The Help / Remus Repeal Reserve Bourbon (Batch VIII)

0:00 In 2011, director Tate Taylor and star Viola Davis gave the world a detailed look at the hardships of working in the 1960s South. In 2024, Ross and Squibb gives us a whiskey that celebrates the end of Prohibition. The film is the help. The whiskey is Remus Repeal Reserve Batch 8. We'll review them both. This is. The Film and Whiskey podcast Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey.

0:53 I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad Gee. And it's Week 2 of season #9 folks, we are looking at modern classics this season. And today we're here to talk about the 2011 film The Help. This is a film that Brad, when we were originally looking through the list of things that could be considered a modern classic or considered for this season, I don't know if The Help would have immediately sprung to mind, but it is a beloved movie. It checked, I think, three of the four categories here. It made $100 million at the US box office. It was nominated for best picture and I believe it is still in the IMDb top 250 at the time of recording. So apparently this movie struck a chord that I forgot about. Yeah, I remember hearing about this film. It made some big waves when it came out. I have seen it one time before this viewing Bob. I think I've probably seen it like two or three times and then I've seen clips come up on YouTube, you know, 100,000 times.

1:56 If you've only seen a movie two or three times, isn't that the same as like, never having watched it? It's like if a tree falls in the woods. If Bob's only seen it three times, is it even a real movie? Yeah, Is it even considered film? I like this movie a lot, Brad. I think this is going to be an interesting conversation today because, you know, I've already said it. I'm going to come out and say it again. Good movie. The Help. I don't know if it's like a top 250 movie, and I certainly don't know if I would say that it deserves to be in the 21st century Canon, but there's a lot. To discuss, would you say, Bob, that it needs a little? Help. It needs the help. Probably not, I feel like that would get me in the hot water real quick.

2:40 But. I think there's plenty of opportunities to get in the hot water today. There absolutely is, man. So Brad, before we dive into the movie, you've said that you've seen it one time before. Let's kind of compare contrast to last week's movie Oppenheimer, which is not an unflawed movie in itself or a flawless movie in itself, but it feels like this kind of big monolithic juggernaut of a fight me, bro, I'm the big movie of the century now. And I feel like the help, it couldn't be more of a left turn from what we experienced last week. It almost seems like even though I'm sure we both like this movie, it it feels like it's going to be fighting a bit of more of an uphill battle to be considered a modern classic here.

3:24 Yeah, absolutely. Like it in my mind, I see like Daniel Day Lewis and Killian Murphy just like getting ready to Duke it out for for There Will Be Blood and and Oppenheimer. Actually, you know what I want to see? I want to see Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan fight. I feel like Nolan has a little more heft to him. Just just a little bit. But but the hair is always so perfectly quaffed. Maybe PTA can get more like down and dirty, you know? Yeah, yeah, you never know, man. We'll see. The Help is an interesting movie because there's, I feel like there's just enough tropiness about this movie to like kind of hold it back.

4:08 I I found myself often throughout the film thinking to myself, oh, it was on the edge of being like really authentic, but it couldn't quite knock it out of the park. It just can't help itself sometimes. And that sounds like a pun, but yes. But I'm serious like it, it is going for like really deep, subtle emotional things. And if it would just stop there, it would be great. And I feel like every time it has the opportunity to strike a real authentic chord, they always go one step further. You know, it's like we've joked about New Girl sometimes and how Winston is always never knows exactly how to prank people. It's either too much or too little. And I feel like this movie is kind of like it always goes that one extra step that it doesn't need to go that tips it into, if not cheesiness, then at least a little bit of a of a false emotional note.

5:03 I don't know. Does that make sense? Yeah, 100%. I I'm thinking of the scene when I don't remember what the inciting incident is, but I remember a moment when all of the maids in the neighborhood finally decide that they're going to come help Emma Stone write her story. Skeeter is her character's name, and the guy at the diner tells tells Skeeter like, hey, you need to go to. Abilene's house. Abilene's house. Yeah. And she shows up and there's like 30 women in the room and you're like, ah, yeah, they're finally going to tell their story. And then like three women go, we're ready to tell our story now.

5:47 And I'm. And I'm like, we, we got that. Like the whole movie's been building. Well, and not only that, but they stand up 1 by 1 like I am Spartacus. They stand up and they're like, I'm going to tell my story and I'm going to tell my story. And then one of them goes, we all are. And it's like, yeah, we gathered that. You don't. I have to. Say that I kind of figured that out and I, I think that there's just a few moments like that throughout the movie that that kind of the treat the audience like they're dumb and it's just, it's, I don't know. It's it's a little disappointing because I think that the message of this film is absolutely incredible. Oh yeah.

6:29 So here's the thing about some of the movies this season is that a lot of them are in a very weird 8 1/2 out of 10 range for me, where it's like, I'd probably give this 3 1/2 out of four stars, but it's there's something that's not quite there. And there's a number of reasons that a movie can hit like an 8/8 and 1/2 for me, and this is going to be the first example of that. I don't need to tip my score a little bit, but I think about a movie like Moneyball. I've seen Moneyball like 20 Times Now. And every single time I watch it, at no point in that movie do I feel like this is a 10 out of 10 movie. Like as I'm watching it, I'm like, this is the best an 8 1/2 movie can be.

7:10 And it does 8 1/2 across the board the whole movie to a point where you're like, is this, is this a 10 out of 10 'cause it perfectly execute like it hits its ceiling and then stays there the whole movie, but the ceiling's an 8 1/2 and I. Feel like I just wanna know, do you, do you ever think about the fact that you might be the person in this whole world who has watched Moneyball the most? Well, first of all, that's that's not even remotely close to the person that's watched Moneyball. Dude 20 times moneyball is like I saw it once. I'll watch it one more time in my life and be happy. All right, Let's say that I let's say that I watched it 10 or 15 times that whatever makes me be able to finish making my point without you interjecting is the number of times I've seen the movie now.

7:59 So I just wanted to say this is a different kind of eight out of 10 movie where I felt like the 1st 2/3 of this movie we're really firing on all cylinders. And I was like, holy crap, have I forgotten how good the help is? And then it takes a very specific narrative turn. And I don't know if it was like this for you, Brad, but the last third of the movie was kind of like all downhill from there. And and this arrives at an 8 or so for me because it fell so far from where it had established itself before that. Would you say the turn was a little bit poopy?

8:39 I believe that would be the technical term, yes. If I was writing my review for the New York Times. I don't know, man. Do you agree? Like, I think I texted you while you were watching the movie and I hate when I do this to you 'cause I, I don't want to spoil your own opinion, but I was like, here's what I here's what I got out of it. The first 2/3 were good, the last third was not. Do you agree with my assessment? I think that Viola Davis is really good. She's so good. And like, and when I say really good, I mean like better than anyone else in this movie by a country model. I think that Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone are both like solid, like BB plus performances and everything else in the movie just just kind of feels like a stereotype. And, and so while none of this movie worked as well for me as I think it did for you, I don't think any of it worked poorly for me.

9:36 I, I, I think it just always felt like it was on the cusp of being something better. And then they turn the camera away from Viola Davis and it it wasn't nearly as good anymore. All right, well, we'll get into talking about Viola Davis and the rest of the cast here in just a moment, but in order to do that, we need to get to our first segment of the day, which is called, 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 we breakdown the plot of the movie that we have just seen. For Brad, it's often for the first time. I think you've established now that this is your second time seeing this film.

10:17 Has it been 14 years in the interim? Did you see it like when it came out? No, I didn't. I probably saw it in the last three or four years, I would guess. All right. Yeah, so, So it's a recent two viewings for me on the help. All right, well then it should be pretty fresh in your memory. Brad, you have 60 seconds to spoil this movie. So folks, if you have not yet seen The Help, hit pause here. Go watch the movie and then come back and join us for the rest of the episode. Brad, one minute and go. Bryce Howard Dallas What? What's her name? Bryce Dallas. She eats a poop pie. Bob, She eats poop. She sure does. Is that all we need to know about the movie? I think.

10:59 Should we just stop there? I think that's the most important part of the movie. Like that's what the movie tells us. Honestly, that's the that's the climax of the film, yeah. She eats a poop pie and I will say she nails the reaction of somebody who just ate a poop pie. They do a great job of like getting the chocolate stains on her teeth while she's talking too. Like it's, Yep, it's if you're going to eat poop, you know, you might as well just make a show of it, like. That and Sissy Spacek laughing at her bro it's freaking priceless. Should we talk about the plot of the movie or are we just not going to do that? I mean if you want me to.

11:40 Yeah, just give me the 32nd version since we've talked about poop. The Help is a film about an aspiring author named Skeeter from Deep South Mississippi, and her goal is to record the story of all of the black help who work in the upper crust of Jackson, Ms. white women's homes. Boom, OK, that's good enough. Let's move on because there's a lot of directions we can go and I want to get as quickly as we can into the cast of the movie. But I do think that it's worth noting at some point in the episode. And so let's just do it here and get it out of the way. This movie received a little bit of retroactive push back in terms of is this a quote UN quote white savior movie? Is this a movie about how a white person comes into black people's lives and makes everything better because this white person is inherently more talented or well connected or whatever, blah blah blah.

12:42 I think that like this movie definitely checks more boxes in the white savior catalogue than a movie like Green Book did. And I feel like Green Book is more punished than this movie is. And perhaps, Brad, This is why the end of the movie gets me so upset because it really does kind of tie such a neat bow on everybody's character arc, especially Skeeter, in a way that like we've we've witnessed people of color in this movie, like experience violence multiple times. And then they're just like, Nah, we'll be good. You get out of here. It's like, wait, wait, hold on. Is that is that really what's going to happen? And I like, I don't mean to go too far down this really hot button rabbit hole here, Brad, but we talked a lot about this in our Green Book episode.

13:31 And I'm just kind of wondering, you and I both seem to like Green Book a lot more than the general public does. So when that same accusation is kind of lobbed at this movie, do you feel that it is more or less justified here than it was with a movie like Green Book I? Mean, I think Green Book somewhat levels the playing field in that it places Viggo Mortensen's character beneath Mahershala Ali's like in social status and talent and class, right? Like like Mahershala Ali is a part of the upper crust and Vigo Mortensen is a part of the lower. And a a huge part of the movie isn't about them being black and white. It's actually just about them being rich and poor and like how they interact on that level.

14:18 I think that the issues that you have here lie more with the filmmaking than the actual message being sent. Because I'm not going to lie, Bob, I don't really see this as a white savior narrative in any way. I mean, like, I don't know that it's trying to be. I do think that like by the end of the movie, like you have the black characters basically being like, thank you, white person, for all you've done. You know, like it. It definitely seems that way a little bit more. But I'm with you in that I think a lot of it comes down to the filmmaking and the director here. Tate Taylor, I can't remember, and forgive me for not looking it up, if he was nominated for best director, but my guy has been on a slide since The Help. He is not directed a lot of a lot of high quality. Films Ava didn't quite ring the same bell. And then I think he directed the horror film MA, which also stars Octavia Spencer, a truly God awful film. So my guy's not been not been beating the allegations of being a bad director very much.

15:22 But this movie in particular, it kind of reminds me of a conversation you and I had recently about Forrest Gump and my issues with Forrest Gump being that like it really succeeds in the interpersonal small moments, but that it's so often felt like it doesn't trust itself to only live in those moments, that it has to kind of be less subtle. And I think this movie does that so constantly. Like every single scene where it's just Viola Davis and Emma Stone or Viola Davis talking about like the little things about her day that are just so human and touching and like truly emotional. But then you have to have a like a Comic Relief scene with Octavia Spencer.

16:04 And it just feels like there's so much tonal whiplash happening in this movie. I think that that that kind of plays into how the movie gets interpreted by the end of it because it doesn't feel like coherent, not even coherent, but it just doesn't feel like it has like 1 tone or aesthetic it. It definitely wants to be subtle in some moments and then unsubtle in others. Yeah, and I think you see that with Jessica Chastain's character, Cecilia, I think foot. I think it's just Celia, yeah. Celia yeah, yeah, yeah. She like, she's doing her absolute best Marilyn Monroe impression and and it's pretty good. Like she like she's solid, but at the end of the day, every scene that you have with her, it's it feels so over the top, her performance that it, it almost makes a caricature of almost everybody around her.

17:05 And so, yeah, I'm with you, man. The, the tone of the movie just goes up and down and up and down and, and you kind of have the same story beat too many times. Like an inciting incident happens and Abilene says, oh, OK, I'll write your story. And and then an inciting incident happens where a white woman is bad. And Octavia Spencer's like, all right, I'll do it too. And then, and then an inciting incident happens with another bad white, a wealthy upper crust woman. And, and now all the maids are are going to tell their story. And, and it just kind of feels like a like there's no better reason to do it by the end of the film. And it feels like there could have been more depth and nuance to how they brought the women in to to discuss their stories than just using the same thing three times throughout the film. I think this is a good place to get into talking about the cast, and we've already mentioned pretty much everybody in the cast, but specifically, you just mentioned Jessica Chastain. I think that might be a good place to start because she's a little bit lower in the list of supporting characters, but not an unimportant character by any stretch. And she's such an interesting figure to me in this movie because she has what is on paper, the most cartoonish character.

18:26 And she definitely plays her as like a ditzy Marilyn Monroe with a Southern accent. And yet I feel like she's capable because she's such a good actress of bringing so many more layers to the Celia Foot character. You know, when she has her miscarriage, that scene after that is just it's one of the better scenes in the movie. And it's because Jessica Chastain is so good. And my, my hot take here is that Octavia Spencer, while a fantastic actress and really good in other things, I think that her winning an Oscar for this movie and nobody else winning an Oscar for this movie is perhaps the most problematic thing about this movie. Because she is, she's playing such a caricature of a real person that it's like this is the one that we put our, we put all of our actor eggs in this basket. I think Jessica Chastain's better than her in this movie. I like.

19:23 And it's not to say she gives a bad performance. She's just, she's just so hammy, dude. Yeah, Yep, she's fine. Like the the script just doesn't do her any favors. Like, you know, she talks about like, oh, I, I never let my chicken burn. And then later there's a shot. Did you get it? Chicken burning. Check. I believe that's called Chekhov's Chicken. I think that's it's, yeah. Chekhov's fried chicken, Yeah. Exactly. Oh, man. Yeah. So there's just stuff like that that hinders Octavia Spencer and. And everybody else talks about her like she's a caricature as well. Like, like Viola Davis in her narration talks about her as if it's, well, she just is the perfect cook and, oh, she's got a fiery temper and.

20:17 You know, you have, you have little moments where she's telling her daughter to not be sassy and then she's walking up and she's trying to tell herself not to be sassy. And and it just her character never quite reaches far enough or or moves beyond who she is other than an epilogue where it's like that meal gave her the strength to leave her husband. Which is like, OK, yeah, I don't know, man. I will say, if there is one person in the movie that I think is actively worse than Octavia Spencer, it's probably Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly. Now, Hilly is the villain of the movie, and they established this from the very beginning.

21:00 And they make her more and more cartoonish as the movie goes on. And Bryce Dallas Howard's performance is just so scenery chewing that it it doesn't do any favors to that either. But then the script doesn't help either. And I feel like the direction isn't helping. Every single time that she's on screen, they're giving her something more cartoonishly evil to do in a way that's like, it's over the top, but it's not fun. It's not like fun evil. Do you know what I mean? It's like, it's not like Jeremy Irons as Scar kind of a thing. And she's not intimidating enough to truly be a great villain. She just kind of gets under your skin after a while. I'm thinking specifically, there's like a moment in a scene where she's sitting across from one of her minions in the and then Skeeter comes in and she just like looks at the the girl sing across from her and like motions her head over, like you need to scoot over because I'm not scooting over.

21:52 And that would be a cool touch to give a character the first time you meet a character to establish what she's like. But that's like an hour into the movie and it just seems like every time she's on screen, the film makers feel like we need to fill every second of her screen time with her being cartoonishly villainous. And I really feel like it actually undermines any semblance of reality to the story. Yeah, it's it's like they took Mean Girls and set it in the racist South and like, like, that's all she's there to do is to be the meanest girl of all the Mean Girls. And it, it gives other actresses a opportunity to shine. Like, I'm thinking about when she tells all of her friends to hide because Jessica Chastain is there. And dude, that moment where Chastain realizes what they're doing?

22:47 She's so good dude. She's it's a it's an incredible moment. But like, I'm with you, man, everything about Bryce Dallas Howard is is just and and and I think that a few moments I already mentioned the one when she eats the chocolate pie, like I I think she nails it. That is the exact reaction somebody should have. It should be the hammiest reaction in the world because eating a crap pie should like invoke that deep of a reaction. But everything else feels like it belongs on a television show version of that character and not in a, you know, blockbuster film. In the corner from them, I do think that the two best performances in the movie are also the two leads and that that's why this movie overall succeeds. Emma Stone was, I don't believe she had been Oscar nominated at this point, but she had been Golden Globe nominated, I believe for easy a a few years before this. And she's really starting to kind of come into her own as a leading lady actress.

23:54 And this is like, if not her first really big movie. I mean, they hung this movie on Emma Stone's reputation. Like she sold this movie and I think she's freaking fantastic in this movie. The character, you know, it's a coming of age movie set in the Deep South, which may or may not have undertones of like white savior stuff. And you forget all about that when you're watching Emma Stone be Emma Stone. And I think what this movie does really, really well is, in addition to watching her be an exposition dump sometimes or navigate this world that she hasn't been used to 'cause she's been away at college. The moment she really shines are when she's sharing a moment, like with her mom at the end of the movie.

24:37 Or when they do the flashback and her maid, played by Cecily Tyson, comes out and sees her, like, sitting on the swing talking about how, like, the boys won't ask her to the dance and she's playing like, you know, almost 10 years younger than she really is. It's a really good performance, man. And I think it really hints at where her career is going to go in the following decade. And yeah, I don't know you. You mentioned earlier that you thought she was kind of like ABB minus. So I'd love to hear what didn't work about it for you because for me, it was one of the best performances in the movie. I. I really liked Emma Stone. I I would put her right behind Viola Davis. I'm not sure if there's anything specific that didn't work.

25:18 I just don't know if there was anything specific that like drew it up to an A performance. Like I, I think that her talent in this film and what speaks to her growth, like you were just saying, I think that she still has a few of those like kind of quiet, cute girl next door, giggly moments that you get from her earlier in her career where she just has this charming personality. But the moments where she realizes the horror of what is facing a lot of these maids and and help. It's those moments where she takes it seriously, where she dives into the pain.

25:58 I think that's where Emma Stone really shines here. And and I think it kind of points towards the more serious actress that she is soon to become. Also, this this is a complete aside, but I, I, I think that here on the film and whiskey podcast, we've we've had a history of admiring looks on actors. I'm thinking about bearded Sylvester Stallone, right? We've spoken extensively. Curly haired Emma Stone best best looking Emma Stone. Oh, interesting. See. I really do think that one of the best moments of the movie is when she's been fighting with her mom the whole movie. And then she's going to go On this date with a guy and her mom orders this hair system for her from New York. And she's like, ah, come on, mom. And then she turns around and her mom has done her hair and she looks so good.

26:47 That and her reaction, she goes, holy shit. It's it's one of the best moments in the whole movie 'cause it's like, oh, OK, on the stone. I see you. So I'm going to say no to curly hair on the stone and yes to post hair system Emma Stone even once she arrives. And her hair is just destroyed. I'll take it, man. No, I'm, I'm opposite man. I, I think. I mean, she's a very beautiful woman with straight hair, but curly hair to Emma Stone that that's the that's the move. Emma, this is the this is. The time where we shift away from this conversation and we go to Viola Davis, who is staggeringly good in this movie.

27:27 And I am like, retroactively pissed off for her that she did not win an Academy Award for this movie throughout the movie. And it's not just like, like, there are times when when they are clearly giving her like her Oscari moment. Let's see how much snot can come out of your nose right now. This is your moment. And she does it. You know, it's a great Oscar moment. But where she really wins me over is is in doing the heavy lifting throughout the movie. Like she is the only thing keeping this movie from tipping into caricature at any given moment. She's the anchor of the entire film. And it's just like, it's a, it's an all timer of a performance, dude. And she loses to Meryl Streep. And Meryl Streep gets the award this year because she hadn't been given an Oscar in such a long time. And Meryl Streep, that's literally what it was. It was just like a makeup award for like, it's, it's not just like.

28:21 Here's the lifetime for Mero, 'cause she never got one, it's she just hasn't had one in a while and and the Oscars can only exist for so long without Meryl Streep getting an Oscar you know what if you. Give Meryl Streep the Oscar for The Devil Wears Prada. Then we don't have this open up a couple years later, and she doesn't win the Oscar for that stupid Margaret Thatcher movie, which was not good. And then Viola Davis can win the Oscar. Like, this is how it's supposed to be, man. And we just live in an unjust world. Yeah, You. You. Should be the authoritarian Academy Award decider. I will take that. Mantle on like, Are you sure you want to give Eddie Redmayne this award? Let's reconsider, guys. Yeah, that's a good.

29:03 Question. All right, so Viola. Yeah, let's talk about her, dude. The moment when? She looks at Hilly and goes, Aren't you tired? I used. I used. That in a sermon one time and it it brought the house down, man, it's such. A good line, incredible moment. I I love the way that she interacts with her. Not her child, but the child that she cares for. The way that they interact feels so tender and kind and real. Her reactions to things like being given a bathroom outside of the house and then being told, well, isn't that nice? Don't you just love your own private bathroom? And her reactions to that, the deadpans that she gives, it gives you everything you need to know about what's actually happening in this society and where everybody else feels like they need to overplay it in order to sell the despicableness of what's happening.

30:10 I think that her ability to underplay and to bow to the societal standards with a coldness that shows how crushed she is and how dark her life is. Like that's what shows how evil the system that was still going on in this 50s and 60s in Mississippi was. I think one of the things that if I'm going to give Tate Taylor any credit here. Some of my. Favorite moments in this movie are like anytime there's a bunch of white ladies getting together for a function and they kind of just show, like all the maids bringing in, you know, big pots of whatever.

30:55 And they just kind of like, set the camera down in the kitchen. And you just watch them interact with each other and talk shit about the other, like the ladies in the other room. And like, oh, she's been working on that dress for four weeks and that's what she came up with. And they just kind of laugh because it feels like you're stealing a moment of their real life. Like they haven't seen each other in a couple days. They're talking crap. Like, you get to catch them letting their guard down for two seconds. And those moments I think help to prop up the big emotional payoff scenes too. Like this. This isn't a movie that's only interested in using its black characters as conduits for like, isn't racism bad? It really does seem at its best, like a peek into what life was like and how awful the situation was. But that they're they're still leaving room for these characters to resemble real human beings. And I do think that Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, when they're just kind of shooting the breeze with each other, it's some of the best moments in the movie. Yeah, it's.

31:56 The casualness that draws you into the story. So much of this movie is like hitting you over the head with Bryce Dallas Howard, hitting you over the head with all of her minions that just do her bidding. Hitting you over the head with Emma Stone. Being like, this is actually wrong and we shouldn't do it. And then you have little moments like that And I I think you have some of those between Abilene and Skeeter and and there are places that work. But you're right, man. It's it's the nuanced elements of this movie that work really well and make you want to to return to it, make you want to dive deeper into the story. All right, man, I think.

32:39 We're in a good spot to hit pause here. What do you say we drink some bourbon? Let's get to. It. All right. Today we are checking out Remus Repeal Reserve Batch 8. This is a highly sought after bourbon or blend of bourbon whiskeys coming to us from Ross and Squibb Distillery. Now Brad, I'm going to put you on the spot here. We just talked about Ross and Squibb couple weeks ago when we were at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Do you remember who I said Ross and Squibb is? I sure do. Robert, that would be MGPMGP. Our favorite friends from Indiana, the mega conglomerate distilling, you know, Axis of evil if you talk to most bourbon drinkers.

33:30 But guess what? We love MGP here at Film and whiskey. They make good stuff. I was going to say. They make incredible whiskeys that I never will turn down. So I like, I love. MGP dude. Yeah, whether or. Not they make it in the most like efficient, massive like if you said a movie and on their property, it'd be like a dystopian science fiction film. I don't care because it's really good whiskey. Yeah, also like who? Cares how it's made, bourbon still has to age the same way. Like you could make it on whatever scale you want, it still has to sit in a barrel for four years before it tastes good. You know what I mean? So MGP a few years back launched its own brand called Ross and Squibb Distillery. Basically they said, hey, we're sourcing all this stuff to other people.

34:19 What if we released it under our own label? So they're calling themselves Ross and Squibb when they release MGP exclusive products, and this is one of them. Remus has become a really, like I said, sought after bourbon. This one is the Batch 8, which just came out this year, 2024. It is a blend of three bourbon whiskeys, one of which is 17 years old. The other two are 10 years old and they are high rye bourbons. The 17 and one of the 10 years are 21% rye and the other 10 year is a 36% rye in the mash bill. I'm really excited to dive into this, Brad. I've had Remus before. It's good stuff. It clocks in at 101 proof. Is this your first exposure to this brand?

35:00 I believe I have another sample of this from a friend that I have not drank yet, but I am really excited because yeah, I have heard wonderful things about it. Now they also make. One called the Remus Gatsby Reserve, which we also have a sample of sitting somewhere in our, you know, whiskey dungeons that you and I both have now, Bob Whiskey Dungeons. Yeah, man, you know. It's like right right next to the GIMP I I was to. Say mine. My basement is a well lit place with no red lights or leather. Well, I mean you. Do you, man? Don't judge a man for what he puts in his basement. That's all I'm saying. I. I am judging you. Let's dive in, man. What are you picking up on the nose of this repeal reserve? Oh dude.

35:45 This is a beautiful nose. There is some maraschino cherry right up front, there's leather, there's cinnamon, some black pepper. And I get kind of like a not a full apple pie experience, but like specifically just apple pie filling. That's really nice. The thing I'm missing, I don't actually really get any caramel notes on this. No, and I'm actually surprised, you know, I, I could have immediately pegged that this was a high rye bourbon because it just kind of smells like rye, like it smells like a very sweet rye whiskey. There are all of those super spicy notes that we typically get. I don't get a lot of dill.

36:25 I don't really get a lot of mint on this either. But it has that prickliness that we either associate with a really high proof or with a lot of rye content in a mash bill. I'm with you though. Every single nosing note that you gave Brad is here. The leather is here, that the apple pie spices are here as well. It just seems a little bit. I can't. I can't tell if it's ethanol forward or if the rye is just jumping out of the glass. I'm in an 8 out of 10 on the nose. Oh, I'm a I'm. A nine out of 10 on the nose Bob and I think when I got into the pallet it it just has all sorts of really nice flavors going on here. The the first thing that I noticed as it coated my mouth for the first time was like a granulated sugar vibe. The cherry comes through there.

37:11 There's almost like a little bit of a fatty cashew kind of flavor kicking around in there and I and then I kind of moved into it a second, third sip and it got just a little bit minty To add to all the rest of that. This is a wonderful whiskey to drink. I'm going to give it an 8 1/2 on the pallet fatty. Cashew new band name, I'm taking it. How about Fatty and the cashews? No, you've. You've just ruined it. It has to be fatty cashew. Listen, man, I think that the last, I don't know, 7-8 weeks our pallets have diverged from each other again. We were really in lock step with each other at the end of last season.

37:55 But I am I'm worlds apart from you on this man. I think this is just like all the way over oaked for me that 17 year bourbon. I don't it says it's only 9% of the blend. I'm telling you, man, like it is, it's potent. And this is, this is really bitter for me. It carries a lot of those bitter toasted oak notes through it and it overwhelms everything else I'm getting. I'm not saying like the notes that you gave aren't there, but from the tip of my tongue all the way through the tasting experience, it's a little bit thin on the mouthfeel and there's just a lot of oak and it's it's not my thing. I don't think it's a poorly made whiskey by any stretch, but like this, this is not my preferred flavor wheelhouse. I'm just going to give it a 6 1/2 on the taste. Oh. 6 1/2 Yep, I.

38:45 Stand by it. This is. This is delicious whiskey man 9 out of 10 on the finish. There's leather, there's tobacco, there's cherry syrup. It it, it dives into some peppery rye spicy notes. I and the finish lasted so long. I I could taste this like 15 minutes after I drank it. Incredible finish and balance. I dude, I'm, I'm like 9 1/2 out of 10. I, I think they knocked the balance out of the park. Well, listen man. I'll, I'll give you the rest of my sample because it sounds like you're enjoying this a lot more than I am. I, I will say it came way back up for me on the on the finish because it had almost like a weeded bourbon character to it and you pinpointed it with that cherry note. It is more like a maraschino cherry than it is like a Brandy cherry or like a cocktail cherry, and I like that. It's really nice.

39:36 It's pleasant. That bitter oak dissipates pretty quickly on the finish and you're left with the sweet notes as well. I'm going to give it an 8 on the finish, but then balance. I don't know if I can give it anything but like a 6 1/2 again because it was high and then very low for me and then high again. I don't want to just average those out and give it like a 7. So I think I'm going to go 6 1/2 and then we get to the price point. Now this is sold in the state of Ohio. I believe it sells for $101.99. Is that what you found, Brad? Yes. Would you pay a? $102.00 for this, yes. All right, this is a really good whiskey, Bob. I I think that the complexity is there.

40:18 You get a lot of richness to it paired with the the rye notes and a little bit of the oakiness from the aged bourbon. I think this is an eight 8 1/2 out of 10 on value Bob. Yeah, this is where I'm at a weird point because I feel like I'm in the Brad G position today. I think this is a fairly priced blend for the for the price. Like when you're considering the market for whiskey today, I would not personally pay anything approaching this price for this whiskey. So where does that leave me? I think I'm going to give it. I think I'll be at a 6 1/2 again, man. Dude, we're going to.

40:58 Be so far apart on our final scores. Well, where are you at? I'm at a. 44.5 out of 50 you're at a what? A 40. 4.56 point 5. 6.56 point 5 I'm at a 35.5 now listen like here's how good this whiskey is. I don't really like this whiskey and it has still made its way to the 35 mark, which is where we recommend a whiskey. Like if that doesn't tell you that this is a well made whiskey, I don't know what does because I am on record saying not for me and it's still a 35, you know what I mean?

41:39 Kind of I I I think you are vastly underselling this whiskey, Bob. Like we why am I underselling it? I. Literally just said it is good in spite of myself and you're like, no, not good enough for me. Yeah, I. Like this whiskey is so well made, so well blended. I like I can't see anything under like a 3940. Like that's, that's just wild to me. I mean, I just don't like. It and it's still got a good score. I feel like at what point do you are you just asking too much? What? What do you want from me? What am I supposed to say here to have better? Taste than whiskey. We are coming out to an average of a 40 out of 50 or an 80 out of 100.

42:23 This I mean, this is a good whiskey. I I think it's a little bit overpriced for what I would pay for it. It is probably going to be among Brad's highest rated whiskeys of the season. Yeah, this is. An incredible pour. Absolutely go buy it. If you have the money, get a pour of it at the bar. This is a really fun, interesting experience. All right, man. Well. We are incredibly divided today and you seem like you are in the mood to egg me on a little bit more. So what do you say we get back into talking about the help I'm. Ready, man, let's get to it. All right, everybody. That was George Remus Repeal Reserve batch #8A whiskey that is Immaculate and needs no further comments upon it because of how perfect it is it sounded.

43:12 Like you were just making up words as you were reading the title of it. George Remus repeal batch sometimes. Sometimes I start a sentence that I'm not really sure where it's going to end. That's them naming this whiskey. Yeah, sometimes I start naming our whiskeys and I'm not really sure where it's going to end. All right, man, it's time. Let's get to it. 2 facts and a falsehood. What do you say, Brad? Is going to try to stump your ball 2 All right and what is wrong? 2 Facts and a falsehood. 2 facts and a. Falsehood is a part of the show where I try to trick Bob by giving him 2 facts and a falsehood and he has to guess which one is the falsehood.

44:00 It's the early season. We're still a little rusty here. These intros are not what they once were, man. Oh, they're they're. Perfect, Bob. All right man, so 2 facts and a falsehood. It is only week two. I still have much of the season ahead of me. I'm feeling pretty good so far Brad. I think I can do it. I think I can go like at least 10 games over 500 this season. That's an. Impressive. Impressive thing to claim, Bob. I'm going to. Dominate. Hit me with your two facts and a falsehood, Brad. Fact #1. The film features a total of 7 Oscar winners, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Allison Janney and Jessica Chastain, as well as two nominees. Cicely Tyson.

44:47 I should have practiced this ingenue. Ellis Taylor, is that good? Tyson is also the recipient of an honorary Oscar. Fact #2's Sissy Spacek almost declined the role of Misses Walters, feeling that the character lacked depth and development. You and me both, Sissy. However, she changed her mind when director Tate Taylor promised her the freedom to improvise during filming, allowing her to bring a more nuance and personality to the role. Fact #3 To ensure authenticity in the kitchen scenes, the production hired renowned Southern chefs to give the cast cooking lessons. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer spent an entire week learning how to make classic Southern dishes like fried chicken, collard greens and chocolate pies, which were then served to the cast and crew during filming. I think 1 is true.

45:47 You've mentioned chocolate pie so much in this episode that I'm just gonna not even not even drag this out. I think 3 is the falsehood just 'cause I think that you have had poop pie on the brain and I think you made that one up. I have nothing else to base it on, but I'm gonna put my eggs in that basket #3 is the falsehood, Brad. I was just saying I think I've. Only mentioned chocolate pie once. Poop pie, on the other hand. Chocolate as a euphemism, you know. Bob, you are absolutely correct. Number 3 was the falsehood, Brad. I don't have a transition. Let's talk about poop pie for a little bit.

46:30 We ought to. This is like. Truly an obviously the movie wants you to understand that poop pie is what everything hinges on. And it is man. It's it's the climax of the narrative. It is also the point where the movie started falling apart for me. And I don't like, I say falling apart like it still lands the plane, but it's like one of those plane landings where you can tell that the the the pilot didn't get the landing gear on the ground quite right. And you kind of bounce forward a little bit and then you're like, Oh my gosh, thank God he landed that. It's it's one of those landings and I, I just, the poop pie took me out of the whole thing.

47:12 Man. It seemed like a movie that could be rooted in a real world until that happened. Do you understand the bacteria that live in human feces like. What are we doing? There's no way she eats two whole pieces of a pie containing shit and doesn't go to the hospital. Like what is going on here? I who? Who knows, maybe that's how she got her. Her little blister, her cold sore thing. Yeah, her cold sore. Yeah. I don't know, man. The poop. Pie just really, they never recovered from that for me. Yeah, it. Takes it to a level of over the topness that makes you doubt that any of this ever could have happened.

47:53 But like, it truly feels like, oh, what is it? There's a television show that my wife watched through about this. Like Doctor Who goes and lives in this town in in the South and that like this felt like something out of that television show, like really cheesy, really over the top drama, silly plot lines going on all the time. Like it just felt like a silly television show that, you know, came on, disappeared. Nobody ever remembers the show. I can't even remember the name of it. Like that's the level of content we're talking about here.

48:34 And for your entire plot about the plight of black people in the South to hinge on poop pie? It just feels. It feels too flippant and trivial and like you can't then try to expect me to get back on board for like the plight of a whole people in the American South after convincing me that like poop pie has happened. It. I feel silly having this conversation. We're talking about a pie that someone shot in Brad. Like this is Yep, this is ridiculous. And I think I mean. Hold on Bob, here's the Here's the deal. We have reviewed one other movie in the history of this podcast with a poop pie of sorts.

49:18 And do you know what movie that is? No, actually this is this is catching me off guard. The very first movie we ever reviewed? Anchorman. The Legend of Ron Burgundy. You will eat that cat poop. I totally forgot about that. There you go, That's your, that's your. Let's make it a double here, but like that. Like that fact alone should be enough to tell you how ridiculous this plot line is. Now I'll tell you what they. Could have done very easily because she's telling the story to Abilene and Skeeter and they're showing her perspective. Like, you know, they're showing the audience how it actually happened. And she says eat my shit and then, you know, you just did eat my shit.

50:04 If they had cut back to her and she said like, obviously I didn't shit in the pie, I just wanted her to think I did, that's a completely different movie. Now, maybe you think that she has to shit in the pie for it to have dramatic effect, but I don't think so. As long as Hilly is convinced that she ate poop and like she's never going to tell anybody as a result, that has the exact same effect. And I think that her having some sort of psychological leg up on Hilly because of that makes a lot more sense that way. But for her to really be like, I wasn't going to say anything, I really did poop in that pie. I just like, I just can't buy into it. Dude, that's even worse. Yeah, like, like she's going to let her eat that whole pie. Like at what?

50:49 Point do I I don't know I'm not usually this nitpicky about that kind of stuff like, oh, she'd be in the hospital, but truly like you just can't put that in a movie and then not address the ramifications of eating two whole slices of that Also she. Like, like makes a pointed effort to say this isn't for you, Missus Walters. This is for Haley. So like, if she just dropped it off and left like 100% Walt, you know, Misses Walters would have ate some of that pie, right? That's. What I'm saying? Yeah, the the. Whole thing just feels very strange. I like, I'm actually with you, I didn't think about that. But if you just have her say like I didn't actually poop in the pie, like if the whole purpose of her going. Out there was to be like, hey, eat my shit and then tell her you just ate my shit but it wasn't real. I think it works better that way because you don't have all of the what ifs of like what if she had done what she intended to do, which was not say anything.

51:47 How many people, how much of the town would have ingested her feces? Maybe it turns into a weird like Sweeney Todd story. She's just pooping in pies man. The whole town dies from the place. Just a montage. Of of pies being lifted off of window sills and then returned with like a swirl of poop emoji on top of them. Oh, man, All right, I just had to get that. I was going to say get that off my chest, but that has Cleveland Steamer implications that we don't want to get into here. It didn't until you said. Listen, man, it's the help. We, you know, what are we what else are we going to talk about here?

52:31 All right, Brad, I think if we don't have anything else to say, is it time to get into. Let's make it a double? Yeah, Bob, I think it's. I think it's a perfect time to get into. Let's make it a double. Near the end. Of the episode so thanks listening to the film and whiskey show. Let's pair another film with this one. Even if it's struggling. It's a 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. Now we have really given ourselves a nice runway here to find other fecal based films. I don't really have any at the top of mind here. So with without that to lead into Brad, I'll just throw over to you.

53:13 What is your let's make it a double here. Well, I was going to say. That that would be a heck of a ChatGPT prompt. Give me the top 10 fecal based 10 scat movies. I am going to throw the curveball of all curveballs. Robert, Are you ready for this? Sure. I am not. Going to give you a movie I as I finished this film and I and I sat back and I thought about what it was trying to say about what was going on in the South in the 1960s. I realized there was there was something running through my head over and over and over again that just as a better example of properly highlighting the plight of of black Americans in the South of the 1960s, I thought about Bob Dylan's song The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.

54:14 And that is going to be my Let's make it a double for this week. Wow. I don't think I've ever heard you on this show or in real life ever refer to Bob Dylan. I had no idea You listen to Dylan. Yeah. I like him. I I don't like know all of his stuff. I, I'm not a massive fan, but this is a song that I, I listened to a long time ago. It made a large impact on me. And I, I guess I would say this, if you were going to follow this, let's make it a double, I would encourage you to watch the movie, listen to the song, and then go read the Wikipedia page for the song because it really dives deeply into. Yeah, just. The the crazy stories that you get out of the South in this time period, there is a really good. Inclusion of Don't Think Twice It's All Right on the soundtrack to this movie, which I appreciated. If we're just pairing this with soundtrack stuff, Very early on in the movie they play Johnny Cash and June Carter's duet on the song Jackson.

55:17 And at like the four minute mark of this movie, I was like, what if I just watched Walk the Lion instead of this movie? So I guess you could do that for Let's make it a double. Did did that feel? Like a Forrest Gump type of movie reference. Like putting in Jackson cause 'cause they're in Jackson a little bit. I do think honestly, if you're just, if you're just trying to find something that kind of goes with the vibe of this movie, the best 2 movies to pair this with are either Green Book or Forrest Gump. For pretty obvious reasons. I think Forrest Gump might actually be the closer movie to this because I think it goes for that kind of cheesy payoff the same way that Forrest Gump does. But you know what? I thought about Walk the Line and I'm going to pair this with Walk the Line. Good movie.

56:04 That's a really. Weird pairing, Bob. It's about the South. You know, and Jackson, yeah, sure. Yeah, why not? I mean you. Paired it with a song. At least I paired it with a movie. Yeah, I paired it with a. Song that literally perfectly relates to everything they're trying to say in this movie. Come on man. This week's Let's Make It a Double is sponsored by Blackwood Distilling Co, Kentucky's craft whiskey distillery specializing in toasted barrel bourbon and rye. Elevate your whiskey game with Blackwood. No matter what movie you pick, you can always make it a double with Blackwood Distilling Co. All right, dude, we have a we have a question before us before we give this final scores. Does this deserve to be considered a modern classic slash to go into the 21st century Canon? I hate to say it, man, but I don't think it does. No, I don't think so either.

56:58 It's a good movie though. I think it's like a a better movie than it gets credit for. Film Twitter. Not a fan of this movie, but I think it's like an enjoyable movie and I think it's one of those films that right now it has a 7.9 on IMDb which is enough to get it into the top 250. And I think that's a great place for this movie. It is. It's a really solid 7.9, you know what I mean? Like everyone on Earth is probably like, that's like an 8. No one, no one's out there arguing that the help is a 10 out of 10. But yeah, I'm OK with that. Also not. Also not arguing that it's a six out of 10. Yeah, yeah.

57:38 It's like a, it's a. Perfectly fine it's and better than fine it's. It's a competently made movie featuring some stellar performances that takes you on an emotional ride. I think the emotions, like the emotional payoff of the movie works. I got misty a couple times. It's a good movie and it's like a perfect it's on cable and I want to watch a chick flick movie, you know what I mean? But I don't know. If you know this, but nobody watches cable anymore, they don't. I, I I did. A survey if you grew up. With cable, which you did not. Nope. I feel like you get a good vibe for like, what's a good cable movie?

58:19 Yeah. No, this is. This is a great cable movie it even. It even has some. Great one liners like when Emma Stone's mom says love and hate are two horns on the same goat and you need a goat also. When you need a ringer, bring in Allison Janney 'cause that is a nothing part that she takes to the next level in the last 15 minutes of that movie. Dude, yeah, from telling her daughter the story of Constantine the nerd, the the maid and how she got fired, to kicking Hilly off of her porch and property. Come on, man. It was so good. I are. Are we in final scores now?

59:02 Yeah, I've. Already said, but I'm going to give it an 8. I think that's about the highest I could go on this one, yeah. I I'm going to give it a 7 1/2. Here you go. I like, I think this is a perfectly passable movie that has some high moments, but it overall, the the IT, it just doesn't rise to meet the level of the message it's trying to send. That's fair. I feel like this whole episode, this is such a weird season because we're holding every movie up to the standard of like. Is this an all time classic? And sometimes it's OK to just be a really good movie. And that's kind of what this is. This is a good movie. I don't want to disparage it, but it's not it's not going in the time capsule for me.

59:46 Yeah. What? Here's a. Question for you. You know, we're only two, two movies in we we had Oppenheimer, which both of us are very high on. And now we have The Help, which both of us are like, yeah, really solid. What do you think this season is the lowest score you would give a movie and say yes, it is a modern classic? I think that there are movies that have have gotten like the general consensus of everyone loves this except Bob Book. And I think sometimes you just have to be like, yeah, I know that like if there's 100 movies on the list that I'm only going to get a maximum of 99 movies I like in there. And that's OK.

1:00:30 Like I'll, I'll let you have your movie, you know what I mean? So there probably will be some movies on this list that I'm like, this is a six for me, but it's a 10 for everybody else. And I just have to be true to myself. JoJo Rabbit, here we come. All right, Brad, let's give a preview of next week's movie. We are throwing it forward seven years to look at the modern animated classic question mark Spider Man into the spider verse. Have you seen this one yet? I. Haven't I, I've, I've nearly hit play on it a few times. And then we announced that we were going to do it for the podcast. And I was like, I'm I actually need to wait and we're going to watch it. First time for the show, if there's ever. Been a superhero that I give a long leash to. It is Spider Man.

1:01:18 And I think mostly because Raimi imparted such goodwill towards Spider Man that I'm willing to reset every three years a new Spider Man origin story. Yep. But I'd be interested to see what you think next week. Are they overdoing it with Spider Man at this point? I think that's my big question going into next week, Brad. Yeah. And. And it's also. Interesting. Like I'm kind of over the whole multiverse thing. Yeah, dude. So like. To go back to its heyday and watch a movie that obviously is all about it way after the fact, like, I don't know, it'd be like going back to watch a zombie movie right now. Like it's like, yeah, zombies are big in 2012.

1:02:00 All right guys, so it is a 7.75 on average for us for the help, but we'd like to know what you think both about the help and about into the spider verse. You can let us know at any of our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube and LinkedIn. Baby at Film Whiskey. If you want to have actual meaningful conversation, don't go to LinkedIn, go to go to Discord. We are on Discord every single day talking to you guys, fans of the Film and Whiskey podcast. So if you'd like to join the conversation, you can find a link at the end of every single one of our show notes. We'll be back. Next week talking about Spider Man.

1:02:41 But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad. G and we'll see you. Next time.