February 16, 2024 • 49 mins
Join Kyle McMahon and prepare to be captivated as we explore the artistic journey of Jennifer Lopez with her Amazon Prime Video project "This Is Me... Now - A Love Story". You'll get an exclusive look at the synergy between her new album, the film, and an intimate documentary that sheds light on her evolution both personally and professionally. The multi-talented icon herself delves into the creative triumphs and challenges behind coordinating celebrity cameos and crafting a narrative that authentically reflects her rekindled romance with Ben Affleck.
And Joe Keery returns to the show, this time to discuss his captivating new film "Marmalade," renowned for its unique storytelling approach. Kyle chats with Joe about the genre bending new film, how doing an indie film compares to doing a big budget series like Stranger Things and why he was drawn to the project.
And in our Feature Presentation Chat, the wealth of black voices in film takes center stage, with Rotten Tomatoes editor Jacqueline Coley talking with Kyle to guide us through the annals of influential black films that have left indelible marks on our imagination. Discover how blockbusters like "Black Panther" have carved out space for representation, while hidden gems like "Jinn" and "Night Comes On" reveal the depth of the black experience. We also pay tribute to the potent narratives of Black joy, diving into documentaries such as "Summer of Soul" and "Amazing Grace," and reflecting on their profound cultural impact.
This episode is a celebration of genre-defying filmmaking, black cinema, and the collaborative spirit that energizes independent and blockbuster film. Join Kyle McMahon, for a Pop Culture Weekly episode rich with the stories and insights that exemplify the power and vitality of storytelling across all walks of life.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram:
And Joe Keery returns to the show, this time to discuss his captivating new film "Marmalade," renowned for its unique storytelling approach. Kyle chats with Joe about the genre bending new film, how doing an indie film compares to doing a big budget series like Stranger Things and why he was drawn to the project.
And in our Feature Presentation Chat, the wealth of black voices in film takes center stage, with Rotten Tomatoes editor Jacqueline Coley talking with Kyle to guide us through the annals of influential black films that have left indelible marks on our imagination. Discover how blockbusters like "Black Panther" have carved out space for representation, while hidden gems like "Jinn" and "Night Comes On" reveal the depth of the black experience. We also pay tribute to the potent narratives of Black joy, diving into documentaries such as "Summer of Soul" and "Amazing Grace," and reflecting on their profound cultural impact.
This episode is a celebration of genre-defying filmmaking, black cinema, and the collaborative spirit that energizes independent and blockbuster film. Join Kyle McMahon, for a Pop Culture Weekly episode rich with the stories and insights that exemplify the power and vitality of storytelling across all walks of life.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, I talked with Joe Keary about his
new movie Marmalade. We hear fromJay Lo about her brand new film This
is Me Now, and I talkwith Rotten Tomatoes editor jacchel and Coley all
about black cinema. Let's go Welcometo pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from
iHeartRadio, your pop culture news,views, reviews, and celebrity interviews on
(00:25):
Fall the movies, TV music,and pomp Culture U Crab Weekly. Here's
Kyle McMahon. NAA, hello,and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle
McMahon. I of course am KyleMcMahon, and I thank you for hanging
out with me once again for anotherepisode of pop Culture Weekly. We've got
a jam packed episode today where Italk once again with Joe Keery about his
(00:51):
new film Marmalade, which is really, really, really great. We hear
from Jennifer Lopez, the one andonly j LO, about her brand new
film on Amazon Prime Video This isMe Now, and Jacqueline Coley, Rotten
Tomatoes editor, comes back once again, and this time we are celebrating black
(01:12):
film, black cinema, talking aboutyou know, some of the best of
the Best in Black Film in celebrationof Black History Month. So lots of
stuff to get into. Let's diveright into it. Okay, So Jennifer
Lopez will start out with j LO. She has a brand new film out
(01:34):
an album called This Is Me Now. The album is obviously a follow up
to her album This Is Me Then, that came out in two thousand and
two and was kind of based aroundher first go round with Ben Affleck,
where that entire media circus ensued andwe had benefer that whole media circus,
(01:57):
and that's kind of what that albumwas about. The album This Is Me
Then spawned the singles I'm glad allI Have with ll Cooljay, Jenny from
the Block, you Belong to Me. It's hard to believe that it's been
twelve years since the release of thatalbum, but j Lo is back with
her brand new album, So Thisis Me Then kind of continues that story.
(02:23):
Right, It's been ten years sincethe release of her last album,
AKA, and This Is Me Now, her ninth studio album, is all
about the reunion with Ben Affleck andbasically her starts for love. It's kind
of part of a three part projectsurrounding this this Is Me Now, the
(02:44):
album, This Is Me Now,the film, and a upcoming documentary on
Amazon Prime called The Greatest Love StoryNever Told? Which kind of documents,
you know, this whole project.She's also going on tour. The tour
is thirty plus cities, kicking offin June in Orlando and it is called
This Is Me Now The Tour.Here's what Jennifer Lopez had to say about
(03:08):
how the album drove the idea forthis movie, which is a musical film.
You know, it's the visuals forthe album, but it's tied together
as a film. It's really reallyinventive. Here's what she had to say,
and she's with director Dave Myers abouthow the album drove the idea for
(03:28):
This Is Me Now the film.You know, there wasn't kind of a
time where I was like, oh, I'm going to do this at some
point in my life. This wassomething that was really inspired by the music
and a moment in life that Iwanted to capture that seemed very kind of
magical and even surreal at times thatit was happening. And I went in
(03:49):
the studio and I made this album, and when it was done, I
thought to myself, there's something,there's more to this story. There's something
bigger I want to do with thismusic. I just don't want to put
out of you know, do thenormal put out a video and do this
and do that and promo and blahblah blah, and there was just it
felt like there was a bigger message. And so I called Dave and we
(04:11):
sat down and we talked about it, and I played him some of the
music and I said this, Iwant to do something. I don't know
exactly what I want to do,which is kind of why I think we
created something that hadn't really been done. And I was like, didn't fit
into anyone, you know, kindof like specific category, not quite a
(04:32):
film, not quite a video,but a story nonetheless, something very original.
And we sat there and we talkedabout it, and I sang it,
I sang todave, I did allkinds of stuff, and then you
know, Dave really kind of honedin on like this is, well,
that's the story. What you justtold me is what we should do.
(04:55):
And we started putting it down onpaper, trying to describe it to people.
They didn't really quite get it.Then we had to put down a
script for them to kind of understandit. We did that and then we
kind of went from there and thefilm is definitely This is Me Now is
definitely stylized. You know, it'sa fictionalized version or story. So where
(05:16):
did j Lo draw the line betweenreality and fiction? You know, there's
not a project that I've ever beeninvolved with, music or movies or anything
that I didn't put a bunch ofmy life into and a lot of my
personal experience. I think as anartist that's all you really have to draw
on the experience that you have andand the personal experience and the experience of
(05:38):
other people around you that you've bornwitnessed to. And I think with this
one, I really wanted to youknow, it seemed like such an important
moment in my life, kind ofa turning point in my life that and
I was at a point in mylife where as a person and as an
artist, I could really look atall of the things that I was good
(06:00):
at and the things that I feltand knew about myself and put them all
into this project in a way,so things professionally but also personally. And
so yes, there's parts of itthat feel kind of very autobiographical, and
it's parts of it that are kindof meta, not quite in a way,
(06:21):
not exactly what happened, but alsothe feeling of that is what happened,
you know. So there was differentthings about it that, you know,
we're super honest and true, andthen there was things that were kind
of more for license and kind oftaking license and really doing what was best
(06:43):
for the entertainment and storytelling of thefilm, I think. And that mix
of it being personal but also beingable to be fantastical, surreal, magical,
you know what, I think madeit really or makes it really kind
of moving, entertaining and at thesame time super real. There's a ton
(07:08):
of celebrity cameos in This Is MeNow. It had to be a challenge
coordinating all of these amazing famous people, right, That was, yes,
it was. It was a challengewith the cameos that we have in the
movie. We obviously had quite afew. Some came on the same day,
(07:29):
some didn't. We had to makeit work. We did whatever we
could. Most of them were shotseparate. Yeah, yeah, So that
was actually probably the hardest scene toedit because we kept rewriting the script and
you know, a lot of them. You know, we're personal friends of
Gens, and so there was alot of you know, like Gen had
to switch out of out of youknow, performance mode and kind of come
(07:51):
join me and kind of hold theirhands and trying to because they didn't understand
what they were doing and they're outthere wearing funny costumes on a Yeah.
They were like, what am Idoing? And I was like, just
trust me, it's gonna be fine. I would never make you look crazy,
and if it looks crazy, we'llthrow it in the garbage. Don't
worry about it. But luckily itturned out well, and a lot of
(08:15):
them have seen the film already andare so excited, and I mean the
reaction has been I mean I couldwith everything that we've been through, it's
so kind of like satisfying to knowthat people love it. And how does
this project fit into the larger bodyof JLO work? You know, it's
(08:37):
it's it's kind of me and andBen kind of said this to me,
you know, I was like,I'm not. I don't write, I
don't do this. He was like, you do. You write, you
direct, you produce, you doall the things you court. You start
stepping into that start owning that alittle bit, start owning a little bit
of who you are. And againwe talk about a little bit about this
(09:01):
in some of the behind the scenesfootage that we have, and it was
just how does it fit in it? It ended as chapter and it started
a new chapter for me. Soit ended kind of this twenty year journey
about a lot of questions that Ihad about love and being myself a hopeless
romantic and what it means to reallyenter into a kind of healthier, more
(09:28):
self accepting phase for myself. Now, what will happen from that I hope
will be and I know will be, you know, even more wonderful things
and what I have been so privilegedto live up until this point. But
again, what the movie shows usthat there has been struggles, and there
has been you know, hard timesthat nobody knew about that I kept to
(09:54):
myself, and you know, kindof gaining the confidence to be vulnerable and
to admit certain things to the worldI think has only kind of made me
more comfortable in my own skin andkind of empowered me in a way to
step into this next phase of mylife as an artist and as a human
(10:18):
being that will be a whole newchapter for me of feeling more free to
express myself in a lot of differentand you know, kind of exciting ways.
There you have it from Jennifer Lopez, herself, and director Dave Myers.
(10:39):
This is Me Now, a LoveStory. The film is out right
now on Amazon Prime Video. Thisis Me Now the album is out on
streaming services everywhere, just like theiHeartRadio app and of course, The Greatest
Love Story Never Told. The documentarydebuts on February twenty seventh on Prime Video.
(11:00):
We're gonna take a one minute breakto pay the bills, hang out
with me, Listen to these awesomeadvertisers that make this show continue to go
along with your support and love.I'll see in sixty all right. Thanks
for hanging with me and supporting ouradvertisers that help support Pop Culture Weekly.
Next up, I talk with RottenTomatoes editor Jacqueline Colely. She is amazing.
(11:26):
Love her, She's been on theshow before. It's always a delight
to talk to her, and weare going to discuss black film here.
She is the one and only JacquelineColely. So pop Culture Weekly once again.
I am here with the amazing JacquelineColey, editor Rotten Tomatoes and host
of the podcast, The Awards TourPodcast. Yeah, thanks for having me,
(11:50):
of course, thank you for comingon again. I appreciate it.
Yeah, glad to be here,especially talking about great moments in black cinema,
because there's tons right are and itdoes not get enough love and attention.
And in my opinion, the morethat we talk about it, the
more that the less that we haveto worry about that. Hopefully that's the
(12:11):
goal. Anyway, So Rotten Tomatoesactually has a hub which you are involved
with. Tell me a little bitabout that. Yeah. So, actually
at Rotten Tomatoes we have what wecall our Heritage and Celebration hubs that we
put out throughout the year. Thisis actually the first one of the year.
We kick it off with Black HistoryMonth and then we move into Women's
Heritage and then we go on throughto API, Native American, Hispanic Heritage
(12:33):
and LGBTQ. It's a great momentto sort of show these visionary and landmark
moments in cinema, people whose nameshave maybe been forgotten in history that we're
trying to highlight films that have beenoverlooked as well as what I would consider
like the staples and cannons of bothfilmmakers and moments like films like obviously you
(12:54):
know, Wakanda Forever and Black Panther. That was just the movie that a
lot of people saw and understand stoodexactly how the black experience was sort of
given that huge Marvel cinematic moment.But then there's like smaller films like Daughters
of the Dust and Watermelon Woman,and they all find incredible moments on this
hub, and they find incredible momentswith the way that everything works out at
(13:16):
Rotten Tomatoes on our site, whichis really great. That is really awesome.
So tell me about some of thepieces on there that we can go
and check out and read and thenexplore those films. Yeah, So,
I would say as an editor,I'm definitely intricately involved in a ton of
these, but I will highlight theone that I actually did starting in twenty
fourteen, and that is movies thatcelebrate black joy because oftentime in cinema,
(13:41):
and this is actually something that's discussedin a current Best Picture nominee American Fiction.
When they think about black stories,the only sort of viewpoint we get
into them is often through the lensof pain, oppression, and marginalization,
which is very real and very true. But there's so many films that are
just simply about black Joy or themoments of black Joy. And although not
(14:03):
every single film on this list isjoyful all the way through, it's not
as if they don't have serious moments. They have an incredible, I would
say representation of the films that makeus laugh out loud, films like Girls
Trip forty year old version, anew film that was actually nominated for a
baft rye Lane, and then youalso have moments of just like black excellence,
(14:24):
with stuff like Beyonce's Homecoming and Renaissanceand Spider Man into the Spider Verse
and all of these, Like there'snothing more joyful than thinking of like Miles
Morales as Spider Man leaping across theNew York Skyline. To me, that
is the absolute epitome of what wethink of when we think of Black Joy.
Absolutely, and you know, speakingto across Spider Man, across the
(14:48):
Spider Verse and now a trilogy orwill soon be a trilogy. My god
son Aiden is half black, halfwhite. And when Spider Man, when
that came out, he was soexcited and I was excited because I'm a
Spider Man fan and Miles Morales isa huge kind of fan favorite as well
(15:09):
that was very underrepresented in film.Especially. He said something to me that
really struck me, and it was, he looks like me because he aiden
has like his his little fro andyou know, and his mom will sometimes
do like the ties, and andhe was so excited to see a character
that looked like him, this superheroon screen, and it meant so much
(15:35):
to him. So I was soexcited to go with him to the theater
to see it. But it mademe really think it kind of you know,
broke my heart in a lot ofways to think that he is getting
excited about this because it's so rarethat there's somebody that looks like him on
screen, especially as a little kid, you know, and that's what's great
about films. We actually just gotback from the Oscar luncheon on Monday last
(16:00):
Monday, where we talked to alot of the nominees and they were talking
about we actually spoke to the SpiderVerse guys because they're Oscar nominated again this
year, about how everybody gets tohave an origin story and Spider Verse like
at the heart of its DNA iscelebrating that origin story. And yeah,
you can see those videos with PhilLord and Chris Miller, who are hot
(16:21):
on working for their third installment ofthat franchise, talk about that, which
I felt was very powerful. Yeah, and it speaks to the It speaks
to the power of film, andit speaks to you know, for me,
Aiden's story speaks to how important thatrepresentation is. You know, I
(16:42):
want to see stories of people thatlook like me, especially you know,
as a kid. I mean,for him to have to be so excited
about that, in a way issad, but it also makes me happy
that he's so happy that he isfinally getting to see that on screen and
it's positive and it's a superhero andit's a you know, from a Marvel
(17:06):
character, and it's Spider Man ofall people. You know, representation really
really does matter, and I lovethat about our medium, you know,
is that entertainment can tell those stories, you know. Yeah, no,
absolutely. Another one of the onesthat we have on the Hub is actually
one from a new contributor for us. He's actually a YouTuber and his name
(17:30):
is Chris Tate, and he didthis incredible piece about ten films about black
music that have turned these icons intohousehold names. Now, I will say,
I don't know if you've seen thenew Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in
Pop where they had like Lionel,Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross,
Ray Charles and all of them gatheredtogether to sing we Are the World.
(17:51):
Yes, but that was a similarmoment of black representation. I mean,
this is not this is nineteen eightyfive. They were still fighting to get
black artists consistently show on MTV atthis point, and so having that sort
of large scale event with these whiteblack artists together coming together to do something
for charity, to do something meaningful, but more importantly, to put them
(18:14):
all on equal footing with the superstarsof their day, that was a huge
one. Also the new Bob Marleymovie where I think you and I probably
know who Bob Marley is, butwe have to remember kids of this certain
timeframe, he is less I thinkknown in the younger generations, and so
getting that moment where these folks cansort of see him and see what he
meant to his country, but moreimportantly, what he meant to the world.
(18:37):
And then in another film that isalso on my black joy piece,
and that is Quest Loves the Summerof Soul So Good, Yeah, which
speaks of the Harlem Cultural Festival fromthe nineteen sixties, and that documentary which
breaks down all of the artists howincredible it was for the community, but
more importantly, how rare it wasto see all of these black artists on
(18:59):
a single bill in such a largescale event. That one is on there
too. And then one of myfavorites on here is the Wreatha Franklin documentary
concert film Amazing Grace Yes, whichwas vaulted away for decades due to conflicts
between Aretha Franklin and the producers,but her estate eventually did release the rights
for the film to come out,and it's so powerful because you forget how
(19:23):
transcendent Aretha Franklin was as both apop star like the Rolling Stones, just
like show up in the background ofthis documentary to be like, well,
Retha's singing and we're gonna be there, you know. Yeah. I think
nineteen seventy two was when that onecame out. Did you And this is
semi related, did you see Tina'sdocumentary on Max? Yeah, that's actually
(19:48):
also on the list. With Chris. You didn't know, but now you
do that Chris has that one onthere too, Tina. Such it's incredible
because we saw What's Love Got toDo with It? I think a lot
of people think they knew to Turnerstory, but this goes so much more
in depth, and I think there'san incredible triple bill to be had where
you watch Buzz Love Got to Dowith It Tina, and then finish it
(20:11):
off when they eventually do this,because I hope to god they do the
Tina on Broadway. If you've neverseen it, it is absolutely incredible because
I feel like those two are likethe melding of everything you see in the
dock in the film, and thenwhen they do it on Broadway, it
becomes even more powerful. Yeah,that Tina. Tina's passing really hit me
(20:32):
way more than I thought it would. I'm a huge Tina Turner fan.
She was one of the first concertsthat I ever saw, and my mom
had got me into. My momwas into soul and line dancing and disco
and all, you know, allkinds of things. So my mom had
actually got me into her, andwhen she passed, I mean, I
really it was a couple of daysthat I was set. It was actually
(20:53):
like the first celebrity death that Ithink really kind of hit me because she
represented so much for me and somany other people. But you know,
this is a woman who went throughit, you know, obviously, and
came out as this symbol of strengthand power and creativity and all of these
(21:18):
amazing things. And let's not forgetthat her solo career was in her forties,
which is like unheard of even todayto start a solo career, but
especially then, and became bigger thanshe ever had, and she represented so
much and represents so much for somany people that it really hit me way
harder than I was even would havethought. And then I watched that documentary
(21:44):
and I was just sobbing because it'ssuch a beautiful documentary. It's such a
beautiful tribute to her life. Butshe also wasn't all good times, and
she wasn't afraid to discuss that.In many instances, I think she got
to a point where she was like, you know, all right, enough
about asking about Ike. But butfor at least a long time, she
(22:07):
was not afraid to discuss those lows, and that, in my opinion,
matters too, because it's our lows, especially if we're able to share them
with others that can help somebody elsepotentially get out of their low, you
know. And she was that filmOh my God anyway a tangent that but
(22:27):
no, no, it's and itspeaks to what I was speaking to before,
because she, along with Michael Jacksonand a couple of other key artists,
were those first artists that sort ofbroke the color barrier on MTV.
I mean, What's Love Got todo with It became a huge hit on
MTV in nineteen eighty four, andthat was one of the first black,
(22:48):
I would say, artists outside ofMichael Jackson that was in heavy rotation.
Nobody could deny Michael Jackson, buthe was at risk of becoming singular in
that environment without people like Tina Turner, with out stuff coming out by folks
like Diana Ross in the eighties thatreally sort of forced them to say,
no, we're going to continue withthis, We're going to continue showcasing these
(23:08):
artists because they are music. Andyeah, no, I absolutely agree about
Tina Turner. She really was aninspiration to domestic abuse survivors, but more
importantly just an inspiration as far asmusic, and so yeah, she was
a huge loss. And it's funnythough, because she along with a lot
of the films that I mentioned,like Girls Trip and Black Panther and so
(23:30):
many others, they're they're so big. And another feature that we actually have
on the Hub from a couple ofyears ago is actually about underrated or under
the radar gems that you maybe don'tknow about that are just absolutely incredible.
It was written three years ago byValerie Complex. Oh, I've had her
(23:51):
on the show. Yeah, welove Valerie. Yeah, she is so
great. And just to give yousome of the names that are on this
one. First of all, wehave Jin that was directed by Nigela Minhux.
She's actually she got her start directingfor Queen Sugar with Aver Dubernet,
and now she's gone on to bea part of the The Kevin Durant show
(24:12):
Swagger. She was writer on that, and it is her story as a
Muslim teenage girl sort of trying todo the intersection between her black identity,
her American identity, and her Muslimidentity and sort of navigating the realities of
how she is true to all threewhen all three seem very much in conflict.
Absolutely incredible shows. Also a youngKelvin Harrison, who folks will recognize
(24:36):
from another underrated film of recent memory. In that Chevalier. He played a
French aristocrat who was also of mixedrace. That one is awesome. Also
Night Comes On, which was thefirst time we got to see Dominic Fishback,
who would go on to be inJudas in The Black Messiah and which
was amazing, which was also soamazing. There's just way too many incredible
(24:59):
films on this list that that youmaybe didn't haven't checked. And that's just
the more recent ones. There's alsoones from the past, like the television
film The Autobiograph of the Autobiography ofMiss Jane Pittman, which was huge in
the seventies but not a lot ofpeople realize about it now. Is sort
of like a modern day hit andI'm going to I'm so sorry, but
(25:22):
I've actually never heard of that,So I'm going to be adding that to
my letterbox, so I can,you know, put it on to find
it and watch it. Yeah,this is sort of the that was I
think for a lot of people.If you knew Cecily Tyson as the icon
that she is. That is probablythe role that they most associated to her
at her heyday in the seventies andeighties. And then another I'm going to
(25:44):
bring out two more before I endwith this list, because I want you
to head on over to Rotten Tomatoesand head up and hit up our Black
heritage hubs so you can see allof these ones. But one of them
is by a nineteen year old filmmaker, Phil Humans. He did a film
called Burning Caine. It starred WendelPierce, who also won the Tribeca Best
Actor Award for his performance in thatand the kid won Tribeca before he was
(26:07):
legally able to drink. He couldn'teven drink at his own abster party,
and he already beat out all thefilmmakers that day. It talks about race
and religion and how as a blackperson the sort of oppression of religion and
how you can lose your faith becausesometimes the leaders don't end up being exactly
who they pretend to be. It'sa very nice double feature with Dune,
(26:29):
which is also a film that sortof like warns you against false prophet But
another film that's on here in sortof a sad one is Charm City Kings,
which is actually a film you can'teven see anymore because it was one
of those first victims of we're takingthis off the streaming service for a tax
ride off. And it told thestory of young motorcycle culture and Dirk bite
(26:52):
culture in urban environments. And it'sso sad because now it's just a film
that you have to know if yousaw it, maybe you luckily got a
screener for it. I still havemy screener. I will hold on it,
hold on to it until my dyingdays. But yeah, this is
a film that Angel manual Sota's firstfeature film, and it was a favorite
(27:14):
sun Dance and now it has goneto history. So it just goes to
show you how if we don't celebratethese films, they can disappear. Yeah.
Yeah. Speaking of Valerie, soshe's a huge horror fan. I'm
a huge horror fan, and sowe whenever I talked to her, we
gush over our you know, fanboy and girling of horror films. Horror
(27:36):
films. For me, black horrorfilms have have kind of becoming are kind
of getting I feel like their momentfinally, and that is opening doors for
more black horror films. Jordan Peeleis one of my favorite creatives. He
is a genius and he for me, and this is as a white boy
(27:57):
talking so please, you know,but for me, I think he has
opened so many doors for other blackcreatives to and he's empowered them, you
know us. I mean everything hedoes I just think is genius. But
he produced the Candyman reboot and thatI'm horrible. But the director on that,
(28:22):
uh la, oh my god,she is amazing, which made me
explore her other work from watching Candymanand loving it so much, and you
got Little Trees, I think,yeah, yes, yes, yes,
she is my god. And Ilove that somebody like Jordan Peel is using
his platform to open people's eyes,open the industry's eyes especially, which I
(28:48):
feel like is really the problem tothese other amazing talents that have their own
stories that that they are telling,you know. And for me, I
think horror is such I did aninterview with Elvira. I talked to her
every Halloween and we were talking aboutlike Oscar so white. It's like for
a while it was horror so white, you know, and now we're seeing
(29:12):
I think the horror fandom, youknow, horror fans are generally people who
are They don't care what color ofthe filmmaker is or what stories they're telling,
as long as they're telling interesting stories. And so horror for me is
an interesting place that I feel likeblack creatives have been able to go to
(29:33):
tell these stories that Look at JordanPeel, now he's like a major,
you know, incredible, huge,one of the top you know, creatives
in Hollywood. And and I lovethat horror allows that in so many ways,
because as sucky as it is tosay, it's a way into the
bigger system, you know. Andthere's so many amazing films. There's a
(30:00):
film that I write it down,there's a film, horror film, the
Black Girl and the Monster or something. Oh yeah, the Black Girl in
her Anger Monster Monster. Yes,like that is that is telling a There's
no doubt that that is a blackcreative telling a black story. And me,
as a horror fan, I'm justlike, this is a great ror
movie. Oh and by the way, you know what I mean? Well,
(30:22):
no, I think that's the keyis like important, It's it's specific,
but it's still universal and exactly thething that horror is sort of like
romance and some of these other genresthat have very specific sort of perimeters.
You can get very niche like getOut. Get Out as a very black
story about very particular aspects of blackidentity and navigating the world of whiteness in
(30:48):
the case of Chris in that moment, but it's still completely universal. That's
why it was nominated for Best Picture. That's why it took home Academy Awards,
is because even though it was talkingto a very specific group of people,
or maybe was coming through the viewpointof a very specific group of people,
it's still was something that was universalbecause within storytelling, if you're doing
it right, it can be thatway. And we do actually also have
(31:10):
a Black Horror Guide where we sortof break down a few of those in
a recent edition. That I thinkis really key for that one is actually
The Blackening, which was out lastyear. It was written by Dwayne Perkins
and produced by woll Packer, producedand directed by Wollpacker, And that is
another example of the other aspect ofblack horror is that black horror comedies,
(31:32):
because get Out is also a blackhorror comedy. There that that's a really
big part of it is the isthe laughing until you cry. And I'm
not just talking on the parity side. I mean we're we're speaking to films
like the Blackening movies like get Out, but even something like a Candy Man
like there's very comedic moments. Evenin the original Candy Man. There's there's
funny sort of things that you sortof navigate within these features, which I
(31:56):
think is really important. And Jordanis not just leaving it with black artists,
He's all marginal artists. His productioncompany, Monkey Paw is also producing
Dev Patel's first directorial feature, Andso I think again, it's definitely this
moment is about black cinema, butI think it's about all marginalized voices getting
their chance to sort of speak toit. I love that. I love
that. What other interesting you know? I mean, obviously I want everybody
(32:21):
to go to the hub and checkthem out, But what are some other
like top of mind lists that speakto you currently? Yeah, I would
say there's also our TV guide foranybody who's like, Okay, I've seen
some of this other stuff, butwhat's coming out right now? This will
give you exactly where every streamer,every studio, if they have content right
(32:45):
now this month that is particularly gearedtowards the Black voices or celebrating black voices.
Our hub will tell you exactly whereto find all of it, so
you'll be able to click on thereand see exactly where Disney Plus has all
of their Black History Month stories.And then there's things or things that are
coming back, like, for example, we have law Man bass Reeves.
It's about to come back with itsnext season and it has the premiere date
(33:07):
for that. Also Genius, whichis the nat Geo feature that's on Disney
Plus. The Next Iteration, whichis about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,
that one is going to be there. These are men that only met
once, but we're very intricol ineach other's lives in the civil rights movement.
We also have the new season of, like I said, law Man
(33:30):
bass Reeves, we also have thenew season of Abbot Elementary, which obviously
is a huge and hilarious feature,but they came right back for Black History
Month. And new shows like TheVince Staples Show, which is going to
be on Netflix, and so theVince Staples the Musical Artist is sort of
stepping into the small screen with hisvery first series. And then also like
(33:52):
again, things that have been celebratedfor multiple years, like Queen Latifa's Equalizer
after the Hollywood writer Strike, She'sfinally coming back with that season four,
which will be on CBS. Andyou can find information about all of those
what days they premiere as well aswhat folks are saying about them on our
TV guide for twenty twenty four andit has all of those on a calendar.
(34:13):
Thank you. That's an awesome feature, you know. It makes it
an easy kind of one stop shopto go and see what you want to
see and plan your plan your viewing. Yeah, so what can we expect
from you next? You have somuch going on constantly, I mean me
mainly, I would say, afteryou go ahead and hit the Black Heritage
Hub, head on over to theAwards Tour Hub. That's where I spend
(34:36):
most of my time this time ofyear, updating exactly who's winning throughout the
season, as well as, likeI said, we have our Awards Tour
podcast where I sort of speak tovarious filmmakers. We have great interviews with
Sterling K. Brown who was nominatedthis year, as well as Daniel Brooks
who is nominating for the color Purpleand I believe our next interview, I'm
(34:57):
gonna I'm going to like tease thisone. There's a very big film coming
out that has a black female actressas its lead, and maybe we're talking
to its director in the next comingweeks. I'll leave you with that tease.
How about that? Okay? Andwhere where can we find all of
this stuff? Yeah, just headon over to Rotten Tomatoes. Like I
said, the Black Heritage Hub isright on our homepage, as well as
(35:19):
the Awards tours, the one rightunderneath that. And if not, you
can just find me on every singlesocial channel at that Jacqueline and I'm sure
I've posted something. And the awardsfor podcast you can get on the iHeartRadio
app, Apple Podcasts wherever, righteverywhere that podcasts are available, you can
find it. Awesome. Thank youso much for speaking with me. It's
always a pleasure to talk to you. Please come back soon and we'll talk
(35:44):
whatever it is that you want totalk about. Thank you, it was
so great, great to be hereagain. Thank you for having me.
Thank you. I love Jacqueline.I always enjoy talking with her. She
is an encyclopedia of film knowledge andI love that she joined us to discuss
black film, black excellence, blackcinema on Pop Culture Weekly Today and celebration
(36:07):
of Black History Month. Of course, as always in the show notes,
we got a ton of links foryou to get to everywhere that you're interested
in based on our conversation. Allright, we're gonna take a quick break
sixty seconds to pay the bills.See you in sixty all right. Thank
(36:28):
you for hanging with me, Thanksfor supporting our advertisers who keep this show
running, keep me bringing great contentto you with the people that you love
in pop culture, movies, music, TV streaming all of it. All
right. Next up, I talkonce again with Joe Keery. He is
amazing, you know him from StrangerThings and Free Guy and so many other
(36:52):
amazing projects. This film that we'retalking about today, Marmalade, is really
really great. It's like a genrebending, line blurring film that has this
esthetic that I absolutely love. It'sdirected by Kira O'Donnell, who is an
(37:13):
actor himself, and so this isobviously a passion project for him, and
the passion comes through not just inthe film itself, but from all of
the you know, incredible actors,all the work on this film. So
Joe plays Baron. So basically thefilm revolves around Baron, who in jail
(37:34):
strikes up a friendship with a newcellmate who has a history of you know,
breaking out of prison. So asthey're hatching a plan to escape,
Baron discusses how he met the loveof his life and how they had to
come up with a scheme to roba bank that put him in this situation
in the first place. It's reallyreally great. I highly recommend that you
(37:59):
watch Marma. And here is myinterview with Joe Keery. So, first
of all, Joe, welcome backto Pop Culture Weekly. I really appreciate
you taking the time to talk tome about Marmalade. Hey, thanks for
having me of course. So firstof all, this film, I absolutely
love it. It's it reminds meof like one of those great eighties nineties
(38:22):
films where you know, kind ofmixes genres and it's got all kinds of
interesting things going on that makes itit's you know, it's not a it's
not a romantic comedy, it's nota drama, it's not a thriller by
themselves, it's all kind of mixed. Is that what drew it to you?
(38:43):
And if not, what is whatdid draw you to to the role
of Baron. Yeah, that's exactlykind of the the genre bending element that
you know, a lot of theearly Coen Brothers movies, Usual Suspects,
and it kind of has this sortof whimsical element, fairy tale element that
I thought was sort of an interestingangle. As well as just being kind
(39:07):
of connected to this character. Isort of think generally your first instinct about
things is kind of dead on,and I kind of felt like I sort
of understood the character. And thenalso I think something that's kind of lacking
in cinema these days, or it'smovies that are sort of surprising in a
(39:28):
way, and the audience is sosmart these days that generally there are three
steps ahead of the plot before ithappens, and then there's kind of no
element of surprise. So I kindof liked subverting expectations a little bit and
hope that this one can kind ofsneak up on people and also just sort
of be a little bit of levityand a little bit of joy and a
bright spot for people. Yeah,and I think for me anyway to accomplish
(39:52):
that this film, You know,it's interesting because there's kind of it's centered
in opinion, around these three kindof characters, and the talent behind it,
including yourself, is really makes it, you know what I mean,
what is it like working with talentlike that on a film like this especially,
(40:16):
It's so important to have people whocan just nail things. I guess
when you're working on an indie moviethat's so small, you know, really
almost a micro budget, and youshot so quickly. Really it was four
weeks for this whole movie twenty days, so it's really important to I guess,
(40:36):
yeah, just sort of have adeep understanding of the character and be
able to show up on set justnail it. And with all this Camillas
just like boom bam. So Ijust felt so lucky and taken care of.
And then also with kir As well, you know, the director of
the movie, he's this was reallyhis kind of baby, this project,
(40:58):
so the movie is inside of him. He understands each character pretty obviously intimately,
and then he just has a dreamfor how it is shot. That's
very specific, and that's what youwant and hope for when you work with
other people and work with directors especially, So he was amazing. He was
(41:20):
a joy, and it does.It does seem like and obviously is a
very personal project for him. He'sobviously been an actor for for a long
time and this is his first directorialdebut. Do you get any kind of
nervousness when you know, when it'ssomething like that that you're working with somebody
who who's obviously so personal to inso many ways, Well, are you
(41:43):
able to like separate that? Yeah? Well, I mean yeah, at
a certain point you kind of likeyou it goes from this thing that you
know that was on the page,and then all of a sudden, you
know, you obviously want to takeeverything into you know, everything that's on
the page is kind of that's sortof the Bible. But then also you
(42:05):
have to make it your own,and so there is a little bit of
nerves involved with that. But luckilyhere's a really collaborative guy, and as
an actor, as a pretty deepunderstanding that you know, it is a
collaboration between the director and the actorand that's what makes a good character.
So and for me that I preferthat I would really I like to kind
(42:30):
of create the character with the directorbecause that's sort of the sort of the
fun of it. And when youhave the kind of shorthand about like how
the character would react in a situation, how to interpret certain things. It's
nice to have two perspectives other thanjust one. So nerves, yes,
but also that's the fun of it, okay. And for you, you
(42:50):
know, and I'm trying to beas spoiler free as possible, but for
me, the film is very thoughtprovoking in many ways. You know,
I know my mind passed away acouple of years ago from panocratic cancer,
but it got me thinking about sorry, thank you very much. It got
me thinking about, you know,what would you do for love, both
as you know, a parent,a girlfriend or a partner or whatever.
(43:14):
And to me, that's something thatis not always present in a lot of
projects today where you know, youreally after you watch the film, it
stayed on my mind and you know, thinking like what would I do,
you know, and when someone isin a dire situation, what are the
lengths that you would go to?And that sort of thing, And I
(43:37):
feel like Marmalade does a really goodjob of giving that to the audience where
it's something to think about, youknow. Yeah, yeah, definitely I
loved that part of it. Withoutspoiling I think I also love that about
the conclusion of the film, thatit's this candy kind of colored cat and
(44:00):
mouse caper movie that you're kind oflike, what is this movie? And
then it's sort of lands with actuallysomething to say. I really like that
as well. So that's amazing actuallythat you felt that way. That's really
cool to hear because it's kind ofjust coming out. I haven't really talked
to too many people about the movie, and to hear you say that is
(44:22):
really cool. Thank you, Andthat's truly how I feel, and you
know, you guys have done agreat job with with it. I just
feel like this is one of thosefilms where everything has fallen into place,
you know, from the aesthetic,from you know, cinematography, to the
script, to the actors directing,obviously the writing. It's just one of
those films that really, you know, sneaks up on you. You know,
(44:45):
I didn't really know what I wasgoing into before I watched it,
and then as I watched it,I'm like, this is like one of
those films that that sticks, youknow, sticks more than you know.
We watched so many projects I'm sureyou do too, and there's so much
content coming out and oftentimes it's it'seasy to forget the last few things you
(45:07):
just watched because you're onder the nextone. And it says something, at
least in my opinion, when oneof those projects sticks with you after you've
watched it, you know, definitelyI feel a very similar way. I
think a lot of people feel thekind of burnout from just there's a lot
of stuff. There's a lot ofstuff to watch. So I guess that's
(45:29):
what sort of drew me in tothe idea of this, is that it
felt really different and it felt kindof risky, but that's the fun of
it. The risk, I guessis that you know, you sort of
end up feeling like silly or youknow, you're kind of like, I
don't know, but that I thinkthat's also where really great things can kind
(45:52):
of happen and really exciting work canbe done. So yeah, I really
appreciate you saying that that's that's verycool that it has stuck with you.
And I'm really excited to see whatother people think when they watch the movie
and kind of see sort of whathappens with it. Cool of it's sort
of starting to take on a lifeof its own after kind of being this
(46:14):
thing that we worked on and nowit's sort of out there for everyone to
enjoying. Yeah, I can't waitto talk to talk talk to people about
it. Finally, for you,you know you do you've done and do
big projects like Stranger Things and thefilm with Ryan Reynolds. Oh yeah,
of course, guy, Yes,free guy, thank you. I was
gonna say free man that which Italked to you, you know, you
(46:35):
and I talked for that film.And then you're able to do you know,
a small project like this. Whatfor you, does that kind of
fulfill all of your creative you knowneeds, if you will, where you
can go and do this big budgetproject and and then you can go and
do you know a smaller sort ofart house indie film that that can take
(46:58):
risks and that sort of thing.Does it? Does it fulfill different needs
for you as an actor? Definitely? Every project has its own challenges,
its own benefits, And every timeyou think you understand what it is like
to work on set or make afilm, it all sort of changes.
Because the beautiful thing is that it'sa rotating cast of characters. It's like
(47:22):
a circus. You like, goto this place and you put on this
show and then it's over. Soyeah, working on different you know,
a big budget thing versus the tinything, there are major differences, but
I think at the core it reallyis the same. But I feel really
lucky also in my life to justhave a lot of outlets and a lot
(47:43):
of interest in a lot of differenta lot of different things. So it's
yeah, I guess I guess thatsort of answers the question, but obviously
feel very yeah, very fortunate tobe able to, you know, do
any of these things. So yeah, it's very exciting. Well, and
we love watching you. Joe.Thank you so much for speaking with Nick.
(48:06):
I can't wait for everybody to seeMarmalade. It's such a great film.
And uh, thank you come backagain for the next project. Thank
you so much, absolutely well,Thanks Kyle, Thanks man, Joe.
Kirie love Joe love Marmalade, andI'm so thankful for him to come back
out to come back on the showand discuss his latest project, Marmalade.
(48:30):
It really really is worth your time. Besides Joe, it also stars Camilla
Morone and Aldis Hodge, who areboth incredible in their own right. You
can watch Marmalade right now on AppleTV Prime Video wherever you rent or purchase
your films. And it's also hasa limited release in theaters, which I
(48:52):
highly recommend. If it is playingnear you, you go and see it
in the theater. It's really agreat film. All right, that's all
for this episode of pop Culture Weekly. Thank you for hanging out with me.
I really appreciate you. Keep onlistening, keep on reviewing the show
on Apple Podcasts or wherever, sharingit with friends that you think would enjoy
(49:15):
it, especially the conversations that wehad today. I appreciate you. Hit
me up on all the socials.I love you. We thank you for
listening to pop Culture Weekly. Hereall the latest at popcultureweekly dot com.
Used to have a little, butI got a lot. I'm just I'm
(49:37):
just Kylie from the Block. Don'tbe fooled by the pops that I got.
I'm just I'm just Kylie from theBlock. Used to have a little,
Now I have a lot. I'mstill I'm still Kylie from the Block. Me
In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, I talked with Joe Keary about his
new movie Marmalade. We hear fromJay Lo about her brand new film This
is Me Now, and I talkwith Rotten Tomatoes editor jacchel and Coley all
about black cinema. Let's go Welcometo pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from
iHeartRadio, your pop culture news,views, reviews, and celebrity interviews on
(00:25):
Fall the movies, TV music,and pomp Culture U Crab Weekly. Here's
Kyle McMahon. NAA, hello,and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle
McMahon. I of course am KyleMcMahon, and I thank you for hanging
out with me once again for anotherepisode of pop Culture Weekly. We've got
a jam packed episode today where Italk once again with Joe Keery about his
(00:51):
new film Marmalade, which is really, really, really great. We hear
from Jennifer Lopez, the one andonly j LO, about her brand new
film on Amazon Prime Video This isMe Now, and Jacqueline Coley, Rotten
Tomatoes editor, comes back once again, and this time we are celebrating black
(01:12):
film, black cinema, talking aboutyou know, some of the best of
the Best in Black Film in celebrationof Black History Month. So lots of
stuff to get into. Let's diveright into it. Okay, So Jennifer
Lopez will start out with j LO. She has a brand new film out
(01:34):
an album called This Is Me Now. The album is obviously a follow up
to her album This Is Me Then, that came out in two thousand and
two and was kind of based aroundher first go round with Ben Affleck,
where that entire media circus ensued andwe had benefer that whole media circus,
(01:57):
and that's kind of what that albumwas about. The album This Is Me
Then spawned the singles I'm glad allI Have with ll Cooljay, Jenny from
the Block, you Belong to Me. It's hard to believe that it's been
twelve years since the release of thatalbum, but j Lo is back with
her brand new album, So Thisis Me Then kind of continues that story.
(02:23):
Right, It's been ten years sincethe release of her last album,
AKA, and This Is Me Now, her ninth studio album, is all
about the reunion with Ben Affleck andbasically her starts for love. It's kind
of part of a three part projectsurrounding this this Is Me Now, the
(02:44):
album, This Is Me Now,the film, and a upcoming documentary on
Amazon Prime called The Greatest Love StoryNever Told? Which kind of documents,
you know, this whole project.She's also going on tour. The tour
is thirty plus cities, kicking offin June in Orlando and it is called
This Is Me Now The Tour.Here's what Jennifer Lopez had to say about
(03:08):
how the album drove the idea forthis movie, which is a musical film.
You know, it's the visuals forthe album, but it's tied together
as a film. It's really reallyinventive. Here's what she had to say,
and she's with director Dave Myers abouthow the album drove the idea for
(03:28):
This Is Me Now the film.You know, there wasn't kind of a
time where I was like, oh, I'm going to do this at some
point in my life. This wassomething that was really inspired by the music
and a moment in life that Iwanted to capture that seemed very kind of
magical and even surreal at times thatit was happening. And I went in
(03:49):
the studio and I made this album, and when it was done, I
thought to myself, there's something,there's more to this story. There's something
bigger I want to do with thismusic. I just don't want to put
out of you know, do thenormal put out a video and do this
and do that and promo and blahblah blah, and there was just it
felt like there was a bigger message. And so I called Dave and we
(04:11):
sat down and we talked about it, and I played him some of the
music and I said this, Iwant to do something. I don't know
exactly what I want to do,which is kind of why I think we
created something that hadn't really been done. And I was like, didn't fit
into anyone, you know, kindof like specific category, not quite a
(04:32):
film, not quite a video,but a story nonetheless, something very original.
And we sat there and we talkedabout it, and I sang it,
I sang todave, I did allkinds of stuff, and then you
know, Dave really kind of honedin on like this is, well,
that's the story. What you justtold me is what we should do.
(04:55):
And we started putting it down onpaper, trying to describe it to people.
They didn't really quite get it.Then we had to put down a
script for them to kind of understandit. We did that and then we
kind of went from there and thefilm is definitely This is Me Now is
definitely stylized. You know, it'sa fictionalized version or story. So where
(05:16):
did j Lo draw the line betweenreality and fiction? You know, there's
not a project that I've ever beeninvolved with, music or movies or anything
that I didn't put a bunch ofmy life into and a lot of my
personal experience. I think as anartist that's all you really have to draw
on the experience that you have andand the personal experience and the experience of
(05:38):
other people around you that you've bornwitnessed to. And I think with this
one, I really wanted to youknow, it seemed like such an important
moment in my life, kind ofa turning point in my life that and
I was at a point in mylife where as a person and as an
artist, I could really look atall of the things that I was good
(06:00):
at and the things that I feltand knew about myself and put them all
into this project in a way,so things professionally but also personally. And
so yes, there's parts of itthat feel kind of very autobiographical, and
it's parts of it that are kindof meta, not quite in a way,
(06:21):
not exactly what happened, but alsothe feeling of that is what happened,
you know. So there was differentthings about it that, you know,
we're super honest and true, andthen there was things that were kind
of more for license and kind oftaking license and really doing what was best
(06:43):
for the entertainment and storytelling of thefilm, I think. And that mix
of it being personal but also beingable to be fantastical, surreal, magical,
you know what, I think madeit really or makes it really kind
of moving, entertaining and at thesame time super real. There's a ton
(07:08):
of celebrity cameos in This Is MeNow. It had to be a challenge
coordinating all of these amazing famous people, right, That was, yes,
it was. It was a challengewith the cameos that we have in the
movie. We obviously had quite afew. Some came on the same day,
(07:29):
some didn't. We had to makeit work. We did whatever we
could. Most of them were shotseparate. Yeah, yeah, So that
was actually probably the hardest scene toedit because we kept rewriting the script and
you know, a lot of them. You know, we're personal friends of
Gens, and so there was alot of you know, like Gen had
to switch out of out of youknow, performance mode and kind of come
(07:51):
join me and kind of hold theirhands and trying to because they didn't understand
what they were doing and they're outthere wearing funny costumes on a Yeah.
They were like, what am Idoing? And I was like, just
trust me, it's gonna be fine. I would never make you look crazy,
and if it looks crazy, we'llthrow it in the garbage. Don't
worry about it. But luckily itturned out well, and a lot of
(08:15):
them have seen the film already andare so excited, and I mean the
reaction has been I mean I couldwith everything that we've been through, it's
so kind of like satisfying to knowthat people love it. And how does
this project fit into the larger bodyof JLO work? You know, it's
(08:37):
it's it's kind of me and andBen kind of said this to me,
you know, I was like,I'm not. I don't write, I
don't do this. He was like, you do. You write, you
direct, you produce, you doall the things you court. You start
stepping into that start owning that alittle bit, start owning a little bit
of who you are. And againwe talk about a little bit about this
(09:01):
in some of the behind the scenesfootage that we have, and it was
just how does it fit in it? It ended as chapter and it started
a new chapter for me. Soit ended kind of this twenty year journey
about a lot of questions that Ihad about love and being myself a hopeless
romantic and what it means to reallyenter into a kind of healthier, more
(09:28):
self accepting phase for myself. Now, what will happen from that I hope
will be and I know will be, you know, even more wonderful things
and what I have been so privilegedto live up until this point. But
again, what the movie shows usthat there has been struggles, and there
has been you know, hard timesthat nobody knew about that I kept to
(09:54):
myself, and you know, kindof gaining the confidence to be vulnerable and
to admit certain things to the worldI think has only kind of made me
more comfortable in my own skin andkind of empowered me in a way to
step into this next phase of mylife as an artist and as a human
(10:18):
being that will be a whole newchapter for me of feeling more free to
express myself in a lot of differentand you know, kind of exciting ways.
There you have it from Jennifer Lopez, herself, and director Dave Myers.
(10:39):
This is Me Now, a LoveStory. The film is out right
now on Amazon Prime Video. Thisis Me Now the album is out on
streaming services everywhere, just like theiHeartRadio app and of course, The Greatest
Love Story Never Told. The documentarydebuts on February twenty seventh on Prime Video.
(11:00):
We're gonna take a one minute breakto pay the bills, hang out
with me, Listen to these awesomeadvertisers that make this show continue to go
along with your support and love.I'll see in sixty all right. Thanks
for hanging with me and supporting ouradvertisers that help support Pop Culture Weekly.
Next up, I talk with RottenTomatoes editor Jacqueline Colely. She is amazing.
(11:26):
Love her, She's been on theshow before. It's always a delight
to talk to her, and weare going to discuss black film here.
She is the one and only JacquelineColely. So pop Culture Weekly once again.
I am here with the amazing JacquelineColey, editor Rotten Tomatoes and host
of the podcast, The Awards TourPodcast. Yeah, thanks for having me,
(11:50):
of course, thank you for comingon again. I appreciate it.
Yeah, glad to be here,especially talking about great moments in black cinema,
because there's tons right are and itdoes not get enough love and attention.
And in my opinion, the morethat we talk about it, the
more that the less that we haveto worry about that. Hopefully that's the
(12:11):
goal. Anyway, So Rotten Tomatoesactually has a hub which you are involved
with. Tell me a little bitabout that. Yeah. So, actually
at Rotten Tomatoes we have what wecall our Heritage and Celebration hubs that we
put out throughout the year. Thisis actually the first one of the year.
We kick it off with Black HistoryMonth and then we move into Women's
Heritage and then we go on throughto API, Native American, Hispanic Heritage
(12:33):
and LGBTQ. It's a great momentto sort of show these visionary and landmark
moments in cinema, people whose nameshave maybe been forgotten in history that we're
trying to highlight films that have beenoverlooked as well as what I would consider
like the staples and cannons of bothfilmmakers and moments like films like obviously you
(12:54):
know, Wakanda Forever and Black Panther. That was just the movie that a
lot of people saw and understand stoodexactly how the black experience was sort of
given that huge Marvel cinematic moment.But then there's like smaller films like Daughters
of the Dust and Watermelon Woman,and they all find incredible moments on this
hub, and they find incredible momentswith the way that everything works out at
(13:16):
Rotten Tomatoes on our site, whichis really great. That is really awesome.
So tell me about some of thepieces on there that we can go
and check out and read and thenexplore those films. Yeah, So,
I would say as an editor,I'm definitely intricately involved in a ton of
these, but I will highlight theone that I actually did starting in twenty
fourteen, and that is movies thatcelebrate black joy because oftentime in cinema,
(13:41):
and this is actually something that's discussedin a current Best Picture nominee American Fiction.
When they think about black stories,the only sort of viewpoint we get
into them is often through the lensof pain, oppression, and marginalization,
which is very real and very true. But there's so many films that are
just simply about black Joy or themoments of black Joy. And although not
(14:03):
every single film on this list isjoyful all the way through, it's not
as if they don't have serious moments. They have an incredible, I would
say representation of the films that makeus laugh out loud, films like Girls
Trip forty year old version, anew film that was actually nominated for a
baft rye Lane, and then youalso have moments of just like black excellence,
(14:24):
with stuff like Beyonce's Homecoming and Renaissanceand Spider Man into the Spider Verse
and all of these, Like there'snothing more joyful than thinking of like Miles
Morales as Spider Man leaping across theNew York Skyline. To me, that
is the absolute epitome of what wethink of when we think of Black Joy.
Absolutely, and you know, speakingto across Spider Man, across the
(14:48):
Spider Verse and now a trilogy orwill soon be a trilogy. My god
son Aiden is half black, halfwhite. And when Spider Man, when
that came out, he was soexcited and I was excited because I'm a
Spider Man fan and Miles Morales isa huge kind of fan favorite as well
(15:09):
that was very underrepresented in film.Especially. He said something to me that
really struck me, and it was, he looks like me because he aiden
has like his his little fro andyou know, and his mom will sometimes
do like the ties, and andhe was so excited to see a character
that looked like him, this superheroon screen, and it meant so much
(15:35):
to him. So I was soexcited to go with him to the theater
to see it. But it mademe really think it kind of you know,
broke my heart in a lot ofways to think that he is getting
excited about this because it's so rarethat there's somebody that looks like him on
screen, especially as a little kid, you know, and that's what's great
about films. We actually just gotback from the Oscar luncheon on Monday last
(16:00):
Monday, where we talked to alot of the nominees and they were talking
about we actually spoke to the SpiderVerse guys because they're Oscar nominated again this
year, about how everybody gets tohave an origin story and Spider Verse like
at the heart of its DNA iscelebrating that origin story. And yeah,
you can see those videos with PhilLord and Chris Miller, who are hot
(16:21):
on working for their third installment ofthat franchise, talk about that, which
I felt was very powerful. Yeah, and it speaks to the It speaks
to the power of film, andit speaks to you know, for me,
Aiden's story speaks to how important thatrepresentation is. You know, I
(16:42):
want to see stories of people thatlook like me, especially you know,
as a kid. I mean,for him to have to be so excited
about that, in a way issad, but it also makes me happy
that he's so happy that he isfinally getting to see that on screen and
it's positive and it's a superhero andit's a you know, from a Marvel
(17:06):
character, and it's Spider Man ofall people. You know, representation really
really does matter, and I lovethat about our medium, you know,
is that entertainment can tell those stories, you know. Yeah, no,
absolutely. Another one of the onesthat we have on the Hub is actually
one from a new contributor for us. He's actually a YouTuber and his name
(17:30):
is Chris Tate, and he didthis incredible piece about ten films about black
music that have turned these icons intohousehold names. Now, I will say,
I don't know if you've seen thenew Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in
Pop where they had like Lionel,Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross,
Ray Charles and all of them gatheredtogether to sing we Are the World.
(17:51):
Yes, but that was a similarmoment of black representation. I mean,
this is not this is nineteen eightyfive. They were still fighting to get
black artists consistently show on MTV atthis point, and so having that sort
of large scale event with these whiteblack artists together coming together to do something
for charity, to do something meaningful, but more importantly, to put them
(18:14):
all on equal footing with the superstarsof their day, that was a huge
one. Also the new Bob Marleymovie where I think you and I probably
know who Bob Marley is, butwe have to remember kids of this certain
timeframe, he is less I thinkknown in the younger generations, and so
getting that moment where these folks cansort of see him and see what he
meant to his country, but moreimportantly, what he meant to the world.
(18:37):
And then in another film that isalso on my black joy piece,
and that is Quest Loves the Summerof Soul So Good, Yeah, which
speaks of the Harlem Cultural Festival fromthe nineteen sixties, and that documentary which
breaks down all of the artists howincredible it was for the community, but
more importantly, how rare it wasto see all of these black artists on
(18:59):
a single bill in such a largescale event. That one is on there
too. And then one of myfavorites on here is the Wreatha Franklin documentary
concert film Amazing Grace Yes, whichwas vaulted away for decades due to conflicts
between Aretha Franklin and the producers,but her estate eventually did release the rights
for the film to come out,and it's so powerful because you forget how
(19:23):
transcendent Aretha Franklin was as both apop star like the Rolling Stones, just
like show up in the background ofthis documentary to be like, well,
Retha's singing and we're gonna be there, you know. Yeah. I think
nineteen seventy two was when that onecame out. Did you And this is
semi related, did you see Tina'sdocumentary on Max? Yeah, that's actually
(19:48):
also on the list. With Chris. You didn't know, but now you
do that Chris has that one onthere too, Tina. Such it's incredible
because we saw What's Love Got toDo with It? I think a lot
of people think they knew to Turnerstory, but this goes so much more
in depth, and I think there'san incredible triple bill to be had where
you watch Buzz Love Got to Dowith It Tina, and then finish it
(20:11):
off when they eventually do this,because I hope to god they do the
Tina on Broadway. If you've neverseen it, it is absolutely incredible because
I feel like those two are likethe melding of everything you see in the
dock in the film, and thenwhen they do it on Broadway, it
becomes even more powerful. Yeah,that Tina. Tina's passing really hit me
(20:32):
way more than I thought it would. I'm a huge Tina Turner fan.
She was one of the first concertsthat I ever saw, and my mom
had got me into. My momwas into soul and line dancing and disco
and all, you know, allkinds of things. So my mom had
actually got me into her, andwhen she passed, I mean, I
really it was a couple of daysthat I was set. It was actually
(20:53):
like the first celebrity death that Ithink really kind of hit me because she
represented so much for me and somany other people. But you know,
this is a woman who went throughit, you know, obviously, and
came out as this symbol of strengthand power and creativity and all of these
(21:18):
amazing things. And let's not forgetthat her solo career was in her forties,
which is like unheard of even todayto start a solo career, but
especially then, and became bigger thanshe ever had, and she represented so
much and represents so much for somany people that it really hit me way
harder than I was even would havethought. And then I watched that documentary
(21:44):
and I was just sobbing because it'ssuch a beautiful documentary. It's such a
beautiful tribute to her life. Butshe also wasn't all good times, and
she wasn't afraid to discuss that.In many instances, I think she got
to a point where she was like, you know, all right, enough
about asking about Ike. But butfor at least a long time, she
(22:07):
was not afraid to discuss those lows, and that, in my opinion,
matters too, because it's our lows, especially if we're able to share them
with others that can help somebody elsepotentially get out of their low, you
know. And she was that filmOh my God anyway a tangent that but
(22:27):
no, no, it's and itspeaks to what I was speaking to before,
because she, along with Michael Jacksonand a couple of other key artists,
were those first artists that sort ofbroke the color barrier on MTV.
I mean, What's Love Got todo with It became a huge hit on
MTV in nineteen eighty four, andthat was one of the first black,
(22:48):
I would say, artists outside ofMichael Jackson that was in heavy rotation.
Nobody could deny Michael Jackson, buthe was at risk of becoming singular in
that environment without people like Tina Turner, with out stuff coming out by folks
like Diana Ross in the eighties thatreally sort of forced them to say,
no, we're going to continue withthis, We're going to continue showcasing these
(23:08):
artists because they are music. Andyeah, no, I absolutely agree about
Tina Turner. She really was aninspiration to domestic abuse survivors, but more
importantly just an inspiration as far asmusic, and so yeah, she was
a huge loss. And it's funnythough, because she along with a lot
of the films that I mentioned,like Girls Trip and Black Panther and so
(23:30):
many others, they're they're so big. And another feature that we actually have
on the Hub from a couple ofyears ago is actually about underrated or under
the radar gems that you maybe don'tknow about that are just absolutely incredible.
It was written three years ago byValerie Complex. Oh, I've had her
(23:51):
on the show. Yeah, welove Valerie. Yeah, she is so
great. And just to give yousome of the names that are on this
one. First of all, wehave Jin that was directed by Nigela Minhux.
She's actually she got her start directingfor Queen Sugar with Aver Dubernet,
and now she's gone on to bea part of the The Kevin Durant show
(24:12):
Swagger. She was writer on that, and it is her story as a
Muslim teenage girl sort of trying todo the intersection between her black identity,
her American identity, and her Muslimidentity and sort of navigating the realities of
how she is true to all threewhen all three seem very much in conflict.
Absolutely incredible shows. Also a youngKelvin Harrison, who folks will recognize
(24:36):
from another underrated film of recent memory. In that Chevalier. He played a
French aristocrat who was also of mixedrace. That one is awesome. Also
Night Comes On, which was thefirst time we got to see Dominic Fishback,
who would go on to be inJudas in The Black Messiah and which
was amazing, which was also soamazing. There's just way too many incredible
(24:59):
films on this list that that youmaybe didn't haven't checked. And that's just
the more recent ones. There's alsoones from the past, like the television
film The Autobiograph of the Autobiography ofMiss Jane Pittman, which was huge in
the seventies but not a lot ofpeople realize about it now. Is sort
of like a modern day hit andI'm going to I'm so sorry, but
(25:22):
I've actually never heard of that,So I'm going to be adding that to
my letterbox, so I can,you know, put it on to find
it and watch it. Yeah,this is sort of the that was I
think for a lot of people.If you knew Cecily Tyson as the icon
that she is. That is probablythe role that they most associated to her
at her heyday in the seventies andeighties. And then another I'm going to
(25:44):
bring out two more before I endwith this list, because I want you
to head on over to Rotten Tomatoesand head up and hit up our Black
heritage hubs so you can see allof these ones. But one of them
is by a nineteen year old filmmaker, Phil Humans. He did a film
called Burning Caine. It starred WendelPierce, who also won the Tribeca Best
Actor Award for his performance in thatand the kid won Tribeca before he was
(26:07):
legally able to drink. He couldn'teven drink at his own abster party,
and he already beat out all thefilmmakers that day. It talks about race
and religion and how as a blackperson the sort of oppression of religion and
how you can lose your faith becausesometimes the leaders don't end up being exactly
who they pretend to be. It'sa very nice double feature with Dune,
(26:29):
which is also a film that sortof like warns you against false prophet But
another film that's on here in sortof a sad one is Charm City Kings,
which is actually a film you can'teven see anymore because it was one
of those first victims of we're takingthis off the streaming service for a tax
ride off. And it told thestory of young motorcycle culture and Dirk bite
(26:52):
culture in urban environments. And it'sso sad because now it's just a film
that you have to know if yousaw it, maybe you luckily got a
screener for it. I still havemy screener. I will hold on it,
hold on to it until my dyingdays. But yeah, this is
a film that Angel manual Sota's firstfeature film, and it was a favorite
(27:14):
sun Dance and now it has goneto history. So it just goes to
show you how if we don't celebratethese films, they can disappear. Yeah.
Yeah. Speaking of Valerie, soshe's a huge horror fan. I'm
a huge horror fan, and sowe whenever I talked to her, we
gush over our you know, fanboy and girling of horror films. Horror
(27:36):
films. For me, black horrorfilms have have kind of becoming are kind
of getting I feel like their momentfinally, and that is opening doors for
more black horror films. Jordan Peeleis one of my favorite creatives. He
is a genius and he for me, and this is as a white boy
(27:57):
talking so please, you know,but for me, I think he has
opened so many doors for other blackcreatives to and he's empowered them, you
know us. I mean everything hedoes I just think is genius. But
he produced the Candyman reboot and thatI'm horrible. But the director on that,
(28:22):
uh la, oh my god,she is amazing, which made me
explore her other work from watching Candymanand loving it so much, and you
got Little Trees, I think,yeah, yes, yes, yes,
she is my god. And Ilove that somebody like Jordan Peel is using
his platform to open people's eyes,open the industry's eyes especially, which I
(28:48):
feel like is really the problem tothese other amazing talents that have their own
stories that that they are telling,you know. And for me, I
think horror is such I did aninterview with Elvira. I talked to her
every Halloween and we were talking aboutlike Oscar so white. It's like for
a while it was horror so white, you know, and now we're seeing
(29:12):
I think the horror fandom, youknow, horror fans are generally people who
are They don't care what color ofthe filmmaker is or what stories they're telling,
as long as they're telling interesting stories. And so horror for me is
an interesting place that I feel likeblack creatives have been able to go to
(29:33):
tell these stories that Look at JordanPeel, now he's like a major,
you know, incredible, huge,one of the top you know, creatives
in Hollywood. And and I lovethat horror allows that in so many ways,
because as sucky as it is tosay, it's a way into the
bigger system, you know. Andthere's so many amazing films. There's a
(30:00):
film that I write it down,there's a film, horror film, the
Black Girl and the Monster or something. Oh yeah, the Black Girl in
her Anger Monster Monster. Yes,like that is that is telling a There's
no doubt that that is a blackcreative telling a black story. And me,
as a horror fan, I'm justlike, this is a great ror
movie. Oh and by the way, you know what I mean? Well,
(30:22):
no, I think that's the keyis like important, It's it's specific,
but it's still universal and exactly thething that horror is sort of like
romance and some of these other genresthat have very specific sort of perimeters.
You can get very niche like getOut. Get Out as a very black
story about very particular aspects of blackidentity and navigating the world of whiteness in
(30:48):
the case of Chris in that moment, but it's still completely universal. That's
why it was nominated for Best Picture. That's why it took home Academy Awards,
is because even though it was talkingto a very specific group of people,
or maybe was coming through the viewpointof a very specific group of people,
it's still was something that was universalbecause within storytelling, if you're doing
it right, it can be thatway. And we do actually also have
(31:10):
a Black Horror Guide where we sortof break down a few of those in
a recent edition. That I thinkis really key for that one is actually
The Blackening, which was out lastyear. It was written by Dwayne Perkins
and produced by woll Packer, producedand directed by Wollpacker, And that is
another example of the other aspect ofblack horror is that black horror comedies,
(31:32):
because get Out is also a blackhorror comedy. There that that's a really
big part of it is the isthe laughing until you cry. And I'm
not just talking on the parity side. I mean we're we're speaking to films
like the Blackening movies like get Out, but even something like a Candy Man
like there's very comedic moments. Evenin the original Candy Man. There's there's
funny sort of things that you sortof navigate within these features, which I
(31:56):
think is really important. And Jordanis not just leaving it with black artists,
He's all marginal artists. His productioncompany, Monkey Paw is also producing
Dev Patel's first directorial feature, Andso I think again, it's definitely this
moment is about black cinema, butI think it's about all marginalized voices getting
their chance to sort of speak toit. I love that. I love
that. What other interesting you know? I mean, obviously I want everybody
(32:21):
to go to the hub and checkthem out, But what are some other
like top of mind lists that speakto you currently? Yeah, I would
say there's also our TV guide foranybody who's like, Okay, I've seen
some of this other stuff, butwhat's coming out right now? This will
give you exactly where every streamer,every studio, if they have content right
(32:45):
now this month that is particularly gearedtowards the Black voices or celebrating black voices.
Our hub will tell you exactly whereto find all of it, so
you'll be able to click on thereand see exactly where Disney Plus has all
of their Black History Month stories.And then there's things or things that are
coming back, like, for example, we have law Man bass Reeves.
It's about to come back with itsnext season and it has the premiere date
(33:07):
for that. Also Genius, whichis the nat Geo feature that's on Disney
Plus. The Next Iteration, whichis about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,
that one is going to be there. These are men that only met
once, but we're very intricol ineach other's lives in the civil rights movement.
We also have the new season of, like I said, law Man
(33:30):
bass Reeves, we also have thenew season of Abbot Elementary, which obviously
is a huge and hilarious feature,but they came right back for Black History
Month. And new shows like TheVince Staples Show, which is going to
be on Netflix, and so theVince Staples the Musical Artist is sort of
stepping into the small screen with hisvery first series. And then also like
(33:52):
again, things that have been celebratedfor multiple years, like Queen Latifa's Equalizer
after the Hollywood writer Strike, She'sfinally coming back with that season four,
which will be on CBS. Andyou can find information about all of those
what days they premiere as well aswhat folks are saying about them on our
TV guide for twenty twenty four andit has all of those on a calendar.
(34:13):
Thank you. That's an awesome feature, you know. It makes it
an easy kind of one stop shopto go and see what you want to
see and plan your plan your viewing. Yeah, so what can we expect
from you next? You have somuch going on constantly, I mean me
mainly, I would say, afteryou go ahead and hit the Black Heritage
Hub, head on over to theAwards Tour Hub. That's where I spend
(34:36):
most of my time this time ofyear, updating exactly who's winning throughout the
season, as well as, likeI said, we have our Awards Tour
podcast where I sort of speak tovarious filmmakers. We have great interviews with
Sterling K. Brown who was nominatedthis year, as well as Daniel Brooks
who is nominating for the color Purpleand I believe our next interview, I'm
(34:57):
gonna I'm going to like tease thisone. There's a very big film coming
out that has a black female actressas its lead, and maybe we're talking
to its director in the next comingweeks. I'll leave you with that tease.
How about that? Okay? Andwhere where can we find all of
this stuff? Yeah, just headon over to Rotten Tomatoes. Like I
said, the Black Heritage Hub isright on our homepage, as well as
(35:19):
the Awards tours, the one rightunderneath that. And if not, you
can just find me on every singlesocial channel at that Jacqueline and I'm sure
I've posted something. And the awardsfor podcast you can get on the iHeartRadio
app, Apple Podcasts wherever, righteverywhere that podcasts are available, you can
find it. Awesome. Thank youso much for speaking with me. It's
always a pleasure to talk to you. Please come back soon and we'll talk
(35:44):
whatever it is that you want totalk about. Thank you, it was
so great, great to be hereagain. Thank you for having me.
Thank you. I love Jacqueline.I always enjoy talking with her. She
is an encyclopedia of film knowledge andI love that she joined us to discuss
black film, black excellence, blackcinema on Pop Culture Weekly Today and celebration
(36:07):
of Black History Month. Of course, as always in the show notes,
we got a ton of links foryou to get to everywhere that you're interested
in based on our conversation. Allright, we're gonna take a quick break
sixty seconds to pay the bills.See you in sixty all right. Thank
(36:28):
you for hanging with me, Thanksfor supporting our advertisers who keep this show
running, keep me bringing great contentto you with the people that you love
in pop culture, movies, music, TV streaming all of it. All
right. Next up, I talkonce again with Joe Keery. He is
amazing, you know him from StrangerThings and Free Guy and so many other
(36:52):
amazing projects. This film that we'retalking about today, Marmalade, is really
really great. It's like a genrebending, line blurring film that has this
esthetic that I absolutely love. It'sdirected by Kira O'Donnell, who is an
(37:13):
actor himself, and so this isobviously a passion project for him, and
the passion comes through not just inthe film itself, but from all of
the you know, incredible actors,all the work on this film. So
Joe plays Baron. So basically thefilm revolves around Baron, who in jail
(37:34):
strikes up a friendship with a newcellmate who has a history of you know,
breaking out of prison. So asthey're hatching a plan to escape,
Baron discusses how he met the loveof his life and how they had to
come up with a scheme to roba bank that put him in this situation
in the first place. It's reallyreally great. I highly recommend that you
(37:59):
watch Marma. And here is myinterview with Joe Keery. So, first
of all, Joe, welcome backto Pop Culture Weekly. I really appreciate
you taking the time to talk tome about Marmalade. Hey, thanks for
having me of course. So firstof all, this film, I absolutely
love it. It's it reminds meof like one of those great eighties nineties
(38:22):
films where you know, kind ofmixes genres and it's got all kinds of
interesting things going on that makes itit's you know, it's not a it's
not a romantic comedy, it's nota drama, it's not a thriller by
themselves, it's all kind of mixed. Is that what drew it to you?
(38:43):
And if not, what is whatdid draw you to to the role
of Baron. Yeah, that's exactlykind of the the genre bending element that
you know, a lot of theearly Coen Brothers movies, Usual Suspects,
and it kind of has this sortof whimsical element, fairy tale element that
I thought was sort of an interestingangle. As well as just being kind
(39:07):
of connected to this character. Isort of think generally your first instinct about
things is kind of dead on,and I kind of felt like I sort
of understood the character. And thenalso I think something that's kind of lacking
in cinema these days, or it'smovies that are sort of surprising in a
(39:28):
way, and the audience is sosmart these days that generally there are three
steps ahead of the plot before ithappens, and then there's kind of no
element of surprise. So I kindof liked subverting expectations a little bit and
hope that this one can kind ofsneak up on people and also just sort
of be a little bit of levityand a little bit of joy and a
bright spot for people. Yeah,and I think for me anyway to accomplish
(39:52):
that this film, You know,it's interesting because there's kind of it's centered
in opinion, around these three kindof characters, and the talent behind it,
including yourself, is really makes it, you know what I mean,
what is it like working with talentlike that on a film like this especially,
(40:16):
It's so important to have people whocan just nail things. I guess
when you're working on an indie moviethat's so small, you know, really
almost a micro budget, and youshot so quickly. Really it was four
weeks for this whole movie twenty days, so it's really important to I guess,
(40:36):
yeah, just sort of have adeep understanding of the character and be
able to show up on set justnail it. And with all this Camillas
just like boom bam. So Ijust felt so lucky and taken care of.
And then also with kir As well, you know, the director of
the movie, he's this was reallyhis kind of baby, this project,
(40:58):
so the movie is inside of him. He understands each character pretty obviously intimately,
and then he just has a dreamfor how it is shot. That's
very specific, and that's what youwant and hope for when you work with
other people and work with directors especially, So he was amazing. He was
(41:20):
a joy, and it does.It does seem like and obviously is a
very personal project for him. He'sobviously been an actor for for a long
time and this is his first directorialdebut. Do you get any kind of
nervousness when you know, when it'ssomething like that that you're working with somebody
who who's obviously so personal to inso many ways, Well, are you
(41:43):
able to like separate that? Yeah? Well, I mean yeah, at
a certain point you kind of likeyou it goes from this thing that you
know that was on the page,and then all of a sudden, you
know, you obviously want to takeeverything into you know, everything that's on
the page is kind of that's sortof the Bible. But then also you
(42:05):
have to make it your own,and so there is a little bit of
nerves involved with that. But luckilyhere's a really collaborative guy, and as
an actor, as a pretty deepunderstanding that you know, it is a
collaboration between the director and the actorand that's what makes a good character.
So and for me that I preferthat I would really I like to kind
(42:30):
of create the character with the directorbecause that's sort of the sort of the
fun of it. And when youhave the kind of shorthand about like how
the character would react in a situation, how to interpret certain things. It's
nice to have two perspectives other thanjust one. So nerves, yes,
but also that's the fun of it, okay. And for you, you
(42:50):
know, and I'm trying to beas spoiler free as possible, but for
me, the film is very thoughtprovoking in many ways. You know,
I know my mind passed away acouple of years ago from panocratic cancer,
but it got me thinking about sorry, thank you very much. It got
me thinking about, you know,what would you do for love, both
as you know, a parent,a girlfriend or a partner or whatever.
(43:14):
And to me, that's something thatis not always present in a lot of
projects today where you know, youreally after you watch the film, it
stayed on my mind and you know, thinking like what would I do,
you know, and when someone isin a dire situation, what are the
lengths that you would go to?And that sort of thing, And I
(43:37):
feel like Marmalade does a really goodjob of giving that to the audience where
it's something to think about, youknow. Yeah, yeah, definitely I
loved that part of it. Withoutspoiling I think I also love that about
the conclusion of the film, thatit's this candy kind of colored cat and
(44:00):
mouse caper movie that you're kind oflike, what is this movie? And
then it's sort of lands with actuallysomething to say. I really like that
as well. So that's amazing actuallythat you felt that way. That's really
cool to hear because it's kind ofjust coming out. I haven't really talked
to too many people about the movie, and to hear you say that is
(44:22):
really cool. Thank you, Andthat's truly how I feel, and you
know, you guys have done agreat job with with it. I just
feel like this is one of thosefilms where everything has fallen into place,
you know, from the aesthetic,from you know, cinematography, to the
script, to the actors directing,obviously the writing. It's just one of
those films that really, you know, sneaks up on you. You know,
(44:45):
I didn't really know what I wasgoing into before I watched it,
and then as I watched it,I'm like, this is like one of
those films that that sticks, youknow, sticks more than you know.
We watched so many projects I'm sureyou do too, and there's so much
content coming out and oftentimes it's it'seasy to forget the last few things you
(45:07):
just watched because you're onder the nextone. And it says something, at
least in my opinion, when oneof those projects sticks with you after you've
watched it, you know, definitelyI feel a very similar way. I
think a lot of people feel thekind of burnout from just there's a lot
of stuff. There's a lot ofstuff to watch. So I guess that's
(45:29):
what sort of drew me in tothe idea of this, is that it
felt really different and it felt kindof risky, but that's the fun of
it. The risk, I guessis that you know, you sort of
end up feeling like silly or youknow, you're kind of like, I
don't know, but that I thinkthat's also where really great things can kind
(45:52):
of happen and really exciting work canbe done. So yeah, I really
appreciate you saying that that's that's verycool that it has stuck with you.
And I'm really excited to see whatother people think when they watch the movie
and kind of see sort of whathappens with it. Cool of it's sort
of starting to take on a lifeof its own after kind of being this
(46:14):
thing that we worked on and nowit's sort of out there for everyone to
enjoying. Yeah, I can't waitto talk to talk talk to people about
it. Finally, for you,you know you do you've done and do
big projects like Stranger Things and thefilm with Ryan Reynolds. Oh yeah,
of course, guy, Yes,free guy, thank you. I was
gonna say free man that which Italked to you, you know, you
(46:35):
and I talked for that film.And then you're able to do you know,
a small project like this. Whatfor you, does that kind of
fulfill all of your creative you knowneeds, if you will, where you
can go and do this big budgetproject and and then you can go and
do you know a smaller sort ofart house indie film that that can take
(46:58):
risks and that sort of thing.Does it? Does it fulfill different needs
for you as an actor? Definitely? Every project has its own challenges,
its own benefits, And every timeyou think you understand what it is like
to work on set or make afilm, it all sort of changes.
Because the beautiful thing is that it'sa rotating cast of characters. It's like
(47:22):
a circus. You like, goto this place and you put on this
show and then it's over. Soyeah, working on different you know,
a big budget thing versus the tinything, there are major differences, but
I think at the core it reallyis the same. But I feel really
lucky also in my life to justhave a lot of outlets and a lot
(47:43):
of interest in a lot of differenta lot of different things. So it's
yeah, I guess I guess thatsort of answers the question, but obviously
feel very yeah, very fortunate tobe able to, you know, do
any of these things. So yeah, it's very exciting. Well, and
we love watching you. Joe.Thank you so much for speaking with Nick.
(48:06):
I can't wait for everybody to seeMarmalade. It's such a great film.
And uh, thank you come backagain for the next project. Thank
you so much, absolutely well,Thanks Kyle, Thanks man, Joe.
Kirie love Joe love Marmalade, andI'm so thankful for him to come back
out to come back on the showand discuss his latest project, Marmalade.
(48:30):
It really really is worth your time. Besides Joe, it also stars Camilla
Morone and Aldis Hodge, who areboth incredible in their own right. You
can watch Marmalade right now on AppleTV Prime Video wherever you rent or purchase
your films. And it's also hasa limited release in theaters, which I
(48:52):
highly recommend. If it is playingnear you, you go and see it
in the theater. It's really agreat film. All right, that's all
for this episode of pop Culture Weekly. Thank you for hanging out with me.
I really appreciate you. Keep onlistening, keep on reviewing the show
on Apple Podcasts or wherever, sharingit with friends that you think would enjoy
(49:15):
it, especially the conversations that wehad today. I appreciate you. Hit
me up on all the socials.I love you. We thank you for
listening to pop Culture Weekly. Hereall the latest at popcultureweekly dot com.
Used to have a little, butI got a lot. I'm just I'm
(49:37):
just Kylie from the Block. Don'tbe fooled by the pops that I got.
I'm just I'm just Kylie from theBlock. Used to have a little,
Now I have a lot. I'mstill I'm still Kylie from the Block. Me
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com