It's Complicated with Sarah-Violet Bliss

[00:00:00] Blank Check with Griffin and David, Blank Check with Griffin and David, Don't know what to say or to express All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check Do you... Codpast? I don't know what that is

[00:00:26] It's when she says, do you poke smart? When she's asking if he smokes pot Oh, so then you flip the words high So what I did ask for you which was very clever Oh, it was way too much math for me

[00:00:42] Which was very clever is... I don't know No, I want to explain to our guests that it was very clever, very funny, very smart The quotes page for this film is 90% things she says when she's stoned

[00:00:55] Whoever curated this thinks that stoned Meryl is the funniest thing in the world No, this is not a quotable movie This is not a movie with like hot lines, it's not like Neil Simon S. where it's like a bunch of zingers I would argue...

[00:01:09] Like the trailer's big line was OMG I thought he'd never leave That was the big line in the trailer I would argue and I'm not just up front I want to make it clear I'm not saying this in a negative way Yeah whatever

[00:01:20] It is sort of a comedy without any jokes Yeah But a lot of laughing A lot of laughing It's accompanied manners People laughing It's very much like a... Well, you mean as the audience member Yes, yes Okay, no

[00:01:34] They're laughing constantly at things that I'm like what is funny Yes Or is it just the joy of life I think it's so A joie de vivre thing It's a joie de vivre film Yeah, I mean I'd be fucking laughing if I lived their lives

[00:01:48] I can't believe Nancy Meyers hasn't made a movie called Joie de vivre Well maybe she will Maybe she will Hello everybody my name is Griffin Newman My name is David Sim This is Blank Check with Griffin and David We're hashtag the two friends It's competitive advantage

[00:01:59] We're the only two friends who host a podcast together You understand that because you're part of a friend team Right You collaborate with a friend Yes, did you say it's competitive? It's a competitive advantage We also are competitive with other friends

[00:02:10] And we're going to challenge you in Charles who wrestles like that Oh no But you know what I'm saying I mean you have the same thing Where you and Charles were friends And then you went like Oh what if we work together

[00:02:21] No one else has ever thought of being friends and working Yeah You got these Coen brothers They didn't make a choice They were born into Yeah they're no friends They're losers They hate each other I'm stating that on the mic

[00:02:33] Coen brothers I walk by them punching each other all the time They do always look like annoyed They look unhappy to be anywhere They look very upset Here's another hot take I have And this is because of actually one of our sponsors On a previous episode

[00:02:49] I was just looking at pictures of the Coen brothers Joel Coen kind of looks like Howard Stern Yes he does Like kind of a lot To the point where I'm like is he cultivating a stern Because he's got the hair you know Yes

[00:03:00] And he's got that long face And this sort of willowie body Ethan Coen is the cuter Coen You think so? Yeah Joel Coen kind of scares me Ethan Coen's kind of adorable Because he got like a little bit of a Like a Pokemon thing going on Sure

[00:03:15] To your point SV of them always looking annoyed They never look more annoyed to be somewhere Than when they win an Oscar Yeah So look on their face at the times that they have one Oscar So they're like I've got to walk to the podium

[00:03:28] All the way over there Can't I just stay here? Can't they bring the camera over to me? Ridiculous This is a podcast about filmography I'm sticking with Mike yeah Ethan's the hotter Coen I agree Joel is, Joel's, I don't know They're not doing it for me

[00:03:44] I'm kind of a Joel They're both so annoyed though They are, they're so annoyed They're being photographed They hate it, they're like We have to marry Who cares what we look like It's just funny that they have such visual sense to

[00:03:58] And that they sort of balance each other They each have such distinct looks Yeah Alright A podcast about filmographies Directors of Massive Success Early on in their career And given a series of blank checks Make whatever crazy past projects they want And sometimes those checks clear

[00:04:14] And sometimes they bounce OMG This is a podcast OMG Mini series on the films of Nancy Meyers And it's called Something's Podicast Perfect, thank you I was right You were right You gave me one of those sort of One smiles when I said that

[00:04:32] What was the one that you wanted to Are we allowed to say it on there? Yeah, yeah, yeah Some pods got a cast Some pods got a cast But something's podicast I just That, yeah It's like a little twist Yeah And poda is fun It is fun

[00:04:44] In the same way that gada is fun Right, something's got to get But we're not talking about that No We're not Today I'm sorry Right I mean it's not my fault Griffin may have misled you I'll say this Today is complicated I completely misled myself

[00:05:00] Because I tried very clearly to You very clearly explained It's complicated with my movie Right Because then I in brackets Put what the romantic pairings Were for each film Oh sure It's like not Jack and Diane Merrill and Alec and Steve Yes

[00:05:15] Did you do that in my original email? I did Because you had said I just watched it recently Do you know the Keanu? Oh yeah, well that Right, so you put the parentheses After I was confused Yes Right I didn't miss No, no, no

[00:05:32] Because I ran into you Our guest is Sir Viola Pulas by the way Yeah Filmmaker, writer, director Of a four-tailed search party Which Griffin is in both of those things Pretty good credits Crazy choice Pretty good credits for you I know right

[00:05:46] He keeps on going back to this dirty well Yep, thank you for being on the show Thank you for having me I love being on podcast Really? Honestly I think it's like You should have worked through it a bit I think it's like

[00:05:59] My favorite thing that I get to do Because of my success I have I will say genuinely Every time I have any element of career success My first thought is oh cool I might be able to get booked on that podcast now Yeah So that's like always

[00:06:13] The benefit It's like not money It's not stats It's not other jobs Maybe I could cold email those guys now And get on the show Oh, that's an interesting idea I've only waited to be invited I never thought about Suggesting to someone I'd be a guest

[00:06:28] On their show You work on podcast vampire roles Yes You have to be cordially invited Into the studio I've become a podcast wolfman I barge through Do wolfmen enter houses? I guess they do I feel like they're often in the woods In the wolves They're not very housebound

[00:06:45] I was trying to think of a monster Who breaks into houses The mummy? Does he do that? Santa Claus I'm like a podcast Santa Claus I go like I'll bring you some good stuff You like fart jokes And then I slide down their chimney

[00:07:00] So I ran to you And was like Oh You're in New York I should ask you to be on the podcast Emailed you Said would you have any interest in doing It's a complicated episode And you said yes I'd love that I just watched it

[00:07:15] By the way, do you know That Diane and Keanu dated After the movie? I mean it has the same basic font On the poster I was saying I don't make this mistake The aesthetic is all like marble Something's gotta give And it's complicated I agree

[00:07:33] You are the 15th person I've had make this mistake Since I've described Nancy Meyers Philography to people In the last two months It's just that the titles are designed To mean nothing I don't quite understand Why something's gotta give Is called something's gotta give

[00:07:47] So I'm determined to frame this Before this miniseries is done But there was a New York Times article I wanna say in 2009 When this came out About this firm It was a titling firm Yes, I've read this article From movies and TV And it's like

[00:08:01] Nancy Meyers always calls for movies Untitled Nancy Meyers Doesn't call it with a title And then this firm looks at the film And finds a title And they've broken down the mathematics Of what kind of titles work for people A lot of times it's repurposing Song titles

[00:08:16] In those movies that generically have Like, oh, love don't cost a thing Why did you call it that? It's like, oh, it's already a phrase That people have in their mind And they can associate with a song So this is referencing The drowning pool song

[00:08:29] Let the bodies hit the floor It is not referencing that You sure? No, no, because that's also something That's gotta give back Oh, yeah Watching it's complicated Oh, yeah Then did the thing where he asked me Which movie we were watching I said it's complicated

[00:08:43] And he said just tell me Yeah, which is always funny Always funny Ten comedy points But this is, yeah It's one of those things where These two movies have such generic titles Because they clearly were just like Showing Facebook, everyone's thinking about that now

[00:08:56] Call the movie It's Complicated Which by the way When I searched for this on iTunes There were two other romantic comedies One called Status It's Complicated And the other one called Relationship Status It's Complicated Oh Like you can tell all these other filmmakers

[00:09:09] Were so angry that Nancy got to this first Yeah She barely did She just told someone Give me a title She paid someone more money than any of us Will ever make in our lives Yeah To go, it's complicated Yeah Like the Facebook thing

[00:09:24] You know, Facebook, your kid uses it Yeah, drop the thots cleaner Trying to find it There's this really long New York Times article About the making of It's Complicated And I'm guessing it may be like A section of that I remember this being a Its own article

[00:09:40] I don't know if it was pre or post It's Complicated But they certainly referenced something Gotta give as their like master work Right Like they were like It's a title that means nothing Something's gotta give And you just put smile and jack With the sunglasses on it

[00:09:54] And it's like, I guess something does gotta give There's something a little bit like What's the other Jack Nicholson Movie that's not Nancy Meyers As good as it gets There's something that like is related In the same way that maybe It's just like, okay

[00:10:08] Jack Nicholson's on the poster Right And it's just like It sounds like something that he would say Yeah Even if it doesn't have any weight or profundity to it Yeah It's like, well, something's gotta give But yeah, that's sort of the argument Right

[00:10:24] It's like when Jack and Diane are together Something's gotta give Like you're like, okay Well, what's gonna give Well Yeah, when Jack and Helen are together It's as good as it gets Yeah, exactly Yeah When Jack and Morgan are together You're crossing it off the bucket list Wow

[00:10:41] Boy But this is it's complicated That's some of his last movie No, it's How do you know? No, I know because I checked that his eye to be And that's the most recent film he did Oh, that's complicated Ben's giving me a thumbs up

[00:10:53] So you had not seen this movie before? I actually have You had when it came Yeah, like a long, long time ago And I certainly didn't remember it enough to be prepared So I watched it this morning It's fresh in my memory Yes

[00:11:06] I feel like there's a thing going around Because when I emailed you about doing this And you said like I just watched something's gotta give I was surprised by how much I liked it And I can't believe I hadn't seen it sooner

[00:11:16] Where I feel like there's been this Weird turning of the tide Which I'm certainly a part of Which like I was so dismissive of Nancy Meyers movies And now I appreciate them so much I was gonna say the same thing Which is like so because like

[00:11:30] I definitely did not appreciate this movie When I first saw it I still don't like I'm not like you gotta see it's complicated But I was like I'm enjoying this For whatever reason Yeah, I think there's a two prong thing I mean look

[00:11:46] We're all very, very hip discerning people here Right? Very well Like you know Whatever in the in the 2000s In the aughts I'm like I'm above this I don't need this I wanna be clear I was not like I know you were ahead of the curve

[00:12:00] You always liked Nancy Meyers I've always liked Nancy Meyers Except for the holiday Which is the movie where I turned on her Yeah Where I was like she's gone too far This is absurd What made you turn It's too fucking long We are at last week's episode

[00:12:13] It's complicated as long It's complicated as a half hour too long The holiday is 50 minutes too long My argument is that they should all be 90 minutes long Well, for sure And it's complicated to certainly Yes, out stays it's welcome

[00:12:26] But that one was the one where I was kind of like So hyped for it We talked about this on last week's episode though But I was so pumped Like went to the theater opening And I was kind of like God damn it Like and so You know

[00:12:39] Before then I was all Nancy all the way I'm gonna have a minute There is a thing And this is one of the things That you strad me crazy about her And now I appreciate in its own weird way Is like Every movie of hers

[00:12:49] Hits the 90 minute mark You feel like Okay this is the wrap up point And there's another 30 minutes Very much so This movie seems to end And then there's like Four more big conversations All her movies seem to end And then have like another act

[00:13:01] Which speaks to the fact that her movies Don't really have any like Classical narrative structure Right But they're just things happening for two hours Right And they're not screwball comedy Which is like the mistake you could make We're like oh it's gonna be all like Pattern

[00:13:15] You know it's like no It's kind of just like people Meeting at restaurants And drinking wine Which like This movie I was like You know I think I used to approach her movies very didactically And be like This is not how you write a screenplay You know

[00:13:30] Like cause they're so meandery And this is what I remember being so frustrated with Cause it's like there's no fucking conflict Yes Which is one thing that I like about this movie I like this movie more than when I saw it Yeah

[00:13:43] 100% like it more than when I saw it To me When this movie came out Was the moment where people were really Like enough With the like Upper middle class Anxed Nancy Like the whole movie's about her kitchen Like come You know

[00:13:55] It becomes the point where it's easy to parody her Where it's like it's literally The biggest struggle in the movie is How well is she gonna renovate her kitchen Yeah Right That is The thing that every part of a plot Basically hinges on Yes I mean

[00:14:09] Yeah that's the central Right But you know You just gotta roll with that Is my argument You do And I also think there's something to The window into another world I want to give myself credit for growing But I think more than anything It is just like The

[00:14:23] The ecosystem has changed so much In the 10 years since this movie Since sort of like peak Nancy That you just go like Jesus Christ Why did we chase these movies out of the water Right Because you wish these kinds of movies Still got made

[00:14:36] Well but then this year you had Book Club Which is sort of like Very diluted watered down Nancy Meyers Right Is that Nancy? No it's just someone kind of Ripping off her thing Yeah But people were just kind of like Oh there's just not movies like this anymore

[00:14:49] So I'm so delighted to see it That's the thing Like I saw Book Club With fucking bells on Was amped for It was more excited for Book Club Than Avengers Affinity War I was like This is the type of movie I want to see

[00:15:02] Just like a nice white wine comedy Sure White wine comedy Right but like I was So anti-Nancy Meyers When this movie came out And then was like Raging with excitement For Book Club Which is like shitty Nancy Meyers It's like a copy of a copy

[00:15:17] Just because it's like I have not It's about a Book Club It's fun There was a lot of It's pretty fun References Oh right because they reference That movie I mean that book that It's 50 Shades of Grey 50 Shades of Grey Yeah This whole movie is about women

[00:15:34] Reading 50 Shades of Grey The trailer is really bad Because it makes it seem like They kind of discard that part Of the plot fast It's really just a way for them To like talk about Dick At the Book Club Which they like to do Right

[00:15:44] It's a very horny Book Club Like That's the best thing about the Book Club It's a thirsty movie Yeah, yeah, yeah It's a real thirsty movie But as for you Gotta open the book Okay I'm telling you Book Club you gotta open the book Okay

[00:15:57] What is your relationship With Nancy Meyers I I I I feel like I'm kind of removed from Nancy But I Like I said A month ago Watched something's Gotta give And was like I'm having such a great time Sure And there was We're not talking about

[00:16:15] Something's gotta give However You can I mean you give us Two minutes on something's gotta give I There was a quote in the movie That's just very simple That I was like That is so true And it was It's when she's Diane Keaton's talking to her Amanda Pete

[00:16:33] Daughter Her Amanda Pete daughter Her Amanda Pete daughter We all have one And Amanda Pete Diane, it's Amanda Pete She can't She can't settle down She's a fear of a commitment And Diane Keaton says You can't outrun your heart Or something Outsmart your heart

[00:16:49] You can't outsmart your heart Diane And I was like Nancy It's true You cannot outsmart your heart There's something about These movies just like A That's just gotta give Something's gotta give With these movies But A They are about grownups Oh yeah Which you're just like

[00:17:06] I don't see this anymore They're also like so I mean The ones I've seen Are mostly like In the audience perspective About divorce And romance and older age Which no one makes those movies Right Even before her No one made these movies But now you don't even have

[00:17:21] The younger version of these movies What do you What would Well like I'm saying like The Reese Weatherspoon romantic Comedies We're existing in the same Ecosystem as Nancy Meyers Like okay women over 60 Romantic comedies Right And now Those things only get Made on Netflix Yeah

[00:17:38] Or they're indie films That like barely squirre The thing about the Reese Weatherspoon is like They have some kind of plot hook That's more extreme They're always high concept They're always very high Or as Nancy Meyers is like No no no I want that high concept gone

[00:17:50] There will be no high concept Right like her Her concept is literally Just what brings the two Characters together And it's just two hours Of people talking to each other Yeah let's hang out And there'll be one Like sort of heightened set piece Such as Diane Keaton

[00:18:05] Getting caught naked And somebody's gotta give Or like Alec Baldwin Getting caught naked in this It's always someone's Getting caught naked Exactly An older person is caught naked The audience of the Cabel Hill Cinema Is suddenly shrieking Like you know Where they're like Oh my god My camp

[00:18:20] That's as far as she'll go Yeah But there's just these August romance movies Starring like movie stars Like they're real Like star driven movies They're kind of Tailor made to these personalities I'm always like Interested why these Big stars are like Yes I'll definitely do that

[00:18:40] Like why is Jack Nicholson And Meryl Streep What is I mean What do you guys Do you guys Think they read the script And they were like Yes or they're like This is I don't know how Nancy Meyers Got this I have a couple of theories

[00:18:54] I can read you Well one I think everyone's very Well paid These movies You're not taking a hit On your quote here But still like When people are so rich I mean like Well that's the larger question Why do they ever work They're so rich

[00:19:08] But particularly on like You know like Meryl Streep I think the real answer is Like especially like a Meryl Streep type Is like she writes a big Meaty role that you're going to get To dig into Even if like It's a light concept or

[00:19:23] Like it's a lighter movie In either way Their movie star roles Like they're leading Man leading lady roles For people who are older And probably don't get those parts Anymore Cause this is a movie that begins Here's what we know about Meryl Streep's character She's a chef

[00:19:36] And we know about Alec Baldwin's character Nothing He's a lawyer I guess We'd never see him do anything He's nutswanky The idea is that he's Alec Baldwin That's the whole idea Right they're sort of tailor made suits He gets the penthouse at the hotel For their graduation

[00:19:51] And that's like a blow to Meryl For Meryl Who has a beautiful house She has to sort of like Wait And will finally get her Her bigger kitchen Her kitchen A real kitchen It's currently the size of like You never even get to see the kitchen

[00:20:07] Well you see it Oh you mean like the new kitchen The new kitchen You don't get to see the new kitchen Yeah Because probably this movie Didn't have like the budget To build a kitchen The movie ends to build a kitchen A spectacular kitchen There's too much money

[00:20:18] The movie ends The kids are cost $200 million The movie ends on the first day Of building the kitchen Yeah in the ring I think Which I guess is maybe She was setting up a sequel Well I mean it's maybe symbolic Of like building a new relationship

[00:20:30] Yeah that's I mean For Nancy And we I'm sure we've talked about this But you know like She's got Final Cut in All Our Movies She's been in Hollywood For a zillion years So she knows everyone Like yeah I think she's regarded as a Pretty gentle quiet direct

[00:20:47] Like she doesn't yell Or boss people around She's Her on set demeanor is pretty Calm You want to Is that what you've heard? I hear And I don't say this in a negative way And it's the thing I will continue To talk about over the space

[00:21:00] I'm reading from a A Big New York Times article right now That's talking about this But that might be a little softball From people I know Who have worked with her And I speak mostly from the crew side I don't know if I've talked to any

[00:21:09] Actors who have worked with her She is kind of like The female David Fincher Okay Even if she's calm and demeanor So like again Again Super meticulous, super repetitive Super slow Which I think drives some people Crazy I heard Yeah Spill some tea No but this is

[00:21:28] Like literally I have no idea If this is true But I heard she has like More cones in her eyes than most people do And that she can see Shades of beige That no one else can see That is Incredible and I think it's true

[00:21:43] And that she's very particular About what beige is Yes Is on screen Well that's like a thing with her She's apparently just Super meticulous about Like all the sort of Nancy Meyers Access that everyone writes off Is very, very deliberate And like Like insanely vetted for her

[00:21:59] In terms of every sweater Every croissant Oh yeah You know Every like pan She's known for Her excessive micromanageal attention to detail Takes two movie Two years for her to make a movie Which is a long time Yeah Her shoots go way, way older Her shoots are long

[00:22:15] And then her post production I think is also Like pretty labor intensive But her budgets are very big And a lot of that Is that she always goes over She obsessed for two days Over my makeup in a scene Says Steve Martin She thought it looked too light

[00:22:28] You know, speaking to your Like where she's like Bring her wear a Terminator vision Of her swimming in Which are things when Like people share stories like that About David Fincher Or like Stanley Kubrick Or whoever People go like God look at what a true artist they are

[00:22:40] That's true And when she does this People roll their eyes And go like Why can't you just get on with it And I think it speaks to Like this genre Not being taken as seriously Right And also like Putting that level of attention To detail

[00:22:52] Not being taken as seriously Beige is really There's beige eraser going on Well, but you're talking about beige I mean that's Steve Martin Quo's kind of telling Because half the cast in this movie Is like really orange Yes This is a bronzed cast Alec Baldwin is

[00:23:05] Alec Baldwin is very He's bronze for sure A deep orange Yeah Or rich sort of like ochre Well, no, that's not Lake Bell too is pretty Yes And like, yeah Then Lake Bell is like Yeah I don't want to say anymore But Lake Bell is like

[00:23:18] She's the woman Who does not fit in the work That's true She's orange even With her son Pedro Yeah Dismissed from the movie too Yes Sumerily dismissed We don't see her leave it Disaudibly discharged What do you mean? We don't see her like Break up with Alec Baldwin

[00:23:34] Or anything like She doesn't get And I think partly because They want it to be mysterious Whether she dumped him Or he dumped her Oh yeah I don't know I also think them getting Into an argument is Something she doesn't Wanted to pick Like that's too much

[00:23:47] Negativity for Nancy Meyers To make coms clear She liked to see The All of the Like that scene where She like Bell watches them dancing And she knows Right That's enough Cause you don't want to see Them screaming or crying Or anything in between I guess

[00:24:02] But they have the like Crying Not with Lake Bell But the um The crying scene with the kids All three of them in the bed Sure Right But that's like That's her kind of scene Right Right Where everyone's gonna be Okay But no She says

[00:24:19] Like sniffling she's into She says in this article She's into Like Like they'll know like No Nancy She can't deal with it Really Like if it's too like Wrenching or dramatic Like she doesn't love That That's not her vibe Here am I

[00:24:33] My two things I want to throw in As to like why She's able to get big stars To do this Right First of all At some point She's established as a Track record Right Yeah she makes money Like this is a kind of film

[00:24:46] She takes care of movie stars She shows a different side But I also read So many interviews Like when you're movie stars Where they're like Yeah I guess my career's kind Of over And I'm like You're Robert De Niro You still make like Six movies a year

[00:24:58] What do you mean And he's just like I'm not number one On the call sheet anymore I never get to get The girl in movies Right And these people Who got used to At a younger age Being the sexy one The exciting one The plot driver

[00:25:11] The romantic lead Never get over When they lose that Right And she's one person Who still kind of Writes roles where That happens In the movie Where he's just the guy Torturing Adam Sandler Right And the bucket list Where it's just like An old man buddy comedy

[00:25:26] Uh huh And I think he's probably Like great I get to romance people again Right You know And for like Diane Keaton It's like I get to be like Sexy again Yeah But I also know that Like Alec Baldwin You can just imagine Was just like

[00:25:41] Oh a movie that presents me Is a sex object again Right And I don't have to Change my body Yeah but the thing is It's still Baldwin has to admit On screen that he is fat He says that word But that's like the Crazy magic trick

[00:25:55] And like that's what she's Getting out of him right He'll do that because She still presents him as a Sexual figure In a movie where he's a joke I don't think he would ever Let them make a fat joke About him But as long as he's Getting action

[00:26:06] You know Um the other thing is I believe Meryl Streep Has said in an interview That it's complicated Is the only movie where She was ever paid her quote Yeah Well Everyone gets paid Or at least the first one What makes a quote a quote if

[00:26:19] I agree with you If you don't get paid it I agree with you And she's like My agents have a quote that They throw out And for years and years And years I was obviously Like a well-regarded actress But not a box office draw Right

[00:26:30] And she would rarely Make films that might be You know She would make your serious Oscar movies rather than Your Your money And if she Made a broader movie Like River Wild Or What's your name Call it Death Becomes Her I think it was seen

[00:26:45] As so outside of her Like wheelhouse Right That they were like Well, we're not going to pay you As much as someone who is Proven in this genre I just saw Death Becomes Her Again It's so good It's really good It is so good

[00:26:58] It is so fucking good Also the effects on that movie Totally whole I agree It is stunning looking I love that movie Yes Well Anyway But she said I mean I think she was Paid like $20 million With this movie Because this is like The sort of pinnacle

[00:27:13] Of the Meryl Midlife comedies Yeah Where it's like She starts doing Like Devil Wears Prada Reinvents her as A comedy leading lady That's like her first big That's O6 Blockbuster hit Yes As just like Meryl Of the title She had made Prime in 05 Which is sort of

[00:27:30] An attempt at this Kind of a movie But that doesn't really Go anywhere But her joke She got saddled With the same kind of thing Catherine Hepburn Got saddled with But they were like She's box office poison And she's never box office Poisoned A typical movie star

[00:27:44] She always was prestige She was always a great actress Some from movies were hits But she never was Like an A-list audience draw And then Devil Wears Prada Transitions into Julie and Julia Both of those are That's this year Oh, Mamma Mia in between Yeah So it's

[00:27:58] Evening and Rendition in Lines for Lambs in 07 Where she's being more serious Again And everyone's like You know Clearly so She filmed before People knew Devil Wears Prada Mamma Mia Is 08 Huge This That's another Oscar Also, if you look at Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your thing

[00:28:16] Go ahead But Like you look at Meryl's IMDB There are so many movies Where she sings in them Yes She loves singing clearly She's a nice singer Oh, wow I said nice Not good Just sweet I didn't know I don't know It's a little like

[00:28:35] It's crazy how much she sings For someone who's not Great at singing How do you feel about Mamma Mia The first Mamma Mia Have you seen the second one? I have not seen the second one The first Mamma Mia In my opinion Is sort of like

[00:28:48] If you sat down It is a bad movie It's poorly made It's bad Like And it makes no sense And it literally does The same musical sequence twice Which has always driven me crazy When they're kicking on the dock Like they do it to Like what, another time?

[00:29:02] I recently had to Confess this to Longtime sister Ramly Newman Where that movie is like Her vision board is just This period of Meryl Streep comedy All her life inspo's Are just these Meryl Streep characters She either wants to live in Santa Barbara or Greece Right

[00:29:16] Run a hotel Or renovate a kitchen Like whatever it is And you had to be like Mamma Mia's kind of bad I had to admit to her This was a really tough conversation That I had never made it Through the original Mamma Mia

[00:29:26] Because I find that movie unbearable See, I don't My argument with Mamma Mia Is that Meryl kind of Saves it because when she shows She's so all over the top And silly She's just like Just don't worry about it Like this is silly Like we're having fun

[00:29:39] And you just sort of like Have to buy it I find her fun in that movie I think that movie is so Aesthetically garrulous It literally hurts me to watch it The sequel is way better made Agreed I'm sorry But go ahead Maybe I should see the sequel

[00:29:53] That's my argument That's what I was winding up The sequel is kind of You're saying because There's no reason for this To exist at all The story is complete I will say I'm curious What the story is Of the sequel It's crazy It's Godfather 2 Yes, it is

[00:30:08] Literally here's the child Taking over the narrative Right And then also Here's the rise to power Of how Meryl got the hotel That's actually a hot take Yeah That's a good take Yeah That's what it is It's Godfather 2 They literally pitched it as that That's not my take

[00:30:23] They pitched it as Godfather 2 Because the bit was They had asked Richard Curtis For years Can you come with a mom Me a sequel And he couldn't And his daughter Said you should do Godfather 2 You should do Young Meryl Rise to power Godfather 2 Taking over the family business

[00:30:39] It literally is They just ripped it off But so in 09 Yes, she's in Julien Julia Which is her Oscar nomination For the year Over this Right Fantastic Mr. Fox Which she's actually pretty great I think she's great In that And this She has a pretty hot 09 So yeah

[00:30:55] I mean to your point What's a quote If it is never actually met But I think it was Her agents would always say Like this is how Meryl How much Meryl gets And they would go We're not going to pair that Much And they go back to Meryl

[00:31:06] I don't want to do it anyway But also She just wasn't stubborn About meeting that And Nancy Meyers was the only person Who ever said Like yeah, I'll pay that However much it was 15 or 20 Probably 15 20 seems Just like Very few people get 20 Even at that point

[00:31:20] But I think even for serious actors It's like There is an ego stroke here And they know that the movie Is just about them Like there's no greater machinery There's no special effects There's no larger story Like Taylor making Trying to use their personas Give them their last

[00:31:38] Like golden age performance I love her earlier comedy period Like she devil Post crush from the edge Defending your life Death becomes your life I like that as well She's really And then she just Wasn't doing comedies for a while Well because if you look back

[00:31:52] And she does that 90s run Of all kind of oscarie dramas Like Marvin's ROOM The really weepy stuff One true thing Some of which are very good But they're really torrid Sort of emotional dramas If you look back at the reviews From that comedy period

[00:32:07] The 80s to 90s period All the general consensus Is well here it is Meryl can't do comedy We found the one thing she can't do Why does she keep making comedy She's good in those movies Death becomes her You look at the reviews And they're like Goldie

[00:32:21] Just runs circles around her It's so clear that Meryl can't do comedy People really had to hit you for a thing I was a movie fan for Meryl But they kept on Dinging her for all these Movies going like she devil We found the one thing

[00:32:30] That Meryl can't do She's not funny I think she's great in all those movies It is So I think she also Defending your life is amazing Defending your life rules Like run of... Defending your life is fucking jam It's incredible But it is It's a fucking jam

[00:32:42] It slaps That also pretty much is what I think happens when you die 100% nailed it Oh god that'd be so great Bruxy nailed it Yeah, throw myself off a bridge tomorrow That's how it happens All I want is when I die To have an intense conversation with RipTorn

[00:32:56] And to examine whether you Lived your life through love or fear Yeah, we're also movie people So that premise is great Where it's like, oh man They cut my life into a good real But this is her... She's fun This is her fun period

[00:33:13] And she's working with the twin titans Of female filmmaking Comedy Nora Ephron And Nancy Meyers in the same year Who she'd never worked with before She'd done heartburn But Nora didn't direct that Right, wrote that And it's a hell of a year for her

[00:33:30] And then she wins an Oscar two years later Her third Oscar She's so weird that that's Iron Lady Because almost all of these comedy performances Now hold up better than the Iron Lady 100% Yeah Alright, it's complicated It's complicated I mean there's the other thing we should talk about

[00:33:46] Which is You got two actors Who then go on to host the Oscars together Right after this movie comes out Baldwin and Steve Martin hosted the Oscars together And it's like a weird sort of nod to this movie Where they're like Yeah, like two months after

[00:34:02] They loved them and it's complicated So three months later But they announced it before the movie came out And I think they were selling the idea that These guys are going to be a great comedy duo But that's funny too because And they're just angry at each other

[00:34:15] And also Steve Martin's character is not comedic really At all I had forgotten how straight he is in this movie Yeah, like He's aggressively muted in this movie Whereas Baldwin is kind of very big He's going huge in this movie Yeah The whole thing is very odd

[00:34:35] Okay, so this movie It's complicated, aka entitled Nancy Meyers Comedy This was the first of the two Nancy Meyers movies That I auditioned for Oh wow I auditioned I think four times For the sun For Hunter Parrish's role No, this is a good story Wait, hold on

[00:34:51] Wait, before you tell me I need to think about the movie And I need to know who you auditioned for No, you're not going to be able to get it This is the twist of the story And when I met Jordan Firstman A friend writer on your series

[00:35:04] We bonded over the fact that we both had this same weird audition process For this movie There was a set piece that was supposed to be at the beginning of the film When they're setting up how lonely she is Where her like Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place

[00:35:16] Allie Wentworth That whole friend group also only appears twice in the movie And you feel like they're going to constantly be the home base You think they're going to be like Yeah, you think they're going to But what do the girls think about

[00:35:30] Because they set them up as like the sort of barometer There has to be like scenes on the Cunning Room 4 The first cut of this movie was probably six hours long Anyway there's that scene But they just kept the lease one more anyway Rita Wilson says like

[00:35:48] Do you want to go on a date with this match.com guy I didn't like I believe So would that have been you The premise was that she starts going on online dates She has a conversation with the guy they really bond

[00:36:00] She shows up and the guy's like 19 years old I think he's in high school And they wouldn't stop doing castings for this kid They couldn't find the kid And I went in twice Then they fired the casting director Hired a new casting director She brought me in

[00:36:17] I went in two times for that I know so many people who went in for it They finally after like six months Like they were like the film wasn't being shot Because like not just because of this character But she's so her casting process are so extended

[00:36:31] They'll just keep the production office open And go like we're pushing back another three weeks We got to find the kid And then they cast Darrell Sabara from Spy Kids Shot the sequence and cut it out Wow But it was like so much sort of hand wringing

[00:36:46] Overfinding this kid for this one like six minute scene That was funny It was like a funny It was more of a conventional comedy movie setup Where it's like here's an awkward date with a 17 year old That you can't relate to Who is now super uncomfortable and awkward

[00:37:01] But cut the whole thing out But I remember reading this And not having any sense of Because I know they It was like I think they're going out to like Steve Martin Baldwin It was like they could kind of toss up these guys

[00:37:16] And have either one play either character Playing into their comedic types Sure And then having one guy cast against type Right But I just remember reading the script going like When does something happen in this movie? Well what's interesting about this movie There's many things that are interesting

[00:37:36] Is that it kind of just starts with them They're divorced Like it does the joke where they're talking And you're like oh they're married And then you realize like oh no They've got the young woman And she's just got to put up with it

[00:37:48] At their Santa Barbara high society beach side Is that where they are? I kept being like is this Connecticut Or is this It's Santa Barbara But how come How come they go to New York for the college Yeah and the daughter drives two hours Well I guess she's

[00:38:07] Well she's in LA as my guess Right the daughter has moved to LA And Santa Barbara is like a two hour drive from LA Uh huh I guess so I went to Santa Barbara for a wedding That's the only time I've ever been to a wedding

[00:38:19] Well it's funny because I was like Is this Connecticut but it's a Spanish house Sure Like I was like The one place the Spaniard landed in Connecticut I'm like what's happening But you never see them being mad at each other No Marilyn Alec There's no tension Ever

[00:38:40] When they're getting to later in the movie And they start to fall apart again I kinda wish we knew that he was a jerk before Even though we're supposed to just get it Cause the kids say There's nothing to hold on to

[00:38:51] This is crazy because you used to not be able to be in the same room together Yeah and like Whereas in the movie when Baldwin's like let's just go for it And he's being really nice You're like I mean Yeah he's being nice He's rich

[00:39:03] It's also because this is the central premise of the film As much as it has a hook Who is gonna start watching the movie and fall for them being together Like fall for that misdirective You think they're a couple until Lake Bell enters

[00:39:16] If you know anything about the movie you know they're divorced The whole premise of the movie is she slept with out Baldwin Uh oh Like She's having an affair Like you know that's the poster Also I just want to point out that there's a part where Zoe Kazan

[00:39:33] Has a dig at Agnes By the way that name Agnes for a young 20 something Very strange choice Yeah it's like not right She's like yeah well at least Agnes is cooking now Like or something like Cess She's really obsessed with Agnes' like kitchen shit

[00:39:54] Yeah she's like Agnes can't cook God would she need to cook for you Zoe Kazan Cook cook your own meals Yeah I haven't seen you cook Yeah exactly what does Zoe Kazan do in fucking nothing Ignoring her mother Yes there is something interesting about how Nancy Meyers

[00:40:10] Sort of like weaponizes like the sort of housekeeping That can be reductive in terms of like how most female characters are portrayed Where it's like I am so on Lake Bell's side in this movie Cause she's got to compete with Nancy with Meryl Screep

[00:40:24] Who can just like cough out a chocolate croissant You know what I mean it has this like perfect home Where she's just bringing out like roast birds out of the fridge Like it's nothing you know Well also though I because of course when I

[00:40:38] Whenever I like watch it I wanted to know about Nancy Meyers life a little bit I didn't get too deep into it I just wanted our Wikipedia page which is a lot shorter than I would hope for it to be But Nancy's middle name is Jane Nancy Meyers

[00:40:51] Which is Jane Anders right Yeah Jane something Adler or Adler Yeah And so I found that interesting and Nancy is divorced Yes she broke up with her husband Charles Shire Who was her filmmaking partner for years and years On the set of the parent trap

[00:41:08] And it was extremely She references it with like great discomfort and sorrow Like it's like that it was so public And that was her first time directing a film on her own Before that she always wrote the films and he directed them

[00:41:23] And he was sort of more the public face of their collaborative relationship I remember reading this script knowing just that bare minimum And being like this has to be about her divorce right This has to be about her relationship She clearly slept with Charles Shire again

[00:41:38] And then just wrote the movie I kind of think so It's either that or that's her fantasy Yes It's because all her movies are such fantasy fulfillment Of like first of all can you own a bakery and have a house like that

[00:41:52] Can you be a playwright and have a house in the Hamptons Like that's from Something's Gotta Give Right Yeah no you're right But like all these things Where there's no questions of how do they pay the rent Yeah like it's just everything is perfect

[00:42:07] The like lead woman is a perfect woman But just can't like the men can't I don't know aren't quite appreciating her For how perfect she is and she's too like Yes She's too modest to pursue Right

[00:42:22] Which was I mean certainly a thing that used to drive me crazy about it Her movies was like the sense of like Oh these are like rules of the game without satire Like they're just about this upper class of like Portaisons who just have like trivial champagne problems

[00:42:34] And seemingly have infinite resources And live in their beautiful bubble Literally the women are the best at what they do Right And the men are successful without being very smart Without any real skills Yeah nothing they got nothing Right I mean there's so much interesting

[00:42:52] That is our country Like that's the thing when I watch this movie I'm like Are you trying to tell me like an Alec Baldwin like doesn't exist Like that's them Oh 100% I mean and she depicts these characters pretty accurately Correct this is a very honest movie I think

[00:43:08] The Baldwin stuff especially Yes Meryl she's there's a little rose tinting with her whole beautiful perfect life I do think it's interesting I mean they sort of say It's one of these things where they just like

[00:43:20] They're like a reference to the past that was messier than what we have on this movie But that when they were together she was in catering And it sounds like her career was a little more bootstrappy Oh that's the backstory I missed that

[00:43:32] It's like one line it's literally like three lines offhand Where they're talking about why their marriage fell apart Right And he's like you were never present You were always like freaking out about the next catering gig And so I wonder if this sort of like

[00:43:45] Her starting her weird like mini West Coast Dean and DeLuca empire That she's going to have now Right Because her place is like half like It seems like it's just one bakery Right Anyway it's going

[00:43:56] But it seems very successful and it's like made out of marble you know It's like a coliseum of like pastries It's insane But it seems like she's become more successful now Right She's doing great Right and it's like was she catering off of this company or my

[00:44:13] My inference I got Of the divorce Right was after the divorce she became more sort of ambitious Right You know she's getting a check from Alec She probably used that money to buy her own place You know start her own business rather than just being a party caterer

[00:44:26] And it's fine I mean everyone's rich enough here Right But why when she was married could she not He not I don't know and also now when the movie starts Her business is kind of on autopilot like all you ever see is her just walking

[00:44:37] And go like croissants looking good She never fucking goes to work Never One time yeah she's like can you check on table five I'm like why what's happening on table five Nothing's happening I promise She just walks

[00:44:48] She does have an apron on and she's of course forgotten her appointment with Steve Martin again She's so forgetful The only time they show her at work is when she has to realize that she needs to leave work to go see Steve

[00:45:01] This is also one of those movies made in that like three year window of the utter domination of the blackberry Like before everyone has iPhones Everyone's glued to their fucking blackberry She tells Zoe cause they had to stop looking at her blackberry so much Yes

[00:45:15] Also there's a line where John Krasinski whose name is Harley Uh-huh Which I think is funny It's true Harls Harls She tries that out at one point She tries Harls Krasinski in my opinion secret star of the movie best performance of the movie

[00:45:29] Well yeah he I mean also that was peak like was the office just ending He can just make a face and it's great Yeah But he like he has to say what does he have to say I wrote it down This is the period where I think

[00:45:46] It's not that exciting This is the period where I think I'm so excited They were explicitly Right they're explicitly grooming John Krasinski to try to be the next like romantic comedy Tom Hanks Oh right it's the Zoe Kazan is like well you help me

[00:45:59] It's also like unclear what their relationship is until and you're like oh okay He's not a brother but he's like It takes a while to define Part of the family kind of they're all very on the same page

[00:46:09] And she's like can you help me with my boxes into the car or whatever And he's like you know it and She calls him a gangster I believe Yes yes yes yes And he goes you know it

[00:46:21] And he's trying so hard to find a way to make that authentic to himself That he's just like I'm like you're doing a good job He's doing a lot of work in this movie And it feels like He is excellent in this movie

[00:46:33] That was the pipeline they were trying to put him on Was like he's gonna graduate to being the romantic lead of a Nancy Meyers movie someday He's too young to be one of her protagonists But this is him working out in this genre

[00:46:42] Like a year or two after this he does something borrowed Something borrowed which is I guess the closest he has to a major rom-com play But he's not the romantic lead in that And the premise is that No but you think kind of the secret Merantically like

[00:46:56] Something borrowed is Jennifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson And some other fucking guy Colin Egglesfield Yes that's exactly who it is But it was based on a trilogy of books And each of the books has a different characters perspective It's like what Jennifer Goodwin steals Kate Hudson's boyfriend

[00:47:15] Starts having an affair with him They're engaged And Kate Hudson's been the alpha in their relationship the whole time She's been the nerdy best friend Right Oh I want to see this And John Krasinski is Some people really love this movie

[00:47:26] Richard Lawson is often argued that this is like one of the most underrated movies of the century And that Kate Hudson should have gotten an Oscar nomination Which I kind of think is correct Oh my god It's a pretty interesting movie

[00:47:36] But Kate Hudson plays like the clear villainess of the film And John Krasinski is their snarky best friend Who does the commentary on like Oh so you're saying this is gonna this now But then the setup is They signed him to a three picture deal

[00:47:51] Like it was a big deal when they announced him in this Because it was like he would be the co-lead of the second one Because the second one is him ending up with Kate Hudson And both of them are sort of supporting Like he's supporting comic relief

[00:48:02] She's supporting villain role And then they were gonna be the romantic leads in the next one And it didn't happen They were gonna do something blue is that like Correct It's something borrowed, something blue And then something new or whatever Something new is a movie

[00:48:17] I know that's what it was I don't know Well this year he was also in Away We Go Where he another movie where you're just I was very irritated at the wealth on display Because the end of the movie is when they realized

[00:48:30] Have you seen Away We Go? No Oh yes, yes With My Rudolph The whole movie is like They're like where should we live Like oh my god And they go all over the world And then at the end she's like

[00:48:39] You know my family owns a home that is empty That we could live in And they're like that's where we'll live I know I know That's what we call a first draft idea Oh my god Why would you go on the trip before thinking of that house

[00:48:51] That unoccupied house And there's this metaphor where it's like She's accepting that her dad is dead Or whatever you know what I mean But like At that point I'm so furious with them Like that they haven't revealed It's so ridiculous That's another interesting thing about this movie

[00:49:07] Is that this comes out the year after The financial crisis Like the complete Well I guess that's maybe why the knives were out for Nancy On this one a little bit Yes Because it just felt like How dare you you're dancing on our graves You know Oh boy

[00:49:22] Yeah but to go also back to the ending of It's complicated And it's raining on the first day Of their building a house Of her remorse And you know before it was like Oh this is proud The whole like You don't get to see the kitchen

[00:49:35] Because it's probably a real like Metaphor for starting a new whatever And it's raining because It didn't start out And he's like you know they say that That's good luck So Yeah the actual Mess the crazy mess they were Also nothing She never like Wins him over

[00:49:55] Like he's just like upset That whatever he She had this relationship with him And then he goes away And then he just ends up showing up For the first day of Building the kitchen Yeah it's like he has like He never was like He never was like

[00:50:07] She had a nice conversation Without Baldwin Yeah yeah she never was like Hey listen He just shows up And he's like Oh I'm over it Right the hinge Like or whatever the final thing In the movie is like Is he gonna show up

[00:50:18] Or will he pass it off to his partner At the firm Right cause she walks out Thinks oh he isn't here And then he appears from The wreck But that's what they don't like Really like set that up enough To be like No Is he coming or not

[00:50:32] Like it's not like the Will he be there on the Brooklyn bridge moment It's the But they walk off Like it's fucking Casablanca And he's like You know what I would really go for Is a chocolate croissant Right And everyone else is still Staying around that table

[00:50:44] Being like What are we supposed to do He didn't give us directions This is we're on the clock It's fucking raining It's fucking raining We're in a tent We're in a tarp Raining in Santa Barbara Santa Brains in Santa Barbara The cleansing rain to come

[00:50:56] To finally reboot her life The rain is like There's so much sunshine With the rain That's fine Well because Nancy Meyers can Never have a dark scene It always has to be light Even when it's evening This film was mostly shot in New York Where I think she

[00:51:11] Shots all our movies Except for like The exteriors they'd like Dane to go to California She does a lot of Upstate New York stuff And so let's say Yeah so what The premise Yeah we know the fucking premise She's divorced They have the three beautiful Aryan children Yeah

[00:51:28] Hunter Parrish Is like the final insult Where you're like Okay so And Katelyn Fitzgerald And then he shows up And you're like him too God They're the blondest fucking kids And it's weird because Merrill is blonde But you don't think of her Being blonde in that way

[00:51:41] No yeah You don't think of her as Like a A blonde lady Right and as you said It is fair hair Insane bullshit That there is no bald one In those kids now One of these kids should be Kind of hairy Like you know Big bone

[00:51:56] You want a bear Of the family Even young Baldwin is A hairy guy Yeah Like that's part of his He was sort of a masculine You know Sex symbol And he was always like thick Like daddy was thick Even before he got Barish You know Daddy was thick

[00:52:11] I don't know Daddy Baldwin I'm thinking of young Baldwin And he wasn't He was never fat He was like He was very muscular Yes But he had like He had like a big bones I would say He used to be very trim But if you look at like

[00:52:25] Shirtless like Knots landing photos Or what have you Look there are two things Everyone knows about Thinking of Alec Baldwin What One is that daddy's thick Two is that he's got A famously chill temperament You might not know this So I'll just like He's also been on

[00:52:42] Saturday night live This is what you did to me yesterday What he hosted like once More than once I think I'm not sure I will never get over the fact That he has By the time this episode comes out Maybe won two Emmys

[00:52:57] As supporting actor for a TV show He's ostensibly not That's the thing Because when you Yeah, this movie is like The peak of his Comeback career Where first he's like He gets the Oscar nomination Of the cooler Like you're like Oh, Alec Baldwin's funny And he's fat now

[00:53:12] Right And then he does 30 rock And everyone loves 30 rock And yeah, he wins Wins Emmys and sags And golden clothes Wins all the things And yeah, he Well, he won an Emmy this year Yeah, oh no Yeah, great I'm so sorry Can I use the bathroom? Yes, yes

[00:53:28] We'll just talk about Alec Baldwin For like five more minutes You're gonna forget the door All right, all right Hold your horses Oh my god What is it this time? David That thing floating around us It looks familiar But slimmer Oh my god It's slimer on a diet

[00:53:52] He's putting on a little chef hat I hate this Go on, go on please Yes, what's he doing? Oh my god, he's taking out his meal It's like slimer has become Some sort of green chef He looks healthier He looks more wholesome High quality

[00:54:10] How does your brain work? I just see what's happening around me And I observe and report David It's almost like slimer's Been sustainably sourced Yeah, it's like Now like a slim hot Like slimer is daddy now Well, it's funny that slimer showed up

[00:54:27] Because this week our sponsor is Green Chef I'm much like slimer A green chef is sponsoring our show The USDA certified organic company That gives you everything you need To cook delicious meals you can feel good about He looks like he's feeling great

[00:54:40] He's having an awesome party time He's wagging his tongue about Well, much like slimer Do you think he uses onion? He is the onion head ghost, isn't he? I'm looking at him right now Chop it up liberally though Not liberally judiciously, I would say

[00:54:57] Well, how does that green chef work? They got recipes that are quick and easy Step-by-step instructions, chef tips, photos Easy little read out card There's a wide variety of organic ingredients And imaginative new recipes Slimer like that Robin is slimy belly

[00:55:15] Well, it's not really a belly anymore though He's slimy abs He's got some abs Everything's handpicked It's delivered right to your door Everything's pre-measured and prepped So it's really literally like You don't even have to chop an onion at half the time

[00:55:28] Like it's just a bag with chopped onions in it And it's like super fresh I cooked some cumin spice steak With cheesy potatoes Slimer salivating I went for the gluten free menu My girlfriend, Kenny Gluten So it was very like you can pick various things like that

[00:55:47] Slimer is telling me right now Keto Right, you can go vegan or vegetarian You can go keto, gluten free, omnivore, carnivore Like you pick one of the menu types And then they will send you stuff So the chefs design these great recipes

[00:56:05] They send all the ingredients to you And they send you all this USDA certified organic food And it's really easy to use Yeah, I mean look at him I've never seen him this relaxed in his life Yeah, relax, that's how he feels

[00:56:27] So Green Chef, I had a great time with it I mean, Slimer seems to be having a ball And blind check, listeners For $50 off your first box of Green Chef Wait, Slimer focus up, this might be relevant to you For $50 off your first box of Green Chef

[00:56:43] You can go to greenchef.us slash check That's right, for $50 off your first box You can go to greenchef.us slash check Slimer is reaching out to the back Oh, he's pulling out a checkbook And he's writing a check to you Dave, no, he didn't get it

[00:56:59] The promo code is check Promo code is check, Slimer Greenchef.us slash check You can get $50 off your first box of Green Chef It is really convenient and easy And extremely delicious Well thank you for visiting us Slimer I will say he looks much better

[00:57:14] I think he's in good spirits No pun intended Ben, I think maybe we should get some wipes though Because he left quite a mess in here You know what I'm saying? I got slimed The Slimer Going around here Alright, fine When I'm watching this movie

[00:57:36] Perhaps this is unfair to Bulbom, but this is why I brought up Saturday Night Live I can't not think about Tony Curtis Like, I mean, not Tony Curtis Tony Bennett, his Tony Bennett impression Oh, oh, that makes more sense I was trying to track

[00:57:49] No, I get like when he's doing like fun Ben, go help her When he's doing like fun Alec Baldwin in this movie where he's like Let's dance I'm just like almost immediately I'm like he's just like an inch away from Tony Bennett This feels very weird now

[00:58:05] Us talking without Ben here In the room Let's just talk And our guest What do you think of my great point? Yeah, it's a good point. What's new with you? Well, I'm going to Toronto Soon, I mean not to give away

[00:58:19] When we're recording this, but you know, we're sort of giving it away anyway Yeah, we're getting things in order It's our violence guy TV show to make, which I've told her no one should do But she doesn't listen to me Is it New Season of Search Party?

[00:58:29] Is that what she's down? New Season of Search Party, she's usually LA based Cool But that shoots here, right? Yes, it does, yeah It's a New York show A week away from filming Well, one could say that New York is sort of the Sixth friend on Search Party

[00:58:42] What's up with you? How's your back? It's okay I found something out Which Ben might have to cut this out when he comes back in Because it's kind of, not only is it too hot at take But it also, I might be persecuted I might be attacked

[00:58:58] The government might come out to get me I found out that the healthcare system in America is bad Breaking news Breaking back I was trying to go through workers comp Because as we all know, I injured myself doing dialogue And it wasn't on the job accident Yes

[00:59:19] And it's almost like they don't want you to get treatment Are you kidding me? What? It's almost like they make There's like hoops and paperwork And progress solar brinthian that they expect That you will just give up And that way they don't have to treat you

[00:59:33] What the fuck Yeah I can't believe this Yeah, it's bad news I'm feeling better now though I mean, I finally saw someone good And then my pain subsided a bunch And it's clear how much Physical therapy or what would you do? I haven't even started that yet

[00:59:50] I'm about to start this week The idea that you're on the right track Might be just helping your lungs I think the stress of being stagnant And not making any progress Made my pain so much worse Backs are fucking weird Are fucking strange

[01:00:04] And I think they're so connected to nerves and anxiety And all these things that I don't have under control that well We've been talking about my back And now your back Hey Hello Yeah, so I'm feeling I mean, look at my relaxed posture here

[01:00:21] I wasn't able to do this a couple weeks ago Griffin's really had some back stuff going on I've had some back stuff going on I had heard about it That's when we ran into each other And then I went, wait a second He gotta be on the front

[01:00:31] Wait a second, this is getting complicated This is getting complicated Wait a second Alright, so they have their Aryan children And she's getting her kitchen redone Is that weird awkward early scene where the joke is that she won't acknowledge Steve Martin? Yes, and that happens

[01:00:45] Yeah, Steve Martin's interest is very early on He's playing the most milk toast man imaginable Crediting the other guy Okay, so here's my hot take I think he's really fucking good in this movie Interesting He's Mike Krasinski of this film I think this is a great performance Interesting

[01:00:58] And I didn't think so when I saw it originally I admit I'm in the bag for Steve Martin You are He's like as much a comedy idol as anyone who has ever lived And as we talked about in our Billy Lynn episode

[01:01:11] I'm like always so pulling for him to do something different To show a different side of himself Sure And I remember seeing this and being like He's kind of like, you know, it's so weird Yeah, he's showing a boring side of himself

[01:01:22] But I think this is like a pretty like Sort of a specific performance He's kind of charming He's obviously turning off all the usual Steve Martin stuff But I think there is a real kind of sad character there That feels very zoned in Zoned in Well, I...

[01:01:41] He is certainly sad Yes, this is true I agree You know, the thing is that Gosh, I'm Ripping the threads if you want to I'm feeling a lot right now Well, no, I don't think he does a bad job But his like character is a little

[01:02:03] Milk toast as you said Yes And I'm kind of not like I want him to be together Like he's not... Sure You know what? Can I... Here's Ben We're not even wanted What? Just needed a little banjo A little banjo You want like that one twist, you know

[01:02:21] He's like a normal guy But then he's got the one weird thing But also there's... It's like he's too easy to He's too easy to get He's a doormat He's just... He's a doormat It's true There's no game with Steve Martin If you want to date him

[01:02:34] Then you can date him Like I don't think he even realizes How special she is He's just like a woman Who's nice Yes I would argue that that is The problem with Steve Martin But again, if I'm talking about the radical Honesty of it's complicated

[01:02:50] That's probably as good as she's going to get Right Just kind of a boring guy Like... Yeah Because the movie is basically like And that's interesting Do you want the guy who You can have this sort of like fun sex With he's got the long connection with

[01:03:03] But it's kind of a raging river You know, like, you know And he's kind of an asshole Highs and lows You know he's an asshole Yeah But it's like they don't connect Like... Her and Steve Yeah Well they get high together That's kind of like it And yeah

[01:03:17] And that's like That's not going to last a marriage No, I mean Maybe he'll just get constantly stoned Constantly get stoned It definitely feels like A relationship of convenience I mean, I've had relationships like that And they've worked out for a period of time Yeah, but

[01:03:31] Thank you, man You need more than that You need to grow Okay, okay, that makes work You need to grow You're just talking about Relationship and convenience You need to learn from the other person Well I'll say that So like Already invoked Romley is obsessed with these movies

[01:03:45] And the joke in our family Is that like the way a lot of Like teenage girls like she is Or now she's 20 A fantasize about like The Channing Tatum Or whoever Like riding up and whisk them off her feet Right, she fantasizes about Steve Martin

[01:03:59] Her fantasies have always Just been like post-divorce You have your own independent life You remake your kitchen And then you meet like a man Who's just kind of nice Honestly though Like that's my dream now I want to post-divorce me But there's something just about like

[01:04:14] But like this guy is like There's nothing that he's bringing To the table I guess security He's a considerate architect He's like He's a secure I'll say Yeah, no, I mean You're right, you kind of just did The whole thing

[01:04:29] I don't know if this is intentional or not But I'm just saying like this fits into Maybe not physically Steve Martin Right But like Greg Keneer playing this character Would be her ultimate movie hump Because it's just like This is a guy who's not that interesting

[01:04:42] But he likes her She's clearly the power player In the relationship And he's just kind of sweet And he wears good sweaters Like that's all she wants I guess it's that like The sweater scene's kind of cute Because this movie is all, I guess Ooh

[01:04:55] Yeah, you're just not You're not here for it He's an equate on it And you don't want it I think that in order to play this role Like Steve Martin is suppressing who he is So I'm not feeling like Who this person is He's just like Sure

[01:05:10] I'm just a guy A nice guy And I'm not ever going to have any conflicts Because I'm just good That's why the pot smoking scene I think is kind of smart Even though I am not super excited By the idea of seeing another Oh, old people are stone-seeing

[01:05:23] And they also just don't touch on That's a good scene though Like They don't touch on the Like, okay But do you want this man who's hurt you before Or do you want this man who's a good They don't really They kind of raise it

[01:05:36] Yeah, they just kind of They sort of get there They don't like delve into the Interesting things about that Right And that's part of my complaint Of where we're not seeing their Like more, their highs and lows Of the earlier years Yeah They're settled when the movie began

[01:05:52] And this movie is like Fantasy fulfillment Or wish fulfillment With But like, it's all more about Like kind of the revenge on the ex-husband It's not about the new love And that kind of bums me out Whereas like What something's got to give It's like the fantasy fulfillment

[01:06:10] Is like changing the guy Who like can't be changed Yes You do wish there was a scene Where he like Showed a good quality through action Like through his big behavior Like because of the thing where You think I'm serrated Right But like all their conversations

[01:06:24] Are just about how much he likes her Or how sad he is over his divorce It's like it could use a scene in which he You need him to surprise her With a radical honesty in some kind of way Yeah, but he never surprises her She's just like

[01:06:38] I just today decided to have A nice date with you He's very stable Well that scene actually drives me crazy Not see Martin's fine But it's just that scene where he's like Do you want to go to this Premier French film festival with me No, I'm busy

[01:06:51] And he like sadly hands off the ticket Ask her before you buy the ticket Yeah Why did you buy the ticket The tickets he puns off to like The woman in the office Are like big like ticket master tickets You go pick them up too

[01:07:06] And you lose her Do you know that's so many romantic Anything to do So many romantic comedies Circle around You know there's a blank film festival happening In town if you want to catch these Weird revival film festivals that are always Like do you like spaghetti western

[01:07:22] Spaghetti western film So many movies have Like kung fu films That's Santa Barbara Yeah they also never want to have to Sight a specific movie They want to like be like They like the same genre French movies Yes, oh my favorite genre Films from that country

[01:07:37] I thought of you because of croissants Right Right Yeah but it's like These big expensive like twenty five Dollar gala film festival Now we're making it so he's got like An abnick man check And he hands over to his assistant Or whoever she is That's true

[01:07:52] It's also like those tickets are pretty low Steak it's not like Yeah it's fine They cost twenty five dollars Right and also They've got plenty of money The woman at the office doesn't like Like ask what day it's at Yeah he's just like You want these

[01:08:06] Do you want to go to a French film festival Reserves seating Right VIP we're in the opera box Jesus Christ Just like I don't think there's anything wrong With maryl being like I'm busy like I know Give me a little more time

[01:08:20] You're like a mince over in fury Here's my Steve Martin take a while Yeah I think You like him in this movie Right and as I said Biased in the bag what have you Rootin' for him But hey I think the pot scene is smart

[01:08:32] Because it gives them a communicative Device to allow him to be seventy Steve Martin for like ten minutes Right Because once he's stoned He starts doing a lot more of the Steve Martin body language And all of that Which doesn't make him more endearing

[01:08:44] But makes for a more entertaining watch Right I definitely think this is one of those movies He's not written in any interesting way His defined characteristic is that He's not Alec Baldwin Yes But they don't give him enough positive qualities Aside from him just not being shitty Right

[01:08:59] Which when I first saw this disappointed me a lot That it just felt like And even reading the script I was like there's just not a character here Yeah And it feels like you're not letting him do anything And there is that thing with actors

[01:09:10] Who are so primarily comedic When they do quote unquote more serious roles And obviously this isn't a Not a comedy but it's Playing against most of his like go-tos Well this is a comedy I'm saying it is a comedy It's not like he's doing like

[01:09:23] You know fucking Hamlet He's not doing Shot Girl Right Which is other like I'm sort of a sad man Which is specifically about his marriage But I think often the thing That goes wrong with certain comedians Playing more serious Or against their usual comedic types

[01:09:40] Is they just take away the thing that makes them Interesting and don't replace it with anything else And the first time I watched it I thought he was kind of boring Because it's just like Well you're just not letting him be Steve Martin

[01:09:49] And now I feel very keyed into His sort of wounded Like I'm trying my best not to cry every day Yeah, that's right That's his character is that He's so bottled up that right He just sort of seems like he's about to burst into tears

[01:10:04] But then he never really does They kind of plant that C but then There's the one line where he's Ex-wife to show up Something like that There's the one line reading Sort of glassy-eyed and it kind of touched me Where he says like, you know

[01:10:19] I'm not as macho as I seem Which I just think is kind of a sweet line Because he has never come across as macho But he just makes clear to her like As boring as I seem As go with the flow as I seem

[01:10:32] I'm a very very sad emotionally delicate person Like this has hurt me The concept of his character is almost like He's like I'm a real delicate flower And I don't get involved with someone Unless I'm really sure my feelings aren't going to hurt

[01:10:45] Because like that moment when he's trying On the things for her on the webcam He's opening up for her That's also my issue with his I guess his character not Steve Martin himself But it's just like nah nah nah Like romance is about taking risks

[01:10:59] So you gotta like He's very like no no no And like oh I saw a Baldwin stick I'm out The self-worth part of it But he doesn't have self-worth either It's masked and it's more from fear It's fear He's afraid of having his heart broken again

[01:11:16] But that is like Nancy Meyers movies Don't end with someone getting like An exciting fairy tale ending They end with like and now complacency I also like You've achieved normality I also like hate scenes Those scenes in movies where like the big conflict Where it's like oh no

[01:11:34] It all fell apart because Like the truth is in the air Like in that I hate when in movies when The line is exposed I don't hate the lie being exposed Everyone's upset Yeah because it's like well now Just get on the same page and it's fine

[01:11:52] The whole thing was like he came in She didn't know he was coming Two conversations are all that's required One with the other problem is like Sorry this is actually over And one with Steve Martin was like He didn't get that it's over

[01:12:06] This happens in a lot of movies There's like the other group that's just upset Just to be upset and in this case it's the family It's our fucking kids It's our kids who are just all crying in the bed They're all crying and I'd be like

[01:12:18] Who paid for your private college education And they're like what are you upset about And they're like we're still not over the divorce Now we're more confused I'm sending you all to Siberia You monsters What grown siblings decide Like look we're all feeling the same pain

[01:12:34] Oh my god The TV is not even on When they go in When there's siblings Of male and female siblings Cuddling I'm like no It doesn't happen maybe in France Cause here's like It's so complicated Here's like a key difference If Meryl opens the door

[01:12:58] And it's the three of them lying On top of the covers In the plane of Ben and Jerry's Watching TV You're playing with imagery there There's three of them Under the covers in silence Canoodling And sobbing In a full bed Three kids And they're just sobbing

[01:13:22] Looking straight ahead I'm also like I'm very curious to watch Nancy Nair's direct Like that How are the actors preparing To just sob And then And then also the scenes Where everyone's laughing at nothing There's that early dinner At the graduation dinner Where they're at the restaurant

[01:13:48] Where we're constantly Cut to someone laughing Jon Krzyski is laughing Kaylin Fitzgerald is laughing Meryl Streep is like I take her to be a director Who if you were like Hey Nancy, so I was thinking over it I feel like maybe I wouldn't be laughing in this scene

[01:14:06] She'd be like, no, if you look in the script It says Jon Krzyski laughs hysterically Like something like them being like Hey us being under the covers feels kind of weird And she's like, no that's the image That's the shot I want Also Jon Krzyski and Kaylin Fitzgerald's

[01:14:22] Relationship is so Dull also Actively escaping whatever Interesting like problems might have led To her parents divorce She's like, I want the most boring person imaginable And I will be, I will meet him with Boringness Like there will be a union of boringness There's a scene where there's

[01:14:42] This is right before Jon Krzyski gets to do his stuff Which is when he's Because the first half of the movie you're like What's he doing here? He's got nothing He's not even in the family And then we see why And he's witnessing but right before that

[01:14:56] She's like, oh I talked to my brother and he's so excited About the party that we're gonna have And he's like, oh really? That's great Yeah, he's just like an introduction guy A reaction shot laughter You're like, oh cool And then like whenever they're at

[01:15:12] And then the camera turns off and they go They're just like a total amount of shots And then like whenever they're at parties And their parents come through they're like Oh my god, you came Like my best friend, my mom Is here And like they go

[01:15:28] And have whatever Just the Glass of white wine, yes All together I will say I just finished Watching Secession Which will be old news by the time this comes out Is it good? I need to watch it

[01:15:42] Yeah, I think it sort of falls apart in the last couple of episodes But it's a fun watch When you realize it's a comedy I was so against watching it because the ads all made it seem like It was a very torrid, like power struggle drama

[01:15:52] It's an Adam and the K thing But they're very similar in how There are these like fucked up families With these weird power dynamics between them Who are too close and too distant And there are characters There are two characters On Secession who remind me a lot of

[01:16:08] Krasinski in this where they're the outliers The people who have married in or the distant cousins Who keep on observing the power struggles And holding the secrets from everyone else So that's why Krasinski rules in this movie He's playing a character first

[01:16:20] Like I guess he's just a nice boring husband Then you realize like no, he came into this thinking Like okay, Linford and Cheryl, she's very pretty She's very together And then right it's dawning on him Like oh they're awful or insane They're insane

[01:16:34] This is terrible that I'm witnessing all this And he just has to like absorb Every blow into his body and like internalize it Oh my god The amount of say it's like a Position I'm in Such a tough position But also I just

[01:16:50] The way that the kids respond to their Parents like Is just so not Like the tears, what would happen With anyone I know would be like Oh, you just tell everyone You'd be like oh my god My parents are fucking again Even if you didn't find it funny

[01:17:08] The next most logical reaction is just like This is so fucking weird Breakdown crying and she's like You're crying, they're like we still haven't gotten Over the divorce, this is so confusing This overlaps with my other grief Yes I still have six years left for us

[01:17:24] Everything else goes great for me Which is also a reason why it would help If in this movie you saw one scene of them Fighting before they see it Alright so the plot of the movie Is that they, Hunter Parrish Graduates from college and

[01:17:38] Merrill and Alec get drunk and they fuck And then Merrill barfs And it's a moment of vulnerability So when they return, they fuck more They keep having this affair And there's this one great scene very early on That really feels like why Nancy Meyers

[01:17:52] Is like sort of like Sands out where she's like Don't look at me when I'm standing up Where you're kind of like wow That just wouldn't be in any movie Like no one would sort of think to write that

[01:18:04] And he goes like I've already seen everything and she goes Things look different when you're lying to him That's the line that I think is pretty great Cutting line This is what I came here for Now this is not my favorite Nancy Meyers

[01:18:16] And a lot of the other stuff you're kind of like There's just nothing, give me something to grab on to But there are those scenes where you're into it And then Merrill is just kind of like Merrill so you can kind of just grab on to her

[01:18:26] Right and I think This was so peak like America's Love Affair with Alec Baldwin now Like re-owning himself as the parody version Of himself But I just find he's way too big in this movie He is enjoyable I think he's being asked to be really big

[01:18:42] Not his fault necessarily But you just go like they're banking so hard On the idea that everyone loves Alec Baldwin As an asshole now Like oh man this fucking cab That's the crucial part where they're like wouldn't you You just succumbed to this when you're like

[01:18:56] Nope I don't think that I would And like Nicholson I get it And maybe not everyone but like I'm like Yeah no I get that Baldwin is just such a fucking moron In this movie too Like every way he seduces her

[01:19:10] She's just like okay first of all I want you to know That what you're doing is dumb Secondly I'm gonna sleep with you in spite of that Not because of that And he's got like Belle And this kid Pedro Who I guess is a nightmare

[01:19:24] But I mean just kind of seems like a 5 year old It's like Belle's kid from a previous relationship Right cause she also cheated on Her relationship Yeah I think like the moral of this That Nancy Meyers lesson that you're supposed to learn is Like don't marry your mistress

[01:19:38] You know you're like yeah right Cause there's that scene at the beginning Where at the party after they You realize the audience is completely Bamboozled by the crazy revolution That Alec Baldwin and Meryl Shreep Are no longer married Where then she's talking to Bruce Altman and Nora Dunn

[01:19:56] Insanely over qualified actors To stand there and laugh Like build in the opening credits And then they didn't see Meyers thing It's like Woody Allen where it's just like Oh I guess everyone in this movie is famous I also guarantee you she spent 4 months

[01:20:10] Trying to find the people to play those roles Which like her grip could have played The Bruce Altman part It's the same thing with the book club though Rita Wilson and Mary Kate Plays and all those people Just insanely over qualified actors It's a fascinating little

[01:20:24] Like ecosystem cause after that It's like they just don't have friends anymore No They're like to anyone outside of their family But then the book club disappears She tells them they're fucking out When Rita Wilson does what I can only describe As a rain dance

[01:20:40] And Mary Kate Plays quietly is like This isn't good he's married And everyone's like shut up In a more high concept movie This would become like the first wives club It's not even a book club They're just like drinking butters They're wine club

[01:20:56] But in the more high concept version of this film It's like it's gonna become like a revenge movie Where it's like ha ha we get it back Look at us and it's just like an angle Of like she finds a little like perverse satisfaction In the back

[01:21:08] That she's now the other woman It is funny the scene where she tells the doctor She wants more sperm That's probably my favorite Wait what did I miss that Where he's like if you take flow max Like you know you get less

[01:21:22] Seem and he's like right my wife would be mad at me Which is a missy And Mary's your wife and she looks at her And she's like yeah I like a lot of semen I think she says can't get enough of it I must have

[01:21:36] I don't know been looking up Nancy Meyers It's pretty easy to zone out Or I don't mean like I do but I am sad I missed that It's a good one And then on and on it goes she's sleeping with Baldwin Steve Martin stands there nicely

[01:21:50] Waiting for the movie to end Right sometimes it's like not romantic Sometimes they're going on full on dates Sure And then the movie ends and then there's half an hour more movie Right which is mostly her like talking to her kids And Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin

[01:22:04] She has to have a conversation with Alec Baldwin On her porch swing She has to have a conversation with Steve Martin In his department or whatever I really am feeling the lack of The girlfriend circle again Because I'm like this is where the real Discussions come

[01:22:20] Yes the court and this is Where you actually say what you're really Feeling about each person And And also like that first scene I a little bit annoyed me because Rita Wilson is like you gotta get out there And date Where I'm like all of these women

[01:22:38] Would be like and also one of them Her husband is dead I guess All of them would be like doesn't it suck To be an older woman An older single woman but they're just like All surrounding mirror Jaina closes up I know It literally closes up

[01:22:56] And Mary Kay Place the only rational one It's like it weren't ever closed It was never closed You idiots Closed when you were a child What are you talking about Only true loves curse and open And then I'm like I guess

[01:23:14] The rest of them all have very active Good dating lives We don't see Other than they're just like We're dating and it's great And you've just got a date and also That whole thing That trope of the friends All solving one friend's problem

[01:23:32] This is the thing I find fascinating about the Nancy Meyers movies Is like if you Actually try To work out the logic Of anything It is maddening Either just have to let your defenses down Give into it

[01:23:48] In which case the movie just casts a fucking spell over you It's the Xanax argument With these movies where you're eventually You just pop the pill and then suddenly You feel very relaxed And the movie just embraces you Lord of the Rings This world has its own rules

[01:24:04] People don't resemble human beings My argument with it's complicated is that These are human beings and they live among us And Nancy is showing them to us That is my big argument with this movie That's not Wake up buddy This is reality But it isn't complicated

[01:24:22] You're just talking about the title These characters don't have complicated lives Relationships And the way the story plays out I think it's complicated The kitchen She wants to walk right from the kitchen To her bedroom and she can't do that I love So hiring architect It's complicated

[01:24:44] The big thing she says Zoning laws to come Cause she keeps saying in the beginning Like finally I'm gonna have a real kitchen She's a fabulous kitchen Doesn't she say at one point like a real kitchen You know with four walls She says that

[01:25:00] Your first two is like a room Right and it's like that's your problem Is that the kitchen isn't closed off from the dining room I'm a little confused about what's happening Because Is that her fuck palace now Is also gonna have a bedroom And his and her sinks

[01:25:16] But not his and her sinks Which also I did like that Because I'm like I get it The one sink would feel bad And you'd be like do I switch Sinks just to keep the sinks fresh There's also that part where she's like

[01:25:30] Can't we move it back a couple more feet Like this and that You could do that if you want your bedroom to be in the ocean Okay relax Where did Is she that like on the cusp of a mountain No she's not Right

[01:25:46] There was something else about the kitchen No sorry go ahead Well just the I guess the thing that makes Steve Martin the right man for her is that He like was able to finally Apparently she's been very picky about these blueprints And then fine and then like

[01:26:00] In walks Steve and This is the first time she's seeing the blueprints He gets it And I loved the idea for The stairs to be The stairs to be over there Which is also like I don't know just a funny thing to be so like

[01:26:16] Impressed by placement of stairs Well that's I mean this gets into the Romley argument But you go like what's the only thing That gives her both pure unadulterated joy And like great consternation in the movie It is this kitchen And Steve Martin is the one man

[01:26:30] Who can give her the kitchen that she wants It's true he is in charge of the kitchen And the kitchen is the metaphor for like Her new chapter in life Like I guess that's he's like the gatekeeper But I also use like

[01:26:42] Could she just go to her business which has An industrial kitchen and cook whatever the Fuck she wants because she does She just goes in the middle of the night and makes shit late at night Exactly, yeah also she makes A whole chocolate cake for a date

[01:26:54] She has two kitchens, two already She needs a third kitchen Who she's never entertaining except Rita Wilson just needs wine She doesn't eat food Okay so this feels like a good point to drop in Of course the recurring segment we've done Romley's Kitchen Corner

[01:27:10] Romley's doing kitchen reports for everyone in this movie So we're gonna cut now to Romley with the kitchen corner I mean this is the main event This is the one Welcome to Romley's Kitchen Corner And here is your host Miss Romley Newman In her kitchen

[01:27:25] Oh I didn't see you there Welcome to my kitchen And today I'm talking I'm talking about Male Streep's famous kitchen And I just have to quickly This is kind of the biggest thing to talk about Is that the entire plot of the movie

[01:27:43] Is kind of based around the fact that she's designing Her dream kitchen and she has This kitchen and I just don't Quite understand what her dream kitchen looks like If this is just her like throwaway kitchen But anyway this is a great kitchen The kitchen in this movie

[01:27:57] Is the main focus of the house You have that amazing archway Huge stove which is in the corner Which I usually don't like But it has this like own little nook It has its place You have the pots hanging above the stove Amazing marble island That famous window

[01:28:15] That she's dancing in front of While she's making her Ice cream for Steve Martin Who's such a cutie And then you have You have all these plates Organized It's an amazing kitchen and it's very much Conducive to cooking which I think is important

[01:28:33] Because some of these kitchens are a little bit more show rooms But I want to see her dream kitchen Okay thank you Romley, special correspondent Romley Newman with her kitchen corner Yeah so we did, yeah is there anything else From this movie we need to discuss

[01:28:47] The pot scene, I guess that's sort of When the movie is kind of alive I like that they're all dancing When they poke smart When they have pots in the kitchen I like that it's underlined That there will be no police intervention With these rich white people

[01:29:03] But yeah but it was also Like oh god the cops are in my pocket The police have like Drove up next to us While she's holding it up directly In front of the window And then she's like I know him Coffee and blueberry muffin

[01:29:19] He's really going to take action against you I know The webcam flimflam They all flimflam Where Alec Baldwin is like He wants to arrange the computer to block his penis It seems to be the idea It is such a sweaty setup Because it's originally

[01:29:39] Steve Martin wants to Skype with her The sweater selection process Then they're both like okay wait I gotta do something else Meet back here in 10 minutes The setup of the computer is just open And on for both of them They didn't close out the window

[01:29:53] They know how to use Skype also Like no they don't Outrageous, a lie in 2009 And then the idea that Baldwin Thinks it's sexy to lie there Fully naked other than the Apple logo Right over his hairy penis The two things I want to talk about

[01:30:11] Were the two sort of emotional scenes in the movie Apart from like the babies crying Which I literally would just be like I never want to see you monsters Like one is the scene where she Rebears herself to Baldwin in the hotel room

[01:30:23] Which is like I think pretty Well done and then immediately becomes Like a weird like oh he took too much Prostate medication like joke But like I think that's a nice scene I do too. I like that idea They're like okay it's not just the sex

[01:30:37] She's decided to be emotionally vulnerable With him again. Right. And then the other Scene that is way weirder When Baldwin goes back to his house And the little child Is sleeping and then he puts his Hand on Pedro's chest And Pedro like cuddles his hand

[01:30:53] And the idea is like Baldwin's like Oh I have like a life here This is complicated That's ignored and then we never see Them again and like he just dumps her Or gets dumped The handling of that is so weird because

[01:31:07] There's a scenario in which like the lake bell Character is an uber monster So the audience is so rooting against her With zero thimp. I am rooting for her The entire movie to be clear She's young. I mean I guess like she cheated

[01:31:19] Like or she was the other woman And then she met but like okay She doesn't seem unpleasant in relation to Like the potential step mother And parent trans She has a tattoo though She does have a scary tattoo She wears clothes that hang On her sort of loosely

[01:31:37] She's the girl with the dragon tattoo But she, I mean I'm In the defense of hating her character I didn't hate her character It is again like wish fulfillment Fantasy fulfillment of the like Ugh the younger what like Right of course. She's got the hot boss

[01:31:53] And it's like that's what It is heartbreaking That like someone that you were married to For many years will Like give up your connection For something that Is fleeting. Is fleeting. Yes It is a very limited currency And um and That's a frustrating thing that women Face. Yes.

[01:32:15] But my thing that I need to talk about Is When um I think it's the second time they Have sex maybe it's the first time But um afterwards Alec Baldwin grabs her Vagina and says home sweet Home. He does And like shakes her vagina

[01:32:35] Yeah and she's like in this Like her shirt like one boo This is the first time. Yes and that's when he Yeah. That's that's wild That was shocking. Yeah Without a doubt the most like Sexually explicit thing in an Nancy Meyers Movie right? In any movie ever

[01:32:51] In any movie ever That's like Salo. Yeah He cups her vagina and also Alec Baldwin Cups Meryl Streep's vagina Yeah. Yeah right he's actually doing That's the other thing. I wonder Yeah do they have like a good working relationship The pain. I pray Um I know

[01:33:09] Your vagina now. Yeah it's So uh bizarre. This is one of those movies Where the classic like off Mocked PG-13 romantic Comedy like oh the man the woman are lying Bed afterwards and the woman has the sheets All the way up to her neck. Sure. It's the one

[01:33:23] Movie that justifies that within the Characters. The sheets are where she wants And he's always like right check out The belly it's here. He's showing off both Tits. Yeah you know what this is Um The thing not to go backwards but the

[01:33:37] I find interesting about the lake bell thing And I say this almost as a positive Is like most shitty studio Notes would be like she either has to be the villain Right. Right. Like we have to show that she's bad She kicks a cat

[01:33:49] You know something. Yeah yeah yeah yeah She yells at her kid whatever. You have to realize Actually that she's not that bad and there's a scene At the end where Meryl feels bad for her in some Kind of way. Instead there's just that scene

[01:33:59] Where she looks at Meryl dancing with Alec Baldwin You know and then and she sort of gets it I guess. Right and they just kind of like They don't ever show her having any emotional Reaction to it outside of the first like

[01:34:09] Clock of recognition. Yeah. Cause they just Don't want to deal with you worrying about her as a Person. One else in the movie is so long So fucking long. What's interesting to I know it's so freaking long and yet

[01:34:19] So nothing is resolved in the way you want it to be But um when she second time With her girlfriends she's like I'm having an affair with Agnes Adler's husband Which is an interesting. It's true it's a little Avenmus. Yeah. Cause they make it seem

[01:34:33] Like Agnes Adler is constantly brought up As like they're like a pin cushion Like you know voodoo queen You know there is that one scene with the therapist Where Meryl gets to kind of act when Like she's suddenly crying at the end of it

[01:34:45] Where she's like am I just lonely And the therapist is useless She's just like I don't know. She's trying to get him To say either like definitively good idea Or bad idea and he keeps on talking In circles. Isn't there a moment too where

[01:34:57] Like gets has a better version of this. When she has the final conversation with Baldwin Where he says the thing that she feels Relieves her of the relationship Like she's trying to get him to say the concrete thing Cause she keeps on saying this was a bad idea

[01:35:09] Right. This was never gonna work And he keeps on going like well I felt at home You know this and that It wasn't that I never knew how to live without you You know all this sort of stuff That she finally gets him to admit

[01:35:21] Like I was probably just caught up in a moment This is my own chat. Yeah. He's got a lot of shit going on Lakebell's trying to get a baby out of him My last thing also about Nancy Meyers movies in general

[01:35:33] Is that everyone is the first and last name Or not everyone but like that's very Very much like Jane Adler Right. Reputations precede them They're already sort of infamous even to the people who haven't met them yet And like the Adlers. We're all the Adlers

[01:35:48] I don't think you know what Harley's left with That's a big thing they say is like J.A. The two J.A. reservations at the hotel Right. Right. Because they both are Jake And Jane. Jane Adler There's the weird moment when They're all having breakfast the following morning

[01:36:04] They slept together for the first time And the kids are so overjoyed That Zoe Kazan makes the toast to be like This is like the best day of my life The original five together That she calls them the original five Plus Harley but like there's a nickname

[01:36:18] The best day of my life I just like seeing all of us together I agree with that And the kids are like yes That's why I'm so happy for the first time in 20 years This is how as it should be Things should never change

[01:36:33] Also that weird conversation she has with Hunter Parrish Where Hunter Parrish is like yeah I don't remember you being happy That's fucking weird He's like we were you were 12 Like why don't you remember then He's like I don't know and I'm like there's a lot going on here

[01:36:45] And the kids are like well huh man it's complicated These kids feel like they're dealing with some different kind of trauma I know From how they process everything that happens in the film I know It's complicated It is complicated It is a fun movie

[01:37:00] It is really interesting how my perspective on these movies Has changed over 10 years So like just the 10 years ago I was like no But this year now I'm like okay yeah Yeah Being like a 70 million dollar movie about grownups And their relationship

[01:37:17] That's our big blank check argument for her She's making a movie that just doesn't exist otherwise At this point And if you follow her on social media Which I recommend she's really fucking good on Instagram She's constantly posting about like the fact that

[01:37:31] Hollywood doesn't think romantic comedies are bankable Right And we're in this weird swing now We're in this moment where people are like oh no Like it's sparking again You've had these couple Netflix romantic comedies That have been really well received You've gotten this sort of oversized reaction

[01:37:45] Set it up to all the boys I ever loved before Which I actually like both of them I actually think the second one is genuinely good It does keep coming up on my Netflix I also think it's just that thick You know we're just also thirsty for it

[01:37:57] And I think they're both very Netflix-y Like they don't feel like theatrical films There's something to I disagree Nancy Meyers I think the second one is genuine To all the boys I ever loved That's like a well made movie Set it up It's like a workplace

[01:38:11] Set it up is all script Yes, she's very good in that I mean I think both of them are very fun Yeah they are But there's something to the fact that Nancy Meyers Is dealing with this much production value Yeah

[01:38:25] I think movies get expensive because of how slow her process is But also that she's like I want a real fucking house You know they're cinematic They are weirdly kind of big screen movies And then Crazy Rich Asians Is now blowing up the box office

[01:38:39] But that has all this whole other narrative Tied onto it And also Crazy Rich Asians Got this sort of blowback That this got where people People like the movie and it's doing really well But some people are like Why do I have to care about these rich people

[01:38:55] They don't have problems Right And people like to be in these worlds That are so alien and exciting to them It's exciting for audiences to see rich people This was a big thought I had during this movie Where it's like

[01:39:09] Her whole thing was taking people who already have Legendary star status And giving them one last leading hurrah Where they're sexy and leading the cart And all of that sort of stuff And I was like who If Nancy Meyers Which like Netflix should just give her

[01:39:25] 60 million dollars tomorrow Especially since they've been doing so well With these round-tops I think the problem is that she wants 100 million Right But you go like Okay Who should Nancy Meyers be making a movie with Right now Who should be writing movies for

[01:39:38] And then I started thinking of it From the opposite direction Which it's like If I were Jennifer Lawrence I would immediately go Nancy Meyers Write a movie for me All these young female stars who haven't been Able to have that portion of their career

[01:39:51] Because rom-coms don't get made anymore Someone like Jennifer Lawrence Who's been in such a genre zone Despite being like this huge leading lady You're like it would benefit her to have Like a my best friend's wedding Jennifer Lawrence made her blank check movie Which is Red Spare

[01:40:05] I know That's the movie she had total control over Every part That's where she wanted us to see I know That's why I wonder One reason I love it If it would not be a smart move For her to go like Nancy Meyers I'd base you

[01:40:18] Me in your hands Write a movie for my star persona You know Rather than the older generation Who don't get to do these movies anymore It's really like the Emma Stones Who should be going to Nancy Meyers And being like please let me do this

[01:40:33] Let me be fun in a movie Well Emma Stones doing great She's doing great J-Law Maybe she might need a bit of an internal boost Can we play the box-off? So I tried to guess the box-off this weekend The movie came out and I'm saying

[01:40:45] This movie came out Christmas Day 2009 And this was a big Christmas It made 112 million Domestic 219 worldwide Solid hip I believe that this Christmas It was number four at the box office 22 million dollars I think that Christmas Day 2009 Was maybe the biggest single day

[01:41:04] In the North American box-office history Quite possible Because it was like four huge openers, correct? Correct Well one of them is not an opener Oh, okay, so number one is second week of avatar Correct? Okay It's 75 million He knows it He's gonna do all four right now Right

[01:41:21] I'm just trying to make sure I have the order of two Oh you have the order Because they're very close No they're not that close Really? No, the second to 62, third is 48 Okay, so then number two is Sherlock Holmes And number three is Alvin the Chipmunks the Squeakville

[01:41:33] Oh my God There it is You have to understand Correct And then it's complicated at number four The thing you have to understand SV Because my father was your teacher at film school That's how we know each other originally This is my emotional relationship with my father

[01:41:52] Going over the box office every weekend From when I was a young age So it's like tied into my brain That does track So wait, second week of avatars how much? 75 Essentially the same as the first And I remember people being like

[01:42:05] It's crazy to open against the second week of avatar And we were gonna get steamrolled No they all cannibalized They all did well Yeah, they all did great They all fucking did well Okay so wait, it's 75 Then Sherlock Holmes 60 40 48 for Alvin 48 Jesus Christ

[01:42:19] I didn't even know that Sherlock 22 for Kump I don't even know where's the movie The Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. Jude Law Rachel McAdams Directed by Guy Ritchie Yes Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes And then number five Yeah Is not an opener right?

[01:42:37] No it's been in the box office for six weeks It's one of the huge pits of the year It wins an Oscar Oh the blindside? The blindside Oh my god What's it up to at this point? The blindside It's made 184 on the way to 255 That's insane

[01:42:54] It still has that much more to go You also have Up in the Air The Princess and the Frog Yeah Nine Did you hear about the Morgans? I did yeah I heard about That's so great No An Invictus Do you want to hear something fascinating?

[01:43:10] And past guest Chris Whites' new moon Hey Hey no big hit I uh You know big Past and future go Big Steve Martin stan We've recorded just behind the scenes peak This episode and the Billy Lynn episode Within a one week period Yeah yeah very close

[01:43:29] So I've been in a very big like Steve Martin trying to stretch himself Real white hair Steve Martin face Right That's exactly Cause for the years leading up to that I was like when someone gonna It's not great it's white Give Steve Martin Cause especially in the aught

[01:43:41] Steve Martin is mostly doing family comedy Kind of marginally right Successfully but movies I don't find very funny And I was like when someone gonna give him A real meaty role again Kind of re-establish him in a different way Do you know that Steve Martin was Jason Brightman's

[01:43:59] Backup choice for Up in the Air No that's interesting He was like I wrote it for Clooney I wanted Clooney That's a different movie If Clooney had passed I would have rewritten it for Steve Martin Those were the only two guys I thought could do it Interesting movie

[01:44:11] If it's him It's like a totally different movie Yeah Especially just in that folder I kind of I wish it would have been that Clooney's great in Up in the Air That's a great performance But it's also like the Clooney thing

[01:44:21] We know it fits into the Clooney narrative It would have been so surprising To see Steve Martin do it Sure sure Yeah I get that argument Yeah it's also whatever Yeah Um forget white Say it No it's just like Clooney like I don't need Your suffering is doesn't

[01:44:35] Exactly Doesn't like yeah It doesn't move me I love Clooney's suffering And he's not suffering He's not no He's so like Outside of it Like he's not Like I can see Steve Martin Really having this pain But Clooney's kind of Yes I love George Clooney But he's not

[01:44:54] Selling it Because I don't know He's observing it There's something to the weird High art low art Something that's got to give Something's got to give There's also something's got to give It's complicated It is complicated And also the parent trap Father of the bride

[01:45:08] Let the body sit on the floor Other than bride written by Nancy Myers Nancy Myers Well yeah that's why I said it I'd like for a higher husband But also Steve Martin did it I thought she had directed it But I guess No I mean

[01:45:20] The success of those ones are The one that got her parent trap I would argue But Why does she say about Oh okay so she wrote it So okay Because the house isn't that Again it's like One really nice house to the Well they

[01:45:33] They were very much a team At that point I think you look at like You know starting with like Private Benjamin Up to parent Father of the bride She starts having more And more say in the movies Right Even on a visual Right Level

[01:45:47] So that's why she gets to do parent trap What was the thing you were Very loudly going to Proclaim but I I know we're already doing A bonus episode But I'd love to do a second Bonus episode of Father of the Bride Part 2 Which I'll try it

[01:45:57] Yeah that's right Damn right we are Father of the Bride Part 2 Is insane That movie is insane It's insane I don't think I've seen it I've seen it like 100 times For some reason Like I had it on video or something Dianne she gets pregnant Oh right

[01:46:09] And their daughter And Kimberly Williams Get pregnant Yes The thing I was going to say That I think is interesting About Steve Martin That no one's totally hit on And how to use him In a more dramatic Or at least less overtly comedic way

[01:46:21] Is this weird high art Low art thing with him Where he's known for being So goofy in his comedy Doing these paycheck movies That are so broad And straight down the middle Like your pink panthers Right and then he's this Super erudite guy Who writes like Picasso plays

[01:46:32] Right And like when he does Like live engagements Just want to do Just want to play the fucking Banjo or what And so there's something About him like Part mentalizing the areas Of his life And wishing that he was Able to make the high art

[01:46:45] Accessible to other people That the two things Have to be separated That kind of Leaves him with an underlying Sack And he's like Leaves him with an underlying Sadness that I find in talent Yeah That's my take And I'm sticking to it Ben is throwing his hands down

[01:47:00] He wants this episode to be done Did you like the movie? Didn't watch it? No, I watched it Yeah I didn't like Oh I like It's fine It's kind of a neighbor to Spanglish But you're more into The rawness of Spanglish I feel like Oh, I love Spanglish

[01:47:15] Really? Oh my God You got a friend in Ben Do you hate it? I don't like it Movie makes me feel the same Because the ending is so upsetting The whole movie The whole movie is very Discombobulating It's interesting When you compare the two movies Spanglish sort of

[01:47:30] Portrays this This like wealthy Sort of family Specifically The mother That's crazy people Yes You know And it sort of seems Like Sandler's relationship with The Floor Floor Character Is like they're kind of More grounded real people Sure But this movie is just I don't know

[01:47:52] This movie is like I'm not from a I'm from a literal I grew up in a ditch Okay, in New Jersey And I see this movie And I'm just like I It's Like David said It's kind of interesting To watch play out Right It feels like a nice

[01:48:08] Gentle little story But I'm also like I don't know Fuck these people And they're fucking rich And person bullshit It's not complicated Ben said A fire to Santa Barbara I'm living on a Mother fucking floor The air mattress Fucking trying to Navigate my god damn life Figure out

[01:48:25] Wait, are you talking about It's complicated or Spanglish? Both? And then he's rolling His own life into it Yeah I'm just saying It doesn't seem complicated To me at all Seems like you have A really nice life You got great kids Everyone's well adjusted I don't know

[01:48:40] What about how And you just like Are kind of horny Right And you like Spanglish And I like Spanglish Okay, okay I just want to be clear I think Spanglish works Because it's the outsiders Looking into it That's sort of the audience Perspective in this movie

[01:48:53] Ask you to fully Like believe in the world Where orcs run wild They have problems And you're like They do and they're like Yeah I just didn't get up I just don't understand The movie hugs you Until you just accept it Weird timeline of us Recreating these episodes

[01:49:07] Ben is currently still In his state of being Functionally homeless Keep track guys So watching a movie Where people are Hashtag blank check Frustrated Their kitchen isn't 8 rather than 9 Right Get more kitchens in real life Right One day I'll have input On a kitchen that I use

[01:49:23] One day I just look at this movie I'm like I'd never want to deal With that Yeah I know I know The major upheaval Of having your whole home Like this right I don't care how much better It's gonna be I just want to stay the same Also

[01:49:35] Yes you do It doesn't seem like Is the kitchen Because remember he's like It's down a hallway Yeah it's down a hallway So she's adding another kitchen And usually kitchens are off of Like the common room No no no She wants four walls She wants a hallway

[01:49:49] And a doorway to like Just like a Yeah a dungeon kitchen Yeah exactly No one does that Well she's doing it But she's also getting a bedroom Cause then she's gonna have The view Right That's gonna be inside the ocean Cool so She's adding to her complex

[01:50:06] I know she's She's putting a compound She's adding another house To her It's not just a kitchen Right now But I guess it's another house That's based around the kitchen Yes This is all correct Thank you Barbara baby You have nailed it I wanna see that fucking kitchen

[01:50:20] You know it feels like Well maybe she'll make it more complicated It feels like Early comic book movies Where they would tease a character That was too expensive To put in the first movie Yeah Where it's like If this one does well

[01:50:32] Then they'll give us a bigger CGI budget To show you the kitchen Yeah Right the kitchen Is the galactus of this movie Correct And that's the most on brand We will ever be on this podcast Correct SV thank you so much Thank you for having me

[01:50:44] You're a week away from production on season 3 Yeah Feeling good about everything I am yeah Season 1, 2 streaming now Still on TBS Yes TBS I wish I could say Other platforms But you can also get it on You can buy it on Amazon Yeah

[01:50:59] Great company ever did anything wrong You know You know about Amazon I do yeah I will say I've said this to other people And this is that embarrassing thing Where I embarrass our guests But I was in Fortildan Which was your thesis project For film school

[01:51:17] Was made for a microscopic amount of money With a crew of Barely more people than are in this room right now Yes And then one The grand prize is at South by Southwest And then you and Charles are now show runners On a big time TV show

[01:51:32] With a real crew and sound stages And all these things Yeah And I was so astonished And impressed by how much You still make it feel like Six people doing a thesis film That's sweet Not like a low rent way But you guys have somehow not let

[01:51:47] The fact that you have more shit to deal with Right Impact the way you actually do the work Yeah Awesome It's great You guys are the best Thanks for coming with me Hey Any time I just I never forget How sunburned And bug bit and we were on

[01:52:07] Fortildan Oh yeah Do you remember our sound person's legs? Yes Yes I do they were bleeding Yeah Poor thing I don't know why he got it so bad I don't know some people Some people the You know they react bad to those buds Yeah I chose to

[01:52:23] Because there's this like 20, 15 minute section of the movie That's us on the beach Yes And I chose to Spend that whole section Sitting in like a curdle position Holding my arms around my knees And what happened was I effectively blocked the sun from everywhere But my knees

[01:52:39] And my knees were so sunburned That I couldn't walk for a week Because they like crackled They stood up and they crinkled Right So I'm sorry Art is paying my friends And it's worth it for work and Did you put sunblock on? Apparently everywhere but there

[01:52:55] I will say one rarely does think To apply sunblock to the knees Specifically to the knees Yeah Oh I apply it everywhere And that's a lesson If you have any lesson to teach The future filmmakers of America Put sunscreen everywhere That's right

[01:53:11] Thank you so much for being here Thank you Godspeed No one should ever make a TV show But I hope it goes well Thank you all for listening Please remember to rate, review, subscribe Go to Blankies.Reddit.com For some real nerdy shit

[01:53:27] Thanks to Antwerp Goodall for our social media Lane Montgomery for our theme song Joe Bonapet rounds for our artwork By our merch at T-POPG Oh yeah, go to T-POPG by some merch Yeah And as always Gotta four wall that catchin' baby