Half in the Bag: Borat 2 and The Haunting of Bly Manor

This is a great point to bring up.

AM

An argument by Christopher Hitchens that all the first Borat movie proved is that Americans are really polite: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/11/borat-meets-some-painfully-polite-americans.html

Daniel Frank

I was going to complain about the lack of social distancing - but then realized this was Mike and Jay coming out as a couple. Neat.

CB Norwood

Jays starting to turn into a shaggy mountain man.

Vorevids.com

Are they going to replace Jay? In all seriousness I loved this review and it let me reflect on Bly Manor in a nicer light. I was a bit disappointed in that story, but I enjoyed all of the monologue or drawn out dialogue scenes. The twists weren't unexpected, I just had wanted it to be more tragic. I mean even the worst character in the story line got a happy ending. Thanks Mike for appreciating that you can have "the gays" instead of the "not gays"! :-D

India Jackson

Didn’t you find the little girl annoying as fuck? How she was like overacting her British accent so hard I was worried she was going to dislocate her jaw saying her lines.

Tyler Trice

They'd never have to change it from '0'.

John Brophy

I miss the red stain on Jay's shirt. Those were the days.

Amy Hitchner

I enjoyed Bly Manor, but it definitely suffers from the way they adapted the material. It's useful to realize that they adapted a bunch of Henry James stories, not just Turn of the Screw. That's why, for instance, the big villain of the first 6 episodes suddenly disappears from the story (and then hilariously pops back in for 3 seconds to say he's terribly sorry about all the bother). And why the story comes to a screeching halt to give us the backstory of the brother or the housekeeper or the governess. It also has the same problem Hill House had in that they want to have both a scary and a happily-ever-after ending which I think undercuts both stories.

Ken Hall

I don’t think it’s fair to judge people who say stupid stuff. Sometimes we can get caught up in the moment and we try to be funny or we try to be more relatable to the people we are getting to know. I prefer people be straight up and honest and not be condemned for it. Even when I vehemently disagree and/or shocked by it. But I guess in this day in age groupthink is imperative. We the sheeple are supposed to be in on the joke. We’re supposed to judge and brow beat people who say offensive things. But great lesson though, do not sign a contract and be in a documentary with strangers.

Mike please never stop pitching film ideas they are my favorite things in the world. Okay, so Bly Manor. I'm so glad you guys liked it because I fucking loved it. The only episode I had problems with was the one with Henry facing the physical manifestation of his alter ego because it didn't feel in line with how everything else worked? But that's fine. All the household members were wonderfully written and their arcs felt satisfying. The black and white episode was beautifully shot. Dani and Jamie's relationship was perfect from beginning to end. The child actors were incredible, especially the kid who played Miles. Just so well done all around. I'm hoping the series continues as a kind of anthological adaptation of 19th-20th century Gothic fiction.

Rhea

Aw fuck now I gotta finish Bly Manor. I really enjoyed the first three episodes, I just fucking suck at finishing shows

Panda S

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT. It might actually be perfect. Just holy shit.

Jason Sealy

Finally watching Iron Giant. I’ve been missing out for a very long time. Next Re;View?!?!

Tyler Trice

Well, at least they cast an American as a British actor, instead of a Brit as an American. Darn Brits, stealing all of our American actor jobs!

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

This is the weirdest first few minutes of any HitB ever. The tagline on the "TENT" poster is brilliant.

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

Trebek was Canadian? I learned something new today.

Jessie Zimmer

Jay: "Or there's an option where you *don't* die ..." 😂

Jessie Zimmer

Great as usual. There is a lot of entertainment to mine from streaming. I’m in no rush to go back to a theater either.

Mike St Louis

That's the one I was trying to remember! Thank you.

Lisa

Fine. I'll watch TNG. Beats watching them make cat food on "Chopped."

Lisa

Great episode. Also, RIP Alex Trebek. A true Canadian icon and gentle soul.

Tyler Trice

There should be a sign somewhere in the VCR studio that states "X episodes since Mike mentioned StarTreck". Just frame it as in the Simpson's "X days since tragic accident" sign.

Michael Matzat

Great episode...big fan for long time. Minor bit: the actress is from Bulgaria...exterior shots in Romania. A friend of mine happens to be from Bulgaria and got to visit for their wedding...the country is VERY NICE! :) (really)

Matthew Bouchard

The "greatest museum" photo, and the overly dramatic reaction shot @51:07 made me laugh. HitB feels pre-Corona again. In fact, I feel so good, let's hop back 6 million years into the past, kill the monolith, kill the two ape tribes, then kill ourselves. This way we'll defeat Hitler! On the other hand, we'll miss Chopped... come on, come on, get it plated!

Marvin Falz

How was The Innocents not mentioned? It's the best adaptation and one of the best horror films of all time. If you guys haven't seen it, check it out. You'll love it.

Jeremy Heynen

Oh, can't be worse than Dick Van Dyke. Or John Travolta in The Fanatic, god he's such a great actor.

Alex Beyer

Bly Manor was... okay? I guess? I agree that as a British person I actually found it really hard to watch as the inaccuracies threw me out (for example just little things like having the flag in the classroom and the kid’s dad saying “math”) and Henry Thomas was pretty terrible, both accent and acting wise. I feel that the British setting was purely aesthetic and it would have been better to just bite the bullet and set it in the US (or Canada as that is where they filmed it and Dani would still be the outsider in another country). It was also kinda bloated - if they had trimmed it down and tightened it up I feel I would have enjoyed it as a six episode series maybe. But I really lost interest in the middle section. I did like elements of the last two episodes though and I have found myself thinking about it since watching so maybe I didn’t hate it as much as I thought.

1:24 shit gets intense. You guys really do suffer for your... art(?) Also, if your dog accidentally ingests glass, just soak a piece of bread in some condensed milk and hope that the glass gets lodged into the bread in the colon to later be safely shat out.

Alex Beyer

TENT has a sweet Alex de la Iglesia flavor to it, I'd watch that.

Lelio Mulas

Hoping Jay and Rich talk about the Boys season 2, that's some good content!

Helena

It’s a shame that they didn’t review The Witches. I wanted to learn more about Jay’s experience with Roald Dahl and his creepy witch fetish.

Stephen

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard raves for Bly Manor. I’d be curious to see what other brits thought of the series because most of the English accents are unbearable and inconsistent and really stopped me from being able to enjoy it. It’s strange to me that people can sing the praises of the makers of the show and the acting when the accents are so painful, particularly the voice over in that black and white (every time she said “‘er ‘usband” my skin crawled)

Chris East

You guys should also watch (and discuss on HitB) "The Devil All The Time" on Netflix! it's pretty good!

Peter Varga

I really liked what you guys said about Bly Manor. I loved it but Hill House is better and it's certainly more of a "horror" story. The problem I have with trying to talk to people about it however, is that that's all they have to say about it. "Hill House was better. It was scarier." Yeah, no shit. Bly Manor was still good though. The black and white episode was my favorite as well. I can see myself watching that one episode here and there randomly. Like "Gotta light?", just not quite as amazing.

Rachel Snead

First off, the first seven minutes of this episode... best thing I've ever seen. But then, why do you always come back to mentioning "The Boy"... wtf? What has that thoroughly unremarkable and mediocre movie ever done to you?!? :/

Manuel Johnen

Harry Potter and the chipped mug

Adam K.

More spoopies?

SphericalKitten

an hour-long HItB let's goooooooooooo!

Raul Valente