[User] She just looks—

[Assistant] Like he hadn't thought of it yet before. It's the first time he's thinking it in real time. And then he has to change the subject. He's like, that was a stupid thing to say. She's so amazing. And it's great at the end of the film, like the whole movie;s about this, you know, the the father leaving the patriarchy of the sheriff's department, Robert Forster's character, and then you think I'm the heir apparent. And then of course, she becomes the sheriff at the end because I've been a lunatic the whole movie!

[User] Yeah! (Gemma laughs)

[Assistant] And it's such a great moment to watch it with women in the crowd, where that happens, and then everybody goes, yep, that makes sense! Just like oh, thank god! You know? (Slim laughs) It's great!

[User] And finally, another thing I noticed about Wolf of Snow Hollow on this rewatch was it's a Christmas movie! So, you know, if you're listening and you've got a Christmas movie list, add it. But speaking of holidays…

[Assistant] Uh oh.

[User] Let's move now to your second of your four Letterboxd faves, Krisha, by Trey Edward Shults

[Assistant] An actual masterpiece that is shot in his mom's house and backyard. In Texas. It is an unbelievable film. I guess I'll just talk about… synopsis according to me. It's a film about a 65-year-old woman coming back to celebrate Thanksgiving with a family having been gone for ten years. And there are many reveals about her position in the family. She's apparently sober. And just the stress of being with the families and undergoing an American Thanksgiving with all the power and social dynamics in a household. She relapses and it becomes this horror film, basically, dramatic horror film. And it's amazing. It is such a beautiful showcase of her as an actress, the rest of the family as actors. Trey Edward Shults' mom plays his aunt in the film, his real life mom. So many of his family members are peppered throughout the movie. And they shot it for nothing in this house. And I saw it for the first time at its world premiere at South by Southwest. I ran down Sixth Street in a suit to get to see this movie! And Trey was outside like 'get your ticket, get inside!' I went inside and watched it and it changed my life forever. It was the first time I had seen a Duplass style film made that showcased craftsmanship that was very funny throughout, that was also very tragic and about an important subject. And within five months, I was doing the Thunder Road short film. It was the inciting incident for my life of this is what the future of American indie film renaissance can be. And it really is that for me. Like I cite that film being made and being released as the beginning of the American indie movement now.

[User] Sheesh! That's quite a plug for anyone that hasn't seen this movie yet. (Jim laughs) If you're on the edge of making your own films, I think you need to get off your rear end. And check out this movie.

[Assistant] See it! It's unbelievable.

[User] I knew I was in for a ride as soon as she was walking around the house with her luggage and she stepped in that mud in her shoe. I was like oh god.

[Assistant] And she goes to the wrong house! (Slim laughs) And it's one long take, and she goes to the wrong house! But they go through the whole rigmarole of bringing her to another house and then she has to go next door to the actual house. It's amazing.

[User] Yeah, like if you visualize me watching the movie, like the bead of sweat started to come down. Before she even got into the house for Thanksgiving. I was like oh lord.

[Assistant] It's great!

[User] What an opening shot. What at set up. I mean that shot. It goes from when she drives up in her pick-up, right, all the way to the next door neighbor's house. All the way to the right house, in the door, down the hallway and then all of the family members hug her.

[Assistant] Yep.

[User] And then it's that like whole… wow.

[Assistant] And greet the baby, you get to meet—you find out the architecture of the house and the architecture of the family in one long take. And also she doesn't even get out of the car before you know about her character because her dress is hanging out to the side of the pick-up truck. (Jim laughs)

[User] Yes, yes!

[Assistant] It's like, this woman's a bit of a wreck. It's so funny and so beautiful.

[User] There's an amazing slomo shot in this film that, I don't know, we should talk about.

[Assistant] The entire sequence with Nina Simone.

[User] Agh!

[Assistant] Because of all of the stakes building throughout this and like how important tonight is for this family and for Krisha, particularly. When something goes awry, even if it's something small in retrospect, in real life, it makes it feel like you're watching a planet explode or something. It's so tense in watching the sequence. And it's this beautiful slomo sequence with a Nina Simone song underneath it. And it feels like a music video, it goes into anamorphic widescreen with real anamorphic lenses.

[User] Yeah, for once in the movie, those douchebag sons and cousins aren't fighting each other or armwrestling! Everyone's quite peaceful and chill. Doyle's not talking about eating leather and shitting saddles. (Gemma & Jim laugh) It's like, we're finally at a beautiful moment, and then, oh my god.

[Assistant] And then it gets ruined, of course, but it's the climax of the movie. And it's a such a small climax. But it's amazing. I actually do have some good behind the scenes discussion of that, because I'm an associate producer of Krisha. After having seen it at South by and then bringing it to the Skywalker Sound to have its final mix.

[User] Ahhh. Wait. How did that work? So you got obsessed with this movie, it kicked off your career…

[Assistant] I got obsessed with the movie. And then I said "how can I help this movie?" to Trey and the team. And he was like, well, we still need to like do a final mix. And I was like, I know the people at Skywalker, maybe they'll give us a friend rate. And they did! And so they had just gotten into Cannes. And I said let's go up and do it. And so I drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco and flew the two boys in, Brian McOmber, the composer and Trey and we stayed in the Airbnb outside of Skywalker Sound and mixed the movie for three or four days with Michael Semanick. So that whole time I got to like hear about all of Trey's directing abilities. And I feel like it was a bit of a bootcamp for me to learn what it's like to be a bit of a director. And that armwrestling sequence is a fight scene between Chase Joliet and Bryan Casserly, and they play these kind of warring brothers. And before shooting it, Trey went up to Bryan and said, "Look, I really need you to win this arm wrestling championship. Because if it doesn't, it's going to ruin your character arc, and it's going to be a problem for the movie. I need you to win this thing." And he goes "Okay. Okay. Okay." And he goes up to Chase. And he goes, "Look, I really need you to win this arm wrestling competition." (Jim & Gemma & Slim laugh) And so when you're watching, it's like, wow, they are really fighting! And it's ridiculous. Trey is such a champ.

[User] There's a theme that is similar in this movie of alcoholism, obviously, in Wolf of Snow Hollow and some folks might not seek those kinds of movies out. So how do you, as a viewer, emotionally prepare yourself for movies that are just so heavy like this?

[Assistant] Yeah, it's a tough thing. It took me a long time to watch Come and See, even though it was out on the Criterion channel, and I was like, I don't know if I want to watch something that everybody says is traumatizing. I don't know. With Krisha, it's so well woven into the filmmaking that it feels like you're in good hands of a filmmaker. And so because you're being chaperoned on this roller coaster, the important, you know, cultural elements of drug abuse and alcoholism seem to be plot points, and then it kind of washes over you. You don't think that you're being preached to until you've had a week to think about it and cry, like I did. (Slim chuckles)

[User] And then you find a Bing Bong scene. (Jim laughs) A Bing Bong moment of this movie. (Slim laughs)

[Assistant] Yeah. But I don't know. That's a good question. It was a difficult thing, with Thunder Road, I wanted to make something about the opioid epidemic because Springsteen's music is all about leaving this dead in town. And I was like, what is it that in town nowadays? And like what is America going through right now? And it's, you know, most people don't think that's what the movie's about. It becomes about that a bit. But if you can make jokes and distract people throughout—it's a bit of sleight of hand. You get to say something important while doing goofy slapstick.

[User] I mean, there's a literal slap in Thunder Road that'll knock your socks off.

[Assistant] Wow.

[User] There is.

[Assistant] Not spoiling anything.

[User] That is—and that is controversial.

[Assistant] A big regret.

[User] And I know you read Letterboxd reviews, Jim.

[Assistant] I do.

[User] Have you thought about that scene since in terms of seeing reactions to it and wondered if you would change anything?

[Assistant] I don't think that I—so yeah, so at the end of Thunder Road, my character does a lot of stuff but at the end of the road, he slaps a corpse and it is the corpse of his ex wife, recently. And it is pretty graphic. And most people when they see it gasp and then a few messed up people laugh. But I wanted to show something that was really voyeuristic, that you're in a room with a guy who's alone, he's a cop. And I kept it in because I thought, you know, I've seen all these A24 movies and they're relatively unsanitized and Dario Argento is doing all kinds of crazy stuff like that. And like, it is interesting though, to put it into a drama and a comedy, it becomes more shocking. It's like the bed of nails theory. If you go into a horror movie, you're far more okay with someone getting their head cut off with chainsaw. But if it's comedy and someone slaps a corpse, it can be far more shocking. It's one nail rather than a bed of nails. Harder to stand on. But no, it is it is interesting. There are like reviewers on Letterboxd, I mean even friends like Demi Adejuyigbe, who when he first saw it said, 'I think it's a perfect movie, except for this one thing that happens in the end.' And that's fine. I mean, that's, you know, I made the movie in 2017. And it's okay. And yeah, I think I can't change it now. So it's there, unfortunately.

[User] Or fortunately, depending on how people are rating it. Speaking of ratings…

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] We've talked about this before about the fact that you only rate things five stars on Letterboxd and if they're not a five star for you, then we pretty much know about it, because you don't rate it. But that is not to say it's not a four star. But what you also do, is you go through other people's Letterboxd reviews of your movies and thank them, or give other great feedback. And I just think wow, that's quite time and labor intensive, but also really lovely.

[Assistant] It's great. It's great. It's part and parcel for me. One of them is you know, the endorphin rush of people—and finally seeing the reaction of people watching the films. You know, I haven't been able to greet people in a lobby, having screened a movie recently, it's nice to kind of have an interaction. The first rule of filmmaking, you should know your audience. This is like the perfect way to know the audience and how the films are actually working inside the minds of the viewers. And then also, there are people on Letterboxd that will review the Thunder Road and say, this movie couldn't have come at a better time for me, I was so lost and I just lost someone. And I always message those people or I'll find them on Twitter and do the same thing and say, hey, I'm here, if you ever need to talk. And that kind of becomes your job. If you make a really deeply emotional movie, you become this lightning rod for people who are going through hell, in the same way that Springsteen was. It's an honor, and it's not taxing on me. It's nice to be able to help people.

[User] And then there are the people who watch Thunder Road and write "Jim Cummings plays a very hot DILF" (Slim laughs)

[Assistant] That is true. I think I responded to that one.

[User] You did!

[Assistant] I think I might have "Oh, Christ."

[User] Oh lord.

[Assistant] Oh lord!

[User] Oh lord! (Gemma laughs)

[Assistant] It takes all kinds on Letterboxd.

[User] I mean, speaking of hot DILFs, shall we talk about Clive Owen?

[Assistant] Oh my god! Perfect transition. Theo Faron played by Clive Owen in Children of Men, one of my favorite movies of all time. He is so wonderful. And so… you can't take your eyes off of him. And the movie's basically following him the whole time. But that performance, it was like the first time I really took my hat off to that guy. (music from Children of Men plays) I think the first time first time I saw him was Croupier back in the day, they had it on HBO when I was a kid. And so I had known of him. But then seeing that film, I walked out of the movie theater and bought a ticket and walked right back in.

[User] Wow!

[Assistant] It was unbelievable. 2007. And I had grown up in high school and in film school, watching Tarkovsky movies and seeing you know, long takes. And Y tu mamá también has has like so many single take coverage of scenes. And so I knew that that could be, you know, something that I'd like to do. And then seeing it done so well in Children of Men, it felt like this beautiful fusion of what Spielberg was doing and then what Tarkovsky was doing, and I was like, oh, you can do them both at the same time! This is so cool for me. And I loved it. Yeah, that movie is one of the most emotional films that I can think of only in retrospect. It's an action film when you're watching. It's just disguised as an action film. But then you realize that he is trying to save this child, as a love letter to his child who died a few years prior. And when you're watching it, I watch it with my mom—later in life. And in the moment when he runs into the building and everybody's shooting at each other. It's a war zone. And it's like, this guy's insane. What is he doing? He should just like run away. My mom was like, "No. That's what you do as a parent, like, that's what you're supposed to do." And it's so beautiful. It's it's such an incredibly poignant, incredibly executed film. And, yeah, it's an experience.

[User] Do we have a second round of tears?

[Assistant] Come on! Every time she calls me out for it!

[User] You are earning your money today.

[Assistant] Well you asked me my favorite movies! This is part of me! This is why I got into this stuff. (Gemma laughs) I should have never have agreed to this podcast. (Gemma & Slim laugh)

[User] I fully support men being in touch with their emotions and expressing their emotions to the fullest. I'm 100% on board.

[Assistant] Live on air. Yeah, great.

[User] Absolutely. Especially if it's on a podcast, even better. Especially one that I'm on. (Gemma chuckles) 2006 this came out. I rewatched this this past week. Five stars. Easy.

[Assistant] Easy!

[User] Easy.

[Assistant] The first few minutes of this movie are so bonkers! This movie is so timeless. I forgot about a ton of this movie. You know, Clive Owen, miraculously, there's a pregnant woman. He's a former activist. He's protecting her. There's so many good long take shots. I mean, the chase scene where the biker pulls up to the car with Julianne Moore.

[User] It's unprecedented. It's unbelievable.

[Assistant] Are you kidding me with that scene? You can't top this!

[User] And you can't believe you're watching it either! It's like, there's so many magic tricks that go into that. If you Google for anybody listening, what the behind the scenes is on that film. It's insane. They had to build the car and then they have, they have tchibo the cinematographer on the roof of the car and lighting setup. And then they accomp in a fake roof, and then move the camera around on the inside and all of the actors had to put their seats back so that the camera can move over them for certain moments. It's like a ballet circus to get that experience of being in the car. And it it shows itself, it's like one of the best magic tricks in cinema history. And they had no business. That movie has no business being that good. And it's unbelievable.

[Assistant] I want to talk about quiet moments in this film, because we talk a lot about these big shots and these you know the incredible shootout in the building at the end and then the the soldiers stopping. For me, it's moments like when Clive Owen and Michael Caine are just sitting on the couches at Michael Caine's house chatting and there's ginger cat and there's the dog and there's you know, beautifully, beautifully behaved really fluffy pets and they're just kind of petting them and chatting about old times.

[User] It feels like you're getting stoned with Michael Caine in his living room, it's great. (Slim laughs)

[Assistant] Yeah, right? Yeah. And also, you know, we've only got a couple of hours of these people. And any scene like that, that takes, I don't know, maybe it's three minutes, but it feels like you've been awake in that house. In those three minutes you've built up the history. There's so many ways in which you can do exposition in a movie that can take you out of the moment and change the tone. And in this film, we learn that Michael Caine was a great political cartoonist. We learn that his wife was one of the world's best, you know, war photographers. We learned it through living with these characters rather than being told. And my favorite such thing is when Michael Caine's character is telling Kee and Miriam what happened to Theo and Julian's son. And he's in the foreground, he's just in the foreground by the kitchen, listening, pouring himself a wine. Listening. And we're learning in the background what happened to that son. You know, partly it's also interesting watching it this week, because they talk about—the film came out in 2006, they talk about losing him in the influenza epidemic of 2008. And I'm like… spooky.

[User] Yeah, I mean, that's subtlety. Like to focus the camera and the story entirely on him pouring himself something. And then you're hearing this guy who's being talked about listen to one of his best friends tell the story that's tragic in the background. And you're just seeing them out of focus being told this stuff. It's like, you're with this guy. And it just, it immediately connects you to him. Another wonderful thing that they do—two things. All the animals love Theo. They love Clive Owen. They're always like climbing on his legs. That's just such a wonderful thing for the filmmakers to be like, this is a likeable guy, you know the animals love him! And then the other one is they're constantly showing what's going on his feet. Where like, he'll step outside in socks, and then it's just wet! (Gemma laughs) And then he's like, oh, poor guy. And then he has to go through this sequence with just like wet socks. And then he's got to put flip flops on in their big battle sequence.

[Assistant] Yes!

[User] Yeah…

[Assistant] Like the guy's going through this like rubble in flip flops, like this poor guy. And then like when they cut to those small moments of like a breather in between these big action scenes, it's like him with his feet in hot water. And it's like, we're okay now. (Gemma & Slim laugh) This is sick. It's great. It's great.

[User] Jim, I thought you were gonna say your favorite scene with Michael Caine was when he said that iconic line (Slim in British accent) pull my finga! (Gemma laughs)

[Assistant] It's actually right before that. And it's when Michael Caine comes out, and he's telling them to get in the car. And his whole performance of his character is oh, this is fine. I dealt with this in the war. Like, this is nothing kid. And he waves goodbye like this to a little baby. Or to the girl, she's leaving. And then they take off and then it cuts to them in the rooftop. And the guy comes out of the house, the bad guy comes out of the house, and goes "there's a dead woman and a dog inside." And so he knew, he went in to do this thing knowing that he was going to get killed and he's just faking it for his friends to make sure they got away safe. Unbelievable!

[User] Also I'm pretty sure he tells him—or when they encounter him in from the house, when he doesn't pull his finger. He's like, fuck you. (Slim & Gemma laugh)

[Assistant] Yeah. Shoots him in the hand as a fuck you.

[User] That's so good.

[Assistant] The other great exchange when we first meet Michael Caine in the car with Clive Owen, obviously is when they're talking about Baby Diego, and what a wanker he was! He was a wanker!


[User] Which is so great. I feel like that's how most people talk about stuff that's in the news. It's like, this guy you're supposed to love has no reverence for this kid. He didn't have a choice. Maybe just the youngest kid. It's just great. So great.

[Assistant] Should we get to the main course of the evening? The 'Burbs starring Tom Hanks. 3.5 average. This is your final favorite movie, and your top four on Letterboxd. I have heard of this movie growing up. And I grew up—I put in my Letterboxd review—I grew up with like Scrooged, I watched Scrooged every year and I feel like I don't love it as much every year I watch it. I pick it apart. But The 'Burbs is a movie I was like comparing the Scrooged. Man, I wish I could watch this every year. It's not on Hulu. It's not on Netflix. And I was a man possessed when I watched this movie for the first time last week. Five star. Easy five star again!

[User] Easy!

[Assistant] Easy. But Jim, how does this fall into your life? Where did you first see this movie? And what's its impact on you?

[User] So the trick is you got to get the blu ray from England and you got to order it on eBay and it'll come in and that's how you got to watch it. And you have to convert a Blu-ray player in your house to be another region. (Slim laughs)

[Assistant] Easy enough.

[User] Easy! So this movie came into my life when I was a child. We had it on VHS and my dad for a minute had a van that had a TV mounted in the centerpiece of the van. So like right behind his head and it had a VCR in it so we would watch Indiana Jones and The 'Burbs all the time. And it's funny, it's like The 'Burbs because we had it, I assumed everybody had this movie that it was like you know, universally loved. But really it flopped kind of, when it came out. It did not do as well as they thought that it would despite the quality of its filmmaking. But I used to watch it all the time. And I always found it so funny because the character of Art is just so ridiculous. He is this like boomhauer kind of like Mike Judge-style character where everything that you're laughing at about this character is how his brain works. And I think that's how… that's what got me into comedy, I think, was watching this film and understanding the ensemble social dynamics of the cul de sac and how this nutcase Art was a part of it. And there are so many wonderful zingers from this guy. I mean, obviously his last line in the film, where Rumsfeld says, hey—


[User] And he turns around and goes 'my wife is home?!' (Slim & Gemma laughs) It just gets you into the guy's head and like I didn't know that you could do that with comedy until I saw this film. Like there is such thing as character comedy where any other character in the film saying that dialogue wouldn't work, it has to be this guy, it's so specific. And that movie really educated me of what exciting filmmaking and comedy are fused together and I still think it's probably the best.

[Assistant] When I watched Wolf of Snow Hollow after watching The 'Burbs, I was like man, I totally could see Tom Hanks in your role. I was like, you know, almost like swapping them and it would work perfectly. But with The 'Burbs, Joe Dante directed from, you know, the director of Gremlins, follows Tom Hanks' character his and his buddy, on this cul de sac, there's something nefarious happening in one house. This is another timeless movie, you could think of you talking with your neighbors about another neighbor. And you're not really sure during the majority of the film, if there is a horror element to this plot, you know, until you get to the very end. I agree with you. This is a movie that I want to like throw DVDs at people. You need to watch this movie.

[User] It's unbelievable.

[Assistant] We need Paramount to wake up a little bit and put this on some kind of app.

[User] It's great because it is—well it's a Universal film.

[Assistant] Oh.

[User] I only know that because the opening. Because it has the dope shot of moving around the Universal coming in.

[Assistant] Ohhh.

[User] Yes! It's on one of the lists on Letterboxd, there's a great list called Subverting the studio logo.

[Assistant] Oh, no way! (Slim laughs)

[User] Burbs makes it in.

[Assistant] It's so cool. It is so cool. And then Zodiac, another one where they have the old the old Paramount logo.

[User] Yes! It's like the 1960s or 70s one to get you in the mood. So yeah, I think really like that kind of filmmaking is just so absent these days. Where like it is something that feels like it is a Twilight Zone episode, done as a comedy that is like a timeless idea about you know, who are these strange people that live next door? It smells like they're roasting a cat in their basement. (Slim laughs) Like, somebody's gotta say something. And it's all done in this like patina of a summer fun movie, and then the horror stuff slips in. And it's really interesting that it's like, it's like they're doing both at the same time so well, and then—I'm not spoiling anything. But at the end of the film, the climax of the film, there is a wonderful monologue, one of the best by Tom Hanks, it's kind of all one shot, where he comes to the conclusion that the Klopeks are not bad guys, they're not evil ghouls, they are normal people and that they're the bad guys. They are the ones who have been jumping fences and burning the neighbor's houses down.

[Assistant] Yeah! (Gemma laughs)

[User] It's like we're the people that live in the suburbs who have lost their minds. And it's so poignant, and so wonderful. And then the movie becomes something different after that. But it's really, really poignant. It leaves the audience thinking, oh, that's the point of this movie. And it's really good.

[Assistant] One of the many, many things that made me giggle. And I'd never seen this before, you know, obviously, some reason it flopped overseas. So I don't know if it made it into theaters in New Zealand. You know, and I am certain I would have gone because this is exactly the kind of jam me and my brothers were into through the 80s, early 90s. So it was a first time watch for me this week. And it's a long time, like, you know, there are movies that made me laugh. Wolf of Snow Hollow makes me laugh, but it's a long time since the movie just made me giggle. Just outright. Like there's a difference between a giggle and laugh, right? And there were just moments where like—doors slamming open! So many doors hit so many people in this movie.

[User] The brownies?

[Assistant] Yeah, the brownies! (Gemma laughs) Corey Feldman holding the plate of brownies! I'm like wow, what a great piece of art department that plate was, because they smashed up so beautifully!

[User] It's so wonderful. I'm realizing how much I steal from this movie, but the poignance of Art walking through the house and he has this lighter, he's like lit a cigar, and he has this lighter. They're in their neighbor's house has disappeared and he takes the lighter and he goes "eh, it's all gonna end up in like a junk pile a couple weeks from now" like he's assuming the guy's dead and he pockets the lighter and it keeps walking trying to be cool. And then Tom Hanks goes, "are you going to take that lighter out your pocket? Are you not gonna steal that from our neighbor's house?" (Gemma laughs) And it's like the movie commenting on itself that you could totally get away with in a normal movie. It's so incredible.

[Assistant] One of the lists that this film is on on Letterboxd is called Films that anticipated the notion of being too online. And it is. It's a little bit like these guys are kind of stuck in a, you know, in a Facebook group full of disinformation or something. (Slim laughs)

[User] Oh, I would love to do that!

[Assistant] Right?!

[User] To make a movie about a Facebook group in a neighborhood and then how toxic that can get. (Gemma laughs) Also, they act like children throughout. They're like boys throughout and they're supposed to be grown men. One of my favorite moments is when he's in the doghouse with Carol, Carrie Fisher. And then he's out on the porch and he sees his friends walking up the driveway. He goes "no, don't come up here!" And then she comes up and goes "what are you guys doing here?" He goes "we're wondering if Ray can come out and play?" and she goes, "he's not able to come out until he resembles the man I married" and then Art goes—


[User] It's just genius! Meanwhile, you've got Corey Feldman who he's little bit like Statler and Waldorf. Right? He's the guy on veranda—

[Assistant] The oracle.

[User] Yeah, kind of commenting on the whole thing. And then there's this beautiful moment when his girlfriend says—he's set up on the on the veranda to watch what's going down tonight because they're going into the neighbor's house. And she's like, "can we just go watch a movie?" He's like "A movie? That's not real. It's the same as television! This is real! This is my neighborhood!" (Gemma laughs)

[Assistant] He's so good in that movie. And he becomes this like chaperone for the audience where it's like, the audience is laughing at these characters. And then when he's describing them, it's like, "This is Ray. He's the guy who really knows what's going on. And this Art, he's a dumb idiot. Then like they smoke cigars together they think their wives don't know about." It's like really funny contextualizing kind of leading the audience's excitement through the movie. It's brilliant. I got to talk to Joe Dante a few weeks ago.

[User] Shut up!

[Assistant] Yeah. So yeah, I told you this on the pre-show. But I live about four blocks from the cul de sac of The 'Burbs and live right next to Universal Studios now, which is really cool.

[User] Ridiculous.

[Assistant] I get to like walk up the road and just be like, oh, that's where they shot it. It's unbelievable. And then I'm watching the movie now, I'm like, that's a hill! I know that hill in the background. And he said that they shot the whole film chronologically. So they shot it scene one, scene two, scene three, for the most part because of people's schedules. And because they had to blow up the house at the end. And he said it was really ridiculous. Because so often with these comic actors, they were getting better improv than what they were getting in the script. So, so much of it was improv because it was working on the day. And I was like, how do you do that?! Like, all of my films are so forensic, they have to be! And he's like, Universal was paying for it! (Slim laughs) Universal is paying for a Tom Hanks movie.

[User] Speaking of making movies, The Beta Test. It's on the circuit now. I just want to know why all the secrecy? Why can't we have a screener? What's the story? Why is it so special?

[Assistant] Yeah. So for a long time, we had anonymous sources named in the credits. Sorry, the film is about the WGA packaging fight with the agency world. So it is a real, or was a real time thing when we were making it and finishing the film. So we didn't want anybody to see it. We have testimony and documents that went into the film, that makeup, some of the dialogue and some of the background and we 11 assistances, agents, ex agents and ex assistants give us testimony of what it's like to work in an agency during this fight. And it's brutal. Laughing about it now, but it is really a toxic and awful workplace specifically for women. And it's crazy. So we didn't want anybody to see it. And instead we had screenings in my backyard for anybody that wanted to come and see it. And now it's finally going to come out into the world in the first week in November, and then it'll be in theaters in October in the UK, maybe Australia and friends.

[User] So we don't have to feel left out for too much longer.

[Assistant] No, I think very soon.

[User] We have a section on this show where we go through your movies on Letterboxd that you rated higher than the average.

[Assistant] Oh!

[User] According to Letterboxd. So we pulled up a few titles, you know, maybe we can get a few quick takes. But Leonardo DiCaprio's film appeared on this list that you gave five stars.

[Assistant] The Beach, I assume.

[User] Yeah, The Beach.

[Assistant] The Beach is a wonderful movie that makes me feel nostalgic for life I never had. The music is fantastic. It's about Thailand in the late 90s, early 2000s. And it's just entire mise-en-scene is so wonderful and fun and sexy. And then the Alex Garland story of it being this wonderful, glorified, youthful, sexy adventure and pot smoking then becomes extremely real and humanistic, and about how man is the most dangerous animal and it's very poignant. So that's why I really love that film.

[User] Wow, there's another one on there. This turns up again! This is like, we're into episode six now, and this is the second time that Tintin has made an appearance as a five banger for one of our guests.

[Assistant] It is so unreal. And it's weird that like it hasn't really been talked about as one of the adventure classics that many of his other films or their other films have been. But it's so fun to watch. And it's so exciting and adventurous. And it's so well paced. It's incredible to look at! Like I don't know how—it must have been the most expensive movie of all time. But the performances are fantastic. And you're constantly with the characters. A bunch of long takes. Really exciting, fun, thrill ride for the whole family. And it's Tintin. It's like my favorite comics growing up, so I'm double spoiled. I think that that is such a masterpiece of filmmaking.

[User] Last time we spoke you had just come from an audition for one of the greatest directors in the world.

[Assistant] I did.

[User] I don't know if you got a role and that movie.

[Assistant] I did not. (Slim laughs) But if you want to rub it in… I'm here all day. (Gemma laughs)

[User] Vintage Gemma.

[Assistant] But I guess, you know, when are we going to see Jim Cummings in something not written and directed by Jim Cummings?

[User] So the director she's talking about Martin Scorsese, who saw Wolf of Snow Hollow, I think on iTunes when it came out, because I assume he saw it on iTunes and said The Wolf of something else?! What? They stole my title! (Gemma laughs) And clicked it and watched it and really enjoyed it. And he brought in, I think three or four actors from the cast from that film to audition for the new movie. And I think at least one of them has a part in the film, but it's not me. But it was fine! I get to meet his casting director Ellen Lewis, who casts everything. She's unbelievable. And treated me like a real actor, which is insane. But I never get asked, really. Nobody asks me to act in movies. I'll be in a big one that's coming out later this year. No spoilers.

[Assistant] Bond. (Slim laughs)

[User] Oh my god.

[Assistant] Surely. (Gemma laugh)

[User] Yeah, I'm in it for a second and I get a shot and fall down a flight of stairs. No, no. I'm in one that's coming out in the fall that's bigger that I didn't direct, that I'm stoked.

[Assistant] Is that a secret?

[User] I don't think it's a secret, I just haven't told anybody yet.

[Assistant] I think that's technically a secret.

[User] I'm in Halloween Kills.

[Assistant] Is that real? Oh my god! Really?

[User] Are you serious?

[Assistant] Man, you must've been sitting on that for a while right?

[User] Nah, it's about two years ago. Wilmington in October of 2018, 2019?

[Assistant] Oh my god.

[User] Holy shit, Jim!

[Assistant] Yeah. It's really cool. A real hero of mine, David Gordon Green. I saw All the Real Girls when that movie came out and that was another one for me that you can be a southern boy and make movies.

[User] Probably just retire after that. It's no getting better than that, entering into the Halloween lore.

[Assistant] In the Michael universe, yeah.

[User] Geeze.

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, I would love to act in more movies. It's just, the only time I ever get cast in stuff is when I say I want to make a movie and then I just direct myself.

[User] Martin probably watched Inside Out and didn't like it.

[Assistant] He had some criticism about my top four Letterboxd movies. (Slim laughs)

[User] He's listening to this and he just slammed his fist on the table. He's like, "I can't stand his top four!" (Gemma laughs)

[Assistant] "The 'Burbs?! Nah, not gonna happen! Get this kid off my set!"

[User] Is there anything else you want to say to the people of Letterboxd before you go?

[Assistant] Keep sharing movies with me. Like I really have raised the ceiling of my happiness and fulfillment over the last year which is people saying "Hey, you should check out this one. This one's really good." And I wouldn't have seen Corpus Christi had it not been for Letterboxd and people saying this is worthwhile. Yeah, keep sharing stuff with me, it means the world.

[User] Thanks so much for listening to The Letterboxd Show and thanks for our guest this episode, Jim Cummings sharing his love of his favorite movies. The Beta Test, the next one from him, is coming to US cinemas, digital and On Demand via IFC later this fall if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, or later this spring for me, and it's opening earlier in some other lucky territories.

[Assistant] You can follow Gemma, Slim—that's me—and our HQ page on Letterboxd using the links in our episode notes. Thanks composing dynamos, Moniker for the theme music Vampiros Dancoteque. And if you're enjoying the show and have guest ideas, be sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Quick shout out to Natalia for her review and guests recommendation.

[User] And thanks very much to Linda Moulton, our Booker. And that's the show! I'm gonna go change into my vacation togs.