While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Episode 140 (December 13, 2024)

When Matt falls onto the train tracks, Laci hops down to rescue him, but they both get hit by a train, and now they’re podcasting from the afterlife. The first movie up in this Afterworld Era is While You Were Sleeping (1995), the Sandra Bullock imposter/coma/Christmas rom-com classic.

How great is it seeing star-making, lightning-in-a-bottle performances like Bullock’s performance here? How great is this Chicago-at-Christmastime establishing shot footage, complete with extras falling down? How great is it to know that if Laci or Matt realized the other had been lying about their identity for 15 years, they would get over it pretty quickly?

While You Were Sleeping Podcast

Time stamps:

8:49 — Our personal histories with While You Were Sleeping

12:51 — History segment: Director Jon Turtletaub, star Sandra Bullock, and the making of While You Were Sleeping

20:15 — In-depth movie discussion

1:14:29 — Special announcement: We’re launching a Patreon in January!

1:20:03 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

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:

“Your Ambition” – https://youtu.be/ZHudVTCkrQY

“Winston-Salem” – https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM

“Snake Drama” – https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg

“24 Hours Is Like Three Weeks!” –https://youtu.be/xhmAga_DGv0

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” – https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ

Source:

“‘While You Were Sleeping’ turns 25: An oral history of the Sandra Bullock rom-com favorite” by Ashley Spencer | The Washington Post (2020) – https://wapo.st/49wbFyY

Bonus videos!

We each name our favorite movie that prominently features a mistaken identity. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING episode out tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1FErlbqCI2
— Load Bearing Beams (@LoadBearingPod) December 13, 2024

We're watching WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING for the show this week, which is a great Chicago movie! What are some of our other favorite Chicago movies? pic.twitter.com/4sQlvyFsKz
— Load Bearing Beams (@LoadBearingPod) December 11, 2024