Happy Sad Confused - Jai Courtney, Vol. III

Episode Date: July 8, 2020

Jai Courtney returns to "Happy Sad Confused" with a new series ("Stateless" on Netflix), a big superhero return ("The Suicide Squad" next year) and some classic Scorsese to talk about! Yes, we're going to back to 1995 for this week's comfort movie, the crime classic from Martin Scorsese, "Casino"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.C. high volume, Batman. The Dark Nights definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear, I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on,

none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, Sad, Confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Jai Courtney on his new Netflix series, Stateless, and his comfort movie, Casino. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad Confused, Returning Champion, Jai Courtney, back in the metaphorical Happy, Happy Said Confused, Podcast.

House this week, talking about a bunch of things, including a new Netflix show, as I mentioned, opposite, no less than Kate Blanchett. Sammy, you're a Kate Blanchett fan. I think Kate Blanchett's super fans, I think of Sammy Heller. It's not out of the realm of possibilities. Do you think they talked about you? You like your Aussies. We know that. I do. I really do. I do not believe they've talked about me. But then again, I don't know if Jai, I think he's friendly with Kate, but I don't think they're like, you know, playing Settlers of Catan every week. Just. You know why I said that, by the way, do you want to say?

Like, why I can't. It just threw me. I forgot what I was about to say. Can you figure out why I would have said that? No. My laptop is sitting on a Settlers of Catan game so that I can like lift it up a little bit. I don't think I've ever played it.

Like, why do you have, you spent money on that? Yeah, it seemed like a good idea that all the kids were playing it, all the nerdy kids like me, just never happened. It hasn't happened yet. Wow. You're just full of surprises. I am, including, I just dropped a bombshell on Sammy right before we started today. I, guys, guys of the podcast world, I got my COVID test.

I went in. I did it. So here's the thing. I think this probably isn't a surprise to anyone listening, but you are one of the bigger. I'm so curious what the next words are your mouth are going to be. babies, hypochondriacs, someone who is obsessed with

and deeply fears, the doctor, any health situations whatsoever. So I've heard, I haven't gotten tested yet. I'd like to. I've heard it isn't completely comfortable. So wondering someone like you

who's in constant deep fear of pain, fear of pain, how'd this go for you? Well, excellent points. All of which, none of which I can exactly refute. I am a general fearful person. I do not enjoy pain.

I live in fear of it. I try to avoid it at all costs. I went to get my test not out of fear of me actually having it. I have new symptoms, nothing like that. It was abundance of caution. We're going to visit some family. We just want to kind of be like super careful about it all. And yeah, I had some concerns.

I'd read up on it. I'd heard from people that had it, and it sounds like it's very uncomfortable. let me assuage some fears because as you said I'm a super fearful person and I don't enjoy physical discomfort it's uncomfortable like I'm not going to sugar decoded it's not fun it's over so quick it honestly was they so I went with my wife with Jenny who is like a just a pillar of strength pillar of strength not a big fan of physical pain either but is it keeps a stiff upper lip more than I do I mean someone has to exactly someone who

family has to. Yeah. So as you guys probably know, it's basically a swab test. They put up your nose. They equate it to like when water goes up your nose and you're like in a corne pool. Do you know how to swim? I sink right to the bottom. I'm too heavy. Yes, I'm going to swim. So yeah, so it basically it was five seconds. They counted down. They're like, hey, it's going to be uncomfortable. It's going to be over soon. You'll handle it. It'll be fine. Five seconds. One, two, three, four, five. They did both nostrils for me. I found out later, Jenny only got one nostril, so I'm a little bit angry about that part of it. You're like, this guy's such an asshole. Let's just get him. Now that I think about it, when

the second one, they whispered in my ear, this one's for me. So, honestly, it's not that bad, guys. If you have, everybody should get tested. Needles to say, if you've been reading up on all this, like, and get tested, like, you know, I'm not going to get tested every week, but certainly I'm going to get tested again when

the timing warrants it. It's easy, it's free. Here in New York City, it was two blocks from my house. There was no weight. And it was an important thing to do. So I would highly recommend it for anybody and everybody out there. I also got my antibody tests, the blood test. Also don't enjoy getting blood taken, but I survived that too. Which one was harder for you? I think I was more, the unknown is the scary thing, right? You know what it's like to get your blood drawn. I know it's not going to be fun, but I'll be able to handle it. So it was honestly a very big relief. I haven't

kind of any test back yet. I'm again, not worried, but it'd be nice to get them back, and I'll be curious to see if I have the antibodies, not that it's going to really change my life either way. So, yeah. Good for you. Did Jenny take you for like a special treat after you left the doctor's office? Do you get like a donut or something for being good? That's just called a Thursday around here. We may get a treat that day, but now that I think about it, I'm going to cash in my treat voucher very soon. So yeah, so that was in a big adventure this week. But, yeah, in terms of more lighter fare, you know, been busy with the podcast, with Stir Crazy. We have a new episode on the Comedy Central Stir Crazy show this week with Nicole Beyer.

You've worked with Nicole on the show, Sammy, right? She's wonderful. Very funny, very funny. She's got a new book out. We used to play with her doing some movie award sketches we did with her. Yeah, we did that stuff together, right? Yeah, she's always hysterical and was a delight to talk to so that episode should be up. the time you guys listen to this, look for that on Comedy Central's YouTube page and

Facebook page. The Will Ferrell episode last week has done really well excited to see people have been enjoying that one. What a treat that was. Well, he said delight. And yeah, just would be catching up on a lot of things. You know what? Have you watched this? Have you watched the Pamela Adlon show Better Things? I have been hearing so much. You should watch it. You would like it, I think. We watched the whole thing. Jenny's a big, big fan of it. She kind of like had gone halfway through it and then we decided to start from scratch with me watching it for the first time. Oh, I'll hop in. Did you tell, sorry, just to backtrack a little bit, did you tell Will Ferrell about the time that you were on a plane with him and he was a couple rows in front of you

and you kept walking to the bathroom to see if he would say hi to you? Okay, that's, first of all, that's not entirely factual. It was like one time that I strategically, yes, went to the bathroom when I realized that he might be looking up. And you know what? It fucking worked. We had a lovely moment and he was on my show. So it all worked out, Sammy. Okay. Did you tell him? No. Okay. I didn't say

by the way, when I saw you a couple months back that wasn't just the coincidence. I saw your hair sticking up from the chair. You cannot ruin the friendship, the bond that will stick to the day I die with Will Ferrell. Try as you might. Don't challenge me.

Oh, God. Speaking of I have a weird one, always have had a weird one with Jai Courtney, one of my burly strongmen that takes to me for some reason. He's like the dutious dude on the planet, and I am not, and yet somehow we meet somewhere in the middle. He's great. I've always enjoyed talking to Jai. I think I met him for the first time on the set of Divergent. He scared the shit out of me. He's a big dude, a scary dude, but he's just also has a great sense of humor and it's kind of like wild in a fun way.

He's since, you know, appeared in things like Jack Reed. The Terminator movie, Suicide Squad, he's going to be the next Suicide Squad movie, which we, yes, we do talk about. James Gunn has taken over the suicide squad duties, and I'm very excited about that, and I had a bunch to say about that, so that I know Comfort Movie fans will be interested to hear. And we also talk a little bit about stateless, as I said, this new show on Netflix, with Cape Lanchett, Yvon Strahowski, that's currently on Netflix, and it's a pretty serious

weighty tale inspired by true events about the immigration. and detention program in Australia. And then we also, we dove in for his comfort movie into an epic crime tale that I had not seen in a number of years. It had been on my list for a while. And finally, I had a good excuse to revisit it. We talked about Martin Scorsese's casino. Now, Sammy, tell me, tell me you've seen casino.

Of course you have, right? We all have. No, no. No, I haven't. What? But as I told you, I almost watched it last night. Oh, I didn't realize when you were saying that. That was for the first time. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. So you need to go with the program. Well, I did good fellas for the first time a couple months ago. Okay. Okay. So then this has been one that's like, oh, I have to do this too. And then I get, you know, distracted. I understand.

Well, these are confusing times. Look, but it is currently available, by the way, on Hulu, if you subscribe to that for free. Can I be a log in? No, I'm already sharing it with my sister. I could explode. I don't know. It's self-destructed at any moment. I have one. I just want your...

You don't want to see my algorithm, see what I've been watching it there. Casino, for those that don't know, as I said, it's from Scorsese. It reteams many of the principles from Goodfellas, Robert Juniro and Joe Pesci. In addition to having a really great performance from Sharon Stone, the toxic man that is James Woods, sadly now, but was and is a good actor. He's excellent in the movie. Yeah, I know. and also inspired by some true tales of Las Vegas war

it tells the story of Ace Rothstein that's De Niro's character and how he kind of comes to Las Vegas and manages the fictional Tangiers Casino. It's a big movie it's also kind of like a well it's a big crime movie it's really a relationship story it's about like a really

fucked up relationship between De Niro and Sharon Stone's characters and yeah it was great to revisit it was great to revisit it was great to revisit it with Jai. He has a lot of adoration for it. And like I said, this was a good excuse to dive into an all-time classic. I don't think it got its due when it came out because it was kind of immediately in the shadow of Goodfellas. But the years have been kind to Casino. It's been 25 years since it came out. And now I think people, many people will even refer to Goodfellas

and don't at least lump it in with Goodfellas as the same thing. Because it, well, it has some superficial comparisons. It is its own thing. So maybe watch Casino before listening to the rest of this podcast. Not that you ever do listen to the rest of the podcast. No, I like Jai's voice. I like it. Yeah, I'll dabble in this one. Oh, gee, thanks.

Yeah. When you can't get the co-host of the intros to actually listen to the podcast. I do. Yeah, okay. I do, and I tell you I don't because I love your reaction to it. Yeah, you like to see me miserable. Yeah. Well, these must be glorious months for you.

This has been the best. time of my life. Let's go to the main event. Jai Courtney, as I said, check out Stateless. It's on Netflix right now, him and Kate Blanchett and a host of great actors. And enjoy this chat with Jai about all the things he's got going on, including the Suicide Squad movie coming soon,

and this Stone Cold film classic that is Casino. Here's me and Jai. Why look? It's a familiar face that the audience can't see because this is not on video for you guys, but I can see. Oh, they don't get to do this. They don't get to see the stash. They don't get to see the beautiful face of Jai Kord. Oh, look, the hair is going crazy.

Wow, this was all for the fans. I'm disappointed they're missing out. You grew this all out just today for them? Just for you and them, yeah. It's good to see you, buddy. You're one of my favorite crazy people to talk to always, even, and it's appropriate in these crazy times. that we have a crazy conversation thank you so much thanks so how you've been we're just exchanging some pleasantries but um have you settled into kind of a weird normal right now what's your life like right now

i mean obviously everyone's been having a crazy old year uh i've been good it's you know when the whole kind of COVID stuff came crashing in a few months back it was actually um it was a pretty easy adjustment late to, you know, periods of unemployment will attest. It was just kind of like that, you know. And, I mean, look, fortunately, I got a roof over my head and stuff. So without kind of being ignorant to how in me, some folks were, it was, it was all good for a while. But, yeah, definitely losing my mind now. Yeah, because as you said, yeah, the nature of acting is like it's gig to gig

and there's some downtime in between. But now probably the internal clock is like, wait, I should actually be going through the next job. Oh, you've totally lost sense of your purpose in life and, you know, I don't even know what I'm put here to do anymore. So who knows, man, we'll see. You're here to entertain me. Have you, you haven't let your body go. I'm sad. I was hoping there would be like 100 more pounds of Jai Courtney, like triple chins. I wanted to see it. Listen, I don't always let people see it, but I really know how to do nothing, believe me. But I kind of made a decision, you know, it was early on and I remember like chatting to people when it was,

like really really kind of new to everyone and you know there's those buddies who are like no well you know i'm just drinking wine every night and like getting after it because there's nothing to do and i knew i would uh i'd wind myself up in the pits of hell if i if i didn't sort of maintain a steady routine so i have been trying to look after myself uh as best i can to cope with the uh you know the stillness yeah yeah because we don't know how long this is It's like it's a fun idea at first be like yeah okay I'm gonna drink every day and I don't usually do that and that's fine for a month, but like we're talking six months or a year like this is gonna it's not good. I know it's kind of like and I guess I've like one of my coping mechanisms has not been to try and analyze too much the likelihood of any of that changing and I I you know is the gravity of it sucks because if you sort of very into that it's like man. That's the hard-breaking.

You've got how tough it's been on some people. And, and, you know, without a kind of solid prospect to getting out of here, it's kind of, you know, that's totally fucked. But, yeah, I don't know. I've just kind of had to find peace in the unknown and take it as it comes. And, you know, yeah. Well, I'm glad I'm giving you a little purpose today in spreading the good word of stateless, which is the new, I think, six parts, right, on Netflix.

I watched the first two, exceptional work as always, you, Yvonne Treyhavsky, Kate Blanchett. It's a great ensemble. Yeah, pretty good stuff. So we'll get to that in a little bit, but I do want to talk to you a little bit about comfort movies because that's what we've been doing on Happy Second Feud since this madness began, because we're all looking for a little escape, a little comfort. And I asked you for a nomination. You sent over a few.

I selected one that I hadn't seen in a while, but I didn't need to catch up on. when do you do the honors what's your comfort movie my comfort movie uh is casino martin scorsese one of my all-time favorite films and i selected that one because i don't know movies are one of those funny things when i'm not i've never considered myself like a film buff i'm not you know i really not um but it's kind of like one of those things where you get hit with a question like that. And I mean, I think it even took me a couple days to respond because I was just like,

oh, fuck, I don't know what my, what's my company, you know. And the weirdest shit always comes to mind. Like, if you ask me the film I think I've seen the most in life, believe it or not, it would be, my instinct is to say that it's a league of their own. Because I was like, had that jammed in my face a million times as a kid by my old sister, because it was like something we had on,

but certainly in my teens and my adulthood the film that if I think about something that is either always if I always sit and watch if I catch it on or I'm kind of always happy to revisit if someone hasn't seen it's it's casino definitely definitely one of my faves it's interesting it's been interesting for me because I have the same thing it's like somebody asked me you know your favorite movie or favorite comfort movie and it's been fascinating as I've asked the actors that have come on this and filmmakers to see what they respond with because some people go to like you know, E.T. or

hook and then like your buddy Kate Blanchett shows a Chinese film Long Day's Journey into Night. This like really like sophisticated. It's a great movie, but it's like, all right, Kate. I get it. Right. Okay. We get it. But it is telling. I mean, like

what, Casino is undeniably an amazing movie. I don't necessarily think of it as a comfort movie. This is a three hour like you know, really dramatic, violent meditation on shitty relationships

and gambling and corruption. So what, when that pops up on TV, is it just like it hit you at the right time and it reminds you of that time? Or what is it about it that makes it comfortable? No, I think it's like, I don't know, my, if I think about sort of any influence in that department, I guess like

the strongest one always came around like mob films. My dad was kind of always into that stuff. And so I think probably I like started watching those kind of things like Goodfellas and even the Godfathered stuff at that sort of tween age where, you know, characters that swore a lot and smoked and like, you know, beat guys up and were kind of, that was all very like sexy and romantic to me. So I don't know, that's just stuck with me.

And I don't know. I just kind of always like love those figures and like they're so theatrical. trickle um but there's always so much truth and obviously like through those movies you know we know the amazing actors that we kind of continue to see um you know portray those brails and and they've certainly been like some of the guys i've looked up to um the most and and just you know admire their work and yeah so i think it's just the world it's the world and and you know uh everything man the costumes, the characters, how flawed everybody is. There's sort of such tragedy

in it all, which I find amusing. They're all a bunch of degenerous. It's just like, it's like a half dozen degenerates in different ways. Like, no one's really, and they're all likable because they're funny. It's like a, the Scorsese I think is underrated as like a comic director. Like, a lot of his films are actually very funny. Goodfell's is a very

funny movie. Oh, hilarious. Wolf of Wall Street is just as funny as it is dramatic, if not more so. But yeah, let me give a little context for folks that maybe haven't seen it a while or I've never seen it, God forbid, came out November 22nd, 1995, so celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It reteamed, like, much of the Goodfellas gang five years later.

So, of course, it's written by Nick Pellegi, who wrote Goodfellas, Scorsese directs. You have De Niro, you have Peschi. And, of course, now in recent, it's kind of interesting in recent years now we have the Irishmen. It's, and it has, like, this, we have this triptych, this kind of three phases of their lives around Mafia, stories to look at, and they're all amazing films in retrospect. So, I mean, I hadn't seen it in a while. I haven't, I've been meaning to check it out, so I appreciate the excuse to check it out again. It's, there's a lot to talk about, what one thing, I think Sharon Stone is something interesting

to talk about, because you take De Niro for granted and Pesci, Sharon Stone's had an interesting career. I mean, like, it's kind of been up and down, basic instinct kind of made her, and then a few years later, this was a very highly sought-after role, and she's kind of like the winchpin of the film in a way. It's all about the relationship between De Niro's character and Sherley-Stone's

character. She's all the fire in it all, you know? And she's the thing that, like, gets in between them, you know, Nikki and Sam, and she's like the reason, you know, it's, uh, she's amazing in it. It's also like, it struck me watching it, you know, here's my, here's

a movie that I was reminded of it, this is a bizarre thing to mention, but when I was watching it, I'm like, this reminds me of marriage story, the reason he went back movie, because this is like, basically a tale of a shitty relationship, a relationship that was never supposed to work. And, like, Sam should have, like,

seen the signs right from the... I mean, he knew it, though. It's like there's that admission of it. There's that scene where they're, like, getting together, and he wants to get married, and she's, like, knows that she'll you know, she'll never be like the wife that he wants.

And he's like, you know, what is it? There's something about being in love. And like, well, what is it? Love is a, it's a respect. It's a, it's a mutual respect. I feel like we could, you know, in enough time, you can find that respect to, you know, there's a tragic, like, he can't help himself.

You can't see it. It was, you know, she was never going to hold up that end of the bargain for him. I mean, literally the day of the wedding, she's like on the phone sobbing to the James Woods. character. It's like, dude, take a... He's great. One of my favorite characters in the whole film. He's great in it. He's amazing. So gross. And I think you're right. I think one of the things I love about it is, and often Scorsese does this, is it's kind of like a peek at a secret world. Like a world that like we kind of see the front of. And it's kind of embodied by one of those

famous like Scorsese tracking shots where like they go into the back and see where the money goes and follow. Yeah, that shot into the count room. So awesome. he does them so there's so much great cinematography in it as well all those like sweeping like they're on the long lens but you're punched in on people's reactions or like shooting around the table at the crap's table whatever and it's just like super deep um yeah a lot of energy in in the direction in the cinematography by robert richardson who's one of the best deps out there and it's just um a frenetic even though it's three hours it has so much energy from start to finish totally um let's talk about joe peshy Peschi like I mean look you played some tough guys um Joe Pesci like is not like the typical like

build of a tough guy yet like there's nobody more intimidated the ultimate tough guy though isn't he right what is what does he bring what is unique about Pesci as an actor actor to actor watching what he brings what do you love about Joe Pesci he's got that kind of he's like all he's all bite you know he's kind of backs up all of his bark he's got that little dog thing but he's like ferocious you know you don't want to get in his way he just like does handles those characters so well too that are just like total sparks turn on a dime

you know stab a guy in the aorta with a fucking pan in a bar like yeah it's the unpredictability and there's something about the way he like kicks somebody or hits somebody it's like so like it's so um feral and just like

it's feral it's such a cool thing too because he's not I guess that archetype I don't know it's like a tough guy he doesn't he he he I don't know. He kind of reshapes it. You don't need to be big or like kind of imposing

from a, you know, as far as your stature is concerned, to carry that energy about you. I think he does it remarkably well. I went to the, like the New York Film Festival premiered Irishman last year and they had a press conference afterwards and it's like that cast is on stage, right? It's like the most intimidating

group of actors. And I swear to you, the most intimidating guy in that room the one who scared the shit out of me. And I think everybody in that audience was Joe Peschi. Like, De Niro, forget it. Doesn't Matt Pachino, no. Pesci has something about him that's like, don't fuck with this guy in real life.

Amazing. Other stuff. Just being back. It's been so long, too. That too. See him, Mike. Yeah. And again, doing what we love about him so much.

I love all the, like, the small supporting roles in Casino. Like Don Rickles, Alan King, all these kind of like Vegas. legends that kind of add to the texture and make it feel like a fully realized world. Yeah. I think it's funny too. I don't know.

It's like that's not a world. I don't even like Vegas that much. But it was fully, I don't know, you're swept away in it. And he just like has nailed it so authentically. Yeah. Yeah. Also the

you know, there's so many movies that rely on narration. They're so clever in the narration because it's like they use multiple narrators. One of my favorite moments is, and again, I hadn't seen this in years, and I don't know if you remember this, you hear the Peschi narration at the very end when he's about to get killed

and literally it's interrupted by somebody hitting him. He's like talking and then something's like, oh. So true. I remember two, there's one, the, um, I always found this weird and I'm certainly not critiquing

Martin's because it's a creative choice. What's your problem? You know that, um, you know, You know, the, like, Mickey's, like, off-sider, dude, Frank Marino? Yeah. There's, like, one piece, like, late in the movie, and he's, like, he drops into the narration, and you're like, I'm like, I'm like, oh, what's up, dude? It's like, I don't know, it was just one of those funny things. He has, like, oh, well, there you are.

Like, he recorded it probably, like, days and days and they just like, yeah, let's just use this one thing. It all wound up in the cutting room. Yeah. Have you ever had the privilege of auditioning for Scorsese film? No, I haven't. I haven't had the privilege. I read with Bob De Niro for something, which was pretty cool. What's that like?

I didn't get, which is all good, but that wasn't the point. You know, that was amazing just as one of those things. But no, I haven't, I would love to. I mean, Scorsese is one of, you know, undenially one of my favorite filmmakers. Yeah, what's your Mount Rushmore of Scorsese Beyond Casino? Are there any others that are like to the top of the list?

I mean, they're fucking, they're all good, aren't they? But yeah, that's the thing. It's like he doesn't screw up. He doesn't really screw up. I don't know, man. I mean, you're still in the same world. Like, yeah, good, I mean, Goodfellas is like, that was like a close behind.

I didn't want to, I sent you a couple of picks and I didn't want to go too, like, on the nose with the, with the, with the mob films from the same filmmaker. so I kind of steered clear of that one and let Casino take the front seat. I would have liked to have seen a league of their own on that initial list

because you know what? I would have picked a league of their own. You would have picked a league of their own. Yeah, you would have gone. I don't know, it's been a bloody while. It is fascinating, like, Scorsese's career. Like, I was looking at the context of, like, where he was at when he made this.

So right before this one, the two movies before this were Kate Fear, which is one of my favorites of all time. So wild. An Age of Innocence, which is actually also one of my favorite movies of all time, and it's such, like, a departure for him in some ways. I haven't seen it. Oh, dude, it's, it's, and Daniel Dayless is amazing.

And then he did Kundun after this, which is like his, you know, spiritual epic about the Dalai Lama. So it's, it's just like, I love that he bookended Casino with Age of Innocence and Kundun. Right. That's Scorsese. Three weeks after, three weeks after this movie came out, Robert De Niro also had heat come out. That's a pretty good one-two-punch.

The good mid-90s, one-two punch. Yeah, heat's great. You mentioned the profanity. This movie... It's so... I mean, because that's got such that... It's got that real, like, 90s steaming kind of feel and look to it, you know? Yeah.

Yeah, damn. Can you guess how many fucks there are in this movie? have the number. In casino, you've got the number? Yeah. Oh, can you give me like a north-south, like, realm that we're in? We're under a thousand, but we're over 100. Oh, cool. There is no prize, but go for it. 572. Not bad. Not bad. 422. It is, according to somebody that did this kind of research, not me, has the sixth most fucks in a movie ever. Okay.

It is now just ahead of Uncut Gems from last year, actually gave a run for its money. Damn. What's the, do you know what the top five are? I can look it up.

I know that Wolf of Wall Street is, I think, like, the top, if not the top. Mine's probably got a few. Yeah, and Kundun. People don't remember Kundun. The Dalai Rama was just screaming, fuck the whole time.

Yeah, totally. Amazing. Okay, let's give some awards out. Best performance in this movie. Who do you give it to? In Casino? Best performance in Sharon Stone. Yeah.

She's the only one that got nominated for an Oscar for this film, the one that's all right. Yeah. She did not win. I love her introduction in the film. It's actually, Scorsese says, his favorite shot in the film is that overhead shot of Sharon Stone, like, throwing up all the chips to the air. Oh, right. Yeah. Best scene in this film?

Is there one in particular that jumps out? Best scene. One in particular. I don't know, there's a couple. I like weird little scenes. I like that scene. There's a scene where Nikki and Frank are like walking around a parking lot covering their mouth that I always loved.

I love this one. There's this one at the start, actually, that's funny. I don't know. It's maybe not the most memorable, but it's done so. well it's so subtle and he pesci like comes over to tell a couple of guys from like another crew that like he's

on to them and they're like trying to rip them off at the casino and there's this weird like stalemate thing where they're all bullshitting each other and they're like we're just waiting for carmine and he's like oh I saw Carmine he left and they're like Carmine left he's not here someone's gone

and he's like yeah and Pesci's just like fucking stone face and they're like Oh, it's good seeing you. It's so good. Only he can do that. His death scene is one of the most brutal, sad, like, death scenes,

where he watches his brother killed in front of him first. Oh, my God. There's a couple of, like, look away, like, violent scenes. It's not, like, full of it, obviously, but what's that other one where that dude, they put a dude. The head in the vice? He's head in the vice. Oh, so good.

Leave it to us to be the two people cackling over the head and the vice scene, sick fucks that we are. Who would you want to play in this movie? Okay, dream role. What's the role in this movie you want? I mean, passion. Come on, that's like, that's the role. It's the role.

I always like to program a double feature for the audience. Is there a second movie that goes along with this movie? I mean, the easy one's good fellas, which is fine to say. Is that the best double feature? That, like, low-hanging fruit? Can I just go with that? I mean, I'll go with that? That's kind of where, I mean, I'd watch them back-to-back.

It's a long day, but it's a good day. It's a long day, but come on, you know. And then probably you might, I mean, you'd be up around 800 fucks by then, too, surely. Don't do a drinking game with the fucks. Yeah, there you go. I have a nomination. I don't know if you've seen this one. Have you ever seen Bugsy, the Warren Beatty film, Bugsy?

Yeah, but like, million years ago. Maybe. Not as like a real like legit adult kind of yeah, yeah. It's a good one. It's a direct with Barry Levinson. It's weirdly also

a story about both like the history of Vegas and also about just like a fucked up relationship. At the heart of it it, it's about this you know, the love between this guy and this girl. I should read. Is it that? It's a good one. It's a good one that I've always enjoyed. So that's my recommendation. Okay, this is a good pick. This is I think our first Scorsese

we had a couple of Spielbergs. Our first Scorsese on the Comfort Movie edition of this podcast. Well done, sir. Let's talk a little bit about stateless. As I said, this is a great new project for you. Talk to me a little bit about this is you being loyal to the homeland, to shooting this back home. What was the algorithm of what made this one exciting for you?

Well, the algorithm, I didn't have to think too hard. I mean, Kate Blanchett's involvement, obviously, you know, you're listening immediately when that conversation comes up. and such an interesting subject matter. I mean, I guess no one knows, except the Aussies who have seen it already. But stateless exists kind of at the intersection of four lives that collide in a detention, a refugee asylum seeker detention facility in Australia,

in the Outback. And it's going back a little bit. It's kind of set in the not too distant part, when we still had onshore facilities, and that's no longer the case. But really I was just attracted to the sort of power of the stories behind it. I mean, the opportunity to go home and work on something that's Australian is always interesting to me.

I love trying to find stuff that's, you know, the move to go and do that. But I think what's interesting about this project is it's not uniquely Australian in that sense. It's, you know, it deals with issues that countries all over the world are grappling with. And, yeah, it just kind of, you know, it really tries to humanize those issues and those discussions and kind of pull away from politics and statistics and really put, you know, human stories behind some of this stuff. And I think that's what I found so powerful about it. you know, you kind of end up coming to terms with your own position on a few things

and, you know, forces you to think about things that you perhaps otherwise haven't. And that's sometimes like a pretty tough realization, you know, when you realize how little you know or how easily you've been able to kind of gloss over certain stuff or digest things in the media and allow that to sort of form your opinion or not or just not give it much attention at all. And I think, you know, stateless really kind of grabs onto it and pulls this issue apart. And I think, yeah, we'll shed some light on a pretty tough subject matter. Yeah, well, I mean, you're speaking in the language.

I feel like that people are talking about a lot, about a number of issues now, whether it's immigration or the Black Lives Matter movement, et cetera. I feel like we're all like kind of like, we let these things kind of wash over us. And we're now like grappling with stuff that need to be grappled with. like pushes come to shove and it's like it's an exciting time in that sense you know um and it's forcing people to like work hard and and and and have tough discussions with family members and friends and shit but um it's good you know it's good it's you know we've got to move these things in the right direction and that you know there's always going to be stuff that we that we deal with

that that you know with you know that caused sort of social unrest but um this was an issue that i think was interesting and it's interesting how perhaps you know particularly in reference to Australia, like moving these facilities offshore, I think has definitely like lent into allowing the public to be sort of blinded by what's really going on because we can't see it anymore. And stateless kind of tackles that, obviously, it's, you know, things kind of blow up in that sense

and it becomes a, you know, it is a heavy, compelling drama. Yeah. Did you know Kate at all before this, Kate, Blanchet? I didn't. I didn't know, Kate. No, not at all. She seems like the most delightful human being on the planet. She's super lovely and obviously incredibly, you know, amazingly talented.

I think she was the first podcast we did when we started doing it like this. And she will forever be in my heart because the headphones she was using were her kids gaming headset. So imagine Kate Blanchett just with like an Xbox gaming console. Love it. If I didn't love you before, I love you now. Let's talk, let's tease a little bit of the suicide squad. We're seeing Captain Boomerang again.

Very excited, man. Yeah, what do you want to know? I'll tell you everything. Please, act it out for me in the comfort of your home. Yeah, coming next year, middle of next year. James Gunn, the brilliant James Gunn. Okay, first let's look back for a second. We've had some frank discussions a little bit about Suicide Squad

and how divisive that was. I mean, and I'm curious, do you feel like the film that came out was the film you made? Was that, did it reflect the movie that you felt that you guys had shot? I mean, yeah, look, it's a tough thing to always. I don't know.

I mean, there's a lot of talk around that sort of stuff at the moment. I know there's been this kind of big push online around Justice League, and they're releasing the Snyder card and I've seen some. some stuff in social channels about, you know, Ayer releasing his thing for this or whatever. And I don't know, I mean, look, it's hard to wait in on, dude, because at that, you know,

films of this size and magnitude and importance to studios, I mean, I'm not involved in those discussions on an executive level when it comes to, you know, so it's hard to tell where things change and shift and move. You know, look, I don't know. I haven't had a frank discussion with David necessarily about how his response to the film is. I think it's unfair to sort of, I don't know, I, how can you pretend it's not the movie you made? You know, we still shot the stuff we shot. You know, did it suffer in the edit for something?

I don't know, maybe people feel that way. Maybe there was stuff that wasn't working all along and it just, I don't know. But look, I don't think squad didn't. It's just that I think some people had higher expectations for it. And, I mean, we did really well, you know, from a box office standpoint. Critically, it's been pretty tough, but it's been tough for a few years for DC in that sense. I will say if two people emerged unscathed, let alone actually with a bounce off of suicide squad, I think it was you and Margo.

Like I think people that gave the movie shit Like they still loved what you and Margo Did in that movie and that must have been a silver lining Even as kind of like the critics ripped it apart that you got some nice Yeah it's I mean look it sucks to sort of hear a bit of that tough stuff too Because I think we all I mean we all know how much fun we had making it And I think everyone's heard everyone talk about that so much And that goes for the second movie too

I mean these films are like you have an absolute riot On them And we were all believing in what we did in a major way. So it's just kind of the nature of the beast, I think, sometimes. And I think when you're dealing with the films that are $200 million plus, there probably is a lot of cooks in the kitchen toward the end of things. I don't know.

You know, maybe it's your name is Christopher Nolan, yeah. Reshoot and shit and, you know, David's the only one who can really, like, comment on whether it's the film that he felt like he was making or not. And it's kind of not for me to, like, weigh in on that. You know, was I stoked with it? Yeah. I mean, we have, and I was thrilled to go back and do it. It became a bit of a pipe dream for a while.

We didn't know if that was going to happen. And, you know, obviously, D.C. were rolling out some pretty big property. And, you know, that was tough because I felt I was nervous that they, you know, we weren't going to kind of make it through that. But fortunately, that's the case. And it took a bit of a different shape. And, you know, there'll probably be some discussion around whether it's a sequel, is it not, is it what?

You know, there's some new characters, some old characters. you kind of just pick up and move on in the end and we had a ball on this next one and you know it's got James's kind of unique touch to it so I don't know I feel like people will just love what they see and move on and that's all good were you running around naked on set again

did you have this while I only ever run around naked on set it's how I get around on set it's just look when you got that body you don't want to hide it no no just put it out there who was the MVP who was the who was the one that surprised you the most

I heard John Sina really delivers in this one gunsman touting him um how do you say everyone delivers uh I don't know I had a lot of fun working with some random

cats you know there's a few cats who I who were really funny I had a really good time with Pete Davidson uh we got some good business together and stuff so it was cool

I love seeing what Joel's doing in this movie as well you know it's a bit of a different kind of vibe so yeah it's kind of like the remix I'm kind of fascinated to see it like you know it's like 60% of the same cast but it's like with a little little bit of play there you go it would be good do they have to get it be okay from you to have the kind of like poster cameo in Birds of Prey when we saw

Captain Boomerang on a poster I think there was a text message at some point got the green light. Yeah, I mean, that comes up. Yeah, there was a, I'm sure there was a phone call or an email, but that's, you know, always it's all good. Good stuff. So that's, who knows, I mean, hopefully that, I mean, everything's like juggling around really

statewide, but hopefully that sticks where it is next year. Yeah, they're saying that's middle of next year, I think, one of the weekends in the middle of the year. God willing, God willing, the society has come back to life. We've escaped our isopods by that. Oh, who hell knows. So, right, are you doing like any kind of, are you trying to do any kind of acting, so to speak,

where you are? Like, are you doing voiceover work or, or re- voiceover? There might be some stuff like that coming up. I'm looking at a little thing, which could be fun, but just really like trying to develop some material. Got a couple of little scripts in the works for some stuff that I've been trying to get made.

And there's like a couple of indie. that were circling, like, in the, you know, around when the kind of breakdown all happened of it all. So I know that there's one with a kind of September tentative start date, but I'm not hanging my hat on any of that at the moment. It's just kind of like, you know, we'll see what happens. And the main thing is that the workplace is, you know, safe for everybody. So it's kind of like, look, man, I mean,

as much as I'm ready to go back to work, there's just no point rushing that stuff if we can't it's it's been a great time i've been working on music which has been a lot of fun uh doing some stuff which i you know probably wouldn't have the time or the it's something i've always messed with but like to pour energy into actually making something and recording stuff and like you know put a little project together some mates of mine that's been it's been a really cool time to divert that creative energy and and um and play in that space and uh yeah man but yeah i'm totally losing my fucking mind by now i'm look i i will say we've had again many different sorts of conversations in the last few years this might be the

most professional we've we've been with each other maybe it's because we have some distance because i feel like i'm not squeezing you and like being like totally stupid like in some like weird junket like sweet at a like film festival or something yeah generally i come i come away with a really nice hug that leaves my back sore for three weeks. There you. Normally I'm like banging back bloody mary's, and I've got a sitting here with coconut water in my kitchen. Maybe that's what it is.

I'm the one that's drinking now. No, we kept it classy today. I'm glad we got a chance to catch up even in these bizarre stupid stuff. Oh, my Josh's. Indeed. And thanks again for the time and for pointing me back to a good comfort movie. By the way, Casino, if you guys subscribe to Hulu, it's right there for you.

free of charge and speaking of the of streaming services stateless on Netflix look at that look at coming out July 8 get around it not just in time for July 4th celebrate our freedom and celebrate Australia's immigration policy did I do it yeah that was great that's a good good thumbs things up I retire thanks so much dude I'll go and watch Bugsy immediately. I'm telling you. Let me know if I disappoint.

It's a good one. Get on it. You won't. You never do. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

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