A (7:17)

You said everything you think that needs to be said. But all the things that you forgot have got me seein read. So open up the discord and the telephone line. It's corrections and omissions time.

A (7:33)

Rob from Long Island. Two for two. That's like an earworm. I love it. I want to go back to that. Okay. Old man Pappy writes, the crew wondered a couple times why the orphans never look towards each other for community or support. And the clear answer is they share one consciousness. Hey, look at how they're constantly standing in a grouping or acting in unison. The orphans are a part of a single hive mind and see themselves as one entity. Are they aliens possessed under some sort of hypnosis? All possible. But I think the key to their strange connection is Ms. Hopewell, I believe the tree is the matriarch of this hive and through parasitic spores or some ancient magic has turned the orphans into thralls. Well, I love that you've casually just dropped thralls. Ironically, Ms. Mavilda cutting down the tree would have been the only thing that freed the kids from its hold on them. Whoa, Old man. Pappy ain't fucking around. You came in hot. And this is possibly the best theory I've ever heard on any movie that we have ever done. The kids are Borg, and I love it. I'm just going to say they're Borg because I. I would love that. How the Borg came to Earth originally. Maybe they're here. Picard. Get them Borgs. Joe Tangella writes, it was really weird that Mrs. Mavilda specifically said, go get your electric chainsaw. But then the guy had a gas powered chainsaw. Why was she so specific and so wrong? Here's what I think about that. Ms. Mavilda is not into specifics, you know, or that guy's kind of a drunk, you know, she's like, go get your electric one. And he's like, I'll get my gas powered one. It's worse for the environment. Right. I kind of feel like that's what he was doing. Some people may say, oh, the animators weren't communicated to. They didn't do adr. No, no, no, no. That's a choice of a drunken person. And miss Mvilda not really paying attention to stuff that doesn't involve her. I mean, how would she even know that he has a specific chainsaw? I mean, I have neighbors, I see that they have tools. I don't know if it's gas powered. I don't know if it's like, I don't know. I'm not. I'm not asking those questions. And anyway, Sean McBee puts an image, an image up of the home that Judy was being sent to so she could be framed for theft. Now the man is sitting amongst empty beer cans with his stained area rug and his cracked plaster wall. So if he was to slip something valuable into Judy's purse, I think I might just see a few small flaws in Ms. Mavilda's plan. Yeah, I mean, look, I guess you could say the cops are on Mavilda's side. She's gonna frame her. This guy's got friends on the force. We know it doesn't always have to make, you know, sense. But you know what Sean McBee goes on to say, Another example of even more egregious animation choices is in this shot of Judy, when the camera rig appears to have been knocked off kilter. So you can see the top of the animation cell and some of the stand is revealed. It seems to be like no one is involved in this movie. Gave half a about it. You know, I did notice that, and I thought that was just something like an artifact on YouTube. I didn't realize that the animation was truly off. And this still is cracking me up. You can see the stand. It's like that new 4K thing that they did for Mad Men where you see the guy pumping the oyster rig. Or like. Like when Roger Sterling vomits oysters, there's a guy off camera, like with the rig. Oh, man. But this. This is not about 4k upgrade. No, no, no. This is just about. You know what? I actually believe that the guy whose house that Judy was supposed to go to probably ran the animation rig. Anyway. Frosted Nebula writes regarding June, asking if Mrs. Mavilda is having to report what's happening with the money as far as reporting requirements go for publicly funded service organizations. Dear God, I am a nerd. If the orphanage is in the US they would presumably be receiving some sort of Community Development Block grant funding, which is a CD bg, which has very specific reporting metrics. So theoretically, if the bags of money from the mayor are CDBG grant funds, Ms. Mavilda would be required to follow specific reporting metrics about how the money is being used. And those reports will be reviewed by the city or county and the federal government. Many people not doing their jobs here. Well, here's the thing, Frosted Nebula, I appreciate your specificity, but I don't think this is an American tale. This is no Fievel. No, no, no. This is. This is somewhere where you can walk to Alaska, which I guess, I mean, it might be.

A (12:31)

Well, Alaska. North Pole, not Alaska. Huh. Maybe it is Alaska. Doesn't feel like Alaska. Not sure. All right, Frosted Nebula, you're right. All right, let's go to the phones. Ben from Virginia, what do you got?

C (12:44)

Hi, everybody. This is Ben and my buddy Paul, and I love to watch these movies in advance. We caught something that I think made us laugh so hard that we had to stop the movie, go back and even record a clip of it from the movie. A line you didn't point out. There's so many things from the Christmas tree that.

C (13:04)

Worth discussing. But our favorite line is after the little girl prays to, I guess Santa to change her wish a second time, and the little boy behind her says, let me see if I can get this right. Santa's not going to Hear you. Nobody's going to hear you. Miracles don't happen. Thank you for bringing this ridiculous movie to our attention. It was a challenge to watch, like, an actual physical pain. All of the little cells and eyes and things jotting and buffing around, but what a. What a joy to know that this exists. Thank you all for all you do. Saw the dinosaur show in dc. Fantastic. Cheers.

A (13:43)

First of all, Ben, thank you so much for coming out to dc. That was a blast. I love going out with Dinosaur. We have such a killer group of people out there. It's the best. It's the absolute best. If you're ever in la, come see. Dinosaur will be alive at Largo on the 24th, 4th of January. I know that's far away, but yes, that line, santa's not going to hear you. Nobody's going to hear you. Miracles don't happen. Sounds to me like the sentiments of a very depressed animator who forgot to center the animation cells while transferring it to Betamax. Wow, Ben, thank you for that. This is a movie where you should have your phone out so you can tape moments and show them to people. Like I have been doing with Landman. Oh, man. There's some lines in Landman. Some lines in Landman that will just knock your fucking.

A (14:38)

Teeth out. Is that a phrase? No, it's not. All right, let's go to the phone now and hear from Steve.

C (14:43)

Hi, Paul, this is Steve with an omission for the Christmas tree. Or maybe an explanation for the cryptic ending, the way that it ends with that line that Mrs. Mavalda learned that you only win if you're good. What does this mean? Well, I think that it means. It is a reference back to her gambling addiction. June pointed out that the movie doesn't end actually saying that she has stopped gambling. Perhaps she has. But of course, we also know that she was terrible at gambling. She was always losing. So maybe through, I don't know, Santa's Christmas magic or whatever, Mrs. Mavalda found a loophole and learned that if you are good or fame being good, that you can start winning. So maybe the movie actually ends kind of ambiguously, with her laying in wait and growing in power and so on, until she can finally unmask herself and her evil upon the world. I don't know.

A (15:36)

Okay, I like it. I like it that you are a Christmas tree truther. Like you believe. It all makes sense. And you have a beautiful perspective on this. You know what? I actually believe that that is the spirit of the film, to find the truth, whatever truth is. True to you.

A (15:54)

So thank you. Thank you, Steve, for showing us that this is a metaphor about gambling. All right, back to the discord. Dove writes something that we knew when recording this episode is nearly twice the length of the movie they're discussing, with the movie lasting 42 minutes, the episode being about 80. How many episodes have done that were longer than the source movie itself, let alone twice as long? I'm betting it's none. Now, our producer, Scott, always on target, always up for a challenge, says we've never had another episode be almost twice as long as the movie, that this isn't the first episode that is longer than the movie in general, to name a couple. Our episodes on Superman 4, the Quest for Peace, and 2 to 2, were both longer than the films. Now, here's the thing. Our discussions frequently go much longer than the movie, but we edit them down. For example, the Morbius Live show was three hours long, unedited. But we know that that's a special thing for the audience. So whenever you come see how did this get made live, you're going to get a longer, more special show. And also, we understand no one wants to hear three hours of Morbius. And I know you're like, yes, we do. No, you don't. SS Lizard writes, I don't think the mayor's a good guy. He sees one kid dressed in the same clothes every time he drops off money, and that's it. He doesn't look around or talk to the kids or ask for any receipts. He just drops off money like, yep, I've done my job. I'm such a good mayor. Here's the thing, SS Lizard. Hire good people and then let them do their job. And I think the mayor was doing that. And yes, he got a little complacent. But there seems to be a lot of things that this mayor is responsible for, primarily employing every individual person in this town. He has to size them up, find them not only a job, but then take care of their lodging as well. This mayor is doing the Lord's work. And yes, he may get confused. He may have thought, there's different kids coming in and out. And sure, you can attack him all you want, but this guy is doing more than most mayors. Okay, John Steele writes, hey, Paul, my wife and I watched this movie with our kids, and we all had a good laugh at this bizarre movie. We had a thought on Mrs. Mavilda. We noticed that during the first card game, some of the other degenerates were calling her Bavilda. So we thought maybe her Full name is Bavilda Mavilda. John Steele. This is the logic. This is the logic that we need. And you know what? I'm doing it. Two last looks in a row. You are our winner. That's right, John Steele for naming Mrs. Mavilda Bavilda Mavilda. Yeah. You're going to win and you get this amazing song from Homonym. You win.

A (18:45)

Nothing.

A (18:47)

Yes. Great job to everyone who came correct. And you did. You came very correct. By the way. How did this get made? Merch. We have re released our original shirts. The first two designs we ever made are now up in our merch store. You could just go to hdtgm.com and get a link to go right there. You can also get our shirts for our Philadelphia and New York shows. They're great holiday gifts. You can make them into coffee mugs, you can make them into stickers, you can make them into hoodies, you can make them into onesies people give. How did this get made for the holidays? And if you want those amazing hats, that's available too. You just have to go to our pod swag store. Okay, now if you want to chime in with your thoughts about what we're always talking about here on the show, you can. It's very easy. You listen to the show, you go to our discord, or you call me at 619Paulask. Then I'll read your thing. I'll determine if you have what it takes to be like John Steele. And you know what? Most of you do. I believe in you. Like Tony Robbins, you can do anything you set your mind to. Take it from me, Paul Robbins. All right, coming up next, you don't want to miss my chat with Jason where we recap our recent New York and Philadelphia live shows and talk, movies, TV music and more. So stick around after the break.

A (20:06)

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B (22:54)

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A (23:39)

People. I hope you're checking out our amazing matinee episodes. That's right. Every Tuesday we re release an old episode into the feed. And we are talking Christmas movies. This year we are talking about Ben Affleck in the holiday crime flick Reindeer Games with Howard Kramer. We had some very big revelations on this one. And next week we're gonna go not just fully down a Christmas path, we're gonna go a little adjacent by Talking about the 1991 Robin Williams surreal comedy toys. Cause Christmas and toys. You see how we made that connection? Anyway, keep on checking out all of our replays of classic episodes every Tuesday. And now, without any further ado, it is time to welcome Jason to Last Looks for a little just chat ad noisium. Play us in.

A (24:40)

Five days away, Jason, from our live event streaming around the world.

B (24:45)

I'm in training now. I'm working out two times a day. I'm doing I love you just to get ready for the live stream.

A (24:53)

We are going to do it in a different and fun way this year, which is we're all in the same location, which will be fun because that will mean Jess won't have to do any tech, but she will have to arrive there, which will be a whole other very different. Maybe tell her, maybe tell her it's going a little bit early.

B (25:11)

You should give her a different time.

B (25:14)

And I fully expect simply her presence will somehow cause tech problems.

A (25:22)

This story that I heard, and I won't reveal all the facts, but I think it's a good one. Which was there was a table read that was going on for a project and they wanted to make sure that every actor got there on time. So they told all the actors like two hours ahead of time to get there because a giant movie star was going to be at this table read and the giant movie star got there two hours early as well, just because the giant movie star was like, I just want to be there. I want to make sure that I am there. So then they had this, this wait because not everyone showed up Everybody was there.

B (26:00)

Oh. So just not every. Just not quite everybody.

A (26:03)

Not quite everyone. Because the one person that they were also trying to, like, gauge against didn't show up until 2 hours and 30 minutes. So it came 30 minutes late. But they had to entertain, like, the biggest. I was like, oh, this is really, like, no one knew what to do when.

B (26:20)

I can't wait to hear who it is.

A (26:21)

Yeah, it's a good one. All right. So, Jason, we have been on tour. We've been moving around. We've been grooving around. We had some great shows in Philly. We had some great filling guests, you.

B (26:30)

And I. Morgan was in Philly. Shouts to Morgan, who came. Who moved away from Philly but came back just for the show.

A (26:38)

And I feel like we didn't give him enough due out there. But you know what? It was.

B (26:41)

I'm giving it to him now. Great work, Morgan.

A (26:43)

Great work, Morgan. Now, I will say, I mean, are.

B (26:46)

How many people. Sorry, how many people genuinely, in the 15 years of this podcast from the audience, can you name. Single name, you know, can you count.

A (26:59)

It on one hand?

B (27:00)

Count you by name? You know what I mean?

A (27:01)

Counted on one hand.

B (27:02)

There's Tim at Largo. There's Morgan. Like, Morgan was like an absolute superstar.

A (27:07)

Yeah.

B (27:08)

You know, yeah, there.

A (27:09)

I mean, there's only the Pete the S, man. You know, there's a couple of people that comes to mind.

B (27:14)

Cannon. I think Ben can.

A (27:16)

Well, yeah, I think.

B (27:16)

What a great name.

A (27:17)

Jafar.

B (27:18)

Leah from Chicago.

A (27:19)

Oh, Leah from Chicago. We had some fun. We had some fun times in New York because we actually got to lay down a very long episode of Blank Check, which I've been loving watching people's reactions to. Oh, yeah, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

B (27:34)

People were like, by the way, Geek Squad came up in it.

A (27:37)

Yes, they did. And as you know, we are waging this war with Vanity Fair and. And Hollywood now.

B (27:42)

We're waging war.

A (27:43)

I'm just going to say it. We are wagin.

B (27:45)

Wait a minute.

A (27:47)

But we're bringing.

B (27:48)

We're bringing back wars. We're bringing back, like, when Howard Stern would go to war with, like, a.

A (27:53)

Radio D. Yeah, like the Philadelphia dude.

B (27:55)

Yeah, exactly.

A (27:56)

Here's what I will say. Some people lamented that. 3 hours and 41 minutes. Not enough time for us to break down.

B (28:05)

But, I mean, I could have kept going.

A (28:07)

Me, too.

B (28:08)

We had a show, kept going, you know, and I'm not surprised that people wanted more. You know who didn't want more? David Sims.

A (28:15)

Oh, my gosh.

B (28:16)

There is nothing More fun, I will say, especially. Especially this time when the four of us got to be in the room. I love being then watching David get more and more agitated and frustrated in a such delightfully fun and funny way. He is. What a great. What a great presence inside of the absolute chaos that is you, me, and Griffin.

A (28:40)

Oh, and here's what I love about it, is it seems like that anger is misplaced because the show has started. But he does treat it as if the show has not begun, right? Like not hit record yet.

B (28:53)

As if everything. The. The whole conversation we've been having about the movie, but simply because nobody has said, this is the blank checkpoint. Nobody's done the intro line. He's getting more. And, oh, it was so funny. More and more frustrated, you know, because, you know, that's. David is, you know, has three kids, I think, under four.

A (29:13)

Yeah, he's got. He's in it. He's in it.

B (29:15)

He's drowning in children. And it is He. Boy. And so I think for him, the three of us were just like three unruly kids.

A (29:23)

I mean, it was so funny because we should have started at 10am to finish at 6. Like, you know.

A (29:33)

It was really like, to me, I love being in there. I love their space. I love talking to them. And so if you have not listened to that episode, do yourself a favor. If you got about four hours.

A (29:45)

And.

B (29:45)

It'S the kind of thing that you can listen to in chunks. And I will say, if you are a Coen Brothers fan, if you're a Blank Check fan, if you're a movie podcast fan, if you like our show, you should be listening to Blank Check. Absolutely. A lot of our guests are guests on that show. Listen to Gabriel us. Paul and I have been on it a bunch. Listen to the Doughboys on there if you're looking for an entry point, but then also listen to Ari Aster on there, listen to Seth Rogan on there, Listen to the, you know, all the great. All the great past and future guests. It's a fantastic show, and I can't recommend it enough. And this series about the Coen Brothers is maybe pound for pound, one of the greatest series they've ever.

A (30:29)

The best run that they've had. I mean, in that. In a Ser. In a. A. A show that has tremendous runs all the time. I will also say this. I want to shout out our friend who's never actually been on the podcast, but Rob Riggle. Rob Riggle has a book and an audiobook as well. It's the same book you Know it's not. He has two, but it's called Grit, Spit and Never Quit. It's his story about being a marine and doing comedy. And there are some great, great stories in there. Wriggles. Marine stories are always hilarious. And this book is really, really fun. If you like Rob Riggle and you know him obviously from, you know everything from like 21 Jump Street Daily Show.

B (31:13)

Yeah, Daily Show, SNL.

A (31:16)

Great dude.

B (31:16)

Incredible.

A (31:17)

Great, great dude. So anyway, just wanted to shout out our friend and his brand new book. But Jason, I've been watching stuff and I wanted to get your read. You're gonna have more interesting stuff. So I'm gonna just throw one thing at you.

B (31:28)

What do you want? What do you got?

A (31:30)

I went back and watched 21 Jump Street. And I was like, this is the TV.

B (31:34)

The entire TV?

A (31:35)

No, I wish I watched the TV. By the way, I do own it. The entire TV series.

B (31:40)

Really?

A (31:40)

Oh, I do. I loved it. I watched that 21 Jump street movie and it was like, you know, it's funny. I don't often revisit comedies. I'm like, oh, yeah, it was really funny. I really liked it. And I don't ever go back to. I rewatched that movie and I was like, this movie is kind of perfect.

B (31:55)

It just is so funny.

A (31:57)

So funny. Great cast across the board. I just was like blown away by. I think it's fun to sit back and watch comedies after a long time of not seeing them because it's.

B (32:08)

Because then you're surprised by the jokes again. Yeah, because that's why it works. Because it's like, it's so surprising and funny. And again, we just don't do these anymore. Wouldn't it be great to make movies with funny people that are funny, you know, that are just non stop funny with funny people? I would love that. But we don't seem to be interested in that or the. The business doesn't seem to be interested in that.

A (32:32)

And it's such a shame because that's a movie that really you could show is like, oh, well, it's done it all. I mean, you and I think also have a soft spot for action comedy, especially cop stuff and funny stuff. I mean. But I just want to give a shout out to Dave Franco, who I think is so good in that movie. He's great. He's so fucking funny, everybody. I just really like.

B (32:49)

And that's a run too, where you've got 21 Jump street you've got like the Seth and Evan stuff, like this is the end happening around that same time, you've got neighbors happening right around that. Like, you've got a run of movies that is kind of the end. Many of these are not even action comedies. These are just comedies. Yeah. And that run is kind of the end of studio comedies, really.

A (33:12)

And they're all successful. Like. Like, I mean, it's so crazy to look at, like, you know, like, it's an 85 on rotten tomatoes. 21 Jump street these are not failures. These are not even, like, niche movies. These were ones that really, really worked.

B (33:24)

These are. These are movies that connected. I still wish. I think we talked about this recently. I wish they would do the 21 Jump Street 3. Men in Black 4.

A (33:34)

Channing Tatum was talking about it recently again.

B (33:37)

Oh, okay, good.

A (33:38)

And I think that there's some rights issues where they're now able to maneuver.

B (33:42)

But that's the kind of fun that I wish people we were doing. I wish we were making movies that had that fun to that. That level of fun and surprise. Because I think we'd have hits on our hands, you know, comedically. You know, we'd have people being interested to be like, I gotta go see that. Instead of like, it's Baywatch or, you know, whatever nonsense.

A (34:03)

We make these things that, like, I don't know. It's a bummer. It's just a bummer. Sometimes it's a bummer. But I will tell you, the trailer for Project Hail Mary looks amazing. That's Lord Miller's new movie and I.

B (34:16)

Got based on the Andy Weir book.

A (34:17)

I did see it, I will tell you that much. I saw it months ago and before the effects were done, I think maybe they cut out about 10, 15 minutes. And I will tell you, you are in store for. I. I saw it almost not effects list, but with minimal effects. And I was blown away by it, like. And I just. I'm so excited for that movie. I'm so excited for people to see that movie.

B (34:41)

That's great.

A (34:42)

But what have you been up to? To.

B (34:44)

I'm watching a bunch of stuff. I've got a bunch of stuff to shout out. Tv. I've got some music stuff. Let's just blast it through. Taskmaster season 20 just wrapped up on YouTube. I can't recommend it enough.

A (34:55)

Better than your fantastic season.

B (34:57)

It is in no way shape or form better than my season.

A (35:01)

I've been boycotting it because I'm.

B (35:04)

I'm.

A (35:04)

And actively telling people don't why it's not as good. They didn't bring back Jason and they. Well, they don't ever really bring back people.

B (35:10)

You know, it's that magic trick that Taskmaster always does. Especially for, I think if you are not fully dialed into British comedy where I don't know these people or maybe I've seen them in passing here or there. And then I immediately become obsessed with them and become so invested in the show. This season was fantastic.

A (35:29)

I really became a fan of Stevie Martin because of. Oh my God, because of your season.

B (35:34)

Like, Stevie Martin sent me a picture recently of I'll find it and send it and maybe we can post it. Somebody sent her a picture of people on Halloween dressed as her and I in our. In our outfits from Tasmania.

A (35:47)

I remember that. Oh, I wish I which was very cute.

B (35:50)

Like it was like a couple's costume, I think.

A (35:52)

Oh, I think that that's amazing. By the way, somebody did something that I want to send you. It is a clip of someone hitting the pause button on Teen Wolf and finding the nudity in it. So now there is. We have a great.

B (36:05)

Now there's proof.

A (36:06)

There's proof now that somebody was able to give me the proof that I so desperately needed from the Teen Wolf episode.

B (36:12)

Oh, that's so funny.

A (36:15)

Amazon five Star Theater presents real Customer Reviews performed by professional Second Opinions reader Tall John Shear Today's Review A Scented Spice Candle I was gifted the kitchen spice candle at a Christmas bazaar this past year and seeing that my life is surrounded by odd smells. I'm a mortician. I decided to bring it to a work. This candle masks the smell completely. My workspace is tolerable. Again, I am recommending this to all my colleagues and friends. This candle literally masks the smell of death. 5 stars Technologic 80 this has been another Amazon 5 star theater performance. I don't know where they got this idea for an ad campaign, but it's really smart. Whatever you're thinking for this holiday, find the perfect gift on Amazon.

A (37:05)

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B (39:25)

There's a show on I think HBO. It's a. It's an adult swim show called haha you clowns.

A (39:32)

Oh, I never.

B (39:32)

Animated show, 15 minute episodes. I have not laughed this hard in I don't know how long. This is very funny. Like absurd nonsense funny shit this. There's only a handful of episodes are up so far that I've seen.

A (39:49)

Joe Kappa is the creator. Okay, yeah.

B (39:52)

I just happened on this show and it is killing me how funny it is. It's absolutely bananas level funny.

B (40:00)

Landman is back.

A (40:01)

Diplomat is back.

B (40:03)

Oh yes, love Landman. The last frontier on Apple is basically what if Con Air was a TV series.

A (40:12)

I and I started watching it and I'm loving it. It's a blast.

B (40:15)

It's. It's a blast. If you are looking for it's, it's Getting to be that holiday season period where I feel like everybody watches Gilmore Girls.

A (40:25)

Yes.

B (40:25)

If you are looking for a Gilmore Girls esque thing to watch, maybe you've already watched Gilmore Girls enough or whatever. I can't recommend enough. The follow up show that Amy Sherman Palladino did one season of called Bunheads. All of which is now on Prime. And I've just rewatched all of Bun Heads and it's incredible. It is so fantastic. Sutton Foster is the star of the show. Every she's a she and Kelly Bishop have a dance studio. Every episode has a like long single take dance performance which the Paladinos then later did on Etoile as well the now canceled prime show. But I cannot recommend Bunheads enough. It's on Prime. It's been hard to watch for a while. So that's a good one.

A (41:16)

Jason, have you watched or. We haven't talked about it yet, but the Chair company.

B (41:21)

Chair Company I am. I've only watched the first couple. I think it's amazing. Now that I'm back at home, I'm gonna watch the rest of it. I'm very excited.

A (41:28)

I really. This is a show and like Pluribus as well. I like to.

B (41:32)

I haven't started that.

A (41:33)

I haven't started either because I like to build up a handful because I know I. I wanna watch more than one.

B (41:39)

And I also don't want to watch stuff on hotel TVs.

A (41:43)

No, exactly. I want to watch it the right way. I don't want to watch it on my like fold up iPad. But I will tell you this. I'm calling for the Lou Diamond Phillips Renaissance. I feel like he is great in Chair.

B (41:56)

So good. And I just saw him be great in a season, an older season of the Billy. I was so desiring Landman to come back that I've watched almost all of Goliath, Billy Bob Thornton's Amazon Prime Lawyer show. And one season Lou Diamond Phillips is in.

A (42:12)

And it's fantastic that Goliath. I remember watching that.

B (42:15)

My gosh, it's fun.

A (42:16)

He's been really, really good. And by the way, Jim down in Chair company is fantastic. And if you watch one battle after another, he's also fantastic in that like he's having this renaissance.

B (42:25)

And there's a Jim Downey documentary out.

A (42:27)

As well which is called. Downey wrote that it's on Peacock and there's a great interview with Letterman and downey together on YouTube. It's one of his YouTube interview shows which he's doing. And it's great Because Downey was the head writer of Letterman for a little bit after he left SNL in the early days. So they are. They talk about bits that. It was making me laugh so hard because it was just like the craziest Letterman bits. But it's the head writer and Letterman talking about, like bits that no one talks about. Really, really fun.

B (42:57)

One last show that I want to give some real love to because I think it's maybe my favorite show of the year so far. And that's Sterling Harjo's the Lowdown, the Ethan Hawke show that is set in Oklahoma. That is absolutely phenomenal. They're calling it like a Tulsa Noir, I think, or something like that. And it's very much that. It is a very noir story that's being told with, you know, Ethan Hawke as the protagonist. And it is a funny, shaggy, detective ish hangout show. The cast is incredible. The music is incredible. I specifically want to shout out. They are using the musician Ken Pomeroy. She's an incredible singer, songwriter and she's an actor on the show. Her album from last year called Cruel Joke I think is one of my favorite albums of the year. Flannel Cowboy may be one of my most listened to songs of the year. The show is incredible and I think deserves everybody's attention. Like, top of the list for me for 2025, the lowdown.

A (43:59)

Oh, I love this. And you know, you shouted out one thing that I want to just call out. We. I've talked about them before on the show. So the Wolves of Glendale, they are a really funny band. And I know sometimes if you say, oh, a funny band, people like you could feel their buttholes tighten. But here's what I'm gonna tell you. They are legitimately very funny. But they're doing a brand new series which I love. It's like Iron Chef for songwriting. So what they do is they get these ingredients that they have to do and then make a song. So every episode is them making a song on a very unique topic. The first episode is they have to make a song about Shrek. I just love the format. It's Iron Chef with music. Check it out. It's on YouTube. It's free. It's Wolves of Glendale. You will love it. And the Shrek. Shrek song is very funny.

B (44:47)

Let me just. I want to shout out a couple things. I just saw. I was in New York. This is really for people. If you are in New York or going to New York. I saw Natalie Palmides's show. Weird. Oh, my God. Cherry Lane and it was astonishing. I thought it was an absolutely incredible show that everybody needs to see. Natalie Palmides did the show Nate that is available on Netflix. But this show, Weir is an incredible, incredible show. I couldn't believe the. I don't want to say what the kind of trick of it is or.

B (45:24)

What the hook of it is, but it's so incredible and so funny. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Some of my favorite comedians are on tour. If you can see Nish Kumar's show, Nish, don't kill my vibe. Incredible. James Acaster is touring and is touring the US with new material that I've seen and it is fantastic. James Acaster, of course, from the James Projector episode Phenomenal. Stevie Martin is on tour. We mentioned her earlier. My taskmaster, JV Mart Zukas teammate. Please see her new stuff is fantastic. But a bunch of people have put out specials recently that I want to shout out. Ian Edwards put out a special on YouTube that is absolutely hilarious. Earthquake special, joke telling. Business is so funny. Ali Wong directed Frankie Quinones special. Damn, that's scary. And that's very funny. All of these are worth tracking down and worth checking out great specials all around. Like trying to get into more like finding more people that are putting out specials and not just like big slick nonsense but like really funny shows, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Patton was on something recently. Patton just put out an audio only special.

A (46:42)

Oh wow.

B (46:43)

I love this. Great. More of this.

A (46:45)

Okay.

B (46:46)

And also the Jeff Buckley documentary is absolutely heartbreaking and fantastic.

A (46:51)

Well, Jason, here's something you're going to want to put on your list. A brand new musical performer, a talent here from our show of years past. Our former engineer Devin Bryant has something to share with us. Devin, welcome back to how did this get Made?

D (47:10)

Gentlemen, hello. Well, well.

A (47:13)

Left us for smartless. Left us to do more and be more creative though. How dare I know.

D (47:21)

I'm so sorry.

B (47:22)

Left us for, as my cousins in Massachusetts would say, smart list.

D (47:26)

That's absolutely right. And I've seen both of you guys as you come through on a couple shows we've had over there. Both of you were on Staying Alive, the show I work on with Gabrison Pally, which is a fantastic show. Great episode that you're both were on too. If people haven't heard them, please check them out.

B (47:40)

Do you think those are the two highest rated episodes of that show?

D (47:43)

Yes.

A (47:44)

Now here's what I'll say. Say, you know, for people who don't know, Devin is the Best. We love Devin. Devin produced here on how did this get made? Created songs for us. Was instrumental on Unspooled as well. But, Devin, in your own right, you are a great musician. We talked about your. Your last big release under the moniker of Painkiller the Pigeon, Right?

D (48:08)

That's right. Painkiller the Pigeon is what I call this kind of music because I do some experimental stuff and. But this is where I put kind of like, you know, pop songs. I mean, for lack of a better. These are. These are guitars, these are drums, these are bass, these are lyrics. You know, it's Beatles type pop songs. I mean, rather than, say, a Sabrina Carpenter or something like that. Yeah, yeah.

A (48:27)

Well, now the new album is called Blame it on the Zodiac.

B (48:30)

Right.

A (48:31)

And Blame it on My Zodiac. Oh, my Zodiac. There you go. Okay, now, I like that.

B (48:35)

Is the album. So it's all songs that are about the failure of your Zodiac boat. The. The inflatable. The inflatable boat, which is.

A (48:45)

Look, don't, Jason. We cannot shit on them. They're sponsoring. Sponsor, please.

A (48:50)

Yeah, we're getting a lot of money from the Zodiac.

B (48:52)

Oh, yeah.

A (48:54)

A big discount code. No one uses it because it's still very expensive. But. But yeah. So tell us about this album.

D (48:59)

Well, it's a very vintagey thing. I mean, the. The. The inspiration. The things I was listening to as I was writing these songs are sort of all things that ended up being released sort of 1968 to 1972. And I don't really know why. It's just it was all the, you know, kind of the second, third, fourth CCR record. The, like, second, third, fourth Joni Mitchell record. You know, the. Like, the Peter Gabriel Genesis era, the King Crimson kind of before the first breakup. You know, it's all this stuff that.

B (49:26)

I was listening to, like Adrian Ballou.

D (49:29)

Era, King Crimson, or I certainly was listening to a ton of that. Yes, absolutely.

B (49:33)

But, I mean, are we talking three of a perfect pair here? Larkstone, Jack and me? Like, what are we talking?

D (49:41)

That's a good record, by the way. That's an underrated one. The second one, Beat, people are like, discipline's the one. But beat is fantastic.

A (49:48)

Beat is.

B (49:49)

I loved Bee.

D (49:50)

Absolutely.

B (49:50)

And that whole run, you said Larkstone, right?

A (49:53)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

D (49:53)

Larkstone is fantastic. And Red, the one that comes after it, which is just brutal love.

B (49:58)

Red.

D (49:58)

Brutal record. So none of that exactly leaks through to the record, King Crimson wise. But Robert Fripp's kind of attitude is in the back of my head the whole time, which is, keep Going, keep pushing. You're not doing it well enough. Which is mostly him talking to himself, you know, being furious that he would have missed like, like whatever, like a 30 second note in an arpeggio. It was off by a quaver last night. He's like, the show sucked, you know, and you're like, I wasn't going for quite that kind of thing, but there was just this voice in my head of like, keep pushing on it. Right? And so it became that most vintage of things, a double album, a crazy thing to make Eightfold if I'm ever able to make it on vinyl. Right. Which is. Which is the goal. But at the moment it's just going to be on cd, which is a nice, glossy, limited edition package that I made with a big poster and with a lyric booklet and all this kind of stuff. It's meant to be kind of a. A, A vintagey thing, you know, that's. That's the idea of it. A physical object that you.

B (50:50)

Physical media, baby.

D (50:51)

That's the point of it. Yeah.

A (50:52)

So now where can we get it? What can we do? How can we support it? We're gonna play a little clip because I think we can do that. You know, we could talk to your company.

B (51:01)

You better not. You better not force us to take it down.

D (51:05)

I'm issuing a takedown. I love that. It's always issuing a takedown.

A (51:11)

Like, yeah, like, where can we find it? Because I know that you have an account on Spotify. You could type in Pinkiller the Pigeon. But that's not every. You know, that's not everything.

D (51:19)

It'll be streaming absolutely everywhere that people prefer to listen to it. Even the naughty places like Spotify that I wish you wouldn't use. But you know, Tidal and Apple Music anywhere. Use it. Use it.

B (51:28)

Would you prefer it if we, for example, bought it digitally on Bandcamp?

D (51:33)

I certainly would. Bandcamp, My Bandcamp painkiller. The pigeon.bandcamp.com is the place to go, I would say.

B (51:39)

And when, if you are lucky enough to. To be a Band Camp regular, if you buy the album on Bandcamp Friday, that means Bandcamp does not take its percentage. All of the money goes to the artist.

D (51:52)

Exactly.

B (51:53)

There should be a Bandcamp Friday coming up soon. I believe December the first. December Friday, maybe.

D (52:00)

I believe it's the first Friday in December, which I believe is the day this comes out. The fifth.

A (52:03)

All right, there we go.

D (52:06)

As people are hearing, this is bankruptcy.

B (52:08)

So if you're hearing and it's Band Camp Friday, go and buy Devin's Album.

D (52:13)

Exactly.

B (52:14)

Blame it on my Zodiac.

D (52:16)

Absolutely.

B (52:17)

Will you tour the record?

D (52:20)

I don't know how I could. This is a record I made entirely on my own. I play every single instrument.

B (52:23)

You play every instrument?

D (52:24)

Oh, yeah. Every single track, top to bottom, on. On a double album with four EPs that come out after it. So it's 42 tracks that I did from T to B. So it's. It's kind of an insane project, but I had to make that much to get to the. To boil it down to what the record was supposed to be, I had to make. Make way too much. And then lots of it was good. So it'll all be out in kind of supplementary eps for people that are interested. But the main record is the thing, for sure.

A (52:47)

I love this. The album is available in full for 15, right?

D (52:52)

Yeah. For digital. And if you want to get the cd, yeah. With the special limited edition poster and booklet, that's 20 bucks.

A (52:58)

That's. This is nothing. This is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

B (53:01)

I get that.

D (53:02)

I can't bring myself to charge, honestly. It should be. You know, if I were trying to make money on this thing, it would be like they would be $35, but I just. I reject that. I'm a kid from the ninet. A record should be 15 bucks or less.

A (53:13)

You know what I mean? I agree. I agree, I agree.

B (53:15)

I remember when CDs went up to $17, and I was like, this is insane.

D (53:19)

By the way.

A (53:20)

I've been dealing this with my book. You know, my book came out in. In paperback and it's only $3 cheaper than the hardcover. I'm like, what. What is going on here? Like, the hardcover is like 21 and the book is like 1599. It's like. It's like. It's too close. But anyway, we love you, Devin. Thank you for coming back. Buy this album. Support. Support Devin. Go to Bandcamp today. Support all the artists.

D (53:43)

Seriously, you don't have to buy from me. Buy from people on Bandcamp. Every Bandcamp Friday, just buy something from somebody.

A (53:48)

Buy.

B (53:48)

Buy. How about this, Devin? Are there any artists that you want to shout out that you feel like. I mean, you already have a little bit informed this album that are. That people could also be looking at on Bandcamp.

D (54:00)

Well, that's. It's tough because. Right. So much of the stuff I was listening to was. Was older music. So they don't necessarily have things, you know, to. To promote right now.

B (54:07)

But.

D (54:07)

But I will say the Joni Mitchell archive and reissue series don't get me started.

B (54:12)

I can talk about this for years.

D (54:14)

Well, I got a Joni Mitchell cover on the record, my friend.

A (54:16)

What's up?

D (54:17)

I don't know where I stand from Clouds. It's one of my all time favorites that I just had this dream. I was listening to it on a plane actually, and I was like, this needs to be done. As if the birds had covered this in 1968 with big electric, 12 strings, big harmonies, big drifty, dreamy version of that song. And it's one of my favorite on the record.

B (54:36)

Oh, that's great.

A (54:37)

Love this. All right, tell us this song that you're going to play for us. We'll listen to it and then, yeah, the.

D (54:42)

The song I wanted to play is actually going to be the second single from the record, which on the day you're listening will be out next week. It's called Mistaken, and it's kind of a orchestral chamber poppy thing with a little bit of a groove. So. Yeah.

A (54:55)

All right. Well, thank you, Devin, and enjoy this. So.

A (55:13)

I haven't seen her in quite some time.

D (55:17)

She'll disappear on you overnight she's going.

A (55:21)

To fake herself but she just can't take herself all the time.

A (55:30)

While never keeping her power dry, paying down and pain dead she's not.

A (55:55)

My.

A (56:16)

All right, thank you so much to Jason and Devin for stopping by. If you want to check out the Devin's album Blame it on My Zodiac, go to the link in this episode's show notes, which will point you towards the album on Bandcamp and all streaming services. Now it is finally time to announce our next movie. Next week we'll be going from dry mushing to some wet smooching. Yeah, well, I've already kind of teased this in the beginning, but we're watching 2015's Merry Christmas, starring Carissa Staples, Brent Doherty, and the late great Doris Roberts. Like I mentioned, this is the movie that we are covering on our holiday livestream on December 10th. So if you want to watch the episode live and completely unedited before the podcast comes out, make sure to get yourself a ticket by going to hdtgm.com or my website. Now, if you want to know what this movie's about, well, first of all, I'm going to tell you. Scott says you should watch it. And if you're still not sold on that, here's a summary. A magical kiss and an elevator leaves a woman torn between two men at Christmas time. Ooh. Okay, this movie doesn't have enough Rotten Tomatoes review, so we can't give you that Tomato score. Instead, we turn to letterboxd, where user Marisa Carpio writes, you got a problem when the characters with the most chemistry play cousins. You know, I gotta tell you, this happens a lot on these Lifetime Hallmark films. There seems to be a sexual tension for the characters who can't get together. Like that post office movie. Remember that? The brother and sister that they we wanted them to fuck. Anyway, if you're still not sold, listen to the trail from Merry Christmas. All Kayla wants for Christmas. True love is always a worthy wish. I thought that wish came true two years ago, but now I'm not so sure. Is the happily ever after she's always dreamed about. We decided to hold off on the wedding until after the new year. Now she'll have to choose between the perfect life. Wait.

D (58:09)

Or the perfect guy. Carissa Stable, Brant Daugherty and Doris Roberts.

A (58:16)

Like magic and romance ignite a relationship.

D (58:19)

But it's the friendship that makes it endure.

A (58:21)

In a yuletide story about how it's.

D (58:23)

Never too late to find the perfect.

A (58:25)

One for you, it's the friendship that turns that happily ever after into the beginning of a love story. And not the ending.

D (58:33)

Merry Christmas.

A (58:35)

You excited? I am. You can stream Merry Kissmas on Hoopla, Hoopla, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, Pluto tv, Fossum and Fandango at home. Or you can rent it on YouTube, Apple TV, or Google Play. In addition to Hoopla, where you can find this movie, Kanopy and Libby are two more digital media services offered by your local public library that allow you to consume movies, tv, music, audiobooks, ebooks and comics for free. That is it for last looks. If you listen to us on Apple podcasts or Spotify, please rate and review us. And please also make sure that you are following us and have automatic downloads turned on. It helps us, it helps the show, and we appreciate it. Visit us on social media, dtgm and a big thank you to our producer, Scott Saani, Molly Reynolds, our engineer Casey Holford, our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum, and our intern, Quinn Jennings. And as always, we have the one and only Avril Halle in our hearts. We'll see you next week for Merry Kissmas. Hey, this is Will Arnett, host of Smartless. Smartless is a podcast with myself and Sean Hayes and Jason Bateman, where each week one of us reveals a mystery guest to the other too. We dive deep with guests that you love, like Bill Hader, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Aniston, David Beckham, Kristen Stewart, and tons more. So join us for a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the smartless mind. Listen to Smartless now on the SiriusXM app. Download it Today, Bubba Wallace here with Tyler Reddick.

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