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‘The Notebook’ With Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, and Andrew Gruttadaro

June 25, 2019 · The Notebook (2004) · Drama · Romance · 1:20:43

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Amanda Dobbins▶ 9:41The first date scene where they lie down in traffic and dance in the street while Ryan Gosling hums 'I'll Be Seeing You' - called it 'maybe one of the more romantic scenes, movie scenes of the 21st century'
Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 8:37Agreed the scenes should focus on Noah and Allie together, praised the street dancing scene for their magnetic chemistry and Rachel McAdams' reactions
Juliet Litman▶ 8:42Discussed multiple scenes but emphasized they should all feature Noah and Allie together, particularly highlighting the street dancing scene, the bird conversation montage, and the rain kiss scene

Half-Assed Internet Research

Amanda Dobbins▶ 23:47Nick Cassavetes is the son of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes; James Garner would break when Cassavetes said 'OK, mom action' while directing; most trivia comes from Cassavetes on DVD commentary
Juliet Litman▶ 22:41Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams didn't like each other on set and had fights, including a big blowout that made things better; they waited a long time to find Rachel McAdams which was half the battle

What's Aged the Best

Juliet Litman▶ 24:51Rachel McAdams in general and incorporating Charleston

What's Aged the Worst

Amanda Dobbins▶ 26:30Charleston/plantation elements and racial portrayal in service roles, wartime scenes, and portrayal of dementia
Juliet Litman▶ 26:48Racial portrayal (all service workers being Black while white person is doctor), wartime scenes with Kevin Connolly dying, Sarah Lawrence College portrayal, dementia representation, and willing yourself to death together

Dion Waiters Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 46:50James Garner
Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 45:18Joan Allen
Juliet Litman▶ 47:21James Marsden

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 53:12Wedding Crashers — Wedding Crashers - represents the peak of her momentum after Mean Girls and The Notebook
Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 53:58The Notebook — The Notebook - because of the one-two punch with Mean Girls showing two different sides of her acting
Juliet Litman▶ 54:12The Notebook — The Notebook - both objectively for her career peak and subjectively as personal favorite Rachel McAdams performance

Joey Pants Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 56:11Kevin Connolly — Kevin Connolly, though notes he wasn't really 'that guy' at the time, more of a 2019 'that guy'
Juliet Litman▶ 56:08Kevin Connolly — Kevin Connolly, but also suggests Gina Rollins as 'that guy' since she's been around so long and is vaguely familiar to younger generations

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:06:42Is it healthy to build an entire house with painting supplies for someone you haven't spoken to in seven years? How does Ryan Gosling have time to cut so many different shaped arrows? James Marsden's proposal is extremely convoluted. The movie ends too abruptly.
Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 1:10:03He's only asking $50,000 for the plantation which is like $500,000 in the 1940s - not enough money for that coastal property.
Juliet Litman▶ 1:08:05Rachel McAdams going off the grid is rude to Lon. What kind of phone system does Ryan Gosling have? Why couldn't Ryan Gosling have another friend after Kevin Connolly died? The paper looked like Xerox paper which wasn't 1947 approved.

Movies Referenced (33)

Mean Girls (2004)

12 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman, Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 5:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wedding Crashers (2005)

8 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman▶ 6:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Titanic (1997)

7 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 33:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Alpha Dog (2006)

4 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 23:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jerry Maguire (1996)

4 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 0:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Other Woman (2014)

3 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 23:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Walk to Remember (2002)

2 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 4:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Red Eye (2005)

2 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins▶ 6:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Remember the Titans (2000)

2 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins▶ 5:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Something's Gotta Give (2003)

2 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 31:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stand by Me (1986)

2 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 0:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Family Stone (2005)

2 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins▶ 6:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

John Cassavetes

3 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Rosemary's Baby▶ 4:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Costner

3 mentions · Amanda Dobbins · Known for Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves▶ 4:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steven Spielberg

3 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman · Known for Schindler's List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Saving Private Ryan▶ 42:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Babatunde Akinloye

1 mentions · Juliet Litman · Known for Zootopia 2▶ 1:00:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ben Affleck

1 mentions · Juliet Litman · Known for Argo, Gone Girl, The Town▶ 40:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (37)

Ryan Gosling

37 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, Andrew Gruttadaro · Known for Blue Valentine, La La Land, Drive▶ 1:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rachel McAdams

31 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, Andrew Gruttadaro · Known for The Notebook, Mean Girls, Red Eye▶ 1:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joan Allen

15 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, Andrew Gruttadaro▶ 7:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Garner

12 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman, Andrew Gruttadaro · Known for The Notebook, The Great Escape▶ 7:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Connolly

12 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Notebook, John Q▶ 7:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Marsden

10 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins, Andrew Gruttadaro · Known for X-Men, Enchanted▶ 1:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Martha Shaw

6 mentions · Juliet Litman, Andrew Gruttadaro · Known for WarGames▶ 36:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sam Shepard

6 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman · Known for Black Hawk Down▶ 7:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Britney Spears

5 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins▶ 41:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Justin Timberlake

5 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins · Known for The Social Network▶ 41:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nick Cassavetes

5 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Juliet Litman · Known for Face/Off▶ 23:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Johansson

5 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 7:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (2)

Nicholas Sparks

13 mentions · Juliet Litman, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Safe Haven▶ 2:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Fontana

1 mentions · Juliet Litman▶ 40:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Byron Houck

1 mentions · Amanda Dobbins▶ 2:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗