Biopic: A Podcast Story

Episode 20: Reagan, Starring Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan

WE CALLED AN AUDIBLE FOR THE GIPPER.  
The things you do for love: Because Rena and Sara care and do not want anyone to spend money to see this movie, they went to see it. 
While Reagan is a soul-crushing journey through a propagandistic vision of the life and times of one simple mofo who was either blindly optimistic or the root of all modern evil, it’s also (mostly) objectively bad filmmaking: Everything looks hideous and coated in putty, scenes often contain only 3 to 4 lines of dialogue, and Reagan’s only human flaw is loving America a little too much.   
Crack open that industrial-size container of jelly beans and treacle to enjoy this tale of triumph, recounted through a logic-defying framing device of a broken KGB agent (played by noted accent disaster artist Jon Voight) sharing his slideshow of “The Crusader” single-handedly destroying communism with his sunshine-y grin and passion for God. Hear about Dutch’s baptism by Kevin Sorbo (he is in the movie), how Reagan shrugged at the AIDS crisis and got off on union-busting, and how the only likable character in the movie ended up being a Russian asset (‘sup, Dana!). Witness the horror of evil monsters Dalton Trumbo and Jimmy Carter advocating for healthcare. And for God’s sake, do not see this movie. 
Reagan stars Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan, Mena Suvari as Jane Wyman, Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan, Dan Lauria as Tip O’Neill, Jon Voight as a man named Viktor, Robert Davi as Leonid Breshnev, Kevin Dillon as Jack Warner, and Scott Stapp as Frank Sinatra. 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 18: Gotti, Starring John Travolta as John Gotti

Have you ever thought, “Maybe John Gotti has a lot in common with Nelson Mandela?” If so, this is the film for you. 
John Gotti gets the “throw every good movie about the cosa nostra in a blender and strain out the wrong lessons and the cliches” treatment with this barely-a-movie biopic that boasts 38 producers, 5 production companies, too many connections to the TV show Entourage, and little else. Oh, and Pitbull’s here to threaten you with his score. 
Gotti also offers John Travolta preening around with a cat-butt mouth, performances that challenge the terribleness of Robert Wuhl, wigs for days, scenes containing two people just yelling “whatsa matter with you” at each other, ugly wedding gowns, and sanity-challenging needle drops. Also a new game: is it the work of alleged elder abuser Randall Emmett, or is it ChatGPT? 
Gotti stars John Travolta as John Gotti, Spencer LoFranco as John A. Gotti, Kelly Preston as Victoria Gotti, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Angelo Ruggiero, and William DeMeo as Sammy Gravano. 
 
As promised, here is a clip from Rollergator:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGAfUx9jJZ8
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 17: Get On Up!, with Chadwick Boseman as James Brown

The mercurial, incredibly talented, and wildly chaotic James Brown gets the biopic treatment with Tate Taylor’s Get On Up!, which depicts a troublingly sanitized version of the musical superstar. Featuring perhaps the greatest framing device in the history of the genre (an office park, a rifle, a life coaching seminar, and a woman who used the wrong toilet), Get On Up! keeps us on our toes with its wild timeline-bending storytelling and features unsurprisingly brilliant performances from its murder’s row of talented actors, led by the late, great Chadwick Boseman as James Brown.
Also explored are questions about whether Frankie Avalon was a tool, James Brown’s dedication to his tracksuit, James Brown’s connection to Mitt Romney, and how many times we’re going to have to experience the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Get On Up stars Chadwick Boseman as James Brown, Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, Viola Davis as Susie Brown, Dan Ackroyd as Ben Bart, Jill Scott as DeeDee Brown, Octavia Spencer as Aunt Honey, Craig Robinson as Maceo Parker, and Brandon Mychal Smith as Little Richard. 
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
 
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Episode 16: Cleopatra, the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Version

Holy sh%t you guys. Rena and Sara dive into this colossal fiasco of a motion picture and come dangerously close to anhedonia as they stare into the void for four boring hours. Get on board for a lengthy history lesson about one of the film industry’s greatest cautionary tales. How did everyone involved do so little with so much? Was Richard Burton’s Roomba charging station filled with whiskey? How long was Cleopatra standing expectantly at the top of that giant plastic Sphinx?
The ridiculous props, excessive premature use of marble, Joe Mankiewicz’s gift for creating job security, the chaos of Burton and Taylor’s love affair, and Rex Harrison’s dark personal history come up as Sara and Rena wander through this dull as dirt abyss of excess.
Cleopatra stars Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Mark Anthony, Rex Harrison as Caesar, Roddy McDowall as Octavian, and Martin Landau as Rufio.   
 
Sources: 
The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Richard Burton: Prince of Players by Michael Munn
Fiasco: A History of Hollywood’s Iconic Flops by James Robert Parish 
The Worst Movies of All Time by Michael Sauter
The Studio by John Gregory Dunne 
Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris 
My Life with Cleopatra: The Making of a Hollywood Classic by Walter Wanger
Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner and Nancy Shoenberger 
CaroleLandis.net 
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1998/03/elizabeth-taylor-199803
https://frockflicks.com/cleopatra-1963/
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/15/how-we-made-cleopatra
 
Promised link to the first episode of the BBC’s The Cleopatras, a more entertaining rendition of this story that will take up only 45 minutes of your time. This thing is bonkers.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x35sa5m
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 5: Race

We had a lot to say about Race, so much that our fifth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter is entirely composed of material that we cut from Episode 14: Race.
 
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs, mostly about Race.
 
Highlights include:
The sentimental way that Rena commemorates D-Day every year.
Spoilers for Jordan Peele's Nope.
Sara marvels at the wonders of the postal service.
The Lion King's visual references to Triumph of the Will haunt Berlin's Museum Island.
Sara and Rena discuss possible future films and how to prioritize them.
And more, of course!
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
Trigger Warning: Contains mentions of the Holocaust.
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Episode 15: Prefontaine, Starring Jared Leto as Steve Prefontaine

Did you even medal, bro? White male mediocrity (compared to last week’s movie, at least) gets its due as we watch one of two debatably necessary Steve Prefontaine biopics that arrived in the late 1990s. What exactly did this guy do except run really fast on the collegiate level, witness the Munich Olympics’ atrocious massacre unfold on television, and serve as a Nike footwear beta user?
Sara and Rena take a one-way, no-exit trip into dialogue clichesville, where they discuss the Jared Leto problem, how Ed O’Neill always rises to the occasion, whether everyone in Oregon has access to weapons-grade dynamite, and what it means to turn distance running into a “blood sport.” Bonus discussion:  Who even are these people? Will anyone ever let Germany host another Olympics? 
Prefontaine stars Jared Leto as Steve Prefontaine, R. Lee Ermey as Bill Bowerman, Ed O’Neill as Bill Dellinger, Breckin Meyer as Pat Tyson, Lindsay Crouse as Elfriede Prefontaine, Amy Locane as Nancy Alleman, Kurtwood Smith as Curtis Cunningham, and Laurel Holloman as Elaine Finley.
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Bonus Episode! Irrelevant Host Banter 4: Becket & Frida

Hooray! We have a bonus episode: our fourth edition of Irrelevant Host Banter. These are some outtakes that were cut for running time.
 
Think of it as Sara and Rena having a conversation in non sequiturs.
 
Includes material cut from:
• Episode 12: Becket
• Episode 13: Frida
 
Highlights include:
Rena's rant about her unintended visit to Casa Trotsky.
An extended cut of portions of our "Would You Hook Up With this World Leader?" quiz.
Further discussion of Harvey Weinstein's repulsiveness.
More about the history of forks in Europe.
A definition of negging for listeners over sixty.
The "Second Opinion" for Frida that didn't make it into the episode.
Sara's vehement reactions to unprofessional, drunken behavior by Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton on the set of Becket.
And more, of course!
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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Episode 14: Race, a Jesse Owens Biopic, Starring Stephan James

All it took for a feature film about American hero, sports pioneer, and Third Reich-bitch-slapper Jesse Owens were French, Canadian, and German film producers to team up to get it off the ground. The results are mostly magical, with a compelling and winsome lead performance from Stephan James and a budget stretched to the max to bring the cringe-inducing Hitler Olympics to life. 
Sara and Rena go in deep talking about the corruption of the IOC, the pointlessness of boycotting the Olympics, and the profoundly crappy way Jesse Owens was treated on his return to America after hurting Himmler’s fee-fees and ruining Leni Riefenstahl’s film. As important: lengthy appreciation for director Stephen Hopkins and a brief celebration of the sanity and bravery of German athlete Luz Long and the skills of Eulace Peacock. 
Race stars Stephan James as Jesse Owens, Jason Sudakis as Larry Snyder, Shanice Banton as Ruth Solomon, Carice van Houten as Leni Riefenstahl, Jeremy Irons as Avery Brundage, William Hurt as Jeremiah Mahoney, Shamier Anderson as Eulace Peacock, and David Kross as Luz Long. 
 
Sources:
Triumph : The Untold Sto7.75ry of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics
By Jeremy Schaap
 
Berlin 1936 : Sixteen Days in August
By Oliver Hilmes   
Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.
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