The Grey NATO - Ep 92 - TGN Film Club 3
Published on Thu, 24 Oct 2019 06:00:22 -0400
Synopsis
The hosts discuss several movies they recommend, including Jaws, The Constant Gardener, Three Days of the Condor, Downhill Racer, Marathon Man, Blade Runner 2049, Sicario, The Town, Collateral, and the Hitchcock film Rope. They give brief descriptions of the plots and what they appreciate about each film.
They also discuss some recent vacations and experiences, like one host staying at the former estate of Ian Fleming in Jamaica. For final notes, they recommend products like a Topo bag, a Fraser wallet, and the Inside Skunk Works podcast about secret Lockheed Martin aircraft projects.
Links
Transcript
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| Jason Heaton | Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Graynado, a Hodinkee podcast. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 92, and it's proudly brought to you by Hamilton Watches and their Intramatic Automatic Chronograph. Stay tuned for more on that a little later in the show. And we thank you for listening. Hey, Jason, how's it going? Howdy. |
| James Stacey | Good. Good. Yeah. It's been a while since we talked. I think, uh, we recorded an episode in person in New York. We did last time we, we spoke, uh, then I did an interview and, um, yeah, so it's been a while. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, that last interview I thought was a, was a really good one, despite the fact that the audio quality kind of wasn't great. Uh, you know, you and I kind of hemmed and hawed on whether or not it was something that had to go out. Right. And I think it really did like Paul, uh, for those of you who didn't listen to episode 91, Paul Schofield, he's just the sweetest guy on record and an absolute expert in what we talk to him about. I really liked that one and we had... We'll get to this, but I had a chance recently, just in the last week, to talk to a bunch of listeners in London and Glasgow, and they all kind of agreed. It was a little hard to understand him at times, but when you could get the audio, he's just incredible. It'd be really fun to do a round two of that at some point, you know, like you, me and him may be in a quiet pub somewhere and really ask some like borderline dumb, but also like really deep questions, like try and do both. I found him fascinating. I thought even just his voice was incredible. He's great on mic. But this is, you know, this is why we go to such kind of extremes for audio quality when it comes to recording apart. I mean, you and I are, you and I are a fairly considerable flight in distance apart right now. And you always try and make it as good as possible. But in that case, we kind of bent our rules and, uh, and we rolled it and I was happy with it. I thought that was a good one. Uh, but since that, so, I mean, it has been the better part of a month since we, uh, since we were last kind of actually recording one of these together. How have you been? |
| James Stacey | Good. You know, it's funny. Um, since the last time we did talk, our, our last episode that we recorded together was the fitness episode. And I think we both have, have updates, which is kind of a fun, it's kind of a fun thing to do on the show because I, I've been thinking that it, it's almost a way of holding ourselves accountable for kind of upping our fitness game. Yeah, no, I agree. You know, since that episode, uh, I heard from a listener on Instagram, his name is, uh, Dr. Rob. So it's dr.rob.3 on Instagram. And he heard that episode and he pinged me in a direct message and gave me a recommendation for a rowing machine. Um, I had mentioned that I was interested in maybe buying a Concept 2 rowing machine, which is the one you usually see in a lot of gyms and a lot of the rowing clubs and things use them. And he said, you might want to consider a Water Rower. So that's the brand name. And Water Rower, some might recall, was made semi-famous by the show House of Cards. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was the rowing machine that, well, even before he was president, but the Kevin Spacey character used. Frank Underwood? Frank Underwood. |
| Jason Heaton | Underwood, Underhill, yeah, Underwood. Underwood, yeah. Okay. Which one did you get here? |
| James Stacey | So it's the one that he used. I don't know, it was about, it wasn't the very base model, it's a wooden one with the dual rail seat. Okay, like an A1 home? That sounds right. Yeah. Cool. All right. Yeah. And I love it. I got it last week and, you know, just for some background, maybe people didn't listen to episode 91. Yeah. But the back story was, you know, I'm a big cyclist in the summer and cross country skier in the winter, but there's always this period like right about now where it's dark days, it's raining, it starts to get kind of icy if we don't get good enough snow for skiing. Like I just want something to kind of get in a good you know, half hour, 40 minute workout. And I've always liked rowing and so that seemed like a good solution. Um, so I, I, I bought one, I bought this, this water rower, I've got it set up in the basement and I love it so far. It's, it's just such a simple exercise. Like this, this unit, you're, you're basically pushing around sort of a spinning set of paddles that's inside of a tank of water. That's what provides the resistance. And so there's really no, There's really no way to like dial up or down the resistance. It's basically, it's based on your own intensity. So if I want it to be harder, I just have to row faster to kind of increase the resistance. And there's a very simple interface that kind of tracks. I've been doing like 5,000 meters of rowing and you can just kind of set it, just counts down. And then I'm using the Garmin, the Phoenix, which has an indoor row function on it. So it tracks my strokes based on my arm movement, I suppose, and then my heart rate and my time. And then I just, you know, I put on a podcast or some music and kind of crank up a fan right in my face and just go to town. And it's, so far I've used it, I think, three times since I got it. I love it. I can see it as a great sort of indoor alternative to, um, you know, if I, if I can't get out. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. And it's kind of nice looking like it's, it's kind of has like its own aesthetic to it, which is kind of cool. |
| James Stacey | And yeah. And what's cool about it is, is it, um, speaking of the looks, you know, what, what's nice about this and kind of sold me on it over the concept too, is that it's, it's a little more low slung and actually has a smaller footprint, but also if you need extra space, you can, tip it up on its end and just kind of lean it against a wall and it takes up no greater footprint than like a chair. So it's, and because it's this kind of nice, you know, polished wood, it, it kind of looks, looks pretty decent too. So yeah, I'm, I'm thrilled with it. And then I downloaded your recommendation of the, the, I think it's called the six week hundred pushup app. Oh yeah, yeah. Um, so I actually started the routine today. Um, I did the test last week to see how many I could do in a row and I'm not going to embarrass myself by admitting how few I could do. |
| Jason Heaton | The lower the number, the higher you can climb. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, right. So I started in on the routine today and so far so good. And I'm doing that and rowing. So yeah, exciting. That's great. Good stuff. I'm glad to hear. |
| Jason Heaton | And then on my side, I mean, just to fill in my side of a similar scenario is, you know, I was kind of looking for, I've been getting back into running, even since that last, uh, one and, and pretty, pretty, you know, successfully seeing some more considerable jumps in speed in pace, which I'm pretty happy about. You know, I'm, I'm still chasing that sub five minute kilometer, um, which, uh, is fine. I enjoy the, I enjoy the chase there, but, uh, you know, I have this longstanding sort of group chat on a Google Hangouts with some buddies that I used to work with. and a few guys I used to even go to high school with and one of them said, hey, I have an exercise bike if anyone wants it. And it turns out it's not this like super casual exercise. It's like kind of like something you'd find in a decent gym. |
| James Stacey | Oh, nice. |
| Jason Heaton | So I went and picked it up and I've done two workouts on it so far and loving it. It's fine. I mean, like, I guess I kind of thought it would be like riding a bike outside. Uh, but it's way more intense than that. So like I finished, I, you know, I found some, a couple of YouTube videos, like ones from GNC. Um, I'll see if I can throw a couple up and I haven't found one that I love. When I find one that I love, I'll mention it. I'll put it in the show notes, but I found a couple, you know, if you just type like literally exercise bike into YouTube and then picks a couple of them have like 10, 10 million views. So I started with those and it's good. I mean, I finished, I finished a 30 year, 40 minute workout, just like pouring sweat. And it's nice if it's a, you know, too dark to go for a run or pretty soon it's going to be colder and colder and then snow and all that kind of scenario. So I'm thrilled. I can push it right up in front of my, um, in front of my computer today on, on one screen, I had the audio and video of like a standup comedy routine from Netflix. And on my main monitor, I had the actual like bike flow video, but I don't want to listen to the guy yell at me for 40 minutes. I can, there's all these graphics that tell you what you're supposed to be doing. So it just mimics whatever the other people were doing on their bike. Yeah. I like it. I think I'm going to continue with this and, uh, and then just kind of blend it into a normal sort of strength workout over the winter. Um, so yeah, I I'm pretty happy with that so far, which is, uh, which is nice. And, and, and to, to put a footnote on the fitness thing, a really big thank you to everyone that wrote in emails. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say like we got in excess of 50, maybe closer to a hundred emails. from people who either just appreciated the fact that we took some time to talk about fitness from a layman's standpoint, from a functional standpoint. And then other people who are simply saying like, this is what I do when I'm in a hotel. This is what I do when I'm at home. This is why I like gyms. This is why I hate gyms. And there's always like a thousand opinions when you bring up something like this, but everybody was so nice and supportive. And, uh, and, and I'd like to kind of keep that cycle moving. So if you ever want to write in and you want to share something, or you think you found like what you, what feels like the key for your lifestyle, like to really accept some exercise or activity, then maybe write us in if you've stuck with it and it's, and it's like, it feels good. And so, and you're able to support it as a, as a functional sort of part of your life right in. And we'll try and reflect that back out towards everyone who's listening. Uh, cause we would like to keep you all as healthy as possible. And, and in return, Jason, I would like to feel like we should try and keep ourselves as healthy as possible instead of sitting on the couch. Um, so I like kind of having a little bit more of an impetus to get on this bike or put my running shoes on or, uh, throw a kettlebell around or whatever it is. So I thank you to everybody who was really cool about the fact that we spent what, like the better part of an hour talking about, uh, exercise on, uh, on, on a podcast. It's generally about watches. So. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. And, and you'll, you'll just have to tell everybody, um, because you told me before we started this, uh, how you got your exercise bike home. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh yeah. Uh, so that's the next big thing. And I guess it, this really puts a highlight on, on how long it's been since you and I recorded an actual episode. But, uh, I finally, you know, after nine months now I've, I've, I've found a vehicle. I did buy a Jeep. When I first started my, my thought of getting a vehicle is what I basically wanted was something you could take the roof off of. uh, that had a stick. But then of course I have two kids and I'd like something that you can drive year round. So that's snow in Toronto. And I like some of you could probably take like camping. I also don't like having to worry about the physical condition of a vehicle, whether it be like the wheels or the actual like body work of the vehicle. Like I'm not prepared to own a really nice car. Yeah. And I still get these cars. I still get to borrow really nice cars for free. Uh, so, uh, yeah, the, the end result is when you, when you really start to take all of those pieces and put them into one vehicle, it was pretty clearly going to be a Jeep, uh, Wrangler. So I ended up finding a 2011 Wrangler JK. So it's the unlimited, it's the four door. It has the three eight, which is the lesser wanted engine. This is the, in fact, the last year of the three eight. So it's not very good on fuel, but I don't drive that much. |
| James Stacey | It's a V6, I'm guessing. |
| Jason Heaton | Correct. Yeah, it's a 3.8 liter V6. It was later replaced by the Pentastar, which is a little bit more powerful, also better on gas, also a little bit more free revving, just kind of a better engine all around. That said, as far as Jeeps go, I don't need a fast one. One of the things I actually like about this Jeep is I think it's going to be tough for me to get a speeding ticket in it, but it's a six-speed, which is what I wanted, which is a six-speed Jeep, and it's green with a tan interior. I love it. It has a paint-matched hard top. which is the only way I would have bought it. I don't like the non paint matched hard tops. The ones that are just kind of that like matte plastic color, uh, black plastic. And then it has a full soft top as well, which I can put on next summer and it's in nice shape. It doesn't have too many kilometers. Uh, it runs really beautifully. I, it took me, you know, I got it on a Friday. I went on a trip for, I don't know, a week or whatever. And then I came back and I immediately started modifying it. Um, so I came back to, you know, like six or seven Amazon boxes of stuff. Uh, for anyone who owns a Jeep, you're, you, it depends on which camp you're in. Like my dad, he's had a Jeep for really a Wrangler for quite a while, uh, an old TJ, and he's never tried to really change anything about it. Aside from the top, he has like a, like a bikini top. So it just goes over the front cab and then the back is kind of like a pickup. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Um, in my case, I'm not that worried about the top, especially for the winter. This is fine. But if you've ever driven one of these Jeeps, um, the headlights aren't great. Uh, so I immediately upgraded the headlights and the fog lights. So you could actually see, uh, and as long as you properly kind of calibrate said headlights, you're not going to bother other drivers or that sort of thing. But the, believe it or not, this is a vehicle from 2011 and like, even up till 2018, they're essentially using like a, uh, Not, it's not a sealed beam lamp anymore. It's not exactly like what you'd find on your Land Rover. Um, but it's not that far off. It's, it's, it's kind of the same sealed beam housing, but with like a, uh, a simple halogen bulb stuck in the back. Oh, sure. Yeah. There's just no light that comes out of it. So they make up for it by putting fairly bright fog lights in these things by stack, uh, like stock, like mine's a, this is a Sahara version. So it comes with the fog lights. Uh, but I immediately, like I went on and found a bunch of, you know, 200 reviews. This is I like having cars because you get to do these things where you dig into kind of these small modifications. But, um, it's been so long since I had this as part of my life. You know, it's been 10 years since I had a car to actually care about, uh, for myself and it's, uh, it's been super fun. So it's, it's got nice led headlights in it and I can see when I drive down the road. And if you've ever driven one of these JKs, the, the, the roof directly above the two front seats comes off in about 30 seconds. Even the hard top, it's just like a couple of these, like, kind of toggle style switches and then two screwed bolts and two latches and you can put them right in the trunk. So it didn't matter. I was freezing cold and I'm sure my my daughters actually made me put the roof back on. We got quite cold but I love it. I'm really happy. I can't drive that fast in it. You really can't drive fast and if you try I mean they're just it's slow. It's slow and kind of heavy but you know it's got It's got what I wanted, which was a stick and, uh, and the ability to take the roof off it. And when my kids see it, it seems like a toy. So they love it. I like it. It's, uh, it's good so far. I've had it, I've had it out for a couple drives and have really enjoyed it so far. It's nice to have that kind of freedom, like Ontario, especially you, you really need a car. And, uh, and this has been good. So it's a good, it's the right color. It's the right transmission. It's maybe not quite the right engine, but I'm fine with it. |
| James Stacey | Oh, I'm so excited for you. I, you know, I had a. I guess it was a YJ, so it was like mid-90s. Oh, yeah, for sure. I love that, but gas mileage was terrible and whatever, but it doesn't matter. They're just so fun, and I think last episode we talked about the new Defender, and I don't want to go down that rabbit hole again because we got a lot of responses. We did. Everybody's got an opinion about it, but I do feel that Jeep has stayed the course better than Toyota or Land Rover when it comes to kind of keeping their distinctive styling and look Um, nowadays with, with the Wranglers, I just think there's still so unique, so iconic, just such, such cool, such fun vehicles. And you're right. It's like a toy. It's like driving a big toy. |
| Jason Heaton | I agree. And I mean, there's, there's a side of me that really wanted to try and like not buy an SUV, you know, for environmental reasons and fuel economy reasons. But when I really looked at the fact of like, I'm probably going to put about 5,000 kilometers a year on it. Yeah. I'm just, I'm going to drive it that much. Um, if I had to drive, if I had a commute, which of course I don't have, my commute largely is almost on a plane, which is probably worse. Um, but if I had a normal driving commute, I, there's no, almost no question I would have bought a Chev, uh, Volt. Uh, I think that those are the quiet, especially now that they've been canceled. Like they're quietly that one of the best commuter cars in the world. Um, but I, I don't need that. And, uh, what I wanted was something that's a little bit more just about the emotion of going for a drive. |
| Unknown | Mm. |
| Jason Heaton | And having the stick, having the kind of like, it's this lazy engine that doesn't want to rev. It doesn't want to really do anything. It's happy, you know, between like 1,000 and 2,000 RPM. So you can't get in any trouble. I mean, I can just go for a drive. I can shift a few gears. Uh, you know, I can, I can pick a couple of people up and then in the summer I can throw the top back and put on a little bit of music and enjoy a run up to the cottage or something like that. And I think that's what this is mostly about, but the fact that my kids dig it and that it's not like a casual thing for them to get in and out of. So I'm, you know, I'm out in the driveway trying to install fog lights into the bumper, which I was, for those of you who are JK guys, uh, I was able to do without taking the bumper off, which apparently is a thing. Um, and uh, which is good. I'm in, but like my girls were in the front seat the whole time and they're having a good time and they're enjoying it. So yeah, it's fun. |
| James Stacey | I think the most fun thing about getting a vehicle like, like what you have or my old Land Rover or just, you know, a hobby car or not even a hobby car, just a new car is it opens up this new world of things that you can research and learn about. Yeah, for sure. For forums and you know, Instagram people to follow and um, you know, accessories to buy. And the great thing about like a Jeep, like a Wrangler is that they've just been around for so long and in so many iterations that there must just be so much aftermarket stuff that you can buy to do as much or as little as you want with it. Like your dad hasn't done much, but you could, I mean, you can swap every last piece on that thing. |
| Jason Heaton | You definitely can. And the thing is that I would say that I might be the wrong guy for some of those goals. I'll put new headlights and fog lights in so like I can maybe see the deer before I hit it here in Ontario. Yeah, but most of what's going on in the overall Jeep culture, and I don't want to alienate anyone who's listening, you need to make your vehicle something that you're happy to drive around. It's fun. And like, I love the customization element. I don't like the aesthetic at all. Oh, you know, they make them higher, they make them bigger, they make them with the weird, like angry eyeballs and everything glows 20 different colors and And, you know, like in my mind, like I have this crazy idea because if you look at the shape of it, especially with the, with the hard top, it's kind of long and low and, and, and not that wide. It's like a wagon. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I have this weird dream of dropping it a few inches. So it was lower, like a weird street slam G wagon sort of thing and putting it on like actual, like decent tires. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | And then trying to figure out a way to make that engine rev a little better. But that's never going to happen. I'm not interested in doing any of that. But yeah, I mean, people take them in every direction. I really like a stock Jeep, especially when you get this color matched hardtop, which gives it kind of a G-Wagon look. And they just kind of have that indestructibility. And Canadians, like Jeeps are definitely a thing in Canada. So I might be leaning a little hard into my nationality. Uh, it's, it's, it's good. I like it. It's fun. And, um, I'm happy. I'm moreover, I'm just kind of happy to have a car where I'm like something that's 30 minutes away and I don't have to put two kids seats in an Uber and explain that to the Uber driver and all these sorts of things. So yeah, it's fun. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, beyond that, uh, uh, you know, I'm just back, uh, when we record this, I've been back for the weekend, but, uh, the week before I was in London and Glasgow for some events with Hodinkee. I met a ton of listeners, I'm sure whom are listening to this now. Thank you very much for coming out. We had these lovely events with Grand Seiko. And I met a ton of people who I already knew from Instagram and who I already knew from emails. And as long as they could say their name to me, I would recall it. And it was really, really fun hanging out and seeing everybody and getting to put some faces to names and names to faces and that sort of thing. shoot a few watches and trade a few stories. It was really a good time. And I'm happy to have had the chance to get out, especially to Glasgow. I hadn't been up to Scotland before. I've been to London a handful of times. It's a great city. And yeah, other than that, I think that's kind of what's new for me. But the big thing for you, of course, Jason, you were on something of like an actual vacation since the last time we chatted. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, I've been back coming up on two weeks from Jamaica. I don't think it's something I talked about in past episodes, partially for intentional reasons. This was a pure vacation trip. It may seem like I travel quite a bit, and you and I both do, but a lot of that is for photo shoots and assignments and always taking a camera and dive gear and all this sort of thing. And so Ghoshani and I decided to kind of just splurge and just do a proper week-long vacation in Jamaica and we stayed at a place that I've wanted to stay and have known about for many, many years and that's Goldeneye. And Goldeneye was the name of Ian Fleming's property that he bought on the north coast in Jamaica near a small town, Orokabessa. And he bought it back in the 1950s after World War II. He had been there during the war and kind of fell in love with Jamaica and went back and bought it and built a house on this cliff overlooking the Caribbean. And he would spend two or three months there every winter and wrote all of the James Bond books from his desk there. He had sort of a routine where he would go spearfishing and snorkeling just below his house in the water every morning and then come back and have breakfast and write for a few hours and then kind of start early on the martinis and cigarettes for the rest of the day. And so, you know, his house is there. And when he died in the mid 60s, it was bought by Chris Blackwell, who was the founder of Island Records, sort of popularized Bob Marley and a number of Jimmy Cliff and a number of other reggae musicians. Later on, acts like U2 were on Island Records. So pretty iconic label that was then bought by Polygram, I think back in the 90s. And then at that point, he decided to kind of go all in on Goldeneye and use it for more than just his private vacation place. And so he started building cottages around the property and then eventually expanded across this lagoon and put some villas and a restaurant and all this sort of stuff. But we stayed in one of the original cottages, very close to the actual Fleming house. And it was just pure, I don't want to say decadence, but just pure sort of luxurious vacation. And it's very low season in October, so we got a very good rate. And then they were doing some construction around the property, so they lowered the rates even more. So it was kind of one of those, if we don't go now, we probably couldn't justify the cost to do it during the winter or something. And we stayed in one of the cottages that's right on the lagoon, so we had like a little private veranda with a couple of kayaks and lounge chairs and we could snorkel right off of there pretty much every morning. So we kind of fell into a routine, minus the martinis and cigarettes, we were snorkeling. We would swim out every morning and kind of swim around the corner out of the lagoon right to the reef outside of the the Fleming house and snorkel on the very same reef that he would have been swimming around on back in the 50s and 60s. Jamaica has sort of a mixed reputation as far as the diving and undersea life goes and certainly there was a lot of dead coral and kind of bleaching and algae and things. But where there was good coral there was a nice amount of fish life and we didn't do any diving. We were purely sort of snorkeling and free diving and couple hours a day and it was just wonderful. I've forgotten the joys of just simply going in the water with swim trunks and a mask on. For so many years now, it's been the objective of going on trips with dragging bags of heavy dive gear and fins and BCDs and wetsuits and camera gear and it was just so nice to not do that for a week. Admittedly, this wasn't a trip that we decided we're going to absorb all that Jamaica has to offer and kind of see the real culture and venture into the Blue Mountains or some of the towns. We pretty much just settled into our routine and snorkeled and ate well and I read a couple of books and tried to spot some birds. So it was really rejuvenating. It was just a proper tropical vacation. Already angling to either go back to Jamaica or just find some other place to do the same thing next year because it was super rewarding. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. I mean, sign me up. That sounds lovely. Around roughly the same time I had, it would have been about four or five days offline, roughly offline in Vancouver. I went up to Squamish, hung out with my brother and it was bliss. I think I opened my laptop two or three times and probably two of the times of those three was, you know, to watch a few episodes of community or something before I fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon. It was, uh, it was good. And I mean, that's like, uh, I love the tropics. I genuinely do. I really love the tropics. I've never been to Jamaica, but there's, there's something very much like that, that sort of like fall in the Pacific Northwest will always be like, like a distinct home for me. Uh, it, uh, it just feels right. You know, uh, he's got, uh, my brother's got two little kittens that he just got recently. And so he had these hilarious, two little hilarious cats running around. He's got a wood fire stove going and you just kind of want to have a bite to eat and lay on the couch and watch something on YouTube or whatever. It's, it was, it was lovely. Really, really nice. Perfect. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | I don't know. There's something about vacationing this time of year. I'm, I don't mind. winter. I don't mind being at home in the winter and build fires and go skiing and that sort of stuff. So I don't know, to me, spring and fall are kind of the seasons I like to take vacations. And, you know, it was nice. It was, um, the weather has been kind of rainy and cold here. And, um, so it was good to get away for a week, but then I don't know, there's something about if you have a good vacation, um, that, that flight home, you're kind of ready to go home. And I certainly was, and I'm, I'm much more relaxed now and, um, somewhat inspired, you know, I, I've been sort of an off and on, uh, aspirational novelist, so I got home from the Fleming life there and decided to take another crack at that. I had a couple of quiet weeks the past couple of weeks work-wise, so I've been chipping away at that a little bit, and so it was great. In fact, I should have mentioned this, we did get a chance to have a couple of hours at the Fleming house. There were some people that had rented it, and it's exorbitantly expensive if you rent the Fleming Villa. It's like $8,000 a night or something like that. But, you know, when nobody's staying there, they let us kind of take a little tour of the house and we saw the desk where he would write the novels and went down to the beach and there was the table in the sunken garden where they did the press conference for the upcoming Bond film just a couple of months ago. And so that was something that, you know, as a big Fleming fan and if you haven't read the books but have only seen the movies, highly encourage you to pick up a few of the novels and read them because they're a very different animal than the Bond films. He's really quite a writer. So it was neat to go there and see that. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, I've never read any of the books. Would you start at the start? Where would you recommend? If somebody opened up an Amazon window now to pick up one of these paperbacks, what's the first one? |
| James Stacey | I would say the two good ones, three good ones. I would start with Moonraker. Okay. Moonraker, the movie, was ridiculous. It was silly and nothing at all like the novel. The book is superb. Okay. It takes place entirely in England, but I guess I would also recommend Casino Royale, which was the very first one that he wrote. Yeah. And then Dr. No. I think Jamaica was so close to his heart that that book is set there, and that's also a good one. Fantastic. Yeah. You can usually find them at used bookstores, you know, there's a lot of, they've reprinted so many that the paperbacks are pretty cheap nowadays. So, yeah, absolutely. So great, great, really sort of a bucket list trip and, you know, happy to be back, but, uh, lots of fond memories. |
| Jason Heaton | Well, I'm glad to hear it. That sounds like a, like an absolute win. And, and even, even beyond having a nice vacation, it's nice to know that you're coming back feeling kind of sharper and ready to lean into some bigger things. So that's always, always a plus for this time of year. Cause this can be the time, that time of year where like momentum kind of falls apart. Right. Um, or, or you just kind of say like, Oh, it's almost January. I'll start it up. I'll start it up in January. We're not that far away. So yeah. Yeah. Speaking of momentum, you want to hit up, uh, what's going to be volume three of our TGN film club. Yeah. Before that though, let's, uh, let's maybe dip into a quick ad break as we have a really excellent advertiser for this, uh, this episode and that's a Hamilton watches and they're in traumatic automatic chronograph. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, great watch, great company. I'm really pleased that Hamilton's decided to help us out with this episode. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, flattered even. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, yeah, seriously. I mean, I've got a long history of love for Hamilton. I've got both of my grandfather's Hamilton pocket watches, and I had an old chronograph as my first vintage watch that I bought, and this Intramatic that came out this year is just really a superb piece. |
| Jason Heaton | Absolutely. So I mean, this is a watch that I'm sure a lot of you listening know, but if you don't, this is a kind of a gorgeous vintage inspired chronograph that reaches back into Hamilton's past to 1968. And it comes, you know, it comes back this year as a Panda dial in their intramatic automatic chronograph. So, you know, they're saying, you know, it's introducing a new American classic inspired by their heritage. And I can't really argue with that. It's a 40 millimeter sizing. So the original would have been 36. This new one is 40. Uh, it's a hundred meters water resistant. I actually think this blue one with the kind of cream Panda and Ria is, is like incredibly gorgeous. Like that's a really pretty watch and you get a really solid it's their H 31. So it's an edit base, a chronograph movement. You get a 60 hour power reserve and it comes in either a black, white, uh sort of panda or a blue panda with off off white accents which i really like and of course it's Hamilton so you get the basics it's a really nice strap it's a sapphire crystal one of the things that's so nice about a Hamilton is you kind of always know what you're getting as far as the quality of of the way the watch is built Like I've never been let down by one of them. I've probably owned four or five khakis. I've owned one of their Navy Frogman divers. These are all like really, really great watches. And I've probably reviewed another four or five beyond that, including the Intramatic dress watch, which is probably my favorite, uh, like automatic dress watch under a thousand dollars. Yeah. And, and to take that same family and poured it into something that's not too dressy, but also not too casual. I think this is an absolute win, especially with the hundred meters water resistant. Like you just kind of wear this. And I think the blue tan or the black white really offers the kind of two different versions that you would want. And the other, the other fun thing is, I mean, this is, this will be in right after this ad break, we'll cut into it, but this will be a film club and that's one of Hamilton's big things is, is being in movies. |
| James Stacey | I agree. I mean, I think Hamilton has been tied with, with iconic films and, and, watches in the movies for a long time. I'm dating back, I think, to Elvis. I think he wore one of their watches back in the fifties and then all the way up to something like Interstellar, which featured a very special Hamilton in that one. So yeah, very fitting for today's episode. |
| Jason Heaton | And that's one of the things about Hamilton is when they decide to execute on a watch, they typically get the details right. Like, I don't know if you or I could name a better version of its kind of ethos than the khaki field. Yeah. uh, the hand wound mechanical, which, you know, it was a couple of years old now, but they've got a couple of different versions. And that's basically a perfect watch. And I think in, in, in many ways, this, we get the same thing with this intramatic auto chrono. Several years ago, before I was with Hodinkee, I attended with Hamilton, the behind the camera awards, which is an award series that Hamilton presents where. Actors, famous actors actually offer or present awards to people who are behind the camera. So that could be, you know, obviously anyone, cinematographers, directors, camera operators, like anyone that works kind of behind the camera on a movie. So you go to this kind of fancy location in LA and you're seeing all these celebrities and then it'll be Jeremy Renner, but he's, you know, presenting an award to a person who worked as a, you know, a director of photography for this movie or that movie, or, Something like that. And it's fun to see them not only be involved in movies at what you would probably call a marketing level, even if it's organic, it's still marketing of some level, but not only to do just that, but to come at it from the other direction and actually say like, you know, we like movies, not only because they're, they occasionally involve our watches, but just because movies are great. And, uh, and, and a worthy art form and that sort of thing. And, and, you know, we kind of applaud Hamilton for not only getting their watches on some interesting risks. I was like seeing them in the Jack Ryan stuff. Yeah. And, uh, and, and certainly to see them in interstellar was great. It's one of my favorite Christopher Nolan movies. And those things have translated into like actual watches that people want to buy and wear. And it's not because they're a gimmick it's because they're cool. Right. A huge thank you to Hamilton for supporting this episode of The Graynado. And for anyone listening who would like more details, please visit shop.hamiltonwatch.com and take a closer look at their handsome, vintage-inspired, intramatic, automatic chronograph. |
| James Stacey | Cool. Thanks a lot, Hamilton. And let's move into our film club, Volume 3. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah, let's do it. So for those of you who maybe didn't catch Volume 2 or Volume 1, Jason and I each get five movies. We're already 40 minutes into this episode. So we're not going to spend a lot of time on each movie. The idea is we've done the work for you. We're going to give you a very brief synopsis on each film, but these are films that we love. We watch them a lot. We watch them again and again, and we'll continue to watch them again and again. And we highly support any moves that you make towards watching them, adding them to your collection, or, you know, this is the time of year where maybe you spend a little bit more time inside. you know, add a couple movies to the list, uh, you can definitely go back and check what we recommended in volume two and volume one. Uh, there's no overlaps. And I would actually say that the more we do, the more varied the movies become, but also the more clear it is our tastes in films. So that's, it's, it's kind of fun seeing the list as it develops. Yeah. Um, Jason, you want to go with your first pick? Sure. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. You know, before we get started, I mean, I thought that as we got through volume one and two, that it was going to be more difficult to kind of come up with picks, but I had no problem for this one. And it's funny, the ones I chose, so we get five each, and four of my five are kind of from the same era. They almost have the same feel to them. I don't know if I was in a certain mood when I was making my list, but I'm going to start with one that I know you love. And it's no great secret, so many people have seen this movie, Jaws. It's the best. It is. It's a great movie, and I think it's been It's been a bit, I don't want to say undermined, but I think it's, it's become such a cliche, um, and also sort of villainized for, for how it, uh, in turn villainized sharks when it came out in the mid seventies. Um, but I think, you know, I watched this on, actually, I think it was my flight home from Jamaica now that I think about it. Um, and I'm always struck when I watched this movie, just how good it is and how subtle, uh, elements of it are. Um, it, it really is a great, thriller. It's not a creature film. It's more like a mystery or a thriller where you don't see the villain for the great majority of the movie. And this was one of Spielberg's earliest movies, if not his first big film. And great cast. We've got Roy Scheider, who I think is one of the great unsung actors of his era. And Robert Shaw in you know, he's, he's had some, some pretty great roles. I mean, he was in the deep, he was in from Russia with love. Uh, he was in, uh, I think battle of Britain. Um, I think this is probably his most memorable role and he has one of the great speeches of, in all movie dumb, his, uh, Indianapolis speech on the boat. Absolutely. And then Richard Dreyfuss who, who plays the, uh, uh, the Marine biologist who, who comes to town to kind of help them, sort out what this fish exactly is. |
| Jason Heaton | So I mean, of those three characters, who do you most like? Because I think this is a movie where until you see the shark, Jaws is a movie about these three characters and the way that they all approach risk. Who do you identify most closely with? I'm a roach hider. I always will be. |
| James Stacey | Boy, I haven't been asked that. I mean, I guess I haven't thought about who I identify with. |
| Jason Heaton | You should have shut down the beaches. Without question. |
| James Stacey | That I agree on, yes. Shut them down. Yes, I agree. I probably would. I'm probably more of a shiner character, but I love Robert Shaw. I absolutely love him as a movie. |
| Jason Heaton | Oh, he's the best. I mean, this is his best role, too. This is Apex Mountain for, to borrow a phrase from the Rewatchables. So, so good. And you get that scene where these are three guys that are coming in at the entire concept of this shark, not even at a physical level, but at like a metaphysical level, what it means to everybody in the town. They all come at it from a different angle. Yeah. Yeah. And then there's that scene where they're singing. Yes. And, and they're, they're together, they're unified against, not against, and this is where I, I kind of disagree with some of the criticism that Jaws is anti shark. I think Jaws is anti that shark. Yep. Yep. There's a lot of bad information that's shared in Jaws, but it's also 1975 when this movie came out. I mean, it's insane to think where films went in five years. 1979 is when Alien came out. Just for reference, imagine how quickly films were moving at the time, how quickly movies, the concept of movies was moving at the time. But to become as derivative as we might get in one of these film clubs, This is considered to be one of the first blockbusters. And if you haven't seen Jaws, do yourself a favor. I would actually, this is one of the few times where I would say skip the book. Definitely skip the book and just watch the movie. I think you'll enjoy it. Don't bother watching any of the sequels. Yeah, definitely. They get more insane, scientifically speaking, the longer they run. But it is it is an absolutely incredible movie and and if we're talking about a TGN Sort of movie like this is on the cheesy side, but I think you watch this and then maybe you watch like Blue water white death all kind of in the same sphere and you understand the way that sharks were seen well I was gonna put you know sixties and seventies. |
| James Stacey | I was gonna put a little button on this this one in particular because Jaws was actually There's a direct link with Blue Water, White Death, which is a movie I think I probably talked about in volume one, which was a documentary about the first underwater filming and photography of great white sharks back in the, I think it was 1971 when that one came out. And Ron and Valerie Taylor, who was this Australian couple that was featured in Blue Water, White Death, they actually shot the underwater shark footage that is used in Jaws. Oh, I had no idea. So they were hired and Benchley was a fan of Blue Water White Death, Peter Benchley, the guy who wrote Jaws. And so there's this sort of, I would almost say, before I go on too long about this, watch Blue Water White Death first and then watch Jaws and you'll see this direct connection. And yeah, anyway, that's number one for me. |
| Jason Heaton | That's fantastic. A really great pick and a movie that I'm surprised we made it till volume three, four. And if we're bringing up Jaws and we're bringing up Blue Water, White Death, let me, before I move on to my first pick, read Peter Matheson's Blue Meridian. |
| James Stacey | Yes. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. About as good a book as I've ever read. Yeah. Full stop. Yeah. Same here. What a writer. I'll never be that good. It's one of those things where like I take a pause and go like, should I stop writing? Should I move on to something else? He's so talented. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways. All right. So we're at a choice here. Should I start with the I wanna go, I'm gonna go in chronological order from when they came out. I'm just trying to decide if I go from earliest to latest or latest to earliest. I think I'm gonna go with latest to earliest. Okay. So we're gonna start with 2017. Probably, maybe the newest movie in the film club. And this is Blade Runner 2049. I've talked about it on Hodinkee Podcast in the past. I absolutely adore this. I don't care if you don't. I don't care if you think that the original Blade Runner is better. You're not wrong. The original Blade Runner is a masterpiece. Some of the versions are a masterpiece. But 2049 is so... It was like they made a movie for me. Because I don't care for science fiction. I'm not a Star Wars guy. I'm not a Star Trek guy. I'm not... I'm not a really... Like, I'm not technically a sci-fi guy. But this one especially, it's Denny Villeneuve. Um, I think the greatest director working today, Roger Deakins, again, by my measure, the finest cinematographer ever. Um, and also certainly working today is the same guy that did Skyfall, uh, a movie that I think I find endlessly beautiful. And, um, and, and then you have Gosling and you have, uh, Robin Wright Penn and you have, it's, it's, it's an incredible cast. That's like minimal in dialogue. It's very thoughtful. It's beautiful. every bit of color, every bit of focus, every bit of miniature work. And if you go a little bit deeper, if you want to dig in, and this isn't the purpose of Film Club, but if you spend some time and you watch the movie and you find like, why does this not quite look like other stuff that I see that's made now? It's because they actually did real miniature work. So it's probably the last movie. that will have that sort of work, where they didn't just use a bunch of computers to make the cities and fly the vehicles around. It's actual miniature work, not unlike what was done in the original. Recklessly expensive, a hugely expensive movie. I think it's an absolute pinnacle piece of filmmaking. Absolutely one of my favorite things that came out in the last few years. I'm a huge, endlessly a Gosling fan. He's an Ontario boy like myself. And I imagine he's, I like to imagine that he's into watches. Um, but I think he's, I think he's incredible as, um, as his character in this. I think that the tone of the film is, is, is really great. I love a movie that's too long and slowly paced. And it's both of those things, not unlike heat, not unlike others in this actual list that I have coming up. But please, if you haven't given Blade Runner 2049 a chance, because maybe you don't like sci-fi either, or you really love the original and you think this new one is blasphemy. I think it's highly complimentary of the original film. And in no way did Villeneuve or Deacon's attempt to tread on the artistic statement of the original film. Um, I think that the two stand distinct and apart. Um, and, and it's even a movie where you get a pretty interesting portrayal by, um, Jared Leto. And, you know, he's a divisive character with some of the roles that he's played, but I think he does a really good job in this. And I will say that if it makes anyone feel better, I've probably seen this movie 20 times. Wow. And it took me 10 times to realize that he's blind. Like a full 10 times. I was on a flight somewhere and I went like, Oh, that's what they mean with the weird shininess in his eyes. He's blind. Yeah. So sometimes, sometimes I'm just an idiot, right? Like I said, I just didn't notice, but I love this movie. It's a, it's my favorite airplane movie. Currently, uh, air Canada still has it on their flights and I'm, you know, I'm going to LA tomorrow and I may just put it on when I get in the flight. Uh, I love the sound of it. I love the music. I love the tone. I love that. Um, I can sit in and work on something and just have it on a spare monitor. I don't even need the sound necessarily. And it's just a, you know, it's this, it's this wash of neon and rain and smoke and color and shadow. And you can pause it at any point and it looks like a great photograph. And I think this is a fantastic film for sure. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think it was a worthy sequel sequel. And I think it's also a movie that stands on its own. I don't think it has to be compared to the original blade runner. And I think some movies like that one in particular, I have not seen it. 20 times. I've maybe seen it twice, but I, I, I don't feel like all movies need to be ones that you remember the story or you remember, um, bits of dialogue or certain characters. Some things are like, it's almost like poetry. It's like if it's, if it creates a mood, um, or like you said, if you can pause it and just look at the screen and just sort of absorb the beauty, the color, the way it was shot, that's enough. And I think this is one of those movies for me that, uh, even with the original blade runner, which I love, and I have seen that one probably 20 times, It had the same appeal. It captures the same aesthetic and sort of vibe that sort of dystopian, the sort of beauty and the ugliness and the use of color and ambiance. And I don't know, it was just a, yeah, great, great pick. |
| Jason Heaton | If you go with the next one on your list, I would say it's also a movie that you can pause just about anywhere. It's gorgeous. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. So, um, I did mention that four out of my five were kind of of the same era. And this is, this is the fifth one. This is one that is not of, uh, that sort of Jaws era of movie making. Um, this is the, the constant gardener. So a film, uh, that came out in 2005 based on a John le Carré novel. Uh, and you know, when you think of John le Carré, you think cold war, East Germany or London, kind of gray skies and lots of intrigue and espionage and sort of slow development. This movie is not like that, but it really shows the storytelling prowess of Le Carré. I mean, he had a hand in the screenplay as well. Superbly acted, Ralph Fiennes is kind of the main character and his wife, Rachel Weiss, his wife in the movie, Rachel Weiss. just so many layers of story in this movie and beautifully shot. I mean, I think this is one of those movies that I hadn't seen it for a number of years and I just watched it, you know, when we were compiling this list, I thought, yeah, I should watch this again. And boy, I was struck again, just how rich the film was when it comes to, um, you know, the, the layers of, uh, of what's going on in the film. You, you have interpersonal relationships, you have, the psychologies of the individual characters, and then you have this sort of macro level of geopolitics and big business and kind of a shrinking world and big pharmaceutical company. There's so much going on in this movie, and then there's this really raw, visceral element to the filmmaking that's taking place in a very dusty village in Africa, old vehicles, military planes, I don't know. It's one of those movies you can just sink your teeth into, and it's so rich. It's kind of like Tinker Tailor, another Le Carre story that we talked about probably in our last film club, another Le Carre-based movie. Just beautiful, multi-layered movie that you can sink your teeth into and just watch time and time again and pick up different elements every single time you watch it. It's a great film, for sure. We can leave that one there. I think if you haven't seen it, it's one of those sort of unsung movies that I think maybe a lot of people didn't see or kind of, uh, uh, maybe overlooked or have forgotten about, but you know, do yourself a favor, watch it if you haven't seen it or, you know, watch it again and kind of let it sink in. Cause it's, it's a good one. |
| Jason Heaton | I should definitely give that another watch. I'll put it on the list for my winner. Uh, so my next one, and I can move through this one pretty quickly. I'm sure I've talked about it at some, at some, there's no way I didn't talk about this movie at some episode. previous episode of The Grey Nado, but it's a movie from 2015, also directed by Denis Villeneuve, the man, the Canadian, as good as he gets, is a movie called Sicario. And it is a really... If Blade Runner is kind of a beautiful film that's like lightly, kind of light in its touch, then Sicario, by contrast, is an unbelievably tense film. that leans really hard on a couple characters. And in this case, it's two of my most favorite actors in the whole world, Josh Brolin and Emily Blunt. The cast in general is great, but they're largely, I would say, the two main characters. The namesake of the title would be Benicio Del Toro. He plays a much more subtle role, but an important one. So on top of those three, you also get fantastic supporting roles from Victor Garber, John Barenthal and Daniel Kaluuya, who, if you don't recognize that name, you definitely recognize his face. He was absolutely incredible in Get Out. And it's just a truly bonkers cast of characters. And it's a lesson. I absolutely believe there's a scene, those of you who have seen it will know, and those of you who haven't, this is an impetus to watch it. There's a scene on a bridge between El Paso and Juarez, I believe, and You know, there's a couple military vehicles on a bridge that's otherwise in gridlock, you know, passing between the two countries. I feel like you could teach an entire, like, university-level course on tension and filmmaking from this one scene. And the movies paced beautifully. I love a good cop story. You really, they portray a lot of the elements of the story through Emily Blunt's character, whereas Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin know a lot more than the audience does. And the way that they deal with that treatment, I find to be kind of endlessly interesting. It's so careful and thoughtful. And it's very much at times withholding information from the audience, not unlike a Le Carre. You know, it's one of his qualities. Yeah. And, uh, and I just think that they did such a beautiful job with this movie. And then on top of it, it's, it's full of action. Like I love a movie that's kind of both parts. Like I get the action element, the guns, the car chases, the bombs, all that kind of fun stuff. But then it's not all of, it's not just that it's also these other parts, which is, you know, some fantastic storytelling and some things that really link you with certain characters as far as their actions and their, their motives and that sort of thing. And there's not a whole lot more to say about it. It's about. Emily Blunt being pulled into essentially some sort of a covert operation that she wasn't prepared for and wasn't necessarily told all the elements of. And it kind of spirals out in front of her and it's an absolutely incredible film. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. That's a good one. I didn't realize it was just from 2015. I thought it was an older movie than that, but I know they've made, I think they've made one or two sequels to it and whatever, which I haven't seen, but yeah, I need to go back and see this one. |
| Jason Heaton | The second one was called Sicario Day of the Soledado, which is nowhere near as good. It's from last year. And in that, you know, it's not directed by Villeneuve and it doesn't have most of the cast. So you still get Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin, but you lose out on Emily Blunt, which I think she's kind of, I think if you watch the movie, you see that it doesn't, it's not the same movie without her. and presenting something like a follow-up without an Emily Blunt, without a role like her, whether it's her or somebody else, I think doesn't work quite as well. All right. Let's hear pick number three. |
| James Stacey | Pick number three. All right. We're going back to the seventies. This is a bit of a sleeper. It's starting to kind of get a little more recognition, especially I guess in the watch nerd crowd because of a very obscure, sort of watch reference in the film. It's called Three Days of the Condor. Great 70s spy film with Robert Redford. He plays kind of a nerdy CIA analyst who's working in a small sort of office doing some covert sort of analysis work. Just I don't know if it's cryptology or something like this. And suddenly there's something goes wrong in the office. He comes back from lunch and everybody's dead and now he's on the run and he has to figure out what has happened and why and he becomes a target, which is very strange because he isn't one of these kind of field agents. So it creates that sort of tension, sort of Cold War style tension I feel is so prevalent in a lot of movies from that time, that sort of mid-70s and it has that beautiful sort of warm color and clothing and styling that was so prevalent in films of that era that I just love. I can't get enough of that stuff. And I've got a couple of other movies here that sort of hit on that as well. But this movie is, I don't know why it's not talked about more often, like, you know, in the way that a lot of other sort of spy films from that era are. Like I said, it's a bit of a sleeper and with Redford in it, it's surprising Faye Dunaway's in it. She plays the heroine and kind of the love interest. But the watch angle in this movie is really fun because in the movie Redford wears a Doxa shark hunter on a leather bund strap. And I think a lot of watch nerds might only know the movie because any sort of a mention of bund straps or vintage Doxes inevitably this movie and there'd be like some grainy screenshot of Redford wearing this watch, talking on the telephone or something. And it's just fun to see, but it's a good movie. It's kind of along the lines of like Alistair McLean or, you know, like just, just kind of one of those rollicking sort of spy films with a lot of, you know, over-dramatized sort of closeups of face and, you know, running chases through the street and that kind of thing. And, uh, um, just, just a fun one. Nothing, nothing too heavy, nothing too serious, but, uh, a good one. |
| Jason Heaton | So, I mean, it's an, it's an absolutely incredible movie. Uh, one of Sidney Pollack's best, uh, which is to say something, I mean, this is, this is a guy behind a lot of fantastic film. And, uh, I think, I think it's, it's maybe not Redford's best, but it is aesthetically one of Redford's best. He looks incredible in it. He is very cool in it. Yeah. And it has that, it has that excellent, um, like I was talking about with, um, with Sicario where, you know, things that the character doesn't know, but the character, other characters know things that the audience doesn't know. And that sort of thing. Yeah. There's a lot of like the man who knew too much sort of stuff going on in this. And, uh, in several ways, it kind of reminds me of a film like enemy of the state, which people, you know, who are a little bit younger might recognize, you know, this is late nineties, uh, you know, kind of depending on your opinion, peak Will Smith. And then Gene Hackman, when he, when Gene Hackman was still doing movies, Gene Hackman never put in a bad role. So it's hard to say what his peak was. And I mean, the stage is great. You know, you were, they really kind of mess with the audience and who knows what and why and when and how, and who's, who's actually pulling the strings here. And I think that three days of the Condor does that really well. And also nails like one of my favorite movie titles. Talk about a great title. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I think what I like about it too is Redford is, you know, Butch Cassidy and some of these other films, I've got another Redford movie on my list too, but he often plays the hero. And in this one, he's, I don't want to say he's bumbling, but he's unsuspecting and he's not- He's just kind of, he's a little bit simple. And this isn't his comfort zone. He's definitely on the run. He's a little bit scared. He's always looking over his shoulder. He's a little bit panicked, which, you know, when you think of Redford, I mean, cool sort of hero. And this is definitely not that. And I think in that way, he plays it well. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. If you dig that sort of like Jack Ryan, I'm an analyst, not a run and gun sort of type. Yeah. Yeah. They're pulling on, on Hackman in this, right. Uh, you know, this guy that, you know, maybe he's a little bookish versus being, you know, a cowboy, uh, or a guy with a license to kill or something. It's, it's great. It's kind of thoughtful and it has that pace of a, of a movie of its era. That's kind of too slow. Yeah. Yeah. Which I like, you know, and it, it does, it also manages to kind of dip and dodge around some of the pitfalls that like a Clint Eastwood film might've fallen into at the time where it's a lot more like needless bravado or like the tone suddenly changes from one scene to another depending on who's holding the gun. I like it. It's a solid film. One my dad always made sure we'd seen. Uh, so my, my next one, uh, moving down the list, we're now at 2010 with the movie. I think I spoke about not, not that long ago on, uh, on the podcast in reference to a podcast, another podcast called the rewatchables. But, uh, this is a movie, uh, directed by Ben Affleck, uh, called the town. And, uh, I, I know that I talked about it a bit, so I'm not going to spend too much time on it, but this is one that he directed. It's written by Peter Craig and Ben Affleck. You get Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively. It's a big cast. Chris Cooper's in it. Anyone with Chris Cooper can't be that bad. He's fantastic. And I love this movie. I absolutely love it. I love a bank robbery movie a lot. And that's what this is about. And then I like that they really kind of zero in on this one small bit of Boston called Charlestown where, you know, they like it's, you know, said in the movie that they had the highest number of bank robbers living there and it's kind of just a fascinating film. Renner, if I remember correctly, Renner was up for an Oscar for his performance and I think he definitely deserved it. It's well shot, it handles things like action and the bank robbery and general sequences kind of well and then it has this otherwise kind of complicated story with a lot of different motives and And that sort of thing all kind of wrapped up. And I think it's one that it could be that when it came out was kind of, you know, 2010, there was a lot going on in movies and, and maybe it kind of got drowned out by that. But I think it's one that people should go back to. If you're hearing me say the town and you're like, that was a Ben Affleck movie. Like the guy did some incredible work continues to do some really great work, but I really liked this movie a lot. And I think it's a, uh, a great bank robbery movie. If you, if you dig a bank robbery movie and you got a Sunday afternoon despair, dig into this one, I think it's a winner. |
| James Stacey | Yeah, good one. It's funny, you know, what does this say about us? I mean, I look at the list here and our movies are, they're very tense. They're all very sort of serious, like, you know, like cop movies, spy movies, like shark movie, you know, Blade Runner. I mean, it's, it's all, it's, I don't want to say it's grim. I'm not going to go that far, but it's, it's all pretty tense stuff. But maybe that's just today's theme. We'll do comedies next time. |
| Jason Heaton | I mean, I love tension, and I don't typically watch a lot of comedies. I also was just lamenting the other day, like, there's not a lot of great comedies happening now. You know, that golden era of, I don't know, I'd have to look on IMDB, but where you had Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell, and they all went on like a nine or ten year run, where like, they kind of couldn't do anything wrong. I feel like in many ways we've moved on and some of the, even just in a short period of time, you go back and watch some of those movies and the jokes don't land that well because you know, we're like societies moved on from, you know, using certain, not only just using certain words, but even just having a certain tone. Right. Yeah. Um, and, and, you know, you list, you list those three guys. It also means like those companies are almost always predominantly white affairs. Um, and I, I'm excited because I think that these things come in phases and maybe there's a really interesting phase just kind of on the horizon. But for whatever reason, I never go to features for my comedy. I like standup comedy a lot. And I love comedy in television. But I find that especially lately, like if I'm going to sit down and watch a movie, I want it to be like one of these from the list or from the last two lists. Sometimes it's something that's funny. And I like it where a movie like The Town has things that will make you giggle or kind of laugh or chuckle. Um, but tension is what I'm about. Like I want to get into a movie and I want to feel like I cannot stop watching this. I like my, I want my heart rate to feel kind of weird and, and, uh, and I want to feel kind of lit up by whatever's happening. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Well, I've got a good one for you. Have you ever seen Marathon Man? |
| Jason Heaton | Uh, no. I know the reference to the, the, you've got your note here about the dentist. Yeah. Some dental work that happens. That's the only thing I know about that movie. |
| James Stacey | Well, talk about, talk about a tense movie. And I think this is, this is, so this is my next film. And it's a good follow-up to Three Days of the Condor because we were sort of talking about this mistaken identity or sort of a hapless character who finds himself in a situation that he's not sure how he got there. For sure. And Marathon Man is, gosh, I think that must be mid-70s. I should look this up. That's probably 75 as well. It's a great film. It's a heyday, 1976, sorry. It's one of those movies where Dustin Hoffman is at his best. He had such a string of great movies, starting with The Graduate in the late 60s and into the 70s. Another movie with Roy Scheider in it, who's excellent. He plays his brother, who is somehow involved in espionage and shady dealings. And then, Laurence Olivier is He plays this very sinister character. He's a Nazi doctor who's been in hiding in South America and he comes to New York to claim some diamonds that have been stolen. And he appears in the city and everything just kind of goes crazy and Dustin Hoffman finds himself in the middle of all of this unwittingly. He's kind of more of an academic The title of the movie Marathon Man comes from the fact that he's an avid runner and he often is running around the reservoir in Central Park. The other reason I like this movie is there's something about 70s movies set in New York that I like. So gritty. So gritty. It has a tooth to it. Yeah, yeah. New York in the 70s, wow. It's funny because I never experienced New York in the 70s but you really get a sense of it from a movie like this. Hoffman wears a 1675 GMT Master Rolex in the film that he ends up, there's a short reference to it in a scene in the movie. And then this very famous scene with Laurence Olivier, the dental chair scene and the line, is it safe? Gnarly. Is something that a lot of people are familiar with even if they haven't seen the movie. So really, really, really good movie. This used to be my favorite movie probably 20 years ago and I used to watch it almost every year, but it's been a very long time and I'm not sure that Ghoshani's seen it, so I'll have to dial it up and watch it again one of these days, but yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | I may see if I can find that for my flight tomorrow. That sounds great. Oh, it's good. It's very good. All right. All right. Cool. Nice. |
| James Stacey | What you got? |
| Jason Heaton | All right. Following on, we're now at 2004, the fifth movie where we make a big jump. But in 2004, we hit a movie that I saw in theaters without even seeing the trailer. I'll never forget it. Not surprising as it's a Michael Mann film, I knew that it was from the same guy that made Heat. And I kind of just said like, let's do it. Let's see it. No questions asked. This is a film called Collateral. I feel for me, it's my favorite Tom Cruise performance, which is a big statement because the guy is essentially just a hit machine and one of the finest actors ever. And he is set off by an unstoppable talent in Jamie Foxx. And this is a movie that's like, it's like Michael Mann has been in the gym for a while and he's just walking around flexing is what's going on in this movie. It's LA at night, which is Michael Mann's territory. Nobody's doing that better than him. And it's this fantastic story of a Jamie Foxx is a cab driver with some big dreams for where his life is going to go. And a dude named Vincent gets in the back of his cab and would like to go to five locations that night and kill five people. And it's not a question of what Jamie Foxx's character wants, really. He's just kind of in the flow and trying not to also get killed. And I think this is an absolutely wonderful film. Almost none of the films that we've recommended tonight are things you might watch with young kids or that sort of thing. And this is a very violent movie. In fact, looking at our list, we have a lot of very... Sicario is exceedingly violent. The town is really violent. Um, I would actually say depending on the way that you've determined tone within violence, my fifth movie is the most violent. Um, but collateral definitely is, is in the stack and I adore it. Uh, you know, it's, um, it's a killer soundtrack. It's some, some really great storytelling and it's Jamie Foxx, like really leaning into a delicate sort of role that They could have given to somebody else and I don't think it would have been the same. And then I don't think, I don't think you see Tom Cruise the same after Vincent. I just, I love this movie. I love the way it looks. I love the pacing. I love the, um, I love the way that the action is handled. You know, it's not, I'm not saying that it's like realistic or this is how somebody was. Would actually go about being an assassin like this guy is, but it feels less video gamey or action movie than everything else you could imagine. And I think it's just like it's Michael Mann. He understands what's kind of cool. He just kind of nails it. Yeah. And when he gets it right and he doesn't always, you know, I'm, I'm not a huge Miami vice fan. I don't think that a public enemies was a great film. I, you know, I don't always agree with even the technology he uses to shoot his film. I don't like digital Michael Mann movies that much. Uh, when he switched from film to digital, I think it really changed. Cause again, he shoots almost everything at night. So if you're picky like me, you see a lot of the noise and everything else, but I think a lot of that is mitigated in, um, in collateral. And I still remember seeing this movie in theaters. I still remember the first scene where you really see what Vincent is about, which is in a back alley and Jamie Foxx, his hands are zip tied to the steering wheel. And he thinks he can get some help and things go sideways really quickly. And it's done so well. And I, you know, I definitely have, we, you know, heat is already on the TGN film club list. And I think this is the followup, the spiritual followup to heat in many ways, uh, you know, the, a very similar setting, but it really pays tribute to the time and the place of early two thousands LA. And I love it. I really, really love this movie. It's not, yeah, it's not something I would watch with either of my kids or probably for those next several years, but it's a, it's fantastic. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. I, I remember liking this movie, but I probably haven't seen it since it came out, so definitely need to re-watch that one. Good pick. Funny about Tom Cruise, not to go off on a tangent here, but it's funny, I don't always think of him as a great actor or someone that I particularly like, but then I look at his canon of movies that he's done, and he rarely does a bad movie. He's really, really talented. |
| Jason Heaton | He's just insanely talented. |
| James Stacey | I think he's just sort of an odd guy that when I see him, I'm like, yeah, but his movies, he's so good. |
| Jason Heaton | I don't think you or I would be any more normal if we'd been given, but go back and watch, we shouldn't do this in the film clubs with list a bunch of movies, but go back and watch Born on the Fourth of July, go back and watch. The Mission Impossible, the first one. It's incredible. And he carries some of these movies. And I know we're leaving 50 movies on the table, maybe more. He's incredible. We'll do a Tom Cruise film club. You very well could, you know what I mean? I think he's right up there with absolute English-speaking language champions of film. Tom Hanks and these guys that are just kind of like endless. The cool thing about a Hanks or Tom Cruise or even a Matt Damon sometimes, I think Damon kind of fades in and out of this, but when you pick them, you know that it changes the tone of the whole film. They're going to play their role for sure, but it affects all of it. And like you put Tom Cruise in a movie, you get a Tom Cruise movie. which is kind of fun. And like, I know that people love Top Gun and Days of Thunder and these sort of things. I think he's got some really incredible stuff that's like, just back from that, what was the, what was the World War II one a few years ago about assassinating Hitler? Oh yeah. Valkyrie? Yeah. Yeah. Valkyrie's awesome. Yeah. And, uh, and I think like every now and then you see, you see some of these and it's just like, he's, he's so talented and he's so great. And, uh, yeah, I think he's, uh, I think he's incredible in this cause it's, it's a, it's a quiet role. He's not shouting, he's not, um, It's this kind of reserved guy that is forever in control because he's willing to exist outside the concepts of control. This is all in the movie, literally. Yeah. It's great. Very quietly menacing, you know. Collateral, yeah. Super menacing, really calm, smiling half the time, but like death in his eyes and death in his hands, for sure. It's great. Yeah. Great character. |
| James Stacey | All right. I'm going to finish up with a movie. This is my oldest film. This is from, I believe, 1969 or 70. It's called Downhill Racer. Okay. I don't know it. Gosh, I thought I might have talked about it before. I think I talked about it in the context of we were going skiing with Oris in Colorado or something and maybe talking about alps and meters, clothing, et cetera. And this movie is always a film that I watch at the beginning of the winter, the beginning of kind of ski season. It gets me in the mood for snow in the mountains. It's a Redford film again, and it's Gene Hackman. So the two of these guys, very understated movie. It's a very literary movie, which isn't surprising that it was written by an author, one of my favorite authors, James Salter, who, if you haven't read any of his books, there's a great movie about climbing in Yosemite and in Chamonix called Solo Faces that he wrote that's really quite good as well. That's a bit of an aside. He wrote Downhill Racer. It's about a sort of a cowboy American Olympic ski racer who gets his big shot on the American ski team in the 1968 Olympics. And Redford plays the character perfectly. He looks the part. The styling is great. The clothing, the settings, the filming is fantastic. They actually filmed most of it on location in the Alps with a lot of B-roll film that was actually taken from the 1968 Olympics, which I think were in Grenoble, France that year. And so it's very realistic, classic downhill ski racing from the late 60s, kind of along the lines of one of the old Bond films or something. But it's just a superb film. There's an old Porsche 911 with ski racks. He takes for a very reckless drive on a very snowy mountain road. Um, and, uh, you know, the movie just has everything for me. And, uh, it's one that I, like I said, I watch every year for, you know, the filmmaking, the, the script is, is superb. The, the styling, um, it's just a movie that kind of sets a mood that, um, I'm often kind of ready for, uh, when the first snow flies. And, um, I think some people sort of see the movie and it ends a bit abruptly and you're sort of left thinking, Hmm, you know, that, that Didn't quite feel right, but I think, you know, you watch it one or two times more and, uh, kind of sinks in that this is really a character study. And, um, you know, if you don't just take it as sort of a linear plot with a, a love story and some action, um, and kind of just soak up the characters, uh, it's really a rewarding movie. So yeah, check it out. Downhill racer. |
| Jason Heaton | That's awesome. That sounds really good. I've never seen that, but it sounds, uh, sounds like a great read or a great watch. Yeah. So for my last pick, I can be pretty quick with this one. It's the best movie I've seen in a very, very long time. Certainly this year, I was on a yacht in Monaco, uh, having dinner with Waco of Revolution and Nick Sullivan of Esquire. And we were, as we do chat, uh, we had, we had, uh, stopped talking about watches and we moved on to talking about movies. And they recommended I was I was explaining my distinct love of like North by Northwest and Rear Window, these great Hitchcock movies, and they both brought up rope. James Stewart movie 1948, you know, early ish Hitchcock, it is next level. It is so good. It's like it defies like me sitting here saying how good it is. It is about two young men. I actually don't want to give anything away. If you don't mind an old movie, it doesn't feel old. It's about murder and intrigue. Jimmy Stewart's in it and he's incredible, but he plays it more of a supporting character in the role. The kind of two main characters, it's so delicate in its approach and it's kind of sort of filmed as though it's one take for the whole film. It's this kind of clever use of what's essentially a stage, um, like a, for a play. Yeah. And I, I, I just like, I literally cannot say this enough. If you, if you get of the, now this would be my 15th movie that I've suggested into film club under my own, uh, list. And this is the, this is the one, huh? Really? I mean, North by North, North by Northwest is, is perhaps a more exciting film, but I think if you get through all of these movies, you'll hit rope and you'll say like, Oh, Hitchcock was operating on an entirely different... He's made something distinct here. It's probably... I'm sure it's informed by a play, but it's essentially a dinner party with a very... With a hidden, but otherwise disturbing kind of subplot to this dinner party. And it has this fantastic storyline and this really, really beautiful camera work, and then The main characters, these two guys who've carried out a crime just before the dinner party. The performances are just absolutely incredible. I love this movie. Wei and Nick, we're not wrong. It is next level. It is awesome. It's super watchable, and it does not feel anywhere near as old as it is. This is a movie from 1948, and it could have been made yesterday. It's so good. |
| James Stacey | I'm going to have to up my game. You've had a couple of 1940s films that you did. I think you did The Third Man last time and now this one. Oh yeah. You know, Hitchcock is so good. I think you had done Rear Window in one of the past film clubs. He's such a superstar, Hitchcock, and with Jimmy Stewart. Pick any. Superb. Any one of them. Vertigo, The Birds. |
| Jason Heaton | Vertigo's crazy. Strangers on a Train, The Man Who Knew Too Much. um rear window dial m for murder yeah it's endless i mean the guy has an unbelievable run um i mean third third man is probably a better movie i think that um rope is more watchable for its age uh rope is just and it's so sinister it's great it's sinister but it's also like entirely sociopathic it's cool yeah it's a cool movie I highly recommend Rope. I don't know how you'd find it. I got it from a friend of mine who added an actual copy of it. I love that movie. I love it. It's great. Cool. |
| James Stacey | Good one to finish with. |
| Jason Heaton | I'll check it out. Absolutely. So that's Film Club Volume 3. There's 10 more movies. We now have 30. I will try and think of a way to easily share the list of all the movies. I'm sure that can be done. Let me figure out a little bit of Googling to make it publicly available. But we have a listing so that we don't pick the movies twice, as you'd imagine we could. So let me work on that. I'll either get it in for this one or maybe by the time we do volume four. But for those of you who write me and ask for recaps at the end of long segments, we're now an hour and a half in. So Jason picked Jaws, The Constant Gardener. Three Days of the Condor, Downhill Racer, and Marathon Man, a solid five-way pick. That's a pretty good weekend of movies if you can't get out of bed. And I picked Blade Runner 2049, Sicario, The Town, Collateral, and Rope, which I think is maybe a little bit darker. Well, maybe not. We kind of match tone, I think, for the most part. Jaws is a little bit more lighthearted at times in that it's kind of summery. Um, but there's 10 more movies to match the other 20 that we've put forth. I think you're, you're going to start to see a pattern in, uh, in the movies that we pick, but I, I adore these movies. And there's a couple here from Jason that I haven't seen, which I'm excited. I've never seen a downhill racer or marathon, man. So I've got two that I need to see kind of ASAP. So that's the end of film club volume three, as always, if you have any questions, any input, a movie that you think we missed or whatever. TheGreatNadoAtGmail.com we remain at your service and I still reply to every email that isn't asking what watch you should buy. So feel free to send me an email if it's not that. Moving on, let's get right into final notes. We'll try and keep this under two hours. I think it's fine to have a longer episode occasionally and I'll be on a plane for most of tomorrow so I can edit it. Jason, you want to throw up your first final note? |
| James Stacey | Sure, yeah, I'm going to keep these brief. This one is, as if we haven't talked about enough movies, this one is actually a short film. It's only five and a half minutes long. It's by a guy named Perrin James, and if you don't follow him on Instagram, he's good stuff. Really great underwater cinematographer, and he's put up a movie that he linked out of Instagram. It's on Vimeo. It's called Frozen Ceiling, and it's basically just kind of a short free diving kind of mood piece set under the ice in Fathom Five National Park up in Tobermory, Ontario, north of where you are, James, in a place that's near and dear. Some great shipwreck diving and just a beautiful area. And this film is, it's free diving. So it's actually free diving under the ice, which adds an element of sort of a layer of complexity and danger, but this movie doesn't really key in on the danger of it. It's more about the beauty and kind of the otherworldliness of diving under ice in that very beautiful landscape up there, which is a very wild and sort of wooded area of Northern Ontario. So I'm not going to say anything more about it. There's nothing particularly deep or not much of a storyline to it. Like I said, it's only five and a half minutes long, but Just beautifully shot, and I think this guy's very talented at what he does, so check it out. |
| Jason Heaton | That sounds great. So yeah, link in the show notes, and definitely give that a watch. It sounds like it would last only a bit of a coffee break. Yeah. I'm kind of struggling with which one to pick first. These are two things that I've now come to really love in the last little while, so I'll start with a new bag, unsurprisingly. It's been probably a couple episodes since we talked about bags, but This is the Toppo Global Briefcase. So recently I had an opportunity to work with a photographer named Josh Perez. He goes by Joshua E D R I C on Instagram. You should absolutely be following him. So for a project that will come up in volume five of Hodinkee magazine, I can't say what we shot. Um, but he shot it and I wrote it. So the piece in the magazine that has my name on it, it's his photos. He is wildly talented, a really nice dude. He has a great podcast. Um, he runs a really great photo studio called set studio with a couple of buddies. That's at made by set on Instagram, follow Josh, show him some love. He's deep into the same sorts of stuff that we love. And I hope to have him on a future episode, an absolute sweetheart. Um, a machine with a camera to just the kind of guy you want on a job where you have one day to photograph something that nobody really gets a crack at that often. And he did a really great job with this stuff. You'll see the photos in, um, issue five of the magazine. Anyways, uh, Joshua does a bunch of work with Topo and, uh, he was carrying this thing, which they call their global briefcase. And it's, uh, essentially a laptop bag. Uh, so it has a laptop panel. It's a little bit, it's slightly larger in footprint than say, a, um, a MacBook pro a 15 inch MacBook pro. So it has a pocket for, uh, the computer and then it has kind of a deeper pocket. for things. And then it has these two outer pockets, um, that kind of sit on the, the, the leading edge of the outer outside of the bag. And then it can be carried with a shoulder strap, a handle or backpack straps. And, uh, he had gotten a few from Toppo and I was commenting on him. We talked a while about bags and he said he would send me one. Uh, so he sent me one, I have it in Navy blue here and I'm addicted to it. Um, it's, uh, it doesn't carry as much as my Tenba. But it's kind of lighter. It's a little bit more casual. I like the way it looks quite a bit. This is blue with kind of red accents all over it. It's, it's otherwise black nylon, super flexible. And I like that it's a little bit more limited in how much I can carry. So I think a little bit more about what to bring with the 10, but I could just bring everything. Um, which can be pluses or minuses, but with this, uh, with this topo, when you, when you're talking about say, uh, the Leica Q. Um, a bag of kind of tech goodies, you know, dongles, cables, batteries, that sort of thing. Um, and then say a flash, a laptop, power charger, you know, the wallet that I use to carry all this stuff in the, I have a little case that I use as my carry on. So when you like throw this bag under the seat in front of you on a plane, I take a little bag out or a little roll case out that has a few things in it, you know, like a, If I'm on an eight hour flight, you get kind of greasy. So there'll be a wipe in there for my face and there'll be a battery to charge up my phone. There might be like a flashlight and a couple of spare memory cards and that sort of thing. But when you, when you really get like just the key kit that I would use, like I'm going to LA tomorrow and the bag is packed and it's just perfect. Uh, it's really nicely made. It's casual, but it doesn't look that weird over my shoulder with a blazer. Um, it just kind of suits suits the way I want to use it. And I like that in a moment it can be a backpack, but it also has the handle to just be carried like a normal side bag, like a briefcase. And it's nicely made and it looks like a piece of topo stuff, which like their aesthetics kind of fun. Uh, I'm super happy with it. Uh, I highly recommend it. If, um, if Josh asked for this one back, I would, I would order one up. I think they make a larger size, which they call the global briefcase, the three day. So if you want one that's a bit bigger, they have that as well. And I know, Jason, in the past, you had one of their, what did they call it at the time? |
| James Stacey | So I've had two versions of the Mountain Briefcase. |
| Jason Heaton | Mountain Briefcase. |
| James Stacey | Similar. I did see your Global Briefcase a few weeks ago, and I love it. It's subtly different from the Mountain Briefcase, but what I like about it is those bellows pockets on the outside. It has that sort of, like an old camera bag or something, you know, where you'd stick lenses or something. I like that. It has a very tactical look. Let's face it. I mean, Toppo's just pure TGN material. It's so... They're the best. It's such a mix of like utility and style and price. |
| Jason Heaton | And price too. I mean, this is $130, which isn't an unreasonable amount of money for a bag that's also could be your daily backpack, could also be your in-flight bag, could also be your short travel overnight bag. It's nice. It comes in a bunch of different colors. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. Cool. Can't have enough good bags. |
| Jason Heaton | No, certainly not. And I mean, we love Topo. You know, we have a kind of a longstanding, well documented love of the brand. And I just like having something new from them. I could see having a bigger version of this would be good. So maybe that's the three day I should kind of compare the dimensions. But, you know, the dream is always to have a bag like this that also has just enough room to put some clothes in it. Yeah. So you don't even need the suitcase as well, but I'm still really tied to, you know, having the carry-on suitcase and another bag. Yeah. And the nice thing about this versus the Tenba, I still adore my Tenba. I'm literally, I'm less than a foot away from it here on my desk. Once I get where I'm going with the Tenba, it has so much stuff in it that you have to fully unpack it before you can go out for the day. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Like it, whereas with this, it's kind of, this is, it is less of, um, less of a mechanism to carry an office worth of things and more of like, I'm going to get off the plane and immediately go to where I'm working. Sure. And it just, the bag just works. I like it. I like it a lot actually. Um, and I, you know, it's the kind of thing where like, if I have an excuse in the next little while to buy one or pay it forward, uh, then I will. And I'm, I'm, you know, Joshua, thanks very much for sharing and, uh, uh, Topo, uh, well done. Cool bag. Yeah. |
| James Stacey | Nice. Well, I've got another product that you and I seem to pile up similar things, but I have another wallet. I don't know if you remember last year I was on this sort of wallet safari looking for just the perfect wallet. And I've got a couple that came in that I kind of rotate through. So Fraser Kit Company was kind enough to send me their bifold wallet. It's not dissimilar to a lot of other bifold wallets like the one I've been using for a long time from Bellroy. But what makes this one kind of unique is, you know, Fraser Kit Company has a very limited sort of product line, but their stuff is all really well considered and interesting materials. And this one has sort of this pressed felt wool interior, and then it's this nice leather with little red stitched accents, not unlike what you'd find on like one of our vintage style watch straps that Hodinkee sells or, you know, several others sell as well. So it's a really nice looking wallet. It's just the right size. It's got like six card slots and plenty of room for bills and fairly slim, sits in your pocket once it's full. So, you know, I've been kind of test driving it. I like it quite a bit, but I think more than just the wallet, I think Fraser Kit Company is one of those brands that like Topo, you know, they make some really cool stuff and kind of just worth checking out. I love their aviator bag, which is kind of their, their version of a weekender. |
| Jason Heaton | That bag looks incredible. |
| James Stacey | It does. It's kind of like, you know, like a, I guess what you call like a pilot's flight bag. I think that's what it was loosely styled after they make a dop kit, which I have their dop kit as well, which is again, just a really well considered product. The interior has some, uh, a waterproof compartment and, and sort of this, uh, tartan tartan print, uh, lining and, and, you know, good heavy duty hardware. |
| Jason Heaton | So you spoke about, you spoke about that dop kit on a previous episode, like probably four or five months ago. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | And then they wrote me and asked if I wanted to check it out. And I said, like, I'm sure whatever. I mean, it's a dop kit. Like it's kind of, it's, I would say like without seeing it, I would say it's kind of expensive. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It's $250. I got it. Yeah. Goodness sakes. |
| Unknown | Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Yeah. It's like, I'll go, I'll go to be like, it's, Oh, it's time to brush my teeth. And I hang it on the back of my door. Cause it's, it's big enough to hold like everything I could possibly need. |
| Unknown | Sure. |
| Jason Heaton | So I just hang it on the back of the door next to a towel. It's got everything I wanted. It keeps my like very limited counter space in my bathroom. I have this tiny counter, um, like nice and clean and clear of, you know, the general detritus that you kind of builds up, uh, in these bathrooms, but that like holding it in your hands, you know, when you get those things, like, and it's almost always, maybe this is just a bias for me, but it's always something that's made out of leather, but you hold it in your hands and like, Oh yeah, this just, this is right. |
| Unknown | Yeah. Yeah. |
| Jason Heaton | Like I've had the like 80 or 90 dollar J.Crew, I don't remember the brand that makes it for them, but you know their drop kit, it's like a two zipper thing that allows you to separate one things from another. And it's nice, it's kind of like it's too much work and the zipper is not that high quality and it's kind of like it never really fits in a bag appropriately. This Fraser Kitco is miles better than anything I've ever put in my hands. The one that I typically move around with because it zips out pretty flat. I'm going to be honest, when I travel, I typically put my stuff in a Ziploc bag just in case the security has a problem with it. A Ziploc bag can be almost any shape, but if I have room, like when I go to LA tomorrow, I actually have the space, I'm taking this Fraser Kitco. It's gorgeous. It's so nice. |
| James Stacey | those things that it's like the unsung hero. Like you, you don't, you don't want to think about your dop kit, but like when you actually find one that's like a pleasure to use, it's a, it's cool. Same thing with a wallet. I mean you use your wallet probably as much as anything else in your entire life. Like you're without a doubt, without a doubt, right? Wallet and maybe your phone. And uh, you know, when you have a product that's well made and kind of gives you pleasure to pull out and use, there's something special about that. So, um, I agree. Yeah. Anyway, just check out a Fraser kit company. Uh, we'll throw a link in the show notes and uh, You know, it's definitely more expensive than your usual kind of average product of this type, but on the other hand, I think it'll last forever and it just looks good. It has a really nice usability to it and fun to have. So thanks a lot to Fraser for sending it. |
| Jason Heaton | And so my second one is a recommendation from our buddy, Ted Gushue. If you don't follow Ted on Instagram, I don't even know why you have Instagram if you're not following Ted. You know, his work is fantastic, you know, and also you should be following Type7, which is his project with Porsche. But he did an Instagram story just recently about a podcast I'd never heard of. And, and, and I, I kind of, I want to, I want to make a quick call out to everyone who's listening. Why did none of you tell me about this podcast? I thought you were my friends. Um, turns out Ted was my only real friend. Uh, it's called inside skunk works and it's a podcast from Lockheed Martin produced by the brand about all of their X planes, all of the, the skunk works planes. Uh, so they, they start with some low hanging fruit. The first episode or two are about the SR 71 and, uh, it's development and, and it's, it's these, it's beautifully produced. It's, it's not a conversation podcast, like what you're listening to now. It's a, it's a one way interview based. You're listening to audio clips and, and various, uh, archived bits and bits. It's I, I, I'm almost like at the point of stuttering. It's so good. I listened to like nine episodes today while I did a bunch of laundry. Wow. It's simply fantastic. Uh, Ted's not wrong. It's one of the best podcasts available right now. You should absolutely be listening to it. If you like the great NATO, there's absolutely no question. You wouldn't love this. And, uh, yeah. Uh, inside skunk works. I can't say anything more about it. It's a five star. You know, download review, be happy with it. It's killer. It's really, really cool. I love this stuff so much. And, uh, I actually just, um, it just reminded me, um, our, our buddy Ed Eslo. Uh, he had sent me a book about skunk works a while ago, and, uh, I just put it in that topo bag to read it on the flight tomorrow. And if I have any free kind of downtime in LA, cause it's, it's still summer there in my mind. Uh, so I might read a book next to a pool or something like that, but, uh, inside skunk works, it's a podcast. It's absolutely incredible. And I don't know how we didn't come across it beforehand. It's in its second season now. So it's not like it hasn't been around for a while. There's a ton of episodes to go back and listen to. It's beautifully produced. And if there's anything cooler than Kelly Johnson and the Skunk Works program, I haven't found it. |
| James Stacey | I love that Lockheed Martin produced this. It's so it's, it's great that they, that they actually originate this. Uh, they're really proud of their heritage and, uh, yeah, that's, that's really cool. |
| Jason Heaton | I'll, I'll add it to my list as well. It's absolutely what I'll be listening to with all of my downtime until I run out of episodes. |
| James Stacey | Yeah. That's a great way to close things out. Um, you know, Long episode certainly. We thank everybody for listening and hanging in there to the bitter end here. I hope it was a great film club and some good final notes. So I guess that wraps it. |
| Jason Heaton | So yeah, something to watch while you're on your new rowing machine or maybe you're on the exercise bike or you're back from being outside and enjoying some exercise and it's time to sit on the couch for a little bit. So pick up a new movie and enjoy. |
| James Stacey | As always, thanks so much for listening and a huge thanks to Hodinkee for supporting the show and to Hamilton for their support of this episode. Please visit shop.hamiltonwatch.com for more details and be sure to let us know the next time you spot a Hamilton while enjoying a great film. Hit the show notes via hodinkee.com or the feed for more details. You can follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton and at J.E. Stacey and follow the show at TheGreyNado. If you have any questions for us, please write TheGreyNado at gmail.com And please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. Music Throughout is Siesta by JazzArr via the Free Music Archive. |
| Jason Heaton | And we leave you with this quote from Clarence Kelly Johnson, the originator of the Skunk Works program, who is known to say, be quick, be quiet and be on time. |