The B.E.E. Podcast - 10/4/21 - BJ Novak Returns - SILVER
Added 2021-10-05 00:00:04 +0000 UTCBret reviews Paul Schrader's latest joint and praises the comedic triumph of FX's Dave and Ted Lasso as a sincere antidote for our cynical era. After seven years, BJ Novak returns to the show to talk with Bret about making The Premise and shutting down production on Vengeance during the first year of the virus.
Comments
When has Fascism been the suppression of beauty?
Harry G
2024-11-26 20:42:29 +0000 UTCFuck The Beatles!
Antonio Primavera
2021-12-28 01:37:37 +0000 UTCNo Amber Heard. No pornstars. Boring.
Antonio Primavera
2021-12-27 18:14:46 +0000 UTCThe problem is that Amber Heard, divisive as she is, really isn’t interesting enough to hold anyone’s attention for two hours.
YourLateNightFriend
2021-10-20 01:10:18 +0000 UTCAlso, get Matthew Reilly on the pod. He’s back in L.A. And Amber Heard. Divisive. Perfect.
Peter Walker
2021-10-13 12:38:17 +0000 UTCThe Xmas episode of Ted Lasso and the Coach Beard episode were both “added” because Apple wanted to extend the season by two. They are both oddities which can be removed, avoided, or devoured like early morning biscuits.
Peter Walker
2021-10-13 12:36:08 +0000 UTCSounds like Franzen needs to grow a pair.
Christopher Ward
2021-10-13 12:32:06 +0000 UTCHe’s no fun.
Michael
2021-10-11 13:06:22 +0000 UTCI asked him about it in the Q and A a few months back. It'd be better if he explained it than me lol but he said something along the lines of that it started off strong with a solid first half and looked like it was questioning its own ideology but then ends up doubling down on it and falling apart in the second half
Alex Waller
2021-10-11 02:39:27 +0000 UTCHas Bret talked about PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, or was that one passed over? That movie is messed up!
Michael
2021-10-11 00:01:25 +0000 UTCI don't think Orange County was mentioned either which is a real favorite of mine
Alex Waller
2021-10-10 00:25:07 +0000 UTCAgain, I want to reiterate that this podcast was wonderful. Ted Lasso: I'm from a part of the world where football (the real one played with our feet) reins supreme, so I was hesitant regarding Ted Lasso. Thank you Bret! I'm watching it and it's good.
Jorge Espinha
2021-10-09 20:11:02 +0000 UTCBBE -- I commented on your last post because I personally know Melissa (Christie Canyon), and I thought it'd be (at least potentially) interesting to have her on the podcast. Levine and I both attended AFI's s directing program; the DP from "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane" also shot my thesis film. Levine's strength is this darkened hip-hop/sort of "Requiem for a Dream" sensibility (yes, Aronofsky also attended AFI). "The Wackness" was more of a Levine movie, but he really got away from his strengths/ that hip-hop vibe when he directed "50/50" and "Warm Bodies." Let's get Jon on here and chat.
Jesse Dykstra
2021-10-09 05:33:55 +0000 UTCI'll be interested in hearing Bret's thoughts on Crossroads. Hopefully next podcast
E
2021-10-08 17:11:36 +0000 UTCGreat podcast but…I have to say I keep wishing I hear the podcast opening with wooshing waves or crickets or coyotes and then an opening remark about Buckley or Thom Wright.
Nashlicona@yahoo.com
2021-10-08 13:29:59 +0000 UTCThat’s good butter.
Michael
2021-10-07 17:50:15 +0000 UTCI’m not saying that it doesnt help to be good looking, but Nirvana became huge because they wrote Smells Like Teen Spirit and The Pixies didn’t. I was never a huge fan of either band, but SLTS was a huge, monster, crossover hit that came out of nowhere and was played everywhere. The closest The Pixies came to a song like that was The Breeders.
Michael
2021-10-07 17:26:06 +0000 UTCGreat interview, fun guest. Love the new format. I agree whole heartedly with Bret’s take on The White Lotus. And I couldn’t believe that was the ending. However, I LOVED 9 Perfect Strangers, except for the lame happy ending. It felt like a thriller throughout, which is what kept my attention. And I would argue that show had style, a lot of it. All in all, would love more interviews like this. Fun, all over the place conversations with interesting people. Much better than the last guest which I couldn’t get thru, even tho I think she’s a good actress. Looking forward to the next episode.
Phoenix
2021-10-07 01:24:08 +0000 UTCStrange, Bret’s movie and tv reviews worth 10 times more than Patreon’s subscription. Highly literate and hugely insightful, crazy satisfying.
T
2021-10-06 22:36:15 +0000 UTCGood episode - though I was hoping that the ‘ask Bret’ section would be included again. In fact, I could just hear him explain some of his escapades taken from other interviews like the one where his masseuse kept hitting on him and he had to pretend to have a girlfriend or taking Ecstasy at ‘Starlight Express’ in the 80s. Tremendous stuff. This Lili Anolik stuff is quite conflicting for me - was Bret aware she was working up this piece? I have to say that I listened to her interview a while back and, as a British man myself, she has a gorgeous voice and I developed a pod-crush, quite unusually. Funny too. BJ was quite interesting but, bloody hell he mentioned going to Harvard a lot.
James__
2021-10-06 15:56:48 +0000 UTCam going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run
richard owain roberts
2021-10-06 11:18:33 +0000 UTCWait, did Bret fail to mention Mike White's Chuck & Buck? I wouldn't have skipped over that. I guess that White Lotus will be next on my viewing list. It sounds brilliant that they got to shoot at a closed-for-Covid luxury resort in Hawaii. I think that is one of the better uses of Covid that I have heard of yet.
BUtterfield8
2021-10-06 08:10:07 +0000 UTCYou guys should go see Venom 2 it’s soooooo good Great pod this week
Joe Paluck
2021-10-06 03:09:57 +0000 UTCCrossroads is coming! Reserved my Franzen Zoom reading - wooo hooo &BJ Novak what up ! No Shards this week??What …..
Seneca Garcia
2021-10-06 02:34:03 +0000 UTCBrett cries when the Kerry gold commercial plays adorable
Fernando
2021-10-06 01:09:41 +0000 UTCI'll throw my hat in the ring along with everyone else on the current state of the podcast. I really hope the movie reviews keep up. There's still cool stuff coming out, and I think the podcast shines the most when it focuses on the present. I've seen 3 movies I've really liked in the last week which included Kate, The Many Saints of Newark, and The Card Counter, these movies all have cool cinematic qualities and are worth discussing. I want to be and am excited about movies and its great to watch them and then hear other opinions about them on the podcast and in the comments. I know its a cool pose to say modern entertainment has gone to crap and why bother but I'm just not with that at all. There may still be plans for the Q and A I'm not aware of but I did really miss it on this week's show. Personally, I'd be really happy if the interview time was cut down significantly, I know long interviews are popular now but the vast majority of the time they don't need to be, BEE podcast or otherwise. Some guests like David Shields or Chuck P can really carry a conversation for a long time, but a lot of guests would probably come across better in 30 - 45 minutes
Alex Waller
2021-10-05 22:09:04 +0000 UTCInsightful artistic/social commentary have always made this a standout podcast, but this opening monologue came off too much like boilerplate movie-review copy. If there are no good movies to talk about, then talk about something else, or at least talk less about these, little of which sound like anything worth watching. Then comes the “conversation”: a bit of name-dropping and industry gossip (about an industry apparently on the ropes), plus more Covid play-by-play. BJ Novak's work sounds like it might be worth a look, so there's that.
Michael Walsh
2021-10-05 21:20:30 +0000 UTCI felt the subtlety of Woke Preaching in TWL made it all the more insidious, although almost literal Noble Savages I suppose isn’t all that subtle after all. Cliches, tired tropes, POC’s as helpless, pure hearted victims, etc But he’s such a damn funny writer and the cast was so off the chain amazing (except Alexandra Daddario, who can be good but felt miscast here, and seemed like she was floundering a bit with the character though in fairness probably had the worst written character in the show) and Murray Bartlett brilliantly going full tour-de-force mode, and Jennifer Coolidge seemingly transcending acting and just sort of channeling these people as she does at yet another level here were the highlights but everyone was pretty much perfectly cast and on their game., that the tacked-on feeling Wokeocity didn’t ruin it. And yes the last episode was a deus ex machina letdown but honestly agree with Bret that six episodes was not enough to set up and pay off all the possibilities, very odd and I imagine frustrating number for Mike to work with. Oh and big shout out to the shooting (some hated the orange-ish tint, not me I thought it was perfect and so gorgeous) and score which was great at evoking a tone and place without slamming you over the head with it. Mainly? I miss the biweekly THE SHARDS. Absolutely loved the experience, and hope Bret does more readings of new work in the future.
MikeE
2021-10-05 21:08:37 +0000 UTCYes
Fernando
2021-10-05 02:47:23 +0000 UTCAlso … Here’s Franzen talking to Vulture about Crossroads… I started writing a little more than a year into the Trump administration. One of the factors that inclined me toward breaking the book into three was that I could write an entire novel set in the past and not have to deal with the present so long as Trump was president. It felt like we were in a moment here in this country that I could not make sense of in real time. And that if I tried, as much as I’m committed to not letting my political views inform my fiction, I would have succumbed to my rage and dismay at everything that Trump represented for this country. It was just the time to be looking back. It was a kind of escape and an instinct. Reminded me of Bret on Shards 🤙🏽
Brian Rooney
2021-10-05 00:38:55 +0000 UTCHey. Can we talk about the Lili Anolik podcast?
Brian Rooney
2021-10-05 00:35:10 +0000 UTCHell yeah Beej Novak!
Chase
2021-10-05 00:01:37 +0000 UTC
