February 5, 2018 • 36 mins
This week Chuck debuts his first Mini Crush episode. Today, and every Monday, he and producer Noel will be going over Facebook polls and questions, movie and TV recommendations and other fun segments. Like the Facebook page to take part in these interactive short episodes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Movie Crush. Charles W.
Chuck Bryant. Here in our home studio Pont City Market, Atlanta, Georgia.
And today I have me in the studio and Noel
it's gonna chime in say hello, Nol, Hey Chuck. How's
it going everybody? Well, he said, hey, Chuck. It was
kind of a doubled up. It was like saying hey
(00:45):
to you and then saying hey to to the listening public.
And I responded for the listening public because I think
they're doing fine. It's I'm gonna stick with that. Um.
So this is the first, um, I guess many episode
we're gonna call these. Uh. It was pretty clear from
interacting with people on on Facebook and the Movie Crush
page and the Super Super Movie Crush fan page, the
(01:07):
Movie Crushers that uh folks wanted to interact a lot
with this podcast, which is awesome, and that was kind
of the idea to begin with. So that's kind of
the idea behind these episodes. We're not going to feature
interviews with people about their favorite movie, but a lot
of it is going to be just hanging out virtually,
(01:27):
hanging out with you guys and I'm sourcing emails from
from Facebook and top tens and questions for you guys,
and everyone's chiming in, so you're gonna play a big
part in this, which is very cool, I think. So
that's sort of the concept. We're gonna keep them kind
of short and sweet, probably between twenty and thirty minutes,
(01:49):
and we're gonna have just some different segments here and there.
I'm gonna have a little bag of tricks that we
come up with over time. And some of these were
directly from from you guys who suggested that I do
certain things. And I'm always looking for feedback, So if
you have some more ideas for fun segments, please please
let me know, because that's the whole idea here, is
to make this about us, the movie Crush family community
(02:13):
here that we have going so um. I think today
we are gonna do a few different segments. And I
gave these all goofy titles because that's just how my
mind works. And maybe no one can come up with
some fun little music stings. What do you think. I'll
give it a go for sure. Man. Okay, well we'll
know here in about three seconds. Because the first segment
we're gonna talk about is called social studies. So social
(02:41):
studies is um a little play on words from social media.
And this is when I have put out a call
on Facebook for a question basically for for you folks
to answer back. And I will read as many of
them as I can. But um, I put a few
of them mountain. We'll do one per episode here moving forward.
And the question I threw out was for this one
(03:03):
is what movies have actually inspired you in your personal
life and why? And um, I'll go and start with
mine just to get it going. Mine's kind of corny,
I guess I had to think about it for a while. Um,
But Dead Poets Society, it seems like a almost trite
to say that movie inspired me, but it really did
(03:25):
because I was trying to think back to that movie,
and if I'm not mistaken, there was a direct through
line from watching that movie to me becoming an English
major in college. When I went to college, it didn't
have a great idea of what I wanted to do,
and Dead Poets Society had just really gotten me into
(03:46):
um literature. I mean, I'd always read since I was
a kid, but it really inspired me to start reading.
Like obviously, poetry and some of the classics, and I
remember thinking, hey, if I can read and write and
college and that's my main jam, that I should probably
pursue that. And it's sort of in the back of
my head too. I I know everyone knows I always
(04:07):
kind of thought about being a teacher because my parents
are both teachers, and um, obviously Dead Poets Society is
a love song for for inspiring teachers, So that one
stuck with me. And I think that movie inspired me
at least to do, uh, do what I did in college.
I don't want to put you on the spot in
old but well, first thing to follow up to that
also kind of inspire, like a little bit of a
(04:28):
rebellious streak. Did you stand on your desk in college? Oh?
My god? And that's that's tough. I wish I would
have had a little more time to think about, Like
the stuff that comes to mind is mainly just like
things that made me feel empathy and and the one
that comes to mind is like stuff like the Lion
King and things that I've been able to share with
(04:49):
my daughter. So I guess in terms of inspiration, maybe
that's not exactly the right answer, but it's certainly stuff
that gives me an interesting nostalgia boost where I kind
of can to where I was when I was a
kid watching that and now watching them with my daughter.
And actually I've got one now, Inside Out, Inside Out,
the Pixar movie that's about mental health, and we handled
this so delightfully. I saw that with my daughter when
(05:11):
she was borderline not old enough to get all the messages,
but like the way it's presented, you don't have to
go full deep, fully deep into it um and I
could tell that it resonated with her, and it really
resonated with me, you know. And she looks over at me,
and this happens every time we go to a movie
like that, and she's like, Dad, you're crying again. That's
a delightful music. That's that's kind of what comes to
(05:31):
mind for me. That's good man, Emilian are succeps um poy.
We cry a lot and I can't. I'm sure my
daughter is gonna be like, what's wrong with mommy and
daddy at some point. I caught her crying in a
movie recently and that made me feel good. That is sweet.
But it was actually the Greatest Showman, which is a
little schmaltzy and it's this musical about P. T. Barn
and he obviously wasn't the best dude, and they whitewashed
(05:53):
it a good bit. But it's kind of a delightful
Mulan rouge pop musical and she just adores it so
much and more of the spectacle I think kind of
brought her to tears because it's just very pop music
driven and really makes you twist the fields on you
a little bit. So I'm looking over at Herrick and
I was like, all right, we're in this together, kid.
So it was manipulative, it's what yourself. Yeah, yeah, but
in a way that I kind of enjoy. Um. All right, well,
(06:16):
let's take through some of these on Facebook. Then, UM
let me see here Alison Gallagher, she's very active on
our page. Thanks Allison, um, she says, a league of
their own. I love that the film uses America's favorite
pastime to demonstrate the strength strengths of all women and
their capabilities on and off the field. That's a great one, uh.
Mark Germany says Sideways one of my favorites. Mark, that
(06:39):
movie always made me want to be involved in the
wine industry, and two years ago I left my career
behind and started studying to become a winemaker. That's awesome.
I would love to do that. Well, actually, I think
i'd rather just strength of wine. Um Mark Palumbo says
life is beautiful. Even in the world around you is
horrific and sad, there's still humor, love, and uh joy
(07:00):
hidden beneath the surface. Is huge. What a wonderful movie.
I never saw that, man, It's it's great. That's one
of those do you have shame movies that you're ashamed
that you never saw? Yeah, I've never been taught. My
girlfriend has a huge hole in her movie going experience.
I've never seen The Godfather and stuff. But she gets
mad at me when I say things like I've never
seen hocus Pocus. Well, one person, Scott Father is another persons.
(07:25):
Um Jennifer Adolph, Princess Pride living in a small town.
It brought all of us outsiders together. That's pretty cool.
I like that. Um let me see here, Vanessa Lopez
Shawshank Redemption reminds me that even though we fight for it,
freedom can be frightening because in one way or another,
we're all a little bit institutionalized like Brooks. But if
we can make a mad dash toward that open door,
(07:46):
and we find it, we might actually break free and
get busy living. WHOA, that's a good deep one. A
couple of people said Eternal Sunshine, The Spotless Mind. Here's
one from Nina Lenore. It was the first movie that
for me encompassed the way a heart can be broken
and hopeful at the same time. I agree, that's a
good one. Um Well, Dead Poet Society. Here's another fellow fan,
(08:11):
Kristen Bits a guy growing up in a small, homogeneous
conservative town, remember thinking that post society was an anthem
for learning to find your passion uh and then live
it at any cost. Totally. I think you mentioned in
an interview before how like that was one where one
of the first ones where you kind of saw suicide
handled in such a frank way and you see that
(08:32):
we at a real young age. Totally. That was kind
of that one for me. I remember feeling that, man,
if you don't like, if you're not crying at the
end of that movie when all the boys stand upon
the desk, then you're dead inside. Cee Lorimer says, difficult
(08:53):
and very personal the hours. That was a heavy movie.
Julian Moore explains why she leaves her husband and young
children later in life. She says, it was death. I
chose life. Although different reasons, this line resonated with me
while leaving my marriage and fundamentalist Christianity. Wow, people are
people are digging in here? This is a good question.
(09:15):
Way to go, Chuck, Trish Lauder, Hoss gil Breath, great name,
great hyphen NATed name. Frieda starring Salma Hayak. Frieda Kala's
life story is fascinating and inspiring on its own, she
was a unique and outspoken artist. Add to that, what
Hyak went through to get the movie made totally. It
was Hi's passion project and it shows that's one of
(09:39):
my faiths. In that essays shearro recently about all that
stuff with Weinstein that she went through to make that
movie is crushing. Salma Hayak wrote that wrote like an
op ed for Variety or something where she talked about
how he held that movie over her head at every
turn and was just as smarmie. You know, e o
s what you can say, piece of ships, some army
(10:00):
piece of ship just the worst. That's terrible and uh
my wife, Emily Frieda Calo is one of her, if
not her all time favorite um women in history. I'm
even gonna beyond art. And we have lots of Frieda
stuff in our household, including a bunch of freed to
Carlo children's books. And I think I may have never
(10:21):
seen Emily as happy in her life as when my
daughter one night said, Mommy, can we weed Freida? Can
we weed Freda A? So did you guys go to
the Frieda and Diego exhibition at the high That was
years ago? So cool? Yeah, we've seen her paintings at
a bunch of museums, and one day we will most
(10:41):
definitely go to the Casa Azul in Mexico. That's on
the bucket list. Awesome, not even buckle list. I want
to do that, just a list in the next few years.
John Millsap, This is good answer. I can't think of
a single film that has done this. Every movie I watch,
I take something away that means something to me. That's
why I love movies and I am inspiring to be
(11:02):
an actor. All stories need to be told because you
could never know what any one person will walk away
with and how much it could help. It's a really
good answer. Sarah Adams another for life is beautiful, Rex
are emotionally to get through, and Guido's relentless commitment to
making the world a beautiful place where his son is
it wonderfully demonstrates how love is the most important and
(11:24):
most powerful force in the world. What a bummer that
his next movie was that horrible Pinocchio adaptation. I didn't
see that either. I didn't see it, but I just
saw clips and it's just like held up as one
of the most tone deaf, weird awful movies. Yeah, and
it was like a big passion project for him and
totally fell flat. He plays Pinocchio. He's like this weird
grown up man child looking Pinocchio. I think, I I
(11:49):
think the only Roberto Bonini movies have seen her. The
Jim Jarmish Ones was Down by Law, Down by Law,
and then he was in The Night on Earth. See,
I got a huge hole for Jarmish and my my catalog,
you need to fill that hole. That sounds gross. Um.
Robert lamb our own Robert lamb of stuff to blow
your mind. He's active on this page, which makes me
(12:12):
feel really good. Robert's awesome fear and loathing in Las
Vegas for him actually, which is kind of funny, if
you know. Robert doesn't seem like Fear and Loathing would
be his movie, but he says it actually inspired me
to go back to school and take some journalism classes
rather than take the ls AT and go down that road.
I watched the movie first, then read the book. Not
that I expected the same Gonzo adventures or anything, but
(12:34):
the movie and book ignited something in me. And then
he procured a giant suitcase full of drugs and took
a road no realizing. Oh k b O. Kelly Butler
Olsen one of our old pals. Uh. The Secret Life
of Walter Minnie has been a huge reminder to not
get so caught up in plans and day dreams that
I forget to actually experience life. That's a good one,
(12:58):
all right. And finally we'll do one here one, Carlos
Caranza says. Invictus, which I haven't seen yet. It's on
the list. A great story of how after the apartheid,
Mandela and the South African rugby team work together to
give the nation the first win as a unified country.
In order to go forward, we have to talk and
(13:18):
work with the people that have completely different points of views. Man,
that's a good one to finish up with, given what's
going on in this country right now. Um, those are
some good answers, and I think, I mean, I wish
I could read them all everyone because these are all great,
but we don't want an hour of just reading Facebook post.
But I think this really shows that, like movies, and
(13:40):
that's the sort of idea behind this show is there's
a lot more going on than entertainment. Sometimes it can
be just that, which is great, but movies can inspire
and and really cause you to question things about yourself
in the world around you and inspire you to do
great things, which is pretty awesome. Alright, So move on
from Social Studies two the highlight reel, and this is
(14:06):
what I'm gonna put in every now and then. I
think with a highlight reel, I'm going to highlight, um
what kind of depends could be a writer, could be
a director, or an actor. Um, it could be their
entire career or maybe just a part of it. Uh.
And generally though, these are gonna be people that I
feel like you're a little under served. Um, I'm not
(14:26):
going to do a highlight reel on George Clooney, you know,
what I'm saying, because everyone knows that that cloons is
the best. So this week I'm gonna go with Hal Hartley,
writer director Hal Hartley, who, Um, I'm not sure when
this is gonna come out. Probably, in fact, I know
this will come out pre my discussion with future guest
(14:47):
Guy Brandham, which by the way, look out for that one.
That's a fun one. But um, guy and I talked
a little bit about how Hardley and when I was
in college and the nineties is when I really and
you've heard me talk about this before on the show,
that's when I really got into independent film and stuff
that was a little left of center, um, off the
beaten path kind of stuff, less mainstream, and that's when
(15:10):
my eyes were really open to the to the world
of independent cinema and it was just a huge sea
change in my life and what kind of movies I
liked and what uh I mean, they actually all inspired
me that, like, man, you can you can do this.
These are small movies and you don't have to be
some big Hollywood hot shot to go out there and
tell a great story. So Hal Hartley was definitely one
(15:32):
of those for me. Uh And for the Highlight reel.
I'm gonna specifically talk about his first four feature films. Uh.
He would go on later to do the fay Grim movies.
I wanted to say trilogy, but are there four? Now?
I just know Henry Fool isn't that part of it?
Isn't like the first one? And then fay Graham was
maybe the second one. Yeah, Henry Fool fay Grim. And
(15:52):
there there was a new and many years later recently
called ned Rifle with Aubrey Plaza picking up the baton.
There may have been one in between there. I can't remember.
Those are good movies. I did not love them like
I loved his first four films so which were the
Unbelievable Truth nine Trust in nineteen nine, Surviving Desire in Nino,
(16:13):
and Simple Men in nineteen two. That's crazy to put
out two movies in one year. These are totally new
to me. Man, Well, you gotta check it out. All
of these movies very much in his defining style, which
which is to say, very highly stylized, um left of center.
It borders on the melodrama at certain points, very deadpan
(16:36):
black humor, kind of choppy, stilted dialogue, and sometimes what
what feels like overacting, and that sounds like all the
things you don't want to do as a writer director. Um,
but it works somehow. They're definitely not for everybody. My
brother hated Hal Hartley movies. Didn't get it. Well not
he didn't get it, he just didn't like it. Is
(16:56):
it like Wes Anderson, He kind of stilted acting. You
gotta check it out. It's like sometimes it almost seems like, um,
like a bad play. No, no, no. When I when
I think of that, I think of David Lynch. Yeah,
kind of like purposefully over acted, kind of like scenery
(17:18):
chewing soap opera kind of acting. Well, yeah, there's a
little bit of that, but this these feel like stage
plays and they'll do weird thing I mean he did
weird things, like in the middle of a scene on
a rooftop, the characters would just break out in this
like kind of Broadway style dance. Um. It's like I said,
it's not everyone's cup of tea, but they just delighted
(17:38):
me to no end. And he he really put a
lot of I mean they're the indist of indie films
and and feel and tone and uh, he's a New
York guy and they he launched the careers of a
bunch of people. Edie Falcon's first movies we're some of
the How Hartley movies. Adrian Shelly very sadly, the late
Adrian Shelly. Um, if you guys don't know who she is,
(18:00):
she was in the movie Waitress that became the Broadway
show I think Waitress, and um, she was murdered. It
was very, very sad story. UM. I can't remember exactly when,
but like within the last ten years. But Adrian Shelley
is in some of these first movies. And the great
Martin Donovan, UM was in a couple of these. Uh.
(18:21):
And the first one Unbelievable truth. I guess you would
call it a romantic comedy. Um, it's about a man
who gets out of prison and I believe he was
a convicted of homicide or maybe straight up murder and
he has a relationship with Adrian Shelley. And um, it's
just a romantic romantic comedy, only as how Hartley could
do them. Uh. The next one, Trust the next year
(18:44):
was another romance between two misfits. Surviving Desire was a
story about a teacher who falls in love with his student. UM.
Martin Donovan was a lead in that one as well,
and then Simple Man in n Like I said, his
second movie of nine was about two brothers that kind
of come together to search for their they're missing father
(19:05):
and Simple Man. It's great and these movies kind of
progress unbelievable. Truth is really raw. And it's not like
Simple Men got um flashy or seemed like a Hollywood
type movie, because none of these do. But it definitely
you saw his progression as a filmmaker through these four films.
So how Hardly, I salute you, sir. I even reached
(19:26):
out last night after after doing this, uh putting together
this little piece to see I'm gonna be a New
York in February to see if how Hartly would be
a guest on the show because he seems like a
gettable person because I think like you can kind of
get in touch with how Hardly, I believe without going
through a gazillion people. So fingers crossed there to get
how Hardly on the show. And if if you see
(19:48):
it happen, you know that as a dream come true
for this guy. Um, so check it out and all
start I would say start with maybe jump over to
Simple Men and then work backwards pal turn me onto
Henry fool just randomly. I knew nothing about it. I
was just like, this is a movie I'm gonna show you.
He didn't tell anything about the director. I didn't know
(20:09):
him as like an on tour. So now I know
there's a cool catalog to dig into, and that's always exciting. Yeah.
He also did a movie called Flirt, which was really good,
interesting concept. I think it was, if I remember correctly,
the same story told in three different countries. Uh. And
then one called Amateur with Isabel Uper is that her name?
(20:29):
That's a really good one too, all right, and Onto.
I think I'm gonna do these every week. I'm gonna
close with a segment called stream this and another one
called comment Card, which we're gonna be listener mails and
stream this is gonna be basically anything you can stream.
(20:52):
I had a bunch of people on Facebook say, Hey,
would it be too weird for you to go into
TV shows because, as as everyone knows, we're in the
golden Age of television as they call it, and I
don't think I would want to interview someone about a
TV show. I'm gonna stick with movies there, but for
stream this, I will certainly talk about kind of what
(21:14):
I've been watching lately and Emily and I just finished
streaming The Marvelous Mrs Mazel on Amazon. Have you seen this?
I have not, but I've heard good things. It is really,
really great. It won the Golden Globe for Best Show,
and I believe the lead actor she won the award
for Best Actress at the Golden Globes. And it's just
(21:36):
a delight. It's set in the nineteen fifties. It was
created and show run by Amy Sherman Palladino, who, um,
I think she did The Gilmore Girls is her big,
big show, Yeah, which I didn't watch, but Emily was
a was a nut for that show. But Marvelous Mrs
Mazel set in the nineteen fifties New York City. It
is about a woman who very I mean, there could
(21:59):
be some spoilers ahead, so I'll give you three seconds
to one. Uh not giving way too much though, because
it happens very early in the in the first episode,
a woman who gets uh separated and divorced from her husband.
He's a businessman and he's but he's trying to be
a stand up comic. In the early days of stand
up comedy and he's not very good at it, uh,
(22:20):
And through a sequence of weird things, his wife ends
up Mrs Maisel gets thrown on stage at the Gaslight
in the in the Greenwich Village, which was that's kind
of one of the cool things about the show, as
they have all these real uh nineteen fifties and sixties
uh Greenwich Village haunts and Lenny Bruce plays a role
(22:42):
and I think Bob Newhart is going to be on
at some point, like people playing them obviously, And she
ends up on stage at the Gaslight one night and
does an accidental stand up set when she's basically just
talking about her life and the fact that her her
husband left her that day and she killed and all
of a sudden she's befriends the the I guess she's
(23:03):
the booker, uh, the wonderful wonderful Alex Borstein, who plays
Lois on The Family Guy does the voice for Lois,
but she's the booker and uh for the for the Gaslight,
and she befriends her and she's like, you're really good,
you should do this, and then the story kind of
plays out over the season from there and she very
improbably in the nineteen fifties pursues stand up comedy, also
(23:25):
starring Michael Zegan as her husband, uh Marion Hinkel as
her mother, and two guests on the show. The Great
Kevin Pollock plays the husband's father. And it's just a
meaty role. I was actually talking to him on the
phone about this the other day, congratulating him. It's just
a good, good role and uh for Kevin to dig into.
(23:46):
And then Uh, Tony Shalub, who I have booked for
New York, which I'm super excited about. Yeah, that's you
didn't know that. I thought I told you that. Yeah,
a friend of mine his friends with Tony and he said, sure,
I'll do it. I think it helped that Kevin Pollock
was on What's His what's his main backstory? And he
did Monk and stuff right like later in his career,
(24:07):
but he was what's his? Uh, well, I knew I
knew his work mainly from Cohen Brothers movies. That's right.
He was in he had some small parts. He was
in Barton Fake, but very memorable Parton and Barton Fake
and a couple of other Cohen Brothers movies, I think.
And it's Tony's just the best. And I actually watch
(24:27):
Monk though, which is weird because I love him so much.
Maybe I'll dig into that. I just know it was
a big hit. I've never seen it either, but that's
kind of what I associate with him in like more
recent years. Yeah. Well actually he started many years ago
on Wings, that sitcom from Yeah remember Wings. Yeah, he
was on Wings. I didn't watch Wings either, which is weird.
(24:49):
I remember singing in like on USA when I was
a kid in rewrite. Absolutely, but Tony's gonna be on
the show and he plays the father of Mrs Mazel
and he's great too, And it's just like the show
looks amazing. The art direction is unbelievable. They clearly sunk
a lot of money into it. Um. Kevin Pollock told
(25:09):
me that they they greenlit two seasons right off the bat,
which is really unusual. And I think they just really
committed to the show and it paid off because, like
I said, they won the best TV show. So my
advice go out and stream Marvelous Mrs Mazel on Amazon.
I think I think it's only seven or eight episodes.
It's really just terrific. Have you seen a feudal and
(25:30):
stupid gesture. Not yet. It's wonderful. Yeah, I saw the documentary.
Did you see that? Yeah? I saw the doc on
And if you guys don't know, we're talking about the
story of the creation of National Lampoon or the Harvard
Lampoon originally and specifically through the eyes of what was
the guy's named Jim Kinny. His name is Doug Kenney
(25:53):
and played by will Ford. They just reminded me of
the show you were just talking about. It's very similar
because like, um, you've got Joel McHale playing Chevy Chase
and like all of these great comics that we love
from now kind of playing these like old school dudes
making a caddyshack and all that, and it's like just
cocaine for days. It's just a total debauch. But it's
it's a delightful movie. Like there's a lot of hard
(26:14):
to it too. It's a really really cool, cool movie.
E I can't wait to see it. I think, didn't
David Wayne direct that? That's who? I also love? What
hot American summer that stuff? Um, yeah, I gotta see that.
And there's also a documentary about the lampoon called Drunk
Stoned brilliant dead uh and that kind of kind of
says it. All that really follows follows the through line
(26:35):
of that story. Yeah, I gotta check that out alright.
So two recommendations marvelous uses masl and uh what's the
name of it again? A feudal and stupid gesture. And
that's on Netflix. It is a Netflix original. I think
it came out like a week ago or something fresh.
I did see the trailer and that said something about, um,
sure none of these people look like the people, but
(26:57):
just go with it. Basically some of them do. Though.
It's pretty cool, like it's all over the place, but
it's it really it hits. It's really cool. Well that's
how you should cast, like, you don't have to cast
someone that looks identical to somebody. It's like about capturing
the spirit and be in the wheelhouse physically. When I
think they probably gave Joel McHale chevy Chase because he
was so terrorized by him on Community. Chevy Chase is
(27:21):
apparently like a nightmare to work with the Community and
that was a big part of between him and Dan
Harmon why that show was just like a ship show.
And I think they probably gave it to Joel McHale,
so he got a chance a little. Yeah, I need
to watch Community. I know that that's a great show. Um,
that's on the list too. Life is short, though, people.
I got a lot of stuff to watch, all right,
(27:42):
And we're gonna finish up here with our first mini
episode with comment card, which is our listener males that
have called from Facebook. This one is from Joshua Hall.
Who would you call your favorite director or maybe said better,
whose body of work have you enjoyed the most as
a movie? And this was tough, my friend. Uh So
(28:04):
I went with my first instincts and I'm gonna name two,
which are the Cohen Brothers and Alexander Payne. And I
think I've talked about on the show before, but I
have the percent club, which are directors who have to me,
never made a bad movie. Uh In. The Cohen Brothers
and Alexander Paine definitely are in that category for me.
I know some people take issue with what I would
(28:26):
call lesser Cohen's uh you know, the non Fargoes and
the non lebowskis like intolerable cruelty and right, the Lady
Killers is that another one? Yeah, Lady Killers is the
only one that I really didn't love, but I loved
Intolerable Cruelty. I love burn after reading and all these uh,
(28:46):
I guess tier B Cohen Brothers movies. I just think
they're great. Tier B. Cohen is like still Tier A
most people. Most people. Yeah, absolutely. And then Alexander Payne,
the dude hasn't made a bad movie. I love, love,
love single one of them, including Downsizing, And I know
Downsizing has gotten some bad reviews here and there. Um
I loved it. I don't get it. I think it
(29:07):
was great. Alexander Payne and his his writing partner Jim
Taylor can do no wrong to me. So I'm just
gonna tick through his movies really quickly so you will
know what we're talking about. His very first feature, Citizen Ruth, amazing,
amazing satire. Election another great comedy and satire. He's very satirical.
(29:29):
Now they think about it about Schmidt. Wonderful movie Sideways,
one of the best of the descendants. I read that
book before the movie, uh and loved it, and the
sentence was great. Then he really kind of took a
right turn with the wonderful film Nebraska, beautiful black and
white movie with Will Forte and Bruce Dearn, and then,
like I said, his new movie Downsizing. So I recommend
(29:51):
all those And so, Joshua, those are my two picks.
Who's your favorite director at all? I am a really
huge fan of the combo of Michelle Andre, Spike Jones,
and Charlie Kaufman, and I know they're you know, Spike
and I don't know, Like they both started making like
really cool music videos with like no budget, and I
used to have all the directors series of both Spike
(30:12):
and Michelle, like to the early daft punk videos. And
my favorite one is um Chemical Brothers video for Let
Forever Be, where he simulates bad video effects using cutouts
and like set pieces and stuff. It's amazing to show
it to you later, but it's so cool. But I
love how both of those guys took that d I
Y kind of you know ethic and made the most
(30:33):
mind boy movies and then paired with Charlie Kaufman's mind
bending script writing. And he's a great director in his
own right, like uh senect to Key New York, total bummer,
but just a mind blowers. Yeah, I watched that movie
that was um that was a challenging movie. It's almost
too much because it's so real, I mean, like it
it really twists the knife you know about feeling, you know,
(30:55):
aging and just like relationships and how ephemeral and fleeting
everything can be, you know. But it's a great film.
That's those are my picks. I would say that's a
good one. I would really love the Nomal Lisa Oh
Yeah movie, which was if you guys haven't seen that,
it's Charlie Kaufman doing as a stop motion animation feature,
which is one of the most real, like human stories
(31:17):
I've seen in a long time. And there are these
stop motion figures, which is kind of a brilliant choice.
Really good movie, really really wonderful, and and it actually
has a similar um aesthetic, almost like too synectic key.
And then it really dells down into those issues of
like mortality and like getting older and like what's my legacy,
you know, my relationship with my family and my kids,
(31:39):
but in a kind of a dark and yet really
funny and kind of touching way. Ultimately they're they're both
very heavy movies, but delightful in their own ways too.
He's an interesting guy, Charlie Kaufman. Yeah, and weirdly Anmalisa
as a stop motion animation feature has maybe the most
realistic sex scenes tender just like that I've ever is
(32:01):
just so real and like how how it is in
real life? It wasn't you know how movie sex scenes
Like it's really fantastic, all right. And then finally one
more comic card from Lee Olsen. Hey, Chuck, love the show.
Thanks dude. What sequels do you think are better than
the first films? Good question, and I'm gonna rattle off
(32:23):
four or five here. Spiderman two much better than the first,
Although I thought the first was good, It's not gonna
knock it, but Spiderman two was great. That was the
one with Doc Doc right, Yes, yeah, that was awesome,
Like the best spider Man movie of all of them, um,
even though it really did, like the most recent parts
of it felt like an evil Dead spider Man movie
to me. It had that like yeah, but it had
(32:43):
that like energy that is just like really spastic camera
when when there's that scene on the train and Dot
Cox just like scraping along the sides of it and stuff,
it's like super yeah, And there has never been a
more non evil Dead movie. Sam Ray Amy scene than
when Doc wakes up in the or when they he
(33:05):
wakes up in the surgical room or whatever. That's the
one total evil Dead exact. Yeah, when his he it
comes alive and like he starts smashing everything, like I
hadn't thought about that in years. That's really really good. Uh,
Terminator too, I'm gonna go with over the original Terminator.
I loved the first Terminator, but T two just really
took it to the next level. Amazing. Empire strikes back
(33:26):
kind of Bobbyous love Star Wars. Empire was better. The
Road Warrior greater than Mad Max to me. Even though
I do love the indie gritty, indie nous of Mad Max,
the Road Warrior definitely kicked it up a nudge. Well,
the first Man Max didn't even have quite the same
post apocalyptic vibe as the subsequent ones, right, yeah, I
(33:49):
mean it was just such a lower budget in a
smaller story. Um, they did have that, you know, the
the Gang of Toughs, but Road Warrior like like that's
what we know and love like Mad Max. And then finally,
speaking of Sam Rami, Evil Dead too, um better to
me than Evil Dead one and geez, Army of Darkness
(34:11):
they have been better than Evil Dead too. That was
when he kind of embraced that it was funny. Yeah,
the first one is like they were kind of trying
to make a scary movie. Yeah, it's like, what am
I doing? And then people laughed. I'm sure it was
part of the plan, all al right. So that's it, folks.
Episode one of the many episodes. We need to think
of a name for these. It's in the can. And
(34:32):
thanks to everyone for interacting on Facebook. Keep an eye
out like the Facebook page if you want to interact,
get your stuff right here on the show. And also
want to announce what we're gonna do with the end
of EE shows. Announced the interview guests on Friday and
the movie to give everyone a big heads up on
what to watch. Um, Like I say on Facebook, brush
up so you can crush out. How clever is that? Um? Alright?
(34:55):
So this week is actually the the live movie crush
episode I did at sketch Fest, my very first live show,
which was great and so much fun and I really
really think I want to thank everyone who came out
to that in the Bay Area. And I had Mr
Tony Hale a veep and arrested development and seriously, legit
(35:17):
nicest guy I've ever met in the entertainment industry. No, lie,
and I met some good people, but Tony is the
nicest guy ever. Buster and Arrested Development is probably my
favorite character, and like almost all of comedy, he's all right,
so cool. People to watch that show, get that joke.
So anyway, Tony and I talked about Punch Drunk Love
and that will be coming out this Friday, and it
(35:38):
was wonderful talking to him, so look forward to that,
and uh, salutations everyone, thanks for chiming in there and all.
I think this is a thing now right, I love it.
Let's do it awesome, all right, we'll see everybody next week.
Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Movie Crush. Charles W.
Chuck Bryant. Here in our home studio Pont City Market, Atlanta, Georgia.
And today I have me in the studio and Noel
it's gonna chime in say hello, Nol, Hey Chuck. How's
it going everybody? Well, he said, hey, Chuck. It was
kind of a doubled up. It was like saying hey
(00:45):
to you and then saying hey to to the listening public.
And I responded for the listening public because I think
they're doing fine. It's I'm gonna stick with that. Um.
So this is the first, um, I guess many episode
we're gonna call these. Uh. It was pretty clear from
interacting with people on on Facebook and the Movie Crush
page and the Super Super Movie Crush fan page, the
(01:07):
Movie Crushers that uh folks wanted to interact a lot
with this podcast, which is awesome, and that was kind
of the idea to begin with. So that's kind of
the idea behind these episodes. We're not going to feature
interviews with people about their favorite movie, but a lot
of it is going to be just hanging out virtually,
(01:27):
hanging out with you guys and I'm sourcing emails from
from Facebook and top tens and questions for you guys,
and everyone's chiming in, so you're gonna play a big
part in this, which is very cool, I think. So
that's sort of the concept. We're gonna keep them kind
of short and sweet, probably between twenty and thirty minutes,
(01:49):
and we're gonna have just some different segments here and there.
I'm gonna have a little bag of tricks that we
come up with over time. And some of these were
directly from from you guys who suggested that I do
certain things. And I'm always looking for feedback, So if
you have some more ideas for fun segments, please please
let me know, because that's the whole idea here, is
to make this about us, the movie Crush family community
(02:13):
here that we have going so um. I think today
we are gonna do a few different segments. And I
gave these all goofy titles because that's just how my
mind works. And maybe no one can come up with
some fun little music stings. What do you think. I'll
give it a go for sure. Man. Okay, well we'll
know here in about three seconds. Because the first segment
we're gonna talk about is called social studies. So social
(02:41):
studies is um a little play on words from social media.
And this is when I have put out a call
on Facebook for a question basically for for you folks
to answer back. And I will read as many of
them as I can. But um, I put a few
of them mountain. We'll do one per episode here moving forward.
And the question I threw out was for this one
(03:03):
is what movies have actually inspired you in your personal
life and why? And um, I'll go and start with
mine just to get it going. Mine's kind of corny,
I guess I had to think about it for a while. Um,
But Dead Poets Society, it seems like a almost trite
to say that movie inspired me, but it really did
(03:25):
because I was trying to think back to that movie,
and if I'm not mistaken, there was a direct through
line from watching that movie to me becoming an English
major in college. When I went to college, it didn't
have a great idea of what I wanted to do,
and Dead Poets Society had just really gotten me into
(03:46):
um literature. I mean, I'd always read since I was
a kid, but it really inspired me to start reading.
Like obviously, poetry and some of the classics, and I
remember thinking, hey, if I can read and write and
college and that's my main jam, that I should probably
pursue that. And it's sort of in the back of
my head too. I I know everyone knows I always
(04:07):
kind of thought about being a teacher because my parents
are both teachers, and um, obviously Dead Poets Society is
a love song for for inspiring teachers, So that one
stuck with me. And I think that movie inspired me
at least to do, uh, do what I did in college.
I don't want to put you on the spot in
old but well, first thing to follow up to that
also kind of inspire, like a little bit of a
(04:28):
rebellious streak. Did you stand on your desk in college? Oh?
My god? And that's that's tough. I wish I would
have had a little more time to think about, Like
the stuff that comes to mind is mainly just like
things that made me feel empathy and and the one
that comes to mind is like stuff like the Lion
King and things that I've been able to share with
(04:49):
my daughter. So I guess in terms of inspiration, maybe
that's not exactly the right answer, but it's certainly stuff
that gives me an interesting nostalgia boost where I kind
of can to where I was when I was a
kid watching that and now watching them with my daughter.
And actually I've got one now, Inside Out, Inside Out,
the Pixar movie that's about mental health, and we handled
this so delightfully. I saw that with my daughter when
(05:11):
she was borderline not old enough to get all the messages,
but like the way it's presented, you don't have to
go full deep, fully deep into it um and I
could tell that it resonated with her, and it really
resonated with me, you know. And she looks over at me,
and this happens every time we go to a movie
like that, and she's like, Dad, you're crying again. That's
a delightful music. That's that's kind of what comes to
(05:31):
mind for me. That's good man, Emilian are succeps um poy.
We cry a lot and I can't. I'm sure my
daughter is gonna be like, what's wrong with mommy and
daddy at some point. I caught her crying in a
movie recently and that made me feel good. That is sweet.
But it was actually the Greatest Showman, which is a
little schmaltzy and it's this musical about P. T. Barn
and he obviously wasn't the best dude, and they whitewashed
(05:53):
it a good bit. But it's kind of a delightful
Mulan rouge pop musical and she just adores it so
much and more of the spectacle I think kind of
brought her to tears because it's just very pop music
driven and really makes you twist the fields on you
a little bit. So I'm looking over at Herrick and
I was like, all right, we're in this together, kid.
So it was manipulative, it's what yourself. Yeah, yeah, but
in a way that I kind of enjoy. Um. All right, well,
(06:16):
let's take through some of these on Facebook. Then, UM
let me see here Alison Gallagher, she's very active on
our page. Thanks Allison, um, she says, a league of
their own. I love that the film uses America's favorite
pastime to demonstrate the strength strengths of all women and
their capabilities on and off the field. That's a great one, uh.
Mark Germany says Sideways one of my favorites. Mark, that
(06:39):
movie always made me want to be involved in the
wine industry, and two years ago I left my career
behind and started studying to become a winemaker. That's awesome.
I would love to do that. Well, actually, I think
i'd rather just strength of wine. Um Mark Palumbo says
life is beautiful. Even in the world around you is
horrific and sad, there's still humor, love, and uh joy
(07:00):
hidden beneath the surface. Is huge. What a wonderful movie.
I never saw that, man, It's it's great. That's one
of those do you have shame movies that you're ashamed
that you never saw? Yeah, I've never been taught. My
girlfriend has a huge hole in her movie going experience.
I've never seen The Godfather and stuff. But she gets
mad at me when I say things like I've never
seen hocus Pocus. Well, one person, Scott Father is another persons.
(07:25):
Um Jennifer Adolph, Princess Pride living in a small town.
It brought all of us outsiders together. That's pretty cool.
I like that. Um let me see here, Vanessa Lopez
Shawshank Redemption reminds me that even though we fight for it,
freedom can be frightening because in one way or another,
we're all a little bit institutionalized like Brooks. But if
we can make a mad dash toward that open door,
(07:46):
and we find it, we might actually break free and
get busy living. WHOA, that's a good deep one. A
couple of people said Eternal Sunshine, The Spotless Mind. Here's
one from Nina Lenore. It was the first movie that
for me encompassed the way a heart can be broken
and hopeful at the same time. I agree, that's a
good one. Um Well, Dead Poet Society. Here's another fellow fan,
(08:11):
Kristen Bits a guy growing up in a small, homogeneous
conservative town, remember thinking that post society was an anthem
for learning to find your passion uh and then live
it at any cost. Totally. I think you mentioned in
an interview before how like that was one where one
of the first ones where you kind of saw suicide
handled in such a frank way and you see that
(08:32):
we at a real young age. Totally. That was kind
of that one for me. I remember feeling that, man,
if you don't like, if you're not crying at the
end of that movie when all the boys stand upon
the desk, then you're dead inside. Cee Lorimer says, difficult
(08:53):
and very personal the hours. That was a heavy movie.
Julian Moore explains why she leaves her husband and young
children later in life. She says, it was death. I
chose life. Although different reasons, this line resonated with me
while leaving my marriage and fundamentalist Christianity. Wow, people are
people are digging in here? This is a good question.
(09:15):
Way to go, Chuck, Trish Lauder, Hoss gil Breath, great name,
great hyphen NATed name. Frieda starring Salma Hayak. Frieda Kala's
life story is fascinating and inspiring on its own, she
was a unique and outspoken artist. Add to that, what
Hyak went through to get the movie made totally. It
was Hi's passion project and it shows that's one of
(09:39):
my faiths. In that essays shearro recently about all that
stuff with Weinstein that she went through to make that
movie is crushing. Salma Hayak wrote that wrote like an
op ed for Variety or something where she talked about
how he held that movie over her head at every
turn and was just as smarmie. You know, e o
s what you can say, piece of ships, some army
(10:00):
piece of ship just the worst. That's terrible and uh
my wife, Emily Frieda Calo is one of her, if
not her all time favorite um women in history. I'm
even gonna beyond art. And we have lots of Frieda
stuff in our household, including a bunch of freed to
Carlo children's books. And I think I may have never
(10:21):
seen Emily as happy in her life as when my
daughter one night said, Mommy, can we weed Freida? Can
we weed Freda A? So did you guys go to
the Frieda and Diego exhibition at the high That was
years ago? So cool? Yeah, we've seen her paintings at
a bunch of museums, and one day we will most
(10:41):
definitely go to the Casa Azul in Mexico. That's on
the bucket list. Awesome, not even buckle list. I want
to do that, just a list in the next few years.
John Millsap, This is good answer. I can't think of
a single film that has done this. Every movie I watch,
I take something away that means something to me. That's
why I love movies and I am inspiring to be
(11:02):
an actor. All stories need to be told because you
could never know what any one person will walk away
with and how much it could help. It's a really
good answer. Sarah Adams another for life is beautiful, Rex
are emotionally to get through, and Guido's relentless commitment to
making the world a beautiful place where his son is
it wonderfully demonstrates how love is the most important and
(11:24):
most powerful force in the world. What a bummer that
his next movie was that horrible Pinocchio adaptation. I didn't
see that either. I didn't see it, but I just
saw clips and it's just like held up as one
of the most tone deaf, weird awful movies. Yeah, and
it was like a big passion project for him and
totally fell flat. He plays Pinocchio. He's like this weird
grown up man child looking Pinocchio. I think, I I
(11:49):
think the only Roberto Bonini movies have seen her. The
Jim Jarmish Ones was Down by Law, Down by Law,
and then he was in The Night on Earth. See,
I got a huge hole for Jarmish and my my catalog,
you need to fill that hole. That sounds gross. Um.
Robert lamb our own Robert lamb of stuff to blow
your mind. He's active on this page, which makes me
(12:12):
feel really good. Robert's awesome fear and loathing in Las
Vegas for him actually, which is kind of funny, if
you know. Robert doesn't seem like Fear and Loathing would
be his movie, but he says it actually inspired me
to go back to school and take some journalism classes
rather than take the ls AT and go down that road.
I watched the movie first, then read the book. Not
that I expected the same Gonzo adventures or anything, but
(12:34):
the movie and book ignited something in me. And then
he procured a giant suitcase full of drugs and took
a road no realizing. Oh k b O. Kelly Butler
Olsen one of our old pals. Uh. The Secret Life
of Walter Minnie has been a huge reminder to not
get so caught up in plans and day dreams that
I forget to actually experience life. That's a good one,
(12:58):
all right. And finally we'll do one here one, Carlos
Caranza says. Invictus, which I haven't seen yet. It's on
the list. A great story of how after the apartheid,
Mandela and the South African rugby team work together to
give the nation the first win as a unified country.
In order to go forward, we have to talk and
(13:18):
work with the people that have completely different points of views. Man,
that's a good one to finish up with, given what's
going on in this country right now. Um, those are
some good answers, and I think, I mean, I wish
I could read them all everyone because these are all great,
but we don't want an hour of just reading Facebook post.
But I think this really shows that, like movies, and
(13:40):
that's the sort of idea behind this show is there's
a lot more going on than entertainment. Sometimes it can
be just that, which is great, but movies can inspire
and and really cause you to question things about yourself
in the world around you and inspire you to do
great things, which is pretty awesome. Alright, So move on
from Social Studies two the highlight reel, and this is
(14:06):
what I'm gonna put in every now and then. I
think with a highlight reel, I'm going to highlight, um
what kind of depends could be a writer, could be
a director, or an actor. Um, it could be their
entire career or maybe just a part of it. Uh.
And generally though, these are gonna be people that I
feel like you're a little under served. Um, I'm not
(14:26):
going to do a highlight reel on George Clooney, you know,
what I'm saying, because everyone knows that that cloons is
the best. So this week I'm gonna go with Hal Hartley,
writer director Hal Hartley, who, Um, I'm not sure when
this is gonna come out. Probably, in fact, I know
this will come out pre my discussion with future guest
(14:47):
Guy Brandham, which by the way, look out for that one.
That's a fun one. But um, guy and I talked
a little bit about how Hardley and when I was
in college and the nineties is when I really and
you've heard me talk about this before on the show,
that's when I really got into independent film and stuff
that was a little left of center, um, off the
beaten path kind of stuff, less mainstream, and that's when
(15:10):
my eyes were really open to the to the world
of independent cinema and it was just a huge sea
change in my life and what kind of movies I
liked and what uh I mean, they actually all inspired
me that, like, man, you can you can do this.
These are small movies and you don't have to be
some big Hollywood hot shot to go out there and
tell a great story. So Hal Hartley was definitely one
(15:32):
of those for me. Uh And for the Highlight reel.
I'm gonna specifically talk about his first four feature films. Uh.
He would go on later to do the fay Grim movies.
I wanted to say trilogy, but are there four? Now?
I just know Henry Fool isn't that part of it?
Isn't like the first one? And then fay Graham was
maybe the second one. Yeah, Henry Fool fay Grim. And
(15:52):
there there was a new and many years later recently
called ned Rifle with Aubrey Plaza picking up the baton.
There may have been one in between there. I can't remember.
Those are good movies. I did not love them like
I loved his first four films so which were the
Unbelievable Truth nine Trust in nineteen nine, Surviving Desire in Nino,
(16:13):
and Simple Men in nineteen two. That's crazy to put
out two movies in one year. These are totally new
to me. Man, Well, you gotta check it out. All
of these movies very much in his defining style, which
which is to say, very highly stylized, um left of center.
It borders on the melodrama at certain points, very deadpan
(16:36):
black humor, kind of choppy, stilted dialogue, and sometimes what
what feels like overacting, and that sounds like all the
things you don't want to do as a writer director. Um,
but it works somehow. They're definitely not for everybody. My
brother hated Hal Hartley movies. Didn't get it. Well not
he didn't get it, he just didn't like it. Is
(16:56):
it like Wes Anderson, He kind of stilted acting. You
gotta check it out. It's like sometimes it almost seems like, um,
like a bad play. No, no, no. When I when
I think of that, I think of David Lynch. Yeah,
kind of like purposefully over acted, kind of like scenery
(17:18):
chewing soap opera kind of acting. Well, yeah, there's a
little bit of that, but this these feel like stage
plays and they'll do weird thing I mean he did
weird things, like in the middle of a scene on
a rooftop, the characters would just break out in this
like kind of Broadway style dance. Um. It's like I said,
it's not everyone's cup of tea, but they just delighted
(17:38):
me to no end. And he he really put a
lot of I mean they're the indist of indie films
and and feel and tone and uh, he's a New
York guy and they he launched the careers of a
bunch of people. Edie Falcon's first movies we're some of
the How Hartley movies. Adrian Shelly very sadly, the late
Adrian Shelly. Um, if you guys don't know who she is,
(18:00):
she was in the movie Waitress that became the Broadway
show I think Waitress, and um, she was murdered. It
was very, very sad story. UM. I can't remember exactly when,
but like within the last ten years. But Adrian Shelley
is in some of these first movies. And the great
Martin Donovan, UM was in a couple of these. Uh.
(18:21):
And the first one Unbelievable truth. I guess you would
call it a romantic comedy. Um, it's about a man
who gets out of prison and I believe he was
a convicted of homicide or maybe straight up murder and
he has a relationship with Adrian Shelley. And um, it's
just a romantic romantic comedy, only as how Hartley could
do them. Uh. The next one, Trust the next year
(18:44):
was another romance between two misfits. Surviving Desire was a
story about a teacher who falls in love with his student. UM.
Martin Donovan was a lead in that one as well,
and then Simple Man in n Like I said, his
second movie of nine was about two brothers that kind
of come together to search for their they're missing father
(19:05):
and Simple Man. It's great and these movies kind of
progress unbelievable. Truth is really raw. And it's not like
Simple Men got um flashy or seemed like a Hollywood
type movie, because none of these do. But it definitely
you saw his progression as a filmmaker through these four films.
So how Hardly, I salute you, sir. I even reached
(19:26):
out last night after after doing this, uh putting together
this little piece to see I'm gonna be a New
York in February to see if how Hartly would be
a guest on the show because he seems like a
gettable person because I think like you can kind of
get in touch with how Hardly, I believe without going
through a gazillion people. So fingers crossed there to get
how Hardly on the show. And if if you see
(19:48):
it happen, you know that as a dream come true
for this guy. Um, so check it out and all
start I would say start with maybe jump over to
Simple Men and then work backwards pal turn me onto
Henry fool just randomly. I knew nothing about it. I
was just like, this is a movie I'm gonna show you.
He didn't tell anything about the director. I didn't know
(20:09):
him as like an on tour. So now I know
there's a cool catalog to dig into, and that's always exciting. Yeah.
He also did a movie called Flirt, which was really good,
interesting concept. I think it was, if I remember correctly,
the same story told in three different countries. Uh. And
then one called Amateur with Isabel Uper is that her name?
(20:29):
That's a really good one too, all right, and Onto.
I think I'm gonna do these every week. I'm gonna
close with a segment called stream this and another one
called comment Card, which we're gonna be listener mails and
stream this is gonna be basically anything you can stream.
(20:52):
I had a bunch of people on Facebook say, Hey,
would it be too weird for you to go into
TV shows because, as as everyone knows, we're in the
golden Age of television as they call it, and I
don't think I would want to interview someone about a
TV show. I'm gonna stick with movies there, but for
stream this, I will certainly talk about kind of what
(21:14):
I've been watching lately and Emily and I just finished
streaming The Marvelous Mrs Mazel on Amazon. Have you seen this?
I have not, but I've heard good things. It is really,
really great. It won the Golden Globe for Best Show,
and I believe the lead actor she won the award
for Best Actress at the Golden Globes. And it's just
(21:36):
a delight. It's set in the nineteen fifties. It was
created and show run by Amy Sherman Palladino, who, um,
I think she did The Gilmore Girls is her big,
big show, Yeah, which I didn't watch, but Emily was
a was a nut for that show. But Marvelous Mrs
Mazel set in the nineteen fifties New York City. It
is about a woman who very I mean, there could
(21:59):
be some spoilers ahead, so I'll give you three seconds
to one. Uh not giving way too much though, because
it happens very early in the in the first episode,
a woman who gets uh separated and divorced from her husband.
He's a businessman and he's but he's trying to be
a stand up comic. In the early days of stand
up comedy and he's not very good at it, uh,
(22:20):
And through a sequence of weird things, his wife ends
up Mrs Maisel gets thrown on stage at the Gaslight
in the in the Greenwich Village, which was that's kind
of one of the cool things about the show, as
they have all these real uh nineteen fifties and sixties
uh Greenwich Village haunts and Lenny Bruce plays a role
(22:42):
and I think Bob Newhart is going to be on
at some point, like people playing them obviously, And she
ends up on stage at the Gaslight one night and
does an accidental stand up set when she's basically just
talking about her life and the fact that her her
husband left her that day and she killed and all
of a sudden she's befriends the the I guess she's
(23:03):
the booker, uh, the wonderful wonderful Alex Borstein, who plays
Lois on The Family Guy does the voice for Lois,
but she's the booker and uh for the for the Gaslight,
and she befriends her and she's like, you're really good,
you should do this, and then the story kind of
plays out over the season from there and she very
improbably in the nineteen fifties pursues stand up comedy, also
(23:25):
starring Michael Zegan as her husband, uh Marion Hinkel as
her mother, and two guests on the show. The Great
Kevin Pollock plays the husband's father. And it's just a
meaty role. I was actually talking to him on the
phone about this the other day, congratulating him. It's just
a good, good role and uh for Kevin to dig into.
(23:46):
And then Uh, Tony Shalub, who I have booked for
New York, which I'm super excited about. Yeah, that's you
didn't know that. I thought I told you that. Yeah,
a friend of mine his friends with Tony and he said, sure,
I'll do it. I think it helped that Kevin Pollock
was on What's His what's his main backstory? And he
did Monk and stuff right like later in his career,
(24:07):
but he was what's his? Uh, well, I knew I
knew his work mainly from Cohen Brothers movies. That's right.
He was in he had some small parts. He was
in Barton Fake, but very memorable Parton and Barton Fake
and a couple of other Cohen Brothers movies, I think.
And it's Tony's just the best. And I actually watch
(24:27):
Monk though, which is weird because I love him so much.
Maybe I'll dig into that. I just know it was
a big hit. I've never seen it either, but that's
kind of what I associate with him in like more
recent years. Yeah. Well actually he started many years ago
on Wings, that sitcom from Yeah remember Wings. Yeah, he
was on Wings. I didn't watch Wings either, which is weird.
(24:49):
I remember singing in like on USA when I was
a kid in rewrite. Absolutely, but Tony's gonna be on
the show and he plays the father of Mrs Mazel
and he's great too, And it's just like the show
looks amazing. The art direction is unbelievable. They clearly sunk
a lot of money into it. Um. Kevin Pollock told
(25:09):
me that they they greenlit two seasons right off the bat,
which is really unusual. And I think they just really
committed to the show and it paid off because, like
I said, they won the best TV show. So my
advice go out and stream Marvelous Mrs Mazel on Amazon.
I think I think it's only seven or eight episodes.
It's really just terrific. Have you seen a feudal and
(25:30):
stupid gesture. Not yet. It's wonderful. Yeah, I saw the documentary.
Did you see that? Yeah? I saw the doc on
And if you guys don't know, we're talking about the
story of the creation of National Lampoon or the Harvard
Lampoon originally and specifically through the eyes of what was
the guy's named Jim Kinny. His name is Doug Kenney
(25:53):
and played by will Ford. They just reminded me of
the show you were just talking about. It's very similar
because like, um, you've got Joel McHale playing Chevy Chase
and like all of these great comics that we love
from now kind of playing these like old school dudes
making a caddyshack and all that, and it's like just
cocaine for days. It's just a total debauch. But it's
it's a delightful movie. Like there's a lot of hard
(26:14):
to it too. It's a really really cool, cool movie.
E I can't wait to see it. I think, didn't
David Wayne direct that? That's who? I also love? What
hot American summer that stuff? Um, yeah, I gotta see that.
And there's also a documentary about the lampoon called Drunk
Stoned brilliant dead uh and that kind of kind of
says it. All that really follows follows the through line
(26:35):
of that story. Yeah, I gotta check that out alright.
So two recommendations marvelous uses masl and uh what's the
name of it again? A feudal and stupid gesture. And
that's on Netflix. It is a Netflix original. I think
it came out like a week ago or something fresh.
I did see the trailer and that said something about, um,
sure none of these people look like the people, but
(26:57):
just go with it. Basically some of them do. Though.
It's pretty cool, like it's all over the place, but
it's it really it hits. It's really cool. Well that's
how you should cast, like, you don't have to cast
someone that looks identical to somebody. It's like about capturing
the spirit and be in the wheelhouse physically. When I
think they probably gave Joel McHale chevy Chase because he
was so terrorized by him on Community. Chevy Chase is
(27:21):
apparently like a nightmare to work with the Community and
that was a big part of between him and Dan
Harmon why that show was just like a ship show.
And I think they probably gave it to Joel McHale,
so he got a chance a little. Yeah, I need
to watch Community. I know that that's a great show. Um,
that's on the list too. Life is short, though, people.
I got a lot of stuff to watch, all right,
(27:42):
And we're gonna finish up here with our first mini
episode with comment card, which is our listener males that
have called from Facebook. This one is from Joshua Hall.
Who would you call your favorite director or maybe said better,
whose body of work have you enjoyed the most as
a movie? And this was tough, my friend. Uh So
(28:04):
I went with my first instincts and I'm gonna name two,
which are the Cohen Brothers and Alexander Payne. And I
think I've talked about on the show before, but I
have the percent club, which are directors who have to me,
never made a bad movie. Uh In. The Cohen Brothers
and Alexander Paine definitely are in that category for me.
I know some people take issue with what I would
(28:26):
call lesser Cohen's uh you know, the non Fargoes and
the non lebowskis like intolerable cruelty and right, the Lady
Killers is that another one? Yeah, Lady Killers is the
only one that I really didn't love, but I loved
Intolerable Cruelty. I love burn after reading and all these uh,
(28:46):
I guess tier B Cohen Brothers movies. I just think
they're great. Tier B. Cohen is like still Tier A
most people. Most people. Yeah, absolutely. And then Alexander Payne,
the dude hasn't made a bad movie. I love, love,
love single one of them, including Downsizing, And I know
Downsizing has gotten some bad reviews here and there. Um
I loved it. I don't get it. I think it
(29:07):
was great. Alexander Payne and his his writing partner Jim
Taylor can do no wrong to me. So I'm just
gonna tick through his movies really quickly so you will
know what we're talking about. His very first feature, Citizen Ruth, amazing,
amazing satire. Election another great comedy and satire. He's very satirical.
(29:29):
Now they think about it about Schmidt. Wonderful movie Sideways,
one of the best of the descendants. I read that
book before the movie, uh and loved it, and the
sentence was great. Then he really kind of took a
right turn with the wonderful film Nebraska, beautiful black and
white movie with Will Forte and Bruce Dearn, and then,
like I said, his new movie Downsizing. So I recommend
(29:51):
all those And so, Joshua, those are my two picks.
Who's your favorite director at all? I am a really
huge fan of the combo of Michelle Andre, Spike Jones,
and Charlie Kaufman, and I know they're you know, Spike
and I don't know, Like they both started making like
really cool music videos with like no budget, and I
used to have all the directors series of both Spike
(30:12):
and Michelle, like to the early daft punk videos. And
my favorite one is um Chemical Brothers video for Let
Forever Be, where he simulates bad video effects using cutouts
and like set pieces and stuff. It's amazing to show
it to you later, but it's so cool. But I
love how both of those guys took that d I
Y kind of you know ethic and made the most
(30:33):
mind boy movies and then paired with Charlie Kaufman's mind
bending script writing. And he's a great director in his
own right, like uh senect to Key New York, total bummer,
but just a mind blowers. Yeah, I watched that movie
that was um that was a challenging movie. It's almost
too much because it's so real, I mean, like it
it really twists the knife you know about feeling, you know,
(30:55):
aging and just like relationships and how ephemeral and fleeting
everything can be, you know. But it's a great film.
That's those are my picks. I would say that's a
good one. I would really love the Nomal Lisa Oh
Yeah movie, which was if you guys haven't seen that,
it's Charlie Kaufman doing as a stop motion animation feature,
which is one of the most real, like human stories
(31:17):
I've seen in a long time. And there are these
stop motion figures, which is kind of a brilliant choice.
Really good movie, really really wonderful, and and it actually
has a similar um aesthetic, almost like too synectic key.
And then it really dells down into those issues of
like mortality and like getting older and like what's my legacy,
you know, my relationship with my family and my kids,
(31:39):
but in a kind of a dark and yet really
funny and kind of touching way. Ultimately they're they're both
very heavy movies, but delightful in their own ways too.
He's an interesting guy, Charlie Kaufman. Yeah, and weirdly Anmalisa
as a stop motion animation feature has maybe the most
realistic sex scenes tender just like that I've ever is
(32:01):
just so real and like how how it is in
real life? It wasn't you know how movie sex scenes
Like it's really fantastic, all right. And then finally one
more comic card from Lee Olsen. Hey, Chuck, love the show.
Thanks dude. What sequels do you think are better than
the first films? Good question, and I'm gonna rattle off
(32:23):
four or five here. Spiderman two much better than the first,
Although I thought the first was good, It's not gonna
knock it, but Spiderman two was great. That was the
one with Doc Doc right, Yes, yeah, that was awesome,
Like the best spider Man movie of all of them, um,
even though it really did, like the most recent parts
of it felt like an evil Dead spider Man movie
to me. It had that like yeah, but it had
(32:43):
that like energy that is just like really spastic camera
when when there's that scene on the train and Dot
Cox just like scraping along the sides of it and stuff,
it's like super yeah, And there has never been a
more non evil Dead movie. Sam Ray Amy scene than
when Doc wakes up in the or when they he
(33:05):
wakes up in the surgical room or whatever. That's the
one total evil Dead exact. Yeah, when his he it
comes alive and like he starts smashing everything, like I
hadn't thought about that in years. That's really really good. Uh,
Terminator too, I'm gonna go with over the original Terminator.
I loved the first Terminator, but T two just really
took it to the next level. Amazing. Empire strikes back
(33:26):
kind of Bobbyous love Star Wars. Empire was better. The
Road Warrior greater than Mad Max to me. Even though
I do love the indie gritty, indie nous of Mad Max,
the Road Warrior definitely kicked it up a nudge. Well,
the first Man Max didn't even have quite the same
post apocalyptic vibe as the subsequent ones, right, yeah, I
(33:49):
mean it was just such a lower budget in a
smaller story. Um, they did have that, you know, the
the Gang of Toughs, but Road Warrior like like that's
what we know and love like Mad Max. And then finally,
speaking of Sam Rami, Evil Dead too, um better to
me than Evil Dead one and geez, Army of Darkness
(34:11):
they have been better than Evil Dead too. That was
when he kind of embraced that it was funny. Yeah,
the first one is like they were kind of trying
to make a scary movie. Yeah, it's like, what am
I doing? And then people laughed. I'm sure it was
part of the plan, all al right. So that's it, folks.
Episode one of the many episodes. We need to think
of a name for these. It's in the can. And
(34:32):
thanks to everyone for interacting on Facebook. Keep an eye
out like the Facebook page if you want to interact,
get your stuff right here on the show. And also
want to announce what we're gonna do with the end
of EE shows. Announced the interview guests on Friday and
the movie to give everyone a big heads up on
what to watch. Um, Like I say on Facebook, brush
up so you can crush out. How clever is that? Um? Alright?
(34:55):
So this week is actually the the live movie crush
episode I did at sketch Fest, my very first live show,
which was great and so much fun and I really
really think I want to thank everyone who came out
to that in the Bay Area. And I had Mr
Tony Hale a veep and arrested development and seriously, legit
(35:17):
nicest guy I've ever met in the entertainment industry. No, lie,
and I met some good people, but Tony is the
nicest guy ever. Buster and Arrested Development is probably my
favorite character, and like almost all of comedy, he's all right,
so cool. People to watch that show, get that joke.
So anyway, Tony and I talked about Punch Drunk Love
and that will be coming out this Friday, and it
(35:38):
was wonderful talking to him, so look forward to that,
and uh, salutations everyone, thanks for chiming in there and all.
I think this is a thing now right, I love it.
Let's do it awesome, all right, we'll see everybody next week.
Movie Crush News
Host
Chuck Bryant
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