S7E10: Mr. Misery
Added 2023-04-25 02:58:33 +0000 UTCBret Easton Ellis talks about watching hit television shows barely tread water, processing pain without dealing blame and wielding pragmatism to fend off regret as he struggles to stay positive in a world lacking purpose.
Comments
Great episode. 💯 agree with Bret and Adam’s views.
Sodaheiress
2024-09-28 06:01:26 +0000 UTCAmen
Sodaheiress
2024-09-28 05:32:32 +0000 UTC🩵🩵🩵
Nikki Ferrari
2024-01-10 19:03:09 +0000 UTCCatching up on my podcasts. Days before this episode I was at the literal cave in Bulgaria where the mythical tale of Orpheus & Eurydice occurred. It's called Devil's Throat due to a series of underground rivers & waterfalls deep below the caves. It's incredible and the main cavern where Orpheus entered the gate of Hades is named Roaring Hall due to the sound of the water currents.
Timo
2023-05-08 03:24:31 +0000 UTCTotes
Phoenix
2023-05-03 00:37:53 +0000 UTCDammit, as a longtime listener, I'll throw my name into the ring as a creature designer. If anyone from Bret's team sees this, I've been a professional concept artist for over 10 years, specializing in monster and creature designs. Here is my portfolio... https://keithwhalenart.com/illustration .
Keith V Whalen
2023-05-02 00:28:44 +0000 UTCGenius! You have a memory like a goddamn trap door. Kudos for remembering he mentioned. That. I think you cracked this.
Keith V Whalen
2023-05-01 23:44:09 +0000 UTCI do agree Quentin can do anything. But it’s just not him Bret was referring to. He’s maybe the biggest director in the world to land + I see him writing his own material from here on out and I’m guessing this is going to someone in tune with young characters like a Sam Levinson.
Dustin
2023-04-30 23:47:53 +0000 UTCHe liked The Shards & tonally it would be a good fit given how subdued and “vibey” Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was
sasha
2023-04-30 23:42:02 +0000 UTCBret said the director would be perfect. Tarantino doesn’t make movies / tv about college kids. Don’t see how he’s ‘perfect’ for this.
Dustin
2023-04-30 05:18:28 +0000 UTCTarantino has written more than one series and has already announced one that’s a go. He’s not in need of material.
Dustin
2023-04-30 05:12:21 +0000 UTCRe The Shards. Does anyone know the director who wanted the exorbitant paycheck was? The director of Euphoria?
Dustin
2023-04-30 02:47:57 +0000 UTCNo! There IS another. (Yoda!). What about fucking Roger Avery??? He directed Rules of Attraction. Bret digs that one. I feel so dumb not thinking of him immediately.
bpvalentine
2023-04-29 22:39:27 +0000 UTCI wonder if Will Arbery would be a good guest for the show? He’s a playwright and one of the Succession writers this and last season.
Audrey Rouget
2023-04-29 22:15:56 +0000 UTCHow could you think this season of succession is threading water? Genuinely baffled by this opinion. Maybe could be said about 3, but this one is bravura.
Rory Kiberd
2023-04-29 21:57:55 +0000 UTCLove that Houellebecq quote.
Stuart Chivers
2023-04-29 14:02:05 +0000 UTCBret would wake up in a sweat from a nightmare about this
Rowan Oliver
2023-04-29 03:32:25 +0000 UTCSasha, this is probably a waste of time to even think about. But what do you think of the Violent Femmes' "I Held Her In My Arms" in relation to The Shards, like if the adaptation lands? I think it's a little out of date by a couple years. But I was listening to it and the counterpoint mood of the song and The Shards.... I'm not sure it would work. Do you know the song or band? I remember on Boardwalk Empire how excited I was when they used a Brian Jonestown Massacre song for its beginning. It'd be great if The Shards pulled a similar move. Plus, the lyrics for me sort of work for The Shards in a very surface way. This isn't Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but the comparisons will be inevitable. And I like if the song disabuses nobody of the notion, haha. Punking the audience always earns loyalty, right? I'm kidding. EDIT.. I expect the show would have faux Bret drive to the high school at night like early in the novel. The vandalized mascot. That whole sequence SCREAMS for Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." If only I were a director.
bpvalentine
2023-04-29 02:07:21 +0000 UTCGreat ep. Love the Bret/Adam back and forth dynamic. Bret, maybe consider swapping out the benzos for some kratom? Benzos are baaaad in so many ways - but I’m sure you already know this!
Matt
2023-04-28 23:46:42 +0000 UTCI guess the “conspiratorial” part is calling COVID “complete bullshit”. 🤷♂️
Brian Rooney
2023-04-28 18:47:02 +0000 UTCNice; he came back around to Gatsby...an excellent adaptation of the novel, surprisingly faithful without losing any credibility as a film. With solid performances; Redford's a Great Gatsby 😁😁✌🏼✌🏼. The visual symbolism is emboldened through its literal depiction, and, like the rest of the novel, translated marvelously. And yeah, I got through Gatsby in a day as well, last year. Read Sun Also Rises the following day. Hemingway's classic reinvented literature after Gatsby pretty much closed the door on European Classicism (of any kind --- modernism was the final curtain)
Neil G.
2023-04-28 08:16:36 +0000 UTCBret should interview Martin Sorrondeguy. It would be a cool gay conversation
Raf
2023-04-28 04:20:49 +0000 UTCThis was a great podcast.
Ben
2023-04-28 03:27:29 +0000 UTCMaria was great!
Dave
2023-04-28 03:26:25 +0000 UTCHat tip to Adam for the Spiro Agnew reference.
Dave
2023-04-28 03:02:45 +0000 UTCAbsolutely loving these no guest episodes. I personally prefer it.
Richard Raymond
2023-04-28 00:05:11 +0000 UTCA spelling error I shall correct now.
Thomas Edwards
2023-04-27 23:11:19 +0000 UTCTarantino is gearing up to shoot his next (and possibly last) film so I doubt he’d have committed himself to an HBO series, and besides, I’m sure HBO would have splurged on him if he had demanded more money.
Christopher Ward
2023-04-27 21:49:15 +0000 UTCBrett healed me today. Thanks, BEE.
Tracy Stapleton-Lutkins
2023-04-27 20:30:42 +0000 UTCIts so obvious the director in question is Tarantino. 1) He was the person rumored when the book came out. 2) Bret lauded him as the main person to shoot an ode to la for two+ years after once upon a time came out. And … The Shards isn’t a “teen series.” There is nobody alive who would shoot l.a. better than QT and direct a “hang out vibe” show better than QT. Sucks he passed on it.
Nikki Ferrari
2023-04-27 19:29:03 +0000 UTCI normally dont comment on here but i wanted to say I love every podcast and guest. Even if the guest isn't blowing me away Bretts take is always fascinating even if I disagree. That's why I listen.
Robin Hunter
2023-04-27 17:26:59 +0000 UTCwhy would you add the extra T to his name?
Nick Not Nolte
2023-04-27 17:05:07 +0000 UTCcooper hoffman as bret ellis in hbo’s THE SHARDS! let’s do this! book it lol
Nick Not Nolte
2023-04-27 17:04:18 +0000 UTCThinking Luca makes sense, would definitely prefer his aesthetic touch over Levinson. Euphoria is ok but his aesthetics are too grimy, for lack of a better word, than what I’d like to see the Shards presented as
OSOS
2023-04-27 16:45:58 +0000 UTCSamesies
Pp358
2023-04-27 15:08:24 +0000 UTCWell he did just finish a book tour and is now working on a show…give the man a break.
Ashley
2023-04-27 13:28:05 +0000 UTCAnd the Parker quote: I like a Martini, two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under the host.
Thomas Edwards
2023-04-27 12:51:11 +0000 UTCMuch prefer pods like this over the one with that dial tone last week
Graeme
2023-04-27 11:59:49 +0000 UTCI love the weekly Podcasts. I don’t give a shit what Bret talks about. I would listen to this man read the phonebook backwards.
Nikki Ferrari
2023-04-27 11:33:02 +0000 UTCMy favorite analogy
Nikki Ferrari
2023-04-27 11:32:27 +0000 UTCAgree. Even if there’s nothing in pop culture really grabbing Bret, there’s definitely scope for more prepared shows around other / older aspects of culture. For instance, I loved his deep dive on the Halloween franchise.
P Smoke
2023-04-27 10:59:54 +0000 UTCHe didn't like Breaking Bad (surprisingly) so I doubt he'd have watched BCS
Tom
2023-04-27 07:02:17 +0000 UTCI think the Adam-bret riffing episodes are the most enjoyable
Tom
2023-04-27 07:00:51 +0000 UTCIf you weren't allowed to tell people about your stupid fucking run would you still run.
Stephen
2023-04-27 06:22:20 +0000 UTCHas Bret ever discussed Better Call Saul?
Adam Dugger
2023-04-27 05:07:42 +0000 UTCLet him kill himself slowly in peace
sasha
2023-04-27 04:23:14 +0000 UTCFriedkin told you Bret “coh-pol-ah”
Darren Ankenman
2023-04-27 03:22:37 +0000 UTCThe need to do a weekly podcast was a bad idea. The episodes feel lazy and tossed off lately. Better to go back to less frequent but more prepared shows. I liked when Bret opened with a monologue, then talked about a movie or TV show, then spoke to an interesting guest for an hour or so.
Steve
2023-04-27 02:32:34 +0000 UTCRefn’s movies have no dialogue, it wasn’t him.
Michael
2023-04-27 00:01:06 +0000 UTCLuca sounds highly plausible. I first thought Tarantino, but he’s not going to do someone else’s material. Roger Avary, but he wouldn’t turn that down, or Gaspar Noe, but he’s too weird.
Michael
2023-04-26 23:59:40 +0000 UTCI’m 43, told I’m attractive and get ghosted most of the time. I think a lot of guys are like that guy that wrote in. Always on the look out for something better. Dating apps have killed romance. Change my mind.
Phoenix
2023-04-26 23:20:22 +0000 UTCI like it
Phoenix
2023-04-26 23:06:37 +0000 UTCLooking at Refn's Instagram it looks like he was in LA around early April, so the timing would line up.
James Bandy
2023-04-26 22:21:49 +0000 UTCBeat the Devil is one of my favorite comic thrillers from that era. Very entertaining flick. Also, I did once catch on fire at a party, when I backed into a votive candle. Lost the sweater but fortunately not my hide.
Morgan Hobbs
2023-04-26 22:09:24 +0000 UTCSeems like it :/ just surprises me about the money
Emily B
2023-04-26 20:38:47 +0000 UTCExactly! Sex solicited as a shorthand for affection because of the shame felt about soliciting affection + the shame then experienced about either oblique sexual rejection or hypothetical rejection is the whole core of the book
sasha
2023-04-26 20:37:09 +0000 UTCI reckon it was Luca
Chris Jones
2023-04-26 20:18:42 +0000 UTCLuca Guadagnino or Sam Levinson sound likely - can't imagine Tarantino doing a teen series.
Bazayer
2023-04-26 20:04:52 +0000 UTCMaria Semple was fantastic
Collin Myers
2023-04-26 19:56:09 +0000 UTCBased on how Bret is talking about the director, it really does not sound like QT to me. I think that HBO would be willing to splurge on him. A QT directed mini series would be a first and a big cultural event. The other thing is that after Jackie Brown, Tarantino said that he is only really interested in doing his own projects. He is coming to the end of his career and is more than financially stable. He likes The Shards, and him and Bret are buddies. If he was interested in directing the material, I doubt he would be holding out for a massive payday.
N.M. Janice.
2023-04-26 19:29:33 +0000 UTCStupid to say but I really think the late Jean Marc Vallee who directed Sharp Objects would have done such a wonderful job with The Shards adaptation... If it wasn't Luca that backed out I would absolutely love him to do it. Other dream is Fincher tbh!
Emily B
2023-04-26 18:34:42 +0000 UTCAlcohol is great, but also can be a potent depressant. Feel better, Bret. Great episode.
Jonathan Davis
2023-04-26 17:32:29 +0000 UTCam going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run.
richard owain roberts
2023-04-26 16:23:13 +0000 UTCQT would be worth anything, given the audience he would bring. But can't imagine him doing HBO.
Thomas Edwards
2023-04-26 13:13:10 +0000 UTCRespectfully suggest kava for dread/ anxiety and valerian for sleep. By no means medical advice, but surely healthier than benzos + alcohol! You need to wake up the next day. PS friends joke that an age difference of 10 years as a stand alone factor in and of itself makes the younger person seem at least 15% more attractive to the older partner - than if they met/did the wild thing at the same age.
Thomas Edwards
2023-04-26 07:59:29 +0000 UTCThis episode is fine, but there seems to be a lack of effort that is weakening the show. They are just winging it. Little to no preparation lately. There hasn't been a significant guest in quite a while.
Steve
2023-04-26 02:20:41 +0000 UTCIt’s not any of them.
Patrick
2023-04-26 01:37:37 +0000 UTCMy break ups have always been like a Jesus Mary Chain song. I love Bret just sharing what his favorite porn sites are. That's an aspect to Bret's writing I try and take to heart. He doesn't shy away from what could be really embarrassing, he LEANS INTO IT. And I respect it. That's the best shit. Like in The Shards, faux Bret trying to initiate a sexual encounter in the pool house and it's just not happening. For me, emotionally, that's almost the key to the whole book, that scene. I hope any adaptation holds on to it.
bpvalentine
2023-04-26 01:37:00 +0000 UTCGreat episode. 🐝 and Adam are awesome together.
Patrick
2023-04-26 01:36:51 +0000 UTCOh.. good point! I remember that - doesn’t he mention Luca in this episode, about seeing photos of something he’s working on? Wild guess - but along the lines of someone from LA, maybe PTA? But I doubt it
OSOS
2023-04-26 00:19:14 +0000 UTCCould it be Luca Guadagnino, because didn’t he say on a previous episode something about not reviewing Bones and All due to reasons that will become clear when an announcement is made? I’m guessing the HBO deal is what he was referring to. Either that, or Chalamet is in the the cast?
N.M. Janice.
2023-04-26 00:17:45 +0000 UTCI wonder if they would put out an offer to Todd Field. I bet he'd be a great pick. Sasha, Sam Levinson occurred to me while listening. It's probably somebody who grew up in L.A. I'm really narrowing it down there, aren't I? haha.
bpvalentine
2023-04-26 00:02:35 +0000 UTCYeah Im caught up on the fact this person wanted so much money…. Refn would be cool but hasn’t Bret been impartial to his stuff before?
OSOS
2023-04-25 23:29:04 +0000 UTCMy guess is no given it was stated the director in question wanted the money and the “prestige of HBO” and I would think Tarantino is considered higher lauded in quality than HBO—but he was my guess. Or Sam Levinson but given he already has two HBO shows there’s no way
sasha
2023-04-25 23:27:30 +0000 UTCRefn was the first person I thought of too.
Alec K. Redfearn
2023-04-25 22:30:05 +0000 UTCI'm coming up on my 54th and I feel your pain.
Alec K. Redfearn
2023-04-25 22:25:00 +0000 UTCYeah he said it was someone ppl have been guessing and they wanted too much money. And they’re the perfect fit.
OSOS
2023-04-25 22:23:38 +0000 UTCI haven't listened yet, so I'm a bit out of turn here. I think QT would be amazing, but he's working on a new movie now. Somehow Nicolas Winding Refn comes to mind. But Bret has said The Informers adaptation to film suffered due to the director not being American. So that might leave out Refn.
bpvalentine
2023-04-25 22:11:10 +0000 UTCAre we thinking it’s QT that had been in discussions to direct..? Don’t think Bret would talk about him that way, but that’s the only person I had previously seen ppl guessing/wanting to do it. Trying to think who would be perfect, but also ask such a crazy amount of $?
OSOS
2023-04-25 19:22:55 +0000 UTCInsert Total Recall joke here.
Alec K. Redfearn
2023-04-25 16:47:58 +0000 UTCVery insightful episode I’m 58 & have entered the unattractive chapter of my life much to my dismay…..
PETER GREER
2023-04-25 10:45:24 +0000 UTCFrom one martini lover to another, remember that martinis are like tits, 1 isn’t enough and 3 is too many.
Jessyca Estrada
2023-04-25 06:57:59 +0000 UTCSounds depressing AF. Kewl.
Alexander Quattlander
2023-04-25 03:01:47 +0000 UTC
