Month: October 2020

First of all, I want to express my deep disappointment that Adam Sandler’s character, Hubie, in Hubie Halloween is not, in fact, named Hubie Halloween. Honestly, part of the reason I was somewhat looking forward to watching this movie was based on this assumption alone. Hubie Halloween could have joined Lloyd Christmas as two of the funniest character names in comedic history. But, no, Hubie is indeed Hubie Dubois – a man not named Hubie Halloween who kind of talks like a combination of Sandler’s Bobby Boucher from The Waterboy and Stephen Root’s Milton from Office Space. (Yes, it’s one of those movies where Sandler is doing “a voice” the whole time.)

Look, I like Adam Sandler comedies. (I still maintain That’s My Boy is hilarious.) But my mileage varies when Sandler does “a voice.” The first Sandler movie I didn’t like was Little Nicky (which was directed by Hubie Halloween’s Steven Brill), which set off a string of hits and misses for me that were largely based on if Sandler was playing a version of himself (which I like) or doing “a funny voice” (which I find … trying). When Sandler plays it at least somewhat straight (it’s kind of a stretch to call Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore straight roles, but compared to a movie when he’s spouting gibberish the whole time, they then qualify) I find him pretty irresistible. It almost doesn’t matter how much dumb madness is thrown at the screen because Sandler can make it work on pure charm alone. But when he’s not “himself,” this is tougher to pull off.

I’ve noticed a lot of people, particularly critics, have a strange relationship with Adam Sandler. And I’ll admit, I most definitely have a strange relationship with him as an actor. It’s weird, it’s like I just want the best for him, but when I see him making, what I perceive as, “dumb comedies,” I have a tendency to just think of what else he could be doing with his time – chasing down the forever Sandler white whale, Punch Drunk Love. Or at least I used to, a few years ago, when all he was doing was making comedies. I guess I was worried he had given up on his more challenging roles. But now there’s been enough of a steady stream of “good” Sandler movies, something like Hubie Halloween doesn’t annoy me as much because I know how much he actually enjoys making movies like Hubie Halloween. As long as he still makes an occasional Uncut Gems, I can live with a few Hubie Halloweens. Oh and don’t get me wrong, I totally found Hubie Halloween annoying, but the difference is I found it annoying as a movie, not annoying for just existing.

And to be fair, I didn’t find it entirely annoying. For most of the film, I found myself laughing, then immediately followed by being repulsed or saying out loud, “yikes.” There’s funny stuff in the film, but it’s surrounded by so much nonsense that the laughs sound something like, “a haaaa oh.” When we first meet Hubie Dubios, he’s riding his bike through Salem, Massachusetts as local punks throw eggs at him. Hubie is a middle-aged man who never grew out of being a bullied teen. Hubie catches the eggs in his thermos and makes it into a makeshift breakfast, which is kind of cute and clever. Then Hubie vomits.

It’s unclear if Hubie actually likes Halloween or not. His motivation in life seems to be that everyone has a safe Halloween. The front yard of his house, where he lives with his mother (June Squibb), is fully decorated for Halloween, though the slightest thing scares Hubie. Actually, it’s a pretty funny running joke that every fake ghost and goblin in town scares Hubie, to the point he screams in terror every time, even at the decorations in his own house. But things start to go awry after a convict escapes the local mental hospital and people in town start to go missing. (For some reason the convict’s identity is kept a secret until the end of the movie, but I’ll go ahead and save you the disappointment to find out he’s played by Rob Schneider. And this has nothing really to do with Schneider, other than it’s not really much of a surprise Rob Schneider pops up in an Adam Sandler movie.) And, of course, there’s a love story thrown on for good measure as Hubie has a crush on a local divorcee, Violet (Julie Bowen, which isn’t the only Happy Gilmore reunion in this movie), and has to deal with her ex-husband, a local police officer, played by Kevin James, who suspects Hubie is responsible for the missing town people.

When Hubie Halloween finished, my initial reaction was, “whatever.” It’s sometimes funny. It’s sometimes stupid. But now it’s graded on the always reliable, “Well, for a little under two hours I wasn’t thinking about the world” curve. It’s not a good movie. But it’s not a bad movie. It’s probably exactly what you think it’s going to be. I mean, it’s on Netflix right now, so there’s already a decent chance you’ve seen it because what else could you possibly be doing? But if you haven’t seen it, would I say you’ll like it? Eh? Probably not? But will it kill two more hours of 2020? Yes. Yes, it will. And in that way, Hubie Halloween is a smashing success.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Gentle rolling waves of synthesizers slowly cascade to reveal a pulsing and transportive beat that shuttles you through soundscapes like a surfer through the barrel of a wave. Heavily affected vocals bemoan, “I can feel the distance in between us.” David Dann’s first single in seven years — “You & Me” — feels like an anthem built for the pandemic age.

Sure enough, the track was composed in quarantine. The social isolation that came with COVID gave Dann — a 15-year music industry veteran who went from dude behind the decks to music curator to label boss at Mind of a Genius to producer and to now solo artist — the time and space he needed to look inward. In that process of soul searching, he reevaluated the trajectory of his creative career.

“I think isolation was a gigantic factor in not only this song, but my return to making music overall,” Dann told us this week. “I used the pandemic as sort of a reset button I had been wanting to press for some time. Isolation in general just gave me the time to think about what I really wanted in the next 10 years of my life, and I think opening that door for myself that I had closed was really important.”

Time spent alone in the studio also gave Dann plenty of space to dream about the first place he’d like to travel once the pandemic is over. He’s got his sights set on Buenos Aires, Argentina — so we asked him for a post-pandemic travel guide on his favorite things to do in the city. Check out “You & Me” here, read through Dann’s recommendations, and get ready to add Buenos Aires to your own ever-growing post-pandemic travel list.

Where people should go to discover the local music scene?

The streets!

Other than that, I would go to clubs that friends of mine who lived there thought were cutting edge, and try to find sounds that inspire me. Generally speaking, anytime I travel to a new city I make it a point to go to places that friends or acquaintances have recommended, use those as a sort of starting point for an adventure, and get lost for a bit.

An ideal trip to anywhere new is something like an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations – a blend of food, history, culture, and a few nights out.

Best place in Buenos Aires to catch a show, or a place you’d love to play?

Club One

One of my favorite shows ever was at a place called Club One. I’m not sure it even exists anymore, but it was one of the coolest venues I had ever seen. I believe it was an old hospital that they converted into a few thousand person club. There were four floors and a super long dancefloor hall. Truly a work of art. I would go back at any moment and play there if I could.

Best place in Buenos Aires to soak up inspiration?

The Streets Of The Palermo Neighborhood

I would probably go straight to my friends’ place, Nico and Maxi, and ask them to take me out to eat first and show me what’s new. I love food, and Buenos Aires has some of the best food in the world. There are certain areas like Palermo that just feel so European but mixed with a South American vibe. The inspirations there are endless. Even talking with locals and strangers inspires me. Argentinians are some of the most passionate people in the world.

What are some great food neighborhoods or restaurants to visit in Buenos Aires?

Osaka

I’ve been fortunate enough over the years that usually when I’m traveling, there are people on the ground who do a fantastic job of taking me out for the day or night and really show off the best that a city has to offer. Some highly recommended spots to eat and drink that are go-tos for my friends in the city – Happening and Osaka near Puerto Madero, Gardiner near Palermo, Orilla in Belgrano, and Don Julio Parrilla, which is near Palermo as well.

If there was one place in Buenos Aires you have to visit, where is it and why?

La Bombonera

I would say La Bombonera, which is the stadium for the local soccer club Boca Juniors. Soccer, like in many parts of Latin America and the world for that matter, is religion there. Going to a match is an unforgettable experience – the people-watching is incredible. The team unites so many people from all walks of life, and there is amazing energy and vibes at any match that you attend.

Of course, my recommendation would be that you head there with a local who can fill you in on all the team’s history.

What’s the best way to discover the city?

Eat The Local Food

With local friends for sure. Buenos Aires is big and there are so many parts to the city. For me, the best way would be to taste as many local dishes at local haunts as possible. When I was there, I’d always made a habit of starting my trips with a food tour, then going out after and exploring some of our favorite areas and having a good laugh with friends along the way.

I haven’t done this yet, but when the world goes back to some kind of normalcy I want to try some Airbnb Experiences – seems like a great way to discover some hidden gems and sites in any city you’re in.

If you had to capture the vibe of Buenos Aires in a song, how would you set out to describe the city?

I would say probably a song that feels super energetic but also a bit bittersweet. Argentinians are some of the kindest and warmest people I’ve ever met, so proud and passionate about their lives and people around them. But there is also a really tough side to the country with their government and overall financial stability. Maybe when I’m in the city next I’ll make it a point to make a song right then and there to capture the complexity and beauty of the city.

The Elf On The Shelf takeover continues unabated, this time with Netflix announcing a “seven-figure” deal to acquire the rights to all Elf-related properties and create movies and shows based on Santa’s favorite contract-based employee. The beloved children’s book has exploded in popularity in recent years, branching out to merchandise and slowly expanding the Elf On The Shelf universe And on Friday, Netflix announced it had acquired the rights to a lot more Elf.

Netflix shared the news with a three stanza poem about how, despite the fact that it’s October, the ever-escalating police state we live under must continue to grow and monitor our lives, now through the popular streaming service.

Throughout the North Pole, the work has begun
on series, and movies, and specials to run.
Animation… live action… both will appear
to deliver the world some holiday cheer.
In Tokyo. In Mumbai. From Montreal to Rome.
On a plane, on a train or in the comfort of home.
Whatever the name that you’ve given your elf,
soon Scout Elves will stream from Netflix’s shelf!

The second stanza (and the whole release) honestly isn’t very clear about what’s happening, but Deadline has more concrete details: not one but two already-existing Elf On The Shelf specials are coming to Netflix in time for the holiday season, and the streaming service has won the rights to create more live-action and animated properties based on the Elf On The Shelf IP.

Netflix will develop live-action and animated content, taking aim at pre-school audiences, as well as for family audiences through both series and film. As part of the deal, two of Lumistella’s existing animated short films, Elf Pets: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue and Elf Pets: A Fox Cub’s Christmas Tale will be on Netflix in North America this holiday season.

Netflix winning the bidding war over the perpetual holiday best-seller means you should expect to see a lot of Elf on your screen in the coming years. Deadline reported that it’s a seven-figure deal that includes all the properties created by The Lumistella Company, which created the Elf series. That includes, in case you didn’t know they existed, The Elf on the Shelf, Elf Pets, and Elf Mates. That should give families plenty to watch over the next few holiday seasons, which may be enough to distract from the fact that the Elf is, of course, always watching you.

I suspect that for anyone who was actually considering seeing it, the only review of The War With Grandpa you need is that my 7-year-old stepson sat through the entire thing, without begging to play on his tablet. Which is to say that it’s certainly a movie you can watch with your kids. But at what cost? Also, it’s only playing in theaters.

Yes, The War With Grandpa stars Robert De Niro, who has already been in enough bad paycheck movies that we don’t need to roast him anew for him being in this one. Suffice it to say, nothing in this is as embarrassing as getting stabbed in the boner with a syringe over a Viagra incident like he did in Meet The Fockers. Get that money, Bobby D.

Despite sounding like it sprung out of easy marketing campaigns like Neighbors (FRAT vs. FAMILY), Daddy’s Home (DAD vs. STEP DAD), or the self-explanatory Fist Fight, The War With Grandpa was actually adapted from a children’s book — Robert Kimmel Smith’s winner of 11 state reading awards of the same name, originally published in 1984. From what I can tell, the book seems to be a light pacifist allegory, using the story of a widowed grandfather whose middle school grandson declares “war” when grandpa takes over his room, in order to make the point that wars are silly and no one wins.

But I’m pretty sure that whichever studio exec optioned it saw only the chance to apply a tried-and-true marketing formula. Grandpa! Grandson! It’s war! Why find something good and figure out how to sell it when you can just find a new version of something you already know how to sell? In old boxing parlance, The War With Grandpa is selling wolf tickets.

The feeling of Neighbors deja vu is confirmed when, in a climactic moment in The War With Grandpa, someone gets pranked with an airbag under their seat cushion. You know, that same gag they used in the Neighbors trailer.

Presumably, this film’s target audience won’t care if it’s derivative. Robert De Niro plays Ed, a widower living in some leafy unnamed suburb where one day, he starts an elderly riot by refusing to use the electronic checkout machine that his local supermarket has installed after firing his favorite cashier. Kudos to writers Tom Astle and Matt Ember for inventing this scene (which presumably didn’t exist in a book written in 1984) which is both relatable and genial, if not quite side-splittingly funny.

That being said, it doesn’t especially make sense as the inciting incident for Ed’s daughter Sally, played by Uma Thurman, to demand that Ed move in with her family so they can look after him. Ed — who actually looks pretty spry, with a full head of hair and decent muscle tone — isn’t exactly unraveling from dementia here. In fact, it seems like he’s the only sane one, refusing to let the supermarket offer subpar service just so they can lay off another low-wage worker. Ed is the hero! This country needs more people like Ed!

That’s basically The War With Grandpa in a nutshell though — a series of madcap scenarios in search of a logical reason for them to exist. Soon we meet Ed’s grandson, Peter, played by a person called “Oakes Fegley,” who like virtually all child actors has at least 20% too much hair. Thus his parents and the filmmakers have now put me in the awkward position of trying not to ridicule a child. Look, I know it’s not the kids’ fault. That’s why it bugs me! How about no actors under 15 from now on? Can’t we just use older kids and age them down, or have Andy Serkis play them all in motion capture scenarios? Andy Serkis loves press tours.

Anyway, Ed takes over Peter’s room and Peter has to move into the attic, leading Peter to declare “war” on Ed, despite them mostly getting along otherwise. This, naturally, leads to a series of escalating Home Alone-esque prank bits, from marbles on the floor to plaster in the shaving cream to a “climactic” dodgeball game shot entirely with stunt doubles and wirework. “If the gag doesn’t work, you haven’t stylized it enough” seems to be The War With Grandpa‘s basic operating principle, where hyperbole always trumps wit. “Robert De Niro’s pants falling down is really funny” is the sub-motif.

A few vestigial elements from the book survive, in the form of vignettes in which Ed patiently explains to Peter why war is bad, in between bits borrowed from Neighbors and Home Alone. Unsurprisingly, the war allegory now just seems kind of odd and out of place. Maybe because it’s kind of weird to try to deliver a pacifist message after you’ve sold people solely on the spectacle of a fight.

Ed has a crew of friends that include a womanizer played by Cheech Marin and an adventure junkie played by Christopher Walken, and it’s nice to see those guys for a bit, even if the movie makes no attempt to bridge the gap between “types” and actual characters. On that note, Peter’s focus-grouped cute siblings include boy crazy older sis Mia (played by Laura Marano, who is 24 — see?? it works just fine!) and kid sis Jennifer, whose shtick is loving Christmas, played by Poppy Gagnon. I don’t want to harp on this child actor thing, but does anyone else think it’s super weird that a six-year-old (or whatever) has this dramatic ingenue headshot? Stop this madness.

As you might expect, Ed and Pete eventually go fishing and come to discover that they love each other and that war is bad. As you might not expect, the movie culminates with Ed ditching Pete to go hang out with his new girlfriend, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (aka Jane Seymour).

I’m serious, Ed jumps in a car with his new gal while Pete watches sadly from the upstairs window. And then the credits roll! It’s so weird and discordant that it feels almost like they were supposed to shoot another scene but got tired and just said screw it. And I can’t say they were wrong for it. The War With Grandpa kept a seven-year-old entertained for a full 90 minutes, so great job, I guess. Now, can we get that kid a haircut?

‘The War With Grandpa’ is available now in theaters nationwide. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can access his archive of reviews here.

When The Walking Dead returns in the Spring of 2021 for six episodes, they will be working from “six of the best scripts we’ve done,” Scott Gimple told The Insider earlier this week. Production on those episodes, in fact, has already begun. According to Deadline, they’ve done table readings and wardrobe fittings, and shooting is expected to begin in the next few days. Season 10 will shoot until Thanksgiving, and then in January, shooting will begin on the final 24 episodes of the series, which will air over 2021 and 2022.

Showrunner Angela Kang warns, however, that we should not expect the same size and scope that we are accustomed from in the season 10 bonus episodes. While The Walking Dead has its own studio and its own backlot, and while it has the ability to build and add locations onto that backlot, the series will still be operating this fall during a pandemic, so don’t expect to see hundreds of extras or huge crowds of zombies. Production, however, is set up well for the Coronavirus. Among other things, according to Kang, they have “UV light things to zap germs” and their own mobile lab, so they can process Coronavirus lab tests themselves.

As for the stories themselves? That’s what may be most exciting about the bonus episodes. They will be focused on only what appears to be six main characters: Daryl, Carol, Negan, Maggie, Gabriel, and Aaron. The episodes will build toward season 11, but without Eugene, Princess, Ezekiel or Yumiko in the episode, we know that it won’t take up with the Commonwealth just yet.

Instead, the episodes will focus on “the dynamics between Maggie and Negan, we’ll see a lot of story related to Daryl and Carol, and where people have been in the past.” The Maggie and Negan reunion is something that a lot of The Walking Dead fans have been waiting for since the last time we saw the two in the same episode, Maggie was trying to kill Negan, who murdered her husband. It’ll be interesting to see, since Maggie obviously isn’t aware of Negan’s redemption arc.

Meanwhile, the Carol and Daryl storyline may continue to build on their future spin-off, and the references to “where people have been in the past” is obviously a nod toward where Maggie has been the last two seasons. That should also mean that we finally find out what’s up with that Ninja guy, how Maggie continued to get mail in the apocalypse, and perhaps what happened to Georgie.

Moreover, the episodes will not be stand-alone or bottle episodes. There will be threads that tie together and set up the big final arc in Season 11, which is likely to kick off in the fall 2021. In the meantime, Season 10C will air in the Spring, while Fear the Walking Dead returns this weekend, along with the second episode of The World Beyond.

Source: Deadline, Insider

Big Boi and Sleepy Brown’s 2017 collaboration “We The Ones” resurfaced today with a remix featuring Big Rube and Killer Mike. Originally appearing on the Organized Noize EP, the song’s been updated with a spoken word intro and outro by Rube, who’s been busy contributing to Spillage Village’s new album Spilligion, and a defiant verse from Killer Mike, who released the album RTJ4 with Run The Jewels partner El-P this summer.

Overall, the track fits with 2020’s ongoing mood of protest, as Sleepy sings, “Stand up to oppression / Stand up to all aggression.” Sadly, it also fit the mood of the Bandcamp compilation album Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, which goes to show that we’ve been dealing with these subjects for far too long.

Killer Mike tried a different route to address those concerns in September when he met Georgia governor Brian Kemp. Although the move drew criticism online, he defended himself, noting: “I’d like to see minority contracts rise from 2% to between 8-10%. I’d like to see a program created, as early as high school, pushes in particular working-class poor men and African-American young men into trades because, over the next 20 years, Georgia’s going to be growing… I’d like to see us prepare our young men to fill those jobs because we need fathers, we need husbands, and we need stability, in particular.”

Listen to Big Boi and Sleepy Brown’s “We The Ones” remix featuring Killer Mike above.

Kanye West often makes waves on Twitter, and he has done so again today. One of his latest posts has resulted in Kanye becoming one of the top trending topics on Twitter in the US on Friday afternoon; As of press time, he was in the No. 2 spot.

The tweet in question features a photo of a presidential ballot with Kanye’s name handwritten as a write-in candidate. Furthermore, it would appear the ballot pictured is a California one, since Kanye is officially listed as a vice presidential candidate to American Independent candidate Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente Guerra, as was reported recently. Kanye captioned the post, “Friends writing me in.”

Twitter’s description of Kanye as a trending topic reads, “Kanye West sparks reactions by sharing a ballot appearing to show him as a write-in presidential candidate.” Indeed, there are plenty of reactions.

One user invoked the theory that Kanye’s candidacy is designed to help Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, writing, “If you vote for Kanye West, you are falling for Donald Trump’s latest scam. Vote for Joe Biden! Who’s with me?” Meanwhile, Maine Senate candidate Lisa Savage offered a potential solution for people’s concerns about Kanye’s impact on the election: “To all the people worrying about how people voting for Kanye West could split the vote: pass #RankedChoiceVoting in your state, and you won’t have to worry about ‘vote-splitting’ or ‘spoilers’ anymore. We did it in Maine, and it works. We can fix this broken voting system.”

Check out some more reactions below.

It’s always a treat when Alan Moore pops up for a rare interview because you know you’re in for a cranky ride as the Watchmen creator hates on the comic book industry that he inadvertently helped revive and transform in the ’80s. As Batman fans know, Moore’s The Killing Joke and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns are the two most definitive stories that moved the character past his campy past and into the dark, brooding vigilante punch-fest that he is today. However, for decades, Moore has famously disavowed his work on The Killing Joke and regrets its impact on the comic industry. In his newest interview with Deadline, he takes it one step further by expressing his disgust that his work inspired Joker.

“I’ve been told the Joker film wouldn’t exist without my Joker story (1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke), but three months after I’d written that I was disowning it, it was far too violent,” Moore said. “It was Batman for christ’s sake, it’s a guy dressed as a bat. Increasingly I think the best version of Batman was Adam West, which didn’t take it at all seriously.”

Of course, this is par for the course for Moore, who has been a vocal critic of the boom in superhero films in recent years, even going so far as to blame them for “infantilizing” the population and paving the way for Trump in the U.S. and Brexit in the U.K. Not to mention, Moore has a long-simmering and justifiable grudge against both Marvel and DC Comics’ treatment of writers and artists, which has prevented him from not watching any superhero films except for Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989.

Oh christ no I don’t watch any of them. All of these characters have been stolen from their original creators, all of them. They have a long line of ghosts standing behind them. In the case of Marvel films, Jack Kirby [the Marvel artist and writer]. I have no interest in superheroes, they were a thing that was invented in the late 1930s for children, and they are perfectly good as children’s entertainment. But if you try to make them for the adult world then I think it becomes kind of grotesque.

Moore’s hatred of Hollywood adaptations of his work is so legendary, that Damon Lindelof was convinced he was cursed by Moore while working on HBO’s Watchmen thanks to feeling “miserable” during the whole production. But if there truly is a curse, it seems contained to Lindelof’s mood and not the series, which scored eleven Emmy wins.

Or maybe that’s just what super wizard Alan Moore wants us to think…

(Via Deadline)

If Conor McGregor is ever going to earn a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov, this may be his best shot. After attempting to skirt around the UFC to the tune of a charity sparring contest, McGregor has accepted a bout with former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier inside the Octagon under one condition: the fight is held in 2020.

Poirier later responded, acknowledging he’s also accepted the fight, leaving only the date to be figured out.

According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC offered the fight for January 23 at UFC 257. McGregor has been adamant at the bout being held in 2020, and Poirier reportedly is open to fighting on November 21 or December 12. With both UFC 255 and 256 having their main event cards reshuffled, the opening is there for a late addition.

While the UFC has funneled in Alex Perez to fight Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255, the UFC 256 card remains without a main event as Kamaru Usman recovers from injuries. Jorge Masvidal versus Colby Covington and a Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou heavyweight title fight are among the bouts in discussion for the UFC 256 main event, per Helwani, but neither is a lock as of now.

McGregor hasn’t fought since he TKO’d Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in January. With no opportunity to make good on his promise to fight three times in 2020, he may have to set for a rematch against Poirier six years in the making.

Rainn Wilson will almost certainly have the name “Dwight Schrute” attached to his career long after any of us are quoting The Office on this mortal plane, but the actor really seems to appreciate that no one expects him to bring beets and Battlestar Galactica to every role he takes.

The actor’s latest role, as a scientist on Amazon’s Utopia, is another very different role from the paper salesman that has served as the biggest gig of his career. And unlike many offbeat character actors, Wilson has been able to expand his catalog of roles considerably in the years since The Office left NBC, both on network TV and in a variety of smaller indie movies.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about Utopia, Wilson was asked about the range of characters he’s been able to play in his career. And he admits that he’s very fortunate not to have been typecast as an office weirdo after his massive success playing just that.

“Yeah, I have been very fortunate. I’ve gotten to play a whole bunch of really cool, awesome roles that are very, very different from Dwight over the last seven years,” Wilson shares. “Whether it was Backstrom, which was my failed show on Fox, or my indie films that no one has seen, I’m very proud of my work as an actor; it’s been great. I’ve been really astounded and happy about that.”

Still, the actor does appreciate the accolades and love he’s seen from Office fans, noting that the “Netflix effect” that’s kept the show at the forefront of pop culture for far longer than anyone anticipated.

The popularity of the show, especially with young people, is ridiculous; I’m talking 10-11 year olds. It’s preposterous. So I don’t know what’s going to happen when it leaves Netflix and goes to another streaming service that people don’t necessarily want to subscribe to, but it’s been an incredible ride. I’m just grateful because I think we made a terrific show that’s got a lot of heart. It also moves people and makes them laugh. It’s been a great balm for people during some really trying times and I hear that all the time. I get messages on my social media — hundreds a day — just like, “Thank you for this show. It’s helped me so much during this time.”

There’s a lot more to the quote Wilson gives about The Office‘s relevance and what it’s done for his career. He even briefly evaluates his feelings about the show’s popularity when it aired, and he makes a pretty good joke about Bones to boot. But just like everyone who has Netflix but not Peacock, Wilson seems to understand the value of appreciating something while also knowing that, eventually, you just have to move on.