284: On The Odyssey, Olivia Wilde, Charli XCX

Summary

Every Outfit Podcast, Episode 284: On The Odyssey, Olivia Wilde, Charli XCX

Date: July 31, 2026
Hosts: Chelsea Fairless & Lauren Garroni

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Episode Overview

In Episode 284, Chelsea and Lauren explore the wild world of remakes, reboots, and sequels, dissect Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated IMAX epic "The Odyssey," celebrate Olivia Wilde’s latest comedic and acting triumphs, and break down the post-Brat era of Charli XCX with her new album "Music Fashion Film." They interweave their signature fashion commentary and pop-culture insights, grappling with the nostalgia-industrial complex, the flaws (and occasional successes) of Hollywood rehashes, and what it means to create original art amid the relentless churn of cultural recycling.

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Taste Test: SJP Jalapeño Wine

(00:33–02:58)

• Chelsea and Lauren kick off by reviewing the newly released Sarah Jessica Parker x Invivo Jalapeño Wine at 11am, for authenticity.
• Key takes:
  • The jalapeño flavor is more subtle than expected.
  • Lauren jokes, “Do you think this is going to be SJP’s next venture? Hot wines and even hotter questions.” (01:31)
  • Chelsea desires “more heat on the finish,” likening it to a spicy margarita, but both ultimately give it the Every Outfit seal of approval—for parties, not daily drinking.
  • “Bring to a gay guy’s house or Sex and the City trivia night,” Chelsea proposes. (02:58)

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Remake Mania: Carrie, Possession, & Legally Blonde Prequel Series

(03:12–20:09)

"Carrie" on Amazon

• Amazon is producing a new "Carrie" limited series, starring Summer H. Howell, helmed by Mike Flanagan ("horror king of Netflix").
• Chelsea and Lauren lament the casting of conventionally attractive women as Carrie:
  • Lauren: “It is one of those things where, because there’s a book, you can always go back to the source material… but I just wish Carrie was cast as weird-looking, not Instagram-face.” (06:28)
  • Discussion of Bo Burnham’s "Eighth Grade" as a more nuanced portrayal of adolescent cruelty.
• Quote: “It does suck that you can’t make a big-budget movie framed around a woman who isn’t conventionally attractive.” (07:19, Chelsea)

"Possession" Remake

• Parker Finn is remaking the cult 1981 film “Possession,” casting Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner.
• Lauren reflects, “So many have seen ‘Possession’ as GIFs, not as a film. Maybe a remake can reach a wider audience.”
• The ongoing debate: Should visionary directors not just make new works instead of remakes?
  • Chelsea: “We should be remaking mediocre movies with great premises, not classics that can’t be improved.” (12:46)

Legally Blonde Prequel ("Elle")

• Amazon’s YA dramedy about a young Elle Woods in 1990s Seattle.
• Lauren surprised by its charm, particularly the premise (plastic surgeon dad botches a celebrity nose job and flees LA).
• Chelsea challenges why every prequel is YA: “I feel like I’m watching a children’s show… shouldn’t these target millennials or Gen X?” (15:29)
• Conversation about period inaccuracy (internet slang in the 90s), filler-heavy casting, and needle drops.
• “It’s not gritty, it’s not for our age group… but I’ll probably still watch it.” (16:29, Chelsea)

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Clueless Sequel Series

(22:54–25:44)

• Paramount+ greenlights a 6-episode "Clueless" series with Alicia Silverstone as Cher, now a mother, whose daughter is entering high school.
• Both hosts groan at the premise:
  • Chelsea: “Just do it with teenagers in the ’90s with a new cast. I don’t need Cher actively being a parent.” (24:07)
  • Lauren wishes for a “Clueless as Real Housewives” approach.
• Summary: Host nostalgia is real, but the magic is being diluted by formulaic, risk-averse studios.

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The Odyssey: Christopher Nolan's IMAX Epic

(26:54–45:49)

Experiencing “The Odyssey”

• Both hosts (unknowingly) saw the film within 30 minutes of each other—Lauren at 10am in IMAX, Chelsea at a “cursed” 9:30am screening.
• Lauren nerds out on IMAX logistics:
  • The film is shot entirely on massive, loud, cumbersome cameras; dialogue required an elaborate mirror system.
  • Only 40 theaters in the world can show it as Nolan intended.
  • “You need a professional theater kid to hold that emotion while the camera reloads every three minutes. That’s why he cast Anne Hathaway.” (30:06)

Cast and Performances

• Anne Hathaway as Penelope delivers a delightfully campy, slightly overacted turn: “She overacted, but it worked. Very confusing.” (30:26, Chelsea)
• Charlize Theron’s cameo as Calypso is likened to “her own Dior J’Adore ad.”
• The cast includes a slew of notable names (Matt Damon as Odysseus, Robert Pattinson as the magnetic antihero, Zendaya as Athena, Lupita Nyong’o in dual roles, Samantha Morton as Circe).
• “Odysseus this, Odysseus that. Get a life. It’s been 20 years,” Chelsea jokes of Penelope’s singular focus. (32:47)
• On the absence of sex: "There is no sex in Christopher Nolan’s films—there’s hardly feelings." (33:42, Lauren)

Historical Accuracy & Critical Reception

• Fashion history critics objected: “Okay, but it looks cunt,” says Chelsea of the stylized Schiaparelli-inspired costuming. (36:12)
• Controversial op-ed by Emily Wilson (author of a best-selling “woke” translation): She blasts the film’s depth, motivation, and food.
  • Lauren: “This is Christopher Nolan—he makes dumb, smart-person movies.” (39:37)

Other Notable Moments

• Popcorn bucket shaped like an IMAX camera.
• Chelsea reveals that IMAX projectors are irreplaceable—builders are dead or retired: “It is quite literally a dying art.” (40:59)

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Olivia Wilde’s Comeback: “The Invite” & “I Want Your Sex”

(46:35–69:08)

The Invite

• Directed by Olivia Wilde, written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones.
• Set entirely in one apartment; two couples, sexual tension, and comedic bickering unfold à la “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde are the sexless married couple; Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton their liberated, swinger-esque neighbors.
• Wilde’s comedic talents are celebrated: “I’ve always thought Olivia Wilde was a great actor, but now I think she’s a comedic genius.” (49:43, Chelsea)
• Heavy Woody Allen and Esther Perel influences.
• “The dynamic is so believable…Edward Norton as a genre of new age swinger guy, Penelope Cruz as the Orna from Couples Therapy by the end.” (56:01, Lauren)

I Want Your Sex

• Greg Araki’s first feature in over a decade, co-written with Carly Shortino (podcast friend and recurring guest).
• Wilde stars as a sex-forward pop artist who entrances her young intern (Cooper Hoffman).
• The hosts recall the slightly kinky-themed premiere: “Attire was ‘slightly kinky’—Michael Patrick King was in all black with a white cardigan.” (58:11)
• Notable cameos: Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho as cops, James Duval.
• “Rom dom”—a comedic, unexpected, BDSM-driven art-world romance.
• “If you appreciate the tone of this podcast, you’ll probably enjoy this movie—funny, but with an edge.” (69:08, Chelsea)
• Charli XCX cameos as Cooper Hoffman’s cold, withholding girlfriend.

Minor Social Media Controversy

• Araki’s comments on Gen Z’s declining sex, and the importance of messiness in youth, spawned bad-faith internet backlash.
• Chelsea: “Respect your queer elders… his films helped lay the foundation for the acceptance you enjoy today.” (68:09)

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Charli XCX: "Music Fashion Film" Album Review

(70:24–79:49)

• Rapid follow-up to “Brat”—Chelsea commends Charli for releasing quickly: “It’s smart to release the next album fast, don’t linger on Brat fever.”
• Themes: post-fame hangovers, darker/less polished sound, immediacy, and not pandering to the previous album’s audience.
• “I like how the songs don’t feel overwrought or predetermined. It feels like something she wanted to make.” (72:22, Chelsea)
• Tracks like “Persona” (possibly about Sky Ferreira or Reena Sawayama, not Lorde), “Card Declined” (a takedown of consumerism), and “Spring Summer 26” (the emptiness behind fashion world glamor and apocalyptic undertones) are dissected.
• Lauren: “The album feels like the song version of waking up the day after partying and having a hangover.” (71:08)
• Overall, the hosts praise Charli’s artistic evolution, courage to not replicate “Brat,” and willingness to explore messy, sadder topics.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you’re going to bring jalapeño wine, bring it to a gay guy’s house with a sense of humor.” (02:58, Chelsea)
• “It is odd that Drew Barrymore as Josie Grossie in Never Been Kissed is a more accurate screen depiction of Carrie than any screen portrayal of Carrie.” (05:33, Lauren)
• “We need to remake mediocre movies that had great premises but weren’t well executed.” (12:46, Chelsea)
• “Odysseus this, Odysseus that. Get a life. It’s been 20 years.” (32:47, Chelsea)
• “If this show is set in the 90s, why are they talking about gay rights and gay wrongs?” (18:12, Chelsea)
• “If you appreciate the tone of this podcast, you’ll probably enjoy [I Want Your Sex]: funny and accessible with an edge.” (69:08, Chelsea)
• “The album [Music Fashion Film] is self-aware—a song version of a hangover.” (71:08, Lauren)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• SJP Jalapeño Wine Taste Test: 00:33–02:58
• Remakes—Carrie, Possession, Elle: 03:12–20:09
• Clueless Sequel Dissection: 22:54–25:44
• The Odyssey Nerd Out: 26:54–45:49
• Olivia Wilde’s The Invite/I Want Your Sex: 46:35–69:08
• Charli XCX Album Breakdown: 70:24–79:49

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Tone & Style

True to form, the episode blends snarky, affectionate critique with insightful analysis, always filtered through the hosts’ fashion/pop cultural obsessions and lived experiences. The language is witty, irreverent, and self-deprecating, often veering into tangents about casting, personal anecdotes (early morning screenings, minor mid-show wine buzz), and insider industry gossip.

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Closing Thoughts

Episode 284 delivers both expansive big-picture analysis and deep-dive fashion/pop-culture micro-commentary—essential for anyone wanting to know not just what’s happening in Hollywood, but how it all feels (and looks). Both measured and bitchy, it’s a sharp take on the state of the artist and the age of the remake, with Olivia Wilde and Charli XCX as torch-bearers for self-aware, risk-taking creativity.

Every Outfit: “If you appreciate the tone of this podcast, you’ll probably like all these movies and albums. And if not, just bring jalapeño wine to a gay trivia night.”

Transcript

[A]

I spent $40,000 on shoes. What's the matter, Morty? Great gowns. Beautiful gowns.

[B]

Fashion has changed. No, it hasn't.

[A]

Hi, I'm Lauren Garone.

[B]

And I'm Chelsea Fairless.

[A]

And welcome back to another episode of the Every Outfit podcast. Do I sound out of breath?

[B]

Kind of.

[A]

I had to run upstairs and start recording because we finally have the Sarah Jessica Parker jalapeno wine, and Chelsea almost sipped it, but we had to sip it on air for the first time so you guys could hear.

[B]

Yes, this is the in vivo Sarah Jessica Parker jalapeno wine. The nice folks at Invivo sent this to us. Just because it's gifted doesn't mean that I won't be honest about this wine. Will say I'm a little scared about the jalapeno element, but I have an open mind.

[A]

We should also say that we are recording this in the late morning at a time that one does not typically drink wine.

[B]

Yes. 11am but we are committed to this job.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Okay, Chelsea.

[B]

All right. Bottoms up.

[A]

Cheers.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

The jalapeno is not as pronounced as I expected, based on the marketing. I wouldn't even know, actually. Okay. It has a little kick. It does, but it's not like. It's like a spicy marg or something.

[A]

No, it has a little bit of a kick. Do you think that this is going to be Sarah Jessica Parker's next venture? Hot wines. Hot wines and even hotter questions.

[B]

Oh, God. Wait, let me try it. Okay, let me have some more.

[A]

All right, second sips. She's good. She's refreshing.

[B]

Okay, now I'm disappointed that the finish isn't that spicy.

[A]

You think it should be hotter?

[B]

I think it should be hotter. I think if we're going to do this, like, let's fucking do this.

[A]

The jalapeno is actually too subtle. In your opinion.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Also, now I'm on Sarah Jessica Parker's side, because when we first discussed this wine, it was through. I think it was. Wine Spectator did a video feature, and the woman interviewing Sarah Jessica Parker was like, this would make a great spritz. And she put grapefruit in it. And Sarah Jessica Parker was like, I just like to have it as is. And you know what?

[C]

She's right.

[A]

This is delightful.

[B]

You could turn it into a spritz if you wanted to. I don't know if I would add so many garnishes, though.

[A]

I think it's good on its own. And dare I say, a good wine to have on a weekday, late morning or cocktail Hour, Whatever you prefer. Thank you to the folks at Invivo for sending us the Sarah Jessica Parker jalapeno wine. I feel like it's every outfit approved.

[C]

Mmm.

[B]

I don't know if I could do this regularly.

[A]

Oh, no. I mean, that's why she has the Pinot Noir, the Chardonnay, the Sauvignon Blanche,

[B]

the low alcohol wines as well, Lest we forget.

[A]

So, yeah, I think the jalapeno wine is a fun thing to bring to a party.

[B]

Oh, for sure. If you're going to some gay guy's house with a sense of humor, they'd probably appreciate that you brought this or

[A]

your Sex in the City trivia night. They would get a kick out of the SJP X Invivo jalapeno line.

[B]

Okay, moving on. We have some remake news this week. Lots of remakes on the horizon.

[A]

Indeed. Where would you like to start?

[B]

I want to start with this new Amazon series that is a remake of Carrie, the Stephen King book turned Brian De Palma film that has spawned many remakes, mini sequels, TV movies, all sorts of shit over the years. The new version of Carrie is an eight episode limited series that is coming out on Amazon. It stars Summer H. Howell. Who? Are you familiar with her?

[A]

I am not. To be fair, I did think this was Sadie Sink at first.

[B]

Totally. This is the poor man, Sadie Sink, for sure. She looks to be an emerging scream queen based on her IMDb credits. The creator and showrunner is Mike Flanagan, who's made a lot of horror movies, none of which I have seen, and horror series.

[A]

He's sort of the horror king of Netflix.

[B]

Right. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

[A]

Well, what I find so interesting is that Mike Flanagan has done very well of establishing his own name in horror. It's just interesting that he's using all of that clout to be like, you know what? I want to remake Carrie, which arguably already has a perfect interpretation in the sissy space Brian De Palma version.

[B]

Totally. But it is one of those things where because there's a book, you can always go back to the source material and do something that is more aligned with the book, less aligned with the Brian De Palma film, which we see a little bit of in the trailer. Because in the book, Carrie, she doesn't just like, murder everyone at prom. Spoiler alert. She also destroys the entire town. And it seems as though she is doing that in this series.

[A]

Right. But it is curious because the whole point of Carrie in the novel is she's a Social outcast because she's overweight. She's described as chubby and has terrible hygiene and acne. And they seem to keep casting thin, conventionally attractive women as Carrie.

[B]

No, I'm with you. That's the problem with all of these movies and with Sissy Spacek. She is attractive, but not conventionally attractive. Like, she's weird looking, sure.

[A]

But it is odd that Drew Barrymore as Josie Grossi and Never Been Kissed is a more accurate screen depiction of Carrie than any of the screen portrayals of Carrie.

[B]

Totally. Because the last Carrie that we got was. Was the Kimberly Pierce remake of the Brian De Palma film starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Way, way too hot to beat Carrie. What are we doing here?

[A]

When was that? 2016.

[B]

Feels like it was like a decade ago. I like that they did bring in a female director to tackle this particular subject matter. I mean, obviously Brian De Palma did a fantastic job. The book is written by a man, but I think a woman would have unique insight into, like, how fucked and evil young girls can be. It's a really specific thing and it's not something that you can really understand unless you've witnessed it on some level

[A]

or unless you're Bo Burnham. Because when I was watching this trailer, I was reminded of seeing 8th grade and that whole pool party scene, if you remember. I was like, oh, this is how you do a modern interpretation of Carrie.

[B]

Totally. And when this project was first announced, the little girl from Hereditary was rumored to be Carrie. And I thought that was the most genius thing I've ever heard.

[A]

It is increasingly difficult and I'm gonna sound like an old man screaming at the sky. But, like, it is hard to make a Carrie series with people who have Instagram face.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Look, do I personally need a Carrie series for the social media age? No. Do I think that contemporary 15 year olds are starting Instagram accounts about the outcast getting her period? I don't think so. At the very least, it'd be on TikTok.

[B]

It does suck though, that you can't make a limited series or a big budget movie that is framed around a woman that isn't conventionally attractive. You can do it with an independent film. Like when I think about something like welcome to the Dollhouse or something. But can you imagine what welcome to the Dollhouse would have been like if it was like some Elle Fanning ass bitch in. No, it has to be someone weird looking. Because when the character is weird looking, it also really heightens the cruelty of the bullying, you know, and that's what Carrie is about cruelty.

[A]

Well, that's what I find so puzzling about these remakes that we're going to talk about. And I do think that this is a great transition to start discussing the Possession remake, which is done by Parker Finn. Parker Finn, who wrote and directed Smile, is doing a remake of Andre Zawalski's 1981 film that starred S.A. neil Rip and Isabella Johnny. And I was a defender of this film when it first got announced, only to myself. No one asked me my thoughts until now about the Possession remake. I was a defender of the idea of remaking this film, which up until a few years ago was very difficult to see.

[B]

I haven't seen it since, like, college, so I wouldn't know.

[A]

Well, that's what I'm saying. I saw it from, like, a torrent that an old boyfriend got when I was in college as well. Like, the only way that you were able to see Possession up until maybe two or three years ago was buying a European DVD for 150 bucks on eBay.

[B]

That's crazy, because I also feel like that's one of those movies that looms really large on Tumblr.

[A]

Oh, yeah. No, that's why I'm like, I thought it was a good idea to remake this film because a lot of people, or shall I say chronically online people have seen it through GIFs or the tiny clip of Isabella Johnny freaking out in the train station. But I don't know how many people have seen the whole film. Yeah. So I was like, okay, a modern interpretation of, like, a surreal horror tinge divorce story is interesting. And then I saw the first photos of Margaret Qualley, who, of course, has more than a passing resemblance to Isabella Johnny.

[B]

Yeah. I was impressed when I saw the photos. You weren't?

[A]

Well, I'm like, okay, she's dressed quite dowdy. She's dressed like she's in a period piece. I'm like, what are we doing here?

[B]

I was impressed. I think this is as good as you can do casting wise, trying to remake a film. They both have real Instagram face, You know, natural Instagram face.

[A]

Yes. People get work done to look like the two of them.

[B]

Yeah.

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[A]

Here's my thing. Mike Flanagan, Parker Finn have established themselves as original voices in horror. I don't understand why they need to remake these beloved things that are never going to be as good as the novel or you'll have people comparing it to the original. Like just make your own version of a possession or like your homage to it, which I guess a remake is. But I don't know. I've never understood the concept of remaking things. I understand it from a studio perspective where it's like you need to have, I guess in their mind. It's like if people already know about the movie then you have to do less with marketing.

[B]

Totally. But it also creates a situation where there's a built in framework to judge the remake against that wouldn't exist if it was just an Original work.

[A]

Yeah, make your own horror tinged divorce film that people can be like, oh, it's inspired by possession. Look, they cast Margaret Quali.

[B]

You've made this point many times on the podcast, but like, so I should

[A]

shut the fuck up about it?

[B]

No, no, but we need to be remaking mediocre movies that had great premises that were not well executed. That's what we need to do because there is the name recognition, but there's also the opportunity to improve upon the source material.

[A]

And in the Sam Neill role seems to be Mr. Dua Lipa Callum Turner, aka the guy in that romantic comedy that we've been waterboarded with the trailer for where single people can only have sex one night a year.

[B]

Right. It's like the Purge, but the Sex in the City version.

[A]

Has anyone else been waterboarded with this trailer? I feel like if you've seen a movie in the last two months, that trailer has appeared before it.

[C]

Oh.

[B]

It's what pops up in my mind when my eyes close and I drift off to sleep at night. I am excited that friend of the show, King Princess is in this movie.

[A]

Oh, yeah. I love the idea of King Princess being the. The friend of role.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In a rom com. I mean, I'm not going to see the movie, but I am going to be livid if the whole thing is that the two of them don't fuck because they fall in love and respect each other too much.

[B]

Okay, well, now I think we need to watch it. All right, I watched the Odyssey for you. You can watch. What is this movie called?

[A]

One Night Only.

[B]

One Night Only.

[A]

I guess job not well done because we've seen this trailer 25 times and we're like, what is it called again?

[B]

Okay, another, not a remake, but a prequel series has happened.

[A]

When you put this on the docket because we were talking about the Carrie remake and the Possession remake, I did for a good 30 seconds think that Amazon had greenlit a prequel Series about the 2018 Isabelle Pair film link, which

[B]

would have made sense given the very dark backstory of that character in her childhood.

[A]

But no, this is a prequel sequel to Legally Blonde, which we previously have talked about on the podcast where a teenage Elle woods is a fish out of water in mid-90s Seattle.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Which when you originally explained this to me, I thought was an incredibly dumb idea. However, now having watched the pilot, which I was very charmed by.

[B]

Okay, interesting. Can't wait to hear more.

[A]

The reason that they end up in Seattle is quite funny and works for the world, which is Elle woods parents, played by June Diane Rayfield and Tom Everett Scott. Always great to see him on screen. Her father is a plastic surgeon who botched an unnamed actress's nose. And so he has to flee Los Angeles and can only get a job in Seattle.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I thought that was funny. That worked totally.

[B]

And I like the origin story stuff like, oh, this is where she gets the Chihuahua. And, you know, that sort of shit. But my issues are, why does every prequel automatically have to be a young adult series? This happened with the Carrie Diaries. Also, if anything, shouldn't they gear these towards, like, older people? Like the original audience, which was more millennials and Gen X. It could still be about Elle woods in high school, but it could just be a little grittier perhaps. Just a thought. Not that Legally Blonde was gritty, but I guess more adult because I feel like I'm watching a children's show.

[A]

You do bring up a good point, because I did wonder who the audience for this is, because you are correct, it does feel like a CW show meant for gen Alpha teens. But I don't know if anyone but the original audience for Legally Blonde would enjoy it. And you are correct, the story is not engaging to people our age.

[B]

Totally. Don't get me wrong, I hate myself, so I'll probably continue watching it. But just a thought.

[A]

Well, here's my issue with these prequel sequels is they inevitably end up invalidating the source material, because in creating a prequel that takes place after the original film for the original audience members, there's a lot of stuff that rings true from Legally Blonde. Right. Elle is a fish out of water at Harvard. Now she's a fish out of water in Seattle. And so it's just weird because then it makes you go back and wonder why the L in Legally Blonde doesn't say to Jennifer Coolidge, like, you know, this experience at Harvard reminds me a lot of the two years I spent in Seattle.

[B]

Yeah, true. I will say the lead is fantastic. I don't know what her name is, this actress, but they did a great job of casting Elle Woods.

[A]

Do you think that Reese Witherspoon's own daughter, who is a young adult herself, was mad that she was not cast?

[B]

I did think about that.

[A]

I have no idea if she auditioned if she wants to be an actress, but it's got to be hard to see someone else who has a striking resemblance to your mother play a younger version of your mother.

[B]

Yeah, she has the physical resemblance, but also she really nailed the mannerisms and is doing an incredible Reese Witherspoon impression.

[A]

Her name is Lexi Mindtree, and wouldn't you know it, Chell, she was in a 2024 episode of Law and Special Victims Unit. It is season 26, episode one, Fractured Elodie Whitford. The SVU investigates a brutal attack on a group of law students.

[C]

Benson hopes the discovery of a hidden camera will crack the case open.

[B]

Hmm, don't remember that one, but definitely watched it. Also, I want to say this. If this show is set in the 90s, then why do these characters occasionally dip into Internet speak? Like, why are they talking about gay rights and gay wrongs? It's 1995.

[A]

This is your point of like committing to an elder millennial Gen X audience.

[B]

It's more just like. It doesn't feel period specific to me.

[A]

Well, no, half of the actresses that play Elle's friends have fillers.

[B]

Yeah, and look, I've only watched the first few episodes, but, like, the popular girl at the school feels more like a current day online social justice warrior than a 90s activist type.

[A]

I do see what you're saying. And they did have a. Like, the remake of 21 Jump street deals with this quite well. When Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum have to go back to high school, the high school dynamics are completely flipped. In the 2010s, like, what would have been the ostracized art theater kids are now the popular kids.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And this show almost has the opposite problem of, like, okay, even though this is a grungified Seattle, there are still popular girls. But these popular girls. Talk about bikini kill. That was a joke. That felt like it was for us. Oh, for sure. That was equivalent to in Clueless, when Christian goes, do you like Billie Holiday? And she goes, I love him.

[B]

Yeah. Look, I think that if you're going to set something in the 90s, I just don't want it to look like today. I want it to look like the 90s. I don't think it's that hard.

[A]

Well, clearly it is. Well, no, now I'm. This in vivo wine is hitting me. Chelsea, what is our. What is our beloved show on Showtime? I want to say Yellowstone. Yellow jackets.

[B]

Okay. Yes. Yellowstone. Yes, that's it.

[A]

Yellow jackets does that quite well in the casting and the filming.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Of something that feels authentically 90s.

[B]

Totally. Well, also, I know that this show is not cheap to make because the needle drops are like hugely popular songs. The locations that they secure, even just for like a 30 second phone call scene when, like, Ellen calls her friend who's still in Los Angeles, it's like she's at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She's in front of the Arc Light.

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[A]

So, speaking of things that are certainly made for our age group, it was just announced that there will be a Clueless sequel series with Alicia Silverstone coming to us on Paramount Plus. So I guess I gotta revive my Paramount plus subscription.

[C]

This project was originally set up at

[A]

Peacock in early 2025, but it was reported in April 2026 it was no longer moving forward. That seemed to pass us by, but Paramount plus has given the show a six episode order. It is slated to begin production in la.

[B]

Six episodes? That's not encouraging, but at least it's

[A]

filming in LA and they don't have to go to Vancouver.

[B]

Sure, but I imagine that these like, executives are signing off on these six episodes, like with a gun to their heads practically. Pretty soon it's going to be like a three episode series order.

[A]

They're going BBC four episodes and takes seven years for the second season to come on air. Okay, do you want to hear the log line?

[B]

Yes and no.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yes, I do. Tell me the logline.

[A]

Beloved Beverly Hills icon Cher Horowitz has figured out a lot. She's successful in business and has mastered motherhood. That is, until her daughter's high school years. And Cher finds the parenting a teenager makes her feel Clueless all over again. I'm out.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know if we need to involve Alicia Silverstone in this way. Just do it with teenagers in the 90s with a new cast.

[A]

Then we have Elle, which we just spent the last five minutes bitching about. I talked about this last week. My issue is, but Elle could be

[B]

good if it was made by someone that, like, cared about things. You know what I mean?

[A]

And Clueless could be good if they took out the daughter plotline. I talked about this last week with the five star weekend and Widow's Bay. Enough of these teenage storylines when there are people of a certain age, just make Clueless the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. But a fictionalized version of it, that's all I need. Yeah, I don't need Cher actively being a parent. I can handle her passively being a parent in the way that, you know, Charlotte Yorke was passively a mother in and just like that.

[B]

Yeah, look, it's possible to remake something and do a good job. It happened with the Babysitter's Club series. May that show rest in peace.

[A]

Oh, wow. That unlocks something in my mind.

[B]

That was a great show.

[A]

That was quite good.

[B]

Like a Clueless reboot series shouldn't be like an automatically cursed and doomed thing. And it's alarming that it is, especially because we are such huge fans of all of these things that are being remade.

[A]

We've been burned before, Chell.

[B]

Like, our personalities are what they are because we watched Carrie and Clueless when we were quite young in middle school.

[A]

Sometimes as a double feature, Sometimes we force our friends to watch these movies back to back at sleepovers, scarring them for life. Just me.

[B]

Also. Wait, so is no one major in the Piper Laurie role in the Carrie remake? I guess not, or we would know.

[A]

Mike Flanagan often casts his wife or partner in a lot of his roles. Let me see.

[B]

Because, like, that's the role in Carrie that, like, you could get, like, a nomination for. In theory. It was Julianne Moore in the Kimberly Pierce version.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

There was a weird, like, made for TV movie in the, like, I think in the early 2000s, maybe it was the late 90s that I remember watching. And it was Patricia Clarkson in the Piper Laurie role, which was major.

[A]

Obviously, it's Samantha Sloyan, who has been in Midnight Mass and Hush, which are past Mike Flanagan projects.

[B]

Hush. Not to be confused with that incredible movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. And was it Jessica Lang?

[A]

Yes. Also not to be confused with one of the best Buffy episodes where no one can speak the entire episode or most of the episode. I don't want to get comments about it.

[B]

Okay, moving on. Shall we get into the Odyssey?

[A]

Which, by the way, I didn't force you to see. You were like, next week we're gonna talk about the Odyssey.

[B]

Well, I realized, like, I have to see it because to not see it, it means I won't understand, like, ward

[A]

season, you won't understand award season, you won't understand current meme culture, because somehow this film has already been memeified.

[B]

Yeah, look, I wasn't hyped to see it based on the trailer. Did I enjoy myself? Absolutely. Yes. It's weird because I went in thinking that I didn't really know or remember the story. And then when I was watching it, like, all of my memories from grade school came rushing back to me. I was like, right, the Cyclops. Like, oh, right. The whole bow stringing situation.

[A]

What kind of elementary school did you go to?

[B]

Did you not learn about the Odyssey? I feel like you would have learned about that in, what, like. Like seventh grade, eighth grade?

[A]

Maybe junior high. Yeah, I will say I definitely feel like I got my money's worth. You and I were like ships passing in the night, because unbeknownst to each other, we saw this film within 30 minutes of each other. You went to a, I would say, cursed 9:30am screening. Yeah.

[B]

There were like two other people in the theater and I was judging them. I was like, why would anyone do this? Because for us, sometimes just when you fuck up your schedule, it creates a situation where you can only see The Odyssey at 9:30 on a Tuesday, which is what I did. But these other people, like, what's their excuse? Maybe they have podcasts also.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, you had a lunch engagement. Due to my childcare situation, I often have to go to 10am Screenings, which is the one I was at at the Grove's IMAX theater, which made me very confused because I had not seen the Odyssey previously, because I had been waiting for the TLC IMAX theater screening to open up, which is sold out weeks in advance, and lo and behold, I ended up in an iMax. This is one of the many controversies of this film, is the many different formats. Because this is the first film shot entirely on IMAX. I'm going to be very boring IMDb for a minute, if you'll allow me. Chell.

[B]

No, that's great, because I know literally

[A]

nothing about this movie, the making of this movie.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Well, Christopher Nolan has been dabbling in IMAX since the Dark Knight or the Dark Knight Rises. They're very large cameras. And so previous to this, with every film, he's been shooting more and more sequences, usually action sequences on imax. This is the first film entirely shot on imax, which involved a lot of rigging, basically because the IMAX camera itself is so loud that they had to build a box around it so that actors could actually have dialogue scenes with each other.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But because the camera's so large, they had to do a mirror system because an actor needs to stand to do their dialogue. When they're not on camera, it would mess up the eyeline. So they had to put a mirror next to the IMAX camera. And that's what the actor looks at to keep the eyelines correct.

[B]

What could be more natural than that?

[A]

Speaking of which, they have to reload the film every three minutes.

[B]

That's horrible. Imagine doing any task in three minute increments.

[A]

I mean, that's why he had to cast Anne Hathaway. You need a professional theater kid to be able to hold that level of emotion while the camera's being reset every three minutes. Totally.

[B]

And I want to talk about her performance specifically because there was not a ton of camp value in the Odyssey apart from her. The performance confused me because she was good but she also didn't disappear into the role in the way that a lot of the other actors did. And also she overacted but it worked. Very confusing.

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[A]

Look, as a Christopher Nolan fan, it has all the hallmarks of a Christopher Nolan film. You either gotta take it or leave it, right? You're gonna get expansive, luscious visuals and jaw dropping locations. You're gonna get heady ideas delivered through under baked dialogue. If there are women in the film. Not always a guarantee with a Christopher Nolan film, but you can be guaranteed they won't have much of an interior life and they're not gonna pass the Bechdel test.

[B]

And oh yeah, she really doesn't pass the Bechdel test. Odysseus this, Odysseus that. Get a Life. It's been 20 years.

[A]

Think of all the women in the film. Calypso obsessed with Odysseus.

[B]

Wait, that's Charlize Right.

[A]

That is Charlize in her own Dior.

[B]

J' Adore Dior ad in her asymmetric netted gown. Yeah, it was very J' Adore Dior. I felt like I was like going through security at the Tom Bradley terminal. You know, when they subject you to all of those giant Dior ads.

[A]

Of course, I do feel like Bernard Arnault was maybe like, hey, can we maybe get some of that B roll? Like, we'll pay you for it. Okay.

[B]

But that was like the best and most chill place in the Odyssey. Like, I would have just stayed there eating the lotus flowers with that bitch indefinitely.

[A]

Right. Which has been some of the criticism of where Christopher Nolan has diverted from the original material. Because there is no sex in pretty much any Christopher Nolan film. There's hardly feelings.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Feelings are not as much felt in Christopher Nolan films as they're just sort of reasoned about for several hours. But Calypso, the subtext is she has raped him for seven years.

[B]

Right. It's giving like Rohypnol, actually. Yeah, you're right. I wasn't looking at that through the

[A]

correct lens, by the way. Why would you. The way that Christopher Nolan has presented

[B]

it, you're like, this sounds great.

[A]

Well, she is presented as basically his therapist. And the Rohipnol that he has taken through the lotus flower for the last seven years was more for rehabilitation.

[B]

Right. Like ketamine therapy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And not for like, date rape reasons.

[B]

Wow. Mind blown.

[A]

Can I blow your mind a little bit more before we get into the details of this film? Did you notice there was not one, but two Sex of the City slash? And just like that, related characters in the film or actors in the film did not notice.

[B]

Who?

[A]

James Remar, who was in Oppenheimer.

[B]

Wait, who the fuck was he?

[A]

By the way, can I just say I'm proud that I didn't say Richard Remar yet again.

[B]

I'm proud of you too.

[A]

When he goes down to Hades, James Remar is the character who's like, drink the blood and I'll tell you the prophecy.

[B]

Holy shit. Was his dick out again?

[A]

It wasn't. Because again, these movies are sexless.

[B]

Okay, who's the other?

[A]

Logan Marshall Green, who was Adam Gardner? Seema's love interest is Robert Pattinson's right hand man. The one who can't fight, who's fighting with Tom Holland at the end?

[B]

Seema's love interest. That was also the Prada sales guy.

[A]

No, no, no. Seema's love interest who did Carrie's Backyard.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Right, him.

[A]

He's also in this movie.

[B]

Well, there you go. I'm glad one of us is on top of it.

[A]

What if I was like, Evan Handler's in the film? You didn't notice?

[B]

Look, there's so many people in this film. A lot of them are wearing helmets. It's a bit confusing.

[A]

I mean, most specifically, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, which I also didn't clock that. Well, you were too busy clocking the Schiaparelli inspired helmet, I assume.

[B]

It was very Schiaparelli overall, which has

[A]

been another controversy of this film, which is a lot of historians have been like, it's not historically accurate. It's like, okay, but it looks cunt.

[B]

So what, like the Cyclops isn't historically accurate? What are they talking about? Or do they mean the clothes?

[A]

The clothes are not period specific.

[B]

Who gives a shit? Certainly not me. I care about the 90s, but not the. When does this take place?

[A]

Allegedly, the BCE. Here's the whole thing.

[B]

The BCE before what?

[A]

Okay, 12th century BCE.

[B]

Wait, before Christ. Does Christ exist in the same world as like these Greek gods and shit?

[A]

No, Think about what you just said.

[B]

Clearly, that's exactly what I'm trying to get clarification on when exactly this took place.

[A]

Right, but Homer wrote this in the 8th century BCE, which is technically afterwards. We're getting closer to when Christ existed.

[B]

Okay, but what does BCE stand for?

[A]

Oh my God. This episode brought to you by Google. BCE stands for before the Common Era. It is a secular and religiously neutral alternative to BC before Christ.

[B]

Okay, so it's the PC way to say before Christ, but it's the same exact line in the sand.

[A]

You are correct. This is also Homer's fantasy of what he thinks that era was like. One people aren't even sure if the Trojan War happened. If there was a woman named Helen. If there was even a Homer.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Anyway, welcome back to Idiots Explain the Odyssey to you.

[B]

Sorry, if people are saying that the costumes are historically inaccurate, I want to at least know what period we're talking about.

[A]

You are correct. Another person who had a lot of issues with this film is a woman named Emily Wilson, who wrote a 4,000 word review on the Odyssey. She wrote what is now the best selling translation of the Odyssey. It is described as like the woke translation of the Odyssey, okay? Which instead of saying servant, she says slaves. And on the press tour, Christopher Nolan has said repeatedly that her translation directly inspired the Odyssey. So imagine her dismay when she saw it and she was like, oh, this movie sucks.

[B]

Well, what specifically did she take issue with as someone that is not super familiar with the original text?

[A]

Well, I did the work. I read all 4,000 words. What people have clipped out is sort of this section where she goes, the writing is abysmal. None of the characters have convincing motivation for their actions or words. There are no sex scenes. And all the food looks horrible.

[B]

The food did look disgusting.

[A]

I kind of think that's the point.

[B]

So wait, this girl wanted to see Matt Damon dick down Charlize and Anne Hathaway?

[A]

No, I mean, as she goes on to write, Nolan's Odyssey lacks many of the elements that make the poem great. It has nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one hero's glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbors. It lacks psychological, emotional, political, and ethical depth. The narrative structure is gimmicky. This is just Christopher Nolan films. And I say this as a fan of Christopher Nolan films. He makes dumb, smart people movies. He makes people care about going to the 40 IMAX 70 millimeter theaters.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We got off on talking about Charlize there, and I forgot to explain the different formats to you. There are only 40 theaters in the entire world that can show this film the way that Christopher Nolan intended it to be, which is the IMAX 70 millimeter. There are IMAX theaters. That's what I went to, but I didn't go to the IMAX 70 millimeter.

[B]

So what's the difference?

[A]

I guess the size of the screen, I'm not sure. That's certainly the difference when you see it in a 35 millimeter screen versus the IMAX screen. But people have said that this is incredibly elitist. He has also shot the film in such wide vistas that I don't think you're missing essential parts of the film. Like, maybe you don't see the tippy top of Agamemnon's Schiaparelli ponytail helmet, but you get the idea, right? But he has repopularized the IMAX format, so much so that you know how they do the gimmicky popcorn buckets. The popcorn bucket for the Odyssey was an IMAX camera, which was actually pretty cute.

[B]

Is it?

[A]

If you're a cinephile. I mean, most of the popcorn buckets, it's one of those consumerist things where it, like, feels good in the moment, but as soon as you head home, you're like, why do I have this Dune sandworm that looks like I could stick my dick in it?

[B]

Yeah, like do all of you bitches still have those Devil Wears Prada handbag popcorn buckets?

[A]

That's what I'm saying. Anyway, they cannot make more IMAX projectors, Chelsea, because all the guys that made the IMAX projectors are dead or retired and they never left blueprints. So it is quite literally a dying art.

[B]

That's kind of cool, actually.

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[A]

We haven't even discussed Robert Pattinson, who to me is the best part of the film.

[B]

Yeah, he's the star. I was so impressed by his performance in this and his performance in the drama earlier this year. I think he's just a really magnetic, magnificent, versatile actor.

[A]

And he will be ending the year by playing Chris Hansen in this movie called Prime Time.

[B]

Can't wait for that.

[A]

I Just love how convincing he is playing a really wormy guy. Like he can be Batman and this antihero. And then also this character which he said was inspired by James Wood in Casino, which Chef's Kiss.

[B]

He was so charismatic that I actually wanted him to succeed. I was like, fuck, Odysseus. Fuck. What's Odysseus's son?

[A]

Oh, don't make me Tom Holland.

[B]

It seems like Robert Pattinson is more fit to be king of. Where the fuck are they?

[A]

Ithaca. I agree with you. I love how we have yet to discuss the lead actor, Odysseus, who stars in this three hour film. We've yet to discuss Matt Damon.

[B]

I didn't realize that this was like a Matt Damon film. First and foremost I should have, as he is Odysseus, but I didn't realize the extent of his screen time in relation to everyone else in the cast.

[A]

You thought it would be more of an ensemble?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh my God, I love that.

[B]

Good for him.

[A]

I mean, he in many ways is just there. Yeah, he is a vessel for this story. I didn't even think about this being an award show contender, but of course it is. Like the debate online is, are they going to try to push Anne Hathaway for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress? What is that going to do to Samantha Morton who is great at Cersei?

[B]

She is great, but it's going to be Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway does more than Samantha Morton. No shade to Samantha Morton. We love some Samantha Morton here on the Every Outfit podcast.

[A]

And no shade to Lupito Nyong' o, who plays not one, but two roles. Yeah, two thankless roles.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Zendaya, another thankless role. I would say she really dominated the press tour for the Odyssey with her fabulous Law Roach outfit. But in the film plays a very, very minor role.

[A]

She plays Athena, who is. If Calypso is Odysseus's therapist, she's sort of a silent therapist.

[B]

Yeah, she's just there to remind him that he's a piece of shit.

[A]

Well, you're so right. I did think that Zendaya would have a more consequential role because in the press tour, Tom Holland, who is her husband, they're now married, who plays Matt Damon's son, tells this story where Christopher Nolan was like, like I'm thinking of Zendaya as Athena. Like, would you mind telling her, is she interested? And Tom Holland told her to look at the script again and look at Athena. She got all excited. She was like, are you Serious. But now having seen the film, it's like, what would she have looked for? She has no lines of dialogue.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Oh, you mean this woman that just silently looks at Odysseus the entire time?

[B]

She literally just sits there and serves. Like that's what she does. She serves. And then there's like moments where she serves where it's a bit sadder and more judgmental serving.

[A]

So she really does all the Zendaya emotions. Fear serving, sad serving, all of it. Obviously, the Odyssey is the movie of the summer. Although I don't know if I agree because I feel like no one's discussing it. But it's kind of the summer of Olivia Wilde.

[B]

Yes, it is. And these movies are much more up my alley from the jump.

[A]

Absolutely. We saw the Invite and we got invited to the premiere of I Want yout Sex, which comes out this weekend. Let's start with the invite. But I do feel like there is an overarching theme that carries through between the Invite and I Want yout Sex, which is this idea of the potential perils of a dead bedroom and how, you know, sometimes letting your freak flag fly every once in a while is good for the soul.

[B]

Totally. So the Invite is a remake remake of a Spanish film called the People Upstairs, which came out in 2020, which I have not seen. It was actually originally a play that was turned into a film. But that really explains the physical parameters of this movie, which is entirely set in an apartment.

[A]

Yes. And I don't know if you clock the screenwriters. It is written by Will McCormick and Rashida Jones. Cool actress, daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. She now has a career as a screenwriter.

[B]

That's quite cool. Good for her.

[A]

Anyway, I just thought that was a little fun. IMDb trivia fact.

[B]

So the film is about two couples. It's Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen who are in a monogamous, sexless marriage. And they invite their neighbors over, played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, who are.

[A]

Are swingers basically a little more freer with their sexuality.

[B]

Yeah. As someone who has definitely gotten into an argument with their partner, like right before hosting a dinner party, I found this film to be scarily, scarily accurate.

[A]

Yeah, if you are married, if you've been in a long term relationship, it is hard not to see yourself in one of these characters. For me, the bickering. And Seth Rogen comes in with this collapsible bike that he can't figure out how to collapse and his back is all fucked up. And Olivia Wilde gets on his case about just wanting to help him out. I was like, oh, okay. I see myself a little bit in this.

[B]

Totally. It does feel very informed by Woody Allen's oeuvre and the way that his films addressed marriage and sex and the humiliating aspects of marriage and sex.

[A]

Well, Olivia Wilde has talked about how she was inspired mostly in the blocking by 12 angry men, but I really haven't heard her discuss how similar this film is in its architecture to who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[B]

Totally. I have to assume that that was a big inspiration for this movie.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you have. Even though the characters, all of them, are contemporaries in age, wherein who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? You have the older couple who is embittered versus the younger couple who's more idealistic. You have. Just by virtue of the fact that Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz are a newer couple. They've only been together for a year. They are the more idealistic and freewheeling couple.

[B]

Yeah. I have to say, watching this movie and watching I Want yout Sex, I've always thought that Olivia Wilde was a great actor, but now I think that she's a comedic genius. After seeing both of these movies.

[A]

Yeah. Because she came to prominence in the

[B]

show House, which I never watched. Did you?

[A]

My father was a huge House fan.

[B]

So what is House about? A house.

[A]

No, his last name is House. It's House, Maryland. No, this was at a time where everything was like, what if our character was Sherlock, but it's with medicine. What if this guy was Sherlock, but he solves crimes with math?

[B]

Okay, so which one of those scenarios is House?

[A]

House is Sherlock, and he solves medical mysteries every week.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And she was. Olivia Wilde played one of his interns or residents who was bisexual, but she had some terminal disease.

[B]

Okay, cool.

[A]

She was also. I never watched the OC But I guess she. Her first role where people knew her, was from the OC Where I think she also plays a bisexual. She couldn't show her comedic genius because she was too busy being typecast as a bisexual woman.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But she was in the Tron movies. And obviously, we all know what happened with Don't Worry, Darling, but certainly she showed her personal taste with her directorial debut, Booksmart, which was very funny.

[B]

Yeah. Love Booksmart.

[A]

I mean, this really shows people's parasocial relationship with celebrities, good and bad, because everyone had a good time, including us, vilifying her for Don't Worry Darling, which I stand by. You know, everyone has sort of forgiven her. I mean, she didn't need to be forgiven, but it feels like everyone is like, oh, man, we really gave her too much. Don't Worry, Darling is not a good movie. Direction wise, it's beautiful. But the script is bad.

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

But obviously with the invite, it is a return to form. Obviously. I mean, she said as much in her Call Her Daddy interview that she is working through her own breakdown of her relationship with Jason Sendakis, which, if you remember, he served her not divorce papers because they were not married, but some sort of like weird custody agreement. She was served while she was presenting Don't Worry Darling at Cinemacon.

[B]

Yes, I do remember that both of these movies that she has made are very much giving. I just got divorced. Even though, like you said, she wasn't actually married. But I believe they were together for close to a decade. Right.

[A]

If not longer.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

They have two kids with each other

[B]

long enough for her to presumably read Esther Perel's Mating in Captivity.

[A]

Yeah. I don't know if you've seen any interviews with her, but she's talked about Esther Perel a lot.

[B]

Well, Esther Perel was credited on this film as a consultant.

[A]

She was, yes.

[B]

Which makes sense because this movie does reflect a lot of the big picture themes in that book.

[A]

Have you read that book? Yeah. Would you recommend?

[B]

Yeah, I would recommend. I mean, I read it a long time ago. I read it maybe like it's been over a decade, but I thought it was a genius book at the time.

[A]

Going back to the film itself, this is hinted at, if not all but said in the trailer, is that Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen have invited their neighbors, played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, over for a get to know you drinks. But Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz have their own invitation, let's say for Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde, which this is a tight hour and 30 hour and 40 minute movie, but I was surprised that that part of the film is really just the last 30 or 40 minutes.

[B]

Yeah, it's mostly this who's afraid of Virginia Woolf style bickering between Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde. I just appreciated all the actors in this movie so much because Olivia Wilde, very good at playing high strung, stressed hostess, which is a genre of woman that I love Seth Rogen very much, doing his classic Seth Rogen thing, which always seems to work for him where he is a very lovable up, but we're into it anyway.

[A]

Which is funny because by all accounts he has a wonderful, successful, happy marriage to his wife who he's been with since like the Judd Apatow days.

[B]

Yeah, he's someone that, to me, I always think is a joy to watch on screen. And I also think that there's something about him. I think it's very easy for guys to project themselves into a Seth Rogen character in the way that people can project themselves into a Adam Sandler character because he does have a kind of every man quality to him. He's not a typical leading man, but he's very charismatic.

[A]

And speaking of the Woody Allen influence going back to Olivia Wilde's character, she does embody that Woody Allen leading woman thing where it's like she is the most beautiful woman, but like she's sexless and no one wants to her.

[B]

Yeah. Penelope Cruz, Incredible. So hot. So unbelievably charismatic and funny. Very funny.

[A]

Which I feel like she doesn't get to do a lot in films.

[B]

No. And the dynamic with Edward Norton, very believable. Edward Norton playing a genre of swinger that I know I've seen on screen before. Like the kind of swinger guy where there's almost a new age component to the non monogamy.

[A]

Well, this film introduced me to the phrase rolfing, which has nothing to do with sex, but is a genre of massage.

[B]

Hmm.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

See, those guys are into, like, erotic massage, tantric sex, Sting, Demi Soon Yi, soon me.

[A]

Penelope Cruz, another Woody Allen heroine.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At times I felt like she was her. Oh, my God. I almost said crazy, stupid love. I gotta say this. In vivo sjp Jalapeno wine is having quite the effect on me. I don't know if it's the wine itself or the time of day we're drinking it.

[B]

I have to say it is hitting Vicky Christina Barcelona.

[A]

That's the film. At times, she was giving that performance, which I think is one of her best performances. I believe she won an Oscar for that. But she plays a therapist, specifically, what seems to be a sex therapist, or she's a therapist who's also a sexologist.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Let me correct the record, but as someone who's a big fan of the show Couples Therapy, by the end of the film, there is a scene where she is sitting and the lighting of the apartment. It is giving Couples therapy. Penelope Cruz is giving Orna.

[B]

I can see that.

[A]

So, yeah, good for Olivia Wilde. This is certainly a return to form for her.

[B]

Yeah, good for her. She's making really interesting choices with her career, with her directing career, with her acting career. Taking big swings. Good for her. Many people do not have the vision.

[A]

Vision and the taste.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The production design. Because it really is. There are Four characters, one location. I did think at a certain point, like, oh, are we going to Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton's apartment? Nope. So you saying that it's originated as a play makes a lot of sense.

[B]

Yeah. I want to see the people upstairs.

[A]

Oh, the original film.

[B]

Yeah. Anyway, moving on to I Want yout Sex.

[A]

It is Greg Araki's first feature film in 12 years, which I did not realize.

[B]

Wait, that's crazy. Seriously?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So was the last one the White Bird in the Blizzard, like the Christopher Maloney, Shane Woodley one? Because that's the last one I remember watching. Yeah, he had the television series Now Apocalypse, which like I Want yout Sex was co written by friend of the show, Carly Shortino, friend of the show and frequent every outfit, co host.

[A]

And because of that, we scored invites to the premiere. So thank you, Carly, for inviting us. Before we get into the film, can we just talk about the premiere experience?

[B]

Sure.

[A]

We had a run in with Daddy mpk.

[B]

Lovely to see him. We should have expected that he would be there because him and Greg are friends. As we've mentioned on this show before, Greg's boyfriend is named Che Diaz. That is where Michael Patrick King got the inspiration for the name of that character.

[A]

It was surreal, to say the least, because we got our tickets. We were deciding whether to go inside, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Daddy mpk. We should say that the attire for the event, it was suggested to come as slightly kinky. He was in all black, a black polo shirt, and a white cardigan tied around his shoulders.

[B]

I was dead at the white cardigan. So we went up to him, congratulated him on the comeback, reintroduced ourselves because we had. We haven't seen him since we interviewed him in what, 2018?

[A]

Yes, 2018. And some shit has gone down since then. He asked us how our page was going, referring to the Instagram. I said we had a podcast and that was really the extent of the exchange.

[B]

Yeah, we're not sure if he knows that we have a podcast and pretended he didn't know or if he has no idea. And honestly, either scenario I'm completely fine with.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, all of our friends who were there were very intrigued how the interaction went. And I just kept saying, like, if he wanted to go to the bar, get a drink, come back, throw it in our faces, I would have been like, you know what? Fair.

[B]

Yeah, I deserve that respect.

[A]

And then we didn't see him for the rest of the night.

[B]

We did see Gus Van Zant, who was also There. That's a very exciting sighting for me.

[A]

Yeah, I meant to mention that, like, in the same moment we saw Daddy Mpk to the right of us, to the left of us was Gus Van Sant and we weren't sure which of our gay fathers to go towards.

[B]

Yeah, it's like those videos I see on TikTok where two people are, like, calling their dog. Oh, to see. I don't know which one to go to first.

[A]

Obviously it was Daddy mpk because we have some personal relationship to him. Gus Van Zant would have been.

[B]

No, I wouldn't just randomly accost Gus Van Sant. Love him too much to do that.

[A]

But it was great to see all of our gay fathers together in one place.

[B]

Totally. Okay, so let's get into the movie. Greg Araki's filmography has varying degrees of darkness, shall we say. I would say that this is one of his least dark offerings. It is a very funny movie. It is not super violent.

[A]

No, I put this. If we're talking about, like, what would we say his darkest movie is?

[B]

Mysterious Skin Living End. I mean, yeah, if we're doom generation. Like, those ones to me are the darkest.

[A]

Yeah, if we're gonna put that on the heavy end and maybe like nowhere in Kaboom or somewhere in the middle. This is on the smiley face end of the Greg Araki spectrum.

[B]

I think Kaboom is also on the smiley face end of the spectrum.

[A]

This, unlike most Greg Araki films, has no UFOs in them.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I didn't even think about that. Well, the last one didn't either. The Christopher Meloni one had zero aliens.

[A]

So this is a script that Gregorocki and Carly wrote 13 years ago. It's based on an experience that Carly had in her 20s with her employer. They rewrote it post me too, because originally it was an older guy boss and a younger female intern. And then they gender swapped it. So now you have a film where Olivia Wilde is this sex forward pop artist and Cooper Hoffman plays her intern who she has a dominant submissive relationship with.

[B]

Yeah, and the Olivia Wilde character is hilarious. She is very un PC. Like, she has the attitude of a man who thinks that the MeToo movement ruined flirting and ruined sex forever. If the gender roles were reversed, I do think it would be a bit more taboo because the Cooper Hoffman character is quite young. He's playing a 21 year old. The actor is 23.

[A]

He's 23 now. Carly told us he turned 21 on the movie.

[B]

Okay, Right. And Olivia Wilde, I believe is playing A character in her 40s as she

[A]

is a woman in her 40s.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And Cooper Hoffman is not your typical leading man in a Greg Araki film, but I can't imagine the film without him.

[B]

Yeah, he's not the typical leading man because he is not a hot mixed race twinkle or like a jacked gay guy.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I feel like if he did rivalry had come out a few years ago, we would have seen Hudson Williams in this role.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But there is something about Cooper Hoffman that while I was watching the movie, I felt like Olivia Wilde. I'm like, I would have an affair with this man. Like, he does have Riz.

[B]

He has a certain genesee quoi? But I think because he's not the typical Greg Rocky leading man, it's interesting because it makes the sexcapades with Olivia Wilde a little bit more unexpected, I think. Again, not to say that he doesn't have Riz, but it is a bit surprising that this man is the person that the Olivia Wilde character is sexually

[A]

obsessed with, which makes the film all that more interesting.

[B]

We also get some fun people like Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho playing Cops, which

[A]

I had not seen a trailer for this movie. I mean, I was gonna watch it regardless, so I didn't need to see a trailer. But it wasn't until the premiere when all the actors came out, that I learned that Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville were in the movie playing Cops.

[B]

Yeah. And Margaret Cho had a very, very minor role in the Doom Generation, but since then, she's not been in any Greg Irocki movie. So I really enjoyed seeing them come back together for this.

[A]

I thought it was really cute, and I was delighted. James Duvall return in a minor role, briefly, a cameo, if you will.

[B]

We need to see him. So Greg did not use his longtime costume designer on this project. He used Ariane Phillips, presumably because she had worked with Olivia Wilde on Don't Worry Darling and the Invite. And the Invite. She clearly enjoys working with Olivia Wilde, but it was funny to see her do a Gregor Rocky type movie because, like, I think the costume beat in in Greg's movies is often very heightened. The characters, especially if they're teenage characters, often dress in a way that is very trendy, like in Nowhere. It wasn't like the way that teenagers dressed in the 90s. It was like a take on the way that teenagers on 90210 dressed in the 90s. So for this movie, it was fun to see her dress the Olivia Wilde character, who is this very like, ridiculous conceptual artist in this way that was Very like kind of the Zoolander version of what a fashion forward, glamorous art star would dress like.

[A]

Now that you say that, I'm like Olivia Wilde because she has this blonde wig that she wears in the film and also wears a lot of latex. She does at times look like a female version of Magatu.

[B]

Totally. Well, the wig is also a really important part of her transformation for this role. I think the whole look was perfect and really funny and really cool.

[A]

I never thought about wearing latex to the office and you know, and Olivia Wilde's really opened my mind to that. So can I get into this minor controversy which has really just been retained to the Internet that happened with Greg Araki doing press for this film?

[B]

Sure. I must have missed this, but catch me up.

[A]

So Greg Araki, I would say pretty innocently, was giving an interview to Variety where he said that he had seen the reports that Gen Z was having less sex and he thinks that younger people will, quote, regret not taking chances and risking getting hurt. I'm in my 60s now. You're gonna turn around and you're gonna be 40, 50, like that. Will you regret not taking a chance? Venturing out of your house, risking getting hurt, getting confused, getting your heart broken, go out on a bad date, have that bad relationship, have that bad girlfriend, be in love with the wrong person? That's fucking life. That's growing up. That's how you learn about yourself. How could anyone have a problem with that?

[B]

Leave it to the Internet.

[A]

I assume Gen Z, which what they're doing on Twitter, I don't know. But they of course have replied with the most bad faith takes possible. One person, the dog is my co pilot, just posted a close up photo of Greg and then goes, this dude who hasn't made a single relationship work in his 66 years on this planet, wants Gen Z to listen to his dating advice. Does he want to teach them about technology too? First of all, he has been with

[B]

Che Diaz for a while.

[A]

Yeah, get your facts right.

[B]

I don't know how long, but to my knowledge at least five years.

[A]

You will waste time on a bad relationship. You will experience unneeded hardships because that's what happened to us and we turned out heckin fine. I don't know what that means. Yeah, no, we're not dealing with this bullshit anymore. We've seen where it leads and besides, we can't afford it anymore.

[B]

You can't afford to get fucked.

[A]

Every generation is different and the elders will always think their way was better. Maybe Gen Z will be the ones to normalize, not needing a relationship to be happy or fulfilled.

[B]

Okay, well, there's some truth to that. I don't think everything in life has to be about being in a relationship. That's crazy.

[A]

What a stupid statement. One in three women are victims of intimate partner physical violence.

[B]

Well, now you've brought up intimate partner violence.

[A]

I mean, that's not what he meant by go on a bad date. Someone goes, one oopsies will have you bonded for life with the wrong person. Shared custody if you're lucky. Guys, if you've ever watched a Greg Araki film, which clearly none of these people have, he is pro safe sex.

[B]

That's wild.

[A]

And really, if I want your sex is telling us anything, just peg your male partner more.

[B]

This also pisses me off because, like, respect your queer elders. You know, you don't have to agree with Greg Iraqi, but you also don't have to come for him.

[A]

As they say, opinions are like assholes,

[B]

but also like, I'm sorry. Like, this man is someone who is out of the closet making films about aids, like during the AIDS crisis that has seen so much. His mere presence has helped to lay the foundation for you to have the societal acceptance that you enjoy today.

[A]

Well, as someone else replied, I'm too autistic to try this kind of shit. Fair enough.

[B]

Yeah, you gotta know when to call it.

[A]

But Greg said when he was introducing the film, he wanted to make something that was very fun. It is fun, as he pointed out. I mean, it's very apocalyptic times. Why do I want to see that on screen? It's a very fun romp. It's very funny. Carly and Greg's script is hilarious.

[B]

If you appreciate the tone of this podcast, you'll probably enjoy this movie, which is funny in an accessible way, but has a bit of an edge to it as well.

[C]

Yeah, it's not too serious.

[B]

And that's what I want right now. I do just want to see, like a fun romantic comedy. It's not really a romantic comedy, but a comedy about some whack BDSM relationship.

[A]

Yeah, I believe Carly has referred to it as a calm dollar a dom

[B]

calm A calm girl a rom dom. The progress you made. Not saying Richard Remar, you've just undone with that.

[A]

I blame the in vivo sjp jalapeno one. We have not mentioned that Charlie XCX appears in this film as well.

[B]

She's good. She plays Cooper Hoffman's girlfriend who doesn't want to him ever and treats him

[A]

like a perfect role For Charli xcx,

[B]

Olivia Wilde also treats him like shit, but in a way that is a bit more playful and fun.

[A]

Pushing his limits.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It also has podcaster representation.

[B]

Oh, yeah, it does.

[A]

Anyway, if I Want yout Sex is playing in your city or town, go see it.

[B]

Yes, I want your Sex is every outfit approved. But speaking of Charlie, perfect transition into her new record, Music Fashion Film, which came out last week. What do we think?

[A]

I really enjoyed it. I think many artists who have zeitgeisty albums, albums that would be considered a phenomenon as Brat was, take many, many years to do a follow up. And it's always a letdown critically, commercially, compared to their previous work.

[C]

Work.

[A]

So I think it's smart to release the next album quickly.

[B]

Totally. And she kind of already did that with the Wuthering Heights soundtrack. But of course that was like Heathcliff and Kathy vibes. It wasn't all about Charlie.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, this album feels like the song version of waking up the day after partying and having a hangover. Like these are songs to be hungover too, which I feel like is an underrepresented genre.

[B]

I don't know if I want to be hungover and listen to do a song like. Yeah, necessarily. But maybe I like it a lot. It's not a perfect album, but it's also not trying to be a perfect album. And I like the immediacy of it. I like how fast the songs are. I like how the songs don't feel overwrought or predetermined. It feels like something that she actually wanted to make. And I was relieved that she feels that she didn't need to top Brat or make a more exaggerated version of Brat.

[A]

And I think that the album is self aware in that way.

[B]

Totally. She's literally addressing that in some of these lyrics.

[A]

Yeah. A lot of the songs are about dealing with overnight fame. What does one do with that? What does one do next? You know, I was thinking a lot about no Doubt's return to Saturn as a computer, where it's like Tragic Kingdom was a phenomenon. They released this album that is much more contemplative. It is much more about Gwen Stefani wanting to be married, contemplating having a child. A little bit darker themes compared to Tragic Kingdom.

[B]

Right. Although Charlie did have her simple kind of life moment on the Brat album. It's interesting. It's like someone like Debbie Harry really created the blueprint for how does someone that is a pop vocalist make a rock album. In the years since then, we see people like Gwen Stefani like Shirley Manson from Garbage, making music in that mold. I thought it was interesting that this album didn't remind me of that kind of music at all. To me, it seems like she drew more inspiration from, like, largely male rock stars for this record, with the exception of Kim Gordon, whose influence I hear through throughout. But specifically on the song Card declined. Like she wouldn't reference a mahjong sofa. But the production of it, the delivery of those lyrics feels very much like a Kim Gordon song.

[A]

But sonically, a lot of the songs remind me of kind of girl rock from the late 90s, early 2000s. Like a letters to Cleo or something, really.

[B]

See, I don't get that at all. For me, I'm hearing more like. Like, on a song like Magic Metal Montana. To me, that's a very like, Julian Casablancas type vocal performance. Right Camera, which is a song that I really like. It kind of reminds me of Phoenix almost. Or those kinds of songs.

[A]

I feel like songs like 2007 and I mean. Yeah. As well. But it's funny to. I don't know if you've read the reviews of this album, but I also think. Think specifically she made an album where it's not a complete departure from brat. Like, 2007 is a very catchy song, but there are more contemplative, sadder songs. Like I'm Afraid.

[B]

Yeah, I'm Afraid almost reminds me of, like, the sound of it is not emo or not pop punk, but it does also remind me of Adam's song by Blink182.

[A]

Oh, okay. Interesting.

[B]

Not the whole song, but just the how she begins the song, shall we say?

[A]

I think people have taken issue with the vocals, the lyrics, the instrumentation that it all feels unfinished. But I think that's purposeful. I don't think she's trying to get out of a record contract, so she, you know, quickly put out another album. I think very purposely so. The songs are unpolished as an artistic

[B]

choice, which in a way is a return to form for her because that was very much what her pandemic album, How I'm Feeling now was about. The very, like, quick record that, again, didn't feel overwrought. And I think it's cool. I love that she has taken this particular approach because you can't replicate Brat. Brat was successful because of a combination of. Of musical choices, leaning into dance music, club music, obviously, marketing choices, and then also the element of Brat, where it was like the conversation around who these songs are about. This song is about Lord. This song is about Taylor Swift. This album has less of that. Although it does have one song like that, which is Persona.

[A]

Is that about Taylor?

[B]

Well, people believe it to be about Sky Ferrera, but people have also said that it could be about Reena Sawayama. People have discussed Lord, although I do not think that's likely at all. But basically, it's a song that is clearly written about a peer in the industry with whom Charlie shares certain qualities. It is a Aar Bergman reference to the film Persona about sort of merging identities and projection and stuff like that. This is my favorite song on the record. Record. And it's a rare record where I like the last songs more than the first songs or the middle songs. Like, to me, the peak of the album is the last four songs.

[A]

Well, speaking of the last song, it features David Cronenberg, which makes me wonder, why isn't David Cronenberg on the COVID instead of Martin Scorsese?

[B]

Less recognizable, I guess. Although John Cale isn't physically recognizable to a ton of people at this point. Point.

[A]

It was just surprising to me when I saw the Cronenberg credit, where I'm like, then why isn't he the movie part of the COVID She's talked a lot about Cronenberg's influence on her.

[B]

Well, I think it would be a little too extreme to have Cronenberg on the COVID and redundant. Just given the COVID of the Crash album, which I interpreted as a Cronenberg reference to that film, like with the title and just with the. Her presenting herself in this very sexual way on the hood of a. Of a crashed car.

[A]

I think we're gonna look back at this album as a very important album in her career. And I'm impressed that she didn't fall into the musician trope that has taken down acts like Guns N Roses, if you remember, Chinese Democracy and how it took axl rose, like, 15 years to make that album. Even Trent Reznor, after the Downward Spiral, took him five years to make the Fragile. I'm glad she didn't fall into that trap rap and just put an album out. Kind of released the tension in the air about her post Brat era, and she can move on musically totally.

[B]

And also reassuring to know that her number one goal isn't retaining the Brat audience or pandering to that audience. I feel like this is an album for people that liked her music before Brat.

[A]

I don't know. As she said, if she's gonna tour

[B]

this album, she is touring this album.

[A]

Interesting.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Also, I just want to say I really appreciate the topics of some of these songs. Like with a song like Card Declined, I like that she's writing a song about consumerism and how hollow that can be.

[A]

Right. As she says in Card Decline, let's go shopping, I'll buy a handbag, I'll buy some shoes, I'll buy a smile, I'll buy some jewelry. A personality, a whole backstory. Card Decline.

[B]

And that's really what buying into certain luxury brands is, right? Like if you're buying into Versace versus Phoebe Philo, you're buying into an identity, a backstory on some level. Again, cool thing to write a song about. Also, spring summer 26, a very sad, dark, and very specific song that I interpreted to be about just how it feels to be sitting front row at a fashion show in full glam while all of this horrible is going on in the outside world when the future feels incredibly bleak.

[A]

This album is much darker than the tone of Brat, but there are callbacks to Brat. Like rock music. She talks about how the dance floor is dead, so now we're making rock music as opposed to club classics. On Brat, where she says, I want to dance to me when I go to the club. Club. So she's definitely saying, I want to

[B]

dance to me, me, me, me when I go to the club. Yes.

[A]

I think it is smart of her to, on this album, say that, like, guys, the Brat era is dead, which she has done. Basically a multimedia campaign between the moment and this album to be like, it's over. We had a great time summer of 2024.

[B]

But if you miss Brat Summer, listen to Confessions too.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

All right, guys, I guess we'll go polish off the rest of this bottle.

[A]

All right, we'll see you next week.

[B]

Bye.

[A]

Bye.