Free With Ads - The Notebook

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

This week we watched the classic mid-aughts love story The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.Tune in next week when our movie will be... The Peanut Butter Solution.-----Visit Emily's ETSY store FlemGems!If you are in California, Jordan will be here on these dates!Wed Dec 3rd - Merced Public Library 5pm - 7pmSaturday Dec 6th - Thousand Oaks Public Library 2pm - 3pmGet a copy of Jordan Morris's comic book Predator: Black White and Blood #4!

This is free with ads. podcast that asked the question, why pay Netflix nine bucks a month to watch sappy romances when you can go online for free and watch a sappy romance with an ending so depressing you want to cheer yourself up by watching the ending of The Mist. I'm Jordan Morris. And I'm Emily Fleming. Today's movie is The Notebook. The classic love story based on the book, you've bought your mom for three different birthdays. She doesn't bring up the fact that she already has it. She just says Thanks, and drops the extra copies off at a little free library when she goes on her walks with Martha down the block. With us, as always, is the super producer, The He Freak, Matt Lieb, hitting us with those timeless drops that echo through the ages.

Lee! No, no, just wait a minute. We're not really breaking up, Bowie. Come on. Jesus Christ. I love that scene. That poor jalopy. It sounds like gunshots It does sound like

Yeah Audio only It sounds like she killed him Yes No she's just She's just banging on his old jalopy And it's like Take care of that thing

They have to return it to Jay Leno So you can drive it to Bob's big boy Local jokes get you low for I have this instead of a wife I have this instead of kids We're going to talk about The Notebook Which is as of this recording

streaming free with ads But first, we're going to dive into our mail bag with a segment called You Got Mail. This question is from Pete. They write, do you prefer watching bad movies for the podcast or good movies? I'm sure the two hours spent watching the good movie itself may be more enjoyable. However, it seems like the conversations about bad movies are more enjoyable to you all. Anybody have any thoughts on this? It's a question I think we ask a lot.

I would like to start. Yes, please, Emily. I guess I do not believe in a difference between the two. I think that we enjoy the bad movies as well as the good. I enjoy because we enjoy talking to each other. That's right. We're just hanging out. That's really just the catalyst for chatting.

That's true. That's the whole point of this podcast. A chatelist, if you will. A chatelist. Oh, Jesus. Did you get a haircut, Matt? I did get a haircut. It's too much.

Right. But it's helped your punning, apparently. That's right. I cut off all the bad puns. Right. Only left. Only left the good stuff. Like, chattelist.

Yeah, I think about this a lot. So, yeah, like, as far as, you know, on a, we record this podcast on Tuesdays. I usually watch the movie on Monday night. And sometimes, like, sitting down to watch Shark Nato by myself, right? Like, Shark Nato, great for a podcast. party great you having people over you're getting stoned just like watching by myself in the dark and taking notes on the plot is a bummer so hopefully fun to listen to us talk about it and yeah sometimes with you know you're you're more kind of classic good movies like your godfathers et cetera um i do feel

a little bit like i'm just saying this is good and then this is good and so what am i adding to this i'm just saying this movie that everyone agrees well also the movies that by the way matt i feel really guilty about giving you shit for the fact that they cut too much off of your hair. No, it's fine. I like how immediate it was. I just want you to know that you're handsome no matter

what someone does your hair. Some people are ugly and they get a bad haircut. Can you imagine? I can't even imagine because I've never been ugly. No, you have it. Okay, moving on. I think the movies that we do are iconic regardless of good or bad. So these are things that people This is memorable regardless

So it's gonna be enjoyable to watch And so I enjoy every single thing we watch I mean Godfather 2 is You know a sad Bullshit of a watch Wow As is Moonstruck Furness and shitty movie

It's like a movie that represents Matt's haircut Oh boy How dare you Your back is insulting my hair. Looks fine. He looks good. I'll tell you right now.

Could you imagine having an amazing full head of hair? I can. I do. Buzzes it down like you're going to World War II and you didn't even want to be there. Like, it's crazy. I like it. Everyone will like it too. It's too short.

You already apologized for it. I'm sorry. I'm doing it again. I'm going to steer back to the question here real quick. And away from Matt's perfect. fine haircut. I think the sweet spot for me, and I think it's good that we watch all kinds of movies

from across the spectrum. I think variety's great. It's a good selling point of this show. To me, the sweet spot is over the top. The Sylvester Stallone, arm wrestling, long-haul trucker, family drama action movie. Because, like, it's crazy.

It's a bad movie in many ways, but it's also pretty competently made. It's fun to watch, and it's fun to talk about, because it is so insane. So I felt like I was, you know, adding something and adding comedy without just like, you know, recycling the plot points of, you know, a movie people have already seen.

And I think it's a fun public service to kind of describe a really crazy movie that maybe people aren't going to sit down and watch but want to hear people talk about. So for me, I'm happy to watch all kinds of movies for this. But like, you're over the tops, your teen witches. This, to me, this to me is when the show sings. I will say that if you're going to ask me this question,

the answer is my favorite type of movie to watch and talk about is one that I've already seen so that I can just skim through it and dedicate the time because that's time away from my beautiful child who I love and take care of her hair. Oh, her hair is total of. Yeah, how does your child feel about your haircut?

She said she liked it. She said she liked it. And then she pointed to the kids barbershop and said, did you get it there? And I was like, you bitch. How dare you? You and her should hang out. By the way, I'm really looking forward to your next holiday card. I have both of your holiday cards on my fridge still to this day.

We got to take pictures. We actually have one more male segment. Oh, wow. A second? Emily. Yes. A second mail segment? Yes.

Oh, is this what I sent you that? Emily alerted me to this, and I said I would address it. It is from our Free With Ads subreddit. Which we really love that that exists, and we appreciate all of you. Yes, we love that people talk about this show, and keep posting. And if you haven't, go to Reddit.com and find free with ads, R slash free with ads. Yeah, also go on Max Funs.

Yes, check that one out too. Feel free to. Do some cross-posting people. Let's not cloister ourselves in a little Logan's run bubble. That's right. Let's get out there. Share the show. Yeah, I mean, we are so lucky to be a part of this network that represents a bunch of other shows

that are so fabulous. And if you go to, you know, when you go to the Max Funds, dot org slash join you get access to all these shows so you might as well tell all of those shows that you love us right yeah so free with ads are slash maximum fuck please okay matt you what you there's a post yes so uh the uh headline is kind of disappointed with matt oh boy and i was like oh no uh that could be a lot of things it's his wife yeah that could be a lot of things matt never takes out the trash and he puts his dishes in the sink and doesn't rinse Ever notice that about Matt?

The username is not Francesca. Not Francesco, Fiorentini. She's covering her tracks is Zena underscore Bro. And Zena Bro writes, in the first two seasons of his Sopranos rewatch podcast, Pod Yourself a Gun, Matt created a sting for a segment called It's the 90s, with a clip of Meadow saying that line,

it's the 90s. After hearing that same line, not once but twice, in First Wives Club, I was fully expecting a call back to that very well-known sting in his world-famous

podcast featured in the New York Times. Thank you for that. Matt, in parentheses, and I know you're reading this. What happened, man? To which I just want to answer for the dozens of you

who have upvoted this and are equally mad, I searched frantically. Okay, hold on. I need a little context here. Yes. Many do, I think. So you, you're a, you're a sting master.

You don't just sting for us. You sting for a variety of fine podcasts. Absolutely. And you, and there was a, there was a sting that you played on your soprano show that the listener thought should be brought over. Pod yourself a gun. That's right. I appeared on only once, which bullshit.

Once is the most that you can appear on it for the most. very very few repeat guests but in the show there is a moment in which the sopranos we describe especially early seasons as surprisingly 90s because it did come out in 1999 it has a lot of 90s stuff early aught stuff so we had a segment called it's the 90s and it starts with a quote of meadow saying it's the 90s dad people are supposed to parents are supposed to talk about sex with their kids. And then it cuts to butterfly by Crazy Town, where I remixed it, where it says, it's the 90s, it's, it's the 90s. You're my butterfly, sugar, 90s. That was the sting. And listen, I looked fucking everywhere for this thing.

I even went to an old episode and scrubbed through it listening. Now, is this because there are characters in the first wives club that say it's the 90s? Oh, they say it. I think they say it more than twice. I think they say it like three times. The third time I heard it, I was like, well, I have to use that sting. And it'll be fun. I could not find it.

I'm sorry, everyone. I still use it at random times in my life. It's fun to just say, guys, it's the 90s about literally anything. I know, isn't that the thing in, oh gosh, bridesmaids, isn't when Kristen Whig get drunk. She's like, it's the 90s. Yes, it was our favorite thing to say in the 90s. in the 90s was supposed to be the most empowering like I think feminist like you know time period

and so and also we thought the decade would never end we sure did clearly and then fucking 9-11 had to happen and ruin the it's not the 90s anymore it's not the 90s anymore it's the 90s so that's the answer to that question I searched for it desperately where's the staying math I can't find it. I think my professional opinion is I think this show has a lot of running jokes and is borderline impenetrable to do listeners. We don't need to be bringing in the running jokes from other podcasts.

We're not going to start saying hot salad. We're not going to start saying David's from England. That's a doughboys thing. We're not going to start talking about head of the family. Why will we bring in a doughboys thing? We're not going to be talking. I'm saying. No, he's making a very good point.

We don't need more inside jokes. I think we have a good pile of running jokes that people like, and we don't need to bring in running jokes. I can't believe you couldn't find the sting. I know, but you know what? I was a good sting. I will look for it a little, and I will insert it randomly somewhere in the episode. No, I'll find it, but it'll be cut from an old episode.

Okay, that's it. Okay. Let's move on. The 90s, parents are supposed to discuss sex with their children. It's the 90s. It's the 90s. As we mentioned, we're going to talk about the notebook, but before we do, we should let you know that this movie contains partner violence and mentions suicide. So if that's not something you want to hear us talk about, we're going to play some music and give you a chance to find another episode.

Hey, we're back. With ads, we're talking about The Notebook. Found out something very interesting during our pre-record chat. Of the three of us, Matt, is the only one who's seen this classic film. That's right. Matt, do you remember your first viewing of the notebook? Oh, boy, do I ever, because it was with my college girlfriend, and it was required viewing because it was a story about love, and I got to tell you.

This movie, a lot of pressure on, I think any relationship is to watch this movie, which is like, build as, oh, hey, honey, this is the movie. I want to model our relationship after. And I was like, I am not prepared to give you the level of love. And perhaps you're not understanding the elements of this movie, which are fantastical and not realistic. Exactly. The Nicholas Sparks of it all.

Sure, yes. The Christiany parts. Also, there is some context of time period, stuff of what marriage meant and the pressures of marriage and money and whiteness, which I do want to address at some point. Sure. You can always talk about the whiteness. Yeah, none of the problems in this movie are problems. Yes, it's a fantasy. and I could see Matt how someone, and you know,

it is in a very enjoyable fantasy in many ways. Oh, yes. But I could see how if someone is like, this movie should be life, maybe that's an issue. Yeah, yeah. So it was, it was, uh, I enjoyed it and I also wanted to temper expectations. But I'm surprised that neither of you had seen this movie. So I want to hear what you think about it.

Yeah. And Emily, you had you read the book? Did you know anything about this? Oh, Jordan. you know I don't read which I'm going to change my dad just gave me a copy of Barry My Heart

at Woodedney Oh it's a very dad gift That is a daddy dad gift Well if you listen to Steel Driver's music There's a lot of historical You know music and stuff like that Dad gifts can be wonderful by the way Yes and uh

By the way there will be Sam Shepard is in this movie and there's some nice little southern isms that he brings forth and so I have a little list of Mike Fleming isms because of Sam Shepard Oh yes. Anyway, yeah, I hadn't seen this movie

It was like a huge deal at the time It came out in 2004 Which is when I graduated from high school I remember it was this huge deal deal MTV movie awards that it was like best kiss it was like all this stuff I don't know it just looks so sad to me because when I graduated from high school in 2004 I had a high school sweetheart who was one year younger than me and it was it felt like that kind of love story and right I couldn't watch it it just would have bummed me out too much so I avoided it and now I know why because I

I have not been able to stop crying for like two hours. Like, I am heartbroken because of this movie. Yeah, it does, it does. It does the thing it sets out to do. It sure does. Well, yeah, let's talk about it. The notebook, it starts with a scene of someone rowing a boat against a sunset while an old woman watches some real fake-ass, CGI geese. Do they look so fake?

they're perhaps in her head maybe maybe that's the explanation or it's because john casavetes is dead and his son nick casavetes is who's directing this oh is this a nick cassavetes movie it sure is and gina rollins um who is one of the best actresses of all time um that's her son oh i love that Which I do kind of love that, too. Well, she is, as we mentioned, she plays a old woman yet to be named. Gorgeous old woman. Who has dementia. Looking great, dressed amazing, jewels, the whole thing.

She is in a nursing home and an old man, also unnamed, played by James Garner, comes to read to her every day. And he's reading her a story about young love. this and then so that's the kind of the framing device so periodically we'll return to them in the nursing home but then the main story of the movie is about this young couple played by well we we need to establish that she is either you know memory impaired dementia Alzheimer's like yeah sure something's going on but but they have the privilege of living in the same assisted living home which oh yeah that's the fantasy well the fantasy is having someone who loves you and just to let you know if this were my soprano's podcast i would play my sting of tony saying it's a retirement community

only my fans would understand that and by fans i mean 12 people who remember this podcast i don't know it seems like a lot but yeah i think that the that she is not able she's in and out of memory Like sometimes she can remember things, other times she can't. But the most important thing I think about when seeing this movie is I don't know which lover it is. Right. This is the mystery of the movie, I think, is you're wondering, is this Gosselin or is this? Yeah, I kind of the other guy. I wondered that a little to you how much of a twist that was supposed to be.

I think I just kind of assumed, like, oh, this is them when they're old, but it kind of throws. you a couple of curve balls. Well, he's got brown hair. He's got brown hair. So you're like, spoiler alert for the notebook. This is them. It's the thing you think it is immediately.

Is it Chris Pine? No, James Marsden. James Marsden. I always like watching pop up. I love Marsden. What a treat. Marsden, what a fun, what a fun presence. You know what have been really funny is if it had been Kevin Connolly E.

from Entourage. Yes. So he's, so the, the two guys we meet, the two 1940s rap scallions with their suspenders lowered to their bottoms. It's Ryan Gosling and

one of the guys from Entourage. Not turtle. Vinny or Turtle. What are we got? Who do we got left? There's Vinny, Turtle. Eyebrows. Cooter. The Duke. Matt Dillon's brother.

Well, wait. Who's the, I call the main guy eyebrows. Pugans. Adrian, was that his name? Adrian Brody. No, can't be Adrian Brody. Coming up with fake entourage guy name. Whoever the main entourage guy is, I just call him eyebrow, drive me crazy.

Yeah. No, this is e-brows. E-brows. So, there are two guys. They're out on the town. They're at a carnival. It's what you did in the 40s. And they see the most beautiful gal.

It's Rachel McAdams, and she is on a bumper car. They try and get her attention She's kind of not having it She's there with another guy And then her and that other guy Get on a Ferris wheel together And Ryan Gosling Impulsive

Love Struck Ryan Gosling Like jumps onto the car with them And I am like, no I think I'm such a rule follower I'm just like It's two people It don't you can't have three people on that Maybe it's watching too many Final Destination movies

Where I'm like That's gonna fuck up everything. Jordan, I think you are 100% correct in feeling this way. I also was worried for the just the entire Ferris wheel. I was like, the wait. It can't

take the way. Yeah. I would love it if this movie was a little final destination and maybe like it gets them at the end at the nursing home. Maybe that's what did it. They were supposed to die on the Ferris wheel. This movie is a final destination. Holy shit. Anyway.

Or he like somehow him going up there made the whole seat flip and they're both like stuck in the same hospital for the rest of their life it's terrifying and it gets more terrifying because he after the first world goes up he like jumps onto the railing and hangs on and says he's going to let go if she doesn't agree to go on a date with him and this is one of those things funny scene in a rom-com cute in real life this is the behavior of a psycho Psychopath. True psychotic behavior. Truly. It's cute because Ryan Gosling is the cutest most charming guy ever to appear in a film. Well, also because everybody talks about their grandma talking about their husband going, I told him no. And then he showed up at my window every night until I said yes.

Oh, how did I meet your mother? Well, I serial stalked her from a horse. No matter how loud she said. screamed, I kept pursuing. Can I tell you? I wrote her letters threatening her life until she said, okay, let's go on a date.

Can I tell you the flip side? Please. The flip side is, and I am not saying that any of that is okay or conducive or whatever, I can't get a motherfucker to text me back. Like, I can't, like, it's so crazy to me that there are people who would climb

a goddamn carous, like, something, and I can't get somebody to pay for my beer at a Dave and Busters. This is why it's a lot of pressure to see this movie with a girlfriend. If you see this movie with a girlfriend, the pressure is the fantasy fun part of it is being chased and stuff.

So yes. And then, so she, and I'll admit, I think they do give her a lot of agency in this movie and she is a pretty good character. She is an excellent character. I really like her. She can paint. So you can pay it.

They give her a thing. She does have a thing. She has a thing. So she says yes to him so he doesn't let go and kill himself in front of the carnival. And she pulls down his pants and we don't see how he survives that. Oh, yeah. So she pulls down his pants and I'm just going to say regular boxers with no hearts on them. Guys, put hearts on these boxers.

It's a hundred times funnier when the boxers have hearts on them. When the little guy in ghosts and goblins loses his armor, he's not wearing regular boxers. He's wearing heart boxers because those are the funniest boxers. Oh, my God. Did no one do punch up on this movie? I would love it if one of the people who did punch up who didn't make it was just like, yeah, that's what I said. I was saying heart boxers. I told Cassavettys.

That's the funniest boxer. I said Cassavetes, and then he's going to look at the camera and say, oh, so that happened. That would be so sick. Really? By the way, briefs were invented in 1935. So I think he should have been wearing briefs. I don't know. There's a few things in the future of this episode that leads us to believe he is a big old dong.

So maybe briefs were not. plausible for him. Perhaps, yeah, Gosling can't wear a briefs. It'll just pop out and the movie will be rated R. That's right. Or he just, he can't hold them.

He can't hold it in. He can't hold it in the briefs. Heartboxers solves everything. Anyway, nobody's dick has ever popped out of heart boxers. That's right. I doubt it. So, so she says no to him,

but then they get like set up by his friend. So E sets them up. And would you believe it? He's a blue collar guy from one side of the tracks. And from the other side, she's a rich kid. Her parents are just there kind of like on vacation for the summertime. And as Emily mentioned, she has a thing she loves to paint. And so they go on this very strange little date where they walk around and they like lay down in the street and watch streetlights.

Well, they see a movie for. They go see a Buster Keaton movie, which looked pretty funny, and then they lie down in the street, and then they dance in the street. And like a car comes and almost hits them, and she loves it. She's laughing it up. She's having a great time dancing around in the street. Well, he makes her do multiple dangerous things. Sure. So he threatens to kill himself on a Ferris wheel.

Right. And then he takes her on a date and immediately tells her to lay in the middle of the road. Yes, and I think what this is doing, it's, oh, he's shaking her out of her safe life that she's her cloistered back then, so he couldn't be like, smoke some weed. He's a manic pixie dream boy. He is, yes, exactly. And it's like, you know, we've seen, we've seen the manic pixie dream girl so much that we forgot that occasionally it's a boy who's just like, get out of your shell, stand on a chair. Dance with me. Stand on a chair.

Playing. Yeah, you know, and you know what? This does it. They're in love and we get a love montage, which is very cute. They're eating ice cream. They're trying to get an old jalopy to work. And then a whole new song starts playing and they just do another one. There are back-to-back love montages in this.

Oh, and they were great. They were great. They were great. They're a lot of fun. So as we mentioned, his dad played by Sam Shepard. He's a nice dad. They read poetry together. Boy.

Her dad, another story entirely. Okay, this is maybe the hardest I've left watching a movie for this podcast. So we know that her family is going to be rich snobs, right? We have not met them, but we just know they're going to be rich snobs just because of how they talked about her and because we've seen this type of movie a lot. So we, she goes up to her big house that they're. renting and we hear her dad say like welcome home darling and they pan to this guy who looks like he looks like a cartoon of a rich person from an 1800s newspaper he might as well have a sword that

says manifest destiny on it he's he has a handlebar mustache he is smoking a pipe he's wearing a he needed a monocle he really needed it all this guy is missing to be cartoon of a rich person it's so funny when they cut to this guy but i didn't hate him as a character no no They didn't make him as as unlikable as they made her mother. Yes. Who does have, has a redemption arc eventually. But at first you're like, wow, this mother's terrible. Well, the woman who plays her mother, you may recognize from Pleasantville.

Yeah, Joan Allen. The great Joan Allen. Yes. Who I think we know. And again, one of those actors, you just fucking love to show up in something. She's great in this. She can do anything except a Southern accent. Not great.

You know what I love about that is that they didn't even, they, like, they were like, E from Entourage. Ain't nobody in this movie can do it. Yeah. They don't, they don't even make E try. They're like, no, no, no. You're just being, people will just watch you and go, oh, I guess they got a Boston guy in South Carolina. Can I tell you, if you talk to somewhere from South Carolina, the craziest accent you will ever hear in your fucking life. It's a little bit more like this.

No, no. No. You ain't even do it. and it just is it. I'm doing it perfect. No. It is. Are you wild?

I don't know how that happened. It just turned into that. I didn't mean for instance. Cubs win. Why do you have allergies because you're from South Carolina? It's because of all the pollen. Right. It's a famously,

famously pollen heavy area. It is a bunch of people just kind of, you know, half ass in it. But it's, but I do. Well, I guess that there is some justification because maybe they're half and half New York, half and half, like, you know, South Carolina, because she's going to school in New York or whatever. But I think the only person that kind of sells the accent is Rachel McAdams. Like, that's the only...

She's the only one who's trying. Well, also, the performance of the movie is Rachel McAdams. She's terrific in that. She's so good. And the crazy thing. is she did this movie the same year she did mean girls so it's like she and she's unrecognizable is the crazy thing like that wig and mean girls versus this like I remember seeing this um I think it was a 17 magazine or was it Cosmo at this time and she was wearing a black wig in the photo shoot and it was like you can't tell this is Rachel McAdams and it was trying to show you how she can be anyone. Yeah. And then

she got stuck playing some girl from something after that. And it makes me so fucking angry to this day. She's a chameleon, people. She's still a big star. Yeah. She is, but she should be a bigger star. That's how

I feel. Yeah, she is fantastic in this. I've seen a couple other of this style of movie that she's in and she like always elevates it and she's family stone and she is almost naked a few times

in this but not which is total bullshit and also the sex scenes and the almost sex scenes in this movie so hot boy did I almost make

noises in the back of an Uber on the way at home so yeah well we're kind of almost there so that you know hit her parents Joan Allen and I don't know Moustache. Mordecai, the Johnny Depp character, Mordecai.

They don't like him. He's a poor guy. And so he, but they're still running around together. And he's like, do you want to go somewhere? And they go to the most haunted looking house I have ever seen. I half expected him to say, like, we're going to go look for my little brother Georgie, who went down a sewer grate looking for a balloon. It's so, okay, I had the worst.

weirdest deja vu, have we done another movie where people go to make out in a haunted house in a non-horror movie? It's so scary. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not, it, it sort of rings a bell, but in general, I had the same feeling about this movie, which was, it was very Stephen King-pilled, but without being a horror film. Yeah. Because I mean, like, from the beginning where you start off in the like, you know, this, uh, why am I the last person that finds this scary? I, It's not that I found it's scary, but I did feel like the ending of this movie was going to be Ryan Gosseling as an old person showing Rachel McAdams a mouse that lived forever. Like, it was very the green mile. It's like, I mean, there is a, I mean, the end is a little supernatural, you know?

Like, it does have that little bit of, you know, magic to it. Anyway, I think Nicholas Sparks would argue that's the magic of the Lord Christ. Well, I don't know. I think that the abandoned house, like, making out in, I guess I've done those things. So you've made out in a haunted house. Well, here's the thing that I thought about while watching this movie. Wait, Emily, that guy you made out with, he died 10 years ago tonight. Bitch, I wish.

Anyway. No, I mean, I, what I was thinking of while I was watching this, I was like, this is the 40. they're getting in cars making out going like and she's supposed to be 17 I had like curfews like set at 10 o'clock and then eventually at 11 o'clock like I got in trouble like crazy for things yeah this because it was before the time where everyone had a TV that had commercials that said do you know where your kids are well no I don't know what time it was only the richest 1% had clocks Yeah, but I kind of looked at the beginning of this going, why isn't this girl have a curfew?

Why aren't her parents more worried about her? And then eventually it caught up to it. But the whole going into abandoned houses or like creepy situations, like I totally did that because you couldn't go home. You couldn't like nobody's. Right. Where are you going to make out? You have to find an abandoned house.

All my friends. had you know quote nice parents who wouldn't let us go make out i i wasn't friends with anyone who had party houses we didn't have that so it was like every once in a while somebody was dog sitting or cat sitting in an old house or we'd find an abandoned house like that was kind of the jam because you couldn't just i feel like boys could go and do stuff wherever and your parents wouldn't worry about you would you was that y'all's case that's not my experience but I also

had no one to do stuff with but I mean if you went out like did you guys have curfews yeah I did yeah yeah but I think I think your theory tracks I was I mean and I think I was also a real goody two shoes who never did anything

but I did have I you know I could you know I was just hanging around What was your curfew? Did you go to parties Jordan? Not really I would go to like cast parties for the school plays. Yeah, pretty much. And like one or two of those, maybe there was drinking. But I was, you know, my like friend group was like youth group kids who were all like,

and you know, I know obviously youth group kids can be very bad. No, no. But mine were not. Yeah. So I think I, I think if I was, if I did get into trouble, I probably would have had a curfew, but I was such a goody two shoes that I think my parents were like, eh, he's just like doing little skits. That was exactly.

I didn't go to any parties. And if I did go to a part where people are drinking, I would call my parents and be like, people are drinking. I smell a beer. But I was like, but I got fingered on the way out. Oh, yeah. We are not the same.

Don't try and relate to me. We are not the same. Should double back and mention, yes, it is wild when you learn that these two are supposed to be in high school. They are absolutely the oldest teens. Oh, this teen. Anyway, so the sex scene, yes, I think we're meant to believe that neither of them has ever done anything like this before. Well, it's the first possible sex.

Yes, and then, so he lays down a blanket, and then they just kind of like... On a hardwood old floor. Covered in blood and chalk outlines. and they just kind of stare at each other nervously and then like gradually take off their clothes and then they like lay down and kind of kiss and then she's always asking him like oh what are you thinking what are you thinking

and then you know it kind of you know ruins the mood and then entourage guy bursts in and says and that'll ruin the mood when an entourage cast member walks in. Jeremy Piven walked in on me once Oh, boy. I blasted harder than I've ever blasted before. Oh, yeah!

You know, a less observant movie would just have them have this, like, amazing sex immediately, but there is this like, oh, you know, sometimes, like, you know, first time's weird, and they've never done it before, and they're from another time, and didn't it? So, you know, I think the, like, awkwardness of this is, like, you know, fun. And there's a kind of a fun fantasy later on when they do actually get together, and, like, it blows, you know, they've, you know, they've, blow each other's minds and there's a fun little fantasy to that in the same room oh i wish i could like get back with the person i was awkward with in high school and show him like i know what i'm doing

now i read a book but the other thing is the realistic uh tension of your first time which i really liked um it's clear that he has done it before okay interesting i didn't i didn't pick up on that Oh, for sure. Like, he knew what he was doing or whatever. And I do think that there is stuff about any romance thing where it's like the man has done it before. And the girl is always a virgin, right? Like, I mean, look at Titanic or like, look at anything. And it's always this girl who's like, oh, could you do it to me?

Like, could you show me? Could you show? It's like that is the fantasy. to see but instead she's like what's your deal have you thought about this before what is it that's going through your head did you think this was already going to happen am i special is like what was going through her head in my opinion where it's like am i just another fucking person that you're doing this to some chicky meat in a bumper car yeah or do i mean something do you love me what does it matter like you've already told me like

I love you blah blah blah you want to marry me that doesn't mean shit like honestly words don't mean anything there is something about in the moment where you're losing like for a woman especially with the pressure about virginity which virginity is not real it's bullshit but in the 1940s it's hell of real yeah sure like so he wasn't able to answer the questions and I honestly honestly Leslie was like, listen, dumbass. You weren't able to, like, fucking go. I'm so excited to do this. I've been fantasizing about it ever since I met you. I love you. I want to be one with you. Like, Jesus Christ.

Like, fucking say something. Pick your cliche, Gosling. Yeah, he's put a pair. You were able to hang from a Ferris wheel. Right, exactly. But you can't come up with something to say about why. sex is important between the two of you. Right.

Anyway, I think the tension though for a romance I liked it. I liked that they got us real wet and then they were like, but no, no, no. Yeah, so they have to wait many years and endure many wars. So, yeah, so E from Entourage, he

busts in, he ruins everything. They've called the cops. They're looking for her. She's been out past two AM. So they take her away and she never, they take, they take her away. She's going to college in New York, too. She's going to Sarah Lawrence. And he writes her every day. He is, he, him and E moved to Atlanta. They enlist in World War II. And he writes to her every day. And she does not send a response. And so, you know, he kind of gives up on her and kind of meanwhile in her story, she, volunteers as a nurse and meets

a guy who's been horribly scarred by war. Well, he wasn't scarred. He's just all right. He was, yeah, he healed nicely. She meets him and he's pretty messed up in the hospital. He's all bandaged up. And, but yes, turns out he heals amazing. It's hunky ass James Marsden.

And he's the perfect guy. He's the perfect guy on paper. He's like this rich kind of guy from a nice family. Which she's rich too. Of course. Yeah. So how much rich do we need? Exactly.

Yeah, one person can be poor. That's fine. Right. As long as the other's rich, I don't get it. Well, I mean, if the dude is rich and the woman is poor, that's okay, I guess. And so, yes. And we so get a whole other fallen in love montage of them. Yeah.

Just. Which perfect. I love movies like this where they make the guy. perfectly nice. Like there's nothing wrong with this guy. He's not a bad man. He just ain't the right man. Yeah. And I think I think this movie is pretty like humane

towards most of the characters. It is. Nobody's an outright villain. You know, a like, you know, a broader movie. I mean, this movie's pretty broad. But a broader movie would like have him be like some sort of cheating asshole. Right. Be a bad guy so that everyone can feel good about what eventually happens. Yeah. And then Gosling is also having his kind of own little kind of, you know, get over her relationship with a war widow.

Martha, I believe, and Martha's also very nice. Well, she looks a lot like Rachel McAdam. She does look a lot of Rachel McAdam. So, yeah, anyway, so it turns out when Gosling comes back from war, his dad bought him the haunted house, and he's fixing it up, and he goes to Atlanta to like do, or goes to wherever she is. I don't know where anyone is at this point. Goes to New York or something.

Yeah, I don't, this Atlanta to South, South Carolina is where it takes place. It takes place, but I guess Atlanta to, I don't get it either. He goes, he goes somewhere to do something and he sees Rachel McAdams, just coincidentally, kiss in Marsden, and he's like, well, it's over. Oh, also a lot of people, a lot of people die just really quick. He dies in war, his dad randomly dies. Oh, yeah, that's right.

Yeah, they just kill them all off. Ryan Gosling's dad is played by Sam Shepard. Playwright actor. God damn, is he talented? He plays his dad, and I love his... He's the only one selling a Southern accent, by the way. And he reminds me of my dad a lot. So we know that Ryan Gosling's character, like,

she meets him and his dad on a front porch. in the beginning of their, like, love affair. And he's reading his dad poetry. But his dad says when he meets her, she's an artist, right? Like, she, and he goes, wow, that's beautiful. That's a damn picture right there about her painting. And I'm like, what an insult to your son's girlfriend's painting. Yeah, that's a picture right there.

Well, that sure looks like some colors on campus. Well, it seems like you painted something. So I asked my family about some of my dad's other things that he says, because it reminded me, my dad will say, is that the costume for today? Cute, cute. About my outfits. And when I had curling, like, curlers in, he'd go,

how many stations get on those things? that's cute dad and if he saw a red car he'd go they'll have to settle for that one until they can get a red car I don't know that I get that I don't think I understand that if the car is super bright red he'll go well they'll have to settle for that until they can get a red car I get it I get it I don't get it it's like saying is dad joke over my head is it hot enough for you it's well it's like he's saying he's like look at that asshole with a super red car right yeah it's like it's too red it's not red enough you guys well fuck i guess they'll have to settle for that till they get a red car a real a real legend uh okay so uh we're

about to get to uh their their long-awaited reunion and we'll talk about it right after this We're back. It's free with ads. We're talking about the notebook. So Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, they're separated. He wants nothing to do with her. He thinks she has a new guy. And she does. She's getting married, but sees in the newspaper. One, the newspaper has written about her upcoming wedding. And then she says, sees a story about him having fixed up his house. I guess you just put whatever in the newspaper in the 40s. I know. He's on the front page to man fix his house. Anyway, so she knows that he's back at the house. And so she does a Hail Mary.

She doesn't tell James Marston what she's doing. She's just like, I have to go clear my head. And he is totally fucking understanding about it. I think that's like one of the big fantasies of this movie is that like, apart from her parents being. kind of dicks. Everyone's really understanding with each other in it. Yeah. Yeah, and it's really sweet.

Yeah, I really love that. It was and it also kind of puts you in a position as a viewer when you see them as older people. That's when I was like, wait, maybe this is James Marsden old. Like, I wasn't sure. Yeah. That's what I

thought too. He proved himself to me where I was like, wait, no, he is the one then. He let her go and she returned. Right. And Ryan Gosling would absolutely not accept that shit. Are you kidding me? He would freak out

and they'd have a huge fight. In fact, their relationship is far less healthy than her in Marston. Yeah, it's one of those things. Like, if you look at this practically, it is a very toxic relationship. It is toxic.

Like this whole idea, like she hits him constantly. Oh, we fight and then we make up. I'm like, yeah, that is not a good relationship. Hang on. Yeah, okay, okay. arguments can be made. You have another point.

I think there is like a lot of privilege to this movie of this wealthy white girl having to, like, there are no problems for this girl. She will always be taken care of because she's rich. She went to like Marsden and she went, I used to paint. And he's like, okay, you could have told me that. Right. But I do think with the Ryan Gosling character, he bought her, like he built her a studio without her ever asking. Right. There's certain things in this that like where Noah, Ryan Gosling's character, does prove himself to be a true love who like knows her inside and out.

Absolutely. Yes. But I will say. But he still seems volatile. Yes. And he would still punch you in that fucking. Right. I'm sorry, like, a lot of that, a lot of that is a manipulation tactic.

A lot of that is a sign of an unhealthy relationship. It's like, it is okay to, for the love of your life to be like, I didn't know you wanted me to build you a studio. You should have asked. That's okay. It's true. She should have been with Marsden. If she was with Marsden, she would have never had dementia. Let's keep going to.

That's true. Yeah. And it does seem like, and you are kind of tricked a little bit because it does seem like James Garner is a totally different character. Yes. So, you know, yeah, at no point does these seem like the same people. Exactly. I think it all comes down to the fact that Gossling was better at sex.

Yes. And that's the message. That's, you know, the sex, it solves everything, says the notebook. So, yeah, so we have, so they do, so she goes over and, like, stays with him. Her, this kind of happens afterwards, but his, Martha, the woman he's kind of sleeping with. comes over and again very understanding they just have they invite her in which is maybe a little shitty maybe martha wants to go be alone anyway and they like have this anyway in a more in a more riverdale version of this they all would have become a quad marston martha anyway uh but uh they

they do it after going on a robot ride uh with through a big flock of real geese way too many ducks A geese, I believe. And I think this is the like, same shit. Same whatever. I did see one swan. I did see one swan. There was a swan. And I'm like, get out of there.

This is the geese. You don't belong here. This is a geese pool. Anyway, it was the 40s. They could be racist towards swans. The geese would have been more racist if you look at it. They would have hated that swan. That's great.

So yeah, that's the callback. That's kind of what she's remembering there in the beginning. They have a passionate kiss in the rain. then they actually have sex. You don't see anything, which is total bullshit, but they do blow each other's minds, and they do it on the bed and on the floor, and every witch away.

Yeah, and he's like, what are you trying to kill me, woman? I love that. Take a pencil to it, bitch. Yeah, I know, exactly. What are you doing? Take a pill. Well, the first sexy eating.

Pussy eating would not be invented for 20 years. I know, unfortunately. Yeah. It was before. I love it. Before the invention of pussy eating by, I don't know, JFK. Y'all are completely right on this. I mean, the first sex scene, like the passionate, like, honestly,

these are two of the sex scenes in cinema that have, who, like, really did it for me. And I didn't see much at all. But the first one turned me on more than the second one. I'll be honest, because I thought they were doing it. like multiple times but i'm also like ruins it oh well he had to ruin it because the cops blah blah blah but i'm like put a finger in there motherfucker why does it have to be your day thank you that's right which i mean i i okay i don't know if you guys knew girls that thought they could save their virginity by doing it in the butt i

Again, this is not, I had a very different high school experience. No, yeah. This did not come up. I'm aware that this is a thing. I had heard about that in high school. I had heard about that. And I was always just like, I would settle for a handy. Sure.

Okay. So I heard about it. I heard about it from girls in my church youth group. Yeah, yeah. That said if you do it in the butt, it doesn't count. And I'm like, what the, fuck is wrong with fingers i don't understand that's right but and then like a couple fingers up the butt no but yeah there's there are we see that like photo of jesus where he's got the two fingers

up like that those fingers are for putting in pussy right yes so what happens in the movie jordan anyway it's basically yes um and Anyway, so yeah, they have sex and it's great, and they're in love now. She breaks up with Marsden, he's very nice about it. We kind of cut back. He's really nice, a great guy. I hope he found love.

Maybe with Martha, that would have been fun. Oh, shit. We should set them up. They should set them up. They should set them up. They would be great. She's kind of a bummer, but yeah. We periodically kind of cut back to the old people,

and they're like kids come to visit. Their kids come to visit, and they kind of try and fake you out and think they're not his kids. And here's something I, that always blew my mind would have. Happened a couple of times. Periodically, so he's reading her all this out of this notebook. And periodically she would go, this is such a lovely story. I'm like, all right.

I love this wonderful tale. It surely will go down as a classic, this wonderful, oh, this prose. I love, yeah. Oh, this wonderful prose. That's Nicholas Sparks. Story. Nicholas Sparks writing his grandma giving him a really good book review. Yeah.

And Nick Cassavetti's doing a movie about his. Yeah. So we're like, all right. Yeah, she should have turned to the camera said, it's a great story and also very well directed. Very well directed. Yes. All right, it ain't the Philadelphia story, people.

Anyway, so yeah, she breaks up with Marsden. She picks Ryan Gosling. She runs back over to the house. And we learn that, yes, the thing we kind of suspected in the first scene was actually true. The old couple is them. She wrote the notebook when she learned she was getting dementia and had him read it to her every day.

So she would, so she like, God, there's a lot of, like, medical weirdness at the end. So it's like, well, she remembers sometimes and she doesn't others. end of this movie is fucking devastated. Oh, it's so, I know. So she remembers briefly, they dance, and then she forgets him and yells at him. It's such a, like, yeah.

And then... They're dancing, too. I'll be seeing you. I think it was a version sung by George Burns, but I'm not really sure. Yeah, okay. His performance in that scene is... Oh, it is.

It is. Academy Award-worthy. His performance, like... Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I, I, up was, I was holding back tears during that. Oh, I was sobbing.

Yeah, you came into this pod sobbing. Yeah. I was like, oh, shit, she just watched that ending, huh? I did. That ending, though. And then they lay down together, and he's like, do you think our love can cause miracles? Can we both go together?

And then they both die in the middle of the night next to each other. And that's the end. Oh my god The prestige They really hit you with just 10 depressing things at the end of this Yeah and funnily enough The most depressing thing is that

It's a whole movie where you don't see dicks going in Yeah I just feel like What? Well wouldn't it have been better if When they had sex we got to see it Couldn't agree more I don't know why

And again if you're going to pull down someone's pants. I hate to harp on this. Harp boxers are funny. Yeah, I agree. And they definitely, wait, let's see, when were heartboxers invented? Hey, Grock!

Don't ask Grock. Don't ask Grock. Oh, no, he's doing more racial slurs at me. No, Grock. Can't you just answer something without insulting my ancestry? Ask GROC about the 40s. No, don't. Anyway, we're going to say what we thought about

the notebook first. bitch Okay, so he could have had heart boxers It was a time period appropriate It wouldn't have been anachronistic

Anyway, we got to do the hunk watch It's hunk watch Yeah, I think we've probably given it to her before but I'm going to go ahead and give it to Joan Allen Good and everything

You know, southern accent's a little shaky But oh my God I just love Oh maybe I gave it to her in face off She's the Chautravolta's wife in face off I forgot that she was in face off

Yeah, look at that. She's in everything. She's in everything. What a career. Give it like, this man loves women. Yeah. Yeah. So what about you, Emily?

Who's your hung? Oh, it's Sam Shepard. Okay. Okay. Yeah. It is Sam Shepard. Well, he's very problematic. He is not a faithful.

Well, he's dead. Yeah, there you go. It's the ultimate. God canceled him. He sure did. Not a faithful. What are we doing here? We cancelling people for being cheetahs.

Not me. I say God gives you a pass once a year. Well, here's the thing. In a romance movie, I think it bears like a mention. Sure, sure, sure, sure. I mean, he's incredibly talented. I love his performance. And he's a great dad.

Yeah. And the only one who nailed a southern accent. Yes, that's true. And of course, Ryan Gosling is number two. My God, what a weird jaw. Yeah. Like, where does it start? Where does it end?

It's like Jay Leno decided to go into a wrinkle in time and pull Ryan Gosling out. Like, where's the jaw? I don't know. It's forever jaw. Matt, thoughts? Ryan Gosling, duh. Yeah, sure. Yeah, that's easy.

You know, I said Joan Allen to mix it up. But, yeah, Ryan Gosling got it. I mean, this made him a star. I mean, he was not a, he was just like a Canadian kid's actor. Some weird Mickey Mouse Club kid. Weird, yeah. Oof. He's great in this and, yep, like seeing him in movies.

Good movie actor. Okay. We were going to say what we thought about the notebook on a scale of 1 to 10 super loud commercials when we come back. We're back. We're going to rank the notebook on a scale of one to ten super loud commercials. But first, we want to remind you to go to maximum fun.org slash join. Hey, the holidays are coming up. You got travel.

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Maximumfund.org slash join. You get all that stuff, keep this show going okay the notebook one to ten super loud commercials uh matt do you want to go first as the is the notebook expert what you think of what you think of your rewatch yes that's right uh so this is the second or third time that i've seen this movie and i haven't seen it since probably like 2006 uh upon rewatch i really liked it and finally it was free from the text of being in a relationship that wasn't going to work out

and so just being able to watch it on its own I really I really enjoyed it I'm going to give it a seven solid seven okay I'll go next well Emily bring this home I think you will probably have the most to say yeah I had not seen this and I'm right there with you I had a good time charming actors

just all your favorite folks being being great on camera and you know you have some cliches you have some like rom-com stuff that you know it's a little like if you think too much about it but what are you doing thinking too much about it that's your fault um so yeah it's the notebook i liked kind of seeing where all the memes came from all the kind of moments that you you know see people writing about and it is like a classic movie that i think is like

gonna stick around forever i'm gonna give it a six uh emily oof a six all right um i cried my eyes out at this movie i do think it is like romantic kind of Fluffy, like that kind of thing. But in terms of, like, wistful period romance, especially from modern, like, post-2000, I'm very impressed with it. Like, I thought it was very sensitive to a lot of things, especially with the mother.

Usually, like, the father is this overbearing character that is like not my daughter like super angry and instead it was this father who's like I understand like what I've been there or whatever and then the mother being the overbearing one who gets in the way of things

and then you have the opportunity to understand things from an older woman's point of view in that time period I just really love the way they treated a woman's point of view view in this movie and I I don't know I'm giving it a nine a nine I loved it I really loved this movie

I hate that he's a psychopath but I love the story if you do that to any romance or rom-com they fall apart like that but I will say this this is the best kissing I have seen in any movie we have watched. Fucking open your mouth and make it wet. Is it so difficult?

Like this dry-ass lippy bullshit, we've seen in so many, these kisses are like, oh my God, it's these movie, this movie made me feel a lot of things. I cried very hard. It made me think about my grandparents.

I, and how they fucked. Sorry, no, that's, I'm kidding. No, they loved each other.

Anyway, nine, nine. All right. That's our review of the notebook. Anybody got anything to plug, Emily? I'm going to keep plugging that Flemgems holiday is coming up. Oh, yeah. I still don't know what colors. I'm so excited.

But keep an eye out. This is your Etsy jewelry shop. Yes. Oh, thank you, Jordan. it's uh phleg gems is my etsy jewelry shop holidays coming up i i don't know what the color scheme is going to be but keep your eyes out if you want to look at my instagram m flemeli e m flemley e m f l e m i l y that's where you'll find out what the color scheme is and everything so keep an eye out now all right uh i got a couple uh book events coming up uh in december and they are both at

public libraries. We're cheap skates on this show. We love a public library. I am going to be at the Merced Public Library in beautiful Merced, California, on December 3rd, 5 to 7 p.m., doing a little book event with some other authors. And on Saturday, December 6th, I'm going to be at the Thousand Oaks Public Library from two to three talking about how to make comics. So that's the Merced Public Library, December 3rd, the Thousand Oaks Public Library on December 6th. um yeah come out to those say what's up and support your local library okay tune in next week when our movie will be the peanut butter solution

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