey stuff um I I like I like that that whole extended scene when she was looking for the toy um that was pretty funny when she was in the hotel room and when she was talking with the guy in a pet shop and it messages like I'm just trying to help you ma'am I'm just trying to help you like do you help me she picks something he's like this is the least like a bubble bee that you could fucking pick like this one striped this one squeaks she just picked a parrot like what is this like that's not a bubble bee and he's like I know we know that but to the dog it doesn't matter and she's like what like are you are you stupid?
SPEAKER_03She was so upset so that was that was a good performance I like that yeah I would have to that's close I like her too for sure um I'm still gonna stick with Harlan Pepper. I liked his dead pen and like anti-funny funny you know that that's always my guy so I I liked him he I mean again he kind of disappeared and mainly probably because he was directing but in the points that he was in um yeah definitely but I think that if Jane Lynch was in more scenes and you know had more of a bigger presence I definitely probably would pick her because she's just she would have been the easy answer she would have ate that up for sure. 100% um but yeah that's just obviously Fred Willard is it but yeah yeah um I didn't find anybody in the movie to be normal like no one they interacted with was any bit of normal which is just so fascinating to have a cast full of people and nobody is quote on and you know normal subjective I'm not trying to put anybody in a box but still there was just like no one everyone they interacted with was just a cartoon character.
SPEAKER_06Exactly oh my god literally was stolen off my lips there like literally a cartoon character character of a person and it was just like but it was funny it worked I don't know they had to do that to they had to do that to make the movie watchable you know because if they didn't do that then it was like what is like why you know but them these over the top performances it was perfect for what they were doing and everybody everybody delivered I can't think of anyone where I was like why was why were they in the movie you know even even Ed Begley Jr. who had a small role as a hotel manager the way he delivered his dead parents stuff and um when he was had to put put them in this the utility closet.
SPEAKER_03That was hilarious bro all of that stuff was funny yeah I was like first of all they're lucky they didn't get kicked out but second of all Mans was like so room service?
SPEAKER_06He's like yeah you could just tell them utility closet like they'll know well that's that's a good thing you're like right next to the kitchen so yeah you just head over with your little menu and you know is there a bathroom it's like oh yeah if you go two floors down it's the lobby it's the lab it's the bathroom lobby like you do you just yeah just use the you know what use that I want to give a stronger answer to your question about whether or not a second watch would make it funnier the answer is yes it's definitely a yes because just talking about it with you is making the movie funnier so I'm pretty sure watching it again it would it would definitely a lot more of the jokes would land and I'll be able to better appreciate what was happening 100%. For sure I'm still not I'm still not gonna watch it again.
SPEAKER_03That's okay.
SPEAKER_06Yeah somehow it's gonna end up on your TV later and you'll be like what the hell maybe I guess I have to watch this now freaking 25 years never heard hearing of this and all of a sudden it's all over the place.
SPEAKER_03All of a sudden that's how it happens man that's how it happens all right so we get to the end essentially uh they go through the whole dog show process they you know they first do um best in group and
Best In Show Winner And Final Ratings
SPEAKER_03then best in show so um unfortunately the um oh shoot what what's her name oh my god I forgot her name now um the swans Their dog is immediately eliminated, disqualified because the dog decided to stress out. Yeah, the dog is stressed very stressed out because this their owners are crazy. So the dog is just wild in and gets kicked out. So they don't even get to compete at all. Um, all the other main characters, their dogs, make it through the group, and now they're showing best in show. And we have the unlikely winner. Um, when Catherine O'Hara decides to trip on air. I what? How did she fall down? I I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_06So when you read um about the plot um online, it says her knee got dislocated. That's what they were trying to do.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but her knee got displayed.
SPEAKER_03She just was on the floor all of a sudden.
SPEAKER_06It just popped out.
SPEAKER_05It just popped out.
SPEAKER_03Okay, all right. Well, all right. Well, uh, Cookie Fleck uh mysteriously dislocates her her knee. That means she cannot show um their dog the terrier. So Jerry Fleck has to come in and he's walking around with his two left feet doing a thing that he's never done before, and he wins. He wins it all. And uh he looks super shocked. I don't know if he he didn't know they were going to make him win. He looked genuinely shocked, and I know actors are actors, but I don't know. It looked genuine to me.
SPEAKER_06Um hey, that would be interesting because um a big part of it, they were talking about how these dog show things are very subjective. What if they didn't decide the winner until they were filming?
SPEAKER_00Right, right.
SPEAKER_06All right, let's rate this thing. For any newcomers, we rate our movies based on five categories: plot and writing, acting, casting, production, cinematography, music and sound, and cultural impact. Everything is rated on a scale of one to ten. Jill, what do you have? Plot and writing.
SPEAKER_03Uh for plot and writing, I gave it a solid zero goose egg on this one. What? I was like, damn.
SPEAKER_04No, I'm just kidding. Just get it, just get it, just get it, just get it.
SPEAKER_03For a plot and writing, definitely um gave it a four. I gave it a four because I like that they, you know, just had one script, 16 pages, and just went up the top of the dome. That is a lot to do, and I can't discredit that. So four.
SPEAKER_06I hear ya. Them doing a good job with a piece of paper does not mean that that piece of paper is a legitimate plot. They have a two for this one.
SPEAKER_05Acting and oh, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Oh, no. I mean, you know, yeah. Jealous. All I hear is jealousy here.
SPEAKER_06Hey, well, I mean, that's that's jealousy is what I'm hearing. Um where are we? Acting and casting. What do you got?
SPEAKER_03I think I'm gonna give my eight. This is a solid group of folks. They're doing their job. They're comp comedic giants right now, or you know, they were at the time and still are. Again, they they had a nice plan of folks and they did it good. So eight for me.
SPEAKER_06Agreed. Um, I did give it a seven initially, but I'm bumping it up to an eight because you have convinced me I was not giving them enough credit. Cast did a really great job. They did have a production, cinematography, visuals. What do you have there?
SPEAKER_03Um, for that, I have a two. I mean, there wasn't much going on. You know, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It is what it is. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02What do you got?
SPEAKER_06I likewise have a two.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_06Moving right along. Music and sound.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_06Music and sound. Music and sound. What do you have?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, music and sound. I gave it a nice three. I mean, there wasn't really thing any going on.
SPEAKER_06I also have a three. All right. I thought you were gonna be way higher in this movie. I mean, you're not. I mean, why were you giving me so much grief? You gave it the same trash scores that I gave it. I mean, or did you think you thought I was gonna give it zeros?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I didn't because you hated it.
SPEAKER_06I guess. I guess. Oh, final category. Cultural impact. What do you have there?
SPEAKER_03All right, so for cultural impact, I gave it a six. I mean, uh-huh. You have a lot of folks, um, especially from Canada, especially for Canada. Uh, maybe not as big here in America, but a lot of those actors and actresses are Canadian. Um, so I think it's more of uh more of an impact there. Um, but I'm gonna give them the credit. Six. So I gave them a six.
SPEAKER_06Wow, really juicy score there on that one. Um I yeah, so I was initially given gonna give it a two, but when I was doing a little research uh last night slash this morning, I did see that it kind of influenced um this 2002 dog show that they do. I don't know, whatever. I bumped it up to a three because of that. Yeah, I can't I can't go any higher than that. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's that's it. Yeah, that's fine. So this um oh my gosh, this is by far our lowest rate. Uh is it by far? No. What else do we have a little bit? Okay, so you have a 4.6, and I have a 3.6 for this. Um, for our lowest score, which we both gave white chicks a 3.6. Um, but you're higher on that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_06So you did put this above white chicks. You did. You know what? You also gave fern gully a 4.6. So you have this in the same level as fern gully. Red eye was a 4.8, so you have it in the red eye, white chicks, fern gully.
SPEAKER_02I can go with that then. It is what it is.
SPEAKER_06I guess.
SPEAKER_02I guess.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, all right. Well, hey, that was best in show, people. I hope you all enjoyed it. Uh, that'll do it for our real talk and banter on best in show.
Email, Goodbye, And One Last Bark
SPEAKER_06To connect with us, to give us some feedback, or just say hello, email us at real talkbanter at gmail.com. That's r-e-l banter at gmail.com. Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_02Ah, I don't know what to do here. Uh isn't this I should say? Maybe no.
SPEAKER_06Why are you always unprepared for this?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. It's just not natural. I don't know.
SPEAKER_06Like bark or something. Like, give us a German one.