The Shipping Container Is Jacked Up On Cafecito | Hour 2

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Shipping Container Is Jacked Up On Cafecito | Hour 2"

The Dan Le Batard Show | July 30, 2026 | Live from The Elser Hotel in Downtown Miami

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Overview

In this high-energy hour emanating from Downtown Miami, Dan Le Batard and his crew (Mike Ryan, Chris Cody, Zas) ride a notable cafecito buzz through an unfiltered roundtable on the evolving world of sports, content, and pop culture. The episode centers around how athletes like LeBron James are taking control of their legacies through new media partnerships, the impact of timing and nostalgia on sports documentaries, the mythology of artistic "effortlessness," and a spirited debate about music in movies. All of it is served with the group’s signature banter and irreverence, especially as the Miami heat—and caffeine—ignite the conversation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. LeBron James, Content, and Controlling the Narrative

• LeBron's Upcoming Docuseries

  • Dan recounts a recent airport encounter with Rich Paul, focusing on Paul's repeated assertion that "content is king" (02:22).
  • ESPN and LeBron are reportedly close to an agreement for a “Last Dance”-style documentary.
  • LeBron's partnership with ESPN means he will “control his own content company,” thus dictating how his retirement legacy is told (02:22).
  • "He's going to grab control of the end of his story, and he's going to partner with the greatest media giant in order to make it something that rivals whatever it is that Michael Jordan made." — Dan Le Batard (04:43)

• Evolution of LeBron's Relationship with ESPN

  • Zas reflects on the tense aftermath of "The Decision" in 2010 and notes the irony in LeBron now teaming up with ESPN (03:33).
  • Chris Cody jokes about wanting recognition if a LeBron doc features tweets that changed the narrative in Miami (04:00).

• Timing in Sports Documentaries: The Need for Distance

  • Chris Cody argues against churning out a LeBron documentary "about stuff that just happened":
    "What made the Last Dance so great was that there was decades of us, like, just creating mythology about this guy..." (05:48).
  • The crew debates whether a documentary released immediately after retirement has less cultural impact than one produced years later (10:30).

• Business of Content

  • Dan is fascinated by the massive deals behind athlete-run media companies, contrasting them to more traditional approaches (09:14, 09:48).
  • Mike Ryan shares details of Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions’ $500 million deal with ESPN (18:31).

2. The Weight of Content—And Being “In The Know” All the Time

• Dan and Chris dissect the personal stress of having to consume all sports and media, comparing it to a "prison" that only lets up in the off season (11:14, 16:58).
• "The burden of this addiction in general…is that you always feel like you need to keep up. Like, isn't that the whole thing? Isn't that why we're all addicted to it?" — Dan Le Batard (16:58)
• The group jokes about opening a hybrid House of Dragons/sports bar boat where attendees have to sign a card swearing secrecy if stopped by the police (17:51).

3. Music in Movies: Creating Iconic Moments

• Mike Ryan unveils his “Top Five Opening Credits with the Use of Music in Cinematic History” as a tribute to recently deceased producer Kavinsky (20:02):

  1. Drive – "Nightcall" by Kavinsky (21:29)
  2. Pulp Fiction – "Miserlou" by Dick Dale (20:34)
  3. Do the Right Thing – "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy
  4. Saturday Night Fever – "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees
  5. Reservoir Dogs – "Little Green Bag" by George Baker

• The group riffs on directors like Tarantino and the Hughes Brothers, highlighting how music can be a “cheat code” to set tone and era (22:57-24:06).

• Chris Cody notes that sequels sometimes play these iconic songs differently, referencing Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive (24:06).

4. The Myth of ‘Effortless’ Genius in Music, Movies, and Sports

• The crew debates whether legends in the arts and sports truly make it look “easy,” or if what appears effortless is just the result of relentless hard work (26:39 – 29:02).

  • Dan: “I believe that everything that looks easy, everything that's successful that looks easy is because the people cared about it so much that they made it look that way.”
  • Zas claims Jimi Hendrix was an exception, but Dan and Mike insist even apparent prodigies put in immense effort (32:26).

• They start listing “most effortlessly cool performances” in film—classic Le Batard Show list content (32:36):

  • Harrison Ford (Han Solo, Indiana Jones)
  • Sigourney Weaver (Ripley)
  • Ryan Gosling (Drive, Crazy Stupid Love)
  • Brad Pitt (Tyler Durden)
  • Debate erupts over omissions and whether “coolness” can be segregated by gender or race for such lists (33:45).

• Chris Cody hilariously proposes Magic Johnson as the ultimate “effortless” athlete because he explains basketball with such simplicity, as if it’s “tying your shoelaces” (30:08).

5. Random Banter: Cafecito, House of Dragons, and Mark Ruffalo

• The team's caffeinated state ("The Shipping Container Is Jacked Up On Cafecito") is referenced throughout, with Dan pushing for possible regulation of early-morning Miami cafecito (18:42–19:47).
• Spirited side chats range from the exhausting task of keeping House of Dragons characters straight, to joking about sports bar/boat hybrids, to the movie-star status of Mark Ruffalo (17:09–36:53).
• Classic Le Batard Show polling: “Did Nucky [from Boardwalk Empire] make you want to have a decanter?” (39:36).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Legacy Control:

  • “At the end of my career, no, I'm going to tell my story with ESPN…and I really do believe…what he wants here is the story of ‘I bring the interest and the interesting with me and I'm going to tell the story from inside.’” — Dan Le Batard (08:01)

• On Waiting for Documentaries:

  • “We need time. We need oxygen…Let Wemby become the greatest player…And then you drop it, and it's like, oh, y'all must have forgot. Boom. And then you got the whole LeBron story…” — Chris Cody (05:48)

• On Modern FOMO:

  • “It is so suffocating to feel like I have to know because there's no chance I could walk in a room and say, oh my God…And I sound like an idiot…” — Chris Cody (15:41)

• On Art and Effort:

  • “Everything that's successful that looks easy is because the people cared about it so much that they made it look that way. The degree of difficulty would be really hard on all this stuff.” — Dan Le Batard (27:12)

• On Populist Podcasting:

  • “As far as I can tell, [social media] is just everyone shouting into the microphone saying, hey, listen to my opinion.” — Dan Le Batard (16:04)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• LeBron & Content Control w/ ESPN – 02:22 – 09:48
• Debate on Timing & Value of Sports Docs – 05:48 – 10:30
• Mike’s Top Five Opening Movie Music Intros – 20:02 – 21:44
• Debating ‘Effortless’ Greatness in Arts & Sports – 26:39 – 32:26
• Effortlessly Cool Movie Performances List – 32:36 – 36:53
• Comic Interludes: Cafecito and Ruffalo’s Leading Man Status – 18:42 – 39:08
• Chris Cody on the FOMO of Sports Media – 11:14, 15:41

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Tone & Style Notes

• The segment is quick-witted, full of inside jokes, and moves fluidly between pop culture, sports theory, and collective angst about modern content overload.
• Quotes and banter maintain a conversational, sometimes mocking but always self-effacing Le Batard Show energy.
• The group leverages personal anecdotes, Miami references, and a resistance to sports content cliches.

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For New Listeners:

This episode is a strong representation of The Dan Le Batard Show’s blend of sports, humor, and cultural commentary. If you’re interested in how athletes are rewriting the playbook on legacy and storytelling—or just want to hear smart, caffeinated people riff on movies and music—you’ll find plenty to enjoy. And if you ever wondered whether Jimi Hendrix had it easy, well, you’ll find that hotly debated here, too.

Transcript

[Mike Ryan]

Howdy folks. It's Mike Ryan. You know, the Levitard show and Miller Lite go way back pretty much. I want to say like 95% of our existence we've been partnered with Miller Lite and we believe in Miller Lite. They believe in us. It's great to have a partner with a product you truly love. That's me with Miller Lite. I love Miller Lite, always have. In fact, I consider myself a bit of a Miller Time mvp. The the friend who says they've got it, I'll pick the spot, I'll throw the cooler in the trunk, bring some Miller Lite, and suddenly what was supposed to be a couple of hours turns into a whole afternoon. That's me, the Miller Time mvp. And it's great for summer. Hangs cools the body down. That beautiful white can not much better than an ice cold Miller Lite because it's brewed for taste with simple ingredients, clean, refreshing and easy to drink in the Miami heat. An all American summer starts with an all American beer Miller lite. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Chris Cody]

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[Zas]

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[Dan LeBatard]

Various 18.

[Mike Ryan]

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[Zas]

This episode of the Dan LeBatard show is presented by DraftKings Sports. DraftKings the Crown is yours.

[Dan LeBatard]

So I told you guys that I ran into Rich Paul at the airport and it wasn't a very long conversation. It was a little bit while ago, but he was again and again hitting the note of content is king. Content is king. And now reports are coming out LeBron James and ESPN are closing in on an agreement for a Last Dance type of documentary series that will chronicle, I imagine what we just saw happen with LeBron James and what's coming up in the next couple of years of what is LeBron controlling his retirement story punctuation. Like it's not going to be the the Heat or the Lakers or the Cavs get to decide how he tells his story at the end. He's partnering with ESPN because he's got the media credentials to turn his last part of his career instead of the way Bill Russell had to do it, where he had to be a player coach. And because he can't do it as a player owner, they won't allow it. He's going to do it as a player media member where he controls his own content company. Because who's not going to watch a documentary about the last few years of LeBron when it's going to have this much drama and you're going to have access to what has rapidly become the most interesting team in the sport just because he joined it.

[Zas]

Interesting to think how far he's come with that relationship considering it was in 2010, how angry he was with ESPN after the decision aired and the way he was treated and the way he was portrayed. I mean, if I'm remembering correctly, I feel like the Heat games that were on ABC that year, he didn't do the on court interviews with ABC espn. He was. And now we're in a spot where he's partnering with them.

[Chris Cody]

I'm sorry, I'm sitting here in this room and you know, we were talking about how you become your parents as you get older. I saw Chris Cody become his father, like in the blink of an eye. Cuz when you mentioned LeBron's going to have this docu series about his retirement end of his career, all Chris could say was, oh, what if he sees. We get him seeing my tweet and reacting to it in real time, he

[Dan LeBatard]

immediately made it about himself.

[Chris Cody]

Absolutely.

[Dan LeBatard]

What will the Last Dance reveal? Will I have a featured role in ruining everything that happened in Miami? A friend of mine yesterday told me that Rich Paul referenced my tweet, which I never heard. I need to go back and listen to the podcast now. Look, apparently there was a reference. You did great damage to our company.

[Chris Cody]

Boy, Dan Levitar is good, by the way. I'd sit down that one. I sent you that clip.

[Dan LeBatard]

I said, look, they played on the show, that clip. And you guys. You guys are interested in the drama and the theatrics of this, because to me, it's really interesting when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady want to get into the competitive game after games. LeBron's going to keep playing as long as he can keep having the power to make the thing end the way that he wants to end in the story he wants to tell. Like, he. He's not going to let go of the power of being able to make the thing that puts the punctuation on the end of his career. He's going to grab control of the end of his story, and he's going to partner with the greatest media giant in order to make it something that rivals whatever it is that Michael Jordan made.

[Mike Ryan]

Hopefully, he can repurpose some of the footage that Chris Bosh was recording when they made their collective decision to come to Miami. I remember we asked Chris Bosh one time what happened with that footage, and he kind of was like, oh, it's. It's sitting somewhere in storage. He didn't end up doing anything with it. But from an archival standpoint, to have that be an accent on the story that LeBron's trying to tell is a pretty cool one.

[Chris Cody]

Can I make a request? And I know we here also do produce documentary, but.

[Dan LeBatard]

What was that word? What do we produce?

[Chris Cody]

Documentaries. Documentary, Right. Can we not do documentaries about stuff that just happened? Like, I don't want him to retire, and. And the next year, we got a documentary on it. Like, what made the Last Dance so great was that there was decades of us, like, just creating mythology about this guy, and then finally, like, let's see what it was really like. And you realized the mythology wasn't even close. Wasn't even close to where the actual kind of mythology actually was. And So I think LeBron has a mythological career, but we're not gonna appreciate that documentary if it comes out the year after he. He's done playing or two years. We need time. We need oxygen. We need someone else to rise up and for us to say, I think he might be better than LeBron James, and people lose their mind. Let Wemby become the greatest player. Let wy be in that conversation for maybe he's the greatest player of all time. And then you drop it, and it's like, oh, y' all must have forgot. Boom. And then you got the whole LeBron story and like, oh my God, how could we have been so foolish?

[Dan LeBatard]

The idea that Steph Curry and LeBron James over this 20 year run of battling for the top of the league and however it is that the story ends. How about this story From Anthony Slater, ESPN? This was the warriors third failed pursuit of LeBron in the past three years. The previous two attempted via trade and their decision making tree left with a similar sentiment from the previous two team. Sources said they believe part of James hesitancy to ultimately join the warriors is his history battling the franchise during the dynasty year years and how the choice would be viewed from a legacy perspective. Quote, I believe there's more appeal to playing with Steph Curry on a different franchise rather than that franchise. One league source said LeBron very clearly

[Mike Ryan]

valued how things would be viewed from a legacy standpoint when making this decision. He invoked it when giving voice to either him or Rich Paul as to why he didn't want to go back to Miami because he felt like he had good memories there. And when you return with the expectation of the most recent memory of winning over there, that complicates things.

[Dan LeBatard]

I really do like viewing some of all of this though through the lens of how LeBron's gonna be competitive this last part of his career and going forward when you know ishowspeed is building $11 million warehouse in Hialeah because the content factory of LeBron James is at the beginning of my career, I'm gonna take over all the power and I'm gonna give the to espn. We'll do a TV show, I'll take the blame for it. But at the end of my career, no, I'm going to tell my story with ESPN the way I wish to. And I really do believe that at this point in his legacy building, I do believe that what he wants here is the story of I bring the interest and the interesting with me and I'm going to tell the story from inside. I think this is as much as being able to tell the story as being a part of the story.

[Chris Cody]

I'd like to call time out right here. Dan. He didn't allow ESPN to do whatever back in the day. That was actually the first time when he controlled the story and ESPN just had to broadcast it. So he's kind of doing the exact same thing like he is creating the story and all ESPN gets to do is broadcast it. That's no different than what he did in 2010.

[Dan LeBatard]

The point I guess I'm making over the 16 years of the all of it is. This guy has partnered with the worldwide leader in sports to dominate the story in sports. And at the end, when Omaha and Peyton Manning is selling their to espn, Tom Brady is selling his to Fox.

[Mike Ryan]

Man, let's not call it no.

[Dan LeBatard]

I don't mean no.

[Mike Ryan]

Then you're gonna be complaining.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no, I don't.

[Chris Cody]

Levitar calls. Mina Kimes is part of that, too.

[Mike Ryan]

Speak for yourself, precious. Mina, you speak for us.

[Dan LeBatard]

I didn't mean it as slur.

[Mike Ryan]

I didn't. I love Kevin Clark's podcast stuff.

[Dan LeBatard]

I didn't mean they're things. I didn't mean their stuff. I did not mean that pejoratively. You got me, though. Poor word choice. I'm going to get aggregated. I don't believe Omaha is Mina's great. That could be aggregated to the selling. Can you look up for me, please, what that deal was for Omaha and espn? Because I find. I don't know whether you guys find the business of this interesting, but I don't know what it costs for a LeBron doc that's in eight parts on ESPN that everybody's going to watch however it is that it gets made. Do you find the business of that interesting? Partnering to tell your story with Disney at the end when you're the most famous athlete we've had in America for 20 years.

[Chris Cody]

I don't anymore because everyone's doing it.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, there've been so many bad ones. I'll. I'll see the trailer when it comes out and be like, I'll have interest in this.

[Chris Cody]

If it comes out, like, right after he's done playing, I'm not going to watch it. But if it's like years and years and I'm like, I miss LeBron, then. Then I'll absolutely watch it.

[Mike Ryan]

Just give creative control to someone else. Do what Jordan did, which was they were recording this stuff and then someone else pieced it together and told the story from there. But LeBron in the editing room and having editorial power, I don't want that.

[Zas]

I'm calling Bull. Season's over. You're definitely watching it. No, it's not going to be on and there's no basketball going on and people are watching and talk about. You're like, nah, I got away a few years.

[Chris Cody]

I had this conversation the other day. I'm glad you brought this up. Where people are like, oh, man, don't you miss all sports? There's no sports on. Don't you miss. I'm like, no, I like watching 18 episodes of House of Dragons. In a row. Just to refresh my memory for season three. It is so refreshing to be in this part of the calendar where I don't have that constant gnawing fear of, like, wait a second, there's a game on somewhere. I need to be watching this. What if someone asked me about this tomorrow? Oh, my gosh, what's happening? Let me check who's hired, the latest news, who signed, who got traded. I hate it. I. I hate it. It's a prison of my own construction, Zaz. And I can't get out until that beautiful, sweet, sweet late July, August, early September hits. And then I don't have to give up about what's going on in sports. I can just be the me that I want to be. Watch movies and go to the pool and swim with my kids and have fun and go out and not have to worry about, wait a second. If someone who wants to score on that game, I don't have to do none of that. So I'm sorry if LeBron's documentary comes out right after the season after summer league, I'm be like, no peace out. I'm just. Time for me to start boning up on the agency or whatever other show I'm watching, man.

[Mike Ryan]

We gotta isolate that and just tell people that you had a cafecito before the segment, because that was crazy.

[Chris Cody]

I did, man, and I told them it's starting to hit. It really is starting.

[Zas]

I didn't get Cavacito.

[Mike Ryan]

Howdy, folks. It's Mike Ryan. You know the Le Batard show and Miller, like, go way back pretty much. I want to say, like 95% of our existence, we've been partnered with Miller Lite. And we believe in Miller Lite. They believe in us. It's great to have a partner with a product you truly love. That's me with Miller Lite. I love Miller Lite. Always have. In fact, I consider myself a bit of a Miller Time mvp. The friend who says, they've got it, I'll pick the spot. I'll throw the cooler in the trunk, bring some Miller Lite, and suddenly what was supposed to be a couple of hours turns into a whole afternoon. That's me, the Miller Time mvp. And it's great for summer. Hangs. Cools the body down. That beautiful white can. Not much better than an ice cold Miller Lite because it's brewed for taste with simple ingredients. Clean, refreshing, and easy to drink in the Miami heat. An all American summer starts with an all American beer. Miller lite. Go to millerlight.com dan to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Co. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

[Zas]

I know it well.

[Mike Ryan]

It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy. Yeah. You usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. Walking like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night. It has that effect on people. It does. You usually take the credit for it. But again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hooting and hollering. Keep it, Cuervo. Keep it Cuervo, baby. This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mike Ryan]

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[Dan LeBatard]

Availability, amount of discounts, and savings and eligibility vary by state. Dan Levitar.

[Zas]

The packers winner. The bear lose. Bears lose.

[Dan LeBatard]

Jonathan Saslow.

[Zas]

You want to know how that.

[Mike Ryan]

What were the kids doing?

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levitar show. All right. The entire staff has been afflicted by something that had a lot more strength than whatever Romo was on. And Amin yelling at me, some sort of inspirational shouting at the sky. I can be the me I want to be when basketball sets me free. Singing a song to the skies about this job. I love this sport. I love it consumes me. I can't be the me I want to be most free when basketball and I've got to keep up with the young kids on something happened in the Utah game in the third quarter that I need to pay attention to.

[Chris Cody]

But then it really is like, I love the game and I love watching games and all that stuff. But it. It is so suffocating to feel like I have to know because there's no chance I could walk in a room and say, oh, my God, isn't that crazy? What happened to Brandon Ingram? And I'm like, what happened to Brandon Ingram? And I sound like an idiot. So I have to be like, I

[Dan LeBatard]

wake up to me all that Is is you competing in the modern space for everyone is grabbing at content. And Rich Paul lebron's agen saying, content is king. There are all sorts of people consumed at all times at the idea. What do you mean? I can have a microphone and say things and people will pay attention to my opinion and it matters. Like, everyone on the Internet's doing that. That's what social media is. As far as I can tell, it's just everyone shouting into the microphone saying, hey, listen to my opinion.

[Chris Cody]

I have opinions, yes. But I think there's a level beyond opinion that is knowledge and information. Right? And I think that's the part that really keeps me up at night, both figuratively and literally, is this idea that I have to be abreast of the situation and I have to have the information, the knowledge, and it's not even particularly. Cause I'm gonna tweet about it or. Cause I'm gonna speak into a microphone. It's just people I encounter who expect me to know.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right, okay. But this is the burden of this addiction in general, is it not that you always feel like you need to keep up? Like, isn't that the whole thing? Isn't that why we're all addicted to it? Like, that you can't fall behind that. If you miss a week, you're.

[Chris Cody]

You're.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're months behind.

[Chris Cody]

It's. It's the difference between this job and, you know, I guess knowing what happened in House of Dragons, right? Like, I was behind because I didn't start season three with everyone else. I had to go back and watch the first two seasons because I can't remember anything. And all the characters have the same damn name. Jacaerys, Jaehaerys. Jaehaerys, Rhaenyras, Kaderas. Like, they're all the same people. How am I supposed to keep them apart? So I have to go back and rewatch the whole thing over each episode because those recaps don't tell you enough. The recaps are just like. And then this happened. Like, no, there's a whole, whole lot beneath that you didn't figure out. And so, by the way, we should open a bar, right? We could open a bar. It'd be the coolest bar ever. It'll be like a House of Dragons sports with a boat.

[Dan LeBatard]

But I got a guy.

[Chris Cody]

I got a guy on a boat where we're playing House of Dragons on some screens and sports on the other screens. But here's the thing. We tell everybody who comes in, you come into this boat, this boat Bar this bar boat. You don't get to tell people that if you get pulled over, you can't say you came here or you're.

[Zas]

Guys, hold up.

[Chris Cody]

You have to. You have to. This is what you got to do. And don't mention Charles Barkley. Don't mention Charles.

[Mike Ryan]

A Tiki Hut boat. I've seen those. We do it better, though.

[Chris Cody]

Yes. Because we'll have the screens with House of Dragons on one screen and sports on the other. And we also tell the people card. We give them a little card on the card that says, hey, if you get pulled over leaving here, do not mention us. Don't mention us. Don't mention Charles Barkley. Don't mention Greg Cody either. Or his garage or the chalet.

[Mike Ryan]

ESPN and Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions share a historic nine year content agreement running through 2034, valued at 60 million annually. 500 million.

[Chris Cody]

Let me hold a dollar.

[Dan LeBatard]

I find it fascinating that these guys are competing for that money. I do think the Cafecito should be illegal. I think it's something that.

[Mike Ryan]

What do you know? Well, he's a cop.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'm just saying that. I'm not saying in all circumstances. Okay, I'm not.

[Mike Ryan]

You said illegal.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, no, but I'm going to.

[Mike Ryan]

Did you not. I just made it top five. I did.

[Dan LeBatard]

I'll get to your top five in a second.

[Mike Ryan]

That was top ten.

[Zas]

Oh, no.

[Dan LeBatard]

The cafecito that Amin had that has him spiraling out and spinning out right now is the work of an amateur. And Mike was next to Amin and he was grinding his teeth the entire time. Because I think all of you have had too much cafecito this morning. And all of you are. Everyone here is high while making fun of Tony Romo. That's what just happened. And everyone here is some form of medicated on Cafecito. And so I think it should be governed a little better, Tony. In the morning hours, if you work in media.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, but you need it, right? Like we all talk about. We got sleepy the other day.

[Zas]

Yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

This is when you need it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Right here.

[Mike Ryan]

So you could be at max propulsion when the show is happening. Imagine being at half propulsion, half mass. Then you gotta be a full mask.

[Zas]

I just don't understand why that side of the show got caught faceto and we did not.

[Dan LeBatard]

I talk enough. You don't want to speed me up any more than I've already been sped up.

[Mike Ryan]

Top five opening credits with the use of music in cinematic history. Number five. Quentin Tarantino, I think, was a master of this. So I'M going George Baker, little green bag from Reservoir Dogs. Number four.

[Dan LeBatard]

Hold on. What is the inspiration for this?

[Mike Ryan]

You'll get when I get to number one because I want to honor a great French producer. Number four, Staying Alive by the Bee Gees Saturday Night Fever opening credits.

[Dan LeBatard]

Did you just say to me I will ignore your questions till the end because I want to honor that all the time.

[Mike Ryan]

Number three, a French director. Number three, Rosie Perez dancing and do the right thing to public enemies. Fight the power. Number two. I mean, it takes you back to the first time you saw the film after that incredible opening scene. Title card comes out to Dick Dale's Miserloo in Pulp Fiction. Master of it and number one, one of the coolest goddamn movies ever. And the soundtrack is a huge reason why you knew right away that you were watching something different. Where the music was a character in the film. I'm talking about Drive, not Taxi with Queen Latifah. Drive. Kavinsky, who was found dead in his home yesterday. 50 year old French dance producer with an all time classic song Night Call that a lot of people discovered via that film.

[Chris Cody]

Dan had a French producer.

[Mike Ryan]

Rest in peace, Kavinsky. That song is an all time banger. It is a vibe. Right away you realize that Ryan Gosling is about to have his signature performance in the coolest, one of the coolest performances ever in the history of cinema.

[Dan LeBatard]

I just realized that Mike wished to eulogize Kavinsky with the highest honor he can give, which is one of his top five lists falling out of the sky to eulogize a French director.

[Mike Ryan]

While we were busy talking about producer producer. He was the producer behind the song Nightclub. You know about that night call. The coin goes in and you're off.

[Dan LeBatard]

The questions as that I wanted to put in front of you based on what it is that Mike was just doing there. Do you very often get moved by music? Do you remember when he offers up movie is starting, Music is starting. And this has met me and I am now discovering immediately a song that I will associate with this movie and that makes me happy. I don't do movies very often that way where I could come up with my own top five list.

[Zas]

I can't necessarily do it with movies songs at the start of the movie. I mean, I certainly remember Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction because those are two of my favorite movies. But normally I could recognize a movie from the song at some point in the movie, not necessarily the very start.

[Dan LeBatard]

But Mike's a music lover. I mean, you're a movie. Do you associate very Many movies with music off the top.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah. Mike mentioned Tarantino movies. I think about the movie Jackie Brown, what an incredible soundtrack. Definitely a very old school inspired soundtrack. Kill Bill soundtrack produced by the rza. I mean, every Tarantino movie is very musically driven. Also, what's the brothers that did Dead Presidents and did Menace Society, The Hughes brothers. Theirs also have a lot of musical influences within the movie that kind of transport you there. I think a lot of the great directors find a way to take popular music and kind of weave it into the fabric of your. Of your filmmaking, especially if you're doing a period piece, because nothing sends you back in time like that.

[Mike Ryan]

It's a cheat code. Contemporary music makes it something that is of a time. You capture zeitgeist. What Quentin Tarantino does is he taps into nostalgia too. But to define an era the way that do the Right Thing did for many to tap a contemporary artist for things like that, that to me is a lot harder. The way that Staying Alive was used in Saturday Night Fever and the way that Kavinsky's Night Call was used in Drive.

[Chris Cody]

You know when you said Staying Alive and Saturday Night Fever opening credits. Right. You know what the interesting thing about that is? Is that the sequel to Saturday Night Fever was Staying Alive. And they played it on the outro credits and he bumps into Stallone walking down the street.

[Mike Ryan]

Who was the director and whose brother did the title song.

[Dan LeBatard]

The Frankster.

[Chris Cody]

Far from over.

[Dan LeBatard]

You're putting that number one, Mike, at least in part because you're appreciating the degree of difficulty of movies, car chases. This is the most difficult thing to pull off better than the others. And if it's got the right music behind it, you've now introduced me to a movie.

[Mike Ryan]

So Drive was going for Cool. And you can kind of piece that together from the trailer and you're like, is this gonna be a try hard thing? Is everyone just gonna try to do their facsimile of James Dean, who came so effortless to. And the music is such a huge. That's right, Sausages ties everything together, but it is. I don't know. Drive is one of my favorite movies ever. And it's in large part due to how effectively the music is used.

[Chris Cody]

Okay, Driving movie with music effectively used. Drive or Baby Driver?

[Mike Ryan]

Baby Driver was just. All right, can I have a conversation with you? Baby Driver was so high on its own supply. And I like Edgar Wright, but the thing that made Drive so much better than Baby Driver was like Baby Driver was trying to shoot for how cool Drive was. And the entire thing was just so. Where Drive was effortless, there was so much effort put into Baby Driver. I didn't like it because it was trying too hard to be cool.

[Chris Cody]

You didn't like Baby Driver?

[Mike Ryan]

I didn't like it because it was trying too hard. Whereas Drive was just like, man, Everybody in this film is naturally cool.

[Chris Cody]

And the music is just hitting, hey, let's normalize effort. This effortless thing, it's the worst thing to happen in America. Everyone seems to be effortless. No, effort is good. Trying is good. Working hard is good. That's how we built this great country.

[Mike Ryan]

No, but. All right. So speaking on this show like we were built because it felt very fly by the seat of the pants. To many, it seemed effortless when a lot of effort. I always told people, how do you prepare for a show that goes anywhere? You got to be prepared for anything.

[Dan LeBatard]

Chris Cody hasn't talked in about an hour because he ate wet sausages. 3 and a half of them. Links, not patties. You got to work hard and be prepared for anything. And he has wet sausages. And we've lost it. We took out. We lost a soldier in the middle of these three hours. Taken out. And you didn't even notice because the other one's got too much cafecito in his bayonet.

[Mike Ryan]

My argument when it comes to art is a lot of the best stuff. Makes you feel like someone didn't pour their heart into the project because it comes off so natural and effortless when there is a very high degree of difficulty for it. I'm just speaking from my own personal art.

[Chris Cody]

You ever watch Inception? There's no way you can watch that and say they didn't put any effort into. This is effortless. It's so. It's so elaborate. It made me think to myself, holy. And I thought that I could be capable of being a storyteller. And so I saw Inception. Like, there's no.

[Dan LeBatard]

But this is a good conversation to have to me. Like this one. If I ask you go to the top of list on whatever endeavor you choose, person who made it look the easiest. I wonder how many guesses I'd have to get before I find someone who actually would tell you. Yeah, it was easy. It was actually easy. Like, I believe that everything that looks easy, everything that's successful that looks easy is because the people cared about it so much that they made it look that way. But the degree of difficulty would be really hard on all this stuff. Like, I don't know what it made, how it Is that Caitlin Clark became that good at basketball or Mike Trout or anybody you want to choose who's great. But I don't think any of them would tell you it was easy, even if they make it look easy. Do you like, who would be at the top of the list if I said, give me someone anywhere in the arts who you're convinced they made a difficult thing look easy because it was just effortless for them?

[Zas]

I feel like you could say that about guys who are great at guitar. I feel like I look at some of those dudes, like, he just. He knows how to play. Is easy for him.

[Dan LeBatard]

I doubt that. I doubt that.

[Zas]

I look at Jimmy Page, I'm like, this was easy for him.

[Mike Ryan]

So you gave that off. Yeah.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

You guys think that, like, there's always some holy person who reaches into a crib and gives someone talent, or they care so much about it that they sculpt.

[Mike Ryan]

There's two different ways to do this. Christopher Nolan, I think, is supremely cool. Sir Christopher Nolan, I think he's supremely cool, but. But there's a ton of effort that goes into it. And I think he's cool because the art speaks for himself. You mentioned guitar players. Jack White goes out of his way to prove to you how difficult it is the things that he does. He even famously puts a piano further away. So you have to actually see the effort that goes into him playing. I think that there's two ways to do it. Both are cool.

[Zas]

It just. It reminds me of that scene in Good Will Hunting, right, Where Matt Damon is scolding the professor. He's like, do you know how easy this is for me? Like, it's embarrassing watching you.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, but I. But I think. No, but I think we do this all the time. Specifically in sports, where someone makes it look easy and we think that they're more athletic than everybody else. And it's like, no, you don't have any earthly idea how much time that wide receiver spent. Run those seven yards that way so that it can't be covered. Like, the sculpting of that is such an absurdity that it's not just a holy person reaches into your crib and makes you talented. Like, I don't think that's anywhere. I don't think that you'll find that just about anywhere in the arts.

[Mike Ryan]

Jon Jones makes things look really, really easy. And I don't know how much he's training a lot, obviously, but, like, yeah,

[Zas]

someone working against you at the same. Like, that makes it harder, though.

[Mike Ryan]

That makes it harder.

[Zas]

I know, right? Right. It's definitely not easy.

[Dan LeBatard]

Dan Levitar put a finger in there. But if you tell anyone, I'll deny it.

[Mike Ryan]

Mike Ryan, don't just stare at it, eat it.

[Dan LeBatard]

This is the Dan Levatare show.

[Chris Cody]

So the person I know this is an incorrect answer, but the person I would think of is Magic Johnson. Not because I don't think he worked hard on his game or anything like that, but because when he tries to explain basketball to people, it's always the most straightforward thing. And I always in my mind, the headcanon I created was that if everything was as simple as tying your shoelaces, like would you be able to ever discern what is the difficult concept from an easy concept for people to understand? So that's why he says everything. So yeah, LeBron James going to the Philadelphia 76ers gives them a great chance at success. Yeah, we all knew that Magic. But in Magic's mind is like, if I broke down every single basketball, every impact of it, would you guys even get it? You probably wouldn't. So let me, let me dumb it down. Let me talk at your dumb ass level. He's so much smarter than us that this is the only way he's trying to communicate with us. It's like, you know when people talk to kids and they use this voice, do you want an ice cream? Uh huh. That's what he's doing when he explains basketball to us.

[Dan LeBatard]

So let me ask you guys, you guys believe that there is anyone in entertainment or otherwise, athletics, anywhere. I put them in this chair and I say, you made it look easy. Was it easy? Do you think anyone is saying all of the hard things and only the hard things? Or you think someone saying, yeah, yeah, it's totally easy. It's a gift I have and I don't even have to care about it that much. I'm just better than all the other people in the world who are competing against me for money on this thing. I just do it better because as an embryo, I was struck by God and some light very bond.

[Zas]

I mean, I think there are definitely people who sit in that chair and it is easy for them. I'm definitely not one of them. I think there's a lot of. I think there are sports talk show hosts, I think there are even, you know, news talk show hosts that they sit in that chair and it is easy.

[Dan LeBatard]

But I'm not doing news. I'm just saying anyone in arts, anyone sits in this chair and you think they make it look easy, put it make it anyone? Jack White. Do you think that he would say no? I spent 18 hours a day for 20 years playing the guitar. Like, no, I didn't come out. I don't have an ear for music that's better than everyone else's ear for music. I care deeply and it was hard work. Or you really just think he picked up a guitar one day and it's like the devil or God gave him a power and he just. And he beat the. He beat the devil with his fiddling.

[Zas]

I think Charlie Daniels. I mean, I definitely think Jimi Hendrix was like that. Yes. I think there were times where Jimi Hendrix was picking up a guitar. It's like, is easy. Watch what I'm about to do.

[Mike Ryan]

Top five effortlessly cool performances in cinematic history. Oli. Harrison Ford is Han Solo. Number five. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

[Zas]

Oh yeah.

[Mike Ryan]

He was great.

[Chris Cody]

So great.

[Mike Ryan]

Love Indiana Jones.

[Dan LeBatard]

4.

[Mike Ryan]

I'm an ally. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley.

[Chris Cody]

Until she played basketball. Then she didn't look cool.

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, but you know, they, they beat it into the ground. Well, Harrison Ford didn't look super cool going for the Crystal Skull.

[Chris Cody]

He was a hundred years old.

[Mike Ryan]

I mean, talk about, talk about braiders. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Number three. I'm beginning to realize that this is a list of dudes that I kind of wanted to bang. Ryan Gosling. Crazy Super Love.

[Chris Cody]

Was that the one with Steve Carell?

[Mike Ryan]

Yeah, but Ryan Gosling was so.

[Zas]

That's a great movie.

[Chris Cody]

He was a douche in that movie.

[Mike Ryan]

Well, great movie.

[Zas]

It's a great movie.

[Mike Ryan]

Number two, Ryan Gosling in Drive. I'm pretty sure I just want to bang Ryan Gosling. And number one, Brad Pitt is Tyler Durden. Fight Club.

[Chris Cody]

No Carl Weathers anywhere on your list.

[Mike Ryan]

Or Billy Dee Williams.

[Chris Cody]

Huh?

[Mike Ryan]

You can make your own list. Oh, okay. No Denzel. Training Day.

[Chris Cody]

You want to segregate the list, huh?

[Dan LeBatard]

Whoa.

[Chris Cody]

Keep separate but equal lists? Is that what you want?

[Dan LeBatard]

I had a woman on Jimothy Crow.

[Mike Ryan]

You wouldn't have had a woman on your list. I know that. You wouldn't have thought to put Ripley on your list.

[Zas]

I wouldn't have.

[Mike Ryan]

Make your own list. I would put Denzel. I know that Dan's gonna have like the dude from like, you know, all the President's Men.

[Dan LeBatard]

Robert Redford, to Zaz's point on Jimi Hendrix, he self taught by ear. He never took formal lessons and learned or learned to read music.

[Zas]

That's someone who like, it's just they

[Dan LeBatard]

know how to play Jimothy Crow.

[Chris Cody]

That was his government Name jimothy Crowe. You went by Jim for a reason.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll at Lebiton show. Did he go Charles Zink? Did he go by Jim for a reason? We didn't do enough with Skipper Chuck yesterday. Chuck Zink. You can't make Chuck zinc Charles Zink. And why not, Mike? You missed a good one yesterday. Skipper Chuck I think is before even your time in South Florida.

[Mike Ryan]

I saw the poll questions and I had a smile on my face. Who's number one on your list? Mark Ruffalo and Spotlight.

[Dan LeBatard]

Effortlessly cool. Ruffalo actually lost me forever when he said of the recent thing he did on TV series where he had like, a pot bellies. Like, I went into this, you know, a movie star, and I come out as somebody who's like, a bit frumpy. And I'm like, I didn't think of Ruffalo as a big movie star.

[Mike Ryan]

I thought, that hurts. That hurts. The task was good. I like task.

[Chris Cody]

Hold on. If we're keeping track at home, Tony Romo's been taken out. Howie Mandel, and now mark Ruffalo. All three by Dan LeBatard.

[Mike Ryan]

You're the Philly guy calling Dan Lebatard fat.

[Dan LeBatard]

You know what? My bad. My total bad on that. It was leading man. What it is that he said. And that's what I was thinking to myself. Oh, I don't think of you as a classical leading man. My bad.

[Zas]

I missed that.

[Dan LeBatard]

He's a great number two.

[Mike Ryan]

He was cool and collateral when he had the slick back hair.

[Zas]

I liked him in 13 going on 30.

[Chris Cody]

Was that slick back or pushback?

[Mike Ryan]

We slick back.

[Dan LeBatard]

Shutter Island. If you're Hulk, I guess you're a movie star, so forgive me. I just. And I guess you're probably a leading man as well, but I really sort of felt like Ruffalo was right on the line on whether he is a leading man or isn't a leading man. And he's not the one who can say he is like that. It's like Witty's take with Giannis. He's like the best number two, but that's. That's for us to argue about. But when the leading man says he's a leading man, he's got to be Denzel. He's got to be Brady, man. He's got to be someone we'd all agree. And I'm not saying Ruffalo is not actually. I just think he's like, right on. He's right on the line.

[Zas]

He's the only avenger who doesn't have a solo movie.

[Chris Cody]

Well, that's. That's not because of him. That's because of some contractual things because they don't own the rights to the Incredible Hulk as a standalone character, so they got to do all these other spin offs and things.

[Dan LeBatard]

Ned, you guys don't think that Ruffalo. Like, who else would you put, like, right on that line.

[Mike Ryan]

You got to ask about the line. You know, they're not. Should I put Johnny Depp and Crybaby?

[Dan LeBatard]

Because I'm not saying he's not a good actor. I'm not saying that he can't carry a movie either. And I'm not saying I don't know that he's been in good movies. Movies. But when he says of Task, I went in as the leading man and I. And he's playing a frumpy character, somebody who drinks a lot and. And like, he's playing somebody who's not a leading man.

[Chris Cody]

Steve Buscemi.

[Mike Ryan]

Buscemi or Buscemi.

[Zas]

Oh, but he was a leading man in Boardwalk.

[Mike Ryan]

As great as Nucky Thompson.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, but that's a TV show. That's like, Ruffalo's the leading man in Task. HBO TV show. He's on that line. He's on that line.

[Dan LeBatard]

If we're being accurate about this, though, leading man has to be movie star, handsome. Correct.

[Chris Cody]

Oh, so now hold on. The list now includes Steve Buscemi. Buscemi. Along with Tony Romo.

[Dan LeBatard]

And I'm doing it. I'm doing it to Ruffalo too, though. And it's not to make fun of Ruffalo's appearance, is it? Leading man appearance, yes or no?

[Mike Ryan]

Wesley Snipes in Blade. Oh, yeah. He was super cool. And there was that one scene where he just refused to open his eyes, so they had to CGI them in post. That's my favorite piece of trivia. They were filming the scene and they were telling him open his eyes. He's like, no. And so they just had to do it in post.

[Chris Cody]

This is from Blade Trinity, by the way, which we did review on Cinephobe. Jujugatti was the guest on that show.

[Dan LeBatard]

How was that episode? That seems. That would be amazing.

[Chris Cody]

It was an amazing episode.

[Mike Ryan]

You know, you mentioned Blade Trinity. A person that is kind of cool, but you can see the effort that goes into it and can't pull off effortless the way that Ryan Gosling can. Ryan Reynolds. Yeah. That's taking effort.

[Zas]

It takes.

[Mike Ryan]

Takes effort.

[Dan LeBatard]

The. The thing that you say, though, that ties this back to me to what Little I saw of the Romo video is the reason that you can convict Romo of that is because he wasn't quite as sharply charming as he usually is. He was like a step slow on the televised charm. The Jason Garrett stuff that. That Tony likes. Like, I can. I can. Look, I'll just be. Give me a second. Oh, I'll wind this up, and I'll be the Tony Romo you're expecting in a second. I just got to get some of these liquor cod beds out of my drunk. Out of my drunk hair.

[Mike Ryan]

It's hard to pull off drunk and cool, but Ryan Gosling did exactly that in the nice guys.

[Chris Cody]

So you're saying him being drunk took

[Dan LeBatard]

away from his cool? It slowed it down. No, what I'm saying is it slowed down his usual charm. He thought he was being charming and

[Mike Ryan]

was about most electric man on tv.

[Dan LeBatard]

It makes me laugh.

[Mike Ryan]

He's getting more. He's getting more run. Dan.

[Dan LeBatard]

The video team does nothing funnier than that. Surprised me with the gleaming twinkle in the teeth of Jason Garrett as he turns to the camera.

[Mike Ryan]

That's television.

[Dan LeBatard]

And it's just maximum eight and eight at a time when we only played 16 games. Like, I'm just eight, Nate. And here I am in a suit. Give me all the good jobs.

[Mike Ryan]

Gosling is going to be Ghost Rider.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, I saw that, man.

[Mike Ryan]

Do you think he can manage making a demon who has a flaming skull who rides a motorbike while wearing a leather jacket ghoul?

[Chris Cody]

Nick Cage did.

[Dan LeBatard]

Yeah, I did.

[Chris Cody]

Twice. Both of which were reviewed on cinephone. Yeah, there's a clue.

[Dan LeBatard]

Whenever I would watch Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire, it made me want to have a decanter with whiskey in it. So anytime I have a decision to make, just pour myself a glass, talk it, think it over while I sip it. A clue. Put it on the poll, please. Did Nucky make you want to have a decanter at lebitage?

[Zas]

Nicky.

[Chris Cody]

Nicky.

[Mike Ryan]

Nucky lived at the Ritz Carlton, Dan. Can you imagine that? That was during prohibition.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, so did.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's a good cavernous cage. He's in there somewhere.

[Chris Cody]

Pull him out.