Trump Posts Bizarre AI Videos as Government Shuts Down | Benny Safdie

Speaker 1 ABC Wednesdays, Shifting Gears is back. It has arisen.
Tim Allen and Kat Dennings return in television's number one new comedy.

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Speaker 1 Shifting Gears, new Wednesdays, 8-7 Central on ABC, and stream on Hulu.

Speaker 8 The family that vacations together stays together. At least, that was the plan.

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This is the Daily Show with your host, Ronnie Smith.

Speaker 6 Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Rai Chang.
We've got so much to talk about tonight.

Speaker 19 The White House is just a meme account now. The Tooth Fairy is so broke, she's on OnlyFans.

Speaker 22 But first, the federal government shut down last night.

Speaker 23 So, if you're wondering why the mailman didn't come by this morning and bang your wife, now you know why.

Speaker 23 Let's get into it.

Speaker 26 Our coverage of Shutdown Showdown 2025

Speaker 6 Locked up, locked down, and closed the business.

Speaker 28 I thought the worst thing that could happen this week was when Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban broke up.

Speaker 4 I mean,

Speaker 28 I know if two hot Australians with the same face can't make it work, then

Speaker 29 what hope is there for the rest of us?

Speaker 25 But then, to make it worse, my favorite federal government also couldn't make it work.

Speaker 31 And the breaking news, as of this morning, the U.S. government is officially shut down.

Speaker 17 The main sticking point is health care. Democrats want to reverse Medicaid cuts and stop enhanced Obamacare subsidies from expiring.

Speaker 33 But top Republicans say they will not negotiate until the government reopens.

Speaker 28 Wait, this is all because of health care? But I thought that hot guy murdering that CEO solved all of this.

Speaker 24 Look, this is the classic dispute between the parties.

Speaker 28 Democrats say that the government should help pay for health care, and Republicans say that's what GoFundMe is for.

Speaker 28 But because the Republicans need Democratic votes to keep the government open, the two parties have to come together.

Speaker 29 So this moment calls for a serious and sober-minded leader like President Trump to

Speaker 23 work with the other side

Speaker 30 to find compromise with dignity and mutual respect.

Speaker 31 The president last night posted her AI-generated video depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and mustache and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking in a fake voice.

Speaker 35 There's no way to sugarcoat it.

Speaker 2 Nobody likes Democrats anymore.

Speaker 35 We have no voters left because of all of our woke trans bullshit.

Speaker 37 What the f ⁇ did I just watch?

Speaker 21 Trump is making fun of a black man for being Mexican?

Speaker 26 It's almost too confusing to be racist.

Speaker 30 It's

Speaker 30 it's like putting a headdress on the Twin Towers. I I mean,

Speaker 22 I don't even know what you're trying to say.

Speaker 30 I don't have the racist math skills to solve this equation. I never thought I'd say this, but Donald Trump, can you be better at racism?

Speaker 30 What's making reality break down even more is that this is the official position of the president of the United States.

Speaker 22 Is it hilarious? Yes.

Speaker 21 Is it professional? No.

Speaker 39 So let's see the mature measured response from the Democrats.

Speaker 41 It's a disgusting video and we're going to continue to make clear bigotry will get you nowhere.

Speaker 28 Finally, some adults in charge.

Speaker 30 You know what?

Speaker 28 I'd like to see Donald Trump make fun of that.

Speaker 42 President Trump posting another AI-generated video.

Speaker 41 It's a disgusting video and we're going to continue to make clear. Bigotry will get you nowhere.

Speaker 41 We are fighting to protect the health care of the American people in the face of an unprecedented Republican assault.

Speaker 30 God damn, this makes even less sense,

Speaker 13 but it's even more funny.

Speaker 30 What is the bit here?

Speaker 30 So Hakeem Jeffries is Mexican now, and so is Trump.

Speaker 30 And they start a mariachi band.

Speaker 21 I mean, maybe this is them coming together. I mean, this is maybe this is

Speaker 13 President Trump's way of outreach to the other side.

Speaker 23 Like, he's trying to signal that they can work out a deal at banned practice. I don't know.
I don't know.

Speaker 28 But yes,

Speaker 28 I hope they do get together soon because as long as this government is shut down, this is going to f ⁇ over a lot of people.

Speaker 33 As many as 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed. Many others will have to report to work but will not get paid.

Speaker 29 That includes TSA officers.

Speaker 28 Wait, TSA TSA officers were getting paid this whole time?

Speaker 28 Then why are they so angry?

Speaker 30 Look, I'm sorry.

Speaker 22 I didn't know Kindles were laptops.

Speaker 23 All right, stop yelling at me.

Speaker 30 And it's not just the TSA.

Speaker 29 This shutdown is also affecting the one thing in America that everyone actually liked.

Speaker 42 Among the big impact of our shutdown are national parks. They will remain partially open, but buildings that require staffing, like visitor centers, well, they will close.

Speaker 35 The last time there was a shutdown human waste had been left outside of the restrooms with no one there to clean anything up.

Speaker 25 Yeah you know what that makes sense.

Speaker 28 You know when the trash can is full and you put your trash next to it to indicate that you at least try to put it in?

Speaker 30 It's like that but with shit.

Speaker 29 This sucks because national parks are like the one thing in America that's not a left-right issue.

Speaker 28 Everyone, regardless of political party, goes there to enjoy the beauty and splendor of being outside staring at your phone.

Speaker 29 For more on the shutdown's impact on national parks, we go live to the Grand Canyon with Josh Johnson.

Speaker 29 Josh.

Speaker 29 Josh.

Speaker 30 Josh, what's the latest?

Speaker 14 It's pretty bad, Ronnie.

Speaker 46 The shutdown got everybody stressed out. Smokey Bear already made it through a whole pack of cigarettes.
He flicked the butts into the forest and everything. He doesn't care anymore.

Speaker 43 Okay.

Speaker 23 Wow, that's horrible. I mean,

Speaker 5 is it true that people are straight up pooping on the ground outside the bathrooms?

Speaker 43 Of course not, Ronnie.

Speaker 21 Have some faith.

Speaker 46 People aren't pooping outside the bathrooms of the Grand Canyon. No, they're pooping directly into the Grand Canyon.

Speaker 5 Wait, wait, how do you even do that?

Speaker 46 Ronnie, are you not potty trained?

Speaker 29 So first you pull your pants down.

Speaker 5 That's actually going to be the most important part.

Speaker 32 Okay, no.

Speaker 21 No, I mean, yes, I am fully potty trained.

Speaker 5 I mean,

Speaker 30 how can someone bring themselves to poop in the Grand Canyon?

Speaker 43 It's just a big hole in the ground. Do they not have holes where you're from?

Speaker 32 I mean,

Speaker 46 when you think about it, a canyon is just nature's toilet.

Speaker 5 And the squirrels are its toilet paper.

Speaker 44 Okay, what?

Speaker 39 Isn't it dangerous?

Speaker 45 For the first few hours it was.

Speaker 46 People would lose their balance and plunge anus first, 6,000 feet to their death.

Speaker 29 But now the poop has reached the top.

Speaker 20 So good news, when you fall, you just land on the poop.

Speaker 39 Okay, are you telling me the Grand Canyon is already full of poop?

Speaker 28 It's been less than a day.

Speaker 46 It started with a couple people who just desperately needed to go, but then someone posted online and it became a kind of viral challenge after that.

Speaker 14 You know how the internet is.

Speaker 20 It's called the fecal furlough challenge.

Speaker 46 Okay.

Speaker 48 Oh my God. Josh, are you eating chili out of the can?

Speaker 5 Don't tell me you're trying to take a dump in the Grand Canyon as well.

Speaker 32 Yeah, ma'am.

Speaker 47 I'm not going to be the only guy who didn't do it.

Speaker 5 You know?

Speaker 49 I don't want people to think I'm weird.

Speaker 32 Oh.

Speaker 46 Oh, it's happening.

Speaker 32 That's bad chili.

Speaker 40 One bite was all it took.

Speaker 32 Oh.

Speaker 47 Oh, shit. Wait, somebody get me a squirrel.

Speaker 19 Okay, cut the cameras.

Speaker 23 Josh Johnson, everybody.

Speaker 19 When we come back, Michael Pasa will tell you how to get rich, so don't go away.

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Speaker 4 if you want honest and rigorous financial news then go eat a dick but if you want to get rich then you want michael costa in another installment of Costa doing business.

Speaker 4 Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo.

Speaker 20 What up, players? This is the Costa doing Business, and I'm Michael Costa. Let's make some fat stacks of stanky cash, okay?

Speaker 20 But first, I know what you're wondering. Hey, Costa, why do you have a stuffed crow on your head? Are you being pursued by a Mongolian crypto tycoons enforcer who uses hawks to hunt down debtors?

Speaker 20 And crows are a natural defense system against predatory raptors. Correct.
My fans know what's up. Yo, but enough about crow.
It's time to talk dough. All right.

Speaker 38 Now look, unemployment is up.

Speaker 26 Inflation is up.

Speaker 20 Bloodthirsty hawks are up in the sky. So that means in this economy, we got to start downsizing, specifically down to the size of a child.

Speaker 6 Hit me.

Speaker 51 If you're an adult who sometimes orders food off the children's menu, take comfort. You're not alone.
A survey finds 44% of grown-ups choose kids' meals to save money and limit their portion sizes.

Speaker 51 The practice makes even more sense when you consider the rising cost of dining out.

Speaker 12 I'm never going to order an adult meal at Culver's ever again. The value you get for the kids' meal is crazy.

Speaker 20 That's right. With food prices on the rise, more adults are eating kids' foods.
So if you see me eating lunchables in my car, just know that's not sad anymore.

Speaker 20 And it's not just the kids' menu. These are all kinds of discounts you can take advantage of pretending you're a child.
Movies, aquariums, even flights if you can convince a mom to sit on her lap.

Speaker 20 Don't forget about education. Why spend 200 grand on college when you can just do what I did and pay 10 grand for preschool? Cha-ching, all right?

Speaker 20 That's the sound of me saving cash and learning all my colors, especially green.

Speaker 20 Shout out to Miss Danielle for taking us to touch a truck day. Sorry I spent the whole time crying.

Speaker 50 Anyways,

Speaker 20 to save in this economy, adults need to keep eating foods for younger and younger kids. Well, Costa smells like cashiatoonity.

Speaker 22 Introducing baby food for adults.

Speaker 20 Get yourself some Kid Costa's yum yum pouches.

Speaker 26 These packets of puree are 100% organic looking.

Speaker 20 And if you, like me, struggle eating solids because a Mongolian enforcer knocked your teeth out, well these yum yum pouches are easy on the gums gums and on the wallet.

Speaker 32 Oh God.

Speaker 22 That is a taste.

Speaker 27 Okay, you know what?

Speaker 20 Well you know what that sound means. It's time to take questions from the money mailbox.
Here we go.

Speaker 26 Belortuya at Mongolian.gov writes, where's my money?

Speaker 23 Oh,

Speaker 20 let's go to a different question.

Speaker 20 Doug writes, hey Costa, I'm sick of my job, but I'm scared to quit.

Speaker 26 What should I do?

Speaker 20 Great question, Dougie Style.

Speaker 23 And it turns out you are not alone.

Speaker 27 I said hit me.

Speaker 53 As the labor market grinds to a slower pace, job hopping has been given way to job hugging.

Speaker 53 That's the term some career experts have coined for employees hanging on to a position for longer than planned.

Speaker 44 Rising unemployment, small wage growth, and overall economic uncertainty are main factors causing people to cling to their jobs.

Speaker 24 Have you hugged your job lately?

Speaker 24 Yes, job hugging.

Speaker 20 Not to be confused confused with hugging on the job, which HR tells you is absolutely not allowed. Even though it's not a sexual thing at all.

Speaker 20 You know, sometimes as a human, you just long to be held,

Speaker 20 to be comforted, to feel the warm embrace of another soul. And

Speaker 20 you're not alone in this world. I mean, why do we have these rules that say just because you're in an office, you shouldn't experience one iota of platonic affection?

Speaker 28 I mean,

Speaker 20 is it so wrong for one of God's creatures to share a hug with

Speaker 20 an intern? And for that,

Speaker 20 and for that, you're told to go to Meredith's office to watch the training video again?

Speaker 20 It's my fourth viewing.

Speaker 23 When are you going to realize I'm not going to get it?

Speaker 43 I'm a hugger.

Speaker 20 Anyways, this is about job hugging, totally different concepts. So if you want to keep your job, you got to be prepared to stay at your desk.

Speaker 52 No leaving ever.

Speaker 36 That's why I'm going long on medical toilet chairs.

Speaker 50 All right, now look.

Speaker 20 Your office mates might ask, is that human shit I smell?

Speaker 53 No.

Speaker 20 It's the stench of job security. Now get out of my office, Meredith.

Speaker 20 Moving on.

Speaker 20 If you want to master the market, you got to know where to look for economic indicators because sometimes they could be staring at you right in the face, specifically the mouth part.

Speaker 52 Hit me.

Speaker 54 The tooth fairy is tightening his budget, not leaving as much under the pillow as he used to.

Speaker 37 Delta Dental's annual original tooth fairy poll finds kids are getting on average just a little over five bucks per tooth.

Speaker 54 The average payoff for a tooth loss has fallen 14% and that is one of the steepest declines since Delta started tracking tooth fairy leavings 27 years ago.

Speaker 20 Damn, you know, losing teeth is how kids stash cash. So let me talk to all the children over here at the Costa Kids Camp.

Speaker 14 Come here.

Speaker 36 Hey, hey, hey there, little slugger.

Speaker 52 I know you're pretty sad that your molars aren't bringing in the moolah like they used to.

Speaker 20 So, Uncle Mike is going to tell you what to do, all right?

Speaker 50 You got to go all in on

Speaker 15 dog teeth, all right? Now listen.

Speaker 49 This is a volume play, kids.

Speaker 20 If the individual price of a tooth goes down, you need to be putting teeth under your pillow three, four, five times a week to make up the difference if you want 9k you got to round up some k9s okay

Speaker 5 and you know what

Speaker 20 and i know what you're saying but uncle m where am i going to get a hand where am i going to get my hands on a jowl full of fido fangs unfortunately that's something for legal purposes you'll have to figure out on your own

Speaker 20 My lawyers informed me that telling children to rifle through a vet clinic's bio-waste dumpster is something I can't do again. Moving on, this next story hits home because it's about Costco.

Speaker 20 And I've been a Costco member from 2004 to 2008. Then again from 2012 to 2014.

Speaker 20 Then 2019 until 2023.

Speaker 19 It's been a tough road. Anyways, hit me!

Speaker 3 Well, this next story gives a whole new meaning to popping bottles.

Speaker 37 Costco is sounding the alarm about spontaneously shattering bottles of Prosecco. They were sold in 12 states across the Midwest and South between April and August.

Speaker 37 They're being recalled, but Costco does not want them back.

Speaker 45 Costco's warned unopened bottles are at risk of shattering, even when left on a shelf.

Speaker 20 Ouch. Looks like grandma's mimosa just became a bloody Mary.

Speaker 52 Ouch!

Speaker 19 But let's be real.

Speaker 20 If you're buying Kirkland Prosecco in bulk from an Ohio Costco, you're lapping that shit up even if it's spilled on your driveway. That's why I'm going all in on tongue bandages, because...

Speaker 20 What are you gonna let ingesting a little broken glass stop you from saving $4?

Speaker 36 Hell no.

Speaker 20 Oh, you know what that sound means? Ha ha ha. Time to put the old crow hat on and call her a day.

Speaker 20 Sure, I may live every waking moment in fear of a murderous bird, but hey, that's just the cost of doing business.

Speaker 50 You know, hey, it's Ashley, right?

Speaker 36 Oh, come here, give me a hug. You go to Hofstra?

Speaker 32 Come on, come here. Come on.

Speaker 20 Thank you, Michael.

Speaker 19 When we come back, Benny Staff, you'll be joining me on the show, so don't go away.

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Speaker 16 Welcome back to The Daily Show.

Speaker 23 My guest tonight is a critically acclaimed writer and director whose new film is called The Smashing Machine. Please welcome the one and only Betty Safde.

Speaker 23 New York zone.

Speaker 15 Shaming ovation, Ben Safdi. That is awesome.

Speaker 3 Thank you.

Speaker 3 Wow.

Speaker 13 Yeah, that's how I feel every day.

Speaker 23 No, that was amazing. You saw that clip.

Speaker 22 Yes.

Speaker 26 And it was, people were so in it,

Speaker 26 they felt the pain of the punch.

Speaker 21 Yes.

Speaker 26 And the crowd went, ow.

Speaker 13 Yes.

Speaker 26 And for a second, we all forgot we were watching a movie.

Speaker 14 That's amazing. Well, that's what I wanted it to, I wanted you to be there.
That was the goal, you know, with this movie, is put you in the best seat in the house, which is ringside. Sure.

Speaker 14 You know, but it's interesting, if you look at it, you weren't in the ring in that. No.

Speaker 14 Because I very specifically wanted to be outside looking in because if I was actually there filming it, you would see a camera person if you went into the ring. So I,

Speaker 14 which makes sense.

Speaker 3 Right.

Speaker 28 Which is also how every other fight movie would do it.

Speaker 14 Would do it.

Speaker 28 Exactly.

Speaker 14 And so I was like, can I make it so that you're in there without being inside? And then I use the ropes, I use everything to kind of hide some tricks so that when that punch happens, you feel it.

Speaker 34 Right.

Speaker 15 And they definitely feel it. I know.

Speaker 14 I was excited to hear that reaction.

Speaker 15 Yeah.

Speaker 55 And you also show a lot of long lens. You shoot,

Speaker 34 like, can you,

Speaker 34 what was your kind of process for mapping out how to shoot this story?

Speaker 14 So essentially, I would approach each scene and be like, okay, what if we were here? How would we film this?

Speaker 14 And with Maseo Bishop, the cinematographer, we would game plan and figure out how the best shots we could get, different angles and all that.

Speaker 14 And basically, with the long lens, you know, I felt like you can kind of pull an audience in with that, which kind of seems counterproductive, but something about being attached to the character, if you can get close to them, then you kind of want to lean in and get around the ropes and see around things.

Speaker 36 Well,

Speaker 28 I mean, to my naive, it seems a little counterintuitive because you figure if you want to get close to the character, you just

Speaker 34 get close.

Speaker 28 But then you're shooting it as though we, you're a camera person covering the actual event.

Speaker 14 Yes, so it situates you in a perfect POV. Like, okay, this is, I know somebody's there.
Sure. And they're filming it.
So now you're in their head looking at it.

Speaker 14 And that kind of process puts you in a special place. place when you watch it.

Speaker 23 Well, this is why this you are you because I wouldn't have thought of doing that and it freaking worked because I watched the whole film and it's great.

Speaker 40 That's amazing.

Speaker 34 And the other thing about this film, obviously you got to talk about The Rock.

Speaker 28 Oh my God. And he comes in and

Speaker 24 he embodies this character so much because for me, The Rock is such a familiar figure in pop culture.

Speaker 28 Especially when you get him in wrestling underwear.

Speaker 14 Of course.

Speaker 4 No, it's true.

Speaker 48 The way he moves as The Rock, we all in our head, we all know, we've seen it so many times.

Speaker 28 And in fact, just by his gait, you can recognize him.

Speaker 26 In this movie, he changed his gait.

Speaker 14 He changed how he walked. Something that was really difficult was, if you look at pictures of Mark Kerr back in the day, he was a big guy.

Speaker 14 Dwayne's a big guy. But Mark was a little bit bigger.
And so I had to say that.

Speaker 13 Is that even possible?

Speaker 20 I know.

Speaker 14 And so I'm thinking, I'm like, how do I bring this up?

Speaker 32 you know, to Dwayne.

Speaker 48 Just say you're not big enough.

Speaker 14 And so I just said, you know what?

Speaker 15 Exactly.

Speaker 14 I said, you you know what? I said, so I said, Dwayne, I said, as we get closer, maybe you could get a little, how do I say it?

Speaker 36 And I was like, puffier.

Speaker 14 You know, like, bigger.

Speaker 36 Sure.

Speaker 6 And he's like, oh, okay. He goes,

Speaker 14 give me 24 hours to like process that. And then he's like, I know exactly what you mean.
And then he put on like 30, 40 pounds of muscle to like, and it, because it's not normal muscle.

Speaker 14 His shoulders are huge. His legs are big, but his waist is tight because he's like a wrestler.
Yeah. You know, but like a freestyle wrestler, not like

Speaker 14 the performative wrestling, which is what he would do.

Speaker 23 Oh, but he actually changed the way he bulked up for it.

Speaker 15 Exactly.

Speaker 14 So he had to literally like, you're picking people up and throwing them down.

Speaker 14 Interesting thing, I said to the real marker, I wanted him to take me down so that he knew what it felt like. And he's like, I'm not going to do that.

Speaker 48 Because you would snap in half.

Speaker 4 Yes, I would get destroyed.

Speaker 14 But the stunt coordinator, Greg Rementor, was like, I'll do it. And so

Speaker 48 literally,

Speaker 28 and now that guy's dead.

Speaker 43 Yes, exactly.

Speaker 4 But he did it.

Speaker 14 And it's a really remarkable thing. You're standing there, and then a half a second later, you're like, okay, here I go, and you're just down.
Sure. There's nothing you could do.
Right.

Speaker 36 Because the fights were physical.

Speaker 14 And that was another thing. It's like, I wanted to know what that felt like.
Because I'm going to be asking these guys to get in there and do that. You know, there's a level of physicality.

Speaker 14 Sometimes they're not getting punched in the face. But I did get punched at the very, towards the end of the movie.
He really got punched because I was like, I don't want to cut away.

Speaker 15 And that's another hard conversation to have.

Speaker 23 That I need you to get punched in the face for this thing.

Speaker 39 Yes. But I mean, he committed so hard.

Speaker 28 I'm sure that wasn't a...

Speaker 14 He knew he had to. That's what he actually brought up to me.
The hard part was reminding him that he said that early on.

Speaker 32 Right.

Speaker 28 And did you have, were you working with him in the characterization for him to embody it?

Speaker 36 For sure.

Speaker 39 Or was he off on his own and then he come back and says?

Speaker 14 As I was writing it, I was talking to Dwayne the whole time. And I was also talking to Mark, too.
Right. Because I felt, if I'm going to tell this story, I got to get to know Mark.

Speaker 14 And Dwayne and I at that point had gotten very close.

Speaker 14 And it really was just like there was this shared experience, you know, which is strange because we have very different, you know, upbringings, but there was something that I really felt connected to with both him and Mark.

Speaker 14 And I could sense that we all felt the same thing.

Speaker 14 And so I was like, okay, there's something to explore here. You know, there's a shared human experience that I could get into.

Speaker 44 You want me asking, what was that thing?

Speaker 15 It's okay.

Speaker 55 What do you have in common with the rock? Okay.

Speaker 3 So, yes.

Speaker 14 It's the fact, and it's actually a little sad.

Speaker 14 So I know what it feels like to have a kind of deep pain inside of you and have to go out in front of everybody and act like it's not there.

Speaker 14 But it's always there. And it's something that you know is there.
But for the benefit of other people, you're like, and it's also, you're not going to let yourself be defined by that.

Speaker 14 And that's something that I think Mark Kerr felt, and I felt Dwayne had a relationship to to that as well. And it was something that like, okay, this is something that I want to explore.

Speaker 14 I want to feel what he feels like. And so that's why with the movie, I felt

Speaker 14 let me give you what the life was like. And I'm going to give it to you in all of its realness.

Speaker 14 And then hopefully you can take the clues from the stuff that happens in his life, Mark's life. and then come to a realization at the end of the movie about life.

Speaker 14 You know, that like maybe things can be really bad, but you'll be okay. You know, like life, we're alive and isn't that great? Sure.
You know?

Speaker 28 And I mean, that's what's interesting about this film, what you just said, is that to me, I mean, on the surface, it looks even the title, The Smashing Machine, you figure it's going to be a fight movie.

Speaker 44 Yeah.

Speaker 34 And it's more like a character movie with...

Speaker 44 that happens to be about this guy who fights.

Speaker 15 Yeah, because like I had,

Speaker 14 I had done a lot of boxing. I was going to play a boxer in something.
And so I said, well, I got to learn how to do that.

Speaker 14 And so I got into a boxing gym, did sparring, got my ass kicked, and I loved it. So I was, thank you very much.
And somebody's like, you want to do it again?

Speaker 3 I'm like, yes.

Speaker 14 And there's really no explanation to that. I don't know what it is.
Something about it makes you feel alive.

Speaker 14 The bad part is forgetting words. But that's...

Speaker 15 That's...

Speaker 55 Yeah, brain damage is the downside. Yeah, brain damage is the downside.

Speaker 14 But the, I don't even know where I went.

Speaker 4 So, let's see, I there,

Speaker 14 whatever that was.

Speaker 14 But basically what I realized is I got close to some of these fighters and I would go and see them fight.

Speaker 14 And what made it so exciting to me was win or lose, I was connected to the person inside the ring.

Speaker 14 So that's what the movie I try to do is I try to put you in a place of deep connection with Mark so that when he gets in the ring, you feel the butterflies or you feel the weight of everything he has outside of it.

Speaker 14 So you understand this is what it's like to be a fighter. I wanted it to be very truthful in that one.

Speaker 15 Sure.

Speaker 34 I mean, it is truthful and it is super engaging.

Speaker 2 I mean, I would say almost in a surprising way.

Speaker 39 But what's also cool is that you actually,

Speaker 2 aesthetically, the movie looks cool.

Speaker 28 And as someone who, I mean, just not to cast aspersions here, but like, I think the MMA world is sometimes kind of tacky looking.

Speaker 34 Yeah.

Speaker 2 You know, like, it gets a little,

Speaker 28 these guys aren't known for their aesthetics a lot.

Speaker 15 Well, that's, but

Speaker 14 the thing is, is Mark was very aware of how he wanted to present himself. Sure.
You know, he got a really expensive suit for his press conference.

Speaker 14 He wears this sick Nautica yellow sweat. Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 14 No, he was street web.

Speaker 5 I'm saying how you shot this. Oh, yes, okay.

Speaker 29 Versus how, like, let's say a certain

Speaker 39 MMA company. I know exactly what you mean.
If they want to make this movie, it would be very different.

Speaker 29 It would be very different, and some would say shitty.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 14 And to that point,

Speaker 14 so I chose 16 millimeter to

Speaker 14 shoot this on because aesthetically it has a feeling.

Speaker 14 everybody remembers what 2000 feels like it's a very close time period but it's actually a long time ago so what i wanted to do is i wanted to evoke what that feels like and how do you do that and i i it's with sound it's with music the songs that are playing on the radio but it's the way it looks yes there's something about the way it looks that i just thought felt right and i wanted it to look really nice i wanted it to be lit well i wanted i we looked at all these photographs like gary winner grand photographs like it was a very aesthetic thing So I'm happy you saw that.

Speaker 14 And a lot of old documentaries that were made on 16mm, I think just deep down what that does is you watch something that isn't shot on DV or digital and you think, how did they do that?

Speaker 14 Because they're walking around with a film camera that you know only has a certain amount of time in it, and yet they're there and they're editing it and you think there's something else happening here.

Speaker 14 So we took that and we shot it on 16 millimeter, did a bunch of stuff to it to make it look the way it does, to get rid of some grain that we wanted to get rid of because I want to see.

Speaker 15 That's You just put a little bit of stuff.

Speaker 4 Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 14 Just throw that through and then just like print it out.

Speaker 14 And then we so and then, but I wanted the beginning of the movie starts out like a big YouTube video. Yes.
So we shot it on the cameras that they shot those files.

Speaker 14 So then we go from there, so you're watching it on YouTube and then it hard cuts to 16 millimeter where it's clear but evocative of this kind of dreamscape.

Speaker 14 And then we also use 65 millimeter for a section of the movie as well. So you go through this journey of resolution, which sounds really exciting.

Speaker 32 Yeah, it is.

Speaker 4 It looks great.

Speaker 28 And the way you talk about film is so exciting. And I don't know if you have any kind of like, like, um, perspective on this idea that

Speaker 2 kind of American cinema is kind of in a downslope in terms of quality and storytelling and whatever.

Speaker 34 Like, do you agree with that?

Speaker 24 Is that just, oh, so you do agree?

Speaker 43 I don't know.

Speaker 3 I don't know.

Speaker 28 Because sometimes we have like nostalgia bias.

Speaker 13 Oh, yes, that's true.

Speaker 28 We tend to think that it was always better back then.

Speaker 55 For sure.

Speaker 28 And I got to ask a few people from that school of filmmaking, was it better back then?

Speaker 28 And they said they didn't really feel that way.

Speaker 14 I think it's harder because now it's like there's so much out there and there's so much stuff to watch that it gets overwhelming.

Speaker 14 And so what do you do to break through in that? And then you bring in AI and all this stuff and it gets even more complicated. So to me, it's just about humanity.

Speaker 14 You have to focus on emotions and human beings because we're here.

Speaker 36 You know, like this is like what's important.

Speaker 34 This is actually AI, right?

Speaker 15 This is it.

Speaker 14 Okay, I didn't know.

Speaker 14 You can always tell.

Speaker 14 But I just think that that's the thing is like focusing on stories that you can kind of get into.

Speaker 14 And for this, I really wanted it to be like, really get into the emotional vibe of the whole thing and feel these fights and really just kind of like take it to another level.

Speaker 14 And that's what movies do, but I wanted to just really make it feel like it was really happening, even though everything is telling you it's not.

Speaker 15 Right.

Speaker 28 Well, hey, I mean, you definitely succeeded in doing that.

Speaker 28 Yeah, you make it sound so easy, but you know, it's about telling stories, but everyone tries to do that, and very few people can accomplish it. And you did with this film.
Thanks for making it.

Speaker 39 Thanks for putting out into it.

Speaker 48 And thanks for coming on the show.

Speaker 19 The Smashing Machine will be in theaters nationwide, October 3rd.

Speaker 29 It's many sabs, everybody.

Speaker 19 We're going to throw it to a great, we'll be right back after this.

Speaker 38 I could come

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Speaker 28 Hey, that's our show for tonight.

Speaker 2 Now here it is, your moment of Zen.

Speaker 57 My favorite animal everybody thinks is a chimpanzee, but it's not true.

Speaker 57 Chimpanzees are so like people that, you know, some chimpanzees are really not nice at all, just like some people are really not nice. My favorite animal altogether is a dog.

Speaker 57 because dogs have taught me so much and dogs are so faithful and dogs give unconditional love and I don't like to think of a world without dogs.

Speaker 58 Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 58 Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus.

Speaker 18 This has been a Comedy Central podcast.

Speaker 4 On October 17th, I'm an angel. See the wings?

Speaker 59 Don't miss the new comedy, Good Fortune, starring Seth Rogan, Aziz Aziz Ansari, and Kiana Reeves. Critics Rave.

Speaker 4 He's having sent.

Speaker 47 Didn't you have a budget, Guardian Angel?

Speaker 32 Kinda.

Speaker 6 You were very unhelpful.

Speaker 59 Good Fortune, directed by Aziz Ansari. Red at R.

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