Hidden Gems in National Treasure 2: A Fan's Perspective

Ever wondered why all the treasures in the National Treasure series seem to end up in USA and South America? Or why the villains seem one-dimensional with changing motivations, shifting from clearing their family name to finding treasure? We've got a lively conversation for you where we pick apart the movie National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets, from the perspective of diehard fans and critical thinkers. 

Buckle up for a wild ride as we discuss our favorite moments in the movie, such as the comedic scene where Ben stages a "drunken outburst" in Buckingham Palace and the suspenseful scene where Ben "kidnaps" the president. But we're not just about sharing laughs and thrilling moments, we also critique the weak points of the movie. We muse on the missed opportunities to develop the villain and Ben's mother, and how these underdeveloped characters impact the overall plot. 

We conclude the discussion with a quirky conversation about the movie's portrayal of the treasures and the mysterious UFO sightings. Let's just say a certain Benjamin Franklin Gates gets more credit than he deserves. And we may or may not caution against naming your child after him. So, join us for this entertaining and thought-provoking dialogue as we revisit the world of National Treasure 2 and offer some playful yet insightful perspectives.

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Transcript

 Welcome back to another episode of this wonderful podcast. As we journey through Nick Cage's, many different characters in film this. Episode is gonna be about National Treasure two, the Book of Secrets, which I think should have been titled, one Man's Greed and Revenge. One Man's Greed and Revenge. Yes.

And the synopsis about this one is, is it's a sequel to our Disney CLA 

Academy Award-Winning Classic. Classic first film National Treasure 

Uno. Correct. And this one is basically just picks up, I'm not sure how long ago it picks up. Definitely some time has passed. Time has passed. But essentially, um, Ben Gates's family is brought into Tomo as another family who has, uh, Um, direct ties to the family that assassinated, uh, Abraham Lincoln and they in a time where misinformation is brought up.

This, uh, one individual brings up misinformation and, and brings to light that they're a great ancestor with a co-conspirator in the assassination, which tarnishes. Their family's 

name. Yeah. The whole goal is to tarnish, um, Benjamin Franklin Gates's family name. Um, so they, he reveals that they, that their great, his great grandfather was, uh, great-great grandfather, whatever, whichever one it was, um, actually involved in the assassination attempt.

So he says, so he claims, and he does have actual like documentation that, um, that does. Bleed towards his case in a way. Mm-hmm. But it is, it is misinformation. 

Mm-hmm. It's from the John Wilkes booth diary. So this right off the bat, this is kind of what is the linchpin that starts the, the chain of events, which, Lori, which becomes this 

movie.

Yeah. Essentially that's what starts it. And Benjamin Gaines is one, it's again, um, At a point where he has to defend his family's name and goes on a, a wonderful journey with the same hair that he had in next. 

Correct. Much shorter. 

Much shorter. Much shorter. It's true. But still the same kind of sorta, uh, kind of still has his, uh, his, uh, ghost writer abs too, it seems like.

It looks a little different. 

He just wakes up. He's like, 

I 

mean, this is year 2007. It's things were different than, things were so much different then. Uh, yeah. Did you have any favorite parts of the 

film? Yes. I think my favorite part of the film was with Riley has a book signing at some bookstore. Yeah.

And obviously everyone decided to like take their credit and do something. He decided to write a book and everyone has mistaken him for Ben Gates. Yeah. 

Or they don't know who they did. They did. They either mistake him for bed gates or they're like, who are you? 

Yes. So he has, he's not well known or well publicized.

Mm-hmm. But he's just like the person who's there and takes credit. And so he's not well known. So he thought by writing a book it would put himself out there, things like that. So he's at a book signing. Mm-hmm. And obviously no one is buying the book. He gets mistaken, you know. By, you know, someone el by Ben and another young lady asks him, oh, you're Ben Gates.

And he's like, yes I am. And ends up telling him that his car is being 

imp powered. My Ferrari that he got in the last movie was being towed. 

Yes. And he runs out in desperation to stop it and it's not, 

yeah. Yeah. That's like basically right at the beginning of the movie. Um, It's, it's still this movie starts the same people it did before.

So you still, Diane Kruger, I believe was her name. Uh, obviously Nicholas Cage, John vot, and, um, Justin Barkha, I think is his name. But then you also have like Helen Miron and, and a few other people that are in it, um, which is just like a really stacked cast for a movie of this, uh, magnitude, I suppose. But, you know, I would have to say, The whole thing was my favorite.

It's just so, it's just so elaborate. So, so, you know, I had no, it had no place and having crammed as much history in as it did or tried to cram history, I say that with quotations, but I'm, um, and as it did, because so much happened, he kidnaps the president, he goes to Paris, like so many things are, he goes to the oval, the White House.

Like so many different things are going on for Benjamin Gates, but he is on a journey and he is solving all the riddles. And so I have to say I really enjoyed the overall movie as a whole, but if I had to think of a specific one, um,

I like that he, I thought it was funny that he kidnapped the president. Sorry. I don't mean you should kidnap the president, so please don't come after me, uh, government. But I'm saying I thought it was funny that in the movie he kidnapped the president and the president didn't fear for his life. He felt won over by Nicholas Cage being extremely patriotic, like, and was willing to reveal secrets to him.

I was like, dang, this must be, this was real life. Oh man. I mean, obviously our last. President Trump was not very, not good. I mean, none of them are good, but he was definitely not someone who should have been in power or have had access to any information that he did. But I can't imagine an actual president, a substantial president sitting there being like, you know what?

Yeah, you're right. I love how much you love history. Let me tell you what's going on with the nation. Who 

does that? Yeah. And. It was just also just interesting how he just wrote the, the resources that Ben Gates has at his disposal and you know, his in to like the same kind of like, you know, prestige. Like from the first film I'm a steal a declaration of dependence.

Like, just saying it like, oh, it's just like, It's gonna be very easy, you know, I was like, oh, I'm just gonna kidnap the president. He, he essentially didn't kidnap the president per se. He took him on a, an kind of like an adventure cuz he found out that the president is an, um, an architect major. Mm-hmm. And so he found, um, where.

Um, having, I guess his birthday, um, to a venue where has like great a location or architect site that's like, been undiscovered and he kind of used that to kind of like, Hey, let's go discover this. Yeah. So that was like the ruse, but I guess he was a ruse, but it was kind of like, quote unquote, I guess you could say kidnapping him.

He, it's almost like a, a scavenger hunt. He 

also says it, I'm going to kidnap the president. So, yeah, that was, that was a fun one. I also really like when he's having his quote unquote drunken outbursts in Buckingham Palace. How absolutely silly, he's the one, he is stomping the way he's stomping his feet.

Like 

I thought he was, I thought he was actually gonna slip and fall. 

I don't know what I thought, but I thought found it humus, especially when he, he sits on, on the banister to slide down. And what does he say? He's like something, something man. With his whiskey,

he's just being absolutely silly to get so he can get detained. But it was really funny. I thought it was funny. Um, when he had to do that. 

Yeah, him just mocking, uh, the. The British there while in Buckham Palace. Mm-hmm. Just so they can get detained. Like again. Nick Cage being, you know, Nick Cage in this moment, and Riley of course, out of sight.

In, in the men's bathroom, 

always in somewhere 

with his little makeshift computer sent nerve center. Mm-hmm. Making sure everything's okay. You know, this is the part that like mystifies me because again, this is 2007, the gear that Riley carries, they. What kind of, you know, blew my mind was just how his whole setup was.

Just when they, when he does the reveal, he's taken out a. You know, an iPod taken out like small devices. He's opening them up and then he's like, vel crowing them to like the wall of like the bathroom and he has a bathroom shut. So he has like his own little nerve center and I'm thinking there's no way.

And how that's even, you know, possible to do. Somehow you have to extend your disbelief. But I'm thinking, well, Those devices are essentially, you know, computers in their own right at the time. They're not that powerful now. Yeah. But at the time, they were 

also, they're trying to find the city of gold. Of course.

We have to just like suspend or just believe they, or they're trying to find it. We know that's not real, but they're still trying to find it. 

Yeah, I, yeah, I guess, I mean, I mean 

you can, we, I guess that depends on if you think the city of gold is real, but. Um, you know, maybe it is, 

maybe it isn't just Nick Cage on another adventure.

No. On another 

adventure. Doing things that are crazier than the next, like figuring out that Mount Rushmore was a coverup. Oh, he does so much in this movie. Yeah, he travels so far, so many places. I was honestly amazed at. The budget they had for this fell Yes. 

Compared to the last one. The travel budget.

Yeah. And he's in apparently not in good terms with his ex anymore. That was funny too. 

Mm-hmm. I think the only other person that could give Ben Gate to run for as money as Carmen San Diego probably. Mm-hmm. That should be National Treasure three or National Treasure three. Ben versus Carmen 

Ben living his life and Carmen living hers.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Did you think there are any weak points to the movie? 

I think yeah, I think the weak point, um, in this was the villain. Yeah. Because how he's established, it's. Seemed more petty and how it came about was like, well, if you had this, you know, information, if it's been passed down from like generation to generation and you were holding onto this, why not come out and ous it sooner?

Like, wouldn't your family want that recognition? Like, Hey, we are not, you know? Yeah. It's also history. Part of history. Yeah. Our family might be associated with this, but like we also want to clear our name in some regards. Mm-hmm. Why not hold onto it and be spiteful, like just to like, you know, force. It was more of a, of a ta a tactic to force, uh, Ben's family to do what, uh, Wilkins wanted.

Yeah. In a sense, yeah. 

To get him to find the, the, the treasure, because he couldn't find it on his own. So he used it as a tactic to mm-hmm. Get them to treasure hunt 

for him. And I'm like, well, he could have, you know, easily, like you obviously you sucked and so, yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry sir. You just sucked. Yeah.

Like you sucked. Like you had all their resources. Because the guy wasn't just like, oh, some Joe Blow. He had resources. 

Yeah, they said he had like his own company, he ran a security detail that was like, And our Iraq and stuff. So he did have money, 

so it on money. And so I'm thinking like, I think that for me that was a weak point, is that this character, he had a, he had a goal and a drive, but I think once the beginning started, his goal kind of fell short because after that it was just more about.

Finding the treasure and the ambitions about his family just went out the window. Yeah, it was very 

shortsighted, I would say, because his whole focus was the treasure, which, okay, yeah, you wanna clear your family's name, but now is, it's, now is the time all of a sudden where it's nothing else is more important to you, like it the, I would say in line with that, one of the weak areas for me was that, You can't tell me that this guy who had access to technology and and SEC high detailed security did not try to get that sheet info read the same way that they did, where they found text on secret texts on the back of Cipher or whatever.

You can't tell me that. He didn't try to find that like, and he did in the movie. He's surprised, but that doesn't make any sense. He has so much money. Why wouldn't he try to figure out what he could from, from it? 

That's what I'm saying. Like, it, it, yeah. It made him feel one dimensional. Like he, he was only good for like the first act and then he just became, uh, A stereotypical trope villain for the sec For the rest of the movie.

Yeah. And then he kind of just faded into the background. He was just there to just poke and prod Ben Gates's family to make sure that they still, you know mm-hmm. Were on their task, which, I mean, at that point, You could eliminated him from the film and Ben Gates would, you know, would still would pursued the treasure because it would've been a great fine.

Yeah. I mean, so I feel like him, the villain in the film didn't really need to be there at some point. He could just like, I mean, he could have. And a car, car, car scene could have just like got hit by a car just died. 

Yeah. He was basically not really evil enough to be the threat. So you don't really think of him in the movie.

Like he, you don't really think of him as the defining thing that's pushing the characters forward because he is not really, um, it's more so like Ben Gates wanting to find the truth. And also clear his name, find the treasure that's pushing him forward, not necessarily this man. Mm-hmm. I also think the mom didn't necessarily, I love he Helen Mirin, but I think that was another loose point too.

Like there was no reason to have her character in it. 

Yeah. That she, she was introduced just because she studied Yeah. The, the language of 

the Aztecs or Mayans. Mm-hmm. Um, but it didn't make sense to why she would be there except to. Have it all happen at the end where they're all together, but still it doesn't make sense.

It, it is kind of, it's just a wasted opportunity, I think. 

Mm-hmm. Like the mother was a wasted opportunity. The villain was a wasted opportunity. Mm-hmm. And then the, the, the goals switched so it became less about. The villain trying to clear his name and more about Ben Gage trying to clear his name, and that was more important and it overshadowed the goals of the villain.

Yeah, so like that was kind of like the weak area as I mentioned before, like. Beginning it was interesting. And then the rest of the movie, he could have just faded into the background and it was easily forgettable. Like there were times in the movie that I easily forgot the villain was even there until like there an instance, you know, he would pop up in the background still, you know, trying to get clues when Ben Gates was already like five or six steps ahead.

Yeah. And it's like, Okay, why are you even still here? A part of 

me wonders if John Voight was, would agree to do the sequel because he wanted to be more involved and so they gave his character more to do in this one, and that's why he was there. At the end, I don't necessarily know, but first of all, as on a viewing, a viewing, um, aspect, enjoyment and entertainment, I very much enjoyed this movie.

Like it's definitely one of those things you can watch where you don't really have to think about it and it's mindless and. It makes you laugh because it's so dumb. Not dumb, but like, it's so, so outrageously out there, um, that you, you're just like, this is a good time. But I will say that there are obviously issues with the movie overall.

There's so many plot holes, they don't make sense, but also the motivations of the character. I understand Ben Gates wanting to clear his name, but it's the same thing with him too. With Nicholas Cage's character, he starts off wanting to clear his name and then it becomes more about the city of gold. And they don't ever really talk about what the issue is about why they wanna clear their names.

Because I mean, they mention it, they're like the Confederates and they, they have the tagline, could you imagine what they would've done with the city of gold? But they don't really delve into it. Like the whole thing is they don't wanna be known for racism. That's really it. Yeah. Because Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and they legitimately, j John Wilkes Booth, whatever his name is, killed him.

And they don't wanna be known as having tied to the confe ties to the Confederacy that had a plot to kill Abraham Lincoln because of racism. That's the whole thing. So they're trying to clear the name because of that. Um, Yeah. And then it shifts to, Ooh, money, jewels, pearls. 

Ah, correct, correct. And so that's, that's underlying though.

And then, you know, they're like, it's part of American history. We, we have to give it back to, you know, to the natives. And I'm like, you know, underlying terms, there's a lot of like Native American Hispanic culture in there as well, like blended in. I think this was like it. A kind of a dig of like El Dorado, I think The 

city of gold.

Yeah, the city of gold is what El Dorado's about. So people are looking for, because you know, back when the Spanish and con in conquistadors, wow. Mm-hmm. I think I know how to talk. Um, they came to, I believe it was a Spanish conquistadors. They came and met the indigenous, um, the Latin indigenous people, the Aztec and the Mayans, and all of them, they saw treasures.

And believed that there was like a, an entire city of gold or whatever. And then they came and they fought against these indigenous people and they ended up winning. And a lot of it has to do with like their weapons and the fact that they were immune to diseases and all these things, but they, it's became this whole lore where they're looking for the city of gold, um, because they believe there's massive treasures, but, mm, it's not, it's likely not something that exists in the world.

And, uh, I don't know if they really did believe it back then, 

who knows. Yep. And the other thing I think that I say is another weak point is the Book of Secrets. 

Oh yeah. That was one of my favorite scenes too. Sorry. See, so much happened in this freaking movie. Mm-hmm. Like I feel like 17 different plots took place.

Go ahead, sorry. 

Yeah, I say it's a weak point because the title of the movie is called The Book of Secrets. And. We don't really get to that until maybe the second half, and then we blow right through it, and then it's never talked about again until the end. And so it's like, you know, when we do talk about it, you know it's meant, and the only reason why they talk about it is because the, the clue that they need is in the book of secrets.

Otherwise, there'd be no point. Yeah. And then the. The president at requires, uh, Ben Gates to look at, um, A, a specific page for him. I don't know why I, I would assume that the president would, would be authorized to look at the book. He's 

authorized to look at the whole thing, so he knows 

what's in there.

But he, he asked for a favor for Ben to look at a specific page 47, and that if once he's done, you have to tell him about it. So, which we don't get anything about that until the end. Okay. But he tells 'em once you do this, you know, if you are caught and you don't complete your mission, you will go to prison.

Yeah. 

Like, you obviously will go to prison. Then you'll, well, I'll pretend anything that you said is not real. Um, yeah. Okay. First of all, huge plop poll because they're not gonna hide a book like that in this frigging library of Congress. I'm sorry, but it's not gonna happen. Someone could just stumble upon it.

That works for the, for the government. They're not gonna allow that. Second of all, If this book does exist, why would he allow him to see it? I, I would not, I don't, I don't know, and I don't know why they named the movie after that, because they didn't bring it in until the, until the end. But I would like to believe that this book exists because that would be cool, you know, if there's a book that has like information about all the things we've wondered about, plus like aliens, the Area 51, that would be interesting.

I still don't know what he was supposed to be looking at on page 45. Still have no idea. 4, 7, 4 7, whatever, whatever the page was, there was something on there that they didn't tell us and maybe they were setting us up for the three. Cool. But they never released it. And now always wonder, 

yeah, it was kind of a cliffhanger.

I think it was kind of a setup, but again, it was like that was a a, a plot hole. That was left hanging until the end when we revisited, once we meet the president again. But like I said, it was like the only reason why they needed the book is because it needed a clue. And so I felt like that's how they tied that in.

If they didn't need that book and they got the clue, you know, any other way we wouldn't need it. But yeah, I felt like that was like a, um, A weakness in, in that. And also, yeah, they had to go through so many hurdles just for that book in the, in the library of Congress. Like why would they hide it there 

of all places?

Why would you, um, why would you hide it? There doesn't, it doesn't make sense. 

It doesn't make sense. But there was a code, right? They had, yeah, there was a 

code, but still even with a code. You could still try to figure out a way to get into it there. It just seems like very, a very a thing. We wouldn't, you know what I was gonna say?

It just seems like a thing we wouldn't want to do, but they just pulled the sensitive information from Trump's. Freaking golf course. So maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they're real lax about this stuff. Clearly. 

Yeah. I mean, it's a movie. 

It's a freaking movie. It is what it is. You can't tell me that something like that doesn't exist though, because I'm sure there's information that they wanna pass down to each president, so that way kind of aware of certain things, and I believe there's some form of it.

Maybe it doesn't talk about. Aliens, but there's gotta be something. I 

feel like they're just, with each film, they're just trying their hardest, like what's the most extreme thing we can get? Ben, you can get Ben Gates to do 

Be about us. I'm curious. 

They find Atlantis 

maybe. Maybe. I mean, they did a, I liked the TV show, which unfortunately got canceled cuz they.

They do more about like Latin history and stuff like that. And there's a, there's quite a bit of it, um, that they, you know, they could have done a different job with in the book of Secrets, 

but they find the treasure in the Titanic. 

Uh, the, I mean the Titanic has been found, but they, but yeah, I guess, I mean, there's boats that have been missing, but see, the ocean is so vast.

There's no, it's 

the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda 

Triangle is, 

is a, is a wild, I, I'm just throwing things out there. But yeah, that doubt, there could be 

so many different options for what they could 

pursue. What are some of your weak, I mean, if there were weak points, if you had any, I 

would say what you said.

Um, I don't believe that, that that guy would have not tried to, or his family would not have tried to clear their name sooner. Like there's no way if you, they believe that your family was not, was not on the wrong side of history, or you have proof that helps you believe that. I can't imagine a white presenting person not wanting to present that I 

know.

Yeah. Like, yeah, I, I would've slapped that, that I would've slapped the Uno reverse card so quickly. Yeah. That, 

yeah, that's, that seems like such an important thing that, especially for their identity and how patriotic, they're like, I don't, I don't see that that not happening. So I think that's definitely a huge plot point.

Um, I also don't see it not happening when Gates was not like, maybe because his, his, his, um, What's the thing where you, where you like you know about someone and. Reputation. Maybe because his reputation wasn't good. Mm-hmm. And felt after the first one. I don't know. I don't know. I also just don't believe that there's this much gold and treasures to be found constantly.

They found the first one. Okay. Sure. But the second one. Come on now. You're yanking my chain. Yeah. Like 

how, how many places that these secret societies are just leaving like treasures in the Americas. Like the 

Americas. Oh, and then Mount Rushmore being a, a coverup that cracks me up. Honestly. That's pretty freaking funny.

Uh, that the gold was over Mount Rushmore. Like that, that kind of stuff to me is really interesting. I think it's a huge plot hole because, Okay. Say they genuinely found it and they covered it up because they didn't want the Confederate army to find it. Cuz obviously then the war would've continued and it would not have been good.

Can you say that things are great now? No. Whatever, but why wouldn't the government at a specific point have tried to find it? Like once they have the, once the it is past the confederacy and other things have happened, They made no efforts to try to find it. And if that president knows that, that it's real, I can't imagine why none of them would try to find it for 

themselves too.

Would it have been put in the book of secrets? 

Yeah. Well, I mean, but he, they, he put the plank thing in there, so I feel like, yeah, whatever. I don't know. There's just a, there's a lot of, there's a bajillion plot holes in there, and then there's Helen Mi and John Voight arguing back and forth about. Stuff.

And then there's Nicholas Cage and uh, and Abigail Diane Kruger's character arguing back and forth about stuff. And then there's just Riley. He's just there and we're wishing he had his car and he gets it back at the end. You know, there's a lot, just a lot of things. A lot of moving parts. Yes. Doesn't necessarily mean it's bad because I enjoyed it, but doesn't necessarily mean that you can use it as, you know.

A reliable source for when you're writing history report 

and you shouldn't be using as reliable. I don't think you should. 

Can you imagine if they in your, um, What do you call those? Your biblio? Is it 

No biographies? No. No bibliography. 

We all use, yeah, where you'd write your, your sources. Could you imagine if someone put a book of Secrets National Treasure on there?

That'd be funny. MLA 

formatting, 

MLA formatted. Could you imagine? 

Then, uh, and then your teacher's, like, this is not a, a reputable source for your 

essay. Yeah. Anyway, overall, I would still give it a four because I thought it was enjoyable even with all the. The wackiness of it all. Um, people are so obsessed too with the Confederacy, and it just is a weird thing that Americans are obsessed with.

I don't, patriotism is is odd, but anyway, I would give it a four just because I actually enjoyed it and I didn't think that Nicholas Cage's hair bothered me as much in this movie as it did in next. So that's what I would 

say is a four. I would give it four and a half because at a five of, yeah, out of five because at five, yes.

Cuz Nick Cage is doing Nick Cage. Like doing just, just to see him go through all that trouble to find, you know, treasure that's from, and you know, Yeah. Another Native American group and take credit for it is always the American way. Yeah. And I mean, he's showing America how it's done. Yeah. Like 

this indigenous, the indigenous treasure.

They're like, this belongs to the people. What? People not Americans. Yeah. Answer. Ridiculous. So silly. Just so silly. Um. I do have a review. This one's kind of long, so I'm gonna read it first. It's from Hunter Rapp, who actually just watched this movie last month. Um, and they wrote, they gave it three out of five stars and they wrote, enamored by the sheer audacity of this movie.

It is completely un behold into any sense of historical plausibility. The plot moves at 200 miles per hour and covers more ground than it has any need or right to, and the characters offhandedly through outlines like, Mount Rushmore was a coverup and God only knows what would've happened had the confederates discovered the city of gold without so much as blinking an eye.

Nicholas Cage kidnaps the president but wins him over with his patriotism. There's a grant theft auto car chase in London that our protagonists walk away from completely without consequence. John Voyd swings on a vine with his ex-wife and it solves his divorce. It makes no sense. It's wonderful, and I won a National Treasure three yesterday.

And that pretty much sums up that 

movie for me. Mm-hmm. Uh, this one, my first one's gonna be from Blake Auer. Why Can't. Just one of these films and with, based on a true story, three and a half Stars, because 

it's not a true story. But see, that would be like naming it in your bibliography. It's a resource.

The teacher would just, hopefully the teacher would be like, you're freaking crazy. That's not a real, that's not a historical resource. Um, I 

mean, but how crazy would it be if they like just stated based on a true story? You know what 

though? A lot of, based on a true stories don't even have to have that much in common to be based on it.

I mean, if they're taking 

about a crazy guy who thinks he's funny, treasure and then they could be like, based 

on a true story. Yeah. If they're using historical, like if parts of it are based on true things, they can be like, based on a true story, this character can still be true. I mean the character's still fictional, but like parts of it could be like 

based on let's not, let's hope that never happens.

Cause we already have people who believe that the Holocaust wasn't real. We could You imagine if they put this out into the, to the, all right, you're right. Psyche of the us, they would then think this was real history. Yeah, you're right. I don't trust them to know it's not, anyway, this is mine and I think this is the best review.

I have ever had on a Nicholas Cage movie. It's from Janice. Shout out to Janice. Um, she gave it four, five stars. Woo woo. And she said, Nick Cage found the key to eternal beauty on page 47, and no one can convince me otherwise. And that's the secret he found, and I love it. I think that that's probably it.

You know, he, it's the hair. He found the, he found the recipe for life. You guys, on page 47, 

nice. Uh, mine's gonna be, my second one will be from Reed. I just got paid to sit and watch this movie, so I'd write that off as a success. Four stars, 

four stars. Four stars. Yeah. I mean that would be a success. I would love to get paid to watch the movie.

I watched 

it for free. I know. And so it's on Disney Plus? Yeah, it's 

on Disney Plus for anyone else. So I feel like 

see it, yeah. It's on Disney Plus for, also 

recommend the TV show too, cuz that was not, that one was interesting as well. Mm-hmm. 

Which I'm kind of sad that it got, um, canceled. I feel like it could have done a lot more.

I agree. But I feel like I. It had a one, the story was like one shot. So I felt like, I don't think they could have continued it with another story. I 

also agree, I think it was good the way it was that it came out and, um, glad to see it on screens and I don't think that it would've necessarily needed another season, but they probably could have done, I probably could have watched it with, you know, with interest.

Mm-hmm. About what's happening. 

So, but that would've been, that's like three treasures in they found. 

Three treasures so far. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Three whole 

treasures. Man. There's so many 

different treasures. There's so many treasures. I don't know what these people were doing, how they were able to hide so much that we could not find.

So 

that's the Templars, the Latin, and I think the other one was Native American. Uh, it's indigenous. Indigenous, yeah. So I'm just waiting for the next film to be, you know, maybe another cultural group, I guess. Hiding treasure and all. 

They've, hi. They hide all the treasure here in the US and South America.

I'm like, can, apparently nowhere else it exists, cause Egypt does not have pyramids that we could not find our way into. Uh, you know, this doesn't, it doesn't make sense. Why is all the treasure here? 

That's like saying, uh, what was someone. This is off topic, but someone was saying like all the U F UFO sightings, if you look at a map, can all be central in the us.

Oh yeah. 

Maybe everyone's doing psychedelics. Too much psychedelics, and they're just out there like, whoa, what is that? Or maybe you all have astigmatism like I do, and everything looks like a ufo. I mean, and or maybe it's UFOs. I'm not doubting that they exist. I just think it's kind of ironic. That all of these treasures are in the US 

and they're all being found by a white man named Ben Thomas Gates and it's found And they're taking credit for it.

Yeah. Even though he's fictional. I think 

it's Benjamin Franklin Gates. I thought that was his name. You're probably right. Which is a dumb name. I'm sorry, he's not a real person, so we don't have to worry. But yeah, that's a stupid name. Don't name your kid. Benjamin Franklin Gates. Come on 

now. You can't be more American than that.

Seriously. Don't do that. But I guess, I guess Gwyneth Paltrow named your son Moses. So I guess we're just, we're in that time. We're in that time span. Listen, if you're, if you're looking at this movie and thinking it's a good name, I'm not trying to, to. Say you need to make better choices, but I also am saying you need to make better choices.

All right, so, uh, any last words before we sign off? As always, 

I lost my hand. I lost my wife. Johnny has his hand. Johnny has his wife one of these days, uh, I'll better forget it. 

With, with, with that, we'll say goodbye. Well, bye bye. My 

end.