Happy Sad Confused - Paul Feig, Vol. II

Episode Date: April 29, 2020

Put on your tux and prepare your best martini (shaken, NOT stirred): Paul Feig is the guest on this week's Happy Sad Confused and he's obsessed with 007. Listen as he and Josh take a deep dive into Paul's favorite comfort movie, the first James Bond film to star Daniel Craig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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, Paul Feet on his comfort movie, Casino Royale. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused, Quarantine Edition.

That's a qualifier. This is not, we're not back to normal, guys. Calm down. and we're still in the weird new normal. The best I can say is that we're still talking to cool people. We're still geeking out about movies. We're still trying to put on a brave face even as the world collapses around us. Sammy, is everything going to be okay?

I mean, probably not. No, no, it's great. We're doing great. Okay. Paul Feig's good. I'm good, man. Yeah, Paul Feig is still impeccably dressed. He's still dressing in his, like, three-piece suits.

I was wondering that. That was on my list of questions. He is still, he's still, he's making cocktails every day. I don't know if you follow Paul Feig on Instagram. He's a good follow. He, every day does an Instagram live where he makes a different cocktail. Oh, do you think Tucci got it from him? I wonder if there's a beef.

Oh. You know, I've made, of course, you're referencing Stanley Tucci's, I think it was on Instagram where he made a negroni in a tight-fitting t-shirt. a tight polo with some jazz in the background. I've been making ngronies the last couple days, maybe in no small part influenced by the great tuch. I don't know if I look the same as I'm making a ngroni. Actually, I can guarantee I don't.

But I guess my point is that he's made an impact on my life. I'm drinking more. Thanks, thanks, Stanley. If you could get one person to drink more, that's all he wanted. The gronies are really easy to make, by the way. Well, you should start doing it. You should start doing tutorials. Yeah, it's really a bad byproduct of the quarantine, among many.

One is that my alcohol consumption is up. Do you make them look pretty or do they just taste good? Do you ask them if they look pretty? They are in its color, thanks to the Kampari. The Kampari adds a lovely... Kampare. Anyway, yes, the main event today is Mr. Paul Figue. He's been a guest on the podcast back when we were doing this normal, like,

in my office. And he was kind enough to come on to talk about his comfort movie. And his comfort movie was maybe some of you might think it's an unexpected choice for Paul Feig, best known for freaks and geeks and bridesmaids and the heat and all these great comedies for the most part. Spy. Spy is maybe my favorite. I love Spy. But Spy actually does connect to the comfort movie he chose. He chose Casino Royale, the Daniel Craig, the first outing for Daniel Craig as James Bond. And I think for most people, they think the best Daniel Craig James Bond movie, if not one of the best James Bond movies, period. Oh. But, yeah, so, so make a Nogroni, now make it martini, and listen to this

great conversation with Paul Feig as he waxes rhapsesatic about his love for Casino Real. It makes sense in retrospect. You think of Paul Feig's work and you think of something like spy, which does connect to Casino Real. But, um, Even just the, you know, the style, the great ensemble of actors, it doesn't, the more you dig into Casino Real, I think the more you understand why Paul Feig might be attracted to it. It's fun. It is a fun. It is a fun flick. It is.

It is a good one. So, okay, what else to imagine? Well, there's a lot to talk about Sammy. What are you, what are you been watching? What's exciting? What's going on? Well, I'm going to tell you what I'm watching and then should I tell everyone what you said about me after? said it. I just started Friday Night Lights and you asked if I was a fucking moron for having

never watched it before. Okay. You're getting me a bad reputation. I didn't say that. Did I say those words? Yes. I actually think it's recorded. No, not on my end. I was just shocked. I guess those words flung out of my mouth because I was shocked because you have generally decent taste. That's a compliment in terms of television and Friday Night White. is not a secret anymore. People know. People have gotten with a program. What took you so on? You knew this was a great thing waiting for you. I did. And it was always daunting. It's like this and the West Wing are two that I've gone to start like so many times over the years. And I'm like, oh, I don't know if it's too many. The West Wing, though, is probably twice as many episodes as Friday Night Lights. It lasted

longer, longer seasons. So Friday Night's is probably what, 70, 70, 80 episodes? Yes, 72 or something in there. Right. But, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's, I'm loving it. You know, I love, I love a hunk. I love Kyle Chandler and Taylor Kitch, obviously. So I'm loving it, but it was the, I was intimidated by the amount of episodes. Right. Well, I'm glad you said you, before you were in like season four right now.

So you're getting through it. You've gotten through the rough patch where they hit a body in what season two, right? No? Yeah. And we had some steroids. Yeah. Well, good, good.

I'm glad you're discovering new exciting things. There are other, well, the old exciting things. There's some new exciting things out there. I know we both loved the new HBO film with our man, Hugh Jackman, bad education. Oh, my God. What a treat. For those that haven't seen that,

they should really check it out. It's kind of like a dark, darkly comedic thriller in a way based on a true. story. And he's great in it. I really, I really do it. He's so good. I mean, when is he not? But just it's nice to see him like flex the drama muscles a little bit, you know? Totally. I enjoyed that you'll be shocked to know this because I'm not like the biggest music aficionado. I enjoyed the new Beastie Boys doc on Apple. Really good directed by Spike Jones. We're very well done. Yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot of good

stuff out there. Some new series I'm starting to watch. I'm not sure if I can talk about them yet, but uh oh i hate one night you do that okay all right coming down here's the other thing i do want to mention um stir crazy my show on comedy central continues we have some really exciting uh episodes up this week ricky jervase by the time you hear this that episode is up he was a delight his show afterlife is back on netflix and the one and only my spirit animal the great michael shannon is on stir crazy this week dropping on Thursday. It is a special, special episode. I just, I'm happy for you.

I know that this is something that is probably going to be like the top five things you've ever done. Well, everything I do with him is in the echelon. And it's always a treat. And this was one of our better, I mean, they're all great, but this one has a special place. And it was good to connect with him in these bizarre times. he is not mellowed, he's still insane. His quarantine look is just everything you'd want it to be.

It's delightful. I want to shout at a couple of folks on social media who were kind enough to send in their comfort movies. I always ask you guys what you're watching, what you're enjoying. So here are a few, and I think you're going to agree

on a few of these, Sammy, as your dog barks in the bedroom. Can you hear it? So Jess Reed says her comfort movie is Mamma Mia 2. friend of yours clearly yes momia two interesting choice and I respect it

yeah it's like godfather too godfather or godfather two people can go back and forth mom and mea too it's yeah it's controversial here we go again okay Sabrina S says Mary Poppins she's to go in old school the original okay not returns got it returns wayney S says Notting Hill great one all the right Richard Curtis movies

for weddings and a funeral I feel like they all qualify Here's a different kind of a take. This one, this person's maybe a person after my own heart. Disco non-sequitur chooses inside Lewin Davis, the Coen Brothers movie. Oh. Is there a comfort movie? Have you been watching?

What? Just Google Oscar Isaac Quarantine. He's been really. No. It's been wonderful. Is he hanging around Brooklyn? Is he in my- His wife has been posting a lot.

He's cooking. He's dancing while cooking. He's doing a lot of guitar. He gives giving his kid a haircut. For Oscar Oscar heads like myself, it's great. Sorry, continue.

No, this is good to know. I'm an Oscar head. Alexander Adams says, Pop Star, Never Stopping. Great pick. One of the best comedies in recent years. And my old buddy, this is a former co-worker.

My Keith Sharman picked my favorite year. You haven't seen my favorite. Yes, I have. Okay, good. Yes, I have. Good. For those that don't know, Peter O'Toole, Mark Quinn Baker,

a really great comedy from the, I think it's like 80 or 81. That's definitely one of my comfort. Peter O'Toole has himself. One of these days, I'll tell you my Peter O'Toole stories. I've met Peter O'Toole before he passed. It was quite a treat. I have an autographed, not only do I have an autographed Barnes of Arabia poster, but Peter O'T

what I would wager is the only autographed Peter O'Toole DVD copy of Supergirl. He was in Supergirl. which is a fascinating movie, if you have not checked it out. That's insane. And I got to think that's maybe, maybe how many, how many Supergirl DVDs did Peter O'Toole sign? One. You got it.

Spoiler. One. One. Anyway, let's get to the main event. This is Paul Feig. He is always a delight. I joined him via Zoom so I could stare into his pearly whites and also see his amazing, impeccably dressed style. He is, of course, one of our great filmmakers, and he has good taste because he chose Casino Royale as his film.

I hope you guys enjoy my chat. And once again, remember, as always, to review, rate and subscribe to Happy Say I Confused, spread the good word. And without further ado, here's me and Paul. Well, it's always a pleasure to welcome a friendly voice, a friendly face, to Happy Say I Confused, even in these weird times. I'm sad you're not in my office today, Paul, but it's good to see you. doing. I'm great, Josh. How are you? I'm very sad not to be with you in New York, and I'm sad to be away from New York right now. Well, excited to see you in better times in the flesh, but thankful that you're here with me today because, you know, you've obviously been on the podcast

before, and we've changed the format a little bit in recent weeks, because I feel like a lot of people are trying to escape a little bit, trying to find a little comfort in these kind of confusing times. So we're celebrating comfort movies. Oh, good. Yeah, I know. It's like isn't the time to watch The Walking Dead, I find it. Exactly. Exactly. I don't message it. I mean, I love Darren Aronovsky films, but I don't know if I need to see Requiem for a dream right now. Even though Marlon Williams is in it, we want to see Marlon in one of his crazy movies. Exactly, exactly. So I asked you, prior to coming on the podcast today, to select a comfort movie, would you care to reveal the movie that you selected and give us a little sense of why?

Yes. My comfort movie, one of many, but this one really stands out for me, is Casino Real. But the one, the Daniel Craig's first outing is James Bond. I just love that movie because, A, this is very controversial. I'm going to start out with a big bomb, a bombshell. I think Daniel Craig is the best James Bond. And I know, and I'm sorry, I know all the Sean Connery people. He's great, too. But I don't know.

To me, I'm such a fan of the original books that Craig is the, he's the way that Fleming wrote Bomb. Bond's a very dark character. You know, he's not filled with one-liners and all this. He's very serious. And I just thought Craig just nailed it. And then, you know, Martin Campbell's direction in that movie is just stellar. I mean, that opening sequence, the parkour sequence is possibly that, well, honestly, it's a toss-up in that movie of one of the best action sequences.

One is the parkour opening. And then the other is that big scene on the tarmac when they're with the, you know, the fuel truck when he's trying to stop the guy who's going to blow a fuel truck. Right, the Miami airport, right? Yeah. And they're just so perfectly shot and the action really, it's such compelling action. It's not just, you know, mayhem action where you're like, all right, and they're fighting.

Oh, that's cool, that's cool. You're just kind of like, the whole time you're on the edge of your seat. I just think it's a nasty one. So first of all, I'm curious. I think some people might be surprised to hear that this is the film you selected as your comfort movie. I'm not necessarily surprised because we've talked before. I've seen spy. I know some of the trappings that you're interested in. What are

I mean, it sounds like you grew up with the books. You grew up with the movies like all of us. What is it about this movie? You know, you didn't select a comedy, though I'm sure there are great comedies that would also qualify as comfort movies. What is comforting about a great James Bond movie for you? It's the setting.

You know, the setting's so international and beautiful, and I think they especially found really cool settings for this. And so much of it takes place in the casino and people are drinking, you know, martinis and wearing tuxitos and everything. just feels very, very like another world that we're not a part of. And I think that's the best movies that I love so much are the ones that really take me to a world, an aspirational world of like, where you're just like, oh, I wish I was there.

I'm glad I'm not in danger while I'm there, but I sure wish I was there having a martini or, you know, and he's after he wins, he's got a martini and he's eating caviar. And it's like, oh, my God, that looks so wonderful, you know. And there's just something very comforting about that. Because, again, it's also, it's a problem. He's not dealing with problems that mean, you know, that have any relevance to our lives. You know, we're not going to get chased down by Le Schiff anytime soon.

I don't think we're international money laundering. So I just think it just propels you into a different world that's beautiful and aspirational, but also really excited. So let's go over some of the basics. I mean, I'm sure most of the audience has seen Casino Royale by now. But this was, of course, the first Daniel Craig Bond. This came after a run of Pierce Brosnan films. came out November 7th, 2006, the 21st official James Bond movie.

There's some unofficial ones in there, too, including, we should say, there's another casino royale. Yes. Do not necessarily. A comedy. Yeah, if you've ever wanted to see David Niven and Woody Allen as James Bond, that's the, that's the casino royale to go to. Woody Allen, if he hiccups like 21 times, he explodes or something, it seems crazy.

It's really a nutty film. So this one, though, of course, was a reboot. And you mentioned Martin Campbell. Martin Campbell directed this one. And it was interesting, Martin Campbell had already rebooted Bond. He was the director of Golden Eye. So he clearly knew how to kind of restart the franchise and give it a boost. I mean, do you remember there's always the casting furor, right, whenever a new Bond comes around?

Did you have familiarity with Daniel Craig? And what was your attitude when you heard that he was cast? Yeah, I was a big fan of the movie Layer Cake. I'm also a big Matthew Bond fan. So when, you know, when we saw Layer Cake, I remember going like, who is that? that guy, he's like the coolest guy ever. So when they announced that he was gonna be Bond, I was just like, I'm in, totally.

But do you remember the whole controversy that happened with him at Cannes? Yes. And it's so, here's why it's so funny, having been through my own controversial movie with Ghostbusters, you go like, the things that people get so outraged about early on are so incredibly stupid.

You know, for those in the audience, I don't remember, they were gonna introduce Bond at Cannes, and so they're gonna bring him in on a speedboat. So he comes in a speedboat, but because of safety regulations in France, he had to wear a life preserver or, you know, a life vest. So here comes Bond pulling up all cool with a light vest on. And everybody's like, oh, see, he shouldn't be. Oh, he had to wear a life vest. You know, he's not tough like Bond.

It's like, are you kidding me? How dumb are you? You guy had to wear a life vest. Maybe they should have made it like black with a tuxite, you know, like a tuxedo material. Sure, they could have done that. Well, first impressions are important. And this one, I mean, you alluded to it, the film makes a great first impression.

It essentially has two great opening sequences back to back. First, it's the black and white pre-credit sequence, and then it's this 10-minute crazy parkour sequence. Let's just go through a couple scenes and talk through them, if you'll indulge me. So the opening of the film is this kind of, I mean, this whole film is a bit of an origin story. This is his first two kills we're seeing.

Yeah, totally. What's crazy about this to me is that Cassina RL was the very first bond book. And yet this is basically the last of the bond books to ever get made as an actual bond film other than the David Dibbon reading, it was one. So right there, you're kind of like, how did that happen?

You know, so brilliant about it. And, you know, all the writers on it, and I know Paul Haggis was a writer on it, and a lot of people wrote on this thing, is that, yeah, you see this in this really stylistic way with this, you know, big-grained kind of tri-X film, black and white, we see him do his first kill, how it becomes a

007. And it's, you know, and it's brutal. It's really brutal. I mean, he kills the one guy, but then when he's in the bathroom afterwards and that, he really, it's an ugly, ugly kill. And that's what I think is so brilliant about this movie is and who knows which one of those screenwriters brought this to it, or, you know, what Martin

Campbell brought to it, too, is the kills are all very, take a toll on people. I mean, that's why Eva Green's character's so great, because she's, you know, when she sees a guy get killed, that Bond has to kill. Again, in a very ugly, messy way, she's very, you know, affected by it. And that's what I loved about that opening sequence, you know, because you're in this black and white environment that he's got in this stark bathroom where he's trying to kill this guy. He's got to drown him in a sink, you know, and in a toilet. I mean, it's ugly, ugly,

but it really de-glamorizes how the Bond franchise has gotten so kind of silly over the course of the years. I mean, I think that's... That's why I love this movie, too, is it kind of re-ignited my excitement and Bond films. Because I always go see them, and you're like, okay, cool, but you're always kind of like, ah, there's too many gadgets and there's too much, you know, too many one-liners and quips versus, again, what the original books were, that darkness. So I remember just sitting there for that opening going like, oh, my God, this is it. And then what do you go right into?

You go right to Chris Cornell singing what I still think is the best Bond song. This is interesting. This is somewhat controversial. Okay, so Chris Cornell, you know my name is the bond song in this one. And a lot of people love the movie. A lot of people don't cite this as one of the great bond songs. You say it is, though. I love it.

I think it's, because, I mean, it just, that thing comes on, especially coming out of that, you know, that sequence. And you're expecting to hear kind of a, you know, more of the traditional kind of a bond, you know, gold finger kind of thing. And here comes this, ba-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-and-roll. And it's, you know, it's still rock and roll, but it's also orchestrated, you know, in the way that when you buy the version online, it's the more, you know, more sound gardeny version of it, really.

But it's just, I think it's beautifully written. And if you notice the soundtrack uses that, that, the melody from that all the way through. And the people who made Mad Men completely ripped off the opening graphics of Casino Royale, because it was all those, those, you know, silhouetti guys running around, which is exactly what they took for Mad Men, you know, a year or two after that. Amazing. Yeah, I mean, you alluded to something that I do feel like it's always interesting to see sort of the evolution of bond. And it's often kind of a course correction from the bond before it, right? You go from like Roger Moore to, I think at the time it was Timothy Dalton, and that went dark. And then you go to Pierce Brosnan, which kind of started a little gritty or not as gritty as this. But then by the end, he was in like invisible cars. And it was, it got a little comic bookie. And this definitely felt like a way. And I know people kind of cited this as like an influence. was maybe even the Dark Knight or Batman begins at the time, these kind of grittier interpretations.

But then you look at, I mean, you can look no further than that next sequence, which is the parkour scene of the sequence, which is a full-on 10-minute action scene in which I think Daniel Craig sweats and gets more injuries in that sequence that Roger Moore did in like eight films. Oh my gosh, totally.

It's crazy. Yeah. No, it's really, you know, I mean, I know parkour was kind of, you know, in vogue at the time. I love hardcore. I mean, honestly, if you look at my movies, there's always some kind of dance sequence.

There's some, I love bodies in motion. I think that's the most exciting thing cinematically. It's why Dog Day Afternoon is one of my favorite movies, because it's just like people running around and scalding, and sweating and all this stuff. And it's just, it's exciting because it's flesh and blood. It's not robots fighting or, you know, or CGI fighting. And so that sequence just, you know, you kind of,

it gears up and you just keep going, like, oh, my God, oh, my, like, they're not taking it further. They're not taking further. And then suddenly they're going up on top of, you know, cranes that are skyscraper tall and the dangers. So, again, you know, when I made spy and when I make my movies that have any kind of action in them whatsoever, and, you know, it's their light action in my movies. I always say, like, I just don't want mayhem. I just don't want where you go, like, okay, you know, things are zooming around. You go, like, oh, the second unit guys went out and shot a bunch of cool shots and they strung it together.

and you're like, okay, you know, I would see my wife in those situations. She's like, start checking her phone or so wander off to the restroom. They're like, that should not be an action sequence. Action sequence, you should be leaning in. You should be getting information from it. You should be getting character things from it. And if it's a comedy, you should also be getting some laughs from it. And this thing, you're just, I mean, you just keep leaning forward because you're going like,

what's he going to do next? Oh, my God, how is he going to get out of this? I can't believe he's doing that, you know? And then he's like, almost dies a bunch of times. I mean, he's jumping from one crane to another. and he lands and he always falls off. And the stakes are so jacked up high and not in a way of like

some of the old other Bond movies where suddenly he's got a parachute under his jacket or whatever. The Union Jack Parachute that comes out? Yeah. Totally. Like he is in a Hawaiian short-sleeve shirt, you know, running around.

And, you know, but then it ends with him doing a very not bond-like thing, like killing an unarmed guy just because he's so, you know, doesn't want this guy to go further or just he's mad or whatever it is. And also just the brilliance of the whole thing they're chasing around for is a code

that turns out to be such a, even though it's hugely significant, it feels like such an insignificant thing, the code to get into a room in an airport. Right. Elipsis is this whole kind of like, yes, McGuffin that really doesn't matter. I don't even think about it.

It's really, but that's the art of a great screenplay, I think, is that when you don't even realize that it doesn't really even matter at the end of the day. Totally. And, you know, and what a brilliantly written script. I mean, for an action movie, for a Bond movie, it's a really brilliant script. I think one of the other impressive things they did with us, beyond the brilliant casting of Daniel Craig, is they surrounded him with some amazing actors.

So let's talk about a few of them. I think Mads Mikkelson as Leshief is a great villain. Again, I would dare put him up in the top five villains. Because he's, you know, what a cool presence on screen he is. And with the bleeding eye, you know. It's a totally weird kind of buttoning thing without, like, stroking a cat, you know. Meanwhile, he has, like, the inhaler, too. It's like there's, it's fantastic.

Yeah, no, totally. But I love that. I mean, that's what's so great about that movie is everybody is very vulnerable with that movie. Everybody's very human, which you don't normally see in these movies. And that's why it's so hard, you know, like, look, I enjoy superhero movies. That's why I've always had a hard time getting into them because I'm always like, they're not invincible. I mean, they're not, they're not vulnerable. I don't understand their vulnerability versus, you know, I look at, yeah, I look at Bond getting hit and punched and he's bleeding,

I see the Shep, breathing out of his inhaler, and you're like, okay, I know, I know it can take these guys down. The next scene I want to mention is actually one that's not an action scene, but for my money, maybe my favorite scene in the film, which is on the train to Montenegro, where Daniel Craig Bond meets Vesper, played by Ava Green. And I think this relationship, I mean, to my mind, is one of the reasons why this film, works as well as it does. Talk to me about what you think about Ava Green as Vesper and the sequence in particular. Oh, yeah.

Well, what's great about Ava Green's character is that she is a total equal compound, you know, and it's the word, she's not a bond girl. She's not, you know, sort of in support of bond. She is an intellectual match to him. And I love how they're both, they can both guess each other's past, you know, you think from just how they read each other.

I mean, later on, I think you find out, they knew more than they did. But no, you're just kind of like, you really sit back and like, First of all, she's gorgeous. But then secondly, you're just like, oh my gosh, she's so cool. Like, she's really taking Bond on, you know, in a way.

And I also love the thing when they're just in its hotel room. And it's like, there's a tuxedo there. And she's like, yeah, I sized you up. And it fits perfectly. You're like, that's, that's a, that's a superhero to me. Anyone who can get me a fully tailored suit by just eyeing me. He's in. I mean, you know better than most, having done kind of like your own,

you know, Ghostbusters was a bit of an origin story for those characters. I mean, it's tough to do an origin story, let alone an origin story for a character we've known for 50 years. It's impressive the way they hold back some things. And this one, we don't hear him say, my name's Bond, James Bond, until the very end. They play with some of the iconography. Just talk to me about, from your perspective, as a writer and director, the challenges they must have faced going back to set up a character like this. Yeah, I mean, you know,

It's weird because we all know Bond. We all know his history, basically. Although, I guess we kind of don't know his history. We just know the other movies. Right. But that was so interesting to see how he got his 007, you know, his double O ranking by killing them, you know, doing his first two kills.

But it's weird because when you get a new bond, it must be what they have on Doctor Who every year, you know, kind of you get a new bond human being in the role. So you do have the chance to play with it, then you can't play with the mythology too much. So all you can do is take your little shots with it. And, you know, you mentioned Ghostbusters. We tried to do that, too.

Like, oh, we're going to subvert this a little bit. Or, oh, you thought, you know, here's how this kind of happened. Here's how the logo happened. Some people were annoyed by that kind of thing. Other people enjoy it. You know, I really enjoy in the, he's in the casino and he, you know, he orders a martini. And they say, shaking her stir. And he goes, do you think I care?

However, he says a funny retort. And I go, that's great. You know, that's really fun that they were able to do that. There's a really funny thing on the train, though. And she's looking at his watch and she goes, Rolex, and he goes, Omega. She goes, hmm. Man, Omega's got a really good placement in that movie. I was going to say, good wine and good product placement all at the same time.

I think he's drinking a Heineken in one scene, too, though, so. Totally. But I understand it. I'm a filmmaker. I know. They're going to get money. You take it. This film clearly came during the poker craze of that time.

But it works. I mean, there's actually, like, a lot of poker. There's a long, long sequences, which you would think is be like, you know, so I always hate movies about the internet because they always, directors have to figure out interesting ways to watch people type on a keyboard. Oh, now we're going through the cable.

It's like, oh, no, it's still just somebody on a computer. But, yeah, again, the stakes are so, it's like watching Russian roulette because you're just like what's going to happen. Because, you know, I admit, I can sit and watch one of those poker tournaments on TV and get really into it just because you don't know what's going to happen. The thing I hate about poker tournaments,

if I may diverge, but it'll bring me back to Bonn, there's all the guys wear sunglasses and, like, earphones. And it's like, no, that's not, you've got to be Bonn. You've got to be steely, you know, so somebody's got to be able to read your tail. You can't hide me on a mask, you know. You show me like a Batman mask. Well, sure, I could win at poker then.

So that's why I think, again, that was so fun to watch that one of, like, here's these guys, but also the setting, and they're all dressed up, And there's all these other international rich guys around who seem to be pretty terrible players, by the way. Because really only the Schiff and James Bond have any real credit at that table. Right. I'm not sure.

I mean, I appreciate Felix Lider always and played by a great actor like Jeffrey Wright. But that's even a nice reel. They kind of hold back who he's playing for a while. Oh, totally, totally. But I mean, everything down to like those chips. You know, they have like poker chips, but then those like long, you know, the rectangular ones.

that looks so beautiful. Everything is so tactile in that movie. You're just like, you want to touch it all. You want to be there. You want to be drinking that drink. A couple other scenes I want to mention. Around when we get into the poker section of the film, there's the part where he's like drugged

and he essentially has to defrivolate himself. Which, again, it's like more sweat and blood and everything coming out of him than I've ever seen in a Bond film before. And a really well done, you know, suspenseful scene for my money. very suspenseful and crazy. I mean, you know, if the one crazy gadget he has is a refrigerator later hand

and, you know, whatever that shot that brings them back to life in the cars, at least you go like, yeah, I guess that kind of makes sense. Like, you would want to be prepared if Bond got, you know, got poison versus, you know, some of the other ones. It got to a point in the older Bond movies, like, especially the Roger Moore ones,

where they, whatever Q would introduce as you go like, well, okay, but it always had such a specific thing. Exactly. Their rock will turn into a saw that will cut through rope. It's like, I wonder if he's going to get trapped somewhere with a rope. This is anti-shark repellent. Wait a second. Exactly.

There's one man in the world that this dart will hit and it will take him out. Oh, well, I need him. So, yeah, so, but, I mean, the fact that he's got to be talked through saving himself and he die, he almost dies and he defibrillates himself at the very last minute and then cleans up, you know, somehow gets a beautifully laundered, clean, perfect shirt and comes back to the table looking perfect. And that's his superpower. That's his ability to clean up very quickly. That's my Superman, right? I mean, that is, I mean, you are taught for the podcast listeners. They can't see you, but you are, you haven't dropped your Saville Row wardrobe for the sake of

the pandemic. You're still. No, my suit and tie every day. I'm a big believer in, you know, in these kind of times, you have to have a routine, get up, I would say, don't spend the day in the clothes he's left in. Was Bond in some way an influence on your own style, on your own wardrobe? I mean, you're always so meticulously dressed. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I've had a few cinematic influences,

and Bond was definitely one of them, because he was always dressed so immaculately and beautifully. Yeah, so, oh, God, I look at that. I mean, he, I think Bond inspires me more into formal wear. But, I have to say, one of the biggest fashion revelations for me for me is the very last shot in Casino Royale after he shoots the guy there on a Lake Cuomo and then like he comes up

and that last shot is a low angle shot looking up with him, he's holding the gun, but he's wearing this beautiful three-piece Tom Ford suit that I had never seen like a Tom Ford suit like that for. And I remember the theater going like, oh, like I almost like I literally like made a sound and I now own a version of that suit from Tom Ford. It's not that one, but it's actually, ironically,

if you go to Tom Ford, it's the one they make all the sales guys who's wear. But it looked so great. So, yeah, he, a huge. How much was James Bond on your mind when you approached Spy? Very much so, very much so. It was, you know, I had, like I said, I'd kind of fallen away from the Bond franchise before Casino Real. And when I saw that, it got me so invigorated that I remember going, like, I want to make a James Bond movie.

And it was even trying to lobby at that point, which no one would ever let me do it. Not that they would even let me do it now, you know, to see if I could make one. and there's like, no way, no way away. But then it was really, we were just finishing the heat. And was it Spector, the one that came out, or Skyfall? I think it was Skyfall. Probably Skyfall, yeah, sounds right. So that was coming out.

And I remember just going like, oh, another Bond movie. Like, I want to make a Bond movie. I just was so, like, just driven. And then I remember thinking, like, well, they're not going to let me, so how will I do it? Oh, I know. I work with all these funny women. Let me write a female James Bond. but then I wanted to put it through my window

and, you know, I wanted to be somebody who was completely, you would never think would be a bond and that thing. So, but yeah, I mean, completely influenced by the casino right now. You know, every time I see you, I'm always asking about the sequel, there's so much love for that one.

I mean, that's one of those that I hope, whether it takes five or ten more years, I hope we eventually get another spy story. Yeah, fingers crossed. I mean, now, you know, now with the Fox merger, it's over at Disney, so I don't know if they'd even let us do it R-rated. And I definitely want to do it R-rated.

I don't have any desire to do a PG-13 spot. So did you ever get anywhere in trying to get a meeting with, like, Eon or something, to talk about trying to direct a bond? No. Well, I mean, it's funny. I have friends who are very mutual friends with Barbara Broccoli, and I met her socially a couple of times. But the word was always that they would never let a non-English person do it,

but then Carrie just did one. Yeah, Carrie Fukunas, I think the first. Yeah, yeah. A couple of interesting what-ifs I want to mention in my research. I mean, you might have heard this one. There was a different iteration of Casino Royale. Apparently, Quentin Tarantino wanted to do a Casino Royale adaptation with Pierce Brosnan as a period film.

I didn't know that. Interesting. Intriguing. Very intriguing. I'd not heard that. And this one I found fascinating, too. You know who the second choice was, the one that nearly got Bond when Daniel Craig got Bond? It was Superman himself, Henry Cavill. Really?

They decided he was a little too young at the time. and they went with Daniel. Well, when Daniel is going to hang up his spurs, I know who I want to be, Bond. Give it up. Henry Golding. Henry, of course. Henry would be the perfect bond.

Henry's so charming and cool. And, you know, he's going to be snake eyes. He just finished shooting men. So I'm all team Henry on that one. You gave him a little Sean Connery a moment in the last Christmas. So there you go. There's his audition right there. That's right.

You still give me a hard time about that one. I've got some questionnaire, kind of like, standard questions I always ask my guests about their favorite comfort movie. Who do you think delivered the best performance in this film? If you had to deliver, give the award for best performance in Casino Royale, who delivers? Wow, oh, that's a tough one, because I don't want to single anybody out. I mean, I got to hand it to Craig because just because he had to prove a lot of people wrong. You know, he had a lot of detractors going into that.

And that's just a tough thing to do. And I just felt he just kind of kept that cool center. obviously you're editing and stuff. But I just felt like he just took the confidence you needed it in that role and just had it there, but also was brave enough to let that vulnerability be there. But then, I mean, Eva Green is like such a close second. It's crazy.

We talked about a few of the scenes. What's your favorite scene in the film at the end of the day? Oh, man. That's a tough one. I mean, aside from the obvious ones of the two action scenes that I love so much, I just really, I love the scene. with them after he wins the money, you know, before she gets taken away.

I just think he's sitting in that big, like, dining room by himself, drinking a martini, having caviar, she comes up. There's just something so, so cool and so aspirational about that. You're kind of, you relax, like, oh my God, he did it. That you really, that's a real comforting moment, even though you know something terrible is about to come up. And one of the craziest scenes in the world, which is in the book, that whole thing about making him naked on the chair,

with no bottom and, you know, whacking the nuts with the thing. Like, that's crazy. Yeah, Daniel Craig earned his paycheck for that scene alone. I don't know if he really experienced that or not, but I believed it. Oh, man, I mean, that's... Show me a guy that doesn't watch a scene,

and I'm like, oh, my God. At the table. What would you program as a double feature for this film, for someone that's watching this and maybe wants to make a big night out of it? Well, this is very self-serving. I would say, Cassina Rale and Spy. I think it could be, honestly, you can see the influence, but you also

see what we did different. You can see the stuff that we kind of played with. And, yeah, so that's, I'm promoting. I'm promoting. Yeah, so finally, I'm just curious, you mentioned Daniel's your favorite Bond. So what is your, what, who was your favorite before Daniel Craig? Were you a Connery guy? Were you? Yeah. I love Connery. I love Connery. I thought he was great. I, look, I really enjoyed the Roger Moore Wounds, you know, for a while. They got really bananas towards the end. I mean, you know, it got really crazy. But I kind of like that sort of quippy thing. But what bug me is it like, you know, people, even now kind of like, oh, I miss all the quippy stuff. All the Bond movies are so serious now. It's like, yeah, I don't agree with that

because I think, you know, it's a spy world. You want to, what I hate any movie where the stakes aren't high because then I'm not invested in anything, you know, like, I love the other guys. I thought it was such a hilarious movie. I just kind of wish. it had like a real killer, you know, dangerous villain in the middle of it, because then the stakes are high. You know, that's why I love movies like, you know, the biggest influences totally for me, even though they're not my favorite movies in the world,

we're like 48 hours, Beverly Hills Cop, you know, those late 80s comedies because they are so dark. And the state, you know, I think Beverly Hills Cop, has like a cop getting executed in a hallway in the first scene. They're just like, wait, I thought this was going to be funny. But then you realize, how much funnier it is, you know, like a 48 hours, when Eddie Murphy goes into that country bar, you know,

you're like, this is funny because he can really get killed. I think these filmmakers would make it so he might get killed. Like, as a filmmaker, like, we set a template for an audience early on of going like what we're going to allow and what we're not going to allow and what our rules are. And so if at the beginning of a movie, something silly happens and the bad guy you think is going to do something bad, and then he does like a joke, then you're like, oh, okay, so I get the tone.

There's not going to be a lot of danger in this, but there's going to be jokes, and I hope they're funny, and I'm not going to worry about the characters too much. Versus, you know, if you get something right up front, you go, like, the director says, like, guess what, you're here to laugh, but some terrible shit's going to happen in this movie. Right. Then you're off your game, but then you're laughing more because you're nervous at the same time. And to me, fear and laughter are the, you know, the two greatest things put together. You know, when I made in the movie The Heat, one of my favorite things to watch with an audience was when they're tied up and the knife and she's got to pull the knife out and she got to put the knife back in, you know, and Sanders' leg, that gets screams of laughter because it's so painful and so you're like, oh, my God, no, please don't do that.

But it somehow weirdly feels real because the reasoning behind it is legit of like, if it's not in there, he's going to know we don't have our hands beyond her back. So anyway, it's just, it's a long-winded way of saying, you know, as director, you have to. let the audience know what they're in for and what they need to be worried about and what they don't know. Well, this is a great pick, Paul. I mean, I, you know, like any movie fan I grew up with Bond, but I've seen Casino Royale probably five or six times. I watched it again the other day when you selected it and it holds up. It sucks you in. For those that haven't seen it, what are you doing? It's available, of course. I watched it on HBO Go. Check it out and check it out with Spy, obviously. That's the other one. Here, and I'll throw in another one. This is not one of my movies.

You can also do it on a double feature with it. It has nothing to do with the other one, but I just think it's another amazing movie in this category, Breakdown. Oh, the Kurt Russell? Russell movie. That's a good movie. It's so awesome.

That is like, you are pulled along through this film. It's crazy. The stakes are so insanely high. Oh, wow. City guy versus, you know, these other, you know, low-class kind of guys. And it's just like, oh, my God.

I think it's broke. I'm going to go back to that one. I don't think I've seen it since it came out, but I remember enjoying it at the time. Jonathan Mastow, I believe, directed that one, right? I cornered him when I was at a DGA feature director's dinner and just completely cornered Mastow for like an hour, just peppering in with questions about breakdown.

I love it. I always love geeking out with you, Paul. You're a man after my own heart. Maybe your wardrobe's a little bit better than mine. But I appreciate you taking the time out to celebrate Casino Royale, and I hope you stay safe and sane in these weird times, and I can't wait to catch up with you in person. You do, gosh.

You're one of my favorite people, And I really appreciate you having me on and doing this, and you look great, and we're going to get through this. And anybody wants, until this quarantine's over, every night at 5 o'clock L.A. time on my Instagram feed, quarantine cocktail time. Come on by. We're raising money for charities, and we're making cocktails, and I'm being there. So, join us. I've been enjoying it.

I was saying before your margarita dance on Monday was just stellar. Thank you. Well, more stupidity to come. That's a promise. 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 pressure to do this by Josh. I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We love movies, and we come at them from different perspectives. Yeah, like, Amy thinks that, you know, Joe Pesci was miscast in Goodfellas, and I don't. He's too old. Let's not forget that Paul thinks that Dude, too, is overrated.

It is. Anyway, despite this, we come. together to host Unspooled, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must-season, and Casey Mistoms. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone. From Greece to the Dark Night. We've done deep dives on popcorn flicks. We've talked about why Independence Day deserves a second look.

And we've talked about horror movies, some that you've never even heard of like Ganges and Hess. So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcast. And don't forget to hit the follow button. Thank you.