Laci and Matt pay a visit to Championship Vinyl to hang out with Rob, Barry, Dick, Laura, Ian, Marie de Salle, and all the fine folks in the music scene of that windy city we like to call Chi-Town. That's right, it's High Fidelity (2000)! It's a great music movie. It's an even greater romantic comedy. In fact, it's kind of an anti-romantic comedy, because the lesson in the end is: The most romantic thing in life is being a grown-up.

Plus: Our top-five songs we want played at our funerals, AND fierce debate about whether DJs are musicians and if a singer's vocal chords count as an instrument.

Next week: True Lies (1994)!

Time stamps:

• 00:03:00 — History segment: Original novel by Nick Hornby; John Cusack hired to produce, write, and star in adaptation; hiring director Stephen Frears; casting Jack Black and Iben Hjejle; legacy of High Fidelity and TV series remake
• 00:33:40 — Movie discussion
• 02:06:40 — Final thoughts & star ratings

Sources:

• "Top Five: An Oral History of High Fidelity" by Andrew Buss | Consequence (2025) - https://bit.ly/49JgfdT
• "John Cusack: 'Hollywood is a whorehouse and people go mad'" by Henry Barnes | The Guardian (2014) - https://bit.ly/4pLqDaV

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Check out Laci's coloring videos on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-kKLhWb2g0bKA-RrvvLh0Q/

Matt has a monthly spin-off podcast covering the James Bond films! Check out PodJob: A James Bond Podcast on Apple Podcast (https://bit.ly/4jRL2K1), Spotify (https://bit.ly/4a8jM6E), and YouTube (https://youtube.com/@podjob007).

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

• "Winston-Salem" - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
• "Snake Drama" - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
• "The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet" - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

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