Ira and Louis discuss the Joker sequel and Lady Gaga’s accompanying album Harlequin, Saturday Night, and The Charlie Puth Show. Andrew Garfield joins to discuss his new film We Live In Time, working with Florence Pugh, and his cultural influences. Plus, and awards season film preview.

 

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TRANSCRIPT

 

Ira Madison III And we’re back for an all new episode of Keep It. I’m Ira Madison, the third.

 

Louis Virtel I am Louis Virtel. And can you feel the prestige it’s coming in The movies are trickling down that I actually want to see. You can see the life in my eyes flickering back to life after summer goes away. Which, as you know, is my favorite. And then I realized that we have another favorite thing, which is art, which will be back with us.

 

Ira Madison III Joker two.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. My God. Harlequin.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Yeah. A lot of Oscar buzz for this film.

 

Louis Virtel Well, let me just fucking say, there kind of was Oscar buzz for a while. People were like, Lady Gaga is going to win the best supporting actress Oscar. And now those people to me, look like they ate the bad berries. We will get into that.

 

Ira Madison III But Variety is still pushing that conspiracy theory, by the way. There’s an article this week about how how the queen and Lady Gaga could still end up contenders.

 

Louis Virtel Now, we are literally going to be discussing this in depth during today’s. But before we get into the actual movie and the end, the Harlequin album by Lady Gaga, this clip of them talking when it’s premiering at what is at Cannes or something. And people are using lip readers to put words in Joaquin’s mouth as he talks to Lady Gaga and she responds, Do you think he is literally saying in that moment, as people are speculating, this is horrible?

 

Ira Madison III Well, there is the clip of them being asked by an interviewer. Is the film every did the film turn out how you expected it to? And she says wacky. And they look at each other and burst into laughter.

 

Louis Virtel Right. So, I mean, the context clues are there. Yeah. Very strange situation. But also that makes you think, what did they think it was going to be?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I don’t know. We’ll get into that.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Yeah. I’m sorry. It’s too intriguing. It really is a weird news cycle for this movie.

 

Ira Madison III But first, I want to ask you, Louis, do you own a Glock?

 

Louis Virtel Go on.

 

Ira Madison III My Kamala Harris is running around everywhere talking about how she owns a gun this week. And we already know she mentioned that in the debate. She mentioned it in some other thing.

 

Louis Virtel In her talk with Oprah, whatever that was, that live thing.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, the chat with Oprah. But now she’s running around talking about having a Glock everywhere. And is it it kind of giving? I got a hot sauce in my bag.

 

Louis Virtel But you know what It feels like You’ve got to have one of those things, the like. Yeah. I relate to people. You didn’t think I related to Whatever. Like, this is not the whole point of being a politician. I’m not saying I love that.

 

Ira Madison III Johnny Guitar.

 

Louis Virtel A movie people really should bring up more. I mean, Joan Crawford in that movie and also the fabulous Mercedes McCambridge, the woman who would later end up voicing Pazuzu in The Exorcist. But it was a fabulous kind of supporting actress Once upon a time, Johnny Guitar, Look it up.

 

Ira Madison III Maybe she’s actually Betty Davis in the letter with her gun.

 

Louis Virtel Just walking out into the porch. Shot. Shot. You ever see The Letter? That’s a short movie and a fun movie where Betty Davis is like, I have no idea why my husband’s dead. And then 30 minutes and she’s like, So I did it. And also, here’s why. Just like it turns.

 

Ira Madison III Honestly, that is the first film I was shown in. Film school.

 

Louis Virtel Really?

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Our professor showed us The Letter and I was like, Hell yeah, I’m on board for film.

 

Louis Virtel Right, Exactly. Take me to the Criterion Closet, please. Strap me up to the. She’s really fun in that movie. And just as an ass, you know, like, it’s one of those, like, Agatha Christie type roles. Where are we on her side? And then at the end, she turns into something else anyway. What’s going on this episode? What would you say is going on?

 

Ira Madison III Well, we’re talking about the Joker two, obviously, Folie á Deux, which is one of my favorite fall out Boy album titles.

 

Louis Virtel Please. Yeah. I can’t stop spinning it. And I have the virus, of course.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. It’s French for madness of two, actually. And watching this movie and talking about it, this episode, I think the madness will be the both of us.

 

Louis Virtel But I’m driven something by this movie. Yeah. Might be mad.

 

Ira Madison III And we will also be giving you an awards season preview anticipating the films that still have Oscar buzz.

 

Louis Virtel Right. For now, Jesus Christ. Watch that. Just the second before the we watch it just go away.

 

Ira Madison III Honestly, this is kind of one of my favorite things of Oscar season. When there’s a film that everyone’s like, It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot. I got the horse right here. His name is Paul Revere. And then the horse collapses.

 

Louis Virtel Right?

 

Ira Madison III It says Sue right out the gate.

 

Louis Virtel Trip falls. Yeah. But again, it’s like because you have so many reasons, like the world wants you to do this, to believe in these movies. You know, we watch like people applaud. These movies at film festivals are like very, very advanced. Reviews will say one thing and you’re like, There can’t be film reviewers out there who are this hyperbolic over something that’s mediocre, but it turns out it’s most of them. So it’s very shocking.

 

Ira Madison III And it’s actually very shocking given that gay men would laud Lady Gaga for a performance and demand that she get an Oscar if she really were giving a good performance in a really abysmal film. Yeah, the fact that that’s not even happening.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Should tell you everything about this film.

 

Louis Virtel No. When gay men leave a theater crestfallen, I mean, like, because, you know, we’re like, shall we say, creative types, and we will. But we used to like just about anything. So what Joan Didion used to call magical thinking.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. None of that is being applied here, but I yes we’ll also talk about the accompanying album that Lady Gaga released, Harlequin, which is not the same thing as her pop album that’s coming out. And let me just say about that, thank God not stop. But like the main feature of today’s episode is we have one of our favorite actors, somebody who will look back at his filmography. I had just seen every single movie. I had just seen all of them. It’s Andrew Garfield here to discuss his new movie, We Live in Time with the Rat as Fuck Florence Pugh. These two people this is an it’s an acting tour de force movie. And also, like sentimental in a way that we have not seen in a while in the movies. Like what’s like what’s the reigning like step mom type movie where people just like go and weep and everybody in it is like Yale level good at acting?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, this was a really enjoyable film. I was crying. I was laughing. It’s it really is one of those films where you feel every single emotion and it’s, you know, a film. Obviously, the story is about Florence Pugh getting cancer, but it’s not an overly depressing movie. I would say it’s not a sad if you’re leaving the theater feeling horrible film. Surprisingly so. I loved it.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Now again, it’s like they just casually layer so much into these characters that when you actually are just around two people who seem like real human beings in a movie for an hour and a half, you can’t not be grateful. It’s a good feeling.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So that is our show this week. And we will be right back. Get ready to vote with Vote Save America. Build your own ballot tool. It’s the easiest way to know exactly who and what will be on your ballot. Take North Carolina, for example. Michelle Morrow, the Republican candidate for state superintendent of public schools, said that the plus in LGBTQ plus includes pedophilia. What could possibly go wrong with her in charge of 1.4 million kids educations?

 

Louis Virtel My understanding who’s on your ballot is more important than ever, especially when candidates like her are running for positions that have major impacts on how our communities are run. Head to Vote Save America dot com slash vote to get your personalized voter guide in five Easy steps. This message has been paid for by Vote Save America. You can learn more at Vote Save America dot com. This ad has not been authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

Ira Madison III Joker Folie á Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips’s contentious Oscar winner from 2019 hit theaters last weekend, and some people thought it be a musical. Some thought it’d be more insult porn. But joke’s on them because the only thing it was was a flop.

 

Louis Virtel I will say about this before we get into the actual entertainment value of this movie, I have to almost respect where this movie is coming from, which is to say it feels nothing like the last movie. Other than the cinematography looks the same and you’re obviously getting Joaquin Phenix, you know, looking like the most uncomfortable roadie for like a late 70s band. Like, still, he’s in the same mode. But otherwise, you don’t get anything that that other movie is about. There’s barely any violence in this movie, especially the Joker doesn’t commit any violence. In fact, there’s not even any story in this movie. It’s just him just awaiting trial and meeting Lady Gaga. This other inmate who has the kind of Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club energy. Like, why is she here? Why does she show up? Who knows? But there’s so little story. And the movie keeps referring to the past. Movie keeps saying, Do you remember that other movie where that thing happened? As nothing happens in this movie. And then there are these kind of dreamlike musical sequences that obviously are strange because Lady Gaga, as she has said in interviews, is not using her full voice. Really. She’s playing a non singer who can break out into song. And Joaquin Phenix also not a singer. So you’re getting these sort of fractured, drab semi musical performances and the movie treats those like the main event, even though they’re kind of unassuming. So the entire movie from start to finish until there’s one final act of violence at the end is an unassuming movie. Whereas the first Joker movie was so in-your-face, you at least had to have an opinion about it. This passes by so like uneventfully. I’m just I’m shocked that this was the point of view of the director, Todd Phillips. Again, I have to respect that. Literally. He must have known everybody who liked the first one was going to hate this one.

 

Ira Madison III I am shocked that I didn’t really like the first.

 

Louis Virtel Film, which, by the way, I hate the first one. I just want to say yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I didn’t think it was as abysmal as everyone else thought it was, but I didn’t like to get out. But I gave it two stars on Letterboxd too. Okay. Yeah. This one, I think, is worse than the first one. Actually, I think it’s worse because I think it’s so. I’m more enraged by the sort of modus operandi behind it, you know, sort of why he created this film. First of all, I want to tell you that my screening of this film, I was the only one in it.

 

Louis Virtel Get the. So it was lonely. You were you were a joker at the Joker screening? Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III I said one is the loneliest number in the middle of a movie. I broke it up.

 

Louis Virtel I hate when I have to burst into Nelson. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And I think plenty of people were also shared screenshots of sort of reserving on AMC A-List or Fandango of sort of empty theaters. Right. Because people expected this to be a blockbuster. So there were plenty of screenings of this film that maybe too many.

 

Louis Virtel Certainly.

 

Ira Madison III You know. But I don’t know. My thing about this film is that, as you said, they are two characters who are constantly breaking into song. And there are these musical set pieces. You know, it’s a bit reminiscent of Chicago, if you will. There’s the trial of the century. You know, there is the putting a murderer on trial, but you’re also putting the audience on trial and also a city on trial for supporting murder, you know, and sensationalizing it. Right. What Chicago does, though, is when Roxie and Velma and and, you know, it’s actually a musical. When Roxie and Velma slip into a fantasy world, it actually becomes a musical. You know, I don’t get the impetus to take us into a musical world and then just have it be exactly like the world we’re already inhabiting where the not singing thing to me feels like just sort of like the weakest, lamest cop out to me at all. It’s sort of, they’re not supposed to be good singers. Well, what if they fucking were?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, they would be called.

 

Ira Madison III A fucking musical because it’s a fucking musical. Okay. And it’s annoying that you’ve pissed off like, straight men who went to see the film and then laughed because they realized it was a musical. Because, you know, we’re hiding the fact that movies are musicals these days for people. So they left because it’s a musical, and then you’re pissing off other people who are excited that it’s a musical because it’s not giving musical. And I don’t know if you’re going to rip off Scorsese in the first film and just like, give us Kings of Comedy. Like, why couldn’t you just rip off musicals and actually give us a musical, you know, like commit you.

 

Louis Virtel To be interesting? I thought about that, about the King of comedy thing. If the first one was sort of like a in-cell take on king of comedy. To me, this movie is the Incel take on Dancer in the Dark, which is it’s it’s a movie about they live in a drab universe. Everything’s going to hell. Things couldn’t be worse. And then the music sort of lifts them out a little bit. But there’s still like the whimsy has a drabness to it. And let me just say like that. But I’m like, Dancer in the dark. Dancer in the Dark was quite a big swing. Like you come out of that being like, I went through a lot. And actually I can’t say I liked it one way or the other. And also it ends with a crazy execution that still lingers in my mind. But anyway, in this movie, like the musical sequences don’t illustrate any anything interesting about the Joker, but you don’t get to know this character any more. And working in Phenix, I don’t think does enough in the musical performances that the entire mechanism feels justified. Lady Gaga, I think, maybe gets a little bit more out of it. And painfully, you get one sequence where she sings with her full voice for like two lines in a row. And so from then on, you’re like, I’m getting this one pallid version of Lady Gaga in comparison to what we just got with those two lines, too. So the musical part of it is just a weird thing to consider the centerpiece of the movie because it doesn’t bring anything out of either of the characters, nor does it illustrate anything about the situation they’re in. And by the way, the songs they pick are so weird. Just like, Why When the Saints Go Marching In, why? Like these songs that are like older than time that feel like they had to pay $0 to use to and let’s just say, well, well, actually, we’ll get to the album in a second. What’s weird is the versions you hear in the movie are not what are on the Lady Gaga soundtrack. They’re sort of more developed musical versions for the for her Harlequin album. But here it’s like. I don’t know. It almost feels like a DeBeers commercial or something where there’s like spooky music right before you get to the placement of the jewels. I don’t know.

 

Ira Madison III The film is also a courtroom drama.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Mostly. Well. Well, I want to say mostly because you don’t actually get into the courtroom until the second hour of the film, but it’s basically putting the entire first film on trial edits. It feels like this movie could have been an essay. Yeah, right. You know, it’s his thoughts on the first film as an artist and so many people who are defending the film online because people are crazy. They are saying that this is Todd Phillips, you know, responding to the commentary on the first film. And I’m like, just respond to it. You don’t waste my time with a film.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Right. As also, by the way.

 

Ira Madison III Because he didn’t have anything interesting to say.

 

Louis Virtel And also, by the way, don’t waste my time with locking Felix in the courtroom doing the like Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes fucking thing where we’re like, I’m my own lawyer and I’m a crazy person and I’m running around just like. So this is completely unreal. Another layer of unreality we’re grafting onto the film.

 

Ira Madison III My second Cousin Vinny twice removed.

 

Louis Virtel We don’t speak to him.

 

Ira Madison III The worst courtroom drama film I have seen since intolerable cruelty. Okay, This is you.

 

Louis Virtel Both. Catherine Zeta twice now today. Okay. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Because I. Because you know what? I was watching this film and I was like, when I go see a musical, I want to listen to singers. Yeah. Okay. And what one kid was singing off key on the record and I don’t want to listen to that. It was painful to listen to the film, too. It just wasn’t a pleasant viewing experience. It wasn’t a pleasant listening experience. It didn’t even look nice.

 

Louis Virtel Also, it’s like you don’t even get the Pierce Brosnan in Mamma mia thing of okay, this is totally awkward that he’s singing. But there’s this what a vibe about just saying fuck it. Obviously if you associate Right of Eve with this movie, you have a clinical illness, so go ahead and take that elsewhere.

 

Ira Madison III I thought we were going to get something slightly interesting because I didn’t mind the opening cartoon. I thought it was cute.

 

Louis Virtel They saying what the world needs now is love. And that’s that was my problem with the opening cartoon. There’s this opening cartoon about the Joker going to a premiere or something, and eventually that there’s he sings, What the world needs now is love. If you’re going to put me in the musical headspace of Burt Bacharach, okay. Too bad I’m thinking about Burt Bacharach now. Sorry. I’m thinking about his wonderful songs and I’m wondering if anybody’s going to restage promises promises anytime soon. Great news. All those songs are amazing. I’ll Never fall in Love Again. I love those songs.

 

Ira Madison III And so I feel like Lady Gaga was left wanting from this film because there’s absolutely nothing in it for her.

 

Louis Virtel There’s no Oscar earning moment for her in this movie. Like, definitely the awards chatter will be over after people are fully aware of this movie. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III They talk there’s a lot of talk about Todd Phillips cutting a scene where she kisses a woman outside the courtroom. And, you know, it’s an Out magazine or whatever about how maybe it’s homophobic that the scene was cut or Warner Brothers wanted to cut it. And I’m wondering, did he cut every other scene that she was in? She’s barely in this movie.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. No. And she’s like at a whisper level most of the time, too. Like, the character doesn’t really come to the fore in any of the scenes she’s in either. Also, I still think the worst thing about the movie is the ending. Like, you cannot tell me that was not a reshoot idea or something where they just Shall I spoil it? Can I spoil it here? Do you think people can sort of. He’s just walking around the prison at the end and then some guy stabs him and then he, like, falls over and then the guy and I don’t know who this actor is or how he was directed, but he had to stand there and cackle like like a Hanna-Barbera cartoons of a prisoner. I mean, it made it was ridiculous. And then Joker just dies there. Like as if to say, well, we know this movie is about you expect it, and believe me, you’re not getting another one.

 

Ira Madison III It was the Laughing Dog from Wacky Races.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Or the Laughing dog from Duck Hunt, who was an icon.

 

Ira Madison III And I think he stabs himself at the end of the movie, which is sort of suggesting that he becomes Heath Ledger’s Joker, or at least inspires Heath Ledger’s Joker. I don’t want to think about this movie being anywhere connected to any of the other Warner Brothers films. Not that any of them are particularly good, but you know, this also felt a lot like Man of Steel, too, which also spent a lot of annoying time in a courtroom. That then got blown up.

 

Louis Virtel The look of that part and they go for like gusto with the look of the courtroom, like you’re in trial of the Chicago seven or something. By the way, I can’t believe I just thought of that movie, which I fucking hate it.

 

Ira Madison III Which I loved.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, moving on. I will say this movie is surprisingly about Catherine Keener, who plays the woman who she’s like a like Joker’s lawyer or whatever, except she is constantly surprised by Joker’s actions in the courtroom, etc., and like has does nothing, like she tries to coach him and then it doesn’t work out. And then she’s like throws her briefcase down and says, Well, fuck it. Like it’s weird. But the half the movie is about preparing him for court, even though we know something crazy is going to go down. It’s just like a not interesting way to set up this movie.

 

Ira Madison III Also. Brendan Gleeson I’m sorry.

 

Louis Virtel I actually fucking love him as an actor, but man, does he get nothing so good. Yeah, he put, he puts us all into that. He’s a prison guard in this movie and who kind of has like a, a sort of acquaintanceship with the Joker, like the Joker tells him a joke and he gives them a cigaret is their relationship. This is like 45 minutes of the movie. Like there’s way too much time devoted to this not important relationship.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And then it also amounts to nothing, really. No, it’s so it’s almost about the abuses within the criminal court system. But then it has nothing to say about the abuses in the criminal court system because it. Are we supposed to care about that or is supposed to care about the Joker? Are we supposed to care about society? The movie feels a lot like it has just nothing to say at the end of it. And so I have nothing more to say.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. No, I mean, you do come away with nothing in terms of like I take away or like the world that’s in or why we spend all the time in the world or something other than you might listen to the album Lady Gaga put out, which we’ll get you in a second.

 

Ira Madison III Harlequin. Now, if I were Lady Gaga and I were in this film and I saw my chances are another Oscar nomination slowly slipping away after such a, you know, raucous reception at, you know, Cannes. I too would run into the studio and whip up a Harlequin album. Sure. So I could at least get, you know, very Denzel in that interview. I’m leaving here with something.

 

Louis Virtel And so she puts out this album that is like mostly all old standards, not all of them. And among them, she records Close to You by The Carpenters. Now, let me say something. We talk a lot about Karen on this podcast, but really, Richard is very key to the Carpenters success. He’s the arranger of all their songs. And for instance, Close to You by The Carpenters, probably still their signature song is a hit because of what he did to it. The original Bacharach composition is sort of like a B minus, and then Richard’s arrangement made it the classic that it is. Wolf We could have used him on this album because I hate the orchestrations on this album. I think it’s like the dopey, like it feels like the mix they used for Close To You. It felt like a Jack Johnson song or something like not suiting Lady Gaga’s vocals, not suiting the melody of the song. Also, a jet like that When the Saints go marching in. I mean that it’s got to be the widest rendition of that song we’ve ever heard, is it not? Not that. I mean, not that there’s I’m sure there’s a ton of competition, but.

 

Ira Madison III The geek in the pink is giving it a run for its money. Jason Marz.

 

Louis Virtel The geek in the pink. He seems like a nice guy.

 

Ira Madison III Great karaoke song.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Mmmhmm.

 

Ira Madison III Our bi King.

 

Louis Virtel Right, yes. No. And he seems super cool. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Listen, I don’t dislike the album. I actually enjoy it. I’m not spinning it as much as I should. Mostly because my boyfriend likes the album and won’t stop listening to it.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, so you’re dating a mentally ill person. Okay. All right. We love representation.

 

Ira Madison III He’s a musical theater actor.

 

Louis Virtel So he’s sick. Okay, great.

 

Ira Madison III He is mentally ill. Yeah, he is. They’re all mentally ill. And so I’m constantly hearing the album and telling him to put in headphones. But I will say, if my friends could see me now, I.

 

Louis Virtel I can kiss.

 

Ira Madison III My face.

 

Louis Virtel Like it, I like it.

 

Ira Madison III And I kind of want to. I saw one of my first I think I mentioned this on the show before my first second Broadway show because my first one was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Musical in 2005. But it was during a weekend visit to New York in college. The second show I saw was Christina Applegate in Sweet Charity. I would love to see Gaga as charity.

 

Louis Virtel Well, you know, we’re going to get a whole era of her doing old musicals. I mean, there’s there’s no way she won’t do a musical like somebody said that she’ll be in some crazy version of Gypsy at some point, too. You know, it’s funny because half of Lady Gaga’s career is proving to you she’s heard of old songs. So that means she is going to be in a Broadway musical. I guarantee you that. As a part of it. I enjoy world on a string on this album to.

 

Ira Madison III A whole a whole 54 below residency.

 

Louis Virtel Right? No. You think you’re kidding? Yeah. Hurt like a. Like we did not need to hear her do get happy again.

 

Ira Madison III No, we didn’t.

 

Louis Virtel You know, I mean, the Joker. That’s fun. The Shirley Bassey throwback, obviously happy mistake she did on Kimmel. And I saw that live stood in the audience like, you know, a crazy I never go next door to watch the celebrities come on the show because it’s creepy behavior. But couple of takeaways. One, she really is five, four, two. My God. That’s a short person. And then secondly. The vocals just give and give. I have to say, I think a problem with Lady Gaga and we’ve touched on this before. I think talking about that song she does with Bruno Mars. This song is Rock.

 

Ira Madison III Which is not on the album, by the way. There are there are all these soundtracks to the Joker, and that song appears on none of them.

 

Louis Virtel I think a problem she has is as a balladeer, she is just not brilliant with vulnerability. I don’t get much in the way. Like I don’t feel like these songs are delivering any insight into her. And when I come to think of it, her ballads to me tend to be her worst written songs, too. It’s when she’s likeliest to resort to cliche, are likeliest to over sing in place of like earned emotion. It’s just it it makes her different than someone like Karen Carpenter, who can take a basic lyric and make you feel like you’re listening to, like the like. You’re at the nerve center of somebody’s soul, you know?

 

Ira Madison III You know, I would say that a lot of her ballads feel very different. Take a look at me now. Against all odds.

 

Louis Virtel Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. She’s very she’s very Phil Collins with that. When she’s doing a ballot, it’s very, you know, very like the song Dope.

 

Louis Virtel Right?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. You know, sort of like very it always veers at just sort of 80s rock, almost sort of wanting to be like a Freddie Mercury sort of vibe. But it always sort of feels a bit maybe performative. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Pastiche to, you know what I mean? Like, not like it’s genuinely kind of authentically innovative the way like a lot of her pop music still is. And, you know, like, I’d like the, like Babylon on Chromatica. I’m not saying that’s like the greatest song she ever did. But even so, it’s like the strut of that has such humor to it has such like there’s an addictive, like, irreverent quality to it. I really think she needs irreverence in order to sell the sentiment as a song. All of her best songs have irreverence laced in them.

 

Ira Madison III Well, anyway.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, we tried, girl. I mean, I.

 

Ira Madison III I came across, like, a harlequin a bit more than you. And I’m cursed to listen to it the rest of the year.

 

Louis Virtel Enjoy your lot in life.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. When I get home from Milwaukee. But, you know, when we’re back, we will be joined by the fantastic Andrew Garfield. This next guest is, no lie, one of my absolute favorite actors. He’s been Spider-Man. He’s been a Jesuit missionary, a mormon detective. He’s played Jonathan Larson in the musical biopic Tick, Tick Boom and won a globe for it. And on stage, he’s played Pryor Walter in Angels in America, which he won a Tony for. And I went to London to see him in. And now he’s here to discuss his latest film, We Live In Time. Which debuts Friday. We’re thrilled to welcome to Keep It. Andrew Garfield.

 

Andrew Garfield Oh, Wow. That was very kind.

 

Louis Virtel Would you like us to list your least you, your least impressive accomplishments? You won’t believe when he sucked.

 

Andrew Garfield No. But seriously, I think I needed to burst the ego bubble. Thank you, Ira. That’s a very, very thank you. Thanks for coming to London. Did you did the one day or did you do two days in a row?

 

Ira Madison III I did. The one day.

 

Andrew Garfield You did the one day. Good. Yeah. That’s the immersion. The full immersion.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I love that play.

 

Andrew Garfield Thanks for coming out. Yeah, me too. Me too.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, now I have to talk about we live in time, first of all, because I am sure the opportunity to work with Florence Pugh is very exciting. That said, the material, while there is levity in it, is so ultimately heartbreaking. I can’t imagine wanting to put yourself in the shoes of this character, really. So what is appealing about this kind of script? And are you does it compare to other like devastating ish works you’ve done before? Were you emotionally capable of this ahead of time?

 

Andrew Garfield I don’t know. It’s so funny. I see it as a very life affirming project. It’s so interesting. When I read it, I felt. Of course, all the sorrow and the longing that the character feels and both the characters feel. But it felt like the universal longing that unites all human beings in a way. And also, I think what the film does quite beautifully is on the script did quite beautifully, was that it shows that the only true portal to get to, you know, a life of joy and meaning and connection and an awareness of the sacredness of being alive and of truly chasing after the life that you want. It takes the portal is grief, the portal is loss. It’s baked in to love, It’s baked into connection. It’s baked into a life of meaning that we’re all going to lose each other. And I think as as as long as we as soon as we remember that and really connect with that as a, I don’t know, an integrated part of life, then suddenly every every connected part of life feels even more alive and joyful and juicy and true. So I don’t know if it felt like actually more life affirming than than anything else to me.

 

Ira Madison III I want to ask about, you know, sort of working with Florence, how you sort of developed this chemistry between you two. Was there a rehearsal process that you had or did you just sort of jump into it because you two seem very comfortable with one another on screen?

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, we had two weeks of rehearsal. We didn’t know each other before we started filming and we knew each other’s work and late each other’s work. And I loved her work. And then, of course, there’s the leap of faith that you have to take. Can you go? Well, we may absolutely hate each other and we may not work in the same way and it may just not work. And then thankfully, I found out very quickly that she’s someone who not only dives deep and, you know, takes the work pretty seriously, but she’s also someone who really cares about other people and make other people in her orbit to feel safe, to feel uncharged, because that’s the way she wants to feel as well. She really brings that level of belonging and welcome to people. And I was you know, I was lucky enough to be a beneficiary of that, that vibe that she brings. And and then suddenly and also the other element, I think just to kind of wax lyrical about her for a moment is she’s one of those very, very playful friends. She’s a she’s she just wants to play. She’s searching for the joy. She wants to dance. She wants to, you know, drink. She wants to eat. She wants everyone to commune and to have a good time. So it’s like being with your best friend when you were seven years old and you happen to be making a very, very grown up film, very, very grown up things. But I think that’s one of the reasons why people have enjoyed watching these these two characters in their dynamic, because sure, they go through heavy shit together, but they’re going through heavy shit together in a way that is. Two best mates who happened to be very sexually attracted to each other, who happen to want to spend all their time together. And in so doing, they both have a knack and a longing to make life fun and playful, and their energies just match in that way. And I think that is maybe a part of what the the chemistry or the what people are calling the chemistry.

 

Louis Virtel I just love her range, which is you often can get a fabulously read, sardonic one liner from her. And then, you know, so when somebody is that funny, I immediately believe them as a person. And then secondly, I’m still shaken from the memory of the movie Lady Macbeth, where she is just a vicious creature. I mean, this person is just all over the board from Psycho to relatable. And I think that she can exist anywhere along that spectrum is, you know, bone chilling. Murton You have to be a little bit afraid of this person, right?

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, like where the body is buried kind of thing. But in a really, like, you know, lover boy.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Andrew Garfield You know, you do. You do feel like if you, if a place, a serial killer or something like that, you’d be like, Yeah, but like, I still bring her cookies in jail kind of thing. It’s that kind of vibe. Like. Like, yeah, And you’re right. And I think that was the first time I had seen her work as well as Lady Macbeth. And I don’t know how old she was. I think she was 22 or 21 or even younger, maybe maybe 19, I don’t know. But either way, it was like, damn, this is just a very naturally, inherently gifted actor, storyteller, filler. I think it’s just so smart and cunning and, as you say, hilarious. Like it just I’ll let you watch interviews and you’re like, this is just a person that you want to hang out with. Yeah, she’s she’s one of those rare, rare creatures.

 

Louis Virtel Do you ever dread getting to work with somebody that you actually admire? I mean, just as a fan of actors, like I often think I have the relationship with them I should have, which is, you know, like, I’m over here, they’re over there and they’re amazing. And not that I think they’d be horrible in person, but just this is already great. Like you started Lions for Lambs Immediately. You’re working with Meryl Streep as a part of you. Like, no, stay over on that side of the screen, Meryl.

 

Andrew Garfield Of course. Yeah, I remember. I was there was a there’s an awards ceremony and parties at the Palm Springs Awards Festival that happens just before the Oscars. And there was there was a year where I was getting an award, but I, I got that. I didn’t realize that Tom Hanks was getting a lifetime achievement award. And all of the speech that I had pre-written was thrown out the window so that I could just honor all of Tom Hanks as most little known over including including like Joe versus the Volcano and. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And things that like only the three of us are probably seeing. And I just kind of like I had to reframe everything just to be about him and thanking him because I and I had never met him at this at this point. And, and I just kind of embarrassed him in front of this group of people. And then he came up and he was very, very sweet. He came up on onto stage to accept his award. And then there was a party afterwards, and I spent the entirety of it literally running away from him because he was, you know, he wanted to be like, thanks, kid. Thanks for for bringing all that, all that stuff up and being so sweet. And I literally and he he forced me to befriend him. And I and I and I’m still not interested. I’m still whenever whenever there’s an opportunity to be with Mr. Hanks, I tend to avoid it because. Yeah I yeah I think he mean there are some people that mean probably an unhealthy amount to each of us, right. I have that with him. I have that with with Meryl. I have it with Mark Rylance. I have it with Michael J. Fox. I never, ever want to spend time with Michael J. Fox because I wouldn’t want to bother him with with, with all the the Teen Wolf quotes that I need though I would have to agree. But it but it but it is it’s a strange thing that these certain certain figures that actually define us and I met Will Ferrell recently while he was promoting this amazing, beautiful documentary, Will and Harper and I got to meet Harper as well and in London. And I was pretty cool, actually, with well, I was pretty relaxed until the last minute when I was leaving. And I kind of whispered in his ear like a murderous. And I was just I just to let you know you mean so much to me. There are very, very few people who have shaped my soul and shaped my my my view of the world. And you’re one of those people. I never want to see you again, bye! And I ran out of the room, but like, yeah, there are those people that are much they’re never going to be anything but these larger than life kind of icons.

 

Ira Madison III Wow. I mean, so talking about people who mean a lot to you and maybe someone who, you know, sort of helped shape your career. You’re working with John Crowley on this film. We Live in Time. And you also worked with him on your debut film, Really Boy A. And what was it like reuniting with someone who sort of put you, you know, into the field of being able to make films? I remember I think Wesley Morris, when he reviewed that film for The Globe, said that, you know, this movie, Boy A, you see this movie for Andrew Garfield.

 

Andrew Garfield It’s so crazy that I get to do what I do, and I still can’t quite believe my luck, my good fortune that I have this place, this eternal place, this vehicle, this, you know, form, this art form where I get to give myself. And like that, it’s not. I don’t. I do. You know the decline of cinema? I don’t. I think there’s something eternal that as long as there as long as we have a culture, that storytelling will be a part of the culture and it will require all of our humanity within it. I don’t think I don’t think it’s replaceable. So I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of that culture and a part of that that that form of that form of of art and storytelling art. And yeah, I think, yeah, you brought up Robert Redford and then and then John. Those those are my first two films. John Crowley’s was the second, but it’s the first. I was playing the lead in a film and yeah, I, we require mentorship. You know, we require whatever whatever we can’t see in ourselves to be seen by others who have the power to see and bless. We all need blessings. We all need to be given a blessing by some. And it doesn’t have to be even someone older than us. It can be, you know, a nephew or it can be, you know what I mean? Like, but I think it requires someone outside of our immediate family to be able to who can really see us clearly, who doesn’t have a dog in the fight, actually. And John didn’t have a dog in the fight. John was just like, hey, you know, I think I think I think you can play this part and I want to give you the opportunity to do it. And so I’m eternally grateful for people like him and Redford and David Fincher and, you know, all the different people who have mentored Mike Nichols. You know, like I feel, yeah. Indebted. And I think it’s it’s a thing that we all need. We all need our gifts blessed, even if we can’t see them ourselves.

 

Louis Virtel No, it’s not that I don’t believe you’re grateful, but when I think of you, Andrew Garfield, I’m an intense fan, as our listeners know of the singer songwriter Aimee Mann and Aimee Mann once wrote a song called Patient Zero about a transplant to L.A. an actor, an upstart actor, and his disorientation within the geography of L.A. basically somebody who is doing what he wants to do, but still feels kind of crazy being in L.A. And then she revealed it was about a conversation she had with you about being in Los Angeles. And I was wondering, you know, has do you come to L.A. and think, fuck, Like, just is there something about being in the town of L.A. that, like, disoriented, why you got into the business, basically.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, I think at that time that’s such a funny story. I think I blocked that out because it’s too overwhelming and and too like too. It’s just too much.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, she is amazing.

 

Andrew Garfield I love a man I love. I love her too. And, you know, Magnolia is one of my favorite films of all time. And, you know, obviously she’s and her work is so beautifully framed in that film. But I’m just a fan of hers as a as a singer and songwriter. And yeah, I remember this conversation and I think at those parties that we’ve all been to. You are looking you are searching for someone who feels as consciously out of place as you feel. And it just so happened that that night it was me and Aimee Mann that found each other. It was like it was like to like to kind of moths to a a feeling of exile flame. And it was just this strange, surreal, very beautiful conversation where I, for whatever reason, felt safe enough to reveal how how scary I was finding it all, you know, And I and I think you’re right. I think like, you know, it’s no, it’s a bit cliche to talk about Los Angeles. No exile. I actually read like like Los Angeles in lots of ways. I think that some of the best restaurants in the world are in Los Angeles, the best beaches in the world. Some some amazing people. And and like movie studios are really cool. That’s like the museums of Los Angeles feel like they’re the movie studios or like the heritage of L.A. if there is if there is a heritage. So I do I do really enjoy L.A. in lots of ways. I was born there, and so I feel a connection to it. But I think, you know, I think that world can feel like anathema to creativity. It’s like Mike Nichols famously said to me when I asked him why he decided to live in New York rather than Los Angeles when we were talking about Death of a Salesman, he said, Why would I want to live in a city where I can tell what my stock is according to how the valet parking attendant looks at me on a daily basis? And it’s and it’s that it’s like, you know exactly where you stand on the hierarchy. No matter no matter what you think, you know exactly how the how the world is seeing you and who wants to be aware of that? Because in a in a in the in the shape of a life or in the shape of a career, all the great artists, all the great people, they have this and then they have this and then they have that. And it’s it’s it is by its very nature, this up and down thing. And being able to surrender to that feels like maybe the. The hardest and biggest challenge.

 

Ira Madison III I mean, you sound like someone to. I mean, in every interview, you know, someone who has consumed a lot of just film and culture, you know? What would you say were some of the films that I think made you want to be an actor? And what are some of the films that you sort of find yourself coming back to as your favorite things, to just sort of inspire you?

 

Andrew Garfield Interesting. Yeah. I, I think it was all happening very unconsciously when I was a kid. But, you know, my dad is a big movie person and we would go to the video store every Friday afternoon after school and my brother and him and we would pick out three movies for the weekend. So we would watch a movie every night. And a lot of the time they were, you know, films like The Monster Squad or Teen Wolf or Back to the Future, Indiana Jones or, you know, the kind of the the most, you know, that great late 80s, early 90s era of like Amblin kind of filmmaking. So I think those films were and Tom Hanks movies were honestly like like Joe versus the Volcano and Big and, you know, the Burbs is another one of my favorite of of money pits.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, we could go on.

 

Andrew Garfield And on The Money Pit. Yeah, I love that you say over to the burbs because the burbs is one of those ones that lot of a lot of people aren’t aware of in my circles anyway. So. So yeah, I think it’s all those early kind of films for me. And then in terms of what I go back to for inspiration, that’s a really interesting question because I think right now I’m, I’m in one of those stages and phases of searching for more inspiration of what the next style and what the next kind of, I don’t know, incarnation of storytelling wants to be for the culture because I feel like, you know, we’re in desperate need of great story and new myths. And I think, you know, we’re kind of if we’re being I don’t know, I don’t wanna get too heavy, but like we’re at the end of an empire in terms of the West and in terms of America, particularly in the U.K., it’s like Nero fiddling on the roof. So it’s like, what are the stories that we that we want to tell during this period of time, this this this time of great change and destruction and hopefully rebuilding? And I think a film that I saw recently that really just awakened that eternal part of me was Sing Sing with Colman Domingo.

 

Ira Madison III Absolutely. One of the best movies of the year.

 

Andrew Garfield Agreed. And over the last decade for me, like, it’s one of those films that. Touches the deepest part of you. It’s. It touches the deepest part of your soul. And you’re like, yeah, that’s as good as it gets, actually, in terms of what I want to do. And I got to see Coleman recently in Paris, and I just kind of accosted him for a night and just kind of like shouted at him about how how life changing that film is going to be for people and how it’s so re-igniting for me in terms of it’s got to it’s transcendent. It’s a it goes beyond film making. It’s like there are there are these amazing men who who have been through this particular prison who are now. Doing the healing work of theater and film for themselves and for their community and for the larger community. And it speaks to the eternal dignity of the human soul. And it also talks about the fact that in America, there’s no such thing as an ex-convict, like once a convict, always a convict. Like this idea that the America or any kind of Western country has has the can, can reassess and accept someone’s, I don’t know, process of rehabilitation or rehabilitation healing. I’d rather use the word healing. And I think it’s a film that really speaks to that. It speaks to the the limits and the inhumanity in our systems in such a subtle and such a beautiful way. And that scene between Coleman and the the panel of of of people who were brought in to, you know, discern whether or not he he gets parole and the kind of the the kind of the systemic limitation that their souls, their hearts, their minds are withheld in. And you see in the asylum seeking process in the UK. You see it in the you see in the in the in the immigration discussion here in America. It’s all part of the same issue. And I think this film is something that could be a kind of a dissolution of those walls inside of each and every one of us.

 

Ira Madison III Of course. I mean, I even think about it with executions in America, you know? So. Exactly. Yeah. Great film.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I think Tech Boom, I think is one of your most fabulous performances. And I’m always blown away to remember that you had to learn how to sing in order to do that movie, which is just I mean, it makes no sense. It’s like when I hear Hugh Jackman had to learn how to sing to do Boy from Mars. I’m like, No, he did it. He’s lying. How is this possible that someone can go through that? But my question is, do you have other movies where there secretly was a lot of technical prep in terms of gaining a skill in order to be able to do the movie?

 

Andrew Garfield That’s a good question. Yes, I think the most obvious one would be tic tac boom. And yeah, I mean, thankfully I had the greatest team of Broadway technicians to help me get there, and I had a year and a bit to do it. So, you know, it’s possible when you have that kind of Netflix infrastructure. But but yeah, I mean, like I made a film called 99 Homes where I had to learn how to build this.

 

Louis Virtel Michael Shannon. Laura Dern Of course, Yes.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah. And to frame a house and be a carpenter. And that was really, really fun to be able to get the basics on. And you know, Jesuit priest thing I had to learn how to Jesuit Priest a little bit for Scorsese’s film Silence so I can I trained with a a Jesuit priest for a year and a half and and went through a bunch of different, you know, processes that usually one would have to go to to get ordained as a priest. And that was that was much more invisible work because it was all for meditation and like contemplating the life of Jesus, which was something that I wasn’t on my bingo card for 2016. But but it, but it happened and I’m and I’m grateful for it. It was a very profound, profound experience. And I was working with a great Jesuit priest called Father James Martin, who does a lot of work within the Catholic Church as a priest, a bridging. He he wrote a book called Building a Bridge, which is about LGBT people and the Catholic Church and making sure that the Catholic Church were doing everything they could in his piece, particularly Hot on Trans Rights right now. He’s very, very he’s a kind of activist within the Catholic Church for what the actual tenets of Jesus Christ, which are, you know, well welcoming and acceptance and compassion and knowing that everyone is made perfectly and imperfectly and that any sexual orientation is part of that perfection. And he’s doing this beautiful, quiet, invisible work within a system in a kind of structure that obviously is very, very hard to do that kind of work in.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I mean, I have my own issues with growing up within Catholicism, but I went to a Jesuit high school and college, so I do know that they are a bit more accepting of a lot of things. Did you find that also when you prepared for your character and under the banner of how then did you dive into Mormonism a bit or how did that feel?

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, fascinating. I think what was so interesting about that is Mormonism is such a young religion that you that you start peeling back the curtain ever so slightly and you start realizing the insanity that it’s based upon. Like it’s much easier to justify thousands of years of or hundreds of years of, you know, Christianity or any of the old religions. But but when you when a religion is that young, it’s the house of cards just falls apart as soon as you just, like gently blow upon it. And I got to meet some amazing recovering. Mormons in Utah and around and in California. And it was absolutely fascinating to talk to and a privilege to talk to these people who had to undergo such a painful. Spiritual awakening out of their religion and to then feel an absence of spirit, because suddenly everything that they thought was filling that God shaped hole was based an untruth or was based in a fabrication. And it was so fascinating to see where they were looking, where they were searching for more to fill that hole in a more genuine way. And most of the time it was nature and sometimes psychedelics and. It was really, really interesting. And they’re in there. They’re still in very deep, very sincere pursuit of a spiritual life. And they are not. And a lot of them are not. They haven’t completely ostracized the idea of Mormonism. They’re still absolutely in touch with the church, but they want to do work within the church, like my friend Father James Martin does, is a you know, a practicing Catholic. He’s a tremendous Jesuit priest, but he’s someone who is doing that slow work of God within within a system that may, may, may want to reject it.

 

Louis Virtel Now, we already brought up Death of a Salesman before, but I have to talk about you, obviously a part of two tremendous stage productions, Angels in America, which you won a Tony for. First of all, I just wanna say it feels like behavior to just have Oscar nominations. But Tony wins. I just. I don’t know. I don’t think you’re responsible for that. But I think and but and then also Death of a Salesman, which had a Philip Seymour Hoffman in it through these tremendous productions that you did again and again and again. What is your lasting takeaway from those two works, which are like the two maybe most seminal American plays? You know.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don’t know how I ended up being, man, honestly. It’s it’s a strange it’s when it’s reflected back, it’s a strange stance. I, I, I want to live in the theater for the rest of my life. That’s. That’s what I, that’s where I want to come home to. I was. I’m in New York right now and I was lucky enough to catch. Cole and his team.

 

Louis Virtel Oh Jesus! 80 minutes of bliss.

 

Ira Madison III Fantastic.

 

Andrew Garfield Oh Jesus is right, yeah. 80 minutes of bliss, honestly. And I went in with every single person in my life who I respect their taste saying. I can’t wait for you to see it and I’m not going to tell you anything about it. So I went in completely blind. I knew. I knew Cole. I knew his work in a in a more kind of shallow way for myself. But this really made me a lifelong die hard fan of of his unique brilliance and his unique creativity and courage at heart. Like it was also deeply moving. I was I was there with with with Laura Dern. And we were both just kind of our eyes welled up in different moments. And that was surprising in the midst of this bawdy, you know, gay sex comedy set in between Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. It was absolutely one of the best nights I’ve had this year, maybe since Lin-Manuel was doing his freestyle Love Supreme. Like it felt like that level of joy. And and I’m just like, thank God there are people out there who are making who are still making original work that is truly original. And thank God it’s on stage. So yeah, I in terms of angels and in terms of Death of a Salesman and those two experiences, I, I just have to kind of bow my head and close my eyes and thank the theater gods and, and kind of just say please more and more please if you, if you want me to, to, to, to keep participating in this way I will if you want to keep using me. But I will say, you know, particularly with angels like that, it was fucking hard. Like that was maybe the hardest thing I imagined I ever do. And in terms of, you know, you do become a theater monk, It’s I had no energy to do it. I was I was I eggs and I had smoothies and bananas and a steak at night and in the middle I was prior. Walter And that was that for six months in New York and six months in London. And yeah, it’s devotional is like devotional shit where you’re like, okay, I guess this is I’m a, I’m a theater monk and I’m just delivering this masterpiece to people and hopefully it’ll do some healing.

 

Ira Madison III Is that like the Spider-Man diet to just steak?

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah. Yeah, I, I mean, in the last one, I kind of let myself go a little bit for the last one. Thankfully, I didn’t there wasn’t that pressure I just said yes to the muscle. Sue Yeah, give me the fucking muscle suit. I have no desire to like I’m not doing a two work out day and like blending all of my food. No thank you but yeah. Know it’s it’s it’s not dissimilar. Yeah, yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I got to tell you, if you loved. Mary, I know Margot Robbie is producing Big Gay Jamboree, which was off-Broadway in New York, and it’s starring Titanic creator Marla Mendell, and it is absolutely fucking fantastic. And it’s sort of like the best fun thing I’ve seen since. Mary Ray’s. Yeah, it’s really fun.

 

Andrew Garfield Check it out. Thank you.

 

Louis Virtel Wait, before we kick you out, you’re a famous Drag race fan. Do you have any queens in the past few years who just stand out to you as personal favorites?

 

Andrew Garfield You know what? And this is a horrible confession to make. I haven’t been watching the last Andrew.

 

Louis Virtel Well, I guess you know what? With reality shows, I come and go with certain seasons.

 

Andrew Garfield Actually, I had to I had to take a minute. I got into the.

 

Louis Virtel Tracy Tracy play.

 

Ira Madison III I love the traders. Who’s your favorite on that?

 

Andrew Garfield But have you seen the UK version?

 

Ira Madison III Of course I have. Of course.

 

Louis Virtel And the Austrailian one. Please. Slow down. Slow down.

 

Ira Madison III Yes, yes. Yeah. We’re professionals.

 

Louis Virtel UK one and two please Harry from UK 2? Amazing.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, Harry, what a genius. Yes, yes. Harry and Will and Wilfred. Wilfred from the first. I just thought. I just think it’s up there with with drag Race for me is as the best reality show in the history of television. And yeah, I actually, I just started the second season last night with my friend Greg Miller, who is a famous massage therapist in New York who who who I love and who is like kind of like an invisible backbone of the New York theater sense. And I was over that last night and we we I showed he had never seen the traitor. So I he always he always shows me clips of different drag race things that people and that he’s into. So I got to bring him the gift of Alan Cumming’s second season. So we started that together last night. So yeah that’s that’s where I’m at. I’m in the second, second season of Alan’s.

 

Louis Virtel well you have, you have some good viewing ahead of you so that’s exciting.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah I’m excited. I’m excited.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Thank you so much for being here and thank you guys.

 

Andrew Garfield So lovely to talk to you both. I’m a big fan of what you guys do in this podcast, so thank you.

 

Louis Virtel Oh my gosh.

 

Ira Madison III Thank you.

 

Louis Virtel How incredibly flattering. Thank you.

 

Ira Madison III I mean.

 

Louis Virtel We’re of course, on the fence about you but yes.

 

Andrew Garfield Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully this has helped a slight amount.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. You know, I didn’t even, you know, do a crazy thing where I talked about my Spider-Man’s tattoo I got after your movie.

 

Andrew Garfield You got a tattoo?

 

Ira Madison III I did. It’s right on my. Where is it? Hold on. It’s right on my.

 

Andrew Garfield Where is it?

 

Ira Madison III Wait. That’s Batman. Hold on. It’s there.

 

Andrew Garfield Oh I see. Oh sick. I love that.

 

Ira Madison III It’s the logo from your film though.

 

Andrew Garfield Listen, it’s a cool logo, and I dig it. Thank you. That’s awesome. I love it.

 

Ira Madison III Now that summer is officially over, the film industry is finally heading into awards season. This year, the stakes are even higher because Louis and I are competing in Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League to determine which pop culture podcasters are the best in the biz. So we’re going to get into our draft picks and the rest of the films on the awards radar.

 

Louis Virtel I just want to say that making predictions is the one thing you would think I would love doing, and it is purely anxiety producing for me. It’s like, you know what it’s like when you give an answer on Family Feud and you are humiliated to get it wrong. And if you get it right, you are merely relieved. Like there’s no like ups, like true upside to doing well.

 

Ira Madison III Please. I mean, that is a recurring nightmare that I’ve had. I feel like it’s only funny now because Steve Harvey hosts a family feud where if you say a bad ad, sir, it’s going to be funny.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Yes. No, he’s.

 

Ira Madison III Because he’s a little bit joke with you.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. No, but once upon a time, Richard Dawson, like he would. I think he would. First of all, he would kiss your wife and then he. If you were answers were terrible, he would simply steal your wife. That would be the end of it. I’m concerned about losing my wife. I don’t know if you’ve heard. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Let me pull up my picks and my movie roster. I sort of don’t know what the hell I was doing here. Me neither.

 

Louis Virtel I have to say.

 

Ira Madison III Because the thing about the roster was we had $100 to spend. Some movies were more expensive than others, and you sort of had to pick films that you thought were going to make money and you thought, we’re going to get Oscar buzz as well, Right? Or other award season.

 

Louis Virtel So like there’s like a weighted system based on what will get you points, based on what movies you choose, like certain movies that they make a certain amount of money. I think you get more points for that if they get Oscar buzz like that. There’s a whole point system involved. So you have to weigh a little bit the commercial and the critical to have a reasonable slate of of movies in this bracket thing. I will say, looking at these list of movies, I am lightly depressed that the two kind of most important movies of the season are both sequels that Gladiator two in Dune two are like what we care about the most. Now, I’m not saying that there isn’t a contingent of that every year. You know, there’s always an avatar of the way of water or Top Gun, Maverick or something major. That’s a sequel to something else that enters into the Oscars conversation. But I just don’t know how much I’m itching for. Gladiator two, I know that’s like the guy movie of all time.

 

Ira Madison III You all and I’m so fucking all in for that movie. And I. I actually need to revisit the original Gladiator because I remember not particularly loving it. Maybe just to be a contrarian in high school. Sure. But Gladiator two. Paul? Yeah. Denzel. Denzel with the hoop earring, baby. I am. I am so fucking on board for this movie. Are you kidding me? I am ready for Gladiator two. I just got a confirmation for a screening in two weeks. I am seated. I’m already at that. They just feel.

 

Louis Virtel Like Paul Mescal is meant to be. In morsels of movies. You know, one for like, you can peer into his, like, large Irish eyes and, like, deduce like grief or inner life, whatever. Whereas in this one, does he really have the power to I mean, obviously he was cast for the movie, but I question whether he can be the center of something rowdy.

 

Ira Madison III Okay. Listen, I think that he has one of the rare pair of Irish eyes that are never smiling. So, you know, I think that. I think that he could do it.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, sir. I think, sir. Sir, I would say there’s like a slight frown to her eyes to actually, the Irish may be morose, you know.

 

Ira Madison III Who knows? Yeah. You know what? Gladiator two and Dune two did not make my.

 

Louis Virtel Me neither. I went right to a Norah for Mine, which is the new movie from Carolyn Baker, who did the Florida Project and Tangerine and the Fabulous Red Rocket, which I really enjoyed. We had Simon Rex on the show and he should have been the best actor nominee that year. Nora stars Mikey Madison, who you know best from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Scream five where spoiler, she is set on fire in both of them.

 

Ira Madison III But she welcome to the third act.

 

Louis Virtel And I’m she’s front and center in this movie. I’ve never seen her star in a movie before. And whenever something like that happens, you know, when like this is what’s coming to mind, Rosamund Pike suddenly gets gone, girl. You’re like, Well, then this must be fucking amazing. If this new person gets to be this center of a role.

 

Ira Madison III So where’s Rosemond Brown?

 

Louis Virtel I know she was in that I care a lot movie which I didn’t care a lot for. And now I am missing her.

 

Ira Madison III She’s a movie. You think so? After that? Which probably makes sense.

 

Louis Virtel She won a Golden Globe for that. I believe it was the pandemic globes. We were we were at our lowest fat, nasty and broke.

 

Ira Madison III But they were just handing those out in Lemiert Park, okay.

 

Louis Virtel If you can, you can go to the Pacific Design Center. They would just like throw a couple at you.

 

Ira Madison III I my first pick was Wicked.

 

Louis Virtel Which I’m now hearing very good things about. We’ll see. But why did you go for Wicked?

 

Ira Madison III I think that Wicked has the potential to get some Oscar and Globe nominations. Definitely. But I also think that Wicked is going to make a shit ton of money.

 

Louis Virtel I question that because, as you know, it’s a musical, which I’m just looking at the survey forms. Movie goers have filled out for the past three years or whatever, and it turns out we hate that. So I’m I’m dubious about whether or not people are going to go see this movie. And also because it’s the first of two movies, which is simply never been done with a musical before. And I wonder if, like people are worried they’re not going to get the songs they want. Like you don’t get to hear for good in part one of Wicked, right? So but honestly, I would believe anything and obviously Ariana Grande is on this press tour and deeply my least favorite word, likable at every turn. So that lie detector test she does with Cynthia Erivo. I was laughing. I was cackling at these girls.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. They should have asked her. Ariana, why are you right now?

 

Louis Virtel You can’t ask a Floridian why they’re white.

 

Ira Madison III Now I want black Ariana back. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel She is arguably at her whitest. Now, I do have to say, you’re right. These songs.

 

Ira Madison III She’s just translucent. Okay. I love her. I love her down. Okay. But like the Ghostbusters have been called.

 

Louis Virtel Where is my light skinned black woman?

 

Ira Madison III Okay. I mean, you look at all videos of her and she was she was giving Honey Daniels down. Okay. Ariana used to teach hip hop at the center.

 

Louis Virtel God. You’re right.

 

Ira Madison III She was a full blown.

 

Louis Virtel Do we have to? That movie? Do we have to? That movie?

 

Ira Madison III It’s Thanksgiving.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I mean, I’m so excited to see it. And we just had Bo in on the show. Obviously, Owen’s a big part of the movie. Yeah. Also, you get, like, the third or only the second big movie I’ve seen Michelle Yeoh in since her Oscar win. She was in a haunting in Venice with Kenneth Branagh and Tina Fey, in which she was in that movie for like seven minutes. So I’m looking forward to her next big idea. Mind you, she she’s like one of the richest people who’s ever lived or something, thanks to that husband. So I’m not worried about her. I’m to say she’s fine.

 

Ira Madison III Okay. So I also picked Amelia Perez.

 

Louis Virtel The Cannes winner for best actress. Those three actresses, including Selena Gomez. Selena Gomez, Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. So I picked this movie mostly because a lot of people are sort of declaring that it’s trans characters are kind of bad and it might be giving the new crash and it might be giving sort of like green book. And I’m like, then it’s definitely getting an Oscar nomination.

 

Louis Virtel That’s exactly the level we get in. It’s blunt force. You can’t not miss the point of the movie. This movie is about the fearsome cartel leader, Amelia, played by Carlos Sophia Gascon, who enlists Rita. Zoe Saldana. I guess that would be Saldana. She has an anyway, over the end. You never hear that. And on a underappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead end job to help fake her death so that Amelia can live authentically as her true self. Ah ha. This musical odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. I mean, based on that description, it should be the movie I want to win Best picture. That said, I was, I believe, almost physically hurt by my own hand when Green Book one.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So, you know, I’m just basing it off of General Scott.

 

Louis Virtel You know, I appreciate that. Thank you. You’re you’re keeping me safe, as far as I’m concerned.

 

Ira Madison III So as far as moneymakers, I picked Smile two. And then, the last dance.

 

Louis Virtel And what do you hope to get out of those? And also, just this life in general.

 

Ira Madison III A lot of money. Yeah. The last two Venom movies, which I actually did really enjoy, they made so much more.

 

Louis Virtel So it’s almost like people who aren’t me go to see movies too. And I have to say I don’t relate to that. What? What is that? I don’t know. I don’t get it. Among the movies I picked. Okay. This wild robot movie, people seem to be obsessed with it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I need to see it. People are weeping in the theater. People? Someone had a tweet about how they were staying outside the theater to talk about the movie with random people after it was over. So it’s. It’s, you know, a hot movie.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Also, don’t come up to me after a movie. I’m in my own head. I’m not here. I’m not here to discuss with you what happened at the movie. Whatever. I also went with the piano lesson because I feel like one of the stars of the piano lesson. This is the August Wilson adaptation. One of his ten Pittsburgh Psycho plays. This is one book that has sort of paranormal energy. I saw a production in college.

 

Ira Madison III Which was Danny D.

 

Louis Virtel Which was very thrilling. But yes. Danielle Deadwyler a shaft from the movie teller. Also, again, that performance, not only should she have gotten an Oscar, she should have gotten like medical compensation. Like it was like she was so gruesome to have to watch her go through that movie. I love the role she plays in this play. It’s a very powerful. I’m hearing really good things about this movie. Could be the definitive August Wilson adaptation yet. And I, by the way, Stand Fences. I thought Fences was an awesome movie.

 

Ira Madison III I did, too. I felt that the criticisms of Fences where people said it just took the play and just filmed it and didn’t really sort of make it cinematic. I didn’t really like those because I felt that the whole idea of the show is that you feel fenced and it’s supposed to be claustrophobic.

 

Louis Virtel I know. Yeah, exactly. Like that small space is the entire world of that play. Like, it makes sense. It’s not like I know if you’ve ever seen Vanya on 42nd Street, which was this movie from the early 90s where Julianne Moore is in it, but they basically just stage Uncle Vanya in front of you for an hour and a half. That upset me that I don’t want to be looking at like that. Like, I don’t know why they did that. It’s the people who did my dinner with Andre. But in fences. No. You’re very taken by the world and in its small scale nature.

 

Ira Madison III No, it more reminds me of the bricks in the building in the Women of Brewster. Yes.

 

Louis Virtel Braxton’s a movie that does not come up as often as you think it was based on the people who are in that movie.

 

Ira Madison III So I also picked Mufasa, The Lion King.

 

Louis Virtel And he wants the money. You’ve got to get into the Lion King train. I mean, I am blown away to realize that that live action Lion King from this time is like one of the most profitable nouns in the history of Earth.

 

Ira Madison III You also Barry Jenkins directed it, so there is a chance that Barry could get a nomination for this.

 

Louis Virtel By the way, we just get a documentary about Barry Jenkins making Mufasa. I can’t even picture it. It’s not his vibe, but I know.

 

Ira Madison III I know Also, if you still have not seen the Underground Railroad, you need to be going to work.

 

Louis Virtel I have. I basically forgot that that existed. That was something that was hailed at the time and then kind of just went away. Do you put a complete unknown on yours? Timothy Salome as Bob Dylan?

 

Ira Madison III I did not. I don’t give a fuck about Bob. You know what?

 

Louis Virtel It’s not that I don’t give a fuck about Bob Dylan. I’m just thinking if Timothy Shelby transformed into somebody else, like, actually disappears into character. Bob Dylan, that would kind of surprise me. You know, just like, that’s not what he’s done previously. Like, most of his roles are like him kind of unearthing a sensitive or sometimes grisly part of who he is as a performer. It’s not really about imitating others. He’s not like these like Cate Blanchett, people who kind of can just pick up the 100,000 mannerisms of a completely separate person and then adopt them. But I’ve been wrong before. We’ll see.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. No, I have baby girl on the list, though.

 

Louis Virtel Well, let me say something about Nicole. Other than that fucking perfect couple show, which I’m still mad at her for, and I think she was miscast in The Girl does not miss and cares about good prestige. I don’t think she did. She was like she was a movie. I hated that she was in that. I thought she was still great and is lion like she will find a way to bring. A fabulous depth to something where it does not exist.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Now, this was also before I saw Baby Girl. You saw it? Which I did enjoy. I saw it. I did enjoy it. We’ll talk more about it when it’s released, but I did not look. She, however, is fucking locked in from the beginning. From the second it starts to the second it ends. Nicole Kidman fucking grabs you by the neck and does not look.

 

Louis Virtel That the quote she’s been giving about this movie. The woman seemed possessed by the film. You know, she was she was like. She she’s like, that’s just something you have to give yourself over to entirely. And that’s how I feel about Mr. Harris. Dickinson. So, I mean.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. He is great. In the film, Antonio Banderas is actually really sort of.

 

Louis Virtel I’m not over him in Fucking Pain and glory. Talk about another movie. People don’t bring up that. He was fucking amazing in that movie.

 

Ira Madison III I my favorite performance of his Totally. I think we are a beautiful, beautiful film. Maybe one of our of but.

 

Louis Virtel I definitely threw it down for conclave the new redefines movie because I fucking ride or die for fucking Ray finds is a quiz show is one of my favorite movies about the quiz show scandals of the 50s where he plays disgraced academic cum game show contestant Charles Van Doren. Obviously he’s bone chilling in Schindler’s List. Lovely. And the end of the affair. He was so good in the menu. A movie. I hate him. And Janet McTeer. You were saved. Everybody else you’re up for elimination.

 

Ira Madison III But would you say that he’s your male Cate Blanchett?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, him or Jeremy Irons. And I will say, though, Jeremy Irons, though, will upset me with a quote in an interview. Rafe has not done that yet.

 

Ira Madison III Mmmmmm. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Conclave Cardinal Laurence tasked with organizing the election of the successor to the deceased pope, discovers the former pope had a secret that must be uncovered concerning one or more of the candidates to succeed to the papacy. I’ve got you know, the papacy seems to have secrets in it. I don’t know if you’ve been aware of this over time, but it’s one of these movies about that subject. And I just I love when he brings austerity to a movie. I’m just so drawn in by that. Not a lot of actors, I think Make Stoning is fabulous, interesting and cinematic, and I think he’s like the best at that.

 

Ira Madison III I picked Nosferatu.

 

Louis Virtel Apparently, there are screenings in L.A. recently of the original Nosferatu that is shockingly watchable for a movie that is from 1922. If you haven’t seen the original, I can guarantee you you will love it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And also, if you don’t know the law behind the original Nosferatu, it’s the film which is basically a rip off of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Stoker’s widow sued to have the film sort of removed because of copyright infringement, and so copies of it were burned and destroyed and but some of them weren’t destroyed. And that is why we still have prints of Nazareth due to this day. And actually, I think I believe if it had been destroyed, we wouldn’t have a lot of the elements of the vampire myth that exist because. Right to invent the fact that sunlight sort of kills vampires in the in the Dracula text in the original Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula’s like walking around during the day, like having tea.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. It’s a beautiful day, said Dracula. Try and kill me.

 

Ira Madison III Also, if you have not read the original Dracula, you will be shocked to find out that this is really a book about real estate. It’s selling Transylvanian.

 

Louis Virtel Which I’m sure has been pitched. You can’t tell me that. You can’t tell me they have gotten in a room with Andy plays.

 

Ira Madison III And my last was. Evil does not exist.

 

Louis Virtel And why did you pick that?

 

Ira Madison III I think that this could end up being a foreign language pick. It is a Japanese film and it is described as Takumi and his daughter live in Mitsubishi Village, close to Tokyo. One day the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a glamping site near Tacoma’s house, offering city residents a comfortable escape to nature. It’s getting really good reviews and I’ve heard that it is sort of a fantastic film, so I think it could be one of those films that we’re all talking about. Come over.

 

Louis Virtel I I’m looking forward to exactly that conversation.

 

Ira Madison III Otherwise things that are popping up in awards season. I did see Queer this weekend.

 

Louis Virtel You did? What did you think?

 

Ira Madison III I think that this is maybe one of my least favorite.

 

Louis Virtel Well, you know what? He kind of can be all over the place. You know what I mean? Like, there are some things that are sort of.

 

Ira Madison III All over the.

 

Louis Virtel Place. Some are like movies we fucking love, you know? Also, I do have to say, don’t you kind of wish challengers came out now?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, like just.

 

Louis Virtel It would be an interesting like rock to throw into the pile of prestige this year. Like, it definitely feels like no other movies and I feel like it’s already out of the conversation. I mean, I don’t know, Is there like a last minute Josh O’Connor? Paul I have no idea.

 

Ira Madison III I’m glad that we kicked off the year with challenges, to be honest, because we needed it, I feel like. But it would be great to have it now. I don’t know. Daniel Craig is amazing in it. Lesley Manville is going to shock you. She is giving an intense ass performance. Jason Schwartzman gives an amazing comic performance in this, but I wanted to see him on screen. All the time.

 

Louis Virtel And also because he was just in megalopolis where, of course he made me upset. Lesley Manville. Mrs. Harris goes to the mat. Let’s go. I am ready.

 

Ira Madison III Both of them, by the way, are unrecognizable almost in this.

 

Louis Virtel But remember when Lesley Manville was Amy Winehouse’s mother in the movie? Whatever that’s called Back to Black.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I know that check wasn’t here. Come on, Lesley. What an insane choice.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. The film’s just very surreal. And it’s very. It’s very. It reminds me a lot of people are saying it’s something. Luca doing something different. It reminds me a lot of Suspiria in a way, in that Luca is doing.

 

Louis Virtel I saw that movie with our mutual friend Joe Buck. And there are, of course, lovely performances in Suspiria that made me a Dakota Johnson believer. But otherwise, that movie made me literally itch. I wanted to get the fuck out of there.

 

Ira Madison III And then when the horror movie is all over, it’s like, Here’s 30 more minutes of a movie that you didn’t really care about, right?

 

Louis Virtel No, I also, by the way, it starts with way too much of the Chloe Grace Moretz scene, even though she’s good in that scene anyway.

 

Ira Madison III All right. So I feel like that’s our awards season preview. We have a lot more films that we’ll be talking about during this awards season. Louis has favorite season, so get ready for it.

 

Louis Virtel Greetings, bitch.

 

Ira Madison III Lewis and I, our production team, and even some of our listeners. Shout out to our friends of the Pod. The Keep It crew are all competing against each other until the Oscars next year. You can keep tabs on who’s winning by checking the leaderboard of our mini league. Keep It Crew on Vulture’s Movies of Fantasy Leagues website and you can also see how we’re stacking up against other podcasters on the Podcasters division scoreboard. And if you’re having a hard time finding me, it’s because my screen name is Salt too. When we’re back. Keep it. We’re back with our favorite segment of the episode. It is. Keep it. Louis, what’s your name?

 

Louis Virtel My Keep It is to the movie Saturday Night. The Saturday Night Live movie, directed by Jason Reitman about the first episode of Saturday Night Live. But it’s not because I actually would say I hated the movie. If when you go and see it, it’s really just about like an immersive experience. Like, here’s what it’s like walking around at SNL when everybody’s fraught and like putting the show together and there’s accidents and these cast members who sometimes don’t even know what they’re doing there. I really enjoyed Lamorne Morris playing Garrett Morris, who is talking about how he comes from this prestigious background and has no idea why he’s doing these sketches with these random people. And he has a funny moment, in fact, with the first musical guest on SNL, who is Billy Preston, played by Jon Batiste. They have a fun back and forth there. That said, my problem with this movie is I don’t think the first episode of SNL is that interesting. And also, it takes a couple years before that show, like hits it straight. Chevy Chase does take off right away. But basically the point of this movie is, did you know it was busy backstage at Saturday Night Live? And my answer is, yes, I like it, but I feel like every TV show that’s ever been created is in in some way or another this busy backstage. And then there are a couple of things that just don’t make sense. Like Lorne disappears to a bar for a second, or he recruits a writer last minute who’s writing jokes for a hacky comic. Like it feels a little convenient, some of these things. And also, it’s a movie that’s a little bit like Steve Jobs, where it’s about what happens before the show goes on. And so there’s this sort of like anticipation for something you don’t even get to see, really. But my problem here is I feel like there are a lot of interesting stories about Saturday Night Live that should be unearthed. Something I’m curious about. How does someone like Molly Shannon become a star on SNL as like a completely weird person who is from her own orbit has no choice but to be the kind of strange alien she is. How does she work through the mechanism of SNL to like, you know, which is like a, you know, a coterie of male writers, I’m sure. Like, how does she get from outside cabaret performer to star of SNL? I just feel like that requires a lot of glad handing, a lot of interesting, like social machinations in addition to being a genius, which, of course, she is. So I’m I feel like SNL like I would be more curious to watch a movie about like the failing seasons of SNL, you know, where after Gilda and all those people leave, they bring in, you know, this like completely new cast members. And then it takes until Eddie Murphy comes around for it to springboard back to life. I’d be more curious about something like that than just here’s the show beginning and Lorne saying a whole bunch of things that he could not possibly have known at the time. Like we’re hoping for a show that like, you know, breaks these boundaries, etc., etc., etc.. It’s like it’s talking too much, like the future is responding to the past as opposed to this person is living in that moment. And also in that movie, somebody refers to something as iconic and somebody refers to something as some other term from exactly 2024. Come on, let’s commit to that. It’s 1975. How does Valerie Harper talk? That’s how I want to hear people in this movie talk.

 

Ira Madison III It’s sort of believing its own myth. And it’s also not giving you something that’s interesting to watch is sort of giving you this triumph. I would love that idea, you said, but it would not be something that SNL would particularly probably want to put out there.

 

Louis Virtel So like hey geographic. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III You hear the rejects, and then it probably ends with, Eddie Murphy joins. It’s like this B-team being like, maybe we will get revered and people like us that it’s. No, actually, no one did until Eddie Murphy came here.

 

Louis Virtel But again, there’s a million stories about us. And I mean, it could be if you could go to any era, you know, like, I mean, Chris Farley coming back to the show as guest host right before he died. I’d be fascinated in a movie about that. I feel like we’re going to have a Chris.

 

Ira Madison III A biopic.

 

Louis Virtel I think we’re going to get like that. It feels crazy to even ask out loud for that.

 

Ira Madison III Will Kevin James Right.

 

Louis Virtel I mean, you.

 

Ira Madison III Because you called him our new kid finally, didn’t you? And movie line. You did that.

 

Louis Virtel Oh My God. You have too good a memory. Yes. I wrote click bait once upon a time. Those days are behind me. Most of that’s been scrubbed for the Internet, thankfully. Anyway.

 

Ira Madison III Honestly, give us a give us a

 

Louis Virtel For Phil Hartman. You know that’s another, of course, insane story.

 

Ira Madison III Give us a one act play about tonight’s episode.

 

Louis Virtel Right. I had heard once upon a time we were supposed to get a biopic of Herb with Searcha Ronin. That culminates in that tribute to Bob Dylan, where, like Kris Kristofferson leads in a year and says, Don’t let the bastards get you down. But we never got it. So. Ira, what is your keep it today?

 

Ira Madison III What my keep it this week is sort of a positive keep it but my keep it is about the new TV show starring one of our favorites, Charlie Puth.

 

Louis Virtel This is a man we have a disease called standing for. We have stand this man.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Now, he has a new show called the Charlie Puth Show, which is on the Roku Channel. And my keep it is to the fact that it’s on the Roku Channel. And I feel like it’s barely being promoted. And you didn’t even know me.

 

Louis Virtel Excuse me. I’m here to know. I’m here to know the Charlie truth about Charlie Puth. And what are you doing? Not giving it to me. It’s uncouth. It’s Charlie, uncouth.

 

Ira Madison III And how are you supposed to even know what the Roku Channel is? My boyfriend has Roku. I don’t have Roku. I watched two episodes with him. And I went home and I have Apple TV, and I’m like, Now I can’t watch Charlie herself.

 

Louis Virtel How am I going to get this show?

 

Ira Madison III But this show is actually very funny. The show, the concept of the show is it’s a it’s a reality quote. Reality show. It’s a comedy. It’s about him creating a reality show, but it’s actually a scripted comedy.

 

Louis Virtel So it’s getting a little into, like, unreal if if unreal were like a comedy. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, but it’s yeah, it’s a it’s basically a scripted comedy show about him trying to throw a trying to make a reality show about his life.

 

Louis Virtel Okay.

 

Ira Madison III And the first episode has like, Will Ferrell in it. Yes, it has law. Roach In it. Glenn. It’s like he calls some of the Real Housewives to ask them for advice on how to be on a reality show. It’s really, really funny. I was crazy.

 

Louis Virtel He is like acting then. How would you say the acting is?

 

Ira Madison III He’s acting. I honestly think he’s a fun comedic actor.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Okay. I love this. Turn for him. So, I mean.

 

Ira Madison III He’s a good straight man.

 

Louis Virtel And we’ve long said that. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel As good as they can be, you know, which is C plus. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So I think it’s really enjoyable, the six episodes.

 

Louis Virtel All right. Well, and also Roku Channel, which means I have to find a stick or something.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah I know. I think. I think also is Roku a move from Street Fighter?

 

Louis Virtel Can I look to the sky and that’s where it is. Say what? No. That would be Ryu. Yes. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Look to the sky? It’s not the Reading Rainbow theme song Louis. Anyway, that’s our show this week. So thank you to the fantastic Andrew Garfield for being here.

 

Louis Virtel I mean, my God, we had such a blast with him. We could have gone on and on.

 

Ira Madison III As you always say, British people. Why are they so funny? He was so charming. I just need everyone to know that this man was charming from the jump. For like the first five minutes before we even started the interview. Well, we’re just setting up the interview. And people rarely are that funny when we’re getting the interview set up, So sometimes they won’t even talk to us.

 

Louis Virtel They face the other way and then we say, we’re going now. And then they just turn around. Yeah. No, he was a mess.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So we will see you next week. Don’t forget to follow Crooked Media on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

 

Louis Virtel You can also subscribe to keep it on YouTube for access to full episodes and other exclusive content. And if you’re as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review.

 

Ira Madison III Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our producers are Chris Lord and Kennedy Hill. Our executive producers are Ira Madison III, Louis Virtel and Kendra James.

 

Louis Virtel Our digital team is Megan Patsel, Claudia Shang and Rachel Gaieski. This episode was recorded and mixed by Evan Sutton. Thank you to Matt DeGroot, David Tolls, Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landes for production support every week.