Maestro with Marie Bardi-Salinas

[00:00:00] The Maybe Kimmel can just tag him in for 10 minutes. Like they can do like a wrestling ring and Billy's on the sidelines. And then Kimmel's like, hey, you want in? Kim just needs to start cutting himself into the movies. Yeah. Yeah, do it. Do the old fat, you know, just riff him off. It's fine. Okay, great. Obviously that's a big line from the movie. So great pick. He could be the first great American podcaster.

[00:01:44] Who left?

[00:01:45] Who abandoned Snoopy in the podcast?

[00:01:47] I mean, that installs by a nose. Then he would say, because of the nose,

[00:03:01] Killian Murphy and Oppenheim.

[00:03:02] I so badly wanted Julianne Moore to win that year

[00:03:07] for Far from Heaven.

[00:03:08] Yes, me too. I guess Michelle Yeobens actor, K. Huqan and Jamie Lee Carter said, you know, it might be nice. Yes. Doing all the categories, but who knows? I hope her in her freezer gets on stage and just tells everyone to shut up. He doesn't actually get on stage. She's just somehow on stage behind the desk. It's bellowing. Shut up! He had the girth.

[00:04:22] He's amazing in flower. I feel like people don't talk about him in it

[00:04:24] because he comes in so late

[00:04:26] that people didn't really want to spoil. It's a little too like street wise. Who am I going into now? There's someone else I'm... I don't know. And becoming someone else and I can't identify. There's another guy who I'm doing now. I have no idea, Graff. Directors who are dubbed Maestro's early on in their career and they're giving a series of blank checks.

[00:05:40] Am I doing, am I doing a Shep Gordon from Super Match?

[00:05:44] Now, no, wait, who are you doing now?

[00:05:47] I know, I can't tell.

[00:05:48] I'm doing a show. I have a radio. I do. I'm a big fan of listening to pods and or music in the shower. Yeah. I was listening to our gold member commentary this morning in the shower. I'll admit it. I can't believe you still listen.

[00:07:01] I will almost always listen to our special feed up

[00:07:03] with special teachers.

[00:07:04] Oh, you don't listen to main feed anymore.

[00:07:06] Sometimes. like a debut film. A debut film. But how recently you had been trying to, you know, put more current releases in the lineup because Ben said they were better for ratings. They would do very well. It was a thing we used to do more often strategically. Now, I think we kind of hate having to do this like glut at the end of the year, which

[00:08:24] may change.

[00:08:25] But the last couple of years, there's been. And it was framed that way and it was a huge hit and a big Oscar player and all of this. We called it and even some people kind of viewed it as scans and were like, we're really elevating Bradley Cooper to the level of they're gonna talk about him every time a movie comes out. He directs a new film and then I've seen a lot of those people be shut the fuck up after watching Maestro,

[00:09:41] which whether or not you like this theaters, I think the Alamo, there is a while supplies last small a cloth with bathtub drinking container. I don't, I'm not shitting you. Are you serious? I'm serious.

[00:11:00] There is a big bathtub in the lobby of Alamo

[00:11:02] in downtown, to take pictures with.

[00:11:04] But also across the Alamo chain nationwide,

[00:11:07] there was a while supplies last. And the first hour of it, we could just do two minutes on Saltburn. I was like, I'm kind of having fun, to my surprise. I agree, 100%. I was like, everyone's being too hard on this movie. I don't think it's great. I don't think it's super intelligent, but she is a very stylish entertaining person. And like, it's literally about like, when I went to British University, I didn't go to Oxford, but so it's set

[00:12:20] at a British University in the mid 2000s.

[00:12:21] I'm like, I kind of-

[00:12:22] You used to always kind of-

[00:12:23] I kind of-

[00:12:24] I kind of-

[00:12:25] There's a lot of overlap.

[00:12:26] 100%, I love to fuck graves.

[00:12:27] And then, 80 more- Hot take, Lena Dunham. Sure, I mean, I agree. I agree. I agree. Yeah. Come bathtub, what were we talking about? Oh, it's Kari Mulligan speaking of my stroke. Oh, sure. Would you agree she's good in salt burn? Yeah, she actually kind of freaks it in salt burn for 10 minutes. Everyone's kind of good in salt burn. I think one person is really bad in salt burn.

[00:13:40] We'll talk about it all the way.

[00:13:42] Anyway.

[00:13:43] Sure, it's fine.

[00:13:44] Back to the Angelica.

[00:13:45] Yes, salt burn promotional cup. screening. We had an applause break in the middle of the film when he finishes conducting the mauler. And it seemed like the entire special effects team was at our screening. They kept on applauding the special effects credits. Yeah, so we were like, yeah, cool. Maybe a family member was there. It really felt like we were at like a hometown screen.

[00:15:02] But it was like a Tuesday, 730 or so.

[00:15:04] Sure.

[00:15:05] But early in over. Yes. Have you, you can watch the real performance. Have you watched it? I actually, I actually, so I rewatched my star last night at home. I watched it this morning. And I watched it with my husband,

[00:16:21] who's a big burn-styled guy.

[00:16:22] A double humbled brag.

[00:16:23] Triple humbled brag.

[00:16:25] Yeah, all right.

[00:16:27] Were you hugging and kissing? So you're also watching him. I'm not sure. There's a one or at the end which reveals Carrie at the end of it. Oh, you're right. So there's some other things. Yes, the final piece of it. I'm just remembering that. It's in a shot which is so overwhelming moment. Yes, yes. And it's late in the film and it's emotionally pivotal.

[00:17:40] The case we made for covering Stars Born outside of,

[00:17:43] it helped her raise to cover new releases.

[00:17:45] The thing we no longer explicitly chase Undeniably for that movie to make like close to $200 million, be a full cultural sensation, get all these Oscar nominations. It was just like, this is a movie for grownups. Like this is a movie of like serious adult emotion. Grownup romance, yep. It's probably, it's one of the most recent films that like my wife watches all the time. Right. You know what I mean?

[00:19:00] I've seen that movie four times, which is a lot for me.

[00:19:03] Like is it, is there one of them has stars born in it, but there's this canon that I always find really fascinating of them having to be like, we need to pick movies that aren't film history, that are within the last four years to make movie going still feel relevant. But they have another one coming, you know. Well, they've set this for like 18 months. Waiting. Billy Ray a year ago said they filmed this thing and it still hasn't been seen,

[00:20:22] but that's an entirely different script. No, it's going to doing variety directors on directors. Sure. Okay. Bradley Cooper. Who is Bradley Cooper going to be talking to? I wanna hear your guesses. Is it someone else who's in the race or just? No. Okay. I'm going to say it is Todd Phillips. No. He did the DJ pilot cast. Oh, yes. Yes. Well, they're best at it. This is someone who I did not know

[00:21:40] they had a prior relationship.

[00:21:41] Jason Bateman.

[00:21:42] No.

[00:21:43] Did not know they had a prior relationship.

[00:21:44] I didn't know they had a prior relationship.

[00:21:46] But they did?

[00:21:46] I don't know.

[00:21:47] Spike Lee. to make choices to have their voice be in the movie, if that makes sense, like their directorial voice. And Spike placed himself in his films a lot. He did. Early on, I'm trying to. And Bradley Cooper is the spiky of the Philadelphia Eagles. Correct. That is very true. And should we just keep making comparisons between the two and see if we get in trouble?

[00:23:00] Never, I'm sure.

[00:23:01] Just to close the loop on this,

[00:23:03] Billy Ray announced a September 2022

[00:23:07] that he'd really year A Star Wars born. Another reason we did that episode is I saw the movie at Tiff and was like, oh my God, I love this thing. We have to do an episode. And then you saw the movie and you were like,

[00:24:20] I didn't like it that much.

[00:24:21] Which is an, I'm sorry, Griffin.

[00:24:23] You're so rarely wrong about things.

[00:24:25] I will rewatch it.

[00:24:27] You haven't rewatched it since. what? Post-Star is born. He kind of announces, I think I'm basically only going to act in my own projects now. But then that turns out not to be true. Why? Why? To you tell me. Like Rush Pizza. All right. We're getting look, excuse me. All right. In 2019, he was in the most financially successful film I've ever made of interest in game, voicing Rocket the Raccoon.

[00:25:40] Right.

[00:25:41] Which can we just for half a second here talk about how smartly he wove between the traffic And even Spielberg. That's why I was waiting to see all three Oscar nominated directors, Spielberg, Scorsese, and Phillips in the end credits, but Phillips did not produce this one, right? I don't think so. Did Purdue Star is born? Or at least executive producers or something, I don't know. They had their shingle together. So our Phillips did produce Star is born.

[00:27:00] They can remember who was producer or executive producers?

[00:27:02] Well, I remember.

[00:27:03] It's one of those.

[00:27:04] 2021, he does performs in two, which he did with Mahershala, who he worked with a couple times at least. He worked with, I know one place beyond the pines and maybe something else I'm forgetting. But he was saying, post-star was born, I go, great.

[00:28:22] My stardom is a thing I wanna leverage for my movies,

[00:28:24] I wanna direct, I'm not gonna farm myself out

[00:28:27] to other films in the same way. who's the guy? Who's the guy, Marie? Who's got the riz? Jacob Elordi, I don't fucking know. Two real ones, just. I'm gonna say this now. I get it, I get it. I get it too, but I am now putting a ban, and I'm not talking about our podcast. I'm talking about film Twitter. No suggesting of Jacob Elordi for everything. Everyone's already doing that up on the hills. He's becoming wood. Yes. We get it.

[00:29:40] It's become too easy.

[00:29:41] We're about to have a fucking Jude Law experience

[00:29:44] with this guy.

[00:29:45] He's a good actor, he's charming, he's talented,

[00:29:46] he's handsome, he's tall.

[00:29:47] And I think he they never want me. There's a ceiling to what I get cast in. I want to make my own movies. And he was like, I just honestly, the fact that he offered it to me, I had to do it almost out of like spite.

[00:31:01] Not that he played the role, but I thought like that much, but I was like, I think he kind of is amazing in this. I agree, he's kind of undeniable in it. And you're also just like, this guy is like going in weird directions. In 2022, he filled a lifelong dream, artistically.

[00:32:21] He voiced Rocket Raccoon in a Taika Waititi Thor movie.

[00:32:24] Yes. Love and Thunder.

[00:32:25] The dream.

[00:32:26] It's another wheel of cheese.

[00:32:27] Yeah. Like for one scene. But that's like, right as Michelle Rodriguez is a new ex-boyfriend. He's like, look, I'll jump in and do a little thing. I'll do favors for friends. I'll do rocket. But he's like, if I'm starring, it's my shit.

[00:33:40] He's lined up a couple new projects now that are all sort of like Bradley is eyeing to

[00:33:44] direct end star, right?

[00:33:47] Right. Because now he's finally slowed down, but it always used to be Spielberg would put six movies on his plate per year and then say which one's ready to go, I'll jump into it.

[00:35:01] And it was originally announced

[00:35:02] that he was considering doing a Maestro film,

[00:35:07] this basic version of the movie, Scorsese was gonna make this movie. Right. And he is of course a producer on it. Yes. Then Scorsese drops out because the Irishman happens. Did Scorsese ever have an actor? I don't know. Okay. I don't know. I can probably try and find out. But then Spielberg, sorry, Wikipedia is not being helpful on this anyway.

[00:36:21] Like Spielberg at definitely at some point

[00:36:23] wanted to make this movie and steps aside for Cooper. a little acting sample reel to show you. And he says, at the shallow scene, which is the big scene of the movie, obviously, Spielberg gets up from his chair and he's like, oh my God, he fucking hates the movie. And he's going to the bathroom during my big scene. And Spielberg walks over to him in the screen room and leads into his ear and says, you're directing this fucking movie. As Bradley tells it, which is a cool ass story.

[00:37:42] That Spielberg watching star is born was like,

[00:37:44] you know what, you're not starring in my movie,

[00:37:45] you're making it.

[00:37:47] Hands it over to him.

[00:38:43] is the app that lets you change your online location, lets you trick Netflix and who doesn't enjoy that.

[00:38:47] You trick Netflix and you get a little treat under

[00:38:50] your camo on and suddenly Netflix is like,

[00:38:52] I don't get it, what country are you?

[00:38:54] Treat under the tree, it's a whole new library content

[00:38:56] because if you didn't know,

[00:38:57] Netflix has different shows in every country.

[00:39:00] So for example, let's say you could use express VPN

[00:39:04] to binge the office on UK Netflix.

[00:39:07] That's something you can can choose from over 100 different countries. You can go through all their Netflix libraries. Disney Plus, BBC iPlayer, YouTube. You name it. Disney Plus, Hulu? Old news. Star. Jump over the pond. It's called Star. It's called Star over there. Disney Plus Star is what they have.

[00:40:21] Other VPNs in the past are super slow.

[00:40:22] I've tried some of these things,

[00:40:24] but ExpressVPN so fast, never any buffering,

[00:40:27] never any lag, all show stream and HD quality. Apparently, Cooper is the one who says to Spielberg, like, I want to do it like a portrait of a marriage. Like I don't just want to do a traditional biopic, blah, blah, blah. I guess has more of an angle. Spielberg basically drops mice for a two-year-old side story. Right. Like in your metaphor, like he had the six things on his plate. This was one of them eventually.

[00:41:40] He picks the stakes.

[00:41:41] One is funny that they're like, do I want to make the movie about Bernstein or do I want

[00:41:45] to make a movie of Bernstein's work?

[00:41:48] Right. I just have these guys doing this. I can't. Can I say, by the way, I deeply respect, because I'm not gonna call out other people, but there were some people who were playing kind of dirty pool during the strike of being like, well, I'm doing this promotional appearance in my capacity as a producer, not as an actor. They were not breaking the rules, but maybe it was a write. I'm not as scared of the strike.

[00:43:00] Right, and Brad the Cooper is someone who's in several guilds.

[00:43:02] He's PGA, WGA, DGA, and SAG.

[00:43:03] He certainly could have promoted this movie.

[00:43:05] And he was like, look, two she says, my stroke's oniness of like, you need ways to keep your name and your face in the public that associates you with the movie that's out at the same time without directly promoting the other movie. So what's another venture you can do? But this dork part of Bradley Cooper, 15 years ago, he does the fucking kitchen cuff financial TV show for Fox. He plays Anthony Bourdain,

[00:45:41] and he's like, well, I'm actually gonna learn

[00:45:42] how to cook very seriously.

[00:45:43] And he does, he becomes a really, really good cook.

[00:45:47] And then he's like, I of a meeting being like what is it and I'm like are you still in the city? He's like no, I just got back to Brooklyn. What what do you need? And I'm like oh god damn it Bradley Cooper has a cheesesteaks truck in the West Village You called me because he wanted me to go stop by Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak truck Amanda Yes, Amanda brought it up on the big picture and Bobby was like how the fuck did you not tell me this?

[00:47:02] I'm in New York

[00:47:03] Why don't you tell me this so then I texted Bobby immediately and was like we have to go cuz I heard him say but now I'll make it all fucking tome of a 2001 biography called Leonard Bernstein. So my guess is that movie is maybe more of your super notes. Classic quote. Yes. And you know, that project is supposedly kind of still in development, I guess. Well, but right. There's a couple hiccups there.

[00:48:20] But because of, I think Spielberg, you know, is a big part of it,

[00:48:25] winning over the Bernstein family, making FireSale, Fire Selling Off, a bunch of projects where it's like, why are they giving up Beverly Hills Cop to Netflix? And it felt off of Star Wars born, the rare sort of crossover serious movie,

[00:49:42] where you're like, if you got Bradley Cooper,

[00:49:44] why wouldn't you bet on this guy?

[00:49:46] How expensive could this movie be?

[00:49:47] I will say, now this. And May December, but they have nothing.

[00:51:01] But May December and I had, they have Rustin.

[00:51:03] May December, they're acquired.

[00:51:04] And I think that might be more what they do going forward.

[00:51:07] Maybe.

[00:51:08] We'll see.

[00:51:09] Who knows? like shameless exposition. Yeah, but I mean like that's okay. So Jeremy Strong would have said I can't do my scenes until I've gone through four years of journalism. Right. Which is probably why Jeremy Strong is like I have to become the world's best classical music reporter. Yeah. So call me back. Yeah. You can wait five years. Right. I'm chasing fuck.

[00:52:21] I was going to do a joke about the guy who I already forgot his name.

[00:52:24] Which guy?

[00:52:25] You know the most famous guy.

[00:52:26] Who's the most famous guy now?

[00:52:27] Jesus Christ.

[00:52:28] Yeah. Didn't even invite his VFAs. They say terrible things about him. They say no CGI, no CGI. Look at the credits. 40 people CGI, invisible effects they're calling. I can't even, I don't even want to do this. Your Donald Trump has like a twinge of Regis filming. Yeah, more than a twinge. Because I don't want to do it. But you have the same spirit of New York.

[00:53:40] I find talking like Tim Funny,

[00:53:42] and I find actually doing the voice depressing.

[00:53:45] So the first scene is Bradley Cooper. Gary Cooper on Sadly Never Got To Be A Caus perfectly studied the voice the mannerisms the energy you can tell it's like a perfect approximation of the public Leonard Bernstein but it feels so studied and so control you want some life to come in I'm like that's the whole point that's the idea that it looks great, that it looks realistic, that it looks like the real Leonard Bernstein, but it's also like, it's moving correctly. Yeah, it's fleshy. Right, it's like actually fleshy. Like often when old age makeups have like waddles under the neck, you're like, right, but it's like rigid.

[00:57:40] And when they talk, it falls apart.

[00:57:43] Let's just talk about the nose thing for like five seconds.

[00:57:47] Marina, both sang.

[00:57:48] For five seconds. while actually watching the movie. When it's in motion, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter. And there's also less of the film at that age, the youngest age, than you would think. Yes. So it goes from this interview to, you found it then. Pretty cool, huh? That's so cool. Isn't that fucking awesome? It's really fucking awesome. Is it 3D printed?

[00:59:01] No, it's sculpted.

[00:59:02] Now he makes it.

[00:59:02] Yeah. Whoa.

[00:59:04] This guy's like the best, holy shit.

[00:59:06] Human portraiture sculptor. hair laundry. No, it's like, you'll live in the lower east side forever, even though we're for Boston. Bring bring hello conductor is sick. You're taking the main stage tonight. It's the call he's been waiting for for his entire life. But we're still thing that happened. Yes. It's the moment that makes his career. And so thing the movie talks about what the career of happened inevitably no matter what was

[01:00:20] that a lucky break, probably, or was that just he was so young, of course, he was this

[01:00:25] you know, first American born to look under Netflix compression. You need the HD though, you gotta get that 4K Netflix. The deep blacks. The HD are. But obviously, look, Bradley Cooper is the first one to tell you. Like I'd prefer you see this in a big theater with really loud sounds. Like, you know, he loves it, but he runs out of the butt playing.

[01:01:40] Well, first of all, it's just,

[01:01:41] it's a trick of cinematic language that I always love,

[01:01:45] which is you stay on the same shot

[01:01:47] and you realize the shot is something different and in laundry, it's like, no, he's Jewish. They were, they all did laundry. That's what they did back then. I just think like you're opening on him getting the call. Yes. The movie basically starts on the day his career really takes off. We have not watched him fall in love with music because he's a man. No, but you're also in love with man as a young musician. Right, here is a guy who is comfortably having relationships with other men to some degree.

[01:03:00] To some degree.

[01:03:01] This is part of his life from the moment we're introduced to him.

[01:03:04] And then yes, like him that night going like, look, I haven't done any rehearsal. Like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. Like this sort of walking and talking. And then he gets right on stage. The camera, you know, the camera's going crazy

[01:04:20] for all of this basically.

[01:04:21] And then they basically cut to the end of night

[01:04:24] radio broadcast sign off.

[01:04:26] Young live advanced, Dean. Right, he just like his eyes just a spin. I saw him once in a fucking audition waiting room I think I've said this before we auditioning for the same part Think of what it like it made me angry to see him. Yeah, I was like is this seat open and I was like don't be nice

[01:05:48] Actors in Hollywood who can play like kind of get rejected by Lenny, as Lenny has to sort of ascend the ladder. He's got a couple heartbreaking scenes, right? He has to convey a tremendous amount in very small moments. That's a great job. So pretty quickly he meets Felicia Montenegro. Yes. Montalegra. Montalegra, not Felicia Montsera.

[01:07:00] He's an unlegricone.

[01:07:01] So, right, he's at a party.

[01:07:04] Yes, and he's fucking, he's put on a show.

[01:07:07] He's got a great, rather than just hearing them go, and where did you grow up?

[01:08:23] This movie does a great job short cutting the boring biopic material.

[01:08:28] Yes, yes. music, sorry that Maestro had jarringly loud music lighting. He's complaining about Maestro as if it's Ozfest. Later Bernstein playing his rebellious movie, a top volume for the kids. Final thing he says is a little bit of Tanglewood. He's not even offering that as a note,

[01:09:40] as a positive or a negative,

[01:09:42] but maybe was he just like, not enough Tanglewood.

[01:09:44] I think he likes Tanglewood.

[01:09:45] He's like in the back, he's like, more Tanglewood.

[01:09:48] He grew up near Tanglewood. I'm not discrediting his back injury as a fellow a man who suffers from a bad back. Wait, I thought he wasn't not having sex with her. I thought it was they had had sex and this is he hurt himself and so they're laying on the bed on the floor. Griffin saying maybe he couldn't, you know, last that long.

[01:11:00] That's innuendo, obviously, where you know, you can read into that.

[01:11:03] You can read into it.

[01:11:04] I'm just I'm throwing up my read of the scene, which was they were having sex and he could But it was also like he probably of his own volition never would have married a woman if there were not cultural pressures on him despite having real feeling for her and and such But i'm watching this film once again still being trained by the kinds of conventional oscar bait biopics that people are wrongly

[01:12:22] Accusing this movie of being where i'm like, okay i'm watching the flirtation period when is the scene where she catches him with another man

[01:13:22] She tells Shirley that she's going to Tanglewood, and Shirley's like, oh, my brother never told me that.

[01:13:26] She went, you're going to watch my brother perform?

[01:13:29] Right. And she's like, no, he invited me.

[01:13:31] And then you see Sir Solvman kind of have

[01:13:33] the response of like,

[01:13:34] She's like, look, my brother likes to Tanglewood.

[01:13:36] But not with you.

[01:13:38] She doesn't say that.

[01:13:39] Well, but then she also tries to set him up with Dick Hart.

[01:13:44] Yes.

[01:13:45] No, Solvman trying of me. Right. Which way were? And he's like your dad is category fraud what he did with training day is unacceptable. He complains to my father's Oscar. He's like.

[01:15:01] They had equal screen.

[01:15:02] They obviously didn't tell us to run away.

[01:15:04] But the movie opens and closes with him. homeless shelters, and when you buy yours from Bombus, you're also donating essential items to those who need them. One purchased equals one donated, as you said in these tough winter months. It goes a long way. It does. And that's why I think Bombus is good. I also like they're ready to go gift boxes, which are filled with high quality basics. Your loved ones will enjoy all year long.

[01:16:21] It's a very solid Christmas present,

[01:16:22] because you don't even need to wrap it.

[01:16:24] Comes in a nice box.

[01:16:25] The packaging is nice.

[01:16:26] Now, JJ Burch, our researcher, texted us recently, And this season they've done an arc where they've been counting down the most successful companies in Shark Tank history with the updated numbers. Every episode adding two companies. And I'm watching these. I'm gripping my armrests and I'm going, are they going to reveal that Bombus has slipped down to two to three? My friends, I'm happy to tell you that Bombus is still the number one most successful company in the history of Shark Tank.

[01:17:42] That's great.

[01:17:43] Go to bombus.com slash check and use like sort of lost in, all of that. And she's an artist and performer on her own right, and she basically has to give up. Has he over career, have a bunch of kids, like just later in the movie. The first lady of classical music. Like people like the idea that she's a singer and actress

[01:19:03] as sort of like a footnote on to like,

[01:19:04] look at this household they have.

[01:19:06] 100% and like. 12 years, like, you know, he was one of the great composers of the 20th century, but sometimes he'd be gay. But according to a biography, right, when he was holding that back, he kind of went to his festival. Right. And holding that back is the whole thing, right? Like, I think what's interesting about this movie and this dynamic is like, when he has this sort of breakdown of like, I can't

[01:20:20] fight this anymore. I need to live my truth. I need to be myself.

[01:20:23] Right. I got to get clicked. when he's sort of separated from Felicia. Right, and he seems to be spiraling out of control. Sort of, and you know, like, right, like isn't producing as much maybe. Well, so there's the scene when he brings her to Tanglewood, he introduces her to Matt Bomer, right? Yeah. Where Matt Bomer plays this moment beautifully.

[01:21:41] This is like, here's Leonard Bernstein introducing

[01:21:44] his girlfriend to his boyfriend.

[01:21:46] Right. Right?

[01:21:47] And Matt Bomer is straight out of any biopic, where the guy is like, listen, Lenny, you got to change your name. It's too Jewish. You're going to blow your shot at being the number one.

[01:23:00] And basically, like, Kerry Mulligan just leans over to him.

[01:23:02] It's like, can we get out of here?

[01:23:03] Like, this sucks.

[01:23:04] But also, what are they talking about?

[01:23:05] It's a scene where they never dream ballet performance of the show he's working on, and suddenly he's part of the show, something he never would have done in real life. No, it doesn't. But it's like magic. Right. And it's because of that pressure, like that scene feels like a scene with the Kennedy

[01:24:20] family strategizing, which of our children are we going to push for president next, right?

[01:24:25] It's these chessboard scenes, if everyone's saying to him, like, you don't understand, with the pacing of everything in the film up to this point. I think that sequence, which I brought up earlier, does show the fact that she knows about his homosexuality. Yes, 100%. But I think the question that I think is interesting in the movie is, I Or to ascend. The whole thing is he has this shot. It's like, you're not just gonna maintain, you're gonna be this breakthrough American conductor. And you will change the course of music in our culture for the next couple things. For the American understanding of classical music. And again, that's only somewhat interesting to this movie.

[01:27:03] Like this movie's most interesting in Lenny and Felicia. and was like, I'm gonna produce a sitcom for you to star in. And Will Smith was like, I'm not an actor. And Quincy Jones was like, you don't understand. You have the thing. Sure. You have the charisma. You could be in a really important... You said you're rizzed up, you're rizzed up. You're rizzed up. No, but basically said to him, like you have the potential to be a popular artist

[01:28:21] who could really transform the notion

[01:28:23] of African Americans in this country.

[01:28:25] And you have a societal obligation to do this. He's being interviewed on television with his wife about like Leonard Bernstein. What a success you are tell us all about Oh, I love it when she's and he's working on new thing with Steve is on time This little young But she's a from your Juliet They're also in the interview still asking her about like her acting career hundred percent And she's sort of making the joke of like well

[01:29:40] I barely have time to act the children around the house like she's still thought of as an actor

[01:29:45] You're getting the sense that right her career is it's starting to look but I

[01:30:42] Bass was like controversial at the time. I think now it's pretty well regarded.

[01:30:44] What kind of Miami?

[01:30:46] Well, actually I have something I wanted to share

[01:30:49] regarding bass, if I may.

[01:30:51] Yes, Ben.

[01:30:52] So I've mentioned him on the podcast before,

[01:30:55] but my uncle was an active musician and composer

[01:31:00] in the late 70s and early 80s.

[01:31:02] Oh, this is not the relative who was one miracle

[01:31:05] away from St. Hood.

[01:31:06] No, that guy's been dead for a long time.

[01:31:07] That guy is more like a... Thresh battle? Yeah, exactly.

[01:32:20] No, he was more into 12-tone music, which is just like very, very intense.

[01:32:25] So like Bernstein to him is, you know, that do have some more bros. I'm bros. But Ken was a percussionist. Like I said, he did though have a featured part playing vibes in one of the movements. Unfortunately, I've been trying to track down the performance. I'm sorry. I cannot believe your uncle was a professional vibist. He was.

[01:33:40] I don't know if I would classify him as a professional vibist, but he definitely knows his way around

[01:33:47] vibes. It is only included in some Bernstein documentary that PBS did. Oh, which is available on YouTube because I've watched it. Nice. But I'm really, I'm gonna try and track that down just cause I think it would be a nice gift for Ken to relive this music that he had a big problem with. That is very cool.

[01:35:01] Fives.

[01:35:08] So I was not, based on the trailer of the film.

[01:36:21] Sure. he's Aronosky's guy. So, or yeah, I mean, he did pine work. He most. He shot stars born. He did. I was just saying, like, there was big, maddie weekend where stars born and venom both released on the screen. Since then, it's like he did Birds of Pray, the prom, don't worry, darling, and the whale. Like it's not like these are tiny movies. And honestly, most of those movies look pretty good.

[01:36:23] I can't speak to the prom.

[01:36:24] Didn't see that one either.

[01:36:25] Yes.

[01:36:26] But I was kind of like. Back to my stroke. Yes. There's some very interesting framing that happens throughout the movie. I especially noticed it during distance and he's creating obstructions. And even there's the scene where I'm jumping ahead, but where at the... They're home in the Hampton. The Hampton's home, where she's kind of lightly scolding him for bringing Gideon Glick. And he's like, well, a daughter likes it.

[01:39:00] My thought she'd want him here.

[01:39:01] And she's like, that's not why you brought him.

[01:39:03] Please admit why you brought him.

[01:39:04] And the whole thing is happening

[01:39:05] from the other side of the fence outside their pool. Where in the Harvard sweatshirt where Harvard is written, Hebrew, what? Oh, I was wondering what that said in Hebrew. That's as Harvard. He went to Harvard. I was at school in Cambridge. He went to Harvard before Curtis. I went to Harvard. The Institute in Philadelphia. I, as I have mentioned on this podcast before, I have a similar family situation to the Bernstein family.

[01:40:24] My father is gay. to think that I'm not gay, but also the second she put any judgment on it makes me feel even more guilt and shame. You said a thing, not to paraphrase you, Marie, but when we were talking after the movie about she was like, this is why do we have Will Smith?

[01:41:40] Not to paraphrase you.

[01:41:42] He and Jada have an agreement, right?

[01:41:44] It's more. Of course. And I thought that the film was very sensitive,

[01:43:03] especially to Felicia, and to the daughter.

[01:44:04] should meet each other for the first time, where he says you and I are so similar because we both hold many identities and contradictions because she is Jewish, but she's also Latino, but she is

[01:44:13] also white and her... She was a Costa Rican Chilean actress. And her family had higher ambitions

[01:44:21] for her, but she wants to be an actor and then his family, I don't know if we've touched on his

[01:45:21] and planes of like, well, he's putting himself in the movie too, watch.

[01:45:22] I'm like, I like that.

[01:45:23] That's what I think is.

[01:45:23] Put yourself in your movie.

[01:45:24] Also fucking unbelievable performance.

[01:45:26] What are you talking about?

[01:45:27] You're saying putting too much of his own.

[01:45:29] Like how Bradley feels about his relationship

[01:45:31] to the letter of purpose.

[01:45:32] That's why it's good.

[01:45:33] That's what makes him a serious filmmaker

[01:45:34] is that he is expressing things

[01:45:37] that he maybe could not express in any other format.

[01:45:41] He has had serious substance abuse problems in his life.

[01:45:44] Yes, that's true.

[01:45:45] And it feels like he was putting a lot of that in Star Wars.

[01:45:47] Born, he is not making movies whether you get to stay there or whether you were someone who had a moment, you know? And you do have to start to think about your career very strategically and you have to think about your public persona very strategically and even just like how much am I playing the game of going on talk shows? When I'm on talk shows, what's the version of Bradley Cooper on talk shows? He chooses to make it mostly, I'm Philly bro, right?

[01:47:00] Which I'm not saying is an insincere part of him.

[01:47:02] I think it's a genuine honest version of him, I think he kind of hates it. I think he views it as means to an end and there's a certain amount he needs to play the game in order to do what he wants to do. And that's a lot of what this movie is about. I also think getting back to the film itself, right? And what I find so interesting and kind of like unknowable about their relationship is as we said,

[01:48:22] it does seem like he has slept with Matt Bomer's later wife,

[01:48:27] right? for easy answers because these things are kind of unknowable. So we need to talk about her illness. Well, first she, after he talks to my hug, then there's like the big fight where she basically is like yelling at him like, you're gonna be a lonely old lady.

[01:49:40] This all happens with the back drop.

[01:49:42] Ooband is snooping in the back.

[01:49:43] He shows up late.

[01:49:44] Macy's Thanksgiving Day, per se.

[01:49:45] Hungover on Thanksgiving.

[01:49:46] He's sloppy on Thanksgiving. for easy laughs to like defuse the tension. Blasting only the words Leonard Bernstein and it's the end of the world as we know it. Right. Well, because I'm just wondering, is it too easy? I don't think so. Cause I think, I think the REM license plate moment is also like, this guy has now come all the way around to being obsessed with the public persona,

[01:51:00] Leonard Bernstein, that he's created.

[01:51:02] Like he's-

[01:51:03] Yeah, he's become something of a right.

[01:51:04] He's done out on what a mean he's become in a weird way.

[01:51:07] You know? I said to Griffin while we were there, I was like, that's Lydia Tar. And he said, oh yeah, that's her. But they have the dinner with the Black Panther Party. Where... And Lydia Tar? Right. And was it, who was it? Was Tom Wolf the one who called them Radical Chic? Sure, yes, that sounds right. I mean, right, he's like, to me, a classic kind of lefty New Yorker celebrity,

[01:52:20] you know, in the 20th century, anti-war, anti-Vietnam,

[01:52:24] anti-nuclear war.

[01:52:26] The kind of guy Richard Nixon would like

[01:52:28] drink a quart in them. You know, like, it's so sad.

[01:53:41] Yes.

[01:53:42] Carrie, so what do you guys think of Carrie as?

[01:53:44] She's unbelievable.

[01:53:45] I think she is phenomenal.

[01:53:47] She's unbelievable.

[01:53:48] Tough roll. She has like, Gatsby mopey vibes that I cannot guess. She gets cast in on a mopey. She's so fucking mopey. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face. She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:00] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:00] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:01] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:02] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:03] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:04] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:05] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:05] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:06] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:07] She's got a mopey face.

[01:55:08] She's got a someone else. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And then she sort of has. Because she's that graduated to like matronly, at least in her mind, like her fear. Right. Right. And then she has like the one, the first

[01:56:23] scene in the movie where she really kind of talks about their arrangement of like, it wasn't,

[01:57:21] of shop and silence. The other person asks lots of questions.

[01:57:22] Yes.

[01:57:22] Where you're just like, well, OK, well,

[01:57:24] let's focus brass tacks here.

[01:57:25] What about this?

[01:57:25] What about this?

[01:57:26] What about this?

[01:57:26] What about this?

[01:57:27] What about this?

[01:57:28] What about this?

[01:57:29] And you just kind of hold on this three shot of them.

[01:57:30] But it is one of many really devastating owners.

[01:57:32] And he's clearly trying to be like, OK, let's focus.

[01:57:35] Let's get this done.

[01:57:36] And she's just kind of like, it takes a while before both of them break down.

[01:57:39] The thing about this segment of the movies, when the movie is coming out and I'm hearing

[01:57:44] buzz about a lot of people like, you know of they're not being incredibly long, they're not being many of them, where there is just an observational specificity in details that are heartbreaking. There's the thing of her folding the toilet paper. All that stuff. That is just like, that is clearly drawn from

[01:59:00] the burn scene children telling him that,

[01:59:02] his own experience, someone he knows,

[01:59:04] that's not something you'd like.

[01:59:05] It's a little detail that you wouldn't think to include.

[01:59:07] That just speaks volumes, Now, that is 10 minutes of the movie. And then there's really just 10 minutes left. Right. I've got to say, it feels like after that moment, they get back together in some form, and then shortly they're ever, she's diagnosed. And yeah, I mean, it's just, they're whole dynamic at this point.

[02:00:21] It's like they know each other too well

[02:00:24] to a certain degree to this movie, the movie ended there. Interesting. And like basically just like hard cut to that song and that's it. Because when that, there's a little more of like a sort of like kind of chilling ending. That moment is fascinating.

[02:01:40] Cause you're like,

[02:01:40] this is a version of him I haven't seen.

[02:01:42] Cause there are even earlier cutaways

[02:01:43] where there's the party

[02:01:44] where they're doing coke on top of his head.

[02:01:46] Yes.

[02:01:47] And stuff like that.

[02:01:48] This feeling of the guy going on benders and it cuts back to one final interview. Exactly, it's one final interview of him kind of more like invoice over basically putting a point on like, I missed her terribly. And then a shot of her looking at the camera and then maestro. So basically clearly he kind of toyed with, do I really kind of just like get out of there at this kind of shocking like loss?

[02:03:00] He almost does.

[02:03:01] And then he clearly was like,

[02:03:03] I think I need like something to slightly soften it

[02:03:06] or whatever.

[02:03:07] But anyway, just interesting to think about I've heard people complain like long draggy biopic and I'm like it's a very It's a very live movie to me. I agree with you I'm like this falls into this camp of like if this is what Oscar bait was Oscar Bate wouldn't have any negative connotations and to lump this in with things like I don't know the best of enemies There wasn't a single boy in a boat. I'll say it none

[02:04:21] I'm gonna make a comparison now, please

[02:04:25] Not to Will Smith fuck. Sully should have said that but

[02:05:21] It's so overblown. Like, what does he think he knows about movie?

[02:05:23] You know what I mean?

[02:05:24] Because like Babylon's trying to be about everything.

[02:05:25] What did Bradley Cooper know about classical music?

[02:05:27] But this is in comparison a fairly small personal film.

[02:05:30] I think people, yes, I do think irony poison people

[02:05:33] will fucking revolt against this thing.

[02:05:35] Right, I do wonder how this will go over once, right?

[02:05:38] It's, you know, giffable.

[02:05:40] But I think, yeah.

[02:05:41] In a, I think not well, which, you know.

[02:05:44] In another way though, I think like.

[02:05:45] Move in and zoom in the best, though.

[02:05:46] The lights camera Jackson's of the world. like, well, that wasn't that good. And I wanted to throw him into 65th Street. And I didn't, I brokely resisted. That's so brave of you. When it first played at Venice, people were a little more meso-mezzo on it. I was also just like, why are you not premiering this at New York? What kind of killed a New York Film Festival in Surprise, I don't know why. No, I like, I love this thing unreservedly. I, it's, it's certainly, you know,

[02:07:02] I'm, I, I still have a lot to see

[02:07:04] in their stuff I want to rewatch,

[02:07:05] but I feel like it's firmly in my top five for the year.

[02:07:08] And I was saying to identify that Bradley Cooper's real life daughter played young Jamie Bernstein the minute I saw her on screen. Marie did call it a minute ago. I had no idea. And I just wanted to share, I did not decide to watch this film. I recently lost the loved one to cancer. Yes, we sort of warned you. Yeah, this might card declined. Did you order Ben at George Santos? Came on. Hold on. Oh my God. Better not be. I don't want any blank check dollars going to George said. Okay. Hold on. It's processing. We can keep talking. Yeah. This film came out.

[02:09:40] It's just going to get a big pop when it drops. I guess we're going for Thanksgiving weekend.

[02:09:43] Correct? That was its release. Obviously, it's four walls, so we assuming you haven't seen it out now. I haven't seen it. I'm waiting to see it with my grandmother. Oh my God, Griffin, Joaquin is just being such a weirdo. I've heard it. I'm excited. I think my grandmother's gonna fucking love it. There's a scene where he was making it clear that he wants to have sex. Uh-huh.

[02:11:00] And he just goes, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my.

[02:11:02] I can confirm that that is a scene in Ridley Scott's Napoleon.

[02:11:05] It's so good.

[02:11:06] I love Napoleon. It's made 170 worldwide. Yeah, like it's, you know, and it's still going out there. Dare I say it? The big titty-titty pit? No, it's a medium titty pit. So it's like a sea cup pit. Okay. You gonna see cups or mediums? It's a beak up pit. David is like, Yes, see, this is, we have to drop this. I agree, I agree. So like, like we already have such a small sliver

[02:12:22] of a female audience.

[02:12:23] I know, honestly true.

[02:12:25] It's not that bad.

[02:12:26] I've gotten multiple things from my brain.

[02:12:28] Yeah, it's kind of action. But the songs are kind of bad. People seem to dislike the songs. I haven't heard them. I did get sent to vinyl from Disney with the songs on them. Wow, humble brag. All right, I believe that you're going to go in another direction. What was that? I thought you're about to be like, it's flat to the hit. Ben, you just said it.

[02:13:41] And you're going to meet out yourself.

[02:13:42] Stop saying it.

[02:13:45] Number four is the box office.

[02:13:46] I want everyone to know that I think the movie continued to play really well at homes with kids. So it felt like it lingered. They make the second movie where the expectations were high because they were like, well, the first movie was kind of a covert. Right, so the first movie. The theatrical model. Did really big VOD numbers,

[02:15:00] but it was basically the first movie to go straight to VOD

[02:15:03] rather than theaters in COVID at a very high price point.

[02:15:07] And that puts in a weirdillion screens. He has like a three hour gap between shows. He's seen two shows one day, man, nay to evening. He's got nothing to do. He can't leave the theater district.

[02:16:21] And he's like, well, I'll fuck it.

[02:16:23] You know what?

[02:16:24] I'll go see the marvels.

[02:16:25] I never saw that.

[02:16:26] I'll, you know, I'll go see it.

[02:16:28] Not playing. It's good. Thank you. But I know, look, it is like an unbelievably enjoyable film. Number eight is a concert film that's one of the top 10 domestic grocery stores of the year. Taylor Swift. The year is tour. Number nine is a movie where someone drinks cum. Salt burn. Number 10 is a movie about five nights

[02:17:42] at a certain person's place.

[02:17:43] Freddy.

[02:17:44] I was trying to make a turn.

[02:17:46] There was an amazing post in our Reddit recently where. You've seen the holdovers, right? And I was like, yeah, and he was like, and did you like my performance in it? And I was like, yeah, I did, obviously I mean, if you're really good. And he's like, I was watching it the other day and I was thinking like, this is like virtuoso shit. And then Giamatti just kept pumping up how good he thought he was in the holdovers. And I was like, he's right.

[02:19:01] But also like, I didn't think Giamatti would be a guy

[02:19:04] and pat himself on the back this hard.

[02:19:05] And he's like, I'm watching this performance.

[02:19:06] I'm like, this know what, I'm gonna go see another Japanese sub-titled movie in theaters. But the best thing is them being number one at the box office got them a bunch of free press. Yeah, a lot of the headlines they got from like

[02:20:23] Miyazaki tops the box office, his highest track also a listener of the show. But of course here, somehow, the track I'm going to play is from one Amy Irving.

[02:21:41] Academy Award nominee for the film,

[02:21:43] Gentle, soon to be covered on the podcast.

[02:21:46] Winky winky. Following yonder star. Oh star. I wonder. Star. Oh night. Wow. You're crazy for this one, Hans. Truly crazy.

[02:23:00] So good.

[02:23:00] Incredible shit.

[02:23:01] Fun stuff.

[02:23:02] Where can you get it?

[02:23:03] Everywhere.

[02:23:06] Wherever you get your music.

[02:24:00] just to open a box. There's a big box that came from AJ McCann,

[02:24:06] our lovely editor,

[02:24:09] one of those helpful people in the world.

[02:24:11] It's incredible.

[02:24:12] Yeah, also a real snack.

[02:24:14] You're the looking guy.

[02:24:15] Yeah.

[02:24:16] Right, we're all.

[02:24:17] AJ?

[02:24:18] Oh yeah, he's a handsome fellow.

[02:24:19] Not to get thirsty on me.

[02:24:19] He's a very handsome fellow

[02:24:20] and he sent us what I would say is a tall, narrow box.

[02:24:24] With fragili stickers, all of that.

[02:24:26] It's got fragili stickers, it's pretty incredible. And we're going to have to hang it in the office. Thank you, AJ. Yeah. And for the time being, it will go against a wall, like all of her other pictures. Bring everything down to the near. We're going to get every 24, baby. Yeah. You're a posters. The year of the clock. And the clock. Fucking clock. I know. Yeah, we're getting fucking the ceiling treated acoustically.

[02:25:41] And we're getting fucking fucking fucking fucking.

[02:25:44] Other shot.

[02:25:45] Miles over here.

[02:25:46] Oh, yeah, you've never done that.

[02:25:47] OK, I've never done that.

[02:25:48] Listen. Let's get this thing out without anyone seeing. Yeah. Maybe it's gonna be a mess. Can I say it? I think it's gonna be a big chocolate hit. A big chocolate hit. I like that better. Yeah. Will that apply to everything? I don't know. Listen, this is, we'll see you in two weeks with Wanko Man.

[02:27:02] Maestro, I hope you all watch it at home.

[02:27:04] If you've had the chance to go see in theaters,

[02:27:06] it's even better that way,

[02:27:07] but Netflix continues to be Alex remixed for this episode. Go to blankcheckpod.com for links to some real nerdy shit, including our Patreon, Blank Check Special Features, where we do commentaries on film series, we're finishing up Mike Myers, we have Love Guru kicking off the New Year, and then I don't know if we've announced it in this feature or not, but we're doing the Terminator movies. Yeah, we may not have announced that yet,

[02:28:20] but the next thing on that feed is the Love.

[02:28:22] Is pitching the walk?

[02:28:23] Oh, pitching the walk.

[02:28:24] A very special episode with J.D. Amato

[02:28:26] that I'm sure you'll all enjoy,

[02:28:27] in which we are very normal.