Luke Tennie • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #236 - Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Look you saw the films to be buried with? Hello,
and welcome to Films to be Buried with. My name
is Brett Goldstein. I'm a comedian, an actor, a writer,

(00:20):
a director, an ice cream cone, and I love film.
As Doctor Zeus once said, a person's a person, no
matter how small. And although Sharper was a smaller film,
it should have had more cinema screens. It's definitely a
big screen movie, you know what I mean? Yes, I
do Doctor Zew's fair play. Yes, every week and a
special guests over. I tell them they've died. Then I
get them to discuss their life through the films that

(00:41):
meant the most of them. Previous guests include Barry Jenkins,
Kevin Smith, Sharon Stone, and even Greg Crambles. But this
week it's the brilliant writer, director, producer and huge star
of Apple TV pluses Shrinking. It's only mister Luke Tenney.
You can watch the first six episodes of Luke's shows Shrinking.
The show co created by myself and Bill Lawrence and

(01:03):
Jason Siegel. They're all available to watch on Apple TV Plus.
Give it a go, you will definitely love. Head over
to the Patreon at Patreon dot com Forward Slashback Goldsteine,
where you get an extra thirty minutes of chat with Luke.
We laugh a lot, we talk about beginnings and endings.
There's a secret details. You get the whole episode uncut
and also add free and as a video. Check it

(01:24):
out over at Patreon dot com, Forward Slashback, Goolds Team.
So listen. So some of you may know this, I'm
a very busy boy, and I'm going to have to
take a few weeks off because I can't manage all
of these things all at once. Probably only going to
be a month, maybe a bit less. But in the meantime,
we'll be releasing some absolutely hardcore classic episodes before we
return with some heavy, big, huge, massive, incredible guests that

(01:50):
I already have in the tank. So you can bear
with me for that time. I hope you will understand.
Thank you very much for listening. I promise you the
episodes we put out will be bangers. So you know,
nothing really change, you know what I mean. It might
just be something you'd forgotten, you'd heard a while ago,
you know what I mean. Enjoy your lives. Anyway, here
we go this episode Luke Tenny, Luke Tenney Luke Tenny

(02:12):
is a tremendous actor you known from all kinds of things,
and we had the absolute pleasure of casting him in Shrinking.
He's been a pleasure to work with over this first season.
He's amazing and I was very excited to get a
chance to talk life and films with him. He also
co wrote, co produced, and starred in an incredible short
film called Jade that I watched just before we recorded this.

(02:32):
It's fucking brilliant. He's brilliant. We did this over Zoom
and I really think you're gonna love it. It's one
of my favorite episodes. So that is it for now.
I hope you're all well, and I very much hope
you enjoy Episode two hundred and thirty six of Films
to be Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to

(03:00):
be Buried With. It is I Brett Goldstein, and I
am joined today by a writer, a producer, a movie star,
a stage star, a man, a lover, a fighter but
only in the peaceful way and only for what he
believes in. And a actor and one of the biggest

(03:23):
breakout stars of the twenty first century and one of
the best and most wonderful men currently working on TV.
He's a legend and a hero and a guy. Please
can you believe it? He's here. He also does voices.
Please welcome to the show, the Amazing, the brilliant, the beautiful.

(03:45):
It's Luke tan a man. What an intro? You're lucky.
I ain't giving you an intro because we'll be here
all day. How are you, my friend? I'm great, man,
I'm doing great. Life's good. Thank you very much for
doing this. I'm good. Thank you, Luke Tenny. We are
recording this at the time that three episodes of Shrinking

(04:08):
have aired. I was very excited to get you on
the podcast, and I do feel like, timing wise, this
may be the last time you ever have time to
do with your podcast, which is why I'm making you
do it now before you're so fucking famous. I'm big.
You can't really do anything else, So thank you for
doing this. Part of that's your fault, but we're gonna see.

(04:29):
We want to see how it goes. But thank you, man.
I'm happy to be here. I love what you do.
I'll take I'll take the blow. Yeah, yeah, that's on you.
You are in Shrinking. You are fucking brilliant. And I'm
happy to tell the story and proud to tell the
story that you came and auditioned. We auditioned on zoom.
We did it on a zoom, and there was no

(04:52):
other choice. It is a really wonderful thing when you're
making something. It's such a mercurial thing casting as you
well know that people come and some people are very good,
and there were loads of people that were really good.
But when you appeared, it was like, this is the
fucking guy. You were brilliant from the first reading to
the recal chemistry tests, whatever we put you through, you're

(05:14):
fucking brilliant, and you were clearly so lovely and we
have a no dickhead role. You passed that immediately. But
not only are you're fucking brilliant the show, which you are,
but you then, the more I've got to know you,
I really really like you. And what I really like
is you said, I've made this short, would you would
you be interested in seeing it? I watched your short

(05:36):
that you wrote and produced and starring. It's fucking brilliant
and I don't know, I want to put are you releasing?
How can people see it? Because it's so good? Oh,
you're too kind man. Thank you. First, we're doing the
festival circuit, and then once we finished that up, okay,
we're gonna see about YouTube and you got like pay
money to get on stuff like Amazon. But we're gonna

(05:58):
we're gonna pursue whatever avenue we're people can watch it
on a streaming service. So that's our eventual goal. But
right now we're just trying to get in the festival
to see if we can win some trophies. But thank
you for your feedback. Appreciate it. It's really good. I'd
like to know a lot about it. Actually, it's you
and your friend no Am Yep and you and you

(06:18):
write it and produced it, and you teld me you
shot it in three days. Yeah sure, yeah, we shot
down three days December eighth, ninth, and tenth in our
twenty twenty one. It's so impressive, and it kind of
it's got a bit of do the right thing vibe
to it in terms of the cutaways and there directly
talking into the lens. But it's this sort of for

(06:38):
those of you who haven't seen it yet, and I
highly recommend it. The story is man goes to get
a haircut. Is the story is plot that's what happens.
But within this plot you get you get an entire
sort of portrait of a neighborhood and a friendship, and
there's this really it's really moving and it's only fifteen minutes,
and there's a device in it where there's this kind

(06:58):
of narrator telling you these are this person, This is
this person. They're like this, they're like this, and then
at some point suddenly you to the main two characters
respond to the narrator and like you're being watched buy them.
It's it's really good. Thank you, man, I really appreciate it.
You're very good at it. Thank you. Yeah, we worked
our butts off hoping to not suck. So if we

(07:20):
hear it's good, that's even back. Yeah, why that? Why
was that your your thing? You and said it felt
very personal and real. But yeah, where did it come from? Man?
I ask a great question. Norm and I have known
each other for like ten years now, and I used
to kind of pride myself on how much harder I
would work than everybody. Like I used to play football,
so when I was in college or handbill football, handball football,

(07:45):
American football. Okay, Yeah, and like I wasn't very good.
But I gave I had a lot of heart, you know,
and and I kind of really gave me confidence. So
when I started acting, I was like, I'm gonna treat
it the same way. I'm gonna getting the gym again
in the locker room, like I just had the same vision.
And then I could see like how people responded to that,
and I really kind of liked that. And then I

(08:07):
met noahm and was like, I will never outwork this dude,
no matter how much I tried. It's just in him.
He's just like up at four and like a sleep
at like eleven, and he just that's how he lives
his life. So he was the hardest work I had
ever met. But the first time I had been in
New York was for college, and that's when I met Noham,
who was a New Yorker through and through. Where were you,

(08:28):
syk oh I grew up. I grew up in South Florida.
I was born in Chicago, and I grew up in
South Florida. Yeah, and the first time I got to
New York was when I was doing doing college where
I met Norham. But yeah, so I was falling in
love with the city. Florida was like fine, and the
New York was electrifying. It was all this movement, and
then I got so introduced to all these different types
of plays and cinema, Like I saw my first Broadway play,

(08:51):
which was Once, which was so moving, and I thought
it was electrifying, and I just fell in love with
the whole city. And no him and I wanted to
kind of create an ode to New York when we
started writing, but he actually hit me up with a
film he wrote by himself called Ot, which we had
planned to shoot March twenty fifth, twenty twenty. We never

(09:12):
got to shoot that film, why you know, COVID, But
in our well are we gonna do it? Are we
gonna do it? We just kept writing and kept working
together and kept meeting on Zoom just like this, and
until we ended up writing a film that we could
shoot through COVID that carried a lot of our hearts

(09:34):
message that we wanted to kind of if we were
to introduce ourselves, it's like, this is what we care about, style, rhythm,
and brotherhood. It's just like things were passionate about. So
that's that's how Jade was created, and the music in
it is amazing. What is that music? Is that? So
this dude. I found this dude about a year ago.

(09:55):
His name is Oh Gosh, Eliotis and he's a DJ.
And this dude I pay very close attention musically because
my mother was a music teacher, and rhythm is something
that influences so much of how I appreciate texts as
an actor, how I appreciate reading dialogue. When I hear it,
I just know like certain percussive elements. And he seemed

(10:17):
to have this sort of swing in his rhythm. He
was like manipulating the music to kind of miss intentionally
on certain rhythms. And I was like, I hope this
dude will let me put some of his music in
our movie. And I hit him up. I told him
I thought it was dope, and he was like, Hey,
I like the premise, go for it. And we got
to we got to put his stuff in our joint
and we chopped it edited. I think he's amazing. I

(10:40):
think that dude is a genius. Yeah. The other thing
I wanted to ask, Oh, so what do you want?
Do you want to do all of it? Do you
want to act right direct? That's a good question, man.
I think. I think it just depends on necessity. I
can tell you my main goal right now is I
know a lot of homies who A lot of them
you met the other night at the at the premiere.
Just I know people who are way more talented than me,

(11:01):
who haven't been afforded any opportunities, and I'm trying to
give them something. So I want to produce, right, not
necessarily direct, but I might fall into that, depending on
if I can afford to get somebody, you know, Yeah,
but I want to make opportunities for people that they
can be passionate about so that they can get to work.
When did you acting? Like what to get from handbu fot?

(11:22):
I love that? So I was playing a handball football
in my junior year, which for you all is my
eleventh year. Twelfth is the final year of high school
for you guys, right, Yeah, So I was like sixteen seventy, yes,
and that was all I cared about. I was trying
to go to college for free. But then I was
taking this acting class because my dad was like, hey,
take something with like drama where you speak, take a

(11:44):
debate course or something you talk nice. I want you
to talk better. I was like yes, sir, So I
took drama and it was cool and everything, but I
forgot to change my elective, which means like there are
certain classes you pick. So I ended up in like
the advanced course. The next year, this lady walks in.
She's not playing. She just took acting so seriously, and
it just infected me. I was like, I didn't know

(12:05):
it was a craft, Like I didn't know it was
like a job. And I just got hooked from that
point on him. So I applied for for some theater
colleges and when I got in, I was like, I'm
gonna do this for real. Where did you guy? I
went to a school called AMDA, which is short for
American Musical Dramatic Academy. It was hard, but I liked it.
So you did You did musicals as well? Oh no,

(12:25):
they had an acting program. Okay, but I do. I
do sing, but not well saying because I liked it.
He okay. Last question on this, I asked this for
everyone really shrinking. You're doing this show where your Kay
stars Harrison Ford and Jason Sego and Jessica Williams and

(12:45):
lu Kata Maxwell and Michael year Ay and you you
know the every interaction of half of year, every rush
I saw, every moment, you always seemed totally calm and
totally comfortable on the inside. Where you going fucking hell yeah? Man, yeah,
very good act man. I'm nervous now, Bro. You know
how much of a fan I am of you? And

(13:06):
it's like the fact that I get to be able
to work with so many people who I admire respect
is something that well, one it creates a sort of
like imposter syndrome. But the other side of that coin
is like there's a hope that hey, there's a shot
this might be where I'm supposed to be and that
right there. So long as that's not the only side
of the coin that you stand on, um, it's worth it.

(13:29):
It's worth the excitement, it's worth the where some people
might say stress. But also, yare y'all are good folks.
So if you're looking at me like I'm calm, it's
because they're good people, not being jerks about anything. That's nice.
What was the very first was it in Jimmie's face?
My first day on set was fighting in the in

(13:50):
the ring. We did all the MMA stuff and then
the portions where Jason's telling me about losing Tia and
all the fights everything in the MM Agent. We did
that all one day. It was so much fun. Wow.
A little side note, f they audience more and to
embarrass you, we did we did a like a Q

(14:10):
and a panel thing in New York and it was
the full full cust and Me and Bill and Neil
Government and everyone's on stage been very funny and being
asked questions. And then it finally got to you and
you said, oh, I'm not funny. I'm the least funny
person in my family. And then you did like a
killer fucking a killer five minute type five brought the

(14:36):
house down, and I was like, this fucking guy, he's
not funny, and it comes out and smashes it up.
I'm telling you, man, you just gotta be my family. Like,
I don't know what to tell you. They just there's Joe.
You could ask him. You could ask Josh in particular,
be like, so he just do he's so wise and
he's so chill. He got all these dreadlocks and hears glasses,

(14:56):
and he got all the handsome and all the swoll
just asking like is it true, Like did Luke have
trouble with comedy he'd be like, let me tell you something.
It wasn't looking pretty high one looking good. I don't
know what happened, but we had to work on him.
We had we had to put that into him because
because it wasn't in his jeans, I like he would
just tell you how it is. Growing up, it was
I'm the youngest, and then there's my older brother Josh,

(15:19):
and he's two years older than me, and then there's
my sister Micky and she's seven years older than me.
And I had two parents growing up, so life was
peachy nice. Well, there was a time where after I
actually lost my mom in twenty sixteen, and she was like, yeah, hey, man,
appreciate it. Um. She was like, glue, you know how
it is. You got sort of matriarch. And her name

(15:42):
was Rosalind and we called a Rose for short, and
every time we would go to church, everybody would say,
what's up, Mama Rose, sister Rose, it was Mama or
sister family like. She just made everybody feel like family
and we were family. But when she passed it took
us a bit. But I think as of late, like
there's probably not been one day over the last year
we haven't exchanged some sort of like meme or y'all

(16:04):
check this out in our little in our WhatsApp group.
And it's been the delight of my life to slowly
introduce my family to my wife because I fell in
love over the course of that kind of growth and
I got married and now like now I feel like
I can tell my wife this is my family. Like
when you met me, my family was like pulling it together.

(16:25):
But as of late, I'm like, this is this is
how it is. And she's having a good time too. Hello,
you've been married. I got married about a year and
a half ago. It was the best decision I ever made.
It was a good choice, man, it was a good choice. Yeah,
you met her, she's great anything, It's like, I know

(16:45):
she's great. I do, That's why I married her. But
also I leave her alone in a group of people
for like fourteen seconds and come back and they're like, hey, man, listen,
you can't screw this up. I'm like, she's amazing, and
you do not screw this up. You fuck this up,
and I'll kill you. I will kill you. I've had

(17:06):
those words said to me. Actually it was Lina Condor
who said it. I'm not sure if you know who
she is. But she's another actor who I've worked with
on my first TV show, and she was like, listen,
you can't not screw this up. Like I felt like
my life was a risk. But people love her. It
is so do I. It is well like a fuck, fuck, fuck,

(17:27):
I forgotten to tell you something. Oh what's up? What's that?
What happened? I forgot to tell you? Fucking should have
told you before we started. And I'm an idiot. You
can tell me now, I mean, yeah, I'm sure. What
is it? Uh? Gee? How do I? How do I
put this into plain English? I suppose you've died? You're dead? Dead? Oh?

(17:50):
I cannot believe this. I am shocked. I am appalled.
I didn't see this coming. No, I should have. I
really should have given you worthing. How did you die? Oh? Man?
You know, last thing I remember, I opened the zoom
link and this like really handsome dude popped up and
I think everything just kind of went dark after that.

(18:11):
Jesus the Devil, what happened? It was an angel? It
was an angel, and it's a lot like Roy Kent.
It was great, an angel of death. How did I die?
I think I died happy, probably in my sleep at
like eighty after eating some bomb barbecue and playing like

(18:32):
smash Bros with my great grandchildren. That's probably how I died.
So you you had some good barbecue, but you died
in your state. Now, I don't know if you know
my theory on this. I don't believe people die in
their sleep. I mean I believe people die in their sleep.
Oh they wake up to die. I think no one
seeing the tremendous everything death that they're well. I think

(18:56):
they were asleep, but we don't know. Yeah, we don't know,
David eight. So what probably happened is this Barbo kid
was in this Ye it was more of an this
year than wait till right. That's hilarious. I've never heard
of before. But it's like Dine sleeps like they probably
woke up, bro. Yeah, so you had you maybe ate

(19:18):
the bobble kid the wrong man. They got plugged in
your in your trees and yeah, probably suffered probably horrific
that anyway, something rough. Yeah, you do you worry about that?
When I was a kid, I used to I grew
up in the church, and I had a pretty solid
understanding of what I believe and I think my parents

(19:40):
kind of raised me to be so grateful for stuff
that eventually this like autentick sort of gratitude kicked in
to where there have been so many great things that
have happened in my life, whether they're great because they're
great or great because I thought they were great, that
every few years i'd be like, you know what, like
if I get hit by a bus, I didn't trying
to fight it. You know, it's like it's been a

(20:02):
good it's been a good time. I know some of
homies and mine would be like, nah, man, like, oh,
might just think about it, man, like what is it
that we want that we don't have? Like I have
everything I want, you know, But I used to fear
it when I was a kid, I think just for
being young, just for being young, but not anymore. Can
I ask, when you say you're clear on what your
your belief is, can you tell me what that is?

(20:23):
Is it? Heaven? Is it? Well? Is that? How does it? Lick?
I just think I'm gonna be able to see my
mom again and that we're gonna have a good time.
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be able to see it again.
And I totally respect people who would be like, hey, man,
that's it. Like one of my favorite creatives is Ricky Gervai,
and he is like a devout atheist, and I love
all his content. But he's banging into it. Yeah, yeah,

(20:44):
and I love it. I think that it's on the
right side of getting people to understand each other's value.
But I just think I'm gonna be able to see
my mom again. I'd rather be wrong about that. You know.
Let me tell you something. I got good news. You're right.
There isn't heaven. Yes, you're absolutely right. You swashed it.
Ricky was wrong. You were right. There's a heaven. You

(21:08):
get to see your mom. It's really lovely. Everyone is
very excited to see you. It's filled with your favorite thing.
What's your favorite thing, Maria? It's my wife. She's a human,
but I don't want her to die. Favorite thing? I
don't know. Food, barbecue. Let's go a barbecue. Okay, Well
you can have both, yes, Maria. Yeah, has has been climbed.

(21:31):
And there are a million Marias in heaven. They're everywhere,
and they all like you. But the catches, none of them.
Weren't you sleeping with anyone else. So you have to
make sure that the Maria that you're with is the
right Maria. So it's slightly tricky. Figured out, You figured out.

(21:52):
And there's there's seven barbecue everywhere. The seats are made
of port belly. It's great. You'll love it. As everyone
wants to do all the marie is wanted to talk
to you about your life, but they want to talk
about your life through film. The first thing they ask
you is what is the first film you remember seeing?
Lake Tenny. I'm pretty sure the first film I remember

(22:14):
seeing was Oliver and Company. It's an animated film. You
know that joint? Yeah? Oh do? I You know why?
I know that joint? Not only because I know films,
but also because that Oliver and Company, which, for those
who don't know, it's a Disney Film cartoon film Oliver Twist.
But Oliver's a Kitten is also one of the only
films that stars Billy Joe, who is my favorite. Oh
my gosh, Central Park. It's so good. Yeah, why I

(22:41):
feel that I were rare? Why should I kid? It's
so good and the moral is great, and I think
at an early age, like I do, I do also
remember some animated films, like some when I was young,
I talked about like some heavy issues like the Fox
in the Hound and like Oliver and Company had music
and it moved me as a kid. And you know what,

(23:02):
that might have been one of the reasons why I
fell so in love with New York because eventually I
got there and it was the place I had seen
and heard of my whole life, and now I live
here in this place people make movies about. It's a
great film, lovely performances, and the art was great. A man,
that music, bro, I have voice so good. So you

(23:25):
were looking around New York where that absolutely dog It's
such a good flick. Man, it's great. It's great music.
Did you see at the cinema on I'm pretty sure
we had that on like a dusty VHS. Yeah, because
that movie, that movie came out before I was born.

(23:45):
I was born in ninety four, but my my brother
and sister had been around, so by the time I
got around, there was a lot of like a lot
of content for us to watch out the crib, a
lot of animated stuff. Yeah, all dogs go to Heaven.
We had weird back, Like, there was so much good
animated we had. Fern Gully was scared me. Yeah, yeah,

(24:06):
a lot of good stuff, but I definitely remember that
one that is loving. It has never come up before.
What is the message of Oliver and Company that you
love save match? If I had a guess, it's probably
your chosen family is the most important family, because at
some point you do have to choose your blood family,
because if you don't, they might not be anything other

(24:27):
than relatives as opposed to family. But what was so
cool about that flick was like he was just this
little kid who just had such a simple goal, who
was like I just want to I just want a family,
and he found it and they chose him, He chose them.
It was beautiful, leg good deal. Great. What is the
film that's scared you than mist and do you like

(24:47):
things scared? I hate it? Yeah? Interesting? My wife loves
scary movies. I love my wife. Is that working? How
is that kid? It's working that I found. I'm gonna
feel myself here. I found a way to cheat watching
scary movies with her. So it's the secret. Like the
frame of the TV or the even if we're in

(25:09):
the theater, has all the violence. I look here and
then she's always looking up at me and I'm looking,
oh wow. But because I'm not seeing everything in HD
and it's just peripheral, I can survive a little bit.
But she's definitely gonna watch just off screen, and I'm
I'm safe. That's what I do. But this sounds get

(25:30):
me too. I became obsessed with a genre called cosmic horror.
And yes, I watched this film that I don't know
if people will know, but it's called In the Mountains
of Madness. Yes, it's scared of Sam Neil. He plays
the lead Sam Neil in the Mouth of Madness. He's
written a book that sort of comes to life and

(25:50):
it's yeah, it's fucking great. Yes, in the Mouth of Madness,
and it was adapted from the HP Lovecraft book In
the Mountains of Madness, and that's that's how I switched
it aims up. But that movie is terrifying because cosmic
horror is the study of existential dread, which is like
humanity in the face of absolute demise, learning how insignificant

(26:12):
we are not quite sure why. That's the thing that
really sucks me in when it comes to horror. But
a bunch of cosmic horror films just really pique my interest,
where the threat is not quantifiable or comprehensible. It's just
here to do nature and we're all just swept away

(26:32):
for the ride. Something about that man, it just piques
my interest. Yeah, that's so. Do you have any idea
why that's your thing? Because it's never come up before.
Like most people are like, Oh, I'm scared of someone
breaking in my house or of being stabbed, But yours
is the insignificance of humanity on the planet. What if
we don't mean anything? What if we're not special? Maybe

(26:55):
that is the fear. But when I think of other
cosmic horror films like Annihilation or Um Event Horizon, there's
also Sam Neil. Yeah, yeah, there's no backstory for the villain.
Think of like all these great horror villains, there's some
there's something in there where maybe we can sympathize. How
you going to sympathize with the literals like Hellscape of

(27:18):
Event Horizon, or how do you sympathize with eldritch horrors
that have been here longer than we've been conscious? Just
what is Eldridge's Eldridge? You know what? I don't even know.
That's just the word people use when they talk about
HP Lovecraft stuff like I was running le I don't

(27:39):
know that's how they describe Cthulu in them. You know
what I'm saying, like all eldrich gods, like the gods
who are all knowing and like just here before everything,
they're not even evil. They just aren't worried about us.
Maybe that's the theory I am going to put to you.
Maybe if you were raised in the Church and what
you tell old you believe, what you believe in is

(28:02):
sort of loving God, then these horror films are saying,
what if God doesn't care? Maybe that's the that's the
what it's terrifying because it's not even what if there
is no God? Yes, what if there is one and
he just he ain't worried about you? They just don't care.
That's actually a really good take because I never found them.

(28:23):
I never found the concepts or the plots of slash
or movies terrifying. It was just the action. Oh, it
would hurt to be sad. I don't want that to happen. Yeah,
But it's also maybe I think those things play on
the fear of like it's not just your sort of
grand view, it's the thing of if you are ultimately
which I believe you are a sort of optimistic person

(28:44):
who believes, you know, like you say, you believe in
brotherhood and you believe in people loving each other and
carrying about each other. Those films say what if none
none of it matters, and everything is there is there
is no good or bad, there is no love or Hey,
it is perpetual, nothing less, and no one cares. Yeah,
I think that's really the heart of it. But look, man,

(29:05):
I'm obsessed with it. And then I think conversely, there's
like there's a great opportunity where if you can turn
that concept on its head, you get something like Interstellar.
We're in the middle of the movie, you hear Anne
Hathaway's character saying, what if love is quantifiable? I mean,
it's the reason I'm here. Why should we treat love
as any less data than your numbers on your screen?
How do we trust that? Turns out they couldn't trust that.

(29:27):
And then by the end of the flick you learn, oh,
the thing that brought her out here, this inconsequential thing,
was actually very consequential, since it's the reason why the
human race can live on. Yeah, you know, that's something
I often think about there's a comedian in England and
he telled me years before it was like fashionable. He
was in Peru and he did iOS years before i'd

(29:51):
heard of and he did it like in the jungle,
like like proper hardcore, and he had quite an intense
experience in it. Sort of they were worried he was
going to die, like it was all too much. But
within his experience, he said to me that he saw
that love was a thing, was a physical thing that
you could hold, and that genuinely he could see love,

(30:14):
that it was this presence that connected everyone and was
almost like he could touch it. So I can't remember
quite how he described it, was sort of like glue
that it was. Literally he was like, oh, it's a
thing love. It isn't this idea. It's a physical thing,
which I always thought about. I mean, he was also
offous not but yeah, there's that. But the reason why

(30:36):
that like it almost inspires me, or the reason why
I connect to that claim, is because for this cosmic
corps genre to survive and for it to be so
compelling to any individual, including me, I think it has
to take something based in a sort of reality and
turn it on its head. So I don't think cosmic

(30:57):
hor is talking about evil. It's talking about zero, the
lack of you know, as opposed to anti matter. It's
just no matter. There's light and darkness, which is not
quite a thing. It's just not light. So maybe this
cosmic horror is just not love as opposed to something moving.
It is just when there is not absence, and that's

(31:19):
the fear, you know, zero, not this idea of less
than like what if the bucks stops when there's just
no love? You know what I'm saying, Like, what a
great concept I do. I think that's why I like
the horror films that I like. I like ghosts, like
ghost ghosty ghost films. I like sip films. I like
the fun ones like paranormal activity, but I like the

(31:39):
deep ones like don't look now, you know I like
my favorite kind of horror is is ghost ones. And
one of the reasons I like them is a positive reason,
because I do think any films with ghosts in them,
it's like this idea, if you take away the scary
bit of it, it's a positive idea of there's so
much more, and there are there is the other side,

(31:59):
and there is hope and there is this isn't it?
There's more and the people that you love that you
know what I mean? Like it. It opens the door
to some lovely things, but it shows you the scary
side of it. But you know, if you if it's
like you're saying, you flip a cosmic horror on its head,
a cosmic horror is saying it's all love, you know, Yeah,
and you flip a scary film it guys, Hey, there's

(32:20):
life after this. There's something after Yeah. Yeah, I've never
once considered that. Yeah, it's okay. Maybe now I can
survive Friday nights with MJ. Talk about something be You
want to watch this with me and it's something nightmarish.
You can try and look slightly more towards the middle
of the screen. Yeah, just slightly higher. You can slightly

(32:42):
move your way up. What is the film that made
you cry the most? That you a cryer in movies?
And the one that made me cry the most is
about Time fucking hell? You know it? Oh my gosh, man,
oh my goodness, I sobbed. Yeah, I just I haven't
brought myself to rewatch it. But that was the first

(33:03):
time I think in the movie I sobbed like while
the movie was happening. As opposed to after, We're like
second place. It is probably it's probably Warrior with Tom
Hardy and Joel Edgerton because it's about brothers and you
know me, but love this brother. I just I love you.
I love you, Tommy. I was crying, but in about

(33:25):
time I wept tears of joy because the whole movie
is about this guy with a superpower. And then at
the end he's like, you know what, I learned the
same thing that you have the opportunity to learn the
same thing. It didn't give me any edge. All it
did was teach me to be more and more grateful
to be here, not to be superpower did here to
be here, And I'm cricket gone, bro, I'm just I'm

(33:50):
so gone. And I also am obsessed with anything that
deals with time in a way that treats time as
though it's not linear. So it was the perfect of
science fiction romance and just I can't even call it
feel good man. It was like it was almost like
a societal analysis of humanity and also boyhood, like this

(34:11):
sort of yeah that's a bad time. Yeah, Like he's
growing out of being a boy. And that's why his
father tells him about this thing. He's like, you're a
man now, and it just changed so much of my perspective.
Good flick, you're very good at this. Like is what
is the film that you love? It is not critically acclaimed,

(34:33):
A lot of people don't like it, but you say,
you're a dumb dumbs I love this well. I just
mentioned Warrior, which I don't think had any negative critical acclaim.
But I thought that movie was genius. It was like
an action movie and also like sort of literal romance.
It was so good. But you know what, man, I'm
tired of people judging every movie like it should be

(34:55):
Filet Mignon. Sometimes you just want a snack. Sometimes you
want hot corn. And if people walk into a movie saying,
I artist flame on and it's like, yo, we don't
serve that here. We got hot dogs to hamburgers. So
I'm gonna say this with confidence. Tron Legacy, nice, my goodness, gracious,
just press play on that movie. I dared somebody to

(35:17):
tell me it ain't pretty. Press play on that movie.
Close your eyes. I dared somebody to tell me it
don't sound pretty. But that's death poke and we ain't
getting that back, you know what I'm saying. And I
can't really tell you what happens, but it looked good
and it sounds good, and it's I don't get the hate.

(35:37):
It's like we sometimes just want to go on a
roller coaster. Who gets off a roller coaster with notes?
You know what I'm saying, le lay very yes, put
it on the wall. Who gets something around the coaster
with nights? I think the twirls there? Man, just ride.
Let me tell you this. I saw yesterday. I was

(36:00):
a bit behind seeing it. I saw Megan Mathregan. Yes, Magan,
of course. I saw it at the cinema. Let me
tell you that film is a five star film. And
they tell you for why I haven't seen a film
at the cinema that's ninety minutes. That is fucking fun.
It was so fun. That was a film that was like,

(36:20):
I'm here to entertain you. You want to have some fun,
Come and see Megan. It's so fun. It's so well done.
It has some ideas in it that if you really
want to analyze it, I could argue that there's quite
some serious stuff going on, but really what it is
is a fucking good time and not pretending to be
something it's not. It's fucking great and I thought, God,

(36:42):
I haven't seen a film that was like, I've just
a fucking great time at the cinema in Ages. Yeah. Yeah,
I really enjoyed that movie. And what I loved about Yes,
it's fun. What I loved about going in the theater too,
was the roller coaster sense, Like, m most roller coaster,
I can't think of it. That's like a single writer
that's legendary. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. The fun

(37:04):
part is watching everybody do like this, you know, put
your hands up, and in that movie theater, I remember
so many laughs. I remember so many I remember so
many gasps. The biggest gasp in that movie was the
spoiler alert for y'all who want to skip like five
seconds ahead. She was like, hey, turn off, Megan, and
she goes, now, hang on a second, we're talking. I

(37:25):
was like, yeah, that's good. The whole different. Megan's les listening.
It's fun, it's great. It was a good it was fun, fun,
well done Threegan. Yeah, what is it? On the other hand,
what's the film that you used to love but you
botched it racily? And you don't like it anymore. You

(37:47):
know what, I'm kind of half answering your question. I
think this film doesn't really like hold up, like it's
not to watch now, but it's still one of my
favorite films. I just know like, we can't make this,
we can't make this film again. And that film is
Rush Hour. I love that movie so much. If you
press playing on that movie, the stuff that those dudes

(38:08):
are saying to each other in twenty twenty three, oh
my gosh, there is there is no way there is
There is no way that a script supervisor or or
like an editor or any sort of producer would green
light any of that dialogue. But holy smokes man, it's
a it's a good time, just like there's something there's

(38:30):
some man, I don't imagine. It's just it's it's tough, man,
they're really cracking on each other. You may well be
right that it's no one to press play and just
keep it in your heart. Yeah. Like, oh, one of
the best fight scenes starts because of some stuff I
probably can't even say. But I'll tell you what. None
of the community that I know is upset for Jackie

(38:50):
Chan for saying the words that he has to say
in that script, but the people in the movie, he
wasn't Jackie Chan he was just police officers, and it
was it was pretty upset about it. Great flake, But nah,
you can't. You can't make that today at all. I'd
be so surprised. Um, what is the film? That means

(39:12):
the mice? Ta? Not necessarily the film itself is any good,
but the experience you had around seeing the film will
always make it special. Ta. Okay, this came to mind
right right as you were speaking, Because so I started
seeing Maria in twenty seventeen, and she was pretty upfront
with me, like before, like I courted her. She's old school,

(39:33):
so we spent like two months. How do you come
across each other? Man? She just went to my my college,
and apparently I ain't noticed. And if she can't hear
me outside, well I'm sorry, I'm dead. She can't hear me.
She can't hear not because I'm dead, So you know
it's straight like that. She ain't gonna worry about it. Um.
She she liked me. I had no idea, and apparently
she would like hearing me on campus and then she

(39:55):
would like and then she would like walk by and
that was her way of like trying to get my attention.
I'm like, I'm dumb, bro, I ain't gonna see that.
Like if you would have told me, we could have
started it sooner. But it's fine. You know, it worked out.
Keep looking away. You were just walk by her like morning, Luke,
and that was like, yeah, that was my hints. I'm like, really,

(40:16):
I'm gonna need more. But eventually I had some people
around me who were like, hey, man, you picking up
any hints. I was like no, they were like, there's
some hints, bro. So I asked her out and she
was just everything that I was looking for, and eventually
we were just hanging out. There was a day I
came over like there's something I was helping her out

(40:37):
with at like noon on a Saturday, and we were
just gonna spend the day watching a movie and she
was like, yo, I want to show you a West
Anderson movie. I was like, I've never seen a West
Handerson movie. She showed me The Grand Budapest Hotel. I
was like, oh, this is great. I loved it. That's
not the movie. Then she showed me The Greatest Showman,
which she had already seen, but she took me to
the Dollar Theater. I was like, you gotta see this movie.

(41:00):
I love watching movies. I will do this all day.
She was like really, I was like, yeah, So we
watched The Greatest Show and I was like, yo, I'm
I'm hype. I love the whole soundtrack. We listened to
the soundtrack on the way back to her apartment. We
get there. I don't even remember what movie we watched next,
but she put on another movie. I was like, this
was so much fun. I think you know what. I
think it was Now You See Me, which I hadn't
seen at the time. It is the Magic Movie. Because

(41:21):
the next movie was the one that I put on,
and I was like, if she, if she likes this movie,
then I feel like I found her. What was it?
And it was The Prestige with Christopher Nolas And she
watched that movie so intently and then it ended and
she looked at me and she was like, I love it,
and I heard I love you. You know, It's just
how my ears work. Sometimes you tell me you love

(41:42):
the movie that I love, But I think the whole
The whole thing was like I love movies so much,
all kinds of movies. And then I'm sitting here with
this lady whose face I like, who has this great personality,
and then she likes what I like, she loves what
I love like, she has a heart for cinema. And
after the Prestige we just like sat and talked about film,

(42:03):
just like how you and I are doing now, and man,
I just I fell in love. I was like, I
think I knew I fell in love with my wife
because of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. And talk about those
performances man, Hugh Jackman, Christian Belle, Piper, Perabo, We got
Scolet Jo hands in in there, like so many good performers.
David Bowie was in that movie. Yeah he pops up

(42:24):
it's tesla as he does, Yeah, I fell in love.
The Prestige has one of my favorite moments in I
don't it's to spoiling it because I don't explained why
what it means. But the wife says to Christine Belle,
some days I look at you and I see so
much love in your eyes. And other days I look

(42:44):
at you and I don't think you love me at all?
And she says, what about today, And he goes, I
don't kill that. But a movie I just wasn't ready.
I was not ready. I cried to that one a
fair amount the first time I saw it because I
was complained this because Christopher Nolan movie. I was like,

(43:04):
why why can't they be happy? How do you if
I may kissed and whatnot before this movie? Yeah, we
kissed and whatnot, but like okay, but like you know,
I never really like like I said in college, like
girls didn't like me, So what the fuck are you
talking about? Or if they did, man, I didn't know.

(43:27):
I didn't know. They just can't say I did. Um
holds of women just walking past you and your friends,
you're getting the hit. I was either dumb, but there
was a lot of like real good looking dudes who
waited more talented to me. So like, I don't know.

(43:47):
But when it when it came to Maria, I was
just trying to verify that it was that it was
like really going on. So I was always just trying
to trying to court her in a in a way
that she felt that out it was. It was just
like is that anything better than that? Put a ring
on it? Man, Like that's why I'm here, Like we

(44:09):
talk about that night all the time, and she she
looks like she remembers it fondly, but I don't think
she because for her it happened in a different area
of our relationship. So when I look back on that day,
I'm like, like, since that day, I was like, whether
we're together or not, I'm screwed, Like this is this.
I've just never been in love like this. I'm this,
I'm done. But she already was before all the time. Yeah,

(44:34):
she she was like when we finally started seeing each other,
like before we were like, yo, let's be boyfriend girlfriend.
She flat out was like, hey, look, I'm gonna be
real with you, like I got some serious feelings for you,
and if that scares you, you can get to step in.
It's just how I It's just where I'm at. But
if you're in, then we're in this thing. Like I'm
not that kind of girl who's like, oh we see this,
we see that, Like if you in here, we in here.

(44:55):
And I was like yes, man, which is what I
was forward too, but it was the way she she
was just like, I'm not beating around this bush man.
I like you a lot, so let's get to stay.
An amazing story. What is the film that you might relate,
say Nick Tenny, Okay, I think this one's a double
warmy because I saw Chef and I admired so much

(45:19):
this guy who just wanted to do a good job
doing what he loved. But then I saw Whiplash, and
I saw this guy who wanted to be the greatest
what he did, like the greatest ever. And I feel
like I'm somewhere in the middle because I'd be heartbroken
if I didn't push myself to be what I think
I'm fully capable of. But also I'm just trying to

(45:40):
make a good sandwich, you know, like it's not that serious.
I'm not saving babies, all right, you know, like I
ain't bringing people back to life. I'm telling stories I
think are important and that I hope move people. And
I gotta know that, like I ain't discovering new planets
or nothing like that. You know what I'm saying. I'm
an artist, so Chef kind of grounds me, but Whiplash

(46:01):
kind of inspires me. There's like an obvious at least
what I took away from the movie was how dangerous
ambition could be. And I know some people who look
at that movie, you know kind of how some people
have recently been looking at Patrick Bateman as like an
example to like sort of detach from the world. I'm like,
I don't know if that was the point. But the

(46:22):
same thing with Andrew Neiman. I think the hint was
it's called American psycho. Psycho just a hint. I don't
know how, but Whiplash is a little greyer, like some
people might think, yeah, I want to work that hard
and be that good, But I'm not quite sure that
was the message. Well, I think talks about it a

(46:43):
bit on this podcast that Damien. She's clearly has a strange,
quite an extreme view of work because in in Whiplash,
you know, he he's a perfectionist, but he isn't very nice,
and he loses his family, his relationships, everything in pursuit
of this perfection, which he achieves, but at the cost

(47:07):
of an entire life. You know, he has nothing else
in his life other than finally the respect of a
very abusive, toxic teacher. And then yeah, then in La
La Land, as soon as Emmerstone gets a job, they're like, well,
obviously we can't be together, and You're like, what happened?
He's just got a job. And then in First Man,

(47:28):
you know, he's the first man in the moon, but
at the clear near destruction of his marriage, and then
in Babylon, all the relationships are fucked in pursuit of
this work. And yeah, I think he has a I
think he's he's in love. I don't know. I find
it really interesting because I'm with you. I think I
think Wi blashes. I don't know what side he's on
with it. It's a bit of a rors. I'm not convinced. Yeah,

(47:51):
I'm not convinced he's a nice guy. And I don't
mean in a sort of pathetic way. I mean genuinely,
I'm like, I'm not sure he's ever a nice guy.
That I think that's what's quite interesting about the film.
He's never particularly nice to his girlfriend or his family.
It isn't like he loses something in pursuit of this perfection.
I don't think he's ever really a decent person. Yeah,

(48:14):
I think the only thing that he yes just like, yeah,
there's a there's a bit of like there's a bit
of his reasoning where he looks like a zealot as
he's communicating it, like it's obvious, and that that's something
I'll commend m Miles Teller's performance on it, because the
only other person we see that on in the film

(48:35):
is J K. Simmons. Yea, and that guy obviously deserved
all the awards. But I think what was so compelling
was like, you see this sort of imitation there where
he's not imitating excellence, He's imitating the consequences that he
thinks come from excellence, which is mistreatment of people and

(48:57):
like establishing a pecking order, and he thinks maybe if
he emulates all that, the excellence will come. And I'm like, yeah,
there's something about that where it's like there are people
who so many people respect, Like I love a lot
of the work of Marlon Brando, but from what I heard,
I'm not trying to be that. I'm good. Yeah, And honestly,
if you are widely received as one of the greatest

(49:19):
performances of all time, yet you had to do that,
then you don't get that place. In my book, gotta
be nice. Being nice requires zero talent and if you
can't be nice and see, this is something that I
admire about Jason Siegel because when I started working with
this dude, I learned something that he comes to work done,
so I never saw him off in the corner like

(49:40):
trying to get in that. He did it so if
somebody says good morning, he can say good morning because
he's not worried about making sure the scene is perfect.
He did that already. That's why he's here, that's why
he's Jason Siegel. And if I don't see that, then
I'm like, not for me. And that's something I loved
so much about Chef because there's this one scene where
I see your father apologize to a son and he says,

(50:02):
I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier. I
just really care about this and I want you to
care about this too. He's like, you want to come
do this with me? I'm dead, I've got so That's
why I love that Flix so much, because it's this
love story between a father and a son sharing this
love for a craft. And then in Whiplash, it's the opposite,

(50:25):
the kind of opposite. Yeah, yeah, he loses his father.
He doesn't respect him because he doesn't he's not the same.
It's I mean, look, you know this, I completely agree
with you. I think there's no excuse to be awful,
and I don't think it sacrifices art. I am aware of.

(50:48):
There are scenes, there are moments, there are things you
have to that can be challenging and difficult, and particularly
if you have a particularly emotional scene or something like
I have full respect for taking yourself off to a
corner to be quiet for a minute because you need
to get in the headspace or whatever. But to be
abusive to people, it just makes you think, well, you're

(51:09):
not You're a dickhead. It just makes yeah, like that,
that's it, because there are plenty of other people who
are good too, and exactly ain't got to do all
of that or someone from doing, and it never goes well, yeah,
I'll always look at that as a sort of lesson.
I'm never looking at that. It's like, oh, I want
to be that, but it's the other side of the coin,
and I can't think it's impossible for me to be that.

(51:30):
I have to understand it is possible, which is why
I will make sure I've never becoming It's also like
what is life as in at the end of whip Blast,
it's exactly that. It's like he achieves this perfect moment,
full respect, well done, and then what he's going to
leave there? He's got no friends, he's got no love,
he's got it's nothing. Just keep keep doing your perfect thing.

(51:53):
It's interesting. What's what is life? What is what is life?
That that's a question, that's the question. No, even better,
the next question is what's the sexiest film you've ever say?
It's white people are here? All right. Look, I was young,
and I really can't tell you what this movie about

(52:14):
Catwoman for obvious reasons, very very listen, it has never
come up. You're talking the Halleberry catwomanly best cat Woman, Like, yeah,
Halleberry was using the cat suit and that's that's the movie.
So as a kid, I was, Yeah, I was dialed
dead man. I'll tell you what, Like that's not for

(52:38):
let me own. That's not hot dog. That's like, that's
like a brownie, you know what I'm saying, Like what
they call him with the ice cream, I'll a bold
you know what I'm saying, the ice cream mountain number
brownie or something. That's it. It ain't good for you,
but it's delicious. Cat Woman, fucking right, fucking cat Woman
one the lighten razzies. And I really thought, hang on,

(53:01):
what could you possibly negatively say about Catwoman? What are
we talking about? It here. It's just Harry Berry was
Catwoman man, and I was I just I remember the
one scene too when she first became a cat and
she was doing all that, and I thought it was weird.
And then she like caught herself on the ground. She
like caught like because they always leant on their feet, right,
And then I was like, I think I am an

(53:24):
adult Catwoman Catwoman, Okay, traveling Bone is worrying why I done?
Filmy found a ratsling that you weren't sure? You shit?
What's that? Like? Teddy Catwoman? You know what I was
thinking about not saying this, but I feel like a

(53:45):
lot of people want to agree with me. Space jam
Are you into Michael Jordan or Lady ladybugs? Bunny? It
was the bunny rabbit man. It was like she seemed
so cool and she was a rabbit, but she seemed
like yo, what's suck? And I was like, yeah, I
think I'm an adult now. Char in an animation where

(54:09):
I was like, what's going on? Like this is a drawing,
a drawing of a bunny. It's not even fucking sexy.
It's a sexy bunny that they know what they were doing.
We can't act like they didn't know. They knew because
you can draw a Mickey Mouse and there's a slew
of all these Disney princesses. I ain't named none of them.
I said, space jam, what's going on? They knew what

(54:29):
was going on? They knew what was going on. You
could keep you a princessive. I wonder the bunny, well,
I don't even remember that. It was Sally lady lady
sexy Bunny. That's what we're going with. Lady Sexy Bunny,
Lady sexys fit objectively, objectively, what's the greatest film of

(54:50):
all time? Okay, I'm gonna cheap. I leaped up to it,
so initially my opinion was trying to count. Sometime I
was like, this is a movie that's like, this is
what movies are at their best. Then it was TUTSI
I thought, as a screenplay perfect, like it is a
template on how to write good. But as of late,
I thought long and hard about this, I'm gonna pick

(55:11):
get Out. I thought that that movie did things. I
just hadn't felt like I was in class in the
theater for a while because a lot of the movies
that I watched that made an impact on me, like
I didn't really watch like cinephile movies growing up. I
just watched, like you know, I was I was just
a viewer. I didn't know I wanted to be an

(55:31):
actor until I graduated high school. So I watched so
many movies in education. You know. I watched The Godfather,
and I watched Tutsi, and I watched Chinatown, and I
watched all these films that were I watched The Player,
Tim Robbins, and I watched all these movies that were
highly regarded as like this is how you do cinema.
And I didn't really feel when I had gone to

(55:51):
theaters that I was witnessing a part of cinema history
until I saw get Out. Like when that movie ended,
I felt happy to be live when it came out. Yeah,
so I could tell people I saw that in theaters
the way people talk about Frankenstein or like Gone with
the Wind. I just feel like, get Out it's going
to be that fifty years from now people who be like, oh,

(56:13):
here's why this is one of the greatest movies of
all time. So that's that's my choice. I think you're right.
I think you're right, and it does. It does the
thing that I often argue for it's it's a film
that is profoundly about stuff. It's an incredibly serious film
that also is fucking fun and exciting and funny. And

(56:35):
that's it. That is the rare based of It's like
a sort of Oscar movie that's good for you, that
feels like a roudictister exactly. Sometimes the lions cross. And
that's why, like, initially I was thinking, like to pick
a recent I wanted to pick a recent movie for
the Goat, and I almost picked Moonlight because it's like perfect.

(56:59):
But the one thing that Get Out has is what
you described. It feels like a roller coaster, and Moonlight
is a perfect, like slice of life film. It's just
like how you do that at the highest level. And
then I'll look at some performers and all like categorize them.
If I walk on the street and like, I don't
know Michigan and say, hey, do you know who Daniel
day lewis? Is the likelihood that a random person would

(57:22):
know is very low. But he like, bro, you won,
like you won acting. That's like that's just you were
Abraham Lincoln. We none of us know how he sounded.
We're pretty sure that's how exactly how He's like, you win.
But if I ask him do you know Dwayne Johnson,
They're gonna be like yeah, and like, just because Dwayne's
more popular doesn't make him like the greatest actor of

(57:43):
all time. However, just because Daniel day Lewis is the
greatest actor of all time doesn't mean he's going to
be the most popular. So I feel the same way
about cinema. So if I have to pick, I'm gonna
pick one that does a bit of both. Like somebody
like that is Dwayne day It's Dwayne oh Man. That's beautiful,
It's Dwayne day Lewis. Okay, So what is the film

(58:10):
that you could or have? What's the mist Iver and
Iver again? Spider Man one? Sam Rami? Yes, right, maybe,
but it's just yeah, is it better than Spider Man? Ta? Sam?
I don't think so. As a screenwriter, I don't. I
don't think it's better. I think Spider Man two is
probably still one of the best superhero movies, the whole

(58:33):
losing the powers and all of that, and it felt
a little bit more grounded in reality, which is funny
to say about like a what he did in that
movie was making nineties movie in the two thousands, Like,
look at all the cars in those movies. It was
two thousand and one, yo, Like, how did they How
did it look like it was nineteen ninety three? What's
going on? But the Spider Man one. Absolutely, If it

(58:54):
wasn't for those movies, I don't know if our family
would have fallen from movies the way that we have.
Because when in two thousand and one, I was I
was born in ninety four, so I was like seven
when I when I saw Spider Man, and the moment
I kind of like awoke to I think I'm watching
like something permanent. Was when he didn't go, well go

(59:14):
and everybody in the theater who knew Spider Man knows
he's trying to find this just get here, get here,
get here, And I'm like, this is Spider Man, he
has to get here. And then he finds it and
then everybody in the theater's like and it was just
like it was magical. So yeah, I've seen that probably
more than any other movie in my entire life. Leg

(59:36):
I didn't like to be negative. Now, so let's do
it quick. What's the worst filming I've ever seen? The room?
You know which one I'd be hard pressed to find.
I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who's like, yo,
I got something worse, because the question is the worst,
the worst. It's the room like he made it. He

(59:59):
finished it and was like, this is it, and it's
it's probably one of the most influential, poorly made things
of all time. But it stood up. It stood the
test of time. It's insane, and they're like celebrated. They
go to theaters and they quote it, they dress up.
It's saying something. For sure, I don't know what it's saying,
but it's saying something. I find room. The room and

(01:00:21):
stuff like that upsetting because I go, it could be
our slate. We don't know. We don't know until it
comes out. He thinks it was good, like it could
be us what you don't know, maybe it is, maybe
it is a people still watching it good him. I
don't know. I do this thing where I try to organize,

(01:00:42):
like my thoughts and opinions because I'm one of those
guys who really analyzes every every word that I say
and how I say it before it comes out. Like say,
I had something going on and I wanted you to come.
You're somebody who I respect but I also see you
as a friend. It's somebody who I feel like, wouldn't
um say no if I wanted to invite you somewhere.
But what I wouldn't say to you is, Hey, I'm

(01:01:03):
having a party tomorrow. Are you gonna come. I'm gonna say, hey,
I'm having a party tomorrow. Would love it if you came.
I'll send you the address. Hope to see you there.
I don't want to know. I just hope you turn up.
That's how I like phrase everything. I'm so analytical with
that in my mind. So I can't, for the life

(01:01:23):
of me imagine somebody, anybody who's a part of that
production who went yeah, or just gonna let this fly.
I mean, that's the other thing about it is I
think it's also like a god. Maybe it's a study
and sort of power in that. Yeah, there was a
whole crew on that and no one said anything. But

(01:01:46):
maybe because no one speaks out ever, you know what
I mean, like makes it so much worse. Yeah, I
don't know, because if we were on Shrinking and you
were like this is terrible, would you have said something?
That's a good question. The last time I was a
part of something that I think really wasn't good. I

(01:02:09):
didn't know it. I was far younger, but I thought, oh,
this would be fine. It's that could be the worst thing,
and then it was. It was like I was like, whoa,
we could have done better than this. So I didn't know,
but i'd like to think now i'd be able to
see the signs. But I haven't seen the signs since
that times fast. I haven't seen the signs since that's

(01:02:30):
a lot. But I was in the sense sence I don't.
I don't know. I don't know if I would say anything.
I'd like to think I wouldn't. It's interesting. I'd like
to think you would like, but what was he saying, Oh, sorry,
this is awful? A man? If it was somebody I trusted,
because I have done that before with with homies. But

(01:02:51):
I think the way you do it is you prove
through your life that you are somebody who can be trusted,
and if you haven't done that, they might not buy it.
So it's like I try if I have any sort
of close relationship to be the best whatever that relationship.
If it's friend, it's best friend, if its husband is
the best husband, um, if it's if it's brother. It's
the best brother I could try, so that if I

(01:03:13):
say hey, I love you, it's not working, they believe me. Yeah,
that's all I got. Pretty good. You're in comment date.
You're very funny. You braved it time and again. What's
the film that made you laugh? The nice thing again?

(01:03:33):
I grew up Baptist and there was so much like
stand up We just like Eddie Murphy's Rob delirious. If
we got caught watching that, like it wouldn't go wouldn't
go well? Or Cat Williams. One time my brother got
in trouble for watching the Cat Williams d It was
it was big pimping or something whatever. It's called pimp Chronicles,
that's what it was called. But my my favorite memories

(01:03:56):
are when the whole family could laugh. And the one
creator who made that happen year after year, none other
than Tyler Perry. This is great to I think that guy.
I cannot wait to meet that guy. I just want
to shake his hand and say thank you so much
for giving me my family so many wonderful memories. And man,

(01:04:16):
he just he did like there was stuff for my mom,
There was cousin, you know, there was a lot of
black culture, but it would check enough boxes so that
even though Media was like just that a heathen, she
ultimately was trying to be a good friend, mother, aunt.
She wanted to take care of the people she loved.

(01:04:36):
She was like a reluctant hero. And I think the
best title in that was probably Media Goes to Jail.
I remember laughing until my sides ached with my family
watching that movie, sitting around eating lasagna, drinking Country croc lemonade,
just like snot come out of them, those eyes running.

(01:04:56):
The whole family could laugh. So but I could pick
really anyone in his things. I think his plays that
were recorded were probably our favorites. Meet the Browns with
his class Reunion, which he never adapted, I don't think.
But man, how would you say plays that were filmed,
that were turned into films? Plays he turned into films.
Some of the plays he turned into films, and some

(01:05:16):
of them he filmed and then just released. Oh yeah,
And those were a riot because what nobody nobody was
not prepared to improvise. And he wrote music. He wrote
like eighteen songs for everyone in these plays. I'm like,
this guy's a genius. Where are his flowers? But he's
been getting them recently, so I'm where I'm hoping people

(01:05:41):
respect this dude because I do. Holy smokes, that's fucking great.
Where are his flowers? I hear him trying to negativity
towards Tyler Perry films, and I'm always like, they make
millions of people happy, like and he's the birth of
so many careers to Rogie Benson, interest ELBM. Some of
these people were like famous before but then they did

(01:06:02):
like it. Yeah, like ten million dollar movies and those
were typed pair movies. You know what I'm saying. So
I'm sure I didn't hurt. Amazing, Luke, you have been wonderful.
I'd say this has been one of my favorites. It's
been one of my favorite podcasts too, so thank you.
Let me tell you this, However, when you were eighteen
and you had a little barbecue and it was good barbecue.

(01:06:23):
No I was complaining about the barbecue. And you were
with your post pre wife, or as I like to
call her, your wife, Maria, and you went to bed.
You kissed her good night lovingly, long kissed, free kiss
kiss kiss kis kiss, and then you went to sleep,
and you suddenly woke up in the middle of that
really didn't wake up, so in her mind you were
just asleep. But you were, and your your arties were

(01:06:47):
clogged with barbecue. The windpipe was club with having You're
in tremendous pain. It's very upsetting. But you couldn't make
a sound because everything was clogged out. You were, and
then your sofa gets exploded, and your lungs exploded and
your spleen exploded. You were dead. And in the morning

(01:07:07):
Maria woke up and she looked at you as you went.
He must have died so peacefully in his sleep. And
I was I was walking past with a coffin, you
know what I'm like. And Maria says, Brett, I think
Luke died peacefully in his sleep. And I said, doesn't
sound believable, but okay, I'll come and look. And they
come upstairs and they go, Maria, what makes you think

(01:07:28):
it was peaceful. He's absolutely covered in blood, his chest
panties exploded, his stomach's exploded, his throat has exploded. It's
a mess, Marid. She guys, no, I'm pretty sure it
was peaceful. It looks like a fucking massacre. In here
I go. We'll give you a hand, so I give
her a couple of knives. We very happily chop you
up into bits. She's pretty calm about the whole thing.

(01:07:50):
We get all your bits, bits of you. There's more
of your knives expected. There's a lot of barbecue. I
don't know what's ribs and what's ribs if you know
what I mean, piling them again, a lot in the
in the cuffing and stuff, stamping on it, stamping on it,
just to try and jam it olin and jamming him
elbos getting olin is rammed in this coffin. There's really

(01:08:11):
early enough room to slide one DVD into the side
with you for you to take across to the other side.
And on the other side, it's Maybe night every night.
What film are you taking to show the million clowns
of Maria in Barbecue Heaven when it is your Maybe night?
Do you know what? I think? This is something my
mom would appreciate. I want I want her to see

(01:08:35):
my first ever job, which is a movie called Shokana
And What's wild is I graduated six months after she passed,
and about a week before I learned she had like
this unhealthy faith in me. I was like you can't.
You can't think like that. But there was one time
I was back in Florida just for a bit. I
was rushing out, trying to go hang out with some friends,

(01:08:56):
and I had like all from wrinkly clothes. She's like, boy,
if you'll get up behind in that room, and iron
was clothes walking out of here looking like a heathen.
I was like, Mom, I'm just going to hang out
with some friends from high school. Okay, I'm not meeting
Denzel Washington. She was like, honestly, that man, go hire.
You want to work with you no matter what you
look like, but your friends will be embarrassed to see you.
So getting there, and I your clothes for these people

(01:09:17):
that you love, and I was like, yes, ma'am. But
upon hindsight, I realized how easy she had faith that
I was going to do this thing at the highest level.
And I remember booking shock and awe, feeling so frustrated.
I was like, if six months, if only I could
just show her, hey, hey, it worked, Like all the support,

(01:09:39):
all the time, all the effort, all the money you spent,
all the sacrifices you made, it worked. I think this
is the open door that I can walk through and
finally do this thing at a high level for the
rest of my life. But when the memories came back,
I realized she would probably just want to know what
I'm up to because she never had a doubt that
I would be able to create at a high level.
So I would say the prestige because that's what I

(01:10:01):
fell in love with my wife watching, and she'd just
want to know tell me about what you're up to,
and she'd want to know how I pulled somebody like Maria.
Oh boy or sorry or sorry, I said the prestige,
but um, I met shocking. She How did I shut up?

(01:10:22):
Because you were saying I could just show you the
prestige because would be lovely. She was right, Yeah, so
I could show her shocking on, but I'd probably I'd
probably end up showing her the prestige because your plane is,
which I think is beautiful. You don't have to show
She already knew. She knew before it even happened. You

(01:10:43):
were always gonna make it for sure. You're absolutely right,
And that's actually the first time somebody said that to me.
So I appreciate you being the guy who's who said that,
because I'll never forget that. So thanks, but yeah, thanks man.
This has been awesome, This has been one really really
want to like you so much for doing this. Is

(01:11:04):
that anything people should look out for and watch other
than shrinking? Is there anything he want to tell people
to look out for, for example, your short film, which
I hope to be able to see. Yeah, yeah, when
Jay comes out, I hope you'll check it out. Man,
I really hope you'll enjoy it. I hope you see
what me and my homies are about. We're trying to
create films that are uplifting but also take a good

(01:11:26):
snapshot of what the world is right now. And I
just did another gig called The Nickel Boys, which is
an adaptation from a novel by an author called Coast
in my Head. You know the Nickel Boys. Yeah really yeah? Yeah?
Oh my gosh, man, that book word it went well.
It went well. Surprisingly, it was like fun despite the subject.

(01:11:48):
Better you would know, you're you're very well, like you
know what's up? You know what's out there, dude, like
I know, and you're busy, which is wild. Uh yeah,
So Nickel Boys is coming out. I'm not sure when,
but we wrapped it last year and I hope that
it moves people and educates them on what was going
on for a while. Fantastic. Is it a film or TV?

(01:12:08):
It made it a movie. It feels TV. I don't
know how. I don't know how. Yeah. I told Maria
she probably don't want to watch it. But it's one
of those movies that I think will make a big
impact on remembering where we came from. Luke, You're fucking brilliant.
Thanks man, Thank you for doing this. Thank you for
your time. I hope we get to do more work together.

(01:12:30):
And if you ask me in the way that you
plan to ask me, I will come to your party.
Thanks man. I appreciate you. Yeah, man, Hey, look, you
know I can't send your praises enough. I got so
much respect to you, and I'm glad that we got
to collaborate. Great man, I appreciate you. I was basically

(01:12:52):
I love you. Okay, good night. So that was episode
two hundred and thirty six. Head over to the Patreon
at patreon dot com forward slash Breck gold Steam for
the extra thirty minutes of chat, secrets and video with Luke.
Don't miss the first six episodes of Shrinking, now available
on Apple TV Plus. You can watch them all now
go to Apple Podcasts. Give us a vice style writing,

(01:13:14):
but right about the film that means the most to
you and why it's a lovely thing to read. It's
very appreciated. You're all appreciated. Thank you for listening. I
appreciate all of you. Can take a little break, as
I told you, just a month. But in the meantime
there'll be some banging guests from the past that we
will re release in a classical way and you'll love it.
Thank you so much to Luke for giving me his time.

(01:13:35):
Thanks to Scrubius piping the Distraction Pieces Network. Thanks to
Buddy Piece for producing it. Thanks to Acous for hosting
it special, thanks to John Harris. Thanks to Adam Richardson
for the graphics and He's to allow them for the photography.
Come join me next week for a classic rewind episode.
And that is it for now. In the meantime, have
a lovely week, and please be excellent to each others.

(01:14:14):
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Luke Tennie • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #236

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Brett Goldstein

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Luke Tennie • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #236