On the Oscar Nominations, Couture Week, The Brutalist

Summary

Every Outfit Podcast: On the Oscar Nominations, Couture Week, The Brutalist

Hosts: Chelsea Fairless & Lauren Garroni
Episode Release Date: January 31, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Every Outfit, hosts Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni delve into the latest happenings in the worlds of fashion, cinema, and pop culture. From the heated discussions surrounding the Oscar nominations to the latest updates in couture and a deep dive into the film The Brutalist, the duo offers their trademark witty and insightful commentary.

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Oscar Nominations Breakdown

Best Picture and Director Categories
The hosts kick off by analyzing the Oscar nominations, focusing on the heavyweight contenders.

• Emilia Perez leads the nominations with 13 nods, tying her film with Oppenheimer, Forrest Gump, and Gone with the Wind as the second most nominated film in Oscar history. Chelsea expresses her surprise:
  Chelsea Fairless [02:23]: “Yeah. This is really, really crazy.”

• The Brutalist, also a strong contender, has 10 nominations, setting up a potential clash with one of cinema's most iconic films for Best Picture. Lauren highlights the quality disparity between the two:
  Lauren Garrone [02:23]: “As two people who have now seen Emilia Perez seen the Brutalist, I can safely say there's never been a bigger chasm in quality.”

Best Actress Race
The conversation shifts to the Best Actress category, where the nominees include Cynthia Rivo in Wicked, Carla Sophia Gascon from Emilia Perez, Mikey Madison for Honora, Demi Moore for The Substance, and Fernanda Torres for I'm Still Here. The discussion touches on the controversies surrounding Carla Sophia Gascon’s comments about Nomadland:
Lauren Garrone [06:22]: “The backlash to Emilia Perez is really come out full force. And someone found. I assume it's an old tweet that Carla Sophia Gascon shared about the 2021 Oscars.”

Best Actor Insights
Adrien Brody and Timothee Chalamet are among the Best Actor nominees. Chelsea predicts a win for Brody:
Chelsea Fairless [08:53]: “Adrien Brody is going to win this.”

Supporting Categories and Snubs
Lauren and Chelsea discuss potential surprises in the Best Supporting Actress and Actor categories, expressing opinions on possible wins and notable snubs, such as Ariana Grande's unexpected nomination and Sebastian Stan's portrayal in The Apprentice.

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Movie News and Upcoming Releases

Practical Magic 2 Sequel
The hosts share exciting news about the development of Practical Magic 2, directed by Susanna Behr. They speculate on the film's tone and potential cast appearances:
*Lauren Garrone [17:23]: “Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez...”

Romy and Michelle Sequel
An eagerly anticipated sequel to Romy and Michele is confirmed, with details about the creative team and casting rumors stirring excitement among fans.

Michael Jackson Biopic Turmoil
A controversial update on the Michael Jackson biopic reveals script issues related to the portrayal of the 1993 molestation case, causing delays and potential rewrites:
Lauren Garrone [24:04]: “Matthew Bellamy is positing that they are going to have to rewrite and reshoot the entirety of the third act.”

M. Night Shyamalan’s New Project
Jake Gyllenhaal joins M. Night Shyamalan for a supernatural romantic thriller co-created with Nicholas Sparks, sparking curiosity about the film's unique blend of genres:
Lauren Garrone [25:18]: “It's a supernatural romantic thriller based on an original story co-created by M. Night Shyamalan and global bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks.”

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Fashion Forward: Couture Week Highlights

Margiela's New Creative Director
Glenn Martens is announced as the new creative director of Margiela, reigniting excitement in the fashion community. The hosts discuss his potential impact on the brand:
Chelsea Fairless [27:18]: “What else I do want to highlight? Best original screenplay...”

Proenza Schouler's Move to Loewe
Rumors confirm that Proenza Schouler's founding designers are set to take over Loewe, prompting speculation about the future direction of both brands:
Lauren Garrone [30:08]: “They were in Paris last October and they have signed a deal with LVMH, where Loewe is housed.”

Couture Collections Review
The hosts provide a critique of recent couture collections from Schiaparelli and Dior, praising Daniel Roseberry's work at Schiaparelli while offering a mixed review of Dior's latest offerings:
Chelsea Fairless [33:00]: “What did you think? I enjoyed it.”
Lauren Garrone [33:45]: “He's really developed a unique silhouette, which, by that, I mean a lot of hips.”

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Deep Dive: The Brutalist Movie Review

Plot and Themes
The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, is dissected in detail. The film portrays Brody as a Holocaust survivor turned brutalist architect, facing challenges in a post-WWII American town. The hosts commend the film's gripping narrative and Brody's performance:
Lauren Garrone [55:15]: “The film begins with Adrien Brody arriving in America after World War II.”

Performance and Direction
Felicity Jones’ supporting role and the film’s sweeping mid-century score receive particular praise. The hosts highlight the film’s length and the necessity of an intermission to maintain engagement:
Lauren Garrone [61:44]: “It is a sweeping mid-century score for the majority of the film.”

Themes and Reception
The conversation touches on the film's bleakness, its exploration of the American dream, and immigrant struggles, while also comparing it to other cinematic works like Uncut Gems and Vox Lux:
Chelsea Fairless [57:11]: “It's very bleak. Like, obviously, going into it, I knew that Adrien Brody was playing a Holocaust survivor.”

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Pop Culture and TV Highlights

Severance Series Update
The hosts briefly discuss the latest episodes of the acclaimed series Severance, sharing their thoughts on its complex narrative and split episodes:
Chelsea Fairless [44:45]: “I just could not spoil the first two episodes of Severance if I tried.”

Timothee Chalamet on SNL
Lauren brings up Timothee Chalamet’s unexpected performance on Saturday Night Live, critiquing his choice of obscure Bob Dylan songs and unconventional stage presence:
Lauren Garrone [48:24]: “Timothee Chalamet performed the songs Outlaw Blues, Three Angels, and Tomorrow Is a Long Time.”
Chelsea Fairless [49:06]: “It is fucked up that he's acquired Bob Dylan's most toxic trait, which is refusing to perform songs that anybody knows.”

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Closing Remarks

Marianne Faithfull's Passing
The episode concludes with the sad news of Marianne Faithfull’s passing. The hosts pay tribute to her legacy and discuss potential biopic projects:
Chelsea Fairless [63:27]: “Rip to a legend.”

Upcoming Episodes and Listener Engagement
Lauren and Chelsea tease upcoming themed episodes and encourage listeners to share their stories via their hotline, fostering a sense of community and anticipation for future content.

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Notable Quotes

• Lauren Garrone [02:23]: “There's never been a bigger chasm in quality.”
• Lauren Garrone [06:22]: “The backlash to Emilia Perez is really come out full force.”
• Chelsea Fairless [08:53]: “Adrien Brody is going to win this.”
• Lauren Garrone [25:18]: “It's a supernatural romantic thriller based on an original story co-created by M. Night Shyamalan and global bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks.”
• Lauren Garrone [33:45]: “He's really developed a unique silhouette, which, by that, I mean a lot of hips.”
• Chelsea Fairless [57:11]: “It's very bleak. Like, obviously, going into it, I knew that Adrien Brody was playing a Holocaust survivor.”

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Conclusion

This episode of Every Outfit offers a comprehensive overview of the current trends and conversations in the intersecting worlds of fashion and film. With sharp insights, candid opinions, and engaging banter, Chelsea Fairless and Lauren Garroni provide listeners with a thorough analysis of the Oscar season, couture developments, and standout films like The Brutalist. Whether you're a fashion aficionado, a cinema enthusiast, or a pop culture follower, this episode delivers content that is both informative and entertaining.

Transcript

[Chelsea Fairless]

I spent $40,000 on shoes.

[Lauren Garrone]

What's the matter, Morty?

[Unknown]

Coral.

[Lauren Garrone]

The sting.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Ten tomorrow.

[Unknown]

Dress floral. The Sting.

[Lauren Garrone]

Great gowns.

[Unknown]

Beautiful gowns.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Fashion has changed.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, it hasn't. Hi, I'm Lauren Garrone.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And I'm Chelsea Fairless.

[Lauren Garrone]

And welcome back to another episode of the Every Outfit Pod. Chell. I have to say, that was a really sexy NPR voice you just did.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Was it? Ooh, am I turning you on?

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm having some conflicting feelings and I don't know what to do about it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So we're obviously desperate to talk about the Oscar nominations, but before we get into that, I just want to acknowledge the beautiful people who bought merch from us. How much did we raise for fire relief?

[Lauren Garrone]

We raised $5,420 in under a week.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes. And we are donating that money to the Anti Recidivism Coalition's Firefighter fund and Pasadina Humane. We're splitting the money. You can do the math. I don't know what those amounts are.

[Lauren Garrone]

We're here to talk about fashion and pop culture. We're not here to do the math.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We're not here to do elementary school level math, guys. But we will figure that out down the middle. So, Oscar nominations.

[Lauren Garrone]

Emilia Perez leads the nominations with 13 Chelsea, making it the most nominated non English film. And it is tied with Oppenheimer, Forrest Gump and Gone with the Wind for the second most Oscar nominations of all time.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I can't. I didn't even hate Emilia Perez. But the fact that this is one of the most nominated films of all time is crazy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, also because we did watch the Brutalist over the weekend, which we will talk about at the end of this episode. And so the Brutalist is the second most nominated film of the year with 10 nominations. So it is shaping up to be Emilia Perez versus the Brutalist for best picture. And as two people who have now seen Emilia Perez seen the Brutalist, I can safely say there's never been a bigger chasm in quality. Truly in best Picture history. You thought Lala versus Moonlight was bad?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. This is really, really crazy.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is like what should win the Rocky Horror Picture show or Sergio Leone's four hour cut of Once Upon a Time in America.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Wow. I think you're doing Rocky Horror a big disservice with that one. The sweet transvestite song from Rocky Horror. Much better than the Sex Change Operation song from Emilia Perez.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm sorry, put respect on that song. Sex Change Apparition.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Why does it live rent free in my mind Penis to vagina.

[Lauren Garrone]

I see a lot of people unable to reconcile the online hate for Amelia Perez with the fanfare that it has been receiving at every award show. And you have to understand that the people who vote for these films to be nominated do not look like you or I. They look like our parents. When I saw Emilia Perez, and I think it's why we don't hate it as much as other people, because to me, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is what a boomer would think a woke film is.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I can look past the fact that Amelia Perez is very politically incorrect. I'm not hung up on that necessarily. It's more like the music and the Mrs. Doubt Fire of it all.

[Lauren Garrone]

But one of the changes they've made this year, Chelsea, for the awards ceremony, is that they are not having the best song performances. And I feel like that was an executive decision because two Amelia Perez songs are nominated, not Sex Change Operation. And I think they were like, we cannot in good conscience allow these songs to be played on national television.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I can see that. I wish they would just let Cynthia Erivo perform Defying Gravity, even though it's not nominated, just so we get one musical performance, because that's what we all want to see. Let's face it.

[Lauren Garrone]

This year's show is being hosted by Conan, and I hope that there is an opening montage featuring Conan and Cynthia Erivo doing Defying Gravity. I think that's how we get that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Here's hoping.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay, so let's start with Best Picture. We have Anora, the Brutalist, A Complete Unknown Conclave, Dune Part 2, Amelia Perez, I'm Still Here, Nickel Boys, the Substance and Wicked.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I have to say, I really hate having 10 best picture nominees. Don't you?

[Lauren Garrone]

I get it. They opened up the nominations from 5 to 10, maybe even 10 years ago, I think, to have a more varied class of Best pictures. But we haven't done right with the additional five nominees in this category.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, not once. And you know which ones definitely don't have a shot at winning because the director wasn't nominated. So the Best Director nominations, Sean Baker for Honora, Brady Courbet for the Brutalist, James Mangold for A Complete Unknown, Jacques Odillard for Emilia Perez and Corly Farget for the Substance. So it's going to be one of those five. There's no situation ever in which something would win Best Picture, but there wouldn't be a Best Director nomination.

[Lauren Garrone]

I. I think this award season is shaping up to be the least surprising award season in a long Time. It's unfortunately, I think Amelia Perez or the Brutalist for Best Picture. I'm hoping it will be the Brutalist. I think Brady Courbet will win for Best Director. Hopefully he'll bring his daughter on stage when he wins again like he did for the Golden Globes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, cute.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then we have Best Actress. We have Cynthia Rivo in Wicked. Carla Sophia Gascon from Amelia Perez. Mikey Madison for Honora, Demi Moore for the Substance, and Fernanda Torres for I'm Still Here. And the Oscar goes to Carla Sophia Gascon for Emilia Perez. No, it's Demi Moore.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What was it that Carla Sophia Gascon said about Nomadland?

[Lauren Garrone]

The backlash to Emilia Perez is really come out full force. And someone found. I assume it's an old tweet that Carla Sophia Gascon shared about the 2021 Oscars. This was the first ceremony held after the COVID pandemic where Nomadland won Best Picture. She wrote more and more, the Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films. I don't know if I was watching an Afro Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration, or the 8M. Don't know what that is. But apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala. In her defense, was that the gala at Union Station?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Look, I didn't see Nomadland, but was it really like a Black Lives Matter demonstration? Because I thought it was about, like, Frances McDormand traveling around the country in a van.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, it was Frances McDormand doing Van Life.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, we're hoping that Demi Moore wins. Of course.

[Lauren Garrone]

Absolutely. But I do feel bad for Mikey Madison just for the fact that literally since Cannes, everyone has told her for six months, like, you're going to win an Oscar. And then just in an instant, once Demi Moore won the Golden Globes, it was like that idea just went completely out the window.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, but if Mikey Madison wins this Oscar instead of Demi Moore, it's going to be too much like the Substance.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's true. I think Demi Moore should attack her on stage.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Fernanda Torres won the Golden Globe. But I feel like with Golden Globes, they do tend to award foreign language films more, I guess, because they are the Hollywood Foreign Press. Like, remember when Isabelle Upair won for Elle and then she lost that Oscar to Brie Larson?

[Lauren Garrone]

Wrong move, Academy. But it's fine.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, for sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

Brie Larson might have won an Academy Award, but Isabelle Upair is definitely getting an honorary Academy Award at some point.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No question.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right, Best Actor, we have Adrien Brody and the Brutalists, Timothee Chalamet in a complete unknown. Colman Domingo and Sing Sing. Rafe finds in conclave. And Sebastian Stan for the Apprentice. That was the surprise nomination. Sebastian Stan was nominated and won the Golden Globe for A Different Man. He is nominated for the Apprentice, which sees him as a young Donald Trump. A film I've seen and I think it's a worthwhile watch.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I will watch it. It's on demand now.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes, Chelsea will only leave her house for one film, and that was the Brutalist.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, I will leave my house. But when it's this time of year and you have to catch up on a lot of Oscar films, it's like you can't go to the movies like three times a week. Anyway. Adrien Brody is going to win this.

[Lauren Garrone]

He is. We've seen the Brutalist. He is doing the most acting. And that is not a knock on his performance. It's just sort of like, oh, yeah, yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And Timothy Chalamet. He's going to have that Leonardo DiCaprio problem with Oscar nominations because I think the Academy knows that he will win one at some point.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah, I don't think he needs to win for the James Mangold Bob Dylan biopic.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, we have to watch it before we judge.

[Lauren Garrone]

You know who loved a complete unknown? My parents. Because there's something about James Mangold who did make one of our favorite films, Girl Interrupted. James Mangold knows how to make a parent film.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, Bob Dylan is a parent artist. Like our generation does not give a shit.

[Lauren Garrone]

Speaking of which, we will also later in this episode talk about Timmy on snl. What else I do want to highlight? Best original screenplay. We have Honora by Sean Baker. The Brutalist by Brady Courbet and Mona Fassvaud. A Real Pain written by Jesse Eisenberg, September 5th. And then the Substance written by Corly Farget. We love the substance. This is a movie with 12 lines of dialogue.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. It's so true.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's certainly the most original film of the year. And not that a film has to have a ton of dialogue to necessitate an Academy Award, but I do want to bring up the fact that I think Coralie Farjay is going to win this award because the Academy loves to give a female writer director best original screenplay. They did this last year with Anatomy of a Fall. This is how Sofia Coppola won her Oscar. It's like, we're not going to give you best director. Here's a consolation Oscar.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. But I could also see a world where they give best actress to Demi Moore. So they don't feel bad about snubbing her in this category and they give it to Sean Baker because we need some recognition for Honora.

[Lauren Garrone]

Although now there's a counter argument. Now sex workers hate Honora. Originally, when the film came out, there was that screening with strippers and sex workers and they were clacking their pleaser heels together and now they hate the movie.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Really? What happened?

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know. I think there is something about not to negate sex workers feelings about this film, and I think the perceived hollowness of Mikey Madison's Honora character. But I also think there is something about the films that end up in award season that come out first. They're kind of tired or stale by the time award season happens because there was all this chatter about Anora, and I feel like that is kind of flatlined as award season has gone on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. But I still feel like it's one of the more memorable films of the year. I think it's going to hold up like I think from last year. People will remember Honora. They will remember Challengers, which was completely snubbed.

[Lauren Garrone]

Poor Luca Guadagnino. That man made two films last year, Challengers and Queer. Completely shut out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yet Amelia Perez is rewarded. This is true homophobia in action, but I think the most egregious snub from challengers is, of course, the score.

[Lauren Garrone]

However, I learned. Very exciting news for me. Chelsea Nine Inch Nails is going back on tour this year. Last date will be Los Angeles in September.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Great.

[Lauren Garrone]

Get ready. I'm about to be so annoying. Now on to Best Supporting actress. We have Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones Jones for the Brutalists, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave, and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez. Now, in this category, we might get a surprise. We might get an Ariana Grande, we might get an Isabella Rossellini. Again, remember, the people that vote in the Academy are mostly boomers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I can't believe that this is her first nomination.

[Lauren Garrone]

It is surprising. Again, we need to do the retroactive Oscars because the fact that she wasn't nominated for Blue Velvet, given the cultural impact of that film in the decades to come, is egregious.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, David lynch is like the king of having movies with a lot of cultural impact that do not get rewarded at the Oscars.

[Lauren Garrone]

Very true.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I feel like Zoe Saldana will win.

[Lauren Garrone]

I know, which is why I said this might be the least surprising Academy Awards ceremony we will ever have. Because for Best Supporting actor, you have Yura Barso for Honora, Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown Guy Pierce for the Brutalist, Jeremy Strong for the Apprentice. It is very clear that Kieran Culkin is the front runner. He's already won every award for this role. It is on Hulu, by the way. I started to watch it over the weekend with Paul, and he was like, ugh. Kieran Culkin's character reminds me of someone I knew in high school. Like, I can't do it. And we just, like, dipped out after 20 minutes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I've always liked him. I'll attempt to watch.

[Lauren Garrone]

We won't bore everyone with the sort of under the line nominations, but I think it's worthwhile talking about who was nominated for Best Costume design. You have Ariane Phillips for A Complete Unknown, Lissy Crystal for Conclave, Jonty Yates for Gladiator 2, Linda Muir for Nosferatu, and Paul Tazewell for Wicked. Love to see Nosferatu getting nominated for something.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I support that. And even from just seeing the Conclave trailer, you can tell, like, that costume designer deserves it for sure. But I hope that Ariane Phillips gets an Oscar at some point. She was also nominated for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which she should have won for.

[Lauren Garrone]

Absolutely. If there's a 60s based film she should win best costume for. It was definitely Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I think this is where Wicked gets it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Should it, though? I don't think so.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think a lot of these best sound design, Best sound editing, which I can never tell the difference between the two, are gonna go to Wicked.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So what? Who cares?

[Lauren Garrone]

Shall we get into some notable snubs that I feel like are particularly centered around the Best Actress?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

No Angelina Jolie for Maria, a film I haven't seen, but on principle, I'm like, she should be nominated for Best Actress.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. But I think the movie just wasn't that good. Like, I think the movie was kind of like, whatever, but the performance was great. You know, kind of like Judy or something. Although I maintain that Judy was actually.

[Lauren Garrone]

A good movie and Renee Zellweger won.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I know she won, but I'm saying it's that kind of thing where there's a disjunct between the performance and the film itself.

[Lauren Garrone]

Here's the other thing. Is Maria a Netflix film? So was Emilia Perez, and I think their marketing dollars unfortunately went to back Emilia Perez instead of Maria as much as it should have.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. Have you seen how many Maria billboards there are on Sunset Boulevard right now.

[Lauren Garrone]

I haven't clocked them. Are there at least seven?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, there's 10,000 of them. Although did they get the expensive neon sign like Emilia Perez? No.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then no Nicole Kidman for Baby Girl.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That sucks. But it's fine. She already won her Oscar for the correct film, which was the Hours.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, yes. Anyway, those are all the categories that I care about. We will be back once the Oscars happen with our scintillating commentary. But, yeah, they're happening. March 2nd, hosted by Conan O'Brien. I think there'll be enough distance between the wildfires. If you remember, there was a rumor that maybe the Oscars weren't going to happen. I know it's being shifted to a fundraising gala of sorts, but I hope that people turn out some looks.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I'm sure they will.

[Lauren Garrone]

While we're on the topic of films, Chelsea, may I take you through some movie news that's happened in the past week that I think you will care about?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

So The Practical Magic 2 film is happening. They have found a director. The film will be directed by Susanna Bhaer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Who is that?

[Lauren Garrone]

Susanna Behr has a relationship with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock because Susanna Bhaer directed Bird Box.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then she directed the Undoing and the Perfect Couple.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I was on board, and now I'm concerned.

[Lauren Garrone]

It really does call into question of, like, oh, what is the tone of Practical Magic 2 gonna be? Because if it's more, you know, in the Undoing verse, I'm in. But if it's more like the Perfect Couple and suddenly Stalker Channing is being forced to group dance sequence in the middle of the film, which, by the way, as I say it out loud, sounds incredible, so maybe I'm into that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It also sounds like something that might have happened in the original Practical Magic. Wow. No Griffin Dunn. Sad. Also, I think we're the only people in the world that haven't read his book.

[Lauren Garrone]

We have so many memoirs to read.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I like the fact that they're bringing out a female director just because there are practically no men in Practical Magic.

[Lauren Garrone]

There is, my love, Goran Vishnik, who dies, and then Aiden Quinn, who I think we said previously, maybe on the Practical Magic episode, was allegedly the casting inspiration for Aidan Shaw.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But, yeah, I would like Practical Magic, too, to have, like, a Greta Gerwig vibe or perhaps a Jane Campion vibe.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes. Because Practical Magic, the world of the Owen sisters, they live in New England, but they shot the exteriors in Washington State. And given the way that was it The Hamptons or the Berkshires in the Perfect Couple?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, it was like Cape Cod, given.

[Lauren Garrone]

How Susanna Bear captured that. I'm with you. I don't trust the vibe. But do I want practical magic, too? Of course.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I feel like with practical magic, it really is all about the production design, the interiors, the costumes. I want someone with a really, really high taste level to be overseeing all of that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Is Nicole Kidman wearing her fire red wig for the sequel?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course she is.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm just. I'm wondering.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's funny though. You could have the costumes be pretty much the same. I know. It's like how people dress when I go to, like, the Brentwood Country Mart.

[Lauren Garrone]

Speaking of female centric sequels that we didn't know we wanted in our lives, there is going to be a Romy and Michelle sequel. Chelsea.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But didn't we know this? Wasn't that announced?

[Lauren Garrone]

I feel like that was just something that Drew Barrymore excitedly asks Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvito when they were on her show. I didn't really think that it was happening, but it is happening. Tim Federle, who wrote and directed the Disney original movie Better Nate than Never.

[Chelsea Fairless]

And created Better Nate. Okay, I was just making sure you weren't having a stroke.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, no, no, it's. It's a pun. Better Nate than Never. I'm going to assume this is a series that has to do with a man named N, who's maybe a late bloomer, perhaps. So this man also created High School Musical. The musical. The series.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oh, the one with Olivia Rodrigo.

[Lauren Garrone]

Is that who's in that?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right. Well, he is directing this film, which I was like, why? But now I realize that Romeo Michelle was actually a Disney film. It was a touchstone film, which was their live action production company, which doesn't exist anymore. That is why Disney is making this movie. But I. You will be happy to know that Robin Schiff, who wrote the original and according to the Hollywood Reporter article about this, is known for showrunning the Netflix hit Emily in Paris, which I was like, what? Great. She has returned to write the sequel. So there you go. So it has to be them going to their 30th anniversary, right?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I would think so. But can we really do the high school reunion again by the time this film comes out?

[Lauren Garrone]

Would it be their 40th reunion?

[Chelsea Fairless]

You look at me like I can do that kind of math, you know?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, 1986, Chell. Just two years off from when you were born.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I wonder how their business is doing. Like do they still have a brick and mortar store on Rodeo Drive?

[Lauren Garrone]

Are they still telling people to have a Romeo and Michelle day? God, I hope so. But I'm happy to know that Alan Cumming and Janine Garofalo will be employed. It doesn't say this in the Hollywood Reporter article, but I'm just assuming that they're going to be returning for the sequel.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I hope Alan Cumming and Michelle are still an item.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's so funny that they're doing a sequel because as we talked about in our VIP Romy and Michelle episode, the entire second act is just a fantasy sequence that goes to the end of their lives. Anyway, they're hoping to shoot in the summer, which means, yeah, the film will come out in 2026, which would be in line for their 40th high school reunion.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Jesus Christ.

[Lauren Garrone]

Another story that caught my attention this past week was the news that the Michael Jackson biopic, which I was unaware was happening, is now in turmoil because of its third act, Matthew Bellamy at the Puck, which is a great resource. Paywalled. We pay for it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You gotta pay for it.

[Lauren Garrone]

You don't need to pay for it. We do. And then we tell you what's going on behind the paywall of Puck. But this story boggled my mind because evidently the third act of this Michael Jackson biopic, which Michael Jackson is being played by Michael Jackson's nephew, Jafar Jackson, the entire third act evidently has to do with the 1993 molestation case, which when I first read about this as a tweet, I was like, why would that be the third act to like what you imagine is a gigantic crowd pleasing biopic? Yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Because I think it's important to note that this film is sanctioned by the estate of Michael Jackson.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yes. So I couldn't understand why they were doing this until I read the Matthew Bellamy article where he explains he's read a draft of the script which is very close to the shooting script, where the entire third act is about the 1993 molestation investigation involving allegations made by Jordan Chandler because it is portrayed as Michael Jackson being innocent and how these allegations ruined his life. Which would explain why the estate was like, yes, yes, let's make this a major part of our $150 million Michael Jackson biopic.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's disgusting. Can you imagine a worse movie than whatever this was going to be?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, it's probably not going to make it to Scream, because the executor of Michael Jackson's estate, John Branca, who was his former entertainment lawyer and will be portrayed in the film by Miles Teller forgot that he signed an agreement with the Chandler family in their settlement that they would never be featured in a media retelling of Michael Jackson's life. And they all just forgot about that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So crazy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Matthew Bellamy is positing that they are going to have to rewrite and reshoot the entirety of the third act.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I feel like they need to just let this die. Like the only Michael Jackson biopic that I want to see is something like loosely inspired by Michael Jackson that is directed by Ari Aster.

[Lauren Garrone]

Like what Todd Haynes did with Bob Dylan and I'm Not There esque multi vignette.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. I think you need a director with a really bleak worldview, but also like a sick sense of humor to tackle Michael Jackson. Truly the last thing the world needs is a Bohemian Rhapsody type movie about Michael Jackson.

[Lauren Garrone]

So only time will tell what will happen with this film. But I didn't want to end on a bummer, so I wanted to end our movie news with something I think you're going to find very exciting. Chelsea, Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on for the new M. Night Shyamalan film. Thoughts?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, well, it's not like I'm a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, but you are a noted M. Night Stan.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, of course. What is it about?

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, all we know right now, Chelsea, is it's a supernatural romantic thriller based on an original story co created by M. Night Shyamalan and global bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks. The man that wrote the Notebook?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, Shyamalan is writing a script and independent to that Nicholas Sparks is writing a book. It seems like from this story. It's not the novelization of the film M. Night's making. It's just like they came up with this idea together and are each writing it in their own mediums or creating it in their own mediums.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's kind of cool.

[Lauren Garrone]

The last time I could think of a writer, screenwriter, director, collaboration like this is. Do you remember the film Queen and Slim that came out a few years ago? It was written by Lena Waithe and I can never get over that. The origin of the story of Queen and Slim is James Fry came up to Lena Waithe at a party and was like, I have a great idea for a movie, I just can't write it. And then told her the premise of Queen and Slim and Lena Waithe was like, you know what, you're right, you can't write it. But I can. I like to think this is How Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan work together on this supernatural romantic thriller. Has M. Night ever done a romantic supernatural thriller? Signs. Is it a love story between humans and aliens?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, in Signs, there was the whole thing with Mel Gibson and his dead wife.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, why do I feel like a dead wife is going to be involved in this film?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it's giving dead wife for sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

Shall we talk about some fashion now?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yes, we have some great news. This week, for once, Glenn Martens will be the new creative director of Margiela, which is one of the more intuitive designer and luxury house pairings that we've seen lately.

[Lauren Garrone]

Indeed. I didn't realize until the New York Times article about it that only the Brave group owns Margiela. But the founder of Only the Brave, Renzo Russo, established Diesel, which Glenn Martens is the creator director of.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So that makes even more sense.

[Lauren Garrone]

In a statement, they said that Martins would write, quote, the next chapter of the house, building on its unique codes and brand values, which to me just means he's going to continue doing cool shit. Maybe even cooler shit than Galliano, if possible.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I mean, Galliano's Margiela was incredible. Although I will say the clothes weren't easy to wear, per se. Specifically the womenswear. Like, if you go into the store, you will literally see like a pair of like, nude tulle bloomers and like some sort of deconstructed rubber dress that you can't even imagine putting on your body. I don't have the dry cleaning capabilities to wear that stuff.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's why when any sales associate would be like, do you want a dressing room? It's like, I'll just try on this pair of shoes, actually.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, it's like I would literally be scared to try on anything in that store. Whereas Glenn Martin's is an avant garde designer also, but makes clothes that are very, very wearable. Also, I think the fact that he is also Belgian is an asset.

[Lauren Garrone]

There's a lot of commonalities between Margiela and Glenn Martens. They're both Belgian. They both graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. And I did not know this until reading the New York Times article. They both began their careers working for Jean Paul Gaultier.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Makes sense.

[Lauren Garrone]

No word on when the first collection will be, but it can't be soon enough in my mind.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I'm really curious to see what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if he references the archives in a more literal way than Galeano did. Also, I hope that he does something a Little different with the fashion shows brings it back to more of an early Margiela vibe.

[Lauren Garrone]

Not as elaborate.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, when I think of those early shows, I think of like, you know, fashion shows in quite dodgy locations. And now that's obviously become more popular with Balenciaga and, you know, that's commonplace among young fashion designers. But I would like to see him do something different than what Galliano was doing.

[Lauren Garrone]

And I would love to know the locations manager in Paris finding all the dodgiest locations for these fashion shows to happen in.

[Chelsea Fairless]

So in other news, the boys behind Pro Enzys Schooler have left their own brand and are now rumored to be taking over Loewe. Has that been announced?

[Lauren Garrone]

It hasn't been announced, but Lauren Sherman over at Puck, another invaluable source behind a paywall exclusively reported this news, says that they were in Paris last October and they have signed a deal with lvmh, where Louisville is housed. And that, yes, they will be going over as the designers at Louisville. It will probably be announced, I'm sure with our luck as this podcast is going up. But the thought is that they're waiting for Men's Fashion Week and Couture to pass before announcing this news to me.

[Chelsea Fairless]

This is such a deeply bizarre choice.

[Lauren Garrone]

Really.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What year is it? Look, I don't mean to be a bitch, especially because Proenza Schooler has been doing solid work for like 20 years now. But I wouldn't say that they're necessarily pushing fashion forward right now. And they haven't had a successful IT bag in like over a decade. When do those PS1s come out? Like, that was like almost 20 years ago.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think that this makes sense. I mean, in the world of designer musical chairs, clearly Glenn Martin's at Margiela makes the most sense. But I do feel like the parenteschooler boys have quietly for the last five or seven years been building up this kind of minimalist gallerista, if you know, you know, look, which I feel like Loewe has come to embody. And all of these luxury fashion houses, what they care about is the accessories. And yes, you are right, they have not had a hit bag.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it's like they're operating in a very different mode because when I think of their clothes, I think they're very good at making smart, sophisticated, practical clothing. When they came on the scene in New York, they were kind of like the last generation of designers that did that very traditional route in New York, where it's like you go to Parsons Barney's buys your graduate collection.

[Lauren Garrone]

Right.

[Chelsea Fairless]

You know, you make sort of very wearable kind of conservative clothes and then over time, become the next, you know, Marc Jacobs, Isaac Mizrahi, a designer like that.

[Lauren Garrone]

But we've also seen in the last 20 years the crumbling of that independent fashion designer system, especially for New York designers. So I think what you're saying is you're not sure why Loewe picked them. But I definitely understand why they went to Loewe.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course, who wouldn't? I totally understand why they went to Loewe, but it just seems odd to me because Loewe has become one of the biggest, most influential brands in the world.

[Lauren Garrone]

Perhaps they will only last a season. We don't know. Shall we get into some couture?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guess. Let's do Schiaparelli. Let's go chronological.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What did you think?

[Lauren Garrone]

I enjoyed it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Great gowns, beautiful gowns.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I enjoyed it, too. I've had mixed feelings about Schiaparelli over the years, but now I've come to realize that couture is what this brand is really about. Like, Daniel Roseberry should only be making crazy shit like this.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, crazy beautiful shit that we hope ends up on the red carpet for the Academy Awards.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. It's actually really astounding when you think about the fact that he only got that job in 2019, and he had to deal with the whole pandemic and stuff. Like, they didn't even have, like, normal fashion shows for a long time. But it's crazy to me that he has established himself as one of the best evening wear designers in the world in such a short period of time.

[Lauren Garrone]

And I also think he's done a good job at establishing a silhouette that when you look at stuff on the Runway, if you didn't know it was Schiaparelli, you go, that is Schiaparelli. That is independent of the surrealistic markers that one would know with Schiaparelli. He's really developed a unique silhouette, which, by that, I mean a lot of hips.

[Chelsea Fairless]

A lot of hips, a lot of shoulders. Also, I love in this collection, there was, like, padding on the hip bones, which we've seen other brands do. We've seen Balenciaga do that, certainly, but very, very effective in this particular collection. Also, the gown that Kendall Jenner wore, absolutely insane.

[Lauren Garrone]

People feel like her walk was not.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Giving her walk was fine. I watched the video of the show, which I recommend.

[Lauren Garrone]

These are pieces that actually need to be seen in motion versus seeing the photographs of them.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. Also, I Feel like this is what, like, a couture client would want, which is something extremely showy, inexpensive looking, something that the end of the day is quite traditional. A lot of these clothes are. But also, he does make it look modern in a way that's very appealing. It's very smart. Also, I think that Daniel Roseberry, it's like the only thing that makes me patriotic these days.

[Lauren Garrone]

Go on.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, the fact that an American designer is at the head of an old school French luxury brand, that he has come so far, I think is pretty incredible. We may have a rapist for a president, but on the other hand, Daniel Roseberry is killing it in Paris.

[Lauren Garrone]

So just think about all the great Americans doing great work, their finest work outside of the United States. I always find it funny. Every couture season, there's the same commentary of, like, well, who would wear this? And it's like, clients. There are couture clients. I'm not spending $200,000 on a dress. So, like, my marker for a good couture collection is very different. It's like, does it make me feel? Does it make me dream?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I don't feel like it has to be, like, modern or wearable necessarily.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm not plunking down a quarter of a million dollars to wear Valentino couture dress to the opening of the Sydney Opera House or something. Do you know what I mean?

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, those Valentino gowns are so insane. I don't even know if they would be appropriate for that. But. But we'll get into that in a second. I really think that Demi Moore needs to wear the Kendall Jenner gown in black for the Oscars.

[Lauren Garrone]

I thought that or the second to last look, which I don't even know how to describe. This is sort of body con mesh. I was reading the show notes. I think that might even be neoprene with the gigantic satin skirts.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although it is metallic. So embarrassing if she loses it is.

[Lauren Garrone]

A gown that looks like an award.

[Chelsea Fairless]

In and of itself onto Valentino. I completely forgot that this was happening.

[Lauren Garrone]

Because even though we have gotten a collection from Alessandro Michelli for Valentino, this is his first couture collection.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, we've gotten two ready to wear collections.

[Lauren Garrone]

There seems to be two camps of people in regards to Alessandro Michelle. One that just regards his work as schtick, and then another camp, which I think we are in, which regards his work as art.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Like, this is like maximalism on steroids. It makes you question, like, how far could this man actually go? Like, how big could a skirt Get.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's like Godzilla. How many buildings will he take down?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. Like, to echo Cathy Horn's criticism of the last collection, this does look more like costume design, but again, I think that's fine.

[Lauren Garrone]

And then if you listen, there was a Vogue video about this collection, and in his show notes, he explains he was inspired by costumes.

[Chelsea Fairless]

There continues to be so many references in a single show for him. It's all eras.

[Lauren Garrone]

It's all styles more than anything, really. Alessandro, Michele and Valentino has just gone through the archives.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Like, it's not a silhouette you associate with Valentino. You don't think about these big crinolines and stuff.

[Lauren Garrone]

I don't know if I would personally, if I had a quarter of a million dollars to spend on a dress, would wear a dress that looks like Nancy Reagan would have worn it in 1983 if she was also trying to look like a court jester.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, See, I love that about it, though. I love how conservative a lot of these clothes are. They have humongous skirts. They have long sleeves. There is very little skin in the show. And if it's shown at all, it's like a woman's neck and perhaps like, a bit of her chest. I love the Harlequin gown with this sort of diamond pattern that was the first look, as well as that, like, insane patchwork dress midway through the show with the Perrot collar.

[Lauren Garrone]

I like that it exists, and that's really my litmus test for couture.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Although I will say I didn't love the staging of the show.

[Lauren Garrone]

Interesting. You didn't like the juxtaposition of the very stark black room with the digital screenshot.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It was like a ticker, you know, like the stock market with all these words. Watching the video, I found it to be very distracting and overwhelming in a way that, like, I don't think was good. The clothes are a lot to process as they are. The clothes would be a lot to process in a white room with no soundtrack. And I get it. He clearly is going for an information overload vibe. But it's like, I watch fashion shows to escape that and to not be looking at screens and to not be reading words on a screen.

[Lauren Garrone]

See, this is how our listeners feel when we talk about politics. They're like, I come here to get away from that. Okay, so should we talk about Dior or Jacques Mousse next?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Let's talk about Dior.

[Lauren Garrone]

I think it was one of her most successful collections. How that is my backhanded compliment to the other Dior collections.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, I Think this is the worst couture collection she's ever done?

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, no. I'm saying this is, like, the best ready to wear collection she's ever done.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Like, if the last Loewe showed us that crinolines could be modern, this is doing the exact opposite of that. Unless you have some sort of, like, 18th century milkmaid fetish, who knows?

[Lauren Garrone]

Maybe Anya Taylor Joy and Natalie Portman do.

[Chelsea Fairless]

The sad thing is that I can see by looking at the clothes that it's not only trying to be modern, but it's trying to be youthful, which is truly bonkers, because it's hard to imagine any woman of any age wearing any of this except for maybe, like, Lady Gaga like, 10, 15 years ago. Or like, I can see Anya Taylor Joy wearing this today, actually. And I predict that she will wear one of these on the red carpet.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, she has to. I believe she's a Dior spokeswoman.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, but she loves something that looks like a golden costume.

[Lauren Garrone]

Here's what this collection also made me realize, Chell, is that there is a certain color that she uses that I associate with her tenure at Dior. And it is this bizarre green, gray, brown that is in a lot of her dresses that just boggles my mind. And I see it time and time again. I don't know. It's just something I noticed about this collection. Anyway, her time is running down. It's very clear.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But this is such a sad way.

[Lauren Garrone]

To go out with Perenza Skoular. Probably going to Loewe. It is very clear that Jonathan Anderson will be moving over to Dior, and.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We still don't know where Galliano is going, which is the announcement that I'm looking forward to the most. Of course.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right, should we get into Jacques Mousse?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

People have been so mean about this collection that I want to be contrarian, because I really do like Jacques Mousse. I wore it on tour. But I have to say that multiple looks do seem heavily inspired by looks that we've seen over the years at Alaia shows.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's actually shocking. Like, I have gone on record saying that Jacques Moose is basically a glorified revolve brand, and I stand by that because, like, revolve brands, this is clearly very inspired by what Peter Muhlie is doing at Alaia, and that has been a common theme in fast fashion.

[Lauren Garrone]

And no disrespect, I love a revolve brand.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, I just thought that they thought more highly of themselves. Like, I get that I have this particular read, but it's hard to understand how someone could let this collection happen knowing that immediately there are going to be these side by side comparisons to Alaia and also to Balenciaga.

[Lauren Garrone]

During Men's Fashion Week and Couture Week, Jacquemus also just showed their Spring Ready to Wear collection. Why?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. I think a lot of designers are just randomly doing shows when they want.

[Lauren Garrone]

To, but I think that also adds insult to injury where it's like, so you really didn't have to do this show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's pretty crazy. That said, it's not like anything is offensive. Again, I think it's, you know, it's a brand that does what it's supposed to do. It is at a much more accessible price point than the big luxury designers. Not that it's cheap, but it's somewhere between Revolve and Alaia.

[Lauren Garrone]

I was gonna say it's like, well, I can't afford those Alaia balloon harem pants, so maybe I could afford the Jacques Mousse ones.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, actually, I guess this is more like forward. That's the fancy Revolve. This is giving forward.

[Lauren Garrone]

How dare you disparage Jacques Mousse in this way.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Anyway, thank God he didn't get that Chanel job. Can you imagine?

[Lauren Garrone]

Before I started seeing people literally, literally just like, look for look being like, so this is the Alaia look that Jacques Moose took this look from. I was like, oh, this is clearly the assignment that he gave to Chanel when he was being considered as the designer.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, well, that's fucked up then, because I think there's no Chanel isms in it.

[Lauren Garrone]

Really.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Apart from the fact that, like, these are the kind of clothes that in your head you would imagine, like a chic French woman would wear. Something like this.

[Lauren Garrone]

A chic French woman that shops it forward.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lauren Garrone]

Moving on, shall we get into some TV and movies?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Sure.

[Lauren Garrone]

Since the last time we recorded Severance has come back. I don't want to talk about Severance in depth. I know I have a tendency to enjoy spoiling things. I don't think I could spoil the first two episodes of Severance if I tried. I more just want to ask you, do you know what the fuck is going on with Severance?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I know I loved the first season of Severance and I of course watched the, like, 10 minute YouTube recap of, like, what the fuck happened in season one and I'm still confused. The first episode of Severance was a bit unsatisfying because, of course we are more interested to know what is going on outside of the building than what is going on with these severed people that don't know what the fuck is going on either? Like, I get that it speaks to their reality, and I understand why they chose to do this, but it was just frustrating to me, especially since they only released one episode to begin with. They didn't even do that. And just like that, like, here's episode one and two thing.

[Lauren Garrone]

What are your feelings about the inability to binge this show? It's real old school. It's old school. Sex in the City on hbo. We got to wait until Friday. Every Friday. They're going to drop episode.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I guess I'm fine with it. Although it was just satisfying watching the first season in one go. And the second episode is much better. The second episode answered some of our questions, certainly.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. Because while I was watching the first episode, I just got this sinking feeling of, like, ooh, are they not going to be able to stick the landing? Because the first season is so incredible, the world building and the mystery of the show is so great. But I started to get. And you probably can't relate to this, but I'm sure some of our fuckettes can. Westworld season two vibes where it's like, oh, no, no, no. Are they not gonna be able to explain in a satisfying way all of the mystery that they've set up in season one?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, like a lost situation.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I didn't want to reference Lost. I know you love that show.

[Chelsea Fairless]

We'll learn that Severance is actually just a deeply religious program in the last episode.

[Lauren Garrone]

Severance is purgatory.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Actually, that would kind of make sense.

[Lauren Garrone]

Are you watching YouTube videos about theories about Severance?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No.

[Lauren Garrone]

I maybe have watched one or two.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, well, report back.

[Lauren Garrone]

There is a thought that, you know how their work is just like some weird Hungry Hungry Hippos game, but with numbers.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

That their actual job, the job of Lumen, is severance.

[Chelsea Fairless]

What do you mean?

[Lauren Garrone]

That's the product that they're selling. But they haven't perfected severance yet.

[Chelsea Fairless]

See, I feel like they're just, like, killing random people.

[Lauren Garrone]

Okay. I've seen a theory that this is actually a parallel universe. See? Not satisfying.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. I also kind of thought, like, oh, their jobs are just arbitrary. This is more of a psychological experiment. Of course. But now in episode two, we know that Lumen actually cares about whether or not Adam Scott, like, does his job.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is true. And he's the best at Hungry Hungry Hippo ing those numbers. Do you also feel like you would kill that job at Lumen.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it looks extremely easy. Again, I still don't understand the fundamental logic of severance, which is that if you have a miserable life, wouldn't you want a job to distract you from how miserable your life is for at least part of the day? These people, the only life that they're conscious of is them alone in their sad apartments thinking about their sad lives.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, Chelsea, the logic of severance is. The man that created this show clearly had a soul sucking 9 to 5 and went home one evening and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and was like, what if I just merged Office Space and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, true.

[Lauren Garrone]

Can we move on?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

So we rarely talk about what goes on on Saturday Night Live from week to week, but when Chell and I were sitting and we will get to the Brutalist in a second in the theater at 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday, waiting to watch the Brutalist, I said to Chelsea, oh, did you see Timothee Chalamet on Saturday Night Live? He was also the musical guest and he performed obscure Bob Dylan songs. And you went, well, how obscure? And I proceeded to tell you he performed the songs Outlaw Blues, Three Angels and Tomorrow Is A Long Time. And I just watched your face crumble. I've never seen you so disappointed.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it is fucked up that he's acquired Bob Dylan's most toxic trait, which is refusing to perform songs that anybody knows. So it is very Dylan esque. Although I, of course, do not support it.

[Lauren Garrone]

Have you since watched the performances?

[Chelsea Fairless]

I did. And not. No. Like, I have seen way worse musical performances on SNL in recent years than this. It's not what I expected. I guess I expected him to be in more of a singer songwriter mode. Like, even what he wore for the first song surprised me. I was like, you have this Balenciaga ass outfit and these strobing lights. It doesn't present as Dylan in that way.

[Lauren Garrone]

No, absolutely not. But I have enjoyed through the press run for a complete unknown people not being able to comprehend what Timothee Chalamet's public Persona is, because I think that people assumed he's just writing poetry and smoking cigrellos or something. And he's a deeply bizarre person. And I've seen people be like, there's never been an actor like this before. And I go, yes, there has. His name is Nicolas Cage, right? Timothee Chalamet isn't the Leonardo Dicaprio of his generation. He is clearly the Nicolas Cage of his generation. And he's going to do weird shit. If you're going to make him do interviews and press, then he's going to make it weird. And I'm here for it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I support. Although I do think it would have been nice if he had done maybe one song that was a little more popular. Like, I think if he had done I want you, it would have made so many girls horny, including me.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, I do wonder the conversion rate of people that think that he's hot and people that saw a complete unknown, because the only people I know who saw a complete unknown are my parents.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Young people have seen a complete unknown. A complete unknown is supposed to be good. We should be seeing this, like, urgently. Let's watch it this week, actually. Okay, we'll talk about it next week.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right. Well, we spent our weekend watching the Brutalist, or really more specifically, basically the entirety of our Sunday. And before we move on to the Brutalist, I do think it's funny that Timothee Chalamet was on Saturday Night Live, clearly an award show press run, even though, as we discussed, Adrien Brody is clearly the front runner. Adrien Brody, I just want to note, one of the few people to ever be banned from Saturday Night Live. So he himself can't go back on Saturday Night Live as part of his own award season promotion because. Do you know why he got banned from Saturday Night Live, Cho?

[Chelsea Fairless]

No clue.

[Lauren Garrone]

All throughout the week he kept saying he wanted to play a Rastafarian character, and they were like, hahaha, no. And one of the big no nos of Saturday Night Live is to go off script. And while he was introducing the musical act, he did it with a dreadlock wig and in a Rastafarian voice. Although when I recently went back to find the clip, which is essentially scrubbed from the Internet, there is a singular rip from a VHS that has a giant watermark over it. He was introducing Sean Paul.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, so that makes a little more sense. Not saying it's okay, but I do see his twisted logic there.

[Lauren Garrone]

Well, Chelsea, let me play the clip for you and see if you have a different opinion.

[D]

You know, Yama, yama, yama, yama. Your man Jamaica, man, you know, you know, rush stuff around, you know, you got the old family in the house, you know, you know, we got Sean Peter, you know, he got Sean Paul. You got Sean Mary, you got Sean John. You know, we all in Arsenal, man. You know, respect all aspect. You know, me respect my next spec. My respect my uncle Spec, you know. Yeah, we got a great show, you know, Like Kingston. Massive. Yeah, man, come on. We got the old cool now, you know, I'm gonna give a big up. Enough respect a dancer, players, you know, Like Shanjun.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, I understand why that's scrubbed from the Internet.

[Lauren Garrone]

Chet Hanks, he is not well.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It wasn't a good Rastafarian impression.

[Lauren Garrone]

Saturday Night Live is live. There are commercial breaks. He goes on with this bid for quite a long time.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, way too long.

[Lauren Garrone]

I did think it was weird that they played that during the intermission of the Brutalists. But, you know, very brave. Actually, very Fox Lux of Brady Courbet. All right, the Brutalist, guys, we saw it, so you don't have to look.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Not since two weeks notice have I been so invested in the fate of a community center. This film was major. This is an Oscar movie.

[Lauren Garrone]

This is an Academy Award film. It's about the American dream. It's an immigrant story. It's over three hours. If not this, then what?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, this shit was gripping.

[Lauren Garrone]

The other crazy thing is, now that we've watched Vox Lux. The idea that Brady Courbet was making Vox Lux and then was like, you know what? My next film is about a brutalist architect.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He's a genius.

[Lauren Garrone]

I was worried going in because of the length. It's 3 hours and 35 minutes. Although if you see it at an AMC, there's an additional 30 minutes of trailers. Our showing was at 10:30 and we were out by 2:30.

[Chelsea Fairless]

But it flew by.

[Lauren Garrone]

That's what I was gonna say. I actually didn't feel the length. And I am not someone to ever say that.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, you're so invested in this man succeeding and overcoming all these struggles with his job. It's kind of like uncut gems. In that way. You're stressed out on his behalf. And you just want him to be able to build this fucking community center.

[Lauren Garrone]

Slash church slash gymnasium slash library. So for those that only know the broad strokes of the Brutalist. The film begins with Adrien Brody arriving in America after World War II. He was in a concentration camp, prisoner of war camp.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Something terrible.

[Lauren Garrone]

Certainly something terrible. Which, for those who've seen Vox Lux, we were scared for a second because Vox Lux has a very startling and violent opening. And it was like, oh, God, is this happening again?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah. The first scene, I was like, oh, is this gonna be like dark, scary, traumatic, Holocaust content? But it wasn't.

[Lauren Garrone]

We appreciate Brady Courbet's restraint with that. So he makes his way to Philadelphia. And through a confluence of events, meets Guy Pierce, who is the rich guy in Doylestown Philadelphia, or it's a town outside Doylestown.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He's also somehow aged into being the same person as Brad Pitt. How did this happen?

[Lauren Garrone]

Allegedly, Brad Pitt's had a facelift. Allegedly. I like to think that he brought in Guy Pearce's face to the plastic surgeon's office.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah, Maybe it's that Brad is looking more like Guy. I mean, they've always both had those chiseled jawlines, for sure. They have very symmetrical faces. But just the way the age is coming through, it's like it's the same level of aging.

[Lauren Garrone]

Guy Pierce is the rich guy in town. His son, Joe Alwyn, who Chelsea booed when he came on screen.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I didn't boo, like, out loud. I booed quietly to you. But, God, is he good at playing unlikable characters. He really is good at playing a piece of shit.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. How do we talk about this film? It's tough.

[Chelsea Fairless]

It's very bleak. Like, obviously, going into it, I knew that Adrien Brody was playing a Holocaust survivor. I didn't expect it to be cheerful, per se, but it was much more Fassbender esque than I anticipated. And it really has a lot of those themes. The sort of post World War II misery, the drugs, the evil rich people, the evil homosexuals. You know, all of that.

[Lauren Garrone]

Spoiler. There are evil homosexuals in this film. Yeah. I think it says a lot about the bleakness of the Brutalists that the highlight of the film is when Joe Alwyn hires Adrien Brody to design a library for his father. And he designs the most beautiful minimalist library. And Guy Pearce yells at him for building it. Like, that's the happiest part of the film.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Oddly enough, I audibly gasped when they revealed the library.

[Lauren Garrone]

And that's always dangerous in films. Like any film, that's about the best painting, the best book ever written. Movies within movies. It's always dangerous because they're not good. This. You understand the classic definition of this word. The awesomeness of Adrien Brody's talent as an architect. And then many years go by. This is a story that takes place over many decades, which does warrant its runtime. But several years goes by. Guy Pearce finds him again because he's featured in look magazine and everyone compliments his super cool library. And so he's like, I'm sorry. What if I built a rec center on my own property for the townspeople? But in order for it to be approved, it also needs to be a Christian church. Anyway, you'll figure it out.

[Chelsea Fairless]

He's a fucking idiot. Just have him build you a house? Like have him renovate the whole fucking house.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. My bigger question that never got answered in the Brutalist was how are the townspeople getting to this rec center that's on your personal property? Anyway, it's not important because it's gonna take decades for this rec center to finish. Anyway, I guess my question to you because there's been a lot of talk about, like, you know, what first part stronger than the second part. Second part we don't need. But I think the second part of the film, the post intermission part of the film, which is the bleakness is accelerated, is necessary for the story.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Of course, it also completely subverted my expectations. Like, there were a couple of things in the second act that were shocking.

[Lauren Garrone]

Felicity Jones does not show up until the second half of the film.

[Chelsea Fairless]

That's a very good performance, but a very upsetting performance.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, it's all upsetting performances. And I think it's our duty to say to the fuck ads. I mean, it's post holiday, so you're probably not likely to watch this movie with your parents. But Baby Girl is a more appropriate film to watch with your parents than the Brutalist.

[Chelsea Fairless]

I don't know. I feel like parents would love the Brutalist. It's not so depressing that it's like. Makes you sick, you know, like Zone of Interest or something. Like I said, it is gripping. And you do become so invested in the story and this man's success, or lack thereof. But it really ultimately is a film about how it's just fucked to be ahead of your time.

[Lauren Garrone]

This commentary is nowhere in the film, but. But it would be hard to be Adrien Brody, to be Lazlo Toth, which is his character's name, and be that cool of a Brutalist architect and try to do your thing in a steel town of Pennsylvania. They might not get it.

[Chelsea Fairless]

They definitely don't. Also, I love this sort of fake biopic quality that this has about a fictional person. It's like tar, if you liked tar. And like the Pianist, this is a good movie for you.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. And Lydia Tarr and Laszlo Toth share the same initials, lt. The other thing that subverted my expectations was that the actress that plays young Vox Lux, who you say looks exactly like me, is in this movie.

[Chelsea Fairless]

She did look like you when she was 12. I think now her face has moved in a different direction. But this girl in Vox Lux, yes, Lauren's doppelganger or young Lauren's doppelganger. She also was a depressing vibe. Oh, my God.

[Lauren Garrone]

Now, obviously I was very upset that Atticus Ross and Tret Reznor were not nominated for their score work for challengers. But I will say I was stunned by the score of the Brutalist. It is a sweeping mid century score for the majority of the film. And because the epilogue takes place in the 1980s, the composer updates this sweeping mid century score that's played throughout the film as like a 1980s New Wave ditty. I was like, give this man an Oscar.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Now I know. Truly incredible. He has to win.

[Lauren Garrone]

Absolutely. Well, it's very clear that Brady Courbet has the keys to whatever he wants to do in Hollywood next. Would you like to know what his next film might be?

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

He says that he is working on a horror western about immigrating from China to California.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Okay, sure. I will watch literally anything that he does.

[Lauren Garrone]

I'm a Brady Courbet stand.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Now we really have to re watch Mysterious Skin.

[Lauren Garrone]

We do. We also have to watch his first feature as well. If you're contemplating seeing the Brutalist, if you're wondering if it's worth an entire afternoon or evening of your life, our answer is yes. Because you know what? Bring back the intermission. That was lovely. That's the other reason that film did not feel that long. Killers of a Flower Moon that needed an intermission.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Yeah.

[Lauren Garrone]

John Dielman. Sorry, child needs an intermission.

[Chelsea Fairless]

No, no intermission for that. You are stuck in that apartment with her.

[Lauren Garrone]

I love. When we sat down for the film, you were like, how long is the intermission? What if we miss something? And they have a lovely countdown.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Don't go to any screening after like 5pm this is a movie that you should watch during the day.

[Lauren Garrone]

A matinee or. You know, Greta Gerwig has said that the two perfect times to see a film are 10am and 4.30pm and when I first read that, I was like, that's crazy. But having watched a film now at 10:30 in the morning and then we had lunch afterwards, it was lovely.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, it's also when like the real cinephiles go to see movies.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, yeah. Our theater was not empty. We were the youngest people in the theater. But we were definitely surrounded by a good crew.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Before we wrap up, I just want to say right before we started recording, I got a harrowing New York Times push notification notifying me that Marianne Faithfull has passed away at 78, which is so fucking sad. Although it is a miracle that she made it this long. Like it's a miracle that she survived the 80s.

[Lauren Garrone]

Even she lived all of the life.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Her narrative has always been, I'm very glamorous and I am a survivor. Also, if anyone needs a biopic, it's Marianne Faithful and the source material is there. I've read her autobiography, Marianne, which is very good. There is also a really good Rizzoli book that came out maybe a few years ago that was more of like a photo book and art book, but it has like all of the best photographs of her as well as just like old press clippings and ephemera and stuff from her personal archive. It's a really, really beautiful book.

[Lauren Garrone]

Yeah. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a documentary about her, certainly. I'm sure Jennifer Lawrence would fuck up a biopic about her life.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Well, there was a rumor that they were doing one with or. I don't know if it was a rumor. Maybe it was announced with. What's her name? Lucy.

[Lauren Garrone]

Oh, Lucy Boyton. Yeah, it's dead after Lucy Boynton dropped out in 20. Well, rip to a legend.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Rip queen. Let's go out on a Marian Faithful song. Thank you for listening, guys.

[Lauren Garrone]

We will be back next week, but we are doing, as I said last week, a Valentine's Day themed hotline episodes. If you have love quandaries, bad breakup stories, embarrassing loveliness, sex questions to ask us, please call our hotline, which is 323-486-6-6773. Some international have asked how to call the hotline. If you can't with WhatsApp, just email us a voice memo and maybe we'll.

[Chelsea Fairless]

Play it or maybe we won't. We'll see you next week, guys.

[Lauren Garrone]

All right, see you next week. Bye.

[Unknown]

It is the evening of the day I sit and watch the truth and pray Smiling faces I can see partner not for me. I sit and watch as goodbye My riches come by Everything I want to hear the children sing I All I hear is the sound of rain falling on the ground I sit and walk just is goodbye I sit and watch the children play Doing things I used to do Taking the RA.