The Rewatchables
‘Tropic Thunder’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan, and Joel Anderson
12 May 2026
Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
The rewatchables. Maybe the last episode ever is brought to you by the podcast network. We can find the press box with Joe Anderson. Find higher learning. And Midnight Boys. And Ring Her Tailgate with Van Lathan. Pew, pew, pew, pew. And then CR. We're taping this the day after Game 7 of Celtic Sixers. Go ahead. Enjoy yourself.
Go.
Play your song. Do your thing.
No, no, no. I was just going to say I wanted to play a little background music while I was talking. And I just need you to do something for me. Take a step back and literally fuck your own face!
Sierra pulled it off. Joe Willoughby pulled it off. By the time you hear this, who knows if Joe Willoughby will still be playing. Please post that before we lose four straight to the next. Anyway, Tropic Thunder is next. This episode is brought to you by Apple and AT&T. Scroll long enough and you'll hear it all. Miracle diets, fitness trends, you name it.
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Apple Watch is not a medical device and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Wow, Joel Anderson. You're here. You did this. Should I be offended that we're not doing it at your house? We've never been four at my house. Where are we starting? Already. I'm just saying. Van told me that when they do it at your house... It's three only at the house.
We'd have to bump somebody. You had to basically kill Ciara Van. Van didn't have to be here. You know what I'm saying? We could have put Ciara in blackface. That's true. Wait, don't spoil the second half of the pod. Come on, let's come later. Okay, later. I just, you know, I'm glad to be here, though. I'm very grateful. I have a lot of gratitude for him.
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Chapter 2: What are the main themes surrounding 'Tropic Thunder'?
You know, he says you cater food and everything. Did you take lunch orders and shit? I've never had that.
That's a joke. You said sodas. No, no, no. I said that when we're watching the games and hanging out as friends. Oh, my bad. Okay. That hasn't happened yet. Because you're never here.
You're on the East Coast. That's right. That's right. You lived here. A lot of good things would happen for you. I love L.A. And in fact, they were so annoyed with me talking about how much I loved L.A. when I was hanging out on Saturday. They were like, man, be quiet. Stop talking about that.
I don't know what you're talking about. You did.
Like, Billy and Tate, they were just like, all right, man, we get it. But I was talking about, like, oh, man, the mountains, the fog, just everything. It was gorgeous. The fog. The fog, yeah.
It was a lot.
There was a little bit of a mist settling over UCLA spring game this weekend. Rose Bowl is beautiful, man. I love being out here. Can we steer it toward Tropic Thunder? I was about to ask what the fuck is happening. Okay, sorry. Yeah. Sorry. It is comedy month here at the Rewatchables. We've had this one written down for a while. Craig has been pushing for it. I don't know for how long.
Five years? Since day one. Since the first movie I did. It's finally happening. I can't wait to see how it goes. I don't even know where to begin. This movie came out in 2008. And Sierra, the peak of... How far can we push this, comedies? This is it. We did There's Something About Mary last week. We go all the way through the mid-2000s and then kind of 2008, 2009, we're near the end.
This is a movie where if it didn't work, I wonder if they would have released it. You know, that's the stakes. It's like, if this doesn't come off, if this doesn't play, can you put this in movie theaters?
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Chapter 3: How do the hosts feel about the film's cultural impact?
There's not a lot of... Viet Cong. Viet Cong.
there's no ass you wouldn't say chinese there's not a lot of movies in this run that you guys are talking about that go for this something about mary is definitely one of them yeah definitely one of them but they're not that many movies that go directly where tropic thunder goes do you get credibility though when you have this many stars and proven people in it do they get to push the envelope more at that point
I guess it depends on who you get credibility with, right? Because, like, yeah, Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller, like, all these guys. Jack Black. They have credibility with people. Downey. Yeah, they have credibility with a certain kind of comedy community.
But, again, by the time we start getting to the height of Twitter, like, 2013, 2014, I don't even think they would be able to pull that off with them. Like, I don't think people would buy that shit from Robert Downey Jr.
And... When you think about the fact that this is the same year Iron Man comes out, so this is the sort of completion of his renaissance, you know, his career revival. But he's not that far into becoming an insurable actor again when he does this. Which, on the one hand, is crazy that he did it, but on the other hand, it makes sense because you're like, he wouldn't do this today.
You know, I don't think anybody in this movie would do Tropic Thunder today. Not because of necessarily the content. It's too big of a gamble.
It's too big of a risk. I saw an interview he did from 2020, 2021. He said, well, I don't regret it. Something like that. Yeah, I did a little prep, man. I told you I was studying tape. He was like, I don't regret it, but I wouldn't do it again. He didn't say I wouldn't do it again. He just said, I don't regret it, basically.
I think that they had a pretty... serious intellectual reasoning behind the Kirk character, which is obviously the one that's the thing that you'd be like, could you pull that off today?
I like some of the quotes that Stiller had about it. It's just like, look, we're making fun of actors and how movies are made. And this is like the nth degree of all of this stuff. We're just taking it as far as we can go. But that's the whole point of the movie. You're either with us or you're not.
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Chapter 4: What controversies are associated with 'Tropic Thunder'?
And it was like, yo, like, I think he actually could still do that today, though. I think we're, I don't know. I mean, again, I don't work in Hollywood. You know what I'm saying? This is one of my few times out here in L.A. But I just kind of feel like there's still, wait, don't look like that. I just feel like I just throw a little energy.
Really?
Just let me finish. Just let me finish. Should we go? But no, I think the thing is that you could still do that. I mean, the same kind of comedy that prevails in Tropic Thunder is still out there. You can find it on the internet or wherever. It's just not, you know, a big Hollywood...
It might not be a big Hollywood movie or whatever, but you can still find people doing blackface and walking up on people calling them niggas. That's, you know, that's comedy. What about Chuck the Builder? Yeah, Chuck the Builder. Yeah, Chuck the Builder. Well, that's a different podcast. We'll talk about that. Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry, I didn't mean to make it a comedy. That's okay.
I am so...
Bill, like, Joel said the N-word with the R. And Bill's brain detonated. I'm sorry.
I just find Joel to have a safe space to give his opinion. Bill's just like, I don't want a different sweatshirt.
Bill's like, that's a line from The Departed.
I should have asked if I had permission to do that.
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Chapter 5: What problematic scenes are discussed in Tropic Thunder?
Okay. So, obviously, the scene is hugely and ridiculously problematic. Obviously, right?
Is it?
So, I'll tell you, it is just... In the world that we want to live in, it is, right? However... The observation in the scene... However, I laughed for three straight minutes. Yes. The observation in the scene was so deadly accurate. And even still, I wonder when I watch it how I never thought of that. Sean Penn blew it. The observation in the scene is so deadly accurate that it is...
Just a genius, brilliant piece of comedy writing. It is.
Chapter 6: How do the hosts react to the comedic elements in the film?
It is. You can't take it away from people who look at that and go, you don't want that as part of a punchline and all of that stuff like that. I get it. That scene is hysterical and it's just gorgeous writing.
It's the most memorable line from the movie.
This is the most rewatchable scene for me. It's also basically the sleep with me Quentin Tarantino rant about Top Gun. It's like the most dead on observation about like, it looks charted, actually charted, not retarded. And like the fact that, like that actually is the peak of Downey's performance to me. It's like he's just so...
He is pretending to be an Australian guy, pretending to be a black guy, who's also commenting on the nature of Oscar campaigns.
Well, also, the way he plays off Stiller. Stiller's like, there were times I felt like I became retarded. And Danny's like, what the fuck?
to be moronical but he's also but also in all of that he's also fucking with him yeah they're in a dick measuring contest for the starring role in this movie so he's saying you're a moron you're like moronical and Ben is going yeah Like the dumbest motherfucker, dumbest motherfucker alive.
He's really, and then he gives him a little bit, he walks, he makes him follow, and he just continues to fuck with him the entire time.
He does the same thing when he's commenting on his physique, and he's like, any tips? Any tips? Any tips? Because I'm trying to come up, too.
I'm telling you, I don't give a fuck what nobody say. He is throwing 117 miles an hour for the entire movie, and it still tickled me to this day.
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Chapter 7: What insights do the hosts share about the actors' performances?
Don't really fuck your own face. Him dancing on Flo Rida. Was it good to have Flo Rida back, guys? You like him? It was fun. It felt very 2007, 8-ish. I don't know if I've ever been any place that played Flo Rida, man.
Oh, interesting. Have you? Well, LSU. I would go home. I was in fucking L.A. by this time. But you go home, you go around the campus, and they love low around campus.
A lot of Flo Rida at my high school prom.
Really?
Yeah. I got to avoid a lot of it. I was 30 years old.
Yeah, I was close to that age, too. But you go back, you go on campus, and they're like, oh, Apple Bottom Jays, and
Forgot to mention Tug getting recognized as Simple Jack. Yes. And they all bow. They forget the VHS. I think this is a top three for me. The troops all hanging out when Jack Black is tied up. When he calls, says your mother's a cantankerous whore.
Like Jeff's detoxing?
Yeah, and the Lance, Brandon T. Robb, he's talking about Lance. And we get, were you thinking of dangling the dice on Lance's forehead?
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Chapter 8: How do the hosts reflect on the film's legacy and its impact on comedy?
I texted that to Craig this weekend. Do you think they always knew that that was going to be Lance Bass?
That's a really good question.
That probably was a late... Or they shot the Oscars already and they were like, Lance, it's a funny joke. It'll pay off at the end.
Danny says, man, everyone's gay once in a while. It's Hollywood. And then... Black wants to blow him if he'll untie him. I'll cradle the ball, stroke the shaft, work the pipe, swallow the gravy.
Get it over here, buddy. Let's do this. Can I do my flex right now? Because it's related to that line. Yeah, let's go. It's the Steven Seagal shitting on himself word for the most unbelievable anecdote from the actual film shoot. Apparently, that line that Jack Black says... tied to that tree. This is from an interview with Jack Black.
It was an homage to the urban legend about Sylvester Stallone going to his trailer with some lady. They were having sex in his trailer, and as the legend goes, he still wore his microphone, and the sound guy turned up the volume and everybody outside could hear. And he was saying, stroke the shaft, cradle the balls, say my name, swallow the gravy. I think that is a true story.
That's crazy. Wow. If I had that context, it would have been that much funnier. Cradle the balls. The shootout. Jack Black with the double cocaine hands kills me. I like when the hands come back. I like this. I have a sudden now half squat. As we said, the last third of this movie is not awesome, but there's a couple of fun things in there. And then the Oscars ending with Tropic Blunder.
and less dancing. So what do you got, Joel? What's your most rewatchable scene? Well, I actually, I gave it away already. I felt like the excess Hollywood scene just took me back to, I felt like I was, I am in a hotel room right now. Yeah. I'm staying in a hotel room because LA's not where I live.
And it was just like sitting down, putting down your shit and being like, oh yeah, this is exactly what I would have expected to see.
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