iTunes Exclusive Episode August Osage County

The following is a sooner orgator production. The following is a sooner orgator production. The following is a sooner orgator production.

The following is a sooner orgator production. In the century. is open but not to the public.

Because it is time for another eye-toons excuse me. We welcome you. If you're listening to this it means one of two things or probably two of two things.

Number two or number one, we may be going backwards. I don't know. You subscribe to this show on iTunes.

And to me you're listening right now. So we're thankful for that in this holiday season. My name is Rob and some day I'll live in a state where the weather stays steady.

Joining me for this for introducing first the man to my left and the man who even though he's on my left tends to be my right hand. In this endeavor we call the clubhouse podcast. He is Chad.

Welcome sir. Thank you sir. That's my honor to have you here sir.

You say the weather stays steady but it is not this day as Eric Gorn would say. Tell you what, the weather outside is frightful. Yeah and he got frightful in a frightful hurry.

Mr. I was wearing shorts when it was 62 degrees this morning. Drop 25 degree.

Regret that decision, regret that decision. Also joining us on this attitude exclusive. He is the official fact checker of this show.

You may know him as fun. Don. Go.

But his moment named him. Don Ford. I'm going to call him.

Don Ford. We welcome you sir. You guys are complaining about cold.

Well you're from Montana. That's where I'm fine out to tomorrow. I always do the bit as mama call him.

Don Ford. I'm going to call him. Don Ford.

I gave him the fun. Don. Go name.

I don't know if I'll let you do it. Anything I just say. But it sounds cool when you do it.

But it was six degrees yesterday where I'm going tomorrow. But you're not there now. No, no, no, you're here.

You think of the old Ron White bit. What's the temperature outside? They're in 81.

But anytime we do, and at two, we just go to him as Uncle Festus keeps doing over here. It usually has to do with a movie review if you, if you wheel. And today is no exception to that.

But to this one that we're doing is a little bit different because this particular deals with a movie that I'm the only person in the studio. Let's see. So let's get right into it.

First of all, thank you to our friends at Allied Integrated Marketing as always. We've been our partners now for what five, four, five months now. And we're looking forward to 2014 being even more fruitful of a relationship between us.

But today we're going to talk about a movie called August, O'Sage County. And I actually had to get the correct pronunciation on that. Our friend Leanne from Allied.

I heard her say it. So I'm going with what she said. I'll trust her.

This is a movie that's based on a play. A Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award winning play written by Tracy Letz and the she also wrote a screenplay for this. And it was directed by a man by the name of John Wells.

Now he is only directed. One full length feature and it was called the company man back in 2010. I saw that.

He's your same director. Other than that though, he's directed a three episodes of shameless nine episodes of ER and one episode of something called the FBI files in 2003. So not a lot of skins are the wall.

He's done a lot of producing. But the story of this film, as it says in the title, it's August, it's O'Sage County, which is located in Oklahoma. In the beginning of the film, we have the narration from a character.

And then a Beverly Western who is a man played by the great Sam Shepherd. As we as he is narrating what is going on in his life. And we also meet his wife.

Violet Western played by the great and a great, I don't know if it's even a word. Not when you describe this one. Maryl Streep iconic.

She is a woman who is dealing with illnesses on multiple levels. Tragedy happens to the family, which brings their three daughters back and one of them still lives in the same town. And that is Julia Nicholson playing Ivy Weston.

You may know her from law and order criminal intent. She was on there for a couple of seasons, the short red headed lady who was paired up with Chris Knopf's character. She is the middle child, the youngest child is Karen played by Juliet Lewis and the eldest is Barbara played by Julia Roberts.

And the chaos that that family deals with over the next three to four days. Now, let me give you the rest of this cast. Chris Cooper, you and McGregor, Margo Martin, Dylan.

If you don't know who she is, she currently who doesn't know. She plays Carol Miller on the show called The Millers. But this lady's got skins on the wall.

She's she's one of the hot, hot Mary sought after actresses in Hollywood right now. She would just want to tone you about a year ago for justified. That would be an Emmy.

I'm sorry. The Emmy. I'm sorry.

Yes. She's a great actress, a wonderful lady Texan. So credit for that.

Also, Sam Shepherd, we mentioned, Dermit Mulroney. We talked to Abigail Brezel and Benedict Cumberbatch. This is the cast of this film.

And bad didn't know Benedict Cumberbatch was in the thing until I saw him. It's con. You can't swing a cat and not hit a film that he's in now.

And I can't complain because I do got talent. Now, we've set the movie up. Let's talk about it a little bit.

Good question for sure. First off, let's get in. There's so many questions we have for a year.

Please do. Let's start with the director. How was the directing, the scenery, the screenplay all that?

How would you? First of all, the film was directed on location in Oklahoma. It is in the planes.

And it's, you know, it's August because it's hotter than blue blazes. Well, I think captured. It's very difficult when you take a play and try to turn it into a film and make it effective.

Because when you do a play, you have a very limited space to work in. So you kind of have to stretch the stage as much as you can. In Oklahoma, where they are, ain't much stretching to do because it's already out there.

But I think what Wells does is he takes the property of the family home and he really works it well. There are, there is character to each area in the house that you see. You see the porch.

You see there's a little like a gazebo, a gazebo, but it's netted like an outdoor patio that has like the netted kind of sort of screened in. It's screened in the audio screened in patio. The porch, the dining room plays a very big part in this film because they have a family dinner after what happens.

And that's where things kind of come to a head on certain level. I thought he did a great job conveying just the whole, the whole visual imagery. I thought was very, very good and how he could kind of stretch a stage play into a full blown outdoor production.

I thought it was great. But let's just go from there straight into the acting. That's going to be my next question for you.

Yeah, what do you start? I'm going to start at the top. Meryl Streep is a walking, talking acting clinic.

As she has been ever since the early 80s and thoughts started watching. Look at the resume. I mean, if you don't know who Meryl Streep is, just Google it.

Because the woman is, I mean, she's downhorsers thinkers. She's a corner still not. I mean, she did do death becomes her if I remember correctly.

Death becomes her wasn't as bad as you remember. Yes, everybody's got their rich talk. But her in this film playing the matriarch of an of a family in rural Oklahoma who is battling multiple demons.

And I mean, like, if you can name a demon, she's battling it. I mean, she comes down, you first see her. You know what one of her illness is.

That's all I'm willing to say. I mean, you know right off the bat. She plays it to the flipping hilt.

And if, if you go back and you listen to the, uh, tunes, it's crucial that we did for a Mandela won't longlock to freedom. You'll, you'll remember that one of my things with that film was I never truly saw for an extended period of time. Nelson Mandela, but I did never see to address it all by either.

I never saw Meryl Streep. Like she was violent. She just disappears into the role.

She was violent Western. And that's not easy to do for the best act. She's another one of those actresses where you will always love her, but there's certain roles that you watch that you just absolutely hate her.

And that's her in this film. But then you add to the mix, Julia Roberts. Now, I saw an interview where Julia had first talked about that she was going to be doing this film and she was going to be working with Meryl Streep and she broke into tears.

Really? She's like, I get to act opposite one of my idols. Watching Julia Roberts, because Julia Roberts is the eldest sister, so she kind of, she's moved away.

You and McGregor plays her husband and they've come back from Colorado to be with the family. And so all of the pent up and Abigail Brisland plays their daughter. All of the pent up frustration of you were the first born you were supposed to stay versus I need to get out.

It's like watching two of the greatest boxers of all time fight and it doesn't matter who wins because they're real winners of the fans. You wanted to go past 12 rounds. Oh dear God, I did.

Watching these two, because there's that, there's that thing of meeting your idol and working with your idol and you get that star struck thing with these two. It was like Julia just got to the set and either Merrill told her or she made the conscious decision. I'm all in.

And if you look to, if you look at the poster to the film, the one sheet, the one sheet of the film is a very pivotal moment in the film. It looks like a knock-down drag. It's going on.

And this happens right after the family dinner I was talking about earlier. It is, it is a dance between these two that you didn't realize you waited your whole life to see. And it's hard to imagine that they haven't worked together before.

Have they never worked together before? I guess not. But I mean, and this, all of this going on and another cast that I wrote in my little, because we have to fill up paperwork when we go see these screenings.

And we have to put comments. And my first comment was with a cast like that, you have minimal room for error. Chris Cooper plays Merrill Streep's brother-in-law's Martin and Margo Martin Dells husband.

Chris Cooper, I could watch that do read the phone book. I am a huge fan of his Cooper. I don't take the guy.

You and McGregor, I mean, do I need to say any more? Margo Martin Dells, I wasn't real familiar with her, but I'd seen her in certain things. She plays Merrill Streep's sister brilliantly.

She is one of my all-time favorite actresses. I loved her and justified. I love that she got the image.

She's done so many roles. She's like a John Goodman, so many different types of roles. And she could play about anything.

And not here is how she did it. How did she do is this? She ooze its class in this film.

Just in general. Is that seen in the interview? In this film, she plays that southern woman.

I mean, she's from Texas, she has a sense of self. But to be cast as Merrill Streep's sister, this is where it gets crazy. And she plays, I mean, she hangs right there with her.

Oh, there she is. She's able to keep up. Yeah, there's nobody that I felt lagged in this film.

Everybody played their role. I mean, they're both, I'm an effort golden glow. Sam Shepherd, do I need to say any more?

Dermit Mulroney playing Juliette Lewis's fiance. Slammy. Slammy.

Well, they've apparently, they've already won ensemble of the year. The Hollywood film fest. That doesn't surprise me because she's a true ensemble film.

And she and Julia won for supporting actors in the same festival. Julia Nicholson, who a lot of people I think will take more notice of after this film, I love to run criminal intent. But she plays the small town southern girl very, very well.

It finally sunk in who you were talking about. Juliet Lewis is Juliet Lewis. Abigail Breslin.

This girl is bringing it. You worry about child actors as they age. She's still bringing it from an acting standpoint.

I think she's still bringing it from an acting standpoint. I think she's in for that role too. Really.

Yeah. Chloe, guys. Merrill, it's audition for Benedict Cumberbatch.

This is not a role that you're going to be used to seeing him in. He plays a Margot Martin Dale and Chris Cooper's son. So he's got the southern dialect down.

He's real. All I want to do is race daddy. Like, that's the kind of character he's very meek because you and his done this kind of thing before.

He was right. He played the guy in Edward Bloom and big fish. And he kind of had the southern draw all down pretty well for Benedict in this film.

A lot of people are going to see the range he can display in this film. He plays a very, very pivotal role. His character is a pivotal role.

But he doesn't have to play it. You understand what I'm saying? Uh-huh.

Like, you, you know who he is. He plays it well. Don't get me wrong.

But his character is so pivotal to the climax of the film. But he doesn't even have to be there for it. That's how big the character is.

Wow. He's been busy this year, man. I mean, I think 12 years of slave fit the state.

Hobbit. If the start track Mike, if there was a cast of the year Oscar right now, this would win it. Yeah.

Because so many heavy hitters. Nobody choose scenery. Nobody tries to upstage anybody else.

It was just one of those things where everybody knew that I mean, there's a lot of gravitas to this film. Oh, wow. That's just all the producers.

Yeah. I mean, this is this is a big deal, sir. Yeah.

Done. Clooney and the wine steams are two or three. This is the wine steams.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm looking at some of the facts Abigail Breslin had 103 degree fever when she auditioned for the role. Wow.

She's still got it. Yeah, she did. I mean, this and what in some versions of this film, the Meryl Streep role was played by Felicia Rashad.

Really? In some in some productions of this play, I said after the film, I want to see the play because I want to see the differences. It's right at two hours.

Okay. Not too long. Not too short.

No. It's it's a good length. It's a whole good.

Doesn't move very much. So I mean, you find yourself cringing in some points. You find yourself anticipating what's coming.

Uh, it's gritty. It's raw. It's not the feel of good movie of the years you heard.

The way I said I said this to you earlier today and the way I classified this film, it's still Magnolia's for a much more cynical generation. Where has steel Magnolia's was very emotional. It was a lot brighter than this film.

So final analysis before we go. Sure. Before we do the final.

My question. Sure. It's that time of the year.

Possibilities of the end and award season on the way. Yeah. When do you see this nominate for anything in the big Oscar?

Merrill Streep's going to get nominate. There's no chat in my mind. Okay.

Because if you get nominate for the golden globe, more often than not, you get nominate for the Oscar. It's just a rule. Okay.

Uh, Julia Roberts being nominated for best supporting actress. I don't know if I agree with that. She because she carried as much of the load of this film as Merrill Streep did.

But I could see her getting nominated. Um, Comber batch could be a surprise nominee. Just because he, he knew exactly what he had to do to play the role.

He didn't overstated. He didn't understated. He understood what the role wasn't he played it.

Screenplay director. Anything like that. You think?

Uh, or best picture? Not best picture. I just there's nothing about this film at screens best.

It's a wonderful film. Don't get me wrong. But I don't know if it's best picture worthy for the Academy and how they find food food sometimes.

It's a powerhouse film. Uh, again, not the feel good movie of the year. I loved it.

I loved it more than I should have. I'll, I'll say that right. Because I, I was going and expecting.

Oh, it's going to be some kind of a thest spian kind of a thing with air quotes. But I found myself engrossed in this film. I found myself loving this film.

Now let's get to the final analysis. You want me to run this? Well, let me, let me give the rules.

Okay. You're the Empire. We love you.

We respect you more than giving you thumbs up thumbs down or or stars or a number system. The way we rate films on this show. It's a two question resume.

Question number one. Would you see this movie again? Question two of the answer to question one is yes.

How would you see it again? Would you see it in the evening show? Would you see it in a matinee?

Would you see it in a twilight show? Would you rent it on video? Would you wait for it on HBO?

Would I see this movie again? Absolutely. In what genre would you see that?

But here's the thing. If you know me, I'm not a thest the end kind of a movie guy. I'm not an art for arts sake guy.

Kind of guy. I'm not, I'm not indie movie guy. I'm a guy who likes movies.

And I'm honest about my opinions and movies. I would absolutely see this film again. But I would see it at a matinee showing.

I would, I would like to see it with my wife so we could discuss it afterwards. Because I'm a guy. I'm not a child.

So I don't have a very big family. My wife's family is very long reaching. And so I think she might be able to see shades of certain people that maybe she knows or doesn't.

But she has a bigger family than I do. So that I think this might hit better with her than it did with me. Probably hit pretty well with my dad.

Yeah, I think I think you would enjoy this film. But I think there are certain aspects of this film that definitely would get to you. And we can talk about that not on the podcast because I don't want to give anything away to the people that are spoiler free.

Right. And I'm one question to the average movie going out or go out there. How would you recommend this for them for someone who hasn't seen it?

I would say go see it. Don't see it in a straight. Don't see it if you're having a bad day.

Okay. Let me just put it to you that way. But go see this movie.

And especially if you're a fan of solid acting performance, this is how you see this film. As you work, man, there's a full boom. I would say you could see it in an evening show for the first go around like I was going to have dinner and then going to see a movie that you could discuss.

This originally was supposed to be wide on Christmas day. It has been pushed back. It will be limited in Christmas day, which is why it was able to be nominated for the Golden Globes.

Because for Golden Globes and Oscars, you must be in theaters before the end of the year. It's going to open wide on January the 10th. So if you're a fan of fans, films of this nature, go see it.

The performances alone are worth it. Any other questions, boys? Well, I want to say one thing, even though I wasn't able to make it, I want to take everybody out of light again for the offer.

We loved it. We loved those cats, man. They have been so wonderful to us.

And we hope that we've been able to at least give back to them in some form. You know, if we can, we do. And I had a really good talk with with Josh last night as for another, yeah, that we're going to be doing.

Love those guys. All right, let's do the plug chat. Oh, that you're going to say something.

Oh, no, I'm going to go. All right, let's do the plugs. Listen to our normal show live every Sunday, 9th, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific.

You can listen on you stream, which you also go to our website, www.theclubhousepodcast.com, where you'll find some of our Whitt Written Reviews, Whittin'. Who am I? Bobo, wow, wow.

Written Reviews as well. Like our page on Facebook, look up to Clubhouse podcast, put the word podcast on the end or it's something completely different. You can follow this show on Twitter.

We are located at Clubhouse show. You can follow me on Twitter if you'd like. I am yes.

Yes, that Rob Irvin. I am at chat in PG69 and I'm at fondango and you can email me at Don at theclubhousepodcast.com. We would love to do our show live at your establishment.

Don's the guy that he's our liaison for. That's your email him if you want to email show ideas for us. We are your one stop shop for all things sports and entertainment every Sunday night.

You can email me. I am Rob at theclubhousepodcast.com. I am Chad at clubhousepodcast.com.

Charlotte Parker is on Pinterest because we're more obligated to say that and Jules Wormick is wherever the heck she wants to be, whenever the heck she wants to be there. Especially if there's a monster cheese involved. There you go.

We didn't get to work that in because of our Phantom episodes. I'd have put out there's a man. So until the next time we see you for Don, for Chad, I'm Rob.

The clubhouse is close. Hi, Brittany Palmer. The preceding was a sooner orgator production.