Anchorman (2004) / Benchmark Old No. 8 Bourbon

0:01 Free audio post production bio phonic.com. In 2004, director Adam McKay and star Will Ferrell gave the world a quotable classic that shot right up the ratings. In 2025, we set the standard for whiskey for the rest of the season. The film is Anchorman, the legend of Ron Burgundy. The whiskey is benchmark old #8. And we are going to review them both. This is the. Film and Whiskey podcast.

0:55 Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And Brad, it is time finally for season #10 of the Film and Whiskey Podcast. And we are celebrating season 10 by you being able to see us folks. This is a major shift in in the delivery form of the film and whiskey podcast never before seen. Landmark Moments. Is this what you thought we'd look like? I guess that's the real question for the listeners of film and whiskey. I I have a lot more Gray hair than I did when we started this podcast, Bob. Yeah, and I now have no hair.

1:36 So it's really been quite a journey, Brad. So folks, if you're joining us for the first time on Film and Whiskey, we started this podcast back in 2019. So we have been going strong for well over six years. We are entering season 10 of the podcast. And what we're doing this season is we're revisiting all the movies we reviewed back in our very first season, season #1 where, let's be Frank, Brad, our recording capabilities and our equipment, we're a bit subpar. You know, I think maybe Ron Burgundy would have liked them back in the 70s, but they weren't great for 2019. I'm still using the same microphone. Well, first.

2:16 Of all microphone Bob. Let's be honest, I I gave you that microphone. You sure did. I sure did. And if you remember our very first episodes, we decided to record our podcast on like a conference call mic that sat on the desk in front of us. So we've come quite a long way. That was bad deed. That's rough, man. But hey, we're back. We've got better mics, we've got video now, and we're talking about Anchorman, which is the very first movie we ever reviewed. It was so early on, in fact, that we didn't actually even release it as our first episode. It was kind of a behind the scenes test case for Brad and I to decide if we could really do this thing.

2:57 Yeah, definitely a teaser and we have been teasing people with it for 6 1/2 years now. So I think it's time, Brad, for us to just dive right back into Anchorman and I could not be more excited. Dude, Anchorman is a legendary movie with both of us being born. I think we're like 10 days apart, right? Because you're the 25th 24. We are like millennials of all millennials, and if there was ever a movie that spoke to our generation, we would have been 1314 when this came out. Just the absolute perfect time for this movie to have maximum impact. Because, Bob, whether you like it or not, this is a movie for middle schoolers. 100% And you know, I, there's a, a very popular meme that has gone around that's just basically said like, you know, before smartphones, all guys used to do was sit around in a room quoting Anchorman at each other. And it's accurate because Brad, it's probably been six years since I have put this movie back on because I binged it so much in my younger years.

4:08 And I still feel like I probably know 75% of the lines in this movie by heart. Like it's, it's never going to leave my brain. It's so embedded in there now. This is probably up there as one of the absolute it like it's on the Mount Rushmore, at least of most quotable movies like this, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spinal Tap like that, like just some of the most quotable films of all time. And of that Mount Rushmore, Anchorman's the first one I saw. It really holds a special place in my heart. I remember being in like 8th grade computer class using like the circumventer to get around the blocker and we would like download audio clips from Anchorman and play them back and forth to each other and just quote them all the time as middle schoolers would be want to do.

5:06 And, and The funny thing is that like, yes, it's a very juvenile movie, but it definitely grows with you because the things that I used to quote when I was 15 were like, you are a smelly pirate hooker. And I no longer say that so much. But now I will just randomly, I, I will just randomly say something like, yeah, I ate a big red candle and that's like, I'll lean into those ones now. The one that I loved as a as a younger younger lad was Brick. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should probably find a relatives or a safe house somewhere because you're probably 1 for. Murder. All right, dude, we're going to end up devolving into a quote fest if we don't actually get into our episode today. Folks, like I said, if this is your first episode, welcome into film and whiskey.

5:54 We review movies, we review whiskey. We've got a good one of both of those today, and I think one for the people in both of those categories today, Brad, pairing up Benchmark with Anchorman is about the best thing that we can do. We do want to say real quick as we get into our movie today, if you like what we're giving you here, if you'd like more videos and more bonus episodes, you can check out our Patreon at patreon.com/film Whiskey. We've got three different tiers of entry at at our Patreon and we'd love for you guys to come explore our page. So once again, that is patreon.com/film Whiskey. Brad, this is a movie that needs very little introduction, but we're going to give it one anyway.

6:36 Oh, now, brown cow. We're gonna give it one anyway with our first segment of the day, which we call Brad explains. Brad's gonna give us the movie plots. With only 60 seconds. Taken on the. Clock. So let's go ahead and do your take with this little segment that we call Brad Explains. Brad Explains is the part of the show where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen often for the first time. Brad, are we in the double digits on Anchorman for you? Oh man, I honestly probably not. Like I remember watching it at a friend's house in like 8th grade at a sleepover. I probably didn't own the movie until I was in college so this is probably 5 or 6 for me I would guess.

7:24 Yeah, it's one of those movies where, you know, it was still, it peaked after it came out. So, like, it did OK at the box office, but it wasn't a huge hit. And then it took on a life of its own on DVD and Blu-ray. But it missed that initial wave of, like, YouTube ability. Like, that wasn't until after Step Brothers even, which came out in 2008. So like, if you watched this movie, you had to have a copy of it somewhere in your home. And if you didn't own it at the time, then there's like, there's no way that you could have seen it that many times. But for those of us who did own the DVD, gosh, I've probably seen this movie 25 times. It's crazy, man. Yeah, Yeah. It made about 90 million worldwide, 85 of that coming domestically.

8:05 So this one did not play well overseas for whatever reason. Do you do you think anchormen had the same like mystique in like India that they did in the US? Probably not so much I I can't imagine that 1970s San Diego is playing too well overseas, Brad. The way that Brad explains works, as you know and as most of our listeners know, is that you get one minute to break down the plot of this movie, including full spoilers. So folks, if you do not want Anchorman The Legend of Ron Burgundy spoiled for you, I would recommend that you hit pause here. Go watch this 94 minute movie and then come on back and join us for the rest of the episode. Dude.

8:47 Listen, man. For for those new to the world of film and whiskey, you are starting off with one of the most magical masterpieces a director can give us, the 90. Minute the 90 minute movie. I love it so much. All right, man, listen, it is your time to shine, Brad. You get 60 seconds on the clock, Breakdown the plot of this film and go. Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a film that follows the titular character Ron Burgundy, who is an Anchorman in the mid 1970s, he finds himself embroiled in a diversity scandal.

9:27 Now, Are you sure this isn't a modern film? I know this feels. We will get into the DEI hires at play here, Brad. It follows him as they hire their first female reporter. It takes him through all sorts of shenanigans with his fellow News team champ Brian and Brick, and it follows his downfall as he throws a burrito at Jack Black and has his dog kicked off a bridge. And it also follows, Yeah, I was going to say continue. Yeah, I was just, I would say even at the bottom of his career, we see Veronica Corningstone, played by Christina Applegate, skyrocket at the top, becoming the best news acre in the world. But they unite over one last news story, the beautiful birth of a panda.

10:18 There's a bear fight. I love. That and milk was milk was a bad choice. I love the part where Brian Fantana has to report on the panda and like doesn't even know its name and it's just like Ching King is back here getting ready to get birth. This is going dude, I'm telling you, this is going to devolve into nothing but us quoting it at each other. Paul freaking red is so funny in this movie. Let's start by talking about the cast. I think that's a good place to start here, Brad, because this was in many ways a launching pad for some careers. Steve Carell most famously, and it was kind of a return to mainstream comedy for somebody like Paul Rudd, who had had quite a few movies in the 90s and then was kind of kicking around Hollywood and this was a a big role for him that reestablished him in the world of comedy.

11:09 It definitely skyrocketed Will Ferrell to superstardom. Where who do you want to start with? Do you want to just dive in with Paul Rudd and and kind of work our way out from there? Yeah, I think you start with the four anchors and then, you know, we'll talk about Ron and what, what is Christina's name? Veronica, Veronica. Corningstone. Veronica. There we go. Veronica Corningstone. All right, man, let's talk about him. I, I, I think it's OK to start with Paul Rudd here because like you said, I, I, I didn't know Paul Rudd that much when I first saw this movie. I was not a fan of like the movie Clueless from the mid 90s. Like not that I'm not a fan of it, but I just didn't grow up with it. He has a major role in the movie Clueless, and so a lot of people from the 90s knew him from that. This was pretty much my first exposure to Paul Rudd when I was 13.

11:58 And it's funny to look back on some of these guys now that we've had 20 years of career with them. You know, Paul Rudd is now doing Ant Man 6 or whatever the hell he's doing. But like, he's been so established as a major star in Hollywood, and we know what sort of improv and comedy chops he has that when you go back and watch this movie, it's like, Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice at the time how much this was like a comedy Dynamo waiting to break out of his shell. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I love you, man. Was like a very pivotal, like he got launched, as, you know, one of the two main characters of that film. It feels like that was a real turning point for his career. And yes, to come back to see him here in Anchorman, he has so many great moments throughout the film. I I found myself really focused on the three supporting Anchormen.

12:59 And I think, I think Paul Rudd has a little bit of something in his character, something on the script that you don't have with the other two. The other two feel very flat. And there's there is something about Brian Fantana that just it's a great character and a great performance. Yeah, for sure. Let's talk about Steve Carell, because this was a year before The Office premiered and it premiered like just before he starred in The 40 Year Old Virgin. And so the the confluence of these three pieces of media are what really kind of catapult him to a new level of success as well. Now, he also had been kind of kicking around the comedy world.

13:41 He had done smaller parts in movies. He had kind of really made a name for himself in a breakout role in the movie Bruce Almighty, and that kind of put him on the radar of some of these other films as well. But Steve Carell is another one of these guys that we've now seen him nominated for Oscars for dramatic roles. And to go back and see him in one of these earlier performances, I say earlier, but like, I'm pretty sure he was 42 or 41 when this movie is filmed. So like, you know, he's kind of a late bloomer in terms of finding success in Hollywood. I will say though, that there's something about the Corel performance where there's a, there's an almost like fearfulness to Brick that you can tell that he's like socially embarrassed so often. And Corel plays that really, really well, even though he's like oblivious to social norms.

14:35 He also like is afraid to speak up a lot. And I feel like the way that he plays Brick is way different than the way that he's played any other character since. And I kind of wonder, I didn't go back and revisit the second Anchorman for this episode, but I kind of wonder if I were to go back to Anchorman 2 and watch him try to play Brick in 2013 or whatever that was, how much different of a character Brick would look like, 'cause I don't know if Steve Carell actually has this particular kind of register in his bag still. Yeah. Does it make sense? Definitely. Oh, 100%. It feels like when a major star is in AB, roll before they're a major star, like, and they do what the director wants and they adjust themselves way more than they normally would because they don't have the cachet to get away with just being who they are. And honestly, like, this is like a very tiny aside, but like Seth Rogen kind of feels like that in this movie. Like Seth Rogen is in the movie.

15:41 He has he he's just plays a straight man. That's just like, hey, I got a good shot Veronica like and it's it's such a weird experience to see Seth Rogen not being doofus Seth Rogen. You know what I mean? I think with Steve Carell specifically, it's the the most perfect example of who he is in this movie. And it's the only time he has like an extended amount of lines is when he invites Veronica to the pants party. And like he actually has a back and forth. Everything else that he does in the movie is 1 liners just delivered at the camera and then everybody moves on. But the one chance he gets to interact with other people in the film, it's one of the funniest parts of the movie.

16:25 I'm with you. I I love the way he brought Brick to life. Let's talk about David Koechner a little bit. Who plays champ? Kind David Koechner, probably the least famous of the four. You know, Anchorman now, but I think that he is such a good addition to this group of people because he does have that sort of like macho dude mentality undergirded with like this. You know, you could read it as like a homoeroticism. You could read it as just like supreme insecurity. But that scene where he's just like pawing at Ron, talking about missing his Musk and wanting to move in together. And you know, this time around, I watched the other people in the scene reacting to him and I don't think I'd ever done that before because he's he's so dynamic in that scene.

17:15 But it's it's so hilarious because he's missing the mark so much on being able to read the room that every time they cut away to Brian Fantana trying to like, he's like blowing into his straw and his Coca-Cola trying to act like he's not hearing what's going on. It makes that scene so much better, man. Oh, it's incredible. I, I've gotten into a habit with comedies that I have seen before of watching all the surrounding people in any scene. And it makes comedy experiences so much funnier because you see the people trying to play flat and they do a good job at it usually. But it's those little moments where Brian's like into his drink and you see his eyes just barely move and you're like, oh, he's holding it in because this is this is brilliant. That was kind of my MO, this whole, like, on this rewatch the whole time through, though, And there are moments that I guess I just never noticed before, but they'll like leave the camera on characters for a beat too long and you get to watch their reaction a little better.

18:17 And I noticed it first in the very opening scenes of the movie, you know, after Fred Ward comes in and says, like, Fred Willard comes in and says, like, hey, you know, we're #1 don't, don't let these guys party. And they cut to the party and Ron's talking to Brian Fantana and he's just like, we've been coming to the same party for 12 years now and in no way is that depressing. And I always loved that line. But then they leave it on him for a minute and he goes and in no way he's that depressing. And then he like, takes a real awkward drink. And it's. Perfect. It's great 'cause you can tell that he's already reevaluating his life choices, and I don't know why I had never noticed that tiny little beat.

19:00 But in a movie that often doesn't have enough time to let its characters be real human beings, I actually really appreciated a small moment like that. Because they're not giving Ron Burgundy tons of character development in the script, and so Will Ferrell has to bring it in those kind of small, improv heavy moments. And that one moment spoke volumes about things that aren't on the page for Ron Burgundy. Yeah, and and they give him that moment a few seconds later when he's talking to Veronica and. And he he lands with can I just restart for a second? I want to be on you. And she just dude, Veronica's sigh. Christina Applegate just freaking nails it. And she turns around and walks away. And then he commits and just goes I want to be on you. But the camera sits on him for another few seconds, and you see him just kind of looking around, like, I hope nobody saw that. And like, casually sauntering off. And it's once again, it's allowing the camera and the medium of film to do character work in the way that a book couldn't.

20:09 Yep. Let's talk about Christina Applegate a little bit, because I think she's kind of the missing piece here in this cast. I think she's, first of all, I think she's great in this movie. It is really, really hard to be put against, you know, obviously these four guys who are all super well versed in improv and have to hold your own. And I think that they kind of balance that out by giving Veronica the most scripted lines of anybody in the movie. She seems like she's mostly like an exposition character, but she does such a good job. Especially like if you watch the blooper reel it during the credits, you can tell that they were letting her kind of riff as well. And there's moments where she's making those guys crack up.

20:50 I think she really holds her own and and that sounds kind of like a backhanded compliment. I don't mean to say that she's any worse than anybody else, but like she is an actress who, you know, she was in Married with Children and that was kind of like her big claim to fame. So she's used to doing comedy. She has great comic timing. I actually think it's almost more impressive that somebody that doesn't necessarily have that, like improv heavy training, can hold their own so much in a movie like this and not stick out like a sore thumb. The ways that she did stick out, I felt like almost highlighted the tension that the story is trying to tell even further though, right? That somebody who is prepared, who has something of a script they're working off of, who spends time being professional, will come across more polished and controlled and professional than people who are just improving their way through life.

21:50 And so for me, the fact that you can tell she's a more scripted character worked in the movies favor I, I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but that felt obvious to me on this watch through of like, yeah, no, like she's not improving nearly as much. And you can tell when she does, but it works because she should be more polished and professional and feel less ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah, no, I love it, man. What did you think, though, about, like, the overall dynamic between Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate? In terms of like, as actors, do they have chemistry with each other? Not just romantic chemistry, but in terms of a scene, being able to bounce off an acting partner.

22:32 Did you feel like they made a good couple in the movie? I thought they were incredible. I did too. Like, I like, dude, the scenes for me that highlight that the most is when the two of them are sitting together after a news broadcast. And this is when they're broken up and, like, hate each other. And the way that they talk to each other with hatred in their voice and yet happiness in their mannerisms. And the way that McKay switches back and forth between what's happening in The Newsroom and what you know people are seeing on their television screen as the credits roll was so good. And the chemistry, the comedic chemistry between them is like 10 out of 10 lightning in a bottle. All right, dude, anything else you want to say about the cast of the movie you mentioned all the way down to the bottom of the cast list.

23:22 You've got Seth Rogen, who I believe his character name in this is Eager Cameraman. So that's, that's his name. And then, you know, we've mentioned Fred Willard. I, I do want to talk about Katherine Hahn just popping up for a hot 2nd in this movie as well. She's gone on to have the same. Career. Yeah, yeah. It sounds like you had somebody though. Tim Robbins, I don't, I don't know if this is just like me. I don't think I ever realized that that was Tim Robbins. I I know I didn't the first time I watched it because I'd never seen a Tim Robbins movie before. Now I, I look at that role and there was something in me that's like, man, Tim Robbins is such a good actor.

24:04 Like the way he interacts with Veronica for like 13 seconds, I just found myself going, how did he not make it bigger? Like how like where did he fall off? Because the dude can act. I don't want to say that he fell off because especially like if you look at when this movie comes out in O 4 the year before this, he's in Mystic River and wins an Oscar. And then like this is his next movie. It's just like, I'm going to go be an Anchorman for three minutes. And it's like, you know what? You've earned that right, Tim Robbins. You go for it, man. Yeah, totally. Lots of cameos. We have Vince, Vince Vaughn showing up as his, as his main rival. I for some reason Vince McMahon was like, maybe because it's W Man Tooth.

24:52 Yeah, you know. First of all, that might be the best character name in the whole movie. W Mantooth is a freaking great news man. The mantooth is a. Saint All right, so you've got Vince Vaughn, you've got Ben Stiller, who pops up in this for a hot 2nd in what is for sure the most no, the most cancellable thing in this whole movie probably, but you know what it's like. This is 2004, baby. This is what we did back then. Is it more cancelable than Robert Downey Junior in Tropic Thunder? Oh, that's the debate. If we were into hot takes for clicks and views, we would be talking about that right now. But. Here's the thing, I don't crack it. Challenge most cancellable characters. Those those would probably be 1 and 2 seeds. I think it's.

25:43 Pretty high up there. All right man, I think it's time for us to take a break and drink some whiskey before we actually get into cancellable takes. Here we come back, we can quote this movie some more, and we'll get into our game for the day. 2 Facts and a falsehood. But what do you say we go try this benchmark, old #8? Bob, we should get to it. All right, today we are checking out Benchmark old #8 Bourbon Whiskey Brad. This was one of the very first whiskey's we ever tried on our podcast. We initially released it as episode #1 with the movie Goodfellas. Now we have actually done an episode, a revisit of the movie Goodfellas 'cause I was convinced that Brad would like it better a second time.

26:32 Spoiler alert, he did not. Just so everybody knows, I gave that movie an 8 1/2 both. Times it's not good enough, man. I don't know what to. Tell you it's this isn't an eternal Sunshine ET type of situation, all right? It might. It might as well be though, Brad. So anyway, Benchmark had been paired up with Goodfellas, but we didn't revisit the whiskey along with the movie. I figured it would be a great time to revisit this whiskey because, Brad, in the interim, we have tried the entire line of Benchmark products, which was a thing that didn't exist when we first started. Yeah, yeah. Go for it. I'd say it got released after we started the podcast.

27:12 And to be frank guys, the benchmark lineup goes from $13 for regular benchmark to like $26 I think for the barrel strength. Yes, so I'm actually looking. Really fun line up. We did a ranking of the five other benchmarks. I'll read them off real quick. So at #5 was Benchmark single barrel, which is 25 bucks. Number 4 was Benchmark bonded, $20. Number 3 was Benchmark small batch, 90 proof, 18 bucks. Benchmark top floor was the big surprise for us. That's an 86 proof whiskey, 15 bucks. And then our favorite one was the foolproof at about 23 bucks.

27:53 Brad, I think the biggest comparison point for us here is going to be that benchmark top floor. And when we say top floor, this is distilled by the Buffalo Trace distillery. And they say that for top floor, they only blended barrels that came from the top floor of the Rick house, which you know is going to be the hottest part. It's going to, you know, in their marketing, they say it's going to extract the most out of those barrels. We really liked the top floor for regular benchmark. They're blending all across Rick houses and floors here and they are distilling it. I'm diluting it all the way down to 40% ABV or 80 proof. Now this is not age stated, but you know, we assume that this is at least three years old.

28:37 And Brad, I remember this being like, not bad for a whiskey that costs about $12.00 at the time we first tried it. Yeah, I was going to say the the review I believe we gave it overall was like this is a good benchmark for budget bourbon. Yep. And I'm very curious to return to it with that in mind. I will say I bought a bottle of Benchmark like a year ago, so this bad boy has not been freshly popped. It's been just about marinating on the shelf. You, the way you described it to me was like, you just kind of like woke up one day and it was there. You're like, yeah, I don't know.

29:18 I, I just, I got a bottle of Benchmark. It just kind of happened. It did just like, stumble and fall into the liquor store with a bottle of Benchmark on the counter. I was in a few state. I don't want any of it. Dude, no. All right, so currently this is retailing for $13 in the great state of Ohio where Brad and I both reside. We will review the value of it after we sip this whiskey. But Brad, let's get into our review here. What are you picking up on the nose of benchmark #8? And since we're doing things on video now, I usually drink the whiskeys before we record. Bob usually drinks them live and on the air, so you get a little bit of both.

30:01 You can watch me stick my nose in this while Brad gives his nosing notes. You know what? I've found that you're going to love that I say this right before you drink it. I think drinking whiskey on video is weird because they like see into your mouth and like you got to kind of like turn to the side and then it's like a. Silhouette and that's that's my whole MO. I'm trying to parlay this into an only fans account. Eventually I want them to see my open mouth. Brad, now proceed with your review. This nose is very average, Bob. It is caramel. There's some baking spices. Everything is muted about it, like there's a little bit of a vanilla vibe going on.

30:45 It's all nice and pleasant. It's a little bit muted. You're not getting a ton out of it. 6 out of 10. I love that they call this benchmark. I mean, I think if there was more accurate, they'd call it baseline because it kind of is like it's a really great entry level bourbon for people who are new to drinking whiskey. It is the lowest proof that it can legally be to be called bourbon and but you're getting some really great notes of like really spicy oak. I get great baking spices on this. I get a little bit of clove. I get a little bit of nutmeg. It's definitely got a vanilla heavy profile. And then I get quite a bit of like pink bubble gum as well. It smells really sweet to balance out that oak spiciness. It is pretty average, but like this is kind of what you would bottle and make a brick a a brick Tamlin big red candle out of if you were doing like a bourbon scented candle. It's, it's like a 6 1/2 for me, Brad. Yeah, I think the pallet once again, all of the flavors are a little muted for better for the worse. I I might sound a little bit pretentious here. We don't often drink 80 proof whiskey on this podcast anymore, Bob.

31:55 And that's not to say that we go crazy. We just had a Mary Dowling the other week. That's like 91 proof and we've really, really loved it, right? But we don't often hit the 80 proof. So it makes sense to me that these, the experience of the palate is a little bit tamped down. I think that it's a little bit sawdusty. There's some caramel. It gets a little bit into the black pepper realm. The bubble gum note is a really good one here. I think all of it is just a really average to below average experience. I'll give it a 5 1/2 out of 10. It's, it's not anything that I'm going to say this is faulty distillate.

32:36 It's not anything I'm going to get really excited about. Yeah, man, I'm kind of in the same spot as you. And I don't know how to explain this, but sometimes when we get like a note of banana on the nose, then we'll actually sip it and it reminds us of like an overripe banana where it's like sickly sweet it. It almost tastes like something's gone wrong with it. This is that but with bubble gum. Now, to my knowledge, bubble gum does not get overripe, Brad, but it almost tastes like medicinal, like a kids medicine that's flavored like bubble gum. It tastes like artificially sweetened almost, and then on the back of the pallet it tips into like really weird bitter notes. So you're kind of getting the worst of the sweet notes and the worst of the barrel notes.

33:19 I don't think it's an awful whiskey, but I wonder if the like extensive dilution is actually bringing out some of those compounds that you don't want brought out. If this was at 90 proof, would it taste better? I don't know. But as it is, I think I am going to give it a 5 1/2 bread. Yeah, and I think finish wise I'm in the same place. The black pepper is there, the vanilla is barely there. It gets very oaky at the back end. Not a bad way, but not in a good way either. I'm going to stick it a 5 1/2 out of 10 on the finish, Bob. Yeah, the problem with an 80 proof whiskey is that it's really hard to have a long lasting finish. And part of what we score a finish on is like A, is it pleasant?

34:00 But then B, how long does it stick around? And this one is, I think 2:00. It's credit, not super unpleasant given like what I just said about how bitter it was, but it just dissipates super quickly. So at 80 proof, I'll give this a six on the finish. And then on the balance, which is where we consider all three of those prior categories, nose, taste, finish. Was there like weird ups and downs through that journey? I don't know that this one had weird ups and downs as much as it's just like a pretty mediocre whiskey. So once again, I'll just give it a six here. Brad, where are you coming out on balance? Exact same spot 6 out of 10 And like the The thing is with balance, even if it has kind of a weird journey, if it's a journey that makes sense to your palate, then like that's good balance. You're taking a lot of complex things and making something beautiful.

34:54 So it doesn't just have to be smooth between the three categories for this one. It's just it is pretty smooth between the three categories on what you're experiencing. It's nothing to write home about. 6 out of 10 here. Now, Bob, this is going to set you back in the gorgeous state of Ohio, $13. That is a 1299 purchase. You're getting out of there for under 15 bucks with tax. Yep, like here's the thing. 8 out of 10 for me. I don't know if there is a nationally produced bourbon brand that is cheaper than this. Like sometimes you'll get ones that are like almost like generic, just the word bourbon.

35:37 And those are usually made by the big distilleries, but they're they're regional or they're not nationally produced. I really don't know if you can get a cheaper bourbon than this that is available everywhere. And that like there is something to be said about that. I also don't think I like this very much. And so it's like, would I recommend somebody spend $13 on this or spend $2.00 more for that benchmark top floor, which I actually approve of? I kind of consider them to be equivalent because 2 bucks is like nothing in the world of whiskey here. I'm only going to give this a six out of 10 on value, which brings me to a kind of surprisingly low 30 out of 50.

36:18 Brad, where are you coming out to on this one? Honestly man, I'm kind of at an 8. Like I I still think that for what you are buying this all makes sense. Like 5 to 6 out of 10 is what you should expect out of a $13 whiskey. I would say that this is a good value. I'm going to give it an 8 out of 10. I'm coming out to a 31 out of 50. All right. So after all that, we're basically in the same spot, 61 out of 100 or 30.5 out of 50. Now for those of you who may be new at the 35 mark is where we typically start recommending a whiskey. The 40 out of 50 mark is typically where it's like a no brainer for us. Brad, I, I don't think that this is either a try or buy type of purchase for me, but like if you need a quick mixer and you're just going to put coke on top of it that I mean like it's 13 bucks, go for it, you know?

37:12 Yeah. And honestly, like, I don't think anybody's going to look at your bar cart and get like snippy about there being benchmark. Like everybody understands the need for a mixer and they're going, oh, wow, you have a cheap mixer. So do I So I like, like I said, do I recommend or not? I don't know, go spend your own money how you want to when it's $13. Yeah, exactly. Now if we were smart about this, we would have had a Scotch so that we could say Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch while we drank it, and we did not do that. So in its place Cutty have drank Cutty Sark would have been fantastic. Cutty Sark would have been a great pick for this this. Week. All right, man, Let's get back into talking about Anchorman. What do you say?

37:56 Let's get to it, Bob. All right, everybody, that was benchmark #8 is it a McAfee Whiskey Bob? You know what? Yeah, we didn't even talk about that. This is not just benchmark. It's Mcafee's benchmark. So that dude Pat McAfee is just making his presence known all over the place, man. Dude, you want to know what what? They're making a lot of money off of Buffalo Trace. What's the benchmark Whiskey? They sure are dude. Benchmark and Fireball keeping that place afloat. Oh, 100% man, that is paying the bills. But do you know what is paying the bills around here, Bob?

38:38 What's that, Brad? 2 facts and a falsehood. Brad is going to try to stump you. Ball 2. Are right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents me with three items as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie. Now Brad, I have brought multiple seasons worth of winning records into season #10 here I am looking to get out to a hot start. I'm going to be honest with you dude, because we're doing Anchorman today. I I didn't do any research about this movie, so you could probably. You already know.

39:20 You know everything about it, Bob. Yeah, yeah, why not? Brad, hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. All right. Fact #1 The Mexican restaurant that Veronica visits with her friend from the station is named Escoopamos Ensu Alimento, which means we spit in your food. Fact #2 The bears shown in the film are not actually Kodiak bears, but the other subspecies of brown bears known as the American grizzly bear. Fact #3 Adam Mckay's daughter, Lily McKee, makes a cameo as a little girl insulting Ron while he's walking on the street.

40:02 Mckay's wife, Shira Piven, plays the girl's mother. I'm pretty sure that as McKay and Will Ferrell kind of developed their rapport with each other. So McKay was a writer on SNL and Will Ferrell was his guy. When they made that YouTube video, the landlord, I'm pretty sure that was one of Adam Mckay's daughters that played the little girl in that, in that short. And this little girl sounded a lot like her, you know? That is one of the funniest. You like the funniest videos ever put on the Internet? I don't think that I like, I think that came out years after this.

40:48 So that can't be the same little girl. But maybe he has more than one daughter. I'm going to assume #3 is true. What was the name of the Mexican restaurant in #1? Escoopimos ensu alimento. Alimento is that? Is that food? I don't. Isn't food like Christina in Spanish? It might not be. It's definitely in your something something in your something. I am. I am like Ron Burgundy. I do not know Spanish, so I can't. I can't say if one is true or false #2 I just do not care about with the bears so.

41:30 Is scooping most? Does that mean spit? I don't know let I want to learn more about Spanish. I'm going to say #1 is the falsehood. I have no idea if that's true. Brad, tell me, did I get it correct you? Are 100% incorrect on week number one of the season. No, I'm Googling it right now and SU Scoopymos and SU Alimento, OK, it's like the first thing. Yep, sure does mean we spit in their food. Yep, it sure does, darn it.

42:10 All right. Well, which was the falsehood, Brad? The falsehood was #2 about the the bears shown in the film. See, you've unlocked the key to two facts in a falsehood, which is that you write really boring falsehoods. And part of me just doesn't care. And I also know that it's like terrible audio to parse the differences in Kodiak bears. So I'm just not gonna pick that one. And you get you get easy victories that way. Fun fact, there's like 8 species of bears and the Kodiak and grizzly are just the two subspecies of the brown bear. There you go. So how, how, how was that audio? Bob was that I loved. It, man, we're actually gonna flip that out and share it on social media and we'll frame ourselves as bear experts. Just just pull clips from this episode that have nothing to do with Anchorman.

43:02 Yeah. We'll just talk about pandas and grizzly bears for 15. Years. It's going to be great. Why not? All right, dude, where do you want to go from here? So I have failed miserably at week one of two facts and a falsehood we've talked about Anchorman. What do you still have left to talk about here, Brad? I don't know, Bob, like this. This is Here's the thing, Bob, this is like probably like a 6 1/2 out of 10 movie. That's like a that like on some levels works as a 10 out of 10 comedy. There, there are so many moments that don't follow the because of this, then that formula of like a South Park Trey and whatever his name is, There's just this happens. And then they get into a a street fight with a bunch of other news teams.

43:58 And then Ron's dog gets punted off a bridge by Jack Black. And then and it's the whole movie is just, and then and then I'm laughing the whole stinking movie. So I guess I want you to answer for me. What is it that makes this movie so enduringly funny if it doesn't really follow good storytelling or anything else? I don't know how to explain it because it's like if you just straight up ask me, is this a good movie? I don't know if it is like, but it's also not a waste of time. Usually when I call something a bad movie, it's like it is ineptly made and a waste of my time.

44:39 I don't think this is even ineptly made. It's just made in a way that disregards the language of cinema altogether. Like there is really no plot. And they try really hard to put like, they'll put a button on a scene with something like, hey, don't let those guys go to the party just so that you kind of understand when we cut to a party, why we're there. But it's like the barest semblance of a plot that if you look at like the development of this movie, I know we talked about it even six years ago, Brad, like they had a whole cut of this movie that was a completely different movie that they put together out of outtakes from this. And I guess at one point there was a plot line I think about like bank robbers.

45:20 And it didn't test well with audiences. So they went back and reshot all the panda bear stuff to slot into the stuff that had been about bank robbers at one point in the development. Will Ferrell wanted this movie to be about a news team that crash lands in a in a helicopter in the mountains and has to like eat each other like the Donner party. Like there's just so many weird ideas happening. And it's essentially like, you can tell that these guys are coming out of the SNL 3 minutes skit mindset and trying as hard as they can. Because the downfall of most SNL like adaptations was you bring a character from SNL, we make a movie out of that and the movie's going to suck because this worked as a 3 minute skit, not as a 90 minute movie. And so they very smartly try to just make 23 minutes skits strung together.

46:13 Now, does that make a good movie? I don't know how to answer that. It's certainly enjoyable and it's a really funny movie, but I think it's the kind of comedy that I don't particularly respond to well for a couple reasons. The first of which is like when we've watched classic comedies on this show, it's usually a really well written script. It's like a Billy Wilder doing something like it. Hot. Where? Where you. Can be like. You know what I mean? Like it's just so tightly written. This is the opposite of that. And and going along with that, it's so improv heavy that it's almost like, I respect that these guys are so quick witted and so quick on their feet, but like, does that make it a good movie?

46:54 I truly don't know how to answer that dude. I I still think the reason this movie makes it is because Will Ferrell is so able to create and channel a perfect comedic character. Yeah, like that, like that is what makes this movie work. Are all the other characters funny and great additions? Yes, but Ron Burgundy is the anchor of this movie. Like literally at the start of the movie, the voice over guy says like, but Ron is their anchor. Like everything.

47:35 The whole world revolves around him. And it feels like this meta commentary, like, yeah, this movie would not work if Will Ferrell didn't discover this alter ego. So much so to the point that I can watch Anchorman and I don't think about it being Will Ferrell, Right. Like, like you watch not Roadhouse. What's what's the old school? You watch old school and you're like, oh, yeah, that that's Will Ferrell. And you watch Step Brothers and you're like, Oh yeah, that's Will Ferrell. I don't look at Anchorman and think of Will Ferrell. It's Ron Burgundy. Like, I don't know if there's ever been a character that has been better brought to life to the point where I forget that one of the most famous movie stars of all time, the most famous comedic movie stars of all time is the actor. It's just that's Ron Burgundy.

48:29 He's a real human being. That was a real Anchorman back in the 1970s. And I think like Ebert nailed it in his review of this movie when he said, like this movie succeeds most when it's only a degree or two away from real life. Like when the when the news anchors are laughing about a squirrel that can jet ski and you're like, yeah, I like I grew up in the 90s and I saw stuff like that on the news because my parents had the news on before we went to school, when we got home from school. And sometimes they're like 11 O clock O clock news if we're up late on a Friday night. Like we watched the news all the time and I saw stuff like that. And so the rest of it all falls into place because when he's sitting there pre show going Scotch, Scotch, Scotch or like complimenting the rack on the girl in front of him, like you're like, yeah, I believe that that happened in reality. And so that for me is what makes this movie have such an enduring quality, despite the fact that I agree with the 7.1 it has on IMDb.

49:40 Here's the thing, you know, this movie comes out a year after Elf. And I think that in a lot of ways, Elf and Anchorman are his two best comedic performances, but for like, wildly different reasons. And you brought up Step Brothers. I think even by the time you get to step brothers, Will Ferrell has really like, settled into his movie star persona. You know, even the year after this movie, like Talladega Nights, Ricky Bobby is funny, but it's Will Ferrell playing Ricky Bobby. You're not actually like engrossed and engulfed in the world of Ricky Bobby as much as it's like this is Will Ferrell doing a funny character. And so from then on, every performance he gives is kind of just a variation of the Will Ferrell persona.

50:23 But I feel like Buddy the Elf and Ron Burgundy like really exist and stand on their own feet and he kind of immersed himself in those characters, but they do two different things. So like the Buddy the Elf character is kind of your SNL character. It's like a super hyper specific. This is an elf who a man who was raised by elves. Let's see how much mileage we can get out of this. And the way that they keep that from feeling like a 90 minute skit is they make that movie very plot heavy and like there's a lot of characters getting exposition. It's a very well written movie and it moves from scene to scene really logically. The other way to get around that is what he did with Ron Burgundy, which is like, this is not a very specific character.

51:07 He's just like 70s Anchorman. And let's like, of course we can just decide that he's good at playing jazz flute too. Like, why not? That'll make a funny scene. Yazz Flute, he's. Kind of a blank canvas, aside from just being like a chauvinistic Anchorman. And because of that, you can drop him into 20 consecutive skits and it doesn't feel old. So I just think it's funny how those two movies, like they both work really well, but for completely different reasons. Yeah, I I'd like that's dude. That is the beauty of movies and cinema is that you get actors who become known for certain things, but with the right script and the right director and the right crew, you can throw them in wildly different situations and it's going to work both ways. And the opposite can also be true. Like, you have an action movie star in Tom Cruise, and yet The Mummy was The Mummy, right?

52:03 Like there's all sorts of peaks and valleys in people's careers and IT and IT. You just never know quite which little bit of movie magic is going to work for any individual movie. All right, Brad, I think that is a perfect place to get into our last segment of the day, which we call Let's Make it a Double. We're near the end of the episodes of Things listening to the film and Whiskey Show. Let's have another film with this one, even if it's struggling, it's the final segment of the day. Now let's Make It a double. Let's Make It a Double is the part of the show where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature? Brad, I'd love to hear from you first. What's getting paired up with Anchorman here 'cause we've referenced a ton of movies today and I think any of them kind of work. This is a comedy classic we're talking about. Yeah, dude, there are so many movies that you could go with here.

52:57 I'm, I'm trying to think that I have like a few that I'm thinking about. I think that pop star never stop, never stopping would be a good option. It's it has such great performances. I think I think I'm going to pair it with Zoolander from 2001, mostly because I think it's a perfect example of like taking a industry, making fun of it and having lots of memorable 1 liners from the film. I think that between Zoolander and Anchorman, like that's it dude. 2 great movies from the from kind of the same era. Yeah, for sure, dude.

53:46 I'm going to go kind of in the same like realm as you because I feel like I wanted to pair this up with a movie that honored the roots of McKay and Will Ferrell and the idea of sketch comedy and even some improv. And there is a great little comedy troupe that's on SNL now called Please Don't Destroy. They do the digital skits every week. They're basically like The Lonely Island. So you you had mentioned pop star never stopping. They actually made a movie, I want to say in 2023, and it was the victim of studios now not wanting to release studio comedies in theater, so they dumped it on freaking Peacock or something. And so the name of the movie is Please Don't Destroy Colon. The Treasure of Foggy Mountain.

54:32 It is bro. It's the funniest movie I've seen in like 5 years. It absolutely deserves to be talked about in the same league as a movie like Pop star because there are so few really good studio comedies that have been made this century and I want people to go watch this movie. It is once again an hour and 32 minutes long. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in years and years. It's called the Treasure of Foggy Mountain. Go watch it. It's probably on Peacock still. That's my let's make it a double Brad. Dude, Zoolander one hour and 29 minutes I. Love Zoolander so much we have to do it on the show soon. Too we've that that could be a Patreon bonus episode for this season. Cause man, oh man, what a great movie. And you know, I'm just going to say it. We're going to do it for Patreon eventually. And if you want to join the patron and hear that Zoolanders episode sometime, patreon.com/filmwhiskey. There's a few different tiers.

55:30 You get all sorts of bonus content. Check it out. All right, man, let's give this movie some final scores. I'll go ahead and go first. Brad. I don't know if this is a good movie. It is like it is like a nine out of 10 or a 10 out of 10 comedy. It's like a 5 or 6 movie. So I'm going to split the difference. I will give this a 7.5 out of 10 Brad. Oh man, I'll give it an 8 out of 10. OK, I, I, like you, gave the exact perfect definition of where this movie ought to sit. There's a lot of tension in me 'cause like middle school, Brad wants to give it a 10 out of 10. And I think for nostalgia's sake, I'll I'll come up to an 8.

56:11 But I think 7/7 and 1/2 is probably the accurate scoring for this movie. All right, so it's a 7 1/2 for me and it's an 8 from Brad, right? So correct, 7.75 on average. But we'd like to know what you guys think. Are we just film snobs? Are we not giving Anchorman enough credit? We are talking about one of the all time classics here. You can let us know on any of our social media accounts Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or if you guys want, we have a discord channel. We're on there everyday talking to people who like movies and whiskey and all sorts of other crazy stuff.

56:51 We have a great community, so if you want to join that discord, join the join the conversation. You can find a link to it at the end of every single one of our show notes. Brad, do you know what I love about doing this podcast? It's that we can go from a movie like Anchorman and then throw it all the way back to next week's episode, 1957's 12 Angry Men, which are, you know, clearly equivalent cinematic masterpieces. So please join us next week for that Sydney Lumet classic 12 Angry Men. But until then, I'm Bob Book. And I'm just asking you, Bob, is it possible? Is it possible? Brad G Is it? Possible. And we'll see you next time. Free audio post production by alphonic.com.