Blank Check with Griffin & David - It's Complicated with Sarah-Violet Bliss

Episode Date: November 11, 2018

Writer/director Sarah-Violet Bliss (Search Party) joins Griffin and David to discuss 2009’s masterpiece, It's Complicated. But what are the two things everyone knows about Alec Baldwin? Who has the name Agnes anymore? Is it really complicated tho? Together they examine Meryl Streep’s singing voice, web cam flim flams and what this new kitchen fortress is going to look like. This episode is sponsored by [Green Chef](http://greenchef.com/check). Music selection: “Bushwick Tarentella” by [Kevin MacLeod](https://incompetech.com/) Licensed under [Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

do you codpast i don't know what that is. It's when she says, do you poke smot? Do you poke smot? When she's asking if he smokes pot. Oh. Because she's high at that point. So what I did ask for you, which was very clever. Oh, it was way too much math for me.

Which was very clever is, I don't know. No, I want to explain to our guests that it was very clever, very funny, very smart. The quotes page for this film is 90% things she says when she's stoned. Whoever curated this thinks that stoned Meryl is the funniest thing in the world. No. This is not a quotable movie. It is not. This is not a movie with hot lines. It's not like Neil Simon-esque where it's a bunch ofable movie. It is not. This is not a movie with like hot lines.

It's not like Neil Simon-esque where it's like a bunch of zingers. I would argue. Like the trailer's big line was, OMG, I thought he'd never leave. That was the big line in the trailer. I would argue, and I'm not just upfront. I want to make it clear. I'm not saying this in a negative way. Yeah, whatever.

It is sort of a comedy without any jokes. Yeah. But a lot of laughing. A lot of laughing. It's a comedy of manners. A lot of people laughing. It's very much like a... Right.

Well, you mean as the audience member? Yes, yes. Okay, no. They're laughing constantly at things that I'm like, what is funny? Yes. Or is it just the joy of life? I think it's a Joie de vivre thing. It's a Joie de vivre film.

Yeah, I mean, I'd be fucking laughing if I lived their lives. I can't believe Nancy Meyers hasn't made a movie called Joie de vivre. Well, maybe she will. Maybe she will. Hello, everybody. My name's Griffin Newman. My name is David Sim. This is Blank Check with Griffin and David, or hashtag the two friends.

It's a competitive advantage. We're the only two friends who host a podcast together. You understand that because you're part of a friend team. That's true. You collaborate with a friend. Yes. Did you say it's competitive? It host a podcast together. You understand that because you're part of a friend team. That's true. You collaborate with a friend. Yes. Did you say it's competitive? It's a competitive advantage.

We also are competitive with other friends and we're going to challenge you and Charles to a wrestling match. Oh no. You know what I'm saying? I mean you have the same thing where you and Charles

were friends and then you went like oh what if we work together? No one else has ever thought of being friends and working together. Yeah. Yes.

You got these Coen brothers. They didn't make a choice. They were born into it. Yeah, they're not friends. They're losers. They hate each other. I'm stating that on the mic. Coen brothers, I walk by them punching each other all the time.

They do always look, like, annoyed. They look unhappy to be anywhere. They look very upset. Here's another hot take I have. And this is because of actually one of our sponsors on a previous episode. Oh yes. I was just looking at pictures of the Coen brothers. Joel Coen

kind of looks like Howard Stern. Yes he does. Like kind of a lot. Yeah. To the point where I'm like is he cultivating a Stern because he's got the hair you know. Yes. And he's got that long face and this sort of willowy body. Ethan Coen is the cuter Coen. You think so? Yeah Joel Coen kind ofowy body. Ethan Coen is the cuter Coen. You think so?

Yeah, Joel Coen kind of scares me. Ethan Coen's kind of adorable because he's got a little bit of a Pokemon thing going on. Sure. To your point, S, via them always looking annoyed, they never look more annoyed to be somewhere than when they win an Oscar. Yeah, it's true. The look on their face at the times that they have won Oscars. They're like, I've got to walk to the podium?

All the way over there. Can't I just stay here? Can't they bring the camera over to me? Ridiculous. This is a podcast about filmography. I'm sticking with my,

yeah, Ethan's the hotter cone. I agree. Joel is, Joel's, I don't know, he's not doing it for me. I'm kind of a Joel guy.

They're both so annoyed though they are they're so annoyed they hate that they're being photographed they hate it they're like we have to alright who cares what we look like

it's just funny that they have such visual sense to yes and that they sort of balance each other like they each have such distinct looks yeah yeah alright a podcast about

filmographies. Directors who have massive success early on in their career and given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy projects they want. Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce. OMG. This is a podcast. Mini series on the films of Nancy Meyers and it's called

Something's Podcast. Perfect. Thank you. I was right. You were right. You gave me one of those sort of wan smiles

when I said that. What was the one that you wanted to are we allowed to say it on this? Yeah, yeah. Some pods gotta cast. Some pods gotta cast but something's podcast.

I just Yeah. It's like a little twist. Yeah. And podda is fun. It is fun. In the same way that gotta is fun. Right. Something's gotta give. Yeah. Yeah. And potta is fun. It is fun. In the same way that gotta is fun.

Right. Something's gotta give. Yeah. But we're not talking about that. No. We're not. Today. I'm sorry.

Right. Okay. I mean, it's not my fault. Griffin may have misled you. Well, I'll say this. Today is complicated. I completely misled myself. Because I tried very clearly to.

You very clearly explained it's complicated, which is my movie. Because then I, in brackets, put what the romantic pairings were for each film. Oh, sure. So it's like, not Jack and Diane, Meryl and Alec and Steve?

Yes. Did you do that in my original email? I did. Because you had said I just watched it recently. Do you know that Keanu... Oh, yeah.

Well, that... Oh, right. So you put the parentheses after I was confused. Yes. Right. I didn't miss... No, no, no, no. Because I ran into you.

Our guest is Sarah Viola Bliss, by the way. Yes. Filmmaker, writer, director of Fort Tilden's Search Party. Which Griffin is in both of those things. Pretty good credits. Crazy choice. Pretty good credits for you. I know, right?

He keeps on going back to this dirty well. Yep. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having me. I love being on podcasts. Really? You should have had me on Twitter then. I think it's like my favorite thing that I get to do because of my success.

I have. I will say genuinely, every time I have any element of career success, my first thought is, oh, cool, I might be able to get booked on that podcast now. Yeah. So that's like always the benefit. It's like not money. It's not status. It's not other jobs. It's like, maybe I could cold email those guys now and get on their show. Oh, that's an interesting idea. Yeah. I've only waited. I've only waited to be invited. I never thought about suggesting to someone I'd be a guest on their show.

You work on podcasts, Vampire Rules. You have to be cordially invited into the studio. I've become a podcast wolfman. I barge through. Do wolfmen enter houses? I guess they do. I feel like they're often in the woods. You're right. They're not very housebound.

I was trying to think of a monster who breaks into houses. The mummy? Does he do that? Santa Claus. No, he stays in a tomb. Santa Claus. I'm like a podcast Santa Claus. I go like, I'll bring you some good stuff.

You like fart jokes? And then I slide down their chimney. So I ran to you and was like, oh, you're in New York. I should ask you to be on the podcast. Emailed you, said, would you have any interest in doing the It's Complicated episode? And you said, yes, I'd love that. I just watched it. By the way, do you know that Diane and Keanu dated after the movie?

Wow. I mean, it's, look, it has the same basic font on the poster. I don't know. The aesthetic is all like Marvel. Something's gotta give and it's complicated. I don't know. I agree. You are the 15th person I've had make this mistake

since I've described Nancy Meyers' philography to people in the last two months. It's just that the titles are designed to mean nothing. I don't quite understand why Something's Gotta Give is called Something's Gotta Give. Okay, so I'm determined to find this before this miniseries is done. But there was a New York Times article, I want to say in 2009, when this came out, about this firm. It was a titling firm. Yes, I've read this article.

For movies and TV. And it's like Nancy Meyers always calls for movies. Untitled. Untitled Nancy Meyers. Untitled Nancy. Does it come up with a title and then this firm like looks at the film and finds like a title and they've

like broken down the mathematics of what kind of titles like work for people a lot of times it's repurposing song titles any of those movies that generically have like oh love don't cost a thing why did you call it that it's like oh if it's like already a phrase that people have in their mind

and they can associate with a song. Oh, so this is referencing the drowning pool song, Let the Body Sit on the Floor. It is not referencing that. You sure? No, no, because that's also

something's got to give, Ben. Oh, yeah. We're watching It's Complicated. Oh, yeah. Ben did the thing where he asked me which movie we were watching. I said, it's complicated

and he said, just tell me. Yeah, which is always funny. Always funny. Ten comedy points. But this is I said, it's complicated. And he said, just tell me. Yeah, which is always funny. Always funny. Ten comedy points. But this is, yeah, it's one of those things where these two movies have such generic titles because they clearly were just like,

Facebook, everyone's thinking about that now. Call the movie It's Complicated. Which, by the way, when I searched for this on iTunes, there were two other romantic comedies, one called Status, It's Complicated. And the other one called Relationship Status, It's Complicated. Oh, my God. And the other one called Relationship Status, It's Complicated. Oh.

Like, you can tell all these other filmmakers were so angry that Nancy got to this first. Yeah. She barely did. She just told someone, give me a title. She paid someone more money than any of us will ever make in our lives. Yeah. Probably. To go, it's complicated.

Yeah. Like the Facebook thing. Like the Facebook thing. You know, Facebook, your kid uses it. Yeah, drop the the, it's cleaner. Like the Facebook thing. You know, Facebook, your kid uses it. Drop the the, it's cleaner. Trying to find it. There's this really long New York Times article about the making of It's Complicated.

And I'm guessing it may be a section of that. I remember this being its own article. I don't know if it was pre or post It's Complicated, but they certainly referenced something that was gotta give as their masterwork. Right. They were like, it's a title that means nothing. Something's gotta give.

And you just put Smiling Jack with the sunglasses on it. And it's like, I guess something does gotta give. There's something a little bit like, what's the other Jack Nicholson movie? It's not Nancy Meyers. As Good As It Gets. There's something that is related in the same way that maybe it's just like, okay, Jack Nicholson movie it's not Nancy Meyers as good as it gets there's something that like is related in the same way that maybe

it's just like okay Jack Nicholson's on the poster right I don't know and it's just like it sounds like something that he would say

yeah even if it doesn't have any weight or profundity to it it's like well something's gotta give but yeah that's sort of the argument

right is like when Jack and Diane are together something's gotta give like you're like that's sort of the argument, right, is like, when Jack and Diane are together, something's gotta give. Like, you're like, okay, well,

what's gonna give? Well, when Jack and Helen are together, it's as good as it gets. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

When Jack and Morgan are together, you're crossing it off the bucket list. Wow. Oh, boy. But this is,

it's complicated. That's still his last movie? No. How do you know how do you know no I know because I checked his IMDB and that's the most recent film he did

oh it's complicated Vince give me a thumbs up so you you had not seen this movie before I actually have you had when it came out yeah like a long long time ago and I certainly didn't

remember it enough to be prepared so I watched it this morning it's fresh in my memory yes uh I feel like there's a thing going around because when I emailed you about doing this and you said like I just watched something's got to give I was surprised by how much I liked it yeah and I can't believe I hadn't seen it sooner yeah where I feel like there's been this weird turning of the tide which I'm certainly a part of which like I was so dismissive of Nancy Meyers movies and now I appreciate them so much.

I was going to say the same thing. Yeah. Which is like so because like I definitely did not appreciate this movie when I first saw it. I still don't like I'm not like you gotta see it's complicated, but I was like I'm enjoying this.

Yeah. For whatever reason. Yeah. I think there's a two-pronged thing. I mean, look, we're all very, very hip, discerning people here. Right? Very well. And we, like, you know,

whatever in the 2000s, in the aughts, you're like, I'm above this. I don't need this. I want to be clear. I was not like this. I know.

You were ahead of the curve. You always liked Nancy Meyers. I've always liked Nancy Meyers except for The Holiday, which was the movie where I turned on her. Yeah. Where I was like, she's gone too far this is absurd what made you turn it's too fucking long we are last week's episode it's complicated it's long it's complicated it's complicated it's a half hour too long the holiday is 50 minutes too long my argument is

that they should all be 90 minutes long well for sure yeah well and it's complicated to certainly yes outstays it's complicated to certainly, yes, outstays it's welcome. But that one was the one where I was kind of like so hyped for it. We talked about this on last week's episode, though. But I was so pumped, like went to the theater opening night and was kind of like,

God damn it. And so, you know, before then I was all Nancy all the way. I'm going to have a minute. There's a thing, and this is one of the things that used to drive me crazy about her, and now I appreciate it

in its own weird way, is like, every movie of hers hits the 90 minute mark, you feel like, okay, this is the wrap up point, and then there's another

30 minutes. Very much so. This movie seems to end, and then there's like four more big conversations. All her movies seem to end and then have like another act. Yeah.

Which speaks to the fact that her movies don't really have any like classical narrative structure. Right. Like they're just things happening for two hours. Yeah. Which speaks to the fact that her movies don't really have any like classical narrative structure. Right. Like they're just things happening for two hours. Right.

And they're not screwball comedy. Right. Which is like the mistake you could make. Right. Like, oh, it's going to be all

like patter and, you know, it's like, no, it's kind of just like people meeting at restaurants and drinking wine.

Which like, this movie, I was like, you know, I think I used to approach her movies very didactically and be like, this is not how you write a screenplay right god you know like because they're so meandering and this one i remember being so frustrated with because it's

like there's no fucking conflict yes which i which is one thing that i like about this movie i like this movie more than when i saw it yeah a hundred percent like it more than when I saw it. Yeah, 100% like it more than when I saw it. To me, when this movie came out, was the moment where people were really like, enough with the upper middle class angst, Nancy. The whole movie's about her kitchen. This becomes the point where it's easy to parody her. Where it's literally the biggest struggle in the movie is, how well is she going to renovate her kitchen?

Yeah. Right. That is the thing that every part of a plot basically hinges on. Right. I mean, that's the central. Right. But,

you know, you just got to roll with that is my argument. You do. And I also think there's something to window into another world. I want to give myself credit for growing, but I think more than anything, it is just like the, the ecosystem has changed so much in the 10 years

since this movie since sort of like peak nancy that you just go like jesus christ why did we chase these movies out of the water right because you wish these kinds of movies still got me well but then this year you had book club which is sort of like very diluted watered down nancy meyers right like is that nancy no it's just someone kind of ripping off her thing. Yeah. But like people were just kind of like, oh, there's just not movies

like this anymore. So I'm so delighted to see it. Yeah. That's the thing. Like I saw like book club like with fucking bells on was amped for it was more excited for book club

than Avengers Affinity War. I was like, this is the type of movie I want to see. Right. Just like a nice white wine comedy. Sure.

White wine comedy. Exactly. white wine comedy, exactly. Right, but I was so anti-Nancy Myers when this movie came out and then was raging with excitement for Book Club, which is like shitty Nancy Myers. It's like a copy of a copy. Right. Have you seen Book Club? I have not. It's about a book club. It's fun.

It's pretty fun. It's pretty fun. Oh right, because they reference that movie, I mean that book It's about a book club. It's fun. It's pretty fun. It's pretty fun. References. Oh, right. Because they reference that movie. I mean, that book that... It's Fifty Shades of Grey. Fifty Shades of Grey, yeah. And I was like, this whole movie is about women reading Fifty Shades of Grey?

The trailer is really bad because it makes it seem like... They kind of discard that part of the plot fast. It's really just a way for them to talk about dick at the book club, which they like to do. Right. It's a very horny book club. That's the best thing about the book club. It's a thirsty movie. It's a real thirsty movie.

But SV, you gotta open the book. I'm telling you, book club, you gotta open the book. What is your relationship with Nancy Meyers? I feel like I'm kind of removed from Nancy, but like I said a a month ago, watched Something's Gotta Give and was like, I'm having such a great time. Sure. And there was, we're not talking about Something's Gotta Give, however.

You can give us two minutes on Something's Gotta Give. There was a quote in the movie that's just very simple that I was like that is so true and it was it's when she's Diane Keaton's

talking to her Amanda Peete daughter her Amanda Peete daughter we all have one and and Amanda Peete

you know she can't she can't settle down she has a fear of a commitment and Diane Keaton says you can't outrun your heart or something outsmart your heart you can't outsmart your heart diane and i was like nancy it's true you cannot outsmart your heart there's something about these movies just like

a that's just gotta give something's gotta give with these movies but a they are about grown-ups oh yeah which you're just like i don't see this they're also like so or i mean the ones i've seen are mostly like from the woman's perspective about divorce and romance and older age which no one makes those movies right even before her no one made these movies but now you don't even have the younger version of these movies what do you what well like i'm saying like the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedies were existing in the same ecosystem as Nancy Meyers, like, okay, women over 60 romantic comedies.

Right. And now those things only get made on Netflix. Yeah. Or they're indie films that like barely squeeze by. The thing about the Reese Witherspoon is like, they have some kind of plot hook that's more extreme. They're always high concept. They're always very high.

Whereas Nancy Meyers is like, no, no, no. I want that high concept gone. There will be no high concept. Right. Like her concept is literally just what brings the two characters together. And it's just two hours of people talking to each other. Yeah, let's hang out. And there'll be one like sort of heightened set piece.

Right. Such as Diane Keaton getting caught naked in Something's Gotta Give or Alec Baldwin getting caught naked in this. Someone's getting caught naked. An older person is caught naked. The audience of the Cobble Hill cinema is suddenly shrieking. Where they're like, oh my god!

I'm Kim! That's as far as she'll go. Yeah. But there's just these August she'll go. Yeah. Yeah. But there is just these, like, August romance movies starring, like, movie stars. Like, they're real, like, star-driven movies. Yeah. They're kind of tailor-made to these personalities. I'm always, like, interested why these big stars are like, yes, I'll definitely do that.

Like, why is Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep... What is... I mean, what do you guys like do you guys think they read the script and they were like yes or they're like this is I don't know how Nancy Myers got this. I have a couple theories. I have one

I think everyone's very well paid. These movies you're not taking a hit on your quote here. But still like when people are so rich I mean like. Well that's the larger question why do they ever work? They're so rich. But still, when people are so rich, I mean, like... Well, that's the larger question. Why do they ever work? They're so rich. But particularly on Meryl Streep.

I think the real answer, especially a Meryl Streep type, is she writes a big, meaty role that you're going to get to dig into. Even if it's a light concept or it's a lighter movie. In either way they're movie star roles. Like they're leading man leading

lady roles for people who are older and probably don't get those parts anymore. This is a movie that begins. Here's what we know about Meryl Streep's character. She's a chef. Here's what we know about Alec Baldwin's character. Nothing. He's a lawyer. He's very rich. We never see him do anything. The idea is that

he's Alec Baldwin. That's the whole idea. They're sort of tailor made suits. He's not swanky. The idea is that he's Alec Baldwin. Right. That's the whole idea. Right, they're sort of tailor-made suits. He gets the penthouse at the hotel for their graduation, and that's like a blow to Meryl. Poor Meryl, who has a beautiful house. She has to sort of like wait.

Right. And will finally get her bigger kitchen. Her kitchen, right. A real kitchen. Yeah. It's currently the size of like- You never even get to see the kitchen. Well, you yeah it's kind of like there was nothing wrong with it you never even get to see the kitchen well you see it oh you mean like the new kitchen the new kitchen you don't get to see the new kitchen yeah because probably this movie didn't

have like the budget to build this spectacular kitchen it's too much money yeah the kitchen cost 200 million dollars the movie ends on the first day of building the kitchen yeah in the rain i think which I guess is maybe she was setting up a sequel well I mean it's maybe symbolic of like building a new relationship

yeah yeah I mean for Nancy and we I'm sure we've talked about this but you know like she's got Final Cut

in all her movies she's been in Hollywood for a zillion years so she knows everyone like yeah I think she's regarded as a pretty gentle, quiet director.

She doesn't yell or boss people around. Her on-set demeanor is pretty calm. You want to contradict me? I hear, and I don't say this in a negative way, and it's a thing I will continue to talk about over this whole series. I'm reading from a big New York Times article right now that's talking about this, but that might be a little softball.

From people I know who have worked with her, and I speak mostly from the crew side. I don't know if I've talked to any actors who have worked with her. She is kind of like the female David Fincher. Okay. Even if she's common demeanor. So like again, again, again? Super meticulous, super repetitive, super slow. Which I think drives some people crazy.

I heard. Uh-huh. Yeah. Spill some tea. No, but this is, like, literally, I have no idea if this is true, but I heard she has, like,

more cones in her eyes than most people do and that she can see shades of beige that no one else can see. That is incredible and I think it's true. And that she's very particular

about what beige is on screen well that's like a thing with her is she's apparently just super meticulous about like all the sort of Nancy Meyers excess that everyone writes off is very very deliberate and like insanely vetted

for her in terms of every sweater every croissant you know every like pan she's known for her obsessive micromanagerial attention to detail. Takes two years for her to make a movie, which is a long time. Her shoots go way, way

over. Her shoots are long and then her post-production I think is also pretty labor intensive. But her budgets are very big and a lot of that is that she always goes over. She obsessed for two days over my makeup in a scene, says Steve Martin. She thought it looked too light. Speaking to your, where she's like

wearing Terminator vision and zooming in. Which are things when people share stories like that about David Fincher or Stanley Kubrick or whoever people go, God, look at what a true artist they are. And when she does this, people roll their eyes and go like, why can't she just get on with it? And I think it speaks

to this genre not being taken as seriously. And also putting that level of attention to detail. There's beige eraser going on. Well, but you're talking about beige. I mean, that Steve Martin quote is kind of telling because half the cast in this movie is really

orange. This is a bronzed cast. Alec Baldwin is very... He's bronze, for sure. A deep orange. A rich, sort of like, ochre... Lake Bell, too, is pretty... Yes. And then Lake Bell is like...

Yeah. I don't want to say anything more. But Lake Bell is like, she's the woman who does not fit in the world. That's true. Too orange, even. Too orange! With her son, Pedro,

who dismissed from the movie, even. With her son Pedro. Dismissed from the movie too. Yes. Summarily dismissed. We don't see her leave it. Dishonestly discharged from the film. We don't see her like break up with Alec Baldwin or anything. Oh yeah I know. And I think partly because they want it to be mysterious whether she dumped him or he dumped her.

I don't know. I also think them getting into an argument is something she doesn't want to depict. Like that's too much negativity for a Nancy Meyers movie. She'd like to see all of that scene where Lake Bell watches them dancing and she knows. Right. That's enough. That's enough because you don't want to see them screaming or crying or anything in between. I guess, but they have the crying, cry, not with Lake Bell, but the,

the crying scene with the kids, all three of them in the bed. Sure. Right, but that's like, that's her kind of scene.

Right, right, where everyone's gonna be okay, but no, she says, like sniffling she's into. She says in this article, like she,

her friends will tell her to avoid sad movies. Yeah. Like they'll know like, no, Nancy, she can't deal with that one. Like if it's too like, wrenching or like no Nancy she can't deal with it. Really?

Like if it's too like wrenching or dramatic like she doesn't love that. That's not her vibe. Here are my two things I want to throw in as to like why she's able to get big stars to do this. Right?

First of all at some point she just establishes a track record. Right. Where it's like this is a kind of film she takes care of movie stars she shows a different side. Right. Yeah, she makes money. This is a kind of film. She takes care of movie stars.

She shows a different side. But I also read so many interviews with older movie stars where they're like, yeah, I guess my career is kind of over. And I'm like, you're Robert De Niro.

You still make like six movies a year. What do you mean? And he's just like, I'm not number one on the call sheet anymore. I never get to get the girl in movies. Right. And these people who got used to

at a younger age being the sexy one, the exciting one, the plot driver, the romantic lead, never get over when they lose that. Right.

And she's one person who still kind of writes roles where that happens. Yeah. Because you look at like Jack Nicholson on either side of this movie and it's like

anger management where he's just the guy torturing Adam Sandler. Right. And the bucket list where it's just like an old man buddy comedy. Uh-huh. And I think he's probably like great, I geturing Adam Sandler. Right. And the bucket list where it's just like an old man buddy comedy. Uh-huh.

And I think he's probably like, great, I get to romance people again. Right. You know? Romance. And for Diane Keaton, it's like I get to be like sexy again. Yeah. But I also know that, like Alec Baldwin, you can just imagine, was just like, oh, a movie that presents me as a sex object again.

Right. And I don't have to change my body. Yeah, but the thing is, it's still, I can't think of another movie where Alec Baldwin has to admit on screen that he is fat. Right. He says that word. But that's like the crazy magic trick.

And that's what she's getting out of him. He'll do that because she still presents him as a sexual figure. In a movie where he's a joke, I don't think he would ever let them make a fat joke about him. But as long as he's getting action, you know? The other thing is, I believe Meryl Streep has said in an interview that It's Complicated is the only movie where she was ever paid her quote.

Yeah. Well... Everyone gets paid. Or at least the first one. What makes a quote a quote if you don't get paid it? I agree with you. And she's like, my agents have a quote that they throw out. And for years and years

and years, I was obviously a well-regarded actress, but not a box office draw. Right, and she would rarely make films that might be, you know, she would make your serious Oscar movies rather than your money-making, your guaranteed money-making. And if she made a broader movie like Riverwild or, whatchamacallit,

Death Becomes Her, I think it was seen as so outside of her wheelhouse that they were like, well, we're not going to pay you as much as someone who is proven in this genre. I just saw Death Becomes Her again. It's so good. It's really good. It is so good.

It is so fucking good. Also, the effects in that movie totally hold. I agree. It is stunning looking. I love that movie. Yes. Well, anyway. But she said, I looking. I love that movie. Well, anyway.

But she said, I mean, I think she was paid like $20 million for this movie because this is like the sort of pinnacle of the Meryl like

midlife comedies. Yeah. Where it's like she starts doing like Devil Wears Prada like reinvents her as like a comedy leading lady. That's like her first

big blockbuster hit. Yes. As just like Meryl above the title. she had made prime in 05 which is sort of like an attempt at this kind of a movie but that doesn't really go anywhere but her joke like she got saddled with the same kind of thing katherine heper and got saddled with but they were like oh she's box office poison and it's like she's never box office poison she just never was a bankable movie star she always was prestige she was always a great actress some of her movies were hits right but she never was like an a-list audience draw right and then devourers prada transitions into julie and julia both of those are that's this year oh mommy in between yeah so it's uh evening and rendition and lines for

lambs in 07 where she's being more serious again and everyone's like you know clearly stuff she filmed before people knew Devil Wears Prada was going to be that big Mamma Mia is 08 huge huge

this and Doubt is 08 that's another Oscar also if you look sorry I didn't want to interrupt your thing but look at Meryl's IMDB

there are so many movies where she sings in them yes she loves singing clearly she's a nice singer oh wow i said nice not good i don't know it's a little like it's crazy how much she sings for someone who's not great at singing uh how do you feel about mamma mia the first i don't like it i'm sorry i have not seen the second one the first

mama mia in my opinion is sort of like you know if you sat down it is a bad movie it's poorly made it's bad uh like and it makes no sense and it literally does the same musical sequence twice which has always driven me crazy where they're kicking on the dock like they do it to like what another time i recently had to confess this to longtime sister romley newman where that movie is like her vision board is just this period of meryl streep comedy all her life inspo's are just these meryl streep characters she either wants to live in santa barbara or greece right run a hotel or renovate a kitchen like whatever it is and you had to be like mommy is kind of bad i had to admit her, this was a really tough conversation that I had never made it through the original

Mamma Mia because I find that movie unbearable. See, I don't. My argument with Mamma Mia is that Meryl kind of saves it because when she's so over the top and silly, she's just like, just don't worry about it. This is silly. We're having fun and you just sort of have to buy in.

I find her fun in that movie. I think that movie is so aesthetically Garish. It literally hurts me to watch it. The sequel is way better made. Agreed. Yeah. I'm sorry, but go ahead.

Maybe I should see the sequel. That's my argument. That's what I was winding up. The sequel is kind of insane because you're like, there's no reason for this. Right. Right.

The story is complete. I will say I'm curious what the story is of the sequel. It's crazy. It's Godfather Part 2. is of the sequel. It's crazy. It's Godfather Part 2. Yes, it is. It's literally, here's the child taking over the narrative. Right.

And then also. Here's the rise to power of how Meryl got the hotel. That's actually a hot take. Yeah. That's a good take. Yeah. That's what it is. It's Godfather 2.

They literally pitched it as that. That's not my take. They pitched it as Godfather Part 2. Because the bit was, they had asked Richard Curtis for years, can you come up with a Mamma Mia sequel, and he couldn't. And his daughter said, you should do Godfather Part 2.

You should do young Meryl, rise to power, along with young daughter taking over the family business. It literally is, they just ripped it off. But so, in 09, yes, she's in Julia and Julia,

which is her Oscar nomination for the year, over this. But so in 09, yes, she's in Julia and Julia, which is her Oscar nomination for the year over this. Right. Fantastic Mr. Fox, which she's actually pretty great in. I think she's great in that. And this.

Yeah. She has a pretty hot 09. So yeah, I mean, to your point, what's a quote if it is never actually met? But I think it was

her agents would always say like, this is how Merrill, how much Merrill gets. And they would go, we're not going to pay her that much. And they'd go back to Merrill and she'd go, yeah, I want to do it anyway. But they would go, we're not going to pay her that much. And they'd go back to Meryl, and she'd go, yeah, I want to do it anyway.

She said she just wasn't stubborn about meeting that. And Nancy Meyers was the only person who ever said, yeah, I'll pay that. However much it was, 15 or 20. Probably 15.

20 seems just, very few people get 20, even at that point. But I think even for serious actors, it's like, there is an ego stroke here. And they know that the movie

is just about them. Like, there's no greater machinery. There are no special effects. There's no larger story. It's like Taylor making trying to use their personas. Right.

Give them their last, like, golden age, like, performance. I love her earlier comedy period. Like, She-Devil, Postcards from the Edge, Defending Your Life, Death Becomes

Her. I like that as well. And then she sort of just wasn't doing comedies for a while. Well, because if you look back at the reviews. Then she does that 90s run of like all kind of Oscar-y dramas like Marvin's Room. The really weepy stuff. One True Thing. Yeah. Some of which are very good but they're like really torrid

sort of emotional dramas. If you look back at the reviews from that comedy period, the 80s to 90s period, all the general consensus is, well, here it is. Meryl can't do comedy. We found the one thing she can't do.

Why does she keep making comedy? She's good in those movies. Death Becomes Her, you look at the reviews and they're like, Goldie just runs circles around her. It's so clear that Meryl can't do comedy. People really had to pitch for it. I mean, Goldie was amazing. I'm not saying that. Yeah, but they kept on dinging her for all these movies're like, Goldie just runs circles around her. It's so clear that Meryl can't do. People really had to pitch for it.

Yeah, but they kept on dinging her for all these movies going like, She-Devil, we found the one thing that Meryl can't do. She's not funny. I think she's great in all those movies. She is. I think she also,

Defending Your Life is amazing. Once she had this run of, oh, Defending Your Life, it's a fucking jam. It is. It's a fucking jam. It slaps. Also, pretty much is what I think happens

when you die 100% oh god that'd be so great Bruxy nailed it yeah throw myself off a bridge tomorrow

if that's how it happens yeah all I want is when I die to have an intense conversation with Rip Torn and and to examine whether you

lived your life through love or fear yeah we're also movie people so that like that premise is great where it's like oh man they cut my life into like a good like reel.

But this is, yeah, this is her, she's fun. This is her fun period and she's working with the twin titans of like female filmmaking, comedy,

like Nora Ephron and Nancy Meyers in the same year who she'd never worked with before. She'd done Heartburn but Nora didn't direct that right wrote that and

and it's it's a hell of a year for her and then she wins an Oscar two years later her third Oscar which is so weird that that's

Iron Lady because almost all of these comedy performances now hold up better than the Iron Lady yeah 100% yeah

alright it's complicated it's complicated I mean there's the other thing we should talk about which is you got two actors who then go on to host the Oscars together right after this movie comes out. What? What?

Baldwin and Steve Martin hosted the Oscars together. It's like a weird sort of nod to this movie where they're like, yeah, love them and it's complicated. So three months later yeah but they like announced it before the movie

came out and I think they were selling the idea that like these guys are gonna be a great comedy duo and then they have one scene together

and they're just like angry at each other and also like Steve Martin's character is not comedic really at all I had forgotten

how straight he is in this movie yeah like he's aggressively muted in this movie. Yeah. Whereas Baldwin is kind of very big. He's going huge in this movie. Yeah.

Yeah. The whole thing's very odd. Okay, so this movie, it's complicated, aka untitled Nancy Meyers comedy. Sure. This was the first of the two Nancy Meyers movies that I auditioned for. Oh, wow.

I auditioned, I think, four times. For The Sun? For Hunter Parrish's role? No, this is a good story. Wait, hold on. Wait, before you tell me, I need to think about the movie, and I need to know who you auditioned for. You're not going to be able to get it.

This is the twist of the story. Oh, it doesn't exist? When I met Jordan Firstman, a friend, writer on your series, we bonded over the fact that we both had this same weird audition process for this movie. There was a set piece

that was supposed to be at the beginning of the film and they're setting up how lonely she is where her, like Rita Wilson, Mary Kay Place, Allie Wentworth.

That whole friend group also only appears twice in the movie. And you feel like they're going to constantly be the home base. Yeah, you think that they're going to be like,

yeah, yeah, yeah. You think they're going to be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You think they're, I'm like, what do you, but what are the girls think about? Cause they set them up as like the, the sort of barometer.

There has to be, there has to be like scenes on the cutting room floor, right? Oh, there's probably the first cut of this movie was probably six hours. Anyway, there's that scene. I should have kept at least one more.

Anyway. Yeah. I agree. Rarita Wilson. Is it the scene where Rarita Wilson says, like, do you want to go on a date with this Match.com guy I didn't like?

I believe. So would that have been you? No. I read the little script at the time. The premise was that she starts going on online dates. She has a conversation

with a guy they really bond. She shows up and the guy's like 19 years old. Right. Younger. I think he's in high school. Right. And they wouldn't stop doing castings for this kid.

They couldn't find the kid. And I like went in twice. Then they fired the casting director, hired a new casting director. She brought me in. Right. I went in two times for that. Yeah. I know so many people who went in for it.

They finally, after like six months, like they were like, the film wasn't being shot because like, not just because of this character, but she's so, her casting process are so extended. Yeah. They'll just keep

the production office open and go like, we're pushing back another three weeks. We gotta find the kid. Oh my God. And then they cast Daryl Sabara

from Spy Kids, shot the sequence and cut it out. Wow. But it was like so much sort of hand-wringing over finding this kid for this one like six minute scene yeah that was funny it was like a funny it was more of a conventional comedy movie yeah setup where it's like oh here's an awkward date

with a 17 year old that you can't relate to yeah who's now super uncomfortable and awkward but cut the whole thing out um but i remember uh reading this and not having any sense of uh because i know they it was like i think they're going out to like steve martin baldwin and it was like they could kind of toss up these guys and have either one play either character playing into their comedic i guess so types sure and then having one guy cast against type right um but I just remember reading the script going like what when does something happen in this movie um well what's interesting about this movie there's many things that are just is that it kind of just starts with them they're divorced like it does the joke where they're talking

you're like oh they're married and then you realize like, oh no, he's not like that. Oh no, boy. And she's just got to put up with it at their Santa Barbara high society beachside. I don't know. Is that where they are?

I kept being like, is this Connecticut or is this? It's Santa Barbara. But how come? How come they go to New York for the college? Yeah,

and the daughter drives two hours. Well, I guess she's in LA is my guess right the daughter has moved to la okay and santa barbara's like a two-hour drive from la uh-huh i guess so uh i went to santa barbara for a wedding that's the only time i've ever been it's funny because i was like is this connecticut but it's a spanish house so the one place the spaniards landed in connecticut like what's happening um and but you never see them being mad at each other no maryl and alec there's no tension ever and i when they're getting to later in the movie and they start to fall apart again you're like i kind of wish we knew that he was a jerk before even though we're getting to later in the movie and they start to fall apart again, you're like, I kind of wish we knew that he was a jerk before.

Even though we're supposed to just get it. Because the kids say there's nothing to hold on to. Right. Crazy because you used to not be able to be in the same room together. Yeah. And like, whereas in the movie when Baldwin's like, let's just go for it. And he's being really nice. You're like, I mean, why not?

Yeah. He's being nice. He's rich. Also, because this is the central premise of the film as much as it has a hook. Who is going to start watching the movie and fall for them being together? Right. Like fall for that misdirect of like you think they're a couple until Lake Bell enters. Right.

If you know anything about the movie, you know they're divorced. The whole premise of the movie is she slept without Baldwin. Uh-oh. Right. Like, uh, she's having an affair. Like, you know, that's the poster. Yeah. Right.

Also, I just want to point out that there's a part where Zoe Kazan has a dig at Agnes, which, by the way, that name,

Agnes, for a young 20-something. Very strange choice. I was like, not right. She, she's like, yeah, well, at least Agnes is cooking now. She's really obsessed with Agnes' kitchen.

Yeah, she's like, Agnes can't cook. God, she needs to cook for you, Zoe Kazan? Go cook your own meals. I haven't seen you cook. Yeah, exactly. What is Zoe Kazan doing? Fucking nothing. Ignoring her mother yes

yeah there is something interesting about how Nancy Meyers sort of like weaponizes like the sort of housekeeping

yeah that can be reductive in terms of like how most female characters are portrayed where it's like I am so on Lake Bell's side in this movie

because she's got to compete with Nancy with Meryl Streep who can just like cough out a chocolate croissant. You know what I mean? It has this like perfect home where she's just bringing out like roast birds out of the fridge like it's nothing, you know?

Well, also though, because of course when I, whenever I like watch it, I wanted to know about Nancy Meyers' life a little bit. I didn't get too deep into it. I just wanted her Wikipedia page, which is a lot shorter than I would hope for it to be. But Nancy's middle name is Jane.

Nancy Jane Meyers. Which is Jane. Jane Anders, right? Yeah, Jane something. Adler? Adler, yeah. And so I found that interesting. And Nancy is divorced. Yes.

She broke up with her husband, Charles Shire. It was her filmmaking partner. On the set of The Parent Trap. Whoa. And it was extremely, she references it with like great discomfort and sorrow. Like it's like that it was so public. And that was her first time directing a film on her own. Before that, she always wrote the films and he directed them.

And he was sort of more the public face of their collaborative relationship. I remember reading this script knowing just that bare minimum and being like, this has to be about her divorce, right? Right. This has to be about her relationship. Yeah.

She clearly slept with Charles Shire again. Yeah. And then just wrote this movie. I kind of think so. Or it's either that or that's her fantasy of, it's her, it's because all her movies are such fantasy fulfillment of like first of all can you own a bakery and have a

house like that can you be a playwright and have a house in the hamptons like that's from something's gotta give right yeah no you're right though. Where there's no questions of how do they pay the rent? Yeah. It's just everything is perfect. The lead woman is a perfect woman. Right. But just can't, like, the men can't, I don't know, aren't quite appreciating her for how perfect she is. And she's too, like. Yes. She's too modest to pursue.

Right. Sure. Which was, I mean, certainly a thing that used to drive me crazy about her movies was like the sense of like, oh, these are like rules of the game without satire.

Like they're just about this upper class of like courtesans who just have like trivial champagne problems and seemingly have infinite resources and live in their

beautiful bubble. Literally the women are the best at what they do. Right. And the men are successful without being very smart. Without any real what they do. Right. And the men are successful without being very smart. Without any real skills.

Yeah. Nothing. They got nothing. Right. I mean, there's so much interesting. Also, that is our country. That's the thing when I watch this movie. I'm like, are you trying to tell me an Alec Baldwin doesn't exist?

That's them. Oh, 100%. Yeah. I mean, and she depicts these characters pretty accurately. This is a very honest movie, I think. Well, the Baldwin stuff, especially. Yes. Meryl, there's a little rose tinting with her whole beautiful, perfect life.

I do think it's interesting. I mean, they sort of say it's one of these things where they just like offhand reference to the past that was messier than what we have on this movie. But that when they were together, she was in catering. And it sounds like her career was a little more bootstrappy. Oh, that's the backstory? I missed that? It's like one line. It's literally like three lines offhand where they're talking about why their marriage fell apart.

Right. And he's like, you were never present. You were always like freaking out about the next catering gig. And so I wonder if this sort of like her starting her weird like mini West Coast Dean and DeLuca empire that she seems to have now. Right. Because her place is like half like-

It seems like it's just one bakery. Right. Anyway, go on. But it seems very successful and it's like made out of marble, you know? It's like a coliseum of like pastries. It's insane. But it seems like she's become more successful

now. She's doing great. Was she catering off of this company or my inference, I got... Off the divorce. After the divorce, she became more ambitious. California divorce laws. She's getting a check from Alec. She probably used that money to buy her own

place, start her own business rather than just being a party caterer. And it's fine. I mean, everyone's rich enough here. Right. But why when she was married, could he not? I don't know. And also now when the movie starts, her business is kind of on autopilot. Like, all you ever see is her just walk in and go like,

Quisson's looking good. She never fucking goes to work. Never. One time, yeah, she's like, can you check on table five? I'm like, why? What's that make a table five? Nothing's happening. I promise i promise she'll just walk through she does have an apron on and and she's of course forgotten her appointment with steve martin again she's so forgetful the only time they show her at work is when she has to realize that she needs to leave work to go see steve this is also the one of those movies made in that like three-year window of the utter domination of the blackberry like before everyone has iphones but everyone's glued to their fucking blackberry she tells zoe because they had to stop looking at her blackberry so

much yes yeah also there's a line where um john krasinski whose name is harley uh-huh which i think is funny it's true harls harls she triesls. She tries that out at one point. She tries Harls. Krasinski, in my opinion, secret star of the movie. Best performance in the movie. Well, yeah. I mean, also that was peak. Like, was The Office just ending?

He can just make a face and it's great. Yes. But he, like, he has to say, what does he have to say? I wrote it down. Hold on. This is the period where I think. It's wrote it down. This is the period where I think It's not that exciting.

I'm so excited. This is four years into The Office. They're explicitly grooming John Krasinski to try to be the next romantic comedy Tom Hanks. Oh, right. Zoe Kazan is like, will you help me? It's also unclear what their relationship is. And you're like, oh, okay, he's not a brother.

It takes a while to define. Part of the family, kind of. they're all very on the same page but she's like can you help me with my boxes into the car or whatever and he's like you know it and it's just to make that i believe yes yes yes yes and he goes you know it and he's trying so hard to find a way to make that authentic to himself. He's just like, I'm like, you're doing a good job. It's okay. He's doing a lot of work in this movie. And it feels like that was the pipeline they were trying to put him on.

Was like, he's going to graduate to being the romantic lead of a Nancy Meyers movie someday. He's too young to be one of her protagonists. But this is him working out in this genre. Like a year or two after this, he does Something Borrowed. Something Borrowed, which is, I guess, the closest he has to a major rom-com play. But he's not the romantic lead in that, and the premise is that... No, but isn't he

kind of the secret romantic lead? What's Something Borrowed? Something Borrowed is... It's Jennifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, and some other fucking guy. Yeah. Colin Egglesfield? Yes, that's exactly who it is. But it was based on a trilogy of books and each of the books has a different

character's perspective. It's like, what, Jennifer Goodwin steals Kate Hudson's boyfriend, starts having an affair with him, they're engaged and Kate Hudson's been the alpha in their relationship the whole time, she's been the nerdy best friend. Right. Oh, I want to see this. And John Krasinski is... Some people really love this movie. It's kind of good richard lawson is often argued that this is like one of the most

underrated movies of the year and that kate hudson should have gotten an oscar nomination which i i kind of think is correct oh my god it's a pretty interesting movie but kate hudson plays like the clear villainous of the film and uh john krasinski is their like snarky best friend who like does the like commentary on like oh so you're saying this is going to this now? But then the setup is they signed him to a three-picture deal. It was a big deal when they announced him in this because it was like he would be the co-lead of the second one. Because the second one is him ending up with Kate Hudson. And both of them are sort of supporting like he's supporting comic relief, she's supporting villain role.

And then they were going to be the romantic leads in the next one and it didn't happen. They were going to do something blue is that like. Correct. Interesting. It's something borrowed something blue and then something new or whatever something new is a movie I know that's what it was I don't know. Well this year he was also

in A Way We Go where he another movie where you're just I was very irritated at the the wealth on display because the end of the movie is when they realize their whole movie have you seen away we go no oh yes yes with uh my Rudolph yeah you know the whole movie is like they're like where should we live like oh my god and they like go all over the world and at the end she's like you know my family owns a home that is empty that we could live in and they're like that's where we'll live i know i know i know that's what we'll live. I know. I know.

I know. That's what we call a first draft idea. Oh my God. Why would you go on the trip before thinking of that house? That unoccupied house. And like, there's this metaphor where it's like, she's accepting that her dad is dead or whatever.

You know what I mean? But like, I, at that point, I'm so furious with them, like that they haven't revealed. It's so ridiculous. That's another interesting thing

about this movie is that this comes out the year after the uh financial crisis like the complete well i guess that's maybe why the knives were out for nancy on this one a little bit because it just felt like how dare you you're dancing on our graves you know uh boy yeah but to go also back to the ending of it's complicated and it's raining on the first day of their building the house right i'm and you know before it was like oh this is probably the whole like you don't get to see the kitchen because it's probably a real like metaphor for sure starting a new whatever right and it's raining because it didn't start out and he's like you know they say that that's good that's good luck right so yeah the actual mess the crazy mess they were also nothing she never like wins

him over again like he's just like upset that whatever he she had this relationship with him and then he goes away and then he just ends up showing up for the first day of building the kitchen like he never was like she had a nice conversation with Alec Baldwin. Yeah, yeah. She never was like, hey, listen. He just shows up and he's like, oh, I'm over it. The hinge or whatever, the final thing in the movie is like, is he going to show up

or will he pass it off to his partner at the firm? Right, because she walks out, thinks, oh, he isn't here and then he appears from directly behind the guy's back. That's why they don't really set that up enough to be like no is he coming or not like it's not like the will he be there on the brooklyn bridge moment it's the but they walk off like it's fucking casablanca and he's like you know what i would really go for is a chocolate croissant right and everyone else is still standing around that table being like what are we supposed to do

he didn't give us directions. We're on the clock here. It's fucking raining. It's fucking raining. We're in a tent. We're in a tarp. It's raining in Santa Barbara. It never rains

in Santa Barbara. The cleansing rains have come to finally reboot her life. The rain is like, there's so much sunshine with the rain that's falling down.

Well, because Nancy Meyers can never have a dark scene. It always has to be light even when it's evening. This film was mostly shot in New York where I think she shoots all her movies.

Yeah. Except for like the exteriors they like deign to go to California. She does a lot of upstate New York stuff. And, so,

let's, yeah, so, what, the premise, yeah, we know the fucking premise. She's divorced.

Right. They have their three beautiful Aryan children. Yeah. They're so happy. Hunter Parrish let's uh yeah so what the premise yeah we know the fucking premise she's divorced right they have their three beautiful aryan children yeah hunter parish is like the final insult where you're like okay so and caitlin fitzgerald and then you're like then he shows up you're like him too god they're the blondest fucking kids and it's weird because meryl is blonde but you don't think of her being blonde in that way no yeah you don't think of her As like a Right Like a Quote unquote Blonde lady Right

And as you said It is Fair hair Insane bullshit That there is no Baldwin in those kids One of these kids Should be kind of hairy

Or like you know Sort of big bones You want a bear Of the family Even young Baldwin Is a hairy guy Yes Yeah

Like that's part of his He was sort of a Masculine You know Sex symbol And was always like thick Like daddy was thick Even before he got bearish, you know? Daddy was thick.

I don't know. Daddy Baldwin? I'm thinking of young Baldwin and he wasn't, I wouldn't, he was never fat. He was like a, he was very muscular and. Yes, yes. But he had like, he had like a big bones, I would say. He used to be very trim. But if you look at like shirtless, like Knotts Landing photos or what have you.

Look, there are two things everyone knows about Alec Baldwin. What? One is that daddy's thick. Two is that he's got a famously chill temperament. You might not know this. He's also been on Saturday Night Live. That's a joke you did to me yesterday what he hosted like once? more than once I think

I'm not sure I will never get over the fact that he has by the time this episode comes out maybe won two Emmys as supporting actor for a TV show he's ostensibly not that's the thing

this movie is like the peak of his comeback career where first he gets's like he gets the oscar animation of the cooler like you're like oh alec baldwin's funny and he's fat now right and then he does 30 rock and everyone loves 30 rock and yeah he wins emmys and sags and golden wins all the things yeah and uh yeah yeah he well he won an emmy this year. Oh, not. Yeah. Great. I'm so sorry. Can I use the bathroom? Yes.

We'll just talk about Alec Baldwin for like five more minutes. Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong. Griffin, get the door. All right. All right.

All right. Hold your horses. Oh, my God. What is it this time? David, that thing floating around us, it looks familiar, but slimmer. Oh, my God. What is it this time? David, that thing floating around us, it looks familiar, but slimmer. Oh my God. It's Slimer on a diet. He's putting on a little chef hat.

I hate this. Go on, go on, please. Yes, what's he doing? Oh my God, he's taking out his meal. It's like Slimer has become some sort of green chef. He looks healthier. He looks more wholesome, high quality. How does your brain work?

I just see what's happening around me, and I observe and report, David. It's almost like Slimer's been sustainably sourced. Yeah, it's like now like a slim, hot, like Slimer is daddy now. Well, it's like now like a slim hot like slimer is daddy now well it's funny that slimer showed up because this week our sponsor is green chef i'm much like slimer a green chef is sponsoring our show the usda certified organic company that gives you everything you need to cook delicious meals you can feel good about he looks like he's feeling great he's having an awesome

party time he's wagging his tongue about. Well, much like Slimer. Do you think he uses onion? He is the onion head ghost, isn't he? I'm looking at him right now chopping up liberally, though. I mean, not liberally, judiciously, I would say. Well, this is how Green Chef works, okay? They got recipes that are quick and easy, step-by-step instructions, chef tips photos

you know easy little readout card there's a wide variety of organic ingredients and imaginative new recipes of slimer like that robin is slimy belly well it's not really a belly anymore though his slimy abs he's got some abs uh everything's hand-picked it's delivered right to your door everything's pre-measured and prepped so you It's really literally like you don't even have to chop an onion half the time. It's just a bag with chopped onions in it. It's super fresh. I cooked some cumin spice steak with cheesy potatoes and a regular steak salad. I went for the gluten-free menu.

My girlfriend can't eat gluten. You can pick various things like that oh he's paleo you can go vegan or vegetarian you can go keto, gluten free omnivore, carnivore you pick one of the menu types

and then they will send you stuff so the chefs design these great recipes. They send all the ingredients to you. And they send you all this USDA certified organic food. And it's really easy to use. Yeah, I mean, look at him. I've never seen him this relaxed in his life.

Yeah, relaxed. That's how he feels. So Green Chef, I had a great time with it. I mean, Slimer seems to be having a ball. And blank check, listeners, for $50 off your first box of Green Chef. Hey, Slimer, focus up. This might be relevant to you. For $50 off your first box of Green Chef, you can go to greenchef.us slash check.

That's right. For $50 off for your first box, you can go to greenchef.us slash check. What if Slimer is reaching into his bank? Oh, he's pulling out a checkbook and he's writing a check to you. No, he didn't get that. The promo code is check. The promo code is check, Slimer.

Greenchef.us slash check. You can get $50 off your first box of Green Chef. It is really convenient and easy and extremely delicious. Well, thank you for visiting us, Slimer.

I will say he looks much better. He seems like he's in good spirits. No pun intended. Ben, I think maybe we should get some wet wipes though

because he left quite a mess in here. Know what I'm saying? I got slimed. The Slimer gun around here all right fine when i'm watching this movie perhaps this is unfair to baldman this is why i brought up saturday night live i can't not think about tony curtis like i mean not tony curtis uh tony bennett his tony b Bennett impression. Oh, that makes more sense.

Yeah, I was like, Tony Curtis is not a track. No, I get like, when he's doing like fun, Ben, go help her. When he's doing like fun Alec Baldwin in this movie where he's like,

let's dance. I'm just like almost immediately. I'm like, he's just like an inch away from Tony Bennett. This feels very weird now. Us talking without Ben here in the room. Let'm just like almost immediately I'm like he's just like an inch away from Tony Bennett. This feels very weird now us talking without Ben here in the room. Let's just talk.

And our guest. What do you think of my great point? Yeah it's a good point. What's new with you? What's going on in your life? Well I'm going to Toronto soon. I mean not to give away when we're recording this but you know we're sort of giving it away anyway. Yeah we're getting things in order. Sir Violet's got a TV show to make which which I've told her no one should do, but she doesn't

listen to me. Is it a new season of Search Party? Is that why she's in town? New season of Search Party. Season three of Search Party. She's usually LA-based. Cool, cool. But that shoots here, right?

Yes, it does, yeah. But they're a week away from filming. It's a New York show. Well, one could say that New York is sort of the sixth brand on Search Party. What's up with you? How's your back? It's okay. I found something out,

which Ben might have to cut this out when he comes back in because it's kind of, not only is it too hot at take, but it also, I might be persecuted. I might be attacked. The government might come out to get me.

I found out that the healthcare system in America is is bad breaking news uh breaking back uh i was trying to go through workers comp because as we all know i injured myself doing dialogue and uh it wasn't a on the job accident yes uh and uh it's almost like they don't want you to get treatment what it's almost like they make't want you to get treatment. What? It's almost like they make. There's like hoops and paperwork. The progress is so labyrinthian that they expect that you will just give up. And that way they don't have to treat you.

What the fuck? Yeah. I can't believe this. Yeah. It's bad news. I'm feeling better now, though. I mean, I finally saw someone good. And then my pain uh subsided

a bunch right and it's clear how much physical therapy or what would you do i haven't even started that yet i'm about to start this week um just that the idea that you're on the right track might be just helping you along the stress of being stagnant and not making any progress made my pain so much worse backs backs are fucking are weird. Are fucking strange. And I think they're so connected to nerves and anxiety and all these things that I don't have under control that well. We've been talking about

my back. Yeah. And now your back. Hey. Hello. Yeah. So, you know, I'm feeling, I mean, look at

me, look at my relaxed posture here. I wasn't able to do this a couple weeks ago. That's true. Griffin's really had some back stuff going on. I've had some back stuff going on. I've had some back stuff going on.

I had heard about it. That's when we ran into each other, and then I went, wait a second. You've got to be on the point. Wait a second. This is getting complicated. This is getting complicated. Wait a second. All right.

So they have their Aryan children. She's getting her kitchen redone. There's that weird, awkward early scene where the joke is that she won't acknowledge Steve Martin. Yes. And that happens. Yes. Steve Martin? Yes, and that happens. Yeah, Steve Martin's introduced very early on. He's playing the most milquetoast man imaginable. Crediting the other guy.

Okay, so here's my hot take. I think he's really fucking good in this movie. Interesting. He's Mike Krasinski in this film. I think this is a great performance. Interesting. And I didn't think so when I saw it originally. I admit I'm in the bag for Steve Martin.

You are. He's like as much a comedy idol as anyone who has ever lived. And as we talked about in our Billy Lynn episode, I'm like always so pulling for him to do something different to show a different side of himself. And I remember

seeing this and being like, he's kind of like, you know, it's so muted. But I think this is like a pretty like sort of uh a specific charming performance he's kind of charming he's obviously turning off all the usual steve martin stuff but i think there is a real kind of sad character there that feels very uh what do you think zoned in well i he is certainly sad. I mean, like, I'm not.

This is true. I agree. You know, the thing is that, gosh, I'm feeling a lot right now. Well, no, I'm not. I don't think he does a bad job, but his, like, character is a little milquetoast as you said and I'm kind of not like I want him to be together like he's not sure you know what can I here's Ben

what I wanted just needed a little banjo a little banjo you want like that one twist you know he's like a normal guy but then he's got the one weird thing also there's it's like he's too easy to he's too easy to get like it's just like he's just he's a doormat it's true there's like there's no game with steve martin if you want to date him he's just kind of standing then you can date him like i don't think he even realizes how special she is he's just like a woman it was nice yes i i would argue that that is the problem with Steve Martin. But again, if I'm talking about the radical honesty of it's complicated,

that's probably as good as she's going to get. Right. It's kind of a boring guy. Like, isn't the, cause the movie is basically like, do you want the guy who you can have this sort of like fun sex with? You've got the long connection with,

but it's kind of a raging river, you know, like, you know, and he's a kind of an asshole. Highs and lows. You know, he's an asshole.

Yeah. But it's like, they don't connect like her and Steve. Yeah. Well, they get high together. That's kind of like it. Yeah.

And that's like, that's not going to last a marriage. No, I mean, he'll just get constantly, constantly gets, it definitely feels like a relationship of convenience. I mean I've had

relationships like that and they worked out for a period of time. Yeah. But thank you. You need more than that. You need to grow.

OK. That makes you need to grow. You're just talking about relationship convenience. You need to learn from the other person. Well I'll say that.

So like I already invoked Romley is obsessed with these movies. Right. And the joke in our family is that like the way a lot of like teenage girls like she Well, I'll say this. So, like, I already invoked, Romley is obsessed with these movies. Yeah, right. And the joke in our family is that, like, the way a lot of, like, teenage girls like she is,

or now she's 20, fantasize about, like, you know, the Channing Tatum or whoever, like, riding up and whisk them off her feet. Right, she fantasizes about Steve Martin. Her fantasies have always just been, like, post-divorce, you have your own independent life, you remake your kitchen,

and then you meet, like, a man who's just kind of nice honestly like that's my my dream now i want a post-divorce man right but there's something just about like but but like this guy is like there's nothing that he's bringing to the table i guess he's a considerate architect he's but like i'll say yeah no i mean you're right you kind of just did the whole thing i don't know if this is I guess security he's a considerate architect he's he's he's secure I'll say yeah no I mean you're right you kind of just did the whole thing I don't know if this is intentional or not

but I'm just saying like this fits into maybe not physically Steve Martin right right but like Greg Kinnear playing this character would be her ultimate movie hug

because it's just like this is a guy who's not that interesting right but he likes her she's clearly the power player in the relationship yeah

and he's just kind of sweet and he wears good sweaters yeah like that's all she wants I guess it's that like not that interesting. Right. But he likes her. She's clearly the power player in the relationship. Yeah. And he's just kind of sweet and he wears good sweaters. Yeah. Like, that's all she wants. I guess it's that, like, because this movie is all, I guess. Ooh.

Yeah, you're just not, you're not here for it. I'm not into him. He's an egg white omelet and you don't want it. Well, it's also just, I think that in order to play this role, like, Steve Martin is suppressing

who he is, so I'm not feeling, like, who this person is. this role, like, Steve Martin is suppressing who he is, so I'm not feeling, like, who this person is. He's just like, I'm just a guy, a nice guy, and I'm not ever gonna

have any conflict because I'm just good. And that's why the pot smoking scene, I think, is kind of smart, even though I am not super excited

by the idea of seeing another, oh, old people are stone scene. And they also just don't touch on like, they don't touch on the like, okay, but do you want this man who's hurt you before? Or do you want this man? Who's a good,

they don't really raise it. Yeah. They just kind of, they don't, they don't like delve into the interesting things. Right. And that's part of part of my complaint of where we're not seeing their like more,

their highs and lows of the earlier years. Yeah. They're settled when the movie began. And this movie is like fantasy fulfillment or wish fulfillment

fantasy with, but like it's all more about like kind of the revenge on the ex-husband. It's not about the new love and that kind of bums me out ex-husband it's not about the new the new love and that kind of bums me out whereas like with something's got to give it's like the fantasy fulfillment is like changing the guy who like can't be changed yes yes you do wish there was a scene where he like showed a good quality through action like through his behavior like because of this

right but like all their conversations are just about how much he likes her right or how sad he is over his divorce it's like it could use a scene in which you need him to surprise her with a radical

honesty in some kind of way but he never surprises her a loyalty she's just like I just today decided to have

a nice date with you he's very stable that scene actually drives me crazy not see Martin's fine, but it's just that scene where he's like, do you want to go to this

premiere French film festival with me? No, I'm busy. And he like sadly hands off the tickets. Ask her before you buy the tickets, you dweeb. Why did you buy the tickets?

The tickets he puns off to like the woman in the office are like big like ticket master tickets. You go pick them up too. You loser. Do you notice there's so many romantic...

Do you have anything to do? So many romantic comedies circle around. There's a blank film festival happening in town if you want to catch these weird revival film festivals that are always like, Do you like spaghetti westerns? There's a spaghetti western film festival. So many fucking movies have that. You like kung fus? There's a spaghetti western film festival. So many fucking movies have that. You like kung fu films? There's a kung fu film festival.

Yeah, they also never want to have to cite a specific movie. They want to be like, they like the same genre. French movies. Yes. Oh, my favorite genre. I thought of you because of croissants. Right.

Right? Yeah, but it's like these big expensive like $25 gala film festival. That would make it sound like he's got an Ed McMahon check that he hands over to his assistant or whoever she is. That's true. It's also like those tickets are pretty low stake. It's not like...

It's fine. They cost $25. Right, and also... He's got plenty of money. The woman at the office doesn't ask what date it's at, what time. Yeah, he's just like, you want these? You want to go to a want to go to a french film reserve seating right right vip we're in the opera box just like i don't think there's anything wrong with meryl being like i i'm busy like i know you know give me a little more time knock my mints over in fury um here here's my steve martin take

i want to throw out yeah i. You like him in this movie. As I said, biased, in the bag, what have you. I'm rooting for him. I think the plot scene's smart because it gives them a comedic device to allow him to be 70 Steve Martin for like 10 minutes. Because once he's stoned he starts doing a lot more of the Steve Martin

body language and all of that. Which doesn't make him more endearing but makes for a more entertaining watch. Right. I definitely think this is one of those movies where he's not written in any interesting way. His defined characteristic is that he's not Alec Baldwin. Yes.

But they don't give him enough positive qualities aside from him just not being shitty. Right. Right. Which when I first saw this disappointed me a lot that it just felt like and even reading the script, I was like, there's just not a character here and it feels like you're not letting him do anything and there is that thing with actors who are so primarily comedic

when they do quote unquote more serious roles and obviously this isn't not a comedy but it's playing against most of his like go to's well this is a comedy I'm saying it is a comedy it's not like he's doing like you know fucking Hamlet which was his other like I'm saying it is a comedy. It's not like he's doing like, you know, fucking Hamlet. He's not doing Shop Girl. Right.

Which is his other like, I'm sort of a sad man movie. Right. Which is specifically about his marriage. Right. But I think often the thing that goes wrong with certain comedians playing more serious or against their usual comedic types is they just take away the thing that makes

them interesting and don't replace it with anything else. And the first time I watched it, I thought he was kind of boring because it's just like, well, you're just not letting him be Steve Martin. And now I feel very keyed into his sort of wounded, like I'm trying my best not to cry every day thing. Yeah, that's right. That's his character is that he's so bottled up that, right, he just sort of seems like he's about to burst into tears.

But then he never really does. They kind of plant that seed, but then... There's the one line where you sort of see him getting... I kept expecting his ex-wife to show up or something. Something like that. There's the one line reading where he's sort of glassy-eyed and it kind of touched me. Where he says, you know, I'm not as macho as I seem. Which I just think is kind of a sweet line because he has never come across as macho but he just makes

clear to her like as boring as I seem and as go with the flow as I seem I'm a very very sad emotionally delicate person like this has hurt me. The concept of his character is almost like he's like I'm a real delicate flower and I don't

get involved with someone unless I'm really sure my feelings aren't going to hurt. Because that moment when he's trying on the things for her on the webcam, he's opening up for her. That's also my issue with his, him, I guess his character, not Steve Martin himself. But it's just like, no, no, no. Romance is about taking risks.

So you got to like- Whereas he's very like, no, no, no. And like, oh, I saw Baldwin's dick I'm out the self worth part of it but he doesn't have self worth either like it's masked

and it's it's more from fear it's fear he's afraid of having his heart broken again but that is like Nancy Meyers movies don't end with

someone getting like an exciting fairy tale ending they end with like and now complacency I also like, you've achieved normality. You can feel

death coming. I also like those scenes in movies where like the big conflict where it's like, oh no, it all fell apart because like,

the truth is in the air. Right. Like in that, I hate when, in movies when that scene comes. I hate the lie being exposed. Yes.

Well, I don't hate the lie being exposed i hate when it's like everyone's upset yeah because it's like well now no just get on the same page and it's fine like yeah the whole thing was like he came in she didn't know he was coming right it's just two conversations are all that's required essentially one without problem it's like sorry this is actually over yes and when the c bar was like he didn't get that it's over saw and then and then there's the other group this happens in a lot of movies there's like the other group that's just upset just to be upset and in this case it's the family and they're fucking kids kids who are just all crying they're all crying and i'd be like who paid for your

private college education what are you upset about and they're like we're still not over the divorce now we're more confused i'm sending you all to siberia you monsters what what grown siblings decide like look we're all feeling the same pain right now the tv is not even on when they go in they when they go also like when there's siblings of like uh male and female siblings cuddling. I'm like, no. No. No. It doesn't happen. No.

Maybe in France. Because here's. Ah. Here's. C'est compliqué. Here's like a key difference, right? If Meryl opens the door and it's the three of them lying on top of the covers, each with a pint of Ben and Jerry's watching TV and they're like you're playing

with imagery there there's three of them in a under the covers in silence canoodling in a full bed not a queen in a full bed three kids and they're just sobbing

looking straight ahead I just don't buy it for one second. I'm also like, I want to, I'm very curious to watch Nancy Meyers direct scenes like that, where it's just like, literally, like, how are the actors preparing to just sob? Yes. And then also the scenes where everyone's just laughing at nothing. Like, how is that? There's that early dinner at the graduation dinner.

Yeah. Where they're at the restaurant where we're just constantly cut, cut, cut to someone laughing, laughing. John Krasinski is laughing. Zoe Kazan is laughing. Caitlin Fitzgerald is laughing.

Meryl Streep is like, we're just over and over and over again. She also takes, I take her to be a director who, if you were like, Hey, Nancy, I was thinking over it.

I feel like maybe I wouldn't be laughing in this scene she'd be like no if you look in the script it says John Krasinski laughs hysterically like something like them being like hey us being under the covers feels kind of weird and she's like no that's the image that's the shot I want also John Krasinski and

Caitlin Fitzgerald's relationship is so dull also like yes well she's like actively escaping whatever interesting like problems might have led to her parents divorce she's like i want the most boring person imaginable right i will be i will meet him with boringness like it will be a union of boringness they're like there's a scene where there's this is right before john krasinski gets to do his stuff which which is when he's- Because the first half of the movie,

you're like, what's he doing here? He's got nothing. He's not even in the family. Why would he play this part? Right, yeah, yeah. And then we see why, and he's witnessing. But right before that, she's like,

oh, I talked to my brother, and he's so excited about the party that we're going to have. And he's like, oh, really? That's great. Yeah, he's just like an introvert guy, a reactionher you're like oh cool and then like whenever they're at and then the camera turns off and they go yeah they're just like yeah and then like whenever they're at parties and their parents come through they're like oh my, you came! Like, my best friend, my mom, is here. And like, they go and have whatever, just the, their family.

A glass of white wine. A glass of white wine. All together. I will say, I just finished watching Secession, which will be old news by the time this comes out. Is it good? I need to watch it. I like it. Yeah, I think it sort of falls apart in the last couple episodes.

But it's a fun watch when you realize it's a comedy. I was so against watching it because the ads all made it seem like it was a very torrid power struggle drama. It's an Adam McKay thing. Yes. But they're very similar in how there are these fucked up families with these weird power dynamics between them who are too close and too distant. Yes. And there are characters. them who are too close and too distant. And there are

characters, there are two characters on Secession who remind me a lot of Krasinski in this where they're the outliers, the people who have married in or the distant cousins who keep on observing the power struggles and holding the secrets from everyone else. That's why Krasinski rules in this movie is that he's playing a character. First you're like, I guess he's just a nice

boring husband. Then you realize like, no. He came into this thinking like, oh, Caitlin Fitzgerald, she's very pretty, she's very together. It's a pleasant family, nice kitchen. And then right, it's daw Then you realize like, no, he came into this thinking like, oh, Caitlin Fitzgerald, she's very pretty. She's very together. It's a pleasant family. Nice kitchen. And then right, it's dawning on him like,

oh, they're awful or insane. They're insane. This is terrible that I'm witnessing all this and he just has to like absorb everything, blow into his body

and like internalize it. Oh my God. The amount of, it's like a Kaiser Jose moment. I am in such a tough position. Yes just great but also also like the way that the kids respond to their parents like looking up is just so not like the tears are like what what would happen with anyone i know would be like oh like you just tell everyone you'd be like oh my god this is so my parents are fucking again yeah right if you didn't find it funny the next most logical reaction is just like this is so

fucking weird yeah this is odd breakdown crying she's like why are you crying they're like we still haven't gotten over the divorce this is so confusing this overlaps with my other grief i still have six years left. Everything else goes great for me. Which is also a reason why it would help if in this movie you saw one scene of them fighting before they sleep. That's what I'm saying. So the plot of the movie is that

Hunter Parrish graduates from college and Meryl and Alec get drunk and they fuck. And then Meryl barfs. And it's a moment of vulnerability. So when they return yeah they fuck more they keep having this affair and there's this one great scene very early on that really feels like why nancy myers is like sort of like stands out where she's like don't look at me when i'm standing up yes where you're kind of like wow that just wouldn't be in any movie like no one

would sort of think to write and he goes like i've already seen everything and seen everything. And she goes, things look different when you're lying down. That's the line that I think is pretty great. Yeah, that's a good line. That's a really good cutting line. And you're kind of like, oh, yeah, like this is what I came here for. Now, this is not my favorite Nancy Meyers. And a lot of the other stuff, you're kind of like, like there's just nothing. Give me something to grab onto.

But like there are those scenes where you're into it. And then Meryl is just kind of like Meryl. So like you kind of can just grab onto her. Right, and I think this was so peak America's Love Affair with Alec Baldwin now reowning himself as the parody version of himself. But I just find he's way too big in this movie. Way too big. He is enjoyable.

I think he's being asked to be really big. Not his fault, necessarily. I don't think it's really his fault. But you just go like they're banking so hard on the idea that everyone loves Alec Baldwin as an asshole now. Like, oh man, this fucking cab. That's the crucial part where they're like, wouldn't you, you, you just succumb to this wouldn't you?

And I'm like, nope. I don't think that I would. And then like some, like Nicholson, I get it. And maybe not everyone, but like, I'm like, yeah, no, I get that. No, I get Nicholson. Baldwin is just such a fucking moron in this movie, too. It's true. Every way he seduces her, she's just like, okay, first of all, I want you to know that what you're doing is dumb.

Secondly, I'm going to sleep with you in spite of that, not because of that. Right, right. And he's got Lake Bell and this kid, Pedro, who I guess is a nightmare, but I I mean just kind of seems like a five year old. No, it's Lake Bell's kid from a previous relationship. Right, because she also cheated on her relationship.

Yeah, I think I mean like the moral of this is like that Nancy Meyers lesson that you're supposed to learn is like don't marry your mistress. She's always cheating. Yeah, right, right.

Because there's that scene at the beginning where at the party after you realize the audience is completely bamboozled by the crazy revolution that Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep are no longer married. Where then she's talking to Bruce Altman and Nora Dunn, insanely overqualified actors to stand there and laugh. Like building the opening credits. Yeah, well that's the Nancy Meyers thing.

It's like Woody Allen where it's where it's just like oh I guess everyone in this movie is famous I also guarantee you she spent four months trying to find the people to play those roles which like her grip could have played

the Bruce Altman part you know it's the same thing with the book club though Rita Wilson and Mary Kay place in all those people yes right just insanely

overqualified actors yes it's just it's a fascinating little like ecosystem because after that it's like they just don't have friends anymore no you don't see them relate to anyone outside of their family that's it but the book club disappears like she tells them they're fucking out baldwin and rita wilson does what i can only describe as a rain dance yes and uh mary k plays quietly is like

this isn't good he's married yeah And everyone's like, shut up. In a more high concept. Never speak again. In a more high concept movie, this would become like the first wives club premise of the film. It's not even a book club.

They're just like drinking buddies. They're a wine club. Yeah, it's a wine club. But in the more high concept version of this film, it would then become like a revenge movie where it's like,

ha ha, we get it back. Yeah. Look at us. And so that's just like an angle of like, she finds a little like perverse satisfaction in the fact that she's now the other woman it is funny the

scene where she tells the doctor she wants more sperm that's probably my favorite joke that's funny wait what did i miss that where he's like if you take flomax like you know you get more you get less semen he's like right my wife would be mad at me which is a doctor's like oh i assume meryl's your wife he sort of looks at her and she's like yeah i like a lot less semen. He's like, right, my wife would be mad at me. The doctor's like, oh, I assume Meryl's your wife. He looks at her and she's like, yeah, I like a lot of semen. I think she says, can't get enough of it. I must have,

I don't know, been looking up Nancy Meyers in that moment. It's pretty easy to zone out during it. I don't mean that. I am sad I missed that. It's a good one one I'll rewatch it and then on and on it goes she's sleeping with Baldwin Steve Martin stands there

nicely waiting for the movie to end right sometimes it's like not romantic sometimes they're going on full on dates sure and then the movie ends and then there's half an hour

more movie right which is mostly her like talking to her kids and Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin she has to have a conversationve martin and alec baldwin she has to have a conversation with alec baldwin on her porch swing she has to have a conversation with steve martin and his apartment or whatever i really i really am feeling the lack of the girlfriend circle again because i'm like this is where the real discussions come also where you

like yeah yes the court and this is where you actually say what you're really feeling about each person. And also that first scene a little bit annoyed me because Rita Wilson's like, you got to get out there and date. Where I'm like, all of these women would be like, and also one of them, her husband is dead, I guess. All of them would be like, doesn't it suck to be an older woman? Yes. An older single woman, but they're just like, all surrounding Mary.

They're like, if you don't get laid, your vagina closes up. Yeah, I know. Like, it literally closes up. And Mary Kay Place, the only rational one, again,

it's like, they weren't ever closed. Yeah, it was never closed, you idiots. Closed when you were a child? What are you talking about? Only true love's curse can open.

And then I'm like, I guess the rest of them all have very active, good dating lives. That we don't see or hear about. That we don't see other than they're just like, we're dating and it's great and you've just got to date. And also like that whole thing, that trope of like, the friends all solving one friend's problem. Yes. Yes, right. I mean, this is the thing

I find fascinating about the Nancy Meyers movies is like, if you actually try to like, work out the logic of anything, it is maddening.

So you either just have to like, let your defenses down and get into it, in which case the movie just like casts a fucking spell over you. Right. It is maddening. Yeah. Sure. So you either just have to like let your defenses down and give into it in which case the movie just like casts a fucking spell over you. Yeah. It's the Xanax argument

has always been like with these movies where eventually, right, you just sort of pop the pill and then suddenly you feel very relaxed and calm. And you're like, okay, you know what,

this is like Lord of the Rings. This world has its own rules. Yeah. These people don't resemble human beings. My argument with it's complicated is that these are human beings and they live among us. And Nancy is showing them to us.

That is my big argument with this movie. People are like, this movie is a fantasy. I'm like, no, it's not. Yeah, wake up, buddy. This is reality. But it isn't complicated. You mean like, you're just mad about the title? It's not that complicated?

These characters don't have complicated lives and relationships and the way the story plays out. You guys just summarize the plot very quickly. The kitchen, you know, she wants to walk right from the kitchen to her bedroom and she can't do that. I love, I love. I can't remember. So hiring architect, I could say that could be complicated. It's complicated. You know, a lot of the big thing she says zoning laws because she keeps saying in the beginning like finally i'm gonna have a real

kitchen fabulous kitchen she has a great doesn't she say at one point like a real kitchen you know with four walls yeah she says that she refers to it as like a room right and it's like that's your problem is that the kitchen isn't closed off from the dining room. I'm a little confused about what's happening because, because she's, I guess she's going to keep that other part of the house too. But this part is also going to have a bedroom and his and her sinks, but not his and her sinks, just her sink.

Right. Which also I did like that because I'm like, I get it. I get how like, yeah, the one sink would sort of would be, would feel bad. Yeah. And you'd be like, do I switch sinks I get how like. Yeah, the one sink would sort of. Would feel bad. Yeah.

And you'd be like, do I switch sinks just to kind of keep the sinks fresh? There's also that part where she's like, can't we like move it back a couple more feet like this and that? And he's like, yeah, you could do that. You want your bedroom to be in the ocean? Okay, relax. Is she that like on the cusp of a mountain? No, she's not.

Right. She cresting. There was something else about the kitchen no sorry go ahead I guess the thing that makes Steve Martin the right man for her is that he was able to find apparently she's been very picky about these blueprints and then in walks Steve and

this is the first time she's seeing the blueprints he gets it and I loved the first time she's seeing the blueprints. He gets it. He gets it. And I loved the idea for the stairs to be, oops, the stairs to be over there, which is also like, I don't know,

just a funny thing to be so like impressed by placement of stairs. Well, that's, I mean, this gets into the Romley argument, but you go like, what's the only thing that gives her both pure unadulterated joy and like great consternation in the movie it is this kitchen right

yeah and Steve Martin is the one man who can give her the kitchen that she wants it's true he is in charge of the kitchen she can afford it but he understands what she wants out of the kitchen the kitchen is the metaphor for like her new chapter in life like I guess that's he's like the gatekeeper but couldn't she just go to her business right which has an

industrial kitchen yes and cook whatever the fuck she wants cause she does she just goes in her business right which has an industrial kitchen yes and cook whatever the fuck she wants because she does she just goes in the middle of the night and make shit late at night exactly yeah also she makes a whole chocolate cake for a date she has two kitchens she needs a third kitchen she's never entertaining except rita wilson just needs wine she doesn't eat food okay so this feels like a good point to drop in. Of course, the recurring segment we've done. Romley's Kitchen Corner. Romley's doing kitchen reports for every one of these movies.

So we're going to cut now to Romley with the Kitchen Corner. I mean, this is the main event. This is the one. This is the one. Welcome to Romley's Kitchen Corner. And here is your host, Miss Romley Newman. In her kitchen. Oh, I didn't Miss Romilly Newman, in her kitchen. Oh, I didn't see you there. Welcome to my kitchen. And today I'm talking about Meryl Streep's

Famous Kitchen. And I just have to quickly, this is kind of the biggest thing to talk about, is that the entire plot of the movie is kind of based around the fact that she's designing her dream kitchen and she has this kitchen. And I just don't quite understand what her dream kitchen looks like if this is just her throwaway kitchen. But anyway, this is a great kitchen.

The kitchen in this movie is the main focus of the house. You have that amazing archway, huge stove, which is in the corner, which I usually don't like, but it has this own little nook. It has its place. You have the pots hanging above the stove. Amazing marble island.

That famous window that she's dancing in front of while she's making her ice cream for Steve Martin, who's such a cutie. And then you have all these plates organized. It's an amazing kitchen, and it's very much conducive to cooking, which I think is important, because some of these kitchens are a little bit more showrooms. But I want to see her dream kitchen. Okay, thank you, Romley. Special correspondent Romley Newman with her kitchen corner.

Yeah, so we did. Is there anything else from this movie we need to discuss? The pot scene. I guess that's sort of when the movie's kind of alive. I like that they're all dancing when they poke Smut. Not pots in the kitchen. I like that

it's underlined that there will be no police intervention with these rich white people. But it was also like oh god the police they're in my pocket the police have like drove up next to us while she's holding it up directly in front of the window and then she's like i know him coffee and blueberry muffin oh god like yeah he's really gonna take action against you i know um the webcam flim flam where alec baldwin is like he wants to arrange the computer to block his penis it seems to be the idea it is such a sweaty setup because it's

originally yeah steve marne wants to skype with her the the sweater selection process then they're both like okay wait i gotta do something else. Meet back here in 10 minutes. They're saying that the computer is just open and on for both of them. They didn't close out the window. And then Baldwin thinks it would be nice. They know how to use Skype also. No, they don't. Outrageous.

A lie in 2009. And then the idea that Baldwin thinks it's sexy to lie there fully naked other than the apple logo right over his hairy penis uh no the two things i want to talk about were the two like sort of emotional scenes in the movie apart from like the babies crying which i literally would just be like i never want to see you monsters again um like uh one is the scene where she finally bears herself to baldwin in hotel room, which is like,

I think pretty well done. And then immediately becomes like a weird like, oh, he took too much prostate medication like joke. Right. But like, I think that's a nice scene. I do too. I like that idea. They're like, okay, not it's not just the sex.

Like she's decided to be emotionally vulnerable with him again. Right. And then the other scene that is way weirder when baldwin goes back to his house and the little child is sleeping and then he puts his hand on pedro's chest yeah and pedro like cuddles his hand and the idea is like the baldwin's like oh i have like a life here like this is complicated this is yeah that's ignored and then we never see them again and like he just dumps her or it gets dumped the handling of that is so weird because you go like there's a scenario in which like the lake bell character is an uber monster so the audience is so rooting against her with zero thimp i am rooting

for her the entire movie to be clear like what's her problem she's young i mean i guess like she cheated like or what she was the other woman and then she married but like okay that happens she doesn't seem unpleasant in relation to like the potential stepmother and parent trap she has a tattoo though she does have a monster she does have a scary tattoo

she does have a scary tattoo so you know she's a bad person you know she's a bad person she does have a scary tattoo and she wears clothes that hang on her sort of loosely she's the girl

with the dragon tattoo but she I mean I'm in the defense of hating her character I didn't hate her character. But, like, it is, again, like, wish fulfillment, fantasy fulfillment of the, like, ugh, the younger one. Right, of course. There's nothing I can do.

She's got the hot bod. And it's, like, that's what, it is heartbreaking that, like, someone that you were married to for many years will, like, give up your connection for something that is fleeting is fleeting yes it is a very limited currency and um and that that's a frustrating thing that women face yes um but the my thing that i need to talk about is when when um i think it's the second time they have sex. Maybe it's the first time. But afterwards, Alec Baldwin grabs her vagina. He does. That's the first time.

And says, home sweet home. He does. And like shakes her vagina. Yeah. And she's like in this like her shirt, like one boob is out. Yes. And that's when he. Yeah. That's wild.

That was shocking. Yeah. That's wild. That was shocking. Yeah. That's without a doubt the most like sexually explicit thing in a Nancy Myers movie. Right. In any movie ever.

In any movie ever. That's like Salo. Yeah. He cups her vagina and also Alec Baldwin cups Meryl Streep's vagina. Yeah.

He does. Yeah. Right. He's right. That's the other thing. I wonder. Yeah. Do they have like a good

working relationship? I pray. I know. Okay, I'm going to cup your vagina now. Yeah. It's so bizarre. This is one of those movies

where the classic like off-mocked PG-13 romantic comedy like, oh, the man and the woman are lying in bed afterwards and the woman has the sheets all the way up to her neck.

Sure. It's the one movie that justifies that within the characterization. The sheets are where she wants them and he's always like right check out the belly it's here he's showing off both tits you know yeah you know what this is um um the thing not to go backwards but the thing i find interesting about the lake bell thing and i say this almost as a positive is like most shitty studio notes would be like she either has to be the villain right right like we have to show that she's bad she kicks a cat you know

something yeah yeah yeah she yells at her kid you have to realize actually that she's not that bad and there's a scene at the end where Meryl feels bad for her in some kind of way instead there's just that scene where she looks at Meryl dancing with Alec Baldwin you know and then and she sort of gets it I guess right and that's and they just kind of

like pointedly don't ever show her having any emotional reaction to it outside of the first like clock of recognition because they just don't want to deal with you worrying about her

as a person. Well, also, the movie is so long. So fucking long. What's interesting, I know it's so freaking long and yet so nothing is resolved

in the way you want it to be, but when she, the second time with her girlfriends, she's like i'm having an affair with agnes adler's husband which is an interesting it's true it's a little venomous yeah yeah because they make it seem like agnes adler is constantly brought up as like they're like a pin cushion like you know voodoo queen you know there is that one scene

with the therapist where meryl gets to kind of act when she's suddenly crying at the end of it where she's like, am I just lonely? And the therapist is useless. He's just like, I don't know. She's trying to get him to say either definitively good idea or bad idea. And he keeps on talking in circles. Isn't there a moment, too, where when she has the final conversation with Baldwin where he says the thing that she feels relieves her of the relationship. Uh-huh. Like she's trying to get

him to say the concrete thing because she keeps on saying this was a bad idea, right? This was never going to work. And he keeps on going like, well, I felt at

home, you know, this and that. Right, right. You know, it wasn't that I never knew how to live without you, you know, all this sort of stuff.

That she finally gets him to admit, like, I was probably just caught up in a moment. Right. This is my own shit. Yeah. Yeah. He's got a lot of shit going on. Right. This is my own chat. Yeah. Yeah.

He's got a lot of shit going on. Lake Bell's trying to get a baby out of him. I know. My last thing also about Nancy Meyers movies in general is that everyone is a first and last name. Or not everyone, but like, that's very,

very much like Jane Adler. Right. Reputations precede them. Yes. They're already sort of infamous even to the people who haven't met them yet. And like the Adlers. We're all the Adler. Right. Reputations precede them. They're already sort of infamous even to the people who haven't met them yet. And like the Adlers were all the Adlers. Right. I don't think you know what Harley's last name is.

That's a big thing they say is like J.A. The two J.A. reservations at the hotel. Right. Because they both are Jake and Jane Adler. There's the weird moment when they're all having breakfast the following morning after they've slept together for the first time, and the kids are so overjoyed that Zoe Kazan makes the toast to be like, this is like the best day of my life.

The original five together. That she calls them the original five plus Harley, but like there's a nickname. The best day of my life. Yeah. I just like seeing all of us together. Yeah, I agree with that. There's a lot going on with those kids.

All the kids are like, yes. That's why I'm so happy for the first time in 20 years. This is how, as it should be. Things should never change. Also that weird conversation she has with Hunter Parrish where Hunter Parrish is like, yeah, I don't remember you being happy. That's fucking weird. He's like, we were you were 12. Like,

why don't you remember that? And he's like, I don't know. And I'm like, there's a lot going on here and the movie's just kind of like well it's complicated these kids feel like they're dealing with some different kind of trauma

I know from how they process everything that happens in the film I know well it's complicated it is complicated

let's play the box office I don't know it is a fun movie it is it is really interesting how my perspective on these movies has changed yeah over 10 years.

Yeah. Like, just 10 years ago, I was like, no. Yeah. But this year, now I'm like, okay, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Being like a $70 million movie about grownups and their relationship. I mean, that's our big blank check argument for her.

She's making a movie that just doesn't exist otherwise. No. At this point. And she, if you follow her on social media, which I recommend, she's really fucking good on Instagram. She's making a movie that just doesn't exist otherwise, basically, at this point. If you follow her on social media, which I recommend, she's really fucking good on Instagram. She's constantly posting about the fact that Hollywood doesn't think romantic comedies are bankable.

And we're in this weird swing now where it's starting to go back. We're in this moment where people are like, oh no, it's sparking again. You've had these couple Netflix romantic comedies that have been really well received. You've gotten this sort of oversized reaction. Set it up in To All the Boys I Ever Loved Before which I actually like both of them. I actually think

the second one's genuinely good. Oh I have not seen it but it does keep coming up on my Netflix. But I also think it's just that thing you know we're just also thirsty for it. We're so hungry for it. And I think they're both very Netflix-y. Like they don't feel like theatrical films. There's something to Nancy Meyers. I disagree on the second one. I think the second one is genuine.

Wait, which one? That's the teen one. To All the Boys I Ever Loved. Unless the other one. That's like a well-made movie. Set It Up is like a workplace. Set It Up is all script. Yes, she's very good in that.

I mean, I think both of them are very fun. Yeah, they are. But there's something to the fact that Nancy Meyers is dealing with this much production value. Yeah. Like, I think movies get expensive because of how slow her process is but also that she's like, I want a real fucking house. It's got to look great. They're cinematic. They are weirdly kind of big screen movies.

And then Crazy Rich Asians is now blowing up the box office but that has this whole other narrative tied onto it. Also, Crazy Rich Asians got this sort of blowback that this got this but that has all this whole other narrative tied on to it well and also crazy rich asians got like the sort of um blowback that this got where people you know not people like the movie and it's doing really well but some people are like oh why do i have to care about these rich people like you know why they don't have problem you know right and why can't you make like to be in these worlds

that are so alien and exciting to them like you, it's exciting for audiences to see rich people. This was a big thought I had during this movie, right? Where it's like, her whole thing was taking people who already had, like, legendary star status and giving them, like, one last leading hurrah, right? Where they're sexy and they're, you know, leading the cart and all of that sort of stuff. And I was like, who, if Nancy Meyers, which like Netflix should just give her $60 million tomorrow. Especially since they've been doing so well with these rom-coms. I think the problem is that she wants $100 million.

Right. But you go like, okay, who should Nancy Meyers be making a movie with right now? Who should be writing movies for? And then I started thinking of it from the opposite direction, which it's like, if I were Jennifer Lawrence, I would immediately go Nancy Meyers write a movie for me. All these young female stars who haven't been able to have that portion of their career because rom-coms don't get made anymore.

Someone like Jennifer Lawrence, who's been in such a genre zone, despite being like this huge leading lady. You're like, it would benefit her to have like a My Best Friend's Wedding. But Jennifer Lawrence made her blank check movie, which is Red Sparrow. red spare i know yeah that's the movie she had total control over every part but that's what she wanted us to see i know that's why i wonder one reason i love it if it would not be a smart move for her to go like nancy myers i guess you me in your hands write a movie for my star persona you know rather than the older generation who don't get to do these movies anymore, it's really like the Emma Stones

who should be going to Nancy Meyers and being like, please let me do this. Let me be fun in a movie. Well, Emma Stone's doing great. She's doing great. J-Law, maybe she might need a bit of an adrenaline boost. Can we play the box office? So I try to guess the box office the weekend

the movie came out and I'm insane. This movie came out Christmas Day 2009. This was a big Christmas. It made 112 million domestic 219 worldwide. Solid hit. I believe that this Christmas. It was number four at the box

office. 22 million dollars. I think that Christmas Day 2009 was maybe the biggest single day in the North American box office history. Quite possible. Because it was like four huge openers, correct? Correct. Well, one of them is not an opener. Oh, okay. So number one is second week of Avatar, correct?

Okay. $75 million. He knows it. He's going to do all four right now. Right. I'm just trying to make sure I have the order of two and three right because they, you have the order right. Because they're very close. No, they're not that close. Really?

No. The second is 62, third is 48. Okay, so the number two is Sherlock Holmes, the number three is Alvin the Chipmunk's The Squeakle. Oh my God.

There it is. You have to understand- Correct. And then it's complicated at number four. The thing you have to understand, SV, because my father was your teacher at film school.

That's how we know each other originally. This is my emotional relationship with my father is going over the box office every weekend from when I was a young age. So it's like tied into my brain. That does track. So wait, second weekend of Avatar is how much? 75.

Essentially the same as the first. And I remember people being like, it's crazy to open against the second weekend of Avatar. These movies 75 essentially the same as the first and i remember people being like it's crazy to open against the second weekend of avatar these movies are going to get steamrolled no they all cannibalized yeah they all did well yeah they all did great they all fucking did well okay so wait it's 75 then 62 for sherlock 40 48 for alvin 48 jesus christ 22 for comp i don't even know there was a movie. The Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr.

Jude Law. Rachel McAdams directed by Guy Ritchie. Yes. Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes. And then number five is not an opener, right? No, it's been in

the box office for six weeks. It's one of the huge hits of the year. It wins an Oscar. Oh, The Blind Side? The Blind Side. Oh my God.

What's it up to at this point? Oh, The Blind Side. It's made 184 on the way to 255. That's insane. It still has that much more to go. You also have Up in the Air,

The Princess and the Frog. Yeah. Nine. Did you hear about The Morgans? I did, yeah. I heard about them. Not so great. No. Nine. Did you hear about The Morgans? I did, yeah. I heard about them. Not so great. No.

And Invictus. Do you want to hear something fascinating? And past guest Chris Weitz's New Moon. Hey, big hit. Past and future guy. Yes, big Steve Martin stan. We've recorded just behind the scenes peak this episode and the billy lynn episode within a one week yeah so i've been in a very big like

steve martin trying to stretch himself white hair steve martin phase yes exactly because for the years leading up to that i was like when someone's gonna write it's white give steve martin because especially in in the aughts steve martin is mostly doing family comedies kind of marginally, right? Successfully, but movies I don't find very funny. And I was like, when's someone going to give him a real meaty role again, kind of reestablish him in a different way? Do you know that Steve Martin

was Jason Reitman's backup choice for Up in the Air? No, that's interesting. He was like, I wrote it for Clooney. I wanted Clooney. That's a different movie. If Clooney had passed, I would have rewritten it for Steve Martin. Those were the only two guys I thought could do it.

Interesting movie. Interesting. If it's him. It's like a totally different movie. I would like that. I kind of feel like I'd prefer that. Clooney's great in Up in the Air. That's a great performance,

but it's also like the Clooney thing. We know it fits into the Clooney narrative. It would have been so surprising to see Steve Martin do that. Yeah, I get that argument. Yeah, it's also like the Clooney thing we know it fits into the Clooney narrative it would have been so surprising to see Martin do that yeah I get that argument forget my thoughts say it it's just like Clooney

your suffering doesn't move me I love Clooney's suffering he's not suffering he's so like outside of it he's suffering he's not suffering he's not no he just sold his tequila company he's so like outside of it like he's not like I can see

Steve Martin really having this pain but Clooney's kind of yes I love George Clooney but he's not selling it

because I don't know he's observing it there's something to the weird high art low art there's something that's gotta give

there's something that's gotta give first of all something's's got to give. It's complicated. It is complicated. Father of the Bride. Let the body sit on the floor. Father of the Bride, written by? Nancy Meyers.

Well, yeah, that's why I said it. We'll also see Barton's in it. I thought she had directed it, but I guess. I mean, the success of those ones are the one that got her Parent Trap, I would argue. But what is he going to say about? oh, okay, so she wrote it. So, okay. Because the house isn't that, again, it's like one really nice house to the. Well, they were very much a team at that point.

I think you look at like, you know, starting with like Private Benjamin up to Father of the Bride. She starts having more and more say in the movies. Right. Even on a visual level. So that's why she gets to do Parent Trap. What was the thing you were very loudly going to proclaim? I know we're already doing a bonus episode, but I'd love to do a second bonus episode on Father of the Bride Part 2.

We're going to save that for the Troll Shire. Yeah, that's right. Damn right we are. Father of the Bride Part 2 is insane. That movie's insane. It's insane. I don't think I've seen it. I've seen it like 100 times

for some reason. Like I had it on video or something. Dionysian gets pregnant. Oh, right, right. And their daughter gets pregnant. And Kimberly Williams gets pregnant.

Yes. The thing I was going to say that I think is interesting about Steve Martin that no one's totally hit on and how to use him in a more dramatic or at least less

overtly comedic way is this weird high art, low art thing with him where he's known for being so goofy in his comedy, doing these paycheck movies that are so broad

and straight down the middle. Like your Pink Panthers. Right. And then he's this super erudite guy who writes like Picasso plays. Right. And like when he does

like live engagements just want to do, like wants to do art talks and play the banjo. And so there's something about him like compartmentalizing the areas of his life and wishing that he was able to make the high art

accessible to other people, that the two things have to be separated. That kind of leaves him with an underlying sadness that I find compelling. That's my take. And I'm sticking to it. Ben is throwing his hands down. He wants this episode to be done.

Did you like the movie? Didn't watch it? No, I watched it. I didn't like it. Ben is throwing his hands down. He wants this episode to be done. Didn't watch it? No, I watched it. Yeah. I didn't like it. It's fine. It's kind of a neighbor to Spanglish, but you're more into the rawness of Spanglish, I feel like. Oh, I love Spanglish. Really? You got a friend in Ben. Do you hate it?

I don't like it. That movie makes me feel insane. Oh, I love it. Is it because the ending is so upsetting? Isn't the whole movie upsetting? The whole movie is very discombobulated. It's interesting. When you compare the two movies,

Spanglish sort of portrays this wealthy sort of family, specifically the mother, as crazy people. Yes. And it sort of seems like Sandler's relationship with the floor character is like they're kind of more grounded real people.

Sure. Whereas this movie is just, I don't know. I'm not from a literal, I grew up in a ditch in New Jersey. And I see this movie and I'm just like, I, I, it's like David said, it's kind of interesting to watch play out. Right. It feels like a nice, gentle little story,

but I'm also like, I don't know. Fuck these people. And they're fucking rich person. Bullshit. It's not complicated. I'm living on a motherfucking floor. The air mattress.

Fucking trying to navigate my goddamn life, figure out Wait, are you talking about it's complicated or Spanglish? Both? And then he's rolling his own life into it. Yeah, I'm just saying it doesn't seem complicated to me at all. Seems like you have a really nice life, you got great kids everyone's well adjusted

and you just like are kind of horny. Right. And you like Spanglish. And you like Spanglish. And I like Spanglish. And you love Spanglish. I just want to be clear on that. You're saying Spanglish works because it's the outsiders looking into it. That's sort of the audience perspective in this movie. It asks you to fully believe in a world where orcs run wild.

They have problems. And you're like, they do? And they're like, yeah. I also understand. The movie hugs you until you just accept it weird timeline of us recording these episodes ben is currently still in his state of being functionally homeless keep so watching a movie where people are hashtag blank frustrated their kitchen is an eight rather than trying to get more homes right get more kitchens in your life right one day i'll have

input on a kitchen that i use one day i just I just look at this moment and I'm like, I'd never want to deal with that. Yeah, I know, I know. The major upheaval of having your whole home. I don't care how much better it's going to be. I just want to stay the same. Yes, you do. Is the kitchen, because remember he's like,

it's down a hallway. Yeah, it's down a hallway. So she's adding another kitchen. And usually kitchens are off of like the common room no no four walls four walls she wants a hallway to like just like a yeah a dungeon kitchen yeah exactly no one does that well she's doing it yeah she's the first also getting a bedroom because then she's gonna have the the view. Right, right. That's going to be inside the ocean. Cool. So she's adding to her complex. I know.

She's adding another house to her. It's not just a kitchen. Right, no. But I guess it's another house that's based around the kitchen. Yes. This is all correct. It's Amy Barber, baby.

You have nailed it. I want to see that fucking kitchen. You know, it feels like... Well, maybe she'll make it more complicated. It feels like early comic book movies where they would tease of a character that was too expensive to put in the first movie where it's like, if this one does well, then they'll give us a bigger CGI budget to show you the kitchen.

Right. The kitchen is the Galactus of this movie. Correct. And that's the most on brand we will ever be on this podcast. Uh, SV, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Um, you're a week away from production on season three. Yeah. Feeling good about everything. I am, yeah. Season one and two streaming now, still on TBS? Yes, TBS. I wish I could say other platforms. But you can also get it on, you can buy it on Amazon.

Yeah? Great company, I haven't done anything wrong. You know about Amazon. I do, yeah. I will say, I've said this to other people and this is that embarrassing thing where i embarrass our guests but uh i was in fort tilden which was your uh thesis project for film school was made for a microscopic amount of money with a crew of uh barely more people than are in this room right now. Yes. And then won the grand prizes at South by Southwest. Yes.

And then you and Charles are now showrunners on a big time TV show with a real crew and sound stages and all these things. Yeah. And I was so astonished and impressed by how much you still make it feel like six people doing a thesis film. That's not like a low rent way, but you guys have somehow not let the fact that you have more shit to deal with

impact the way you actually do the work. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. It's great. You guys are the best. Thanks for coming with me on the journey. Anytime.

I just, I never forget how sunburned and bug-bitten we were on Fort Hilton. Oh, yeah. Do you remember our sound person's legs? Yes. Yes, I do. They were bleeding. Yeah. Poor thing.

I don't know why he got it so bad. I don't know. Some people. Some people, you know, they react bad to those bites. Yeah. I chose to, because there's this like 20, 15-minute section of the movie that's us on the beach. Yes. And I chose to spend that whole section sitting in like a curled position, holding my arms around my knees.

And what happened was I effectively blocked the sun from everywhere but my knees. And my knees were so sunburned that I couldn't walk for a week. Because they like crackled. You stood up and they crinkled. Yes. I'm sorry. Art is pain, my friends, and it's worth it for working. Did you put sunblock on? Apparently everywhere but there.

I will say one rarely does think to apply sunblock to the knees. Specifically to the knees. Oh, I apply it everywhere. And that's a lesson. If you have any lesson to teach the future filmmakers of America, put sunscreen everywhere.

That's right. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Godspeed. No one should ever make a TV show, but I hope it goes well. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate, review, subscribe. Go to Reddit. Blinkies.red. Please remember to rate, review, subscribe. Go to Reddit,

blankies.reddit.com for some real nerdy shit. Thanks to Andrew for a good offer on social media, Lane Montgomery for our theme song, Joe Bonaparte rounds for our artwork. Buy our merch at TeePublic. Oh,

yeah. Go to TeePublic. Buy some, buy some merch. Yeah. And, and as always, gotta four wall that kitchen,

baby.