The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast
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The B.E.E. Podcast - 2/8/22 - Erich Schwartzel - SILVER
🕑 Added 2022-02-09 01:32:41 +0000 UTCBret reviews Chloe Zhao's first foray into the superhero film universe and revisits Nomadland a year after it crowned her an Oscar winner. Film industry journalist and author Erich Schwartzel and Bret discuss the complicated and symbiotic relationship between the American and Chinese movie worlds and chronicling its rapid evolution in Red Carpet.
Comments
AC23
I listen when going on my late night 1.5hr walks. For every old movie mentioned that I want to see, I pull out my phone while walking, look up the movie on IMDB and email the link to myself. Next day at my computer I see the emails and download the movies to my library to watch sometime in the future. It's been a good habit to get into.
BRC
If I create a BEE-bibliography of sorts where a list of films etc referenced are listed with simple links (IMDB, wiki, etc) would that be of interest to the group? I finish often wishing I had taken notes along the way so I could watch the Umwatched movies / read the books etc. later?
Antonio Primavera
Interesting... However... I am not scared of China. I am not scared of Russia. I am scared of the USA...not because it is powerful, but because it is weak, stupid, and aggressive like an injured animal. GOD, HELP US!
Christopher Ward
Love the podcast and the substance of this one especially. Unfortunately there is the occasional guest who does that whole uptalk thing that drives me up the wall and I have to switch off. It's probably a California thing but it's so damn annoying!
Dan Zilic
This was one of my favourite episodes: a very educated and well-spoken guest speaking about a specific and very interesting topic, with a good rapport with Bret. Good take on the Eternals, too (probably one of the most unentertaining Marvel movies ever).
David
This times 1000
Phoenix
Great interview. So the U.S. and the world for that matter become financially dependant on China in the last 20 years and now we’re facing massive issues with censorship on our own soil. How ironic. All I could think when listening to this interview is how we’re becoming like China. Except with our own weird liberal authoritarian rules instead of communist rules, but same idea. And it’s happening globally since Covid. Hopefully we have the balls to push back on it. As far as China and movies, the idea of movies I guess seems new and exciting over there, while over here it’s run its course. Plus I think most Americans would agree Hollywood has completely lost its magic. I miss the empire era, but I also love the deep dive I can take with shows. Succession, Yellowjackets, Servant, Euphoria…I don’t feel deprived at all for decent entertainment with really good acting. But the magic of the celebrity, the movie star is completely gone for me.
Leon Saul
Great recommendations. I’d also love an interview with author/filmmaker S. Craig Zahler.
Jon A.
Always enjoy the podcast but the last two episodes have been particularly enjoyable. Great guests, great discussion, and as always, great intros.
Dirk
Third this. I've been harping about it for a while LOL. I suspect he doesn't because he's NYC or Arizona based (and a pain in the ass lol).
Alex Johnson
I would LOVE an episode with Vincent Gallo
David
Brett, we need you to interview Dallas Sonnier/Bonfire Legend or Vincent Gallo to rectify this Chloe Zhao 180.
Alex Johnson
Enjoyed this episode! Bret’s podcasts make 2 1/2 hours feel like nothing. Perfect for walking to and from class in the city. A nice intellectual break from the constant, incessant anti-intellectualism at my university. It’s ridiculous out here going to school for the arts where NO ONE cares about art. Bret’s podcast is an oasis for me right now. Hollywood politics are super interesting. I go to a school with a huge and prestigious film department and I meet tons of idealistic film majors and I fear for them going into such a bloodthirsty, dollar-above-all industry. I mean, one viewing of The Player tells you everything you need to know.
Michael Walsh
I know what you mean. People will swear up and down they're not superstitious, but won't have an address with the number 4 in it. And many a cat has a broken tail, lest its silhouette remind someone of the character for death : 死
Tim Rinaldi
In China, they'll never stamp it out either. I remember this girl I knew when I studied in Beijing. Her parents were high-ranking CCP officials, allied with the doomed Bo Xilai faction right as Xi Jinping was coming to power, and she was anxious they were on the list. They had this creepy room in their apartment with about a hundred Buddha statues, super illegal for party members but probably the least of their problems. I hope she left while the getting was good...got locked out of old wechat account and lost touch.
Tim Rinaldi
It's even worse here in Taiwan, cuz better-preserved traditions w/o commies. We have ghost month, a very serious affair. A buddy of mine, high-functioning professional guy, is of the view that friends don't let friends within 50 meters of the seashore during ghost month -- cancel that trip, pengyou. And don't even think of letting your shoes face the bed, let alone moving house or pissing on a tree.
Michael Walsh
WRT China & ghosts. Having lived in a Chinese context for years, I can assure you that superstitions around death/ghosts/supernatural are deeply ingrained. To see, hear, or otherwise be associated with the supernatural/evil/death, even symbolically, is to invite unwelcome attention from the beyond. The attitude has withstood Party efforts to stamp it out.
Tim Rinaldi
Oh snap, how did I not know about this Timothy Mo... Will check him out. Thanks for that. And didn't intend to, but what the hell, here's my own interview with Osborne: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4226838 (But if only going to read one piece, the other guy's profile is deeper)
Dirk
As a Clavell fan (and Greene), it sounds interesting. Thanks!
Michael Walsh
Check out Timothy Mo for the best novelistic treatment of Asia. A shame (an Amazon artifact?) that this fine writer is not better-known in this country.
Tim Rinaldi
China adjacent side note: There's a Bangkok-based British novelist called Lawrence Osborne who is writing these kind of Graham Greene-esque novels set in various places in Asia -- Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. -- who is just the coolest and couldn't recommend more strongly to anyone reading this. Here's a great profile of him: https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/In-The-Glass-Kingdom-Bangkok-is-the-star
Tim Rinaldi
Thank you for doing this one, Bret. I've been living over here for ten years, between China and Taiwan, and it's really satisfying to hear you have a really pretty good grasp on what's going on with this stuff. If you want to dig a little deeper into China, just out of personal curiosity, I guarantee you it will repay any investment of time. It's the most fascinating and fucked up bizarro world, and what's even weirder is you can live there and have a really great time too, as many of us have been doing for decades. And there is a heavy Less than Zero vibe among the youth in Shanghai, Beijing, etc. I remember actually buying a translated copy to give to some ex-girlfriend some years back.
richard owain roberts
am going to listen on my run. will say more later, after my run
Alex Waller
Great Episode this week! Really thought this was an interesting conversation and thought the guest was great. It would be interesting to know if Richard Gere's career by was actually affected by his political stance or not. It's hard to imagine him wanting to play Commissioner Gordon with a fake mustache or show up in a Marvel film. Always assumed he just did what he wanted as the films he has been in recent memory have been pretty good, with Arbitrage being a real standout.
