Jul 30, 2026 · 1 hr 58 min · 14 segments
"I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence." For Episode 412, Brandon and Paige finish out CineNation's Treasure Hunt series with the millennial classic, NATIONAL TREASURE. Listen as they…
It's always fascinating to me when, like, we're covering a movie, and just, like, a, a random TikTok like that pops up out of nowhere.
It's like recently I saw one for Night of the Hunter [laughs] that was, like, with The Cure, is what it was.
... how the algorithm would be like, "Oh, let's, let's give this to Brandon."
Mo- most of my TikTok has become that, where it's just, like, Thomas and I trading random, like, old movies with highlight reels to, like, modern, more modern music, basically.
There was one with Paper Moon, which is from the '70s, but it was with, like, a Wu-Tang Clan song to it, which I wish I could download and post because it's such a-
Um, the one recent one that happened recently, I don't, I don't think you've ...
And, and it was posted, like, a year ago, and as they reposted it, it blew up again.
And they're just like, "This was what, like, real people are meant to do." Like this ...
Like, it was just people putting random stuff online that spoke to them in a way that, like, it wasn't gonna speak to anyone else, but that's what art is, is this thing spoke to you and reminded you of something specific-
And so, like, that was, that was back when the internet was, like, the Wild West, and, like-
Which OutKast song? It was B.O.B., Bombs Over Baghdad, and it's, like, they start off with, like, "One, two, one," and, like, they count off.
Muppet content or Muppet-adjacent content is all right in my book, so [laughs] I approve.
And, and for this one, someone I guess was watching National Treasure, and the, the moments of fire really reminded them of fire mentioned-
Like, there's a, there's a clip of Robert Redford we've talked about before where it's, like, it's a zoom-in, and it's Redford, like, very beard, long hair, and it's him, like, nodding.
And, like, even, like, the Keanu Reeves saying woe from Bill & Ted, like, sometimes that's become-
And so, it's a lot of times, Thomas and I talk about, like, will just be, like, random movies that gain traction online because of memes.
Like, Spider-Man, even though Spider-Man was already big, but, like, the amount of memes that came from the original-
They're constantly creating new ones, it feels like, and the movie came out 20 years ago.
"There's buzz." Like, that's a stamp of, uh, cultural consciousness, which, you know, is, is what they're aiming for.
And weirdly, National Treasure has kind of become that for some people, I feel like.
I feel like the, like, "I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence" become, became a meme for sure, where it's, like, someone does this, like, random impossible thing and they post that-
But yeah, seeing just highlight reels to Adele with National Treasure is a very ...
I mean, now it's, like, too, with that, is you're seeing people edit reels in general.
Someone did, like, a Sinners, uh, uh, reel where it was, like, every cut to, like, a hit or, like, a sh- a, a gunshot or whatever.
And, like, next thing you know, they're, they're showing it to Ryan Coogler at, like, a Sinners event, and he's watching it.
... for studios, what you're saying, as you're talking about as well, where it's like now you're getting reactions.
It essentially boiled down to reacting with how people are engaging with your film, which that's kinda what, what critics were doing.
Like, w- 'cause people keep talking about now is, like, where is criticism, uh-
... film criticism? And now it's becoming a lot of influencers, but now there's kind of a revolt against that in some way.
And now maybe it's just kind of like- ... people who love film cutting these reels as a way to kind of promote them in some way.
I was kind of aware of the meme and became more aware of it once I saw the movie, but Jeremiah Johnson, this, like, frontier film with Robert Redford.
I knew just that meme, and for the longest time I didn't know what it was from.
I don't have one off the top of my head, because I'm, I'm sure that it has happened, but I'm only c- y- you've pointed this out to me and I'm like, "Oh yeah, I guess that is-"
... of ones where I know what the film is and I'm, I, I was already aware of the film and knew I hadn't seen it, and then the meme gets popular and stuff.
I mean, one of the most popular ones to me, even though I'd already seen the movie, was Lord of the Rings with-
One that I feel like just I, I, I now lean into more, and again I knew about the film before I, I saw it or the meme, but it's, it's the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where Leonardo DiCaprio's like pointing at the screen.
And DiCaprio weirdly, that's actually a conversation people have had, DiCaprio i, is someone who has become a meme a lot, usually at, like, award shows.
There was one of him reacting to someone in a, in a very animated way at the Golden Globes this year.
And I, that's, now that I'm thinking about it, like, one w- I might initially say that, "Oh, it's, you know, he's just in so many movies.
But I, compared to Brad Pitt, who I would argue is, like, just as big of a star, I don't-
So what, what is this, this essence that Leo has that just makes him the perfect meme? [laughs]
Like, he very much, like, when he's at award shows he always tries to keep it very straight.
... it's almost like, ooh, it, it becomes the actually, oh, there it is, and it becomes the meme itself.
I mean, what was it Nikki Glaser was saying at Golden Globes where she was like, "You, you never re- reveal anything about yourself.
The last thing it was that you, spaghetti's your favorite food, and you said that in Teen Beat in 19sev- 1997."
And so yeah, it's more controlled a- a- but still a little open, when DiCaprio is very closed off a lot of the time.
Uh, and like you said, sometimes it's like m- something like Megan that came out a few years ago where it kind of gets successful because of the meme it feels like.
And I, I think that that's, you know, it speaks to just like kind of how we as a society have kind of shifted how we engage with media and, and younger generations.
But I, I think that those memeifications of films have m- maybe provided a pretty important bridge betw- in the gap of, like, when people kind of stopped watching movies for a little bit.
But, like, I think, I, I think i- in, in the between space where people kind of were just going back, going to the s- the, the phone screen more than, than the big screen-
the meme was maybe a kind of way to just keep movies, keep the inertia behind cinema and movies as a, as an art form.
And somehow National Treasure's become a meme for people is what this all spurred from-
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