Speed Racer with Will Abeles

Movie Wars

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🎙️ Speed Racer: The Cult Classic That Was Too Ahead of Its Time (ft. Will Abeles)

Start your engines—because this episode is pure candy-colored chaos. Touring comedian Will Abeles joins us as Seth defends one of the most misunderstood movies of the 2000s: Speed Racer. That’s right—Seth’s calling it his third favorite movie of all time, and he’s ready to die on that rainbow-striped hill.

We dig into the Wachowskis’ wildly ambitious adaptation, from its unapologetically cartoony VFX (2,000+ shots!) to the way it wears its anime roots on its sleeve. This episode covers everything: John Goodman going full WWE dad, the monkey that tried to maul Christina Ricci, and why modern anime adaptations—especially Netflix’s—keep failing in comparison.

And yeah… we also talk about lost boobs, dad arrests, and why John Goodman might secretly be one of the greatest actors of our time.

📝 Show Notes:

00:00 – Will Abeles returns: from Collateral to Chim Chim

04:30 – Seth makes the case: Speed Racer is a top 3 movie

07:50 – Why the Wachowskis were way ahead of their time

12:10 – How the film nails the anime-to-live-action formula

15:20 – The monkey that terrorized Christina Ricci on set

18:00 – The 2,000+ VFX shots and real-time editing chaos

21:30 – John Goodman, ninja-tossing, and unexpected emotional range

25:10 – Roger Allam’s villain Royalton: the capitalist king we hate to love

27:00 – Why Netflix anime reboots fail where Speed Racer succeeded

30:00 – Musical rants, dad horror stories & Arkansas drug busts

💥 Key Takeaways:

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• Seth argues that Speed Racer is a visionary masterpiece that critics and audiences just weren’t ready for in 2008.
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• The Wachowskis committed hard to an anime-faithful style—vivid colors, cartoony edits, and surreal VFX—with zero compromise.
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• Behind the scenes, the cast got physically wrecked: vomit, bruises, and a monkey nearly detaching Ricci’s chest.
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• John Goodman’s performance blends cartoon absurdity with heartfelt family drama—and somehow, it works.
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• Netflix’s adaptation pipeline could learn a thing or two from Speed Racer’s focused, fan-driven execution.
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• The film holds emotional weight beneath the spectacle, exploring family, competition, and identity in ways few adaptations even attempt.
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