Pod Insights Pop Culture Happy Hour Anaconda About this episode The new Anaconda movie is a meta reimagining in which Jack Black and Paul Rudd play aspiring filmmakers who attempt to make… a meta reimagining of Anaconda. It’s not quite a reboot, it’s not quite a sequel, and it’s played for laughs.
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1:31 Stephen Thompson? The original Anaconda movie came out almost 30 years ago. It starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, and some very deadly snakes. The new Anaconda is a lot of fun. It's a meta-reimagining in which Jack Black and Paul Rudd play aspiring filmmakers who attempt to make a meta-reimagining of Anaconda. It's not quite a reboot, it's not quite a sequel, and it is played for laughs. I'm Stephen Thompson. Today, we are talking about Anaconda on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.
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3:22 Stephen Thompson? Joining me today is Jordan Cruciola. She's a writer and producer and the host of the podcast Feeling Seen on Maximum Fun. Hey, Jordan.
3:29 Speaker 04 Hello. Honored to be here on the AnaCon today.
3:32 Stephen Thompson? It's a big one. Also with us is filmmaker, pop culture critic, and iHeartRadio producer, Joelle Monique. Hey, Joelle.
3:38 Speaker 05 Happy holidays, Stephen.
3:40 Stephen Thompson? Happy holidays to you. And rounding out the panel is Jordan Morris. He's a podcaster and the writer of the upcoming Marvel comic series Predator: Bloodshed. Hey, Jordan.
3:49 Speaker 06 Hi, great to be here.
3:50 Stephen Thompson? It is a pleasure to have you. So many Jordans.
3:53 Speaker 06 Jordan Cruciola, you can be Jordan Alpha if you want to, and I'll be Jordan Beta.
3:58 Speaker 04 I'll defer to your preference, so I can be Jordan Alpha for the day. I accept this privilege.
4:02 Stephen Thompson? In rooms with multiple Stephens, I just go by Stephen 1.0. So the original Anaconda, and you kind of have to put "original" in scare quotes, sent an assortment of 90s movie stars down the Amazon, where they were menaced and occasionally crushed and/or devoured by giant deadly snakes. That film was a hit that spawned a handful of lightly-regarded sequels. The new Anaconda is heavy on meta-references to the original film. Jack Black and Paul Rudd star as lifelong friends who grew up wanting to be filmmakers, but they've followed different career paths. Paul Rudd's character is a struggling actor whose biggest role was a bit part on the TV show SWAT, while Jack Black's character makes wedding videos while yearning to shoot something more creative.
4:46 Stephen Thompson? For reasons too convoluted to list here, they wind up gathering their old friends and collaborators, played by Tandie Wayne Newton and Steve Zahn, and head to the Amazon to shoot a reimagining of Anaconda. As you can imagine, this proves harder than it sounds.
5:01 Speaker 07 Put your face right up next to the snake. I don't like this. I don't want to do it anymore. Get up a tiny bit closer. What did you gotta do? No, I don't quite have it. Hold it, just a couple more beats. You got this shot. This is gold. Just give me one more second.
5:14 Stephen Thompson? The new Anaconda is in theaters now. Jordan Cruciola, I'm gonna start with you. What'd you think?
5:19 Speaker 04 I'm gonna start off this by saying, huge fan of original Anaconda. Big movie in my house growing up.
5:24 Speaker 05 Hell, yeah.
5:25 Speaker 04 So I like never go into movies with baggage. Like, that's not my thing. I'm so remake, redux, I'm like, I'm gonna take it on its own terms. It is what it is. I was very nervous about the Jack Black-ification of movies that happens when Jack Black is even standing near them, let alone the star of them. Not that that's a bad thing, but like, the delight of Anaconda is, it's so earnest. It's so taking completely seriously in the performance of Jon Voight, the entire premise. And I didn't need the same movie over again, but I knew in my heart, like, I want Crawl, but with an Anaconda. So I will say, all of that going in, I had a very fun time.
6:09 Speaker 04 The Jack Black quotient worked for me. Honestly, seeing Tandie Wayne Newton have this much fun was like soul healing. Steve Zahn was my MVP. If you bear the same concerns that I do about Anaconda, I think this is a best-case scenario of this kind of Anaconda, and I would encourage you to see it in a theater with friends.
6:29 Stephen Thompson? Okay. Jordan Morris, how about you?
6:32 Speaker 06 Yeah, I also liked this a lot. I will say, like Jordan Alpha, I also have a deep love of the original Anaconda. I saw it in high school with a group of friends and like the friends in this movie, we constantly quote Anaconda to each other. Like, if I ran into them on the street, we would quote Anaconda to each other. So when I saw that part of this premise, I was like, it me, it me.
6:55 Speaker 04 That's some niche representation that one can never expect, but I feel like can only be very pleasantly surprised by.
7:00 Speaker 06 Yes, it was wonderful to finally see myself on screen. And I also really like this director's other movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, the movie where Nick Cage plays himself. That is a kind of kooky premise that shouldn't work, that I thought was a great movie. I liked this like a little bit less, but I ultimately had a really fun time with it. It's trying for a lot of different tones. It sometimes wants to be kind of a more grounded comedy. It sometimes wants to be kind of a crazy Anchorman sketch comedy. It sometimes wants to be horror and there's an action subplot that kind of hangs on like an appendix, but-
7:38 Stephen Thompson? That the movie cares about even less than I do. Yeah.
7:42 Speaker 06 Yes. But I will say, when like the snake hits the fan in this movie, it is so much fun. And I totally agree with the sentiment that like, it's a blast in a theater.
7:51 Stephen Thompson? Yeah. Okay, how about you, Joel?
7:53 Speaker 05 I was eight when the original Anaconda came out. My parents had no thought process as to like, what is appropriate for a child. So I definitely saw that at eight and I loved it. And I became obsessed with it. And it's a great effing movie. Like, it's so fun. I thought this movie had a lot of fun, too. I think, you know, to Jordan Alpha's point, the chemistry between Rudd and Black is so fun. Like, they are twinkling. You know, like, these are movie stars. Like, wow, the jokes are hitting. The clip you played at the top is my favorite part. I once held a snake, once in Chicago, once in Florida. They moved faster in Florida. It was really scary. So I was like, really connected to it. I was like, okay, I too am afraid of snakes, but I'm fascinated by them. I thought,
8:35 Speaker 05 like, most of the comedy hits, you've got a couple of flat parts, but I think Jordan Bata's point of trying to do a lot of different themes and tones throughout really hurts the movie overall, because you don't ever feel- Confident about where it's going. The setup is perfection. Like, they really get friends who are amateur filmmakers gassing themselves up to perfection.
8:59 Speaker 04 Totally.
8:59 Speaker 08 This is a masterpiece. Don't change a word.
9:02 Speaker 05 Not a word.
9:02 Speaker 08 You killed it. Scary, it's emotional, it's funny when it needs to be. Dude, thank you.
9:07 Speaker 05 It's so, your script is genius. I love it. We're gonna go to the Amazon with $40,000 and make a big budget movie. Like, it's so good.
9:15 Speaker 04 Themes, themes.
9:17 Speaker 05 But, you know, once you're in the jungle and they're like getting into the action bits, my god, slows down a lot, the characters kind of fall apart a bit. It's just a little bit under what I was hoping for. I, maybe I'm the stupid one because I had high hopes for this film.
9:30 Speaker 04 I'm glad you did. I'm glad you saw this poster and you were like, banger, better be five bang.
9:36 Speaker 05 When I saw the trailer, I was like, Anaconda, this is the Jumanji remakes? Yes, I want this. And I will say, like, I think I had a lot more fun because I did see it in a theater. If you are a, I'm going to the movies on Christmas. And you're like, okay, Marty Supreme, you look great, but I'm just trying to have a jolly time. It's Christmas and this looks kind of heavy. It's not gonna be a bad pick. You're gonna have a good ass time. Like, go with your buddies.
9:57 Speaker 04 I think you're right. This is a good movie with the family on Christmas pick.
10:00 Speaker 08 Absolutely.
10:01 Speaker 04 That's good curation.
10:02 Stephen Thompson? Yeah. One of my questions going into this movie was how familiar are you going to need to be with the original Anaconda?
10:09 Speaker 05 Not at all.
10:10 Stephen Thompson? Because unlike the Jordans and Joelle, I had never seen Anaconda until about three hours before I went to this screening.
10:20 Speaker 05 Wow.
10:21 Speaker 04 Did you understand this one then? I'm too deep in. Okay.
10:24 Stephen Thompson? I did end up seeing the 1997 Anaconda right before this film.
10:28 Speaker 05 Amazing.
10:28 Stephen Thompson? And that, I think, really enhanced the experience. I think if you are somebody who, like me, saw arachnophobia and filed away, I have seen Anaconda, and then realized shortly before the screening, no, I actually have to catch up on this movie. But I do think the lore of the first film, this is a film for people who love the first Anaconda. Absolutely. And I think that you're gonna appreciate this film a lot more if you have seen Anaconda 1.0. I'm glad.
10:58 Stephen Thompson? Glad that Jordan Morris mentioned The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which was also directed by Tom Gormackin, you know, who does this as well. To me, these are very, very similar films. If you liked that film, you should definitely see this. They're both approaching kind of popcorn film history with deep, deep love and kind of meta appreciation. If you like meta, this is a very, very, very meta film. It's kind of commenting on itself. It's kind of commenting on the industry and IP and the original Anaconda. And for me, I honestly, I just dug it. I agree that it's got subplots that kind of go nowhere. I definitely agree with the point about how tonally it's all over the place.
11:44 Stephen Thompson? It's kind of this shambling, amiable comedy about these friends. But there is a body count. People have to be eaten by snakes. And so that requires kind of putting in place these very superfluous characters and this very superfluous subplot in order to kind of get to a place where people are eaten by snakes. But for me, like, there is a certain kind of mid-budget, mid-tier kind of lightness and playfulness to this film that was such a tonic in the middle of award season. You know, I recommend, see this right after you see Hamnet.
12:22 Speaker 05 Oh, wow. Okay. Yes.
12:26 Stephen Thompson? If you need a palate cleanser.
12:28 Speaker 06 Guys, can I make a suggestion? Can we get this started? Hamakonda?
12:32 Speaker 05 Oh.
12:33 Speaker 06 It's the Barbenheimer of 2025.
12:39 Speaker 04 The counter-programming bonanza of Hamakonda?
12:43 Speaker 06 Right.
12:43 Stephen Thompson? Hamakonda.
12:45 Speaker 06 Jordan Morris. You know, I think we all kind of agree that like the tone stuff doesn't always work.
12:51 Speaker 04 I will be the one to say I loved the action parts of this movie. The snake chases were really fun. And my favorite parts of this movie were when this movie was being an Anaconda movie. So, hey, snake chase fans, there is stuff for you in this, too.
13:05 Speaker 06 There's some legitimate scares. And I think like the ultimate movie in this category. I think for me is Shaun of the Dead, right? Like, I think that's the movie that nails this. I think this doesn't nail it in that way. Well, you know, because Shaun of the Dead, the funny stuff is funny. You care about the characters, the horror stuff works. This isn't quite there, but I think by the end of this movie, or at least in the back half of this movie, the characters get dumber, they get significantly dumber. And I think the movie is better for it. I kind of maybe thought they should have been leaning into kind of that Anchorman, a little more sketchy comedy the whole time. Because I think that's that works a little bit better for it. But I did like, by the end of it, I was, I was whooping it up.
13:48 Speaker 05 Yeah, and see, Jordan, I kept thinking about, Walk Hard is like my gold star comedy movie. And what I love about that movie is as goofy and off the rails and weird as it is, you genuinely care about these characters and like their outcome.
14:02 Speaker 06 Yeah.
14:02 Speaker 05 Obviously, like, it's supposed to be a two-hander between Rudd and Black, but Tandy Way comes in and they try to force this romance between her and Rudd's character, which didn't-
14:12 Stephen Thompson? Tandy Way Newton?
14:12 Speaker 05 Yeah, and it is kind of tosses the story for me a little bit. Like, I didn't understand like why that needed to-
14:19 Speaker 06 Sure.
14:19 Speaker 05 Be, I guess they're like, we have to have a romance? But in addition to like some of the secondary characters, I was like, if we had instead made her not just the love interest, but given her a little bit more character or been more of a person, we could have leaned into that comedy more and had like, I think, an overall like a much better time, really focused on like, these two's friendships. Like, I did also didn't feel like we had enough of a breaking point between the two friends, just for like a good structure act of like, rise and fall. Like, they're always on each other's side. They're just like, just, I wish there was a little bit more personal internal conflict in this comedy so that we cared a little bit more about the characters at the end. I do think the, like, rise and stupidity works with the action. Because the snake, guys, we talked about the snake. The snake design is really- Good.
15:04 Speaker 06 The snake's cool. The snake looks cool.
15:06 Speaker 04 Yeah, guys, that's of utmost importance. If you're talking about an anaconda movie, how's the snake? The snake is great.
15:13 Speaker 05 It's superior snake.
15:14 Speaker 04 And the biggest friggin snake that's ever existed on this face of this earth.
15:17 Speaker 06 The snake's big.
15:17 Speaker 04 Gargantuan snake.
15:19 Speaker 05 And it somehow still feels real.
15:20 Speaker 06 Yeah.
15:21 Speaker 05 You're like, I'm for sure there's not a snake this large ever on the planet, but my God, I feel terrified. So, but and then too, listen, there's a scaling of snakes in here that works really well, too. Like, at first you're like, that's a big snake. And you're like, that's a big snake. It's like a really jump in moment for you. That works really well. And so I don't want to poo poo all the action. I thought like, to have a great looking snake, I had a few jump scares in there, which surprised me. I wasn't really anticipating that the scares would work, but they did.
15:47 Speaker 06 Yeah. If you go back and watch the original, the snake, it's that 90 CGI. It looks like the snake was made by the same company that made the Flying Toaster screensaver.
15:58 Speaker 04 Until you got those great rubber body shots.
16:01 Speaker 06 I think we all agree that like, the four leads of this movie are like, the four of the most charming, fun to watch people working in movies, and they're all great. Yes, special shout out to Steve Zahn.
16:14 Speaker 05 Absolutely.
16:15 Speaker 06 I'm so glad we're like, seeing him more these days. It felt like, you know, when the original came out, he's not in it, but like, this was when Steve Zahn was everywhere. And now, he's like, back again. I think we're kind of in the middle of a little bit of, dare I say, Zahn-son?
16:28 Speaker 05 Oh.
16:28 Speaker 06 The kind of a Zahn-son.
16:29 Stephen Thompson? That one I saw coming.
16:31 Speaker 06 Camacundo was off the dome. I came up with Zahn-son at the theater, so, you know, I teed it up a little bit better. I did wonder, while we were watching the movie, he's giving this like, kind of kooky, stoned weirdo performance. I did wonder, was that supposed to be Owen Wilson at any point? Was it supposed to be him either playing his character or a guy from their friend group who looks exactly like Owen Wilson? Anyway, I'm glad Zahn is there, but his kind of like weirdo performance had me wondering like, oh, was that supposed to be Owen Wilson at some point?
17:04 Speaker 04 I do think the tonal melange is absolutely correct in sort of explaining how this movie feels. I do think it actually helped me in this one, because it was so much not the anaconda that I wanted. It's not just a straight up, we're serious anaconda-ing, which is what I want. The bouncing back and forth between things meant that I wasn't getting annoyed at too much of one shtick that wasn't what I wanted. So actually, the dipping platter that this movie presented, it gave me options to kind of bounce back and forth between things because I would have gotten really frustrated, I think, with more Anchorman bitsiness. To me, it was a feature, not a bug.
17:44 Speaker 04 I'm not saying I'm the average viewer in this one, but the cocktail really sang for me. The gag that you guys do see in the trailer with Jack Black running in a boar taped to him.
17:55 Stephen Thompson? Oh my gosh.
17:56 Speaker 04 I was shocked to be reduced to absolute tears of laughter. I couldn't breathe. At a certain point, I was laughing because I was laughing so hard, and I was like, this? This of all this? But yeah, it really... That's Master that was in charge of the pig. You, sir, you, ma'am, are a true all-star.
18:23 Stephen Thompson? Whoever gave the pig those weird, puppety eyeballs.
18:26 Speaker 04 Oh my god.
18:28 Stephen Thompson? The pig's great. The pig's great.
18:30 Speaker 04 Oh god, bouncing off the top of Jack Black's head, that was comedy gold, gotta say.
18:36 Stephen Thompson? What this movie made me realize about myself, in addition to I didn't know that I could be made to laugh that hard by a pig strapped to somebody's back.
18:44 Speaker 04 Me neither, honestly.
18:45 Stephen Thompson? Is, I think I just love a movie in which weirdos try to make art.
18:52 Speaker 04 Yeah, a thousand percent.
18:53 Stephen Thompson? And this movie has a lot of fun with the idea of like, what are our larger themes? Right? And, you know, and...
18:58 Speaker 04 Intergenerational drama.
18:59 Stephen Thompson? And that was really, really funny, because, I mean, one of the things that I felt watching Anaconda was like, oh man, the real snake is man. You know, it's very much like the vibe of that movie.
19:10 Speaker 04 My friend leaned over and went, "Man-aconda?"
19:15 Stephen Thompson? But to me, there actually is a theme of this movie that I love and found deeply inspiring, which is like, if you have a chance in your life to make art, it doesn't have to be the great American novel. It can be a reboot of Anaconda because you love Anaconda. And I found that stuff really, really inspiring and sweet.
19:39 Speaker 05 Yes. Good actors performing badly is such a hard thing to do. And I thought they aced it because they come at it with such earnestness and like fullness that like what you see, to your point, Stephen, is like friends just having fun. And like that being the joy of crafting the art. And my heart was so full, like I make shorts with my friends all the time. And exactly the same conversations, really like, I'm just nervous about the scene. And like when they're pitching stuff to each other, like around the table, I was like, you could just tell that everybody involved like just loves the process of making movies. And I think my heart really felt full in that, like even, there's a moment at the end where they're getting to present their film. And I thought where they present it is so perfect and lovely.
20:24 Speaker 04 Yes.
20:25 Speaker 05 I was like, this is an excellent choice.
20:27 Speaker 04 I loved that. I'm so glad to hear you both bring that up because like, I don't know if it's just because it's like, we're in a desert and I, my thirst must be slaked or something. But like, when I see things that are like, when I, it's either clear that it's like something so indie and it's like friends just making something together. Or this, which is like a meta thing about friends making, I get emotional. Like I get fully emotional. I'm like, this is what it's all about, you know?
20:51 Stephen Thompson? AI could never, AI could never.
20:53 Speaker 05 Exactly. AI could never.
20:55 Stephen Thompson? AI could never reboot Anaconda.
20:59 Speaker 04 Feels like restorative.
21:01 Stephen Thompson? I agree.
21:01 Speaker 04 And I'm not saying the movie doesn't do like its thing well that it's doing, but it's also like, wow, is this my whole like constant existence state? That like I watch Anaconda and like, you know, filmmakers should keep going. Like it's hard, but they should keep going, man.
21:17 Stephen Thompson? All right. Well, I think it's safe to say we got a kick out of this one.
21:20 Speaker 05 Yeah, a kick.
21:21 Stephen Thompson? We want to know what you think about Anaconda, new and old. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/PCHH and on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/NPRPopCulture. We'll have a link in our episode description. That brings us to the end of our show. Jordan Cruciola, Joelle Monique, Jordan Morris, thanks so much for being here.
21:41 Speaker 05 Thank you, Stephen.
21:42 Stephen Thompson? Yeah, what a blast.
21:42 Speaker 05 Hamnaconda.
21:44 Stephen Thompson? Hamnaconda forever.
21:49 Stephen Thompson? This episode was produced by Carly Rubin, Kayla Latimore, and Mike Katzif, and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reed. Hello, Come In provides our theme music. Thanks for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Stephen Thompson. We will see you all next time.
22:08 Speaker 03 Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors.
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