The Big Picture - The Brad Pitt and George Clooney Movie Draft

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

We are drafting again! Sean and Amanda are joined by Chris Ryan and Zach Baron to pick their faves and foil their pals in a draft of the movies from Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Chris Ryan and Zach Baron Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner Video Producer: Jack Sanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're a fan of the inner workings of Hollywood, then check out my podcast, The Town, on the Ringer Podcast Network. My name's Matt Bellany. I'm founding partner at Puck and the writer of the What I'm Hearing newsletter. And with my show, The Town, I bring you the inside conversation about money and power in Hollywood. Every week, we've got three short episodes featuring real Hollywood insiders to tell you what people in town are actually talking about. We'll cover everything from why your favorite show was canceled overnight, which streamer is on the brink of collapse, and which executive is on the hot seat. Disney, Netflix, who's up, down,

and who will never eat lunch in this town again. Follow The Town on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Sean Fennessey. I'm Amanda Fennessy. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about George Clooney and Brad Pitt. CR is here, of course, and a special guest, the Doug Emhoff of The Big Picture. It's Zach Barron. I hear you guys have a great podcast, so I'm really excited to check it out.

This is their first time hearing us speak into microphones, Zach. That's not true. You've been on the show before, but you're here for a very special reason. You recently profiled George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the pages of GQ. I guess interviewed them. It was more of a, would you describe that as a feature, a profile? I would describe it as an interview. Okay.

I just want to get into the text here. A free-flowing exchange of ideas. Yeah. It was more of a written pod? I would say I've written interview. Okay. I just want to get into the text here. A free-flowing exchange of ideas. Yeah. It was more of a written pod? I would say I've written features. Yes, yes. We conducted a podcast in the south of France. Yeah, I've done features with both of them, but I would call it a feature Q&A interview.

Okay. Find on profile. So we're drafting their movies on this podcast. That's it? You don't want to talk about Miraval? You don't want to talk about our trip to France? I will be circling back. It's all going to come up.

Just take a deep breath. This is just setting up the conversation. George Clooney and Brad Pitt have a movie coming out together. They've starred in movies before in the past. I just want to talk about the man-made lake for a while. You're going to have plenty of terrain to trample upon. I promise you. You guys did go to France

that's where the interview transpired you did not go to the interview setting which I think is probably that was was that George's call Brad's call

that was my choice and that was and I don't you're gonna catch plenty of heat in this episode Zach but I don't want you to catch heat

for that for whom who will he be catching I mean for the three of us and certainly for me. I'm not doing anything. Zach is my brother.

Just to be clear, you and I have made it past mirror ball security. I don't know what scenario you're entertaining in your head. You did describe it. It was like very imposing. No, this is the time to paint a nice supportive picture of our marriage before things get ugly. This is the time? What about all the episodes of the big picture before this yeah i'd like to worry about that actually listen you're gonna have plenty of time so we we did go to france um the movie's called wolf's

and because it was over memorial day weekend and it worked out and my parents came to stay with nox so we we got to go to paris and then you were like are you sure you don't want to try to come to the south of France with me because we like we flew to Paris spent some time in Paris and then you were going down to Mirabal but there was like a what kind of traffic strike was it I'm sure Brad Pitt's fans are extremely excited to hear about this there There was a traffic strike? Yeah, there was a traffic controller strike. Yeah, and a traffic controller. Yes. At the, what's the other, what's the, at Orly.

And then there was a F1 race. So all the trains, yes, all the trains were sold out. Tough to get to the south of France at the time. Right. And also, as you pointed out, I would have been kicked out by security. But also, like, it was a work event. It's not like they were just going to set up a chair by the pool for me and, like, pour me rosé. No.

So I opted to stay in Paris by myself, which was not a punishment. And you went. But you would have made the effort. That's all. Right? Yeah, yeah. To find you a hotel room somewhere in the south of France at a safe distance from a property that you were not invited to. Yes, I would have done that.

This is the energy that you're bringing to this. I just, it's noted. We're seven minutes in. And if this is how you want it to go, then I want to let you know that that's how it's going to go. I'm going to make safe harbor for Zach by circling this conversation right back to the story. So you've interviewed both of these guys before. I said, do you want to sit next to her? I like the thing I'm sitting next to Chris right now.

How'd you find them at this stage of their lives? They're like, these guys are, are they 60? They're just about 60. Brad is, I believe, 60 and Clooney is 63. Okay. And I think the last time I interviewed Clooney was 59. And Brad, I don't know how old he was. I think it was like.

It was pre-pandemic. Probably 56 or something. And Clooney is like getting deeper into his just like dad loafers, polo, khakis. Maul was there. Amal was there. The kids were there. They seemed like everybody was doing great. He actually lives near Brad and Miraval, but they had never been to each other's houses before.

It's iconic. So what does that mean for their friendship? You told me this already, but when you told me that, I was like, hmm, they'd never hung out in the south of France, even though they live within 10 minutes of each other. Yeah, there's a moment in the story where I'm like, are you guys actually friends?

And they're both like, yeah! Because it's important to the brand. Kind of makes it sound like they might not be friends. I think that people like Brad Pitt and George Clooney live lives that are not quite like other people's lives. And because of that, the friendships are probably real, but take a different form. So that they can live 20 minutes away from each other in the south of France on two sort of similar estates and still not sort of visit in two or three years. Right.

You know, and Pitt was killing Clooney for buying his estate online during the pandemic without even going there. That's like how Chris shops at J.Crew. Yeah, exactly. But for chateaus. Clooney had the South of France passport instead of the J.Crew passport. I just don't,

you don't have to sign up for the account, you know? Do you think George Clooney has like a Zillow account? With all his personal information? That's an interesting question. G.Clooney. Do you think he actually

presses the buy button? Like, is he clicking buttons or is someone doing that on his behalf? I would hope it's the latter. Okay. Yeah. Can I ask you a question about the logistics of the story?

Because you told me that Clooney said that he used Waze, but then that wasn't in the story. Did he not say that? Oh, yeah. No, he used Waze. He used Waze. Waze to get there. Yeah, he was like, I pointed to Waze. It was nine minutes.

Do you think it's like that old guy thing where it's actually Google Maps, but he just calls everything Waze to get there. Yeah, he was like, I pointed to Waze. It was nine minutes. Do you think it's like that old guy thing where it's actually Google Maps but he just calls everything Waze? We should say this story appeared on the cover of GQ magazine in September. I'm sorry, listen. I have a question for Zach

that does actually take us into the conversation about their filmographies but I don't want to jump ahead if that's it. Feel free, Chris. You are not the third chair but you'd like to be.

I'll tell you what my takeaway was from your wonderful piece. Was that George Clooney is definitely in the phase of his career where he's like, you could say taking his foot off the gas, or you could say he knows what he likes to do and he's not going to like deviate from his comfort zone really a lot. Whereas I think Brad Pitt, even in the last couple of years, even though when he's doing bullet train stuff,

like is still pushing himself and still picking pretty provocative, interesting roles and projects for him to do. Did you notice that they were like in a different headspace about where they were in their careers at all? So last time I talked to Clooney, he basically said,

he was like, I'm a director now. Okay. He's like, and I'll act in my movie if it helps the movie get made. But other than that, I start now, you know, that's my movie if it helps the movie get made. But other than that, I'm not. Why start now? That's my take on him as a director. Yeah.

But at the same time, he was like at Miraval for the weekend from. Well, that was the last time I talked to him. So this time I talked to him, he basically changed his mind. Because he was like, if I direct a project, it's like two years of my life. I have young kids. I basically want to go back to being an actor for hire and so he's in this

Noah Baumbach movie so he just did Wolves with Brad and then he was shooting at the time the new Noah Baumbach movie with Adam Sandler

and he's got like stuff coming up he's gonna be on Broadway he's like got stuff coming up so he he's flipped on it

and if you look at his like filmography from like the last 10-15 years he really he he really isn't in anything that he didn't direct but he's going back okay and then brad is doing the like apex alpha hollywood thing of i pick one project every two years and i do it now are those projects like interesting and experimental like they tend to be yeah um but even even there, I think, you know, there's a guy who was like doing Ad Astra in 2019 and now is doing like the, you know, F1,

which is one of the most expensive movies ever made for Apple. Yeah, I guess I was just curious because, you know, there was some, you got aggregated a couple of times out of this article, the Tarantino stuff, the David O. Russell stuff. Did you not tell the aggregators not to aggregate you beforehand yeah i was like sir this is every this all belongs to me yeah and shall remain where it's not putting zach baron on hoops but uh don't publish on the internet that george clooney was mad i was thinking about going when

i was going back through some of clooney's like big movies that he's acted in how a couple of them Three Kings Siriana like he these were some of his best performances but he came out of them

being like I either like basically severed my spine doing this movie or hated the experience and whereas Brad Pitt has kind of just kind of

danced from great filmmaker to great filmmaker and uses Plan B as like a production arm and seems to have a little bit more of a smooth

smoother time of it I don't know if that's just from like outside looking in though I think I mean so an interesting thing about Clooney

and we can like talk more about this is the perception of him is as like a megawatt movie star but he's kind of the first guy to say like I actually tried a lot of things and a lot of things The perception of him is as like a megawatt movie star. But he's kind of the first guy to say, like, I actually tried a lot of things and a lot of things didn't work. And kind of explains his career that way, where he's like, I'm not an action star because I tried to be in action movies and I wasn't that great at it. You know, and I'm not like a straight comedian because I tried that too.

And that wasn't for me either. And it's like been these like bespoke stuff like Clayton, Michael Clayton, or Brother Where Art That, weird one-off parts that turned out to be like the most memorable thing for him. Whereas Brad Pitt has been like a guy reliably that you could put on a movie poster and make a movie around since, you know, the 90s. Yeah. I think that really informs like how we'll talk about both of them during the draft too because, you know, candidly,

when you look at George Clooney's filmography, it's kind of soft. It is surprisingly, especially in the last 20 years, bereft of major, major, major movies. And there was,

you asked a question in your piece about a comment that Quentin Tarantino made about his movie stardom. And that was one of the things that got aggregated. What did he say? I did not ask you questions.

Oh, he brought it up. Yeah. So to Chris's point, actually, I was talking about this. Cause I was saying, you know, I was asking if they were competitive with each other and they were like, we're not, we're not, we're not. And I was like, well, I was like, I'm just a bystander, but I look at it and you look at how the great directors of their generation have gravitated towards one or the other of them.

And so I was going through the examples and we were talking about it. It was like Tarantino really gravitated toward Brad. That's like his guy. And the Coens, like, love Clooney. Gotten great work out of Clooney. Soderbergh leans Clooney, right? Fincher, Brad. So I was talking about this,

and I was saying, hey, if I were you, George, and I was looking at Quentin Tarantino, I'd be like, yo, I'm right here. What about me? And then it was him that brought up Quentin's comments in which Quentin allegedly said that he was not a true movie star. What do you think of that supposition?

I think that he's got a point movie star. What do you think of that supposition? I think that he's got a point when it comes to the filmography, but he's wrong when it comes to his performance of celebrity. Because I think that George Clooney still performs celebrity at a higher level, definitely than Brad Pitt did than a lot of people, where it's like, I am the person who will, I mean, frankly, like he's like writing op-eds that start Biden's, you know, stepping down as like a mainstream conversation topic beyond like the Ezra Klein stuff. I have no idea what actual material point that made other than him probably signaling the Hollywood fundraisers will stop soon if you do not step down. And then on top of that, I feel like he's often weighed in on a lot of the mergers and acquisitions and contraction that's been happening in the business. He was obviously like he had a role during the strikes.

He's weighed in on Paramount. Like he's kind of become a public intellectual in a lot of ways with this attachment to like what's Hollywood's role in politics? What's Hollywood's role in business? what's Hollywood's role in business, whereas Brad Pitt, it's like movie and then vanishes kind of a little bit more. And I think even Wolf's, you know, does Brad Pitt do this without George Clooney? Do they walk the Venice red carpet, which, you know, whatever the reception at Venice, which frankly seemed a little rude,

though I haven't seen Wolf's's like that was just two handsome guys just gallivanting you know on the red carpet. Well Venice is a meritocracy. Sure yeah it is that's true that's and that's one of the many reasons I love Italy. We heard this morning from a friend who had a film at Venice and I would say his reaction to it was not very positive the experience of being very different from the one that you had. Like I said I didn't have to do anything except see movies and then have negronis so that's a pretty ideal experience for me um and even like the gq cover to some point i mean my favorite part of the the uh the exchange is when brad pitt and amal are making fun of George Clooney for his fashion choices. But it's like, I don't know that... Or asking George, did you wear a radical color?

Yeah, which is just a really, really beautiful stuff. Your man was venturing out. But I do think that like, George is bringing bad and Brad is bringing George in a lot of that stuff. And you don't get the classic movie star from Brad in the same way without George. Brad talks about it. He was like talking about the Ocean's 11 days, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12, 13 press tours. And they're just kind of like,

Clooney was our leader. He told the rest of us what to do. And when Clooney was like sick or hurt, we were lost men you know and I think obviously that's sort of a bit for a journalist but I think there's some truth to it too you know

who do you like more I'm I like them together I think there's like a special kind of magic just plead the fifth on that question on a movie podcast

well I think so let's talk a little bit about the draft so wait do you guys have opinions on this podcast or is it like a first time listener? Do you understand

that you're going to be trapped inside with me all weekend long? All weekend? Yeah. All millennium. That's true, but I'm just like,

we're in a very delicate point in our lives right now. Physically, I'm not feeling my best and i would urge you should i still come over tonight i'm so good at booking this podcast this is the only thing i'm good at is knowing when to bring zach in uh no but so you made a couple changes to the draft i did make a couple of changes and they're good changes you want me to walk through them right now you yeah because then i can talk a little bit about...

Oh, I see. Okay. Are you still running away from the question? We'll let you circle back to it because I will press you. I'll press all three

of you about it. I did change up some of the drafting categories for this conversation. One, to honor Zach, who, you know, obviously my brother.

Two, because I thought it would just be boring to just do the typical genre categories that we typically do. So we retained some of the categories, but do the typical genre categories that we typically do. So we retained some of the categories, but these are the six categories that we'll be drafting in

for George Clooney and Brad Pitt movies. One, blockbuster. Figured we'd retain that. That's an interesting measure of their stardom. Two, Oscar nominee. Both guys have won Academy Awards. They've both been nominated for Academy Awards, not just as actors, but as producers

and as writers in some cases. Three, Brad and George together. They've made a number of films and maybe not just the ones that you're immediately thinking of. And that will create some, I don't know, maybe some desperation. It's not a deep category. It's not a deep category. The fourth category is directed or produced by. George Clooney has directed many movies.

Brad Pitt has directed zero. But they've both produced or executive produced many films. Both of those are options here. Number five is supporting role. We are fond of saying that Brad Pitt is a character actor trapped in Brad Pitt's body. Yeah, but he's still a character actor who gets the most screen time a lot of the time. Most of the time. He has had some supporting parts, as has Clooney. In fact, they both won their Acting Academy Awards for supporting roles and number six wild card which means any movie that these guys have made and so the eligible pool is movies starring brad pitt or george cluny and or well no no i'm defining that yes yes to answer sean's original question you know i think i'm curious how our tallies will go in terms of like the number of Brad movies versus the number of George movies.

I mean, I think I have a sense this is going to be a tough pod for George. I do. You know, the filmography doesn't lie. So I think in the movie sense, my answer to you is probably that. It's like at a senate hearing very carefully navigating whether or not call siriano george clinton is a charming guy with a long fucking memory okay so he if he hears this i would love to hang out at daivo anytime he wants to invite me to venice hey big dog it's okay man i love. I love VR. It's no harm, no foul.

We're just calling him like we see him. So you lean Brad as well. Yes. In their movie careers. Set aside their personal lives for a minute. I know you're a journalist and you need to remain impartial, but for the purposes of this podcast,

where do you lean? Man, so Clooney is a very charming guy. And his dad was a journalist, basically, too, on TV. Talk show host. Talk show host. And he has inherited that, like, I have to win over everybody in the room. And it's very real when you're in front of it. It's like a tractor beam.

It's like he speaks in perfect paragraphs and there are jokes and like funny off-color things and he's not conservative or scared. He is so comfortable in his own skin, which is interesting because I think that on screen, my favorite Clooney roles are when he's like

not so comfortable in his skin. You know, like it's the kind of like American, Syriana, Clayton stuff that I really, really, really love from him. Probably, like, the charmer roles, like, with the exception of Out of Sight, work on me less. And then the Pitt thing is, like, the charisma is crazy and he's not even doing anything, you know? Which is kind of probably the definition of, like, what a movie star is, you know? Like, you're just like, oh, my God, I like this guy.

And I like to, like like be in his presence and he's he's compared to george very very reserved still very comfortable but like he's just he's just vibing but as a movie star and then it's funny because i think on with him the things i like are the more outre stuff the things where he's like cutting it up a little bit on camera, you know? Which is not him in person. Like David Ayer's Fury. Yeah, exactly. Definitely. Or the movie where he played Stanley McChrystal.

War Machine. War Machine. Yeah. That was a New Year's movie once, right? Fury? Or was it War Machine? It was New Year's when me and CR and Mark Lassanti went to go see it in the movie theater and we celebrated as if the new year began.

Oh, okay. Then I'm thinking of a different straight to Netflix. No, no. He did War Machine. Okay. Yeah, I was just referencing. War Machine, a movie that is largely forgotten at time. But interestingly, when I was hosting this podcast and that movie came out, the guest on that episode was Matt Bellany because I had him come on to talk about the idea of windowing and movies going straight to streaming.

You really truly are the spring from which everything flows. I had a strong feeling, not just that Matt Bellamy would one day turn out to be quite an accomplished guy, but more specifically that Brad Pitt making War Machine was one of the most significant things that had happened in the history of movies.

And not that movie itself, but the idea that someone like him would make a movie for a streaming service, which really to that point hadn't happened a whole heck of a lot. There were not a lot of genuinely big. And the interesting thing about it is he's never done one since. That's the last time he made a movie for a streaming service until this double shot of Apple movies, both of which they negotiated were supposed to be in movie theaters.

Isn't F1 really going to be in movie theaters isn't f1 really going to be in movie theaters oh for sure yeah that's what they said yeah i would be very surprised if it was not on 3500 screens but wolf's you know we're talking about this movie because wolf's ostensibly when this episode comes out will be opening in theaters on this one day i'll be trying to see it in movie theaters zach i think you're the only person among us who's seen it i've seen it did you like it yeah i did i really did um you know i, I think that it's, well, people will see it, but they're very charming and it's just leaning into that rapport and that vibe and it's them doing jokes. And it has that meta element, and I'm sure we'll talk about this a little bit too, of

these are two guys in the movie, they're playing two guys who are like masters of their craft, which in this case are being, you know, fixers, basically like Winston Wolf type characters. But there may be they're aging out, you know. And so I like a good meta bit in a movie where it's like, are you the character or are you yourself? You know, and I think the script in the film does like a fun job of playing with that aspect of it. Chris, I was thinking about this with you so it's pretty unusual for people with the wattage of george and brad to have an ongoing partnership as movie stars especially since they've made is it six movies or seven movies

at this point together in various forms um you know i think when for our generation seventh maybe it's only six. I could be wrong. Although there is much talk now of Ocean's 14 on this day when we are recording, as directed by Conclave filmmaker Edward Berger. Tough one for the Soderbergh heads. It's not a real Ocean's movie without Steve. Just call him. What are we doing?

You think he wasn't called? Answer the phone, Steven. You know? I don't think it's that he didn't answer the phone. I think his take was probably not what they wanted to do i agree with you um by its guess i think most people think of redford and uh paul newman when they think of these two guys together that seemed to be like the analog example is this like the best version of that partnership like are there other historical versions of team ups?

Obviously there are a lot of man and woman team ups through movie history. I asked them which one was Redford and which one was Newman and they were like whoa no!

No! No! Because they were like we couldn't possibly assume such a mantle. I have a take on that. Do you want to hear it? I think Clooney is Newman

in the public eye and Brad is Newman on the CV. In that Newman has better films and a better movie career Redford was and you know Paul Newman is sort of like walked in civil rights marches and had Newman's own um but when you think of their character like Redford's character more clearly resembles Brad's character to me. And also George and Redford have very up and down CVs historically. Yeah, that's true. I would say like Redford and Clooney kind of remind me of each other

in some of their institutional work, I guess. Like, you know, he creates Sundance. He's obviously the statesman, a conservationist side of him. But I think you're probably right. Who contributed more to our American culture at large? Robert Redford or Paul Newman? I mean, Bill's going to burst in in a second,

right? So I have to say Paul Newman. I think Paul Newman. I mean, I think we all think Paul Newman, with all respect to Robert Redford. Yeah, the greatest ever. I think it's also the difference between that I think is a little bit that Paul Newman was like clearly the like it was like master and apprentice and he was like bringing him along with him. Whereas like these guys feel a little bit more even.

Right. Yeah. Although, as you pointed out, like I think Brad was still a little bit secondary to George at the outset of the Oceans movies. I feel like Danny Ocean is the titular character of that movie and he was clearly the leader on that production. It's an interesting dynamic that they have. Yeah, I mean, I think Clooney is the more successful guy first because of ER. And I think before that was a general hospital. And people forget, I was looking it up this morning because I was like, oh yeah, it was like, what was it?

20 million people watch DR 30 no 40 million people watch DR yeah and I was one of them me too yeah great sat there with my mom we were like wow these doctors but Clooney talks about how they both went out for um Thelma and Louise and Clooney was like I knew I knew that whoever got that part would become a star. Brad Pitt got that part. And basically, like, right after that, it becomes a giant star. And it took Clooney a lot, lot longer. I guess I prefer the films of Brad Pitt. Clooney is tricky, though.

He does surprise you. I think you're right that every once in a while, every seven or eight years, he decides to do something artful and that he's not directing. And he wins me back. back yeah the directing bit is interesting you know um i just millions of old people loved boys on the boat i heard it's true and do very well and i congratulate them but but apart from that it's sort of like his choices would you like me to bring in the man that Zach and I golfed with in December who saw Boys in the Boat?

Boys in the Boat, I do remember you guys He was roughly 70 years old and he loved the film. His favorite of the year. Also, as soon as it made it to airplanes, everybody just

dialing that up. But I mean, I guess the directing is part of the choice thing because his choices are like iffy. But man, he's good in so many things.

I think back to that ticket to paradise scene, you know, where is it caitlin deaver comes in i think it's caitlin deaver's friend comes in and we're like oh no this is gonna go very badly and yeah right and instead clooney just does like the heartfelt three minute dad thing at the bar and you're just like this guy has it and he has it in a lot of things that are not are not great.

I mean this is like stating the obvious and it makes sense because of the conceit of this that we're comparing them to each other. Like but if you take those two

and compare them to anyone else they really are on like a tier in my opinion that like very very few currently working people are on.

It's like it really is like them and then like a huge gap. And then it's like it really is like them and then like a huge gap and then it's like Damon and Affleck right but I think Damon and Affleck

are like a tier below you know I think you can maybe put like Denzel up with them or something like that as celebrities or as filmmakers as screen presences

as just like that's a movie star you know it was funny I probably shouldn't say this which Affleck are we talking about right now? I was talking about Ben.

Okay. No, I know. You think Casey's entering the show? Well, we were talking about Ocean. And then they did also have like their Wolf's Jr.

in August. Like Julia Roberts, Denzel. But like, I don't think there's a lot of, you know, like there was a temptation like say,

like with GQ to put the cover line just like the last movie stars because what they represent, what what they mean what it feels like when they show up on screen is just it you just don't like now like maybe someone like Chalamet will get there I think the expectation is at some point he will you know but like right now they exist in a in a pretty singular category so we can like it is fun to compare the two and I think they have

strengths and weaknesses, but like if you step out, you're just like, these guys are, it's one of one, it's two of two. I would argue both Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks and Denzel

all actually elevate above those two guys personally. I think Hanks and Denzel are a little bit older. Cruise is a contemporary, but he has that kind of alien quality of like, has he ever met Brad Pitt like I don't even

does he ever lived in a city that is also occupied by another movie star you know it's hard to compare him to other people because he seems so different

but I think that those guys represent a concept of Hollywood maybe not movie stardom that is that is still really strong

it's front row of the Oscars. Right. Right. It's like these guys would be like, if there was a city council for Hollywood, they would be on the board. Yeah. And George, especially,

like you were saying, the way he answers questions he answered at the Venice press conference, questions about what streaming has meant to Hollywood. And I thought he like really threaded the needle on a really complicated question where he was sort of like, there used to be 32 shows

and you looked at the ratings every day and you got fired if your ratings were at this number. And now there are 600 shows. And he was like, that's great. And we need to work and actors need to work. However, basically very quietly saying, most of this stuff sucks and that's not good for us long-term.

So he does, he has that mayoral quality that you're talking about um i have also forgot that they both have won best pictures as producers yeah which is a fascinating significant mirror image for them too and it's something that not a lot of actors can say that they've done over the years and certainly not a lot of movie stars for movies that they did not star in, which is remarkable. And Plan B, Brad Pitt's production company, which is run by Jeremy Kleiner and Dee Dee Garner and is a very big and successful and legendary production company. And then, is it Grillhouse? Smokehouse.

Smokehouse is George Clooney's. Maybe a little bit less prestigious, but it's still made a ton of stuff over the last 25 years. So they have pretty expansive careers beyond just their movie stardom too. Have you ever been to the Smokehouse because it's named after

the restaurant in Burbank, right? Like right by the Warner Brothers lot? I haven't. It's a barbecue place? No, I think it's more like an old school steakhouse. Okay. Like large wedge salad situation.

Do you think they would host us for a live pod? Not anymore. Not after this. Now that we've desecrated George Clooney's work. Yeah. How do you guys feel about their participation in children's films over the years?

I mean, I did not know that Brad Pitt was voicing multiple animation movies. Yeah. Megamind. Have you seen that one? What's that about? It's about a superhero voiced by Will Ferrell. Oh. What is the nature of this superhero's powers?

Big brain, right? Well, his name is Megamind. You can imagine. I know, I was just deducing it. You're supposed to be on my side on this one. I didn't see it. What about George Clooney's

participation in the Spy Kids franchise? Did you revisit any of those films, Zach, for your interview? No, I was wondering if you were talking about Fantastic Mr. Fox, but that's not really a kid's movie. That's also on the list, as is the film If.

Yeah. Brad Pitt was also in If, which I learned preparing for this. I mean, in If. Who was he? Yeah, sure, but he was one of the voices. Which one? I think he was playing John Krasinski in the film. It's an amazing performance.

That is a movie that I went to see. So immersive. Because you asked me to. Great pod. Oh, okay. Hold on okay hold on hold on though brad pitt is keith a silent and invisible if who keeps tripping cow pitt's silent role is a reference to his cameo as vanisher in deadpool 2 co-starring reynolds but so if he's silent and invisible then he didn't do anything so he's just credited This is a really interesting philosophical conversation about what constitutes acting.

I agree with you. He was just in the booth, quiet. Do you think he received any compensation for his work slash non-work as being in the film If? You think that this would be his pro bono work

is being in If. It's like, don't even pay me. I just want to be here. But he literally didn't do anything, Chris. The character does not speak. It's an animated character. I mean, there's here. But he literally didn't do anything, Chris. The character does not speak. It's an animated character.

I mean, there's lots of Charles Bronson movies where he barely talks. You know what I mean? You can at least see him on screen. Do you think that this was more, like how many emails and or text messages were sent? And also, was it an email or a text message being like, hey man, can we just credit you as this silent character?

Nightmare blunt rotation is Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Brad Pitt. And who else voiced a character in that movie? I don't even know. Karel. Literally everyone under the sun. I guess Krasinski would be the fourth, naturally. Damon, Bradley Cooper, Bill Hader. If.

You see if? I haven't checked it out yet. I hear there's a made-up creature in it more than one what's his name multiple snuffler yeah that's it you got it got it um zach you've never drafted with us before how are you feeling uh i mean i can't say i'm like thrilled to be in the cage with two homicidal maniacs. What do you mean? Who are the two?

What do you think? Just two of the most competitive people I know and Chris. I don't know what you're talking about. Zach and I have talked to each other through a couple of our own fantasy drafts recently. Oh, yeah. That's some like important context to share. Do you want to? I would say my morale is low as a drafter right now.

Yeah, mine too. Your morale is also low? Yeah. I came in with a plan twice and emerged feeling very poorly about myself. Overcommitted to rookie wide receivers and Mark Andrews. Oh, you mean for fantasy, not for this. Yeah, but Zach had two this week. And Breck both.

But look, look. I'm ready here. Chris is probably like, oh my God, I'm with three of the most homicidal leagues. No, you're okay. Just on golf courses. You're really nice unless you're playing with Sean and somebody hits into us and then it gets weird.

What happens? Then what happens? What do you think happens? Do you block it out? Am I in prison right now? No. I'm making a podcast. This metaphor is Amanda, the person who hits into us.

You're playing too fast. Bob, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, do you like them? Yeah, they're all right. They're fine. Is it a generational thing? They're great. Of course. Basically, for my whole life since I've been alive they have been the guys like the movie stars that's true pretty much are they I don't know a world without

them are they your like right now definition of movie stars probably right yes pretty much and then also some of the names you threw out like Julia Robertson didn't tell and stuff yeah but those even they have a special relationship to Tom Cruise because A Few Good Men was my first favorite movie. Like, adult movie. Once I moved beyond the realm of kids' movies. I think you can help us define a draft order. I don't know.

Does this feel vital? What do you mean? I mean, I have some preferences. No. You? So it does to you because there's there's a it's a rich slate through a round or two and then the strategy is really gonna but there are some start feeling tight some close there's gonna be a lot of category issues i think of people taking movies and other yeah i don't feel like i like, you've giantly fucked me here.

Full handle on the strategy. Even though I tried to talk to you about this at dinner last night. Have you been giantly fucked before? Is that something you're familiar with? I fucked myself where I picked something in the wrong category and been like, I can't believe I took this in Blockbuster

when I should have taken it in drama. I see. Yeah. Okay. Do you want me to share what you said to me? Sure. Amanda was was like you need to know that chris might come in and draft something in the wrong category it's just the wrong category is that really like a beat that you have for me i was trying to i was this was a nice moment okay

i was trying to help this was a dinner where I literally had to move across. I had to get out of the booth because I no longer fit in it. Is it? And I was like, I literally like I just couldn't. My stomach would not fit in the booth. So I'm in the chair across the aisle being like, can we talk about this category? And I just want to make sure you're aware of all the ramifications. We were at El Cholo in Pasadena.

Come through sometime. They make guacamole at the side of the table. Max loves it. Anyway, I said, do you understand what's going on? But they're a little bit ungenerous

in their booth sizing. I'm just imagining being at El Cholo not knowing you and not knowing anything about this and you sitting on the other side of the restaurant screaming about a draft for George Clooney. As your son.

I straight up can't fit. That's true. I just like, I don't know what to tell you. It was close. And so I did try to explain to him that there are kind of a limited number. And that's not what I said. I said,

if Chris does an iron man three uh then we might be taking something in the wrong category yeah well by wrong you mean prematurely or actually categorically not the right place for it because i i i know i think technically i'm right it's just that like when I think I can share the example, I believe that you gave. Sure. Which is there's like a right category to take oceans in and a wrong category. There's not a right or wrong category, but there's a there's a category where everything stays on the board or there are a couple permutations. This is why he and I don't really like playing blackjack with other people. I was.

It's because then people are like, what the fuck are you doing? It's just like trying to get to 21. We shared so many moments like that. But I was, well. It's because then people are like, what the fuck are you doing? And it's just like, trying to get to 21. We share some of the words like that. Great, but it's like, but I was trying to work together. Here I am. So what I was saying to him,

I was like, there are a few executions of this draft where then someone doesn't have a movie to select in a certain category. Oh, okay. I, I,

that didn't occur to me. Great. See, so maybe you should have come to El Cholo too. Okay? Hard to believe you turned down the invitation. What did you help us with the draft order, Robert? Yeah, yeah.

So I have the Scrabble tiles in the Top Gun hat. I don't know what I want. Unfortunately, there are not enough Zs and Bs in the Scrabble set, so Ns count as Zs here for Zach. N? Oh, right. Turn it. N, because I'm going to turn it to the side.

Yes. So selecting first overall will be Sean. Okay. Yowza. Yowza. No one wants to hear from me, apparently. What are you talking about? I'm not a draft strategy, so I'll just sit here quietly.

Second, we have Zach. Okay. I've been silenced. I love eating with you. I don't know what you're talking about. It's like, I think you would enjoy El Cholo. You know, lots of enchiladas. I think I've been there.

Yeah, there's several. Third, we have Chris. I wanted the turn. That's okay. All right. This is interesting. And fourth will be Amanda. Okay.

So it's important that Amanda has the turn. We have to cite this because the three of us now have to think about what that means for her to have two consecutive picks and what her interests are. This is unusual. I feel like you very rarely have the turn.

Well, this is one of those drafts where it's like, sometimes Amanda's like, I have my, where my heart goes and then you guys can just do whatever. There's a lot

of shared interests here. Very shared passions. There's one category that only has seven eligible films in it. I got to figure out what the seventh one is. I can read them to you if you'd like. Okay.

Would you like me to read them to you? Yeah, that would be nice. Brad and George together has seven eligible movies. There are three Oceans movies in which they appear together. There's Burn After Reading. Yes. There is Wolves, which we will include. There is If, which we just discussed. And there is Confves, which we will include. Mm-hmm.

There is If, which we just discussed. And there is Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Oh, right. Which is George Clooney's directorial debut in which Brad Pitt appears momentarily.

Right. Okay, that was the one that I was missing. So. One thing about Burn After Reading, by the way, is like,

I've watched that movie a couple of times and I'm not convinced they ever shot a scene together. It's entirely possible they did not based on the momentary

scene that they share. And even that is like they're never in the same shot. Yes. Much like Reese and Jennifer in the last season of Morning Show.

That's true. Yeah. Are they beefing? No, but I just I think that they probably have such elaborate schedules that they're like today Reese Witherspoon

we're doing her coverage. And then but like all of the scenes are ones. You know ones with like all of the scenes are ones, you know, ones with like a wig. We think that's just the scheduling issue or I don't know. Yeah.

We don't really know. I, someone swore to me that the last scene, uh, spoiler alert, when Reese Witherspoon's character turns herself into the FBI, that they were in fact together. She was present during January 6th.

Because she was on Jan 6th and then she tried to get her mother's involvement. Oh, right, you did tell me. Yeah. That's cool. Really cool show. Great, it got like 38 Emmy nominations. Chris, do you think Eric Adams

is going to follow in her footsteps and send himself into the FBI? You think he's just going to walk up to Merrick Garland with his hands out like that? I don't know. He respects law and order. And then they hug on the street and apparently that was a real hug.

Bobby, I was asking Sean when his apology for being Russian propaganda was going to come from. This has all been one long sigh up. Just a really weird move for sponsoring this pod. I don't know how we would have gotten it off the ground.

Just a reminder, the categories are Blockbuster, Oscar nominee, Brad and George Together, directed or produced by Supporting Role and Wildcard. I'm going Brad and George Together and I'm by supporting role and wild card. I'm going Brad and George together and I'm going Ocean's Eleven. That's my first pick. Okay. I feel like in the spirit of this draft.

That's sensible. Given the scarcity. Strategically sound. Around that film. The fact that it is an amazing movie that I think all the four of us can agree is. Is it. We share. I think it features also the greatest single example of the two of them sharing a scene together right yes rusty and danny sitting quietly and talking through the plan we need one

more yes yeah which to me for all the redford and newman is is more of like a 40s screwball like i they they do have like whether it's carrie grant and katherine heppert or you know heppert and tracy like that that energy that's very magic i think that's a good point it's Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn or Hepburn and Tracy. That energy. It's very magic. I think that's a good point. It's more like a romantic chemistry tension that they have between them than it is like a bro's partnership. Kind of like Sidney Sweeney and Glenn Powell. Have you seen Anyone But You?

Yeah. What did you think? I thought it was mostly shot by a drone. Did you notice that? Is that your description of the filmmaker or the mechanical shot by a drone. Did you notice that? I mean, that is factual. Is that your description of the filmmaker or the mechanical object called a drone? No, but didn't it feel like every other shot was like a drone shot at the Sydney Opera House?

I think in the film's defense, I think it was a COVID production, maybe. Anytime they're in Sydney, basically, at this time, it's because the one place that you were allowed to shoot was in Australia. So any movie that's taking place then I'm like I think it's a movie

that is literally made for people who spend all their time watching reality TV on Netflix and so that style of filming or Emily in Paris

which is made the exact same way yeah where like the camera pulls away to an overhead shot from 10,000 feet the sex lives of college girls

is also like that where no scene lasts more than 7 seconds yeah it's cool everything's going very well we're like what

20 minutes in and just you know congratulations to all the four 40 year olds sitting around the table hanging out okay so Ocean's Eleven

is my pick so Zach your first ever draft pick first ever draft pick picture history I'm not sure if this is strategically

the soundest move but I'm going to take Michael Clayton in Oscar. I think that's good. You did good. Movie I love. Don't really probably need to say much about it here. Also, you know, I think Clooney would have loved to have won for this movie.

Kind of fascinating they didn't, but he lost to Dale Daly. And there'll be blood, I believe, right? That's right. Yeah. So that was never going to happen for him. Hard one to argue. He'd also already won by this point. For Sirianni.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I think he regards this as probably the high-water mark of his filmography, and I agree. Do you agree with that? I know you're thinking about your pick, but do you agree? I think it's definitely the high-water mark of his filmography.

Yes. It's like a really... That's one that we all four agree on as one of one of the great movies and great performances this you floated to me

at 7.15 in the morning the other day in the kitchen being like so it'll be Michael Clayton number one right but you know what I think you made a

good job and the Oscar category it's it's interesting yeah it's got some it's got some hits it's got some misses

I think what level of comfort you have drafting a movie that does not star them is an interesting aspect of the character. Because there's a lot of plan B in there. CR. For Oscar, I'm going to take Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I love you. That was nice.

That was nice. Because I know what's going to happen now. What are you talking about? What are you doing? What do you mean? You want me to take Moneyball from her? I mean, I can't expect him to do that. Come on, dude. What are you talking about? What are you doing? What do you mean? You want me to take Moneyball from her? I mean, I can't expect him to do that. He has to go home with her. Yeah. I actually, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is better than Moneyball.

Either Moneyball or an Ocean's movie was your only move here. No, it's not. Those were the only moves you had. No, it's not. I just cannot believe you. What are you talking about? She's going on leave. I need you to get your fucking shit together

you know what you're my guy and you're invited to Angelo anytime when you said it I was like yeah it makes sense Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

is a better movie than Moneyball with all due respect to Moneyball Brad Pitt won an Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood it's not about what's better she's gonna I know exactly do you wanna just go back

this is my turn journey through his love of movies that's not what this podcast is about. We don't even fucking post the results of these things anymore. This is just you. You're like insane. You're Megamind. My only question is,

should you have taken it in supporting? Oh. No. There's so many Brad Pitt supportings that I can go for there. And I'm sure George Clooney has some good supporting work as well. Great. Do you want to do my picks for me? No.

Well, yeah, I do. Do you want to write them now? I do. And then see if I'm right? I have them in my head right now. Okay. Honor system. Okay.

All right. Obviously, number one, Oscar nominee, Moneyball. Congratulations. Tis the season. Here we are all together. I love this movie. Justice for Barry Zito. here we are all together i love this movie justice for barry zito if if anyone listening is a film programmer sean and i will show up and introduce money ball as many times as you need

we've pitched it we've pitched it like five times now and everybody's like we're good thanks we'll do the other one you recommend come to your house you know if you're screening it for 10 people and just talk about you know the the beauty of Brad Pitt shoveling food into his mouth an amazing Brad Pitt performance that sort of like unifies all the different parts of him including being super hot not talking that much character actor manic eating everything but also holding the center of the frame amazing jonah hill performance i you know i i love baseball i guess um watching a lot of it right now okay and then ian brad and george together i will take my personal favorite of the oceans trilogy oceans 12. thank you so much yeah

this is where this is where this category already starts to really spin out. Which we have to do for, again, that is a little bit strategic, but I do also, I wasn't in Four Weddings and a Funeral. You know? You weren't in Four Weddings and a Funeral? That's a line from the movie. From the movie, yeah. I hosted that rewatch of this. This is when Amanda was explaining what you making the wrong pick. No, that's actually,

that's not it. This is bullshit. No, you're only saying that because you just got the two movies that you wanted most at the time. You just wanted her to be upset. It's not about like whether I'm going to win or not.

What would be bad is if he was just like burn after reading and wild card, you know, in round two. That would be much worse. I agree.

But it doesn't mean it's not bad. Or if Zach comes in here and is like, Ocean's Eleven and Blockbuster, I'm just like, Do you guys want me to come back or should I?

I'm going to take Burn After Reading and Brad and George together, which is what I wanted. There you go. What are you mad about? Well, you should have, you know,

you got fucked with the first pick. You actually did. That was the strategic thing. No, I made the first pick to have strategic fun with the draft. I understand actually did. That was the strategic thing. No, I made the first pick to have strategic fun with the draft. I understand.

And they didn't play along. That's why I made the comment at the start. Let's think about what it means for her to have the turn, guys. So that you could have screwed her in Brad and George together. They're afraid of me

and they're not. I'm not afraid. I actually got the two movies I wanted. Why is this bad? Go for it. I did. I did Burn After Reading.

Burn After Reading is a pretty good movie, right? Coen Brothers? Remember? Did you know that a majority of that was filmed in the apartment building

next to me when I lived in Brooklyn Heights? I had no idea. Yeah. Would you like to trade it for Ocean's 12? No. But it was like

my first year in New York and all of the DC parts, they used Brooklyn Heights instead of DC for, you know, whatever reasons. That's interesting. The townhouse,

like the Brownstone. I wonder if they were ever shooting on the same day. I didn't know. Let's be clear. I lived in a tiny apartment, but yeah, they were just camped out for like a long time. Okay.

I benefited from craft services. They were very nice. One of my favorite brad pitt performances uh great george clooney performance unfortunately is really good in this he's fucking the security of your shit that's something i need to think about with my passport you know it's like that's truly like that he's next level funny shit from them did you ever end up building that thing in your basement

that Clooney has in the film George Clooney also has a very funny lie where he's like do you want to do it in the back seat I mean of your car

not like a rear entry situation it's all this wind space when he says that just completely flat but I can't even enjoy it, you know, because it's like,

apparently I've ruined your day. You know? Everything's going your way. Is Zach betrayed you yet or just Chris? I think I'm about to. They both fucking cucked out. I don't know what to say.

This is insane. Were they supposed to take Moneyball and Ocean 12 for me? Look, I love you guys. You know you're my best friends, but like, fucking get on board with the game for fuck's sake.

Jesus. I'm with Chris on this one he got the movies he wanted Bob leave it alone somewhere else alright dude why are we even playing this game when Brad Pitt's like you think this is a schwinn I feel like you did the work after the great Thanos meltdown of whatever

year that was started crying and then now you're fucking You did the work after the great Thanos meltdown of whatever year that was. And all it took was me coming back. And then now you're fucking back. You were like, let's just talk about movies. This is fun. I like hanging out with my friends for like two years or something like that. And now you're like, I'm back. The only thing to do is make a nine-month pregnant woman insane.

That's why we draft. Well, if you were in the fourth pick, I would have said the same thing. I would have said the same thing to the other drafters. It was more about I came up with this category to make it fun, and now it's not fun. Now it's boring. Okay. That's my take. Well, that's good podcasting. It's just to tell

people to turn it off now. I don't know who's going to yell at me for this. Okay. I'm sure I'm not doing this right, but in Blockbuster, I'll take Inglourious Bastards. That's correct. I mean, that was the right decision. I wanted it, but I knew I was leaving it on the table. Probably This or Once Upon a Time are up there for me with hit.

And man, is he just awesome in this movie. probably this or Once Upon a Time are up there for me with hit and man is he just awesome in this movie incredible Aldo Rain Aldo Rain probably favorite final line of the movie that he actually crushes the delivery of so I have two picks

my plan was foiled and just a desperate love of cinema that you're transmitting. Well, I've lost both of the Tarantino movies. Uh-huh. So you're the one who got fucked. That is why. Pick number one is not a good pick order. That's not what you wanted.

So actually, you were hoping we would mess Amanda's draft up. But what happened was we messed your draft up. And that's why you're mad. Well, I was always going to be in a difficult spot having the first pick to Amanda's draft up but what happens we mess your draft up and that's why you're mad well I was always going to be in a difficult spot having the first pick to Amanda's point because there are beloved movies but uh I mean there's still plenty of stuff for me to pick it's just not exactly what I would have wanted once again thwarted on getting a Tarantino movie I've been told literally by Quentin just take my movies first, you fucking idiot. So, my bad. That's what I did. The odds were not good

that it was going to come back to you with the Tarantino movie. I knew that. Did you tell Quentin? Well, as soon as you decided not to do what I was hoping you would do. Well, take Amanda's movies.

Was that about the live draft? Does Quentin know that I took Inglourious Bastards in the live draft? I don't know. I just want him to, Quentin, if you're listening. He was there.

He was there in the front row. I did. I didn't get one of your movies this time, but I have gotten Inglourious Bastards. You actually gave him the front row. I did. I did. I didn't get one of your movies this time, but I have gotten You actually gave him the Sofia Coppola book. Oh, that would be nice.

I have an extra copy. He wants it. I have drafted it before. Okay. Well, Take monuments, men. Big dog. One of these is

there's still a lot of good movies out there. The tricky thing about this draft is because of this design, a lot of them you can't get until you go to Wildcard.

It's a Wildcard, yeah. Very interesting. So there's going to be a ton of great stuff that actually gets left on the board because of the way that I constructed this.

Like intolerable cruelty, yeah. The Babylon Hive is watching you, Sean. They can keep watching. In Blockbuster, I'm taking seven. Okay.

I can at least get a Fincher movie before I die here. You did a good job here, man. Good draft. Thanks, Chris. Really good being with you. Nice to see you. Hope I see a lot of you this weekend for sure. Seven, obviously.

I would say seven is a movie that cemented Brad Pitt's stardom. Yes. There were the Legends of the Fall type movies. Obviously, you mentioned the film and Louise's performance as a big introduction to Brad's energy. True Romance is another one of those.

This is the one where he opened possibly the grimmest fucking mainstream thriller of its generation and sold it. Yeah. Interesting thing about both of those guys in the 90s is that they were not

for a long time considered like serious actors. So, like Pitt was like seen, I think in part because of the tabloid stuff that even then he for a long time considered like serious actors so like pitt was like seen i think in part because of the tabloid stuff that even then he was a part of was seen as a little bit of a lightweight um prior to this movie i think because even in 12 monkeys or something he's like it's very weird it's very out there and then clooney right around this time is doing three kings and that's the famous david r russell yelling at him on set why don't you worry about your fucking terrible acting you know and

and there's even Clooney tells a story where like great note like Spielberg comes to which is one of my favorite things anybody's ever said

yeah and then David O. Russell was removed from the set of that film and Clooney is still talking shit about him to this day but then

Clooney also tells like a story from this era where he's like on the ER set and Spielberg comes to visit oh and Spielberg taps the monitor after a take and is like he's like you could be a movie star if you stop moving your head so much that's amazing holy shit that is incredible yeah um that's like a true that's a true Clooney story so both of these guys guys right around seven are finding their legs as people who are actually thought of as actors and not just handsome guys who came out of television. Where are you guys at on The Peacemaker? It's not bad. When is it?

It's the one with Nicole Kidman. The Balkans with the guy. Yeah, sure. Famous movie that also reset the trajectory of George's career because it was such a big deal at the time and really did not do what it was designed to do. That's like an example

of an action movie that did not work. Okay. I've got to take another pick here. Oscar nominee is a really tough one. Really tough category. And when you combine produced or directed by,

is it a bad thing do you guys think if you have two movies that they don't appear in in those categories there's also like the minor distinction of brad pitt produced versus executive produced yeah i think executive produced can be included yeah although like plan b i think is actually pretty good about being like brad pitt worked on this movie yes or brad Brad Pitt didn't work on this movie. Well, there's one very, very famous example that is complicated to talk through. Well, yeah. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Maybe you do know what I'm talking about. What do you think I'm talking about? Do you think it's a problem? Do you think it's better for them to appear or not appear in the movie? And I'd say there's one example where someone does appear in the movie. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I... You're referring to

12 Years a Slave. I am. And you think it's not good that Brad Pitt appears as the benevolent builder who allows for our lead character to have a few... I'm just saying

that's like not on my supporting role list. Are you saying that Brad took that role for that reason? To seem like a good man? I just... Surely not. A movie star?

Well, I do like 12 Years a Slave, but that's not the movie I'm thinking of. The movie I'm thinking of is The Departed. Which is a movie that Brad Pitt produced,

but there was an adjudication that he was not to receive the Academy Award on Oscar Day. That Graham King was the producer who should go up

on stage and accept. Did you ever find out why that was? Or do you know why that was? I mean, presumably Graham King worked more as the producer on the movie than Brad Pitt did. Even though Brad Pitt has a produced by- Brad Pitt was going to be in that movie at some point, right? And I believe that's why that was the case, is that he was tabbed for the adaptation of Infernal Affairs.

That ultimately, and I assume he would have been in the Leo part. And that's the other thing. We didn't mention Leo when we talked about our last movie star conversation, but Leo is coming up behind those guys and he never makes the, I would say he doesn't have as many pitfalls as they had over the years. No, no. And also public life stuff.

I mean, obviously known for having an active social life. Yeah. But has sort of like never commented on it or really had anyone else comment on it, which is not true of either. Right, George? I'm pretty stumped here in terms of what's the right move. I think many people have commented on Leo's personal life. But on like a lower level, like you don't really see a lot of Leo on Star Magazine stuff. Yeah, or like famous partners

doing Vanity Fair covers talking about their relationship. I mean, that part is certainly true because he hasn't, and he hasn't made it a part of his movie star, you know, story in the same way. But yeah, there are plenty

of Star Magazine covers. Just Google Leo MGMT, okay? You know? Oh, yeah. I don't have to Google covers. Just Google Leo MGMT, okay? Oh, yeah. I don't have to Google that. Because I live that every night. That one's burned into the memory bank. Love the energy that you're bringing.

I really don't know what the right move is. I mean, I'll take Moonlight and producer directed by. I think this is the best movie that's come out of Plan B. So this is instead of Departed? Instead of Departed. I did not take the Departed.

This is the movie that kind of like I think concretizes Plan B as a significant home for independent filmmaking. They're still doing this exact same thing

finding projects and making them big. They just produced a big movie though what movie did they oh beetle juice which i was like i find this to be so strange that it took plan b coming on board for that movie to get going but um moonlight obviously barry jenkins's second feature film which won best picture at the academy awards an amazing movie we've talked about a lot over the years uh he was the third guest of this podcast talking about that film um okay so now it goes to zach okay i'm just gonna continue

following my heart here um and i'm gonna take in wild card out of sight yeah there you go good pick yeah there you go are you are you happy amanda's looking at me so sad right now no i i think it's like i'm proud i'm proud that you're making good choices. But I also wanted to do that. If Seven is like the movie that kind of like makes Brad as a star, I think Out of Sight is the one that makes Clooney as a star. Even though I don't think it was like a huge contemporary hit. But you can kind of, see it you really see it and

he's awesome in this movie they have insane chemistry and i absolutely love this film i think it's great to break the dam on wildcard early too given the strictures of what we're doing yeah yeah cr well i guess for uh in the spirit of what zach just did i'll take fight club and wild card because i was i i think that this was you this movie made you understand politics i feel like you don't normally get fight club so like i don't get to draft it? Yeah, so we don't get this CR Fight Club experience. Speak. It's your time. For a long time, I actually was

pretty zeroed in on Edward Norton in this movie. I thought that he was extraordinary in this film and Brad Pitt was just chiseled out of rock and really good looking and stuff. But the longer it's been, I actually noticed so many like wonderful things about his performance you know very nuanced very funny very very funny

performance very funny uh and is is still probably one of the most like i not tyler durden as like his personal philosophy but just like as a performance on the screen like one of the coolest things i've ever seen also like fun to see a guy who could be alpha all the time you're like you want to see the most alpha thing that you've ever seen in your entire life and to to Brad's credit that's not his vibe and that's not what he does in movies it's kind of like when Joe Burrow's like you can't zero me yeah that's like literally that he's just like yeah you can't you can't those are the two most alpha things i've ever seen tyler and joe you're really fired up for nfl season uh okay so yeah fight club wild card two picks amanda yeah the board is coming together for me in supporting role i will of course be taking Thelma and Louise which is the Brad Pitt breakthrough and just

really important work from a teaching young women what torsos can look like you know so there's only one that looks like that yeah but it's but it's what's possible you know there's the David and then there's that. So that is my supporting role. If you were recasting that role today, who would you cast? Austin Butler. I was going to say Paul Walter Hauser. That's not very nice.

No, I mean, in a good way. He's cool. Have you seen Richard Jewell? Yeah. We just talked about Richard Jewell. It's just a brave film, I thought. Because we just did the 2021 draft right

and there was I think that's for a later date right yeah yeah so they haven't heard it yet but there's a lot of Clint Eastwood related content

on that juror number two is coming out this year wait where do we have to fly to to go see it oh Dubai no Dubai

it's only showing in Dubai is that where the financing is so you and I have to raw dog a flight to Dubai to to go see it? Oh, Dubai. No Dubai. It's only showing in Dubai. Is that where the financing is? So you and I have to raw dog a flight to Dubai. I misspoke. It's Riyadh.

We have to go to Riyadh. I'll see you there. It's on Christmas Day. Yeah, you're such a We always go to movies at Christmas. Certainly do.

Okay, I have one more pick. Yes, you do. This might be a little mean but I don't really care Sean wasn't very nice to me so in directed or produced

I will take the big short okay which could be eligible in supporting role as well but so can other things he was nominated for this right for film

yeah for film he wasn't nominated as a supporting actor no because like he's barely in it but he's like okay in it but he has like a beard. Great beard. And it's just like, is it?

It looks pretty pasted on to me. Yeah. Well, he's also shooting in like a room that clearly is nowhere near anywhere else. Yeah. And he's just like calling people from the garage. So, you know, you could, it could fill out a couple spots that you need. But I really like this film and I don't really think he's that essential to it

in a performance perspective, but it being made is great with me because then we have Ryan Gosling's Jenga speech. So, big short. Zach, you're up. Chris is up.

It's me. I'd like to go to Zach. We've introduced the pass card in the game for the first time. Chris, you're up. Well, produced, directed by I'll Take Departed. A little bit of

stolen valor here, I guess. Yeah, Sean really... Good movie. I had it on my list. I mean, I... No, no, I mean, just more like...

There are other films... That's funny. You know what? I'll do what you did where I think I'm going to take Departed and then I'm not. How about that?

I know what you're going to take. I'm going to take Lost City of Z. Oh, wow. Oh, good one. I'm surprised. Which is an interesting situation because... Tell us more.

Because Brad Pitt was going to play the lead role in Lost City of Z and then stepped away. So not unlike, I guess, Departed. He's scheduling conflicts. Sure. And then later worked with James Gray on Ad Astra. Also produced by Plan B. And it was produced by Plan B. parted he's scheduling conflicts sure um and then later worked with james gray on ad astra

um also also produced by plan b and it was produced by plan b that was the reason that you profiled brad pitt and gq yeah and that's where the great romance began yeah yeah between me and james gray to be right but lost city of z is uh one of my favorite pods one of my favorite movies that I've seen since we started doing these pods together, like the big picture. Every time I rewatch a movie,

I'm like, oh my God. Yeah, I think it's like a true American classic. So yeah, thank you Brad Pitt for whatever you did to help get that movie made. That film was financed by Amazon, but they did release it

in movie theaters. That was at a time when they were really pushing their movies. I saw The Loose Fiel is Three. It's kind of weird how many things I see now that are owned by Amazon, where at the bottom it'll be an Amazon company.

I'm like, I didn't know you guys owned that. I think I interviewed James. I think you've just given us a real insight into American capitalism. I think I interviewed James five times when that movie was coming out. Oh, because you would do the screening circuit with him? That's right.

That's right. I love it. Also, I feel like you, Zach, became friendly with James right before Knox was born. I remember a lot of just, yeah. But that was really, yeah, I guess it was kind of, no, it was after I had Astra. Yeah. Yeah. Later in life

him just checking in about how the you know what's really good in this is Pattinson excellent incredible

also Sienna Miller Sienna Miller she's awesome I wasn't trying to because she's a woman you don't know you didn't like her performance

I think her performance in 21 Bridges is better than anything Meryl Streep's ever done what's your favorite movie directed by a woman Zero Darkness that was the only answer Bridges is better than anything Meryl Streep's ever done. What's your favorite movie directed by a woman? Zero Dark Thirty. That was the only answer.

That was the only answer I would accept. That was directed by Kelly Reichardt, right? Yes. Kelly Reichardt, Zero Dark Thirty. I would fucking

crowdfund that. You would tap in? Yeah. You might have to. Okay, Zach, now it is your turn. Okay. Just because this category

is dwindling and I feel like Ocean's 13 takes a lot of heat on this podcast. Mm-hmm. Okay, Zach, now it is your turn. Okay. Just because this category is dwindling, and I feel like Ocean's 13 takes a lot of heat on this podcast. Not as good as 11 or 12, but it's a good movie. It is a good movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a movie that I would fire up at any time. I guess the knock on it in this context is probably it's more of a Damon Ford movie, Chino Ford movie, than a Brad and George Ford movie.

But... You fucked you. That's what that means. That's what this is all about. That's what this is all about. But I really like this movie. And I'm proud to have it join my burgeoning roster of films

in this draft. So in Brad and George together, I'll take it from 13. Why are you still mad? It's been like 25 years. I'm just pleased you got fucked on this category

no he didn't get fucked what do you mean he doesn't have a movie yet what for which one he has Burn After Reading yeah I took that second round

oh shit I forgot that's why I was like why are you getting so mad at me I'm still gonna get a Cullen Brothers right so that was gonna be there for me later

if I wanted it but luckily there's a lot of options so I'm not stressed damn that's painful uh okay i have two picks this is tough uh my categories i have left are oscar nominee supporting role and wild card normally i'd try to bring you back in like energy wise but like you're mad because I'm thriving, so I can't really do that. No, I'm not mad. It's not about you thriving. It's about the lack of gameplay.

You mad. Don't tell people I'm mad. Maybe you should try to get him to host the movie instead of me this weekend host the movie yeah remember we were talking about how we wanted you to provide a cool space for our children to watch movies this weekend you lost the opportunity for me to do anything for you this weekend i wasn't i'm not coming so you don't want to hang out I don't think so okay

I guess in Oscar nominee I will take Argo which won best picture and is produced by George Clooney I enjoy the film Argo

it was on my list which is a great movie I don't really love a lot of the options there you would like to read some of the other ones that you didn't i'm surprised everyone have an oscar nominee at this point yes yes they do um you could do siriana i was gonna ask if you've revisited siriana recently yeah i did not think it was very good uh i think clooney is very very good in the movie and i also think damon is very good in the movie and I also think Damon is very good in the movie.

But I think it is a little bit of a Boy Scout's view of how the world works thinking it's the opposite. Like it thinks it's like this is how the world really works, guys. It's like, look at me,

I'm Paddy Chayefsky. It's notable to me that Stephen Gagin basically like disappeared from movies after that movie. I really like the Robert Baer book. It's based on

See No Evil. And in the Wikipedia entry for Siriana, it says that Stephen Gagin got Warner Brothers to give him an unlimited research budget and no deadline, which I thought... They also shot that in like 19 places. Yeah, 200 places. Yeah.

So what do you think of that? I'm going to start doing that for big picture unlimited research budget and no deadlines how would that be any different from any other pod you participate on there's like three things i avoid in life and it's like situations in which sean might get really mad we're like we're constantly around him when he gets mad. I have to do my best to voice it. Being humiliated as a Philly sports fan.

And really, I would say the last time I was in here was for that. And now here, Sean's getting very angry. Oh, that's right. Because he did rewatchables for Silver Linings Playbook.

That's right. It's okay. New season. Turn the page. What's the third situation that you try to avoid? You don't want to share it? Talking to Amanda without Brad Pitt? things play both. That's right. That's right. It's okay. New season. Turn the page. What's the third situation that you try to avoid? I, you know,

you don't want to share it. Talking about Amanda, Brad Pitt. Okay. In Wild Card,

I'll take the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Great pick, man. I really wanted that in produced.

I wish he made more Andrew Dominick movies. They made two great ones. Yeah. Matt, think of how good Blonde would have been if he would have played Marilyn. That would have been just a much better movie. Don't you think? Just pretend that one didn't happen. I'm letting you guys have your time to talk about dude movies. Keep going.

He just picked twice, didn't he? I picked twice. I'm done. I know, but I thought maybe you guys could heal through talking about how much you love the assassination of Jesse James. Do you think that's a rewatchable? For whom? To whom? Yeah.

I mean, for me it is. It's a beautiful movie. Jeremy Renner's really getting that. Is he? Is he even in it? He's in it. Okay. He's trying to make am it? He's in it. Okay. He's trying to make a mess.

He's like the eighth lead. I didn't say it was his first line of his obituary movie. I think you're more of a Robert Ford or more of a Jesse James. What do you think? Take a fifth on that. In some ways, I think I have Jesse James-esque qualities, but I know that you think that I'm Robert Ford because I was a coward

about killing Amanda. I didn't say that. I haven't said anything about your bravery or lack thereof. Okay. I'll let the people decide. I think that this has been

like a big fake out on your part. You're big mad because we all drafted you into a corner. Uh-huh. Right? I mean, yes, that did happen. Of course that happened.

But that has nothing to do with taking Amanda's movies from her. Sure. If Amanda wins, it will. No one wins. What do you mean? I'll be putting a poll up. Okay, great.

Do you know how to log in to Twitter to put up a poll? No, no. Okay. It's going to take me three hours. You're driving around place to place. Great. You don't have to care for a child that day

while I do some research, but we're going to get there. Is it my turn? Zach is up. It just depends on who wins. Okay. Is Brad Pitt in True Romance enough to call this a supporting role?

Yeah, yeah, of course. You think he's in it too much? Definitely. No, no, no. I was just asking. I love Brad Pitt in True Romance, enough to call this a supporting role. Yeah, yeah, of course. You think he's in it too much? Definitely. No, no, no. I was just asking. I love Brad Pitt in this movie. It's funny. It's awesome.

I like this movie a lot. I'm tempted to go The Counselor here, but we had to do True Romance. For my pick here, I have to take Supporting. And I haven't really picked very many George Clooney movies. So I'm going to take Hail Caesar. This is a really good one. I like that movie a lot. He's really good in that movie. And he's awesome in this.

Baird Whitbach? As the sort of dim Hollywood star who gets kidnapped and sets this whole thing in motion. Josh Brolin's the star of this film. But good supporting role from Clooney. Okay. All right.

I have two picks left. They are Blockbuster and Wild Card. A lot of the Blockbusters have been taken. All three Oceans movies, Once Upon a Time, Inglourious Bastards, Seven. I guess none of the Clooneys have.

No one's taken Batman and Robin or even said it. We just didn't even like. And it's the same thing is that Gravity has been mentioned once. Yeah. And so there's a there's like a respectable thing where I take. Did Flash not make this list? The Flash? The Flash didn't make a hundred million dollars.

I don't think it did. I was wondering why Babylon is not on this list according to my internal research that movie made 200 000 million billion dollars only you and i can see those numbers your own metrics yeah yeah yeah and you know i could take gravity and it did it win the oscar yeah and it's i. I believe so. And it's, I mean, that, it was, they were in space, and that looked really real. He also doesn't appear in this film. He just talks, right? Just his VO.

He's not in it for, like, the first 10 minutes, and then he gets. I think you see his face. Do you see his face? Yeah, and then he gets shot out, and then it's pretty harrowing. Yeah, you see a lot of him. I don't, and I don't have any clooney representation on the board so far but i i don't think i'm gonna do that i think i'm gonna go with my heart and also with money and no no gravity actually did make more i'll just go with my heart then

i do mr mrs smith which i really like um and it's like a turning point certainly in Brad Pitt's career in a lot of ways and also his personal life but I just think it's a very funny movie and then and like honestly I have not revisited Gravity so

I only I actually don't think I've seen it since I saw it in the theater yeah me either it's very good I don't know if I have either maybe I should check it out

because Coraline's got that Apple show coming up disclaimer I heard it's okay. I wish she had made a movie instead. But you already knew that. Yeah. And then I'm just

ignoring you. You're just like bad vibes. You know? You work on your own shit. In Wild Card, I could be really mean to you, but I'm not going to be this is only moderately mean to you and i will take fantastic mr fox um which is one of my favorite wes anderson movies and well i needed to have a clooney i wasn't even gonna pick it okay

um this is a delightful movie it really is very good very good yeah and Clooney is one of his great performances you can even say yeah and and even though like because his voice is so distinctive I'll never the first time that Zach profiled George Clooney it was during COVID and so it was over zoom and I just remember like I I don't really do this but I it was in our old house multiple zooms yeah and I just like stood by the door and like I couldn't even hear what you were saying but you would hear the cadence and I was like yep that's George Clooney um he can like he can really make it sing so but yeah wonderful movie and now I'm done for Blockbuster I'm going to be taking World War Z I wish if if you I have a question for you

okay next David Fincher film next David Fincher film. Next David Fincher film. Apparently, he's going to make a Western. That's great. We're very excited about that. That's the rumor. He's also rumored to be making Squid Game America. Would you rather have the Squid Game movie by David Fincher or World War Z Part 2 by David Fincher?

Definitely World War Z Part 2. Yeah, me too. I mean, i've been wanting him to do a grand scale big time war movie forever squid game i don't know i don't think that's really gonna happen is that actually gonna happen squid game america you think that's part of their like you will fund two mancs if you make and a killer if you make a squid game movie for us maybe it's possible i don't want to be cynical. Well, he's making a Western,

so that's one more thing he's added to the ledger of things that he wants to do that they probably don't want him to do as much. Anyway, World War Z is actually a pretty good movie. It was obviously chopped up and rewritten

and all this stuff, but there's some really awesome set pieces in it. It starts in Philadelphia. I think I've mentioned that before. Do you think that the zombie outbreak would begin domestically in Philadelphia. I think I've mentioned that before. Do you think that the zombie outbreak would begin domestically in Philadelphia? I was thinking about how that robot,

remember that robot was traveling around the country and went to Philly and it didn't make it out of Philly? It got bad. So... I don't think that's where it starts. I think that's where it ends he was such a nice looking robot

Brad Pitt's awesome in this too very cool he wears a scarf, he solves infectious diseases do you wear scarves ever? have you thought about that? I do, sometimes when he's in England not like as a fashion statement

you take it off, it's outerwear only. Yeah. And you haven't thought about... Except in the pumps. Part of the layer. Well, he's just such a layering enthusiast. I am, but I don't do it as like a kind of like just a flash of splash of color or that kind of thing. Maybe J. Crew Passport can help you with that.

Okay. World War Z. And that concludes my list. What? He stopped talking. talking I gotta do something Sean has like fully just went home

I'm still making my picks yeah uh uh back to me okay um so I guess we've all

so I my last category is directed or produced by I think we've all agreed that um The Departed is stolen valor, right? We can't do that. I think that's cool

if we do do that, but that's also like, you can do it. It's eligible. You can definitely do it. It's definitely eligible. I think we both strongly consider taking it.

Yeah. And I'm strongly considering it right now, but in the, I can only be me and a man at this table and take Killing Them Softly in this category. I was hoping somebody would take it.

Yeah. Is this the best Brad Pitt performance? That's interesting. Which I drafted, round one. I think it's a very cool movie. I think he's trying to do something that maybe doesn't come naturally to him in the movie.

Be real mean. It would be like a tough guy from the East Coast. Yeah. That's not really what I think of when I think of Brad Pitt.

Yeah. But he's great and the first time he sits down with Gandolfini in the bar, that's like the funniest scene in movie history

where Gandolfini is just being incredibly disgusting and brutal. And Brad Pitt, who is a professional murderer is like whoa this guy is going way too far here um yeah it's great also uh the last i i call that the last scene in inglorious bastards i would say the last scene in this movie and brad pitt's delivery oh yeah fucking fuck you pay me yeah he's like now pay me my fucking money or whatever he says is great and also that i think that's sort of what me. Yeah, he's like, now pay me my fucking money or whatever he says is great.

And also, I think that's sort of what he's trying to do is like a guy who ultimately, you know, it's a movie about capitalism and the amorality of it and he's trying to embody that

in that moment and man, man does he. So. Great movie. It all comes down to this. Yeah. Well,

in supporting role, I'm taking Babylon, which is just the best. Does it make you happy to have that? Yeah. Do we get Sean back now? Yeah. I've been here the whole time.

I've been extremely present. Babylon, I'm hosting this episode of this podcast as clearly as I can. Babylon, I think the listeners of the show know about Babylon right yeah what else do I have to say is it a good Brad Pitt performance I

was just gonna ask that question is it the most self-referential that Brad Pitt performance other yeah is this the most self-referential there's one scene when he's this scene with Gene Smart and

then spoiler alert his last scene are both really good but Chris's point about the self-referential thing is interesting. I think in some respects it's a little uncomfortable in that way. Because of him confronting the idea of not having a legacy? I mean, it's sad. Yeah, but it's very lonely. Being very lonely.

Yeah. And just like he knows intimately the ins and outs of like what it actually is to be that guy. And obviously, he lives a great, fulfilling, interesting life.

But there, there are very weird, sad pieces to it. And he's just playing that in that film in a way that, again, if you kind of know,

and I could even generalize, not just like Brad specifically, but if you know how a guy like that lives, a lot of that reality is in that movie. For better and for worse. A number of movies were not drafted. A significant number of movies that these two have participated in. In part because of the constraints.

So we've talked about Gravity already. Didn't go. We've talked about 12 Years a Slave. Didn't go. Snatch. Talked about The Departed.

We haven't talked about Snatch. Haven't talked about 12 Monkeys, which is Brad Pitt's first Oscar nomination. Thought about 12 Monkeys. He's very good in that. I don't know if it's a movie that has as much of a legacy

as it used to. Would you consider George Clooney's role in The Thin Red Line to be a supporting part? Yeah. Although I don't know if he thought it was

a supporting part when he signed up to do The Thin Red Line. He might have been like, I am starring in the new Terrence Malick movie. Speaking of Terrence Malick, Tree of Life.

Tree of Life. I almost took that in directed or produced. He's very good in that movie. That is a real, that movie stuck with me. Yeah. very good in that movie. That is a real, that movie stuck with me. Yeah, I had forgotten about that. And we didn't pick The Counselor.

We didn't pick The Counselor. Yeah. I mean, I would say the movie that Clooney is most proud of after Clayton is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Which also was not Dredd.

I thought about it in Wild Card. I guess it could have, if it wasn't an Oscar nominee for him. So he only would have been eligible for Wild Card, right? Wild Card. Yeah. Which is kind of the truth. Which is, again, what you say.

It's an interesting thing that a lot of these movies are just in Wild Card. Good Night and Good Luck. Mm-hmm. Which was his first directorial debut. And it's the best, for sure. And then two Clooney movies that are celebrated by others. What about Confessions of a Dangerous Mind? Oh, that's right.

Yeah, you're right. Okay, sorry. His first nominated, to be generous. Up in the Air and The Descendants. Which definitely had him doing the awards run. Yeah. I think those are broadly beloved movies. Not as much on this show.

Exactly. Yeah. Descendants, I like. Up in the Air, I have nothing positive this show. Exactly. Yeah. Descendants, I like. Up in the air, I have nothing positive to say. That's my guy. I'll just throw out the, I rewatched Ides of March recently.

It's better than I remember. He's really good at it. As a supporting thing, I thought about him for that. As a directorial effort, it might actually be the one that I would probably watch the most. Over Good Night and Good Luck.

I think actually Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is like the most interesting movie he's directed. You like Midnight Sky. Well, I don't. The thing that's

inextricable for me for that is that Charlie Kaufman is like, you fucked my child so bad on this movie. Like, I made this amazing script and you ruined it

and he will never forgive George Clooney for that, which I find fascinating. It just felt like maybe if he had waited 10 years to make that movie, he might have made a and you ruined it. And he will never forgive George Clooney for that, which I find fascinating. It just felt like maybe if he had waited 10 years to make that movie, he might've made a better version of it. Well, the interesting thing about Clooney's directing career

is I think the consensus most like movies are the first ones that he's made. And then as he goes on and starts making like Tender Bar or whatever people, Midnight Sky. Excuse me. Ben Affleck was wonderful on the Tender Bar. I'm not criticizing those movies. I'm just saying that I think they have less of a reputation than the early movies that he made.

What about Benjamin Button? I realized I had not rewatched. Writing about these guys, I've rewatched most of these movies relatively recently, and somehow I just never rewatched Button. Interesting performance from him. Kind of a weird, very still. What's your favorite era in Benjamin Button baby

baby yeah baby Bunny yeah I like old man I'll bet Three Kings not Drafted

Three Kings a movie that I like it's increasingly as we get further into the David O. Russell experience throughout our lives becomes harder and harder

to go back to and I was like Three Kings Huckabees you know Flirting with Disaster I loved those movies in the 90s

and early 2000s I thought they were like where it was at in American movies and now I don't know did he get much worse did the world get

much worse I can't really figure it out but he's like over his last five for me personally I know that's not true for the Silver Linings Playbook Boys a lot of strikeouts did you see Amsterdam I can't really figure it out, but he's like over his last five for me personally. I know that's not true for the.

Yeah. It's a lot of strikeouts. Did you see Amsterdam? I didn't. Okay. I, I, I think I just, I saw that trailer so many times,

like in whatever era that came out. And I was just like, I just don't think I'm going to see this. And then you did Christian Bale for Amsterdam, right? I did. We talked about David Russell. Oh yeah.

Yeah. Talked about it with Clooney, too. Yeah. What'd they have to say? Same thing? Well, Clooney called him a miserable fuck. Just straight up. Again, not any prompting of mine.

And Bale was like, yeah, he abused Amy Adams on the set of American Hustle. Now, Bale was currently making Amsterdam with him. So, Bale was like, we made our piece. It's tough didn't make a good movie though sort of the way you've abused Amy Adams on this show

over the years listen night bitch coming yeah I'll never see that so good luck to you I'll be seeing it

it's part of my job here at the ringer if you had to pick one domestic animal to turn into what would it be? really good question. So like domesticated in the hall.

Cat, dog, but also like an iguana. Do you like just lying on a hot rock and staring into the middle distance all day? That seems like Sean's idea. What if I could become blue from Jurassic World, but I was like a domesticated raptor? Is that acceptable? But you have to live with Chris Pratt in the house that he tore down the architectural landmark for.

And every day you watch him eat his cutting diet, you know, where it's just like... Just keto, yeah, all day. Egg whites and like yeah whey you think he's a good housemate I bet he's probably like

more fun than we give him credit for Lou or Chris Pratt Pratt right Lou is not real he's a CGI dinosaur like I bet Chris Pratt

would be like do you want to watch Chiefs night you know yeah I think so right but he'd probably be like, man,

the Chiefs are awesome, huh? Well, then we'd have a lot in common. Um, any other movies we haven't named? No one took 12 years of slave. That's true.

Interview with a vampire. No one took Troy. I thought you might just be get crazy. Well, isn't Troy one of your secret? I've seen this movie like 300 times. Yeah. Yeah.

Is that a rewatchable to you? I mean, in the sort of more original sense of like the movie that you just stick around and watch 25 minutes of because it's on. Sure. Okay. It's not a great film by any means. Can I ask you guys one final question before we get out of here? If you could like switch their roles in any one of these movies either that was taken or wasn't taken which would you

be most intrigued by trading actors into a different movie I mean you can easily see Brad Pitt doing the Hail Caesar part I think yeah I mean Pitt like when he does Burn After Reading is so funny so yeah give him Hail Caesar give I mean, I'm the only person who rides for intolerable cruelty, but, like, give him intolerable cruelty. I think that would be the funniest thing ever. What would I want to see Clooney do that Pitt's done? Well, it's funny because, you know, Clooney is playing the Pitt part in Babylon in Hail Caesar.

Yeah, right. Kind of washed up actor. Brad is doing Gravity in Ad Astra. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They both have space Caesar. Yeah. Great. Kind of washed up actor. And Brad is doing Gravity and Ad Astra. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They both have space movies.

Hmm. I mean like I could never see Clooney in Assassination of Jesse James for example. But I Could you see Clooney play Aldo? I do.

I think so. I think so as well. Like I mean Brad Pitt is obviously so good in it, but he could do it. The Tarantino thing is like the one

where I was like, I want to see Clooney in a Tarantino movie and it doesn't seem likely to happen these days, but that's one where I just can picture it.

I know Quentin would do something interesting with it. And, but yeah, I don't know if there's like a, he couldn't do the once upon a time in hollywood i don't think so you know but personal lives notwithstanding i think clooney could have done mr mrs smith oh yeah clooney could probably play billy bean oh yeah and maybe it looks more

like billy bean yeah than brad does you know bobby there's like an interesting, you need to take it away from me. When I asked them like, oh, are they, are you guys competitive? And they basically were like, even from very early on, I think it's partially like,

just, they're both represented by the same agent, but they're kind of like, we've just known what each other are up to, like since we started. And,

because of that, have always kind of like, stayed away from each other's turf in a very specific way. So, unlike a lot, like if you talk to Bale, Christian Bale, it's like I went out for nine parts that Leonardo DiCaprio got. Like he's constantly auditioning for the same parts. I don't think these guys were really up for the same part in anything ever basically since Thelma and Louise. Can that really be true?

I mean, who knows? But again, what would be the example? I don't know. Did Up in the Air get sent to Brad before it got sent to George? You know what I mean? It's one of those things where you hear that and obviously they have to get along

because of their partnership as movie stars. But the way that it works where people get scripts in an order, and that the only people who really know the answers to that are the agents and the people who were sending the scripts out, it's a very good question, Bob. I think Brad would have crushed Fantastic Mr. Fox. We'll only know based on his performance in Megamind.

And if. But you have to imagine it. You have to imagine it. There, you have to imagine it. There you go. Well, here we are, man. Are we done? No, we don't have to be. We can keep going

for as long as you'd like. Do you guys have any other thoughts you want to share? About anything? Do you want us to read our drafts? I do. Yeah. Okay.

Why don't we go in order of picks? So I'll go first Okay I closed the document already So that's not ideal Do you have to read for mine? No I got it

Okay Sean left this table About 45 minutes ago In Blockbuster I got Seven In Oscar nominee I got Argo In Brad and George Together

I got Ocean's Eleven In Directed or Produced By, I took Moonlight. And in Supporting Role, I have Babylon. And in Wild Card, I have the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert. You got all your movies. You know? Sure. Yeah, definitely.

Absolutely. Guess you didn't get a Tarantino. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. In Blockbuster, I got Inglourious Bastards. In Oscar nominee, I got Michael Clayton. In Brad and George Together, I got Ocean's 13.

I chose Killing Them Softly for directed or produced by. Supporting role, True Mel Romance. And for Wildcard, I got Out of Sight. A lot of George in mine. Yeah, good George representation for you. I did not do that. In Blockbuster, I got World War Z in Oscar

nominee, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Brad and George together, I got Burn After Reading. Directed or produced by, I took Lost City of Z. Supporting role, I took Hail Caesar, and for Wild Card, I took Fight City of Z. Supporting role, I took Hail Caesar. And for Wild Card, I took Fight Club. Amanda.

In Blockbuster, I took Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In Oscar nominee, I took Moneyball. In Brad and George Together, Oceans 12, My Favorite Oceans. Directed or produced by The Big Short. In supporting role, Thelma and Louise. And in Wild Card, Fantastic Mr. Fox. That's pretty much what you would have drawn up, right? I would have done Inglourious Bastards and Blockbuster.

Had you not. So, good job. And I would have done Out of Sight in wildcard. So, also good job. Good job. I appreciate the generosity. John, do you have any compliments that you'd like to share with your guests? What did you... Just an absolute honor to be with be with you are we ever going to see you again

socially we think you'll start responding to our text messages who can say it's too high in LA this weekend I'm counting on you you can pay the tithe and see if I make my return to your lives at some point in the future

what's the tithe well you'll just have to figure that out. Are you really not going to talk to me until we do Rebel Ridge? Who's doing Rebel Ridge? Is that something you're doing? Is that on the watch? Did Bob ask you

to do that? I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. When's this pod going up? This month. Okay. The month of September.

Sure. Well, I'll have to examine the schedule. See if maybe we can put it in the Indiana Jones. This is nice. At least you, Zach, are making it out. Okay. You know what I mean? What do you mean making it out?

Like, we're going to go home and stay married, which is good. And I wasn't sure whether in the first 10 minutes that was going to work out. So Sean is having the tantrum in our stead. What tantrum? It's an emotional tantrum. You're like Brad Pitt. It's silent and invisible, but we all hear it. I don't know what you mean.

I've maintained composure throughout this entire recording Bob have you seen a tantrum of any kind here on the pod Jack no I think you seem very calm

and happy and pleased thanks to our producer Bobby Wagner you seem like Michael Fassbender in The Killer just missed the shot the energy I am channeling every day.

You've been listening to the Smiths for the last 45 minutes. Thanks to Jack Sanders for his work on this pod. Thanks to Bobby Wagner. What's the next episode? Is it The Substance? I think it's The Substance.

Are you trying to place this in its recorded chronology? Yes. And then after that is what? Wolves. A separate wolf spot. Yeah. That's good. That's good. I think you're doing a great

job managing this podcast. I think that's awesome. Congrats, you guys on this. This seems like a wonderful thing you guys have. I look forward to checking out in the future. You haven't heard it before yeah no

I mean I had heard about it I think someone had mentioned it to me but I just not you guys made a fan today and I'm just

going to be excited to listen to it thank you Zach Barron Zach what's your title at GQ I'm the special projects editor the special projects

editor yeah okay what does that entail what projects are you at work on these days well I work on a lot of ringer podcasts actually

yeah it's a funny thing who's paying you for those Sheil it's true we've given you all of these Sheil Kapadia podcasts that's right I'm paid in Philly special episodes

so as long as those keep coming we're good thanks to Chris Ryan thank you you're welcome amazing run you've had on this show that has come to an end

today. Remember when you said that back on the Deacons draft really it was your last appearance. Don't remember that at all. Blocked that out. Many years of therapy. Hydrotherapy Sponged it from my soul I'm Sean Fennesse Sean Fantasy I'll see you guys later on in the fight