While talking about the unconventional meeting places within The Departed - under bridges, on the roof of an abandoned building, in a parking garage - I asked The LOX the weirdest places they’ve had sit-downs.
Eric’s and my weirdest one — not mentioned on the show — was in January 2020 at the bottom of Whistler Mountain, a world-famous ski resort, for a deal that was a handshake away but then the pandemic happened! I know! And that’s what the real tragedy of the pandemic was.
Anyway, that led to a story where Styles talks about meeting Chevy Chase, and then this clip comes off the tail end of that: What celebrities have you asked to take a picture with?
I didn’t ask to take this picture, but I did take a picture with some celebrities: Eric and Jadakiss! I guess this was an unexpected meeting, too.
Last week, Wednesday at 10am, Kiss called Eric: “E, Teyana’s showing her new movie with Leo tonight. We should go.”
Going to a preview of one of the highest-anticipated movies of the year? With Jada? And it’s right by our apartment? We’re sold. We tried to get Sheek and Styles to come out as well, but Styles was flying back from London and Sheek said he was too old. (It’s his birthday today, btw. Happy birthday, Sheek!)
Eric and I got there super-early because, when it comes to this IMAX Theatre, we prefer to sit in the very back row — it’s the best place to take in the full screen. (As shown here, the screen is three stories tall; The LOX already say my neck is immobile, why sit closer?)
When Jada walks in, a few minutes before the thing starts, he is escorted to the 10th row, about halfway down and off to the side. He and his consigliere Beloved spot us all the way in the back and — after some highly animated charade-ass back and forth with 100 feet and 15 rows between us — Eric and I cave. We absolutely cave. We bring our popcorns and Dasani-branded swill and move down.
Later, Jada would say that we should’ve sat further back. Classic.
One Battle After Another is fantastic — enough that Eric and I got up and out early to go again for an 8:30am screening on Sunday morning. My entire TikTok (which recently somehow was all cartel videos of people trafficking cocaine and offering good hourly rates to join them) at the moment is Black women’s thoughts on the film, which has been interesting and refreshing: some appreciate the representation, some lament if people are receiving the same message they are; many also wonder if they should trust the messenger.
Our first screening was almost exclusively Black, the second was pretty much the opposite. And it was interesting to see how different audiences respond to laugh lines in a movie that explores race and power dynamics like this one does. I don’t want to get too far into it — this newsletter is not built for spoilers the way the showcast can be — but you’ll be pleased to know the line “semen demon” worked in both.
Also, Maino came up to us after the first screening and gave it a 10/10, and even considered that low. Beloved called it “a fucking horny film,” Eric and I have been reading, watching and enjoying a bunch of content related to the movie ever since. It presents a lot of powerful ideas, and so, if you’re interested in that sort of thing, I hope you make your way out to see the film.
Unrelated: if you’re not subscribed yet, now’s a good time to press the button. Maybe it won’t change your life, but it’ll change mine.
Last week, I offered up some polls, saying that we should review a movie that you all pick. So far, it’s been decided that it should be a
comedy
from the 90s that
people have seen 1000 times.
Now!
Go to this here link, submit what you want based on those three items: 90s comedies people have seen 1000 times.
We’ll collectively figure out the top choice that works for us during tomorrow’s taping and that’s what we’ll discuss at our live show, on October 10th!
…or, if you want my CashApp, I’ll put my finger heavily on the scale. You want us to talk about the movie you made? Sure! Whatever! I can be easily swayed.
This week’s episode is The Departed! Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Marky Mark, the lady from Running Scared, Alec Baldwin and Anthony Anderson in a free-for-all where just about everyone’s a rat or a mole and no one can be trusted, directed by Martin Scorsese? Perfect. Make sure to check out Styles’ breakdown of the movie right here:
And you can obviously check the full episode here (or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or what have you):
Next week’s episode is Sheek’s pick, and he’s setting off October with a horror movie: The Black Phone! It’s based on the short story by Joe Hill, which you can read for free: a kid is abducted in a small town by a creep with black balloons, and needs to find his way out. You can find it streaming on Peacock and maybe Hulu (?), I think you can also rent it on Amazon.
Next Monday, I should have more info on the movie we’ll be discussing at the live show *and* (if the Lord reaches down His mighty hand and extends His grace upon us) a first look at some merch!
