Latest / Houselights: A Film Director Podcast / The Holiday (2006) - Nancy Meyers | Houselights #283

Transcript

The Holiday (2006) - Nancy Meyers | Houselights #283 · Houselights: A Film Director Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the ned Palty.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to House Lights, our director discussion show here
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: on the Nerd Party Network. This week, we're continuing with
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: the House of director Nancy Myers. It's a big, expensive house,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: one that none of us could afford. Perhaps we'll visit
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: it on a holiday or an impromptu spur the moment,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: charge it and don't look back vacation, where as they
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: call it across the Pond a holiday. As we're discussing
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: the two thousand and six romantic comedy The Holiday, I'm
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: your host, Darren. I store my kid's name in my
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: phone like a normal person, Moser, and I'm joined again
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: by successful trailer editor Tristan Riddell and Hollywood recluse mister
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: John B. Mills. What would we do if Jude Law
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: showed up unannounced at our countryside cottage. Let's discuss it
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: in the holiday.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: If Jude Law showed up.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't want to go down that road. Okay,
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: I'm not ready for that method.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Some questions you need to be answered. I mean, we
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: all know how that's going to go.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: When she has her own little like mini trailer in
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: his head and at the shot of him smiling and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: showing up at the doors even more romantic than like
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: the actual shot from the movie. It's like, oh, dang, girl,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: you got it bad. Uh.
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So Jude Law is I honestly like when we
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: I watched this with my wife and as soon as
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: he popped up on the screen, as soon as he
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: popped up on the door, I was like, God, dang it,
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: that is a handsome man.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: He's just so handsome it's just absurd.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Jude Law is the type of guy where it's like,
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: you're there's no other profession for you than like movie star, right,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: what else are you going to do? There's just no point.
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Well, it's been a moment since we've covered first time
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: watching as far as one of us hasn't seen, so John,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I want to discuss on this. So where I'm coming from,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: we watched this every Christmas at least it is one
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: of our favorite Christmas movies. I don't want you know,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: but don't feel like you're harping on my buzz. But
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: obviously this was the first time you had encountered this. Yes,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: were you ready for the Nancy Myers house effect to
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: hit you or did it still stagger I had.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: A feeling of what I was getting into after the
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: last few weeks. I had a sense for what was coming.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: I didn't expect her to like surprise me in that sense.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: I was sort of like ready for this. I knew
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: this was coming. I will say that this is a movie.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: You know, frequently we love to do that little soft
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: too where it's like, oh, I just didn't get around
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: to it. Look, I'm not the target audience for this.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I saw. I remember this being advertised in the day,
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: and my reaction was like, good god, no. And so
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I think the journey of discovery will be did it
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: win my heart over when it's unapproachable snow covered lane,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: or did I waste my trip to La like rufus sewle.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Look, just be honest, don't listen to the gardener as
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: he tells you not to not be honest, and I
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: throw things at you.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: I will give Meyer's credit because that was a that
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: I considered the pacing of that specific moment perfectly done,
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: and the insertion of the gardener giving a little shake
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: of the head like no, no, don't do that, come on, bro,
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: that was amazing. I thought that was a I was
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: delighted by it to the point where, even though I
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: thought it was a rocky start to the movie, I
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: that scene happened and I was like, oh, okay, okay,
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: all right, I'm finding some footing here. Like that was
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: my in for this movie because I thought that the
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: the opening with uh Burns, yeah, Ed Burns and Cameron
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Diaz was oh, an awkward one.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: It was an all went on for so long.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't a short moment.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: This is a long movie. I was punching in the
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: numbers into my spreadsheet and I'm like two hours and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: sixteen minutes. Oh my goodness, Like, yeah, yeah, it's better
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: on the back half. But you know, you're not wrong
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: that the the setup for the inciting incidents in the
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: changes of these women's lives takes a good moment.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: It really does. And it's I am it's not something
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: where like I would say that you could have made
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: it cleaner, but I definitely think it's something that the
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: editor should have been campaigning a little harder to say.
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: You know, Nancy, I think we could tighten this up
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: a little bit, even just a couple of quicker cuts,
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: even just a couple you know, cut lines here and there,
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: like there was plenty you could have trimmed out of that.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Now I'm a little more forgiving of like the Kate
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Winslet stuff because it was timing for credits, and I'm like, okay,
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: I'm very forgiving of that sort of thing. But once
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: you got to the LA moment, I was like, Okay,
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: this is not not cool, guys, not cool, especially because
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: if you're talking about a comedy, everything's supposed to be
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: faster paced, and I you know, it's I'm not saying
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: this needs to be like an eighty eight minute Jim Carrey,
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: you know, being birthed by a fake rhinoceros bit type
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: of thing.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's what you go for when you're thinking romantic comedy,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: got it? Okay?
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well you know, hey, there was romance involved. But
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: I think that I think the comedy has an obligation
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: in some sense to be quicker than two hours sixteen.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: There's sort of a promise in telling the Joe that
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: you're going to deliver it quickly because I'm there for
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: the punchline. Does that make sense? Like I'm not there
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: for the setup.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I'm there for the punchline, And there's not as many
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: punchlines as more as arcs for the characters, like they're
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: meant to grow and change through this experience on who
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: they are. And yeah, it's definitely a bit difference between
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: the two storylines. So Tristan, this wasn't your first viewing.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: But is this in your rotation? Is this something you
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: and your wife enjoy or you've seen it but it's
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: not on the shelf.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: I uh, this is not on the shelf. It's not
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: in the rotation. I believe this is the third time
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: that I've seen it before. I think I think that
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: my wife and I saw this in the theater because
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: this came out around the time when we saw everything
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: in the theater when it was much cheaper and we
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: didn't have kids, and you know, we were dating and
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: everything like that. What year did this come out again?
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: I completely center of six. Yeah, yeah, that was at
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: the beginning of our relationship, so we saw everything. So
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: I saw this with her, and then I think I
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: saw it again with my parents when it came out
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: on video and then so I haven't seen this since
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: two thousand and seven, so I haven't seen this in
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: twenty years, almost twenty years. And I was I was
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: surprised at how much I remembered with this kind of
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: came back. Yeah, it's I feel like a lot of
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: these movies, even I've seen every single one of them,
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: and I, you know, like it was that situation of
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: how much do I actually remember? And then you're watching
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: it You're like, holy crap. All of this is just
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: deeply embedded in the gray matter. And with this one
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: in particular, I one thing that I pulled out was like, oh, wait,
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: I remember John Krasinski was the editor, and I was like,
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: why do I remember that? And oh with that that
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: fake trailer that they were cutting with what's his name
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: and Mila Kunis Franco, James Franco Francoe.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, uh tink one gotta be enough.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: He filmed that at the exact same time that it
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: was filming Spider Man three, Like he just walked. He
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: was on one set and just walked onto another. And
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: it was shot by Emmanuel Lubetski, who did Gravity, Children
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: of Men, Birdman.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: That's wild. That's really really wild. I can say from
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: that trailer, that is a movie where I would if
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: I saw that, I'd be like, all right, I'm listening.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know how good. It's gonna be, but it's interesting.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: I love her. It looks like a hit now, which
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: means this movie is not a hit. It is not
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: a good movie, but we're gonna make it look good
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: because we got to get the butts in the seats.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: I don't know the gig.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: And she must be the most successful trailer creative director
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: of all time.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, from what I understand, it pays about a
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: million dollars a trailer, doesn't It isn't that what trailer cutters?
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: I think. I think that's what Nancy Myers was trying
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: to tell us with with this.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: It was a way for her. Was she was surreptitiously
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: embedding a message to Hollywood that they should be paying
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: trailer cutters that much because she feels indebted to them
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: for how much they've helped her career. I don't know,
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: question Mark.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Maybe I'm curious about how you know Joe Hutching the
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: actual editor. How do you feel editing someone editing in
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: the editing of your own movie? Yeah, it's she was.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: She wasn't the cutter like she was. She was the
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: creative director of her trailer company. Okay, well that's true.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: That's true. So she would make more than a cutter
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: the butt in the seat. She was the one behind
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: him telling him what to do.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like I could do that job. I
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: like telling people.
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: Everyone feels like they could do that job.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: No, I just mean I feel like I could tell
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: somebody what to do. I like this. You know it'd
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: be pretty good, right.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: It sounds like every single one of my clients.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Well, they must be wonderful people, then, is all I
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: have to say about that. All right, well, you know, hey,
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: but before we.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Get into the story, just because it's a refreshing name
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: that we know so well, we again have Hans Zimmer
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: in the score and we were talking last week about
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: it and not really engaging. I feel again, probably because
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I've watched this movie more than YouTube by score, but
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: I feel that I recognize this music way more, the motifs,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: the themes, like it actually is a legit score.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Yes you are, you are absolutely correct, Like with something's
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: got to give, I couldn't give you a single pairing
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: NTE note. Yeah, but this one, I mean, I think
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: because they one thing that really helps and this is
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: not at dis whatsoever, but one thing that really helps
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: is that they draw attention to the music because they
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: have a very musical person, They have a composer in
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: the movie, and so it makes me pay attention to it.
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: And so Jack black'scare Apparently this was written specifically for
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Jack black. Cousin Nancy Meyers saw School of Rock and
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: was like, yeah, yeah, I'm gonna put him in this.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: I you know, I'm This is where I'm gonna give
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: Meyer's credit is because and I know that there's stuff
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: where they talk about, like you know, her her reasoning
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: and everything. But there are plenty of directors who would
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: have passed over Jack Black for this type of film
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: because of the type of character he's known for playing,
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: especially up to this point. So I give her a
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: lot of credit for recognizing, you know, he has a quality.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: She she basically said that, like he had more of
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: an everyman quality, like I, you know, I could believe
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: I could relate to Jack Black as a guy, Like
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: I see Jude Law and I'm like, dang, that's a
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: second man. I see Jack Black and I'm like, yeah, okay,
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: he shot a shot.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah no, I agree. I mean, he's adorable in this
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: and and he's very relatable and he's again he's also
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: going on a little journey. But yeah, you know, I mean,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: we'll get into the duality of these two love stories
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: because they are very different from each other. And yeah,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: I really i'd say I I don't want to pick
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: between them, but overaul, I like the Jack Black Kate
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Winslet story. It feels more natural, less forced, less We
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: got to get them together by the end of this script.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Like if they hadn't and they were just kind of
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: going to be friends and see where it goes, I
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: would have been okay with that. But I liked that
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: story arc. It was really I mean, besides the once
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I got past the Dear God, that's a big house
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: with otto blinds and every DVD down man.
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: But I will say that I don't know if I
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: liked their relationship the most, but I definitely liked Kate
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Winslet the most. I think her character and her storyline
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: was the most appealing to me. It's not so much
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: Jack Black and Kate Winsley together as their characters. I
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: think it was very much her journey, her experience. Her
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: character was the most entertaining to me, So I feel
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: like her relationship with Miles was kind of just a
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: byproduct of that instead of the main motivator like with
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: Cameron Diaz. I feel like her relationship with Jude Law
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: was her entire storyline, but with Kate Winslet, it was
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: very much more to it.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Well because she's also i mean sharing that story with
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Arthur Abbot, the character of finding him and getting him
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: out of his you know, stuck way, so she actually
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: has a lot. She's kind of like I arrived into
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: town and I'm helping everybody I see vibes versus I'm
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: away in a cottage and it's all about me, you know,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: which is the other the you know, Cameron DIA's plot more.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: But yeah, John, what did you think of you know,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Arthur Abbott, played by the many talents of Eli Wallash
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: just did that. I mean we were like, what is
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: this doing in my romantic comedy? Or what's we got
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: to throw in a nod to old Hollywood.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: Apparently where the birthing rhinos. What's going on?
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: Well? You know, uh no, I mean Eli Wallach is
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: one of the greats obviously, I mean it's d but
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: I think that the I think that his character, uh
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: and you know, his interactions with Kate Winslet. I think
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: that there is very much a sense you know this
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: this played out for me through the film. There there's
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: more of a novel aspect to the way this is
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: constructed as opposed to a movie concept. This there's very
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: robust concentration on uh, you know, like giving these full
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: arcs to each character sort of thing. Like it feels
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: more like a book that got adapted than an original screenplay.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: And I'm saying that in a complimentary way. I'm saying like,
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: it's very It's got a lot of a lot of stuff,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: a lot of things firing here. I think that what
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: the Eli Wallack character highlighted for me was this idea
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: that it's like, these are two different movies put together
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: and given, you know, a reason to interact, as it were,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: but it's not necessarily a sense of cohesion. They feel
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: very separate. Like I also liked Kate Winslet's arc her
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: story more in the sense that I wanted to spend
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: the time with it, and it felt like the movie
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: did too. And then the Cameron Daz thing is sort
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: of a throwaway all right, well yeah, okay, she founding, yes,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: And it's unfortunate because I think that it gives me
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: the sense that the Cameron Diaz storyline, just even though
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: they spend plenty of time with her and Jude Law
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: and everything, it doesn't feel as as weighty as satisfying
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: a story as the Kate Winslet one, because the Kate
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: Winslet one feels like an actual, real person doing a
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: real thing, encountering real people and forming real connections, whereas
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: the Cameron di As one feels like a silly rom
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: com that, if it had been developed a little bit more,
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: would have been its own thing and just people would
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: have just ignored it and been like, yeah, this thing's terrible,
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Like it's almost writing the coattails of the Kate Winslet storyline.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Well, Trisin, what do you think of this statement? Kate
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Winslet's story feels like Iris is the main character, but
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Cameron d is his story. It almost feels like Graham
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: Jew's Law is kind of more the main character. We
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: learned way more about him and his then Cameron doesn't
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: really change or develop during her story.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the only time that we see a
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: develop is when they hit us over the head with it,
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: where like, oh, I'm crying, Like they they they established
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: that early on and it was kind of like seeing.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: The twenty intro.
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: Yes, Yeah, during the twenty minute intro, it was kind
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: of like seeing the cook in the Hunt for Red
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: October or You're just like, oh, I wonder why they're
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: showing him, you know, like he's like on the crying
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: just a little too long. Yeah, and so we're like, oh,
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: that's going to that's how the movie is going to end.
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: She's going to learn how to cry, and that's that
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: shows us a visual example of how she's learning to
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: love again. And yeah, it's It's is one of those
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: things where I yes, Jude Law's character is much more interesting.
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: He has a much more interesting backstory where you know,
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: he's brother to Iris. He feels kind of lost because
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: he's a widower with two kids. You know, he's he's
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: not sure if he can love again, and he's so
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: he's he's kind of philandering around just a little bit
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: here and there, but then he stumbles upon somebody who's
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: house swapping with his sister. It kind of I feel
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: like the holiday probably should have been like the story
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: of these siblings. Yes, and the aspect of that, because
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna I'm not not a fan of Cameron Diaz
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: but I feel like she was woefully miscast in this movie.
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: She is by far the weakest link, and I just
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: felt like she was overacting almost the entire time. And
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: because I felt like she was overacting the entire time,
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: like I couldn't relate to her. I couldn't feel what
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: she's going through because like when you're when you're acting
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: against somebody as charming and as natural as Jude Law is,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: it makes it feel like she's in a different movie,
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: Like if she was up against Jack Black, maybe that
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: would be a different thing.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Yes, I agree with what you're saying on that. I
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: think that did just attack onto that. I don't think
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: that Diaz was done any favors by the art, Like
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: I don't think she had as much to work with
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: as Winslet did. And you know, according to the Wikipedia
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: page or whatever, she improved stuff on set, which I
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: think is great. I'm not gonna I'm not going to
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: try to pick out what parts she improved or anything
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: like that. But possibly that wound up undercutting in a
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: way something that was on the page that would have
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: been a little more, you know, given a little more
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: development to her, and they didn't realize in the moment
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: that a single line or two here or there would
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: have made such a difference. But I really think that
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Diaz is not done any favors by her character. Like
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: it's she's an incredibly wealthy trailer cutter who goes off
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: because you know she you know her her boyfriend was
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: a dirt bag, right, Okay, that that's a very quick
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: setup that took too long to get to. Whereas Kate Winslet,
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: the way her character is written, there's that lovelorn, long suffering,
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: you know, good hearted person who just just wants somebody
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: to love her for who she is. And there's a
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: guy that's been taking advantage of that. Like that's there's
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: just so much more meat on that bone just to
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: start with. And I think that's what really shines through
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: is it's like it's it's not Diaz's skill level that's
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: lacking here, it's the director not finding the right way
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: to give Cameron Diaz the same amount of heft to
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: her character. And you know, I know that we love
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: to make jokes about like you know, the impractical nature
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: of things and the cost of stuff and all of
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: those sorts of things, But I actually want to watching
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: this with my wife, and she never watches movies with me,
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: and I'm like, oh, you know, hey, chick flick, hey,
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: come on, you know, let's let's watch this together. And
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: even she was having fun with it at certain points
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: where she was like, oh, well, I got a I've
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: got a noon flight, and we know she's going to
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: waffle on ithich. We're like, my god, how much did
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: that flight cost? But then on top of that, she's
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: sitting there like fiddling with the coffee maker, and you know,
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: my wife travels a lot, and she's like, why isn't
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: she getting ready to leave? The flight's at noon? You
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: got to get to security, you got to get to everything.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, you know, that's a very good point, hun,
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: And it's but it is. I think that there is
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: it in terms of the two movies aspect to it. Again,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: I think that Cameron Diaz one feels much more like
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: the rom com I expect from a movie called The Holiday,
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: whereas the Kate Winslet one feels much more like a
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: much more satisfying rom com.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I like your kind of question, Tristan
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: of like, what if this had been focused more on
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: the siblings on Iris and Graham Simpkins, and it's I mean,
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: the whole makeup of the movie is is a very
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: interesting take because you have these two lead characters that
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: need to be interwoven, but they do not meet in
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: person till the very end of the movie, and so
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: it makes the inter cutting like we're saying interruptions, not
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: like they're trying to draw them together. But I don't
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: know what this would have been if if you had
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: more of a twenty minutes with Iris and Graham and
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: maybe the you know, they're having their monthly check in
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: lunch together because he's still recently widowed, and like that's
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: hard and we're not giving all the details away, but
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: it now like we know there's this relationship with this
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: this sibling relationship, and then you know, we spiral off
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: from there. It's just an interesting choice of like let's
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: go through all these gymnastics to set up this specific situation,
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: like like the parent trap, like but then they don't
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: see each other again.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: But see that you saying right there, they don't meet
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: until the very end. Jock my memory, I don't think
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: there's even a phone call between the two of them.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: There actually is a phone call.
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: Well, when is the when is the phone call one?
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: I think Iris is checking in and this is after
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: they've had their little Oh no, I'm not.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: Talking about the three way phone call. I know that
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: phone call, Like there's no like, hey, did you get
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: get in okay? Did you get through? Okay? Did you
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: find the place? Okay? There's no like, well you don't
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: even know. No, I'm I'm talking about the two of
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: them they're doing this house swap would call back home
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: and be like, hey, is my house still standing? Like
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: what's up?
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: You know? Hey?
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: Is there blood in the driveway or anything? Is that
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: really cool?
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: No? The only phone call is what turns into the
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: freeway phone call, which speaking which pretty funny.
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: So you mentioned blood. So the website that they go
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: to is a real website and it was a real
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: functioning website at the time of this filming of this movie,
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: and of course after this movie it skyrocketed like it
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: shot through the roof. Everybody wanted to do this. Everybody
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: thought that this was a great idea and I think
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: I don't know if it was Ireland or Britain, but
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: the cops had to release a statement to tell people
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: to calm down on doing this and not do this
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: with strangers because of the uptick in identity, theft, fraud,
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: and murder.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: That which is exactly when she goes on the website.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: I was like, your mind, Yeah, that's insane.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: In a movie, it makes sense. In real life, it's
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: it's like Airbnb without the guardrails.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: Like and also it's like the whole thing, what about tomorrow, Like,
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: I know we're in a movie. Okay, I get that
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: we're in a movie, and like we'll do a spur
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: of the moment thing. But let's just like they could
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: have just said asap or this weekend, you know, like
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: even something like that would have suspended disbelief just a
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: just a little bit.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: More and had them and had Iris talk to her
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: brother and be like, hey, look, I'm going to be
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: out of town for a little while. I think they
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: wanted to preserve the surprise aspects. Yeah, although getting to
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: that introduction scene with the meat cute, uh, you know,
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: he's like, oh, I've had a bit much to drink,
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: so maybe I forgot because of that. If you're at
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: the point where you're forgetting facts like that, you're so
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: drunk you don't have enough bodily controlled a knock on
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: the door before you go to the bathroom. I'm just
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: gonna point that out. Okay, oh, pro here, there's no
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: way that like, you know, he's like, oh no.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: I already's like pissing on the flowers right there.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: I'm saying he didn't make it to the door there.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying, is that she hears somebody fall
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: on the front stoop the cops.
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: And I don't care how good looking you are. Yes,
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: if I catch you peeing on my yeah, I'm gonna
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: go down.
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Well exactly exactly, no, I you know what, I will
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: cop to this. I I had no idea that was
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: a real sight. I thought that was an invention for
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: the movie because I was like, there's no way anybody
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: would do this. Wow, turns out there were Okay, colored
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: me wrong, all right, Yeah, yeah, well I did not
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: know as well that it was a real sight.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: But that is don't yeah, don't don't do that. That's
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: especially with someone you do not know. No, not not
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: a good idea. And yeah, so I mean we we've
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: joked about the yeah, the the money that must be
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: thrown around for the impromptu flights and the you know,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: getting out to this cottage. But okay, but you have
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: this the story, you know, that's right. I was trying
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: to remember my favorite little cameo and I love the
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: little Duston Justin Hoffman cameo.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: It's so funny.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: And again it's part of myles story, which is just
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: always fun. And yes, everybody who asks me when I
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: live in California, is that. Yeah, that's what it's like.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: We go to Blockbuster and Dustin off. That's just how
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: it goes.
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: Every single time I see an older movie and the
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: characters are growing through a Blockbuster, I just start going
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: down memory lane. I start going down a huge nostalgia trip,
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: like a typical millennial where I'm just like aw man, man,
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: we don't know, we had no idea how good we
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: had it.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: I still remember how the Blockbuster in my hometown smelled like.
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: I still remember the smell of the place. But you know,
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: the place kind of sucked too. I wasn't a big
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: Blockbuster fan, if I'm very honest with you, and but
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: neither here nor there. It's a cute it's a cute moment.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: I I got to ask you, though, Darren, what is
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: it that makes this a perennial for you? What makes
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: this the movie that you love revisiting so much every year?
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I will say partly for the Christmas aspect, which
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: I know it's not like at Christmas, but it is,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: you know, tangentially, it's we keep it with the Christmas movies,
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: like we bring those out and so it's the feel
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: good you know, we're my wife and I are watching
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: it and enjoying it together. So yeah, I guess, I
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: mean nothing special as in like this is a cinematic masterpiece.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: But I think it's you know, I too was recently
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: dating my wife, you know, six, and you know, we
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: were starting with that, and I think just because we
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: put it into the Christmas movie rotation, then it became
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: a thing like and it's just kind of one of
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: our go to in that way rom com movies, Like
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: we don't have a ton that we watch of that type.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: And I think for a while we did, and I've
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: said this before, like we did love actually, but that
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: kind of fell out of our favor and this one
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: has kind of stood the test of time because dear lord,
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: nineteen years, that's a long time this movie's been out. Yes,
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: kids are graduated off to college by now.
• 29:29
  Speaker 4: I was just about to say it was just like
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: those I think I said to my wife. I was like, oh, yeah,
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: those kids would be almost thirty now, or actually maybe
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: even in their thirties. I'm not quite sure, but both
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: of us are just like, oh, why did I say that?
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, that just gives you a terrific opportunity
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: for the holiday too, right, let's reboot the series electric
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Google it.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Well, the.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: Two sisters they decide to go off and do their
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: own holiday thing, but this time is through Airbnb and
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: you know, much safer experience and that sort of thing.
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: And one of them has a wacky time in the Islands,
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: and one of them has a you know, a terrible
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: time in I don't know, like Canada. Sure, let's say Canada,
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: that's fine, something like that.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Or we could throw a little road trip and they
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: all are in a giant motor home. Because I want
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: to see these characters actually interact with each other. I
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: think that was something that, especially by the end when
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: they're all together at Christmas, you know, that is like, Okay,
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: this could be could be really nice.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: I do I do want to say that you know,
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: they're again, you know, just like we were talking about
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: with something's got to give. How I can fixate on
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: weird things, I get it. In the beginning of the movie,
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: the guy driving the car says, oh, no, I can't
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: get down there. There's no way for me to turn around,
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: et cetera, et cetera. You got to go in your heels,
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: which of course spurred an instant conversation between myself and
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: my wife where we were like, why is she wearing heels?
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: Hasn't she ever flown before? You don't heels when you're flying,
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: and that was a very big point of contention. But
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: then later in the movie, as they're leaving, after he
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: picks her up in front of the cottage, she then
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: has him turn around and go back, and I'm like, okay,
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: hang on a hot minute. Here was he just being a.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Lot as established because this is not possible?
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: But now was he just being like a massive a
• 31:24
  Speaker 3: hole in the beginning because he didn't like her where
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: he's like, no, I can't take you down there.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: But then when she shove a couple hundred pound notes
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: in his hand and say, I bet you can turn around,
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: and he's like, I will find a way.
• 31:36
  Speaker 3: There you go, there you go. Maybe that's what it
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: was maybe she called and she said, I'll pay you
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: even more or something like that.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, obviously they're highlighting the kind of fish out
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: of water. I'm away from the city, I'm in the country,
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: Like that's what they're pushing. That's the whole heels, the
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: dragging the matched luggage up a snow lane, like, yeah,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: we look at that, and that's quaint, and they're supposed
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: to we're supposed to feel like, oh, she is out
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: of her element, and you know she kind of is.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: But they're double yes on that. I would have had
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: more I would have had more fun with it and
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: kept that plot point intact. But that's maybe a discussion
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: for another time. Yeah, I was just saying, don't.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Have time for it with the immense runtime of this
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: movie to fit anything.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: You just have her walking to go meet the car
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: and then she starts crying. And the car shows up
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: and she's crying and he's like, hey, what's wrong? Did
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: like it was your vacation okay, And she's like.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: Oh no, I want to go back, bahlah blah blah blah.
• 32:33
  Speaker 3: And he goes get in, I'll take you there, and
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: she goes but you can't. He goes I'll worry about
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: that later. And then he drives her up and then
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: we have this big heroic thing and the guy's not
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: inn a hole anymore.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: So this is the point we got to fix. Okay,
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: special edition right now, fix it with Ai.
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: And out of all the things that we talked about,
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: this this is the one. This is the one that
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: needs the special edition.
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: There you go exactly.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: Well, and to your question about you know what kind
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: of resonates with me, I mean the Graham story is
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: actually really touching. Like seeing a character that's a father
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: and like, you know, it is rare that we see
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: a movie where it is a father and his kids
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: and there's no mom, and I like that. It's a
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: widow situation. I mean, I'm not saying I'm glad the
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: mom died. That is not what I'm saying. But I'm
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: saying I like that. But I'm saying it's so many
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: times we see when it's a single dad. There's not
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: a good reason. It's you know, cheating or infidelity or
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: you know, she's not nice or anything.
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: He only has them for like a weekend every.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Right, So this was nice because oh that's kind of new,
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: that's refreshing, that this is in this movie, and it
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: presents some challenge for the character to overcome. And I
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: think the phone names is kind of funny because that's again,
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: most problems in Hollywood movies could be solved with just
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: clear communication. But why communication when you can assume it
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: makes it so much more fun?
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, yes, I I agree with you, though I
• 34:09
  Speaker 3: Jude law like, it's it's weird that it's so rare
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: to see like a functional, not comically inept father in
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: any situation, but then also to have it where it's
• 34:21
  Speaker 3: like he seems like a decent guy and he can
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: care for children in a nice and confident way, like
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: it is one of the more charming aspects of the film.
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: And I think that it again shifts weight in the story,
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: like you called out earlier, like his character winds up
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: interesting enough that I want to know more about. I
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: want to spend more time with him anyway than somebody
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: who is ostensibly one of my ostensibly one of my
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: two leads. And it's it's weird because it's that balancing act.
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: I would ask both of you, either one of you
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: who wants to answer, like should they have introduced that
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: element earlier so that they could have had more time
• 35:11
  Speaker 3: to quote unquote become a family or have more of
• 35:14
  Speaker 3: a more of that sort of dynamic developing before the
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: end of the film. No, no, okay, no, that's fair.
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: No, I think it was just the right amount what
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: we got with the family. Uh, I get I don't
• 35:29
  Speaker 4: want to It's not that it's not a good idea.
• 35:33
  Speaker 4: I think it's just then all of a sudden, it
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: becomes that that's the story, right.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: It can drown out the plot really easy.
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: Right where it's just like, oh, how does she fit in?
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: Like is she going to be the new step mom?
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: You know, like like what if the kids like her?
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: What if the kids don't like her?
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: Marrow movies problem to figure out?
• 35:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, not today, sure, sure, sure, I'm I'm just thinking
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: in terms of I'm not like drastically earlier. I'm saying
• 35:57
  Speaker 3: like a scene or two earlier, just so that it
• 36:00
  Speaker 3: can be even a conversation of like, I'm really starting
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: to get attached to everybody. I've got to leave before
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: this becomes a problem sort of sort of thing. And
• 36:10
  Speaker 3: then that's why she breaks down at the end, and
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: she realizes that somehow, purely through luck, she didn't just
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: find a way to heal. She found, you know, a
• 36:21
  Speaker 3: way for her to be to feel more complete as
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: a person and not just a trailer cutter who is
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: wildly overpaid.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: Now, before we get to our ratings, I want to
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: at least touch on who is probably the villain of
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: this movie. Rufus Sewell. He's weighed and measured in this.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: My goodness, what a jerk like his that there's so
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: much relish in that moment when Iris gets her gumption
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: and tells him off and just shows him the door
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: because every seat he's in, You're like, this guy, he
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: better get his comeuppance because he is so sleazy. It's
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: so fun.
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: I expect better from Fort and Bross. Honestly. I mean
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: that's a sorry, it's a ham with joke everybody about
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: ten years before this. Okay, Yeah, I will be honest
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: with you that rufus Sewell, I would have been perfectly
• 37:20
  Speaker 3: fine with him that character either having a substantially reduced
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: role or not being in the movie at all. Really
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: and just referred to because I that's screen time. I
• 37:35
  Speaker 3: didn't think was necessary. I just I it was such
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: an interruption. In another way, yeah, it was such a thing,
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: and like when he shows up on the doorstep, I
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: was like, oh, we gotta go through this, okay, you know,
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: like it was just sort of it you labored the
• 37:53
  Speaker 3: point for me.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: Are you saying it's kind of like kemeron die is
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: his boyfriend showing up again later, Like there's there's no
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: reason for him to come back into this story.
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: We dealt with this, We're done with you. You can move on.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, I will say on paper, I see the
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: point of him showing up because it gets the telling off,
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: like she gets the catharsis not on the phone, not
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: later when she's back in London, Like, yeah, they are
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: kind of setting the stage for that to happen. But
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: you know, like we've said, there are a lot of
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: interrupting story plots in this of the Kate wins its story,
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: and in a way, even though he's part of her story,
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: he is kind of interrupting.
• 38:34
  Speaker 3: I could see that well. I can also say that
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: I struggle a bit with the Eli Wallach character too.
• 38:42
  Speaker 3: That really feels like overstuffing the movie. I always a
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: joy to see him perform, but at the same time,
• 38:50
  Speaker 3: it's one of those things where it winds up just
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: being a contrivance to have some reason for her to
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: talk with Jack Black, like, okay, it just seemed it
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: seemed one of the clunkier additions to the movie.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: I don't know, do you do you agree, Tristan? Did
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: you feel like is e Y Wallas Is Arthur Abbott's
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: character part of the puzzle pieces that have to be
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: presented to Iris so that she has reason for evolving
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: or does it all kind of come together in a
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: package where she's, like I said before, she's part of
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: the community improving rather than just a person and herself.
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: I think I'm leaning more towards the ladder of what
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: you just said, where it's she's helping out, that she's
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: helping out everyone she knows, and by helping out other people,
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: she's helping herself. And I like the Eli Wallack scenes,
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: and I because I like him so much and I
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: like their interactions. But at the same time I'm watching
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: it going why are we doing this? Why is this here?
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: From a narrative standpoint, does this work? And I think
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: this is this is an issue with Nancy Myers overall,
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: where you have a collection of scenes that work on
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: their own, but then as a whole do they work together?
• 40:21
  Speaker 4: And the question is, I don't know. Do I think
• 40:24
  Speaker 4: this is the best movie that she's done since Parent Trap? Yes,
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: I do? Do I think it works on all levels? No,
• 40:32
  Speaker 4: I don't do. I think it could have been better, absolutely,
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: But it's I'm of two minds and I cannot decide
• 40:40
  Speaker 4: which one is right.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: No, and let I think that's good. Let's talk a
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: bit about Nancy Myers as well, because we've really dissected
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: this plot and this movie. But and I mean we're
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: joking how well it's obviously Nancy Myer's movie because their
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: protagonists live and we have a vast fortune to spur
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: the plot of the movie on a whim, which yes,
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: we see, but I will say, you know it is
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: I could definitely see Myers in this, Like I'm starting
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: to see the pattern, not just in the money thing,
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: but also in you know how She's is one of
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: those directors that is many arcs or many scenes that
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: work on paper, like you said, but getting them to
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: tie together is still the difficulty at times. And I
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: mean I could name several something that's got to give
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: scenes that work on paper, but does it all flow together?
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: You know? I can also see set up punchlines that
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: happened very early, and then later we try to draw them,
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: you know, to a conclusion, but maybe it doesn't quite
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: come together that way she did. I mean, this is
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: a triple for her. She produced and wrote and directed,
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: So this is all Nancy. Maybe she he went in
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: a holiday in two thousand and three and really wanted
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: to talk about it.
• 42:06
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think that I think that Myers,
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: if I see a pattern, I think we've all identified it.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: That she does the these fantastical setups, and it varies
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: from sitcom level to more intricate. I think that she
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: is very fortunate in having Dean Coundy work with her
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: as her obviously preferred you know, DP. And I think
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: that of the the movies that we've watched, I think
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: this is the most visually pleasing to me of the
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: four that we watched. I really enjoyed how this film
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: looked like that there were there was real warmth to
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: the color schemes when she was walking with Jude Law
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: or hanging out in the pub or something like that.
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: I felt warmth when they were in the tent. And
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: that the thing is it may seem like, oh, well, yeah,
• 43:09
  Speaker 3: you just put this light up there. You put that
• 43:11
  Speaker 3: light up there. No, no, no, there's there's a cinematographer
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: sitting there saying, I know what the human eye is
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: going to respond to in terms of what they feel like.
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: That looks like as weird as statement as that is right.
• 43:27
  Speaker 3: And I think that he also does a very good
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: job of taking the la setting that is a bit
• 43:37
  Speaker 3: more stark and giving it warmth as Kate Winslet takes
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: up more residence in it, and I think that's a
• 43:43
  Speaker 3: very it's very gently done. And also when she goes
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: into Eli Wallack's home, it feels very real in a
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: constructed sense, like I believe in this constructed environment that
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: this is what a house should look like this character
• 44:01
  Speaker 3: and a lot of that is lighting and camera position
• 44:05
  Speaker 3: and how I'm invited into the space. So I think that,
• 44:10
  Speaker 3: if anything, I would say that there's been an evolution
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: where she is obviously working much She and Kundy know
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: how to talk to each other completely clearly by this film.
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: I'm not taking anything away from anything else, but like
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: if I look at what women want and then I
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: look at this, and these are, you know, two people
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: who've been working together for a long time, I'm like, oh,
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: I see where you guys went. I see the journey
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: you guys went on. And so I think that that
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: this in terms of her evolution as a director, I
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: think her visual sense is much more refined. I think
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: that what I wound up struggling with still in this
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: one was her the way she puts the script together
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: and then the way she edits it in posts like
• 44:55
  Speaker 3: it's it's a very it's you know, there are three
• 44:57
  Speaker 3: stages too, making a movie, obviously, all that type of stuff,
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: And I think it's just it's that it's that that
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: first and the last step. I still need a little
• 45:06
  Speaker 3: more from her at this point.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think that the Arthur Abbott Home
• 45:13
  Speaker 2: is the perfect example of showing and not telling, like
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: her just looking around that room, the the untouched dinner
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: that's cold on the TV tray, the oscar in the bookshelf,
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: that's like slightly at it, like it's saying so much,
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: but she's not like, oh my goodness, Arthur, you won
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: an oscar. Aren't you hungry? You did? Like she's oh god, oh,
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: that's like basic storytelling one on one and what not
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: to do. So I'm so glad that it wasn't that
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: it was just let me linger on the production value,
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: and that's telling me more about Arthur than any other
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: scene has.
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: Which is what it's supposed to do.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: So all right, Well, I maybe have to catch a
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: flight and or turn around my car, so let's wrap
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: up this this talk John as seeing this for the
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: first time very recently. Any final thoughts in your rating
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: for the Holiday?
• 46:08
  Speaker 3: Well, I will say that Darren, I love and respect
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: you as a friend, but I definitely did not love
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: the Holiday the way you do This is just gonna
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: be one of those ones where we're just gonna have
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: to agree to disagree, I guess, although I don't know
• 46:25
  Speaker 3: precisely where your rating is going to fall. And I'll
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: take a cue from Tristan because Tristan's always like, well,
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: I give this this type of movie this rating because
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: I'll never watch it again, or I'll give it this
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: because it's fine and I might watch it again in
• 46:41
  Speaker 3: the future. I can tell you that Jude Law by
• 46:45
  Speaker 3: sheer force of his charisma, helped this movie a great deal.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: And I come in at a two and we'll just
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: leave it at that and walk away clean.
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: No fair, fair, And that's the thing we all agree
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: in our own preferences, like this would not be a
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: fun podcast if everybody gave it the exact same rating
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: every single week like that, why even have a discussion.
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: So that's a good job for Jude law Tristan. How
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: are you rating the remembrance of the Holiday?
• 47:18
  Speaker 4: What did I give what Women Want and Something's Got
• 47:21
  Speaker 4: to Give?
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: Did I have?
• 47:24
  Speaker 4: I can't. I cannot give The Holiday two and a
• 47:29
  Speaker 4: half because I think it's a better I think it's
• 47:32
  Speaker 4: a better movie than what Women Want, and I think
• 47:33
  Speaker 4: it's a better movie than Something's Got to Give. I
• 47:37
  Speaker 4: want to give it a two point five again, because
• 47:39
  Speaker 4: that's what I give mediocre movies, and I feel like
• 47:41
  Speaker 4: Holiday is a mediocre movie. But there are genuinely good
• 47:47
  Speaker 4: human moments in it that I enjoy and so and
• 47:50
  Speaker 4: I did not rag on this as much as those
• 47:52
  Speaker 4: others movies. So I'm gonna walk away with a generous
• 47:55
  Speaker 4: three and say that this movie has some good moments.
• 48:00
  Speaker 4: But yeah, but if I didn't, if I didn't rank
• 48:03
  Speaker 4: the previous house two point five, I would have probably
• 48:06
  Speaker 4: given it another two point five.
• 48:07
  Speaker 3: You know what, that's really well argued. I'll come in
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: at a two point five simply because if you put these,
• 48:13
  Speaker 3: if you put what women want, something's got to give
• 48:15
  Speaker 3: in the holiday in front of me, I will pick.
• 48:18
  Speaker 3: I will pick the holiday one huhundred percent of the time.
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: So yeah, I'll go up to a two point five.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: No, And that's because I mean, this happens a lot,
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: especially as we're going through different directors. Is there's always
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: that balance between am I ranking this on its own
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: or like? And that's the thing about movies. I mean,
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: I could walk up to my shelf of DVDs and
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: be like, oh, I really feel like this, But if
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: I'm having watched twenty action movies in a row, maybe
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: it's not, you know, for the cards today. So I'm
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: going to give The Holiday a four. I really enjoy
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: this movie. It does have some issues, but it's a
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: romantic comedy about meet cutes, like that's all it needs
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: to deliver, and it does, so I don't need to
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: dissect it a ton only when I'm talking about it
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: for podcast purposes. So and I think also the fact
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: that it's not necessarily regular rotation for me, it is
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: in it's seasonal, so yeah, it's Christmas time. I'm watching
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: it with my wife, like, that's the time to watch it,
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: not like, oh, it's a random Thursday, I'm going to
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: put in the holiday. No, that's probably not going to happen.
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: But in the you know, when the Christmas tree is
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: going up, and because that's what my wife will watch these.
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: We'll watch them at night because the kids are asleep,
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: because you know they're going to watch the holiday. So
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: it's that the right circumstances. So four, A three and
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: a two point five. Good job, Nancy, your other work
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: propelled the holiday to new heights. Or maybe that's a
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: bad thing. All right, we're wrapped up the House of
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: Nancy my here on Houselights. But next week we're starting
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: the wing of Batman with nineteen sixty six is Batman?
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: Oh we can't wait. Next on House Lights
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: Join the Revolution, Join the Ned Party.