The Rise of K-Pop Demon Hunters!

We're all living in a world gone geek.

It's time to geek hard or go home.

The podcast is real.

Here's your host, Grounded Geek.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back to the podcast is Real World Gone Geek.

I am your host, Jeff, AKA Grounded Geek.

With me, as always, my cohort in crime.

No, we're not actually crimes, but he's my cohort.

Therehere he is.

Utah.

Welcome to the show.

Greetings, programs.

I feel like I haven't said that in a while.

I almost admitted to crimes that we've committed, so I hope that we.

I can delete that out of there so people don't know.

You can edit that out.

Done.

Or I'm sorry, don't think that crimes.

No, no, we haven't known.

We don't want them to think we have committed crimes.

The crimes that we may have hypothetically committed now.

No.

And then we haven't committed any crimes.

The only crime I can think of is maybe going through a White Castle drive through with rats on our shoulders.

If that's a crime, then that.

Then.

Then we are guilty as charged.

All right, well, that's an.

Requires an explanation that we don't have time for on this episode, but if you guys ever want to hear it, let us know.

We'll.

We'll.

We'll add that to a future episode.

But I'm very excited about tonight's episode.

We're talking about a pop culture phenomenon, which is what we do typically on this show is things that people are passionate about or that are big or kind of taking over pop culture.

We want to have a little conversation and.

And discuss it, find out whether we should partake.

And if we haven't partaken, you know, we want to know a little bit more about it.

Right.

We want to share that.

We want to introduce new partaker.

Is that the right verb?

I don't know.

But if we want to introduce new people to new things, invite them into fandoms and share fandoms with other people, and that's what we're here to do.

And tonight we are going to do that with K Pop Demon Hunters.

So I'm very excited to talk about it.

We'll get into that in just a moment.

But before we do a little bit of promotion, I do want to make sure we thank our friends over at Paramount who have once again been so nice and.

And, sorry, I'm bringing this over so I can actually see it where I'm not looking into the.

Away from the microphone.

But Paramount has provided us with some movies again to Give away.

And we're very excited to give them away.

So I have digital copies of the final Mission Impossible film.

The Mission Impossible.

Don't say that.

The Final Reckoning.

Well, the Final Mission with Tom Cruise as kind of the lead action guy, I think.

Acceptable.

I accept.

Yeah, I think.

I think we're going to see more Mission Impossible.

I think Tom Cruz will probably be a producer.

He may even be Ethan Hunt, but he won't be hanging off the side of airplanes anymore.

Is my guess correct?

It's not going to be each mission.

New Mission Impossible movie will not be how can we kill Ethan Hunt?

This time it's going to be Ethan Hunt.

I think you're right.

I think he'll take on the Phelps role and be kind of like the mystery voice in the recordings and the one handing out the missions.

Yeah, he might even be like the.

The guy that Alec Baldwin played where he's, you know, sort of involved a little bit more, but not.

Oh, I don't think he'll want that.

Because Alec Baldwin's character also has to deal with the politicians, and Ethan Hunt would not do well with that.

Oh, Ethan Hunt does not like politics.

I think he just needs to be the man behind the team kind of thing.

And he'll send them on the missions and occasionally show up maybe, you know, and as a deus ek machina attached to the side of another plane.

I don't know.

But it's funny that you mentioned.

Yeah, you mentioned that the movies will not be about how to kill Ethan Hunt, because I saw an interview where they did talk about.

Sometimes that's exactly how those films come to be.

Before they've even scripted the mystery or the McGuffin or the thing.

They're just thinking about what massive stunts they can include in this.

In this particular, you know.

Wait, wait, entry.

So they.

They think of the stunt first and.

Then they write a story around it.

Yeah, it's like, that's okay.

Well, I'm sure they have ideas for the stories.

Oh, we want this, or we want to fight AI or we want to do this or whatever.

But then they're.

But they're also like, oh, we want to throw you off of the Empire State Building with.

With just a napkin as a parachute.

And Tom Cruz is like, for sure, let's do that.

And so they.

Then they have to find a reason.

Yes.

Now they have to find a reason in this adventure for.

For him to do that.

So Tom the napkin has the secret code to opening up the enemy AI named Rascal.

So you have to jump after it.

Yeah.

Okay, so there you go.

And then that's how they come up with, with those stories there.

And they've even filmed some of the stunts before they even know why they are doing the stunts.

So the scripts come later.

Yeah.

So Tom Cruise is like, he doesn't, he doesn't know his motivation.

He trusts.

Yeah, he trusts for jumping, for jumping the motorcycle over a, over a cliff.

He trusts the script's going to be good and that he's ready to do it.

He's just going to be trust Chris McCor.

They have been consistent.

I can't.

Correct.

I can't complain.

I can't complain.

I've, I've enjoyed all, I've enjoyed all the movies especially three on and yeah, so I, I can't complain.

But I find it, I find it so funny that the stunt, some, sometimes the stunts come first.

That just boggles my mind.

Well, and let me read the copy here about it because we want to give some of these away to people.

We've got some digital codes to give some away.

Our lives are the sum of our choices.

Bring home Mission Impossible.

The final reckoning on digital.

Now.

Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt in this action packed thrill ride that critics are calling the biggest and wildest mission yet.

I kind of agree.

Go inside the incredible stunts with over 50 minutes of jaw dropping extras.

When you buy on digital.

That's worth that.

That's worth it.

Available at participating retailers.

Rated PG 13.

From our friends at Paramount Pictures and you.

Paramount.

Yeah, I do.

So when I say I do think it is the biggest and wildest mission yet because it's basically a sort of carbon copy of the last month.

You know what I mean?

Like we, we talked about this in private but you know, beat for beat, I feel like it followed the same story.

Beats that the one right before it.

Part one of this finale if you will.

Although they didn't call it, they, they started it as part one but then they took it away.

Yeah, but yeah, I think it's very much followed a lot of the same beats but dang, was it still fun?

A lot of fun.

You know what?

So yeah, they're definitely, I mean, you know the cinematography, the direction, the action, the stunts are all on par with, with the other ones.

But you're right, I felt like the first half of it was very much, you know, just a re.

Regurgitation of the last movie and almost every single thing that's happened because they, I guess they decided to tie everything back.

All the guffins all the stuff from.

The previous, even some characters come back, some unexpected characters which I thought was kind of cool.

I don't want to spoil one of them.

As soon as, like when.

When they.

The one showed up, one character showed up on the screen and I. I swear I giggled like a little schoolboy because.

Oh, I don't know if just the same one, but just.

Just the fact that they brought.

Brought him.

That's a hint.

Okay.

Brought him back.

It might be the same person then.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anyway, like a deep cut.

Yeah, Very cool.

Yeah, some Very cool.

So great.

Yeah, a lot of fun.

Great, great film series.

Check it out.

And if you would like a copy, all you have to do is follow us on Instagram and when you see me post the art for this, there's going to be an art post on this.

So by the time you're listening to it, it's already out there.

I've already done it.

So run to Instagram immediately and find that on our Instagram page and like it and comment and we will start drawing some names to give out some from the likes and comments that we get.

Yes, exactly.

What are you doing?

I'm drawing a name.

Can you figure out which name it is?

Hold on.

Once again, Utah.

With the audio podcast.

I'm drawing the state of Utah.

I'm drawing a name.

Why is this happening right now?

That doesn't count.

Okay, never mind.

Oh, I see what you're saying.

When I said I will draw a name, I.

We're good.

Yep.

Sorry, I'm a little bit behind.

We had a lot of technical difficulties before this show started, and my brain is fried.

I am done.

It's like I almost did, like, when we were done fixing the audio.

Guys, before this episode started, we almost.

Said we're going to record another day.

I. I was.

I was like, I don't even know if I want to talk about this anymore.

So for those of you who listen and follow us on a regular basis, our last episode with the Cleveland Guardians, there was some major, major peakage going on with my microphone, and we could not figure it out.

And I've been working on it here and there since then.

We haven't been able to record an episode for a while.

Not because of the audio, just other things.

But then, you know, Monday, we got together to record an episode, and I listened to it.

It was the same audio issue, even though everything sounded fine to us here in the environment.

Right, Studio.

Yes.

Yeah.

But once we got it back from the cloud and doing all the Things that it does.

Mine was really peaked.

We've.

I think we figured out what was doing it now.

It was a government.

Yeah, exactly.

We need to get Ethan Hunt on that right away.

Birds aren't real, but hopefully it's working because I'll be darned.

We've been talking now for what, 10 minutes?

10 minutes into this show.

No, I mean into this episode.

Oh, in this episode.

If we get to an hour and have finished our conversation and I listen to this back and that thing is audio again.

I don't know if I'm gonna do this podcast anymore.

No, that's not good.

I might be done forever.

Audio.

Technical problems are driving me crazy.

I might call 911 for you.

Everything sounds.

For a check.

Everything sounds fine.

Please, please let.

Let it be working.

And.

And the things we talked about are not on.

So I think we're good.

All right.

Okay.

Let's move on.

All right.

Yes.

So the topic of choice tonight, what we are talking about is a pop culture phenomenon that kind of sprung out of nowhere.

Nobody expected it to be the.

No one expected it, including the people who made it.

Well, maybe not people who made it, but.

Yeah, Sony, the distributors.

Sony, they didn't.

They didn't expect this.

Netflix probably didn't either.

No, but Netflix is very happy about it and Sony might not, so be happy about it.

Yeah.

So I'm going to go ahead and play the trailer real quick and then we're going to talk about K Pop Demon Hunters.

Yes.

And we can't hear it.

It's muted.

That's why.

Hold on.

There's something in the way of my monitor.

I can't see the mute.

All right.

Oh, there it was.

Here's the trailer for K Pop Demon Hunter.

It's.

World will know you as pop stars.

But you will be much more than that.

You will be Hunters.

Hey, this is the man's bath house.

Get out of here.

They're stealing the souls of our fans.

Let's send those disgusting demons back to.

The depths where they belong.

Yeah.

Their faces.

I mean, it's got that.

That anime vibe too.

Battle ready.

Done.

I can destroy the Hunters for good.

It's time for a new strategy.

The Demon boy band.

They're coming after the fans.

You're my soda pop.

My little soda pop.

The Sasha boy.

Let's go get these guys.

You think we're just gonna let you steal our fans?

You're gonna have to fight us.

Yeah.

This plane's trashed.

Everything is at stake.

Nice try, my girls.

Twice.

Nice.

That was A long trailer.

It was.

I did not anticipate that when I decided to do it on an audio.

Podcast, but I guess there is a hyphen between the K and the pop.

It's just stylized into the P. Yeah.

But if you look at the actual title of the on Netflix, it's K Pop.

Yeah.

Even on this trailer, it says K pop.

All is one word, which is fine.

I'm okay with that.

Yeah.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

And, you know, and it's inconsistent because I'm seeing it as K, capital K, pop.

Oh, or and then capital K lowercase P op.

Either way works.

I don't.

I mean, we need a style guide for these new, like, you know, Korean drama.

K dramas.

Is it a capital D?

Oh, is it K pop?

Like, is it.

Is it K drama or K drama?

Yeah, exactly.

K drama.

We don't know where the emphasis goes.

Ah, yes.

It could be on the syllable.

Which syllable, though?

I don't know.

As long as that substitute teacher isn't there.

Otherwise it'd be kpop.

Kpop.

Yeah.

Present that trailer.

I mean, first of all, for a movie just coming straight to Netflix like that, the action and the adventure we just watched in that trailer, doesn't it seems like it has no business, like, being as good as it is.

It's so good.

Like, it's so impressive.

Yes.

Yes.

I mean, it.

It.

I don't think people realize that, you know, they.

I think they finished this movie or they were working on this movie back in 2021.

I mean, it took years.

Yeah.

You know, and it.

Just for it to be released this summer and to be as successful and as much of a phenomenon as it is, I don't think people realize that they've been working on this for a while.

But.

Yeah, no, it looks fant.

You know, that trailer just shows you how fantastic it is.

The, like you said, the action.

I like how it moves.

It's kind of a genre Hopper.

Right.

You've got some of the, like, supernatural stuff going.

You've got some anime stuff there.

Some hints of anime things with their faces and.

And expressions, which I think is hilarious.

Yeah.

I love.

I. I love the drops of humor in it.

You know, there's some very sincere and serious moments, too.

But yeah, it's just.

I'm a big fan.

You can tell I have a T shirt.

Yeah, you're already wearing the shirt.

The merch is already at the shoe household.

Didn't take very long.

We have.

No, no, you know what?

And it's very.

That Darn.

Netflix shop is so tempting.

I want a Derpy Tiger plush, but it's like 50 bucks.

Is that an official name?

It's an official.

Yes.

So yes.

So they're the two animal characters.

The, the six eyed magpie and the tiger are both from Korean mythology.

But yes, the official names of the characters are Sussy Magpie and Derpy Tiger.

I love it.

I love it.

So and let's face it, like you were already a K pop fan before this movie even came out.

Like this is some, this is a community, a fandom that you already been a part of.

You've been to some live concerts.

I've been to a few, yeah.

And so that in that situation like this movie had a built in audience for with fans of that particular genre of music.

But what we're seeing is this movie just taking over like it has become.

It'S become a mainstream phenomenon.

Yeah.

Its appeal crosses various, you know, you know, demographics like you said, just the fact that number one, it has K pop in its title.

Number two, that one of the most successful K pop girl groups Twice has a couple of songs on the soundtrack and are affiliated with this movie.

And.

That also behind the scenes, a lot of the songwriters and producers of these songs are also big in the K pop industry already.

You've got a built in fandom, a built in audience like myself who know about K pop are in the K pop fandom are already going to be fans of this and want to see it.

I admit I knew about it because I knew Twice had a song on it.

I didn't know about the movie through Netflix.

I knew it through the music and through K Pop.

But you're right, I mean it's not just K pop fans that are loving this or obsessed with this.

It's little kids, adults, middle aged parents, grandparents who may not even know what K pop is.

Or the only thing that they know about K pop is BTS or blackpink which happen to be arguably two of the biggest K pop groups, you know, in recent memory.

So.

But I think that just, I think that just shows you and tells you how good the product is.

I mean it's broad, broad appeal and Netflix is loving every minute of it.

I know and I think that's what find interesting about it is that Sony produced this and you know, some of the same people that were behind, you know, the, the Spider verse movies.

Yeah, which explains why the animation is so good.

You know, I mean like some of that, you know, or at least, you know, that at least the money behind it.

I would assume Sony paid for some of this to be produced.

Yeah, yeah.

And so.

But I think that Sony probably was like, this is a great movie, but the only people who are going to see this are the.

The K pop fans in.

Out there.

And so they were like, we need a different distribution channel.

We can't fill theaters with K pop fans.

And then Netflix came along and said, well, we'll take it.

And then proved that you can fill theaters with K pop fans because it became one of the number one.

It became.

It was the number one movie in movie theaters this past weekend.

The sing along version.

Yeah.

I mean, and it was.

It was only in 1700 movie theaters.

Yeah.

So I was gonna say, granted, it's not like it's not the same weekend Superman or Fantastic out.

Right.

And.

But it was in less theaters than some of the other movies.

And you know, it didn't have the same kind of competition, but it still did extremely well.

And I think that's just.

Sony did not expect that was going to be the case.

I don't think anybody did.

Yeah.

And well, Netflix did after the, after the, after the initial.

Once they saw like within a month, I think they saw the streaming numbers go crazy.

Like right now, as of this recording, it has become the number one most viewed movie on Netflix with over almost 240 million views or streams.

The last movie, it usurped, Red notice, which had 236 million views or 231 million views.

So K Pop Demon Hunters is now the number one, is the most viewed Netflix movie on Netflix.

The first Netflix original movie to be number one at the box office in theaters.

It also.

It's broken so many records.

It's.

It's the first soundtrack movie soundtrack to have four songs in the Billboard top 10 charts.

No other movie soundtrack has done that.

Now granted, you know, things are a little different now because of streaming.

The whole album was released at once back in the day.

A lot of times it took a while.

Right.

It would take.

They would, like, release singles one at a time and you could only hear them on the radio.

Right.

So things are a little bit different.

But still not since Waiting to Exhale has there been a movie soundtrack that had as many hits in the Billboard charts and that was back in what, the mid-90s?

Yeah.

That's crazy.

So insane.

First hunt tricks.

Fictional.

The fictional girl group in the movie.

The first girl group to have a number one hit on Billboard charts since Destiny's Child back in 2001.

That's crazy.

It's you know, it's.

And you know, and I want to get into that because I know that you probably know a little bit about the actors and the, and the, the singers that are in the movie.

I want to talk about that.

But before we actually get into that, I want to.

Based on what we just talked about, I wonder, it brings up an interesting question as it was number one at the box office this weekend.

Do you think it would have been had Sony released it in theaters first?

And are we seeing a new trend where it streams first and gains an audience?

And then, and, and then, and I keep adding more things to my theory.

And, and then, and then, and then.

Is it.

Because it's a musical essentially, which really drives communities together to sing along.

The sing along thing is becoming a huge thing.

The Wicked sing along was massive.

Sing along.

Massive.

They've done it with a couple of other movies since they released Frozen as a sing along.

They re released some of these others and they've done pretty well.

So that's a phenomenon all on its own.

So I'm wondering, like, what combination, like what mix of, you know, kind of the perfect storm that occurred for them that might have been and what, what opinion you might have on that.

Well, I agree with you.

It definitely.

This is, you know, this is like the unicorn, the lightning in a bottle that movie studios would just strive for, right?

Because, you know, Sony had, Sony had this property and ironically it was an original property.

It wasn't like something licensed that Sony created.

So this is something that Sony outright owned, original ip.

But for whatever reason, I'm not sure the person that made this decision is still working at Sony.

But somebody at Sony decided that they didn't want to take the risk of distributing this.

They spent, I've read they spent about $100 million in total on the production of this movie.

And they decided that they didn't think they could recoup enough of that if they did a theatrical release.

And so they shopped it around and Netflix said, yeah, okay, we'll buy it and we'll give you something on the back end.

Which ended up right now, I think, being about 20 million.

So Sony has gotten about $20 million out of this phenomenon that's happened since Netflix has released it.

Now with all the sequel talk, you know, Netflix has got some leverage, but Sony's definitely going to be not doing the same deal they did with this movie.

When the sequel is being for the sequel, they're obviously going to say, oh no, we need a bigger chunk of the pie because now we know the pie is so big that they didn't know because all of the merchandising and everything else, Sony gets a small percentage of merchandising of the sing along box office.

Netflix is getting the vast majority of that.

So I don't know.

We'll see.

But I agree.

I think the two things that made the theatrical sing along release so successful was one, the music.

I think without the songs, or if the songs weren't as good, I don't think people will be compelled to go out to actually see it in the theater.

And I do think you're right.

I think for some properties, seeing success on a streaming platform can translate to at least one or two really good weekends at the box office.

But again, I think, I think it's the sing along aspect of it.

I think that's, for me, I feel like that's the key.

The sing along from streaming to the movie theater is what's going to make it successful.

Because there's a certain, like you said, there's a certain communal sort of group, tribe belonging sort of feeling when you're in a movie theater and everybody is enthusiastic and singing the songs along with you.

You know, there's a certain interaction that you don't get if it's just a movie without music.

And you know, I don't know if, like, I don't think like a Star wars movie could go from Disney plus and then be popular and then get released in theater.

I feel like not as many people would be compelled to go see it.

Yeah, but that's just me.

I don't know.

You mean if it, it was initially like if they turned around and put Skeleton crew.

Yeah.

Like if they're right.

If they made like Mandalorian and Grogu is coming directly to theaters, they're not going to do Disney first and then go into theaters.

Right?

Yeah.

I feel, and I feel like, I.

Feel like, I think it's a different Lauren and a different algorithm.

I think you want to flip it in that situation.

Correct.

Like Mandalore and Gorgo, if they released it on Disney plus first and then said, hey, we're going to put it in the theater next.

I, I don't think it'll be nearly as.

I don't think it would be number one at the box office for whatever weekend.

Yeah.

And I think it's because unless they make Mad, unless Mandalorian and Grogu is a musical, in which case maybe.

Can you imagine a Star wars sing along?

How does Pedro sing?

I don't even know If I have.

If I've seen or heard see.

And well, but does Grogu sing?

I think is the real question.

Well, yes, that's really.

Well.

And that would bring people to the theater.

Well, but then they would.

They would already have seen it on the streaming thing, so maybe not.

Yeah.

So I. I do think that you're right, that the musical aspect is huge.

Was.

I've been following a lot of different threads on threads, which is.

Which if you're not following us on Instagram and threads, that's where I spend a lot of time, like, putting out some of the stuff that we're doing here, because there's been some interesting conversations on there.

So I've been having a lot of cool conversations with folks on there.

So if you are on Instagram, you should also get threads and just get.

I mean, why not?

It's easy.

You already signed up for it.

You just activate.

It's already there.

Yeah, it's part of Instagram, so.

But I've noticed that there were several threads in a row of people saying.

Or one in particular that I recall that said that they were disappointed in the theater because they expected everybody to show up with lights.

And like, they were at a K pop concert.

They expected a K pop crowd.

And I knew that you had gone to the theater with your lights because you knew what is your thing.

Right.

And so.

And I respond to them.

I'm like, you know, I think that's what.

I think what you're seeing is like, I wouldn't have brought lights if I'd gone to the theater, because even though I do like the movie.

And I was like, I wouldn't have necessarily known that's a new fandom.

And so once again, you know, as.

As we love here on WorldGun Geek, like, gatekeeping is not something that we agree with.

We should be thrilled when someone new has kind of stumbled into our fandom and is experiencing it for the first time.

And they were.

I'm not picking on the person who said that.

They were like, yeah, no, that's great.

They were just kind of hoping for more of that concert experience.

And I'm like.

So I'm thinking, you know, probably if they do this again with the sequels, you'll probably see that.

I think you're.

I think this past weekend, you saw a lot of people show up at the theater who just have no.

Who saw the Netflix thing and were like, this is awesome.

Went to the theater and were like, just didn't know, like, that community yet.

Like, they're not part of that fandom to be able to grasp or even know what to bring and.

Absolutely.

Well, yeah, but you should embrace them and hand them a light stick and say, let's go.

Well, I did bring, I did bring two, but I get.

One of.

One of them was for Taekook.

Yeah, of course.

But no, you're absolutely right.

I have seen online where some people, pardon me, you know, there are K Pop fans who are, you know, the fans of the movie going to the sing alongs and, and I guess for lack of a better word, complaining about how, you know, I'm here at the, you know, I was at the sing along and there were some people with light sticks, but the other people just didn't like, quote, get it or like weren't, quote, part of the same sort of group.

And I don't think they meant it in the gatekeeping way.

No, I don't think so either.

Right, right.

But I, I think you're absolutely right.

You know, K Pop Demon Hunters has such mainstream appeal and I think a lot of it is because even though K pop is in the title and it is based very much in, you know, Korean culture, you know, the music groups happen to be K pop groups and the songs are very K pop.

I don't think you have to be a fan.

You have to be a K pop fan first in order to enjoy this movie.

And obviously that's true.

I mean, look at you, right?

You, you like this movie and you like.

Other than bts, you probably didn't know much about.

I mean, I know, I know some of the bands because Rachel listens to them.

Oh, I know, yes.

Obviously, because I'm friends with you that you go to these concerts.

Well, but, but I don't listen to them.

Probably the only K pop song that I've listened to a lot would be Gangnam Style back in the day.

Right.

I mean, that was a massive hit across, you know, the world.

I think it still is the most watched YouTube video.

It might be.

I don't know.

But.

Well, that is until this episode of, of, of our show.

Well, then this will be the most viewed.

This like Taylor.

Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey.

Psy.

Yeah, forget it.

Yeah, well, we don't, we don't, we don't need that.

The very fact that you just mentioned Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey means that.

That'S going to put us up because of the algorithm.

Yeah.

And the algorithm is going to help us there.

So.

Hey, all I'm saying is that, you know, the Kelsey still have a house Here.

Travis and Jason both are graduates of Cleveland Heights High School, which my son goes to currently, and my daughter happens to go to the University of Cincinnati.

Oh.

Which, by the way, the.

Both Kelsey brothers attended as well.

Yeah.

And so, so I'm very, you know, I'm like six degrees of separation from, from, from tnt.

It might be a little more than six.

Okay.

So maybe.

But I get what you're saying.

It's the Cleveland connection.

We all, you know, maybe it's ten to the sixth.

Yeah.

But anyways, we'll see.

You'll see?

We'll see.

Well, congrats to both those two young people.

I. I wish them the best.

I hope they're very happy.

I would love for it to work out because it's, It's.

The odds are against them in that particular world that they're.

That they're living in.

Right.

And the celebrity dump.

True.

But both of them.

I know.

I. I think it's the worst thing in the world to.

To root against that kind of thing.

I want those relationships.

I want marriages to work out.

I don't care who they are, you know, unless it's abusive.

Obviously, we want to.

We want to protect people, but.

Yeah, how can you root against happiness?

Please, let's.

Let's be happy for these folks.

We don't have to talk about it all the time.

I get that.

People get.

Get inundated with it.

You know, I mean, they stopped the Cracker Barrel news.

News story on LinkedIn, I think.

So.

That's all I cared about.

Let's just stop talking about Cracker Barrel.

I'll take Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey over Cracker Barrel any day.

I don't even know why that's a story.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So come on.

Just, you know, I. I don't remember this much hoopla when Target changed their company logo to be, like, all white versus a red Bullseye.

So, you know, whatever.

Yeah.

But.

Yeah, back to.

Anyways, K Pop Demon Hunters.

Anyways, we got, we got our.

We got.

We had to get the algorithm working in our favor there for the boom, and we've done it because K Pop is huge.

Demon Hunter K Pop is really huge right now.

And now we also got Taylor Swift in there.

We even mentioned Cracker Barrel.

So hopefully this episode is going to be the most.

You know what?

This is going to be the most.

Viewed episode because that's all people are talking about.

That's what the world is talking about right now, which is actually kind of sad because there's some crazy things going on in the world right now.

But that's not what this show is about.

This is not what this show is about.

The dumb things that we talk, that we love, not dumb.

They're not.

We.

We are.

We are the distraction.

Yeah, exactly.

We're part of the problem, I think.

But that's okay.

But in a good way.

I think so.

I hope so.

We're trying to bring positivity into this community and these communities, and so I hope that's.

That's helpful.

But one of the other things.

So I do want to get into a little bit about, like, who these people are, because I have done no research.

Like, I literally saw the movie one time so far.

I do want to see it again because I.

You have some homework I was doing.

I was watching it while I was doing things, which is how I watch a lot of stuff, unfortunately.

I'm working and watching, and I'm enjoying the music and kind of, you know, digging it.

There's.

You know, I like some songs better than others, and let me.

Oh, sure.

I'm gonna be honest.

I'm gonna be honest here.

Okay.

I hope I don't upset any fans.

Of this, but hold on.

Let me sit down.

Oh, I am sitting down.

Here's my.

Here's my.

One thing.

I think one of the weakest songs in the.

In the movie is.

Is.

I mean, just because it's so.

And maybe this is why.

Maybe I'm.

Maybe I'm changing my opinion instantly as I'm giving it because now I'm arguing against it.

So.

So the one song that kind of.

I like.

I like, but it's just such syrupy, you know, that typical pop soda pop.

Right?

And I'm like, how is that the song that.

That the demons are able to, you know, just grab.

Just maintain everybody's.

But then I thought, now that more.

I think about it, like, that makes even more sense, that it's the most banal song, gets the most love from everybody, and it's infection.

And there's more, deeper and more, you know, musically robust songs out there that don't get as much attention right, lyrically as the syrupy pop is some of the other stuff.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, there's songs in that movie that are way better than that one.

Oh, absolutely, I agree.

But I guess now.

Now it's making sense.

That's what the masses are drawn to for whatever reason.

Correct.

Because they're idiots.

No, I'm kidding.

I'm just playing because I get drawn to that, too.

It's an Earworm, right?

It gets stuck in your ear.

Yes.

So I guess it makes sense.

I started to argue against it, but then I convinced myself otherw otherwise.

You.

You.

You literally watched me change my own mind.

You were able to reason yourself.

That was the.

I don't know that that's ever happened on camera before.

I have.

I've definitely talked myself out of some weird opinions in the past, but I.

Don'T think I've ever done it.

Live its tail.

Yes.

Eat its tail.

It's a fun song.

I'm not saying it's.

It's bad.

Look, it.

It is.

It's just not as good upon you.

Hit upon everything that they wanted that song to do.

Right.

It's infectious.

It's an earworm.

It's really, if you dissect it, not necessarily a great song.

It is very superficial, very poppy, very sugary.

It's Soda Pop.

It's exactly.

And it's exactly what the Saja boys needed for to get attention of the fans and to sort of like hypnotize them with something shiny and glittery to get them towards.

Towards the demon side of things.

And I agree, it's.

Soda Pop actually is not.

Not one of my favorite songs from.

From the movie.

The whole sound.

I mean, all the songs are good, but Soda Pop is, you know, I would say, lowest for me on the scale.

What's your favorite.

What's your favorite one?

Oh, I would say my favorite one.

And this is going to be a hot take because I know a lot of people, everyone loves Golden.

Understandably.

Golden is a fantastic song.

But for me, my favorite song out of the movie is the last one.

This is what it sounds like, and I think it's because I feel like the lyrics are very powerful.

Not only for.

One of the great things about all the songs, except for, well, Soda Pop sort of not really, is that they all, you know, have purpose in the story.

They're not just a song that they're singing.

The lyrics of the songs seem to go along with the plot or where they are, you know, whatever situation they're in.

And for.

This is what it sounds like.

I think the message of Rumi finally coming to grips with her identity, who she is, that she's half demon, half human, and that's okay.

That she doesn't have to be one or the other, that she is okay as herself is a huge message that, you know, not only is very important for the character in the movie, but I think is also a really important message for people to take and apply to Themselves.

Especially when I see, like, so many children loving this movie.

And I hope the children, like, you know, kind of internalize these.

These positive messages from some of these songs.

So that's my favorite.

Golden is actually third for me, because I like how it's done.

I like how I feel.

Like the opening of this movie is fantastic.

Like, it's such a great way to start the movie.

Yeah.

Is to have.

Have, like, a quick little exposition of this is the history of, you know, the music groups that through history have created this Han Moon, this barrier to protect Earth from demons.

And you are the latest iteration.

And then, boom, they're on a plane going to their concert and right into song.

Fighting demon.

I mean, I thought the intro to the movie was fantastic.

Yeah, the.

The song where they're fighting the demons at the beginning is.

I mean, that might be only because, again, I've only seen it once, so I haven't gotten to dive into the lyrics or really understand.

But I loved the action and the music and how that all played out.

Everything was so put together so well.

And I.

And I think that's why this movie is successful, to be honest with you, because I didn't know what to expect.

You know, my son watched it.

He was loving it.

He's been talking his friends into watching it.

I'm like, what is this?

Why.

Why.

This does not seem like his kind of thing, but he loves it.

A couple of my daughters were talking about it too.

And then I'm like, okay, so this must be interesting.

Let me check it out.

Good.

Yeah.

And they were really needed to, like, hook me, right?

Because I didn't know.

I was like, I don't know what.

This doesn't seem like it's something I would like.

I mean, I like Demon Hunter movies and you know what?

But.

But I'm like, I don't know.

I'm not really into.

Into this kind of music.

And it's just maybe I want.

And that hooked me.

I was immediately like, okay, this is fun.

What is happening right now is making me very happy.

And that's what you need to do.

Right?

And I'm just smiling through the whole first part of it going, okay, this.

You know, even the silly stuff.

And I've always had an issue, even in anime, which I also love anime.

But even when.

When they do the goofy faces and Teen Titans, you know, the old.

Sometimes it's too cartoon.

No, but I'm just like, okay, what?

You know, I'm just like, that's.

But I'm starting to.

It's starting to grow on me because I'm, like I said, I start watching a lot more anime and I'm like, okay, I'm starting to like this now.

But in this, there's something endearing about the way they used it.

I think when her eyes turn into the corn and the butter hits them, that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in a movie.

I mean, it's just the weirdest, but it's still fun.

It still made me laugh.

It's funny.

Yeah, it got me.

I was like, okay, that's pretty.

That's a.

And it was a unique way of using that.

And when you think about it, you're like, is it.

It's not uniquely anime because you think about the stuff I loved as a kid and Looney Tunes and the ridiculous faces that they would pull when.

When they would be like.

And their tongues fly out in their eyes.

This is just another kind of way of exaggerating.

Yep.

And.

And the corn thing made me very Looney Tunes.

Right?

Like when they.

Yeah, when.

Like when they're stuck on a desert island, they see the other guy as a turkey leg or whatever, you know, that kind of.

That's what it reminded me of.

And I'm like, you know what?

This is Looney Tunes for a new generation.

Kind of.

This is just kind of.

It's the same humor.

So why am I.

Why am I not open to that?

Yeah.

And now I.

Again.

And this is.

Again, this is what world Gone Geek is all about.

Right.

We're opening ourselves up to trying to understand why people love the thing that they love.

And it's not.

I'm not.

We're not always going to come out on the same side.

At the end of the day, I might be like, yeah, I like this, but I'm not.

I'm not going to start grabbing light sticks and running out to the sing alongs.

That's.

That's not probably going to be my thing, but I'll watch a sequel in a heartbeat because I enjoyed it so much.

So I think it's just finding that common ground.

The things that we do, like figuring out why people enjoy it.

You know what I mean?

And then.

And then.

You know what the best part of that is?

Letting them enjoy it.

That's.

That's what you.

That's.

That's what everybody should do.

It's like, that's what everybody should do.

I learned why they enjoy it, and then, yeah, I let them enjoy it.

And then if I want to partake, I'll Partake as well, you know.

Right, right.

And that's for anything.

I have a lot of friends who don't understand why, you know, I like Star wars so much.

Or, or I have Star wars friends who don't understand why I like football so much.

Right.

They don't understand why we watch, you watch sports.

Stop it.

But, but again, you know, I can tell you why I love football and why it appeals to me and why I watch it, you know, regularly.

And then now you understand my passion and then you just let me enjoy it.

You don't have to love it.

That's okay.

You don't, you don't have to love it.

You don't have to judge.

You don't have to do anything.

You can just move along.

It is what it is.

Let's celebrate the things we both love, which is Star wars in that situation of some of my friends.

So it's all good.

That's, that's what we're about here.

We're looking world Gun geek.

We're trying to understand what people love about.

About it, share that with other people.

And then maybe we've just invited new people into that fandom.

Maybe we've recruited us into a new fandom.

I don't know.

We'll see how these things work out.

But this is a perfect example.

We would love to be the K pop demon hunters of other fandoms.

Sure.

So tell me a little bit about the, the, the three of the three actresses or singers.

So that's, I guess here's my question.

Are these K pop singers who also act, are these actors that also sang and they hired them, like what.

How did we get this?

The Hunt tricks band together.

So from what I understand, they.

So this movie has done what a lot of movies have done, animated movies have done is where they have a voice actor to do the speaking voice and then a separate person singer.

Okay.

To do the singing voice.

Disney does it all the time.

Right.

So this is, this is not something that's new.

I know they're doing it less and less now.

Like they're hiring a lot of Broadway folks to do some of these.

Sure.

But yeah, it's been a thing for a long time.

For some things they can find people that can do that.

In this case, they've got different voice actors to do the speaking voices for the three main characters, Rumi, Zoe and Mira.

And then they have also three singing voices.

Now the voice actors, the speaking voices, they're all actresses in one way shape or form.

Arden Cho, actually, who plays Rumi Some people may remember her from Teen Wolf, that ill fated TV series that happened.

I think it was on the CW actually.

It.

It stuck around for a little while.

Did it?

Yeah.

I don't.

I don't remember a lot of seasons of it, so I wasn't.

It went quite a few.

Watcher did it.

Yeah.

I was surprised.

I think it started to struggle and then it just found an audience.

I don't remember where it ended up doing that, but.

Yeah, I didn't know she was in that.

I'm gonna have to watch it again.

It's a long time ago and I watched that.

Yeah.

Yeah, she.

She.

I think her.

Her first big.

Her first big television role was on Teen Wolf.

Six.

Six seasons.

Okay, that's not bad.

All right.

That's.

That's more than I.

That's more than I thought.

So she's the other two voice actor actresses aren't as well known, but the singers are all one way shape or form involved, heavily involved in K Pop.

Ej, the singer, the singing voice of Rumi.

She has an interesting story because she started.

She moved to South Korea.

The Seoul.

Seoul, South Korea.

Oh my gosh.

Pardon me.

I get so choked up.

Because she moved to Seoul to chase her dream of being a K pop idol.

And it happened for her because she was part of one of the big entertainment companies there, SM Entertainment.

They have a lot of K pop groups that are fairly successful, like Red Velvet is one of their big ones.

They have a couple of boy bands, boy groups that are also successful.

But EJ started as a trainee at SM Entertainment with the hopes and dreams of debuting as part of a idol group or as a soloist.

And years went by and she was not chosen to debut with various groups.

And it got to a point where the company said, I'm sorry, you know you're talented, but you're just too old.

We think you're too old to debut in a girl group or as a soloist.

So sorry.

So the company basically told her, you're too old, we can't help you.

So she pivoted and instead of becoming an idol, she became a songwriter.

And she has written a number of songs for other groups that have become big hits and groups that include blackpink, bts, Red Velvet, aespa.

So not just older groups, but newer, more recent groups.

And so she's been a successful songwriter for many years now.

And then she was asked to help write songs for K Pop Demon Hunters.

So she co wrote all of the hits on the soundtrack and so the directors, the Directors of the movie loved her voice so much.

They said, you know what, instead of just doing demos, why don't you just be the singing voice for the main character?

And she was blown away.

Huge honor for her and full circle.

Because now she's gone from dreaming of being a K pop idol herself and having like number one hits on the charts to being a songwriter to now having number one hits on the charts as a singer of a fictional K pop group.

I mean, it's, it's fantastic.

And you know, and to see her, she's very humble.

She's so thankful and excited about all the success.

And the other two, Audrey Nina and Ray Ami, also, both K pop artists who haven't found huge success on their own, but also have been in the K pop industry for a few years.

And so this is also big for them too because I mean, to have multiple songs in the top 10 of Billboard, that's insane.

Yeah.

So what do you think this becomes a, A tour?

Do you think we're gonna see.

Oh my gosh, the three of them.

On stage and with, with the animated, you know, like scenes behind them and they perform live and stuff like that.

You know what?

I can only imagine that there are talks about all these different permutations and combinations of people from the cast of the movie to somehow tour or do shows.

I would love, I would love to see real life Huntricks sing their songs live.

That'd be amazing.

You would think that that would be a massive, A massive crowd would come to see that.

You would think that that's like a no brainer.

Even if it's just K pop fans.

You know what I mean?

Even if you don't get the mainstream audience, that would be a large.

I, I think, I think that that would be, you know, arena filling, an arena filling event, but, you know, they're all very busy.

Yeah, well now, now, yeah, for sure.

But it's also, it's also great to see like there are like current K pop idols, K pop stars, members of BTS have done covers of songs from this movie.

There are a number of K pop stars that are doing covers of songs from this movie.

So to have that recognition.

Yeah.

From like the industry that you came from as a songwriter, it's got to be cool.

Do you need to get a drink of water or something?

I might have to hold on a second.

Like we could pause or I may just leave this in.

We're raw.

We're raw here on World Gun Geek.

We, we just, we just, we're.

We are who we are.

That's right.

We are unlike, you know, hey, look, one of.

One of the things that.

And this is something that.

That really also felt close to home for me as an Asian American.

One of the things that Celine said in terms of handling Rumi's half and half, you know, half demon, half hunter thing was that, you know, our faults and fears must never be seen.

You know, we gotta hide our faults.

We have to hide our fears.

You can never show that kind of weakness to anyone.

That.

That is a type of message that, you know, my immigrant parents instilled in me as a child growing up.

Like, you can't.

You have to be better than everybody else.

You can't show any faults.

You have to be better.

You just have to be.

And if, you know, and to see that kind of familial theme in this movie in.

In that way really, really was compelling to me.

And I think my.

I think my kids.

Well, the only other kids that have seen this movie are my daughter and my youngest son.

I would like to think that they would take to heart the message of, you know, we love all of them, not just parts of them, and we don't feel that they need to hide any part of them.

They shouldn't feel any shame for anything that they don't feel.

You know, they may be half Asian, but that doesn't mean they're any less to us, you know, so I was getting a little sappy there.

Sorry.

No, that's.

This movie's awesome.

That's what matters.

That's the kind of stuff that, you know, I mean, a good movie is gonna reflect things that, you know, make people feel.

And.

And again, I think that's what makes this movie unique.

It looks like from the trailer, you're like, that's a bunch of flashing lights and crazy music and swords flying and swords.

But there's a very emotional and deep story going on as well, and it's compelling.

And I think that.

And I'm glad you kind of shared that also, because I ran across on threads, another person, another thread, who was talking about some similar themes that you were just so.

I'd love to get your thoughts on some of these.

I'm going to read what she said.

Sure.

This is Francesca Douglas Franco.

She has a master's of forensic psychology and has worked in law enforcement intelligence and has also founded a mental health nonprofit that serves survivors of human trafficking.

So awesome what she's doing out there.

But she shared three points that as a parent, I mean, my kids are all older now.

But.

And, you know.

And so are.

So are yours, for the most part.

But.

Yeah, My youngest is 15.

Yes, but.

But this was what she shared about as a parent watching this movie with her children, I thought was fascinating.

There's three points that she brings up, and the first one that her kids kind of were grateful for.

And this is kind of a funny.

A funny one to me.

But, like, I totally agree with it.

But the first one was no kissing scenes.

Like they didn't instantly fall in love.

Correct.

It was.

It's clear that their relationship is based on an emotional connection, not a romantic one.

And including their duet.

She says she's quoting from her.

Yeah.

The duet is literally about unconditional acceptance and healing together.

And it's probably problematic for him because he's a thousands of years old, I think, and she's not.

But at least a couple hundred.

Yeah.

So that would have been.

But why this matters.

These are.

She has a why this matters for each of these.

And I think this is.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

So many movies, shows and music for kids normalize unhealthy relationships, and this makes it harder for them to spot red flags.

Red flags for predators and toxic people and arguably grooms them for these relationships.

So seeing a movie that.

That has this positive male, female relationship, that's.

That doesn't have to be romantic.

Right.

Not that they.

There maybe weren't attractions going on there.

He's a handsome guy.

She's a good, you know, a pretty girl.

I mean, you don't know, but.

But that wasn't what it was about.

And that.

That's the.

That is.

Is, I think, very refreshing to see in a movie that you don't have to have them get together romantically to have a compelling duo of, you know, of any kind in film.

Right, I agree.

So.

Right.

Because a lot of.

A lot of times when you have, you know, a couple.

A couple in a movie, one of them is feel.

I think of Greece.

I don't know why I'm thinking of Greece, but in Greece, you know, I love.

I love the movie.

I love the musical.

It has some issues because of the time that it was made, but like, I have always had.

For whatever reason, I always had a problem with Sandra Dee feeling like she had to change completely.

Yeah.

She had to make a whole 180 of who she was, her character, her identity, her personality, in order to get Daddy to like her.

Well, that, to me, has always been an issue.

Agreed.

And you see that a lot in a lot of movies where.

And.

And sort of defensive Grease.

I will say that he did the same.

He thought.

He thought he had to change himself too.

True.

And that.

But in the end, I think they both discovered that they were both wrong.

And if that's the.

That if that's the lesson, I don't know, maybe that's not the lesson.

But if that's the lesson, great, because that's true.

Like, neither of you really had to change.

It turns out at the end of the day, you were already, you know, loved each other.

It was fine.

Right.

It turns out at the end of.

The day because they were trying to do it for each other.

It's almost like the Pina Colada song, except that's problematic on its own.

But you know what I'm saying, Like, it turns out like they're both like, were looking for something else.

And it turns out that something else they were looking for really was them all along.

I don't know.

I'm not going to defend Greece anymore.

Let's move on.

But yes, I know what you're saying, though.

You're right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

K Pop Demon Hunters has a very, very healthy couple, you know, kind of at the core of.

Of the story, which is.

Which is nice.

Yeah.

Absolutely agree.

We could do a whole episode of the Problems with the Pina Colada song.

I have a lot of opinions about that song.

Just logistically.

Right.

Never mind, never mind the other stuff.

Just logistically speaking.

But anyways, moving along.

Okay.

The next thing was the importance of authenticity.

And I think you kind of mentioned this a little bit in your own kind of reasons for liking the movie.

But when Rumi asked her adoptive mom why she couldn't just love her, that was powerful.

All of her.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The way that hiding her patterns was killing her on the inside, and the way that she became more powerful when she embraced her light and her dark.

Yep.

Another thing, too, that I found very powerful.

And I don't know, this is very subtle in that confrontation between Celine and Rumi.

You know, Celine couldn't look at Rumi.

She couldn't look at Rumi as her, you know, her.

Her whole self.

She couldn't even look roomy in the eye.

She had to look down because she couldn't bring herself, for whatever reason, to love all of her.

And just that subtle direction, you know, that hit me.

I'm like, oh, my gosh, she can't even look at her.

And, yeah, the whole message, you gotta.

You have to accept yourself, fix yourself before you can do anything else.

And as Francesca says, why it matters, the feeling that something is inherently wrong with us is the most dangerous feeling in the world.

It's what leads to hopelessness and unaliving.

I will say, you know, to go with the Internet terms, movies like this make it easy to have important mini conversations without freaking out your kids.

And so that's, that gave another opportunity for conversation.

So.

No, that's true.

And I'm gonna give her, I'm gonna give out her Instagram in case people want to follow her and her website and it'll all be in the show notes as well because there's some great insights that she has in here, I think.

No, absolutely.

And here, you know, that just.

Oh yeah, go ahead.

I was gonna.

That just.

That just goes to show that this isn't just a throwaway action movie sort of thing.

They actually, the directors and the writers of this, they were very, I could tell that they were very invested in the story and they wanted to make something that was multi layered and not just cool action or, you know, K Pop.

It was really well done, really well done.

And so her third point is that she, she believes that the demons represent our own shame, guilt and insecurities.

So Zoe's fear of being too much and not enough, Mira's fear of not belonging in a family.

Bobby's fear of failure and why that matters.

It opened up a discussion with her 11 year old about how it's important to pay attention to our own thoughts and that just because we think something doesn't make it true.

At the end of the day, these are the demons we each have to slay.

I like that she put it that way.

Our own inner demons.

Yeah.

So fighting that, that kind of self doubt.

Right?

Don't, don't, don't, don't give in to your, your intrusive thoughts.

Is that what they say, what they call them?

No.

Very, very insightful.

All true.

I agree with everything that she said.

And I, and I'm going to share one more quote from her here.

And this is something that I have believed as a dad for a long time.

But she says I don't believe in raising kids in a bubble, which is why I'm teaching mine how to consider what they're consuming.

And I think that's the, the key.

So many parents just kind of plop their kids in front of what's on television these days and don't just let it go.

Have a conversation about what it is as well.

And she's like, to be clear, I'm not sitting here ruining the movie with my commentary, which my Kids will attest that I've paused the movie many times, but usually to tell them some.

Some ridiculous trivia.

The movie, though.

Exactly.

So I'm guilty of that.

But no, she's not ruining the movie, the commentary.

But afterwards, when the kids talk about it, then it's like, okay, let's bring up some of these things.

Did you notice this?

And I think that's.

I mean, that's what we.

We should be having conversations with our kids about these things to make sure that they are processing it properly.

Because this is, as she said earlier in the other one, like some of these negative stereotypes or some of these negative thoughts are coming from those movies as well.

And we can become away.

And we all enjoyed the movie, but we don't necessarily know that our kid is also thinking about that negative part or even ourselves.

We need to.

Right.

It's not just as a parent.

If you're not a parent, you need to be asking yourself, what do I.

What am I thinking about?

What did they really just say to me?

No movie is just.

Or show is just spitting out entertainment for the sake of entertainment.

Everything is trying to say something.

And whether you agree with what they're saying or not, it is trying to push some sort of idea or a worldview or a thought process to get you considering things.

Sometimes it's lame and just very benign, and sometimes it's very serious that they want.

You know what I'm saying?

But they're all trying to say something.

So take a moment and just digest what you've watched for more than just, you know, the pretty.

The pretty lights, I guess.

Right.

And I think it's important and.

And this type of movie.

I like movies that have the pretty lights, but are also trying to tell you something.

That's why I love Thunderbolts so much.

And I don't want to get into a whole review of Thunderbolts, but I know you have.

You.

I have seen it, and I agree.

Thunderbolts, like, oh, my God, I cried.

On the surface, right?

On the surface, you think it's like, oh, it's another Marvel movie.

Yeah, it's got.

And it's all there.

All the Marvel stuff is there.

Right.

But.

But at the core of it, you know, the.

The way that they represent, you know, broken people, so to speak, people that have.

Have underlying issues that they need to deal with and face.

And the way they handle it and the story arc and the way you see these characters sort of come to terms with these things is fantastic.

Yeah.

Like, there's.

There's It's.

I came away.

I was surprised at how powerful of a movie that was.

Like I was going in.

I admittedly, I was going in like, this is going to be a fun, fun marvel, you know, mashup movie.

And it's got, it's got some of my favorite characters.

You know, it's got Yelena.

She's hilarious.

She's got a red guardian.

He's fantastic.

But no, it was, it was much more emotionally effective.

I found myself much more affected emotionally after seeing that than.

Than I expected.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Yeah.

And that's.

And that to me, that makes some of the best movies.

And I think in this, it applies to this one.

If you haven't seen K Pop Demon Hunters yet, I advise you to go check it out.

It is highly recommended.

Yeah.

If it's still in theaters next week, go support it while it's still there.

So they keep making these kind of films.

That's how you can do that.

If it is, I will go back.

I don't know if.

I don't know if.

I don't know if they extended it for a second weekend because they released the sing along version on Netflix.

Oh, okay.

So they might not.

The.

So probably not.

But if, if, if it is, you can go.

And you don't have Netflix.

You can go see it.

However, go see it in the theater.

I mean, if.

For as much as it costs to see in the theater, you could buy a month of Netflix and watch a bunch of other stuff too.

So that's true.

And that's not me telling you not to go to theaters because these type of movies are the reason I go to theaters.

I don't go for the little rom coms and stuff.

Sorry, rom coms.

I love rom coms, but it's not for me.

If I'm gonna have to force over a lot of money, it's gonna be an event that I want to see.

Right, right, right.

And never mind the fact that, you know, there's.

And especially with sing alongs like we had mentioned, you know, I. I probably won't sing along.

Oh, well, yeah, I suppose thunderbolts sing along.

No, no, yeah, I'm saying, I'm saying.

So I don't sing super well of much of a singer matter, but.

Well, no, but I don't want to hear me singing if, if I'm one of the people in the theater next to me.

You know what I'm saying?

So it's like if that person over there and more power to them.

I'm not knocking them.

They can sing badly and that's that.

Whatever.

But I personally don't want to hear it.

Yeah.

And I, I love that people are embracing that.

Them and just being there their whole selves, singing to the top of their lungs and enjoying themselves.

More power to them.

I'll wait for the regular one.

That's just me.

That's.

That's not a condemnation in the least.

No, no.

In the least.

No.

I want people to go out there and just have a blast.

It's just not for me.

It's not my thing.

No, I agree.

It's, you know, it's definitely.

There's certainly something about doing a sing along in the theater with other people.

I think it would be fun.

I might do a Hamilton one because it's coming back to theaters.

I don't know if you heard Hamilton.

Is coming back or not.

Coming back to theaters.

Going to theaters for the first time.

Yeah, yeah.

It's, it's.

It's.

Oh, interestingly, they do a hand.

They do a sing along.

I might be tempted to join that one.

I feel like Hamilton in the movie theater can't help but be a sing along.

Yeah.

I'm sorry, I just.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, I think you have to do both like they did with Wicked, because not everybody wants that.

Like I said, I might not want it.

I want to see.

I think you have to have both and you have certain screenings that are sing along.

I. I would be very interested to see if Disney plus, if Disney decides, you know what, we should do a single.

I think they will.

Oh, I think they will.

With success of Wicked's.

With the sex of success of this, I think for sure it's happening.

I think I feel like that's got to be on the books.

Right?

Yeah, I think you have to be thinking about it.

It.

They'll release it in theaters for a week and then the second week we'll have a sing along for like a couple of shows or something.

Boom.

I think that's there.

That's what you'll.

I'm there.

That's what you'll see.

I'll go with my A ham hat.

I'll get.

I'll have to get the A dot burr.

Then I have.

We'll go together.

Oh, okay.

Well, do you want to wear the ham, though?

We can, we can, we can rock, paper, scissors.

No, I don't care which one.

I'm just saying.

You said you're going to bring the a ham.

I would just bring the opposite is what I'm saying.

I have both a ham and a.

But a dot Burr.

Okay.

We can decide when we get.

When we meet at the theater.

Do we have to duel at the end?

I mean, I'm okay with that if I'm Burke, because that means I live through it.

Because you live.

Right.

I'm playing.

Okay, so go check it out.

It's great.

It's a lot of fun.

Before we go, we do have one more movie to give away though.

We gave.

We're giving away a copy of Mission Impossible, Final Reckoning.

What do you have to do to do that?

Follow us on Instagram, Follow, find the Mission Impossible, share like and comment.

We're going to choose a couple people, give them some free copies.

All you have to do is super easy, right?

I mean, you're gonna, you know, you don't even have to engage with us after that.

Just follow.

It's very, it's very, very possible.

You're right.

But we've got another movie we're gonna give away.

And same thing, if you're on Instagram, you're gonna see this movie pop up when you see it.

Comment, follow, comment.

Like, make sure you're already following.

And you could end up getting one of these as well.

But the movie that I'm talking about is another sequel.

It is a.

The third in a series of horror movies called.

This one's called 28 Years Later.

That's right.

The sequel to 28 Days Later.

And 28, which was a sequel.

Weeks later.

Was it weeks?

Yes, weeks.

Because we talked about this, right?

28 months.

Didn't happen.

Days.

Weeks.

28 months later.

Didn't.

We don't care.

Apparently what happened then?

It was too short of a time.

Yeah.

And then 28 years later.

Right.

So then the next one.

Well, we already went over this, but yeah, we'll talk about this one would have to be what, 28 anyways, decades later.

And it's in space now.

No, probably not.

Anyway, Certified amazing.

Certified.

Because that's what the horror.

That's what friggin Jason did.

That's what.

Right, Correct.

Certified fresh and what critics are calling the best movie of the year, period.

28 years later with Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Jody Comer and directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle is available now to watch on digital.

And you can get a digital copy free for following us on Instagram and just responding to that image.

And you will.

You don't even have.

And you don't even have to wait.

28 years later.

You don't like.

Yeah, we'll probably within.

It might be a couple of days later.

Yeah.

Not.

Yeah.

Not even 20 years.

Probably not even 28 days.

Definitely not 28 weeks nor 28 years later.

Yep.

And I enjoyed it.

I thought it was great.

I. I love that series.

I really love the first one.

It's not as good as the first one.

The second one I don't like as much.

I like this one better than the second one.

It's really a coming of age film that takes place in an apocalypse.

It was kind of cool.

And some interesting themes brought about in this film as well.

Which, you know, again I think we were just talking about.

Right.

Movies that have like more depth and meaning than the horror.

That it's actually, you know, is the horror is literally just like a side effect of what they were actually experiencing in the film.

So check it out.

And we found out it's actually the first part of what is becoming another movie they shot back to back, directed by a different director, but realize still by Alex Garland.

And it is Bone Temple.

That's what it was.

Yes.

28 years later.

The Bone Temple.

Bone place of worship.

Yeah, I knew it was some kind of place of worship.

We had this conversation that was on the episode that the audio was ruined and you couldn't hear.

So that was on the peaked episode.

Yep.

So we didn't release that.

But yeah.

So check it out.

If you haven't seen it, if you like those movies.

It's definitely a great fun installment to that.

We did.

We did.

I did warn people in the.

In the other version that there's quite a bit of zombie nudity in this movie which could be.

Could be a turn off for some people.

Maybe it's a turn off.

Maybe you like.

I don't know.

Well, granted.

Yeah.

What would that be called?

What kind of Philia?

I don't know.

Well, they're not dead.

They're not dead.

No, because they're not dead and they're not even zombies.

Technically.

They're rage zombies or whatever.

Yeah, they're like infected with rage virus.

But yeah.

So there's quite a bit of that.

If that's.

If that bothers you.

There's a lot of appendages flying around.

You don't.

Might, you know.

Okay.

All right.

It's a little.

A little extra.

A couple here and there.

But if you.

If you're fine with that.

The story is.

But it makes sense though.

I mean these are infected people.

They're not gonna be shopping eight years.

They're not like keeping.

They're not Keeping their clothes nice and tight.

They've probably disintegrated off in 28.

Are they still alive, though?

Are these new infected?

That's the.

That's the real question.

Like, is the rage vice?

Is the rage virus keeping them alive?

Oh, it's definitely contagious.

I mean, you get even.

A drop.

So if a drop hits your eyeball, like, you're done.

Boom.

Like if it gets in your system at all.

But it's a good curse to me that, like, I keep assigning zombie undead rules to them and that's not the case.

I'm gonna have to re approach this and think about it.

Okay, that's this topic for a different episode.

But thank you guys for listening to this episode.

Make sure you follow us on Instagram and threads.

Tick tock.

Real tick tock.

Yeah, because we're going to actually put clips from this episode up on all those things as well.

We're gonna try.

Oh, for the love of Pete.

We're gonna try to.

I don't know who Pete is.

We're gonna try to be a little more active on those channels to see if we can get some more engagement there.

So make sure you check and follow if you're on those as well.

Thank you for listening to another episode of the podcast Is Real with Worldgone Geek.

Here I am, Jeff.

That's Utah.

And we will see you guys next time.

See ya.

I'm waving.

You know what?

I wave too, but I usually don't tell people the podcast is Real is a world gone geek production.