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Millie De Chirico
This is exactly right.
Kalpen (Cal) Penn
Hey everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to earsay, the Audible and I Heart Book Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Millie De Chirico
How's it going?
Casey O'Brien
Millie? It's going pretty good. I did something kind of interesting this last week.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, what did you do?
Casey O'Brien
I got invited to it's like a Twin Cities filmmaker screening series and it was put on by the woman who produced my feature film, Amani Hoff. So I went to This. I was invited to this to screen a little bit of my feature film.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, that's fun. And what happened?
Casey O'Brien
So it was at. Well, first of all, it was out way out in the boonies in Chanhassen, which was difficult for me, but it was at this, like, wine bar out in Chanhassen. And, you know, I don't get invited to stuff like this. I'm not really considered a filmmaker by many other than myself and my wife and my daughter. And so it's fun to, like, have to be, like, seen in that way, you know?
Millie De Chirico
Sure.
Casey O'Brien
And there's a few other filmmakers, Twin Cities filmmakers, that were invited to screen shorts and stuff. And I was screening a little snippet of my feature, which I'm still working on. My feature film is called Bathroom Humor, and it's an anthology film that's set entirely in various bathrooms.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, yes.
Casey O'Brien
And I'm in post production on it right now. We filmed it last year. We filmed it, like, right before this podcast launched. And it was, like, the most stressful time in my entire life.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, yeah, I remember. It was like, it was like your big contingency thing where you were like, I would love to do this podcast, but I'm also creating a film.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, was that the tone I took when I agreed to do this podcast with you? Because I don't really remember it that way.
Millie De Chirico
Well, I hope that that was. I hope that that was what you meant, because it was like, you know, you had that BDE in that moment. And I was like, yeah, I got a good co host.
Casey O'Brien
No, I think it was more like I was like, millie, I am. I have horrific diarrhea because I'm stressed beyond all comprehension. I'm doing this movie. If I could not do the movie, I would, because it killing me. But this is also happening, and I just need you to know that that's more of what I. How I was coming to things.
Millie De Chirico
Anyway, I'm thinking about it. I do think you did say diarrhea. Like, that was a word that came
Casey O'Brien
out of my relationship with Diarrhea was very tight at that time. Anyways, it was fun. It was fun to get to meet other, like, you know, Twin Cities local filmmaker people. So that was really cool. I plugged the podcast. When I introduced the movie, I was like, everyone listen to my podcast. I don't know if I'm gonna have to check the listener download numbers to see if they. If it made a spike, a bump, a spike. But it was kind of funny. So my movie is, you know, it's kind of like coffee and cigarettes, you know, Jim Jarmus shows Coffee and Cigarettes where it's. It's funny and it's a lot of, like. It's just these vignettes, and it's. I would say, tonally, it's similar to a movie like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion or it's, like, silly and funny and kind of surreal at times. And so I showed two of the vignettes, two of the short ones, and one is where a punk band is doing. Playing a show in a bathroom. And the other one is about a witch who's crying in a bathroom stall because she's never going to get a girlfriend. And this other woman's, like, consoling her, so they're kind of like, silly.
Millie De Chirico
Is this based, like, didn't I see a short that you made with. L was in it, Lusay Tomlin Brenner
Casey O'Brien
is in this feature film. She's in. We made that short film which is called the Smallest Girl in the World, and that is going to be a part of this feature that is one of the vignettes that will be in the feature film.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
So Lusay is in my movie.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, that's what I thought. I have seen it. And did I financially back something?
Casey O'Brien
You did. You're.
Millie De Chirico
You're.
Casey O'Brien
You financially backed this feature film, so expect a little. A little thank you in the credits there, Millie.
Millie De Chirico
I do have my bathroom crier club.
Casey O'Brien
That's right.
Millie De Chirico
What is it? My little certificate. My certification. My certification of being a bathroom crier, which I totally am.
Casey O'Brien
One of the. One that was, like, one of the gifts you got when you gave to my Seed and Spark campaign when I was raising money for bathroom humor is you got a official certificate that you were a bathroom crier. And so. Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
So I have a vested interest as an investor for you to go out here and whore yourself in this film with the local Twin Cities filmmaker.
Casey O'Brien
Yes, yes, yes, yes. I will say the reception was tepid. I would say it was. I got some laughs, some chuckles, certainly. But the two films that I had screened before it were both about grief. One was about a man whose child had died, and the other one was about a grief group. Therapy. Like a group therapy grief group? Is that what you'd call it? But so it was like these two pretty heavy movies and then went into mine. And I feel like there was a little bit of shock for some people, but it was still fun to watch it with other people. And I think you learn a lot about your movie when you're watching it with another person because you kind of are able to see it a little bit more objectively than just watching it by yourself, you know, in the editing room. Of course.
Millie De Chirico
Of course.
Casey O'Brien
So when I watched it with other people, I was delighted. I was like, this is exactly how I want it to be. I think this looks great. So it was a fun experience for me.
Millie De Chirico
Well, I'm very happy for you. That sounds incredible. I'm glad you're getting out there, mixing it up.
Casey O'Brien
I'm trying. I'm. I'm trying to network the best I can. You know, Trying to. I'm trying to, like. I like the idea of growing the film, you know, the film culture and, like, the filmmaker scene here in the Twin Cities. Cause it's, like, pretty small, you know, but there are a lot of people who are making stuff, so I think it's cool. And I want to, like. I want to help nurture that. So.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, well, listen, I feel very similarly with Atlanta. It was pretty dead in the water, I think, for a long time in my 20s and 30s. And then I moved to LA, and then, you know, suddenly, like, everything happened here, and I got. When I got back, it was almost kind of, like, cool. Now it's like I'm back and jump right into all these rep screenings and all these filmmaker meetups, and there's this, like, very vibrant community. I'll tell you right now, this is actually a point of pride, I think. And I'm hoping that this happens for your town. You know, you've made it as a good film town. When you have grifters in the scene.
Casey O'Brien
Grifters, that's great. You know what? I feel like I spotted a few at this event. So I feel like we're on the other.
Millie De Chirico
You're on the way when you got people who are like, hey, we should have a meeting so I can, like, finance your next feature.
Casey O'Brien
I would love. I'd love to be a part of a few pyramid schemes. I'm not even at that stage. You know, it's like, once that starts happening, I'll be thrilled because that means I'm on the pathway towards success, you know, no one's offering me anything right now.
Millie De Chirico
I'm praying for y' all up there in Minneapolis for so many reasons. Chief among them is that I hope you have pyramid schemes coming to your film, your film scene.
Casey O'Brien
So that would be great. I would. I would. Yeah, I look forward to it. So that has nothing to do with what we're talking about today.
Millie De Chirico
We do have something to Talk about, though, this week, when it comes to art and the art world, which is also full of scammers and, you know, grifters, this is a first watch movie for me. Did you know that?
Casey O'Brien
I didn't know that.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
I'm excited to hear your thoughts.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. We are going to talk about Office Killer from 1997, directed by the great artist Cindy Sherman. Her only directorial effort.
Casey O'Brien
Yes.
Millie De Chirico
So far.
Casey O'Brien
So far. But I get the sense that this is possibly the last but.
Millie De Chirico
Well, we can discuss that. And then we're also going to do. I'm going to test Casey's knowledge about office themed films.
Casey O'Brien
I'm excited. I feel like this is like, not that this is my area of expertise, but I feel like I do have like a special, a special nod, a special love for office related movies. So I'm excited to have my knowledge tested.
Millie De Chirico
Right. And I agree they're engrossing because I have worked in offices pretty much my entire life and there is a nuance and a weird quirkiness to them and a shittiness to them that I think is always like really fun to watch in a film. And yeah, I think we're gonna have a good time this episode.
Casey O'Brien
Me too.
Millie De Chirico
And on that note, you're listening to Dear Movies, I love you. Dear movies, I love you. And I got to know if you love me too. Yes or no? Check the box below. All right, folks, you are listening to Dear Movies, I love you. This is a podcast for those who are in a relationship with movies. My name is Millie de Chirico.
Casey O'Brien
My name is Casey o' Brien and
Millie De Chirico
as we teased you at the very beginning of this podcast, we are doing Cindy Sherman's Office Killer from 1997, a favorite of Casey's. A first time watch for me, which is actually very embarrassing.
Casey O'Brien
You think? I mean, this movie is like really hard to find. It was really hard to find for a long time. And then they just released it on Vinegar Syndrome. They released like the Ultra HD and Blu Ray version. So that's why I wanted to talk about it because it's like readily available somewhat for the first time in a long time.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, no, that's exciting. I mean, that'll be my excuse. Sure. But I'm also like, that's never an excuse for shitheads. Right? Is you're like, oh, this isn't available. Well, let me get on the Internet and do my thing.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, I mean, Millie's the queen of finding shit online. I feel like, I feel like you know where to dig, you know? And you sent Me some shady links in the past, I think. But, you know, like, I feel like you're in these streets. You know where to find the good stuff.
Millie De Chirico
I also, too, though, have a deep network of criminals that can pretty much get me anything at this point.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And I rely on them a lot, so. So really, it's just that I have really good plugs. And also, I. I know a couple things.
Casey O'Brien
Do you have friends? Like, I feel like I actually do have friends where I'm like, I can't find this anywhere online. Is this anywhere? And all of a sudden I'm sent, like, a zip drive, like a zip file online. It's like, here you go. I got it.
Millie De Chirico
Absolutely. His name is. This motherfucker is unstoppable. He knows how to get literally anything. And then the weirdest part, we used to call him the DVD Whisperer. Because there would be times where I'd be like, yo, I need a copy of this. Within 48 hours, it would be in my inbox. And then suddenly, in the next two months, it's on Blu Ray for the first time. And I'm like, did you do this? Like, you made the magic.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, my God, that's so great. That reminds me of. This is maybe not interesting to recount, but I remember one time my friend Sophia online was like, on Facebook, she posted, does anyone have the nude pics of Justin Bieber? I want to see his D. And then she's like, I've looked everywhere, I can't find it. And then my other friend, who I'll just say R. I'll call her R. She posted a link on Facebook, like, within 30 minutes and just wrote amateurs. And it was a picture.
Millie De Chirico
God, I love a friend like that. So, so good. But no, it's. We're living in great times, though, for
Casey O'Brien
this kind of stuff.
Millie De Chirico
The only thing I will say, the only thing that I think is still sort of impossible to find is like,'90s television.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some. There are some TV shows that are just completely out of existence because they never made it to dvd, you know, and it was like a pre digital era. So, like, there's a lot unaccounted for.
Millie De Chirico
They're. I was obsessed with the series that MTV did called sex in the 90s. It was in the 90s and it was basically like a documentary series that was basically like, interviewing young people about, you know, sex and their habits and their ways of dating. And each episode was usually themed the first couple. I mean, there were many, many episodes. I remember There was this one episode, I think it was called Love Stinks and Lou barlow from Dinosaur Jr. And Sebito was on it, and he had just been broken up with or some shit like that. And I remember it was like, Lou Barlow was on an episode of sex in the 90s and he's talking about being dumped. And I kind of like, fell in love with him for that. I was like, oh, my God. And this was like, probably around, like, folk implosion era, like, 95, 94, something like that. And I was like, does anybody have a copy of this episode? And like, there's nobody. I mean, it's like the. That stuff's so hard to find.
Casey O'Brien
There's so much like, especially VH1 and MTV stuff.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
That is just, like, gone. Like, I think about the show, like, behind the Music. Do you remember that show? Like, not that I necessarily want that show. Like, that's like, nowhere. Like, There are some YouTube stuff, but it's like you can't find that anywhere.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. In fact, I know recently my friend Eddie and I were like, we wanted to see the Selena behind the Music, and we couldn't find it anywhere. And it's like, so hard to find that stuff because here's what really happened is that there wasn't an employee of MTV that went into the archives and just like, taped everything and then put it online.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Because all of that stuff has so much copywritten music in it that it's just going to be impossible to really. Unless somebody cataloged it. Unless somebody, like some crazy person, like, pressed record and taped it all day and all night for, like, 10 years. There's no way. I don't know. It's sad, but that's my. It's my one thing about finding things.
Casey O'Brien
Okay, before we get into the film diary, I want to make a big announcement. Millie. We're doing something special for the month of June.
Millie De Chirico
Yes, we are.
Casey O'Brien
And we are retitling June as June Nasty because we're doing all video Nasty movies in the month of June.
Millie De Chirico
Yes.
Casey O'Brien
Millie, can you tell people just very briefly what a Video Nasty movie is?
Millie De Chirico
Sure. So video Nasties is kind of a very specific to time and location phrase, but it's sort of used within kind of cult movie circles, I guess, loosely. Basically, in the UK in the 80s, there's a lot of work that got put into, like, banning VHS tapes, essentially, that were deemed kind of violent or too sexual, rough around the edges, anything like that. And it was kind of like a collaboration between, like, the news and, like, religious organizations. So basically it was this like attempt at sort of like getting these like really problematic, quote unquote, horrible, fucked up movies out of the hands of like, you know, basically teenagers. Right.
Casey O'Brien
So burgeoning shitheads, trying to keep them away. Trying to keep the nasty movies away from. Yeah, all those little shitheads out there.
Millie De Chirico
And it was like during the big like slasher era and also when a lot of like Italian genre movies were being made at the same time. So it was really kind of like. And also the Faces of Death, the sort of like, you know, it was the big like VHS era. So they were basically like, well, we can't let any of these teenagers rent these shitty tapes. So let's create this video nasties list and we'll just ban them. And effectively they did it for around, I guess it would be like 70 something ish films. And like I said, a lot of them were kind of like 80s slasher, 70s types of, you know, horror movies, a lot of Italian directors, but then also stuff like Made in America too. So I don't know. That's what they're, that's what a video nasty is. It's basically like a band title on this list that came from the UK in the 1980s. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
And we're kind of focusing on the horror aspects of that. So we're in the month of June, we're going to be doing Blood Feast from 1963, the beyond from 1981, the Evil Dead from 1981, and Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker from 1981. Big Year, 1981. So we're going to be covering all those movies and it's going to be a big horror summer month. I'm excited. It's a good way to like kick off our summer. Summer movie watching.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. And I'll say, you know, when we were trying to come up with the month, there are titles on this list that go so deep, like, you know, I wasn't gonna be like, oh, we should watch Fight for your Life, which is like unavailable totally at this point. Yeah, we wanted to pick things that were kind of like, we knew that most of our listeners could access with some kind of, you know, good quality. A lot of the kind of more classics on the list. I mean, I was like, we could technically make y' all watch Cannibal Holocaust, but do we want to make somebody watch Cannibal Holocaust? Probably not, not this year.
Casey O'Brien
Maybe for June Nasty number two, which will happen next year.
Millie De Chirico
Right. But you know, so the titles that we picked are kind of the bigger titles, the more well known titles on the list and you know, I but it. But if it had. Listen, I haven't seen Blood feast in like 20 years so it's time.
Casey O'Brien
I'm excited. Yeah, I've never seen it. I'm excited for this whole month.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, it'll be great. It'll be great.
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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com Disclosures
Kalpen (Cal) Penn
hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.
Ray Porter
I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgence? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that that deeply, emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah dude, me too.
Kalpen (Cal) Penn
Listen to Irsay the Audible and I heart Audio Book club, on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Casey O'Brien
Anywho, let's move on to our film diary. Let's open up the film diary.
Millie De Chirico
Okay, sure.
Casey O'Brien
It feels.
Millie De Chirico
Feels nonexistent for you.
Casey O'Brien
Very non existent. You know what Millie? You and I know we're watching a lot of movies right now. A lot of movies. But they're for something else. Okay. And a man has only so many hours in a day and I had to prioritize watching these other movies. Okay?
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
So I'm sorry that I don't have any sort of freelance films that I watched this week, but I've been busy in doing other things. Listen, but I am watching movies.
Millie De Chirico
You got basketball playoffs, baseball in full swing.
Casey O'Brien
Hockey playoffs.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, hockey playoffs too. I started watching. This is terrible. I don't know why I'm doing this, but I started watching the fucking FX JFK Carolyn Bessette show with Ryan Murphy. Yeah, I don't, I don't know why
Casey O'Brien
his shows are always. He makes so many television shows and they're always. There's always something very wrong with every series he does. There's like, it's like a good concept but then the execution always just goes off the rails. I feel like.
Millie De Chirico
Oh yeah, it's. It's like pure fantasy. I mean that's the thing is that, that's why everybody doesn't like it is because it's like this is like not even Real. And I think the reason why I'm watching it is because I lived in the 90s. I remember when these people were alive. I remember reading George magazine as a fucking adult.
Casey O'Brien
So I was like, george magazine?
Millie De Chirico
Do you remember George magazine?
Casey O'Brien
I don't know what that is.
Millie De Chirico
It was JFK's mag. JFK Junior's magazine. George.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, he had a magazine. I don't know if I realized that.
Millie De Chirico
It was kind of like he was kind of trying to be like, I hate to say this maybe, but he's like the Bill Simmons of politics. Like, he wanted to be like, hey, let's take this, you know, this topic of politics and make it kind of cool and Gen XY and, like, relatable and funny and, you know.
Casey O'Brien
I see. I see. Yes, yes, yes.
Millie De Chirico
And the thing about Right. That's happening right now is that there are so many young people who were not alive in the 90s.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Who are now rediscovering 90s things, and they have these extremely bizarre ways of, like, glamorizing and glorifying things that, as a person who was alive as an adult, is bizarre to me. And I know. I did it, too. I did it, too. When I was in high school and college, I used to be obsessed with the 60s and would think, oh, would be so cool for me to go to, like, Altamont and see the Rolling Stones. I mean, you know what I mean? Like, whatever. I'd be like, oh, I wish I was there hanging out with the Hell's Angels, you know, when in reality, that's a horrible thing that happened. But in my stupid young person brain, I was like, cool. I just like the glossiness and the glamour of it. And so I think over time, when I'd been hearing about the JFK Jr. Carolyn Bessette show, I was hearing it via Instagram, stories via children, via People, were like, oh, my God. Carolyn Bessette was X, Y and Z. JFK was X, Y, and z. So anyway, JFK Jr. That is. But anyway, so now I had to watch because I'm being. I'm being a rubbernecker, I guess, is kind of what's happening. But beyond the show, the only movie that I'm logging this week for the Film Diary, it's the first time watch for me, I watched this movie called Modern Girls from 1986, directed by Jerry Kramer, starring Daphne Zuniga from my beloved Spaceballs. Well, I was gonna say my beloved Melrose Place. Yes, yes, of course. Virginia Madsen is also in the movie, playing an extremely bizarre role her role is so crazy weird.
Casey O'Brien
I was just thinking about her the other day and, like, what happened? I just feel like you don't see her around as much much anymore. Virginia Madsen. I liked her.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. I kind of wish she would come back around and do stuff, but this is such an LA movie, Dude. There is a part where. So the guy. The. The main guy in the film is Clayton Rohner, who y' all might know from Just One of the guys. He plays, like, the. The main guy from Just One Other Guys, April Fool's Day. I mean, he's been in so many things since I was pretty much in love with him in Just One of the Guys. Thought he was, like, super fucking cute. And he's extremely cute in this movie, too. And he plays this double role of, like. He plays, like, there's, like, a rock star that's in the film that is kind of like a fake Billy Idol type, and he plays that guy, but then he also plays a normal guy in the movie. So it's very bizarre.
Casey O'Brien
Interesting, interesting.
Millie De Chirico
But it's so la because it's about a bunch of party girls that are, like, going out on the town and they go to all these places. There's one part where the Clayton Romer character as the normal guy, they're standing in front of Larry Edmonds bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard, and he's like, nobody reads in LA and looks at Larry Edmonds. And I'm just like, that is so cool. I was like, I love that the movie is kind of. The pacing of it is super weird. And I'm not. I will say it. I don't think it's, like, super great, but the vibe is insane. Production design. Fucking 15 out of 10 outfits. 20 out of 10. Like, just, like. The ambiance of it is so awesome because it's very 80s LA. Yeah, but does it have, like, a super compelling plot? No. Okay.
Casey O'Brien
Okay.
Millie De Chirico
Anyway.
Casey O'Brien
Very good. I mean, this looks great.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
So I don't know if I'm gonna check it out, but I can see what brought you there.
Millie De Chirico
Yes.
Casey O'Brien
What attracted you to the film?
Millie De Chirico
Oh, yeah. Vibes is what attracted me. So. And that's all. That's all I watched this week.
Casey O'Brien
All right, well, let's close her up. Let's close up the film diary, please.
Millie De Chirico
Goodbye, sir.
Casey O'Brien
Goodbye. All right, we're back for our main discussion. We're talking about Office killer from 1997, almost 30 years old. Fantastic. This is directed by the artist Cindy Sherman. More on her later. It's written by Tom Kalin and Elise McAdam. It's based on a story by Elise McAdam and Cindy Sherman. And there's additional dialogue. Did you see this? By Todd Haynes, Director Todd Haynes. So this feels like it could have had his fingerprints on it. It's got kind of a Todd Hainsy vibe to it. The genre, I would say it's a comedy horror exploring office life and corporate life and technology advancements in technology. Some of the actors include Carol Kane, Molly Ringwald, Barbara Tsukawa. If you've ever seen any Rainier Werner Fassbender movies, she's in some Jean Tripplehorn and Michael Imperioli. This was like a fun cast. It was like great. I loved seeing all these people. Personal connection to Miliar Casey. Well, you said it's a first time watch, so maybe I'll say my personal connection. I love Cindy Sherman the artist. I think she's really fascinating. I think it's interesting because a lot of her work is photographs of herself kind of as characters. And a lot of her photographs look like they are stills from movies. And she has like a very cinematic look to her photographs. And they're kind of uncanny and strange, some of them. There's a lot of like weird makeup and like prosthetics she's using in them. But I find her like, really gripping. When I found out that she directed a movie that had like Molly Ringwald and Michael Imperioli and Carol Kane, I was like, holy shit, this is amazing. I have to see this. And it was really hard to hunt down, like we mentioned. So I would say, like, like five years ago I went into those nasty film streets out on the Internet and I searched and I found. I came back with something and so I was able to watch it that way. But now I have the Blu Ray and was able to watch it that way. But I was very taken. I like the idea of a fine artist directing a feature film and what comes from that. And I'm a big fan of Cindy Sherman. So it was like, perfect. So that's sort of my connection to the movie.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, I love Cindy Sherman too. She, like, you know, she. A lot of her portrayals are kind of grotesque. Like, I love when she does, like, older women who have like really bad tans and are drinking cocktails. It's very campy to me.
Casey O'Brien
Campy?
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, it kind of reminds me. And I know I. I would be willing to say I think Amy Sedaris is a big fan of Cindy Sherman and they kind of like have a
Casey O'Brien
similar, like when she has to be a Fan of Cindy Sherman. Like, totally.
Millie De Chirico
Like, every person that I'm friends with is probably innocent Cindy Sherman, I would bet. But, you know, in that way that it's like they're kind of critiquing, like a very specific type of person that, you know, it's like kind of the types of women that I remember from my childhood who were like, you know, older ladies who smokes long cigarettes and tan themselves to death in, like, Bokeh Overtone and, you know. But anyway, there's a.
Casey O'Brien
Her stuff is funny. I feel like her art is funny. It has a sense of humor to it. So totally.
Millie De Chirico
Which. So I. This is what I think is probably inherent to this movie, too, is that it's, like, grotesque and up, but it's also funny. Yes. And the one thing that I will say that really made me nostalgic when I found out about what this movie was about, and this is kind of my own personal connection without having seen the movie, I suppose, is that this movie is about writing for magazines, which is like something that I've been on one about magazines lately.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Because I was a huge, huge fan of magazines. I still am. And I feel like it's kind of a lost. A little bit of a lost history.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
That. Speaking of JFK Jr. I mean, if Ryan Murphy wants to make a fucking show about the magazine industry in the 90s, I would watch every episode like crazy. Because it was a wonderful time to be into magazines. And it was like, without the Internet, magazines were basically like the fucking expressway to culture. Especially if you grew up in, like, a town that wasn't New York or la. It's like you're just watching. Looking at pictures of fabulous people and cool. You know, I mean, anywhere from, like, artists to fashion designers to skateboarders to, like, actors and actresses and like, anybody that was in the mix. It's like you open Index magazine or Nylon magazine or, like, you know, anything that was coming out in the 90s and it was just like all of this stuff. So anyway, I feel like Cindy Sherman is sort of part of that world a little bit.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
But also the movie itself is centered around people who work in a magazine. And so there's like, a tempo to the film that felt very pre Internet in that way. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
But it's a very prescient film, too, because it's, like, about a dying magazine. And it's kind of like this was in 1997, which I feel like wasn't even. I mean, maybe magazines were already dying then, but it felt like they had no idea what was really coming in terms of that. And so to have it be about a dying magazine. And it's also about the. The office, you know, transitioning to, like, laptops and working from home and like, working on computers. And I was just like, oh, my God, this is still relevant now. Even though it's like older tech. It's like it just felt very, I don't know, it felt very prescient. You know, some of the comps, you know, this is a office movie. So I thought of Office Space, the Apartment a little bit. I thought of Clock watchers also from 1997, if you've ever seen that movie. Fight Club from 1999, Being John Malkovich from 1999, but also Psycho from 1960, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Because this is an office killer, for God's sakes.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. And as we'll roll out at some point, you'll see why those are comms.
Casey O'Brien
Yes. Any other thoughts on that? Any other. Do you feel like this fell into any sort of other genre?
Millie De Chirico
No, but I will say that, you know, you mentioned Todd Haynes at one point. So this movie was co produced by Christine Vachon, who of course is and still is a huge, huge indie film producer. Killer Films is her production company. And there. I will say now that I've had 30 years of watching Christine Vachon films, there is something that she's like, the stuff that she champions feels, and this is one of them. It feels like it's part of this world. And the world is like queer campy, a little scary, but also funny. It's like she's. The movies that she champions are like, stuff like I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho, Office Killer, the Todd Haynes movie. She did all Todd Haynes's films, you know.
Casey O'Brien
Did she do. So she did Safe with Julianne Moore. I mean, this feels like it's in the same world as Safe to some degree.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Like, I can totally see this sort of universe unfolding.
Millie De Chirico
She did kids in 95.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, yeah.
Millie De Chirico
She did Velvet, Gold Mine, Hedwig in the Angry Inch. Like, so you see what I'm saying, right? It feels like there's this, like, vibe to Office Killer that feels part of this, like, larger Christine Vachon as producer, killer films kind of world. And I think that's really cool, actually.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, that's incredible.
Millie De Chirico
Well, and like, to me, it's kind of like this. If killer films had decided to, you know, create like limited edition candles and, and, and. And have their own zine, they could be like an A24 type of thing. I mean it's totally. They I think killer films obviously has a sensibility and a vision and a kind of roster that is just as unique and specific as something like a 24, where it's kind of like you look at a movie and say, oh, that's an A24 movie and you realize it is. Whereas I feel like I could say the same thing about killer films or I could be like, oh, Christine Vachon touched that because it happens to be of, you know, like something that that involves X, Y and Z. And so I don't know, I just thought I'd point that out for no, totally.
Casey O'Brien
I feel like there's like elegance to all these movies too.
Millie De Chirico
I feel like there it always feels like a transgressive, cool, artsy vibe. And yeah, you know, I very much appreciate that and love it, love it. So much so.
Casey O'Brien
And it makes sense that she produced Cindy Sherman's movie. Yeah, like it just feels like those Connect
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Kalpen (Cal) Penn
hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary, Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.
Ray Porter
I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo. Is this indulgence? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply, emotionally affected me and I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too.
Kalpen (Cal) Penn
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Millie De Chirico
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Casey O'Brien
well, should I get into the synopsis here, Millie?
Millie De Chirico
I would if I were you. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Okay. Thank.
Millie De Chirico
Okay.
Casey O'Brien
I appreciate you saying that. Doreen Douglas, played by Carol Kane. She is a lonely and awkward copy editor for kind of a dying fashion focused consumer goods magazine called Constant Consumer. They're downsizing people and many of the employees are forced to work part time from home. People are forced to work from home part time. Now, Doreen has a bit of a tough life. She lives with her disabled mother and all her cats. And Doreen has a hard time kind of figuring out how to use the computer at first. The rest of the office hates her because it's all young, cool, hip people who like that they're working for a magazine, even though it's like a dying magazine, but they find her creepy. Anyways, one night, while she has to stay late trying to figure out this damn computer, she asks for help from her creepy boss. Gary Michaels, played by David Thornton, aka Mr. Cyndi Lauper, asks him to help her with her computer issues. While he's tinkering with the electrical socket, Doreen accidentally turns the power back on and kills him instantly. But instead of calling the police, she brings his dead body back to her basement and sets him up right in front of the TV down there. I'm sure Molly Ringwald has done other stuff post, you know, Breakfast Club and all those John Hughes movies, but this was, like, the first time I really saw her pop up in something after those movies. And it was a delight to see her because she's playing against type a little bit. She's like a bitch in this movie. And I don't know, I just. I really loved seeing her and Jean Tripplehorn. Everyone in this movie is so beautiful, too. I just felt like, beautiful cast.
Millie De Chirico
Young Michael Imperioli with his unibrow.
Casey O'Brien
Gorgeous, gorgeous. Great in this.
Millie De Chirico
So cute. Yeah. The whole thing about Molly Ringwald was, you know, she was such a child star. And, you know, this is documented several times. I'm not, like, creating any new conversation by saying this, but, you know, I think that America loved her as a very specific thing in a very specific time. And I think that she had problems with trying to figure out how to, like, grow beyond that and how she would act as an adult. Right. And I remember, like, there was a movie that came out in 1988 called Fresh Horses, which was actually a movie starring her and Andrew McCarthy. So it was kind of the, like, Return to Pretty sure Pink. And it was. I saw it in LA for the first time. I had been wanting to see it forever because it was basically like Molly Ringwald's good girl gone bad movie. And I saw it at lacma, actually, and it was disturbing as shit. Like, as much as I knew, okay, she is obviously not gonna be, like, a John Hughes girl forever. It was weird to see her in a role where she was effectively. She was a sex worker in that movie. And maybe it was also because of Andrew McCarthy being in the movie, too, but it was just so bizar and. But I also think subsequently, and, I mean, that really, like, fucked people up seeing her like that, and that's why that movie bombed so bad. Okay, but, like, subsequently, you know, when she did, like, Betsy's Wedding and, you know, I Think people were kind of like, okay, well, maybe she can, like, be something different. But then, yeah, I actually think that having not seen this movie before, it was actually really cool that she did this movie.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Because, you know, she did like a cool, weird cult thriller with this really cool artist, female artist. And so, I don't know, it was kind of like, I don't know, retroactively thinking, yeah, that's a cool move for her to do. To do Office Killer.
Casey O'Brien
Well, reading about the making of this movie is really cool because it felt very collaborative. And I don't think Cindy Sherman was like. I mean, Cindy Sherman had never directed a movie before, so I think she was like, there's a little bit of a, like a lack of ego on this because she's just like, I don't know, I kind of don't know what I'm doing. And Molly Ringwald. Molly Ringwald and Gene Tripplehorn were like, really involved with the making of the movie. And a lot of the clothes in the movie are Molly Ringwald's clothes. So at the beginning of the movie, she seems Gene Triple Horn's character, Nora and is like, nice outfit, but it's actually Molly Ringwald's actual clothes. So that was like an improvised line.
Millie De Chirico
Let me tell you, as a girl that was alive in 97, her look, Wally Ringwald's look in Office Killer was straight out of the Delia's catalog in every fucking way. I was like, oh, we have like a short pixie spiky haircut with like little barrettes. And then like this kind of shiny, you know, a line skirt thing with like a really like, you know, intricate little top. She look. I mean, honestly, if you flip through the Delia's catalog in 97 or 98, you will know exactly the look that I'm talking about. And she had, she has that absolutely perfectly in this movie. And I was like, so you telling me that she's wearing her real clothes is like, oh, yeah, she was a Delia's catalog shopper back then with like, maybe like a chunky, like a chunky penny loafer, which is now popular again.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Millie De Chirico
But like a, like an a line, like mid thigh skirt with a chunky penny loafer. This is what she looked like in Office Killer. Oh my God.
Casey O'Brien
I just thought everyone looked. Everyone looked so fabulous in this movie. And, and like Gene Triplehorn apparently, like wanted to work with Cindy Sherman. And so she like, was like, can I PA for you before this movie was made and was like, can I be in the movie, she's like obsessed with Cindy Sherman. So Gene Triplehorn was like, kind of a part of like, it getting made also. So it just is like, cool to like have such buy in from like the actors and like make a film. Being a true collaborative process. I don't know, it just seems like it would have been a fun movie
Millie De Chirico
to make and also, like going back to the style thing. So this, this stuck out to me immediately. Part of what is so funny about movies like this and other movies that are always portraying like a quiet, weird nerd character.
Casey O'Brien
Yes.
Millie De Chirico
Okay, let me just tell you right now. I have seen multiple TikTok videos of effectively, girls and women who look exactly like Carol Kane in Office Killer who have her fucking house. It's this like, dowdy, quirky, dowdy nerd lady style, which in the movie Office Killer is meant to be like, she's a freak because she wears like weird mumu dresses and drinks tea with her cat and has like a kind of cottagecore style type of house with her mom. And I'm like, this shit is all the way live on TikTok right now. So that is the funny thing about watching nerds from another era is that basically now all the cool girls take that style and it's been co opted. Oh, it's become influencer, right? Yeah, it's like, oh, dude, do drop glasses from the 80s with a like, you know, a little moo moo with like a quilted little jacket over it. I'm like, that's. TikTok is rife with that right now.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Yeah. That's funny because it is like, she's supposed to be like a mutant basically, but now it's like, aspirational to look that way.
Millie De Chirico
Totally aspirational. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
I want to talk about office life a little bit, Millie. Sure. Now, I haven't worked in an office for like six years since COVID I've been totally remote. But I do have office experience. Do you feel like there are certain, like, personality types that pop up working in an office? And how do you fit? What's your role in an office?
Millie De Chirico
First question. Absolutely. There are so many types. I'm kidding. In the office, like, I would sit here all day and tell you every single type. I could really drill down into specifics. Now, to answer your second question, I kind of have this feeling. You remember that episode of 30 Rock where Tina Fey goes to her high school reunion and she thought she was this big nerd, but then actually everybody thought she was a bully.
Casey O'Brien
Yes. She actually kind of forgot that she was saying horrific things about people under her breath and everyone actually heard her. And so like she was the huge. Yeah. Huge bully.
Millie De Chirico
Yes, I remember that. So I think that that's kind of. I don't want this to be true, but I have this weird feeling that that is my vibe. Whereas I think that I'm weirdo. That's. That sneaks in and like, doesn't say much.
Casey O'Brien
You think you're like a Doreen?
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, I mean, I don't think I'm that antisocial, but I'm also like, not. I'm not cutting it up in that executive, like, you know, in the way that sort of like I'm a little bit of like a back row sitter still.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
You know what I'm saying? But I. I have this weird suspicion that people think that I'm intimidating and mean and that I don't like. It's almost kind of like where I feel like people think that I don't want to talk to them because I think that I'm too cool for them. Whereas I'm just like. I just want to like, be by myself and yeah. Do a good job and I don't want to bother anybody. And I just. And a lot of what I do in programming is that I sit around and work alone. Like, I don't collaborate with people because a programmer is just literally like watching movies, looking up movies, looking up contracts. And then if you're a scheduler, you're actually like working in a system all day. So it's not really like, I'm not like in marketing where you just have constant conversations with people. I'm always very like a one woman show. And maybe that's why people think that I'm not friendly.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Even though I think that I'm just being a good worker.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
I don't know if that makes sense.
Casey O'Brien
No, that makes total sense. I feel like I've gotten that in the past where people were like, oh, I thought you didn't like me because you didn't like, weren't effusively trying to talk to or hang out with everybody all the time. You know, I've gotten that before also.
Millie De Chirico
I have to ask a real question. A real ask question, please. Okay. Say if you have a job that you don't like, have a ton of responsibilities and you don't really have a ton to do a lot and you find yourself just kind of sitting there. And I'm not saying, I'm not saying that this is my experience either now or in the past. I'm just saying, just, I'm speaking very generally. What is your instinct? Is your instinct to like, if you're just bored at work, do you just like, pop around and like, go and talk to people and bother people or do you go home or do you just listen?
Casey O'Brien
I kind of wanted to talk about this type of personality because in an office there's a lot of people who are just kind of wandering around and they'll come like, let's say I'm working diligently. They'll come to my desk and they'll be like, I have a theory I want to try out on you, Casey. Like, they have like, there's guy. It's always men, usually who kind of pop over to your desk and they have their little routine. They're like, stand up routine. They kind of want to try on you. Or they like, they're kind of like the office, I don't know, like conversationalists. They like walking around talking to people all the time. And I've had a lot, I've worked with a lot of people like that and I've had to be like, I need to keep working, like, please leave my space, you know, so I'm not that kind of person. I, I don't, I can't intermingle joy and happiness with work. Like, I can't be like social hangout. Like, work is this, it's almost like work is this thing that I treat almost maybe too reverently. But it's like, I need to do my work. This is something I don't really want to do, but I need to do it and I need to focus on it. And I can't incorporate fun right now.
Millie De Chirico
Right.
Casey O'Brien
You know, that's just how I am.
Millie De Chirico
Totally. And I also think it's bizarre when in lieu of actual work, people want to create work either by calling meetings that don't do anything or just like being like, can we have a chat? And then you sit there for an hour talking about absolutely nothing important. I would rather take that extra time that I'm bored or doing absolutely nothing and either go home, like literally go home, or take like a three hour lunch.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Or cruise the Internet for things to look at. Like, I'm just sort of like, I don't think that I express boredom at work with like, well, fuck, I gotta just pretend to work. I'd rather do anti work. Does that make sense?
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. And, and, and that's one of the reasons I liked working in an office. Because if, if I was like, I don't feel like working today, I would be fine just fucking off or, like, not doing work at the office because I'm like, well, I'm working. I'm here kind of, you know, it like, gave it some meaning. But sometimes at home, I feel like it's harder for me to, like, fuck off because I have a weird guilt complex about it.
Millie De Chirico
I feel like in this movie, there's a lot of people who are just, like, loving the office culture. They love to, like, pop into people's offices. Like, Molly Ringwald's character is a perfect example. She's just like, I'm just gonna, like, sit seductively on a desk and be like, what are you guys doing? What are you guys talking about? What's happening? And I'm like, no, no, no, man. I'm like, if you got nothing to do, you gotta, like, go out to the fucking parking deck and, like, rip a few cigs.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
You know, like, listen to some fucking tunes. Why are you in there bothering people? Like, just, you know.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the big thing. It's like, there is a lot of people who, like, love to bother other people at the office. And that is the beauty of working from home, you know, you don't have to deal with that well.
Millie De Chirico
And, like, that's what I think. Like, Doreen's. The hatred for Doreen, the Carol Kane character in Office Killer, is because she just keeps to herself. Yeah. And she's good at what she does. And the idea that she doesn't, like, chop it up with people is the reason why she's hated. And I'm just like, yeah, yo, justice for the people who don't want to fucking chit chat.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Like, sorry, I even have a hard time.
Casey O'Brien
Like, I feel like a lot of offices, there's, like, a group of people that always go and get lunch together every day.
Millie De Chirico
Yes, I could.
Casey O'Brien
I was. I was like, I don't want to, like, I don't, like, depending on other people for when I eat lunch. I want to eat lunch when I want to eat lunch because I get hungry and I don't want to have to deal with this. Like, I sound like an antisocial weirdo, but that was always my. Like, I feel like I was a little bit left out of the. The social world of the office because I wouldn't go to lunch with the crew every day.
Millie De Chirico
Yes. And also, I use lunchtime a lot of times to go to appointments or, like, get gas or, like, run errands. It's like, I don't really have a lot of time. Just like sit down and have like a full ass meal.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
With like a bunch of people that I work with. See, now I'm really like, maybe I am a fucking bitch in the office. I was like, no, I'm actually just like trying to be efficient and be sweet and keep to myself. And really, I am that Tina Fey. I am like the fucking grumpy ass. I don't know.
Casey O'Brien
No, no, no, man. I think we're. I think we're of similar minds in our approach to work Millie, which is why we host a podcast together.
Millie De Chirico
There we go.
Casey O'Brien
Okay, I'm gonna move on to the next section here. So Doreen, she gets kind of excited by the murder of this guy. She didn't really kill him, but she does have his dead body in her basement, so she kind of gets the bloodlust. So everyone at the office, the guy that died, Gary, was supposed to finish like this cover article and they're like, where's the fucking article? And Doreen is like sending emails as him to people, so they think he's like, somewhere else. They don't know where he is. But they asked Doreen to finish the article with Molly Ringwald. So things are like improving since people are dying in the office. And she kills her boss, Virginia, who's played by Barbara Tsukawa, by replacing her asthma inhaler with a small butane tank, which I thought was like, really funny that there's a butane tank that fits into an asthma inhaler. And she doesn't stop there. She kills some girl Scouts that come to her door and she's setting up all these dead bodies in like a tableau in her basement.
Millie De Chirico
I gotta talk about Gary.
Casey O'Brien
Gary.
Millie De Chirico
So David Thornton plays Gary, who is the. I guess Dorian's boss or just the guy that's.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Basically the first. The first to get the ax right.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. And he's like one of the guys that I think does like hanging out at the office. It seems like he's hanging out late just cause he doesn't want to go home.
Millie De Chirico
And also I think he's like making out with everybody in the office, according to the other guy.
Casey O'Brien
And that also was not my role at the office. I wasn't making out with anybody.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, my God. Are you kidding? Like, there are like very. It's very rare that, like hot people work in an office.
Casey O'Brien
I have a few friends who are the office makeout guy.
Millie De Chirico
What? I could.
Casey O'Brien
I'm not naming names here, but listen, it's caused drama.
Millie De Chirico
Well, I couldn't tell you. Like, no disrespect to anybody that I work with, but I don't want to make out with anybody in that office. Like, and I know that there are sometimes people who are put into a room and they just gotta find like someone that has a modicum of attractiveness and be like, that's who I have a crush on.
Casey O'Brien
That's my office, wife, work, husband.
Millie De Chirico
No, I'm still very much like, nah. Like, even in a controlled environment, that person is not crushable. You know, just because you're bored and you have to see these people in a room all day, you can still have a moderate amount of decisiveness. Like, you don't have to be forced to make out with someone because you're in like a fucking office raft together. I mean, it's crazy. So I. That's the thing about this Gary character is that it seemed like he was the big slut. But also his look. Okay, number one, by the way, this guy that plays Gary, David Thornton, is married to Cyndi Lauper, which I didn't realize until now, but his look in this movie, he was so triggering to me because he looked like he was. He looked like a cross between. He was this guy. Okay, imagine this guy. Please, God, if you're a 90s kid, like, imagine this person. He's basically a mix between Nick Cave in the like, let Love in era of Nick Cave.
Casey O'Brien
I can see it. Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Where he looked like a sleazy guy that had like offshore properties mixed between that and like Nathan Larson from Shudder to Think mixed with like a dude from the Afghan Wigs, like, like a black long haired creep with a little pencil thin mustache that was out like ruining women's lives, you know, I thought
Casey O'Brien
he looked like like Adam Horovitz in the Sabotage video by bc like the short sleeve office shirt with like a tie and like long hair and. Yeah, yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And it's like, like he, he probably played in a fucking band on the weekends and he's just. And he was like writing articles for this consumer magazine and like making out with like all these women in his office. Like that. That's like he was so triggering in this very specifically 90s dude way. And then what? So when he died first, I was like, shit. He had to go.
Casey O'Brien
He had to go.
Millie De Chirico
He had to.
Casey O'Brien
Oh my God. It is interesting. Like the whole movie is sort of like about adapting as the. Your job is like kind of moving on without you a little bit. And it, I mean, it's. It felt relevant. I mean, I Just think about people having to, like, all these people having to, like, learn AI now in the office. Like, I feel bad for people. It's getting really dark out there. And it. This again, felt like it was sort of doing some fortune telling back in 1997, you know?
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. I mean, it's. It's crazy because these people's jobs have been reduced and they're basically like, well, now you're gonna have to work from home. And everyone's like, what? Are you serious? Meanwhile, you and I are probably like, amazing
Casey O'Brien
in the movie.
Millie De Chirico
Imagine hating working from home. Couldn't be me.
Casey O'Brien
They're like, no, Yeah, I know.
Millie De Chirico
And besides that, they actually have the. Michael Imperioli plays kind of like the office IT Guy, which I thought was so cute.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And then he actually goes to.
Casey O'Brien
He's got something, man. He's got a good. He's got. There's all these tiktoks now of people in love with Christopher from Sopranos. All these. What are they called? Where it's just like. It's just clips of one character. What are those called?
Millie De Chirico
Like, fan edits. Super cuts.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Like, it's like a fan edit of. I see so many of Christopher on the Sopranos.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, yeah. I swear to God, some young girl from New York was like, I love Michael Imperioli. And now all the girls like him. It's kind of like, have you ever seen the videos of Dakota and Elle Fanning talking about how they love Jack Black and they would leave their husbands for him? It's like that fervor. It's like the fervor for like, Jack Black, Steve Buscemi, Michael Imperioli. It's like, take the like, dad guy type in a movie and make him, you know, the sexual fantasies of every girl in their 20s and early 30s. And I'm kind of. Because I'm kind of like. I kind of dig that. But also like, like, what took you so long? Cuz Michael Imperioli has been hot. And I'm not one to really chase a unibrow. I'm always like, can I just grab my tweezers and like, pluck a little couple hairs? But it works on him, damn it. And he was really young and cute in this movie. But to go back to the earlier point about working from home, it's like he was like going home with these people, like, setting up their entire home office. Office suite. And I'm like, y' all are still wanting to go back to the office. Like, what's your problem? You got a whole Ass Apple laptop set up here.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And, you know, he's fixing your email. And yet y' all are like, oh, no, I can't believe I'm not gonna have to go into Manhattan or whatever the fuck they were working.
Casey O'Brien
It is funny, though, but that's like, even at Covet, I remember it was like. Like there was a real existential crisis to some degree of, like, well, I can't. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna be at the office. I need to be at. I need to work from home. When are we gonna get back to the office? Like, I do remember feeling a discomfort with that. Both with, like, the companies feeling discomfort with that, but also, like, the employees being like, well, my job has always been, like, I worked in podcasting during COVID and. And if we ever had a guest before COVID we never did it over Zoom. It was unheard of. People didn't do that.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
And every guest had to come down to the studio, and if we were going to interview somebody in a different city, we would rent a studio for them and talk to them over the phone and record their audio on their end.
Millie De Chirico
Right.
Casey O'Brien
We would, like, spend the money. We would never do Zoom. And it's just like a complete. It is crazy. Like, we're in a completely different world. I mean, this podcast and a lot of podcasts on the. Exactly. Right. Network. Network would not exist without Zoom.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
And it's just interesting how. But at the time, it was like, well, we can't do that.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
You know, this is just a. This is just a thing we'll do for a couple months, and then we'll go back to getting everyone in the studio, and it just never happened.
Millie De Chirico
Well, and it's crazy, too, because, like, when Covid happened, I was working on the Warner Brothers lot with my boss. I just. It was just like, me and my boss, basically. And we had a very. Because at the time, you know, I moved to LA in 2016, and I was working on Filmstruck with my boss. It was just him and I. Everybody else that we worked with at TCM was still back in Atlanta, So we had this, like, very small satellite office scenario going, which kind of felt like not real a lot of times. And I also figured out pretty quickly that LA office culture is definitely not like, anywhere else where everybody's, like, leaving during the day to take meetings. There's no, like, like, nine to five cubicle. I mean, for the most part, at least in entertainment, I would say.
Casey O'Brien
No, I think you're right.
Millie De Chirico
It didn't feel that hardcore in LA versus the way it felt in Atlanta. So I almost felt, like, disconnected from the office prior to Covid. So when Covid happened, I was kind of like, oh, cool, I don't have to go over to the Kawanga Pass.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Two times a day, where I'm just sitting there in front of the Hollywood bowl, like, wanting to kill myself in my car. Like, I was like, this is fucking great. But, you know, I don't know. I get it. There are people. I find that it's parents. Sorry, I don't mean to disparage the parents, but y' all want to get out of the house a lot.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, I think you're right.
Millie De Chirico
And most of the people that, like, want to come back to office were, like, either married or with kids. And they were like, yeah, I'm not working from home and neither are you.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, Yeah, I think they're. That's interesting. I think there. There's definitely truth to that. And I think that that's why a lot of the bosses were like, well, we got to get everyone back in the office, because I'm not going to be working at home with my children. My wife lives. That lives there. All right, moving on. So we got Nora, who's played by Jean Tripplehorn. She's been kind of the accountant. She's kind of the person that's, like, trying to save the magazine money and is responsible for, like, the work at home orders and, like, the downsizing. But this was a little confusing to me. But she is embezzling money from the company by buying older computers and, I guess charging the company modern computer prices and keeping the difference. Was that your understanding of what she was doing?
Millie De Chirico
I thought so. I couldn't understand the exact gr. But it felt.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, there was a grift going on. And Cam, played by Molly Ringwald, she is increasingly disturbed by Doreen. She's very suspicious of her because people are, like, disappearing. And Kim gets strangled by a woman. It's Doreen in the stairwell, but she doesn't get a good look at her, but she thinks it's Doreen, and she accuses Doreen of attacking her. But all of a sudden, the office has kind of flipped on Doreen, and everyone's like, she's the best worker. The more people die, the more popular she gets. And Kim gets fired for accusing Doreen of, like, attacking her on the stairway.
Millie De Chirico
I wasn't sure when to bring this up, because I couldn't remember right now when this happened, but there is a sequence of events that happen with Doreen and her mom that kind of transitions into this, like. Like flashback sequence. Right. So we're trying to figure out what Doreen's actual problem is. Like, what the fuck? She's like a nerd that lives with her mom, who is, you know, obviously in a wheelchair and is using a ramp or one of those, like, elevator ramp things to go up the stairs, that kind of stuff.
Casey O'Brien
You ever been on one of those?
Millie De Chirico
No. Are they fun?
Casey O'Brien
I actually have never ridden on one, but my friend's grandma had one because she got both her legs chopped off in a farming accident when she was a little girl.
Millie De Chirico
Jesus.
Casey O'Brien
Welcome to the Midwest. That's like a real Midwest story. That was Iowa, baby.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, man. Minnesota style.
Casey O'Brien
Anyways, continue.
Millie De Chirico
So there's this whole portion of the movie that talks about Doreen's dad who was dead, and we figure out why. And it kind of starts with her mom and her eating breakfast in the kitchen. And her mom is kind of like, you know, reminiscing on the days where her husband and Doreen's dad was alive. And it's this very indoctrinated 1950s. Like, oh, do you remember when your dad was just like, such a fucking cock? And he used to just sit around while I just, you know, did things for him. And I loved when he, like, like, didn't clean up after himself. Like, her mom is, like, recounting, like, all the best moments of her life. Yeah. She's like, you know, a house isn't
Casey O'Brien
really a house without a man in it. It's kind of like things aren't. We need a man to keep us in check, basically. We need a man around the house. It's just like, we're just like, listless, rudderless. We don't. We need direction, and we need a man here to give that to us.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. And don't you miss your father, et cetera. So. So then it cuts to this, like, crazy flashback sequence to where they're all driving in a car. And basically it is. Doreen's father in flashback is played by the New York underground art scene king, Eric Boghossian. Did you know that?
Casey O'Brien
King.
Millie De Chirico
He's the king of the art world in New York. He's in the coolest movies.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, he's the best.
Millie De Chirico
He's the fucking best. Like, I, I. What a goat, dude. I love him.
Casey O'Brien
What a goat. He's. I mean, he's in most recently Uncut Gems.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. But, like, if you, if you saw any cool underground art movie from the 80s or 90s. It's like Eric Boan is either in it or he, like, knows somebody that's in it. But anyway, he plays Dorian's dad in flashback. And it's like this up sequence where it's almost kind of like the mom says like she's jealous that the dad likes their daughter more. And then he starts kind of like being a little creepy toucher. Like, he reaches behind him and he starts, like, touching Doreen's legs. Like, oh, you like when Daddy touches you? I mean, it's, like, creepy.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And then Doreen sort of reacts in, like, a. A big way to the point where she basically forces him to crash the car. And that's how he dies, right? Yes. And so it's kind of like a moment of the movie where you're like, well, this is where she gets her bloodlust from. Cause she fucking is trying to, like, you know, replay the events of when she killed her dad for being a perv. And I was like, okay, so now we're getting some character development. Doreen here. This is real interesting, but I don't know, it's kind of, like, thrown in there a little bit, but I thought, you know, I don't know when is a good time to bring that up, but just kind of start. Starts happening.
Casey O'Brien
No, I think it's good because there's a heaviness to her home life. Like, there's sort of a terror and there's a weight to that. You know, her mom is nagging and mean to Doreen and just feels like a negative place. And it's her childhood home. And so I think it's a necessary part of the movie because it, like, adds a little context for why her house is bad and why her family's fucked up and why she's taking these dead bodies and kind of like creating a party slash, dead body family in the basement. It makes sense why she's doing that
Millie De Chirico
a little bit more. Talking about the comps that we were suggesting at the beginning of this section where we were like, Psycho Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's kind of like when you start to feel sorry for Norman Bates or Leatherface. We're like, well, now you see why they're so fucked up is because their moms and dads are demented and crazy, and it's forced them to become, you know, traumatized in a very, you know, violent way.
Casey O'Brien
So, yeah, anyway, very true.
Millie De Chirico
Justice for Doreen, I think, is justice for Doreen.
Casey O'Brien
Well, I think she gets her own justice at the end. So Doreen discovers That Nora's been embezzling money and bashes her on the head and brings her to the basement. But before she can kill her, Doreen's mother dies. Kind of throws a wrench in things a little bit.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Daniel, played by Michael Imperioli, he comes looking for his girlfriend, Nora. Nora is the Gene Triplehorn character. He looks. He's looking for her because she disappeared. And he goes to Doreen's house, and Nora survived. So she's alive in the basement. She starts screaming, and Daniel tries to go down and save her, but Doreen, she's like a superhero, you know, she gets them both. No one survives Doreen, you know, she kills them both. And she eventually sets her home on fire. She dons a blonde wig. Her outfit at the end looked exactly like. Like my friend Luce Tomlin Brenner. At points in her life, I feel like she was, like, dressing up as Lucy. Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
She looked in the rear view mirror at one point. I was like, oh, she looks like mink stole.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, I could see that. She does kind of look like mink stole. Also, Lusay did a little cameo in our Is this Thing on episode. She played the MC at the top of the.
Millie De Chirico
I meant to text you about that. I was like, oh, look at this little Easter egg. Casey plant.
Casey O'Brien
People noticed. People take. People commented on it. They're. I love the Lucie cameo. So that was fun.
Millie De Chirico
We gotta get her to do more. That's so fun.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, yeah. Oh, she's game. I'm sure she'd love to, but yes. Doreen sets her house on fire, she dons a blonde wig, and she hits the road to find another office job somewhere, maybe in your office. I will say this movie did make me nostalgic for the junk that accumulates at an office. You know how I like offices. They're almost like museums of what the office was in the past. And you'll be like, holy shit, look at this thing. This old technology. Or like, this closet full of old shit. I kind of, like, always got a kick out of that kind of stuff.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, dude, I can't even tell you. Like, post Covid, like, you know, there was all of this crazy discussion happening about commercial office space is dead. Like, everyone's like, you know, all these companies are, like, offloading all these, like, big buildings where, like, all these workers used to work. Now everybody's working from home. And there was a feeling of that when I. When I came back to Atlanta, this. So this was like, after Covid and the drama of whether or not I was going to go back to LA and trying to figure out my life, which I feel like, like, at the time felt absolutely insane. But I guess everybody else was also going through it, which I didn't know.
Casey O'Brien
And did you figure out your life?
Millie De Chirico
I think so. I think so now. But like, for past couple years, it was very tbd, I feel like.
Casey O'Brien
Sure.
Millie De Chirico
But then I decided to come back to Atlanta. I was still working for tcm. I hadn't gotten laid off yet and. But they were doing this thing where they were basically like. Like, everybody is moving to different buildings and so TCM was effectively losing their office.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And so. And then everybody was going to have to do this thing that they called hoteling, which is basically like renting a desk. So when you would come into the building, you didn't have like a dedicated office anymore. You had to, like, sit in a cube and like rent the space with your phone.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Horrible, by the way.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Like, no, I mean, Trisha has had to do some of that.
Millie De Chirico
Yes.
Casey O'Brien
In offices that she's worked in.
Millie De Chirico
It's like, why?
Casey O'Brien
Why it's so demoralizing and dehumanizing.
Millie De Chirico
Yes. And it's like, nobody wants to come into the office if we have to rent a desk.
Casey O'Brien
Right. Like the very least, it's like if you have your own desk, it's like, oh, I have my, like, little fun stuff. I got my little bobblehead here. It's like my little guys, you know, my journals and stuff. Stuff. But like, if you don't have any of that, it's like really horrific.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. And so I remember, like, me and a group of my co workers were like, oh, they're moving the entire floor of TCM people to this completely new building. And we went into this new building and it was like a zombie apocalypse had happened of like, it was like rows and rows of cubicles, offices of just like, like empty desks. But then it would have like the detritus of like, people that worked there, like, sort of. So, like.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Broken keyboards, busted printers, like random paper clips, like, thrown on the fucking floor. And then just like people's old like TBS slash TNT swag. So it'd be like, like my boys posters or whatever. Or like the. The Closer had blankets, like wool blankets, like.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Thrown on the Resolian Isles. Beer koozie or something like that.
Millie De Chirico
It was like, what's that dude that was friends with Jeff Foxworthy that had a show for a while. Bill Engvall.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. It was like all of this, like, old TBS and TNT shit from, like, 15 years ago. All of the swag, just, like, throw it on the floor, like, left in offices, just ditched forever. And I was just like, who would have imagined that this is where any of this would have ended up? Like, just trash that somebody's gonna put in a dumpster.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
And that's it, you know?
Casey O'Brien
But it's like those pieces are infused with meaning. Kind of like. Like, just seeing them, it would make me feel really weird.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. Like, fuck, dude. I'm trying to get, like, the librarian, the quest for the spear pint glasses from my old fucking office to take home with me and use forever for my family.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's wild. Well, any other concluding thoughts about this movie?
Millie De Chirico
Well, I mean, I. I know you have some. I think, for me, I don't really. Besides, I think the thing that we both share, which is that Cindy Sherman should make another movie.
Casey O'Brien
I would love it. I. Apparently she didn't really, like, love the process of making a movie, which I can kind of understand because it's like, making a movie is such a marathon and it's so horrible and it's, like, so much work and so much. So many decisions. And if you're coming from the world where you're, like, doing a photo series, I'm sure it's much more satisfying or, like, less painful to make a cool photo than it is an entire movie. So she might have just been like, fuck this.
Millie De Chirico
Well, I totally understand it. That's why I've never wanted to make a movie, frankly, because that just feels like. It feels so tedious. And I couldn't imagine having every single person and coming up to me every five seconds to be like, hey, do you like this light? Do you like this chord? Do you like this drape? Do you like when this actor says this? I'd be like, why don't you go figure it out, motherfucker? Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Or what I like less is when I'm like, okay, so I kind of want it to look like this. And the person goes, really? I don't like when people do that.
Millie De Chirico
Beating you down again.
Casey O'Brien
Casey, this is a total tangent, but Ridley Scott said in the commentary for Prometheus, he's like, like, he's like, I, I. I've been nominated for Academy Awards. I have so many movies, but on every set I work on, I'm still questioned with every decision. You want to do it that way? Yes, I want to do it that that way. Don't I get some of the benefit of the doubt? And I Was like, okay, Ridley Scott's going through it. I, I, I, I, I feel good. Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Then even at his level, he still deals with stupid bullshit. Yeah, I, I guess my one big takeaway, besides the, you know, Cindy Sherman thing and the fact that I did actually enjoy this movie a lot, I thought it was actually fun and like a black comedy. I really think it's, it was pretty gnarly in parts, which I appreciated.
Casey O'Brien
Pretty gross.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, it was oopy goopy for sure. Is the idea, the larger idea of office culture and sort of being obsessed with your job? Because that's the thing about Doreen's character, right, Is that, I mean, I think there are other factors involved, maybe mental situations happening for her, but at the end of the day, I remember being somebody like her at one point where I was just so obsessed with my job, obsessed with the skill set that I did at my job, to the point where I was always protective of it. And I just felt like, I don't know, I like hoarded my position within a company.
Casey O'Brien
Right.
Millie De Chirico
I think you understand what that could look like for me, and I never want to do that again. This is the thing that I think I've learned in 25 plus years of office working experience. Probably more than that, actually, if I think about college, is that, I don't know, I just feel like work is not everything. And I love what I do. I love my, what I've learned. I love the people that I work with. I love, you know, working in entertainment and movies and TV and stuff. But I don't ever want to be Doreen. I never want to be the fucking thing where I'm like, well, if, if something changes in my life and I don't get to work at this place every single day and do this job that I do every day that I'm going to lose my shit. Right? That to me was like, like, okay, like, I don't, I don't want to be in her position anymore. Do you know what I'm saying?
Casey O'Brien
I 100% know what you're saying. I think like, I've been in jobs before where I'm like, I know this job. I don't want to this, I know that this job is not going to be my career. And I'm only here for a certain amount of time. Like when I worked at the restaurants or when I worked at like the coffee shops. But I would be competitive and possessive at those jobs. Like when I worked at Jelena Takeaway on Abbot Kinney, I would be like that person Got promoted to manager before me. Like, I would be, like, mad. Even though I was like, why? Why care so much about this? And it's like. Like, I don't know. It's just. Even if it is your career job and it's like, what you want to be doing, it's like, jobs just aren't worth it to care that much to make them so a pillar of your personality and how you view yourself.
Millie De Chirico
Right.
Casey O'Brien
And your, like, your self worth. I don't think it's worth giving it that much importance in your life.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. I mean, it's like, don't kill your coworkers because. Because your job is stressing you out.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah. Kill your co workers because they keep stopping by your desk and annoying you. That's when you can kill them.
Millie De Chirico
Exactly. Just kill them because you want to. Don't do it because you're like, I love my job so much, and everything that's disrupting it is affecting me to the point where I'm killing people. And I just do it for sport. Do it for passion. Your love for murder.
Casey O'Brien
Yes.
Millie De Chirico
That's it, dude.
Casey O'Brien
You know, if you really love something, you'll do it, and not when you don't get paid for it, you know?
Millie De Chirico
That's it.
Casey O'Brien
All right. That was Office Killer. I really did, like. I, like, really think this is, like, a special, unique movie, and I hope more people get to see it.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. I think they will know that it's on Vinegar syndrome. So tip of the hat to them.
Casey O'Brien
All right, moving on, Millie. Everybody's been waiting for this. It's the office movie quiz.
Millie De Chirico
All right. This is gonna be so easy. It's gonna be offensive.
Casey O'Brien
I hate that you say this because I feel like when people say this to me, they're like, it's so easy. And I always get it wrong after that. This happens when we play Trivial Pursuit with my extended family. Family. My uncle will be like, oh, my God. Easy one. Unfair. Why do you get an easy one? And I'm like, I don't even know
Millie De Chirico
what this question is. No, I'm just saying, like, I think through a lens. I mean, there's nothing challenging on this list. You will get every movie, probably. There is no, like, obscure French Juliet Binoche movie from the 90s. It's like, it's easy. Easy stuff. Okay. But the way that I'm gonna phrase the question is that I'm going to be speaking. I'm basically gonna do a little acting, Casey, which.
Casey O'Brien
Wow, I love this.
Millie De Chirico
You're the actor of the podcast. I know. I'm just gonna dip my toe. You could have notes from me afterwards, off mic. We can talk about my performances. But, you know, I wanted to do it like this because I wanted to be like, you know, this is true to the spirit of this episode, and. And I thought it might be a fun way for you to try to guess the movie. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start talking. I'm gonna start talking as if I'm an employee of the company that this movie spotlights. And then I'm complaining about my job, so I'm bitching about my job. And then you have to guess the movie that it references. Does this make sense?
Casey O'Brien
Emily, this is such a clever little mechanism you've thrown into this game. I love this.
Millie De Chirico
Okay, we'll see. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. Okay. Okay. Hopefully this is easy.
Casey O'Brien
Okay.
Millie De Chirico
Okay. Number one. Okay. Oh, God. I know I just got hired at this new Internet company, but I'm already so tired of all the executives who are just fighting and they're trying to sue each other all the time. Like, dude, what's up with those creepy twins? Okay. This whole thing was so much better when it was called Face Mash.
Casey O'Brien
Would this be the Social Network?
Millie De Chirico
Correct.
Casey O'Brien
When he said twins, I was like. I thought. And maybe this is one of the answers later on. But I thought you were talking about Gremlins 2 because there's, like, twins that work in a laboratory in that.
Millie De Chirico
Okay.
Casey O'Brien
Anyways.
Millie De Chirico
But do you see. So you got the vibe that I'm going for?
Casey O'Brien
I got the vibe.
Millie De Chirico
Okay. Okay. So this is how the rest of the game is gonna go. And there's only four other questions, so this would be. It won't be that long.
Casey O'Brien
Okay, so I'm one for one.
Millie De Chirico
One for one. Okay, here's the second question. Oh, man. So the editor in chief of this new magazine that I work for is absolutely terrifying. I mean, I know I want to be a writer, but I can't keep up with all this high fashion. I mean, I feel like such a slob working here. I mean, all I can do is maybe hope that someone around here will take pity on me and give me a makeover.
Casey O'Brien
Would that be the Devil Wears Prada?
Millie De Chirico
Absolutely correct.
Casey O'Brien
What a timely question, because the sequel's coming out soon.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. Like now maybe.
Casey O'Brien
It's probably out now by the time this episode drops.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, I know. I've seen fucking Anne Hathaway everywhere.
Casey O'Brien
She really is everywhere.
Millie De Chirico
Everywhere.
Casey O'Brien
I think it's probably because she's Hotter than she's ever been. She looks incredible, Right? I don't know. She's really mutated into something even more beautiful. Mutated is the wrong word. Evolved. She's. I don't know. She looks great.
Millie De Chirico
Listen, listen. No disrespect to Anne. She's not for me, romantically, sexually or otherwise. I do think, though, that she is one of these women that a lot of men love. Like, they just love her a lot.
Casey O'Brien
Interesting.
Millie De Chirico
You know who else was that for a long time? Time? Anna Kendrick and Natalie Portman. She was kind of the O.G.
Casey O'Brien
natalie Portman, definitely. I feel like Anne Hathaway was really maligned for a long time, because I think she was seen as a theater dork for, like, a long. She had that. She had that label for a long
Millie De Chirico
time, but men don't care about that. They love the look. They are like, is she the type that I would marry? Yeah. Yes. But is she also, like, kind of quirky and funny? Yes.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
I felt like Anne was that. Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Interesting.
Millie De Chirico
Anyway.
Casey O'Brien
Well, interesting. Who's the next one of that. That group?
Millie De Chirico
See, I was thinking it was going to be Sydney Sweeney, but I think she's too. She's too va va voo.
Casey O'Brien
I mean, she's too hot.
Millie De Chirico
Guys want to, you know, but not in that, like, girl next door ish kind of way. Yeah. Who could it be?
Casey O'Brien
Who's the next one that's like, that? Jenna Ortega, maybe? No, she's not. She seems. She's, like, too gothy. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know who. Everyone. Who the crush is. Like that. That guy crush that. It's like, I feel like no one else, like, notices her except for me.
Millie De Chirico
Except for every man on the planet. Yes.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, Exactly.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. Well. Well, I'm sure if you have a theory about that, you can email us at.
Casey O'Brien
Please write in. We need help with that, because I think there's got to be somebody out there that's like that now.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah. DearMovies@exactlyrightmedia.com is our email. Okay. Third one. You ready?
Casey O'Brien
Yes.
Millie De Chirico
This might be so easy. You might yell at me. Oh, my God, dude, were you there when the lead anchor read the teleprompter word for word and looked like a fucking dumbass? All those guys who read the news are so hilariously dumb and macho. I'm thinking they should totally hire a woman and change things up for good.
Casey O'Brien
Is that Anchorman?
Millie De Chirico
Correct? If you want to get technical. Anchorman, the Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Casey O'Brien
I never saw the sequel to that movie.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, I have. My family is so deeply in on the Ron. Oh, my God.
Casey O'Brien
Interesting.
Millie De Chirico
Well, I used to tell this story a lot back in the day, but, like, I went to see the first Anchorman with my dad. I have never heard him laugh as hard as I did. My sister and I talk about it to this day. We're like, you remember when dad laughed harder than he's ever laughed before in his life during Anchorman. We love it.
Casey O'Brien
That's. That's great.
Millie De Chirico
That's like a. Like a Clank family classic. That'd be like a De Jericho family classic is Anchorman.
Casey O'Brien
I'm good. I'm glad that you use the term Clank family classic. That's.
Millie De Chirico
That's like ours. Okay, fourth one. This is the second to the last one.
Casey O'Brien
Okay.
Millie De Chirico
Okay. I'm telling you, these are easy, but whatever. Okay, um, here we go. Okay, I know I just got out of business school, but this brokerage company that I started at is absolutely wild. Everyone is high on cocaine and having sex in all the conference rooms. My boss gets on a microphone and screams at everybody, and it really charges up the room. I actually think we're stealing money, too. I mean, nothing is normal around here. And honestly, is it the best job I've ever had or the scariest job?
Casey O'Brien
I'm gonna say Wolf of Wall Street. Excellent.
Millie De Chirico
I told you you'd get all these.
Casey O'Brien
I. Yeah, can you imagine? I. It's hard for me to cold call people ever. Oh, yeah, that would be a hard job.
Millie De Chirico
We talked about that during. Sorry to bother your. Yes, it is not good. I can't believe they make people do it, especially now like it is.
Casey O'Brien
I know.
Millie De Chirico
Absolutely a no now. Okay, so this is the last one. This was the hardest, but I'm sure it's not okay. All right, here we go. God, I hate this place. I mean, truly, the only people that make it worthwhile are my co workers, and one of them is actually named Michael Bolton. I think they want to come up with a scheme to steal money using, like, a computer virus or something. Listen, if they do, I'm telling you, I am so in.
Casey O'Brien
Is that Office Space 5? That was the hardest one. Wait, can I do one for you? That popped into my head.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, you're gonna riff it. Okay, let's go.
Casey O'Brien
I'm gonna riff it.
Millie De Chirico
This is a bonus. Bonus question for.
Casey O'Brien
This is a bonus. This is for you.
Millie De Chirico
Okay.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, my God. I love my job, and I'm the smartest person here, but no one respects me in the newsroom, and I can't believe they hired this himbo to be the news anchor. Producing this show is so hard. And there's this curly haired guy who's also in love with me. God, what a life.
Millie De Chirico
Damn, dude. For anybody but me, that would have been hard as fuck. But I know it to be broadcast news.
Casey O'Brien
Yes. Very good.
Millie De Chirico
Good, because I almost put one on here. Like I always put broadcast news. What was the other one? I must put. It was either going to be network or broadcast news, but I was like, I don't know. It feels like maybe others would think that was boring.
Casey O'Brien
Good job, Millie.
Millie De Chirico
The moment you said, I was kind of like, oh. Until you said curly hair. And I was like, well, I know that.
Casey O'Brien
I know that annoying ass dude.
Millie De Chirico
No.
Casey O'Brien
Very good. Good quiz, Millie. Thanks for putting that together.
Millie De Chirico
Thanks for sitting through it. I knew you would get every question right.
Casey O'Brien
I love being quizzed. All right, Millie, finally, it's employees picks time film recommendations based on the theme of the discussion. What do you got?
Millie De Chirico
You gotta go first, bro.
Casey O'Brien
I'm gonna go first. I already said this movie today, but this kind of goes in the office killer type of film that I feel like was sort of forgotten and it was impossible to find for a long time. I don't know if it's been released on the Criterion Collection, but it was on the Criterion channel for a long time.
Millie De Chirico
Time.
Casey O'Brien
And it's just easier to find in general. It's called Clockwatchers. It's with Lisa Kudrow, Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Alana Ubach. This is like an incredible cast. It's written and directed by Jill Sprecher, who I think is a really great filmmaker that didn't get to do too much. He also did 13 conversations about one Thing, which is another kind of office movie that I really like. But Clock Watchers is really about people being bored in, like, a corporate office. And. And they're all temp workers at Global Credit, and it's about their, like, friendship and competitiveness with each other. And like, I don't know, it's just like a really. It's really good about, like, the politics of an office and about the boredom of working in an office. And I really love this movie. And it's got, again, such a stellar cast, and you should definitely check it out. Clockwatchers sounds good, and it's a big favorite of the comedian John Early. He talks about it all the time.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, good. Yeah, that was actually an option for the quiz, but then I saw you were going to recommend it, so I
Casey O'Brien
didn't not put it in.
Millie De Chirico
Okay, so my employee pick. This might be a contentious one. It's. I wanted to go the. Like Doreen trapping people in the house and killing them and then keeping their bodies. So I'm gonna recommend a movie that you will probably not be able to see unless you own the original tape or DVD or if you go on YouTube right now and watch it right this second. But it's a movie from 1993, and it's called Boxing Helena.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, my God.
Millie De Chirico
Directed by. By Jennifer lynch, the daughter of David lynch, starring Julian Sands. Rest in peace, King Sherilyn Fenn. This movie.
Casey O'Brien
I've actually never seen this movie.
Millie De Chirico
Casey. I'm putting the link to it right now into the chat because.
Casey O'Brien
Put it in the chat.
Millie De Chirico
This is up your fucking alley.
Casey O'Brien
I know. It's on my watch list and it has been for years.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, I just noticed that it was on YouTube. So, like I said, if you don't watch it now, well, it's. It might be gone. I saw this movie many years ago. It is disturbing. Just read the plot synopsis, that's all. I'll tell you, if you haven't seen it already, I. It was filmed in Atlanta, and there's a lot of, like, Atlanta things. Fantastic. Including the apartment that Helena lives in, which is on the way to work. Actually, it's on the way to my job, and I pass it constantly. And I'm like, oh, my God, that's where she lived in Boxing Helena. But it's a really fascinating, interesting movie. Like I said, it's very. The plot of it is morally ambiguous, if you know what I'm saying. But I do think it's worth watching at least once to form an opinion on. You get to hear Julian Sands say Helena a bunch of times. Times. Which is fun. And that's it. Yeah, I figured, you know, like, what is a movie about somebody that traps somebody in a house and does something with a body? That's the link this week.
Casey O'Brien
Here's a tip for the shitheads out there. If you go to justwatch.com and you put in a movie like, say, Boxing Elena, now, it's not available to stream anywhere in the United States, but it's streaming somewhere else in the world, say, Germany and Switzerland. And maybe if you took a little travel with a VPN to one of those countries, you might be able to watch this movie. So that's a little tip for you guys out there.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, there is a DVD, a standard deaf DVD on Amazon.com for, like, 30 bucks.
Casey O'Brien
This needs the Vinegar syndrome treatment.
Millie De Chirico
See there, this. The fact that it hasn't makes me feel like there's some fuckery going on with it because this one has been gone for a minute. Like when I.
Casey O'Brien
But I feel like it's a high profile movie. Like people know that movie.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
You know.
Millie De Chirico
Oh. And it's like the people in it is, is, is fantastic. I mean, besides Julian Sands and, and Sherilyn F. I mean like Bill Paxton's in it. I mean it was directed by Jennifer lynch. So there's, there's got to be something wrong. That's what I'm like, there's got to be something wrong.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah, that's, you know, it's another random movie like that Cocoon.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
You can't find that anywhere. It's not streaming on anything. There's some going on there.
Millie De Chirico
The. I will say that the standard de DVD that it's on Amazon was part of. Do you remember when MGM Home video had their avant garde cinema line where they'd put like their like weird movies and they would just. It would be part of this like, you know, little micro section of their DVD library. Man, I miss that. It's good. Anyway.
Casey O'Brien
Very good. Good Wreck.
Millie De Chirico
Thank you very much. I sent you the link.
Casey O'Brien
Thank you. I'm gonna check this out. And you know what? Our recommendations are good because mine was an office, strict office movie. Yours is a strict fucked up movie. And that put those together, you get Office Killer. So it's perfect. Well, that's our show. If you want to write to us, you know, if you've got a gripe, a consensual grope or a regret, please write into dearMoviesExactlyRightMedia.com. you can also leave us a voicemail. Record it on your phone, send it to the same email. Try to keep it under a minute, please. Just want to say thank you again to everybody who wrote in for the movie date episode. That was so fun. So glad we did that.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, we got to do it again.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, we will. We definitely will. And follow us on our socials. Rearmovies, I love you on Instagram and Facebook. And our litter box handles areceeleo, Brien and Decherico.
Millie De Chirico
That's right. Listen to Dear Movies, I Love youe on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts rate and review the show, please. It would be so great. Please also leave nice comments. If you disagree with us about things. That's great, but don't be a about it.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
You know what I'm saying? Like there's like, sometime. And I listen. I knew that the candy discussion was going to get fucking heated because everyone's like, you don't like Whoppers. I don't like you, bitch. But it was like, you know, at some point, it's like, if you're just gonna be like, oh, shut up. Snow caps are the best, then why even waste the two seconds of energy to be that on the Internet? Just like, I hear you, right?
Casey O'Brien
I hear you.
Millie De Chirico
Just be nice. Just be like, I respectfully disagree about cookie dough bites.
Casey O'Brien
This podcast is like a mom and pop shop, you know?
Millie De Chirico
It really is.
Casey O'Brien
One Yelp review will sink us, you know?
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
One bad Yelp review.
Millie De Chirico
And it's like, we're not even doing anything bad. We're not poisoning the community with bad food.
Casey O'Brien
No.
Millie De Chirico
They're just doing a little thing. Okay.
Casey O'Brien
Oh, my God. All right, well, Millie, what are we doing next week? Quite excited. There's a lot to unpack with this next week's episode. Yes.
Millie De Chirico
We are doing the recent documentary about the making of Dear Movies, I love you, aka a horror film that came out in 2025 called Undertone. And I talked about this in my film diary, and we were both like, should we do it for an episode? And guess what? We're doing.
Casey O'Brien
Coming at you.
Millie De Chirico
Coming at you. And it's on as of right now. It's on, like, a premium streaming site for a lot of money.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
Because it's still in theaters probably.
Casey O'Brien
Yeah.
Millie De Chirico
But it shouldn't be. Maybe it won't be by the time we listen to this.
Casey O'Brien
So we'll see. Yeah. Hopefully the price will go down a little bit.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah.
Casey O'Brien
But, yeah, can't wait to talk. I've seen it now.
Millie De Chirico
Oh, yeah.
Casey O'Brien
Lot to discuss, because it's not just a podcast movie. It's about. About a woman and a man co hosting a podcast together over zoom, essentially.
Millie De Chirico
So the documentary of our lives, Casey, the documentary.
Casey O'Brien
It's 100% accurate. They got it. All right. All right, Millie. Well, that's about. Does it.
Millie De Chirico
Yeah, that is. Thank you very much, everybody, for listening. Thank you very much, Casey o', Brien, for being here.
Casey O'Brien
Thank you, Emily De Jericho, for existing and being in my life and all of our lives.
Millie De Chirico
Lives. Yeah. I'm glad that we don't technically work in an office together, so we won't have to murder each other in any kind of way.
Casey O'Brien
But, you know, I won't be bothering you at your desk every 20 minutes. You know, that'll be nice that we don't have to deal with that sort of social issue.
Millie De Chirico
So thank God.
Casey O'Brien
All right, Millie. See ya.
Millie De Chirico
Bye. Bye. This has been an exactly right production. Hosted by me, Millie De Chirico, and produced by my co host, Casey o'. Brien.
Casey O'Brien
This episode was mixed by Tom Breifogel. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain, our guest booker is Patrick Cotner, and our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac.
Millie De Chirico
Our incredible theme music is by the best band in the entire world, the Softies.
Casey O'Brien
Thank you to our executive producers, Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, Daniel Kramer and Millie De Chirico.
Millie De Chirico
We love you.
Casey O'Brien
Goodbye.
Millie De Chirico
Be kind.
Kalpen (Cal) Penn
Hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Casey O'Brien
I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all get distracted when we drive, whether it's from our phones or or kids in the backseat bickering. But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, please put your phones on silent and take a mental
Millie De Chirico
note to focus on driving.
Casey O'Brien
Paid for by nhtsa. If you work in university maintenance, Grainger
Millie De Chirico
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Casey O'Brien
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Millie De Chirico
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Casey O'Brien
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Hosts: Millie De Chirico & Casey O'Brien
Date: May 12, 2026
This episode explores Cindy Sherman’s 1997 film Office Killer, viewed through the dual lenses of horror-comedy and office culture. Millie (experiencing the film for the first time) and Casey (a longtime fan) discuss the movie’s production, themes, aesthetics, and the landscape of office-set cinema. They also reflect on the evolution of office work, the nostalgia and pitfalls of magazine culture, and trace the boundary between office awkwardness and outright mayhem. The episode features a spirited quiz about office movies and recommendations for further viewing.
On Office Archetypes:
“I would love to be a part of a few pyramid schemes. I’m not even at that stage... once that starts happening, I’ll be thrilled because that means I’m on the pathway towards success.” — Casey O'Brien (09:43)
On Molly Ringwald’s Character:
“She look... if you flip through the Delia's catalog in '97 or '98, you will know exactly the look that I'm talking about.” — Millie De Chirico (50:28)
On ‘Video Nasties’ Month:
“We could technically make y’all watch Cannibal Holocaust, but... probably not, not this year.” — Millie (21:43)
On Changing Office Technology:
“All these people having to, like, learn AI now in the office… it's getting really dark out there.” — Casey (67:00)
Millie quizzes Casey with cleverly performed office archetype descriptions—all easily identified:
The hosts wrap with reminders for listener interaction and tease the next week’s episode: a documentary about the making of their fictional podcast-turned-horror-film, Undertone (2025).
The episode is a blend of film geekery, irreverence, nostalgia, and personal history, using Office Killer as a springboard into conversations about artist-driven cinema, work culture (past and present), and the odd way that office life both shapes and warps our identities. Both hosts bring their signature wit, warmth, and deep knowledge to craft a fun, “relationship with movies” kind of episode.
Want to chat, gripe, or share office horror stories?
Email: DearMovies@exactlyrightmedia.com
Instagram: @dearmoviesiloveyou
“Just be nice. Just be like, I respectfully disagree about cookie dough bites.” — Millie De Chirico (109:56)
End of summary.