 Do you know anybody? Did you ever know anybody personally named Archibald? No, I knew a guy named Brad once. Hey, welcome back to Red Deer reaction, I'm Corvin. I'm Brad. And you can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, forward cheesy content. Thank you to every source on Patreon, follow us through the accounts, subscribe to like, do I have crap on my teeth? Any spinach feta cheese wrap? Doesn't look like it. Welcome back. Today we're doing a movie review of the new 2023 Netflix movie, The Archies. The new film by our Dost. Yes, we can say that now. We can say that now. Zoya Akhtar, written and directed by her and also some dialogue by Farhan and her writing partner is Ayesha Daviesry. Is she a brand name? She always writes it. And two more, it's a collaborative team apparently. I forget who her, she always has a writing partner. Yeah, regardless. And then starring a whole bunch of people, whole bunch of Nepos. A lot of newcomers. Anyways, but obviously it just came out so we're gonna do first non-spoilers and then we will get into spoils but we will tell you before we do that it's on Netflix so we'd like to go watch it before you see anything. If you just wanna go watch that and come back. But the first will be non-spoilers. Rick, you're under-official. You're official non-spoiler thoughts. Non-spoiler thoughts. So right out the gate, the first thought is is it a must-see? Is it a see it? Is it a skip it? Is it a avoided at all costs? It's definitely not an avoided at all costs. But for me, it was definitely a, it's not something I'm gonna be telling people hey, you should go watch it. It for me, you can skip it, I'm sorry to say. There's some good things I wanna say about it and there's a lot of things about it that I'll say that would be critical of some aspects of it that I was expecting a lot more from it but we'll get into all of that. But the ultimate takeaway from it is I wish I could say it's something that you should see but I don't think you miss anything if you don't. Other than if you're very interested in wanting to see how the kids do because for kids that have never done anything before and especially some of them will talk about them in a second who come from some pretty big names in the industry, there are some things I found charming about a couple of people that I'll talk about in a second but other than that, it didn't meet my expectations. I thought this, and it might be similar, I thought it was fine. Which is what I came away with a little bit. Did your wife watch it with you? Okay, because I'm interested in her input because she knows the archies. She liked it more than I did. Okay, was it because there was a lot of references? That makes me happy. And so like, that makes me happy. She, because I don't have that reference point. Yeah, me either. She could tell all the characters and what they were trying to do from each of the, obviously they're very famous characters from the comics and stuff like that. And the relationships. Yeah, relationships, where they went, like the relationships between Veronica and her. Right and Betty and Archie and their love triangles and all that kind of stuff and stuff that they called them. Like it was a big thing that she called, whoever called Archie Archibald or no, Archie Kins. That was a big thing. She was like, I wonder who's gonna call. So like there was a. Unsurprisingly, they did justice to the comic. I'm guessing. She still had some like, she probably wished it was a little better in terms of certain things. But I think she liked it more than I did. But she was giggling every so often because some of the time was green. That makes me happy to know that somebody who's familiar with the material would appreciate it because we don't have that reference point. So which is one of the reasons why it might be more of a fine than anything else. There's, we'll talk about a bunch, but I got into it actually, surprisingly more as it went along, even like an hour and a half into it, I got more into it after the hour and a half. Me too. And so I guess that's a good thing. Yeah. So a good thing is that while I was watching it, cause there's been movies we've watched, and I'm just checking the runtime, looking at my watch, when's this gonna end? I never got to that place. And it's like an hour and a half was gone. I'm like, okay, not what I was wanting, but then I did get more into it post, I think an hour and a half, which is not something that normally happens. And so that's good. That's why I think I came away with a final grade. It felt like using that, what you're describing, it almost felt like a ton of runtime could have been cut to get to that salient point in the storytelling without giving away any spoilers. I think they were trying to build the characters and show them from the comics and their relationships, and they were trying to put a lot in that via, and I think it was actually shot a lot like a comic. As opposed to more flowy scenes, they'd have a scene, and then in a comic book, you'd have the next scene in a completely different setting because I think she was trying to do something like that, which is maybe one of the reasons why the beginnings is kind of jumping all over the place. It also felt, and I know you haven't seen it, it felt like it was for a younger audience. Agreed. The writing of it and everything, and maybe if you haven't seen a Wednesday, Netflix, I know you haven't. We've seen about five episodes of a Wednesday. We got through a Wednesday, but there's a bunch of issues I had with a Wednesday outside of Jenna Ortega. I loved Jenna Ortega. Me too, it's why we stopped watching it. It felt like they were going for a very young audience. Agreed, and I think they're doing that here for sure. That was a Netflix thing, this is a Netflix thing, so maybe they were told to go for a teen, young 20s audience, which is weird because it's a comic that is for a much older generation. That's what my understanding. But maybe they wanted a younger generation. And because Zoya told us this, that the trailer gave us the feels, and I asked her, I said, it felt like this is really gonna harken us back to the kinds of things that are of this era, grease, hairspray, and she said, absolutely. So my two favorite takeaways, because that's the thing is accentuating the positives in the front part about if there's anything you think you're gonna like about it. My two favorite things that I thought were excellent were the production design. What a surprise. Man, it could be a dummies nod, honestly. Production design on this is top notch, everybody. Like the world building that you get is impeccable. That a lot of times because I wasn't deeply connecting to a lot of things story and character wise, I was just reveling in how good and the attention to detail was on little things that you might not notice, but just certain things that they pay attention to where the door is open to the bookstore and they have the open sign on the bookstore, but they don't want it to glare and they want it to be seen in frame so they made sure the open sign was facing more in off the door, little details and the, not just that, but the period, making sure it was the era that it's in. And I thought the majority of the songs, I was tapping my foot. The majority of the songs were wonderful to listen to. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And if you're not a musical theater person, you wouldn't probably catch all the references in the song. Like there's a direct, almost a remake of a very famous Chicago song, which was. It was, I thought, is this a tip of the cap or is this a straight out steel? Well, it's not a remake because it's not the exact thing, but it's a clear, it's very, it's clear because obviously the situation and they wanted to make a song that was obviously, it started the exact same way. If you haven't seen Chicago, please go watch Chicago. Please go watch this song. It's called, I think it's called, He Had It Coming, is it what it was called? It's Great. Yeah, it begins with sounds and, yeah, it's a great, great, it's a great one. But yeah, I immediately thought of it. A couple other songs also had references to older musical numbers from Hollywood. And it also was, it had a very Western feel to it. But it also had the Bollywood, we don't give a crap if you hear sounds and the hands don't match the instruments. Thanks very much. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. But yeah, I enjoyed those. Like the set design, production design was impeccable. Impeccable. Probably the most impressive thing about the entire thing. I agree. The songs I thought were really fun. And I even enjoyed a lot of the song. Costuming did a really nice job. Costuming, the world building was incredible. Yeah. And I thought a lot of the actors did well. I don't think anybody did amazing. No. But I thought that- I have two favorites. And I say favorites, not as in, I felt like there was anything that was revelatory for me. What I really enjoyed, and part of this is because of what I see in their faces and because they did well enough that the weight I'm sure they're carrying being the kids of the people that, I mean, we're naming, this is Shah Rukh Khan. Shredevi. The grandson of Amitabh Bakchan. I mean, guys. Yes, there is a level of privilege they receive. There's also a level of expectation and weight and shadow that no one else understands but those kids. And the legacy that they're expected to live up to that newcomers, no one else has that except a kid of a superstar. I just really liked watching the two girls, watching Sahana and Kushi. The Shredevi. Yeah, because in Kushi, I saw so much of what we love about Shredevi in her eyes. And I saw so much of Shah Rukh Khan in Sahana. And I loved watching them working together. And I thought, it must feel really, it must be really neat for their families to see the kids doing this. And for everybody who's grown up with Shredevi and Shah Rukh Khan, for me with the little exposure we've had, I really enjoyed it. And I felt that they, so much of the acting you will see. And it's not just because Zoya told us this, but you're gonna see, not just from the kids, but from the adults, you're gonna see a lot of people hitting their marks, not moving their arms because they were told to be still. There's just a lot of things that are done because they're... In fact, I feel like the supporting cast was worse than a lot of the main cast. I thought the kids were the best. The kids were the best. And I said to Johnny though, I said one last thought on the acting and we can get into whatever else you wanna do. But I said, watching the girls in particular, they're just starting out. So it's like looking in the garden and seeing your new planted rose buds that have just started to bloom. You get excited about the fact that there's so much potential there, but you can't measure it by a fully blossomed rose. And that's how I feel about the girls in particular. I felt like there is greatness in the bud right there. And they're just beginning, I'm excited for them. Yeah, I like them too. I also liked, I can't, I don't know his name, but he's the little smart kid who... I think... Reggie? The Reggie character? The gay character? The little kid, like he had glassy... Thank you! Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I liked him a lot, I liked his... And I asked Steph, I was like, was he supposed to be gay in the comic? And he said no, he's more just... They never alluded to it in the comic. It was just more, he was a really smart character. But I liked him as well. But I liked the girls of the kids. They were probably the best. But they also had the most screen time. Probably the most to do as well. Yeah, they did. And I don't know if the supporting cast was either bad or it's just badly written. It could be both. Could be both, but I found the writing to be pretty... Yeah, it was hard to deal with. Something that, oh, and I alluded to, maybe it was dealt for a younger audience because it was all very, I guess for lack of a better term, surface level. Yeah. It was like... As good as the songs were, I felt like not just the songs, but for making comparisons, which Zoya herself felt she was wanting to get the template from, of things like hairspray, of things like grease, even the most recent musicals of things like the remake of West Side Story. Barbies and musical, technically. It was missing the verve and the energy and the testosterone and the hormones and the just, for lack of a better term, in every way, both in the choreography and the musical numbers, but also in the way everybody interacted. I felt like there was a, I don't know if this is conveyed in the Archie comics, but everybody seemed to be completely reserved and prim and proper compared to what you typically get from this type of musical, where all of the energy become, and having musical numbers that are so show stopping. Every one of those things we just referenced has a showstopper or two, where you hear that song again and you wanna see that number again because it had a showstopper. This didn't have a showstopper for me. Yeah, I don't know if it had a showstopper, but Vavavu actually has been in my head the past few days. Like I've just been repeating, Vavavu. Just because the songs are good. The songs are good. The songs are good. And I think that my favorite number, like visually, was probably the, she had a common number. Me too. Me too. I enjoyed that one a lot. Me too. It was really original. But yeah, the Vavavu was just, I've been, for some reason, just in my head. Really catchy, really good. Vavavu, which was a good, they are playing a real section of Indian that has not been portrayed, the Anglo-Indians. Right. I don't know anything about them. Right. So if you're an Anglo-Indian, you can tell us if what they portrayed was accurate, because I can't, for the life of me. Yeah. This almost seemed fantasy land. And maybe it obviously partly was. It was partly like Anglo-Indians and kind of a fantasy Riverdale of from the comics, obviously. Right, right. And so, you guys can let us know. Cause it's just like, it's like accents, Indian accents. I really can't tell. Yeah. So that would be something for someone else. I think it was just, for the first like hour and a half, it was like, even though the production was great and I thought the performances were okay. It was all very, I don't know, just high school musical. Which is fine. But also. I love high school musical. I want it to be a little, I need to care for the characters more. Until basically an hour and a half in. Right. I didn't. Yeah, me too. And it wasn't like I was like, fully connected an hour and a half in either. I just got more than I was. Yeah. And so. I was about as connected to it as I am most, cause there's some Disney shows that I've watched, especially when the girls and Micah were growing up, that I got connected to characters on. Like Sweet Life, for example. Was that Disney or Nickelodeon? That's Disney. But I felt, I felt as disconnected from them as I do from a lot of those kinds of shows that I'm not really connected to. Like if they came on and I was watching it and I got a little bit interested, I never really felt really connected to them. And by the way, I wanted to point this out. I'm glad I'm remembering. The, anybody who has a problem with this being of what they refer to quote unquote, I've read this in some reviews as a Bollywood launch for the kids. And Johnny and I were at a Q and A for the morning show. The review of it is on my YouTube channel. It's about relationship. You need two things in the entertainment industry. Wish I had family in the industry. Yeah. Yeah. You need to have the ability to do the craft. Yeah. You have to be able to do it well. And then you have to have the relationships. And the one thing that came off is it always does at the Q and A where we had the full cast there except for Billy Crudup and Mark DuPlask. But Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon have wanted to do this project ever since for years. And they've been friends since Reese played her sister on Friends. The assistant, the character's name is the actress is Tig who plays the assistant to John Hamm. People asked her, what's it like to work with John Hamm? She's known him for many, many years. And John Hamm said, it was like a Tuesday. You know me. You've got Sherry Belafonte. One of the cast members is her goddaughter. Guys, why is it that the entertainment industry is the only industry where people get mad that a family member is involved in the business? There's, obviously there's something to be upset at if people use nepotism and they're not talented. They're not talented. And they also don't realize their privilege in it as well. Because obviously there is a privilege in nepotism. You get, it's more than a foot in the door. You have the entire door swung open. You have the door slammed wide open for you. And yes, do I think that if they had done a search they could have found some people that would have blown us away in these roles? Probably, I do. I think they could have found some people that would have been so superlative that we would have all said, who the heck are these newcomers? However, they don't attract the kind of eyeballs and the conversations and the attention that name kids do. I'm happy to say nobody here was blatantly awful that made me think the only reason they're in this thing is because of a family member and it pisses me off. I'd say that if it was the case. Except for some of the supporting characters. There were, which is one of the issues. I just, I felt like maybe the writing might have been the biggest issue in this, which is so strange to say with Farhan and Zoya. It is. Writing. It was kind of all over the place at the front end, right? But yeah, overall, I thought it was fine. Would I watch it again? Probably not. What's funny is we didn't get into any spoilers, so that's good. There's nothing really to get into. Yeah, it's what I said. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but is it, and I also think it's probably Zoya's weakest work. Without question. But not in all aspects. Not in all aspects, but as a whole, I think it is her weakest work. And you get points for just doing different stuff, man, and just doing what you want to do and charting your own course, and Zoya does that, and human beings, man. No artist is gonna make great stuff every single thing they put out unless you're the Beatles. That's true. It's very, very rare to find anybody that could ever do that, so but I agree with you. But anyways, let us know what you thought about the Archibolds, or the Archies. If you liked it, if you... Cause I've actually heard mixed opinions all over the place. And were the Archies a band all the time? Like the, cause at one point I wrote on my notes and I went, what happened to the band? Yeah. It's like the band was at the very beginning and at the very end and throughout the film we didn't really see the band. Well, it wasn't like all about the band, but they are a band. It's like, I'm hearing John Belushi and the Blues Brothers. The band! Great musical, by the way. I've heard a bunch of mixed stuff about this. I actually heard people that absolutely despise it think it's awful garbage. And then I've also heard people that really, really enjoyed it as well. So the opinions on this one are all over the place. So you guys let us know what you think about this film. If you liked it, if you didn't like it. Why we're wrong. Why we're wrong, why we're right. Why we are the white devils of YouTube. Let us know down below. I want that, the white devils of YouTube. Let us know down below.