During a chat with Indiewire‘s Eric Kohn about Spike Jonze‘s Beastie Boys Story doc (AppleTV+), Beastie Boy Mike “Mike D” Diamond notes that during the watching of Ben Stiller‘s Tropic Thunder, “Every three minutes something happens where you’re like, ‘That could never be in a movie in 2020.'”

Kohn: “It often seems like Stiller doesn’t get enough credit as a filmmaker.”

MD: “He really doesn’t. Cable Guy is incredible.”

Spike Jonze: “Escape From Dannemora is incredible.”

Jonah Hill: “I’ve heard ‘Stiller doesn’t get enough props as a filmmaker’ enough to think that there’s something behind it. He’s made so many bangers. I think there’s something interesting in that statement in itself. He’s made like five of my favorite movies. Then I heard this from film people, that he doesn’t get enough props as a filmmaker, but maybe it’s a backhanded compliment, because who says he doesn’t get enough props as a filmmaker? Do you think it’s because, if he just had that roster of five films we all love — if his IMDb was just, Reality Bites, Tropic Thunder, Zoolander, Cable Guy and Escape From Dannemora, you’d be like, ‘This guy is one of the best guys around.’ You think it’s because he’s also so famous as an actor that it strips back some of his props as a filmmaker?”

Kohn: “Jonah, this all feels very meta since, like Stiller, you’re a comedy guy now making your way into directing movies.”

JH: “I couldn’t know yet because I haven’t made enough films. But of course, I’m interested in that question. It’s so fascinating. There’s a selfish interest in that, but I’m also thinking about it as a fan of him as a director.”

MD: “Here’s an interesting footnote: Adam and I first met Ben Stiller after Paul’s Boutique came out, and after Cable Guy came out. We had this shared misery of putting all this time into a project that we respectively completely believed in. We didn’t even question it. To make stuff for this company and they’re like, ‘This thing is great’. And then it completely tanks commercially. But then some people say they love it. It’s a weird conflict.”