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In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Adam McKay's best and worst rated films, The Big Short (2015) and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), respectively. Nate loves the editing style of The Big Short, Austin doesn't even want to talk about Anchorman 2, and they both end up talking more about Steve Carell than the actual movies, as usual. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Majestic (2001), his best and worst rated films.
Also check out this behind the scenes clip of Steve Carell in The Big Short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7jJno3x16E
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Notes
Worst Rated
PLOT: With the '70s behind him, San Diego's top-rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take New York's first 24-hour news channel by storm.- Ratings: IMDb 6.3 | RT 75% C / 52% A
- Released: 2013
- Director: Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys)
- Writer(s): Will Ferrell & Adam McKay (screenplay)
- Cinematographer: Oliver Wood (The Bourne Franchise)
- Notable actors: Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Kristen Wiig, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Harrison Ford, Drake, Will Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Marion Cotillard, Liam Neeson, Kirsten Dunst
- Budget: $50 million
- Box office: $173.6 million
- Fun Facts:
- A sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) had been in the works for years but stalled, even with Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and Steve Carell taking pay cuts to keep the budget down. Paramount Pictures didn't like the numbers and didn't agree to a sequel initially. However, the studio later decided to greenlight the sequel.
- Prior to filming, several thousand dollars worth of filming and production equipment were stolen from the warehouse it was being stored in.
- The idea for an Anchorman sequel was first as a musical.
- When Ron and Veronica are called in to Mack Tannen's (Harrison Ford) office at the start of the film, Tannen comes face to face with Veronica and moves her hair. Ron then says "You like-a da merchandise ehh" quoting a line from Watto in the movie Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Harrison Ford played Han Solo in other Star Wars movies.
- Paramount Pictures originally announced that this film would be their last to be released on 35mm film in the United States and Canada. They later reversed that policy for a certain number of films, such as Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and Interstellar (2014).
- When speaking with Empire Magazine, director Adam McKay confirmed that there won't be plans to make a third film.
American Beauty Notes
Best Rated
PLOT: Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.- Ratings: IMDb 7.8 | RT 88% C / 88% A
- Released: 2015
- Director: Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers, The Other Guys)
- Writer(s): Charles Randolph and Adam McKay (screenplay), Michael Lewis (book)
- Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker, Captain Phillips, United 93)
- Notable actors: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Marisa Tomei, Rafe Spall, Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Karen Gillan
- Budget: $28 million
- Box office: $133.3 million
- Fun Facts:
- After Christian Bale met with the real Dr. Michael Burry, he asked to have Burry's cargo shorts and T-shirt, which he then wore in the movie. Bale later said he hoped Burry would make it to the film's L.A. premiere, "because I really want to sit next to him and see if he's going to punch me in the f****** face."
- The quotation that appears on screen, "'Truth is like poetry. And most people fucking hate poetry.' - Overheard at a Washington, D.C. bar," was written by director and co-writer Adam McKay, after unsuccessfully searching for the perfect quotation to use for that segment.
- Author Michael Lewis revealed in an interview that Paramount, the studio distributing the film, allowed director and screenwriter Adam McKay to make this film only if he agreed to make a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).
- The character Mark Baum was based on real-life money manager Steve Eisman, Jared Vennett was based on real-life trader Greg Lippmann, Ben Rickert was based on Ben Hockett, and Charlie Gellar and Jamie Shipley were based on Charlie Ledley and Jamie Mai.
- Jeffry Griffin was an extra on set for the day. He was pulled out of the crowd to play Jared Vennett's assistant, Chris. Later, his role was expanded to two weeks of filming, sharing every scene with Ryan Gosling.
- When Michael Burry looks at his e-mail inbox after informing his clients they can no longer make withdrawals from the fund, an e-mail from A. McKay Adam McKay with the Subject "Can I get some additional information?" is visible.
- This was the second film based on a Michael Lewis book that Brad Pitt produced and appeared in. The first was Moneyball (2011).
- This was Adam McKay's dramatic directorial debut.
- This was the first Adam McKay film not to feature regular collaborator Will Ferrell.
Intro music: Calm The Fuck Down - Broke For Free / CC BY 3.0