Final Four Picks & Ryan Gosling on Project Hail Mary, Diva Puppets & Being a Liability at DB | Ep 183
49m 56s
The episode of New Heights blends entertainment, sports, and celebrity culture, centering on March Madness bracket challenges and a lively discussion about the Oscars. Hosts Travis and Jason highlight their team-driven mindset, referencing a collaborative bracket pick that includes Michigan State, Duke, Houston, and Arizona, while acknowledging the importance of geographic balance. They celebrate Conan O'Brien's Oscar hosting win, noting its humor and cultural impact, and share excitement about discovering underappreciated films. The show then shifts to a special guest appearance with Ryan Gosling, who discusses his acclaimed film *Project Hail Mary*, praising its heart, scientific plausibility, and emotional resonance. The conversation touches on his early life, a memorable Hollywood moment involving a surprise encounter with Sylvester Stallone, and his roots in music through his uncle’s Elvis impersonations. The hosts also humorously reference a fictional "liability" at the corner of the court, which Ryan reclaims as a heartfelt tribute to their bond. The episode concludes with a fun call to action for fans to participate in the bracket challenge, pre-order the book *No Dumb Questions*, and enjoy Reese’s rewards for sharing a busted bracket. Throughout, the tone remains lighthearted, engaging, and full of personal anecdotes, reinforcing the show’s core values of connection, humor, and shared experience.
the fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corner of the sale. [ Laughter ] It's like, he's a lot to me, honestly. They're like legitimizes that. We're all about team playing. -Yeah, we're team playing. -That was a team move. -Thank you. -You and Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out when the team would get better. [ Laughter ] [ Music ] -Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages. A wonder show brought to you by Reese's. And today, we've partnered exclusively with Reese's to bring you this episode with limited interruptions. That's where I set out the Reese's. You guys can get us without as many ads. All right. We're your host, I'm Travis Kuzas. This is my big brother, Jason Kelsey. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. And follow the show and also some media. I had New Heights show with 1S. This is a part of the beginning where Jason now tells you what we have for them. Well, now that you've research, we've got another great episode. As always, we're going to get into March Madness coming up here. Who doesn't love a little bit of Bracketology? We also have Ryan Gosling here. -What? -Let's get right into it with a little bit of that new news. -New news. -Shut up to the friend of the show, Conan O'Brien, he absolutely crushed the Oscars. Hopefully, all of you out there listening, watched it, did not disappoint. It didn't disappoint by Disney saying after the Oscars, "Hey, you can do this. You have a free invite to host the Oscars." -For it. -And a perpetuity of ABC, pretty much having the Oscars. -Nice. -He's pretty much proven. He is the best Oscars host of all time. -All time, everyone. -Yeah. Did you have any Oscar underdogs that won? Hot takes from it? Anything that you took away from it? No, I just love how Conan and the team brought a full circle there at the end. And Conan went into a room, like Sean Penn did in one battle after another, and they offered him. I thought of those fucking absolutely hilarious. Bravo to the entire Oscar nominees. That was a fun one to kind of be a part of. And we'll be a part of the meeting. I was like sitting there watching it. -Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I did what I always do. I mean, first of all, I love the show and the spectacle of the Oscars. And what Conan did is a host. But then I also learned about a bunch of films that I kind of didn't really know about or hadn't seen yet. And then you get to go watch these amazing films that you just are for whatever reason weren't plugged into at the time. Now, we were plugged into a lot of the big time feature films. -It's pretty cool to kind of be a part of some of these. -There was like a short film that was up for, I think at one, the best animated short film. The Girl the Cry's Pearls is awesome. Awesome little like puppet movie. I shouldn't say it like that. It kind of like sounds like it was shitty. It's awesome little puppet movie. It was like incredibly artistic and just so well done. So I'm going to keep catching up on all these movies that I haven't seen. And then again, Conan. He just like, he'll say the dumbest thing. And I just think it's the funniest thing on the planet. We're also dropping in out of the house for my time at TGL next Monday the 23rd. -Nice. -They let us get on the simulator. So we had a little competition. We'll see how that goes. -Oh, it's such bullshit. I'm calling bullshit right now. -I mean, listen, it happened. That's all I know. -Yeah, yeah, you did. -Fuck it. I blame all you guys. Nobody fucking said we were doing a new heights one. I'm blaming Brandon. I'm blaming everybody. -We discussed the Travis. It was an email. You didn't get the email? -I'm the email. -You didn't open the new heights email? -No, I'm not a big email guy. You know that. I haven't checked that in years. -Well, it is the first time I've ever been competitive with my brother in golf. -No, I wasn't competitive. -We're not going to try and ruin what happened in the episode. You guys are going to want to tune in. It is fun. -Let's see if anyone can guess how many beers I actually had before I just-- I wouldn't have competition. But yeah, make sure you subscribe on the YouTube channel so you don't miss that. And our book is finally coming out. No dumb questions drops June 2nd. -92% as you get pre-order from anywhere now and get an exclusive sticker pack. Oh, it doesn't love stickers, man. -Come on, pre-order a copy of No dumb questions from any retailer. And you'll score this awesome sticker pack, Jason. You want to hold that up because I do not have it. -I do not have the sticker pack. -There it is, Brandon. -Right on time. -I do have the sticker pack. It's definitely a check my mail. -Sticker, the sticker pack is up there. -Scillous it. -Big thing about the Kelsey's, whether it's email or Gmail or regular mail, we're not checking it. -Toss it to contact you. -It's pretty much text message at the right time. -And those are always good. -It's a miracle this show happens ever. -Dope sticker pack, no. Love the neon. Very St. Patrick's Day friendly, by the way, which it is, of course, today. -Oh, happy St. Patrick's Day. You're going to have some Bruce Lausky's, some Guinness's. You're going to have some? -I feel like I have to. I mean, listen, it's not like I used to do with the Aaron Express here in Philadelphia or drinking a bottle of Jamison at practice when we were in college. I have moved on to a different phase. But yeah, I'm going to probably try and have a Guinness at some point today. -I see you rocking your green already. -Maybe a garage line, a green beer. -I should have worn my green today. -The day is an overdraft. -Saint Patty's Day is just celebrating the Irish culture, right? -Technically, it's celebrating St. Patrick, the patron saint who eradicated snakes from Ireland among other things, of which I'm not entirely sure. Should we do, like, a little brief St. Patrick's Day, like Wikipedia? -No, probably not. You can pre-order now at KelseyClubHouse.com. Shout out to the clubhouse or wherever you get your books. Wherever you buy books, you can go pre-order it there. We'll put instructions to claim your stickers in the episode description below, all right? And that does it for a new news. And before he gets our incredible guest, March Madness starts this week. And we're running back. -It does. -The New Heights Times Reese's Bracket Challenge. Brackets came out Sunday, so it's time for some picks. Are we ready to reveal our final fours? -Come on, Travis. Let's go. Who's in it? -Right now. No, don't even look. Don't even look. Don't look. No research. -Don't look. All right. -Top four teams off the dome. -Haven't watched or heard a single thing about college basketball this year. -This is so much better than any other way to do this. This is so great. Where are you going? Where are you going? -I'm going to go with obvious well-known teams. -All right. -If everybody knows are going to be within those top four, some of these guys that I used to be able to go to, just they're not there anyway. I'm going to go Michigan State. I always like coaches going to go Michigan State. -Pretty sure they're in it. They should be in it. -Okay. -I am wearing green though that might have played a factor into it. I will go. -I'm going to go. -I'm going to go. -I'm going to go Duke. I'm going to go Duke. I know they lost Cooper Flag last year, but I mean, they're kind of always good. I'll go Duke. -I'm going to lose their brothers. -I like the Houston Coach. I like the way they usually play hard. Have no idea if they're any good this year, but I'm going to go Houston. -Okay. They're in it. -I'm going strictly with like coaches that I know are dogs. -All right. -And I'm trying to think of like one other. It's the only reason I went Iso and the guy from Breaking Bad down there in Houston. -You're missing one other conference. One other top tier conference. -I'm not going by conferences. I'm going by coaches. -I'm just letting you know where you're at right now. -Rick Patino is who I want to go with. -I don't even know the name of the school that he's at, but I know that they play fucking hard. So I'm in. Notice that's my final four. -That was fun. -The only issue with your final four is that Michigan State and Duke, I believe meet in the Elite Eight. -Okay. So I need somebody else in a different side of the bracket. -Yeah. -What are my rankings of the teams that I just picked? -You got a Duke's a one, Michigan State's a three, Houston's a two. And St. Joe's, St. John's I'm trying to find. St. John, sorry. -St. John's is also in the East. So three of your picks are in the same region. -Oh, yeah, you're right. So there's St. John. -Miner detail, minor detail. There are five. -Yeah. -St. John's of five. -Yeah. -They played in the 16th. -Oh, I'm gonna put Duke. Well, I got to see the bracket, guys. I haven't looked at this. This is our bracket. This is going very smoothly. There are five. So that means they're in the south side of the bracket. -Yeah. -Wait. And what's Michigan State? Michigan State's a two. - Michigan State's a three. I pulled it up. -Three? Yeah. -So you need somebody out of the West and the Midwest. -What? No, he needs the East South and West in the Midwest. -No, he's got he- -Oh, no. Yeah, yeah. He used to be my bad. -We're tracking. We're tracking. -All right. Who are you feeling? Who are you feeling out of the West? -Okay, Arizona. I mean, come on. Throw a dart. -Haven. I know. I'm looking right there, brother. -I'm not picking Texas. -Come on. -I can't see it. -I can't see for you. But that's all right. -I can't say Purdue. I mean, I love the fact that there are two seed. I just- -Every year, though. Right? -Every year. -Right. I know. -Let's just- let's go up. I'm tempted to go with the fives. I just always love picking Wisconsin in the brackets. I don't know why. -I mean, I'm going to go Arizona. I'm not a- nobody else is really standing out. I'm going Arizona. -Put Arizona in that final four. -By the way, I've watched none of these together.
team spot. Keep going out to anybody from winning their bracket challenge. High point back in it, baby, let's go high point. Okay, now we need somebody out of the Midwest. What's up? Have her pick. What's up? Do you want to pick a team? Huh? Do you want to pick a bracket for, for dad? Yeah. All right. Okay. Who do you think would win in a fight? This is our dad. Do you think I Wolverine or a, I don't even know what Howard's mascot is. What's Howard's mascot? Is it a blue devil? What is it? Bison a bison or a Wolverine would win in a fight. Bison. Okay. Bison's a bigger. It's going to be a loser, but we're going to pick it. It's good choice, Curly. All righty. Do we think a bulldog or a, a, a, a, a man of the cloth would win in a fight? Yeah. You're right. Bulldog. Good. We'll go Georgia. All righty. Do we think that a cowboy or a bunny would win in a fight? What? What do you need some? That's Kangaroo's, right? The Rose. Okay. Okay. She needs, she needs help immediately. Okay. I, I don't know that I can do that. Well, just, let's just throw a dart at the board here. All right. I have to go, I have to go assist. We're having some issues here. Sure. I know. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm going to say I would say, uh, uh, yeah, at this point, yeah, we get finishes later. We're not going anywhere. Okay. We're going to take a small intermission. We're going to put an ad right here. All righty. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Reese's Reese's Reese's Reese's has put a whole new spin on March madness this year. Bracket busted, they aren't just happening. They're happening for a Reese's nice finding out your bracket is busted. After round one could actually score you some free Reese's. How about that? It's not all terrible or it even a chance to enjoy those Reese's at the men's or women's final four and championship games. Wait, what is it too late to tank my bracket completely and just get as many fucking free Reese's as I could possibly take? We're always waiting for our brackets to go sideways. But now it feels like a win because it could score us more Reese's instead of wondering why me it's like why not for a Reese's turn your busted bracket in for a shot at Reese's and more post your busted bracket. Follow and tag at Reese's R E E S E S on Instagram X or TikTok and use hashtag for a Reese's sweeps and you have a chance to score free Reese's and a shot to enjoy those Reese's at a men's or women's final four and championship games. Wow. No purchase necessary void. Where prohibited open to US residents 18 or older giveaway ends March 27th, 2026. See the link in the episode description for official rules. Not gonna lie. Eating a Reese's at a final four game sounds. I don't know if there's anything that sounds better than that. Sounds fucking awesome. Alrighty. So so far I've picked three teams in one side of the bracket. Unfortunately, so I have to pick. So I have Houston though of we've reassessed. Now it's Houston Arizona. I have what's good on Duke or Michigan State. No, no, I want Houston, right? They're in the South. Oh, so Houston was already in its own. Houston is good. Houston was your correct final four pick. Yeah. Duke or Michigan state. I just I never, I know I should pick Duke, but I never picked Duke because I kind of like feels wrong. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know what like I like coach K and everything that they've done. But I know thick against it. It's just so a little bit too much like just a little too preppy. Michigan state. Yeah. Okay. All right. You have Arizona for sure. Knowing nothing, knowing nothing air zone up for sure. And then one more out of the Midwest. Some landmines in this one though. I should not have gotten rid of Michigan right from the get go. Why it really fucked me up? I pick and play the child playing the child playing the child. I like it though. I like it. It's aggressive. By the way, what is the mascot for Akron? It's a zip. I know that. But is that it funny? It's kangaroo kangaroo. That's what it was. Fuck knew it was something. All right. Keep going down. I guess I'll go Iowa state. Yeah. Nice toughness there in the middle of the country. Here we go. All right. There's we'll find a four. Perfect. Travis, we got. I guess I'll go Duke Arizona. Alabama. That was the CG team that I liked. I liked Alabama. There's the ones sneaking through. Okay. Yeah. And then I'm going. Gosh. I mean, it's just going to be. It's going to be Florida. Illinois. I'll go Illinois. Okay. Illinois sneaking through. Make it interesting. Well, there you have it. There's our final fours. Travis. Should there be a punishment for the new Heights member that finishes last? Last. Anybody in the stat? I kind of liked this punishment for the last place. What do you like? If we are doing this, I'm definitely not picking Howard to be. I like this idea. What is a sufficient last place bet? Hot sauce? All right. I could do hot sauce. Magdog 357 like platinum or something like that. It's like six million schoolville units used to take like a toothpick of that and dip it on your tongue. It'll get you. Yeah. Well, um, I once did the pocket one chip challenge. That wasn't fun. I would say, I would say, yeah, whoever, whoever comes in dead last has to eat a whole wing dipped in that hot sauce. I don't know that we want to go there. I was just going to do a toothpick on the tongue. You want a whole wing like, I don't do that. I don't want to do it. No. But this is, that's what happens when you come in last. I mean, are we all game for this? I also own a hot sauce company called Hay sauce. I don't know. I should be promoting another. Well, it's still a hot sauce company. It's not, it's still Hay sauce. Well, but that's going to be enjoyable. It's not a punishment. You need to have something that punishes you. It needs to be too hot. Like that's not what Hay sauce is. That's what mad dog 357 will freaking. I mean, it's designed to basically, you put a drop of that in chili and it's going to like explode it. Well, I'm not eating chili. So yeah, all right. I don't mean, yep, you can, you can make the bet done. Does anybody want to weigh in on this? Is this a sufficient? I mean, we have a lot of commenters. I think probably a couple of really fucked up stuff for somebody. I think we toss it over there. Okay. We leave it up to, okay, fair enough. We look forward to seeing what all of United Jupers Center's come up with as the, uh, the losers punishment. Yeah. All right. We're going to send out the link to the men's women's brackets. Uh, one more time before they close on Thursday and Friday. Obviously, because that's when the game start playing. Um, again, shout out to our friends at Reese's. Yeah, baby. I mean, Reese's, sorry, Reese's. Let's get to our conversation with Ryan Gosling. Our guest today is a six one active from the Ontario, Canada. He's a three time Academy award nominee. I've never been high checked. A cold and cold winter, a four time host of Saturday night live. You know, I'm from the iconic rules. You remember the Titans, the notebook, blue Valentine drive. The nice guys crazy stupid love la la later on her Barbie. And now project Hail Mary, not Dupers Center's. He's more than just can. Please welcome Mr. Ryan Gosling. There we go. Oh my god. He said six one. That was amazing. Hey, we, we, we, we do our research here. We do our research here. You had to call out, remember the Titans, too, man. Don't never forget that I'm a liability. White corner at the corner. I'm a liability that role that in particular seen in the movie is the thing that I see called out the most. I mean, how much do you get that constantly? It doesn't matter what I accomplish in my life. There'll be someone in the comment section that says never forget. He's an absolute liability at the point. It doesn't matter what I do. It's great. The greatest actors of our generation three time Academy Award winner. He's a liability. We can't play corner, man. Dupedian there. Get heat in their ASAP. Dude, I'll tell you what you're not a liability in this new movie. I'm not like, listen, we do a lot of these. I don't know how the hell, how the fuck we're getting this guy's like, you had to come out our show. This movie is fucking awesome. It's awesome. It is. It is so great. You kill it, you're this somehow, like unbelievable biologists, but also this down to earth, very relatable person who's hilarious, heartfelt. I mean, it tugs on so many of the right chords, especially with everything happening in this fucking world right now. But you rocky the whole thing, man. It's so good. Congratulations. Thank you, man. How are we feeling about it compared to everything?
thing that you have already done, yeah. I feel like, yeah, really lucky to have made this movie because it came at a time, like Andy, personally, like, you're right, it is a great story and it is these are great characters and I've removed myself from that because the reality is it was an incredible book before it was a film, right, and Andy, we're, you know, wrote this book that has become considered one of the best science fiction books of all time. Some people, you know, many people say it's like one of the best books they've ever read. So we were already hitting the ground running, you know, I mean, you know, it's not often, I've never been a part of a film where I kind of knew people were going to like it because the book had already been stress tested, right, like, we already knew these are great characters. We already knew this was a great story. I mean, there's a pressure to that for sure. I was about to say, man, there's great books all the time that people fuck up in movies. Because they changed it. Because they changed it, right, we were, I produced this film and I just knew the best thing I could do as a producer was just stay close to the material, have Andy on set as much as possible, run everything by him. He has such a cool perspective, certainly in science fiction, but I think just in general right now because he believes in people, he believes in like what we're capable of. He believes that we're capable of great things. And it's not like unearned optimism, it's not just optimism for the sake of it, you know, he reminds you in his work that like all the great innovations in human history started as impossible ideas and human beings made them possible, you know, and that we make the impossible possible all the time. It's kind of like our thing and that's such a unique thing to celebrate, you know, oddly enough, right? It's like we're so inundated with like apocalyptic scenarios that it feels like they're inevitable that it's so bleak the future. And then he, he like writes this book that says, no, maybe the future isn't something to be afraid of, maybe it's just something to figure out. And being a dad, you know, having two young kids and I feel like everything is just designed to scare them. I was so grateful just as a father to get to make a story for my kids, maybe not to be too lofty, but like for their generation, that kind of reminds you of what we're capable of as human beings. And there's going to pretend that there's not going to be problems, but that we can solve them, you know, and anyway, he's a unique writer in that way. I think that's why people love this book so much. And yeah, so to get to spend the last almost six years now, being around that and thinking that way and surrounding myself with people like that has been a real, yeah, just how to say it just like a gift, you know. That's awesome. I love everything you just said. I really do. And it comes through in the film. It really does the optimism and the resilience and the persistence to figure things out. And this endless, I don't know, man, it's, it's so well done. You know, a movie is good when like your experience and every emotion while you're watching it, right? Like you're, you're laughing, you're crying, you're the height of happy, the lowest of like, man, this sucks. Like that's when you're really involved in it. Yeah, you even in this, I think do the laugh cry, which is really hard to say. You know, like you're often you're crying, you're laughing, you're like, oh, fuck it. I'm just going to laugh. I'm just going to go out at once. These directors are really, they're so unique in that regard. Like, I don't know if you've seen their other films, but they did like 21 John Street and the Lego film and cloudy with the chance to meet balls and the spider verse. It's like, everything is so much better than it should be. They have this unique ability to kind of sneak up on you and make you feel all the things and they're so funny. So for me, it was like, it had to be them, you know. And this is just such a perfect marriage of material and directors, you know, like they are just, it just had to be them. When you were reading the book, did you see it as like, there was some comedy in it? I don't know. I can't imagine the book having this much like fun that it seems like you were having in throughout the movie though. Yeah. Andy, we are does right. He understands that like, well, first of all, he's like a former engineer. He is as brilliant as this character. Oh, wow. And so he, the science, the science is very important to him that it be accurate. Even like, it's funny. He said, I knew I was different when I was watching Titanic. And when Jack, when Jack is dying, I looked up at the constellations above them in the water. And I said, those aren't the constellations that would be there. It's different. That's different. You know, he was like, that, that bothered me. And I knew no one else was thinking that I thought, I'm different. So he's like, it's so dense, the science, it's so scientifically grounded that he understands that it has to be funny. Otherwise, you know, it's just not going to work. You know, no one's going to be able to stick with it. So he did create a lot of humor throughout it. And then we just got a lot of funny people on board. You know, Chris and Phil are so, you know, they're just, everybody had a was funny and so everyone added their funny, and so it became, I think, funnier, but it was already there, I think, in the DNA. That's awesome, man. Like, you got it. You got to help me figure out some of this magic that was shot. So the whole time you're talking to Rocky, we're not giving away too much by saying Rocky, right? No, we should talk. It's funny. It's like when we first came out with it, people didn't want us to talk about Rocky, but it's like it's like pretending ETs about a kid whose parents got divorced, you know, it's about an alien. We got to talk about it. So please feel free. All right. Cool. So, so during these scenes, are you having a conversation with yourself the whole time? Like, what's the difficulty in not really being in a scene with somebody else? So this was, this was what I think is the magic of the movie is that he was there. We went, we went puppet, we didn't go CGI, we went full, full puppet, he's in the room, he's there. And not only he there, he's got five puppeteers, each operating one of his arms. They're dressed like, they're dressed like ninjas, guys, they're dressed like ninjas. They're all black, just their eyes, like that's not distracting at all. You know, his name is Rocky. They call themselves the rocketeers. He rolls in with an entourage, it's like, that is so good. And but James Ortiz is basically the lead puppeteer. And it would have been so much easier had we gone CGI, you know, but there would be no magic, right? Because he's there in the room. I can talk to him. He's moving around. We end up, we can improvise, we can take the scene in different directions. It's real. Sometimes that I felt like I had like an alien friend, you know, because it was so like the artistry in which they do what they do made it so real. So I think you feel it, you know, I think in the movie, it's like there, it actually, it is a relationship. It's not like what you're used to seeing because everything is so like a fixed ribbon now. Yeah. No, it's awesome. It makes you feel like Rocky's all of our friends in a sense is, I mean, it's just really how's it feel to be a, to be a supporting actor in Rocky's film? I mean, really? Yeah. To a face. He stole the show. To a face this rock. What's funny is that he's real like he's, he's been like they've been having him come to some of these junkets. Yeah. So they're like, they'll tell me like, oh, Rocky's here in the hotel. He's in the, he was at the presidential suite. One of these hotels we stayed at recently with 24 hour security and life is living like a game. This dude's changed, man. This dude has changed. He doesn't text. He's not like, I'm in town. What's up? Nothing. Dude, I was sitting on the couch watching this and my kids are watching like something else on Disney or whatever and they're like, what do you watch it down? I'm like, watch this movie. Like, Oh, can we watch it? I don't. And all of a sudden Rocky comes in and they are like glued from that moment. And I'm like, dude, this is how you know this is a good. Like if you're distracting from a cartoon over here that's like isolated and geared to get there like retina and attention span and all that other stuff happening, they were locked in. I mean, they loved Rocky. Like could not get enough Rocky. So it's, it really works for anybody. I mean, the film is, it's awesome, man. It's cool because you know, I think like Andy really put a lot of thought into what, you know, it's not the trick of like, he doesn't have big eyes. He's not cute in a traditional sense, right? He's got no face. He's got five arms. He's made out of rock. He doesn't speak like, you know, he has his own kind of sounds that he makes. It's like, it's so hard to connect to him. I mean, I think the challenge of the movie was a bit like, will people connect to this faceless rock, you know, without any, using any of the kind of tricks that we would normally use. But the beauty is that you end up, you kind of can't imagine you're going to be crying over this faceless rock at the end of the film. But that's like the magic trick of the movie is like when it's over, people are like, "Rock it." You want that to die for him? Yeah. It's cool. So do we believe in aliens now? Do you want to go space? There we go. I have no interest in going to space, do you?
I do. I want to go. I do. I do. I want to go. I'm going to just Travis does. That's the moon. I guess it's the closest thing. Okay. Yeah. I'll go there. I don't want to get too far away that I miss too much time. Just there and back. Just a quick shuttle. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I don't want to go. I want to pretend to go. You didn't want to go in the movie either. We found that. That's crazy. A crazy shoe dropper there. But I do think it's fun to talk about like though we're in a period of time where we're not really saying like it feels like the conversation has shifted away from are there aliens to more like where are they and when are we going to see them. Yeah. Right. For sure. Yeah. The question growing up was definitely the the other version of like are there aliens out there now? It's like, oh no, there's definitely aliens out there. Just have they are they with us right now? Is the conversation right? Yeah. I don't think that they're like crashing. Yeah. You know, that they're like coming to earth and then they're like what? Like they think they're losing the brakes like they won't happen. Like, oh no, they're brakes like they're not. I don't think they're crashing. That's my only that's all I know if they're technologically advanced to get here. They're probably they're going to be on the way in or whatever the hell happens. Oh god. That's good. But I do think Andy put this like all this thought into this idea of like, okay, so maybe they don't come to us. You got to go to them. Maybe, you know, like this all this stuff like he he exists in his own atmosphere, right? So you can't even like really be in the same place with him. He has to make this kind of ball to be in. He wouldn't speak the same language. He wouldn't have the same kind of features that we have. Like, it's a pretty like credible stab at what that might be like, you know. It's done in an entertaining way, but it does feel like it's very scientifically grounded in a way that I don't I don't I've never really read or seen before. Yeah, I do remember I listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson talk about stuff a lot. And one of the things he's often said about sci-fi films is the lack of creativity in outer space and extraterrestrious. They're always like bipedal and like they just have weird ads, but they still have hands and it's like, no, no, this thing probably is going to be unlike anything you've ever seen. And you guys accomplished that perfectly. I mean, with every facet of it, right? Like the astrophages, what are the astrophages? Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, Jason. Yeah, man. Okay, yeah, dude. Okay, just casually dropping the astrophages. You watch the movie. Let me ask you another silly one. I love to ask in dumb questions. Um, if you had to show an alien one movie, which one would you show him? It could be. I mean, it's fun. The world. So his name was Rocky, right? And then I realized, you know, we were making this film with MGM. And I was like, wait, you guys have all the rights to all the Rockies, right? And the creeds? And they were like, yeah, of course. And I was like, well, I have to show him all of them. So we watched all the Rockies. We watched all the creeds. I think that's a good choice. I think I think I think showing an alien Rocky is not a bad way to go. Which Rockies are favorite? The first one just for the whole look, you know, he, I mean, you know this story, but like, he had to sell his dog. It's an interesting. Do you know that? I don't even have seen it. So many times, I forgot. The loan had to sell his dog to get this movie made. And then when he made the money back from the script, oh, you're talking about it in real life. In life, he sold his dog. What? What? Yes. You get to get the money for a dog. We got to see what Paddy's worth. No, I'm sorry. Good. He sells his dog. Then when he sells the script, he buys his dog back. And that's the dog in the movie. That's. Stop it. The levels to which what was going on for Stallone, it seems in his life and the story of what was happening for Rocky are so closely linked. You know, that there's like a metanus to the first one. That's a great point. That's hard to, to beat. But I like the Dolph Lundgren one. That one's amazing. The training sequence there, like the futurist, him with the, you know, like out in the vlog in the snow. Yeah, four is just like a guilty just like so. It's like you're eating the most luxurious chocolate cake, patriotism and masculinity. You can indulge in it. But yeah, one is, I do find the speech he gives in Balboa to his son on the street is also, I mean, that's not work if you need it. You're right. You're right. Everyone in Philadelphia still uses that speech every day of their lives. I'm getting goosebumps even just thinking about that speech. What about over the top? Little trucker or with some action? Yeah, baby. Because sometimes in life, you got to turn the hat around. Sometimes he's there you go. Sometimes you just got to turn the hat around guys. So good. That movie talking about ridiculous, but still a guilty pleasure. That'll make me cry. The whole, the way the way he is with his son, those peptox he gives him. Yeah, that'll get you going. He's the greatest like pep talk. That thing we create where he says to him in the mirror, that's your worse that's your worse enemy or you're like greatest opponent or something. He's just just alone. He's that big. He still does it. It's also king too. I've been stuck on that fucking show. I love it. There we go. What's the next big guy? Are we are we sticking in the sidefire? Are we like Star Wars movies next? How do we get right? Is there another zero sequel to this? Are we already thinking how we're going to do this? I'm hoping Andy has an idea because I would love that. I just finished a Star Wars a Star Wars film which will come out next year. Oh, what? Really? Yeah. Hell yeah. Are you able to give us any information on that? Like what's it's not part of the the the timeline of the other Star Wars films that takes place in its own timeline and it's all original characters and it's directed by Sean Levy who did Deadpool Wolverine most recently but he also you know the Stranger Things and just so many things at night at the museums. He's such a perfect director for this. He just completely got the tone and yeah it was crazy. It was crazy to to be working on a Star Wars film. Are you guys Star Wars fans? I love it. I mean I wanted to say like we're as plugged into like the very minor like minutia but yeah very big fans. Yeah same. It's like I didn't really like I didn't see it until I was older but I had Star Wars sheets you know. Oh yeah definitely had everything Star Wars is it? Yeah like it was always around even if I hadn't seen it it was just such a it's like the Beatles it's like always been there you know and you don't realize how much a part of you it is how it defined your idea of what's a hero what's a villain what's what's score you know what is font what is what's the sound effect you know on all the levels it just is so permeated like my sensibilities as a as a person who who likes film I didn't know until I got there just how deep it went you know so that was that was interesting. Well you just said good and evil are we a part of the Empire are we Jedi like what are we gonna problem with the reception it's fair enough fair does he have a life saver that's just gonna come in and just said too much all right we're gonna get to this section we got to ask okay all right your co-star and blade runner Harrison Ford was on Jimmy Kimmel and was asked if he has had sex while playing soundtracks from his films and his answers was of course I have it's a dumb question Ryan we have the same question to you I guess is that no that's a hard one that's an easy easy no surprising yes of course from Harrison I guess but of course Harrison has I always say I always say like never meet your heroes unless they're Harrison Ford he says cool as you want him to be he punched me one time in a scene and then when they brought me ice um for my face he took the axe away he put his he put his fist in it and he said I forgive you and then they brought me Abville I I was like went to take two Abville and he took the whole thing he just went like and he housed like he can't do that he can't do that he's not like us oh my god I love this dude he could do his house half a bottle of Abville as a joke just a care like he's just dude when he had you know in in in uh read you know I think it's Raiders you know when he's riding in his hat kept coming off yeah he's riding the horse he stapled it to his head just to his scalp they were trying to tape it and he said forget it give me a stapler and he stapled it to his head is this like a well-known thing about Harrison Ford that he's just a lunatic he's not like us he's one of those aliens among us man he's that guy that is fucking hilarious that line where she says Princess Leia says I love you and he goes I know that's him That's him. He's the real deal. Oh, what a legend man.
- Yeah. - Is it true you were suspended from first grade because you brought steak knives that started throwing them at recess? - I didn't throw them at kids. I'm like I was thrown near them. (laughing) I might have just been doing them in the ground, but yeah, I did get in a bit of trouble for that. - Nice man. - Well, you're speaking to two other, I was expelled from a preschool for stabbing a kid with a spork. - What? - I did, yeah. - If you're gonna do it with something, a spork is. - It was a retaliatory stab. - Right. - It wasn't like I was just like, you know, psycho in this and just stabbing a random kid. (laughing) - I'm trying to come in. - You can't get in there. - You stabbed me so much. - And the dullness of it would just really, we'd just hold it in a different way, which is like more like psychological. - Oh yeah, no, it broke skin. It broke so much. - And I saw it, I saw it, it broke skin. - Yeah, it was not good, not good. Anyways, how do you feel about being the unofficial face of Taco Bell inflation? This is the first time hearing it. - What is this? - The beefy 5-layer burrito, 89 cents. (laughing) - Really? - And the beefy 5-layer burrito now, $5.36. - I'm not getting a dime for this. I'm not getting, (laughing) I'm not even getting $5 million for this. (laughing) - Oh my God, is that real? - I would assume so, I mean, it's real on the internet. - Oh my God. - I guess it's real now. - The internet is undefeated man. - Underfeated. - The internet's gonna hit an internet. That's one thing you can count on. - No doubt. - What is your Taco Bell favorite? I mean, I don't wanna keep giving Taco Bell a real bad space. - Yeah, but I don't know. I'm more of a cheesy or dita crunch gamma. So, do you have a welcome to Hollywood moment? - Oh, like what do you mean? It'd be good or bad or like something where you're just like, oh, this is Hollywood. - Right. - Or it just dawned on you. I mean, you were, it's hard, I guess, 'cause you were, and it's so young. - I had a moment, at like a party where I did, I was trying to sneak in and out, like just to not, you know, whatever. I went in through the kitchen. - Yeah. - And I saw Stallone. He was hiding in the kitchen, too. And I got to talk to him for, for like. - He was hiding in the kitchen, too? - Yes. And, you know, he had just been such an inspiration to me in so many ways, you know? And like, I got to, yeah, talk to him in the kitchen of his party. He just felt like such a pretty Hollywood moment, you know? But he didn't disappoint either. He gave me great advice. And he was like, yeah, he was, he was just how like, that went down how you would hope that it would. - What's your Hollywood moment? - Oh, yeah, I'm starring. You got a Hollywood moment, yeah. We got NFL moments. Travis might have Hollywood moment. - The closest thing to Hollywood moment for me was I was doing SNL and I was already like, I have no fucking business doing the host SNL. And as I'm doing, as I'm doing the table reads, which I can't read at all. So I am like already nervous as hell, just to try and get through the reads, let alone having all these writers come up to me, trying to get me to really nail that punchline. I'm sitting there, like stuttering through everything. - Same, by the way, you're not alone. - Will Farrell just comes kind of coasting through. And I just like freeze in the middle of my read. I'm like full circle moment of like being at SNL. I've only like watched SNL because of guys like Farley and Will Farrell and Sandler and those guys. So it's like to feel that man coming, come walking through and see me struggling, trying to read a script. It was like a full fucking, it was a cluster fucking in my head. I was just like, what is life? - He's the best man. - Just the absolute best. - Another one that I had too is when I went involving him was like when I first moved to Hollywood, I went to see the taping of a talk show. And one of the guests was later something. So they had us like sit on the floor and then they were like throwing three musketeers at us, like to feed us. It was just awful the way they were treating everyone and we were all like, this sucks. Like, you know, it was not the experience we wanted. And then we showed up and we sat in the audience and you know, like telling us when to laugh and everything felt pretty like rehearsed and it just wasn't like aligning with your what you wanted it to be. And suddenly this was before Will Farrell was known but he started like pretending he was lost on the set so he would like show up behind the host and then like move along and then get lost. (laughing) And we were all like, he was crashing this person's interview and it was so funny. And it kind of, it just made the whole experience for us. You know, we were like, this sucked until he showed up and now everything's better. - Yeah. - He's always like that. Like I'm not surprised to hear you were having a hard time and then Will Farrell showed up and suddenly things got better, you know. - It's like, it's so crazy. - Let me ask you this before we get out of here. I know we usually end on the Hollywood moment question but you were obviously in Hollywood at a young age and a lot of what you were doing was music. Have you ever thought about like kind of venturing or like getting back into the music side of things or having more of a career in that? - I feel like it's been cool to be able to do it in some films, you know, to find a way to explore that. I mean, I kind of got into it. My uncle was an Elvis impersonator and so it's how I came home one day when I was eight and my uncle was bedazzling a white jumpsuit in the living room and I was like, what are you doing? He was like, I'm going to be Elvis for a little while. And he's like, okay. - It's a hell of a statement. - So he became Elvis. He was like doing karate in the backyard and talking like Elvis and wearing the outfit in the house and he was showing me how to like, method act basically. - So not even like birthday parties or events, he was just doing this, he was just Elvis. He was just going to be Elvis for a little while, for a while. (laughing) - This is so good, man. (laughing) - But then he put us all in the act. So he said to me, you're going to be my head of security. I'm eight, you know? (laughing) No, this is so good. - He got me like a gold lamej jacket that said head of security and like, I was serious. I was like, okay, that's my job. And then he would perform at the mall and you know, like, it just, it kind of changed everybody's life, right? Like, we all felt like we were hanging out with Elvis. We felt like we had seen Elvis. The whole town was like, came alive. People were singing and dancing and they had their talents. It was this amazing impact that he had. And then he decided not to do it anymore and everything got real boring again. (laughing) My sister and I were like, can we do that again? You know what I mean? - No, we don't want to keep going that, yeah. - We kind of liked you better as Elvis. My sister and I started singing at weddings, you know, that's where the music thing kind of started. It just felt like a way to stay in that vibe, you know, to keep, not go back to normal life, to just keep going with the circus, you know. So that music became a thing that I was doing, you know, just as a way to stay, to keep things from becoming normal, you know, and again, and then, you know, I found acting and then I found filmmaking. And so it kind of was a thing to get me there. But anyway. - That's awesome, man. Well, Ryan, appreciate the stories. Thank you for your time, dog. Everybody, Project Hail Mary in theaters, Friday, March 20th, make sure you see it on the biggest screen possible. Rather, I just want to say, man, you're one of my favorites of all time, dog. From La La Land, Crazy Stupid Love, bro, this is so cool to just pick your brain on how you got here and happy for you, man. Project Hail Mary is a home run. The fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corner of the cell is like, he means a lot to me, honestly. It like legitimizes that. Yeah, we're team playing. That was a team move. Thank you. You and Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out with me, your team would get better anyways. You're the best, Ryan, I appreciate this. Thank you so much, guys. Dude, that guy is an electric SOB. He is not disappointed. I mean, it's funny, charming, good looking God damn. How many fucking things do we have going for us, Ryan? Well, it's what I mean. We've got to ask him about throwing the football or the baseball. That's a rap trap. How about it, man? Thank you to Ryan Goson for being here. Check out Project Hail Mary in theaters on March 20th. And make sure you subscribe to the New Heights channel on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Fill out those brackets, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, once again, New Heights, they won the show, brought to you by Reese's. All the show and all social media at New Heights show with one S for fun clips throughout the week. And thanks our production team for always making us look way better than what we actually are, man. We love you guys, and we love you 92% for always tuning in. This is a fun one, man. I hope you guys enjoyed it. We'll see you next week. Peace. Peace. [MUSIC PLAYING] Ryan, we're not experts at this. We're just going to have a conversation. Well, that makes three of us. What a cool gig, though, for you guys. This is amazing. Still don't know how we got here, Ryan. Still don't know how we got here. You're just talking to each other about stuff, but you've turned it into, like, an amazing job. So who worked this deal for you? Can I get, like, me and my sister get in on it? Brandon, Carly, come back in. We need questions. Yeah.
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
The hosts discuss their team-oriented approach to sports and life, highlighting a strong sense of camaraderie and shared effort, especially in March Madness bracket challenges.
They celebrate Conan O'Brien’s Oscar hosting win as a triumphant, full-circle moment, noting its entertainment value and the discovery of previously unknown films like *The Girl Who Cries Pearls*.
The episode features a playful conversation with Ryan Gosling about his new film *Project Hail Mary*, praising its emotional depth, scientific authenticity, and the real-life connection between the story and human resilience, while also sharing fun anecdotes about Hollywood and early experiences with Elvis impersonation.
Summary:
The episode of New Heights blends entertainment, sports, and celebrity culture, centering on March Madness bracket challenges and a lively discussion about the Oscars. Hosts Travis and Jason highlight their team-driven mindset, referencing a collaborative bracket pick that includes Michigan State, Duke, Houston, and Arizona, while acknowledging the importance of geographic balance. They celebrate Conan O'Brien's Oscar hosting win, noting its humor and cultural impact, and share excitement about discovering underappreciated films.
The show then shifts to a special guest appearance with Ryan Gosling, who discusses his acclaimed film *Project Hail Mary*, praising its heart, scientific plausibility, and emotional resonance. The conversation touches on his early life, a memorable Hollywood moment involving a surprise encounter with Sylvester Stallone, and his roots in music through his uncle’s Elvis impersonations. The hosts also humorously reference a fictional "liability" at the corner of the court, which Ryan reclaims as a heartfelt tribute to their bond.
The episode concludes with a fun call to action for fans to participate in the bracket challenge, pre-order the book *No Dumb Questions*, and enjoy Reese’s rewards for sharing a busted bracket. Throughout, the tone remains lighthearted, engaging, and full of personal anecdotes, reinforcing the show’s core values of connection, humor, and shared experience.
FAQs
The New Heights Reese's Bracket Challenge is a fun, interactive event where listeners pick teams for March Madness. Brackets are available for the men's and women's tournaments, and participants can enter for a chance to win free Reese's candy if their bracket is 'busted' after the first round.
Ryan Gosling is a three-time Academy Award nominee, a four-time host of 'Saturday Night Live,' and a celebrated actor known for films like 'La La Land' and 'Project Hail Mary.' He is featured as a guest to discuss his new movie, the film's creative process, and his experiences in the entertainment industry.
The film is unique for its scientifically grounded approach, featuring realistic alien concepts like the 'astrophages' and a faceless rock named Rocky. It emphasizes optimism, human resilience, and the idea that great innovations often start as impossible ideas, which resonates deeply with modern audiences.
The comment is a playful nod to a recurring internet meme where fans say Ryan Gosling is a 'liability' at the corner of a basketball court, referencing his appearance in 'The Nice Guys' and his character's role in a film. It’s a lighthearted way of acknowledging his iconic, often misunderstood, presence in pop culture.
The proposed punishment for finishing last is eating a whole chicken wing dipped in extremely hot sauce like Mad Dog 357, which is described as a fiery, memorable, and possibly extreme activity to entertain fans.
Yes, the book 'No Dumb Questions' is set to release on June 2nd. Pre-orders from any retailer come with an exclusive sticker pack, and fans can claim it via the episode description.
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