How Did This Get Made?

Last Looks: Merry Kissmas

48 min
Dec 19, 20254 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

This episode of How Did This Get Made? Last Looks features listener corrections and omissions about the Hallmark movie Merry Christmas, including details about K Jewelers' Leo Diamond sponsorship, filming location discrepancies, and connections to other elevator-themed Christmas films. Paul Schear and Jason Mantzoukas discuss their favorite TV shows, documentaries, and music, including their enthusiasm for the Billy Bob Thornton series Landman.

Insights
  • Hallmark Christmas movies often contain production oversights (flour instead of dough, summer filming for winter settings) that suggest rushed or indifferent production processes
  • Listener engagement through Discord corrections reveals audience attention to detail and creates community investment in podcast content
  • Streaming platforms like Netflix are increasingly producing holiday rom-coms that replicate successful Hallmark formulas with higher production budgets
  • International comedy series (Australian, British) are gaining discovery through word-of-mouth recommendations despite limited mainstream visibility
  • Premium subscription content (deep dive episodes) creates tiered audience engagement and additional revenue opportunities for podcast networks
Trends
Hallmark/Ion Television holiday movie formula standardization across streaming platformsAudience-driven content correction and fact-checking as community engagement mechanismInternational streaming content discovery through podcast recommendations and social platformsLuxury brand product placement in low-budget holiday television productionsPodcast network expansion into premium/subscription-only content tiersBilly Bob Thornton's career resurgence in prestige television drama seriesBoard game and tabletop gaming cultural renaissance documented in streaming mediaGraphic novel and comic book market growth as premium gift-giving categorySki and extreme sports documentary popularity on streaming platformsCelebrity audiobook narration as premium content offering
Topics
Hallmark Christmas Movie Production QualityK Jewelers Leo Diamond SponsorshipElevator-Themed Christmas Movie TrilogyNetflix Holiday Rom-Com StrategyPodcast Community Engagement via DiscordInternational Comedy Series DiscoveryPremium Podcast Subscription ModelsBilly Bob Thornton Television CareerBoard Game Cultural TrendsGraphic Novel Market GrowthSki Documentary GenreCelebrity Audiobook NarrationSpotify Wrapped Music AnalyticsLocal Comic Book Shop SupportHoliday Gift Recommendation Content
Companies
K Jewelers
Sponsored the Hallmark movie Merry Christmas; produces Leo Diamond, a proprietary diamond cut sold exclusively at K J...
Netflix
Streaming platform releasing new holiday rom-com My Secret Santa featuring Alexandra Breckenridge and Ryan Eggold
Ion Television
Network that produces Hallmark-style Christmas movies including the Merry Christmas trilogy and 12 Pups of Christmas
Spotify
Music streaming platform providing Wrapped year-end analytics that hosts revealed their top artists and listening habits
Jared
Jewelry retailer that exclusively sells Leo Diamond cuts alongside K Jewelers
Leo Schachter
Diamond cutting company that creates the proprietary Leo Diamond cut sold exclusively in US at K Jewelers and Jared
Taskmaster
British television comedy show referenced for its season 19 finale featuring the 'pervert bear' character
Tom Bihn
Bag manufacturer producing the Marathon messenger bag recommended as holiday gift
People
Paul Schear
Primary host conducting listener corrections and omissions segment, discussing media consumption and holiday recommen...
Jason Mantzoukas
Co-host discussing favorite TV shows, documentaries, and music; advocated for covering My Secret Santa movie
Billy Bob Thornton
Stars in HBO series Landman; Paul shared anecdote about working with him on School for Scoundrels
Ethan Hawke
Stars in series The Lowdown; praised for his ease and performance in the show
Ileana Douglas
Wrote and narrates audiobook I Blame Dennis Hopper about her Hollywood experiences and father's midlife crisis
Corey Feldman
Subject of 10-year documentary Corey Feldman versus The World about his viral Today Show performance and subsequent tour
Marcy Hume
Directed Corey Feldman versus The World, a 10-year documentary embedded with Corey Feldman during his angel tour
Matt Fraction
Wrote new Batman book; sent Paul's children Batman books as gift
Rich Summer
Previously hosted board game podcast on Wolf Pop; known for extensive game collection and hosting expertise
Alexandra Breckenridge
Stars in Netflix holiday rom-com My Secret Santa as single mom who dresses as Santa Claus
Ryan Eggold
Co-stars in Netflix holiday rom-com My Secret Santa opposite Alexandra Breckenridge
Quotes
"This fucking movie was lazy. So lazy."
Paul SchearCorrections segment discussing Riverside filming location disguised as Palo Alto
"Justice for Carlton and fuck K Jewelers."
Paul SchearDiscussing hotel room decorations and assistant responsibilities
"I believe there is a 12 Pups of Christmas connection. There's definitely a puppy connection."
Paul SchearResponding to caller about shared cinematic universe between Christmas movies
"Landman is the best, the greatest show of our time."
Jason MantzoukasJust Chat segment discussing Billy Bob Thornton series
"He always picks up. He never lets it go to voicemail."
Jason MantzoukasDescribing Billy Bob Thornton's character answering his wife's FaceTime calls in Landman
Full Transcript
Someone's watched the entire elevator trilogy. Kay Jeweler speaks and I share a story about Billy Bob. That's right. All this and more on this week's episode of How Did This Get Made? Last Looks. Hit the theme. If you made a call to chat with Paul just to ask him what you wanted to know. Or maybe just kick back, sit back and relax cause you wanna hear an entertaining show. Sure some things we forgot whether you noticed or not. But now it's time to set the record straight. It's a mini episode. Last looks here we go. It's time for How Did This Get Made. Get me. Ho ho ho and a Merry Christmas and a happy blow year to you all. Yes, hey everybody. It's me Paul Shear and welcome to How Did This Get Made? Last looks where you the listener get to voice your issues on Merry Christmas. A movie that Discord user Corgi Herter thinks should have had the tagline, In an elevator, no one can hear. You decline in unwanted sexual advance. Okay, I like it. I like it Corgi. A little lengthy but not bad. Thank you for that Alt Movie Tagline and a big shout out to our pal Rob from Long Island for that opening theme song which was a cover of a previous theme done by the great Devin Helmer. So we're doing stuff here people. We really are. We're referencing ourselves and we get it. Remember if you have an Alt Movie Tagline submit it to us on our Discord at discord.gg slash HDTGM. And if you have a last looks theme song go to HDTGM.com and click submit a song on our homepage. Remember just keep them short 15 to 20 seconds is best. Now coming up on today's episode we'll be hearing all of your corrections and omissions on Merry Christmas and I will share an exclusive deleted scene from that episode. That's right. And if you want to watch the full episode and all of its video glory it is still available for you to watch. Just go to HDTGM.com and you just click on the link and you can watch that. You can also watch the Deep Dive Holiday Special. It's a great bargain and that show was incredibly visual so I think you will enjoy it. And just a little bit Jason and I will talk about some of our favorite TV shows, documentaries and albums. Plus I will reveal my number one artist on Spotify Wrapped for the first and last time. And lastly as always I will reveal the movie for next week's episode but if you watched last week's episode I think you know what it is. Well we're so excited that you are with us so let's get into it. We're going to break down everything we might have missed from Merry Christmas. We had questions. We might have even missed a few things. Here is your chance to set a straight fact check us if you will. It is now time for corrections and omissions. Thank you Chris Purcell for that theme song. Okay let's go to the Discord. Fun Facts 47 writes, at the end when Kayla arrives at the lobby of frustrated residents waiting to take the elevator one of them says the elevator stuck for good this time and it hasn't moved in 30 minutes. All of these people seem mobile enough to just take the stairs but instead they decide that they'd rather stand outside just to use the elevator. Any sane person wouldn't wait that long for an elevator if it regularly breaks down. I think they're just all waiting for the elevator since there's mistletoe in it and they just want to have their own Christmas miracle. Fun Facts I like that. That was an odd choice because it's also like a residential apartment building. It didn't seem like everyone would be in the lobby in that moment. It didn't look like a giant building. But again you're right people are lazy and this movie isn't afraid to show it. Lee Black writes, during the first scene that we see Dustin his cousin is using a rolling pin on a pile of flour. Not dough but flour. Now you're right about that. I am looking at this image that is pulled. It's on the discord and it is shocking. Yeah that is just there's no nothing underneath it. It is just a rolling pin on flour and that ain't going to turn into dough. Oh wow. I guess they didn't have it that day and they just needed a close-up of something. Dove writes, we all know this is shot on Riverside not Palo Alto. Even the deep side part Joshua is wearing a t-shirt that says Department of Animal Services Riverside County, California. But it was also shot in the summer as people can probably guess from all the background folks wearing t-shirts. The animal shelter is decorated with red, white, and blue stars and flags and the door of Mrs. Joyner's gift shop has posters on the door promoting fourth of July fireworks and summer concerts. Wow this fucking movie was lazy. So lazy. Again, thanks to Brant we know why this director did not give a shit and he didn't give a shit like in a little way he aggressively didn't give a shit. By the way can we just say how great Brant is? You can watch Brant on the live stream you can listen to Brant but you'll see he's an attractive man and only better served by the fact that he was the most honest person that we've ever had on how this get made when talking about one of these films. Let's go to the phones. Beverly. Hi, Paul. I want to thank you for introducing me to these absolutely delightful Christmas movies the last three years. Each one has been worse than the last and they brought me so much joy for the holiday season. My question for you, beauty and merry Christmas and 12 cups of Christmas are happening in the same cinematic universe. They're both set in Silicon Valley for some reason. The protagonists have an extremely awkward elevator meet cute in both. They feature totally irresponsible dog adoptions and in both movies people are acting like they are totally detached from reality especially the sister and cousin characters. So I'd love to hear your thoughts and if you agree do you think we're going to get a crossover anytime soon? Thanks so much Paul, Jason and June. Oh and Jessica I can't forget her. Beverly, I'm going to say absolutely yes. I believe there is a 12 pups of Christmas connection. There's definitely a puppy connection. I think it was that movie with Kevin James' brother. I'm not quite sure but yes this is in the same universe. I would like there to be an Ion original universe and we should start having these characters bump into each other. I think it would be great. So let's see how it all worked out. Like why don't we do oh I got a great idea a sequel to one of these and check in a year later. Is it working out or was it just a Christmas hookup? Next on the phones we have Stoddard. Hi guys, first time long time here. Reason I'm calling today is because of your discussions about the nutcracker and why it would be such a big deal and have the guys name above there. I think that's based on a New York production of the nutcracker that was referred to as George Fallis Shane's nutcracker. He was like a famous choreographer that made the nutcracker more American and more palatable to modern audiences in the 50s and most nutcracker versions today all over the world still use this choreography and I think that was kind of what they were aiming for was because there was a 90s version movie of that with a colleague Culkin actually in it that was called George Fallin Shane's the nutcracker and also I wanted to point out that the woman who ran the gift shop is another than Brenda from Highlander. So it surprised me that Jason did not catch that because he seems like you probably would have seen Highlander at least as many times as I did which is about a million times. Thanks you guys. Okay, okay. First of all, I like this. I'm not going to shit on this. I think you are absolutely right. So he's like George Fallin Shane. Okay, well, let me tell you that Scott looked up the poster for the McCauley Culkin movie and then they put George's name in the tiniest font imaginable and did not include his headshot. So Carlton must be way bigger but you I will say this Scott's looking at the movie poster, right? We're not looking at the the Broadway posters if we can find a Fallin Shane poster with a headshot. I mean maybe this guy's is even bigger than him. A great column, the Highlander thing. I know that Jason has not seen that many Highlanders I have. I had that information. I didn't bring it out because I was not wanting to get ridiculed by Jessica and June. Next up, Ashley from Ohio. Hi Paul. I recently listened to your Merry Kissness episode and you guys had mentioned really quickly about the Leo Diamond and what was that? So I used to work for the headquarters of K Jewelers who funded this movie. I worked there from 2005 to 2012 and I had hands-on experience with said diamond. Leo Diamond is a cut specifically made by Leo Schachter and it is only sold in the U.S. at K Jewelers and Jared locations. I just wanted to share that with you. I left in 2012 obviously before this movie came out but it still made me mad that they funded this shitty movie instead of paying their employees more money. But I just wanted to share that little fun fact with you. Thanks. Bye. Oh Ashley, I'm so happy that you called in. Leo Diamond is cut by this guy. Like that's what we want. We want him to cut our diamond. I mean so are we saying that like McDonald's burgers are off of the cut or the style of burger that he the founder Ray Kroc made? I don't know. I love all of this and yeah, K Jewelers, pay your workers K Jewelers. Until then we ain't buying any of your rings, your necklaces, whatever you sell. F*** K Jewelers, f*** K Jewelers. Do we have to bleep all those? I think maybe. But you get the idea. And finally someone who doesn't even leave a name. Hey Paul, I was calling in and Jason if you were there as well. About this Merry Christmas movie that just happened. As I have had the luck to have seen all of this trilogy. I thought I would call in and give some additional information on what is really a bizarre set of three films. So you have a Christmas kiss, another Christmas kiss or Christmas kiss too, and then Merry Christmas. So the first two are directly connected. The evil character from the first one comes back to be a, I don't know, you know, say an Obi-Wan like presence in the second film as a turn for the good. So the common line is of course that every single one of these movies evolves. Missalto in an elevator, there is one of the people who is kissing the other person is always in a relationship. It was the dudes in the first two and then the woman in the third one. Trend as a magazine and our company is a common theme as existing in all of these universes. The first movie, there is the whole mystery somehow someone has body glitter on their face and then someone can't tell who it is. So it's a bit odd. Right after that, it just settles into this whole idea of people kissing an elevator. One of them is in a relationship. There is always the female characters, always a workaholic type who has too much on their plate and is being underappreciated and eventually has to stand up for themselves. I did not actually finish the third one. I couldn't do it. I caught the first two years ago when I, before I had screaming if I'm honest, and they were just kind of on cable and I was really looking for a Christmas movie. Yeah, that is a quick rundown on the bizarre trilogy of elevator kissing adultery movies. Thank you. I appreciate all that you do, all of you on the podcast. Have a great day. First of all, I want you to tell us who you are because I love that you have watched all of these. The body glitter, that's wild. This is great. I mean, man, oh man, all this makes me want to do is watch more Christmas films. And guess what? If you want to do that with us, you're in luck. All right, just stay tuned for a second. Back to the discord. Unevolved Panda rights. Was anyone else bothered by the fact that the first conversation between Carlton and Kayla is about how much Carlton loves Christmas and how he's overcompensating for childhood trauma and then Carlton never discusses Christmas again. Also, what hotel decorates customers rooms for Christmas? Is this something that I could also demand if I was producing slash directing slash choreographing a local production of the Nutcracker? Well, here's the thing, Panda, that hotel. No, that hotel looks like, you know, a midrange hotel. You know, it's definitely not the fanciest. And I believe that like probably the four seasons, they have some decorations in the lobby and they probably will put like a little thing in your room, maybe a little mini tree or something like a mini. I'm talking like, you know, one that could sit on a table or, you know, like, you know, like happy holidays or something, some bullshit, but not like decorate, like decorate. But look, you know, Carlton is coming in. I would say his assistant would be responsible for that. And guess what? We've already established that his assistant Kayla is terrible at her job. She should have done it. Justice for Carlton and f**kay jewelers. All right. Ari Medis writes, Why wasn't the Aerosmith song, Love in an Elevator discussed? Well, look, we didn't directly discuss the song, but we did have a second opinion review that included the phrase, soppy, soppy, gush, gush, which is, I think, the unofficial title of Love in an Elevator. Am I right? I think so. So I think that counts. And it wasn't Love in an Elevator because I think Love in Elevator is about, you know, coitus, right? Am I right? I think I am. You squared writes, Jason, folks, the bell sound in the scene with the whisper singing carolers was coming from Santa, who was standing around the corner. No, I don't buy it. I don't buy it. You squared. I don't buy that that bell was like, so is that bell coordinating with the car first of all, what are we arguing about? Clearly it was dubbed. So then they also had to add in the bell. And I don't think that Santa was dingin' that bell. You squared, I don't agree with you. I don't agree with you. But here's what I'm gonna say. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean it's a great point. So many great corrections and omissions this week. And I gotta tell you, there can only be one, one that is the best. And the one that I think is the best one. I think it has to go to the person who spent the most time in this world. And yes, while Lee Black pointed out a very beautiful idea of you can't make flour into dough and dove revealed all the Riverside connections, I believe that I wanna give it to our anonymous caller who has watched all of the elevator movies. You have spent the most time in this world. And for that, we are grateful. And you get this theme from Rob from Mung Island. Hit it. Congratulations, cause you win. You had the best correction or omission. Everyone here thought you were quite a hit. But in reality, you don't win shit. Now, if you wanna chime in with your own thoughts, you can every single episode is your chance to come in here and yell at us. Tell us that we're wrong. Add a piece of information. Bring up your job like our friend from K Jewelers. Anything at all. We welcome it. We love it. Oh, by the way, you know what? We should send Ashley something. I mean, cause Ashley got stiff by K Jewelers. Oh man. All right. Anyway, coming up next, you don't wanna miss my chat with Jason, where I share a great story from when I worked with Billy Bob Thornton on School for Scoundrels. And as we talk about our favorite show, Landman. Stick around after the break. All right, people, you know that every week we release an old, how did this get made episode into our feed? I love these episodes. We recently released the Star Wars holiday special. Next week, we are closing out our holiday matinees with the counterweaves, Drew Barrymore remake of Babes and Toyland with a very special message from Drew Barrymore herself. Make sure you're hitting that like and subscribe. You're following us on Apple podcasts. It really does help the show. It really, really does. We can't say it enough. So just do that. And that's your gift to us. All right, without any further ado, let's welcome Jason to a little Just Chat. Action Jackson 5, play us in. Jason, I am about 19 days into my Taskmaster Advent calendar. I love it. It's so much fun. I love it. It is really perfect. I've called numbers. I've had to solve puzzles. I've done charades. It's so good. It is really a perfect encapsulation. And I will say, I know we haven't talked about the show, but my kids are talking all the time about you talking about this pervert bear. In the last episode, you were looking at a bear. And now this is like a running joke around my house that the bear is a pervert. The pervert bear. Oh, that's great. And no one understands exactly what it means because I understand. Like my kids have been doing two things, referencing pervert bear, which is the finale of your Taskmaster. Of the Taskmaster season 19. Right. And it is a true throwaway. It's like it's not a focal point of the episode at all. It is as I'm running by a person dressed in a bear costume who's reading a magazine. And I just call them a pervert. Yep. Nope. This has become a rallying cry in the house. And the other thing that has been nonstop is they watched a sketch on SNL, like an old season, a season that Casey Wilson was on, where Fred Armisen and Andy Sandburger, two kids who are excited to get a calculator for Christmas. So my entire house for the last two weeks, like, ma, ma, can we get a calculator for Christmas? Oh, ma, I want a calculator for Christmas. So my kids are just doing bits that no one knows. And then people are like, do they want a calculator? I'm like, no, they're just doing Fred Armisen. Oh, so funny. I sent it to Fred. I sent Fred just, I was making them breakfast and I just recorded on my phone just to get their voices going, ma, ma, can we get a calculator, ma? Oh, Texas Instruments Calculator. I don't even think they know what a Texas Instruments Calculator is, but. Absolutely. They certainly don't. And if you handed it to them, they'd be like, what is this antique? You might as well hand them an abacus. So like that's happening. And then last night I was looking at my phone, I was like, what are you looking at, pervert bear in there? Some bear looking at something. I'm like, guys, I'm like, I just love they've attached themselves to the smallest things. Whatever those things are, they just really get them. And it's fun to, I'm sure you remember this as well. Although when we were kids, it was so much more of a monoculture. Like they are obsessed with things that not everybody else is saying. Not everybody else is referencing those things. They have good taste. Whatever they find funny, I think that's the interesting thing is like they, it's just funny to them and they assume that everyone has seen the finale of Taskmaster. And that one, again, like you said, moment, it's not the show. It's not, it is. Even you say in pervert bear to me, like as if I was going to be like, well, of course pervert bear. I had to be like, wait a minute, Taskmaster. Oh, I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But I know that you and I, this is a good month. I love catching up in December, watching a bunch of stuff and loving. Well, I will say last year, you gave me an incredible present, which was the Gilmore Girls Advent Calendar. Oh, yeah. Which made last year, I still have some of those little chachkies and stuff that came in there, like propped around the house. That was such a big hit. When I saw that, I was so excited. I was. Oh, yeah. And we are, you know, we're coming off our live stream, which I believe you might be able to still watch. I know we have like a seven day window, but we might have extended it there. We will see. We will see. So check it out if you've missed the live stream. If you didn't watch it, you missed. Obviously, you've heard the chatter. It was an explosive episode. Nobody, nobody saw coming the stuff that happened. And you know, like, we're prepared to talk about it right now, but we're not gonna. That's a new year thing. Here's the thing, Jason, I want to say, because I did watch the deep dive holiday special. And you know, I'm not allowed to listen to the deep dive. That is a rule that I've been given. I can be on the deep dive. I'm not allowed to listen to the deep dive. I just choose not to listen to the deep dive. Yeah. Exactly. There you go. Now, I did not realize that Jessica St. Clair is so filthy. Like she, and from, I guess we, I see elements of it in our show, but man, when she is left on her own device, just her and June, I'm like, whoa. Oh, yeah. No, St. Clair. St. Clair, I think, because, you know, just, and I used to be comedy partners. Yes. And I think there was a real, a real misunderstanding that it was a beauty and the beast scenario. Yeah. And in fact, if it was, it just maybe was in the opposite direction. And maybe perhaps I am the beauty and she is the beast. I look after watching that special, it's like, I think you are right. Oh, I got to watch it now. Oh, that's hilarious. Just saying things. St. Clair can go toe to toe. She is, she's an absolute monster. Oh my gosh. What have you been watching? What have you been up to in like your media consumption this morning? You know, I am, I'm watching a bunch of stuff. I'm watching and I'm like reading. I've got a list of stuff to go through. Yeah, I would love to hear. Um, I mean, our Spotify raps have come out. I don't know if you are, if your kids ruin yours perhaps. No, you know, I feel like every now and then I accidentally put my phone or my phone starts playing Spotify and it's screwed up because it never feels to encapsulate what I'm listening to. My number one artist this year, uh, you'll may be surprised was Teddy Swims, which I'm surprised. Who's Teddy Swims? Like he, uh, like it's just like a, like this. Like a pop, like a pop act. Yeah. Like he's like a, like, uh, this is like, I'm, I don't know. I mean, we've got a Teddy Swims and a Billy Strings. Yeah. I mean, this is, what are we doing? I can, boy, this is an old man thing. Well, we got a Teddy Swims and a Billy Strings. Oh, what's everybody doing? What happened to Led Zeppelin? Like a Teddy Swims to me, like this is like, I'm having a hard time even describing him because he's kind of R&B soul country hip hop guy, but a lot of tattoos on the face. But I can't tell you, I know a single song of his like well, and I'm like, how did that become my number one listen to track? I don't know. And I'm like, is someone broken into my account? And I've like, look back and I think I've just accidentally hit it while it's in my pocket. Yeah. Teddy Swims. And it's just like autoplate or something. I'm mad. I'm mad at Teddy Swims. Mad at it. Have you watched any of Death by Lightning? No, what is that? The Netflix show that, um, that our friend Nick Offerman is on, along with a lot of other great people. It's the show about the Garfield assassination, the president Garfield assassination, not Garfield the cat. Right. Oh my gosh. Well, I mean, he has a coming. I mean, like, hey, how about Try Loving Mondays, buddy? Exactly. Super fun Death by Lightning on Netflix. Our friend, Danielle Schneider, who we did our dinosaur improv tour with, recommended the Australian sitcom Fisk. Oh, yes. Right. Isn't it great? Also on Netflix and it's fantastic. We loved calling from accounts, I feel like we talked about it before. But Fisk scratches that same itch. It's a great, hard, funny, jokes, comedy sitcom. It's so funny. It's about this lawyer who has to work at this suburban law firm. And it's an Australian show. It's very, I don't know. She recommended it to me a while ago and I watched it. I thought it was so fun. I want to get more into finding these like other countries comedy shows, because it's like they can kind of be a little hidden, I feel like. Yeah. You can't come out. Well, that's how I felt about calling from accounts at the time. I was like, this should be a gigantic show. This is a absolutely gangbusters hilarious, such a great rom-com setup, such great jokes. I thought they were fantastic, the two leads. Patrick, and I think her name is Harriet. Great show calling from accounts still available. But yeah, what are those other shows, those other sitcoms? I feel like we know a lot about them when they come out of England, but less so if it's Australia, New Zealand, places like that. I agree. So if you've got a good one to recommend to us. Get on the Discord. Yeah. I know. I know. Well, it's going to have to be, it'll have to be there. It'll have to be there. You know, here's the thing I wanted to talk about just for a second. Because I feel like you're the only person that I know that watches it. But holy shit, Landman. Oh, dude. Landman. I could talk, I could talk about Landman. Landman is the best, the greatest show of our time. I'm truly like, I need to get everyone together on this because it is great. And Andy Garcia. So far this season, there have been four episodes of Landman this season. And all of them together feel like one big just montage. Like I don't know what's happening in this show, but I am captivated by everybody gets to monologue all the time. Oh, and here's the thing. It's, is this the season where they open up on the lawyer that he's got that kind of ripartee with where she's just like benching like a lot of weight? Like I was like, whoa, did not expect this. Yeah. She's squatting three plates. I was like, yeah. And the only issue that I had right out of the gate, and I was a little bit nervous, season two starts off and I really love the mother and daughter in the show. Allie Larder is fantastic. But I thought they made the daughter like aggressively like almost like a sketch comedy show dumb. Like like, oh, she's like they're giving her lines that are real dumb. Yeah. Like she went from being like just like a young high school like like, I wouldn't just, I wouldn't use dumb as the first thing. And now I'm like, oh, now she a dummy. Yeah, it's shocking. I mean, I enjoy, I enjoy the hell out of it, but what a choice to be like, we're just going to write comedy here. They show careens from mother and daughter getting elderly people at the nursing home drunk to like group of hunters dying from toxic gases leaking out of the earth to like Andy Garcia with a cigar and a whiskey monologuing beaut. I mean, Andy. Monologuing everybody monologues all the time and every now in season two. And did you see it's gotten picked up for season three? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, by the way, Billy Bob has said he sees it as a five season show and I'm like, great. It is he is having a blast. It is all he does is react to circumstances in his life and world. Yeah. That are so enormous. And all of it is like, oh, God, honey, I got to go. I got to I got to hang up. It says if but he's juggling like such gigantic things that but so casually. It's I love him in this. One of the things that's so special about this show is that his when his wife calls him, she has a special ring for his phone and the show will build up to a stress point. And then you hear that ring and you also feel like, oh, God, damn it. Like now, like he's not enough time for this, but he always picks up. He never lets it go to voicemail. He never does. It's incredible. He always picks up. He always picks up and he picks up when like someone else is in the car that shouldn't hear this call. He still picks up. She's always on FaceTime. She's never just calling. She's never going to get that. I cannot recommend Landman enough. Everybody needs to be watching Landman. It is so so fun. Landman, the lowdown, incredible. Again, another show where it's just like, oh, I'm just watching someone who is very good. Ethan Hawke and the whole cast is too. But just kind of dance through this show in a way. It's like there's an ease. Yes. Like Billy Bob is like, oh, just an ease to his performance. Exactly. And it's such a great juxtaposition because Landman, the stakes are so gigantic. Like huge. And the lowdown, it's so much more personal. It seems so much smaller stakes. But nonetheless, Ethan Hawke's character is just going forward so hard. I love that show. I think I could tell you this story publicly because it doesn't paint anyone in a bad light. I had done this movie with Billy Bob back in the day, the hit classic School for Scallanderals. As I always say, the only Todd Phillips movie that didn't make a billion dollars. And it was really interesting because he was exceptionally playful and fun and wanted to hang out. Like would be a guy that would sit on the stairway to his trailer and just be like, hey, what's up? What's up? And I remember, man, this is my favorite story of him. Like he were hanging out in his trailer just talking whatever it is. Chill time. Right? He's a very chill guy. And it was like around Christmas. He's like, you know, we should come over to the house this weekend. We have a thing and invited everyone to come and hang. And I would say maybe there was about a 15 second pause where no one just jumped in. Like, yeah, great idea. He's like, fuck it. No, I don't want to. No, you know what? I'm not inviting any of you. Like, just got him like felt that pressure of I invited everyone. No one jumped at it. And I'm like, I'll take it back. No, no one can come. I'm not having it now. I'm not having it. Oh, that's so funny. And it was like such a sweet thing. Like, and then I was like, oh, I didn't. I should have said yes. Should have said then I think I was like, I think all of us were nervous. Like, yeah, what is that going to be like to go over to Billy Bob's house? And also, like, is this a real offer? Is this is he being polite? Yes. Yeah, you never want to be like, and now I met like the star's house. Does he want me here? It felt to me like it was just like an open thing like, yeah, you should all come over my house on Saturday and we'd have to agree to it in the moment. But we and then we all missed our opportunity to go to his house. Man, he was fucking cool. That's cool. I know I've talked about this with you a little bit, but right now it is streaming. You can get it. Hopefully it's not shut down by a cease and desist. There's a great documentary called Corey Feldman versus The World directed by Marcy Hume. It was a documentary 10 years in the making about, well, this documentary filmmaker is embedded with Corey Feldman at a time in his life where he performs in the today show with a group of female musicians who are all dressed like angels, scantily clad angels. The clip goes absolutely viral and everyone's like, this is one of the worst albums songs I've ever seen. And because it's going viral and it gets on the top 40 because people are trying to find it, he decides it's a great time to go on tour. People want this. He doesn't see why the virality is happening. He just sees that it's going viral. So he goes out on tour and this director embeds herself on this eight city tour of Corey Feldman and the angels. And I will just tell you, I was not expecting. I did not know where it was going to go. I don't want to tell you where it's going to go. And it is fascinating. Fascinating. That's great. Yeah. We talked about it the other night and it sounds absolutely incredible. I cannot wait to watch this. I mean, 10 years. And that's the other thing too. It's 10 years old. And real labor of love. But yeah, so that's a little bit there. I'm excited for that. I'll shout out a couple of other documentaries. I think the last time we spoke, I think I mentioned the Jeff Buckley documentary. The Garland Jeffries documentary, both terrific. How's the Jeff Garland documentary? All black and white. It's stills that are in black and white from a Leica camera. There's a documentary called Hobby. That is about board games. Oh, wow. That is fantastic that I absolutely love. It's called Hobby. The artist Greenhouse, who I've also mentioned on the podcast before, does the music, which is just an aside. And it's beautiful. But it's great. It's about how big the explosion in board games, they talk to different people who go to conventions, who are making the board game makers. All the explosion in tabletop gaming that has happened in the last chunk of years is what this documentary is about. Do you do that at all? Because that's a thing that I was actually literally had this idea the other day. I was like, I don't think it would be fun to get a group of people together to do a board game might every two or three months. Because it's like, I would love to play more games. It's just hard to get everybody on the same page. And then also have somebody to let you in. Like, how do you play these games? What do you do? I feel like I used to have a group that exactly was that. And it wasn't like all different games. It was kind of the same couple of games rotated through. And I think that post pandemic, that group has kind of gotten scattered. OK. It just doesn't exist the same way anymore. So the answer is no. But it was like that era of playing Katan or playing some of these large group games that are not party games that are board games. You know? Well, Rich Summer, who always was like this man who has a great actor, obviously. We love Rich. Had this great podcast for a while, actually on the old Wolf Pop. But this idea of like, he has this like, I hate the term man cave, but I can use that here. He's a man cave where it's a wall to ceiling games. And he knew all these games and he would and he was a great like host. Because I think part of that is like, you can get out, you can get on board. All these games are relatively easy. You just need somebody to be like, here's how you do it. Yeah. Like you just need some of the because sometimes you look at these things and you're like, I don't know. I don't know how to even begin here. Oh, well, and because some of them are I don't buy games that have a million little pieces. No. Because I'm like, oh, I don't this looks like it's going to be too difficult. I don't I can't go more than like three levels into a games strategy. Right. Like I can't have big, I get tons of little stuff. I I'm out now. You know, especially if it's like, oh, fuck, we lost the thing. We lost that one thing. Now is okay. Forget about it. No, I want to play games that it's like part of it is, yes, we're playing the game, but part of it is also we're hanging out. I want to. Yes. I don't want the hang to be superseded by the rules. You know, I agree. I think like it's well, this is why Ma Zhang has been a big big thing that we've been doing here in our household. I love Ma Zhang. It's a very it's just that right middle ground of I have to pay attention, but I also can have a good time and we can switch partners and it feels like the games are going. It's like poker or something like that. I love I don't know. It's great. It's a great documentary. I think you'll really dig it and I'll shout out one more documentary that is the opposite of tabletop gaming, which is the ski documentary Land of Giants. I'm a real sucker, especially as we get into the winter for just very beautifully shot ski movies that are just people getting dropped out of helicopters on top of mountains and then skiing down like avalanches that are chasing them. Oh my gosh. That is like, oh, I got to I'm looking at some of the footage of this right now. That looks really, really good. It's a good one. Every year I feel like a new great ski movie comes out. This one is terrific. It's a great have a gummy late at night. Just like watch watch people just challenge nature in every way, shape or form. It's absolutely stunning. Have you ever seen that footage on TikTok where a skier is like coming down the hill? He's got a GoPro on his helmet and he sees just like a little like a little image of like a board in the ground and then realize it's a guy who went head first and is like upside down in the snow. I'll send it to you and you watch him dig this guy out who just was like, boom, just comically upside down. Terrifying. Also amazing for that skier to see just a sliver of a board and be like, oh wait, hold on. Yeah. Let me get this guy out. There is some video I just watched that Red Bull puts Red Bull puts out a ton of this stuff. Yeah. And I was I'm so susceptible to like the it was on YouTube and it was like it's a guy who climbs up Mount Everest and skis down. Whoa. And that was crazy too. Like no oxygen assist like crazy. Super interesting. You know what I think you would very much enjoy in a very subtle now I'm switching to audio books because we also were talking about audio books recently. The audio book this is a this is a book that the action boys have talked about multiple times on their podcast. So I got it and it's Ileana Douglas's book I Blame Dennis Hopper. Whoa, wait a second. That is so fantastic and so funny and interesting and Ileana Douglas has just such a such a hilarious her writing is great. She reads it herself. Her voice her vocal performance is fantastic. And it's all stories that are based. The reason it's called I Blame Dennis Hopper is she starts out the book by saying when the movie Easy Rider came out her father basically had like a not a midlife crisis but basically turned into Dennis Hopper's character from Easy Rider. Oh my God. And started hanging around with other Dennis Hopper-esque guys. Oh, that's great. And like started living that life man and this man and she does the voice so funny. And her life kind of spirals out of control. They were like an upper middle class family and they like just completely lose everything. And the chapters that are about this part of her life are fascinating. But then she becomes an actor. She's in all these movies. So then the majority of the book is just a her experience her life in Hollywood or in film which is also super interesting. Great, great listen. Okay. And that is going on my list. Yeah. I think you'll like it. I've been listening to a lot of like the Friedkin audiobook. The Warren Littlefield one. Like all these audiobooks about the business that are just great listen. They're fun. Like, you know, they're always like they go down so smooth. I'm listening to the Walter Merch book on tape, which is another one that Ben Rogers on action boys is very positive on. It's a very like technical in certain degrees, but then he's worked on so many things. So it's sort of like, oh, it's a technical book where a guy who has worked on Star Wars and worked on like with the greatest directors and it's a book for editors to a certain extent. But at the same time, it's very entertaining. So, you know, I love it. All right. So can I give a couple? I'm just going to shout out a couple of other things just because we're coming into the holiday season. So sometimes people are like, what can I buy the person that I love? Oh, yeah. Why not buy them comics? There is a new Hobtown Mysteries book. It is called The Secret of the Saucer. This is an maybe my favorite ongoing series of graphic novels, The Hobtown Mysteries, The Cursed Hermit, The Case of the Missing Men. These are like, what if David Lynch wrote Nancy Drew Hardy Boy's books? Oh, I love that. I cannot recommend these enough. These are, there's three of them. All three of them are five stars, incredible books, beautifully drawn, incredibly written. These are some of the best graphic novels of the last 10 years. I cannot recommend them enough to get that. Our buddy Matt Fraction's new Batman book is fantastic. I gotta say, he did a solid for me. We were talking the other day and he sent my kids some Batman books. And I got they are, I was as excited as they were. It was great. I love his Batman. It's a great book. I think you're right. It's like, and it's, you know, I say, go to that, find your local comic book shop, get in there, support. It's really important. It really is. Yeah, it's such a good way to support local stories is to buy these books there. The Mike Mignola book from last year, Bowling with Corpses is fantastic. Johnny Ryan has a new book. Great. I'm just shouting some stuff out because people are buying stuff. I, you know, I have a full three part list on my sub stack where I just kind of, I normally would go on Cool Ops, Add to Cart and do a little Christmas gift recommendation. And I did a three part thing there so you could check that out. It's totally free. And Jason, I'll tell you, I don't know if you were a part of this, but Tom Bin sent me their messenger bag. Great. Me as well. And it's fantastic. I think it's called the marathon messenger bag. I have signed off messenger bags. And I was like, I don't do it anymore. And then I got that and I went on the trip with it. And I was like, this rules. It's great. It really is good. If you love a shoulder bag, if you love a messenger bag, yes, the new Tom Bin bag is incredible. Fantastic. I love it. I'm, if you don't mind, I'm just going to shout out the new snow caps album, the new Bill Fox album, Resonance, the new tortoise album touch. And our friend, Maryl Adamor has a new album. With the incredible singer, Juliana Barwick. That record, I cannot recommend enough. I think it is incredible. So that's a little bit of music. And again, Teddy swims. Make sure you're listening. Just like me. Just like me. You know me and Teddy swims. All right, Jason, so great to chat with you. We will catch up again potentially in the new year. Can't wait. All right. That is a wrap on Just Chat, which means it is finally time to announce our next movie. Next week, we'll be going from a Santa who's unwise to a Santa in disguise. That's right. Jason called it. We are going to be watching the brand new 2025 Netflix rom-com, My Secret Santa, starring Alexandra Breckenridge and Ryan Eggold. For those of you who watched our holiday live stream, Jason demanded that we cover this movie. So we decided to cave to his demands and give you one last holiday gift this year. So instead of playing the trailer, listen to this deleted scene in which Jason describes the plot and why he's obsessed with it. I will say I have now seen about 15 to 20 minutes of a movie that if we don't do it ASAP. You were telling me about this. Sorry. Just so there's a movie on Netflix. It is a kind of reverse Mrs. Doubtfire where a single mom dresses up as Santa Claus. In the course of dressing up like Santa Claus meets and falls in love with the man who owns the ski resort that she is now portraying Santa Claus at. And they become best friends because the guy thinks she's a man as Santa Claus and they are now bros. And she has a crush on him. Wow. And so she is constantly dressed as full Santa. Not just like I'm in a beard and now. There's some kids there. Oh, she is in a full. She has a full face mask that is Santa Claus and she does a deep voice. It is absolutely mental. Now, will Jason regret this choice? Well, I know the answer to that, but you don't. You have to tune in next week. Now Rotten Tomatoes does rate this movie at a 77 percent fresh. And Eddie Harrison from Film Authority says fusing Mrs. Doubtfire in Tootsie. My Secret Santa is a laughable Netflix ripping off the Hallmark movie about a single mom passing herself off as Santa that passes this so bad it's good test. It's so silly. You literally won't believe what you're seeing. Now, I got to tell you, they're not wrong. I enjoyed the hell out of it. The only place to watch it, though, is on Netflix. So there you go. Now, unrelated to this movie, you can always find movies that are available outside of Netflix through your local public library. But we don't have to worry about that this week. What I do want to tell you, though, is have a very happy holiday season. Thank you for following us on social media. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you for recommending us to all of your friends. It means a lot seeing you put us on your Spotify. End of year playlist is amazing. I wish we recorded a video for you, but we forgot. That's the kind of things that we got to be more on top of in the new year. Anyway, thank you to our producers who pull this show together every week. Scott Sonny and Molly Reynolds, our engineer, Casey Hulford, and our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum, we will forever be thankful to the one and only Aval Halley. We think of her a lot during this holiday season and we miss her. We will see you next week for Secret Santa.