Ira and Louis discuss Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Nightbitch, gift guides, and their favorite holiday movies. Billy Eichner joins to discuss Mufasa, Cher anecdotes, and more.

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TRANSCRIPT

 

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

 

Louis Virtel I’m Louis Virtel. I’m so sorry if all you can hear in this microphone are the sleigh bells around my neck jingle jangling. Because I’m. I’m like Cyndi Lauper in the We are the World video. Just like, full of, like, bangles that are like getting on the mike. And Quincy Jones is like waving a gun in the air being like, Can you please stop sending?

 

Ira Madison III That reminds me of the fact that in high school there was this girl who was obsessed with that one song in White Christmas, you know, the the like the whole snare drum.

 

Louis Virtel So. Sure. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And she would continuously just make the sound.

 

Louis Virtel Good Lord. What’s wrong with her? She and one time. No, no, no. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III That was my Jaws theme.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Yeah. Here she comes round the bend.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Last episode. A lot happened this year. I remember none of it.

 

Louis Virtel I have to say.

 

Ira Madison III Challengers came out this.

 

Louis Virtel Year. I was just thinking. I usually have a pretty razor sharp memory for everything that happens literally by month in my ear. I’m one of those Marilu Henner people like an organizer. My like going back. I’m like, what happened in May of this year? Were there songs? I remember Espresso. And I remember the challengers and being surprised. It was that good for a movie released in that half of the year. But like, if you had to quiz me on things that happened in February and March, man, this hard living is really catching up with me.

 

Ira Madison III Well, Espresso is a weird one too, because I went to Coachella this year and I specifically remember. Sabrina Carpenter, Tinashe, Chappell Roanperformed at Coachella. So all three of their big signals this year, Espresso, Nasty and Good Luck Babe all came out the week of Coachella.

 

Louis Virtel Wow. And people just were there to experience them. And then also then all of a sudden they became all of pop music, like those two and Charli XCX were like the definition of music, and almost nobody else qualified this year. Remember Dua Lipa? We would speak about her. We would be like, she dances a little bit slowly, but we like it. This year it was just these other girls.

 

Ira Madison III I mean, first of all, Jojo Siwa’s song Karma came out that week, too. And remember her?

 

Louis Virtel My God, that video with the jump cut where it’s like she starts out and she does like, what is that called? An aerial and that except it cuts in the middle of the aerial. So I don’t know what’s happening there.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, our stalwarts of pop culture are, you know, doing what they’re doing. We’re finally free. One. Taylor Swift has ended the Era store.

 

Louis Virtel I cannot believe it went on that long. Two years and ended in Vancouver. And the amount of people I know from LA who I think raced out to see her in Arizona when it started, who also went up to see her in Vancouver. Why don’t we sit them down? What is going on?

 

Ira Madison III I went to Vegas and never again.

 

Louis Virtel You know, again. That’s the ticket. It ended up in my lap. I would have gone. I’m just. I’m surprised. The people she has with every demographic like you can be four years old and also 43. It’s a sort of a Disneyland vibe. You know what I’m saying?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. While Taylor Swift has ended her tour and Beyonce has ended talking to us.

 

Louis Virtel She’s like, that’s enough about that. Also, by the way, so shocking to hear her again in the Mufasa movie. I forgot that she is indeed a cast member of this series. We will talk to our guest, Billy Eichner today about this.

 

Ira Madison III When I heard her voice, I had forgotten that she was going to be in the movie.

 

Louis Virtel And did you know that Blue Ivy is in the movie?

 

Ira Madison III She is. Well, I mean, I saw the movie. I saw press tour.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. So they’re all part of this together. But something we have to ask Billy Eichner is does he feel like a two time Beyonce costar? He might be tied with everybody in The Lion King cast for most times, costarring with Beyonce. You know, like what Leonardo DiCaprio is to Robert De Niro. He is to Beyonce technically.

 

Ira Madison III Okay. I’m feeling that. Yeah. I like that for him.

 

Louis Virtel I’m sure he has met her one time, but. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. What else is going on? We have an announcement. I’m going to be in Los Angeles on February 2nd as at the first Congressional Church of L.A., which sounds like a place I belong.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. God. I’ve been. I’ve been asking you to go to church for years. This will help you trust.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. So this is part of my book tour, which is very exciting. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On February 3rd at the Oriental Theater in New York, I’ll be at Symphony Space on February 4th, Brooklyn. I’ll be at the Bell House on the fifth, and in February 7th, I’ll be in Boston having a Tea Party.

 

Louis Virtel Remember that it’s not the same zip code as the Zoom people in Boston, which was 021, three, four. Send it to Zoom.

 

Ira Madison III Damn sure I love remembering zip codes from old things like that. Like Scruff McGrath, Chicago, Illinois, six and 652.

 

Louis Virtel I don’t even remember that one. I remember Stick Lee Po, box 963 in New York City. New York State one on one. Okay. And that was a popsicle stick talking to me.

 

Ira Madison III I missed exactly. What do you think he’s up to?

 

Louis Virtel I know he is not recycle, for one thing. I think.

 

Ira Madison III They threw him right.

 

Louis Virtel Down. He was a pervert because also he was a plain popsicle stick. He wasn’t even one of the deluxe ones with a little joke on the end.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And then I’ll be in Washington, D.C., February 11th and Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 12th.

 

Louis Virtel Huge gamble, assuming people read in all these cities. But good for you. Got to live on the edge. You’re only alive once.

 

Ira Madison III You can find link to ticket at IRA madison.com with all the time.

 

Louis Virtel I have definitely never been to IRA medicine.com. What kinds of fun gifts can I pick up there.

 

Ira Madison III I have a lovely photo of you on it with a heart around your head.

 

Louis Virtel God. bone chilling. Good. Good to hear.

 

Ira Madison III What else are we talking about? This week?

 

Louis Virtel We’re going to talk about holiday movies for the hell of it. I’m sure this is a topic. This has come up before, but I was literally watching some old Christmas movies the other day, ones I hadn’t seen in a hundred years. And right now I’m in a space where if I if I don’t participate in Christmas soon enough, I find myself mainlining Christmas material to make sure I get it in before December 26th occurs. And I will never listen to this until next December. But I’m in the process of listening to old songs, new, newer Christmas music. There’s a new list of the best Christmas songs of the 21st century. We can talk about two. And then additionally, we both saw the movie Queer, which is Luca Guadagnino’s other movie this year. After challenges, this one stars Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey. It is based on the Williams Burroughs book and it is a very druggy. Did you know that queer people often did drugs? Who knew?

 

Ira Madison III Well, I started Black Doves by 200. And it is very representative of the queer experience. There’s there’s cruising and coke lines on the first episode.

 

Louis Virtel And an inexplicable draw to Keira Knightley. We can’t get away.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, yeah. So we’ve got all that plus Billy Eichner coming up when we’re back.

 

Louis Virtel Every week. I live for stepping into the studio to unload my pedantic but correct pop culture opinions. And now that it’s awards season, my cup of takes runneth over. Luckily for you, that’s what YouTube is for. If you want to peek inside my brain or as I like to call it, the historic Dolby Theater, check out my YouTube exclusive series, Trophy Strife, where I talk about award snubs and best ofs.

 

Ira Madison III And while you’re there, make sure to check out Crooked’s other digital series like this fucking guy. With Hysteria host putting the absolute worst people to watch slither or Cybertruck around this earth on blast. Or you can mix up your awards season with Crooked’s own liberal tears. That’s Tiny R Us, where Tommy Vietor and Brian Tyler Cohen list rank and draft everything in the world of politics.

 

Louis Virtel You can’t vote for the Emmys, but you’ll be glad to know you can vote on if Tommy or Brian should be forced to get a Trump tramp stamp. Head to Crooked.com/subscribe videos now to check out the full catalog.

 

Ira Madison III This year is coming to a close. And by this point, Louis and I have seen nearly every film with awards buzz. Of course, we’ve already talked about the big ones, like a Nora and Wicked, but there are still a few films that we need to get into. Starting with Luca Guadagnino’s Queer.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. First of all, I mean, if you’re expecting something along the lines of call me by your name, which is, you know, probably still Luca’s most famous movie, you actually kind of will get it in that it’s about these two people who are sort of off on their own in this exotic environment. And there’s a lot to look at. Call me by your name said in Italy is more lush to look at. This is more kind of seedy and urban. You’re in Mexico and they go down to South America. It still is very immersive, like call me by your name, but otherwise it’s about these two people and they don’t really explain their dynamic. They sort of just end up together and hanging out all the time. It’s this culture in Mexico where like, it’s in the 50s and they just are sort of walking from bar to bar. Daniel Craig plays this lead character who’s nothing but an alcoholic, walking around looking for a good time. And his personality is somewhat insufferable. And he ends up with this Drew Starkey guy who looks preened to the extreme verite, like a gorgeous 50s nerd may end up hanging out together. And that’s really it. Like, it’s not about a plot or what happens, really. They end up going to South America and trying some sort of Iosco like drug given to them by Lesley Manville and Girl. You would not know that was Lesley Manville.

 

Ira Madison III What she I mean, she.

 

Louis Virtel Was giving.

 

Ira Madison III Poison ivy. Yeah, okay.

 

Louis Virtel No, she was like three quarters of the way towards being the Meryl Streep character and into the woods.

 

Ira Madison III Okay. Yes.

 

Louis Virtel Then you’re sort of just left with, well, what was the point of that? Is there a narrative here? And I think truly it’s just about the immersion. And on that level, it’s an awesome movie and rad and uncompromising. And Luca continues to be this director who exists in the mainstream. We’re all excited about his projects, and yet I don’t find any of his choices to be contrived. He’s like very rare and cool. I don’t I don’t know what to say about him other than I continue to be psyched for what he does because he’s making unconventional choices and putting unconventional things on the screen. And maybe it’ll leave some people a little bit cold. But I can’t. I still feel like the musk of that movie is on me.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I mean, listen, I felt like the movie was entertaining. I was, you know, strapped in for it. And I do still have it lingering in my mind. I actually saw it months ago at this point, but so it’s still on my mind. However, it is not one of my favorite Luca films.

 

Louis Virtel I will say I feel like his other movies tend to be more emotionally charged. This one, I mean, like there are emotions in it and at the end it sort of has an emotional ending when he’s thinking about how his relationship with this true Starkey guy sort of has stayed with him. But you’re right, it’s not. Satisfying in a character way the way that like, challengers are call me by your name or like a bigger splash is Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III It’s very much in the Suspiria realm for me, which I hate.

 

Louis Virtel No Suspiria, I straight up did not like to me it was just pure torture. And also, well, you know, I don’t understand you horror people where it’s just I need to get to the theater to watch this bone twist and half. Why ask yourself? And yet you just go positive.

 

Ira Madison III In addition to Lesley Manville, there is a completely unrecognizable Jason Schwartzman

 

Louis Virtel What a shocking performance. First of all, Jason Schwartzman was on this show.

 

Ira Madison III I wish we had seen that performance by the time we got to talk to him.

 

Louis Virtel And he’s a nice, unassuming man. And then the way he acts as this character where he’s like this sort of quaint and yet weird and yet hypersexual gay dude who’s like, paunchy and like, rolling around. Actually, he does certain things with his limbs that remind me of. There’s no other way to put it. Jiminy Glick. I like the way the legs come up and fold over. It’s just about like in this hyper realistic movie is a wild choice.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, it’s a wild choice. It’s fun. It’s sort of like it never crossed over into feeling like there’s. Three people playing queer people in this film who are not queer. Yeah, well, one of them maybe, you know, that was really asking Daniel Craig about all of that. But he is having a lovely press tour where he’s talking about tapping into other sides of his, you know, psyche. So I love that for James Bond. But Jason Schwartzman feels very like lived in as this character. Yeah. And I enjoyed him a lot. I one of my stand outs in this film is True Drug.

 

Louis Virtel Druggie is a comic in L.A. who I can’t believe he hasn’t been on the show, but he has a smallish part in this as this guy who’s sitting at the bar in this movie and he feels like, well, first of all, he is an actual gay guy. So there’s already some credibility there. But he has this sort of poise and snark that just is quintessentially queer guy at a bar. Like when you see a 50s movie or a movie about the 50s and gay people there, and this is the character you want to see.

 

Ira Madison III I would say that one of my problems with this film is that I feel like it’s well, once once they leave Mexico, I sort of feel like it just unspools sort of what are we doing here? It becomes a journey, but sort of a journey without. A point, sort of. I mean, I guess there’s a point like, you know, there’s he’s searching, you know, for ayahuasca, essentially. Williams spirits is looking for ayahuasca and. Now we know that ayahuasca is basically this thing that, like, people are running around doing all the fucking time. Yeah. You know, you always know someone who’s going on an ayahuasca retreat. So it’s interesting to hear, you know, about the origins of people going to grab it from South America. But it doesn’t really, you know, to compare it to Call Me by your name, it doesn’t really have that sort of endpoint or sort of even path those of the trip, I guess, because in that one, that’s their final trip before they’re never going to see each other again, you know? Right. And there’s a point that sort of hits the drive of this film. There’s a there’s a moment at the end between Lesley Manville and Drew Starkey that I think it’s beautiful. But that’s sort of the only time it’s touched upon in the film. And I feel like for a large part of the film, Drew Starkey is sort of a cipher and not really explored and. It’s interesting because that’s the point of the film, but it’s it left me wanting in the same way that I also felt like Harris Dickinson was a cipher in Baby Girl. You know, it’s focused on Daniel Craig. And then Baby Girl is focused on Nicole Kidman’s psyche, their sort of mania, their desperation over this one person. But then you sort of really don’t know anything about that person on the other end, you know?

 

Louis Virtel Now, I kind of like that because also when Call me by your name, what what happens with Armie Hammer almost doesn’t make sense. Like he’s this crush object from outer space. He’s so hot, and then suddenly he’s in love with Leo, seemingly. And then they go on a trip together, much like in this movie. And then it’s over. Like you. Like you don’t really understand the full story with him.

 

Ira Madison III Sounds like a man.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, that’s what I mean. I kind of. That’s what I like about this movie because that’s like the the piece you come with when you go through an experience like that and you don’t understand where the other person is coming from, just well, I guess that’s that, you know, like I think that in a way that is true to life or truer to life than most movies are.

 

Ira Madison III That’s fair. What I will also say, though, is the latter half of the Val gets into a lot of trippy shit. Of course. Yeah. And I feel like you need cliff notes. Or at least you have to have read the book or looked at William as Burroughs its story to understand the film. Because at the end there’s some imagery. You know, there’s like a dream sequence where he’s shooting at a character, and that makes sense if you know that William Burroughs killed his wife during a game of William Tell at a party.

 

Louis Virtel Right? Yes. And that’s literally exactly what happens here. There’s like a beating on somebody’s head and you’re like, is this hallucinated or what? What is happening here?

 

Ira Madison III But and also, the character that Drew Starkey is based on is a discharged American Navy member. And his name was Adelbert Louis Marker. And allegedly, this man was at the party where the William Tell shooting happened.

 

Louis Virtel I hope there aren’t. William tell parties going on. I didn’t think I had to worry about this. I didn’t think it was that resonant to tell to everybody that we would just go ahead and reenact it. But yeah, I mean, like I say, the Williams Burrows character, Daniel Craig, not one thing about this person is appealing. Like throughout the movie, like, he’s like he’s not charismatic. He comes into bars and is immediately slurring and slipping. And maybe I just have I mean, I find overindulgence at bars like sick anyway. Like I’m, you know, once you’re over the age of 30, it’s just unacceptable. So when you’re seeing that, it’s gross and you’re having to kind of identify with this character and his longings throughout the movie. So I could see that also being a bit alienating for people watching. But wow, I didn’t know any of that about William Burroughs, though. So, I mean, it does add a lot of context to what you see. And also, by the way, there’s just something in general about long drug scenes in movies where I can kind of sign on. I understand cinema is a way to convey what maybe goes through somebody’s head as they’re having an experience like this, But at the same time, I’m still not experiencing it. It still just feels like what I can sit like. It’s hard not to be stereotypical when doing these scenes of like strange, surreal images.

 

Ira Madison III I will say the one film last year, I guess at this point that managed to convey drugs in a really good way. I thought that the ketamine scene in all of us, all of us strangers was beautiful.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Yes. And also, yeah, pretty reined in, too, because I don’t think of that as like a drug movie, you know?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Also the drug scene in this movie. I’m sorry. Luca was. Luca was carrying in this film because the anachronistic music that’s in this film.

 

Louis Virtel We have to talk about that.

 

Ira Madison III Well, this sort of cocaine and prince’s musicology starts.

 

Louis Virtel Excuse me. Not just any prince. A prince from 2000, 3 or 4. Very weird. And also, like they play 17 Days by Prince, which is a B-side. It’s on his three disc B-sides collection, I believe. But also when we when Drew Starkey first appears on the screen, we hear Come as You Are by Nirvana, which is obviously a nice song. The movie opens with a Sinéad O’Connor cover of Nirvana’s All Apologies. Now, I’m not saying these aren’t all songs I want to hear. And in fact, I love all of this music specifically and own it. I don’t know that pairing it with the 1950s, it just is like, I don’t get it. I don’t understand the choice. It’s jarring and I feel like there’s a specific kind of music that these characters would be listening to during that time, and maybe it feels literal to Luca to use that or expected, but I still think it would have added something.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, it felt very. It was very eclectic. Let’s just say that.

 

Louis Virtel Right. And if there’s room for everything. If it was, anything goes. And yet I was like, why is it going?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. It’s also a little long.

 

Louis Virtel The movie.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Well, again, if you have this long extended drug sequence, I think it’s going to just and it doesn’t particularly add to a narrative. It’s hard not to argue, this could be cut. But of course, that’s also the point too. Like, you kind of are living in this museum piece that’s supposed to sort of just you’re supposed to just be enveloped by it and stay in it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And I mean, the ayahuasca scene is very intense. I would say it’s a tense. And I would also say the for a queer film. I think that the sex scenes and the intimacy in it is is a step up from Call Me by your name. He doesn’t do the panning away. They’re getting more. In fact, there’s a joke where he heads away to a window and then pans about.

 

Louis Virtel And then they’re in the middle of, like, visual clear sex. Also, I want to say there was one moment in this movie that stood up to something I love about challenges, which is when they go to South America, there’s a confrontation with an animal, and the music playing during that scene is clear. Clearly the Trent Reznor Atticus Ross batch of good times and that whatever that song is, is so good. We I will be replaying that the same way I replaced Match Point or whatever that song is called from Challengers earlier this year.

 

Ira Madison III I think that’s just a movie by Woody Allen.

 

Louis Virtel I remember at one point people said, This is the greatest Woody Allen movie of all time, guys. No, it’s not. I never want to see that again.

 

Ira Madison III I actually really enjoy the movie, but I was on board with that mostly because I feel like it’s maybe one of the first Woody Allen films I ever saw.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. You were a late comer. Yeah. I saw small time trucks in the theater. That was my first one.

 

Ira Madison III There’s still a few other films that we have to see. But I do want to say that I saw hard truths this week.

 

Louis Virtel You did.

 

Ira Madison III And I am live it now after our conversation last week about the Golden Globes. I am livid that Marianne Jean-Baptiste is not the clear frontrunner.

 

Louis Virtel I want an uncompromising performance, uncompromising movie. I don’t want to spoil it other than this is a woman who has trouble dealing with society, dealing with everyday interactions, dealing with the people around her. And aside from solving it, you know, it’s the movie just presents it and doesn’t present easy solutions. And it’s such an amazing movie and she is so good at it. I just can’t compare this performance to anything else. She’s. It starts off funny and then is tragic and then is strange. And it reminds you of the way you feel about people in your life. You just can’t figure out.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And I think that the focus on her sister and her sister’s family, too.

 

Louis Virtel She is great also. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Just well-rounded story about this black family in the UK. And obviously it’s Mike Lee who is done. Secrets and Lies, one of Louis and I’s favorite films.

 

Louis Virtel Starring also Mary and Jean Baptiste, who is fabulous in that movie and Oscar nominated for that movie. We talked to Juliette Binoche this year about that particular set of nominees when she apologized to Lauren Bacall for beating her for what was expected to be Lauren Bacall as Oscar. But if you know the story of that year, you know that Lauren Bacall was stupid. To assume she’d win for that performance in The Mirror has Two Faces, a movie that is two stars at best.

 

Ira Madison III She was sniffing that coffee. Talk about high points.

 

Louis Virtel Somebody was high on that points.

 

Ira Madison III Is there anything else that sort of hitting you before the end of the year?

 

Louis Virtel Well, I mean, I don’t want to say I’m underwhelmed by all the movies this year. I guess there are still a couple after I have to see I’m Still Here, starring Fernando Torres, who is in the great movie Central Station almost 30 years ago now. But otherwise, I think Mikey Madison’s performance is staying with me. I’m looking forward to how Nora does at the Oscars. It feels like Sean Baker has been waiting to have this moment of culmination, even though, by the way, I thought Red Rocket was so good and got so little play. And that’s still, I think, my favorite movie of hers, starring Simon Rex, who went on this podcast.

 

Ira Madison III Excellent performance. They’re adding a Sean Baker collection to Criterion in January. And so if you have not seen Take out Prince of Broadway or Starlet, now’s your chance to see, though.

 

Louis Virtel Fabulous. Fabulous. Do you have any other prestige movies that are sticking out to you this season?

 

Ira Madison III You know, I also feel like it’s sort of a weird. Yea, it’s good that wicked is getting so much attention. It’s good That sort of a blockbuster film that everyone seems to really enjoy is a part of the conversation because I like it when the Oscars isn’t just obscure films to mainstream audiences, you know? But. I feel like we’re in this weird space. Where? Some of the movies just sort of hadn’t come out yet, or there’s conversations about things that maybe I just haven’t seen.

 

Louis Virtel So I will say, though, I do think Timothee Salomé is fabulous and a complete unknown, a movie that I expected to be a traditional biopic. And I guess in a way it is. It doesn’t break the rules or anything, but it just I don’t feel like he was trying too hard to prove anything about Bob Dylan. And as such, it was just an immersive way to experience like Greenwich Village at that time. His relationship with Joan Baez and I like the ending of it. It said it said something about what guides Bob Dylan. And even though I think we’ve had that mythology explained to us a few times, I thought this movie did that in a sort of dignified way.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I feel like mostly a lot of the films too, that we’re talking about are things that are weirdly from the beginning of the year or the summer. I mean, I’m thinking the substance making challenges Zendaya and Demi Demi Moore. But it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of things currently that are very sticky.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. I will say this, though, about the substance. And of course, like I think people love that movie and I think it does offer something and it would be a strange movie in the Oscars conversation if it gets there. I didn’t come away from the substance thinking Demi Moore needs an Oscar nomination. It’s sort of weird that it’s heading this way. I think I like the scene where she’s in the mirror smearing the makeup. That’s good. But otherwise, I feel like the star of the movie is the editing and the directing and the makeup.

 

Ira Madison III I truly think that this is a phenomenon of a woman that we love. Sort of doing a quiet performance. And it it feels similar to Charlize Theron during Monster, of course, but it doesn’t really go that far. For me, I just think people love. To me.

 

Louis Virtel There’s so much more acting in Monster. You know? You know, it’s just like. I mean, like, she’s a completely transformed individual. But speaking of career, I mean, I have to get back to Isabella Rossellini in conclave for a second because it’s getting serious now. People like she should win. Okay. I enjoy Isabella Rossellini in conclave. People are saying, well, it’s just like Beatrice straight in network. She was in it for five second guys. Beatrice Straight dominates the five minutes she is in network. She is the sole voice of humanity in network. Everybody else is a ghoul. She comes in and says, How can you treat somebody this way? How can your priorities be this messed up? How how can you humiliate me like this? It’s just a complete character arc in five minutes, guys. Isabella Rossellini. I operates a printer and then stands and says, I have one thing to say and then literally stands back to vote for this as the best female supporting performance of the year. I’m going to say it is almost downright sexist compared to what other people are bringing in movies. And I’m talking about one again. Danielle Deadwyler I’m saying the words again. She is amazing in the piano lesson and also adds a new Alice Taylor in Nickel Boys. Watch those two movies and be like, Yeah. Isabella Rossellini. You should beat them.

 

Ira Madison III Well, let me tell you something. It is very hard to operate a printer in 2024.

 

Louis Virtel They don’t give you the. I lost the instruction.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel So I go to Kinko’s. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III But of course, I love her in this film. And I love the film, obviously. And I’d be fine with her getting a nomination, but to win would be ludicrous. No, I’m not going that far.

 

Louis Virtel No, she doesn’t have an arc. She. She just says one thing that’s amusing. It’s. I guess it’s like a slightly sassy line delivery one.

 

Ira Madison III What’s also in the trailer?

 

Louis Virtel Yes, it is in the trailer. Correct.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So she doesn’t do much. And obviously Danielle Deadwyler and Aunjanue Ellis are people who have been looked over for two of their best performances.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right.

 

Ira Madison III For the Oscars. So let’s get them in there. Obviously I have not seen the boys yet, so I do not know how her performance in that compares to Origin. But these are two women who really deserve their due by the academy and also just the industry. Cast them in shit also.

 

Louis Virtel I mean, we’re in this weird period before Danielle is in everything. I’m not worried about her. That said, she is in Carry On the Taron Egerton thriller on Netflix.

 

Ira Madison III Is that what you’re posting about?

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Okay. So, by the way, this is a real test moment for Danielle. Not 1% of this character she plays is fabulous. She’s like, you know, the detective lady who has to come in and save the airport or whatever. She is excellent. It is. It is. It becomes a powerhouse performance thanks to her. So, again, her moment at the Oscars will come. Why delay it when it’s already this good?

 

Ira Madison III Okay. Richard Lawson loved this movie and wrote about it in Vanity Fair. And I had no idea that it was out. I didn’t realize what you were posting about was a film. I thought as I saw Netflix, I was like, maybe it’s a TV series.

 

Louis Virtel No.

 

Ira Madison III I’m excited to watch.

 

Louis Virtel It’s an airport thriller. And besides one set piece that involves like a big fight that happens on a conveyor belt with all the luggage on it, which feels like it’s sort of like monsters anchor some bullshit. The rest of it is so good.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Also this weekend, I finally watched juror number two, which exists.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, that’s Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette being told what to do by Clint Eastwood, who is in his early 3000s. What is happening in this movie?

 

Ira Madison III So it’s a film where Nicholas Hoult is expecting a baby with Zoey Deutch.

 

Louis Virtel Daughter of Leah Thompson, who is so good and everybody wants some. And then we just didn’t do much with her.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. He gets picked for jury duty. Okay. And the crime in it is that a man was at a bar, got into a fight with his girlfriend. She stormed out. He followed people from the bar, saw. And then she ended up dead in a quarry.

 

Louis Virtel Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Now very early on. Nicholas Hoult is listening to this story and remembers that he, who was a recovering alcoholic, went to the same bar that night, got a drink, did not drink it, got into his car, and because it was dark and rainy, he hit something and thought it was a deer. And now he’s starting to figure out if maybe he killed the woman and not the man who’s on trial.

 

Louis Virtel Jesus. I hope this story happens all the time. This is plucked right from the headlines.

 

Ira Madison III You also have Kiefer Sutherland in this film. Is he scared as an attorney? No, he’s he’s affable.

 

Louis Virtel Is this movie good? It seemed like it caught on first.

 

Ira Madison III I liked it. Yeah, I liked it quite a bit. I think it’s really quite good. I think that it’s amazing that Clint Eastwood churned out a movie this good when he’s on his deathbed.

 

Louis Virtel Ah, I guess not. Just like going and going and going.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. No, it was a surprise that I love this movie so much.

 

Louis Virtel All right. Unfortunately, I will have to check it out. Yes, I’ll save the other award season pick this year for my keep it. So look forward to that.

 

Ira Madison III All right. Well, when we’re back, we’ll be joined by Billy Eichner to talk about Mufasa. This guest is truly for the streets. Some might even say he’s been running the streets ever since his Funny or Die series dominated Internet culture. In the decades since, he’s catapulted himself onto the screen, big and small and beloved projects like Difficult People, Bro’s, The Lion King, and now Mufasa, which hits theaters this weekend. So please welcome back to Keep It. Billy Eichner.

 

Billy Eichner Hello.

 

Louis Virtel Well, let’s start with the crucial question that has already been posed this episode, Billy. Do you feel like a two time Beyonce co-star? Has it set in?

 

Billy Eichner No, I’m not really aware of that. But, you know, I’m on my way. Like when Cher won the Oscar for Moonstruck and she said, I don’t know if this means I am somebody, but hopefully I’m on my way. Was that it?

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Yes. That’s exactly it. Don’t worry. I have the transcript right here. Yes,.

 

Billy Eichner Thank you. I figured. Yeah, I thought you had that tattooed on your arm.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right over my crack.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Yeah.

 

Billy Eichner I think it was. Yeah. I don’t know if this means I am somebody, but means I’m on my way or something like that. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. That’s also the time when she said. And I think Mary Louise Streep, the first person I costarred with, ah, the first person I made my first movie with, which was a lie. She had made two movies before Silkwood, but she claimed that was her first one.

 

Billy Eichner Yes, that’s right. She made.

 

Ira Madison III The first two.

 

Billy Eichner First time. I’m Jimmy Kimmel.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. And then, of course, she was in Chastity in the 60s.

 

Billy Eichner That’s right. But but when she says because that’s obviously a moment that for some of us was very important when she says Meryl Louise Streep, that’s when a lot of us discovered Louise was Meryl Streep’s middle name.

 

Louis Virtel Right. Now that she was just a woman named Mary Louise from New Jersey and that this was all a contrivance, like the Lydia Tarr story had been unfurled. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Do you think maybe she was trying to ignore the Sonny era?

 

Louis Virtel Could be. But also, she was ignoring her Robert Altman era. But you would think that her being obsessed with prestige, that would have played into it anyway. I’m sorry.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. All right.

 

Billy Eichner Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Move faster.

 

Billy Eichner Move faster. I will say, though. Let’s get back to share, which is really what we’re here to talk about. I just did. I don’t know when we’re posting this, but I just taped Kelly Clarkson show. And which which I think will air on Friday, that December 20th, which is the day it comes out. But on the show, I was talking with Kelly about how much I love her duet with Cher on DJ Play A Christmas Song, which is the Cher Christmas song. Yeah. And then they rereleased it with Kelly, and I got Kelly to sing it with me on a video. My God. It’s like the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. It literally just happened. So I’m, like, still reeling from it.

 

Louis Virtel Well, also, speaking of singing, in Mufasa, you get a moment of song and people will be acquainted with the fact that you can sing for real. I assume that this was a moment of catharsis for you, letting your public know that this is a part a part of your repertoire.

 

Billy Eichner Yes. And move faster. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote a lot of great new songs, but did not write one for Timon and Pumbaa, unfortunately. Which was pretty insulting considering I’ve known Lin-Manuel for over 20 years. This was the first opportunity I would have had to sing one of his songs, but. Okay. But yeah, we still managed Seth Rogen, and I managed to squeeze in a little song that we improvised in the recording booth, and then they left it in the movie. But in the 2019 Lion King, I did get to sing for real. And you are right. I really leaned into that moment. You’ve never seen a happier gay person than when I was recording, like two modes. Two verses of Can You Feel the Love Tonight? I mean, I was like, you know, Barbra Streisand in the putting it together behind the scenes recording session, you know, like in my head I only, of course. But yeah, I did really enjoy that as a former musical theater major.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I actually was talking to Lynn about one of my favorite moments in the movie, which I’m sorry doesn’t involve you, but I asked him I asked him if the moment where, you know, Mufasa is having like a little romantic moment in the snow and his brother is watching. I said, Were you doing all I ask of you from Phantom of the Opera? And he said, I’ve been waiting for someone to notice my Phantom of the Opera moment.

 

Billy Eichner Yes. I didn’t even notice that. Yeah. You’re so right. Yeah. Lynn did a great job. There is some sweet bangers in there.

 

Louis Virtel Tell people you do have a long pass with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Detailed this for us. Why do you know this person?

 

Billy Eichner This person? He won the Tony Award for being this person. What was I going to say? Yeah. This is just one of those weird New York stories. But after I graduated college, I. I grew up in New York City, and then I went to Northwestern, studied theater there, and then went back to New York right after and not long after that. I had friends of mine who knew Lin-Manuel and Tommy tell the director, Tommy Kail, who directed Hamilton and I now has gone on to direct many things Fosse, Verdon and I think is directing the live action Mulan, which comes out next year, I believe. But at the time, no one knew who any of us were. They had just graduated college too. I think they went to Wesleyan and I needed a black box theater to perform in or some little theater when I started writing my own comedy. And Tommy Kail was running this little black box theater that was in the basement of the old the Drama bookshop, which has since moved. But there was a little black box theater in the drama bookshop, and I had mutual friends with Tommy Lynn was performing there. I think that’s where Lynn did one of his first workshops of In the Heights, the musicals he wrote before Hamilton. And I think in this workshop, Lynn played all the characters, if I’m not mistaken, anyway. This was like 2000 to 2003, and they gave me that, you know, to perform it. And I knew Len since then.

 

Ira Madison III Speaking of Cher performing of all the characters. Yes, she did.

 

Louis Virtel West Side Story or West Side Story? Not Grace. Not Grace s, right?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Yeah. What did you perform in this black box theater like? I want to think about what? The early iteration of Billy Eichner. His comedy was in New York.

 

Billy Eichner Yeah. I mean, I was just trying to find my way in the comedy world. I really had I wasn’t planning on doing comedy. I just wanted to be an actor. I went to Northwestern. I was a theater major. I did do I was in Northwestern as a theater major with like a musical theater. Minor sort of. There’s like a special program you can do there for musical theater, which I was in. So I was doing plays and musicals. I mean, I was doing like, you know, Chekhov and Angels in America and Greek drama. Me and Kristen Schaal were in the same acting class every day for for 3 or 4 years at Northwestern. And then we did like Greek Tragedy and Shakespeare together, if you can picture that. Um. Kristen Schaal and I did Agamemnon in Flight of Nestor. I am not kidding. And we did it sincerely.

 

Louis Virtel Holy shit. Well, I mean to say before I forget, I don’t think I’ve ever said this on this podcast. There is a Ted Hughes translation of that Agamemnon Clytemnestra where Clyde Nestor has the best fucking lines of all time. Like we use the phrase Conti a lot. Wait till you see this. Some of these lines, she is on fire. I hope you did that. Translation. Yeah.

 

Billy Eichner I know. We did too. It’s the first time I’ve said the words Agamemnon and Clyde amnesia in some time. But yeah, so I was just an actor. I thought I was going to go. I grew up in New York. My parents loved theater. I saw a ton of theater, and that’s really all I wanted to do. I just wanted to do off-Broadway plays, know I wanted to do like Nikki Silver plays and, you know, Richard Greenberg plays off-Broadway. And that’s and and that’s where in those days you saw actors you knew were gay and had thriving theater careers. I wasn’t thinking about how much money they make or don’t make, you know, I was just like, I could be a work I don’t see a lot of myself on TV or in the movies, but I see gay men all over the theater, in the audience and on stage, you know. And so I thought that’s where I was headed anyway. So then I graduated, couldn’t get an agent, couldn’t get arrested. I was I was in the online. It was like hundreds of actors waiting to audition for some regional theater production of like Brigadoon or something. And I kind of just looked around and this was after a couple of years of doing it. And I just I just got the feeling that this was not going to be my way in, that I wasn’t going to make it this way. I wasn’t the hottest actor. I was like I said to myself, I was like, you know, I bet a lot of these are good actors. They’re very pretty. They’re talented. I bet a lot of them can sing well, like, how do I differentiate myself? And then that’s when I started to think, maybe I’ll write for myself. Maybe I’ll lean into comedy. Because people at school had told me I was funny, you know, when I would be in a funny scene in a play, but I hadn’t really written for myself yet. Anyway, I sorry to go on and on, but I eventually started writing a live comedy show for myself, which was like a 90 minute sketch comedy show that I did with Robin Lord Taylor as my sidekick. And it was like a late night talk show. But on stage it was like my version of what Conan or Letterman would do, which is the show that I did in that little black box theater that Lin-Manuel was performing. And it was called Creation Nation. And we did it for a couple of years. And that’s where the Billy on the Street persona started to develop over time. It wasn’t there right away, but I noticed that the more angry, like irrationally angry I got about pop culture, entertainment. The audience loved it and I started to make the Billy on the Street videos for that live show. And that’s the show I did in that theater. Sorry for this very long. The Armistead Maupin like power.

 

Louis Virtel Brought on Lord Taylor. People don’t know, maybe most famously played the Penguin on Gotham, and he knew the early versions of Billy on the Street was holding the camera, right?

 

Billy Eichner That’s absolutely true. Yes. So that live show, Creation Nation, we were doing it for about a year or two. And then I was developing this character that was getting angry about Hollywood. And I said to my friend Jamie, who was directing the show, I have an idea. What if we take it outside? What if I force people to deal with me, like made people talk to me about the Oscars or, you know, Kate Winslet’s choices or whatever, I was doing that, that and then so Jamie was sometimes behind the camera. And then when Jamie couldn’t do it, Robin was behind the camera. And in the very, very, very first few videos, Robin is with me running around because he was my sidekick in the show. He never spoke to the people he was. Kind of with me. He was basically my straight man and the show, quote unquote, straight man. And then we kind of realized that, yeah, you know, it was just my thing that and from the very first time we showed a Billy on the Street video, which was September 2004, we projected it onto a screen at a little live show that we were doing of creation. And the audience loved it. And that’s over 20 years ago. So it’s really crazy, you know?

 

Ira Madison III I love that. And I’m also very excited. Speaking of Robert, to see him and Brandon Flynn in. Yeah. Wow. Ski, That’s great.

 

Billy Eichner Yeah. Robin is going to play young Tennessee Williams and Brandon Flynn is Brando, I think.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, yeah. Yes.

 

Billy Eichner And it’s about their relationship. I’m happy to be plugging it. I can’t wait. It’s I think it’s they’re in rehearsals now and it’s going to be off-Broadway in New York in January. Robin and I live together with other friends, too, at Northwestern and then live together not romantically, just as friends the first 5 or 6 years out of college. And I turned to him. He was trying to be an actor, too, and I just said, You know what? We’re not doing much. I’m going to try writing something for us. I didn’t know if I could write at all. And I just said, What’s the worst that could happen? If it’s bad, we won’t do it again. And that’s literally the show where Billy on the Street started. You know, it’s really it’s I don’t know. It’s just strange and great.

 

Louis Virtel What’s your relationship been with? You know, you had Billy on the Street as a formal TV show for a long time, and it comes back in these little episodic moments. And I know because I write for them, you do like as you do it, like all these years later, do you feel like you can jump right back into it? Is this something you’ve to psych yourself up for? Does it do you feel you’ve changed in a way? Like. Like where are you with the Billy on the Street brand and how you perform it?

 

Billy Eichner I think I mean, it goes without saying. You I could have known if you had told me when we showed that video during a live show in the basement of a Jewish center that we were performing, you know, on the Upper West Side in 2004, that I would be sitting here talking to you over 20 years later and that Billy on the Street would still be this very viable, popular thing, you know, on Tick Tock. And, you know, when we do bring it back, we did a video with Will Ferrell before the election. I mean, to say that I wouldn’t have believed you is like the biggest understatement. So I. I love the show. I’m super proud of that. It makes me really happy when someone comes up to me or or someone writes something nice about it. And I’m so, so grateful for everything that it changed my life, obviously, and I love it. You know, where I’m at, where I’m at with it now is that, you know, I bring it back when it feels right to bring it back. Like if there’s a reason, you know, I the election obviously I did not want Trump to win. And I thought, well what’s the strongest card I have to play? How can I contribute? Well, that would be a new Billy on the Street video. So Will and I went out, Will Ferrell and I went out and did want to support Kamala. Didn’t quite work in terms of her winning, but I was proud to do it. And the reaction to the video when it came out was pretty awesome. I was very you know, that was very sweet. So I’ll bring it back, you know, for special occasions. I think where I’m at right now is trying to get back to who I was at Northwestern in a way 25 years ago to get back to like that, that young person in theater class who just liked doing lots of different things. And that doesn’t mean I don’t love Billy on the street because I do it just, you know, you want to branch out, you want to keep challenging yourself. So that’s. That’s kind of where I’m at.

 

Ira Madison III I want to ask, too, even about those early days, it seems so commonplace now, especially me living in New York. I specifically avoid the places where Tiktokers have their little microphones and are asking people, What are you listening to? But you were doing that in 2004 when it was still unusual to be stopped by someone with a camera. You know, like, how did that feel in that era?

 

Billy Eichner I mean, this was a year or two before YouTube even started, right? No, I mean, the world was completely different. The world that we know is completely different. The technology that came along soon after that allowed me to break through. When the gatekeepers in Hollywood did you know, they would come to my show, they would see the Billy on the Street stuff. They would say all kinds of nice things about me. And the press in New York would write really nice things about me, but they had no idea what to do with me. This is 24, 25, you know. There weren’t many out Damon, anywhere in Hollywood in the comedy world. This was the era of Dane Cook. You know what it is like? It was so alpha male frat boy. And so no one no one knew what to do with me until. And so I needed the Internet to come along as so many of us had and had ended up needing it, but not. So it was a completely different world. The only person I was thinking of when we were doing it was Sacha Baron Cohen, because he had been doing it with Ali G. Borat blew up in 2006, I think right around the time I was doing these, you know, I thought about The Daily Show. I tried to audition for The Daily Show a few times. They would not have me the same. Yeah. So but, but yeah, but now everyone’s, everyone’s doing a version of it, so I don’t know what it would feel like to start now. There’s so much more competition in a way.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I don’t think we talked about this last time you were here, but talk about collaborating with Seth Rogen as you performed the video for this movie, because I saw some behind the scenes footage that appeared like it really was a comedy collaboration. I think of like video artists is completely cut off from one another. They would never be recording at the same time. Like, you know, plenty of people who do view on a movie only meet at the premiere, for example. But here it looks like you guys got to be together from the jump and stay together.

 

Billy Eichner Yeah, that’s something we discovered when we did the 2019 movie with Jon Favreau. It was his idea to always have us together, which when you think about it, it’s more in Pumbaa, a comedy duo. So it makes sense. I don’t even know how we would do it separately, but but normally they do these movies. But it’s exactly what you said. And the truth is, even with Mufasa, you know, I met Blue Ivy for the first time at the premiere. Even though most of my lines with Seth are directed towards our character. But when it comes wit to set the tone and Pumbaa, we’re always in the room together. Jon Favreau in 2019 encouraged us to improvise, and some of that made it into the movie. But that movie’s a remake, so there wasn’t that much leeway. You know, we had to stick to the beats. A move for us is a completely original story. And so Barry Jenkins, who directed Mufasa, really encouraged us to lean into the improv, go off script, and a shocking amount of it made it into the movie, which is kind of crazy when you think about it. It’s like Seth and I are there in a booth together, making each other laugh, like we’re on stage at UCB or something like that, and then it gets animated over the course of a year and then all of a sudden someone’s watching it in China. You know what I mean? Like the way Seth puts it, and I think this is a smart way of putting it is that they’ve managed just for the two of us to carve out something that feels very raw and spontaneous, almost like a late night talk show in the middle of a hyper produced, you know, Disney epic. So it’s cool that they’ve found a way to to do that because I think you can feel it when you watch the movie.

 

Ira Madison III I thought Barry did a really lovely job with it, and I just want to commend you on the film. And lastly, I guess ask as we wrap up, you know, you also have the distinct honor of being, you know, one of the few white people Barry Jenkins has directed through. So what was that like?

 

Billy Eichner I actually I said to Barry the other night, I was like, Barry, I really hope we get to work together again, but I know that’s probably unlikely.

 

Louis Virtel If Beale Street could talk about if Billy on the Street could talk. How about that?

 

Ira Madison III Louis, you should have saved that.

 

Billy Eichner I know.

 

Louis Virtel Damn well. Okay, You can put that in the pitch when you try to work with him again. Yeah.

 

Billy Eichner You’re so. You’re so right. I feel very, very lucky as a a rare white man who got to work with Barry. So incredible and so smart and just a very lovely, elegant, you know, wonderful guy.

 

Louis Virtel Not too many elegant people walking around anymore. That’s a pretty rare no.

 

Billy Eichner What sticks out? Honestly, that’s why it sticks out when you’re with him, you know, especially in Hollywood, you know, And everyone’s so thirsty and sweaty, including me. A lot.

 

Ira Madison III Of.

 

Billy Eichner But Barry is not. And he’s just such an elevated filmmaker.

 

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

 

Billy Eichner Thank you, guys. I adore you both. And thank you for having me.

 

Ira Madison III Keep. It will be dark for the next two weeks until January 8th. But since it’s the season of giving. Louis and I have compiled a list of the best holiday films to keep you company while we’re away. And if you’re thinking that Louis List is just metropolitan, five times, you would be correct.

 

Louis Virtel I was going to bring it up anyway. I don’t care when people tell me to stop and they say, Louis, we have hearing capacity. We know you are going to say this movie. I’ll say quickly about Metropolitan takes place mostly before Christmas and after Christmas, people just hanging out in the city. And I feel like, IRA, if you’re a gay adult during your, quote unquote winter break, do you not look forward more to the times before and after Christmas than actual Christmas?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, especially as someone who tends to stay home for Christmas or I’ll go on a vacation during it. I just really love the time when people are in the city. People aren’t working. You’re sort of hanging out with your friends, staying out later. It will involve just sort of. I don’t know, playing games with them or wandering around the city looking at, you know, the lights and everything. Especially New York. I love going to the Bryant Park Grille, for instance, and looking at the stores, even though. They have cut the Saks window. Shit.

 

Louis Virtel What?

 

Ira Madison III It’s canceled.

 

Louis Virtel So what’s just there now? Nothing.

 

Ira Madison III Just a store.

 

Louis Virtel Unacceptable.

 

Ira Madison III The mannequins are on the move.

 

Louis Virtel The whole point of a store is that in December you turn into a gay little show for everybody.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Well, speaking of gay little shows and stores, I know which film you would mention right after Metropolitan. And, of course. Yes.

 

Louis Virtel I will say, I mean, it’s an easy rewatch. It’s a pretty short movie, actually. But it really I mean, again, I always say about Christmas, something is slightly mega about Christmas, like the yearning for a past that represents something to somebody where everything was just easier and quaint. I mean, it feels a little phony, right? But I do think Carol taps into just the idea that queer people existed before 1978, which if you ask the average person, I think they believe we were invented then. So to even get a peek at what that might have looked like once upon a time, and also to have two exquisite performances, actually, quite a few. You’ve got Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. But also, I love Sarah Paulson in that movie. Kyle Chandler is eerie and believable. Carrie Brownstein is in it for two seconds. I had the distinct feeling that was a longer part. That what then what ended up on the screen, but just a beautiful looking movie altogether. Well, I’m curious, what are your holiday go tiers?

 

Ira Madison III Okay. Well, I think you can guess what my number one. Christmas movie is. It involves a diabolical performance from a blond and. It’s comic book related.

 

Louis Virtel A diabolical performance from a blond. And it’s comic book related. I. My God. Everybody else here in the studio has it and not me. I’m humiliated. What is.

 

Ira Madison III It? Batman returns.

 

Louis Virtel My God. I guess that is a Christmas movie. Yes. Every time I see a clip from that, it hits so hard. It’s like, how could anybody else have been in contention for this role?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I think that is my number one film in terms of if we ever had a full Oscar ceremony where all the nominees were films from the past that did not get nominated. Yeah. Michelle Pfeiffer is nominated for this film. Absolutely.

 

Louis Virtel Certainly. Also, it’s just the way she becomes an actual cat is.

 

Ira Madison III So this is the substance abuse?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III By the way, Demi wasn’t doing any of the shit that Michelle Pfeiffer was doing in Batman Returns.

 

Louis Virtel No. That is a very, I think Rewatchable movie, too. There’s isn’t actually, now that I think about it. There aren’t too many delicious villains in history. I mean, like, I know, like, we think of, like, Disney films as being full of these, like, salacious gay coated villains or whatever, But really, that’s only a couple movies. Michelle Pfeiffer in this movie is a stand out villain who ever lived.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. And speaking of other villains that are standout and funny, I’m going to think of the Wet Bandits in Home Alone.

 

Louis Virtel And there’s a meme circulating right now that if you are born after 1990, you are 1991. You’re older than Marv was in Home Alone, which.

 

Ira Madison III Okay.

 

Louis Virtel I’m so sorry. Like, I know this is like, really played out meme behavior. Like you’re so old. If it gets me every time I suddenly am, I’m holding. I’m wearing a cloak and holding a sigh of waiting for my own death. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III This always troubles me when I see films that were popular when we were younger because of the way that people had kids at that point, or at least it was a hold over from the nuclear family thing when they assumed people were still having kids at that age. Parents in movies like this are younger than us.

 

Louis Virtel All the time. Catherine O’Hara and that movie, It must be 35, I think, because I think she’s born in 54 and then the movie is in 90. It’s like you would never know anybody styled like that. Now who is like Grande going to whatever high tops? Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III She’s great in that film, obviously. And I love Home Alone. I rewatch it every holiday season, I have to say. Home alone. Two lost in New York really does not hit that much anymore.

 

Louis Virtel Well, the absurdity of the house, they are in for all of the shenanigans. Just. But what’s going on here? There’s like, you accidentally stepped on a seesaw. That’s a catapult or something. It just it’s all sad. It may as well be the X-Games in there.

 

Ira Madison III I will say that the stuff at the hotel, though, is fantastic.

 

Louis Virtel Well, Tim Curry is homosexuality for everybody. You know what I mean? If we had to, like label like an emperor of just homosexuality and again, I know nothing about Tim Curry’s personal life, but what he does in that movie is certainly queer coded. So I root for him and not just because he was in Clue and Rocky Horror and Nigel Thornberry in the Wild Thornberrys.

 

Ira Madison III Shout out to Eliza.

 

Louis Virtel That was, you know, that show really hit for me because I was obsessed with Tomb Raider at the time. But they were like, What about kind of Tomb Raider for kids? I didn’t care about the talking animals, though. They should have left that at the first pitch.

 

Ira Madison III Animals should be seen and not heard.

 

Louis Virtel No, specifically, they almost start talking in queer, by the way. And I was like, Stay away, viper.

 

Ira Madison III I love also, this is another thriller from the holidays. I’m really into holiday thrillers.

 

Louis Virtel Sure.

 

Ira Madison III Gremlins.

 

Louis Virtel I was just learning that the father and grandsons is 47 years old and he looks 79.

 

Ira Madison III There’s a lot of bad styling going on in that.

 

Louis Virtel Well, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak of Gremlins before, or I blocked it out. Why?

 

Ira Madison III I love gremlins. Mostly I love Gremlins. Two The new batch, which is one of my favorite sequels. I think that Joe Dante is fucking hilarious. And the thing about Gremlins is it’s a very cute movie in its essence. I think that when people rewatch Gremlins, they’re always shocked by how terrifying the film is because they only remember Gizmo.

 

Louis Virtel Right, right, right. Yeah, you’re right. He’s not the main gremlin. Really?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, he’s a Mogwai, which is at its sort of little shop of horror ask, You know, he goes down to the Chinese part of town, Chinatown, as it were. And he buys a Mogwai, who’s just this furry, cute little creature. And the rules are. Don’t feed them after midnight. Do not get them wet. And of course, both of those things happen. And these green sort of demonic gremlins start popping out of his fur. And in Gremlins two, there’s a whole slew of them that attack New York City. But that film is very meta and knows that it’s a sequel. And some people didn’t like it at the time, but it stood the test of time as a cult classic.

 

Louis Virtel Well, speaking of older films, I’m going much older now. A movie that I think more people should watch is Christmas in Connecticut, which stars Barbara Stanwyck, somebody that I think people still could stand to know a little bit more about. Like, she’s very enjoyable. I think the movie that people probably have are likely to have seen with her is Double Indemnity, which is a great noir and a very L.A. movie, which I love. But there’s something about her like I think something I love about like classic Christmas movies. And of course, I’m talking about Miracle on 34th Street. It’s A Wonderful Life. The personalities in them, like there’s just a way of like old movie stars where they have both a grace about them and a casual sophistication and a way with a one liner that feels very comforting while also at the same time feeling very adult. Like it’s not like pampering in the way that like, I don’t know, I feel like we we treat celebrities, treat their fans like little kids. Now, this to me feels like adult fare. And this is very light and fun. So I really recommend Christmas in Connecticut.

 

Ira Madison III What’s weird is that I also have a Barbara Stanwyck film on my list.

 

Louis Virtel What?

 

Ira Madison III Remember the night.

 

Louis Virtel What a crazy choice. I’m so shocked. What brought you to this movie?

 

Ira Madison III Well, it’s a holiday film that is weirdly about her shoplifting and getting arrested. And then the trial is postponed till after Christmas. And it involves a love story. It’s very beautiful. It’s very sweet. And I like this film because I remember that when she was cast in Double Indemnity, she was playing against type, right? And when you watch a film like Remember The Night or Christmas in Connecticut, you see who Barbara Stanwyck was to film audiences?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, she had a good 1940s I mean like and and 30s actually Stella Dallas is where it all really began for her but she’s in a number of fabulous films.

 

Ira Madison III And that’s a Preston Sturges script.

 

Louis Virtel Preston Sturges. Now that is a gay ish name that should be reinvestigated. People haven’t seen the Palm Beach story recently. That’s a lot of fun.

 

Ira Madison III Also, an old Christmas film that’s on my list is the Shop Around the Corner?

 

Louis Virtel My God. Of course. With a Billy Margaret Sullivan and Mr. Jimmy Stewart.

 

Ira Madison III And that is, of course, a film that is based on a play parfum, which became the story used in the shop around the corner. And then also, you’ve got mail.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, they’re very similar, in fact. And I think we’re due for another old timey rom com like that. That is like a holiday. I’m like, what do we have like that? I need a movie that feels like it could belong in both the 1940s and the 2020s.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, The third film actually, based on that play is in The Good Old Summertime by starring Judy Garland.

 

Louis Virtel Of course. Of course. Of course.

 

Ira Madison III And maybe my last film that I want to throw out there is the last holiday.

 

Louis Virtel I’ve never seen it.

 

Ira Madison III Wait. You have never seen this Queen Latifah classic?

 

Louis Virtel No. To me, she is just an equalizer. If something needs to be equalized, please call Queen Latifah.

 

Ira Madison III She’s always bringing down houses.

 

Louis Virtel That too. Yes. And also, when you’re good to Mama, I hear things can happen for you.

 

Ira Madison III The thing about the last holiday is everyone wants to have their own last holiday moment without maybe the plot of the film. Because the plot of the film is Queen Latifah finds out that she’s dying. And so she quit her job at the mall and she takes all the money that she has and she goes to like Zurich or the Alps or wherever she is. She’s in this quaint Christmas town in Europe, and she’s basically just spending all her money left and right.

 

Louis Virtel So, yeah.

 

Ira Madison III The last holiday.

 

Louis Virtel You’re waiting to have the permission to do this. Yes. I assume she finds out the news changes or something.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Well, you find out early on that there was a mistake. And so the doctor and also this man who, you know, is her romantic interest in the film, are all racing to get there to let her know that she’s not dying.

 

Louis Virtel Got it. Meanwhile, she’s like, I need you to stay here in the Alps. This is my whole thing. Now.

 

Ira Madison III There’s a beautiful moment where she is on a plane, which, by the way, does not happen in real life anymore. But she’s on the plane and she’s seated in sort of a bad seat. She’s seated in. Coach Lisa Barlow would cry over this, but she’s in coach as she asks what’s going on in the front. And they’re like, That’s first class, man, you know? And she’s like, Well, how much does it cost? And then all of a sudden you cut to her in first class and she just sort of operates that way throughout the entire film. But you just.

 

Louis Virtel Pay the steward and guess what happened? Ma’am, allow me. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Meanwhile, I would have to be logging on to my Delta app. Let me see if I can buy this seat.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. I’m going to watch that. I will watch that.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel And I will say, this is normally not my thing, but I’ve always been thrilled. My friend at least made me watch a one year Black Christmas with the original with Margot Kidder for amazing fun. Also, I mean, like among general movies, very underrated. It’s super watchable and super Christmasy in a small time anyway. And there’s a scene with her at a police station drinking beer That is a full scream to her.

 

Ira Madison III That is a great film and I love the 2006 remake of Black Christmas.

 

Louis Virtel yeah. That has like Mary Elizabeth Winstead in it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Lacey Sabara. Michelle Trachtenberg. Katie Cassidy.

 

Louis Virtel Katie Cassidy from the Melrose Place Reboot.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, The CW is best to.

 

Louis Virtel Where’s Maggie Q?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So I love that version and don’t that much love the third one.

 

Louis Virtel The one that was like a few years ago, right before the pandemic hit. Yes, I remember.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. So those are our holiday films.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Tell us what yours are. If you watched Die Hard, that’s great. Not that we really need to hear that, but go ahead. Say, why? You watch it every year. I It’s not that I disrespect Alan Rickman.

 

Ira Madison III All right. When we’re back. Keep it there. And we’re back with our favorite segment of the episode. It is. Keep it, Louis. What’s going on?

 

Louis Virtel My keep it this week is to a movie that I think has great intentions and I love the subject matter. It just fell apart in the actual execution. My keep it is to night bitch with Amy Adams who always seems to be working with the right people on the wrong project. Like her collaborators over the years have all been great and but since arrival, I can’t think of a time I’ve been like, Yes and Amy Adams Triumph. I feel like a really overdue for one. She is good in this movie and it’s about a woman who’s a she’s married and she has a kid, a little kid, and she basically raises the kid while the dad’s out working and it’s exhausting and enervating. And she finds herself having trouble articulating this and then feeling very isolated. I think this is a really interesting topic and something that can be explored theatrically in fabulous ways. In fact, this movie kept reminding me of a movie I thought was so much better, which was Tallie, which is here’s a woman raising a kid. And then we talked about this with Mackenzie Davis, who is here actually who plays the titular character. It’s about a woman who, through some forms of magical thinking, contrives a way to deal with her problems. And something like that occurs here. This is about a woman who’s raising this kid, and then eventually she thinks, quote unquote, she’s turning into a dog walker. And then we see sort of these comic strange sequences where she’s out running like a dog at night or she has like tufts of hair on her and stuff. To me, that metaphor and this, of course, comes from a book is just layered onto the film in a really weird, uncomfortable way. Like it doesn’t produce much in the way of comedy, and it also doesn’t produce much in the way of insight. I almost just wish the movie were this woman being like, I can’t. I’m having trouble dealing with this and the conversations she gets into because of it, but instead it wants to have this strange, almost comic book edge to it. And I think the main problem is the way Amy Adams plays this performance, even though she is immediately likable and I enjoy her performance to a certain extent. I feel like the character needed to have be edgier or stranger in order for the dog component to feel relevant. I don’t know. As such, it felt like the way Amy Adams was playing the role and what this dog thing was bringing out of the character didn’t go together. And so the movie feels tonally inconsistent and you don’t really know if you’re ever supposed to be laughing or taking it seriously. So it’s just a strange, interesting experiment. It’s unfortunately my least favorite of Marielle Heller’s movies, who she did Diary of a Teenage Girl, which was so good. She did A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the Mister Rogers movie, which features a performance as Mister Rogers by Tom Hanks that I hate, but it’s a good movie otherwise. And she also did Can You Ever Forgive Me with Melissa McCarthy and Richard Grant, which is fabulous and definitely I think counts as a Christmas movie. It’s some it’s a very wintry vibe in that film.

 

Ira Madison III Is that just sort of the vibe now, a bad Tom Hanks movie equals a movie that you love? Because Elvis.

 

Louis Virtel I did not love Elvis, but.

 

Ira Madison III I did.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, he.

 

Ira Madison III But but he is whack a doodle in.

 

Louis Virtel That. Yeah. I will say this about Tom Hanks. I’d be bored with acting by this point. So watch me make a few crazy choices. And, you know, and I also read a good review of that movie here recently, which turns out might be good with him and Robin Wright just in a living room for 40 years or whatever.

 

Ira Madison III I have a Tom Hanks story. I went to see this play, babe.

 

Louis Virtel With which Tommy.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Well, play is. You know, generous.

 

Louis Virtel It was work for you.

 

Ira Madison III And your baby. She was working okay. And I don’t know what she was working on, but Mr. Torbay was not giving me much in this play and I really did not enjoy it. But when I went to sit down in this play, the usher came up to me and she tapped me and she said that I just have to let you know the last person who sat in that seat was Tom Hanks.

 

Louis Virtel And then what were you.

 

Ira Madison III Supposed to do? Yeah, I was. I was with my friend Chris Murphy. And while Barbara’s seeing it, and afterwards, they were like, well, what are we supposed to do with that?

 

Louis Virtel You say, Is that super valuable to me? So he’s not here now. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III But he was sitting here.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Right. He’s capable of sitting, which we now know.

 

Ira Madison III Great baby of Carly Rae Jepsen was with him. It would be more interesting to me as a fagot.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Like they still hang out over that video. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I really like you. Love that song.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. What if you said to that woman, I am the captain now as you sat in that chair?

 

Ira Madison III That would have been good.

 

Louis Virtel And he was so good. And Captain Phillips, that’s one of the big snubs of the past 15 years.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. We remembered him for Sully, though.

 

Louis Virtel No, he wasn’t nominated for that either.

 

Ira Madison III Well, was Denzel nominated for the plane?

 

Louis Virtel Yes, That’s what you’re saying? Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel And then he was sweating it for always.

 

Ira Madison III I always think that he played Sully. Right. They both get confused in my brain.

 

Louis Virtel It’s the Kazaam shazam thing that our brains do. IRA, what is your. Keep it this way.

 

Ira Madison III So my keep it goes to a sort of pest that’s been cluttering my inbox. I have had it with gift guides.

 

Louis Virtel You’re right. I don’t think.

 

Ira Madison III They need to stop.

 

Louis Virtel It’s just not that hard. I don’t. I don’t need 100,000 versions of insight on this topic.

 

Ira Madison III First of all, read the fucking room. We’re not buying shit right now. That’s okay. I mean, I’m buying things because I’m bad with money. But we are not buying things right now. And I certainly don’t need a gift guide from every. Outlet that I follow, every newsletter that I follow. I get it. You’ve got to make your coin. But it’s just gift guides of one. Shit, I don’t need shit that when I click on it’s an affiliate link for you. So you’re going to be making more money off of me when I already pay to read your newsletter. It’s just. I don’t know. It feels tacky.

 

Louis Virtel You know what’s interesting to me about a gift guide, namely from the kinds of spam email you’re talking about, do people really ever buy clothes for other people? Like, I’m not I can see, like maybe buying like a hat or something, but like, actual clothes. Like. Like the fit is so important to me. Like, to, like, I don’t know. It. I just wouldn’t do it necessarily.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I feel like you get somewhat a gift certificate to a place, but famously, I hate it when my parents would buy clothes for me because I’d always have to go back to the store.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Right now, my body is constantly changing. You have no idea what’s going on in this temple of mine.

 

Ira Madison III And I also just think that what you get pitched for gift guides, too. It’s always, what the fuck am I going to do with this product?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I mean, you’re right. Every holiday season I can count on being inundated with gift guide ideas and simply, I’m not buying hundreds of gifts. You know, it might be around 8 or 9 now.

 

Ira Madison III You know, a gift I did buy for myself. It didn’t come from a gift guide. I saw it on Louis Placements Instagram, and so I bought one for myself. I bought myself an Advent calendar.

 

Louis Virtel I am Catholic.

 

Ira Madison III Yes, but it is the bone, Maman Advent calendar. You know those little preserves. Like that. Cover the jaw.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Like the strawberry preserves or the blueberry? The jams. It’s an advent calendar with little tiny ones in it.

 

Louis Virtel What do you. Paddington. Who needs that much fucking jam?

 

Ira Madison III I love jam culture.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, I’m on the fence about it.

 

Ira Madison III Some people are jamming to fish.

 

Louis Virtel And I like jams. When I went to the grocery store, people would come in sometimes asking for Pectin to make their fucking jam. I was like, Why don’t you go to a quaint eatery? Not in Lamont, Illinois, to find this shit.

 

Ira Madison III Okay, but first of all, just the name Lamont, Illinois. Sounds like somewhere people make jam.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. We do have a cookie jar museum or we did once upon a time. So you’re not told.

 

Ira Madison III How to it? Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel You know what? I don’t think that’s a sustainable business. Like, you wouldn’t go to the cookie jar Museum three times a week, you know?

 

Ira Madison III Wow. I love a cookie jar. I used to have a cookie jar, but then it broke when I was moving one.

 

Louis Virtel It also seems kind of crazy to put cookies in a jar. Come to think of it, like, is that the best way to preserve them? I don’t know.

 

Ira Madison III It is very cute though. I had a Betty Boop one.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, my mom. Well, you know, my mom’s disease once upon a time and still kind of is mouse materials. So there’s like decorative mice all over my home. And the cookie jar we had was.

 

Ira Madison III As your mom, Mrs. Frisbee.

 

Louis Virtel I’m telling you, something’s up and tell you was a giant mouse with wearing an apron. Also, it’s always mice in frilly clothes. Like, I don’t know what that is.

 

Ira Madison III Is that Cinderella.

 

Louis Virtel Culture? It’s a little bit that I do think mice with like the giant eyes in a ceramic is kind of cute that said when you have hundreds of them in our house as we do, it becomes an infestation.

 

Ira Madison III You know what those eyes make me think of? Big eyes. Going back to Amy Adams. Maybe Amy wins by playing your mother, and I hope.

 

Louis Virtel God.

 

Ira Madison III And she’s obsessed with mice.

 

Louis Virtel That’s when she finally leaves the industry. She’s like, I’ve had enough. I’ll stick with the nominations.

 

Ira Madison III I don’t care. All right. Well, that’s our episode this week. Shout out to Billy Eichner for being here, as always.

 

Louis Virtel And that’s our episodes for this year. So we’ll see you in the new year and my least favorite month of January. Do I hate January? So we’ll be in a terrible mood.

 

Ira Madison III Okay. You hate fall.

 

Louis Virtel Oh fall. End of January. Yeah. Christmas and Thanksgiving. I do like. But I’m sorry. You’re going to. You’re in for some fucking doldrums when you get back.

 

Ira Madison III We’ll see you on January 8th with an all new keep it. 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, the third, 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 Toles, Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landes for production support every week.