My Pop Five
My Pop Five
Our Pop Five (May 2025): Sinners, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Garden State's 20th, Fargo, and The Studio
We explore five cultural touchstones that have captured our attention, ranging from new releases to beloved classics experiencing revival.
• Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" blends 1930s blues culture with vampire horror while exploring themes of brotherhood and the power of music
• My Chemical Romance's upcoming remixed version of "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" addresses longtime complaints about the original's sound quality
• Garden State's 20th anniversary concert reunited most soundtrack artists, including The Shins, whose song famously "will change your life"
• Fargo Season One masterfully adapts the Coen Brothers' aesthetic to television with standout performances from Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman
• "The Studio" on Apple TV+ offers meta-commentary on filmmaking through technically impressive one-shot scenes while examining the contradictions of studio executives' roles
Go experience these cultural moments for yourself! Whether it's catching "Sinners" in theaters, streaming "The Studio," or revisiting classics like Garden State and Fargo, there's something for everyone to enjoy.
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We'll see you next time. But until then, what's your Pop Five?
All right, everybody, we are back. It is another episode of my Pot Five and, in fact, it's another Our Pot Five. We're here with Daniel, hey, daniel, hello, and this time we're going back to our traditional roots with our Pot Fives, and today we're just going to talk about five things we're loving. Recently, daniel and I each brought in a couple of things that we were excited to talk about, and then, collectively, we had one that we were excited to talk about, and so, yeah, we're just going to go ahead and get straight into it and talk about some of the things that we're digging.
Speaker 1:Daniel, I love the things that you kind of put up here, and I'm really excited to talk about the first one here, which I think we should start with, the collective, and the collective one that we decided to talk about today, cause, as we were brainstorming, I mentioned this is a movie I just saw last weekend. You said I'm seeing this tonight, and I was stoked to kind of talk more about it because it's fresh, it's new, it's in theaters, and that is the Ryan Coogler movie Sinners, which is now out in theaters, featuring Michael B Jordan, haley Steinfeld. It's our modern day from dusk till dawn, and so I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the movie. So, daniel, tell me what you thought about sinners I I really liked it.
Speaker 2:I think it took a little bit for it to I thought you were gonna say hang on.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I thought you're gonna be like. I forgot to tell you I didn't watch it.
Speaker 2:No, no, I liked it, but I think it kind of. I feel like it was so dense in a lot of ways that there was so much happened that it took me. It took me a little bit after watching it, like maybe like a good 24 hours, to kind of settle in and be like. You know, I went on, was listening to like reviews and other podcasts, like listen, you know, just hearing what what people's thoughts were and I think throughout that time of like the next, like 24 hours, I was like, oh yeah, I really like that movie.
Speaker 2:I've been thinking about it a ton. I want to catch it again while it's still in theaters, so yeah, I like yeah.
Speaker 2:So slow burn for you, yes, even though I knew they were like, I knew while watching it like, oh, that's really cool. Oh that's really cool like there were. There were definitely things. But I think I left the movie thinking like still having a lot of like still trying to put the pieces together as to kind of what everything meant. Sure, yeah, but yeah. So I guess it was a little bit of a slow burn, but ultimately I thought it was good. I would even say great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, absolutely yeah. I thought it was really really incredible too, you know, for the audience. This movie features Michael B Jordan. In their hometown try to start this new, what is the equivalent of like a nightclub in the 30s for their local hometown and kind of how they bring their community to do that. And then hijinks ensue, vampires are involved and we kind of get straight into it.
Speaker 1:But they're one of the things I really liked about this movie as well is the role that music plays into it. You know there's a lot of touching on on the blues and you know what you know music meant to those communities. And the movie kind of starts with this sort of monologue, kind of speaking to how music can kind of touch things from the past and from the future and kind of bring energy from all different walks of life into a singular space just by the power of beautiful music. Yeah, so there's a lot of themes in here. So I guess I could kind of see why it took you some time maybe to kind of ingest everything that it was showing you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally, it's so many different things and I think at first it felt like I think the word that comes to mind is like sprawling in terms of its reach and its themes and all of the different things that it's trying to say, whereas at first it seemed everything was kind of like, you know, disjointed, in the sense that it's like oh, it's commenting on this particular social issue, and now it's commenting on like art and culture, and now it's commenting on like even like economics, you know, and then so I think it at first felt very kind of all over the place, the place. But I think, as I think about it more, all of those things kind of fit together with the time period and the things that they've been through, like the two twin brothers have been through together and even separately. I think all of those things kind of came together for me where at first it seemed very disparate.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure, and I know we're kind of in territory where, because it's fresh, we're not trying to spoil anything too much. Yeah, I think one of the things that, like, I'll have thought about in terms of talking about the movie to people who haven't seen it yet is there are a lot of really cool themes that you can kind of dive into and try to put some meaning into or even further, kind of uncover the meaning behind things. Try to put some meaning into or even further kind of uncover the meaning behind things. At the same time, it's a vampire movie and it's really cool and like the rules of vampires past exist in this one, like garlic is still bad and you have to invite a vampire in and they can't be in the sun, and so, like there's very much Ryan Coogler makes movies that always have depth of meaning but at the same time, it's a really cool vampire movie and I think they do a really good job of kind of doing that side of things too.
Speaker 2:I completely agree. That was one thing that I was going to say about it is that I also like the aspect of the movie that is just and I'm not using this term pejoratively, but in a lot of ways it's like a basic vampire movie. It's like a basic bare bones kind of or maybe not bare bones, but like kind of like tried and true vampire tale in some ways, and I really like that part of it, like that was the first thing, like while watching it, like especially when it started to, you know, get to like the later parts of the movie where all of these, where a lot of the vampire stuff starts to unfold, it's like that's something. Immediately that was just like oh, this is just like a cool action, thriller, horror movie. And you know, that was one of the first things that that like immediately I knew I liked about it was that it was. It was straightforward in that way do you know there's?
Speaker 1:there's a movie, probably like directly in the middle of the film and for the audience, whenever you go in you will know exactly what I'm talking about. But there's something that kind of has been somewhat what's the word I'm looking for polarizing in terms of how some people feel about it, and it's that music scene. That kind of is the only time that you kind of feel you're no longer in that same time period, because there's other kind of characters that show up on a dance floor and I think it's playing homage to that opening monologue that I spoke about but at the same time took some people out of the movie. Did you have any thoughts on that moment in the film?
Speaker 2:I had a big smile on my face during that scene because, yeah, I could see why it took people out. For me I liked the the little bit of, because I I guess heavy-handed would be a term that people would use like negatively. But I, I think for someone who enjoys ryan coogler as a director and as a filmmaker, and this being his first like original screenplay, I liked him kind of giving like talking directly to the audience and giving kind of a direct and overt message, giving kind of a direct and overt message. So I liked. I liked that I could see why some people might, why it might, take some people out. But I think the, the, the fan in me, like the fan of the filmmaker in me, liked that little kind of I guess in some ways kind of like a fourth wall break is what it felt like. Yeah.
Speaker 1:What about you? Yeah, totally, I loved it. I was just enthralled by it. I think it captured like a feeling that is timeless, you know, and I think that's what it was really trying to show is that, hey, yeah, we're here in this version of people dancing to the blues, but at the same time that can transcend time and everyone can had shared that experience in their own version of their reality. And I think it was less literal and it was more just like here's the experience that will continue to happen in a room like this, both in generations past and for generations to come. And just was a beautiful scene. So I loved it, I felt really good about it and, yeah, it's just. The movie does such a good job of kind of incorporating, I think, the way music brings community, the way music brings culture, and even for there's another set of Irish characters, and you see that even for the Irish characters, that kind of role that music plays for them as well. And, yeah, I just thought it was, it was great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally agree. I think another thing too is that you know not to give away too much. I think it how you mentioned that it does, it does directly relate to a monologue at the beginning of the movie. We've spoken on it directly and we've showed little bits of this theme here and there. But let me show you directly what I mean. In this big scene, that's kind of it's almost kind of like the centerpiece of the movie. Like I feel like it's very, very distinct and in my mind it's like the, the scene that that sticks out most. When I think about, like I you know, the, the iconography of the entire movie, that scene kind of stands out as like the centerpiece to me and I think it's just yeah, I thought it was a beautiful scene, like I think that would probably be the best way I could. I would, I would describe it for the audience.
Speaker 1:We're not going to dive too much deeper because I know you all should go see it and have as much unspoiled as possible. But before we kind of move on, daniel, is there a character that you liked the most, resonated with the most?
Speaker 2:sticks to your mind. Yeah, michael B Jordan does a great job as Smoke or Stack or both. I really liked Smoke. I think that he and what's so cool, I think, which must have been something very intentional by both Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler is like they're so distinct, right, like they you know they're twins and they're the same guy, you know, of course, but played by the same guy, but they have such distinct personalities and views. But they have such distinct personalities and views. I really liked the way that smoke's story played out.
Speaker 2:If I had to give a second, because it's it's hard for me to choose, I think I think there are, like so many great characters, I would also say Annie, his wife. Yeah, right, exactly, she was also great. I loved the wisdom they gave her and like the strength like they looked to her so much for for them they gave her, and like the strength like they looked to her so much for for for wisdom. That, yeah, I thought that was. I thought she, she was a great character and a great actress too yeah, everyone, go see it still in theaters, you won't be disappointed.
Speaker 1:And yeah, probably you know it's early on, only here in april, but probably my favorite movie I've seen this year, so definitely go check it out, awesome. Well, in a similar vein, daniel, we've been talking about music music of the past, music of the future, and this one kind of blends both, and I know it's near and dear to your heart, and that is some news and music that has come out from my Chemical Romance. So speak on it, daniel. What did you want to talk about here in regards to MCR?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my Chemical Romance is releasing a. They are re-releasing the 2004 album Three Tears for Sweet Revenge, which was their mainstream debut. I have a funny story about it. So a couple weeks ago they had released a single which is a never before released live version of one of the songs I don't remember exactly which one, but there was actually a mistake. So I just randomly saw it on on apple music that they had posted the new single. So I went to the album and the whole album was out, and so I was like, oh, they were. They released the whole album. So I listened to it and for anyone that that doesn't know, it's a re-release, but it's a, it's a remix. So they remixed the entire album, which means they actually went through like every individual audio track and touched it up, and the album is notoriously a lot of people feel like it didn't have a great mix, that it was muddy and compressed, so it's something that people have talked about for a while, wanting from my chemical romance.
Speaker 2:But yeah, so I went on apple music. I was like, oh, they posted the whole album. And then I was. I was looking online and people on reddit were saying like, oh yeah, it's not on spotify, it's only on apple music and I was like, oh, like, apple music got the exclusive and and I, you know, I listened to it once through and, honestly, didn't think much of it. I was like I don't know, I don't know how I feel about the mix, like I was okay with the original album.
Speaker 2:So then it's funny, like this morning I had totally different thoughts about what I was going to say, but then earlier today I went to go listen to it again and it was gone from Apple Music. It's grayed out again, it coming out in june 6th, right. So I didn't realize that it wasn't supposed to be out, that it wasn't like an apple music exclusive and it was just a mistake. Whoever you know the label or whoever's part it was.
Speaker 2:So people, because it was out on apple music for a time, people like downloaded it and put it on youtube. So I was able to find it on youtube like the, the remixed version, and I listened to it again on, I would say, probably better headphones, and I I enjoyed it a lot more today than I did a couple weeks ago. I don't know, I don't know if it was just maybe like the headphones that I was listening to on, because at first I was like I don't know it's, it's different. You know, and I'm I'm aware of that, it's different and so it's going to hit me different and I might have kind of a sour taste in my mouth because it's not exactly what I'm used to. But overall I would say that I liked it. But it's not even out yet, but you can find it on YouTube, but it's not really out yet.
Speaker 1:It's so cool to hear this story, cause when you let me know that this is what you wanted to talk about, I obviously went, oh cool, I didn't know that they put something out, let me go check it out. Nothing there. There's a single that I could check out and I'm like, oh, maybe he's just like hyped that something is coming out. Felt that it was mid, went back, it was gone, but you had this secret ability to have gone and listened to. It is just such a funny experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was really funny. I sent it to Dom because he is also, you know, my Chemical Romance fan, so I sent it to him and I was like telling him the story. And yeah, it was it was. It was pretty funny when I realized that today.
Speaker 2:But overall I think, yeah, I think like it is for the most part a remix, but they also added in like, maybe even like some alternate takes, like there's some parts in like some of the bass tracks on some of the songs where it's like they might have used an alternate take, because I was like, oh, you definitely didn't play that on the original album and now that it's so clear and there's a lot more, the better. Like sound separation. I think they kind of played with the different bits of audio that they maybe had just like. So, yeah, I, and also there's going to be a vinyl re-release, which the vinyl release has has been notorious for people being like don't even get the vinyl, it sounds like the CD, because it was just never really mixed for vinyl or it just never really had like a good vinyl transfer. So that'll be exciting. I'm excited to listen to the new mix on vinyl when that comes out.
Speaker 1:Well, let's listen to one of the new tracks, daniel. Well, one of the old tracks, but done. Well, let's hear it. What's one that maybe you thought did a great job in terms of hearing the new mix, or maybe you just thought it was good to still hear a nice fresh take on what's a song we could listen to.
Speaker 2:I think the one that stood out most is the Ghost of you. Ghost of you.
Speaker 1:All right, here is ghost of you. I never said I'd lie and wait forever. If I died, we'd meet together. You know, there's something interesting, as I think culture has just been so captivated lately by nostalgia that we start to see more and more of stuff like this. You know, one of the things that I'm going to talk about shortly is capturing on something that took place 20 years ago.
Speaker 1:We have people who are doing 20th anniversary concerts of their records. Last year I went and saw the Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie do their thing for transatlanticism and give up. There's so much that's just being created to be like hey, remember those things you loved. Do you still love them? Let's put out a new project or a new concert or things like that. Do you have any sort of overall opinions on doing that? Are you like fuck, yeah, I'm eating it up because it's stuff from my generation, or is there some of it that feels like you wish maybe there was something new? Or how are you feeling about this kind of new wave of kind of celebrating art of old?
Speaker 2:Yeah, overall, I I'm very positive on it because, like with this, the MCR re-release, it's like, yeah, that we are doing kind of a nostalgia trip, but I think it's like we're also getting something different out of it. Like, listening to that remix album in a lot of ways is, like, you know, it's putting that album on par with the production of something like the Black Parade which, like a lot of people would consider to be probably like their best studio album. You know, it's like I think that, from what I've seen, from the things that I like or, like you know, my own nostalgia is being positively affected by the trend, so I only feel positively about it.
Speaker 2:Where I where I will say that I think I do have more qualms is with, like movies just like the nostalgia trend in movies and like not necessarily re-releases, because it's always cool to go see a movie in the theater that you haven't seen in the theater before. But, like you know, like Disney remakes and stuff I think is a lot more like, is more of a mixed bag.
Speaker 1:But with everything going on with, like music and even video games, I think I'm overall positive on it. Yeah, I feel mixed, you know, because for the most part I do love it, like I loved that anniversary concert of Death Cabin Postal Service, like I mentioned. I like that. You know, in some instances when you go to see a show, for example, maybe your favorite album or the thing that really got you into loving an artist was a specific album. But anytime you see someone new on tour, they're usually promoting their new album and so maybe you'll get a few songs from the album that you really really resonate with and it's mixed in between all the stuff from their new records or things like that you know like. So I like that they're creating these catered experiences, that you know what you're going to get and you get to kind of experience it, because I didn't go to the original Transatlanticism tours or whatever the case is, or in this case, if they end up doing a tour for this album, you know it's like you weren't able to be there for the first one, or if you were, it was really incredible and now you get to kind of relive that experience. So I do love it.
Speaker 1:I do think that, like, one of the things I find depressing, even in terms of my own consumption, is that I find myself not seeking out a lot of new stuff, because I am just getting sucked into reliving the stuff that I already like, you know, yeah, and like some of that feels like dang. Am I just aging, or is there not as much stuff that I'm gravitating towards? Or is it like? No, it's because every time I open my phone, there's someone saying, hey, we just did a remix of this old record you used to love, so like I'm going to do that. Or the movies are hey, here's some ip that you're already familiar with. Go check it out, you know. So it is a mixture, because I I am longing for new stuff that gives me the same feeling that some of this old stuff did, while also being like, yeah, I really want to celebrate these old records and kind of, uh, memorialize kind of the things that they've done. Yeah, I feel kind of 50-50 on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I see what you mean, especially with, like you said, you know, being sucked back in. Like I feel like that's kind of one thing that I've had a hard time with like movies and TV shows lately is just like I need to go back and watch that thing because it's coming back up or there's no conversation about it, or there's some kind of anniversary and now I'm curious about it. So I know what you mean. Yeah, that's definitely a factor when our attention, you know, when everything is trying to grab our attention and we only have so much of it to give.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, well, this is fun. I'm excited to actually listen through when it comes out, because I didn't get the insider sneak peek access that you got buddy Before we move on. Though I was curious, you know, because, as we're talking about MCR one of the things I loved recently I do love SNL and, yes, I know that you know it's not as great as it once was, or maybe it never was great, but I like SNL and they just did this skit called goth kid on vacation and there's like kind of an mcr cameo. Jack black is in it and it's so good so I want to listen to a bit of it for the audience, but you and I are actually going to watch some of it right now. This skit called I run it on vacation.
Speaker 3:We don't have no fun on vacation. When I was a young boy, my parents took me down to Jamaica For my high school spring break. They said come to the pool, but I stayed in the room with my graphic novels so I could masturbate.
Speaker 1:That was so good. I know, I know, honestly, jack Black honestly makes a lot of it too, just because he goes all in and it's very good.
Speaker 1:Yeah that was awesome. Anyway, keeping things in a similar vein, staying in that lane of nostalgia, I was really excited to chat about Garden State. Garden State's one of my favorite movies. When people ask me what are some of the things that would be on your pot, five Ryan, because I've never formally done one this is one that's constantly floated. For me, one of the things that made that movie so incredible is obviously it's an awesome story with you know, natalie Portman, zach Braff phenomenal story.
Speaker 1:The thing that made it was this indie soundtrack, and I remember talking to one of my one of my friends recently who I recommended Garden State to, and he was like, honestly, man, I just didn't get it. I thought it was like, too, what's the word I'm looking for? It was just too predictable. Of course, you know there's this like indie soundtrack behind it with all your favorite indie artists, and I'm like, no, but Garden of Stains was the first one to ever do that. You know like they're the ones who like, put in all these indie bands into the movie soundtrack, like that didn't happen before, and then all the indie movies that you think are. You know that it's stealing from, they stole from this, and that's kind of what created the model. This soundtrack won a grammy. Um, yeah, it's just like already.
Speaker 1:Like that movie's incredible, the soundtrack's incredible. It created this whole world of what ends up being like indie movies and like the soundtracks that support them, with some of your favorite indie bands. And they put on a 20th anniversary concert for charity here in LA where they got basically every artist except for Coldplay to come out and perform the songs and, you know, really celebrate the movie. And while I didn't get to go to the concert in person as much as I wanted to it sold out and it was expensive as hell there was a live stream that you could kind of check out and it was so cool to kind of relive that soundtrack, see all these random artists come together.
Speaker 1:I think it's Remy Zero. Yeah, remy Zero is one of the bands on the soundtrack. They're actually no longer even a band together, reunited just for the purpose of doing this show, and it was so cool to see those songs performed live and relive the movie, see clips from the movie as these artists were playing it and, yeah, just such a cool experience to kind of just live in that same nostalgia space that we were just talking about yeah and the uh.
Speaker 2:The cast of the movie also played a part in that concert too, right?
Speaker 1:some of them. Yeah, so zach braff obviously was there. He's the one who kind of put it on and produced it, because he wrote and directed the movie, but Natalie Portman showed up, which was awesome. There's a couple other people that did some funny cameos, of course, because Zach Braff is famous from Scrubs. He brought out Donald Faison and Cyril Chalk, who played two other main characters in Scrubs, and yeah, it was a really cool moment.
Speaker 1:There is another guy in the concert who comes out and he wrote some of the songs from another part of his band for the soundtrack, but that band also made the theme song for Scrubs and so he did like a little ditty, like kind of singing the theme song from Scrubs and yeah, it was just, it was a very cool thing that happened and yeah, I think you know, one of the other really cool things that I almost didn't even realize was there's a song on there that's like we'll play some a bit here from the band Fru Fru, and like I always loved that and I was always just like, yeah, fru Fru is awesome, I love this band, I love these records, but I didn't actually dig that much deeper. And like Imogen Heap comes out on the stage at this concert. I'm like, what is she doing here? And she's like I'm one half of FruFru and I'm like, oh my god, I never even realized that Imogen Heap was part of FruFru.
Speaker 1:But yeah, she did her cool thing with she wears those gloves that are sensed by a computer and it almost creates the why can't I think of that instrument like a melodyne, like effect or something, and like really messes with her voice and she controls it all with these like giant mittens. It's, it's really cool, that's super cool. Yeah, but have you ever seen garden state? I haven't.
Speaker 1:No, were you a friend that was like I'm gonna say I saw it that was me, I don't know.
Speaker 2:It kind of just ripped off Nick and Nora's Infinite First.
Speaker 3:But no, I haven't.
Speaker 2:I did watch some of the concert, but yeah, I need to go back and watch the movie. Did you see this movie when it came out, or what's your relationship to the movie itself?
Speaker 1:self. Yeah, great question. I'm trying to remember the first time I saw the movie I think it was I loved Scrubs first, right. So like I was a big Zach Braff fan just from loving Scrubs, and then later on when I knew he had made a movie I don't think it was right when it came out, because I think it was like further into Scrubs that I even knew that he had had a movie. That's when I went and I checked it out.
Speaker 1:I can't remember if I saw it at further into Scrubs that I even knew that he had had a movie. That's when I went and checked it out. I can't remember if I saw it at a friend's house or what the case was, but I didn't see it live. But I definitely experienced it pretty early on, having been a Scrubs fan. It's one of those movies that just broke into a different level of relating with the characters and I don't know I I've always typically gravitated towards like splice of life, real stories. You know as much as we you and I can geek out about a marvel movie, the stuff that, like you and I, have talked about on here that, like I've really resonated with, are like worst person in the world which we've talked about, or past lives, or yeah, these really like down-to to earth, centered, people-based, relationship-based, life-based stories that I just like I'm a sucker for yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually that's not a type of movie that I really had any interest or, I guess, any real experience with until you recommended to me movies like Worst Person in the World and Past Lives like specifically like those are like some of the greatest, some of the greatest movies experiences I've had. So you definitely like turned me on to that stuff. So I'll have to check out. I'll have to check out Garden State.
Speaker 1:Please do. I don't know if the anniversary concert is still available for audience. You had to like basically go through there. It's like streaming platform that they kind of did it. I don't know if it's still accessible, if you can check it out, but if not, listen to the soundtrack, watch the movie. It's definitely worth it.
Speaker 1:As we, as we kind of leave this topic, one of the things that I think is also cool, daniel, for us is there's this incredible indie band that you've probably heard of called the Shins. They actually are from Albuquerque, new Mexico, yours and mine's home state, and this song is actually what kind of blew them up. The song on this soundtrack is what made people go. My God, the Shins. I love the Shins. I haven't heard the Shins and Natalie Portman in the movie has this incredible moment where she plays this manic-pitsy dream girl type archetype and she's listening know, listening to her headphones and zach braff in the movie looks at her and asks her what she's listening to and she's like what you've never heard of the shins. This song will change your life. And plays this and it changes the life for the shins. That moment changes the life for so many audience. This song will change your life what are you listening to?
Speaker 3:The Shins, you know them no.
Speaker 1:You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life, I swear. Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:You have to. I gotta fill out your forms.
Speaker 3:Conundrum. I think you could maybe listen while you thought yeah, okay, okay. Only I don't know how they got out of here.
Speaker 1:We got a couple of really great TV shows to get into One very current one, more of a classic, and so I want to kind of touch in on yours, daniel. So let's talk about Fargo season one. Fargo is a show based on a movie, fargo, which is very popular from the Coen brothers but redone in TV show format. This season one was kind of the first foray into it, where people kind of ask questions to be like man. Is this going to be anything as good as a movie? And Fargo, much like shows like the White Lotus or True Detective, is an anthology show where every season is a different set of characters, different stories, different locale, generally based in the Midwest, but is incredible. I love it. Now tell me, daniel, what's your experience with Fargo season one and why did you want to talk about it today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's one of the more recent shows that I watched, that I got into.
Speaker 2:Watched the most recent season first season five yeah, that with a friend of mine who just was a big fargo fan and um, and she had been telling me for a while oh you gotta watch it, you gotta watch it, I think you would like it. So I finally watched the movie, I think like last summer, and then got into the most recent season season, season five, and then actually found season one on DVD at a used bookstore. I was like, oh, perfect, so it was like five bucks and I bought it and just watched it recently.
Speaker 1:Man, you can't be hipster and say you're still going on physical media. Just watch it on Hulu, like the rest of us.
Speaker 2:Ad free baby.
Speaker 1:I got ad free too, man, you just gotta pay a couple extra dollars a month I'm just messing to get up and change the disc every two episodes you know the dvds. Don't ask me if I'm still watching.
Speaker 2:You know that's true but I, uh, no, I I really liked it. Um, you know, and I didn't even think about it until just now, um, when you mentioned that, when this show came out, that people were kind of like is this necessary? What's the point of this? Because now I guess I don't necessarily know.
Speaker 2:I don't remember exactly what was going on 10 or 12 years ago whenever this came out in the and so I, I could see why people might have thought like, oh, is this just like remaking the show, which there are a lot of nods to, or is this remaking the movie? Rather, there are a lot of nods to the original coen brothers movie, but of course there are twists and turns. But yeah, I think I think overall, just like, uh, it's like, it has, I think, the same level of quality that something like a Coen Brothers film does, just in a long form, you know, just like long form version of that storytelling and you have the quirky characters and the you know, you have the kind of the parallels like you have. You know, the cop in the show there's a parallel to the you know like Francis, is it McDormand in the original movie? You know you have like those kinds of parallels but then also like twists and turns around it. So I think that would probably be the main reason why it stood out the most to me recently is it's just like, yeah, it has, it has the quality of like a great original film while still while still being a TV show and episodic. So, yeah, I, I I really liked it.
Speaker 2:I can't necessarily say like the last season, the most recent season that I watched, which season five was also really good. So it's like I don't necessarily know which one is better. I actually I I'm gonna be watching season two. I found that dvd. I was like, well, I might as well watch them all on dvd now. So I found that online and order season two. So I'll go, I'll, I'll continue watching them. So I don't really know which one was better. I think, yeah, I think it's just. I think, like I said, main thing that stands out to me is just like the level of quality, the actors. You know you have billy bopp, thornton, martin freeman yeah, martin freeman hanks, colin hanks yeah, you got.
Speaker 1:You got some heavy hitters and one of the things that I think is really cool about the show and for the audience you know, all of the fargo both shows and movie kind of start with like the premise that this is entirely a true story. For the record, none of them are true stories, but like you kind of get bought in thinking like oh, oh, my gosh, what is this like based on a true story? But you know you have these characters in the Midwest who it's basically like a crime solving type, you know feeling and that's kind of idea that you get. But you're just surrounded by these like incredible performances, dropped into these different character archetypes every season. There's like a you know characters you root for and then characters that you're like I think I'm rooting for them but I'm not actually sure.
Speaker 1:You know the Martin Freeman character that we were just kind of, you know, mentioned his name here. He's like someone that like you're like I find you sympathetic but also, I think you know, like you did something terrible and so you're kind of following through it. And Lorne Malvo, who, which is Billy Bob Thornton's character, is like so psychopathic that you're like he's pretty cool but also like ah, but he's a, he's an evil guy. So you're, you know, it's like there's all this like conflict that you're going back and forth with as the audience to be like I don't know how to feel about these characters, but I'm intrigued. They're captivating performances and you're kind of just all bought in on the world that they've built yeah, absolutely some of the most.
Speaker 2:I think like just the kind of emotional responses that you get from from these characters, like you said, like um, so many different layers, like martin freeman's character in particular, just like that one for me was just like I was just so frustrated and angry with all of his decisions. But, yeah, you're right, you do have sympathy for him, but it's hard to see things from his perspective at the same time. Yeah, I think that that's kind of like the essence of the show and I do look forward to going forward and seeing the other, you know, seeing the, the ways that that the other seasons play out. But yeah, just just such. And I well, from from what I understand too and I may not be super informed on this part, but just from what I've read and kind of what I've been able to gather well, you mentioned it too the show is kind of considered like a classic at this point, like a classic tv TV show.
Speaker 2:So I think, was, you know, during that era of, like you know, early Walking Dead or Breaking Bad. So I would say that, you know, for anybody who has an interest in those shows, I think that this is a worthy companion to those. So, yeah, I recommend checking it out. It's so interesting. You can't wait to watch the next episode. You know, in my case, get up and switch the DVD Like I couldn't wait to do that. So, yeah, I recommend it for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the things that I think is really cool about these anthology-type shows is like you see five seasons of a of show and you're like, ah, I don't have the commitment to go through five seasons, like you said, cause they're all their own individual thing. You can go in any order you want. Daniel went five to one.
Speaker 1:My wife and I started with one kind of working through five, and so you know you can kind of do it in any which way. You know are kind of standalone bottle seasons there are. I will say there are some times that there are some things that might correlate from other seasons. But in either way, or you watch it, you'll kind of catch those things. So, yeah, definitely check out the show. What I also love about this show is the soundtrack and the side characters and there's generally like these little like needle drop things for when certain characters show up and there's this one little number that kind of is in my head all the time and it's like the underscoring of this first season and it's kind of like the for these characters called mr wrench and numbers um, and that show up and this soundtrack kind of plays throughout. So we're going to play a little bit of that theme from fargo Awesome Daniel.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to kind of close out our episode today talking about now a new show, a new show that's all about the love of film and the making of film, and that show is the Studio. The Studio is a show created by Seth Rogen, evan Goldberg and his team and it's all about a new studio executive who gets to take over the role of being a studio executive Kind of the contradictions that go with being in that role. I think when you're on the outside, you hear people hating on the studio all the time because they're only worried about the bottom line or they're only focused on making the best decision for the studio and not necessarily what's best for the movie. And what this show does a really really great job of is showing that, like most of these people that got into the industry, started with a love of film somewhere and feel conflicted Right there, they do have a role. They do have a role to protect the studio reputation, to protect financial decisions, to make best decisions for the studio. And yeah, they they're not always going to be loved, but they desperately want to be.
Speaker 1:It's. It's such a really great show in terms of how it's shot and the characters and it's funny and it's so thoughtfully, tastefully done. And it's not even done yet. We're still. I think only the sixth episode came out today and it's not even done yet. We're still. I think only the sixth episode came out today and it's been really great. So, daniel, have you checked out any of the studio?
Speaker 2:yes, I watched um. I watched the first two episodes just last night, so I'm still working my way through it, but um, so far, yes, that's. I guess I think your description was apt, because, yeah, that's what it comes down to. Like seth roogen's character, the new executive is just, you know, constantly talking about what about this movie. You know, it's like it's clear that he has like a love for film and he's, you know, constantly talking about the films that he loves and how things he's talking about. You know, even even in some cases, like geeking out about getting to work with a certain someone, a certain director, a certain actor.
Speaker 2:So yeah it. I think probably the first thing that stood out to me in the first episode was like this is like a film or this is like a tv show, made for people who love tv and movies from like a like a filmmaker perspective, like I can only imagine how much you know people who are filmmakers and, um, writers and actors you know love everything that's going on and you know, one thing that I think is also interesting, at least from what I've seen from the first two episodes, is the critique and how it is kind of meta. Like at one point martin scorsese says something in the first episode about like um, I should have gone to, I should have gone to apple with it, you know, because it's like and it's an apple tv show, so yeah there are little things here and there that I think of them kind of like poking fun at the industry as well.
Speaker 2:so I'm I'm really excited to see where it goes, but, like you said also, you know, not only in the, in the humor being meta, but also just like very well made, like you said, like it's so intentional in terms of the cinematography. I believe, from what I've seen like so far, everything is like a one shot.
Speaker 1:For the most part. Yeah, yeah, it's almost entirely. You know oners, which is for the audience, if you don't know, it's like when you shoot a really long shot without any sort of cuts, and so everything has to be really strategically rehearsed because if in a nine minute run, someone makes a mistake, you have to start the whole scene over again and they have just like mostly oners throughout the entire show. And that's also you talked about it being self-referential or like tongue in cheek because that whole second episode is about doing oners, explaining what oners are talking about, how they're just like you know they're basically masturbatory for the filmmakers, you know, and then the whole show is a oner and so it's just like, yeah, there's a lot of really like meta commentary and it and it's it's done really well.
Speaker 1:And yeah, you also talked about like people who love film probably love this because they can kind of see all that goes into it and it is really beautifully shot and tension is good and it's written really well. Um, but at the same time they're probably also cringing because it's like so much of this is just like their actual lived experience and they've come across like characters like this, like the head of marketing, who's just wild, or just, you know, the studio head who butts their head in and, you know, is trying to do things for the shot and they're just like no, you're not part of this. You know, we're the artists, we're the creators here and yeah it's, it's just done really well and I'm excited to see where the show goes, cause it's still not completely done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one thing you touched on that I had in mind too is the tension. Like the tension in that second episode, even though it's like I love that it portrays, um, I think it's. It's one of those things where I think it gives you a good idea of how how much work goes into making movies and tv shows, because I think it's something that a lot of people would you know and obviously, like people you know, actors and and directors uh, have a lot of privilege in terms of what they do for a living. But at the same time, I think this show also gives you an idea of, like the nitty-gritty of what these people do it, how, how it can be, how can it can be stressful, like it's not just all you know glitz and glam and and, and, um, you know, like cushy in terms of like what is actually going on in their day-to-day work.
Speaker 2:So I think that that is really cool, that you know, and and also, being like Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and their team being their show, I'm also like there are some parts where I'm like, is this really how it is on a film set? And I'm like, well, who else? I mean they would know. You know what I mean. So it's like I believe them, like I believe what they're telling me about what it's like being on a film set. So, yeah, the tension in that second episode was so great, like so many moments where I'm just like my jaw has just dropped because I'm just like I can't believe, like you know, but it's funny and it's silly and yeah, so I'm really enjoying it so far.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think going back to one of the things I love is going back. We were talking about the nostalgia and everything having to be based on existing IP and the first episode they're really touching on having to make a Kool-Aid movie and it's just like if that's not the world that we live in, if that's not the kind of nostalgia-soaked world live in, Then you know, I don't know what it is, but yeah, it's a great show. Everyone check it out. It is on Apple TV.
Speaker 1:Daniel, I'm going to ask you the question that I ask our guests generally in the rapid fire question at the end. But if no one has experienced the five things we talked about today, what's the one thing you'd want them to go experience right now? Sinners, go watch sinners. Yes, right now. Sinners, go watch sinners. Yes, go watch sinners. I agree with that. I'll also say because I'm probably selfishly going to do this, because I got excited as we were talking about it go watch garden state. So we're going to head out with another song from that garden state soundtrack. Thank you everyone for listening to the show. That'll do it for today's show. We'll see you next time, but until then, what's your pop five? So let go. So let go jump in. Oh well, what you're waiting for, it's alright, cause there's beauty in the breakdown. So let go, yeah, let go, just get in. Oh, it's so amazing here. It's alright, cause there's beauty in the breakdown.
