EP. 360.5 — Last Looks: Christmas Mail

[00:00:00] Paul Scheer: Why Clip-on Ties can save your life. How kids are better at taskmaster than adults. And the location manager of Christmas Mail speaks all this and more on today’s, How Did This Get Made Last Looks, hit the theme.

[00:00:19] Music: [Intro song]

[00:00:27] Paul Scheer: Hello, all my fedora wearing postal workers. It’s me, the rag man, Paul Scheer. And welcome to How Did This Get Made Last Looks where you, the listener, get to voice your issues on Christmas Mail, a movie that discord user Scully thinks should have had the tagline “Christmas Mail, return to sender. Please.“

[00:00:45] Thank you, Scully, for that tagline. And remember, if you have an alt movie tagline or title submitted to us on our discord, and we may just read it on the show coming up on today’s show, we will be hearing all your corrections and omissions on Christmas Mail. And let me tell you people are coming out strong with your post office takes.

[00:01:05] We’ll then open up the last looks hotline to hear about what movie trends you think are BS. Plus Jason will stop by to chat about a bunch of stuff like the new Taron Egerton film, Carry On. Taskmaster Jr, Anthony Jesselnik standup special, and teen slang that we don’t understand. And finally, as always, I will reveal the movie for next week’s episode.

[00:01:27] But big news, people. How Did This Get Made is going on tour this spring. That’s right. We’re going to be on tour. All over the country. Well, I mean, in a couple of places, we’re going to be in Austin, Denver, Boise, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and Los Angeles for a big, big Los Angeles show celebrating our 15th year anniversary.

[00:01:49] So you can get tickets for that at HDTGM.com . We also have some shows at Largo. Dinosaur is going to be performing in January in San Francisco, as well as Largo. So check out HDTGM. com. That will have all your ticket needs for us in Austin, Denver, Boise, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, and LA. Okay. That’s all the plugs I got.

[00:02:09] So let’s get into it. Last week, we talked at length about Christmas Mail. We had questions and we might’ve even missed a few things. Well, here is your chance to set us straight, put a stamp on it. Let us know what we got right and what we got wrong. And something I like to call Corrections and Omissions

[00:02:27] Music: [Corrections and Omissions Song]

[00:02:49] Paul Scheer: Thank you, John Faulding for that theme song. Let’s go to the discord. All right, Adam 1138 has chimed in on something that everybody has come at us about, which is Mrs. Claus’s first name.

[00:03:03] “Now in the Rankin Bass Christmas special, Santa Claus is coming to town. We learned that her first name is Jessica. People say I highly recommend watching or rewatching that special for the hippie dippy musical number that she has midway through it.”

[00:03:17] Well, now, Adam, are we going to say that Rankin Bass is responsible for Santa? I don’t think so. That’s why Beneferon adds an alternative name option.

[00:03:27] “On the other side of the Atlantic, where Santa Claus is known as Father Christmas, Mrs. Claus has a default first name, Mary, as in Merry Christmas, right?”

[00:03:36] This is what I’m saying, people. You can’t just say, well, in the Scooby Doo holiday special, they called her Julia. That doesn’t make, we need to go deeper. I like, uh, Benefron’s a point of view here. Mary so far is the winning name for me.

[00:03:50] Merry Christmas is a great name for Mrs. Claus. But as I’ve been told on social media, uh, let the women pick the names. Okay. Bonjour Jamie writes,

[00:03:59] “Rolanda Watts, who played Shelly, uh, was a talk show host in the nineties. Her eponymous show ran for almost a thousand episodes. She was also the announcer on the show Judge Joe Brown.”

[00:04:11] Whoa. That is crazy. First of all, that was Rolanda. Oh my gosh. I’m I I’m reading it and I’m capturing it back. I know Rolanda. I used to watch Rolanda. How did I miss Rolanda? And then she became the announcer on Joe Brown, good, cash that check. Anyway, Dr. Guts1003 writes,

[00:04:28] “Matt looks at the photo of his bandmates and decides to give him a call. We then cut to the scene where Heather is helping the band with their breathing exercises, and two of the guys are wearing the same exact outfit that they’re wearing in the photograph. I guess they wasted their wardrobe budget on fedoras?”

[00:04:42] I mean, maybe they’re like a character band, like KISS, like KISS is always in the same outfits, ultimately, you know, that’s their, that’s their show outfits, right? Don’t bands have show outfits? I think they do. Uh, Danny the Wall writes,

[00:04:54] “Call to action for Team Sanity here. We’re assuming a lot of circumstantial evidence to accept that Christy is related to Santa Claus.”

[00:05:00] Thank you, Danny! Thank you for bringing up what I have been passionately saying in that episode.

[00:05:05] “What if there isn’t any Santa at all in this movie world, and Christie is just really a disturbed person with psychotic delusions?”

[00:05:13] Danny, you and I are on the same page here. I don’t believe Christie. Unless I can see him with my own eyes. I don’t know who she’s calling. Um, all right, let’s go to the phones.

[00:05:24] First up, Jen from Kentucky.

[00:05:27] Listener: Hi Paul, this is Jen, and I am calling about You’ve Got Christmas Mail. Um, there is a comment in the live show about one of the characters wearing a clip on tie. I think this actually speaks to the authenticity of the representation of the Postal Service in the film. Uh, my husband used to be a supervisor at UPS and he had to wear a tie to work, but it had to be a clip on because they work around conveyor belts.

[00:05:52] And if you’re wearing a traditional necktie and it gets hung in a conveyor belt, uh, you’re in trouble. You wear clip on ties so that they will just rip off the front of your shirt instead of, uh, taking you down to the conveyor belt and, you know, causing all sorts of terrible trauma. Um, anyway. Hope that helps.

[00:06:11] Uh, love the show. Love you all. Thank you so much for all the joy and laughter you guys bring into our lives. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, uh, and a very happy 2025.

[00:06:24] Paul Scheer: Thank you, Jen. Yes, I’ve heard a lot of these theories. As a matter of fact, there’s a famous story. Well, not a famous story.

[00:06:30] A story on, uh, That I remember because it happened to me, uh, on Human Giant. We, uh, are showrunner gotten to a fight with our costume designer because Aziz and I were playing cops and we had regular ties. And he’s like, you would never put regular ties on a police officer. They need clip on ties. So if someone goes to choke the cop, it would fall right off.

[00:06:51] So I guess what I’m realizing is, um, most people need clip on ties because they can be choked. Uh, so. I didn’t know that about cops. I don’t think it made a difference in our sketch. I think that we were giving our costume designer a hard time. And if I was a little bit smarter and older, I would have stepped in there.

[00:07:09] And I think I did, but here’s what I’m saying. Clip on ties are for our protection. All right, let’s go to Austin. What do you got?

[00:07:17] Listener: Hi, this is Austin calling about the post office talk podcast. Wanted to mention a big part of the reason why the Post Office runs at a deficit is because of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.

[00:07:32] You mentioned that it had been running at a deficit for about 15 years and a large part of that is because of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Which, up until then, the Post Office funded their pensions on a pay as you go basis, which is how most, uh, Places do it, but this law required the Postal Service to calculate all of its likely pension costs over the next 75 years and then stow away enough money between 2007 and 2016 to cover most of those pensions for 75 years. The result of that was a massive catastrophe for the post office. The postmaster general said in 2015 that their 15 billion debt is a direct result of a mandate. According to The Week, the USPS began defaulting on, uh, on pension payments in two, in 2012. Um, but the postal service lost $62.4 billion between 2007 and 2006.

[00:08:36] Its Inspector General attributed 54.8 billion of that to pre-funding retiree benefits. So there you go. Thought it was worth mentioning that a big part of the reason they’re running at a deficit. Some of it’s competition, some of it’s modernization, but a big part of it is because they were required to cover all of their pensions for 75 years, which is pretty silly.

[00:08:57] Anyway, thanks. Love the podcast. Bye.

[00:09:00] Paul Scheer: Now, this is fascinating. I read about this after the show because I was interested in this. Now, this is not the end of the post office talk. No, it’s not. Because Carrie, the librarian, not Carrie, the postal service worker, explains why the post office is important.

[00:09:17] Listener: Hey guys, this is Carrie the librarian.

[00:09:19] I actually just paused the new episode a few seconds into it, few minutes into it, to call about the post office real quick. Um, this is a really important topic because, um, it’s, well it’s honestly kind of like saying, Why do we need libraries? We’ve got Amazon, you know. It’s about access. Um, as somebody who has spent a fair amount of time in rural Alaska, let me tell you, the post office is super important.

[00:09:47] And it being part of the government, and while yes, it is self funded, it still is. still needs taxpayer dollars because the postal, uh, office is the, um, the USPS is the only ones that will go to rural villages, um, to out of the way places, very difficult locations, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, DHL. None of these people will go to the fishing villages, um, who will, uh, uh, deliver to, you know, extremely rural post, uh, uh, post boxes, et cetera.

[00:10:18] So, um, in order for literally everybody in the country to get their mail, the post office is important. But yes, it does self fund. It works really hard to self fund, and especially around Christmas time. Um, so, you know, if you want to love your post office, get some stamps. Um, they have cool, uh, seasonal stamps.

[00:10:35] Um, anyway, I love you guys. I’m going to go back to watching the podcast, listening to the podcast. And, uh, I hope you have a great holiday.

[00:10:43] Paul Scheer: Yes, exactly, Carrie. And this is what, uh, June was saying at the top of the episode. She had this momentary thought of why do we need it? And then when she did some research on it, she changed her tune.

[00:10:55] That’s what we were saying at the top of the show. People didn’t know. You’ve let us know and now we got it. All right. Thank you, Carrie. Thank you, Austin, for giving us some good old post office details. I’m like, I feel very connected to the post office. Now our post office truck on our Christmas tree is right in front.

[00:11:12] We got to support our post office and congratulations to the Canadian post office who just recently came off strike. So, um, Vicky from Winnipeg, what do you got?

[00:11:21] Listener: First of all, I love the episode of Christmas Mail. I had a lot of big laughs listening to it. I want to talk about Heather. Uh, why didn’t they just make her his cousin or his other sister?

[00:11:32] Why did she have to be this other woman who could potentially be a love interest for him? Also, I feel like they went out of their way to make sure we knew how fun Heather was. So she was always like skipping while walking slowly down the street with the little girl, but she had to stay in frame. So she couldn’t really skip that much, or they were always like tickling each other or dancing, any interaction just seemed very unnatural, uh, happy holidays, love the show and, uh, thanks for all you do.

[00:12:03] Paul Scheer: You know, Vicki, great question.

[00:12:07] Could have been a sister, right? Could have been a sister. Would have been easier if it was a sister. Would have been maybe less creepy. Oh, I guess her sister died. I guess his sister died, I should say. Well, maybe if there’s any other family member, they were worried that like, why doesn’t that person who’s more responsible take care of the kid?

[00:12:24] Probably. That was a reason like he clearly shouldn’t be taking care of the kid. So if you introduce a family member who could take care of the kid, you’d be like, why isn’t the kid with that person anyway, I also want to point out that someone on discord realized that Matt was making a sandwich with peanut butter and jelly and vegetables.

[00:12:41] So. There we go. He’s not good. But yes, Heather probably should have been, uh, maybe a distant cousin. I don’t know. Yes, it would have been better. Uh, anyway, let’s go back to the discord for one last message. Okay. This is from wicker man.

[00:12:57] “Longtime listener. First time working on a movie featured on the pod.”

[00:13:01] Wait, hold on. What? Wicker man says, uh,

[00:13:05] “They were the location manager on Christmas Mail, and I don’t fully understand how the post office works either, but I can help answer a small percentage of movie related questions that came up in the episode.”

[00:13:14] Oh, Wicker Man. I cannot wait. Okay.

[00:13:16] :First of all, unsurprisingly, it was a quick shoot. Principal photography lasted for 14 days in the spring of 2010. And the finished film was delivered a few months later in time for the holidays. At the time I took a big swing and reached out to the USPS corporate and I asked them, could I shoot there? And. This, they got permission to film at an actual USPS facility and use the official USPS logo and signage on screen. Now, all the scenes in the USPS sorting area were filmed on one Sunday. Yep. Just one day to be clear, the interior scenes in the post office suites were filmed at different non USPS locations over multiple days, and those machines were a bit loud in the sorting area. So most of the dialogue in those scenes had to be 80 yard later. Now that space was so large that some of the crews couldn’t even get used bikes and tricycles to move to different locations. Like Matt did in the film. Now the U S P S did not finance a film or anything like that. Nor did the Rag Man, to my knowledge.”

[00:14:12] I mean, we have to, you wouldn’t know if the rag man was involved. Honestly, Wicker man, rag man works in mysterious ways.

[00:14:17] “The truth is that the onsite USPS staff, as well as all the USPS corporate filming contacts were very kind and generous to this film. They even offered an official uniform to our wardrobe department. So everyone would look the right way.”

[00:14:32] Now I agree. The exteriors definitely felt Pasadena coated.

[00:14:35] “Now, most of the movie was filmed in the Valley and Santa Clarita. For me, the work experience was fun. We were all aware of the type of the movie that we were making and the stakes and budget were very low. I since moved on from locations and have never worked on a film quite like Christmas Mail again. Also, the whole crew was paid in fedoras. I made 10 fedoras a week and was able to put my kids through hat college.”

[00:14:55] Ah, man, Joe Wicker. Forget it. I’m not even going to, I’m not even gonna hesitate. You my friend, are the winner of this week’s Corrections and Omissions and you don’t get anything. But you do get this amazing song from Case Silva.

[00:15:11] Hit it

[00:15:16] Music: [Winner’s Song]

[00:15:31] Paul Scheer: Thank you, Case, for that song. And thank you, Joe for all that amazing info. I mean, if you don’t come away loving the post office more and more after this episode, I, you must be dead inside. Anyway, if you want to submit a theme song to us, email your theme to HowDidThisGetMade@Earwolf.Com. Please keep them short 15 to 20 seconds is best.

[00:15:50] And if you want to chime in with your own thoughts, but the latest episode hit up the discord at Discord.gg/HDTGM, or call us at 6 1 9 P A U L A S K. Okay. Coming up after the break, we were talking about movie BS. Plus Jason will stop by to Just Chat, stick around.

[00:16:08] All right. Welcome back everybody.

[00:16:09] Before Jason stops by our friends at Midas have inspired us to talk about some BS trends in movies. But remember when it comes to car care, there’s even more BS out there. Bad service, that is. Now Midas provides an auto experience without the BS from oil changes to tires, they provide reliable service that you can trust.

[00:16:27] And I trust that all of you have delivered on my demand to call us and sound off on what you think is BS in movies. So let’s go to the phones. Jake from Milwaukee.

[00:16:38] Listener: Hey, Paul, this is, uh, Jake in Milwaukee with a BS movie trend. It drives me off a wall. It’s the Christmas party on Christmas Eve. I have never worked for a company that would even consider such a thing. I don’t know. Maybe it was a big deal in the seventies and eighties, but I can’t imagine a company having a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. Love you guys.

[00:17:02] Paul Scheer: That’s right, Jake. That would be, I mean, only people probably like working on grand theft auto, uh, you know, where they’re not allowed to leave their desk or having a Christmas parties on Christmas Eve is a psychotic, uh, way to, to move forward in this world.

[00:17:16] All right. What else do we have? Ben from D. C.

[00:17:19] Listener: Hey, Paul, this is Ben driving around thinking about things I hate in movies, something I do not enjoy in movies, or people who don’t appear to have jobs, don’t appear to be independently wealthy, and just spend all their time on the plot of the movie. You have to have a job to survive as a middle class person. That should always be a part of a movie. It shouldn’t just be frictionless, free living. It always bothers me. And I think it adds a lot to a movie when you actually have to work and earn a living. Anyway, thanks. Thanks for all the great entertainment over the years.

[00:17:49] Paul Scheer: Amen, Ben. Yes, you are right. People need jobs in movies.

[00:17:55] We make it all about, like, the girlfriend or the boyfriend. What about showing up to work? You can’t just solve the mystery and not go to work, okay? The mystery ain’t paying you. So, I love this point of view. It’s something that I think we overlook so much. Just people don’t have jobs. So far, so good. 10 out of 10.

[00:18:15] Jay comin in hot, Ben comin in hotter, and now we go to Anonymous.

[00:18:19] Listener: Hi, Paul. I have a BS movie trend. Whenever a movie acknowledges that they’re doing something that has been seen in other movies, they always have to say it’s, like, something from a bad movie. Why does it have to be a bad movie? Why can’t they just say it’s from a movie?

[00:18:31] Thank you.

[00:18:32] Paul Scheer: Anonymous! I’m going to agree to disagree here because, yes, you are right. It’s kind of like a bad movie trope. They’re like, Hey, you know how that thing is bad in a movie? Well, if we comment on it, it’s probably not that bad because we’re commenting on it. I agree with you. That sucks. But then when you have like a scene like Philip, uh, Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia saying, you know, that scene in the movie where like, they’re trying to find the son and you call them up, like that’s this scene.

[00:18:59] That works really good. So. Yes, it’s hack, but it could be used well. We do use movie references in our lives, but I hate it the way that you talk about it. So you know what? I’m, I’m a mixed on yours, but I believe that your heart is in the right spot. And these are amazing Bs trends that we are seeing in movies.

[00:19:19] I love this. I want to continue this segment. Keep on calling us. I love hearing your thoughts. So thanks again to Midas for sponsoring the segment. And remember, don’t let yourself get taken for a ride when you bring your car in for service. Turn to Midas for transparent automobile care without the BS.

[00:19:35] Say goodbye to bad service and visit Midas. com for a location near you. Alright, people. Now that we’ve said goodbye to BS, let’s say hello to a little Just Chat. Seth Chatfield, perfect name, play us in!

[00:19:48] Music: [Just Chat Song]

[00:19:50] Paul Scheer: Jason, how are you?

[00:19:54] Jason Mantzoukas: Paul, I’m doing great. Hooray.

[00:19:58] Paul Scheer: Hooray. Um, man, oh man, there are so many things going on and I have to ask you right off the bat, because I think you and I, we, there’s a certain type of film that we like, that we enjoy. Uh, did you watch the movie Carry On?

[00:20:11] Jason Mantzoukas: I have not, it’s so funny you say that because I was driving through Los Angeles the other day driving down Sunset Boulevard and came upon at this time of year, there is an overabundance of For Your Consideration, um, there’s tons of billboards and installations and stuff.

[00:20:34] And the installation for the movie Carry On is a three story tall Christmas tree made out of black roller suitcases on sunset. I was looking at this thing like, what on earth is this monstrosity? And then figured out that it was promo for this movie.

[00:20:54] Paul Scheer: A movie that, uh, as someone has said, uh, does what, uh, what Top Gun has done for air force for TSA workers.

[00:21:03] Uh, it is, it is a, It is, uh, Taran Eggerton, uh, is our hero. Uh, our bad guy is Jason Bateman. Oh. And.

[00:21:13] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, love it. And it’s a holiday set. TSA airport like thriller, right? It’s a thriller.

[00:21:20] Paul Scheer: Yes. Thriller. A very reminiscent of Diehard two, I would imagine.

[00:21:23] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, yes, of course.

[00:21:24] Paul Scheer: Uh, it is fun. I won’t tell you much more about it, but I, I, uh, it, here’s the thing.

[00:21:30] Every now and then, and you know that June loves a plane movie, this movie, uh, kept her up, uh, like she, uh, she falls asleep five minutes into anything that’s not really engaged. Fully engaged, uh, up and rewinding sequences and excited about wanting to talk about it the next day. Never are these things that, uh, that June does.

[00:21:50] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, that’s so funny. Oh, that’s great. Oh, I’m excited to watch it.

[00:21:53] Paul Scheer: Yeah. So I think you will. I think you’re like, I think the, the beginning, if anything, if people watch it, like I would say at the beginning, I’m like, I don’t know what’s happening here, but then it gets, then it gets, within the first five, the first five minutes. There’s just a little bit of they have to they gotta like you make you like the character and sometimes I find that to be a little bit like all right. All right.

[00:22:11] Jason Mantzoukas: Wait, like the baddie? Or the Guy and I like like a classic save the cat kind of moment.

[00:22:17] Paul Scheer: Yes, and I and I like Taron Egerton a lot but yeah, I felt like I’m like we’re existing in this.

[00:22:21] Jason Mantzoukas: Is he playing Elton John in this?

[00:22:24] Paul Scheer: He, well, that’s the funniest thing is like, they put a piano for his TSA, uh, thing. So he, when he’s pulling it through, it’s a kind of a subtle.

[00:22:31] Jason Mantzoukas: You know, some airports just have a piano in the middle of the airport. Like he just like saunters over and starts playing Elton John.

[00:22:38] Paul Scheer: That would be, uh. I want that we should have more mashups of people playing characters in other movies and like, we just like, like, you know, just like.

[00:22:46] Jason Mantzoukas: Wouldn’t that be so funny?

[00:22:48] Paul Scheer: Incongruous.

[00:22:49] Jason Mantzoukas: I would love it. I would love it. If people were in other movies as the characters, they were famous from, from a previous movie.

[00:22:56] Paul Scheer: Well, that was kind of like, I was watching, um, like Roger, not Roger Rabbit. I was watching Last Action Hero, which we were watching for a Blank Check and they have like four funny little, like, asides like that, like Humphrey Bogart was partnered up with somebody else from Casablanca.

[00:23:10] I was like, Oh, this is, I want more of that. I like that. Why not? That will be what, that’s what AI is going to be. We’re going to be like, yeah.

[00:23:18] Jason Mantzoukas: That is what AI is going to be. It’s going to be like, Oh, okay. What about if Pee Wee Herman was playing the, you know, uh, a character playing, you know, and, and you just say, start to get it down the rabbit hole of fictitious characters meeting other fictitious characters.

[00:23:32] Paul Scheer: But here’s the thing. It does. Not that I’m saying anything revolutionary about AI. It does lose some of its soul because you start to realize the personality of the person who’s inputting the options. Like I saw one that I didn’t even seek out. It just kind of popped up on my social media. It was like, Chris Farley in GQ ad.

[00:23:48] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh my God.

[00:23:49] Paul Scheer: So it was just like Chris Farley being really sexy. Uh, and that was interesting. And then the other one that I saw recently.

[00:23:57] Jason Mantzoukas: Such insight into the person who made that.

[00:24:01] Paul Scheer: And it’s like, there’s no sound to it. So you’re just watching like Chris Farley, like in nice suits. Like, and looking very un Chris Farley like.

[00:24:08] Jason Mantzoukas: Now, okay, so you just said you came across it. You said you are not looking for sexy Chris Farley photos? Okay, just making sure.

[00:24:15] Paul Scheer: As far as you know, yes.

[00:24:16] Jason Mantzoukas: But, um, so where, how do you come across it? Like, where is it, like, where does it exist?

[00:24:21] Paul Scheer: So, like, there are these pages, so, like, occasionally if you’re watching, especially on TikTok, uh, but if you’re watching Instagram.

[00:24:28] Jason Mantzoukas: In your feed or something like that.

[00:24:29] Paul Scheer: It’s in your feed, and so, like, Instagram, like, I’ll watch something that I did want to watch, and then as I click through the next thing, it might just be that thing. The other one that I really love that I sent to my basketball chat group is, uh, it was, um, how Michael Jordan saved LeBron from a plane accident, so they’re both sitting together in their uniforms, and holding hands because they’re scared of the turbulence.

[00:24:49] And then the plane explodes and Michael Jordan jumps out of the plane. He has the only, uh, like a parachute and grabs LeBron and they go, they, they fly down together.

[00:24:58] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh my God. This is, but that’s, that’s what I guess. And I wonder, is that what is going to be, will this contribute to the end of kind of how much social media people consume when the amount of what they’re looking at is just patently AI, like, um, fiction.

[00:25:18] Paul Scheer: Well, it’s like, it’s, you know, I would argue that. It’s sexual or like sexual fan fiction, fan fiction in general, they have niche audiences, you know, because they are very specific. So I have imagined that, you know, anyone who’s going to be like, oh, I need to see how Michael Jordan saved LeBron in a plane crash. Uh, I don’t know how many, what the audience is for them. Right.

[00:25:39] Jason Mantzoukas: My question is more, my question is more once the, once all of your feed is more, more just these crazy construct.

[00:25:47] Paul Scheer: Right.

[00:25:48] Jason Mantzoukas: That are not what you’re looking for, but are what you’re being fed at what point do you like, why would I look at this platform when 80 percent of what I’m seeing is nonsensical AI generated content that is not for my niche fandom, you know what I mean?

[00:26:06] Paul Scheer: Because sometimes you’ll come across Elton John chopping onions and you’re like, Whoa, this is, I didn’t know I needed to see this. Like, and I have seen that.

[00:26:12] Jason Mantzoukas: I don’t know what that is, but okay.

[00:26:14] Paul Scheer: Just Elton John in a kitchen chopping onions.

[00:26:17] Jason Mantzoukas: Is it real or is it AI?

[00:26:18] Paul Scheer: No, it’s AI.

[00:26:19] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[00:26:21] Paul Scheer: And again, I’m like, who’s making that prompt?

[00:26:24] Jason Mantzoukas: This is a game show. Is it real or is it AI?

[00:26:25] Paul Scheer: Yeah. Oh, my God. It really is. It’s a bizarre, uh, it is interesting, especially as I talk to my kids about stuff. You know, you have to kind of let them understand that things are not, you know always real, you know, and I remember we were going to school one day and, uh, one of their kids that we were carpooling with is like, I saw that there’s a dog the size of the White House and I’m like, well, that’s not true.

[00:26:47] And they’re like, no, I saw it on YouTube. I’m like, well, yeah, but yes, but you understand like not every like YouTube is not like a fact based, and he’s like, but I saw it. I saw a dog’s size of the White House.

[00:26:58] Jason Mantzoukas: Well, he’s got alternative facts.

[00:26:59] Paul Scheer: Yes, exactly. And then you had, and then, you know, you have to talk to my, like, I have to talk to my kids about that. And I have to be like, yeah, there is no saw.

[00:27:04] Jason Mantzoukas: You, one of the kids in your carpool is Kelly Ann Conway, right?

[00:27:07] Paul Scheer: And, yeah. But you know, look, some things she says I disagree with, but a lot of times I, I know her heart’s in the right place.

[00:27:12] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, wait, did you get to the root of the dog? The size of the White House?

[00:27:16] Paul Scheer: Oh yeah. Yeah. It was just a, it was just. a crazy, it was even like, I mean, the shit that my kids are watching on YouTube, I mean, it’s like it and they’re watching kids YouTube. So that’s the one that’s like, really vetted. Like, you can’t get much stuff on kids YouTube. Yeah, you know, like, I can’t even find a how to for them, like for drawing how to’s.

[00:27:34] It’s like, it really stops. Like my kid has done every drawing one. But um, so yeah, it’s just like, you know, funny picture of dog as big as White House. It could be as simple as that, you know, just like that’s all. And it was a still, still image of a giant dog. And I’m also like, I’m the funny thing to me was the lead wasn’t.

[00:27:51] Oh my god, there’s a scary the dog is big as the White House. It was like, like, oh, I want to get a dog as big as the White House. Like, this kid wanted a Clifford. And if not, like, I’m scared of Clifford.

[00:28:02] Jason Mantzoukas: Like, we had Clifford or Marmaduke, of course, big giant dogs in our world, you know, in our stories, rather. Um, stories, but you know, but, but, but to consider that, yeah, that the kids these days are just like learning off of YouTube, just like the preposterous nature of the world. Boy, would it be hard to, like, drill down into what is real and what is not right?

[00:28:22] Paul Scheer: Well, that’s why I mean, you know, I will say as a parent, uh, yeah, being subjected to words that I’ve never heard before. It’s the first time I’ve truly felt old when, uh, you know, skibbity riz.

[00:28:34] Jason Mantzoukas: Skibbity do toilet or whatever.

[00:28:34] Paul Scheer: Yeah, yeah. Skibbity, Ohio, gyat. A lot of gyats. Um, and like, I’m like, boy, am I.

[00:28:42] Jason Mantzoukas: Somebody else who has teenagers was just running down all of this for me. And it was making me laugh so hard because to hear my 50 something year old friend detail all of her kids slang terms was making me laugh for so long because she was having to deliver them earnestly. And I would be like, well, no, how do you use that?

[00:29:03] Paul Scheer: Yeah, well, that by the way, I’m that’s where I get on line and I start going. All right. There’s a guy I follow on tick tock. He’s called like Mr so and so the middle school slang teacher and he’s like, I teach these kids and this is what I got. And I’m like, and the funniest thing is, and this is the thing that I’ve found to be the most interesting. So I, I’ve watched that and I try to be up on it. And then, um, I’ll ask my kids what they mean. They don’t even know what it means.

[00:29:31] Jason Mantzoukas: They’re just repeating. Some of these things are beyond, oh, oh, they don’t know. They just, they know context.

[00:29:35] Paul Scheer: They just know skibbity, like, They don’t know what even, like, uh, you know, skibbity toilet means. They just know they’re saying skibbity toilet. They know riz means something, but they don’t really know what riz means. They do know that gyat means butt. Like, but they’re not saying it in a way that’s like, uh, aggressive. You know, it’s so crazy.

[00:29:52] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s so crazy.

[00:29:54] Paul Scheer: It really makes me laugh. Uh, really, it’s I’m, I’m always just like, okay, all right guys. And I like, but then they’re surprised when I know what it means and they don’t. So it is like, then I’m like, then I, then I, then I.

[00:30:06] Jason Mantzoukas: Research it. Researching the etymology of these things. And they’re just, they’re just overhearing them and then reusing them.

[00:30:11] Paul Scheer: Yes. And then, you know, now we’ve gotten into a thing too, with June where, and this is probably something that you’ll fall into if you, if you have these little. These kids, which is, uh, I don’t know how to gauge what is appropriate and what is not appropriate for them.

[00:30:22] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like what is too sexual or what is, what’s a dirty or a swear word?

[00:30:27] Paul Scheer: Yeah. So like, I mean, more matter of factly, we were, uh, my wife walked in on me and my eight year old playing Mortal Kombat and she was like, you cannot play that with him. It’s too violent. I’m like, well, I mean, it’s not that violent. I mean, it is, But it’s also kind of funny, violent. I’m like.

[00:30:43] Jason Mantzoukas: Sure, where you like rip someone’s like spine out.

[00:30:46] Paul Scheer: Yeah, exactly. It’s like, you know, and look, he doesn’t know how to do that move. We’re just kicking and punching.

[00:30:51] Jason Mantzoukas: Sure, sure, sure, sure. He doesn’t know the finishing moves.

[00:30:54] Paul Scheer: No, but what is acceptable in our house? It’s a Star Wars battlefront, which is something that we play a lot, which is just, you know, and there’s a thing called Ewok hunt where you just go around trying to kill Ewoks, but they’re very resourceful. These Ewoks are going to come get you.

[00:31:07] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow. I mean, like I don’t mind as someone who hated the Ewoks, uh, I, I would love, I, I, I’m surprised they let you play a campaign where you can hit, where you can hunt the Ewoks.

[00:31:17] Paul Scheer: Ewok hunt is, uh, as a lot of fun, but again, like I said, hard to kill these fucking Ewoks or they’re, you know, they’re, they’re tricky.

[00:31:24] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, Yub nub. Yeah.

[00:31:28] Paul Scheer: By the way, that, uh, that was a moment that I showed my kids that blew their mind. I, I, we were watching something and I was able to show them the original face of Anakin Skywalker. You know, and like at the end when they’re like on the planet, Oh, that’s what it was. I was playing them that yub nub song because I was like, you got to hear the original song. And then they cut, you know, they cut over to Luke looking over and my son’s like, who’s that old guy?

[00:31:57] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, that’s, that’s Anakin Skywalker.

[00:31:59] Paul Scheer: And he’s like, no, it’s not. And I go, yeah, it is.

[00:32:06] Jason Mantzoukas: Wow. I mean, imagine you can, I mean, look, you can, for your kids, Star Wars, the, like exposing yourself to Star Wars as a child is to experience all of the. Aging process that George Lucas spent the last 16 years depicting. He, they can watch it all at once, you know, uh, from a young person’s story, from a coming of age, young person’s story to a story that is about the totality of a person’s life, you know, um, uh, from light to dark, to light again, uh, what a crazy story to process, you know.

[00:32:42] Paul Scheer: And I’m going to give you a little thing that you’re not going to like. Uh, what they often say to me is like, I hate when they get old. Oh, I don’t want to watch them when they’re old.

[00:32:50] Jason Mantzoukas: Of course. I feel like that’s what the old people are saying to the, I feel like all the old fans are like, Oh, you know, like the toxic fandom of star Wars. I feel like wishes it was more like, again, you guys are too old to talk about this show like this.

[00:33:04] Paul Scheer: Right, right, right. It’s supposed to be a story about young people for young people.

[00:33:13] Jason Mantzoukas: I will say though, Skeleton Crew, so far, is wonderful young people storytelling, uh, Star Wars young people storytelling.

[00:33:22] Paul Scheer: Well, this is, this is what I get that I’m so kind of blown away by. I’m like, how can they make it so good? And, and what I think, like, There’s a lot of stuff that’s bad, right? Or not bad, or mid length sometimes.

[00:33:34] But this is like, what they did, they took a giant swing, and created, like, again, just, if people have not watched it, we won’t spoil it all, but a suburban planet. We’ve never seen that in Star Wars. Never have seen a planet that doesn’t have a lot of spires going up in the sky. Planet really like during the day, like yes.

[00:33:53] Jason Mantzoukas: I mean, Coruscant, coruscant is an entire city, an entire planet that is a city. There are no suburbs. It’s all just the city. So to see like a, a beautiful suburban Amblin esque kind of, uh, suburb is really fun and funny.

[00:34:09] Paul Scheer: I thought that was so cool. And, and I’m like, and the fact that that got through, whatever it got through, I was like, this is great. Like, and, and it just makes me go, uh, we need more of that. You just need more people just allowing that to happen, I think, you know, and then you’re gonna get better stories, but.

[00:34:26] Jason Mantzoukas: I agree.

[00:34:27] Paul Scheer: I love it. I highly recommend it.

[00:34:28] Jason Mantzoukas: I’m having a blast with it. I think it’s a it’s so fun. I’m really enjoying it. Um, and I just love a Goonies style coming of age. Kid story, kid adventure story regardless.

[00:34:40] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:34:41] Jason Mantzoukas: The fact that they’ve put it into very compelling Star Wars world. Great. I love it so far.

[00:34:46] Paul Scheer: I love it. And I love that guy. Who’s he? He’s the, the dad of that one kid. Uh, he’s from a band, right?

[00:34:50] Jason Mantzoukas: He’s, um, Tunde Adebimpe from TV on the radio.

[00:34:52] Paul Scheer: Yes. Yes. I love.

[00:34:53] Jason Mantzoukas: The recently re or not reformed because I don’t think they’ve properly broke up, but a band that has been on hiatus for many years and has re come back together and is playing a lot of shows and releasing music again, they just released the 20th anniversary of their debut record, uh, incredible band TV on the radio and fantastic actor Tunde Adebimpe.

[00:35:12] Paul Scheer: And who also is, uh, in twisters. Uh, very good.

[00:35:16] Jason Mantzoukas: Twisters is in Rachel Getting Married is in a bunch of movies.

[00:35:19] Paul Scheer: He’s on one of those guys who I feel like, uh, he’s a great actor, but also his voice does so much great work for him. Like he’s just got a great, great voice. I’m like, I’m on, I’m on whatever you’re saying. I’m on, I’m on, I’m in.

[00:35:29] Jason Mantzoukas: Big time.

[00:35:30] Paul Scheer: Anything else you’ve been, uh, watching?

[00:35:32] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah, I’ve watched some pretty fun stuff. I I’ll keep going on the line of like stuff for young people. Yeah. Talking about Skeleton Crew. Taskmaster jr has started on YouTube, which is.

[00:35:43] Paul Scheer: So good.

[00:35:44] Jason Mantzoukas: Exceptional. Like we talked about Taskmaster before, but this is so fun.

[00:35:49] Paul Scheer: I am loving it. And I have the taskmaster app, so I get all the things, you know, it’s, it’s great. You get every, every country, every show, it’s all there. It’s, uh, it can go right into your Apple TV or your Roku, whatever you have. Uh, and we are, uh, as a family loving it, I will say that, like, um, uh, the, my kids are enjoying the sassiness of these kids because when you go out, like that was a part, I was like, oh, I wonder how they’re going to do this. Like the conversation pieces. Um, yeah. And, uh, Rose is so funny with them. Uh.

[00:36:23] Jason Mantzoukas: And wozniak is, is so sweet and supportive.

[00:36:27] Paul Scheer: Yes. It’s weird because you would think, Oh, I don’t know if they could do, but they managed to keep the soul of the show. It’s still very funny and they keep their, like, status as Taskmaster. Like, but at the same time, they allow themselves to be poked. It’s, it’s, it’s really beautifully done.

[00:36:44] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s very, it’s very well done. And because Taskmaster is, it can be very, Um, you know, Greg, it can be very surly. It can be very negative. It can be like, yes, like a lot of roasting and ball busting and all that stuff. And so to apply it to now a children’s show, you have to keep all of that energy and that mischievous, chaotic energy while still keeping it appropriate for kids, which is really hard trick, but they do it so well. They, they, they thread the needle expertly. And the show is not just a blast, but in the same way that I have. felt about Masterchef junior or some of the other shows like that. The emotionality of the kids and their stories is so wonderful and accessible. Um, it’s really, it’s so funny, but also so sweet and heartfelt in a way that regular taskmaster is not, you know, um, I’ll shout out a couple of other things. Um, the, the Netflix show Black Doves.

[00:37:44] Uh, espionage show starring Keira Knightley and Ben Wishaw, um, is terrific, is just a straight up British espionage spy story, um, six episodes, very fun, very pulpy, not, maybe not as spy crafty as a Slow Horses, but, but nonetheless a very, very compelling, like spy thriller. Uh, really fun.

[00:38:08] Paul Scheer: I like that. Okay. June has been watching, and she told me I should talk about it, uh, Disclaimer. She loves Disclaimer.

[00:38:14] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, I haven’t watched it yet. Yeah. She loves it. Oh, good.

[00:38:16] Paul Scheer: She, uh, loves it and is, uh, and again, every now and then, she’ll watch one of these shows, and it surprises the hell out of me. And, uh, this is the one that she is, uh, constantly talking about.

[00:38:27] Jason Mantzoukas: This is, I’m gonna, this is the Cuaron one. I haven’t watched any of it. I’m curious.

[00:38:31] Paul Scheer: Well, have you, have you seen the short that Cuaron did with David Lowery on, uh, Disney Plus?

[00:38:36] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, wait, is it the owl one?

[00:38:38] Paul Scheer: Yes. Yes.

[00:38:38] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, I did. I didn’t know that Cuaron did it. I thought it was just David Lowery. Okay.

[00:38:42] Paul Scheer: It’s David Lowery directing it and Cuaron producing it. I thought that was really beautiful. Yeah.

[00:38:46] Jason Mantzoukas: I did too. I thought it was stunning. It’s like a stop motion animation kind of yeah. Really, really beautiful thing. Um, I love that. I love that thing. Um, I will also shout out, uh, Man on the Inside, the Mike Schur Netflix show. Um, this show is absolutely phenomenal.

[00:39:07] Um, this is a, this is a show where, uh, Mike Schur created from, uh, um, Parks and Rec and The Good Place. Uh, Ted Danson, of course you know. Uh, Ted Danson, retired man, goes undercover, retired professor, goes undercover, retired professor, goes, uh, takes a, takes a job and goes undercover in an old age home, an assisted living facility in order to do detective work at the behest of like a young private investigator.

[00:39:33] And so he’s the man on the inside and what, what ostensibly is a set up for a very funny sitcom, a half hour, uh, show full of very funny characters and very funny stuff, um, is in fact that, but then gives way to this absolutely beautiful show that is about grief and loss and mortality and, and all of the discrepancies between, um, parent and child and what it is to get older and lose your partner or lose your, lose the things that are keeping you invested in moving forward in the world when you’ve lost your partner or lost your job or aren’t working anymore.

[00:40:12] Like it is confronting so many things that the differences between adult children and their aging parents is such a component of it. Uh, it’s absolutely fantastic. The show is absolutely so silly and so funny. I’ve never seen my dad laugh harder than he did at this show. He laughed so hard at this show.

[00:40:35] Um, when, and then turn on a dime and be absolutely devastating and heartbreaking in a way that is so earned and so wonderful. I think the show is fantastic. Man on the inside.

[00:40:48] Paul Scheer: Alright, I, I’ve been meaning, it’s on my to do list and I have to watch it. I’ve been watching a bunch of movies because I try to like, uh, you know. Well, I mean, I’m just like, I’m, I’m in Christmas mode. I’m watching favorites. I’m like, Yeah, so I’m not doing anything new. So that is like, uh, you know, I’m, I’m, I’m down to watch like the, the Travis Kelsey Taylor Swift, uh, Kansas City Chiefs, uh, produced by a movie, a Hallmark film. I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m watching shit like that. Oh yeah.

[00:41:11] Jason Mantzoukas: I didn’t know that. I did watch, I watched the Sabrina Carpenter Christmas special.

[00:41:15] Paul Scheer: I’ve been wanting to watch that, uh, and I also have to watch it.

[00:41:18] Jason Mantzoukas: It has sketches in it.

[00:41:19] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:41:19] Jason Mantzoukas: It has sketches in it. Which are crazy.

[00:41:20] Paul Scheer: Written by Megan Amram, I believe.

[00:41:22] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh no, not, and Fran Gillespie. It’s got, it’s got good writers. She, I mean, obviously she comes out of like a comedy, uh, kids background, Disney background. So, she’s terrific. Uh, like, and the show, it’s, it’s, it’s fluff. It’s like, you know, holiday fluff. But it was, it was the perfect thing to have on while decorating the tree.

[00:41:43] Paul Scheer: And that’s, and that’s the way to do it.

[00:41:44] Jason Mantzoukas: It was great.

[00:41:45] Paul Scheer: Do you cook at all during the holidays?

[00:41:47] Jason Mantzoukas: Do I cook?

[00:41:48] Paul Scheer: Cook, yeah.

[00:41:49] Jason Mantzoukas: No, no, not really.

[00:41:51] Paul Scheer: Yeah, I get it.

[00:41:53] Jason Mantzoukas: Why are you?

[00:41:53] Paul Scheer: No, I mean, I do. Yeah, but I’m also realizing that a majority of things I cook and especially on the holidays are egg based.

[00:41:59] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:42:01] Paul Scheer: Cookies and things like that would be very hard for you to cook.

[00:42:04] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah, I have no traditions inside of like a special dessert, a special cookie. All that stuff was never a never been a part of it for me.

[00:42:13] Paul Scheer: No. Yeah. All right.

[00:42:14] Jason Mantzoukas: Sadly.

[00:42:14] Paul Scheer: Yeah. I mean, I get it. I, I also understand the, the why, uh, I did, I did bring the family to Tam O’Shanter out here, which is a Tam O’Shanter.

[00:42:22] Jason Mantzoukas: Now we’re going, now we’re talking. I love Tam O’Shanter.

[00:42:26] Paul Scheer: We, we do it, uh, every holiday season. Cause they have these, um, you know, carolers that come to the table.

[00:42:31] And, oh yeah. It’s. It’s really fun. It’s really decked out for the holidays. And then the carolers come over to the table and they are absolutely amazing. And what, uh, and they will pull out some weird hits. Like they, the other day we asked him, like, my, my mom, as a matter of fact, can you play grandma got run over by a reindeer and I was like, mom, they’re not going to sing that. And let me tell you, they sang it and they killed it and it got the restaurant very excited.

[00:42:56] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, that’s awesome.

[00:42:57] Paul Scheer: Because everyone’s hearing like, Signing night.

[00:42:58] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah, for sure.

[00:42:59] Paul Scheer: You know, like they’re hearing your jingle bells, And this, all of a sudden they’re talking about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer.

[00:43:03] Jason Mantzoukas: Oh, that’s great. Oh, I love that.

[00:43:06] Paul Scheer: Anything else you got?

[00:43:07] Jason Mantzoukas: Yeah. I’ll shout out a couple more things.

[00:43:08] Paul Scheer: Yeah, please.

[00:43:09] Jason Mantzoukas: Uh, we, I’ve talked a bunch lately about Some of the fantastic stand up specials that have come out this year.

[00:43:14] Paul Scheer: Oh, yes. Um, from, um, Joe Mandy, our friend joe Mandy, Chill.

[00:43:17] Jason Mantzoukas: From joe Mandy’s chill. Chill to, I mentioned James Acaster special earlier special, um, Langston Kerman special that I thought was fantastic. But.

[00:43:27] Paul Scheer: Alana has a great, uh, Alana Glazer special on Hulu as well.

[00:43:30] Jason Mantzoukas: For me, the, the best special of the year, a like truly incredible comedy special is Anthony Jeselnik’s Bones and All. Absolutely.

[00:43:41] Paul Scheer: One of the funniest things I’ve seen.

[00:43:43] Jason Mantzoukas: One of the I just that special was phenomenal. Just demolished for a straight hour.

[00:43:50] Paul Scheer: I don’t have the metaphor but I can kind of give you the half metaphor that I’ve been playing with It’s like watching him do that special is like watching a magician and being surprised every time they do a trick I’m like, oh, right, of course like you think he gets you every time. Every time single time.

[00:44:08] It’s crazy.

[00:44:09] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s exceptional. He is, I think, just the best person, the best joke writer, the best joke teller we have currently. I think he’s the best, the smartest, the sharpest, the most like the most incisive. He’s getting a knife so deep in every one of these jokes. It’s crazy.

[00:44:27] Paul Scheer: And he is also, uh, I mean, I don’t want to say it’s mean, uh, it’s not mean, but it’s, it’s darker than like, it’s like he’s able to keep you writing. Like there’s a moment I, and I, I say this to, to kind of underline how good he is at reading the audience at a certain point I’m watching the show. I’m like, all right, I’ve had enough of this dead baby stuff. And literally, as I literally thought that he said, I know you’re thinking, yes, enough of this. And I was like, and it was like, Oh, no, just had it down to a sign.

[00:44:59] I think it was, and it was perfect.

[00:45:01] Jason Mantzoukas: He is one of the only people I feel like who is truly ahead of us.

[00:45:06] Paul Scheer: Yes.

[00:45:06] Jason Mantzoukas: You know what I mean? Like, he is, he is, whether you know it or not, and you really don’t know it, he’s walking you through the special. He’s holding your hand without you realizing it. He knows, and a magician is a great way to put it, or, he is so in tune with what the audience is thinking and feeling at every step.

[00:45:25] It is, an absolute blast to watch. I just thought that was a masterpiece.

[00:45:30] Paul Scheer: I really was blown away by that special. Really, really loved it. Um, you know who else I thought, you know, had that same vibe and completely different as far as, um, content. Was, uh, Gaffigan, Gaffigan special.

[00:45:44] Jason Mantzoukas: I haven’t watched it yet.

[00:45:45] Paul Scheer: Oh, man.

[00:45:45] Jason Mantzoukas: I haven’t watched it yet.

[00:45:46] Paul Scheer: It’s like Gaffigan special to me is, look, he’s, he’s definitely catered a mark, a market of like dad jokes, right? Like, I mean, dad jokes, but it’s, it’s so. effortless and funny. And you’re like, I, why have I not heard this point of view articulated, or I’ve seen people dance around this, but never articulated as well as this.

[00:46:07] And it’s, it is, and it’s, you know, completely clean and it’s so funny. He’s so good. And then, and again, a person that I’m like, Oh, right. He’s so like, like you’re surprised at how funny it is. It’s like, Oh, that’s why he’s like one of the greats.

[00:46:20] Jason Mantzoukas: He is truly a next level talent. He’s just fantastic. All of his specials are great.

[00:46:26] But this one in particular, I thought was phenomenal. Yeah. Um, and I’ll shout out a couple of movies that I watched that I think are smaller. And I would love for people to check out just because I think they’re great. Um, the Irish movie Kneecap. Um, And it’s called Kneecap. It’s about a hip hop band. It’s about the Irish language.

[00:46:45] It’s about, it’s about a lot of things and it is just fantastic. It’s a blast. It’s hilarious. It’s very sweet and heartfelt, uh, uh, Kneecap. Um, it’s terrific. I think it’s, I think I watched it on Netflix. I can’t remember. Um, the, I’ve been watching so much anime and so ma like. Two movies this year that have truly blown my mind, like reduced me to blubbering tears that I will think about for years to come.

[00:47:11] Uh, one I’ve mentioned before, Blue Giant, uh, all about creativity and jazz musicians and improvisation and stuff like that. The next one is called Look Back. This is an anime that’s also based on a manga. It’s by, uh, Kiyotaka Oshiyama.

[00:47:27] Paul Scheer: Is that the one that’s like only 55 minutes or something like that?

[00:47:29] Jason Mantzoukas: It is. Yes. It’s, it’s like a little over an hour or it’s just an hour and it is also about creativity and collaboration and, um, and, uh, ambition and, and what it is to be friends and what it is to be collaborators. And, and it’s also a bit of a sliding doors. What if this didn’t happen, but that happened and it’s about a lot. It’s a coming of age story. It’s all the stuff that gets me so in the fields, um, and it is absolutely fantastic. I can’t recommend it enough.

[00:47:58] Paul Scheer: Love this.

[00:47:59] Jason Mantzoukas: It’s called look back. And then the other one I’ll recommend, which is a very sad one, but nonetheless, absolutely stunning and beautiful is the, the documentary Opus, which is the final, uh, performance of, uh, Ryu, Ryuichi Sakimoto, um, playing his songs for the last time, um, and is absolutely stunning and beautiful, um, piece of piano, uh, concert piano, just, uh, to watch him play these songs in this manner, shot this beautifully, knowing that these are the last times he will perform many of these songs is staggering. It’s it’s really phenomenal.

[00:48:39] Paul Scheer: I gotta watch this. This is it. This is good. And you know, Jason, I will say that a lot of 2024 lists have. We Are Lady Parts on their list. I know you gave that a huge shout out here.

[00:48:48] Jason Mantzoukas: That show is the best.

[00:48:49] Paul Scheer: And so, you know, listen to these recommendations. Jason knows what he’s talking.

[00:48:52] Jason Mantzoukas: Can’t recommend We Are Lady Parts enough. It’s on, it’s on Peacock and another one that I’ll recommend that I’ve recommended here before that I feel like deserves the attention is Shoresy. On Hulu. Uh, those are two of the best half hours of the year.

[00:49:06] Um, I’ll shout out a couple of books, just because people buy books for people for the holidays. And maybe this will be out by then. Uh, Dolly Alderton’s Good Material. Um, The Tamaki Cousins Roaming. Um, The Clementine Books, uh, by Tilly Walden. Uh, are fantastic graphic novels set inside the Walking Dead universe that are so beautiful.

[00:49:28] Um, These are some new comics. There’s been a bunch of new Batman comics that have been just absolutely beautiful. Absolute Batman by Scott Snyder, um, and Nick Drogoda. Incredible. But I can’t recommend enough Batman and Robin, Year One, Mark Waid, and the incredible, the incomparable Chris Somni drawing a Batman and Robin year one book. And it is so gorgeous. There’s only one story. There’s only, I think, two issues out now, but it is, I got to tell you, it’s fantastic. It’s so good. And then last but not least, our friend Scott Aukerman has a book, The Astonishing Spider Man, an ongoing book that he’s writing, um, on the Marvel Unlimited app. There’s, I think there are eight issues in her so far. It’s terrific. It’s great.

[00:50:16] Paul Scheer: I love it. And by the way, if you’re confused, like I didn’t write all this stuff down. Don’t worry about it because it’s in the show description. So just, you know, you can go visit it at any point. You’ll see it all there. That is the hard work of our producer, Scott, who is, uh, keeping track of all this shit, which is a lot, a lot of stuff. Um, well, Jason, this is so great to talk to you. We will talk soon.

[00:50:38] Jason Mantzoukas: Great.

[00:50:38] Paul Scheer: Bye for now.

[00:50:40] Thank you, Jason, for dropping by. Now it is finally time to announce our next movie. And all I have to say is what you’re going to do, what you’re going to do when they come for you.

[00:50:48] That’s right. Next episode, we’ll be watching 2024 Bad Boys Ride or Die. That’s right. Bad Boys 4 starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Vanessa Hudgens. This is the fourth movie in the Bad Boys franchise. And I got to say they keep on getting better and better. All right. Here’s a breakdown of the plot.

[00:51:06] When, uh, their late police captain gets linked to drug cartels, Wisecracking Miami cops, Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett embark on a dangerous mission to clear his name. All right. Rotten Tomatoes gives this film a 65 percent score on the tomato meter. What? Oh man. And my wonderful Unspooled co host Amy Nicholson wrote in the Washington Post,

[00:51:26] “Lawrence’s high spirits also defibrillate the franchise. Turns out the Bad Boys film need less swagger and more dorky, goofy joy.”

[00:51:34] Well, that. I can agree with this movie is funny and weird and it’s perfect. Let’s listen to the trailer for Bad Boys, Ride or Die.

[00:51:41] Trailer Audio: Mike, you’ve been my partner a long time. You my boy.

[00:51:48] You’ll be boom. We are being framed. They’ll have it coming from cops and every gang in the city.

[00:51:56] That’s my boy. I got this Mike. What you don’t go on Gator. I rebuke you. That’s how you command the universe.

[00:52:06] Paul Scheer: Bad Boys Ride or Die is available to stream on Netflix. You can rent it on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

[00:52:16] In addition, I also encourage you to check out Hoopla, Canopy, and Libby, which are digital media services offered by your local public library that allow you to consume movies, TV, and music, audiobooks, any books and comics. For free. I mean, why are you using those? It’s so good. Anyway, that is it for Last Looks.

[00:52:31] If you listen to us on Apple podcasts or Spotify, please rate and review us. Please also make sure that you are following us and have automatic downloads turned on. Yes, that helps the show a lot and we appreciate it. Visit us all on social media at HDTGM and a big thank you to our producers, Scott Sonne and Molly Reynolds, and our movie picking producer, Avaryll Halley, our associate producer, Jess Cisneros, and our engineer, Casey Holford.

[00:52:53] We’ll see you next week for Bad Boys Ride or Die.