QUIZ LADY is now streaming On Demand on HULU
Hold onto your seats, cinephiles, as we take you on a thrilling journey behind the scenes of the heartwarming and hilarious movie - "Quiz Lady". Get ready for an exclusive chat with the movie's director, Jessica Yu, who masterfully channels the nostalgic feelings of reconnecting with family. Our noteworthy guests Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Will Ferrell, Holland Taylor, and Jason Schwarzman are also on board, bringing you fascinating insights about the film and their characters.
Strap in as we discuss the intriguing character dynamics, particularly the relationship between the sisters Anne and Jenny, played by Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. We tour the marvels of the characters' unique traits, their bewitching chemistry, and the wondrous role reversals that enhance the charm of the film. Prepare to laugh out loud as we share anecdotes about the hilariously unexpected ways in which Awkwafina's character Ann, a shy accountant, confronts her fears to save her pet.
Our exploration continues as we uncover the magic behind the camera. Get the insider scoop on the incredible experience of working with the legendary Will Ferrell. Discover how Jessica Yu's distinctive shooting style and the game show "Can't Stop the Quiz" bind the narrative and characters together. We wrap up with a fascinating peek at the movie's set, the cast's chemistry, and Jessica's intention to deliver a film that's not just a comedy, but a soulful portrayal of relationships. So, tune in and discover why Jessica and Sandra believe "Quiz Lady" will win hearts worldwide.
QUIZ LADY is now streaming On Demand on HULU
Hold onto your seats, cinephiles, as we take you on a thrilling journey behind the scenes of the heartwarming and hilarious movie - "Quiz Lady". Get ready for an exclusive chat with the movie's director, Jessica Yu, who masterfully channels the nostalgic feelings of reconnecting with family. Our noteworthy guests Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Will Ferrell, Holland Taylor, and Jason Schwarzman are also on board, bringing you fascinating insights about the film and their characters.
Strap in as we discuss the intriguing character dynamics, particularly the relationship between the sisters Anne and Jenny, played by Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. We tour the marvels of the characters' unique traits, their bewitching chemistry, and the wondrous role reversals that enhance the charm of the film. Prepare to laugh out loud as we share anecdotes about the hilariously unexpected ways in which Awkwafina's character Ann, a shy accountant, confronts her fears to save her pet.
Our exploration continues as we uncover the magic behind the camera. Get the insider scoop on the incredible experience of working with the legendary Will Ferrell. Discover how Jessica Yu's distinctive shooting style and the game show "Can't Stop the Quiz" bind the narrative and characters together. We wrap up with a fascinating peek at the movie's set, the cast's chemistry, and Jessica's intention to deliver a film that's not just a comedy, but a soulful portrayal of relationships. So, tune in and discover why Jessica and Sandra believe "Quiz Lady" will win hearts worldwide.
Because we now have the Cinema Judge Music. Hello, hello, hello and welcome to the Cinema Judge To all my regulars out there. You are incredible. Welcome back. If you're new to this show, welcome aboard, and I hope my voice finds you well. Now approach the bench. Today we have Quiz Lady, a game show obsessed woman and her estranged sister work together to cover their mother's gambling debts. And it stars Aquafina, sandra oh, will Ferrell, holland, taylor and Jason Schwarzman, just to name a few. Here's a trailer for Quiz Lady Music.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Hi, I have some bad news.
Speaker 4:We lost your mom. What?
Speaker 3:Sorry, that was terrible phrasing. I meant we don't know where she is.
Speaker 5:Music. I think your sister's here, annie, it's finally happened. Oh my God, it's okay. It's okay, I'm here. Oh my God, you're working, annie.
Speaker 2:She's not dead. She ran away. Tough match.
Speaker 1:And yum, your mom owes me 80 grand. When you have it, you'll get your dog back.
Speaker 2:I don't have any money.
Speaker 5:You can sell your eggs. It's not like you're using them.
Speaker 2:No, there has to be another way. Next on the Quiz.
Speaker 4:What is the square root of 196? 14. Correct. How many hearts does an octopus have? Three Correct.
Speaker 2:What Saffron, Saturn, Aphrodite, Apollo, Aries, Carnotapside, the Equal sign.
Speaker 5:Correct. Oh my God, you know this game. This is how you're going to make the money. I'm taking you to the quiz. Look out, we're not a drive Racist. Oh Hi, come on, it's going to be fun. I'm not sleeping on the floor. I'm not sleeping on the floor either. I'm sleeping on the chair.
Speaker 2:I don't want to sleep in a sitting position. Oh my God, hold up, hold up. I can't play on live TV in front of millions of people. I'll let you get to it. I mean, you got to get through hair and makeup. I already went through hair and makeup, oh, and you missed a spot. I can't do this. Am I sweating?
Speaker 5:Yeah, you know what. Put your arms down. You're having a panic attack. Doctors prescribe these. Is that cocaine? Yeah, I'm Stevie. Do you ever use Stevie at the sweetener? Yeah, yeah, I've got it in my pocket.
Speaker 2:Win or lose, we'll do it together. That is definitely broken. I bet you I could pop it back in my cell.
Speaker 5:No idea, I'm going to throw up.
Speaker 4:How can I ever thank you? Maybe like a drink later? Well, I'm married and gay.
Speaker 5:Why did you have to say two reasons?
Speaker 1:Now, like I stated earlier, this is now streaming on demand on Hulu, so if you have Hulu, you can watch this anytime you want. Now coming up next, we're going to have a few interviews for you. First of all, we're going to hear from the director, jessica Yu, and she's going to talk about the story and this is a cool point that she makes. I mean, it might not happen to you, but it happens to me all the time. Ever had it where you meet up with an old friend or even family members that you know maybe don't see all the time, but immediately you feel yourself revert right back to the time that you were young, and sometimes it happens that I'm like what are you doing? I'm talking to myself in the head what are you doing, man, you're not that kid anymore. But bam, you're right back in there. So she talks about that, how that influenced her taking on this role of director. And then we're going to hear from Aquafina and she's going to talk a little bit about her character. And then we're going to hear from Sandra oh, who plays Jenny, but in this interview she talks about Anne, who's played by Aquafina. She talks about that character, and then we're going to hear from Aquafina again talking about Sandra oh playing her sister. Then we go back to Sandra oh and she talks a little bit more about her character. And it's really fun just hearing her talk about this because if you really look at this film, both of them both Aquafina and Sandra oh are playing off character, because usually Aquafina would play Sandra Oh's character, who's more hyper, more Whatever word you want to use, but more the out there.
Speaker 1:But in this one they switch roles and I love that because you truly get to appreciate them as actors Because you know they have the all of it to do it. But a lot of times people get typecast. You play this kind of role, you're a serious role, you're a comic, whatever it may be, but this one really gets to say see, this is why they do this, because they're talented, they can do anything they want and here's, here's them doing that, and they're gonna have a featurette after that and in this feature, ed, this is what it is the studio is. They send us Many commercials that focus on one particular thing and they have interviews, clips and on the set footage.
Speaker 1:And later on I'll tell you where you watch this, because it will be on demand here in a couple days, because sometimes when you hear these interviews you're like, oh, that's great, but what's going on in the scene? And? And that sometimes helps a little bit more if you could watch the TV version of it and I'll give you that address later. But we're gonna hear from Aquafina, the director, jessica you will Ferrell, sandra oh and writer producer Jen D'Angelo, and in that featurette these talk a little bit about the story and everything. What's going on in a little bit About the characters.
Speaker 6:So here it is. So Quiz lady is about sisters Ann and Jenny. I Also have a sister named Jennifer, so there were definitely some parallels there, and my own theory about siblings is that there's a way that you cannot be anybody but your childhood self with your sibling so that's something that happens in this film and Think she's a grown-up. Jenny shows up and all of a sudden they're squabbling like they're in seventh grade. So that was something that I felt was universal and I loved bringing that relatable dynamic into the, the into the film.
Speaker 2:I would describe Ann as somebody who, I think, has a level of a Kind of phobias in her mind. I think that that she has built this little kind of comfortable snow globe out of a kind of way to hide from the world. I think that she wants to be invisible, she doesn't want trouble in her life and I think she doesn't really want to stray past kind of the comfort of her own couch and it's a it's a stark difference to, obviously, jenny, but you know, I think definitely a product of her environment.
Speaker 5:Ann is Is the younger sister of the young sisters and she has a very Stable life. She works as an accountant, she lives alone, she loves her dog and she watches her quiz show every night. But she's afraid, she's really afraid, and there's a certain type of invisibility that she carries and that she that you see her in in her office space Hilarious, but like none of her co-workers ever kind of see her and One that's funny but also I felt it was such an interesting thing to play where you see how Ann has to really break out of her shell for two reasons one, that she loves this dog. You know she loves this dog and for those people who have deep relationships with animals, like this is for you this like it's like Ann loves her dog and that's one of the only reasons why she would break out of her routine is because of her love for her dog. But but within that is revealed a lot of why Ann is as afraid as she is and a lot of like a Like initial deep trauma.
Speaker 2:Jenny is free spirit, wild child, extrovert, you know. She's I think the the person that is Says and kind of does the wrong thing all the time, but there's something Lovable and adorable about it. There's an innocence there, and I also think that she, you know she cares more about kind of Going to Hollywood, more than more than Ann does, I think she's she had those dreams that were crushed and I think, you know, in her way that's, I think running away Was the way that she kind of dealt with trauma, whereas I feel like Ann stayed, you know.
Speaker 5:She's got a lot of hair, she's got a lot of tattoos, she's got a lot of nails, she's got a lot of stuff. She's a lot, she's a lot. She's just a fantastic character who's really, really inappropriate and self-serving and Learns throughout the the piece how to show up for someone, and Learns also how to trust herself.
Speaker 2:This movie is about two sisters and they have to come together in a really crazy way to get one shy sister on national television to save the thing that she loves the most.
Speaker 1:Your mom owes me 80 grand. When you have it, you'll get your dog back my dog.
Speaker 5:You know this game. This is how you're gonna get your dog. This is synergy from the universe. Oh my god, I think I might have manifested this. I.
Speaker 2:Hate all the words you just used.
Speaker 6:We have a very grounded emotional story, but there's a lot of physical situations.
Speaker 2:What you need to run track.
Speaker 5:I signed up for it.
Speaker 6:We had a ridiculously great cast and we're just pushing the boundary of the humor.
Speaker 4:That was incredible. You almost knocked my bow tie off.
Speaker 2:I would have felt quite nude a love will ferrell so much he plays the host of this game show that Anne has grown up watching and in a way he's a father figure for her welcome and thanks, dad.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry what? It's a really cool pairing. They're both really good actors. They both know comedy.
Speaker 2:I think it'll be a fun surprise for audiences the wardrobe for this movie is a lot of sweater sets. I was wearing loafers and you can hear me from a mile away click-clack.
Speaker 5:The quality, the heart and just the funniness was all there at the very beginning.
Speaker 7:Seeing the script comes, her life was amazing.
Speaker 5:It was so much fun. I hope that's what people feel.
Speaker 1:This is the way I look at it, guys. Comedies are the great illusion. A lot of times we go into a comedy thinking these people don't care, they just slept together and nobody gives a hoot. It's just a throwaway. And that's the great joke that comedies have played on humanity.
Speaker 1:You can say so much in a comedy that you can't say in other movies, just because you're laughing even it might be a little statement or a big statement or just an alluded to, but you're laughing while you're watching it because it's a lot harder to maybe jump that hurdle sometimes in a drama Because you'd be so heavy-handed. And that's what makes these actors who are comedians, being able to do this, because comedy is not easy to do. A lot of people get confused by that. Even I've heard a lot of dramatic actors say they don't, they're terrified of comedy because you got to be emotionally naked. You do it being a normal actor too. I'm not saying that. But you have to be so vulnerable when you're doing comedy because when you're shooting it You're just there, everybody's staring at you. There's no music, there's no nothing. You're just doing it and you have to do it straight-faced or what have you. But that's the great illusion of comedies that I've truly enjoyed because of filmmakers. Anytime they do any kind of movie, they have some kind of point in their head that they can relate to and it addresses some kind of issue, for at least for them, and they might say, huh, let me just try to throw this in there and see what the audience thinks. That's the great thing about comedies. Like real quick example, if you go back to some of the movies like in the 70s, like fast, fast times at Ridgemont, high Porkies and all these other movies. People only talk about the funny parts. But both those movies whether it be fast times, porkies or slew of other ones there's a major underlying social issues in those movies, but you don't, you'll never talk about it. No one ever says, hey, let's talk about this or that from fast times or porkies. No, you only talk about certain aspects, like mr John or, you know, lassie from porkies. But both those movies have incredible messages but eh, no one ever really brings them up. Again, the illusion of comedy Now coming up.
Speaker 1:Next we're going to hear from the director, jessica Yu, and she talks about Sandra O's character, jenny, and then we go to Aquafina and she talks about where we find the sisters in the very beginning, the roads that they've taken. Once they stayed behind, one went away. They dealt with family trauma differently. In that same vein we're going to talk to Sandra O after that and she also discusses the evolution throughout this film of the characters. And that's what makes a story great is if a story, through the story, the character evolves. You don't want the character to stay the exact same way. Because then what's the point of telling the story? Because all through life we all change, so obviously the character should, you know, should change, and that's what she discusses.
Speaker 1:And then we have a clip, and in this clip both Sandra and Aquafina are driving in a car and they start fighting like sisters do and you hear it kind of spins out of control. Then another car comes in the other lane because they go to the other lane and everybody screams at whatever. And then you hear the truck drivers say learn how to drive. And you know, in the car there's two Asians and there's always a stereotype of, sometimes, asian women. So then she yells out the window, racist. And the truck pulls up, the guy pokes his head out and it's an Asian guy. So she's. Oh sorry, it's just again right there. A little little commentary, a little statement about perception and the way people see people, or what have you. Again, you throw that into a comedy. It's funny. Anyway, that's what's coming up.
Speaker 6:Next, sandra plays Jenny, who is the older sister who kind of bailed, couldn't deal with the mom. There was a lot of family chaos and so she went off to chase her dream, which keeps evolving. You know, she's going to be an actor, she's going to be a singer, she's going to be a designer. So she leaves and then so she's kind of you think that she's just sort of flaky and irresponsible, disorganized. A lot of that might be true, but there's more truth to her, to the things she says and the things she does, than on the surface. It's almost like she's become so much a version of Jenny that her true intentions kind of get lost in that. So that's something that emerges in the story.
Speaker 2:I would say when we first find Jenny and Anne, they're probably not really on speaking terms. I think that there's a degree of dissent between them that you know, maybe unspoken or not. I think that there's guilt on Jenny's part for not really being there for Anne all the time and wanting to be that older sister, and I think that there's a kind of resentment on Anne's part that Jenny had left for so long and I think that Jenny tries to redeem herself in this way. That obviously flops and is not the way that Anne wants necessarily.
Speaker 5:We have this classic odd couple, sibling-ness like one's wild. One's very stable, right, but as you so, one is correct, one's right and one's wrong, right, one's following the winner, so, but as you come to it, it kind of gets mixed up and you can't say that this person's just a flake or that person's not showing up. I really feel like the piece is also is very much about both of their awakenings, but Anne's awakening to that there's a whole set of stories and beliefs that she's thought about her sister and her, about herself, that really that she was wrong about.
Speaker 1:Oh, see what I'm saying. So much to be said in just a little blip of comedy. In earlier we talked about perception and what we expect one actor to do and another actor to be things of that nature. Well, coming up next we're going to have a few interviews that kind of touch on variance of that Up. First we're going to hear from writer-producer Jen D'Angelo and she talks about the dynamic between both these actresses and the characters. And then we're going to talk to Jessica Elbaum, a producer, and she talks about the beautiful chaos between both these people, both on and off character, and how different they really are in real life. But yet they just gel when they're on camera.
Speaker 1:But I want you to pay attention to a couple of these interviews that you're going to hear coming up here. They're going to say Nora and when they talk about Nora, at first I was like who is Nora? I don't. I look through the cast, I'm like I don't. What am I not? What am I not getting here?
Speaker 1:Well, me being a bit dim that I am, I didn't realize Aquafina's real name is Nora and in this interview set that they talk about throughout this show here they often slip and say Nora and I'm like they talk to her as Nora when they're on set because they're all in real life people but your stage name is your stage name, and how some people evolve away from that kind of like the rock is no longer called the rock, he's Dwayne Johnson. But it was first the rock, that is Dwayne the rock, blah, blah, blah Johnson. Now it's just Dwayne Johnson. So in these set of interviews what I'm getting to is this when they say Nora, they're saying Aquafina, because then we're going to hear from Jessica, you the director, and she I think she might even say Nora in there too, and she just talks about how she says a fan of both these actresses and they both bring different things to this show, but what they bring is great and again they're playing off character and that's what's so, so fun about these kind of movies where they have the guts and confidence now in studios are able to say to yeah, you don't have to play the same role.
Speaker 1:We know you're skilled. Let's let the people see that. To go back to the producer Jessica album and she's a talk about how aqua fina slash Nora In bodies this different kind of role, because she can. It's really cool to see that.
Speaker 7:Sandra just Felt like such a natural big sister to Nora and they just got along so great and it was so fun to watch Nora just absolutely crack Sandra up and watch Sandra be so delighted by her and just like In some ways kind of mystified by her, be like I don't even totally understand. You like explain any of your references. To me it just felt like such a natural sister dynamic where they got along so so, so well, even though they are really different, and that was so cool to watch. That just grow and grow.
Speaker 3:When I met Sandra for the first time Jen and I went to her house to talk through the script and similar thing I was like, oh my god, it's like this beautiful chaos, right, and her mind doesn't stop. Also, she doesn't stop. So I was like, oh, she is, jenny, like this is. She has that, that chaotic energy that I think Jenny has. So all of a sudden I was like, oh, it's much more natural this way, right, and when you meet Nora, you expect her to be this kind of, you know, loud, brash, like you know. I was looking and she's actually really shy and really quiet, and so all of these expectations of these two that we've just drawn because of their performances, which is like they're brilliant, right, when I spent time with both of them independently and then together, I was like, oh, this is like a natural thing for them and and I think that Sandra was just so excited to finally be given the opportunity to play something that that felt like you know, kind of close to who she is.
Speaker 6:So, yes, it was a total dream working with Aquafina and Sandra. Oh, I'd worked with Sandra before and obviously she can do anything, and I was a big, big fan of Aquafina, not only for her comedy, but also for her her just her acting chops, and she's a very fine, fine dramatic actor. So the idea of seeing them together was very appealing, and what was great is that there was such respect that was built between the two of them. So when they were on set they connected in a way that was just completely authentic, and it was always exciting to see what they would come up with together. Little bit improv here and there. That was delightful. The only thing that was difficult was that Aquafina just kept cracking up. She would just break all the time and watching them laugh together. There's a part of you that's like get through the take, and there's another part that's like, oh, I hope they start laughing because it's really fun to watch when you see the film, her subtleties to her performance and how she plays this character.
Speaker 3:It's insanely funny. But it's not this physical comedic, seeing, stealing, you know thing that were used to. But I think she still seems just by literally like the way she will move her face or you know her body. I think the way she walks and the way she carries herself is so funny. So it's like that. It's like the Little things that she chose to do for this character just made it so funny.
Speaker 1:And that's just a cool interview to hear somebody talk about how they approach the role, how he did things differently, and it's just they have to tap into something differently. And up next you hear from the director and she's in a talk with that character and that aquafina plays. You think, or she thinks everything's fine. I just want to do it, just do my routine and leave me alone. But when she talked aquafina, she was telling her that she felt the character had a lot of anger inside. So that's what really helped propel her during this movie to make maybe changes. Because what and does in her normal life? As you probably already heard throughout the show, she loves watching this game show. That's like her little blanket, if you will. In.
Speaker 1:The host of that show is will ferrell. The guys names Terry, so we're gonna hear from will ferrell, who plays Terry, the host, and he just he just talks about how he personally feels what a great pairing Both Sandra and aquafina are and how great they work together and how proud he is to be part of this kind of film because it's Female driven, and it's like that's so cool to hear him say that he doesn't have to be the main guy but he says, yes, these people have talent. We need to tell more stories like this on this, proud to be part of it. So I tip my cap to him and then we're gonna play another feature at and in this feature at, the folks pretty much on the two leads in their improvising and all these things that they bring to it so in this year interviews to be clips and is the on a set footage and all those kind of things. But that's what it discusses is just pretty much those two improvising and so on and so forth.
Speaker 6:Here it is and someone who is convinced that her life is fine, that she is quote happy, she has her job, she's got her dog, everything. She's got her quiz show that she loves to watch every night. So she's got it worked out. She doesn't need disruption. It's that's what she's been trying to escape from. But Norris Aquafina said something early on that stayed with me. She said there's a lot of anger in and that's just. She's tamped down, and I think that that is the thing that keeps her character Capable of evolving. There's something deep seated that inside her that knows that this isn't, this isn't it, and that's what Sandra's character, jenny, that's what her sister, brings out in her it was like oh, that's, that's a really cool pairing.
Speaker 4:They're both Really good actors, they both know comedy as well, and I think it was. It was also just a great opportunity to kind of continue to be behind Diversity in female cast. You know and, and and. As you see, their, their, their immediately sisters. I mean just, we're kind of just starting here, but it already feels like you can tell they have a background with each other and and a closeness.
Speaker 5:I will say Aquafina is terrible. She breaks all the time. This film is about two sisters reconnecting based on who they are now as adults. This is fun.
Speaker 2:I'm such a huge fan of Sandra. To actually play sisters was so cool. It doesn't.
Speaker 5:This is one of the best experiences of my career this is my destiny. I remember talking to Aquafina and saying what do you think about me playing, jenny? She said you can play whatever you want.
Speaker 6:Sandra and Aquafina know each other better than anyone. The way that they are tuned to each other, it is quite spectacular.
Speaker 5:Look out.
Speaker 7:They had such great ideas to make this even more funny.
Speaker 5:I think I might have manifested this, aquafina and I were improvising so much.
Speaker 2:She took the improv a little far, I think at one point Sandra put her foot in my mouth.
Speaker 5:I hope that people get sliver of how fun it was to shoot it.
Speaker 1:Now you just heard another feature, ed. Now if you want to watch the TV version of this, you go to BITLYCINEMAJUDGEBITLYCINEMAJUDGE. You'll be there on demand to watch whenever you want, 24 hours a day. As of this second, it's not up because I haven't sent the show over yet, but the next few days it should be up. But I just want to, you know, for warning you, in case you listen to this. The second it drops you go hey, buddy, where's it at? Well, it's because I haven't sent it out yet because it's officially the weekend. But you get to drift if you want to watch it. That and other shows are there Coming up.
Speaker 1:Next we're here from the writer director and she's in a talk about just how incredible Sandra Yeo is to work with. And then we're going to go to Aquafina and she's in a talk about working with Will Ferrell and just how much of a fan she is of his and how happy that he was part of this film. And most of us think we watch Will Ferrell. Maybe he's this way or that way, but in real life the guy is pretty calm, and the directors and talk about that afterwards and it's like A lot of times in my mind's eye you think, okay, sometimes how these people like in real life, because they can't have all that energy all the time. Maybe they can. But it's really kind of cool to hear the director talk about. Well, you know, he's actually pretty calm and we actually hear these interviews from him and on the show he is pretty mellow, so that's kind of cool.
Speaker 1:And then we're going to hear from Will himself, and he's in talk about the story in the game show that he hosts. And then we're going to hear from Will himself. He talks a little bit more about the story and in this story, the game that he hosts. It's really complex and unique compared to any other games. You know, and it was in here, both the director and Will Ferrell talk about that and the elements involved. And then we're going to play a clip for you and in this clip both sisters are sitting at home watching the game show and Aquafina's character is nailing the questions Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And Sandra Yol's character is like what in? So she throws up matter. Why aren't you on this show and have this little banter back and forth of is this why you won't do it? Is this why you won't do it? So it's fun to see that banter between the two.
Speaker 7:I mean, sandra's incredible. She's amazing. She is so prepared, she's so thoughtful. She really has such a bird's-eye view of like the entire project, while also getting really sort of like into her character and finding all of these character details. And it was so cool to see her work as both an actor and a producer and just bring that really critical eye for detail to every element of the script. It was really amazing and I felt so lucky to get to work with her.
Speaker 2:I love Will Ferrell so much, I grew up with his on his movies and like he is so cool and did not have to be in this movie and then, you know, I think, definitely saved the day. He was such a pleasure to work with. Nicest guy ever, ridiculously funny. And he plays Terry McTeer, who is the host of this game show that Anne has grown up watching and in a way he's kind of a father figure for her and you know it's a role that is literally a game show host. But like the way he brings even to that something that is like unexpected and, yeah, it was a pleasure to work with him.
Speaker 6:Well, yes, Will Ferrell, a legend, also one of the nicest people to work with ever. So you know he's producer on the film and it turned out that he liked the idea of playing Terry McTeer and was available, so we were just super excited. What's great about him is that he's really collaborative and he's ready to go, but he's also really calm, like calmly funny kind of like. To me he's just Terry McTeer, Like that's how I see Will Ferrell now. But so having him there, I think, just elevated everybody's mood and there was just like a lot of easy laughter on set. It was just delightful.
Speaker 4:We loved this kind of, obviously, story of two sisters, slightly estranged, you know, for various reasons, who find a way to reconnect through this game show. That is a bit of a national phenomenon and it just, yeah, it was just such a unique kind of simple but really a fun way for them to kind of revisit their lives and you know what went wrong and how do we reconnect. And the fact that for Anne, the character of Terry McTeer played by me was kind of like a surrogate father figure to her and that was really kind of a special divide, that that's where she every night at seven o'clock, since she was a little girl, despite the chaos in their family life, that's where she found her like safe, quiet, happy place, and so all those elements kind of tying together made it seem like a really neat special movie.
Speaker 6:So with Can't Stop the Quiz the show that was invented for the film, we wanted to play off the idea of the traditional game show, which is about just you know, facts and trivia, but we wanted to add an element where it's a little bit out of the comfort zone and you know, without giving too much away, there's a version of the last round where you need to call on a friend and it's a very active role. So that was our idea to try to bring the sisters together and to tie their fate in the game show together, and but it was really fun to try to figure out what that could be and, of course, Sandra and Aquafina just nailed it.
Speaker 4:I was talking to Jen, our writer. I was like this is a hard game show. You're just given a category and then you just have to list facts without any prompting, any hints. So and then there's. Then. You have to be good at trades, because we have another segment called Flip it, where you flip a giant coin and you either say it or show it and you have to act out the category. So you have to be not only super smart, have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything on planet Earth, but you have to be able to do charades. So it's a unique combination. But it is America's favorite game show and your time starts now. What is the square root of 196? 14. Ron, 14. Correct, how many hearts does an octopus have?
Speaker 2:3.
Speaker 4:Ron 3. Correct what? What spice is derived from Crocus sativus Saffron?
Speaker 1:I feel like an answer hog Saffron.
Speaker 2:Correct Carbon dioxide, very good Wellington, new Zealand. Correct Saturn, our American cousin, the equal side.
Speaker 5:Harry Potter, the Hobbit Correct Time.
Speaker 4:Miss you, ron. Please list for us the Gods of Mount Olympus Aphrodite.
Speaker 2:Apollo, aries, artemis, athena, demeter, dionyses, hephaestus, hey.
Speaker 5:Why haven't you gone on that show? Are you scared that you would win so much money that people will try and kill you for it? You know that's a thing with lottery winners. No, it's not. Are you scared that your hatred for that wrong guy is actually a sexual attraction that you wouldn't know how to navigate in person?
Speaker 1:No, as I sit here and listen to these shows and these interviews, I wonder to myself how much stress do you have as a director, working with incredibly talented, iconic people? Because both these the whole cast, they have a laundry list of incredible projects that they've been a part of. For me, I'd probably have stage fright. I'd just freak out and run off the set because all these people and you're directing them. So I felt you know what we need to hear a little bit more about the director from the people she worked with. So first we're going to hear from the producer, jessica Album, and then we're going to hear from the writer-producer, aquafina, and then we're going to hear from the director herself talking about her shooting style, because in the one before that, aquafina talks about improv and all these kind of things. So she addresses that and how she works.
Speaker 1:But in case you're not familiar with all the work that the director's done, I'll just list off just a little bit of her incredible body of work TV show, citadel, american Horror Story, 13 Reasons why Billions, just to name a few. She is so talented and so diverse. I mean, look at that whole list of stuff that I just mentioned right there, comedy, action, drama, horror. She can do it all and that's what will set her apart, sets her apart from all these other people out there. If you could handle different genres and look at these genres so diverse and these aren't just slough names either. Again, that's just the stuff I named. I really can't wait to see where she goes and what she continues to do as a director, because I mark her name down people. She's going to do some good things, like she's already done, and just grow and grow and grow.
Speaker 3:We got her together with Sandra and Nora and they just really it's like mind meld and the chemistry was so, so good and I think that she had this great ability to get them to like go deeper and think about character and performance in a really beautiful way. But really they just really loved being around each other and I think that she was really thoughtful about story and really thoughtful about these girls' backgrounds and really wanted to sort of know more about what that parent dynamic was, where they came from, and they all had a really good time kind of talking about that and digging deeper. And actually before we started shooting, jessica and Nora were both out in London shooting and Sandra and Jen flew out and they did like a whole workshop in London for a week to sort of talk through the script and the chemistry between all of them was pretty magical. But Jessica is just she's a pro, jessica.
Speaker 7:I mean she was incredible. She was so fun to work with, like leading up to the production, and then it was so cool watching her on set, like she was just such an incredible director and so great with the actors and with the crew and everyone kept saying like. Everyone on the crew just kept saying like this is one of the best shows you've ever worked on and the vibe was just so incredible and that's all owed to Jessica, sandra and Nora. It all comes from the top down and they just created such an incredible environment for everyone Working with.
Speaker 2:Jessica it was. It's such an incredibly insane energy of like warmth, of acceptance, of like curiosity, Of just kind of like the ability to listen to everyone, and so there was already such a crazy warm, secure, safe environment that I felt like there was no way to not do it than improv. And I'm such a huge fan of Sandra she's one of my favorite, like, in my opinion, one of the best community actresses out there and to actually like be like stupid with her, you know, is like that was so cool. And then to also know that, like every time we did do something, Jessica would be like okay, that, and then you know, and then we'll keep, you know, keep adding stuff to it. So it was a great environment for improv.
Speaker 6:So when we were shooting, I always believe in shooting what's scripted first Jen D'Angelo wrote a wonderful script, so we'll do that and then we'd always leave some room to play. There'd always be a take where they could order off the menu, as I like to say, and so there was some gold. That came from that for sure, and it also kept the mood on set creative and loose. So, yeah, there was definitely some shenanigans going on.
Speaker 1:And that's what makes a great movie different from a good movie or even a poor movie the chemistry. Can people on set get along? Because sometimes you can't even tell. I've watched movies, tv shows, we all have or later you hear man, these people are button heads and it's a sales and you know, I didn't know. Look how great that movie was. But I like to think I'm not saying I know these things, but I like to think sometimes you could tell if these people are having fun, really having fun while they were shooting it, because often that does translate to the screen and you could feel that just sheer joy watching a film.
Speaker 1:And Sandra oh talks about that in this next interview. Hear her enthusiasm and she's been in a lot of projects. She's done a lot of different kind of movies, tv shows etc. And I love hearing how she enjoyed making this film. You're like wow, that's really refreshing. And then we're going to hear from the producer, jessica, and she's going to say what does she think or hope people will take over this film and why they will love it. And then that same vein we're going to hear from the director and she talks about she hopes the emotional message and tone gets through other than just a straight up comedy, because the comedy is great. But in her mind she says I hope that other aspects of the film can really pierce through.
Speaker 5:We had the best time Like. This is one of the best experiences of my career. It was so much fun and all I can say is that I hope that's what's translated. I hope that you see, you know these two characters, these two sisters, and it's also like you know one. It's a sister comedy, it's obviously sisters. You know you have women in the picture. You have Asian women in the picture, being very broad, very, very funny and and just having a good time.
Speaker 3:I think that it's. Yeah, it's a family, sisterhood, beautiful story filled with just fun and funny, and, like what it my favorite movies are, you can laugh and cry in the same in the same sitting, and I think this does this, and I think the ending is is so fulfilling and kind of magical too, that I think audiences will love it.
Speaker 6:There was no question that the script was funny and that there would, and that our cast would be funny, that the story be funny. But I think the thing that I was always hoping for was just that the emotional satisfaction of the film would pay off. And you know, I think of other films that worked for me that way, like Little Miss Sunshine, like where the emotional payoff is unexpected and more than you thought you would get going in. So that's the thing that, that I hope that the people will just be really invested in these sisters and their relationship and wanting good things to happen for them.
Speaker 1:So what do you guys think? Is this something you guys want to see or not see? Because that's why I do this show, because sometimes movies like this slip under the radar and you never hear of it, or you think, nah, it's just another comedy. But there's always more to it than that and that's what I hope we can get through to you, because any movie is somebody's favorite movie. Some people will ask me oh, why don't you rip into movies? Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? That's not our jam here at the Cinema.
Speaker 1:Judge, I want to be this, be your movie oasis, a place where you can get away from the noise. There's too much noise out there. This is the place I want you to come here and learn about one movie. Maybe you're having a bad day, bad week, whatever it may be. The world is causing you stress. Here it's just going to be about the movie. You get to learn about the actors, everything, everything involves. You can get a deep dive. That's why I love doing this show, because I love taking those deep dives on movies that maybe you would have overlooked. You find that little gem somewhere. This is the way I look at it. We all want enjoyable movie experience Because we work hard for our money. We don't want to be sitting there and being stressed out. No, here it is. These are the facts. You're the jury. I'm just a judge. I accumulate the information and I give it to you. It's up to you to see if you want to see this movie or not.
Speaker 1:Well, I hope you did enjoy our extended look at Quiz Lady. If you guys have any questions, comments, concerns and I mean this please, please, please, reach out. Tell me what I can do differently, because I can't grow if I don't know. As long as it's constructive, I'm all game and I've enjoyed people reaching out to me on YouTube, instagram and everywhere else, because I'm on a lot of other platforms. I don't care how you reach out, I just want you to enjoy the show. So feel free. Cinema Judge at Hotmailcom or I'm on several platforms from Instagram, threads, like I said, youtube, pinterest, tumblr, hive, mastered On TikTok, the meta universe.
Speaker 1:I'm out there in the meta universe. If you're ever there, stop by, say hi, real time. That's a blast. I love talking to people when I'm out there doing that, but I don't care how you reach out, because I love hearing from you guys, because I'm just sitting here in my basement. I have no idea what I'm doing, right or wrong? Let me know, because I love hearing how you listen to this show.
Speaker 1:Some people listen to it when you're driving to work, sometimes when you're at work, on your lunch break, sitting at home doing the dishes, laundry, driving in your car. A lot of you guys, if you take long road trips, you hit play and you just play several episodes same thing. Somebody will use it as a nightlight. Hey, that's great too. The more the merrier, the more you can listen. Hey, that means that more people can listen. So I salute all of you and really all over the world just blows me away, and some of you might listen to show two weeks from now. Two months from now, however, you listen to the show. I just hope my voice finds you well, because Wherever, whenever or whatever you're doing, this is for you, because the next part I'm gonna give a shout out to a lot of people who listened to the last episode and it's only on the podcast version, not the YouTube or all these other places, because that's a I.
Speaker 1:There's no way to find out who, where and when people listen to that. It just says a number. But to all you people who listen on YouTube, I salute ya. You guys are amazing. So thank you, thank you, thank you to all my listeners from the United States, sri Lanka last week. Sri Lanka, you guys are incredible. Thank you so much for stopping by and listening. I really appreciate that. It blows me away. Same thing with Germany. Thank you. You're always there for me. It just I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1:Minneapolis, minnesota, colombo district, still water, Minnesota, fort Worth, texas, raleigh, north Carolina, to lose, minnesota, reno, nevada, lowell, massachusetts. I could. I always have trouble with that. I usually just say mass, but I gave it a shot. Valencia, california, uly, florida, new Prague, minnesota, north Rhine, westphalia, just to name a few. You guys are amazing. I can't thank you enough because I guarantee you every time it says boom, somebody listened. I have. I do happy dance. There's just no, no and zips or butts about that. It just makes my day that you take time out of your busy life to listen to this show, to learn about a movie that's awesome.
Speaker 1:And this week's bourbon shout out goes out to Aaron from early bird electric. Let me tell you guys, I've had so many weird issues going on with my place lately. I needed a different gauge, I guess, of electric electricity going from my hot water heater to the, to the fuse box, which was wasn't put in right years ago. Somebody just made their own way up and put their own gauge in. So this guy, aaron, he came over, fixed it. Bam, bam, bam. The next day it was great.
Speaker 1:So to you, aaron Cheers, and, as I've talked about during this episode, if you're regular on the show, you know what I do. I make the TV version of this first and then I turn that into this podcast. But when I'm making the TV version of it, that's my sheer happy place. I'm cranking tunes and editing a show. There's nothing that just makes me just giddy to no end. So it was making a TV version this week.
Speaker 1:It was the same week that the Beatles came out with their new song. Now and then I'm a huge Beatles fan and I just loved it. That's just personally. For me it is. There's so many, so many feelings, as they say, with the Beatles, and in that song you project the words onto their past and those who've left us. It's just for me. It was just like yes, so good. So I play that several times, but then, since I was in the Beatles vein. I just put on their playlist on my I'm an Amazon Prime unlimited thing and just crank the Beatles, tell, tell. The show is done. And If you know the Beatles, it's this analyst classic. So I'm not even gonna start to say but they deserve another deep dive. Ladies and gentlemen, first listen to that new song and then Dive away because it's the Beatles. Come on. Well, that is it. My glass awaits. I'm thirsty. So cheers to you and to the movies. So until next time. Be well, be good, and I'm gone. I'm Jeff. Thanks for listening to the cinema. Judge you.