#4364 The Laureate Of Letterboxd

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL Episode #4364 "The Laureate Of Letterboxd"

Release Date: December 23, 2024

In episode #4364 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live, hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh welcome special guest Nick Jarin from Dallas, Texas. The episode delves into the world of Letterboxd, a social media platform dedicated exclusively to movie enthusiasts. Throughout the show, the trio engages in lively discussions about film preferences, holiday movie selections, and personal anecdotes, all infused with their characteristic humor and camaraderie.

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1. Welcome and Guest Introduction

The episode kicks off with the hosts exchanging playful banter, setting a lighthearted tone. They introduce Nick Jarin, a longtime friend and the "longest running cobra" of the show, who joins them to discuss his recent obsession with Letterboxd.

Notable Quote:
Luke Burbank [01:25]: “Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Monday edition of TBTL. The show just might be too beautiful to live.”

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2. Exploring Letterboxd

Nick shares his enthusiasm for Letterboxd, highlighting its focus on movies without the distractions of typical social media features like swiping or photo posting. He explains how the platform allows users to rate films, create lists, write reviews, and follow other cinephiles to discover new favorites.

Notable Quote:
Andrew Walsh [10:24]: “It's just about movies. You rate them, you can make lists of them, you can review them, you can follow other people and see their ratings and reviews.”

Nick delves into his analytical side, discussing how he uses the platform to build a personal film canon by analyzing data related to directors and cinematographers he admires, such as Greg Fraser.

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3. Top Five Movies for Holiday Parties

Nick unveils his curated list titled "Top Five Movies to Play in the Background at Your Holiday Party". The selection aims to provide engaging yet unobtrusive entertainment, perfect for festive gatherings where guests might engage in conversations or enjoy a drink while a movie plays silently in the background.

Notable Quote:
Andrew Walsh [13:35]: “I would say volume optional. I picked most of them thinking that it would work either way, but work just as well on mute.”

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4. Apology and Clarifications

The discussion takes a turn as Nick addresses a previous misunderstanding regarding the director of "The Goonies". He clarifies that while Steven Spielberg was heavily involved, the film was actually directed by Richard Donner.

Notable Quote:
Andrew Walsh [17:29]: “You know what, when I said this at the time we were talking about The Goonies, I knew that Steven Spielberg was heavily involved. I mistakenly said that he directed it, he has a story credit on it and he was also an executive producer. That movie is also a very Spielbergian coated movie.”

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5. In-Depth Movie Discussions

The trio engages in spirited conversations about various films, analyzing their suitability for different settings and moods.

• "Uncle Buck": Discussed as a culturally "Christmas-coded" film that, while not explicitly a Christmas movie, fits the festive season through its themes of family and awkward dynamics.

  Notable Quote:
  Nick Jarin [14:22]: “Culturally, it feels. It's Christmas coded.”

• "Batman Returns": Highlighted for its holiday imagery and characters like Catwoman and Danny DeVito's Penguin, making it a versatile choice for Nick's holiday playlist.

  Notable Quote:
  Andrew Walsh [27:14]: “He’s a normal guy, straight shooter. Honestly, what you see is what you get with One Face.”

• "Nebraska" and Other Alexander Payne Films: Appreciated for their depth and the emotional resonance they bring, though recognized as potentially too engrossing for background viewing during parties.

  Notable Quote:
  Andrew Walsh [23:04]: “I'm just happy to be here.”

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6. Closing Remarks and Teasers for Future Episodes

As the episode draws to a close, the hosts and Nick express anticipation for the upcoming segment where Nick will reveal his full list of top five holiday party movies. They also extend gratitude to their donors, adding a personal and community-oriented touch to the finale.

Notable Quote:
Nick Jarin [31:05]: “We couldn’t do TBTL without you, so we also couldn’t do TBTL without Nick Jarin.”

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Key Takeaways:

• Letterboxd serves as a valuable platform for movie lovers to engage deeply with cinema without the noise of traditional social media.

• Nick Jarin's curated list aims to enhance holiday gatherings by providing films that are entertaining yet subtle enough to remain in the background, fostering conversation and laughter among guests.

• The hosts and guest emphasize the importance of accurate film knowledge and the joy of shared cinematic experiences, all while maintaining their signature humorous interplay.

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This episode offers insightful perspectives on leveraging digital platforms like Letterboxd to enrich one's film-watching habits, especially in social settings. Whether you're a casual moviegoer or a dedicated cinephile, the discussions provide both practical recommendations and entertaining anecdotes that resonate with a wide audience.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

What's this? This is the North Pole. No, it's not.

[Nick Jarin]

Yes, it is.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it isn't. Yes, it is. No, it isn't. Yes, it is. No, it's not. Where's the snow? Why are you smiling like that? I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite. Make work your favorite. That's your favorite. Okay. Okay. Work is your new favorite.

[Nick Jarin]

Fine.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's time for the announcement. Okay.

[Nick Jarin]

Okay, people.

[Luke Burbank]

Tomorrow morning, 10am Santa's coming to town.

[Nick Jarin]

Santa. Oh, my God. Santa here.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know him.

[Luke Burbank]

I know him. Tbtm.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know what it is, but.

[Nick Jarin]

As soon as you bring some carbs or some bread into the room, especially.

[Andrew Walsh]

If they like hot out the oven.

[Nick Jarin]

And buttery, I just turn into a monster. You have never seen somebody up a piece of garlic bread until you've seen me up a piece of garlic bread.

[Luke Burbank]

You will lose any bit of respect you ever have for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, you either get it or you don't.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't. But I am so excited to be.

[Andrew Walsh]

A part of it.

[Nick Jarin]

I feel a real need to express something, but I don't know what it is I want to express or how to express it. Poop, Booty.

[Andrew Walsh]

Scoop, scoop.

[Nick Jarin]

Poop.

[Andrew Walsh]

Poop.

[Nick Jarin]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Monday edition of tbtl. The show just might be too beautiful to live. My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host. Coming to you from the the festively adorned Madrona Hill studio perched high above the mighty Columbia. Right over there, my dear friend and the longest running cobra of the show, Mr. Andrew Walsh. Was that some Ron Funches?

[Luke Burbank]

No, talking about the garlic bread.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, that had a distinct. That had the distinct sound of a funches to me. But not Ron Funches.

[Luke Burbank]

I hear this.

[Nick Jarin]

Not Devon Funches, the former NFL receiver?

[Luke Burbank]

No, it was. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, it was Devin Funches, the NFL receiver.

[Nick Jarin]

Yes. I knew it was someone in that neighborhood.

[Luke Burbank]

Let me give credit where credit is due. That was from a tiktoky sent to me by our friend Phyllis P. Fletch Fletcher. And it looks like the name of the comedian there is Ty Hopkins. Don't know if he's an actual professional comedian, but he made me laugh. So he's a comedian in my heart.

[Nick Jarin]

I've never felt more seen by an audio intro because I will do. I will just do absolutely unholy things. Garlic bread. If you leave me. If I was like one of those kids in the. You know, like delaying gratification kind of experiments. Like, if you wait, you can have two garlic breads.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

They'd be putting the garlic bread down, and I would have half of whoever was administering the test. Half of their hand would be down my throat because I was hoovering up the garlic bread.

[Luke Burbank]

One of my favorite expressions that I learned from Genevieve is like. And I think it is a situation, like you're at a restaurant or something, and if somebody goes to take your plate away too quickly, she says, yeah, you'll draw back a stump.

[Nick Jarin]

Exactly. I would just. I would. I understand that the servers of America and the other folks, you know, I don't think. Do we use the term busboy anymore? The people that are helping also sort of clear the plates and do a lot of the other stuff. I don't know when this got started as an idea that there's nothing more horrifying to the American restaurant consumer than observing a plate that once had food on it and now has less food on it.

[Luke Burbank]

Ooh, I think we're on opposite side. We found it. We're on opposite ends of this.

[Nick Jarin]

4,000 some number of shows. I. Here's my point. Like, particularly because of the way that my girlfriend. The pace at which my girlfriend consumes food, which is slow. She's part of the slow food movement in that she's way too slow at eating her food. I'm part of the fast food movement in that I eat mostly fast food. And there will be stuff on her plate that if she's now officially, like, after a certain amount of time, I'm like, okay, now it's reasonable that I would be allowed to have some of this. Whatever it is, I'm eyeing. But if they're coming around trying to clear the plates for me, it's like, I could have the plates there. We could leave. We could settle the bill and leave, and the plates could be on the table. And I wouldn't find that to be offensive in any way. I'd much rather have access to the food leave ins than to have to, like, make a lame joke like, I'm still kind of poking at it or whatever I have to do to turn away one. One server after another who wants to collect the plates.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, once it's actually totally cleared, like, totally emp, and there's no question you definitely want it. I want to take it away. It was a huge thing growing up. This is a. This is something I inherited from Bob Walsh. Just, like, the idea of having to sit there and look at dirty high cholesterol. What's that. Yeah, well, no, I definitely inherited that as well. Of course, He's. He's got 30 years on me, and I swear to God is way more healthy than me these days. But he is.

[Nick Jarin]

He is a. He's a. He is a Dapper Dan.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, he's very fit. I am. I. I hope by the time I'm 80, I will also maybe get my. My fit. We're just waiting for the proper time. But, yeah, he hated the idea of sitting there. Look, I'm not gonna sit here and look at a dirty plate. So I have inherited that as well. The idea of, like, when it's done, get it out of there. But I do hate the term. Are you still working on that? Like, it's not a job. I'm not working on it.

[Nick Jarin]

How would. Are you still enjoying it? I bet you don't like that either.

[Luke Burbank]

That I wouldn't have a problem with.

[Nick Jarin]

That feels really patronizing to me. Are we still enjoying this? Are we still all really enjoying.

[Luke Burbank]

I think, like, hey, can I. Hey, can I take your. Would you like me to take your plate? I think that's fine. I don't think we need any euphemisms there.

[Nick Jarin]

I want to say that I definitely agree with you. If the plate is absolutely cleared, it's spotless, then there's no. There's no need for it to be there anymore. And I don't have any problem with someone grabbing it. There is a kind of a mid range, though, where there's still food on the plate. And I don't understand why it is that they would be so quick to want to get that out of my presence because I'm probably still, like, going to be eating that because I have impulse control issues. Andrew, would you believe it if I told you none of this is what. We are here to talk.

[Luke Burbank]

We're not here to talk about the.

[Nick Jarin]

Addition of the program.

[Luke Burbank]

In fact, I was going to tell you. You know how I know we're funny? Astute listeners might be able to hear a third person laughing at our hilarious interaction as we do this, because I probably routed my board incorrectly. But we do have a guest waiting on the line who's patiently listening minutes in as we are continuing our.

[Nick Jarin]

Reminds him of the old days, Andrew.

[Luke Burbank]

It certainly does. Sitting by watching me ruin a show by talking into a microphone we have on the line. Luke. We are giving the people what they want. That's the one thing that TBTL has promised to do going forward into the new year. We've had this guest on before in the Past and the last time he joined us, he was the bell of the ball. We got so much good feedback from listeners and famous listeners saying bring this guy back on the show. We're doing that today. Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Jarin joining us from Texas. Houston, I believe. How you doing my friend?

[Andrew Walsh]

Dallas, Texas, but thank you very much. Sorry for laughing on Mike. I assume I was muted.

[Luke Burbank]

I tried muting you but then I still heard you laughing and honestly it made me feel good so I just let it roll.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, never mind.

[Nick Jarin]

I think this is the most confident I've ever felt at the beginning of the show, Nick. And we have you to think. I'm just, I think. Andrew, I'm not trying to throw you under any buses or embarrass you in front of my old friend Nick Jarin, who I believe you are also familiar with.

[Luke Burbank]

But more my friend, I would say I am a friend of us.

[Nick Jarin]

Agree to disagree. Nick, pick it up. I just think Dallas and Houston are so. I mean they are in the state of Texas, but my goodness, are those different places in my mind.

[Luke Burbank]

I got a friend who lives very different. I have a friend who lives in each. That's why John brag about. I always have to remember summers in.

[Nick Jarin]

Houston and winters in Dallas.

[Luke Burbank]

Many friends who are from the two friends.

[Nick Jarin]

And one lives in one and one lives in the other.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I do. John lives in Houston, Nick lives in Dallas. I always, always get it confused. I didn't even have to specify but I chose to and I specified incorrectly.

[Nick Jarin]

All right. No, no judgment now. Well, yeah, a little. I'm just, you know, I was more. I personally was more drawn to the rap music of Houston, of the Third coast as they call it. And I couldn't tell you much about. I'm sure Dallas has a pretty decent hip hop scene too though. What's the scene there like, Jarin?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a very underrated one. I would say that their biggest claim to fame is that the Dougie was invented here.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, I'm wondering if someone would teach me how to do that. The fact that you laughed at that Nick makes actually takes away some of the shine of the earlier jokes of ours that you were laughing at.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, Dougie jokes here play. That's not how.

[Luke Burbank]

Now we know you're just high. That takes out some of the fun.

[Nick Jarin]

So it is. It's later in Houston. So it's absolutely acceptable that you would begun your relaxation period of your day.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's 4:20 somewhere.

[Nick Jarin]

That's right. Let's see, you were on the show the last time that I was out of town. And can you guys remind me of the conversation that unfolded? Because I know that it was a big hit, as you mentioned, Andrew, with the listeners, to the degree that it made me feel a little bit kind of left out.

[Luke Burbank]

It was, it was a big hit and it was tons of fun. It was totally Nick's idea. Nick, you've been obsessed recently in the past year or so with a social media site called Letterboxd, right? And it's fully based on people's love of movies. Nothing more, nothing less. There's no swiping left, swiping right, hooking up, posting photos. It's just about movies. Right?

[Andrew Walsh]

It's just about movies. You, you rate them, you can make lists of them, you can review them, you can follow other people and see their ratings and review. One of my favorite things is to really get into the nitty gritty of the data on there and find out which directors and even cinematographers I've rated the highest. My highest cinematographer would be Greg Fraser, by the way. I fully expect him to win another Oscar soon.

[Nick Jarin]

Can you remind me of a Greig.

[Andrew Walsh]

Fraser film, Both of the Dunes and the Matt Reeves. Yeah, the Matt Reeves Batman also. That's great.

[Nick Jarin]

Frazier, that dude. I mean, what a film. What a couple of films. And the cinematography is probably the highlight.

[Andrew Walsh]

Mm, he's on a tear. Also, the new Roger Deakins.

[Nick Jarin]

Another thing you can do on letterboxd is defend your epic film that nobody else likes. If you're Francis Ford Copolis.

[Andrew Walsh]

Also true. Yeah. Or if you're Martin Scorsese, you can just go around rating your own movies too.

[Nick Jarin]

Love it.

[Luke Burbank]

What was his movie? Not Metropolis. That's a famous old movie.

[Nick Jarin]

Megalopolis.

[Luke Burbank]

Megalopolis, yeah. Did you end up seeing that, Nick?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I did not.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, so his own self review on Litterbox didn't win you over?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, that was also just like. So I'm a cinephile who. I like to say that my knowledge is deep, but not as broad as other people's. So the stuff that I like, I really like, but there is some canon stuff that I still haven't made time for. So Megalopolis was one where I was like, ooh, go watch this, octogenarians. Self funded, terribly reviewed, three hour epic. Pass.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. On the other hand, you're not a.

[Nick Jarin]

Completist in that way. Like you don't feel, you don't like, you don't owe it to the idea of cinema to have viewed everything, no matter how kind of poorly received it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is not even to cinema. But I think that one of the things that's been fun about letterboxd for me is to build my own personal film canon. These are the things that matter to me. And trying to, like, picking out the different stats and stuff and doing some data analysis after putting it into letterboxd. What are the things that I care about in film? What are the performances that speak to me as a. As a lover of cinema and going to the theater? What types of movies do I gravitate towards? You know, it's a lot of stuff with world building, which. The Megalopolis world building looks lackluster and kind of like a Linkin park video. So.

[Nick Jarin]

In the end, it doesn't even matter, Nick.

[Andrew Walsh]

It doesn't push me one step closer to the edge, you know, I'm about to break.

[Luke Burbank]

And when you dig into the data, do you find that mostly you're attracted to movies with heroes like Travis Bickle and the Joker?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, just real incel vibes, for sure.

[Luke Burbank]

That's kind of what I get from you. Yeah, you're like, wow, really gravitating towards all these types of movies.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's really funny. It's. It becomes like, stuff with stuff with heroes in them or stuff with music. Is a lot of it. Like a lot of sci fi.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah. So last time you were on, we were talking about one of the lists. You come up with these interesting ways of grouping movies together on letterboxd. And you came up with a really interesting, I thought, sort of framework, which was movies to have on. At a bar, on mute. Just like great background movies while you're sitting there half paying attention, talking to your friends, glancing up every now and then and saying, oh, I love this scene. And so we went over our. I think you had a top 10 list. I had a top 10 list. I think that show was four hours long today. You're back. We have a different list. And it's just your list today. And what is it?

[Andrew Walsh]

This is the top five movies to play in the background at your holiday party.

[Luke Burbank]

Nice. Volume on. Volume optional.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would say volume optional. I picked most of them thinking that it would work either way, but work just as well on mute.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, I'm interested.

[Andrew Walsh]

A lot of physical comedy.

[Nick Jarin]

Okay. And are they. I mean, I guess we'll find out when we get through the list. Are they themselves specifically holiday movies or are they just movies? That would work fine in the context of, like, a holiday party's going on and it's in the background.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's A great question, because one of my last cuts was a movie that always feels like a holiday movie to me because it's about family and relatives visiting and all of the awkward dynamics that are exposed when you have a visiting relative in your house. Uncle Buck. But it's technically not a Christmas movie. It's incredible.

[Nick Jarin]

Culturally, it feels. It's Christmas coded.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Nick Jarin]

Because it's cold. He's wearing that hat with the ears. It seems it's a. It's. It's a. That's a John Hughes film. Correct.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is 1989 films.

[Nick Jarin]

Well, almost all John Hughes films are culturally Christmas movies.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I think.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or.

[Luke Burbank]

Or Thanksgiving in trains, planes and automobiles. It feels like that's a cousin there too, right?

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

That was a late cut for me too. It wasn't quite Christmassy enough. Although holiday travel definitely put it on the long list.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah. I just watched Uncle Buck, which is kind of strange. I was staying in an Airbnb and I was too lazy to log any of my real, like, information into, you know, how now these days if you stay in an Airbnb and even some hotels, they've all cut the cord and it's like, do I want to like, raw dog this Roku right now with my actual, like my Netflix account and all this? And do I want to sit there like, you know, entering in all of the info, or do I want to just see what is what this TV will let me watch for free through some bizarre. Whatever's loaded into the thing. And somehow it was Uncle Buck. And I was just. This is not a very interesting insight. This would never make it on letterboxd, but I was just struck by how young John Candy is in the movie.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

I mean, John Candy never got to be that old, sadly, but God, he's like. He's like a kid in Uncle Buck. And I remember seeing the movie and thinking, well, there's an old man menacing these children. And it's like, he's probably like 32 or something, man.

[Andrew Walsh]

He went from being like a 20 something to being a 40 something.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

If you want to see him, look really young. Have you ever seen Volunteers with him and Tom Hanks?

[Nick Jarin]

A long time ago. I should revisit that because. Yeah, that's where they're in the Peace Corps or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, they're in like. I don't remember if they got to call it actually the Peace Corps, but basically the Peace Corps. He plays Tom Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

He goes to Wazoo and he's so young. In it.

[Nick Jarin]

Oh, he does seem like he would have been a coug. Honestly, he really was.

[Luke Burbank]

He's culture.

[Nick Jarin]

He coded as cougar.

[Luke Burbank]

Culturally coded as a cougar. By the way, I wanted to say Luke only because it is just two days before Christmas. I will not be naming the show Raw Dogging the Roku. Although I know that. I know what you were going for there. You wanted me to bite, but. But I refuse.

[Nick Jarin]

I'm setting you up for later. That's basically I'm committing to the run game early so that when I really need. When I really need to play action pass and I need you to bite on it. I will successful later on.

[Luke Burbank]

Now Nick, you put together this list and I think we might even, especially as we continue to discuss this and we're going to try to keep the shows a little bit tighter during these holiday weeks. We probably won't get through your full list today, so maybe we'll have you back on tomorrow's show if you're available to get through it. Before we start on your official list though, two things. First of all, I will want to know if you had any kind of runners up or outside looking in, as they say on the LeBatard Show. Before we get to that though, it's my understanding that you'd like to make an apology. And it's my understanding because I told you before the show that you owe our listeners an apology. And that's why it's my understanding.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know what, when I said this at the time we were talking about the Goonies, I knew that Steven Spielberg was heavily involved. I mistakenly said that he directed it, he has a story credit on it and he was also an executive producer. That movie is also. Speaking of things being coded a certain way, a very Spielbergian coated movie.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, I would absolutely believe. Who did direct it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Richard Donner.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Direction. Yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

Dick Donner, noted animal activist. He and his wife were instrumental in the the whole story of Keiko the killer whale.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well now I'll definitely remember that he.

[Nick Jarin]

Made Free Willy as a, as a. As an attempt to kind of get people thinking about the plights of Orca.

[Luke Burbank]

Didn't he make Superman 48 hours, Superman 2 to get people to think about the plight of Superman.

[Nick Jarin]

The plight of people who are incarcerated, people in America who are escaping by way of hot air balloon to raise.

[Luke Burbank]

Awareness of people who are trapped in a two dimensional plane floating, spinning through space, I believe. Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which is a real problem.

[Nick Jarin]

Is certainly a scenario that I could see being how my days are Ending.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I have money on it, in fact. All right, all right, Nick. Well, without further ado, why don't you. So you. You narrowed your list of these holiday film, or these, I should say films to have on in the background of your holiday parties. You've come up with a top five list. But what were some of them that didn't quite make the list?

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. And the goal of this list is, you know, nobody's really watching it, but it's on in the corner or on in the TV while maybe you're playing music or there's loud conversation around. So nobody's seriously sitting down and watching this thing anyway. But it's a thing that you can have a conversation about every once in a while. You look at it, you see a scene that you love, you laugh, you quote it, the conversation flows. You know, everybody's sipping eggnog or punch or whatever, and the. The party goes on. So some of my.

[Nick Jarin]

It's like in the most literal sense, a moving picture, right?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, exactly.

[Nick Jarin]

I know that's what they are, but what I mean is it's like something that's almost like a piece of art that's hanging on the wall that you can comment on, but it's ever changing.

[Andrew Walsh]

And much better than your vacation slideshow.

[Nick Jarin]

Well, you didn't. You haven't seen my vacation slideshow.

[Luke Burbank]

I went to Secrets.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, somebody. Yeah, exactly. I guess you've never been to Yakima.

[Andrew Walsh]

My apologies to Yakima in advance. I don't want to get more emails about this. So some of the teams on the bubble, if you will, the movies on the long list I already mentioned, Uncle Buck was one of them. A callback to last Episode. I also had Batman Returns on there.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, good one. Great one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Technically, a Christmas movie. Technically a Christmas movie. I also had last year, one of my favorite movies from last year, and I think just an instant classic and something that I'm going to rewatch this year, but not necessarily something I want on in the background. The holdovers in 2023.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, of course.

[Nick Jarin]

What a great call.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, it is, too.

[Nick Jarin]

It's sort of too engrossing, though, probably, for this list. Was that why it kind of. It didn't make the final cut?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. You know, because you don't want to ruin the party by putting something on that like maybe half the people have seen. And then you end up sitting down and you're like, actually, let's turn the volume up on this thing. I want to hear what Paul Giamatti's saying in this scene. And then everybody's doing that instead of sipping eggnog and punch and chatting about their year.

[Luke Burbank]

Let's turn the volume up. I want to be deeply saddened for about 15 minutes. I love that movie. And I think I've told you both this, that I saw that movie in what I believe to be the absolute perfect scenario. Veeves and I went to see that the day after Thanksgiving. We had some running around to do in Seattle. Ended up, like, grabbing lunch at a little, like, counter and then walking to a matinee of seeing that at like, 4:00pm in the. Is it the Majestic, Luke? The Ballard Theater, Majestic Bay. It was such a great, like, the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the. The holiday season. I love that movie, but it is. It is not one that is quick to bring joy. It brings introspection and possibly a little teaspoon of depression.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I saw that one in a theater by myself last year and I left desperately needing a hug. So probably not the. Not the party vibe we're looking for.

[Nick Jarin]

You saw that by yourself, right? After being diagnosed with body odor that smells like fish. Doesn't he have a. As if Giamatti, as we like to say on the show. I could really use a win. Here is something that Paul Giamatti has never said in a movie, but should have. I think Andrew conjured this.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Nick Jarin]

But, like, you throw the, like, particularly, like, malodorous body thing that he kind of can't help for. I mean, just cut the guy a frigging break in a major body.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. Doesn't he have.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was gonna say the bit where they keep on changing the fake contact lens from eye to eye. I was watching a thing. I was like, pachimani hasn't always looked like this. Right? There's something off. And then halfway through, I realized they were switching eyes.

[Luke Burbank]

They were.

[Andrew Walsh]

What is happening?

[Nick Jarin]

I read about that later. I was not observant enough to follow it. That's why, again, I'm not allowed on letterboxd. But that was. Yeah, that's Alexander Payne, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, that guy. I don't think that. I don't think. I can't think of an Alexander Payne movie that hasn't been my favorite movie of the year in which it was released.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, Sideways. I mean, Nebraska. The Descendants is the only one that I'm not touching.

[Nick Jarin]

The Descendants was a little bit. I kind of couldn't quite figure out what it was doing. I still enjoyed it. I watched the Descendants of the way that I watch most Paul Thomas Anderson films and some Other auteurs where I never know what's happening, but I'm just glad I'm there watching it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm just happy to be here.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Basically, I finally saw Nebraska after, like, literally a decade of people saying, this is your kind of movie. Like, it's literally shot in black and white. Like, this is your kind of movie. Me. A decade to see it. And I finally watched it. And I watched it.

[Nick Jarin]

You have the physicality of Bruce Dern.

[Luke Burbank]

I have the organ function. Bruce Dern type. But I watched on a plane. I absolutely loved it, and it reminded me. And Nick, we'll have you back for this list another time. But you had tossed out the idea of doing movies that are perfect to watch on airplanes. And I watched that on an airplane. And even though it's a small screen so you don't get the vast landscapes and everything, but I think I'm drawn to sad bastard movies on airplanes. And that is kind of a sad bastard movie. So. Okay, so that. Are those all of your kind of Olis or your.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no, let me. Let me hit you with two more. An obvious one that I cut just because it was kind of obvious and people marathon it. Anyway. 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, sure, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't make the top five. It's just outside. It's just outside.

[Nick Jarin]

A great film. A great holiday film, but I'm with you. It's a little. It's a little on the nose. It's like showing. Well, actually, I don't know. I don't want to besmirch your list, but it's because if I name anything here and then it's on the list that I've committed the terrible hosting protocol.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have my defenses ready.

[Nick Jarin]

No, I love that movie. And in fact, you know, I got to that movie really late. That was like a movie that I never watched growing up because my parents thought anything National Lampoons was very fresh. But. But my. My ex wife grew up watching it, and one time we were, you know, doing something for the holidays and she put it on and I was totally locked in. And now I've watched it every single year. But again, it's the kind of movie that's so popular, people may have already watched it that season, which would make it a little bit superfluous at the party.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

And how.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's one of those ones that's so a part of the culture that, like, I grew up with my parents calling the over the top houses with a ton of lights the griswolds and I didn't even know what that meant until I was, like, 15 and finally saw the movie.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I think this is maybe a good way, as you get closer to actually unveiling, like, you know, slot.

[Nick Jarin]

Number five on your list in time for tomorrow's episode.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. As we're 25 minutes in here, this.

[Nick Jarin]

Is actually very, very well timed.

[Luke Burbank]

This is a good table setting because I want to talk about this list. You've established literally what we're talking about here. But I wonder if our vibes would be different, because I think of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation or even Elf, and maybe that'll appear on your list or not. Or these other sort of, like, kind of, like, slapsticky comedies. And, like, if I Throwing a party, which I guess that's kind of a joke in and of itself, but I probably wouldn't put those on in the background. Like, I'm such a sucker for, like, kind of mood. And I'd want something that is, like, less sort of, like, herky jerky, for lack of a better word. And, like, kind of broad and slapsticky. I would be going for, like, probably black and white movies where people are sipping. I mean, I just. I'm gonna put on the Apartment, let's admit it. Just a terribly sad movie that takes place in Christmas, around Christmas time with Jack lemmon and Shirley McClain. I love that mov so much. It wouldn't be what most people scamper to during the holidays, I assume, but anyway. Yeah. So were you looking for a certain vibe in all of these movies, Nick, or is it kind of addressing a lot of needs?

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I was being a bit of a generalist for most of it. And my main thing was if you can look at the screen every once in a while and have something to say about what's going on or maybe a chuckle about it, then the movie's a win.

[Nick Jarin]

Yes. But does that also mean that the. That the plot needs to be generally upbeat? Does this rule out, like, overly sad movies? You said Batman Returns, and I'm a. I'm kind of like, that's a bit of a blind. Which. Who's the Batman? Who's Batman in that one?

[Luke Burbank]

That's Michael.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my goodness.

[Luke Burbank]

That's Michael Keith. That's Michael Keith. That's the second one.

[Nick Jarin]

I didn't know it was officially called Batman Returns.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And it has Catwoman and it has Danny DeVito as the Penguin, and so. But it does have a lot of sort of, like, Christmas imagery. I believe there's a big tree lighting scene. I believe in this there is.

[Andrew Walsh]

And there's a lot of snow.

[Nick Jarin]

Goes off without a hitch.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

No problems in Gotham City.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, exactly. There's this guy, One Face, who's just, like, pretty much a straightforward.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's a normal guy, straight shooter.

[Luke Burbank]

Honestly, what you see is what you get with One Face. All right.

[Nick Jarin]

This feels like a far side, far side cartoon. Like failed Batman ideas. There's just, like, a list, like, papers on the ground. One Face is one of the things on there.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

The answer.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, right. Well, what do you want to do here, guys? We are about a half hour into this. Should we maybe, like. Is that the table setting that we want to do? Getting people, like, hyped for tomorrow's coming.

[Andrew Walsh]

Up tomorrow, official top five.

[Nick Jarin]

We've got to sweep that quarter hour. And I'm talking to two people who know exactly what that means and exactly how to do that.

[Luke Burbank]

And their names are Ron and Don. Oh, no, you're talking about me and Nick. Okay, gotcha.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah, but we are going to give them all four tomorrow. And by that, I mean all five, or as many as we get to.

[Andrew Walsh]

We put these five on the floor. Yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

Yes, that's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you for being a tam.

[Nick Jarin]

You know, the greatest holiday gift that we could receive, Andrew, is the gift of money.

[Luke Burbank]

It's true.

[Nick Jarin]

That is the reason for the season.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Nick Jarin]

I think we don't talk enough about how important money is this time of year. Family, kith and kin. But cold, hard cash, that's what we really need to keep this thing going. And we're getting it from our donors, folks like Rick Manson of Seattle, Washington.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you, Rick.

[Nick Jarin]

Thank you, Rick.

[Luke Burbank]

Later on in the week, by the way, I'm gonna have a list of my top five favorite monies.

[Nick Jarin]

Your top five favorite amounts of money to receive.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly what I plan on doing. That would be incredible.

[Nick Jarin]

We also want to thank Summer Martinez, who is in Puyallup, Washington.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you, Summer. I hope you got to do the Puyallup last summer.

[Nick Jarin]

I betcha. I'm guessing Summer did. I mean, I assume everyone in Puyallup is, you know, legally obligated to do the Puyallup. You were around the Northwest enough, Nick. Do you remember when it was the Puyallup Fair?

[Andrew Walsh]

I do. I remember. Actually, I was working at Cairo Radio the year they transitioned to the state fair.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, man. That was probably an E segment for all the shows that day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

Can that be our next I know we are. We're. We're. We're making lists faster with Nick, faster than we can actually clear them, but top five things we remember about Cairo radio, between the three of us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, we could. Yeah. It'll be hard to trim it down to top five, honestly.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, right.

[Nick Jarin]

I love that we all share that experience, though. You get very casual of a unique moment of Seattle media time. You know, who remembers it closely and fondly. I don't know actually if it's fondly, but she certainly remembers it as Catherine Palacios of Houston, Texas. Andrew.

[Luke Burbank]

Houston. That's exactly where nix we were thinking of.

[Nick Jarin]

That is exactly mixing up Nick and Katherine Palacios once again. Thanks, Katherine. Also thanks to Todd Thorsgard of There is nowhere Todd Thorsgard is allowed to live that isn't St. Paul, Minnesota.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yes. Very Nordic, huh?

[Nick Jarin]

I feel like Todd's people came in a Viking ship. And it was the only Viking ship that when it hit the eastern coast of the United States, it just kept going through the earth. It's like plowing a V. Until it stopped in Minnesota. They all got off.

[Luke Burbank]

That is right. Erik the Viking Stromstead was there, our former engineer greeting them.

[Nick Jarin]

Unfortunately, the Thor's guards and Stromstads are blood foes now.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nick Jarin]

So only one can survive. And thankfully it's Todd because he's the one donating. Eric, what have you done for us?

[Luke Burbank]

Don't see him on the list.

[Nick Jarin]

Thanks also to Sally Jenkins of Redmond, Washington. Thanks, Sally. And then Kirk Eldred is in Woodinville, not far from Red.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow. Yeah. Kirk and Sally know each other. Sure.

[Nick Jarin]

They might be listening to this episode together right now. Like, not in a weird way, not in a furtive way, but just in a, like, you know, they live near each other and they like TBTL and they like lists.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Nick Jarin]

Thank you so much to all of our donors. We. We couldn't do TBTL without you, so we also couldn't do TBTL without Nick. Jarin. Nick, thank you for. For hanging out with us today and for carrying over to tomorrow's show because I really am excited to hear about these. These movie ideas.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely. Happy to be here and happy to be part of an episode that was completely a tease.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. You, like, really, really have to be like, let's make that clear right now.

[Nick Jarin]

Nothing can happen. Protect Jarin at all costs.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't leave your apartment today. We cannot risk you getting injured or arrested.

[Nick Jarin]

We do not need you reaching any final destination.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Nick Jarin]

By the way, if one of the Final Destination movies is on your list, that would be. That'd be a real poll. Get people thinking around the holidays of just how lucky they are to be alive.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, right. Stay away from the garbage disposal today, John, as well.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Drive safe.

[Nick Jarin]

Yeah. All right. We will be back here tomorrow with more imaginary radio for all of you. In the meantime, have a great Monday. Take care of yourselves, happy holidays, and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Luke Burbank]

And good luck to all.

[Andrew Walsh]

Power out.