Ear Biscuits with Rhett & Link - Looking Back: Our Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

Rhett and Link are ranking their top 10 favorite movies in this episode of Ear Biscuits! They are still on summer break, but will be back with new episodes on July 17th! To learn more about listener... data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This, this, this, this is Mythical. Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead, you can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Hey, hey, we're still on break, but today from the Ear Biscuits vault,
Starting point is 00:00:31 we are talking about our 10 favorite movies of all time. We hope you enjoy it. Remember, we're going to be back with regularly scheduled programming on July 17th. Just a few weeks. Welcome to Ear Biscuits, I'm Rhett. And I'm Link. This week at our individual tables of either dining
Starting point is 00:00:54 or placed into your living room, Rhett, we are going to have another discussion because Ear Biscuits don't stop because we're in our homes. It's not that much different. No it doesn't. Still working. Still working. You think this is work?
Starting point is 00:01:13 I don't even have pants on. This is a nice outlet. Today, you know what? Today's gonna be a positive outlet. Just like you can sit down and watch a movie and you can escape from the reality of what's going on. And there's, I mean, there's some good news, there's a lot of bad news,
Starting point is 00:01:33 there's still a lot of troubling news, there's things to be worried about. But you can escape into a book, you can escape into a show, you can escape into a movie. And right now, you can escape into an Ear Biscuits about movies. Yeah, we're gonna do one of our top 10 favorites episodes. We're doing top 10 favorite movies for each one of us personally, going through our list.
Starting point is 00:02:00 We've had fun with this before. What else did we do? We did TV shows. We did TV shows. We did TV shows. We also did game shows, like specifically. Of course, yeah. So, and the interesting thing about this is that, well, I'll say a few things about it.
Starting point is 00:02:17 It was incredibly difficult to make this list because as I've said many times about my lists of favorites is that I don't have like a favorite movie. I have like a collection of movies. And once I started trying to narrow it down to 10, I started feeling really bad about the ones that I was leaving off of the top 10. So I have a pretty long list of honorable mentions.
Starting point is 00:02:39 I'm pretty sure you do as well. I have some honorable mentions. The thing that, it's not that I had difficulty narrowing it down as much as, I actually had difficulty accessing some of those, oh, I remembered one that would be like high up on my list and I'm like, I can't believe I almost forgot
Starting point is 00:02:57 about this movie, it's been so long since I've seen it. But it's not just what we think are the best movies ever, but at least for me, I ranked the movies that were most personally impactful, the movies that were most meaningful to me for a variety of reasons, which I think is kind of what we did with the television show thing as well. Yeah, it's more about, I mean,
Starting point is 00:03:18 favorite doesn't necessarily mean best. Best, right. Although I would say the majority of the movies that ended up letting make the top 10 were the ones that, with few exceptions, I still think these are just incredible. There's not a film on this list that's not an incredible film.
Starting point is 00:03:37 Right. But it might not be that they're all 98% or above on Rotten Tomatoes. You know, that wasn't my criteria. But also the way that I kind of tried to access the memories, which I have a horrible memory, unless I wrote something down, is I went to lists of movies, you know, and so there might be something that you accessed
Starting point is 00:04:01 through your memory that wouldn't have made like top 100. Yeah. I went like top 100 all genres and like went through all of them to kind of like re-access different movies. Yeah, I did some of that too. But there could be one that's not on there. Anyway.
Starting point is 00:04:16 One of the things that I realized was I've fallen out of the habit of watching movies. I don't, there's been different eras of movie watching, and I think it will become clear in my list as to when these movies meant the most to me, like when I first watched them, and what compels me to go back and watch them. But, you know, as television has evolved, I find myself watching more television than movies at home and not going to the theater or going to theater for a different reason or going with different people like with younger people,
Starting point is 00:04:52 that type of thing has changed my movie going habits. But in this current situation, if there's ever been an opportunity to go back and rewatch movies or to introduce, you know, your partner or your kids to movies that were special to you, now's a great time to do that. Now we're just looking for opportunities to do things and movies, they take a good chunk of time.
Starting point is 00:05:16 So I guess you can just consider this an entire recommendation episode as we go through these. Do you wanna start? Let's get into it. Sure. Of course, we're starting with number 10 and working our way to number one. And again, of course, I don't know your list
Starting point is 00:05:33 and you don't know my list, so. Right. My number 10 favorite movie of all time is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Really? The Good, and The Bad, and The Ugly. Really? The Good, and The Bad, and The Ugly? I mean, I own that movie on DVD, but I couldn't have even told you that you've watched it.
Starting point is 00:05:54 What, are you crazy? You didn't watch it with me. I've watched every Clint Eastwood movie multiple times. Oh, not just like a fistful of dollars and a few dollars more, but all Clint Eastwood movie multiple times. Oh, not just like A Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More, but all Clint Eastwood movies. The Dollars trilogy, which incidentally, this movie is considered the third and final installment in that trilogy, even though it was basically
Starting point is 00:06:22 just marketed as that because it was a spaghetti western. It was an Italian produced and directed movie. And the reason I love this, I wanted to have a, first of all I wanted to have a western in there because I love the genre. But this is the most, I'm actually surprised that it's at least not on your honorable mentions because this is the most iconic film score of all time in my mind.
Starting point is 00:06:50 Yeah. So Ennio Morricone, he basically, this is that class, like so many things that you take for granted both in film scores but also in filmmaking. Like, uh. Yeah, you know this soundtrack, even if you don't know that you know this soundtrack. I was trying to do it with my hand.
Starting point is 00:07:13 It sounds a little bit like what Link tried to do there. But it's like, wah, wah, wah. Yeah, and there's like whip sounds and stuff like that. All that stuff that you just, The soundtrack is great. Like maybe top two or three movie soundtracks of all times, definitely. But the movie itself, you gotta settle in
Starting point is 00:07:31 because it's a different type of pacing. The first 10 and a half minutes, there is no dialogue. 10 and a half minutes of no dialogue. And the shots are incredible, like there's all these shots of just eyeballs and there's shots incredibly incredible. Like, there's all these shots of just eyeballs and there's shots incredibly wide. The cinematography is absolutely amazing. So I did a little research
Starting point is 00:07:53 and learned that Clint Eastwood was so frustrated with making this movie that he never worked with the director again because the director was so meticulous about, like, you see the final product and the way that all the, he worked the actors so hard to get all of these different shots that Clint Eastwood was like, I'm never working with this guy again.
Starting point is 00:08:12 And people kind of looked down on the whole spaghetti Western thing. That's Sergio Leone. I couldn't remember his name, I looked it up. Just a super weird time in filmmaking history and that all of a sudden they started making a bunch of Westerns in Italy. And then like they were some, you know,
Starting point is 00:08:28 like Spain was involved in some ways. And I don't know. I mean, also the whole thing is overdubbed. So if you go back and watch this, you're gonna be like, what? Yeah, they ADR'd the entire movie and it's super obvious, but there's just something about all the elements that come together that just make it iconic for me.
Starting point is 00:08:46 And the three-way face-off scene at the end is pretty memorable, if you can last that long. I think anybody, I mean, I understand that it's a certain taste, but for me, it's so iconic and it stands on its own and it influenced so much of filmmaking from that point on that it's just, I just, I love it. I its own and it influenced so much of filmmaking from that point on that I just, I love it. I did own it.
Starting point is 00:09:09 I actually might enjoy watching like, you know, the outlaw Jesse Wells or something like that more as a movie. And then I love some of the like Unforgiven and later like 90s. So no other Western made your list? Nope. Tombstone?
Starting point is 00:09:31 No, Tombstone's not on the list. I thought Tombstone would be on your list. Okay, my number 10, released in 2004. This is a movie that I'd forgotten about, but it popped up as I was doing some browsing and I was like, I think this needs to go on my list. It barely made it, but here it is at number 10, Napoleon Dynamite.
Starting point is 00:09:56 Ah, it's an honorable mention for me. Okay. It got close to making it on the list, for sure. Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess movie, you know, he had made a short film and then it, I think that's what was it, Slamdance, which was like the companion film festival to Sundance. And like, so I'm pretty sure I'm right about that.
Starting point is 00:10:20 Then they turned it into a full length movie and it was based on his experiences and growing up in Idaho and like the llama that's in it is his, his mom's or his grandma's llama. Um, because she really had one and last night didn't have anything to do. And I was like, Lillian and Lando and I were going, we're going to watch something. I was like, let's watch, watch a movie. I think you'll like Napoleon Dynamite, it's number 10 on my list, I'd like for you to watch it. And of course, I hadn't watched it in a long time.
Starting point is 00:10:56 It is so specifically strange, you know? Yeah. And also innovative for its time too. It's delightful. So many people have tried to do that really quirky thing, including Jared Hess himself has tried to recreate the magic that he sort of found in Napoleon Dynamite and that's been difficult for him to do.
Starting point is 00:11:18 Well, Nacho Libre, I really love Nacho Libre. Yeah, I like that movie. My whole family had watched that, we may have watched it twice over the years. Jack Black is hilarious. It's a really good movie. So I would say, in Lily and Lando's opinion, it's a much better movie than Napoleon Dynamite
Starting point is 00:11:38 because at like 10 or 13 minutes in, they were like, dad, is this the movie? They were like, is something gonna happen? Because it's just these strange characters just being themselves, and there's not a lot that's really happening. I mean, they couldn't keep watching it. I had to turn it off, and we hadn't gotten
Starting point is 00:12:04 to any sort of question or conflict. You're kidding. Yeah, they couldn't keep watching it. I had to turn it off and we hadn't gotten to any sort of question or conflict. You're kidding. Yeah, they weren't into it. And they love Nacho Libre. My kids have watched, first of all, my kids end up watching a lot of movies without me, like especially a lot, like I'll be like, "'Hey, have you seen so-and-so classic movies?'
Starting point is 00:12:18 Like, oh yeah, he just watches a bunch of stuff on his own. So Napoleon Dynamite, kids have watched that and they liked it. I'm a fan of Jared Hess. And, so Napoleon Dynamite, kids have watched that. And they liked it. I'm a fan of Jared Hess. As I was. Don Verdeen, biblical archeologist. Well, I think the thing we like about Jared Hess is that he,
Starting point is 00:12:38 if we were to make movies, we've always thought, especially because at that time, like 2004 when that one came out, we were trying to figure out what is this career gonna look like and where is this eventually gonna go? And I think we always assumed that it would end at making movies.
Starting point is 00:12:52 And maybe it will, Link, maybe it will one day. Right. But we had this vision that, oh, the way that he's kind of drawing on the weird, quirky stuff from his life and his childhood and the way that he puts that on screen in very specific ways is just how we imagined that we would always make.
Starting point is 00:13:09 It was a different type of comedy. That's why it had to be on my list, I felt like, because it was so inspiring for me and for both of us because it was a specific strain of comedy that we had never experienced, that every choice was a comedic choice. And it came together in a way that was like, it was so odd that it became cool in spite of itself.
Starting point is 00:13:33 Even the music cues and like the composition, everything was just delightfully strange. And I think it gave us confidence that those instincts, comedic instincts that we had that were kind of kindred to his was something that people could dig. And it gave us more confidence to explore our comedic voice. So that's why I had to make the list for me.
Starting point is 00:14:04 Okay, I'll pick up with number nine in one second. First, we do wanna take a short break, let you know that we've got popsockets, people. At mythical.com, you can go and pick up popsockets. We've got the Mythical Popsocket, we've got the GMM Popsocket. I'm gonna put it up. Prop up your phone. I'm gonna put it up. Prop up your phone.
Starting point is 00:14:25 I'm gonna make it pop. Now, we don't have it on our phones right now, because we're gonna sell these. Check this out. I mean. Very satisfying. The thing about a pop socket is that it's basically, it's still the only acceptable form of a fidget toy.
Starting point is 00:14:43 You know? It's kind of fartish. And it feels good. So again, kind of fartish. Mythical.com. That didn't, the words mythical. Mythical.com. That didn't come out of my mouth exactly right.
Starting point is 00:14:59 There's also a, we don't have our hands on it right now, there's a feel good Mythical Morning Pop Socket. So every time you look at your phone and hold onto it, it feels good. And you know what, it feels good to pop it. I did get that, actually, I just remember, I got one of those in the mail, I believe, and it's just in a package.
Starting point is 00:15:19 Sorry, crew, sorry Mythical crew who sent that to me on time, I don't have it. But it feels good and it looks good. Go to mythical.com. We got all types of stuff, including popsockets. We will just, let's get popping. If you wanna know what's popping, go to mythical.com. Okay, back to the list.
Starting point is 00:15:38 We're to your number nine, if you've lost track already. Number nine, what I consider to be the perfect movie. Perfect movie and it's only number nine? The Godfather. Okay, okay. I thought that one of these would make your list. I mean, people say Godfather Part II is better. Well, again, there's another trilogy,
Starting point is 00:16:08 as you might imagine, on my list. There's probably at least one on your list. And I just picked the first one from, I'm just picking the first movie from the trilogy. And Godfather II is incredible. Godfather III is, everybody sort of agrees, is not as good. But I love a gangster movie. Absolutely, and so obviously,
Starting point is 00:16:29 The Godfather was Francis Ford Coppola, and then Scorsese kind of came in and has taken over the mantle of making the perfect gangster movie. Goodfellas, speaking of Scorsese, was, almost took this spot on the list because Goodfellas is funnier than The Godfather. And I also think it's a perfect movie, by the way.
Starting point is 00:16:51 And it's sort of the modern gangster movie, but a lot of the same characters, it's just you have the addition of Joe Pesci. Were they playing the same characters? They're not playing the same characters. No, no, no, no, no. But I'm just saying this. They're the same actors. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. But I'm just saying this. You're saying same actors.
Starting point is 00:17:05 Yeah, yeah, yeah. De Niro. You know. I love the epic sort of like sweeping, multi-generational nature of a really good gangster movie. And again, that's what they did in the Irishman where they kind of took him through his life. And I just sit there and I just kind of just completely,
Starting point is 00:17:28 I become engrossed with this. And I remember the first time I watched the Godfather, which I don't even remember how old I was, but I was a teenager. And I very rarely have gotten lost in something and just been like, cause a lot of people are like, man, there's movies are so long,
Starting point is 00:17:44 like a Scorsese movie and The Godfather, I don't know how long the first one is, they're all long. But like, it doesn't matter, I could just take it, I could watch it, I could watch like a 12 hour version of it because everything about it is perfect. The writing, the acting, the score, the cinematography, I just don't think there's any misses at all. Although I was surprised to learn that Marlon Brando,
Starting point is 00:18:10 two things about him, he actually put cotton balls in his cheeks when he did his audition for the role. Uh-huh. Because he wanted his face to kind of look like a bulldog, more so than it already did. And then for the movie, they had a dentist make like a prosthetic that goes in his mouth that like pushes his cheeks out
Starting point is 00:18:28 and that way he talked. But he also, he's such a weird dude. He didn't memorize any of his lines for the movie. He read them off cue cards. And so to learn that the lead actor in one of the best movies of all time wasn't really even acting in the traditional sense. Wow.
Starting point is 00:18:52 Was a little surprising, but. So you're saying that a gangster, well, okay, you don't have to, a gangster movie didn't make your top 10. No gangster movie. And I think a lot of people may be thinking, Link, you've got a a reputation of being the guy who hasn't seen the movies and you know what that's true especially like all of
Starting point is 00:19:14 the the movies that everybody's seen from the 80s you know which is why we made that view master thing for uh the mythical society that put me in these movies I've never seen like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But yeah, I've seen the Godfather, I've seen the Godfather part two, but there was a stint in college where I realized I needed to go back and watch these movies because in my house growing up, we just didn't watch, we didn't rent that many movies or watch that many movies.
Starting point is 00:19:43 In your house, I just think that was a big thing, right? And not that you all watched them together, but you would also watch the movies on your own, but you rent those VHSs of the Godfather and watch that. So in college, I watched those. I watched, you know, Space Odyssey, 2001. You know, I watched all the things that, like- Oh, hold on, so 2001 didn't make your top 10?
Starting point is 00:20:09 No. That was an honorable mention for me. I was sure that that movie would make your top 10. I had that kick where I took an intro to film class my sophomore year, and I really felt convicted to go back and watch the greatest movies of all time. And we would watch a lot of them together. And there was a really cool video store there
Starting point is 00:20:32 where a lot of them you could rent for a dollar. Remember that? Yeah. So I watched them all so closely together that they didn't have a lasting personal impact. There are some from that time in my life, but it says a lot more about me than it does about the movie.
Starting point is 00:20:51 So no, no gangster movies in my list. Okay, what is your number nine? My number nine is from 2014. I was making my list and I realized is from 2014. I was making my list and I realized I didn't have a Marvel movie on my list. And I feel like that if I'm gonna see a movie now, like without exception, I go to the theater to see a Marvel movie,
Starting point is 00:21:20 because my entire family's into it. It's a way that we connect, that we got a lot of really great memories around watching movies. We watched Infinity War and when it was over, we had reservations for dinner and Lily was in tears and I was like emotionally ripped apart and we didn't even go, we didn't even eat dinner.
Starting point is 00:21:42 We just went home, you know? So I felt like I had, Marvel had to be represented on my list somewhere. So at number nine, the only Marvel movie on my list, Guardians of the Galaxy. That's my favorite Marvel movie. I mean, Infinity War, the first Avengers, like there's a lot of ones that are special,
Starting point is 00:22:08 but Guardians is just my favorite. It's just, it's the funniest, it was so surprising because it, I wasn't, I'm not a comic book guy, so I wasn't really familiar with the characters, so my expectations were low, but then they were blown out of the water and it just continues to deliver with every sequel. I can't wait for the next one. Yeah, so Guardians of the Galaxy was on my original,
Starting point is 00:22:37 just like my long list. I kind of, so I guess you could technically say it's on my honorable mentions, but it didn't really have, I knew it wasn't gonna make it into the top 10. But it is, for me, as a guy who doesn't really like comic book movies, it is easily the best franchise, Marvel franchise for me. And I think that's why it's on my list,
Starting point is 00:23:00 for the reasons it's almost on your list, plus all the reasons I love Marvel. And one of the things that happens in Marvel movies that is frustrating to me is just, I'm just not, the whole action thing is not super appealing to me, and like following a bunch of different, like I like the Avengers and they're incredibly well done,
Starting point is 00:23:23 but like just things get too complicated. It's not like it's difficult to follow what's happening in the Avengers. they're incredibly well done, but things get too complicated. It's not like it's difficult to follow what's happening in the Avengers. I'm not saying that. It's not like Memento or something, but it's- There's emotional investment in the entire universe. It gets a little too complicated and too complex for me to find out what I was supposed to attach to,
Starting point is 00:23:40 but for Guardians of the Galaxy, I attach, there's an emotional connection. Soundtrack, we play the soundtrack. It's by far the most played movie soundtrack in our house as Guardians of the Galaxy. It's going all the time. Because, you know, what Chris Pratt listens to in the movie, it's incredible.
Starting point is 00:24:02 And it's super funny. So yeah, I definitely thought about it, but I just couldn't, I couldn't give it a top 10 spot. All right, so where you at? Number eight, I'm positive this is not on your list. Unless you got something that you've never told me. The Wizard of Oz. Wow.
Starting point is 00:24:24 Really? Okay. Oh yeah, easily. Okay. Easily. The Wizard of Oz. Wow, really? Okay. Oh yeah, easily. Okay. Easily. And this for me is, if you're a 42 year old person or somewhere along those lines, you remember The Wizard of Oz coming on
Starting point is 00:24:40 every single year on television. And for me, it was this incredibly special, like getting by myself and watching the Wizard of Oz was this almost spiritual experience. There's something absolutely magical about that story. I mean, it is recognized as one of the best movies of all time on most people's list, but that's not why I chose it.
Starting point is 00:25:03 That's why I remembered it. But I was like, oh yeah, Wizard that's not why I chose it. That's why I remembered it, but I was like, oh yeah, Wizard of Oz, like, I would, there's something about, it's such an early time in sort of cinematic history, they were able to bring this fantasy world to life, and when you watch it, you can kind of see, like, oh, I can kind of tell that they're just in sort of a big room,
Starting point is 00:25:24 and that castle is painted on a wall. But you can still tell that it was flooring for anyone the first time they saw it. And even as a kid, I can access that memory of the first time I saw it and still being transported there. Yeah, well, one of my favorite things that, one of my favorite genres of literature and one of my favorite things that, one of my favorite genres of literature
Starting point is 00:25:45 and one of my favorite genres of movie is our fantasy movies where there's a connection to the real world, right? So even though I don't like, you know, the Chronicles of Narnia is not on my list because I didn't really like the movies. I loved the books as a kid. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:03 And the reason that the Chronicles of Narnia connected with me so much is because it actually established a connection between the real world in England with this fantasy world, as opposed to like Game of Thrones, which is just a fantasy, it's a world-building fantasy thing,
Starting point is 00:26:17 which is awesome. But the idea that you can actually find a thin place somewhere in the world and actually move into the fantasy world has been something that has been fascinating for me since I was a kid. And I remember like walking in the woods and like looking in trees and I was like, is this it?
Starting point is 00:26:34 Is this how you get to the fantasy place? And even though I know that she was technically just in a dream, which is unfortunate that that's how it ends. Spoiler alert. Just the idea that this girl from Kansas, the real world with her little dog goes into this absolutely magical place that was represented in this incredible way.
Starting point is 00:26:58 It's just, it's definitely, I almost put it higher on the list because it looms so large in my childhood. I gotta say, now I do feel a little guilty for not putting it on my list because I remember that feeling of realizing it was coming on television again when I was a kid and being so excited.
Starting point is 00:27:18 It was gripping. And it wasn't the type of thing that you only watched half of it. Once you were in it, you were in it. You were like, oh, this is a good part. This is a good part. And for it to hold up that well is absolutely amazing. It's iconic, yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:33 Okay, so my number eight is a Wes Anderson movie. Now, if I were to rank my favorite filmmakers, I think Wes Anderson may be my favorite filmmaker. He may take my number one spot. So it kind of, this was difficult for me that I had to narrow, I ended up- Can I guess which one you chose? I had to put one on my list
Starting point is 00:27:58 and I didn't put one higher than this. Yeah, you can guess. Okay, well, before I guess, let me just say that I knew that a Wes Anderson film would be on your list. And a Wes Anderson film almost made it on my list because I don't like Wes Anderson as much as you do, but he's definitely in my top five favorite filmmakers. However, none of his movies made the list for me.
Starting point is 00:28:22 And the movie that I would, and was almost on my list at number 10, and almost knocked off the good, bad, the ugly, is one I'm sure is not on your list. I bet you'd say Fantastic Mr. Fox. No, I would say Rushmore. Rushmore is great. And I was almost gonna put that on for the kids last night,
Starting point is 00:28:39 and then I realized it's rated R, and I didn't want Landon to watch it. So I think you chose, I think you chose. I didn't choose Rushmore but I thought about it. You either chose, I know you either chose the Royal Tenenbaums or the Life Aquatic and I think you chose the Life Aquatic. You are right.
Starting point is 00:29:00 I saw, I wish I would have seen the Life Aquatic in theaters, I don't know why I didn't do that. It came out in 2004. Rushmore came out in 1998. Tenenbaums came out closer to The Life Aquatic. I think Tenenbaums was the first movie that I watched of Wes Anderson. Then I went back and watched the previous ones.
Starting point is 00:29:23 It's a great movie, great acting, and it's so striking, the visual voice that he has, and it really resonates with me. I mean, it's not just the meticulous control that he applies to every single thing, just seeing his process when watching the movie, I delight in that. And I think that's something, it just makes me feel,
Starting point is 00:29:56 you know, it's like a well-oiled machine or a well-cleaned room, you know? It resonates with me to see everything so perfectly symmetrical. And then the way that the comedy doesn't, the first time you watch it, you're like, is that, I find that funny, but is that supposed to be funny?
Starting point is 00:30:16 And of course, once you understand his voice, you know it is. Yeah, well, that's why he's one of my favorite filmmakers. I mean, obviously the aesthetic stuff that you're talking about, but for me, it is the effortless comedy and the way, and also his casting is better than anybody in terms of comedic casting.
Starting point is 00:30:35 Knowing who's going to be funny without trying. Gene Hackman was amazing in that. He's a master at that. The reason why I chose Life Aquatic, even though some people will rank it really low on their Wes Anderson list, it was more whimsical, it didn't have, in a lot of Wes Anderson movies,
Starting point is 00:31:00 there's an underpinning of sadness, and there's a lot of comedy that comes from that. I wouldn't call it dark comedy but it's like sad comedy um the life aquatic was kind of a a refrain from that it was a it was it was more whimsical it you know it was i mean, Bill Murray's character was tapped into so much of what you get with Bill Murray that like, it was, he was very morose as a character, but it wasn't, I never felt sorry for him. I always felt, I just thought it was hilarious.
Starting point is 00:31:38 And exploring that world, you know, with the cutaways of the ship and everything, it was just, it was just more fun throughout than Tenenbaum. So if I was gonna sit down and rewatch it, I found myself going back to that one more often for those reasons. Yeah, I think the reason it didn't make my list is because I appreciate all those things
Starting point is 00:32:01 about Wes Anderson and I find it's incredibly enjoyable to watch his movies and like everything about it, there's something you can keep finding that you are enjoying. But the one thing that it doesn't do for me is I don't get emotionally invested in his characters in the same way. However, the character I got most invested in
Starting point is 00:32:20 is Schwarzman in Rushmore, interestingly. And so I think that that's why it was my favorite. But yeah, it's just more like, it's almost just like a filmmaking, it's just an experience in watching great filmmaking. It's like going to an amusement park. It's like going- I never forget that I'm watching a movie though. I think that's the thing is I never forget that I'm watching a movie. It draws
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Starting point is 00:33:49 DQ, happy tastes good. Give me your number seven. Okay. My number seven. Again, I wonder when we're gonna get some crossover because I don't think this is, we're there yet. Number seven for me is The Princess Bride. Again, this is a lot of people's, one of the people, a lot of people's favorite movie. we're there yet. Number seven for me is The Princess Bride.
Starting point is 00:34:09 Again, this is a lot of people's favorite movie. And I, again, it was one of those that the first time I watched it, I was just like, if this is what movies are, I wanna make movies, you know? It's got that adventure quality, but The Princess Bride for me is just the peak of sort of fantasy comedy. Doesn't go all the way into like a Monty Python place that is just completely unhinged.
Starting point is 00:34:33 Gets pretty close in a couple of places. But again, there's just something about the tone. First of all, I'm a huge Rob Reiner fan. And he's done so many different things. And then once I read, which I've recommended this book before I recommend it again, but the As You Wish book. Yeah. The audio book's great too.
Starting point is 00:34:53 Yeah, audio book's got a bunch of the cast talking and it's got freaking Andre the Giant in it. But again, I just love the way it came together. I love, there's so many epic moments in it. And again, I just get lost in it. I love the Princess Bride. I wish I would have seen it as a kid. I don't know, I was deprived.
Starting point is 00:35:16 You know, I saw it. I don't think I saw it until after college. And it's just a different thing. And like, I could see the, everything you're saying, but I couldn't fully experience it because it doesn't quite hold up if you're not accessing the first time you saw it when you're younger, I think.
Starting point is 00:35:37 Yeah, well, did you know that the actor that they originally wanted to play the giant was not Andre the Giant. Fezzik is the giant's name. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oh wow. Was the first choice. Just not cute enough.
Starting point is 00:35:57 Like Andre the Giant had this cuteness that made it work. Well he also had this giantness that Schwarzenegger actually doesn't have. He's ripped, but he's not an actual giant. Which is on my list. But yeah, because the whole, again, you gotta read the book because, well, not the book that is based on the, you know,
Starting point is 00:36:21 The Princess Bride by William Gold or Goldman. Gold or Goldman. Anyway, I've never read the book, but people said it was one of those things like, oh, you can't adapt this book, and they had tried many different times. Kinda like, I didn't even realize until recently, their Dune, another book that they said
Starting point is 00:36:39 could never be adapted, is being made into a film right now. I've heard that, but it's still suspicious. But anyway, it took 12 years, 12 years had passed between the time that they were talking about Arnold being Fezzik to when it actually happened, because it took so long to get the film going. And by that time, Schwarzenegger was just a massive start.
Starting point is 00:37:03 It would have been incredibly odd and weird for him to just play the giant. And so they got a pro wrestler to do it, who ended up being one of my favorite parts in any movie ever. My number seven movie is the first movie I ever remember seeing in the theater. I don't know if it actually was, but it probably was.
Starting point is 00:37:22 This was 1984. So I was six, if I saw it late in the theater, maybe depending on when it landed, I could have been seven. My dad took me to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And in a recent episode, well, maybe months back, I did talk about how we watched all of the Indiana Jones movies with the kids
Starting point is 00:37:46 so I introduced them to them and they were enthralled as well. Now, you could make the argument that Raiders of the Lost Ark is a better movie. I would make that argument. And Raiders of the Lost Ark is on my honorable mentions. But they both hold up big time. Temple of Doom is a lot darker.
Starting point is 00:38:10 Temple of Doom is not as funny, but it holds a special place because, I don't know why my dad took me to see this movie. It was rated PG, and then because of the public reaction to the darkness of Gremlins and Temple of Doom, Spielberg lobbied that they come up with a new rating, which became PG-13, and they changed the rating of Temple of Doom to PG-13, one of the first movies that got that rating. So I just remember seeing the heart come out of that guy's chest and covering my eyes in the theater
Starting point is 00:38:49 and being absolutely horrified, and it was amazing. Watching the movie back, I couldn't believe how endlessly entertaining it was. One scene to the next, you're just thrown as he's, he tumbles from one thing to the next, you're just thrown as he's, he tumbles from one thing to the next, and it's absolutely endless, it seems. Like, you think it can't get better than this, the action can't get more exciting than this,
Starting point is 00:39:17 and then it happens, and it's, I mean, there are some problems, you know, the cultural portrayals of, you know, and then like there's the white savior thing. I'm not saying it doesn't have its problems and I'm not defending those, but it holds a special place in my heart because it scared the crap out of me as a child.
Starting point is 00:39:41 And my kids loved it when they watched it. It scared the crap out of Lando and he loved it a few weeks ago. Yeah, well, I definitely feel like, like I said, Raiders of the Lost Ark was very close to making my top 10. I kind of felt like I had to, I wanted to put a Spielberg movie in my top 10 because that's how I ended up kind of approaching this list
Starting point is 00:40:04 in a lot of ways. It was like I started realizing the filmmakers that I liked their body of work the most and I was like okay, I'm gonna give you one film but I just, I couldn't do it as much as I absolutely love the Indiana Jones franchise and it does loom very large in my childhood. And you got like the dinner scene where they're like eating the bugs and the monkey brains.
Starting point is 00:40:26 Oh, there's so many iconic scenes. That's GMM right there, man. It's like, the thing that I was horrified by as a child is something that became a cornerstone of my career path. I've got a connection to this movie, man. Okay, my number six is by far my most recent movie. Okay. I don't have my years in here, I should have done that,
Starting point is 00:40:54 but this is just from a couple years ago, few years ago. Get Out. Yeah, I assume Get Out was an honorable mention of mine. Like I knew you had to hit horror and I knew even independent from that, you had to hit Get Out because it's so pivotal culturally. You might think, yeah, you would assume there'd be more horror on my,
Starting point is 00:41:19 I like horror movies a lot, but, and I enjoy watching them probably more than any movie because I just enjoy the idea of getting scared, especially in a group of people. And now Locke and I, every single Saturday night is horror movie night and the two of us just go down into the garage where we've got a television
Starting point is 00:41:38 and no one else will get scared because no one else can hear what's happening. But we've watched a bunch of ridiculous horror movies. But anyway. Did you think about us? Or is it clearly Get Out over us? Get Out's better than us. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:51 I mean, there's so many things, I love everything about both movies, but Get Out was one of the most enjoyable movie going experiences I've ever had. Like the first time I saw it in the theater. I was feeling so many things all at once when I was watching it. The first thing I was feeling was,
Starting point is 00:42:15 this is super scary and it's like getting me, but this is super funny and like a really funny, I'm laughing as much as I am kind of cringing in fear. And then the whole time I'm thinking, Jordan Peele made this, you know, it's just like Jordan Peele of Key & Peele comedy duo, this guy has gone and created this perfect movie. There was like a combination of fat, this guy has gone and created this perfect movie.
Starting point is 00:42:47 There was like a combination of fat, there was a fascination, but also like an incredible jealousy at the same time to just think, dude, this guy went off and did this thing that, man, I mean like, this is an incredible accomplishment for anyone. But this dude that was just over here doing sketch comedy had this up his sleeve the whole time.
Starting point is 00:43:04 This is crazy. But yeah, it's, I mean, it's one of my favorite movies. Obviously, it's number six on my list. resurrection of horror, bringing horror back into the mainstream in a really big way. A lot of people have seen a lot more horror movies and horror movies are grossing a lot more money at the box office because of Get Out and what it kind of did for people getting like,
Starting point is 00:43:43 oh, I get it, it's kind of like riding a roller coaster, as opposed to it just being a bunch of horror fiends going in and watching people get slaughtered in a movie theater. My number six is my favorite, well, I don't know, if you ask me what my favorite comedy is, it's weird because I have comedies higher than this one, but I think of this as more of my like,
Starting point is 00:44:09 if I'm gonna go with like the strictest version of comedy that I'm gonna apply to something and then make that list, I think this is my number one. My favorite is straight up comedy. Released in 1998, The Big Lebowski. Wow. You thought this would be higher. Is your number six? That's my number six.
Starting point is 00:44:33 Yep, you thought it would be higher. It's higher on my list than it's on your list. Okay, so you thought that I liked the movie more than you. I thought that it might be movie more than you. I thought that it would, I thought that it might be your number one, honestly. Yeah, at certain points in my life it would be, but there's other movies that just, they resonate, they have more meaning, they touch my life
Starting point is 00:44:58 in a lot more areas. This just kind of touches my funny bone and my comedic sensibility. I really regret not seeing The Big Lebowski in theaters. I think that was my introduction to the Coen brothers. This was, again, I was taking this intro to film class, sophomore year in college. I was able to rent it
Starting point is 00:45:24 because they were talking about it in class. And I was able to rent it because they were talking about it in class. And I was like, how have I not heard about this movie? It's absolutely hilarious. It's also very profane and that's really edgy. It was, I wrote, I had to write a paper about mise-en-scene, which is basically arranging scenery and props. And so I wrote a whole paper. I'm horrible at writing papers,
Starting point is 00:45:53 but I had to watch the movie again and again and again in order to piece together this paper. So I got really acquainted with it, but it never got old. The performances from Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are just, I feel like they're perfect. And then the ways that they interact and, you know, it was the first thing that I really started to notice because I don't watch a whole,
Starting point is 00:46:19 I don't watch a lot of movies again and again and again. That's just not, that's just not me. But in such a short span of time, to do that and still enjoy it and start to appreciate the nuances of acting, I think for the first time, was another touch point for this movie. But it was just,
Starting point is 00:46:40 it was just so funny and still is so funny. Yeah, I gotta say, it's my number two. Wow! Yeah. When's the last time you watched it? It's been years. It's been years and I was talking to Locke about how we should watch it together.
Starting point is 00:47:02 But I know that one of the things that people discover when they watch it, and again, Coen Brothers are some of my favorite filmmakers of all time. I wanted them to have a spot, and this is my favorite Coen Brothers movie. The reason that it's, well, a lot of people talk about the fact that nothing happens,
Starting point is 00:47:23 and I was actually reading an interview with Joel Co who says, yeah, the plot is sort of secondary to the other things that are sort of going on in the piece. I think that if people get a little confused, it's not necessarily going to get in the way of them enjoying the movie. So in this interview goes on to talk about how like the plot is like the fourth or fifth thing because there's an aesthetic quality to it.
Starting point is 00:47:44 There's the characters, the dialogue is incredible. The situations, I mean, like the baseball bat to the car with the homework under the seat, you know, it's. Well, and I think that it, yeah, I struggle between, like my list is a combination of movies that do something to me personally as a, just a movie watcher, you know, as an audience member.
Starting point is 00:48:13 And then there are movies that do something for me as an audience member and an aspiring artist. And so, again, when I watch something that the Coen brothers make, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they're a duo, you know, a duo that's known each other forever as being brothers. And so I think that when we look at them,
Starting point is 00:48:30 we think a lot about our careers and, you know, we both read the book about their sort of creative process years ago. And there's just something aspirate, there's something inspirational and aspirational about them and their career and i feel like this is like the pinnacle of where everything came together in one movie for them and so again it's the kind of thing that and we always reference this we talk when we're
Starting point is 00:48:57 developing characters for ourselves and some of the narrative stuff that we've done we think about the dynamic we use those three characters as points of reference in a lot of the stuff that we create. Like are you getting to Goodman here? How Bridges are you or how Buscemi are you as your character? I think that there's just something about that trio of characters, the dynamic's incredible.
Starting point is 00:49:24 Yeah, my number two, and I thought it was gonna be your number one. It's number six, wow, okay. I'm very interested to see where your list goes from here. Okay, okay. My number five is, again, I think it's a perfect movie, "'Back to the Future.". Back to the Future.
Starting point is 00:49:46 Back to the Future. Love everything about this movie. Yeah, a lot of people say it's the perfect movie. You know, it's not the one where he goes to the future. That's a bummer. No. Well, it's interesting because when I watched it, I thought to myself, I was like, man,
Starting point is 00:50:08 this movie has everything that I want in a movie. You know, it's got this sort of reality bending nature that if you're gonna make a movie, you might as well do something mythical. You know, I always say that something magical should happen. So you got that sci-fi element. It's incredibly funny.
Starting point is 00:50:30 And of course, all the choices that he makes are, I just think it's incredible the way that it progresses. But there's a lot of people who point out the fact that Marty McFly really doesn't grow or change, which is a really unusual thing, which normally happened in a movie, is that it doesn't seem that he really learns anything. There's no like epiphany for him really.
Starting point is 00:50:53 But yeah, I just, I watched this fairly recently, like in the past five years and it was when it hit me, I was like, man, I never, like I loved this movie growing up, but I just kind of, I lumped it together with a lot of other movies in that, you know, you got all the Spielberg stuff and then Zemeckis, of course, did this one, but it's a very Spielberg-y type. A lot of people just think that Spielberg made it.
Starting point is 00:51:21 I do think he was a producer on it, but Zemeckis and then Robert Gale wrote it together, which this is a really interesting thing. I was reading about this in a 2015 interview, Zemeckis maintained, so he and Zemeckis and Gale own the rights to distribution of the film and the rights for all sequels. And they say that both of them have agreed that no reboots will be made as long as they are alive. Huh. So don't expect, it's one of those things,
Starting point is 00:51:56 and I love that because you know they would screw it up. It's one of those things that they would, there's movie studios that are chomping at the bit to remake this movie, knowing that it would do really's movie studios that are chomping at the bit to remake this movie, knowing that it would do really well at the box office, but you just can't improve upon the original. This is just one of those cases, you usually can't, but this is just one of those cases
Starting point is 00:52:13 that there's just something sacred about it. Yeah. It's the ultimate time travel movie. And it's the ultimate miss on my part. You know, I think that movie, the fact that I didn't see that until college in its completion, maybe after college again, is just, I know that's mind blowing and it's just, you know.
Starting point is 00:52:37 You were deprived. A childhood cut short or something, I don't know. Okay, so now we're at my number five. Okay, so this is where I've placed the Star Wars trilogy and I have made a choice of which one. But yeah, here we are at number five with The Empire Strikes Back. I mean, you can't argue, I don't think you can argue with that being the one
Starting point is 00:53:06 that you would choose if you had to choose only one to watch or to rank as your number one of, you know, all nine of those. But I did actually, I'm just gonna be honest, I did think a little bit about The Force Awakens because for me personally, it was, you know, it was an opportunity to see it. I don't remember seeing, I think I can almost,
Starting point is 00:53:31 I don't remember seeing Return of the Jedi in the theater. So it was The Force Awakens in that theater experience after having waited so long and then it being a shared experience with my kids, and now Lily is, my whole family, but most of all, Lily is so into Star Wars. To create that experience and have that with her is why The Force Awaits,
Starting point is 00:53:57 and it's just such a nostalgic movie, because it's, you can argue it's just a remake of A New Hope, but I love that one, but I'm still putting The Empire Strikes Back. I wish I could have experienced that, no, I am your father moment, you know, for the first time. I actually experienced it. That would have been amazing.
Starting point is 00:54:25 But you know, everybody, by the time we watched it, we knew. I don't remember not knowing before I watched it. Oh, well, yeah. Especially in the theater. I know I saw, I don't think I saw any of the first in the theater because I mean, that was 77, 80 and 83, right? I think so.
Starting point is 00:54:48 So. Right. Yeah, I ended up watching all those on VHS. And I've never been, I love, I'm a fan of Star Wars and I like the most recent, I mean, I really enjoy all the most recent ones. But yeah, it didn't even get, they just didn't make a honorable mention
Starting point is 00:55:10 because another trilogy did, which I assume that another trilogy also made your list, which I enjoy more, which we've talked about. But yeah. Listen, you don't have to apologize for not putting Star Wars on your list. No, no, no, I'm not apologizing. You just have to endure the wrath putting Star Wars on your list. No, no, no, I'm not apologizing. You just have to endure the wrath
Starting point is 00:55:25 of all the Star Wars fans. I think it's, the thing I respect about Star Wars is what it, is the mythology and sort of the philosophy that goes into it and how it translates into so relatable and you can use it in so many illustrations. But the actual just sitting there and watching the movie, especially the originals, it just doesn't get me, it doesn't get me enough to get into my favorite movies.
Starting point is 00:55:54 But you know what does? Another movie that, you're not gonna be surprised it's on my list, and I would bet anything that is not on your list. Number four, Braveheart. Braveheart was an honorable mention for me. I remember we were both really into that in college. I remember you being really into the soundtrack,
Starting point is 00:56:14 like you owned the CD. I had the soundtrack and played it in my room. Now, I don't know if it was something about the fact that I felt this connection with William Wallace, because I always thought I was Scottish, even though I'm more Irish. But there's something, it's one of those movies where I get so,
Starting point is 00:56:36 again, nothing about the movie appeals to me from the aspirational filmmaker side. It's one of those movies that I'm just completely an audience member and I get completely lost in the story and every single thing about it, you feel like your heart is just like beating bigger and bigger throughout the movie. And then the ending of that movie.
Starting point is 00:57:05 Oh gosh. The ending of that movie. Oh gosh. The ending of that movie is just like, it's like the first time I remember like, almost like weeping to the point of like shoulder convulsions in a movie theater. And it just something about the way it emotionally connected with me at that time in my life is, and I was just talking to the boys, we haven't watched it.
Starting point is 00:57:25 Yeah, it's very intense. Yeah, and it's, you know what, it's also very funny. There's funny moments that you really care about those characters. And it's just sort of a, it's a huge milestone kind of accomplishment in filmmaking and just like an epic, the scale of it and the intensity.
Starting point is 00:57:54 I think it's one of the first movies where there was, they just made the decision to be like, hey, when we show people fighting, like it's gonna be real. Like there's gonna be like swords going into people. Thousands of people died because swords really went into people. Well, interestingly,
Starting point is 00:58:11 one of the things I was looking at, it talked about how they had to reshoot a couple of the epic battle scenes because a few of the guys had on wristwatches and sunglasses and they would like see it. And it not only seems like a myth because they could just go in and ditch it and rotoscope it out. Those people deserve
Starting point is 00:58:29 to be flogged. I mean, at that point in front of everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You will be killed. Pull their kilts up and just give them a nice fanny flogging, butt flogging. Which brings me to my number four. Again, Braveheart was an honorable mention,
Starting point is 00:58:47 but I had to put Apocalypto at number four. What an amazing Mel Gibson movie. I just can't. You're joking. Yeah, you remember that movie? I remember Mel Gibson. Yeah, it was good. It was decent.
Starting point is 00:59:04 It was very violent. I mean decent. It was very violent. I mean, Braveheart is very violent. But anyway, that's not my number four. My number four, I know I'm gonna surprise you here. I'm throwing another Coen Brothers movie up there and now you know what it is. "'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou' went higher two spots "'than the Big Lebowski for me, released in 2000.
Starting point is 00:59:29 I was a big Coen Brothers fan by this point, so I was determined I was gonna see their next movie in theaters. And I remember just feeling, it was weird, I just had this connection to this movie the first time I saw it. Like, and I really think it had to do with the type of comedy. It was like that old timey comedy and like this,
Starting point is 00:59:57 like the Southern humor and just the use of music. I really felt like it was a movie that we would have made. I don't know, it was something- I actually, I feel this was a complete miss on my part now that I'm thinking about it. Like, I don't know why that, in all the lists that I looked up to jog my memory, Oh Brother didn't come up.
Starting point is 01:00:24 Well, it didn't win a lot of awards. George Clooney won a Golden Globe for best comedy actor. And I do think it won best comedy or musical. And it won the Grammy Album of the Year. It won the freaking, the soundtrack won Album of the Year because it was- The soundtrack was incredible. Amazingly curated by T-Bone Burnett.
Starting point is 01:00:48 Every song, every song was great. So yeah, the Southern comedy, the way that the history and the way that music was such a part, like at that point in my life, like, I mean, music's so important to me and there's been different points when I thought I could be a music historian, not because I know a lot of stuff,
Starting point is 01:01:15 but because I could see myself investing what it took to be that type of person. And I felt like that's, it was kind of like watching, there was a documentary element to it. I felt like I was watching a Ken Burns documentary on, you know, country music in some aspects. And so it resonated with me on all those levels and then the comedy of it and the characters.
Starting point is 01:01:43 And it was just, and it was fun. You know, it wasn't too heavy. So it- Yeah, like I said, I love it and I don't know where I would put it, but it didn't even come into my mind in putting my list together. And now I started to think, I think it would have made my top 10 had I realized it.
Starting point is 01:02:05 For all the reasons that you just explained. I demand a written apology to Ethan and Joel Cohen. Well, I put the Big Lebowski at number two, so. Yeah, that's true. Okay, number three. We're gonna have some crossover in the top three. We have to, I think. My number three, I had to pick one.
Starting point is 01:02:26 I picked the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring, of Lord of the Rings. Having recently watched the trilogy again, I thought that The Return of the King was my favorite, but in rewatching it, they're actually in reverse order now. Number one is the best, number two is the second best, and number three is the third best. And they're actually in reverse order now. Number one is the best, number two is the second best, and number three is the third best. They're all incredible.
Starting point is 01:02:48 In rewatching it, I was, as we discussed a few weeks ago, just fully engrossed. We're still going through all of the DVD extras, which there's like reams of that, and the kids are into that, like I said. In this particular rewatching, the Two Towers was my favorite. What number was it for you?
Starting point is 01:03:09 It is my number two. Oh okay, here's number two. It is my number two. So you're my number three. So it's not my number three or number one. Again, it's one of those things, like we said a couple weeks ago, you realize, I mean, first of all, we read the books and we were both big fans of the books.
Starting point is 01:03:31 It's a completely different thing than The Chronicles of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia was probably my all-time favorite series because of when I was reading it, the age I was reading it, but it's for kids. Yeah. It's a kid's book.
Starting point is 01:03:44 Whereas you pretty much have to be a teenager or older to really, I think, get into the Lord of the Rings. I didn't read the books until the movie started coming out, but I read each book before the movie came out. Only time I've ever done that. Well, Game of Thrones, I read all of the books before I watched any of that. And it only helped, especially because they were
Starting point is 01:04:10 so reverent of the books when they made the movies. And now, as I've already recommended, the extended versions, you gotta go for it. From a literary standpoint, it is the perfect fantasy series. It's been perfect, from a literary standpoint, it is the perfect fantasy series. It's been emulated, but it's never been superseded, I don't think. And then, like you said,
Starting point is 01:04:35 the fidelity that the movie, the way that they translated the books into the films, the level of detail, the level of attention, is, it's just something that I don't think, it had never happened before and it hasn't happened since. No one's ever adapted something with that much care. The way that you can watch a superhero movie and I understand how someone might feel like,
Starting point is 01:05:06 you know what, it's just a little ridiculous. It's a bit too much for me, I just can't get into it. I think you could say that about Lord of the Rings if it wasn't Lord of the Rings, but the fact that it was, it is what it is, it has such a deep well of backstory and history and language and everything. It's easy to just immerse yourself in that world and to, because you can't be, it's really hard to be critical of it because it's done so well. Whereas if it's not, you can just roll your eyes
Starting point is 01:05:47 in that genre. That's what happened with Narnia, you know? Right. Okay, so my number three, I've been on record, you shouldn't be surprised, I've been on record saying this is the best movie of all time. And it sounds like I'm saying it as a joke. I can't believe it made number three.
Starting point is 01:06:04 My number three movie of all time, released in 2003, with no apologies for me, is Elf. Elf is one of, is my third favorite movie of all time. You know, I didn't see it in the theater. It's sad that so many of my movies on my list I didn't see in the theater. But we watched it, of course we watch it every year at Christmas, and every year at Christmas
Starting point is 01:06:32 I'm like, I forget how good this movie is. One of these years I'm gonna expect it to be as good as it actually is. Every scene, I mean, it taps into the nostalgia of those old stop motion Christmas movies that we'd watch, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. Frosty the Snowman.
Starting point is 01:06:53 It pays perfect homage to those. It's Will Ferrell in this like super sweet mode that's just really winsome. Every scene, it's like, oh yeah, this is a really good scene and this is a really good scene. And it's, the scenes build the movie. In some way, it's kinda like, I know that's like a weird or maybe obvious thing to say, but what I'm trying to get at is it's not just...
Starting point is 01:07:24 to say, but what I'm trying to get at is it's not just what, everything that happens, you feel like, this is my favorite part of the movie. And then the next thing that happens, oh no, this is my favorite part of the movie. And you go through, there's only a few places where that's not really the case. Like every scene has something that in that moment that you're watching, it makes you think it's the best.
Starting point is 01:07:47 It's like listening to the Hall & Oates greatest hits album when you're like, oh, this is their best song. And then the next one comes on. That's my experience in watching Elf. And then there's all the memories of watching it with my family every year and everybody's still loving it. Nobody rolling their eyes. Okay, it's a great movie.
Starting point is 01:08:06 And when we do top 10 favorite Christmas movies of all time, it'll be my number one. But- Hey, you don't have to say anything. You don't have to say anything. No, no, I mean, I think it's funny. It's a funny movie, but it's funnier that it's your number three favorite movie of all time.
Starting point is 01:08:24 Jon Favreau wanted to, he was exploring making a sequel, but Will Ferrell didn't seem too into it. It's come up a few times over the decades, but it ain't gonna happen. I don't think it should happen. I don't want it to happen. Okay, well, I've already told you my number two. I've already told you my number two,
Starting point is 01:08:41 which is Lord of the Rings. Oh, so we're going to number one, where we obviously agree. Yeah, we're going to number one. So now we are both. Yeah, we know what our number one is, right? This was the thing that there was no question. I knew what I was gonna put as my number one. That wasn't the difficult part. The difficult part was filling the list out,
Starting point is 01:09:01 but we'll say it on the count of three and we'll say it at different times because of the delay between our two video chats, but three, two, one. Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction. There it is, released in 1994. Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to Reservoir Dogs. When I watched this movie, I went to, it's interesting,
Starting point is 01:09:24 we didn't watch this movie together. It was really gaining momentum. It had been out for a while. And I went to the Rialto Theater, which is like in Raleigh at like Five Points, where that like- That's where I saw it at the Rialto for the first time. But did I see it, because you took me back to it?
Starting point is 01:09:43 I think so. I know I didn'tto for the first time, but did I see it because you took me back to it? I think so. I know I didn't watch it the first time with you. I think I watched it with Missy, my girlfriend at the time. Because that was 19, it might have been 95 by the time we saw it because it took a while to get going. And we were definitely dating at the time. But the funny thing is I don't remember who I saw it with. I remember the theater. I remember the theater had a stage
Starting point is 01:10:08 and it had these two big speakers just exposed and sitting out there below the screen and it was a small theater and you would just walk down the sides and then go into the middle, really old rickety squeaky seats and right, it just felt, it was the first time I had seen a movie at the Rialto
Starting point is 01:10:29 or any like art house theater. And I felt so out of place, yet so cool being there. You know, I was being in high school and it was just like, there were these hipster college kids and like these old guys wearing sweater, you know, cardigans, like professor types.
Starting point is 01:10:51 And they were drinking beer in their seats. It was, and then the movie started, and it was, and it started in such a different way than in a movie I'd seen. It had this opening title credit sequence. I'm like, what is this? Yeah, well, he did, I remember the feeling of,
Starting point is 01:11:14 after I watched that movie, and this has happened a few times, where you just gotta just sit there for a while. You can't get up. Well, it was confusing, because it was, you know, it was circular narrative, it was presented out of order. And so like.
Starting point is 01:11:31 Well, he was just, he was doing things that we had never been exposed to. First of all, we hadn't really seen anything that violent. You know? In your face, like, I mean, the type of violence. Gratuitous, gratuitous, violence to the point, and again, this is, Tarantino's controversial. There's gonna be people who are mad at us
Starting point is 01:11:53 because we put this as the number one, but listen, this isn't, we're not trying to please anybody with this list, we're just telling you what our favorite movies are, and I know Tarantino's a controversial figure. But the impact that that movie had on me and the fact that it, he made extreme violence funny.
Starting point is 01:12:15 And I don't know, I know that that's problematic and I find that problematic and I wouldn't personally create it. But even the scene where they shoot Marvin, and it's actually the most horrific thing that you can imagine, but yet incredibly funny at the same time. Tarantino had this way of tapping into this sort of dark
Starting point is 01:12:41 part of every person who wants to laugh at violence because they don't know how to compute it. The thing that was funny was, in those characters' worlds, it was just another day at the office, so it was the most honest way for those characters to react to that accident. And it was funny.
Starting point is 01:13:04 Like, I mean, the dialogue. The dialogue is, it's unlike anything. We had never experienced that, like the Royale with Cheese conversation that they have in the car in the first half of the movie. I remember us talking about that and thinking like, no one's ever, no one's ever, we had never been exposed to anybody who would have
Starting point is 01:13:24 this completely tertiary conversation. We would have weird conversations. It felt like there was a resonance in the fact that time was dedicated to two characters having this strange conversation. Just not moving anything along. And it really, except that it, because they were walking up and they were armed,
Starting point is 01:13:50 it's, you know, depending on what, you know, they were going to do something, all this tension was built because it's like, what, what's happening? I find this extremely funny, but it's also, I'm really tightening up inside and it was, and I was aware of the filmmaking process more so than I ever had been, maybe completely for the first time that like
Starting point is 01:14:15 a director's voice could move me. And so that was extremely inspiring to make a connection between decisions that a director had made and the experience that I was having. Yeah, well, and another part of that that I think you'll agree with is when we made movies, you know, like when we made Gutless Wless wonders or whatever and some of the stuff that we
Starting point is 01:14:46 would start filming and writing at the same time growing up we didn't think about film scores as scoring right we didn't think about people making music that is intended to accompany in our minds the way that we thought about film scores was soundtracks. We thought about songs that were cool, that had a vibe that you put into a certain part of the movie. And that's what Tarantino did in that movie. That soundtrack introduced me to genres of music. I mean, that soundtrack introduced me to Al Green.
Starting point is 01:15:23 Yeah. And from then on, it was like, oh, I'm an Al Green fan, you know? And every single song was so carefully chosen. And I think that that resonated with us because the way that we think about music and the way we think about music being matched to something on screen.
Starting point is 01:15:40 And he continues to be a master at that. But that was something we, even though it had been done, it hadn't been done in nearly the same way. And the fact that, I mean, basically if you're reading about cinema and you're reading about this movie, you're gonna read about Pulp Fiction being a cultural watershed, whether you like it or not.
Starting point is 01:16:03 So I think it was so special to both of us in Became My Number One because we experienced personally firsthand in that moment, the cultural watershed, not just for film, but it impacted so much more. And to be at the age where that watershed could happen through, it could run through our body, just course through our veins as we watch this thing.
Starting point is 01:16:35 I didn't know that I was the one that brought you to watch the movie again, but I can definitely believe that to be the case because I, having experienced it, I knew that you had to experience it. And I'm glad that we both went back there. I just don't think it was running anywhere else anyway, or maybe it was just the coolest place to see it.
Starting point is 01:16:58 Because it was still, it was, you know, it had 250, 265 F words, which set the record by a long shot for that year in 1994. I'm sure Lebowski beat that four years later. Well, but the highest, Tarantino's highest number of F words is 269, do you know what that was? Inglourious Basterds?
Starting point is 01:17:20 No, it was Reservoir Dogs. So he actually used to use the F word more than he does now. But yeah, I think it was one of those things that, interestingly, even though, you know, me and you come from a conservative Christian background, and we were definitely like very serious Christians at the time, we never really, we didn't have a, there's a big aversion to cursing and violence
Starting point is 01:17:55 and that kind of thing. And you know, the whole like, Tipper Gore put parental advisory, there's a big aversion to a lot of that at that time, especially in the 90s. But we aversion to a lot of that at that time, especially in the 90s. But we never were really a part of that. We always kind of gravitated towards those things that seemed a little bit subversive,
Starting point is 01:18:13 maybe because our personal lives were not, there was nothing subversive about any of the things that we were actually doing. So maybe it was somewhat of an outlet for us or whatever. But I think that that is one of the reasons that it was controversial at the time. It's like, you can't do that. You can't say, why would you use the F word 265 times in a movie?
Starting point is 01:18:38 And you know what? It is excessive. But it's almost like that's why he did it because it was excessive. That's why, there's scenes in there that are like, why did you have to put that in there? And it's like, exactly. Because he was like, I'm just gonna,
Starting point is 01:18:56 I'm gonna do this almost as a way to sort of shock you into welcoming my style of filmmaking, for better or worse. Well, there's more controversial choices than that, which I don't wanna get into, but. Oh yeah. Yeah, I think it was a time and a place and being a part of that experience puts it at number one. And you know what, I hate to go back to Elf,
Starting point is 01:19:24 I gotta go back to Elf, if I may, because I left out one thing that I found. You know the burp where he drinks the whole two liter of Coke and then he does the longest burp ever and he's like, did you hear that? So funny, right? Great movie. Yeah. It was a real burp and it was from a voiceover artist named Maurice Lamarche,
Starting point is 01:19:49 who was the voice for one of my favorite animated characters who made my TV movie list in that episode. He was the voice of the brain in Pinky and the Brain in Animaniacs. Oh, wow. He did the burp for elf. Well, you know, one additional piece of trivia about elf is there was one word that was also used
Starting point is 01:20:14 265 times in that movie, it was the elf word. Oh, gosh. Okay, so there you have it. That's each of our top 10s. I couldn't resist. Couldn't resist. Not as much overlap as I thought might could happen. And you know what's up. Hold on, so you had, obviously we had the same number one
Starting point is 01:20:33 and then we both had the Big Lebowski, both had Fellowship of the Ring. Yeah. And was that it? I think that's it. My honorable mentions were Toy Story 2, Her, The Peanut Butter Falcon, Forrest Gump, and the other ones that I already mentioned.
Starting point is 01:20:55 Yeah, let me quickly run through mine. Those are good ones that you just mentioned. Groundhog Day, Rushmore, Dead Poets Society, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, Fargo, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Apocalypse Now, Forrest Gump, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Shawshank Redemption, Cabin in the Woods, Cabin in the Woods,
Starting point is 01:21:15 which I'm gonna be talking about on another YouTube channel, Toy Story, and then Napoleon Dynamite. You're going on whose channel? I'm going on Dead Meat James. Okay. I don't know when that's coming out, but you talk about your favorite horror movie and Get Out was too obvious of a choice. So I'm talking about Cabin in the Woods.
Starting point is 01:21:38 Yeah, that's a good one. All right, there you have it. Our honorable mentions as well as our top tens. I'm not gonna give another wreck because this whole episode is a rec. Pick some of those to watch with your loved ones and maybe we jogged your memory to go back. Hashtag Ear Biscuits, let us know. Just don't watch Pulp Fiction with your family.
Starting point is 01:21:54 Yeah. Unless your family is all adults. Right. Even then it'll get awkward. Hashtag Ear Biscuits, let us know. You can put your top 10. Just tweet it at us, we'd love to see that. Yeah, yeah, tweet your top 10.
Starting point is 01:22:10 We'll tell you if you're right or wrong. And we'll speak at you next week. Hey Rhett and Link, I thought you might find some amusement in this, but I am seven months pregnant and my husband has been deployed for the majority of my pregnancy. And every day I sit down on my couch and the most that my baby kicks is when he hears your voice. So I think he might be here. You guys are his dad.
Starting point is 01:22:40 Anyway, I love your guys' podcast and your show. And thank you so much for keeping me company while my husband is away.

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