The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast from patreon

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S7E10: Mr. Misery

🕑 Added 2023-04-25 02:58:33 +0000 UTC

Comments

Sodaheiress

Great episode. 💯 agree with Bret and Adam’s views.

Sodaheiress

Amen

Nikki Ferrari

🩵🩵🩵

Timo

Catching up on my podcasts. Days before this episode I was at the literal cave in Bulgaria where the mythical tale of Orpheus & Eurydice occurred. It's called Devil's Throat due to a series of underground rivers & waterfalls deep below the caves. It's incredible and the main cavern where Orpheus entered the gate of Hades is named Roaring Hall due to the sound of the water currents.

Phoenix

Totes

Keith V Whalen

Dammit, as a longtime listener, I'll throw my name into the ring as a creature designer. If anyone from Bret's team sees this, I've been a professional concept artist for over 10 years, specializing in monster and creature designs. Here is my portfolio... https://keithwhalenart.com/illustration .

Keith V Whalen

Genius! You have a memory like a goddamn trap door. Kudos for remembering he mentioned. That. I think you cracked this.

Dustin

I do agree Quentin can do anything. But it’s just not him Bret was referring to. He’s maybe the biggest director in the world to land + I see him writing his own material from here on out and I’m guessing this is going to someone in tune with young characters like a Sam Levinson.

sasha

He liked The Shards & tonally it would be a good fit given how subdued and “vibey” Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was

Dustin

Bret said the director would be perfect. Tarantino doesn’t make movies / tv about college kids. Don’t see how he’s ‘perfect’ for this.

Dustin

Tarantino has written more than one series and has already announced one that’s a go. He’s not in need of material.

Dustin

Re The Shards. Does anyone know the director who wanted the exorbitant paycheck was? The director of Euphoria?

bpvalentine

No! There IS another. (Yoda!). What about fucking Roger Avery??? He directed Rules of Attraction. Bret digs that one. I feel so dumb not thinking of him immediately.

Audrey Rouget

I wonder if Will Arbery would be a good guest for the show? He’s a playwright and one of the Succession writers this and last season.

Rory Kiberd

How could you think this season of succession is threading water? Genuinely baffled by this opinion. Maybe could be said about 3, but this one is bravura.

Stuart Chivers

Love that Houellebecq quote.

Rowan Oliver

Bret would wake up in a sweat from a nightmare about this

bpvalentine

Sasha, this is probably a waste of time to even think about. But what do you think of the Violent Femmes' "I Held Her In My Arms" in relation to The Shards, like if the adaptation lands? I think it's a little out of date by a couple years. But I was listening to it and the counterpoint mood of the song and The Shards.... I'm not sure it would work. Do you know the song or band? I remember on Boardwalk Empire how excited I was when they used a Brian Jonestown Massacre song for its beginning. It'd be great if The Shards pulled a similar move. Plus, the lyrics for me sort of work for The Shards in a very surface way. This isn't Fast Times At Ridgemont High, but the comparisons will be inevitable. And I like if the song disabuses nobody of the notion, haha. Punking the audience always earns loyalty, right? I'm kidding. EDIT.. I expect the show would have faux Bret drive to the high school at night like early in the novel. The vandalized mascot. That whole sequence SCREAMS for Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk." If only I were a director.

Matt

Great ep. Love the Bret/Adam back and forth dynamic. Bret, maybe consider swapping out the benzos for some kratom? Benzos are baaaad in so many ways - but I’m sure you already know this!

Brian Rooney

I guess the “conspiratorial” part is calling COVID “complete bullshit”. 🤷‍♂️

Neil G.

Nice; he came back around to Gatsby...an excellent adaptation of the novel, surprisingly faithful without losing any credibility as a film. With solid performances; Redford's a Great Gatsby 😁😁✌🏼✌🏼. The visual symbolism is emboldened through its literal depiction, and, like the rest of the novel, translated marvelously. And yeah, I got through Gatsby in a day as well, last year. Read Sun Also Rises the following day. Hemingway's classic reinvented literature after Gatsby pretty much closed the door on European Classicism (of any kind --- modernism was the final curtain)

Raf

Bret should interview Martin Sorrondeguy. It would be a cool gay conversation

Ben

This was a great podcast.

Dave

Maria was great!

Dave

Hat tip to Adam for the Spiro Agnew reference.

Richard Raymond

Absolutely loving these no guest episodes. I personally prefer it.

Thomas Edwards

A spelling error I shall correct now.

Christopher Ward

Tarantino is gearing up to shoot his next (and possibly last) film so I doubt he’d have committed himself to an HBO series, and besides, I’m sure HBO would have splurged on him if he had demanded more money.

Tracy Stapleton-Lutkins

Brett healed me today. Thanks, BEE.

Nikki Ferrari

Its so obvious the director in question is Tarantino. 1) He was the person rumored when the book came out. 2) Bret lauded him as the main person to shoot an ode to la for two+ years after once upon a time came out. And … The Shards isn’t a “teen series.” There is nobody alive who would shoot l.a. better than QT and direct a “hang out vibe” show better than QT. Sucks he passed on it.

Robin Hunter

I normally dont comment on here but i wanted to say I love every podcast and guest. Even if the guest isn't blowing me away Bretts take is always fascinating even if I disagree. That's why I listen.

Nick Not Nolte

why would you add the extra T to his name?

Nick Not Nolte

cooper hoffman as bret ellis in hbo’s THE SHARDS! let’s do this! book it lol

OSOS

Thinking Luca makes sense, would definitely prefer his aesthetic touch over Levinson. Euphoria is ok but his aesthetics are too grimy, for lack of a better word, than what I’d like to see the Shards presented as

Pp358

Samesies

Ashley

Well he did just finish a book tour and is now working on a show…give the man a break.

Thomas Edwards

And the Parker quote: I like a Martini, two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under the host.

Graeme

Much prefer pods like this over the one with that dial tone last week

Nikki Ferrari

I love the weekly Podcasts. I don’t give a shit what Bret talks about. I would listen to this man read the phonebook backwards.

Nikki Ferrari

My favorite analogy

P Smoke

Agree. Even if there’s nothing in pop culture really grabbing Bret, there’s definitely scope for more prepared shows around other / older aspects of culture. For instance, I loved his deep dive on the Halloween franchise.

Tom

He didn't like Breaking Bad (surprisingly) so I doubt he'd have watched BCS

Tom

I think the Adam-bret riffing episodes are the most enjoyable

Stephen

If you weren't allowed to tell people about your stupid fucking run would you still run.

Adam Dugger

Has Bret ever discussed Better Call Saul?

sasha

Let him kill himself slowly in peace

Darren Ankenman

Friedkin told you Bret “coh-pol-ah”

Steve

The need to do a weekly podcast was a bad idea. The episodes feel lazy and tossed off lately. Better to go back to less frequent but more prepared shows. I liked when Bret opened with a monologue, then talked about a movie or TV show, then spoke to an interesting guest for an hour or so.

Michael

Refn’s movies have no dialogue, it wasn’t him.

Michael

Luca sounds highly plausible. I first thought Tarantino, but he’s not going to do someone else’s material. Roger Avary, but he wouldn’t turn that down, or Gaspar Noe, but he’s too weird.

Phoenix

I’m 43, told I’m attractive and get ghosted most of the time. I think a lot of guys are like that guy that wrote in. Always on the look out for something better. Dating apps have killed romance. Change my mind.

Phoenix

I like it

James Bandy

Looking at Refn's Instagram it looks like he was in LA around early April, so the timing would line up.

Morgan Hobbs

Beat the Devil is one of my favorite comic thrillers from that era. Very entertaining flick. Also, I did once catch on fire at a party, when I backed into a votive candle. Lost the sweater but fortunately not my hide.

Emily B

Seems like it :/ just surprises me about the money

sasha

Exactly! Sex solicited as a shorthand for affection because of the shame felt about soliciting affection + the shame then experienced about either oblique sexual rejection or hypothetical rejection is the whole core of the book

Chris Jones

I reckon it was Luca

Bazayer

Luca Guadagnino or Sam Levinson sound likely - can't imagine Tarantino doing a teen series.

Collin Myers

Maria Semple was fantastic

N.M. Janice.

Based on how Bret is talking about the director, it really does not sound like QT to me. I think that HBO would be willing to splurge on him. A QT directed mini series would be a first and a big cultural event. The other thing is that after Jackie Brown, Tarantino said that he is only really interested in doing his own projects. He is coming to the end of his career and is more than financially stable. He likes The Shards, and him and Bret are buddies. If he was interested in directing the material, I doubt he would be holding out for a massive payday.

Emily B

Stupid to say but I really think the late Jean Marc Vallee who directed Sharp Objects would have done such a wonderful job with The Shards adaptation... If it wasn't Luca that backed out I would absolutely love him to do it. Other dream is Fincher tbh!

Jonathan Davis

Alcohol is great, but also can be a potent depressant. Feel better, Bret. Great episode.

richard owain roberts

am going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run.

Thomas Edwards

QT would be worth anything, given the audience he would bring. But can't imagine him doing HBO.

Thomas Edwards

Respectfully suggest kava for dread/ anxiety and valerian for sleep. By no means medical advice, but surely healthier than benzos + alcohol! You need to wake up the next day. PS friends joke that an age difference of 10 years as a stand alone factor in and of itself makes the younger person seem at least 15% more attractive to the older partner - than if they met/did the wild thing at the same age.

Steve

This episode is fine, but there seems to be a lack of effort that is weakening the show. They are just winging it. Little to no preparation lately. There hasn't been a significant guest in quite a while.

Patrick

It’s not any of them.

bpvalentine

My break ups have always been like a Jesus Mary Chain song. I love Bret just sharing what his favorite porn sites are. That's an aspect to Bret's writing I try and take to heart. He doesn't shy away from what could be really embarrassing, he LEANS INTO IT. And I respect it. That's the best shit. Like in The Shards, faux Bret trying to initiate a sexual encounter in the pool house and it's just not happening. For me, emotionally, that's almost the key to the whole book, that scene. I hope any adaptation holds on to it.

Patrick

Great episode. 🐝 and Adam are awesome together.

OSOS

Oh.. good point! I remember that - doesn’t he mention Luca in this episode, about seeing photos of something he’s working on? Wild guess - but along the lines of someone from LA, maybe PTA? But I doubt it

N.M. Janice.

Could it be Luca Guadagnino, because didn’t he say on a previous episode something about not reviewing Bones and All due to reasons that will become clear when an announcement is made? I’m guessing the HBO deal is what he was referring to. Either that, or Chalamet is in the the cast?

bpvalentine

I wonder if they would put out an offer to Todd Field. I bet he'd be a great pick. Sasha, Sam Levinson occurred to me while listening. It's probably somebody who grew up in L.A. I'm really narrowing it down there, aren't I? haha.

OSOS

Yeah Im caught up on the fact this person wanted so much money…. Refn would be cool but hasn’t Bret been impartial to his stuff before?

sasha

My guess is no given it was stated the director in question wanted the money and the “prestige of HBO” and I would think Tarantino is considered higher lauded in quality than HBO—but he was my guess. Or Sam Levinson but given he already has two HBO shows there’s no way

Alec K. Redfearn

Refn was the first person I thought of too.

Alec K. Redfearn

I'm coming up on my 54th and I feel your pain.

OSOS

Yeah he said it was someone ppl have been guessing and they wanted too much money. And they’re the perfect fit.

bpvalentine

I haven't listened yet, so I'm a bit out of turn here. I think QT would be amazing, but he's working on a new movie now. Somehow Nicolas Winding Refn comes to mind. But Bret has said The Informers adaptation to film suffered due to the director not being American. So that might leave out Refn.

OSOS

Are we thinking it’s QT that had been in discussions to direct..? Don’t think Bret would talk about him that way, but that’s the only person I had previously seen ppl guessing/wanting to do it. Trying to think who would be perfect, but also ask such a crazy amount of $?