Anne Levine Show
Funny, weekly, sugar free: Starring "Michael-over-there."
Anne Levine Show
Who's Elijah Wood?
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What happens when the biggest game of the year can’t keep up with its own halftime show? We start with a Super Bowl that slogged through three quarters, then got eclipsed by a jaw-dropping, Spanish-language performance built like living theater—multiple sets, seamless film inserts, a real wedding, and a closing message that correctly defines “America” as a whole hemisphere. We dig into why that spectacle worked so well: intention, choreography, and cultural specificity that never asked permission to be universal.
From there, we talk ads: a wave of AI spots that promised wonder but delivered sameness, the comic timing that actually landed, and the annual Budweiser tearjerker that still understands story beats better than most brand decks. Then we shift to power and pipelines. Netflix continues to bankroll comedy and films at scale, setting the rhythm for modern stand-up, while an indie shock like Iron Lung reminds us a single creator with a clear vision can still rattle the system. The future of entertainment won’t be either gatekeepers or outsiders—it’ll be both, in tension.
Our film segment pulls no punches. Hamnet departs boldly from its beloved novel, trusting cinema’s tools—faces, fabric, quiet—over literal adaptation. Jesse Buckley and Paul Mescal give performances that feel lived-in rather than lacquered, and the film earns respect on its own terms. We spotlight Come See Me in the Good Light, a documentary shaped by love, humor, and the urgency of goodbye, with producers like Tig Notaro and Kevin Nealon helping bring Andrea Gibson’s voice to a wider audience. And we hash out Sinners, a lavish, genre-bending surprise whose vampire turn will divide viewers even as its craft and cast impress.
We close with the Olympics, the quad-screen chaos versus Peacock’s sanity, curling’s precise drama, and figure skating that treats gravity like a rumor. Through it all, a theme emerges: honest risk beats empty polish. Whether it’s a stadium-scale performance told in Spanish, an indie film punching above its weight, or a costume department that builds a world before a single line is spoken, we’re here for work that commits. If that’s your jam too, hit play, then tell us what moment you can’t stop thinking about. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to keep the conversation going.
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I want to know if you've ever eaten in a restaurant before an animal.
SPEAKER_07:I don't believe so.
SPEAKER_04:I've heard me while ten years later, my face, the daughter of my sister, is getting married.
SPEAKER_00:The Anne Levine show. If you're not listening, you need to be listening. I love this.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Mr. Anne.
SPEAKER_07:You guessed right. It's time for the Anne Levine show.
SPEAKER_04:And everything else is yesterday's mashed potatoes.
SPEAKER_06:W O M R ninety-two point one FM Province Town.
SPEAKER_00:And that over there is Michael.
SPEAKER_01:She is always right. Always right.
SPEAKER_04:Hello.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the Anne Levine Show. It's Tuesday, February 10th, 2026. We are joined, of course, and led by our fearless leader, Michael, over there.
SPEAKER_06:Hello.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. That was a low note there. Yeah, that's kind of my lowest note so far. And we have plenty. Plenty to talk to you about.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, some of it may be controversial as this opening song is.
SPEAKER_02:Trigger trigger warning. Yeah. Now, what was what show was this? Oh, this was. Here come the bride.
SPEAKER_05:Here come the brides. That's right, and this is Bobby Sherman.
SPEAKER_02:Now, if anyone out there knows that show, please contact me. I feel that we should have a conversation.
SPEAKER_07:Based on uh Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. You know who was in Here Come the Brides?
SPEAKER_07:Bobby Sherman.
SPEAKER_02:And Jamie Lee Curtis. Oh no, no, no. No, no, no. Petticoat Junction. Oh, Petticoat Junction? Oh, really? But that was part of the whole thing. Yeah. So there she was in like uh her bonnet. A bo I was just gonna say a bonnet and like a petticoat and little floral pantaloons. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Okay. Well, how how old was she then when when that happened?
SPEAKER_02:Well, that had to be, she had to be gonna say 19 or 20.
SPEAKER_07:Okay, all right. Yeah. I mean you knew her then, right? You knew her prior to that. Yes, I did.
SPEAKER_02:I knew her. I think that was her first or maybe second job.
SPEAKER_06:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. After after school.
SPEAKER_06:Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, she's still doing after school specials. Okay, well, good for her.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, well, she's staying pretty busy, really.
SPEAKER_02:She's definitely having a uh She's having a Jamie moment, really, yeah. Now, the girls in Petticoat Junction are Bobby Joe, Billy Joe, and Betty Joe.
SPEAKER_07:Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And they work at the family hotel.
SPEAKER_07:Mm-hmm. And uh with Uncle Joe.
SPEAKER_02:Right, exactly. At the junction. Petticoat junction. That's right.
SPEAKER_07:Uh oh, those are those are some old shows. That Green Acres, Petticoat Junction. Yeah. Here Come the Brides. June Lockhart. Oh, well, yeah, also Lost in Space with June Lockhart.
SPEAKER_02:June Lockhart kind of did everything in the late 60s, didn't she?
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, she was in all kinds of things. Which is very popular, obviously. Well, obviously. Yeah, I mean it's June Lockhart.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. What else did she do that? I don't know. I feel like uh Gene Lockhart. What were her biggest hits?
SPEAKER_07:Um Well, let's see. Well, Lost in Space. Lassie. She was the mom in Lassie. Oh, right, right, right. Um let's see. She was in uh Meet Me in St. Louis. Uh the movie Sergeant York, which was a huge movie about World War I movie. Uh she also did Full House for uh like eight years.
SPEAKER_02:Busy, busy woman. Yeah. Oh, I have another uh correction to make. Okay. Jamie was in Operation Petticoat.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, okay. I know that what that one is.
SPEAKER_02:So that TV series started in 77, which is the year she graduated.
SPEAKER_07:I see, yes.
SPEAKER_02:And it went to 79.
SPEAKER_07:Based on uh based on a movie that her dad starred her dad. Right, and Cary Grant, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_07:So uh Oh John Aston was um in the TV show.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I remember logging logging in. I remember tuning in to see that. I was like desperate to see it. Yeah. Because it was her first her first thing after after choke.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, how about that?
SPEAKER_02:And there she was, 22 episodes.
SPEAKER_07:And of course she s started screaming.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. She said.
SPEAKER_07:Halloween party gone bad.
SPEAKER_02:It's amazing that there were so many petticoat shows.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Don't you think?
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, well, it's you know, it's uh I don't know why that was a thing, but yeah, it was a thing. Yep. But uh I mean no one even knows what a petticoat is now.
SPEAKER_02:I barely know.
SPEAKER_07:So that's not gonna get used. It might be Operation Boustier or something.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah. That's right. Have we seen Boostiers recently? I don't know that we have.
SPEAKER_07:Oh yeah. Oh yeah? Yeah, undersuit jackets and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, like the old. You know, can I just say that nothing new under the sun?
SPEAKER_05:That is correct.
SPEAKER_02:Everyone's like, ooh, underwear is street wear.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Well, let's see if I go in the way back machine and take myself to the 70s, 80s.
SPEAKER_07:Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:90s even. I mean, that's been going on forever. Yeah. Um most famously, Madonna.
SPEAKER_07:Well, yeah, right. Was doing that. Um her pointy cone bras.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, those were the Gautier things.
SPEAKER_07:But she but she Which was kind of a flashback to the 40s, you know. Right. Really, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But she brought this actual streetwear thing about. In their unmentionables. That wasn't happening at that point. Now it is. My favorite thing of late, I said in full sarcasm, uh-huh, is diapers. Okay, so they're not exactly diapers, you know, they're not huggies, but they could be. You could get away with wearing a pair of huggies. Huggies or de pens or whatever diaper you like.
SPEAKER_07:Pampers, yep.
SPEAKER_02:And yeah, with a nice like black blazer and some pumps, and just hit the street.
SPEAKER_07:You have uh we'll ha we'll have to get back to this, but you've actually uh hit on something that I wanted to talk about about the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, oh my god, do we start talking about that now?
SPEAKER_07:Well, I mean, we have so much stuff. We gotta we have to do something. Right.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, we have so much stuff than listening to me blather. We have so so much stuff. Tell me tell me what's next.
SPEAKER_07:Well, we've got the Super Bowl to talk about. Oh, okay. We've got a m movie that uh we saw uh a couple of them actually.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, well let's go Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_07:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:All right, I will say my piece about the Super Bowl, uh-huh, which is relatively compact.
SPEAKER_07:Yep.
SPEAKER_02:The game itself, one of the most boring, painful things I've ever seen. The first three quarters of the game were just boring beyond belief.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, there was not a lot going on.
SPEAKER_02:And then some stuff started to ramp up at the end, but of course, the Pats lost Yay Seahawks. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_07:Uh the Now, see, to me, the game went as a almost exactly as I expected. Except it got a little too high scoring. You know, I figured the the NFL's number one defense against the NFL's number one offense, they're gonna cancel each other out. So it's gonna be a very low scoring game. Right. Which is really what it started out to be. And then of course it it did not it didn't end up that way. It ended up a real blowout. Although at nine to nothing, it was still a real blowout. There was the Patriots didn't have a chance, really.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and the whole thing was just uh it was just painful. There was no excitement.
SPEAKER_07:And the agony around here, oh my goodness. Well on the Cape and in, you know, Massachusetts, ugh it's it's extensive.
SPEAKER_02:Well, at least we managed to score some points at the end. Yeah. Before the whole thing ended.
SPEAKER_07:Were skunked.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, that would have been really that would have been the worst possible outcome.
SPEAKER_02:Um anyway, of course, the the pre-show, I very much appreciated. Uh there was that guy, Charles Po. What's his name?
SPEAKER_07:Charlie Pooth. The singer. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um with whom I'm unfamiliar. Yeah. Brandy Carlisle, who sounded amazing.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, she sure did.
SPEAKER_02:And uh, am I forget- Oh, Coco Jones, right, who did a lip sync that was brilliant.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And um Halftime.
SPEAKER_07:Right. Well, before we get to Halftime, we had a bunch of commercials. Right. What do you think of the commercials overall?
SPEAKER_02:Overall, it was so much AI. And I mean commercials for AI companies.
SPEAKER_07:Right, right. That's seemed to be like like at least 25% of the commercials.
SPEAKER_02:It really boring and nauseating. Um, and so some of the most clever commercials, most funny commercials, uh weren't for AI.
SPEAKER_07:No.
SPEAKER_02:Uh go figure.
SPEAKER_07:I think the funniest one that I saw. Now, a lot of people will have different opinions, but the funniest one I saw was an Uber Eats commercial where this woman uh taps an app on her phone and Elijah Wood and oh no, she no, she blows a uh horn.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_07:Like a shofar, kind of.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_07:And he is sucked into the school where hallway where she is on this chair, and he's got one horn sticking out the side of his head, and she's like, Give me some Skittles. Oh my God. And uh, oh man. It is so funny. And then they're and then she and the guy she's talking to in the hallway at school, she's like, uh, they they're both ended up saying, like, who's Elijah Wood? And it was Elijah Wood being this weird unicorn thing. It was so strange, it was so goofy for Skittles, it was hilarious. And the Uber Eats commercials were killing me too.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, they were great.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Especially there was one um in uh I think Bradley Cooper was arguing with uh with a boardroom full of people about how pro uh food all of the commercials were, right? And they're like, well, what? You you you don't want us to try to sell food?
SPEAKER_02:Anti-food. Yeah, that was very funny. Well, George Clooney did one of those also. Yep. Uh of course, to me, the be-all and end-all of the commercials, and this is it, every year they win, was Anheuser Busch.
SPEAKER_07:The the Budweiser.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:That commercial was phenomenal. I I can't even try to describe it.
SPEAKER_07:It was really interesting watching you watch it. Because when the horse went to jump over the fence and the wings spread out. You like let out a gasp. Yeah. And um, and it was really very cute. And you are exactly the person, you know, they it hit you exactly as they wanted it to.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and the audience, yeah.
SPEAKER_07:So it was and it was beautiful. I I knew that moment was coming the second the commercial started.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, you're much brighter than I am.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I don't know. I just I don't think there's all that much originality in the world, so I kind of you know you kind of see it coming sometimes.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, I didn't see that.
SPEAKER_07:I knew that eagle would be f was f gonna be flying up there.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, don't spoil it. People, if you haven't seen that commercial, go watch it.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, go to YouTube. There are a lot of great compilations of uh, you know, the the funniest and the you know the the most amusing commercials that they showed. Um and then of course there are a bunch of other ones saying the best commercials from the Super Bowl and all the and they're just showing all of them. Yeah. And it's like, okay, okay, yeah. That's not that's not.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I I want to see that one. I really do.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, that was a that's a very, very good one. Now, I thought they were great, but then we got to halftime. That's the thing. That's what happened there. I've heard a lot of comments about what happened at halftime.
SPEAKER_02:Well, why don't you describe halftime? Halftime, halftime, halftime.
SPEAKER_07:I like I said, I heard a lot of comments about the halftime show.
SPEAKER_02:I read a lot of stuff, I read some stuff online. Um here's my take. I thought it was absolutely, first and foremost, as a piece of theater and showmanship and show ship.
SPEAKER_07:Right? Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely astonishing. And I am not using hyperbole. I was astounded, astonished and blown away by how in the world did they create this thing. Yeah. It is the most intricate, involved uh musically, the sets, the choreography. It was incredible, it was outrageous.
SPEAKER_07:There were also, you know, filmed segments that went uh that it came in seamlessly with the live.
SPEAKER_02:Flawless.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I can't think of a single live show like that that I have seen that had zero uh stumbles. Right. Zero.
SPEAKER_07:Exactly. I've never I've never seen well, we've never seen a Super Bowl halftime like this. Or anything really like that. It's always a guy on a stage, you know, the the guys are on the stage, they're doing the show.
SPEAKER_02:And the stage is doing stuff, it's going way up in the air, it's coming down.
SPEAKER_07:And sure, there's a lot of people in the audience dancing and running around doing cool stuff with with glow sticks. But that's not how this happened. No. He was on the field.
SPEAKER_02:This was incredible. And I think what they did was there were something like four separate stages, like four separate sets.
SPEAKER_07:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Um, at least that's what I could see. Um, it was just mind-blowing.
SPEAKER_07:And now and and me and myself, like so many other people I heard, I did not understand a single thing that was said or sung. I didn't, I don't well, and and unless it was uh uh Lady Gaga.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, I have something to mention. She she saying things I understood. Really? But for a while, yeah, really. Lady Gaga was singing in Spanish.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_07:She was. I listened to it too while it happened. I was there.
SPEAKER_02:I know, I wrote a song. Okay, it was being sung in Spanish. Okay. So um everything was in Spanish. And I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I felt like you did not have to understand a word of Spanish. You didn't, that's the thing. And it you got swept up in a story. I wasn't bored for one second.
SPEAKER_06:No.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and I wonder that if it had been uh uh translated to English and they had been performing in English, what I'm wondering what difference that would have made, really, overall.
SPEAKER_07:It would have made a huge difference.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Well it wouldn't have been as authentic.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_07:You know?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:So and I think that would have I think that would have made a very, very big difference. Well I think it was amazing. I thought one of the coolest things I've ever seen at a halftime show.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. And I cannot recommend highly enough that if you didn't see it, please go online and watch it.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think it it might lose. I mean, part of it was the fact that we were watching it as it happened. Of watching it in the middle of this football game.
SPEAKER_06:Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Especially this profoundly boring football game at that point. And so I've gotta say that I I didn't think I don't know. I d I thought it was just spectacular. And It was a mashup of like five of his greatest hits.
SPEAKER_06:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02:So it wasn't something that was written specifically for the Super Bowl. Right, right. With a specific message. And I think the message was the show.
SPEAKER_07:Well, and uh, he did have a message at the very end. Right. You know, where he he named all of the countries in North and South America. Right. You know, and making sure everybody understands that's America, folks. Yeah. That includes South America. It includes Mexico. It includes Canada. It's not just the United States.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and not for nothing, Puerto Rico, which was specifically where he represents. That's where he's from. Yeah. And uh I have to admit, you know, other than seeing him at Grammy shows or on a red carpet here and there, I don't think I've ever seen him perform.
SPEAKER_07:No, I don't think I have either.
SPEAKER_02:And so I'm not sure that I would, you know, uh except out of curiosity, I don't think I would like make an effort to go see him. Uh-huh. It's not my, it's just not my sort of music.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, we're we're not really the demographic. And that's that's fine. There's, you know, room for lots of people. That's the thing.
SPEAKER_02:But I heard so many, especially locals, which is what I see on my Instagram, um, you know, saying, I didn't understand a word. You know, I was back here in Patriot's land.
SPEAKER_07:I didn't understand a word either, but I understood the vibe.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:And it was all good. It was fantastic. And it was beautiful. It really was, yeah. And how they put it together was just stunning. I'm just so in awe of the way they did that.
SPEAKER_02:I know. How in the world? And whatever team it was that did this should do every Broadway show. They should do every big event like this.
SPEAKER_07:They you I wouldn't be I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have a bunch of people from Broadway that put this thing together.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, they had to have. I can't imagine how many people choreographing this thing. Yeah. And I don't just mean like figuring out a dance routine.
SPEAKER_07:No, they mean logistically choreographing the whole. I mean, there are there were hundreds and hundreds of people, for one thing. Yeah. And many of them dressed as grass. Right. It was it was astonishing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, and for that reason, it was all set in like a field of, I don't know, ornamental grasses? What would you call them?
SPEAKER_07:Uh it could even be sugarcane, maybe. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It was just this beautiful tall. And then some of that would sometimes move to the next set. Um there were street.
SPEAKER_07:Of its ovulition.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly. There were street scenes where um Those were wonderful too. Yeah, they showed like a tacos truck and um an ices uh vendor. Right. And these different businesses. Oh, a market, uh, a gold and silver um vendor. Right. A jewelry vendor. It was adorable. It was really, really cute. And it turned out that those are all actual businesses. Right.
SPEAKER_07:It's real businesses.
SPEAKER_02:And one of my favorite things, and certainly one of the centerpieces of the show, was that um you see this wedding scene going on.
SPEAKER_07:On the stage, so it's kind of appropriate because it's like on top of a cake. Right. You know, sitting up above everybody like that, everybody in white.
SPEAKER_02:But it didn't seem out of place for everything else that was going on. So I was quite shocked when I found out, of course, you already knew this, but I was quite shocked when I found out it was an actual wedding. Yeah. And this couple had invited Bad Bunny to their wedding. And he said, Hey, you know what? Maybe we do your wedding at the Super Bowl. Oh, it was it was stunning. It was moving, and I I'm it was just so impressive. Yeah, it sure was. And if I ever need to choreograph anything, I'm calling Bad Bunny. You're gonna Okay, alright. I'm just saying BB is in speed dial now.
SPEAKER_07:That's right.
SPEAKER_02:Whew, whoo!
SPEAKER_07:Okay, it was fabulous. Hey, I have another thing I wanted to talk about. What's that? If if you don't mind. I mind not. Okay, uh, you know, a couple weeks ago we were talking about the best talk show guests.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_07:And uh and we moved on to something else before I actually got to one of the guys I really wanted to talk about. Uh-huh. And that's Kevin Nealin. Uh-huh. Kevin Nealin, in my opinion, is one of the best talk show guests ever to have on any show. He is so funny. He's so quick. He's so fast. He's so he's so everything. He's so tall. He's just, I don't know. There's something about him. And I find him to be one of the greatest guests. He's he's got um I see him as you remember when Charles Groden used to be uh do all the talk shows, and he was he was really fast. And I see Kevin Nealan in the same way, except he doesn't have that the same attitude, right? But uh I see him the same way. And uh and I was thinking about that, and I'm and for some reason uh on my YouTube feed up pops uh Kona Needs a Friend with Kevin Nealan. Yep. And so I watch uh because they record their podcasts uh and then they put them on YouTube, and I watched in this whole thing with Kevin Nealan. It's absolutely hilarious. They are hardly even having a conversation, they're both you know, just laughing at each other the whole time. And we get to the end and they start talking about what Kevin Nealand does for fun, right? And what Kevin Nealon does for fun is paint. Oh, yes. And he is an amazing artist. Yes, he really is. He does these brilliant character caricature paintings of these people. And if if you don't know about it, I really I want you to see it. I want you to go to Google and look up Kevin Nealan's paintings. Um his painting of uh Howard um Hughes? No, the Marks. No, the guy on the radio Stern I can't oh how I'm I'm old. I could not remember his last name. Um is is absolutely brilliant. It is absolutely brilliant. I don't know how that isn't like everywhere. It's so cool.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um he's really amazing.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. And I and I don't and he does he's he's not really getting recognized for these things. I want people to know that he's out there doing that. He also has a new uh comedy special that just came out. Uh we're gonna have to watch that. It's on Netflix. Mm-hmm. It's called Loosen the Crotch.
SPEAKER_03:I love that.
SPEAKER_07:Perfectly appropriate title, I think, for Kevin Need. For him, yeah. Yeah. Um, so okay, that I wanted to talk about that. I didn't want to miss that.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, speaking of speaking of that, Silverlake got in touch with us about that specific segment.
SPEAKER_07:Ah, yes.
SPEAKER_02:And said that we really blew it by by not mentioning Jerry Seinfeld as one of the great guests.
SPEAKER_07:Yes, I ag I agree.
SPEAKER_02:And that he always was always a home run with him every time.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. Uh so well, Will Farrell also. You know, we didn't really talk about him.
SPEAKER_02:Will, yeah, Will has a thing that he does where he comes prepared with a bit.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. He comes and he's gonna stick to it.
SPEAKER_02:And that's it. He is committed to the bit.
SPEAKER_07:He came in as little Debbie on the I don't know which one of the shows on the tonight show. Uh-huh. With the little hat and the blue gingham bow and the oh my god.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. And he never tells anyone what's he what he's gonna do.
SPEAKER_07:No.
SPEAKER_02:He just comes out and starts, you know, well, carrying on.
SPEAKER_07:Here's here's another one of those things. I'm not sure if it was Bradley Cooper or Ryan Reynolds, one of those two guys, I think it was, um, was scheduled to be on one of the talk shows, and Will Farrell came in for him. He's like, uh you're like, you know, Bradley Cooper, and the audience is applauding, and out comes Will Farrell. Of course. Yeah, and they've they've switched it around and done it the other way, too, where Will was supposed to be on a show and then Bradley Cooper shows up instead.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_07:It's very funny.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, God. Well, there the the whole world of entertainment is so crazy. We were talking about this some some over the weekend. Um, and I'm so, I don't know, I guess fascinated by the Ted Serrandos situation where he's basically eating Hollywood.
SPEAKER_06:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And he's bought Warner, he's bought uh everything. The guy pretty much owns Hollywood, and that is not it's Netflix, and that's not just streaming at all. That is films. That is these specials.
SPEAKER_07:I mean Well, uh yeah, all the comedy stuff that's cut all these comedy specials coming out are pure Netflix creations. They just said, okay, guys, here's some money. Let's do some funny things.
SPEAKER_02:Well, they've made a whole thing now, a template now, where you spend a year on the road and you're working on building your next hour-long set for your next special. Yeah. So you work a year, you film a special, and then you start the next year. Yeah, I mean, but that is often how uh comics do it, if you know But all of them are this is essentially how and what you do these days. Yeah. Um I know there's stuff you can do yourself, and that it can be very successful.
SPEAKER_07:But Well see, that's the thing. That's I I mentioned this to you the other day. There's a movie called Iron Long, uh created by a YouTuber uh named Mark Pillier, who uh base it's based off of a video game, and he's made this movie entirely by himself. And you know, from some friends maybe were, you know, may have pitched in some money or something. But uh it went out and uh its opening weekend in the box office came in number two, very close to number one. And um that's the thing, that has not been done before.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_07:So that's a little that's a little chink in the in the ar in the Netflix armor. You know, and well Amazon is another is the other movie house out there, and they're pretty much it anymore. Right. And uh but one guy on his own has has kind of beaten both of them at their game. Yeah. And done it. And it's it's so I think that's where things are gonna change.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm sure you're right. Anyway, it has been still, in my opinion, a time when some great films are being created and released, even though I'm one of thirteen people watching them.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah. One of which is Hamnet.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Now, Hamnet is one of my favorite novels that I've ever read. And the film bears almost no resemblance to the novel.
SPEAKER_07:Right. You mentioned that to me, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I have not read the book, so so I would start with that. Okay. Um so whether you loved or didn't love the novel is somewhat irrelevant because the film goes a lot of places and does a lot of things that were never in the novel. And the the other side of that coin is that there was so much in the novel that didn't make it to the screen.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Which I thought was unfortunate, except you know, when I really thought about it, I don't know how they would have possibly gotten that all into one film.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um Jesse Buckley, uh, who played Agnes was divine.
SPEAKER_07:Yes, oh, absolutely. Although I think so many of the people in this were brilliant.
SPEAKER_02:Emily Watson.
SPEAKER_07:Emily Watson, yeah. She was terrific. She was great.
SPEAKER_02:Um the kid who played Hamnet.
SPEAKER_07:Noah Jup.
SPEAKER_02:And the kids who played his sisters. I'm not sure what their names are. Olivia Linz is one.
SPEAKER_07:Mm-hmm. And Susan. Um Susan. I'm not fine. Uh Frea Ha Hanan Mills. Well, those were the She was Eliza, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Anyhow, fantastic. Yeah. Fantastic cast. And some really interesting choices. Uh really, really interesting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:And Paul Meskow was amazing. As William Shakespeare. As William Shakespeare. He really was.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. He was terrific. And definitely you one thing that was very clear in the novel, um, that you got to see also in the film is that he was a lousy husband.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:He was uh did not handle his family very well to say the least. Um whether he was anathema to the time um he lived in, I don't know, probably not, but yeah, yeah. Um, you know, he spent all his time in London at theater. Meanwhile, his family was struggling mightily at home. So um I recommend seeing it and forget about the novel.
SPEAKER_07:Okay, well, that's an interesting recommendation.
SPEAKER_02:See it for what it is.
SPEAKER_07:Because it is worth it as a film.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_07:Just don't think it's going to be the novel.
SPEAKER_02:Right. Yeah. And Paul Meskow and Jesse Buckley. Yeah. Definitely terrific. I'm very split now. I was positive that Renata Rheinsville was going to be the best actress by a mile. I thought it was a lock.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, and you're not sure how to do it.
SPEAKER_02:Well, now I'm thinking, you know, Jesse Buckley. Yeah. And you didn't have to read subtitles, which sadly is a very American way of, you know, dealing with film. So uh I'm not sure what's gonna happen. They were both incredible, and I'd love to see, and they both were so interesting looking. There was no sort of, you know, perfect face, perfect body ingenue thing about either one of those women. They were like fully developed women who didn't look like they were super young or like they'd had any work done. Right. You know, uh yeah, and they their their faces were full of expression. Oh yeah. Their voices were, and you felt certainly I felt as though, oh, this this could be my friend, this could be that woman that I knew from college. I I just didn't have this sense that they were, you know, I don't know, I keep thinking of elf on a shelf. Of some sort of trinket put out of harm's way, right? You know, somewhere that I can't reach. Um, so they weren't elf on a shelf actresses. No. I've just coined a new thing. Okay. And I'm damn proud. Um, it's yeah, so I recommend those. Uh should we talk about the Olympics?
SPEAKER_07:Well, yeah, we haven't done that yet. But can I can I mention one more thing about Kevin Nealon that I that I forgot to mention?
SPEAKER_02:Please do.
SPEAKER_07:Nominated for an Oscar.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, uh he is one of the producers.
SPEAKER_07:Oh come see me in the good light. Right. Yeah. He and his wife are both uh big part of this film. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, uh, this is the film about Andrea Gibson. Yes, and their wife Megan Falley. Uh Andrea it's about Andrea Gibson's last days on this earth.
SPEAKER_07:She was the uh Colorado Poet Laureate, if you if you don't know.
SPEAKER_02:And an extraordinary poet and live performer. Hilariously funny, and then she could reduce you to, you know, a puddle of tears in the next two sentences. Just incredible. And um Tignataro. Right, another one of the producers on on this, and she was very much responsible for getting it off the ground, this project. And she did contact uh different people to have them come in and produce, um, one of them being Kevin Nealan, which is really surprising. Um I've talked about this film before, and I will say again, it's nominated. Um for an Oscar for Best Documentary. Right. And I really can't recommend it highly enough. Come see me in the Good Light. And it's on Apple TV. Yes.
SPEAKER_07:So Yeah, I didn't want to forget about that. Yeah. Yeah, so we could uh now uh we also have another movie to talk about if you want to. What's that? Uh Sinners.
SPEAKER_02:Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_07:We saw that one, another um nominated film.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not sure if we spoke about it or if we did to what extent. Um my overall feeling, I loved some of the actors very much. Um there was an actress who played a woman called Annie that just was mesmerizing, couldn't take my eyes off her.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I think you felt the same way.
SPEAKER_07:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Uh and there were some other actors that I thought were surprising.
SPEAKER_07:Her name was Woon Me Musaku. Oh Annie. She was Haley Steinfeld was uh and Michael B. Jordan both in this.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Um yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It was an interesting casting cast, really. A really interesting cast. Yeah. And the sets, the costumes, and the cast, all superb. Now the story Buddy Guy was in it. Buddy Guy was fantastic. I know. And that whole Buddy Guy, you know, the way that came around full circle.
SPEAKER_07:Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:It's definitely worth seeing. It is not something.
SPEAKER_07:I didn't know what to expect of this movie when when I first saw it. I thought it was just gonna be a uh, you know, a a a typical sort of, hey, these people are, you know, in the 1930s, these black people trying to start a business trying to start something for themselves and for their community, and they're gonna get beat up by the white guys. Which is something that happened all the time. Right. But that's not what this was. It was a little it was slightly different from that. Yes, it was. Because you think that's where this is going. Right, exactly. I'm like, okay, this is gonna be kind of a historical piece. Right.
SPEAKER_02:And I was actually completely I was in a hundred percent. Uh-huh. I was sold, I was ready to, you know.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, when we got into it, I'm like, yeah, this is cool. Yeah. Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But then it turns out it's a vampire movie.
SPEAKER_07:That's right. An Irish vampire comes to town.
SPEAKER_02:Comes to town with his Irish vampire compadres.
SPEAKER_07:And singing weird songs. Yep. And then uh yeah, and then we see what happened. It was very, very cool. Well it took on the whole vampire idea and some of the some of the uh legends about vampires, like they can't come into a house uninvited. Right. That was a big part of it. Um yeah, so it's it's it was really very interesting. I like how they did it. It had a voodoo vibe. Really, yeah. Even though it was an Irish guy.
SPEAKER_02:Right. So uh. I don't know what to say. It has been what is it, the most nominations of anything? I think I had a lot of nominations, I think, yeah. Uh I think it was it it received more nominations than any other film. Um which when I heard that is kind of why I felt compelled to watch it.
SPEAKER_06:Uh-huh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But it really I don't know. For me, it missed the mark. Um when it's a vampire movie. I I can't I I I can't. What can I say? Fourteen, sixteen nominations.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. So like that. Yeah, the most nominated film of the year. Which is obviously going to get something because there's some really amazing things in this film. I mean, just the look.
SPEAKER_02:I think costumes is probably gonna go there, although maybe Hamnet. I don't know.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, it's it's really uh it's tough competition, but there's they're gonna get something for sure.
SPEAKER_02:I can't see.
SPEAKER_07:I hope they do. Because they should.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, and it might be the score, right? It might be because the music was terrific. Yes, it was. And was a big part of it. But uh I'm not I don't know. It was ultimately a vampire movie.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, yeah, true.
SPEAKER_07:And so just not my No, I didn't really expect it to be like I said, I didn't expect it to be a vampire movie, but hey, it was good. Uh you know, I'm glad I saw it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um, it was definitely interesting to say the least. And uh I would say worth seeing, um certainly on the small screen, if not on the big screen. Yeah. Uh but yeah, you're in for a surprise. You're in for some surprises. It's very, very uh and it was very graphic. Yeah, violent.
SPEAKER_07:Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So a lot a lot more and different going on there than anything I expected. Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_06:I think so.
SPEAKER_07:So Okay, we got uh we don't have a lot of time, but we can talk some Olympics if you want to. Oh, please do. Um what do you think? What do you think uh what do you think about how things are going? Not going really super great for the United States as far as gold medals are concerned, if that's if that's your jam. Uh-huh. But uh, you know, it's going okay. But uh I mean, what do you think? We've been watching the curling. That's been our thing earlier today was watching the curling for a while.
SPEAKER_02:Well, curling is a very misunderstood uh by me uh as well as other people sport. But I mean there are some things about it that I don't quite understand, but basically it's a big game of shuffleboard on ice. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:That's exactly what I call it.
SPEAKER_02:And it's it's really interesting and it it's pretty exciting.
SPEAKER_07:I mean, I not fast-paced, but can be exciting, yeah. You're right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, the way that they get these stones from one place to another with such a with such precision um is quite astounding. So I've enjoyed that. Um NBC has been doing this ridiculous thing where they chop up the screen into four mini screens.
SPEAKER_07:So you can't really see any of them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, they're showing four events at once. So really the only way, um unless they're showing some marquee event to which they, you know, donate the entire screen. Right. Um, the only way to really watch it is to go on Peacock and Well, that really is kind of the only way, anyway, isn't it?
SPEAKER_07:There's no commercials there.
SPEAKER_02:Right. That's awesome. And you get to see the whole thing and a bunch of stuff that they don't even show on that quad screen.
SPEAKER_07:Um we were missing a lot of uh ice skating because we were watching the regular feed on TV and then we went to went to Peacock and there we were, right where we wanted to be.
SPEAKER_02:What would you say about the Georgian ice skating pairs team?
SPEAKER_07:I think that they're trying too hard to look cool. I think they care more about their outfits than the skating. That's what it looks like to me.
SPEAKER_02:I could not agree more.
SPEAKER_07:The outfits are are way over the top, and come on. You don't need it. Just skate. Yep.
SPEAKER_02:It's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_07:And and and they're not really helping them either. I mean, they're doing they're doing okay, but I don't think the outfits are helping them, you know, any more than something else would.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah. The w I mean the one came out there with the with all the brass and uh blinky things and the bindy on her head.
SPEAKER_02:I know, all the hardware.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And she was I don't know how she skated, because it looked like she had 20 pounds in jewelry on. I've never seen anyone wearing like a massive necklace, like free movie. I don't know. It was bizarre.
SPEAKER_07:And it was all of them. All of their outfits were just too much. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And tasteless. Yeah. And a lot of their routines were tasteless.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, I I agree too. I don't I don't know, there's a I d I don't know exactly what the term would be to put on it, but it's uh, you know, there's a very pick-me kind of thing going on there. Um where I think they feel like their looks are more more important.
SPEAKER_02:Or certainly as important.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh I've gotta say that the talk of figure skating at these games is a an American and his name is Ilya Malinan.
SPEAKER_07:That's right, the the child of the corn.
SPEAKER_02:Michael says he looks like a child of the corn.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah, one of the children of the corn.
SPEAKER_02:Well, he's uh blonde, curly blonde hair, blue eyes. Um, you know, he looks like he looks unreal.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And he's 21 years old. 21 years old. And he is astonishing. He does quads on every single one. That's basically all he does, yeah.
SPEAKER_07:And he does a quad and a half, which no one else does.
SPEAKER_02:What are we listening to?
SPEAKER_07:This is uh this is our outgoing song, Matthew.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, I know. Which one?
SPEAKER_07:It's called The Show Must Go On.
SPEAKER_02:Uh Oh, Three Dog Night. Three Dog Night. Tell us about the song and why you chose it.
SPEAKER_07:Well, I chose it because uh Chuck Negron of uh of Three Dog Night just passed away on the 3rd of February. So um and he was the he was the voice for the most part.
SPEAKER_02:First concert I ever saw at Cape Cod Coliseum.
SPEAKER_07:Yeah?
SPEAKER_02:Three Dog Night, it was probably in 72 or 73.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, cool. I didn't I didn't actually end up seeing him until like the 90s.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I was a I was a kid, and a bunch of us kids, I don't even know um which ones of us ended up over there. I don't think any of the hows were allowed to go to a rock concert.
SPEAKER_07:Oh no.
SPEAKER_02:Oh heavens no. But I think it had to do with some Wallace's and McLachlan's and Levine's.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, for Chuck Negron, please put a light on the city.
