S6E9: Ugly Magic
Added 2022-07-25 19:23:43 +0000 UTCBret Easton Ellis endorses some killer movies he saw last week while also doing his best to help everyone avoid a few films he endured that he just can't bring himself to recommend.
Comments
My (top end age range) Millennial and I also got unexpectedly TOTALLY (as in, yelling at the screen) hooked in to YELLOWSTONE. Until season three. It’s as if someone got hold of Taylor and told him he HAD to add a bunch of stale Evil White Man Woke tropes, make all Native American characters one-dimensional noble victims, etc. I felt particularly bad for Gil Birmingham, who, especially in season one, had a great, morally complex, recognizably HUMAN character to play, and by season three had become a cardboard cutout of Noble Virtue and Timeless Victimhood, spouting endless stale speeches about everything being stolen from ‘his people’ etc. I found it cringingly demeaning (as Hollywood’s millimeter deep depiction of Victimized Others always is.) Also the fantastical msnbc/Colbert viewer style visions of hoards of racist militias preying on the Native women like rabid hyenas, and the hideously obnoxious whiny entitled character of Luke Grimes’ character’s wife going undercover to ensnare one of the said Bad White Men who of course are so plentiful one just happens along the road almost immediately…oy vey. Kelly Reilly’s one-liners and damaged but tough sloppy drunk but sexy mess thing, hinted at in TRUE DETECTIVE S 2 (a great, underrated series of that show IMO) is taken to the edge and over of OTT absurdity by season 3. Hoping things get back on track for seasons four and the upcoming five, as finding ANY TV or film I can invest in to that level is so rare anymore. And I love the Montana setting, sweeping family melodrama, and Costner’s lead performance…a beautiful, subtle piece of gravelly weary Western toughness.
MikeE
2022-08-09 02:34:21 +0000 UTCWondering if he’s ever seen Cowboy Bebop
Jack
2022-08-02 22:03:34 +0000 UTCI actually thought he was talking about that in his intro, referring to a hugely expensive Netflix production that is not very good at all. Turns out he meant that sci-fi movie with Hemsworth.
Dan Zilic
2022-08-02 11:30:46 +0000 UTCDidn't know about the GM doc, thanks!
Alex Bielovich
2022-08-02 06:57:09 +0000 UTCI am so curious what kind of anime Bret watches haha.
razzttazz
2022-08-02 03:23:17 +0000 UTCINCOMING: Bret comments on the new George Michael Doc or the new biography. GM was a major pop figure in the 90’s & I’m sure Bret has something to say.
honker_2021
2022-08-01 16:17:39 +0000 UTCIn December last year I watched 14 peaks, the epic mountain doco. Within a month I had decided I too wanted to climb mountains and have since started small and spent big at the hiking shops. No other doco or piece of content has changed my life this much, and honestly this pursuit helps me not care about the ocean of content that’s being made and that I used to fret about keeping up with. I’ll get it all 2nd hand through Bret. And I highly recommend 14 peaks, even for people who don’t care much for outdoor sports.
Tom Davidson
2022-08-01 06:17:51 +0000 UTCMeanwhile, back here in Coach ... Bret - Do we need mostly writers on this show? No - not all writers are interesting. Most of them lack the notoriety and personality to be worth more than 30 minutes. Writers of bios - good bios about remarkable careers and lifestyles are better than dudes who flashed in the 90s and are fading fast. Film directors should be a big focus. The interview with William Friedkin was one of the best. He also kept you on your toes, Bret. Not many guests do that. Do you have the book 'The American Film Directors' by Maureen Lambray? (1976) FABULOUS pictures of Friedkin, Bob Fosse, John Huston ... I love the listed filmographies - complete for some directors who had retired. 82 directors - all men. Take that, snowflakes. Yeah... also, how about some more musicians? For a music man it is surprising that you haven't had more on. LA is bursting with old legends. AND - last - I cannot post a question to you, obviously, but I still would LOVE to hear an opinion/interview with Kenneth Anger. That is a name that I would have thought resonated deeply with you - for so many reasons. Hey - Platinum listeners - feel free to use this question ;) Some of you know who Kenneth Anger is, right?
JEREMY ROBERTS
2022-07-31 22:18:57 +0000 UTCIt’s unexpected to hear Ellis tear a film like “Magic” apart, even taking the - IMO terrific- 35mm photography and it’s DP to task (Kemper did a great job on “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” a few years later, though Ellis seems to disagree). Though most surprising is his criticism of the film having little or no atmosphere, when it actually has a lush, extremely atmospheric score by one of his favorite composers, Jerry Goldsmith. Also, Goldman’s novel wasn’t “already a script,” it was a full-blown novel and the film is actually only the final 1/3 or so of the novel. There’s *a lot* of exquisite material that didn’t make the film, such as Corky’s surreal, frightening experience with the Charles Atlas ads. Well, different strokes, right?
Dylan
2022-07-30 05:48:00 +0000 UTCCan’t recommend ‘Leave Her to Heaven’ highly enough. The blu-ray from Criterion is excellent for all my disc collectors out there.
Thomas Matich
2022-07-29 14:48:16 +0000 UTCNo kidding. The first episode seemed vapid. But maybe on purpose?
Brian Rooney
2022-07-28 23:42:04 +0000 UTCBEE sounded pretty straight on this one, lusting after MM and any other actress in “luscious technicolor”
Happyhead
2022-07-28 22:59:03 +0000 UTCAnother great listen. I thought I already had Criterion on streaming through one of the other billion streamers I'm paying for, but it seems not. I have to have Criterion though. That's all there is to it. The end of the hour was a bit depressing. Like being told by the doctor you have six weeks to live, but that at least it just so happens that McDonald's has the McRib back on the menu. Or Szechuan Sauce, I guess, maybe to celebrate Destin Daniel Cretton being named as director of the next Avengers movie. I'm such a hack. Next I'll script a rimshot after my jokes. "Oh, is that what a rimshot is? No wonder my wife was so confused after sex last night!" *rimshot*
bpvalentine
2022-07-28 22:44:39 +0000 UTCCrossing my fingers that S6E10 (or 11) will be all about The Last Movie Stars. What a great series.
Gatsby
2022-07-28 17:07:11 +0000 UTC‘Now, with the magic of Netflix, we could watch this awful movie from the comfort of our own bed’ - you’re doing God’s work, Brett
P Smoke
2022-07-28 11:14:57 +0000 UTCI wonder if Bret watch "the gray man" . What a crap movie! I loved Top Gun Maverick. A good action movie. But Gray Man was a giant turd
Jorge Espinha
2022-07-28 08:42:00 +0000 UTCGah! Jerry Stahl, too. That sounds amazing, man. Like I said, I have a few things in common with Ryan's story. By no means anything as colorful as what he lived thru. Yet all things begin to look equal during those long nights of restless legs, insomnia, and dehydration from yacking your guts out and squirting the last morsel of your soul down the ol' dirt chute. Ryan made all of that accessible for casual readers. I will bear out in time, assuming his work has the chance to find a wider audience -- if people bother to read at all anymore. I think Ryan had at least one more book in some advanced stage of completion. I suspect someone could bring the manuscript to completion. His mentor Jim Uhls, maybe? There is Ryan's documentary, as well. Personally I'd love to see Ryan's Patreon video blogs cut together in a way fans could follow his installments of Shaky Jake and whatever else.
bpvalentine
2022-07-28 03:40:22 +0000 UTCThis is starting to have what do you think of the eagles vibe. I expect it for every episode and it becomes funnier every time for absolutely no good reason.
Pp358
2022-07-28 00:23:35 +0000 UTCSeconded. Some solid sad white boy fodder.
Alex Johnson
2022-07-27 22:33:20 +0000 UTCDid Bret ever talk about Ti West's most recent movie X? Nothing amazing by any means but seems worth a review.
Charlie C
2022-07-27 20:54:55 +0000 UTCSo glad Bret recommends Leave Her to Heaven - the third best Gene Tierney film, after Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Laura.
Paul Richardson
2022-07-27 18:32:50 +0000 UTCam going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run
richard owain roberts
2022-07-27 18:29:26 +0000 UTCCould we start having these images embedded in the MP3 files?
Anu Kirk
2022-07-27 17:34:14 +0000 UTCI first met him seven years ago in L.A., when he was reading with Jerry Stahl at The Last Bookstore. Incredibly friendly guy, intelligent, and just had an energy about him. I was really looking forward to his upcoming books. Very sad, and a loss for everyone.
D Michael Hardy
2022-07-27 17:22:10 +0000 UTCGlad Bret found the Criterion Noir in Color collection, I was gonna recommend it, it's indeed excellent.
FlyingWaffle
2022-07-27 15:34:08 +0000 UTCGotta say, I'm still super bummed about Ryan Leone. I'm not going to say his death is shocking, given his lifestyle. What could have been, tho. What a loss. I feel almost like I lost a buddy. We had some things in common, for sure.
bpvalentine
2022-07-27 01:40:43 +0000 UTCI had been meaning to say that Matthew Goode and Burn Gorman (Burn! Gore Man!) were <b>so</b> good as Robert Evans and Charlie Bluhdorn in <i>The Offer.</i> They made that worth watching. Thanks for bringing that up.
Antonio Primavera
2022-07-26 18:18:52 +0000 UTCI hope Bret is gonna talk about the full season of Irma Vep in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. After having watched it in its entirety, it's my favorite new tv show since David Lynch's Twin Peaks: The Return.
Patrick Reinbott
2022-07-26 17:32:37 +0000 UTCHow have you been pronouncing it? EDIT: Just listened to the episode. You're right! There's a quality that reminds me of Wes Studi's pronunciation in scenes with the Munro character from Mann's LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992). I love it!
bpvalentine
2022-07-26 15:35:26 +0000 UTCHave I been pronouncing Marilyn Monroe’s name incorrectly all this time, or is Bret’s accent just weird. MONN Row
Keith campbell
2022-07-26 10:41:49 +0000 UTCI recommend Cha Cha Real Smooth
Alex Waller
2022-07-26 04:24:19 +0000 UTC
