The Big Picture - The Best Movies at Telluride and the 10 Most Anticipated Fall Films

Episode Date: September 4, 2024

Sean and Amanda recap the long weekend in film news and discuss the biggest films out of the Telluride Film Festival, including the much-anticipated ‘Anora,’ the 'SNL' origin story ‘Saturday Night,’ the Trump biopic ‘The Apprentice,’ and more (1:00). Then, they react to the Venice Film Festival from afar and take stock of the impact that this weekend’s major festivals have had on the state of the awards race (58:00). Finally, they share the yet-to-be-released movies that they’re most excited for this fall (1:20:00). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit superstore.ca to get started. I'm Sean Fennessey. I'm Amanda Dabbins. And this is the Big Picture Conversation, Joe, about fall festival season. It is upon us. I have just returned from the Telluride Film Festival. What film festival did you arrive from, Amanda? The one on my couch. That's not true. I have just returned from the Telluride Film Festival. What film festival did you arrive from, Amanda? The one on my couch.

That's not true. I had some film adventures this weekend. I went to the Academy Museum with my two-and-a-half-year-old son to see Monsters, Inc. It was honestly really great. They do special calm mornings for kids. We did crafts before. They keep

the volume at a level that won't scare a two and a half year old. Was this your first time seeing the film Monsters, Inc.? No. I saw it when it came out. Oh, okay. Right?

Because it's like early 2000s. I don't know. So I would have, have you never seen Monsters, Inc.? No, of course I have. I was like, come on. But there are many animated films you've not seen.

We also, like, by the way, we watched 45 minutes and then it was time to leave. But it was, it was a very sweet program that the Academy did. And then, can I just share like a really heartbreaking thing? I told you this. I texted you in real time. But as we were leaving, Knox also really likes The Wizard of Oz. And so

I made a huge parenting error, which is without checking, I told him that we could go see Dorothy's red slippers. And then we asked some very kind people at the museum where we could find Dorothy's slippers. And they looked very stricken. And they were like, I'm so sorry, but it's between exhibits. And so they're not on display right now. And then my child did like the full face melt, sad cry. And like, not the fake one, you know,

but the real one where I like start small and then the things start going down and he was just sobbing in my arms, just being like, Dorothy's shoes, Dorothy's shoes. I mean, we've all been there. Yeah. We've all been there. So I experienced the highs and the lows of cinema this weekend. Well, you were participating in the Academy game in a way, helping Ampus. i also looked at a tremendous number of photos of hot people on the venice red carpet we can talk about that we'll talk a little bit about venice obviously neither of us were there this year but there were a number of films that premiered there that are going to be the subject on this show over the next few months telluride was amazing

it was not the most amazing slate i would say that I've seen in Telluride history. And some of my fears, some of my angst pre-festival, I think were more or less met by the truth of the lineup, which was okay. The festival itself, as usual, it's the greatest place on earth. You communed with the mountains. Not really. I didn't really touch any mountains. I stood between the mountains. You know, the entire festival takes place in a slot canyon. But man, I met so many people, so many listeners of the show, so many young listeners of the show, so many young listeners of the show who said they came to the festival because they've heard me talk about it on the show. That's really nice. Which was amazing. I'm not talking like two, three, like 12, 13, 14 people were like, I'm here because I heard you talk about it, which is very flattering, but also just really cool.

And, you know, Telluride is usually a pretty old festival. And I felt like I saw a ton of young people there. Plus the student symposium. I met a ton of students there. Just the greatest. Honestly, they do such a cool job. Honestly, I got treated like gold at this point. It's really, really nice.

I love it there. There were some really great films. I'll talk about everything that I saw you can press me on what you think what I'm overheated about what I'm underheated about I have opinions

about all of that I also did you see that I put some I did superlatives some awards that you have to give it at the end

I've prepared for your superlatives great questions thank you should we start at the top with the big winner of the festival yeah

so this is a film that we've both seen. Yes. Are we allowed to share? I think so. The film already played Cannes and Telluride. It won the Palme d'Or. It won the Palme d'Or.

The movie is Enora. Enora, well, one, it felt like a Telluride this year. It felt like there were more people there. I don't really know how to say it. They say that they sold the same number of tickets that they always sell, same number of patron passes, same number of all the things that they... It just felt more crowded. Some of that might have just been, you know, we're out of COVID and the strikes. And, you know, last year was a little bit of a smaller festival over a longer

period of time. But every screening of Anora based on people that I talked to was mobbed. People were being turned away left and right. And I didn't talk to a single person that saw it there that did not like it. We have not talked about this movie yet on the show. It's not coming out until October. I was thinking we should consider trying to pre-tape our episode because it is kind of the movie of the year and we both had a chance to see it. But this is Sean Baker's new movie

starring Mikey Madison about a stripper, dancer, sex worker who meets a young, the son of a Russian oligarch and magic and terror ensues. And comedy. Very funny, and magic and terror ensues. And comedy. Very funny, very fun, very energetic movie. I was very curious about whether or not

the older patrons were going to click with the movie. I think that they did in part because the movie, when it starts, doesn't really pull any punches. It's like, this is what kind of movie this is. We're in a strip club. And I didn't go to see it at the festival because I'd already seen it, but I heard

no walkouts, no grumbling. People seemed to really, really vibe with it. Are you surprised to hear that based on what it is? I remember sitting in the room watching it and being like, I wonder how this level of nudity and sex will go over with Academy of Voters. And then I remembered that Poor Things was literally last year. And obviously, Poor Things is more stylized and has, it's like wrapped up in costume drama, which is going to make a certain type of voter feel better. And I think if the Academy can accept Poor Things and is weirded out by Anora, that reflects very poorly on the Academy. But there's space for it. Like they, you know, we're all grownups.

It felt like coming out of this festival, not only is there space for it, but it feels like a front runner, right? It feels like there's not a lot of movies that people are agreeing on right now. I can't recall a less settled best picture race, which maybe we'll talk about later. But if you just think back, when I got back from Telluride and you got back from Venice last year, we had seen, to that point, Barbie Oppenheimer, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest, Maestro. Those were all nominated for Best Picture. I think there were a few more, too, that we had seen at that point.

Poor Things. Poor Things as well. I saw at Telluride. Then I saw at Venice. Had we really seen The Holdovers yet? Yeah, I saw The Holdovers at Telluride. Oh, that's right. And I was like, oh, okay. So, you know, it felt like maybe the slate wasn't settled. Past lives? Past lives we'd already seen, which came out much earlier in the year. So, you know, seven, eight, nine of the movies that were going to be on the list we'd already seen.

This year, I had multiple conversations with people trying to game out what's going to be there. And there are some people who feel really strongly that, you know, Dune Part 2 is locked in there. Like maybe Challengers can make a comeback. We hadn't seen a couple of other movies that played at Venice yet. But this is the one movie now that everyone's like, this is great. This is a great film. And I don't want to say anything else.

We'll talk more about it on the show in the future. But it was agreed upon. This is the one festival movie. The other one that's lurking is Sing Sing, which is just still in limited, like, what are we doing? I have not understood the release. I talked to a bunch of people about that this weekend too. I was like, so you guys put it in 100 theaters, then 200 theaters, then 300 theaters, then 200 theaters, and 100 theaters, and it's gone? Like, what was that move? I don't understand. Everybody I know who's seen it really likes it, so it's been a very odd rollout for that one i mean maybe they're trying to do sort of like their early past lives hype and then hold it and bring it back closer i think

that was the intention but it didn't really click in that way which is a bit strange it wasn't as it wasn't opened as widely as it wasn't it wasn't anyway um the only other movie that i would say i think was a winner even though i was i liked it but was more mixed on it than many people I talked to, was Emilia Perez, which was also at Cannes. This is Jacques Audiard's new movie. It is, boy, it's a lot of movie. I mean, the description, just like the tagline. Yeah, it's a trans coming of age story. It's a musical. It's a story about of age story. It's a musical.

It's a story about the desaparecidos in Mexico. It's an action movie. It's a family drama. It is, man, it's a lot. Carla Gascon, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldana are the stars of the movie. For me, Zoe Saldana, I thought was absolutely amazing. And it was a real, like, I didn't know she could do this she's singing dancing rapping giving a genuine heartfelt performance center stage in many years but anyway really good point and it's like the whole time I

was watching the movie which again like I like Audiard but I often think he he like tries to make three movies at the same time and never chooses which one it ultimately is. And I felt that way a little bit about Amelia Perez, but watching Zoe Saldana, I was like, what, why, where has she been? Like, I know she's been Gamora and she's been an avatar. Well, that's literally your answer is that she's been like in a tank with, you know, all the dots. I know. And I, I'm sure that was incredibly lucrative and people love her because of those movies, but man, she's so fucking talented. And I really was taken with her in this movie. Did you go to the volleyball game where Selena Gomez performed with Ashley?

No, I heard all about it. It was in the talk of the town. I wish I was there. It's incredible campaigning. They made a bunch of signs and then she just showed up. She did. Selena Gomez, I would say, was a little out of her league in this movie relative to the other two stars. But listen, all the value starts now. Yes, yes. She's pulling stunts. Lots of rumors about whether or not she's engaged. You know, the ring will be on and off for the next four months.

People are invested. She's going to get a lot of people to watch this film. Yeah, exactly. Which is coming out in November on Netflix and is certainly audacious, like a lot of movies here. The audacious movies were the ones that usually didn't work for me. Ultimately, at the festival, I thought actually some of the more conventional stuff, with one exception, was the stuff that I liked the best. Okay, old man. I did feel a bit like I was getting on in years.

I was like, this is a real movie, not some of this other claptrap that they're trying out here in the world. I think that's ultimately just the testimony to the to the slate itself and maybe not to my taste my favorite movie that i saw yeah was the was very audacious easily the boldest movie that i saw this year which is nickel boys yeah which i saw on opening night this is romell ross's first scripted film he directed hail county which was nominated for an oscar some years ago um it's adapted from a Colson Whitehead novel. It's coming out in November from Amazon. It stars Ethan Harise, Brandon Wilson, Anjanue Ellis-Taylor.

I'm sure you read a bit about it. I did, and then I was like, I don't want to read too much because I want to go in. I also, it's adapted from a Colson Whitehead novel that I have not read. So I'm like, should I read the book first? I almost read it. To be able to understand. I was holding it in my hand in the bookstore the day I arrived at the festival. And I was like, should I just jump into this and read 100 pages tonight and see? Because I wanted to get my bearings with it.

I'm glad I didn't do that because the people who, because the people who read it seem to be a little bit frustrated. That's always the case. So the answer ultimately is I think I will probably see the, try to know as little as possible, see the film, and then read the book.

Because you still want to, I understand that it is like a major work of adaptation. Yes. Which is cool. It's very, I don't mean, I can't compare it to the book

because I haven't read it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's a very form-breaking film. And you can see a filmmaker who is a documentarian applying the skills and the tools that he learned in that format into this movie. You know, the thing to note is that it's a movie that is seen from the first-person perspective. So the camera is literally as if it is the head of the lead character in the film. And then some things evolve and it shifts and changes and it has a kind of dynamism, but it is very alienating. And I know a lot of people who really struggled with this movie, especially the first hour of this movie. Ultimately, it is easily the movie that has stuck

to my ribs the most, that I have thought about the most, that I have tried to unpack the most. It is a very literary adaptation of a literary book. And so there is metaphor and reaching imagery that is meant to compel you to think about things well beyond just the characters and the setting of the movie.

It's very bold. I don't think mainstream audiences will connect with it even though it is very profound. But it immediately just made me want to see 10 more Rommel Ross movies. Anybody who is like, I really like challenging movies, likes this movie. Anybody who's like, I want to be entertained, does not like this movie. Okay, great.

So. I mean, that's. This will be an interesting challenge for you. That's not fair. Well, I find that you are often in the middle ground of that. Successful challenging movies. I really, when you land the plane, here's what I want. I want you to land the plane.

Okay. You know, I respect effort. We got to swing big. Art is about taking chances. And if you're asking for my time, you know, get it together before you ask for my time. I think a good companion to this movie is a somewhat more conventional version of not a similar story, but another black filmmaker, Malcolm Washington,

he adapted the piano lesson, the August Wilson play. This movie that played pretty well for me. It's not the bold thing that Nickel Boys is, but it's just the kind of like a rock solid adaptation of a play that takes what could have been a very stagey sort of thing the way that the last couple of august williams adaptations have been very like you know two people stuck

in a house yelling at each other there's plenty of that in the piano lesson because that's kind of the essence of a lot of wilson's work but i thought malcolm washington yes yes fair to be fair uh malcolm washington who's denzel's son yeah this is a big son of situation John David Washington is also in this film he's one of the stars

pretty impressive cast you know the movie is billed in an odd way I wanted to tell you about this Samuel L. Jackson is the first name in the credits

he's maybe the fourth or fifth lead of this movie sure but he's Samuel L. Jackson yes he's the most famous person so for him

and for everyone else you gotta get that out in front but curiously daniel deadweiler who people will remember from till station 11 amazing actress she has a with credit it says with daniel deadweiler i would argue she's the star of this movie it sounds like the netflix intention is to run her as a supporting actress she's outstanding okay dynamite the other standout from the movie and i was stunned watching this was ray fisher who played cyborg in the justice league movies and then was entrenched in that kind of scandal yeah and he just took my breath away i honestly was amazed he was very funny very touching um and so i thought like getting a performance like that out of him spoke

really well malcolm was Washington and what he did. It's a good movie. It's not, you know, it's not. No, I've been hearing good things. The best movie of the year, but it's a good movie. I'm excited to see it. Okay. Let's talk about the surprises.

Right. So surprises meaning surprises to you, Sean Fennessey. Your expectations weren't. They move in both directions. Sure. Okay. I think both of these will appeal to you. The second one, I just absolutely can't wait. I look both directions. Sure. Okay. I think both of these will appeal to you. The second one,

I just absolutely can't wait. I look forward to telling you about it. But I am very interested in September 5th as well, which is the first on your list. September 5th is a movie that very few people

knew very much about. I had actually been invited to a pre-screening of this in August, and I was like, what is this? I don't know what this is. This isn't on my radar

as a pundit. I don't need to care about this. And as soon as we got there, people were like, September 5th, September 5th. This is a very good movie i don't need to care about this and as soon as we got there people were like september 5 september 5 this is a very good movie so it's a movie about the um kidnapping hostage situation at the 1972 olympic games in munich told entirely through the perspective of abc sports which was covering the event in real time it stars peter sarsgaard john magaro ben chaplin and John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, and Leonie Benesch, who you may have seen in The Teacher's Lounge. And it's a process movie about journalism, you know, and a kind of thriller.

I mean, as soon as you explain it and list the actors, I was like, okay, well, now I'm in. It's just really gripping, you know, and really well made. Tim Feldbaum is not a filmmaker I'd really heard much about. He's directed a couple of movies I've never seen. It's not the most complicated, ornate movie. If you compare a movie like this to a movie like Nickel Boys, they're operating in almost completely different forms. That's okay. It is okay.

We have room in the tent. It is. For lots of different types of movies. I agree. This is a movie that does not have distribution. I saw Scott Feinberg in The Hollywood Reporter yesterday. I thought very smartly he wrote a piece that was like, if the right studio comes along and buys this, there's kind of a low-key best picture, best actor kind of campaign here. It's not going to change the world, but it's also a film that is in some ways about the Israel-Palestine conflict, which I think will make it a very complicated movie to communicate about. I read

some reviews of the movie that felt like it really only showed one perspective, which is a fair criticism, I suppose. As a movie engagement, pretty slick and entertaining and emotional. And as two journalists or recovering journalists, pretty trenchant about the ethics of an issue like this and what to show and not show on live television. Right, right, right, right. So the best actor campaign would be for Sarsgaard? So I think that they would push Sarsgaard. And I should say Peter Sarsgaard. And I think that they would push Sarsgaard and I should say Peter Sarsgaard

and maybe I'm spoiling some of my superlatives but he was extremely present at the Telluride Film Festival. Okay, let's just put it put it on hold and we'll talk about that. Because, you know,

I'm finally caught up on Presumed Innocent. I just, I got a lot of thoughts. I've got to say, he's the fucking man. He is, he's an absolute legend. He's awesome in this movie too. He has a scene where

he just yells at some cops and I was like, this is incredible stuff. German cops. John McGarrel's really the lead of some cops. And I was like, this is incredible stuff. German cops. John McGarrow is really the lead of the movie. Okay. Last seen in past lives. Yeah.

One of my favorites. I don't think they're going to position it that way. But John McGarrow effectively plays the sort of director of the day's coverage. And so he's the man in front of the control panel with the team telling them what to do. Peter Sarsgaard plays legendary ABC executive Rune Arledge, who sort of made his name with this and a number of other events. It's a cool movie. Like, Peter Jennings is in this movie.

Howard Cosell is in this movie. You know what I mean? Like, the real people or the… Someone's playing Peter Jennings, but then the real Howard Cosell, the real Jim McKay. Like, it's an interesting blend of the real and the lightly fictionalized. Okay. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Maybe it won't come out this year. I don't really know. But it was nice to sit down for something and be like, this wasn't on my list six months ago. The other surprise, which I saw just for you. Yeah, good. But also, like, shame on you that this is a surprise. Shame on you. This movie I had so much fun with.

Martha. Yeah. The Netflix documentary about Martha Stewart. Directed by R.J. Cutler, who directed the September issue. Yes. And thus has a way with wealthy white women of a certain age. He also directed the Billie Eilish

documentary for Apple. Oh, that's right. And so he's got a knack for earning the trust. I think it's the relative trust of these complex people. Yeah. You know, I have produced like many documentaries like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're hard and they often suck. And I would say one of the most important things, if not the most important thing in a bio doc about a really famous person is the master interview.

The main talking head interview with the key subject. Sometimes they sit one day. Sometimes they sit two days. Sometimes three days. Sometimes they get, you spend two years following someone. It seems like they spent one, maybe two days with Martha, but she is fucking on one in the interview. She is on one all of the time. That is the Martha Stewart experience, including, I mean, you know,

whether it's like spinning sugar and or being like, what did I miss most in federal prison when I went for insider training? Lemons. That is a legit thing that Martha Stewart said. I missed lemons. What a fucking icon.

She is truly iconic in this movie. I did not know hardly anything about the first 40 years of her life. Yeah. And so a lot of that is revelatory. She's incredibly candid. And the film is very clever at talking about her marriage and her family and the sort of like the building of the brand and her iconography and the books and the magazines and all of that stuff for me was new i didn't know any of it once we get into sort of like 1994 i knew a lot more about what we were doing but it was very entertaining it was done actually somewhat similar to the style of amy where the only face you see talking is martha's

you hear a lot of other voices, people in her life, journalists, people giving context throughout the film, but you never see their faces. And she turned over to RJ an insane archive. Yeah. I mean, diaries from the 70s,

photographs from the ages of like nine all the way through the present day. She has maintained everything in her life, as you imagine she might. Yeah, she's scrapbooking. She's doing it all. Yes. I mean, she also still, she's in her 80s.

You texted me that she showed up in gold on my pants to the premiere. She dominated the Q&A. I don't know if you know this, but she kind of started a feud again in The New Yorker this week. Did she? In addition to Martha, the documentary coming out. It's a very exciting fall for me. October 1st, Ina Garten's a very exciting fall for me. Yes. October 1st,

Ina Garten's memoir will be released. Wow. And- They're beefing? Martha told the New Yorker that they were friends, but then Ina cut her off after she went to prison and she found that very hurtful.

Oh, wow. And that's like a real quote that Martha Stewart gave the New Yorker. It's just, what more could you ask for? That's beautiful. She does talk at length. There's a lot of time

spent on her prosecution. Sure. I had not realized that it was James Comey who was the prosecutor of that case, which speaks volumes. The film makes quite a bit

of hay out of that. Yeah. About the show pony diva nature of the James Comey experience. But just a really good version of a movie like this because it's just, she's such a great subject. And she's really like one of the critical women of the 20th century first

female self-made billionaire in history as i said to you it's a an american story like through and through completely fascinating good movie i'm probably hyping it up too much but i think you'll really like it no i'm sure i will have you read her blog? If you guys have any time today, I don't think so. Listen, she was an unbelievable, just like total dissociation blog, like 2014. And like suddenly there'd be a picture of like her dog, like, you know,

and it was like, well, my dog died, you know, but she really loved like chasing straws or something. It was great. During the Q&A, she was asked about social media because, you know, she's like really strong on Instagram and TikTok right now. Yeah, I know.

Bartha is posting thirst traps. That was discussed. That's actually featured in the film. But she had a really funny comment where she was like, you know what I really loved was Twitter, the good old days of Twitter. She was like, here's what we would do. It would be me and a few of my executives and we'd sit around and we would say, should this cake be chocolate or peppermint? And we'd post a poll. And then we would decide based on what the people told us about what the recipe should be. And she was like earnestly saying, I built my business on the back of crowdsourcing on Twitter. What a strange person. person one who hates therapy and is being confronted by probing questions about the

deepest parts of her life and her reaction to it rocks and occasionally reminded me of you occasionally yeah thank you that's great thank you okay i mean but she's never she's never liked questions i'll never forget she did a skincare interview once and they were like so what do you do for clogged pores martha's response I've never had a clogged pore in my life. I did not know she was such a babe as a young woman.

Oh yeah. Like I knew she was you know conventionally beautiful but I didn't you know she was a model and there are a lot of photos of her

like at 22 being radiant in Italy. Cool movie. I liked it. Great. I'm very excited. Big crowd pleaser at the festival.

Speaking of crowd pleasing there were two movies that I have described here as the commercial winners. These are movies that I am betting people are going to like. Right. I liked them both. They are not my favorite movies I saw at the festival. Okay. They have flaws. Yeah.

But I had a great time watching them. And I'm also very curious what you're going to make And God knows we need more of that. I agree. And at the festival, I was like, it's important to have movies like this. There may have been too many bids for commerciality

at the festival this year, but the first is Conclave, which we've talked about quite a bit on the show. Who got it in the auction? I think I ultimately did. You got it. I wonder how successful

this movie will be at the box office. I think it has a chance to be that kind of middle ground, seven, 8, 9 entry in the Best Picture race. This is an adaptation of a novel by Robert Harris, which I had not realized is like a little bit more of an airport novel. And the story is... You're speaking my language. Keep going.

Once again, it's like if it's airport novel and the Vatican is involved, I'm on board. It is about the selection of a new pope and it is just frankly a very thinly veiled satire or portrait of electoral politics and the kind of backbiting and whether it's a criticism of the Catholic church and the way that that is ultimately a place for politics or a criticism of say the American electoral system. There are overt references into the movie about how this is sort of like, you could say it is like a Hillary Trump kind of election. You could say...

Does anyone say hanging chads? No one says that, but someone says, what did he promise you, Secretary of State? That is a line that is uttered in the movie. Okay. So... Children, do you know what hanging chads is? Okay.

Oh, my God. Jack says no. Jack does not know what hanging... I guess you are younger. Yeah, that's like the year of birth hanging i guess you are younger yeah that's that's like the year oh my god so that's listen it's just good to check in with the youth from time to time they're the voting system in the vatican is honestly not that different it is literally writing on paper uh anyway this is a movie starring ray fine stanley tucci john lithgow

isabella rossellini standout performance from an actor named Sergio Castellito, an Italian actor who's phenomenal in the movie. Directed by Edward Berger, who made All Quiet on the Western Front, which I think we were kind of both kind of mixed on. It's like impressive, but not great. Yeah. And it was also like the Netflix's like late push of, okay, what about this for best picture?

And all the international movies, like a war, you know, it was interesting. I liked the score, whatever. Yeah. And this movie also has a very loud and I would say overstated score

listen you haven't said Agatha Christie yet even though you said everyone said it it was just like it's like Agatha Christie who did it and I was just like

I am in it is very Agatha Christie it's great with me it's like Agatha Christie but with voting and it's damn entertaining finds is incredible he plays the sort of the master of the conclave the dean who is sort of managing the

process of finding the next pope and he has a strong relationship to the previous pope and that you know the story sort of unfurls from there it's uh it's just damn entertaining it's very silly and there is a there is a significant twist that will be discussed at length. Listen, airport novel. You know, it's in the Louvre. I liked it. I liked it. I think you will like it, too.

If you don't like it, I'll be quite surprised. Me, too. The second movie is called Saturday Night. So you sent me many updates over the weekend. I loved being in touch with you. I loved hearing your thoughts. I was thinking, I don't want Amanda to feel like I'm not connecting with her no no it was great it was really it was wonderful and i loved hearing about it and i just i saw that saturday night was premiering i saw bill murray

showed up just looking at my phone waiting for the text nothing just you just drove right on by well the reason why honestly is not because i didn't want to communicate with you one the service at these uh cinemas is terrible until you ride honestly and i wish they would fix that but it's probably for the best so you don't look at your phone but i went directly from saturday night to the film the apprentice which is about donald trump and i had to race across to get to the next movie i probably would have sent you some thoughts did you run i hustled i would say i hustled i did quite a bit of hustling this weekend just to get from theater to theater. But got my steps in, as they say. Saturday Night is the comic thriller,

real-time drama about the making of, the moments leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live. It is directed by complex figure of contemporary Hollywood, Jason Reitman. Cast of incredibly exciting young actors. We talked about it a couple times talked about when the trailer came out I liked it I

don't I don't know what to say I think it's I think it's very fun I think it is incredibly what's easily the most well-made Jason Reitman movie shot on 16 millimeter it has a

great look and as as someone who I was chatting with at the festival said it's a little bit of him trying to do his PTA thing you might find that a little obnoxious, but I don't think too obnoxious.

I don't really care. Like I would rather Jason Reitman be doing this than trying to explain motherhood to me. You know what I'm saying? Or making a Ghostbusters movie, honestly. I think if he had to choose, paying homage to his father's generation of great comic talent is pretty good.

The movie, I think, manages to avoid a lot of the tricks of like mimicry where you're comparing the real life figures. A handful of the performers. I was telling Alea that her beloved Dylan O'Brien

as Dan Aykroyd is fantastic in the movie. Hold on. Googling Dylan O'Brien. Corey Michael Smith as Chevy Chase. Who is this? Oh, Maze Runner,

Teen Wolf. Yes. Okay. All right, Alea. I see you. He's really good., Maze Runner, Teen Wolf. Yes. Okay, all right, Alea. I see you. He's really good. Gabriel LaBelle, I thought was good. Some people seem to think

that he was too young for the part of playing Lorne Michaels. I thought he worked. But Lorne is like almost 40 when he launches. 30. He was 30. Okay, he was 30. He was 30.

LaBelle is like 22. He's definitely too young, but I thought he pulled it off. And then the standout from- Wow, Dylan O'Brien was the voice of Bumblebee in Bumblebee. He was. He was. He's a part of my extended Transformers universe.

Thank you to Dylan O'Brien. The standout is Rachel Sennett, who plays Rosie- Absolutely. Who plays Rosie Schuster, who is Lorne Michaels' soon-to-be ex-wife and a key writer on the show. Yeah. And she's a star. Like, she's just a star. I know.

And she grounds the movie and is very, very, very... I don't want to say she's... She's the brain of the movie, I would say. Okay. Cooper Hoffman, terrific as Dick Ebersole.

The movie has pace. It has jokes that are lifted explicitly from the Saturday Night Live books. Okay. It has Michael O'Donohue saying the ferocious, hilarious Michael O'Donohue

things in the movie. People just, like, pop up out of nowhere to be great. Like Tracy Letts just like shows up for one scene and is amazing. You know, it's one of those movies where it's just moving fast. It's 95 minutes. I mean, fun is fun. That's fun. If it's fun, I'm great with it.

Is it the great treatise on creativity in the 20th century? It's not. It's not. I have been trying to figure out if it is an awards movie. Because I think it's a very commercial movie that older people will like obviously

because they're seeing stuff they know and younger people might like because of the cast and the energy of the movie. I don't know if people are going to be like

this is a great film but that hasn't stopped movies from getting nominated for Best Picture before. And if it's feel good and also speaks to a certain audience. The tricky thing is, are the Academy voters of a certain age, do they remember it too well?

I don't know. Because for you, it's like in amber and you've seen the reruns and you've read all the things, but you weren't there. But I wasn't there. Yeah, you're right. So I don't know. It might be a movie that has honestly pitched it someone like me more than well you're not an academy voter well i don't mean specifically me but someone who's like you know somebody between 35 and 50 who loves snl and is interested in its history and has bought the books and listened to the podcast

but doesn't doesn't feel like they own it okay you. You know, like, I don't own what's happening in this movie. It is still a historical recreation. So, I think it's, but I think it's, you know, people have been joking about what does it mean to be

Jason Reitman's best movie, kind of snarkily, but it is among the best made movies that he's done. And he's trying some things in terms of like, you know, follow,

what, like follow moves, the camera. It's fine. I'll see the movie. I'm sure it's nice. I'm sure it's well made. I'm speaking to the audience, Amanda. They want to know about this film. It's of like, you know, follow moves, the camera. It's fine. I'll see the movie. I'm sure it's well made. I'm speaking to the audience, Amanda. They want to know about this film.

It's also like, I'm sure we're going to have to talk about it again. It's a weird awards year. So not have to. I'm sure we will talk about it again. We will. And I'm sure I'll chuckle throughout the film. Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll despise it.

I don't have that kind of hate in my heart. I would be surprised. You know, my friend i have plenty of other places to apply my hate but like i saw my friend david ehrlich at the festival yeah noted contrarian great critic yeah and i saw him before we saw the movie and as we were chatting i was like man i think he's gonna fucking hate this movie and he did hate it he wrote really one of the only deeply negative reviews and i think he found it very solipsistic and pointless. And I can't really argue with the points that he was making,

but the screening was a fucking rock concert. People were so into it. It was probably like the most energetic screening I went to all weekend. And, you know, like you said, Bill Murray introduced it. He was hilarious. Like it was just one of, it could be a festival high. It could be that it was on a Saturday night when we all saw it. But I think it's a pretty energetic and fun movie.

I mean, we all enjoy watching an SNL skit when it's good. I'm sure it will be fine. I don't know if I need to do like eight Reitman deep dives before the awards season. I agree. You can do that on your own time. I won't be doing that either. Okay. The big disappointment of the festival for me was the end.

Oh, sad. This is a musical about a family living in a bunker after the apocalypse. That family is portrayed by Michael Shannon, Tilda Swinton, and George Mackay. Sounds great on paper. Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, who made The Look of Silence and The Act of Killing. Like Rommel Ross, a documentarian trying to port over what he does into a scripted film. And this movie is

two and a half hours and the songs were not good and most of the performers couldn't sing very well. And I really didn't get it at all. And this was like my

most anticipated movie of the festival. I think this movie will make you want to tear your eyes out. I really, I think you will turn into a wolverine while watching this movie. Once you just said two and a half hours, the songs aren't good, the people can't sing. The idea of the movie is very good, which is that, and if you-

My eyebrow just started twitching. Yeah, I can see your face. The idea of the movie is basically like, how do you confront or avoid your responsibility to the world, to your family, to the future? The family that is portrayed in the bunker, we're meant to believe is at least partially responsible for the apocalypse. Right, right, right, right. And so it's a movie about avoidance or not avoidance.

What kind of songs? Are we... Wholly original, bursting into song to explain what's going on in the scene. I know, but is it like a traditional Rodgers and Hammerstein type musical? Are they doing more of a pop musical number? No, no, no. Okay, that would be worse. I mean, it's much more...

It's a sort of quieter, more spare arrangements, but they're orchestra. Okay. And I shouldn't say the songs are bad but they're just not great and so if you're asking michael shannon to sing into camera for three consecutive minutes like they just need to be better yeah and uh i don't know i i i was bummed i don't like it when people sing in the camera uh yeah well emilia perez also features a lot of singing into camera i would say that there's an energy in that movie that even if you don't love what they're doing with one exception there's one musical number that is terrible in that movie but the others are really actually quite good uh musicals are hard they're very hard they were an interesting theme of this

they're amazing when you get them right but you know one of the one of the documentaries that i saw at the festival is also kind of a musical it's called piece by piece this is the pharrell williams lego movie martha loved it she did yeah and then well but it was kind of one of those quid pro quo things because pharrell gave them a song well and gave them a song for the documentary so she was there and she was like i just saw his amazing documentary also thank you for giving me this you know yeah that's like billionaires you know handshake stuff yeah yeah and i don't i don't blame them for that piece by piece complicated many years ago when i was a music journalist i i pitched but never wrote a book about pharrell williams i'm obsessed with pharrell williams i'm less so in the last 10 years since he

has become like the happy guy but But when I was writing about music, I really saw him as I think the movie sees him, which is as essentially like our Quincy Jones. You know, he is someone who has kind of straddled all genres, all audiences. He just has that like pop golden touch that producers before him have had. He's really the first like super producer,

famous person who became an artist in his own right. This movie, which is directed by Morgan Neville, is I thought half brilliant and half empty. The first half of the film, especially when you start seeing the rise of him as a musician coming out of Virginia, out of pretty much total obscurity and getting beats in front of rappers,

I was like... All in Lego. All in Lego. So like Lego Nori talking in detail about finding the super thug beat and learning how to rap along to it and Pharrell helping him write the hook. Like it's classic bio doc stuff

where they interview the famous person and then they tell you the story, but in Lego. And so he does use the Lego animation to some like pretty extraordinary effect like Carl Sagan the host of Cosmos plays a significant part of it

because stars is such a huge theme in Farrell's life so like you get to see like Lego stars and the Lego interplanetary system there's some stuff and underwater

and Atlantis is a big theme for him so you see all that stuff it's pretty cool the stuff I love the most was just him being like and here's how I got I just want to love you to jay-z and then jay-z talks i know lego jay-z i've seen the trailer it's really funny there's a stretch where he goes through

like the first four or five hits when he was at the center of rap that is just candy for somebody like me and i'm just like i just would watch three hours of this no i know it's like it's like my version of okay when the music biopic, they get in the room and then suddenly you realize that they're writing respect. And you're just like, it's respect.

Sure, of course. Yes, that stuff is lovely. But like, this is literally a Lego biopic with Pharrell's cooperation directed by Morgan Neville. Like, I am bewildered by this trailer.

There are a lot of convergences. I would say the movie really had me until the beginning of the end of the second act, beginning of the third act, where it was sort of like, here's Pharrell's challenge. And it was just that he had not written a hit song in like two and a half years or something. Like it just like he had no struggle. Or if he did, he is not forthcoming about what his struggle was. And so he really kind of like closes down. He doesn't talk as much.

He lets like people like Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliott fill in the gaps for a lot of his story. And, you know, it honestly just seems like a guy who for 25 years has been at the center of pop culture and is incredibly wealthy and has a lovely family. Right. And gets to make a movie about his life in Lego. Yeah. So it's not that deep,

but the fun parts are very fun. Do you want to hear about The apprentice i guess so i mean i do you know like we do the backstory i'm very i'm very tired already you're very tired because because i don't know trump is just kind of like beetlejuice to me at this point you know know, it's like if you don't say his name, he doesn't exist. And that's not true. Everybody, you need to go vote against him. Like, please make sure you can vote and make sure that you vote against Donald Trump. And you were going to vote for RFK Jr.

Right, exactly. He pulled out. So, yeah, because he's going to be Secretary of State. Him and the brain worm, they'll share it. And the dog and also the... The bear. What about the bear that he found? I meant the bear, but then did you see there was also like a whale or something? Because

when Ben Affleck was rumored to be dating Kit Kennedy, his daughter, then they unearthed some other story about RFK pulling like a blubber. I mean, see, this is what happens. It's like sometimes we just don't need to get into this arena.

And this movie feels a little bit like, OK, you made a movie and you've you've timed it to the election and you kind of got gifted by controversy. And one of the investors not liking the movie, that investor being Dan Snyder, you know eat it sir and then like so then it like finally gets released and it's the surprise thing and all the MSNBC moms are like we did it like let's go see The Apprentice but like do I need to see this movie like I mean come on well my answer to that question is no yeah that's the thing of course course not. Here's why. You know, it stars Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump, Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump, and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn. All three of them, genuinely,

exceptional in this movie. Jeremy Strong, of course, is the standout. He is a fucking freak of nature. He's the man. He completely transforms into Roy Cohn. He spends 40% of this movie in a bikini with a full-body tan. He's like, spends 40% of this movie in like a bikini with a full body tan. Like, he is a maniac and

so committed and just does the thing that you always say about great actors, which is just like he just disappears into that part. Jeremy Strong is gone and it is Roy Cohn. Sebastian Stan, to his credit, that's a very hard person to play. He's someone, he's probably the most famous person in the world and he's a person whose

particular affectations are so ingrained in our culture because of the way they've been parodied and mocked or celebrated or whatever. And he does a very, he makes a really good choice in the movie, which is that, you know, it's a film that takes place roughly from the mid 70s

all the way through, I think it's the late 90s. Those affectations that we know, the hands moving in and out the this move the pursing and the widening of the lips the way that Trump looks and communicates

they very slowly evolve. He doesn't start in parody. He starts in a more normal form and it is an impressive feat to eventually evolve into this monstrous figure that we know in our history. The problem with the movie is exactly what you might imagine,

which is like we know all of what happened. If you've read one New York Magazine feature about Donald Trump written any time in the last 20 years, you probably know everything that happens in the movie. Right. You know that Roy Cohn is the person who gave him the playbook for how to be a domineering, dishonest titan of industry. You know that trump was heinous

in his personal relationships that he was a shrewd but corrupt businessman you know that he is a kind of like philosopher king in a lot of ways of this very gross sense of the world but that he does have a strong point of view on how to be in the world and how to succeed. Or he did before he became C&L but that's another Yeah but in the 90s you know the art of the deal is like part of the part of the film

and I there were a couple of I guess a couple of moments particularly like the beginning of his relationship with his soon to be wife that maybe I didn't know

as much about that was somewhat revealing and that's maybe the only part of the movie that feels genuinely By soon to be you mean Marla? No no Oh by Ivana um if marla maples doesn't even figure into the film at all but and you come out of the movie and you're like so this is like a bad guy and he is a

figure of what's wrong with the way that we teach people to pursue power in this country. And he's dishonest and immoral. And I know. Yes, I know as well. Yeah. I mean, here's the thing. I don't watch cable news for entertainment. And I don't really feel that I need to watch this for entertainment. I like all of the actors involved. And I am very clear, once again, please go vote.

But other than that, like, I'm good. Yeah. I think if you are an msnbc mom or akin to that you probably will enjoy it or whatever the right word is that is not enjoy um you'll be compelled by the movie but i came out of it feeling gross and kind of bummed out yeah documentaries and also you'd sprinted there and you're in the mountain air you know and also i was coming out of saturday night which was just like a shot in the arm, you know? And then had to sit with that.

A couple of quick documentaries. I saw Will and Harper, which was at Sundance, but I did not see it there, which is about Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, their longtime friends. Harper Steele came out to Will as a woman a few years ago. They documented this journey where they drove across the country together and talked about their friendship and what Harper was going through and her evolution.

And just like a really just heartful movie that just makes you feel good. I thought that was really good. I saw this film Blink by Daniel Rohrer, who made Navalny, about a family whose children, three of the four children or maybe four of the five children in this family are diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease and they will soon lose their vision. And so these children get to ask to go do anything that they want in the world. And so their parents take them on all these adventures to see the world together.

It's a hard movie to watch as a parent, but beautiful and really interesting. I definitely recommend it. It's like a natural movie. We got to move on right now. I'm sorry. I know it's definitely recommend it it's like a Nat Geo movie we gotta move on right now I'm sorry I know

it's just like it's a specific time I wanna like play with Legos on an elephant and then they like go and do it I mean that sounds

really lovely but like I can't watch it right now that's pretty much it those are you know I saw a couple other movies that I didn't love that much maybe we can talk about them

as you quiz me I did miss a bunch of stuff I didn't do a good job with the international films this year I'll probably try to catch those later there were a lot of convergences i'm going to listen to very quickly okay musicals with non-musical leads the end and amelia perez documentarians shifting to scripted the end and nickel boys curious biopics

we didn't talk about maria yeah well we're gonna do venice from afar in a second so obfuscating bio docs piece by piece, and Martha. Some things that Martha would not get into. You might be surprised to learn. And then TikToks about network executives. Great. Saturday night and September 5th. You know, at the end, Sean, you're just looking for representation.

So congratulations to you. Do I relate to Lorne Michaels? Is that why I love that film? What are the superlatives? What do you want to know? Okay. Best celebrity sighting. I mean, I saw Angelina Jolie.

She was there. Yeah. So she flew from Venice where she did like full court press. I think it was Maria was the second night. At Venice. Yes. At Venice. And she and Pablo Lorraine, the director of Maria, came.

Right. Like did the whole thing. Got the standing ovation. You know, everybody timed it. And then flew to Telluride just missing her ex-husband Brad Pitt. You know, one of the great things about Telluride, as I've told you in the past, is that very famous people come and they just sit in the crowd and they watch the movies and they're just wearing jeans and they hang out. And it's not like there's no red carpets, you know, there's no awards given out at the festival. It's just a, just, you're just there to see movies. They do spotlights, right? They do like.

They do tributes. Tributes. And didn't Angelina get a tribute? She did not. She didn't? The tribute this year was Saoirse Ronan was the big star who got a tribute. I mean, I saw her in the boots. She looked great.

She, her film, The Outrun screened, which I had previously seen out of Sundance, which I did not love, honestly. She's very good in the film, but she was recognized. Thelma Schoonmaker was recognized. Sick. I did not go to that tribute, unfortunately in the film but she was recognized Thelma Schoonmaker was recognized sick I did not go to that tribute unfortunately

because it conflicted with a movie I had to see but she's obviously a legend and then the third tribute was Jacques Audiard the director Angelina's getting

a Toronto makes sense we will talk about her more in depth when we get to the next segment of this discussion but you know in addition to that

like I said Peter Sarsgaard he must have seen 10 movies yeah like who was just hanging out going to movies? He was there the whole time. And if you came up to him,

he was super nice. If you didn't, he was fine. I mean, he was just super cool. The king of Brooklyn Halloween sits on the soup. He hands out the candy while, I guess, Maggie, whoever,

takes the kids trick-or-treating. I hope he's a nice person because he seems like the man. Yeah. So he was very present. You know, every single film I saw was introduced by the filmmakers so they were all that's cool all there yeah morgan neville was just wandering

around edward berger was there just wandering around like all it's all very touchable right you know like it's all they're all right in front i'm trying to think of what other big actors were i didn't see sir sharonan but she was there all weekend um oh mike Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Oh, Mikey Madison and the cast of. Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, they were definitely photographed. Yeah,

they and Sean Baker were everywhere. And particularly Mark Eidelstein, who plays the, the, the kid, the young, the Russian, Timothy Chalamet.

I mean, he's unreal. He was everywhere too. He was, he was like at my 9am Maria screening looking hungover as hell. I don't know if he was hungover, but he looked hungover. And he's unreal. He was everywhere, too. He was like at my 9 a.m. Maria screening looking hungover as hell. I don't know if he was hungover, but he looked hungover. And he's amazing in that movie. So those are probably the highlights.

Okay, that was good. Okay. Best rumor that you can share. Best rumor. Like film rumor, you know? I mean, if you know about anybody hooking up, I'd love to know that as well. Well, I don't know about anybody hooking up I'd love to know that as well but well uh I don't know about anybody hooking up you know the one of the one of the rumor the two rumored special screenings were The Apprentice

and A Real Pain and that happened A Real Pain which I mentioned at Sundance as well actually Kieran Culkin was there he's somebody I forgot his hair was really quite something he's phenomenal in A Real Pain that comes out later this fall too um the other rumor was that Nosferatu was going to be the other movie that was going to be there. Okay. So this. Was it there? It was not there. Okay.

This is my pitch to Telluride. I've thought about sending a note to Julie Hunsinger who runs this festival. Okay. I think that they need a midnight portion of the festival. I think the only thing that they don't really do there is genre. Right. They don't show horror movies. A lot of people thought The Substance, for example, should have been at this festival because of what it is and what it could mean in the future.

I think it's an older festival and it's driven by patrons. I do think that they need 11 p.m. programming and movies like Nosferatu should be playing there. You would say that, though. The reason I say this... It's like the meme, the domwami, likely place for him to be. Well, okay, just go with me on this because I've thought about it a lot.

Last summer Talk To Me premieres at Sundance and becomes a big summer hit. This year out of nowhere Long Legs becomes a big summer hit. There is an appetite among young moviegoers for clever original genre horror that still has a modicum of prestige. Right. Nosferatu has obviously a high-end example of that. This is like a real master filmmaker. It's a focus movie.

It's not like a universal movie. Yeah, I mean, I assume that they're saving that more for like an awards push, right? Totally. Well, I'm curious about whether that's going to

happen or not, but at a minimum, I think it's going to be a big box office movie. Yeah. But movies like that would fit in here in part because

I can feel the festival getting a little younger. And this is something young people want. And I'm not saying I can save Telluride because Telluride's doing just fine without me. Right. But I do think that it would give a new character to the festival that would be cool. So that rumor not coming to pass, the movie screening, is a little disappointing. Okay.

I mean, this leads us to biggest disappointment, which you already answered sort of the end yeah the end and not getting to see nosferatu not getting to see nosferatu i mean i saw the friend the new um naomi watts bill murray movie about a woman whose friend dies and she um adopts his dog and uh i didn't really care for that movie very much. Number four, biggest regret or worst personal decision, aka this is the Taste of Things Dinner Award, which to remind you guys, last year at Telluride, Sean was seated next to Ethan Hawke at an opulent dinner served by the team and the chefs

behind the wonderful film Taste of things and you left to go see niad so i do not have anything as dramatic as that story um i i think i clearly i skipped the i skipped every party i didn't go to any parties i i i uh i think i now get invited to things because they know i won't come oh Oh, okay. You know? Interesting. I had a couple of conversations with some publicists about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I didn't go to not a single one. This is the first year I didn't go to a single party.

I didn't do drinks. I didn't go out to any special dinners. Did you like sit at the bar and mingle with people during dinner? There's no time. I don't eat dinner. What did you eat? Granola bars. I had a hot dog.

Okay. I had a gluten-free frozen pizza. This is like. I had a turkey sandwich. This is really, really upsetting. I did some accounting. I did, I had six packs of Twizzlers. Okay. Four packs of Mike and Ike's. Okay. One Reese's peanut butter cups. Yeah. Roughly 38 cups of coffee. Can I, so like a real, can I tell you a real thing that I did this weekend? Because obviously I was getting texts from you and then I was looking at all the photos from Venice.

My phone was serving me a lot of photos of me on water taxis last year at this time, which is sort of. Were you jealous of your former self? Yeah, it was like a pretty dramatic how it started, how it's going for me personally. But so then at one point I was literally like, I was looking at airbnbs on the lido for next year like i put in the dates and thinking about if i could get you also to go but you'll never give up telluride but then i so i was thinking about it and i was like looking at the airbnbs and i was like okay this has enough room but then we got to think about food and i was like literally thinking about like you know what can i like prepare to like make sure

that sean like eats vegetables so that he survives for like 10 days in venice because it goes on forever i i have a counter to your pitch yeah which is that the people want amanda and tell you right i had a number of people that's really nice say that they really they want you to come they want us to do a big dinner there. They want us to do an event there. Like, I honestly could not believe how many big picture listeners were there. That's really, that's really nice. Thank you, everyone. Let's put the rest of the cards on the table.

Okay, so I didn't get Oasis tickets. You tried. I didn't even try. No, no, no. I didn't even try. No, of course. Alayah was asking you when I walked in. First of all, by did I try, I mean, did I sort of like ask my husband if he would try for me and he was like

i don't think we're going to he was like i don't think i should do you really want me to and i was kind of like a half-hearted no um but that proved the right thing because it was like a full ticket master debacle and we wouldn't have gotten them um so again there are rumors that that more dates outside i think they're going to come to the u.s i think so yeah i do so there's there's a rumored date in this time zone that would conflict with the venice film festival last time you were talking dates you didn't have your dates right you know i know that so then and i checked with my source and my source is listening. Is it Liam Gallagher? No. And I know that I didn't have my dates right, but this seems like maybe... So you're not going to come to the Telluride Film Festival, one of the greatest places on earth. I was like, I really want to go back to Venice.

I love the Venice Film Festival. Everyone looked so glamorous. I'll tell everyone that when they ask next year. Where's Amanda? She said no. She can i tell you that george and brad went on a double date to a restaurant that i also dined at last like basically i could have been there with brad and george and brad who yeah just just two guys that i know um i just all the it's everyone looks so beautiful it's right on the water it's venice sofia was there she was wearing culture how nice you know i i as a person who also like doesn't go

to the parties and basically just watches movies marvels at how weird the standing ovations are and then goes and has pasta it's like the best place in the world so i and i i'm guys i really need something to look forward to right now so the other thing though that i could kind of propose to you is that if we do can uh-huh i'm already spoken for next may i have plans i have plans i told you guys when you booked this stupid golf trip that it was at the same time as Cannes, and we have you on record being like, I made a mistake. We should have gone to Cannes this year. I am who I am.

Sometimes I see films, sometimes I golf. Anyway, I'm really glad that people, that you had a nice time at Telluride, and that the people there are aware. I would love to go to a dinner there. It's just... I mean, you would love the parties there too. Because it is.

It's exactly what I'm describing. I mean, you're just. Like, I didn't go to the Netflix party. But Angelina Jolie is just milling around the Netflix party. Yeah. But I don't actually like to meet the people. I don't either. That's why I don't go.

Yeah. That's the thing. I want to go and talk to the publicists and executives that I know. That's what I'm interested in doing. I like the Negroni next to the ocean. That's kind of. That's my guiding light. As always, I support you while quietly mocking you. You know, that's really. That's my guiding light as always i support you while quietly mocking you

you know that's really that's the energy we're bringing what you're saying is that you didn't have any bad personal decisions you just ate granola bars and didn't i don't know what i missed out on that's the thing i don't know what fun night i missed out on and i did see a bunch of friends and you know i i have made over the years so many good friends just from waiting in line to go see movies so many uh so many journalists and just from waiting in line to go see movies. Tell your red friends? So many journalists and publicists and just people that I've gotten to know.

You know, 10, 15 people who I see at every screening. I would love to ask those people how they get you to remove your AirPods and talk to them. Oh, I was so social.

You would have been so proud of me. Yeah, just hang. I mean, my friend Chris Rosen, he and I hung out the whole weekend. We saw like 10 movies together. And so I was with him the whole time. But yeah, I've met some patrons who I just consistently see.

Shout out to my guy, Vince. I hung out with him a lot. All right. I'm proud of you. I've listened to very few pods. Very few. Probably the fewest pods I've listened to over a weekend in years. Yeah.

There weren't that many this weekend. That's true. It was kind of quiet. Yeah. Any other questions for me? The best movie going experience. You're just like, I'm here. It was probably Saturday night. Yeah. Any other questions for me? The best movie-going experience. You're just like, I'm here. It was probably Saturday night.

Yeah. Everybody was fired up. You know, that wasn't the best movie that I saw, but it was the best experience. Okay. In 100 meters, turn right. Actually, no. Turn left. There's some awesome new breakfast wraps at McDonald's.

Yeah. There's the sausage bacon and egg. A crispy seasoned chicken one. Mmm. A spicy end egg. Worth the detour. They sound amazing. Really? They sound amazing. Let's talk about the award stuff. Okay. And we'll dovetail that a little bit into Venice. So let's

hold off on Best Picture for a minute because I do want to kind of game it out with you a little bit. Yeah. Best Actress is very crowded. It was very crowded at Telluride. As I said, there was a tribute to Saoirse Ronan who's been nominated four or five times, four times. She'll almost surely be nominated a fifth time maybe even a sixth time

if she gets nominated for Blitz she could be getting two nominations this year in addition to the Outrun she got the tribute everyone agrees she's a genius

she's just amazing she's always good you know and she has the thing this year where she has both is it the Outlaw the Outrun

the Outrun Outrun and then Blitz the Steve McQueen moviequeen movie yeah so she is i think you're gonna be seeing a lot of her and often in the situation where like a very respected actor has two movies kind of in front of people's faces yes you see like nominations that you might not otherwise see yeah i'm trying to think of what is the other film that Kate Winslet had the year of the reader, but she had a year like that where she had two.

It was a Revolutionary Road maybe. That sounds right, yeah. And it was the same thing where she didn't get, I don't know, I can't recall if she got nominated for both, but she won for the reader and she had to make a decision about what category she was going to run in, but she was really front and center because of that.

She'll be there. Mikey Madison, clearly the revelation of the year. Everyone has fallen in love with Anora. She's fantastic. If I had to bet today, I would bet that she'll be there mikey madison clearly the revelation of the year everyone has fallen in love with anora she's fantastic if i had to bet today i would bet that she will win i don't i don't know i i just i decided that in a couple weeks we're going to do the big oscar bet before you go okay we're going to choose all the categories we never had the follow-up well you got pregnant and then we couldn't have a crazy night you know i was pregnant at the time and you knew that did i know right. Did I know that?

You did know that. Remember I came in with five Chick-fil-A's for Oscar day? Oh yeah, that's right. That was fun. You were pregnant. I forgot. We did it in October of last year, Big Oscar bet. Okay.

This year we'll do it in September before you leave. All right. Mikey Madison, Angelina. So Maria also played. She's running. She's deeply running. To go to Venice and tell your ride, Maria also played. She's running. She's deeply running. To go to Venice and tell you, right, you are running. Angelina Jolie has made roughly like 1.5 good movies in her career.

That's a take I have that I'm sharing. Maria might make a 2.5 because I did like Maria. Yeah, but you're like kind of a mark for that shit. I am a mark for Pablo Lorraine would like to explore a sad woman from the 20th century. That's just something I like. No, you are also a mark for Pablo Lorraine. El Conde. Who, like, makes beautiful things.

Neruda, no. I like him. I think he's a really great filmmaker. Prove that he, like, control-effed through a history book once. That's very rude. These are psychological portraits of complex women in our history.

How dare you? Does Margaret Thatcher show up in Maria at any point? Flying? Aristotle Onassis plays a huge role. Yeah, I know, I know. John f kennedy appears in the film yeah okay among other people great who i don't i can't remember the actor's name okay so it's not like it's not a famous person no um maria is it is more of the same it is the themes of spencer and jackie i would say my power rankings of the trilogy are jackie one maria two spencer three Oh, interesting. Oh, okay. So I like Spencer more than you did. I like this movie a little more than Spencer. Here's the thing that

this movie has. Maria Callas singing opera. Right. All the time. Like over and over again. That's pretty good. It is electrifying. Yeah. In a movie theater to hear this music. So at a minimum, if you like opera, and obviously you and I both do it works. I'm just thinking about seeing Maestro in Venice and all the music and it's so beautiful about theater.

It's powerful and I do think Angelina is very very good in this part. She doesn't sing you know and you can tell when you're watching it. Yeah they said they did

like the quote unquote voice blend thing. There are a couple of instances where they do and you know the movie is kind of framed around this idea of sort of like near to the end of her life and her kind of grappling with the idea of no

longer performing and maybe not having her voice the way that she once did you know Lorraine is interested in like all these themes of like how women are put in boxes and how they're unable to express themselves even if they're the most dynamic figures in the world and you know all the same stuff from those other movies yeah I mean you know you sit here in in that chair feeling deeply the way that maria callas once dead la callas uh but you know it's a great metatextual portrait of angelina jolie same thing i mean she's an incredibly famous person who people constantly talk about and other her and make her feel like she is not of this world in negative ways and you can feel her kind of tangling with that in the movie so So I liked it and people are going to like her.

They're going to think she's great. And it's a biopic of a musician. Well, they are. And I mean, that's the interesting and complicated thing about Angelina Jolie is that people have often not... I mean, she won an Oscar for Girl Interrupted like 25 years ago. It's not like she's uncelebrated. It's become more chilly over the years towards her.

So that'll be an interesting one where she is calibrating this campaign based on sort of like it's time and reckoning with this person. But will people respond to it in the way that she wants them to? I don't know. We're going to find out. That movie was acquired by Netflix, which has an interesting domino effect that I'd them to. I don't know. We're going to find out. Yeah. That movie was acquired by Netflix. Yeah. Which has an interesting domino effect that I'd like to speak to you about. Okay.

So, Carla Sofia Gascon, who is one of the stars of Amelia Perez, is clearly a best actress candidate. I think they will campaign hard for her. I think that would be a historic nomination. She's a trans woman. I do think that Angelina Jolie and that movie being acquired by Netflix puts Angelina Jolie

into the primary position in Best Actress. I could be wrong about that. It also means that Zoe Saldana specifically gets bumped down into a very soft Best Supporting Actress category. Very soft. Like historically soft. We can talk about it in a second.

And then there's a few other movies that we either haven't seen or would be more like outliers. So Amy Adams just saw the trailer in Night Bitch. Did you watch that? No. Doesn't look like an Oscar movie. Nicole Kidman who got raves for Baby Girl at Venice. I mean. I could definitely see something like that happening.

That's going to happen. I don't know anything. I haven't seen Baby Girl. I wasn't at Venice. But it's just like Nicole Kidman just being out here and being amazing. Nailing Harris Dickinson to the wall. Yeah, exactly. Quite literally. Yeah. Just can't wait for that. It's like automatic Oscar nomination. It feels like people she really people really do respect her. They do. And she, you know, continues to take

chances and do interesting stuff. I'm very excited about that movie i was disappointed that that movie was not a telluride one other thing about telluride no a24 movies as i'm fairly certain since a24 started 10 12 years ago that this is the first time that they did not have a film there maybe there was one other time like in 27 2018 or something like that but they almost always have a strong presence there. You know, Zone of Interest was there last year. Very famously, Moonlight was there. You know, like they, Lady Bird was there. They always have a strong, strong presence there. And there were a couple of movies at Venice

and there were like four A24 movies at Toronto. Maybe it was just like the titles didn't match up, but I thought that that was notable. And then June Squibb in Thelma, which we've hardly talked about, but I wouldn't be stunned. She's 94 then June Squibb in Thelma which we've hardly talked about but I wouldn't be stunned she's 94 years old and is good in Thelma

she's doing 94 year old action sequences it's amazing yeah and then Demi Moore in The Substance which is a very very very brave performance

still haven't seen it but I will see it in the coming weeks need you to see it the further along you get in your pregnancy before seeing it is hilarious

I think it will be like basically waiting around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I got nothing else to do. I might as well go see The Substance and then podcast about it.

It's a crazy one. Supporting actress very quickly. I think Daniel Deadweiler who to me is a lead in The Piano Lesson but they'll probably run in supporting.

And then Zoe Saldana. I think they're both lead performances but they're going to be running in supporting. And then after that i don't even i'm trying to game i'm like anjanuella's taylor nickel boys maybe she's not in the movie a whole bunch okay lanny benesh she has really admired actor isabella rossellini who's in conclave i think her part is too small i think we're people surprised to see how small her part was could be

one of those like weird isabella rossellini yeah it could be like alan alden the aviator or something we're like yeah we should just nominate him he's cool we like him like her mother winning for Murder on the Orient Express

good example great example like what are we doing here but also at Zingred Bergman I don't think Selena Gomez will be nominated but she's going to run in that category too

she'll be at the awards she will she will she could sing she performs a song in the film that would be great okay

my money is on Daniel Deadweiler right now well that would I mean I haven't seen the movie, but that's a deserving actor. Makes sense. She's very good. And she, you know, was quote unquote snubbed in favor of 2 Leslie. You may recall her performance in Till.

That was a big controversy. Yeah. Remember that? Wow. I do. Yeah. Yeah. Edward Norton just out here tweeting.

Yeah. Best picture. Okay. Help me out. All right. So Dune 2. Mm- dune 2 i'm gonna write these down while you're talking dune part 2 anora anora i think sing sing because baffled though we are by you know i'll go with you on that a24 is not calling us and sharing their strategies but they

are pretty good at this and I think Sing Sing like it both I think it worried us how much it like smelled of Oscar but also it is is really rewarding in the ways that it

subverts that while also being something that will speak to people agree with you okay let's think what else is coming out so that's two movies

that have come out and one that many have seen at festivals and is agreed upon as a great film this year. Right. Palm Door Winner.

Now what? I'm thinking. Off the top of your head, you, a noted Oscar pundit, can't think of many other movies. Well, that's true.

A lot of people feel this way. This is what I'm saying. That's what's so interesting about this. That's true. I swear I'm not totally checked out. No, I don't think that you are. I think Amelia'm not totally checked out. No, I don't think

that you are. I think Amelia Perez should be strongly considered. Okay. I think it has a lot going for it. It has a lot going for it. That's one that I feel

pretty confident will make the list. So we can put that there. After that, let me throw some things at you. Yeah. Gladiator 2.

I mean, no one would be happier than us. I, yes yes we'll get to that very briefly but um but i haven't seen it i haven't you know and ridley is just is ridley inc he's been ridleying quite some time have you seen the napoleon director's cut yet no because apparently it's only 46 minutes of additional footage and everyone's just like this was boring oh see i i saw i saw the exact opposite i saw that the ridley heads were like once again ridley has shown the studios that they do not see his vision and that they have disrespected but that's because you didn't mute all of the people being like the

brutalist a searing vision of american you know you haven't seen it you can't tell me it's not. If I have to hear one more thing about those fucking 70 millimeter canisters being rolled through Venice to get there on time. I'm thinking strongly. Get me the fuck out of here. Sight unseen. Solo Brutalist pod. Just me for two hours talking about the Brutalist. The Vox Lux guy remade the Fountainhead? Oh my God, help me.

Like, America is in trouble. You're talking about Brady Corbett. This has been the most acclaimed movie out of Venice. Yeah, but listen, it's been acclaimed by, like I said, like a bunch of guys just, you know, with something at Venice Twitter accounts, just being like, Adrian brody is a master and this was a i mean just like pure crazy twitter voice and so i muted all of them and then i guess that means that i didn't

you can't mute me not in this format that's true but you haven't seen it yet i haven't um it got a 10 minute ovation but like a bit like i think the almodovar movie got a 17-minute ovation, but like, the Almodovar movie got a 17-minute standing ovation just because it's Almodovar and Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. And everyone was like, I don't know what's going on here. Yeah, that was disappointing. I mean, that's a movie that a month ago I would have said is definitely going to be on the Best Picture list. Almodovar doing an English-language movie with Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. And it got very, very mixed reviews. That doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Movies don't have to get great reviews to get nominated for Best Picture so it's still plausible to me that that could compete but we haven't seen that movie either. Other potential

Best Picture contenders. I think The Piano Lesson is worth considering. It got like warm but not outrageous reviews at Telluride but there's a lot of pieces there that make sense.

I think it's possible. Okay. Conclave, I think, has the kind of crowd-pleasery but serious thing that feels very old-school academy. You said it was really silly. You said it was just... But did the two popes get nominated for Best Picture? I believe it did.

Right. I also think it's impossible to discuss this without the twist. Okay. I mean, it is also like silly things dressed up in like fancy clothes get nominated all the time. And I often enjoy it. So I'm not saying that in a negative way. And a tremendously prestigious cast.

Yeah. And both Fiennes and Stanley Tucci are excellent in the movie. So that alone could elevate it up. So I'll just say- And the Academy does have an Edward Berger thing. Yeah. I mean, obviously he's been there before.

So I'll write down Conclave. I'll write down Gladiator 2. Do you want to write down The Brutalist? To me, my gut is it's going to be too arty. I could be wrong. I'm going to write down The Piano Lesson, even though, you know. Oh, no, I think Piano Lesson, that's a good one.

Okay. I haven't seen it yet. So that gives us two, four, six, eight films. Okay. Two Popes, by the way, was not nominated for Best Picture, but it was nominated for Adapted Screenplay, as well as Actor

and Supporting Actor. Thank you. So Hopkins and Price were nominated? Yes. Both Popes. Interesting, okay. Two for two on the Popes.

Those two Popes. Yeah. I think that was the original title, was those two, or them two Popes? Damn, comma, two Popes. Well, that could have been the title of conclave too uh saturday night sure put it in i don't know i haven't seen it it's a soft year yeah it's a soft year they loved juno you know they did they did love juno they love it they love a docudrama yeah they love

a recreation. Yeah. Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for Best Picture. No, I know. I mean, that's why I'm like, should we be talking about A Complete Unknown? That was going to be my next. Okay. So I'm just going to, let's write down 13 or 14 and just say this is what we're working from.

Okay, I'll put Challengers on. Okay. I was going to get there. I had intention of getting there. So you said A Complete Unknown. I think you're right. We don't know. It's not playing any festivals.

But it's coming out at Christmas and you'll see it with your dad and they'll just be like, wow, Bob Dylan. I won't see it with my dad, but you may see it with your dad. Right. Oh, I don't know. Oh, that would be fun. I'll probably see it with you and you'll just be like crying and really angry and I'll be like, it's okay.

Okay. Thanks for honoring me. The other night I walked into Zach's office. He's been like rearranging stuff in advance of the baby. You make it sound like he's the star of the Fountainhead. And he was just like alphabetizing books and blasting Dylan at like 845 on a Saturday night. And I was like, this is some real dad shit. Like this is, you've reached the next level.

No, I don't. I was just kind of like, lol. Okay. And then I tried to give him his space. I was just kind of like, lol, okay. And then I tried to give him his space. You know, we all have our ways of coping. Yeah, he's about to be a father of two.

That sounds very challenging. Yeah. How about Blitz? Steve McQueen's new movie that is not premiering in any of the signature festivals is premiering

at the London Film Festival. Like, do you understand what it's about? I do, but if you talk to anybody in the business, they're like, this is not. That's nothing. Yeah.

Okay. Then it's doing New York. It is doing New York. I think it's the, is it the closing night film in New York? The opening night film is Nickel Boys.

I think the centerpiece is The Room Next Door and the closing night film is Blitz. Okay. I am going to the New York Film Festival as well. Very excited.

Well, we'll leave for you. Yeah. Where will you be? I will be on my couch. Okay. It's tough. I'm going to write Blitz down even though I don't believe in it. Okay.

But I haven't seen it, so it's a pointless statement. Anything else? Challengers. So, you know, I went on Katie Rich's podcast last week and I said this. This was my big, she was like, what's your big theory with award season yeah and I said I'm not counting challengers out and the reason why I'm not is because three of the last five guests on the show directors when I said what's the last great thing that you've seen they've said challengers yeah everybody that I know likes challengers now that we get through the year it's kind of like maybe with Saturday

night at the festival where I was like when I look back i'm like that's pretty good i like that yeah i think people are going to look back on the year in movies and i'm like challengers auteur film energetic and exciting young movie stars fun script good music this is a good movie and i i think there's a a weirdly good chance that it might, assuming Amazon pushes it correctly and gets it back in front of people, that it could get nominated. You agree? I do. I think also, obviously, Luca Guadagnino had Queer,

I think it premiered like tonight, you know, today, like while we were recording. But that campaign is very much on. And so when Luca is out front and center, I think, you know, all his children will come together. I haven't seen queer, but I have been told by many people that it's deeply strange and that it is more Suspiria Luca. Okay. With, you know, that it is. But you can also see.

Call me by your name. If Daniel Craig is campaigning and he's out there, he's already in the new Laueve fall ads, which is the Jonathan Anderson brand who also did all the costumes for challengers. So I'm just like, they're all going to be back out front and center. Jonathan Anderson was at the premiere. They look like they're having a great time. Rachel Weisz looks great. You know, Daniel Craig has long hair now. I don't know how I saw that. It's like they're having a great time. Rachel Weisz looks great. You know, um, Daniel Craig has long hair now.

I don't know how I saw that. It's sort of doing the Tom Cruise thing, but, um, so I think that there's like a lot of room for like the Luca awareness to come back in the later half of the year, which is a important part of nominations is being on people's minds. A24 picked up queer. Yeah. They're obviously, I don't think. A24 picked up Queer. Yeah.

They're obviously, I don't think that film has a release date yet. No. I think it actually helps challengers that Queer is a little bit more challenging. Yes, right. I'm putting The Brutalist on the end of this list. Okay. When's that coming out? It does not have a distributor.

So it may not even come out this year. Okay. When you look down at the list of potential distributors, Netflix just picked up Maria. A24 just picked up Queer. I mean, both are likely places for them to be. Yes, they are. And Searchlight has got Complete Unknown. Yeah.

Focus has got Conclave and Nosferatu. All of the likely homes for a movie like that are kind of filled. Maybe there's a Sony Pictures Classics potential there. Oh, they have the room next door.

Neon's got a Nora. Yeah. I mean, it seems like Neon in a next year release, right? That feels like the right home for it.

Yeah. Just based on what we've read and we haven't seen it. But, I don't know if it's going to get in or not this year. We'll see. Okay.

Am I forgetting anything? I'm sure you are. But I don't know if it's going to get in or not this year. We'll see. Am I forgetting anything? I'm sure you are, but I can't think of it right now. Oh, Joker, Fully Ado. Oh, sure. Which is still not premiering. Right, Lady Gaga is in Venice. She landed.

Great. Where's Joaquin? They're also there, but she, I mean, she showed up with an engagement ring that like the size of... Who's she engaged to? The guy she's been dating

for four years. This was confirmed by the French prime minister during the Olympics. Keep up. The French prime minister confirmed that Lady Gaga is engaged to who? To some guy. But like of no note? No, I don't like. He's like a manager or something?

I don't know. A manager? I don't know what he's doing. Like a manager of artists or like a manager of a baseball team? No, like a manager of artists. Okay. Though a baseball team would be more fun. Lady Gaga is deserving in love.

Of course I agree with that. I didn't know that the guy from Industry is in Joker Folia De. Which guy from Industry? Rob. Oh, Harry Lottie. Harry Lottie, aka British Trey Turner. I have not seen last night's episode of Industry or two nights ago. Do not spoil it for me.

Okay. I sat with someone throughout the festival, a journalist who binged the entire third season and said it's the best season of TV seen in like five years. I have a good friend who also binged the entire third season and is very into it. I can't believe you just went past British Trey Turner with like absolutely no. Can you see it? It's like, it's really, really apt.

I don't, we don't recognize Trey Turner on this podcast. Well, you did this weekend. I didn't watch any of the games. Okay. Did he play well?

I think he played okay. Trey Turner, shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. Sure. Significantly, the second best shortstop in the National League East

after Francisco Lindor. Oh, is he, he's a shortstop? He is a shortstop. He's the shortstop in the National League East after Francisco Lindor. Oh, is he? He's a shortstop? He is a shortstop. He's the shortstop in baseball. I knew about him because you guys say his name a lot, but I didn't know he was a shortstop.

Let me just be clear about this. He's the fucking man. Okay. He's so good. That's great. And it's wonderful what's happened where he has become fully embraced this year by New York

and he deserves it. I love him. Let me throw something at you. Okay. Wicked part one. I thought about it. It's not insane. It's a part one. throw something at you okay wicked part one i thought about it it's not insane it's a part one i just don't see a part one getting nominated those two women are working so hard and i like i respect it and they just and they have to wear like crowns everywhere

they go they all everybody needs that movie yeah i know but i just you mean cynthia revo and ariana yeah yeah um i just don't care like i just don't care about that i couldn't care less No, but I just... You mean Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Yeah. Yeah. I just don't care. Like, I just don't care about that movie. I couldn't care less. And I guess I will have to see part one at some point in order to cover part two. I don't know. Maybe you won't.

You think they won't make part two? No, I think it's probably made already. So then probably I wouldn't... Well, Juliet's going to come on the pod to talk about part one. No, I know. So maybe she just comes on part two every year like I

well not every year every baby I have like one is it a mulligan where I'm just like oh I missed that one what was the first one it was the Northman

oh and so I was thinking but I'm gonna see Nosferatu because of awards and stuff and I'm coming back so soon but maybe Wicked part one

is my mulligan uh well tell you what if you want it to be and you don't want to have to see Part 2. Or you could see Part 2 without seeing Part 1. I think I want it to be Night Bitch, respectfully. That's just really not my... You're really going to be mad when you watch the trailer.

I'm not going to watch the trailer. Okay. That's the thing. That's my black licorice. I have never liked a Mariel Haller film. You hate Amy Adams. I don't hate her. You think she's an absolute fraud.

But I am with her. With Bill on my feelings you're with her hillary clinton hillary clinton was in telluride why they were the documentary called zarosky versus texas about the people who are suing the state of texas for abortion rights okay well you know what that's doing something important okay so that's i didn't see that film actually one of the most crowded you and jason Reitman leading the women's rights movement. Well, I did see Andrea Arnold's Bird. Okay.

Also about a young woman. Yeah. At the same time that Zyrowski. I didn't love Bird, unfortunately, for me. Did you see the Swim to Bill documentary? I didn't. I did see Swim to Bill. Oh.

He was a sighting. He was very present. Swim to Bill, legendary swimming teacher here in Los Angeles. Yes. Often employed by the modestly elite of LA to teach three-year-olds how to swim in pools. Or the very elite. Or the very elite, such as Rashida Jones, who I believe her swim teacher was Swim to Bill. Yes.

And she made a short documentary about him that was playing here. That was a very funny Instagram photo that she had where she said the two most important Bills in my life, and it was Swim to Bill and Bill Murray in the image. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, I didn't see the Swim to Bill movie. All right. I've got to tell you, at the pool this weekend, I met the most incredible.

I met like two-year-old Michael Phelps. Oh, really? And I don't think he was a Swim to Bill graduate. It was just like a kid doing the worm in the pool and he was like two years old. Oh my God, he was amazing. I loved him so much. Wow.

So that was the scene. That's intimidating. That's the scene from my God, he was amazing. I loved him so much. Wow. So that was the scene. That's intimidating. That's the scene from... No, it was great. It was joyful. Okay, great. So that's the pool report. That's nice.

For this week. I missed out. Let's just recap this quickly. Okay. I think we have between 15 and 16 here. Dune Part 2. Enora. Sing Sing.

Emilia Perez. Conclave. Gladiator 2. The Piano Lesson. Saturday Night. A Complete Unknown, Blitz, Challengers, The Brutalist, Joker, Folly, Ado, Wicked Part 1, and I've added Nosferatu to the end of the list. Yeah. I think that's an outside likelihood. I think, as always, I think this list is too American.

And there will be some stuff, you know, that you, you know, in your blinkered way, you skipped all the international films i did had i been at venice the films that i've been able to fulfill my role as the citizen of the world then i would be able to report whose fault is that it's this fucking baby yeah i know take it up with him um the two the two movies i've heard the most about that could fill that slot that international slot are all we imagine is light which may or may not be India's submission, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which I don't want to get this wrong. I want to say it's potentially Germany's submission. That sounds right. Those films seem to have the most buzz coming out of the festivals. They both played Cannes as well, but I haven't seen either one of them.

Another movie that I, two other movies I didn't see quickly, Memoir of a Snail, which is an animated movie by Adam Elliott, which got rave reviews. I don't think that's a Best Picture movie, but seemed to be liked. I didn't see Better Man. I was warned off of Better Man. This is the Robbie Williams biopic. Oh, sad. Yeah.

Unfortunately, it always conflicted with something else that I was already committed to seeing. I saw some wild reviews in many directions that some people despised it. Some people really liked it. It's from Michael Gracie, the director of The Greatest Showman. You know Robbie Williams is represented in the film as a CGI monkey, right? No. That's true. Okay. What am I supposed to do with that?

I'm waiting for you to respond. Take your time. i'll wait it's like i do actually need a documentary explaining robbie williams to me an american you know because it's a very insular british thing yes obviously like i know you know but i why is he a cgi monkey what about take's I want you back I mean I do I like take that but I remember I once watched a clip of Graham Norton on Graham Norton of another take that member who like I I can't name I don't know who it is talking about how COVID Jim Johnson COVID changed his life because he could finally like go to the grocery store and not be mobbed and I was like sir you could be my next door neighbor. You know, like, just come here. It's a certain,

it's a stripe of anglophilia. I know, exactly. So I would like a normal documentary. I don't know why we need to bring CGI into it. I'm going to see that movie. It's a Paramount movie. It's a bit curious to me

that Paramount is opening that movie wide in America when nobody knows who Robbie Williams is. But some people seem to really like its oddity and creativity. Let's talk about

most anticipated films. Okay. So you've put one on here that you've already seen. Yeah, but that was- You want to just represent it for the people? Yes.

Okay. Because I thought it was like unfair to this movie. To lord it over people? No, no, no, no, no. But it wouldn't be reflective of the state of the fall if we didn't mention it one way or another.

But you're not anticipating the film Saturday night? Believe it or not. I'm just going to see it. Maybe that's, you know, I don't have high expectations. I don't have low expectations. I'm just going to go have a time at the movies. What's your fifth most anticipated movie of the fall? It's Queer because I'm a fan of Luca Guadagnino and Daniel Craig.

Okay. And sex in all its forms. So... I'm a fan of all those things as well. There we go. My number five is a little movie called Juror No. 2 directed by, perhaps you've heard of him,

Clint Eastwood. Sounds like this movie is coming out. Great. I'm not quite sure the ways in which it will be platformed by Warner Brothers, the Warner Brothers Corporation where Clint Eastwood has been making movies

for six decades but it's a courtroom drama thriller starring Nicholas Holt it's more or less all we know and

I mean can you imagine the crazy Clint Eastwood pod I'm gonna do when this movie comes out it sounds like it could be anywhere between November

and January for when it comes out but I think it's gonna come out this fall remember when we saw the mule together? Fucking rocked. Bradley Cooper just showed up for. Yeah.

It's like FBI guy. Number two. Man, that's a good way. My number four. I don't care what you say. Blitz. I have respect for Steve McQueen and Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson.

I've heard that those two plays very supporting roles. I mean, listen, I think, do you know how the blitz went? that those two play very supporting roles. I mean, listen, I think, do you know how the Blitz went? I think everybody played a supporting role. Who would you say is the lead? Like, the bombs.

Adolf Hitler? I mean, I don't know. It wasn't great, okay? So, you can't count on anyone. Understood. I'm looking forward to Blitz, too. You know, I'm not going to write

a scene with him. One of my favorite directors. I'm still choosing to believe in The Room Next Door. I'm looking forward. My number four is Almodovar's new film. Even though it seems like

the transition from Spanish to English has caused some issues. The short film that I saw at Telluride last year with Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke was not his best work.

And this film's getting mixed reviews. But I love, love, love But it was still very beautiful and stylish. It was. It looks great. These movies always look great. A lot of flair. What's next for you?

Baby Girl. Let's go Harris Dickinson. Are you kidding? You know, like, you did, I did feel seen and supported by you because you just started sending me pictures. Like, no commentary. You would just send me pictures of Harris Dickinson from the Venice red carpet. Where, let's be clear, he was on one. Wait, did he have a mustache?

I don't, I mean, do you call it a mustache? Do you like a mustache? Not really, but sometimes I don't mind it. Do you think I should grow a mustache? No, I don't. Why? Because I would just look like a cop? Well, it would be sort of gray, right?

So that's sad. No, the mustache is the only thing that's not gray. It's not? What color is it? It's brown, like my hair. Okay. No, I don't think that you should. But also like...

It's not very supportive. I think that's not a good decision for you. And I think it was a good decision for Tom Selleck. You know what I'm saying? So... Well, I can't argue with that. This is literally the greatest mustache since Wyatt Earp. Sure, but it's just like we have to be case specific.

That's all I'm saying. That's no way to live. But Harrison Knisson is doing more of like a... You're either the Einstein or an idiot. It's more like I both like haven't showered in a week and I'm like impeccably groomed, you know? Which is like a very special... What do you think he smells

like? I don't really think that this is an appropriate conversation to have on the podcast at some point. But I just... Let me say once again that I... like um i i don't really think that this is an appropriate conversation about him but i just let me say let me say once again that i i called my shot on this early and now everyone is like oh do you know about harris dickinson and i'm like yeah i do how much money will you be paid for that shot called not that i just want him to be respected i want him to be in gq my husband's not listening everyone else you know what I was wondering about? This is really.

It's just us here. Do you think that our spouses listen to this podcast more or less than Taylor Swift listens to Travis Kelsey's podcast? Oh, my God. I know for a fact yeah that aileen is pretty out of the rotation on the big okay so i think there's a i think it's more than likely okay that taylor listens to travis's pod more than aileen listens to this show okay but i don't think that's a judgment on us i just think she's a judgment on us. I just think she's not caught up on movies at all at this stage of her life. Sure.

And also maybe secretly harbors a tremendous hatred for me. And also is like, gets this, you know. She gets it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm literally on the phone with her from Telluride. And I'm like, and then I saw this movie. And then I saw this movie. She's like, all right, God damn it. It's been 25 years of this. Sometimes like when I start,

when I, when we're with other people and I start like, you know, trying to be social and make jokes, I can see, like, this look of fatigue on Zach's face. And I'm just like, yeah, yeah, I know. You know, you see this. Zach said, I asked Zach this last night. And he was like, I think I'm probably even. But then he pointed out that Travis and Jason Kelsey don't publish as often, so Taylor has the advantage. Oh.

Are we talking, like, a pure minutes perspective? I don't know. I think it's, so Taylor has the advantage. Oh. Are we talking like a pure minutes perspective? I don't know. I think it's really just who's the better podcast spouse, you know? And I'm not married. And is it... And you and I are married. I have my 15-year wedding anniversary this month.

I know, that's really crazy. 15 years. Yeah. Happy anniversary. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah, it's great. I love being married.

I'm looking forward to seeing Baby Girl also Nicole Kidman rules yeah I left this for you but this would also be on my list I really liked both of Helena Ryan's movies Bodies Bodies Bodies

and Instinct and I've been told this is much more like Instinct her first film in terms of tone and people I think people like

that movie more my number three is Nosferatu we've already talked about it Robert Eggers' Christmas release adaptation of The Legendary Vampire Story it's beautiful that there are things that are made for you in

this world you know this is probably number one now on my list for the rest of the year um and complete unknown is the most terrifying except for the literally the list that you made that we're looking at where you put something else at number one yeah but it's just for fun okay my number two is the aforementioned anora which i've seen yeah which i loved yeah uh i'm excited for other people to be able to see it me as well my number two

is The Brutalist I have no idea if it's coming out but I saw the tweets and I was like absolutely you're saying to me that this is a film

about an immigrant coming to this country but it's like there will be blood and it's about America and pain and struggle and success

and architecture and love and devastation and the awfulness and the greatness of this world. I do like Adrian Brody. Adrian Brody, Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones. I like two out of those three people. How dare you blaspheme Felicity Jones?

Very much. I mean, name a movie where she has a pulse. She's in a very good, oh shit, what's that movie called? I'm going to look this up. This is not good podcasting. We're almost what's that movie called I'm gonna look this up yeah this is not good podcasting we're almost done here guys I'm sorry

I would argue that this is this is where the real magic happens well she's in Rogue One oh yeah that's good and she's good in that I like that I like her in like

I like her in the movie Like Crazy that's the movie I was thinking of but she's the one in Rogue One who just has to like look confused but determined the whole time

you know yeah but in a steely way uh it's not that steely I can't say I'm a fan of the theory of everything or on the basis of sex or the aeronauts none of those movies are interesting what was the George Clooney movie she's in a George Clooney movie yeah that he directed for Netflix and it's like about space oh yeah uh that movie is called The Midnight Sky. Yeah. Which wasn't very good.

Okay. What else? Not a lot of good movies. Okay. The Brutalism is... I've chosen to believe. I know that I... Have you seen The Childhood of a Leader, Brady Corbett's first movie?

No. Robert Pattinson? But I hated Vox Lux. I know. I didn't like it either. With such a passion. And what I hated about it was... It's ostentatiousness.

The fake intellectualism. I was like, this is a movie that a person who doesn't get it but thinks he really gets it is making. And so that doesn't bode well for a three and a half hour movie that is responding to the fountainhead. You know what I'm saying? Shot in VistaVision projected in 70 millimeter. I mean, I just like clip after clip. There's an intermission. I recognize the hallway that they're opening the door, you know,

and there go the canisters. Enough with the canisters. Like preserve film, shoot on film. I think it's great. Just talk about it less, you know? Okay. Do more, say less are you saying this to me or to brady or sometimes you're like a little just do more say less that's

what i had to say okay there's nothing wrong with canisters not inherently anyway what's our number one gladiator two let's go you know it's gotta be good i need it to be good yeah need to be good i mean i will have a great time no matter what but i too would like it to be good instead of bad that's that's sort of my philosophy about going to the movies i'm getting increasingly excited about denzel washington in the film increasingly yeah i'm a little i'm still a little worried that they put his whole performance in the trailer and that he's in 10 minutes of the movie i'm hoping he's actually like a best actor contender. Okay. Like I really hope that's the case.

That would be really fun. We'll see. And then all three of them are campaigning together for their various categories. That would be lovely. Yeah, the family. Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice.

Any other thoughts? I like movies. You have a conclave as an honorable mention. Yeah, I mean, I'm really looking forward to it. It sounds preposterous, but in the best way. What about here? The Robert Zemeckis film starring Tom Hanks?

We recently... What did we see the trailer before? Was it before Trap? Yeah. Speaking of. Did you show off your shirt? Oh, yeah, my shirt. So I ordered this

because I needed new shirts because nothing else fits. I think I was like in the waiting room at the doctor. For those of you listening at home, you're wearing a Josh Hartnett shirt? Oh yeah.

It's like one of the meme shirts but it's for Josh Hartnett. It's like a cash money t-shirt but for Josh Hartnett. Oh okay. They're telling me to

put the computer down and then you can see it. You can also see my giant but actually the sizing worked out quite well for this phase of my life.

Sure looks great. Everyone who didn't like trap is just we don't see eye to eye but and we don't have the same what about the film here so we saw the trailer and you turned to me and you were like this is gonna work i think so it it could work i think it might also be that the trailer really works and then the movie doesn't work. I'm watching the trailer with you. Yeah. You're in this state.

This state. It really is a state at this point. I'm about to watch the Girl Dad movie of all time. And this trailer hits and yes, as I've seen all good people is playing and they're going through the course of the life of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Penn. They have a fucking daughter. Yeah. Until they have a daughter and he's laying on the ground in the living room where the entire film is set reading to his daughter.

And I'm like, this will be a good film. I mean, this will be. No one believes in the power of Tom Hanks more than me, as you know. Well.

And like, and this specific saccharine shit that you're just like, well, but it worked. Robert Zemeckis has made two movies with Tom Hanks.

Those movies are what? Forrest Gump. Yes. Cast Away. Yeah, but what are the last five movies that Robert Zemeckis has made? Let me see if I can do this off the top of my head. Pinocchio. Abominable.

Was that the one where he was a fascist? Yes, that's correct. Okay. The Witches. No, that was Guillermo del toro's yeah you're right that was yeah no no he wasn't a fascist he was just a just a marionette um pinocchio the witches oh yeah starring in hathaway yeah it was welcome to marwin the previous film time that? Yeah. Yes? Yeah. Welcome to Marwen and then

God, what was before that? I don't even know. It's not Beowulf or the Polar Express but is there another motion capture film

that was before that? Jack, can you help me out? Oh my God. Allied. Whoa. Brad Pitt, Marion Cotill help me out? Oh my God, Allied. Whoa. Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard movie that does not exist.

That was so bad. And what's before that? That's gotta be, is Beowulf before that? Oh, The Walk, I think is okay. I think The Walk's kind of cool. That's Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the recreation from the documentary

about the French balance beam across the Twin Towers. You didn't like that movie? It's a little theater kid for me. It's not as good as The Doc. I'm just, I'm still stuck on Allied, which is like a World War II spy movie starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

Very in your zone, and it didn't work. It was quite bad. Welcome to Marwen, a world historical failure that I find fascinating. Also an adaptation of a documentary. I also don't know if I can take Robert Zemeckis seriously after, and I've said this before, but that joke in the Charlie Kaufman movie. Yeah. It was just kind of.

You nailed it to the wall. That was a career ender. Yeah. But it could still work. And I'm thinking of ending things. There's a fake Robert Zemeckis movie. That's what you're referring to. And it is very funny.

Okay. I think that's all the movies. I think that's everything from the festival so you you returned renewed and excited i feel horrible oh okay i was saw five movies a day for four days straight and then i got on a plane got home at 10 o'clock and then got my daughter at 6 30 in the morning i mean it's this is a crazy life we're leading yeah uh but i'm very lucky also yeah so okay i have gratitude and also i'm in pain okay which is the story of my life you get any time off or just like straight back to the-

From when? When am I going to take time off? We're entering the Thunderdome. It's awards season, Amanda. I know. Trust me. I know. I've got plans.

I've got movies to see as well. You do. Yeah. Like a substance. No, I was going to say it's a big week for us. First day of school and Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. It's all happening. Highs and lows.

What will be the high and what will be the low? Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice get a three minute ovation at Venice. Not ideal.

That, that is like just like spitting on someone's face. A little more muted than I was hoping the reaction would be in that movie.

Nevertheless, that is what we'll be talking about later this week. We'll be talking about Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

We won't say it three times Tim Burton Van's going to join us to talk about the movie thanks to Alea Zanaris thanks to Jack Sanders thanks to our producer Bobby Wagner

for his work on this episode thank you to everyone at Telluride who was nice to Sean thank you very much to the people at Telluride especially the people who go to the festival

and care about movies you guys are the best and I appreciate you thanks for listening to the show we'll see you later this week