The Notebook

Seeing Read - The Notebook
Jim: Welcome to Seeing Red, to all of our fans out there. If you're a bird, I'm a bird. On today's episode, we're gonna be talking about the notebook. How's it going?
Kelly: so, so wonderful. I mean, I read the notebook. So life is, is a bowl of cherries right now. How are you doing?
Jim: Are you feeling positive and upbeat, or really depressed? Because you could go one of two ways from this, from this book.
Kelly: I, I don't know. I feel like it, it did get me, I, this, this manipulated me the way it wanted to, but I feel, I feel good cause I'm not old into crop head. So I'm, I'm gonna go with
Jim: We got time. We got time.
Kelly: We got some time. I'm on borrowed time.
Jim: Welcome to another episode of Seeing Red with Jim and Kelly. Kelly. What's been going on in in your book world?
Kelly: In my book world, I don't have too much going on as of right now. I'm about to start in Dian, like we've been talking about for two months now. So I'm really excited to get into the rest of the Hyperion Cantos. On book number two. Still halfway done with book number two. It's getting really good.
Kelly: yeah, I'm like, I'm excited for you to get to the end of the second book because that has that conflict resolution that is missing in the first book. But I'm kind of curious about how the third book goes because it's not following the same people necessarily. It's kind of like a different story that like juts off from I think a little bit further in the future.
Kelly: So I'm just excited to go back into that world. It was like, it's so warm and cozy and I just love it there. I wanna go to the backwards in time. What is it called? Ruin.
Jim: Yeah. Know what I mean? Like the, the time tombs. I wanna go there. I wanna have the Merlin disease. It sounds wonderful.
Jim: I want to have the Merlin Disease at like 70.
Kelly: I wanna reach the top and then I wanna
Jim: go. Where
Kelly: the hill. Yeah. All right. It's like Sisyphus, but with aging. I like that. Yeah. No, I'm reading, so I'm gonna start in Dian. I am about to wrap up the days of abandonment by El Elena Fete. It was a little hard in the middle of the book. It's definitely, it's a definite female rage book, so I thought this went very well.
Kelly: If I was pairing a Gone Girl with another novel, this is definitely more well written and darkest hell in certain parts and extremely visceral. But I really like the third ads, which talks a lot more about the children in a relationship that are shared between two adults that are fallen out of love, basically with each other whether one of them wanted to or not.
Kelly: So I think it's really cool. And I mean, like, I'm down to read some more Elena Fete. I just don't know. It's like watching an Oscar film. I have to definitely be in the mood for this. This is not gonna be like, oh, what a fun novel. I'll pick this up and see what happens. And then it's just all about like relationships crumbling and wanting to, you know, Madea your own children.
Kelly: So uh, it's February. I need a lift, guys.
Jim: That's why we're doing
Kelly: need a little, yeah, a
Jim: is in the air. Love is in the air.
Kelly: something, something warm and cozy. So, and I, I typically avoid romance. I know, I know I need to get into it just to like, just to sample. Its wears because it's really unfair to hate a genre based on I don't know, just on what the genre supposedly entails or like really popularized accounts of it, because I think it's sort of like a really real written book could be of any genre, like Beloved by oh God, I totally blanked on her name.
Kelly: People are gonna come from my throat Tony Morrison. Kind of a ghost story and a horror, and it's about slavery. And yet no one ever is like, oh, here's a horror novel. You know, it's, it's a high literature in a lot of ways, and I think that's what's really cool is like you, it's like a genre doesn't have to just be like someone putting a pot boiler together or something that just w reeks of a Hulu series.
Kelly: It could just be, it could be something diverse and really large and format. And I think everything usually comes down to the word choice of an author. Like I think. A writer can write a really shitty story and it could be beautifully written and you can get something out of it, or you could read something that's definitely story forward and terribly written.
Kelly: Maybe this constitutes as the notebook but you still kind of get your point across. It's, it's sort of like what's your intention when getting into into writing and also what's your intention as a reader. If you don't want to look inward, great. You don't have to. There's a lot of fluff out there to keep you entertained.
Kelly: And you know what, g Bully for you. I'm excited. So I'll post a few of the
Jim: I can't really get into the romance as much, but I don't mind a good romance movies that's got a good twist or story to it or something like that. Like all it really hits you in your feels.
Jim: Yeah. Or just takes place in a different time period. Or you know, some,
Kelly: loved the Notebook Jimmy, huh?
Jim: God.
Kelly: It sounds like you're describing the notebook. I also feel like I just wanna congratulate you on finally getting to the Notebook, because I feel like the last couple books and movies we've done, you've been dying to cast Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in these roles.
Kelly: And now you don't, you not just have one. You have both. You have both of them coming together like to a negative and positive eye on
Jim: I do love them both.
Kelly: soaking wet amongst swans. I mean, like, this is our gift to you, Jimmy. All right, well, what's it, what's new and improved in the movie world? I know we, we dropped our Oscar nams
Jim: Yeah, not too much going on in the movie world. I, I know we sent out we're gonna be posting a couple of to our Patreon page, a couple of books that are turning into movies in the upcoming year. So make sure you check those out. We're gonna be doing a couple on the episode. We're gonna try to keep up with as they're releasing.
Jim: So there's a few coming out. I know knock at the cabins coming out. We have Dune coming out at the end of the year. We have Wonka coming out. We have a bunch of them. There's a ton of books that A musical version of The Color Purple.
Jim: Oh, and what's the other one that's very popular right now?
Kelly: Hmm. I know there's a Colleen Hoover book that just got casted. This sends with us.
Jim: Oh, maybe that one, but there's a, yeah, there's a bunch coming out this year. But yeah, I
Kelly: Oh, G and z Daisy Jones and the
Jim: the sixth. That's the one I was thinking of.
Kelly: It was like something equally as cheesy as Colleen Hoover. What?
Jim: I have to I have to read that. I've heard it's good.
Kelly: Oh, the Daisy Jones and the six Yeah, I'm, I'm curious about it. I like Riley, I, I always wanna butcher her last name, which is terrible as an Irish person, but it's K kg Kug anyway. That's Elvis's granddaughter.
Jim: Oh, really?
Kelly: Yes. So yeah. And Taylor Jenkins reads who wrote what was the one that I just read?
Kelly: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Muo. So this, this is her up and coming. I think it's like her first movie made of her book. So I think we're gonna see a lot more of that.
Jim: Yeah, so lots of movies coming out. Even like Oppenheimer's, technically based on a book. So there's a lot of those coming out this year. I've been watching a lot. Not movie, but I've been watching a lot of the last of us. So
Kelly: so
Jim: So good. I mean,
Kelly: know what I
Jim: not too many people that are saying it's bad.
Kelly: Oh, it's bad.
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: My favorite thing about the last of us right now is like, I, I work with like a bunch of guys in a warehouse and we're all watching it together. So a I was really dying watching the third episode because I was like, oh, I cannot wait to hear when, what they say about that.
Kelly: But they all loved it and I was like, really? I was really impressed with them. But more than that is the fact that like, it brought in like video game aficionados into the debate of, oh, well, I mean in the video game it's not like this, like it is in the show. So it's like, I, like I get to relate to, to gamers on an adaption level and it's really exciting.
Kelly: I'm like, oh, was that like it, how it was in the game? And they're like, well, and I was like, Aw, look at that. We all have a hill to die.
Jim: Yeah, I watch a lot of video games turn into TV and movies because I played most of these games growing up. And the thing I think what people do when they're turning a video game into a show or a movie is they try to take the main plot of that video game, but turn it into their own thing, because they're thinking that the people who play this video game don't wanna just re-watch the video game again. So they come up with this drastic change in the story, like whether it's Halo or, or anything. And it's, it's very different. And then people end up hating it, cuz. What people actually want is just to see a live, live remake of the video game that they loved. That's all they wanna see. It's like,
Kelly: you think like a closer adaption to what
Jim: yeah, like, like it's the same with books to movies.
Jim: Like people love the Harry Potter movies and they're like, they read the books, they know what's gonna happen. They're not drastically changing Harry Potter, but they still love those movies. You know what I mean?
Kelly: Yeah,
Jim: So
Kelly: no, I
Jim: it, this is the first time I think they're actually adapting it directly from video game to, to movie.
Jim: And I remember living in Waltham Massachusetts, and I was living with John Mags and he was playing it all day. And I would just watch him because the video games played through like a, like a movie or like a show. So I was just watch it. I never actually played. I would just watch 'em. It was very good.
Kelly: listen, I did that with Halo in college and not really cuz I wanted to, but because that was the only way I could see my friends who were guys so . I was like, guess I'm watching Halo. Yeah, no, I understand. I understand that thing and I think it's kind of interesting that people don't always want a drastic change.
Kelly: They kind of wanna like relive theia because playing a video game is time consuming, like reading a book. So I feel like you don't get the, the instinct gratification of whatever it is you're supposed to get out of it. Until it makes its way the TV or movie. And I love it. I don't know if I'd ever play that game, even though it looks beautiful.
Kelly: And I think it's a really interesting concept, and I can even tell in the show what parts would be the part where you would have to maneuver the characters. And I think that's like really exciting. Like I, whenever I try to try to do video games, I feel like I get very scared,
Jim: Yeah, for sure.
Kelly: I, I could, I could handle Crash Bandicoot and Mario, but like, as soon as you put me in like a situation where there's like a skinless human being, a cha like chasing me with a butcher knife, with people hanging on, you know, meat hooks, now I'm, now I'm a little terrified.
Kelly: So that's when you have to like, find the cheats and, you know, work through that. But I don't know, maybe I'll make a a, an a because of my adaptions, I will play this video game just to have the true experience
Jim: It's very good. Also, I, I was talking to somebody about this the other day too. It's, it's really a time of the nerds. Like, honestly, like all, everything in pop culture right now is something that we related to from when we were in high school or, or younger. And I think that's because people that were around our age that grew up with this stuff are now at the age where they can actually create content and get signed on to Netflix or Disney or whatever.
Jim: So they're like, remember we were kids and we like loved playing this game. Let's just turn that into a movie. You know? And they have other friends in the community that probably support it and get, get it rolling for them.
Kelly: yeah, I do. There's a lot of shit that they can turn into really weird content too, because like our childhood was like basically a capitalistic cash grab. So like, I mean, if you wanna make a Tomagotchi, Furby whatever movie you.
Jim: you can,
Kelly: It's there is a lot out there and there is no background for this shit. So you can go a hog while, but I think like at the same time, sometimes I'm like protective of my nostalgia.
Kelly: Like for instance, teenage Meat Ninja Turtles. I don't think we need to touch that. I think that should have been left or alone in its sacredness.
Jim: back again
Kelly: No
Jim: at some point it's gonna
Kelly: Leave My Raphael alone.
Jim: So yeah, that's, that's just what's been going on in the movie world. Keep an eye out for those books turned into movies in the upcoming year. But today we are talking about the notebook. Get all your lovey doves out there with the notebook.
Kelly: Oh yeah.
Jim: Kelly, what's what's going on in the notebook?
Kelly: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks is quote unquote a story It's, it kind of has a plot. And you know what, who cares? . It's I'll, I'll engage you with what may or may not have happened in the course of this novel. It's a story about an old man reading a notebook to an older woman who clearly has Alzheimer's. As the story goes on it, he, it kind of jumps from the present day of them being old to them being younger, which is a little bit clearer in the book that it's them and it's their love story in the 1940s about how it's a class difference.
Kelly: Young love of 15 and 17 year olds falling in love for a summer and then moving away from each other, experiencing their life, realizing that they've always been in love with each other. , it's Allie and Noah are the two names. Noah is heartbroken. As soon as Allie leaves for the summer and writes her letters, she never hears back.
Kelly: He lives his life, goes to war, comes back, buys his house. That was very sentimental to him, which was a plantation house, . So this is very southern.
Jim: Oh
Kelly: Yeah, and he fixes it up. People put it in the newspaper because he is done such a good job of fixing it up. Allie sees it while she's engaged to another guy over in Lake Charleston, I wanna say.
Kelly: She comes back to see him cuz she has some unguided love for him as well. And the book pretty much takes course over this one night or two nights I should say, of them having dinner together, going on a boat ride together, realizing they're still in love, banging for a whole day. And then she decides that she should probably tell her fiance who showed up at town perplexed as to why she is not answering her phone calls and meeting her old ex-boyfriend And.
Kelly: The ending basically goes back to it. You find out the old man and the old woman are definitely all, and Noah, they've lived this beautiful life together because she ends up choosing Noah, not Lon, who's her fiance, who is a nice guy. They lived this beautiful life together. Really random things happened to them but now they're old and she has Alzheimer's and he had promised to read her every day in hopes to create a miracle of her remembering their love together.
Kelly: And he stays in the nursing home with her. And it's just sad at this point cuz they're just old people dying and it ends with him sneaking into her room at night and giving her some kisses and her remembering and being like, I wanna give you kisses too. So instead of being a poor dementia ridden old woman screaming because there's a creepy old guy in the room, she's like, no, I remember you.
Kelly: Come here.
Jim: Come on over here
Kelly: Yeah. And that's kind of where it ends. There's some
Jim: it. Some differences.
Kelly: the ending, I think, with the book and the movie, but not much going on here, guys. It's, but it's yeah. I mean, should we just dive into this now? Jimmy
Jim: yeah, let's get into it.
Kelly: Oh my God. So this book was written by Nicholas Barks. It was his first book.
Jim: what's your take on Nicholas Sparks?
Kelly: oh my God. Definitely got a type
Kelly: I did a little research into Nikki Boy, because I'm very curious , this man, this man is a carpet bagger of the romantic genre and , you know what? Good for him, good for him?
Jim: he's making that money.
Kelly: he is just, he is like, literally like, like a traveling salesman of romance. And he is like, what are those ladies?
Kelly: Alzheimer's. Got that for you. cancer. I got that for you too. These people loved each other and now they're dead sad. Right. Go back to reading Romeo and Juliet. Nicholas Barks is an interesting character because I have avoided reading him for many, many years. But here I am and what's curious about him is, so he was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
Kelly: They moved and he grew up, for the most part, I wanna say it in California. And then he went to Notre Dame on a full scholarship for athleticism. I think he was on track and field, got injured. So I, I'm not sure if he lost his scholarship, but he like kept a nere, Notre Dame graduated, come laude,
Jim: Okay.
Kelly: was like, for rioting, did this man go, like, succeed at Notre Dame's writing curriculum?
Kelly: Like am I, am I just wrong at everything in life? Which I might be. But no. He graduated and this is so evident. In business. This man is a moneymaker. He is a Capricorn moneymaking machine, and he had his injury, did a little work in the field and said, you know what, they're talking a lot about Alzheimer's in the news these days in 1996.
Kelly: And my wife's grandparents were such a cute old couple. Why don't I just throw this all together and make this like horrifically sad story about two loving people? And he did it. And I, that denied by a lot of publishing houses. But he had found one agent who, or publisher I wanna say, and she's pretty much been his, his go-to ever since then.
Kelly: So the notebook stayed on the bestseller like list for weeks and it actually wasn't his first movie adoption though. The first book that he got adapted was letter in the Bottle or
Jim: message in a
Kelly: I've never seen Message in a bottle. And then it was a walk to remember. Well, he has about 15, 15 books. And I think equally as many movies at this point, like he's one of the most adapted authors in Hollywood,
Jim: Yeah. He's
Kelly: Has never won a writing prize of any sort.
Kelly: And there's a good reason for that. Like this, this level of writing is very middle school scholastic fair. Like if, if this is, this is like heightened ya, the writing is like, the dialogue is terrible. And very wooden. The story's kind of ambivalent. There's really no character development on any of these things.
Kelly: It's, it's kind of just a mood and it's about two. And he, when he talks about his writing, he says that he usually, a, brings from stories he knows in his own life. So he likes to incorporate things that he's heard or things that have happened to him with other people. And then on top of that, he likes to wow, where was I going with that?
Kelly: I always start my A's and B's and I never get to B, I never get to B. It's fine, B sucks, whatever. But
Jim: too, you mentioned that it's a very Scholastic book fair. I, I take it as like also he's very airport reading material. Like what those books that you would see to read on an airplane
Kelly: oh yeah. There is
Jim: he's had a lot of, like you said, books turn into movies. I have a list, a couple here.
Jim: If you ever get a chance, just Google Nicholas Sparks movies and you'll get a list of all the covers of the movies, which are all exactly identical. It's just two people almost making out. But it's you know, you got Dear John Walk to remember message in a bottle. And the last song, which was Molly Cyrus and Liam's Hens Worth, that's when they first met and started dating.
Kelly: the days worked out so well for all the
Jim: Oh yeah. Same with the Notebook. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams started dating after this, and then they kind of fell apart.
Kelly: I think like it's your entry point as a young actor or actress or sometimes musicians trying to cross over into acting that you do a Nicholas Sparks and it pulls on your heartstrings. You date your coat star for a little while.
Kelly: It's just like, it's very like Christian hand holding promise ring sexiness. Like, like it's, it's will give you a little bit of sex, but it's like, ooh, it's not sex because they only had sex ever with each other.
Jim: It's
Kelly: like they both cried while doing it at your home. Noel
Jim: Oh, no.
Kelly: You know what though? I'm like, let me just say this.
Kelly: So the, the, I think the B part that I wanted to do was that He, he wants to make his characters kind. He, he's made a point to never make really nasty characters. And I think that really shows too in the character of Juan in the char the book
Jim: team blonde.
Kelly: freaking guy, man
Jim: am T
Kelly: and he is like the most standup gentleman of all time.
Kelly: And like, you feel bad for this dude. And he's like, you know, I'll shake his hands. We'll touch base on that again. But like, I think he definitely makes it a point that he doesn't wanna create bad or even necessarily conflicted characters, which shows in the depthless depthlessness of his writing. But you do, because they're so good.
Kelly: It hurts more when they have these terrible things happen to them because they're like, that's, it's like he might as well write a story about a, a kid having cancer in the hospital. It's just like, it's, it's so clearly manipulative of your feelings and you know, it is beautiful. I think that in the Notebook, he made it a story to about an elderly couple, and I think that also was something new and refreshing in the movie world when it came to romance films.
Kelly: And I think even in this book and why it scored so highly is because it wasn't just, oh, here's a flashback of a time that everybody kind of puts on a p pedestal. You know, like the, the great generation of people that went off in fought World War ii. And like, there's this sense of morality that, you know, kind of prior to leave it to Beaver, beaver, but still that sense of innocence in, in people.
Kelly: And it's about that, but it's also about like this, what happens when you age and you, you know, like your love story doesn't end when you get together. It ends when you end, you know? And it's kind of nice to see that this couple kind of maintained their relationship. They had a really beautiful life of ups and downs and, you know, you can't foresee that there's some terrible things that happen like Alzheimer's or, you know, other bodily filaments or failings.
Kelly: So like, yeah, it got me in the third act because it was supposed to, it was sort of like, oh, are you a heartless bitch? And I was like, I like to think of myself as that. But like, I also have terrible taste in music and I love pop. So is this author a good writer? Oh, hell no. Izzy, he's a terrible writer.
Kelly: This story had nothing really driving it. There was an, it was literally a dinner conversation and then, you know, a a, an exercise in kayaking and then we're gonna have sex very tastefully on the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace and warm up cuz with cold. And then it went to, oh yeah, by the way she chose me.
Kelly: No big deal. And we lived our life together. There was one
Jim: this is the most probably basic story I've ever heard in my life. It sounds like something my grandfather would, or grandparents would tell me how they met and in, and my grandparents would even go into more depth than Nicholas Sparks did. It's, it's very like
Kelly: bare bones.
Jim: and like you said, like blonde being like, I'm, I, I was always waiting for something to happen and nothing
Kelly: Nothing happens.
Jim: I was like, and Nicki, I was talking to Nicki about it and I was like, I just didn't get the point of it. You know, I get the point of it, I get the Alzheimer's point of it. And she was like, well, it's a romance story. I was like, yeah, but there. Nothing there, like literally nothing there. So
Kelly: no conflict
Jim: even, even like
Kelly: that.
Jim: I will give credit in that it's the most realistic story I've ever read where like Lon, this is like actually how real life goes,
Kelly: No,
Jim: it's as boring as real life.
Kelly: boring. It's, it's literally your grandparents telling you how they didn't get into medical school. Boring. Like that kind, that story. Plus like maybe there is something, I was gonna go with it, but it's, it's so freaking boring. It's like when someone tells you they have a dream and then they start telling you about the dream and you're like, please shut the
Jim: and it's six o'clock in the morning
Kelly: your
Jim: and it's six o'clock in the morning and you're like, I'm just waking up. I don't want to hear about this right now.
Kelly: I don't, I lost my attention a long time ago.
Jim: LA the perfect example is Lon just being a normal, nice guy. I was waiting for the whole story for him to be like, Turn into, slowly turn into an asshole or something like that.
Jim: And he was like, oh, you want to go back to that town where your ex-boyfriend's from? Sure. Here's the keys, honey. I'll see you next weekend.
Kelly: I'm surprised she could drive at like, clearly they made it a point in the movie that she could not, they were like, what a woman. But there was
Jim: when she, when she, I'll get into it, but when she's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And then just drives into a ditch.
Kelly: I mean, we have, like, we were dying the whole movie cuz we'll get to this, but I was just like, why is Rachel McAdams just screaming this whole movie Like, she never not screamed. Like, they'd be like, there's someone at the door. She'd be like, squawking, like a goose, like And it's great because even the older version of Allie just screams all the time.
Kelly: And it's like, that's not the Alzheimer's, that's just, that's just Allie. Leave her, let
Jim: Let her do her thing. But yeah. So then So Lon just being a normal dude, it's exactly like how, like when you asked your grandparents like, how'd you meet? And it was like, well, I was with this one guy and we broke off the engagement so I could marry your grandfather. And we were like, oh, was that other guy an asshole?
Jim: He was like, no. He was a very nice guy. He was a lawyer.
Kelly: He had cotton money and,
Jim: Oh yeah.
Kelly: Harvard education and,
Jim: was just nice.
Kelly: and he was a nice guy. He was really sweet. I don't know, like this, this definitely was as formulaic as it comes. And I think that is something that Nicholas Burkes readily admits to is that he, he just kind of like cherry picks stories and finds ways to be kind of a downer at the same time.
Kelly: And you know what's really interesting is that he's had three very close deaths in his life. And I might mix up the order here, but I think it was his mother died when he was in his twenties from an accident. I forget what kinds, his dad died in his thirties from a car accident, and then his sister died of a brain tumor when he was in his later thirties.
Kelly: So like he's had a lot of. a lot of death in his life. And I think that goes back into why he like writes the things that he writes because, you know, he's like a little PTSD maybe. I don't know. But it was just interesting because like to reflect on past episodes, like I Delia Owens and Gillian Flynn are far superior writers
Jim: Far superior. Oh, come on.
Kelly: superior.
Kelly: Like they could write circles around him like this, this is not good writing. But I don't think that's the intention of it. And I think like that's what makes me avoid romance, particularly because I think. . There's never, it's like , this is disgusting, but like, it's kind of like porn. Like, you know what you're coming there for?
Kelly: You're not really there to be like, but why is the stepson fucking the mother, you know? Like you, you don't really need the, the plot or the dialogue to be on top of anything. You kind of just want, okay, get me to the point where you can then destroy me emotionally. Like I want the, I want the nice, nice stuff and then I kind of wanna hurt afterwards.
Kelly: And it's really interesting that he found that. And he has just put everything in his little soup kettle and dutch oven it and like just keeps coming out with like other stories that are just like meant to be tear jerkers and listen, there's a place for that. It's rape. Like we're dropping seeds all over the place.
Kelly: But I don't know, like I feel. . I feel like I just want a little . I want a story. I want the story, I want, I want the romance. I don't have any issue with the romance. And I think I would love to have that emotional crippling, like I loved crying at movies. I love crying at books. I cried during this book because I have no idea why I really, really don't. Guys, it was a Saturday morning. I thought it was fine.
Jim: thought I was fine.
Kelly: I thought I was fine. I was like, I, ugh, whatever. But could it use a complete and other facelift, like a body transplant? Like someone needs to Frankenstein this into being something a little bit better, particularly with character development.
Kelly: Like I really didn't know these people. I thought what I did like about it was the gentleness of it. And that kind of goes back to me saying that sometimes a story doesn't need to be. Completely fleshed out for you to get the, the facts of it. And it's also kind of like the intention is to just bring you along emotionally.
Kelly: But I've read better books that do
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: Like I have a few suggestions at the end of the episode, but like, there's definitely places where you can cry and reminisce about aging and these terrifying things that happen to humans and that you're not safe even when you find your loved one. But it's still nice to see the honoring of kindness and gentleness in people.
Kelly: And Nicholas Sparks is very Catholic, even though he divorced his wife, who he cherry picked the notebook story from. So I don't know what happened there.
Jim: Oh, Nick.
Kelly: Nicki, Nikki Sparks is getting too many white panties thrown at him at these book signings. Yeah, they're, they're probably like Mormon underwear,
Jim: like the
Kelly: like I just thrown my petty
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: up on top of Nick Sparks.
Kelly: He was voted like the most sexiest author by some magazine, and I like, this is why magazines are, are done guys. We've, we've ruined it. Take it away from us. But what I was gonna say is he's very Catholic and I think a lot of his faith and what he believes in kind of tr trickles into this, hence also why there's such a focus on death being with your sweetheart who you probably lost your virginity to in high school and just romance as being something that heightens the soul.
Kelly: And it's not necessarily a sexual attraction thing. It's kind of two people meeting the sex is just a nice little boon to it. Yeah, exactly. But.
Jim: can you I don't know how much you know about this area, but can you explain how books get to be New York Times number one, bestsellers and stuff like that. Like New York Times posts these books sometimes that they always brag New York Times number one bestseller and you go and read it and you're like, how did this make this list?
Jim: I don't understand.
Kelly: Well, it's like a blockbuster movie, you know what I
Jim: That's true.
Kelly: So it's, it's sort of like, I guess it's all about promoting the book. And also, I mean, when you think about people that are producing movies, there are times, cuz I've had like a few insight with people who worked at Weinstein back, back in the day.
Jim: the day.
Kelly: And like there's gonna be rooms full of people being like, okay, you know, what's hot right now is fantasy. Like, you know, we need more fantasy, we need more female leads in roles. We need this. So there's like, people are very, very aware of what is the zeitgeist at the moment and what may or may not do well financially.
Kelly: And that's why there's book.
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: Whole entire publishing houses and stuff like that. So a lot of people you have to find who has faith in your writing and also who's kind of, you know, gonna sling your book to the right places and the right people. So romance is definitely a way to make a lot of money because you don't have to be the best writer to do with.
Kelly: At least from what I've seen. Like, obviously, like I said before, there's, there's books that I haven't read. There's books that I have read but don't necessarily get thrown into the romance genre. So I do wanna apologize if I'm being a little bit brutal with that genre. But I think he just got the right niche.
Kelly: And I think when you market that to the right people in the right sections, people are gonna love it and buy it up and then it becomes, you know, hearsay. Or nowadays we have book talk or Instagram and all that kind of shit. So I don't know too much other than that, and I can definitely do the research into it, but it's, it's like anything, like any movie that gets fully promoted and hits on a head of something that's socially relevant at the time.
Jim: Yeah, like I think also some, a book. And when the movie came out, it was perfect for its timing too. Like the notebook went, it came out in 2004 and I think that was around my high school days, you know, and. . It was perfect for that generation, that early two thousands generation.
Kelly: Oh yeah. And I think they like watching the movie, it's a total time capsule
Jim: It really is. It really
Kelly: And it's, it hurt to rewatch that. Yeah, but I think, like, that's what I'm trying to say is Zeitgeisty like 1996 for this book to come out when, like I said, he, he knew that Alzheimer's was a hot ticket back on the news stream at the time.
Kelly: So to throw that out there kind of hit on a nerve that a lot of people were aware of at the time. And then I think like having relationship stories is always there. And it's, it's fertile to be made into a movie too, because that's just such a well, Well, moneyed section of Hollywood is you can always throw out a romance.
Kelly: You know what I mean? Like, people are gonna watch that. What's interesting is that like, clearly this guy is writing for women. I don't, I don't think , you know,
Jim: Is that right in for me?
Kelly: again, he business school baby at Notre Dame, like, this man is just like, what? Like, I can't sell these ladies razors, but I can sell them something to think about at night.
Kelly: So, yeah, I mean, like, he's just, he's just a salesman,
Jim: How did you feel about the timeline, like how they presented the timeline in the book?
Kelly: I definitely wanna talk about this. So I, and this is the fault of his writing, because what I thought was really poorly done was he opens it up where it's Noah's. , you're introduced to know, even though you don't have his name necessarily, and that he is about to go read, and he's just bemoaning how old and crippled he is.
Kelly: And then it switches into the notebook once he starts reading to Allie. But it's not in a notebook format.
Jim: Also, the weird thing I thought too, And this is why I brought it up. Cause I was curious to see if you felt the same way, is he would talk about a period of time to talk about another period of time. So it was the weirdest thing. So he would go to Allie's room, talk about when he was y, and then it all of a sudden flashback to when he was younger, talk it to his friend, the who doesn't make it to the movie, the neighbor guy,
Kelly: Oh
Jim: guy or whatever.
Jim: Yeah. And he's talking to that neighbor about another period of time when he first met Allie at the fair. So it's like three levels back and
Kelly: it's a really, yeah,
Jim: And then he is like, I met this girl
Kelly: inception.
Jim: the fair and then she just left.
Kelly: Yeah. Well, that's what I'm trying to say. There was no time chronological thing. So this book is called The Notebook. I think Amy Dunn's diary was done better than this notebook. Like maybe they're the same thing. Imagine he's just reading her Amy diary, Amy's entries. I would've preferred that, but it's just not in that format.
Kelly: It's sort of like, how did you write this notebook, quote unquote. Is it just literally about the ruminations that you had on the porch that night?
Jim: they don't address it at
Kelly: you, you jump right from, okay, so Noah's old and he's gonna read this notebook to this woman, and then it goes into how, like, briefly they kind of met, but he's in present day and he is talking and thinking on the porch and talking about all the.
Kelly: Or not talking, but thinking about all the activities he does every day and how he fixed up the house. There's literal no emotional investment in any of these things. And it's so briefly mentioned how they met, what their relationship was like when they first met, because you, you're, they drill it into you that they were so in love, but like you're not shown any of that.
Kelly: You're just kind of, there's
Jim: They just tell you
Kelly: maybe of like, oh, they were in love, you know? And it, it didn't work out. And it was weird because, okay, so if this is a notebook, it should be like, okay, story forward, you know, like, or so 1940, at November 3rd, I'm about to graduate. I see this girl at the, the fair and she takes my breath away, and then it goes into the next day, or, I mean, make it seem like an actual notebook rather than this weird scene that you've kind of ch pulled out of their relationship together, which is neither the past or the future.
Kelly: It's this really benign moment of like, Let's have a dinner together and then casually have eye contact and almost touch each other too close by the ice box and then go see some swans and then just get really wet in every metaphorical way possible and then, you know, bang all day and then be like, oh, we have to maybe tie up some loose ends about this.
Kelly: It was just a really weird thing to want to write in a notebook and then a really weird way to write it. So it never felt like you were ever reading what Noah was reading to Allie. It was almost sort of like this weird third person moment of like, okay, this an event that happens. So I thought that was confusing
Jim: this is my first time reading the book, obviously, and also watching a movie. And, and
Kelly: I dunno how you avoided it for so
Jim: so long and listen, if you were as cool as I was in high school, you didn't have any girlfriends and no reason to watch the notebook. And trust me, many people have tried me to get to the watch the Notebook.
Jim: And the only true love that got me to watch the Notebook was this podcast.
Kelly: Oh, Wow. That was a, that was a bigger twist than the actual notebook. Had
Jim: But when I was reading it the timeline is very interesting cuz he could have set it up like I liked and we were I'll talk about it this in the movies part two, but I, I
Kelly: like that there was a, a, a
Jim: well, I liked how it jumped more back and forth between present day and past. And there was more like her as I was waiting for her to ask questions about the relat the couple and stuff like that.
Jim: They don't really, she doesn't really ask anything. She just like all of a sudden remembers that it's
Kelly: Hmm.
Jim: And then, but like the beginning starts with present day. It jumps back two times to when they dated, then it jumps to when she left and then came back after reading the newspaper. And then it, at the end, it jumps back to them in present day.
Jim: But those are the only two times you really hear about them in present day and at the end of the notebook in the book, they they.
Kelly: become the old couple from the movie X
Jim: Yeah. That's where I'm kind of going with this, but
Kelly: I like Love it. Can we discuss that
Jim: yes, I'm so on board to discuss this part. So the, so just as the plot twist or the ending of both
Kelly: There was no plot twist. There was no plot twist. The whole reveal.
Jim: we're gonna give away both,
Kelly: Yeah, there was no reveal guys, there's no reveal that it, it was no one Allie this whole time. Like you knew it was no one Allie this whole time. And it was weird that they'd addressed it more in the third half, like the third
Jim: just the very end.
Kelly: yeah, where he's like, I just, but you know what?
Kelly: I think I wanna, I do wanna say this in honor of the book , I can't believe I'm defending this, but the book, I think what was nice that they did was they explained a little bit more why they lied to Allie. And there's like a whole passage about like how Noah has been doing this for a very long time and has found it easier to not overwhelm her.
Kelly: It's kind of like, don't wake the sleepwalker kind of deal where he just, he doesn't wanna overwhelm her with information and every time he's kind of done that, it's backfired in the past. So he just kind of lets the course of it go, doesn't tell her who she is and force who he is on her. He just really wants her to kind of naturally remember herself
Jim: what you're saying is he's treating us like the Alzheimer's patients. Try not trying to give us too much information.
Kelly: my God. You know what? That would only be so kind, because what we can do is forget this. At the
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: the day, it was meant to be sort of like, it's kind of like a single use anything. Like here's plastic. It's not good for the environment, but it's going to, you know, like you put your things in the Ziploc, when you're done, you throw the Ziploc out. That is what the notebook is. It serves a purpose. And then you're never gonna go back and be like, let me, let me read you my favorite passage, in this beautiful prose that is Nicholas
Jim: let's get back to the ending.
Kelly: Oh, please. Okay. So let me just say one thing. I had to reread this ending twice, which was painful. I can't even picture it. I can't even picture it. I don't wanna
Kelly: and this is why I'm just like, what is. They, it's so in the movie, as we're all aware we'll get onto it a little bit more. They die together and it's supposed to be this beautiful thing that people have ever since talked about.
Kelly: And people are like, I wanna die, like in the notebook, you know,
Jim: get in bed together.
Kelly: dying, like the Rockefeller who died during sex. So this is kind of like the, the modern day equivalent of that. But
Jim: in the book.
Kelly: they, they don't, at least, I don't think it was made very clear that they
Jim: They don't die
Kelly: having sex
Jim: This old couple just starts having sex. I'm reading him unbuttoning, her blouse, all of a
Kelly: or him she was unbuttoning his,
Jim: oh, that's what it, his blouse,
Kelly: she was a little bit, she has a lot of agency,
Jim: And then all of a sudden it's just cut to credits. And I'm like, that's it.
Kelly: Oh, I should have cut way before then.
Jim: But I go to, I, I felt, so, I didn't, like I said, I've never watched this movie and I wa read the book and I come home to Nikki and I'm like, I don't understand.
Jim: I feel like somebody was supposed to die . Like, I'd so upset. It's so bad to say, but I was like, it'd be a little better if just somebody died and Mickey was like, watch the movie. Watch the movie. And then I found out they do die very peacefully together in the
Kelly: Yeah. And that's, it's, it's very
Jim: real quick, I wanna read one quote from the book.
Kelly: Gonna do that to your listeners guys. We did this to, to save you, but here it is a passage.
Jim: So just to get you in the head of Nicholas Sparks. All right, so the, let me set the scene for you. He's in his room, Allie's in her room at this old nursing home. The nurse leaves to let him kind of go to her room to spend the night together, right? And all of a sudden he goes into this ninja style, like he's sneaking around the nursing home.
Jim: And the quote is, I'm like a silent panther creeping through the jungle. I'm invisible as a baby pigeon,
Kelly: Oh my God. I highlighted that too.
Jim: and I'm just picturing this old man just creeping up against the wall saying this in his own head, sneaking down the hallway.
Kelly: we sure he doesn't have Alzheimer's? Like that's the real twist of this is that Ali does not have Alzheimer's. He does. And he has created this entire story and fabricated it. I think that would be way more
Jim: that'd be a good plot twist, but Allie definitely has Alzheimer's because she saw gnomes in her room.
Kelly: I know. And it, they make that very clear in the book. And I thought that was
Jim: It's very poor taste.
Kelly: I kinda liked it.
Jim: But what it, and would it be better if she saw like ghosts or something? The omes. The gnomes.
Kelly: listen, when I used to live in Brewster, we had a feeling that there was like noms that , you know, maybe I shouldn't be
Jim: yeah.
Kelly: but we had like this weird feeling that there was like noms that lived in our house and we were like, oh, let's talk about it. Maybe I just have Alzheimer's.
Jim: Oh my God,
Kelly: Ugh, brutal. I can't,
Jim: I'm sorry.
Kelly: It is, it's really, and I think like that's where the meat of this story is because that's when I started getting upset because like, that's something that we're all afraid of and it's, it's comforting to know that love kind of carries you through to that point. And Nicholas Sparks wrote that part.
Kelly: He didn't actually write the, the story
Jim: the sexy part.
Kelly: Yeah, no, he saved that. He had to get really, he had to do the foreplay with the old people before he could get to the 1940s. But like I said, I think that's the better part of the story is just sort of like where it comes to, because there's no pot twist in this book.
Kelly: Like you never, it's not a shock that she chooses Noah over lawn. There's never really a, a conflict over that. It's just sort of like she has to make a decision. I'm shocked that this woman probably doesn't have a credit card legally. But she can go make, she's allowed to make choices in this regard.
Kelly: Barely. And then, you know what's like funny is that like they just, they give so much to these characters in the book because they, they treat them so sweetly throughout the whole whole of it. Allie becomes like a world renowned artist, which was like, kind of like a little bit eye rolly. It was like, okay, like, you
Jim: World renowned.
Kelly: she's sort of like the manic, pixie dream girl.
Kelly: But like Christiany kind of version of it. So she's like very, she's feisty, but she's not as feisty, I would say in the movie. I
Jim: kind of like where the Crawdad sings.
Kelly: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It like, I wouldn't qualify her as a Mary Jane in this because they don't, they really don't give her that
Jim: No, they don't give her that
Kelly: Or Noah, like, these people are not really people to you.
Kelly: They're just kind of like, you know, two, it's like a parable. I don't know how else to say it. This is a parable about two people that love each other. They build a house on the, on the mountain, and then live happily ever after. And then it turns out that they'll get old and die. So I don't know. Listen, like I said, this is a single use story.
Kelly: It is. It is toilet paper. It's useful if you need something to like, I don't know, love your husband again before faking your own murder and running off into Missouri. I don't know.
Jim: Good wrap up.
Kelly: I feel like there's other things, like, as I said, I, if I have to defend this book, what I liked about it is the ambiance of it is very soft and gentle. The characters are kind. I think that it's nice to have a story where it's not about the conflict, it's about the choice of having good faith in the people that you love and, and the life that you wanna lead.
Kelly: But the, like, the writing is really miserable. , it's, it's like we could, yeah, you're grasping at straws. Like read the pony pals, read, read whatever you need
Jim: I would say re
Kelly: the Hunger Games.
Jim: I would honestly say read the Crada Sings before this.
Kelly: I would too. But you know what? Like, for whatever reason, I think just because he hit on a nerve that was a little bit more human for me because crawdads, I think how they portrayed that girl, and it was so drawn out. , I think I lost a lot of interest and investment in her. And like there was only ever one outcome that she killed him and that she lived her life.
Kelly: I think it was a little bit too long. Like she could have probably just Nicholas Sparks it, made it like five chapters shorter and really focused a little bit more on the emotional impact between her relationships with the two guys, and then really sunk the nerve at the end of like, she killed him. And what does that mean about her as a person?
Kelly: Nicholas Sparks didn't parse any words here, you know what I mean? Like, he just was like, I have a story. I'm gonna crap it out. I know what people kind of want and honestly like I'm going to, I'm going to go to a place that people don't normally go to, which is afterlife, you know, like the geriatric romance.
Kelly: And I think that's why it resonated as a movie, and I think that's why it resonated as a. Particularly for the type of, for the demographic he was aiming for, he hit a home run. It's not hard to read, it's fast to read and it's manipulative emotionally. So like, this man is a business genius. Really. Is he a writer?
Kelly: No.
Jim: He really is. I if, if you wanna brag that you read a book, this is a good one to pick up. Cause you could cruise through it in like a day.
Kelly: absolutely not. I was mortified to pull this book outta my backpack, like, and I have like, it's the cover where they're like covered in water and like about to kiss, which also best part of the book is that she was wearing like a full white
Jim: Yeah, I know.
Kelly: So this girl was just like literally naked on the
Jim: Pretty much. Yeah.
Kelly: you know, scandalous,
Jim: scandalous.
Kelly: right?
Kelly: You wanna talk about this movie, this
Jim: the movie. Yeah. Very iconic. The Notebook came out in 2004. It stars quite the cast of Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner Gina Rolands, Sam Shepherd, Joan Allen, and James Marsden. The director is Nick Cave. I can't pronounce his last name, but he's directed John q alpha Dog and my Sister's Keeper.
Jim: Fact, actually, Nick's mom in real life is Gina Rowlands, the one who plays the older version of Allie. So I thought that was pretty funny of like him directing his mom. And she is like, probably trying to tell him like, no, I know what I'm doing. He's like, mom, just listen to me.
Kelly: I also really hope that's what informed them not to have the sex scene at the end.
Jim: Yeah,
Kelly: I can't do that
Jim: can't, I can't watch
Kelly: can't, I can't. I wanna make all this money, but I can't do it.
Jim: do it. No. The way they ended edited, I thought was really well done. But the rotten Tomatoes scores, it's a 53 by the critics, 85 by the audience. I think the reason for that is because, like we were saying, it's a very iconic film. It was huge in 2004.
Jim: It was it won the best kiss for the M T V movie awards that year. It was, it was just everywhere. Everybody talked about the notebook. Everybody loved Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams and their chemistry. They were like the hot new couple. What's pretty cool. , both of them. Is this really kicked off their careers?
Jim: I think so. Ryan Gosling was just coming off, remember the Titans, like he was kind of a smaller character and remembered the Titans, and then he was the main character in this, in this movie, Rachel McAdams did this movie and then right after Did Mean Girls, which really skyrocketed her between the two of them.
Jim: So
Kelly: ask that cause I remember they came out. So 2004 was when I graduated high school. So this is like definitely like a, a time in my life. But me and girls kill Bill volume two. The Notebook, like this was like a very big time of movies. I think that like, I still remember. But Ryan Daling did numbers, which remember he
Jim: Oh yeah.
Kelly: Bullock and that's what blows my mind to this day, is that like, oh, and he was such a shrimpy looking guy in numbers and I've always remembered that because like, I kind of remember it went from numbers and being like, oh, he's dating Sandra Bullock.
Kelly: That's weird. To then him doing the notebook and being kind of still like a little bit undiscovered and kind of putting on like that bulk that he's now with that famous like swimmer's v that he has and now he's like a romance god. Like I think everyone, like most men I think have like
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: attraction to Ryan Gosling.
Kelly: And I was like, but numbers, he was so weird.
Jim: and weird. Yeah. Yeah, this was the, the, the high school, college movie of the century. Like, honestly, like if you were dating someone during, when this movie came out, it hit every dating couple, like every couple wants to go see this movie. It was huge. It's not, I'm not really into these types of movies, like romance style movies.
Jim: Like I said, it took me to this podcast to get me to watch it, but it was not bad. It was, it was well done. I think it helped. Reading the book first and then watching the movie because I was going in with low expectations. After reading the book and a couple minutes in, you realize how different it is and how much more depth it is and
Kelly: crazy. They did. I've never, never in my life had to say this before, but they actually did more character development in the movie than the book.
Jim: I,
Kelly: Like a lot
Jim: usually, all right guys, let me tell you something. Coming into this podcast, being on team movie is very difficult. Okay? It's very difficult because you lose so much going from the book to the movie, and I totally understand that. I understand why people love the book more than the movie. 99% of the time, this is the one time where it's the exact opposite, where you actually get more detail in the movie than you do in the book.
Jim: It, the book is the Sparked notes version of the movie.
Kelly: Literally, maybe that's why he has last name is
Jim: That's true. That's where they got spark notes.
Kelly: What a lame last name. Like it just like, it's like he's like a sparkling twinkly male fairy. Just being like, have you ladies tread cancer Wouldn't it be sad if you died a cancer?
Jim: Wouldn't it be sad if you had, oh, sorry, miss.
Kelly: I heard about Als gonna take your high school boyfriend with that one. Like what?
Jim: Obviously there's a ton of differences between the book and the movie, but I'll go over Samine. I don't wanna go over Samine once cuz we could go all day about the differences, but
Kelly: So you liked the movie is my question
Jim: I did like it. I actually did like it. But like I said, it helped going from the book to the movie. I think if I just watched the movie by itself, I'd be like, it's fine.
Jim: You know, it's whatever. But it's, it's actually a very good romance. Movie, I think you, you see way more of the rich verse poor dynamic. You see way more of the family dynamics. Like between him, his relationship with his father, her relationship with her parents. The timeline is done so well as far as like actually reading a notebook to her.
Kelly: yes. And and kind of revealing,
Jim: the big reveal that it's them, you know, the kids show up and they're like, you're never gonna, you're never gonna help her dad, and stuff like that. You know, like, I don't know. But the three of biggest things is first is, like I said, it's there's a lot more detail in the movie. You see a lot more drama, a lot more feeling, a lot more emotion.
Jim: Like I said in the book, there's no drama, there's no suspense, there's no action. There's like nothing, none of that stuff. But in the book you have like the, the relationship between Rich Allie and her parents. And how intense that is. They have the cops show up that time, like he almost gets arrested.
Jim: He's accused of being a rapist from the mom. All this stuff. It was so like way like that was drastic but very
Kelly: I really jam packed it in there. I, I think like they were scrambling to find more conflicts in the story that they were just like,
Jim: We need to add something. Yeah, we need to add
Kelly: I dunno.
Jim: The, they explain why she ends up leaving way better in the book. In the movie, I'm sorry. In the book, she just randomly leaves one weekend after the summer's over of their relationship and then she doesn't come back until she sees the house in the newspaper.
Jim: In the movie. They, they surprise her by saying, we're leaving today. And they just get up and pack all their things and leave. You know, they have the more romantic scenes between the two of them, them laying out down the street watching. Stop stoplight dancing in the street. You know all those cheese.
Jim: Lay on the cheese. Lay on all the cheese. You got to see some of Ryan Gosling's little dance moves. You could tell he was in like that Mickey Mouse the Nicki Nas Club.
Jim: Yeah. Dancing club cuz he is got like, he's got some smooth moves.
Kelly: Plus he was in, are you afraid of the dark? A couple
Jim: Oh really?
Kelly: like, he brought, he brought a whole toolkit of acting to this. He was like, listen, I'm gonna dance. I'm gonna romance, and then I'm gonna hang off a Ferris wheel if my pants down.
Jim: Yeah. . You do what you gotta do to get Rachel make Adams.
Kelly: Very 1940s on
Jim: it is very 1940s. You will go out with me?
Kelly: Did it not feel like this? This movie is basically baby, it's cold outside, but as a movie
Jim: Hey, it
Kelly: is literally . Like, wasn't it great when women couldn't say, no, I, I love Mia. Some gas lading. Like, oh, it's such a ro. No wonder why she had Alzheimer's. She was like, I'm blocking this shit out.
Jim: I love how after that worked, she was like, yeah, this is the band I'm in love with for the rest of my life.
Kelly: I know her mom's like, is this Stockholm syndrome you're gonna.
Jim: you obviously learn more about the characters, more about their backgrounds, what makes them tick, what they, what they wanna do, what they want to get into. The mom plays a way bigger role in the movie than in the book. Like, I didn't pick up the vibes that she was like trying to stop the relationship as much in the book.
Jim: Like she shows up at the house when she knows that the the fiance's coming and Warren's the daughter. That's really all I got from the mom was that
Kelly: I I don't, I didn't hate that in the book. I think, like, I liked that they added a lot more to the dynamics of like the wealth discrepancy, especially back then and the role of the parents in that. But at the same time, I think like Nicholas Bars didn't wanna make it a big deal of like, it, like these people weren't assholes.
Kelly: They were just watching out for their daughter. And I think like, it was more, it was more realistic in a lot of
Jim: Well that's why I said it's a very realistic
Kelly: move after summer and then, you know, you lose touch of it and the mom just didn't, like the girl was 15. They make it a very clear in the book, like, I would kind of probably protect my 15 year old too.
Kelly: I'm not gonna be like, yeah, get on that jet plane to Epstein Island. You know, like he like, I think the mom was just a mom of a 15 year old. Back before anything. So like, I mean like at least they could, you know, nowadays it's like text messages. You can't intercept that. It'd be really great if we made the notebook in today's day where it'd be like the pager or something, or like, I'm gonna take her pager away.
Kelly: You can't message this boy. But like, I think they treated the mom gently in the book too, where she wasn't a villain, she didn't have a love interest or anything. She was just like, you know, like, like do the right thing. Lawn's a really good guy. Don't be a complete dick about this, but like, you know, follow your heart too.
Kelly: I thought that was sweet. It didn't give much of a story, but I agree. Like I remember when I was reading this book, cause I saw the movie obviously when I was right. 19 years old. But I was expecting more from the mom. I was expecting her to be like, you know, like that love story she had where she like was also fooling around with the guy in the coal mine or lumber yard and she would creepily drive every
Jim: How does she know he was still there?
Kelly: and watch him.
Kelly: Oh my god. I would love. The perspective from that guy being like, there's that creepy woman
Jim: He was still watching me. I don't even know who that is. We dated once. Yeah, like I said, I think the book is very realistic to real life.
Kelly: Hmm.
Jim: I was saying, like it's a very basic story about like real life, but I'm not, I'm not investing my time to. Somebody else's real life story. You know what I mean?
Jim: Unless it's like a very interesting story.
Kelly: Yeah. You want like a little,
Jim: A
Kelly: you want the choice? I think like they made this movie more about choice and like the, they built up why the choice was so important. Whereas I think the book was a little bit more about, that's just a setup to tell this story about two older people and the fact that like, Life isn't always easy, but like you choose the right things and you make it work and then you try to be, you know, the best disciples of Christ and , you know, hope for the best.
Kelly: I do wanna mention this cause like did they do it in the movie? The really random part in the book where they just , it was like, did you watch the movie The Room? Like okay, remember where he's like, they made that whole scene where the woman just randomly says that she has cancer and then they like never revisit
Jim: Yes.
Kelly: It kind of reminded me of this scene in the book where like they're like, and then our son died at four years old.
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: The end . Then like, move on. I was like, wait, what happened to the sun? Like this sounds like more of a story you'd wanna tell about your relationship than like this really lame crab dinner that you guys had one time.
Kelly: Like, tell me about the child dying. Sounds lovely.
Jim: K crab dinner scene in the book cracked me up cuz he is like, I, you wanna check out this great place in town? And she's like, sure. And he is like, it's my house. Please don't mind. The bar is on the window.
Jim: The timeline, like we talked about earlier is well done in the, in the movie where you get a lot more of them dating for the whole summer. You see how they met, what their relationship was like over the summer, why she left. Then it cuts back to them in present day and she's like, oh, that was it.
Jim: They, they don't get together and she's trying to remember the story. She clearly doesn't remember the story. Then it comes back to. they're lives separating. He meets his own girl. She meets his own guy, she meets Lon. And he ends up buying the house and doing it over. But the house alone, I think is even in more depth than the book.
Jim: I didn't understand the point in the house as much as I did in the, in the movie, like the, I got the more of the point that the house is really her. He becomes obsessed with the house. He wants it like the exact same as how she wanted it. So you see a lot more of that. And then you, like I said, you see more of the rich first poor old Southern money when they first get introduced to the family. Rachel Allie's family the dad is just played by your classic southern old money guy. With that mustache, they could have cast Colonel Sanders. That mustache is outta control.
Kelly: Oh my God. That that was its own character. We were dying laughing, watching this movie or rewatching it because we were like, these dads really wanna be involved in this relationship. Like Sam Shepherd was like, Hey, Allie, gimme your painting. I'm gonna look at it first, or Come, come sit on my lap and tell me everything.
Kelly: I was like, like lay off dads, you creepers.
Jim: But Sam Shepherd which is funny cuz I feel like he always plays kind of like a villainous character or an asshole character as an actor. I've seen him in other things where he plays like not the nice guy. And in this movie he's just so sweet and so nice and you don't get in any of that relationship in the book obviously.
Jim: But yeah. He is not mentioned really
Jim: at all. And I like seeing their, their relationship between the Ryan Gosling and his dad, the reading, the poetry to each other and stuff like that. I really like that. I think what I wanna say, at least about Ryan Gosling character, like I think he was a bit more of a dickhead in the.
Jim: yeah.
Kelly: Rachel Nagas played a little bit more of a brat. And that's, I think, kind of what I, I liked a little bit better in the book was that Noah's just a kind person. I got him more as like a poetry type of person.
Kelly: I don't think he was aggressive at all. And it was like sometimes I was like worried about their relationship of like, you know, like obviously they have this like love hate fiery french relationship, you know? But what was weird about it was then you go back to the old, like present day and they're old and they just seem more like sweet, hearty types.
Kelly: Like I feel like the 1940s scenes just felt like a little bit anachronistic too. Like I felt like this was like a little too modern take on 1940s. Like I didn't feel like the actors and actresses were really set back in time. I think they, they kind of made little caricature parts of it, but like, it still felt like Ryan Gosling is such a aggressive, focused kind of man.
Kelly: Like he gets what he wants. And then later on he's just this sweetheart of an old man that's like, oh my sweetheart. Like I feel like he would've been like a little bit more like, come here honey. Like grab your ass. Like he was just seemed like a little bit too tame of a, as an older couple in comparison to the relationship they showed early in the movie.
Jim: Yeah, but don't you get more mature as you get older? You're not still like trying to swing, baby, come on over. Let me hang on this Ferris wheel at 80 years old.
Kelly: we're gonna go to the nursing home together and we're gonna check it out and we're gonna be like, Hey, how do you talk to your wife and be like, that bimbo? I don't know.
Jim: that'll,
Kelly: dead for 15 years.
Jim: I got, I liked the relationship better than the movie because it was, Intense fiery and yeah, like I feel like it was more of like a real realistic couple. You know, like you have your times where you fight and you get back together and he like that scene when he's like, we're gonna fight and then we're gonna make up.
Jim: Like, I love that whole scene. I love that part. I was like, yes,
Kelly: I just felt like he was always on the cusp of just like shaking her. He was like, just get your shit together lady.
Jim: that's sometimes I wanted to say that too. Yeah.
Kelly: my God. Cuz like, I love Rachel Mc Adams. And I think, honestly, I really do attribute the success, the success of this film to that casting. And I think they, they kind of had a corner on the market where they didn't, the, the reveal of them being the older couple and then the older couple's love story being like, very kind of fresh at that time.
Kelly: But she's just such a star. I think Rachel McAdams does have like, that kind of like charisma that reads through the screen and watching this the first time, like, I was like, oh, she's so fun. And she's like, just bratty, but like cool. Bratty, rewatching. It was a little hard to watch because I was like, she's kind of a pain in the ass.
Kelly: Like really, really big pain in the
Jim: Well at decision making.
Kelly: she still, she still like shines on that screen and like, I think their charisma with each other or their chemistry, which they had to work on apparently.
Jim: Yeah.
Kelly: They didn't like each other at first. And then, yeah, the, then they had some kind of intervention. I don't know what it was.
Kelly: Maybe they gave them both ecstasy and had them
Jim: I did read that they had to, like, they had to, like Nick, the director, Nick and Rachel make Adams and Ryan Gosling had to like, have an intervention sit in a room until they just hash it out. But it's like classic couple. Like,
Kelly: why can't you guys just fake like each other? Okay, we need this, we need this film to be successful. The other
Jim: you're right. She, she does shine. She's a she is. I thought. She, she's an amazing actress and I was pumped. They, they took a leap of faith on her, on this movie and let her. Just do her thing. But the character itself, I was like, all right, make a fucking decision already. But
Kelly: Oh my God. I know, like I said, they definitely leaned harder on the choice making in this rather than like the gentleness of like falling in love again with somebody that you never really felt completely. So they're, they're kind of two different stories, but still the same story. You know what I mean? What was I gonna say?
Kelly: There's another, oh, the scene where she starts to sun down and he, like, they've just had like the two minutes of clarity together where she remembers him and in the movie and like they're having this romantic dinner, which, by the way, what nursing home is this? Because I want to go there when I'm like, first off, there's like candlelight.
Kelly: We're gonna trust an Alzheimer's patient with like live flame. There's a sweet looking over the river. Is this covered by Medicaid?
Jim: Well, at first I thought that, at first I thought that was gonna be the house, and then I'm like, no, this is a nursing home.
Kelly: Kate asked the same thing and I was like, no, I think they're intentionally made to look the same, but yeah, it's not the same house, by the way, in the book.
Kelly: They just decide to shutter that house up and not sell it. They're like, well, if we can't live here, nobody
Jim: yeah, I remember that.
Kelly: so we're taking our problematic historical house, and we're closing shop guys. All right. I hope I haunted when I die.
Kelly: Yeah. But that sundowning scene, I love that like when she was like, she's sundowning and she's just screaming and he's crying.
Kelly: And I remember the first time I watched that I was, it was so emotionally manipulative that I was crying. I was like, there's an old man crying. There's an old woman
Jim: even talk about it right now.
Kelly: It's, it's a lot. And it is supposed to, it was like a grenade just chucked at you of like, feels and
Jim: starts off so nice and calm and like, oh, we have this nice little dinner and then all of a sudden, boom.
Kelly: I know. Oh, and the music too, like that's like the kind of music you play in like a haunted mansion too. It's like, oh, there, shit, you were
Jim: it was, it was more of a horror scene for me. It was just very intense and I'm like, oh my God, I'm scared for my life right now. I don't wanna be these people.
Kelly: and it's like un like terrifying because like, ah, this could happen to you. You know, like, I think like neurological diseases are just terrifying. And I think like that was what this kind of did too, is like you could live your whole life. And like the craziest part about it is you don't have the memories of it.
Kelly: And like there's, there's a few authors that deal a lot with memory and I think it's a really cool, beautiful subject matter to talk about because it's like dreams. It's, it's very overlooked because it's a very personal thing that can't be monitored or measured by science. I think. So that's why I thought this was really interesting to kind of start getting back into the questions of like, our mortality and, you know, what our minds are and how we hold ourselves and do we change?
Jim: Yeah. I, I Remind me of how horrifying it is, like in that Black Mirror episode where they talk about Alzheimer's. Oh my God. If you wanna scare the shit outta yourself, watch that
Kelly: I love Black Mirror. Which one? Which Black Mirror though?
Jim: The, it was the haunted house one.
Kelly: Oh yeah.
Jim: he thinks he has Alzheimer's at the end, and he does, he's all afraid of getting Alzheimer's.
Jim: Like the dad had Alzheimer's.
Kelly: Oh yeah.
Jim: that was like freaky. I wanna talk about Lon real quick. I know we talked about Lon.
Kelly: But the Ever so handsome James Naden. This guy's just always gonna have a career.
Jim: Yes, I totally agree. So I was reading the book and I'm thinking, Juan's just a normal good guy. I don't understand why he's being so mistreated.
Jim: And then I'm like, I wonder who plays lan Cuz you have to get somebody that could play that part who's su super nice but willing to be cheated on so easily. And I look, I scrolled down imdb and it's James Marson and I was like, wow, that is the perfect Hollywood whipping boy. Like I feel like he's just signed up to be killed or cheated on and is like fine with it.
Jim: Or Sonic the Hedgehog. Those are his rules
Kelly: cosmic punishment to be like, it's sort of like, sorry, your cheekbones and your jaw is perfect, so what we're gonna do is punish you for that forever and ever. Like even in Westworld, he's the same guy. He is like, you know, get
Jim: whipping boy. He's
Kelly: Oh, poor
Jim: I be cheated on and killed over and over again? And I was like, that is so perfect. Cuz that's who he is. And I mean, good for him. Make that money be like, yeah, you need just a guy to get killed. I'll be your man.
Kelly: Yeah. Oh, I love that Whipping boy
Jim: I don't know, it's so funny.
Kelly: Oh my
Jim: it's so perfect. So perfect casting.
Kelly: I love how in the book they try to just make it that like, he's super perfect, he just doesn't have time for her. Like he's just kind of career based and that's sort of like, oh, he's not a bad guy. It's just that like he's, he's got other priorities and I need to make me the priority.
Kelly: In the movie, it's sort of, she's just like, I'm just chasing Dee where I see it. Like, I need mama needs some, some taco filling. I don't
Jim: you, I mentioned, I mentioned I like painting and you're like, so you should paint. And meanwhile Noah's letting me paint naked doc side.
Kelly: Oh, can we just visit the moment that this girl is wrapped in like a, a throw blanket you use for like your multis poodle blend on a couch
Jim: Justin, naked back,
Kelly: just takes full advantage of this bed and breakfast that Noah has like opened up for her and Creepily has built her an entire painting room and she is just naked painting like something and her mom shows up and what does this bitch do?
Kelly: She is like, well walk of shame where like walk of fame and she goes out in this blanket, tits out to talk to her mom about how maybe she should lose her fiance. And like, I'm like, I would never be naked having this life decision conversation with my mother. I wouldn't.
Jim: walk of shame. It's more like walk of naked walk of shame is you're wearing the same clothes you wore the night before. She's not wearing any clothes totally, but naked. Hi Bob. Way to ruin the seat.
Kelly: It's, they just open a nudist colony on this plantation and like, she's like, this is my lifestyle. Now I'm sky clad. Like, she like has literally no shame anymore. She's just like, I'm good. I saw some swans. It turns me on. I'm gonna have sex with this guy for as long as I can.
Jim: Yeah. Good for you, Allie. Go for it. I yeah, I mean, and then we touched on the ending already, but I just wanna recap the ending of the movies a little. Obviously very different. She finally remembers Noah, the nurse lets him there's one scene where the nurse kind of like, is like, I'm gonna go make myself another cup of coffee and I'll be back in an hour.
Jim: So it clearly gives him time, but I love how he goes over to check the cup of coffee. Like, you didn't put two and two together there, but, and he goes
Kelly: He is old Jimmy.
Jim: he is like, oh, that's a full cup. Wait a minute, did she leave me alone on purpose? And then they go in, he goes into the room and she still remembers him and they hold each other's hand and they just will each other to death.
Jim: They just will death
Kelly: Hmm. That's nice.
Jim: That's it.
Kelly: Beautiful. That's what, isn't that what we all want?
Jim: how it's supposed to end. That's how it's supposed to end. Not some weird unbuttoning old sex scene. Nick Sparks, you wanna make me
Kelly: Oh my God. What is Nick Sparks into is my question. Like I like, Ooh, he's into some weird
Jim: I think the people who made X read the notebook and
Kelly: The notebook and just said, listen. And like they're on their old plantation house and everything like that.
Jim: Barry. A lot of similarities.
Kelly: continued guys. And I think, I think it's nice, you know, maybe they didn't die.
Kelly: Maybe they just need sex slaves now to kind of keep it all
Jim: Yeah. All in all, I, I liked it. I'd give it a solid B minus C plus area. But unlike a weighted scale where it's sort of like, this is not the B minus of movies I would choose to watch, and
Jim: Yes. I, I don't, not gonna go outta my way to watch this, but
Kelly: Yeah. But it's, it's a, the weighted scale of like, like, could this be the worst movie? No, I, I'm also gonna go ahead and say that if you've watched this many years ago, don't re-watch it.
Kelly: It's kind of, it's good in your memory as it is. Like, if you need to reread a notebook, sparks note, version of what this happened in the, the book or a movie, do that cuz it's, it's better as it is the time has passed that this is relevant or even well done.
Jim: Yeah. A lot of things did not age well, but it's had, did you notice that obviously it takes place in the forties, so they talk a lot about plantations and stuff like that, which is fine for that time period. But even in the modern day stuff like the nursing home, like all the people who worked there were all
Kelly: all the people of color are just in the
Jim: And then the only person who's white is the doctor . And it's just like, stuff like that just did not age
Kelly: I know.
Jim: But all in all, I thought it was, it was a good romance movie. I would pick some others before this one. And like Kelly was saying, if you watched it and you liked it like almost 20 years ago, keep it there. Cuz it aged about 20 years now. We've come a long way since 2004, which is good. And yeah, I mean I, I, I enjoyed it for my first watch through.
Kelly: yeah. Did you get emotional at at any point?
Jim: did. The yeah, like we talked about that scene where he's like horrified about her losing her shit. That got me, I don't know, my grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's and it just like freaked me out.
Jim: This freaked me out. It was it was very realistic and very intense and they, they do trick you. They think you're gonna have a romantic dinner and they turn on its head real quick.
Kelly: Oh my God. It reminds me of a few dinners I have had, but not
Jim: it's but yeah, I think, like I said, I think I liked it more because I read the book first and yeah, I,
Kelly: It's kind of like a chia pet. I think. Like the book was sort of like, here's some seeds, and then it grows a little bit more in the movies, so that like, it, it actually had like a fruiting body to it. Like, here's an actual story for you to consume with your eyes. Like the, I think the initial story was sort of like a chicken soup for the soul kind of thing.
Kelly: And like I said, this is just very scholastic fair. Like it's, it's not, it's not meant for depth, you know what I mean?
Jim: I do have a list of casting what ifs if we wanna get into that category.
Kelly: Yes.
Jim: so I'll save my favorite one for last, but these are actual possible casting choices that they were gonna go with for Allie. So I feel like I say this every book in the movie, but Reese Witherspoon she's just made for this type of genre, I feel like.
Kelly: Yeah.
Jim: Jessica Beal Kate Becken sale. Jennifer Lawrence, and
Kelly: Lawrence.
Jim: yeah, this is like before her Hunger Games time too. She was young.
Kelly: Wow.
Jim: And then my favorite, and this is probably like the closest one that almost actually got it, is Britney Spears.
Kelly: Oh my God. I saw that too. And I was dying.
Jim: so many articles on it, it's amazing.
Kelly: I'm, I'm willingly gonna go down that rabbit hole. I saw that my jaw dropped. I was like, I needed this in my life. Thank you.
Jim: Miss. Rachel McAdams is perfect. But if you were to, if you were to change it to Britney Spears, it would've made the movie so much different. Possibly better
Kelly: I, I, I wanna live in that multiverse. I really do. I will. I'll take my hotdog fingers and go straight to the Britney
Jim: Yeah,
Kelly: Universe.
Jim: yeah.
Kelly: I need it.
Jim: For Noah they had Bradley Cooper again. George Clooney possibly but too old. I think Tom Cruise also too old. But Hayden Christiansen I thought was a possibly good choice. This is before his Star Wars days, I think, or around the same time period of Star Wars days. That really ruined that guy's
Jim: I know because if he did the notebook, he could have skyrocketed, man.
Jim: But he's coming back now that they're doing all these OB one and Star Wars throwbacks and all that stuff. People were pumped that he came back as Dar Theder. So and people hated him when he came, when he was hit Darth Theater in early two thousands when episode two came out. They love him
Kelly: Are they gonna bring back Jar Jar Banks?
Jim: no, he's dead. So those were the possible cast and Joyces for Noah and ed Ali, I don't know if you had any others that you wanted to add to this.
Kelly: I was gonna say, like if I could see a guy, maybe something like, hold on, what's his name? John Kazinski
Jim: Yeah, yeah, that would be good.
Kelly: I could definitely see that. And then almost like not that I would really go with it, but like maybe Anne Hathaway type character
Jim: And Hathaway would be good too. Yeah.
Kelly: yeah, I don't know. Like she's definitely blonde in the book and I think like that, I don't know.
Kelly: I, I feel like that was a part of the whole perfect race of people that he's trying to build up here, which not great.
Jim: for, for Noah if they were to
Kelly: Cause there's something. Quiet and strong about him. But somebody kind of like Ana Hathaway type where it's like, she's definitely forward, but she, like in the book, I, I liked how forward she was where she would just say the truth, but not necessarily be a giant sea next Tuesday about it.
Kelly: Like a spoiled girl where like, like, God, what is it? Farka Zt from Willy Wonka.
Jim: Oh yeah.
Kelly: of how Rachel McAdams played that. She's like, I want the wells, I want it all. So somebody like a little bit softer and a little bit less feisty kitten kind of going on in this, I think like something a little bit more confident and subtle.
Kelly: So I didn't really cast her, but like I'm kind of getting in Hathaway vibes, something like
Jim: I agree. And Anne Hathaway could play a blonde for sure. And also with John Krazinsky, I would say more the Jim Haler days, like the Office Jim Halpert more than Jack Ryan.
Kelly: sarcastic, but
Jim: little Scrawnier younger. Jack Ryan, John Krasinski is like huge and jacked and intense, I feel like. Noah's supposed to be like this sweet southern boy kind of thing, you know?
Kelly: yeah. I feel like they took a lot of people from like Parks and Rec and the office and just gave them steroids and said, you're an action figure now. Kind of like Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt would probably be a really good character to use in the a Nicholas Sparks remake because this man aligns a hundred percent with
Jim: He also,
Kelly: the Christian values of Nicholas
Jim: Pratt doesn't even need it. I feel like a lot of these actors needed a Nick Sparks kind of movie to spark their career, if you would say
Kelly: Oh God.
Jim: But Chris Pratt just stopped drinking beer, he said, and then he was like jacked. Any book recommendations if you did like the notebook?
Kelly: I am gonna say, I'm gonna take you on a heightened journey away from this sort of middle school girl writing her love story in her notebook, vibe. One of my favorite books, atonement is definitely something that I would recommend. I wanna, I don't wanna do any spoilers because that's something that I would like to do on this podcast because the movie is also very good.
Kelly: So it kind of has that same sort of love story and really sad, sad ending that it may or may not involve a neurological disease. It is heartbreaking. Ian niu, and he's the author, I really, really love his writing. The novel's beautiful. It's really, really gorgeous. And I think the story is a little bit more poignant.
Kelly: There's, it's about World War ii, so it's yet again, said in the
Jim: that's what I'm saying.
Kelly: World War I, world War ii, I
Jim: But that's my point, is like I could do a romance movie if it takes place during something drastic going on in our lives, like a World War II romance kind of movie. , you know,
Kelly: Yeah, because it's kind of like you need something kind of as a backdrop for it, because otherwise, like, it's just sort of like everyone has like a romance story. You, you kind of need to have the, something separating the two lovers and whether it be cla smic and outside in the world or something that has to do with like, why they can't be together.
Kelly: So like sexuality, gender wealth, the distance, like you have to have something that kind of drives this relationship otherwise is just a story about two people trying to make something work. So I would definitely say Atonements. And then I know I mentioned a lot about people that deal with memory.
Kelly: So one of my favorite authors is CAO Guro, who is a British Japanese author. He wrote never let me. The days of, fuck. Now I can't think of it, but I was gonna say something like The Buried Giant, which really, really deals with memory. He's just a very, very beautiful writer. So if you want something that's like ambient, kind of like what this book is sort of like, I would definitely go down his avenue and find something that's just beautifully written, sad, but poignant.
Kelly: So casual ish Girl and Atonement would definitely be the two that I would recommend.
Jim: Nice. Yeah, I wrote down for, for movies basically any of the Nicola Spark, if you like this, you like, probably any of the Nicola Spark's main movies. Movies, like a Walk to Remember or Message in a Bottle or Dear John or any of those. But I also added, and I saw a lot of similarities between this movie and, and the notebook is Titanic
Kelly: Ooh.
Jim: cuz a lot of like rich versus poor lot of similar scenes.
Jim: Even like him meeting the, going to dinner with the rich family for the first time. The ending is very similar. So yeah I would, I would actually add Titanic as top of your list.
Kelly: I would also add still Alice with,
Jim: yeah.
Kelly: Julian Moore. That was a hard watch for me. It was really, really sad and beautiful. She gets early onset Alzheimer's and it's just more about a relationship with her and her children, which I thought was really, really gorgeous and very depressing. So, I mean, if you are just in the mood to be sad and talk about what happens to our brains, then I got a few of those.
Kelly: Maybe eat some psilocybin and Go
Kelly: cornea, SEPs. I don't know. Let the mushrooms take you over.
Jim: Kelly's really pushing in the mushrooms lately.
Kelly: Yeah
Kelly: It's a coincidence that last of us came out at this point in time. We're making remarkable moves in science. Guys don't, don't listen to the, to the H B O propaganda.
Jim: they're trying to tear you away from the mushroom experience.
Kelly: I, for one, accept my fungi over lords.
Jim: We've talked a lot about the trivial already. Obviously the Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams Chemistry, but also their fighting their interventions, the, the fact that they turned into a couple after this movie. They dated for a while too,
Jim: yeah, so so yeah, we talked about that a little bit and yeah, it was classic couple.
Jim: They fought a lot on the, on the set. I've heard
Kelly: I think that just like car, like literally, this is just the story of Rachel Mag. I did read this in the trivia before I get too far away. They were both born in the same hospital in
Jim: that. Yeah, I saw that too.
Kelly: say they're both Canadian. So this was really a Canadian love.
Jim: Yep. Only
Kelly: know, about maple syrup met moose knuckles.
Jim: A lot of Oscar nominees in this movie, Ryan Gosling, Gina Rolands, James Garner, Joan Allen, Rachel McAdams, and Sam Shepherd are all Oscar No. So big Oscar nominee movie. And then the only other trivia I really found a lot of the casting choices that we talked about was on there. But they go through the pictures of Ali and Noah in the movie and showing like their past.
Jim: And I was like, wait a second. This isn't Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, which I thought was interesting, but they actually used Gina Roland's old pictures with her husband, just photoshopped James Garner's face into those pictures. So I thought that was interesting.
Kelly: Which was probably like a very big move back in 2004. Like some poor ad person was like, just like superimposing faces onto photographs.
Jim: my question though, is Noah picturing himself, the older Noah, is he picturing them as a young, like when they were younger as a Ryan Gosling and Rachel MCs, but they actually looked like the pictures like, oh, we were a couple. We were the hottest couple on the scene. , we were like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
Kelly: I don't know. I mean, I mean, maybe in the book, because they're still hot for each other, so as long as she remembers, it's fine.
Jim: But yeah. Any other trivia that you noticed? I didn't. That was all I really had. We talked a lot about it already. A lot of the stuff
Kelly: No, I, I mean like, I think this was, yeah, I mean, I, you're not going into a Nicholas Sparks with much of a, an illusion as to what you're gonna be getting. You know, you're shopping for it at that point. And I think it is formulate, you kind of guess it. Like, I remember when a walkthrough remember came out and all the girls in my high school were like, it's so sad.
Kelly: You have to see it. And I was being really bitter and bitchy. As I should be. And I was like, I feel like I know the ending of that movie. And they're like, oh, guess. And I was like, I don't know. Does she die of leukemia? I guessed it down to the leukemia. To the Leukemia. I was like, I don't know. She dies. And they're like, what?
Kelly: I was like, what? Leukemia? And they're like, no, you couldn't have just guessed
Jim: Spoil alert for people who haven't seen a walk to remember
Kelly: you would've gotten it anyway.
Jim: Just like the spoil alert that all and Noah are actually the old couple in this.
Kelly: Oh my God. Which I, I wonder if you kind of know in the walk to room or book right away what's gonna happen. Like, kind of like what you knew in this book. Like it's not pulling punches, it's just literally just like a really sad bedtime story. Fuck up your day.
Jim: And now for a new segment, we like to call
Kelly: Yay.
Jim: or Robot with Kelly McMurray. All
Kelly: Yeah.
Jim: Kelly. As you know, everybody is either an alien or a robot. So we'll start with Allie.
Kelly: I'm gonna say alien.
Jim: Okay. I think she could go either way.
Kelly: Ooh. You think there's some robotics to a That's to, I'm gonna say Amy to Allie.
Kelly: Just one of those what are they? The from Austin Powers
Jim: oh, the sex bots or whatever. Oh my God. This movie is just Lars and the Real girl. But a real story about the, the Do the Sex Doll is actually just Rachel, Nick Adams. I, it's all coming together for me now. They tried to replace her with a sexy lamp, but they couldn't do it.
Jim: Noah.
Kelly: Noah's kind of Christlike figure in the.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Kelly: I think he was Jesus, whether I know it or not. But in movie, I wanna say kind of a robot. Like he feels like the Terminator to me a little bit. Like he's like, I've come for you.
Jim: Blonde.
Kelly: Lon Robot two.
Jim: Allie likes her robots.
Kelly: Yeah, he's like a Wally robot.
Jim: Noah's dad.
Kelly: Hmm.
Jim: Movie version, obviously
Kelly: Ooh, that's really hard. I wanna say alien,
Jim: say Alien too. I'd agree with that. And Allie's parents.
Kelly: Robots.
Jim: Yeah, they're both robots for sure.
Kelly: Yeah,
Jim: And that's it. Any other closing comments on, on the notebook?
Kelly: I don't know. Be kind to each other. Love the people you love. But don't marry your high school sweetheart. I think that's creepy. Get out there and explore the world. It's not the 1940s. I mean, be safe while you're doing it. But I mean, listen, Allie only slept with him and then she had a crippling disease later in life, so maybe
Jim: the two are
Kelly: experience more life, get out there and be dirty for a while and come back home and make it all worthwhile.
Kelly: How about you? Any closing notes?
Jim: I thought I wasn't gonna like this as much as I did, so that was good. It's you know, people always say that like, I'm not a big romance kind of guy, which I'm definitely not. But this, this it was well done for its time, I would say, and like we talked about this earlier, if you watched it in 2004, 2005, 2006, you, you're, you're good. You, you don't
Kelly: Yeah. Leave it there.
Jim: don't need to
Kelly: Leave it there. Yeah.
Jim: as always, thank you so much to our host over at Gecko's Media for putting this podcast together. Go check us out on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Patreon. We're gonna be posting our Patreon episode soon, so go check that out on our favorite 2022 hits at Seeing Red on all of those, at Seeing Red Podcasts on Instagram.
Jim: With that, Keep watching books, I always have to think about it.
Kelly: And guys, keep reading movies, chow.