The Rewatchables - ‘Lost in Translation’ With Bill Simmons and Amanda Dobbins

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Amanda Dobbins head down to the hotel bar at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo to rewatch Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost In Translation,’ starring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johannson, and Giovanni Ribisi. Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, this is Danny Hyfitz from the Ringer Fantasy Football Show. For all your fantasy football needs, check out the Ringer Fantasy Football Show with me, Craig Horsbeck, and Danny Kelly. That's the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Adobe Firefly, the all-in-one creative studio with AI-powered image and video generation. Build for today's creative process. Firefly helps you generate, edit, and experiment fast, because the asks aren't getting smaller, And the timelines? Ooh, yeah, still tight.

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What's the hottest jam session topic of the summer? We just talked about Jack Antonoff's and Margaret Quali's. wedding and some of the wedding planning. I don't know how familiar you are with Long Beach Island. Andy McDowell was there, I assume. She was. She looked great. I mean, come on. And Margaret Collie had sort of the four weddings and a funeral wedding dress.

Like, she had several, you know, so it was nice. Is it, what's that over under on this marriage? Like nine and a half years? Juliet asked how many weddings. Actress with musician? We thought Margaret Quali would have in her life. Oh. And we landed at three.

But one could be a vow renewal. You never know. What's the actress musician over under just in general? Probably like six and a half years. Yeah. Yeah. That counts right. Well, today we are doing your favorite movie?

Up there. Yeah. Top five? Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. I just feel so alone, even when I'm surrounded by other people.

Lost in Translation is next. Mr. Bob Hollis. He doesn't fit in. Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. the intensity. That's all he said. So he may as well stand out. You really are having a midlife crisis. On September 12th, get ready. Litton my stocking. What? Get set. And get lost in one of the false most original films. I'm trying to organize a prison break. It's electrifying. Oh man. Lost in translation rated R. Okay, we've been talking about this movie ever since I've known you.

It's aged perfectly. It's 20 years this month. In 2009, I wrote this piece about the defining movie of the 2000s, which isn't the best movie. It's a different conversation. And I landed on Almost Famous in 2009, which I don't think would be the answer now. But here's what I wrote. My three qualifications, excellence, originality, and this is crucial, rewatchability. I want a movie that's just as good on my 20th viewing as it was on the first. Sees are right there.

Look at you. This is Lost in Translation. Yeah. I think it's just as good every time. And in fact, I think it might be getting better. Is that possible? I think so. So much of what I like about Sophia Coppola's filmmaking, this is written and directed by my absolute hero, Sophia Coppola, is the attention to detail.

And the little things that she is noticing and the way the lounge singer introduces the name of the band and like what kind of shoes someone is wearing. And those are the things you notice when you watch it over and. over and over again. Seems without dialogue. Yes, exactly. And something jumps out every single time. So I wrote down movies that have been nominated, and I don't know if Almost Famous was nominated actually, but I had almost famous, Dark Night, Lost in Translation,

broke back mountain, no country for old men, there will be blood and maybe sideways as movies that when they came out were critically acclaimed. They had some sort of transcended just like the insubstended just like the end. indie kind of artsy fartsy circles, but actually like hit in a sort of a mainstream way in some way. They broke stars and then they've had legs. And I think those are the seven from that decade. Of the 2000s. Yeah.

And I think the key is it had to have hit when it came out at least a little. This movie was nominated for an Oscar. This movie won Sophia Coppola screenplay Oscar. So it had the kudos in the moment. But now I think it's aged and it gives birth to like Bill Murray's greatest performance. and it creates the scarlet era. This is 20 years later. But this sets her off in this crazy way.

It's really remarkable. She was a child star. Yeah. I actually didn't know she was 18 when she filmed the movie. I was taken aback by that. So was I. I thought she was like 22. Yeah.

And she's playing someone who graduated from college recently and has been married at least, married young, but like 23, 24, 25. So she's same age as my daughter? Yeah. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. And she is, she's the same age that I was when this movie was released. So it's, um, there's a lot of, a lot of feeling there.

She's an old veteran 18. Exactly. But yeah, you would have thought she was like 24, 25. Um, from the leg standpoint. So, so Sophia Coppola never matches this. But you are a huge defender. So do you want to, let's, want to do this now? Sure.

Well, you want to do Sophia now in general? Sophia's taken some hits on this podcast. I've been at home. I've been listening. It's okay. I'm not going to stand here. I don't like the Steven Dorf movie. I thought it was bad. You don't like somewhere? Oh, I love somewhere. Also, that's such a dad movie. No, it's not.

Yes, it, well, you know what? Nothing happens. I don't even know if it's a movie. She does. She loves her dad and her dad figures out how to leave the Chateau Marmont and also how to express his love for her. Great. So Lawson Translation is her signature movie and it's her breakthrough movie, her second after Virgin Suicides, which I'm literally, this is my Sophia Virgin Suicides homemade merch, special edition. wearing it just not homemade, but it's not, I don't know if it's official. And she's at that point, she's doing music videos. Yes. And we know her from Godfather 3. Exactly.

Which really her, it's tough. She's a cool fashion girl. She dates Keanu Reeves. Those are some great paparazzi photos if you've never seen those from the 90s. And her dad was one of the biggest directors of the last 30 years of the century. Exactly. So she's like, she is a Coppola. And that is the nepotism, the nepo baby thing is looming large.

But Virgin Suicides comes out in 1999 is very good. And then Lawson Translation is like the movie. Yeah. Then she makes, and this is why I was like hedging just like a tiny bit at the opening, Marie Antoinette, which is my favorite. Huge comeback for that movie. I love that movie. It's my favorite of her movies, even though I think Lawson Translation is like

the Sophia movie for all the reasons that you just said. And it's like a pop cultural moment. Well, you have more at stake with Marie Antoinette because it's also a cursed and dunce. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, it's like all of the things together. And I am more of a Kirsten than like a Scarjo, Justin, like demeanor. And then somewhere, which I really like. Okay. You should see it again. It's also, have you seen it since, well, you lived in L.A. in 2000. Oh, pandemic? Maybe pandemic. I was going to say L.A. movie just because like, you know, I saw it in New York and then moved here. And then I was like, oh my God, Los Angeles. It is really hard to like swim in a pool and not know what you're doing. And then the rest of the day. She made bling ring, which I like that she tried. It's a, would have rewatch it. No, but it's, I mean, it's a cool, and it's like a good project for her. Sometimes things work.

Well, she has this Priscilla Presley movie coming out. I know. I'm seeing it next week. Which you're seen in Italy. I'm going to the premiere. I'm so, it's truly Sophia season. She has a book out. She's got the new movie, 20th anniversary.

What a time to be alive. It's one of those movies I didn't know what's happening until a week ago when I started researching for this pod. And I was like, what an incredible idea for a movie? Priscilla Presley. And also a great Sophia movie because she makes movies about younger women, maybe in the shadow of men with very large personalities and cultural success. I'm not referencing anyone at all.

Right. But it fits. And also the vibe, the moment it lends itself to style, to music, to costume. to everything that Sophia Coppola does in terms of making like a very visually cool experience. So we have the Barbie summer this summer and in general, like female filmmakers

the last five years. Nice little run. Yeah. Got some directors out. Shout up, RedaGar. My other hero. I think people really want it to happen and realize the value of it at this point. What about in 2003? What was the state? Let's see. So, I mean, this was a big deal. You had Jane Campion. Who else did you have in

2003. You had... Right, Jane Campion. Right. You had Amy Heckerling. You had Mimi Leader. I'm sure there's one person who I... There's some Catherine Bigelow, obviously. Yeah. But it's not, I mean, still now. It's not awesome. It's, it's, the numbers aren't what you want. You know, they weren't then. They aren't now. So she described this movie as romantic melancholy, which I liked. And she said, for everyone, there are those moments when you have great days with someone you wouldn't expect to, then you have to go back to your real lives, but it makes an impression on you. It's what makes it so great and enjoyable. Yeah.

I like that theme because I think everybody's had those one or two times where you just kind of end up with somebody or a group of people that you didn't expect. And you kind of make the best out of it, but it's actually way better than you thought it was going to be. Right. And then you always remember it. Yeah. And also the fact that it's finite and that it has an ending and it's just something that happened. Yeah.

Unexpectedly for a moment. and your life goes on, but you always remember it. That adds to the romance, for sure. And it's in this location that is just never in movies in this way. So you're, I mean, for me, like, if I think of Tokyo movies, this would be the first one I thought of, because it just, Tokyo is like a real character in this movie. Yeah. For me, it's a hotel movie.

And I think specifically of the Park Hyatt, which is the hotel where this is, this is filmed. And it, like, when you rewatch the movie, a lot of it is in that hotel and the various rooms. And a hotel bar that just. It stays open all night. I know. Incredible with great performances.

With musical performances of 4.30 of the morning. So, you know, Tokyo is certainly the backdrop and they explore it a bit. We can talk more about that. But for me also, it is just that, like the hotel as a place of kind of, again, that momentary, like, transience of like, I'm here for now. This isn't where I live. Things were kind of, I'm just a little more open. and also like a little more at sea than I usually would be. It's weird because Garden State came out the same year as this movie.

And even though they're not similar really at all, I do think there's a similar vibe. Like Craig said how this was a very 2003 movie. And I actually agree with that, especially like the early Phoenix that's in there. Do you think Craig meant that like in a positive way? Listen, it might have been insulting, but I chose to take it as a positive. It wasn't insulting. Yeah. Just as like a plain statement.

It's a very 2000 movie. How would you know? Well, no, he was, you were. I was nine. Yeah, you were watching movies at that point. It was just when I was forming memories. Okay. That's great.

This is an incredible Bill Murray moment in time. All time. Unreal. I'm going to give you the four stages of Bill Murray. Okay. Who's been in my life ever since I can remember anything. I think that Bill Murray has also been in my life since I had a life. Well, he definitely has been in your life.

Yeah. I mean, I knew him from why. watching the S&L reruns where I was like eight. So and then meatballs. And then from that point on, I'm just in with Bill Murray. So 77-84, he has S&L meatballs, Kattie, Stripes, Tutsi, and Ghostbusters. And he becomes one of the biggest stars in the world. 8590 is the what do I do now era, which a lot of these actors have, especially the comic actors, where he's got Razors Edge.

Everyone's disappointed that. Scrooge, not a fun movie. Ghostbusters, too. You had to do it. Quick change, which I think has had some momentum as the years has gone as like, oh, no, it's actually pretty good. It's not very good. Then, 91 in 2000, the comeback, what about Bob?

Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day. Mad Dog and Glory, which is a better movie than I think people remember. He's in Ed Wood and Kingpin. He's in Space Jam. He starts doing weird, like cameos and wild things, Rushmore, Charlie's Angels. S&L has gained steam. Yeah.

He comes on. S&L as a host, and he just becomes kind of this. The Rushmore Charlie Angels moment is very important to my generation. Right. Rushmore is a Wes Anderson film, and that's kind of when I become aware of West Anderson. Also, Bill Murray is someone who can do something other than Groundhog Day. And Charlie's Angel is also like keeps him mainstream enough. I was like, I was like 12.

So I was like, ooh. There was a real credibility when he popped into things at that point. By the late 90s, it's like, Bill. where he's going to be in Charlie's Angels, I have to take that movie seriously. But then, 01 and 03, Royal Tannenbaum's and Lost in Translation. Yeah. This is when he kind of cements the legend. Because you could argue those were the two best movies, like dramatic movies that he's been in.

Lost in Translation's the best performance. And he doesn't win the Oscar. And it's never really the same after that. I think it took something out of him. Then he kind of moves into this, you know, he's at Pebble Beach every year. in the golf course. He's popping in different movies. He's just life aquatic.

And I like everything that he's does. It becomes a lot more erratic. Yeah. And it's sort of like he's playing on the idea of Bill Murray that you have from Lost in Translation and the West Hamer's movies. He's the character of Bill Murray. Exactly. Yeah.

He's not totally Bill Murray anymore, which isn't a bad thing or a good thing. But in this, they just catch him at the best possible stage of all this. And also, Sophia is an amazing director. Right. She just gets him. She gets him completely. there's in the background, she like wouldn't make the movie unless he did it. She badgered him for six months.

She called the 800 number. Yeah, the 800 number. It's all the lore now. But she just basically beat him down. They start filming the movie. They have a $4 million budget. He hasn't even signed his contract yet. And they're filming it.

They don't know if he's going to pull out. He shows up a week before. A notoriously not easy to work with guy. Right. But it seems like he and Sophia, at least, had a very positive experience. Is it okay if I just keep calling her Sophia like she's my best friend? I love it. I love it.

You want to give her a nickname? That would be great, too. She's just so fia to me. So he loses the Oscar. Yeah. Who does he lose it to? Sean Penn and Mystic River. Oh, okay.

That's, I'd like a revise. The other nominees were Ben Kingsley and House of Sand and Fog, Jude Law and Cold Mountain. Oh, God. That's just a make-up for not giving him the Oscar for talented Mr. Ripley. And Johnny Depp and the Pirates of the Caribbean. Wow. Rough category.

That's disgraceful. So it came down to Sean Penn versus Bill Murray. And I think people thought Bill Murray was going to win plus Sean Penn had already won. Bill Murray had never been nominated before. Right. Do you think that's a campaigning thing? And also just, you know, Bill Murray, we love him, but famously either gets along with you or does not get along with you. So if he's rubbing enough people the wrong way.

I have a real problem with this one. Yeah. I don't know if it's a level one Oscar Travesty, but it's definitely a level two. Yes. Because as you said, it's that thing where that was the opportunity. Like, that was his shot. And you know that it's never, it's never going to come back. It's like Tom Cruise and Jerry McGuire.

It's like Eddie Murphy and Dreamgirls. Like we have it where it's like, this is it. This is the shot. We've seen it a few times even the last like five, six years. Glenn Close said that one moment recently. Don't you think she'll get another shot? How many times she'd be nominated? At like eight or nine.

This one really hurts because. It does. I don't, the movie that can't exist without him. You can't put any other actor from the ages of probably at the time they make this movie from early 40s to late 50s, nobody fits. Yeah. It doesn't work. I mean, I don't want to step on recasting couch, but like I don't know.

I left it empty. Okay, good. Me too. Yeah. So Fias said she would not make the movie if Bill Murray didn't do it. So that's where I'm going. There's a maybe Jack Nicholson, but he had to have been at least 12 years younger. Yeah.

Because I like that. Like I watched with my wife last night and she's like, man, she's a lot older than her. She gave one of those. And she was thinking from the prism of, I have an 18 year old daughter. Would I be cool with her spending all this time with a 52 year old man in Japan? Yes. It was the first time I'd really thought of it because I always thought Scarlett was older. But then putting the 52 verse 18 thing, I was like, oof.

They are definitely there is an age gap. I like Jack, but he might be a little. to debonair. You know, there's something about the revelation of, like, Bill Murray, who is sardonic and goofy, suddenly being, so he's always charming, but it's a different movie star kind of charm where you're just like, oh, you know, when he just, like, he cracks open. Well, don't you have to feel like the key to any actor in that spot? And this is why, like, Brad Pitt never could have played this part, older Brad Pitt,

like, once upon a time in Hollywood right now, Brad Pitt. when they're lying in bed in the big scene near the end, I have to believe that he's not going to make a move on her. Totally. And if I feel like that actor is bringing any baggage of, oh, he's definitely going to make a run. Right. Jack, Jack Nicholson, I would feel like he's going to make her run.

Brad Pitt, well, 100%, I'm not buying that he's not. Right, and you're also just- Leo's another one. Like, Leo right now. There's no way he's not making a move, you know? Yeah, it's a little bit how you're trained as a viewer to relate to these people. And you just, I mean, Jack has always been a little bit of a rogue in movies.

Brad Pitt is always the romantic interest. And the nice thing about Bill Murray in this role is that I do think he's surprising and kind of like playing against the idea of Bill Murray, but not in the weird Lethario way that makes you uncomfortable. Because that scene can very quickly turn really uncomfortable. And instead, it's just wonderful. he's the least flirty. He toned down the flirtiness, I think, the most because he was a notoriously flirty guy in real life, but not too bad. But even on SNL, like, he fell in love with Gilder Radner.

And it played out over the course of, like, their last couple years of the show together. And, you know, I just think he's a charming guy. But he's also can be a very non-charming guy, too, if you catch him on the wrong day or whatever. So, you know, Harold Ramos had those stories about, like, Yeah, this guy didn't talk to me for 16 years. There's a long list of people who don't have the right vibe with him on set. And I think even, sorry to step on trivia, but like that scene in the bed where they're talking, I think the first time they tried to film it, Bill Murray and Scarlett-Rleger-Benton.

Yeah, we're not getting along. And so they came back the next day. Yeah, you could read between the lines with a lot of the research. And it was like, there's probably a little more there that these two, they didn't get along incredibly well the whole time. Yeah. But she was also 18, you know, and this was a big moment for her. And I think also. And he's difficult.

He's, I think he's difficult. I do think also that, like, Sophia Coppola made this movie for him, you know? Yeah. I think he probably is kind of like the shining star in her eyes. I mean, he's been so good in so many different movies. I think he's amazing and Tootsie. Yes. It's such like a nothing part and he's so good in it.

I mean, he's in some of. of the most iconic comedies ever. We've done, what about Bob and Groundhog Day already on the rewatchables? You know, I don't need to sell the Bill Murray theme, but I do think this is his best,

I think it's his best performance. I don't know, it's not as funny as performance. It's not the biggest movie he ever made, but I feel like, I personally think it's the most important one. I completely agree. It's that thing where someone you know,

like a true movie star, tries something different, completely lands it. And it just, it feels special. even as it's happening. So what are other examples of this? Because like Brad Pitt and Moneyball

was like this a little bit for me because I was like, oh, I didn't realize you had this side in you. Cruz and Jerry McGuire was like this. Yeah. When you have these big stars, but something shifts about the movie there and the performance where you're surprised

even though they've been in your life for so long? Right. Was there a Julie Roberts version of this? Bill, you can read my mind because I was literally thinking, Aaron Brockovich is like not quite that. It's more like she got the role that she deserved in a... Just like Charlie Wilson's War could have been it, but it never got there.

Yeah, that doesn't get there. She's very good in it. Yeah. But you know what's a good one? Sandra Bullock and Blindside. Oh, yeah. A controversial movie these days. Yeah. Oh, gosh.

But she was great in that movie. Like just hands down, she's great in that movie. And I was like, I didn't know she had this in her. I still think she's great in Miss Congeniality. I think that's the real underrated Sandra Bullock breakthrough. But yes. Yeah. As you know, she's the Nolan Ryan of rom-coms, as I've told you many times.

Let's take a break and we'll do Scarlett. Okay. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved.

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Yuzu chantilly cake. But if you're on the go, new 365 strawberry pretzels make a great sweet snack. That sounds delicious. Get savings with yellow sale sign storewide and everyday low prices on 365 brand items. Enjoy the fresh flavors of spring. Save at Whole Foods Market. All right. So Young Scarlett, this is in I'm falling for you as I'm watching this performance, which

happens a lot, especially with younger actions. like Julie Roberts and Pretty Woman, definitely. Natalie Portman and Garden State, definitely. Sandra Bullock and Speed, no question. We were like, not only is this person great in this movie, but I know she's going to be in my life for the next 20 years. It was so clear that she was going to be an impactful actress, and, you know, I love to bring sports into this.

She was immediately a high lottery pick. It was like, this person's going to have a long career. I would draft her with the number one pick in this year's draft. And she's had a really good career. right? Yes, especially the last 10 years. She takes a minute after this, right? It sure does.

There's... Like, Nanny Diaries is the first thing that jumps into my head, which I remember. Her 03 to 06 is really action-packed. She's in, like, the perfect score. She's in Matchpoint, which I think is a great movie. Oh, right. She does all the Woody Allen movies. Matchpoint is amazing.

It's really good, and she's great in it. astonishing. Again, like very, very young. But really... She's in the what goes around Justin Timberlake video, which now belatedly controversial. Okay.

That song. But she's... Okay. She's in that. But she's kind of all over the place for three, four years. And then, you know, had to kind of figure out

who she wanted to be. Did she want to follow the Angelina, be an action star, make money that way? Do I want to be in comic book movies? Am I going to... You know, and I think she figured it out eventually. Yeah.

I mean, she got to be in Marvel for 10 years and I assume make a lot of money. And also, you know, she works with Jonathan Glazer and she works with Noah Baumbach. And it kind of has, she managed to have both the blockbuster and the serious acting career simultaneously. Iron Man 2. That was the really bad one. She did a couple paycheck movies, right? She did the, she was in, he's just not that into you.

Sure, but everybody was. She's like, I'll take a check. Yeah, everybody was in that. We bought a zoo. Yeah, we bought a zoo. Yeah. But she starts getting weird. in a good way around like 13 because she's in Don John.

She's in under the skin. Yeah. She people love. She's in her. She pops in chef. She's in Lucy. She just gets weird in a really great way. Scarjo being in her is really fascinating.

Right. But her. Spike Jones. Is directed by Spike Jones and is, you know, understood to be about his divorce. Yes. From Sophia Coppola. And in Lost in Translation, Scarlett's husband is supposed to be Spike Jones. Yes.

Not a flattering Spike Jones portrayal. No, it's not. That's one of those where you see it in the movie. I'm like, my wife made this movie. I'm going to see it tonight and you're watching it going. Wait a second. Are we in trouble? So there's a great behind the scenes documentary or making of about Lost in Translation.

That's like a DVD extra that I've watched several times. And a friend pointed out to me, you know, it starts like a couple weeks before production. And Spike Jones is there filming and interviewing Sophia. And it's all very exciting. And then they actually start filming. And then he's so suddenly no longer like anywhere to be seen in the document. Now, I don't know. I mean, he was also very busy.

He could be doing his own things. There's also a Lynn Hershberg profile of Sophia Coppola that was released in 2003 for this movie. May I just read you one sentence from it? Or two sentences. In the last few months, Jones and Copeland. have been distant, rarely living in the same city. It's been rough being apart so much, she explained, but we have to figure out our relationship after September 12th when the movie comes out.

That's on the record to the New York Times Magazine. And needs to say they got divorced a couple years later. Yeah. And then, but that's what's so fascinating about it is so then Spike Jones makes his version of it. There's a Rooney Mara character who like definitely resembles Sophia Coppola. And Scarlett Johansson agrees to be the voice. And she's, you know, you could say that she's not taking sides, right? Or you could say that she's taking sides.

Sophia cast her, she said she liked her from this movie, Mani and Lowe, which I don't think I've ever seen. I haven't either. She was 17, but I had this idea of her being this young Lauren Bacall type girl. I loved her low voice. You can't really gauge the chemistry until you do test for shooting. I don't even think they'd met before we did. So I picked someone I liked and hoped that it worked.

And Bill is so lovable. It's a pretty big risk. Huge risk. I'm taking somebody who's about to turn 18. I'm putting in a movie with Bill Murray and we're going to be filming in Tokyo. And we hope Bill shows up. And we hope Bill shows up.

The other thing that was amazing about this movie, Anna Ferris. And I think this is what pushed a movie over the top in the moment. She plays obviously a Cameron Diaz character. Right. And then everybody is taking great pains. No, no, it wasn't her. And it's clearly her.

There's no question. Right. It's not her. So she plays this ditsy blonde and the story, who know, I'm sure you've, I mean, really there's no person better equipped to have this part of the conversation than you in the world. Right. It's like bringing in the number one Michael Jordan expert to talk about the baseball sabbatical. Thank you so much. I've thought a lot about this.

Yeah, let's hear. Let's just hear all your theories. I've interviewed on a Ferris, by the way. Yeah, but she, I don't believe her version of the story at this point. No, I don't either. She's not a reliable narrator. She was lovely to me. I didn't have anywhere to go after the.

the interview, so she just invited me to her house and gave me a lot of wine. So she's wonderful. That's great. Anna Ferris is great. So Cameron Diaz was in being John Malkovich, which is a Spike Jones movie. And then four years later, this scene where the husband character played by Giovanni Rubisi, but who definitely resembles Spike Jones, and Anna Ferris playing a bubbly, uh, Spacey. Blonde?

Ditsy. Yeah. I was trying to be generous. The B.O thing was like the all-time Cameron Diaz revealed like, oh my God, I have the worst BEO. It's like Cameron Diaz has probably done that on a talk show. Exactly. And they meet in the, by the elevator banks and are, clearly they've worked together. Scarlett your hands character, Charlotte, feels like on the outside is judging this person.

And it is just so clearly the wife of a. successful director writing about and doing a very funny set-up. Like, no one gets off easy in this movie. Like, it's pretty harsh characters of a lot of people, including The Lounge Singer, my favorite. Yeah. But the Ana Fara stuff is just incredibly wonderfully vicious. Wait.

So when Cameron Diaz made that movie Bad Teacher, there is an interview with her, so this is in 2014. So, and she says, I haven't worn deodorant for 20 years. Yeah. Oh. I mean, come on. I think it was actually so successfully mean that they had to backtrack and distance themselves from it. Yeah, of course. Like, honestly, one of the most vicious characters that's been in a movie.

And so funny. Perfect. Like, to the point that I actually thought she was going to become a major star because she was so good playing Camer Dias. I really wish she had that press conference where she's like, you know, Keanu and I have so much in common. We both live in L.A. We love Mexican food. It's just, oh, it's beautiful. It's amazing.

Allegedly, Diaz has forgiven her former friend Coppola for the slate. That was in somewhere? Yeah, no, but that was just an unnamed source to radar online. I was like, great. I'm glad everyone's found peace. I have a really hot take about this for later. But this really helped because this is 03. The Internet's in full shape in 03.

We have the early versions of all these different message boards. the blogs are just starting to kick in. It's before TMZ. No, but I'm still, I'm aware of this as a subplot. Sure. In a way that I wouldn't have been in 1999. But it's also not supercharged. Like if it happened right now.

Oh, it would be active war. It was like the don't worry, darling press thing, but like times 4,000. Yeah. It would be between social media, TMZ, all of the, you know. Cameron Day's would have had to say something. Yeah. In 03, it could be like pretend it's not happening even. Now everyone knows that's happening.

One other thing about Sophia, I forgot to throw this at you. First woman to be Oscar-rominated for writing, directing, and producing in the same year. And she wins. Kind of sobering. 2003 that was the first time that happened. It's never what you want, you know? She wins for Best Original Screenplay. There's a one great movie syndrome that Michael Simino is probably the number one version of this,

Deer Hunter, and just can't match it. John Singleton's in there. Boys in the Hood. He has a couple other decent ones, but it's never even close to District 9 guy. Oh, right. Whatever his name was, District 9's really good. It got nominated. Yeah. You're not putting her in this category, are you?

I just wanted to ask you. I just wanted to make sure. Listen, Virgin suicides, loss in translation, Marie Antoinette somewhere, which is really good. Check it out. So Marie Antoinette. That is a decade of stone cold masterpieces. I just wanted to talk it out. I know. I knew how you feel. I'm excited to see Priscilla.

I would say that the last decade has been what we would call minor works. But that's okay. Those four. But Marie Antoinette, not well received when it came out. Yeah. Well, they debuted it can, which, like, you don't want to take that movie to France. What is interesting is the father-daughter directing combo. Yeah.

Which I think this might be it. I was trying to think of. Who was the story? daughter of a famous director who then made a movie that got nominated for an Oscar. No one that I can think of. It has to be just her

and that's it, right? That is true. So she gets nominated for Best Director. Peter Jackson wins for Lord of the Rings. What are you going to do? The City of God guy,

master and commander, Peter Weir, Mystic River Clooney is doing. Speaking of Peter Weir, the total tangent, nothing to do with anything. But today is a day where my dreams are coming true.

So let's do one more. Witness is a rewatchable. me and Mallory Rubin and Shortless Harrison. Just letting you guys go? I just, I think you would probably get sued, but it would be a good way to go out. Mallory watches it like every nine months. I'm just saying it's incredible. Sophia does not get nominated for Best Actress.

Scarlett, Johansson. I mean, Scarlet. Charlize wins for Monster. Keisha Castle Hughes for Whale Rider. I don't even know what that movie is. I don't remember it either. Diane Keaton for something. got to give, got nominated for an Oscar?

Listen, are you coming to me questioning Nancy Meyer's representation at the Oscar? She's wonderful in that film. Well, again, you've named another performance that we don't remember. Who can say whether it's deserving or not because we don't remember it? But let's not cast dispersions at Diane Keaton for something's got to give. Godfather, yes, something's got to give. No, she's great. Samantha Morton and in America?

Not, yeah. Naomi Watson 21 grams. I remember at the time people thought that performance was the thing. I haven't seen that movie in 20 years. My dad made us go see that on Christmas. It's personally upsetting to me that Scarlett didn't get nominated. I agree with you. I just don't know why.

I just don't know why Diane Keaton has to bear the brunt of that. I'm just throwing out five actresses who got nominated. I'm saying Scarlett should have been in the West. I agree. This is a place of agreement. As you know, I appreciate and enjoy the Nancy Myers collection. You do. I was surprised that one of them got a performance.

for an Oscar. I don't really know that was the goal of those movies. That is her signature film. 2003, very important movie year for me. Something's got to give. And lost in translation. $4 million budget.

It made $118.7 million. That's wild. Which is just nuts. Our guy, Roger Ebert, who loves story and loves performance, four stars. She's laid the smackdown

with a four-star Jim you know you can go read online but he has a lot of and then I think he put it two wonderful performances

Bill Murray has never been better he doesn't play Bill Murray or any other conventional idea of a movie star but invents Bob Harris from the inside out as a man both happy and sad with his life

stuck but resigned to being stuck I thought that's well put beautiful you ready to do most rewatchable scenes yes I can't wait to see what wins from your end I think I know what my answer is, but I'm ready to have a conversation with you.

The TV commercial, the first one. Sure. A prostitute shows up in Bob's room screaming at him. It's just a really crazy, funny scene. I just wanted to mention it. Anna Farr shows up for the first time. John, you are my favorite photographer. Oh, no, you are.

I only want you to shoot me. It's true. Oh my God, I have the worst B.O. right now. I'm so sorry. No, no, no, no. But listen, let's all go out for a drink sometime. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, call me, okay? Yeah, okay.

All right, listen, I'm under Evelyn Wa. Oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. Okay. Okay, yeah. Okay, arigato, arigato. Ah! Mushy, mish, mishy. The Scarlet's expressions during the scene are so great of her sizing her up, being like semi-disgusted, kind of mad at her husband.

Just a lot going on. Just sitting there. It's kind of almost her Oscar clip. Yeah. I have the second on a fair scene that bleeds into the second Bob and Scarlet scene when she's like, well, you try this power cleanse? It's amazing. And then she goes over to Bob's table.

And he says, I'm trying to organize a prison break. My dad was actually an anorexic. Yeah. Bob and Scarlet go out in the town. Yeah. We get Bill Murray singing karaoke for Elvis Costello and Brian Ferry. We get Scarlett singing a Pretender song. We get a really, really low-scale acoustic version of more than this, which is a classic, classic, classic.

And then a very tender moment, she puts her head on her shoulder. So we had that scene. We had the sushi scene, which is just, it seems like they improv the whole thing, and Bo Mary is just making her laugh. Got my foot banged up. Want to see it? Howdy said no? Oh my gosh.

I know. That's... When did you do this? I did it the other day. It hurts, you know? Didn't you feel any pain? Yeah, it really hurt. That toe is almost dead.

I think I got to take you to the doctor. You can't just put that back in the shoe. No, you don't think so. Well, you either go to a doctor or you leave it here. He's smiling. You like that idea? See, they loathele over in this country. You got a sharp knife?

Gotta be, you know, this country. I'm just throwing it on a far as singing karaoke for fun. Then we get that big scene in bed that we talked about. Yeah. I'm stuck. Does it get easier? Yeah. Does it get easier?

No. Yes. It gets easier. Oh, yeah? Look at you. Thanks. The more you know who you are and what you want, the less things upset you.

She does, comes up with that every girl goes through a photography phase, which I love. I actually think that might be true. Sue, yes, that has stayed with me for 20 years. I just don't know what I'm supposed to be. You know? I tried being a writer, but I hate what I write. And I try.

I tried taking pictures, but they're so mediocre, you know, and every girl goes through photography phase. You know, like horses. You know, take dumb pictures of your feet. You'll figure that out. And I'm not worried about you. You're like, are you talking about kids? The most terrifying day of your life is the day,

life is they the first one is born your life as you know it is gone never to return but they learn how to walk they learn how to talk you want to be with them and they turn out to be the most delightful people you ever meet in your life i thought that was the best 20 seconds to sum up what it's like to be a parent i've ever heard the movie it's really beautiful it's like perfect yes it's perfect and he has kids so it's like completely genuine for him um but as you said sophia said that this was a really tough scene and they didn't nail it and they had to come back and do it. And for whatever reason, the chemistry was off and then they got it. But it's the most important scene in the movie. We'll debate whether it's most rewatchable. I have Scarlett walking around Tokyo with with no dialogue,

just music. Right. I like when she's giving Bob shit about the hookup. When she's pissed off. Well, she is closer to your age. Yeah. You probably watch the same movies in the 50s. He's like there wasn't someone else to shower you with attention. The last night in the hotel bar, the elevator goodbye, which I also have for the Kid Cuddy Pursuit a Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop when the other hotel singer is doing, I'm so into you. A really good version of it. That can't be. I mean, that's a really good needle drop. In this movie, that can't.

Well, Phoenix probably wins, but I just wanted to shout it out. For me, it's the Jesus of Mary Jane at the. Well, I had that as well. The final scene. just an incredible ending. All time. Also, that Jesus of Married Chain song, which that's my music. I posted a playlist last night because I was so excited.

I listened to the playlist on the drive today. You and I are really, yeah, it's beautiful. That's my, but the Jesus of Marit Chain, like, that's a fucking old song, but it doesn't sound like it's an old song. And it's just perfect. The ending of this movie makes the movie. No question. And has become its own thing.

Yeah. So I guess the ending has to be the actual answer to this, but I have different answers. First of all, I just, my husband wanted me to mention the golf shot. He just, you know. The great Zach Barron? Zach Barron. Well, Zach told me that Bill Murray did it in one take, which I was not able to verify online. Oh, the putt in the hotel room?

No, the swing on the, off the drive, right, off the tea. He goes golfing alone. And he has a pure stroke. Yeah. Oh, interesting. That was a one shot. That's what Zach said again. Again, that's just my husband who reads a lot about golf on the internet.

Yeah. Mine is probably the karaoke. So I had that as well, and I didn't know if that was going to be a controversial opinion. But, you know, I grew up one of the first S&L characters I ever really loved was Bill Murray doing the nightclub, the nightclub singer. When he does the Star Wars, they're Star Wars, if they could, Bar Wars. And he just, I just never say anything like that. So anytime he goes into the silly Bill Murray mode, I'm happy. So he does that with the first song.

But then more than this, it's kind of emotional. Yes. Oh, no, it's incredibly emotional. I mean, that's my other needle drop. Yeah. Because when she's wearing the pink wig and they're just hanging out with these weird people they met. But then also when she does brass in pocket and, you know. Which is really good, even though she doesn't sell it that hard.

Really good. But when she's like, I'm special. And then when he does this special Back at her I mean, your heart just splits open It's so good and he's so good in it So I for me it's karaoke Because also when I hear the Brian Ferry song

Or Brass in Pocket I always think of those exact scenes Brass and Pocket is an unbelievable karaoke song And I'm glad they stumbled into that's true I would have that 1A The lying in bed scene 1B And the ending 1C But the ending is just

Those are the three, those are the spine of the movie. You can't have the movie without like those three moments. The ending's up there for me. Like really like high up there. Like if Shawshank is a 10 out of 10, I'm not saying this is a 10, but it's up there. It's in the nines. It's really hard to end a movie. Like most people don't get it right.

So when they just absolutely land the plane, it's exhilarating. And the fact that you don't know what they say to each other. Do you want to do this now? Let's do it later. Okay. Because it sort of goes against my movie ethics. But in the, in the process of watching the movie, you don't know what they're saying to each other. Also, I like that they don't end up together.

Yeah, exactly. When he goes to catch her up, you think they're going to start making out. No. And then they have this moment. And then as Bill Murray is walking away, it's his Oscar real. Like, as he looks back at her and all of the emotions and, like, actually the joy on his face all at what's. It's unbelievable. Yeah, they didn't have the last scene after when he gets back to the States.

And his wife's like, so who'd you hang out with in Tokyo? We have a category for that. Well, I met this 18-year-old girl. All right. So we agree on that. What's age the best? Early 2000s, Tokyo. I don't know if it's still like this now.

Have you ever been? I've never been. But it is one of my wife and I were talking about last time. It is one of those movies where you're like, kind of need to see this at some point in my life. It's on the top of my list. I really would like to go on. Fortunately. You stay at the park high.

Yes. I would like to. Hotel bars with piano players have aged the best for me. Is there a better hotel bar? No. I like the sunset tower bar. I'm just thinking for as a movie location. Oh, I thought you were just like in life.

Has a movie used the hotel bar better? No. Not or not as memorably. I can't think of us. I can't think of us. I can't think of us. Also, I had at what's age the best smoking cigars and cigarettes and bars. Yeah.

That was a time. It's like, ah, maybe we should go back. back. We all know lung cancer is bad and smoking. We get it. But let's go back. As Scarlett says, like, I can quit later. Yeah.

Like, I like it. I don't smoke that much. Bob and Charlotte never introduced themselves to each other. Oh, yeah. It's like kind of a weirdly good, what's age the best when you watch? They never, he never, she never says his name to her or to him. She probably knows who he is, I'm guessing. I think she does.

pretty famous actor. And he has to know who she is because he sends the note to the hotel room. Yeah. Or at least knows, I guess. But he just knows there's like this cute girl on my hotel. Yeah. I also like the two guys recognizing Bob when they're like. Oh, yeah.

Suns had a loved it. Heard you did your own driving. Just like your classic awkward hotel bar interaction. What 70s movie star is he supposed to be reminiscent of? I thought it was like a Gene Hackman type. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good pull.

It seems like he was in like French connection type of. Right. What's age the best, just Phoenix? They caught Phoenix pretty early. I- Phoenix's next album was the one that hit. I absolutely love Phoenix. Yeah.

Also, a subset of this, you know who Sophia Coppola's current husband is, is Thomas Mars. Come on. Who are you talking about? I don't know. I just, I don't know when you want me to do the gossip. But everyone go read this Lynn Hirschberg profile from 2003 because you can just see all the pieces moving. Like one of the scenes, they go visit.

Phoenix in the studio and Sophia asks to listen to a song again and she hasn't been in their contact with yeah and by Marie Antoinette Phoenix is like in they they play a song in the movie so there's tons of improv in this movie which I think has aged the best because you can kind of pick out which ones where they just kind of kept the cameras rolling and that Bill Murray Cook I have for what stage the best the trope of just dumping the husband halfway through the movie it's like you've served your purpose goodbye it's how Time for you to leave so we can really get the movie going. It's like, I gotta go, do a photo shoot.

Much like the making of documentary. Right, totally. The soundtrack's aged incredibly well. Lots of, lots of good ones in there. And you can find really good Spotify playlist that have... I mean, it's immaculate. Just the pure soundtrack or all the songs used in the movies. This last one I had for What's Age the Best.

When she says 25 years, that's impressive about his music. marriage. And he says, well, you figure you sleep one third of your life. So that knocks out eight years of marriage right there. So you're down to 60 to change. I just like that theory about marriage. It's like, no, not really 25. It's more like 16. That's good. What else did you have for what stage the best? The kind of pre-internet time period of this in 2003, we had the internet. But was a benevolent internet. Right. But it still also means that you have to send faxes. And the wife is just calling on the cell phone. And all of that, both the disc, the disc, the disc, connect that I think it creates, but also like the nagging intrusions would just be text messages

now, you know? And I think all of that stuff is really funny. And the text, the texting and stuff actually would have made everyone more connected. Exactly. And what, and she would have been on the internet all the time and way less lonely probably. Right. Exactly. Right. Exactly. Right. Yeah. Let's take the break and take a break. We'll hit the rest of the categories. This episode is brought to by the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game and grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2%

rewards on purchases. Say it with me, the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo, be a 2%ter. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward slash active cash terms of play. This episode is brought to you by Two Good & Company Coffee Creamers. Howdy take your coffee, piping hot, ice, strong, frothy. But if you love rich, creamy goodness and delicious flavor in every sip, try two good and company creamers. They're made with farm fresh cream and real milk.

Each serving has just three grams of sugar, 40% less than the leading coffee creamers. Two good creamers are available in sweet cream, roasted vanilla, and lavender. So which one are you trying first? Find two good creamers at your local retailer in the creamer aisle. All right, the Big Cahuna Burger Award for Best Use of Food slash Drink. The restaurant, when they get brought all the raw food and they have to steam it and they're having that terrible dinner and it's just like, what do we do? It was the worst lunch ever. I thought it was just a fitting lunch for them and then have all the cocktails.

I mean, great cocktails in this movie. I just feel like Centauri Time has to be. Yeah, Centauri Time. Yeah. Okay. cheating. You just say Tokyo or the hotel bar. I was going to say Park Hyatt. Yeah.

Great shot Gordorward, most cinematic shot. The opening shot of Scarlet's Butt, which there's all kinds of, there's all kinds of writing about, like, interpretations of why they started the movie that way. It's pretty interesting. Now that we know she was 17, 18. 18. She was 18. Okay. Yeah. You know. But she was really going for something. So the film scholar, Todd Kennedy, interprets it

in terms of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey's conception of the male gaze, arguing that, quote, the shot lasts so long as to become awkward, forcing the audience to become aware of and potentially even question their participation in the gaze. Okay. Sure. Yeah. What do you have for great check, Gordo?

It's certainly an interesting way to open a movie. I'll tell you that much. It's memorable. Especially on a 50-foot movie theater screen. We're like, wait. It's completely, it's memorable. I have the one of Scarjo walking through like Shibuya, you know, which looks very good, but also famously, like they didn't have permits. So a lot of that, they're either on the street or they filmed some of the shots from like the Starbucks up above.

And then like the end, the shot when they're hugging with the crowd around them and she's on her tippy toes. Yeah. I mean, it's perfect. Butch's girlfriend award, weeklink of the film. the phone calls with the wife are kind of I know their purpose Oh, I think they're funny

I would like to start eating like Japanese food How are the kids doing? Yeah I don't think the actress is really that great Okay So hey Bob It's a little Johnny's birthday

I don't know I can't say those are my most fun parts of the movie Well they're uncomfortable If he's about to call the wife I'm like I might be able to make some popcorn right now Yeah it's so funny because for me It's when Scarlett Johansson's just like wandering around looking confused.

I'm like, yeah, okay, like you're young and you like don't know where you are. Like, I get it. Would it stage the worst? Man, I did not have a lot for this. This movie is really good. Scarlet being 18 is, I guess, probably hasn't aged awesome. Yeah. I don't like the scene with the prostitute in the room.

It like, I just, it's the one time where I'm like, I don't know. This is it the expense of everyone. I think, so I'll defend it. Yeah. I think they're trying to prove just how weird this experience is for him, that he's in this foreign country. They think it's okay to send him this masseuse at night. And it's just like a crazy scene. I like, I get it.

And I think there are like a lot of the movie is that it's the one where I'm just like, You could have cut it. You could have cut it. It's at her expense. They're doing all the things with pronunciation where I'm just like, you know what? This is the one time where I'm like, this is not the most like sensitive thought out part of it. So that stuff doesn't work for me. I have, for what's age the worst, the first scene when Bob and Scarlett have a drink. I'm calling her Scarlett, even though her name Charlotte.

She never says the name Charlotte. I just wish this scene was better. Like, I felt like that should have been a rewatch because they have that great shot of them at the hotel bar. It's a wide shot of the two of them. They're getting to know each other, but maybe they're just trying to set up the second scene with them is so much better. Right. That's the one where she orders the vodka Katonic. Yeah, she just comes and sits down with them. It's late at night. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is my winner for what stage is the worst. My daughter thought Bill Murray was Robin Williams. What? Because I watched this with her in Boston two weeks ago. I watched this movie twice. And she thought it was the guy from Goodwill Hunting, and I had to explain her the difference to Bill Murray and Rob Williams. Oh, no.

And then I tried to slip my throat from my intent, and it didn't work. What did she think otherwise? She really liked it. Yeah. Yeah, she was in. to it. If I'm doing the rating scale of how many times she looked up from her phone as she was doing TikTok or whatever else, like she was about two-thirds invested in the movie.

That's pretty good. Which is really high score for her. Ron Burgundy flew to work for a peep break. I mean, when Scarlet's wandering around the beginning, you could go there or any phone call Bill Murray. When she's in like the arcade tour. Is this the best title for the movie? I think so.

Yeah. I'm with you. What's your favorite quote? The feet, taking pictures of my feet, I'm stuck, that whole speech. I mean, I definitely, like I said, I saw this when I was 19. Yeah. And I was like, oh, no, you know? And it has stayed with me.

It's a useful summation of being young and trying to do something. The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award, actually have a hottest take. I do as well. You go first. Yeah. I mean, they're just there a week. It's not that long, you know? It's like, it's just, it's not long enough.

It feels like a month and a half? Well, it's just not really long enough for an existential crisis. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you're just there for one week. You can just have a couple dinners and read a book and, like, get on with your life. Wow. You just underbind your favorite movie. No, I did.

You said hottest take. That's pretty good. A week is not that long. I'm coming in way hotter. Okay. Cameron Diaz's career was never the same after this movie. It's true. You go on her.

IMDB, it just goes up a clip right after O'3. Yeah, it is really powerful. It's like Charlie's Angels 2 and then this. And I think everybody kind of, maybe they didn't want to admit it, but rethought their experience with Cameron Diaz who had been on an absolute heater from 94 all the way through the early 2000. It's true. The sweetest thing came out the year before in 2002.

And then she never really got it back after this. I guess they stopped making that kind of gross out comedy in the same way. Or that, you know, they started doing. the Apatow version of it and there's no room for her. Well, she does gangs in New York, which she's terrible. Right. Yeah, that was tough. This comes out of year later. Yeah.

She's also in that mode that happens to a lot of actresses where they have their five to seven-year run and then people are like, okay, I figured you out. Who's the next one? And the next one comes in. And then she retires. She makes wine now. Have you had it? It seems like she has a great life.

I'm just saying from the moment this movie comes out, it goes sideways. Yeah. Craig, did you like that one? That was like, I'm just playing to Craig. Casting what ifs, I couldn't find any. I couldn't either. I guess it's just basically if Bill Murray, I mean, there's really only like five American parts in this movie,

but if Bill Murray didn't do it, I don't know what plan B was. I had for the rough low hand and Rubinick Partridge overacting word, it's clearly the masseuse prostitute. Yeah. Just completely over the top. Best that guy award, there's only five people. in it that we would have recognized and we kind of know who all of them are. Right.

I guess Giovanni Ribisi, maybe 10 years from now could be that guy, who people really hasn't been in that many things the last 10 years. But he definitely was Giovanni Rubisi in 2003. Yeah, exactly. Doesn't count. All right. Dionne Waiters. I mean, on a Ferris, I don't even know how there's another.

My only question was, is she in it too much? No, she's not, actually. She's got, she's like three scenes. You could rename it. Oh, yeah. So Hapest Center Research. we talked about it but a lot of what she found

with this character was shit she went through like kind of being with Spike Jones and feeling like kind of an ornament on the side and I think being young and being lost I mean she was in Godfather 3 people did not enjoy it as previously discussed on the rewatchables and then sadly miscast

yeah and then she is and I think she We had on we did my cousin Viddy and we solved who should have been Godfather 3 That is really good. It's such a shame. We just can't go back in time and redo that. No, I know.

It was not, it was not her apex now. We probably can soon. With AI, you'd be able to shove Tomey and Godfather 3. I'd love to see that happen. I just, I don't know. I think everybody, I don't want Francis Ward to spend his remaining time doing that. He's too busy on Instagram. I will say if any director was going to go back in time with his old IP and figure out a way to bastardize it, it would be him.

Are you following him on Instagram, by the way? Did I? It's incredible. I had no idea that was... He is so committed. He's doing like, you know, all... Every single made-up holiday about cinema he celebrates with some nostalgia. He reblogs Sophia's stuff all of the time.

So he's like, it's proud dad mode to. Is he still doing the movie Megalopolis? Yeah. Is he posting about that? He is. He like posts thank you to his cast that like some staffer has like animated, you know? He does Q&As. He like posts about his breakfasts.

breakfast every single time. He has, he likes to a body. I don't know. It's great. Really recommend it. The redheaded lounge singer was played by Catherine Lambert, who was not an actress. She was going to be my Dian waiters if Anna Ferris wasn't. Yeah, we couldn't even discuss other candidates. It was so clear her the winner was. The first scene when she goes, thank you. We are Sausalito. It's like the funniest thing in the home to make. She's great. The, uh, Sophia saw her performing in Tokyo and 2001 and just tracked her down. Yeah.

So the Centauri whiskey commercial was partially inspired by Sophia Coppola's dad made a real Centauri commercial with Akira Carousao in the 1970s. And it is a real whiskey, which I always thought they made it up because I don't know enough about Tokyo Japan stuff. I learned about it from this, you know? I learned about many things from this movie. So he's representing a 17-year-old Centauri Habiki, which means, residents in Japan and won numerous awards.

Are you a whiskey guy? Not always, but I appreciate if it's a really good one. If I have a friend who's fired up about it, it's like, you got to try this, I'll do it, but I usually order tequila because I'm old. This is good. I found this one. Coppola's decision to base the character of Charlotte's husband on Spike Jones. I'm sure you know this.

It caused some friction with her and Michelle Gondry, a mutual friend of Copeland Jones. who did a New York Times interview in 06 and said he confronted Coppola about it at the film's New York premiere, there was a character in Lost and Translation that was clearly based on Spike, and it was not nice. I don't believe in being mere spirited or mocking,

and I told her that. That's really weird to go public with that three years later. Well, they were probably breaking up at that point. Oh, they were definitely broken up. I don't think he went to the Oscars with her by the time that she won. I think it was done when it was done. But I guess he took aside.

The golf course where Bob played in Japan was the Kauajujiko Country Club. It's a lot of letters and whatever the golf course was. It looks very beautiful. Craig, fantasy football. When you guys do a live show there in Tokyo, try to get you a foursome date there. That's all half for half-assener research, unless you had anything else. No, I did. I mean, all of the gossip.

Yeah. It just was wonderful. Apex Mountain. Murray, obviously not. But if we go older Murray, I think there's a combo. What's younger Murray? Like, what is his Apex Mountain then? It's either Stripes or Ghostbusters.

It's probably Ghostbusters. I mean, that would make sense to me. Ghostbusters was an absolute phenomenon and became one of the final movies in the 80s. They're still making them for some reason. For some reason. Scarlet. No, I don't think so. Could you say it's the best movie she's been in?

I really like marriage story. I'll never watch that movie again. Really? That was a one and out. That's like a million-dollar baby. It's like, good work, guys. Please don't buy me a Blu-ray. I had to re-watch it for Big Pick a few months ago.

It's still, as a child of divorce, it's a real gut punch fight. That's fine. I can't do it. It's powerful. It's really good. I can't say I had a ton of fun. The acting was extraordinary. And she's really, really good in it.

And I think it's also, it's sort of like, Lawson Translation might be the best movie that she's been in, but it's kind of like the Bill Murray thing where I think that she's more powerful. You know, it's like the impacts of her career is later on. Wasn't she nominated twice that year? Yeah, because she was also nominated for Jojo Rabbit and Marriott. Yeah. Yeah.

I personally think the best she's been in a movie from a star standpoint was matchpoint. was matchpoint, but I don't know if that was her best acting performance. She's really good in it. What a messed up movie. Woody really adopted her for like four or five years. Sophia Coppola. I mean, I would say yes. Probably.

Yeah, I think it has to be. Not in my heart, but. With the nominations and she wins an Oscar. Yeah, and this is her, I think so. Ribisi, he had a big Friends arc before this that when Friends was like $30 million, people a week. Centauri whiskey definitely. In movies for us. I don't know. I mean, it's real. You may be for an American audience. I think for an American audience. Yeah.

Tokyo is a movie location? I don't think so. What is it then? What's the answer? I mean, like maybe as an American movie location. As an American movie and a Western movie, I mean, I like Black Rain, but I think it's just me and Chris Ryan on that one. I think there's a very long tradition of Japanese movie set in Tokyo. No, I know. I'm thinking about our kind of movies. American-wise, I think it's for possibly, yeah. The Park High of Tokyo, no question.

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's like the White Lotus Hotel in season two where it's like, I just kind of want to stay there now. I feel like I know this place. Insomnia movies? Sure. What are the other candidates other than insomnia without Pacino? Well, something's got to give.

They bond because they can. Can't Sleep, speaking of 2003 movies, that had an important, I think a lot of movies, jet lag movies, this is probably number one. It's a jet lag combo. Phoenix, the band, I'm going to say no. No, you're right, no. It was 2009. It was that the album that was such a big hit. Anything else for Apex Mountain?

Carpets watches? I like it. I like all of that stuff. Yeah. More than you do, but. I couldn't come up with the best racehorse name. Park Hyatt. Park Hyatt's good.

Yeah, that's solid. Maybe get a sponsorship out of it. Picking Nitz, have some questions about Scarlett's marriage here. So. Don't we all? Isn't that the point of the movie? Well, so she graduates from Yale. Right, with a philosophy degree.

Which puts her at 22, 23. Yeah. So she graduated last spring, but it's the fall. So she could be. So she's supposed to be 24? Yeah. So where'd she meet this guy? In New York?

And this guy who seems like I'm going to say he's like 29? Yeah. And it's just like, let's lock it down. Let's just get married. He's a jet set photographer. I guess so. She's young. She has figured out literally is nothing with her life.

And she just gets married to a jet set photographer. I think her rash decision is one of the major regrets and themes of of the movie, yeah. Would you have liked to have heard her talk about that in the movie or no? I mean, she does in her own way. You know when she calls the friend and she's like, I went to a shrine and I didn't feel anything? Right.

And John is using all these hair products and I don't even know who I'm married. One line about the hair products. It's kind of like all I need to know. He doesn't make a move on her when they're lying in bed, which I'm actually okay with, but I just want to talk it out. Yeah. Because she's kind of... Well, she rolls over to face him.

She rolls over. That's the come hither kind of move. Oh, boy. Yeah. But there is something, neither of them is projecting come and get it. But then that last scene when they're in the bar, their faces are like a foot away from each other. No, I know. And it is supposed to suggest that. And also at the terrible lunch, she says, you know, I guess she's closer in age, which, um, implies that she's thinking of it that way. You're right that she's thinking of it. I think she's throwing it out. He's like thinking a little bit about it too,

but he is also talking a lot about his kids in that moment. There is like something sort of like confused between them, whether it's like a father-daughter thing or a, and it's a romantic thing, but there are just like little moments of it. You know what I'm saying? Put this way. I think it's a good no-play.

by him. I agree. I agree. It's a good, it's a good job by him. Yes. Another picking net. Very different movie. We find out in all the research after the fact that the kiss they have in the ending was unplanned. Yeah. That is not my picking net.

My picky knit is, I wish I didn't know that. Yeah, you want to do the ending stuff now? We don't have to. I had it for unanswerable questions, but I also think we could do it right now. Okay. Let's do it right now. Well, I wish that I didn't know what the audio enhancement stuff revealed. So I didn't know that until... I didn't either.

I got to say, I wasn't surprised. Do you want to talk? So this is, we're spoiling, if people wanted to live the rest of their lives, not knowing what Bill Murray whispered. Which, let me say I recommend. Can you give the backstory, though? The backstory of this whole scene. So is it improvised that he gets out of the car is in the script? They tried a couple different ways with dialogue.

They decide none of it works. And then Sophia Coppola decides, whisper something to her and we'll never know what you whisper. Right. So then at that point, they're ad libbing the whisper. And then he also ad libs the kiss, which Scarlett doesn't know is coming. Right. Which is why her reaction is so kind of sweet with the whole thing, sweet and surprised. But we never know what he whispers.

So it's kind of one of those, leave it up to the viewer, what they want the whisper to be. Right. And has almost become like a meme. It's a thing now for 20 years of what did this person say to this other person. Right. And, well, I don't want to know. Good. I'm glad. But here's the- Well, Craig, you're about to find out. I'm really sorry. The nice thing is, I agree with you, Bill. It's like not exactly what I don't think I had an exact sentence, but the sentiment is kind of what I thought, right? So, is- well, we have a couple different possible options.

that one is... The internet's terrible. Technology is awful. One is that Bob says, when John is ready for his next business trip, go up to that man and tell him the truth, okay? That, to me, doesn't seem accurate. That's too many specifics.

There's another video that says, I have to be leaving, but I won't let that come between us, okay. But then closer inspection says, promise me that the next thing you do is go up to that man and tell him the truth. that that resonates feels yeah right but what's the truth that she doesn't love him that she wants something more that she needs to figure something else out that she

that makes sense yeah that because like her character i think has a moment of revelation of as she says she feels stuck and this experience and this man like helps her realize she can like go out she doesn't have to be like a lost 24 year old forever. In my head for the last 20 years, I always thought maybe he said something like, you're the best thing that's happened to me recently. Thank you. You're special.

Just something like that. Your special, thank you. Recently, my heart sunk as soon as you added recently onto. There's something about it. Well, yeah. I understand. He loves his kids. Right.

But it's just like, yeah. Thank you for passing through my life. You're a special person. I'm never going to forget you. Yeah. Mine has always been like some hopefully like more romantic version of like you'll figure it out. Like you'll be you'll be okay. You'll be like this will.

You're special. Are you glad you knew Craig? Yeah. Craig's whole day is ruined now. Yeah. Sequel prequel prestige TV all black cast are untouchable. I think this would be a really interesting prestige TV show. and spending 10 episodes or 8 episodes in Tokyo

and you would get a little more of the Anna Farras character. Yeah. Then it's just, it's White Lotus, as you said. Maybe the Japanese commercial, that that goes sideways. Right. I'm glad it was a movie. My answer is always I'm glad this was a movie, but I'm just saying, talking it out.

Yeah, to me, it's untouchable, but it does have the seeds of a White Lotus series or season. We should mention the unofficial sequel, was the movie three years ago that just never got there for me. Yeah, you didn't like it. As a woman of... I like pieces of it. As a woman of a certain age, who also finds Bill Murray charming, I would like to drive around

New York with him and look at like Saitwamblies or whatever. I enjoyed it. I just couldn't get there with Rashida Jones, as I said three years ago. I don't think... I think she was given a fancy race car and couldn't drive it. I don't disagree. And that was why with the Scarlet... performance in this movie, I feel like

those kind of things don't get enough credit. You know? Like, she's fucking amazing. They could have been some other actress from that generation. No, it's a different movie. It's an amazing find. And then, I mean, she was acting, but like this is a discovery. And 20 years later, she's like one of this biggest movie stars. Is this movie better with Wayne Jenkins, Danny Trao, Catherine Hahn, Steve Bouchemy, Sam Jackson, J.T. Walsh, Phil Bickrall. Chris is not

here to do Wayne Jenkins. I don't think any of these people should have been in the movie. You could maybe talk Catherine Hahn as the lion singer. I haven't done. Okay. That's funny. Okay. But, you know, it would be a funny joke, but it would distract.

Just one Oscar who gets it. Did you go Sophia Coppola or Bill Murray? It's very hard for me. I... Well, she got the Oscar. She got the Oscar. So the category is Noah Fide. Okay.

If somebody actually won the Oscar, you can't give it to Bill. If you said Bill Murray, I would be okay with it. But I'm really glad that she got the Oscar. ask her. Probably in answerable questions. Did Bill Murray's character pull the fire alarm on the last night? That's my theory is that he did. That's a good one. I hadn't thought of it. Yeah. Hey, wanted one more one more bite at the apple. Sure. I love it. Didn't want to like it'd make it seem too desperate, but had to get her out there. Yeah. Did Scarlett's character stay married? Oh, that is answerable to me. You think that's an answerable no fucking way. I think it's a no.

Yeah. Where does Scarlet? No, here's the unanswerable part of it. When Sophia Coppola wrote the movie. Yeah. Does she think that the Scarlet character stays with the husband? 100% no. Okay.

So she's writing her way through her life. Where does Scarlet's character live in 2023? And who is she married to? Okay. Well, she moved back to New York, but then she could be part of, the recent creative class exodus from New York to Los Angeles, of which I am, one. So maybe she lives on the east side of Los Angeles now. I think she's selling real estate and Greenwich or Dary Ann.

She lived in New York, met her husband. He was like a hedge fund guy. They moved in. They had some kids. And now she's getting back into things. And she's selling some beachfront stuff. I think that she could be like mommy blogging, but in a way that, She thinks is cooler than the other mommy blogs.

Cool personality. Great voice. Yeah. A lot of presence already even at a young age. Like it's something like podcasting, real estate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

She gets to have a personality. Okay. Dressed up. But that's why I think that she's found her way onto the internet and as being like, you know, I really liked bonding with my child in the middle of the night. Best double featured choice with this movie. I'll defer. Okay.

So I picked in the mood for. which is the Wang Karwai film that Sophia Coppola, like, cited explicitly in her acceptance speech for an Oscar. And that's also how I learned about Wongar Why, which is a cool thing about this movie. For me, at least, was I didn't know about Roxy Music when I was, like, 19. Like, I didn't know about all of these things. But it's just like an incredibly beautiful, incredibly romantic movie that is about two people who meet for, like, a moment in time.

And then, I mean, I don't want to spoil it, but it's awesome. What year did that come out? 2000. Interesting. Yeah. So before sunrise has a little of that too. Totally. Yes.

And that's another definite contribution. People passing through. Yeah. The Indian Red So-O-Nay Award for what happened the next day. I guess does Bob get divorced? What happens with Bob? No, I don't think he gets divorced. I think she does.

She does. He doesn't. Yeah. What piece of memorabilia? would you want from this movie? Can I get a week long stay at the Park Hyatt? The actual room? Yeah.

Is that available? I was thinking the actual bottle they used in the Centauri whiskey scene would be cool. I was thinking if you said no, historically you vetoed experiences and or homes. That's not a memorabilia. Okay. So I'm not a watch person, but that watch that he has at the end, Craig, do you guys know what kind of watch it is? It looked quite nice. And, you know, I guess my husband would like it.

So that's what I would do. The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson, the more you know who, I'm sorry, the more you know you are, who you are and what you want, the less you let things upset you. I think it's a fucking great lesson. It's beautiful, yeah. Totally true. Yes. Who won the movie?

This is tough because I was surprised how much I thought about Scarlett in this conversation. I mean, it's a two-hand. It's, you can't have it without either of them. But Bill Murray, unless you, unless you want to give it to Sophia Coppola, wins the movie. I think the answer is Bill Murray. I think the answer is Bill Murray too. And I think he needs it for his whole package. Yeah.

For the 30 years that led up to this. I just think he needs it. Otherwise, he has that whole, he's a comedy. He's like basically Chevy Chase with then a couple good movies after and then he's in some Wes Anderson. things, but Chevy Chase never could have been in this movie. Right. And that's the difference. And this combined with the Wes Anderson moment just makes him a serious.

He had a, he comes out of 03 with a different level of credibility. Yeah. That had been working, he'd been working toward, I would say, seven, eight years. And then after that, no question. Yeah. I mean, this wins Sophia Copeland Oscar and makes her career. But I agree. So, I was thinking of my mind.

more contemporary guys. This is a recasting couch. But like, I think Will Ferrell's at a similar point in his career. Oh, interesting. And this is the movie that he never made. Yeah. That I think if he had made. And I actually think he could have been good in it. He would have had to totally strip back some of the Will Ferrell stuff, but I think he could have been good. I see what you're saying. I would watch Will Ferrell's version of this movie. It's the It's the thing that he needs at this stage in his career that he's never kind of landed the point on. Yeah. All right, Craig.

Let's hear it. That's a great call about Farrell. Thank you. I love this movie. Yes. You haven't seen it before, right? And we should mention Craig hadn't seen it. No.

Craig, I was relieved. Yeah, I'm relieved too, Craig. It's been on my list for a while. Like, Lost in Translation has always been one of those movies that I've just, like, never seen, but I always wanted to. It feels like one of those movies that your opinion of it will change and you'll get different takeaways. of it as you age, like in different stages of your life. Because I so identified with the Scarjo character and being like what it was like in my early 20s and just kind of like feeling that aimless feeling.

But I don't know. I had never seen a real movie like about like this kind of like romantic platonic relationship between an older man and a younger woman. I like that there was no sex. I like that nothing happened. I think Bob hugging Charlotte at the end of the movie is one of the most revealing or relieving moments in a movie in a long time.

Like, I was so nervous that he was going to spin her around and they were going to, like, have this big romantic kiss. Right. And it would have sucked. And I actually think, I don't love that they kissed.

I think it hurts it just a little bit. Yeah. It's not like an open-mouth make-out kiss. Yeah, it's not. I don't know. I don't think it needed to be there. Okay.

I think it makes it one step too sexual. My wife and I were talking about this. It's not that sexual of a kiss. But now knowing that it's improvised. Yeah. It is a romantic kiss. And it's funny, in the elevator, or like after she comes down in the elevator. And when they say goodbye in the hotel right before this, they kiss twice and it's like the side of the mouth. And he's like inching closer and it's incredibly awkward. And we're like, oh, no, I don't don't do that. You guys don't know what you're supposed to do. So there's something that to me is just almost a relief in the sense. It's not, well, to me, it's not. not awkward, the actual kiss. Well, let me phrase it this way. Yeah.

If Bill Murray kissed you like that and Zach Barron was watching, would be upset? Oh, no, he would be mad. Yeah. So it definitely... I think the elevator kisses are the perfect amount of awkward and they didn't need to go one step further. And now knowing that that wasn't even in the script, perhaps Sophia didn't even want that to happen. And obviously Murray made that move. But if it ended on just on discomfort and that awkwardness and of being like, well, I guess this was a nice thing that we don't really know.

what to do with. It's like, you know, when he leaves the message and he's like, so I guess goodbye and enjoy my coat that you stole for me, you know, that's funny. But if it ended on without the emotion, there's something about the kiss that is like, no, this was a real thing. This was earnest. And I don't want it to go any further. But like, it is the, it is putting the bow on the thing of like, this was something. And now it's over. I think you're both right. I was glad there wasn't an open mouth. Yeah, no, that would. I, if you saw it, tongueful. It was a sweet kiss. It was sweet, but I was just like, I don't know. we've seen them kind of have their awkward sexual interaction.

I don't know if we needed to end on the kiss. I agree. I don't want any sex in this movie. Craig, do you think, because this movie's on Netflix, but it's not, like, featured on Netflix?

Do you think this movie could have this, one of those weird belated Netflix runs, like what suits had? No. You don't think it's too dated? Yeah, I think it's too slow. It's too intimate.

It's too unique. This is a movie that, unfortunately, you have to, like, force somebody to watch. But when they watch, they would love it. I agree with him. Also, I like the era of like the old sad comedian is kind of gone.

Like the like comedians who actually have that like tragic quality to them, which like Bill Murray definitely has like Steve Martin has like a sadness to him at times. That's what we liked about funny people, the first hour of it. It's like kind of like past his prime. Now all the comedians just lead with the tragedy. Yeah, seriously. I know, I know. It's tough.

Like Robin Williams had the sadness to him. I also like when people do movies like, I don't know how much money Bill Murray made for this movie. It couldn't be a lot because it was a $4 million budget. But I like when I like when. older actors are just like doing movies for them and not selling out. That's what, sorry to just derail the podcast at the end. Is two million an appropriate amount to be paid for a whiskey commercial in 2003? Is it too much? I think that that Japan, China money, I have no context for. Also, that line that he says, Kobe would go there and make like 10 million bucks for like one day.

That line of Bob being like, like, I could be doing a play right now, but I'm like making a whiskey commercial for $2 million. That's like an actual, that's like what Bill Murray is doing. Bill Murray decided to do the play instead of getting paid. It's also like you can do the play next week. Craig, have you seen any other Sophia Coppola movies? I don't think so. Wow. Okay. Also, one other picking knit.

He's supposed to be on this trip for like three days, right? And he extends it. Yeah. His wife is sending him carpet samples and he's on a three-day trip. And she's FedExing him to Tokyo. She can't wait. Right. I mean, that's the point.

The character is that they're not in a good place in their marriage and she is focused on things. She would have to mail it like the day he left. I agree. It's absurd. That's what's funny about it. I agree with you though, though. She was like a caricature. I don't know who that woman was.

What's your relationship with Scarlett Johansson as a 20 years of Scarlet? One of the, like one of the few superhero characters or actresses, you know, and the Marvel characters that I actually respect as an actor and think that they have real talent outside of it. She and Robert Denny Jr. are really the only two people with serious careers. I don't think people my age feel that way about Downey Because I don't think they know any other movies he's in Scarjo has a lot of modern movies Yikes Yeah

Oppenheimer's probably the first time Downy's Iron Man to like everyone under 31 Yeah Oppenheimer's the first time most of us have seen him Do anything dramatic Yeah and that was boring so I'm sorry the third hour I was ready to go

A great movie though Ending the podcast hot Amanda Dobbins It's a true pleasure as always. Thank you for having, Bill. It's great to see you. This podcast was produced by our guy, Craig Horlebeck. If you did a fantasy, well, by the time people hear this, everyone had their fantasy drafts, right?

Yeah, probably. Thanks, money. Well, you can listen to the fantasy football podcast if you want, if you have a Tuesday or Wednesday draft. And we do in-season stuff? You can stick around with us. Yeah, we have a couple bangers coming this month. I'm just warning people. Like, really, some of the Alzheimer's are coming.

On your watch balls? Yeah. Okay. Just telling you. See you next week.