Ira and Louis kick off a sixth year of Keep It with their thoughts on the movies they saw over the holidays from M3GAN, Babylon, The Fabelmans, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Triangle of Sadness, and more. Plus, The Real Friends of WeHo and Rihanna’s turn as a scammer. And Anna Kendrick joins to discuss her new film Alice, Darling and how surviving a toxic relationship helped her as an actor.

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Ira Madison III And we are back with an all new episode, all New year of Keep It. I’m Ira Madison, the third.

 

Louis Virtel I’m Louis Virtel and already on social media we’re calling it season six. I guess it’s year six of the podcast. I just want to say that I think the most famous Season six in television history is Saturday Night Live, and that’s when they almost got canceled. So look forward to that.

 

Ira Madison III The most famous in history, Louis.

 

Louis Virtel I don’t know if you I haven’t seen like the official rank or list of season sixes. Well, I guess Sex and the City Season six is probably notable, too. But season six on SNL was when Lorne Michaels left and then Jean Doumanian came in. And then the only two people from that year that survived for the following year were Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo, and everybody else was cast into a dungeon that Lorne has the key to.

 

Ira Madison III I am currently rewatching Sex and the City.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, really? I every once in a while just fall into it because it still is on E! And like 13 minute segments.

 

Ira Madison III Right. So it’ll still be on. And I feel like that’s usually how I’ve consumed it since high school. High school, college where I bought a bootleg box set from Japan.

 

Louis Virtel But it’s not pink there. Is that like deep fuchsia or something?

 

Ira Madison III The episodes are like very much whatever order was going on. But now I’m rewatching, you know, as part of my return to New York, which is very cliche, but I’m also realizing that I’ve never really watched them in a complete succession like this instead of just popping on a random episode or just like deciding like, Oh, I want to watch this episode from this season. So it’s, you know, people always bring up that first season where it’s a lot of talking to the camera, etc.. But I also want to point out in the first season, Carrie has a lot of male friends.

 

Louis Virtel O that’s right. You’re totally right. I forgot about that aspect of the show because, of course, I didn’t seek it out at all. I simply wasn’t interested in it.

 

Ira Madison III But, you know, it’s sort of like she is she’s there’s so many people in New York to interview and it feels very you know, it feels like there’s a lot of people and a lot of things going on. And then, of course, those people all vanish, so.

 

Louis Virtel She’s a connected reporter. It’s very she said, if you will.

 

Ira Madison III Speaking of she said, I’m kidding. I have nothing to say about she’s going to say. She said.

 

Louis Virtel You have a new Weinstein take. I was curious. Yeah

 

Ira Madison III Weinstein innocent.

 

Louis Virtel And I have the receipts and it would have to be quite a few of them.

 

Ira Madison III Actually, our guest this week is Georgina Chapman.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I you know what I missed when she would guest judge Project Runway. In fact, I’ve been thinking about Project Runway for a specific reason this week, and I’ll bring it up when I get to my Keep It.

 

Ira Madison III Oh, okay. That’s exciting. But no, she said, of course, is a film that is allegedly in awards contention.

 

Louis Virtel It’s it’s sort of in the third orbit of awards contention. If they if they don’t get to the other two orbits, maybe they’ll consider the the third one.

 

Ira Madison III But we are going to get into the films of the year.

 

Louis Virtel Jesus, there are so many we watched over break, by the way. I just want to say I never want to take this much time off again. Me just in the dark, talking about movies I’ve seen to myself on Christmas Day. Real bleak. Kafka.

 

Ira Madison III Of course, we’re recording this on the day of the Golden Globes, so there will also be another second bonus episode coming out later in the day. As you’re listening to this, there’ll be another one coming out, which will be our Golden Globes segment recorded after we’ve actually seen the show, which which again is airing on a Tuesday night.

 

Louis Virtel Uh, bewildering. I just want to say this is a risk on our part, too, because we’re assuming there’s going to be something to talk about. And I really don’t know what the Golden Globes is anymore. Is it like it used to be, you know, a drunken spectacle and it feels like it’s now going to be like a very like liberal AA meeting, Like it’s going to be a lot of apologizing for what the Golden Globes represent, what they once were. You know, every award will be on behalf of human trafficking survivors, I think I don’t know is going to be.

 

Ira Madison III Okay but also, we’re in the middle of a tsunami in Los Angeles as well.

 

Louis Virtel And by that, you mean it’s raining pretty hard. I mean.

 

Ira Madison III It is like torrential downpour. It is there is there’s like flooding in West Hollywood in Silver Lake. It’s it’s giving wet.

 

Louis Virtel I live in West Hollywood and I’m looking out my window right now and the streets. I mean, it truly is giving Winnie the Pooh in The Blustery Day. I feel like I’m going to see the mayor, you know, rolling by in his leaf.

 

Ira Madison III I don’t know why. I’m currently in L.A. for this week and I drove to see The Fablemans last night, which we will discuss only because, you know, I just seen we saw Babylon at the Grove this past weekend and I felt like Fablemans, Fablemans is actually a very good companion to this film to have seen. So I’m happy that we’ll be able to discuss it later in the episode. But I was I was like, Am I going to make it?

 

Louis Virtel Well, it’s L.A., too. So, you know, when there’s raining going on, people just park their cars in the middle of the street and start crying. They just give up, you know. They call, you call your agent. You ask, Is it almost over?

 

Ira Madison III So we’re going to get into the movies, which is exactly how you want to kick off a new season of Keep It. Although, like I said, we use this is the first one where we’re not talking about the Globes in the first episode.

 

Louis Virtel You’re right. You’re right. Because our first actual episode of Keep It, it was like an Oprah centric discussion of the Globes. Did she win like the Lifetime Achievement award that year or something?

 

Ira Madison III Maybe. But also people kept talking about wanting her to run for president.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, that’s right. It was like a of The Rock esque conversation. Yeah, Dumb.

 

Ira Madison III Remember that era?

 

Louis Virtel Enough.

 

Ira Madison III Anyway, we also have a wonderful guest this week. The delightful Anna Kendrick joins us.

 

Louis Virtel It’s crazy how long we’ve known who Anna Kendrick is. She was a Tony nominee when she was a child and still hundreds of movies a year. This person is constantly working.

 

Ira Madison III Well, you know, I was also a Tony nominee as a child.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, is that true? Oh, yeah. Billy Elliot. Tell me, how’d that go.

 

Ira Madison III At Tony’s Pizza.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, okay.

 

Ira Madison III Nominee

 

Louis Virtel They nominate people down there. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Anyway, we’ve got movies. We’ve got Anna Kendrick. We’ve got Keep It. It’s been so well since I said Keep It to something.

 

Louis Virtel It feels right.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, so, we’ll be right back with more Keep It here. If you haven’t seen it already, you need to check out the stunning artwork for our new podcast. Keep It. We wanted to give a shout out to the talented team who made it happen and help the vision come to life, including my friend, an iconic photographer Stella Shelloni. Tune in every Wednesday for fresh episodes of Keep It and Don’t Forget to follow US. So you never miss a thing.

 

Ira Madison III <AD>.

 

Ira Madison III 2023 is off to a massive start already. First of all, M3gan, which is Avatar for Gays, is out in theaters, and it’s one of the many movies that we caught up on over our break. So we’re going to catch up on everything that we’ve been consuming, and I think it’s only appropriate that we start with M3gan, which is not an awards contender, but maybe should be.

 

Louis Virtel I would say it’s not awards I follow, but maybe somewhere down the line, you know, I really do think there should be a best January release Oscars where it’s just, you know, the new psychological horror movie that’s like two and a half stars versus the new James Marsden movie versus, you know, just the things that are like not in contention for the real thing. I’d like to put them all against each other. What’s what romcom is J.Lo attempting? You know, that gets into the best picture category.

 

Ira Madison III Her current rom com is her relationship with Ben Affleck.

 

Louis Virtel That’s true. And we can’t stop watching. M3gan. I will say I had some dread going into M3gan because something about the promotional materials like the funny dancing, like her movements and stuff. It felt to me like they had given everything away up in the trailer. Like I just knew how crazy she would be. And to a certain extent, I think that’s true. I think there’s not much the doll actually does in the movie that blows your mind or shifts what you get from the trailer and what the extreme promo campaign has already given us. We’ve seen people dressed up as M3gan on red carpets doing her, you know, tantalizing, weird, off kilter dancing. But ain’t nothing wrong with a conventional horror movie with a funny doll because her reaction shots in the movie are why you should go see this movie.

 

Ira Madison III I think that is maybe the most underrated thing about the film, Cutting to M3gan reacting to M3gan.

 

Louis Virtel At dinner.

 

Ira Madison III I want to say is it’s so fucking funny. And it never got old.

 

Louis Virtel No. Literally, her eyes would just shoot left and right, you know, like a character in a Ploirot mystery. And it was funny. Every time I truly I would actually compare it to last summer when we had Isabelle Huppert on, She was promoting a movie called Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris with Lesley Manville. And the thrill of that movie is there’s like, you know, lovely dresses in the movie. It’s a fashion centric movie, and you get to see Lesley Manville reacting with delight and odd to everything. And M3gan is the same way these things unfold, except it’s a horror movie. And then you get to see M3gan, who is raising an eyebrow or looking to the right or, you know, furtively planning a murder. And you all see it on her face.

 

Ira Madison III And I think was actually a highlight of this as opposed to Child’s Play, which, you know, this movie isn’t Child’s Play, by the way. Child’s Play is a masterpiece of the genre and also is much gorier. The one disappointing thing I will say about M3gan is it’s PG 13, so we don’t get as much as the gore, as much of the gore as I felt like we deserved. But what’s beautiful about this film is that she is a talking doll who’s sort of like A.I., So you get to interact with M3gan early on as opposed to waiting for is this dog going to start talking and be creepy? You said you sort of in on it from the beginning and everything that bitch says is funny. I mean, it was in the trailer where she says, you know, like the line, I thought we were having a conversation, but somehow it was funnier in the movie where, I don’t know, this fucking Southern twang of hers comes from, she says to Allison Williams in one voice and is like, Now, hold up. I thought were having a conversation. And it’s just so funny hearing M3gan say anything.

 

Louis Virtel Also, the word conversation just in general is funny. It’s very I and there are also, I think as it’s going along, I think the movie is well made. Like you’re not watching it thinking, oh, this is an amateur production or it’s entirely kitschy. I wouldn’t call it extremely scary either. In the end, to the ending of the movie in particular is a bit anticlimactic, but it really is note for note, basically, The Boy Next Door, if you remember that Jennifer Lopez movie where the whole premise says this thing, in this case, a man is obsessed with you, and so he’s going to do all he can to protect you. And now he’s in the your backyard. Now he’s over there. Now he’s killing Kristin Chenoweth or whatever is going on. It’s the same feeling of that, except you get funny doll reaction shots. I literally would say there is no difference between those two movies. So in a way, the problem with M3gan and also why it’s watchable is that it’s extremely conventional for a horror movie of this type.

 

Ira Madison III I will say, though, that M3gan does not give me the same feelings that Ryan Guzman does.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, God. By the way, what did we do with him? I know he was in Everybody Wants Him.

 

Ira Madison III Step Up.

 

Louis Virtel A Step Up. Can you believe it? I’m not entirely versed in those films.

 

Ira Madison III But I miss him. Actually, he was. He was. He was like one of our hotter, you know, sort of generic actors who’s in A Step Up movie, can sort of dance, does a couple other things and yeah, then I guess sort of vanished.

 

Louis Virtel He was shockingly, I mean, extremely, extremely attractive. I don’t mean to play down the Step Up movies. As you know, at the Actors Studio, I studied under Professor Dewan Tatum.

 

Ira Madison III Actually, I found out where he is, where so many of our actors go to die. He’s on the Ryan Murphy series 9-1-1.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I was going to say, is it a streaming series I’ve never heard of? But that’s always a possibility. This I’ve brought up this theory before. You know, you think of some actor you’re obsessed with and you’re like, God, it’s been three years. What happened? It’s like, I’ll tell you what happened. The Starz network, they’re doing a long time show there.

 

Ira Madison III When I look at the cast of 9-1-1, first of all, Angela Bassett.

 

Louis Virtel She’s still on it. It’s just amazing. Holly situation. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III I don’t know what deal she signed with Ryan Murphy, the devil. But she needs to be freed.

 

Louis Virtel It’s really crazy that that show is still on.

 

Ira Madison III Peter Krause. Jennifer Love Hewitt.

 

Louis Virtel Jennifer Love Hewitt. One of those people who I believe never stopped working. You like if you piece it all together, it’s like, how long was she whispering ghosts? Was it eight years? Maybe.

 

Ira Madison III Which actually tells you that Jennifer Love Hewitt loves acting and working.

 

Louis Virtel Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Or she has a lot of gambling debts. I don’t know, because the Ghost Whisperer, Party of Five, time you, like Time of Your Life. She has been syndicated. I mean, the Ghost Whisperer alone must be like paying all of her. Paying for every house she owns.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Well, also, something about Jennifer Love Hewitt. My suspicion is that she’s great to work with. And this is what this is based on. I’m being a detective now. She is one of the few very memorable episodes of MTV’s Diary where her best friend on that show was literally a fan she met. I feel like that means you’re down to earth and not a crazy person. Like I’m not saying go and befriend the person who runs up to you on the street. Absolutely not saying that at all. But if you’re just like, well, whatever, she’s a cool person, why not hang out? Maybe you’re down to earth. I don’t know. Feel free to DM me theories about that.

 

Ira Madison III That sounds like a thriller. Like the Roommate or something.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I mean, I basically just told you what Ingrid Goes West is. I don’t. I don’t mean for it to sound like that, but she was just like cool beans about everything.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I mean, listen. Has anyone from the cast of Kids Incorporated not turned out to be amazing?

 

Louis Virtel I know. I mean, I can only think of Fergie right now, but. Great.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. All right. Eric Balfour.

 

Louis Virtel Right? Of course. Of course.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Fergie was in Kids, Inc.. Yes. And two other people. Mario Lopez. And I Love your Smile, Shanice

 

Louis Virtel I fucking love that song. If I’m at CVS and that comes on and I’m in the splits and I’m laughing and I’m and I’m singing she was also it in that video, too, giving you like that full like 45 tooth Mentadent grin.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I miss Shanice, come back to us.

 

Louis Virtel Great song.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I think it was sampled recently somewhat in something, I forget what.

 

Ira Madison III I feel like Shanice could very well come back to us because everything but the girl is releasing a new album. Like there was the first one. Did you miss this? Their first 23. Their first in 23 years.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my God. What about Deep Blue something? I’m a defender of the song Breakfast at Tiffany’s, more so than I am. The movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 

Ira Madison III So, Shanice, now’s your time. I want to know what you think about his smile now.

 

Louis Virtel Has it changed? Yeah. Has Invisalign affected the conversation?

 

Ira Madison III So anyway, M3gan is fun. I would highly recommend seeing it in a theater because, you know, it’s one of those films

 

Louis Virtel See it with 11 people. See it with 11 people.

 

Ira Madison III Okay, now we can get to the awards movies. And I would say if we were doing our own version of, you know, the Keep It awards, what are your best pictures that you’ve seen?

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Well, we’ve discussed Tar already. I think Tar is still my number one in terms of a movie that leaves you with questions in a really good way,  really intentionally. There’s so much that’s mysterious and surreal about the movie, but it’s all in the service of getting in this main character’s head. And she is just among the kind of deepest and hairiest characters we’ve had on screen in like ten years. So I have to say it’s my number one. I did enjoy Aftersun, but have we talked about that?

 

Ira Madison III We have not.

 

Louis Virtel Paul Mescal.

 

Ira Madison III I have not seen it yet, but I am quite familiar with Paul Mescal and his legs.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, right. And they’re not normal people legs. You know what I’m saying?

 

Ira Madison III There are two things about Paul Mescal. One, he is going to be in Merrily We Roll Along, which is not a great Sondheim musical, and I kind of wish it would die. But I’m here for him singing.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. And also, he’s taking over the role of Blake Jenner just to bring this back to Everybody Wants Him. But and he has spent 20 years filming this. This is that movie with Beanie Feldstein that’s supposed to take 175 years before we get just the right musical we need.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Richard Linklater, You know, I think my friend Juan said something about Richard is going to die in the editting booth.

 

Louis Virtel Right. I mean, he has no choice. These projects are like, seem like labors of Hercules. It makes no sense.

 

Ira Madison III The other thing about Paul is that he has been spending a lot of time with Angelina Jolie.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Which, of course, you and I are going to support. Apparently, Phoebe Bridgers is now out of the picture. Maybe, but he is an awesome actor. Also, it’s interesting. He’s like sort of a fringe for the best actor conversation this year. And it’s because this is a movie that is not in your face. It’s a very unassuming film in certain ways. It’s an emotional movie that draws you in, and it’s also a movie where you’re piecing it together and it’s only at the very end when you’re sort of clear on why you just saw the sequence of events that you saw. And it’s tender and tough in a way. But man, he is just great, the kind of actor who doesn’t look like they’re trying at all, even though they’re doing so much. He’s he’s like sort of the quintessential 2023 actor right now, Like, awesome. Just no sense of normalcy and reality about him. And it draws you in and it doesn’t feel contrived in any way. I don’t know. He’s just really bright.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I’m a big Paul Mescal fan and I’m also looking forward to him being in Gladiator, the sequel.

 

Louis Virtel I don’t think I’ve wrap my head around the fact that we’re getting a Gladiator sequel. That whole era of movies feels very dead to me. It’s like if we got a sequel to Iris or something. Jim Broadbent come back to us.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I would say that one of my faves this year is, and I know that you didn’t love this as much as I did, if only from your tweets. But the Banshees of Inisherin.

 

Louis Virtel I, I enjoy it. It felt like an elongated short story to me, like we could have done it in 45 minutes. But the thing where I differ from the conversation is that I do think Colin Farrell is really good at it. I think he’s better in After Yang. And I also think the two other main characters in it, outshine him in the movie, which are Brendan Gleeson, who weirdly has never been nominated for an Oscar, playing a curmudgeonly man who in this Irish town in the I think the 1920s, basically this isn’t giving anything away. It’s in the first part of the movie. It’s just sick of hanging out with Colin Farrell. He’s sick of seeing and it begins with him saying, I don’t want to see you anymore. And they’re just friends and now they’re not. Then Colin Farrell sister in the movie, is played by an actress named Kerry Condon, And I kind of I can’t. This woman does. I can’t explain how she does it. There’s not one part of her what she has to do on screen that’s like weird or demanding, and yet it’s so full of life and so and enchanting. And if this movie didn’t have her, they. It would be a completely different movie. She’s excellent, but wouldn’t mind if she won best Supporting Actress this year.

 

Ira Madison III I think that that’s actually why I love Martin McDonagh and I’ve always loved him and I’ve forgiven him for Three Billboards now.

 

Louis Virtel I got to say I do think that is one of my disappointments of the decade Three Billboards, Yes.

 

Ira Madison III But I think it comes from him being a playwright, too, You know, It’s just that character in him, like in any other sort of like writers hands would just be like Colin Farrell sister, and she’s just sort of there to like, say a couple sassy things and then leave. But there is so much to her character from even the short amount of scenes that she’s in. It’s just like a complete art and a complete sense of like logging and a complete sense of how she fits into this community and how she fits into these people’s lives. You know, even like from interactions with other people at the pub, like how they react to her, like it shows like how well they know her. I just think I think it’s a really beautiful film. I do agree that it’s sort of he’s sort of like taking his time with the film, like it’s longer than it needs to be. But I will also say that, you know, like I never really mind hanging out in the worlds that he creates.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I mean, if you’re if you’re going to spend too much time, any one place, it better be, you know, idyllic Ireland, you know.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Look better Look like an illustration on a box of Pastels, which is what this universe is.

 

Ira Madison III And Barry Keoghan was fantastic.

 

Louis Virtel As always. He comes on screen and just like your body folds in on itself because you’re like, This man is capable of too much creepiness. What am I about to get into? That fucking movie, Killing of a Sacred Deer. It hasn’t left me.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. That and he really, he really stole Cillian Murphy’s game, didn’t he?

 

Louis Virtel You’re right. Every once in a while, if does feel like you can see when one actor takes over where another one was. And I always say this in regards to Michael Shannon taking over the Christoph Waltz spot. It feels like we just stopped one, began another.

 

Ira Madison III What else did you love this year?

 

Louis Virtel Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Filmwise.

 

Louis Virtel This is this is very borderline in the awards conversation. In fact, it’s not even fair to say that it’s it’s out of the conversation. But, guys, I thought I Wanba Dance with Somebody was good.

 

Ira Madison III I did, too. I was. I am. First of all, the entire movie is Naomi Ackie.

 

Louis Virtel She she was she was great.

 

Ira Madison III Phenomenal.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Why are people talking about her? That she absolutely someone Whitney Houston. And we gave her the hardest parts to do, which is recreate this concert footage. Now, I’m not saying every time I watch a biopic, I want to see, you know, millisecond by millisecond recreations of famous moments in this person’s life. But she really brought them out. I was watching that AMAs performance. She slayed that. The Super Bowl. One by one, You really the Whitney Houston moments lined up and they were believable. I loved her dynamic with the actors who played Robyn, who was also amazing.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Her wigs, criminal. Her suits.

 

Louis Virtel They were at the time.

 

Ira Madison III Awful. But she’s, She’s like a fucking star. She was lip syncing for her life. Okay. Yes. Like congratulations. Like, she’s the winner of this challenge. Like, I would love for Naomi to be nominated. I think she’s fantastic in the film. I think that, you know, she it’s an example of her really sort of carrying the film of this is another outing from Kasi Lemmons. And you know, we’ve had Casey on Keep It, but I think she’s so smart and obviously she directed one of our favorite films, Eve’s Bayou.

 

Louis Virtel But the official film of Keep It.

 

Ira Madison III But I will say she still has not directed anything like Eve’s Bayou since, you know, because this movie was it was it was giving it was giving Pedestrian.

 

Louis Virtel But I mean, like Eve’s Bayou is in its own sort of like haunted spiritual realm. And this is very much in the mold of a movie like, I’m sorry to say it, Bohemian Rhapsody, but I would say it’s better than Bohemian Rhapsody in that. Yes, it’s a Wikipedia of events, but it’s so tasteful and what it decides to get into, for instance, I think. Casey Lemons or whoever made this choice made the right choice by saying the most fascinating thing about Whitney Houston is her relationship with Clive Davis. You know what they had to go to through for her to get to that height. What they navigated once it started to fall apart. And you get, in a way, the prototype Stanley Tucci performance, which is.

 

Ira Madison III He’s so tender in this movie.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. He’s you know, he’s giving you a fat Stanley Tucci who, you know, is supporting the female hero and slightly critical of her at all times. We’ve seen that a few times before. And I am also referring to burlesque. They really get into the depths.

 

Ira Madison III Of his best roles.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, please. They really get into the intricacies of what it took for him to kind of guide her back onto the rails, how she would push back on him. That, to me is a very interesting dynamic and something we don’t see in a lot of movies. And it elevated the film for me.

 

Ira Madison III It’s interesting that you brought up Bohemian Rhapsody because of course, Anthony McCarten wrote Bohemian Rhapsody and this film. And.

 

Louis Virtel Yes.

 

Ira Madison III I would call him one of our hardest working acts in the business.

 

Louis Virtel You can be a good hack.

 

Ira Madison III Okay, so let me, cause, like Theory of Everything. Darkest Hour.

 

Louis Virtel Wow. Write down the line. Right down the line. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And unfortunately, one of the worst plays I have ever seen. The Collaboration. Staring.

 

Louis Virtel Who’s in it?

 

Ira Madison III Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany. It’s on Broadway now. It’s about Warhol and Basquiat. And it is also just like Wikipedia pages talking to each other.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, no. I mean, that’s you could expect some of that. When you look at this. I call these movies Trumbo’s.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Remember the movie, Trumbo? It’s like that.  Also if you remember the movie Trumbo, you might only be me.

 

Ira Madison III But this is I don’t know. It’s one of my things about biopics, and I feel like at least this had a point of view with the Robin relationship and the Clive relationship. But I will say that, like, this is my problem with like The Collaboration and like get a Theory of Everything and things like this. It’s like there’s really no point of view, especially Bohemian Rhapsody. There’s no point of view. There’s no. What do you have to say about this person? It’s just no, here’s this person’s life and some bullet points. It’s like. But you haven’t said anything. I don’t know why you as an artists were drawn to this.

 

Louis Virtel And also because of that, the movie then feels extremely safe too, you know, like I would compare Bohemian Rhapsody to the movie J. Edgar, where it like, walks up to wondering what was really going on with J. Edgar and the cross-dressing, but then sort of averts its glance and then walks another direction and doesn’t really say anything. Like Bohemian Rhapsody had some explicit indication of like, Oh, he’s gay, and here’s what was going on in his life. But it also just felt like the other band members were responsible for making it a very unnecessatized film ultimately.

 

Ira Madison III Unfortunately, The Collaboration is also being filmed. So

 

Louis Virtel Wow, you lose again.

 

Ira Madison III When we’re back, more of what we’ve been watching on our break.

 

<AD>.

 

Ira Madison III And we’re back with more movies chat.

 

Louis Virtel Uh, well should we talk about Babylon now?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Guys, I swear I’m a more critical seeming person than this. I don’t want to lose credibility with everybody. Guys, I thought it was good. I thought the first hour slept like this movie throws itself at you, says, Look, we are just going to be Hollywood. Come dump disgusting zoo revolting at every turn, every like every frame of this movie for the first 2 hours. Looks like a first frame.

 

Ira Madison III Yes, we are an elephant shitting on someone. It’s how I start this movie. And I was like, You know what?

 

Louis Virtel I’m in May as well, right? Like every frame of this movie, it looks like a Where’s Waldo image. There’s just 20,000 people there. They’re all doing something different, you know, tubas flying in different directions, saxophones, whatever. And then you get the performances, which I think are good. Even Margot Robbie, who I feel like will be left out of the best actors conversation this year. But I will say, and this was a question we had when we saw the previews, why is she styled like 1980s Madonna? Why could they have? Why couldn’t they have just made her seem like an authentic late twenties person? It like is completely sticking in your head as you’re watching this film. And she’s speaking like somebody who could not have existed until the eighties.

 

Ira Madison III Her Jazzi accent.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. She’s from New Jersey, right?

 

Ira Madison III Is she? I don’t remember where she’s from. There’s a lot going on in the movie. Yeah. And I also loved it. But I will also say Damien Chazelle needs to be in prison.

 

Louis Virtel It’s definitely too fucking long. And also, you know what movie? I would compare it to The Wolf of Wall Street. Speaking of Margot, Robbie, the first 2 hours are just full of, like, I’ll say, a kind of machismo laden whiz bang. You know, it’s like fast and gross and profane. And then in the last hour, they try a couple of weird warped turns. One of them I like. And then the other one, which is basically the coda of the movie that becomes into a big we love moviemaking montage.

 

Ira Madison III It’s a fan cam.

 

Louis Virtel Totally sucked. Yeah, it’s a fan cam. It is.

 

Ira Madison III It is a fan cam. And I’m always like, not a fan of films about the pictures where it sort of ends with someone just sobbing as they’re in a movie theater. I’m like, Okay, are you just.

 

Louis Virtel We’re there now? We’re in the theater now. We’re already here.

 

Ira Madison III You’re supposed to be making me sob.

 

Louis Virtel Right.

 

Ira Madison III You know, I think I thought that, you know, first of all, I’m happy that he made the film that he wanted to make. I feel like I like La La Land better than this film. But, you know, it’s it’s a testament to just, you know, like an artist making a film, but they really want to make and I respect this film a lot. Yeah. You know. And, you know, he made the film he wanted to make. It’s. It’s what he has to say about the Ending’s a bit trite, but, you know, I just feel like overall, I love the access of the film. This is truly does not stop. You know like there’s there’s a scene towards the end between Jean Smart and Brad Pitt where things sort of finally stop and people are really having a conversation with one another. And it was nice to breathe. You know, it wasn’t real tense. It wasn’t all this shit happening. And I felt like that was great. Like one of my favorite scenes in the film. I thought Jean Smart was fantastic. Brad I didn’t really give a fuck about in this film.

 

Louis Virtel The interesting thing about Brad in this movie, I think one of the things holding this movie back is that it’s a character, one he’s played before and two could play in his sleep. It just in a way, it felt like you’re watching a continuation of some other performance you’ve already seen of his. I did like that scene with him and Jean Smart, though I think she gives one of the least impressive performances in this movie. And maybe I’m just I’ve had it a little bit with representations of Hedda Hopper types like, you know, grizzled, a snappy woman who walks into the room with a father that’s 11 feet tall pointing out of a hat. Speaking of Trumbo and Helen Mirren, they’re in. But this movie, I think, has one of the great shooting a movie scene scenes ever, which is Margot Robbie taking take after take to do this one thing. And they’re also she’s also having to contend with how new sounds in movies. So the L.O.L. Stress the crew is going through to deal with that is is very inventive. I thought that was an awesome scene in the movie.

 

Ira Madison III Speaking of work, ahead of hopper time, you know, Tilda Swinton in Hail Caesar, which I actually think is a more successfully made film than Babylon. I think Hail Caesar is incredibly underrated. I loved that film so much, and I think George Clooney would have probably brought like George Clooney, I think would have had that necessary sort of like depth that you needed for this role that Brad didn’t really bring to it. You know, and I say this as a former fan of Brad Pitt, as we know, on team Angelina Jolie, but it’s this wasn’t one of my favorite Brad performances. I loved Leigh Julie in the film. But once again, yes, Damien Chazelle under serves every character who’s not white.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. I will say about George Clooney, I think he would have been a more interesting choice for the role because it would have been a sleazier role for George Clooney, which we don’t really get from him. Whereas I think Brad is too accustomed to sleaze at this point. Like it’s it’s less novel, it’s less interesting to see him have to do the kind of grisly aged out actor things he does in this movie.

 

Ira Madison III Mm hmm. No, but Lea plays this fantastic character in the film who just sort of.

 

Louis Virtel Kind of an Anna May Wong.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, but she’s sort of, like, written out, like halfway through the film, you know, and then reappears, and it’s just like she was one of the most interesting characters in the film to me, and it was sad to see her drop out. And I’m just going to say this now. I need this man to start writing about jazz.

 

Louis Virtel You know? You know, we have had it. And I was concerned at the time. We voiced their concerns at the time, too. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And listen, I had I had like minor criticisms of the Jazz storyline in La la Land and then somehow became the face of hating la la land. But this I really did enjoy this movie. But I want to say the Jazz storyline, you know, it just it made it disappointed me mostly because you have this black character who’s a jazz singer, you know, and then, you know, like there’s the advent of blackface and Al Jolson and all that going on. But it’s just sort of. Everything that he was saying about Hollywood and like, you know, the things that people will do to make it in Hollywood, you know, like the like the the drive that’s there, it didn’t really jive with this story that he was telling because, you know, I mean, it’s just sort of like, oh, well, the black person’s going to, you know, realize their real art is doing jazz with other black people. I was just like, I didn’t get where it was going. And it felt so removed from the rest of the movie.

 

Louis Virtel I will say that because this movie has its own disgusting point of view, it has more value than what I’m about to say. But this movie is the most expensive Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood of all time, too. You have to know you’re getting that this like I’m going to lightly rewrite Hollywood history to say, what if this happened or this happened and this person ended up here and this, you know, like this Anna May Wong type had this other kind of arc and was friendly with the Brad Pitt type legends. And as you remember, that didn’t do anything for us ultimately once upon a time. But I think this movie is better than that.

 

Ira Madison III I also just say that, like with those characters zipping around each other so much in the film, there’s never really a moment where they are with one another. You know what I mean?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Like, it doesn’t seem like the relationships have a lot of weight, which ultimately is why I feel like the the main romance of the film doesn’t really work for me.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. The main relationship in the movie, which is Margot Robbie, this burgeoning star, and Diego Calva, who plays this guy who basically walks onto a set hoping to get a job and what happens to their characters throughout the movie. They basically they sort of intertwine. They’re sort of good friends, and then they need each other at random moments. But yeah, it’s sort of a sparse relationship.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Anyway, I really I really enjoyed this movie, and I would say that a counterpart to it is the Fableman’s, which is sort of the.

 

Louis Virtel All movie’s movie. Yes

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Which, you know, Spielberg loves a we loves movies movie. And surprise, surprise. I loved it because you know what? Spielberg’s good at what he fucking does.

 

Louis Virtel I like the sentimentality of the how this young character, this boy, who I guess is Steven Spielberg, comes into being a filmmaker and I liked and Spielberg always does this well. How the kid has a clear but very small window into adult problems like they captured that well, like I’m reading what’s happening to my kind of kooky artist mom and what’s happening to her relationship with my dad and this other guy who’s in the picture. And I’m figuring out what it all means to me. But I have to say, I think the movie falls apart because you need to just be invested in the fact that this is what created Spielberg. Like that has to be the thrust of the drama for you. Otherwise it just sort of felt like, Yeah, this kid’s growing up in the suburbs and sometimes life sucks a little bit. I don’t know. It felt like it was very low stakes for me. And also among Michelle Williams performances, somebody else said this, and I can’t remember who. I apologize. They said something about Michelle Williams acting that rings true to me, which is she’s a brilliant scene partner. When somebody is being like a dick to her, she like, knows how to emotionally respond to that really well, like being a great two person scene and think of her and at the sink in Brokeback Mountain. Or when she has that confrontation with Casey Affleck at the end of Manchester by the sea. But here I think she’s supposed to be playing an odd bohemian artist type who happens to end up being a somewhat conventional suburban mom. And to me, Michelle Williams has no natural eccentricity about her. So her choice is to make this character feel real, don’t amount to much more than sometimes she’s happy and sometimes she’s sad. I’m really surprised this is what people think is her big Oscars moment because to me, she does not have a fucking prayer against Michelle Yeoh or Cate Blanchett or Danielle Deadwyler until like all three of them have her outclassed fully.

 

Ira Madison III She should have stayed in supporting to be honest.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And I feel like I was discussing this with a friend as well because I’ve just recently over the break and we’ll get into this but I’ve been catching up on like a bunch of Cassavetes films, you know, and I find.

 

Louis Virtel I love a good uncomfortable viewing.

 

Ira Madison III Well, I finally saw Opening Night for the first time and, you know, Gena Rowlands like, sort of fucking masterpiece, but. That is what Michelle was giving. She starts the movie at a 15.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And I feel like unfortunately, like Spielberg has to catch up with her performance.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III You know, she is what she said about, like, her being a great scene partner, but doing stuff on her own is sort of just not working in the film. And I think that’s it. Like she just the movie starts like Michelle is just doing a lot. You know, And eventually she comes down to earth with the relationship with Seth Rogen and the disintegration of her marriage with Paul Dano. And then, of course, you know, her relationship with her son. I also say that Gabriel LaBella is fantastic in this film. And I’m really yeah, I’m really looking forward to what else he’s going to do after this.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, it’s a hefty role. I mean, he’s playing, you know, our eyes into the movie and also a kid. And just in general, I think in the past ten years, kid actors have just really improved and dropped what my our general feelings about precocious this I feel like those are going away a little bit, you know.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Not everyone has that sort of that Ian Armitage’s sheen over them.

 

Ira Madison III Well, he’s also 20.

 

Louis Virtel All right. He’s an adult. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III But, um, I mean, Spielberg’s also just still good at finding, like, young talent, you know?

 

Louis Virtel Right. Oh, my God. If you have. I mean, if you haven’t seen the footage of Henry Thomas trying out for E.T., and you can hear and he does this incredible tear strewn thing to get into the movie, Spielberg’s response to him is just unbelievable. He’s like, okay, kid, you’ve got the part, like, almost afraid of him. It’s really fun. But I will say something I liked about this movie. So Tony Kushner is the screenwriter on it. It gets into an anti-Islamic Semitism storyline, which I think is great and adds real depth to the movie. But then there’s this whole segment where he’s bullied at school and he shows up the bully by creating a film that has him in it. The bullies response to that, which is heated and strange, makes no sense to me. And my guess is it really happened to Spielberg in real life. And he tried to get it on the page and into the movie because he felt it was such an unusual experience. But as a piece of story in this film, it does not work for me and it’s not emotional and it’s just strange.

 

Ira Madison III I would posit that maybe some of that happened to Spielberg, maybe some of it happened with Kushner. It’s only because that scene felt like a gay coming of age film.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III And I thought,  there was a scene where I thought that this boy, the bully at school, was going to kiss him.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Right. Like, oh, you’ve you’ve seen through my rage. And guess what’s underneath.

 

Ira Madison III A faggot.

 

Louis Virtel A 10 year old homosexual. Yes. I think it is great.

 

Ira Madison III But that’s where it seems like it was going. And I think that would have been an interesting story. And I also now think that I need, like Spielberg has that every like coming of age film, you know, you know, I think we need a gay one.

 

Louis Virtel You’re right. Actually I’m upset.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And I think with Tony working with him. Like I like their, I love their partnership from Lincoln to this.

 

Louis Virtel Munich.

 

Ira Madison III West Side story. I think that I would love to see what he do with that. You know, I mean, listen, I wouldn’t want many straight male directors like tackling a gay coming of age story. But let me tell you, like, Spielberg’s second best film, in my opinion, is The Color Purple. So, you know, and you couldn’t tell you couldn’t tell me a white man directed that film. So but, you know, he’s also Jewish, you know, So it makes sense. And yeah, I would just I would agree with what you said about the film, not it’s doesn’t really go over the it doesn’t really reach that point where I’m like, this is like a best picture. And it’s not even in the best, like in the top ten of Spielberg’s films. But I do think it’s just always nice watching a film of his because he knows what he’s doing. And it’s always nice to know that, like you’re in the hands of a director who’s going to tell you a story that’s going to move you. I was moved. Whether or not.

 

Louis Virtel If feels professionally done.

 

Ira Madison III It really works.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III But I, I just also think his lastly, his filmmaking in this film is great. I mean, talking about Babylon, the scene, you know, with Margot Robbie and the tears, I thought like a lot of the sequences were Sam Fable Men is making films were my favorite parts of the film.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, I agree. He really captured something there. I’m sorry. My mind is still blown about how he really should have a gay protagonist because Spielberg is so obsessed with both the whimsy and. The sad, lonely heft of childhood, and how better to realize both those things than to get into a character coming out anyway. You should do that.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Let me tell you something. Being gay in childhood is a sad, lonely haft.

 

Louis Virtel Thank you for that one page monologue that I read when I’m trying out for the fall play. Thank you.

 

Ira Madison III Any other performances that you really loved this year?

 

Louis Virtel Sorry. Yes. Performance. I brought up Daniel Deadwyler until which I finally saw.

 

Ira Madison III Now he’s so fucking good.

 

Louis Virtel Jesus Christ. First of all, who are you? You can’t just be good like that. I have to know. I have to be prepared for the talent you’re about to bring when I have no, like, coordinates to put me on the earth you live in. I get very confused. So Daniel Deadwyler plays the mother of Emmett Till, a slain child. And as the movie begins, you know you’re going to get, like, the trauma performance. You know, you’re going to get the the woman being like, why did this happen? It’s going to be horrible to watch. You know, harkening back to the 30 Rock parody, hard to Watch with Tracy Jordan. I did not expect what this movie really is about, which is it’s a lot like the Meryl Streep movie, A Cry in the Dark, which is a movie about a woman who is being perceived constantly by the media and her steeliness and her resolve to tell a particular story about something that has happened to her and her family and represent that well and not give people sort of what they expect, basically. Even if it would be in in their idea in her best interest, I was just blown away. It’s such an impossible performance. It’s the amount of devastation and it is like impossible to comprehend and just what she does and how you you’re locked into her thinking every step of the way. I’m always so impressed when people can do that. A performance. I think that is not at all like this. But reminds me of that is Searcher Ronan in Brooklyn. It’s a that’s a movie about a woman making decisions and.

 

Ira Madison III You famously love women making decisions.

 

Louis Virtel That’s please.

 

Ira Madison III Women talking.

 

Louis Virtel Sarah Polley where where’s the movie Women Making Decisions? Please. Yes. A movie I liked, by the way, I kind of forgot about, but I liked it. Yeah. I just You’re so locked into what’s going through this woman’s head. That’s all I can say. It’s fabulous. So fabulous is a crazy word for this movie. It is so hard to watch certain times.

 

Ira Madison III That’s because you don’t like women talking, Louis. You like women thinking.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Right.

 

Ira Madison III Silently thinking. You know, you want to see their face.

 

Louis Virtel I want it to be like Garfield. Where we see the thought bubbles, though. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Well, listen, one thing about Mamie Till is she loves lasagna. No, listen. Also Chinonye Chukwu is  a great director between Clemency and this.

 

Louis Virtel I did not know she did Clemency. If you are not caught up on the book of Alfre Woodard, I think it’s she’s at 178 Emmy nominations at this point.

 

Ira Madison III This is yeah that’s like that’s a great back to back of films and also two films that you know I mean unless Danielle like, gets a nomination for this another film that’s just sort of like under the award season radar because like, Alfre should have been nominated for Clemency.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I mean that’s I think to me, her definitive film performance. She was nominated once in the eighties, 1983, for a movie called Cross Creek, which is about the children’s author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, played by Mary Steenburgen. But anyway, yeah, I mean, all I can say this year is Best actress is basically the only real production we have going on for the Oscars, because the Cate Blanchett component, the Michelle Yeoh component and the Danielle Deadwyler component, these are three very disparate performances. You can’t compare them in any way. So voters have a real extreme and kind of strange decision before them. I’m really looking forward to it.

 

Ira Madison III I would say I really loved this year, Taylor Russell in Bones and All.

 

Louis Virtel I did not love her in that movie. I thought it was great and I thought she was not good. But I, I felt like she got that sign, that character that day to me.

 

Ira Madison III Not, not a student scene, at DePaul. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I tried out for DePaul. Failed, by the way. Anyway.

 

Ira Madison III I liked her. I really loved Nicholas Hoult in The Menu.

 

Louis Virtel But Nicholas Hoult, I did not know he had that level of douchebag in him. This is not my opinion.

 

Ira Madison III Are you not watching The Great?

 

Louis Virtel I guess like, nope, I’ve never seen it. So you’re right. I’m missing something. He is. I liked him in The Favorite. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Funny in that. He’s so funny and he plays like a dumb asshole douchebag in The Great too, which is like, really fantastic. And I.

 

Louis Virtel Did not. I did not care for The Menu other. Then Ralph Fiennes is one of my favorite actors. But I will say Janet McTeer slayed it, loved her as that character as like the the sort of pretentious restaurateur.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, she was really good. I like The Menu and it sort of reminded me a bit of I saw it right after Glass Onion. And I would say that, you know, like Glass Onion as an ensemble piece gave the characters like a lot to do because, you know, like it’s a murder mystery. And I would say, like, that was sort of one of the downfalls of The Menu. You sort of got brief flashes of who these characters were, you know, just to move the story along. But I don’t really think ultimately you learned anything about these characters and the ending. The ending feels like completely false to me.

 

Louis Virtel I think the problem with The Menu is it feels like a Twilight Zone episode to me, where the twist where you learn what’s really good going on should be the end of the movie. And then unfortunately, it goes on for another hour where you’re already like locked into the twist and sort of ambivalent about what occurs afterwards. Glass onion, which maybe we talked about before. But quickly, I will just say I’ve seen it twice. Loved it. Watch with my family. Good family viewing. I do think the movie has a slight problem where it goes from setting up the mystery to explaining the mystery. There’s very little time in between where you’re actually in the mystery. That’s how everybody is well cast. And it was nice to see Ed Norton playing, you know, a rich, naive act.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, The mystery element of it was lesser than in Knives Out. And I think that Knives Out edges out Glass Onion, you know, as my favorite. But I really had a good fucking time watching Glass Onion in theaters, which I hunted down to watch in Milan, because I was like, I want to see this movie in fucking theaters. Lastly, my favorite movie of the year was Triangle of Sadness.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, what? I mean, what a trip. The movie should be called What a Trip.

 

Ira Madison III That’s every Ostlund film, though. Like the Square. Force Majeure. It’s like you go in with, like, a concept of what the film’s about to be and then an hour in, because those films are always long. An hour in, you’re like, Oh, no, wait, this is a completely different fucking film.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, there are two giant twists. The middle section, the movie I like best. I don’t know that I love the this is kind of spoilery Reviver portion of the movie, even though Dolly De Leon is really good. And I also the final beat where they do stumble upon a luxury hotel. Very funny. I think that was very funny.

 

Ira Madison III Well, one of the best needle drops of the year. Hearing that Fred again song and you just says, What the fuck is happening? And then all of a sudden, Oh, beautiful. And I would say that to bring it back to what I was saying about Cassavetes, I was reading like an interview with him to just about how like, how he works with his actors. And it’s why sort of like his, you know, like he had his on acting like style, you know, too. His thing was really about like letting people create their own characters and like, just staying in a scene too long because you would let the actors really sort of interact with each other. And I think what Triangle of Sadness does very well is Ostlund wants to sort of like like, I think of like the opening where they’re arguing over the check or I think about the square with Elisabeth Moss and the condom. Like, it really just takes scenes and like lets actors just sort of like be their character and how.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah yeah it’s not rushed. Correct. Yeah

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Also okay, Anna’s in the waiting room. We just say this guy’s name Also. Harry Dickinson is so fucking hot.

 

Louis Virtel Harris Dickinson, please. You think I didn’t watch Beach Rats? Like, I barely even look at him? It was like looking at the sun. I was like. Some people are so hot you’re embarrassed you have to see them. Like, it’s just like, Oh, God. Like, why do I have to be a human being in your presence? It’s so tough.

 

Ira Madison III You know, I would say that he is this sleazy Paul Mescal.

 

Louis Virtel Which we need. Paul Mescal. A little cleaned up for me.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. You know, if, if there’s, if there’s, like a Sweet Valley High reboot with, with like them as men and they’re adults. Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal.

 

Louis Virtel That proposition that everyone’s constantly making. Thank you for finally verbalizing it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah call me up, Zaslav I’m ready to make it for HBO Discovery Max Whatever the fuck it’s called.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right.

 

Ira Madison III All right. Coming up, we are joined by Anna Kendrick.

 

<AD>.

 

Ira Madison III Welcome to Keep It the delightful Emmy, Tony, and Academy Award nominated Anna Kendrick.

 

Anna Kendrick Oh, my goodness. That’s all very sincere. You’re very good at this.

 

Louis Virtel Years of practice. The authenticity is merely a veneer.

 

Anna Kendrick 5 minutes ago, he was like trash.

 

Louis Virtel You know what’s interesting? I it’s crazy that you have all those award nominations. You can’t. You’re just you’re just like you seem like a, you know, regular actress, you know? But you’re in this Viola Davis category with all these fucking nominations.

 

Anna Kendrick Thank you for calling me someone who seems just like some regular actress, first of all. I’m going to take everything you say and twist it. That’s going to be the whole. The whole recording. Yeah, it’s I actually because I had been nominated for a Tony, an Oscar and a Grammy, and I’d lost all of those. And then I got nominated for an Emmy and I was like, I kind of hope that I lose because then I get to say like, I’m an EGOT loser.

 

Louis Virtel That’s if I’m not mistaken, there was.

 

Anna Kendrick Kind of funny.

 

Louis Virtel Now, if I’m not mistaken, Lynn Redgrave is, for the longest time, was the only person to be nominated for all four and not win any of them. So you would be joining very slim ranks.

 

Anna Kendrick I mean, that’s surprising because certainly it seems like there would be a lot more EGOT losers then EGOT winners.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Right.

 

Anna Kendrick But but you’re saying that usually along the way someone wins something. But not Anna.

 

Louis Virtel You defied the odds In a way. I can’t explain it.

 

Anna Kendrick I’m a trailblazer. Yeah. Yeah

 

Ira Madison III To be fair, a lot of our EGOT winners are. They don’t win it competitively. But the Tony, a lot of our EGOT winners have Tonys for producing a play.

 

Anna Kendrick Yep. But yeah, that’s fair. I need to get in there.

 

Louis Virtel One of those, like, winners where it’s like. It’s like pages long. You’re just like. Like a scroll at the end of a movie. Like, that’s the level of winner a lot of these people are.

 

Anna Kendrick I do love seeing at the Tonys, like, when Best Musical Guest announced that, you know, it’s the main team around the microphone and people just keep trickling on slowly who you’re like, they don’t seem. I’ll bet you no one on that crew and cast knows who that person is, but they technically did something so they get to kind of like aimlessly wander on and go, It’s happening. I did it. I’m here.

 

Louis Virtel It is a ton of people. Yes

 

Ira Madison III No, especially living in New York. You will be I will see the the L.A. party thing is, you hear so we’re talking about like a show or a movie or whatever they’re working on. You will be at a party in New York and someone will tell you that they are they’re a producer on Mean Girls. And you’re like, okay, sure.

 

Anna Kendrick Me too. Yeah. Me too.

 

Louis Virtel So while we’re on the topic of awards, thinking about the awards campaign for Up in the Air is a specific time for me because it was just when I moved to L.A. It’s an interesting season because Monique basically steamrolled that year. She got that movie, came out very early on, and so people were very attuned to that performance early on. But you were there every step of the way, and so was it fun to be a part of that conversation with a costar? Vera Farmiga Yeah. And then of course, it was Penelope Cruz. And one more. Oh, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who also sometimes looks exactly like Vera Farmiga. That’s how I remember.

 

Anna Kendrick Was it? Maggie Gel It’s because I think there were a yeah, I think it was me and Monique, and I know Gerwig got nominated for everything, if not almost everything or whatever, and then it was kind of satellite, so I probably don’t remember. You probably remember better than I do who was nominated for what. But yeah, I think that there was actually something I saw Precious at TIFF when Up in the Air had, you know, like premiered at TIFF and I can’t remember which one happened first, but like it was, it was one day after the other. And I remember like watching Precious and thinking, Holy shit, this is a hell of a performance. Oh, my God, Oh, my God. And then, like the you know, those kind of final scenes with Monique happened, and I was like, Oh, well, for God’s sakes, this is like a performance for a lot of, like, for the ages, you know?

 

Louis Virtel Correct. Yeah.

 

Anna Kendrick And it was like kind of a relief, like at that point, to be very clear, At that point, the idea of being nominated for an Academy Award was not it? I actually remember. Sorry, I’m rambling, but I remember it was at TIFF that I was doing some interview with Jason Bateman. I was paired with Jason Bateman and he made this comment about like, well, you know, she did great in the movie. And I, you know, I think this spring you’re going to be picking out a really nice gown. And I remember this is weird, but I actually remember at the time almost thinking like he was he was like almost being kind of mean, like teasing me or something. Like in the way that if it had been a movie about swimming, he might have been like, Ahh, the Olympics might be calling, you know what I mean? It was so just

 

Louis Virtel A light taunt. Yeah.

 

Anna Kendrick A light taunt. Exactly. And and so, like, the idea of being nominated was like, just I was just getting questions about that and stuff. And it seemed so out of the realm of reality and everything. But then once it started feeling like, Oh, everybody thinks this thing is going to happen, and then it did happen, I was like, Oh, it’s kind of a relief to just know like it’s a sweep for Monique. Like there’s no awards show where I have to be like, maybe I should have my speech ready or like, there’s no like, Oh, I won this one, but not this one. And then it also felt like me and Vera weren’t competing like it was, you know, it was kind of nice to just be like because it was also the year that Christoph Waltz was nominated.

 

Louis Virtel Right.

 

Anna Kendrick The same thing. It was just like, it’s his year. Like it was like a hell of a performance, performance of a lifetime. And it was just like, I’m just here and I get to drink like, cool, great. I don’t have to do anything. I just sit here and I go, Wonderful, wonderful.

 

Ira Madison III I want to talk about one of your earliest performances, which is so interesting to me, remembering the film, Camp, where I feel like you, you know, you have ladies to watch in that. And since then, I think, like you are one of the actors that I would like heavily to just associate with Sondheim now, you know, because you know that. And then, of course, Into the Woods just sort of what, does Sondheim as an actor, does doing Sondheim scare you or are you used to it now?

 

Anna Kendrick No, I mean, Sondheim is so difficult. And I think that even like real musicians, which are not me, I would agree that Sondheim is so, so, so difficult, but it is so much fun. Once you get over the hurdle of like, I’m never going to crack this because it is like getting a little line reading from a genius and you have freedom to whatever, you know, explore and make discovery within that. But he’s really telling you, here’s your intonation build from that how you want to. But, you know, there’s not like a kind of a a sweeping melody where you have like all this room to back phrase and interpret and whatever it’s like. You know, he’s given you this, this framework, and it’s very hyper specific, but and you can have enough creative freedom within it. But it’s, you know, it’s like so fun and so challenging. I feel like I’m being annoying, but it’s yeah, I, I love Sondheim so much. And I will also say that he yeah, So he was in Camp and he showed up and he saw some like a rough cut of ladies who lunch on the day that he was on set and doing his cameo. And it was like, What did he say? And he apparently said, She has the most perfect teeth I’ve ever seen. And, you know, as compliments go, I’ll take it. It was like I was over the moon, that it wasn’t just like you’re butchering this song or whatever. And then when I did a little night music at New York City Opera when I was 17, I was so intimidated by the cast. Especially, of course, when you’re 17, you’re like especially hoping to impress the the cast members who are like mid-twenties. And the first day of rehearsal, I think he was there and he like, walked over and was like, Anna, nice to see you again. And just walked away. And I was like, the 20 year old saw that happen. Oh, this is amazing. This is so great. Yeah. And then obviously on into the woods, it was like I had, like this extra excuse to be. I mean, I’m really being generous with the phrase, like, work with him because he was updating the lyrics for Cinderella’s song for Steps of the Palace to be in present tense. So he would just kind of come in and make little tweaks when it wasn’t feeling right and like make tiny little changes. And so it felt like, yes, we are collaborating, this is wonderful.

 

Louis Virtel So we spoken about Camp and another movie that I feel like brought you a different kind of fandom, and I want to talk about the specific fandom devoted to you and the very disparate demographics it’s comprised over the years, but A Simple Favor.

 

Ira Madison III Exactly.

 

Louis Virtel When when that movie came out.

 

Ira Madison III Perfect film.

 

Louis Virtel It felt like people kind of expected to like it. And then it’s like it took over a specific set of Twitter, like it’s the movie. They could not get off their minds. And there were lots of parts of it. You know, it was like the the whiz bang of the movie. It was, you know, what Blake Lively was wearing? It was the craziness of the movie. Did you have any idea it would really catch on? I’m trying to even think of another movie. I would compare it to that. It like sort of electrified that demographic in a way. I don’t know, like Hustlers or something. I’m not even sure.

 

Anna Kendrick Oh Yeah, That’s interesting. Well, yeah, I wasn’t sure if you’re talking about demographic or not, but I would have a hard time trying to figure out a movie to compare a simple favor to just a movie, which was challenging for me and for Blake. Like, on set, we were always looking at each other like, What movie are you in today?

 

Ira Madison III I’m like.

 

Anna Kendrick What are we? I never know because it’s really fucking wild to be like, it is a comedy and it’s really glossy like we are. You know, I’m dressed crazy. She’s dressed beautifully. The look of the film has a certain feeling that’s, you know, very slick and very glossy. And yet I’m talking about voluntary incest and there’s murder and intrigue and like, Yeah, and all of those things are just sort of baked in and like, how we were just like, I don’t I don’t know. I don’t know how this is going to get pulled off. And we were always like, like with comedy, it feels like you’re on this like sliding scale of very subtle to very broad and you’re, you know, maybe doing options, different takes of like, where am I on this lighter and with a simple favor. I remember saying to Blake, it feels like I just the button just like, came off and I’m just holding it and I don’t know where to put it. And like, what? What if I can just move it in 3D space? Like, what the fuck are we doing? Which again was, was really exciting and really strange and scary. And I think it really wasn’t until we saw the movie that it made sense to us.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I assume it’s a movie where you had to just trust that the tone was being taken care of. You’re just like, I’m going to do my thing. And then you know what? Maybe it’ll come together.

 

Ira Madison III Yes.

 

Anna Kendrick No. And I think obviously Paul’s track record speaks for itself. But it was not a you know, he’s known for Bridesmaids in a very different kind of thing. And it’s yeah, I think it’s exciting to be a part of. Something where someone’s doing a thing they’re not known for. But yeah, also just going like, I don’t have like a reference point. I don’t have anything to hold on to. And I felt really grateful to have Blake as a, as a scene partner because it felt very comfortable. You know, she’s such a pro and it was just easy to go like, how about this one? We’ll just do this. You know, it was just very simple and straightforward, and we were just kind of like down to do options and try things and like, we weren’t really getting caught up in, like touchy feely stuff. It was more just like, Let’s try this option in this. I’m just try to get Paul what he wants because we haven’t figured it out yet, but we’re just hoping he has a master plan, which he did.

 

Ira Madison III You know, the way Louis talks about that, I’m sort of like electrified people in a weird way. I would say sort of. That’s a film that I always introduce to people if they haven’t seen it the same way I introduce Down with Love to people. I’m always like, This is a very funny film that you might not think is for you, but once someone starts to watching it, they’re like, Oh no, I love this film.

 

Anna Kendrick Yes, yes. Down with Love is actually a weirdly good example. No incest in Down with Love, sadly. But that’s what I always felt that film was missing. I love that as a reference because it is like, Wait, where are we? What world are we in right now?

 

Ira Madison III Speaking of music, what we were talking about before, I find it so interesting that like, I mean, you basically had the pop girl shaking with Cups, you know, like they’re like, was that so weird for you to do? Like you’re doing the movie Pitch Perfect and like, cool. Okay, Like, I am singing the song in it, but then the song becomes a phenomenon and it’s like basically, like ruling Billboard.

 

Anna Kendrick It was so weird. I was filming. I was in New York filming the last five years when it was again, so weird to say, like climbing the charts. And I was taking a nap in a the basement of a church in Harlem where like it was the lunch break of whatever we were filming. And I remember like getting an update that it was like number six in the Billboard Top ten and really looking at it and going like, I don’t you know, I think it was like Miley Cyrus and like Macklemore and whatever whatever was popular at time. And really just thinking like these people are like going on GMA and MTV and like promoting this single. And I’m just sitting here quietly in this basement and like, it’s just happening. What is going on? I’m like, Why is this happening? And I did occur to me that, like, I would yes, of course, like Miley Cyrus, this actual real musician must be going like this. What the fuck is this? Yeah. Which yeah, not that like it was threatening in any way. I don’t know about shaking, but it was like, Oh, that must be a funny conversation that’s happening with whoever else is in the top ten right now.

 

Louis Virtel After Pitch Perfect though, I assume like the kind of a median Anna Kendrick fan, what they looked like changed. I mean, it seems like you just engaged an entire new world of fans with that movie. Would you say like, is that movie like a dividing point in your career? But like, there’s before Pitch Perfect and after Pitch perfect in terms of how I am received and, you know, kind of what people expect from me in movies?

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah, I would definitely say that. I think I also like having a fan base that at that time was very much like sort of 12 to 14 year old girls. It felt like there a very marked difference in like, I’m really not that famous to like I’m super famous because 12 or 14 year old girls will let you know, you know, like if if a 40 year old in a restaurant is like, oh, she was quite good and up in the air shooting, then you might never hear about it. But if you love Pitch Perfect and you’re 12 years old, I’m going to hear about it. So it really did feel like, oh my God, like what’s happening? And it’s obviously like very, very sweet. And I would see I would see these girls like, get into I was like, Oh, I’m at the precipice of a huge fight between mother and daughter when the mom couldn’t operate the phone, like right hand my hand, mom the phone, and like I could feel the melt down of of the girl standing next to me when it was like, I think I just took a picture of myself like, Mom, you ruined my luck. I felt like I was always trying to, like, mediate, averting disaster between mother and daughter for a period of my life.

 

Ira Madison III I feel like that’s why so many people have reverted to. We’re just going to take a selfie. You could see how the photo looks. You do it very quickly and then you’re on your way.

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah, I’ll usually like if somebody is really nervous, I’ll usually just like sort of gently steal the phone out of their hand and just do it for them. Which. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I just want to say that there’s a phone thief in West Hollywood, and I simply wouldn’t be surprised if it were you based on your experience not handling the phones.

 

Anna Kendrick Somebody’s got to pay these gambling debts, Louis, come on.

 

Ira Madison III I want to get into your latest film, Alice, Darling. Just sort of ask. You know, like we were just talking about the typical Anna Kendrick fan was after Pitch Perfect. And would you say that this was just a script that really spoke to you, or were you also making a conscious decision, you know, to sort of like do different roles than you’re the Pitch Perfect universe that you’d been in?

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah. So my we can keep it light, but my personal life kind of fell apart. My whole life kind of fell apart. And I it was a very similar thing to the the content of Alice Darling. But I think I also was just feeling like the idea of jumping back into something in the same tonal world as Pitch Perfect would have just felt impossible. And I was really drawn to movies like The Assistant and this movie Swallow, just these really, really restrained, intimate films. And I, I feel like there is a set of tools that I will reach for when I’m on a set, and I don’t want to denigrate any film or performance that I’ve done in the past and very proud of those. But and it was tools that I built intentionally because that’s the kind of performer I wanted to be. But I think that I’d gotten myself to a place where I was really interested in making everybody at Video Village really happy and like, I just wanted to be like the star student. And I got a lot of self-esteem out of being on set and being the person when like somebody else was maybe nervous in the scene or not doing well. That, you know, being the person that a producer would be like, Oh, but we can always count on you, you know? And like, just knowing, like, I can figure out what you guys want for the dailies and I can give you that. And sometimes I think that that wasn’t serving the film or the performance as a whole. And I kind of went into Alice Darling as a sort of personal challenge to tolerate the experience that I knew would come out of people being like, Oh, this is okay. Like, I’m not sure, you know, like the day to day of it wouldn’t be quite so validating because I’m not being that kind of charismatic. Like I know the tool I have to reach for. I know what you want me to do and I’m not going to do it. And I’m going to just I’m going to tolerate the discomfort of knowing that you don’t think the scenes really working and trust that I’m building a whole performance. Because I think like especially the the first ten or 15 minutes of the film, Alice is kind of a bummer. Like, she’s not really that fun to be around. You know, she’s kind of cold to her friends and there’s just not a lot of life behind her eyes. And I think I also wanted to, you know, trust that people would still root for her and get on board with her, because I kind of wanted to trust that I was still valid and deserved care when I was in that space. So it was important to me to not kind of come out as the like the pitch perfect Anna that you already are sort of invested in and then, hey, see me in this emotionally abusive relationship. It was like, you know, sometimes when things are going really badly for a person, they suck to be around. And that was like hard to not be getting the attaboys that I usually try to kind of twist myself into being able to get every hour and every day and every scene and kind of trust that I could see what I knew I wanted it to be, and then sort of hope that that felt like something to people when they watched it.

 

Louis Virtel We should say that this is a movie about a girl who is in a relationship where she’s being psychologically abused. And what shocked me and you brought up a couple of movie titles just now is I can’t really think of too many movies about this subject. Like like I can’t in my head go to like, oh, there’s I mean, like, you can like there’s movies like enough, you know, where. But that’s a different type of movie entirely. Like, you would never compare these two movies. I was wondering if it was intimidating to go into a movie that I don’t really think has many predecessors.

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah, I think a phrase that I used when I was talking to the director in the beginning was I don’t I don’t want to make a movie that I would have watched and gone. Oh, okay. Well, that’s not happening, so I’m okay like this. This relationship is fine. I guess this is just normal conflict. And I think that there was always a temptation with this movie to kind of take the easy way out and go like, well, maybe just in one fight, he like, shoves her into a wall because it makes the audience’s job as a viewer a lot easier to just go, okay, okay, we all agree he’s the bad guy. She’s the good guy. We’re rooting for her. And to live in that discomfort and uncertainty for a big chunk of the movie is a lot to ask of an audience, but it’s also really inviting them into the fucking experience of being in that position, in that relationship, because you are going like, I don’t know if I’m the problem because I really think I might be the problem. And yeah, it’s I think it’s tricky to describe to people and it’s it was hard to continually push for pulling back on even the language that the partner uses, like how many times does he curse at her? And you know, because again, it’s like it would be a lot easier if we just went, oh, okay, So he is abusive. And again, it was like something that I found myself really fighting for. And then of course going, Well, I’m sort of fighting for my past self, you know, to go like, this is enough. Like what’s happening in this movie is enough to say that this is abusive and she deserves to get out. You know, this isn’t normal. This isn’t normal conflict.

 

Ira Madison III Would you happen to say that you maybe feel as if you know your profession as an actor, you know, sort of was maybe in sort of a hindrance and, you know, sort of this idea of, you know, needing to please people, even talking about the Valley Village thing, you know, like it’s. Did you feel that Alice Darling was able to afford you a bit of maybe catharsis that you hadn’t experienced in other roles?

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s exactly right. Like, I it’s hard for me because in the same way that I’m very proud of this kind of tool set. And I love I do love being like the pro like, oh, she’s such a pro, you know, on set. That’s like I remember telling my therapist, like somebody telling me you’re really, really professional is like a bigger compliment to me than you’re talented. So. So it’s hard for me because I am proud of that toolset. And it can be armor. And it was very scary, but again, very valuable to me personally to take off all that armor. And I felt very lucky to be surrounded by people who were drawn to this movie because they’d also had similar experiences. And it felt like a very safe place to do that because everybody on set was like, Yep, been there.

 

Louis Virtel God, that sounds like. I mean, is that like luck? I mean, like, how did, how did this set come together? That seems like you must have been so grateful for that.

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah. I mean, I think that people who were drawn to this film were drawn to it for that reason. I think that on paper, I think that the experience of watching the movie is it’s like a horror film really. You know, like I kept I kept saying when I was kind of advocating for pulling back on very black and white abusive behavior, I was like, Nobody that’s seen a cut of the film, things like, I don’t know, things seem fine for Alice. Like it’s a very intense, horrifying life. And I think that but I will say that on paper I could understand somebody who didn’t relate to it, just kind of going like nothing really happens in this movie. And because they didn’t like, read it and go, Oh, I know this feeling. So I yeah, I was very much not like I think it was everybody that showed up was very much there and passionate from like the actors to like the makeup artists. You know, like my first day on set, I was like, Oh, I’ve heard like 18 traumatizing stories today. This is you know, this is like, let’s let’s go, let’s do it. Let’s get in there.

 

Ira Madison III Well, that seems like such a great experience for you to have had. And I want to ask just a bit lastly about you have your directorial debut coming out soon. We’re speaking of horror is the Dating Game, but it’s about the serial killer, Rodney Alcala.

 

Anna Kendrick Rodney Alcala.

 

Ira Madison III Who was on the Dating Game. And I’m sure Louis has seen this episode.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, well, as you might know, and I’m a bit of a gameshow historian, so this really speaks to me. Yes.

 

Anna Kendrick That makes me very happy. Yeah, it’s it’s a movie about that incident, but it’s sort of like from the perspective of the woman who went on the show. Yeah, it’s a script I’d been attached to for a couple of years, and then the opportunity to direct it came up very suddenly. And I sort of pushed myself off the cliff, which was totally terrifying. But I had so much fun. I yeah, I’ve had more fun than I’ve had in years. It was so awesome.

 

Louis Virtel Because if I remember correctly, either the woman who went on the date or chose him or whatever said something like somebody turned him down and said he felt like a serial killer to me, like somebody had detected something like to the tee, that he was crazy.

 

Anna Kendrick That’s interesting. I don’t know about I mean, I’m embarrassed to say if that’s the case, I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know that quote. But I will say that there are so many insane details about the the show and the case that really illuminate the way that women, even now, but especially at that time, would kind of go against their gut. And yeah, we’ve tried to sort of pack all of those specific details into the movie.

 

Louis Virtel I cannot wait to see that. But yeah, but a perfect topic for a film. There’s there’s a few game show movies out there and this is, I understand, barely a game show, but there’s there’s a couple tales out there that were supposed to have turned into movies that never did. There’s this guy who won this game show, Press Your Luck, where he took the money and got it in ones and he game the system anyway. There’s a lot of games that attract a lot of strange personalities, is what I’m saying.

 

Anna Kendrick Clearly.

 

Louis Virtel So congrats to you.

 

Ira Madison III It’s not shocking to when you consider, you know, like the proliferation of, I guess, you know, like scammers on like Bravo or Real Housewives or something. You know, it’s like it’s I think that when you look back to things like this, people like that are just sort of drawn to T.V. and attention in general, and they’re always going to find a way to be front and center while thinking that they’re hiding something.

 

Anna Kendrick Yeah. What kind of pathology lurks beneath somebody who would go on a game show or be an actress or host a podcast? Dear God.

 

Louis Virtel Well, now that we are smithereens. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Well, thank you so much for being here.

 

Anna Kendrick And so, so delighted to meet you guys. I’m such a big fan of both of you and so happy that you guys are had me.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And thank you for sharing all that with us too. Like, you know, I really hope people see Alice, Darling because I think that you are fantastic in it.

 

Anna Kendrick Thank you.

 

Louis Virtel And I want to add one quick note. Years ago I posted something about the singer Laura Nyro on Twitter, and Anna responded something about, I don’t know, wanting to play Laura Nyro or something. I just want to say the taste level, the taste level involved with loving Laura Nyro. You’re one of the real ones.

 

Anna Kendrick I actually put there’s I don’t know if this because, you know, we’re just starting to edit the movie and you have to know that like it will tell you what it needs to be and who knows what it’s going to be. But Kathryn Gallagher is in the movie and I asked her to sing something in the shower and I was like, Oh, will you sing Poverty Train by Laura Nyro? Because I was.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, the song.

 

Anna Kendrick You know? And I like I was like, that was something that came out around that time. And the lyrics were sort of, I don’t know, whatever. But yeah, I was like desperately trying to put her in the movie somehow.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, yes. You’ve added another year to my life.

 

Ira Madison III You’re like a mushroom and Super Mario for Louis.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I’ve, I’ve tripled in size.

 

Anna Kendrick That’s, that’s how I feel about your Twitter. I’m like, I feel like Louis wrote this tweet for me. Just for me. Audience of one.

 

Louis Virtel Honestly, it could be. Basically, I’m looking at the demographics and it might just be, you know, also, whatever you said about showing my Twitter to Shirley MacLaine, my life is not the same. Please know that.

 

Anna Kendrick I’m. Yes. Yeah. Because I. Yeah, did. I did. I guess I did say that.

 

Louis Virtel In something it was, it blew my mind.

 

Anna Kendrick Because I was I don’t know. I was like, maybe at some point I’ll go on the they’d have me on the podcast and you know, I could, I can tell him that or whatever. But I’m glad that that reached you because yeah, I don’t know how much I, I don’t know how much I actually said about it. What did I say?

 

Louis Virtel It was super brief. It was like, oh, I wanted to explain to Shirley MacLaine what Twitter was. So I showed her like this, you know, this gay guys tweets that are sometimes about Hollywood. Yeah.

 

Anna Kendrick Is that how I explained it?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Some gay guy. Yeah, right.

 

Anna Kendrick Like, because, yeah, she was asking me about Twitter and like, you know, what is it even for and blah. And I was like, well, I’ll show her some Louis Virtel tweets and whatever. And I was like, going through some of them, like looking for a winner. I think I was going mainly through the ones that I had, like, liked, and she was still kind of like, okay, I don’t get it, Swastika. And then it was I think it was this tweet that I’ll now remember forever, because, you know, Shirley MacLaine was like repeating it back to me. She was like this one about Christine Baranski. Explain that to me. Like you’d said something about like, if this weather gets any more severe, it would be Christine Baranski in a turtleneck.

 

Louis Virtel And what’s wrong with me, dammit?

 

Anna Kendrick And she said, What is that? What is that? What is that? And I just went, well, because, you know, Christine Baranski in a turtleneck that’s quite severe. So the weather, you know, like a joke, you know, And she was like, okay. And like a couple minutes went by, a couple of minutes went by. And she was. Sitting next to me on the she went Christine Baranski and a turtle. Wonderful one. Oh.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my love. Yes. Oh, yes.

 

Anna Kendrick And I do remember thinking one day I’m going to tell him that story.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my God. Unfortunately, you added three years to my life and in fact, an entire other life since it was Shirley MacLaine. So my life. All right. Thank you for being here.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, Thank you.

 

Anna Kendrick Thank you, guys.

 

Ira Madison III Alice Darling is exclusively in AMC theaters nationwide, January 20th, 2023, when we’re back. Keep It. And we are back with our favorite segment of the episode, Keep It. The first official Keep It of 2023. Louis.

 

Louis Virtel Yes?

 

Ira Madison III Why don’t you go first?

 

Louis Virtel Okay. I’m starting with a reversal because I think people expect us to bring up the new show, The Real Friends of WeHo, which first of all, can we get another pitch on the title The Real Friends?

 

Ira Madison III I have heard.

 

Louis Virtel First of all, you know, they’re not even real friends, so don’t even say real friends. Use some other term.

 

Ira Madison III I have heard that it was initially supposed to be a reboot of the A-list.

 

Louis Virtel Which as God intended, as we all know, we watched every episode of that show. I watched New York and Dallas. Don’t you worry. But my Keep It is not to this show. There’s some like blow up on Twitter. Just about. Oh, no it’s it’s gay is sort of pretending to have drama with each other to imitate the housewives, which they actually love, who actually belong on TV. Couple of things. One, the star of the show is Brad Gretzky. I would say Brad Gorecki is one of the funniest reality stars of the past 20 years. I think if you’re going to be critical of this show, you have to first give him his props, which is to say the Rachel Zoe project was an A When that show was on, it had no right to be that funny. Everybody on that show belonged there. Rachel’s so hilarious. What was her sister’s sister’s name? Taylor. She was great. Brad was great, Dressed great. So I feel like, first of all, you can’t just dismiss this show out of hand, because also, first of all, shows like this are going to exist every couple of years. There’s always going to be we’re going to make the attempt at gay people hanging out. Right. There should be the definitive version of that show, and we still don’t really have it yet. So I respect the attempt and I wish people would give it two episodes before we throw it in the pit with Finding Prince Charming or whatever else is down there. You know.

 

Ira Madison III I would say that, you know, like obviously gay is a more critical of other gays than they are other entertainment. And I’m intrigued for the show, if only because of the production company behind it is truly original. And they produced Real Housewives of Potomac, Summer House, Shahs of Sunset, You know, so like, they know what they’re doing in the game. You know, they produce some of the recent seasons of Atlanta, you know, like Real Housewives of Atlanta. And so the pedigree is there. I think that if you reality shows are always about gathering the right personalities, you know, like you’re going to need someone who’s going to be annoying but fun. You’re really going. And I think that what the show is really going to need is someone who’s a quote unquote, producer. You know, like the best reality shows like that always do well, when there’s someone who knows when they come to meet with everybody, like we’re making a TV show, It’s not just hanging out. It’s not just creating drama. It is what’s the purpose of the scene and what am I getting out of it? And some of the people we don’t know, which I think is great, because one criticism I was seeing from people online was who are these gays? And like using like even the Jennifer Coolidge meme from White Lotus like do you know these gays? Which side note, side Keep It too, if I hear one more person use these gays are trying to murder me again, like give it a rest.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Also that was the most blatant like meme pull on White Lotus and then you went and fucking did it. It’s like, don’t be a child. Like. Like again. It was funny for a millisecond. Move on.

 

Ira Madison III You’re murdering me.

 

Louis Virtel That’s us, the viewer of your meme.

 

Ira Madison III But the but the point of a show like this isn’t. You’re supposed to know all these people like.

 

Louis Virtel Right.

 

Ira Madison III Like, we don’t.

 

Louis Virtel Obviously.

 

Ira Madison III Know all the fucking housewives when they start on a show, you know? And it’s like, listen, I know gays like to play with their Barbie dolls, you know, and share memes of women and watch them tear each other down. But, you know, like, maybe we can let gays do that, too. You know, if these people are awful, so are a lot of the fucking housewives that we like. Okay? And at least, you know, these guys didn’t vote for Trump.

 

Louis Virtel Right? You you think I mean.

 

Ira Madison III Presumably. Presumably.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, you’re right. We have the right to be as idiotic as the housewives. I do. We still need that show where we prove just how low we can go.

 

Ira Madison III I would say that the one thing I do sort of like wish the show sort of was that because I would love like a gay sort of housewives a show. But I think that like, what really pulls you into those shows is like a community and a place that you haven’t seen. I’m sure the vitriol will still maybe be there if it weren’t like we WeHo, you know, but I do think some of the responses also just because it feels more like a vapid Gays in WeHo tv show that’s also taking time away from Drag Race. The Drag Race component is annoying people too, because you know gay love 7 hours of Drag Race every Friday.

 

Louis Virtel Right after they sit down. It’s really like a David Lean experience. You don’t leave. The theater until your 4 hours in. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III But, you know, I think like a community in like Orange County or something, like, of gays, you know, like people we really don’t know, but it’s just sort of awful people. That’s what I want to see.

 

Louis Virtel Right. I think there is potential there. I think you’re right.

 

Ira Madison III I also I think I’m sorry, like the the worst part of the show is going to be Toddrick because I don’t want to see him on TV.

 

Louis Virtel But, man, I can’t I really can’t think of too many celebrities who want a reality show and came out looking worse than his other experience. It’s it’s interesting. But I want to say, I do think there is something interesting about housewives like they as characters, like they have a husband, they have a kid, like they have like a household to defend, a status to defend, whereas gays like not that they can’t be married and not that they can’t have kids, but it feels like there’s less stakes, like they have less reason to be melodramatic. I’m not saying I’m voting down the show for this reason, but it’ll be interesting to see what mix of gays will make a show like this work.

 

Ira Madison III Well, that’s also why I suggested that, you know, like, you know, like if you had a community in, like a city that we don’t know as as well as like we have, which is like, well, the very stereotypical like gay is trying to be famous in L.A. thing because of like that level of quote unquote status just feels like played out to me. I think that there are plenty of gays that could be in a show like Across America where they’re fighting for some of that status and things that the housewives are because like. But what does status mean to like gays with money in like San Antonio or like Chicago or something And like, the status isn’t related to am I famous online or like going to like, book this role or like going to be on this red carpet? The status is, you know, like, I’m wealthy and I want to keep that wealth. Like, you know, like, what is my standing in this community or, you know, like gays with real jobs, like like a doctor or like a plastic surgeon or something like that. Like what the status, I think comes from the community you’re in, but also your job and like how you maintain your life and like how you make your money. And this show just feels very it’s uninteresting, you know, because like the search for fame is just sort of who cares?

 

Louis Virtel And also everybody kind of has it like everybody’s famous for this point.

 

Ira Madison III You know, no one is paying for their fame. It’s sweat on this show because fame costs.

 

Louis Virtel Do you work for E’s Mysteries Scandals from the year 1999? Are you host AJ Benza? Ira, what is your Keep It?

 

Ira Madison III My Keep It this week goes to Rihanna.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, now she is a she is a one time singer who is now singing again.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, she’s lifting it up. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel She arguably lifted it up. I put it down gently. Haven’t thought about it since

 

Ira Madison III But I put it down, said, please do not flip it or reverse it. We’re good. We’re good here. Now my Keep It goes to Rihanna because I just figured I just discovered that I was being scammed by her.

 

Louis Virtel What?

 

Ira Madison III And Savage Fenty. Apparently there’s a lawsuit pending against Savage Fenty for scamming people by having them sign up for a quote unquote, VIP membership whenever they buy something. So what happened is last year I bought some silk boxers from Savage Fenty.

 

Louis Virtel You fancy.

 

Ira Madison III And like a like mesh tank top.

 

Louis Virtel Right. You’re going out.

 

Ira Madison III Little did I know my card was being charged $50 every month for a membership that I never even knew I signed up for because it was in the fine print.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, wow. That’s a lot of money to tack on to a boxer’s bill.

 

Ira Madison III That is okay. Like your Jen Shaw, I feel preyed upon.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And it’s also like, it’s also that unfortunate that I used a card that, like, I don’t really use because, like, I didn’t notice it until, like, I was checking, like, my finances and taxes, like end of the year. I was like, What the fuck is this charge coming from? And I go online and I find out that many other people have been susceptible to this. And that’s why there’s the lawsuit, because, you know, it was found that it was an unsavory business practice.

 

Louis Virtel Wow. I’m getting visions of, you know, how the Celine Dion fans protested outside of the offices of Rolling Stone because she was included in the 200 Greatest Singers list. I think the Savage Fenty buyers need to be outside a certain Super Bowl. I think that’s what that’s what I want to see.

 

Ira Madison III Keep It listeners, if you too have been scammed like me, meet me in Arizona where we will get Justice.

 

Louis Virtel Oh my god.

 

Ira Madison III Dial 1-800-Justice-from-Rihanna.

 

Louis Virtel I was waiting for the bubble print to appear under your under your face check or money order or whatever. Whatever. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III I’ve that, like a scrolling bag where it’s like, you may not actually get justice from Rihanna by partaking in Ira Madison III’s justice.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my God. That is really unusual. I mean, what can I say? I’m disappointed in Rihanna.

 

Ira Madison III I, I haven’t been scammed like this since I signed up for the Kardashian credit card. I never did that.

 

Louis Virtel I mean, it’s right there in the name. Sorry

 

Ira Madison III I never did that. But do you remember what they had? A credit card.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, that’s. It’s giving Trump vodka. It’s. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III All right, well, that’s our show this week. Except there will be a bonus episode out later today.

 

Louis Virtel That’s right.

 

Ira Madison III About the Golden Globes.

 

Louis Virtel So if you were disappointed with what we dished as incomplete and trust me, it can get so much worse.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I mean, I’m waiting for like a Aaron Taylor-Johnson type win.

 

Louis Virtel I know that’s what the Golden Gloves used to be for like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Are you going to pull this off? Who knows?

 

Ira Madison III Afilm that I only remember because of the Globes, but I’ve never seen it. But I know that title because of the Globes.

 

Louis Virtel Mozart in the Jungle, etc.. Right.

 

Ira Madison III I think people watch that, didn’t they?

 

Louis Virtel I find that presumptuous. There’s no way of knowing. And they won’t they won’t admit it. If you said if you ask.

 

Ira Madison III Well, thank you to Anna Kendrick for joining us and thank you for joining us for season six of Keep It. Is this like a community thing, Six seasons in a movie.

 

Louis Virtel Right? Oh, good Lord. What’s the movie going to be? And has Lucas Hedges available.

 

Ira Madison III To play you?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I think. I think it has to be Lucas.

 

Ira Madison III Who’s me?

 

Louis Virtel Hmm?

 

Ira Madison III Brian Tyree.

 

Louis Virtel Let the viewers decide. Well, I don’t hate that.

 

Ira Madison III Brian Tyree, Winston Duke will go with one of those.

 

Louis Virtel Brian Tyree, by the way, fabulous in Causeway, a movie we forgot to bring up.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, well, he is fabulous at it, I think. J.Law. It’s nice to see her back on screen again. I think it’s a good movie that doesn’t have a lot of awards conversation because it’s ultimately just sort of their head, you know.

 

Louis Virtel It doesn’t feel like a competitive movie. It’s just good.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, it’s just good. It’s it’s are you’re just hanging out.

 

Louis Virtel Right? Just like on Keep It. See you next week or tonight.

 

Ira Madison III Keep It, the causeway of podcasts. And that is our episode. Don’t forget to listen to our Golden Globes special later today and also remember to check out full episodes of Keep It on the Uncultured YouTube channel and to please rate and review. Keep It on your podcast platform of choice, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, etc.. Five star reviews. It’s got to be four stars, I don’t want it. See you on the next. Keep It. Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our senior producer is Kendra James. Our producer is Chris Lord, and our associate producer is Malcolm Whitfield. Our executive producers are Ira Madison the a third, that’s me. And Louis Virtel. This episode was recorded and mixed by Evan Sutton. Thank you to our digital team, Matt DeGroot, Nar Melkonian and Delon Villanueva for production support every week. And as always, Keep It is filmed in front of a live studio audience.