The Bechdel Cast - AMC Theaters. We Make Movies Better.

Episode Date: April 1, 2022

On this very special episode, Jamie and Caitlin discuss the very special AMC Theaters ad starring Nicole Nidman. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We come to the Bechdel cast to laugh, to cry, to care. Because we need that. All of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the theme song starts to play. And we go somewhere we've never been before. Not just entertained, but somehow reborn together. Together. Dazzling voices of hosts Jamie Loftus and Caitlin Durante.

Sound that you can feel. Somehow heartbreak feels good. On a podcast like this. on a podcast like this on a podcast like this our heroes jamie and caitlin feel like the best part of us and episodes feel perfect and powerful Here they are. The Bechtel cast. We make podcasts better. Welcome to the Bechtel cast. I don't know. I have no idea what week this is going to be released because this is an evergreen episode. Obviously.

Yeah. We've been getting, I mean, so look look if this is your first time listening to the bechdel cast honestly we can't help you possible we can't we can't help you i don't think we should even say what the bechdel test is in this episode honestly no it's not necessary and as we have always said you know it's just a starting off point for discussion and certain pieces of art transcend conventional media metrics. This is more of a vibes based episode. It's sound that you can feel. And we've been getting requests for this, I mean, since truly the second it dropped.

It's like, when is there going to be an intersectional feminist discussion of, drumroll please, the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial that shows right before the movie starts? Yes. Only at AMC theaters, and I'm pretty sure only in America. There are a few countries in Europe that I believe They've got it? Have been exposed to this. But but yes it is mostly a thing from the U.S. so uh here if you live in a country where you haven't had the pleasure I would hope that they show it in Australia where Nicole Kidman's from but I don't really know I don't know where AMC movie theaters are and I don't care to know. But I will say that this has come up in conversations with two of my Canadian friends this week.

Okay, you've got international friends. I've got a couple Canadian. And you know what? And while we're at it, it's recently International Women's Day. And yeah, my friend Sarah is from Canada. So yeah, okay. But but the thing is, most people who live in Canada are like, what are you talking about? They're like, I've seen the meme. I haven't experienced it. And you really do need to experience it. We're gonna try to take you there today. Yes. Because I mean, obviously, there's a lot to unpack. But

for those who haven't heard it before, we're just going to play the full audio here so you can experience it for yourself. Yes. So the commercial does also include video. Here's the audio. It's also readily available on YouTube. So we'll also provide the YouTube link. If you can actually pause the episode and rent out a movie theater if there's not an amc in your area just rent out a movie theater and play this youtube clip because you do have to kind of see it in the theater correct yes yeah if that's not possible here's the audio from the commercial that we will be talking about today we come to this place for magic. We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care, because we need that, all of us. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim. And we go somewhere we've never been before.

Not just entertained, but somehow reborn. Together. Dazzling images on a huge silver screen. Sound that I can feel. Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Our heroes feel like the best part of us. And stories feel perfect and powerful. Because here, they are.

AMC Theatres. We make movies better. Oh my god. So much to unpack. You've heard it. You've experienced it from an audio standpoint sound I could feel sound you can feel sound I could feel so let's get I mean Caitlin what's your history with the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial well I saw it for the first time at the end of 2021. I believe it first premiered in September 2021. It did. Yes. I think I saw it. It played in theaters right before Shang-Chi. I believe that's when I first

saw it. Exciting. I have seen it dozens of times since then. And I would say you love the movie. I love going to the movies and specifically AM, AMC Theaters, because I do, not to brag or anything, have an AMC A-list Stubbs membership where you can see up to three movies a week. All the fees waived, etc., etc. You're not going to believe this. I have that as well. Jamie. Yeah. Yeah, I saw Cyrano this week.

Oh. Yeah. No, I didn't see any. As usual, I have not seen any of the movies out that were good. I went with a friend of the show, Melissa Lozada Oliva. We saw Cyrano and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Well, thanks for inviting me. Gee whiz.

I'm sorry. It was a date. Honestly, Caitlin, you see most movies but you always see all the good movies and my amc history is so embarrassing it's horrible okay so you saw you saw nicole kidman uh amc commercial before shang chi yes and then i've seen it dozens of times since. And I would say it is my favorite ad for AMC theaters starring Nicole Kidman. Favorite of all time. Yes. To quote my favorite tweet from this year, when Nicole Kidman was nominated for being the Ricardos and not the AMC commercial, that was not fighting for gay rights. And I can't help but agree. I think it's,

you know, it's extremely obvious where the performance really was. Because Nicole Kidman, and I think this has been kind of pointed out. And I say this with love, because she's obviously we know she's, she's a great actress. She's been in in so many classics she's in kind of a flop era right now one could say oh yeah i would make the argument and and i'm not the only person saying this being the ricardos couldn't get through it don't really know anyone that could that thing on hulu not good i don't even know what you're talking about that thing on hbo that wasn't big little lies with hugh grant i did watch every episode but she was constantly upstaged by her jackets in that show and they were fabulous jackets but that's not you know she's just in kind of a a

bizarre phase of her career and then and then a performance like this and you're like oh i mean she never left the comeback of the century yeah just quick side note i will say that i am compelled i have not seen the show on hbo i am compelled by it though because it stars the two villains of the two paddington movies i know so so you really would think that it was going to be better. I kind of want to rewatch it because that show, I don't even remember what it was called, but it was like a Sunday night HBO show. I usually watch those whether I like them or not because I don't know. I'm like, Caitlin, you're a movie gal.

I watch TV in real time a lot of the time. Sure. It's called The Undoing. I wonder, I feel like it aired like very much during lockdown and it was like, but it was like deep into lockdown. It was also airing during the election. So I was just like, I know that everyone was like, that show was weird. It wasn't very good. But it happened at such a chaotic time that i think is either a little bit better than we were giving it credit for or my suspicion much worse so we'll never we'll never know i don't

care to watch it again all that to say she's back she's back this is the greatest commercial i've ever seen so yeah tell me about your history and your relationship with AMC theaters, period. We make movies better, period. Starring Nicole Kidman. So I'm looking through my AMC history. I believe the first time I would have seen this would have been when I was seeing an 1110 in the morning screening of Spencer. The Kristen Stewart, Princess Diana movie. Yes. Which I liked. And I had heard about the commercial I had not experienced the commercial and I was immediately hooked I feel like it

completely I feel it's a good movie to see it right before too because Spencer's all about like just kind of you're like you're never quite sure what's going on. You're never you don't know who to trust who to believe. You're like, what is happening here? And that's the exact feeling I get when I watch the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial. Except I don't think it's supposed to feel that way. But that's why it's beautiful. Where the first time I saw the Nicole Kidman commercial, bring the house down because we'll talk about the history of the commercial. Yeah, I saw it first bring the house down at a screening of House of Gucci. Okay. Because, oh, peanut butter and jelly of dissonant content.

People were flipping for the Nicole Kidman commercial because there is kind of, even though it's not been around for very long, people didn't like it at first. They were like, what is this? even though it's you know not been around for very long people didn't like it at first they're like what is this i hate it correct i'm confused nicole kidman hasn't even been in a movie that has like premiered in theaters in like three years so why her right of all people she's been doing streaming stuff but then you know there was this shift sometime in the late fall and it and it does coincide and this commercial was partially made to encourage people to go back to the movies when it was safe right and by winter time by like the holiday season movies people were in love with

this commercial they loved it to the point where when they shortened the commercial there was a petition with thousands of signatures to make it a minute long again yes and i have not experienced this myself yet but i've heard tell of when this commercial comes on in theaters many audience members will recite the monologue along with i can confirm that okay i i have yet to experience this i did see the batman last night you said long but good long but good correct okay and uh the reaction that the audience had when nicole kidman's amc commercial came on at an amc they don't really need to be advertising amc when you're already at an AMC. You're already there. And there's always such a love-hate relationship with AMC because most people are there because

they have the most affordable membership. It's not because it's the best movie theater. So people are kind of at AMC under duress. But that's kind of part of the fun. Exactly. So the commercial starts to play. You only need to see it for like a few frames before you know exactly what you're seeing.

And the moment we see that puddle, oh my gosh. Why is it raining in the commercial? I love it. I mean, just an explosion of applause and cheers the moment it comes on screen. And I get why. Like, it's an incredible piece of cinema.

It has everything that I love about. And it's truly, does that commercial not make movies better? Because I would say it does. Yeah. It now makes me want to go to we're recording this on uh friday evening it kind of makes me want to go see the batman tonight because i just i've never seen this commercial in like a packed theater you gotta calling out house of gucci for maybe not packing the theaters as they thought they might i've seen it in half full theaters a couple times. But I have not seen, you know, like the way that we used to see movies.

This commercial is so special. And I think we should, I mean, should we get into the recap? Yeah, yeah. Let me recap it. And then we will go from there. Okay. Okay. So setting the scene.

It is a cold, foggy night. It's not actively raining, but it has just rained yes because there's a puddle one of the most iconic opening shots of all time i would say absolutely is nicole kidman's heel landing directly in a puddle as if nicole kidman in her five thousand dollar shoes would be stepping in a puddle would not avoid puddle. It seems so intentional that you're like, surely this is going to come back later in the film. It does not. It does not. So the whole purpose of this puddle is so that we see the reflection of an AMC theater sign.

A foot comes into frame and steps into the puddle. This foot is wearing a stiletto. We see the pant leg of a pinstriped suit. But these aren't just any old pinstripes. Oh, no. They're shiny pinstripes. I would say it's like you would wear this like a business casual New Year's Eve party. Yeah. Would you wear this to a movie theater alone? You know, that's that's out of my pay grade i don't know you could i've seen it happen i i mean i've seen it happen with exactly one person and it's nicole kidman in this commercial so yeah so it has happened yeah it's been famously done so she so she walks

into and it's of course it's an amc movie theater yes she's wearing a jacket at first the jacket goes away okay yes okay so we cut to i'm assuming they take it at the door So she walks into, and of course it's an AMC movie theater. Yes. She's wearing a jacket at first. The jacket goes away. Okay. Yes. Okay. So we cut to- I'm assuming they take it at the door? Which is not what happens at the AMC.

There is no coat check at AMC. Whatever. So right. So then we cut to the- So we're still outside. We cut to the face of the person in the pinstripe suit. It is Nicole Kidman as herself, I think. She's not playing a role she's not playing

you know the explorer's daughter in paddington one no no she's not playing uh um whatever that her name is from moulin rouge certainly not and other nicole kidman movies that i can't think of off the top of my head she's not in um in oh no that one that's about sex parties oh eyes wide shut it's not god that's how i just described thank you for getting that and um uh i'm canceled again great um yeah and then you know other movies that she's in that i don't remember but it's nicole kidman playing herself as far as we can tell she pulls down the hood of a beige coat that she's wearing she smiles at the AMC sign she loves it there and it's not a super enthusiastic smile but it's a smile of like recognition like I've been to this we come to

this place which I think is what is being said during this shot. Correct. So she smiles, she steps toward the theater. And then we're also getting voiceover from Nicole Kidman, which says, we come to this place for magic. We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care. Then we see Nicole walking down a hallway of this this amc people have figured out this is like a los angeles amc i'm pretty sure i know exactly where it is where is which one is it so it is

one of the newest amcs at least in the region because this was filmed on location sure it is the amc i like to think they built a replica. It is the AMC Porter Ranch 9, which is just north of LA. We should definitely go. We should definitely go. I also, how certain did you feel? Even though obviously she's an amazing actress, you feel like she's been there before.

I would guess this is the first time Nicole Kidman's been to an AMC absolutely yeah I don't think she's ever set foot inside of one before they offered her let's say a million billion dollars to step foot inside of a completely empty AMC theater one time I concur okay but it's great it's fluorescent lighting uh-huh which you would think wouldn't be flattering but it's Nicole Kidman and it kind of complements the shininess of the pinstripe suit I thought it brought out the stripes absolutely yes yeah so she's walking down the hall her coat is gone so she apparently maybe she opened the doors and just tossed it at the first working class person she saw who knows she could have just dropped it i mean the the movie theater is empty true you know right no one else is there okay so she's walking down

the hallway alone cut to her in a screening room walking up the steps toward a seat the screening room is completely empty but at this point we have now gotten a full visual of the suit yeah head to toe we see the whole thing and it looks good it's good it's a good fit it was tailored nicely yes and it's very shiny now can can you clarify something for me she doesn't have the soda when she is walking down the hallway or does she i do not believe she has the soda at this point the soda appears a soda magically appears yes yes okay just checking the coat magically disappears the soda magically appears she's summoning and disappearing things like she's a wizard like she's in practical magic or something yes wow that's another movie she's. She's really in a lot of movies, Caitlin.

I know. She's had a hell of a career. Tell you what. She's in several movies. But now it's peaked. It's peaked. And there's nowhere to go but downward after this AMC commercial. Exactly.

Exactly. Okay. While we see these visuals of her walking to her seat and things like that we get more voiceover which says because we need that all of us that indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and we go somewhere we've never been before okay now things get kind of interesting because now she's so she's in the theater the theater there's no one there she's there alone right now here's something interesting we don't know canonically what year this commercial takes place in it could take place as late as or as early as 2017 18 does she watch a movie that comes out after 2017 she watches wonder woman

okay she watches jurassic world so i didn't check the dates on these so the four movies that Does she watch a movie that comes out after 2017? She watches Wonder Woman. Okay. She watches Jurassic World. So I didn't check the dates on these. So the four movies that we see her watching clips of, presumably, trailers maybe? Who knows? Are Jurassic World. Yeah. Which I believe came out in 2015, if you could fact check me. That is correct.

Okay. Then we see her watch a clip of wonder woman which came out 2017 i believe okay the third one is la la land okay that might be a wild card that's 20 i believe that's 2016 let me check i forgot she watches la la land that's 2016 okay so so it could be as late as 2017 and then then the final one is Creed. Okay, Creed came out in 2015. So this commercial, I would say, for some reason, takes place in the winter of,

or like the late fall or early winter of 2017. Right. Because otherwise you would think, and I don't know the vision, and also I would say that one thing I found very troubling about this is there's no credited writer on this commercial. Well, not in the credits of the commercial because commercials generally don't have credits, but there is a famous Hollywood Oscar nominated screenwriter wrote the monologue for this billy ray really yes okay and i feel like you can tell when a man is putting words in a woman's mouth that said i think that you know i can he's is he not the screenwriter of what is he the screenwriter of uh hunger games okay he wrote

terminator dark fate he wrote captain phillips among others that horrible movie richard jewell wow he had a rough year in 2019 he wrote gemini man terminator dark fate and richard jewell yikes hasn't written that's why he has to write nicole kitman's amc monologues now he wrote three stinkies in a row yikes oh and he wrote that show the comey rule that no i don't know why i'm calling him out because this is the greatest movie i've ever seen um so he actually we thought that billy ray a person i just learned existed we we thought he was in his flop era due to gemini man terminator dark fate and richard jewel back to back to back we thought nicole kipman was in her flop era I don't know why I think the emphasis went wrong we thought she was in her flop era

yes now I get it now I understand I don't know why I hit the flop flop era flop era but it turns out they just needed I do feel like there is something beautiful i mean it's like you know how some people are really amazing in like the tiktok format you know the tiktok format have you heard of that oh i'm i'm familiar you know like the the idea of constraint often brings out you know and the the economy of words the economy of time you know it really forces out greatness yeah wow billy ray why did he do that do you have more info well sorry let's get through the recap yes i have some context and then yeah we'll get thank you so much so we we get this a little bit more of her voiceover then we see a movie projector fire up she is now standing in front of a seat but she has yet to

sit down the projector screens a clip of jurassic world it screens a clip of wonder woman the voiceover kicks back in she says not just entertained but somehow reborn together dazzling images on a huge silver screen sound that i can feel then we cut back to her face she has been watching these clips with awe i would say oh i mean i think and there is you know that twitter account one perfect shot there is one perfect shot and it's it's the one you're thinking of where there's just a halo of light coming from behind Nicole Kidman's beautiful head from the movie projector as she's watching, I'm pretty sure, the trailer for Wonder Woman. Yes, it's electric. And I think a lot of us felt like that about the trailer for Wonder

Woman in late 2017, where this commercial is set. And then we watched it again in about a year later, and we're like, no, it was actually just okay. Right. But we can't falter for that. This commercial takes place, you know, almost five years ago. That's true. That's true.

So she's been watching these clips with awe. She finally takes a seat. Then we see the clip of La La Land and then Creed. Voiceover goes, and this is, I i believe the most iconic line oh she says somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this and can you clarify for me what movie is playing when she says that um i believe it's creed i think so so i have a follow-up question have you seen creed i haven't seen Creed. Yes, I have seen Creed. Does he lose?

Is there heartbreak in a movie like that? Honestly, I do not remember because I saw it when it first came out and I don't. My memory doesn't work. Okay. Will you continue? I'm just going to make sure because the movies that she's set. Oh, I'm just getting results for Creed the band. Okay.

I need to be more specific in my search i just was curious because i for for such an iconic line the movies selected i don't think are particularly known for being heartbreaking right and then like a lot of what she's saying in her voiceover monologue does not exactly match up with the images we're seeing on screen i would argue the most congruent match would be when she says sound that i can feel and that i believe it's playing over the clip of la la land and that's a musical so maybe it's like so that makes sense okay they found it in the edit right also speaking of sound let's talk about the score for a moment uh this the musical score that has been playing throughout this entire commercial is i would say a a very epic oh piece it's swelling lots of swelling strings piano it's yeah it's very

epic it starts rather sparse it starts a little sparse you know when for the we come to this place you know of course it's just a few it's it's very quiet but then yeah it rapidly crescendos once she's in that theater alone oh my gosh and i would say that really the the crescendo comes with the arrival of the soda who should have been, you know, a Best Supporting Actor nominee this year for sure. Because what does a good supporting actor do but, you know, uplift the protagonist's performance? Yeah, true. I haven't heard the soda cup say a peep since the commercial came out. And yet they're stealing scenes, but also a generous scene partner, I would say. Does it pass the Bechdel test when the cup of soda appears magically beside Nicole Kidman

and admires her admiring the movies she's watching on screen? Thank you for asking. Yes. Okay. Just double checking. Yeah. Okay. So we're almost done.

So her voiceover,over she says somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this our heroes feel like the best part of us and stories feel perfect and powerful then we transition from nicole's voiceover to her directly addressing the camera it's like judy dench at the end of cats is how i always think of that moment where you're like wait they know we're here they're the cats have known i was in the theater the whole time and that's how you feel when nicole stares down the barrel of jeffronenworth's camera. Uh-huh. Exactly. And she says, because here they are. So she says, because here dot, dot, dot, long pregnant pause, or I might even call it a Greg-nant pause.

Oh, yeah. Heavy with Greg, this pause. Because here dot, dot, dot, Gregnett pause, they are. And then we get text on the screen that says, and more voiceover, that says, AMC Theaters, we make movies better. Yes. Fade to black, end of commercial, end of movie. So let's take a quick break for an ad that I really hope is AMC. I really hope they start playing it during podcasts for some

reason. But I somehow doubt that it's going to be this exact AMC ad starring Nicole Kidman. Let's cross our fingers, but it's probably not. But we'll come right back after to this place. See you back in this place in just a minute. Yes. And we're back. So I wasn't aware who wrote the script. That is fascinating. I did know who directed. So this advertising campaign cost, and listeners, get ready for this, $25 million American dollars is how much they spent on this ad campaign. I cannot conceive.

Most of it had to have gone to Nicole Kidman, right? This is a minute-long commercial. Well, okay, here's my guess. And I am not sure, but an educated guess is that the budget for the actual production of this commercial would not have been that high. And as with most budgets for ads, a lot of the money goes to buying ad space. And as far as the actual production goes, you know, for this, it was only one location they probably only needed one day for the shoot and yeah the biggest expense for the production was probably Nicole Kidman's rate right and they have you know Jeff Cronenworth and Tim Cronenworth you know very

famous Hollywood folks are they they are like in terms of i'm sure they make a lot of money because jeffrey cronenworth is like david fincher's go-to cinematographer he's done he did fight club social network girl with a dragon tattoo gone girl he's also like cinematographer nepotism his dad did blade runner he's kind of an interesting guy i see and then also i think it's a brother duo right je Jeff and Tim have collaborated on this. Yes. Like, I think that they're just like a cinematographer team. They also just worked together with Nicole Kidman on Being the Ricardos was his last

film. So he knows how to frame this head. He knows all about it. And this is how this commercial came to be. So I'm going to read an excerpt from an interview conducted with Nicole Kidman by The Playlist. About this? About this. Amazing.

So it was mostly about being the Ricardos and a few of her other projects. The flops. The flops. But the final line of questioning in this interview goes as follows and i quote the interviewer says and then my last question for you is i know that you're not on the internet but do you know how beloved your amc theaters ad is nicole responds oh the only reason I know is because Adam Aaron, the head of AMC, sends me these tidbits saying, oh, thank you, because Jeff Cronenweth shot it, he and his brother, and he shot being the Ricardos. And the reason he shot it was because I was doing Lucy. And then I said,

listen, I've been asked to support AMC. Would you be willing? And he was like, yeah. And then Billy Ray, a friend of mine, I was like, Billy, would you be able to do something, write something for us? Should we do this to support AMC? And Billy's like, hell yes. So that was how that all came about, basically. And then I was like, gosh, I mean, but i've never seen it in the theater or anything because she's never been to an amc right i showed up to a show a screening of lucy of being the ricardos and adam was there but adam's kind of a rock star he's very popular the interviewer says he's very popular with the blockchain investors and then nicole responds hold on nicole responds okay right not my forte i just wanted to support amc but he's a great guy thinking out of the box and defying the odds

go adam the interviewer says well i don't know if you know this, but people love the line, somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this. So much that they have printed it on t-shirts. Nicole Kidman, are you kidding? Interviewer, oh no, it's real. Ask your publicist. She can send you stuff. It's a thing. The publicist says, people have printed it out and handed it out in a theater so they could read it with you before a movie.

That is true. I've seen the tweets. Yes. Nicole Kidman says, What? Interviewer says, Yes, it's a thing. Nicole Kidman says,

No. Interviewer says, Yes. Nicole Kidman says, What? And then the interviewer says yes nicole kidman says what and then the interviewer says and in fact people were very upset because it was originally a minute long and then they shortened it down to 30 seconds and they cut that line out fans were going to see spider-man no way home and they wanted to see it beforehand and they were upset that line was missing and nicole kidman says but it's a great line, right?

Interviewer says, yes. Nicole says, it's so true. How true is it to, in the interviewer says, it is. And then Nicole says, I mean, talk about not feeling alone, sitting in a cinema with a broken heart and then watching something that breaks your heart again. And you go, I'm not alone. Please, this must not go away we have to have cinema nicole has no idea what's going on here and that

is a part of the i think she's going method i think she's doing whatever joaquin phoenix thought he was doing 15 years ago nicole kibben's doing right now uh this is her i'm not there she's pretending to not that's so funny because nicole kibben i feel like correct me if i'm wrong listeners but i feel like it is kind of inherently camp to not understand when you're doing something campy the fact that she's like yeah because we love the movies and because and heartbreak does feel good in a place like this it's like well nicole that's not necessarily why we're cheering but right heartbreak does feel good in a place like that she's not wrong so that brings up a few things for me i i'm curious how you feel about that because this episode's coming out i think maybe

right after women's history month and i just think it's interesting you know it's we love a strong female protagonist and nicole kibben in this in this piece in particular i think one of her strongest performances in a leading role absolutely however behind the camera you know i think that it's it's interesting it's i would say that this isn't a good example of women supporting women because she called three white guys, one white guy and his brother. I think it's very funny that they keep referring to this guy, Tim, who doesn't have a Wikipedia page, bless his soul. He's just called Jeff's brother. And I'm sure that bothers him. And then she calls.

How does she know Billy Ray? Did he write a movie that she was in? I'm trying to figure out what the Billy Ray Nicole Kidman connection is. Let me see if I can figure this out. I would have. Look, Nicole, you had an opportunity here and you handed it to a bunch of men. And I just think that's interesting. I was she in the Hunger Games.

Who's in? I know she wasn't so okay elizabeth banks is the blonde adult in that movie never mind i i don't quite know how they know each other maybe they're just friends that's hollywood baby uh i want to know who the costume designer was on this commercial because again this pinstripe suit deserves a lot of our attention and like how many how many different like what was the process there i also really liked that that interview you just shared you can tell it's the best day of that interviewer's life talking to her about this but there were questions that i feel like i didn't have answered you know and like how long is she going to be willing to I I it almost makes me want her to win for being the Ricardo so she can give

us more information on stage in her Oscar acceptance speech yeah yeah I mean she she if there's any justice in the world she won't win because that movie is so bad that it's kind of shocking yeah but I just wonder yeah because it's like I shocking. Yeah. But I just wonder. Yeah. Because it's like, I wonder how many outfits she tried on. Did she bring? I feel like sometimes when people are super famous, they're like, I'm just going to bring my own clothes. I could see it being that it seemed like it was an intimate production. Yeah. Is this something she already owns? We don't know. I mean, it certainly fits. I mean, when the pinstripe suit fits, that's the famous quote, right? Yeah, right.

Then you have to shoot an AMC commercial and there can't be other people. I wonder, and I also wonder, you know, like, why are there no other people? Well, this brings up, this is an excellent question, Jamie, because it might be that she has, you know, anxiety about being around people. Poor people? Could be that she has you know anxiety about being around people poor people could be that but it could just be people in general because we're still in a pandemic as as we discuss this commercial and certainly as this commercial premiered sure and i think a lot of the backlash that this commercial first received in addition to everyone just being like what the fuck is this tonally weird and bizarrely written and which we later realized was that's wrong it's wrong because it's actually

perfect perfect and it's a tone poem as we've been saying for five for years the production design is unbeatable the cinematography is perfect everything about it is amazing the writing is good there's a lot of symbolism then the symbolism is so dense that you don't really know like what they're trying to say and in that way it's lynchian the the sudden disappearance of the beige coat symbolizes the ending of the pandemic. And the sudden emergence of this cup of soda symbolizes us returning to the life we once knew pre-COVID-19 pandemic. That's my interpretation. Right. And that is why people, getting to your point, why people were kind of upset because the commercial came out when we were not

quite in that place and because obviously the pandemic is ongoing but in particular you know in September that was still a very precarious time and we did not know it then but like the Delta variant unfortunately surged shortly after this commercial uh first premiered and so the timing was not great it seems like the kind of commercial that's claiming that the pandemic is over in a way that I don't think would have made quite as many waves had it premiered in early 2022 when cases went down significantly again after the sorry I meant the omicron variant i didn't mean the delta yeah yeah getting my variants mixed up horrible it's okay we forgive you but yes the commercial premiered at a time where the situation was precarious not to quote titanic or anything

i mean ruth talking about her precarious situation with rose of course but the situation yeah the the world is rose with the corset on and the the commercial failed to address how the theater because obviously the commercial is like urging people to return to the cinema after you know a year and a half of watching movies at home but it's like hey look you can go back to the movie theater specifically amc because we make movies better but the commercial failed to acknowledge how the theaters might be doing anything about safety precautions relating to the pandemic and all that stuff so that was the back it seems to imply that the only way to be safe is to be completely alone to buy out the entire theater which you can do at an amc which

is another cause for criticism of like oh well then that's a class issue oh you're not you're not going to keep it safe which is what brings me to my honestly assumption that Nicole Kidman is uncomfortable around poor people. I mean, I would tend to assume that is also correct. That said, we don't want her. She's an icon. Okay, let's get back on track. Yes. Okay, so is that, do you have more context for this thank you for

taking the lead on oh gosh for this i'm learning so much you know what i'm happy to do it i think that was that was all i could find in my extremely deep and thorough dive of the production surrounding this commercial and um i don't have much else to say aside from this being my favorite movie of all time except that did you notice how nicole kidman's australian accent is sometimes there but sometimes not well that's how else would you know nicole kidman's performing if she couldn't quite decide whether she was going to use her natural accent or not. It's like we've talked. I mean, I feel like we and again, icon.

We're not punching at Nicole Kidman. This is an iconic performance. But there's like every Nicole Kidman performance. You're like, oh, there it is. Like there's always like two scenes where she she just she slips to quote titanic and i slipped wow and i would have gone overboard mr dawson here hadn't saved me and almost gone over himself so the boy's a hero then okay oh guys it's april you gotta get over over to the patreon because it's that time again did you see

that listener and and future guests on the cast ayumi um tagged us in something called a titanic porn parody called by tanic did you see that i certainly did i think maybe we should cover it i think we should cover it there's another i think horror movie coming out. Good. Titanic 666 is maybe the movie title. This lines up perfect with the newest Amityville horror movie. It's called Amityville Horror in Space. And they still claim it's based on a true story. Can you believe that? Okay, so, okay, I'm reading an article from Deadline about Titanic 666.

The official logline of the film is this. Okay. 110 years after its namesake's fateful journey, the Titanic 3's maiden voyage will land at the original site of the wreck. Although a faithful replica of the original, this mammoth cruise ship, this is also way longer than a log line btw but okay yeah what do i know although a faithful replica of the original this mammoth cruise ship is built with the most advanced technology ensuring that it has no chance of sinking but when the titanic three arrives at the tragic site strange events begin to occur as dark forces from the deep rise to the surface terrorizing all aboard and threatening to repeat one of history's greatest disasters.

Wow. I love it. I'll see it. Of course we'll see it. Of course we'll see it. I'm looking, I'm currently looking at somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this, crop tops. Okay, so. break feels good in a place like this crop tops okay so obviously we need to get matching ones and wear them during every recording and if if things go as we're planning caitlin and i may be

dropping a special little uh you know a little a little picture to go along with this episode if things go to plan if not we'll cut it out of the episode but i think that you might be pretty thrilled by the picture we drop with this so with that said i think that there's you know i wish we had more time to discuss this but we have shockingly been talking about this for almost an hour wow so does this AMC commercial spot pass the Bechdel test? Well, I'm going to answer your question with another question. Amazing. Which is this.

Okay. Does it pass the Bechdel test when Nicole Kidman's diegetic breaking the fourth wall monologue responds to Nicole Kidman's non-diegetic voiceover uh that's a trick question because it's obviously yes okay so so the answer is yes this definitely passes I would argue there's another way in which it passes okay because so is it the soda cup clause it's a it's a different one so So there's a third. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay.

So Nicole Kidman says somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Stories feel perfect and powerful because here they are. And then we, the audience, which is comprised of all genders, we respond and we say, woohoo. Yes, Nicole. We say, Nicole. Exactly. Yes. And that truly is how people respond. Okay. You know, I'm sold. I think that at this point, handily passes the Baxill test. I had no doubt in my mind, but I feel much, I feel much, much better. Yes. So with that in mind, let's get to our nipple scale yes rating the movie based on how

it fares from an intersectional feminist lens on a scale of zero to five nipples what are you giving this commercial spot no question about it five nipples thank you across the board for everything i would say five nipples as well even though this uh stars a single white woman talking to the world who had the opportunity to hire anyone and did hire three white guys i think that there's no way around it that uh this has five nipples i would also say there's not much diversity in the movies that she watches it's a lot of um i'm not entirely straight white people but we don't even see as far as who is represented from jurassic world it's just the gate it's just the gate to jurassic world so yeah i think that they certainly could have chosen a more diverse selection of movies

they also could have chosen movies that came out in the last five years but for some reason they didn't uh-huh and even so five nipples though even so five and maybe even six and i'm giving them to this sounds like it's amcs i'm giving them all to the soda cup okay cool i'm gonna give one to the beige coat that disappears i'm gonna give one to the puddle i'm gonna give one to the puddle. I'm going to give one to the soda cup. Feminist icon, the puddle. Feminist. Where's the t-shirt feminist icon, the puddle. Okay.

See, I know, I know I have a lot of work to do. If I committed to making feminist icon, the puddle merch, we would be millionaires. And that's just a fact. And then we could buy out the whole theater.

So my fourth nipple goes to the empty theater and my fifth nipple goes to nicole kidman's shiny pinstripes yes this is a perfect piece of cinema this is why we go to the movies so that we can see this before we see a movie and when melissa and i left the theater did we say the best part of Cyrano was Nicole Kippen? Yeah. Yeah. And Cyrano was okay. Actually, although when we left, I'm curious what you think about it because Melissa was like, Caitlin would hate that so much. That was her first thought. You're talking about Cyrano?

Yes. Not the commercial. I know you love it. Well, I would know if we had seen the movie together as we were were supposed to do which we did mention going together on a matreon episode i'll see it again okay i'll see it again peter dinklage thank you i will see any movie with peter dinklage uh as many times as i saw house of gucci three times so yes i will see cyr no twice good okay awesome amazing somehow heartbreak feels good on a podcast like this yes well happy april i'm assuming i mean i don't actually i don't know when this is coming out i don't know what day it is it's just a day it's a day no big deal it's a day

no big deal well have a great week everyone now i feel like we really have um tackled our godfather basically yeah and um you know we're gonna we we are gonna bravely continue the show but know that we just peaked yeah we could be done and I would feel perfectly good about the work we've done here agree so thank you for listening you can you know follow us do all the stuff rate this episode five nipples on your listening platform etc please yes and um you know just be sure to go to amc theaters because they make movies better and honestly if amc doesn't give us advertising sponsorship after this i'm gonna i'm gonna stomp around in a puddle i'm gonna stomp around in a puddle i'm gonna disappear some beige coats because that's bullshit absolutely yeah all right well thanks for listening and uh and now just imagine us turning to the microphone

and saying because here they are bye bye